The Spiritual Judge: A Profound Look at the Pericardium Meridian

Meridian Archetypes Part 9: The Judge

The pericardium meridian is the chief advisor to the Emperor, energy which in Traditional Chinese medicine is housed in the heart meridian. The pericardium is best represented by the archetype of the judge because of its ability to remain impartial to all outside influences.

Peri means “around” and cardium means “heart.” Physically, the pericardium encloses your heart in protective tissue. Energetically, the pericardium also protects and serves.

To locate the pericardium meridian energy within yourself, you need to assess your ability to stay impartial and connect to the deeper, spiritual side of life.

Do you often get told you are a good judge of character? 

Is your mind often a very quiet calm place to be?

Do you know immediately who you want to invite into your life?

Are you occasionally masochistic, hurting yourself either by accident or on purpose?

The pericardium meridian is a great judge of character and has the potential to be an exceptional athlete. Its balancing meridian is the skin, represented by the Athlete archetype. We often feel a subconscious connection to our balancing meridian because it carries the complementary energy we need to find greater balance within ourselves.

By strengthening and stretching the pericardium meridian, you gain access to your spirit. You also may learn some exercises to heal shoulder injuries and postural issues related to computer work. To understand the pericardium meridian’s place in our series, we will examine its Western medicine functions, archetypes, common imbalances, and exercises to help restore the healthy flow of our meridian.    

The Pericardium in Western Medicine

The pericardium’s purposes in the body all revolve around its relationship to the heart. The pericardial fluid-filled sac surrounds the heart and keeps it in place. The pericardium provides a barrier to prevent friction with surrounding tissue and keeps the heart from over-expansion when blood flow increases. 

The pericardium also protects the heart from any infections spread from nearby organs, such as bacteria from the lungs. If the pericardium becomes swollen or inflamed, also called pericarditis, the inflammation obstructs heart function. Pericarditis is caused by infections, cancer, kidney problems, heart attacks, or certain medicines. Another pericardium imbalance involves increased fluid between the pericardium and the heart, or a build-up of blood and fluid in the pericardium.

The health of the heart is dependent on the health of the pericardium and vice versa. You can clearly see that the pericardium has close relationships with many of the body’s main organs. It protects the heart but also closely interacts with the immune system, kidneys, and lungs. In Traditional Chinese medicine, the pericardium protects the heart but also protects the mind and spirit with its wisdom and neutrality.

Exercises

Beginner

Reverse Plank w/ Resistance

Intermediate

Triangle Pose with a bind (with or without strap)

Advanced

Prayer Behind the Back

The Judge: A Just Protector

Other Archetypes: Advocate, King, Queen

The judge archetype represents the pericardium’s unique ability to step outside of the situation, putting aside their feelings and desires in order to cast judgment fairly. The judge follows the checks and balances set forth by the heart meridian, and so heart and pericardium imbalances often appear together.

Everyday fluctuations of heart meridian energy in the body would throw us completely out of balance without the pericardium. The pericardium protects us from excess joy or euphoria. You might be thinking, what is wrong with feeling happy? Happiness is something that we aspire to. But euphoria can be extremely disruptive to the balance of the body.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the pericardium meridian protects the heart from emotional distress in the other organs including fear from the kidneys, frustration from the liver, and grief from the lungs. Known as the “king’s bodyguard,” the pericardium is the energetic body’s defense against extreme emotional outbursts which, in Chinese Medicine, are thought to be powerful disruptors of balance in the body and a major cause of disease. 

A Mature Fire Element

The pericardium is the mature version of the fire element and is related to the spirit, circulation, and sex in Traditional Chinese medicine. Making love is an act of maturity and therefore you need a strong pericardium meridian in order to have mature sexual relationships. The pericardium energy lets us know when love, passion, sex, and intimacy are appropriate and aid us in choosing the right person with whom to share them. 

The pericardium plays a crucial role in the health of our spirit. When Pericardium energy is balanced, the Judge helps us discern which people, experiences, and relationships we want to invite into our lives. But when we are out of balance, we may fear the changes that certain actions, words, and people could bring to our lives. If you are having difficulties connecting to someone close to you or want to open the road to your heart, check in with your pericardium first.

Moving with the Spirit

In Acupuncture, the pericardium points are used to access a person’s spirit. The spirit is our pure essence, the balancing energy that we are born with and that exists untarnished only when we are children. Inevitably, our pure childhood spirit is influenced by our experiences in life but that doesn’t mean it has disappeared.

Pericardium energy has a strong connection to the spiritual world. People who feel a connection to this meridian may find it easy to become absorbed in thought or lose track of time, which can make staying present in the physical body require more conscious attention.

Each of the Four Worlds brings different strengths to movement. Strength in the physical world can create greater awareness of the body and senses. The emotional world connects movement with breath and rhythm, while the analytical world may approach exercise through goals, structure, and understanding how the body works. The spiritual world can bring a meditative quality to movement and exercise.

A Judge in The Gym

Our case study for the judge looks at a woman in her eighties who loves being active. Through no fault of her own, she sustains an injury to her leg and after some recuperation time heads back to the gym to pick up where she left off before her injury. As she gets on the treadmill, she begins to tune out, falling into the rhythm of the movement and thinking about other things. 

Often this client gets off the treadmill and is absolutely fine, but the next day she feels battered and sore. While her leg felt fine at the moment, she inevitably felt the effects of her workout and her disconnect from the physical world sabotaging her healing process. She can’t seem to find the balance and this experience repeats over and over until her doctor tells her to stop working out altogether.

While working with the trainer at Infinity, the woman laughs and says she knew that she would hurt herself. She jokes that she has a masochistic streak and continues exercising even though she knows she is doing too much too soon.

All of our strengths can become weaknesses when we are out of balance. Self-sacrifice becomes masochism, achieving a zen state is a step away from zoning out, and resilience in the face of an injury could be pushing too far, too fast. The trick is to identify our bad habits so that we can learn from them. If the spiritual world comes naturally to you, you can practice reconnecting with the physical world by paying attention to your senses, eliminating distractions, or holding onto something physical like a worry stone or stress ball.

Looking Forward

The balance to the deeply spiritual Pericardium is the deeply physical Skin meridian. Represented by the Athlete archetype, Skin energy brings us back into the body, balancing the Pericardium’s tendency to drift away from the physical world.