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Autumn and the Metal Element
By Brian Benjamin Carter
September 14, 2001
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Autumn. the air becomes a
bit crisper, you can see and smell the changing of the leaves...
everything slows down, the days shorten, and Halloween is
just around the corner.
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Chinese Medicine (CM) offers practical wisdom for adjusting
to seasonal change. One of the basic concepts in CM is the
5 element system of correspondences. Each element has an associated
season, emotion, taste, organ, etc. Here is a brief chart
of the five elements. |
| Season |
Element |
Emotion |
Taste |
Organ |
Pathogen |
| Autumn |
Metal |
Grief |
Spicy |
Lung, Large Intestine |
Dryness |
| Winter |
Water |
Fear |
Salty |
Kidney, Bladder |
Cold |
| Spring |
Wood |
Anger |
Sour |
Liver, Gallbladder |
Wind |
| Summer |
Fire |
Joy |
Bitter |
Heart, Small
Intestine |
Heat |
| Late Summmer |
Earth |
Worry |
Sweet |
Spleen, Stomach |
Dampness |
An exhaustive discussion of the Metal element could fill a whole
book. I will just mention some of the more practical ones.
The Seasons, Stress, and Colds and Flus
Seasonal change, like any change, can cause stress. The main agent
of stress in CM is wind. Wind is said to be the "agent of 10,000
diseases," (The
Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine). Wind is understood
to be not just the movement of air, but any sudden change. CM
has known for thousands of years that stress can cause sickness,
and modern research has certainly borne this out. To combat stress,
stick to a routine. To avoid colds and flus, keep your immune
system up, and cover your neck whenever outdoors. Stay out of
drafts, and avoid excessive air-conditioning. It is interesting
to note that a cold in the summer can be caused by too much air-conditioning;
this (a 'cold' cold) is considered an 'unseasonal pathogen' in
CM and is harder to treat than a seasonal pathogen (e.g. a 'hot'
cold in the summer). For more info, read about colds and flus
in CM.
Metal People
The character of metal is "sharp, retracting, and finishing."
People can be metal; well-organized, strong boundaries, methodical,
principle-oriented, analytical, favoring order. They are the ideal
scientists. Emotionally, they can be distant. They tend to favor
intellect and reason over emotion.
Dryness
Dryness is a common problem in Autumn. Dryness can manifest as
constipation, dry throat, dry skin, dry eyes, dry brittle hair,
thirst, and lack of sweat. Most people do not drink enough fluids
regularly, let alone in the autumn. Spicy food can cause or worsen
dryness. Watch out for getting stuck in the vicious cycle of craving
the same food that makes your symptoms worse!
Grief and Nostalgia
With autumn comes "gathering in, stocking up, mingled with a sense
of loss as the light begins to fade and the air chills," (Between
Heaven and Earth, 205). Grief is, of course, quite natural
and appropriate in many situations. But excessive and/or long-term
grief can harm the Lung system (a group of correspondences including
but not limited to the actual biomedical lungs), and likewise,
people with Metal or Lung problems can be frequent grievers, criers.
And let's not forget that more positive form of grief, nostalgia,
that happens more and more in the 'autumn' of our lives. In fact,
we can view the whole grief process from a Five Elements perspective.
Wood energy sprouts a situation that
comes to fruition in Fire energy, leading to the Metal experience
of grief, then the withdrawing yin experience of the Water element,
finally emerging in new growth and rebirth in the Wood
phase.
Suggested Reading
Between
Heaven and Earth : A Guide to...
 The
Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine...
 CS
Lewis A
Grief Observed Grief recovery handbook
 The
Grief Recovery Handbook : The Action...
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