Fever

Fever is one of the body's way of purging itself of unwanted Qi. When a person is sick, the five transformations shift and the body locks itself into the Fire element. During the Fire transformation, the exterior is open as the Fire element connects to the Qi of the surrounding world. In a fever, the exterior is purposely left open to allow something to exit, kind of like leaving the gate open to get an unwanted dog out of the yard.

To make sure that the dog leaves, the Fire element warms the core of the body and takes over the role of protective qi from Metal. If you've ever stood near a hot fire, you know that your reaction is to move away from the heat. The fever plays on the same principle. The expanding internal heat drives out any external improper Qi, and prevents anything else from entering into the body.

When the fever breaks, a person often sweats. This closes the exterior and signals that the body is resuming it's normal transformations in shifting from Fire to Metal.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Greenberg