Greek Medicine:THE FOUR BASIC QUALITIES - Yin  and Yang, Greek Style
Cosmology  of the Four Elements
     The Four Elements formed the classical Greek conception of the universe, as  follows:
     At the center of our world is the Earth, as the planet we live on, the  ground and support beneath our feet.  Because of Earth's great heaviness  and density, all things gravitate towards it.
     Running over and around the Earth is Water, in the form of lakes, rivers,  and oceans.  Water fertilizes and impregnates the Earth, giving it Life.
     Over the spheres of Earth and Water is that of Air, the atmosphere in  which we live, move and have our being.  Air's essence is exchange,  contact and movement.  All living things need Air to breathe.
     And finally, Fire lights up the Sun, Moon, and stars in the celestial  firmament.  Fire has brilliance and spirit, and symbolizes the Life Force  within us.
     The human body and each of its constituent parts is also composed of the Four  Elements, in varying proportions.  The basic distribution and arrangement  of the elements in the human body, or microcosm reflects that of the macrocosm  of Nature.
 
Light  and Heavy Elements
     Two of the elements, Fire and Air, are light, subtle and  energetic.  Both of these elements have Hot as their primary  quality.
     Two of the elements, Water and Earth, are heavy, dense and  substantial, or gross.  Both of these elements have Cold as their  primary quality.
 
Fluidic  and Discrete Elements
     The two elements having Wet as their secondary quality, Air and Water, are both fluidic in their behavior, taking the shape of their container and  rushing in to fill every space or vacuum.  Air is hot, light and  flows upwards, whereas Water is cold, heavy and flows or sinks  downwards.
     The two elements having Dry as their secondary quality, Fire and Earth, both have a tendency to separate things and make them discrete.  Fire,  being Hot, does this in an active, dynamic way, by refining, distilling  and transforming.  Earth, being Cold, does this in a  passive, receptive way, by solidifying, condensing and coagulating.
 
Extreme  and Moderate Elements
     Fire and Water are the extreme elements, being  purely Yang or Yin in their basic qualities, respectively.  Fire is Hot and Dry, whereas Water is Cold and Wet.  Because of their extreme qualities, both elements can destroy or overwhelm  easily.  Fire and Water both embody the Cardinal quality  of being able to drive or initiate manifestation and change.  In the human  body, Fire and Water drive all the metabolic processes.
     Air and Earth are the moderate or mixed elements.  Air, being Hot and Wet, is fluidic, subtle and Mutable in  nature.  Earth, being Cold and Dry, is heavy, solid  and Fixed in nature.
 
The  Four Elements in the Human Body
     Each of the constituent parts of the human body is composed of the Four  Elements, in varying proportions.  Here is where each of the Four Elements  is primarily found in the human body:
     Fire: The digestive enzymes and secretions, and all enzymes.  Yellow Bile.  The Innate Heat of metabolism and the Digestive  Fire.  The heart, liver and stomach.  All active, muscular heat  generating tissues; the muscles.  The Fire of spirit and intelligence, and  the sparkle in the eyes.
     Air: The lungs, chest and thorax.  All the cavities and open  spaces, which allow for movement and function.  The blood and the Vital  Force it carries.  The arteries, which pulsate with Air, or pneuma.  All hollow or porous tissues and structures, which are lightened, rarefied  and refined by Air: the bones, connective tissue, and membranous  structures.  Points of exchange and contact: the lungs, kidneys and  digestive mucosa.
     Water:  All the vital fluids of the body, especially the clear  fluids: phlegm, mucus, plasma, lymph and serous and interstitial fluids.  The kidneys, bladder and urinary tract, which pass superfluous Water from the  body.  The mucosa of the digestive, respiratory and genitourinary  tracts.  The lymphatic system.  The brain and spinal cord. 
     Earth:  All the dense, solid, deeper, more permanent parts of the  body.  Bones, joints and structural connective tissue.  Nerves, bone  marrow and nervous tissue.  Teeth and gums.  The hair and nails.
 
Qualities,  Actions and Correspondences of the Elements
     Each element has certain inherent qualities, which give rise to its properties  and actions.  Each element also corresponds to a certain humor,  temperament and season of the year.  The basic correspondences are as  follows:
     Fire:  Hot and Dry.  The most active, energetic and  volatile element, and the greatest emitter of energy.  Light, rising and  penetrating.  Distilling, refining, extracting, digesting, metabolizing,  transforming.  Yellow Bile.  The Choleric temperament.  Summer.
     Air:  Hot and Wet.  The subtlest, most refined  element.  Flowing and fluidic, filling every vacuum.  Exchange,  movement and contact.  Ascending, lightening, rarefying.  Blood.  The Sanguine temperament.  Spring.
     Earth:  Cold and Dry.  The heaviest, densest, most  solid element.  Draws, retains, solidifies, coagulates, precipitates,  sustains, supports, endures.  Black Bile.  The Melancholic  temperament.  Fall or Autumn.
     Water:  Cold and Wet.  The most passive, receptive element,  and the greatest receiver and absorber of energy.  Flowing and  fluidic.  Cools, moistens, lubricates, dissolves, cleanses, purifies,  sinks downwards.  Fertilizes and germinates as the Source of all  Life.  Phlegm.  The Phlegmatic temperament.  Winter.
 
Ether,  the Fifth Element
     Some Greek medical philosophers include a fifth element, which is Space, or Ether.  It is the lightest, subtlest and most refined of all the elements.  Plato called it Prima Materia, or the primal source, womb or matrix from  which all matter arises and manifests.  Ether could be called matter on  the verge of manifestation, or the space that allows matter to exist.
     Like Earth, Ether is also Cold and Dry in its basic  qualities.  But contrary to Earth, Ether is extremely light, subtle and  mobile.  Some say that Ether corresponds to the Nervous humor and  temperament, which is the subtle counterpart of the Melancholic temperament  and black bile.  But for most practical clinical purposes, Ether  and its Nervous humor and temperament are subsumed and included under Earth and  its Melancholic humor and temperament.
 
 
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