Sundance Acupuncture

Herb & Acupuncture Database

(This is my own personal database of teachers, teachings and notes that I use in my practice. I’ve decided to share it freely with anyone who would like to reference it.)

Death and Dying

From Class

  • 13 Ghost Points as four trinities (at/after death): Four trinities moxa'd or touched after death to free what is bound: Du-20, LU-11, SP-1; PC-7, BL-62, Du-16; ST-6, Ren-24, PC-8; Du-23, Ren-1, LI-11; plus Yintang. (Lewis)
  • After death: incense, moxa, open windows: Opening windows, incense and moxa help free the soul; for 14 days after death moxa the four ghost-point trinities so the Po find their way. (Lewis)
  • Altered states near death in yin deficiency: Heart-fire surges in yin deficiency may cause mania or delusion; dying in such altered consciousness risks the soul not recognizing death and being confused in the bardo. (Lewis)
  • Anointing the Seven Stars of the Great Dipper: Anoint seven levels of the central axis from Ren-1/Du-1 up to Du-20 so the spirits ascend through the crown; front Ren points can substitute for back Du points. (Lewis)
  • Battlefield acupuncture (auricular, Niemtzow 2001): Five-point ear protocol for pain, useful at end of life since no channel diagnosis is needed; seeds, magnets or ear needles can stay for days. (Lewis)
  • Breath at end of life — don't anchor the Kidneys: At death don't strengthen the Kidneys or normalize the breath; smooth Lung qi and help the lungs exhale, empty and release. (Lewis)
  • Conception and death as symmetrical mysteries: We leave through the portal by which we entered, with the principle reversed; the classics treat conception and death by the same laws of alignment. (Lewis)
  • Death rattle & anticholinergics: Anticholinergics for the death rattle dry eyes and mouth and treat the family's discomfort; offer sips and moisten the lips with a mouth sponge instead. (Lewis)
  • Death rattle — Po learning to stop breathing: Rather than medicating the death rattle, reposition, massage the chest, stimulate Ren-22 and support the family; the Po is learning to stop breathing. (Lewis)
  • Earth withdraws first in dying: Hunger diminishes first as digestion recedes; don't force-feed (offer sips, moisten the mouth); as the Spleen weakens, deep fatigue arises and life narratives loosen. (Lewis)
  • Elemental constitution checklist for dying wishes: Discuss preferences by element (e.g., Earth types need safety/home; a watery type at death may need more Earth). (Lewis)
  • End-of-life constipation: Common because yang no longer moves the bowels; dough and sugar won't help. (Lewis)
  • End-of-life toolkit: Acupuncture, herbs, moxibustion, stone medicine and essential oils, plus presence — the practitioner as a 'hollow bone' the Dao uses as its tool. (Lewis)
  • German Medical Acupuncture Assoc. palliative protocol (JAMS 2017): Palliative protocol for anxiety, depression, dyspnea, pruritus, hypersalivation and xerostomia; at the bedside start with core points only rather than 10-12 needles. (Lewis)
  • Herbs at end of life — topical use: Keep herbs simple; when swallowing is hard, apply decoctions or tinctures topically as foot soaks or body washes, or a 'Tea for Transition' to hands and temples. (Lewis)
  • Hun-po marriage: Union of hun and po is life, separation death; at first breath the hun lifts the po from the intestines/umbilical region (citing Larre & Rochat de la Vallée, Rooted in Spirit).
  • Kidney channel and the old character for 'Chen' (citing Heiner Fruehauf): The old character Chen (prostration) belongs to the Kidneys, water seeking low places; non-striving in later life; Kidneys relate to legacy and leaving no unfinished business. (Lewis)
  • Nine Needles to Return Yang — as death medicine: Three stages: Separation (Du-15, PC-8, PC-6, SP-6); Transition (KI-1, KI-3, Ren-12); Deliverance (GB-30, ST-36 or ST-37, LI-4), giving yang momentum for passage. (Lewis)
  • Nine Points to Return Yang (soul-summoning, used counterflow): Used counterflow so souls don't separate before business is done: PC-8, PC-6, SP-6, KI-1, KI-3, Ren-12, GB-30, ST-36, LI-4, from Jing to Qi to Shen. (Lewis)
  • Pain relief preferences — acupuncture first: Offer choices (acupuncture, herbs, oils, moxa, massage, then NSAIDs, narcotics, anxiolytics); acupuncture first line; end-of-life anxiety often somatizes as pain. (Lewis)
  • Phlegm as unprocessed psyche at death: Only what Spleen yang can lift carries on; phlegm reflects unresolved psyche, and when it obstructs the Heart we lose peace and center. (Lewis)
  • Po and hauntings: Unresolved guilt and attachment bind the Po to the earth at the site of death; bring awareness to what they carry and release what isn't ours. (Lewis)
  • Po weighed down by guilt: The Po take on unresolved guilt, which can keep them earthbound at the site of death; release, return what isn't ours, and integrate the rest. (Lewis)
  • Principle: same point, changed intention: At end of life the point and its function don't change but the clinical intention does — e.g., SP-6 for discomfort rather than tonification, PC-6 for nausea or gastric distress. (Lewis)
  • Psychedelics open the Pericardium (teacher's view): Narcotics blanket the psyche (Liver); hallucinogens like psilocybin seem to open the heart/pericardium and arouse the Hun, hence their use for end-of-life anxiety. (Lewis)
  • Pulse at approaching death: Near death the pulse is thin like a breaking thread; tension in a position shows unresolved emotion (left guan anger, right cun grief), guiding treatment. (Lewis)
  • Renewal axis (after sudden/traumatic departure): Asks the soul 'returning or going on?': ST-25 centers the heaven-earth axis, SP-8 reconnects with earth, SP-21 gathers the person, then Du-26 calls consciousness back. (Lewis)
  • Seven gates of the course (overview): Gates: 1 Earth (mental identity, regrets), 2 Water (physical identity, fear), 4 Neijing Tu journey, 5 near-death and death canal, 6 letting go, 7 communing with the Hun and death vigils. (Lewis)
  • Seven Heavenly Star Prayer (alchemical treatment): A remembrance ritual whose points form an alchemical pathway that strengthens for the journey, restores yang movement, clears the heart-mind and softens rigidity. (Lewis)
  • Shen, Hun, Po, Yi, Zhi — formation and separation: Shen, Hun and Po are prenatal, Yi and Zhi postnatal; at death the Po goes down and the Hun goes up following the Shen. (Lewis)
  • Summary of the nine points to return yang: They open the orifices, consolidate essence, warm the middle heater, and calm the shen. (Yuen)
  • Three levels of healers: Zhong Yi, Sheng Yi, Shen Yi: Zhong Yi needles the manifested disease, Sheng Yi the energy behind it, Shen Yi heals by presence; only a Shen Yi guides through the death canal. (Lewis)
  • Water/Kidney — fear, survival, trust: The Kidney holds our deepest fears around survival and identity and our capacity for trust; facing fears near death lets them soften into trust and surrender. (Lewis)
  • Xi-cleft points for acute pain at end of life: Start locally with ashi points, find the channel, then use its xi-cleft point for acute pain; non-acupuncturists can anoint these points with the essential oils. (Lewis)

For educational reference only; not a substitute for care from a qualified practitioner.