The Elements, Part 2

(This is part two of an ongoing discussion of the elements.)

            While you will not be using it yet, it is good to know where you are working towards. So, I have included some examples of situations that you would use elemental energies for. 

Earth: Grounding and centering; finances; living arrangements; job stability.

Air: Communication; negotiations; school; studying; travel; healing.

Water: Dealing with emotions such as grief; love; relationships; making peace.

Fire: Beginnings, commitment to see something through; new ventures; guidance, especially spiritual.

This is obviously by no means a completed list. There are many, many more uses. This is just meant as an example. 

            The elements are found throughout ceremonial magic. With regard to the Kabalah and the Tree of Life, the four physical elements can be found in Malkuth, which is why the most common image of Malkuth is one with four colors in it. With the concept of the three Pillars, the active pillar is Fire, the passive is Water, the middle is Air, and Earth is in Malkuth. With the archetypal energies, Kether is Air, Chokmah is Fire, Binah is Water and Malkuth is Earth. Applied to the four worlds, Atziluth is Fire, Briah is Water, Yetzirah is Air and Assiah is Earth. In some Kabalistic theory, there is a Tree in each of the Worlds, so there would be a “Fire of Fire”, “Water of Fire”, and so on. 

            In the Tarot, Wands are Fire, Daggers (or Swords) are Air, Cups are Water and Pentacles, or disks, are Earth. The ten numbered cards of each suit correspond to the Tree of Life in each World. Kings are Fire, Queens are Water, Prince (or Knights) are Air and Princess’ (or Page) are Earth. This introduces again the concept of “Fire of Water” and the sub-elemental energies. 

            In Astrology, the signs are broken down into four Triplicies, one for each element. Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are Fire. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are Earth, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are Air and Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are Water. This order is slightly different from the order of the elements on the physical level, but that is a topic to be discussed later. In each triplicity, there is a Cardinal sign, a Kerubic sign and a Mutable sign. The Cardinal sign is the representation of Fire, since it shows the elemental force becoming active and making that motion all it can be. The Kerubic sign is Air, showing the Archetypal energy of the element. The Mutable sign is Water, showing the changeable quality for the elemental power. The Earth representation is found within each of us, made physical within man. The Cardinal Signs are also connected to the Four Holy Creatures of the Kabala, and to the letters of the Tetragrammaton, which are Fire, Water, Air and Earth respectively.

            The Elemental energies are also found in alchemy, the energy of the planets, Enochian magic, and in essence all works in the Western Mystery traditions. As you can see, it is important to become familiar with them and fully understand their workings. This explains the vast amount of time spent in organizations such as the Golden Dawn balancing the elements within the student. This process takes about three years to complete. When the process is complete, not only should the student have a strong understanding of the Elements, their energies and their influences, but should also have a strong energetic connection to each, be able to feel the subtle differences in the energetic vibrations and be able to direct the flow of the elemental energies. 

            In addition, the balancing of the Elemental energies also has a psychological effect. It helps to remove energetic blockages, emotional imbalances and negative, limiting beliefs. All of these are things that can prevent the proper flow of spiritual energy. What is more, they are often the source of severe problems for the student. When spiritual energy is run through these blockages, imbalances and beliefs, it empowers them just as it does our positive beliefs. An energized, powerful negative belief or emotional imbalance can cause severe problems for the unprepared student. Depression, hostility, phobias, narcissism, megalomania and psychotic behavior are just some of the dangers. Many an occultist has been brought low by their unresolved issues. 

            Many magical teachers recommend psychotherapy to their students prior to taking up magical studies to help eliminate these possible dangers. A good hypnotherapist or NLP practitioner can do the same work, probably in less time. It is possible to balance them out yourself if you clearly recognize where the issues are. Many times our own faults are the most difficult to see. Teachers, who have been down the path you are looking at taking, are one of the best resources for this work. A solitary student, without someone to watch out for him or to help identify and remove issues will almost certainly be in for a rough ride. In these cases, following a prescribed method of study is essential. The modern concept of “everything is ok, nothing can hurt you” is probably the most dangerous concept that has ever been introduced to occult practitioners. 

