FIVE ELEMENTS


‘At the heart of five element practice lies the understanding that each of us has association with one element. This provides the focus for our life, endowing it with characteristics specific to that element… Imbalance of any kind, whether of body or soul, is the result of some failure in the guardian element’s ability to maintain balance’

Nora Franglen


The idea of distinguishing between five types of personalities that underlies traditional diagnosis in Five Element acupuncture was developed in XX century by British acupuncturist prof. J.R.Worsley. It was based on traditional Chinese Philosophy that classified everything in the Universe into five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

According to Five Element Acupuncture each one of us has a particular relationship with one of the five elements - our guardian element. It predetermines who we are. When it is strong and balanced, we are at our best, feeling healthy and powerful, expressing our personality to its full potential, being in harmony with the world and ourselves. When it weakens it affects us at every level, having impact on our body and soul. Our element can be our curse or blessing, it is our destiny and our Achilles' heel at the same time.

Traditional diagnosis in Five Element practice is focused on establishing patient’s element in order to direct the treatment to one particular part of the Five Element cycle to strengthen the patient’s guardian element and help the nature to restore the balance.

             

              



Five Elements represent different types of energy and have different qualities. In nature they are associated with the five seasons: Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Autumn and Winter. They have associations with different colours, sounds, odours, emotions etc. In Chinese medicine each element has also been associated with different organs / meridians / officials.









WOOD





Wood represents the energy of Spring. It is like a shot – quick, focused, targeted, somewhat violent. It gives purpose to our lifes, fills us with hope, gives structure to our plans and freshness to our ideas, it clears our minds, endows us with the power of renewal.

People whose element is Wood are direct and structured, their virtue is justice and bravery, they are young and swift as a wind. They are good at making plans and taking decisions. They are people of action and determination, and they like to be in control. Growth and movement and a clear vision of the future are the qualities of the Wood element.


FIRE





Fire’s energy is directed outwards and upwards. It is the energy of Summer. Fire gives us warmth and controls our relationships, opening our heart to the ones we love and protecting it from being hurt. It has an inherent ability to sort ‘pure’ from ‘impure’.

People whose element is Fire are warm and joyful and communicable. They bring the warmth of the summer to people around, when they are in good shape they are bright and funny, joking and laughing, making everybody laugh, making sure that everyone’s happy. Love takes the main place in their lives. Their openness makes them vulnerable and they often use laughter as their protection.


EARTH





Earth’s energy is circular. It ‘grounds’ us, nurtures us, gives us support and nourishment. Sympathy and understanding are the virtues of the Earth element. It is soft and caressing like a mother could be. It is solid and fundamental like the ground under our feet. It is fruitful and abundant like it’s time of the year – Late Summer.

People whose element is Earth are understanding and generous, although to be able to give and to nourish they first need to nurture themselves. Home and comfort mean a lot to them. They are relaxed and reflective, reassuring and calm, the ones we would go to if we needed a sympathy.


METAL





The energy of Autumn. Inspirational, solemn and detached. Metal element is our connection to heaven, to that creative, guardian force which stands beyond everything. This element within us gives us a sense of self-worth, an understanding of uniqueness and value of our individuality. Metal is looking for meaning in everything. The essence of things which might be hidden from others is so obvious to Metal people. They are looking for purity and perfection constantly valuing and assessing every step of their lives as well as the others. But despite all their awareness some part of them is always standing aside with their are eyes to the heaven longing for the unreachable.


WATER





The last element in the circle it connects us to our origin. The energy of Winter, directed inwards and downwards helps us to survive through the difficulties, it endows us the willpower, determination and stamina. It is our defence and protection, our instinct of self-preservation.

Water people are deep and mysterious. Look into the ocean you will soon realise – transparency  is an illusion, like the water itself they would slip through your fingers the moment you thought you managed to get hold of them. Changeable, babbling like a stream, they flow through life, taking shape of the things they flew through, shaping the rocks on their way.

All the elements have their own way of getting the knowledge about the world. Wood has a vision of the future. Fire gets knowledge through sorting pure from impure. Earth takes the raw ideas and produces them nicely processed. Metal has access to an esoterical knowledge. And Water has some connection to the wisdom of ancestors.


The following pieces of music and art in my opinion reflect the qualities of the elements.


FIVE ELEMENT MUSIC COLLECTION

  













FIVE ELEMENT ART GALLERY


 
For more information on Five Element Acupuncture please visit:

http://norafranglen.blogpost.com

http://www.five-element-treatments.blogpost.com