i dont hear much abt asian zodiacs??? anyways im year of the dragon how bout yall

I found out recently there’s an elemental component too, every sign is connected to every  element on a 60-year cycle

I amn,, a wood monkey

Metal Lamb, the most hardcore pastel bith youll ever meet

@lost-in-pink - you’re steel wool.

Wood Rat

I was born a water pig, and this is the year of earth pig 🐖

Wood dog- that’s pretty accurate, yah

I'm a fire pig/boar 🐗🐖 which I think is pretty accurate?

Also the elements in Chinese culture have some differences from Western culture. I found this thing awhile back about the Chinese elements and like how to change your parenting style based on your child's dominant element (which could be determined by a pretty extensive personality quiz). It's pretty fascinating tho im sure it's more complex than my limited understanding.

Types of energy: Fire

Introduction to magic masterpost

Fire purifies through destruction. It takes impurities and burns them in to neutral ashes. Refinement by fire is agonizing, even if it is relatively quick.

Fire destroys so that something new may grow from the ashes. It radically takes away. In that manner, it is highly transformative. Someone who wishes to make an intense (albeit painful) change may call upon fire to consume what is holding them back.

You can use fire to destroy by writing what you want destroyed on a piece of paper and burning it. You may channel the energy of fire and direct it to a situation or belief that is holding you back. 

Fire is anything but gentle, but in small doses it may be comforting, warming, and illuminating. The tiny candle flame is made out of the same stuff as raging wildfires, and under the right conditions it will not hesitate to engulf you.

In smaller quantities, fire is known as being passionate, enlivening, and heartening. A little fire added to a spell can quicken it and cause it to take effect rapidly, but with the danger that the situation will burn out before it can really take hold. Include light (electric or flame) in your spell with the direction to have the spell warm up and get to work right away.

Fire is suited to spells of passion and bravery, where willpower and bravado will win over other virtues. Fire can ‘get people going’ or cause someone to act where they normally would not. It can heat up a situation and cause things to get started. To really ‘heat things up’, use peppers, which can cause discomfort and inspire people to move. To inspire bravery, use stones with fiery associations (red or orange in color) to act like a shield. For passion, use images related to what you want your target to become passionate about, and channel fire energy in to them.

Fire can also shed light. A little flame in someone’s life may warm their spirit, and give them a warm lantern to help find their way through the dark. Use a candle or electric light to support someone and light their path. 

Used in conjunction with air, fire can be whip-like and uncontrollable. With earth, fire becomes sturdy and brave, obtaining grounded purpose. Combined with water, fire can be unpredictable, tending towards intense emotion or destruction.

Types of energy: Air

Introduction to magic masterpost

Air is highly associated with the mind and all mental faculties and pursuits, such as academics, business, and communication. It is an element that can take many forms: the gentle and warm summer breeze, the blunt gale that feels like a punch, the cutting cold autumn wind, or the massive storm that tears a town apart.

Air destroys in the same way it heals: it tears everything apart. When the wind whirls through, nothing is left in its wake. All is scattered and torn, tossed carelessly by the skies. But in small doses, air can gently weave through, pulling away at rotted structures, revealing the dead and damp, and showing us the truth behind things we could never see before.

When fire burns away the impurity, air can blow away the ashes, leaving nothing at all in its wake. Call a little air in to stale situations to freshen things up. Focus on the situation, then inhale deeply with your stomach. Exhale, and imagine you are a great airy god blowing new life and vitality in to the situation.

Air can transport your spells. Call upon its powers to send your spells to far-off locations, or help you find hidden things (air touches all). Light incense or obtain a feather and use that as a focus object to call the energies of air to you. Channel air and add it to your spells. With a dash of fire, your spell will arrive at its target in no time.

Air pulls and pries. It rattles weak doors and blows through damaged walls. When you call air in to your corner, it can show you where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Talk to the winds and the breezes and ask them to show you some personal thing you can work on. 

Air can carry you far. It can get you places. When you have your eyes on the prize, air can lift your wings and take you there. Just be sure you have enough earth to get down again when you are where you want to be. Use images of birds in your spells to help move something to where you want it to be.

When it comes to mental pursuits, air is like a sword, cutting through all that stands in its way. Use representations of steel weapons and all on the powers of air to improve your mental prowess, support your education, or gain knowledge. 

