The following material is excerpted from Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing.

The hun is a slightly more materialized psychospiritual substance than the shen. Although they live quite close to heaven in the upper spirit levels of the mountain, a bit of yin sediment infiltrates the hun’s yang. This infiltration of matter and vapor into the pure white light of the shen creates the hun. The bit of matter makes the hun more susceptible to the pull of gravity and the emotional life. Pure spirit becomes cloudy as we drift down through the upper soul realm towards the earth. The pure, clear insight flash of the shen becomes shaded and colored by refraction and reflection as it enters the world of dreams, visions, and the imagination. 

In human beings, the hun represent the psychological faculty of vision, imagination, clear direction, and the capacity for justice. They endow us with the ability to discern our path, stay clear in our direction, imagine possibilities, move forward toward our goals, and take a stand for what we believe is right. While the activity of the imagination, especially day or nighttime dreams, is energized by the coming and going of the shen, it is also influenced by the airy hun who follow the shen as they fly between the earth and heaven.         

The hun spirit is related to:

• Element: wood
• Organ: liver
• Emotion: anger
• Psychological functions: vision, imagination, direction, decision-making
• Psychospiritual issue: finding true path
• Cosmological associations: clouds, mists, tree branches
• Chakra: sixth - Third Eye: Perception
• Alchemical virtues: benevolence

Signs and Symptoms of Hun Disturbances

There are two basic categories of hun disturbances. One is an excess pattern, the other a deficiency pattern. Sometimes a person will have a mixture of both. This mixed pattern most often shows up in women and often correlates with the menstrual cycle. In the excess pattern, people often feel angry and experience life as one injustice after another. Whichever way they turn, there seems to be a brick wall, and they often inappropriately express extreme emotion. In the deficiency pattern, people feel timid, depressed, and confused. They lack emotional expression and are usually too weak to even try to start a project, and if they do make an attempt, they often cannot get past the decision making stage.

Common Symptoms

Spirit Level Signs

• timidity, no ability to take a stand
• lack of color to life
• wandering aimlessly with no direction
• starting projects but moving on before they are done
• always running into brick walls; can’t seem to get anywhere
• obsession with injustice, which interferes with moving ahead with life

Possible Causes

• constitutional or karmic issues that are part of person’s work in this lifetime
• exposure to violence, drug abuse, or alcoholism in family during childhood
• lack of guidance and direction from family
• recreational drug use especially alcohol and marijuana
• malnutrition, eating disorders, anemia
• repressed emotions, especially anger
• exposure to environmental toxins or toxins at the work place, i.e. paint and paint thinner, industrial cleaning products, artist’s materials, urban pollution

Ways to Cultivate the Hun Spirit

When the liver is disturbed, the hun scatter and the soul is confused and disorganized. Acupuncture and acupressure are effective ways to heal and strengthen liver function. If you have a history of drug use or alcoholism, or if you have or have had hepatitis, a well-trained acupuncturist can help you cleanse and tonify your liver so your hun will have a peaceful home and resting place in your body.

It is crucial to clear the bodymind of toxic substances and to recognize alcohol and mind altering drugs as the potent soul disturbing influences they are. If you have an ongoing problem with drugs or alcohol, Twelve Step Programs such as AA or NA will help you let go of these self-destructive behaviors as well as regain a connection to the light of your own spirit.

Liver cleansing and tonifying herbs are also extremely potent ways to heal.  Dandelion, peppermint, cheladonium, and milk thistle are effective and safe herbs that can be taken over long periods of time. Look for organic, wild-crafted herbs, available at most health food stores.

• Dandelion is an overall liver cleanser and tonic. It is particularly effective for PMS mood swings accompanied by bloating and breast tenderness.
• Peppermint is a mood elevating, invigorating herb that will also help with digestive disturbances, bloating, and poor appetite. Take as a tea and drink freely throughout the day.
• Cheladonium is one of the best overall liver tonics. It should be taken as a tincture -- a few drops in a tablespoon of water -- three times a day before meals, and it will quickly clear digestive and appetite disturbances, enhance clarity of vision, and ease emotional strain.
• Milk thistle is the premier herb for anyone who has been exposed to toxic chemicals and should be taken for at least two months after exposure. In addition, for people who work with chemicals or are routinely exposed to pollution, milk thistle can be taken on a regular basis with a one-week break every six weeks.

Visionary healer Rudolph Steiner points to the healing influence of light and color in working on the astral or soul realms. The hun, as the agents of clear sight and unclouded vision, are especially receptive to work with active imagination. It often helps entice the hun back to the bodymind if a person takes the time to paint pictures of their dreams and fantasies and meditate on these inner images.

What to Expect as You Heal and Cultivate Your Hun

As you become familiar with your hun and learn to recognize their voices and understand their messages, you will notice changes in your life. Some changes you may experience are:

• Clarity about your direction and purpose in life
• Increased ability to achieve your goals; fewer problems with procrastination and getting side-tracked; an ability to move forward with power
• Richer imagination; an ability to envision possibilities and weave dreams
• Emotional stability; an ability to identity what you are feeling, to state your feelings clearly, and to stand by your feelings and beliefs
• Less wobbling and indecisiveness
• Less guilt, timidity, irritability, and depression
• Increased passion, excitement; life regains its zest and color
• Greater capacity to go with the flow while staying focused on ultimate goals
• Less need to blame others and less focus on the injustices of the world
• Increased self-responsibility combined with increased ability to know one’s own values and to take a stand for one’s beliefs

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