The Air or Wind element is a tricksy little devil when it comes to being classified. Almost every ancient religion recognizes it, but almost every ancient religion characterizes different strengths and attributes for it. The one thing they all agree on is that the energy force for the most part is male (as is Fire – while the Feminine identifies best with Earth and Water).

It should come as no surprise that Air is difficult to classify. After all, it is the most changing of all the elements. It can go from being a gentle breeze that carries the scent of honeysuckle on it in the summertime to being a tornado hurtling across the land at 300 miles per hour, ripping up trees, animals, houses, and anything else that gets in its way.

Unlike the other 3 elements, air is invisible. We can’t touch it or see it, or even capture it. We have to look for the effects of it. We watch the trees as the wind blows through them. We feel the breeze as it cools the sweat off of our faces. We stand in awe as it whips the ocean into the frenzy of a hurricane.

Also, air is the most necessary to our lives. The old adage is that we can go 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without air. In fact our bodies will not even allow us to attempt to go on an “air strike” like we would a hunger strike. If you sit there and try to hold your breath, you will eventually pass out, and the brain kicks the lungs back into action. So chaining yourself to a tree and threatening not to breathe in order to protest air pollution is not going to do you much good!

On the other hand, controlling your breathing is an excellent way to get in tune with your own body. Many forms of mediation and self-hypnosis begin by centering and concentrating on one’s own breathing. To become still and listen to your own body, its heartbeat, and its breathing – and then control the tempo of those breaths is the first step of gaining control of your own body and mind.

While air is not typically thought of as cleansing in the same way as water and fire are, it can still serve a cleansing purpose, particularly in one’s own body for cleansing of negative thoughts, energies, and some even believe illness.

In meditation one would picture breathing in “good” or clean air and breathing out the “bad” or negative air. This bad air can be negative thoughts, pains, emotional hurts, or even diseases. Some peple like to breathe in incense for the medicinal benefits that certain herbs and scents bring. Me personally, I would rather sit out in the fresh air and breathe in the scent of nature – particularly the wild honeysuckle that grows nearby, or right before a rainstorm hits when it smells so clean.

Air is the closest element to our souls, I believe. It flows all around and through us; gentle or powerful, whatever it needs to be.