Where air flows, energy goes. Hang small paper charms up in a breezy space. As the winds blow through, they will read your wishes and carry them out in to the world.

Combined with fire, air can quickly get out of hand. The two should be carefully paired. Just enough earth can properly ground air so that things come down to earth and manifest once they have flown high enough. Water and air is a potent combination with a great power to destroy.

Types of energy: Water

Introduction to magic masterpost

Water can do many things. It is the great nurturer, necessary for all life on our planet. It is also a great destroyer, washing away forests and cities. Water can dissolve you away in to nothingness, or heal you with its gentle embrace.

Water nurtures what has been damaged, encouraging its natural healing mechanisms, and giving it a safe, protected place to heal before it reenters the world. Once the infection has been destroyed, water can envelop us in its healing embrace, allowing ourselves the distance and security we need to heal on our own. To encourage your own natural healing, be still for a few moments. Think of the water and blood rushing through your arteries and veins. Every part of your body is working to heal you and keep you strong. Water is always with us, always trying to heal us.

Water is associated with romantic and poetic emotions such as romance and love. It is also tied to loving platonic, filial, paternal, and maternal relationships. In a gentle current, water brings life to all that it encounters. 

But water can also represent a deep loathing or hatred, the desire to destroy, codependence, or depression. Where water runs too strongly it always has the chance to run wild and hold dark monsters in its belly. If you are battling any of these issues in your life, try gathering up the watery energies around you and grounding them, then channeling a fiery energy, such as the sun.

Water can nurture your spells and help them grow. It can give spells depth and substance. Pour some clean water in to a bowl or pot and stir it around clockwise. Imagine that the spell is within the water, being brewed and cooked and made to grow strong. It will take on the force and powers of water.

On our planet, water is a universal source of energy. We require it not only to keep ourselves alive, but so does all other life on earth. A cup of fresh water placed on altars is a way to feed it energy; on shrines, it is a welcoming and refreshing gift.

Water is called a universal solvent because it can dissolve more substances than anything else we have discovered. Put pure water in to a spray bottle and spritz it around a room to dissolve unwanted energies and carry them away. Or, leave a bowl of water in a room overnight to absorb negative energies, and toss it out. (To create a cursing water, simply leave a jar of water in a violent and unhappy place for a night or two).

A very important attribute of water is that it is deep. Where water runs, there is always more under the surface. If the stream is clear it is easy to navigate, but be wary when the waters are dark. In small doses water may hug and heal; in large doses, it drags you down to its depths. 

When you encounter a running body of water (including fountains), make a wish. Rub your fingers against your thumb to draw the wish in to your hand. Then, touch the surface of the water to give it your wish. The water will take hold of your desires and rush them along, giving them energy and carrying them out to the world. In the case of the fountain, it will nurture your wish and keep it alive with movement.

If you are going to be in a very tiring and draining situation, draw a cloak of water around yourself. Imagine that any vitriol or slights others send to you are caught up in the water and purified.

Types of energy: Earth

Introduction to magic masterpost

Earth is the foundation for all. Everything that rests, rests upon the earth (unless it’s some kind of fish but just go with me on this one). When you want a strong, long-lasting spell, fill it with earth energy. But be warned that earth is slow. Prepare your situation with fire and air energies so that your earthen spell is already primed for manifestation.

Earth is the body. It is physical. Use earth energies to alter your physical body, while airy glamours change the perceptions others have of us. If you are having pain, try drawing out the painful fiery energies in the area, then filling the same space with soothing water energies. After that, channel the earth and massage the area with strong earthy energy, urging it to heal you.

When the earth breaks, nothing else can stand. Although an earthquake may take a long time to build up, it can be devastating at the base level. It breaks not only what we have above ground, but every support and infrastructure we built below us. 

The earth heals slowly, but it is wonderful, gentle, and worthwhile. Unlike the painful touch of fire that sears away what is unwanted, earth builds us up so we can support what is wanted, and so we will have greater room for prosperity and happiness in our lives. 

Earth energy is suited to dealing with all things physical, such as physical protection, money, jobs, shelter, and relationships. The more earthy energy something has, the more stable and slower-moving it is. If something is going too fast for you, take a representation of it and bury it in a pot of soil. Ask the earth to stabilize things and slow it all down a bit.

A wild and high-flying opportunity may dissipate in to the wind if not grounded properly. Channel earth energy and gently swing some spider-silk loops of energy around a situation and bring it ‘down to earth’, drawing it closer to you.

