Four/Five Elements

"I propose that the alchemical cycle of the four elements Earth, Water, Air and Fire provides a useful and exact analogue for the processes of transformation of a wide variety of types, and as such can be considered an archetype.  The elemental cycle is a potent symbol for a transformative, qualitative language (logos) which has the potential to guide human consciousness towards lawful, holistic engagement with essentially any phenomenon.  When worked consistently, the elemental cycle leads us beyond ‘everyday’ modes of cognition to what could be called Imaginative, Inspirative, and Intuitive modes cognition.  In these modes, thinking no longer takes place ‘about’ a phenomenon, but ‘with’, ‘through’, and ‘within’ phenomena.  The elemental cycle provides a content, a method, and self-regulating feedback mechanisms for working with transformation, and can help engender a consciousness that can fruitfully dialogue with the interiority of the world by making it explicit.  Its power lies in its ability to act as a template and guide for the structuring of human consciousness; it is a tool which makes available a coherent, archetypal patterning which can help guide and transform a human consciousness in healthy and practical ways.  By making available new modes of consciousness, it helps us learn to see ourselves and the world in ways that allow for greater creativity and flexibility when faced with difficult or problematic situations. At the same time it illuminates and connects us with phenomena – both outer and inner – that might otherwise pass our notice.

This essay comprises a detailed study of the nature of the elements and the elemental cycle, through which it is hoped the reader may gain a solid enough foundation to work experimentally with the elemental cycle independently if desired.  Therefore, the cycle is introduced via a brief phenomenology of the individual elements, which are then connected, compared, and brought together to form a complete picture of the cycle.  The breadth of applicability of the cycle is then explored through a series of specific instances that also serve to illuminate the qualities of the cycle itself.  A report on third-party work with the elemental cycle provides complementary and contrasting experiences, while an in-depth review and application of the cycle to the nature of images opens up the complexities and demonstrates the recursive, self-generating quality of the cycle.  Lastly, an introductory series of practical steps and specific exercises, advice, and questions for each elemental stage is provided to help the reader use the cycle independently."

Since the 1960’s, Vajrayāna has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity, both in Western and modern Asian countries. This closely parallels the logarithmic growth in holistic, alternative and bioenergy medicine in the West during this same period. These two approaches to human betterment, healing and transformation share many areas of mutual concern. Yet in spite of many Vajrayāna rituals focusing on health, vitality and longevity, there has been surprisingly little dialogue with alternative medicine. There is much to be gained by looking at their common ground, particularly how the extensive research into bioenergetic healing modalities impacts our understanding of Vajrayāna. Two core components of Vajrayāna as he basis of a meaningful exchange: creative visualization vs. generative stage (bskyed rim) and sound therapy in relation to mantra recitation (sngags). For each we discuss their differing goals, methodology and the accumulation of scientific evidence and clinical experience from a Western perspective. We can then draw conclusions about what they can learn from each other, theoretically and practically. Through such mutual interchange, Vajrayāna may become much more understandable and accessible for millions worldwide.

Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) and Avatar: Legend of Korra (LOK) have made a considerable impact since they have been released, more than a decade ago. One of the most fascinating elements is the world in which the story is set—it integrates both low-level elements from various Eastern as well as Western cultures. In this intertextual tapestry a huge correlative network is identified, which rests on the conceptual blending of PEOPLE and NATURE, similar to correlative networks in Chinese five-elemental theory and Western humourism. Similar cognitive blending processes are then identified for the hybrid animals in the series. A third example is the blending of modern elements into the previously established world of ATLA during LOK. These underlying blends and low-level intertextual blends are greatly responsible for the success of both series.

本文從文本和圖像資料出發以研究自宋以降漢族與少數民族政權對王朝正統性的不同闡釋。自秦以降，中國王朝多以五行相生來解釋本朝取代前朝的正統性，並同時以五行理論的五行與五色的對應關係來選擇王朝的服色，如宋朝取火運以繼後周之木德，並服色尚赤。 同時，與宋朝並存的契丹、女真、蒙古三個北方民族建立的遼、金、元政權也學習中原王朝的五行理論，分別選取了水德、土德、金德為各自的德運，挑戰了以漢民族本位的正統王朝世系：遼朝的水德生後晉的金德，挑戰了後晉之後的後周與宋的正統性；金朝雖未選取繼承遼朝德運，但其所取土德生自宋朝的火德，是以此證明金亡北宋後已完成中華德正統朝代更迭，而宣布南渡的南宋王朝為偽政權；元朝服色尚白，所取的金德生自同為非漢民族建立的金代的土德，以此證明其取中國正統自金代而非南宋。金、元所建立的王朝世系後被漢族建立的明朝否定，從明朝帝王畫像所服黃色看出明朝最終選定了生自宋朝的火德的土德，從而完全跳過了三個非漢民族政權，恢復了漢族王朝的世系延續。

