Editor’s Note: In prior issues, Neil discussed the kidney official as a whole (August 2014) and specific points on the kidney meridian (September 2012 included points 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8; October 2019 included points 24, 25, 26, and 27). This article focuses on KI 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
KI 9: Building Guest
This point reminds us of a good house guest who, rather than simply taking, is a welcome addition and helper, bringing gifts, easing burdens, and working for the benefit of those who live in the home. We consider this point for the water-imbalanced patient who feels alone, weak, unsupported, and either is unable or unwilling to find or access inner strength, help or resources.
KI 10: Yin Valley
Water Point, Horary Point
This point brings to mind a shady, quiet valley – perfect for cool, calm self-reflection, as in a clear pool of water at the bottom of hill or mountainside. As such, we consider it for a water-imbalanced patient who is internally turbulent, inflamed or out of control.
As the water point of the meridian, it can be used as a horary point between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. We use horary points to clear away accumulated debris and obstructions, allowing us to see the true state of an official’s energy.
Like a pond covered over with scum and dead leaves, we need to see the state of the water underneath. Is it clear, murky, polluted? How much water is there? We need to know in order to assess how to treat it.
This point, used as a horary, provides us with the means to know, particularly by the quantitative and qualitative pulse change. It cleans the water, as well as clearing the path for the water to flow freely.
KI 12: Great Brightness
This point helps clear murky, dark and muddy waters. Overcome with worry and anxiety, the natural clarity and reflective quality of water are compromised. Rather than perceiving the brightness of the divine in themselves and in everything, the water-imbalanced patient needing this point sees negativity and darkness within and projects it to the outside world.
As spirit itself is unchanging, it is never too late to clear away the darkness that covers it, regardless of age. A single candle can bring light to the darkest room. This point can restore the spirit level to its innate brightness, fascination, joy, and optimism.
KI 13: Door of Infants
As well as being a point to literally help in the conception of a child, this point helps give birth to new ideas, creative enterprises, and projects of all kinds. Thus, it is a point considered for the patient who is caught in anxieties, dreams and fantasies of getting things started, but lacks the will and motivation to begin.
KI 14: Four Full
There are four cardinal, or essential, compass directions to which we can reach and extend ourselves outward, as well as from which we can receive. Fullness implies satisfaction, with neither gluttony nor want. Feeling they have too little often causes water-imbalanced patients to overcompensate and overindulge.
This is a point to help such patients return to self-sufficiency, equilibrium and sobriety – extending just the right amount of energy required for the situation, and taking in only what is needed. This is the way of nature. Living in such accord and alignment with nature, they reap rewards far superior to those gained by excess or frivolity.
KI 15: Middle Flowing Out
Coming from our “middle” or center refers to our very core – our spirit. From our center, we can engage with others and the world as effortlessly as water, which simply takes the shape of whatever contains it and responds in just the right measure to its environment.
We consider this point for the water-imbalanced patient who is challenged with issues of fluidity at any level. Water has to reach every part of the physical body to cleanse, empower and provide flexibility. It also has to reach the mind, which needs to be strong, agile, and cleansed of negativity, rigidity, and narrowmindedness.
Our thoughts and expressions need to flow effortlessly and true. Our spirit needs to be free to flow and shine its light, unhindered by fear or other obscurations to its radiance.
KI 16: Vitals Correspondence
The kidneys are considered the “root of life,” and the powerhouse of the body, mind and spirit. If deficient, we lack vitality at all levels. The body becomes weak; endurance, fertility, and virility falter; immunity to disease decreases; the bones become weak; we age prematurely – to name a few possible outcomes.
The mind becomes dull, losing its clarity, agility, memory, and cleverness. The spirit loses its brightness and sparkle, as its gifts of willpower and determination diminish. The lack of energy and vitality is felt everywhere.
Being a “correspondence” point, KI 16 provides a powerful and direct way to access and replenish the deepest and most concentrated foundational energy.
KI 17: Merchant Crooked
A merchant is one who buys, sells and trades in goods. As such, merchants know the value of things – what to keep, what to sell, what to discard. “Crooked,” in this context, means flexible and able to bend without breaking. Thus, we consider this point for the water-imbalanced patient who needs the sustaining power of water to hold fast to what is valuable, while being able to let go of what is unnecessary.
It is rather like bargaining with a good businessperson. They will not cheat by overinflating the value of their goods or services, nor will they cheapen their value by selling for less than their true worth. Both buyer and seller feel good about the transaction.
Exchanges take place in all relationships. With sufficient internal strength and knowledge of our true divine worth, we can feel good about being honest and fair, without the need to overinflate or diminish ourselves, even in the most challenging circumstances. Water is sufficient unto itself. It does not insist on being greater or lesser than what it is, yet its true nature is never corrupted, threatened or dimishished.
Author’s Note: There are many interpretations and uses of these points in various traditions; the preceding is not intended to encompass all possibilities. English translations of point names are those taught by Professor J.R. Worsley and appear in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, Volume 1: Meridians and Points by J.R. Worsley; Element Books, 1982.
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