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07 The 4 Elements & Using Them to Shift Your Energy

40m 12s

07 The 4 Elements & Using Them to Shift Your Energy

In this episode, Cassie Yule discusses the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—as both physical materials and spiritual energies that shape life. She provides a brief history, noting early written records from Greek philosopher Empedocles (5th century BCE), Buddhist texts (29 BCE), and Hindu Vedic texts (possibly 500-600 BCE), though she acknowledges that oral traditions likely predate these. Cassie contrasts Celtic practices, which honored land, sea, and sky (three elements), with her own choice to work with four elements based on personal experience and teachers like Ellen Evert Hopman. She lists correspondences for each element: air relates to intellect and the east; fire to transformation and the south; water to emotions and the west; earth to safety and the north. Cassie then offers three ways to connect with the elements: noticing them in nature, feeling them within the body (e.g., recognizing anxiety as excess air), and using them to restore balance. She shares her own practice of grounding with earth to counter anxiety. The episode also includes a promotion: by leaving reviews for her books, products, or podcast by November 30th, listeners can enter a drawing for a free energy work or intuitive mentorship session. Cassie concludes by encouraging listeners to explore the elements as supportive tools alongside professional health care.

Transcription

6259 Words, 34933 Characters

English
Welcome to Awin, guided by spirit. Awin is the air of inspiration that permeates all life. This podcast is a space for you to be inspired to listen to your spirit. You'll learn more about intuition, living cyclically with the seasons, energy healing, natural magic and more. I'm your host, Cassie Yule. I'm a gentle guide to spirit, an author, artist and healer, trained in Celtic and British Shamanic practices. Learn more at CassieYule.com. That's C-A-S-S-I-E-U-H-L. Or at CassieYule on Instagram. Welcome. Hello and welcome today. I'll be discussing the four elements, what they are, some history about them and ways to use them to shift your energy. As you may already know, I have a lot going on with website changes as I fully retire, send out. I'm almost done with the new website and I'm feeling so excited about how it's coming together. With all that I have going on, discussing something as fundamental as the four elements felt really comforting. And I think at this current season, well into the darker half of the year, comfort feels really needed right now. So if you're feeling like a little comfort, I'll serve you as well. I'm glad you're here and I think you'll really enjoy this episode. A quick heads up. I'm going to take a pause about halfway through this episode to share an opportunity with you to receive a free energy work or intuitive mentorship session with me. So keep an ear out for that. All right, let's take a deep breath and root into this space together and in honor of this episode about the four elements, I'd also like to invoke the four elements in the same way that I do for my sessions. So if you like, you can even visualize each element swooping in around you and your space as I call the men. So let's take a deep breath together just rooting into the space, noticing the body. And I call in the air of the east, the fire of the south, the water of the west, and the earth and wisdom of the north. I call in these elements to offer guidance and protection in our highest good. All right, let's dive in. Four elements, earth, air, fire and water are physical, materials and energies that comprise the world around us. If you don't already work with the four elements in your practice, you've likely heard of them because they're pretty tricky to avoid as many spiritual practices refer to them in some way. There are countless ways to deepen your relationship with the four elements and to bring them into your practice. In this post, you'll learn a bit of history about the four elements, common correspondences for them, how to work with them physically and energetically, how to call them in for protection and using them in your home and on your altar to shift the energy of your space. I want to quickly touch on the element of spirit because I'm sure some of you may be wondering if I'll discuss it as well. I will touch on the fifth element a bit, often referred to as spirit, ether or acacia. However, I will save a deeper dive into the fifth element of spirit for a post of its own, which I actually plan to do for all four elements, including spirit. So that said, much of this share will be dedicated to the four elements as I do see them as slightly separate from spirit and very foundational. Let's jump into a brief view of history of the four elements. As usual, I do really like to cover some history. I think it's an essential part of having a complete view of different spiritual practices. That said, I always research with an understanding that history is rarely the full picture, especially when we're looking at written documents and proof of these different things that we talk about in spirituality. It's just a piece, not the whole picture. This is especially true when you're reconstructing a spiritual path that's not clearly recorded, was attempted to be eradicated or if you hold multiple cultural heritages, like so many of us do. The deeper I dive into my spiritual roots, the clearer it becomes that building a meaningful practice combines historical facts, inference, oral traditions, past down, and personal experience. Each of these pieces, in my opinion, serves a useful purpose while building a spiritual practice. So here's a brief history of some of the earliest mentions of the four elements. One of the first written examples of the four elements comes from the Greek philosopher Empetacles and the fifth century BCE. Empetacles refers to them as the four roots and assigns each element or root to a Greek god or goddess as follows. Hera with earth, Zeus with air, iodineus with fire, and nestus with water. Although keep in mind there is some debate