Witch Element?

As witches we often find ourselves at one with nature and all of its natural elements. It is what holds us to this earth and guides us through this life. The natural elements are Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. Each element has correspondences throughout the metaphysical that give them specific powers in our spell work and our lives. Have you ever noticed the sense of stability you have after a walk through the forest? Or perhaps you’ve noticed after a nice swim that your problems have flowed away? These are the elements at work. It is from these experiences, that we learn more about how to harness the powers of nature bestowed to us as human beings.

Earth

The earth is literally set in stone. It is immovable, unshakable, stable, and resilient. So, when you call this element to aid you in your spell work you will find these properties to be present.

Ways to Commune with Earth

Perhaps the most common way to channel the energy of the earth is through a practice known as grounding. It is where a witch pulls on energy from the earth to stabilize his or her personal energies through his or her chakras. By balancing these energy centers, you focus your spirit on channeling a specific manifestation for your spell.

Another way to become familiar with the Earth’s energy is to simply enjoy your time in it. Take a walk, a hike, a run, a bicycle ride and really take in all the energy the earth has to offer. Sit in the grass and feel the blades growing around you. This is the only element with the power to create, but it must work with the other elementals to create life. There is a reason Gaia is portrayed as a female. Her spirit encompasses that of the Earth. She is a mother and a wise woman. She is the longest living entity and has seen all of the Earth’s history. It’s troubles and tribulations. It’s successes and its beauty.

Gnomes are hard at work making the Earth function properly whether you see them or not, you can definitely feel their presence in any Earth practice you do. When you call the element of Earth it is the gnomes who respond to your request. They lend Gaia’s energy to you to stabilize and comfort your being.

To work with gnomes in a spell is similar to casting a circle, but you need not always cast a circle to work with the gnomes. Simply offering a gnome a treasure of yours is sufficient payment for them to lend a hand in your magickal workings. Gnomes are earth signs so they value material things. Gnomes are particularly helpful in guarding your assets. So, if you tend to have trouble with money, you’ll find that working with these tiny earth elementals will bring prosperity to your life and spell work. We highly recommend calling upon a gnome when your finances need protecting or are in need of growth. The gnome’s energy will remind you that the Earth is a limited resource and so are things of material value like your money.

There are several ways to work with gnomes. The first way, is by simply finding a place to bury a treasure and lighting a green candle to attract the attention of the gnome. Likewise, you can trade your energy for theirs, but this typically doesn’t work unless you have significant Earth placements in your astrological chart.

Correspondences

Direction: Depends upon your practice (the elementals will hear your call no matter what direction you face), but typically the Earth is associated with the East, but can also be associated with the North

Zodiac Signs: Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo

Animals: Moles, Worms, Dogs, Horses, Gophers, Ants, Cows, and other burrowing animals

Archangel: Uriel

Colors: Green and Brown

Opposite Element: Air

Other Minor Elementals: Dwarves, Elves, Brownies, Hobgoblins, and Leprechauns

Energy: Receptive

Astrology Correspondences: Our Earth and the Moon

Herbs and Plants: Earthy smells like Patchoulie, Vetiver, Moss, Lichen, Nuts, Succulents, low growing plants (Ivy, Creeping Thyme, etc), Roots

Magical Tool: Pentacle

Metals: Lead and Silver

Symbols: Salt, Clay, Soil, Rocks, Wheat, and Acorns

Places: Caves, Canyons, Forests, Groves, Valleys, Farms, Gardens, Kitchens, Basements, Mines, and Holes

Ritual Forms: Burying, Planting, Making images in soil or sand, Gardening, Magnets, Images, Stones, Trees, Knots, Binding

Common Rituals: Money, Prosperity, Fertility, Stability, Grounding, and Employment

Season: Winter

Senses: Feeling and Touch

The Soul: Imagination

Crystals: Obsidian, Black Tourmaline, Pyrite, Emerald, Coal, Peridot, etc

Tarot: Pentacles

Time: Night

Fire

Amongst witches, fire is the most widely used element by witches thanks to candles, incense, and kitchen witchery. Fire represents passion, anger, initiative, and many other fiery things! It is what destroys, but also creates.

Ways to Commune with Fire

Fire energy is energizing, so it isn’t a wonder why so many witches covet its untamed energy. Witches can use candles, the sun, incense etc to pull the metaphysical energy of fire into themselves or their spells. Some drink sun made tea to ingest the sun’s powerful energy. There are many ways to absorb fire’s energy. When you call upon the element of fire your call is answered by the salamanders. Fire is particularly useful for unblocking your chakras, because it causes a significant burst of energy through your spiritual self that essentially gets the ball (of energy) rolling.

Salamanders dance in the flames and are mighty beings associated with power and passion. Working with salamanders is no easy task. The mightiest of the salamanders are called Djinn. They focus their energies on clearing psychic debris and cleansing our bodies of impurities. To call upon salamanders, we entice them by shrouding our spirit with fiery (spicy) essential oils. This attracts them to our neck of the woods in the spiritual plane. Good Salamander energy means vitality, a positive and assertive will, a sense of upliftment and an affirming belief in self. Too much Fire energy, though, can lead to pompousness, vanity and overzealousness.

Correspondences

Direction: South

Zodiac Signs: Aries, Leo, Saggittarius

Animals: snake, lizard, praying mantis, ladybug, bee, scorpion, shark

Archangel: Michael

Colors: Red

Opposite Element: Water

Other Minor Elementals: Jin, Genies

Energy: Projective

Astrology Correspondences: Mars and the Sun

Herbs and Plants: Stinging, thorny or hot, as thistles, chile peppers and bouganvillia; desert-dwelling, as cacti; stimulating, as coffee beans; generally seeds.

