~ thoughts on parenting, paganism, science, books, witchcraft, nature, feminism, unitarian universalism, herbalism, cooking, conservation, crafting, the state of humanity, and life by the sea
In our family practice, we call the elements by “their S names”–Sea, Sky, Stone, and Spark. Sea because of its role in the water cycle and because it is a a significant part of our bioregion. Stone because it is another name for “rock” (the rock cycle!) and because it is the origin of sand and soil. Sky because its is mostly air, and the interaction between the different states of air here and there drive our weather and climate. And Spark because, IMO what has traditionally been called “fire” is really energy (and by energy, I mean solar energy, heat energy, chemical reaction energy, gravitational energy, electrical energy, etc). While Sea, Stone, and Sky can act and be acted upon, Spark is truly the only active element–Spark drives the waves and tides, the winds and currents, erosion and plate tectonics.
But, when we think about the qualities of the elements and how we can incorporate them into ourselves, many of the tradition (and not so traditional) associations and correspondences still hold true. Many of the not-at-all-traditional sources of these associations and correspondences can be quite enjoyable and instructive as well…
…which is why Avatar: The Last Air Bender (the cartoon, not the movie) is part of our “video grimoire” as Chickadee calls it.
(because who wouldn’t want to be a bender?)
Uncle Iroh: Fire is the element of power the people of the fire nation have desire and will and the energy to achieve what they want.
Earth is the element of substance the people of the earth kingdom are diverse and strong, they are persistent and enduring.
Air is the element of freedom. The air nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor.
Water is the element of change. The people of the water tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.
Prince Zucho: Why are you telling me these things?
Uncle Iroh: It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements and the other nations will help you become whole.
from Avatar: The Last Airbender; Season 2, episode 9, around the 13 minute mark
Ecosophy, or ecological wisdom starts with one’s wisdom about their own bioregion. As a Pagan, and a person that feels quite strongly about their bioregion, I think it our duty to get to know our personal loci and how interacts with the earth as a whole. As a witch, I think a useful way to do this is to look at the elements of our ecosystem as…well, as Elements.
If you have other activities or ideas that you can think of, particularly anything pertinent to a different ecosystem than mine, feel free to chime in!
Water
Water is the only substance found naturally on earth in all three physical states–gas, liquid, and solid. In a 100-year period, a water molecule will spend 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere. In terms of volume, if Earth were the size of basketball, its water would be the size of a ping pong ball. Water covers some 72% of the Earth’s surface, and 96.5% of it is ocean. Another 2% is frozen in permafrost, glaciers, and ice sheets. Most of the rest is groundwater, more than half of which is saline. The world’s rivers are the most used source of water, but if all the water in the world were “boiled down” to a single gallon, the world’s rivers would only be about 9 drops of water.
1) What is the water cycle and how does it work? Draw a picture of the water cycle.
2) List the Earth’s major oceans and river systems. How much is seawater, freshwater, landlocked, in the icecaps?
3) What watershed do you reside in? What type of pollution is the water in your watershed exposed to? How many people reside in your watershed area? How much area does it cover? What are the usage pressures on your watershed?
4) Where does your water come from, and how is it treated? In your home, what do you use water for? How much water do you use? How much water is used in household activities? Can you reduce the water you use?
5) Learn 5 species of native fishes. Are they common or are they threatened or endangered? What are their lifecycles? Do they face any ecological challenges? What role do they play in their ecosystem? Are they edible or useful to humans? What can you do to help to help their ecological success? If it is possible, go out and find them.
6) Learn 5 species of native aquatic plants, algae, or plankton. Are they common or are they threatened or endangered? What are their lifecycles? Do they face any ecological challenges? What role do they play in their ecosystem? Are they edible or useful to humans? What can you do to help to help their ecological success? If it is possible, go out and find them.
7) Learn 5 species of other native organisms such as shellfish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, etc that primarily reside in your area’s waters. Are they common or are they threatened or endangered? What are their lifecycles? Do they face any ecological challenges? What role do they play in their ecosystem? Are they edible or useful to humans? What can you do to help their ecological success? If it is possible, go out and find them.
8) What species in your watershed are invasive? Where are they found? How did they get there? What are the challenges of getting rid of them? How are they being combated? What species do they threaten and/or problems do they cause? What can you do to help remove them from your ecosystem? If it is possible, go out and find them.
