Body Eloquence The Power of Myth and Story to Awaken the Body’s Energies by Nancy Mellon with Ashley Ramsden Foreword by Donna Eden www.healingstory.com Energy Psychology Press Santa Rosa, CA 95403 www.energypsychologypress.com Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mellon, Nancy. Body eloquence: the power of myth and story to awaken the body’s energies / Nancy Mellon with Ashley Ramsden ; foreword by Donna Eden. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) index.. ISBN 978-1-60415-028-5 1. Organs (Anatomy)—Popular works. 2. Organs (Anatomy)—Mythology. 3. Energy psychology. I. Ramsden, Ashley. II. Title. QM26.M45 2008 612'.028—dc22 2008011465 © 2008 Nancy Mellon All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from Energy Psychology Press, with the exception of short excerpts used with acknowledgement of publisher and author. No part of this book is intended to diagnose or treat any particular person or disease, and no part of this book is intended as medical advice. The information in this book may be used as a substitute for medical treatment. Cover design by Karen Kane, www.CuriousSky.com Typesetting by Karin Kinsey Typeset in Perpetua and Calligraphic Printed in USA First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To the healing storyteller in everyone qw Contents Foreword by Donna Eden vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 Cheerful Mediator: The Heart 19 2 Artist-in-Residence: The Small Intestine 31 3 Willing Servant: The Liver 45 4 Decision-Maker: The Gall Bladder 61 5 Perfecting Spirit: The Large Intestine 73 6 Inspiring Leader: The Lungs 87 7 Catalyst: The Stomach 103 8 Peaceful Protector: The Spleen & Pancreas 117 9 Entertainer: The Bladder 129 10 Quiet Sage: The Kidneys 143 11 Boundary Keeper: The Skin 155 12 Gentle Judge: The Pericardium 169 13 Bountiful Healer: The Thymus 183 14 Individualist: The Appendix 195 15 Voluptuary: The Genitals 209 16 Cultured Thinker: The Brain 223 Afterword 239 Suggested Reading 243 Foreword Who has not sat in rapt wonder at the body’s inner workings, hearing about how the immune sys- tem mobilizes a posse to attack an invader or that a single cell undergoes some 100,000 chemical reactions per second? What intelligence orchestrates these micro-dramas within us? Body Eloquence is a thrilling read, guiding us into the cornucopia of poetic relationships that reside in the human body. Its thesis is that every organ embodies a purpose and has an influence that goes far beyond its biological function. Every organ is as vitally connected with psyche and spirit as it is with blood and oxygen. As every organ contributes to your life story, it embodies a specific theme, holding its important piece in the cosmos’ great mysteries. The heart is not merely a remarkably durable pump. It is the embodiment of good will, send- ing nourishment to every fiber of your body and being, the receptor of “heart-to-heart” connec- tions with those you love, and the organ of an openhearted embrace of the world around you. But if its influence is too strong, if you are too openhearted, you are overly vulnerable to the slings and arrows from within and from without that cause heartache, that break the heart and its spirit. If its influence is too weak, if you become small-hearted, you move through the world with the miserly constrictions that reflect a body in which not enough oxygen can flow. The kidneys are not just organs of purification, filtering the blood and transporting toxins from our bodies. As Nancy Mellon shows, they inhabit the deep interior worlds within us, nour- ishing our life stories with philosophical depth and transcendental understanding. The pancreas and spleen not only process and balance the blood; people who are strong in this energy bring a sweetness to life and impart stability to others. Foreword vii For every organ, this book provides not just these broad-stroke simplifications, but a depth and richness that will help you comprehend the organ and its themes in ways that will change how you think about not only your body and its parts, but also your place in the universe. By understanding the great themes of life according to each organ when it is in perfect balance and harmony as well as when it is not, the big questions of psychology and philosophy become pal- pable, soul-sized dramas set in the tangible theatre of a body trying to thrive. Nancy Mellon draws together science, medicine, mythology, and healing traditions in tell- ing the story of every organ and the energies (which travel throughout the body along pathways known in traditional Chinese medicine as meridians) that govern it. You will relate to these sto- ries intuitively and instantly, and you will