Energy
Energies are what Wicca and Witchcraft work on. There is energy in everything,
in the ground, in the air, in a plant and in all animals, including us. It is
the harnessing of these energies that makes Magick and magic. When you call
an Element to your circle you are harnessing it's energy. The energy of the
flames, the earth, the air and the sea. These are all important components to
every day life.
I will start with the basics, magnetic energy, we all know (or should know)
that the positive pole of a magnet stimulates living organisms and that the
negative pole pacifies them. That is why magnetic healing works, but how do
the energies get there. Lets do the old compass trick, get a bar of soap, wet
it and rub a needle along it's length. Then put the needle in a cup of water,
the point of the needle will spin around and point North, Why is this? By creating
friction on the soap you have created a tiny bit of heat, this equates to Element
Fire, By placing it in a cup of water you are giving it freedom to choose which
way it goes, you are giving it Element Air. That has put two Elemental energies
into the same object at nearly the same time, as you would know, Element Air
and Element Fire do not mix, they stay at either end of the needle, therefore
creating a magnet in the N S alignment of the needle. Even Science supports
this, the negative ions and positive ions are drawn to different ends of the
magnetised object. See?
The energy from plants and herbs gives them uses, food, providing us with energy,
firewood, creating heat and light. If you have ever stuidied Physics at school
you will realise this. Electricity comes from the sun via solar panels, the
air via turbines and friction when you rub something. Have you ever been on
a trampoline and when you go to get off you get an electric shock? This is because
of the energy that comes from you, your muscles when you bounce up and down.
it has nowhere to go so it stays in the trampoline. When you touch it it has
somewhere to go, into you. Everything in nature makes a circuit.
The tree standing in your backyard, it starts as a seed, what do you do to make
it grow? You water it, giving it energy from the Element Water, you fertilise
it, giving it energy from an animal, whether it be blood and bone or some form
of manure. As it grows, the tree sinks it's roots deep into the soil, harnessing
the energy of Element Earth and taking Element Water also from within the soil.
Then to support further growth it produces foliage with that takes in the air
and purifies it, divesting it of some of its energy as it does so.
As you can see, the only element that doesn't come into play with your backyard
tree is Element Fire. Very few plants do indeed use Element Fire, but one of
them is the plants of the Banksia family, banksias are native Australian plants
that make use of Element Fire when seeding. You see, a banksia encasese it's
seeds in a hard cone, much like that of a pine tree. These cones-for lack of
a better word, only open with heat, in a seasonal bushfire. Thus the banksia
is a sacred plant for it uses the energies of all four Elementals.
The same can be said for all animals, take your household cat, it starts as
a kitten, mewling next to it's mother. It is alive, it can move, therefore it
shares the same intrinsic energy that is Element Fire. How does the kitten grow
and develop into a cat? It feeds on it's mother's milk, which the mother creates
by drinking water, eating the flesh of other animals and the foliage of plants.
You may think cats are carnivores and in a sense they are but, like all animals
they still need the vitamins contained in plants. Thus the kitten is given the
energy of Elements Water, Earth, and Air through what it's mother eats to provide
the milk. We are the same as the cat and all other animals in that we rely on
the energy of the four Elementals to stay alive, or indeed to live in the first
place.
It is the harnessing of these energies, within our own bodies that allows us
to manipulate the energies we find throughout the world and to change their
forms, drinking water to provide us with fuel for our muscles. We also use our
energies towards psychic activities, to think, to feel. Only one who is indeed
in tune with these energies and can sense the flow of them can truly be called
a Witch or Wiccan because it is the manipulation of these energies that gives
us our Magick.
Energies are within all things, stone, wood, plants, animals, flowers, clouds,
soil and crystals. Crystals are a familiar source of energy, each imparting
a slightly different energy due to the way they were formed, thus we have our
amethyst which pacifies and gently heals, our citrine which provides inspiration
and creative thought patterns, our amber which stimulates the memory, aids the
mind and induces a heightened state of awareness. Crystals are indeed a good
source of energy but we mustn't forget the energy in it's purest form, the Elementals.