Understanding The Elements

Understanding the Productive & Absorbing Cycles and the Destructive Cycle

The Productive and Absorbing Cycle

  • WATER– the end of one cycle & beginning of a new cycle. Water absorbs Metal enriched by new minerals. 
  • WOOD- growth. Wood absorbs the Water.
  • FIRE- high energy. Fire absorb Wood.
  • EARTH- grounding. Earth calms & absorbs the Fire.
  • METAL– shedding & containment. Metal absorbs Earth becoming the foundation for Water to pass over and so a new productive cycle begins.

The Destructive Cycle

  • WATER puts out of FIRE.
  • FIRE melts METAL.
  • METAL chops WOOD.
  • WOOD pushes through EARTH breaking it up like a tree pushing through earth when it grows.
  • EARTH stops WATER like a dam or similarly the tide stops when it meets earth.

The five elements used to describe the state of nature:

  • Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant wood and vitality
  • Fire/Summer: a surge in fire and energy
  • Earth: the in-between transitional seasonal periods, or a separate ‘season’ known as Late Summer or Long Summer – where the fire burns out and moderation returns.
  • Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting and collecting
  • Water/Winter: a period of retreat, where stillness, storage, hibernation & rest prepares for the next cycle.