Characters of Wisdom: Taoist Tales of the Acupuncture Points

540 Pages·2005·4.39 MB·English

by  Debra Kaatz

Characters of Wisdom
Taoist Tales of the Acupuncture Points
Published by
The Petite Bergerie Press
4 Somerton Road, Upper Heyford,
Bicester, OX25 5LB
Copyright © 2005 by Debra Kaatz
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-9570301-0-7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Five Element Acupuncture
The Extraordinary Meridians
Ren Mai-Vessel of Conception
Du Mai-Vessel of the Governor
Chong Mai-Vessel of Great Crossings
Dai Mai-Vessel of Guidance
Yang Qiao Mai-Yang
Vessel of Dynamic Movement
Yin Qiao Mai-Yin
Vessel of Dynamic Movement
Yang Wei Mai-Yang Vessel of Support
Yin Wei Mai-Yin Vessel of Support
The Wood Element-Spring
Dan-Gallbladder
Gan-Liver
The Fire Element-Summer
Xin-Heart
Xiao Chang-Small Intestine
Dan Zhong-Heart Protector
San Jiao-Triple Burner
The Earth Element-Late Summer
Wei-Stomach
Pi-Spleen
The Metal Element-Autumn
Fei-Lung
Da Chang-Large Intestine
The Water Element-Winter
Pang Guang-Bladder
Shen-Kidney
Treatment and Healing Cycle
Bibliography
Author and Calligrapher
PREFACE
UTMOST SOURCE
At the time I became a student of Chinese medicine, I was immediately
fascinated by the beautiful Chinese characters of each point. Each day I would
find time to study a character and find out its story. Slowly over five years, each
of the acupuncture points were transformed into special palaces of energetic
richness and vitality. They also began to reveal their Taoist stories of wisdom.
Each acupuncture point helps our energy to remain in harmony and balance.
When we stray from our path, these points can help us to find our way. This
brings great healing and opens our spirit. My hope is that these stories will help
to bring alive this energetic potential of each of the points. In re-editing the book
I have tried to make this clearer. There are also two new chapters explaining
more about five element acupuncture and treatment.
The stories themselves have come from many conversations with Chinese
friends, many Chinese alchemical texts and the books of Deng Ming-Dao and
Alfred Huang. My special thanks go to Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée for her
inspired teaching on the wisdom of Chinese characters, her encouragement and
her help with the references. My special thanks also go to Harrison Tu for his
beautiful calligraphies that illuminate each of the spirits of the points.

In addition I would like to thank all my friends and colleagues who enjoyed and
encouraged my story telling of the points and to the ancients themselves who
knew the wisdom of each generation re-telling the tales. This work is really their
gift. All interpretations, however, remain my own.
All the Chinese names have the reference numbers of the descriptive lessons in
Chinese Characters by Dr. L. Wieger. If there is an R or P in front of the number
it is a radical or phonetic reference number. I have given a brief description of
the location of each meridian but it may also be useful to have a chart that shows
the location of the points. Tao and Dao are the same word.
Debra Kaatz
Soudorgues, 2008
RECEIVING SPIRIT
FIVE ELEMENT ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture is an ancient healing art. By intuitively listening to the twelve
pulses on a person’s wrists, we can understand what is not in balance and
harmony for that person. By respectfully and deeply listening to the person, we
can begin to understand where the person is in their life and how they might like
to change. By using the spirits of the acupuncture points, we can both balance
the person’s energy as well as help them along their path in life. Each
acupuncture point contains a rich source of vital energy as well as an opportunity
to open a person’s life, allowing it to blossom forth with richness. Spiritual five
element acupuncture is not about matching a point to a symptom. It is about
helping someone to become full of balance and harmony in their energy so they
can then stride forward and realize their dreams. When we as acupuncturists help
to bring someone back into harmony and balance, this also balances and
harmonizes all the energy around them. We not only help the person to become
happier, but the world as well.
Spiritual five element acupuncture is an ancient wholistic art of healing the
mind, the body and the spirit. A healer will deeply listen to the patient and also
sensitively read their twelve Chinese pulses. He or she will then balance that
person’s energy by giving them the acupuncture points of spirit that will help the
person to move forward along their path in life. Each of the 365 acupuncture
points are palaces of energy that are described by the Taoist tales of their
Chinese characters. By using these points we not only balance the person’s
energy but are also able to give them the wonderful healing spiritual energy
contained in many of the points. In this way life creatively opens for the person.
The ancient Chinese healers knew that when a person suffered an imbalance to
their energy during one of the five seasons, the corresponding element within
that person would be weakened. This would then show in the person’s energetic
colour, sound of the voice, odour and emotion. When we support this weakness
on the corresponding acupuncture meridians of that season, the person’s energy
comes back into balance again and the person returns to health.

