Elemental Balancing: WATER: The Witches’ Pyramid

Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide …

(from “The River,” songwriters Victoria Shaw and Garth Brooks)

The Witches’ Pyramid A reminder of the Witches’ Pyramid:

When we look at the Witches’ Pyramid this way, each of the Elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth have their corner. They are equal, none greater than the other; and, in fact, their power comes from the foundation of that pyramid – the base which is the sum of all of them. The Four Pillars of the Temple There is another traditional way to look at these four points of power. They are points of power at the personal and emotional level, at the energetic level, at the spiritual level and at the level of the work that we do in relation to that. This is the perspective of the Four Pillars of the Temple. Known by many names, amongst them the Four Powers of the Magus and the Four Pillars of the Witches’ Temple, referenced here for simplicity’s sake as the Four Pillars of the Temple.

There is a difference in energy when we explore the concept of the Four Pillars aligned to the Pyramid.

We still have the strength of the four equally powerful points, but the concept of the Four Pillars is a bit more personal. The concept is that we are the Pillar at any given moment, we are what rises up and through us of each of the four Elements and the offering that is made of that. The Four Pillars, and we can be any one of them at any given time or we can be all of them at any time, represent what nurtures and supports the powers of the Witches’ Pyramid. So not just the powers alone, but the energy that flows through them, through us. It is not just that the powers exist, but it is also what we make of them, how we take care of them and what kind of offering we make of them. So we add to consideration of the Witches’ Pyramid the concept of the Four Pillars of the Temple.

Revisiting Air As a reminder, when we visited the Element of Air we addressed its power in the Pyramid as the power of “To Know.” That included, from my suggestions:

What we see and what comes to us.

Who we are – the power of “know thyself.”

Who we are in relation-to.

Our prowess – the knowledge and experience we gain.

What we choose from that. We summarized the power of Air as the power of nosce te ipsum – know thyself. And you further decided in the work you did what “To Know” meant to you. Water And then we moved on to the Element of Water, a Complementary Opposite to Air, perhaps more complementary than opposite as you may have discovered in your own investigations of Water aligned to Air in your studies. The Element of Water’s axiom on The Witches’ Pyramid is that of “To Dare.” I suggest that you pause for a moment without reading further – what does “To Dare” as something positive/a power of the Element of Water mean to you? Think of the things we have touched on in our coverage of the Element of Water and how “To Dare” in light of any one of those things becomes a positive force. Did you truly take a pause to think of that? Your perspective is what matters the most here before you read on to see mine. Take a moment – what does courage and fortitude and strength have to do with the things we have addressed in the sessions regarding the Element of Water. You truly will benefit from a moment of contemplation from your unique perspective. Once you have taken that moment to consider, here are some suggestions from my perspectives regarding the Element of Water and its power of “To Dare.” Daring to Descend – We addressed this in sessions that took us within the deep purples of Water. Places we do not always want to go, emotions we might not want to face which are confusing or hurtful or cause us to have feelings like anger, frustration, sadness and grief. Daring to descend – isn’t it one of the few ways we truly come to know ourselves? We dare to descend. Daring to Rise – What comes from our daring to descend? What do we choose to bring upward and out of us from our descent? We can go so deeply into those places that we are not just immersed, but we are captured there, frozen in that place. It is a cold place to stay. The energy, the flow and the power of movement in our life will come from

rising from that place, leaving it for the time being, perhaps to journey there again or moving away from it having learned what we needed to learn from it. But we dare to rise and move from there and move forward. What does that take? We dare to rise. Daring to be Vulnerable – Perhaps the fear of vulnerability is what keeps us held to our depths, hesitant to move outward to whatever expression of our emotions we might consider making. Once we open ourselves outside of ourselves we have become vulnerable, haven’t we? We have opened ourselves to all of the glorious emotions of life – joy and love, appreciation of beauty, the concept of laughter and enjoyment and so many wonderful things. But haven’t we also chosen to open ourselves up to things like disappointment, sadness and grief, hurt, anger and pain at so many levels. We dare to be vulnerable. Daring to Make Manifest – Daring to create; having something tangible or intangible arise from that place within us. We have decided, “Yes, I am willing, indeed I dare, to be vulnerable. I will make an offering of myself to the world.” Not always an easy transition from feeling to making manifest. We dare to make manifest. Daring to Hold to the Course – The sailor in me writes of this. When we make the offering of whatever we chose to make manifest, what will happen then will happen. It takes courage to stay the course in the less positive or life-affirming responses to the offerings we have made. It is a Simultaneous Holding, holding to the course, knowing what it meant when we made an offering of it, and then standing by it. An internal and an external sense of daring. We dare to hold to the course. Daring to Brave the Unknown – Once our offering is made and out there, when we have moved from the descent and what rose from that, our decision to be open and vulnerable in light of that, our decision to make something manifest and then holding to that decision – the emotional course – then comes daring to brave the unknown. Another Simultaneous Holding. Steadiness, daring to hold the course, is devotion to what rises in us; but it is also being open to releasing that and letting it go, revisiting it at the place deep within us to think about it and feel it again. It is a willingness within the Element of Water and the understanding that things ebb and flow, rivers rush on and there is as well the calm in the deepest and darkest of Water. The power, the daring, is to let it go and not to hang onto things emotionally once they are manifested. It is daring to feel something anew and revisit it to bring it forth differently or perhaps to decide it needs to return to our depths. We dare to brave the unknown. Daring to Return Home – Home being our heart and the center of our emotional being, the core of who we are. It takes courage to go back in. It takes courage to release, and it takes courage to go home. Anni’s View In this session I have written from the place of my personal feeling in relationship to Water’s presence as one of the Four Pillars of the Witches Pyramid. I could not help

