Directions

Another topic of debate comes with deciding in which direction to cast the circle. Within Paganism there are two directions, deosil or clockwise and widdershins or anti-clockwise. These directions are based on the movement of the Sun through the sky. In the Northern hemisphere, where these attributions orginated, the Sun moves through the Southern sky from left to right. Which gives the appearance of clockwise motion.

In the Southern Hemisphere, however, the Sun passes through our Northern sky from right to left, or in an anti-clockwise motion. Therefore, many Pagans in the Southern Hemishere, cast their circles widdershins, which is considered bad by the more traditional of mind. It is considered bad because deosil is considered the direction of positive magic and widdershins negative.