Four Keys to Four Elements

The doctrine of elements that elemental magic relies on can be understood through four simple keys, or key points. These four statements, or elemental axioms define and describe the essence of the elemental system.

Four Axioms of the Four Elements

1. Each of the Four Contains All of the Four in the Ratio that Manifests its Nature

Each element consists of all four elemental energies arranged in a particular way. Earth, for example, contains the energies of earth, water, fire, and air in the specific proportions that result in earth energy.

You don't have to know the ration; just know the axiom.  This nature is what allows one element to be converted into another.

2. The Four Elements are Energetic Qualities and the Essences Thereof

The elements are qualitative representations of energy. Earth is stable, water is rhythmic, fire is fast, and air is expanding from potential -- all among other things.

Applied to a person or a condition, earth could be stubborn or deep-rooted, water could be flexible or hard to pin down, fire could be motivation or high energy, and air could be knowledgeable or progressive. The elements are qualifiers for other energies, or people, places, things, and ideas.

On a deeper level each element is the subtle essence of its qualities. Raw elemental water is the etheric current from which the qualities of water emerge; the subtle or mystical energy that is pure receptivity and adaptability, among other things.

PAY ATTENTION TO: I often say "among other things" after telling you what one of the elements is or after listing a suite of qualities for an element. This is a constant reminder that each element is many (many!) things; the elemental codex is vast and runs deep.

3. The Four Elements Exist in a Hierarchy of Frequency from Densest to Finest

The elements naturally arrange themselves in order from lowest frequency of energy to highest frequency of energy or vice versa. In ascending order this hierarchy is:

1. Earth is the most dense or slow-vibrating energy.
2. Water is a slightly higher-frequency energy.
3. Fire is a high-energy frequency.
4. Air is the finest vibration of the four, very high frequency. 

4. The Four Elements are Defined Relative to Each Other

The nature of each element emerges from its relations with the other elements. First is fast because earth is still and water is rhythmic or pulsing. Air is expanded compared to fire's laser-focus, water's meandering, and earth's single point.

These traits of interconnectedness and integration are the binding of the system, an explanation for why elemental magic works as it does, and a simple set of descriptions to help you understand the elements as individuals and a collective.