Spring is the perfect time to talk about worms and bugs!
In Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica 神農本草經, grub (Ji Cao) belongs to the “Least Favorable” 下品 category, meaning it has to be taken with caution because of its strong partiality and actions may potentially damage the body’s Upright Qi 正氣.
Grub is said to be able to “treat stale blood, Blood stasis, Bi-obstruction Qi, subcostal hardness, fullness and pain due to Blood stasis induced by traumatic injuries, amenorrhea, pterygium, glaucoma, and cataract.” 主惡血，血瘀，（御覽作血瘴）痹氣，破折血在脅下堅滿痛，月閉，目中淫膚，青翳，白膜。 This line indicates that this medicinal enters the Liver realm (related to subcostal, eyes, menstrual blood).
Grub is a worm, which belongs to the Wind-wood phase, the same as silkworm, centipede, wingless cockroach, horse fly, cicada larva, silverfish, etc.
Its color is yellowish head, white body, and blackish tale, which belong to the “Earth generating Metal”and “Metal generating Water” phases.
What makes grub stand out from the other bugs? The book Bowu Zhi 博物志 states that grub “walks on its back”背行. A shamanic view on this strange behavior is that this worm has a natural tendency to “walk on heaven” instead of “walking on earth.”
It might not be a coincidence that the ancient Egyptians worshiped the sacred scarab. They probably also came to the conclusion that a scarab (a matured grub) has the special ability to return to heaven (the origin of life) as soon as it dies. Its spirit does not linger in this world. This metaphor implies that this animal has a strong connection with our cosmic origin, that if a dead person’s spirit follows the spirit of a scarab, they can also find the gateway of eternal life. Maybe this explains why a winged scarab is carved in a conspicuous location in the tombs of pharaohs – on top of the gate.
From a plain metaphysical perspective, such behavior would be interpreted in a way that a grub is an unworldly creature that it subjectively feels the gravity pulling from “the above” instead of from beneath. The ancient medical practitioners believed that this explains why it has its legs facing the sky and its back towards the ground. Not only the orientation, but also the C-shaped position, resemble that of a fetus – a state when curled-up, upside down position is the natural position.
The book Wudeng Huiyuan 五燈會元 recorded that an ancient Buddhist monk died in an impossible position of standing solely on his head, with his legs straight in the air, which has been considered as a demonstration of his ultimate enlightenment.
So is it safe to assume that a grub has the therapeutic function of “guiding energies back to their origins？“
Traditionally, grub has been widely used to treat Blood stasis and Bi-obstruction Qi. Throat Bi-obstruction Qi in the throat has the similar symptoms comparable to tonsillitis, and Bi-obstruction Qi in the eye is comparable to pterygium, glaucoma, cataract, etc. In such cases, crushing the grubs and applying the pulp to the infected area has proven to be effective. Of course, this is not a common practice in the modern times. (Please do not try this formula without consulting your practitioner)
On the other hand, grub is a Wind-wood creature, it is mainly white (Metal), therefore, it has the natural ability to expel external Wind pathogens. A traditional common practice was applying grub pulp in the umbilicus when children suffer from abdominal pain due to Wind pathogens entering the abdomen. We all know that kids tend to kick off the cover in their sleep, or poke their navel for fun.
There are also recorded cases in which grub pulp was used topically to pull out thorn from the flesh, or even to treat tetanus (“Wind damage via broken skin” in Chinese). These functions of grub are forgotten and out of use because other medicinals work better for such symptoms. For example, praying mantis eggs are more effective in pulling out thorns, and wine-cooked cicada shells work better in treating tetanus. However, this doesn’t mean that grub is not a very useful medicinal. It would be a shame to interpret the tales of grub as mere metaphors.
These stories seem to point out that grub has the ability to “separate” aliens from the host –whether they are physical or more intangible ones, and return the host to its pristine state.
In ancient times, grub was also used to help quit drinking. Taking a small amount of grub every time when a person drinks alcohol, gradually the person will be “separated” from his addiction to alcohol. (Do not try this formula without consulting with your practitioner)
This “separating” power is the power of Metal, since a matured grub – a beetle — is a Metal insect (with armor-like outer skin and weapon-like horns).
Even if grub is a highly “toxic” medicinal that has been rarely used, it actually has the honor to be included in one of the Shang Han Lun formulas, Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan. This may be theoretically enough to demonstrate grub’s ability to separate the dried blood stuck beneath the umbilicus. Since a depleted and overworked 虛勞 patient also tends to have psycho-emotional symptoms, one can argue that grub also has the ability to set free the spirits of the patient and help them return to their original places.
An interesting case that I’ve learned is about a patient with hepatosplenomegaly (enlarged spleen) induced by viral hepatitis. The patient took grub capsules daily and the spleen returned to normal size within two weeks. (This was prescribed based on professional diagnosis. Please do not try this formula without consulting with your practitioner).
A common recovery sign of ingesting grubs is that the patient would sweat slightly before shaking off the disease completely. This is another proof that grub not only dissolves stasis, but also expels external Wind pathogens.
Now we can think about why chickens (animal of the Metal phase) love eating grubs.