The purpose of this site is to serve as an educational tool, for myself and others, and a way to share that knowledge. Some of it is informational in nature, other parts may be just my own opinions, observations, ponderings and such. That is all it should be taken as, and it will be easy to tell the difference. You may or may not agree, I'm not here to make others agree or even acknowledge my that point of view counts. I am always learning new things, and open to looking at things from an alternative perspective.
This being the first thing I'm actually adding to this site, I feel it only right that I give a little background. I was raised Christian, the majority of my family are Baptist, although there is the few who were Methodist. During my childhood I was exposed, at least in some small part, to Jehovah's Witness teachings. As I reached adulthood, I began attending a church, which was, as I look back on it, not part of any denomination that I could specify. Unitarian would be the best way to describe it I suppose. One particular Sunday, the preacher called for those who felt moved, to come to the front. As I stood there, with my eyes closed and head bowed, I felt something move through me.. compelling me to come forward. I'm human, I'm not infallible, I commit "sins", and this day I felt the undeniable urge to "fix" it. I went forward, knelt at the altar, and bawled like a baby. I still cannot say why. Two weeks later, I was baptized. A month later, I received a church bulletin, giving the rundown of the church's events, what this person or that one was doing for the community and so on, like your average church bulletin. Then I reached the back page of it, and on that page gave a full account of who had donated. Numerical account was given for those who had donated between 0 and 20 dollars, and so on it went until it reached into the thousands. Those people got their names listed. I never went back, and I have no regrets.
My parents have always encouraged me to make up my own mind where religion is concerned. Same for politics. Never have they attempted to influence my decisions. They may not necessarily agree with them, but I receive no criticism. I am much the same where my own children are concerned. That area is still a bit sketchy, and sometimes I feel as though I might have denied them something by not exposing them to religion or spirituality while they were younger. They know full well, anything they wish to learn about, I will do my absolute best to assist and educate, but ultimately the decisions are theirs to make. But, as this relates to my childhood, I have always had this ability...its odd, and you might call it bullshit, but when my paternal grandfather died when I was 4, I had been sitting in the living room floor playing, and all of a sudden, I reached up and snatched at the air and said "Caught that birdie". Not 20 minutes later, the call came that he had passed. When my maternal grandmother passed, there was a perfect circle of doves flying above this little island in the middle of the Holston River as we crossed the bridge leading out of Mascot. I later learned that the night before, my mother had read a passage from her bible, using my grandmother's method of opening the bible and letting the pages fall where they may, and the first place your eyes fall will hold the answer - Psalms 55:6 "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest." Suffice it to say, this is both a gift and a curse. When I was 8 or so, my parents sat me down and told me that my paternal grandmother had been (as they put it) a "white witch". This term, now, makes me cringe. She had in fact, been a midwife and a healer. My ancestry through her bloodline descends from the Cherokee, and I have no doubt that the things she knew, she learned from her mother, and so on and so on. Where some might fear what they don't understand, the more I have learned about it, the more proud I have become of my own heritage. My only regret is that I did not get the chance to learn it from her directly.
After the church debacle, I decided to go it alone. I still held my Christian beliefs, I still believed in God, the only difference is that I did not go to church. It has always been my belief that one does not need to attend church in order to have God listen to you, if your words are true, even if you don't speak the words aloud. It wasn't long before I began to question the concept of Christianity, and found myself looking at other belief systems. One of those was wicca. It came at a good time, it helped me to maintain some semblance of self respect during a time when my self esteem was at its absolute lowest. If nothing else, meditation alone helped me to see that I could manage the problems I was dealing with at the time. But, as time went on, I stopped. Something about it never felt entirely "right". I was practicing alone, for fear of criticism, fear of dealing with people who had really no idea what it was they were doing. Much of what I witnessed during that time, self-proclaimed wiccans who were little more than effete snobs with incense and pentacles, really reinforced that point. And so again, I drifted, knowing no solid base, no grounding, nowhere I felt "home".
That all changed for me about 2 years ago. After high school, I lost contact with many people I had gone to school with. Then I found this neat little social tool/life-sucking abyss called Facebook. I initially started so I could play some of the games on there. Then curiosity got me, and I started searching names. This search led to reconnecting with several friends, one of which was the maid of honor at my wedding. We began having conversations on spirituality, religion and such, which has led to my first Element Walk. This past year, we have been incorporating ritual into the Element Walk. More on that later, but the point of this is to say that had I not found her again, and met her husband and began this journey, this site would not even exist right now.
