The ancients believed the World to be composed of 4 basic elements – Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. These were considered the critical energy forces that sustained life. All of these elements are integral parts of matter or the physical universe, and the human body is a physical creation existing in the material realm. Therefore, the human beings were seen to be made of and governed by the four elements. Maintaining a balance between these elements was advocated to ensure physical as well as psychological well-being.
Everything in the physical World was observed to have a combination of four principal qualities – hot, cold, dry and moist. A combination of hot and dry produced Fire, hot and wet resulted in Air, cold and dry gave Earth, and cold and wet combined to produce Water. Furthermore, these four elements combined to create life, but only together with the quintessential fifth element, the life force, the ‘spirit’.
Water is accorded cleansing power. It is symbolic of dreaming, healing, flowing, fluidity, purification, regeneration, stability, strength, change, fertility, devotion, receiving, and unconditional love. It symbolizes death as well as rebirth. It is life-giving, but can also be destructive. Fresh Water stands for life and good health, while polluted/stagnant Water is symbolic of bad health. It is associated with the Autumn season and the West direction. An inverted triangle is the symbolic representation of the Water element.