The water element is linked to winter, the time of maximum yin:
"Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water. Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better; It has no equal. The weak can overcome the strong; the supple can overcome the stiff. Under heaven everyone knows this, yet no one puts it into practice. Therefore the sage says: He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people is fit to rule them. He who takes upon himself the country’s disasters deserves to be king of the universe. The truth often sounds paradoxical." ( Tao Te Ching 1972)
The type of character that springs to mind when I think about a water element is one of the guys in the old classic movie, Easy Rider. A rebel, the type of person that does not want to stay in one place for too long and is always looking to move on. Someone who does not conform and stands out from the crowd.
If you can call it a gift then it would be that a water element is a free spirit, any obstacle that confronts them is easily worked around and no container would be able to hold them for too long. These are all characteristics of water, a stream that works its way around obstacles and boulders in its way, and also water cannot be contained for long before it finds some way to escape. In fact the persona of a water element sounds like a very cool and attractive one to have, a bit of a James Dean figure, a person that is elusive and hard to pin down, who is perhaps on a different wavelength to the majority of people:
"Water itself is naturally elusive and resists definition. It can hold any shape, and yet cannot itself be grasped and held once and for all. It appears to have boundaries, and yet will find a passage around any dam or obstruction wherever it can." (Worsley, J.R. p 6.1
The emotion associated with the water element is that of fear, or lack of fear. This emotion can be traced back many years to when farmers would have built up their stores of grain and crops to last over the barren winter months. There existed the fear, that if this was not done, there would be no food left come the spring. This fear is still evident today in water elements who, during the winter are very conscious to conserve things and are frightened of the consequences of not doing this. The farmer would be very careful to make sure that he conserves as much water as he possibly can in order that there would be enough supply for the dry season that would follow. This was probably more relevant many years ago when it was a matter of life or death, but never-the-less these feelings still apply today in our modern society.
During the lecture at college on the water element we were all asked to look at fear and to recollect a time during our lives when we experienced true fear. There were some very interesting examples; from being chased by a dog to falling down a mountain. My own recollection also involves water. I was scuba diving off of the West Coast of Scotland on an old World War Two ship wreck called the James Egan Lane. We were about three miles out to sea. I was diving with a buddy as we always do and we had had a very pleasant dive to about thirty metres. When we came up to the surface I witnessed real fear for probably the first time. The recovery boat which was due to pick us up was nowhere in sight and we were left bobbing up and down in the sea with no hope of swimming back to land. The boat did turn up eventually after about ten minutes but those few minutes were probably the longest I had ever spent!!
Another experience of diving that I feel is relevant to the water element is a far more pleasurable one. There is a type of dive called a drift dive where you let the current of the sea or an estuary take you with it on its natural course. I have done this type of dive in an estuary in Scotland where you submerge to the bottom of the river and lie flat and let your body be taken along with the current. If you hold your arms out in front of you and use your hands as aerofoils you can actually steer over boulders and obstructions in the water. It is as if you have become one with the water itself, a truly amazing feeling and it would be easy to forget that you are diving and that you do eventually need to come back to the surface.
From both of these examples we can see many aspects of the water element from the extreme fear through to the pleasure of being at one with the element in its own flow:
"I AM WATER" "I am moving, fluid – still and stagnant taking up any form: changing effortlessly from the tiny vaporised particle to the most grand glacier moving gracefully as a ballerina and powerfully as a sumo wrestler following a law unto myself, respecting no political borders adapting to water pipes and sewers alike, unattached throwing back the image of the moon from brackish marshes carrying the lotus flower in the muddy Balinese temple lake. Suffocating all life in my sucking swamps in the Everglades breeding flies in a stinking puddle in the African village" (Christa – Maria Herrmann p139-140)
The colour that we associate with the water element is blue, which seems obvious but there are in fact many colours for water. Colours range from the crystal clear to the stagnant brown of a pond or canal. During our class time on the water element we went for a walk to observe different aspects of water. We saw how the colour of water could vary even in the same stretch of river - an example was the weir where there were different shades of greens and browns in the water. We also observed the relentless persistence of water to get to where it wants, it will find its way around any obstacle.
