24 Constructive - Destructive Cycle

Feng Shui uses elements to enhance and balance the personal Chi. But before you can understand the use of these elements for achieving balance you have to understand the cycles of these elements. All the elements can enter into cycles that can either be constructive or destructive. In nature the destructive and constructive cycles are balanced, but in a space we can create the balance using the Feng Shui.

Constructive Elemental Cycle

Wood -> Fire -> Earth -> Metal -> Water -> Wood

Destructive Elemental Cycle

Water -> Fire -> Metal -> Wood -> Earth -> Water

In the constructive cycle, wood creates fire which creates earth and so forth. This uses the positive manifestations of each of the elements and shows basic compatibility. For instance, a person born in a wood year would have an elemental compatibility with a person born in water or fire year. In the reverse, water puts out fire, which destroys metal, which chops wood, which depletes the earth, which is washed away by water. Two elements next to each other in their destructive cycle are NOT compatible. So when we are making use of these elements one cannot use them together. Then there is a concept of a buffer element; if a compatible element is placed in between two destructive elements it can lessen their impact.

The five elements are also important in Chinese medicine because each element also corresponds to an organ of the body: Water with the kidney, fire with the heart, earth with the spleen, metal with the lungs and wood with the liver. The Correspondences of the five elements has considerable diagnostic significance in Chinese medicine because each of the elements is related to separate external easily visible bodily parts or organs. Since the Liver(wood) is related to the nails and the eyes for instance, diseases of live may often be diagnosed by inspecting the eyes and the nails. Additionally, since the liver is related to the emotion of anger, this also assists in the diagnosis of wood diseases. It can also be seen from the correspondences, that the spleen (earth) is sensitive to dampness, the liver (wood) to wind, the lungs (Metal) to dryness, the kidneys (water) to cold, and the heart (Fire) to heat.