5 Element Review

[Guest guest]

The 5 Elements were mentioned in the post on the Releasing the Dragons

technique. For those new to TCM, here are some of the basics.

 

TCM uses different perspectives to analyze health problems - the 8 Principal

Patterns (Exterior/Interior, Excess/Deficiency, Hot/Cold, Yang/Yin),

Pernicious Evils (Wind, Heat, Dampness, Dryness, Cold, and Fire), etc. The

5 Elements is another of those approaches.

 

Central to understanding the 5 Elements is to realize that Chinese medical

therminology often is at the same time very poetic and very literal. For

example Wind Cold imbalances are those in which wind and cold do play a

role. The Chinese worldview is far more integrated than the typical Western

viewpoint. The Western perspective tends to be linear; the Chinese

perspective tends to be holistic or weblike. The title of a very famous

book on TCM is The Web That Has No Weaver. Pull on any strand in a web, and

it will affect all parts of the web. Whereas Western thought tends to look

at just what is happening along one strand (linear), holistic thought

considers all parts of the web.

 

The 5 Elements can sound very esoteric to Westerners, and there are some

esoteric aspects to it. One way to look at the 5 Elements are they are

descriptions of different aspects of energy. But these descriptions of

aspects of energy go beyond the Western idea of kinetic-potential energy.

And these descriptions are at once both symbolic and literal, and the

symbolism grew out of a culture very close to nature.

 

Think for a movement about what happens in the spring. The weather is

starting to WARM. Plants are PUSHING UPWARD out of the soil. Trees are

leafing OUT. There is a lot of BIRTH and NEW LIFE in the animal kingdom.

ENERGY levels are RISING (in contrast to the winter when people were

withdrawn, sleepy, gathered in, slow, etc.). There are new BEGINNINGS in the

spring. There is an explosion of newfound energy released in new growth.

This is the element Wood. The spring is the time of increasing Yang (warm,

upward, outward, rapid) in contrast to the winter which is the most Yin

(cold, downward, inward, slow) time of the year.

 

The predominate atmospheric energy in the spring, the Wood time of year, is

Wind. The summer is the most Yang time of the year. In fact, Yang enrgy

gets so intense at this time of year that it starts to change into its

opposite. Whereas people (and animals) tend to be bursting with energy and

activity in the spring, at the height of summer the Heat is so much that

people start to wear out and slow down. The fall is the time of waning Yang

and increasing Yin. People start to slow down, gather inward for the

approaching winter. Winter is the most Yin time of year, but after several

weeks of being restricted indoors, people begin to long for increased

activity and letting loose and getting out. Cabin fever as it's called in

the West. Get me out of this house!!!!! I want to go somewhere, do

something. Yin begins to decrease and Yang increases in the spring.

 

If this were just a description of the seasons of the year and their effects

on people and animals, there wouldn't be a 5 Elements theory in TCM. As it

is, thinking in terms of the 5 Elements has some very practical applications

- in terms of understanding some imbalances and in terms of being able to

fine-tune treatment. There are relationships between the 5 Elements which

can be used in healing.

 

The 5 Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Wood is linked to

the spring, the Liver (Yin Wood), the Gall Bladder (Yang Wood), the East,

and Wind. Fire is linked to the summer, the Heart (Yin Fire), the Small

Intestine (Yang Fire), the South, and Heat. Earth is linked to late summer,

the Spleen (Yin Earth), the Stomach (Yang Earth), the center, and Dampness.

Metal is linked to the fall, the Lungs (Yin Metal), the Large Intestine

(Yang Metal), the West, and Dryness. Water is linked to the winter, the

Kidneys (Yin Water), the Bladder (Yang Water), the north, and Cold.

 

This is not just an artificial system of correspondences that sounds nice

and poetic. The Kidneys do tend to be very vulnerable to Cold. The Liver

does tend to be particularly vulnerable to Wind, the Spleen to Dampness, the

Heart to Heat, and the Lungs to Dryness. In many places in the world the

spring does tend to be the most windy time of the year, the summer the

hottest, the late summer the most humid, the fall dry, and the winter cold.

One thing one learns quickly to do in TCM is to pay attention to the weather

- especially very extreme weather (like an unusually windy spring) and

unseasonable weather (like cold snaps in the summer or warm spells in the

winter). Extreme and/or unseasonable weather will tend to trigger health

imbalances in many people. There will tend to be an increase in certain

problems during or immediately following certain seasons. For example, the

Liver is the Yin Wood Organ, and cases of infectious hepatitis and cases of

pink eye do tend to be more numerous in the spring than at other times of

the year. (In TCM the Liver is said to " open into the eyes " .) Some people do

tend to have kidney and bladder problems more often and more severe in the

winter than at other times of the year. Some people do tend to have more

digestive system problems when it's very humid. Etc.