over this and this is the general consensus, and Empetacles wasn't incredibly clear about which god or goddess corresponded with each element. The interesting thing here to know is that Empetacles gave these elements spiritual significance because he associated each with a corresponding god or goddess. So there is a difference here between the elements that we see on the periodic table versus the elements we use in a spiritual practice, and even at this early record of Empetacles assigning these elements to these gods and goddesses, we see that they are viewed as something different, separate from the elements on the periodic table. Which of course, you and I already know that, but sometimes it's nice to see that in the history as well, these subtle distinctions of energies versus physical matter. In Buddhist practices, we see the first written mention of the four elements, sometimes five elements in the Polly Canon in 29 BCE. However, these were recorded based on oral histories that had been previously passed down for possibly hundreds of years. Now this is a common theme that we will come into again and again. There are also references and Vedic texts that speak of the five elements or Punchabutas and Hinduism. The Punchabutas were recorded at an unknown time, but some think it could have been even earlier than Empetacles and could predate Buddhist practices at around 500 to 600 BCE. So again, we have this oral tradition passed down and we don't know when the beginning or the start of using the elements and Hinduism really came to be. If you've studied practices like yoga or airveda, the Punchabutas are the elements that are commonly referred to in these practices. So in all of these cases, I'm simply talking about written records. And I believe as to others that the four elements have been worked with and used by many pagan and indigenous practices long before the written evidence was created. As far as Celtic practices, the four elements were likely not a part of their practice. The number three was sacred to the Celts, so the elements they honored were at the land, sea, and sky, or earth, water, and air. In witchcraft and other earth-based practices, the four elements became more commonplace with the introduction of wika, which relies heavily on the four elements. However, as I said, there's certainly reference to working with the four elements in pagan shamanic and indigenous practices worldwide. Of course, many of these practices have been passed down orally. Ellen senteer teaches and practices British shamanism, or "the old ways" as she calls it. This is somebody who I learn from and I read a lot of her books. She shares about the four elements concerning the world tree, and she explains this below in an excerpt from her book, "Following the Deer Trots." So Ellen senteer says, "The world tree holds the vertical axis on which the three worlds spin, and the three worlds she's referencing here are upper world, middle world, and lower world." The vertical axis is like the warp threads in weaving. These are the threads in which the pattern is woven. Middle world, also known as the mundane world the world we live in, holds the horizontal axis of the four elements. These are the weft threads that weave the pattern of life. The four elements, earth, air, fire, water, are the weft threads. These two, the warp and the weft, are the basis of the duality which enables life to be. This explanation from Ellen senteer is hardly the only reference to the four elements in earth-based spiritual practices. I'm confident that wherever your cultural roots lie, you will be able to find reference to three, four, or four. five elements there as well. I simply share this reference because this is the world that I live in and one of the teachers that I learned from. So this is where inference and personal experience come in. When we examine the written history, we have one piece of the puzzle. However, when we explore the personal experiences from those who've lived and experienced the lines of knowledge passed down, we receive a different part of the puzzle. For example, even though I walk a Celtic and a British path, primarily, I choose to work with four elements rather than three because they have been an integral part of my personal practice. Not only through my introduction to them through yoga philosophy and my yoga teacher training in 2012, but also in which craft and shamanic work as well. So as always, work with what speaks to you your experiences and your heritage. We could combine all of these together to form a more complete lens to view your spiritual practice through. Perhaps you prefer to work with three, four or five elements. There are seeds of truth and wisdom in each of them. That's a very small snippet of history. I could go on and on. Books could be written about this. It's really interesting to see how the four elements show up in different spiritual practices across the world because they really do. It's something that is very pervasive in nearly all spiritual practices, at least all of the ones that I'm aware of and have read about. If this isn't something that you've explored, I encourage you to explore it from your unique lens to look at your unique heritage to see how the four elements show up. Let's dive into the elements and correspondences. This will give us a shared language and a good foundational point as we dive into some of the other sections I want to talk about. So each element has a unique essence which carries both positive and shadow attributes. No element is positive or negative. Rather, they're a conglomerate of different energies. For example, we can see the soft and gentle flame of a candle or a roaring forest fire. Each has value and purpose. Each element also relates to a host of other energies and objects called correspondences, which are simply energies that play well together or match. Once you understand how the four elements relate to other energies, it creates a really strong foundation for understanding magical correspondences on a much broader level. Now, before I dive into these correspondences for the four elements, I want you to keep in mind that these are my beliefs based on my