I think we tend to see the elements in terms of their
general characteristics rather than training ourselves to recognize the degree
of their balance or imbalance. I am
particularly aware of this now because we have before our eyes the very public,
and highly disturbing, spectacle of two totally unbalanced world leaders, our
own Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the American President, Donald Trump. It may be no coincidence from the point of
view of the state of world affairs at the moment that I believe that they are
both of the Wood element, and both, in their differing ways, examples of Wood
frighteningly out of balance.
One of the advantages of studying the elements as five
element acupuncturists do is that this can help transform any personal
responses to the elements which we may find personally difficult to deal with
into lessons teaching us a more objective approach to the elements. When they are not stoking up my own Wood
element to a high pitch of anger as I contemplate what suffering these two
leaders are inflicting on their respective nations, I therefore try to lighten
my mood by seeing them both as excellent examples which teach me a lot about
Wood’s imbalances. I also fantasize
about how some good five element acupuncture treatment for them might help make
the world a happier place for us all.
By chance, I happen to know two people who have worked with
Theresa May, one before she was a Member of Parliament and the other in one of
the civil service departments she was in charge of. Both say that it was always well-known that
she was incapable of making decisions. This
is almost laughably typical of the Wood element under stress. We all know that its function is to be in
charge of our planning and decision-making.
If Theresa May is Wood, then, this helps highlight something which has
laid the cold hand of Brexit over the past three years of this country’s
political life. It explains the dogmatic
statement Theresa May made at the start of her first speech as Prime Minister,
when she told us so emphatically that “Brexit means Brexit”, and explains why
she has never deviated from this in all the negotiations she has engaged in
since then.
If decision-making is something you are uneasy with, but
know that it is an essential part of your job constantly to be asked to make important
decisions for the good of the country, then to be plunged so suddenly into the
Prime Minister’s role which demands a high level of balanced and quick
decision-making would have put an enormous strain on both Theresa May’s Liver,
which would have been asked quickly to plan her first speech to the people, and
then her Gall Bladder which would have had to decide when and how to say it. Her quick-fire statement “Brexit means Brexit”
failed miserably on both counts. A more
balanced Wood might have recognized that the referendum vote only marginally
tilted the country in favour of Brexit, and would therefore have understood
that it would be important to reach out to the nearly half the nation who voted
to remain in the EU. I see the dogmatic statements
which have been her trademarks in the years since then (“strong and stable”
being an obvious one) as being her way of persuading herself that the decisions
she makes are always the right ones. When
we are unsure about doing something, but don’t want to reveal our uncertainty
to others, we can often over-compensate by hiding these uncertainties under an
over-emphatic shield of apparent confidence. This is often what Wood does, and I think this
is Theresa May’s default mode. The less
certain she is about what she should do, the more dogmatic her statements
become, and the more stridently she repeats them.
Those with a more balanced Wood element would plan ahead
more carefully, using the vision which this element offers to ensure that any decisions
made are flexible enough to be altered if events change, as they inevitably do.
The quality of flexibility is one that is singularly lacking in Theresa May. Her dogmatic approach makes her quite
incapable of changing her mind, leading to total inflexibility when confronted
with difficult situations which call for adaptability. Hence the disastrous political mess this
country is now in.
My next blog will continue these thoughts on the Wood
element out of balance, as I look more closely at Donald Trump’s actions since
becoming President. I see his as being a
very different kind of Wood imbalance.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Friday, March 15, 2019
Energy transfers: a lesson in how to avoid complicating things unnecessarily
My introduction to energy
transfers came during my first year at JR Worsley’s Leamington
college, and set the tone to an approach which carried through the three years
of my undergraduate training. This first introduction was made very confusing
because unfortunately the tutor who was teaching us got the procedure wrong,
selecting the wrong points, and only corrected
himself when one of the class pointed this out to him. This was hardly an ideal way for us to learn
how to include energy transfers into our practice.
The very complex energy transfers we were asked to do as part of our exams also did nothing to make things clearer to us. By the end of my undergraduate training I had, through hard work, learnt by heart the procedure for carrying out such energy transfers, but, to my surprise, had never been prompted by any tutor to include transfers in treating the patients our tutors were supervising.
Then came the welcome day during my postgraduate training, when JR Worsley explained the importance of energy transfers in such a simple way as to strip away all the confusion which up till then had surrounded what we considered to be this tricky area of five element practice. From then on I started to incorporate energy transfers into my practice.
