Air Across The World

The five element system that this challenge is based around is a concept which has echoes in many parts of the world. How do they represent #TeamTrials

Note: this post was co authored by rogglepoggle

Aer and aether

The Ancient Greeks separated air into two separate things: “aer” which was the atmosphere where we live, and “aether” which was the atmosphere above the clouds. In Sacred Geometry the symbol for air is the octahedron, which is a polyhedron with eight faces, twelve edges, and six verticals. This simply means that the air’s energy can work with that of fire and water. In Ancient Greek medicine, air was associated with the blood humour, and was also associated with Spring.

Qi/ chi

Air is not one of the traditional five Chinese classical elements (fire, water, wood, metal, and earth) but the concept of air is a super important part of their philosophy and spirituality. Qi (sometimes called chi) is the life force of everything. It surrounds us at all times and links all things together; it moves through the body and creates rhythm. Qi translates directly to air, and figuratively to energy or life force.

Vāyu-dhātu

In Buddhist early science and spirituality there are four (or six depending on how you count them) Great Elements, which are earth, fire, water, and air. Air represents expansion or repulsive forces. Newtons third law of motion sums up what is meant by "repulsive forces" pretty well.

"When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body." -wikipedia

Expansive force is like breathing, or your heartbeat.

Vata and Prana

Hinduism has two words for air. The first is Vata, which means to blow, and the second is Prana which symbolizes the breath of life and is named after a Father God. In fact, this is where the word pranayama comes from, which are breath cycles in yoga.

Touch is associated with air and represents electro magnetic energy. When the body feels touch the nerve endings travel that sensation to the brain for the person to respond. Touch has to occur for that knowledge to occur, and as such touch is though of as energy in motion.

Nwyfre

Air is actually one of the traditional 5 elements in celtic belief, but as its associations and such are mostly the same I'm going to focus on a different elemental system the celts likely had. Nwyfre (pronounced NOOiv-ruh) is part of a three element system, and it also represents life force or consciousness. Its associations are with the mind, the color white, and the realm of the sky.

Native American

Wind is a very sacred thing to Native Americans. They see the wind as a god and therefore remained very attuned to their surroundings. They saw the wind as a huge life force that could send messages and was capable of many powerful things.

Since Native Americans saw the wind as a god, they believed that there were only a select few who could communicate with it and interpret its messages. Some of the men capable of doing this were shamans, medicine men, and the wise elders of the tribe.

Some tribes used the diamond shape to represent the element of air, as others used a specific color on an element or medicine wheel.

Sources

https://aminoapps.mejordescarga.net/c/pagans-witches/tag/Buddhism/">#Buddhism

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1902PA.....10..505S

https://www.google.com/amp/s/druidgarden.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/sacred-gardening-through-the-three-druid-elements-deg-sacred-spaces-and-planting-rituals/amp/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_(classical_element)

http://aoda.org/publications/articles-on-druidry/threedruidelements/

https://www.friesian.com/elements.htm

Buildingbeautifulsouls.com

https://druidgarden.wordpress.com/tag/nwyfre/