The list above.. is just that, a list. Though what lies in commonality within it, are some of the different manifestations of qi embodying the Earth Element. They can be observed in all things, because ‘the 10,000 things’ are all just different forms of qi that came from an expression of the Tao millions of years ago. We can observe it in nature, people, music, animals, and even ‘seemingly’ inanimate objects. For the sake of this website – in terms of discussing the Element itself, my spirit is drawn to discuss these observations through a particular microcosm – within the soil of Mother Earth. When it comes time to discuss the Officials, I will refer to the very same observations, though how we see them manifest in people.

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After the Fires of the summer reaches its peak, the cycle begins its slow decline, and nature gives way to the Late Summer. It is a time of harvest – a gathering of nourishments and sustenance, an internal storehouse, so that we can smoothly transition through the autumn and winter leading to a flourishing rebirth in spring. The Earth beneath us and all around us – one of its main roles has to do with nourishment, on all levels – feeding our bodies with food, our minds with its sights, sounds, colors, smells, and our spirit by continuously providing for us: food, foundation, understanding, a center, a sense of security and stability.

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This brings a new perspective to “food”, a concept that says, there is no such thing as physical eating and nourishment alone. In order to be truly nourished by what we take in, it has to be desirable and palatable on the level of mind and spirit, as well as the physical. The more appetizing or the more interested we are in a book, story, idea, class, lecture, etc., the more likely we will digest and assimilate the information. This could explain when I was doing my undergraduate education in Business Administration that I was struggling to get to class and retain the information versus being the eager, passionate, and mostly a straight-A student whilst studying Chinese Medicine! We say things like, “chew over the details”, “swallow a story”, “digesting facts”, or “I’ll need to let that ruminate”. A rich, abundant, sustaining store of knowledge can give us the same security and stability of that of a fruitful harvest. And we file or store information in various accessible places, just as we store our fats and sugars for future benefit.

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This element brings the quality and essence of the Mother. The Earth beneath our feet continually nourishes people, plants, and animals from the time of before our birth as a seed or fetus up until our eventual death; providing fuel, sustenance, stability, grounded-ness, and a sense of core. This is no different from the relationship between mother and child. She is the ultimate source of nourishment for the babe in her arms, though it may only seem like food… under the surface, what she is offering the child being held is unconditional love and attentiveness, a sense of “there, there, I am here, and I understand”, compassion, sweetness, safety, security, stability, a sense of belonging and a sense of home. These concepts of “mother” and “home” are crucial. They are places we should always be able to come back to for warmth, love, comfort, rootedness, nourishment – a haven for us to return to, to recharge, to digest, assimilate, and then distribute to our cells, muscles, tissue, organs, mind, and spirit.