Articles

In the philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), each season of the year fulfills one of the archetypes of the 5 elements, or 5 phases. The seasonal cycle is a perpetual cycle of new growth, expansion and upward/outward movement, culmination and maturity, then back to decay/recycling of matter and energy, contraction and downward/inward movement.Like the breath itself, as we inhale to fill up with new energy and life force (Qi), then exhale out to dispel all that we no longer need, this cycle is the rhythm of life itself, a song of infinite duration, completely self sustaining, one phase feeding...

The names of the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each of these five simple names that refer to an element of nature, also correspond energetically to their equivalents in all other aspects of nature and the universe, including: seasons, climate, tastes/flavors, the body’s organ systems and tissues, emotions, colors, vocalized sounds, stages of the cycle of cultivation/growth/harvest, and many more categories of natural phenomena.