Hun | Spirit of the Wood Element

“Traditional Chinese medicine relates the wood element hun to the liver and the wind. By day, the classics state that the hun reside in the eyes, where they help us to see and think clearly, to make wise decisions and to direct our actions in the way that is best for our soul’s purpose. By night, the windy hun descend downward, sinking to the fleshy organ of the liver where they are weighted down by the yin essences of the blood. At night, while we sleep, the hun actively organize our dreams and imagine our plans for the future.

The hun inform the shape and direction of our lives as the winds determine the shape and direction of the growth of the pine trees, the rippling patterns in the sand or the shape of billowing clouds. As the wind blows heaven’s breath into every nook and cranny of the earth, the hun are the agents of penetration who bring the spiritual resonances of the shen (Heart spirit) down to the earth so that they can enter into form, space and time.

According to the Neijing, the liver “has the function of a military leader who excels in his strategic planning”. The hun carry out the liver's function on a psychological level by endowing us with the capacity to organize the chaos of random possibility into meaningful patterns, which give organization and direction to our lives. As the wind disperses clouds and leaves the sky clear and serene, the liver cleans our blood and the hun clear away the clouds of muddled thinking and help us to see the big picture of our lives. We are then able to see into our future and, like a great military leader, create the strategies that will help us the most. Like the wuwei action of the heart, when the hun is in a state of equilibrium, its activities may never be noticed because they are achieved easily and are perfectly synchronized with the righteous unfolding of our destiny.”

— Lorie Eve Dechar, Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing