Information
Database Group:
Magick
Path in Psi:
Magick
Content Type:
Article
Posted On:
0000-00-00
Edited On:
0000-00-00
Elemental Magick Introduction
by Zeus
To begin a clarification must be made with the title of this category of magick. Elemental magick refers to the use of the ancient elements, or their energies in magick and not the creation of physical "Elementals." Fire, water, air and earth are the four primary elements of ancient times and depending which path one follows spirit, or life may be included as a fifth high element. Each ancient element has specifically laid out characteristics and powers which a person must understand before being able to control them. Each element has dominion over only certain aspects of a person’s life, so a magickian must have knowledge of this to cast meaning magick (a listing of characteristics is included within this magick category).
It may seem that this category, because of its broad scope negates, or interferes with other forms of magick; really this isn’t so. Elemental magick is more like a control grouping of magick with the others as subsets to it. Elemental magick may require verbal, or textual etc. magick in order to obtain its goal, but this is not usually regarded as a hybridization of the magick, because of Druidic and Mage legacy.
Elemental magick sets up everything in existence so that it is grouped into at least on element category (some people and objects do embody aspects of more than one element). The groupings are also not quite as simple as they at first appear. As an example a golden eagle embodies spirit and obviously many aspects of air since it flies, but an eagle also holds small amounts of earth (came from the earth - returns to the earth) and water as most eagles fish.
When creating magick with a person in mind the magickian should keep in focus the major forms of embodied element within the body as well as their connections with the other elements to help maintain balance. When creating magick that simply effect an element itself (one element) the focus is simple and the magick casting is usually straight forward. The multi-embodied elements do make the magick more complex. A magickian must be very conscious of energy balance between the elements when working simultaneously with them. Too much imbalance created within a person can be fatal, and too much imbalance within existence can lead to Armageddon. That said it should be obvious that elemental magick is very powerful.
Often times it is difficult to explain the differences in magick, and with elemental magick this is particularly so. Elemental magick is strongly based in ritual since most of its roots stem from Druids and Mages of the Old World, and of history. Elemental magick works, because of the energy basis and interaction of all things in existence. It was even used long ago to try to explain the existence of Deities and God(s). The make-up of the World was also explainable through magick, and the 4/5 elements. Modern science has shown that in fact the ancient elements are not the building blocks of matter, but interestingly enough things are still grouped by fire, air, water, and earth. The ritualistic magick took form thousands of years ago to allow those that were not able to achieve magickal focus to be able to perform magick. Ritualistic magick often repeats the same phrase, or chant over, and over to create the focus and summon the power needed to cast the magick. Elemental magick is deeply embedded into this ritualistic realm of magick, and that is what really separates it from other magick categories. Some examples of ritualistic elemental magick are: summoning chants, and many forms of Druidic, Wiccan, and Xenobe magicks.
To perform elemental magick usually the magickian does not need to achieve focus, but if they do reach magickal focus it can cut down the need for ritual repetition. The magick itself can be verbal, or textual (most often verbal) and should be repeated until the casting is obviously underway, or the goal has been achieved.
Elemental magick also relies heavily on direction in its casting. North, South, East, and West each have correspondence with the elements and may require a magickian to be facing a certain way, or to be connected with a certain flow direction of energy in order for the goal to be obtained.
Another interesting aspect of elemental magick is that religious prayer can fit into the grouping of spirit element magick. This seeming connection between elemental magick and religion (ritualistic/repeated verbalization) allows insight into the dawning of religion and magick.
When a person is interested in elemental magick a teacher/master is definitely an asset to find. The teacher/master may also be the only way to learn the full intricacies of the magick. It is possible to research elemental magick for yourself in books, or on-line, but again for the full impact a teacher/master is needed.