Chinese Medicine Notes

Peter Mole

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Yael

The first ICCM in Israel brought Peter Mole to the promised land.
That was the first time I heard his name, but my mentor told me that if I’m interested in 5 Elements (which I am), I shouldn’t miss Peter’s lecture.

Peter Mole was an instant hit with all of us.
His wonderful humor and his obvious love for Chinese Medicine captured us all, and the fact that there’s someone who is a graduate of 5 Elements that mixes that with TCM was an amazing bonus.
Israel is very TCM, and very Stems and Branches. But 5 Elements sort of got lost- it is a must subject to cover during our 4 basic years of study, but it doesn’t stand alone like the other two I mentioned.
I don’t know why that is really…

Peter Mole
Peter Mole has an M.A in Modern History from Oxford University in England.
In 1981 he received his first degree in acupuncture and his second degree in 1984. Since that year he’s been working in his private practice.
Peter taught many years in the Leamington Spa School in England, and today he teaches in The College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading, which in it’s foundation he helped and now serves there as Dean.

Over the years he wrote several articles and continues to spread the word around the world about the integration between TCM and 5 Elements.
Peter also wrote 2 books:
Acupuncture for The Body, Mind and Spirit- for the general public;
Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture- which he co-wrote with Angela and John Hicks.
To view a sample of the latter, you are welcome to click here.

The interview
I really was hoping to catch Peter for a proper interview.
Our time tables prevented that from us, so I went back to the e-mail interview, and here are the results.

CMNotes: Why do you integrate between 5 Elements and TCM? I can imagine how it serves the TCM, but how does it serve the 5 Elements?

Peter Mole (P.M): The 5 Element style is profound, but very limited in its understanding of disease processes. Its emphasis is on the person who has the disease and their deep underlying energetic imbalances rather than the specific nature of the symptoms. For example, it is often not my treatment of choice for acute channel problems or when there are powerful invasions of one or more of the