The five elements

                            The five elements 

            I continue my blog with the Feng Shui topic by writing little bit about the five  fundamental elements of everything in the universe , they  embrace our entire  being, by  not only forming the world around us, but keeping it alive as well.

         Yes, I know, the Energy does that to,  and Yin and Yang to; so which one of these, define  our life the most?! 

The answer is, all of them. Together; aligned for the same purpose, to create harmony, and balance in this chaotic world. The energy, as I have written about in  one of my    earlier posts,(https://modernlifefs.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-energy.html ) 

is everything around us, just as everything around us is either yin, or yang energy.

The five elements of Feng Shui- Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, and Earth, each of them  represent a state of the transforming energy. 

Transforming energy state ? It might  seem to be something extraterrestrial? 

I find that the best way to explains this, are the passing   of the seasons. Just as  seasons transform, from spring into summer, fall, and frosty winter; the five elements follow each other, and melt into one other.

-Wood represents the Spring , when plants are pushing through the soil. Uprising energy

-Fire represents the Summer, like  flames of the sun. Ascending energy.

-Earth is like the early fall, a stabilizing and grounding energy.

-Metal represents late fall, when trees lose their leaves, it’s a contracting energy.

-Water represents the winter and descending energy , like falling rain, or snow.

Now use your imagination, and think about a season, and all its characteristics, the five elements not only transform into each other like seasons do, but they also show similarities whit the corresponding season. No worry I’ll make a description about each element soon enough,  in a way that you all be able to bring to life a certain Element in your home  easy.

           Take  for example Spring!  Wood energy!The first rays of sunshine make you want to wake up, and get outside. It’s refreshing to see the flowers start to bloom,  the trees become green again after a long winter, to hear the entire bird population wake up and sing, the children play outside....like everything and everybody just woke up and enjoys life.Rebirth, renewal, fresh start, growth , expansion. 

Isn’t that uprising energy you just feel, only by  reading these lines?  This   Is the energy that represents the element  wood, and there are specific characteristics what define this element; and once you know how to bring an element in harmony with your living or working space....you’re on the right track, and soon you’ll feel the positive changes in your life.

      What you feel when  you think about summer? What is the first thing on your mind? The majority  of the answers will be - Hot!  And if I ask you about fire? I am almost sure, that the answers will be the same!  If I hear fire, I almost can feel the flames on my body, see its colors, smell the burning wood; and in  a hot summer day I feel the flames of the sun on my skin, the golden sun up in the sky like a fire ball.       On a rainy winter day, when I feel like not wanting to get up from my bed, I would think about our family days in  the summer, whether a trip to the zoo, or a day by the water,  reliving that positive energy,  that warm feeling,  would give me the boost  I  need, to not feel blue, and start a productive day.

That  hot energy, which is so powerful that you can storage it for bad days, that’s the one representing the fire element. 

                 ( Just try it out! On a very cold day, when you feel like your fingers are frosted, think about that day on the beach, when the sun was so hot, you spent the day in the water.... can you feel your body warming itself up?  Maybe you have to try a few times, to succeed , but don’t give up.  You can call an element to help you out with the power of your mind.) 

               Early fall is the time when farmers are harvesting all their goods to survive the winter. All what’s been growing on, or inside earth, now is ready to be harvested, it makes us feel safe, knowing that our potatoes,  are grown and soon will be in our basement for the winter. Well, in this hectic life we are living, and the way we are exploiting our planet, this may feel unbelievable for some of you. Nowadays we buy our potatoes (  and almost everything we eat)  from discounters. 

    I still remember how  every year, at the end of the summer, we   harvested our fruits and vegetables at my grandmas house, and storing them in the basement for the entire winter. South a  beautiful memory, although it was a long time ago, and I was still  a child.  Isn’t that a grounding energy, the feeling that all your hard work payed out, and it’s going to guide you through the winter,  you feel stabile, and safe.

          

          I  find the sadness of late fall, somehow unexplainably beautiful. One day you see the amazing colors of nature and the other day, the trees lose their leaves, and prepare for the winter. Those fallen leaves, give shelter for plants and small animals to overcome the cold season, isn’t that beautiful? The tree never dies, only it’s leaves fall down to give or preserve life of other beings. 

Metal is represented by this season, metal is gained from earth, just as the life those fallen leaves cover during the winter. 

                   

            Now a few words about  the cold winter, it’s beautiful when it’s frosty and snowing, and you can enjoy a day out in the snow, building snowman or a snow angel ,it’s also  beautiful when it’s raining, and dark, when  you look forward to a cozy day on the couch, with fluffy blankets and a delicious hot cocoa. I believe we all agree that the Christmas is the most magical time of the year, nothing  is like the happiness in our hearts , it’s like the spotlight of the year, we’re all been waiting for.  Like every season it has its ups and downs, some love it and some hate it, and I think the majority spends the winter mostly indoors, not like summer where we basically live our life in our gardens.

The energy of water   is descending, like the falling rain, and the water seeking its lowest level.  And as many aspects winter has, just as many forms of water can  be find. 