            Magical acts use many different tools to access energies. In this study we use three to learn to touch and connect to the elemental powers. These three tools are feelings, symbols and colors. When these are combined properly they send the information to the subconscious mind corresponding to the appropriate elemental vibration. This energy is then accessed and directed by the subconscious, by means of directions placed into the mind by symbolism, sounds and actions. These all combine to form the ritual work of elemental magic.

            To begin with, you must have the correct correspondences for each element. For these correspondences, we must look deeper into the elemental energies and what makes them up. First, the elements can be classified as either active or passive. We will call this the elements force. Active energies are mobile, working to accomplish something and energetic. Passive energies are at rest, nurturing rather than directing, and manifest. Another quality that elemental energies may have is raw or refined. Raw energy is energy that is carrying out its force in an uncontrolled, undirected manner. It is acting naturally rather than in a focused manner. Refined energy is directed to a specific purpose. It is the energy in the completed processes. Let’s call this the elements direction. 

            As noted earlier, each element has a combination of qualities consisting of either heat or cold, and dry or moist. Each of these is something we can relate to. We have all felt a dry day with low humidity verses a rainy day with high humidity. Also, we have felt warm in summer and cold in winter. Because we know these sensations, we can use them to focus on the proper element. Remembering these feelings sends a message to the subconscious about the energy we wish to access. 

            The symbol of the elements is the triangle. The triangle is manipulated differently for each element depending on that elements force, direction and qualities. Active force elements use a triangle pointed up. Passive force elements use a triangle pointed downward. This combination of active and passive, two triangles pointing in opposite directions and one superimposed on the other, create the symbol of the hexagram. The triangle is further manipulated by placing a horizontal line across its center. A raw direction of elemental energy uses a triangle without a line as its symbol, while a refined direction is indicated by the line superimposed on the triangle. This shows that the force of the energy has been changed, focused and made manageable.

            Color is a very important to communication to the subconscious. By using the proper color we can manipulate the energies and feelings a person has. There is a reason why few bedrooms are painted bright red. Rather, soft colors are used to create a restful state. This effect is magnified during altered states of consciousness and ritual work. Each element has a color that is traditionally assigned to it within the Western Mystery tradition. Other traditions use slightly different colorings at times. Fire is obviously red, the color of flame. Obviously flame can be different colors depending on the material being burnt. However, red is generally understood to be hot, such as the heating elements in an oven. Water is blue, the color of clear lakes and oceans. Air is yellow, as obviously you can not see air, but you can see the light of the sun shining through it, which is yellow from our point of view. Earth actually has the most freedom in its color, since most earth tones are acceptable. Olive, russet, citrine and black are the most common.

            This gives the following information on the elements: 

Element	Force	Direction	Qualities	Symbol	Color
Fire	Active	Raw	Heat and Dry		Red
Water	Passive	Raw	Cold and Moist		Blue
Air	Active	Refined	Heat and Moist		Yellow
Earth	Passive	Refined	Cold and Dry		Olive, Russet, Citrine, Black

           (The symbols did not come through on the page. The symbol for Fire is an upright triangle, Water is an inverted triangle, Air is an upright triangle with a horizontal line through it, and Earth is an inverted triangle with a horizontal line through it.)

           Finally, it is important to have some knowledge of the alternate names of the elements. These come from different cultures and languages. Within the Western Mystery traditions, Egyptian, Hebrew, Latin and Greek are the most common. Having these names of the elements will be of great value to you when establishing your connection to the elements themselves. You may not want to bring up the elemental energies each time you ask for a glass of water or say that you are going to get a breath of fresh air. These names are:

            Earth: Ta (Egyptian), Aretz (Hebrew), Terra (Latin), Ge (Greek)

            Air: Nef (Egyptian), Ruach (Hebrew), Aer (Latin), Aer (Greek)

            Water: Mu (Egyptian), Maim (Hebrew), Aqua (Latin), Hydor (Greek)

            Fire: Ash or Ish (Egyptian), Asch (Hebrew), Ignis (Latin), Pyr (Greek)

With this simple chart and these names we can begin to create the connection to the elemental energies. There are several steps to completing this process. It is not a quick process that you can do in a week, or simply by reading this work. It is something that may take months, maybe even years to complete. The results you attain will depend on the amount of work and effort you put into the process. If you half work at them, decide you have mastered them in just a few weeks, and rush the process, you can expect the same half successes, fleeting results and incomplete growth in your spiritual growth.