The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life - Softcover

Lipp, Deborah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738705411 ISBN 13: 9780738705415

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, 2004

Synopsis

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water―not only are these elements the building blocks of the universe, but also potent keys to heightened self-understanding. The Way of Four helps you determine which of the four elements are prominent and which are lacking in your world using a variety of custom-made quizzes. It includes a multitude of methods to incorporate and balance the elements in your environment, wardrobe, and even your perfume. This is a fun and valuable sourcebook for anyone seeking balance and beauty in a hectic world.

About this title

About the Author

Deborah Lipp has been teaching Wicca, magic, and the occult for over thirty years. She became a Witch and High Priestess in the 1980s as an initiate of the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca. She's been published in many Pagan publications, including newWitch, Llewellyn's Magical Almanac, PanGaia, and Green Egg, and she has lectured on Pagan and occult topics on three continents.

As an active member of the Pagan community, Deborah has appeared in various media discussing Wicca, including Coast to Coast AM radio, an A&E documentary (Ancient Mysteries: Witchcraft in America), television talk shows, and the New York Times.

Deborah is also a technology systems professional. She lives with her spouse, Melissa, and an assortment of cats in Jersey City, New Jersey. Deborah reads and teaches Tarot, solves and designs puzzles, watches old movies, hand-paints furniture, and dabbles in numerous handcrafts. Visit her at DeborahLipp.com.

Twitter: @DebLippAuthor

Instagram: DebLippAuthor

Reviews

What is the dominant element in your life—Earth, Air, Fire or Water? It matters, says Wiccan high priestess Lipp, because the dominant element affects "how you relate to the elements" and "your perceptions of the world"—and also has ramifications for work, love and other aspects of daily life. Lipp explores the meaning of the elements and offers easy-to-do quizzes, exercises and rituals to determine your dominant element and create the elemental balance needed for self-actualization. An Air personality, for instance, might have creative ideas, but needs some fire to be able to execute them. In Water people, on the other hand, emotions rule, and they can be "strikingly magical." Rituals involve chanting, visualization and the use of easy-to-find objects that represent the elements. Lipp also provides simple and practical tips on how to bring the elements into your daily life (adding pillows for Earth; put seashells in a vase for Water, etc.). For those with an interest in Wicca and the influence of nature on people’s personalities and lives, Lipp offers a pleasant and positive-toned handbook to achieving balance.
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Introduction

The Way of Four grew out of my deep conviction that every occult education begins with the four elements, and no occultist worth her salt fails to make use of elemental lore. Everything we do, everything we study, and everything we systematize comes from Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. The Kabbalah is more vastly inclusive, the Tarot more personal, and the Zodiac more universal, but all of them ultimately come down to four.

In my years of teaching Pagan and Wiccan groups, I invariably put a class on the four elements at the beginning of the syllabus. On nights when I was too tired, stressed, or overworked to come up with new class material, I sometimes used a review of the elements as the evening's material. Such reviews were always fresh, lively, and informative.

The Way itself is the way of balance. Wicca and Paganism are all about balance, about moderation, about plurality. We are neither austere nor hedonistic, neither cynical nor credulous, neither irreverent nor somber. When we practice Paganism successfully, we walk in balance. To do so, we must know ourselves well and be brave enough to face the changes we might need to make. The process of self-actualization is vital to a spiritual life. The Way of Four comes from my understanding of balancing self within the context of nature and reality.

Exercises in this book run the full gamut. Some are meditations done privately, at home, but others take place by interacting with nature. Many are serious and even involve hard work, but others are fun and playful. The Way of Four is a way that encompasses all of life, including things that seem frivolous. Whether you are meditating in an incense-filled temple or redecorating your living room, the Way of Four can come into play.

This book is also interspersed with quizzes, checklists, and worksheets. It's important that you make the book yours, that you participate completely in the processes laid out. Things may turn out differently than the way I've described them. You, as an individual, are the only one who can finally determine how the elements balance in your life. That's why the book is designed around your personal self-discovery process. I ask more questions than I answer so that you can find the answers in yourself. I hope you find the process as rich and rewarding as I do.

Edition details

• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0738705411
• ISBN 13: 9780738705415
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336