THE CLAVICLE - BONES IN THE KEYS OF LIFE
The word “clavicle” originally comes from the Proto-Indo-European root “klau,” meaning “hook, crook or forked branch.” Later in Medieval Latin we see clavicula used for collarbone, where it literally translates as “small key, bolt,” diminutive of clavis “key.” From these same roots come other words such as pianoklavier, claves, enclave, close, include, exclude, seclude, etc. Its rounded medial end articulates with the manubrium of the sternum in a saddle joint; its lateral end meets in a slightly gliding joint with the acromion process of the scapula. The clavicles act as struts to keep the scapulae in place so that the arms can hang and move freely. Struts as structural components are commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy – they work by resisting longitudinal compression.
The more we contemplate the role of the clavicle in our embodied lives the more they reveal to us.
The clavicle is anatomically classified as a “long bone.” As such it is the only long bone in the body that lies horizontally.
It is the first bone to begin the process of ossification during development of the embryo, during the fifth and sixth weeks of gestation.
It is one of the last bones to finish ossification, at about 21-25 years of age.
In birds, the clavicles fuse to form a single Y-shaped bone, the “furcula” or what we call the “wishbone.”
So pictures begin to emerge.
The following information is from a working paper by Daniel Trulear, “Pi’s Relationship to the Human Clavicle Bone”
The Dogon tribe of Mali in Africa has a highly organized system of scientific knowledge transmitted through myth.
In a book studying the Dogon, two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Diertelen, go in detail into why the Dogon hold the clavicle in such high esteem:
The primary place given to the clavicle in the formation of the human being emphasizes its importance. It is said that the principal bone of the Nommo (primordial ancestral spirits) is the bone of the clavicle. Amma (the creator God) began the first bone of the body of the fetus with the clavicle and the skull. Amma made the bone of the clavicle first. The rest of the bones he made by suspending them from it. The maturing of the bone of the clavicle continues until the person is in their 20’s.
The Dogon also say, “the clavicle is the suspension system for the entire skeleton.”
The Dogon speak of this important function for agriculture when they state in relation to a drawing that they make of the clavicle, “These images refer to a human’s future work on Earth, to agriculture – the fundamental skill – and to life – sustained by the basic food – that is to say, to the cultivated seeds.”
Since humans, in our structure and energy, are largely vertical creatures, it is of singular significance to see the places in us that are structured and flow horizontally. This aspect of us is dramatically illustrated in the horizontal piece of the cross, the symbol itself alive in many traditions. It is said, “heaven and earth meet in the heart; it is their destiny and place of rendezvous” (Father Claude Larré). We can regard the arms then as expressors of the heart and the horizontal energy flow through the upper appendicular skeleton. The first skeletal expression of this horizontal structure and energy is the clavicle. Of course the arms represent not only the energy of love, but also that of work. And remarkably the Dogon recognize that as well in their seeing the vital connection of the clavicles to the work of agriculture, which literally means “the cultivation of the field.”
Freud said “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness” Obviously we see an ever deeper role for the clavicles - in both our love we feel inside and our work in the outer world. The clavicles are the key to these inner and outer worlds. The axial system may be regarded as where we live and the appendicular system as how we live, manifesting through the actions of our limbs. The shoulder and pelvic girdles are the mediators between those two “worlds.” In the shoulder girdle, the clavicle, as the only connection of the upper limbs to the torso, is particularly the key to those two “worlds.”
Chinese medicine recognizes, among others, two important points beneath the clavicle. Just below the clavicle’s sternal end and lateral to the manubrium of the sternum is a point, intriguingly translated sometimes as “Elegant Mansion.” This is the last point, K 27, on the kidney meridian which has begun at the bottom of the feet as “Bubbling Spring.” Another point just a bit more lateral is the point below the clavicle called “cloud gate,” it is the second point on the lung meridian. “This point is a gateway parting the dark clouds, allowing the darkness to vanish and the light to reveal what is precious. ... When life becomes directionless, when someone cannot see for the clouds, this point can give grounding and direction and a clear sense of who the person is.” – Neil Gumenick in Acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31482
Quote from Lizzie Bristow, UK acupuncturist friend -
The point Letting Go ("Middle Palace") is the first point on the Lung meridian. It is considered the first point in the whole of the meridian cycle because it was thought, by the ancient Chinese, to be the point at which qi first enters the body at birth (interesting, bearing in mind the fact that it is the first bone to form in the fetus).
It is situated in the delto-clavicular triangle, one "tsun" (thumbs width) below the acromial end of the clavicle in the first intercostal space. It often feels tender or sweet.
It is a point that supports both physical (breathing issues) and spiritual inspiration aswell as "letting go" of things no longer apt for us to hold on to. It therefore also supports grieving and a sense of loss of all kinds..
The magical clavicular strut at the top of our Elegant Mansion sets the stage for the higher realms of “heaven,” the upper three energy centers in the area of the throat, forehead, and crown of the head. We can envision this elegant mansion residing in misty clouds, in the second point on the Lung meridian, through which gateway the clouds part and our way becomes clearer.
The entire shoulder girdle and arm complex attach to the axial skeleton at just this exquisite articulation between the clavicle and sternum. With the breadth assured by the clavicles, we find our wingspan, the scapula, arms and hands freer for their work and for self-expression.
When we raise the arm and elevate the shoulder girdle, the scapula follows and the clavicle follows the scapula with upward rotation. If the clavicle is chronically depressed and glued down to the first rib, then scapula also cannot move freely or smoothly. Thus, those limitations can pass through to the shoulder joint, affecting the rotator cuff and other structures in that area.
The bodymind impact of this can be vastly more global than this little joint and bone might lead us to think. We then are affecting: the strut and curtain rod from which hangs the shoulder girdle, arms and, according to some visions, the whole skeleton.
This can empower the experience of emotion and expression originating from the heart. Thus, the structure and energy involved in both work and love – through the horizontal flow uniquely expressed through the clavicle.
The clavicle is the foundation for the elegant mansion we can visualize as surrounded by cloud, yet with a gateway to see and feel the directions we wish to take in our lives.
When I sit at the head and place my hands upon a receiver's trapezius and clavicles i am directly in touch, it feels, with a sense of the accumulation or absence of an accumulation of their life's emotions and experience. Touching these exquisite finely-shaped bones at interface can help to steady and reassure. Below the lateral tips lie the acupuncture points "Letting Go" - by acknowledging the yoke-like work of the clavicle, and by touching these bones with attention, we may help to release long-held burdens and also to recharge with courage when a sense of ability to hold life's burdens is challenged. We may re-establish the deep peace that comes with the re-balanced horizontal configuration of these elegant bones.
It is these wishbones in us, which empower and hold our dreams aloft, letting them go, take flight on the wings of heart, breath, and these beautiful encircling arms of ours. It is through these wishbones in us that our dreams are able to take flight. With every breath, every heartbeat, every float of our shoulders and arms we fully take our place on this earth, in this human life, yet connected to the world of heaven through the delicate connection of the upper limb with the energy and structure of the sternum and spine.
This article is adapted from the chapter on the clavicle in “The Memory Palace of Bones - Exploring Embodiment through the Skeletal System” by David Lauterstein and Dr. Jeff Rockwell.
art by Christy Krames from “The Memory Palace of Bones”