The Sphere of Protection: Phase 4

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 Callings of Air and Water for a week. (If you're just joining us now, you can find those here, here, and here.) Now it's time to add in the third of the elemental phases, the Calling of Fire.

There's a bit of a twist here. You learn the Calling of Water second, but it's not done second once you learn the Calling of Fire. For the next week, you'll be practicing the Opening, the Calling of Air, the Calling of Fire, the Calling of Water, and the Closing, in that order. You'll keep that order, too, when we go on to the remaining four elemental Callings. Why? You need water and air to balance fire, but fire goes in the south, so you do it after air in the east and before water in the west. 

If you're using divine names in this practice, you'll need one that's associated with the element of fire. If you're using Judeo-Christian symbolism, the standard divine name to use is אלהים , ALHIM, which is pronounced "Elohim." In the Druid Revival traditions I work with, this element is associated with Sul, the healing goddess of hot springs and the sun . 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 fire as is. The Calling of Fire 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 south. Using the first two fingers of your right hand, trace the triangle on the right, starting from the top point and going clockwise. Imagine that symbol drawn, just as shown here, in a line of red flame or of blazing red light. This is the invoking form of the symbol of fire. 

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 red gate of the bright flames and the white stag of the summer greenwood, and in the great name SUL, I invoke the Fire, its gods, its spirits, and its powers. May the powers of Fire bless and protect me this day and always, and further my work. May my will be in harmony with 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 finish the invocation, imagine as intensely as possible the sun blazing high in the southern heavens. See an noonday scene in which heat shimmers in the air. Make it look like summer 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 fire into yourself. Take a little while at this, and then say, "I thank the powers of Fire for their gifts."

Then trace the same symbol in the same place, but this time draw the triangle counterclockwise from the top. This is the banishing form of the symbol of fire. It doesn't banish fire -- it banishes other things with the help of fire. Point at the center of the triangle and say words such as the following: "And with the help of the powers of Fire, 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 Fire. I banish these far from me." Spend a little while imagining every imbalance and unwanted influence being shriveled up and burnt away by the blazing heat of the sun. 

Turn to the west, and do the Calling of 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 previous ones.