-There are the snowflakes, and the white blanket over the land, all clean and fresh, and then, there are the days when the snow is gone and all that’s left is mud, everything looks dirty, and regardless of the whether outside, there is Christmas , and New Year’s Eve. 

—And the many faces of the water.The rivers, the seas, the endless ocean, a small stream, the water in the house, the clean and the dirty water, and I could go on....

            I hope you have a relative clear picture of the elements, but this is far not the end of their connection.Just like in nature, the five  elements of the Feng Shui, can be in different relationships to each other.  They are always connected,  always transforming, and are in a constant movement, assuring that the rotation never stops. 

         Everything in the seen and unseen world is represented by the five elements, and  way they appear in the nature defines the symbols ancient Chinese mythology attributed to them. The earth beneath our feet, the trees of the forests, the streams, rivers, seas, and oceans, the metal in the minerals, the fire in the volcanoes...they all are given, and natural, but in the same way,  in the  world,  made by humanity the five elements are also present. 

       You are able to determine which element is dominant in one artifact, building or simple item, by observing the form, color, and properties of it. Each element has its own symbols, materials, colors, which will help you to activate a certain element. Maybe  it will take a while until you are able to choose decorations, furnitures, that are suitable for your home and your lifestyle, and  in the same time the elements are in harmony. Give yourself some time and practice, and soon you’ll look at something and  you will instantly know, which elements are dominant in that certain item.

       It’s not enough to know, what element dominates an object, or anything else men made; you have to learn the rotation of the elements, because in their constant movement and transformation, they do have a close relationship to one other. Their either support each other or weaken each other. Depending on what you would like to achieve with one of the elements you have to know, which one from the circle will support its powers and which one will control, or weaken its energy. You’ll need to learn these for the case of an element being over dominant in a room, or completely missing.

    Just as a footnote, I would like to mention that not only everything in this world can be associated with a certain element, but every person as well. Depending on your birth year, can be defined which element represents your personality. By knowing that, you can reach out, and take that energy in.

                          The supporting circle of the elements 

          The  Creative circle, or the supporting circle  where the elements basically bring out the best of each other, support each other, feed energy one other. Follow this circle for harmony between the five elements.

          It is believed, that the magical energy Chi, fell to earth and created water, and water became the creator of life.  And that’s why water is the first in the supportive circle. Without it, life wouldn’t be able to exist.

In the supporting circle; 

-Water feeds wood,

 -Wood feeds  the fire, 

 - Fire energy creates  earth. After a fire all that’s left is ashes, and they become the soil, the surface .

-Earth gives birth to minerals, which are mostly made out of metals.

-Metal,  melts and then becomes fluid,like water ,which is why metal supports the water.

-Water gives nutrients to the trees, so they are able to grow strong, and continue the life circle.

                            The destructive circle of the elements

The destructive  or controlling circle  is when the elements take energy from each other instead of supplying or supporting each other. It’s like the biological order of the planet, where some species are only able to stay alive when they destroy, or eat up, if you like it better, the other species. The destructive circle is not good or bad, just as  life and Death; is necessary , and unavoidable.

Follow this guide when an element is extremely dominant. In this case,

-Water controls fire, by extinguishing it,

-Fire controls metal, by melting it, 

-Metal controls wood, by cutting it,

-Wood controls earth, by taking the nutrients from it, 

-And only earth can control water, by building obstacles for it,  but water is unstoppable.

It would flow through the smallest hole, it can be contained but never stoped.

                                   The weakening circle of the elements

            The third circle is the reducing or the weakening circle, this is the energy operating in the opposite way, in consideration to the supporting circle, I wanted to mention this one  to, it gets used mainly in a complete personality analysis. In this case the elements are not able to feed each other, there are to weak for that , therefore the whole circle becomes restricted, and weakened.

-Wood weakens water, by absorbing it.

-Water reduces metal, be corroding it

-Metal reduces earth, by being the ripper of it

-Earth reduces fire, by suppressing it

-Fire reduces wood, by burning it.

                Now that you know, how the elements relate to each other, you can provide for harmony in your home, by either strengthening or controlling one element, with the help of the other, in the case of to much or to little presence.

In order to have a harmonious atmosphere in your home, each element must be present in just the right amount. The help, for doing that, is going to be the description of each element I will be posting next week. Each element has colors, objects, tastes, materials, planets, seasons  attributed to them.  And honestly, I feel that some  of these features or attributes  don’t have any logical explanation, their were attributed to the elements by the elders from  ancient Chinese mythology, the explanations are lost in time, or there is no logical reason for it at all, they just connected these based on their feelings, and observations.

     My advice for you is to start today. Observe the world around you, go out for a walk, in the park, take that good chi in, let the sun shine on your face, sing in the rain, if you like so. Don’t be afraid to be out in nature, even if you can’t yet understand what she’s saying, I’m sure you’ll hear all what she has to say. And if you take your time, and listen carefully, you’ll soon be able to understand the nature that surrounds you.

Open your heart, and open your mind! Listen to the world! 🕉