Understanding the flow of the Five Elements

[Gerard]

I hope the following reading is useful for those who have trouble understanding Yin and Yang's interaction, beyond the dualistic nature of Samsara:

 

Five elements theory is the eternal balance between yin and yang forces, which in turn create:

 

1. Wood...expansive energy

2. Fire...rising energy

3. Metal...solidifying energy

4. Earth...stable energy

5. Water...sinking energy

 

The Tao gave birth to One. The One gave birth to Two. The Two gave birth to Three. The Three gave birth to all of creation. All things carry Yin yet embrace Yang. They blend their life breaths in order to produce harmony (Tao Teh Ching, ch. 42)

 

One = Qi

Two = Yin and Yang

Three = Jing (essence), Qi as materialised life and Shen (spirit)

 

 

Five elements interact in two distinctive ways:

 

1. Creative cycles or cycles of balance

2. Controlling cycle or cycles of imbalance

 

A graphic explanation showing the cyclical flow of these energies:

 

"The five phases of energy (Wood, Metal, Water, Earth and Fire) appear in their specific nature, during the transformations of Yang force and from their union with the Yin force. These energy phases are constantly changing activity, each one nourishing and controlling the other so that there is a constant circular movement without beginning or end. The interaction of these primordial forces creates harmony in the changing course of nature's cycles. The five elemnts combine and recombine in countless forms and produce material life. Everything that exists contains the five elements in varying proportions.

 

Let's analyse these ideas observing the seasons of the year that influence the Earth. Water is the energy phase associated with winter, when the Yin force is prevalent. The winter is a time of rest and quiet, when energy is saved, gathered, condensed, conserved and stored. Water is a very concentrated element containing great potential, a great power waiting to be liberated. In the human body water is associated with essential fluids like hormones, lymphatic liquids, marrow, enzymes, all with great energetic potential. Its color is black or midnight blue. It is the color that contains all the other colors in concentrated form. In nature, water evaporates under excess heat; in human beings water's energy disperses because of excess stress and strong emotions. The way to conserve water's energy is with quiet and rest, by staying "cold".

 

The next phase in the seasonal cycle is spring. Wood grows as a result of the energising force of water, like plants grown in the earth in springtime. This is the new Yang season of the energy cycle. The Wood phase is expansive, happy and explosive. It is a creative generation of energy, awakening the sexual desire to procreate. It is associated with vigor, youth, growth and development. The Wood energy seeks free expression and space to expand. To block its development creates feelings of frustration, anger, jealousy and stagnation.

 

Just like spring changes naturally into summer, the expansive and creative Wood energy matures into the fluorescent energy of the old Yang, Fire energy. This is the fullest energetic phase in the whole cycle, when the hottest phase of the yang energy is full. All life forms heat up in this phase marked by the fire energy's growth. Heat is associated with the heart, which is the home of human emotions and the organ that pulses and distributes the blood and its energy throughout the body. Red is the color of blood's heat. This energy is associated with love and compassion, generosity and happiness, openness and abundance. If we block this energy, the result is hypertension, heart disease and nervous disorders.

 

At the end of summer there is an interlude of perfect balance when the fire energy diminishes and transforms into Earth energy, neither very Yin nor very Yang, and a state of perfect equilibrium is achieved. This moment is the cycle's climax, the interval between the Yang energies of spring and summer and the Yin energies of autumn and winter. The temper of the 5 energy phases is in harmony at this moment, bringing a sensation of well-being and completeness. The energy at the end of summer is earth energy, its color is yellow, the color of the earth and sun. In human anatomy it is associated with the stomach, the spleen and the pancreas that are situated in the center of the body and feed the body's system. If the earth energy is insufficient, the system becomes malnourished, digestion is affected and the whole system becomes weak and unbalanced.

 

As summer passes into autumn, the energy of Earth transforms into Metal. During the Metal phase, energy once again begins to condense, contract, and draw inward for accumulation and storage, just as the crops of summer are harvested and stored in autumn for use in winter. Wastes are eliminated, like winnowing chaff from wheat, and only the essence is kept in preparation for the nonproductive Water phase of winter. If the harvest fails or falls short, there may not be sufficient energy stored during Water/winter to generate a strong and healthy cycle in the following Wood/spring. Metal energy controls the lungs, which extract and store essential energy from air and expel wastes from the blood, and the large intestine, which eliminates solid wastes while retaining and recycling water. Its color is white, the color of purity and essence. Autumn is the season of retrospection and meditative insight, for shedding old skin and dumping the excess baggage of external attachments and emotions accumulated in summer, just as trees shed their leaves and bees drive drones from the hive at this time of year. Resisting this energy by clinging sentimentally to past attachments can cause feelings of melancholy, grief, and anxiety, which manifest themselves physiologically in breathing difficulties, chest pain, skin problems, and low resistance. Flues, colds, and other respiratory ailments are common indicators of blocked Metal energy, which is associated with the lungs. Just as Metal is a refined extract of Earth forged by Fire, so autumn is the season for extracting and refining essential lessons from the activities and experiences of summer, transforming them into the quiet wisdom of winter."

