Element	Internal Organs	Body Part	Mood, Emotions
Fire	Heart (Yin), Small Intestine (Yang),	Tongue	Joy/mania, apathy, isolation or excessive interaction, bitterness, lying, sarcastic, sense of betrayal
Earth	Spleen (Yin), Stomach (Yang)	Mouth, lips	Worry, sympathy (excessive, inability to receive), ingratiation, complaining (whiny)
Metal	Lungs (Yin), Large Intestine (Yang)	Nose	Grief, sense of loss, issues with letting go, disdain, pontification, self-worth
Water	Liver (Yin), Gallbladder (Yang)	Eyes	Fear, panic, paranoia, secrecy, intimidating, manipulative
Wood	Kidneys (Yin), Urinary Bladder (Yang)	Ears	Anger, frustration, guilt, judgmental, resentment, passive aggressive, self-esteem

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Nature of Interaction Between Elements

There are three general types of interaction between the elements. Two of these are the mother/child relationship. This is also referred to as the 'engendering', or 'generating' sequence. Each element is the 'mother of', engenders, another element, and is the 'child' of another. The sequence is as follows:

Fire     generates     Earth    generates    Metal    generates    Water    generates    Wood    generates  Fire

Fire is mother of Earth, child of Wood.
Earth is mother of Metal, child of Fire.
Metal is mother of Water, child of Earth.
Water is mother Wood, child of Metal.
Wood is mother of Fire, child of Wood.

The mother provides energy for the child. For example, an Earth weakness, will mean Fire does not recieve enough energy and will be weaker for this. Also, deficient Wood can be strengthened by tonifying Water, its mother.

A child can also 'drain' a mother. Metal can be used to drain excessive Earth.

The third rule of interaction is the controlling sequence. Every element keeps another in check, to ensure it doesn't get excessive.

Fire    controls    Metal    controls    Wood    controls    Earth    controls    Water    controls    Fire

Therapeutically, if an element is showing excess, its controlling element can be used to 'check' the excessive one. For example, excess Fire is easily controlled with Water. Often times, illness will manifest as a controlling element 'over' controls another, referred to as 'overacting' on. A very common example is Wood overacting on Earth.

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Nature of Interaction Between Stems and Branches

The Chinese describe each specific time period, hour, day, month, and year, using two parts - a 'Heavenly Stem' and an 'Earthly Branch'. Each Stem and Branch corresponds to a yin or yang element, eg. Yin Earth or Yang Water. To understand the end energetic contribution of that period, you need to know the interaction of the stem and branch. For example, if the day is governed by Yang Wood as the stem and Yang Fire as the branch, you need to know the overall effect of that day, Wood or Fire. 

So the rules of interaction are as follows. Generally, yang will overshadow yin. A Yin Metal/Yang Wood day will have more of a Wood net influence. A time period that has a stem/branch pair of the same element is stronger than a time period that does not. A period that has a stem/branch where one 'generates' the other (is in a mother/child relationship) is stronger than those without. A stem/branch pair where one 'controls' the other is relatively weak and non-influential.

The last rule is that, when assessing the four time periods of hour, day, month, and year, the year has the greatest influence, followed by month, day, then hour. That is, if the net influence of the year is Earth, month Wood, day Water, and hour Fire, that moment will be most heavily dominated by Earth energy.

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Making Use of the Information

As can be surmised from the above, the influence of the five elements is in constant flux. One hour may be strongly Water, the next much more Metal-ish. Day to day, month to month, the energies fluctuate. 'Using' this information means understanding what the effect of the five elements are at any given moment, be it a specific day of the week, that week, or maybe a four month period.

Once you have a reading of the combined influences of the elements, you can determine the relative states of energy in the internal systems via the system of correspondence. For example, if a day is heavy Fire, then the heart and small intestine systems will have relatively more energy. Also, the digestive system will greater strength, as that system correlates with Earth. and Fire is the mother of Earth. And when looking at the control cycle, Metal system may be in some danger as Fire controls Metal. Therefore, if there is a lung weakness, a respiratory condition rooted in a deficiency in function or energy. This day could cause problems.

