The concept of elements, exist in the East as much as in the West. The East calls the elements Tattwas, according to them the whole Universe is elaborated with the ethereal matter, the Akasha.
The aether disarranges itself into seven different modalities. When these modalities condense, then they give form to all that is.
The element of fire, named Agni, in Sanskrit is quite impressive and perhaps the earliest source of clairvoyant visions. Men had these visions from the bonfire when men still lived in caves and hunted and gathered.
In the Christian Bible, Moses encountered God in the form of a burning bush. The illusory nature of the fire, after it appears from lightning or a men-made process and then disappearing when it died out, aroused men's curiosity. Where did the fire come from? Where did it go, afterwards?
Salamanders live within the fire (Tejas Tattwa), their physical bodies are the roots, plants, and vegetables influenced by the fire sign.
Since few people have open fire in the house, candles are useful substitutes to represent Agni, the fire in your day-to-day life.
Candle magic is one custom coming from the lore of fire worshipping. It should be preformed with high quality19, colored candles and it is said that you should burn a candle as the last thing you do before retiring at night.
Cleansing before is strongly advised; you do not wish to carry your day-to-day impurities into this ceremony. Add a hand full of sea salt to re-charge your energies. Light a few candles, turn off the light
19beeswax candles are more expensive but preferred for this as they are natural
and relax. Void your mind of the garbage you have picked up through out the day. Visualize the water washing away all the negativity. It is very important to have a proper mindset prior to any magical
ceremony. Also, clean the candle, remove all the negative energies that the candle has picked up along the way. Candles, as with all magical tools, needs to be as free of psychic debris as possible.
Before you start burning the candle, it is recommended that you anoint the candle with scented oil. This is to attach your thoughts to the candle and dedicate it for the magical purpose you desire. The candle should be brand new, never used before.
You should also write down your wish onto a piece of paper. You should have a dedicated candle holder for ceremonial or magical purpose only, do not use it for other mundane uses.
Anointing the candle is performed by rubbing it with the oil, starting at the middle working your way up and down while focusing on the desire you wish to achieve. To send something away from you...you would rub the oil from the middle of the candle out to the end, similarity to get something to you, you would rub the oil from the middle
towards you. Do not make a back and forth motion as it will not work. Use the remaining oil from your fingers onto your forehead (third eye) and on your heart center.
Put the piece of paper you wrote on, and after cleaning the candle, place it in the holder, and light it.
Now, while the candle is burning breathe deeply in and out, and start by concentrating your
thoughts upon your desire. Above all, make an effort to visualize your desire but forming a mental picture of the outcome. This visual image should be clear for as long as you are able to keep it that way. Doubts should be ejected from your thinking.
• White: purity, spirituality and peace. In some cultures it is the color of death and mourning.
• Red: health, energy, strength, sexual
potency, courage and the masculine principle in Nature.
• Pink: romantic love, affection and friendship.
• Yellow: intellect, the powers of the creative imagination, memory, communication and mental agility.
• Green: abundance, fertility, good luck and harmony.
• Blue: healing, truth, inspiration, higher
wisdom, occult power and psychic protection, understanding, good health and the feminine principle in Nature.
• Purple: success in financial affairs, psychic ability of a highly-developed form, idealism and spiritual power.
• Gold: attracts positive influences and it's connected with justice and work related matters.
• Silver: clairvoyance, astral energies, also the faculty of far memory and remembering past lives.
If you are just starting to experiment with candle magic, the first trial may not work. Do not get
discouraged, wait a little and try again. Remember, your thoughts and visualization coupled with the element of fire will determine the outcome. If things do not work out it is very likely caused by a karmic baggage, you or the subject of your magic might carry.
Water is the symbol of cleansing and
rejuvenation. We all have heard of places where spring water has special healing powers. Water is a passive, feminine element.
Listening to the sound of spring water gushing from the ground or the ocean waves beating against the shores can put us in a state of borderline trans. Water can also simulate
weightlessness and put us back into the primordial times.
The elemental weapon of water, as used in ceremonial magic, is the cup. The archangel of water is Gabriel, the angel is Taliahad, the ruler is Tharsis, the king is Nichsa, and the
water elementals, are called Undines, and Nereids.
The physical form of these elementals are the plants influenced by the sign of Water (Apas Tattwa).
The elemental weapon of air is the dagger. The archangel of air is Raphael, the angel is Chassan, the ruler is Aral, the king is Paralda, and
the air elementals are called sylphs, whose
physical bodies are the plants under the influence of the sign of Air (Vayu Tattwa).
Air, according to the Indian yogi philosophy, is associated with breathing, a function that carries life giving oxygen into the vital parts of our body.
It is the magician's goal to live in harmony with the elementals, ask for their help, when needed and thank them in gratitude when, help is given.
You can foster the abundant energies of Earth;
early in the morning, when you walk outside, barefoot on the grass still wet from mildew. It is a fantastic feeling, you should try.
Inquire of the earth, the air, and the water, of the secrets they hold for you. The development of your inner senses will enable you to do this.
Animal Worship
In The Golden Bough, Professor Frazer showed that the pig was worshipped because it was at one
time a sacred animal identified with Osiris.
