We are the Weather Patterns; the Elements are Us.
I've been riffing on something one of my teachers, frieda (of wovenroot), recently shared: our physiological patterns are weather patterns, similar to the weather patterns in nature - our bodies reflect our surroundings, our environment, the Earth. As I understand it, all forms of traditional medicine have some version of elemental theory - a framework that recognizes the elements of nature as foundational components that governs Life and its cycles (including in our human bodies!). These frameworks often orient to how our bodies express their own weather patterns, how the elements of Nature are expressed through our physiology, our temperament, our mood, etc. They also acknowledge and address how our bodies and nature can get out of balance, expressing patterns of excess and/or deficiency. Are we experiencing states of persistent inflammation and/or anger (heat)? Are we feeling stuck, stagnant, bloated and depressed (damp / cold)?
There are simple truths we can follow: when the weather is hot, we want to cool down. When it’s cold, we want to cozy up and get warm. And it is that simple in a way: we can observe the ways of nature and apply them to our bodies and lives.
Think of a dried up creek bed that is parched and cracked. It could be understood as deficient in water / hydration, or having an excess of heat / dryness. To hydrate the body of the creek bed, it would need a slow, consistent rainfall over time, not a sudden and immense downpour that could lead to a flash flood. The parched earth first needs to be gently hydrated before it can absorb larger volumes. We can think about human physiology in a similar way, for example: the tissues of the alimentary canal (G.I. tract) might be parched, weak, dry, with excess heat, and inflammation. They would need hydration and nourishment - gently and consistently over time, to rehydrate and reconstitute the suppleness, integrity, and strength of the tissues.
dry creek bed…
There is also so much nuance here. In terms of overall internal or physiological weather patterns, its possible for someone to have chronically cold hands and feet (poor circulation), general hypo-metabolic function and/or low body temperature (cold signs), while also having symptoms of excessive heat, inflammation, irritation, and burning in their gut (heat signs).
Such is the paradox: although there are seeds of simplicity, traditional medicine lineages have intricate, nuances, and sophisticated frameworks that have fleshed out these deep fields of inquiry and study. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda are both thousands of years old lineages that incorporate different elemental theories in approaching and understanding health and vitality in the human body. I don’t have formal training in either of these modalities, but my understanding has been significantly influenced by their frameworks of elemental theory, and how the elements express in the body. In a very basic sense, TCM has a 5 element theory - wood, fire, earth, metal, water. Ayurveda also incorporates 5 elements - ether, air, fire, water, earth, but orients more fundamentally to the framework of the 3 doshas (constitutions) - Vatta (ether & air), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (earth and water).
In the West, we are often orient to a 4 element theory: earth, air, fire, water. However, there is no real equivalent to these fundamentals in western medicine: constitutional assessment, energetics, and elemental theory are absent for the most part.
Matthew Wood has been an instrumental teacher in Western Herbalism (which I am trained in) by articulating elemental theory as tissue states. In this approach, it is necessary to assess the tissue states of a given person to determine their constitutional picture and what means / herbs / methods are appropriate in addressing their patterns of imbalance. Here, there are 3 continuums: hot/cold, wet/dry, tense/lax. Is there an excess of heat or cold in the tissues? Is there an accumulation of dampness, bogginess, stagnation? Or are the tissues overly dry and parched? Is there excess tension in the tissues, or are they atrophied and need more tone? Such questions are starting points in a basic assessment of someone’s constitution, symptomatic expressions, and internal weather patterns.
I have been and continue to be fascinated by elemental theory: the cross-cultural similarities and differences, the way our emotional, physiological, and personality expressions are influenced by our constitutional makeup, and the way they are all expressions of nature. Like a sunset desert vista, or a foggy morning in the forest, or the ocean on a peaceful day - they are diverse expressions of the elements and the natural world, and they are all beautiful in their own right.
My invitation to us is to consider ourselves as such expressions of Nature: each with our own unique weather patterns, strengths and challenges, excesses and deficiencies. Each with our own beauty and gifts, and constantly cycling toward greater states of balance; changing, growing, dying back, and sprouting again with the cycles of Earth.
the glory of springtime blossoms
