Fire and water
The action of spirit on matter
January 24th 2019
Among the four elements, it is not the earth but water that corresponds best to the way we can understand matter. Water is the symbol of primordial matter that received the fertilizing seeds of spirit, and this is why, in the beginning of the book of Genesis, we are told that 'a wind from God swept over the face of the waters'. Water is the matrix of life. Life emerged from water thanks to the principle of fire – spirit – that put water in motion. Without the action of fire, life is not possible. Alone, water – matter – has no life; it is fire that infused life into it.
On the earth, our planet, life is also born of the action of fire on water. The first seeds of life, brought by the sun's rays, travelled to the ocean's waters that welcomed them like a loving mother. She carried them in her womb and they grew, multiplied and gave rise to all the forms of life that we know today.