I have just looked up what I have written about them in my Handbook of Five Element Practice. The second edition of the Handbook (published by Singing Dragon Press) has a much simpler, and, I hope, more accessible version of my original text. I therefore refer any reader interested in delving more deeply into this subject to pages 115 – 120 of the Singing Dragon edition, where I describe in detail the procedure to be used. In particular I repeat what JR told us:
“The aim of any transfer of energy is to balance the relative energy shared between the elements and officials so that none retains more energy than another. This way of redistributing energy helps to resolve tension between all the officials, and is an amazingly simple and effective way of restoring harmony. Transferring energy in this way is therefore one of the most powerful and effective forms of treatment since it benefits all the elements by reducing disparities between them.”
Emboldened by JR’s encouragement I started to make more frequent use of energy transfers, and quickly found how effective they were. After a transfer of energy of this kind, all the elements would breathe a sigh of relief, as imbalances between them cleared, and the smooth flow of energy round the cycle was restored.
I then started to look at which were likely to be the most common transfers. Again quoting from my Handbook:
.. “some transfers are more frequently done than others, since certain elements tend to have more energy than others. For example, the Wood and Earth officials are usually relatively stronger than the Water and Fire officials, which are called upon to provide our reserves of energy.”
This procedure is indicated when the pulses of the grandmother element are stronger than those of the mother element, and the simple transfer of energy using the tonification points between mother and child cannot be carried out, or would be less successful.
In practice, therefore, I found that I only used the following transfers:
From Earth to Wood: VIII (Li) 4, IX (Lu) 9
From Wood to Earth: XII (Sp)1
I then just learnt the points and the procedure to be used for these few transfers, and have never looked back.
As you can see, the transfers I list are carried out only between yin officials across the Ke cycle. The procedure we were taught as undergraduates included finishing the transfer with the junction point between its yin and yang officials, but I no longer do that. This is because I can clearly hear JR’s voice telling us that there is rarely a split pulse representing an imbalance between the paired officials within an element. So when you bring energy to a yin official it will immediately share it with its partner yang official. This also makes the procedure less complicated.
I hope what I have written here simplifies the approach to carrying out energy transfers a little, and encourages five element acupuncturists to use them as frequently as their reading of the pulses requires.
The very complex energy transfers we were asked to do as part of our exams also did nothing to make things clearer to us. By the end of my undergraduate training I had, through hard work, learnt by heart the procedure for carrying out such energy transfers, but, to my surprise, had never been prompted by any tutor to include transfers in treating the patients our tutors were supervising.
Then came the welcome day during my postgraduate training, when JR Worsley explained the importance of energy transfers in such a simple way as to strip away all the confusion which up till then had surrounded what we considered to be this tricky area of five element practice. From then on I started to incorporate energy transfers into my practice.
I have just looked up what I have written about them in my Handbook of Five Element Practice. The second edition of the Handbook (published by Singing Dragon Press) has a much simpler, and, I hope, more accessible version of my original text. I therefore refer any reader interested in delving more deeply into this subject to pages 115 – 120 of the Singing Dragon edition, where I describe in detail the procedure to be used. In particular I repeat what JR told us:
“The aim of any transfer of energy is to balance the relative energy shared between the elements and officials so that none retains more energy than another. This way of redistributing energy helps to resolve tension between all the officials, and is an amazingly simple and effective way of restoring harmony. Transferring energy in this way is therefore one of the most powerful and effective forms of treatment since it benefits all the elements by reducing disparities between them.”
Emboldened by JR’s encouragement I started to make more frequent use of energy transfers, and quickly found how effective they were. After a transfer of energy of this kind, all the elements would breathe a sigh of relief, as imbalances between them cleared, and the smooth flow of energy round the cycle was restored.
I then started to look at which were likely to be the most common transfers. Again quoting from my Handbook:
.. “some transfers are more frequently done than others, since certain elements tend to have more energy than others. For example, the Wood and Earth officials are usually relatively stronger than the Water and Fire officials, which are called upon to provide our reserves of energy.”
This procedure is indicated when the pulses of the grandmother element are stronger than those of the mother element, and the simple transfer of energy using the tonification points between mother and child cannot be carried out, or would be less successful.
In practice, therefore, I found that I only used the following transfers:
From Earth to Outer Fire: V (Pc) 3, IV (Ki) 3),
From Metal to Wood: VIII (Li) 4,From Earth to Wood: VIII (Li) 4, IX (Lu) 9
From Wood to Earth: XII (Sp)1
I then just learnt the points and the procedure to be used for these few transfers, and have never looked back.
As you can see, the transfers I list are carried out only between yin officials across the Ke cycle. The procedure we were taught as undergraduates included finishing the transfer with the junction point between its yin and yang officials, but I no longer do that. This is because I can clearly hear JR’s voice telling us that there is rarely a split pulse representing an imbalance between the paired officials within an element. So when you bring energy to a yin official it will immediately share it with its partner yang official. This also makes the procedure less complicated.
