Hallowquest Lesson 5: The Four Realms

This Lesson is about the cycles of day, month, year, life, hallows and the four elements - how they affect the patterns of our lives. It starts on page 95 of the Hallowquest book. I have just reproduced what we have to do here, and have not summarised the background reading since..... Kaz now has the book!

Questions:

1. Review the seasons of the year in relation to your life: which season is easiest, and which most difficult for you?

2. What kinds of weather are easiest/ most difficult?

3. What is your best time of day? When does your energy become lowest?

4. Which is your natural element?

Meditation: Cleansing the Caers.

Next week is an opportunity for self assessment of our progress before we start with the Hallowquest on 21st June. I shall put a thread there for just that, the week gives an opportunity to finalise and review Lessons 1-5 before we begin.

Aerin

1. Review the seasons of the year in relation to your life: which season is easiest, and which most difficult for you?

Spring is easiest for me: I tend to be starting new things at this time, everything is full of promise. As I think about the events of my life, Spring is often when I am at my happiest and most fulfilled.

Winter is hardest: I connect it with sometimes holding onto things past when I should have done and transforming my life with difficulty. Winter means endings to me and sometimes stagnation. The turning point for me often comes after my birthday end January.

2. What kinds of weather are easiest/ most difficult?

Easiest: clear bright, days: the sort you get end Spring/ early Summer/ early Autumn are easiest. I love being able to walk and exert myself in the sun without it being too hot/ too cold.

Most difficult: snow if I have to travel in it, muggy humid days when it feels like I can't move and when there is loads of pollen in the air.

3. What is your best time of day? When does your energy become lowest?

9.30am - lunchtime is when I tend to get most done.

I get an energy dip often at 3 - 5 in the afternoon.

4. Which is your natural element?

Ok. Help needed here. How do I know? I've thought through it a few times and I can persuade myself of almost anything !!!!

Aerin

uhm, what do they mean with "element" ? fire/water/air/earth, is that what they mean?

have you done the meditation from tape already? i just taped it today.

kaz

No, I haven't done the Cleansing the Caers one. Might that help? I think they mean Air, Fire, Water, Earth for the elements. You see I could just say 'Air' on the basis of Aquarian who rather likes intellectual stuff but that seems very self limiting and also I'm not so sure it is right. At least not any more.

Aerin

aerin,
no, i wasn't mentioning the meditation as helpfull for the answer to this q, was just curious
but i will do it tuesdaynight as i have time alone then.

i think most people think of themselves either swords/air or cups/water people on first thought.
i am gonna think about this, coz i will run into the same problem here. we might come to a great solution together

kaz

The best season for me is spring, everything starts to grow again, including myself J. This continues throughout the summer in nature and in my life as I give shape to ideas and organise it. Autumn is harvest time, enjoying the results of “projects”. I never realised how much my life actually is intertwined with natural cycles, yet another revelation here.
I like all seasons, each one has things I don’t like, in summer I don’t like too much heat with humidity, in winter I don’t like the cold with sleet, in autumn the heavy storms with rain, and in spring, in spring I like everything, so that’s my favorite.
During the day I feel best in the morning, energy is low at the end of the afternoon usually. This also depends on which shift I have to work.
Air is my natural element. And I know why:
If someone askes me about a problem how do you answer?
I come up with 3 possibilities, “I feel”, “I do”, “I think” , most of the times I answer in the I think mode, so that’s air. The only element not there is earth. So it’s not complete, but it’ll have to do.
Air/thinking/analyzing is my strong point, but also my pitfall. I get solutions by doing other things not related with problems, then solutions pop in my head, that’s fire in second place here. Water/feeling comes way down the bottom with me, this is the department that needs most work.

kaz

Hello,

I'm sorry that I've been a bit haphazard in keeping up with the lessons. I've just started a new job (in the past month) and I've found it difficult adjusting and balacing things. I'm hoping to be more disciplined in the future (I promise ?), so please bear with me. I am slowly, but surely adding my experiences to the previous lessons, so have a look at them if you want.

So ... as for my feelings to the seasons of the year. I'll start with easiest first - Autumn. This ones easy as I actually don't really have much feeling towards Autumn. I'm generally quite happy in Autumn. I tend to find it a quiet period, where I can think more, be by myself more and not feel guilty or odd about spending time by myself, reading, reflecting etc. I particularly love the late end of autumn, coming into winter, over the December period. This seems to be a time when I feel happy with close friends, family members. I have a ritual, developed with a close friend where inbetween christman and new year we spend an evening reviewing our year, evaluating our achievements and basicaly congratulating ourself on a year well spent. This very contemplative, balanced frame of mind take a sharp downturn in January when I generally feel depressed and stagnant. Everything seems to be twice as much effort. I find snow, rain, cold mixed with darkness really difficult. I feel quite frustrated, waiting for spring, the time when I can start to put plans I made in Autumn into action. Funnily enough I used to love Winter when I was younger. I used to see it as a period of time when I could really spend time with myself and can remenber loving being warm and wrapped up when it was snowing outside. I think that I would still like Winter if I didn't work and have to leave the house in the cold. As spring approaches I usually count the days in my diary, motivating myself. I get very excited with the 'firsts' of spring, such as flowers, sunlight, smells and love feeling more energy as the days get longer. This is usually reflected in ny behaviour as I start to iniate projects, plans during Spring and feel myself developing and expanding as a person. In the summer I am much more sociable and energetic, especially towards others. I find that most of my friendships are initiated in the Summer. Although I sometimes feel the heat to oppressive and at these times I am incredibly lazy and spend hours lazing about, doing not much. This interferes with work and life as much as Winter, although I am extremely happy at the time.

What weather do I like ? Well I don't like snow or rain if I am ouside although I quite like watching it from the inside. I don't mind wind, I quite like the force of it. I especially love thunder and lightning. When there's a lightning storm I spend most of my time running about trying to get the best viewing point. My favourite weather is probably a nice warm spring day, with a few light showers or a nice warm autumn day, possibly with a thunder storm at the end for excitement.

I found it difficult working out my natural element. Friends usually, if pushed, describe me as air/swords, driven more by thoughts. However I am also extremely emotional at the same time. In terms of fire, water, air, earth (as elements) not what they represent, I favour water by far. If I am at home I am usually in the bath where I take books, food and drinks with me. And I love the sea.

I am going to do the cleansing caers meditation on Thursday, so I'll post the results then - Just before the actual Spear quest starts ?

With Best Wishes,

Kai

1 Which season is easiest for you? Which is most difficult?
I think spring is my best season. The bursting forth of life everywhere really lifts my spirits. Which season is most difficult for me is really hard to define. There are aspects of all the seasons that I really love. Day after day of rain in autumn and winter really get me down because I work outside but I love the smell and colours of autumn and crisp, dry winter days are glorious.

2 Which kinds of weather are best and worst?
Wet weather is definitely the worst kind of weather for me. Cool but mild, bright conditions are definitely the best.

3 What is your best time of day? When is your energy lowest?
My best time of day is probably late morning. My energy tends to dip late afternoon and then pick up again during the evening.

4 Which is your natural element?
This is definitely earth. I have always had an affinity with the countryside, woodlands, mountains.

I still don' know which element. I really don't.

Humph.

Not to worry Aerin. It probably means that you are well balanced and not so polarised as me.