Soul Mirrors and the Elements - FIRE

[Amberlyn <amberlyn@...>]

Greetings all,

I have studied the Elements intensively, but through another system, so I 
would like to post my understandings here, to see how well they align with 
Hermetic philosophy. These notes address each element and its 
characteristics, and show or imply how these characteristics then reflect 
in human traits. I thought it might help some of us discern which element 
to attribute to a particular trait on our Soul Mirrors.

I will post each element separately. (My primary source for this 
information came from a little booklet put out by the Church of Seven 
Arrows, many years ago.) Here then, are my thoughts regarding FIRE:


I associate any Energy with Elemental Fire. Fire is also associated with 
Will and Volition. In Hermetic practice, the Will & the Emotions are quite 
different: the Will being an expression of the Spirit's Life-Energies, 
rather than a matter of one's sensations (feelings or emotions). Examples 
of expressions of the Will are enthusiasm, confidence, assertiveness, and 
(on the negative side) frustration (as blocked will) & anger. (Happiness, 
serenity, depression, & sadness belong to emotions, hence, Water.) 
Associated with Will are wants & desires, which refer to the future (not 
yet manifested but likely to become expectations to be achieved as time 
passes).

Fire is non-mutable. We take kinetic energy from water in a power-dam and 
convert it to electrical energy; then we convert it again to light and 
heat; yet, at each step in the process, it is still Fire. One's Will may 
begin as Life-energy, then manifest as enthusiasm, which can transmute to 
anger, or to frustration, or to nervous tension; yet, in any of these 
states, it is still Life-Energy.

Fire is the Motivator. Without Fire/energy, nothing moves! Without some 
application of willpower, we don't move! It is the effect of Fire that 
excites the wind and whips the trees around; it is Earth, or endurance, 
that enables the trees to still be there afterwards. It is one's Will that 
produces action; it is one's unshakable Beingness that allows one to 
continue existence regardless of the activity-level.

Fire energy radiates. Life-energy insists on some form of action. (We call 
it boredom & frustration when it's blocked from motion of some kind.) The 
use of carriers is for direction or focus - flow in place of the 
scatter-effect of radiation. If one's Will is not directed or mediated by 
the intellect (Air), it tends to be scattered as well.

There are other Fire Characteristics, but these seemed to me to relate the 
best to human traits. Can you think of any other Fire Characteristics which 
would relate to us?

Thanks,
Amberlyn