These candles are the result of a month-long journey that I took from Full Moon to Full Moon, starting from the February FM and lasting until the March FM. The purpose of this month-long spell was to help myself reconnect with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. I was very much in need of a reminder that nature and I are one and the same, and I had been wanting to do something like this for a very long time. After gaining some inspiration from my friend Monica, I decided to get cracking!
I created a separate candle for each element, and for the week that I was working with that particular element, each morning and evening I would light the candle, say the appropriate incantation (which I got from Silver Ravenwolf's book Hedgewitch, which I borrowed from Monica), and meditate on the element for about ten or fifteen minutes. For the air candle, I used a yellow votive candle, anointed it with oil (I don't remember what kind unfortunately), and rolled it in lavender; for the fire candle, I used a red votive candle, anointed it with Fire oil that I purchased at the NYC Pagan Pride festival a few years back, and rolled it in crushed cloves; for the earth candle, I used a green votive candle, anointed it with Eucalyptus oil, and rolled it in salt; and for the water candle, I used a blue votive candle, anointed it with rose oil, and rolled it in crushed rose petals. I worked with the elements in that order: air, fire, earth, and water.
As an example of me using shiny things as talismans, I wore this pendant for the entirety of the spell:
I found this on an Etsy shop
back in June 2011, about eight months before I even began to think
about starting this journey, and I had worn it pretty frequently before
then, but the moment I decided to commit myself to the process, I felt
that this was the obvious choice as a representation of it. This happens
to be one of my favorite pendants, and it's probably the one I wear the
most these days, so I had absolutely no problem with wearing it
non-stop for a month while I completed the venture!
I found that with each week, depending on the element that I was working with, I noticed that element in relation to nature and in relation to its more "mundane" characteristics (for lack of a better term). During air week, not only was I paying more attention to
the feel and scent of the air itself (the air had that "snow"
feel/smell), as well as other scents (both pleasant and not-so-pleasant)
of NYC, I noticed that anything sensory was very much amplified. My
music seemed more meaningful, the scents more potent, the sights more
beautiful. During fire week, everything having to do with creativity and passion was amplified tenfold; fire week also happened to correspond with my menstrual period, and that was definitely an interesting combination (I blame Sekhmet). During earth week, the focus was on the varying meanings of abundance, and also on mortality; one of my dad's friends died during this week, and as a result, my subconscious fears about death and mortality came to the surface. However, because of the element I was working with, I was able to work through and move past these issues. During water week, it rained almost the entire week, and I noticed that it was much harder to hide my emotions; I was wearing my heart on my sleeve that whole time.
By the end of the lunar cycle, I felt that I had learned a lot, not just about the elements, but about myself. These were all lessons that I needed to learn, all experiences that I needed to have, and I am very happy that I decided to commit myself to this.
I'm so glad that you posted this because I loved hearing about this when you were doing it. It's actually something I think most of us would probably benefit from doing periodically, with personal variations, of course. I used to refer to myself as an "Elemental Pagan" when pressed to define my path, so maybe I'm biased, but I think it's a great idea in general, and I loved the way you went about it. Have you found that it's made you more aware of elemental influences even after the month was over?
ReplyDeleteAhhh, I didn't see this comment until now for some reason! D: It's so funny that you mention referring to yourself as an "Elemental Pagan," because if I absolutely had to pick a label for myself, that is absolutely what I would call what I am. I definitely feel like I'm more aware of the elements now than I was before, which is both a heartening thing and sort of a downer because it means that I wasn't doing the greatest job connecting with the elements before! haha But I'm choosing to look at it as the wakeup call that I needed. :D
ReplyDeleteAw, don't let it be a downer! Think of it this way: The fact that you're better attuned to the elements now than you were before means that you're progressing rather than stagnating. That's the natural way, right?
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