Salamanders

[Mirrorah]

So, I had a strange experience last night. I am doing a candle spell and whenever I light the candle and gaze into the flame, I get this strong feeling that the flame is somehow aware of my presence, like there is a being inside of it. I noticed that it seemed to respond to my thoughts. For instance, when I was nervous and thinking nervous thoughts, it would flicker a lot, when I calmed down it would stop. Sometimes it would lean towards me like it was reaching for me. Last night, I found myself talking to it. I hadn't paid much attention to the flame and when I got ready to blow it out, it started flaring up and dancing about wildly and I felt like it was upset because I had ignored it. And I decided to just go with it and I started talking to it and I apologized to it that I ignored it and I told it how beautiful it was and it seemed to dance around merrily. I told it that I promised I would pay more attention to it tomorrow and it danced around some more then seemed to bow to me. After the ritual I felt kind of ridiculous for talking to a flame, but while I was in the ritual, it seemed perfectly natural. I wonder if anyone else has had an experience like this. With the fire element but also with earth, air and water. I think when I try to connect with air, I'm probably going to use smoke. But how does one do it with water? I don't know if I have a natural water source near me where I can actually be close to the water, without climbing down into the bank, which I am actually considering doing. But can you do it with a cup of water? And how do you do it when it's earth?

[SnowCat]

I like to connect with water by standing in the rain. But I have also connected with it at the local pool. I remember connecting with earth when we buried our cat, Scotty. I was carrying his remains down a hill, and I asked Earth to keep me from slipping. I immediately felt it grip my boots. I think sometimes, you just have to be aware of opportunities.

[SpiritTalker]

Yes, I've had that ritual mind-set effect of the elementals responding. They all respond according to their natures:

Flame dances in Air.
Water flows with the Earth's shape. Even still water has the shape of it's container.
Air (breezes) flow with heat/cool & moist/dry.
Earth holds still when it's cooled & is shaped by the other 3.

Each has it's own voice, it's own way to say "hey here I-Am"
And yeh, that's the biblical I-Am. There's a musical thrumming I hear when using crystals & i cant help humming along. Opaque stones hum to a less noticable degree & a "working" palmstone that's been used often, well, it bonds. Pet rocks are not a joke.

In a natural setting with moving water, rain or or in a pool/tub, the water surrounds me to know me. If I have space to back float it redistributes itself & kindly supports me. Love that. In a daily shower or playing in the garden hose, Water skips playfully in the spirit of the moment. It's a living substance. Put a glass of water in sunshine and drink it. Try moonlight too & drink it.

Breezes circling, surrounding and fluctuating can be seen with flags, dustballs, witches ladders, smoke etc. Their living voice is echoed in tree leaves chatting up a storm. And a storm's another way to meet Air. Just take advantage of the next opportunity.

[Mirrorah]

I like to connect with water by standing in the rain. But I have also connected with it at the local pool. I remember connecting with earth when we buried our cat, Scotty. I was carrying his remains down a hill, and I asked Earth to keep me from slipping. I immediately felt it grip my boots. I think sometimes, you just have to be aware of opportunities.

The rain is great idea. One time my car broke down and I had to walk a couple miles in the rain and it was a wonderful experience. I wasn't into wicca then, but I still felt something. Maybe, if I decide to go down the bank into the water, I will ask the earth to keep me from slipping.

[Mirrorah]

That's awesome about the crystals, I haven't really gotten into that yet. Thank you for your suggestions and I'm glad to know that I'm not crazy. lol

[SnowCat]

I think I want to put a fire pit area in my back yard. It would nice to sit out there on fall evening and talk to salamanders.

[Mirrorah]

That does sound nice.

[corvidus]

Something I read once in relation to fire, which you might find interesting:

‘Fire gets its life from the Air, so to blow out a ritual candle is a contradiction to the nature of Fire. Instead, they should be allowed to burn out naturally or snuffed out.’

I think it’s interesting that during church ceremonies I’ve been to, the people in charge of the altar candles put them out with those long bell-snuffers!

Something else: Fire definitely has a consciousness, and I’m sure you can see the relationship between a candle and the ‘Light of the mind’.