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Paula Oliveira
22 September 2022
There is something profoundly beautiful and soothing to me about the energy of autumn. It's as if nature dimmed the daylight to make more space for the tranquillity of our dreams.
Chinese metaphysics teaches us to look at the cycles of nature and, in particular, the seasons and bring its teachings into our daily lives. This vision of things placing all the phenomena that make up our existential experience organised into conceptual systems is familiar to many cultures. The study of the world by classifying phenomena according to four or five characteristics (elements) is transversal o different ancient civilisations. We have the concrete example of Greek philosophy where we find the five classical components, four of a more physical quality which are Water, Earth, Air, Fire and Ether. The characterisation of these elements dates back to 450 BC. In India, the cradle par excellence of these systematisations, we have the “Pancha Mahabhuta” or “Five Main Elements”, bhumi (Earth), jala (Water), tejas (Fire), marut (Air) and akash (Ether or Void).
In Eastern thought, we have the classic designation WU XING. “Wu” means Five and Xing Crossing or Path. Hence, using the expression five elements is not the correct translation. At the National School of Feng Shui, we use the term five transformations because we are talking about a philosophy that classifies the world we live in as the relative world, hence the impermanence where the only constant changes. In a very summarized way, the five transformations express energy transformation in five phases, each with a different rhythm. This means that these transformations are just points of reference in a continuous cycle of energy transformation, in the eternal dance of the two great poles of relativity that are Yin and Yang. In this way, we begin to analyze the cycle of continuous change in the world of the relative, not only with two reference phases, or bipolarity, but with five phases or five rhythms.
In this article I will focus (and this is really the watchword of the autumn season) and share with you a little more about metal transformation. This is the strongest element in autumn and we can observe its impact on our individual movement so that we can keep up with the right rhythm and overcome the sadness and melancholy of this moment and that, taken to the extreme, challenge our health balance.
Metal energy is, of all the five energies, the most condensed. It represents the energy of matter, a full manifestation and, at the limit, it represents the ability to deal with the matter. This is the phase in which the energy rhythm is slower, where everything collects within you.
Macrobiotics teaches us that we get sick because we are healthy. It sounds like a paradox, but it's not. When the seasons change, it is natural for the body to go through a phase of readjustment or adaptation to the new rhythm. Hence, a flu or the need to stop for a while is natural. We come from the summer season, where the rhythm is all on the outside. It's a movement all from the inside to the outside; in the autumn phase, we are all, like nature, feeling the need to slow down, to collect. As modern man is very efficient and distant from these more “alternative” things, he understands, from the height of his arrogance, that the seasons must adapt to his increasingly unbridled rhythm. The general idea of modern and consumerist society is to keep as much as possible in a register of intensity to serve the system. Then comes a global imbalance and the system tries to adapt so as not to collapse. Once again, it does so from a resource optimization perspective, without respect for the essential concept of understanding the rhythm of everything.
It is our choice whether to remain in that vibration of consciousness or to walk the path of true health, which is to become an organism with a healthy adaptation to change. Basically, for those who like to dance, it is learning to listen to the music that is playing outside and dancing accordingly. The music is quieter and asks for structure, so it is up to each one to adapt or continue to dance the jogging, in this case, at serious risk of tripping and falling into a longer or chronic imbalance.
One of the ways to diagnose health challenges in metal is that the person seems to have no energy on the outside because they are all concentrated inside. In extreme cases, they can go into situations of almost total apathy.
The archetype associated with metal energy is the alchemist, the symbol of inner change.
While wood energy is an energy of action. Fire energy is an energy in which change is activated by external factors. Earth energy is an energy in which change is activated by social factors. In metal, change is profound. inside.
It is a type of energy that represents religiosity, represents a scrupulous, more refined, methodical, analytical behavior. In phenomena with a lot of Metal, everything has to be in its place.
From an organic point of view, the associated organs are the lungs. The associated viscera is the large intestine. Both of these organs in the body deal with the exchanges between the outside and the inside. From an emotional point of view, the energy of the lungs gives positivism and optimism positive qualities. The ability to see the world in a positive and clear yet calm way. It gives a practical spirit and the ability to deal with the matter. Brings discipline. The person who cannot handle matter may have a more or less serious Metal challenge. Difficulties in making money is a challenge in Metal transformation. But excesses in Metal also bring, from an emotional point of view, consequences. Overly conservative, inflexible attitudes, and extreme savings are clear examples of this. In the house, metal ends give a room where people have to ask permission to sit down or nothing can move or, at the opposite end, total disorder or uncontrolled accumulation. These external manifestations are usually accompanied by constipation challenges (not letting go) or diarrhea in which the person literally cannot sustain anything in their life for a long time.
