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Many books have been written about the practice of magic and the religeon worshipping the Deities. In most of those books the author instructs the reader to invoke the guardian spirits from each of the primary directions: North, East, South, West. Unfortunately, I have never seen a book which has adequately explained *why* one invokes the guardian spirits and what the four directions do, anyway? A few authors have touched upon this latter question by explaining that the the North is the direction of earth - symbolic of strength, fire of the South is symbolic of the heat of passion, etc. I believe that for the first time the lessons of the four directions are about to be written down. That's right, kiddies, the four corners have actual teachings to learn... and you just thought that South was a great direction to represent during winter!
These are the good and benevolent spirits from a particular direction who are sent by The Deities to represent the traits of that direction.
The North is the direction of Earth and rock. It is the direction of the solid base upon which we build ourselves. The Great Spirits of the North bring strength, stability, and dependability to our lives. The strengths of White magic and of our very lives depend upon the strength of our souls. It is the earth which gives us the food we eat; from the plants we grow, to the animals which we hunt. The North teaches us to have a soul of the strongest ingredient, Truth. I say this because stone cannot lie. A liar may say and even believe that a stone is not a particular shape, color, etc., but that does not change the facts about the stone. The stones of our lives, our souls, were created by the greatest force of all: The Lord and The Lady in their great union. When one is feeling spread out over the four winds and the troubles and problems of our lives rule over us, we often refer to the process of stabilizing ourselves as 'putting our feet on the ground' or 'grounding'. This is the reason the circle is best started from the North, the Great Spirits of the North help us to ground ourselves and to concentrate our efforts. The lesson of the North is: Live - each and every day.
East is the direction of light. It symoblizes knowledge, true love, peace and harmony. Life as we know it would not be possible without light. When one is feeling left out, confused, etc., one must first ground one's self. When properly grounded, one begins looking to the East for guidance to illuminate the proper path. When a path is shown, that path must be carefully considered at first. It is easy for us as humans to imagine a path being shown when in actuality we are shining ourselves forward into the darkness. At this point The Challenge of The Law comes into play. The one lesson which must be learned individually is to learn to listen. Learn to listen to that 'little voice' inside of you... the one which never leads you wrong. With practice, one may learn to tell the difference between the voice of the intuition and that of the reasoning mind, between the voice of the soul whispering the proper path and that of latent desires for power and control. This is the same voice which diviners use to learn the past, present, and future of the querrant. The lesson of East is: Love - and you will find the path of Truth.
The ancient Europeans knew that when one wanted to escape the bitter cold winters of the North, one headed South. Therefore, it only seemed logical that the symbol of South is flame. Fire makes rapid and sure changes in materials. It can make equally sure change in a soul. Farmers and ranchers often burn areas of fields to clear away unwanted or detremental growth. This burning converts the weeds into potash - a required nutrient. This analogy can easily be applied to the path toward The Truth. Our lives often become overgrown with weeds and brambles from daily pressures. At times it becomes necessary to 'burn' through all of this, but it must be done with caution. A rancher does not simply head out to the field, throw a match to the ground and let it burn. Instead, the rancher will first find which area of land must be cleared, then s/he will watch the weather for a few days to be sure that the wind is not blowing too hard nor from the wrong direction. Then, and only then, after much consideration will s/he light the match... and ony then with plenty of friends to help control the flames. When one is grounded and has found the proper path, one looks to the South to find the power to make the necessary changes. Often the changes are very rapid, other times they are slower, more measured. Regardless of the speed of the change, one must always temper the changes of the South with the wisdom of the East and the Water of the West. The fire of the South is the way in which our souls are brought to the path of White magic. It is better to have several small rapid changes than to try to blast away at what is wrong with your life and change too much too quickly. When in doubt, make a small but definite change. The lesson of the South is: Learn - and make carefully thought out changes for the better.
The West is the direction of water. The West has three functions: 1) to control the fires of the South, 2) to execute slow and measured changes, and 3) the cleansing of our hearts, our minds, our bodies, and our souls. The changes brought about by the energies of the South can be a glorious and wonderful thing... or very very destructive. This is why The Dieties have provided for us the energies of the West. When the 'burning' of the overgrowth threatens our well being, the waters can quickly douse the fires. Unless you are addicted to something, it is usually not wise to make such radical changes in our lives that those around us quickly become alienated.* Instead, slow measured changes are usually more appropriate. One example of the power of water in this area is the Grand Canyon. Over many millions of years a single running stream of water (which is not particularly large) has eroded hundreds of thousands of tons of solid rock. The White magician knows that the Great Spirits of the West control the elemental waters and The Deities control the Great Spirits. Therefore, the White magician knows that when s/he simply lets the waters change his soul that it is truly the Will of the Deities at work. This is what is meant when the bumper stcker reads: "Let go - Let God." This 'live and let live' attitude does not mean that the White magician does not get tired and frustrated. It is at those times when the lesson of the West comes gleaming into his/her mind and the White magician smiles then lets go. S/he has learned to enjoy life and to always look forward to the next reward. The lesson of the West is this: Enjoy - your life is in the greatest of hands, let them shape you into your true form.
* In that case, the change should be as fast and as hard in the direction of help as possible. Forget who's feelings are hurt... if they were really your friends they would be fighting to get you the help you need.
Merry Part and Blessed Be.
Torin W.
athame@flash.net