DECORATING WITH THE EARTH ELEMENT

The Earth element is referred to as nurturing and receptive. Wood is associated with Springtime and Fire with the early Summer time. This makes Earth a representation of the late Summer, the connection between the first two seasons and the transition towards the last two seasons of the year. Two of the elements contain Yin energy and the other two contain Yang, making Earth the perfect balance in Yin and Yang energy. It can express both depending on the materials used in the space. Earth is grounding, stabilizing and centered, it creates balance because it sits in the middle of the four other elements.

Homes that are dominant in Earth elements are warm and usually have clay adobes, with square or rectangular patterns. The Fire element is used in tandem with the Earth element because fire creates earth in the productive cycle of the elements as fire enhances earth. Wood beams and furniture are used as a contrast, to create balance in the space.

In the destructive cycle, wood weakens or diminishes earth. Therefore, if you need to temper the element of earth in your space, you can use a few decorative elements associated with the Wood element.

EARTH PROPERTIES & BENEFITS

Benefits:

If you are someone that is looking to maintain inner balance, joy and groundedness the Earth element can assist you in this. It can also assist in creating peaceful and calm relationships, so incorporating it into the Love & Relationship gua is very important.

How to Use:

You can incorporate the element of Earth into your spaces by enhancing the Guas that are associated with the element or in the guas that are nourished by that element, refer to the image above for a quick guide. The Earth element is associated with the Health & Wellbeing and the Love & Relationships gua. You would also want to add some earth to the Creativity & Travel corners of the home since earth produces metal.

Shape:

Shapes associated with the Earth element are square and rectangles as both have four corners and four is associated with grounding, and stable foundation enhancing the Earth element.

Color:

As we enter the early summer phase you can see that it’s usually associated with bright, warm tones, and as the summer transitions towards autumn, the bright tones become muted. Colors used to bring the Earth element into your spaces are earth tones like orange, yellow and brown. Neutrals and monotones would also be supportive palates.

Increasing the Element:

If you notice you are lacking the Earth element characteristics and want to enhance them in your spaces, you can increase them by adding any of the items mentioned below.

Decreasing the Element:

Too much Earth energy can cause someone to feel too grounded and can create the feeling of stagnation. Life will feel as if it stopped moving forward, and it can feel as an unwillingness to take the chances necessary to get things moving. To stimulate this element you can add Wood and Fire elements to your space, as wood provides the inspiration of moving forward, and fire the passion and personal power to take action