--- title: "Jacques Martel and The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases" description: "Who Jacques Martel is, what his dictionary of ailments and diseases contains, how an entry is built, how this site uses it, and its limits." canonical_url: "https://www.body-hemisync.com/guides/jacques-martel-dictionary" --- Jacques Martel is a therapist, trainer and speaker from Quebec, Canada, and the author of *Le Grand Dictionnaire des malaises et des maladies*, published in English as *The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases*. The book is an A–Z of hundreds of ailments, each read as a message from the body about what a person is living through emotionally. It is the main book this site draws on, and we interpret it in our own words, with the medical facts first. This guide explains what the dictionary is, how one of its entries is built, how we use it, and where its limits lie. At the end you will find a selection of our pages to start from. ## Who is Jacques Martel? Jacques Martel lives in Quebec. His French publisher presents him as an internationally known therapist, trainer and speaker, and as a pioneer in personal development. His work belongs to the same broad family as Louise Hay's: the idea that body and mind are linked, and that a symptom can be heard as a sign of something felt but not yet named. A new French edition, co-written with the therapist and Reiki teacher Lucie Bernier, appeared in 2024. Its publisher says it is about 30% longer than the second edition of 2007 and adds around 100 ailments. ## What is Le Grand Dictionnaire des malaises et des maladies? *Le Grand Dictionnaire des malaises et des maladies* ("The great dictionary of ailments and diseases") is published in French by Éditions Quintessence. The publisher's description sums up its premise: an ailment or an illness is a message the body sends so that you become aware of what you are living. The current French edition covers more than a thousand ailments in close to 900 pages. The English translation, *The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases: From A to Z*, was published by Les Éditions ATMA internationales in 2011, in about 600 pages. This site works from the 2007 French edition. Every page we write names the entries we used and their page numbers in that edition, in the "Sources" block at the end. ## How is an entry built? Entries range from a few lines to several pages. The longer ones usually move through the same steps. We describe them here without reproducing the text. ### 1. What the body part stands for An entry often opens with the role of the organ and what that role can mean symbolically. The knees, for example, are the joints you kneel on. From that image come the themes of flexibility and humility, of bowing to what is above you, and of pride or rigidity when bending becomes hard. Our [knee pain](/joints-and-bones/knee-pain) page starts from there. ### 2. The feelings Then come the feelings, written in the first person ("I"). The entry for eczema is a good example: it gathers hypersensitivity, a separation that was hard to live through, a need for touch mixed with a fear of being hurt by it, and a habit of living for what other people expect. It also adds nuances by place on the body and by age, from babies to adults. You can read our interpretation on the [eczema](/skin/eczema) page and the feelings it touches, such as [rejection](/emotions/rejection), [abandonment](/emotions/abandonment) and [sadness](/emotions/sadness). ### 3. French word play Many entries play on French expressions. The eczema entry leans on *à fleur de peau*, literally "at the surface of the skin", the French way of saying that your feelings are raw and close to the surface. Other entries use idioms about teeth, backs or livers in the same way. When we keep a pun, we translate it and explain it. It is a way of hearing a word, not the mechanism of a disease. ### 4. The "J'accepte" closing Almost every entry ends with a paragraph that begins *J'accepte*, "I accept": a short statement of the inner step that could ease the conflict described above, such as accepting yourself as you are or letting old patterns go. On our pages, this closing becomes the affirmation and the section "A gentler way to hold it". We write it as an invitation, without saying whether it will change the body. ### How does this compare with Louise Hay's list? Louise Hay's list gives one short probable cause and one affirmation per problem. Martel's dictionary goes much further: the organ's symbolism, several feelings, nuances by side, type or age, and the French word play. The two share an idea but not a scale. See [Louise Hay's list](/guides/louise-hay-list) for a side-by-side table. ## How does this site use the dictionary? Our [editorial policy](/editorial-policy) sets out the rules in full. In short: - **Original interpretation.** We paraphrase and interpret. We do not translate or reproduce the book's sentences. - **Credited entries and pages.** Every page lists the entries and page numbers it drew on. Where several entries cover one illness, we read them all and write one page. - **Medicine first.** Each page opens with what the illness is, its usual causes and the care that exists, from public sources such as the NHS and MedlinePlus, and ends with when to see a doctor. - **Claims left out.** Some entries state things as fact that could harm people: that emotions cause cancer, that a treatment is useless because it misses "the real cause", or that someone provokes their own infection. We leave those out, or say plainly that they are not true. - **No blame.** When an entry is harsh, we turn it into a question you may recognise or not. A feeling is never presented as the cause or the cure of an illness. - **Sides of the body.** Where the book distinguishes left and right, we explain it once in [the left and right sides of the body](/guides/left-vs-right-side-of-the-body) and link it from each page. ## What are the limits of the dictionary? It helps to be clear about what this kind of book is and is not. - **It is not science.** No study shows that a particular feeling causes a particular illness. The dictionary is a symbolic, spiritual way of looking at the body. - **It goes too far in places.** The entry on psychosomatic illness states that every illness follows a conflict or an emotional shock. We do not repeat that. Illnesses have genes, germs, injuries, ageing and many other causes. The same entry does say that the body should be cared for with the knowledge of health professionals, and on that point we agree completely. - **It can feel accusing.** Written in the first person, a list of feelings can sound like a verdict. It is not one. Many people with the same illness share none of those feelings. - **It is one voice.** It reflects one author's practice in Quebec, not a shared body of knowledge. What medicine does recognise is that stress, worry and low mood can affect the body, and that some symptoms persist without a clear cause on tests. The NHS describes these as [medically unexplained symptoms](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/medically-unexplained-symptoms/) and offers real care for them. For more on that link, see [psychosomatic illness](/guides/psychosomatic-illness) and [can emotions cause physical pain?](/guides/can-emotions-cause-physical-pain). ## Where to start on this site These are some of our most visited pages, each built from one or more entries of the dictionary.
Page What it explores
Lower back pain Insecurity and being the only pillar
Upper back and neck pain Emotions carried without being said
Shoulder pain Carrying more than your share
Hip pain Hesitating at a turning point
Knee pain Pride, flexibility and kneeling
Foot pain Direction and fear of the future
Jaw pain Words held back behind clenched teeth
Migraines A head under too much pressure
Sore throat Words said or swallowed
Hypothyroidism Discouragement and quiet creativity
Eczema Separation and a need for contact
Acne A conflict with your own image
Constipation Holding on and control
High blood pressure Pressure held in for too long
Fatigue Feeling emptied
You can also start from a feeling, such as [anger](/emotions/anger), [fear](/emotions/fear), [guilt](/emotions/guilt) or [stress](/emotions/stress), or from the [emotions body map](/guides/emotions-body-map), which gathers the main links on one page. For pain by location, see [the spiritual meaning of pain in body parts](/guides/spiritual-meaning-of-pain-in-body-parts). ## A gentler way to use this - **See a doctor first.** The emotional side is something to explore once the symptom has been looked at. - **Take what fits.** If a feeling on a page rings true, stay with it a moment. If it does not, leave it. - **Write rather than judge.** Noting down a situation, a word or a memory that comes up is often more useful than looking for a single cause. - **Use the "I accept" step as a stance.** Accepting yourself or a situation can bring some peace. It does not have to prove anything about your health. - **Talk to someone.** If heavy feelings come up, a friend, a counsellor or your GP can help. This site offers symbolic interpretations for reflection. It does not diagnose or treat any condition, and nothing here should lead you to stop or change a treatment. If you have a symptom that worries you, please see a doctor. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.