Autumn & The Metal Element

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Autumn is associated with the metal element. The world becomes quieter and more meditative, and it is a period of letting go. The leaves fall into the earth revealing open skies above which creates the space for new visions in the future. For people with dominant metal constitutions, it is so important to nurture the art of discernment when it comes to learning what to let go of, and what to carry forwards because it holds genuine value.

Allowing things to fall into place with an attitude of – what will be, will be – is a cathartic process in which the seeds of alchemy are born. Trust in the divine is a quality we can all nurture whatever our constitution. As the world spins into more and more chaos, it is all the more helpful to believe in providence as it enables to hold faith and stay grounded.

 

METAL PERSONALITIES WHEN BALANCED

Those with a metal constitution accomplish to a high standard. They have a heightened sense of beauty and harmony, higher justice and divine providence. They are connected to the laws of the universe, believe that everything happens for a reason, and have a strong abstract mind. Even when things are going badly, they can still see the goodness and understand the bigger picture. In fact, the archetype for metal types is the alchemist. Being able to see harmony even when it is not obvious helps them to transcend mundane reality and turn metal into gold by connecting to the divine. When balanced metal personalities are able to let go of the past and what no longer serves them swiftly, whether it be people, jobs, a mindset or a place. This is because they are inherently able to find the value in life, which means they can also help other people to see and value themselves too. When it is metal time, all of us are called to look back at our past and see what needs to be taken forward and what needs to be let go. This enables us to see life in flow so that we don’t get stuck in unhealthy patterns.

 

METAL PERSONALITIES WHEN NOT BALANCED 

When metal constitutions are unbalanced, they can get stuck mentally, emotionally and physically. Their eye for detail becomes relentless and they can become overly critical of both themselves and others. In fact, criticism can become second nature to them and in their quest for perfection they can get stuck in the little details, become very judgemental and adhere too rigidly to hierarchies and rules.

This makes them very formal with no sense of spontaneity, instead they become pedantic about how things should be. Taken further they feel divine law is theirs and that they have a right to impose their own laws and punishments. Because they can become disconnected from the Self, they lose touch with their feelings and the feelings of others. They relate to ideas more than they do to humans, and can become judgemental, appear arrogant or become so cold and aloof they can’t even really look at people.

When out of flow, they can’t understand what to keep or let go of, so they can take it to the extreme by hoarding things – clothes, watches, cars -and become obsessed by the value of material objects and/or by appearances. Due to a preoccupation with how they look, as they get older, they can isolate themselves because they don’t want to be seen.

At their lowest frequency, when they can’t find any meaning in life, metal personalities can fall into a depression and become suicidal. They are willing to die because they can’t find the divine in anything anymore. This makes it all the more essential to work on keeping the metal frequency balanced.

 

ASSOCIATED ORGANS 

The organs associated with metal are the lung (Yin energy) and the large intestines (Yang energy).  Both these organs are centred on the process of letting go. The lungs breathe in air, nourish the body with oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The large intestine also helps the body expel what is no longer needed whilst retaining life-enforcing nutrients. We know that when the body is constipated it is harder to let of toxins and keeping both these organs balanced and in flow enables us to let go of things in a healthy manner.