research and my experiences. Because the four elements are so pervasive through spiritual practices across the globe, there are bound to be different opinions out there. So it's entirely possible that something that I share about the correspondences I use in my practice may not fit into your practice or could even go directly against your practice. That doesn't necessarily mean that what I'm practicing or what you're practicing is wrong. It just means we have different lenses and we've possibly learned through different cultural heritages. Let's go through each element and discuss some of the most common meanings and correspondences for each of them. Starting with air, of course, air relates to intellect, ideas, inspiration, the mind, it corresponds with the east, the color yellow, the suit of swords and the tarot, the throat and heart space, wind, sound, smoke, smells, feathers, birds and the unseeable forces that influence our minds. An astrology, the three air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Fire relates to transformation, action, power and the ego. It corresponds with the south, the color red, the suit of wands and the tarot, the solar plexus area, flames, heat, candles, the phoenix, dance and the destructive forces the ultimately encouraged new growth. In astrology, the three fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. Water relates to emotions, intuition, feelings and subconscious mind. It corresponds with the west, the color blue, the suit of cups and the tarot, the sacral area, springs the ocean, tears, shells, aquatic animals, things in look with state-like melting wax and the forces that move us to feel so we can cleanse and heal. In astrology, the three water signs are cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Earth relates to safety, protection, the material world and the physical body. It corresponds with the North, the color green, the root space, dirt, trees, rocks, food, bones, ancestral wisdom and the physical energies that support and sustain us. In astrology, the three earth signs are Taurus, Furgo and Capricorn. I discuss this a lot in my tarot correspondences course and in my new book, Understanding Tarot. But as you can see, once you have a firm understanding of each of the elements, it will help you better understand astrology, tarot and a host of other magical practices and tools. So this is just a peek into each element. For the remainder of this post, I really wanna talk about ways to work with and use the elements in different ways to shift your energy. Now I'm gonna take a quick pause before we move on to the final three sections to start incorporating these elements into your everyday life. (soft music) Would you like an opportunity to have a free energy work or intuitive mentorship session with me? If you would, listen up. For the rest of November, anyone who leaves a review for any of my books, products or this podcast will be entered into a drawing to win a free session of your choice. Here are the details. First, leave as many reviews as you'd like. You'll receive an entry for each review you leave. Please be honest though and do not leave reviews for books, products or services that you haven't used. Two, where to leave reviews. You can leave reviews for this podcast wherever you listen. For my new books, leaving reviews on Amazon is the most helpful. Even if you didn't purchase from them, you can still leave a review there. You can leave reviews right on my website for products you've purchased at Zen.com, like the ritual deck, crystals, and the goddess discovery books. And if you've been into my local store in Gilbert, Arizona, you could also leave a Google review. Third, take a screenshot of any review that you leave, and email all of them to Cassie@ CassieU old.com. That's Cassie@ C-A-S-S-I-E-U-H-L. You have until November 30th to email as many reviews as you'd like, and I will announce the winner via my newsletter on or before December 8th. A little recap, leave reviews anywhere you've enjoyed my podcast, books, or products. Take screenshots of them. Email your screenshots to Cassie@ CassieU old.com. And that's it, you're entered. If you have a question, send a note to the email mentioned aboard, send an Instagram DM. Your reviews help small businesses and authors like myself so much. I know it takes some time, and I'm so grateful to those of you who've already left reviews. If you haven't, and you've been thinking about leaving some love, this is a great opportunity to do so. I'm so excited to gift one of my sessions to one lucky winner back to the episode. All right, let's talk connecting with the elements in the physical and energy body. As Ellens and Tear stated in the excerpt that I read from her book, the four elements are the weft threads that weave the pattern of life. The four elements affect each of us physically and energetically here in physical form. We can feel them in the body and connect with them in the subtle body as well. If you want to form a deeper relationship with the four elements, this is where I didn't buy you to begin. Connecting with them in your body and your energy body. There are many ways to start doing this, and it will be an ongoing practice because our relationship with the elements in my experience is not fixed. It's constantly evolving and growing. Here are three ways I've learned to deepen my relationship with the four elements on a physical and energetic level. First, I invite you to notice the elements in the natural world around you. And when you do, notice how they make you feel. For example, when I go on my regular walking meditations outside, this is one way that I tune into the environment and the elements. I notice how the sun's heat feels on my skin. I notice the wind and any sounds it may be creating in the trees. I notice any water, which here in the desert is usually just due on the grass leftover from the sprinklers. But when I am around water, whether it be ocean or river We're upon. And I notice it. I notice how it makes me feel what it looks like, what kind of energy it has. I notice the support of earth beneath my feet. You can even imagine this in your mind right now. What feelings come