Man as Earth, Fire Air & Water

FIRE, AIR, WATER AND EARTH

Ancient traditions hold that all phenomena in the universe are a composite of the four basic elements, fire, air, earth and water mixed in varying proportions. The basic idea of the four elements is spiritual. They are really the emanations of the four letters of God's holy name YHVH . The elements as we encounter them in the physical universe are the very outermost expressions of these spiritual emanations; the level of physicality is always the very surface layer of reality that covers the metaphysical qualities that lie concealed underneath.

As we encounter it in the common world of everyday experience, fire always goes up toward the heavens. It never burns in a downward direction. Fire as we are familiar with it also has the capacity to transform all physical objects to smoke, an almost totally non-physical substance. Whatever catches fire goes up in smoke. Symbolically, the element fire represents the drive toward spirituality - a drive to return to the Creator and be consumed by a spiritual union with Him.

At the opposite extreme of the four elements is the earth, which never falls up, but always descends to the bottom of any solution. Left to itself, earth is always inert. Symbolically, fire and earth represent two extremes - burning passion for spirituality versus total apathy towards any spiritual movement. Fire and earth never directly combine. Except for the very surface layer of topsoil, earth is inflammable.

Sandwiched between these extreme levels of fire and earth are the elements air and water. Fire cannot combine with water directly, but fire and wind can easily combine. Wind and water also combine quite handily and as the fire heats the wind, the wind passes the effects of the former on to the water. The water then falls to earth and blends with the soil to bring it the nutrients of life. The middle elements of air and water thus unite the extremes of fire and earth into a single system. If we regard creation as a single unified system it is easy to grasp why it must be built out of four elements. You must go through four steps to transform the spiritual into the physical and turn the universe into a single integrated system.

Following the metaphor we can also perceive that it is in earth, the inert element, that the three active elements express themselves. It is the earth that serves as the womb from which all life emerges. The air and water allow the earth to combine with and express the fire and energy of life in various forms. It is the only substance that can tolerate the combination of all four elements. Although inert in itself, earth is the universe's unifying force.

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THE FOUR ELEMENTS AND THE SPIRIT OF MAN

These four elements, which are present in the physical world in their familiar forms, have their appropriate counterparts on all the levels of creation. Each level of creation is bridged by these four elements .

Like the earth, man's body is the unifying element in which his thoughts, emotions and actions - which correspond to the fire, air and water - become revealed to the outside world and express themselves.

But the symbolic representation of the basic elements in man has deeper ramifications. Each level within man has its own inert and active ingredients.

For example, within the body, which in its entirety serves as the symbolic representation of 'earth' in the elements, there are organs that represent each of the other elements -- the brain, the heart and the liver. The brain is the organ in man that is capable of serving as the receiver that is sensitive to the messages transmitted by his soul. The soul itself is pure fire, the spiritual aspect of man that ascends ever upward to grasp the Infinite; the brain that transmits the messages of the soul onward in the form of thoughts is the fire within the earth.

The thoughts in the brain that carry the messages of the soul are akin to the element of air that mixes with fire. These thoughts imprint themselves on the soil of the brain in the form of powerful decisions and resolutions. The ability to form decisions and resolutions out of thoughts is the water element that mixes with the air and imprints the soul-generated thoughts into the soil of the brain. 'The flowering' of the soil of the mind can be detected in the degree of its focus on the world of the spirit. The concentration of attention is the outward indicator of the power of the fire in the soul.

The next level is the heart. Because the heart is the seat of the life force, the expression of the basic elements is more powerful here. The fire takes the form of emotions; emotions that can produce a powerful feeling of uplift in the person who experiences them. The earth of the heart is the mouth, in which the fire of man's emotions is expressed through his power of speech. A living being is a speaking spirit, combining the breath (air) and moisture (water) of his lungs in the voice that issues from his mouth (earth).

Still lower is the liver, the organ that is in charge of controlling the quality of the blood in the body, and therefore the central focus all the active organs. Here the fire in the soul and the heart express themselves as the sheer joy of being alive, the wind as the intensity and enthusiasm with which the actions of kindness are carried out, the water as the attraction and desire toward spirituality or repulsion from pure physicality.

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ONLY HALF THE PICTURE

This is the description of how the holy fire in his soul can permeate the entire being of man, but it is only half the picture of a human being.

An unholy fire burns in man as well, a fire that he is sent to earth to extinguish. This fire does not originate in his soul. The fire in the soul gives rise to the burning desire to reach upward towards the Infinite, and this fire cannot drive man towards evil or away from God.

The unholy fire in man originates in his own heart. It is the fire of haughtiness or self-centeredness that encourages man to regard himself as the highest point in the universe. When he allows himself to be consumed by this fire, man's reach upwards ends in man himself and expresses itself as the satisfaction of his own desires.

This unholy fire can imprint itself on the brain in the same way as the holy fire of the soul and form thoughts and resolutions in the brain through the identical process described above. But the focus that results is the satisfaction of the thirst generated by the fire of haughtiness through the water of desires and the air of improper speech, down to the earth of forbidden actions.

When the fire of his soul guides man's actions he is a regal creature, full of power and majesty, and even in his physical presence he can be compared to a lion, the king of beasts. When the fire in his heart dominates his life, he is compared to a dog. When man burns with the heat of his own earthly fire, he is spiritually reversed; he starts from his liver instead of his head, never gets higher than his heart and uses his brain as his heart number two, a machine to work out the best way to satisfy his desires.

Our aim must always be to make the fire within us spread and grow, but in a way that is perfect. Too much zeal will consume us instead of making us glow brightly, but too little will leave us dark and cold. The residue of ash we leave behind tells the story of what we have done with the fire and energy of life