Search the Community

The Five Elements In Modern Life How do you work with five elements in daily life? are there any simple everyday practices you use? What books, resources or personal experiences have you found most helpful understanding five elements? After playing with five elements in various ways, I decided to dedicate a year to one element, then for five years I focused on one element a year… I started with Metal and finished five years later with Earth to keep me anchored to the element throughout the year I did something quite simple… Instead of buying clothes randomly I selected only the colours that were associated with that element and wore that colour for that whole year. (and the preceding element, so there was a bit of variety, and they work well together) So every morning I’d have a reminder of the elements and the qualities I was working with. It was more like play really. It was an interesting experiment. I MIGHT ACTUALLY REPEAT IT What are your experiences of the Five Elements , I’d love to read more…

The Taoist view holds 5 elements while the western tradition holds that there are 4 elements. Can everyone please share their understanding of how the two systems translate? What is the relationship between the air element and the metal element, and the addition of the wood element. I nkow that the 5th western element is ether, but how does this relate to metal and wood? I know that the Taoist way was derived from the process of nature observed, but so was the western element view. Personally I'm more comfortable with the Taoist view, but just want to meld them together...