Lately I've been contemplating the fact that I really am a very earthy being. For one thing, there is a preponderance of astrological evidence - I'm a Taurus with Virgo rising and my moon is in Capricorn. It doesn't get much earthier than that! There are other aspects to my chart and to my personality that suggest that I have a fair bit of the other elements mixed in there too, but when it comes right down to it, I am a essentially a creature of the earth.

So I ask myself again a question that has come up before - how did I end up with the name Nixie? I'm an earth fairy of Scottish ancestry, not a German water sprite!

When I began to study witchcraft and discussed the choosing of a magickal name, many sources suggested that as you change over time and become the witch you are going to be it is not an uncommon practice to change your magickal name. I chose the name Nixie before I actually started my formal training. It seemed to fit at the time and I liked it. Is it time to reconsider?

I do love the water. I'm drawn to the ocean and often feel at peace there. I also love the feeling when the waves are crashing on the beach and the wind is blowing all around. I also possess the intuitive qualities that the element of water tends to manifest in us, so it is not entirely inappropriate to think of myself as a partly watery woman.

In her book Tarot for Beginners my friend Susan Levitt offers the most accessible discussion that I have found for understanding the concept of elemental alchemy, at least for beginners. Very simply, she explains the symbolic significance of mixing the four elements. For example, she describes the mixture of fire and water as "an alchemical balance of emotion put into action, or action stemming from strong emotion." The mixture of air and earth "is the alchemical balance of making ideas reality and changing physical reality through ideas, values, thoughts and beliefs." What she fails to tell me, however, is what happens when you mix earth and water.

Well, any child can tell you what happens when you mix earth and water. You get mud!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:24 AM