Summer

Fire Element

Fire time is summer time. Right now in my part of the world, it's hard not to notice the sun we’ve been touched by. Of course the sun is present every day – and it’s closer now, the days are brighter, it remains light longer and it's hot outside!

How has the sun influenced you this season? I notice myself and my neighbors being out doors more – kids playing basketball in the street, the clinks of glasses as people dine and enjoy each other’s company in their backyards, the scorched smell of bbqs, intermingled with the rich scent of roses in bloom. I’m inspired by the sun kissed faces of people arriving for their acupuncture treatments. Generally, the feeling is an optimistic and spirits are joyful.

Nothing we know would exist without the sun and it’s fire.

The Fire Element is about connection. It is warmth, emotionally, physically, spiritually. The Fire meridians are the Heart, Pericardium/Heart Protector, The San Jiao/Triple Heater, and the Small Intestine.

Our Hearts are our connection with Source Fire – some of us call it God, other’s may call it Divinity – the Source of Life - and what keeps us going through the rhythmic beating of the heart.

The Pericardium is literally the sheath that surrounds the heart – it’s a protective barrier, regulating what’s allowed into our hearts. For some of us we “wear our hearts on our sleeves” – we’re sensitive - stuff gets in and hurt us – the negative comment we internalize. Others of us are closed off, from the beauty and the potential pain.

The Triple Heater is how we circulate our warmth – with ourselves, with others. Perhaps we connect easily or maybe we require coaxing to share a smile or compliment (love). My friend Dan IS a Triple Heater character. He’s not the traditional “life of a party,” dancing on the table and blasting out a “WHOO HOO" at the perfect time (for that think Heart). Dan, instead, is a most wonderful host. He attends to each guest, insuring our comfort. “Could I bring you something more to drink, something to eat?” Dan ‘s gift is to make each person feel welcomed and special. Dan’s parties are warm, wonderful.

The Small Intestine. It’s function on a physical level is symbolic. It’s the sorter of the pure from the impure. The stomach digests while the small intestine further refines sending the pure energy to other aspects of the body. The Small Intestine sorts out the impure digest such as a hurtful or negative comment – rather than let it pollute us, it determines what we let go of. A well functioning small intestine allows one to see the remark as impure and unworthy of ‘taking in’ - and so sends it to the Large Intestine for moving out of the body, mind or spirit.

The Fire element is vast and integral to life – just as there are many different sorts of fire – the blazing inferno/surface of the sun or the soft relaxing embers left in the campfire late in the night. We can hear the fire element in the birds chirping at first light, children playing and laughing fully immersed in life, or on the 4th of July when the explosions blast sparkles into the dark sky.