Tag Archives: Water Element

Resurrecting Spirit

Breathing difficulty, Depression, Psycho-emotional, Spirit, , , ,

As we come to the end of a cold, wet winter in southern Australia, many minds are turning towards spring. Before we leave the winter and the Water Element, let’s have a look at a powerful spirit point of the Kidney meridian.

Lingxu – Spirit Burial Ground – Kidney 24

2.17The character Lingxu is made up of two parts, ling meaning spirit, and zu meaning an old burial ground or a wild wasteland. Ling depicts three shamans dancing, supplicating the spirits for rain.[i] The character for doctor or healer also contains the image of a shaman. All of this puts me in mind of Kaptchuk’s description of JR Worsley, father of the modern Five Element tradition, as the greatest shamanistic healer he had ever seen.[ii]

Worsley’s background predisposed him to regard healing as more than just working with the physical and emotional aspects of a person. His acupuncture work retained the aspects of spirit that were excised by the Chinese communists when they created what they called Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the 1950s and 60s.

Most texts of TCM pay little regard to the esoteric aspects of the Kidney points of the upper chest, utilising them simply for physical conditions related to respiration, chest pain and vomiting. In the Five Element tradition, these points can be used to deeply touch a person at the level of spirit. Perhaps the most powerful of these is Lingxu – Spirit Burial Ground.

Lingxu, K 24, lies in the middle of a string of points that begins with K 22 Walking on the Verandah and ends with K 27 Store House. These points lie in the region of the heart and are a reminder of the significant relationships between Kidney and Heart, Water and Fire, jing and shen. K 22 is the exit point of the Kidney channel, where Qi moves to Heart Protector in the Wei Qi cycle. The remaining points on the meridian represent a mysterious journey of spirit into the darker regions of the human spiritual experience. “The spirit burial ground can appear as a dark foreboding place to those who have not cultivated the virtues of faith, wisdom and reverence for the will of heaven.”[iii]

One of the most profound uses of this point is to treat what is known as a spirit block. This is when the person’s spirit had become disconnected in some way from the bodymind. When it appears that a person’s spirit has died; when his life appears as a dry and barren landscape, lacking in direction and meaning; when the structures of the ego-self have obscured the True Self to such a degree that connection to True Nature has been lost, Lingxu has the capacity to restore a person’s connection to source.

The struggles of the spirit described here recall the notion of the dark night of the soul, first stated in a poem by 16th century Christian mystic John of the Cross. The main idea of the poem can be seen as the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual maturity and union with God. This journey through darkness to the spiritual light can be seen as an explication of these Kidney points of the chest, and of K 24 in particular.

In treating this point, the intention of the practitioner will determine the level of the client’s being that is addressed. If the practitioner uses the point with the intention of clearing a cough and improving breathing, the effects will be restricted to the physical level. There will be a very different effect when the intention is to revive a person’s spirit and his connection with the Tao.

[i] Ellis A, Wiseman N & Boss K, Grasping the Wind, Paradigm 1989, p. 380
[ii] Eckman P, In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor, Cypress 1996, p.173
[iii] Jarrett L, The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, Spirit Path 2003, p. 452

2.18Location of Kidney 24

Located in the chest at the side of the sternum, the point lies in the third intercostal space and 2 cun lateral to the midline. Note that in males it is one rib space above the level of the nipple. Use direct, moderate pressure.

 

This is an extract from the forthcoming book ‘The Way of the Five Elements’ by John Kirkwood, Singing Dragon Press. Publication date November 21st, 2015. You can now pre-order this book at Fishpond, Book Depository and other online booksellers. (108 days to go!)

Fire of the Gate of Life

Flexibilty, Low back pain, Pain Relief, Temperature regulation, Urination, , , , , , ,

Mingmen – Gate of Life – Governing Vessel 4

2.9There is surely no point name more exalted than Mingmen – Gate of Life. It goes to the very core of our existence on this plane, our life itself. It is a very powerful point which accesses the gate where we emerge from the void with our essence, our constitution and our destiny. This point can help us reach our full potential and fulfil our destiny.

Although according to the Five Elements the Kidneys belong to Water, they are also the source of Fire in the body, which is called mingmen, the “Fire of the Gate of Life”. This Fire is needed for our survival as warm blooded animals and fuels all activity. When the Gate of Life is open, it provides free access to this Fire and there is vitality, sparkle and zest for life. If the gate begins to close, there is diminishment and depletion.

Mingmen is a remarkable point for revitalisation. It can reconnect us with our essence, raise us to a new level of consciousness, and support the achievement of our highest potential. It is a point that helps us connect us with our original nature.

Lying as it does on the spine between the Kidney shu points (BL 23), Mingmen powerfully tonifies Kidney Qi and supports the Water Element. If there is timidity, it offers courage; if there is forgetfulness and disorientation, it clears the consciousness; if there is depression or emotional withdrawal, it coaxes the person to reengage with the world.

Gate of Life addresses the crucial Fire/Water balance in the body, and therefore treats both hot and cold conditions. It clears heat conditions such as a feeling of burning up as well as chills alternating with fever. More commonly it is used to treat cold conditions such as feeling cold all over the body, especially in the low back and belly, incontinence and abundant, clear urination.

It addresses reproductive disorders such as frigidity, impotence, infertility, irregular menstruation and menstrual pain caused by cold in the uterus. Other conditions include tinnitus, poor memory, haemorrhoids and prolapse of the rectum. It is an excellent point for stiffness, rigidity and pain in the low back and lumbar pain that radiates to the abdomen

This is an important point of focus in Qi Gong exercises and is known to be one of the places on the spine where it is more difficult to move energy, one of the three “tricky gates”. (The others are at the coccyx and the occiput.)

In people who have experienced a chronic, debilitating illness, this point is usually empty and needs considerable attention to persuade it to open. However it has the power to reconnect with the jing or essence and restore a person to health and vitality, a capacity reflected in its alternate name, Palace of Essence.

2.10

 

Location of Governing Vessel 4

 

On the spine, between the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebrae, approximately at the level of the navel. Use direct, moderate pressure.

 

 

This is an extract from the forthcoming book ‘The Way of the Five Elements’ by John Kirkwood, Singing Dragon Press. Publication date November 21st 2015. You can now pre-order this book at Fishpond, Book Depository and other online booksellers. (123 days to go!)