The Significance of the Order of Working With the Elements
© 2004
>> The question I would like to ask the group has to do with the order in which we work with the elements, both in the microcosm and macrocosm. I find it interesting that throughout the course of instruction in IIH the ordering of the element is Fire-Air-Water-Earth when one works on oneself (i.e. the microcosm). However, when one is ready to venture into the macrocosm, the required order is reversed. For instance, we are required to visit the kingdoms of Earth, Water, Air and finally Fire. Would anyone in the group be willing address why this is so? <<
The reasons are very practical. :) Fire is generally the easiest Element to sense and thus, to begin working with microcosmically. It is also the most stimulating which means that if there are any major imbalances remaining, they will be energized and this forces the student to rectify them before continuing. Air then calms the entire system and creates a sense of balance which is necessary before continuing on to the Water Element and the amplification of the student's emotional nature which working with the Water will cause. The Earth Element comes last because it is the combination of the three preceding Elements and thus binds their effects together within the student. Overall, this classic sequence of Fire-Air-Water-Earth insures that the Elements become integrated into the student's three bodies in a natural and harmless manner.
When it comes to the macrocosmic work of exploring the Elemental realms, the sequence is reversed for the simple reason that the beings of the Earth Element are the most amenable to human contact and are the easiest for the student to make contact with. This is because our consciousness shares a more similar structure with the Gnomes than any of the others. The Undines are the next easiest for us to recognize and communicate with, then comes the Sylphs and then the Salamanders. So primarily it's a matter of ease.
However, it's also a matter of "density". The Earth Element is the densest of the Elemental realms and the progression from there to Water, Air and then Fire, climbs, as it were, the ladder of rarification. You will note that all of these explorations are a matter of ascension up that ladder of rarification -- from the Elemental realms, one progresses to Earth zone, then the Lunar zone, the Mercury zone, the Venus zone, the Solar zone, and so on.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
14 June 2004