"One
touch of Nature makes the whole world, kin. --William Shakespeare
Library
A comprehensive reading list would include the following: (cover photos are
included, where
available). Click on any underlined link to purchase). Feel free to send us
suggestions, as well. Remember, these are comments being made on a consumer-oriented website,
by an avid reader and reviewer who's not a practitioner, but is an
avid fan of the practice. These comments are directed to other
interested parties. They are not intended to be the definitive
"take" on the subject, nor to substitute for an educated
practitioner's opinion on the same subject.
I. Chinese Medicine, General
Chinese Herbal Medicine,
by Daniel P. Reid. Comments: This is a great, coffee-table
sized book that beautifully illustrates its subject. The book is
now out-of-print and reasonably hard to find.
Chinese Herbal Cures, by Henry C. Lu,
Ph.D. Out of print, limited worldwide availability.
Comments: No comments available.
Chinese System of Food
Cures, by Henry C. Lu, Ph.D.
Comments: This book is a fascinating look at the curative properties of
Chinese foods, by a noted scholar who's devoted years of his
professional life to this very subject. The focus, as the book's
subtitle indicates, is on both prevention and remedies.
The Complete Illustrated Guide
to Chinese Medicine, by Tom Williams, Ph.D.
Comments: This is a nice, coffee-table type book. Pretty general,
but interesting, and visually nice-looking. This book is now of
out print, with limited availability. If you happen to find one, it's
likely to have a different cover than the one displayed here.
Healing With Whole Foods:
Oriental Traditions & Modern Nutrition, by Paul Pitchford.
What a truly amazing, outstanding book--a seminal book for Western
understanding of the entire natural medicine link between nutrition and
health. Sounds basic, but it's so much more than that. If
you were marooned on a desert island with only a handful of books, this
would make the short list. (The current cover may look different
from the one displayed here). Absolutely a five-star book.
Chinese Medicine for Beginners: Use the Power of the Five Elements to Heal Body
& Soul, by Achim Eckert, M.D..
Comments: This is an interesting and unusual book by the natural
medicine publishers, Prima Publishing. It's a bit on the abstract
and general side, but very interesting and well-written. The
writing style is good and there are photos of various exercises people
can do to strengthen their constitutions according to five element
theory. Interesting. This book is also out of print, but
still available in places.
Acupuncture: The Ancient Chinese Art
of Healing and How it Works Scientifically, by Felix Mann, M.B.
Comments: This is a fascinating book for people new to acupuncture, and would make
a nice introduction, along with David Eisenberg's "Encounters with
Qi" for the reader whose interest is just beginning to peak.
This is an older book (1962, completely revised in 1973) and represents one of the first recent
Western attempts to understand what acupuncture is and how it works (see
book's subtitle). Mann is a British doctor who studied acupuncture
in China, and became president of the Medical Acupuncture Society
(U.K.). Loads of good illustrations of meridians, etc.
Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide
to Chinese Medicine, by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac., and Efrem
Korngold, L.Ac., O.M.D. Comments: Another five star book,
and this reader's personal favorite.
This book is fascinating, well-written, well-illustrated, and
extraordinarily interesting; not to mention, written by people who
understand their subject well. There's a fabulous, and very
thought-provoking, self-test included, which will surely delight
newcomers to the subject and irk practitioners who feel that there's
only one way to establish constitutional type: in the treatment room.
Great case histories for each element.
Bioenergetic Medicines East and
West: Acupuncture & Homeopathy, by Clark A. Manning and Louis J.
VanRenen. Comments: This is a very interesting book,
philosophical but persuasive, and one of the few semi-academic
treatments of energy medicine that's both interesting and
well-written. It doesn't hurt that at least one of the authors had
a personal introduction to acupuncture with his own health that so
convinced him of its efficacy that he later became a practitioner.
Not specific to five element acupuncture, of course.
Encounters With Qi: Exploring
Chinese Medicine, by David Eisenberg, M.D.
