The five element acupuncture handbook

120 Pages·1998·10.97 MB·English

by  Sharon M. Smith

The
Five
Element
Acupuncture
Handbook
SecondE dition
SharonM . Smith,L .Ac., Dipl.Ac.( NCCAOM)
Illustrations by Barbara Donelan
Acknowledgments
As with most major projectst,h is book is the producto f manyp eople'se nergya ndi deas' I
thank my many teacheis.n obert Duggan,D ianne Connelly,J ack Daniel,..JanGe rissmer'H aig
Ignatius,Z oe Brenner,E rica Lazaro,J uliaM easuresP, eterM arinakis,L eslie Shaperoa nd Cyrie
Barnes.E dnaB randtg avem eh ern otesa ndg raciouslys upportedm ea sI taughtt heoryf or the first
tlme.
The studentsw ho taught me over the yearsw ere a major influenceo |Jh: way this handbook
was put together. They made many valuable suggestionsa bout what they liked and what could be
improved t-o make the material more helpful to ttrem as learners. I am so fortunate to be with
students.
Two studentsw ere especiallyi nvaluablet o the production of this handbook. Barbara Rise
Donelan made the information come alive. Her editing skills gave consistencya nd clarity to the
words. Her graphics added anotherd imensiont o the material. I am deeply grateful to her for her
dedication and skills and for the many interesting conversationsa bout Five Element Acupuncture'
She is truly a marvel.
I also want to thank AlexandraK nox who stepped in for the final editing; she asked great
questions, researcheds ources and made suggestionsf or further clarification of the material' The
subtle changess he made in fonts and layout gave the handbook a fresh new look- I appreciateh er
generousg ifts of her time and talents.
I deeply appreciate that J. R. Worsley brought the information together as the Worsley
Tradition of Five Eiement Acupuncture. Thank you Professor Worsley'
My husband John deservesa million kisses and hugs for his support as I spent seemingly
endlessh ours at the computer - hours I could have spent with him.
Introduction
Them oreI studya cupunctureth, e cleareirt is to met hatt herea rem anyw ayst o reacht he
samet herapeutice nd. The method reflectedi n this handbooki s derived primarily from J.R.
Worsley'sfo rmulationo fFiveElemenAt cupuncturea,l sok nowna sleamingtonA cupunctureT. here
are other types of Five ElementA cupuncture,n otably Meridian Therapy as developedb y the
Japanese.
Theh andbookc onsistso ffour sectionsC: onceptsP, ointC lassificatiorEq nergeticB locks,a nd
TreatmenTt echniquesE. achs ectionis presentedin snapshofta shion.I deasa rep resentedin a brief,
un-elaborateds tyle and are then expandedu pon during classroomp resentationa nd discussion.
Studentsa rei nvitedt o addt heir own notest o thesep ages.
Thish andbooke xplainsa sliceo fWorsleyF iveE lementA cupunctureT. het heoryp resented
is in realityj ust oneo f the wayst hat Five ElementA cupunctureh asb eent aughta t the Traditional
AcupunctureIn stitutei n ColumbiaM, aryland.O vert he years,p ractitionersh avec reatedv ariations
on Worsley'so riginalm aterial. Despites uchv ariations,t he primary body of informationi n this
tradition hash eld constant. It is my intentioni n this handbookt o presentt he centralt heoretical
frameworkf or basice nergeticc onceptsa ndt reatment,r athert hant he details.
Someo f thei nformationin cludedis not from Worsley'sF iveE lementt raditioq for example,
the Over-Controllinga ndV iolation Cycles,a ndt he TransportingP oints. Suchc onceptsa rew idely
usedb y bothF ive Elementa ndp ractitionerso f othert raditionsa nds tyles. Theya reh igtrlyv aluable
in understandinge nergetics,a nd give Five Element practitionersa broader vocabulary for
conversation.A ny materialt hat is outsidet he boundarieso f Worsley'sF ive ElementA cupuncture
will be noteda s such.
The major benefito f this handbooko n acupunctureth eory is to providea coherent
basisf or understandinegn ergeticsp,a tholory,a ndf or treatingp atients.T heoryh elpsu s organizeo ur
observationo fpatients,d eveloptr eatmenpt lans,a ndg enerallyp rovidesa frameb y whicht o structure
our practic. of urupnncture.T heoryi s simplyt he body of knowledgea nd principlesd erivedf rom
astuteo bservationa nde xtensivec linicale xperience.
Llltimately,t his handbooki s intendedto servea s a referencea nd guidef or students.T he
informationin this handbookis the combinedk nowledgeo f my manyt eachers-thoswe ho taughtm e
whenI was a studenta ndt hosew ho continueto teachm e. It is my hopet hat this acquiredw isdom
will enricht he practiceo f all my students.
