The study of the four elements is one of the seemingly more absurd beliefs of ancient Greek philosophy and, subsequently, alchemy - the belief in transmutation, of course, takes the prize.
In astrology the elemental lessons are the most fuzzy and the least practically applicable.
In other esoteric discicplines, however, the focus on the elements is crucial. Understanding all beings and events as reflections of the four elements and how they interact provides a valuable alternative perspective, which favors the human mind by supplying a simple system of chategorization of effects.
The Book of Five Rings, written by the Japanese master swordfighter, Miyamoto Musashi, is based on the four elements. The fifth ring or element is that of ether, or mind. The book is, along with Hagakure and Tsun Tsu's Art of War still applied to business life in Japan.
Elemental lessons permeate common language and its idioms. The elemental teachings compels the mind to think about phenomena without prejudice, listing their attributes and thereby penetrating to their nature, rather than being stuck on their surface value.
"Astrology is but an arcane language that allows the human mind to tap into forgotten ressources and powers from an age, where shamanism was the primary instrument of survival"
