Alembic Institute

Thank you, everyone, who has been checking this page for activities. For more active updates, please check my personal page. In the meantime, I am on a break from live teaching, working on my third book "Afterglow: Ministerial Fire and Qi Transformation in Chinese Medicine", releasing my second book, "Ripples in the Flow: Vessel Diagnosis in the Nan Jing", on Singing Dragon Press 10/21/19. I will also begin teaching in the doctorate program at Yosan University, Los Angeles, in September 2019, chaired by the awesome Rob Hoffman. In November, I am proud to be teaching in the first Baoming Institute retreat on Orcas Island in November with Elisabeth Rochat and Sabine Wilms. Here's a link to sign up.....https://www.happygoatproductions.com//attuning-the-spirit-

Announcing....Classical Chinese Medicine retreat in Taos, N.M. in August 2019 with Z'ev Rosenberg, L. Ac. and Sabine WIlms. 30 C.E.U.'s pending with CAB and NCCAOM...

The Taos Experience is happening again in August 2019! Come join us!

I will also shortly announce a new institute project for study of Chinese medical classics with two venerable scholars...stay tuned...

I've had a lot of views lately, but neglected to update this page...I wanted to thank everyone for their interest. I would like to announce that in the coming year, Sabine Wilms and myself will be repeating our 'Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown' seminar in Taos, N.M. in late August....look for more info on this soon. I've also just finished my second book, "Ripples in the Flow: Nan Jing Vessel Diagnosis", to be published later this year by Singing Dragon Press, and started work on my third book on yang sheng/nourishing life practices. Once the "Ripples" book is released, look for seminars and book signings to follow....

As all of you who participated know, this was the name of our retreat in Taos last year. I just saw this video from the Engaging Vitality group, by my old friend, Chip Chace who passed away last month. I had the same experience with this poem...after reading it in one of Alan Watts’ books. The image never escaped my mind, and when I was twenty years old, I hike over the Rockies with an herbalist to the first Rainbow festival, picking herbs along the way. From then on, it was my path in life....

I am pleased to announce the upcoming CLOUD HIDDEN/WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN HARVESTING WILD MEDICINALS/STUDYING CLASSICAL CHINESE MEDICAL TEXTS... A five-day excursion and study program with Z'ev Rosenberg L.Ac., Alembic Institute, San Diego, CA, and Sabine Wilms Ph.D., Happy Goat Productions and Imperial Tutor, Freeland, WA. Home base at Southern Methodist University, Taos, New Mexico This exciting program will take place in Taos, NM, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Z’ev lived for seven years in Santa Fe, NM and ten years in Denver/Boulder, CO, before moving to San Diego, CA, to chair the Department of Herbal Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine twenty-eight years ago. During his years in Colorado and New Mexico, in addition to practicing Chinese medicine he learned to identify and wild-craft local medicinals growing in the Rocky Mountains and classify them according to Chinese medical criteria. In recent years, he has focused on clinical practice (thirty-five years’ experience), teaching advanced seminars in Classical Chinese Medicine, and releasing his first book, "Returning to the Source: Han Dynasty Medical Classics in Modern Clinical Practice", from Singing Dragon Press. Z’ev will be joined by author, scholar, and international lecturer Sabine Wilms, Ph.D. For seven years Sabine operated a biodynamic goat farm and apple orchard outside of Taos, New Mexico, centered on subsistence farming and living in harmony with Heaven and Earth. She has since become one of our most prominent translators of classical Chinese medical texts, including a translation of the Shén Nóng Bn Co Jng, available from Happy Goat Productions. Sabine’s newest projects include the launch of Imperial Tutor, a mentorship, retreat, and educational portal for practitioners of Chinese medicine, as well as a translation of Sù Wèn 5, forthcoming as "Humming with Elephants: The Great Treatise on the Manifest Resonances of Yin and Yang", due in spring, 2018. This program will balance field work with study, practicality with classical scholarship. The focus will be on identifying and harvesting local medicinals and finding their equivalents not only in the Zhng Yào Dà Cí Din /Great Dictionary of Chinese Medicinals and the Shén Nóng Bn Co Jng /Divine Farmer’s Classic of Materia Medica, but also many other historical and contemporary commentaries and other materia medica texts in order to determine potential uses in consonance with mainstream Chinese internal medicine. In the mornings we will head up the canyons into the mountains to harvest herbs, then in the afternoons and some evenings there will be classroom study at the seminar site (SMU). We will also include a visit to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs on Monday morning, and then to the Redwing Book Company warehouse where participants will have a wide selection of books on Asian medicine available to buy for their libraries. Since the traditional herbal system in China developed out of local plants used over millennia, it is important that we learn the medicines of ‘mountains, fields, and streams’ in our own native environment. An herbalist is like a ‘hunter’ for medicine, who closely examines habitat, climate, season, and qualities of plants, animals, and minerals when choosing medicines. Being an herbalist requires a similar sensitivity to the diagnostic skills of Chinese medicine. New Mexico’s northern high desert and mountain ranges are an unspoiled treasure of potent herbs nurtured by the high altitude, strong sunlight and sharp temperature changes of the region. The contrasts of altitude, rainfall and sunlight have created several life zones with a variety of medicinal plants found in few other locales. The staggering beauty of the area calms the mind and increases sensitivity to studying the traditions of Chinese medicine. Location: Ubelaker Seminar Room, Southern Methodist University at Taos, New Mexico, 87557. www.smu.edu Date/Time: Sunday, August 19th thru Thursday, August 23rd. Orientation session begins Sunday afternoon at 2 PM. Cost: $1295.00 plus travel and lodging. $625.00 deposit required by May 1st via check or money order, with remaining balance due 30 days prior. Full refund available until June 23rd. CEU: 35 units pending NCCAOM approval. Z’ev and Sabine will be available to autograph copies of their books, both of which will be utilized in the class lectures. For event questions and payment please contact Justin Penoyer, workshop organizer at [email protected]. There are a limited number of rentable rooms at seminar site, along with nearby hotels, camping, and teepees. A full class list and additional information will be made available at http://zevrosenberg.com and www.imperialtutor.com The sage rests. Resting then results in balance and ease. Balance and ease then result in tranquil indifference. Balance, ease, and tranquil indifference mean that worries and trouble are unable to enter and that evil Qì is unable to carry out a sneak attack. For this reason, the sage’s virtue-power is complete and the Spirit is not lost. -Zhungzi

