金
jīn
Inner value, structure, strength, form, flexibility. Worth. Need for acknowledgment.
grief; disconnect; guilt
The challenge for metal is to detach from the mundane world and connect with and value spirit. Metal types tend to be over-attached to the physical world, trying to hang on to things as they are or as they were. They try to avoid loss without realising that the only thing of permanence is spirit. Their actions tend to be driven by the need to avoid loss and to establish value. This focus on the physical world tends to drive them further from spirit, exacerbating their sense of loss. It is only when they connect with and value their spirit that their actions align with their soul. With connection comes a sense of faith in the flow and flux of life and in a higher purpose or bigger spiritual picture. There is a sense of reverence for the natural order and a sense of natural justice to the world.
reverence and connection with spirit, and detaching from the mundane world Righteousness – divine justice rather than personal judgment
Hanging on to what is of value. Hanging on to everything in case it has value. Appreciating our true nature, valuing what is inside.
Spirit is the only thing of value. Need to experience spirit within, understand that joy dependent on external factors is transitory.
Sorrow/grief
Lu: Sorrow, longing, grief. Finding what is of value and discarding what is not. Connection to heaven.
LI: Isolation, letting go, negativity, sarcasm, excessive pride, not valued or looks for flaws in self or others. Connection to earth.
Rotten
Dryness
Autumn
Smell/nose
Weeping / mournful breathing
Po (corporeal soul) – draws things towards centre & holds on. Return to origin (as in spiritual origin). Encompasses primal emotions [fear, anxiety, joy, sorrow, worry, grief]
Pungent
Body hair
father
Metal Pattern and Lessons
Key words
Grief, guilt, acknowledgment, worth, value, holding on, letting go, longing for connection, disconnected from spirit, unworthy, feeling I am wrong, disconnected from others, need to live up to other people’s expectations, separation, feeling right, reverence for life.
Pattern
Metal types do not acknowledge their own true worth and are always seeking to establish worth or value. Usually they see their value as a function of what they do - not who they are inside. They try to do things that are acknowledged and valued by others. However, this type of value is transitory.
Metal types are driven to avoid grief. Grief relates to unexpected loss, so they will look to minimise loss. They try to find and retain things of value, whether it is a relationship or money.
Unsure of what is of value they may begin hoarding everything or feel like they cannot hold onto anything of value. They may feel that everything worthwhile gained is subsequently lost. I have had some metal type clients say “nothing is permanent so there is no point in gaining things because you cannot hold onto them anyway”.
This longing for value is driven by their disconnection from spirit – the only thing of true value. Feeling like something is missing, but not sure what, they are always seeking to fill the hole with something external.
They usually feel unworthy of love and try instead to be the image of what they feel other people expect, in order to be worthy of their love. When they receive love they see this as evidence of people only loving them because they do what they want rather than being loved for whom they are inside.
They hide their true self from others feeling that it is unlovable. They feel that no one truly knows them. This disconnection from others is driven by their disconnection from their own core self, usually because they feel something is wrong with the core self. Feelings of guilt dominate this view of the core self. Because they are disconnected they cannot connect truly to others.
So the irony is that they feel they cannot connect to others and be themselves, so they pretend to be what others want and then feel that any connection they gain with others is based on a lie – so is not true connection.
They usually see themselves as different or separate from others. Sometimes they may think that they are better than others, but not able to connect because to connect they must come down to the same level – and be like other people. The pattern is the same whether they feel inferior or superior – they need to wear a mask to be loved.
Motivations
Metal is about the animal self. Is it valuable? They are separated from it because they believe humanity/ masculinity/ femininity is not valuable – only spirit (outside of their bodies) is valuable.
Sometimes this needs to be addressed head on – their difficulty enjoying sex and other physical pleasures producing strong emotional responses that relate directly to the motivating feeling – sometimes they use the words “dirty”, “slutty” or something denoting fundamentally wrong.
Another key aspect of metal is that they want to ensure people don't see what is inside. What is usually underneath this is a sense of emptiness/ nothingness. This generates the search for value external to themselves (doing patterns or hoarding patterns). Once they connect with the emptiness just sit them in that feeling. Its driven by their own separation and goes when they have a sense of themselves being part of something bigger than themselves.
The need for belonging is very strong and often drives their dysfunctional power issues. They often give up their power to belong. Usually they are not blind to this need to belong and it can be a good felt sense to work with. Obviously the root of this is their inability to accept being a human.
They need to be acknowledged/ valued/ respected/ honoured. Sometimes this is the motivating force behind their pattern. Usually they will connect with one of these words more than another so use whatever word they connect with the most. Acknowledgement starts from within – they need to acknowledge their own self. This does not happen when they are constantly focusing on what others will value.
Lesson
The key for Metal types is to re-connect with their inner self and spirit. In connecting with this original nature they can appreciate their true nature and value what is inside them. When they value themselves they will no longer need to seek to be someone else when relating with others. They can feel worthy of being loved and connected.
The key lesson is that spirit is the only thing of real value in life. Since everyone has spirit everyone is of equal value. When we learn this lesson we understand the process of life in a different way. We connect with the bigger picture - see the natural order to the universe, sense the natural justice to all life. People are born, live and die; everything has its place. We have a reverence for spirit and life – the whole process from birth to death.