 

But this is not all there is to the 5 Element Theory. The 5 Element Theory

also maps relationships between Elements which have practical applications

both in diagnosis and treatment.

 

One of the best known of these 5 Element relationships is the Mother-Son

rule. This states that if one tonifies the Mother, the Son automatically is

tonified. If one sedates the Mother, the Son automatically is sedated. Wood

is the Mother of Fire, Fire is the Mother of Earth, Earth is the Mother of

Metal, Metal is the Mother of Water, and Water is the Mother of Wood. A

good way to remember part of this sequence is that when one burns Wood with

Fire, ash (Earth) results. Metal is found within Earth - Earth is the Mother

of Metal. Water makes possible the growth of Wood. Water is the Mother of

Wood.

 

Now, let's take this from the realm of the merely poetic to the realm of the

practical. Let's look a little closer at Water is the Mother of Wood. The

Kidneys is the Yin Water Organ; the Liver is the Yin Wood Organ. There is a

condition in TCM called Liver Yin Deficiency. There also is a condtion

called Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency. In some cases of Liver Yin

Deficiency, the Deficiency of Yin is just in the Liver, and treatment is

directed toward increasing Liver Yin. Simple, straightforward. But what

about those cases where both Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency are present?

What happens if one just tonifies Liver Yin? You have to keep on and keep on

and keep on tonifying Liver Yin because the Root of the problem is that

there's not enough Yin in the Kidneys for the Kidneys (the Mother) to pass

onto the Liver (the Son). The Kidneys supply the Yin for the Liver (and for

the entire body for that matter). The Liver and Gall Bladder may be weak and

prone to problems because the Kidneys are weak and not supplying what the

Liver needs. The Organ Theory in TCM states that the Liver and Gall Bladder

almost never are Qi Deficient. (Maciocia, Foundations, p. 303) But in the

real world, one will run into cases where weak Kidneys appear to be dragging

down Liver function. The Organ Theory doesn't account for many of these

cases, but the 5 Elements Theory does, and what is more important, the 5

Elements Theory gives general guidelines for treatment. Tonify/ sedate the

Mother in order to tonify/ sedate the Son. When one starts to look at some

findings from Western medicine from a TCM 5 Elements perspective, the 5

Elements Theory starts to look even more valid. For example, certain liver

problems can be traced to problems in the kidneys and urinary system. One

role of the liver recognized by Western physiology is to detoxify certain

things in the body. The kidneys get rid of certain waste products. If the

kidneys are not doing their job of waste excretion properly, this can cause

an overload on the liver and lead to some liver problems. Likewise, a poorly

functioning liver can overburden the kidneys. Sometimes, a big part of

effective healing is knowing which problem(s) to start with, to concentrate

on first, and the 5 Elements Theory can give extra insight into this.

 

There are other guidelines in the 5 Elements Theory, but I won't go into

those today. I recommend learning the basics of 5 Elements Theory, and

starting to consider this perspective when analyzing and correcting

imblances. Being able to use this theory can add that little extra

understanding that can make a great deal of difference in proper treatment,

especially when faced with " knotty " (complicated) problems that aren't

responding satisfactory to treatment. The 5 Elements Theory is used

primarily in acupuncture, but being aware of certain relationships and

general treatment guidelines per the 5 Elements Theory can give herbalists

that little extra insight that can make the difference between satisfactory

and unsatifactory outcomes.

 

For a far richer understanding of the symbolism of the Elements than I can

provide, see Dagmar's Letter From China newsletters.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Lynn,

 

This is an excellent book it is more like poetry than learning. You can still get it on line. I have seen it but forget where.

 

Shane

[Guest guest]

Victoria,

 

I didn't have time this morning to read this post, but thought I'd share

information about a book that seems to cover the Five Elements very well.

Perhaps you have it already. It is Traditional Acupuncture The Law of the

Five Elements by Dianne M. Connelly (second edition). I think it is out of

print, but I was able to get a copy through one of the used book services on

line. I haven't read it through yet, but it looks excellent.

 

Lynn

 

 

>The 5 Elements were mentioned in the post on the Releasing the Dragons

>technique. For those new to TCM, here are some of the basics.

>

>TCM uses different perspectives to analyze health problems - the 8

Principal

>Patterns (Exterior/Interior, Excess/Deficiency, Hot/Cold, Yang/Yin),

>Pernicious Evils (Wind, Heat, Dampness, Dryness, Cold, and Fire), etc. The

>5 Elements is another of those approaches.

>

[Guest guest]

>Perhaps you have it already. It is Traditional Acupuncture The Law of the

>Five Elements by Dianne M. Connelly (second edition).