9) How does the local population interact with your watershed? If you live somewhere where water is plenty, is there a dam or mill, is the economy dependent on commercial fishing or recreation such as boating or fishing, is there a naval base or coast guard station, or a port? If you live somewhere where water is scarce, how is water use managed? What are the challenges for farming or ranching or other water dependent activities?
10) Using the information in questions 2-9, revist question 1 and recreate the water cycle as it occurs in your specific watershed. Include yourself as part of the water cycle.
Action Bonus: List the things that you can do to protect your local watershed. Look up local organizations doing this work and volunteer and/or do some of these things on your own. Make this a regular part of your life, whether it be helping with the annual beach clean-up or taking a trash bag with you and cleaning up a local creekside trail as you hike once a week.
Activities to try: (some ideas, which may or may not be applicable to your ecosystem) Swimming, fishing, boating, catching frogs, taking a visit your local water treatment plant, foraging for aquatic edibles, colleccting shells, surfing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, skipping rocks, visiting an aquarium, tending a home aquarium, volunteering with stranding rescue, cleaning up your local waterways, teaching water safety, etc
With kids: A dip net and a coffee can (to make an underwater view-finder) will go a long way. Add a bucket, a magnifying glass, and a field guide, and things get even more fun. There are any number of teacher’s guides online (like this one for 6th grade or this entire program) that offer lesson plans on stream ecology and stream sampling–many of these can be adopted for a family (heck, you don’t even have to be a kid to get something from it!). If you are willing to spend a little bit of money, a kit like this will help
May the blessings of water be upon you,
The soft sweet rain to wash you tenderly and nourish you,
A rushing river to carry you forward,
The vast depths of the sea to bring you wisdom.
Water is the element of flow*. Of ebb and tide, of stormy seas and gently meandering streams, of deep still pools and majestic rushing rivers, of awe-inspiring waterfalls and the splash of small children through puddles after rain or dew drops strung on a morning spider web like pearls. The magic of water is that it flows, that it shapes itself into the landscape and in turn–patiently over aeons or swiftly in an instant–reshapes the landscape. Water is the blood of the earth, soaking into the body of the earth, giving life (along with the kiss of the sun and the breath of the winds). But it can also be a wall of destruction, obliterating whatever (and whomever) is in its path.
*I completely and utterly swear that I did not steal this phrase from Diane Sylvan (at least not intentionally!)–I had 2/3 of this post written when I happened to unpack the boxes of books that Hubby brought home from the storage unit and discovered my copy of The Circle Within, and (thinking there was a bath/shower ritual in it that would be good to include) cracked it open, only to discover this very sentence in her opening description for Mabon and Samhain being holidays of water…lol!
Scientifically speaking*, water is a wonderfully simple molecule whose unique properties make life possible on our planet. Just three atoms–two of hydrogen and one oxygen, covalently bonded in such a way that it forms a ~105 degree angle**. And yet, it is this simplicity that allows water to float in solid form (ice) when nearly all other substances sink, to stick together (cohesion and surface tension) and to stick to other substances (adhesion) in a way that lets it travel though the vessels of plants and animals (capillary action), to dissolve more substances than any other liquid (universal solvent), and more–all which makes it part of the basic cycles and processes of life.
*For me, knowing the scientific particulars of something is just as important to its spiritual importance as understanding its classical symbolism and mythology in building new understandings, as well as new ideas of how to relate to it and how to use it. Plus I’m just a science geek
**Some estimates put the angle of the water molecule around 105 point something-or-other closer to 106 degrees. Considering I recently read an article on some new observations in the hydrogen bonding of water molecules that changes how they interact, all that really suggests to me is that we are still figuring stuff out!.