Once a year, according to Herodotus, pigs were sacrificed in Egypt to the moon and to Osiris. The moon pig was eaten, but the pigs offered to Osiris were slain in front of house doors and given back to the swineherds from whom they were purchased.
Similarly in Egypt the frog, the crocodile, the cat and the snake was also taboo. Even a Roman soldier was once mobbed and slain because he killed a household cat.
In Ireland the cat deity was the god Cairbre cinn cait, "of the cat's head". He was a god of the Fir Bolg, the enemies of the Gaulish Danann people.
Some animals displayed uncanny sensitivity before some natural disaster struck. This was observed time after time. This extra sensory
perception gave a lore to animals and offered them protected status.
In 1922, Copiapo, Chile, hundreds of cats
deserted the town shortly before an earthquake hit the town causing extensive damage.
A similar event took place a year later in Tokyo, Japan. People observed the peculiar restlessness of dogs. They howled, barked incessantly and
suddenly they were gone. They disappeared shortly before a devastating earthquake hit the city, killing thousands of people.
More inscrutable the animals were - more magical lore they were associated with. Cats and owls were given special attention from the early days and witches were not only kept them as pets but on occasion, they were able to transform themselves into these creatures at will.
The Mystic Cat
"I have studied many philosophers and many cats.
The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." Hippolyte Taine
The start of documented cat "cultus" begun when the Egyptians started identifying the lions that roamed around their land with the Sun. They believed that at sunset, Ra, the Sun God, would die and descend through the underworld in the West, to be born again in the East, at sunrise. During the night, however Ra was always in great danger, as his enemies, headed by the great serpent Apophis would not hesitate to attack him, thus putting the whole Universe in danger.
However, the lions would look unto the setting sun, and keep its rays in their eyes, for they, like all domestic felines, have eyes that reflect in the dark.
With that fire burning in their eyes, the lions would go forth and kill the serpents of the night.
When the domestic cat was bred in the temples of the Ancient Egyptians, cat worship had reached it height; anybody who killed a cat, even
accidentally, was put to death, and when a cat died, the owners used to shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning.
And there is the legend of the Sacred Cat of Burma. The storey takes place in a temple built on the sides of Mount Lugh, in Burma. The temple housed the golden image of the Goddess Tsun Kyan-Kse.
Mun-Ha, the head monk always used to meditate in front of the Goddess with the sapphire eyes. The Goddess Tsun Kyan-Kse made sure that the
followers would be reborn as an animal for the duration of a life, after which the soul would be in the "special place", beyond illusion, shining with a golden aura.
As the full moon shone, one night, Mun-Ha
entered a transcendental state which was so deep that he felt no pain when Siamese invaders
murdered him. Sinh, the cat placed his gentle paws on the monk's robes. Facing the Goddess, the cat's fur became gold, like the golden statue before him, and his eyes became the beautiful blue shining eyes of the Goddess. His legs, his tail, his ears and his face became a velvety rich brown. His paws, which were gently laid on his master's body became a purest white, the traditional look of a siamese cat.
Cats are considered to be very clean animals.
The Prophet Mohammed is said to have kept cats himself, and popular legend tells that one time, the Prophet had to respect the call to prayer, but his cat was sleeping on the sleeve of his robe. Rather than awake the cat, the Prophet simply tore his sleeve, and went of to prayer.
Felines have been the subject of many strange lore. One of these lore is from, at the time of the great Biblical flood.
Noah took pairs of rats and mice on the Ark, however, the rodents multiplied very quickly and the Ark was, after a while, infested by rodents.
Noah had a little talk with the lion, who as king of the beasts, naturally had a solution. The lion
sneezed and from his nostrils, a pair of ready made fuzzy, domestic cats came out, who instantly set to work, having a natural instinct for being hunters of vermin.
With the advent of the dark ages and dogmatic, fear based autocratic powers bestowed upon the church, the fortune of cats had turned from high to low.
Pope Gregory IX denounced black cats as evil in his 1233 Papal Bull 'Vox in Rama' and this
unfortunately launched the extermination of many cats. Thousands of cats were burned alive in the
cause of searching out the devil. Tales of these witches' cats turning into mice, dogs, bats and all sorts of creatures flourished during the Middle Ages.
Another instance of the oppression of cats was in the downfall of the Knights Templar. Under torture, the Knights Templar were forced to confess to
heresy, questioning Christ's divinity and, in some instances, the worship of cats.
The mass destruction of the cat in Medieval Europe was not without karmic consequences, with their natural enemy on the decline, rats multiplied without any control. This eventually caused
mayhem and disease. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million by the year 1400.
I love and cherish cats. The personality of the cat, maintaining total independence from the
"owner" while being completely domesticated is a mystical and strange phenomena. A cat,
representing nature, at its most mysterious and natural setting, in your very own living space, is wonderful. Cats seldom need company and they spend lots of their time on the Astral plane, while sleeping. Cat lovers do not need the "power-trip"
from controlling their pets as sometimes dog owners do, so I also relate to other cat fanciers for this very reason.