Faeries & Elementals for Beginners: Learn About & Communicate With Nature Spirits (19 page)

was grieving a significant death, I found that the choppy

waters of my own emotions were impossible for me to nav-

igate without help from a grief counselor. If you find yourself unable to move past a loss, please talk with your doctor for a referral to help you, so you won’t find your own life adrift.

Since the death of my father has been the most difficult

for me to process so far, I thought I’d share a brief story about him. It turns out that one night he proved himself

to be an accidental magician, performing a water ritual to banish his sorrow regarding the year in which he was diag-nosed with terminal cancer. On New Year’s eve, he wrote

the year on a piece of toilet paper, tossed it into the toilet and peed upon it triumphantly at midnight. I’m quite certain this action must have surprised the undines.

When he died, I know that we loved each other, but I

still felt that there were so many more things I wanted to say to him. It was some time before I moved to a healthy

Undines—Elementals of Water • 153

stage of grief where I felt that I could communicate freely with him among my ancestors. The need to say goodbye is a

common one, and I hope that the following ritual for grieving will help the bereaved find a sense of closure.

This ritual is a modified version of one in which I’ve

participated in which small boats holding candles are set

adrift in a lake to carry love to the dead. However, I frown on the original ritual now because of the environmental

and fire hazard that can be presented when flaming tinfoil boats are discarded into the wilderness. Instead, you will create a boat out of a piece of fruit, burn the candle within it, and then cast your fruit boat into a body of water.

For this ritual, you will need a small tea-light candle

of the color blue, an orange, and a body of water. Even a

bucket of water will do in a pinch, and fruit substitutions can be made, although I suggest an apple or pomegranate

if you don’t use an orange, since they are fruits associated with goddesses of life and death in various cultures and

legends. For dressing the candle, I suggest using a perfume or cologne that reminds you of the deceased, or making or

buying an oil of frankincense. You can perform this entire ritual in a magic circle if you like, or simply prepare the fruit in it before the ritual casting of the fruit-candle-boat into natural water.

If you use an orange, you can make the candle out of

the orange peel. With the stem at the bottom of the boat,

cut the orange in half, or leave a little more than half on the bottom so that the edges of your boat curl a little inward, making it more likely to float. Pull out the flesh of the

orange. The stem of the orange inside the peel will be the
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wick of your candle. Simply pour a bit of olive oil, along with your candle dressing into the peel without entirely

submerging the wick. Don’t use too much olive oil or you

may swamp your wick or sink your boat.

If you use another sort of fruit, cut your fruit in half,

eating one half and carving the other half of your piece of fruit into a boat that will hold a tea-light. It is very difficult to make a hollow half of fruit that is actually seaworthy, so if that is important to you, I suggest bringing a bucket or cauldron of water into your circle to test. You can also make it temporarily seaworthy by making a larger boat out of tinfoil upon which your fruit boat may rest. Be careful not to litter at the end of your ritual.

Carve the name of the deceased on the candle and dress

it with oil, perfume or cologne by rubbing from the mid-

line outward toward the ends in a clockwise manner. When

your fruit boat is carved, face west to address the undines and ask them to carry your message to the dead. Cup the

boat and whisper your message into it like it was a wait-

ing ear. Thank the undines and place your tea light into the boat, lighting it. At any point from this time on, you have completed the creation of the boat ritual tool, so you can close the magic circle or keep it up until you feel ready to take it down, remembering not to wander in and out of its

boundaries.

You can allow the tea light to burn completely, and then

cast the shell of the boat into a natural body of water. Or, you can attempt to float the burning tea-light in its boat, if you like. If you set your lit boat in a natural body of water, though, I advise you to make sure that any metal or plastic
Undines—Elementals of Water • 155

of the tea light is removed and that you stand vigil until it burns out in a place where you could retrieve the candle if it threatened to start a fire.

A Healing Exercise

In mythology, the element of water is associated with youth, healing and eternal life, from the fountain of youth to the Holy Grail. I find that the symbolism of water as a healing element is not only because water is needed to sustain life, but because water as a representation of emotions can show mind over matter. If you can control the rolling boil of your thoughts and attitude, you can heal yourself from

within. This exercise is to bless water for drinking, asking the undines to enter the body to heal it with calm love. This exercise can be performed at a time of great need, and the blessed water can be taken to a loved one who is in the hospital, or it can be performed as part of your daily wellness maintenance, drinking the water to wash down medication

or vitamins.

You will need some drinking water and freshly washed

hands, since you will be touching the water with your fin-

gers. You’ll also need a cauldron or a bowl. I like to add a bit of lemon juice to my water for flavor and the healing

properties of lemons, and also a bit of blue food coloring to honor the undines and remind myself what the water is for

when I see it in the fridge so that I don’t inadvertently use it for other purposes.

Cast a magic circle during a full moon, preferably on a

Tuesday, which has power to help heal physical illnesses and
156 • Chapter Five

mend the body after surgery. Pour the drinking water into

a bowl, add your extra flavorings and colorings if desired, and then seat yourself with your fingertips placed into the water. Visualize yourself completely healthy, taking care to keep a vision of yourself after healing is complete, rather than thinking about how you are going to get to that place in your life. Positive thinking and emotional control is vital when working with undines, so if you are feeling depressed and vulnerable, put off performing the exercise until you

can handle your emotions.

