Using The Four Elements In Your Spiritual Practice

Our ancestors worked with the elements in their metaphysical and spiritual practices. The four classic elements are found in many wisdom traditions, while some also employ additional elements such as metal, wood, and spirit.

The four primary elements can be a meaningful resource in one’s personal practice. It is powerful in prayer, meditation, manifesting rituals, energy healing, divination, psychic protection, and self-care. For example, I use all four elements in my New Moon and Full Moon ceremonies. Depending on what I am working on, I also create specific rituals throughout the year focusing on one metaphysical attribute of a particular element and call upon that energy to assist me in my own life.

Air Energy

The element of air represents consciousness, intuition, understanding, and the mind. I call upon this element when I am attempting to figure out something complex or when I need to make a decision about something important.

To work with this element, I light an incense stick. Since the movement of air is not something visible, the smoke from an incense stick is a symbolic way to represent it. I then focus on the smoke and use an invocation to call upon the element of air.

I call upon the element of air to provide me clarity and understanding.

I invoke the element of air to elevate my consciousness above this fear

People often assume that intuition is the innate ability to know absolutely everything, especially about the future. However, authentic intuition is about knowing what we need to know regarding a specific situation. The element of air can awaken what we need to know without providing too many spoilers along the way.

Each day offer a prayer for gratitude for the ways in which God inspires you and sustains your breath, for the fire of compassion and illumination, for the life-giving grace and flow of water, and for the nourishment of the earth ~ Christine Valters Painter

Earth Energy

The element of earth represents stability, security, strength, and prosperity. When I call upon this element, I will usually do it outside with my bare feet on the ground. However, when the weather does not allow for this, I will put a stone in my sacred space to represent this element.

I typically summon earth energy for material provision, protection, or to provide stability in my relationships.

I call upon the element of earth to assist in establishing trust in this relationship.

I invoke the element of earth to create stability in this area of my life.

Being grounded enables us to trust. The element of earth can therefore have a profound impact on the integrity of our relationships, because without trust and feeling secure it is impossible to develop healthy relationships.

However, the element of earth does not solve or fix our trust issues with others. Instead, when we become centered and grounded, we awaken our capacity to trust the process of life.

Whether you ask support from God, Source, Spirit, or the Divine, trusting in this foundational way opens up the doors to our ability to trust others and establish meaningful relationships.

Fire Energy

The element of fire represents passion, desire, evolution, and purification. To apply this element in a practice I usually light a candle, or even multiple candles. I then focus on the candle flame and use an invocation to call upon the element of fire.

I call upon the element of fire to burn away anything that is keeping me from my highest good.

I summon the element of fire to awaken my passion, assist me in clarifying my intention, and awaken my desire.

The awakening of desire is crucial to successfully manifest our desires. Many people are confused and uncertain about what they want in life. They assume that the right person, place, object, or circumstance will come into their life and make them happy and fulfilled.

However, nothing external can truly fulfill or make us happy. When we make the false assumption that enough money, status, possessions, friends, romantic relationships, or some substance or circumstance will ensure our happiness, we typically end up also blaming those same things for our misery and feelings of emptiness.

The element of fire removes any blocks that keep us from having what we wrongly thought we wanted and brings us greater clarity of what we truly need.

Water Energy

The element of water represents the subconscious, emotion, love, and relationships. Like fire, water has a cleansing effect.

I often call upon the element of water while taking a shower and ask for it to wash away any burdensome feelings or help me process an emotional experience. When I work with this element in my spiritual practice, I place a bowl of water in my sacred space.

I call upon the element of water to assist me in processing these emotions.

I invoke the element of water to help me clear away this old, stagnant emotion.

I summon the element of water to help me clear away the pattern in my consciousness that is causing these feelings.

Water can help clear out emotional patterns such as unrequited love, envy, or cynicism, and support us in establishing truly kind and loving relationships. It can help us work through old subconscious patterns that might be holding us back from experiencing our highest good.

In my bi-monthly ceremonies, I have all of these elements present, and I place them in the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) based on their unique properties and energy signatures.

For air, I put my incense on the northern corner of my spiritual space. For earth, I place a stone in the east. For fire, I use a lighted candle on the south side of my spiritual space (for safety purposes I always place the candle in a bowl of water). For water, I place a bowl of water in the western corner of my spiritual space.