In much of Western occultism, including Paganism and Wicca, the four elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth describe the universe and everything in it.

Everything can be understood as taking part in one or more element. Everything that is whole contains all four, and can be understood more deeply by dividing it into four, and viewing it through that lens. The elements are the building blocks of creation; they are the beginning of things. The undifferentiated void that preceded creation had no elements; or, to put it another way, all elements were One. But creation-things, reality-consists of the elements.

From a scientific point of view, the periodic table of the elements describes the building blocks of the universe, and the modern magician doesn't reject science. But from a magical point of view, both simplicity and symbolism call for only four elements.

The four elements give us a way of thinking about the world. They give us a structured approach to knowing the unknowable. They provide us with a system of interrelations; and magic is all about interrelations. Have you ever heard of "sympathetic magic"? If you've heard of a Voodoo doll or poppet, you have. Sympathetic magic means that something that is like a thing (has sympathy with a thing) is the thing. A doll is like the person it represents; therefore it is that person. That's interrelationship-sympathy. A doll is an obvious, direct representation, like drawing a picture. Other sympathetic objects are parts of the original.

The well-known stereotype of Witches using fingernail clippings in a spell is an example of sympathetic magic; the part (the clippings) has sympathy with the whole (the person). There are all manner of direct and indirect sympathies that interconnect us. Elemental things have an indirect sympathy with each other. A candle is not the same as a lion, but both represent Fire and therefore have sympathy with each other. These interrelationships add to our understanding of the universe around us.

The Qualities of the Elements

Fire

In nature, Fire is itself, first and foremost. Fire has always been set apart from the other elements, because Fire alone has no natural home on the earth; Air has the sky, Water the sea, and Earth the land, but only Fire stands apart from geography. In nature, Fire is the outsider; it is out of control, and it conforms to no known rules.

The places Fire is most connected to are the desert and volcanoes. The Fiery animals, lions and tigers, are distinguished by their fiery color and disposition.

Salamanders are also associated with Fire, both because of their bright-orange color and because of the way that licks and curls of a fire can come to resemble salamanders (which is how the magical being of Fire got its name). Other lizards, such as iguanas and Gila monsters, are also Fiery. Other natural things associated with fire either burn-like chiles and cumin, or are red or (especially) orange-colored-like fire opals. Fire is male and outward-focused.

The personal quality of Fire is will, and in the Witches' Pyramid, Fire is "To Will." Willfulness burns hot, and the will to get things done is a spark that ignites. Temper is also associated with Fire; a fiery person is a "hothead," and lust is Fiery-you burn with desire. All of these things are closely associated with the life force itself, the spark within that fills us with life. For that reason, healing is a thing of fire; a person who is losing his spark needs Fire magic to reignite him.

Fire resides in the south. It is associated with noon, the hottest and brightest time of day, and summer, the hottest and brightest time of year. In terms of endeavors, just as beginnings and ideas are Air, things that are "on fire" are Fire. As Air is the seed, Fire is the sprout, emerging. Fire takes the original seed and gets it going, gives it force. Lots of creativity gets stuck in Air; it needs an application of Fiery will to turn on the power.

Fire can be a transformative force; in fire, the old is burned away and what comes out is utterly different. Transformation by fire is sudden and total: the blacksmith transforms iron ore into steel, raw meat becomes a delicious meal, and logs become embers, all by using fire.

In occult symbolism, Fire is orange, red, and sometimes yellow. As already mentioned, its magical entity is the salamander. Fire signs of the Zodiac are Aries, Leo (another lion association), and Sagittarius. As just discussed in the section on Air, the tool and Tarot suit of Fire can be either Swords or Wands (I use Swords).

The representative of Fire on a Wiccan altar is one of those things that people like to debate. The obvious choice is a candle, or perhaps an oil lamp. A flame on the altar is a pretty intuitive way to represent Fire-can't argue with that! Others (including me) prefer to use burning incense to represent both Fire and Air.

In a typical Wiccan ritual, the female (yin) elements Earth and Water are combined, and the saltwater is used to represent them both. So I think it makes sense, and is more balanced, to represent the two male (yang) elements by combining them as well. So, the incense (Air) is put onto the censor (Fire) to make smoke (Air) rising from a burning ember (Fire)-an elegant arrangement.