Elements
There are four basic elements that we use in witchcraft. Earth, Air, Fire and Water. But there is also a fifth one: Spirit. The elements can be called upon to aid in your magickal workings. You can define the elements by candles, stones, or anything else you want to use to represent them. For instance, a flower can represent Earth; a pinwheel can represent Air; a candle can represent Fire; a watering can can represent Water. Anything can represent Spirit such as God/Goddess statues or a picture of a loved one. You will find what works best for you. Here is a rundown on the elements:
Earth
​
Earth is the element of stability, groundedness, fertility, materiality, potential, and stillness. Earth can also be an element of beginnings and endings, or death and rebirth, as life comes from the ground and then decomposes back into earth after death.
Qualities: Cold, Dry
Gender: Feminine (passive)
Elemental: Gnomes
Direction: North
Color: Green
Magical Tool: Pentacle
Planets: Saturn
Zodiac Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Season: Winter
Time of Day: Midnight
Air
​
Air is the element of intelligence, creativity, and beginnings. Largely intangible and without permanent form, air is an active, masculine element, superior to the more material elements of water and earth.
Qualities: Warm, Moist
Gender: Masculine (active)
Elemental: Sylphs (Invisible beings)
Direction: East
Color: Yellow
Magical Tool: Wand, sometimes sword, dagger or athame
Planets: Jupiter
Zodiac Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Season: Spring
Time of Day: Morning, Sunrise
Fire
​
Fire is associated with strength, activity, blood, and life-force. It is also seen as highly purifying and protective, consuming impurities and driving back the darkness.
Fire is traditionally seen as the most rarefied and spiritual of the physical elements because of its masculine properties (which were superior to female properties). It also lacks physical existence, produces light, and has a transformative power when it comes in contact with a more physical material.
Qualities: Warm, Dry
Gender: Masculine (active)
Elemental: Salamander (Here referring to a mythological lizard creature which could burst into flames)
Direction: South
​Color: Red
Magical Tool: Sword, athame, dagger, sometimes wand
Planets: Sol (Sun), Mars
Zodiac signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Season: Summer
Time of Day: Noon
Water
​
Water is the element of emotion and the unconscious, as opposed to the conscious intellectualism of air.
Water is one of two elements that have a physical existence that can interact with all of the physical senses. Water is still considered less material (and thus superior) to earth because it possesses more motion and activity than earth.
Qualities: Cold, Moist
Gender: Feminine (passive)
Elemental: Undines (water-based nymphs)
Direction: West
Color: Blue
Magical Tool: Cup
Planets: Moon, Venus
Zodiac Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Season: Fall
Time of Day: Sunset
Spirit
​
The element of spirit does not have the same arrangements of correspondences as the physical elements since spirit is not physical. Various different systems may associate planets, tools, and so-forth to it, but such correspondences are far less standardized than those of the other four elements.
The element of spirit goes by several names. The most common are spirit, ether or aether, and quintessence, which is Latin for "fifth element."
There is also no standard symbol for spirit, although circles are common. Eight-spoked wheels and spirals are also sometimes used to represent spirit.
Spirit is a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. In cosmological models, spirit is the transitory material between the physical and celestial realms. Within the microcosm, spirit is the bridge between body and soul.
Direction: Above, Below, Within
Color: Violet, Orange, White
