Calling the Element of Air: A Ritual

Bright sky, eagles take to fly, east wind blows
Sun rise, far seeing eyes, blessed sight to know
the path, the song, forever new, like the dawn,
goes on and on calling me, shows the way to go.
Calling the Elements, by Carole McWilliams, on our album Crow Magic

This post continues my series on the elements. The Crow Women have done many years of deep magical work with the Four Directions and their Elements and so we write about the elements frequently on this website. My first installment provided you with a ritual for connecting with earth. This post is about calling on the element of air, complete with an air ritual you can use yourself. The second verse of my song Calling the Elements is a key part of the ritual.

My first introduction to the Four Directions was in the 1970s in a book titled “Seven Arrows” by Hyemeyohsts Storm, a story and teaching about Native spirituality from the northern plains perspective. It brought me the concept of the Medicine Wheel, the concept extending from a circle of rocks on the ground to the entire world and even the entire universe. More rocks divide it into quadrants, the Four Directions. It listed the animals and characteristics that went with each direction. One had to travel all four directions to achieve completeness.

Seven Arrows by Hyemeyohsts Storm a section read by Jamey Lee

The east was the dawn of a new day, new beginnings, soaring high in the wind like an eagle, seeing far, seeing the big picture. Those are reflected in the second verse of my song, Calling the Elements on our Crow Magic album: Bright sky, eagles take to fly, east wind blows. Sun rise, far seeing eyes, blessed sight to know. The path, the song, forever new, like the dawn goes on and on calling me, shows the way to go.

I’ve since learned that the concept of the Four Directions shows up in many earth-based cultures around the world, including the Pagan traditions in Europe. I was happy to learn that I could embrace this without playing “blue-eyed Indian.” It seems that it’s not just another case of cultural appropriation. As we learn in Wicca 101, the points on the Pentagram star represent Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, with the top point representing the fifth element, Spirit. All are contained within the circle of life, the Medicine Wheel.

There are many life occasions to do an East ritual – a new job, a new home, starting the new year, embarking on a new life after the end of a relationship, any sort of new beginning; also to see the big picture of a situation.

A ritual for connecting with the earth element

Select a place and time.

If you are an early riser (not me!!), it could be a dawn ritual. More to my liking would be to find a place where you can see far and have a beautiful view, with the glorious sky over all. Maybe an eagle or hawk, or some crows or ravens, will bless your efforts. On very windy hang-onto-your-hat type days, I’ve seen a mob of crows up there playing, soaring, wheeling, diving in a chaotic air dance. To me, that wind is annoying. To them, it’s playtime. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Prepare for the ritual.

It’s interesting to research deities or forces that you can work with that are associated with air. There’s a list of air-related deities on this website. The Crow Women have created our own deity of air, Naseera. (We sing about her in the song Ecomancy.) You might do the ecomancy to discover the Air Goddess or God of your own locality. Or, you might decide to work with the air element in general. Whatever aspect of air you choose, your magic will be richer if you invest in connecting with it ahead of time, by reading about it, putting an image on your home altar, or meditating on your air ally.

Dress for the ritual.

Airy colors like white or pastels in floaty fabrics can make you feel airy. Frankincense is an essential oil associated with air according to the pagan classic The Spiral Dance. You could wear frankincense for your air ritual. It is said to open the third eye, which goes well with the “seeing” quality of east and air.

Gather your materials.

Before you head out, make sure you have everything you’ll need. Once you get to your chosen ritual space, set out your altar items and tools, maybe on a cloth on the ground or on a handy large flat rock. Use rocks to hold down the corners if it’s windy. Avoid items that could blow over and break, or items that could blow away. If you have something you intend to release to the air, bring it in a closed container so it doesn’t escape prematurely.

Cast your circle. Use your preferred circle casting method. If you’re in a public place, you can make it simple–just walking in a circle, your imagination focused on creating sacred space. If you have enough privacy you could sprinkle with salt water and purify with incense or smudge first.

Call quarters.

For this ritual of air, you might call the quarters in terms of air: east is straightforward, just call upon eagles or breezes. In the south, you could call on fire of air (steam, smoke), the west, water of air (clouds, mist, air-breathing water-dwellers like whales), and in the north earth of air (geysers that blow from the earth, stones carved by the wind over the ages).

Call in Deity.

Invite in the air deity or sacred air spirit you have prepared for. Reach out as you evoke this air being with your most eloquent invocation. Take a moment. Sense when your ally is with you and then express your gratitude for its presence.

Focus on your intent.

I hope you begin to activate your magic by singing or reading aloud my air verse from Calling the Elements. Bright sky, eagles take to fly, east wind blows. Sun rise, far seeing eyes, blessed sight to know. The path, the song, forever new, like the dawn goes on and on calling me, shows the way to go. You can hear it in this YouTube video. It’s the second verse:

Meditate.

Meditate on air. This can be as simple as relaxing and focusing on your breath, just the in-breath and the out-breath. You could also meditate on the life-giving oxygen coming in, and the carbon dioxide being released. What in your life to you wish to bring in to enliven you? What wastes do you wish to expel from your life?

Do a little magic.

Your magic could be the magic of release, such as sending off previously burned ashes of something symbolizing an ended job or relationship. Speak of what you are releasing, thank it for its lessons, and then let the wind carry it away.
The east is the direction of dawn and new beginnings. You could use this ritual as part of welcoming a wondrous new beginning for yourself. What is calling you? How can air show you the way to go? Perhaps you could bring a symbol of what is new: a new job or relationship, a new way of being in the world. Hold your symbol up into the air and let the air flow over it. When you get home, this symbol could go on the east side of your altar, so magical energy can continue to help you find the sacred aspects of your new beginning.
You might use this ritual to connect yourself to the spirit of eagle, with its far-seeing eyes. This website has rich information about working with eagle energy.
If you find a feather during the time when you are preparing for the ritual, on your way there, or it appears during the ritual, be sure to accept this token. Charge the feather during your ritual to make it into a magical tool–concentrate on its magical use and imbue it with air energy. It would be a great addition to your medicine bag or to use for wafting smoke during your home rituals.
More ideas for air magic are in this blog post Tara wrote about her song Air, Lift Me Up.

Raise energy.

Use my air chant to raise some energy to activate your magic. Sing or speak it three times, with more power each time. (If you don’t have enough privacy, read it silently.) Dance an airy dance as you do this if you like. Or, shake a rattle or beat a drum to amp up the energy. Let the power of your magical intent grow within you as you raise the power, and then throw your arms wide and send your spell to do its work within you and in the world.

Ground the energy.

Whew! Now its time to settle and ground the energy. You could touch the earth and let Mama Gaia take in any stray energy. “Cakes and ale” is a good act for grounding. Your “ale” could be a fizzy drink like seltzer or sparkling wine. Choose an airy food like peppermint meringue cookies or lemon bars with whipped cream for your “cake”. Sit there and enjoy the view and the solitude.

Release the circle.

When you are done, dismiss the directions and open your circle. Finally, return home energized and enriched.

The header image for this post is a painting I did in July 2019 specifically to emphasize the sky and clouds. It’s a view near Saguache CO, in the San Luis Valley where the sky is always an important feature of the wide open landscape.

For more information about Carole McWilliams, and links to all the posts she and the other Crow Women have written over the years, please visit the Crow Women bio page here on Pagan Song.

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