The five elements are expressions of the yin and yang phases of chi. They are like moods. Their descriptive names are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. The nature of each of the five elements, and their correspondences to seasons and times of day, are as follows:
- Water: freezing and dissolving, or flowing; winter and night
- Wood: rising and flourishing; spring and morning
- Fire: expanding and lively; summer and noon
- Earth: balancing and gathering; late summer, the time of harvesting, and the afternoon
- Metal: containing and restricting; autumn and evening
It shows how the five elements relate to the yin and yang phases of the cycle of chi. It also shows the correspondences of the five elements to the changing seasons and the times of day.
In addition to the seasons and times of day, the five elements have correspondences to personality characteristics, shapes, colors, directions in space, and businesses and occupations. As you see the descriptions of the five elements, please note the following:
While your personality will display characteristics of your season of birth, don’t assume that the element of the season in which you were born is the most pronounced element in your personality. Note on your Personal Data List the element of your birth season.
Some of the businesses listed here have correspondences with more than one element. For example, you will find that the entertainment industry has affinities with three elements: Wood, Fire, and Metal.
The Five Elements of WATER
Water freezes and melts. Located between contracting Metal and expanding Wood, as seen in figure 1, Water denotes transition, and as such it corresponds to travel, commerce, sex, dreams, sleep, death, and birth. Because Water is cool and clear, it corresponds to reflection and deep concentration. Running deep underground, Water corresponds to secrecy. Rushing along rapids and over waterfalls, Water also corresponds to passions and desires.
YOUR SEASON OF BIRTH
If you were born in the winter, the season of the element Water, a yin season that in the Chinese calendar falls between November 7th and February 4th, your personality may display such characteristics as changeableness, insecurity, secrecy, and intense emotionality. On the other hand, you could be phlegmatic or even cold and sluggish. To keep your Water nature healthy and flowing, cultivate your innate abilities to reflect calmly, to see both sides of an argument, and to be adaptable while pursuing the object of your desire.
SHAPE, COLORS, AND DIRECTION IN SPACE
The shape of Water is asymmetrical and flowing. Buildings with undulating curves correspond to Water. The colors of Water are black and the deepest of blues. The compass direction is north.
BUSINESSES AND APTITUDES
Businesses corresponding to Water involve all forms of transit, transportation, shipping, trucking, import-export, and financial exchanges, as well as sales, printing, dyeing, pharmaceuticals, refrigeration, air-conditioning, sprinkling systems, plumbing, public utilities, laundries, health spas, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries, dairies, fisheries, films, plastics, oil companies, paints and varnishes, all kinds of maintenance, and prosthetics.
If you find that Water is pronounced in your personality, you have aptitudes for occupations that involve deep thought and reflection. You could be a scientist, statistical researcher, systems analyst, detective, investigator, salesperson, social worker, psychotherapist, pharmacist, medical researcher, nurse, or medical technician, especially in anesthesiology.
