Steiner considered everything–each human being, plant, animal, and mineral–to be composed of combinations of these Four Elements. For Steiner, as indeed for many ancient cultures, the junctures between art and science, spiritual and physical, matter and spirit were seen as being much less clear-cut than that of conventional thinking. Rudolf Steiner carried over this dynamic four-fold framework of perception into his approach to agriculture and anthroposophy. Right up to the beginning of the Scientific Revolution in the mid-16th Century, the Elements were associated with phenomena that were observed “outwardly” as well as “inwardly.” Among other things, the qualitative dynamics associated with Fire, Water, Earth and Air were heat, dampness, cold and light respectively. These four principles were referred to as primal forces by the Greeks and identified as solids (earth), liquids (water), gases (air/light), and an all-pervading, rarified principle, warmth (fire). This inner knowing allows the person to make decisions based on clarity and insight. This example of walking the land and using one’s outer and inner observational skills, including intuition, enables the farmer or gardener to gain a deeper and more profound understanding of their land, animals and plants. Perhaps there is a mental flash or perception about the true nature of this place, the genius loci.įire: Hidden deep under all these layers lies the “essential being” of the plant, the place or the person – that understanding which we know intuitively in our hearts.Īs Thornton Smith says, “All of these Elements woven together is what we recognize as the different levels of our own being as ‘landscape.’ We have then touched something so profound that our lives can be changed and our creativity transformed – for whatever we subsequently do there.” We then move on to connect ourselves with the fluidity of the place in this process of time and space.Īir: Here we connect with an inward process coloured by our likes and dislikes, our soul moods mixed with moods of whatever or whoever we meet. Water: Next we perceive the changes and flowing nature of the light, the sun, the time of day and year, of everything which grows and develops. #4 ELEMENTS SKIN#We meet this world of outer manifestation with the outer part of ourselves, our skin and our other sense organs. A brief summary of this adventure is as follows:Įarth: We begin with the rock and the earth which we meet outwardly with our senses. #4 ELEMENTS HOW TO#Richard Thornton Smith in his book Cosmos, Earth and Nutrition, the Biodynamic Approach to Agriculture, points out that Paracelsus (1493-1541) proposed the following the quality of physical manifestation is associated with the Element of Earth the Element of Water corresponds to the quality of life while the Element of Air is associated with the quality of space and the Fire Element corresponds with the quality of transformation.Īt one point in his book, Thornton Smith takes the reader on a guided journey to a landscape and shows us how to look at the layers of that landscape through the lens of the Four Elements. One way of identifying these formative forces is by way of capitalizing them Earth as an Element takes on a different value than earth as soil. Instead, we need to understand them in terms of their dynamic qualitative action. To better grasp these principles, it is helpful to overcome our habit of using these terms solely as they relate to nature. #4 ELEMENTS DOWNLOAD#This download is an illustrated single page summary of the four elements of connection.Ancient Greek tradition blended esoteric and practical matters into the idea that the universe hinges on four basic principles: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. All learning begins with connection! Connections on the outside (with other people) actually create and strengthen neural connections within the brain.
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