The Five Elements: Wood

As you know by now, the concept of the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) is a crucial tenet of feng shui. And I discussed in the last post how they interact with each other and the best ways to balance them in a space. But in order to use the elements well, you’ve got to know them. Only by understanding the specific qualities of each element and familiarizing ourselves with them can we use them properly to create desirable living and work spaces. So if you’re currently asking yourself, "Ok, but how the *** do we know which element is which?" (totally valid question), look no further! Each element can be described in terms of many aspects, including color, season, direction, shape, objects, movement patterns, and influence exerted. Over the next few blog posts, I’ll get into the defining qualities of each individual element so you can better identify them in a space. Let’s start with which characteristics are associated with the Wood element!

WOOD

Colors: Greens and sky blues

Shape: Tall and rectangular, oblong, vertical lines

Materials: Wood, cardboard, paper, composition material with a wood base, silk, cotton, linen; vegetation, plants, trees, flowers; artwork or fabric that depicts landscapes with trees, plants, or flowers; fabric with vertical stripes; tall buildings, wood fences, wooden decks; rectangular-shaped tables; green items

Season: Spring

Direction: East (where the day begins with the rising sun)

Life Cycle Stage: Creation or beginning

Meaning: Wood is associated with creation, upward growth, change, new beginnings, adventure, risk, hope, flexible thinking, nourishment, creativity, achievement of goals

The use of Wood and its color, shape, line, or symbols can:

Strengthen: Expanding, dreams/vision, conquering, creativity, flexibility

Deter: Tradition, stodginess, tenaciousness, laziness, stagnation

A Word of Caution: Don’t bring Wood into a space if you want to stay on your current path, encourage conservative thinking, or avoid risky ventures

How to Incorporate Wood into a Space: Add houseplants, wooden picture frames, paintings of landscapes or vegetation, green throw pillows, or magazines and newspapers

Fire’s up next!