DECORATING YOUR HOME WITH THE 4 ELEMENTS
I think a lot about the 4 classical elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Perhaps that’s rather strange, though it’s not the oddest topic I’ve covered and if you’re reading this odds are you’re a bit odd as well. My unique interest in the 4 elements began back in my teenage years when I first got interested in tarot. Fellow tarot readers know that the minor arcana is broken down into 4 suits and each of these suits correspond with an element.
Each of these elements in turn also correspond with a specific aspect of self. While interpretations vary my belief is:
- Air represents the intellectual & communicative self
- Fire represents the energetic & passionate self
- Water represents the compassionate & intuitive self
- Earth represents the physical & practical self
In my view, one of the overarching purposes of the minor arcana is to bring a balance of these 4 aspects of self into your everyday life. There are even tarot spreads dedicated to seeing how balanced or unbalanced you are in these areas. I have an earlier video about one of these tarot spreads that you can try if you’re interested in seeing how you balanced you are among the elements.
To me bringing balance among these 4 elements expands beyond the tarot deck and into my home. As someone who works from home as a full time tarot reader & instructor, I need my space to be intuitively inspiring, energetically motiving, and peaceful. This need is why I developed the idea of furthering the concept elemental balance by decorating the spaces in my home based on each element. This idea began as I was learning about Feng Shui. While I don’t resonate with all the ideas within Feng Shui, the underlying principle of decorating your space to create better energetic flow seemed like something I could benefit from. In my own elementally focused system I correspond each room of my home with an element and then use design details to further the expression of the element within that space.
While your system may vary, I choose to connect the kitchen with the Fire element. To further the influence of that element, I have several items in my kitchen in various orange and red hues. I associate my bathroom with the Water element and choose a blue tone for the towels and the color of the walls. I also brought in some seashell items to further the representation of water in the space.
As my office is a space where I need to be intellectually charged I often burn incense at my desk to connect with the Air element. I connect my bedroom with the Earth element as it is a space where the body comes to rest and rejuvenate. Correspondingly I like to incorporate plants and crystals into that space. My living room was a bit trickier as it performs many functions within my home. So, for that space I bring in all for elements — candles for fire, seashells for water, incense for air and plants for Earth.
Once I began thinking about my home within this context and decorating accordingly I definitely felt a significant positive change in the energetic flow of my home. Of course, this may be due to the placebo effect. Even if it is, the result is what matters and I can honestly say that this practice has made my home feel much more inviting and invigorating.
Have you ever considered decorating your home based on the 4 elements? Which rooms of your home would you connect to each element and why? Share your thoughts below in the comments. You can also view the video above for more of my thoughts on this topic.
Originally published at www.arcane-alchemy.com on January 10, 2019.
