Understand the main cycles of the feng shui elements and use them in your home decorating

Part 1: What are the Five Feng Shui Elements?

Reading now: The Social Life of Feng Shui Elements

Part 3: Playtime! Feng Shui Elements Decorating

Now that you know the origin and the meaning of the five feng shui elements theory (have you read part 1?), there is just one more step, a very important one, to assimilate before we start decorating with the feng shui elements.

Our five elements friends have a complex way of interacting with each other, and understanding the dynamics of their social life gives us an all-powerful key to create harmonious energy in any space, be it home, office or garden.

Even though there are quite a few variations in the five elements interaction, we can sum them up in two basic and fundamental ways of relating called element cycles in feng shui. The first cycle is called the Productive Cycle, or the cycle of Creation.

This is where each element is supporting the other, being in turn supported by another element. Below is a graphic that illustrates this blissful interaction. It helps to think of elements in very practical terms such as their expression in nature or even in various household items.

For example, if you want to make fire (Fire element), you need wood (Wood element). If you want your plants (Wood element) to be lush and healthy, you give them water (Water element); to cut something, you use a knife (Metal element).

WOOD creates FIRE

FIRE supports EARTH

EARTH supports METAL

METAL supports WATER

WATER supports WOOD

So the productive cycle of the five feng shui elements resembles a harmonious, happy family. Everybody finds a way to love and support everyone; the energy is peaceful and life-sustaining. Understanding this cycle will help you strengthen the feng shui elements that are need in various bagua areas of your space in a subtle and powerful way.

What is the second cycle following the Creative cycle? Well, of course, it’s has to be the Destructive one! The Destructive Cycle is the way of relating between the feng shui elements where each element is destroying the other (or making it really, really weak).

This is an equally important cycle to understand when you deal with a space that has a stubborn presence of a feng shui element that is detrimental to someone’s well-being (examples in part 3).

There can be no creation without destruction, so here is how the intelligent rage of the Destructive Cycle of the feng shui elements expresses itself:

WOOD weakens EARTH

EARTH weakens WATER

WATER puts down FIRE

FIRE melts METAL

METAL cuts WOOD

Now, if you want to go a bit deeper, I will tell you that there are variations to each cycle, too. For example, in the Productive Cycle of elements, Wood can be supported by both Water and Earth; while in the Destructive cycle Water not only puts down Fire but also weakens Earth and Metal.

However, I do not want to overwhelm you, so I will just leave this door open for you to come back and explore the depths of each feng shui element cycle. One more thing before the well-deserved playtime: it is necessary to get to know the unique energetic qualities of each feng shui element, and understand how each element is expressed in specific home decor items, colors, shapes and more.

Explore all elements: WOOD | FIRE | EARTH | METAL | WATER

Now, let’s play with the feng shui element decorating.

Image Davide Lovatti  for House & Garden UK