taking user input and comparing it to elements in a dictionary

so I'm trying to make a basic game in Python 2.7. In this particular block of code, I'm trying to compare user input to keys within a dictionary, magicSpells, and then add variables as values. However, when I try to run this code, the for loop defaults to the else statement instead of doing as what I intend for it to do. How should I adjust this code?

Thank you.

spellClassMage = raw_input("What type of mage? \t\n - Electric" 
                               "\t\n - Fire \t\n - Water \t\n - Earth \n"
                               "Enter your choice: ").lower() 
for userinput in spellClassMage:
            if words in magicSpells: 
                player[name] = randHealthMage, spellClass, score #if the input is in magicSpells dict, assign name as key and random health, spell class, and score as values
                print("Your character's name is " + str(player.keys()) + ". Your health is "
                      + str(randHealthMage) + " and you are a(n) " + str(magicSpells[words]) + " Mage.")
                if randHealthMage <= 3:
                    print("You look a little frail..")
                elif randHealthMage >= 17:
                    print("You feel strong enough to lift a car.")    
            else:
                print("That isn't a listed type!")