Welcome  to  WitchyWisdom         

 Some people like to include Spirit here too. But right now, because I have
 a deep and mystical understanding that Spirit – or Energy - is what we
are ‘made’ of, and nothing can be separated from it,
I’ll include Spirit within all the elements.

 If you have a deck of Tarot cards, it will be interesting and fun to get them out
and have another look at the suits of the lower Arcarna.

You might get a whole new aspect to your understanding of the essence
of the elements represented by Swords, Wands, Cups, and Pentacles.

 Alternatively, you can use your understanding of Tarot to help
with calling on the energies of the elements.

 Today I want to talk about these elements in the order most people use
them in the Tarot deck. So we will start with Air,
then Fire, then Water, then Earth.

 Thinks - Thought and Imagination, Ideas, Communication

 The psychic actions of Thought and Imagination (what else could they be but
psychic?), psychic ‘flashes’ themselves, communication, visualisations,
dreams, transmission of information, all these things are included
in the essence of the element of Air.

 Air is what we breathe to keep us alive too.

So when we call on the element of Air we are immersing ourselves
in the idea of life, movement of information, psychic
awareness, and thought in action!

 Even though Air is hard to ‘catch’ it’s a powerful element.

 Air is a life giving element.

We love to breathe.

Each time we breathe we take in a beautiful lungful of air.

Air.

 There in one simple thought lies the wonder of the essence of air.

It brings life, and carries with it all manner of inspirational ideas
and concepts for the mind to consider.  

There’s a saying: “Like a breath of fresh air”.

We use this to describe all sorts of things, including new ideas.

 Air in its magical aspect is used to indicate the Psychic abilities of the mind:

Thought and Imagination.

Communication of these events is also included in this element.

 Dreams, telepathy, thoughts, imagination, all things to do with
using the mind are part of the essence of air.

 Why do I call the Air aspects of Thought and Imagination psychic events?

 Because that's what they are.

 They occur in the mind.

The acts of Thought and Imagination became available to us
as we learned to speak.

 Before that all our communications were psychic!

 We often yelled to gain attention, while at the same time we "reached
out" to our mother or father or carer with our mind.

And most of them could ‘feel’ it, or ‘sense’ our need, even if they
couldn’t understand our non-verbal noises.

 The only thing different in our communications once we have
words is the form our communications take.

The first action is still occurring within the mind in the same way it did when we
were pre-verbal. That is as an imaginative Thought - a major aspect of
our psychic ability and of the Element of Air.

 Carrying our ideas outward into the community is also
an act of the essence of air.

 Air!

Birds fly in it. Ideas fly in it. We breathe it. We can’t live without it. The
earth is surrounded by it. It’s a carrier of clouds, rain.

Wind is made from turbulent air!

 Exciting, turbulent, gentle, passive, warming, freezing! Air!

 All this, and as breath, air becomes part of us! We inhale it, and then exhale.

Like water, Air is a life giver.

 It can strengthen our dreams and visions.

 When we call on the element of air we are not only asking for the energy of
the wind to listen to us, we are asking for support, healing or
strengthening for our mind and our thoughts.

We are focusing on the process of transmitting and receiving information
in both ‘realms’ – the temporal, and the psychic.

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 Senses – Energy, Creativity, Intuition

 Oooh – I just KNOW what’s going to happen. I can feel it in my bones!

 That’s one aspect of intuition at work.

 Another aspect of it is when you get a ‘gut reaction’ and don’t know
where it came from, or even what it means!

 If you’ve ever had the sense to ‘stop’ or suddenly turn in a different direction than
the one you were travelling in for no apparent reason, that’s
the element of Fire (coupled with psychic Air) at work!

 For instance:

I walk down the street. As I cross the road I get the sudden urge to STOP
in my tracks! I’m halfway across the road and I must stop – and I don’t
know why! But, stop I do! At the very same moment a boy on a bike
comes racing around the corner and misses me by millimetres!

If I’d taken another step he would have hit me!!

 I’d had an intuitive ‘warning’ which I couldn’t help but act upon.

 Have you ever had one of those moments?

If you have, you’ve experienced the essence of fire.

 Was it imagination at work, or a sudden flash of Intuition?

Basically, it was both.

 But, whatever you want to call it, that instance is an example of another
aspect of the essence of Fire. Impressions of that nature are ‘carried’ on
the waft of a sensation, so, coupled with the psychic energy
of air, the "gut reaction" is the essence of fire in action.

 In the "temporal" the element of fire can be anything from glowing warmth to a
raging inferno. In the area of the senses it represents intuition and all things sensory.

Those ‘gut feelings’ are examples of the essence of the element of fire at work!

 This element is exciting, so we need to be completely aware when we call on it.

 It is almost as precocious as the element of Air and equally
as hard to grab hold of for our work.

 I would recommend you use this element only after you’ve been working with
the other elements for a while. And by ‘a while’ I mean at least a year! You’ll
need to practice with the elements of earth and water first to make sure
you’re nicely grounded and emotionally confident in your ability to
call them in, use them, and then return them to the source.

