A Quick Guide to the 5 Elements

STEPHANIE ROBERTS
author of the Fast Feng ShuiTM series

WATER
WOOD
FIRE
EARTH
METAL

The Five Elements:
Essential Qualities of Chi

The five elements describe five essential qualities of chi (life force energy), which you can use to enhance, control, or balance a space, depending on your needs:
The Five Elements:
Metal—the quality of contraction, sharpness, focus; when too
strong, metal energy can make you sharp-tongued and critical
Water—the quality of flowing, making connections; too much
water energy can make you “wishy-washy” and indecisive
Wood—the quality of easy growth and progress; too much wood
energy makes you aggressive or impatient, lacking compassion
Fire—the quality of excitement, expansion, quickness; too much
fire energy can leave you stressed out and anxious
Earth—the quality of settling down, being receptive; too much
leads to depression, sluggishness, feeling stuck or weighed down

Each element can help shift your energy and/or the energy of your
space. When you understand the relationships between the five elements,
and how they can affect your space and your energy, they become a powerful
tool in your feng shui tool kit. Metal helps you concentrate and get
things done; its inward focus helps you clear your head and cope with
details. Water is helpful when things have been stuck for a while (think of
ice melting), and for improving communication. It is also associated with
cash flow and opportunities. Wood energy is associated with new beginnings,
and it can help you make smooth progress in the projects you undertake.
Fire creates heat and action, and is the energy to use when you want
to increase passion and intensity in any area of your life. Earth energy is
good when things are chaotic and you need more stability, or if your are
dealing with issues of commitment, nurturing, or receptivity.

Element Shapes
and Colors
Each element is associated with specific shapes and colors:
Metal—white, gold, silver, grey; round and oval shapes, arches Water—black and dark blues; sinuous, curvy, irregular, and wavelike shapes Wood—greens and light blues; tall narrow shapes Fire—reds, purples, bright oranges; triangles, flame shapes and other pointed or angular shapes Earth—browns, yellows, cool or muted oranges; low, flat, square shapes This is the basic information that you can use to adjust the energy of specific rooms and areas of your home. For example, to spice up your relationship areas, or to enhance your reputation by activating li gua, add more fire energy: lights, candles, or things that are red, purple, pink, and/or triangular in shape.
Water energy is good for enhancing kan gua (career) and for improving communication; if you can’t use a water fountain, find images of the ocean or rivers, or choose home accessories that feature curvy and/or wavelike shapes, and that have a predominantly blue or black color scheme.  Similarly, you can add metal, wood, or earth energy by working with the colors and shapes listed above.

Elements and Objects
The material that something is made of is important, as well. Some obvious
examples are:
• Brass clock—metal
• Fish tank—water
• Houseplants and flowers—wood
• Electric lights—fire
• Pottery bowl—earth
Others are not so obvious. A mahogany dining table, for example, is made out of wood, but it is square, flat, and (unless it’s been painted) brown in color. In energetic terms, then, it has more earth energy than wood energy, because the wood is no longer vital and growing, and the shape and color of the table are associated with earth.  A candle is a good example of the fire element, but if it is a tall green candle it also has wood energy because of its shape and color.  Many items have a combination of qualities, so you will need to use your best judgment about how much of what kind of influence it will have on your space. Try not to go nuts puzzling over what element something represents. If it’s not clear right away, then chances are good it combines several different qualities and will not have as strong an impact on your space.
Keep in mind that function, placement, and your own intention are
important, too. If you worry so much about choosing the right elements
that you no longer enjoy your possessions, you’re trying too hard! Feng
shui should be easy, graceful, and fun. If you love something, it has good
chi for you. If you aren’t sure what element it represents, focus instead on
the symbolic meaning of its imagery, and use that to help you determine
where to place it in your home.

THE CREATIVE CYCLE
Each of the five elements is nourished, supported, or “fed” by one of the
other elements. This forms a sequence called the Creative cycle (also called
the Productive cycle), as shown in the diagram below.



