The four elements guide our spirits in the realm of the physical. We are not physical beings learning to be spiritual, but rather spiritual or expansive beings learning how to navigate within the limitations of physical reality. It is your task to expand the physical you with the spiritual you, not to throw the physical experience away in favor of being only spiritual.

In the same way that air feeds fire in the physical world, our minds (corresponding with Air) feed our spirits, our energy, and our hearts (corresponding with Fire). The degree of heat and energy that we generate has a strong effect on our emotions (corresponding with Water). Thus, our Air fuels the Fire in our beings, which affects the Water surrounding it within our bodies. This Fire in our Water creates emotions and feelings that move us to create or manifest in the physical or Earth realm. Once something has reached the manifestation phase, it inspires new thought and the whole process begins over again.

The connection between elements is seen as a channel for energy, or “contour”. These contours are of the Spiritual, Emotional and Physical (see diagram). The phase between Earth and Air is of utmost importance, and is considered to be the spiritual side of creation that we experience most fluidly when we die. The physical contour between Air and Earth, however, is the one that requires our strongest attention and mastery now. 

All things follow this creative process in the physical realm, as it too was given its form by the interactions between the elements. The immense power of source energy that we know as the creator manifested the Earth herself through the elemental process of  sacred altering. In this way, the Earth’s natural world is, then, the greatest living example and teacher of Bana Kuma. If our science, art, advanced technology and culture could emulate the harmony, beauty and balance in nature, the world we live in would be a very different place. The Bana Kuma of the human race would then match that of planet Earth. 

The following analogy exemplifies the intention of these offerings. Imagine that your body is a horse, your spirit is its rider, and the elements are your guides in the knowledge as to how your horse lives. Many people are led to undesirable and dark places by lost horses. The content of this book serves as a riding lesson. It offers navigational skills, and even suggests that your horse has wings that can take you wherever you would like to go. These skills are essential to understanding the inner workings of the physical, or elemental, realm.