The Angels, the Elementals
Monday, April 23, 2007
A great deal has been written recently about our “angel guides.” Definitions vary considerably, but most take these “beings of light” to be intermediaries (the name means “messenger”) between God and us earthly beings.
The notion is truly wonderful: beings who are dedicated to helping us in a loving, non-judgmental, pure way. Often, they are seen as highly specific in their focus, such as the Archangels or the guardian angels.
The elementals in our tradition are very similar to the notion of angels. We often consider them to be “guardians” of our circle. They stand at the cardinal points of East, South, West and North, helping us to create a protected circle of light. They are awesome and powerful. We welcome them as mysterious, but focused, beings of the Air, Fire, Water and Earth, representing those energies and protecting us with their power. This imagery is beautiful and can be awe-inspiring in a well-cast circle.
However, we of the Craft can actually learn something from the Christian and Hebraic traditions, or at least something from what they have become today. We often forget to develop a “relationship” with the Elementals. We sometimes forget to ask them to be our friends. My mentor and teacher Lord Merlin once shared with me the notion that over time, the elementals become quite close to you and you start to see them as your close friends, even family. This does not diminish their power. On the contrary, it heightens your ties to them. “You might,” he once told me, “just try winking at them from time to time. They are drawn to your love and friendship.”
We have to remember that one of the most basic mysteries we Wiccans seek to understand is the relationship of everything with everything else, that is, the idea that there is little to separate us from each other, from the Divine, from the Sacred Earth. That is why the Law of Attraction works: everything in the Universe is interacting with everything else. And, angels or Elementals—call them what you will—will always be attracted to places and people who are open and have “perfect love and perfect trust” in their hearts. If you do, communing with them is relatively easy.
In this vein, we must remember that the Elementals are inseparable from us, they are part of us. In this way, we don’t always have to think of having to “call them to us” or “calling them in” to our circles. Sometimes, it is helpful to think of “calling them up” from deep within us. They are our friends, they are part of us and make us who we are. Welcome them with respect, as you would yourself. Welcome them with love and joy and gentleness. For it is in being gentle that we find true power.
Bright blessings,
The notion is truly wonderful: beings who are dedicated to helping us in a loving, non-judgmental, pure way. Often, they are seen as highly specific in their focus, such as the Archangels or the guardian angels.
The elementals in our tradition are very similar to the notion of angels. We often consider them to be “guardians” of our circle. They stand at the cardinal points of East, South, West and North, helping us to create a protected circle of light. They are awesome and powerful. We welcome them as mysterious, but focused, beings of the Air, Fire, Water and Earth, representing those energies and protecting us with their power. This imagery is beautiful and can be awe-inspiring in a well-cast circle.
However, we of the Craft can actually learn something from the Christian and Hebraic traditions, or at least something from what they have become today. We often forget to develop a “relationship” with the Elementals. We sometimes forget to ask them to be our friends. My mentor and teacher Lord Merlin once shared with me the notion that over time, the elementals become quite close to you and you start to see them as your close friends, even family. This does not diminish their power. On the contrary, it heightens your ties to them. “You might,” he once told me, “just try winking at them from time to time. They are drawn to your love and friendship.”
We have to remember that one of the most basic mysteries we Wiccans seek to understand is the relationship of everything with everything else, that is, the idea that there is little to separate us from each other, from the Divine, from the Sacred Earth. That is why the Law of Attraction works: everything in the Universe is interacting with everything else. And, angels or Elementals—call them what you will—will always be attracted to places and people who are open and have “perfect love and perfect trust” in their hearts. If you do, communing with them is relatively easy.
In this vein, we must remember that the Elementals are inseparable from us, they are part of us. In this way, we don’t always have to think of having to “call them to us” or “calling them in” to our circles. Sometimes, it is helpful to think of “calling them up” from deep within us. They are our friends, they are part of us and make us who we are. Welcome them with respect, as you would yourself. Welcome them with love and joy and gentleness. For it is in being gentle that we find true power.
Bright blessings,