Direction: East
Tarot Suit: Swords
Archangel: St. Gabriel
Time: Dawn
Season: Spring
Colors: White, Yellow, Lavender, Pale Blue and Gray
Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Tools: Censor, Incense, Athame, Sword
Oils: Frankincense, violet, lavender, rosemary, lemon
Faeries: Sylphs
Animals: All Birds
Goddesses: Aradia, Arianrhod, Nuit, Urania, Athena
Gods: Mercury, Hermes, Shu, Thoth, Kephera
Rules: The mind, all mental, intellectual and some psychic work; knowledge; abstract thought; theory; mountain tops; prairie open to the wind; wind; breath; clouds; vapor and mists; storms; purification; removal of stagnation; new beginnings; change.
Sage's Note: So, if you were doing ritual and spell work that involved any of the above, you would want the element of Air present and the representations you might use would be a) the athame or sword - which is a symbol of air used to cut through between the world of form and spirit. Also the censor and incense - the appropriate type for the occasion of course. In many traditions, incense is considered very sacred because it is believed that its' smoke carries our petitions to the gods which pleases them.
From the element of air comes the inspiration of new creation, whether in the form of a poem, a song, or a story. We call upon this element to assist us in finding new ways to practice our craft, ways that lead us to new heights and help lead us out of the drudgery or ruts that we can sometimes find ourselves in.
The Element of Fire:
Direction: South
Tarot Suit: Rods or Wands
Archangel: St. Michael
Time: Noon
Season: Summer
Colors: Red, Orange, Gold, Crimson, White, Peridot
Zodiac: Sagittarius, Aries, Leo
Tools: Wand, Candle
Oils: Lime, Orange, Neroli, Citronella
Faeries: Flame Dancers, Phoenix
Animals: Salamander, Lizard, Snake
Goddesses: Pele, Freya, Vesta, Hestia, Brid
Gods: Vulcan, Horus, Ra, Agni, Hephaestus
Rules: Creativity, passion, blood, energy, destruction, temper, faerie fire, volcanoes, flame, lava, bonfires, deserts, the sun.
Sage's Note: When celebrating the eight solar sabbats of the year, fire is always present in one form or another. Whether in the balefire of Beltane or the crackling bonfire of Samhain. In the sacred flame lit in the cauldron or the very candlestick itself when celebrating the Full Moon Esbat.
We look to the element of fire to give energy to our magick...to act as the catalyst for the manifestation of our hearts desire. It is also a purifyer which reaches down to the depths of our very being, the purger which brings us ever yet closer to the All that created all things , the divine, from which our Lord and Lady have come to us.
The Element of Water:
Direction: West
Tarot Suit: Cups
Archangel: St. Raphael
Time: Twilight
Season: Autumn
Colors: Blue, Blue-Green, Gray, Aquamarine, Indigo, White
Zodiac: Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio
Tools: Chalice
Oils: Lemon, Lily of the Valley, Camphor
Faeries: Undines, Sirens, Naiads
Animals: All Fish and Marine Life
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Isis, Mari, Tiamat, Vellamo, Ran, Kupala
Gods: Ahto, Osiris, Manannan, Neptune, Poseidon, Varuna
Rules: Emotions, feelings, intuition, sorrow, love, intuition, the subconcious and unconcious minds, the womb, fertility, menstruation, cleansing, purification (also fire element), oceans, lakes, tides, pools, rain, springs and wells. Also healing, death, dying and the dead.
Sage's Note: This is the element of many attributes. The Archangel Raphael (meaning: God has healed) stands waiting to touch us in body, mind and spirit. We also use this element when practicing the art of divination as we travel to our unconcious self to search for answer to our many questions. We also mix the element of earth (salt) into the element water to cleanse and consecrate our circle for the practice of our magick and celebration of our holy rites.
The one thing that I find fascinating is that the very element which can be called on for healing is also the place/direction of death. On Samhain (Halloween) we face the west, the element of water and we call out to those who have passed on to join us in our circle and upon completion of our holy and sacred rite, it is to the west, the direction of the Sumerland that we bid them farewell, peace and rest until once again they are reborn into a life that will take them on their next journey in the land of the living.
The Element of Earth:
Direction: North
Tarot Suit: Pentacles
Archangel: St. Uriel
Time: Midnight
Season: Winter
Colors: Black, Brown, Gold, Green and Mustard
Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Tools: Pentacle, Salt
Oils: Pine, Cypress, Cedar, Sage, Vetiver
Faeries: Gnomes, Dwarfs
Animals: All four-footed animals
Goddesses: Ceres, Demeter, Gaia, Persephone, Kore, Rhea, Epona, Cerridwen, Mielikki
Gods: Cernunnos, Dionysus, Marduk, Pan, Tammuz, Attis, Thor, Tapio
Rules: The body, growth, nature, sustenance, material gain, prosperity, caverns, fields, meadows, plants, trees, animals, rocks, crystals, manifestation, materialization.
Sage's Note: This is the element from where our stability and livelihood come from. It is what keeps us grounded when working our magick. It is the element in which we live and which a whole tradition of magick practice stems from...earth magick or natural magick.
In the 8 solar sabbats we celebrate the mysteries of earth as we travel through each one. We develop an appreciation and understanding of the process of the birth of new life, the growth of the bountiful harvests that sustain us, and the dark seasons of the year which brings the death of nature, but not completely for as the earth seems gray and barron, beneath its very surface a never ending synphony is being orchestrated that makes the earth ready to spring forth with life yet once again. And, it is the earth that we cradle, whether through hugging a tree or lying down to ground ourselves in her lush green grasses when we have completed a magickal work. This is our earth, our life, our strength and our home.