Alternative Elementals, For Those Beyond the Greek System Options

Here's a challenge. What elementals would you associate with elements outside of the four classic Greek elements? What would you imagine to be a Solar Elemental, or a Wood Elemental, Metal Elemental, Ice Elemental? First, imagine. Then, try to evoke and see if what you call upon matches what you've imagined.

I associate foxes with the Solar Element, personally. Wolves with the Lunar Element. The Fair Folk with the Wood Element. Strangely, I imagine a Crane being linked to the Metal Element (don't ask me why, I have no idea).

You're not off on your idea...

Actually, the only "true" elements out there are the 102 elements on the scientific periodic table... (But then again, that's only because there's only one kind of atom in each sample...)

Elements in the magickal sence are much more "complecated" than their scientific counterparts. Partly because each element represents a certain emotion or type of willpower...

Ex: Fire for robust, or energeic spirit, or for the occasional love spell, fiery passion...

These magical elements are referred to their emotional or will invoking properties. Thus, there's no telling how many elements you can have, knowing the amount of complicated human emotions that are floating out there... It all depends on what each emotion/element means to you....

It's kinda like playing an RPG. You have a set of elements to go by, each are either stronger or weaker than the next, and all of them are most commonly understood in that gaming world.... Our world is no different. We all have "elements" in our world, and all of us have certain ideas on how they conflict or help each other out....

(By the way... the whole "Crane = Metal element" thing is more of an Native American {Aztec? or Ican?} approch on magick... Got any in your veins, Rin?)

(Actually, all of your elemental matchups are Native American... Couse they were also practicers of eastern ways of magick as well.....)

(Actually, all of your elemental matchups are Native American... Couse they were also practicers of eastern ways of magick as well.....)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shok.gif) They are? I had no idea! I just imagined what felt right. I have a bit of Native American in me - my grandmother is metis, but I never looked into that side of my "ancestry" because it doesn't interest me in the slightest.

(Actually, all of your elemental matchups are Native American... Couse they were also practicers of eastern ways of magick as well.....)

Um..just curious, but how were Native Americans practioners of "Eastern" ways of Magick?

-Frater F.A.M.E.

First to diffine alternitive elements- Metal (earth), solar (fire), life in place of wood (air) and ice (water). For spirit I choose the void.

A metal elemental I picture as a man/machine. A massive golem like creation that has thick metal plates for a body. Or a knight's armor brought to life in a similar manner as a golem.

A solar elemental I consider dual- also lunar. Metaphorically this is like fire and ashe or youth and age. I picture as a young male with a bright yellow/orange glow who sits on a thrown in the sky with a golden mace. Or a phenox as a lesser elemental. For the lunar aspect of this element I picture an old man with an grey oak staff and pale skin long white hair and beard dressed in a black hooded cloak.

A life elemental I picture as a beautiful female pale green skin and forgiving eyes. Dressed in white garments and covered with vines and flowers with wings of a dragon fly.

For the ice elemental I see a white chinese style dragon. With blue eyes and blue under tone. I also see a yeti.

For the void (oposite of spirit) elemental I see a faceless shadow ever watching and ever chacing the being that casts it as it naturally would. For the akashic void (oposite of collective spirit) I see a massive black chaos dragon. I can't see any features other than a nebula like gas being spite from its mouth like a beam of color or pure energy perhaps. This dragon could swallow the whole solar system. - metaophically this would be the equavilant of the super black hole in the center of our galaxy.

This post has been edited by Acid09: Jun 23 2005, 02:33 PM

Very nice! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Digital Elemental: A blue rabbit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I have a different interpretation of the void elemental.

A ghost figure, wrapped completely in black so
dark it freezes the soul.

Appearing still and silent, mouth unable to speak, eyes
not watching, ears not hearing.

Yet owning awareness so deep that nothing escapes.

When she moved it would be as she alone stood still
while the entire universe revolved around her.

Unable to grasp her, unable to move her, unable to see
her face, or find the slightest trace of where she has
come from or follow her to where she is going.

Cease to learn by what happens, grasp instead what is not.
Watch where she is not, for see her you can not.
Hear what she does not say, for what she says can not be heard.

She would be the essence of evasion. The perfect ghost.

Oh my god, what a wonderful thing!

How beautiful the void! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

Then, if you want to have some fun, you can have what I call a "Gear Elemental" which is the essence of Order, also
Magma
Mineral
Steam
Lightning
Radiance
Smoke
Dust
Salt
Vacuume
Ash
Crystal
Clay
Obsidian
Spark
Frost
Silt
Pumice
Fumes
Ooze
Positive Energy
Negitive Energy
The fun part is creating new elementals from combining the others. Hence the list above.

There is an elemental for everything. There are CD elementals, pixel elementals, bookshelf elementals, shaving scum elementals...

I favor the company of cheese elementals. They are wonderful, happy creatures who make my cheesy meals taste better, and they are happy with being eaten; they understand that they aren't being destroyed, but rather, they are performing their purpose: being eaten, and spreading happiness. n_n

I think I shall summon a cheese elemental tomorrow, to have as a pet for a day. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

I use a basic four-fold elemental model. The four elements of my elemental model are: Earth; Water; Air; and, Fire. I interassociate those four basic elements to elucidate each element.

For example:

Earth is elucidated by Water of Earth; Air of Earth; and, Fire of Earth.

Water is elucidated by Earth of Water; Air of Water; and, Fire of Water.

etc.. for the other two elements.

