Think of the wind bending a bamboo. Start with being fully rigid, then relax just enough to allow for bending, but always with enough tension to snap back like a bow, or a wooden ruler or a cane. (ahh, school days!) Wood has its own way of moving, of holding tension and that is what this form is specifically looking to encourage.
The Wood Element also represents different times in one’s life as we move through different cycles. It is associated with Spring, the time when new shoots begin to push their heads up through the soil. All vegetation is represented by the Wood Element. Wood suggests the creative principal, the feminine principal, and new beginnings of all kinds.
Yin Wood represents growth and development; the strength that it takes for a new shoot to push up through the ground, a chick needs to break through the hard shell of an egg, or a baby needs to come out into the world. Notice that these are all apparently weak things, but their strength is subtle and sufficient for their needs. No one needs to work hard at making a plant grow; it is enough to put it in the right environment and its own energy will do the rest. The greatest and most profound endeavours require only the seed with its own energy and the right environment.
Yang Wood represents the planting of the seed, the moment of conception, the essence of creation. These require your intention, a drive to create, to produce, to grow. Everything that happens needs a beginning, a moment of decisive action.
Wood periods are a time for healing, for helping others, for beginning projects and a time for initial growth both personally and professionally.
Wood nourishes fire, and is nourished by water. This is quite obvious.
Wood is controlled by metal and controls earth. Picture an axe cutting into a tree and a root of a tree working into a crack in a rock and breaking it slowly.