I would honestly suggest a study of the elements for anyone, not just those interested in a nature-based or pagan tradition. The time I have spent on both my Element Walk and the past year incorporating that with ritual has given me a deeper understanding of not only the world in general, but myself and those around me as well.
Air belongs to the East quarter. It is where all things begin. It is the idea, the thoughtform, from which all things are possible. It signifies creativity and inspiration, infancy, and is the prime time to start over, make plans for the future and things of that nature. Air is a masculine energy.
Air takes many different forms. It is the unseen around us at all times. It is the gentle breeze on a warm day. Other times it becomes stronger, making its presence felt in the forms of hurricanes and tornadoes. Until it takes those forms, it really has no shape, remaining unseen. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist.
Air in Fire
Fire could not thrive without Air, and conversely, too much Air overpowering Fire would snuff it out. Fire uses Air to "breathe", to spread.
Air in Water
This is pretty straight forward. Oxygen (Air) combines with Hydrogen to create water. Again, Water could not exist without Air. Another example of Air in Water would be the waterspout; Air in tornado form sucks up water in order to create the waterspout. Tidal waves are another example of Air with Water energy.
Air in Earth
This one is a little tougher. Aside from a dust storm, its a bit harder to pin down Air with Earth energy. The senses come into play; think scents: pine.. cedar.. things you might smell while in the mountains.
The ability to see and experience other aspects of a singular Element allows us to understand how each of the elements co-exists, pushing each other along to keep this big rock spinning.
Fire is the Element of the South Quarter. It is a masculine energy, whose purpose is to provide the energy to bring something into being. It represents passion, desire, and sexual energies, to name a few. Fire is not always a destructive force; it's destructive capabilities has been used for good also: fires can be set to remove old dead trees and plantlife to allow fresh healthy growth to take its place.
Fire in Air
Think of the heat on your skin during the summer. The sun is nothing but a giant flaming ball. In a less realistic sense, one might consider the dragon, or the phoenix, both typically being sky-creatures.
Fire in Water
Geysers would be the first thing to come to my mind, along with hot springs. Steam.. Fog. Boiling water. All of these things are representative of what happens when Fire and Water join together.
Fire in Earth
Fire, when combined with metals dug up from the Earth, has many uses; cauterizing wounds, forging weapons and tools, creating buildings. When combined with wood, we can build fires to keep warm, cook food. Going back to the scents, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other such spices like what might be used in baking are also representative of this combination.
Water is the feminine energy associated with the West Quarter. It quenches the thirst brought on by Fire and summertime, replenishing the energy spent to bring about the actions Fire made possible.
To me, it represents the relaxing ebb and flow of the tide between the grueling summer and the complications that come along with winter and the holidays; the gentle flow allowing me to catch my breath and relax between the two seasons.
Water as Air
Look up into the sky..those puffy white clouds that, once unable to hold back any longer, bring the rain to rehydrate the crackled ground. That is Water as Air. There are other representations as well, if only you are willing to look
Water as Fire
Water as Earth
Earth is the feminine element associated with the North. In many traditions, religions, and mythologies, Earth is referred to as female: Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Gaea/Gaia. It is the giver of life, but its association with the North also gives it the association with advanced age, or the final stages of life. Earth, during this time of the year, is in slumber after the final harvest, awaiting the return of Spring and fresh new life to take its place.
Finding Earth energy in the other elements seems tricky at first, but if you just look, you can find it.
Earth in Air
Earth in Fire
Earth in Water
And finally, the fifth Element: Spirit. It is in everything, be it Air, Fire, Water, or Earth. It is the energy of life itself. Everything and nothing all at once; nothing, in that it has no shape, no physical manifestation. All things at all times in perfect balance with one another.
Until I began my Element Walk, I had never really considered this as an "element". I am, as of this writing, coming up on the end of my 2nd year, and looking at things from a completely different perspective. It was all around me from the beginning, if only I had opened my eyes long enough to realize it.
Captain Planet could not have done the things he had done without "heart", which in this instance, is the Spirit. Leeloo, the "Fifth Element", could not have saved the Earth without first knowing love. It is the connection between the Elements, or the material physical world, and the unseen Divine. Spirit resides within us all, is everywhere and anywhere, at all given times of any given moment.
