Each of the Five Elements has a number of key Resonances. These are listed in the table below:
You will notice that there are two (four in the case of Fire) meridians associated with each Element, one Yin and one Yang. People who have a particular Element as their Constitutional Factor, will often show symptoms of these meridians, and the organs associated with those meridians, being out of balance. So, for example, a Wood type may show symptoms of Liver and Gall Bladder being out of balance.
We should note here though that the Chinese interpretation of the organs is somewhat broader than the Western medicine approach. For example, whilst the Gall Bladder in Chinese medicine does encompass the function of storing and releasing bile for fat digestion (the Western role of this organ), within the Chinese philosophy, the Gall Bladder also has the role of decision maker. Likewise the Liver is the organiser, the planner and the controller of smooth flow in the Chinese model. So when we say that Wood types resonate with the Liver and Gall Bladder, then it can be any of these functions that we are associating with those individuals.
Similarly, another one of the Resonances listed above is that of Season. So Wood types would have a particular association with Spring, for example. This means that whereas the other Element types would just consider Spring another season, Wood types would either love or hate or have some other notable reaction to Spring over and above the other seasons.
On the analysis pages, I describe many of the attributes of each of the Element types. Much of that analysis is based on these key resonances.
Back to the Five Element introduction