Midsummer stories
It’s time for what Tyson Yunkaporta might call ‘right story”1. But first, we need to lay some groundwork. Because ‘story’ has a bad rap today. Stories are what you tell to children or yourself, but only on the way to truth. I would posit that stories are as much truth as anything else in this world. And we leave them in the nursery to our peril.
Story is the term for what we believed in the past before we found the truth aka our current belief system. Please hear me out- I’m not opposed to facts. I think science is amazing. And…as a student of history, I’m aware that a few centuries ago, science firmly held to the theory of spontaneous generation.
Living systems change and evolve. Theory changes and evolves as it encounters different data. Science has moved on from spontaneous generation.
Thank goodness, because what would you get from a roomful of teenager laundry and some corn chips? Don’t answer that.
Our story changes. Because stories are living entities. So perhaps it’s time to restore story to its rightful place at the center of life. Five Element theory is a story. I find a quite useful story not only in the treatment room, but out in the world. As Lewis Mehl-Madrona2 would say, an A1c of 6.6 is a story just as much as “I feel like no one likes me.” The power of story is that it can change unlike dogma which is cast in stone. Story, as a living construct, contains within it the power of transformation.
If you stopped guzzling pop and dropped your A1c to 5.8, would that make you a liar?
So I’d like to tell you a story of high summer, a story of Fire and magnificent Yang. A story of ceremony and ritual, relationship and intimacy, joy and elation. It is the story of the Fire element and the four organs/officials associated with it.
There once was an empress who ruled over a wide kingdom. She ruled by the divine right of kings and emperors as the manifestation of Heaven upon the earth. We call her the Heart. Not some mundane pump for the circulatory system (but that as well), but more so a leader to guide the people. And the people thrived (or didn’t) based on her ability to align with a greater purpose. To carry that precious spark is a precarious thing- she didn’t wander the streets or byways of her realm, but remained ensconced within the beautiful palace. Her royal court made sure her edicts and mission were carried out.
Her partner was a wizard who not only listened to the requests of the nobles and peasants, ambassadors and ministers but also to the wind and the rain. He watched the flight of birds to greater understand the movements and messages of the Divine so that he could tell his empress all that she needed to know of her kingdom. We call him the Small Intestine (yeah, so not romantic).
Another member of the inner court was the Pericardium aka the Heart Protector aka Tan Zhong. She was the royal concubine who moved freely from the most intimate spaces within the court then out to the furthest reaches of the kingdom. No need for armor or weapons (or clothes apparently). Her superpower was vulnerability.3
San jiao is responsible for the opening up of passages and irrigation. The regulation of waterways stems from it.
San jiao was the minister of harmony bringing all the officials into balance. He made sure that the palace was warm or cool as needed as well as ensuring the irrigation of fields and the flowing of the rivers.
For years, we Chinese medicine practitioner have had to deal with talking about an organ that ‘doesn’t exist’. Ha. Meet the interstitium.
In our midsummer story, the empress didn’t do a lot by our standards. She didn’t attend press conferences (send the Pericardium!) or meet with PACs. She presided over the seasonal rites and rituals that made sure the people were in harmony with the season. So that the people may live…
So in our story of five elements and twelve officials, there are two officials for each element. Except Fire which has four.
WHY IS THAT!?!?
Because if you get this wrong, nothing will go right.
Because ceremony and ritual are so damn important to being a human being that we still do them. The Superbowl is a ceremony. Not my flavor per se but still a gathering of people for a purpose. Summer family reunions are ceremony- no blood sacrifice other than skinned knees and eating Aunt Marie’s busy day cake, but it still counts.
Because love is a power that transcends time and space. A power that can topple dictators and lift sodden puppies out of a ditch. It transcends continents, species and cultures.
Because at the end of your time on this earth, you probably won’t be saying, “I wish I worked more.”
Because relationship is everything.
So get out there. Be with your people and celebrate the glory of summer and fires in the backyard and the burnt offerings of hot dogs and hamburgers.
Endnote- a little joy and elation. I figured out how to clip a Youtube video but damned if I can get it to insert…click on the link below for the ineffable Bill Bailey reading from his favorite Indonesian “conversational English” phrasebook.
Bill Bailey teaches about fire
Tyson Yunkaporta has a lot to offer these days- you can learn more about him by reading Sand Talk, Right Story, Wrong Story or listening to this excellent podcast from The Emerald.
Lewis Mehl-Madrona is an amazing overachiever (doctor, psychiatrist, indigenous wisdomkeeper- I recommend all his work especially Narrative Medicine.
In case you weren’t aware of the work of Brenee Brown on this topic, go check it out forthwith.