the causative factor

The Causative Factor is expressed through the colour, sound, odour and emotion of the individual. When speaking to most people we will experience at least two or three emotions in the space of an couple of minutes. If we look carefully we might possibly see two or three colours on the face, or hear one or two sounds in the voice. If we are really skilled we will also be able to smell an odour. The job of the five element acupuncturist is to see, hear, ask and feel which of the elements is the causative factor, and then treat it with points that are appropriate to the patient on that day.

a typical five element treatment

Usually the acupuncturist starts a session by looking for and removing blocks in the patient’s flow of energy. These are picked up on the twelve pulses at the wrist. Blocks usually occur between the end of one meridian and the beginning of the next, and can be felt as discrepancies between the volume and qualities of the pulses.

Once the connections between the channels are clear, the treatment begins. The treatment usually consists of anything from two to eight points, warmed with moxa, and needled bilaterally. Choosing the points comes out of the interaction between the individual and the acupuncturist on the day.

`If there is anything more you would like to know, please ask using the contact page or the comment bubble at the top of the post’.

many thanks

Nick

interdependency of the five elements

The five elements can be arranged either in a circle, showing the cycle of life, or in a cross formation. The circle formation shows water (at the bottom) feeding wood, which burns to make fire (at the top), whose ashes make soil, within which trace metals condense and hold water, which feeds wood etc. The cross formation shows water at the bottom giving substance to form or matter; fire at the top instigating movement; wood emerging from water on the left, reaching for fire overhead; to the right, metal having been created by fire descends into water, and finally earth in the middle (the combination of water, wood, fire and metal) turning round and round.

the technical bit

What is interesting about these concepts is that modern science is now able to validate them. For instance, we now understand that where there is warmth and water (at least on Earth) there is life. We also now understand that all the metals found here on Earth were originally forged at the centre of stars, something that the ancients may not have understood in detail, but at least they understood the principle that fire creates metal. Once we start to delve into five element theory we start to see the fusion of science, spirituality, folk law and myth. Click the link for a short list of the many correspondences of the five phases including season, climate, flavour, direction, position, movement, transformation, colour, sound, odour and emotion.

etymology of the term element

The term ‘element’ is a translation of the character 行 xing, meaning to step 彳 (chi) and stop 亍 (chu). It can be used and translated (as with most Chinese characters) in many different ways. In English we arrive at several meanings, those being, to march (like an army), a phase, period, a step, a movement or element.

history of the five elements

The precise origin of the theory of the five elements, or five phases, is not known. References to a sequential theory of ‘five virtues’ can be found as far back as the fifth century B.C Around the third and second centuries B.C. increasingly complex patterns of five fold classifications emerged. These culminated in an apparent halting, of this evolving science, in the first century A.D. with an eminent author of the time ridiculing his contemporaries in their attempts to classify all types of natural phenomena into five elements or phases. It took exactly one thousand years from that point, before the doctrine of systematic correspondences was resurrected as the foundation of physiology, diagnosis, pathology and treatment we use today.¹

¹ P Unschuld, Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, University of California Press, 2003

Acupuncture has its prohibitions:
Fresh from sexual intercourse, do not needle;
fresh from needling, do not have intercourse.
If the patient is drunk, do not needle;
after needling do not drink.
Straight from physical labour, do not needle;
once needled, do not labour.
Full with food, do not needle;
once needled do not over-eat.
Starving hunger, do not needle;
after needling do not fast.
Feeling thirsty, do not needle;
after needling don’t go thirsty.

The text then goes on to say

When there is shock or anger, make sure the patient is centred before needling. When the patient comes by carriage, allow them to rest for the time it takes to eat a meal, then needle. If the patient comes on foot, ask them to lie down the time it takes to walk ten villages.

From this we can see the general advice to anyone having acupuncture is to be calm, both immediately before and after treatment. I would suggest observing the list above for at least a whole day after each acupuncture session, which is the time it takes for the qi to do one entire revolution of the energetic system. As for drinking wine after treatment, it is generally accepted amongst most five element practitioners that drinking alcohol or taking drugs on the day of a treatment is akin to flushing the treatment down the drain.

Living in accord with the seasons
In addition to this list above there is also the question of how one protects the effects of the treatments in the long term. The answer is to try to live in sync with the seasons. This means starting to go to bed earlier as the nights draw in, gradually doing less and less in the way of stressful work as one approaches the shorter winter days. The opposite goes for the other half of the year as the days get longer. Of course this can be hard for people to follow in today’s 7am-9pm culture. The general idea is to become more aware of the weather and season. Eating seasonal food is another way to keep the body well. Not only is it local, native and appropriate to the environment in which we live but also closer and usually fresher. On cold days we need warmth in our food. On hot days it’s good to eat cooler food. These are the basics, but for more information on how to live in harmony with each season, have a look for ‘The Way of Heaven’, which is chapters one and two of the ancient medical text, nei jing su wen, or ‘Internal Classic and Questions on Disease’ which deals solely with this topic. I will be posting about this in the future, so check back for a link soon.

Water
One of the most important things I ask patients is to look at their water consumption. The average human being is made up of 60 – 70% water, so it is a good idea to replace that content regularly with clear, plain water. It is recommended that new patients try to cut back on teas, coffees and flavoured drinks.

As always, if you have any questions, please get in touch via the contact page or leave a message.