Ted (Buffy, Season 2) Post Two

July 8, 2010 at 14:18 (Chinese and Complementary Medicine, Chinese Medicine for Buffy and Angel fans)
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In the previous post about this episode, we examined Ms Calendar’s trouble sleeping after heart shock and her loss of interest in a former romantic partner.

Now, however, we get to tackle two other interesting pathologies presented in this particular episode, for theoretical purposes and our own general entertainment only, of course.

Ted, the robot who looks human enough to seduce Buffy’s mom, lives in a basement outfitted to resemble a 1950’s home.  Even his vocabulary hasn’t progressed much beyond a sadistic Leave it to Beaver era television show. Occasionally someone presents at clinic with signs and symptoms not unlike these — although, to be honest, usually the folks who appear at acupuncture clinics would be prone to being stuck more in the 60’s or 70’s rather than the 50’s.  The ’50’s were perhaps far too conventional — even in China — for such backwards medicine as acupuncture.

For someone who is stuck in a previous era of their lives and cannot seem to get out of it, I would use the Yang Wei Mai and Yang Qiao Mai.  The former extraordinary vessel deals with how a person integrates with time, while the latter is concerned with how one views the world in relation to what has happened to that person.

Needle technique would be deep and vibrating.  The points I would choose are left TH-5, bilateral GB-13, bilateal BL-1, and right BL-62.  Bladder 62 seems to be my point of the week, I’ve noticed.    If I were to use the primary channels, I would be sure to include LV-14.  In fact, this is one of the few cases in which I would concentrate on the Liver channel, as dealing with smoothing out one’s being in time.  The other channel I might select would be the Triple Heater, dealing as it does with Minister Fire’s allocation of jing according to cycles of seven and eight, and perhaps the Stomach, for its role in going out into the world and processing it.

The other issue concerns not obsessive eating so much as an allergy to food.  This manifested as sudden support of the villain, seeing everything he did through rose coloured glasses, and a generalised strong reaction to and craving for the drug-laced food he provided.

So, it may be a stretch to call this a “food allergy.”  Still, I would use the Channel Divergences for this particular case.

The channel divergences are among the oldest recorded channel trajectories and are the first which ought to be studied.  The link the jing level with the wei qi level, and are particularly effective in treating autoimmune conditions.  These channels are sometimes thought of as the internal branches of the primary meridians, and unite the yin-yang pairs of primary channels into one system.  All the paired divergences connect to the Heart, and they can thus be used to mobilise the Heart’s ability to dispel pathology, much as an emperor can expel enemies with a word.  All their trajectories are upwards, to expel pathogens through the upper orifices, and so it is vital that these be cleared before treatment commences.

Needling technique varies depending on what one intends to do.  If one intends to bring out a pathogen, after assessing that the patient has enough jing, blood, or body fluids to expel the pathogen, a superficial-deep-superficial technique is used.  Otherwise, the reverse holds.  At the deep level, the vibrating technique is used, and treatment is done for three days in a row, after which the body is given a three day break, before treatment resumes for another three days.  This is done over a period of eighteen days, and then the patient’s condition is reassessed.

The Stomach and Spleen divergent channel can effectively be used to treat cases of food allergies.  Energetically, it brings TaiYin fluids to support YangMing, and symptoms of its dysfunction include dryness, acid regurgitation or reflux,IBS, thyroid problems, hives, and blurred vision or cataracts.

The points I would select are ST-30, which is the confluent point of the ST-SP channel divergence; CV-12, which I might choose to gua sha in order to expel wind, if the food allergy manifests as hives or skin rashes; ST-9, which will open the sensory orifices that are clouded by the drug; ST-4, which happens to be the entrance for the drug; and BL-1, the uniting point of the ST and SP channel divergence.

This treatment, minus ST-4, might also prove to be useful in cases of thyroid disease leading to increased blood sugar levels due to medication.

Herbally, I would add Sang Ji Sheng and Shu Di to a formula which clears the mind by treating the Spleen.  I would select Si Jun Zi Tang, and substitute Fu Shen for Fu Ling, and increase the dosage of Bai Zhu.

As always, this post is intended for theoretical purposes only.

Happy slayage!

Would this treatment work for cases of drug-laced food?  I don’t know.

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Halloween (Buffy, Season 2)

July 1, 2010 at 15:08 (Chinese and Complementary Medicine, Chinese Medicine for Buffy and Angel fans)
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Ah, the warlock Ethan.  Rather prankish, that one.  Come into town, set up shop selling costumes for Halloween, then casting a spell so that anyone in a purchased costume actually becomes what they dressed up as.  And of course, since this is a limited time holiday, the shop can close up and the prankster depart as soon as the fun is had.

Interesting, though, how it can take dressing up as — or in this episode, actually changing into — someone else to really make one comfortable with one own true personality.

Happily, acupuncture has the means at its disposal to bring about similar results.  (Theoretical means, only, folks!  Don’t try this except with a qualified practitioner.)  Naturally, the extraordinary vessels will once again be called upon.

