Western Medicine barely understands the spleen. Medical researchers have to know the practical and physical properties of an organ; religious properties cannot be measured. The spleen is generally a spiritual organ. It's so deeply spiritual that without it we can only be a small fraction of our true selves.
We know that without a spleen folk are more susceptible to infection and are recommended to take drugs to protect against it. Infants in particular are at risk. Damaged and weak spleens are increasingly common; they can be influenced by emotional or physical trauma. Any blunt wound to the left side of the body can damage the spleen; falling out of a tree or off a wall, sporting injuries, falling off a pony “any of these can damage the spleen. On an emotional level there are many areas that will impact the spleen energy that these aspects will be my main focus.
Spleen Function
The spleen is the organ of nourishment, nurturing and bonding. In Oriental medicine it is the yin, essentially feminine, aspect of the Earth Element. ‘Yin ‘ is about mothering, Gaia. What most humans are trying to find in life is that deep connection we call love. Do we know about love before we incarnate? Do we lose touch with it during the incarnation process? I somhow suspect we do. I believe that everyone knows somewhere in our body that deep level of love for ourselves and for humanity that’s powerful enough to prevent wars. Somehow, somewhere on our journey we lost that connection and have measured love against experiences we have had before or during our birth.
The Birthing Story
Birth is a difficult time for a newly born baby. Its first glance of the World should be loving, welcoming and a time to rejoice. It is essential to have the right group of ladies supporting a mother giving birth and the dad if he is able to provide the level of support required and to remember this is a time for the baby and the mother. It’s an superb moment inviting a new boy or girl into this world and these first moments will form the baby’s beliefs of the planet for the rest of its life.
So what happened? Child birth has become the specialty of the medical profession. There isn’t anything medical about the birth process. Medical, chemical and other mechanical interventions became the ‘norm’ to help the mother with little regard for the baby whose arrival into the world should be the most important factor. Caesarian sections became more standard than natural vaginal births to cause the least pain to the mother. Many conscious mothers are making decisions now to have their babies in the most natural way and there is still a good distance to go in understanding the dynamics of the relationships created between the baby and the mum as well as the father as a result of the birth experience. A difficult birth experience can create emotional havoc to a functioning spleen.
Baby Bonding
Most of us, at our birth, were removed from our mother to be washed, weighed and dressed by the midwife. Already the point of bonding has been missed; the baby looks into the eyes of the midwife and bonds with her, and then loses this bond for good. This moment causes deep trauma in the baby, and weakens the spleen. How wonderfully enlightened are the birthing centers where the mother helps to birth her very own baby with her gentle loving hands and lifts him or her to her stomach where the baby can connect with its own instincts by finding its own way to the mother’s breast. A baby looking into its own mother’s eyes is the most fantastic, longed for moment for both mum and baby. This moment creates a bonding and attachment process that’s so enabling and enduring. The hormone oxytocin can then be released to allow the mother’s milk to flow, the baby to be nourished, and a sense of contentment and love which is so tangible to everybody who participated in the process.
At the time of birth any intervention will add damage to the spleen. Dr. Michel Odent has been exploring how interventions at birth affect the health of a person later in life. He has already revealed that induction can be associated to Asperger’s Syndrome, and cranial haematoma (bleeding in the skull) brought about by forceps or suction is linked to eating difficulties. What about the sudden shock to a baby born by C-section? This is a significant injury to the spleen. When the spleen is misaligned our entire body is out of whack; these examples can massively affect both our nervous system and digestion.
What about before the birth? Our elders and grandparents were born from Victorian and post-Victorian folks where kids should be seen and not heard. Unfortunately they had little, if any bonding or nurturing. We’re all formed from parents with already weak spleens; we never had an opportunity. No-one monitors the spleen as it is not an fully recognised organ. Nobody really knows the results of having a feeble spleen.
Don’t be worried if you have had your spleen extracted; with herbs and acupuncture you can maintain the dynamic meridian of the spleen.
Phylipa Dinnen is a mother of four children a Human Design Professional and a Consultant of Pre and Peri-Natal Birth Trauma. Together with her husband Graeme they run Resources For Life a natural health business in Chichester, West Sussex. For more information on Ancient Herbal Cures for the spleen click here .