ritual
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.
Simple Energy Work To Balance The Elements
The ancients believed that the Universe is composed of five elements, namely Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit (Ether). These classical elements are an important theme in Ancient Greek, Indian and Japanese philosophy, Hermeticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Medieval Alchemy and Western Astrology.
The elements are therefore also a key aspect of various ancient healing practices and metaphysical traditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine in particular stresses the important role of the elements in healing. Working with the elements is believed to create and maintain energetic harmony and balance which is essential to good health and holistic well-being.
The classical elements are also a key component in Neo-Pagan, Wiccan and Druid teachings and practices. When casting a protective circle in a ritual, for example, the practitioner traditionally calls the four cardinal directions or ‘the four corners’ (North, East, South and West), along with the corresponding elements for each.
The five elements are essentially energies. Energy can be experienced in different ways, however, when the elements are aligned within us, we tend to be able to better handle imbalance and adversity in the outer world.
The energetic harmony of the elements within us can easily get ‘out of whack’ and become imbalanced or blocked due to everyday life events and circumstances, but with increased self-awareness and a few simple self-care habits, you’d be surprised how easily your natural state of energy balance will come back into alignment.
The Psychic Power Of Crystals
I’ve been surrounded by crystals, both in my personal healing and psychic work, since I can remember. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on the subject, but I do know that these beautiful stones are aesthetically pleasing, and powerful to have around.
Many crystals have been given to me as gifts, and it’s as if the giver always knows exactly what I need in terms of what the gemstones or crystals can help me with.
When choosing crystals and stones for psychic work or energy healing, I simply allow them to ‘speak’ to me. The vibration of the ideal ones for every purpose always resonates with me. I simply allow them to ‘speak’ to me, trusting that their vibrations will call me. The actual color of the crystal or stone can have quite a profound effect on the mind. For example, medical patients are known to respond to the color blue, when it is used decoratively in a recuperative environment, and criminals are known to be calmer in a cell painted in very pale pink.
I also own a small collection of crystal balls, and it’s as if an image materializes in my mind when gazing into my crystal ball, as opposed to what I see in the actual crystal itself. You might say it is a third eye opener!
I surround myself with amethyst for the calm it brings, rose quartz to bring in loving energy, pyrite for psychic protection and various quartz crystals to assist me energetically, and just because I find them beautiful to behold.
My bone-throwing divination kit consists of a large collection of stones, each representing a token or a symbol. Each stone has its own story and can represent a significant meaning, person, animal or place to me.
The Powerful Magic Inside
Every human being has powerful magic inside, and part of my job is to teach people how to use that magical energy. I understand the term ‘magic’ is somewhat of a loaded word, so let me re-frame it. Jesus called if faith and told us that with a small amount of faith we can move mountains. Buddha called it thought manifestation and explained that our conscious thought produces our reality.
How we focus our energy will eventually manifest in one way or another in our lives. For some people this implies ‘darkness’ or ‘evil.’ Darkness does exist, but I believe that it exists only as a catalyst to increase our vibrational frequency if we are ready to do so.
My personal belief is that darkness cannot ‘stick’ if there is nothing for it to stick to. This is why, when discussing lower vibrational frequencies, the best action is to increase your vibration. In my view there is really no war of light versus dark, or good versus evil. We can turn on the lights and then if there is something that needs to be cleaned up, we can clean it up. The darkness does not struggle when the lights come on. It just goes away.
For nearly all problematic circumstances our primary goal should be to change our consciousness and increase our vibrational frequency. It is quite rare that we are we taught to use this magic in everyday life.
There have been many spiritual teachers that have talked about it in the past, as I stated above. Jesus had enough magic (faith) to walk on water and Buddha could exert his magic (consciousness) to tame a wild elephant.
Receiving Spiritual Guidance From Your Ancestors
The ancient tradition of ancestor worship is a powerful, yet often misunderstood spiritual practice. It is typically viewed as a form of idolatry, mainly because of the inaccurate use of the term ‘worship.’
