The Tao of Piercing

Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Health and Pleasure

Jeanne Elizabeth Blum
Author of Woman Heal Thyself

Piercings have become an increasingly common sight in the last decade. Piercings have gone from a rite of passage for teen girls who wanted to wear earrings, to a mass culture phenomenon. Certain piercings—eyebrows, tongue—are regarded by some as the ultimate in contemporary expression.

Yet when acupressure expert Jeanne Elizabeth Blum, author of Woman Heal Thyself (Tuttle, Boston 1995), began investigating the history of piercing in the early nineteen nineties, she discovered that piercing has had medicinal and historical roots in cultures ranging from the ancient Chinese, Egyptians, and Romans, to Pacific Islanders and Mayans. Blum, a Medical Intuitive trained by best-selling authors Norm Shealy, MD. and Caroline Myss, Ph.D., discovered that some of these ancient cultures were aware of the potent effects of piercing certain acupuncture points, and the effects of various metals and gemstones when worn in piercings. Piercings wrongly placed can have adverse effects on emotional and physical health; only a handful of the thousands of people doing piercing have any idea of the correct points. Consequently, many people have piercings that compromise one or another of their systems.

The Tao of Piercing contains many drawings and photographs to illustrate correct and incorrect points. It contains charts showing precisely where and when to pierce for each emotional and physical condition, and how to match metals and stones with the points for optimum wellbeing. Blum explains why piercing works, and also common problems associated with piercing and how to avoid them. The Tao of Piercing is the first book to place piercing in a serious diagnostic and medicinal context. It is destined to reach a wide audience of health professionals, as well as people seeking to improve their wellbeing and avoid the consequences of inappropriate piercing.