The Four Elements are frequently taught and considered as foundational building blocks of “Western” occult philosophy and magical practice, and in the course of such studies there may be some attentions paid to the spirits of these elements – the quick and Fiery Salamanders, the breezy and Airy Sylphs, the mysterious and Watery Undines, and the hardworking and Earthy Gnomes – yet there is rarely much dedicated analysis or training in how to approach and work with such spirits. This pair of classes seeks to offer exactly this sort of training. 

This series will present especially close-reading and analysis of Paracelsus’ Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders – which itself collected older folklore, eye-witness accounts, and a range of regional lore about these elemental beings – to understand not only the stories about the nature of elementals but their habitats, ecology, and relationships with landscape mysteries.

The two sessions which constitute this short series of classes breakdown thusly:

Session 1: Elemental Lore

In this first session, we will pay careful attention to noted instances which describe elementals having their own distinct cultures: including reflections upon the politics, theology, and the everyday lives of these spirit-people.

We will consider the various ways elemental spirits have been theorised in occult philosophical inquiries, and how they have been approached by grimoiric magicians, as well as how they have been worked with, propitiated, or even avoided in local folk customs and observances.

Session 2: Elemental Spiritwork

In this second and concluding session, we will explore various means of conjuration as well as collaborative spellcraft in our own elemental spiritwork.

We will particularly investigate the appearances, rituals, and attendant protocols for how to work with named elemental spirits found in Faustian grimoires, especially the Magia Naturalis et Innaturalis. which presents hierarchies and operations of elemental spirits intermingled with devilish orders of other spirits, both benevolent and otherwise…

We will also examine how to work with elemental spirits of a location or environment that is new to the operator, drawing on the sigils and magic circling instructions for working with elementals (as well as ghosts and ‘Astral’ beings) found in Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft.

We will also cover talismanic work with such elemental peoples, as well as cleansings, groundings, and a range of grimoiric and folk magical tools and techniques for further developing relationships and good works with these entities of the elements.