Other
Element Systems
For:
Transformation, Transcendence, Astral Work, Workings That Relate to Time Itself
Some traditions count spirit,
sometimes called ether or akasha, as a fifth element.
COLOR:
Clear
INCENSE:
mastic
PLANT:
almond tree in bloom,
mistletoe
ANIMAL:
sphinx
INVOCATIONS:
Goddesses:
Isis, Shekinah
Gods:
Akasha, IAO, Jehovah, Shiva (Lord of Yoga)
Four elements unified by
spirit were the basis of Celtic magic. The Druidic universe contained four
elements unified by balance.
CHINESE
The Chinese work with five
elements, each with its own correspondences:
Water:
can give rise to wood;
conquers fire:
Direction-North
Quality-Salty
Season-Winter
Emotion-Fear
Numbers- I and 6
Rules-Ears, Bones, Bladder, Kidneys
Virtue-Good Faith
Nature-Soak and Descend
Color-Black
God: Hsyan Ming
Fire-
can give rise to
earth; vanquishes metal:
Direction-South
Quality-Bitter
Season-Summer
Emotion-joy
Numbers-2 and 7
Rules-Tongue, Blood Vessels,
Virtue-Propriety
Heart, Small Intestine
Nature-Blaze and Ascend
Color-Red
God-Chu Jung
Wood:
can give rise to fire;
conquers earth:
Direction-East
Quality-Sour
Season-Spring
Emotion-Anger
Numbers-3 and 8
Rules-Eyes, Sinews,
Virtue-Goodness
Gallbladder, Liver
Nature-Be Crooked and
Straight
Color-Green
God-Kou mang
Metal:
can give rise to water;
destroys wood:
Direction-West
Quality-Sour/Sharp
Season-Autumn
Emotion-Sadness
Numbers-4 and 9
Rules-Nose, Body Hairs, Lungs,
Virtue-justice
Large Intestine
Nature-Yield and Change
Color- White
God-ju Shou
Earth:
Can give rise to
metal; overcomes water:
Direction-Center
Quality-Sweet Season-All
Emotion-Worry
Numbers-5 and 10
Rules-Mouth, Muscles,
Stomach, Pancreas
Virtue-Wisdom
Nature-Seed growing and
Harvest
Color-Yellow
God-Hou T'u
Egyptians assigned the
following cardinal points to the elements: North-Earth South-Water East-Fire
West-Air
There are five elements in
India, each corresponding to a sense: Ether/Space-Hearing Air/Wind-Touch
Fire-Sight
Water-Taste Earth-Smell
ELEMENTALS
There is more in this world
than meets the eye, and elementals fall into that category. Have you ever been
transfixed as you watched a budding or a forest burn? Have you ever stood on a
high balcony, on the deck of a ship, or at the edge of a precipice and felt a
sudden, unaccountable urge to throw yourself from it? If so, you have
experienced something of the power of elementals.
Elementals, also called devas
or djinn, are said to live in the deva kingdom or fairy realm. Envocation is one
way to contact them. You find them wherever they may be: by fireplaces, in
fields, wells, and windy places, during storms, earthquakes, and brush- fires,
at the shore-wherever an element makes itself known.
Some people have a natural
affinity for a particular element, and a natural ability to make contacts there.
This can relate to your astrological sign. Dion Fortune speaks about contacting
elementals in Psychic Self-Defense.-
Any elemental contact is
stimulating to us, because elemental beings Pour forth in abundance the vitality
of their own particular sphere, and this vitalizes the corresponding element in
ourselves. But if a four-element creature is drawn into the sphere of a single
element be is poisoned by an overdose of the one element in which he finds
himself, and starved of the other three. It is for this reason that mortals in
the fairy kingdom are al- ways said to be enchanted or asleep.
Dion Fortune, Psychic Self
Defense (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1992), p. 82
Elementals, except these of
earth, are dangerous to work with. They are very powerful, unpredictable, and
usually destructive. Like spirits, they are easier to summon than to banish.
Fascination, mental unbalance, and obsession are all hazards of working with
them. It is a good idea to have fire insurance before working with
fire elementals, and I wouldn't fly if I had been working with air elementals.
Dion Fortune says:
Elementals have got a one-way
intelligence, and it is not well that they should be senior partners in any
alliance with human beings.
For all these reasons, I work
with deities rather than elementals. They are not as powerful, but are much
safer. Gods and goddesses get the job done. Work with elementals at your own
risk.
|
