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DeepWater:The8ExtraordinaryVessels

Whataretheyandwhatdotheydo?

Thereareamultitudeofpossibleanswerstothesequestionsbecausetheextraordinarymeridiansareso…extraordinary!Forastarttheyseemtobeinsomesensedeepermeridians,withastrongconnectiontotheprimalenergiesandstructuresofthebody(Jing,YuanQi,theExtraordinaryFu).Theyseemalsotobeakindofpre-meridiangroupwhichhelpintheactualformationofthebody’sstructureinitiallyintheembryonicstageandthenthroughoutinfancy,childhoodandpubertyandthenagainatregularintervalswhenlargershiftsneedtotakeplacewithin,forexample,thehormonesystem.Theyareoftenportrayedasbeingfairlysimpleinstructure.Thisseemstobedeceptivehowever,forwhenwebegintolookcloserand,evenmoreso,whenwebegintoinvestigatetheminpractice,wefindthattheirpathwaysarebynomeanssimple.However,whatseemstomarkthemoutisthedifficultythathasbeenexperiencedinachievingastandardandacceptedpictureoftheirpathwaysandzonesofinfluence.Dependingonwhomyoutalktoandwhatyouread,youwillbeconfrontedwithradicallydifferentversions.Togeneralise,wecouldsaythatmostauthoritiesseemtobeabletoagreeonakindofminimumpattern.Thisisthenmoreorlessembellishedbythosepractitionersandtheoristswhotendtousethemand/orthinkaboutthemalot.

AnastoundingexperienceduringoneintensiveweekendofteachingprovidesmystrongestpersonalsenseoftheExtraordinaryVesselstothisday.Asmypartnerslowlyandmethodicallytracedoutthepathwaysandpointsofthevessels,theyrevealedthemselvesintheformofwhatIcanonlydescribeas“energeticclothing”.Theclothingwasinnowayreminiscentofourfamiliar,modern,westernstyles.InsteaditremindedmeofthekindofgarmentsonemightseeinasciencefictionmoviewithstronginfluencesfromSamuraifilmsandpaintings.Thisclothingtooktheformofloose,comfortablyfittinglayerswithaverystrongly,almostdramaticallydefinedcut.Inthissensetheextraordinarymeridiansrevealedthemselvesnotaslinesonthesurfaceofthebody.Veryfarfromthat,theyseemedinsteadtoformasetoflayered,energeticgarmentscovering,protectingandenergizingeverypartofme,overlappingatkey,centralareassuchashead,neck,waist,abdomen,backandlegs.Converselymyarms,faceandchestwereleftrelativelyfreeandonlylightlycovered.

Severalyearslatermygirlfriend,MarinahappenedtofindaninterestingbookinPariswithsomeveryexcitingpicturesportrayingvariousaspectsoftheExtraordinaryVessels.Theauthorhimselfseemstohaveeitherdreamedorenvisionedtheseimagesandsetthem

