Martin Faulks discusses the 4 Elements, I have taken his description and created a list for reference to as a tool to work from.

The Earth Element

The qualities of Earth found in Nature

Cold

Dry

Heavy

Gravity

Magnetism

It absorbs things into itself

Generates from itself

It also brings momentum

Associated with cycles – life and death and the seasons

Physical matter

Protection

Growth

Fertility

Associated with bones, nails, teeth.

Associated with taste and smell

Associated with nature of giving and taking away

Adhesive, binding healing connective forces

Mental Mastery of the Earth Element

Grounded

A good ally

Reliability

practicality

A realistic view of the world

A loyal friend

Ability to see and find solutions

To be it – to own it, to have is what you are.

Likely to keep fit through doing things, eg walking or gardening

Good at getting good things and letting go or ignoring negative things

Tend to have the right things, eg money, friends, habits,

Slowness and ponderous

Very practical

Their physical body may appear to be weighted down

Very good listeners – however, do only look in terms of solutions

Use their hands a lot to communicate

Judge material wealth as a bench mark of who your value

Value status symbols

Have a tendency to collect/hoard things that relate to their goals in life

Objects are seen as talismans – and thought to bring the qualities they wish to seek

Stoic ‘- they will accept things as a means to cope

Persistence

Endurance

Will use persistence and endurance to achieve their goals

Appear old for their age and wise before their time

Like routines

Have a centred calmness

Solid and sometimes a bit rigid

The Earth Element out of Balance

Heavy character

Stubborn

Insensitive and trample over others

Negative judgement of self and others

Have a preoccupation of their physical body and material possessions

Get caught up in the details of material things

Self indulgence

Never work smart but just work hard

Expect others to have the same level of persistence and work ethic as they do

Any level of intuition or short cut will be seen as immoral

Goals are achieved through stubbornness and those who have legitimate concerns will be ignored

Incredibly fixed in their approach and cannot change

They will make the other person change by persistence rather than change themselves

Their belongings own them, not the other way around.

Spend a lot of time worrying about their belongings

Can be very cold in their approach

Ignore very human problems because it is too much for them

The healthy barriers can become too strong and they will put up a wall

Slowness can turn to lethargy

Heaviness can turn to depression

An earthy person can sometimes feel the weight upon them in a very real way

Most people are either in a very positive express or very negative expression and it can take a long time for them to switch from one to another

The inability of letting go of bad things

The inability of holding on to good things

They will have a strong body and good appetite

Lack of earth will mean a weakness in the bones eg diseases such as osteoporosis

Excessive Earth may result in knee and ankle problems, perhaps also be absorbing food or eliminating food/toxins from the body

Excessive Earth can lead to great lethargy

Comfort is associated with this element, both material and a tendency to comfort eat

Food associated with the Earth Element

Fat

Root vegetables

A lot of meat

A sweet taste

The Water Element

Qualities of the Water Element in Nature

Cold and wet

Magnetic – attraction and contraction

Water is connected with all liquids and their qualities

Associated with birth and life

Perceived as feminine and connected to women

The moon controls the tides of the sea and also influences the cycle of a woman

Water has a purifying, healing and sanitizing effect on many levels.

The ability to carry things

The ability to dissolve and distill things

Store, transport and deliver other substances from it

Cooling properties

Appears to be deceptive/ illusionary

Adaptable, flexible and can take on any Manifestation

Mental Mastery of the Water Element

Effortless excellence

A cool fresh person who is easy going

Easily create success

Very in tune with their own emotions

Sensitive to their surroundings and can become what ever form is needed

Great adaptability to achieve what they want

Seeking emotional fulfillment and using emotions to make decisions they will effortlessly succeed

Don’t over think and are masters of being at the right place at the right time

If they want to make money they will observe how and emulate the method that is already successful

Very intuitive and very empathic

Make very good artists, healers, actors, also sales people or PR.

Use their positive emotions to amplify that in others.

They are masters of creating a story to interact.

