The Sphere of Protection: Phase 3

By now, I hope those of you who are following along have been practicing the Opening and Closing of the SoP daily for a couple of weeks and the Calling of Air for a week. (If you're just joining us now, you can find those here and here.) Now it's time to add in the second of the elemental phases, the Calling of Water. For the next week, you'll be practicing the Opening, the Calling of Air, the Calling of Water, and the Closing; then we go on to the remaining five elemental Callings. Why? First, because it's much easier to take it a step at a time; second, because it turns the process of learning the SoP into a process of initiation. 

If you're using divine names in this practice, you'll need one that's associated with the element of water. If you're using Judeo-Christian symbolism, the standard divine name to use is אל , AL, which is pronounced "Ell." In the Druid Revival traditions I work with, this element is associated with Hesus the chief of tree-spirits. If you work in a different theistic tradition, choose a relevant name from your tradition; if you don't, don't worry about it -- you can also invoke the element of water as is. The Calling of Water is done as described below: 

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First, perform the Opening phase of the Sphere of Protection, and then perform the complete Calling of Air, including both the invoking and the banishing aspects. 

Then face west. Using the first two fingers of your right hand, trace the triangle on the right, starting from the bottom point and going clockwise. Imagine that symbol drawn, just as shown here, in a line of blue flame or of blazing blue light. This is the invoking form of the symbol of water. 

Point to the center of the symbol and say an appropriate invocation. Here's the one I use when I'm practicing this ritual in a Druid context: "By the blue gate of the mighty waters and the salmon of wisdom in the sacred pool, and in the great name HESUS, I invoke the Water, its gods, its spirits, and its powers. May the powers of Water bless and protect me this day and always, and further my work. May my heart be instructed by the ways of nature." (Yes, you can use this one as written; you can also come up with one of your own. The SoP is flexible that way. The divine name, if you use one, should of course be vibrated; see the explanation in the post on the Calling of Air if you need a reminder of how this is done.)

As you finished the invocation, imagine as intensely as possible an ocean or a mighty lake reaching out west of you into the distance. See an evening scene in which the sunset shines above the waters. Make it look like autumn in the place where you live. Engage all your senses, so that you smell and feel and hear as well as see the imagery. Draw the energies of water into yourself. Take a little while at this, and then say, "I thank the powers of Water for their gifts."

Then trace the same symbol in the same place, but this time draw the triangle counterclockwise from the bottom. This is the banishing form of the symbol of water. It doesn't banish water -- it banishes other things with the help of water. Point at the center of the triangle and say words such as the following: "And with the help of the powers of Water, I banish from within me and around me and from all my doings all harmful influences and hostile magic, and every imbalance of the nature of Water. I banish these far from me." Spend a little while imagining every imbalance and unwanted influence being washed away by the waves and dissolved forever in the vastmess of the water. 

Finally, face the same way you faced in the Opening, and perform the Closing of the SoP.

Do this sequence daily for the next week or so. Notice the change in the energetic balance between this phase and the one you completed over the last week.