Picture courtesy of Pixabay
I created the Elemental Balancing Ritual in 2004 and I have used it ever since then as a year-long (or more) magical working dedicated to an element that I work with during that year, as a means of both doing internal work and aligning myself with the elemental energy I’m working with. Elements I’ve worked with include earth, fire, and water, but also include emptiness, love, movement, still, and creativity. This year I’m working with the elements of Connection and Truth, which is the first time I’ve worked with two elements, but there’s a reason for it, because of the spirits I’m working with.
My definition of an elemental energy and/or spirit differs from the conventional definition which only recognize 5 elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit in the West and Earth, Water, Wood, Metal, and Fire in the East. I’m not basing my definition of elements solely on a seasonal perspective or from the perspective of what constitutes the Earth in a primal sense of the word. Instead I consider elements to be primal forces that move us and are mediated by us. For emptiness, as an element is something most people grapple with at some point in their lives and it is something that can move a person to take actions to try and fill that emptiness or come to peace with it.
I first created the elemental balancing ritual because I was asked to come up with a Samhain ritual for the college Pagan group I was part of at the time. I decided to develop something entirely new that worked with the classic 5 elements. I asked participants to identify an element in their lives that they felt weak in or not as connected with. The idea was to dedicate a year to work with that element and learn lessons from it that could help them achieve balance.
How we originally did this is that once the element was picked, the person then picked a spirit to work with that could mediate that element. they could go the classic route and work with traditional spirits such as the elemental kings or archangels or they could work with a pop culture spirit that embodied the element. We did a dedication ritual where you meditated with the spirit and after that for the next year you would meditate each day and connect with the element.
Within a couple of years I modified the ritual because I realized that the 5 classic elements were too confining. I decided to consider the question of what an elemental really is and came up with the definition I shared above. Then I picked an element I needed to work with, in this case sound, and found that working with a non-traditional element was viable. I proceeded to continue working with non-traditional elements and found that the work was life transforming, helping me find balance in areas of my life where I needed to do the work.
I have continued to modify this working as needed. For instance, for a long time I only worked with an element for a year until I had a realization that I really needed to work an element for longer and decided to do a two year working. I have even worked with elements for three years.
When you create a magical working, such as the elemental balancing ritual, its useful to consider that once you know it works, you can come up with and break your own rules. There’s nothing that requires you to do a self-created ritual a specific way, beyond you choosing to do it that way. And as a consequence you may quickly realize this also applies to other peoples’ workings. When you know a working inside and out, look at how you might change and modify it to fit what you need and will help you achieve your results.
