Elemental tides

[Carla]

I wonder if we could share what we know or think about elemental tides. I read in an article by Gareth Knight that Dion Fortune taught the elemental tides as:

Vernal equinox to summer solstice -- FIRE
Summer solstice to autumn equinox--EARTH
Autumn equinox to winter solstice--AIR
Winter solstice to vernal equinox--WATER

This feels right to me, I can see the thinking behind it.

In her book '13 Moon', Fiona Walker-Craven lists them thus:

Nov-Jan--WATER
Feb-Apr--EARTH
May-Jul--FIRE
Aug-Oct AIR

She has put the spring as Earth and summer as Fire, but I do see them as the other way around.

Do you know of other elemental tide systems?

 

[Milfoil]

How does making these associations enhance your practice? What does it offer?

With medicine wheel, the 4 directions are often ascribed different elements, colours, animals, plants etc and there is a lot of heated debate about it yet really it is all cultural and individual experience (what makes sense).

If you need these associations, then the ones that feel right will be the right ones for you I guess.

 

[Carla]

I will do what's right for me and have already chosen my system. I like the elemental tides because they make me think in larger terms about the pattern of the year, the changes in weather and the activities in the earth, and in myself emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. When I meditate on the tides, I imagine the entire earth hanging in space with all this swirling activity, change and moving, and it matches a little pinpoint of light deep within me, which sends similar swirls of energy throughout my being.

When I ask these questions, it is out of curiosity to discover what is out there. In no way am I looking for argument, or 'objective' answers. It's all about subjectivity for me with these questions. I like learning what other people think and do. I am finally working beyond asking people to tell me what to do. What a great place to be that is!

 

[Milfoil]

Yet to me, although I acknowledge the fire in Summer, the vibrancy and potency, I 'think' of fire in winter.

To me, every season holds the elements

 

[Richard]

FWIW, I don't know where I got this from originally, but here is what I learned: Spring-Air, Summer-Fire, Autumn-Water, Winter-Earth. It's not very satisfactory, but I'm not sure whether a perfect correlation is possible, since seasonal characteristics depend on geographical factors.

 

[Carla]

I prefer the spring - Fire, summer - Earth, autumn - Air, winter - water correspondences.

For me, the Fire in spring comes from the inception of new life. To me, it's Fire in the sense of the divine spark that begets life. And it's in spring when I myself feel a sense of renewal and a sort of dewy fresh fragility in my spirit. The Earth in summer is because the focus of life seems to be on processes in the earth itself, its striving to produce, produce, produce and reproduce. And it's in summer when I myself focus more on my body, my diet, exercise, appearance and health. Autumn is Air because --as I mentioned in the thread about Mabon -- autumn to me has a feeling of swirling, powerful winds, mists drifting in the air, slanting sunlight and glorious sunsets. And invariably it is as autumn approaches and during autumn months when I seem to always start new learning projects, new journals, new notetaking and question-asking; I get more curious about things and want to find out more. Looking back at my old blank books, nearly all of them have a first date some time in September. Funny! And finally, to me winter is about water because I associate it with cold rain and slush and sleet and snow and general sogginess. And for me, the dark winter months are when I turn inward, and do a lot of exploration of my emotions, and sometimes struggle with dark thoughts and depression.

These correspondences make sense to me.

Milfoil, I see where you are going with fire in winter. is it the yin/yang thing, or is it a more literal association of fires to keep warm?

 

[Milfoil]

Yes, a sort of ying/yang thing in a way. All elements are present in their different forms at all times but perhaps there are times of year when their influence is greater. Fire in summer, the full roar of life, passion, sun high in the sky, heat, south etc is mirrored by it's opposite in winter where water takes precedence in rain, snow, damp, cold so we build fires and turn on lights to balance it. Earth in spring makes more sense to me because it is when the earth suddenly comes alive again, it wakes up, the very earth itself seems to stir, slowly at first but then erupts with new possibilities. Autumn, that time of wind which blows the leaves away, clearing the stale air of the sullen, late summer days, the fresh breeze from the West driving the clouds before it.

 

[Carla]

Yes, a sort of ying/yang thing in a way. All elements are present in their different forms at all times but perhaps there are times of year when their influence is greater. Fire in summer, the full roar of life, passion, sun high in the sky, heat, south etc is mirrored by it's opposite in winter where water takes precedence in rain, snow, damp, cold so we build fires and turn on lights to balance it. Earth in spring makes more sense to me because it is when the earth suddenly comes alive again, it wakes up, the very earth itself seems to stir, slowly at first but then erupts with new possibilities. Autumn, that time of wind which blows the leaves away, clearing the stale air of the sullen, late summer days, the fresh breeze from the West driving the clouds before it.

So your correspondences are a little closer to Fiona Walker-Craven's, listed in the original post. Cool! I follow you.

 

[Milfoil]

I suppose they do but I wasn't conscious of it really. I suppose though, it does inform how we work and what we believe doesn't it?

If you were going to do a BIG ceremony for something specific then choosing the time of year according to the energies would make sense.

 

[Milfoil]

I can also see where the Dion Fortune associations come from too and perhaps there would be many different ways of considering the elemental tides depending on the aspect. It's only swapping Spring and Summer associations.

On a circle of the seasons, the elements in the Fortune way of thinking are opposite complementing elements (Fire is mirrored by Air) whereas on the Walker-Craven circle of the year, the Elements have opposing elements (Fire is mirrored by Water).

These two systems suggest completely different ways of working for the practitioner.