Modern Witchcraft: Beginners Guide

Ritual Components

In this chapter we're going to discuss a series of ritual components that a lot of witches (typically Wiccans) use in their craft. These ideas can be applied to tools, spell ingredients, divination, and lots more. You don't have to use these concepts in your craft since they are mostly Wiccan beliefs, but because they are so common, it's a good idea that beginner witches should at least know of them.

The Elements

In western belief, the four elements are like a set of fundamental forces that construct all life on earth. The four elements originated from ancient Greek philosophy and are: earth, air, fire, and water. We carry the four elements inside of us; we are of the earth, and when we die, we return to it. We breathe air, fire (electricity) pumps our hearts, and water is essential to our existence.

Every tool and spell ingredient a witch uses corresponds to one or more of the four elements. Salt, stones, and crystals are mined from the earth and contain its energy, so they represent the earth element. Birds are at one with the air in the sky, so their feathers represent air, likewise incense smoke rises and diffuses through the air. Obviously, candles represent the fire element, but anything that has a close association with fire can represent it too, like metals and high-vibrational colours (reds, oranges, yellows). Finally, anything closely associated with water can represent the water element (as well as water itself); seashells, beach sand, cups, and bowls.

The associations to each element with some ingredients are obvious (stones, feathers, candles, cups, etc), but each element also has a wider set of connotations that witches can attribute different items and beliefs to:

🌍 Earth: 🟢🟤⚫
> hot & wet
> feminine
> mundane, resources, health, materialism
> green, brown, black

🌬️ Air: 🟡🌸
> cold & dry
> masculine
> intellect, logic, communication, conflict, analysis
> pastel colours, yellow, pink

🔥 Fire: 🔴🟠
> hot & dry
> masculine
> creativity, passion, inspiration, willpower
> red, orange

💧 Water: 🔵🟣
> cold & wet
> feminine
> emotions, relationships, love, intuition, fantasy
> blue, indigo

Because of these wider associations, the elements can be considered in a very wide range of practices and beliefs in witchcraft.

For example, you might assume that all witches' herbs represent the earth element (for obvious reasons), but actually herbs like chilis and cinnamon have more fiery energy because of their spice or high vibrations. Cinnamon is used a lot in passion or creativity spells, or simply to speed up the outcome of a spell (by introducing volatile, fiery energy). If you do the "surveying energy of the home" exercise in Exercises 201 and find a room has airy energy, this might be a good room for studying in (to encourage intellect & logic) but might also be a room where a lot of arguments break out because of the air element's tendency to promote conflict.

Personal element(s): Some witches like to work with their personal element(s) a lot. Your personal element is just an element you find easy to work with and form a connection with. This can be determined by various methods like studying your astrological natal chart(1), looking at the vowels in your name(2), or palmistry(3).
But these methods aren't totally necessary. You can work out for yourself which elements you find it easiest to work with based on your personality and preferences; are you down-to-earth or career-driven? Earth. Do you pride yourself in your intellect or ability to analyse things? Air. Are you a very artsy, creative, or energetic person? Fire. Are you a hopeless romantic, spiritual, or sensitive? Water.
Just think about the which element(s) you're drawn to the most, and that will be your personal element(s). Of course, we contain all 4 elements inside of us, so we can effectively work with all of the elements when we need to (not just the ones that resonate with us most).