The Qiao Mai deal with how we see things.  This can be how we see the world, in the case of Yang Qiao Mai, or it can be how we see ourselves, as in the case of Yin Qiao Mai.  I could have chosen to work with the Divergent Channels, since they deal with the connexion of the exterior with the interior.  However, I would think of CDs more if I were helping someone who had been bullied and had turned that anger inwards (wei qi attacking the jing level).  Since that is not the case, we will choose a simple Yin Qiao Mai treatment.

Points along the Yin Qiao Mai include KD-6, KD-8, the rest of the points on the Kidney channel to KD-11; ST12, ST9, and Bl-1.  Needling depth is deep, and a vibrating technique is used.  I would expect about three months of treatment, once a week, to yield solid results.

I would begin with the opening point, KD-6, “Reflecting Sea” on the left hand side.  I might forgo KD-8, “Meeting Trust”, since I’m not certain this is a matter of Willow trusting herself, or other people.  Then I would choose ST-9, “Welcome to Humanity”, which some practitioners name “Welcome to Adulthood.”  As a window to the sky point, its effects include opening up the connexion between mind and body. I would also select BL-1, since we are concerned with self-envisioning.

Finally, since the Qiao Mai enter the genitalia, and Willow seems uncomfortable expressing her sexuality (as we find out again in Season Four), I would add LV-5.  This luo point goes to the genitals, and affects the blood level, the level of emotions.  One could have selected SP-6 instead, and hedge one’s bets by treating a point belonging to all three leg yin channels, but I prefer LV-5.

I would not close this treatment by bringing in another Extraordinary Vessel.  I think Yin Qiao Mai by itself suffices.

Herbally, the treatment principles can be reduced to using one herb which goes to the eyes, one herb which goes to the self, and one herb which goes to either the jing level or the san jiao channel.

The herb which goes to the eyes is chosen because of its resonance with BL-1, the meeting of the yin and yang qiao mai.  More importantly, though, herbs which go to the eyes and brighten vision also allow one to see situations with greater clarity.  These situations can include other people or oneself.

Since we want to make certain the herbs help one see oneself in a different light, another medicinal which goes to the kidneys is called for.  The kidneys represent the self.  Storing the jing-essence, they are the repository of the resources from which we can pattern ourselves in the world.  We might want to think of mild kidney tonics, or herbs which consolidate, but not contain the kidneys.  We don’t want to keep everything bottled up, after all; but we do want the self to have a solid basis from which to emerge.

Bringing that essence into the world is the work of minister fire — which is also stored in the Kidneys.  The San Jiao mechanism is the minister fire responsible for bringing things out into the world; the Pericardium is the minister fire responsible for letting things in.  Since we aren’t really dealing with a situation in which Willow needs to make sense of the messages she’s getting from the outside — from Cordelia, for example — we won’t focus on herbs which go to the PC or SP-earth channels.  (Spleen-earth being representative of society.)

With those guidelines in mind, I have chosen the following three herbs:

Ju Hua, chrysanthemum, brightens the eyes and nourishes the kidneys.

Wu Wei Zi, schizandra berries, astringe the essence and nourish the kidneys.  It also happens to absorb phlegm, and should smooth the transition into being oneself without guilt.

Chai Hu releases the exterior, and weeds out the stale to bring for the new.  It also travels to the PC and SJ channels.

Together the three nourish and constrain the essence, move it upwards, and allow it to nourish introspection so that the inner essences may manifest smoothly into the exterior environment.

As always this post is for theoretical purposes only.  If you feel you may benefit from Chinese medicine, please see a qualified practitioner.

Happy Slayage!

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Some Assembly Required (Buffy, Season 2)

June 27, 2010 at 17:24 (Chinese and Complementary Medicine, Chinese Medicine for Buffy and Angel fans)
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It is a tribute to the ability of the writers that this episode, which is suffused with elements of grief, is nonetheless is filled with some of the most comic lines and dialogue yet.  We have the sorrow of Cordelia for her one-time crush, Darryl.  We have the inability of Darryl’s chain-smoking mother to let go of her once-deceased son.  We also have a brief insight into the grief or sadness that Darryl himself must be experiencing, unable to go out into the world and resume his life as a start athlete.  (Although, come on, this is Sunnydale.  Would anyone really have a problem with a Frankenstein-like corpse of a highschooler wandering around?  As long as he can come out in broad daylight, he’s not prone to eating anyone, right?)

I enjoyed Giles’ comment about (American) football:  why should anyone strap on forty pounds of gear just to play rugby?  But I digress.

Grief is a complex phenomenon.  In the last episode, we examined how Buffy responded to her grief at having died at the hands of the Master.  The grief in this episode takes a different cast, and I would propose to treat it differently.  I will focus my treatment plan on Darryl’s mother; Cordelia seems to be able to process her grief in much less pathological ways.

The channel system I would use for Darryl’s mother are the extra-ordinary vessels.  Among the EVs, the Dai Mai has the role of allowing us to hold onto things — or to let them go.  Jeffrey Yuen compares the Dai Mai to the closet where we hold all our “stuff”, and specifically the stuff which, after cleaning out the closet and putting five boxes by the road, is filled because by the end of the day we’ve gone back outside and brought two of those boxes back in.

