I'm a Birdbrain

[Elspode]

Els, I've got my first round of questions. To start with, I see you have 4 areas for the 4 elements, I also note that you are using your air (yellow) area as your eastern corner due to lack of space. So, along w/ the 4 elements, you also have north, south, east, west represented too? If so, what types of things do you have there? Are the 4 seasons incorporated into the 4 elements, or do you have seperate areas for them as well? It seems you'd need a mansion to seperate all these things, if in fact you do?

***No, no mansion...just your basic suburban 1,000 square foot ranch home of the early 60's with a mostly finished basement. The four seasons are not represented specifically in the four corners, although you can infer relationships if you choose. The blue area represents Water (there's a bottle of water from the Gulf of Mexico brought back to us by a friend, a fossilized fish, a seashell, a small statue of two snowsuited children hanging the Moon, a blue candle in a crystal base and a blue battery-powered light to help us see in the darkened ritual room) the Red fire (a couple of red candles, a piece of purple granite, a Varga picture of a redheaded witchy gal, a rack of essential oils, a small crystal sculpture of a bear with a red heart, and an old pic of naked women)and the green, Earth (a large piece of gypsum crystal, a faux plant, a fossilized leaf, a crystal sphere).

Starting with the air area:
What do you do in the black caldron? Is it for "special" potions?

***The cauldron is just that...a cauldron. Cauldrons represent the womb, the vessel of creation. We use it for all kinds of things, including, sometimes, potions.

What is the powdery stuff in the gold "bowl", what do you do with it?

***Incense, which we make ourselves out of frankincense, myrrh and cinnamon. It is specifically for ritual purification. We make other incenses, including some for cleansing, healing, etc.

What do the owls symbolize?

***Owls are creatures of the air, and symbols of wisdom. The element of Air is associated with intellect, among other things.

Is that the knife you cut air with? You may have already told me, but why do you cut air again?

***Yes, that is my wife's athame. Cutting the air is not really what we do with it...it is just a saying we have to reassure people that our athames are not weapons. Athames work in much the same way as a wand, only with more emphasis. It directs our energies.

What do you do with the stick, or does it represent something?

***The stick is a wand.

What is the medal hoop thingy?

***That is called a Priestess Circlet. It is a headpiece sometimes worn by my wife during ritual symbolizing that she is the High Priestess of our coven.

What do you call the wood thing with the "star" on it, suffering from CRS=can't remember shit, what's the "star" called, pentagram? And, what do you use the wood thingy for?

***That is a pentacle, and we use it as the focal point on the altar for ritual processes. When we create the holy water and put the incense in the burner, we hold the vessel above the pentacle for a moment, then raise the vessel in honor of the God and Goddess.

Hope this has helped...