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Seekers and Guides: An Elemental Journey

Seekers and Guides: An Elemental Journey

Last updated on: March 3, 2014 at 2:52 pm by Sable Aradia

Seekers and Guides: An Elemental Journey 2014-03-03T14:52:00+00:00 Sable Aradia

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Earth, Air, Fire and Water: the building blocks of life. The states of matter (solid, gas, plasma and liquid). The Witch’s Pyramid and the Elemental Weapons. Most teachers of the Craft would agree that these are essential parts of a basic Craft education. Here are some suggestions of methods and exercises to teach students about each of the elements; what they’re like and what they mean.

Earth

When I’m teaching about the elements, I start in the North with Earth. I ask my students to spend a month communicating with that element and getting to know what it’s all about. The qualities of Earth, according to tradition, are cool and dry. Other qualities include stability and fertility. Some exercises I have suggested are:

Gardening or planting
Crystal gazing
Making mudpies
Sitting in the dark
Carving or sculpting
Making a crystal grid
Scrying by watching leaves rustle (the druids used to do this)
Going for a walk in the winter
Going for a walk in a cornfield (or other farmland)
Making your pentacle
Work with the suit of pentacles in the Tarot
Getting to know your body
Eating a 100 mile diet for at least a week (becoming aware of what you put in your body and what its growing season is)
Working with delta waves (brainwave entrainment) to remove pain and induce deep sleep or trance
Gathering rocks
Experiencing the sense of touch; trust exercises, sampling different sensations, etc.
Learning chants: The Earth is Our Mother, Hoof and Horn, We Approach the Sacred Grove, Horned One, Lover, Son, Earth Spirits Chant, The Lady’s Bransle.*

Air

After a month focusing on Earth, I move on to the East and Air. Western occult tradition tells us its qualities are warm and moist, and its other qualities are changeability and intellect. Some exercises include:

Flying a kite
Mountain climbing (it’s the moment at the summit that’s important)
Singing or whistling
Watching a sunrise
Making incense or perfume
Cloud watching
Going for a walk in the springtime
Going for a walk in a windstorm
Making your own athame
Work with the suit of swords in the Tarot
Writing (music, stories, articles, poetry; there are many options)
Learning and studying
Working with beta waves (brainwave entrainment) to improve concentration, focus, study and communication
Gathering feathers
Experiencing the sense of smell; perfumes, oils, incenses, smoke & smudging, etc.
Learning chants: Spirit of the Wind, Be Like a Bird, Wearing My Long Wing Feathers.

Fire

Moving on to the South and Fire, which the Western occult tradition tells us is warm and dry, as well as passionate and powerful. Some exercises might include:

Building a campfire
Practicing a martial art
Making love or dancing
Being aware of the sun at noon, preferably on a beach
Making candles
Learning & practicing candle magick
Scrying with a fire (candle, campfire, fireplace; whatever)
Going for a walk in the summertime
Going for a walk in a desert
Making your own wand
Work with the suit of wands in the Tarot
Celebrating passion (there are many options; hopefully I don’t have to spell them all out! And remember, be careful!)
Taking up a regular exercise program
Working with color and light magick
Working with alpha waves (brainwave entrainment) to increase psychic ability and induce a light magickal trance
Learning about the constellations (star watching)
Experiencing the sense of sight; light, noticing small details, color, art, etc.
Learning chants: Rise with the Fire, Fire Flow Free, Burn Fire, Fire Soul, The Fire Chant.

Water

I finish up with Water because that’s the natural flow of the circle. Traditionally it is cool and moist, emotional and cleansing. To acquaint your students with it, you can get them to do some of these exercises and practices:

Swimming
Getting a fish and caring for it
Making teas for magickal or health-related purposes and drinking them
Watching a sunset, preferably on water
Taking a ritual bath
Making a fountain or a pond
Pool-gazing or river-gazing (scrying)
Going for a walk in the autumn
Going for a walk in the rain
Going for a walk on a beach or by a river
Making a ritual chalice
Work with the suit of cups in the Tarot
Juicing all meals for a week; or undertaking a body cleanse (doctor-supervised and approved, of course)
Practicing the development of your intuition and empathy
Working with theta waves (brainwave entrainment) for trancework and journeywork
Experiencing the sense of hearing; music, nature sounds, crystal bowls, etc.
Learning chants: The Ocean is the Beginning of the Earth, Moon and Sea, Waters of Life, Born of Water, The River is Flowing.

Techniques for All Elements

There are techniques to teach the elemental qualities that work for any of the elements in general. Here are some ideas to make it all fun and interesting:

Elemental Pathworkings – I have some great elemental pathworkings created by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, which are excellent guided meditations that take you through the elements as they manifest in the seasons. You can use them or write your own guided meditations.
The Witch’s Pyramid – Working with the Pyramid, also known as the Four Powers of the Magician, can be very enlightening and helpful for this purpose.
Working with the Archangels – If your tradition does not object to working with the Archangels, they are thought to be associated with the Four Elements. Uriel – Earth, Raphael – Air, Michael – Fire, Gabriel – Water.
Spend some time getting to know about the creatures associated with that element, and watching them or handling them if you can; land mammals or crawling insects for Earth, birds or flying insects for Air, reptiles or stinging insects for Fire and fish (or cetaceans) and aquatic insects for Water.
Learn about the symbols and colors associated with each element and practice drawing them and working with them. There are lines, triangles, pentagrams, runes, sigils, astrological signs; the possibilities are great! Include working with those symbols as part of the time of acquaintance.
Chanting – There’s nothing like well-written chants to guide you through the qualities of the elements! Some chants for all four elements include:

The options really are unlimited when it comes to making the elements real and living for your students. Give them more than just a list of correspondences; give them a real experience!

Next column: The Witch’s Pyramid

* I must thank Panpipe (Ivo Dominguez Jr.) for his exceptionally valuable resource, the Pagan Chant of the Month Archive; as well as the following artists (in no particular order): Libana, Damiana, Parnassus, Reclaiming, Gwydion Pendderwyn, Lindie Lila, Trigoddess.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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