Traditional Correspondences: Gender association–feminine Colors–green, also oceanic colors Astrological signs–Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces Other symbolism–cup/chalice, undine (and other water spirits), Autumn, the cardinal direction of West Deities–actually Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive list of sea and river deities, though they left out La Sirene (a favorite of mine) among others, and overstate the connection of the deity to water in a few (cross-referencing is always a good idea, regardless of the source, but particularly with a wiki) Associations–death/rebirth/birth, pregnancy and childbirth, creation, creativity, divination, dreams, healing, emotions, release of emotion, weather, affection, body parts–body fluids, kidneys and bladder, brain, circulatory and lymph systems, breasts and female genitalia, and ears (along with air), peace, transformation/transition/change, chaos, cleansing (purification), blessing, compassion, empathy, the subconscious and unconscious, contracts, courage, fear (overcoming or confronting), and nourishment
The personal quality of Water is feeling. Emotion flows, following its own path, which may meander. Emotion runs deep, with mysteries not visible on the surface. Emotions can be like sunken treasure, hiding secrets at the bottom of the waters of memory or the subconscious. Emotionality and mood swings are, of course, associated with the moon, as are secrets-those things that are just barely visible, lit by moonlight and not exposed to the sun. In the Tarot, the Moon card is full of watery images, such as crustaceans crawling out of the water, and the card’s meaning is rooted in secrets, mysteries, and hidden knowledge. Water is female, and looks within.
Deborah Lipp, The Way of Four
Adapting correspondences:
If you are a regular reader of my blog, it comes of no surprise that I’ve made some changes, adaptations, etc to the conventional correspondences that fit my practice and beliefs better. I’m a big believer in witchcraft being an extension of one’s geography–to *grok* the forces and cycles that are native to one’s location and act as a force of change. As such, I work with water a bit differently. To start with, I have a body of water where I live…with its own personality, neither of which (the location or its energy) fit entirely with the traditional directional or seasonal associations (and I’m willing to bet that your local body of water doesn’t either). So they’ve been changed to fit where I live.
Here where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic, the energy of water is Eastward, and its season is the spring. The Bay works best for cleansing, blessing and transformative magic, and it is great for grounding energy and releasing magic, and not too bad at just about anything–even things that aren’t normally associated with water. With such proximity to the ocean (and the Bay, which is fed by many rivers and streams), deities that make themselves known aren’t bound to any particular pantheon, but rather like the tide, to the mood and season of the sea (and to particular places). As such, Thalassa, Sedna, Psamathe, Neptune and Salacia, La Sirene, and Acionne are the deities I’m the most familiar with.
Getting to Know Water:
Its been my experience that when someone prefers something over another (or feels they are better at it), it often means that the other can get forgotten. If water isn’t your “thing” (and even if it is), there are quite a few things to do to *grok* the essential energy of water in order to work it more effectively.
Go skinny dipping–Sure, just swim-suited swimming works too…but if you can find a place where you can swim sans clothing, its completely and utterly a different experience. Also, if you aren’t a swimmer, consider taking swimming lessons to increase your comfort level in the water.
Play in the rain–Without shoes, if possible and in a muddy puddle, if you can find one. If its not raining, sit by a stream or a waterfall–better yet, play in the stream and sit under the waterfall. If you feel silly, drag your kids along as an excuse–if you don’t have your own, borrow someone else’s kids (with their permission of course)!
Check our your faucets: take a shower, soak in the bath, drink a glass of water (mindfully!)…and if you have ever been somewhere that you can take your glass and dip it in a lake and drink without worrying about pollution or disease, count yourself lucky (one of my favorite places, ever).
Clean up a stream or your lake, beach, riverfront, etc.
Visit an aquarium…it could be your own, one of the giant tanks of native fish at a camping store, the pet store, or a dedicated aquarium, either way, veg out with the fishies!
Watch SharkWeek, or DisneyNature’s Oceans or (Chickadee’s favorite) Turtle: The Incredible Journey, or The Blue Planet series, etc (all of these are avaliable via Netflix, HuluPlus or Amazon, and if you check out PBS, Nature and Nova have free streaming of many of their programs–Nature’s Ocean Giants is available to watch until May 4). Seriously, how often does someone tell you to watch TV to be a better witch?!?!
Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap. (This is also the number 1 question on the Bioregional quiz discussed in Chas Clifton’s essay, Nature Religion for Real)
Water in Ritual:
Water rituals are healing, flowing and feminine. Any ritual involving women’s mysteries, childbirth, or gentle change are sympathetic to water. One delightful ritual I helped with had all the practitioners draw symbols of healing on the sidewalk with chalk, which an impending rainstorm carried away to the gods. Water is most often a loving element, though if you’ve ever been in a flash flood, you know it can rage. It represents the wide gamut of our emotions.
