Romy Needham Acupuncture

Romy Needham Acupuncture Practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Shen | SpiritIn any discussion of Shen (Spirit), we must be clear that Shen is the translation for the Chinese word Spir...
04/02/2025

Shen | Spirit

In any discussion of Shen (Spirit), we must be clear that Shen is the translation for the Chinese word Spirit, but there is also the Shen (Mind) which “resides” in the heart. Shen is the name for the “big spirit” of human life, and Shen is also one of the five “smaller” spirits, the five mental-spiritual aspects of a human being. When we speak of Shen (Spirit), we are referring to the Ethereal Soul (Hun), the Corporeal Soul (Po), the Intellect (Yi), the Will-Power (Zhi), and the Mind (Shen) itself. In the ancient classics, these are sometimes called the “Five Shen”.

For those of us who practice Chinese medicine as a way of spirit medicine, understanding Shen/Spirit and Shen/Mind is important: it is clearer to call the Shen of the Heart “Mind”. The Shen “Spirit” is the woven texture of all the Five Shen, of which Shen (Mind) is one. When we look at it this way we also don’t give everything over to the Shen (Mind) in terms of spirit medicine, because we understand that the Shen of the Heart (Mind) is a ‘part’ of the whole Shen (Spirit).

The Shen (Mind) has a fundamental and vital role in the overall cohesiveness of Shen (Spirit), and we may well harness this through the seat and space of mind — with the understanding and knowledge of the other players in the spirit deck!

Shen Spirit is the arena of human life that defies the limitations of time and space. It is the capacity for relationships that are not restricted by physical contact.

Shen Spirit is invoked by enchantment, awe, wonder, intention, and imagination. Shen Spirit allows self-reflection, art, purpose, and values. It is the connection, the “champagne fizz”, the revelation. It depends on self-relationship. It allows us to embody our authentic self, where we shape our destiny and place
in the Universe.

Shen (Spirit) is divisible into five smaller spirits. Each of these spirits has a responsibility, a virtue.

Yi - Consciousness of Potentials, the Intellect – resides in the Spleen

Hun - Ethereal Soul, Non-Corporeal Soul - rooted in the Liver

Zhi - Will-Power - Memory - housed by the Kidneys

Shen - Mind Spirit - Resides in the Heart

Po - Corporeal Soul, Animal Soul - resides in the Lungs

The Nei Jing Tu (Chart of the Inner Landscape). This Taoist totem pole depiction of the human body as a landscape, a mi...
23/01/2025

The Nei Jing Tu (Chart of the Inner Landscape).

This Taoist totem pole depiction of the human body as a landscape, a microcosm of the universe, and a map for alchemy and energy took on its current form in 1886 after a priest named Liu Chengying discovered the original in a mountain temple, on an old silk scroll. This is a landscape where constellations, stars, paths, gates, fundamental forces, mountains, forests, and streams all have their place.

This map of the internal landscape shows the human figure facing left. The two children at the base of the spine with the waterwheels represent yin and yang. The kidneys are represented by a woman spinning her wheel, "the weaver girl", "the weaving maiden"- she also represents the star Vega, the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra.

The intestines are ox plowing and planting, and the inscription for the intestines reads "The iron ox plows the field where coins of gold are sown", referring to the elixir of life. The liver is a forest.

The water of Yin runs down the spinal cord to meet the fire of Yang rising from the abdomen - the four yin-yang symbols indicate the true vitality of this convergence of water and fire.

The heart is a spiral where a boy, a cowherd, strings together coins to form the Big Dipper, our connection with the cosmos, our place to gather Qi from the universe. The weaving maid (Zhinu) and the Big Dipper boy of the heart (Niulang) work together - the cowherd sends the energy gathered from the universe via a celestial bridge to the weaving maid, who is also known in the folklore tales of these lovers as a fairy - a weaving fairy! She weaves the Qi, and together they send the energy to the throat, a twelve-tiered pagoda.

The two circles in the centre of the head represent the eyes and/or the sun and moon. Lao-tzu and Bodhidharma are in the upper chamber. At the top of the head are the nine peaks of Mount Kunlun, the heavenly abode of the immortals.

There are many inscriptions, including, “A single grain of millet contains the entire world".

This is merely a faint brush over the surface, but I love the mystery, the artistry, the imagination, the poetry!

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Bradford

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Thursday 8am - 8pm
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