Things to Calculate

     One of my patients asked what we were treating and what did we have to calculate. It started my re-examining what the routine was and what I needed to take into consideration. There’s the season, of course, and right now we are moving into the beginning of summer according to the Chinese calendar. There’s also the day of the week (which is the most auspicious number?), where the moon is in its cycle/and where the planets are, and the hour of day.

     Acupuncture recognizes that the life force of all things, the qi, moves in flow with so many variables and one of these is the hour of the day. The organ systems function at their highest and lowest about 12 hours apart. The Large Intestine, for example, is at the height of its cycle from 5am to 7am and at its lowest at 5pm to 7pm, so if you needed to address concerns about this system, it would be best to have a patient in during this window.
     At acupuncture school, there used to be horary (that’s the name for these hour-related treatments) parties for patients late at night.


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I ask myself, What is the - perhaps only one of several but for me the – most interesting technology that shapes the space one usually calls Western culture, as distinct, say, from Chinese culture? The obvious answer – and here Father Ong has been my main modern living guide – is the alphabet. - Ivan Illich, In Conversation