Depression, energy work, and dams

A very dear friend of mine, who shall remain nameless until he gives me permission to do wotherwise, asked a very pertinent question today. He has been dealing with the lovely effects of bi-polar disorder, and was looking for input on the eternal question: 'To medicate, or not to medicate?' This, I know from something.

'I have been living with the side effects and fun times of bi-polar disorder since the age of 11. Yes, the highs and lows do get worse as you age, but that has more to do with cellular degradation in the synaptic nerves than anything else, which is completely normal and happens to everyone. The only thing that I can say is that LIGHT meds are your friend. Heavy meds can lead eventually to the shakes of nervous system breakdown. And the shakes CAN be avoided if you keep to light meds and monitor your potassium intake.

Find what lets you quiet your head. The voices, all of whom are yours but run around like 'A Funny Thing Happen On The Way To The Forum on MUSHROOMS' most days and nights, can get overwhelming. Meds take the edge off, but YOU have to find what lets your grounded center spin and organize the flow of energy. Because it's your energy, keep in mind. People with these kinds of disorders tend to have a hole in their dam (the dam that lets you control the energy flow of your being). We get hit with waves. Some awesome, some drowning. You have to build your banks to withstand the flow, but not so much that the flow backs up into a stagnant quagmire. It IS manageable. and who knows, there may come a time when you CAN be off meds. I only went back on because of a series of additional long-term stressers in my life that pushed personal buttons. Before that, I was free of meds for several years and was perfectly comfortable. It CAN happen, but finding an equilibrium before weening off is a good plan, too.'

It's a fine line to walk, that much is certain. It's a rough road, that's certain, too. But then you get covered in a tidal wave of rainbow punch, and it feels better.

Earth

Earth is the great resting place. The place of peace, or tranquility, of balance, or focus, the culmination of the other elements, together forming the perfect framework for life itself.  The Earth is the element of stillness, of fertility, and of growth.

The Earth is looked upon my many cultures as not only a woman but a mother. The Great Mother to all, the mother earth. Often, the Mother Earth is accompanied by the Sky Father, the brother Fire, and the sister Water. The great Rocks of the earth is seen as the bones of our bodies, the water becomes the blood in our veins, the wind becomes breath in our lungs, and the fire in our hearts is our passion, our very life. The Earth is the beginning and the end of the circle. The Earth mother gives us life, and to her we return when we are buried. We return to her every if we are burned, for scattered ashes still break down into the earth and are recycled into nutrients needed for the growth of plant life.

Volcanoes bring the oldest of rock to the surface of the earth, rock and dust and pieces of stars that haven’t seen light since the dawn of our world. Volcanoes are unstoppable, and the only thing anyone can do is get out of the way, but afterward they bear the most fertile soil. Nutrients and minerals necessary for life, renewed and spread out so that life can continue. Mother Nature’s menstrual cycle. Pyroclastic clouds can travel near to 700 km/h, and they are just the heralds of the full eruption. And I thought MY PMS was bad!

Earth is the most tangible, visible part of our lives. It is our home, it is the essence of home, or shelter, and of strength. It is held as the element of Winter and of darkest night. The caves of our world hold no light from the outside. They hold a deeper darkness than the night sky. That is also why (according to the Northern European pagan traditions) this is the element of the North, the coldest, darkest of places during the winter.

Trees are used in nearly every form of divination and spiritual work. From the wood used for runes and ogham fews, to the paper used for tarot card. Wands and staves used in ritual, the wooden handles of swords, the oak branches on which are hung buckets for hauling water for the cauldron.

Earth is where things grow. But in order to grow, roots must run deep and take a strong hold. Not too strong, because if roots grip too tight, they can’t grow to new places. Branches must reach up high and wide to take in the sun. they should not grow beyond what is sustainable, but their strength can stand against the harshest wind, even flood.

