The EARTH element is all about LAVISH ABUNDANCE. To understand its splendor is to romp in its amber waves of grain. A beacon of unconditional love and generosity, Earth unifies us in our differences, sows wild grandeurs in its myriad soils, and feeds us all with its boundless breast. Representing the forces of grounded stability and laboring in service, it endures hardships yet continue to provide. Our Mistress of Eternal Empathy anticipates our every need, making magic happen by the grace of a hidden hand. Toxic oil spill!? Here’s an oil-eating oyster mushroom to devour the poison miasma. Malarial outbreak?! Here’s a heap of Artemisia Annua growing in the garden path. Earth gives with grace and ease, the cosmic hinge by which our universe turns and is held together.
In the physical realm, Earth represents things that thicken, expand, and stagnate in the center of the body, like fertile soils turning to mud. Think lumps, bumps, cysts, bloating, congestion, chronic fatigue, sluggish lymphatics, water retention, and weight gain. Under pressure, earthy folk are prone to worry, expand, and accumulate. Their internal weather might be damp and sticky. Health issues are triggered by overwork, humid weather which can make their brains foggy, and intemperance in eating, especially excess amounts of cold, raw, fatty or sweet foods.
Late Summer Harvest
Damp
The Ashes of Fire
The Roots of Wood
Fruiting, Bringing Forth, Sowing
Yin & Yang in perfect balance
Ripening, Enriching, Sustaining, Harvesting
Downwards towards the Earth to rot & upwards toward the Heavens to ripen whilst everything is held firmly in the center.
7-11 am
The Spleen, Stomach, Pancreas, Muscles, Mouth
Connecting elements & communities: linking air, water, rocks, and organisms together through an underground mycorrhizal network called the Wood Wide Web.
Nourishing life: providing nourishment and a habitat for all living things and their food, supplying heat, nutrients, and water to plants to nurture them to maturity.
Water filtration & containment: filtering water as it moves from the land surface into the groundwater, holding it firmly in place and coursing its waterways.
Recycling: soil is earth’s stomach that converts waste products into minerals that can be reused by other creatures.
Muscles well-nourished by silos full of harvested grain. The soils, fields, and gardens of our center that engender a feeling of abundant prosperity. Things that thicken, coagulate, and stagnate as earth turns to mud. The sensorial stew of our tastebuds who connect us to the bounty of Mother Nature. Digesting food and experience to bear the fruits of our emotional and physical labor.
A well-fed mind and clear intention
The Empress, Justice, Queen of Cups, The World
Feeling grounded, nurturing, peaceful, balanced, abundant, centered, thoughtful, clear-headed, stable, secure, and reliable. Knowing how to be of service to others, understanding the importance of caring for yourself, feeling connected to the sensuality of the body & earth.
Feeling worried, obsessive, stuck, smothering, heavy, lethargic, slow, risk-averse, and needy. Suffering from muddy thinking, craving sympathy, ignoring your needs, having spiritual indigestion without the ability to transform experience into wisdom.
Sluggishness, lumps, bumps, swelling, cysts, phlegm, fatigue, digestive disorders, diarrhea, bloating, food allergies & sensitivities, eating disorders, sugar cravings, lymphatic issues, tender muscles, fibromyalgia, prolapse & sinking sensations, brain fog, taking on too much, the inability to transform ideas into actions, being unwilling to step out of your comfort zone, concerns with stability & scarcity, obsessing over your body & health.
People with strong Earth energy tend to be stable, secure, serene, sympathetic, nurturing, and hardworking. They know how to be of service, and are natural caretakers and peacemakers that find it difficult to say no, continually ensnaring themselves (begrudgingly, yet brusquely) in the projects, dramas, and predicaments of other people. They take on an excess share of the collective weight of the world, and as such, their inner landscape is prone to worry. They think a lot - particularly about the needs of themselves and those around them. Earth energy needs to feel abundant, satiated, and filled to the brim in order to feel stable, like a silo full of grain or a body lavished in splendors. When our Earth element is shaky, we may find ourselves resisting change, avoiding choices that might jeopardize security and stability, or smothering others (or ourselves!) in order to bolster our own self-worth. Out of balance, Earth energy can manifest as insatiable neediness, a feeling of never-enoughness, obsessive thoughts, muddy thinking, lethargy, self-doubt, feeling stuck, and a loss of centeredness that is dealt with by compulsive consumption. A person with strong Earth energy needs to be taking care of something and watching it thrive in order to feel fully alive.
Cultivate a fertile ground for implanting ideas that can nourish and support you. Behold the fruits of your labor with tender reverence, cradling them in your palm like a sacred harvest.
