Five Elements (Phases)

The five phases principle forms the basis of acupuncture, martial arts, Chinese medicine and military strategy. The principle of these five phases reveals you the secret of controlling and enhancing chi energy.

Over a long time Chinese have observed how chi energy moves through the phases of yin and yang and this now enables us to understand and use the chi energy to our benefit. Using this principle, Feng Shui masters try to improve the positive chi energy and reduce the impact of the negative chi.

Once you understand chi cycles, you will be able to considerably improve your well-being by making appropriate adjustments to your home. When you fully understand these cycles, you will be able to grasp the meaning of the two fundamental Feng Shui methods: Eight House and the Flying Star.

These five elements also correspond to the eight wandering stars, which can show you your compatibility level with your partner and your house. Eight wandering stars will also show you which directions can bring you prosperity and respectability and which can make you sick and bring unfortunate events.

If you want even more accurate assessment of your house, you should understand the Flying Stars system. If you want to prepare your home for positive future events, read how Magic Square and 24 Mountains can help you do that.

They are also part of Feng Shui palace, which shows what elements control each direction (S, W, N, E, SE, SW, NW and NE) of your house.

The meaning of five elements

Five elements are the five phases of chi that are in constant motion and forever changing. These five phases are five elements of nature: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Each of them represents different manifestations of the life-giving chi energy. These phases are in constant movement, although that sometimes cannot be seen with a naked eye.

Each phase of these five elements has its own chi type of energy and interacts with other phases in a certain way.

Here are the features of all five elements:

Each of these elements is associated with a specific season, color, number, trigram, direction and other subjects. Here is the grid that makes it clear which element corresponds to which season, condition, direction, color, number and organs of the body:

These 5 elements' phases correspond not only to the cycles of nature, but to our organs, emotions and facial features.

The Productive Cycle

Here is the cycle that shows balanced chi energies productively interacting with each other:

How to use this cycle:

This cycle shows a perfect balance of all five elements.

Fire gives birth to earth. It also burns wood and makes wood into ash.

Earth produces metal.

Metal gives birth to water.

Water gives birth to wood. It stimulates the growth of wood.

Wood produces fire. The dryness of wood causes fire.

When these elements are found in a different order or there are too much of an impact of one element, appropriate adjustments need to be made to harmonize the environment.

For example, if the environment contains too much water element, which element will you introduce? The correct answer is Wood, because it absorbs water. Here is how to work out which element to introduce to create balance:

The Weakening Cycle

So now... If you have too much metal element, which element will you introduce? The correct answer is water.

Read about the worst elements' combination, the destructive cycle, here.

The easiest way to spot imbalance in your home is when you experience negative emotions, diseases or other negative events. That shows that adjustments need to be made to improve the energy of your home. Use these handy pictures and their descriptions to create harmony in your house.

Sometimes you will not be able to use these elements to create balance. For example, adding water or fire in some areas of your home might not be a good idea, or it can be even dangerous. In such cases use Feng Shui colors corresponding to the elements, which you have seen in the table above.

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