Comments: This book is very interesting historically, because it's
written by a Western, Harvard-trained doctor who became one of the first
proponents of "integrative medicine," based on his own
eye-opening exposure to Chinese medicine when he traveled to China in
1977-1985, following the 1973 trip of American president Richard Nixon
and New York Times columnist James Reston that essentially marked
the beginning of America's exposure to modern China. Eisenberg is clearly intrigued with all the ways Qi
manifests itself in this foreign culture, and the book marks the
beginning of what clearly became a lifelong interest. As
Americans, faced with an increasingly bankrupt and dysfunctional
healthcare model, we owe a debt of gratitude to Eisenberg's own
"encounter with Qi" -- because doctors like Eisenberg are
beginning to see the need to integrate East with West.
Acupuncture: Energy Balancing for
Body, Mind & Spirit, by Peter Mole.
Comments: This is a nice, basic guide to what goes on in five
element acupuncture, and what to expect from treatment. The author
is an Oxford-educated historian who became a traditional acupuncturist
later in life. He now teaches at the College of Traditional
Acupuncture in England and was the president of the Traditional
Acupuncture Society. Although recently published (1992) the book
is currently out of print, with limited worldwide available. See
Nora Franglen's book,
Simple Guide to Using Acupuncture:
The Five Elements, for an
excellent substitute.
Acupuncture Explained,
by Ann Bailey (audiotape series). Comments: Out of print; limited worldwide availability.
--No Photo
Available--
Acupuncture: Is It for You?,
by J.R. Worsley. Harper & Row (1973). Revised edition,
Element Books (1985). Comments: Out of print;
limited worldwide availability.
All Sickness Is Home
Sickness, by Dianne M. Connelly, Ph.D., M.Ac. (UK).
Comments: This book is written by one
of the founders of the Traditional Acupuncture Institute (now
TAI-SOPHIA) in Maryland, who had studied acupuncture at the College of
Chinese Acupuncture, U.K., with J.R. Worsley. This book may be
considered a follow-up to the earlier Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of
the Five Elements (see details
below) by the same author, and is written in a similar broad, abstract
and engaging style.
Healing Your Emotions,
by Angela Hicks and John Hicks. Comments: Relatively
recently-published (1999). There's a fair orientation towards
neuro-linguistic programming ("NLP") but it's still
interesting and well-done. Diagrams of exercises for strengthening
your type abound, as well as numerous thought and/or action exercises
for more psychological self-care. There's a fair amount of emphasis on
Qi Gong in this book as well.
In the Footsteps of the Yellow
Emperor: Tracing the History of Traditional Acupuncture, by Peter
Eckman, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ac. (U.K.). Cypress Book Company
(1996). Comments: No comments available. This
exhaustive text written in academic style is the product of the author's
fascination with researching the origins of acupuncture in the West, a
project he says he's been working on since he first started studying
acupuncture in 1973. There are lots of illustrations, which is a
real plus. The author's "particular fascination," as he
says, is with the style of practice taught by Professor J.R. Worsley,
with whom he studied at Leamington Spa. Readers eager to better
understand and appreciate Worsley's pivotal role in five element
acupuncture in the West will be satisfied by the treatment.
Nourishing Destiny: The Inner
Tradition of Chinese Medicine, by Lonny Jarrett, M.S., M.Ac., Lic.
Ac. Comments: The book is an excellently written
treatment of fascinating material. Other reviewers have called it
"superb, unusual, thought-provoking" and "genuinely
eye-opening" and commended the author for being one of the few
writing about five element acupuncture who does so in a highly practical
way. It is definitely one of this reader's personal favorites,
making the short list. Unfortunately, it is also a very expensive
hardcover ($75 U.S.) even when it was in print; there is no paperback
version and it is now out of print. Look for another book by the
same author in the spring of 2003. Lonny Jarrett also teaches
traditional acupuncture in Western Massachusetts (the Berkshires).
Further information about his course is found under the
"training" tab on this website.
Simple Guide to Using Acupuncture:
The Five Elements, by Nora Franglen.
Comments: This book is a small
(pocket-sized), pleasant and informative introduction to five element
acupuncture, recently published (2001), and written by the head of the
School of Five Element Acupuncture in London (SOFEA). Franglen is
a traditionally-trained acupuncturist who graduated from the College of
Traditional Acupuncture in Leamington Spa, England; and did
post-graduate work with J.R. Worsley. This book would make a great
gift for people considering starting acupuncture themselves.
Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of
the Five Elements, by Dianne M. Connelly, Ph.D., M.Ac. (UK).
Comments: The manuscript for this book was originally written in
1975, and first published in the 1970s, making it one of the first books
on five element acupuncture available. The author studied with
J.R. Worsley at the College of Chinese Acupuncture U.K., and later on
went on to found the Traditional Acupuncture Institute, now called
TAI-SOPHIA, with her husband, Bob Duggan. This book is one of the
essentials.
The Five-Elements Wellness Plan, by Barbara Temelie.
Comments: This recently-published book (2002) is quite
interesting. The author's focus is on diet and nutrition, and the
Chinese understanding of the thermal qualities of food. In some
ways, it is like the work of Henry C. Lu, Ph.D. (see above); and
interestingly enough, shares the same publisher as Lu's work (Sterling
Press, in New York). For anyone who's interested in an in-depth
understanding of how the five elements relate to diet, this is the book
to choose. The author is a German native, and the book was first
published in Germany, and recently translated into English. It is
unclear where her five element training is from, but the book is both
knowledgeable and pleasant reading. A good choice to go along with
this book, for those interested in "five element in the
kitchen" would be Nina Simonds' book, A
Spoonful of Ginger -- because that
book, while not focused per se on five element theory, includes loads of
wonderful recipes within the overall structure of eating with the
seasons. Temelie's book is heavier on theory, and together they
would work in a most symbiotic manner.
IV. Related
A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible, Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens, by Nina Simonds.
Comments: This is a great, relatively recent cookbook by the
undisputed doyenne of Chinese cooks in America. Simonds has become
interested in recent years in the health-giving and maintaining
properties of food, through her work with Henry C. Lu, etc., and this
cookbook retains her usual ability to provide outstanding recipes, this
time with an eye to what the health benefits of the component
ingredients are as well. Lovely.
Home Harmony: Using the Five Elements to Create a Blissful, Balanced Home, by
Suzy Chiazzari. Comments: This is an interesting book with a great
premise; but strangely not as good (or maybe as interesting) as another
by the same author, who does a definitive book on color called "The
Complete Book of Color." I liked the five element one; but
didn't love it. Perhaps I just had a different approach in mind
than what the author chose. Good but not great, in my opinion. But
on the plus side, the only book that I know of out there designed to
address five element in the interior decoration context. Maybe the
limitation for me is that I didn't always like or agree with the choices
the author made; maybe I would have more enjoyed a book chock-full of
more visually inspiring examples rather than particular choices designed
to be a representative selection. "Beauty," as they say,
"is in the eye of the beholder."
Christina
Tourin, a well-known harpist and the founder of the International Harp
Therapy Program, is going to have an instructional video on harp with an
emphasis on the Chinese five elements, as part of her ongoing
instructional harp video series. Watch for this.
VI.
Articles
"The One Key That Unlocks the Door: Interview with
a Five Element Practitioner," by Lily G. Casura (article).
The Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, April, 2000.
"Using Auricular Acupuncture for Drug Detoxification
in a Prison Setting: Interview with Rhonda Sapp Armero, L.Ac., M.Ac.,
NADA-certified" by Lily G. Casura (article). The
Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July, 2001.
"The Tao of Acupuncture," Interview with Alan
Ambromovitz, M.D.. Venture Inward, November/December, 2001.