The Dai Mai has other functions as well.  It is concerned with jing, and it has a role in regulating the uterus, specifically in terms of discharge.  This discharge can also include the fetus.  Using the Dai Mai in this instance also acknowledges that this is a mother grieving the loss of her son.

Finally, the Dai Mai is also involved in death and dissolution.  Two positions on this topic can be identified.   Either the Dai Mai acts as the first meridian to “let go”, allowing all the other meridians to unravel now that they have lost the weft which bundled them together (I have seen a great translation of “jing” meridians as “warp”, a more etymologically precise term, perhaps); or it is the final vessel to release its energy, allowing the hun and po to go their separate ways.  In this latter connexion to death and dissolution, I wonder how Darryl would react to a Dai Mai treatment?

For Darryl’s mother, I would choose as core treatment points, GB-41, the opening point of the Dai Mai.  I would add ST-25, because it is the mu-point of the large intestine.  By needling this point, I hope to access and regulate the qi of the metal element we discussed in the previous post.  Additionally, since she is having trouble “digesting” her experience, a point on the Stomach line is called for.  (I might think of adding ST-9 or LI-18, too, as window to the sky points which help in digesting experience, and bringing the pathogenic qi out through LI-4, but this is mixing primary and extraordinary meridians, and I’d like to keep this treatment to one system.)

If I wanted to focus on the Lungs and their capacity for grief, I might decide to close the treatment through the Ren Mai.  I would choose as points CV-12 (the start of the Lung meridian), CV-22 (she smokes like a chimney, and this happens to also be a window to the sky point), and close with LU-7 (which is an excellent point for grief, anyway).

I could choose to use the Yin Wei Mai instead of the Ren Mai.  The pathogen has gone deep inside the person, and is now woven into the person’s life.  Kia Sinay notes in the Spring/Summer 2009 CJOM that “Wei Mai represents the accumulation of past experiences that have been stored, and the habituation of predisposed response patterns stored at the constitutional level.”  I would argue, on the basis of the meaning inherent in “wei”– with its image of a net — that “woven” is a better image.  But it is woven into the person’s life on the basis of later events, not those with which the child was imbued at conception on the basis of its lineage.

With Yin Wei Mai as the closing vessel, I could still use CV-22, which lies on both the Ren and Yin Wei vessels, and close with PC-6, which will give access to the energy of the pericardium.  Not only will that help open up the person to life again, but it might also help protect the heart from any pathologies which might want to transfer from the lung organ.  I might also add SP-15, which is considered to lie on the Yin Wei Mai, but, for some reason, usually isn’t listed as being on the Dai Mai, even though it is in line with Ren-8 and Du-4.  Maybe LV-13 suffices for the Dai Mai-SP connexion.  LV-13 and LV-14 would make an interesting pair to use in this case, too — both LV-13, “camporwood gate” (the wood used in coffins), and LV-14, “completion gate”, might open up to bring Darryl’s mother peace.

With this in mind, I think I’d reverse the treatment, and open with PC-6 on the left, then needle CV-22, LV-14, LV-13, ST-25, and close with GB-41 on the right.  I would use a deep and vibrating needle technique.  Vibrating is the technique which resonates with the jing; depth is where the jing is located.  (Just beware of pneumothorax on the LV points.)  I would continue this treatment for three months, with the core four of GB-41, ST-25, CV-22 (or LV-14), PC-6.

As for herbal treatments, a simple formula would be to add Qu Mai and Dang Gui Wei to Yu Ping Feng San (Jade Windscreen Powder).   The base formula contains Huang Qi to secure the exterior, which is in some ways, hemorrhaging.  The Fang Feng expels pathogenic wind, the inability to cope with change.  The Bai Zhu strengthens the Spleen to transform events into nourishment.  I initially thought of adding Ze Xie to help separate the pure from the impure and drain it out through the Dai Mai and lower jiao.  But then I thought of Qu Mai, which which drains heat from the HT and SI while also moving blood.  In addition, the Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica says it also removes eye screen and helps one drop the fetus.  While this last might be in cases of approaching labour, I would think this use can extend to the case at hand. (One might also think of using Deng Xin Cao, which does the same but resonates with the Heart and Small Intestine.)  I would add the Gui Wei to help move the intestines and invigorate blood; it also resonates with the hun.  Five herbs.

A more complex formula would alter Wan Dai Tang (Restrain the Dai Decoction) so that it actually releases the Dai Mai instead of restraining it.  For this purpose, I would remove Shan Yao and Cang Zhu but would keep the Che Qian Zi (it has functions of clearing LV and LU heat).  I would replace the Bai Shao with Chi Shao.  I would add E Jiao (to stop bleeding and guide the formula to the jing level (i.e. the Dai Mai, since E Jiao resonates with jing), and I might add Deng Xin Cao and Qu Mai both, for reasons stated above.

As always, although this blog is written for the purposes of entertainment and theoretical discussion, the concepts it discusses do exist within the context of Chinese Medicine.  If you or someone you know could benefit from its perspective, please refer them to a qualified practitioner.

Happy Slayage.

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