The Water Element
As I sit down to write about the water element, I read what I wrote last week on this subject. What struck me was the sheer magnitude of the subject and the utter inadequacy of words to truly portray what the elements are. Admitting my limitations is important to me at the beginning of this week’s article. Such an important subject should warrant a far better portrayal of their importance. That is why in today’s literature there are several very important books written on water. All I can do here — and it is the objective I set for this series — is to give some hints of how they can be used for healing.
This also gives me the opportunity to mention how the elements can guide us on our spiritual journey. We cannot understand them with the mind. They are beyond concept. An intellectual approach will never be able to truly assimilate their teachings. They reveal far more than words could ever carry. Our Indigenous philosophy, similar to Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, offers ways that go beyond the conceptual mind to integrate the deep teachings the elements can offer. For your spiritual journey they are excellent teachers, best approached in deep meditation when the mind is still.
Water carries the teaching on emotions. Healing the heart of trauma, loss, heartbreak, fear, anxiety, angst, jealousy, hatred, attachment and aversion is best done in understanding that they are the water of our minds. Ever changing, like water, they hold the shape of our circumstances as water adopts the shape of the glass, bowl, river bed and ocean deep — yet always remains water. Thus, the wise practitioner does not get involved in the emotion but allows it to flow and transform. Clinging to the emotion as if it has some importance is the great mistake we all commit. This is what makes life difficult. If we were to let it flow, the emotions would evaporate and become the essence of what they truly are: peace, love and joy. Serenity comes to those who know how to express the emotion without attachment.
Thus, the prayer given last week at the behest of this part on water reveals the importance of sitting down with friends and family to express our hurt and need for forgiveness, yet letting it then be washed away by the healing virtues of the blessed and holy waters. Coming back to water’s shore to do ceremony and prayer, offering water to our shrines, dancing in the rain to alleviate the hardness of the heart — these are some of the ways tradition teaches us to assuage the tribulations of the heart.
On a physical level, drinking pure water is so very important. I begin my day with water before I even rise from bed, taking in close to a liter of water at body temperature. Yet I still do not drink enough. I need to remind myself daily to drink more — small gulps at room temperature. Drinking tea or juice is not water. The water in these drinks is used to manage the substance in the juice or tea. Also, bathing is a daily ritual best performed morning and evening. Be aware of the healing virtues of water daily — in drinking and bathing — and you will avoid countless diseases and promote lasting health and longevity.
Thus, water should be at the heart of our daily practices for health and happiness.
One aid to this is the Nipiiy — Water Sacred Essence I created. This beautiful perfume evokes the fragrance of algae on the rocks by the shores of the sea. Enjoy the teachings that are beyond the mind, as the scent carries us farther than words ever could.
Joy, Love and Peace be with you. 🦅