up within you when you think about a stream versus a fire? Each brings a different energy that is palpable within the body and the energy body. Second, I invite you to notice how the four elements come up within your physical body, not from the exterior, but from inside of you. When you experience different sensations in the body, whether it be emotions or physical sensations, can you associate them with a specific element? For example, I'm someone who becomes ungrounded and anxious pretty easily. I know what anxiety and a dysregulated nervous system feels like in my body. My mind races. I get a tingling sensation in my neck and chest. My hands and feet sometimes get tingly and numb. And my breath becomes short and moves to the chest. These sensations can come up due to an event outside of me or merely me not taking care of my body, but I know how it feels and manifests within my physical and energetic body. For me, I recognize this as an overabundance of air. Air corresponds with the thinking mind, the intellect ideas. And I tend to get really overactive in this area and stuck in my head in a way that it's literally pulling me out of my physical body. And I know that I need to ground and bring in more earth to balance out that air that's manifesting as these symptoms of physical anxiety. If I do find myself in the space, I find things to bring in more of the earth element, like getting outside, moving my body, feeling the support of the earth below my feet. Or perhaps if I'm not able to get outside, I will meditate or visualize connecting to the earth. This is one reason why for my personal practice, my regular walking meditation is so important for me. I have to take a lot of extra steps to keep earth balanced within me to stay grounded and rooted. Now, of course, I say all of this with the caveat that it is not a cure all or an excuse to not seek out professional health, anxiety, depression, physical ailments, these are all real things. And we can use the elements in this way as a supportive tool, but I've also relied on therapy and medication for my anxiety at different times in my life. But I find that the daily practice of tuning into the elements and noticing where I need balancing can help support me in different ways. Can you bring to mind some common emotions or sensations that you experience in your body? Perhaps you lean towards too much earth and often feel sluggish, tired or heavy, or too much water and you find yourself overly emotional and often in a puddle of tears, or too much fire, which could feel like the need to be forceful or constantly doing. As I mentioned, each element is neither good nor bad, they each have their positive and shadow sides to work with and recognize. It's in finding a balance between them that we can move towards more of an equilibrium. And of course, that equilibrium and that balance is a moving target, it's always in flux. You're never gonna reach the finish line with it. But I've found in my practice applying the four elements to my different feelings and bodily sensations can be one tool in my toolbox to shift my energy on a very physical level. There are also ways to work with the elements in a strictly energetic level. Now, of course, some of this is gonna relate to what I talked about above because the physical body and the subtle body are uniquely intertwined as long as you're living being here in this physical plane. There are ways that you can rely on these elements and work alongside them in the spirit world to make settler shifts in the energy body. So this is something I rely heavily on while I work alongside clients for energy healing and energy work. I see each element as an ally or helping spirit to aid in giving the client what they need for healing. It's really a cornerstone of my personal practice when I work with other people's energy. Of course, there are a lot of ways that you can do this for yourself as well. So here are some of the ways that I've learned over the years to work with each element within the realm of the energy body. For Earth, one of my favorite grounding techniques that is really common in something you've probably heard ever used before, especially if you have my free grounding meditation is to imagine a beam of energy or even a root coming from the base of your spine and connecting with the energy of the Earth. You can even do this outside for extra potent Earth energy. And then another thing I really like to do, especially when I'm working with clients is I pull in Earth and mud. And I say this energetically within my altered state of performing energy work. I'm not placing physical dirt and mud on my clients, but when I'm in a translike state and working with people, I do pull in mud and I place it on them, especially when their energy feels really dysregulated or bussy is a way that I like to describe it. And that Earth piling on the mud or even bringing rocks in a lot of times I work energetically in the spirit round with river rocks or big stones to place on or around people that I'm working on to bring in a sense of safety and comfort and grounding as I work on them. So these are all things you can imagine as well, either in meditation or in journey work, just closing in your eyes and visualizing, maybe putting some soft mud all around your feet to feel that sensation of grounding more strongly. For air, this is another one I use a lot. Sometimes I will visualize or even physically I'll blow on the person's energy body to move things through and to clear things away. And a lot of times I'll use tools for this. I'll use feathers a lot to smooth and clear different energy. And these are again different tools that you can use. You can call on that element of air with feathers or even blowing or visualizing, blowing air into different areas to clear things away. For water, I love to visit and visualize sacred springs and work with the water for healing for myself and for my clients. Water is such a powerful healer. So it's one that I really use a lot in my practice, probably just as much as earth. And so what a lot of times what I'll do is I'll visualize holding in my hands pristine living spring water and I'll pour it into certain parts