What Does Stephen King Know About Chinese Medicine?
Apparently, a lot…
In the height of summer I usually feel drawn to watch campy horror movies. The more ridiculous they are, the better. If they take place in the woods, at a lake, I’m hooked. I believe the impulse to watch these types of movies can be explained through 5 Element energetics, but that’s another discussion. For now, let’s just say that I was happy to discover that a newish (2019) Creepshow was available to stream. So, I turned out the lights and tuned into the first episode. But, rather than escaping into the usual range of fear, suspense, and laughter, I was transfixed by the details of the story. The first episode is based on Stephen King’s short story Gray Matter. Viewing this through the lens of Chinese medicine, I realized that I was watching the etiology and symptomatology of Gu syndrome portrayed with incredible accuracy.
What is Gu syndrome?
Gu syndrome is often equated with modern day Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, candida, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein Barr virus and many other conditions. It is not specific to any one set of symptoms but encompasses what seem to be hidden pathogens that are difficult to treat, but are undeniably there.
Gu as a concept has been mentioned throughout all classical Chinese texts, beginning with the I Ching. Hexagram 18 is called Gu and is made up of the trigram wind below the trigram mountain. The energetic of this configuration creates stagnancy as wind is trapped in the mountain’s base. As I’ve discussed in previous posts, wind brings change. If the wind (change) is trapped, you have stagnation and decay.
The Chinese pictogram for Gu shows either 2 or 3 worms trapped in a vessel, squirming, eventually becoming each other’s prey. In medical texts, Gu describes a situation where parasites are trapped in the vessel of the human body, and continue to colonize to the point of bringing about a state of extreme mental and physical decay as they feed off the person. This may actually be the presence of a parasite but also encompasses any presence of chronic inflammation, virus, fungus, mold, etc. that has taken up residence in the body and systemically compromises the individual.
We know that Gu thrive in extreme yin: cold, damp, still. As that extreme yin state continues, it may move into a more yang state —pathological heat, which is another way of describing chronic inflammation. You can reference the Taiji symbol to see the interplay of yin and yang.
How does this play out in Creepshow?
In Gray Matter we have a man who is being consumed by a fungus that comes from his cheap beer. We know that prior to being taken over by the fungus, he has suffered the loss of his wife. He refuses to acknowledge the pain of the loss, saying to his son that real men don’t cry. The suppressed pain and unexpressed emotions create a pattern of stagnation and cold.
Furthermore, we find out that the protagonist has suffered some sort of injury that has left him unable to work. This leads to further isolation and lack of connection to the outside world. The fire element, which thrives by connecting and spreading, has become severely deficient, throwing all other elements out of balance, setting the stage for pathology to thrive. We see him become one with his pathology as he cranks up the heat in his home to sweltering temperatures, trying to normalize the deep cold that has set in internally.
Then, his insatiable beer consumption allows the situation to go fully out of control. Alcohol is considered damp in Chinese dietary theory. Dampness is slow, heavy, and naturally attractive to other forms of dampness. Adding dampness to the picture reinforces the cold stagnation, allowing the fungus growing on the beer to completely take him over. This is the point at which he begins consuming any living thing that enters his home. Parasites aren’t satisfied. And unfortunately, there was not a practitioner of Chinese medicine to intervene.
What could have been done?
The treatment of Gu is very specific. If the basic symptoms are treated, such as working solely on the digestion without digging deep to the root, the Gu can actually be tonified, which is to say that they will proliferate. What needs to happen is for the Gu to be driven out of the body, completely fumigated. However, this is generally a long process, sometimes taking several months to years sometimes. The Gu adapts, so treatment has to be changed up to stay a step ahead. Light must be shined in the dark places so that what is there is exposed and driven out. This is done with acupuncture and herbs.
Prevention is key. Whether it is on a spiritual, emotional, or dietary level, we have to consider that which creates cold, dark, damp conditions within and avoid them. The extent to which Gu is able to thrive in the body is largely determined by the preexisting conditions and we mostly have control over our internal environment.