I hope what I have written here simplifies the approach to carrying out energy transfers a little, and encourages five element acupuncturists to use them as frequently as their reading of the pulses requires.
Monday, February 25, 2019
A reminder to myself about treating Metal and Earth patients
This week a practitioner asked my help with a patient of
his, whom I diagnosed as Metal. I
thought she was more likely to be the Lung official (not able to take in)
rather than the Large Intestine (not able to let go). As usual, seeing this patient added
something to my thoughts about the elements.
After I left the practice room I realised that I was in danger of forgetting something JR Worsley told us about treating Metal patients, and which I had not pointed out at the time to the practitioner. This is something which also applies to treating Earth patients. He told us that we need to be aware that, for different reasons, both elements might find the start of treatment difficult. Both might find that the first few treatments could have the somewhat disturbing effect of making them feel rather empty. I see this as confirming that these first treatments have such a profound effect by addressing the element so directly that they often strip away some of the defences we put up to cope with life. Metal may therefore experience, perhaps for the first time, a profound emptiness of the spirit, that spiritual disconnection which is the burden Metal has to bear when it is out of balance. Earth, by contrast, may experience a more physically-based emptiness, that of not being nourished, literally the gnawing feeling we have when we are hungry.
We should therefore always warn our Metal and Earth patients that this might happen, reassuring them it this is a good sign that treatment is clearing things away, so that their energy can be replenished with the good things of life. After all, that is why we often add that prime clearer-away-of-rubbish, the point IX (Lu) 8, Meridian Gutter, to the normal command point treatment at the very early stages of Metal treatment. And similarly with Earth, we may add XII (Sp) 8, Earth Motivator, or XI (St) 24, Lubrication Food Gate, early on. In their different ways, these points all have the effect of helping the element we are directing our attention at to reveal its true needs.
I felt that this Metal patient had so profound an emptiness of spirit that after the initial Metal treatments with which we should always start treatment (see my Handbook of Five Element Practice here for advice on what these points are), I felt she might need more to replenish her. The obvious point which comes to mind here is IV (Ki) 24, Spirit Burial Ground, but I also felt that she might benefit from another point one or two treatments later, a point which JR Worsley told us is “like IV 24, only deeper”, and that is III (Bl) 42, Spiritual Soul Gate. And somewhere I feel the lovely point, I (Ht) 1, Utmost Source, beckoning at some time in the future. JR told us that this was the supreme connecting point, re-establishing a direct connection between Heaven and Man (and Woman of course). It can be used for patients of any element, and what better point for a Metal patient who, in my eyes, so obviously has lost a sense of this connection.
After I left the practice room I realised that I was in danger of forgetting something JR Worsley told us about treating Metal patients, and which I had not pointed out at the time to the practitioner. This is something which also applies to treating Earth patients. He told us that we need to be aware that, for different reasons, both elements might find the start of treatment difficult. Both might find that the first few treatments could have the somewhat disturbing effect of making them feel rather empty. I see this as confirming that these first treatments have such a profound effect by addressing the element so directly that they often strip away some of the defences we put up to cope with life. Metal may therefore experience, perhaps for the first time, a profound emptiness of the spirit, that spiritual disconnection which is the burden Metal has to bear when it is out of balance. Earth, by contrast, may experience a more physically-based emptiness, that of not being nourished, literally the gnawing feeling we have when we are hungry.
We should therefore always warn our Metal and Earth patients that this might happen, reassuring them it this is a good sign that treatment is clearing things away, so that their energy can be replenished with the good things of life. After all, that is why we often add that prime clearer-away-of-rubbish, the point IX (Lu) 8, Meridian Gutter, to the normal command point treatment at the very early stages of Metal treatment. And similarly with Earth, we may add XII (Sp) 8, Earth Motivator, or XI (St) 24, Lubrication Food Gate, early on. In their different ways, these points all have the effect of helping the element we are directing our attention at to reveal its true needs.
I felt that this Metal patient had so profound an emptiness of spirit that after the initial Metal treatments with which we should always start treatment (see my Handbook of Five Element Practice here for advice on what these points are), I felt she might need more to replenish her. The obvious point which comes to mind here is IV (Ki) 24, Spirit Burial Ground, but I also felt that she might benefit from another point one or two treatments later, a point which JR Worsley told us is “like IV 24, only deeper”, and that is III (Bl) 42, Spiritual Soul Gate. And somewhere I feel the lovely point, I (Ht) 1, Utmost Source, beckoning at some time in the future. JR told us that this was the supreme connecting point, re-establishing a direct connection between Heaven and Man (and Woman of course). It can be used for patients of any element, and what better point for a Metal patient who, in my eyes, so obviously has lost a sense of this connection.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
The effect of needling Large Intestine 7 Warm Current on two Metal patients
I like to share interesting feedback from the practice of
other five element practitioners, so below I pass on what I have just received in an email
from Pierre Bulteau, who lives in Rennes in Brittany
Pierre
I say that it requires courage to be a five element practitioner because we have no textbook to refer to and no fixed criteria we can call upon to define an element. Who can describe, in words, the green colour on a person’s face or the sound of laughter which distinguishes Fire’s outburst of joy from the nervous expression of Water? Because we have to rely on our purely subjective skills, we have to learn to cope very much on our own with the inevitable highs and lows our practice demands of us.