of people's bodies to really clear it out and to bring soothing. I even do this kind of healing work on myself and in my anchor spot, which is my home base in the spirit realm, I have a healing spring that flows through that area that I visualize and sometimes I'll lay in it, I'll put my feet in it, I'll pick it up and drink it or pour it in different parts of my body, but it can be really powerful to visualize engaging with and working with water and it's most pure essence because it is so healing, soothing and calming, I think for our souls on a really deep level. If you've followed me long, you know, I get pretty jazzed about water, it's something that I'm really passionate about. So of course not surprisingly, I use it a lot in my healing work. So if that's something that's calling to you, I invite you to visualize that maybe in your meditation time, creating a sacred space within your kind of home base in your spirit world where you can access those healing waters to work with them in different ways. For fire, I love dance, dance is such a powerful way to engage with the element of fire. You can do it by physically dancing or even visualizing it. Fire is an intense one, so for me, it's not one that I use often, especially when working with clients because it is such an intense and powerful energy. So I only use it if I'm working with somebody who has really low energy or really has something that needs to be burned up and dissolved. I would say fire, I use more commonly to put things into it. So if I pull things out of people's energy bodies that are no longer serving them or I pull things out of my body that are no longer serving me, I'll put them in that visualization of those transformative fires to let it be transformed and transmuted into something else, to let it be taken into ash, to be regenerated into something else. So that's a really powerful way to use fire energetically within the mind, within the spiritual realm. I really encourage you to explore your relationship with each of these elements through meditation or journey work to find ways for you to work with them because I promise you that you will find your own unique ways to call upon these elements and to work with them in the spirit realm and with your energy body. So I hope that these little nuggets bring you some suggestions and guidance for working with the elements in your physical and your energetic body because the options are truly limitless. There are so many ways. ways to invite them in and work with them in really powerful healing ways. Alright, let's talk spell work and protection with the elements. The four elements are often used in both spell work and protection. And as we discussed, when we're talking about the correspondences, each element carries a specific energy that corresponds with different items. And you can call upon those energies through the elements to better facilitate particular outcomes in your spell work or magical workings. If you are conducting a spell to bring in mental clarity, the element of air would be appropriate and you may want to incorporate a feather or plants that blow in the wind to honor that air element. Fire is your friend and candle spell work would be ideal if you are conducting a spell to energize or facilitate a transformation, especially a quick one. If you are performing spell work to connect with your intuitive mind or abilities, bring some water into your spell work, shells, aquatic materials, water. If you're working on manifesting something physical into your life, call upon the element of earth by working with stones, crystals, or material objects to help you bring about a physical possession. There are so many different items that correspond with each element, so you truly have a bounty of various tools when it comes to representing the elements in your spell work. You could rely on different tarot cards, plants, crystals, gods, goddesses, etc. to bring in an element. If you're learning the correspondences for the elements, I actually designed my Oracle Card Deck, the ritual deck specifically for this purpose to be a learning tool. You know, it acts as a Oracle Card Deck, but I really wanted to offer something that was a learning tool as well. So each card has a correspondence bar at the bottom that shows the corresponding element for each card or symbol. Beyond this, I also love the Wellens Complete Correspondence Guide. It is a big book, but one that I think any witch or person who dabbles in spell work should have. It's really a must have. It's got any and every correspondence you could ever desire to learn about, and of course, the elements are going to be listed for nearly everything in the book. When it comes to protection, I love working with the four elements for this purpose. If you've ever had a session with me, you already know that I begin each session with some drumming and invoking each of the four elements to create a sacred container for our work. It's similar to the same thing that I did at the beginning of this episode. I also do this for myself when I journey. In Wigga, this is often referred to as calling the quarters, but you certainly don't need to consider yourself begin to work with elements in this way. Working with the elements in this way for protection is something we see in many practices worldwide. To work with the elements in this way for protection, you can call in each element allowed in your mind, like I did at the top of this episode. It's common to start at East with the air and move clockwise around the directions, fire at the south, water of the west, and earth of the north. If you like, you can even visualize those elements kind of swooping in to create a barrier around you as you work. You could go so far as to place a physical representation of each item around you as you work as well. In Wigga, this is often referred to as casting a circle. However, there are many, many ways to cast a circle. This is just one way to do this. You don't have to consider yourself a witch to use the elements in this way either. The next time you feel like you need some extra protection for spell work, meditating, journeying, or a human just out and about, I encourage