On the Elements
© 2004
>> There's something I'm not clear about. If you draw alot of one element to yourself, don't you somehow create an imbalance of it somewhere else? Where does it come from? Is it an infinite supply? <<
As W. has accurately stated, the Elements are qualities and therefore cannot be depleted through their accumulation. In other words, you are not accumulating a physically quantitative substance. Instead, you are accumulating a quality *whose effects are quantifiable*. It is the *effects* of the Elements that are quantifiable. This is why an accumulation of 3 inhalations of an Element will produce a smaller quantifiable effect than one of 30 inhalations.
W. wrote:
>> Quantity applies only to manifestation (things like matter and energy) and elemental force is clearly prior to manifestation, as is an metaphysical principle: as such it is not quantitative, and cannot be depleted. <<
I think the point of confusion here is that while a magician accumulates the *quality* of an Element, s/he thereby produces a *quantifiable effect*. Take for example the first exercises with the Elements in Step Three. The first step is to creatively imagine the *qualities* of the Element as if those qualities filled the entire universe surrounding you. The second step is to begin inhaling these qualities into your body so that you experience their very quantifiable effect upon your body. It is the accumulated *quality* of the Element that directly produces the experiential *quantity* of an accumulation. But this *quantity* does not come into existence until the accumulation. Which is to say, not until the *quality* of the Element has become materially manifest.
A. wrote:
>> To me the answer might be closer to something along the lines of the accumulation of an element is but a dislocation of it from one area to another. <<
No. It is the *transformation* of a quality into a quantity, or of a principle into a material effect. Consciousness has the power to cause such a transformation of a principle into a manifest effect by focusing itself intensively upon the quality within whatever realm of density (mental, astral and/or physical) and thereby accumulating the quality to such a degree that the materia of that realm is affected by it. This effect, once generated, is transferable through projection and can be induced separate from one's own self through the transference of consciousness.
>> So if all physical matter is composed of 4 elements and you were to absorb one of the 4 elements from any one piece of matter, would it disintegrate? (because it needs all 4 elements to remain physically manifested?), or simply acquire what is being transferred out from some other material source automatically and thus never be depleted or disintegrate? (e.g. Air?) <<
Matter *adheres to* the *qualities* of the Elements that compose it. Those *qualities* are inexhaustible and are quantifiable (i.e., finite) *only* in their material effect. In other words, their *effect upon* material substance is quantifiable and we can say that a *thing* "contains" more of one Element than another. So, if you were to try to "absorb one of the 4 elements from any one piece of matter", you would be absorbing the *quality* of the Element, *not* its quantifiable effect. In other words, you would absorb nothing *from* the material object itself.
>> Also, if the vacuum of space is a physical manifestation of sorts, but one which is not supposedly made up of matter, do the four elements still pervade there? <<
Yes, of course. The Elements *are* the qualities of consciousness. *Everything* is an aspect of consciousness.
>> How many elements are required to make up the various energy types? <<
Four Elements plus the Akasha.
>> Are the elements quantifiable on the mental and astral planes? Or, as with physical matter, are we only observing the effects of their qualities when the astral and mental bodies undergo state changes. <<
Within the *sequential* realm, only the *effects* of the Elemental qualities/Principles are quantifiable. This means in the physical, astral and the *sequential aspects of* the mental realm. It is only in the non-sequential realm of eternity that the Elemental Principles themselves can be truly quantified in the sense that therein lies the root of essential meaning.
>> Do the elements only *exist* in the akasha? <<
If you define "existence" in the limited terms of quantifiability, then yes. However, one cannot separate the effects of the Elements from the eternal Principles themselves. The effects *AND* their causes = existence.
>> Are the elements the essential meaning behind forms? <<
Not exactly. The Elemental composition of a thing is the most immediate effect of Akashic essential meaning. This is what I meant above when I said that in the non-sequential eternal realm, the Elemental Principles are quantifiable. As essential meaning descends into the sequential realm, it first takes form as a relationship between different proportions of the Elemental qualities. In other words, different quantities of those qualities which result in a specific ratio of each Elemental quality inherent to that specific thing. This is the mental matrix to which the mental materia adheres, which in turn forms the astral matrix to which the astral materia adheres, and which then forms the physical matrix to which the physical materia adheres.
>> Is there any relationship to how the elements spin tetrapolarly, and how the five platonic solids fit together to form Metatron's cube? I'm wondering because each platonic solid is said to be an element.. and they all fit together! (there are five of them) Yes I know, the actual shape or form isn't the element, just the same as physical fire isn't fire. But do the shapes strongly express the essential meaning of the element (like gold expresses GOLD), or is the assignment of each element to a shape more or less arbitrary? <<
:) Even Plato gave up on his idea of a meta-physics before his death. It's indeed a fascinating model at an intellectual level but *objectively*, Nature doesn't work that way. :) Nonetheless, the Platonic solids *as forms* do do a fairly good job of *symbolically* expressing the essential meaning of the Elements. But like all such intellectualized representations they have nearly as many draw-backs as benefits.
>> If you could conform your mental body to the platonic solids, fitting one inside another, and given that each element corresponds to a platonic solid, would it be possible to fuse them all together by completely identifying with the shapes and spinning them very fast? <<
;-) ;-) ;-) Possibly, but it would really, !*really*! hurt! ;-) ;-) ;-)
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
06 Sept 2004