Tanah, Api, Angin, Air

While I was quite small, I overheard my grandmother talking with my mother and their details were somehow like this.

"Oh, dia api la camtu, yang ni plak air. Kalau camtu.." said my grandma.

Being a little boy I was quickly attracted to the conversation since it involved elements, and in my child mind, I thought they must be talking about some super hero or something. My thoughts went to Jetman, Masked Rider or the likes of it, since they usually have those kinds of power. Fire, hiyak!

So I asked what it was all about but was quickly silenced by my mother, "Hish, budak-budak jangan nyampuk/kacau/sibuk." *can't remember the exact term*

After that I went quietly away, though I didn't stop listening. However I didn't understand what they was talking at that time, so it disinterested me after a while.

Later when I was grown up(a bit) that I understood. It is like this.

Siblings are characterized into four: Earth, Fire, Air and Water.

Doesn't matter how many siblings in the family, the eldest is Earth while the youngest is Water.

Then the 2nd sibling is Fire; the 3rd is Air, the 4th is Water and the cycles repeat after that, meaning the 5th is Earth, 6th is Fire and so on.

So what is the element for? Well, the theory is used in matchmaking!

Let say a boy, eldest in the family(Earth) were to marry a girl who is the youngest from another family(Water), then they would be great together since if water is poured on to earth, the land would grow and such.

Another example is if the 2nd eldest(Fire) were to marry a 3rd eldest(Air), then calamity would ensue and trouble arise, since if a fire is supplied with air, the flame would grow.

These are some of the examples that I still remember.

Mind you, we siblings were laughing at this and mother didn't believe too except for grandma who told it all, though she told it with a grain of salt. In a nutshell, no one put great faith in it and it is in no way a 'deal-breaker'. People don't and SHOULDN'T believe too much in generalization and stereotyping, less mistake will rise but this 'method' is like an early screening test.

Syirik?

In my opinion this is not so. It is not based on foretelling the luck of somebody by referring to their birthdate(which is syirik), rather it is gathered from observations. The eldest siblings in a family seems the most responsible, hence he/she can most probably adapt with anyone, the second is the most competitive and most likely to quarrel with others and so on.

Orang tua-tua, being as they are, put labels to simplify their job in matchmaking and to make it more interesting they applied the elements, fire, water and so on. It is no fortune telling but instead they are, in my opinion, simply psychology. A funny one that is.

So I am Water, with maybe a tinge of Fire.

Earth anyone?

>.<