I have put the elements in a separate section of their own because as the ancient Greeks knew, all magickal symbols regardless of whatever other attribution or correspondence they might have can be easily categorized into the five elements: the four "visible" Earth, Air, Fire, and Water and the fifth element Spirit or the "invisible" element. Along with the main elements further categorizations can be made using the sub-elements: Earth of Earth, Fire of Earth, Water of Earth, Air of Earth, Spirit of Earth, Earth of Air, Air of Air, Fire of Air, Water of Air, Spirit of Air, Earth of Fire, Air of Fire, Fire of Fire, Water of Fire, Spirit of Fire, Earth of Water, Air of Water, Fire of Water, Water of Water, Spirit of Water, Earth of Spirit, Air of Spirit, Fire of Spirit, Water of Spirit, and Spirit of Spirit making a total of 25 sub elements.
We invoke the spirits of the elements when we call the quarters in a circle casting North, South, East, West,(the circle itself is the fifth element); physical matter is found in four states: solid, liquid, gas, plasma, and underlying all matter is the fifth state: energy, from which all matter is formed; we go through five states in the wheel of existence; (re)birth, childhood, adulthood, old age, and death; we have five senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell; there are five points on a pentagram, which is why the pentagram above all is the symbol of our religion. It is the unified symbol of everything in the universe in harmony--the elements separate yet joined flowing from one state to another, transformed but not destroyed, the totality of the universe contained in a circle.
Uppermost point~Spirit
Spirit is the base upon which all else is built and throughout which all transcends. It is manifest as energy. Spirit is the energy that takes one form as light which gives us our sense of sight. The God and the Goddess are Spirit, ever present and integral to all things. It is both masculine and feminine. It is eternal. It is the qualities of life and death, light and dark, all is part of Spirit and Spirit permeates all.
A Spirit meditation:
Lying or sitting comfortably, close your eyes and breath deeply. Let your mind float. When you are fully relaxed, concentrate on your inmost being, that indefinable part of your which is above and beyond your physical self. Picture it as a glowing ball of white light. Expand the ball outward til it encompasses your house, your neighborhood, ever pushing the ball outward, until you reach a point where you cna't expand any more. Feel the myriad of lives now contained within your sphere, touch on the plants, the animals, the people. Feel how they are interconnected, how what was without has now become within. Retract your sphere back into your body. After a time (whatever feels comfortable) open your eyes and become fully conscious, (this is most easily accomplished by performing some physical task like getting up and getting a glass of water or clapping your hands).
Upper left point~ Air
Air is manifest as gas, the least dense state of matter. It is motion and change. Our sense of hearing would not work if the air did not transmit sound energy. Intellect and reasoning are the human manifestations of Air. It is masculine (when I say masculine I do not mean the gender male. Human beings regardless of their physical gender contain both masculine and feminine qualities in widely varying degrees and this is perfectly natural. We have all met a person who was a feminine male or a masculine female. As witches we seek to balance our masculine and feminine sides, both to keep ourselves in balance and emotionally healthy and to work effective magick which requires both masculine and feminine energies.)The symbol of Air is the Athame or the sword (dagger)of intellect. And it is represented in the Tarot by the suit of Swords (Spades). The qualities of air are: thought, healing, intelligence, curiosity, equilibrium, motion, planning, decisions, freedom, survival, truth and as all things come in compliments (light and dark, hot and cold) it is also the qualities of ignorance, destruction, restraint, stasis, error, sickness. Air is the sperm that fertilizes the egg.
An Air meditation:
Lying or sitting comfortably, close your eyes and breath deeply. Let your mind float. When you are fully relaxed, feel your breath moving in and out of your body. Picture the air molecules as dancing points of light, constantly in motion, bouncing and rebounding off each other. See the dancing lights as replacing the cells in your body, until nothing but air molecules remain. Feel the shift and flow of the wind in your being, the dance of heat and cold, up and down, constantly in motion yet ever present. After a time (whatever feels comfortable) open your eyes and become fully conscious.
