Spleen

The spleen is located beyond the left end of the stomach, between

it and the diaphragm. It is bean-shaped and has a deep blue-red

color. It weighs from five to six ounces and is soft, spongy, and

fragile. The spleen controls blood destruction.

In the Taoist Esoteric system we regard the spleen as the entrance

for solar force, which vitalizes the dense body. Without this

vital elixir no being can live. From the spleen this sun force is sent

to the solar plexus and from the solar plexus this fluid-like energy

flows along the filaments composing the nervous system. In this

way it permeates every part of the physical body. energizing each

and every cell with its life force.

According to Chinese medicinal theories, when a person is

healthy, life energy is stored by the spleen and extracted from the

blood in such large quantities that it cannot be used inside the body.

Therefore, the life energy radiates outward through the pores of

the skin in straight lines, drives out poisonous gases, inimical bacteria

and viruses and assists in preserving a healthy condition of

the physical organism. It also prevents armies of disease germs

which swarm about in the atmosphere from entering the dense

vehicle.

According to the Taoist system, after eating, the vital solar force

attracted by the spleen is consumed by the body in great quantities.

When the meal is heavy, the outflow of the vital fluid from the

body is perceptibly diminished and does not then cleanse the dense

vehicle as thoroughly as it does when the food has been digested,

nor is it as potent in keeping out inimical germs.

Therefore, overeating renders a person more likely to catch cold

or succumb to disease. During ill health the spleen furnishes the

vital body with very little solar energy, and at this time the dense

body seems to feed on the vital body. In the Taoist system it is said

that we have to repair the vital body, which can then help the dense

body to get stronger.

In Taoist Esoterica, the “solar plexus” is regarded as the largest

cauldron of the vital body which can alchemically mix or harmonize

the generative force with the life energy from the energy center

corresponding to the pituitary gland, during the practice of Greater

Enlightenment of the Kan and Li. The spleen, as mentioned before,

corresponds to a part of the “solar plexus.”