Acupuncture has hundreds of forms and variations.
Nearly all forms lack a scientific basis. Many undiscriminating proponents of acupuncture use science as window dressing, while their true allegiance is to mysticism and superstitious quackery. But also misguided are those self-described proponents of science who dismiss acupuncture across the board. Below I describe how I came to distinguish between mystical and science-based acupuncture. My fidelity to that creed originated in 1932, when a magic show came to my small town.