Moxibustion and the Ritual of Fire-Sacrifice
A Brief History of Moxibustion
Moxibustion is among the oldest medical therapies practiced in recorded human history. In the 1970s, a collection of fourteen medical manuscripts were unearthed from tombs in Ma wang dui (an archaeological site located in southeastern China). These manuscripts have been dated as early as 300 BCE and contain the oldest written record of the practice of moxibustion in both Chinese and Tibetan scripts. The discovery of these manuscripts confirm that the use of moxibustion predates the advent of needling acupuncture, with the first Chinese texts on needling (Ling Shu and Nan Jing) dating from 200-100 BCE. While China clearly developed a therapeutic that uses acupuncture in tandem with moxibustion, Tibet has retained the use of moxibustion in parallel with an elaborate practice of bloodletting. The curious lack of needling acupuncture in Tibetan Medicine remains a mystery. However, the Ma wang dui manuscripts give some credence to the idea that moxa originated (even linguistically) in Tibet, an idea put forward by Elio Guarisco in his introduction to Namkhai Norbu’s Healing With Fire:
A widespread form of traditional healing in the East, moxibustion is one of the most ancient methods of healing. Although often erroneously referred to as a Chinese therapy, much evidence shows that this is not the case. Moxibustion was practiced in Shang Shung, a kingdom whose existence can be traced back almost four thousand years.1 It was the cradle of Tibetan civilization, with Mount Kailash as its center and heart. It is possible, however, that a rudimentary form of moxa existed in an even earlier period. In the Tibetan language, moxa is referred to as me btsa’ or, as written in the more ancient Shang Shung language, me gtsa’. Both spellings are pronounced metsa. Me means fire and btsa ’focal point’. The modern term moxa may well have derived from the Tibetan metsa.
Guarisco continues to conjecture on the primitive application of moxa and its evolution over time:
We assume that the technique of applying moxa underwent various changes over the course of time. Since primitive people used heated stones on the body to alleviate pain, it is plausible that later, with the discovery of metals such as iron, gold, and silver, these materials were also adopted as instruments for applying moxa. With the discovery of the medicinal properties of plants, these, too, were burned on the body. A variety of materials are still used today to transfer heat to the body, including stone, wood, horn, metal, and herbs.
Guarisco mentions three different mediums for the application of moxa: stones, metals, and plants. In Chinese Medicine, moxa is made from the dried artemisia plant of which several different species exist. In dried form, artemisia maintains a spongy wool-like texture that is easily rolled into small cones. These cones are placed directly on specific acupuncture points and then lit with an incense stick. Variations on this procedure include the burning of moxa cones on slices of ginger or salt. For indirect application, moxa is rolled into a long stick that is then lit and burned in proximity to specific points or regions of the body. In Tibetan medical texts, a high-altitude plant in same genus as edelweiss is indicated as the preferred plant for moxa, but today artemisia has been adopted as the standard.
In Tibetan Medicine, I was taught both direct and indirect methods of moxibustion. Dr. Wangmo also taught students how to use heated stones, but this was classified as a “compress” therapy rather than “moxibustion”. In Tibet, moxibustion is also practiced with heated metal rods, usually referred to as “golden rod” therapy. The rods are made of copper, silver, or gold, with the appropriate metal being chosen in respect to the humoral imbalance being treated. The heated rod is applied directly to the points, burning and scarring the skin. This likely more primitive form of moxibustion is better described as “cauterization”. As a much stronger and more invasive approach, it is classically regarded as more powerful and applied in chronic conditions. In the West, however, such methods are unacceptable, and also, in my view, unnecessary. There is some anecdotal evidence of such methods being used in the Ayurvedic practice of “agni karma”, but none of my teachers ever mentioned it. In India, this practice is unlikely to be found in Ayurvedic hospitals or clinics, but may still be practiced in rural settings.
Fire as Spirit-Force and Spirit-Means
The conception and use of fire as a medium of healing is the the root-philosophy of all ancient cultures. In the Rig Veda, the oldest religious scripture, is primarily composed of hymns to Agni, the god of Fire. This understanding is mirrored in the texts of Ayurvedic medicine wherein agni is described as the basis of health. Therefore, ancient Vedic culture saw the macrocosmic Fire as the Spiritual Source of existence and the microcosmic fire as the basis of human vitality. On this basis, fire was recognized as the connecting factor between macrocosm-microcosm, Heaven and Earth. Adi Da expresses this understanding in the following passage:
Fire (or heat) originally served as a method for transforming various sacrificed articles (or beings) via the process of cooking. It was through cooking in fire that gross sacrifices were transformed into subtle elements that could rise up and be visibly transported through the air to the subtle powers and beings (and gods or God) that were presumed to reside in the air. (181-182).
