At the start of a new year, many people’s thoughts turn to how they can improve their wellbeing over the coming months. Certainly mine do. In addition to being inspired by beautiful views, enjoying the calming effect of water or warming ourselves with fire there are many other ways the elements can help us to be well.
Air
Happy New (elemental) Year!
In Australia we welcome in the New Year on January 1st with fireworks, parties and new year resolutions. The most spectacular pyrotechnic display is on Sydney Harbor, where a combination of fire and water holds people in awe and wonder. In many other cultures the New Year is celebrated at a different time of year. While I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year based on the Gregorian calendar, of particular interest in this post are the Tibetan astrological and astronomical systems that are intimately connected to the elements.
Giving thanks for the gifts we receive
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. By happenstance I found myself in New York City watching the 88th Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Snow, the fascinating element that expresses itself in many patterns, played a big part in the culmination of this day of giving thanks.
Seven elements, plus one
The Rivered Earth contains four libretti written by Vikram Seth, a celebrated Indian novelist and poet, designed to be set to music by Alec Roth. The final libretti is called ‘Seven Elements’. It is a song cycle that includes seven poems – Earth, Air, Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Space.
Travelling with John Muir, an astute observer of nature
Recently I flew across half of Australia – from the green, coastal fringe where most of us live to the vast, arid, sparsely populated centre. John Muir, the famous Scottish-American naturalist and astute observer of nature, was with me on the journey – his experiences captured in the book ‘A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf’.
Paying a visit to elemental ecology
Nearly 50 years ago, Professor Bill Jackson published the paper ‘Fire, air, water, earth – An elemental ecology of Tasmania’. With a title like that, one could say he was ahead of his time.
David Suzuki, rediscovering our place in nature
Very few western scientists take the elements – earth, fire, water, air and space/spirit – seriously. David Suzuki is an exception.
Tibetan prayer flags, filling all of space
The prayers, sacred mantras and symbols on Tibetan prayer flags have been carried by the wind for millennia. First Bon, then Buddhism. Always elemental.
A day in our lives with the elements
The elements are part of our lives in a multitude of ways, some more obvious than others. Today, the first ‘official’ day of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere, seemed a perfect occasion to explore a day in my life with the elements. These experiences are shared and connect us, wherever we are in the world.
The complex cosmology of the Aztecs
The Aztec Sun Stone is one of the most famous and studied monuments of the Aztec civilization. The four elements – earth water, wind and fire – play a fundamental role in the complex cosmology represented on this impressive stone carving.
Fire up Water down 