In the San Francisco Bay Area, as across much of the western United States, fast-changing weather patterns are challenging infrastructure, electricity access, and transportation networks.
Snow frosts the Santa Cruz Mountains here, a sight which inspires awe from afar. Natural forces, the foundation of life, can both nourish and challenge the very systems which depend on their balance of yin-yang, hot-cold, slow-fast.
When one’s path becomes blocked and plans fray, the Wood phase (木) and Liver system may glare forth with heat and vigor. In other terms, we can call this process something all-too-familiar: stress.
Known as ‘the General’, the Liver organ governs the smooth flow of qì and blood throughout the channel and collateral (jīng-luò) network, relying on the orderly and rhythmic flow of nutrients and signals within the domain of the entire zàng-fǔ paradigm. When this flow is unexpectedly impeded, such as when the unsurpassable challenges our range of choices, the qì of the Liver can become pent-up, eventually generating heat.
The Liver’s coursing and expansive movement, which in health can be somatically experienced as ease, grace, and benevolence, has within its nature a potent connection to deep resources.
In traditional Chinese medical theory, there is a physiological and phenomenological entity known as the Life Gate Fire (mìngmén huǒ: 命門火), which is observed to originate from the kidney area in the lumbar region. This metabolic dynamo is considered the minister to the true sovereign: the Heart. Somewhat mysteriously, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) eminent physician-scholar Zhang Jiebin remarked:
Sovereign fire is defined by its brightness; ministerial fire is defined by its position.
The functional activity of the Life Gate Fire is theorized to be the very source of the qì of the whole organism. It is here that the yin-water of the Kidney and the yang-fire of the Heart coalesce. In their communion arises the source qì (yuánqì: 元氣), which propagates through the Triple Burner, surfacing at the yuan-source acupoints near the wrists and ankles, and expressed through the Liver and Gallbladder zàng-fǔ functions. Because the Wood Phase network (juéyīn-shǎoyáng) harbors this essential force, they are prone to developing heat when their powerful functions are impeded, even slightly. Beware of a constrained Liver!
Notably, the Life Gate (mìngmén) is first mentioned in the classic text Huangdi Neijing as the eye system, and not the space between the kidneys. And significantly, the sense organ generally associated with the Wood phase are the eyes.
Cue the virtues of chrysanthemum blossom: an elegant and majestic remedy for Liver-heat, for quelling rampant ministerial fire, and for nourishing and venting inflammation from the head and eye system. A perfect herb for stress!
The clinical manual Formulas and Strategies published by Eastland Press expounds upon the use of chrysanthemum:
Sweet chrysanthemum flower is light and clear in flavor and nature, and its effect is particularly leisurely; it must be taken over a long time before it starts to take effect. One cannot simply take more to try for earlier results.
The Thoroughly Revised Materia Medica elucidates further:
Sweet chrysanthemum flower is sweet, bitter, and slightly cold. Thoroughly imbued with the qì of the four seasons, it sprouts in winter, produces leaves in spring, blossoms in summer, and reaches full flower in autumn. In its fullness, it embraces the frost and succumbs to the essence of metal and water, thus it is able to benefit the two organs, the Lungs and Kidneys. This controls Heart fire, and calms Liver wood; with wood calmed, the wind is extinguished; when fire is directed downward, heat is eliminated. Thus, it can nourish the eyes and the blood (and thereby) expel superficial visual obstruction–if it is combined with Lycii Fructus (gǒu qǐ zi) ... there will never be any eye problems. Sipped as tea, drunk in wine, or placed in a pillow: all ways are effective. Use bái zhú, gǒu qǐ zi, and dì gǔ pí as assistants.
Chrysanthemum blossom is also an excellent adjunct to indications involving the ubiquitous Free and Easy Wanderer Powder (xiāo yáo sàn).
Kan offers a wide range of formulae which include the star-herbal chrysanthemum. Below are a selection:
- A variant of the classic 17th-century remedy míng mù dì huáng wán, Bright Eye Rehmannia offers an effective solution for eye support via nourishment of Liver and Kidney Yin and subduing rising Yang.
- Female Comfort, a gynecological formula specifically designed to nourish Liver and Kidney Yin while clearing Empty-Heat and protecting the digestive system. This is a useful approach for bringing grace to the many hormonal transitions and cycles at the later stages of the female reproductive lifetime.
- An evolution of sāng jú yǐn, Gan Mao Ling features chrysanthemum in its effort to expel Wind-Heat pathogens from the exterior layers of the body (Wèi and Qì levels). This is a formula which is very useful at the advent of respiratory cold-like symptoms with Heat signs, and may also be used proactively.
Chrysanthemum blossom as a hot tisane, with its graceful scent and dancing array of pastel hues, may be found a welcome companion during these final weeks of winter, near the very cusp of Spring.