Helping humankind live with the earth not against it

Episode 10 contest details

For this contest answer the following questions:

– what is earth when you are no longer on earth?

– a list of associations for the element earth

you can also still answer how you define earth in an everyday sense vs. spiritual, and where energies in rocks come from.

I’ll update the end date when I have a better idea.

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8 Comments

  1. Ash

    The earth, when you are no longer on it? Because we are terrestrial beings, it still remains our home. We are part of the system that the earth represents physically; it is in our makeup. We respond to it in a metaphysical sense as well. Cut the umbilical and the baby is still part of its mother on a genetic level. We're the same. Elementally, jasper, quartz and ruby in zoisite would still represent what they do if you have them with you but you're walking on Mars, as their powers and meanings are of value to you on a personal metaphysical level.

    This might lead to a more interesting question on a metaphysical level: What is the moon when you are no longer on earth? Our response to the tidal pull is gone, her face changes because of perspective, etc. Does that change who she is?

    As for the elemental question, better to let the words flow:

    Earth – grounding – solid – tangible – physical – current – physical protection – security – shelter – skin – skeleton – home – womb – nutrients – nurture – focal point of energy – petrie dish… you could go mad trying to encapsulate what the earth represents on a metaphysical level. It is the ground beneath our feet, the pull for released energy, the laboratory that we were created in, the breast we nurse from, the walls we build for protection (metaphysically and physically), the yardstick we use to measure and quantify the things we experience on a physical level, the great mystery we uncover more of every day, the single-most important of the four elements that helps define who we are on the most basic level, physically and spiritually. We breathe the wind, warm by the fire, thirst for water, but without the earth that makes us a part of its own existence, we would not respond to the other three elements the way we do. Earth is where it starts. Without the earth as we know it, fire would not burn, water would not be a liquid, air would be poisonous to us.

    It defines us by the very fact that it is still the only place in the universe that we fully know of, that we can survive on. Because we were formed to live perfectly on the earth, it is our Home.

    It is the First Element.

    Ash

  2. Alessa

    There are two different earth's to me, there is the element earth and the planet Earth.

    First, the element earth. I consider elements like archetypes. Think Plato's “archetype” vs. “accidents” (you know, the tangible, perceivable expression “accidents” not the car wreck kind). For example, there are many different objects which are chairs, and they are connected by an essence which is chair-hood. The elements are probably the most fundamental kind of archetype. The element earth is defined by being something with the essence of earth-hood, the archetype earth. On a tangible level, that would include things like that combination of iron, silicon, magnesium, sulfur, nickel, carbon etc that form things like rocks and soil. Soil also includes water and oxygen so it not only bears the element earth, but also tertiary amounts of water and air. That may be why rocks feel more like “pure” elemental earth, whereas soil is more complex and often seems more “alive” than rocks, probably due to that mixing of elements. (A similar case would be volcanoes, which I consider a mixing/clashing of earth and fire). I believe that the essence of earth which gives these things that special “earth” feel is perceivable by a human's soul, which is why we get that spiritual feeling which seems to add up to more than the sum of the parts, which is how we are capable of understanding archetypes in the first place.

    Where do energies in rocks come from? Apparently, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, so as far as I can tell the energy in rocks has existed since the beginning of existence (when and if THAT happened is another question entirely) and it probably wasn't always in the rock it's in now, it can move. This ties into the “string theory” I think. I'm no professional scientist so I may be making assumptions which are not true of other people's string theories, but in my mind, the string theory means that everything is vibrating at its core, and everything is connected. This rings true to me, and I would assume that energy which has the archetypal nature of earth would manifest itself in tangible elements which have the archetypal nature of earth, which would be rocks. That's sort of a creative way of saying I don't know, but I think it answers the question at least on an operational level.

    (continued…)

  3. Alessa

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  4. Alessa

    There are two different earth's to me, there is the element earth and the planet Earth.