Here’s how it works:
•    Metal produces water (think of moisture condensing on a cold can of soda on a hot day)
•    Water nourishes wood (without water, wood will die)
•    Wood feeds fire (without fuel, fire cannot burn)
•    Fire creates earth (as the fire burns, it produces a pile of ashes; think of a volcano becoming a mountain)
•    Earth produces metal (metal is extracted from the earth)

Use the Creative cycle when you want to increase the effect of an element in a particular space.
THE REDUCING CYCLE
As each element feeds or nourishes the next in the Creative cycle, its own energy is reduced by the effort. For example, you can counteract the strong water energy in a bathroom by adding wood energy to the space (green towels, for example). This gives the water something to do (feeding wood), reduces its strength, and helps bring things back into balance. Here’s how the Reducing cycle works:
•    Metal reduces earth
•    Earth reduces fire
•    Fire reduces wood
•    Wood reduces water
•    Water reduces metal

 

Use the Reducing cycle when you want a gentle way to bring a situation into better balance. It’s easy to remember the Reducing cycle if you know the Creative cycle; just keep in mind that when one element nourishes another one, its own energy is reduced by the effort.

THE CONTROLLING CYCLE
When one element is very strong, you may need something stronger than the reducing effect to bring it back into balance. This is where the Controlling cycle comes in handy. The Controlling cycle works like this:
•    Metal chops wood
•    Wood breaks up earth (think of a new crop pushing up through the soil, or of tree roots pushing down into the earth)
•    Earth dams or muddies water
•    Water puts out fire
•    Fire melts metal



Make sure the controlling element is strong and supported. If you try to put out a bonfire with a tea-cup full of water, the water will evaporate without having much effect. Keep in mind that:
•    Too much metal can overwhelm fire
•    Too much fire evaporates water
•    Too much water can wash earth away
•    Too much earth can smother wood
•    Too much wood can take the edge off metal

The Elements and the Ba Gua

Each gua is associated with one of the elements, as shown below. There are
three earth guas (including the tai chi), two wood and two metal guas,
and one gua each for water and fire. The element of each gua determines
the color associated with it.

Jen gua (family) is pale green; darker greens are associated with hsun
gua (wealth). Hsun gua is also associated with the color purple, because
that color is symbolic of wealth. Kun gua, the relationship area, is red, pink,
and white, because it is located between li gua (fame; red) and dui gua (creativity;
white), and because pink is the color of romance. The color of chien
gua, (helpful friends; metal) is grey, because it is located between the pure
white dui gua and the black of kan gua (career; water).

 

Each element is naturally strong in some guas and weak in others, depending on its relationship to the the element associated with each gua. For example, since fire controls wood, wood is weak in li gua, which is associated with the fire element. Wood is strong in kan gua, however, becaues kan is associated with the water element and water nourishes wood.
 
The Elements & the Compass Directions
In ancient times, the ba gua was oriented to the compass directions.* Each element is therefore also associated with a specific direction:
 

•    Contemporary Western feng shui orients the ba gua to the front entry of a space.
Many practitioners also look at the compass directions when determining areas of influence.

Putting it all Together

The key to using the elements successfully is to focus on the desired effect for a specific space or situation, andto work with elements appropriate to that gua and/or compass direction.
If you want to increase the strength of an element, add the two elements that come before it in the Creative cycle. For example, if you want to increase fire energy, add water and wood to the space. The water will feed the wood, which will enhance fire. You don’t have to worry about the water reducing fire, because its energy is being diverted to create wood:
 

 
If you want to decrease the strength of an element, use the Controlling
cycle or the two elements that follow it in the Creative cycle. If fire energy
is too strong, adding earth and metal energy will reduce the energy of
fire:
 

 
Using three elements in this way is more powerful than just using one
or two. Get in the habit of thinking in threes when you work with the elements,
and your feng shui cures will be much more effective.