The Soul of Wood
by
Cobi Swanepoel
In Traditional Chinese Medicine the Liver is the organ associated with the Wood Element, and it houses the Ethereal Soul (Hun). The Wood Element is mainly responsible for initiating change, guiding our development and granting us our ability to mature. Our Soul looks deep inward beyond our social conditioning. It is our motivation to develop our inner knowing and sense of Self. When Woods’s spirit of vision is lacking, depression ensues- there is no sense of hope or forward motion. Weak Wood struggles to make life more satisfying and rewarding, life becomes a source of regret and frustration.
Anger is the emotion associated with the Wood Element and the Liver.
Disharmony in the Wood Element and in its relationship to the other Elements can result in a person becoming inappropriately angry. At the other end of the spectrum the person can be unwilling to be assertive. Wood can already become imbalanced in childhood with parents overly repressing a child’s assertive side, or not putting boundaries on assertive demands at all. Difficulty to grow into full adulthood or tyrants is created. When lives stagnate rather than evolve, because creative and assertive aspects can’t find expression – frustration, irritability, fury, resentment and despondency can be the results.
As with the other Elements, this can lead to the manifestation of physical symptoms.
The Liver Official holds the office of General and the armed forces. Its role is to initiate action for planning and organising. In our Spirit this official gives us a sense of direction, purpose and hope for the future. Wood gives us the ability to assert our individuality in the world. The Liver is the body’s metabolic headquarters and therefore it is mostly directly responsible for overall wellbeing and vitality. It stores and enriches blood and regulates the amount released into the blood stream.
Negative Emotions – Wood Element out of balance
Excessively dis-organized or organized. Loss of perspective and confusion. Mental focus is obsessive, over-thinking, fits of anger and aggression. Mind cannot conceive new ideas. Anger can also arise when confronted by changes that we don’t want. Stubbornness. Struggling to make changes that can make life more satisfying and rewarding, life becomes a source of regret and frustration.
Positive Emotions – Wood Element in balance
Ideas are conceived with Water, and planned and developed with Wood. Clear thinking and being able to relax, we can reach higher than before. It is vision and direction and manifest as courage of conviction. Vision, decision, direction, constructive- the Wood Element turns heavenly energy into earthly form.
Wood Symptoms
Digestive disorders, indigestion, nausea, flatulence. Allergies. Other symptoms such as headaches and arthritis can be worsened by straining the Liver with excessive intake of alcohol, chocolate; and dairy products. Blurred vision, dry, sore and tired eyes and “floaters” can be a suspected liver imbalance. The Liver Official is also associated with menstruation. Irregular and painful periods, premenstrual syndrome and irritability prior to a period are thus common. The gall-bladder is paired with the liver.
A regular physical symptom I find in companion animals, are fatty livers. Through communication with cats, it has been established that the protein content in the popular dry food pellets fed to them, are severely lacking in quality and quantity. Furthermore, the carbohydrate content (from grains) is too high for animals that are meant to be carnivores. Allergies and obesity can result from this. The food is moisture-deficient and has a dehydrating effect on the body.
Through the loss of spirituality and thus also the connection to our Soul, most of humanity has lost authentic power, and the destructive effect of the anger resulting from that can be seen in the world around us.