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How to Work with the Magical Element of Air, by Astrea Taylor

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The element of air is all around us, but many people don't feel connected with it (as compared to the other elements). I believe this is because air is invisible, unlike earth, fire, and water. We simply can't see it most of the time. On top of that, many people only think about the physical and personal aspects of the element of air, such as the winds that blow and the breaths we take.

There's a whole other world hidden in the air around us, which is known as the magical element of air. You could think of it as its own energetic realm, with spirits, energies, psychic messages, and connections to everything else in the world. It has the same corresponding traits as the physical and personal aspects of air, such as communication, change, beginnings, spirit, travel, expansion, and so on, but it's one step beyond. It exists solely in the energetic realms, which are far more nebulous.

We live in the magical realm of air everyday, breathing it in and passing through it. It saturates our mindsets and spirits, but like fish in water, we aren't conscious of it. Without training, it's easy to ignore the subtle energies that tell us that it's there, that it's powerful, and that it wants to interact with us.

I've developed a few ways to work with the magical element of air to help other people get in touch with it. These techniques involve envisioning or imagining you can see it, but don't be fooled into thinking that envisioning is mere fantasy. It's a useful tool that helps us strengthen our minds and our magical work, especially when first dealing with things that are invisible to us. With time and practice envisioning the magical element of air, you may begin to see it for yourself.

Envisioning the Magical Element of Air
The simplest way to envision the magical element of air is as an energetic field. You could imagine that it's thicker than normal air, or you could pretend it's a vast ocean of air all around you. In your mind's eye, see this energetic field stretching up into the sky and outward, to all of the horizons. See it saturating the world around you as far as you can see. Now, envision the mass of air flowing over the earth, always moving, with little ripples here and there.

The magical realm of air interacts with you and everything else on earth and in the heavens. Everything is connected via thought and energy. You have several nodes that link you to the people with whom you're closest, your altars, your home, your pets, your neighborhood, your co-workers, and beyond. Many people perceive these connections as white or silver strands. Imagine you can see connections coming off you and traveling outward in a radial flow. The strongest connections may look thicker than the other threads.

Next, think of someone you're close to, but with whom you don't live. There's a thread linking the two of you, and there are threads that link you and this person to other people, things, and places. This person also has strands that connect with other people with whom you're not connected. Now, add a couple more people to the vision. See your connections with them and all the threads they have. If you keep doing this, you can start to see a picture of a web, in which we are all connected.

The magical realm of air is an active place. Messages and information are constantly being sent and received at lightning-fast speeds all across the world. In a way, it's like wifi. Every time a thought enters our minds, we have the potential to emit a message along this network, and people who are sensitive to the magical element of air may receive our signals. However, it's important to note that we do have some control over what's sent and what's received. Protective measures can be implemented to not broadcast your thoughts to everyone and to not receive thoughts from others.

Envisioning the Magical Element of Air in Witchcraft
The athame is a powerful tool that can cut through the air. If you cast a circle with one, envision your athame cutting through the fabric of the air to create a place between the worlds, perhaps in the magical realm of air. If you use an athame to draw pentacles in the air, as you do so, envision the athame cutting the air and leaving the marks there until you take them down. If possible, sustain the imagery of the athame cuts in your mind's eye for the duration of the working.

Athames can also be used to sever the threads that connect us with others. Although the strands may reform, they will not be as thick as they originally were.

Athames that are made of steel or another iron-rich metal also have the power to cut spirits, which is why they're used to banish them. If you use an athame to banish spirits, imagine your blade as a threatening weapon and in your mind's eye, see the offending spirit flee.

When you're raising energy for ritual or a spell, the air around you can often change. This is especially true if you're in a circle. The air can become thick, hot, dense, and even electric with magic. Try to see this change in the air—you may see wavy lines of heat or blurred, congealed shapes. You may even see a cone of power. If you use a wand to pick up the energy, envision the wand actually grasping onto the air for a moment before flicking it off at a higher energetic state. You may even be able to see the energy in the air around you as it rises higher and higher.

Wands also come in handy when you're releasing your magic into the world, as they can easily connect with the magical realm of air. When you're ready to project your magic outward, raise your wand. Allow your powerful will to shoot your intentions into the wand. In your mind's eye, see your wand either touch or zap one of the threads of the web of connections. See your intentions transfer to the air, travel along multiple strands at a lightning speed, and transmit your desires far and wide.

Envisioning Spirits
All kinds of spirits fly through the magical realm of air with ease—several ancient Pagan cultures believed that the air was full of spirits all the time. This mindset likely continued for several millennia before it was stamped out by the church and reductionist philosophies.

Try to envision the spirits in the air around you. Start by imagining your ancestors and beloved dead gazing lovingly at you. They may appear as congealed forms of air in human shapes. Next, imagine your guardian spirit as a peaceful, slightly larger entity nearby. After you've pictured that, look at the sky and try to see the spirits flying high in the air above you, perhaps on a mission somewhere.

The spirits in the magical realm of air have all kinds of forms, colors, shapes, and sizes. Some look almost human-like, and others look more like animals or a combination. Other spirits are nothing more than a shadow or a tiny point of light. When we astral project into the magical realm of air, we can see them and interact with them.

Spirits and thoughts can travel easily in the magical realm of air, and spirits are very sensitive to thoughts. They can hear the thoughts you transmit, and if their energy is similar, they may be attracted to you. Unless you have protective measures in place to keep away unwanted spirits, they can come to you as if called and mirror your energy back to you, sort of like an invisible correspondence or support system. You receive constant affirmation of whatever energy you project. This is one reason why it's important to keep your thoughts positive and supportive. It's also why it can be hard to break out of a rut or get into higher energetic modes.

