To learn more about this process, read Hidden Symmetry. Here's a description of Mountain Earth, which I SOOO relate to...
In nature, the image for an Eight is the mountain, which is immovable. You can lean on a mountain, and as an Eight, you hold that kind of energy: hardworking, reliable, steadfast, and with enormous personal strength. You’re also the most generous of all the types! You naturally want to support others, and your work for them can be on a grand scale. You’ll step up to meet the needs of your family members, your friends, friends of your friends, and the community at large, no matter how hard the work or great the responsibility. You may love to bring large groups together for work or activities, especially if it benefits others. Although you may not be the social type, and you do need your solitude, your energy will always turn toward your connections or your tribe in some way. Home as well as family is important to you.
Many Eights own more than one property; some even rent out homes at below-market rates so that people in need have housing. As much as Eights are generous and giving, a common difficulty is a lack of receptivity, which can be a major challenge in life on many levels. The process of healthy giving is actually a two-way street. There’s the act of giving and then there’s the act of opening your arms to receive. Frequently Eights don’t recognize that they lack the ability to soften and allow things to come to them, or for others to help and support them; if they don’t work on this, over time it can build into stagnation in their lives. Your mountain nature gives you enormous stamina and resilience, so you bounce back better than anyone else. And it’s a good thing you do, because you take on challenges that would flatten someone else. As an Eight, you’re called the Transformer because you use hard work for powerful personal growth on a very deep level.
Going Within
In the mountain, there is a cave, and that cave is where the transformation happens. You can picture the adept going far into the cavern to meditate and do deep inner work, which is the alchemical process of becoming a sage. You carry that personal cave within you as you embrace your life struggles, transforming them into profound strength and power mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But to the rest of the world, it may appear as though you just create struggle for yourself. Time and time again you choose what looks like the hard way in life. Friends and family scratch their heads as they watch, saying, “You want to do what now? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier just to do this instead?” It’s not a mistake in judgment for you to choose the more difficult path, though, because it’s through the struggle that you learn the most. You may sign up for some demanding and lengthy course of study, tackle a job that most others just give up on, or stick with a relationship that seems doomed because of all the problems involved. You do it because in the end, you benefit greatly from all you’ve learned; you’ve grown so much because of your hard work. Of course, this isn’t always a conscious choice on your part, and life can hand you opportunities that you simply have to work through. These are patterns of nature, and just as an oak tree grows acorns, you have an inherent tendency to take on or be given some serious work.
The Influence of Deep Thought
A cave can also be used to retreat from the world for the purpose of contemplation. As an Eight, you’ll tend to be a deep thinker, perhaps with an interest in philosophy or personal growth, and you’ll need to think through decisions slowly and carefully. You’ll want to retreat on a regular basis to de-stress and be alone with your thoughts, which may be in your own “cave” in the house (such as a basement getaway or a den), or it can mean a need to retreat before you can move forward. If you and your partner are arguing, it’s best for them not to follow you around the house, saying, “We’ve got to resolve this now!” Instead, they should back off and give you some space to ponder the situation. Then you’ll be able to emerge and work things out. Another way to understand the cave is that this is where the treasure is, and the treasure is knowledge. You love to study and learn and may have an extensive library in your home, take seminars, or do self-development work. And because you’re so nurturing, you’ll want to teach people what you’ve learned or in some way use all your accumulated wisdom to help them discover their own hidden treasure and become the best they can be.
Accumulating treasure in the cave can mean more than just knowledge, however. Eights can be quite good at accumulating wealth or partnering with someone who does well financially. But accumulation can also be expressed as clutter, so Eights will need to take care not to let too much stuff build up around them or else have plenty of storage! Despite the fact that your attention is always so oriented toward other people, you’re not a chatterbox. You tend to be quiet and people may complain that you’re hard to get to know, or your partner can feel cut off because you don’t talk about what’s going on inside. That’s another influence of that inner cave, which is where part of you always tends to hang out. No one can move a mountain, and you can indeed be immovable in your opinions or just stubborn overall. Part of the reason that you’re not easily swayed is due to your solid thinking skills. It’s been your experience that other people don’t tend to think things through very well, so why should you be inclined to doubt your own conclusions? Sometimes, however, you can be like a dog with a bone. You just won’t let an issue go, and people may as well give in if they’re in that kind of tug-of-war with you!
Fairness and Justice
You usually appear calm and quiet and aren’t easily provoked, but there are times the mountain can turn into a volcano! Your anger can be powerful and righteous, and it often centers around issues of unfairness or injustice, which are personal hot buttons for you. If you see someone being treated unfairly, you'll be the first to step up to protect them; and if you feel someone has done something unjust to you, they'll hear about it.
Melanie, and Eight, discovered a hairdresser in her town who did beautiful work and offered 10 percent off a haircut if anyone referred a friend. So she referred three friends who were so happy that they started referring friends. Melanie got three discounts, but then demanded that the hairdresser also give her 10 percent off for each of her friends' friends who came in. she was so outraged when she was turned down that she stopped using the stylist's services, even though this person was the only one in town who'd done a good job on her hair.
Youngest Son
Another way the Eight is pictured is as the Youngest Son in a family. This doesn't mean you'll literally be the youngest child; it's that you carry that energy in your personality. The Youngest Son is in a peculiar position within the family because in being around the older family embers, he soaks in all of their knowledge, so he's really very wise-but he's also still just a little boy. This can be expressed in an Eight's nature as naiveté, a lack of self-confidence, or at times feeling awkward and uncomfortable around others. You can visualize a little boy at a grown-up party, wandering around among all the adults, not knowing how to act or what's expected of him, and feeling very out of place and unsure of himself. This may be a recurring pattern of experience for Eights.
MOUNTAIN EARTH Colors
Here are the Earth colors I was wearing already...
MOUNTAIN EARTH FOODS
And here's what I should eat for the next month...
EARTH - Sweet root and ground vegetables cooked into a soup, stew or casserole. Stewed fruits, apple juice, syrups.
- Earth: Element of Spleen and Stomach. Resonates with the
times between the seasons or the very late summer, nurturing, stability
and the earth beneath our feet.
- Yellow, the color of Earth
- Yellow vegetables: Yams/sweet potatoes – Okay, so these are often orange in color, but some are paler. Work with me, here. From a Chinese medicine perspective, sweet potatoes are sweet in flavor and neutral in nature. They work on the Spleen, Stomach and Large Intestine – so work powerfully on a number of levels in improving digestion. From a Western perspective, they are a potent source of antioxidants and vitamin E. Other yellow vegetables: corn
- Sweet, the flavor of Earth
- Whole grains: Whole wheat and/or spelt, brown rice, quinoa, millet – People are often confused about the sweet flavor in Chinese medicine. This is not the sweet of ice cream, Skittles and soda. To experience the ideal sweet flavor, take a bit of well cooked brown rice and chew thoroughly. That’s sweet. So whole grains are the ideal candidate in this category. Rice is sweet and neutral and goes to the Spleen and Stomach. It is the perennial digestive booster, powerful enough to be effective but gentle enough for convalescing individuals. From a Western perspective, whole grains are the foundation of a great diet – providing key minerals, B vitamins and fiber for digestive health.
- Yellow, the color of Earth
Anyone want to join me?
