MINISTRIAL FIRE
Pericardium/circulation/sex
The guardian of all intimacies, the pericardium serves as the walls around the palace of the Forbidden City, within which the heart lives. The Pericardium is in charge of all intimacies involving love. The first betrayal of intimacy is the betrayal of intimacy towards the self, i.e. not following our destiny path. Think back on an old love lost. Our romantic language speaks of "It broke my heart,” or “I closed my heart," when in actual fact, it is the pericardium that has been broken or closed. Pericardium governs the circulation of blood and the blood vessels. The statement of "I am vulnerable, or invulnerable" is the pericardium speaking. The ability to open and close the flower of our sexually is governed by the pericardium. In its grace, it enables us to be intimate and vulnerable while at the same time guarding the sanctity of our heart. When out of balance, it manifests as an inability to open up to love, intimacy or vulnerability.

Triple Warmer
The triple warmer is the guardian of the exterior, the Great Wall of China. It is the foreign minister or secretary of state, who carries the proclamations of the heart to the all the other officials/organs of "the nation" of our body. The triple warmer is the tribal weaver, whose heavenly mandate or prime directive is the governance of love, celebration, joy, safety, happiness, laughter, illumination, consistency, community and communication between the individuals who make up the tribe. As the weaver, its job is to entwine harmony within the kingdom from the inner palace where the emperor/ess resides, to the ‘commons’ of everyday life. Thus, the triple warmer needs to be in constant observation and communication with the ‘all and everything’ to be effective. Anything that impedes this movement will cause its fire to become inflamed or extinguished. The triple warmer governs all temperature regulations, emotional, physical and psycho-spiritual. The triple warmer represents the vagus nerve, sinoatrial node and the endocrine gland system, and therefore is the governor of harmonious consistency within our being. When out of balance it manifests as blowing hot and cold in our spiritual and physical lives displayed by hot /cold behavior. In harmony, the triple warmer is the conductor of the organic symphony of our body.

EARTH
The stomach and spleen are the organ officials in service to earth. Both represent everything associated with the female.
Learn more about Earth.

Stomach
The stomach takes in the world through food, and begins the process of turning it into us. Its heavenly mandate is thoughtfulness, centering, grounding, feeding, and nourishing. Think of the image of a child and a mother’s breast and you have the function of the Stomach. In the classics they say, "The Stomach ripens and rots." Out of balance, it represents worry, obsession, over thinking and oppression. Healthy nourishing food represents one of the four pillars of good health – the gift of the stomach. The other three pillars are: fluids, exercise and rest.

Spleen/Pancreas
The spleen and pancreas are considered to be one and the same in Chinese medicine. They are in charge of transformation and transportation of the nutrients (Yi), provided by food from the stomach. In western medicine, they play a role in the absorption of the white blood cells. In Chinese medicine theory, they also are involved in the manufacture of white blood cells. The movement of the "fuel" of nutrition to every cell of the body from the top of the head to the end of the toes and fingers is the mandate of this official. All of the physical and psycho-spiritual thoughtfulness of stomach also applies to the spleen/pancreas.

METAL
Metal is masculinity. The lung and colon are the organ officials in service to the metal element. These are the inspiration and letting-go officials, in charge of the nose, skin and mucous membranes. Both govern the rhythms of the physical body. Learn more about Metal.

Lung
The lung official is in intimate communion with the deepest reaches of space. When we look at the night sky, the most distant star is tens of thousands of light years away. When that light hits our eyes, it is also inspired into our lungs. We are each a walking ‘deep space, cosmic communion antenna’ in direct communion with the Great Spirit. The lung official governs all forms of creative and constructive inspiration in our life journey. Lungs are the bellows, breathing oxygen to the ‘crucible of love,’ the heart.

Colon
The colon is the official in charge of self worth and the letting go of all of our ‘old shit’ physically, emotionally and mentally. If you cannot let go of the ‘unrefined’ parts of your life – old pains and hurts, lost loves and loved ones, disagreements, etc., these could be constipating factors expressed by an out-of-balance colon. In it’s grace, the colon is the official in charge celebrating the rainbow-colored diversity of life. The colon is where we absorb the fine trace elements of life: gold, palladium, platinum, diamond dust. Our material lust for these things in a capitalist culture suggests that our sense of self-value arises out of the smelliest place in our body. Our Wei Qi, or defensive/protective energy is also developed in the colon. Out of balance, the colon creates ‘stinking thinking and shitty behavior’ and the tendency to cut people off, like a sword.

WATER
Water is life! Without water, life as we know it would shrivel up and perish. Our capacity to flourish and be in the flow of our destiny is under the governance of water. I believe that many of our modern day illnesses could be resolved simply by drinking water. Bladder and kidney are water’s officials. Learn more about Water.

Bladder
The Bladder official is our ‘oceanic’ connection to the Yuan (or origins of existence) before the big bang. The blueprint for everything that was, is and ever will be was present in the consciousness of the Tao/God/Universe before the big bang. This is a common theme in the different religious traditions of the world. The bladder represents our capacity to ‘be still’, to reflect, to see the whole of life’s myriad faces in the mirrored face of the divine. Janus is the symbol of this official. It is represented in the environment by lakes, oceans and any large bodies of water. Our ability to be in any form of deep, spiritual, meditation and any religious tradition that involves deep contemplation is governed by the Bladder. The Bladder also supports will, willingness and willfulness and our ability to endure hardship and suffering.

Kidney
The Kidneys are the creeks, mountain streams and rivers of our being. They give us our ability to be like a young person: flexible and fluid in body, mind and spirit. The kidneys are in charge of the clockwise and counter-clockwise rhythms in all parts of our body from the microcellular all the way up to the large muscles and bones. One could say that water is responsible for keeping the infinity symbol (the 8 lounging on its side) of our being alive. Water is the most powerful official in teaching the art of relaxation.

FLORA (previously known as Wood)
Traditionally in Chinese medicine, flora has been thought of as wood. I am calling for a name change because I believe wood diminishes the vast nature of this beautifully diverse living system of flowers, grasses, sedges, bushes and trees. Are you an oak tree or a rose? I personally believe that all DNA and all living systems are under the governance of flora.

The officials under the guidance of flora are the gall bladder and liver. A tree can not reach heaven without having a great and powerful root system. Therefore, flora is represented in the body as fascia. Uptight behavior leads to belligerence and fascism. The emotion of anger is commonly associated with these two officials. This is unfair to the pair, as flora’s true gift is benevolence. Think of a tree. It has a definite boundary and a set of chemicals that will protect its right to exist. Humans and animals have the same need for safety and security. Once we know our boundary and express it to those we love, then benevolence is able to develop in our personal and community relations. Learn more about Flora.

Gall Bladder
The gall bladder is the official in charge of decision making and is called the pure and upright official of the body. It is interesting that the officials of flora contain and create the officials of fire, which is about having no boundaries. In effect, flora provides fire with discipline. The Gall Bladder, along with the Triple Warmer, has a powerful influence on the body’s defensive ability to stave off the environmental factors and pathogenic factors that we are faced with on a day-to-day basis.

Liver
The liver is the architect and planner of the body. We do not make plans in our head or brain, but in our liver. The rule of law is under its domain. I jokingly call this the lawyers and accountant official.