Upper right point~Water
Water is manifest as liquid. It is fluid and yet stable. Able to take any shape yet always remaining level within it's container. Taste is the sense of water. Emotions are the human manifestation of Water. It is feminine. The symbol of Water is the Chalice (Cup, Grail, Cauldron), the receptacle of emotions. It is represented in the Tarot by the suit of Cups (Hearts). The qualities of water are: love, dreams, emotions, joy, satisfaction, reproduction, security, plenty and their compliments: hate, sorrrow, confinement, temptation, guilt, disappointment. Water is the womb in which the egg grows.
A Water meditation:
Lying or sitting comfortably, close your eyes and breath deeply. Let your mind float. When you are fully relaxed, feel the movement of your blood, sense the pulse and the ebb and flow as your blood cycles and recycles. Feel the tug of the moon on the salt water present in every cell of your body. Become fluid, letting your thoughts drift and flow. After a time (whatever feels comfortable) open your eyes and become fully conscious.
Lower left point~Earth
Earth is manifest as solid. It is firm and steady, energy condensed to it's ultimate stillness. Touch is the sense of this element. Flesh is the human manifestation of Earth. It is feminine. The symbol of Earth is the Paten (Pentacle, Plate), the base upon which other things are built. It is represented in the Tarot by the suit of Disks (Pentacles, coins, diamonds). The qualities of Earth are: dignity, wealth, inclusion, family, stability, solidity, investment, success, law, trade, work, permanance and the compliments: poverty, failure, stagnation, decadence, loss, theft, vulnerability, solitude. Earth is the egg which grows.
An Earth meditation:
Lying or sitting comfortably, close your eyes and breath deeply. Let your mind float. When you are fully relaxed, feel your self becoming still, heavy. Feel each part of your body sinking into the ground, melding with the Earth, slowing and becoming steady. See each cell of your body becoming transformed into living rock. Picture how the rock feels, sense the slow stately rythyms of the earth as it moves around the sun, feel the pulse of the seasons.
After a time (whatever feels comfortable) open your eyes and become fully conscious.
Lower right point~Fire
Fire is manifest in the physical world as plasma. It is the condition where matter has gained so much energy is barely recognizable as matter. Smell is the sense of Fire, most primitive of senses, it governs our animal side. Action, hunger, lust, and passion are the human manifestations of Fire. It is masculine. The symbol of Fire is the Wand and in the Tarot is represented by the suit of Wands (rods, sceptres, clubs). The qualities of Fire are: hunger, ambition, growth, leverage, innovation, advantage, effort, power, accomplishment, passion and its compliments: waste, suspicion, retreat, impotence, conservation. Fire is the phallus that delivers the sperm to the egg.
A Fire meditation:
Lying or sitting comfortably, close your eyes and breath deeply. Let your mind float. When you are fully relaxed, feel the heat that is part of your body. See each cell as glowing incandescent with life energy. Fele the energy pulsing up and down your spine, filling your body and radiating away into the space around you. After a time (whatever feels comfortable) open your eyes and become fully conscious.
The elements are all around us and as our awareness expands we should begin to start seeing natural correspondences. As an exercise to hone your ability analyze these. Look around you at the "ordinary" things just within sight. (In my case there is a pencil lying just beside the keyboard which I will use as an example). Define its elemental qualities.
Pencil: made of wood and graphite~Earth qualities yet the shape is reminiscent of a rod and the wood was at one point alive and also burns so it has Fire qualities as well. It is used to convey information so in function it has Air qualities. It is chewed...I did that when I was nervous..so emotions have been invested in it giving it Water qualities..and with this pencil I have written poems so it has also Spirit qualities. It has all five elements within it, but to my mind what is the predominant quality? In the case of a pencil I would say that the predominant quality must be derived from its function, for this is why it was designed and created, why I bought it, and why I use it and that is to write down information. So in my scheme of classifying the magickal properties, Mr. Pencil belongs to Air. Possibly Fire of Air, creative thought.
Practice on mundane things, then bring the experience you have gained from your practice to bear on more "magickal" things like an herb or a crystal or a personality. All around you will begin to see relationships, interdependencies that you were not aware of "ah that's why Miss A and Mr B don't get along Fire is predominant in her personality, whereas Water is predominant in his" or "Taurus and Capricorn should get along...they are both Earth signs" etc.
Next Lecture~
Part 2: Divination