In truth most cultures practicing such rites do not refer to it as ‘ancestor worship.’ The more appropriate terms to use is ‘ancestor reverence’ or ‘ancestor veneration,’ because it is about living descendants paying respect to and seeking the guidance of their loved ones in spirit.
It is a common practice among indigenous people and an integral component of most shamanic traditions. It is not the same as the worship of gods or deities.
In fact, as a spiritual practice it is not much different from looking at old pictures of departed loved ones and rememembering them fondly. We might even tell them how we miss them or share our problems with them. Some of us have even asked them to help us find solutions to problems, or pull a few strings on our behalf from the Other Side.
Although I cannot say I have any special reverence for my ancestors, I do respect them for all the trials and tribulations they experienced while they were in this life. In my ancestral lineage there were courageous prisoner-of-war experiences, the conquering of grievous setbacks and material harships, and even suicides, to mention but a few. Several of my predecessors had truly unique, and even exceptional life stories that still dwell in my cellular memories.
The ancestral technique I use in my spiritual practice is similar to that of the Yoruba people of West Africa. My greatest connection is with my father, and he is the one I communicate with daily in the Yoruba fashion. You can create an altar or sacred space in your home for this purpose.
Modern Misunderstanding Of The Occult
I recently had an interesting conversation with a casual acquaintance about spirituality and the occult. She is new to metaphysics and mysticism, but since these topics are of great interest and intrigue to me, I needed no convincing to dive into it with her.
It soon became obvious that she had some misunderstandings, and even a few misgivings regarding these matters. For example, she believes a ‘spiritual person’ is someone who engages in some form of religion or spiritual practice, such as meditation or prayer. She also believes spirituality is the exclusive domain of humans, as animals do not practice any religion or spirituality – they merely exist in nature.
Many people confuse ‘being religious’ with ‘being spiritual’ – one does not necessarily imply the other. Living a spiritually aware or conscious life simply means ‘living in the truth’ of who you are – a spirit being in human form. One can be religious, but it is not a prerequisite to living your true spiritual identity.
I also explained to her that the creatures of this earth may appear to be ‘soulless,’ but all living, sentient beings, as well as nature at large, are all expression of Spirit, God, Source, Universe, the Divine. How the animals operate and survive in this world is what is inherently true of the inner being of who they truly are. The entire universe is an expression of its sacred origins. In fact, in my opinion animals live with much greater alignment to higher consciousness than most modern humans do!
It took her some time to evaluate these concepts, but she did eventually come to a conclusion that there must be some truth to it. However, the real fun began when I mentioned my life-long interest in the occult. She vehemently protested that everything relating to the occult is “evil and demonic.” I asked her what facts or personal experience she based this opinion on, but her only justification was that this is “what most people believe.”
Access The Flow Of Universal Abundance
There are people in affluent countries who live a life of absolute abundance and prosperity. And then there are people in those same countries who live a life of struggle, lack and scarcity. How can this be? What brings success and wealth to some, while others struggle with constant lack and deprivation?
We cannot deny that living in a privileged country generally offers opportunities and possibilities for most, if not all its citizens to access wealth and well-being. Of course, there are also historical, cultural, political, and socio-economic inequalities that some minorities unfairly face in such privileged societies – over which they have very little or no control.
But what is the cause of lack for those who do not have to deal with such hurdles and obstacles? Why are there members of privileged majorities in wealthy nations who are not living an abundant, prosperous life?
I believe in these instances the cause is mostly spiritual and energetic. The trick is to learn how to open the energetic portal that allows the gifts of an abundant universe to flow to us, and then to keep that flow going. In fact, as spirit beings it is our duty to access this stream of abundance to such an extent that we not only become accomplished enough to live an abundant existence for ourselves, but to also be in a position to share our wealth and prosperity with others!
I have a good friend who is an extremely hard-working, conscientious woman, while being always kind and giving towards others. Yet, she continually struggles to keep herself afloat financially. She is constantly fretting about paying her bills and worrying about how she will continue to provide for herself and her family. And she never has enough. There is always lack and need.