The Four Elements and the Consonants
In this, our first session, we had an introductory glimpse the poem we will be working with in this series, and at how Consonants are all carriers of formative forces that correspond to the four elements. We began our study this week with the Consonants of the Earth Element.
In this, our second session, we continued to focus on the elements in the consonants, focusing this week on the Water and the Air consonants, moving them in gesture and on forms. Then, we began working on the beautiful and inspired poem, "Dedication: to the Elements" by Robert Hamerling, in which we are shown our sacred relationship to earth, water air and fire in our 4 bodies: physical, etheric, astral and ego-being. The form is complex, but within the next two weeks we will have a beautiful poem to celebrate the sacred temple of our incarnation.
In this, our third session, we turned to fire, the first of all elements to arise, but the last of the four we are studying. The sounds of the fire element are F and S, and additiionally Z, Sh and C. This enabled us to also learn all seven verses of the "Dedication" poem.
In this, our fourth and final class of the series, we brought our work to a full conclusion. We began with an exploration of speaking the different consonants, discovering how the four elements are heard and shaped when we speak them, and how great poets use this aspect of sound in writing their works. We then turned once again to all the exercises we have done, and wove everything together for a final and flowing eurythmy immersion in the project poem "Dedication: To the Elements."