So here is whatPierre
“Today I would like to give you a feedback about the use of a point. I had read in your handbook that you like using the point X7 to bring some heat to a Metal patient. In the last month I had the occasion to use it on two Metal patients.
The first one, despite the good treatment I give him since 4 months, still had cold feet all the time. After using Warm Current X7, his feet are normally hot now without collapse.
The second one is a Metal patient I have treated during 2 years. Until now, his health was good and the last year I just saw him at the season change. But on Monday when he visit me for the preparation of the spring he explained me a constant feeling of cold in the lumbar with chills since Christmas. I used again X7 with success because today he sent me a SMS to say that the symptom has disappeared.
It's wonderful to discover another way to use the points through an element and his channels.
Before, because of their weak kidney pulse I would have reinforced the kidney Yang. Now with five element acupuncture I stay on an element and I look for a point which can help this person belonging to a specific element.
What a wonderful system of healing!”
Aware that other branches of acupuncture locate X 7 at 5 ACI (cun) rather than the 7 ACI that we do, I asked him where he had needled the point. This turned out to be at 5 ACI, which again raised the question in his mind, and in mine, about a practitioner’s intention when needling. He then sent me a very interesting reply with his thoughts on this, which concludes with the following beautiful thought:
“So, as a quantum physicist that I am before being an acupuncturist, I really think that our faith coming from our heart is the key to allow a treatment to succeed. Indeed, consciousness has a direct action on the Qi.
No matter where you choose to locate a point, what really matters is to believe it with all your heart."
This has set me thinking again about what I always describe as the tricky topic of a practitioner’s intention, to be discussed further in another blog when I have thought this through in more detail.
I would like to thank Pierre for constantly stimulating my ideas with his often challenging questions in the many emails he sends me asking for help with his five element practice. You certainly keep me on my toes, Pierre!
I say that it requires courage to be a five element practitioner because we have no textbook to refer to and no fixed criteria we can call upon to define an element. Who can describe, in words, the green colour on a person’s face or the sound of laughter which distinguishes Fire’s outburst of joy from the nervous expression of Water? Because we have to rely on our purely subjective skills, we have to learn to cope very much on our own with the inevitable highs and lows our practice demands of us.
So here is what
“Today I would like to give you a feedback about the use of a point. I had read in your handbook that you like using the point X7 to bring some heat to a Metal patient. In the last month I had the occasion to use it on two Metal patients.
The first one, despite the good treatment I give him since 4 months, still had cold feet all the time. After using Warm Current X7, his feet are normally hot now without collapse.
The second one is a Metal patient I have treated during 2 years. Until now, his health was good and the last year I just saw him at the season change. But on Monday when he visit me for the preparation of the spring he explained me a constant feeling of cold in the lumbar with chills since Christmas. I used again X7 with success because today he sent me a SMS to say that the symptom has disappeared.
It's wonderful to discover another way to use the points through an element and his channels.
Before, because of their weak kidney pulse I would have reinforced the kidney Yang. Now with five element acupuncture I stay on an element and I look for a point which can help this person belonging to a specific element.
What a wonderful system of healing!”
Aware that other branches of acupuncture locate X 7 at 5 ACI (cun) rather than the 7 ACI that we do, I asked him where he had needled the point. This turned out to be at 5 ACI, which again raised the question in his mind, and in mine, about a practitioner’s intention when needling. He then sent me a very interesting reply with his thoughts on this, which concludes with the following beautiful thought:
“So, as a quantum physicist that I am before being an acupuncturist, I really think that our faith coming from our heart is the key to allow a treatment to succeed. Indeed, consciousness has a direct action on the Qi.
No matter where you choose to locate a point, what really matters is to believe it with all your heart."
This has set me thinking again about what I always describe as the tricky topic of a practitioner’s intention, to be discussed further in another blog when I have thought this through in more detail.
I would like to thank Pierre for constantly stimulating my ideas with his often challenging questions in the many emails he sends me asking for help with his five element practice. You certainly keep me on my toes, Pierre!
Friday, February 1, 2019
Reading about a heart-warming new community enterprise
It
always lightens my heart to hear about a successful community project which is
breathing new life into rundown city centres.
