CHALLENGE ENTRY
I’m not entirely sure if what I’m about to write is the fifth element but here goes.
I do not consciously call upon any element. I don’t use circles anymore as they are not part of my current practice, infact they are discouraged. I don’t use wands, or really any tools at all now, nor crystals, nor an athame. And I hardly use my old altar for actual magical workings. My tools, are in the nature found in my land, shop items are discouraged as are imported items from other lands. The reason, local items found connect to the spirits around me easier, does this mean it also connects to the element spirit easier too 
? Not sure yet. I recently made a little wooden icon to Loki, my god, which has been infused with his spirit, which I now carry. It’s to replace the crystals that I used to carry. I’ve carried those crystals with me for years, so I’m not ready to let them go yet but at some point, the aim of my studies is to let all tools go, and just rely on spirit. Not so easy to do.
I use fire, which is an element, I know, but the fire for me draws in spirit. I don’t cast many spells, my main practice is connection now. Connection to the spirits of the land, the gods and anything else that’s out there. This involves alot of sitting outside, at night, with a fire lit and one candle (I’m still getting used to sharing my space with the bugs that also join me 
). The candle represents spirit, and spirit flows through me guiding any connections that need to be made. Any runes I need are either drawn into the earth, or made with sticks and stones found around you. Their energy then melds with yours. It’s a weird feeling. At first I’m unsettled (partly because it’s dark and I can’t see the bugs 
), then I can feel something heavy entering me, and then I chant, normally a runic chant, whichever rune/runes are needed for the connection, then when the connection is made, I can feel the VR (vital rhythm) which feels like pins and needles traveling through my body starting in my arms, moving up to my head and neck, then down through my body. If there is no VR, then I know no connection has been made.
The altar that I used to sit at daily, has become a space of honour to my deity. Now I have a rock altar outside but this is not dedicated to any deity, it’s an amplifier of a particular force to enable connections to spirits to be made. Thinking of this challenge, maybe it’s an amplifier of the element spirit. I don’t know. I’ve still along way to go in my studies of Nordic Mystism and Runes, but whilst I was outside last night, with Loki channelling something through me, I wondered if this is what spirit is for, like a link to connect to other world beings, whatever, wherever they are. 
I hope we get this challenge again, maybe I’ll redo it on the catch up, so I can see if anythings changed in my understanding of spirit and the way it’s used in Norse witchcraft. So much I used to think I knew, is all very different now, no tools, no circles, just raw energy -spirit and you. Am I even a witch still as my spellwork is reduced , maybe I’m a spiritualist? I don’t know. All I know is there is spirit energy out there, and it’s alive and powerful. 