SherryS mith
Columbia,M aryland
July, 1998
Table of Contents
lntroduction lll
Acknowledsments
Five ElementA cupuncture.
a
Concepts J
5
ShengC ycle
6
Law of Mother/Child
7
Ke Cycle
8
ChengC ycle
9
Wu Cycle
l0
Law of Midday/Ivlidnight
11
Law ofleast Action
t2
Law of Cure . . .
13
Law ofHusband/Wife
l4
CausativeF actor
14
Level of Treatment . . .
l6
Causeso f Disease
t9
Point Classification
2l
Types ofPoints
22
Command Points
28
SourceP oints
30
Xi Cleft Points
3l
EntrvlExit Points
32
ConceptionV essela ndG overnorV essel
35
AssociatedE ffect Points( AEPs)
36
Front Mu Points
37
UpperK idney Points
39
OuterB ladderL ine Points
4l
Influential Points
42
TransportingP oints
Windowsofthe Slcy. . . . . .
45
ReunionP oints
46
ForbiddenP oints
First Aid Points
47
Energetic Blocks
49
Blocks
vll
EnergeticB locks con't:
5l
Internal Dragonsa nd External Dragons
54
AggressiveE nergY
57
Husband/WifeB lock
60
UmbilicalP ulse
6l
Akabane
63
Quality on the Pulses
CV/GV Block
65
Entry/Exit
SpiritB lock
67
TreatmentT echniques
Tonificationa nd Sedation
70
Needle Technique
72
Moxibustion.. . .
74
Transfers
""'81
Readings
What is Five-ElementA cupuncture? " " 83
From LeamingtonA cupunctureto TCM andB ack Again ' ' ' 97
l
CausativFe actor:A Forum " " 103
CausativeF actor " 109
Why Do PeopleG et Sick? The ChineseV iew ' ' ' ' ' 115
'""l2l
FiveElementTreatmentPrinciples....
TheP aradoxo fParadigmsa ndP oints " " " 123
' ' 127
Possessioans M etaPhor
Clinical Note: The Mystery of AggressiveE nergy ' ' 133
MoxaStickUsage... "'135
' ' 137
ForbiddenPoints
MeridianN amesa ndA bbreviations ' ' ' 139
r4l
Index
vllr
Five ElementA cupuncture
FiveE lementA cupunctureirs basedo n nature. The Chineseo bservedth e cycleso f nature
as they arer eflectedi n the seasonsin, the rhythmso f daya ndn ight,a ndi n the movemenot f all
living thingst hroughb irth, growth, declinea ndd eath.H umanb eings,a sp art of nature,a re
governedb y the samela ws.
The five elementsa rew ood, fire, eartlqm etal,a ndw ater. Eache lementr epresentas
seasonin nature'sc yclea nda phaseo f a person'se nergy.T hem eridiansa ssociatewdi th each
elementa rel ikenedio * Official of a kingdom. EachO fficialm ustd o its job in orderf or the
kingdomt o prosper.L ikewisei n eachp ersonth ev ariousa spectos f the person'se nergym ust
functionw ell for the persont o enjoyg oodh ealth. Wheno neO fficialb ecomesu nablet o do its
job, otherO fficialsm ust stepi n to fulfill thosef unctions.F ive ElementA cupunctures eeksto
strengthena nd supportt he person'se nergys o that all Officialsi n the kingdomf unctionw ell.
The inter-relationshiposf the five elementsis important. Eache lementa ffectsa ndi s
affectedb y all the others. In a person,t he dynamicsa mongt he elementsa re observedin ordert o
understandh ow bestt o treat a patientw ith acupuncture.
Eache lemenits associatewd ith a seto f correspondencesE.m phasisis placedo n the
correspondencoefsc olor, sound,o dor,a nde motion.T hesec orrespondencaerse o bservedb y
seeing asking,f eelinga nds mellingin ordert o discernt he stateo f the elementsin the person.
The personc ant henb e treateda ccordingly.
The roots of the tradition ofFive ElementA cupunctureg o backt o ancientC hina.U sing
theser oots alongw ith informationf rom other sourcesD, r. J. R. Worsleyo f LeamingtonS pa,
England,s ynthesizetdh e informationi nto a systemo f acupuncturea s it is taughtt oday-2L ater
generationso f practitionersc ontinuet o addt o the body of knowledgeth rought heir own
experienceisn the treatmentr oom.