In “The Ritual Fire-Sacrifice Is The Root of Esoteric Practice and The Essence of Right Participation In Reality Itself”, Adi Da describes the philosophical worldview at the root of this ancient understanding:
As with the human being, so with the universe. The human being that can be seen is like the apparent (or elemental) dimension of the total cosmic domain. But Pervading the human being Is the Self-Radiant Fire of Divine Transcendental Spiritual Energy. And Pervading That Fire Is Self-Existing Consciousness Itself (or Being Itself). What is to be Found at the "root" of one's own existence is the same as What is to be Found in the depths of cosmic (or conditionally manifested) existence.
Such is the right understanding of Real (Acausal) God, or Truth Itself, or Reality Itself. Real God Is Living Fire, or Indivisible Light. Thus, Real God is traditionally symboled as the Sun in the Sky and Fire on Earth.
Adi Da’s opening statement is a pithy expression of a philosophical worldview that pervades traditional Asian medicine. Scholars such as Paul Unschuld refer to this worldview as “systematic correspondence”. Unschuld typically characterizes systematic correspondence as a worldview that developed later than the original animistic views of ancient cultures. However, the linear implications of this are entirely precise, as we see evidence of systematic correspondence alongside animistic / demonological conceptions in Vedic culture. In Nirvanasara, Adi Da further describes the nature of Vedic culture and the role of fire within it:
. . . the ancient Vedic tradition of India was, like the traditions that appeared everywhere in the ancient world, a development of the basic or most primitive “philosophical” consciousness of mankind. That “philosophy” (or primitive psychology) is best represented by the concept of “animism.” And animism is the basis of all primitive religious and spiritual “technology” or craft—which technology or craft is generally called “shamanism.” The root-idea that developed from the primitive animistic and shamanistic culture was that of the Divine Emanation of the living world of events and beings (all of which are conceived to be inhabited and controlled by an invisible “spirit-force” or life-force, which is conceived either to be individuated as specific and independent entities or else to be all-pervading as an Ultimate Entity). And this primitive religious and spiritual culture is the origin of all forms of polytheism, monotheism, ritual cultism, magical practice, yogic mysticism, and so forth. . . .
The Vedic tradition was simply the systematic cultural system of ritual action (or sacrifice) in the setting of ancient India. It was devoted to maintaining the orderly process of ritual sacrifices at every level of individual existence, the society as a whole, and in all the hierarchical planes of existence in and beyond the realm of Nature. And that sacrificial system was, like the sacrificial systems in all other animistic, shamanistic, and Emanationist traditions, founded on one basic exercise. It was the ritual of transforming and “sending up” an offering through submission of the offering to fire.
The primary ritual of Vedic culture was a fire ritual (or homa). A fire would be erected in a triangular pit (or yantra) and offered in conjunction with celestial phenomena, such as the new Moon, full Moon, solar and lunar eclipses, and other calendrically-determined auspicious dates. The timing of such rituals was seen as essential to their efficacy. The fire would be erected from Earth, rising toward Heaven, its smoke ascending the ethers in between. The best time to do it were auspicious moments when the “veil” between Heaven and Earth was thinned or where there was an apparent natural alignment between cosmic and earthly forces.
Moxibustion is a transference of the macrocosmic fire-ritual to the microcosm of the human body. This is even reflected in the triangular, pyramidal shape into which moxa is traditionally rolled. The body becomes the “yantra” into which the moxa is erected. Once the fire is lit, the connection between macrocosm and microcosm is regenerated, while obstructions to this natural unity began to evaporate. In this sense, the practice of moxibustion is a fire-ritual and smoke offering, a unique “clinical” enactment of the body’s inherence in Spirit.
While needling acupuncture has gained clinical favor in modern times, moxa is used with equal (if not more) import in some classical acupuncture styles and lineages. In particular, Japanese styles emphasize the use of moxa as does the Worsley tradition of five-element acupuncture. In these traditions, moxa is valued for its ability to invite the “spirit” of the point, to warm the point before it is needled, and to deeply revitalize the system.
In exploring moxibustion and its relationship to the ritual of fire-sacrifice, it is my hope that practitioners will gain a deeper appreciation of this ancient healing therapy and its profound effect on the body, mind, and spirit of their patients.