| water | wood | fire | earth | metal |
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Metal is the name given to the energy of Autumn. Like the mineral ores, salts, and gems of the earth, Metal energy represents strength, structure, and quality. The minerals of the soil provide the richness that nourishes living things, and the metallic ores provide the materials for structural strength and for conduits through which communications flow. On the functional level, Metal is the energy of letting go, of losing all that is inessential. Like the trees as they shed their leaves, it is a paring down to the bare bones, so that you can see the inner structure of the naked branches. As the year slows down to prepare for Winter’s rest, so we turn inward, pause, and take stock of how far we’ve come in the year’s growth. Sometimes we feel a sense of loss or melancholy as we let go the year, especially if we don’t feel that we’ve accomplished all that we set out to do in the Spring. If it’s been a good year, then this time of harvest and evaluation can create a feeling of completion and perfection, a solid sense of our own value and worth. We experience this energy mostly later in life, when the children are grown, or when our career goals have been achieved. It’s then that we begin to really look at and evaluate the quality of our lives, when we measure our worth and look for the meaning of it all. This tends to lead to a spiritual or philosophical focus, and often at this time we begin to follow a spiritual path. Activities appropriate to Fall and Metal are: evaluating the projects we’ve completed this year; bedding the garden down for the Winter; cleaning house and throwing our or recycling everything inessential; spending some time grieving over losses experienced over the year; seeking inspiration for our spiritual side; writing in our journals and recording our dreams to explore our inner lives. From: DISCOVERING THE FIVE ELEMENTS
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