Archive for May, 2009

“Whatever cause suffering can not be called love.”
Dino Olivieri

“We are already what we are trying desperately.
We are everything, except be aware.”
Dino Olivieri

Our planet gives us everything we need to survive:

• food
• the fuel for heat and cooking
• water

The soil, where everything grows, to have the characteristics of substance, richness and strength must be rich in minerals.
Minerals and metals contained therein are the element Metal (金 - Jīn).
The metal is all that is precious and dissolved into the bowels of the earth.
The ideogram (chinese: 金, pinyin: jīn) contains the word gold, a precious metal that was used in the past as a bargaining chip. This is one of the main features of Metal: the exchange of energy between internal and external of the body-mind.

The metal is an element that puts us into communication with other people and the environment around us.

Properties of Metal

Intrinsic properties of the metal are: communication, transmission, exchange, because the metal is a conductor of electricity. In Traditional Chinese Medicine Metal carries the energy in our body.

It also represents the decline phase of matter that is the fourth phase of the Wu Xing (five movements more commonly known as the five elements).

The character Tao Yin Metal is growing.
The motion is from the outside inwards.
Its energy is in decline / decrease.
The movement of the Metal energy is down because the breath must reach hara (in japanese: belly) deep to oxygenate the tissues and cells of the body.

The metal is also associated with:

• west
• autumn
• old age
• Venus (the planet)
• white
• rigidity, persistence, strength, determination

The positive emotion is courage. The emotion or feeling bad is the pain.
Movements: the fire controls metal, metal controls wood, metal feeds the water, the earth feeds metal.

Meridians

The meridians of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) associated to the Metal are Lung and Large Intestine.

The Lung puts us in relationship with the air. Through the inspiration we take the oxygen needed to survive and nourish all the tissues. Through exhalation we clear our tissues from carbon dioxide.
The Lung receives the pure Chi (or Qi) Air (which in Eastern tradition is the energy), by grabbing and bringing it out in us.
Our life begins with an inspiration and ends with an exhalation.
The lung is attached to the skin that we can consider our third lung. The skin is the last line between us and others. In most cases, the skin diseases are associated with our refusal to adapt to the environment, to the world around us. This lack of adaptation is a problem in the exchange between interior and exterior, typical of metal.

The large intestine has the same function of the Lung but through food: our body receives nourishment from the food, some is absorbed and part is rejected as organic material.

Metal gives rhythm to our bodies, our lives and influence our heartbeat. For example, to a greater demand for tissue oxygenation our heart rate increases (after a race).

Other important features

A person characterized by the metal is ambitious, full of strength, has the mania of the inspection, is confident in itself, tends to solve problems for themselves without seeking help, it is materialistic, organized, stable, business-oriented.

The individual in harmony with the Metal element is very precise, orderly, has a good pace of work, is not involved, is seconded by the rest of the world. In addition, he/she appreciates material things and luxury goods. This person is transporting energy. Who comes into contact with these kind of people can see their lives transformed.

The chaos and disorder are a clear symptom of disharmony with this item.

The vegetative soul (the soul that moves and affects our human nature) of the metal is the Po, which is the soul through the senses of smell and touch. The Po connects us to the lineage through the father. The vegetative body is a soul that remains on earth when is dead (bones).

We said that the negative emotion is related to the Metal pain. This is because in autumn there is a decline of activity (think of the agricultural world), the leaves fall and the fruit must be collected. Furthermore, “the autumn of our lives” is a sort of a report of what has been done, a decline of our body and this often creates pain and sadness.

The color is white because in the East during a funeral (as sad and painful) people dress in white. Some metals (eg silver and steel) have shades of white (note: because everything changes, the sign of Zentao is different: the white was associated with the inner light of the spiral, or primordial energy that permeates and moves the universe, while the black has been associated with the metal because it is present in many minerals and metals).

The white is the color of the face of anemia (lack of iron - metal) and some respiratory illnesses (eg colds) have white secretions (mucus).

The organ of sense is the nose, which has the feature to filter and heat the air we breathe in, and is linked to functions related to the sense of smell.

The outward physical manifestation is the hair and skin.

The smell is rotten and is related to lung disease (eg sick with TB) and certain skin diseases. Generally is a strong and unpleasant odor.

The flavor is piquant. In fact when we have a cold we can not distinguish the flavors and breathe hard, and then to taste more the food we put into it more spices. A person who loves the spicy food is in disharmony with the Metal element.

The climate is dry, because in China the autumn is a very dry period.

The energy peak of the meridians is:

• from 3 am to 5 am for the lung meridian
• from 5 am to 7 am for the large intestine meridian

Imagine the world in China: the farmer got up before dawn to go to work: yawn, did tai chi (in the West we just stretch the limbs and rub our eyes). The farmer began to live the day again. In so doing he renewed his breath. After the breathing and the breakfast was the elimination of waste through the function of the large intestine.

The sound associated with Metal is weeping. A voice that sounds like a crying indicates an imbalance in the Metal.

External links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ki_(filosofia)
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicina_tradizionale_cinese