This work shows that the transmission of European natural philosophy by Christian missionaries in Japan during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was made in a systematic way, even if at an elementary level. The Kenkon Bensetsu is used as main evidence of this. This text was introduced into Japan by Antonio Rubino, on the orders of Inoue Masashige it was translated by Sawano Chūan, at the request of Kainoshō Masanobu it was transliterated by Nishi Kichibei and Mukai Genshō, and this last one also wrote a commentary on its theories from a neo-Confucian perspective.

The historical setting and the process that led to the production of the Kenkon Bensetsu are described. From this it is established that the Japanese of all walks of life were curious about the causes of natural phenomena; that the missionaries had the ability to provide those explanations, drawing from the pool of theories provided by sixteenth century Aristotelian natural philosophy, adjusted to the interests and talents of their audience; and that the Japanese authorities considered that these theories were important in some way and thus took the necessary steps to ensure that that they would not be consigned into oblivion as a consequence of their efforts to stamp out Christianity.

The text is integrally translated following explicit criteria, therefore opening the way to further exploration by many researchers. Some of its most striking characteristics concerning content and style are analysed.

I examine the ancient and perennial notion of the elements (stoicheia) and its relation to an idea of place proper (topos) and natural place (topos oikeios) in Aristotle's work. Through an exploration of his accounts, I argue that Aristotle develops a robust theory of place that is relevant to current environmental and geographical thought. In the process, he provides a domestic household and home for earth, air, fire and water that offers a supplement or an alternative to more abstract and controversial uses of a conception of 'nature' (physis). I identify and elaborate upon environmental aspects of place-based and elemental philosophy.

The paper introduces Silat Tua, a traditional Malay martial art, and its relationship to the tropics of the Malaysian Peninsula and Singapore through the imagery work of the four Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. In a world of increasing disconnect between Humans and Nature, the Silat Tua practice is a traditional martial art for bringing harmony and healing, as well as an understanding of how the building blocks of Nature can harmonise, complement and resonate with the natural resources of the human mind, body and spirit. Through recounting the legend of the art's origin, the first proponent of Silat Tua is shown to have gained inspiration and lessons from the inhabited environment. Examples of how a Silat exponent may explore and come to understand the Elements are discussed before venturing into the practical application of the Elements in cultivating mindfulness and influencing behaviour. The physical environment thus, is not only a source of inspiration for movement but indeed an impetus for leading a harmonious and virtuous life. The paper concludes with the connection and implications of the Elements training in Singapore and its potential in navigating oneself through the constant changes inevitable in life.

The author refers to Alice Bailey, Helena Blavatsky,
the Tibetan, the five Elements, and the realities of the Spiritual World on the basis of seminars conducted by me, involving discussions, explanations and experience sharing.
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%BB%CF%8E%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%82-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD-%CE%B8%CE%B9%CE%B2%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%8C-%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BD-%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%B7%CE%BB%CF%85/

風と共に去りぬ：Bhṛgubharadvājasaṃvāda (Mahābhārata 12.175–185) における五元素説と自我の連続性

『ブリグとバラドヴァージャの対話』（Bhṛgubharadvājasaṃvāda, Mahābhārata 12.175–185）において、ブリグは、人間存在は五元素からなり、自己は火あるいは風として頭部に存在すると説く。その教説に対してバラドヴァージャは、(1) 死に際して火あるいは風としての自我は観察されることはなく、(2) またもし自我が火あるいは風であるとするなら、人間存在の死と同時に自我は五元素に還元されてしまい、自我は消滅してしまうのではないか、と質問する。ブリグはその論難に対して、五元素は、形のあるもの（地・水）と形のないもの（火・風・空）に分類することができ、死に際して火としての自己は風とともに肉体を離れ、空に帰入するのであって、完全になくなってしまうわけではない、と返答する。ブリグの議論は、五元素を形のあるものと形のないものに分け、そして火あるいは風としての自我の死を、火と風が空に帰滅する現象として説明することで、臨終時において自我が認識されないにもかかわらず、死後も存続するという説を擁護しようとするところにその哲学的独創性があることを指摘する。