Nothing has equalled the glow that spread through me when I read an
article by George Monbiot in the Guardian on 24 January, with the title “Could this local experiment spark a national
transformation?”
He wrote about a visit he made to a 5-year community project called Every One, Every Day, set up by the local council in Barking and Dagenham, and inspired by a group called The Participatory City Foundation http://www.participatorycity.org.
I quote from his article: “They launched Every One, Every Day in November 2017, opening two shops (the first of five) on high streets in Barking and Dagenham. The shops don’t sell anything but are places where people meet, discuss ideas and launch projects. The scheme has also started opening “maker spaces”, equipped with laser cutters and other tools, sewing machines and working kitchens. These kinds of spaces are usually occupied by middle-class men, but, so far, 90% of participants here are women. The reason for the difference is simple: almost immediately, some of the residents drew a line on the floor, turning part of the space into an informal crèche, where women take turns looking after the children. In doing so, they overcame one of the biggest barriers to new businesses and projects: affordable childcare.”
He goes on to say: “There are welcoming committees for new arrivals to the street, community potluck meals, cooking sessions and street lunches. There’s a programme to turn boring patches of grass into community gardens, play corners and outdoor learning centres. There’s a bee school and a chicken school (teaching urban animal husbandry), sewing and knitting sessions, places for freelance workers to meet and collaborate, computing and coding workshops, storytelling for children, singing sessions and a games café. A local football coach has started training people in the streets. There’s a film studio and a DIY film festival too, tuition for spoken-word poets and a scheme for shutting streets to traffic so children can play after school. Local people have leapt on the opportunities the new system has created.”
George Monbiot finishes by writing: “Perhaps it’s not the whole answer to our many troubles. But it looks to me like a bright light in a darkening world.”
And it does to me, too. So I hope sharing this will lighten some of my readers’ day, too.
He wrote about a visit he made to a 5-year community project called Every One, Every Day, set up by the local council in Barking and Dagenham, and inspired by a group called The Participatory City Foundation http://www.participatorycity.org.
I quote from his article: “They launched Every One, Every Day in November 2017, opening two shops (the first of five) on high streets in Barking and Dagenham. The shops don’t sell anything but are places where people meet, discuss ideas and launch projects. The scheme has also started opening “maker spaces”, equipped with laser cutters and other tools, sewing machines and working kitchens. These kinds of spaces are usually occupied by middle-class men, but, so far, 90% of participants here are women. The reason for the difference is simple: almost immediately, some of the residents drew a line on the floor, turning part of the space into an informal crèche, where women take turns looking after the children. In doing so, they overcame one of the biggest barriers to new businesses and projects: affordable childcare.”
He goes on to say: “There are welcoming committees for new arrivals to the street, community potluck meals, cooking sessions and street lunches. There’s a programme to turn boring patches of grass into community gardens, play corners and outdoor learning centres. There’s a bee school and a chicken school (teaching urban animal husbandry), sewing and knitting sessions, places for freelance workers to meet and collaborate, computing and coding workshops, storytelling for children, singing sessions and a games café. A local football coach has started training people in the streets. There’s a film studio and a DIY film festival too, tuition for spoken-word poets and a scheme for shutting streets to traffic so children can play after school. Local people have leapt on the opportunities the new system has created.”
George Monbiot finishes by writing: “Perhaps it’s not the whole answer to our many troubles. But it looks to me like a bright light in a darkening world.”
And it does to me, too. So I hope sharing this will lighten some of my readers’ day, too.
“
Thursday, January 31, 2019
How watching a tennis match helped me observe something new about the Fire element
I am always fascinated to see how one small movement or gesture
can make me see the elements from a slightly different angle. The present example occurred during the award
ceremony at the recent Australian Open Tennis Tournament. Anybody who has read
what I have written over the years knows that I much enjoy watching sport. This love of mine started when I developed
scarlet fever as a young child, and, this being well before the age of
antibiotics, I had to be quarantined for six weeks in a room away from my
siblings. I whiled away the long hours
on my own listening to the daily cricket commentaries on the radio (no TV
then!). This love of cricket moved on to my enjoying watching many other
sports.
So it is no surprise to hear that I watched this tennis final on TV, and, apart from enjoying the tennis itself, was pleased that it confirmed something more for me about the Fire element. I had already thought that the element of the winner, Naomi Osaka, was Fire, but then I noticed another quirk of the Fire element which I don’t think I had observed so clearly before. Winners always take time to congratulate their opponents, and as she started to do this, she looked around uncertainly until she located her standing a little behind her. She then turned right away from the camera in front of her to look straight at her opponent as she talked, and became so absorbed in talking to her that she seemed to have forgotten all about the camera that was on her. It was almost as if the two of them were alone together, rather than in front of a huge stadium and TV audience. The camera-man had to shuffle round rather awkwardly so that Naomi was still on camera. To me this was an unexpected confirmation of Fire’s need to talk face-to-face to the person they are engaging with.
