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Page 2 Wood is the energy of spring. After the quiet still time of winter, nature bursts forth with hope and optimism to create the new growth of the season. In us, wood creates the meridians of the gall bladder and liver. These meridians are the parts of us that move forward into the world, that see, plan and make decisions. In other words, goes out and makes a difference. Fire is the energy of summer. This is the time when nature moves into activity, the time of mating and fulsome growth. In us, it is the energy of 4 meridians; the heart, the heart protector, the small intestine and the three heater. Fire is the part of us that governs relationships, has fun, enables us to have intimacy and connects with others through the heart. Earth is the energy of late summer, the 4 to 6 week period at the end of summer when nature is heavy with its harvest. In us as people, the earth energy creates the stomach and spleen meridians. These meridians are the parts of us that are like Mother Earth herself - caring for and feeding others, being concerned about others' wellbeing, ensuring things are safe and secure. Metal is the energy of autumn, the time when nature lets go of what it no longer needs. Nature is cleaning house, dropping it leaves to enrich the soil for next year's growth. It is the energy of the lungs - the part of us that connects to the higher spiritual realms and is the source of our own self-esteem - as well as of the large intestine, the part of us that lets go on the all levels (body, mind, spirit and emotion). Water is the energy of winter, the time when nature retreats and recovers its vital energy ready for the next cycle of seasons. In us, it is the energy of the bladder and kidney meridians. This is the part of us that rests, fills up or that part that is driven forward, relentless, like a stream moving from the mountains down to the sea 11). The Sheng Cycle These 5 elements are seen to be a closed circle where each element passes energy on to the next element; this is called the sheng or creative cycle. The ancient Chinese saw the movement of the elements in the beauty of nature and imagined this flow as nature's creative cycle. They saw in nature that water creates wood, from wood nature creates fire, from the ash of fire we find earth, from inside earth metal is found and water springs from the natural veins of metal in the ground. Each element creating the next, supporting the next, working together to make the world, the seasons and humanity itself, as a microcosm of natures perfection. The Law of Mother - Child One of the natural laws of Chinese medicine is the Law of Mother-Child. This law explains that if you enter a room with a mother and a screaming child, you may feed the child but tomorrow the child may be screaming again. But if you feed the mother, she will now be well enough to look after her child. In Chinese medicine, this law would indicate that it is better in the long run to look for a cause of a disease than treat only the symptoms. In the modern world where we are mostly housed and well fed Chinese TCM 5) pathologies or external causes of disease such as damp, wind or heat - from a five- element point of view - can be seen more as symptoms as opposed causes of disease 4). The Constitutional Element In five-element acupuncture there is thought to be one main or root cause for most of a patient's presenting symptoms. It is thought that through birth or early childhood a constitutional weakness develops to the point where it impedes the flow of energy around the Sheng cycle. This weakened element is known as the person's constitutional element (C.E.) |