but present my prejudiced view. We each have our own bias. I hope my devotion to the Element of Water has been obvious in these sessions. I hesitated early to admit to you that I personally struggle with it more than any of the Elements, because then you would know where some of my prejudice and bias comes from. But I think when you look back over the length of our sessions on Water you will see that in the end from my perspective it is a celebration. A celebration of the aliveness which is what we feel and what we make manifest from that. And to me, very importantly, how that defines us each uniquely as who we are as creatures of Water and creatures of emotion. Water is the very elixir of our lives; it is our response to what life brings us at the metaphysical and transpersonal level. It is what we feel within our offering of that. To Dare As we had nosce te psum to represent the power of the Element of Air in the Pyramid, we have for Water …

Audeamus

(Let Us Dare)

The Latin for this term translates in many beautiful ways – as in “may we dare,” “may we venture” and “may we risk.” This is the power of Water and what it teaches us of “To Dare.” Pathworking

Journaling: Decide what the axiom “To Dare” means to you. You had some thoughts above, hopefully, when I asked you to pause to consider that. You have many Season of the Seeker sessions regarding the Element of Water and what they inspired in you to consider. You have your compendium, your journaling and your recollection of the exercises you did. And if you participate in our group discussions you have as well been inspired by the beautiful stories of your fellow Seekers. You may well (and most of you who are serious about Elemental study will) take into consideration what you find in your books, online and via other sources. For now, for your journaling, capture what “To Dare” means to you in this moment. Explore that place of daring, venturing and risking at the emotional level. What strength does that bring you? What power does it bring you? And how does it define you? From your singular perspective, within the Element Water, from your deepest of feelings.

Signpost: What others share with us is not our truth, although we may feel slight or great resonance with what they offer. We might have similar or identical feelings to others at times. But it comes down to our own feelings and what happens in our own heart. Water teaches us the importance of exploring the depth of our emotions and what we make of them. It is what happens within those depths that defines us, and it is the offering we make of that to our heights – to what is around us, family, friends, community and even the most casual of acquaintances. Depths and heights – a beautiful Simultaneous Holding. But it needs to be your Simultaneous Holding for the Element of Water to carry the weight, influence and purpose it needs to within your balancing of all four of the Elements. Exercise: Notice the emotions of others in the way they are expressed. We are exploring emotions made manifest. Here is an example from my exploring of emotions made manifest. I was told a long time ago by a supervisor that I needed to do something about “my face.” The comment was in a performance evaluation, and it was perceived as something less-than-desirable about me. I was thinking “my face?” – it is MY face, it is what it is. What it came down to is my face does not always express what I feel. My face in repose is a very solemn face. I love my face! It is the face that Goddess gave me. But I do not always express my emotions through my face. I tend to be someone who expresses them through my body – my hands fly around, I take on certain postures, I lean towards you or away from you, I clench my fists when irritated or angry and I hug easily and quickly. My body is expressive; my face not always. And my tone of voice not always. Unless I am conscious and thinking of those things and my dear face. Pay attention to those around you and how they express emotions. You might even be in a situation where you are guessing the emotions you see represented by their body language and faces. But be aware of how others manifest emotion into the world. They do not have to be folks you are intimate with, although that is fascinating; you can do this as well by people-watching total strangers and picking up by what they manifest what emotions they might be feeling. And I am not letting you get away without letting you address, as I did when I came to terms with my solemn face, the ways in which you express your emotions. How do you make an emotional offering in your day-to-day living? What of your emotions do you bring in a physical sense to the people around you and your loved ones? Do you?

If you live alone and are not in contact with people at the moment by choice or situation, you still manifest your emotions. Do you laugh easily? Cry easily (I cry at the drop of a hat)? How about your body language through the day when you are experiencing life and the emotions that come with that? Are you relaxed? Tense? Experience the physicality of your emotions. This is an overlap of Water and Earth. Our bodies as the physical expression of our emotions. Signpost: Emotions are an energy which surrounds us. That which is beneath the surface, a mystery perhaps. For example when we were looking at other people and guessing what emotions they experience through what we see of them. And the mysterious depths of our own feelings and how we express them. And that which is not a mystery; that which is made known in many ways that we assume (incorrectly or not) are obvious. We all come in contact with the emotional energy of those who surround us. It may seem overwhelming at times, in which case we might dare to go within and withdraw from that. But we also dare to be vulnerable to those experiences and open up to this part of the energetic world around us. The power of Water is to go with the flow of emotion with us, within our vessel selves; but it is also appreciation of the wider vessel of the world as a place of emotion. There is power in that balance, daring in either extreme – to be vulnerable and experiencing at the wider level and to withdraw and contemplate feeling at a personal and intimate level. We are immersed in an ocean of emotion, and we notice as we explore along the Path when we choose to be comfortably immersed in that and when we struggle to remain afloat within that.