you to try calling on the elements in this way and notice how you feel. Finally, let's talk about using the four elements on altars and spaces. One of the most common ways people work the elements into their practices is through an altar. This is another tool we can see across cultures and traditions. It's a widespread practice to represent all four elements on an altar for balanced protection and to show gratitude for each of the elements. We touched on this a bit, but I'll share here some more suggestions for ways to represent each element on your altar. So for air, you could use feathers, images, or sculptures of birds or flying insects, smoke, fans, plants that blow in the wind, any cards from the suit of swords in the tarot, the color yellow, Labradorite, Amethyst, musical instruments like seeing bulls, chimes, rattles, and drums, etc. For fire, you could use candles, burning charcoal, burning herbs, incense, lava rocks, and obsidian, yellow jasper, any card from the suit of wands in the tarot, a wand, phallic symbols or images of the god could be any god you're comfortable with. For water, of course, you can use water, shells, images, or sculptures of aquatic animals, opal, moonstone, aquamarine, any card from the suit of cups in the tarot, chalices, cauldrons, symbols of the goddess, again, could be any goddess you're comfortable with. Her earth, stums, wood, plant material, living plants, herbs, symbols, or sculptures of trees, petrified wood, images, or sculptures of the green man, gaya, or any earth, god, or goddess in your practice. Any card from the suit of pentacles in the tarot, and there are some unique items that serve as all four elements in one, so smoke cleansing with a shell or a chalice-shaped bowl can serve as a representation of all four elements, the shell or chalice-shaped, represents water, the plant material represents earth, the burning herbs represents fire, and the smoke air. Candles are another one, the flame represents fire, of course, smoke air, the wick earth, and the melting wax represents water. Now when we talk about your home or your room or your living space, you can apply the same suggestions for your altar to help balance the energy where you live. For example, if you're going through a transition as a family unit, you may find it helpful to bring in some grounding elements to your home to offer you and your family at greater sense of safety and support. Even as a reminder, sometimes placing these earth objects if you're going through a big transition can be a helpful reminder to ground, to pause, to connect with the body and breathe, to feel a greater sense of safety and protection. Alternatively, if you have a visitor in your home who perhaps leaves some unwelcome residual energy, this is a great opportunity to call on the element of air for your living space, simply opening the windows in the doors to let a real breeze of air wash through your space. Of course, well, cleansing is a great way to do that or working with feathers. Any way you can think of to invite that element of air and to really clear out the energy of that person that you want to clear away. As you can see, there are so many meaningful, important ways to work with the four elements in your spiritual practice. We're really just scratching the surface here, which is why I really want to dive deeper into each of the elements and future posts. There's one last thing I'd like to discuss, which I think is incredibly important, especially when discussing using items from the natural world, both physically and energetically, and that's to be reciprocal with these elemental energies. When you call on them, thank them for their assistance by taking a few quiet breaths and offering your thanks and gratitude. If you take items from nature, consider leaving and offering as a token of your appreciation for that item. These can be really simple things, but I think it's a really important way that can genuinely help each of us form a deeper relationship with the elements and nature. With that, I'd like to take a moment now to take a few breaths in silence and gratitude for the elements that we called in at the top of this episode. If you want to take a moment to just tune in, notice your breaths and thank the earth of the north, the water of the west, the fire of the south, and the air of the east. Thank you for your guidance and protection. If you enjoyed this episode, I invite you to share it with someone else who may enjoy it as well. I'm excited to do some deep dives into each of these elements soon. They will not be the next episode, so I'm sure they'll be all scattered about over the next several months. Hopefully, the next time that I talk to you on here in this format, my new website will be up. I'm really excited for you to see it, and I'm even more excited to shed some of these older parts of myself that I've been holding on to to step more fully into where I'm now. Thank you for being here and we'll talk again soon. Bye. Thank you for rooting into this space with me to support this podcast, consider subscribing and leaving a review wherever you listen. Find full transcripts for each episode, free resources, my books, courses and services all at CassieUl.com. You are here for a new video. reason. Allow the inspiration to flow through you in a way that serves yourself and the world. All in.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The episode explores the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) as foundational spiritual energies, with historical roots in Greek, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions, and notes that Celtic practices traditionally honored three elements (land, sea, sky).
  2. Cassie emphasizes that the elements have both positive and shadow attributes, and they correspond to directions, colors, tarot suits, body areas, and astrological signs.
  3. Practical ways to work with elements include noticing them in nature, observing their presence in the physical body (e.g., overabundance of air causing anxiety), and using them to balance energy through grounding or visualization.
  4. A free session giveaway is offered for those who leave reviews by November 30th.