As you hold your visualization, remember that your

body already knows how to heal itself miraculously from

a multitude of conditions. In each cell of your body are the waters of life and the blueprints for building your health.

Turn yourself to the west and ask the undines for their help.

Raise undine energy by chanting something like this:

Waters of my body, mind, and soul.

Undines combine to heal me whole.

Chant with force and joy until you feel the healing

energy wring itself from your fingertips into the water,

feeding it to the undines. Thank the undines for their aid and close the magic circle. You can put the water back into a bottle, or portion it out into several bottles if desired.

Store it in the refrigerator for cool, healing refreshment during your time of need, and try to consume all of it by

the next full moon, allowing the water to wash away all illness during the waning phase and to build up your wellness during the waxing phase.

Undines—Elementals of Water • 157

Exercise for gaining control of one’s emotions

I’ve always had a hard time controlling my emotions, espe-

cially anger. I’d like to blame it on my culture or my gender, but it is probably a trait I’ve developed over a lifetime of poor decision making when I felt rage coming on. This

exercise is one that can be performed to quench a fire of

anger the night before confronting a lover or coworker that has raised your ire. Hopefully it will allow you to avoid

going to bed angry and will cause you to wake up with a

clear head. This exercise can also be used to water down

other negative emotions, such as sadness or fear. However, if you find your moods severely affecting your life and if they arrive often and for a sustained period, you should talk with your doctor. There may be an underlying serious illness affecting your emotions.

This exercise is best performed during a waning moon

on a Saturday, to help take away negativity. You will need some water, a bowl or cauldron, some salt, and a wash cloth or aspergillum. An aspergillum is a bundle of herbs bound

with string that can be used to fling water after being

dipped. I recommend lavender for your aspergillum to help

calm your moods, but you can substitute with other fresh

herbs if you like, or just use a wash cloth in a pinch.

Cast your magic circle with the bowl or cauldron filled

with water placed in the west. Ask the undines for their

help controlling your emotions. Add three pinches of salt

to the water and stir it with your finger clockwise. Adding salt helps to purify the water spiritually, in the same way that you wish to purify your heart, cleansing it of negativ-158 • Chapter Five

ity. Once the salt has been added to the water in a ritual, it makes the water holy. Hold the bowl or cauldron and gaze

into the water, allowing yourself to feel all of the emotions that you may have been trying to hold back. Visualize whatever made you feel bad, and don’t hold back. You can yell at the water, you can cry into it, or you can simply study the emotions written on your face in your reflection.

As you charge the water with your energy, stir it with

your hand or with your aspergillum first clockwise until the water is spinning in a miniature whirlpool. Then, stir counterclockwise, letting your force of will push against the flow of the water and change its direction, symbolically exerting control over the waters of your own emotions.

When you feel exhausted or you sense your strong

emotions subsiding, relax and set down the vessel of water.

Know that the undines have taken all of your negativity

and allowed it to be cleansed and purified. You don’t want to completely rid yourself of emotion, but you do want to

be able to direct it in a constructive manner. Take up the aspergillum and dip it in the purified water, sprinkling and splashing it on your face, over your head, and on your entire body. If you have no aspergillum, you can give yourself a

sponge bath with your wash cloth. You can even upend the

vessel of water over your head if it makes you feel better.

Never underestimate the power of a cold shower to wake

you up to a new reality. By the power of the undines, your emotions have been cleansed and purified so that you can

transform them into constructive rest or action.

Undines—Elementals of Water • 159

Drawing Love

The undines have always had the power to draw love and

fascination because they embody the uncontrollable force

of love itself. This meditation is intended to draw love to you as if you were a hypnotic undine. A quick word about

love magic and elementals: It is important to always allow an elemental, as well as the target of your meditation, to keep his or her free will in order to avoid the mischievous elementals from forcing the exercise to backfire on you.

Tricky elementals love freedom most of all, and they always flee back to their essential nature, ensuring freedom for the subject of your meditation.

What sort of problems am I asking for you to avoid?

Never name or visualize a specific lover when perform-

ing this love drawing meditation, unless you have that

lover’s complete consent. Otherwise, you will be doing a

ritual without his or her consent, against his or her will, and invoking the anger of the freedom-loving elementals.

Trickster elementals might allow your intentions to become literally true while creating a nightmare scenario for you.

For example, your lover might decide that you are like a

beloved brother or sister. Your lover might briefly love you and then hate you, or might love you as well as another for whom he or she has greater affection. The elementals have

endless imagination and energy, so don’t put yourself in the path of their mischief.

Instead, when working with elementals without the

consent of other people, always make yourself the willing

subject of your magic. I acknowledge that it can be hard

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when you have a crush on a special someone. So, if that is the case, before your meditation write down a list of the

positive traits that your crush has, like kindness and a sense of humor. Then, write down what traits you must have to

display in order to attract a lover with those characteristics.

For example, to draw kindness and humor, you’ll need grat-

itude and joy. If you don’t have a special someone in mind, you can simply list your positive traits that you’ll need a potential lover to see and enjoy before being drawn to start a relationship with you.

For this meditation, you’ll need a list of characteris-

tics you’ll need to draw a lover and you’ll need to pick a song that you can hum or sing inconspicuously. I won’t give you a suggested hymn to the undines here, because that

might be strange to sing in a nightclub or to hum when out among friends when you want your results to take effect

with increased power. Your song can be a popular tune or a nursery rhyme that helps you remember good things about