Heart Liver Spleen Lungs Kidneys
----- ----- ------ ----- -------
Element : Fire Wood Earth Metal Water
Planet : Mars Jupiter Saturn Venus Mercury
Colour : Red Green Yellow White Black
Taste : Bitter Sour Sweet Pungent Salt
Climate : Hot Windy Moist Dry Cool
Direction : South East Centre West North
Odour : Scorched Rancid Fragrant Goatish Putrid
Emotion : Joy Anger Desire Worry Fear
Animal : Horse Chicken Cow Dog Pig
Number : Seven Eight Five Nine Six
Fruit : Apricot Plum Date Pear Chestnut
Sound : Laugh Shout Sing Weep Groan
Grain : Glutinous Rice Wheat Millet Rice Pea
Each organ is supposed to communicate with some other organs
near the surface of the body. Thus the heart communicates
with the tongue; the liver with the eyes; the spleen with
the mouth; the lungs with the nose; and the kidneys with
the ear.
I cut this out once upon a time from some photocopied source (on traditional Chinese medicine), and have hung it on my wall in every room i've lived in since.
It makes me think sometimes that if we could line everything up with the right key or map, maybe relationships would come clear. And metaphors would form that would organically become parables.
Kaleidoscope of signifiers, constantly rearranging, like Kay with the snow queen's shards. There's a hidden hope that it will, through its beauty, form a picture we can live by.