Earth is represented by the pentagram, the 5 pointed star leading from the 4 main elements to the fifth. Life itself. Earth, being the stage for the play of life, is represented by one of the oldest, simplest symbols for balance, and leads directly into the next level of thinking: life itself. Its meaning, its complexity, its simplicity, its very existence.

But it’s not all tree hugging. To be stuck in earth is to be sedentary, to be unmoving, unyielding, a creature of circular logic resulting in inaction, the opposite of fire. But indeed the earth is not entirely motionless. In fact, the core of the earth is ever in motion, even if that motion is slow and steady. Sometimes, however, that motion is quick, and powerful. An earthquake can cause destruction like no other. When balance is tipped and the scale leans, the ground itself can split and crumble. If personal balance is upset, it can disturb every aspect of our lives.

Earth is a feminine element along with Water. The masculine elements are Air and Fire.

Water

Water is the element of emotion, empathy, and compassion. The ebb and flow of emotional states, ranging as wide and as deep as any ocean. Water is the place for coping mechanisms, defense mechanisms, the realm of self-preservation in the face of stress. The face of stress itself, for the ocean can be as perilous as it is beautiful and life-giving. A hurricane is equally as beautiful as a sandy beach, and in the eyes of Water, they are the same.

The cleansing element, represented by the cauldron. A vessel, not the actual liquid. Because a cauldron can be filled with anything, as we have the capacity to feel anything, from the harshest rage to the tenderest love to the most ardent joy. Water can overwhelm as much as give life. Our bodies are 80% water, but we can still drown. With the balance of logic, or rationality, emotion becomes a tidal wave from which there is no escape.

Water is as present in our lives as the rain. Water is held as the element of the Autumn and Twilight. Twilight  causes more accidents on roadways than any other time of day because of the liminal space it produces every single day. Autumn is the time of harvest, or plenty, and of reflection as we look forward to the cold of winter. It is a time of aging, as the year begins to wane. It is in the time that Northern European traditions begin the new year. For as the earth dies, as the trees lose their leaves and become bare as old bones, they celebrate the gestation of a new year, as a mother awaits the coming of her child. As the sun sets int he west, we know that it will rise again in the East, where Air begins the cycle again.

Oceans ebb and flow with the whim of a single outside force: the moon. Emotions react to stimulus in this way, ever shifting, ever changing. Unmoving water stagnates, becomes filled with all kinds of things that grow and rot and allow other nasty things to breed and fester. Flowing water remains clean, clear and able to shift around obstacles and traumas. Still water allows for reflection, but water must move in order to remain clean. The ebb and flow of motion and stillness.  Even ice moves, glaciers cutting away at landscapes over hundreds of years. Even in solid state, water in nature continues to move.

Water is also used to reflect, both within and without. Water is nature’s mirror, showing us not only what we know, but what is around us that we may not. Water has been used by seers for millennia for this very reason. Water revitalizes the body, clears the mind with it’s thick waves and it’s floating stillness. Water, much like fire, is an equalizer, but it is a fickle as the wind itself. A single particle of anything placed into water will affect the boiling and freezing points of water. Water itself cannot be compressed. When it freezes, it expands instead of shrinks, the opposite of every other molecule. Emotions, if repressed and bottled up, eventually explode.

But it’s not all water parks and ocean jaunts and mermaids. To be stuck in water is to be a creature entirely of emotion without rationality, without logic, the opposite of air.

Water is a feminine element, along with Earth. The Masculine elements are air and Fire.

Fire

Fire is the element of action, reaction, passion, movement, and light. Fire is represented by the wand or staff, the wooden stick, the catalyst of reaction, the focus of action.

Fire establishes our priorities. It applies to the basest of our instincts. The earliest of humans feared fire because they saw it only for its destructive force. Fire is by far the most reactive of elements, since it is in fact a chemical reaction. Fire is the very essence of action. It roars, it whispers, it cracks and sparks and flies, brings light to the farthest corners of any darkness.

