So this is a visualisation exercise, which is really designed to help inspire relationships with each element.
Make or Practice using your Dreamspace
Firstly you need to form a good dreamspace, temple of the self or inner temple. This is a place in your mind that you can go to that is like your happy place from where you can step out into the astral planes, dream-reality or into which you can safely call spirits or forces you want to work with.
So for me, this space is based on a video game I was playing back in 2005ish. It can really be anything you want, but the ideal is that it is protected, safe and capable of having magical doors or windows to other places. Decorate it with symbols that represent you. Your life, the things you value. Remember we might refer to this as a temple but it doesn’t need to be any kind of edifice. It could be a garden or a wood. It just ideally should be protectable and capable of having doors.
The first exercise is to get used to this place. Begin with square breathing (breath for a count of 4, hold your breath for 4, breath out for a count of 4, hold your lungs empty for a count of 4 and repeat). When you have that rhythm going you can begin to visualise what it would be like to be in your temple / dreamspace walking around. Take a couple of 2 minutes to walk around your space and then move your hands and legs a little bit to snap back to your body. Remember you don’t need to astral travel back to your body because this space is in you.
Create an interface for the Elemental King
So the elemental king is symbolic of the power that maintains the relevant element and keeps it in check. For people working HOGD magic they use the names Djinn for fire, Nicksa for water, Paralda for air and Ghob for Earth.
What we are doing for this next part is making a servitor, construct or thoughtform that operates as the interface for the power that balances and controls each element, the king. An interface for the elemental king. To make it, we really need to think through its qualities from its personality to its appearance and its symbol as well.
Here are some qualities I felt indicated the personality of the Elemental Kings who while are influenced by their own element also demonstrate a strong command of it. This is how I imagine the elements would be if they were balanced.
Djinn – Free, passionate (but able to channel his passions), righteous, fast, humourous, expressive, leader-oriented, confident, proud, courageous, determined (but able to reign it in), decisive, inspirational, spontaneous, energized and energizing.
Nicksa – Sensitive, intuitive, emotionally deep, reflective, creative, considerate, healing, loving, magnetic, compassionate, dreamer (but capable of facing reality), adaptable, responsive and capable of strong listening skills
Paralda – Communicative, knowledge-seeking, animated, interactive, wise, philosophical, detached, curious, self-controlled, diplomatic, peace-keeping, aware of eccentric/unique/quirky nature and unafraid to show it, progressive with good command of technology and having the ability to see both sides.
Ghob – Assertive, practical, grounded, stable, solid, comfort-enjoying, dependable, responsible, slow but certain, sensual, pragmatic and gets stuff done.
Think about what you think they would look like. Like Ghob I imagine having while shapely features like a block head with chiselled facial features. Maybe short and wide, heavy. Dark colours. Paralda perhaps slightly bird-like but still able to speak from a human face. Long fingers. Very light features, like pale almost white eyes. Nicksa having more rounded almost amorphous shape dark blue eyes, maybe fish like features like a Zora from Zelda. Djinn could be like a jinn or red genie from Aladdin. You can pick whatever you want, but keep the idea of the element and their kingship / ruler status going and keep a useful way to interacting with them like human speech. A giant grizzly bear might not be easy to interact with.
Finally, make a symbol to represent them. You can use the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn symbols which I assume are their names drawn on the rose. You could write their names in English or using a magical alphabet and mix the letters together, overlapping them and then simplifying until you have a single symbol for whichever Elemental King you are intending to use.
Finally, step into your dreamspace using the square breathing and make a window to another world which is currently closed and put the symbol there on the window. Eventually, do some energy work obtaining energy from whatever source and breath it into the symbol as if giving life to it and as you do this say the name of the Elemental King and let the window open so you can interact with the king as if on video conference and note down whatever they say or show you. Spend sometime thinking about what you were supposed to learn from that experience and repeat to gain familiarity with the spirits and guidance of your growth of understanding the mysteries of the element you have chosen to work with.
I hope this is useful to people.