Earth, air, fire and water: the four classical elements that make up our existence. The four elements that make up our essence, our spirit our self. The four elements that combine with such force of energy, to interact and flux constantly; ever changing – xing.
I wonder how many times people consider the make-up of their spirit. I wonder if people consider what it is about these elements that drive their decisions, their thoughts, their feelings, their passions, their wonderment at the world.
My son, having being relatively well read for his age in the philosophies of the East, is constantly considering his elements. Born under a water sign has become a sort of raison d’etre for him. He believes this is why, as a child, he could spend up to six hours in the sea without respite. This is why he loves the mythical creatures of the ocean and imagines himself, one day, to live his life close to the water’s edge as he feels this is where his element is directing him to be. As a fixed sign, he can rely on his deep imaginings and dreams. It will serve him well.
But he is also a Fire sign, according to the Chinese New Year; A fiery rat. Maybe the water from his Scorpio being will bring enough equilibrium to counteract the fire, and visa versa. It seems like a good combination to me.
But what does it all mean? Are people really defined by these elements? Am I?
I’m afraid I am; a double whammy of fire from both sides of the Greenwich meridian but it has its positives too and my persistent passion for the very best of life drives me positively in the main.
Earth, air, fire and water; these things combined make the soul, create the energy that we all need and focus ourselves on the natural world and the natural way for us. But how often do we bother to even consider these elements in the abstract let alone what they do and how they work within ourselves as human beings?
It’s holiday time; not a bad time to reflect upon the world, oneself and those who are the most significant in your life and I certainly shall be doing that over the forthcoming days. It is actually something that I do quite frequently without being so introspective that I forget to look outside myself and see what is happening to others and what is happening in and around our world.
It is all about balance, and all about change.
Well sometimes it is about change, for I find myself once more in the throes of a Pembrokeshire summer. It is 11.45 on the last day of July and I am writing now because there is no sign of the fire that burns in the sky, inviting me to spread my beach mat on the sand and fester in the flames of warmth. It will come, maybe, for a day or two but us Brits will stoically sit there inviting the fire to join us, whether it emerges from the clouds or not.
Yesterday my horoscope said that I should reconnect with nature. Part of that is about reconnecting with who I am; something I have lost sight of during a period of change both expected and unexpected, invited and not. That is a reconnection with nature that is for me to do, and me to share with those I feel ought to know but what I want to write about today is a reconnection with nature that is the natural world.
City dwellers like me, or suburbia slumberers, tend to lose sight of the natural world. Of course, I generalise because I don’t actually think that I do and I think there are plenty like me but there are some amongst us who lose sight of what is brilliant, what is natural, what needs no definition and yet remains ill-defined without consideration, without thought, without feeling.
It is vital to reconnect, even for those of us who think we do it more or less on a daily basis.
Every single day that I get up, I thank the world for being there. Every single day, the very first thing that I do after raising myself from my bed is look up. And what do you see when you look upwards? Are you a half empty person looking up into the sky and seeing nothing but grey or like me do you search for the sign of the fire?
Every day, as I journey through London, I look to see if I can see something new. I look up once more to see the skyline where the natural world joins with the creation of humankind in the buildings and the smoke that averts our eyes from the clarity of the world in which we live.
How often do we allow children time to do such things? How often do we let them pause from their days and let them breathe in the sights of their own world to appreciate and understand for themselves? How often, like my own child, do they even know what their core element is and how that affects the way that they interact with others, with life, with themselves?
Sometimes, it is good to get away. Sometimes, however much you embrace the natural world within your own dirty city dwellings, you still need to look up and out. Not everyone has the opportunity afforded to the likes of me to truly wander away from the city, and I am certainly not suggesting that this link with the natural world can only happen in the countryside. But sometimes it helps.
So I thought I would reflect on the natural world as far as this part of South West Wales is concerned, and what it is about the place that draws me back time and time again without the lure of the people whom I share this place with.
Earth: fertile and stable, the mother of creation, the place of birth, life, death and possibly rebirth depending on what you believe.
The earth here is fascinating, if you include the rock formation and the layout of the land. As I sit, I can look out to the island three miles off shore and just about make out the incredible natural divide within the island; half of it being limestone and the other half the reddish allure of the sandstone. How utterly incredible is that? That this island has its own natural divide, its own yin and yang that travels right down beneath the feet of the visitors to this place; one foot on grey rock, the other on that red stuff. How and when did these two fuse to create the island that I see in front of me? What wonderment of nature that thrust these two unnatural partners together to link together into the most straightforward and obvious of combinations.
And then there is the spread of the sand, all two and a half miles of it, limestone havens to the east, sand dunes and grass covered cliff tops to the west. The contrast and connection is breathtaking in itself, each part of the beach somewhat unique and that is before you get down to the level of the sand, holding it in your hand and inspecting all the living creatures that have created the diversity of every speckle in sight.
Even if you are not at a beach, it is worth taking the earth in your hand and just feeling its strength, its power, its life. For this soil beneath us is not dead. It is life-giving and full of rebirth for other things, other beings.
Air: the breath of life, the carrying force of shedding worries or enveloping delight, symbolising the power of the mind and perpetuating positive thoughts.