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downforusinhisbook.Strangelyhedoesnotexplainorevenrefertotheimageswithinthetext,sowearelefttopondertheirmeaningandsignificanceforourselves–suchfreedom!(Forthoseinterestedthebookiscalled:MerveilleuxVaisseauxandwaswrittenbyBernardDesoutter.Theimagesembellishingthisarticlearetakenfromthebook.)Theyformanexcellentstartingpointforourwork,eventhoughorpreciselybecausetheyprovideabsolutelynodetailedstructuretoguideus-weareencouragedtocreatethestructureforourselves.Thebestwaytodothisaccordingtomywayofthinkingistoexperiencethevesselsthroughexercisesdesignedtorevealtheirparticularcharacterandspecificqualities,theiruniqueatmosphere.Anotherexcellentwaytoexperiencethevesselsisthroughtheirgenerallyacceptedsitesofinteraction,namelythepoints.Herewerunintoanothernebulousandproblematicaspectoftheextraordinaryvessels,anaspect,whichunfortunatelyseemstoobscuretheiridentityandfurtherreducetheiraccessibilityformanystudentsandpractitioners.ItisblithelystatedinthevarioustextsavailablethatapartfromtheGovernorandConceptionVessels(GV&CV),theExtraordinaryVesselsdonothavetheirownpoints.Theyaresaidto“borrow”pointsfromtheregularmeridians.Ichallengethisassertion.Thepathwaysoftheregularmeridiansarewellknownandintricatelymappedout.Theirgeographyandtopographyinclude:mainpathways;Luomeridians;sinewmeridians;divergentmeridiansandevenminorbranchesconnectingtoothermainmeridians.Anotherwell-documentedphenomenonistheso-called"crossingpoints",wheretwoormoremeridiansmeet:Spleen6isthemostwellknownexample.Therearealsoagreatmanyother,lesswell-knownexamplesofcrossingpoints.Commontoallofthemisthattheyaremeetingplacesforseveralmeridiansbutsignificantlybearthenameofonlyoneofthem.TH8forexample,SanYangLuo-literally,ThreeYangChannels-isalsoapointoftheSmallandLargeIntestinemeridiansbutisconceivedofas“belonging”totheTripleHeatermeridian.AftertheintensiveweekendofteachingandresearchintotheExtraordinaryVesselsreferredtoabove,wewerefacedwithafascinatingdilemma:towhichmeridiandidthepointsbelong?Whichmeridianisdoingthe“borrowing”andinthatcasefromwhichothermeridian?Thetruthofthegroupexperiencewasthatthepointsseemedtoveryclearlybelongtothemeridianswehadpalpated,whichistosaytheExtraordinaryVessels.Perhapswemightconsideritthisway.Ifwebearinmindthatthepointstraditionallyhadnamesandnotnumbers,apointthenbecomesmerelythis:asiteofsuperficialmeridianenergyactivity.Apointwhereseveralmeridiansmeetthenbecomesanodalpoint.Atthesenodalpointsatleasttwothingstakeplace:meetingandexchange.Wedonottherefore,evenhavetotakesidesontheissuebecausetheissuepromptlyceasestoexist-thepoints“belong”equallytoallthemeridianswhosepathwaystraversethatexactlocation.Moreso,theygiveusfantasticpossibilitiestodirectlyassistthebodyinthese

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functionsofmeetingandexchangeofenergy.Allthatisrequiredofusisaslightexpansionoffocustoreceiveavastnewrangeofpossibilitiestoworkwith.Ifwenowbackupslightly,thereareseveralthingswecansayabouttheExtraordinaryVesselsthatseemtobecorroboratedbymostauthoritiesandtexts.

Itissaidthattheyfunctionasareservesystemfortheregularmeridians.Anexampleoftengivenisthatduringtimesofstressoroverloadtheirreservesofprimalenergy(Jing-essence)aremadeavailabletoboostandsupplementtheoverstrainedordepletedenergiesoftheregularmeridians.Interestingly,theoppositeseemsalsotobetrue.Theyseemtobeequallyabletoabsorbexcessenergyfromtheregularmeridianseitherintheformofgood,clean,uprightenergy(ZhengQi/Seiki)orelseintheformofpolluted,distortedorsimplymisplacedenergy(XieQi/Jaki).Inthissensewecanseethemasaback-upsystem,balancingoutexcessanddeficiencyintheregularmeridians.ThisisespeciallypoignantwhenweconsiderthefunctionsandpathwaysoftheGovernorandConceptionVessels-theSeasofYinandYang-andtheYinandYangWeiMaivessels.“Wei”meansweaving,linkingorconnectingandthesetwovesselssharepointswithvirtuallyalltheregularyinandyangmeridians.TheChongMaiiscommonlyknownastheSeaofBloodandtheSeaoftheTwelveMeridians.Thereisprobablyaverygoodsetofreasonsforthis.Ifwebroadenthispicturebeyondthemerelypathological,wecanseethetwointerlockingsystemsasonesingle,two-tiersystem.Theregularmeridiansprovideakindofdailyservicethatisintheforegroundtakingcareofbusiness,withtheExtraordinaryVesselsinthebackgroundfunctioningasanauxiliarysystemofchecksandbalances-herewefindboththegoldreservesandalsotherun-offandrecyclefacilities!Thisheavy-dutyback-upsystemgivesthemorespecialisedfrontalsystemfreedomandsecuritytoperformitsfunctionsonadailybasisthroughoutourlivesevenwhenthegoinggetstough.Topaintanarchetypalpicture:winteristoughandsummersareallgreengrassandgrazing.DuringthewinteritisthereforereasonabletosupposethattheExtraordinaryVesselsworkhard,providingextraenergytosupplementthestrainontheregularmeridians.Itisjustasreasonabletosupposethatsummerispay-backtime:theExtraordinaryVesselsgettositback,relaxwiththeirfeetupandreceivetheexcessenergythatgraduallybeginstoflowinfromtheregularsystemasthelightincreases,foodbecomesmoreplentifulandthesun’swarmthreducesthedemandsforheatenergyfromthereservesupplies.Inthiswaywecanseehow,thankstothedualsystem,thebodysurvivesyearafteryeardespitetherigoursofthehardmonths.ObviouslyIhaveoversimplifiedthispicturetomakeapoint.Indeedinsomepartsoftheworlditisthesummer,whichplacesextrademandsonthebody,whilethewinterisarestfultimewhenthecupboardsarerestocked.Thepoint