Along with these observations we noted the different odours arising from the water. The odour for water is putrid and this was evident near the treatment works where we could smell the chemical in the river.
The sound that is linked to the water element is that of groaning. This is very evident when you are taking a walk along the beach, the sea has that relentless groaning sound, one minute quiet and then a groan as the wave reaches a peak and breaks – a similar sound to a train.
The taste associated with water is salty, and of course you can taste this on your tongue very easily when you are near to the sea.
The sea can be very persistent; it will keep on wearing away at the cliffs over a length of time gradually chipping away at the coastline. This is a feature that you can see in a person with a water element who is balanced, they will be persistent in what they do and not give up:
"A balanced water person is persistent. He/she does not easily give up ideals or plans, but work slowly and steadily at an obstacle wearing away the resistance – very different from say a wood person who also will not give up, yet in a driven way with the need to reach their aim" (Christa – Maria Herrmann p 146)
In writing this essay it has become very evident to me that this element has a deeper significance to other things that we discussed in class. It has been very revealing to sit here and contemplate an element that has so many things that link it to my own interests and characteristics. Up until this point I have always thought of myself as a fire CF but I really do believe that there is a predominance of water in me. I think this is evident in the way that I have managed to talk about things that have meant a lot to me.
The Organs of the Water Element are Bladder and Kidney
These two officials really do exactly what it says on the tin! They deal directly with the water element. Between them they govern the major aspects of our vital fluids. They are of the greatest importance to the whole of the body and other officials as none of them can function without water. In his book "The Five Elements and the Officials" (J.R.Worsley p15.1) the author refers to how without water none of the cycles and rhythms of flows can be maintained.
The kidney official is known as the the official who controls the waterways. This, however, may be a little misleading as the kidney does far more. Ancient Chinese philosophy believed that the the kidney official was the storehouse for ancestral energy that was passed on to each generation. It was the seed of life that was passed on. The official takes some of the Qi energy from our intake of food and air and compiles it as a reserve. This supply can be called upon when we have heavy physical or mental tasks to cope with. A part of the kidney official is the Ming Men this is responsible for warming the essence of the kidney, it is also a very important part of the official as it is a warmer for all of the body's organs.
The essence that we have mentioned is the Kidney Jing. This is derived from both Pre- and Post-Heaven essence. The pre-heavenly essence is inherited from our parents at conception. It can be gradually depleted throughout our lifetime unless it is conserved well. The post-Heavenly essence is taken from food and nourishment and can be replenished. The function of Kidney Jing in our bodies is to do with the basis of growth and development; pathology can result in stunted growth or retardation and bone and teeth problems. Kidney Jing is also the basis of our constitutional strength and the production of bone marrow, which fills the brain and the spinal chord. The pathology of someone with deficient Kidney Jing will be that of someone who is always weak and prone to constant infections.
The bladder is known as the official of the municipal waterways and is the reservoir of the body, mind and spirit. It is the reserve that we draw from in the winter when things are running low. If there is no reserve to draw from then things can start to go wrong in body, mind and spirit.
As well as being a reservoir the bladder is also charged with disposing of the impurities that are found in our urine. If these are left to build up and not disposed of this can eventually pollute our whole being. If the bladder is out of balance it may not be able to keep its fluids in its boundaries. This may manifest as incontinence and cystitis type infections.
The bladder is one of the few officials that is similar in its descriptions of use both in Chinese and Western medicine. It is also the longest meridian on the body with sixty-seven points. The bladder and the kidney need to be looked at in the same context of equal importance:
"The kidneys are rulers over the winter. Kidneys and bladder are related and have to be treated as one in Acupuncture" (Wallnofer,H.and Von Rottauscher,A.p90)
These two officials of the water element need to be treated with the greatest of respect, as they are responsible for an awful lot of water in the body - in fact our bodies contain over 50–60%. That is a lot of fluid that needs retaining and managing so these organs need to be in the best of condition.
(This essay is the intellectual property of Paul Adkins)
