Autumn and The Metal Element
Though it may not feel like it lately in New York we definitely have entered autumn. In Traditional Chinese Medicine Elemental Theory we are in the season of the metal element. Autumn represents a process of decline and turning inward. If you look to nature, this is when the trees are losing their leaves, their energy is pulled back into their roots for storage over the winter. Letting go of the leaves is essential to winter survival and rebirth in spring. If the trees didn’t lose their leaves it would cost them valuable conservation of energy, the weight of snowfall would make them prone to breaking and then in spring there would be no room for new growth. Elemental Theory was founded on recognizing the reflections of nature’s cycles and our own life cycles. So this begs the question, what are you holding on to that costs you your overall growth and well-being? What baggage can you release to conserve your energy and create healthy boundaries between you and the outside world? What are you attached to that ultimately will weigh you down when there’s an opportunity to renew and create?
Metal Element Organs
Each element in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has two organs associated with it that correlate to lines of energy through the body called meridians. For the metal element these organs are the lungs and large intestine. The lungs are responsible for the vital exchange of energy called Qi. Vital energy, the breath is taken in, inhaled from our environment and then released, exhaled out from within the individual to the environment. If adequate breath is not inhaled then the lungs are unable to exhale sufficient energy and the cycle is compromised. In TCM this explains chronic lung conditions like asthma but also colds and allergies. While, the lungs focus on the intake of Qi the large intestine focuses on the release of energy. Physically, the large intestine eliminates waste from the body. From an energetic perspective this is also the letting go of unhealthy behavior patterns, negative thoughts emotions, situations and people. If there is an imbalance in letting go in life this may show up in the large intestine as constipation and the stagnation from accumulated energy may also be reflected as depression.
Gemstones for Lungs and Large Intestine
Therapeutic gemstones are incredibly effective and profound energetic tools. Two gemstones that come to mind as being helpful during this metal season and for the metal organs are Blue-Green Fluorite and Citrine.
Blue-Green Fluorite
Blue-Green Fluorite is a helpful gemstone for organs of elimination which includes the lungs and large intestine of the metal element but also the bladder, kidneys and liver. This is because it encourages a downward flow of energy. Where there is a lack of letting go in the body, energy will start to accumulate. This energy becomes heavy, slow, dense and stagnate. Blue-Green Fluorite energetically brings a water like fluidity, to encourage the movement of stagnation. Think of pooling water in a stream from built up debris like branches and dead leaves then a rush of water coming in clearing and continuing the flow.
Citrine
Citrine’s ultimate goal for us is to achieve our spiritual potential, in order to reach our potential we have to be able to let go of all that does not serve our highest good. Citrine’s encouragement for letting go differs from Blue-Green Fluorite. Instead a water like fluidity, the quality of citrine’s vibration is an unwinding. An unwinding from knotted, tightened and tense energy. This is ve
ry helpful to a person who has an imbalanced metal element. If we look back at the lung’s role in exchange of vital energy between the individual and the environment via the breath, what it’s also doing is creating boundaries and giving structure. But that structure can become overly metal like, rigid and stiff. Citrine helps to give way to
more flexibility physically, emotionally and mentally. In the large intestine we can become so stressed and tense its processing comes to a halt. Citrine helps loosen the binds and constriction so you can fully let go. Citrine is also very helpful for relaxing muscle tension in the body.
Amethyst and Attachments
“Remember the spiritual principle I have given you: the closer people are to making great change, the more tightly they hold onto what they know, consciously or unconsciously, they will be evolving away from.” –Wisdom of the Gemstone Guardians
Amethyst helps us let go of attachments by going beyond our mind and connecting to divine wisdom in order to fulfill our spiritual destiny. This is so relevant during the autumn season because often we still cling to what is decaying and dying in our life because it is what we know, what we are used to. But as discussed earlier, in the cycle of life it does not serve us. Going back to the trees, if they kept their leaves for winter instead of letting them go it may be their demise. Amethyst can assist us in the letting go process when our mind has built up an attachment, amethyst can encourage us to go beyond the limitation of attachment and see the whole picture from a higher, spiritual perspective. In turn putting us at a bit more ease with letting go of our attachments.