Working through the Elements: Air

Something struck me the other night, as I was heading to the back door to let my cat, Eddie Treebird, outside for what I think was the third time that night. All the windows and doors were closed and there is no real draft in my house. As I approached the backdoor, a sliding door with curtains hanging in front of it, the curtains were moving as if there was a draft or breeze coming from somewhere. The first thing I thought was ‘ghost’ but this was too clichéd even for me, so I stopped and waited to see what happened. By this time I was in front of the curtains and the draft that I had caused by walking across the room moved them even more and I was unable to determine the origin of the draft.

It occurred to me then that perhaps the initial cause of the movement was me. As I moved through the air in the room, it pushed forward ahead of me and caused the draft both ahead of and behind me, as a boat gliding across the lake. It got me thinking about the element of Air, that it is all around us even when it is not moving, it is still there. Sounds ridiculous and a bit ‘yea, der!’ but these things sometimes have to be learned and understood through personal experience… I think I took it for granted that when I breathed in my lungs would fill up with air and I would be able to then breathe out, it never occurred to me to think where Air came from or where it went. It never occurred to me to think about what happens when a person walks through Air that exists in the room or atmosphere (cause that is where it is), if there is an impact or not. I know people refer to the ‘butterfly effect’ and I think I understood it, but never really got it until that moment.

Air is all around us, (thank you Captain Obvious!) even as we sit it rests against our skin, our clothes, our hair. As we step we part it with our feet, we move it with our breath, we break it when we reach for something. The interesting thing is that it just seems to flow with what is happening in the environment. It does not force the issue, it merely accepts what is happening to it and acquiesces, allowing the changes to its structure and position to happen, and then remoulding itself based on the new information.

I have a new found respect Air, its fluidity, its adaptability, its availability. I also think that I have begun a relationship with this element that I will cultivate and look deeper into as I am sure, when looking at the changes the universe is guiding me to make, that I can learn something about the traits it possesses that will help me move forward, both spiritually and physically. I think I also like the idea of reacting to things when they happen rather than beforehand, living with the impositions or restrictions of others and not letting it ruin my own integrity, being able to adapt to situations while not changing who I am and how I work, being able to live in the moment and be changeable in a positive sense.

This is what Air is for me at this stage. It may change (and most likely will), but I am willing to work with Air in order to gain the strength I need in this most unpredictable time I now find myself in. It will be an interesting journey……

To 'Fire North, or not to 'Fire North'?

There has been some talk around me lately about the directions for the elements while in ritual or any kind of working. I have done a fair bit of research myself about this, and have come to my own conclusions about it.

For me, it depends heavily on what you are surrounded by, either as a country or local area. As I live in Australia, everything is backwards (or truly forwards depending on your perception!!); the Sabbats are all opposite, so why not the elements?

So I (as usual) gave it a lot of thought and this is what I came up with:

Fire - North, because the equator is the hottest part of the world and the Summer sun arcs closer to it during the day.

Earth - West, because to the west of me there is a mountain range, then hundreds of kilometres of desert.

Water - East, because the Pacific Ocean laps at the shores on the east coast of Australia where I live.

Air - South. This one was a little difficult to reconcile. I placed it here initially because of the process of elimination, but then I was talking to a friend about the breezes I get running through the front of my house to the back (very strong, almost like I am sitting in front of a pedestal fan!). These were apparently the southerlies, bringing cold winds up from Antarctica to cool our hot summers!

The penny dropped with the last one really. If I could arrange it this way and the final quarter fits even thought I had not expected it to, then the rest should be right too, right?

The other thing is, if I decided to move to Western Australia the east/west would change, because the position of the water and earth has changed geographically. If I moved to Canada for example, the south/north would change for a similar reason (and possibly the east/west, or all of it, depending on where exactly I lived). My current arrangement feels right to me. I get it. It is meaningful. And if it is meaningful, then my rituals will also be meaningful; I wouldn't want to do something just because someone else said it was right then spend the rest of my ritual freaking out because it feels wrong. That would have a negative effect on the ritual, and no one wants to go to all the trouble of creating a ritual, only to force some aspect of it and ruin it!!!