The 5 Element Theory of Chinese Medicine

In this post I introduce the 5 Element theory, and the basic correlations.

I think it's often forgotten that in the beginning times of Ancient Medicines, humans had a much closer of a relationship to the planet, and a much stronger understanding of how the elements interacted.

The Ancient Chinese in particular, were much more aware of the relationships in nature. They were familiar with the way each element influenced each other.

So, it's only natural that when it came to describing how pathogens invaded the body, they were described in the same way that natural relationships were happening in the world around them.

So over hundreds of years, and a collaboration of Philosophers, healers and scribes, the 5 Element Theory was created.

Simple as this.

The theory of 5 Elements cannot be covered in one blog post.

In reality, it's theory can only be scratched - but there will be many more '5 Element' posts to come, where we will dig further into how the Ancients related the wonders of the body to the world around them.

I think you will start to see, how when you start to understand your body from a new point of view, it truly makes just as much sense as it did thousands of years ago.

The Five Elements TCM Infographic

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Fire, represented by the colour red, joy, heat, summer, blood vessels, tongue, and bitter.

The systems related to Fire are Heart and Small Intestine, and can almost be considered what we refer to as the Endocrine system in the West.

Earth, represented by the colour yellow, worry, late summer, damp, muscle, mouth, worry, sweet.

The systems related to Earth are the Spleen and Stomach, this pair can be considered what we call the Digestive system in the West.

Metal, represented by the colour white, autumn, skin, nose, grief, pungent.

The systems related to Metal are the Lungs and Large Intestine, which can be considered what we call the Respiratory system in the West.

Water, represented by the colour black, winter, bone, ear, fear, salty.

The systems related water are Kidneys and Bladder, which can be considered the Circulatory system in the West.

Wood, represented by the colour green, spring, tendons, anger, sour.

The systems related to wood are Liver and Gallbladder, which can be considered our Defence/Immune system.

We will cover more on each individual characteristic, and what it means in relation to your health when I break down the elements individually.

Thanks for coming Wicked ones,

Taking one small step together everyday to live the life we want to live. <3

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