In Metal, desire is order. The context is the organization. The path is mastery. The values are purity and righteousness. This discriminatory talent that metal gives us is very useful in separating what is essential for us and what is not. Wood energy and Fire energy are not very detailed energy. They are more vibrant energy. The Metal transformation, due to being much slower, gives great importance to the detail. The existential question concerns boundaries and learning to establish and sustain healthy boundaries. Also, in our body, the Metal energy controls the skin, the largest organ of the human body and the one that is our boundary with the physical outer space. In short, can help us to know how to establish our personal space and the space of the other.
This is also the season where melancholy and sadness settle in. If the tears persist on your face at this point, don't think so much about why or hold on to what has passed; let's learn the lesson of autumn: the leaves of the trees do not fall because they want to or because they have a particular and very important reason; they fall simply because the time has come to fall. So, as our readers read this article, remember that the time has come to look for ways to calm the rhythm, keep only the essentials and create structuring routines. It's time to declutter our internal and external house. It's time to let go, let go of what no longer serves and give space for the new to manifest.
I share with you some practical advice to better flow in the energy of this season: in the three months of autumn, it is advisable to fall asleep at sunset and wake up at sunrise. Falling asleep at sunset may be impractical, but at least slowdown or slow down the activities you do before bed. Just as the days get darker, so do our emotions. It is important to remain calm and ward off melancholy and extreme sadness so that the transition to winter takes place smoothly. If we accumulate a lot of sadness in autumn, it will turn into mucus, and winter will be more challenging in terms of breathing. Avoiding dairy products at this stage is a good option, as well as reducing or taking advantage of the cleaning season to stop smoking. Lung energy should be kept clean by practising breathing exercises to improve lung chi. Dancing at this stage can also be very important to help loosen up.
I believe that, with the proper adaptation to modern times, it is possible to create in ourselves a balance of attitudes and behaviours that manifest the rhythm of the seasons healthily. We can do what we must, but at the rhythm of each season. Each one brings its message: with spring, we can remember resilience and the ability to reinvent ourselves; with summer, sensuality and availability for the outdoors. In autumn, transformation and, in winter, the ability to dream and start over. And, like nature, we rebuild ourselves in a process of change that has no end but is an end in itself.
To help you in all these processes, pay attention to all our training offers, particularly the Feng Shui diploma course, where you can learn to adapt your living space to the energy of changes, astral flows and the impact of the seasons.
Happy transformation.
Chinese metaphysics teaches us to look at the cycles of nature and, in particular, the seasons and bring its teachings into our daily lives. This vision of things placing all the phenomena that make up our existential experience organised into conceptual systems is familiar to many cultures. The study of the world by classifying phenomena according to four or five characteristics (elements) is transversal o different ancient civilisations. We have the concrete example of Greek philosophy where we find the five classical components, four of a more physical quality which are Water, Earth, Air, Fire and Ether. The characterisation of these elements dates back to 450 BC. In India, the cradle par excellence of these systematisations, we have the “Pancha Mahabhuta” or “Five Main Elements”, bhumi (Earth), jala (Water), tejas (Fire), marut (Air) and akash (Ether or Void).
In Eastern thought, we have the classic designation WU XING. “Wu” means Five and Xing Crossing or Path. Hence, using the expression five elements is not the correct translation. At the National School of Feng Shui, we use the term five transformations because we are talking about a philosophy that classifies the world we live in as the relative world, hence the impermanence where the only constant changes. In a very summarized way, the five transformations express energy transformation in five phases, each with a different rhythm. This means that these transformations are just points of reference in a continuous cycle of energy transformation, in the eternal dance of the two great poles of relativity that are Yin and Yang. In this way, we begin to analyze the cycle of continuous change in the world of the relative, not only with two reference phases, or bipolarity, but with five phases or five rhythms.
In this article I will focus (and this is really the watchword of the autumn season) and share with you a little more about metal transformation. This is the strongest element in autumn and we can observe its impact on our individual movement so that we can keep up with the right rhythm and overcome the sadness and melancholy of this moment and that, taken to the extreme, challenge our health balance.
Metal energy is, of all the five energies, the most condensed. It represents the energy of matter, a full manifestation and, at the limit, it represents the ability to deal with the matter. This is the phase in which the energy rhythm is slower, where everything collects within you.
Macrobiotics teaches us that we get sick because we are healthy. It sounds like a paradox, but it's not. When the seasons change, it is natural for the body to go through a phase of readjustment or adaptation to the new rhythm. Hence, a flu or the need to stop for a while is natural. We come from the summer season, where the rhythm is all on the outside. It's a movement all from the inside to the outside; in the autumn phase, we are all, like nature, feeling the need to slow down, to collect. As modern man is very efficient and distant from these more “alternative” things, he understands, from the height of his arrogance, that the seasons must adapt to his increasingly unbridled rhythm. The general idea of modern and consumerist society is to keep as much as possible in a register of intensity to serve the system. Then comes a global imbalance and the system tries to adapt so as not to collapse. Once again, it does so from a resource optimization perspective, without respect for the essential concept of understanding the rhythm of everything.
It is our choice whether to remain in that vibration of consciousness or to walk the path of true health, which is to become an organism with a healthy adaptation to change. Basically, for those who like to dance, it is learning to listen to the music that is playing outside and dancing accordingly. The music is quieter and asks for structure, so it is up to each one to adapt or continue to dance the jogging, in this case, at serious risk of tripping and falling into a longer or chronic imbalance.
One of the ways to diagnose health challenges in metal is that the person seems to have no energy on the outside because they are all concentrated inside. In extreme cases, they can go into situations of almost total apathy.
The archetype associated with metal energy is the alchemist, the symbol of inner change.
While wood energy is an energy of action. Fire energy is an energy in which change is activated by external factors. Earth energy is an energy in which change is activated by social factors. In metal, change is profound. inside.
It is a type of energy that represents religiosity, represents a scrupulous, more refined, methodical, analytical behavior. In phenomena with a lot of Metal, everything has to be in its place.
From an organic point of view, the associated organs are the lungs. The associated viscera is the large intestine. Both of these organs in the body deal with the exchanges between the outside and the inside. From an emotional point of view, the energy of the lungs gives positivism and optimism positive qualities. The ability to see the world in a positive and clear yet calm way. It gives a practical spirit and the ability to deal with the matter. Brings discipline. The person who cannot handle matter may have a more or less serious Metal challenge. Difficulties in making money is a challenge in Metal transformation. But excesses in Metal also bring, from an emotional point of view, consequences. Overly conservative, inflexible attitudes, and extreme savings are clear examples of this. In the house, metal ends give a room where people have to ask permission to sit down or nothing can move or, at the opposite end, total disorder or uncontrolled accumulation. These external manifestations are usually accompanied by constipation challenges (not letting go) or diarrhea in which the person literally cannot sustain anything in their life for a long time.
In Metal, desire is order. The context is the organization. The path is mastery. The values are purity and righteousness. This discriminatory talent that metal gives us is very useful in separating what is essential for us and what is not. Wood energy and Fire energy are not very detailed energy. They are more vibrant energy. The Metal transformation, due to being much slower, gives great importance to the detail. The existential question concerns boundaries and learning to establish and sustain healthy boundaries. Also, in our body, the Metal energy controls the skin, the largest organ of the human body and the one that is our boundary with the physical outer space. In short, can help us to know how to establish our personal space and the space of the other.
This is also the season where melancholy and sadness settle in. If the tears persist on your face at this point, don't think so much about why or hold on to what has passed; let's learn the lesson of autumn: the leaves of the trees do not fall because they want to or because they have a particular and very important reason; they fall simply because the time has come to fall. So, as our readers read this article, remember that the time has come to look for ways to calm the rhythm, keep only the essentials and create structuring routines. It's time to declutter our internal and external house. It's time to let go, let go of what no longer serves and give space for the new to manifest.
I share with you some practical advice to better flow in the energy of this season: in the three months of autumn, it is advisable to fall asleep at sunset and wake up at sunrise. Falling asleep at sunset may be impractical, but at least slowdown or slow down the activities you do before bed. Just as the days get darker, so do our emotions. It is important to remain calm and ward off melancholy and extreme sadness so that the transition to winter takes place smoothly. If we accumulate a lot of sadness in autumn, it will turn into mucus, and winter will be more challenging in terms of breathing. Avoiding dairy products at this stage is a good option, as well as reducing or taking advantage of the cleaning season to stop smoking. Lung energy should be kept clean by practising breathing exercises to improve lung chi. Dancing at this stage can also be very important to help loosen up.
I believe that, with the proper adaptation to modern times, it is possible to create in ourselves a balance of attitudes and behaviours that manifest the rhythm of the seasons healthily. We can do what we must, but at the rhythm of each season. Each one brings its message: with spring, we can remember resilience and the ability to reinvent ourselves; with summer, sensuality and availability for the outdoors. In autumn, transformation and, in winter, the ability to dream and start over. And, like nature, we rebuild ourselves in a process of change that has no end but is an end in itself.
To help you in all these processes, pay attention to all our training offers, particularly the Feng Shui diploma course, where you can learn to adapt your living space to the energy of changes, astral flows and the impact of the seasons.
Happy transformation.
