Spend some time in nature, in a forest, by the ocean, on a riverbank and you feel re-energised, as your etheric body absorbs and is replenished by the etheric energy surrounding you. Sit quietly and reverently in nature and you will feel the presence of the numinous. For some that presence is a vague and indefinable notion, yet we can be conscious of the presence of actual and active beings..
The etheric body of the earth is comprised of a multiplicity of life-sustaining nature spirits or elemental beings. Nature is teeming with them in all their enchanting diversity, including the spirits of earth, water, air and fire – the gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders. Science recognises them as the forces of nature. There are also tree spirits, mountain spirits, river spirits etc.
The earth’s astral body is comprised of higher spiritual beings who direct the nature spirits in their work. These are the spirits of the cycles of time – night and day, seasons and years, spirits of place or genius loci. They are also known as the laws of nature.
The activities of the nature spirits helps sustain life on earth. Gnomes assist plants in obtaining nutrition from the minerals and trace elements in the earth and can help plants draw substances from many metres away from their roots. Undines exist within watery processes and in the leaves of plants, assisting with the sprouting and growth in the plant. Sylphs weave light into plants and assist in photosynthesis, in transforming light and air into plant matter. They assist in the flowering of plants, calling forth and unfurling the flowers and helping with the dispersion of pollen in the air. They also accompany birds in flight. The fire spirits or salamanders work in processes of warmth such as the setting of seeds and germination. They are active when species interact and are enlivened by the warm relationships between humans and animals, and the interaction of animals and plants.
The four sets of elemental beings are also referred to as the powers of the four directions. These powers are central to Native American and Celtic spiritual practices. Rudolf Steiner made reference to spirits of the elements associated with the four directions in his powerful ‘Foundation Stone Meditation’. He revivified ancient pagan wisdom in a new way by including reference to the trinity and the hierarchies and ended each section of the prayer with the words: ‘May the Spirits of the elements hear it, in the east, west, north, south, may human beings hear it’.
The spirits of the East are the Sylphs the spirits of air, the spirits of the west are the undines, the spirits of water, the spirits of the south are the gnomes or spirits of the earth and the fire spirits are the spirits of the north. *Please note that north and south spirits are reversed in the Northern Hemisphere.
The nature spirits are stimulated by human consciousness, human thoughts and emotions. Our fear agitates the nature spirits and widespread fear disturbs them so profoundly it can lead to natural disaster, floods and droughts, earthquakes, tsunami’s and volcanic eruptions. In turn the nature spirits affect our consciousness making us alert or drowsy, anxious or calm. Our reverential and loving thoughts mirror back to us from the elementals and such thoughts nourish and liberate them. We need to recognise the nature spirits for we have a vital task in cooperating with them and redeeming them.
Through clairvoyance you can perceive the elemental beings or nature spirits in all their glorious diversity. Knowing they are there is the prerequisite for seeing them. Acknowledge them with awe, reverence and love and they will cooperate with you and be redeemed by you. As clairvoyance awakens, the nature spirits are often the first things perceived. Seeing into the etheric world is relatively safe, whereas seeing into the astral world requires considerable moral preparation lest you experience a fragmenting or dissolution of your psyche. Know also that the etheric body of the earth is also the realm of the Etheric Christ – Lord of the Elements.
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