In Jewish tradition, we say two things: 1) If one knows aleph, one should teach aleph. 2) One teaches according to learn. In this spirit, I am looking forward to 2018 and some exciting projects. I especially enjoy teaching in order to interact and share back and forth with my fellow practitioners, and I learn as much as they do in my classes and seminars. I like the idea of Chinese medicine being an open, responsive forum, invested in healthy relationships, between practit...ioner and patient, practitioner and practitioner. Scholarship informs clinical practice, and clinical practice informs scholarship. So here’s what’s on tap in the new year : 1) Return to the Source: Han Dynasty Medical Classics in Modern Clinical Practice, my first book, edited by my trusty colleague Daniel Schrier, is scheduled to be released by Singing Dragon Press on March 21, 2018, the first day of spring. There will be book signings at PCOM New York (Monday, May 10th, 4 pm), ACCHS/Oakland, and Five Branches/San Jose. We are working on a book signing and talk for PCOM San Diego as well. Watch for dates. 2) Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown: Herbal Expedition and Classical Studies will be co-taught by Sabine Wilms and myself (with a possible surprise guest teaching Qi Gong) in Taos, N.M., from Sunday, August 20th to Thursday, August 23rd. Watch for details later this month. Sabine is also releasing her new book, a translation with commentaries on Su Wen 5, Humming With Elephants, to which I contributed a forward and clinical commentary. Both books will be utilized in this seminar. 3) A seminar at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, New York, on Sunday, May 9th, Ripples in the Flow: Nan Jing Pulse Teachings. My second book with the same title is in preparation, also edited by Daniel Schrier. 4) I will be teaching Su Wen, Ling Shu and Nan Jing text materials in doctorate programs, specifically at Academy of Chinese Health Sciences, Oakland, Ca., and Five Branches Institute, San Jose, Ca. this year. Look forward to seeing some of you in the coming months! Strength and blessing, Z’ev Rosenberg, L. Ac.

Heading for Berkeley, Sunday and Monday March 5th and 6th, to teach Chinese Medical History in the Academy of Chinese Health Sciences' doctorate program. The following week, presenting a talk on Chinese Medicine Chronobiology at the Shen Nong Symposium, March 19th, in New York City...