Afterwards I went through how I thought the other elements would react in a similar situation. I had seen Rafa Nadal, who I think is Wood, and Roger Federer, who I think is Water, accepting their winners’ trophies at different times, and both had continued talking to the interviewer, only glancing briefly over to include their opponents. Neither, I felt, looked as if they wanted to turn their back on the cameras as Naomi had done. I can’t recall any examples of Earth and Metal tennis champions, but I feel that it is probable that these two elements would be unlikely to have the same need to maintain the close eye-contact Naomi wanted. I think Earth would accept its role at the centre of the vast watching audience, whilst Metal, which always likes to remain slightly apart from the people it talks to, would be likely simply to stand there quietly. By contrast, Naomi’s movements were rather jerky and uneasy, and she never seemed to be still.
It was also interesting to read later that she had said that she was cross with herself for forgetting the speech she had prepared beforehand. I think only Fire would be so unselfconscious as to laugh at itself so openly in this way, by “opening its heart” and therefore making itself slightly vulnerable.
It is by being surprised at some quirk of behaviour such as the example I am describing here that I continue to add to my understanding of the elements. Observing the small differences between the way one person behaves compared with another is an excellent way of helping us refine our five element skills.
So it is no surprise to hear that I watched this tennis final on TV, and, apart from enjoying the tennis itself, was pleased that it confirmed something more for me about the Fire element. I had already thought that the element of the winner, Naomi Osaka, was Fire, but then I noticed another quirk of the Fire element which I don’t think I had observed so clearly before. Winners always take time to congratulate their opponents, and as she started to do this, she looked around uncertainly until she located her standing a little behind her. She then turned right away from the camera in front of her to look straight at her opponent as she talked, and became so absorbed in talking to her that she seemed to have forgotten all about the camera that was on her. It was almost as if the two of them were alone together, rather than in front of a huge stadium and TV audience. The camera-man had to shuffle round rather awkwardly so that Naomi was still on camera. To me this was an unexpected confirmation of Fire’s need to talk face-to-face to the person they are engaging with.
Afterwards I went through how I thought the other elements would react in a similar situation. I had seen Rafa Nadal, who I think is Wood, and Roger Federer, who I think is Water, accepting their winners’ trophies at different times, and both had continued talking to the interviewer, only glancing briefly over to include their opponents. Neither, I felt, looked as if they wanted to turn their back on the cameras as Naomi had done. I can’t recall any examples of Earth and Metal tennis champions, but I feel that it is probable that these two elements would be unlikely to have the same need to maintain the close eye-contact Naomi wanted. I think Earth would accept its role at the centre of the vast watching audience, whilst Metal, which always likes to remain slightly apart from the people it talks to, would be likely simply to stand there quietly. By contrast, Naomi’s movements were rather jerky and uneasy, and she never seemed to be still.
It was also interesting to read later that she had said that she was cross with herself for forgetting the speech she had prepared beforehand. I think only Fire would be so unselfconscious as to laugh at itself so openly in this way, by “opening its heart” and therefore making itself slightly vulnerable.
It is by being surprised at some quirk of behaviour such as the example I am describing here that I continue to add to my understanding of the elements. Observing the small differences between the way one person behaves compared with another is an excellent way of helping us refine our five element skills.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Announcing the publication of my new blog: A Five Element Companion
This can
be viewed at https://afiveelementcompanion.blogspot.com
Below I give my first entry for those who may be interested
in starting to read my weekly entries:
" 1. I find
that I have written down many more of my thoughts on my five element
practice that have not yet seen the light of day than I thought I
had. My old Viennese astrologer friend, Dr Oskar Adler, whom I have
mentioned before in my writings, always said that each of us has a duty to pass
on whatever we have learnt to the outside world. "We never know who
will read what we have written and who will learn from it," he would
say. So in the belief that the more that is written about five element
acupuncture the better, I will be using this new blog to pass on my thoughts to
whoever wishes to read them. I intend to add a new post about
once a week, and these individual entries taken together will form my eighth
book.
I am drawing together some of the writings about my practice as five element acupuncturist which I feel will be helpful for any of my colleagues, particularly now those in China, who want to benefit from what I have gradually learnt over the years. I am especially keen to pass on the lessons from my own acupuncture master, JR Worsley, with whom I studied closely for several years as part of my postgraduate training. One of the many things I remember him telling us was that we would always learn more from what we didn’t get right to start with, especially our diagnosis of guardian element, than when we got things right. I know that the mistakes I made in my early practice have always proved to be valuable lessons for me, and I therefore hope that what I write here will give five element practitioners a little more confidence and enjoyment in their five element practice."