    First, the element earth. I consider elements like archetypes. Think Plato's “archetype” vs. “accidents” (you know, the tangible, perceivable expression “accidents” not the car wreck kind). For example, there are many different objects which are chairs, and they are connected by an essence which is chair-hood. The elements are probably the most fundamental kind of archetype. The element earth is defined by being something with the essence of earth-hood, the archetype earth. On a tangible level, that would include things like that combination of iron, silicon, magnesium, sulfur, nickel, carbon etc that form things like rocks and soil. Soil also includes water and oxygen so it not only bears the element earth, but also tertiary amounts of water and air. That may be why rocks feel more like “pure” elemental earth, whereas soil is more complex and often seems more “alive” than rocks, probably due to that mixing of elements. (A similar case would be volcanoes, which I consider a mixing/clashing of earth and fire). I believe that the essence of earth which gives these things that special “earth” feel is perceivable by a human's soul, which is why we get that spiritual feeling which seems to add up to more than the sum of the parts, which is how we are capable of understanding archetypes in the first place.

    Where do energies in rocks come from? Apparently, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, so as far as I can tell the energy in rocks has existed since the beginning of existence (when and if THAT happened is another question entirely) and it probably wasn't always in the rock it's in now, it can move. This ties into the “string theory” I think. I'm no professional scientist so I may be making assumptions which are not true of other people's string theories, but in my mind, the string theory means that everything is vibrating at its core, and everything is connected. This rings true to me, and I would assume that energy which has the archetypal nature of earth would manifest itself in tangible elements which have the archetypal nature of earth, which would be rocks. That's sort of a creative way of saying I don't know, but I think it answers the question at least on an operational level.

    (continued…)

  5. Alessa

    (continued from above)

    The Earth, rather than earth. The Earth is our planet, and obviously a great deal of it is made up of earth. However, I think another key concept which people associate with the Earth is that soil element, the mixture of earth, water and air which feels more “alive” than rocks. That's why even though Mars has rocks, it doesn't really feel the same as Earth. Add to that the fact that the Earth has an abundance of life, and this definitely gives the Earth a distinct metaphysical flavor that the other planets lack. All of the planets possess the element earth, so I assume that if you went to the moon or Mars, the rocks there would still feel like earth element rocks, they might have their own flavor of energy, I can't say since I have never been nor have I ever touched a meteorite that I know of. I don't doubt that they may feel as distinct from Earth rocks as some Earth rocks feel from one another, but they would still be rocks.

    Astrology assigns different energies to the different planets, I am still studying this concept and have no come to any firm conclusions on how these associations can be confirmed, but I have seen some intelligent people believe in it, so I'm not ruling it out. Just like different lakes or mountains have different feels, I don't doubt that the different planets do too, but it's not because they are not made up of the same archetypal elements as ours. That's my current opinion anyways.

    Associations for the element earth. Solid, rigid, grounding, simple, slow, reliability, protection, defense, facts, womb, basics. (I think a lot of the more life-oriented associations people attribute to earth is actually more properly attributed to the fruit of earth and water. When two or three elements come together the associations can change, and many concepts have at least a trace amount of all the elements in there, as the elements rarely exist in a vacuum, so they are inevitably effected by one another.)

    (sorry for the removed comment above, for some reason blogspot posted them out of order the first time)

  6. Alessa

    PS: One aspect that I am very curious about is, what gives individual rocks different metaphysical properties? I have established that they are all made up of the element earth, but they are obviously by no means uniform in feel and “character”. This is a question which I don't have such a tidy answer for. I suspect that there are other divisions of energy (like Earth is a “genus” and different rocks are different “species”, etc.) It would be fascinating to do a study on whether or not physical makeup had anything to do with it (like does each mineral have an innate metaphysical property, does its behavior change when combined with other minerals?) I know that minerals such as quartz are famous for particular uses, I wonder if they would pass a blind study or if the human mind plays a more significant role. If we associate a rock with something, is that very association what gives the rock the power to help us with our spellwork or is the power innate? A combination thereof? I personally feel that I have sense innate properties in rocks and wood before, so I suspect it's not “all in our heads” but I also believe our minds are very powerful things and that our energy can change things more than we might know. I'm very interested in this sort of thing.

  7. Alessa

    Well, apparently I am reinventing the wheel, because you pretty much already asked that question in contest #9! Now I need to go listen to that podcast . . .

  8. Alessa

    LOL I just listened to the podcast and you ALREADY SAID like everything I said, hahaha…

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