Help yourself feel more grounded and stable by interacting with sand, soil, or stones. Carry rough or smooth stones with you and imagine the gentle, flowering energy of the earth with you whenever you need it. Help bring stability to someone else by creating a representation of them and keeping it on top of a flat, strong stone.

In order to build anything it must have a proper foundation. Where your attempts at manifestation have failed, draw earth energy in to the situation to lay out a proper environment for building. If the situation is clouded and murky, clear it out beforehand with air and fire.

Some Christians use the elements as pertaining to verses that mention them as aspects of God in the bible (eg burning bush, breath of the Holy Spirit, baptisms in water/living water, making man from earth, etc)

marina v., aether, pt.1 (via findingwordsforthoughts)

From ‘The witch’s master grimoire’ by Lady Sabrina.

Blessing of Fire

Spirit of Fire,

You revealed yourself through the burning bush

and the fiery courage of Pentecost.

Fiery Spirit, Source of all creative power,

Kindle your Holy Spark within me,

Breathe into me your Sacred Passion,

Fill me with you Flame until I have become fire,

Offering warmth and light to the world.

Spirit of Refining Fire,

Help me to release what no longer serves me

To make room for your light to fill me.

Blessings of fire be upon me

May the light of God illuminate me

and may the flame of love burn brightly in me

May I discover each day anew my own hidden fire and

enter it fully.

Praying with Water

The element of water is associated with the West. The sun also sets in the west. It’s the end of the day, a time to recognize our mortality. You begin your life in a watery womb. Your first 9 months are in water.

In religious practice, Water can be a very dominant symbol. Baptism, Ritual bathing, Holy water, the basic cleansing of oneself before stepping in front of the Lord. or Your own God/ Goddess. We know we are not pure…no where near pure enough to stand in front of God. But we find ourselves trying to be worthy. We do this by cleansing ourselves. 

For those who have gone to church…you know your mother made sure you bathed EXTRA well one those sunday mornings….its the same idea. Through water we are born. And when we die water will seep through us when we become part of the earth. We need to drink water to live. Without water we never would be alive, on many levels. 

We come to God through water probably more than the other elements. Jesus walked on water, He turned water into wine. He baptized people in the river. God and Jesus used water to cleanse you and let you start over. Wiping the slate clean. So take a moment and thank him..

5 scripture about Water:

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heave, “ You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

- Mark 1: 9-11

Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.

- John 3:5

God will guide you continually, and satisfy your need in parches place, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

- Isaiah 58:11

Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as gift. -Revelation 22:17

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said: “ Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

- John 7:38

Pagan Blog Project Week 4 : B is for Brother Fire

“Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong." 

-by Francis of Assisi

Working with the Elements can often come up in a Christian Witch/ Christopagans practice. We arent  taught alot about working with the elements in the normal Christian setting and when coming into Paganism its almost like a foreign Idea. But God has often presented himself and used the elements in his favor. So if working with the elements is good enough for God then why is it such a far fetches Idea for the Modern Christian/ Christian Witch/ Christopagan to work with them also.

Fire is the first I will focus on. It is used quite often in the Bible.

Examples:

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11

 "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.“ Deuteronomy 4:24

"He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.” Psalm 104:4

“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed.” Exodus 3:2

The list goes on and on. I would take a day to really get involved in studying what the Bible has to say about Fire. Its fairly Interesting how it is depicted. It cleanses, It destroys. It is even used as a way to speak to God. Fire is used to explain that God is a jealous God. Its is used to baptize and it is used to punish. 

Alot of Christian Witches/ Christopagans have asked me about offerings and what to do with them. Simple answer: 

“And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering”.-1 Chronicles 21:26 

There ya go.

Alot of people say that it is not possible to blend the two but right there in the passage above is a Man of the lord with an Altar and Offerings to God. 

This is just to start you off really. I have always felt that growing closer to the elements would bring you close to God. He created them and often used them to communicate with us, so it really isnt far fetched to think that if we learn and study and work with the elements that we would be closer with  Him. 

Things you can do other than studying Bible verses to feel closer to the Element of Fire :

There are many other things you can do to appreciate the Element of Fire. Its just up to you how you wish to spend the time. Connecting to God with the power of the Elements is a wonderful way to connect with the world around you as well as your Deity.

HAVE FUN :D