I need the air to breathe over me. I need and desire its turn, its change, its ability to flow through me, within me and over me, releasing my mind from its reckless thoughts.
Well, I am in Wales. It’s windy. Why are the Welsh so miserable sometimes when they have all this wind freeing their souls from underlying tensions, if only they embraced the power of the natural world?
I love taking a walk in the breeze. I love the combination of the wind and the sun as it scorches my back (in my dreams, or in a distant memory when we used to sit on the beach more regularly). I adore feeling the wind rushing through my hair, oblivious to the look of distress it is creating. It can create all manner of distress to my physical appearance if it blows my mind afresh.
Yes, Wales is windy. They talk about the rain but they tend to discuss the wind with less resolve.
The other day, whilst taking a relatively long walk from Manorbier to Tenby, I came across a small tree, alone in a field. Its shape had been completely moulded by this element, being continuously battered from the westerlies so that despite its natural inclination to climb towards the sky, it was squashed eastward. It really did look rather beautiful.
But it is not all about wind. What about the air? I love the cleanliness, especially living in a city when the air is so infected by its purpose. Just being able to walk out into the street and breathe in, knowing that there are no unnatural substances is edifying in itself. When the cleanliness of the air combines with the rays of sunlight being drawn towards the earth, across the sea to land on your back – well, there is nothing quite like it.
The sweetness of the air increases as you move away from the coast and walking through an avenue of hedgerow is the most gratifying experience on a warm, even overcast day.
The air in Pembrokeshire is clean. I wonder if the minds of the residents are too. I wonder how often they walk out and just take some deep, meditative breaths and be grateful for what they inhale.
Fire: my sign in all forms, the masculine element, the drive, the passion. Creation and destruction in its midst. It can heal and harm. Fertility. Strong will is its force.
Create, create, create, for good with a little blip in there from time to time, eh?
There is no fire in Tenby at the moment but there certainly was yesterday.
When the sun is desperately trying to come between the clouds it is a fascinating battle to watch. Which of these elements is going to be the victor? Which one will champion and declare its worth above all? Usually it is the unspoken element that wins but yesterday, the sun finally championed and brought forth the most delicious of summer evenings.
But there is warmth and fire elsewhere within this town that is worth a mention, admittedly not the most natural of light but there is warmth and presence in it nonetheless.
Last night, having eaten a pleasant family meal in the hotel, I wandered down to the harbour with my camera and borrowed mini-tripod in hand. The fire within the dark was all around; twinkling brilliance from the electrical glitterings across the harbour that were further enflamed with the reflective element of the water. It is sight to behold. It is the feelings that are generated within. Pure passion and brilliance. Pure energy.
When the sun does shine, it shines divinely. Having spent so many years down here, I merely look up at the sky, see the position of this great flame of fire and can identify what time it is without getting anywhere near a watch, clock or mobile phone casting out its digital reminder of the minutes passing by. How much more in contact with the natural world can you be? Telling the time by the strides of the sun is exactly how we should all be living; in the now that is not determined by the precise minute or second but my the generality of a sun in a sky and its proximity to the open horizon.
Water: the healing, the cleansing, the purification, the symbol of passion and emotion, apparently. I wonder what emotion (in the singular) that this particular definition means.
For many many years, I have been convinced that I would like to live by the seaside. I would certainly like to live closer to real seaside sometimes, within forty five minutes of open beaches to walk along. That is what I would really love to do, but I am now convinced that my preferred way of living would be next to a river or a gushing brook. Yes, this is an element that my fire needs to soothe, to suppress without the effort of doing so. I love the uniqueness of water.
A couple of nights ago, I lay in bed trying to eradicate certain noises by listening to the most natural of water sounds; of waves crashing down on a deserted beach. The sea was directly beneath my feet, or so it seemed, and falling into a much needed sleep in those circumstances, listening to those naturally repetitive sound is something that everyone should experience at some point in their lives.
The sea, according to the sign within the town, washes away the ills of all men, or all the ills of men, dependent upon the translation. But the sea can only wash away your ills if you are prepared to acknowledge their presence. You can only be cleansed if you have opened your mind to be cleansed.
The natural world can work wonders but it cannot always work alone.
I could sit for hours looking at the combination of earth and sea as it moves forth with the helpful assistance of the moon in its lunar journeys up and down the beach twice a day. What utter fascination and bewilderment to see this natural world in practice, earning its right to overpower and monopolise our world, if only we allowed it to take its rightful place. And as I look, and as I feel and as I embrace the salty smells that this combination provides, I slip into my soul and ponder, or not if it is not the time to think.
The natural world continually invites us to join them in their existence and time and time again we ignore their call.
Perhaps it is time to reflect on the elements more regularly. Perhaps it is time to embrace the spiritual power of these forces that are such an integral part of our lives. Perhaps we ought to, like the Buddha himself, reflect on the fact that these elements and their power within us should not remain stagnant and should constantly be changing, constantly moving on. Important things, important people, important places will still remain within that constancy but in order to appreciate the oneness and the wonderment of the world, subtle changes need to take place to remind us all of the power of life.
Cohesion, solidarity, inertia, expansion, vibration, heat and energy – all forming the change, all forming the xing, all qi, all key, if you want to live your life with spirit.
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