They will emotionally give you what they want while emotionally getting what they want

These people are versatile and inspired and bring the heart into a circumstance

The characteristics of kindness is exemplified within a water element person

Sensual, emotional and are great lovers

Create atmospheres and utilise them to great effect

Use repetition and enjoy repetition to achieve things

Bring out the best in others by amplifying the goodness within them

Are very versatile and their effects are subtle but have many ripples

Have an altruistic caring nature

The Water Element out of Balance

Emotions dictate and sustain our activities

The senses are not sources of information but commands

Will be very expressive and will not like it if others are not the same

When they interact they will be looking for emotional responses

May have to overcome fear

Constantly checking their emotions and this can make them very self-centred

They can be the most selfish people and the most selfless at the same time

They can be influenced by anything around them that they lose who they are.

Are impulsive and make decisions only using their immediate circumstances or their emotions

Will never use memory, reason, duty, ambition or logic

So caught up with their own emotions and others around them, they will seem very unpredictable and inconsistent

Will flow from one form to another depending who or what is influencing them at the time

Will manipulate and lie because they believe in the lies, it is their reality

Can very nagging and wear people down that way

Because they are so moved by their internal emotions they will expect others to be motivated in the same way

If someone comes from a logical perspective or a different aspect they will see it as emotional attacks

Emotions tend to repeat so they will keep reliving the past

Will be great at starting projects but will run out energy very quickly because they are using the emotions, once the emotion goes they will stop doing things and let others finish them off if their own agendas are not met

Tend to rely on others and recruiting others to do the work because is easier than learning to do something for themselves

Their way of learning to stick to things will be to keep things emotionally driven

People can become very demanding so they want a lot of stimulation and become thrill seekers

Can become fixated on happiness or use drugs

Sometimes mix up affection and unable to separate sexual activity from genuine love

Maybe become quite heartless because they are seeking love like it is a quantity that can be measured in doses

All their decisions are being ruled by emotions and believe that yours are too. Anything you do will be seen as result you want of their inner desires

Tend to run out of energy and this will affect their character is a significant way

May suffer from ailments such as back problems, reproductive problems, digestive issues etc

Problems with their feet or circulations problems seem to be quite common

Tend to process emotions they find themselves wanting to express the same emotions over and over again it may be a sign that the emotions have not internally processed

Respond to anything that is sensational or tactile

Will often have activities that seek out sensational or tactile expressions. They will respond very well to massage or subtle therapies like homoeopathy which are gentle rather than more aggressive forms of therapy.

In their spare time, they like to do flexible things like yoga or artistic things that allow flexibility of the mind and body

Sometimes drugs can be a problem so they like to drink often.

This connection with the world may lead to eating disorders because they enjoy things so much that it is hard to control them

One the main things with the water element there will be a lack. It tends to keep the other elements in check, so when they run out of the water element their skin may get worse. Or bad body odour is a sign the water element is too low.

When they get run down they may get skin rashes and autoimmune responses.

Rest is very very important for Water Element people

Effective Water Element people do tend to go with the flow, however, because they are very very influenced by things around them they will resent this, They will resent how their subconscious has an affect them. They will even resent positive influences in their life because they want to be in control

Water person will do very well to control their environment, they want to control their diet make sure it is the right food. They want to control their mood make sure it is the right people around them. Until they are in a state of balance or in a state of tranquillity and inner harmony.

Make sure you control where and what you do. then you will be in right place at the right time and the right technique.

Food associated with the Water Element

Salt and fat

Dark Purple vegetables

Salty fish

Miso

Seaweed

The Air Element

Qualities of the Air Element in Nature

Warm and moist

Lightness

Diffusion and transfer

Our first encounter is when we take a breath

Transportation

All gases correspond to the Air Element

Communication through smell and sound

They will have clear visions of how to improve things and make things happen

The ability to have a thought and make things into a reality is a good marker of the mastery of the Air Element

Mental Mastery of the Air Element

Will have a mastery of thought and words

Will be able to remain silent when necessary

No barriers to learning

Will be no egotism or pride

Will be moved to learning to make things better

Thought

Tend shape things in their mind’s eye

“I think therefore I am” would be a perfect example of this thinking

They are scientists, inventors, geniuses, tacticians and philosophers and great writers

All the people who have mastered disciplines of the mind

Memory

Ability to reproduce images in their mind

Very good communicators

They will be eloquent and think logically

Very social

Tend to be very audio

Like to ask why

Good planners

Like to be in groups or forming groups

Like everyone to be working together

Have a sense of joy in discovering

Feel inspired a lot of the time

Have an uplifting quality about them

Like to bring new ideas and like to facilitate change

Will be about to bring effortless change to circumstances

The expression can be in artisticness and creativity

Ability to create things effortlessly and see things in their mind’s eye very clearly.

