Immortalizing Emotions: A Chinese Medicine perspective of Tattoos

By Fujio McPherson and Marina Ponton Arena

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) developed over 5,000 years ago and through the many centuries to follow, the basic premise and theories associated with the medicine have never changed. That is because in its most basic form it is based on an observation of how the human body is merely a reflection of nature and the many properties that can and cannot be measured. Behind all of nature's physical beauty, there lies a power that can flourish and provide comfort or destroy and transform, that is expressed based on the ebb and flow of time and influenced by powers beyond the realm or wishes of the individual plant or animal. When defined 5,000 years ago, the simplest definition was to use the term "Qi". Which by definition of the characters used equal air and rice. A simple formula that hundreds of years later science would eventually discover as the key to the formation of energy both within and outside of the human body.
It is difficult in a single text to explain 5,000 years of theory, however, by writing Immortalizing Emotions we hope to begin the conversation of this ancient form of medicine that may hold the potential answer to perception and behavior through the simple but complex concept of "Qi" and the art of tattoos. There are numerous ways to explain it and to observe it. Yet the art of tattoos not only demonstrates it in a visual and physical sense but also reflects the person's inner perceptions at the time through not only their perspective of the design but their choice of placement as well. One observation that prompted us to write the book was the placement of the names of soldiers killed in action, tattooed on the inner forearm of soldiers returning from war. From the soldiers perspective, they would often say that the names were placed there to constantly remind them of the sacrifice, to never forget but internally many admit that the loss of a friend under any condition but specifically combat is a constant reminder of the frailty of life and importance of compassion and love or the rejection of it. Yet from a TCM perspective, the placement specifically lies along the Pericardium channel (known as the protector of the heart which is associated with the emotion of joy and love) and the placement is on the innermost and protected (yin) side of the body. Symbolic of the perception connection/compassion and reflective of a specific behavior based on the emotional "Qi" of the person wearing the art and name. By presenting the personal stories of people with tattoos from their perspective and drawing on TCM theory to compare similarities we hope to demonstrate not only the relevance of TCM in the broader interpretation of perception but also to recognize the beauty of art and its healing power.
In addition, we have included a brief history of tattoos to recognize the influence of body art not only on individuals but on cultural traditions and their influence on societies throughout the world. In the U.S. alone the influence and creativity of tattoo artists have evolved as a new renaissance of expression with tattoo artists being sought around the country for their specific styles and talent. We hope to follow this book, with another that will enhance our interest in telling the stories of the artist and the people who seek them out specifically for not only their art and skill but for their ability to create an image that so closely matches the perception and emotions of the wearer and continue to describe it through the lens of TCM.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098371043

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Immortalizing Emotions: A Chinese Medicine perspective of Tattoos

Copyright © 2021 by Fujio McPherson & Marina Ponton-Arena

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Print ISBN: 978-1-09837-103-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-09837-104-3

Printed in the United States of America on SFI Certified paper.

First Edition

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the tradition of Chinese Medicine; its views of the human experience and to the participants who shared their stories with us to demonstrate the power and significance of the medicine when viewed through the lens of art and behavior.

Fujio McPherson; I would like to dedicate this book to my children whose courage in the face of adversity never wavered despite the many chal- lenges placed before them. To my son Tyler who provided insight into the culture of tattoos and my daughter Chelsea for her world vision. To my wife, Deirdre, for her love, and support not only in the process of writing this book but over the past forty plus years. Without her this book and any accomplish- ment I would accept would have no meaning. And to my mother and family who always believed in me.

Marina Ponton-Arena; I would like to dedicate this book to my husband Rafael for his endless love, belief in me and support. His love for our family is the rarest of gifts and without him none of this would have been possi- ble. I also want to thank my daughters, Veronica and Viviana. Your love and spirit have been my inspiration, my guide and my teacher. Last but certainly not least, Celly, you have been my cheerleader, my dear friend and the best soul sister I could have ever asked to have. My dear family, my cup runneth over, thank you.

Epigraph:

Art is the Journey of a Free Soul.

– Alev oguz

Preface

We had the auspiciousness of meeting in 2008 while we were both attending a doctoral program. During that time we often shared meals on breaks and chatted away about many aspects of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). We both share a passion regarding the tenants, theories and concepts of this medicine. We often discussed how we both felt compelled to commit to improving the western definition of TCM and highlight the beauty of the medicine. During one of these vibrant discussions with each other, we discussed an observation we had both noticed regarding the proliferation of people getting tattoos and came to a similar conclusion. At the time, it was a simple conversation about the expression of body art and how it reflected TCM theory that was inspirational to us both. And that conversation would one day lead to the writing of this book.

