Neptune's Dolphins

 

Air Elementals are involved with communication, creativity, and thought. At best, they are mercurial, since they are changeable, eccentric and mirthful. Light and playful, Sylphs can inspire wild but practical fantasies in people. Moreover, they will make the unknown known to those who wonder

 

Inhabiting mountain tops, Sylphs are the breezes that rustle the tree leaves and the gales that scour the land. Air Spirits such as Wind Knots control the weather. In China, the Chi Spirits will aid a family provided they live in an uncluttered home. (These Air Elementals need to move freely about.) Meanwhile, the Tengu of Japan are master sword fighters.

 

In the Twentieth Century, Gremlins (Sky Bogies) were sighted on airplane wings. Gremlins like to destroy planes, and will often chew through the metal. These Air Elementals can be a pilot’s worst nightmare. A noted Australian ace, Mark Sheldon observed that they were not figments of the imagination. He cautioned, “if you fly good, they (Gremlins) will treat you so.” Charles Lindberg wrote in his autobiography that his plane’s fuselage was filled with ghostly presences. He found them to be friendly. Famed aviator Ernest Gann believed that these Air Elementals were to balance the Ying and Yang in human life.

 

Some Air Elementals live around trees. Dryads appear as wispy lights flickering in older trees. Since they like to play among the leaves, the Greeks asked the Dryads to communicate with the Gods. Meanwhile Lesidhe live on tree branches as leaves to protect the trees from harm. They will mislead people since these Elementals dislike humans for chopping trees down. Furthermore, the Lunantisidhe will protect the blackthorn trees from people.

 

The Cardinal Winds have the authority of holding up the four quarters of the sky. Consistent engagement with them will provide the person with daily guidance. The Wind of the East governs the mind and mediates between the physical and spiritual worlds. Heading into the East Wind is a call to adventure. The Wind of the South is the wind of the emotions. While it is the wind of hope and harmony, the South Wind is the most difficult to navigate. The Wind of the West governs the body, and is a harbinger of death. It serves as the catalyst of the dark night of the soul. The Wind of the North is the wind of the spirit, acting as a gateway to the deeper spiritual realms. When the North Wind blows, it is a call for courage and patience.

 

Manly P. Hall said that Sylphs had much to do with the “Oracle of the Ancients.” In Dodona (Greece), the Oracle there would relay messages from Zeus. Priests revealed the will of the God from the whisperings of the leaves from a sacred oak. (Later, the oracles came from the sound of a gong.) Remaining active from the Fifth Century BCE to the Fourth Century CE, Dodona was a destination for oracle seekers.

 

Other forms of Air Divination (aeromancy) are many. Austromancy is listening to the wind or examining the direction of the wind for information. Chaomancy concerns seeing visions in the air. Nephomancy is divining by the clouds. Ask the Air Elementals a question and wait for an answer. The Sylphs will speak with winds or clouds to those who wonder.

 

It is difficult to pin down an Air Elemental. It is best to let them whisper in your ear. Wind chimes will entice them to come and sing to you. Taking a wind bath will help you feel them around you. Let the Air Elementals be free to roam and play.

 

Suggested Reading:

Renee Baribeau, “Winds of Spirit”

Alexandria Chauran, “Faeries and Elementals for Beginners”

Taylor Ellwood, “Walking with Elemental Spirits”

Manly P. Hall, “The Elements and Their Inhabitants”

In pondering Water Elementals, I understood that they encompassed all of the qualities of water, especially its energies. One could say that Water Elementals are the personification of water in all its forms. In that light, the folklore about beings that lived in water could be considered stories about Water Elementals. Each Being possess a particular character of water – whether stormy sea or placid lake.

 

Heron Michelle, in “Elemental Witchcraft,” describes the powers of water as cyclical and tidal, with ebbs and flows. Water governs the shape of things by defining what is land and what is not. According to Michelle, the projective power of water is to dare, to be fearless and overcome barriers. With water, a person can cover a new emotional landscape. The receptive power of water is to accept the existing boundaries and allow the water to contain the person in stillness.

 

The Water Elementals live in shimmering bodies of unconscious feelings and irrationality. Water is both a window seeing into the unknown and a mirror reflecting back the known. Nothing is as it seems. Like water, these beings haunt lonely stretches of rivers, swim out with the tide, or linger by the reeds of the pond.

 

One place to experience the mysteries of water is the swamp. Wetlands, marshes, and bogs are fertile places of dark waters and muddy soils. Both beautiful and dangerous, the landscape hides much that captures the unknowing person. Mysterious lights float over the waters with phantom beings enticing the unwary to explore more.

 

Worldwide, there is much folklore of swamp beings. In the Amazon River Basin, people tell of Boto, the pink dolphin of the murky waters. Besides guarding the Amazon manatee, the Boto will come on the shore and seduce people. In Australia, the Bunyip lurks in swamps, billabongs, and other places of wetlands. According to myths, the Bunyip protects the fish and will attack those who violates the fertile places. In England, the Tiddy Mun controls the waters of the Fens. When the Fens were drained, the Tiddy Mun sent floods and pestilence to the neighboring villages. In modern times, as the Fens are being restored, the Tiddy Mun is quiet.

 

Most stories of swamp beings in North America seem to center on large humanoids. These beings are either a part of the swamp such as “Swamp Thing” or a combination of human and swamp creature such as “Alligator Man.” Others are similar to Bigfoot, and attack people venturing deep into the swamp such as the Skunk Ape.

 

I decided that a friendly being could live in the swamps like the Everglades. The gentle manatee that is slow moving could be the basis for the Swamptee – friendly, watching over the fertility of the swamp. The Swamptee encourages the grasses to grow, and the swamp animals to flourish undisturbed. She is like a mermaid except with a manatee body instead of a fish one. She has ample flesh because She encourages abundance and plenty. Water is broad and wide, and so is the Swamptee.

 

I am sure given the great size of the Swamptee will enable Her to stand up to those who would harm the swamp. As her paddle flippers and flat tail direct the muck, the Swamptee will overwhelm these people with water and mud. Meanwhile, her great size allows Her to float on the surface to frighten them into leaving.

 

The Swamptee is kind to those who seek knowledge below the surface. She will guide those who dare enter the mystery. She will shape the formless giving them firm boundaries. The gentle Swamptee will fertilize the subconscious with wonder and curiosity.

 

Works Used:

 

Hall, Manly P., “The Elements and Their Inhabitants. (1928).” E-book. Edizioni Aurora Boreale. 2002.

—, “Unseen Forces: Nature Spirits, Thought Forms, Ghosts and Spectors, the Dweller on the Threshold. (1924).” E-book. Borodino Books. 2018.

 

Kruse, John, “Beyond Fairy.” Woodbury (MN): Llewellyn. 2020.

 

Maxim, Gabiann, “Monsters and Creatures.” Summer Hill (Australia): Rockpool. 2018.

 

Michelle, Heron, “Elemental Witchcraft.” Woodbury (MN): Llewellyn. 2021.

 

“Elementals and the Guardians of the Watchtowers.” Otherworldly Oracle. 1 December 2020. Web. https://otherworldlyoracle.com/elementals-guardians-of-the-watchtowers/.

 

Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, “Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard.” New Page Books: Franklin Lakes (NJ). 2004.