TO PIERCE OR NOT TO PIERCE...

By John Maerz BA LMT

     For thousands of years human tribal customs have led us to use stone, bone, wood and metal to stretch, bend, curl, squeeze, shrink and pierce various parts of the body for glamour, ritual, rites of passage and fads. Nothing has changed. We still have the same customs...AND the same symbolic meanings. We (20th century "civilized" humans) have returned to our earlier rituals by first piercing our ears. Recently we have extended to various parts of the body. Some think it's great others think it's horrendous. I will not judge its validity.  However I would like to draw attention to some possible effects that might not be evident.

     For equally as long the Chinese have used acupuncture to heal the body and mind. It is accomplished by inserting pins and piercing the body at strategically located positions on the meridians or paths that energy takes throughout the body in order to redirect its flow thereby improving health. The principle is that too much energy as well as too little may hinder the body's healthy functioning. Perhaps metal jewelry piercing the body may have the same effect?

     The ear, according to the ancient acupuncturists, is a smaller representation of an upside down embryo where the ear lobes represent the head, the middle ear roughly represents the middle of the body and the top the extremities. Most ear piercing occurs in the middle of the lobes. This area corresponds to the eyes and below, from the center to the tip, represents the tonsils (an important part of our immune system). Traveling up the outer ear are the brain, neck, thoracic cavity, shoulders, breast, abdomen and more.

     Everyone has seen people with many earrings progressing up the outer ear. How might they be affected in the corresponding areas? On the face our lower lip corresponds to the liver which purifies our blood and relates to anger. From the nose to the upper lip corresponds to the central energy meridian. Do we lose or gain energy? The sides of the nose relate to the large intestine. Are we constipated or loose? The kidney meridian, relative to fear, passes directly through the belly button and our Tan Tien center (point of balance for those involved in martial arts). Does piercing this center help or hinder the quality of the energy flow?

     Body piercing has become an interesting fad indeed but are we fooling with something that we don't understand? Are we actually hurting ourselves in ways that we are not aware of? Have we gone too far? Next time you think about piercing your body...think again.