i need opinion please on a story

i got a freind who is trying to write a story we are trying to think what fire can stand for ex:earth- strength if u guys don't mind please give us some of your ideas

Fire can mean things such as life, survival, hope, chaos, and perhaps fear.

Fire is used as many things, It can be destructive burning down a house or being used as a weapon, or it can be used as a beacon to send messages across great distances, fire was also the earliest source of man made light. There is also the image of the welcoming open fire on a winters day, or a camp-fire etc.

Then metaphorically people describe some bad experiences as having been "burned", and we talk about burning desire, fiery passion etc. A person can also be described as having fire in their eyes.

It's a case of grab any one and run with it, which one depends on the type of story you wish to write.

The elements have been generally been linked to the following:

Earth - material qualities, grounded reality.
Water - emotions, intuitive feeling.
Air - intellect, abstract thought.
Fire - all consuming passion (in anger or love), drive, motivation.

Good luck...

Remember fire is symbolic, archetypal, of transition. Usually destructive transition, complex (usually organic) structures are broken down in dead, homogenous, ash. On the other hand it can also represent a freeing process. Chemicals, carbon, rare elements, that have been locked in to matter are released in to the atmosphere. Also fire can be a source of energy. the heat of fire can sustain life, cook food. Something is destroyed so that something can be created. Food, pottery, metal work. All have traditionally used fire.

But to modern society what fire really symbolises is control. It is a natural phenomenon we have made our own yet despite all our accumulated knowledge still fascinates us and occasionally bites us on the bum.

P.s chiron: as a mathematician I would contest there is no distinction between reality and abstraction.

remember Peter's law of metaphysics: Any sufficiently sophisticated abstraction of reality is indistinguishable from reality it's self.

also mathematics is one of the most intellectual, logical, pursuits yet is mostly driven by inspiration and imagination and dare i say it intuition.

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P.s chiron: as a mathematician I would contest there is no distinction between reality and abstraction.

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True, but in the experience of everyday life a distinction is made between abstract thought (to which music and mathematics are linked) and concrete reality (the knock-on-wood stuff). Even if this is just the way we humans agree to organize reality...

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also mathematics is one of the most intellectual, logical, pursuits yet is mostly driven by inspiration and imagination and dare i say it intuition.

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I agree with you but as you say, this all goes a long way beyond logic. Logic: the system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge or study. Therefore logic is partial and only one of the tools we use to make sense of our experience.

I'm not so sure that logic is as much driven by inspiration and intuition, as it is merely humankind's way of organizing reality. Logic is therefore only a useful tool that is applied to inspiration and mystery rather than the other way around.

If in your story earth stands for strength then I would say that fire could stand for the spirit.