Classical acupuncture works to bring health and healing by working on a client's energy system. Energy - life force, qi, prana, the force that is with us - contains all possibilities. It's a soup of everything all at once, that is swirling and swirling together constantly - something, in other words, that is very difficult for our human consciousnesses to grasp. So, over the milennia, we've come up with different systems of classification to help us understand this oneness. The system that I use is called The Five Elements.
Five element philosophy states that everything that exists - and everything that does not - can be understood in terms of the elements. First we have the limitless blob of undifferentiated energy. Then we have the five different aspects of this oneness: water, wood, fire, earth and metal (air). We all know and, on some level, understand the elements because we have daily experience of them. We know also know about them because we have within us each of the five, though one of them is the dominant or core or foundational energy.
My work as a classical acupuncturist is dependent upon my ability to perceive the elemental energies within my clients and to figure out which of them is the core or foundational one. Here's a slideshow that you might enjoy. Each of the elemental energies expresses itself in many, many, many different ways - as emotions or mental states, seasons, climates, natural elements, parts of the body or colors or smells or powers, just to name a few. The important thing to remember is that energy comes first. It's the common thread that weaves everything together. So, as you watch the pictures slide across the screen, notice how you're feeling. You're experiencing your own water, wood, fire, earth or metal energy.