(Aether) Water >  (Aether) > Wood >  (Aether) > Air>  (Aether) > Fire >  (Aether) > Earth >  (Aether) >Metal  (Aether)

                                                                                                  

                                                                                                Elemental Progression

Those of you who are familiar with Asian medicine will be very familiar with the idea of a progression of elements. This particular progression is a tad different from the one that illustrates the activity of what is known as Five Element Theory mostly on account of there being seven elements in this progression but it is, I think, just as seamless.

I first encountered Five Element Theory in the study of Feng Shui and Chinese astrology as it is used to determine a persons elemental make-up. I walked right into a wall with the astrology part of it, though, as most of my clients were totally unfamiliar with Five Element Theory whose elements did not match those of western astrology. That's when this desire I have to merge systems started. I'd been an astrologer for about 25 years when I ran headlong into Chinese astrology so I felt comfortable creating my own elemental system, layering the information from both. It was effective and informative beyond my wildest dreams, giving me great grounding for the families I was about to work for before I'd ever met them and often allowing me to predict exactly what kind of environment I'd be walking into.

The idea of elemental progression is that each element feeds or nourishes another and is also in a more dynamic, somewhat conflictive relationship with others. Aether and Air do not figure in traditional Five Element theory. They are the elements introduced from the western metaphysical system. This is pure conjecture on my part, but I suspect that Aether and Air do not figure in to Five Element Theory for the very same reason that in the meridian system used by Asian Medicines there is no Brain Meridian: that which is a part of everything is not addressed on its own.

In Sacred Earth Seven Element Tarot all the elements are addressed because, for use in Tarot, we want the details! The progression is drawn out at the top of this page but I will flesh it out here. The progression, properly pictured, would be circular.

Water feeds Wood (trees need water to grow); Wood gives birth to Air (trees create oxygen); Air feeds Fire (literally needs it to exist); Fire gives birth to Earth (think volcano); Earth gives birth to Metal (metal is compressed elements formed within the earth); Metal nourishes Water (think mineral water). Aether appears, in my linear progression, between each step but it is really more as if the progression exists within a globe of Aether. Aether is everywhere. As the element representing the Spirit Self, there is no getting away from Aether in any aspect of life.

When, in a reading, elements that nourish or feed or give birth to each other lay out in order of that process it lends an air of ease to the reading because there is a supportive flow present. If those same elements lay out not in order of the progression, but could be moved and switched about to fall into order then we can know that some juggling will be required to get things to flow smoothly but that such an option is available. Should elements show up that are not contiguous, such as Wood and Metal, then we know that the situation will be more dynamic, will require some effort or cause some discomfort. The other cards present or the nature of the cards themselves, if there are only two, will determine if the dynamic is one of effort or of discomfort.

Metal, for example, shapes Wood. That could be easy or difficult depending on the nature of the cards but it would always be dynamic, something is being honed or refined and something else is putting out effort to make that happen. Air oxidizes Metal. Sometimes this is exactly what you want to have happen to achieve a given finish or look, but other times it's only rust. Again, the nature of the cards themselves or surrounding cards would help you to flesh that out.

Even within a nourishing combination overwhelm can exist. The 10 Water may be a bit much for a 2 Wood to handle. Reading Tarot is always an intuitive process, always. That's why I usually recommend to my students that when they purchase a new deck they just put the 'instructions' away. Sacred Earth Seven Element cards mean many things to many people because life events mean many things to many people. Some people run to change, others run away. In reading Tarot, in interpreting the cards, everything depends on the reader's interpretation of the cards in relation to the reader's feel for the querent.