The Elements of Man Part 1

The 33rd Sage and the Elements Part 1

My spiritual life began in my late twenties, when I first met my old Chinese teacher. From that moment my inner spiritual life became my dominant life. Before I begin to share the Elements of Man I need to share a small part of my own story to put the teachings in context. 

Most of the posts will be shorter than this one, but as with all things that matter patience and discipline are required. For those of the Fire persuasion that will be quite difficult as you always want the answer before you begin. My little joke to the Fire Elements amongst you.

I thought of doing video and or audio posts but this would prove impossible as over half my current audience is from non English speaking countries. So I will try to make it as enjoyable as possible while at the same time giving you enough information to allow the teaching of the Elements to grow magically and organically from within you.

"It was three days before the solstice and the sage must prepare him."

I surveyed the pale blotchy skin on the back of my left hand. I pinched it into little hills of flesh and watched them slowly collapse back. I looked up towards the receptionist. Her lips moved quickly, sharing a story on the telephone. I looked at my reflection in the glass-top coffee table. I didn’t like what I saw. Stroking my greying skin, I flapped my hand under my double chin. It wobbled in time with my sighs. My fingers reached up for the bags under both eyes. I pushed them up, but they dropped back in resignation. My eyes ached, their red streaks visible in the table’s reflection. I sighed deeply, closed my eyes and lay back, my head resting on the back of the couch.

“Mr. Spalding, Doctor will see you now.”

I shook my head, waking from a slight sleep. Groggy and confused I followed the receptionist into Dr Collins’ office.

Dr Collins sat in his black patent leather chair behind his large mahogany desk. He smiled, hands clasped behind his head. He was in his mid forties, his flecks of grey hair massaging his temples.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. His voice was soft, almost effeminate. His eyes were warmer than his smile.

I grunted, “Okay, I guess.” My shoulders dropped further with each word.

“No improvement on the new diet?”

“No, Doc.” I breathed deeply, my shoulders rising to their natural height. “Some days I wake up with a burst of energy, but it doesn’t last.” My shoulders drooped again, and the corners of my mouth dropped like unexpressed tears. “Why, Doc, why is it happening to me? One day I was fit, healthy and successful, everything to live for and the next I can barely walk to the toilet? Why? Why me? I did everything right. I dieted. I exercised. I took vitamins. I worked hard. I was good to everyone. Why me, Doc?”

Doctor Collins sat back in his chair, his palms opened out. “I don’t know, every test we have done has shown nothing. There is a hint of something viral left over, but other than that we are simply in the dark.” His hands turned over; he gently rapped on the table. “All we know is that you are allergic to at least 93 substances and it could be more.”

The front door of the clinic slammed behind me. I continued to look down, shoulders hunched, hands slack at my side. Walking to nowhere I began to replay pictures in my mind. I smiled weakly at the picture of myself crossing the finish line of the Melbourne Marathon, and then there was the picture of first place in the Horsham 10K. One after another I replayed pictures and relived the emotions of my many sporting and working victories. 

“No more,” were the only words, which escaped from my lips.

The early winter wind ripped through my clothes. I shivered and pulled the collar of my jacket tightly around my throat.

    I continued walking and thinking. I heard the voice of Doctor Collins in my head. “As I see it, you have two choices. Either you can go on as you are, but this will only lead to a further downward spiral in the foods you can eat. The other, the only real choice, is to spend a month in a bubble while we scientifically quantify the foods and chemicals you are allergic to.”

It was the best science had to offer. I was to become an experiment in reductionism, in the hope that they could rebuild the whole.

    I was in deep shit and I knew it

I continued walking. My arms hanging limply by my sides, my shoulders pinched in an attempt to keep out the cold. More pictures began to invade my mind. I remembered that fateful Sunday morning when I rose for my weekly 32K run. I dressed quickly, taking a noisy swig of orange juice; for there was not time for breakfast: I’d laced up one of my many pairs of old Nike's and ran out the front door.

After a hundred meters I felt like shit. 

Nothing unusual, I would be okay in another couple of kilometers, I assured myself, when I warmed up, or so I’d thought. No such luck; fifty meters further and I was doubled over, spilling last night’s vegetarian dinner in a heap on the side of the road.

