History and Theory
J.R. Worsley, who studied in China, Japan, and Korea for many years, brought Traditional Five-Element Acupuncture to the West. He began teaching in Britain, where he opened a school in Leamington Spa. Many practitioners in the area, Europe, and the US studied there, and returned home to practice and open schools of their own. Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel, MD, where I studied acupuncture, was one of the first, and is the first in the country to be accredited.

The theory behind Five-Element Acupuncture is based, as are other schools, on Yin/Yang and Taoist philosophy, and on Chinese classics of Acupuncture such as the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Chinese Medicine), written about 200 BCE. The Nei Jing lays out the basis of the five elements, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire, describing how they are expressed in nature and in human beings. Balance of the environment and human beings is most important. People and the natural world are seen holistically rather than being separate from each other. Chinese medicine is not much different from what was written then, as the treatments and lifestyle changes it offered are as effective today as they were 2000 years ago. For much more detailed information, see www.five-element.com/graphics/neijing.pdf

In Traditional or Classical Five-Element Acupuncture, a person is born with all five elements active and balanced. In birth or early childhood, due to life events and emotional traumas, one of the elements develops a constitutional weakness in relation to the others. This is the Causative Factor (CF), which is considered to be the root cause of the person’s symptoms. Through treating the CF, the patient becomes more balanced and regains health.

The five elements are related to each other in a circle, called the Sheng or Mother-Child Cycle: Water to Wood to Fire to Earth to Metal to Water again. If the element which is the CF (Mother) is weakened, it is not able to pass energy to the following element (Child), and so on around the cycle, until the person has problems in all elements. The elements are also connected across the circle, called the K’o Cycle, and can affect their opposites by being too strong or too weak, For example, Water affects Fire and can diminish or extinguish it (as water affects fire in nature). If Fire is too strong and goes backwards in the K’o Cycle, it can dry up Water.

Diagnosing the CF element in a patient is important for treatment. The acupuncturist discerns this through listening, asking questions, and observing color, sound, odor, and emotion, as each element has specific correspondences to these. For example, the Water element has blue color, a groaning sound, a putrid odor, and fear as the related emotion. There are also a number of other correspondences to each element, physical, emotional, and spiritual, so observation of how the patient lives and moves through life is important in choosing the CF.

The Five Elements

Water
The Water element corresponds to the Winter season and to the Kidney and Bladder meridians and organs. The Kidneys hold life energy (Jing) a person obtains through inheritance from the parents. The amount varies from person to person, and is vital to being alive. A little bit is combined with energy (qi) obtained through breathing air and eating foods and drinks to maintain the body and provide energy for activities of life. When Jing is used up, the person dies. Lifestyle choices affect this, so a person who is always “running on empty” is depleting the life force.

In Winter, the body recharges itself through action of the Kidneys by slowing down, resting, and gathering strength for the Spring and new growth. We refill our reserves and take to time look deep within ourselves. We want to go to sleep early and wake late, to eat nourishing foods such as soups and stews, and plan and wait for the right time to begin new projects.

The Kidneys are the organ of Will, and assist us in doing what we must. Fear is the emotion of Water. When sufficient reserves are present, we feel appropriate caution. When reserves are decreased, fear of being without, and of being unable to do what we want takes over. The sound of Groan in the voice is associated with the Kidneys. It is the sound we make when run down, exhausted, and “out of gas”, and don’t have the energy to have a rising tone.

Wood
Wood is the element of the Spring season, of rising energy, and birth and renewal. The organs of the Gall bladder and Liver are associated with Spring, and control vision and planning. They control the muscular forces. If we have rested and stored our energy in the winter, we have the strength to move forward with new plans and projects in the spring. As with plants bursting through the ground and growing up toward the sunlight, we also feel the urge to be outside as the weather warms up, and to garden or build or begin new activities.

Anger is the emotion related to Wood. When all is in balance, a person can move forward with plans even when there are bumps in the road, having the ability to deal with changes. When out of balance, anger results from being thwarted in planning and execution. Anger can become the primary emotion, with a person feeling that his way, the right way, is blocked. Therefore, Shout is the sound associated with Wood.

Fire
Fire is the element of the Summer season, a time of warmth, maturity, relationships and love. The activities of Spring reach their fullness and flowering. The meridians and organs associated with Summer and Fire are the Pericardium and the Triple Heater (also called Triple Energizer). They are involved with warmth of relationships and with spreading warmth through the body.

The emotion of Fire is Joy, and being able to express deep feelings for others. It engenders passion and compassion. The sound associated with Fire is Laugh. When Fire is deficient, the person cannot feel joy and may not have satisfying relationships. Physically, he may feel cold, lack energy, have sexual, urinary, or menstrual dysfunction, and problems with digestion or breathing. When Fire is excessive, the person may have painful inflammation in the joints, chronic infections, sore throat and sinuses, burning diarrhea, anxiety and sleep disturbances.

Earth
Earth, central to all, is the element of the Late Summer. The heat of Summer begins to wane, while the abundance of the harvest begins. This is a time to relax after the work of spring and summer, and to take in the benefits of that work.

The emotion of late Summer is Sympathy, including empathy and compassion, caring for others and being able to accept these from others, about giving and receiving mothering. In balance, there is give and take in all things. Out of balance, Earth shows up as either “smother love”, or as the inability to give any sympathy or caring for others. The person may have an insatiable need for caring from others, like a child who has had too little or too much mothering and cannot grow up fully.

The organs of Earth are the Spleen and Stomach, which are involved with taking in and absorbing food, and nourishing the person with its essence. When a person in out of balance in the Earth element, food is not absorbed properly and there may be digestive problems as well as in any other organ. Without adequate nourishment, all organs suffer. On the spiritual level, the person cannot process thoughts and feelings, and becomes involved in constant circular thinking, worrying, and obsessive thoughts and behaviors.

Metal
Autumn, the season of the Metal element, is the time for letting go of what is no longer needed. Harvest is finishing, leaves change colors and fall from the trees, and energy is decreasing. What falls from the plants goes back to the earth, to be used again next spring.

The meridians and organs of Metal are the Lungs and Large Intestine, both of which are involved in taking in what is needed and releasing what is not. We inhale air, keep oxygen, and release carbon dioxide when we exhale. The Lungs spread the Qi to all areas of the body, and control skin and pores. The Large Intestines reabsorb water and any remaining nutrients received from the Small Intestine, and release the remaining wastes.

The emotion of Metal is Grief. On the spirit level, the Metal element involves releasing thoughts and feelings we no longer need, making us ready to receive new in the coming cycle of the year. We become aware, in this process, of what is essential to us and what is precious, of value in our lives. We work through this process, dealing with grief at letting go of what we no longer need, and taking in what is of value, bringing Inspiration with this awareness.

When out of balance, respiratory problems and digestive issues arise, as well as problems with perspiration and skin symptoms. Emotionally, a person may be stuck in grief, unable to see the positive side of letting go, and cannot work through these to reach self-understanding. She may collect objects to the extreme, and may be mired in waste buildup, physical and emotional.

For more detailed information about the Five Elements, see www.5elements.com and click on “Resources” for articles on the Elements.

Top of Page