Balancing the Elements
by Starcat

One way of looking at ourselves is as a combination of five basic elements: air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. There are many systems that have used these elements, or some variation on them, throughout history. Very simply, air is our mind or intellect, fire is our personal energy, water is our emotions and intuition, earth is our body and health, and spirit is our soul.

Each of us is a combination of the various elements, and some will come more naturally to us than others. If you’ve had your astrology chart done, taking a look at the elemental correspondences of the planets in your chart is a good way to learn about yourself and the elements. Or you can observe which areas seem to be “easy” for you, and which are more challenging.

I’ve been a pretty balanced mix of air, earth, and water for much of my life, with a dose of spirit that keeps me in touch with my soul’s purpose. Fire was the one that was missing for many years. A few years ago I ramped up my fire, and focused on being more assertive and energetic. It kind of backfired, and I think just recently I’ve figured out why. I started to feel once again like I did back then, more confident, enthusiastic, and powerful. Yet this time, instead of focusing exclusively on fire, I’ve been more aware of balancing all of the elements within myself. This has helped me to avoid overcompensating – last time, I think I went from a lack of fire to way too much all at once, and I certainly did get burned.

The way to balance, although it may seem complicated, can really be a matter of common sense. Think about the things you need to be whole – healthy foods, exercise, and rest for your body (earth), interesting work to keep your mind sharp (air), love , joy, and connection with others (water), enthusiasm and passion to keep you going (fire), and a centered connection with your source, the divine (spirit). Create a balance for yourself over time – sure, you’ll have some weeks where rest is hard to come by, and you’re out there in the world being fiery, but balance it out with a day off for self-care and nurturing.

If you want to learn more about the elements and how to balance them within your own being, we’ve written a series, The Elements and You, in our weekly newsletter, Dream Journal. You can access them in the Dream Journal archive. If you’d like to join our mailing list and receive Dream Journal for free each week, click here.