If you haven't yet done so, learn how to protect yourself from spirits who may be malevolent or trickers. Learn how to banish spirits who aren't in your inner circle of ancestors, beloved dead, guardians, helpful spirits, and familiars. If you wish, you can also learn how to listen to those spirits and evaluate whether they're helpful or not before banishing them or allowing them to stay.

Negative spirits sometimes appear as shadowy figures that often prefer the corners of a room. These spirits should not be envisioned, as doing so can attract them. However, when negative thoughts and spirits arise, it's important to be conscious of them and face them, not ignore them. Often, these spirits act as sympathetic company to your shadow self, which ultimately wants you to face your issues and heal. The spirits that are attracted to negative thoughts can, in some ways, help you see the state you're in because they enhance that state. Negative thoughts happen to everyone from time to time, and they often contain valuable lessons about who you are, what you want, and what you need your boundaries to be. When you experience this, envision seeing your shadow self before you. Think of this part of your spirit as lovable, and perhaps as a protection mechanism you put in place to defer the conflict. I like to envision hugging my shadow self and merging with it. Once that happens, you'll start to heal and attract more beneficial spirits again.

Spirit work with the element of air includes automatic writing, divination, astral projection, communing with your beloved dead, receiving and relaying messages, protection, doing work for you in the world, creativity, and assisting you with your magic.

I hope these insights about the magical element of air have been helpful. Even though air is an elusive element for many people, it's definitely rewarding. My air magic practices have helped my practice evolve so much.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I have always been very sensitive and intuitive. I am a hairdresser and a manicurist, so in my line of work, I am constantly touching people. I have been doing this for the last year, and now, oddly enough, I have to wear a wig because my alopecia has gone crazy and I've lost 70% of my hair. If a customer has a pain, I will feel it for the next few days the same way they did. I was told I have healing hands, but instead of helping others, they seem to sicken me. How can I continue helping others without taking on their problems myself? Please help me.

Yasmeen

Susyn:

This is a very common experience of natural healers: we tend to become sponges for other people's problems, and take them on ourselves.

If you can work with gloves on, I recommend you wear them when you work on your clients. If that won't work for you, try using hand sanitizer after each appointment. Of course, we don't actually have to touch a person to absorb whatever is wrong with them, so taking the measures above should only be considered the first steps in protecting yourself.

The good news is that you can pass healing to other people without jeopardizing yourself. Ideally, you will want to use a ritual for spiritual protection before you go to work, one that will allow you to continue healing others but keep you from absorbing their energy. I like to visualize a clear, large bubble surrounding me before I work. This is similar to the one that Glinda, the good witch in The Wizard of Oz, traveled in.

I also recommend wearing protective stones and colors as you work on others. These are natural ways to keep others' energy from clinging to you. White, yellow and red are good colors to wear when you work on others. Earrings, rings or bracelets that have quartz crystals, amber stones or red gems such as rubies or garnets can also create a protective shield around you.

Next, you will need to practice higher awareness when dealing with clients who are in pain or emotional distress. Be aware that to heal them, you will be bringing their energy into your own body. Instead of holding on to their troubles, however, you will perform a ritual that removes these troubles from your own body or emotions as well as theirs.

Once you have finished with a client, take a few minutes to focus on the trouble they had and visualize it leaving your own body. This may take a little practice, but in time, you will be able to move the negative energy away from them, onto you, and then out into the atmosphere.

In regard to your alopecia, there are a few natural supplements that may help. Vitamin B-6 or silica can help eliminate the stress you feel as a result of your psychic sensitivity. (Most hair loss can be traced to stress.) You may also have a low-grade infection that is contributing to the problem; goldenseal and echinacia should be able to help with this problem.

I support your desire to continue practicing with your healing gift. Once you have set up these protective measures, you should experience less stress and pain as a result of your sensitivity.

*****

Mata Maya

What you describe is very common; in fact, I experienced something similar as a new healer. When I prayed about the matter, I was led to a wise teacher who enlightened me; as a result of her teaching, I've become a much more powerful healer and haven't had a problem since.

While it's clear that you would also benefit from some training, I'm a bit hesitant to recommend it since most of the energy healing methods being taught are in my opinion fundamentally flawed.

Energy healing is simple and is something anyone can do. You don't need any special knowledge, mystical symbols, expensive attunements or secret codes. What you do need is a heart full of divine love and unwavering faith.

Many traditional methods teach you to look for problems to solve; since what we focus upon grows bigger, this is their first mistake. Further, healers are encouraged to connect with people with great empathy and compassion. While it may seem like this is the kind thing to do, it actually just draws you into their problems instead of empowering you to uplift and empower them.

As an energy healer, your job is not to figure out what needs fixing and how to fix it. Instead, your job is to embody perfect well-being and draw others into that high vibration. If you truly believe that all is well and everyone is experiencing whatever they need to experience in order to learn what they need to learn, then you can remain calm and full of faith regardless of what people may be suffering through. If you know without a doubt that death is not an end but rather the next stage in an endless journey, then you will be able to maintain a high, peaceful, faithful vibration even if the person you're healing is struggling with a life threatening disease.

To put it another way, if someone is lost in darkness, you could go into the darkness with them and stumble around, trying to help them feel their way out of it, or you could simply turn on the light. To be able to turn on the light, you must be in a state of radiant health and well-being on all levels yourself. Though many may disagree with me, if you're not there yet, you would be wise to focus on healing yourself before you undertake healing others.

Whether you are trying to heal others or just cut their hair, it is important that you learn to set your own tone. This way what you create in your life will come from within you instead of from outside influences. To do this, I highly recommend you study and work with the law of attraction.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.