As of the time of this writing, I've only had a cursory experience with chakras. I have followed a few guided chakra meditations, even formulated my own to fit whatever specific needs I might have. That being said, I'm only going to give the basics, not alot of in-depth coverage of it at this time.
Under Construction
First and foremost let me say that regardless of whatever your spiritual or religious leanings, meditation has been proven to be beneficial to all people in all walks of life. Secondly, it is what you make of it.
My personal experiences on the matter usually lead me to falling asleep before I'm ever finished, and guided meditations were how I began. Specifically the Celestine Meditations. Now, before I delve too much into this, let me just say that if you look into guided meditations, expect ALOT of pronunciation, tones of voice, and vocabulary to really seem a bit hokey. Because well, IMHO, it is kinda hokey listening to people talking. But if you ignore that little bit in your mind telling you "This is rather dumb" and lose yourself in the moment... follow along and let the narrator guide you, eventually you will reach a point where you no longer NEED that person, or any person, giving any instruction. You will be able to just put on some kind of ambient music or nature sounds and let the music and your own imagination guide you along.
Moving on, there are many, if not infinite, ways to meditate. There are a few "don't"s but, for the most part, its whatever works best for you. Anything you do should be done based on your own personal comfort. As I said, I first started with the Celestine Meditations, based on "The Celestine Prophecy", which I recommend for anyone to read. Depending on your particular interests, I would also advise looking into shaman meditations, ones that guide you to "find your totem". Another form that I enjoy is chakra meditations, as these leave me feeling more grounded and balanced for days afterwards. I have only had a little experience with what's called "theta wave meditations", but haven't experienced any ill effects. I can't say I'm 100% sure of the point of theta wave meditation, but as I learn more, I'll be sure to share what I've learned/experienced.
**To do: Will be adding links to relevant sites to different meditational procedures.
The search for universal truths is essentially an infinite one. First of all, let us talk about what a universal truth actually is. It is something that is true at all times, in all places, to all people. There is no exception, no denial, no doubt whatsoever that the statement made is "the real deal". The world as we know it, regardless of who you are, is ever-changing. Unless you're Bill Murray stuck in a Groundhog Day experience, each and every single day will be different, even if you hold to the same pattern: wake up, eat, use the bathroom, brush teeth, get dressed, drive to work, work til lunch, eat, work til time to go home, drive home, cook dinner, watch tv, go to bed. Even if you eat the same things every day at exactly the same time, etc etc etc, each day will be different. Even if you live your life in complete isolation and follow the same routine every day, no two days will be exactly the same. This is the basis of our existence.. change. And it is what makes life interesting, as well as forms and shapes our adaptability to any given situation. It is what makes the difference between the coward hiding under a desk in an emergency and the hero type leading everyone to safety. These same differences and changes in everyday life are what breeds our need for consistency, to go in search of things that are undeniable, unchangeable, unscrutable in the course of everyday life: The Universal Truths.
People have debated what these truths are for centuries. The greatest thinkers in the history of the world have tried to nail them all down. I don't profess to know them. Some seem to think that a universal truth relates to a personal code of ethics. If I said I agreed with that, it creates a paradox, because what is true for me, may not necessarily be true for you. I personally believe in treating everyone with the same love as I would treat my own family. I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, trusting them until the time they prove to be unworthy of being trusted. I believe in taking responsibility for my words and actions, especially when they have brought harm or hurt to another person and making amends for the wrongs done to them, even if I know there is no chance of forgiveness. I don't care if I'm forgiven, just the knowledge that I have attempted to right a wrong, that I have done all that I could to ensure the other person is aware that I know what I did was wrong, that I was sincere in the attempt to correct it, that is all I need. But the way the world works, these ideas may not be how other people see things. And so, there is the paradox. In my world, that is how it is. In your world, maybe not. But the key thing here is to find what DOES work, make it a part of you, a part of your daily life, and eventually it will catch on. The Law of Attraction will see to that. Like attracts like, and before you know it, you will find yourself surrounded with others who believe as you do. Those who don't tend to fall out of sight.
As things progress, I intend to add more to these insights. And that's all they are. You can agree with them, take them for what they are. They are really nothing more than the ramblings and musings of a simple person trying to escape this life with some semblance of sanity.
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