Command points: 1 Source points

Source points are probably the most important group of points of all those we call command points (see Chapter 6, pages 84 - 98 of my Handbook of Five Element Practice).  These all lie on the arm, between the fingers and the elbow, and on the leg, between the toes and the knee.  If we were to stretch our arms and our legs out, as in the Leonardo da Vinci cartoon, these points would be on the two extremities of the body, on our legs tethering us to the ground beneath our feet, and on our arms as we reach up to the heavens above our head.  We can see them as forming a protective ring around us, sheltering our energy, before the meridians draw their energy to the main area of our body.

Each set of points contains the following: a source point, a tonification point, a sedation point, a junction point, and five different element points.  Some of the officials also have other points such as entry or exit points which are not considered to be command points.

 

All points other than command points can be regarded as in some senses interfering with a patient's energy by manipulating it in some way.  The most important feature of command points is that they are regarded as being the safest points of all, because they have what is described as their own in-built safety factor.  They are therefore selected to complete each treatment and bring energy back under the patient's control.  They are always used together in their paired yin/yang relationship. 

 

The most important points of all these very important command points are what are known as source points.  For the six yin officials, these are the Earth points within the circle of element points, whilst the six yang officials have no equivalent association with an element point.  A yin source point can therefore be seen as drawing upon some of the energy Earth adds to whatever guardian element treatment is directed at.  In other words, this additional Earth quality provides some of the centring which is Earth's particular quality. It is probably also the reason why I choose to needle a yang command point first, before a yin command point, starting with the left side and then the right.  It is as though yang command points offer the external support which all yang officials bring before we delve deeper within to access the deeper, more internal qualities yin officials provide.