Earth is all things to all people.  From the mountains, to the plains, to the desert...earth is the naturally provided facility for all land dwellers.  As a home to a variety of occupants, earth finds joy in serving, solving, and cultivating harmony in those who are in their vast panoramic view.

As the maturity phase of the lifecycle process, earth seeks to appease others over itself.  Connectedness, networking, and sharing, are the hallmark traits of this process as it works to coordinate real-time balance of all the wants and needs of an organic community based  system.  

This element carries strong conviction for equality, fair play, and uniformity, and holds loyalty, intention, and fidelity as the cardinal glue that holds everyone together.  It prefers to be needed rather than wanted, likes to be involved in what's happening, and prefers to come up with group ideas rather than be in charge of leading them.  As a highly attentive, sociable, and supportive element, earth pursues the ideal family and are excellent gift givers.

While hard work, duty, and labor tend to generally be avoided by most, earth casually volunteers for these types of assignments, as a way of life.  It doesn't mind doing it's part, sharing its earnings, or making sacrifices for the greater good of humanity.   Due to the liability associated with coordinating the earth process, it prefers to operate on a functional system.   If everything is in its place, everyone fulfills their roles, and we all sing to the same tune, then there is a secure and sustainable team.  Earth holds dear the sentiment of "All for one, and one for all", as it sees all things connected and inter-related.  Individuals, resources, and news are all small parts of a larger operation that earth volunteers to manage.

Excessive Earth

Excessive earth gets territorial and creates disruptive terrain.  It is easily tempted to manipulate habitability, sprout forth earthquakes, or shake up land slides to make life difficult for those who threaten their approach, at the same time reward those who are compliant.  It struggles with the concept of external influence as they see people as team members, each loyal to their own respective club, competing in a much bigger league.  In its excessive state, earth will hold accounts for the behavior of others and will propose, campaign, or lay claim to rights, privileges, or debts owed.  Knowing everybody's private secrets, their personal vulnerabilities, and their particular habits, creates temptation to meddle in the affairs, dictate narratives, and shape how non-compliant individuals are viewed by the greater public.  

Deficient Earth

A deficient earth is a demoralized one.  Without any fuel to continue the difficult job of coordinating the world, earth resigns to compliance without conviction, subscription without commitment, and overall passive-aggressive behavior.  Feeling un-needed, un-utilized, and unworthy of being involved causes earth to feel insecure, resulting in a delicate, clingy, and overly sensitive mood.

Balance of Fire and Wood

The earth  element does not operate in isolation.  Its health rests in the balance of relationship that exists between other elements.  Being all things to all people is a big, important, and dynamic job.  There is something beautiful to be said about community, harmony, and coexistence.  A healthy earth needs a fair dosage of the social excitement, dazzle, and fun of fire to gather the masses.  It also needs a casual reminder from wood on how important creativity, individualism, and change are to dealing with diversity in groups.

Nourished by Fire

Volcanoes sprout forth fire to create earth.  It is the preceding excitement, energy, and attention that is cooled and transformed to become viable land.  People are attracted to fire's charm, and once the crowd is big enough earth steps in to organize the necessities and make sure everyone makes themselves feel at-home.

Over-nourishment by fire however, will create a larger crowd than earth can handle.  This will generate a backlog of chaos that will burn up all resources that earth has to offer. At the same time, the lack of sufficient fire starves earth of the resources it has built in preparation.  Hosting an event with no attendees leaves earth in a flattened state.

Restrained by Wood

Wood conceals earth, like a forest hides, reserves, and sets boundaries of the land beneath it.  Wood is concerned with uniqueness, individualism, and breaking the mold, while earth is about community, sharing, and falling in line with the system.  The two are opposites which creates a true yin yang relationship that thrives greatly when there is balance between them. 

Over-restraint of wood disrupts the connected nature of earth into an almost anarchist state.  If the community framework is built around not having any framework at all, then chaos ensues.  However, the under-restraint of wood encourages autocratic overreach by earth who is the author of the community's constitution.

Nourishes Metal

Metal is created under the earth.  The weight, usage, and process of earth creates pockets of minerals that mature into admirable, beautiful, and useful ores of metal.  Earth is the originator of systems, processes, and organization, which metal takes to the next level through its sentiment of refinement.

To over-nourish metal with earth is to provide a burdening amount of processes, plans, and procedures to the point where metal is no longer refining a niche, but exhaustively correcting an unlimited spectrum of earth.  At the same time the undernourishment of earth can make metal feel void of usefulness.  Metal craves a community (earth) to give it work to do.

Restrains Water

Water is contained by earth.  The excess tendencies of water are to fall into paralysis of analysis and self-sufficiency sentiment, which isolates itself from the rest of the world.  Earth emphasizes the power of relationships, connectedness, and refreshing diversity of others, even in thought.  

Over-restraint by earth however, centralizes the truth that water so greatly seeks, preventing  the freedom of experimentation, validation, and transparency. While the under-restraint of earth, sinks water into the lonely, dark, depressive abyss of heavy weighted truths.