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Spell-casting Using the Powers of the Elements

In Western magic and philosophy, Earth’s power is traditionally broken down into four components, known as the elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Air and Fire are traditionally considered male or yang energies, while Earth and Water are most typically perceived as female, or yin. Life springs from earth and water but air and fire are necessary to spark the process. Healthy magic power derives from the harmonious balance of these elements.

From a magical standpoint, the power of each element is unique, specific, and alive. Depending upon the purpose of your spell, one element may be invoked or emphasized over the others. Power also derives from the interplay between the elements. Power is enhanced when the elements intermingle and form a threshold. Steam emerges from the marriage of water and fire, for instance, and is a potent force for spiritual cleansing and protection.

Individuals are influenced by these elements, too. One or more elements will predominate in every individual’s natal astrological chart and will thus influence not only their character but also the type of magic spell that usually appeals most to that individual and is most accessible. I have listed the elemental affiliations of the astrological signs below, however an accurate gauge can only be received from a complete birth chart. Someone who is a Taurus, an earth sign, but who has five other planets in a water sign is a very watery person, despite their sun sign.

The elements are easily understood if one considers their qualities.

Air

Air serves as a transmitter and a messenger. Because magic (and some schools of higher physics) asserts that nothing that exists truly disappears, to say that something “vanishes into thin air” is meant very literally when discussing magic spells. Candles that access the power of fire also summon the power of air: what is burned disappears into the air. Air is associated with astral travel; witches fly through the air even if the journey is accomplished with dreams or visions.

Air is considered a masculine, yang energy.

Fragrance is the language of air. Word charms also draw upon air power.

Air signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.

Earth

Earth is our battery and generator, providing capacity for growth and solidity. Earth is a particularly important element for those journeying into magical realms because earth provides stability, reality, and gravity. Magicians should spend time in the garden, even if not gardening, and barefoot whenever possible. If this isn’t appealing, play with real clay (not synthetic), or make mud pies like a child. Go to the spa and take a mud bath.

Earth is considered a feminine, yin power.

Earth’s magical power is accessed through the botanicals that are rooted in Earth, figures formed from clay, and dirt itself, as in graveyard dirt or crossroads dirt.

Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn.

Fire

Fire is the most independent of elements, defying all illusions of human control. Fire heals, energizes, cleanses, and purifies. Fire is transformative and must always be treated with respect. Although you can get into trouble with any element (think floods, mudslides, tornadoes) fire is commonly the most dangerous. I cannot emphasize enough: never assume that because you’re engaged in magical or spiritual acts that common-sense fire safety does not also apply. Fire is never completely safe. Be vigilant.

Fire is a masculine, yang energy.

Candles are the most popular form of fire magic. Magical bonfires and lamps are also lit. Magic mirrors are sometimes used to access fire’s transformative (and potentially destructive) powers.

Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.

Water

Water is the element most affiliated with magic. Water is where life originates, not just as an abstract concept or in Darwinian theory, but literally for each of us as we emerge from our mother’s amniotic sacs. Water is the element of psychic power and intuitive knowledge.

Water is a feminine, yin energy.

Water spells are conducted in the bathtub and at the seashore. Water spells include those incorporating lunar charged waters, magically charged waters, and captured rainwater.

Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.

Fire and Water, extreme yang and yin, are a matched pair, leaving Earth and Air paired with each other. Like yin/yang forces in general, the elements don’t exist in mutual exclusivity. Magic may be performed with only one element (an Air-magic word charm) but is most frequently a combination of two or more forces. For instance, incense combines botanical power (Earth) with Fire, to produce fragrant smoke (Air). A complex spell that involves dressing a candle with botanical oil, and then burning it while you’re bathing in a magical infusion combines all four elements simultaneously.

This grouping of the four elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water is the traditional Western system and is the one most commonly shared by magical traditions. However, it is not the only system:

 Chinese magic traditionally counts five elements. Although metal is important in most other traditions, too, Chinese philosophy emphasizes this importance by counting Metal as one of the elements, alongside and equal to the Western four

 Jewish magic traditionally counts three elements. Air (or ether) is considered so ubiquitous that it doesn’t need to be counted as an element. Therefore only Water, Earth, and Fire are recognized as elements

Casting Spells Incorporating the Power of Metal

Although magic in its modern form stems from the discovery of metal and smithcraft, metal today is an under-utilized modern magical material. Perhaps this reflects ancient taboos on the material and the role of the blacksmith.

Each metal, like each stone or botanical, projects a specific magical energy, although as there are fewer metals than the vast quantities of botanicals or crystals, it’s easier to sum up these powers.

 Brass: protection, love

 Copper: love, healing

 Gold: wealth, vitality

 Lead: domination, binding (the most frequent material for curse tablets)

 Silver: protection, fertility

 Tin: wealth, luck, divination

The most powerful magical metal, however, and among the most magically charged of all materials on Earth, is iron.

Iron

The metal most associated with magic, worldwide, is iron. Because iron is not found in its pure state except as a meteorite, it was known as the Metal of Heaven and perceived as a gift from sacred powers. Meteors were carved into representations of deities: the original cult statue housed inside the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the ancient world’s Seven Wonders, was carved from a meteorite. The most sacred representation of the goddess Kybele was an uncut meteor, believed by many to remain buried under the foundations of Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was built over her Roman temple.

Iron provides power and protection. Magically speaking, iron is reputed to restore health, provide vitality, both physical and psychic, and cure impotence. Malevolent spirits are invariably frightened of iron: it repels them and chases them away. Iron boxes protect magical tools the way a lead blanket protects a person during the x-ray process. Because iron is the metal of truth, traditionally in areas of Africa, and perhaps in some areas still, people would swear on iron in the way that others swear on the Bible or Koran. One of the simplest protective spells involves placing an iron knife or tool under one’s pillow, not to serve as a ready weapon but to offer spiritual protection while you sleep.

