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Tissue Depths and Depth Tools
What follows is a discussion of many more treatment tools that can be applied in Fu Xi Wen at the same time as sound and magnets. You do not need to employ these additional tools to see results. However, there is a synergistic benefit to adding these tools to your work. If it all seems overwhelming, focus exclusively on the Man level tools, as I have done for a long time. Since Man is the bridge between Heaven and Earth, these tools can treat Heaven and Earth problems. Also, see the shortcut mentioned at the end – it will make it all much more manageable.
These tools are complex and a bit strange from our Western psychology. On their face, some may make no sense. But each tool is powerful for its purpose. I do not expect you to master them all right away. What I suggest is that you try only those tools that appear most helpful at any given moment.
Man Level Tools
Man Level Depth Tools:
In addition to treating specific tissue depths, each energetic tool resonates strongest in its own energetic zone in Heaven/Man/Earth planes. When lying down with the Head in the East and the feet in the West, sound most strongly affects the feet. Herbs and food resonate in the legs to low abdomen. Homeopathic medicines affect the upper abdomen. Emotions enter the chest. Smells energize the neck and shoulders. And light strongly impacts the face.
Within each tool category, five “frequencies” are needed to treat any problem. I have identified some that work clinically, but my list is not comprehensive by any means of the imagination. For instance, with music, the five basic frequencies are repeated over and over again in different octaves and scales. This is also true for light that has many shades within a single color. This is true for tastes with a spectrum of sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and acrid tastes. This is true for every tool category.
The individual tools I present within
each category are individuals among a large array of possibilities.
In nature, most things exist in complexity. Just like music contains
many frequencies of sound together, in nature, foods, smells, and
colors exist in combination. To make them clinically relevant, I have
focused on trying to find the the purest, most representative tools
within each category. A tool that only makes one tone can be used
with another tool making another singular tone like the same
individual letters can be used to make up a dictionary of words. My
choices, therefore, were ones that I thought were as pure examples of
the Five Elements as I could find. I hope and expect other people
will identify different tools within each category that are just as
Sound
The five frequencies I chose correspond with the five planets that have Five Element relationships assigned to them by the Neijing, the oldest classic of Chinese medicine. See the chapter “Why These Frequencies”.
Taste
Remember, in the Man level you don't actually eat these items, they are used for their energetic effects only. I use the following herbs and foods in my clinic. Hong Teng is an herb that is neutral and bitter. I use this for Fire. Almonds are sweet and neutral. I use these for Earth. I use Shi Gao, gypsum, for Metal as it is acrid and cold. I use pumice, Fu Hai Shi, for Water as it is salty and cold. I use Jin Ying Zi for Wood as it is neutral and sour.
Here are some household items you can use instead of strange Chinese herbs. For Earth, you can use almonds, carrots, figs, or rice. For Metal you can use Earl Grey tea, ginger, coriander, or basil. For Water you can use table salt, sea weed, or calcium (with nothing else added such as preservatives, fillers, or other vitamins). For Wood you can use lemon, lime, or vitamin C (with nothing else added such as preservatives, fillers, or other vitamins). For Fire you can use fennugreek seed, rye flour with nothing else added, aloe plant juice, or rhubarb.
Smell
These items are also not ingested. Essential oils are available at most health foods stores. Metal: oil of bergamot. Water: cypress oil (though I detect some Metal as well – but use it anyway because of the Mother Child relationship). Wood: lemon oil. Fire: myrrh oil. Earth: cinnamon oil.
Color
To use color, you need a flashlight with color filters or little LED lights that are pre-filtered for specific colors. Red is Fire. Yellow is Earth. White is Metal. Blue is Water. Green is Wood.
Homeopathic Medicine
Classical homeopaths no doubt will find the use of homeopathic medicines strange and even troubling. Again, no homeopathic medicine is ingested. This tool is only used superficially to help send Five Element energy to a specific tissue depth.
For Fire use sulphur. For Earth use arnica montana. For Metal use argentum nitricum. For Water use calcarea carbonica. For Wood use rhus tox.
Homeopathic remedies start weak at 6X and get stronger at 30C, stronger yet at 200C, and then get wicked scary at more diluted doses. I use 200C in my practice but find 30C works just fine. I therefore recommend that you get 30C, which should be available at a local health food store or grocery.
Emotions
The last Man level treatment tool is your own ability to feel any emotion at any time. All you need to do is concentrate on feeling particular emotions.