I will continue to add to my current blog when interesting thoughts strike me which may not fit the structure of this new book.
I am drawing together some of the writings about my practice as five element acupuncturist which I feel will be helpful for any of my colleagues, particularly now those in China, who want to benefit from what I have gradually learnt over the years. I am especially keen to pass on the lessons from my own acupuncture master, JR Worsley, with whom I studied closely for several years as part of my postgraduate training. One of the many things I remember him telling us was that we would always learn more from what we didn’t get right to start with, especially our diagnosis of guardian element, than when we got things right. I know that the mistakes I made in my early practice have always proved to be valuable lessons for me, and I therefore hope that what I write here will give five element practitioners a little more confidence and enjoyment in their five element practice."
I will continue to add to my current blog when interesting thoughts strike me which may not fit the structure of this new book.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
My 2018 year-end summary
As the year nears its end, it leaves me with many mixed
feelings. Everybody knows how unhappy I
have been about this country’s suicidal plunge into its Brexit nightmare. I am a European through and through, half my
family being Austrian, and I love my multi-national heritage which led me into
a delight for languages. I will finish
this blog with something on this topic, but I like to include some more
heart-warming and life-enhancing moments which have occurred. These are the times which convince me that
there is indeed a pattern to my life into which all those things which I
consider important insert themselves, as though into some pre-ordained shape. There have been many such moments during the past
year, and I list a few of those I consider the most significant.
I have just come across something in a book I happened to pick up from a shelf of unread books, one that I had bought many, many months ago and often put aside as being something I did not at the moment feel I wanted to read. And yet today there it was, and I found myself taking it with me to my favourite breakfast cafe for my last end-of-year favourite breakfast (a single espresso and a croissant), only to find an illuminating passage which spoke to me.
"Just as when, as we read some books, an almost confusing feeling… can take hold of us, we hand ourselves over to the flow of the words, to their sound, and trust that the text will somehow help us, that it will do something to us, this is much like what happens when he (the main protagonist of this book) is writing. Forgetting all his plans and ideas, most of his notes thrown away - and whilst he hands himself over to the rhythm and poetic logic of the sentences, the smell of his pencils, their quiet scratch on the paper, he fills page after page with a story of which he had not before thought of one word.” (Ralf Rothman: Fire doesn’t burn)"
This exactly reflects what I often feel when reading - that a writer’s words mean something to me , although I don’t know exactly what, as though they reveal a truth hidden behind the actual words. Certainly this is often how I feel about that most elusive of all forms of writing, poetry. This I realise, too, is how I view five element acupuncture. I know that there is a truth hidden behind my practice which I have tried in my own way to put into words in my books, but behind the words I have found to describe what I do lies a profounder truth about human existence, and its glories and its tragedies, which is beyond words, or perhaps only accessible to the most gifted of writers. I cannot prove that the elements create life in all its varied forms as I describe their actions, and yet I know, at a level beyond words, that they do.
A profound confirmation of this thought occurred during one of my visits toBeijing Liu
Lihong , the host of all our many five element seminars, also
happened to be in Beijing
Peter, I think rather with tongue in cheek, and much to my surprise, since it contradicts what he says in his book, came out with the controversial statement that he didn’t think that JR Worsley had followed any particular acupuncture master in devising his approach to acupuncture. Whereupon Professor Liu said firmly, “There are three routes of transmission for any discipline. There is the direct transmission from master to pupil, the indirect transmission through texts, and then", he said, pointing above his head, "there is direct transmission from above." And this is how he felt JR Worsley had come to his understanding of five element acupuncture. I loved the fact that somehow something of the truth about human beings embedded in our knowledge of the elements was transmitted directly from above into JR’s heart, to be handed on, often in the same way, to others.
And something that has just happened rounds off my year with a smile, and makes this very sad year which seems to be heading inexorably towards the tragedy of Brexit end on a slightly happier note for me.
In September I wrote to JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame suggesting that it was time that an ardent anti-Brexiteer like her should stand up more and be counted to help fight the cause of us Remainers. For those of you who didn’t know I had done this, here is my September email to her, via her Press Secretary (email drafted with help from a PR expert (Gill):
"Dear JK Rowling,
For years I have not only admired your literary genius but also your strong political voice on many of the big issues of our time. So I have an ask. The anti-Brexit campaign is well meaning but failing. I know you have already spoken out about the stupidity of this decision, but as we draw closer to this political madness becoming a reality, could you maybe go even further? I am no publicist but could we get Harry Potter yelling from the rooftops to protest? Or a series of powerful tweets from you to help galvanise the country to halt this impending gloom?