I See "What is Five Elerneot Acupuncture?" page 83, aad "From Lramington Acupuncture to TCM and Back Agairl" page97'
2 For detailed information, see Eckmaru Peter, In lhe Footsteps of lhe Yellow Empetor. Cypress Book Company, 1996-
ShengC ycle
Generatingc ycle or Creative cycle
Definition
Everything that exists, from a single cell to planet Earth, goes through its own cycle of birth,
maturity, decline, and death. This is a cycle of creation; there is no beginning and no end. At any
given moment everything is in a stageo f the Shengo r creation cycle. The cycle can be observed
in u -orn.nq in a lifetime, and in all periods of time in between. With the five elements,e ach
elementi s generatedb y the precedinge lement.W ater generatesW ood, Wood generatesF ire, and
so forth.
Characteristics
Energy moves in a clockwise direction on the cycle-
The Qi3 moving in the Sheng cycle is alwaysi n motion.
The flow of movement in this cycle is from Yin Official to Yin Official and Yang Official to Yang
Official.
The Qi in this cycle is sharedb y pairedm eridians.
Wood createsF ire Wood : growth
Fire createsE arth Fire = maximal growth
Earth createsM etal Earth : balance
Metal createsW ater Metal : decline
Water createsW ood Water : maximal decline
Clinical Significance
Explainsh ow the Qi flows, essentiatlo both diagnosisand treatment planning.
Provides a pattern with which to direct the flow of Qi in the patient.
'
Qi is often lranslated from the Chinese as "enerry."
Law of Mother/Child
I
Definition
The law of Mother/Child is a relationship that perpetuatesth e Sheng cycle. That is, the mother
generatest he child.
Each of the five elements,W ater, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal, is generatedb y the elementt hat
precedesi t. Thus, each elementi s the Mother of the succeedinge lement. The succeeding
elementi s the Child element.
Characteristics
Symptomsm ay show up in the Mother and/or the Child.
Pathologt occurs when one or both Mother and/or Child are out of balance.
An excessiveM other will causej ust as much trouble as a deficient Mother.
A strong Child may be well even though the Mother is out of balance.
A Child that is sick for a very long time will eventuallyd epletet he Mother.
A healthyM other and Child reinforce each other.
Clinical Significance
In diagnosis,t o discern the health of the Mother and Child.
If an imbalanceo ccurs in an element,t he Mother and the Child4 of that element may also be
unbalanced.
Treating the Mother may help the Child.
Treating the Child may help the Mother.
o
Not" th"l "Motte/' and "Child" are relative teros. For exa.nrple:
(1) The relatiorship of two elements: Fire is the Mother of Earth aod Earth is the Child of Fire.
(2) The relationship of tbree elernents: Fire is the Mother of Earth and Metal is the Child of Earth
Ke Cycle
Controlc vcle
Definition
The Kes cycle prevents the Shengc ycle from getting out of control.
The Grandmother controls the Child's growth.
Characteristics
The Ke cycle exists simultaneouslyw ith the Shengc ycle.
Patholog occurs when the Child's growth is over-controlled (Cheng qtcle, page 8/ or
uncontrolled (Wu cycle, page 9). Either one is as harmful as no growth at all.
Energy moves only from Yin Official to Yin Official on the Ke cycle.
Ke cycle pathways do not generatet heir own energy.
Metaphorically: Earth guidesW ater
Water coolsF ire
Fire warmsM etal
Metal prunesW ood
Wood holdsE arth
Clinical Significance
To discernt he influence of the Grandmother on the Child.
The paths of the Ke cycle can be used to transfer energy from one Yin Official to another Yin
Official.
5 AJ"o "K'o" in the Wade Giles rraosfiteration-
Law of MiddaYlVlidnight
Definition
Each meridian'se nergyf low is highesta nd functioning optimally during a two-hour time period
eachd ay. Conversely,it s energyf low is lowest during the oppositet ime of day. These
two hour time periodsa re illustratedo n the ChineseC lock.s
During the high phase,t he Official is most accessible'
During the low phase,t he Official is least accessible'
Characteristics
Providesa guide to observed aily cycles-
'standard'
The time periods are expressedin sun or time.
Clinical Significance
In diagnosis,t his is the time when a patientm ay feel best or worst.
This law may be used as a guide to set daily rhythms in one'sl ife.
The Horary pointe is used during the high phaset o accesst he official.
In praaice, the first paired meridian may be treated at the end of its high phase, and the second
paired meridian at the beginning of its high phase.
| 2 3 a t 6f a lrorrlar 2 t /1 5 5 I t Sr0lll2
am
Pm
Treat the Btadder/Ill lvleridian just before5 PM sun time and
the Kidney/TVM eridian just after 5P1ss.fu n time.
8 The time periods are shown by the Chinese clock in the ceoter of the Worsley Five Elenrent chart
9 Horuy means..hourly." See page 24 for discwion of time and sonal usge of Horary points.
t0