Earth is the heaviest or densest of the elements. Its characteristics are solidity in form, heaviness, being set, that which manifests. It is associated with the constriction of idea, feeling and movement into matter. Its association within the body is of bone and forms such as make up the structure of the organs, flesh, and other more solid parts of the body. In mind it is associated with thoughts which have crystallized or taken shape. They are the thoughts that are fulfilled or kept as "solid" attitudes upon which to rely (whether right or not) and upon which action and point of view are built. In action, it is the actual manner in which one does something and what one does. In feeling it is not being flexible, rather being fixed or set. It is the densest part, most often associated with the outward world and the relationship of the body to it. In mind it relates to those things which are a "solid" structure of form which then crystallizes as an echo in the world. Spiritually it is the connection to all matter and the visible form as part of the one body. It is also the densest part of completion of the cycle of manifestation on that corresponding plane. It is heavy. The breath is heavy. The color associated with earth is golden, or yellow which can also have a little brown in it. The earth person is fixed, solid, and tends to go through life. It is not especially inspirational.
Water is the next lightest element. It is associated with fluidity, movement toward being set, but not yet fixed. It is flexible. The watery person tends to flow around obstacles, adjust and adapt to situations, like water filling a void. The watery person is soft - more toward tender and soft spoken. The attributes of a watery person are not so fixed. They can be changed or modified more easily than the earth person. The thoughts themselves are more fluid and not so set. They adapt to circumstances better but tend to react to them more than dictate them. The thinking is more open, and the feelings are more on the surface. The earth person is heavier of heart and tends toward the physical, while the watery person has more tenderness of heart and can tend toward the earth or to the heavens. Spiritually it shows the reaction and formation of mind toward solidity, but not having reached that density, it is still forming. From the other point of view it is associated with the thoughts, feeling, and heart; pointing toward the higher realm from which it came. Associated with water is the color green. The breath is soft, toward the receptive or negative side. The correlations through the body are the circulatory systems, the lymphatic "system" and the fluids filling the cells.
Fire is enlivening and quickening. It is impelling, adding energy. It is also destroying or consuming. The fiery person is highly reactive in a positive or active sense. That person tends to go towards extremes more easily. The emotions are on the surface more, and tend toward extroversion. Thoughts associated with fire tend toward movement, inciting actions or densification. Emotionally fire is associated with desires and personality. The fiery person identifies with the personality it perceives. It also is changeable, so it can consume that attachment to one personality and shift toward another - as the candle flame passes one wick to another, or the flames of a forest fire go from tree to tree. Fire gives life and activity to ideas or thoughts held in mind. It also consumes older ideas, attitudes, action, desires, and attachments to the lower personality. So spiritually it is associated with cleansing and rebirth - like the phoenix rising from the ashes. It has its counterpart in the Holy Spirit, which burns the lesser personality, purifies one, and raises one towards the light. Fire is associated with the color red. It is a highly active, reactive, and strong breath on the positive or masculine side. It is associated in the body with the digestive system and the endocrine glands. Fire tends to be inspirational.
Air is the lightest of the elements. The color is blue, and it is associated with the breath, lungs, and the carrying of energy throughout the body. Airy people tend to be blown about by the days' activities. They also tend to pass over the solidness of earth and tend not to be rooted. They then not only adapt to circumstances, but are easily pushed or pulled by them. But not having much form, they tend to move out of the bounds of constriction, so are not easily constrained within a structure or set. The airy person provides some of the "fuel" which activates fire. The thoughts are of a higher nature and the feelings and perception are more refined. The attitude of air associates with life and limitlessness. The personality of the airy person tends toward being high, blown about, not rooted, and at its lower level, not able to have a strong effect. Thoughts tend toward the formative stage - before they, through the addition of the life and inspiration of fire, start forming more concretely. On the spiritual side it is more reflective of the angelic personality, lighter, and without boundaries of forms or edges. The breath is high in the head, light, and can be both positive and negative, masculine or feminine. It shows the dissolution of the personality into the Divine, as it also is the first movement from the Divine into manifestation. It is here that one also finds the continuation of the baptism of the holy spirit, the pattern of which is fulfilled through the purification and refinement of personality, heart, and breath. (This is the pattern, not the complete process).
The element ether is associated with the Divine itself. That which is - the unmanifest from which form comes - which underlies it and flows through it, so to speak; without movement; and toward which all form returns, dissolves into and is assimilated. The color associated with ether is gray, and the breath is refined. When it is associated with any form or element, there can be motion. It is the refined or next higher aspect or level of the form or element. It is touched on and connected to through the refinement of the breath, and the tenderness of the heart; it can be sensed as that which makes up the denseness of form - like the energy of the atom, and with inspiration and a raising of the personality toward love and to the breath within the breath, can be attuned. It is from the ether that comes the initial impulse that gives rise to angelic mind, which, with the addition of life and inspiration, tends toward solidity and eventually manifests in form. It has its effect on and through all levels continuously. It is the life behind the life that connects to the life behind the life of the next level. Attunement to the ether leads one toward oneself. In ether the holy spirit continues on.