The Metal emotion is feeling whole and having integrity, or pride. The Water emotion is confidence. The Wood emotion is growth and transformation (just imagine you are growing like a seed to sprout). The Fire emotion is love. The Earth emotion is trust and nurturing.
Emotion is a tool that can be used alone. Please see the Advanced chapters on Emoteishin™ to see how you can feel specific emotions in specific sequences to treat specific tissues.
How To Use Man Level Tools
You can use just the right tool to treat the specific problem level, or you can use multiple tools together to treat all of the energetic levels or a few of them. In my practice, I have made little pouches that contain all of the tools that fit within a single Element. So, for Earth I have a pouch that contains a cotton ball or Q-tip with cinnamon oil, an almond, and arnica montana. I hold this, a yellow light, and my Earth sound tool together, pointing the sound tool at the T° I want to treat.
From a Western mind schooled in Western medicine, the idea of making a “healing pouch” of sorts may be strange and off-putting. But Fu Xi Wen is a new medicine with a theory of practice that is new to you. Before you reject its tools, please experiment with them so that at the very least your decisions are from a perspective of understanding.
So, let's say I have to increase Earth in the Man plane of the muscle. I can take all of my Earth tools together. I apply my sound tool at the T° that corresponds with the muscle (see the tissue-angle chart), and I move the tools East and West at that angle. And this treats every tissue depth of the muscle simultaneously for an incredibly deep treatment.
Earth Level Tools
The Earth plane has eight lines of force. What this means is that every tissue of the body or every part of the body from skin to bone marrow can be broken down into eight segments from North to South. Just as with the Man Level, each segment has its own treatment tool that guides energy to that segment.
Earth tools are physical – because they treat the physical Yin.
The Earth Level Tools are:
As you can see these tools are very physical. Every one of these tools can be used in Fu Xi Wen, even needles. Though when it comes to needles, we use non-inserted Teishin rather than inserted acupuncture needles.
One of the best ways to use Earth level tools is with remote treatment using the Five Element meridian points that will be discussed in a Advanced level chapters. However, you apply Earth level tools to areas local to the tissue you need to treat. It is not necessary to apply these tools directly to the tissue you are treating. In some cases, doing so may be extremely dangerous, such as with major arteries or organs.
Magnets
As discussed in the Apprentice chapters, magnets are used to improve the performance of a treatment by affecting the Jing. The Jing is the physical form. Since the Earth plane is all about physicality, it makes sense that our first tool is a magnet. Magnets therefore have an affinity for the energy floating beneath the line of force beneath the feet.
Touch
Touching the skin lightly treats the surface of any tissue and the skin itself. This tool enters the first Earth level and has an affinity for the energy at the feet.
Scratching (Gua Sha)
Scratching is as simple as taking a nail and scratching the skin. Spooning is the rubbing of a porcelain spoon on the skin surface. The small blood vessels and lymphatic system are most effected. Both scratching and Gua Sha move energy in the second tissue level and are most associated with the lower legs.
Pinching/Cupping
Pinching is grabbing the flesh between the two fingers and raising it away from the body. Cupping is the application of suction to the skin, sucking up layers of skin, blood vessels, flesh and the muscle surface. It therefore effects the muscle surface most dramatically and has been used across the world traditionally to treat muscular pain. It has an energetic affinity with the upper legs and low abdomen below the bellybutton. Pinching and cupping both move energy in the third Earth level.
Electricity or Consuming Herbs
Electricity is the application of a safe, low intensity electrical charge to the skin. Specific tools are available to do this and no one should try to make their own tools for this without proper training as it can be dangerous. Electricity moves energy in the muscles.
If not eating the herbs used in treatment seemed a bit whacky in the Man level of energy, you're in luck. You eat the herbs to treat the muscle or interior energetic level in the Earth plane. Herbs come in every flavor and every energetic movement. Yet, they have their greatest affinity with the abdomen. Herbs bring energy to the fourth Earth level.
Poking or Bloodletting
Poking is the application of pressure to the skin surface until a pulse can be felt beneath the fingertip.
Bloodletting is likely to be the most foreign technique to someone who has never actually experienced Chinese bloodletting. Unlike the West that historically took pints of blood out of people to treat diseases, only a single drop of blood or a few drops are taken out in Chinese bloodletting. It is thought that bloodletting releases the spirit and is often used for emotional issues. It affects the large blood vessels and has an affinity with the energy moving in the chest and the fifth Earth level.