 Once you have done some work with the more grounding and balancing
elements of earth and water, you can start to enjoy the more
‘occult’ flavour of the Element of Fire.

 In the sense of helping us create, fire is the element to call on when we want
to put our ideas (coming in from the Element of Air) into action.

Fire is the driving force behind our desire to create – in every
sense - but most of all in the area of ‘desire to achieve’.  

The old saying “To have a fire in your belly”, meaning to be highly
energised, is a direct reflection of how we feel when we
are in contact with the element of fire.

 The sharing of erotic pleasure is another aspect of the essence of fire,
because erotic pleasure is the pre-cursor to the creation of life itself!

It’s the spark which fans the flame and prepares us to conceive
a new life – if that’s what we aim to do.

 I’m not saying the Element of Fire will cause infertile couples to
suddenly be able to have children! However, calling on the
Element of Fire if conception is wanted, and possible, can
help to focus energy in that direction. 

 Even if conception isn’t needed, if you’re feeling jaded or tired, calling on the
element of fire can certainly help to brighten up those faded sensual appetites.

 The Occult part of this element is to do with those intuitive flashes.

In the same way Air is connected to the mind and the psychic actions
of Thought and Imagination, so Fire is connected to Intuition in the physical.

 Coupled with the element of Earth, Fire’s essence is the element those old
‘medicine’ men and women call upon to help with energy restoration
in healing techniques and other magical practices.

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Feels – Emotions, Interaction, Blending

 Caring, Feeling, Compassion, Sadness, Happiness, Anger, Joy.

 These are all aspects of the Element of Water.

 Water, like the emotions, flows.

 Mood swings? Maybe you need to call on the element of Water
to help you ‘go with the flow’ more easily.

The element of Water is very much an aspect of Change.

 Love is also part of the element of Water.

All those highs and lows we feel during life’s path are
representative of the essence of Water.  

An ocean of creativity!

Here is where we find the inspiration for the arts.

Music and dance. Painting and sculpture. Writing and acting.

Empathy and (coupled with the aspect of Air) emotional communication.

All are aspects of the expression of human emotions. Direct
reflections of the essence of the element of water!

 When we call on the element of water we are connecting with our hopes
and fears, and asking for the strength of the element to wash away
our concerns, or to have our desires draw nearer.

 Because of the flowing factor in this element, water is to do with change.

We can use our focus on the element of water to assist with creating
change in our lives, or to help us cope with changes in all areas
of our lives, but particularly in the emotional area.  

Water is a life giver too.

We can’t live with out it. Not many things on this planet can live
without it. Our very bodies are almost all water!

 In this way, water is connected to the Element of Earth because water carries
nutrients to the earth in the same way blood carries nutrients to our bodies.

 In my understanding of this function, I created a new name for
the element of Water in my rituals.

 Because water flows all over this planet, I call the element of water
“Blood of the Mother”

I like to use this title when I call upon water. Maybe you will too.

 Looking at it from this point of view we can see how the element of water might
even help steady the energies menstruation and even of childbirth. If fluid
retention is a problem, it can help to call on this element by drawing
the mind’s attention to ‘flowing’ and ‘letting go’.

 The ‘letting go’ aspect of water is a powerful and magical cleansing process.

It’s this aspect of the element of water which can help us prepare our
hearts for movement towards or away from emotional connections.

 Water is strongly connected with the cycles of the Moon.

The gravitational force of the moon causes tides in our oceans, and has an equal
influence on the water content in our bodies. So, if you’re feeling a little
over-emotional at those full moon times, calling on the element of
water to ‘flow them away’ can help soothe those jangled nerves.

 In its aspect of Change, the element of water carries with it the
idea of Go with the Flow. So calling on it can help us
move forward – emotionally - from the past
to the present and into the future.

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 Nurtures – Safety, Healing, Growth

 The building block.

 The inner heart and healing.

 The desire to live and grow.

 The desire to nurture.

 The essence of growth.

 We plant seeds in earth and earth, along
with water, brings nourishment to that seed.

 So it is with the element of earth.

 We plant our ideas, hopes, dreams with it and its energy draws those
hopes and dreams closer. Earth helps to nurture those
aspirations, and then to ground them in our Reality.

 Earth is the ‘Temporal’ element.

 Energy ‘solidified’ and made physical

 When we invoke the element of Earth we are calling on our hearts and
minds to enter the condition of being grounded.

 This is part of both the nurturing and the healing process.

 Calling on the element of Earth can help with keeping our body fit and strong.

If we focus on physical balance while getting in touch with the element of Earth in
our rituals, it might even help us choose the right diet for our body type.

 If you or a loved one is ill, focusing on the element of Earth can
assist in rebalancing, and especially grounding!

 The element of Earth is also to do with prosperity - on all levels.

Calling on earth can help us focus on our wealth issues, and can help us
to improve them.  It can also help us restore and or improve our
abundance issues, whether financially related or not.

 So if you feel a need for grounding, or you would like to bolster up one of
your wonderful (Air) ideas, or the drive to put your idea into action (Fire)
needs to be strengthened, then surround them in the element Earth.

Nurture them and watch them grow.

With Love from

Leonora