Elemental Control

Elemental Control is an ability of witches to change, control, or manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire or water. Witches commonly invoke these elements to harness their specific properties and can have devastating effects when combined together. This power can also be activated through various spells though commonly performed non-verbally.
==Notable usage==
===The Tomb Spell===
The four elements were invoked in the lifting of the seal that kept the tomb vampires in Fell's Church trapped. The spell was improvised by Bonnie and Sheila Bennett due to the original key being destroyed by their ancestor Emily Bennett. Drawing on the elements for power in order for the Bennett witches to perform the spell, Air, Earth, Fire and Water were symbolized within a pentagram of torches. The spell, however, was only meant to open the seal, to allow vampires to enter, and not to remove it entirely. 
===The Harvest Ritual===
The four elements are invoked in the Harvest an Ancestral Magic-based ritual performed by the covens of New Orleans, and also manifest should the final stage of the ritual, known as the Reaping, not be completed within a year of the first stage of the ritual. This was demonstrated in 2011, when New Orleans was plagued by intense earthquakes, torrential rain, severe windstorms, as well as wildfires spreading throughout the city as a result of the fourth Harvest Witch, Davina Claire, not being sacrificed to the Ancestors as intended. Had the Harvest not been completed by Sophie Deveraux, Elijah Mikaelson, Niklaus Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, and Hayley Marshall, the effects of the Ancestors' elemental control would have completely decimated New Orleans. ()
As seen during the Fête des Bénédictions, the "Feast of the Blessings", each of the Harvest Girls demonstrated abilities that corresponded to one of the four elements that were invoked during the Harvest ritual: Monique represented earth, Abigail represented air, Davina represented fire, and had she been present, Cassie would have represented water. They demonstrated the following elemental capabilities to the crowd: Monique caused a minor tremor, Abigail caused moderate breeze to blow around the streets, and Davina used her magic to set off the fireworks that kicked off the festival. ()
==Basic Elements==
Control over the following four elements is an ability possessed by witches, regardless of skill level, though practice, power, and knowledge is needed or used in order to use them in a precise manner or to higher degrees.
===Fire===
Pyrokinesis is the ability to control and manipulate flames, embers, or objects with an extremely high temperature. The manipulation of fire is one of the most basic and commonly used facets of elemental control in witchcraft. However, it requires concentration; those who lose their focus on the fire-related task can cause the flames to die, and loss of control over one's emotions while using pyrokinesis can lead to destruction and death. Fire is associated with strong emotions such as passion, anger, and rage.
===Water===
Hydrokinesis is the ability to control and manipulate bodies of water or any other types of liquids. The manipulation of water is commonly used for divination, healing, and restoration of nature. Despite hydrokinesis not being a widely used form of magic, it still requires significant concentration of the witch to successfully complete their tasks. Water is associated with passive emotions such as serenity and tranquility.
Technically speaking, this ability can also extend to the manipulation of blood and other fluids, such as when Davina used a spell to collect Klaus' blood from the pavement upon which it had been splattered. Another example includes when the Heretics controlled the available water from a sprinkler system to use as an accelerant to spread a fire spell in Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take. The most potent and direct use was when Hope performed a spell to quench a cherufe's magma, although this was short lived. The spell seemed to collect the available moisture in the surrounding area, compress it into an orb of water which was projected towards the monster.
===Air===
Aerokinesis is the ability to control and manipulate gusts of wind, such as creating windstorms and tornadoes. The manipulation of air is the second most basic and commonly used facet of elemental control with regards to magic. Despite not being widely used as a form of magic, air differs from the other elements because it is both the weakest and the most powerful form of Elemental magic. It requires concentration to successfully attain the desired result, and those witches who are especially experienced and powerful can even use aerokinesis in advanced forms, such as to control the weather. Air is associated with emotions such as freedom, harmony, and boldness.
On of the most notable examples of this manipulation occurred when Maria and her fellow Travelers pulled the air from Jeremy Gilbert's lungs and he began to suffocate in What Lies Beneath. In That's Nothing I Had to Remember, Hope used a spell to form a localized wind torrent to push back a croatoan.
===Earth===
Geokinesis is the power to control and manipulate the Earth, including minerals, rocks, soil, and the movements of tectonic plates. The manipulation of earth is used to create earthquakes, tremors, and to influence agriculture. This element is considered to be the most difficult to handle, since its shape is solid, which makes it less flexible in comparison to the other elements. However, it can be used as a powerful defensive or offensive attack against an enemy due to the potentially devastating effects it can create. This is the least directly used form of elemental control as compared to the other basic elements. Earth is associated with patience, strength, stability, and goodness.
In Ashes to Ashes, Davina used Earth magic and the power of the Ancestors to turn dirt and ash into flesh and bone. She had intended to resurrect Kol, though while distracted, Kol's ashes were exchanged for Esther's and she was resurrected instead.
==Advanced Forms of Elemental Control==
There are several aspects of elemental control that can be accessed by especially powerful and well-trained witches. However, diligent practice and a significant amount of magical power are required in order to use these abilities with precision.
===Plants===
Chlorokinesis is the ability to control vegetation and the life within it, such as by accelerating, reviving, or withering plant growth and creating various organic flora at will. The manipulation of plant life is an advanced form of elemental control that comes closest to Nature itself. Chlorokinesis is an extremely gentle form of elemental control in comparison with the four basic elements, as it nurtures that of another life. For this reason, it is rarely used as defensive or offensive magic. Despite advanced usage in spells and rituals, witches have a connection to the Earth and can literally feel Nature and life itself. When witches are turned into vampires, they lose this connection.
