Cyclical Seasonal Wisdom – Late Summer – Earth Element

EARTH Element

Yellow, Fragrant, Late Summer, Sweet, Centre, Singing, Sympathy, Humidity, Decrease, Mouth, Muscles, Flesh. Yin organ – Spleen – Yang organ – Stomach.

Late Summer

In late summer, we begin to feel the transition as the heat and warmth gives way to the chills and mists of the autumn mornings. The days shorten, and evenings are heavy with humid haze. The flowers which were ablaze yesterday are today drab and fading. It is like the ending of a wonderful party, the proper time has come to bring things to an end, and as the flowers fade, so the fruit ripens. The drooping petals fall aside to reveal swelling berries and pods, the ears of wheat grow full and firm, and the root crops under the ground bulge out of the soil. All the light, warmth and energy of the summer has been captured and stored by the flowers and the leaves and now surrounds the seeds as a store from which they can draw nourishment in the coming months.

Nourishment and harvest characterise the essence of the earth element. The earth like a mother provides us with all the nourishment we need to live through the year. Not just the nourishment for our bodies, but mind and spirit too. The harvest brings the security we get from our physical mother when we have a good harvest, we have the certainty of surviving the winter months until growth begins again in spring. What greater sense of satisfaction and security than knowing the storehouse is full.

Yellow is the colour of corn and harvest, which embodies the essence of the earth element, fertility and abundance. The Earth element is associated with nourishment, it is responsible for taking in, digesting and assimilating food. The two officials of the earth element are the stomach and the spleen, have exactly this function on a physical level. The stomach churns up the food which we ingest and mixes it with digestive secretions, and the spleen takes the extracted nourishment from within the food and distributes it to all parts of the body.

In order to fully understand the expression of the earth element within the mind, body and spirit is by returning to the image of the mother. The essence of motherhood is to caretake a child, this takes place on all levels and when the earth element is strong within a person, a good mother within, we should expect to see her well nourished on all levels. She also has the ability to take in nourishment for her spirit and emotions. Equally we should see, from this person a caring, empathic and nurturing nature, able to feed others on all levels.

When the earth element is out of balance, a feeling of barrenness can be felt deep within, creating a neediness, craving the missing harvest.

A healthy earth element provides a balance of caring for self and caring for others.

Extremes of imbalance can manifest as extreme attention seeking behaviour, always seeking sympathy and/or obsessive eating. Or on the other-hand, unable to receive any attention or sympathy at all, will never ask for help or assistance. It can manifest as extremes of looking after yourself, obsessive pandering over every detail of their physical appearance and clothing etc. It could also be poor boundaries around self-care and looking after others.

The harvest is a wonderful time of year, but nature does not give us a harvest all year round, it’s all about balance, the balance of giving and receiving, and having time to rest and recuperate for a healthy harvest.

A sense of solidity, grounded, equilibrium and centre are at the heart of the earth element, when we have this sense of security from the earth element it grounds the aspects of our spirit which comes from the other elements. When the spirit of the earth in us is harmed it is devastating to the spirit as a whole, we feel uprooted, unbalanced and unprotected.

The love and protection it gives to the other elements is missing. We lose our foundation, causing distress and agitation within the spirit that we would see in a child that has lost it’s mother.

The Officials of the Earth Element – the Stomach and Spleen.

Stomach: The official of rotting and ripening food and drink

Breaking down of the food to nourish the body, mind and spirit.

Spleen: The official of transportation and Distribution

Getting Qi to where it is needed in the body. The process of transforming Qi energy from when it enters the body and transporting the Qi to where it is needed.

The movement of all substances from lymph, blood, urine, the sperm and egg.

Plant medicine Wisdom

Sweet is the taste related to the earth element, and can be described as the nectar of the earth, a gift of nature and mother earth. Earthy sweetness is not sugar, it’s root vegetables, ripe fruits, fresh vegetables, mother’s milk. Herbs such as marshmallow, oats and licorice all have a sweet earthy taste and embody the earth element. Imbalances within the earth can lead to sugar cravings.

Earth element herbs have a demulcent or emollient action in the body. They moisten, soften and soothe tissues of the body and have an affinity for the gastro-intestinal, urinary and respiratory tract. They act as yin tonics by bringing hydration and moisture within the mucus membranes of the body.

Here are some of my favourite Earth Element herbs…….

Marshmallow

Marshmallow is one of the best depictions of a sweet-tasting herb, comprising of the Earth & Water Elements, marshmallow rebuilds, replenishes, and restores tissues that have become weakened and brittle due to excess dryness and malnourishment. The earth aspect of Marshmallow gifts its rejuvenating and nourishing quality, while it’s moistening property corresponds to the Water Element.

Marshmallow reduces inflammation and soothes, dry, red, irritated and inflamed mucus membranes within the body, particularly the gut, respiratory tract, skin and urinary tract.

Energetics

Marshmallow embodies the energy of the Mother, a nurturing, gentle, and nourishing quality, she is like a warm hug giving you a feeling of grounded safety.  Soothing and softening a hardened mind and heart, reducing any spikey edges, irritations and tension, she invites fluidity, resilience and opens your heart and mind.

An excellent remedy if you are feeling stuck, rigid or depleted.

Licorice

This Traditional Chinese herb is another major demulcent, with a sweet earthy quality, used in all herbal formulas as a harmoniser and guide herb. It brings a synergistic quality to all the herbs being used together in a formulation and helps to direct the herbs to where they need to go in the body.

Again it’s sweet earthy qualities moisten, soften and hydrate tissues of the body, licorice is an incredibly potent remedy in that it really has an affinity with all tissues of the body, it’s a complex herb and supports many tissues and systems within the body.

This is my favourite adrenal and hormonal balancing herb, it also supports digestion, is a respiratory tonic and a powerful liver tonic.

Oats

My top remedy for the nervous system is oats. This is a deeply rejuvenative tonic for the nervous system, restoring nervous exhaustion and burnout.

All these beautiful earthy tonics restore and nourish at the root of our being, helping us to feel grounded, stable and balanced within our inner earth element.