Yours, in hope,
Nora Franglen"
I heard nothing back, and assumed that my email never reached her ….. except that, a day ago in the Guardian, I read the following:
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Leader: Author Rowling mocks Corbyn on Twitter: JK Rowling, a longtime critic of Jeremy Corbyn, has mocked the Labour leader’s position on Brexit in a series of 16 biblical-style tweets. Entitled “The Visitation of the Corbynites: A Festive Thread”, the Harry Potter author includes the claim that the possibility of “Saint Jeremy” bringing a “Jobs First Brexit” is “bollocks”.
Do you think she did, after all, get my email, and heard my plea? I’ll never know, but I like to think it may not just have been coincidence that she wrote this series of tweets.
I sent this email to many of my family and friends, finishing it with the words, with which I am rounding off my blogs for the year:
I have just come across something in a book I happened to pick up from a shelf of unread books, one that I had bought many, many months ago and often put aside as being something I did not at the moment feel I wanted to read. And yet today there it was, and I found myself taking it with me to my favourite breakfast cafe for my last end-of-year favourite breakfast (a single espresso and a croissant), only to find an illuminating passage which spoke to me.
"Just as when, as we read some books, an almost confusing feeling… can take hold of us, we hand ourselves over to the flow of the words, to their sound, and trust that the text will somehow help us, that it will do something to us, this is much like what happens when he (the main protagonist of this book) is writing. Forgetting all his plans and ideas, most of his notes thrown away - and whilst he hands himself over to the rhythm and poetic logic of the sentences, the smell of his pencils, their quiet scratch on the paper, he fills page after page with a story of which he had not before thought of one word.” (Ralf Rothman: Fire doesn’t burn)"
This exactly reflects what I often feel when reading - that a writer’s words mean something to me , although I don’t know exactly what, as though they reveal a truth hidden behind the actual words. Certainly this is often how I feel about that most elusive of all forms of writing, poetry. This I realise, too, is how I view five element acupuncture. I know that there is a truth hidden behind my practice which I have tried in my own way to put into words in my books, but behind the words I have found to describe what I do lies a profounder truth about human existence, and its glories and its tragedies, which is beyond words, or perhaps only accessible to the most gifted of writers. I cannot prove that the elements create life in all its varied forms as I describe their actions, and yet I know, at a level beyond words, that they do.
A profound confirmation of this thought occurred during one of my visits to
Peter, I think rather with tongue in cheek, and much to my surprise, since it contradicts what he says in his book, came out with the controversial statement that he didn’t think that JR Worsley had followed any particular acupuncture master in devising his approach to acupuncture. Whereupon Professor Liu said firmly, “There are three routes of transmission for any discipline. There is the direct transmission from master to pupil, the indirect transmission through texts, and then", he said, pointing above his head, "there is direct transmission from above." And this is how he felt JR Worsley had come to his understanding of five element acupuncture. I loved the fact that somehow something of the truth about human beings embedded in our knowledge of the elements was transmitted directly from above into JR’s heart, to be handed on, often in the same way, to others.
And something that has just happened rounds off my year with a smile, and makes this very sad year which seems to be heading inexorably towards the tragedy of Brexit end on a slightly happier note for me.
In September I wrote to JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame suggesting that it was time that an ardent anti-Brexiteer like her should stand up more and be counted to help fight the cause of us Remainers. For those of you who didn’t know I had done this, here is my September email to her, via her Press Secretary (email drafted with help from a PR expert (Gill):
"Dear JK Rowling,
For years I have not only admired your literary genius but also your strong political voice on many of the big issues of our time. So I have an ask. The anti-Brexit campaign is well meaning but failing. I know you have already spoken out about the stupidity of this decision, but as we draw closer to this political madness becoming a reality, could you maybe go even further? I am no publicist but could we get Harry Potter yelling from the rooftops to protest? Or a series of powerful tweets from you to help galvanise the country to halt this impending gloom?
Yours, in hope,
Nora Franglen"
I heard nothing back, and assumed that my email never reached her ….. except that, a day ago in the Guardian, I read the following:
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Leader: Author Rowling mocks Corbyn on Twitter: JK Rowling, a longtime critic of Jeremy Corbyn, has mocked the Labour leader’s position on Brexit in a series of 16 biblical-style tweets. Entitled “The Visitation of the Corbynites: A Festive Thread”, the Harry Potter author includes the claim that the possibility of “Saint Jeremy” bringing a “Jobs First Brexit” is “bollocks”.
Do you think she did, after all, get my email, and heard my plea? I’ll never know, but I like to think it may not just have been coincidence that she wrote this series of tweets.
I sent this email to many of my family and friends, finishing it with the words, with which I am rounding off my blogs for the year:
A Happy Christmas, and now a Happy New Year, to you all from a smiling
Nora! Let us hope the world becomes a happier
place in 2019.
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