    I had walked and half crawled the 150 meters back to my home, where I spent the whole day in bed. Next day I could barely drive the 2 kilometers to work or walk the fifty meters from the car park to my office at the supermarket, where I was manager. I stayed in the office resting for an hour before I made a pathetic tour of the supermarket. Exhausted, I went back to the office and rested for another hour before I surfaced again. I struggled on like this for four days before; finally, my complete lethargy forced me to see a doctor.

    That had been when the tests began and continued for the next eighteen months. I had become a human pincushion. And every time the results showed the same thing: nothing, or next to nothing. The traces showed something viral but not enough for them to be sure what the virus was.

    I was passed from one doctor to another: an endless procession of wise men in white coats, with stethoscopes hanging around their necks. The final doctor I saw had seen recommended me to an allergy clinic, where the tests began again. At least, there had been no more blood tests. The tests they performed were to find what it was I was allergic to. The diet was depressing, but at least it seemed to be helping. That was, until my last bout of sickness. I had gone back to work and for two months everything had been going well: I was working too many hours and had even started running again. Then one morning I woke up and could barely make it to the shower. That had been two weeks ago and that was why the only choice I had left was the allergy bubble.

I saw in my mind a picture of myself in a bubble, sucking foods through a straw and having no contact with the outside world. My mind pictures were over dramatised but they at least took me away from the real world of exhaustion.

When I finally escaped the inner worlds of my mind, I stopped walking and looked around. I shook my head in disbelief. I had walked all the way from Richmond to the city. A distance of only a few kilometres, but given my current state, anything over a hundred meters was a bonus. Confused, I asked myself. “How could I have walked so far?” 

There was more to this illness than the purely physical. I did not know what or how, but in that moment I sensed, in a deeper part of myself, that there was a way out of this debilitating disease and it had something to do with my mind. Given my current understanding of mind body medicine this was a quantum leap of universal proportions. We are talking about a man whose only reading consisted of books on athletics or marketing. My whole world had revolved around work and running. I was obsessed with becoming better. The better I became the harder I worked, the harder I trained. The illness brought all that to an end. The illness caused a crack in the person I thought I was and yet, at the same time, there was a hint, a small glimpse of something else.

    It was then that I prayed for the first time. It was not an ‘our father who art in heaven,' sought of thing, it was more a stillness in my mind where I asked whatever was out there for help, help, plain and simple. I did not ask for any specifics. Then, within seconds, my mind was once again a jumble of the millions of thoughts that fought for my attention in the stillness.

    A red flash appeared at the edge of my awareness. My head snapped back, only to discover it was a red dragon flapping above the entrance to a Chinese restaurant. My mind responded to the memories of food eaten in the past and I began to salivate. 

I wanted Chinese food. ‘Fuck the allergies. What’s happening?’ I thought to myself. ‘I had been so careful to only eat what I was supposed to eat, for such a long time. What was I doing?’ I watched as my feet took my body through the doorway and under the Red Dragon. 

    Once inside the door, my shoulders raised and breath filled my lungs. I sniffed at the thousands of smells that filled the restaurant, smells I had denied myself. I sniffed through the smells, reacting to one spice laid on top of another. There was garlic, which usually made me sick, then lemon grass, then chili, and then I could not quite make out some of the other smells. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. 

   The waiter led me to a table while I was still in a state of ecstasy. The part of me, which existed in the earthly consciousness, ordered a bottle of De Bortoli Chardonnay and mulled over the menu while the other part of me danced in the province of angels.

    The waiter coughed gently, his hand in a fist in front of his mouth. I shook my head free from my revere. I looked up into the waiter’s smooth, creaseless face and smiled. A smile returned instantly, as if we were sharing a secret.

    

     I did not have to wait long. Within a few days my prayers were answered when I was introduced to a man named G who ran a weight loss program mainly for women called the IFA which stood for "Improper Fat Accumulation". At a sickly 72kgs I did not need to lose any weight, but there was something about him that attracted me to his teaching. The program ran over a season, or about 13 weeks during which time there was a number of cleansings and detoxes, combined with mega doses of vitamins and minerals and a special diet. Within about six weeks my allergies had reduced dramatically and I was feeling better than I had in a number of years.

