Working With The Four Elements

In all magick and most powerfully inNatural Magick the four ancient elements of Earth, Air, Fire  and Waterform the building blocks of magical power and can be used formally andinformally in spells to endow a symbol with power and to build up that power.

The combination of the four elementscreates a fifth element, Ether or Akasha, or quintessence, pure  Spirit,the energy and also the substance that transforms thoughts and desires toactuality.

We all contain these four elementswithin our personalities in different proportions. The  psychotherapistJung talked about earth equating with sensations (practical functioning), airwith thought (logic), fire with intuition (inspiration) and  water withfeelings (empathy and emotions). We can call upon these strengths as containedwithin elemental substances and in nature both in spells and in our  livesto bring their powers into play.

The inner powers of the elements, forexample the practical stability of earth or the inspiration of  fire, canbe brought into the actual world for the fulfillment of your spell. Thishappens first when you visualize the elements, for example a beautiful golden ploughed field for earth or a tall bonfire for fire, and then in thewords you use when calling the power of the element, for example by makinga  chant about all the different ways you imagine the earth. Thistransfers the powers of the elements into your mind. Then, on the physicallevel, you work  with, say, salt for earth and a candle flame for fire,and this together with your visualization and words joins the powers of theelements on the thought  and actual levels. The energy created is key tosuccessful spell casting as the intangible thoughts and the actual substancescome  together.

Sometimes you will put the emphasison one or two particular elements, for example earth, and air to  speed upa house sale and/or purchase.

In this case you could choose asetting for example a woodland on a windy day or the rough grass on  ahill top. You would use a combination of earth – and air – related symbols, forexample a feather tied to a white stone to represent your new home (you could draw a house on the stone). You could then release the feather at the endof the spell.

In a pure water ritual, for exampleto send healing to a particularly polluted body of water where  yourchildren would like to swim or to ask for clean drinking water for those who donot have it, you could light blue candles at each of the four quarters and perhaps have a cauldron or dish of water in the center. You couldsymbolically purify this water with a few drops of flower essence such asDr.  Bach’s Five Flower Rescue Remedy or pour one of your own magicalwaters into the earth.

Of course, the other elements wouldbe present. Incense(air) would empower, activate and help the  need to becommunicated to those who can help resolve it. Fire(candle) would inspire andgive the necessary force to make actions and not just words happen  in thereal world. Earth(salt) would sort out the practicalities such as who will payfor clean water. Then you can create the necessary magical rocket of power in the fusion of the four elements. When these four meet, they become afifth element called Quintessence, Ether or Akasha. This collectiveenergy  fills the physical symbols with the psychically generated power.

Spirit Qualities

Because theElements emerge from Akasha, the undeniable, changeless Source of all energy,it is the realm of potential, of promise, of paths not yet taken, of theunforeseen, and of the unknowable. It exists in every living creature, everyplant and rock, every running stream and puddle of water.

And ofcourse, Akasha is present within our bodies. Some believe that the spark oflife, that force that we sometimes call the soul, is a bit of Akasha energyhoused in our physical bodies.

Akasha is not used byitself in magick; rather, it’s the primal source of energy that creates andfuels the Elements. When a practitioner raises power, he or she pulls up powerfrom within the body and merges it with Spirit energy, which can then be sent forthto affect Elements outside of the body. This is how practitioners conects withthe Spirit force of those Elements. There are three sources of magickal energyflow: the etheric body of each person, the Earth itself, and the Divine. Allmagickal sources are elements of Spirit