Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing

by Lorie Eve Dechar

The Five Spirits are the Taoist map of the human psyche. The system provides a view of the nervous system and forms the basis of Chinese medical psychology. It also describes a precise and efficient technology for spiritual transformation, the process through which a human being rediscovers their essential wholeness and innate connection to the divine.The Five Spirits themselves can be understood as the Taoist version of the chakra system of Vedic India. Like the chakras, the spirits exist as centers of consciousness in the subtle body rather than as structures in the physical body. Just as each chakra relates to a particular level of consciousness, each spirit relates to a particular aspect of human awareness, a particular vibration or frequency of psychic energy. An understanding of the Five Spirits is the key that opens the doorway to the mysteries of Taoist psycho-spiritual alchemy. By taking advantage of the discoveries of Western archetypal psychology and new discoveries about the mind and nervous system, we can decipher the Five Spirits and reorganize the system in a way that has proven to be clinically invaluable in treating psychosomatic, emotional, and psychospiritual distress.

Genres: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Psychology, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Health, Philosophy

Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2005

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This definitely ranks as one of the top books I have read all year. The author has unique and fascinating insights into humanity and how we can heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

She is an acupuncturist and a teacher/trainer in New York City. Her basic philosophy is a blend of traditional Chinese medicine (which is different from TCM), archetypal psychology, gestalt, focus-oriented psychotherapy and Taoism.

Alchemical acupuncture uses all of these systems mentioned above and takes the "lead" of life such as life threatening diseases, irritating symptoms, alcohol and drug addiction, child abuse, chronic pain, obsessions and compulsions and turns them into the "gold" of transformation and healing. It is a creative process in which the practitioner and the patient are actively involved and is more of a work of art than science.

This book is about a lot more than acupuncture because she is delving into the essence of what life is all about and seeing what you would normally think of as irritating, terrible or catastrophic situations as fodder for growth and healing. She also give specific and beneficial advice so you can turn your own lead into gold.

The five spirits are:

Shen: The Spirit of Fire--Inspiration, Insight, Awareness and Compassion
Hun: The Spirit of Wood--Vision, Imagination, Direction and Benevolence
Yi: The Spirit of Earth--Integrity, Intention, Clear Thought and Devotion
Po: The Spirit of Metal--Animal Wit, Embodied Knowing, Receptivity, and Appreciation
Zhi: The Spirit of Water--Instinctual Power, Courage, Will and Wisdom

I learned a great deal about myself by reading about these five spirits.

Here are the eight basic principles of Alchemical Acupuncture which I plan to display prominently so I don't forget them. With some of the vocabulary like "yang" and "yin" and "wuwei", you need to read the book to find out what they mean.

1. Look for the opposites. Treasure the contradictions. Prize the paradoxes.
2. Consciously surrender the impulse to do. Hold the tension of the opposites until the "third" or new possibility emerges spontaneously from below--from the body and the unconscious.
3. Become familiar with the nature of the cosmos. Follow the life force. Let the heavy fall and the light rise but tether the yin to the yang and the yang to the yin.
4. Use skillful means. Don't block or push the river.
5. Like the tenzo, leave nothing out. The poison is the cure. The gold is in the dung heap!
6. Remember wuwei. Do by not doing. Be by being nothing.
7. At the crux point, go contra natura, reverse the light and face the darkness.
8. Be willing to not know. Remember that when the light comes back, it comes from below, from a source we cannot understand with the conscious mind--from the body, the earth, from mysterious, unknown parts of ourselves and from the deep sea of original chaos and connects us to Tao.

I love this book because she discusses things that most people do not. She delves into the depths of life. She talks about what I wish they would have talked about in my psychology classes instead of Pavlov's dog. But, most of all, her book is uplifting and leaves me excited about life and looking forward to using her techniques and suggestions to do my own personal alchemy.

[Revy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life-changing! This book does an amazing job of bridging a very unfortunate gap in the modern Chinese medicine curriculum. It scratched an itch that I've had since I started my program, and did so in a gorgeous, poetic way that spoke to my intellect as well as my heart. I sent a copy to a friend who just graduated from TCM school. I got so much out of this book and will probably refer to it for my entire career. Can't say enough about this or recommend it enough. I loved every second!

[Melissa]

This book is very abstract and difficult to read. I read chapters here and there; it's hard to just move through. I will revisit this one later on.

[Ann Samford · Rating 4 out of 5]

No idea how to rate this book. I read/studied it a few hours a day for maybe a month and am struggling to say what it was about…. Chinese AlchemicalAcupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing. Haha I wrote my real review in the inside cover and took lots of notes on the margins. There are a few practices I’m going to incorporate into my life and I feel affirmed in some ways. I’m still not ready to renew my meditative practice but many signs suggest that I will before too long. And yes I will be more open to Acupuncture next time I feel the need. I think I understand now how I was almost intentionally blocking changes to qi when I tried Acupuncture in early 2020 for my leg(back). I was trying not to feel the needles instead of being open to what they might open in me. I wish I had more conversation about Alchemical Acupuncture with my acupuncturist before my treatment or maybe I should have read this book first. I think I’ll continue this study and see where it leads me.

And this was a hard book for me because I could not get it on Audible and had to read it. And with my eyesight in imperfect light reading is a challenge and of course most of the “important” concepts seem to be centered around words written in a faint italics that was super hard to read AND the word was unknown to me…

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of Lori Dechar's captures the gestalt of the five elements through the lens of the spirits: Hun, Shen, Yi, Po, and Zhi.

[Mahadurai · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Jim S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't got very far. Hope to dig in over the summer.

[Rah~ri]

?

Any good?
Approach any good?