By Jude Ponton, DC, LAc and Paul Ponton, LAc, Senior Licensed Acutonics Teachers and Certified Acutonics® Practitioners
We have acknowledged the bounty of the harvest and are following the flow of natures’ seasonal cycle into Winter Solstice. “Solstice” comes from the Latin word substitium, which translates as “the Sun stands still”. On the day that the Sun is at its most southern position as seen from the Earth, it appears to stand still before it turns around.
At the Winter Solstice we experience the pivot point from yin to yang. Within the exact moment of transition there exists the perfect harmony of yin and yang that is a portal to rebirth and creation. This is the stillpoint where energy that has been contracting begins a slow shift toward expansion. Taoists say that the Dark Goddess rebirths the Sun God and that this is the time to plant the seeds of our intentions into the womb of darkness. It is the time to embrace the dark as nurturance for the yin fire that is the spark that ignites manifestation of those intentions.
This time of transition brings together the aspects of our being that we hold in the light with those that we hold in darkness. It is a time to release duality, a time of introspection, recharging and repose.
The Chinese lunisolar calendar places Winter Solstice in the time of deepest winter. It is a time for recovery and repose and for going deep within. The hexagram corresponding to this time is #24 Return.
It is a return to the time where darkness shifts into light. Return is useful to re-connect with the eternal essence of us that has remained unchanged over time. This provides a gateway to the matrix for manifestation into our destiny.
Winter is the season associated with the element of water and with the Kidney. The Kidney is the repository for our essence. Water is a messenger and transmitter of information and stores our ancestral wisdom. The Spirit associated with water is the Zhi, the Will, that is our connection to our destiny and to the unified field. Water provides the stillness that underlies action. The information that is stored and held also is expressed in the aspect of water that flows and adapts to its environment moving around and over as its current travels past obstacles.
In the words of Bruce Lee, “…be formless and shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
This time of transition from yin to yang is the perfect time to treat the Kidneys, the root of yin and yang.
The intervals most useful for cultivating and consolidating Kidney energy include the Saturn/Venus 6th, Full Moon 6th, Earth Day 5th, and Mars/Venus especially in the lower octaves. Sedna, which contains energy relating both to the yin and yang, the unity of yin and yang is especially appropriate. Sedna can be used as the tonic in any of the intervals supporting Kidney yin and yang – Sedna/Venus, Sedna/Full Moon, Sedna/Earth Day, Sedna/Neptune or Sedna/Mars.
These can be applied to:
UB 23 (Kidney Shu) which is a major point for supporting the Kidneys.
DU 4 (Life Gate) is an important point for tonifying and supporting the Kidney.
KID 3 (Great Ravine) is the source point of the Kidney channel used to accesses deep energy and to support the core.
REN 4 (Origin Pass) and REN 6 (Sea of Qi) are powerful points to build and consolidate the root.
The Ren Mai and Du Mai Extraordinary Vessels are portals to primordial yin and yang energy. These extraordinary vessels used in combination activate the microcosmic orbit, drawing together celestial and terrestrial energies to support the core.
KID 23 (Spirit Seal), KID 24 (Spirit Ruins) and KID 25 (Spirit Storehouse) can be used together to enhance the transformational process, resurrecting the spirit from the underground, merging the Zhi with the Shen of the Heart, and providing storage for the Zhi energy and for spiritual expansion and connection to our higher selves and to enhance awareness of the infinite possibilities enlivened by the Zhi.
Blessing of the season to all.