Transitioning from Winter to Spring in Five Element Theory

Every drop of water that has ever been on our planet is here among us still; swirling, circulating, snowing, boiling or suspended in a glacier for a million years. As Spring rises all around and within us, it does so out of the Winter energies and the inexhaustible force of its own Water Element.

Water is a shapeshifter carrying a deep symbolic resonance with the changing realities and unexpected unfoldings of this global time. The heavy rains of the La Nina weather patterns in the South, record snowfalls in the North, and Neptune, the King of all water, is drifting through the already saturated constellation of Pisces - There has been a lot of Water changing places on the planet. A harbinger of the uncertainty and sudden shifts we have been experiencing? A most needed collective cleanse? The changing of a tide of a bigger, more cosmic proportion? No one would argue that water has most definitely dominated the first half of 2022.

The Power of Water and Nature's Shift

In the control cycle of the Five Element Wheel it is Earth that controls Water, containing it in rivers and streams, guiding it to the sea along grassy banks, or holding it in deep underground reservoirs. Yet this year Water amassed and showed us its strength, overtaking, boundaries, tearing down whole towns, calving off the sides of hills and reminding us that our houses, roads and bridges are no match for its might. In many ways the stable and steady elements of life that we once leant against have indeed shifted, some falling down altogether, some closed indefinitely for repair, others reinventing in new and more aligned ways. Much has changed and the landscape is far less familiar than it once was.

Spring’s Arrival: The Wood Element and Wind

With the days at last lengthening, and the quickening upon us we are reminded that nothing stands still for long. Spring is unequivocally rising, and with it comes the Wood element and the climate of Wind. Wind resembles Wood in its force and capacity to switch and change quickly, shaking, stripping and pruning as it goes. Sorting the strong trees from the weak, clearing the debris, penetrating every hollow and spreading the seeds across the land.

Having the capacity to both "erode and penetrate', Wind comes to help us remember how to move, adapt, focus our attention, and be relentless in our pursuit. Learning what we need to pierce the liminal depths of water, to ruffle its surface, and to inspire it to action in the new shoots and budding branches of this next evolution of our Soul growth. Everything that begins requires an uplifting force; Think of the effort needed for a pelican to take flight, the work that goes into launching a new business, and moving home ....The Wood element is that force, and Wind is the instrument of change.

In balance, the wind energy is a soft force, a light and easy herald of the change of the year. A subtlety combined with an unwavering persistence that gives rise to a new shape. You need only reference the mesas on the plateaus of Utah to see what a gentle breeze will do when applied with consistency.

Wind and Water in Balance: A Lesson for Spring

When Wind and Water come together they bring forward the lessons needed for the early Spring phase. That of grit and determination as we move from inertia to action, steadiness and truth as we keep our eye on the North Star, and the capacity to move across and among the whole, plumbing our depths, our limitations and our own nature in order to be more than we were yesterday.

Personal Growth through Wind and Water Energies

Through Wind’s ceaseless effort, we connect with the penetrating Self-development that is key to reaching the clear water in the well beneath us. To see our own reflection in the reservoir of the Heart we must first be prepared to go deep. When we look into the heart we discover the seeds of our destiny. The wind is akin to the long rope needed so that the bucket penetrates the cool Water in the well.

When we awaken Wind’s sincere action in the name of Spring, we also discover the Way.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakes.
– Carl Jung

Come and explore these themes in real-time when you join me for yoga classes online, weekdays 6:00 - 7:00 am AEST
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