Seasons and Elements

This is my diagram of the "wheel of the year" based on the data for my location. This is something I recommend everyone does - find out the meteorological data for where you live. I have written down the average temperature, rainfall, and sunshine for each month of the year.This has me thinking about the wheel of the year in Elemental terms. It was Aristotle that proposed that each of the Elements has two qualities each. Earth is cold and dry, because it represents molecules moving at their slowest, locked into a solid position. As the molecules warm up, they become more fluid. Water is cold and wet because it represents the liquid state. Air is hot and wet because it represents the water molecules evaporating upwards as they are heated. Fire is hot and dry because it represents the molecules in their ionised state. So, looking at the wheel of the year we can see the hot, cold, dry and wet quarters, which can indicate the Elemental symbolism of the seasons. We are currently moving out of the wet season and into the dry season, but it is still relatively cold. This would be symbolised by Earth. This is of course the time of year when we are witnessing new life spring up from the soil. It is from the cold ground that spring makes itself known.

Until the advent of modern medical science in the 19th century, physicians believed that the human body was composed of four humours, corresponding to the Classical Elements. These four humours were also associated with the seasons of the year. Phlegm was the humour of water and the winter. Blood was associated with air and spring. Yellow bile with fire and summer. Black bile with earth and autumn. In my opinion the seasons of spring ad autumn seem to have been mixed up, I don't know what the reasoning for this was. Perhaps it is because the system was Mediterranean and I don't know if their wet and dry seasons were different to ours. If they had a dry autumn and wet spring, then it makes sense to be this way round. But in Britain today we have a wet autumn and dry spring, despite spring being known for "April showers". The showers are much lighter and more brief than those of the autumn. I am basing this information on the data collected by the Meteorological Office.

The wheel of the year can in turn by applied to the magical circle, so that as we draw the circle around ourselves, we can envision the changing seasons and Elemental representations for each. I like to think of the East as the transition between Earth and Fire, then South transitions between Fire and Air, the West transitions between Air and Water, and finally the North transitions between Water and Earth. Wherever you are in the world, I think it's important to consider how these things apply to where you are. The purpose of observing the wheel and drawing the circle is to really connect with the here and now, to be fully present and awakened. That is what it means to me at least.