We understand that existence has more meaning when we connect with spirit – the connection we had at birth and have again at death. Pursuing individuality, seeing ourselves as separate, ultimately lacks purpose and meaning. It makes us feel incomplete. It means we seek to establish our value independently of spirit, through deeds and actions. We act in ways that we think that other people will value.
Actions that are independent of our spirit are ultimately meaningless for us. The lesson we need to learn is to let go of this individuality and just be.
Possible Metal Goals
I express the beauty and truth of my core self.
I value my true self.
I am worthy of love.
I am worthy of love regardless of what I do.
I connect with my inner self/spirit.
I am connected to God.
I am a part of God.
I am at peace with the process of life and death.
I am my spirit.
Attachment
The monk shaved his head as a symbol of renunciation; but now he goes nowhere without his little cap.
It’s funny to see someone who says that he renunciates, call childishly for his few meager possessions.
Before you say that you are spiritual, ask yourself if you can give up worldly desires.
Adapted from: Ming Dao, 365 Tao
You can be attached to being detached. Some people are attached to the notion of being enlightened or being detached from worldly desires.
It is our attachment to outcomes that causes us stress. You can only lose what you are attached to. The less attached we are to others the more love we are able to show. When we love without attachment there is no fear of giving too much or being “bled dry”. We can give more because we do not require an outcome from giving.
Metal Characteristics
Meridians: Lungs/Large Intestines
A person with well balanced Metal energy is well organized, self disciplined, and conscientious. They like structure in their life. They are most comfortable in situations when they know the rules and can succeed by following them. Metal Qi bestows a deep inner strength, like ore mined from the mountains.
Metal Imbalance
A person with Metal Qi imbalance may be grief-stricken, steeped in sadness. They may be overly critical. They may have trouble letting go. When the Metal energy is weak, there can be illnesses of the lungs – asthma, allergies, frequent colds. The Lung meridian rules the skin, so rashes, eczema, and problems with sweating can be related to Metal imbalance. The Large Intestine meridian can be affected by chronic constipation or diarrhea, or other bowel diseases.
The Metal energy peaks in the fall. In the cool, crisp, clean air of autumn, metal people feel they can accomplish anything. The color of Metal is white, and people strongly influenced by the Metal Qi may have pale complexions.
Metal — Autumn – the Lungs – the Bodily Soul
The Metal element represents both the interchange and synthesis of Qi energy. The functions of the leaf of the plant provide a good example of this activity, incorporating, as they do, the processes of transpiration and photosynthesis, the exchange of vital gases, and the transmutation of solar into nutritive energy. As the element of dynamic exchange and interaction, and of the extraction of energy from the environment, Metal is also linked to the concept of boundary. It is the physical and metaphorical “skin” through which we take in and let go.
The principal organ of the Metal element is the Lungs. “The Lungs are the origin of breath and the up welling of the animal spirits or inferior soul. The Lungs influence the body hair and have their effect upon the skin. The Lungs act as the great yin which permeates the climate in autumn” (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic Internal Medicine).
As the central organ of respiration, the Lungs are said to govern the Qi, inhaling the “pure Qi” of air and exhaling “dirty Qi”. They are responsible, in addition, for the synthesis of the nutritive- and defensive-Qi, formed from the fusion of Air- and Food-Qi. The role of the nutritive-Qi is to sustain
and nourish, and is distributed by the Lungs to all bodily organs (via the meridians); the defensive- Qi is dispersed round the periphery of the body to protect it from pathogenic invasion.
The Lungs are crucial, therefore, for ensuring the vitality of both body and mind. If Lung function is impaired, there will be tiredness, shortness of breath, sadness and grief. Poor defensive-Qi can lead to acute infections such as colds and flu.
If there is both deficiency of Lung-Qi and a weakness of the Spleen-Pancreas, the production of phlegm, or mucus, is common. Whether nasal or bronchial, phlegm can take a clear, white and copious form, indicative of cold phlegm, or a sticky, yellow form, characteristic of hot phlegm.
While the Liver is said to house the Ethereal Soul (Hun), the Lungs provide the residence of the Bodily Soul (P’o). The P’o is the bodily aspect of the human soul and forms the physical, more yin counterpart of the Hun. The bodily soul is the aspect of soul that comes from the earth and ultimately returns to the earth at death. It relates to us as spiritual beings in our current life. When we are strongly connected to P’o we will feel like spirit is embodied in our life.
The process of breathing can be viewed as the pulsating of the Bodily Soul (P’o), which relies for its inherent vibrancy on the vitality of the Qi. Living as it does in the moment, P’o is affected, in particular, by feelings of loss and grief. These emotions, in turn, can obstruct the orderly rhythmic function of the lungs as they “take in” and “let go”, reflecting an inability psychologically to fully let go and move on. P’o that is constricted by a persistent feeling of grief can therefore result in chronic fatigue and breathing difficulties. Metal types often feel separate from others and in disharmony feel disconnected from spirit. They seek to establish value through their actions and by wearing a mask that they think other people will acknowledge.
The highest expression of the Metal element is a sense of Reverence for their spirit and for life. In valuing their spirit they recognise that they have inherent value and do not need a mask to be valued. This comes when we embody spirit and recognise that all creation is linked to the one source. We regain a true perspective of our place in the Universe and see birth and death as part of the natural order of things.
The leaf of a plant is symbolic of metal in that it “breathes” for the plant, taking in sunlight and air and letting go of oxygen.