In just a couple of weeks, at the CSOMA (California State Oriental Medical Association) conference in San Francisco, Honora Lee Wolfe will be giving a seminar entitled "Money as a Form of Qi: Making & Using Money with Integrity."

I asked Honora to give us a quick glimpse of her topic.

Brian Benjamin Carter (BBC): When you speak about money and qi, are you talking about the same qi that's in our bodies? How do you explain what qi is?

Honora Lee Wolfe (HLW): Qi is qi. Life force in the universe manifest in "the 10,000's of things" as the classic says. Money is just another form of energy and information exchange, which is not substantially different from any other part of the qi system, at least in my mind.

BBC: So what kind of blockages prevent the flow of money in our lives?

HLW: The answer to that is, of course, somewhat of a mystery or we would all be millionaires. In my opionion, it is some combination of openness to the universe of prosperity that exists and perseverence in our efforts to succeed. If a person really searches their soul, many will find that they are less open to prosperity than they think they are, but we will go over that subject in detail in the class.

BBC: How can we restore this flow?

HLW: To restore a healthy relationship to money in our lives when it really needs some repair, requires honest assessment and a commitment to working on the problem on a variety of fronts. That may include both psychological and emotional work internally, and study, effort, classes, reading, journal-keeping, and outreach and more in our business efforts externally.

BBC: Do you think that in order to get, we have to give?

HLW: The universe seems to work that way in my experience....but there are many ways to give that may not require only money specifically. The qi system is somewhat mysterious..... but there does seem to be a quality of open-heartedness in both directions that is helpful when working on one's prosperity.

BBC: What about people for whom money flows, but they do immoral things to get it? e.g. sweat shops in third world companies...

HLW: There is the existence of evil in the world. Getting money does not necessarily have anything to do with "goodness". That being said, for those of us who are not dishonest or evil, but who have problems with money, we may want to work out how to improve our relationship with that aspect of our lives as much as we can.

BBC: Are there some widespread (societal or global) blockages of qi in regards to money?

HLW: Obviously this is true. There are global inequities of all kinds with regard to money. My personal feeling is that charity begins at home. We should try to improve the things in our lives that can be improved. If we can become more prosperous, we can give away more to those who are less prosperous. Being poor does not really serve anyone. Since we live in a society that grants us many opportunities, why not utilize them to help ourselves so that we can help others?

"Money as a Form of Qi: Making & Using Money with Integrity," will be on Saturday, August 10th at 8:30am at the CSOMA Conference. For more information, go to the CSOMA website.

Honora Lee Wolfe is a licensed practitioner (LAc) of Chinese Medicine, general manager of Blue Poppy Press, and author of a number of books and articles on acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. For more information, go to her Blue Poppy Press bio.