"Rick, M.A." wrote:
>
> catherine yronwode wrote:
>
>> My sensations of the elements are grounded in the nature of the foggy
>> weather where i live and the way i approach gardeing. They do not accrod
>> with traditional European models completely
>
>> Fire -- hot and dry
>> Water -- cold and wet (cold, cold cold Pacific Ocean)
>> Earth -- warm and wet (chocolate cake soil, gold ridge soil)
>> except in summer, when it is warm and dry
>> Air -- cold and wet
>> except in summer, when it is warm and dry
>
>> I know, not symbolic, just dull and reality based.
>
> In your previous post you used the phrase,
>
> "important part of my mnemonic magical work"
>
> That's not "symbolic?"
Hmmm. I see what you mean ... but i also know what i mean. Symbolism
does rely on memory, but by "mnemonic work" i mean the actual work o
memorizing many sets of correspondences, becoming a kind of walking,
talking, gum-chewing &&&, if yoiu know what i mean.
> You also said,
>
> "I still work with the elements, though -- but i now value a number of
> other symbol systems just as much, each with its own symbolic truth and
> its own favoured set of sacred numbers"
>
> What does "working with" mean to you?
It has many meanings, but, for example, when setting up an altar, i
first used the four-elements system, and placed things accordingly.
After learning of the Asian five-elements system, i started designing
altars that way ... for a while, at least. Sometimes i might wish to put
up a planetary or seven-element altar. And so it goes. Or, to use
another example, i might write out a four-square petition-paper for a
spell, and mark the four corners according to the four-element system
... or i might cut a triangular petition paper and mark the three edges
for the Christian trinity. In other words, i key my work to various
symbol systems based in various number-sets.
> What I'm asking is if in the course of your practice of magick you
> generate physical sensations in the absence of physical stimulation?
i might at times, and i am also likely to generate the sensation of
kinetic movement in the absence of phyisical motion.
> And
> if working with these things (Elements, or articles from "other symbol
> systems), be they traditional (any tradition) or no, if each one
> produces a unique and identifiable type of sensation, so that you can
> distinguish among them by feel?
Yes, that i can, although doing so is not an essential portion of my
work. Also, as a natural magician, when i work with, for instance, fire,
i am actually lighting a match and setting something (usually a candle)
alight. Likewise, if i am working with water (as, for instance, in a
gentle spell of removal), i have the bowl of water right there before me
and will drop something of the person into it, carry it to the river,
and throw it in. If i bury something in earth, i do so in the ground.
Thus i need not self-generate sensations, as i am actually touching the
elements.
> Rick, M.A.
Sorry it took me a while to reply; i have been utra busy.
cat yronwode