The article aims to present the issues concentrated on early medieval iconography of the four elements being an integral part of the scene of the Last Judgment. The selected problem was shown basing on the representation from the western wall of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Mary on the island of Torcello (Italy). The author poses a question about the possible occurrence and symbolic significance of the four elements in the abovementioned mosaic, comparing it with other representations of the Last Judgment from the same and the earlier period. Basing on a thorough iconographic analysis of the representation present in her earlier publications and the doctoral dissertation, the author presents a new interpretation hypothesis outlined by the presence of the iconography of the four elements as a symbol of the original act of creation in the Last Judgment.

This educational paper does two things : first, it demonstrates the distilling of targeted information from three stacked levels of writings in the quest for comparable knowledge about the five elements. The 3 stacks here are:

1. buddhist teachings [ The Buddha ] - actual content not included 

2. writer's take on buddhist teachings [ writer = Subhuti ] - actual content included

3. reviewer's take [ reviewer =  Edmund G. Lowrie ] on writer's take [ writer = Subhuti ] - actual content included, with formatter's essentialization of all three [ formater = Clay Moldenhauer ] by means of " beading" or "maatriculation" (synthesis and synergization by means of customized formatting) - included.

The second thing that this paper does is to more clearly expose the reader to what is being said about the five elements, in the opinion of the formater.

I examine the kindred phenomena of shadows and night in order to reveal their significance for better understanding our lifeworld and the elemental environment. I first describe how light is primary to ecological perception and how it conditions our conceptions of space, truth and beauty. Light and darkness are involved in a dialectical relationship rather than conceived as polar opposites. Borne of the interplay of both realms, shadows have been disparaged historically and deserve to be reconsidered for their aesthetic appearance and their relevance to an ecology and anthropology of perception. Night, in turn, is often marked by a negative ontology that points toward the possibility of a kind of elemental a priori, but it is important to characterize darkness in terms of its subtle shades and its filtering through the creative matrix of the human imagination. Seeing the night in novel and unexpected ways, especially via the insights and descriptions of phenomenologists, poets, and artists, enables us to grasp the depth and atmosphere of the surrounding world and to light up our geographical perspectives, our philosophical visions, and our environmental awareness.

I examine the Presocratic thinker Empedocles' philosophical, poetic and religious works-Peri Phuseous (On Nature) and Katharmoi (Purifications)-in terms of their orientations, attitudes and sensibilities toward the natural environment. Through the development of an ethical and material framework centered upon the four rhizomata (roots or elements) of earth, fire, air and water, Empedocles provides an early but important understanding of ideas and issues that remain ecologically relevant today, including conceptions of pollution, the treatment of nonhuman animals, descriptions of organic processes, and the speculative underpinnings of evolutionary theory. I suggest that we can reasonably view Empedocles as kind of shaman-naturalist who is keenly aware of and empathetic with the workings of the physical world even if he is not strictly an "ancient environmentalist". Finally, I point to the post-structuralist work of Deleuze and Guattari, where we can find a critical exploration of the kind of "roots" Empedocles identifies and a defense of the notion of "rhizomes" that enables us both to observe continuities with the Presocratic philosopher and to make creative or constructive links with our modern environment.

I examine the Presocratic thinker Empedocles' philosophical, poetic and religious works—Peri Phuseous (On Nature) and Katharmoi (Purifications)—in terms of their orientations, attitudes and sensibilities toward the natural environment. Through the development of an ethical and material framework centered upon the four rhizomata (roots or elements) of earth, fire, air and water, Empedocles provides an early but important understanding of ideas and issues that remain ecologically relevant today, including conceptions of pollution, the treatment of nonhuman animals, descriptions of organic processes, and the speculative underpinnings of evolutionary theory. I suggest that we can reasonably view Empedocles as kind of shaman-naturalist who is keenly aware of and empathetic with the workings of the physical world even if he is not strictly an "ancient environmentalist". Finally, I point to the post-structuralist work of Deleuze and Guattari, where we can find a critical expl...

