Book Coven Gathering #14: Elemental Witchcraft Recap (Pages 185-194)
~ Sacred Circles, Open Doors, and the Temple of Your Own Making ~
Hello beautiful being 💜
Hello, my enchanted souls, and welcome back to another gathering of the Enchanted Book Coven!
This week, we continued our journey through Elemental Witchcraft by Heron Michelle, reading pages 184 through 194 and reaching approximately the halfway point of the book.
Somehow, despite the pauses, detours, and general chaos that follows me, our timing falls perfectly into place. We should arrive at the Wheel of the Year sections just before Samhain. Perhaps the path knew what it was doing, even when I did not. (Happens so often, you’d think I’d learn by now 😅)
Our fourteenth meeting began with YouTube refusing to cooperate, my phone not allowing me to go live, my tablet mirroring everything backward, and an emergency alert nearly making me jump out of my skin halfway through the discussion...
Apparently, the universe wanted to make sure I was properly committed to opening this particular door.
Still, we continued. And I am very glad we did, because this section gave us so much to discuss about sacred space, energetic boundaries, elemental balance, ritual psychology, and what it truly means to build a witching temple.
As always, you do not need to own the book or read along in order to join our conversations. The book may begin the discussion, but the magick we uncover together reaches far beyond its pages.
If you couldn’t make it for the live, no worries at all, you can watch the replay anytime. (This coven door doesn’t lock. We’re not like that.) If you’d like to get reminders for upcoming meetings, follow on Insta and subscribe to my channel and hit that bell button. And for even better reminders, you can link my events calendar with your google calendar.
~ Lines that Lingered ~
My favorite line from this section appears on page 192:
“Because you can call all night long, but unless you open the door, they aren’t getting in.”
Within the chapter, this refers to invoking the elements into a consecrated ritual space. Yet the moment I read it, I knew it belonged to something much larger.
(My Witchy Senses are tingling… I know if you’ve made it here,
take this as a sign that your “doors” need some attention)
You can journal about the life you want. You can speak affirmations, light candles, make vision boards, call upon deities, whisper to the universe, and pour your desires into every manifestation ritual imaginable. But if you never create a pathway through which those desires can reach you, you are simply calling through a closed door.
Manifesting a new opportunity may require submitting the application. Calling in community may require allowing yourself to be seen. Asking for change may require making choices that give change somewhere to land
The intention is the call. Your actions open the door.
We have to create the pathway, establish the connection, prepare the threshold, and make room in our lives for what we've been asking to enter. (and getting out of our comfort zones…) We may not be able to control what comes to the door, but we can control how we prepare the threshold and what we allow to cross it.
This does not mean that every desire is granted simply because we take one mundane step. It means that our magick and our choices must be given a place to meet.
Whether we are invoking an element, working with a deity, seeking a relationship, or manifesting anything into our lives, connection requires an opening. An invitation means very little if there is no way in.
So I would love to know: What have you been calling toward yourself, and what have you done to open that door?
A gentle reminder. If you’re participating or thinking about it, there’s no rush and no pressure. Move at your own rhythm, catch replays when it suits you, and join the chat whenever you’re called. You don’t even need to read the book! Just bring your curiosity and cozy up. We have lots of magickal fun here.
~ Core Concepts & Magickal Musings ~
A Circle Is Sacred Space, NOT Sacred Geometry Homework
This section begins with the circle-cross and the idea of the witching temple. Heron Michelle describes the circle through different elements, corresponding compass points, with divinity invoked from the center to connect the upper world, middle world, and underworld.
That is a beautiful and very structured way of understanding it. But when we pull the idea back to its bones, a witch’s circle is simply a deliberately chosen space that has been consecrated and set apart for a particular purpose.
It may be used for ritual, spellwork, meditation, divination, or communion with the energies you work beside. It can be physically marked with rope, candles, stones, or tools. (it also doesn’t even have to be a “circle” 👀) It can fill an entire room. It can be visualized only around your body without a single physical marker.
The traditional structure can be incredibly helpful when you are learning. It gives you a foundation, a sequence, and an opportunity to experience each step with intention. But tradition is a foundation, not a cage.
