More on the four Fire officials

I coined the terms Inner and Outer Fire to differentiate the two sides of the Fire element, the only element which has four officials, two yin and two yang.  What I call Outer Fire relates to the Three Heater and Heart Protector officials, and Inner Fire to the Small Intestine and the Heart officials.

 

I remember saying to JR Worsley that I thought it was almost as if there were six elements, two within Fire, rather than just the five, because of how the Heart and Small Intestine aspect of the Fire element were somehow treated quite differently from the Heart Protector and Three Heater.  I remember, too, that JR gave a slight nod when I said this.  This is why I coined the terms Inner and Outer Fire to differentiate these two aspects.

 

So in some senses Inner Fire, where the Heart, known as the Supreme Controller, resides, is always treated somewhat differently from the other elements, even from its sister Fire aspect, Outer Fire.  This is because in some traditions the Heart is viewed as a sacred official, one which lies outside or above the ranks of the other eleven.  The Small Intestine, its close yang companion, therefore has to bear more responsibility than any other of the yang officials belonging to the other four elements.  It is also possibly why I personally never heard JR Worsley diagnose any patient as having the Heart official as their dominant official, although I heard him diagnose what must have been many, many patients as having the Small Intestine as this official.  

 

My own explanation for this lies in the very significance of the Heart, and its supreme position as the Lord (or Lady) of all that he or she surveys.  If this official were to weaken, and weakness as well as strength are potentially the characteristics of a guardian official, then the whole kingdom of body, mind and spirit ruled over by the Heart would be endangered.  This is not true of any weakness in any of the other 11 officials, and might help explain why I never witnessed JR Worsley diagnosing anybody as having the Heart as their dominant official within Inner fire, although, for all I know, others may have. 

 

 

  

Acupuncture points: helping our skeleton dance

Acupuncture points are sited at intervals along the meridian pathways, each forming a point of access to what lies below the surface, eventually reaching down to the organs deep below.  When, then, we choose a specific acupuncture point along a meridian pathway, we should be aware of the network of relationships which the needle inserted into the surface of the skin is stirring into life. 

 

It is always good to remind ourselves of why meridians pass over our anatomy in the way that they do, and what information their physical position in the landscape of the body can give us about their possible function and importance.  In other words, why is an acupuncture point where it is?   One of the reasons I started thinking about this is when I became aware that very important points lay at anatomically highly significant places in our body's framework.  The first example which led me to this discovery was when I looked at the anatomical description of one of the most important points of all, Heart 1, Utmost Source. This started me looking carefully at the structure of the body as a way of helping me in my choice of acupuncture points.  

 

I realised that Heart 1, which lies at the intersection between the abdomen and the arm, is at the precise anatomical position which enables us to lift our arms up above our heads, appropriately, for such a point, to the heavens above.  It can therefore be seen as forming a link between these two separate anatomical structures, thereby helping maintain an uninterrupted flow of energy up and down the body.  There are equally significant places where a link between different parts of the body is required to enable good energy to find its way past potential anatomical gaps between different parts of our skeleton, such as between the wrists and elbows on the hands or the ankles and knees on the feet.  These are places where meridians have to pass their energy from one structure to another, and the smooth flow of energy might be impeded by conflicting movements between the two, such as the hand and the wrist not moving in tandem.  It is therefore no coincidence that important points lie at places where there is a potential gap between one part of the body's bony structure and another, and a meridian's energy requires some particular boost to bridge this gap, for example through a source point at the wrist.  

 

If we are unsure about our point selection for a specific treatment, therefore, we can help ourselves by bearing all this in mind, and reminding ourselves that point locations are not arbitrary, but have a specific purpose.  Points are placed at significant locations along meridians to help the officials pass their energy as smoothly as possible up and down over anatomical areas which could potentially block this energy's progress. 

 

I'm reminded here of the song:

… Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Doin' the skeleton dance.
The foot bone's connected to the leg bone.
The leg bone's connected to the knee bone.
The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone.
Doin' the skeleton dance.

 

I like to think that it is the siting of acupuncture points at key places where one bone is joined to the next that helps "our skeleton dance" so energetically, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually.