Understanding The Five
Elements Of Feng Shui
 By Tom
Dugan
When talking about this
ancient art and science, there is usually mention of the
five elements of feng shui. Just what are these, and how are
they applied? This article will give you a very simple crash
course on both these questions.
The Five Elements of Feng Shui Outlined
Fire, earth, metal, water, and wood are the five elements of
feng shui. You will notice that these are all natural
elements as well. All of these together form a circle of
either construction or destruction, as follows:
Construction: Wood creates fire; energy from fire (such as
the sun) is needed to feed the earth; metal is borne from
the earth; water can be pulled from the elements that make
up metal; water feeds the wood.
Destruction: Fire destroys metal; metal (such as an axe
blade or other instrument) destroys wood; trees or wood feed
from the earth; dirt from the earth absorbs water; of
course, water destroys fire.
How the Five Elements of Feng Shui Harmonize
The underlying principle of
feng shui is that there needs to be harmony and balance;
having too much of any one element in your home or in a
particular room is counterproductive and can be
overwhelming. Most rooms will have one dominant quality of
the five elements of feng shui and need another element to
bring in some balance. For example, think of an all-white
bathroom. White is clean and pure and represents water.
However, when a room, even a bathroom, is completely white,
it can feel cold and sterile. By introducing another one of
the five elements of feng shui, such as earth, this can tone
down that sterile feeling. Towels, artwork, and other items
that are a warm brown can do the trick. Or, imagine a living
room that is all brown, which is a strong earth tone. You
can feel closed in or overwhelmed, as this is a warm color
but one that easily smothers you. Another one of the five
elements of feng shui, such as fire, can do the trick. Red
accents such as pillows or afghans can brighten up the warm
brown.
You can apply the principle of balancing the five elements
of feng shui in virtually every aspect of your life. For
example, maybe your personality is strong and fiery. This
can be a good thing, but too much of a strong personality
can easily overwhelm people. A campfire is good, but a
forest fire is bad. So, consider what you can do to tone
down your personality a bit. Think of the earth as being
warm and nurturing; your personality can have some warm and
nurturing sides to it as well to make you a more balanced
and harmonious person.
There are really no right or wrong answers when it comes to
applying the five elements of feng shui to any room of your
home or part of your life. You simply need to remember how
these elements are meant to harmonize and balance one
another, and try to imitate those fine qualities as much as
possible.
About the
author:
Tom owns
Feng Shui Report
which gives tips and advice on using
Feng Shui in your
home.
For more feng shui
articles, click here -
Feng Shui Articles.
Enjoy!
I wish you all the best on your
feng shui adventure!
Best wishes,
Thomas T :)
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