The Way of the Four Elements: A Second Manual of Occult Training

A one year course for students of the occult to expand their horizons through the study of fire, air, water, and earth.

Based on an ancient understanding of the cycles of nature, John Michael Greer invites students of occult to continue their training with the study of the four elements. The four elements are one of the foremost themes of Western occult tradition and have been used across history as a basic template for the process of initiation and seasonal ritual.

The pattern of study assigns each element to one of the four seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter), based upon traditional associations. The lessons are intended to be worked through in sync with each season, and there is no fixed starting point so students can begin with any of the four elements by following whichever season begins next.

Each chapter includes both the theory and practice of an elemental education such as symbols and teachings relating to the elements, suggestions for further reading, exercises for awakening the etheric senses, and astral clairvoyance.

The Way of the Four Elements is the quintessential next step for students of the occult to continue developing and honing the skills essential for a magical education.

John Michael Greer is the award-winning author of more than fifty books, including The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, The Druidry Handbook, The Celtic Golden Dawn, and Circles of Power: An Introduction to Hermetic Magic. An initiate in Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Greer served as the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) for twelve years. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife Sara. Greer is also the author of eleven fantasy and science fiction novels and ten nonfiction books on peak oil and the future of industrial society, and also blogs weekly on politics, magic, and the future at www.ecosophia.net.