The Four Elements

As long as I have been spiritually aware, the Elements have played a significant role in my day to day living. As an Earth sign, sun in Capricorn, I am bound to this planet. My roots run deep and the thought of pulling them up is often a challenge for me. This makes transition and change often hard to except. I have been working with the other elements in my life for some time to alleviate this discomfort with change. Each one has helped me along the way…either combined or through their own unique qualities.
I love the Earth with so many parts of myself….The way it smells after the rain…clean and green with newness, the way it tastes, especially in the summertime when life is bursting forth from the soil, the way it feels as I run my hands along the rough bark of a tree or how my skin prickles as I roll in the grass, how it sounds as it mimicks itself audibly in the trees as the wind blows or when as ocean wave crashes upon her, and of course its visual beauty…regardless of the season.
The Water calms me as I allow myself to be supported by it as I float. Water is fascinating to me, how it can take on any shape it is poured into and it can create and carve out any shape in anything it passes over, through, or around. The sound of water can lull me to sleep or it can inspire excitement, fear, and trepidation. It is an unpredictable force when it is free to move…calm and placid when it is held gently.
The Air as wind breathes new life into my lungs on a brisk winter day. It clears and cleans with its movement. It creates momentum through its capacity to change things. Air can be welcoming and it can slam the door closed with an alarming BANG! The wind can cause us to brace ourselves in life’s storms or to sigh with relief when things become stagnant and stale. Air, like Water is an unpredictable force in our lives…but, like change it is constant as it envelopes us and fills us. It is ever present.
Fire…probably the most challenging element for me, as I dislike getting burned, be it metaphorically or literally speaking…is such a big part of my life. In a lot of ways it is the Fire inside of me that inspires my creative process…working hand in hand with my Earthy soul. It transforms matter directly, quickly, and efficiently. Fire is a means by which we can let go…tossing that which needs transformations in it...whether it is a ceramic pot or an intention written on a scrap of paper. It is Fire’s speedy process that inspires me to make clear and focused intentions for that which is to be changed. But, it is Fire’s unpredictable nature that reminds me not to be attached to how I get to that state of change and what it looks like in the end…trusting that it is perfect and beautiful, no matter the outcome.
So many aspects of our lives encompass any one of these elements or any combination of them. During major shifts and transitions in my life I will often find myself gravitating to one or more of them specifically…as they help me to understand where I am in life’s process, how I can most resonate with where I am and how what I am going through is connected to the greater whole…the bigger picture…the macrocosm. This in turn gives me a greater sense of oneness with the world, Nature, humanity, and God/Goddess.
Blessings to you all….In Joy!