Along with the law of
Yin and Yang , ancient Taoists observed a pattern of expression in nature that they interpreted as,and called,the Five Elements.These elements,or energies,were described as fire,earth,metal,water, and wood. As such,they were felt to be the prime energetic building blocks from which all material substance in the phenomenal world is composed.The basic idea is that everything is made up of some combination of these elements,and therefore expresses the traits or endencies implied.If one were to look in traditional Chinese medical texts, one finds long lists of categories ascribed to each of these elements. The breakdown into these categories includes the seasons,foods, personality and body types, colors,sounds,smells,and just about anything else that you can think of.For example,in color, fire is red, earth is golden-brown, metal is white, water is blue-black, and wood is green. In the body, fire is the heart-small intestine, earth is the spleen-stomach, metal is the lungs-large intestine, water is the kidneys-urinary bladder, and wood is the liver-gall bladder. So what is the value of this life model? What are its practical applications? The ancient Taoists felt that we, as humans, were unique in that our need and potential was to create a balance of all five elements in order to achieve maximal health. Through diet, attunement to our environment, and movement practice, one has the opportunity to access these energies. In
Traditional Chinese Medicine a doctor both diagnoses and treats a patient in respect to the model of the Five Elements. Through listening to the pulses, determining one's constitutional elemental type (one is understood to be predominately either fire, earth, metal, water, or wood), and observing pysiogomy (facial diagnosis), a doctor determines if there are imbalances within the patient in respect to the Five Elements; too much fire, too little water, and so on. The treatment, either through acupuncture, herbs, or movement practice is intended to support a process of allowing the individual to return to a state of energetic elemental balance. The understanding of the Five Elements can lead to great sophistication and subtlety, as is my experience with both Chinese doctors and T'ai Chi masters that I have meet. But in general anyone can begin by understanding the basic characteristics of each of the elements. Fire is the primary creative force of life. The positive movement between the Five Elements, what is called the Creative Cycle begins with fire. It is dominant Yang and represents warmth,light, and the initial spark of life. It in turn leads to earth.Earth represents all that we think of as substantial, enduring, and persevering. Next comes metal. People often ask "Where's the air element?" In the Taoist view,the metal element is very similar to air.It includes the lungs as its organ, but in general represents the process of transforming something that is base and impure into something that is pure and strong. An example is that of forging iron into steel. The next element is water which is archetypal Yin.It is all that is soft,fluid,and continuous. Last is wood who's image is that of the blade of grass or the bamboo shoot.It represents suppleness and the ability to yield well in the face of force or aggression. It completes the elemental cycle and in turn reconnects back to the point of origin,fire.