There is a very simple assumption in the theory of spiritual five element
acupuncture. This is that at sometime, probably early in life, our energy was
knocked out of balance. This also threw our system out of balance in a certain
season. This then produced a weakness in our energetic system. When a patient
comes to me I can see this weakness in their energetic colour, detect it in their
odour, feel it in their energy, and hear it in their voice. If this energetic weakness
is not helped it continues to weaken our energy especially in the season when it
happened. This weakness is shown in a tint to our energetic colour, in the sound
pattern of the voice, in a flavour to our odour, and in an emphasis in certain
emotions. For example if the imbalance occurred in the spring, there would be a
greenish tint to the energetic skin colour, a shout in the voice, a sharp flavour to
the odour and some inappropriate anger. This is not a personality thing, but an
energetic weakness that we can support with treatment so the person feels whole
again.
The energy of the person, who had their energy imbalanced in spring, for
example, can be strengthened and brought back into balance by treating on the
two wood meridians, the gallbladder and the liver. A person’s spirit is further
helped by using the wonderful spirit points on the eight extraordinary meridians,
the outer bladder line, and the kidney chest points. This way of treating is both
simple and profound in its healing strength and power.

If the seasons of the year are in harmony then spring brings to life the smallest
seeds and the world is filled with greenness. There is the sharp sour smell of cut
grass, the energy of dynamic growth and the shouting voices of a thousand
insects. Summer brings sunshine and long days. There is the smell of roasted
dried grasses, fields full of beautiful flowers bringing great joy and laughter,
vibrant bird song, and the warmth of the heat of hours of full sunlight. The
harvest season or late summer brings the rich ripe golden yellow colours of the
harvest, the smell of sweet fruits and vegetables at their peak, the soft song of
mother earth offering her bounty without reserve to all and the security of
knowing there will be food to survive the winter. In autumn the cold comes with
the north winds and all life goes back into the earth to await the next spring. The
leaves turn magnificent colours until they too fall back into the earth to nourish
her for the next year. The autumn brings the smell of rotting compost, the sighs
of letting go and falling leaves, the whiteness of clear skies and the rich metals in
the rains to nourish the soil. The bare limbs of trees open the spaces of the sky,
giving inspiration in the sharp clear air. By letting go of each old breath, we
breathe in the next moment of absolute newness and find the essence of each
moment. Winter then comes with the rains and the snows. These fill the reserves
of springs, rivers, lakes and seas. Without this water the spring seeds will not
germinate. Winter brings the smell of water and snow, the odour of rain in the
air, blue water in lakes, the constant rushing sound of a river passing by and the
freshness of spring water. Winter is the time of drawing inwards and guarding
our reserves. It is a time when these deep resources need to be nourished with
warmth and contemplation. Winter is a time to withdraw to the warm fires to
find the depth of our inner reserves. Here we can reach the profound mysteries
of the depths of our inner sea and sense the Tao itself.
It is out of these natural observations that the Chinese learned to live in harmony
within themselves. When one of these seasons was out of harmony within a
person, then those colours or smells would also be out of balance. A healer
would distinquish which one by using his senses. He would use acupuncture
points to help that season flourish again in that person. When a season itself was
out of balance, then the Emperor would go to his tower in the inner gardens of
the palace and rest in meditation until he understood what to do, by listening to
his heart and allowing it to fill with heavenly wisdom.

