As the basic building blocks of life, the Five Elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — are critical for your happiness and success.
By activating your strong yet “invisible” intentions through the symbolic power of physical objects, the Five Elements are one of two main tools that Feng Shui uses to to create positive change in your life (the other is the Bagua Energy Map).
But even though they are SO important in Feng Shui, the Five Elements are one of its least-understood aspects.
Using them wisely brings you into balance and creates healthy connections among your life’s most vital aspects.
Let’s get specific about how you can use Feng Shui’s Five Elements to activate good energy in your life.
–> Access the vitality of Wood – Wood symbolizes your personal and professional growth and new beginnings, just like the springtime.
- Bring the energy of Wood into your space with plants, botanical prints, the color green and tall, vertical shapes. Get more insight into the Wood Element here.
–> Expand your life with the warmth of Fire – Fire is all about your passion and expressiveness, your enthusiasms and the way you are seen in the world.
- Bring Fire to life in your space with good lighting, pointy shapes (like pointed stars), animal prints, leather and fur, or the color red. Real, live animals — like your dog or cat — represent Fire too 🙂 Look more closely at the Fire element here.
–> Create stability with Mother Earth – Earth symbolizes your nurturing, reliable and even-keeled nature, and it supports healthy relationships.
- Earth is symbolized by square objects, horizontal surfaces, earthy colors like yellow or tan, and with things made of earth such as bricks or ceramics. Get more essential information about Earth here.
–> Complete your projects with pure strength of Metal – Metal is all about structure and planning, being efficient and well-organized, and bringing projects to completion.
- Metal is considered the element of Heaven and represented by purely round or oval shapes, metal objects, stone and gemstones, and colors in the pale-to-white range. Find more insights about Metal here.
–> Go deep and clear with Water – Water takes two forms, moving and still. Moving water symbolizes your social connections and sense of fluid movement in your world, whereas still water represents your wisdom, clarity and spiritual truth.
- Create “Water Chi” with a water feature (a fountain, perhaps?), art that represents water, black objects, and irregular flowing shapes and patterns. Water also symbolizes money flow in Feng Shui. Go deeper into the Water element here.
Each element brings essential benefits into your life. You need all five of them in your space to feel truly balanced and whole.
It’s almost impossible to know everything there is to know about these fascinating concepts. Here are a few more links about the Five Elements that you may find interesting and useful.
- Each element has an Archetype, or personality. One of these Archetypes is likely to resonate strongly with you as it represents “your” personally dominant element
- The elements have strong Creative, Controlling and Subtracting relationships. Follow the links to find out how you can best manage these relationships to your benefit.
- The Five Elements connect Feng Shui to other arts and sciences including acupuncture, Chinese medicine (TCM) and the martial arts.
The more you know about the Five Elements, the better equipped you are to manage energy in your space and bring Feng Shui’s positive benefits into your life.
That was great – simple and giving a lot of information! I really love your blog:)