De los delitos relativos a la propiedad intelectual

Item 8. Properties and CorrespondencesItem 8. Properties and Correspondences

Item 8. Properties and CorrespondencesItem 8. Properties and Correspondences

Related to the Four Elements

Related to the Four ElementsRelated to the Four Elements

Related to the Four ElementsRelated to the Four Elements

Purpose: To relate different types of energies and forces that can be associated with the four elements. Can be used in designing ritual or magickal work.

Air Fire Water Earth Spirit Direction East South West North Center

Color yellow red blue green purple, black, clear

Tool athame wand chalice disk, pentagram,

censer pyramid

Instrument air-blown strings bells percussion silence

Human mind heart soul body essence

Energy

Human intellectual emotional spiritual physical true

Element essence

Air Fire Water Earth Spirit Basic air heat water food love

Needs

Sense smell sight taste touch sound

Temp. warm hot cool cold none

Let’s look at some of these correspondences in particular and see how they relate to each other. Many of these came from Celtic practices where the sea was mostly to the West and land and the mists stretched on to the East. This may make sense on the West Coast of the United States, but seems less logical to those on the East Coast. Be that as it may, most people still use the traditional four directions.

Air is related to the direction of East. East is where the sun first begins to rise and is the place for new beginnings. If East is where great stretches of land once were seen, then relating that direction to the element of Air would make sense because you could see across the land for great distances and could notice the oncoming winds. Yellow is associated with East to remind us of the color of the rising sun in the morning. The athame (pronounced a-tha-may), a ceremo- nial knife or sword, represents Air because of its ability to cut through space and to get at the truth. As a magickal tool, the athame can be used for the ceremonial cutting or marking of space. Some use the athame to draw a magick circle in ritual. In ritual, instruments into which air can be blown, such as woodwind or brass instruments, can be used to call this element. Air is the element of thought and mind. We seem to grasp our ideas “out of the air.” This is also the element of travel and distance.

Fire is represented in the South where the sun is at its strongest and warmest. If you live in a warm climate, you know well the strength of the fire of the sun in summer. Fire often appears to us as red, and so red is the color of this element and direction. The wand is a tool used for directing energy. Fire is one of the most active forms of energy we know, and feeling heat in the body is often a good indica- tion that energy has been raised. Therefore, the wand is a good tool for this element. Stringed instruments relate to the element of Fire especially when played hard and fast as in bluegrass music or in excit- ing classical pieces of music. The fire in our bodies is carried in our

blood through the heart and that fire is expressed outwardly through our emotions. Many traditions relate the emotional side of the human spirit to water rather than fire. To me, water is calm and is related to the inner part of the human spirit. Fire is active and constantly chang- ing, like our emotions. I relate the element of Fire to the outer emo- tions that we express to others—love, anger, distress, sorrow—these are emotions of high energy. Inner emotions, those things we feel and keep to ourselves, are the emotions I relate to the element of Water. This brings us to Water itself. People living in the British Isles or along the shores of Northern and Western Europe would have seen great expanses of water to the West, and that is its traditional direction. When I began this book, the waters of Lake Champlain (New York) were to my west, and so I could relate to this same placement. Large bodies of water appear blue to us, so this has become the traditional color for West. The tool used in this direction is the chalice or cup that can hold water or other liquids. Instruments that resemble the chalice, such as bells, are good to use for this direction. As I have already mentioned, I relate the waters of West to deep inner and personal emotions and the sense of peace and calm that we all desire within. West is the direction of meditation and inner reflection. It is the home of the soul, which is, to me, the part of us that is most closely connected to the great mysterious Spirit of all things. The soul and Spirit are not the same things, but are intimately connected. A good analogy comes from the element of Water: The individual soul is like the drop of rain that returns to the ocean from which it came. Both raindrops and ocean are water, but the raindrop ap- pears to be a separate entity. In reality, it is only a separate entity for a short time, but its essence remains that of the ocean. It is the same for the human soul that appears to be a separate entity from Spirit, but is not.

Earth is the element of the direction of North where the land spreads out in expanses of cold and snow. When I lived in Vermont, I experienced the awesome power of the earth through cold winds and powerful masses of ice and snow. The illusion that we are the domi- nators of nature is quickly swept away in the midst of a raging bliz- zard, and the strength and beauty of nature is revealed in the power of the trees that regularly withstand such beatings and flourish. For these reasons, the element of Earth can be represented in the colors of green or white, though green is the more traditional. The tool

most associated with Earth is the disk—a flat, round plate. I some- times use a disk as a holder for my incense even though some put their incense in the East. I also usually put a special stone in North to represent Earth, which I call a dipping stone used to dip into blessed water to create a sacred space. Percussion instruments were once made from elements of the earth, such as tree trunks and animal skins, and represent well that element. That part of us that best relates to the element of Earth is our body, which is made of earthly materials (as well as a lot of water).

The fifth element, Spirit, resides in the center because it is the anchor of all the other elements. Without Spirit, all the other elements have no purpose and life would be meaningless. Purple represents spirituality and mystery and can represent Spirit, although black or, sometimes, clear can work as well. Spirit’s tool varies with different traditions. Some place a pentagram in the center while others place representations of deities or other sacred objects. I use a pyramid, which, to me, is a three-dimensional representation of the five ele- ments that come together into one point. The four points of the base that rise to a single apex represent the coming together of the four elements into the unity of the fifth element—Spirit. In seeming oppo- sition to the other four elements whose instruments are all producers of great sound, the element of Spirit is represented by silence. This is not really an opposition, however, because all sound uses silence to create meaning. The part of Spirit related to the person is the true inner essence that makes us all part of the same reality.