Magic basically works with five sacred elements: earth, air, fire, water and aether (or some refer to a spirit). In order to use them properly, one has to understand them. The understanding has two levels- theoretical (getting information and knowledge from books) and practical (meditation about elements, feeling and knowing them inside as a direct personal experience).
Earth is the element of the material world and our physical needs for shelter, food and healthy body.
Air represents power of communication, memory, ideas and learning.
Water is represents powers of love, healing and dreams.
Fire is the element of courage, will power and inspiration.
Aether is the least earthly element. It is without space or time, it permeates and encompasses all of the other gross elements.
You will need four candles which you will place in four cardinal directions around you: a yellow one in the east, a red one in the south, a blue one in the west and a green one in the north.
The four colors and the four cardinal directions symbolize the four magical forces and if you already have a somewhat in-depth knowledge on the subject of white magic, voodoo and the resources you have at your disposal, then you could even place a sword (dagger, knife) in the east, a staff in the south, a chalice in the west and a pentacle or a bowl of salt in the north. You yourself are the center of these four forces.
Begin in the east and ask the forces of air, the forces of clear mind, to be a part of the circle. Light the yellow candle carefully and then turn to the south.
Ask the forces of fire, the forces of strong will to be a part of the circle. Light the red candle mindfully and then turn to the west.
Ask the forces of water, the forces of deep feelings to be a part of the circle. Focus as you light the blue candle, and then turn to the north.
Ask the forces of the earth, the forces of patient matter to be a part of the circle. Light the green candle carefully and then turn again to the east.
Face the direction of the east when you stand in the middle of the circle and devote yourself and thereby your intellectual abilities to the element air. Do you use your intellectual abilities in the right proportions or do you abandon them? Be honest with yourself. When you have answered the question seriously, turn to the south and think about your willpower. Does this power govern you or do you govern your own will and passions? Or do you not trust yourself to apply them? After you have thought over this question carefully, turn to the west and ask yourself how much access you have to our own feelings. Do you ignore them or do they block you out? Or do you feel overwhelmed by them?
After reflecting on this, turn to the north and think about your attitude to your own body and the way you treat it. How well do you know your body and its reactions, do you trust your body and do you take care of it to the right degrees?
Finally you should meditate or seriously think about how aware of these things you are and what you would be able to do when your body (earth), mind (air), will (fire) and feelings (water) work together in harmony.
When you have finished your meditation you have to close the circle, by putting out the candles from the east to the north, whilst expressing your gratitude to the forces of the four cardinal directions and the four elements.
Note: For centuries medicine was based on the teaching of the four elements. Nowadays the psychological teachings of Jung revert to four archetypes and four types of basic functions of human cognition and behaviour.
Do you want to try some other ritual for mastering of the elements? Try it here.
It is essential that a magician who wishes to achieve tangible effects of his own power, masters the elements. Here are some exercises that a magician can do:
he magician finds a comfortable position and gets into a meditative state. Then he imagines the universe and everything within it is a huge sea of fire. With the help of his willpower he breathes in the element fire into his body, via the pores of his skin, whilst counting the number of breaths he takes. At the same time he makes sure that he clearly perceives the spreading force of the fire. When his body has warmed up to a certain degree, he has reached the aim of the exercise. With the same amount of breaths he counted, he breathes out the element fire until his body regulates back to its normal temperature. When a magician has mastered the element of fire he can walk around naked in snow and can even cause snow within a radius of several meters or kilometres to melt. Furthermore, he can light candles which are some distance away.The fire mantra is RAM. Name of the fire Intelligence: Jovis.
The magician finds a comfortable position and gets into a meditative state. Then he imagines that he is in a vast, infinite space, in which there is only air. He sucks air into his body, through the pores of his skin, at the same time counting the number of breaths he takes. Like a balloon he pumps in more and more air until he feels as light as the air itself. Now he has reached the aim of the exercise. With the same number of breaths he counted, he breathes the element air out of his body until this feeling of lightness passes. When a magician has succeeded in mastering the element of air, it enables him to float and to physically move instantaneously from one place to another. The air mantra is PAM. Names of the air Intelligences: Coradiel, Sumnidiel, Coachiel.
The magician finds a comfortable position and gets into a meditative state. Then he imagines that the whole universe is an infinite ocean and that he is swimming in the middle of it. He counts the number of breathes he takes as he breathes in the water through the pores of his skin and in doing so feels the coldness and magnificent power of the water. He breathes out the element water out of his body, using the same amount of breathes he took to take it in. On completing this exercise he should no longer have any strange feelings. By perfecting this exercise a comprehensive mastery of the element water can be achieved. The magician would even be in position of creating a rainstorm in the middle of a desert for example.The water mantra is VAM. Name of the water Intelligence: Hydriel.
The magician finds a comfortable position and gets into a meditative state. Then he imagines that the whole cosmos is completely made out of earth. At the same time he must adjust to a clear feeling of density and heaviness. He counts the number of breaths he takes as he breathes in the element air into his body, through the pores of his skin. When he feels as heavy as lead, he has reached the aim of the exercise. He breathes out the element earth out of his body, using the same amount of breathes he took to take it in, until his body regulates back to its normal feeling. The element air can be applied in different ways so that for example something can take on a physical shape in the material world or can even protect you. At the speed of lightning the magician can hurl an attacker away and injure him. His mastery can lead to invulnerability.The earth mantra is LAM. Names of the earth Intelligences: Marbuel, Buriel, Urinaphton.
The ether is completely different from previous four elements. One cannot see it or feel it. It carries all energies and vibrations. The magician finds a comfortable position and gets into a meditative state. In addition he must make sure that there is complete silence. Then he imagines a vast, infinite expense of the universe and he is in the middle of it. The aim of this exercise is to feel complete rapture for the world in which all sense of time and space is lost. The element ether is abstract and cannot accumulate the body like the other elements. Once the magician has mastered the element ether he is no longer dependent on time and space.The ether mantra is HAM. Name of the ether Intelligence: Metatron.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