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beingmadeofcourseisthepossibilitythetwo-tiersystemprovidesforsurvivalthroughrenewalandexchange.

Extendingthisimagestillfurther,weseehowtheExtraordinaryVesselscanbecomeavehicleforinternalcultivation.Itisbynomeanscertainthateverywinterishardandlifethreatening.Itmaybethatbycarefulplanningandstoringwecaneasilysurvivethewinterandnotevenneedtodigintoourreserves,especiallyifthewinterisamildone.Inthiscase,thesummerbecomesatimeforfurtherstockingupoffreshsuppliesandstrengtheningofreserveenergies.Thismeansthatwecanstorealmostindefiniteamountsofenergyinthebackupsystem,whichmaythenbeusedforpurposesotherthanmeresurvival.Thisinturnmeansthatifgiventheappropriatelifeopportunitieswecansave,storeandthenutiliseourenergyforfulfillingouraimsandgoalsinlifeandtherebyclaimourdestiny.Wemayusethatenergydirectlyforhelpingothersinwhateverisourchosenform,orwemaychoosetodirectthatenergytowardsexpandingourownconsciousnessandawareness.Spiritualtraditionsoftenteachthatthebestwaytoserveothersistohelpourselves.ThisaspectoftheExtraordinaryVesselsbecomesespeciallysignificantwhenweconsiderthatcertainauthoritiesclaimastrongconnexionbetweentheExtraordinaryVesselsandtheso-calledCuriousOrgans.“Curious”heremeans:extraordinary,specialandnotpertainingtooneofthetwelveregularmeridians.ThesixCuriousOrgansare:

• thebrain(dominatedbyGovernorVesselwithsupportfromYinandYangQiaoMai)

• theuterus(nourishedbyConceptionVesselandChongMaiandsupportedbyDaiMai)

• thebloodvessels(maintainedprimarilybyChongMaiandYinWeiMai)

• thegallbladder(regulatedpartiallybytheDaiMaiandYangWeiMai)

• themarrow(nourishedbyChongMaiandGovernorVessel)• thebones(fedbytheGovernorVesselandChongMai)

IfweconsiderthislistweseesixvitalandinfluentialorganswhosemaintenanceandfunctiontheExtraordinaryVesselsassist,supportandevensubstantiallydominate.Intraditionalschoolsofqigongandinternalmartialarts,taijichuanandxingyichuanforexample,theExtraordinaryVesselsarecreditedwiththeabilitytostorelargeamountsofQi,whichthensupplytheseorganswithabundantresourcesforcultivationanddevelopmentbeyondthedemandsofmeresurvival.Insomecaseswaybeyond...!Itisperhapsinthislattercontextthattheterms“extraordinary”and“miraculous”havecometobeassociatedwiththeseotherwiserathershadowyenergyvessels.

©ChrisMcAlister2016