The most human of the elements. It
is the element of spring; the creative urge
to achieve - which can turn to anger when frustrated.
It is associated with the capacity to look forward,
plan and make decisions.
Wood energy is rising, expanding, and is the
force of growth and flexibility.
This element represents all the activities of
the body that are self regulating and/or function
without conscious thought; i.e. digestion, respiration,
heart beat and basic metabolism.
The liver (which converts food into fuel which
is then supplied to the muscles, tendons and
ligaments) is associated to the Wood element.
The element of
heat, summer and enthusiasm; nature at its peak
of growth, and warmth in human relationships.
Its motion is upward.
Fire is the symbolic of combustion and this
represents the functions of the body that have
reached that fleeting moment of maximum activity;
indicating that decline is then inevitable.
The element is associated with the heart and
related to the tongue.
The element of harvest time, abundance,
nourishment, fertility, and the mother to child
relationship. This element is also regarded
as central to balance and the place where energy
becomes downward in movement. It is the symbol
of stability and being properly anchored.
Earth is associated to the spleen and related
to the sense of taste.
Includes the Western
idea of the air element. It is the force of
gravity, the minerals within the earth, the
patterns of the heavenly bodies and the powers
of electrical conductivity and magnetism. Metal
has structure, but it can also accept a new
form when molten.
Metal energy is consolidating and with inward
movement, like a flower closing its petals.
The symbol of metal is one of a cutting and
reforming action, but it is also regarded as
a solidifying process.
The element is associated with the lungs and
related to the nose.
The
source of life on this planet. Likewise it is
the fluids (the main component of the body)
which nourish and maintain the health of every
cell. Water corresponds to the vital fluids,
i.e. blood, lymph, mucus, semen and fat.
The kidney is especially linked to this element.
Its motion is downward.
Water has the capacity to flow, infinitely yielding
yet infinitely powerful, ever changing and often
dangerous with the capacity also to nourish
and cleanse.
Water is the ultimate yin; quiet, cold; representing
the resting time of winter. It has a waiting,
silent, still quality that can be described
as "stored potential". It has flexibility (think
of water filling up any shape of vessel), yet
it has great power (think of the devastation
caused by floods).
In human psychology the element governs the
balance between fear or being exploited and
the desire to dominate.