We decided to truly explore this idea and write a book about the topic. Our inspirations came from both our clinical and personal experiences. You see for us, once we learned the fundamentals of this medicine it forever tinted the lens in which we see our lives, our loved ones, our friends and our patients. Like the many Chinese Medicine practitioners before us, the beauty of the medicine is the ability to observe all things from a perspective of nature’s balance, and imbalance and apply those observations to what we observe in our daily lives.

For Fuji, he shared that his observations came from two primary sources. The first was from his children. His son who from an exceedingly early age displayed a freedom of expression that was bound to be expressed through the medium of art and his daughter’s keen sense of observation of things the eye would often not readily see. The second was a clinical obser- vation of patient behavior in regards to the placement of tattoos and their medical history.

For Marina, her observations were also inspired by two primary sources. One was driven from her own experience of getting a tattoo during a period in her life before she had studied TCM. The second was the same clinical observation made by both of us independent of each other’s clinical practice, in which patients with tattoos consistently expressed a pattern of health that was reflected in the placement and art of their tattoos.

The first challenge was in finding participants who were willing to share the stories of their tattoos with us, to test the truth of our hypothesis and the other was in respecting the personal nature of those stories. Which we are greatly appreciative for and hope to honor those stories through this book.

Dr. Fujio McPherson, DAOM, ARNP

Dr. Marina Ponton-Arena, DAOM, LAc. HHP

January 27, 2021

Acknowledgments

We would like to express gratitude for the many people who helped in the creation, editing, and research of this book; to the participants who agreed to share their stories and art, the photographers who used their talents to bring that art to life in the form of photos, and to the tattoo artists who applied their skills and craft to the creation of beautiful art. In addition, we would again like to express our deepest gratitude to our families for their support of our careers and endeavors during the creation of this book and every other aspects of our lives.

We are also indebted to our teachers. Although many believe they walk their paths alone, there is always a helping hand along the way. And our jour- ney began when we started our study of TCM culminating in the Doctoral program at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) in Portland, Oregon. Instructors like Daniel Atchinson-Nevel, LAc, Lonny Jarret, LAc, Elizabeth Beth Burch, ND, Joseph Coletto, ND, LAc, Hong Jin, DAOM, LAc, Richard Hammerslag, PhD, Robert Kaneko, DAOM, LAc, Zhaoxue Lu, DMed (China), PhD, LAc, Misha Cohen, LAc, Li Jin, DAOM, LAc, and Rosa Schnyer, DAOM, LAc, to name only a few who laid the foundations for our exploration of TCM. Our separate journeys were also greatly enriched by the knowledge shared by so many other instructors in our master’s programs at the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NIAOM), Bastyr University in Seattle, WA and the Atlantic Institute of Chinese Medi- cine Fort Lauderdale, FL (ATOM).

Prologue

In the western world, what we think of today as medicine is what is commonly referred to as allopathic, biomedical, or western medicine. In our modern lives, it is thought of not only as the cornerstone of truth based on the defi- nition of science but also a viewpoint that its relevance is based on evidence- based studies and professional recognition. Yet, science is defined as the observation of the physical body, and we mention this not to dispute the importance of treating the physical body (e.g., medicine) but rather to acknowledge that there is a duality in all things and within the human expe- rience it manifest both physically and energetically. Another way for us to say it, is that the physical properties of the human body and nature exist within a quantum field that extends beyond what is defined by observation alone. One simply cannot separate the physical human body from the energetic human body. Much of what is discussed in the foundations of TCM may sound foreign, archaic, or frankly strange. Yet these ancient theories were based on the observation and description of the properties of nature from two separate viewpoints; what powers nature, also powers the body and mind, and how it manifests in nature is similar to how it manifests within the human experi- ence. The physical body being only one part of that reflection and the human spirit, consciousness, emotions and the perceptions that drive behavior the other. We bring this point up for the reason that – yes, we agree that there is great importance to understand the human response, but we must also understand the importance of what powers it and how states of existence are reflected in perception and behaviors that influence the path that the body will take. Before the advent of science ancient healers did not have the tools to understand health and disease with microscopes or lab test. Instead they relied on their observations of nature and developed concepts of the human experience first discussed thousands of years ago and formed the basis of

Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as other medical practices around the world. Today many of the practitioners of these ancient medicines still use the original language in order to honor the origins but also because it helps express manifestations of our energetic body that are not easily expressed by strictly medical terminology.

Unlike western medicine, the theories that are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) do not make absolute distinctions between the mind (our perceptions) and the physical body. They are merely different aspects of the same thing Qi. In TCM, a person’s health and state of disease are an expression of both the mind (the perceptions and behaviors that support or burden health) and body (how the body responds), which are both reflections of a field of Qi. What is Qi? Qi is a term used in traditional Asian culture to describe that force of vitality that is in all things, both physi- cal and non-physical. It has been described as air, energy, life force, vital force, and/or life flow. And the characters in Chinese literally represent the properties of air and grain, which