Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing
“The system of the Five Spirits is a symbolic representation of human consciousness. Each spirit presides over a particular aspect of the nervous system, a specific form of awareness and a precisely defined level of the psyche. Each spirit not only has its own function and terrain but also functions as an expression of the divine in human life.”
Five Spirits has been capturing the hearts and imaginations of practitioners and people all over the world since its publication in 2006. The book introduces readers to wushen, the little-known Taoist “chakra system”—a mythical map of the nervous system that returns the sacred to the domain of embodied healing. Part I presents an over-view of the alchemical principals that form the foundation of acupuncture’s esoteric psycho-spiritual tradition. In Part II, we descend the mountain of the spirits with individual chapters for each spirit that includes the psychological or soul function as well as common associated symptoms and treatment. Part III explores the stages of transformation and offers guidance on how to skillfully navigate the chaotic waters that are a necessary part of any truly transformational healing experience.
The book resists the temptation to translate Chinese medicine into a Western form of understanding, but instead supports and expansion of Western consciousness that allows us to access the magical-mythical awareness at the heart of acupuncture’s inner tradition. Through myth, symbols, dreams, and clinical case examples, Five Spirits will open you to Chinese medicine as a form of alchemy. This perspective helps us to recognize the spiritual implications of our everyday suffering and to work effectively with the anxiety, confusion, anger, addiction, and other non-physical ‘soul’ symptoms that plague modern culture. The five spirits come to us through the mists of time to shine a light for the path of healing.
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