Fire holds many sacred places in our lives. Fire is held as the element of Summer, and the full daylight. The heat of the sun bears down and warms the earth so that everything can grow and bear fruit. It is held in the South, where (according to the traditions of the Northern European pagans) the sun is warmest, toward the equator. We must always remember that the stars burn with the same ferocity of our own sun.

Fire is as destructive as it is a tool to create. Fire, like passion and anger, must be controlled or it will spiral into a destructive force like so other. Fire shows us the consequences of our actions. It shows us, without mercy, that every action has a reaction, and if we are to act, we must always understand what affect we will have on others, on our world, on ourselves. We, as living beings, have more power than any scientist can extrapolate, though quantum physics is slowly catching up. It takes more energy to excite molecules than it does to cool them, to slow them down. It takes more humanity, more energy, and more life to act than it does to stand still. Stillness has it's place, stillness is necessary  but that's the reason why Earth, the element of balance and stillness, is the opposite of Fire. Fire must be balanced, or the forest of life will go up.

Fire is the very essence of motion, and inspires not only dance but art of every kind. It led mankind out of our caves, giving us warmth and light to find out way in the unknown darkness. The fires of the forge gave us tools, broadened our understanding of matter, and led to the further exploration of our world through horseshoes and wagon wheels, cars and planes, and eventually, the space shuttles that ferry us to space and home again. The light of a single candle can help create the works of Shakespeare, or it can be the bonfire that lightens the feet of tribal dancers across the globe. On the end of a stick, it can bring light and warmth to one family after another. On the end of a string, spun high and low, round and round, it can bring wonder to even the more rigid of hearts.

But again, it’s not all dancing and spinning. To be stuck in fire is to be wholly reactionary, without balance or focus, the opposite of earth. And a lack of fire means a lack of heat, and therefore a lack of life.

Fire is a masculine element, along with Air. The feminine elements are Water and Earth. 

Air

Air is the realm of logic, the realm of rational thought, the realm of sequence and separation. Here lay the spreadsheets, the number sequences, the mathematics of our lives, the very essence of the pristine and meticulous. Air is where things begin, in the continuously moving recesses of thought. Here begin intention, planning, plotting, and analysis. Air’s opposite is Water, the realm of emotion. Air is represented by the knife or sword, which directly connects to the separating, cataloging logical mind. Air is the lightning strike of inspiration  followed by the flame of action.

Many things within out daily lives fall into the realm of Air. Air is considered the element of Spring, and the Dawn, the place of beginnings. It is held in the East, where the Dawn emerges, to begin the day.

However, it’s not all wonderment and breezy hillsides perfect for cloud-gazing. To be stuck in Air is to be detached from emotion (water, being the opposite of air), to be so caught in the thought process that action is not taken. But you can’t think your way out of an emotional state, which is how the opposite applies.

Also, if you think about what wind can do, wind uncovers that which is buried. It takes time, and it takes meticulous work for something as insubstantial as the very air we breathe to move something. But if left to its own devices, it can also whip up a tornado, a force that simply cannot be stopped by the hands of anything but physics. Physics, one of the most cerebral of all sciences, is the best tool to use when trying to pull apart this phenomenon. And yet, nothing can stand in its way unscathed. Wind can bring a mountain to dust as it has done with Uluru, the great rock of Australia, or it can hum the most silent of places into life, like the great Singing Dunes of Death Valley in the US.

Wind sings with a voice like no other, it bites in heat and in cold, and without it, there can be no life as we know it. The very air we breathe becomes our own voice, and it carries our words as far as it can. No wonder Air is the realm of thought and intention. Our words become that intention, that focus of our thoughts. The wind in our words lets us communicate ideas. Words themselves are as precise and meticulous as any math problem; no wonder air must be used in order to bring them out.

Air is a Masculine element, along with Fire. The Feminine elements are Water and Earth.