SI-1 Shaoze - Little Marsh

A marsh is a place of fertility, value and nourishment, and the Chinese thought of it as an area of quality. With this point the Separator is reminded of what quality is: it carries Metal's quality into the Small Intestine, helps the person receive from Heaven, and helps them eliminate and throw out the rubbish. It is the beginning of the meridian and connects to the Heart, the meridian before, so it represents everything the meridian can do in sorting out and separating pure from impure, enhanced because it is Metal: what is correct and what is not. It helps clear mental fog and increases our ability to assess and absorb ideas. In China every source of water is a holy place, with a shrine beside it. The marsh is like rice fields standing in water. It lets the Fire burn cleanly and lets the patient see themselves clearly, clearing away and pruning so they can look at who they are and the direction they are taking.

• This point helps a patient look at themselves with clear eyes, cutting back and pruning so they can see who they are and which way they are going. It is also linked with splits, for instance rubbish lodged in just one area of the body. If the Metal inside the Fire is lacking, the Wood inside the Fire will rage; the task then is to calm the Fire and build up its Metal, which is its cooling, Yin side.
• Using this point helps the Separator remember what quality is. It eases how the Separator works with the Eliminator, so the rubbish can be let go and the Official that receives Qi from the Heavens can start to bring quality back into the life of the Small Intestine.

Location: Ulnar-side nail point, little finger.
Needle depth: 1 fen
Moxa: 3-5 cones

• When a lot of impurity impinges on the person's sense of self-worth
• When a Small Intestine Causative Factor (CF) is deeply depressed, suicidal, insecure, sarcastic or childish
• When the person finds touching difficult or is frozen mentally
• When the person lives in their head, cut off from the body, or has a poor spirit despite a good mind
• When there is difficulty sensing the value of the things to be sorted
• When the person has the weight of the world on their shoulders
• When someone needs to clear up what they are carrying and come to the fullest expression of who they are
• When Wood is raging within the Small Intestine; the Metal point calms it by adding coolness and Yin energy
• When there is a split in the person, especially with rubbish lodged in one part of the body

• Entry point and Metal point of the Small Intestine; the Entry can get blocked, and then the person is not receiving
• Overall good for a non-specific quality change; supportive and brings energy into the meridian
• Works best in autumn; lets the Fire burn purely
• Use it to cleanse the meridian and oxygenate it, bringing air into Fire
• Connects to our ancestors and our ancestral energy
• A Fire meridian: all of life depends on the warmth of fire, which is love, friendship and affection. When the Separator is out of balance, impure food, drink or thought may be kept, building up a toxic store of physical and emotional poison