The Five Elements

Have you noticed how the seasons affect your health?  If you have not, the supermarkets certainly have!  Just take a walk along the aisle for lotions and potions and see what is on offer.  It is a good way to see what ails people at the moment.

One of the factors that influence out health is the environment and the seasons of the year are part of that environment.

In the Far East, they have five seasons instead of our four and each of them is named after an element in nature.  Each element then has different internal organs associated with it.  This is called the “Five Element Theory”.

A brief summary of it is shown below:-

<><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><>

Element	Time of year	Body Organs	Quality
Wood	Springtime	Liver/gall bladder	Growing
Fire	Summer	Heart/small intestine	Expanding
Earth	Late Summer	Stomach/spleen	Settling
Metal	Autumn	Lung/Large intestine	Contracting
Water	Winter	Bladder/kidney	Conserving

It is at the time of the transition between the elemental seasons that we are most at risk of becoming ill.  It is therefore recommended that something is done to support ourselves during these periods such as having a treatment, correct exercise or being careful with what we eat.

For example, if we are changing from the fire Energy of the Summer to the Earth Energy of the Autumn most people want to keep the Summer and put off the arrival of Autumn for as long as possible.  Just as King Canute could not hold back the tide, we cannot stop the clock of the seasons.  If our Energy is out of phase with the time of year then we run the risk of illness.  The illness could be some kind of vague unhappiness or it could manifest itself as a physical complaint.

Rather than grieving for the loss of summer and dreading the onset of autumn and winter try to think about the beauties and glories of those seasons.  Think about the colour of the leaf in the trees, the harvest and the glories of Nature and replace the negative feelings with positive ones.

The five elements work through our lives as well.  The creative Energy of conception is followed by settling in our mother’s womb until the metal Energy separates us from our mothers.  When our water energy is sufficient for us to start to support ourselves then wood energy urges us to go and explore.  After we have settled into an Earthy maturity the metal energy starts to take away and separate us from what we have known and love in our lives until finally the fruit drops from the tree and we pass into the watery world of spirit.

The Five Element cycle has an effect on what we are successful with. The fact that New Year resolutions never stick is not surprising when you think of it being in the water phase of Energy which is more to do with rest and conservation than new beginnings. It is far better to wait until springtime to make life changes. Use the water Energy in the winter to contemplate what changes YOU want to make in your life rather than be told them by someone else.

Ray Pawlett
www.ki-ways.co.uk