Massage
Massage in this case is opening and closing the fingers rhythmically to move the tissues towards and away from each other. Massage has the greatest effect on the tendons and ligaments as well as the exterior deep energy level. In the West, we use massage to relax, de-stress, or treat pain. Massaging the tendons effects the sixth energetic level that is also associated with the neck and shoulders (down to a line that connects the armpits). Massage moves energy in the sixth Earth level. (Please note that this massage is different from the Fu Xi Wen massage techniques described in the Apprentice chapter “Fu Xi Wen Massage”).
Warming or Moxibustion
Warming is the application of heat to the body. This can be done with a rag with hot water, the use of a candle flame (though this is dangerous so be very careful to avoid burning yourself, catching your clothes on fire, or burning your house down) or incense stick, or the application of some form of hot pack.
Traditional Chinese medicine relies
heavily on an herb called Artemesia Mugwort, or moxa. It is burnt on
needles, near the skin or even while resting on the skin using
specific non-scarring techniques (traditionally scarring techniques
Another warming technique is to vigorously rub the skin towards the South, East, or upward.
Needling
The tool most people associate with acupuncture is the small metal needle that is inserted into the skin. While acupuncture needles are excellent healing tools, they scare the heck out of people and there use is likely outside your skill set or legal abilities. In Fu Xi Wen, we use metal chopsticks instead. A chopstick is essentially a teishin, a large traditional needle that is not intended to be inserted through the skin. You simply touch it to the skin or angle it around the body at specific tissue-angles. Needles move energy at the eighth and deepest Earth level and are most associated with the energy above the eyebrows of the head.
How To Use Earth Level Tools
Earth tools are amazingly powerful. Acupuncture relies almost entirely on them and acupuncture is a fantastic medicine. Each Earth tool has an affinity for an energetic block and an energetic depth. But just as I advocated using the Man tools together, you can use the Earth tools together to prepare the local tissue for treatment. Assuming the area you need to treat is not a sensory organ or particular sensitive, all you need to do is first touch the skin lightly at the location of the tissue. Next, scratch the surface. Then pinch it. Then poke it. Then massage it back and forth. Apply a light electrical stimulation if you have this tool. Rub vigorously. Then point the teishin in the direction of the tissue-angle. After this preparation, use your Man level tools to generate the movement of energy needed to bring the tissue back towards balance at the correct T°.
Heaven Level Depth Tools
Our experience of Heaven relates to our emotions and our life experiences. Cultures from long ago developed tools still used today to manipulate energy in nine Yang Heaven lines of force. Just like the Man and Earth levels, the Heaven levels also are associated with the tissues in their Up/Down orientation in space. The Heaven tools are as follows:
In front of every Heaven tool, you could add the word “ritual” or “repeated” or “compulsive” and perhaps these tools make sense in how we use them daily in our lives. Religious rituals activate many of these tools and are used by many people to stimulate their Heavenly Yang. You may at first wonder how these can be used as tools. But if you think about each one, you will see how you can become energized or feel depleted depending on the kind of experience you have within each category.
Ancestoral Objects
Ancestoral objects
include objects that were made by ancestors (ie. pottery, paintings,
tools), human bones and therefore cemetaries, and photographs or
Objects that invoke love or chart the movement of ancestors relate to Fire. Charred objects also relate to Fire. Objects that relate to nurturing or eating relate to Earth. Objects made of mud or clay are also Earth. Objects of distinction, division, rank, and rewards relate to Metal. Metallic objects are also Metal. Objects that relate to structure and foundation relate to Water. Also, water-bearing objects such as functional fountains relate to Water. Objects that relate to action, growth or change relate to Wood. Wooden objects also relate to Wood.
Emotional Objects
Whether you are talking about a ring purchased by a loved one or a holy object in your religion, an emotional object activates the second-most superficial level of Heavenly energy. This energy is most aligned with the feet when the body is positioned with the feet on the floor.
Metal objects are objects that bring us pride. Water objects relate to the structures of our lives (such as religious objects). Wood objects reflect our growth. Fire objects define our life flow (such as a college degrees). Earth objects reflect our nurturing and trust.
Objects can be negative as well positive. A rejection letter, a ring from a divorced husband, even a house with bad memories can be objects that negatively effect our Heavenly energy.
Memories
Memories are nothing more than our feelings stuck in time. They relate to how we felt in the past when we at one point experienced the physical world in a very specific, emotional way. We don't often remember “useless” moments in time, but hold onto ones imbued with personal importance. Memories move energy in the second Heavenly level just beneath the skin and have an affinity for the lower legs when the body is upright.