Able to coordinate themselves, both mentally and physically very well

Tend to be dextrous and coordinate motor skills with ease

Agile and athletic person

Bringers of harmony because they can see the big picture

Have a good memory and the ability to remember what people have said can easily see who would work together well or not

Enjoy listening to music

Enjoy being in space and think about big ideas

Enjoy getting to the edge of what they understand

The Air Element out of Balance

Being disconnected and not understanding/or being aware of outside circumstances

Speaking too much and can bore others

Gosipping

Boastful

They will talk louder at dinner parties no one no one else can speak

Love to tell long stories

Love to hear the sound of their own voice

Causing trouble by stirring things up by saying things deliberately or through error not understanding the power of words

Over thinking – occurs when they go over small details.

They remember everything and they will keep going over and over the details and their memory is hurting them

Can also get stuck and detached so it can close in on them as well

Easily offended and take on the quality of what was said and hold on to it

Desire to be centre of attention

They cannot stop lying

Become pathological

Inability to feel anything

Suffer from anxiety

It is important for them to look after their nervous system

May experience breathing problems

Rounded posture

Will reach out to things and put things are arms length even if they don’t need to

Tend to make big gestures when they talk

Foods associated with the Air Element

They like sour things

Teas made from flowers

They tend to drink red wine

Tend to drink a lot of liquids

The Fire Element

Qualities of the Fire Element in Nature

Heat

Light

Expansiveness

A connection between the fire element of the physical plane with any form of energy, eg heat from a flame or heat from the sun, or electricity from various sources

Associated with radiation and other forms of energy

Some physical things that have connections to fire eg materials that are good insulators such as glass

Flammable materials that can release energy very quickly

Sun is our greatest ally, allowing man to see and aids in plant growth

Fire can be a great ally but also a terrible enemy

Transformative qualities

Ability to mould things

Used for weapons or to gain property or power

Weapons are fire put into them eg a gun

Hypnotic quality

Provides safety against cold

Mental Mastery of the Fire Element

‘Trial by fire’ is associated with the transformative effects of the personality

Willpower

Purpose

Energy

Warm hearted

Decisive

Hardworking

Productive

Great clarity of mind

Strong leader

Protector

Warrior

Inspiring

Out spoken

Ability to connect with people

They talk quickly and do things quickly

This speed is associated with the fire quality in many other respects

Very good lover, but may have problems controlling that expression

Very passionate

Athletic in build, muscular strong build

Tend to have good health and fight off infections quickly

Like spicy food

Stimulating things like caffeine

Full of energy

Will often hold their head forwards, this gesture, is used in fighting or a comedian

They are natural leaders

The Fire Element out of Balance

They see time differently and if things appear not to be working in the time frame they perceive they can get frustrated.

Anger

Impatience

Bad temper

Urge for power

Domination

Will walk over others to achieve their goal

Selfish motives

Put their own goals above others

Vambitiousnous

A power crazed highly critical tyrant is an extreme characteristic

A bully

Will have problems with their eyesight

Stomach ulcers,

Problems with their Liver and Gall bladder eg psoriasis of the liver, gout

Acid reflux

Because of the fire personality, they will indulge in things that do not help

They will tend to eat their food very quickly and indulge in too much spicy food

Foods associated with the Fire Element

Spicy

Dry

Bitter foods

Dark chocolate

Lamb, meat cooked rare

Dried foods

Coffee, tea

Carbonated drinks

Wine and beer

To find out more about Martin Faulks you follow him on YouTube, Author Page to catch up on recent interviews and publications.

Check out his latest publication Enlighted Living which goes into detail how to live a balanced and harmonious life.