With the exception of menstrual blood, no single item is more associated with magic than iron. In fact the two powers, menstrual blood and iron, are intrinsically linked. While other metals, like stones, may be perceived as Earth’s bones, iron ore is regarded as Earth’s menstrual blood.

Despite or because of its great power, iron is a dangerous, volatile element. Iron is used for healing, in magical ritual, and also through surgery, dentistry, acupuncture, and any field of medicine that requires metal tools. It is also an instrument of death: knives and guns wound and kill.

Earth’s Original Professional Magician: the Smith, Master of Fire

Magic in its modern state arrived with the advent of the Iron Age. The smith’s art, the original alchemy, was kept secret for centuries: those who knew it were able to forge weapons that could completely dominate their neighbors. By virtue of their contact with this magic material, and because they alone were privy to its secrets, smiths were more than just artisans: they were the original magicians, the Masters of Fire. Smiths became the first professional magicians (as opposed to shamans), called in to perform spell-casting on behalf of others.

Smiths were simultaneously respected and needed, feared and persecuted:

 Because the smith is in close contact with the ultimate power substance and, in fact, bends it to his will, he is perceived as possessing more magic power than the average person. He is protected and his personal magical energy continually replenished and reinvigorated by iron

 However, because iron ore may be perceived as Earth’s menstrual blood, a substance typically restricted or taboo, the ironworker who handles it openly and constantly may also be perceived as tainted. On the one hand, the smith is powerful enough to break taboos and thrive, but on the other, this contact makes conservative elements of society uncomfortable. The smith is able to go where others cannot, perform rituals that others cannot: whatever spiritual cleansing or protective rituals the smith requires for his own spiritual survival and protection are unknown to everyone outside the ironworking clan, and thus are suspect

 Another perception derives from Central Asia’s Turkish tribes. They believed that raw metals in general came from Earth’s bowels. The raw materials were Earth’s waste products, which would ultimately develop into finished metal, by itself, over long periods of time, if they were left undisturbed and buried. The smith’s oven is, thus, a substitute for Earth’s womb. This artificial womb gives birth to metal. The Master of Fire is thus believed to assert power over Time as he accelerates the process. Because of this he has healing powers and can read the future, but he is also always on the verge of spiritual disaster: digging ore out of the Earth, rooting around in Earth, any kind of digging is akin to rape. Only the ironworker knows if and how he can be purified

The ironworker became a much-needed member of society. Beyond smith craft, he was typically also a healer, herbal practitioner, dentist, surgeon, body artist, and often the sole person permitted to perform circumcision and thus in charge of spiritual initiation. He carves amulets, devises rituals, and confers with the Spirits on behalf of others, a combination artisanshaman. Secrets of metalworking were carefully guarded. Smiths evolved into clans, their techniques into family secrets.

The concept that one can pay someone else to cast a spell for you enters magic as well. A professional class of magical practitioners was born. The smith’s wife, the woman who has sex with the Master of Fire, bears his children, and may be his professional assistant, becomes transformed into a person of power in her own right, typically performing the role of herbalist, midwife and women’s healer, henna artist (henna also being a substance associated with menstrual blood), and, especially, fortune teller. In some traditional African areas, a wedding may be delayed until the smith’s wife can arrive to dress the bride’s hair, provide her henna or otherwise bless and attend her.

Societal ambivalence toward the smith cannot be emphasized enough; it will eventually be projected onto magic itself. The history of ironworking to a great extent parallels the history of magic working. Although the smith is required by society, he and his family also remain apart and distinct. People need them, their services are necessary, yet people are afraid to get close to them, or allow them to live as fully integrated members of society. Their very power and skill sets them apart. The Bible associates ironworkers with the Kenites, descendants of Cain, a Jewish tribe that isn’t one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The most famous Kenite, the otherwise unarmed woman Jael, kills the fleeing enemy general Sisera with a hammer, one of the smith’s primary tools.

Ironworkers developed into nomads, traveling from town to town, village to village, staying as long as there was work, and then moving on. This is still true in parts of Africa and Western Asia. There are still Bedouin tribes who await the arrival of the smith to perform circumcisions.

Complicating the picture even further is that the smiths providing services to the majority culture are frequently members of minority groups. It is a complex relationship with tremendous potential for tension: the ironworker performs ritual functions and serves as a repository of spiritual knowledge for traditions that he may or may not share.

In Europe, smithcraft is associated with Tinkers, Travelers, and, most especially, the Romany, who traveled with the Tatar and Mongol armies, performing metalwork. Romany culture, as first witnessed by Europeans, is very typical of ironworking clans: the men were metal smiths while the women told fortunes. In rural Africa and Western Asia, smiths are frequently of Jewish origin, although their personal traditions may have veered far from conventional Judaism. Persecution of the Ethiopian Jewish community, the Beta Israel, derives both from their religion and from their traditional occupation as ironworkers. The Ineden, smiths associated with the at least nominally Muslim Tuareg, are also believed to be of Jewish origin. Distinct clans, they perform the role of general handymen for the majority group: blacksmith, jeweler, armourer, woodworker, healer, herbalist, poet, musician, singer, and general consultant on spiritual and traditional matters. Essential to traditional Tuareg culture, they are simultaneously of low status.

With the coming of Christianity, European ironworkers would be vilified and identified with the devil, who was frequently depicted in the guise of a smith. Some of their traditional spiritual power remained: in the original Gretna Green weddings, the couple was able to cross the border from England and be married by the smith.