The second important principle: the five elements. Use of the five elements as Feng Shui remedies
Chinese have noticed and analyzed in the old times the changes in nature and the accumulated knowledge have lead to the conception of the fice elements principle, which does not only belong to Feng Shui but also to the traditional Chinese medicine, in the practices of the internal alchemy, in alimentation. The elements are also called the five phases of transformation of the energy, this being actually their meaning: forms of energy manifesting in different ways through time.
In Feng Shui the interaction between the 5 elements is used to increase the power of the positive qi and correct the negative qi. This principle is the background of Feng Shui which studies the way these forces move, change and interact with each other.
The name “elements” has been given in order for this abstract concepts to be easily understood by people, in order to be given a certain material consistency and to be faster used. According to the correspondences in nature, the five phases of the energy have been called: fire, earth, metal, water and wood.
Each element is associated to a season, cardinal point, meteorological condition, colour, number and trigram (about which we will talk in one of the future articles). The study of the nature during hundreds of years has given to the Chinese wise people the posibility to establish these associations which can be considered unusual by someone who is not familiarized with the Chinese thinking and lifestyle.
Let’s start with fire, which has been naturally associated to the summer and south, the place where heat and light were coming from. The colours red, purple, dark orange and pink have been related to the energy of the element fire.
The earth is associated to the late summer season, which corresponds to the end of summer and beginning of autumn. Chinese have made this connection due to the fact that there were 5 elements but only 4 seasons. Earth corresponds to the North-East, South-West, as well as to the center, the colours yellow and brown and to the humidity.
Wood is associated to the spring, the season when wood, as plants and young trees, is growing. East is the direction associated to the wood and the wind and colour green correspond to it.
Metal is related to the season autumn and to West. White, silver and gold colours are associated to the metal which corresponds to drought as meteorological condition.
Water corresponds to the winter season, to North and to black and blue as colours. Cold is associated to water.
The five elements do not appear separately in nature, but in movement, interaction, as cycles out of which we will treat the creation and the control cycle.
Creation cycle
This cycle is characterized by balance and productivity. Within the creation cycle of the 5 elements, each of them generates the next one.
Starting with water, we notice that it feeds and gives birth to the wood (plants, trees), wood sustains and feeds the fire, fire generates the ashes which becomes earth, earth through its movement creates mountains from where metal is extracted, metal (represented by mountain) generates water (all waters flow from mountain to sea) after which the cycle starts again.
This cycle is also known as the mother-son relationship, each element being the son of the one producing it and the mother of the one it produces.
Control cycle
Chinese have noticed that when one of the elements becomes more powerful or weaker, the harmony of the creation cycle is broken and unbalances occur. They have also noticed that acting upon one of the elements using another element things can mend and harmony can be reestablished. The system elements control each other though is called control cycle of the 5 elements.
This cycle appears as the following succession: fire melts the metal, metal cuts the wood, wood pierces the earth, earth absorbs water, water extinguishes fire and the cycle restarts.
The five elements used as remedies in Feng Shui
Recognizing the correct remedy and choosing the appropriate one have a crucial importance in promoting balance. Balance brings us a better health, wealth and harmony within the couple.
As a starting point we should see whether the vibration of the energy of the element used as control agent or help, is powerful enough. For this reason its size should be proportional with the room, the essence of it being easy to detect.
When we can not use the element itself in an active form (or yang, as we studied earlier) we are pleased with the color associated to the respective element. In order to have maximum benefits it is good to match the colours of the walls, upholsteries, carpets, sheets and curtains.
Fire is used to remedy the relationship between wood and earth, as lit candles or a fireplace with fire inside, lamps with red shade or lightbulb which should stay lit all day long or the coulours red, dark orange, purple and pink.
Earth remedies the relationship between fire and metal and is represented by stones, statues, sculptures or lamps made of ceramics, clay or cement and in the colours brown and yellow.
Metal is used to harmonize the relationship between earth and water. Metal remedies include: small statues, picture frames, beds, equipment, clocks, file storage cases, lamps made of latten, steel, silver, gold, copper or brass. Its colours are: white, golden or silver. Metal is associatedto the metallic sound of the wind chimes, the clock with pendulum or the piano.
Water remedies the relationship between metal and wood, as fish tanks, decorative fountains, vessels with clean moving water and its colours are black and blue.
Wood is used to remedy the relationship between water and fire. The apartment plants or trees, as well as the colour green, are used in these cases which require the energy of wood.
The application of the five elements principle gives best results when it is used within the most advanced schools, such as the Eight Houses School or The Travelling Stars, which use calculation formulas to determien the exact spot to place such remedies.
