The elements are the things that make up the universe as we understand it. I think how different people understand and interpret the elements can vary, so I don’t think it’s particularly strange that different people “use” different elemental systems. For myself, they come in a set of five + five; I use a five element system that’s something of a hybrid between eastern and western systems: earth, fire, wind, water and metal. Based on a series of dreams I had when I was eleven or so, I have held that Fire was the first element to manifest, followed by Water, Earth, Air, and finally Metal.
Each element pairs with an aspect. Aspect is not actually a very good word; functionally, light and dark, chaos and order and void are essentially also elements. But I started using the word when I was a preteen and it’s stuck.
This is one of those areas where my work is intensely personal, not because it’s private but because I’m not sure it’s meaningful to anyone who’s not me or practicing with me. I don’t think the elements as I understand them are a universal truth – lots of people separate earth and wood, for example, but that’s simply not how it works for me in this system.
I don’t talk about this often, because… well, who dreams of a religion when they’re eleven and spends two thirds of their life trying to figure out what that religion is? Or, as I’m doing now, reconstructing it. Because I never did find something that fit precisely, without me having to snip off some heels and toes.
The first dream I had was actually Earth’s dream, but inside the dream I knew that Fire and Water were there because they had already manifested. Air came later, and Metal was the last piece of the puzzle. This was where I learned that the world ends, and life goes on, over and over again. Each element, fully manifested, can change the world and break it. There are little apocalypses and there are big ones but always someone picks up the pieces.
The waters of the Deep Blue Sea know the Dark well, and they hide together in the deepest trenches and whisper secrets in the language of whales.
The Good Earth knows a great deal about reaching toward the Light. She may never reach it, not really, but She gains much in the attempt and shares it with all.
The Two Man Con know both chaos and order a little too well – Fire burns out of control all too quickly, and yet carefully controlled burns can stop wildfires. Wind is the province of the mind and intellect, powering ships and mills, but too much leaves you digging out of storm damage.
The metal of the Iron Core rests at the center of everything – the planet, the sun, the blood and the computer. It is both solid and liquid, utterly necessary and completely foreign.
Intuition is the province of the Dark and the unconscious mind, where She speaks loudest without being heard. The Dark Lady teaches you to listen.
Reason is undoubtably the language of Order, wherein each concept or process is laid out by Him, step by step. The Artificer teaches you to study.
The Light speaks in inspiration, the moment of bright clarity where all becomes clear. Once the answer is obvious, He lights the path. The Enlightened One teaches you to see.
Chaos, finally, speaks through emotion. What is experienced this way may not make sense, but that does not make Her lessons any less real. The Mad One teaches you to feel.
void does not speak. Nonetheless, we can listen to hir. This has been given many names, but I think the best is no-mind. (void) teaches you to be.