The five elements
Wood, fire, earth, metal and water: how they feed and check one another, and why balance matters more than any single element.
In your chart
Your chart carries Wood 24% (steady), Fire 24% (steady), Earth 36% (abundant), Metal 12% (light) and Water 4% (quiet).
In plain words
The five elements are not substances. They are five kinds of movement. Wood grows and reaches. Fire rises and shines. Earth holds and steadies. Metal cuts and refines. Water flows and stores.
They feed one another in a circle: wood feeds fire, fire leaves ash that becomes earth, earth bears metal, metal gathers water, and water nourishes wood. They also check one another: wood parts earth, earth dams water, water quenches fire, fire melts metal, and metal cuts wood.
No element is good or bad. A chart with too much of one movement can feel stuck in it, and a chart with very little of another can feel a lack. The practical question is what would bring more balance, and the exercises in this app are chosen for that.
Written companion, drafted for your expert to review. It will be replaced by the video transcript.
Key ideas
- Wood, fire, earth, metal, water: five kinds of movement.
- They feed each other in a cycle and check each other in another.
- Balance matters more than having any one element.
- Your chart shows how much of each you carry.