Also, you'll notice in the correspondence chart above, each system is considered either yin or yang. For example, under Metal, Lungs are yin, while Large Intestine is yang. Clearly, then, if a stem is Yang Earth, it indicates Stomach. 

Also, if you know your Four Pillar birth chart, you are aware of your unique constitutional strengths and weaknesses, according to the five elements. The cycling of the five phases can be of great use for promoting health and avoiding disease with this information.

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Review of Use

You are assessing the combined influence of up to four time periods: Year, Month, Day, Hour. Each of these periods is represented by a combination of a stem and a branch. Each stem and branch is either a yin or yang element (of the five elements). Each individual time period has an overall influence, depending on the unique interaction of its stem and branch.

The net five elemental nature of any given two hour time period is a combination of that time period, the day, month, and year.

The net five elemental nature of any given day is a combination of that day, month, and year.

The net five elemental nature of any given month is a combination of that month and the year.

The net five elemental nature of a year is simply the net influence of its stem and branch.

After you have determined the five elemental nature of the time period you are assessing, you can look at the correspondence chart to see what organ systems are effected. 

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Energy Almanac

The following spells out the five elemental phase of different two hour periods, days, months, and year.

Hourly

The following table gives the Branch of the Hour, based on the time of day.

Time Period	Branch	Five Element Correspondence
11pm-1am	Zi	Yang Water
1-3am	Chou	Yang Earth
3-5am	Yin	Yang Wood
5-7am	Mao	Yin Wood
7-9am	Chen	Yin Earth
9-11am	Si	Yin Fire
11-1pm	Wu	Yang Fire
1-3pm	Wei	Yang Earth
3-5pm	Shen	Yang Metal
5-7pm	You	Yin Metal
7-9pm	Xu	Yin Earth
9-11pm	Hai	Yin Water

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The following table gives the Stem of the Hour, based on the Stem of the Day and Branch of the hour.

	Day Stem	Jia	Yi	Bing	Ding	Wu	Ji	Geng	Xin	Ren	Gui
Hour Branch
Zi		Jia  Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia  Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water
Chou		Yi     Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi     Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water
Yin		Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood
Mao		Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood
Chen		Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire
Si		Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire
Wu		Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth
Wei		Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth
Shen		Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal
You		Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal
Xu		Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water	Jia Yang Wood	Bing Yang Fire	Wu Yang Earth	Geng Yang Metal	Ren Yang Water
Hai		Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water	Yi Yin Wood	Ding Yin Fire	Ji Yin Earth	Xin Yin Metal	Gui Yin Water

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Daily

February

1st					15th	Bing	Yang Fire	Shen	Yang Metal
2nd					16th	Ding	Yin Fire	You	Yin Metal
3rd					17th	Wu	Yang Earth	Xu	Yin Earth
4th					18th	Ji	Yin Earth	Hai	Yin Water
5th					19th	Geng	Yang Metal	Tze	Yang Water
6th					20th	Xin	Yin Metal	Chou	Yang Earth
7th					21st	Ren	Yang Water	Yin	Yang Wood
8th					22nd	Gui	Yin Water	Mao	Yin Wood
9th					23rd	Jia	Yang Wood	Chen	Yin Earth
10th					24th	Yi	Yin Wood	Si	Yin Fire
11th					25th	Bing	Yang Fire	Wu	Yang Fire
12th					26th	Ding	Yin Fire	Wei	Yang Earth
13th					27th	Wu	Yang Earth	Shen	Yang Metal
14th					28th	Ji	Yin Earth	You	Yin Metal

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Monthly

February 15th thru the 28th is Wu Yin (Yang Earth, Yang Wood).


Yearly

2010 is Geng Yin (Yang Metal, Yang Wood).   


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