I will never see my hands and fingers in the same light again. Many cultures and religions consider that everything in the universe, including humans, are made up of the elements of fire, air, earth, water and (often) space/ether/spirit. Even so, I had not made the connection between the elements and our fingers, and in particular with mudras – those elegant and powerful gestures commonly associated with Buddhism, Yoga (e.g. Raja and Hatha) and Indian dance and drama.
Wood
Celebrating the Year of the Horse, five times around
2014 is the Year of the Wooden Horse. The Chinese Zodiac calendar follows a 12 year cycle, with each year attributed to an animal associated with one of the five ‘elements’ – earth, fire, water, metal and wood. The first cycle of the Chinese Zodiac was introduced in 2600 BC by Emperor Huang Ti. This demonstrates the long history of the elements in Chinese culture.
Fire up Water down 