Earth memories are memories of being nurtured. Metal memories help define us from other people, such as moments of accomplishment. Water memories are moments in time that are crucial to our identity and our life structures. Wood memories are memories of growth, transformation, action, and expansion. Fire memories are memories of love or movement.
Of course, memories can also be negative. When they are negative and often repeated, they cause energetic imbalances in our second Heavenly tissue layer or just beneath the skin. Repressed memories cause cold. Excessive thinking about the same memories cause heat. Spider veins are a sign of stagnant memories.
Ritual Acts (Rituals)
When we take an action, it is most often to meet a need or intention that has significance in our lives. Ritual is the use of specific actions in specific places at specific times to fulfill specific emotional or spiritual needs. Not every act or ritual in our lives is positive. A ritual action, for instance, may be a fighting between spouses. Every action moves our energy in the third Heavenly tissue level as well as in the upper legs and lower abdomen.
Fire acts are loving acts or acts that involve a lot of flow and change. Dancing is a Fire act, as is traveling. Earth acts are nurturing, rhythmic and/or sustaining. Cuddling is an Earth act. Earth is also accumulating, so coming together in groups is Earthy. Metal acts are defining and specific. Writing is Metal. Competition is Metal. Water acts are building, designing, or structuring. Putting together toy models or puzzles is Water. Wood acts are growing, learning, and communicating. Talking with someone else is Wood. Going to school is Wood.
Emotional Rituals
Our thoughts are often driven by our emotions. The abdomen is the seed of emotion so it is no coincidence that our thoughts move energy in the abdomen and are associated with the fourth/middle tissue level. Our emotion-driven thoughts are often rituals unto themselves. We often find ourselves stuck within repetitive thoughts that have unambiguous emotional attachments.
Often we face the underside of the emotional rituals. We experience Earth worry, Metal sadness, Water fear, Wood anger or frustration, and Fire conflict. But there are positive patterns we can encourage. A single positive emotional act is not as powerful as an oft repeated one. So creating positive emotional habits benefits the fourth energetic level.
Wood is about forgiveness. Fire is about love. Earth is about trust and power. Metal is about feeling fortified, protected, and proud. Water is about confidence and willfulness. To use these as tools you can say to yourself that you forgive so-and-so, and then imagine feeling that emotion. You can say that you love yourself and send yourself love. This can be done as a daily ritual and is a powerful tool when used whenever a negative emotional ritual rears its head.
Goals
Our goals are fueled by our emotions. Goals are the mental and spiritual ritual desires that keep us moving in a specific life direction. Without them, we would not know where to drive our life energies. Our goals move energy in the chest and the fifth Heavenly tissue layer.
Metal goals are about reaching heights and winning acclaim. Water goals are goals about the structure of one's life, building foundations, and filling emotional holes. Wood goals are about learning, growth, decision making, and creating strategies. Fire goals are about change and flow. Earth goals are about nurturing, natural rhythms, and power.
To use goals as a tool, you simply need to remember a current goal or create a new goal, and actively take steps towards it.
Expressions And Communications
The spoken word is a powerful tool capable of causing joy or pain. A single comment may hold the weight of the world. At the same time, repetition of a seemingly benign comment over time has an even greater physiological impact. Expressions move energy in the sixth tissue level in the Heavenly orientation and relate to the neck and shoulders of an upright body.
Often we express our angers and frustrations. The simple act of expressing them is cathartic on one level, but on another, it increases Wood energy in the sixth level. It is important to express all of the Five Elements to have balance. If one is expressing too much Wood, it is also important to control this excess by expressing Metal as well, such as expressions of integrity or pride.
Negative expressions often have some element of fear, or Water behind them. Fire is about conflict. Earth is about distrust and disempowerment. Metal is about sadness and feelings of being judged or failing to meet expectations. Water is about fear. Wood is about anger and frustration.
Positive expressions promote balance whereas negative ones promote imbalance. Water expressions are about life structures. “I have a wonderful wife and child.” “I enjoy my job.” Wood expressions are about growth. “I enjoy learning about Fu Xi Wen.” “I am changing and transforming in wonderful ways.” Fire expressions are about love, passion, and change. “I love myself unconditionally.” Earth expressions are about trust, nurturing, and empowerment. “I have everything I need.” Metal expressions are about achievement, protection, integrity, and pride. “I am proud of maintaining my integrity in this chaotic environment.”
