When we take the time to work out these associations in our own practice,

we begin to

develop a vast array of magickal tools that we can call upon as needed.

Think of each

type of energy as a certain color of thread, of yourself as the weaver,

and the ritual

before you as a tapestry you seek to create. As you call upon different

types of energy,

embracing them in your mind and placing them into the rite, you can begin

Each direction is thought to have a specific form of elemental energy

associated with it.

Air is traditionally called from the East; Fire from the South; Water

from the West; Earth

from the North; Spirit from Within and Without. I was taught that the

directional

correspondences for each element were developed in the United Kingdom.

Winds blew

off the European continent to the east, connecting the practitioners'

thoughts to Air.

The equator and warmer climates were to the south, instantly associating

that direction

with warmth and Fire. The Atlantic Ocean lay to the west, establishing

Water in that

direction. And the endless ice appearing to the eye as Earth, lay to the

north.

Those are extremely useful correspondences - if you're a Witch practicing

in the United

Kingdom. But what about the rest of us? What about my Pagan friends in

Australia where

even the seasons are reversed to a Witch used to practicing in the

Northern Hemisphere?

How do we find something that works for us in the place where we live?

What I did, and I encourage you to do the same, is to begin thinking

about the

environment you live in and the manner in which you subconsciously think

of each

direction. Perhaps you live in Kansas and there isn't a large body of

water to connect with.

Which Ocean do you think of when you think of Water? Perhaps you live

elsewhere near

the shores of a majestic lake. Does it make sense to associate Water with

the direction in

which the lake is found, rather than simply associating the element with

a direction?

My own Tradition coincidentally mirrors the correspondences from the

United Kingdom

that I learned of in my own studies. I say coincidentally, because I had

discovered my

own home for the elements long before I learned of the associations that

many modern

Witches draw upon.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, Water was the easiest element for me to

establish a home

for. The mighty Pacific Ocean, with all her moods, lay immediately to the

West of me. I

spent a great deal of my childhood living on her coasts, and in my

adulthood I return to

her again and again. Our natural cycle of precipitation begins in her

womb, the rains rising

from the sea and moving inland. Each river, each stream in the land I

know as home races

back to her embrace. All of these added to my placing Water in the West

in my own

Tradition.

South has always been connected with warmth and heat to me. The farther

south you

drive from my home, the closer to the equator you draw and the warmer it

gets. Southern

California and the tropics both lay to the south of me, as is the

incredible heat of

California's Death Valley and the deserts of the American Southwest. When

I think of

anything to the south of me, it's always warmer. So South became the home

of Fire.

Massive mountains and countless miles of untamed wilderness lay north of

me.

Washington's Olympic Peninsula; Alaska's Mt. McKinley; the Canadian

wilderness; all of

these are found to the north. Mountains and thousands of miles of

forests, drawing up

the energy of the earth. North has always symbolized Earth to me.

Which left Air in the East. Eastern Oregon and Washington are filled with

wide open

spaces where the winds race unhampered by tree or mountain. There are

vast open

spaces, rolling plateaus where the wind dances through the grasses, where

antelope

graze, where your eyes can stretch to the horizon unhindered. There is a

certain majesty to

the openness, to the wind that blows through your hair, to the endless

sky above. Each of

these are things I associate with the element of Air, and this element

naturally found its

home for me in the East.

I was taught by a Native American woman that I studied under for some

time, that Spirit is

everywhere, that it connects all things. I came to believe, both through

her teachings and

my own discoveries, that the energy that connects all of us, that gives

every living thing

substance and life, is one energy, that we all are expressions from the

same Source. So

when I call upon Spirit, I call it from everywhere, both from within and

from without.

All of this is very interesting, but it raised the question, "Why five

elements? Why not

seven? Or three? And why this combination?" Simply put, everything that I

can

personally picture in the natural world can be associated with these five

elements. Air is

the wind, the oxygen we breath, the sound waves that reach my ears, the

electrical

impulses that allow me to think and move. It's the breath of life. Fire

is a candle flame, the

sun, the warmth of a spring day, the twinkling of stars, the desire of my

heart to beat, the

inspiration that drives me to create. Water is rain, snow, tears,

streams, rivers, oceans and

the salty blood that fills my body. And to me, the moon is connected with

Water as well,

as it is her pull that commands the tides. Earth creates my bones, the

mountains, the

ground beneath my feet, the soil that crops grow in. And Spirit

encompasses the

intangibles of life - our personalities, our souls, our minds, and a vast

array of emotions.

Other cultures and other practitioners draw upon other correspondences. I

once knew a

practitioner whose path was strongly influenced by the beliefs of the

East. His elements

were composed of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. There are

practitioners that I

know who follow well-established Traditions that believe that there is a

certain power in

having everyone use the same correspondences for generations, in knowing

that you're

doing things the same way they've been done for years. I personally find

that there is

more benefit building your own personal Tradition based on the

environment around you

and the beliefs of the life you live. But that's one of the beautiful

things about Witchcraft.

Each of us chooses the approach that's right for us. This just happens to

There are further correspondences which are traditionally adopted.

Feminine energy is

often associated on the left; masculine energy on the right. This was

established by

corresponding the aggressive masculine energy with our dominant hand and

the passive

feminine energy with our off hand. I remember the correspondence by

calling upon the

image of a warrior with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his

left. Both types of

energy are indispensable in combat; they both simply have different

applications. The

assertive, masculine energy becomes the sword, the more passive, feminine

Exercise Five: The Symbolism of Energy

For now, I would encourage you to adopt the elements that I use

elements. Doing so will enable us to use the same language

throughout

this guide. It will be a cleaner process when we're considering

elemental

energy to use the same elements than for you to have to stop and

mentally

build a bridge between the elements I teach and a different set you

use.

But, if you do feel a draw to other elements, by all means use them!

Remember that you are blazing your own spiritual path, that you

aren't

simply following mine. You'll simply have to put in a little more

and list everything that comes to mind. There are no limitations to

your

personal correspondences. You can write down events, people, places,

emotions, things; anything that you feel a connection to while

thinking of

that element. Feel free to create the lists one at a time, over a

period of

days, or list all the elements one after another in a single sitting

if you feel

led to do so. When you're done, step away for awhile and come back

to the

list when the element is no longer foremost in your mind. Read over

the list

and cross out everything that no longer speaks to you, that doesn't

bring

the element to mind again. You should be left with a list of

correspondences that instantly creates a subconscious bridge to each

element, a mental shortcut that you can draw upon again and again in