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to demonstrate how were the presocratic philosophers thinking about the creation of the world. The first part is focused on a brief description of the life of Empedocles, as well as it defines main conceptions of the idea of cosmology. The main part of the thesis is trying to analyse four elements, which we can hold as substances. Besides for their paramount role in Empedocles‘ cosmology, they are also mentioned since Empedocles is often understood as their founder. The following chapter explains the problem of Love and Strife which both cooperate with the four elements and they all participate on creation and destruction. This chapter is introducing us to the problems of cosmic cycles and Sfairos, which are often considered to be the major phenomenon of Empedocles’ cosmology and philosophy. These ideas are also described here because of the possible comparison of various religious trends and religious thinking.

The paper introduces Silat Tua, a traditional Malay martial art, and its relationship to the tropics of the Malaysian Peninsula and Singapore through the imagery work of the four Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. In a world of increasing disconnect between Humans and Nature, the Silat Tua practice is a traditional martial art for bringing harmony and healing, as well as an understanding of how the building blocks of Nature can harmonise, complement and resonate with the natural resources of the human mind, body and spirit. Through recounting the legend of the art’s origin, the first proponent of Silat Tua is shown to have gained inspiration and lessons from the inhabited environment. Examples of how a Silat exponent may explore and come to understand the Elements are discussed before venturing into the practical application of the Elements in cultivating mindfulness and influencing behaviour. The physical environment thus, is not only a source of inspiration for movement but i...

The author discusses issues of Christian faith and spirituality, makes a contrast between Jesus' own words as mentioned in the Gospels and the materialistic stance of today's apostate Christian churches, mentions major mystics like Rudolf von Sebottendorf and Franz Bardon, and makes an introduction to my seminars of Spiritual Theory and Practice (and their contents as mentioned - in Greek - in the paper "Θεματολογία Ψυχικών Επιστημών - Seminars in Spiritual Exercises, Handouts in Greek").
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/%CF%80%CE%AF%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CF%88%CF%85%CF%87%CE%AE-%CE%B9%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%BF%CF%8D%CF%82-%CE%B7-%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CF%87%CF%81%CE%B9/

“Quelli che gli antichi chiamavano Quattro elementi non erano per loro dei corpi semplici, ma le quattro forme elementari della sostanza unica. Queste quattro forme erano raffigurate sulla sfinge: l’aria dalle ali, l’acqua dal seno di donna, la terra dal corpo di toro, e il fuoco dagli artigli di leone. La sostanza una, tre volte tripla in modo di essenza, e quadrupla in forma di esistenza: questo è il segreto delle tre piramidi triangolari dell’elevazione, quadrate, nella base e vigilate dalla sfinge. L’Egitto, elevando questi monumenti, aveva voluto posare le colonne d’Ercole della scienza universale.” Così scriveva Eliphas Lévi, il maggiore studioso di esoterismo ottocentesco, nel suo Histoire de la Magie (1860), testimoniando come il pensiero egiziano antico fosse considerato uno dei capisaldi della tradizione esoterica occidentale. Nonostante, dunque, il termine con cui si intendono oggi i quattro elementi concreti: terra, acqua, aria e fuoco, sia tradizionalmente riferito a un vocabolo di derivazione greca, l’idea di una realtà fondata su principi fisici capaci, attraverso la propria unione e/o trasformazione, di dare vita o di toglierla è già insita nella tradizione cosmologica egiziana. Una tradizione nota sin dall’Antico Regno e, in modo particolare, dai Testi delle Piramidi i quali, pur non rappresentando un racconto mitico nel senso letterale e letterario del termine, forniscono elementi e riferimenti degni di attenzione relativi alla creazione del mondo e alla sua trasformazione attraverso un’acqua primordiale, una fiamma che da essa scaturisce (Pyr. 237a : sDt prt m nwn), la coagulazione di questa massa informe in un tumulo di terra e nell’ampio spazio di vuoto che la separa dal cielo. Il presente contributo, sulla base della disamina di alcuni passaggi salienti dei Testi delle Piramidi, intende indagare l’uso dei quattro elementi nella prima rappresentazione cosmologica egiziana e, a un tempo, valutare come gli stessi principi alla base della creazione presentino una doppia valenza: positiva e protettiva nei confronti del sovrano defunto e, a un tempo, potenzialmente dannosa dalla quale lo stesso deve essere tutelato.