Abstract Ideas (Intuition)
Abstract ideas are similar to thoughts except that where thoughts are moved by the emotions and are unambiguously terrestrial, abstract ideas are entirely separated from our emotions. Intuitions may cause emotions, but when they are first experienced, they feel separate from us. Abstract ideas and intuitions relate to the seventh energetic level and are related to a box between the jaws and the eyebrows.
Wood intuition involves inner vision and visualization. Fire intuition involves connecting to higher powers. Earth intuition is about gut feelings. Metal intuition is about logical analysis. Water intuition is about hearing the inner voice.
You can tap into these inner truths with specific goals in mind and this is preferable to simply waiting to receive intuition without an agenda. I say this because when you have a goal, you can set the tone and direction. For healing, you want to enhance balance. When you do not set the agenda at the outset, inner negative emotions can take over and create intuitions that are not helpful or constructive.
Symbols and Archetypes
Symbols and archetypes are the links that connect individuals to our entire species. Symbols are used by governments to control the emotions of individuals, such as the use of flags, military clothing, or building designs, to name a few. Symbols move energy in the eighth/deep tissue level that is most associated with the head above the forehead.
Symbols can be empowering or disempowering (Earth), connecting or angering (Wood), fear producing or confidence building (Water), protecting or weakening (Metal), loving or generating conflict (Fire).
Many archetypes have been defined that are universal among cultures. These archetypes are shared symbols of the human experience.
Some archetypes are as follows: Mother (Earth), Hero (Metal), Wise person (Water), Trickster (Wood), Eternal Child (Fire), Divine Couple (Fire and Water).
Unconditionality
The final Heavenly level is unconditionality, as in unconditional love. People often associate unconditionality with parents especially during childhood, religious icons, or higher powers. This tool, which we can call a tool as anyone can give or receive unconditionality, moves energy at the deepest, ninth Heavenly level and in the marrow. This energy is associated with the energy that moves above the head that is not connected with the body.
Unconditional love is pure Yang Fire. You can also have unconditional acceptance (Wood), unconditional trust (Earth), unconditional sacrifice (Metal), and unconditional confidence (Water).
Heavenly Tools Deconstructed
Heavenly tools are strange especially when considered in relation to Earth and Man tools. Earth and Man tools are, to the most part, physical tools. They are solid and therefore somewhat more “tool” like in our understanding of the word “tool”.
Heavenly tools are emotional and spiritual. They are amorphous and ethereal. This is the nature of Yang, so it is fitting. But their amorphous nature makes them at first feel strange and unnerving as tools in our tool chest. Nevertheless, Heavenly tools are found entirely integrated into our social fabric and even in our daily lives on a moment-by-moment basis. Memories of recent events, metals for winning sporting events, prayers, affirmations, symbols of rank, and so on fill our social fabric. When you think about it this way, I hope you can agree that these are indeed tools and they do have direct affects on our health and well-being. In Fu Xi Wen, we can use these tools to return the body to balance.
That said, you can't tie Heavenly tools in a pouch and place them side-by-side a sound tool. We can't easily apply them all together. As tools, they are much harder to use. But we can direct them towards T°. See the shortcut below.
Furthermore, all of these tools are immediately available to you and you can start off by trying those ones that are in your house right now – or even in your head – to see whether I am talking truth or bologna (bologna, by the way, is not an herb).
Shortcut
Okay. I promised you a shortcut and here it is. To treat the Earth level, you can do all the touchy feely stuff or you can simply poke the point or area softly at first and then slowly more deeply until you reach the bone. This stimulates every level in the process. Also, use a magnet with your sound tool.
For the Heavenly level, I found an interesting shortcut. It turns out that energy can be directed to the Heavenly level based on putting two (or more) teishin together creating an angle between them. The angle starts as two or more teishin coming to a sharp point facing down at the first Heavenly level to a sharp point facing up at the ninth Heavenly level. All of the other levels relate to the in-between states of the two or more teishin where they become more open and closer to 180° to each other and then they close up again.
All of this is to get to the Heavenly shortcut. Your hand has several fingers all of which are like individual teishin. To treat all Heaven levels point all your fingers together facing the planet earth. Then open you hand. Turn your hand over and then close the fingers again to a point. Do this while treating with your treatment tool or afterwards and you have sent energy to all of the Heavenly levels.
Treating All Energy Levels
The last thing I will say about depth tools is that you might as well use all of them all at once in every occasion as another heuristic. Using all of the tools together treats every single energetic box around the body – whereas if you use just the Man tools or just the Earth tools or just the Heaven tools, you leave out many energetic boxes – perhaps the one most important for your particular condition.
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