Working Magic with the Elements What are the Elements? 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 Water
There are myriad natural forms of water, including not just the sea but every body of water from a little creek to the Great Lakes. Water is also found in our bodies: in the clichéd "blood, sweat, and tears," in mother's milk, and, perhaps most importantly, in amniotic fluid. Just as life first evolved in the sea, the fetus swims in saltwater as it "evolves" and develops. Since all bodies of water have tides, the moon is also associated with water, and many lunar qualities are also Water qualities.
Sea creatures, both plant and animal, are connected to Water. Fish, eels, shells, coral, seaweed, sponges, and driftwood all partake of this element. Dolphins and whales are the creatures most commonly associated with Water, although I suspect this has more to do with our affection for them than with any natural or symbolic imperative.
The personal quality of Water is feeling. Emotion flows, following its own path, which may meander. Emotion runs deep, with mysteries not visible on the surface. Emotions can be like sunken treasure, hiding secrets at the bottom of the waters of memory or the subconscious. Emotionality and mood swings are, of course, associated with the moon, as are secrets-those things that are just barely visible, lit by moonlight and not exposed to the sun. In the Tarot, the Moon card is full of watery images, such as crustaceans crawling out of the water, and the card's meaning is rooted in secrets, mysteries, and hidden knowledge. Water is female, and looks within.
The moon and Water are the menstrual cycle, and Water is childbirth as well, making Water perhaps the most feminine of elements. Since moon phases are cyclic, ending where they begin and beginning where they end, it makes sense that Water is also associated with death, and it's not surprising that many people's folklore depicts death as a passage over water (for example, crossing the River Styx). To make the cycle complete, Hindus refer to rebirth as an ocean.
All of these things-the moon, feeling, depth, birth-death-rebirth, and mystery-combine to associate Water with dreams and the subconscious, and from there to altered states in general-trance, vision, and transformation coming from these things. (Note that the slow, dreamy transformation of Water is different from the sudden, shapeshifting Fire transformation.) Transformation by Water is visionary and may take the quality of a journey, which is probably why the Hero's Journey in the Tarot generally begins with a passage over water.
Watery people are weepy and overflowing with feeling. They are dramatic, sensual, and otherworldly. They can be draining to be around-wet rags. They can also be the opposite-joyful and full of love; their cup runneth over. The generosity of Water flows forth abundantly; people in love feel love toward everyone, and Water is love.
Water's direction is west. Sunset in the west is associated also with death, with the end of things, and with transition. Twilight is an in-between and mysterious time, as is autumn. Neither seed nor sprout, Water is the sap flowing through flora, just as blood flows through fauna.
In our creative/becoming process, we used Air to gain inspiration and Fire to provide the get-up-and-go. Now we need to let creativity flow through us. If you've ever written or played music or painted, you know there's a time to let go and let it happen. That's the Water time. Intuition has to play a part in any endeavor, and a "go with the flow" attitude has to allow us to take advantage of opportunities we never could have predicted in advance. Because this is daring, in the way that closing your eyes and letting yourself fall is daring, Water corresponds in the Witches' Pyramid to "To Dare."
For magical symbolism, Water has ocean and lunar colors-deep blue, sea green, and silver. In Western occultism, green is the color most typically used. The magical undine is Water's entity. Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces (Cancer's crab and Scorpio's scorpion both appear on the Moon card in the Tarot). The magical tool of Water is the cup, which is the Holy Grail. On a Wiccan altar, Water is always represented by a simple dish of water-some people add a seashell, generally a conch. A conch can even double as a water dish |
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