 

Thanks Lynn and Shane. I don't have the book - yet.<G>

 

I've found that TCM often gives insight into Western anatomy and physiology,

and Western anatomy and physiology often gives insight into TCM. This is

NOT a classical approach (obviously), but very often changing one's

perspective can result in greater insight - espceially when faced with

something very puzzling.

 

Readers with a background in Western anatomy and physiology may find it

useful occasionally to ask what relationships exist between certain organs

and functions in the body. Please remember that the TCM Organ does not

corresspond exactly to the Western organ, and that TCM is more concerned

with funciton than structure.

 

For example, Metal (Lungs, Large Intestine) is the Mother of Water (Kidneys,

Bladder). What relationships (if any) can exist between the lungs and the

kidneys? Are both ever affected at the same time by something? (Yep.

Goodpasture's Syndrome.) Ask the same question keeping in mind TCM

definitions of Organs. What relationships (if any) can exist between the

Lungs (lungs, skin, nose) and the Kidneys (kidneys, adrenal glands, ears,

etc.)? What about allergies as a factor in some cases of asthma? Western

allopathic doctors sometimes prescribe prednisone in these cases; Western

herbalists sometimes work on normalizing the immune system with the use of

adaptogen herbs. (Allergies as a factor in asthma is NOT the same thing as

Kidneys Refusing to Receive Qi. That is a Lung-Kidney relationship strictly

from the TCM perspective.)

 

The ancient Chinese were superb observers and chroniclers of health and

disease relationships. They didn't work from a Western anatomy and

physiology framework, but they also didn't pull their knowledge out of thin

air. The knowledge is based on very meticulous observations over years and

centuries of the way things work and relate to each other. Because of their

very careful observation of relationships, one often can gain insight into

Western anatomy and physiology by thinking to ask certain questions that one

otherwise would not ask. Do relationships ever exist between the lungs and

the kidneys and the Lungs and the Kidneys. Between the kidneys and the liver

and the Kidneys and the Liver? (Water is the Mother of Wood.) Between the

liver and the heart and the Liver and the Heart? (Wood is the mother of

Fire.) Between the Heart and the Spleen/ Stoamch. (Fire is the Mother of

Earth.) Between the Spleen-Pancreas (and Stomach) and the Lungs? (Earth is

the Mother of Metal.) Relationships between the Fire Organs (Heart and Small

Intestine) and the Earth Organs (Spleen-Pancreas and Stomach) (think

digestion when you think Earth) are particularly informative. What is one of

the recommended treatments for heart disease in the West? A low fat diet.

TCM reconizes that the Spleen can be overwhelmed and damaged by a diet which

is too rich. At the same time the inappropriate diet is impacting the

Spleen-Pancreas, it's also impacting the Heart.

 

Neither TCM nor Western medicine has all the answers. However, when one

starts to use each to gain insight into the other by thinking to ask certain

questions, insight often is gained. Again, I want to cautin readers that TCM

syndromes rarely correspond to Western-defined health problems. The trick

is knowing when to use a strictly TCM approach, when to use a strictly

Western approach, and when and how to combine the two so that treatment for

the individual is satisfactory.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/22/2001 4:19:39 PM Central Standard Time, schulman writes:

 

 

1. Worsley himself now has a book out explaining in great detail his system.

you can get it through redwingbooks.com

this is his third book but its the first to really explain his view

of the 5 elements

 

 

 

I also have this book it is excellent. Very clear way to understand 5 Element. I can recommend it as well.

 

Shane

[Guest guest]

If people are interested in even greater elaboration on 5 element style in

the Worsley tradition, two recently published books are available . . .

 

1. Worsley himself now has a book out explaining in great detail his system.

you can get it through redwingbooks.com

this is his third book but its the first to really explain his view

of the 5 elements

 

2. Lonnie Jarret has a new book out, called Nourishing Destiny, the Inner

tradition of . I think you can order it through his website

 

spiritpathpress

 

these provide a lot more elaboration on the subject than Dianne Connelly's book

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Daniel. My wish list is getting longer and longer.<G>

 

Victoria

 

>If people are interested in even greater elaboration on 5 element style in

>the Worsley tradition, two recently published books are available . . .

>

>1. Worsley himself now has a book out explaining in great detail his

>system.

> you can get it through redwingbooks.com

> this is his third book but its the first to really explain his

>view

>of the 5 elements

>

>2. Lonnie Jarret has a new book out, called Nourishing Destiny, the Inner

>tradition of . I think you can order it through his

>website

>

> spiritpathpress

>

>these provide a lot more elaboration on the subject than Dianne Connelly's

>book

>

>

>

>

>

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