Summary:

In this episode, Cassie Yule discusses the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—as both physical materials and spiritual energies that shape life. She provides a brief history, noting early written records from Greek philosopher Empedocles (5th century BCE), Buddhist texts (29 BCE), and Hindu Vedic texts (possibly 500-600 BCE), though she acknowledges that oral traditions likely predate these. Cassie contrasts Celtic practices, which honored land, sea, and sky (three elements), with her own choice to work with four elements based on personal experience and teachers like Ellen Evert Hopman.

She lists correspondences for each element: air relates to intellect and the east; fire to transformation and the south; water to emotions and the west; earth to safety and the north. , recognizing anxiety as excess air), and using them to restore balance. She shares her own practice of grounding with earth to counter anxiety.

The episode also includes a promotion: by leaving reviews for her books, products, or podcast by November 30th, listeners can enter a drawing for a free energy work or intuitive mentorship session. Cassie concludes by encouraging listeners to explore the elements as supportive tools alongside professional health care.

FAQs

The four elements are earth, air, fire, and water, which are physical materials and energies that comprise the world around us.

You can notice the elements in nature, observe how they feel in your body, and use them to balance your energy. For example, if you feel anxious (too much air), you can ground yourself with earth by going outside or visualizing connection to the earth.

One of the first written examples comes from the Greek philosopher Empedocles in the 5th century BCE, who called them the 'four roots' and associated each with a Greek god. They also appear in Buddhist and Hindu texts, often passed down orally.

Air relates to intellect, ideas, and inspiration. It corresponds with the east, the color yellow, the suit of swords in tarot, the throat and heart space, wind, sound, feathers, and birds.

You can use physical items like candles for fire, a bowl of water for water, feathers or incense for air, and stones or soil for earth to represent each element and shift the energy of your space.

The element of spirit, also called ether or akasha, is considered a fifth element. The podcast mentions it briefly but saves a deeper dive for a future episode, noting it is slightly separate from the four foundational elements.

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