Learn the structure. Understand why it exists. Try it. Notice how it feels. Learn what each part is doing, rather than simply memorizing where everything is “supposed to go”. I shared an example how my practice varies from Heron’s based off her elemental invoking diagram.
You’re allowed to let your practice become yours. Embrace what responds to your magick, your space, your needs, and the way your own mind understands the energies around us.
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself (aka Grounding)
Although anyone can cast a circle, I do not believe that “beginner-friendly” should mean entering energetic work without preparation.
Before invoking elements, entities, deities, (or other energies), grounding and centering yourself are essential. A circle can heighten spiritual sensitivity, but it is not automatically an impenetrable wall that keeps every unwanted influence outside. What it can do is help establish clear boundaries, intentions, and rules of engagement within the space.
That means you need to arrive inside your own energy before you begin inviting anything else into it.
Grounding gives you a point of reference. Centering helps you recognize what belongs to you and what does not. Together, they make it easier to act with intention instead of impulse, recognize when something feels out of alignment, and maintain your consent while working with outside energies.
You are the one who decides what is welcome, what must leave, and what kind of energy is permitted within the temple you create. (PS: you also decide these boundaries in your everyday life… just sayin’... 👀)
The Circle Must Make Sense to the Witch Casting It
The ritual structure presented in this chapter is strongly rooted in Wiccan and ceremonial traditions. I do not cast my circles exactly as they are described in the book, although parts of my process share the same underlying foundation.
I have some videos posted from my actual rituals and step-by step processes. You can explore more about these HERE.
Collective correspondences carry weight. When generations of practitioners connect a direction, symbol, movement, or element with a particular meaning, that association becomes deeply charged. But a correspondence that feels entirely wrong in your own practice will not suddenly become powerful simply because a book told you to use it.
Personal symbolism carries weight too.
Heron Michelle describes the witching temple as a sphere at the crossroads. I tend to visualize a sphere layered with a cone stretching upward and another reaching below, creating a connection between what is above, what is beneath, and the sacred space held between them.
Neither image needs to cancel out the other. The purpose of visualization is to help you connect with and direct the energy. If your mind understands the temple differently, work with the image that allows the energetic structure to become meaningful to you.
The same is true of where we sense our magick originating. The author describes feeling that at her center, near the navel. I experience mine strongly in my chest and heart area, which is part of the personal significance behind my newer Tree of Life and spiral tattoo.
Where do you feel yours?
Does your magick seem to gather in your chest, your navel,
your mind, your hands, or somewhere else entirely?
Calling the Whole While Working With One
One point I wanted to add to the chapter concerns working closely with a single element.
If I were creating a circle specifically to study the element of fire, meditate, or deepen my relationship with it, I would still invite earth, air, water, and spirit to be present. I would not necessarily work directly with each of them during that ritual, but I would acknowledge the complete elemental system so the energies around me remained balanced.
One element exists as part of a whole. The same can be said when focusing on one chakra within an interconnected energetic system. Acknowledging the whole does not dilute your focus on one particular. It gives that focus a stable structure in which to deepen.
Bid Adieu to Your Guests
Our This may sound obvious, but it is one of the most frequently forgotten parts of energetic work: when you invite an energy into your space, remember to release it when the working is complete.
If you invoke the elements, finish your ritual, and simply wander away, the energy you raised can remain sitting in that space. This may show up as restlessness, anxiety, mental fog, energetic congestion, or a lingering sense that something is unfinished.
Closing the circle is not merely a ceremonial ending. It completes the energetic exchange.
Thank the elements, spirits, deities, or energies that joined you. Release them respectfully. Close any gateways you opened. Ground yourself again and allow the space to return to its ordinary state. (unless you need it to be charged differently, but that’s a whole other topic 👀)
The book compares this to turning off a faucet or flipping a breaker to stop the flow of electricity. I think that is an incredibly practical way to remember it. When the work is finished, close the current you opened.
Spirituality, Psychology, and Magick Synergy
One of my favorite parts of this section was the discussion of symbols and the psyche.
Ritual language, repetition, rhyme, gesture, posture, imagery, and sound are not just decorative additions. They help shift us psychologically and energetically into the state of mind required for the work we are doing.
This is part of why sigil magick can be so powerful. The subconscious responds beautifully to imagery. I held up a few examples during the live. When you see a familiar object, you usually recognize it before consciously cataloguing its color, material, or every tiny detail. The symbol reaches you before the analysis does.
The same principle applies when visualization produces something unexpected. If I ask you to imagine a leaf, you may see a green oak leaf, an orange maple leaf, or something entirely different. The first leaf your mind offers is not an incorrect answer. It may be exactly the symbol your subconscious can work with most effectively in that moment.
And “in that moment” is important.
Witchcraft is a living practice. Your relationships with symbols, energies, elements, and correspondences can (and most likely will) evolve as you continue exploring your path. Something that carries one meaning for you today may develop an entirely different layer of significance through experience.
Your practice does not need to resemble someone else’s inner landscape to be valid.
You Can Be the Conduit, but You Don’t Have to Be
The chapter also suggests that opening the elemental gateways awakens the corresponding elemental aspects within the practitioner. Yes, and that is usually the case when you’re beginning your practice. (Which is why so many witches keep hollering at you about “grounding.” 😅)
But as your energetic practice develops, you can also learn to create a separate energetic center and tether the working to that instead of using yourself as the primary conduit.
Think of the difference between plugging a phone directly into an electrical outlet and charging it from a power bank. A direct connection may feel faster and more intense. A separate source can create a buffer and offer a different way of controlling how much energy is available to the working.
I do want to emphasize that creating and maintaining an energetic conduit outside of yourself is a more advanced practice. It requires a stronger understanding of how you personally sense, direct, contain, and disconnect from energy. It is not something I would recommend jumping into simply because you think you can skip the grounding and centering part. (Nice try. 😂)
There is much more I could say about creating external energetic centers and working through them, so if that is something you would like me to explore more deeply in the future, let me know.
You Are the Magick
This chapter returned again and again to one message I deeply agree with: you are the magick.
The candles, diagrams, invocations, pentagrams, ritual movements, and carefully chosen words can help focus and amplify what you are doing. They can give your conscious and subconscious mind a shared language. They can connect you with traditions that have been shaped and strengthened by countless practitioners before you.
But rattling off the correct words is not the same as creating a true energetic connection.
Your witching temple becomes powerful because you arrive within it with awareness. You ground into your bones. You open the pathway. You establish the boundaries. You direct the energy. And when the work is finished, you close the door with the same intention you used to open it.
The ritual is not made sacred by performing every instruction perfectly. It becomes sacred because you are fully present within it.
~ Before You Go ~
I would love to hear how you cast your own circles. Do you follow a traditional structure, create something entirely personal, or blend the two? What shape does your sacred space take in your mind? And have your methods changed as your practice has grown?
Share your thoughts, experiences, questions, or even a simple hello in the comments.
You don’t have to be caught up to join us! The entire purpose of our Book Coven is to let one book begin a much wider conversation between witches.
Links to Our Books
(USA)
Elemental Witchcraft
Paperback https://amzn.to/47cdj9W
Kindle https://amzn.to/4lEHmKL
The Great Work
Paperback https://amzn.to/3UJ5WiI
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3VdLG98
(DE / EU)
Elemental Witchcraft
Paperback https://amzn.to/3UJeeqR
Kindle https://amzn.to/4lEHmKL
The Great Work
Paperback https://amzn.to/4lFOfeU
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3VdLG98
~ More Enchantment Awaits! ~
For our next gathering, we will read pages 195 through 202, stopping before Chapter Eleven.
If your edition does not include the same page numbers, continue from the page after the temple diagram through the end of the current chapter.
After that, we will begin Chapter Eleven and prepare to enter the third section of the book, where our journey begins connecting with the Wheel of the Year, starting with Samhain.
Remember, you are always welcome in the Enchanted Book Coven whether you have read every page, are several chapters behind, have already finished the book, or do not own it at all. Come for the witchy discussion, add your perspective when you feel called, and simply listen when that is what you need.
Thank you for gathering with me for our fourteenth meeting and for continuing to make this little corner of the internet feel like a true coven of curious, thoughtful, beautifully individual witches.
I’ll see you at our next gathering.
Until then, wander wisely.
~ Elena
