12 Water Archetypes
Attributes reassigned from the original I Ching
───────────────────────
RAIN
Melancholy
Pervasiveness
Communication
Liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor
and then become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a major component
of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on earth.
───────────────────────
SLEET
Inevitability
Vehemence
Multifaceted
A form of precipitation consisting of ice pellets, often mixed with rain or snow.
Unlike ice pellets, which are hard, and freezing rain which is fluid until striking an object,
this precipitation is soft and translucent, but it also contains traces of ice crystals from partially fused snowflakes.
───────────────────────
SNOW
Perfection
Formality
Evenness
Forms of ice crystals that precipitate from the atmosphere (usually from clouds)
and undergo changes on the Earth’s surface. Frozen crystalline water throughout its cycle,
starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere,
increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place.
───────────────────────
RIVER
Power
Clarity
Enlightenment
A naturally flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river.
───────────────────────
CREEK
Charity
Sensuality
Transitory
An inlet in a shoreline, a channel in a marsh, or another narrow, sheltered waterway.
───────────────────────
STREAM
Flexibility
Clarity
Subtlety
A body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks or a channel.
The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological,
geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.
───────────────────────
BROOK
Modesty
Faithfulness
Tolerance
From the old English with German origins, a small stream or river.
───────────────────────
FROST
Inspiration
Coldness
Subtlety
A thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above freezing atmosphere
coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing and resulting in a phase change
from water vapor (a gas) to ice (a solid) as the water vapor reaches the freezing point.
The propagation of crystal formation occurs by the process of nucleation.
───────────────────────
HAIL
Purity
Aggressiveness
Magic
A form of solid precipitation consisting of balls or irregular lumps of ice. Ice pellets generally fall
in cold weather while hail growth is greatly inhibited during cold surface temperatures.
Hail is produced by cumulonimbus and formation requires environments of strong upward motion of air
with the parent thunderstorm. Hailstones generally fall at higher speeds as they grow in size through
complicated factors such as friction with air, wind, and interaction with rain.
───────────────────────
LAKE
Loyalty
Community
Completeness
An area filled with water, localized in a basin that is surrounded by land, apart from any river
or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean,
and therefore are distinct from lagoons and are also larger and deeper than ponds
───────────────────────
OCEAN
Danger
Influence
Destruction
From ancient Greek, a body of saline water that composes 71% of the planet’s hydrosphere and 90% of the earth’s biospheres.
───────────────────────
SEA
Happiness
Protectiveness
Pleasure
A body of saline water partly or fully enclosed by land.