The 5 Elements: Mixed review

A continuous low-pitched ringing in the ears, with weak knees, worse at the end of the day. Which phase?

1. Wood, since ringing is a head symptom
2. Fire, since there is agitation
3. Water, since ears and knees depend on the Kidney and the picture worsens with expenditure

Match each phase with the tissue it governs.

In which season would you expect each picture to worsen?

• Allergy with red eyes and irritabilitySpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter
• Palpitations and sweating in the heatSpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter
• Dry cough and cracked skinSpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter
• Low back pain with cold and needing more sleepSpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter
• Heaviness and bloating on humid, muggy daysSpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter
• Migraines tied to tensionSpringSummerLate summerAutumnWinter

What is the honest limit of the five-phase system?

1. It is a model of relationships, not a mechanism: it explains well why two pictures travel together and badly why one appears alone
2. It has no limits: any symptom fits into some square
3. It is only good for choosing foods and colours

Order how the system is used with a patient, first step to last.

1. Collect signs from different columns: colour, tissue, emotion, sense, season↑↓
2. See whether several columns name the same row↑↓
3. Check whether a second row is involved↑↓
4. Name which relationship between the two has broken↑↓
5. Choose the rule: mother, child, or the one pressing↑↓

Insomnia with palpitations, plus dry mouth, low-pitched ringing and low back pain. How do you read it?

1. It is just fire: the insomnia and palpitations rule
2. Two rows: water is failing to restrain fire, and so fire overflows above
3. Two unrelated pictures, best treated separately