insideKENT Magazine Issue 77 - August 2018 | Page 57

DAYSOUT
GET OUT INTO THE
Elements
THE ELEMENTS ARE, BY THEIR VERY NATURE AND BY NATURE ITSELF, ALL
AROUND US. EVERYTHING WE DO CAN BE RELATED BACK TO EARTH, WIND,
FIRE, OR WATER IN SOME WAY. THESE FOUR ELEMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL TO
HUMAN LIFE, GIVING US THE ABILITY TO NOT ONLY GROW BUT TO COOK
FOOD AND EAT IT TOO, TO ATTAIN WATER TO DRINK, AND TO BREATHE IN
LIFE-GIVING AIR. THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN THAT THOUGH, SOME WOULD
SAY...THERE IS A MYSTICAL ELEMENT TOO.
It was the ancient Greeks who first discovered
that these four important elements were the
essence of all life in 450 BC. Aristotle took this
idea and added his own clever twist, even
including the notion that there was a fifth
element – known as aether – which is what
the stars and universe were made from (he
simply couldn’t imagine any way that these
celestial beings could be made of the same
stuff as everything down on earth). Of course,
this fifth element was debunked once science
was able to give us more answers, but the
seemingly magical powers of the others are
still going strong.
The elements were first used when human
beings began to delve into how the human
body worked and – more importantly – how
to fix it when it went wrong. Medicine has its
origins in the elements, and Hippocrates used
them to describe the four humors of the body.
Although this may not hold quite so true today,
we would be nowhere without neither the
elements nor this knowledge. If you need an
energy boost within any aspect of your
elemental power, then look no further;
insideKENT has put together a list of some of
the best elemental activities to be found
around the county.
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