Wood

The essence of the element wood can be seen in

- the starting activity (young Yang)

- growth (free development)

- flexibility (pliable and compliant)

- rootedness (for nutrition and steadfastness)

The first phase is the time of birth when the new-born child leaves the mother’s womb and fulfills its development during childhood. This is the time when the physical changes are the most obvious. The young Yang shouts for attention, takes all the room that is not occupied, is constantly moving like the wind. Their overwhelming will to live and grow needs education. It is their parents’ educative style that defines the way it grows: If the parents are too strict (too much authority = metal), the little tree will grow in the wrong direction, a democratic style will allow the tree to grow up towards the sun, whereas the lack of education (laisser-faire) leads to a tyrannic child.

Growth is a persisting process that emphasizes different aspects in each phase of life. In the phase of the element wood it is the physical growth that is predominant, in the phase of the element fire it is emotional and social growth, whereas in the phase of the element earth it means physical and spiritual maturation and social integration. The phase of the element metal completes the personality (quality of life and profile) and the pase of the element water provides us with wisdom so that we recognize that death is nothing but transition.

Flexibility means that like a tree that is pliable in all directions, when it is healthy, the human being should be able to adapt to circumstances without losing its position (i.e. its roots). According to Lao Zi, flexibility means life and an exceeding hardness means death.

Rootedness describes in what way we are connected to the earth, our roots define our steadiness and our stability. They are the basis for our planning in life full of hope and optimism. With a good grounding we won’t be overwhelmed too easily, it is the main condition for all Asian martial arts (e.g. Karate, Kung Fu).

Wood is related to the season spring with warm rising heat and the wind (= chin. Sun) that spreads the seeds. Its direction is the East (representing curiosity and thirst for knowledge) and the related planet is Jupiter (symbol for the beginning of a new era). People with the main element wood prefer a sour taste, the colour blue-green, furry animals and birds as domestic animals. Their corn is wheat, their fruit is the plum and their vegetable is leek. Their number before their birth is 3 and after their birth it is 8. Their emotion is wrath (chin. Zhen = thunder) and spontaneous reactions are pulling, dragging and tearing. In social interaction they are mainly dominated by kindness and humanity. Their voice expresses itself in shouting.

In the body the element wood is related to the liver and the gallbladder, whose opening to the outside are the eyes combined with the tears. The wood shows its splendour in the nails (fingers and toes). Finally the activity of the muscles and sinews is responsible for the expression towards the outside world.

Sources:

Udo Lorenzen / Andreas Noll, Die Wandlungsphasen der traditionellen chinesischen Medizin, Band 1, 2002 München

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