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The Elementals |
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The ancients believed that all life is made of the four magickal elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water; without them life could not exist. These four Elements correspond to the four directions of our physical world, the four quarters of the universe, the four winds, and most importantly, to the four quarters of the magikal circle. Water and Earth are considered female energies; Fire and Air are male.
Think of them as the four states of matter; solid, liquid, gas and plasma, and you're most of the way to a clear understanding of the elements; remember that all of them are present in everything, all the time, and you know enough to make sense of most discussions of the elements in magical lore.
Elementals are the inhabitants of these elements, but are not quite the same as the four substances that give them their names. These are nature spirits who have no definite form or appearance, forces of nature whose activity can result in violent storms, unpredictable ocean currents, earthquakes and forest fires.
The Greeks called them "daimone" and believed that they were evil, or at best, capricious and mischievous. They were thought to be somewhere between angels and men, and could materialize in animal or human form.
Some believe Elementals lack souls and seek sexual union with humans in order to acquire one. When they take on material form, they are capable of copulating and bearing children. The folklore of many countries contains tales of such unions, beginning with Lilith. Hercules, Achilles, Plato, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar were said to be the children of Elementals, as were members of the royal and ducal houses of France and England.
Some Elementals are said to be deceitful and hateful toward human beings and enjoy causing accidents and tragedies. Frequently these entities are used in psychic attacks. Practitioners of ritual magick who employ them say that, when Elementals are summoned, they attach themselves to the human aura and, unless they are dispatched when their mission is accomplished, they will continue to drain energy from the summoner.
Each element has its own class of Elementals. The terms used for them can cause a certain amount of confusion. The term for the Elementals of earth, "gnome", for example, has been borrowed in several European languages for certain kinds of small earth-dwelling faeries, and as such became the title of one of the coffee table books, and also a fantasy movie out today; the account of "gnomes" in that book, it should be pointed out, has nothing whatever to do with "gnomes" in the magical sense.
The word "salamander", the name of the fire Elementals, is also used for small lizard like animals related to frogs; they got the name centuries ago, because they live in decaying logs and have moist skins and so sometimes crawl unhurt out of a blazing fire.
The creatures of the elements, according to magical lore, are not so individualized as we are. They blend into one another both physically and at subtler levels, and form collective bodies from what most modern people call "inanimate" matter. They are present in greatest numbers and power where the forces of the elements are strongest - gnomes in mountains and caverns, undines in the oceans, sylphs in wind and storm, and salamanders in flame - but they surround us everywhere and at all times.
The following are some of the correspondences and aspects of Elementals:
Earth
Quarter and Direction: North
Elementals: Gnomes, Dwarfs, and the Wee ones of the moonbeams.
Season: Winter
Ruler: Ghom
Colour: Dark green
Time: Midnight
Symbol: Crystals
Parts of the body: Bones and sex organs
Magick: Fertility magic, tree magic, herbal lore, prosperity, rune casting and knot magic
Air
Quarter and Direction: East
Elementals: Sylphs, Zephyrs, and Nature Spirits or Fairies.
Season: Spring
Ruler: Paralda
Colour: Yellow
Time: Dawn
Symbol: Incense
Parts of the body: Chest, lungs and throat
Magick: Predicting weather, controlling winds and shape shifting.
Fire
Quarter and Direction: South
Elementals: Salamanders, Firedrakes, and the Sunbeams
Season: Summer
Ruler: Djin
Colour: Red
Time: Noon
Symbol: Candles
Parts of the body: Head
Magick: Controlling heat, healing, candle magick and Tantra
Water
Quarter and Direction: West
Elementals: Undines, Nymphs, Mer-people, and Wee ones of the lakes, rivers, springs, and ponds.
Season: Autumn
Ruler: Niksa
Colour: Blue
Time: Twilight
Symbol: Cups, cauldrons, any vessel filled with water
Parts of the body: Blood and stomach
Magick: Scrying, purification, healing, divination and dream magic
There is also a Fifth Element, Spirit, or Nyu to the Druids. It dominates the centre of the circle, thus balancing all other Elements. Through invocation of the Gods, or Spirit, we are able to blend Elements, bringing forth the desired manifestation.