Some thoughts on Earth deficiency

According to the five elements, if Earth is deficient then Wood over-controls and is excess. Water is excess as it is under-controlled. Metal doesn’t receive proper nourishment from Earth and Fire is drained by the deficient Earth. 

Earth is the matrix and web within which all qi moves around. If the web is weak, the qi moves too easily through it. To understand this more easily, think about the difference between dropping a weight through water and dropping it through the air. It falls much more heavily through the air and does more damage when it hits. The same weight through water falls slowly and gently settles on the bottom. Wood rises through the web of Earth and Metal descends through the same. 

Wood qi rises without resistance. We see heat and excess qi in the head in the form of headaches and rashes in the chest and head.

Metal qi falls without resistance. When Earth is deficient, we can see a thickening of the Earth web which can lead to constipation. The metal Qi has trouble descending through the thickening and the bowels are obstructed. As the Earth yang gets more deficient, the web may weaken and break up, at which point the Metal Qi falls downward without resistance and we see explosive diarrhea.

Water is not controlled properly by spleen. Think of the Earth qi as the baffles and honeycombs holding the water in place. When the Earth Qi is weak, the Water falls downward in the body to it’s natural place near the earth (earth/man/heaven). We see edema and swelling in the four limbs. The transportation and transformation of fluids in the body is Earth holding Water in it’s proper place. 

Image courtesy of Jenny Downing

Extraordinary vessels as soul catcher

Extraordinary vessels are just that, extra-ordinary. They are essential to the body's functioning, but don't behave like regular meridians. They organize the internal energy of the body, how the shen behaves within the body without relation to the outside world. The 12 meridians are effected by and effect the exterior world. The EV's organize the interior world. EV's are built and grow in utero as the fetus grows, before the first breath, they must be complete.

In working with pregnant women, I've noticed that the soul of the baby hovers around the mother and the fetus, but doesn't completely enter the fetus. As the pregnancy continues, it's harder to reach the soul as a separate energy from the mother's energy. When the baby is ready to be born, the soul of the child realizes that it is a separate entity from the mother, but the soul of the baby doesn't fully enter the fetus until the baby has taken it's first breath.

The EV's are both the blueprint and structure for the fetus, allowing it to grow without guidance from a soul, and then they function as the lattice within which the soul resides. The are a deeper level of energetic flow in the body, one that has to do with basic structure in the body and how the soul interacts and is held within the body.