Magical Tool: Athame or Sword

Metals: Gold, Iron

Symbols: Flame, lava, a heated object

Places: Deserts, hot springs, volcanoes, ovens, fireplaces, bedrooms (for sex), weight rooms, locker rooms, saunas, athletic fields

Ritual Forms: Burning or smouldering; heating

Common Rituals: Protection, courage, sex, energy, strength, authority, banishing negativity

Season: Summer

Senses: Sight

The Soul: Understanding

Crystals: thunder-stones, fire-stones, Red or fiery, as in jasper; volcanic, as in lava; clear, as in quartz crystal

Tarot: Swords

Time: Noon

Water

The element of our emotions. Water is reactionary energy. It flows only where there is space for it. It is also the element we use to channel our intuition. Like fire, water has healing properties. Undines, the water elementals, are found anywhere there is water. Our bodies are 60% water, and undines help us maintain that water and feel our emotions.

Ways to Commune with Water

Because water flows throughout our bodies and the earth, Undines are particularly helpful in not only managing our physical water flows, but also our emotional, energetic, and astral bodies as well. When we have too little connection to our Undines, we can experience psychological and emotional problems, including lack of compassion, inability to love and indifference towards mankind. A deeper intuitive bonding to our personal Undine will facilitate in balancing emotions. Likewise, if we are overly connected to the Undine we may feel self absorbed, fearful, distrustful, desperate to be liked, and feel we are unable to be loved. Like the other elements, too much or too little can lead us down dangerous paths, but particularly with water we find ourselves drowning or quenched. To work with Undine energy, it is important for a witch to have emotional balance and stability. To summon the Undine, a witch can ask them to appear in his or her dreams where they relay messages from our subconscious minds.

Correspondences

Direction: West

Zodiac Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Animals: Fish, sometimes the scorpion

Archangel: Gabriel

Colors: Blue

Opposite Element: Fire

Other Minor Elementals: Undine, Nymphs, Tritons, Mermaids, Mermen, Sirens, Harpies, Salamander (water)

Energy: Receptive

Astrology Correspondences: Saturn, Mercury

Herbs and Plants: Aquatic, such as water lilies and seaweed; fleshy, as in succulents and lettuce; loving, as in rose and gardenia; generally flowers

Magical Tool: Chalice or cauldron

Metals: Quicksilver (Mercury)

Symbols: Shells, a cup of water, Leaves

Places: Lakes, springs, streams, rivers, beaches, oceans, wells, swimming pools, bathtubs, showers, bedrooms (for sleep), health spas, steam rooms, fountains

Ritual Forms: Dilution, placing into water, washing away, bathing

Common Rituals: Purification, love, psychic awareness, dreams, sleep, peace, marriage, friendships

Season: Autumn

Senses: Smell, Taste

The Soul: The Senses

Crystals: pumice stone, sponge, Transparent or translucent, as in amethyst and aquamarine; blue, as in blue tourmaline

Tarot: Cups

Time: Dusk

Air

The most commonly used element in the world. We breathe it and feel it around us. It encases us, pushes us, encourages us, and dances for joy around us. Sylphs are the spiritual embodiment of our life forces and are also the bridge between our physical and spiritual bodies.

Ways to Commune with Air

Sylphs, unlike other elementals, enjoy the small pleasures in life, so just radiating positivity attracts them to you. Too much connection with the Air Element can lead to an over-active and scattered mind. It can create mental instability and flightiness. Nervousness, paranoia, fanaticism, hyper-sensitivity can all be symptoms with an over-identification to the Air Element. Too little connection with a Sylph can lead to a lack of common sense, a poor perception of life or a feeble imagination. There may be no curiosity and no interest in man and humanity, nor will there be that spark of creativity that leads to happiness and ultimately a healthy body-mind connection. Being consistent in life and establishing good boundaries from a sensible and intuitive level will attract your sylph closer to you.

Correspondences

Direction: North (sometimes East)

Zodiac Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

Animals: Eagles, flying creatures

Archangel: Raphael

Colors: Yellow or Purple

Opposite Element: Fire

Other Minor Elementals: Fairies, Angels

Energy: Projective

Astrology Correspondences: Jupiter, Venus

Herbs and Plants: Fragrant, as many flowers; pungent, as in culinary herbs such as dill; airy, finely-veined, or wind-swept; generally leaves

Magical Tool: Wand

Metals: Copper, Tin

Symbols: A feather, incense smoke, fragrant flowers.

Places: Mountaintops, wind-swept plains, cloudy skies, high towers, airports, schools, libraries, offices, travel agencies, psychiatrist's offices.

Ritual Forms: Tossing objects into the air, suspending tools in high places, fanning light objects, visualization, positive thinking

Common Rituals: Travel, instruction, study, freedom, knowledge, recovering lost items

Season: Spring

Senses: Hearing

The Soul: Reason

Crystals: transparent - crystal beryl and pearls, amethyst

Tarot: Wands

Time: Dawn

Wrapping Up Elemental Work

A witch can use the correspondences of the elements in her magick to perpetuate her intention through the energy of the elements. When a witch calls an element to her, she is inviting the elementals to her aid. Being able to sense the energy of the elementals around you is paramount to working with them. A witch can choose to work with one or more elementals during a spell, but should be careful to not confuse her intention. Each element has different metaphysical properties that will either help or hurt a particular spell working. Research is key.