I was in the audience on one of the last days of the program when G asked a question that would change my life forever. "Would you like to look at a person and know them better than they know themselves; to be able to talk to them in their own language, to know their strengths and weaknesses and be able to their see their health and disease patterns now and into their future?" Although I was one of maybe a hundred in the audience I felt like he was talking directly to me. In that moment my life was changed. My life from that moment turned in a direction that even a few months before I would never have been able to even comprehend what was happening.

The Elements of Man

    ‘In Old China, The Emperor of the Fourth Dynasty of Chao did not know what to do. Around him was disagreement. No matter what he tried, his ministers could not get along with one another. They were always fighting. His wife and children he could not understand. The people he was told about, the royalty, the governors, and those of the provinces throughout China - many times there was difficulty understanding them. But specifically, he had difficulty learning what their strengths and weaknesses were. One minister told him that to be able to do this; he needed to have those that would spy secretly. Others told him that he needed a great magician or mystic that could sit and whisper into his ear if a person was telling the truth. Others said that he must be extremely harsh and strong and, no matter what was said, not rely on it. He was always to know that the words that came forward were not true. He did not know what to do.

    ‘Soon he walked within his garden, each evening; and as he would touch the leaves or sit beneath the tree or watch the birds fly, he wondered. The old sage of the forest of K'an had taught him, when he was younger, of nature. What had he said? His memory was old. It was so far away. He had once asked, `How do I know when a person is truthful?' What had the sage answered... what were his words? He could not remember. But as he sat beneath the tree he remembered that the sage had taught him these things. And so he rose, and walked to his most trusted minister, and said, `Go to the forest of K'an and bring back the sage. You will enter through dark trees. Go forth for one half day until you come to a lake, the lake of purification. Sit beside it until the sage comes to you.'

‘And so the minister went and he found the forest and went into it. He sat beside the lake and waited for the sage. As the sun was setting over the mountains, as the birds were beginning to quiet their day, as the insects were defying the silence, he felt a touch on his shoulder. `What can I do for you, messenger of the Emperor?'

    ‘The Emperor would like you to go to him. He has much trouble.' And so the old sage said, `Three days from this day the old sage will be in his garden, beneath the willow tree.' And so the minister went back to the Emperor. He told the Emperor what was said, and he was happy. Three days later he went to the tree and sat, and the sage appeared. They talked for many hours. And the sage said, `I cannot teach the way to do this in one night or two. Being a dictatorial ruler will not bring this wisdom. Mystics and magicians cannot. Spies will not. You must leave your court for one year.'

    ‘The Emperor said, `but I cannot.' And the sage said, `Let me tell you how you can.' And so they prepared. And the Emperor was told how he would begin each day for the next five days, to prepare his court for his leaving.

    ‘And so the routine was changed, and the Emperor would sit upon his throne and he would say, 'Listen. I will sit now.' And the ministers would come and talk; and he would wave them away. This went on for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. And the Emperor would dismiss his court. At the end of five days, the sage said, 'We are now ready for you to leave.'

    ‘And as the Winter Solstice approached, in the cold of the night, as the sun was shining in the other parts of the world, and as the moon was high, they slipped through the garden of the palace. And each day, at exactly the same time, the old sage would appear in the guise of the Emperor and sit upon his throne. He would sit and listen, as the Emperor was in the forest of K'an learning to deal with people.

    It was three days before the Solstice, and the sage must prepare him. He told him what his role was to be. He said, `First you must know that man is like nature. Man is but a cycle, as your world is a cycle. Each thing has its seasons, as man has a cycle of the seasons. This is not only within man, but also within the history of mankind.' He pointed that in time he would be learning of the people who identify with the seasons. And the Emperor was glad. As the Solstice approached, the Elements of Man were revealed. Years later, Emperors later, when the Emperors no longer went into the forest of K'an, these were lost."

When G finished telling the story I felt like I had been on the journey with the Emperor and the sage. I knew in that moment that I would spend the rest of my life working to understand the seasons within man and mankind. The story was alive to me. The elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth were dancing through the room. The elements within my body were reacting with the elements in the room and elements within the earth. In my own microcosm I was connected with the macrocosm. 

