Elemental Magick: Faces Come Out in the Rain

Undine Maidens by Lizard. (Photo credit: http://www.artmajeur.com)

Jim Morrison may not have been talking about the undines when he sang “faces come out of the rain when you’re strange,” but it’s no strange event when this happens. Among the creatures that represent their element, undines are the most human. They’re always described as feminine in nature with beauty and grace that can hypnotize those who catch sight of them. Undines held the ire of all sailors as they were mistaken for mermaids and sirens that shipwrecked their beguiled victims. Undines have also been likened to dolphins for their smooth movements through the water and waves. If you’ve ever taken a long walk during a rainstorm and think you see someone doing the same, just to find that you’re the only person on the road, then you’ve probably witnessed the undines playing.

Undines get the spotlight next to the gnomes in our lore and folktales. While gnomes have reached critical exposure with modern day stories and games, undines rule the world of theatre. The most common thread that ties undines together is Friedrich de la Motte Foque’s Undine tale. From this one short story, dozens of novellas, plays and ballets have surfaced. That one story has taught us that while an undine may be a spiritual creature, they embody the aspect of true love that melts our hearts in romance stories. Through all the plays that use undines as the heroine, they desire marriage and love from human men, which shortens their lifespans, but permits them an immortal soul. It may seem self-serving, but every undine tale shares the same heart-breaking pact with their human mates: The man may never deceive or become unfaithful to the undine or he will die.

Natural magick benefits from the aid of the undines because they help us to take in and assimilate our life experiences so that we grow and learn. If we never learn from mistakes or pursue our strengths, we would never grow as spiritual people. Undines want us to be happy and through their help, we achieve happiness by actual, tangible progression. The undines care for us emotionally, whether by revealing things that may be harmful to us or by heightening our emotional senses. Like the sylphs, undines are vested in our creative endeavors and want us to not only create, but want us to experience that euphoria we get when we finish a project. Where sylphs guide our intellect and salamanders drive our passion, undines take our emotions by the hand and help us to follow our hearts.