Soul Mirrors and the Elements - WATER

[Amberlyn <amberlyn@...>]

Good Morning All,

Here are *my* thoughts on WATER and EMOTIONS; again my primary reference 
source is the booklet from Church of Seven Arrows.

Water is any liquid in the Hermetic sense. It relates to the intuition, the 
subconscious, the emotions, the psychic and spiritual realms. It holds the 
Magnetic Fluid and has been attributed a feminine (receptive) gender. Water 
has been subjected to a less than positive labeling, both overtly and 
covertly, by modern science, with its focus on rationality, objectivity, 
and will, e.g. Air & Fire.

It is not Air or Fire, but Water, that erodes the mountains and changes 
physical bodies of all kinds, to say nothing of the part it plays in 
positive meditations relative to personal issues of all kinds.

Water has clarity, transparency. One can see through it, however, clearness 
of Water is colored and usually bluish or greenish (and in tannin-rich 
rivers, even tea-colored!). When you look at the world through your 
emotions, your feelings tend to color your view. You likely know exactly 
what it means to look through rose-colored glasses, don't you <g>?

Water has Reflectivity, but unlike Air's reflectivity, Water's is colored. 
Under some conditions, Water can be an almost perfect mirror. Many see 
Water as blue, but we might consider that this blueness is a reflection 
from the sky, and not necessarily because the water is blue. Emotions can 
cause us to color what we reflect. Consider why rumors are so frequently 
unreliable.

Water is carrier; it can carry heavy items (rocks, trees), but only limited 
amounts of Fire energy. Your feelings have a major effect on your body, and 
on what your material world brings to you, to say nothing of the effects on 
your passions. Think of worry, stress or depression, and how much weight 
these emotions can add to our shoulders.

Water is non-compressible. While you may disassociate from your feelings, 
it is virtually impossible to make them smaller.

Water is only slightly expandable. To some extent, it is possible for us to 
have a particular feeling encompass more than originally, such as in 
including a new child in family feelings. A loved one might do something 
that causes our love to swell, even if momentarily.

Water is somewhat reactive to Fire; it takes much more Fire to move a 
particular body of Water than is required to move the same volume of Air. 
While we can affect our feelings somewhat by direct application of Will, 
the limits are soon reached.

Water insists on flowing smoothly, unlike Air, which can be made to move 
abruptly or irregularly. While you can make abrupt changes in your 
thoughts, your feelings insist on shifting smoothly, even under a lot of 
pressure.

A given volume of Water will change its shape readily and smoothly. 
Feelings associated with some particular thing may be moved to association 
with a different thing relatively easily (this is displacement, 
transference). So it is that when we say someone is just like another 
person, our feelings about the first person, color how we feel then about 
the second.

Water is mutable. Under some conditions, Water will change into Air (steam) 
or into Earth (ice). Apply too much Will in controlling your feelings, and 
you will get a "steam explosion" (temper-outburst or sudden rage) ... then 
there are the icy or frigid feelings the shrinks talk about.

Water is inherently stable. Unless acted upon by an outside force, Water 
won't move. Like Air, Water goes stagnant quickly. Any time you see Water 
in motion, you know there has been an energy input from somewhere. We 
stubbornly hang on to our feelings -- consider how hard it is to change an 
emotional belief. When these feelings do change, there has usually been a 
catalyst of some form (thoughts combined with will) at work, consciously or 
otherwise.

Non-moving Water can be used as an insulator, though not as effectively as 
Air for some energies. And so too are our feelings used as a defense 
against one or another thought -- or another feeling.

Water is heavier than Air or Fire, but lighter than Earth. Feelings have 
more impact on us than thoughts or desires but usually not as much as 
material events. Water will absorb Air and some kinds of Fire readily. Our 
feelings (provided they are not frozen) will readily accept our new ideas 
and enthusiasms, but will get steamy and explosive if subjected to our 
anger, frustration, or pain.

Water is the only element that can readily and easily penetrate and move 
Earth. Air merely caresses the surface of objects, and Fire merely heats or 
scorches the surface of objects. Water penetrates and dissolves or erodes 
solids (even granite, steel, etc), or unbinds and moves them. You can think 
and desire your body to change in some way all you want; no real change 
will happen until you get the *feeling* of the change. The same is true of 
getting what you wish for in the material realm. You must feel it coming 
your way. This is what magicians mean when they speak of adding the emotion 
and expectation to assure the positive outcome of a magical working.

Water and Earth will blend readily (like Air and Fire); and it is Water by 
which Fire and Air may be carried to subsurface areas in solids (Earth). 
Feelings and emotions readily mix with the material. Thoughts and desires 
produce only temporary and superficial effects unless feelings and 
emotional desires are present. This is why meditation is so useful. It 
reaches deep within us, and fishes out hidden knowledge, and sometimes, 
even tears.

This longer section on Water is directly related to my Soul Mirror's long 
list of Water traits. Water, like our oceans, lakes and waterways, like the 
fluid in our bodies, seems to cover an awful lot! Rawn, how might this 
figure into our finding an internal elemental balance?

Again, I would like to know how well all this aligns with Bardon's Hermetics.

Thanks,
Amberlyn