Diane Sylvan, The Circle Within
Ritual water works in two ways — it gives and it takes away. It gives health, wealth and wisdom because of its sacred origins or its blessed condition. It takes away evil, back luck or the spiritual grime of daily life by virtue of its purity or its simple cleansing properties.
One of the easiest ways to add the power of water into ritual is to start with a ritual most of us already do with water–bathing. Use water to not just wash away the physical grime, but to wash away stress, negativity, etc. Visualize the energy of water raining down onto and into your body, washing away (as Chickadee would say) “all the mad things and bad things and sad things” that you’ve seen or felt or thought towards yourself and towards others, as your psyche is rinsed clean. Diane Sylvan (whose descriptions of making the daily rituals a ritual ares more poetic) has a novel idea (in that I haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere) that even brushing one’s teeth “can be a way of scrubbing away dishonesty, making room for you to speak the truth, or it can simple bring your attention to the words you say.”
Ivan Kupala Day, a traditional Ukrainian holiday is a day of water and fire (click the pic & follow the link, its pretty interesting!).
The same sort of cleansing can be done on a larger, more transformational, level in a ritual at a waterfall, shallow stream or at the beach. Focusing on ridding oneself of a bad habit, negativity, etc and then “refilling” one’s self with positive energy, better habits, etc can be easily done with any source of running water, but it is especially suited to the change of the tide. I’ve done this at the beach, one of the few times I worry about proper spell/ritual timing, where the outgoing tide is used to “pull” the unwanted out, and “push” the wanted in. This is a ritual that can also be done with just visualization, but (IMO) there is something about making the effort to go to a special place and do a ritual that makes rituals or spells meant to mark something life-changing, that gives them more power.
Cleansing and blessing rituals involving water are pretty universal, crossing cultures and religions, from Christian baptisms to ritual purity traditions in Judaism, and beyond. Water-based rituals aren’t just for the body and soul, but are great for cleansing items as well, and to cast away (biodegradable and environmentally friendly) spell components of spells that one wishes to deconstruct/deactivate. Blessed/holy water (tutorial in the links below) can be used to cleanse the home and to cleanse items. Other powerful water rituals include those for grieving (after all, grief is a sort of cleansing process), for fertility, and for growth (particularly in conjunction with earth), as well as rituals that invoke or involve water deities or spirits.
Ask not what your elements can do for you…after all, these posts are called SERVING the elements!
There are really two big threats to water–overuse and pollution. Both are problems in most places, but which problem is more of a problem can vary (like the recent drought in Texas) and both water conservation, to combat water overuse, and pollution prevention start with us.
Most home water use occurs out of doors (depending on where you live, anywhere from 30-70% of home water use goes to water the lawn and landscaping; estimates vary, but most suggest that only 30-50% of water used actually does what it is intended to). Indoors, the toilet is the biggest water user, followed by the shower/bathtub. For advice on how to conserve water in and around the home, check out your regional water authority–most of them offer their own advice for the area where you live.
Water pollution is a bit more complex of an issue, with multiple sources of pollution–storm water runoff, outdoor home water use (landscape/lawn watering is often accompanied by fertalizing, which mostly washes into the local watershed), chemical pollutants (indoor and outdoor), pet waste, plastics pollution (which I blogged about last fall), cigarette butts, and more. One of the biggest things that we can do to control our waste (and possible/probable) pollution is to control our purchases and to control how we dispose of them. Eschewing disposable items in favor of reusable ones, choosing renewable, recyclable or biodegradable materials over ones with an indefinite lifetime in the waste stream (increasing their chances of getting into the ocean), using environmentally friendly cleaners, and choosing native plant landscaping and reducing fertilizer and pesticide use are all ways to minimize pollution into our watersheds.
Other things we can do to protect our sources of water include supporting local conservation organizations with their efforts–our local organizations plant beach grasses in the sand dunes to protect the coast line for erosion, host an annual clean-up day of the Chesapeake Bay, plant sea grasses further inland as wildlife habitat, promote rain barrel use, provide oysters for people living along the shore to “plant”, etc. Even if you don’t live somewhere coastal, local organizations can often offer guidance on planting native species or creating rain gardens, or on local conservation initiatives.
bay witch musings 