Substances that Anchor, Settle, and Calm: Zhu Sha (cinnabar)

Zhu Sha - Cinnabar - Mercuric Sulfide

朱砂

zhu = vermillion (vermillion is a specific kind of red)
sha = sand

Zhu Sha is sweet, cool, and TOXIC and HEAVY.

Dosage: 0.1 - 1.5 grams - pill or powder.
DO NOT HEAT to prevent mercury poisoning!

A "substance with unacceptable toxicity," Zhu Sha is now considered obsolete. But I think you can still get it.

Zhu Sha is cold, red, and heavy - so it goes through the heart (the red color) and pulls the fire down, thereby alleviating the heart from the restless jitters (day and night) that the heat creates. Specific indications (Bensky) are:

1. Sedate Heart / Calm Spirit:
* restlessness
* palpitations
* anxiety, insomnia, convulsions
* heat (from excess, phlegm-heat, or blood deficiency)

2. Expels Phlegm / Sedates Jitters; Stops Tremors and Convulsions

* seizures
* childhood convulsions
* other problems related to phlegm blocking the PC and Heart

3. Clears heat toxins / prevents putrefication

TOPICALLY for
* snake bites
* mouth sores
* carbuncles
* sore throat

and for Restless Egg Syndrome: