the missing element
I’ve fallen behind in my postings here, but not for lack of things to write about.
One exciting development is my new astrology class at the Winds of Change here in Courtenay, something I’ve been wanting to do again for a very long time; ever since I taught classes at Life Rhythms Centre in Edmonton back in the nineties. Teaching astrology is way too much fun! It’s a niche waiting to be filled here, too, so I seem to be the girl for the job.
The first class was last Sunday, and tomorrow will be the second one (7pm, drop-ins welcome!). I had a nice full handful of enthusiastic students, a very good start.
I go around and around about the best way to present astrology so that it is easily grasped, but it’s not easy to do since it encompasses so many dimensions of experience.
The four elements are the problem. If there were only three, the normal triad of earth – air – fire which equates to body – mind – spirit, it would be so much easier—but incomplete, of course! The fourth element, water, is the least understood and the most difficult to talk about.
Imagine the combination of body – mind – spirit – emotion, and you begin to grasp the difficulty. We are taught in cognitive therapy that emotions are a mere byproduct of thought, that in fact, our thoughts cause our emotions.
There is a syllogism in cognitive therapy circles that goes like this: “Thoughts cause feelings / I can control my thoughts / therefore I can control my feelings.”
Leaving aside the thorny issue of whether thoughts (or anything) can actually be controlled, the reality is that emotions are an element of their own. This syllogism is the equivalent of saying that air causes water. There is a complex interaction between the two elements; water contains air and air carries water.
We can influence our emotions with our thoughts, certainly. And the stories we tell ourselves in our minds have a powerful influence on how we feel. Yet our emotions equally influence our thoughts. The mood we happen to be in can warp our thinking considerably, and when you look at the backlog we carry of stored, unprocessed emotion from past trauma, the influence goes deeper and the warping more profound.
There are ways to work with the elements while honouring their nature; each element has its domain where it is sovereign, and that needs to be understood. The four elements are intertwined in each of us, woven into a grand tapestry which is ours to make sense of and use for our growth.
We have a template, a schematic for how best to adapt to life in these bodies of earth, air, fire and water, each of which is unique to ourselves, and that is what I hope to impart in these classes. To teach how to navigate the elemental kingdoms requires activating other senses and skills than the normal intellectual mind, so I’ve got some surprises planned as these journeys unfold.
For they are to be journeys, not simple teachings. I can’t predict where it will go, because we will be working with the unique energies and elemental signatures, preferences, desires, beliefs and intentions of the people in the room, but I am sure it will be engaging and enlightening.
Now I’d better get back to work. Next post: one hundred percent raw!
