Rejuvenation from the elements.

Water

It's August 15th and the sun is blazing. You head down a trail you haven't been on since last summer. The minute you walk into the woods, a cool breeze hits. There's something about the green leaves brushing your legs and arms --they seem to he brushing the heat and stress of the day right off of you. You pick your way across lichen-covered rocks and squish through a little stream crossing the path. The cool breeze blows on your skin again, and you hear the sound you've been waiting for. In a moment, the trail opens out and your senses are filled with the sight, noise, and smell of the rushing stream before you. You strip down to your swimsuit and hesitate a moment before taking the plunge. That water will be cold! You leap in and the water comes up to meet you, embraces you, pulls you under and douses your flaming heat with its icy wetness. Wake up! You've never been more awake as you pop your head and shoulders up out of the swimming hole, spluttering, gasping for air. You jump out as fast as you can and stand on the hot rocks with wide eyes, taking in the full shock of awakening. As the sun starts to bake the dampness off of your shoulders, you look down at the welcoming water and know you should dive in again right now before fear prevents you. You take a deep breath and leap ...

What is this amazing gift of water? The rain offers it, too, in its unique way. It falls on the dry earth, on the thirsty plants, on our thirsty skin, and we come back to life. After a good, soaking rain, the trees are filled to the brim with green vitality, and the plants in your garden look moist, young, strong, and very alive. Water washes away our old selves and gives us new life. It changes and transforms the shape of the land, just as it changes and transforms us. If we are deprived of water for too long, we become dry, brittle, and fearful; our days lose their meaning and their lushness. When we have enough water, we drink it in at our roots, take it in through our leaves, and become alive.

Wind

You've reached the summit of the hill you've been climbing, and come out onto the grassy clearing at the top. You look up, and white clouds are scudding across the brilliant sky, in constant motion and change. A rushing noise in the trees behind you; you turn to see branches begin to dance slowly and then with wild abandon as a great wind rushes into them. You brace yourself in anticipation as the sound and movement come closer and closer. The invisible force rushes toward you, and you can feel it coming. As its chill hits you with all its force, you reach your arms out to fed the full thrill of its impact. You hear your voice let go into a mighty yell, reaching out to meet the wind as it hits. You can feel it move into you and back out, taking with it any stagnation, vacuuming out the dry and rotting debris of your life. It leaves you sparkling, shining new, filled with hope and excitement. With new, clear eyes, you see the brightness and magic of the world.

The transparent energy of the wind moves across the world, creating weather patterns, making and dissipating storms. Its roaring and sighing builds and breaks mountains and coastlines, changing the face of our world. When we feel the breezes moving our hair, cooling our hot skin, we feel the exhilarating gifts of the wind.

Earth

It's late summer, harvest time, and the afternoon sun hangs low and glowing in the sky. The vines and stalks of plants in the fields are weighed down with the fruits of the season's gardening labors. Everything around you seems ripe and rich, and the earth itself is generating a soft golden light. You lie on your back in a grassy field, surrounded by the soft drone of honeybees making their own harvest. Through your back, you feel the support and nourishment of the earth's sweet warmth, accumulated and stored from a season of hot sun. The combined warmth of the sun above you and the earth beneath you wraps you in relaxation and comfort. You doze off, held safely in the arms of Mother Earth.

Our earth is our nourishment, our source of support, yet we humans have been very hard on our earth during the past age. Instead of becoming angry with us for our faults, she asks us simply to remember her with thanksgiving, and to turn to her again to feed us the wholesome support and love that only she provides.

Fire

You're out camping in the Fall with your family. It's getting dark, and the air is chilly, raising goosebumps on your skin. Mom told you to bring your jacket, but you forgot, as usual. Your father asks you to help him make a fire, so you go into the cool forest to gather sticks and branches. Your father puts them with his findings and makes a little wooden teepee in the center of the fire pit. He shows you how to light the fire, how to nurture it until it catches, and then the rest of your family comes over to enjoy the warmth and light. You all sit near the fire that night and sing songs, tell stupid jokes, laugh, and roast marshmallows to make s'mores. Melted chocolate has never tasted quite so wonderful! And your little brother's knock-knock jokes are actually funny.

After the jokes, your father pulls out his pipe and lights it, and the sweet smell of tobacco writs over you. You wait in anticipation as he settles in, and yon 'all listen in quiet wonder to an owl's soft call. He begins, "Once upon a time in a land far from here, there lived three brothers ..." The images from his story come 'alive as you stare into the flickering flames, and the trees of the forest stand in silence, listening as well. The fire is speaking to you with your father's comforting voice, telling you of magic adventures in your future. As you doze, lulled by his voice, you feel a deep, warm happiness, a heart connection to everything around you.

Erin Everett is the publisher and editor of New life Journal and a member of the Sacred Fire Community. For information about fire circles in your area, email [e-mail] (Asheville area), [e-mail] (Carrollton, Georgia), or [e-mail] (other areas).