Clavicle: Key to the Cloud Gate

We've always understood the body through the lens of our time, and often the metaphors we choose, drawn from the world around us, have quietly shaped how we locate, name, and relate to the body's inner landscapes… Our ancestors looked inward through the lens of their worldview, seeing in flesh and bone what they knew in earth and sky.

The ancients described channels of life force flowing through us like irrigation lines through a field, like rivers winding through the landscape. They envisioned waterways, rivers, marshes, and brooks governed by the rhythms of elements, movements of the stars, and changes of the seasons. The body was a microcosm, a small reflection of the universe around itself, a part of a living ecosystem, as an organ makes up a system, makes up an -ism…

What was happening inside was a reflection of what was happening in the environment and the larger cosmos; a dynamic interplay between inner and outer worlds that continues to shape our understanding of health, even if we've forgotten to name it as such. Certain organs could be said to be exalted in, or in their detriment, depending on the conditions of the outside world. The liver, for example, was said to be influenced by the season of spring, but during the transition from the long, cold winter, this free and easy wanderer becomes cranky and agitated. As many of us do around that time of year, at least here in New England, and who can blame us?

[read more]