===Electricity===
Electrokinesis is the ability to create or manipulate electricity or other energies within the environment. In its most basic form, it allows control over electrical fields, charges, and electronics. Due to the complexity and difficulty in controlling this element in its most potent and devastating form, lightning has the potential to cause severe destruction, more so than other facets of elemental control. Specifically, lightning is pure energy that is capable of destroying a physical body and reducing it to ashes within seconds.
To date, only one witch has directly used this form of elemental control in its most potent form. In The Five, while during a thunderstorm, the Witch of The Five called upon and summoned a bolt of lightning to her when she created the Brotherhood of the Five with such precision that it struck her cauldron and no one present during the ritual. Despite its complexity, in its most basic form, witches, such as Bonnie, in We'll Always Have Bourbon Street, Esther, in Every Mother's Son, and Dahlia, in When the Levee Breaks, have manipulated electricity to cause lights to flicker or to disrupt cellular reception, respectively. In We're Gonna Need A Spotlight, Emma performed a spell to generate a spark of electricity while using Aximander Dust to augment the spell's effects. Since the Aximander Dust conduits electricity through anything it touches, she described the spell as chain lightning. In I'll Never Give Up Hope and Facing Darkness is Kinda My Thing, Hope, and in You Can't Run From Who You Are, Lizzie, uniquely created balls of light within the palm of their hand, a form of electromagnetic radiation. In Life Was So Much Easier When I Only Cared About Myself, Dark Josie performed a stronger version of Emma's spell while fighting Hope. In You're A Long Way From Home, Josie performed a spell that simulated a dozen lightning strikes within a localized field for a short duration. While Jed called it "lightning", it was abnormally red in appearance and seemed to have no electrical discharge as it struck hay bales and Jed, causing no fire or electrical damage. In Someplace Far Away From All This Violence, Hope, a fully activated tribrid, used the same spell Emma originally used, though to a degree similar to that of Dark Josie, to create an arc discharge of electricity.
===Weather===
Atmokinesis is the ability to control and manipulate meteorological phenomena through precise manipulation of humidity, precipitation, temperature, and barometric pressure. Atmokinesis is one of the most advanced forms of elemental control, as it involves the combination of various elements to achieve the desired effect, such as causing powerful thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Because of the complexity involved in atmokinesis, it requires massive amounts of magical power and concentration to use.
Bonnie displayed this ability when she harnessed the power of one-hundred dead witches in Know Thy Enemy and created and dissipated a thunderstorm within a few seconds while Dahlia created a storm that lasted a few days in City Beneath The Sea.
===Ice===
Cryokinesis is the ability to create and manipulate ice and cold or low temperatures. This can be considered as an advanced form of hydrokinesis as it involves the freezing of water and moisture into ice. This form of advanced elemental control has rarely been used, but has been suggested to be potentially deadly when used in more advanced forms on living beings.
In The Tale of Two Wolves, Hope performed a spell to turn water into ice and busted Connor's car window. In That's Nothing I Had to Remember, Lizzie used a similar spell to rapidly cool and extinguish the flames on the reanimated "zombie" jogger. In This is Why We Don't Entrust Plans to Muppet Babies, Lizzie attempted to freeze the mora miserium to keep it from breaking, though the spell seemed to cause the glass to progress further into cracking. Lizzie also suggested to use such a spell to freeze a gremlin in Do All Malivore Monsters Provide This Level of Emotional Insight?, though Hope dismissed the idea as she claimed it would have killed the creature in the process.
==Other Users of Elemental Control==
Dryads (TV series): Dryads are the living spirits of trees and, as such, they possess the ability to control, accelerate, and direct growth of plant vegetation at a far greater precision and efficiency than that of witches. Such accuracy has been used as extensions of the dryad's own arms and vines used within combat to strike their enemies. Furthermore, upon the death of the only known dryad, she sprouted and rapidly grew into an enormous, fully mature willow tree.
Phoenixes (TV series): Phoenixes have an indirect use of the element of fire. When they die, their bodies automatically erupt in fire and they resurrect with all damages repaired. Furthermore, they can use this ability to produce wings made of fire to fly in the air. Whether they can use fire for other purposes is currently unknown.
Vampires (novels): In The Vampire Diaries novels, extremely old and powerful vampires possess the ability to manipulate the weather. The Old One, Klaus demonstrated the unusual and deadly ability of being able to control lightning. However, the elements can also be used against vampires, as running water can weaken a vampire, and fire can destroy them.
==Trivia==
*According to Elijah Mikaelson, objects enchanted by witchcraft can only be destroyed by using the elements of water and fire. He then demonstrated this fact by throwing the moonlight stones over hot coals and then pouring water over them.
*In the novels, the origin of vampires is a mystery, but some of the powers of the undead are controlling elements and weather. In the TV series, vampires are an abomination of Nature and cannot manipulate the elements.
==Gallery==
SpiritMagic14.png|Fire
Water1.png|Water
SpiritMagic5.png|Wind
Earth1.png|Earth
Screenshot (7).png|Plants
Lightning0.png|Lightning
SpiritMagic6.png|Storm
Wind4.png|Kai's wind torrent
SilasFire3.png|Silas creating fire
Storm1.png|Dahlia's storm
Pyrokinesis3.png|Expression fire
Plant1.png|Dahlias
Water3.png|Pool
ImmortalitySpell4.png|Fire whirl
Bonnielukachanneling3.png|Wind gust
Bonnielukachanneling2.png|Air channeled
EarthMagic0.png|Ash and dirt
Earth Magic.png|Earth magic
TO_3x02_Davina's_Wind_control.jpg|Davina's Wind Magic
Pyrokinesis5.png|Bonnie containing Hellfire
LGC111-112~Dorian-Emma~Alaric.png|Emma creates a 'spark'
==References==
==See also==
Category:Powers
Category:Witches
Category:Witchcraft
Category:Supernatural