When the seasons within us are not in harmony, then our hearts have to struggle
and our lives do not have the vitality and freshness of each change of season. We
become stuck in old patterns and beliefs and cannot flow in harmony with the
changes around us. When we are in harmony, then the hope of a new seed opens
each day. The warmth of the summer sun gives joy to our relationships. The
harvest gives security and balance to our very centre. In autumn we are able to
let go of the old and take in the new. In winter our reserves are filled with the
energy we need for each endeavour.
When the spring, the element of wood, is cold or frosts or floods then the plants
are delayed in their growth. In times of drought many seeds will not flower in
that year. If the spring inside us is out of balance then we may not have the
energy to put our plans into action. We may lose the vision of where to go in our
lives. Like an old tree we may become covered in old growth and are no longer
able to find the flexibility and vitality of new growth. We may become stuck in
old patterns and become frustrated and angry. When we are in balance and
harmony, the emerging spring gives us the chance to renew our vision. The
freshness of springtime inspires us to create and bring alive the next year. With
this direct energy we are able to move forward and our spirit is filled with hope.
We become like a fresh bud, bursting with vitality and vision.
When the summer, the element of fire, arrives with its warmth, longer days and
abundance of flowers, there is an ease and fluidity to life. We are able to enjoy
our families and friends late into the evening. For the Chinese, the summer is the
time of the heart. It is when the gateways to relationships open with generosity
and warmth. When we have this warmth inside us, then we can love freely and
completely. The sun itself gives its warmth to everything that is on the earth.
When this warmth comes at the right time then the garden is a splendid display
of flowers. This warmth within us needs to be balanced so we can be at the right
temperature for each person we meet. If the summer is cold then there will not
be as many flowers. If we are too cold then we will distance people and our
hearts will not flourish. If we have too much heat then we may overwhelm
another with our own needs. With summer sunshine in our heart and with the
gateways well oiled, those around us will be filled with love and understanding.
Without this sunshine within we lack joy and laughter in our lives and the world
clouds over. But when the sun comes out and fills us with warmth, we are able to
see the richness all around us and give love where it is needed with compassion
and understanding.
As the flowers lose their petals and become rich ripe fruits and golden grains, we
have a sense of wholeness. This is the harvest season or what the Chinese call
late summer and the element of earth. At this time of the year the fruits and
vegetables are harvested and stored for the winter. In late summer we have the
security and stability of knowing mother earth has provided us with nourishment
for the hard winter months. It is as though we are taken in her lap and fed with
all we need. When the harvest is poor, then there is not enough to share and the
distribution becomes uneven. When we are hungry we cannot take in what is all
around us. Some will have more than others and there will be fights and
arguments. When we are well fed, we are comfortable, and centered. From that
centre we can care for ourselves and others with the abundance of our mother,
the earth.
What cannot be used at harvest time decays back into the earth as rich fertile
compost. Autumn, the element of metal, is a time when the growth of summer
dies back into the earth. The skies are no longer shaded by leafy green canopies
but reveal the inspirations of the heavens. All the growth of summer needs to
sink back into the earth to enrich it for the next year. In this same way we need
to let go of what is no longer valuable to find the essence of ourselves. As we let
go, then we can see the sky overhead in its full wonder and be inspired by what
life brings. We can let go of all the stale and unuseful air and breathe in the new
fresh breezes. Our way becomes inspired and special. Here is our Tien Fu or
heavenly palace as the Chinese call our inner essence.
In winter, the element of water, we retire inside and build our reserves. Winter is
a time to conserve energy and survive the cold. When we can not find our
reserves, we struggle in our efforts to find our way. The energy is not there when
we really need it. When all is flowing within us, we have these deep reserves to
draw on and our deep inner drives can be fueled with the force of the waters that
fill the reservoirs in winter. Water gives us our drive, will and courage. In winter
we can quietly contemplate the way of the Tao within a warm home and in this
way guard our reserves well. By meditating in the quiet stillness of winter, we
can find and follow the way of our lives. Then the rivers of life flow and nourish
the next flowers of spring.
Thousands of years ago the Chinese mapped out the seas and rivers of Qi energy
on the human body. If you place your hands facing each other and slightly apart
and gently move them back and forth you can feel this energy. This is the energy
that creates life. It is nourished by all that feeds the body. It is called Qi energy.
Although Qi is the energy of life there are many forms of Qi. There is Tien Qi or
heavenly Qi, Ren Qi or the Qi of human life and Tu Qi or the Qi of mother earth
among many others. Qi flows from the heavens and earth through man creating