From five to Sixth Elements in meridian modalities • Slate Burris
Notes from Qiological podcast: 378 The Sixth Element • Slate Burris
Episode 378 • 15th October 2024 • Qiological Podcast • Michael Max -
https://www.qiological.com/the-sixth-element/
NOTES ~ Find the pattern of pain in the meridians on the abdomen (this can include extraordinary meridians) , treat that then watch the dominoes fall.
‘Turn down the actions in your mind and attend to the results, good or bad”
A painful meridians is a closed meridian. No pain equals open.
Needling which point opened this meridian? “There are points all over the body which can open meridians. Which points open which meridians?”
Minute 50:
Applies to both Pericardium and to TW meridian
Very common clinical challenge: Entire right side of the abdomen is painful. How to treat?
In theory its lung element? In Thomas Cleary tiger in the west dragon in the east. Tension between east and west liver attacking spleen].
Three axes of two elements each
Three axes of two elements each. Each axis has two organ-meridians at one end, two at the other end, 12 in all.
Axis of metal and wood
Axis of water and fire,
Axis of earth and ether — ‘heaven and earth meet where the sweet dew descends’
Ether as the function of connection which is itself ungraspable — Slate paraphrase.
Opposite of Earth element is…?
Belly button area supposed to be earth. But in old TCM earth has no opposite. The TW and Pericardium were “hidden” esoteric knowledge not to be revealed publicly. Slate began using pericardium as 6th element and got immediate results.
Slate: opposite of Earth is Ether. TW, Pericardium
Ether: “Heaven” as ether, as “heaven and earth meet where the sweet dew descends.” heaven = ether in TCM.
The function of ether-”heaven” is “surrounding”. Chinese characterize ether as having function yet no definite 3D form. “Even tho you hold it in your hands, it has no form,” Slate quoting some Chinese acu txt.
TW as surrounding also. These two meridians can be a sixth element of two organs, the ether organs.
“Ministerial Fire” koan unraveled
At birth a septum closes to redirect blood from placenta to self-sustaining blood flow.
This is what Bruce calls the ministerial Self, the healthy conscious self, the awake aware, unblended awareness.
In the first hour after your first breath, you as awareness are as yet mostly unblended with any emotions. You’re still in your ministerial Self. Please note our awareness surrounds everything and has no specific 3D form.
TW and Pericard are “fire” — of a different quality — ministerial fire” the healthy, unblended awareness. In MSIA.org, the ministerial Self. In Internal Family Systems (IFS), the unblended Self.
For Slate consciousness = awareness. Bruce prefers the word “awareness.” Why?Consciousness is man-made, left-brain abstraction, a concept of “awareness.” “Awareness” is immediate and experiential. “Consciousness” is mental and philosophical.
Ditching the 5 element motor” of Mother~child, generating~destructive cycles
11 meridians and missing is Pericard. Supposed ignorant Yelo Emperor asks, “Tell me about the 12th organ.” So in Yelo Emperor awareness ether was hidden, considered esoteric knowledge needing to remain hidden from the public, and missing in earlier TCM.
Many readers will know the Roman Catholic Church in Rome has libraries full of texts considered dangerous to give the untutored public access to. Exact same patriarchal idea.
If every two organs have an element, five element theory is missing an element
Slate is not fond of the generating~control theory as the “motor” of the meridian treatment algorithm. In an odd-number 5 element system, you need the mother~child, generating~controlling theory to weave them together. It’s a “drunken tango line” Bruce says, the 5 element system is a man made mental construct. The six element system, three pairs, is much closer to the toggle-switch thinking of our cell level and immune system. Our cells and immune system ARE VERY UNLIKELY TO THINK IN TERMS OF mother~child, generative~ control cycle.
“Create a chain reaction with dominoes”
Slate simply sets of chain reaction dominoes effects.
minute 1:17: Dominoes. If you treat just the symptom, it’s like knocking over one domino. Slate reminds us a child looks at an array of dominoes standing on end and looks for which one domino can he tip to make the most other dominoes also fall over (domino rally)?
minute 1:17: He describes his palpation, single needle feedback patient-on-table system. Is the meridians open or closed? Diagnosis: which meridians are closed (painful)? Which are open (clear)? He isolates on painful meridian. He needles one point to activate the sedating point for that meridian. This is usually a point in the painful meridians opposite in the same axis. However Slate also uses the extraordinary meridian-vessels which he does not talk about in this podcast.
at minute 113: In a six element system you can have the simple three axis system, three pairs, one of each pair controls the other of the same pair.
Slate never teaches a class without working on patients in 2–3 minute demo sessions. The body has the magic, not the clinician. Nature;s system is the star not the needles, not the clinician.
Many treatments are two minutes
Bruce: Slate is making symptomatic treatment much more efficient time-wise without any attention to client education and learning. Bruce thinks ideally after Slate, each patient sees another clinician who connects them with Messages from the Body and how to do self-forgiveness. Slate is not into any followup like this — yet.
Slate does not use pulses nor herbs at all. Max, the host, reminds him taking the pulses to feel each channel is the intent. Slate says using pulses for herbs is great. Bruce says Slate’s palpation method and trial and error almost exactly overlaps with classical osteopathy and Reggie Gold chiropractic technique, now called Spinology https://spinologia.eu/. It’s super-palpation-oriented as State is. Spinology is mostly alive in Spain and Ireland now, not in the head-oriented USA.
378 Show notes from host Max:
We have the two of yin and yang, the three of the jing, qi, shen, the four levels of pathogenic invasion from the Wen Bing, the Five Phases of the Wu Xing and the Six Elements — wait a minute, Six Elements?
Have you ever wondered why the Classics speak to the Five Zang and Six Fu? Especially when we have an equal balance of yin and yang meridians? And what is going on with those two troublesome organs, the Triple Burner and Pericardium which have a “function” but no form? Furthermore, have you ever wondered how Fire gets four organs, but all the other elements only two?
Our guest in this conversation Slate Burris had those questions as well. He’s an inquisitive guy, so he went looking. What he found is surprising, and once pointed out — a bit obvious as well.
Listen into this conversation on the Sixth Element, how it can guide your clinical work, the power of palpation to track what is happening in the moment for patients, and how one needle in the right place can set off a domino chain reaction to dramatically reduce your patient’s painful presenting symptom.
We also discuss, don’t let theoretical beliefs overcome empirical observations. Always have some form of feedback, otherwise you are somewhat blind.
Conclusion
Slate’s Neoclassical Acupuncture is undoing the prohibition of making esoteric knowledge public. 1970s needling meridians is TCM without this hidden knowledge. His book came out in 2019. Neither Google nor Yandex, the holistic-friendly Russian browser show more than a handful of pages. Mostly they show Slate’s book, the Quilogical podcast; and, some not useful older Chinese texts and papers.
References
Qiological podcast. https://www.qiological.com/
Slate Burris. Neoclassical Acupuncture: An adventure into China’s ancient past and the rediscovery of a revolutionary method of acupuncture (2019) by Slate Burris
“Neoclassical Acupuncture — Our Energetic Blueprint” — https://mackayacupuncture.com.au/how-does-neoclassical-acupuncture-work/
Janice Hadlock, MD, OMD. Has several books all using channel palpation. Tracking the Dragon: Advanced Channel Theory [Apparently this is also a book for beginners as well]. Janice explains the more touch-feely-intuitive channel palpation in your YouTube videos.
