Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

138 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
4. Elemental Rituals
Introduction: T he Elements of Magick
By Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Credited to the fifth-century BCE Sicilian philosopher Empedocles, the concept of four (or
five) Elements as the basis of all life and being in the universe was an essential teaching of
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) and the Pythagorean Mysteries of ancient Greece. This system has
figured prominently in the magicks of all Western systems (such as those finding their origins in
ancient Greece and Rome) as well as in Hermetics, alchemy, modern occultism, Witchcraft, and
Wizardry. Magickal traditions from the Middle East and Egypt were influenced by this teaching
as well. It is the most widely-used conceptual model in the world, and is the foundation of the
Tarot, astrology, and the Magick Circle. Simply stated, the Four Elements are Earth, Water, Fire,
and Air, and each Element is imbued (as is everything in the universe) with the non-physical
essence of the Divine, which we generally call Spirit. Just as each person is a unique manifestation
of the Divine, so is every rock, every tree, every mountain, every river. Thus Spirit is often
considered to be the Fifth Element—distinguishing living beings from inanimate objects.
Although modern chemists have adopted the word “elements” to refer to the 100-plus
different kinds of atoms, that was not the original meaning or intention of this term. Rather, the
Elements as the ancients (and magickal folk throughout history) have understood them are what
mundanes call the states of matter. Everything in the universe is composed of matter and energy,
or some combination of the two. Anything made of matter can exist in any of four states—solid,
liquid, gas, and plasma—and with the addition or subtraction of energy by various means
(such as adding or reducing heat or pressure), they can transition from one state to another. We
usually think of water, for instance, in its liquid state. But when energy (in the form of heat) is
removed from it, it can be frozen solid into ice. Alternatively, the liquid can be boiled away into
gaseous vapor if heat is added. Its component atoms of hydrogen and oxygen can also be
ionized (stripped of electrons) as fiery plasma, such as we see in the auroras.
This is why a simple burning candle is the most perfect of all magickal tools—it contains
all four Elements simultaneously: the solid waxen candle itself is Earth, the liquid melted wax
is Water, the gaseous smoke is Air, and of course the glowing flame is Fire.
The ancient Mithraic Mysteries held that a person must master all of the four Elements
before he can attain spiritual enlightenment and wisdom. He must successfully undergo initiations
of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire—each of which challenges a different aspect of one’s nature.
Here are a series of such rituals for connecting with the Elements.
Declaration of the Four Sacred T hings
By Starhawk
The Earth is a living, conscious being, so in company with
cultures of many different times and places we name these things
as sacred: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Whether we see them as
the breath, energy, blood, and body of the Mother, or as the blessed
gifts of a Creator, or as symbols of the interconnected systems that
sustain life, we know that nothing can live without them
To call these things sacred is to say that they have a value beyond their usefulness for human
ends, that they themselves become the standards by which our acts, our economics, our laws,
and our purposes must be judged. No one has the right to appropriate them or profit from them
at the expense of others, and any government that fails to protect them forfeits its legitimacy. For