 

To live a healthy and balanced life one must follow these forces at any level; however, we must also bear in mind that the 5 elements also interact in the so-called destructive or controlling cycles.

But try not to think of it as one element destroying another. Instead, think of it as one energy influencing another in a controlling manner. For example:

 

Think of a metal axe. You use it to chop down a tree hence Metal destroys Wood. Think of a large tree. It extracts water and minerals from the earth to grow hence Wood destroy Earth.

 

When a river bursts its bank, you use bags of sand (earth) to stop the overflow hence Earth controls Water. You can extinguish fire with water hence Water quenches Fire. Finally as in a iron foundry, you use fire to forge metal. Hence Fire overcomes Metal.

 

Edited July 31, 2010 by durkhrod chogori

[fizix]

Should be linked in stickied, or simply stickied. Phenomenal illustrations of the Five Elements, thank you for posting.

[Spectrum]

Thanks

[effilang]

Xie Xie

[al.]

[al.]

A wonderful walk-through! Thank you for sharing.

 

To wander deeper and further into the play of the Five Elements I whole-heartedly recommend this book-

 

Michael S. Schneider- A beginner's guide to constructing the universe.

 

AND of course, immersion in nature.

 

If we break it down into the most basic forms we have- numbers, a whole world opens up to us.

 

Yin is represented as a broken line (--), Yang an unbroken line ( __ )

 

If we combine these two, four possibilities arise-

1. two broken lines

2. two unbroken lines

3. an unbroken line atop a broken line

4. a broken line atop a broken line.

 

These are known as lesser yang (wood), greater yang( fire), lesser yin (metal), greater yin( water).

The fifth element Earth holds a special place within the sequence, it enables life and regeneration, it moves us from a square to a star.

Earth can also be placed at the centre of the Five Elements, and be seen as the transformational period between one element to the next.

When we layer geometry and maths onto natural forms, the number 5 and the pentagram, the Five Elements, crop up in wonderful ways!

The golden mean and the Fibonacci sequence are a reflection of this...

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55.......

what a mystery!

a

[松永道]

 

1. Wood...expansive energy

2. Fire...rising energy

3. Metal...solidifying energy

4. Earth...stable energy

5. Water...sinking energy

 

 

The the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperors Internal Classic) describes them with slightly different nuance.

 

生，长，化，杀（收），藏

 

生 Sheng: The movement of wood-spring. Sheng translates as birth. Like a seedling.

 

长 Zhang: The movement of fire-summer. Chang translates as expansive growth. Like a plant in vegetative growth.

 

化 Hua: The movement of earth-the 18 days of transformation between each season, often represented specifically by the summer-autumn transition. Hua means transformation.

 

杀 Sha: The movement of metal-autumn. Sha means to kill or terminate. The often used alternative, 收 Shou, means to collect or contract. Like falling leaves and dropping seeds.

 

藏 Cang: The movement of water-winter. Cang means to contain or conceal. Like a seed in the earth.

 

What's the difference between birth and expansive growth? Expansion is a yang phenomenon. Birth is expansion out of Yin, Growth is expansion within Yang. Birth-wood is therefor called Shaoyang, little yang, and Fire expansiveness is called Taiyang or Laoyang, Greatest Yang or Old Yang. Same with Metal and Water. Metal is contraction and collection from Yang into Yin, Water is contraction and condensation of Yin within Yin.

 

The lower Dantian & Mingmen (lifegate) functional process is Water producing Wood. Yin within Yin, Greatest Yin, gives rise to Wood Shaoyang, Yang emerging out of Yin.

[sifusufi]

Humble thanks for the posts, I love this!

[Gerard]

The the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperors Internal Classic) describes them with slightly different nuance...

 

I have used my own experience when describing how the 5 elements manifest. For example:

 

Wood as expansive energy, like trees:

 

 

 

Water, sinking energy, like flowing rivers moving down to the sea:

 

 

Metal, concentrated energy, like a well formed dioptase resulting from earth generating cycle:

 

 

Earth, like the gound itself, even, balanced energy resulting from the creation of fire energy...fire to ashes after burning a particular Chinese tree in Huashan hit by lighting:

 

 

Fire, always rising:

 

 

 

Edited: forgot fire, lol!

Edited August 1, 2010 by durkhrod chogori