be changed. I will request of all my students and sug- gest to all the practitioners of the healing arts I know that they read this beautiful and profound exposition. The eloquence of your body and its organs is the voice of creation speaking to you directly and uniquely. This book shows you how to decipher its language. It also instructs you in how to engage in rich dialogue that informs, directs, and heals your body and its organs. Storytelling goes in both directions. Not only does every organ have a story to tell, your body also resonates with the sounds of the stories conjured by your imagination. Even your cells respond. Whereas our inner talk is usually from our mind to our mind, story speaks to every level of our humanity. As Nancy Mellon explains, great storytellers reach out “with their voices to respond to the secret dreams and struggles of human beings and all living things.” This is a book that teaches you about the great storyteller that dwells within each of us, ad- dressing at once the grand themes of Heaven and Earth and the perpetual conflicts among our organs, the product of our day-to-day adjustments to the planet. It is a book that teaches you to be attuned to the spectacular dramas within, finding the stories that complete what is unfinished, that right what has been wronged, and that move us further along, and with greater conscious- ness, on this journey we call life. Donna Eden Author, Energy Medicine November 2007 viii Body Eloquence Acknowledgments This book could not have been written without the inquisitive genius and generosity of Bob Cooley, and those who attended his Meridian Stretching Center in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1991 to 1997. Bob’s stamina for exploring each of the territories in this book during that time greatly informed and inspired my own. Ashley Ramsden’s countless tales, spun with warmth and amazing ease, demonstrate how stories resonate simultaneously within body and soul, mind and spirit. The hospitality of various learning centers, especially Emerson College in Sussex, UK, and many inspiring students, clients, friends, and colleagues continue to help this work evolve. John Docherty, Antoinette Botsford, Harvey Zarren, Sharon Sassaman, Sidora Ziegler, Jeff Imperato, Sonia Story, Davina Muse, Zoe Weil, Katrina Lewers, Ramsay Raymond, and Equanimiti Joy generously read the book as it evolved. Dirk Kelder and Livia Morvay also offered many helpful insights and technical skills. When what is presented here does not accord with traditional teachings or with your per- sonal beliefs, I hope that you will nevertheless enjoy and benefit from these explorations, and further them. Many Eastern and Western spiritual and medical teachings, especially those of Rudolf Steiner, inspired me to question how nature and the greater cosmos weave within every detail of the human form, and awaken consciousness. In this study of the body’s wisdom, I am also very grateful for my experiences with eurythmy, yoga, storytelling, healing through the arts, and energy medicine — and to my family and dear friends near and far who are not already mentioned here. Acknowledgments ix Introduction For thousands of years, the storytellers and philosophers of India have shared the image of a boundless net stretched across the skies above the palace of Indra, the supreme ruler of the gods of ancient India. At every crossing point of this net shines a jewel. Each unique jewel mirrors every other jewel. The tale of Indra’s net tells us in mythic pictures what science is discovering today: that all is connected within us and outside us in the greater universe. This book invites you to experience your body as a whole through stories, and to discover that each part is in continu- ous communion with all the others, with your whole soul, and with far-reaching spiritual dimen- sions of who we are all together in an evolving universe. It is a celebration of the very evolved and inspirational community within us all. Because every part of the body is closely connected with every other part, this book is in- tended to be read as a whole. As humanity grows closer together, everyone’s body listens to the unfolding human saga in order to discover new pathways to mutual acceptance and understand- ing. Our organs are gathering places of wisdom, continuously cooperating below the surface of our consciousness. I believe that it is very important for us to listen more closely to all of them. Organized and perfected over long cycles of time, they are the physical-spiritual crucible for our personal and communal human evolution. Each organic pattern can awaken vast new under- standing and inspiration for relating to ourselves and to each other.