It was during a postgraduate seminar at my Leamington college all those years ago that I for the first time dared to share my use of the term "guardian element". Before that, I used to call it the CF, meaning the Causative Factor of disease, as most people still do. I have always thought that the term CF has a slightly negative overtone, which JR himself did not seem to agree with. I remember very clearly him telling us that we should always visualize our patients as expressing the most positive qualities of their element, rather than regarding this element as a symbol of their imbalances. And I like to hear the echo of the words guardian angel behind my coining of the phrase, because this is how I think of this element. I see it as a protective force when we live our lives wisely in tune with its demands.
I have now decided to add a companion phrase, and call the yin and yang officials which together create an element our guardian officials. I am only surprised that it has taken me so many years to think of this.
We know that we are each marked by the characteristics of one element, and that each element is formed of the close association of one yin and one yang official. These two officials within the element also imprint specific characteristics upon us, making some people of that element have characteristics which are more yin in nature, and others more yang, reflecting the different qualities of their particular dominant official. This distinction further defines who we are, so that a Wood person, for example, will have a closer association with the characteristic qualities of the Liver and another with those of the Gall Bladder, making either the Liver or the Gall Bladder their guardian official.
It is rarely clinically necessary to diagnose this further level of differentiation. First of all because it is difficult enough tracking down a patient's element, let alone trying to perceive even more subtle differences within an element, and secondly because we rarely need to move to this deeper level of diagnosis from the point of view of treatment, since we treat both officials equally. It is, however, interesting to try to recognise the different qualities which one or other official gives us, since this is a way of helping us understand more about the role of the individual officials within the cycle of the elements.
Occasionally, we need to think more closely about this, particularly in the case of Inner Fire and its yang official, the Small Intestine. This is because we are taught to avoid treating the Heart, the Supreme Controller, more than is necessary. It is regarded as a sacred organ, and we should where possible avoid interfering in its functioning by treating it. Instead we should concentrate treatment upon its close yang official, the Small Intestine, making this an exception to the general rule that we treat both official pairings equally.
This brings me neatly to another important question, which is how we make our choices about selecting points other than command points, those points which are often called spirit points. As I have often written, all points should be recognized as having their own spirit, but in general parlance the term appears to be given to any point which is not a command point. I have often thought that this is perhaps one of the most discussed, but least understood areas of five element practice, precisely because by calling some points spirit points we appear to assume that they have a more profound effect than those that are "merely" command points. This is a misconception which bedevils five element practice. In the right hands and with the right understanding command points can effect the most profound treatment of all, whilst spirit points, in the wrong hands and with the wrong understanding, can have very little effect at all.
I see non-command points as being able to offer specific qualities, often associated with the names they have been given over the centuries, which can add to what the officials on whose meridians they lie are there to offer. Often we may use one point on one of the two guardian officials, rather than choosing points on both, as we do with command points or Associated Effect points, for example. The selection of non-command points has often come to be regarded as a somewhat mysterious area of expertise, which I think it should not be. Different practitioners will choose different points, often having a long-term preference for a few, usually because they have learnt about them at some point from a more experienced practitioner, as I have done. Or perhaps a fellow practitioner will tell me about a point they have used, either one I have never used, or, as happens, one I have forgotten about over the years, and I will be glad to welcome such points back into my repertoire of point selections again. This is, after all, how we widen our range of points, although having observed JR Worsley recommending points for the many hundreds of patients I saw him with I can confirm how beautifully simple were always the treatments he recommended for our patients, suggesting the same small range of points for each element.
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