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Feng Shui and Five Elements - The
Five Elements and Their Natures
The concept of Five Elements
has been used in many traditional Chinese fields, such as astrology,
traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy and martial
arts. Its meaning actually is Five Movements or Five Phases.
Five
movements are: centre (earth), right (metal), left (wood), forward
(fire) and backward (water). Five phases are: sink (metal), wet
(water), grow (wood), hold (earth), heat (fire).
In Feng
Shui, it also represents the natures of directions and the Flying
Stars.
Earth is
represented by the shape of Square and colour of Yellow.
Metal is
represented by the shape of Sphere and colour of White.
Water is
represented by the shape of Waves and colour of Black.
Wood is
represented by the shape of Rectangle and colour of Green.
Fire is
represented by the shape of Triangle and colour of Red.
Nurturing Cycle
Controlling Cycle
Fire makes Earth Fire melts Metal
Earth produces Metal
Metal pierces Wood
Metal enriches Water Wood burdens Earth
Water feeds
Wood Earth absorbs Water
Wood fuels Fire Water extinguishes Fire
The relationships among the five elements are very
complicated. The above diagram just shows the simplest cases.
For example, although we always say Wood fuels Fire, there are cases that
Wood will extinguish Fire (too much wood). Similarly, although Metal pierces Wood,
we may use Wood to control Metal in some cases, such as using a
wooden box to store a knife or when the wood is too hard to be cut,
the axe may be chipped.
You cannot be too extreme too. If you need Fire and boost the Fire by adding more and more Wood to
it without balancing the others, it will give you other negative
results.
If interested, you can have a detailed
explanation by consulting an authenticated Feng Shui practitioner.
Good Luck!
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