For Chinese medicine colleagues in the New York area, open to general public: I'll be giving a one-time lecture at BAE ACUPUNCTURE, 190 N.10th Street Suite 204 Brooklyn, NY 11211. Monday, March 20, 630-830pm. $20 preregistration by Mar.1 $25 at the door. This class is open to the public, but also suited for ciinicians and those involved in the mindbody (tai chi, yoga) and healing arts.... Deconstructing Chinese Medicine: Ling Shu Ch.8 (ben shen) Foundation in Spirit with Z'ev Rosenberg L. Ac. The frequently quoted chapter 8 of the Ling Shu, opens with the statement "every needling method first must be rooted in shen" (Fan ci zhi fa, xian bi ben yu shen ). This chapter of the Ling Shu, which covers the five yin viscera and their associated 'spirits', is much debated, not least of which for the question of what is the shen? From this starting point, Z'ev Rosenberg will cover the fundamental principles of Chinese medicine revealed in the Ling Shu, and will lead an open-ended presentation and discussion designed to deconstruct our modern bias on what Chinese medicine 'is', and open possibilities to a dynamic, interactive application of this venerable medicine. This presentation will challenge our knowledge base by focusing on the relationship between physical health and emotional/psychological health as discussed in this essential chapter. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE! See more

Dear friends, As 2016 draws to a close, 2017 brings in an active schedule of teaching and a book project! Here is what is in the works right now: 1) "Return to the Source: Han Dynasty Classics in Clinical Practice". In production, editing, writing new chapters. Due fall 2017 from Singing Dragon Press, London.... 2) ACCHS Doctorate Program (Oakland, Ca.): "Historical Schools of Chinese Medicine", six full-day seminars beginning Monday, January 9th, 2017. http://www.acchs.edu/ 3) Five Branches University, San Jose, Ca. seminars: "Qi Transformation: the Hidden Key of Chinese Medicine." Sunday, January 15th through Tuesday, January 17th. "Precious Chapters of the Su Wen 76-81", Sunday, November 12th- Tuesday, November 14th, 2017. http://www.fivebranches.edu/ 4) Presentation at Shen Nong Society, NYC, Sunday, March 19th: "Seasonal Qi, Epidemics, and Chinese Herbal Medicine: Treating Transmuting Patterns Effectively." http://www.shennongsociety.org/conference 5) Full day seminar at Southwest Symposium (AOMA), Austin Texas, Sunday, May 7th: "Treating Autoimmune Disorders with Classical Chinese Medicine". https://aoma.edu/continuing-education/southwest-symposium 6) Seminar on Nei Jing and Nan Jing, Vermont Acupuncture Association, fall 2017. Looking forward to seeing many of my colleagues and students in the coming year! 2018 will bring even more surprises!

Just reminding my colleagues/students: new CEU class begins on Sunday, September 18th, on 'Five Phase Herbal Medicine'. But first we have a real treat: 'The essential Su Wen chapters 76-81 and their summation of teachings for physicians'. We will examine and discuss what makes proper diagnosis the foundation of successful practice, and how to attain superior levels of practice. Hope to see you there!

Z’ev Rosenberg, L Ac. and ALEMBIC INSTITUTE is pleased to announce a new AUTUMN 2016 CLASS SERIES in SAN DIEGO, CA.: DEEP STUDIES in CLASSICAL CHINESE MEDICINE: LING SHU, SU WEN and HERBAL CLASSICS Class I/Sunday, September 17th, 10 AM- 6 PM/Part I: ... Five Phase Herbal Formulation based on the Ling Shu and Su Wen: We will use the principles of five phases and flavors in various chapters to understand how individual medicinals are classified, and how formulas in the herbal classics were designed. Chapters: Ling Shu 56, 63, Su Wen 62, 22, Jin gui yao lue ch. 1 Class II/Sunday, October 8th, 10 AM-6 PM/Part II: Five Phase Herbal Formulation based on the Ling Shu and Su Wen, continued. Class III/Sunday, November 12th,10 AM-6 PM/Part I: Song/Jin-Yuan dynasty and the si da jia/four great physicians: an examination of the four extrapolations of Shang Han Lun herbal practice developed during the 12th and 13th centuries, with a focus on Li Dongyuan’s earth supplementing school. We will examine how each physician adapted five phase theory and sections of the Su Wen, Nan Jing and Ling Shu to develop their new currents and ideas. Class IV/Sunday, December 10th, 10 AM - 6 PM/Part II: Song/Jin-Yuan dynasty and the si da jia/four great physicians II: Introduction to the nine needles and acupuncture strategies: Ling Shu 1, 6, and 78. Explaining the different tools of acupuncture, their use, application, transportation points, techniques, various disorders Location: Z’ev Rosenberg’s office, 6718 Fisk Ave., San Diego, Ca. 92122 Cost: $175.00 per class, 600.00 for entire series