This was the beginning of the study of the elements. As the course continued I began to develop my understanding of the elements. There were a number of disciplines which G gave me that allowed a deepening of my understanding of the elements and one in particular that would become a part of my life for the next 28 years. The first discipline was to keep everything I learnt in these sessions to myself. To only discuss it with others who were attending the workshops. This was not done because we needed to keep these teachings a secret. It was because we had such a tenuous grip on their understanding that to discuss them with those who did not understand could cripple the unfolding of the teaching that came from within. We were not to discuss the teachings for a season. I went one step further and did not share any of the teachings for a full year. Looking back I could see that this and my passion for the teachings helped them to continue to develop, even to this day.

Come with me over the next three months, a full season, during which time I will reveal to the beauty and wonder that is the Elements. I bless my old teacher every day for giving me this wonderful gift and although he no longer teaches this course it is a pleasure for me to share these teachings with you.

All that I ask is that while you are studying the Elements that you do not talk about them to anybody who is not also studying them. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly it will take a full season for the concepts to start take root within you and secondly the old teaching of 'those who talk do not know and those that know do not talk.'

If you are excited about the teachings share the link to blog with others as something they may find interesting or buy them a copy of 'The 33rd Sage,' as much of what I will share is in the book. For some the story itself will help them open up to the more spiritual aspects of their life. 'When the student is ready the teacher appears.' 

Although the Elements were never meant to be taught in this way, I feel that the changes that are happening on the planet make it more necessary than ever for people to get back in touch with the Elements and nature. It is important for all of us to realign ourselves with the cycles within nature.

I dedicate these blogs to Old Chinese, G, Stuart and Marshal for they were the wonderful teachers who brought the elements alive for me.

Chung Fu, who first shared the story, was the assumed name of the spirit guide of trance medium Marshall N. Lever. It was chosen by the guide from the I Ching, meaning inner truth. His last incarnation was as a student of Chuang Tzu, in China.

Chung Fu discouraged any form of physical phenomenon in his teaching circles. He emphatically pointed out that his teachings and guidance are not the way, but one of the many ways that individuals may take on their journey to Inner Truth. He taught that there must be an unfolding within the individual and an awareness of Inner Truth through meditation and self-discipline. It was during one of his teaching circles that he shared the story of the Sage and the Emperor. 

Twenty eight years ago I was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome when I was first introduced to the teachings of Old Chinese, as Chung Fu was also known, by G. Through the wonderful teachings of G and Old Chinese I was not only able to heal myself but have the strength and the courage to attempt the greatest journey of all: The Quest for Inner Truth.

I have not shared G's full name because he has chosen the way of the silent warrior and I honor and respect him deeply. I am one of the many thankful students that he has taught on his journey. A journey that has touched so many people in such a beautiful way.

The 33rd Sage is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

Twitter @GeofSpalding

Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/

Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

Thanks to Ella James (Author of Chosen) for this wonderful picture from a castle in Skye. It is perfect for a doorway to another world which is where I hope the Elements will take you.

It's 3 Days before the Solstice and the Sage must prepare him

"It was three days before the solstice and the sage must prepare him."

It is now only a few days before I start to share the teachings of the Elements on my blog. It may seem strange to some of you or even funny that over the next few days I will be doing a lot of preparation before I begin to share these teachings.

I remember when my old teacher first taught these teachings. As a he stood on stage  before us, his students, you could feel a change in the energy of the room. My teacher looked nervous. I never quite understood why until I decided to share these teachings in such an open forum as a blog. The moment I made the decision I could feel a change in the energy around me. I was at once excited and then nervous as I began to realize the power of the teaching that I was about to share. To say the teaching is life changing is an understatement. For those of you who commit to the teachings and the odd discipline that will be thrown in, your lives will never be the same again.

For the three days before the solstice I would like you to sit somewhere in nature and meditate for twenty four minutes, one minute for each hour of the day. This is to be done to prepare you to connect with the cycles within nature; cycles which exist within man and mankind or woman and womankind if you prefer.

The Elements of Man is probably based on Taoist teachings which came from The Sages of the Plum Red Robes, an order of Old Chinese Taoist monks who lived 2500 years ago. The Taoist Sages revered the winter solstice as their most sacred time of the year. The winter solstice marked the longest night of the year, where the sun is then reborn, bringing in a new energy. These Sages would gather for three days for a Plum Wine Fast and tap on a table with bone knockers.

