History Of Iridology
Determining the state of an individual’s health through examination of the
eyes has been practiced since the time of the ancient Greeks.
Egyptian museums have illustrations of priests examining the eyes of the
pharaoh. The first ever iris analysis published was the book by the physician
Philippus Meyens in 1670, in which he elaborated on the parts of the iris known
as Chromatica Medica, suggesting that valuable information about the body can be
obtained from eyes.
Among the earliest iridologists was Dr. Ignatz von Peczely. During his
childhood in Hungary, he broke an owl’s leg by accident and noticed a black mark
visible in the owl’s eye that gradually changed in form and shade over time.
This incident intrigued Von Peczely to consider a possible link between
diseases and eye markings. Observations of patients’ eyes dispelled his
remaining doubts about the connection, which led him to prepare a chart mapping
correlation of the iris with the body.
Over several decades, von Peczely made comparative studies mapping organs
through zones of hours and minutes using a clock face superimposed over eye
drawings. His theories were published in 1881 in a book titled ‘Discoveries in
the Field of Natural Science and Medicine: Instruction in the Study of Diagnosis
from the Eye’.
Nils Liljhequist, a Swedish pastor and homeopath was another proponent of the
iris-body correlations around the same period but unrelated to von Peczely’s
work. He is credited with being the first iridologist to identify the effects of
drugs like iodine and quinine on the iris.
Practitioners of all kinds, mostly Europeans, have made efforts to promote
iridology through their works. The popularity of iridology in the United States
began in the 1950s. Bernard Jensen, an American chiropractor, began giving
classes in his own way. He was a firm believer in the body’s exposure to toxins
and the use of natural food items as detoxifiers.
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