ELEMENTAL;

Defined within the parameters of the four basic elements, ice falls into under the larger category of water. Water is a lunar element, ruled by the moon and shares many of its traits. It is the element of purification, the subconscious mind, love and the emotions. In its purest form, water is fluid and constantly changing. From a Wiccan standpoint, water magic involves pleasure, friendship, marriage, fertility, healing, sleep, dreaming, psychic acts and purificaion. Water is also feminine in nature, its color the deep, deep blue of the ocean. Ritual tools related to water include mirrors, glasses and chalices. Water is embodied in seas, rivers, lakes, fog and rain. It rules the West and the autumn months of the year.

But ice is not fluid like its mother element, but hard and sharp, like the diamond it resembles. Because of this property, ice is also a sub-element of earth, the element which is characterized by its solidity and its role as the foundation of all life. Also feminine, earth is another a 'cool' element, like water, one that rules over abundance and giving, instead of the more active regions of nature and magic. Earth is the quality which rules over the winter months, and the North, making it the ruler of cold as well. Ice is the principal expression of that wintry property, embodied in snow, hail and sleet.

So, ice is the marrige between earth and water, taking its attributes from both. On its own, ice is solid, hard, sharp, cold (all earthy) as well as shimmery, reflective, lunar, with the ability to change its form (all watery). Ice, however, is not an emotional element, but one that suggest frigidness and coldness in regard to relationships. This coldness is a double-edged sword because it also gives the air of level-headedness and rationality, of being able to remain cool under pressure. Ice in one's personality makes the cool, rational, serene to the point of emotionless, lofty, removed, and utterly unattainable.

Like water and earth, ice has its own set of symbols. From water, it draws upon the imagery of glass and mirrors, sharing with them the dual nature of being both changing and constant. Glass, although it appears to be a solid, is actually a very slow-moving liquid. Mirrors, too, have a dual nature because the reflections in their surfaces continually shift and waver while the mirror itself remain constantly solid and durable. In its ability to melt and become fluid and freeze to become as hard as stone, Ice has a duality which adds to its lunar nature.

BACK