In honor of their tradition, there are a number of groups around the world who gather each year during the winter solstice for a Plum Wine Fast and tap on a table for three days with bone knockers, just as the Taoist Sages of old once did. It’s a deep meditative process that takes one into a very deep trance state. The wine didn't put the sage into a drunken state, rather a deeper state of awareness and perception of the inner worlds. 

On the nineteenth and through to the twenty first of June I would like you to honor the solstice with a drink on each day of plum wine, which can be bought from most good bottle shops. Before you drink your glass of plum wine meditate four twenty four minutes and allow yourself to be open to what ever comes forward. While drinking the plum wine allow your imagination to take you back 2500 years ago and experience the Sage's Winter Solstice ceremony. 

The Elements of Man will begin in Fire which is the Winter. The plum wine is a celebration of many things but importantly the beginning of a new cycle.

My old teacher taught us that if we lived in touch with the elements/seasons, we would never die from them or because of them. It is time for us all to reconnect with nature and I will see you again on the twenty first of June when we will begin the Elements of Man.

The 33rd Sage is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

Twitter @GeofSpalding

Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/

Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Elements Of Man

The Elements of Man

Twenty eight years ago I was introduced to a teaching called the Elements of Man. This one teaching led me off on a spiritual journey which continues today.

There is not a day that goes by where this teaching is not used or develops in a way that I never thought possible those twenty eight years ago.

The teaching of the Elements of Man is the basis for my modern fable 'The 33rd Sage.' the teaching is so powerful that it can truly change lives. I have often contemplated sharing the Elements with small groups but I always felt it was not my place to teach. Even though the great teachers of the Elements no longer wish to teach it, I believe it is more important than ever to share this information. With the amazing changes we are going through on the planet, be it earth changes, spiritual changes or the changes that are occurring in nations and across the financial world. These changes can either be scary or an opportunity for great change. It is my hope that by revealing the Elements of Man, that it will offer people the opportunity to reconnect with the cycles of nature and mankind, but also give each of us a deeper understanding of ourselves and the people we come into contact with.

Over the next ninety days or one full season I will be sharing the initial teachings of the Elements of Man and also some of the insights I have gained along the way. My hope is that many of you will come along with me on the journey through the elements and connect to a deeper part of yourself. This will not just be a read it and learn experience, for to really understand the elements you must become one with them. Occasionally I will ask you to take time out from your regular day to reconnect with the elements. This could simply mean sitting in nature for the day or some other exercise which will further open you up to the teaching of the Elements.

Each day over the next three months, starting on the 21st of June, I will share with you some aspect of the teachings. I welcome anyone who wants to come along for the journey. If you can make a discipline out of the study of the elements they will return to you a gift that will give for ever.

As my old teacher said to me when he asked me whether I wanted to learn about the Elements of Man. "Would you like to look at a person and know them better than they know themselves; to be able to talk to them in their own language, to know their strengths and weaknesses and be able to their see their health and disease patterns now and into their future?" I now ask you the same question.

Come with me on a journey through the elements.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in these teachings please share my blog link with them.

Some of the teachings that I will share are in my book 'The 33rd Sage.' For those like me who learn through story I would suggest you purchase a copy of the book. Through reading the story the hidden elements seem to connect with a deeper part of you and allow the teachings to come from within. Even today when I reread the story there are teachings that come forward that I was not aware of when I first wrote the story or more correctly when the story was being written through me.

Come with me on a journey through the Elements; a journey that will take you deep within who you are; a journey that will open up world's that you never thought possible. As Shakespeare said, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth Horatio, than dreamed of in your philosophy." 

The 33rd Sage is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

Twitter @GeofSpalding

Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/

Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

You see the world as you are

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but in the case of the one above it says far more than that. I am not sure who created but it was so powerful that when I first saw this picture I had to take a pause and contemplate how I see the world. In my fable 'The 33rd Sage,' the protagonist Conway sees the world from his limited perspective and it is not until he meets, and becomes apprentice to an old Chinese sage that he realizes how biased his own view of the world is. The old sage teaches him about how each of us is influenced by the seasons and how we all view the world from our own genetic predispositions. The key for Conway, like us all, is first to know ourselves, to understand that our thoughts and beliefs determine how we see the world.