Note: the three-fold interassociations that elucidate each of the four elements do not imply that an element results from combining together its eluciations. i.e. Earth does not result from the combination of Water, Air, and Fire; Water does not result from the combination of Earth, Air, and Fire; etc...


**********


Although the three-fold elucidations are not constituents of each element, I do combine the four elements to form eleven compounds: six combinations of two elements; four combinations of three elements; and one combination of the four elements. Each compound has a unique name.

For example:

Loam = earth + water

etc.. for the other ten compounds.

I see 6 elements and everything a subset, or combo

Ex.

Earth Subsets: Metal, Rock, Life

Earth+Water: Marsh, Wood

Earth+fire: Ash, Magma, Crystal

Water Subsets: Cold, Rejuvenation

Water+Air: Mist, Rain

Air Subsets: Wind, Sustenance

Air+Fire: More fire

Fire Subsets: Heat, Kaboom

Light Subsets: Sun, Lightning

Light+Dark: Spirit, Time, Chaos

Dark Subsets: Moon, Shadow

woof

I see 6 elements and everything a subset, or combo

Ex.

Earth Subsets: Metal, Rock, Life

Earth+Water: Marsh, Wood

Earth+fire: Ash, Magma, Crystal

Water Subsets: Cold, Rejuvenation

Water+Air: Mist, Rain

Air Subsets: Wind, Sustenance

Air+Fire: More fire

Fire Subsets: Heat, Kaboom

Light Subsets: Sun, Lightning

Light+Dark: Spirit, Time, Chaos

Dark Subsets: Moon, Shadow

woof

I've never thought of it like that, interesting.

Earth = Solid
Water = Liquid
Air = Gas
Fire = Plasma

In the russian modern esoteric schools they considered these new elementals:
magnetids,electrinds,and psicheids...
so they have 7 kinds of elementals...there is an idea, ain't it?

Very interesting stuff.

As an update - I still use a basic 4 fold elemental model (earth, water, air, and fire)
However, I no longer inter-associate those four for elucidating each other in the method of: water of earth; air of earth; fire of earth; etc...

I have learned the hard way that, for me, establishing such inter-association does not work - because it triggers a squirrely maze of increasingly convoluted and meshed meanings, the endless iteration of which stirs up such a muddy mess in the sub-conscious/awareness that symbolic integrity deteriorates and magickal effectiveness significantly weakens.

I noticed the problem when it got to the point of seismic semantic drifts, where I increasingly could not to keep the associated meanings clear and consistent with the elemental symbolism in everyday recall. For a while, I just dismissed it as the early onset of starting to have "Senior Moments". But when I got around to doing an elemental evocation to check on why an earth ritual seemed to backfire, the entity that appeared in the double tetrahedron looked like the love child of The Blob crossed with a bucket of barf. Needless to say, that brought any further working involving the elements to an immediate halt. I had to exhaustively evoke them all, banish, mop out the slop and oozing mess they all left behind in the elemental zone of my microcosm, and basically start all over again summoning Primes from The Absolute Pattern, binding them, invoking them, etc... Since I had become aware of the consequences and paying proper attention, I caught it early on when it started happening again and discovered what I explained above that I learned above. The hard part was having to clean them all out (just to be sure) and go through the re-establishment ritual rigamaroll yet again.

That was it for me right there.
No more inter-associated elemental elucidations for this Mage.

However, the alchemical combinations of four elements to form eleven compounds (six combinations of two elements - four combinations of three elements - and one combination of the four elements) works not only well, but even better than before because I always had the other part of the model in operation causing the entire system to decompose into hideously living cosmic compost.


The one upside to all this was that all the clean-up and re-establishment ritual work required taking the traditional "Elemental Weapons" offline due to taint - and I was able to retire them at long last. Even though I knew that it was gooey glop from the system glitch that caused them to be less effective than they otherwise should have been (which I hate to admit should have been my first warning sign, but I knew ignored it because I loved ceremoniously swinging around the ol' Weapons), I wanted to shift from using them, to using something a bit more more elegant to match finally polishing my sphere (circle) casting technique.

I am currently working on considering ideas for what I am going to enchant to take their place that will Git 'Er Done!

This post has been edited by Praxis: Nov 12 2011, 10:42 PM

I like the whole Earth Water Air Fire thing largely for the fact that not only can so many personality types be identified with them, but also going in the previous order we have Solids Liquids Gases and Reaction/Change. I had a nice dream which gave me some insight into the "element" of Darkness, but I'm still working out a few other "elements" which I feel have everything to do with it. Will post more on that later. Probably.

Darkness as an element?
Do tell!

Wait a minute - would that mean that Light as complement would also be an element in your model?

More, please!

Well, I'm still working on it, but, symbolically speaking, light is what allows us to see, and therefore Darkness would be the unknown, the unforeseen, or that which is yet to exist in a quantifiable manner. To an ultimate being, if it is yet to be known, it could be made to be known as anything. Another way to put it would be that, to that ultimate being, it is already known to be exactly what they desire it to be. I could wax poetic about it all day, but the general idea is that Darkness would represent the chaos from which all we "allow" to be comes from. Of course that all probably only makes sense to people like myself who have rather circular views about God. My views on God are both Pantheistic and Panentheistic. Although that has to do with my belief in something akin to the Akasha. More Jainism than Hinduism.

Although I wouldn't really count light as an element.