So, you saw the movies. You've watched the TV show. Now, the burning question is--what are the elements?
The elements are the five components of life: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. The first four have compass point values. The last, Spirit, is--well, complicated, for one thing. Read on.
The pentacle above shows only one way that points are valued; I, personally, tend to start at the top at Spirit (this way, it represents spirit over matter, and is the one point whose value is fixed. Satanists wear it upside-down, to show matter over spirit) and then, moving clockwise, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Elementals are the magical beings associated with each element. Personally, I don't use them, so I don't know much about them, but they're not hard to find info on.
Here is a listing of the elements, their powers, and their elementals:
Earth
Earth represents stability, dependency, strength, and safety. It is often associated with the North, though there is no "set direction". The Earth elementals are dwarves and gnomes.
Air
Air represents the intellect, the mind, inspiration, and clarity. It is often associated with the East, the direction of the rising sun and new beginnings, but again, there is no standard direction that it must be. Air elementals are sylphs and sprites.
Fire
Fire represents passion and heat, sex, and creativity. It is often associated with the South, though Wiccans living in the Southern Hemisphere will probably want to adapt it. Fire elementals are salamanders and firedrakes (or just drakes).
Water
Water represents healing, soothing, and emotions. It is respresentative of the purifying, primal Sea. It is often associated with West, but there is no hard-and-fast rule. Water elementals are undines (merfolk and the like).
Spirit is the center of the cross, the Goddess' womb. It is the cauldron of rebirth and the unknowable. It is the symbol of nothing and everything; it is the Beginning and the Ending. It has no elementals, nor direction. It is the spirit.