The old mystics talk of the world being Maya or an illusion, because they knew that the world we saw was one that we created everyday in our own minds.

As a Homoeopath one of the first things I try to do is to understand what it is that is stopping my patient from seeing the beauty of the world. The person's own individual biases stop them from seeing the world in all it's magnificence. As a writer all my characters have their own biased world view and it is there journey to go beyond its limitations.

Take a moment to reflect on what it is that is colouring your world view and does it still serve you or is it time to step beyond it and see the world as it is in all its beauty.

It is not that easy to step back from your view of the world and realize that it is an illusion. If you do I will guarantee you will see a deeper and more beautiful world than you ever thought possible. You will open yourself up to experiencing synchronous moments that will change your life. It will not always be easy, sometimes your old beliefs and values will try to drag you back into the world that it is comfortable with but continue to expand who you are and new worlds will open up to you.

The Elements of Love

The Elements of Love Understanding the elements of love allows us to have better relationships. Whether it is your partner, a friend, a client or even a character in a book, they all have their own element or season of love. Each of them because of this inbuilt genetic bias can only see the world from their viewpoint. The key, firstly, to understanding your own elemental type, is that it allows you to be free and be able to see the world in all it's magnificence, not just from a single viewpoint. As a Homoeopath and writer understanding the elements allows me to fully understand how my patient or the character in my books will act in any given situation. After studying the elements or the seasons that exist within all of us I wrote down the teaching in a modern fable called "The 33rd Sage." The story itself follows the ark of the Hero's Journey while at the same time allowing the reader to better understand themselves and the people around them. In the next twelve months many of my bloggs will be about these wonderful teachings which I was given by a character I will called old Chinese. When I first heard the story of the sage and the emperor I was transfixed by the majesty of the story, but even more than that I began to understand myself. Today I would like to talk about the Elements of Love. This will be done in the form of a quote from my book where the Old Chinese Sage has taken on his female form and begins to teach about the Elements of Love. The love languages which match with each of the elemental types are called words of appreciation (Fire), Acts of Service (Air), Quality Time (Water) and Physical Touch (Earth). These names of each of the love languages are taken from his classic book, The 'Five Love Languages,' by Gary Chapman. She lent forward, her heavy jowls sagging under her words. "The heart has four chambers, one to represent each of the Elements. It is as though each of the chambers was designed to carry one of the love languages; the top two chambers being the extroverts corresponding with Fire and Earth and the two bottom ones, the introverts corresponding to Water and Air." Conway cringed, shifting uneasily on the log. He dropped his head, his eyes scanning the dirt in front of him. His shoulders drooped. He bent over and scratched the ground with a stick. His breathing became shallow, almost stopping. "If the word love scares you, I can use the word rapport.” Conway looked up, smiling weakly. He sat up, forcing a deep breath into his body, immediately lifting his shoulders. She continued, a wry smile creasing the corners of her lips. “Using the language of love brings us into a symbiotic relationship with others. Without understanding the Love Language of others, the lust soon dies and we are left with ashes, another missed opportunity. Anyone we come into contact with deserves to be heard and spoken to in their own language; this is the greatest gift of the ‘Seasons of Love.’ It is not about passion, for that is only natural when we are in rapport with one another; it is about understanding the differences and honouring them. The differences are what give us our life, and our passion. Ask anyone you meet, if they would they like to live in a world without friction. If they answer yes, I will show you a person who does not know life, but is merely going through the motions. For without friction, there would be no sex, there would be no life. "Get to know everybody's ‘Seasons of Love,’ honour the differences and exalt in the friction, for without the friction our world and our universe would not have come into being." Her passion flowed forth in her words. Conway was in the presence of Fire burning true. She spoke from her heart to his heart, using his language and he knew it, but it was not in the way of manipulation; no it was with a sense of honouring, of respecting, the differences and caring so much about them, that she changed her language so he would understand. For the first time, he understood the meaning of the word communication. He was taken on a ride of discovery, with her words. His mind was filled with word pictures. Words; how he loved their sound and the way the passion of one person could lift another, just by words. "The love language of the Fire Element is words of affirmation, or appreciation, words that uplift the individual. Verbal comments or words of appreciation are powerful communicators of love. They are best expressed in simple, straight forward statements of appreciation such as I really love your cooking, or you look fabulous in that dress. Fire people can almost live on words of appreciation. "The object of love is not getting what you want, but doing something to support or increase the well-being of whoever you are in relationship with. "Even during lovemaking, the Fire personality responds to words of appreciation. The most important foreplay for them is words. If their second Elemental type is Water then they will require quality time and words of appreciation as a turn on. If their secondary Element is Earth then physical touch along with words of appreciation will be the best form of foreplay. "The Water Element needs you to spend quality time with them-time when you totally focus on them. Turn off the television. Put down the book. Whatever it is that you are doing, forget it for a few minutes and give them your full attention and you will not believe how much love one person can give. You need to be the ultimate listener. They will respond well to candlelight dinners at home. Sit with them while they share their day and their emotions; for without a good listener they will be trapped inside a bubble of feelings, feelings, which need to flow, like fresh running water. Dam them and they become frustrated, stop the flow and it will kill them emotionally. If it is a Water child they will constantly beg for your attention, not like a Fire child who wants you to tell them how wonderful they are; the Water child wants you to spend time with them, whether it is playing, watching television or reading stories with them. They want to do anything where they will get your full attention. "If you give the Water type words of appreciation, or cook and clean for them, or do material things for them, or give them physical touch they will not feel loved unless you are first and foremost able to give them quality time." The passion, with which the feminine side of Old Chinese spoke, held Conway spellbound. "The Air Element’s love type is acts of service. If you are in relationship with an acts-of-service person they will clean for you, darn your socks, mow the lawn, have dinner waiting for you when you come home; being the social conscience of all the Elements, they are in service to mankind and their loving style is the same. Foreplay for them is painting the spare room and washing the dishes. Do not make the mistake of allowing them to do everything because they appear to like it, or you will develop the martyr who is crying out for you to share some of the load. "The Earth type being sense-indulgent, their love style is physical touch. Not just sex or physical foreplay, although that is also important to them. They are the ones that need to touch and be touched, sometimes they lack a sense of your space, which they will quickly fill, with their own. With this type if you want a loving relationship, you need to touch them and allow them to touch you. A kind word or a gift has little weight without the loving touch of your hand or the brush of a leg. In times of difficulty, they want to be touched, but only if they say so." "In times of stress the Fire Element wants to communicate their difficulty to you. The Water wants you to sit with them. The Air wants you to serve them, while the Earth is warmed by the touch, the senses. "Of course, we are all aspects of the four of these, but generally we have a dominant love type that we respond to positively, more quickly than the others." What is your element of love? What is your friend or partner's element of love? Are you giving them what you want to receive in return?

Spring

Spring - Northern Hemisphere One of my friends asked me to talk about spring as it is coming to the end of that season in the northern hemisphere. Spring is the time when we need to nurture the ideas and possibilities that were brought forward in the Winter. My old Chinese teacher taught me in stories, so let me share with you part of his story about the Emperor and the Sage. "The sage took the Emperor into the Equinox of the Spring, The sun and the moon being equidistant within the heavens, night and day being equal in time. As they walked through the forest of K'an, the Emperor began to see a livingness, a life force, a little more accentuated from the time at the end of Fire, for the water was now leaving the snow, the ground was becoming muddy, was difficult in regards to too much rain. There was a lot of wetness, but within this came beauty, came the flowers, as the buds came forth, the new root, the beauty of the plant, the birds nesting, the animals moving from places of long sleep. Things were coming to life. They were coming to life visually, the outside. You could begin to see the life force. You could begin to see the power within the spring, the beauty of the forest. Warmth lit the air outwardly. It was the beauty of the time. "The Emperor learnt from the sage that it was here that the fertility of nature began to express itself. It was here, as the rains came and the water melted, that there was a tendency for great flooding and the difficulty of the season was too much release too fast. But as the Spring wore on, there began to come forth from the budding the blossom, the fruit began to be on the tree. Birds began their mating and the beauty was there. The sage showed the Emperor that it was the outer experience. Different from the Winter, which was the inner energy; beneath it was the Fire, the power. But within the spring, you could see it outwardly. The outside within Winter looks cold and harsh, but the Spring looks beautiful and flowering and fresh. The inside may not be as strong as the Fire, but the inside, basically, shows what is out, and vice versa. "And they walked through Spring to the Summer, and as they got close to the Summer time, the winds began to come. They began to come faster and reacted upon water, creating tornados, hurricanes, great storms, electricity and thunder and lightning. It began to be the turbulent season, but the season nearing the harvest. The softness was leaving and an energy force of outward brutality, of outward energy that was stark but consistent showed. Within the Spring, The Emperor saw that even with large rains and great melting snow there was beauty, that even as the buds and the flowers would come forth, even in great flooding, they would be moved and they would grow again. It was truly a fertile period, a time to watch, a time to bring forth the creativity of man, a time to understand that you do not want to have too much, or beauty can be washed away; but if you have just enough, it can be accentuated within smell, touch, taste, hearing, as the essence after a spring rain within a forest. "The Emperor began to understand his people a little more - to understand the outward emotions that go along with beauty, to understand the turbulence that some of this beauty had as it approached the summer, the strength that this beauty had as it was near the winter. He turned to the sage as he walked toward the Summer Solstice, and said, `Truly, those people that are in this element have great challenges; for what they are will always be seen. Flowers blossom, trees come forward in beauty.' And the sage said, ‘you have learned the key to this element.' And they walked slowly towards the Summer Solstice." By living in touch with the seasons we create a natural flow in our lives, which makes life as easy as walking from the winter to the spring, then summer and finally autumn. There is a cycle in all things.

Autumn - Time to cut away or release what you no longer need

Autumn It is coming towards the end of Autumn, so I thought it was appropriate to remind everyone what my old Chinese Sage taught me about the season which is the end of the yearly cycle. If you live in harmony with the seasons your life will begin to take on a wonderful flow or rhythm, and your life will become more interesting as you become a part of all things. The teaching of the Elements that I shared in The 33rd Sage, is a teaching that I use every day of my life. It has allowed me to understand the people I meet, not just their personalities, but on a deeper almost spiritual level. Come with me as the Sage and the Emperor take the journey through the seasons. "The Emperor and the sage walked into the Equinox of the fall. And the sage told him it is time for the leaves to fall, for the season to begin to go to sleep. It is the time for all things to come to an end. It is the time, the cycle of all livingness. Not only does this mean that the individual should relax, they should review, but they should maintain their strength, in the time or the time of their passing. It is a time when things are re-fertilised, where they go back to the earth, where the animals stock their homes. It is a time of refurbishing, of rebuilding, of shaking off the old, so the new can come forward within the Winter. It is a time of great growth, for there is always an over-amount of growth when you begin to cut away the deadwood. This always happens. It is vital for all to know that as you walk within the Fall, you begin to see the dying of things. That is why the colours are red and orange and yellow-because they try to bring the life of brilliance in their end. It is the last breath. As things become quiet and the first snow falls and the ice is frozen, the blanket has been laid and things are asleep. It is a time of great rejoicing within, for you have, in essence, completely refurbished your body. You usually find yourself in a place where a lot of old things can fall away. And where new begins to fall into your life, the right way. "The Emperor and the sage walked and they talked, and saw all of these things; the squirrel getting ready for the sleep, the bear, even man, as they were putting together the wood for the Winter, making ready their homes. This was truly a time of getting rid of the old to repair for the new. They walked toward the Winter Solstice, the Emperor seeing more than he had ever seen in his life. He had seen the seasons; had walked within the leaves of the Fall. And the sage said, "You have learned about people. You have learned people are the same as seasons. The person of the Earth is in a lifetime of rebuilding; is in a lifetime of trying to get away, to throw away the physical, the material, and refurbish themselves; you will know such persons for they will be dealing with physical and material lives. Look at them as the Fall, and you will know what to do; they will be creative, they will be highly inventive artists; but within that, they will have a tendency to go through great rejuvenation, great involvement of their life. Know that and you will know your people!’ “The sage walked on with the Emperor."