Conflicting Traditions

The first time I noticed conflicting ritual elements was when I was invited as a
guest to attend another Coven’s Esbat celebration. When the time came to “invoke
the Watchtowers” (a ritual salutation to the four directions), I was amazed to
learn that this group associated the element of Earth with the North. My own
Coven equated North with Air. How odd, I thought. Where’d they get that? The
High Priestess told me it had been copied out of a number of published sources.
Further, she said she had never seen it listed any other way. I raced home and
began tearing books from my own library shelves. And sure enough! Practically
every book I consulted gave the following associations as standard: North =
Earth, East = Air, South = Fire, West = Water.

Then where the heck did I get the idea that Air belonged in the North? After
much thought, I remembered having copied my own elemental/directional
associations from another Witch’s Book of Shadows, her Book representing (so she
claimed) an old Welsh tradition. Perhaps I’d copied it down wrong? A quick
long-distance phone call put my mind at ease on that score. (When I asked her
where she’d gotten it, she said she THOUGHT it was from an even older Book of
Shadows, but she wasn’t certain.)

By now, I felt miffed that my own tradition seemed to be at variance with most
published sources. Still, my own rituals didn’t seem to be adversely affected.
Nor were those of my fellow Coven members, all of whom put Air in the North.
Further, over the years I had amassed lots of associations and correspondences
that seemed to REQUIRE Air to be in the North. The very thought of Air in the
East offended both my sense of reason and my gut-level mythic sensibilities.
There are good REASONS to place Air in the North. And the whole mythological
superstructure would collapse if Air were in the East, instead. If this is so,
then why do most published sources place Earth in the North and Air in the East?

Ritual Tampering

Suddenly, I felt sure I knew the reason! Somewhere along the line, someone had
deliberately tampered with the information! Such tampering is a long and
venerable practice within certain branches of magic. In Western culture, it is
most typically seen among Hermetic, Cabalistic and “ceremonial” magic lodges.
It is common among such groups that, when publishing their rituals for public
consumption, they will publish versions that are INCOMPLETE and/or deliberately
ALTERED in some way from the authentic practice. This prevents someone who is
NOT a member of the group from simply buying a book, and performing the rituals,
without benefit of formal training. It is only when you are initiated into the
lodge that you will be given the COMPLETE and/or CORRECTED versions of their
rituals. This is how such groups guard their secrets. (And it is a telling
postscript that many scholars now believe modern Witchcraft to have “borrowed”
its directional/elemental correspondences from ceremonial magic sources! What a
laugh if this was Crowley’s last best joke on his friend Gerald Gardner!)

I remember the first time I became aware of such deliberate ritual tampering. A
friend of mine had been making a study of the so-called “planetary squares”,
talismans that look like magic squares consisting of a grid of numbers in some
cryptic order. There are seven such squares — one for each of the “old”
planets. While making this study, he began coloring the grids (more for his own
pleasure than anything else), making colorful mini-mosaics, using first two
colors, then three, then four, and on up to the total number of squares in the
grid. Six of the planetary squares yielded pleasing patterns of color. Then
there was the Sun square! Against all expectation, the colors were a random
jumble, with no patterns emerging. Thus, he began his quest for the CORRECTED
Sun square. And I became convinced of the reality of ritual tampering.

The Watchtowers

All that remains, then, is for me to assemble all the arguments in favor of the
Air-in-the-North model, which I have now come to believe is the CORRECTED system
of correspondences. The remainder of this article will be devoted to those
arguments, each with its own name and number:
1. AIRTS: This is perhaps the strongest argument. In Celtic countries, the four
elemental /directional associations are referred to as the “four airts”. And it
is a known fact that this tradition associates Air with North. While it is true
that some writers, familiar with ceremonial magic (like William Sharp and Doreen
Valiente), have given “tampered” versions of the airts, it is a telling point
that folklorists working directly with native oral traditions (like Alexander
Carmichael and F. Marian McNeill) invariably report the Air/North connection.

2. PARALLEL CULTURES: Although arguing from parallel cultures may not be as
convincing, it is still instructive to examine other magical aboriginal cultures
in the Western hemisphere. For example, the vast majority of Native American
tribes (themselves no slouches in the area of magic!) place Air in the North,
which they symbolize by the Eagle. (Aboriginal cultures lying south of the
equator typically have different associations, for reasons I will discuss next.)

3. GEOPHYSICAL: If one accepts the insular British origins of elemental
directions, then one must imagine living in the British Isles. To the West is
the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean (i.e. water). To the East, the bulk of
the European land mass (earth). South has always been the direction of fire
because, as one travels south (toward the equator), it gets warmer. Which
leaves North as the region of air, home of the icy winds of winter. (These last
two associations would be reversed for cultures in the southern hemisphere, for
whom north is the direction of the warm equatorial region, and south is the land
of ice.)

4. HYPERBOREAN: In fact, an ancient name for the British Isles was “Hyperboria”,
which literally means “behind the north wind”, thus associating north and wind
(air) once more. The inhabitants were themselves called “Hyperborians”, and the
phrase “at the back of the north wind” (the title of one of George MacDonald’s
faery romances) is still current. Of all the winds of the compass, it is
unquestionably the north wind (Boreas), bringer of winter, which is perceived as
the strongest and most influential (cf. Robert Grave’s goddess fantasy “Watch
the North Wind Rise”). You don’t hear too much about the other three cardinal
winds.

5. SEASONAL: Many occultists associate the four seasons with the four cardinal
points, as well. Hence, winter = north, spring = east, summer = south, and
autumn = west. (To be precise, it is the solstice and equinox points which
align with the cardinal points.) Again, in most folklore, winter is associated
with air and wind, as the icy blasts that usher in the season. In spring, it is
the earth which arrests our attention, with its sudden riot of blooms and
greenery. Again, south relates to summer, the hottest season (fire), and west
relates to autumn.

6. DIURNAL: Occultists also often associate the cardinal points of a single day
to the four compass points. Thus, midnight = north, sunrise = east, noon =
south, and sunset = west. (Please note that we are talking about TRUE midnight
and TRUE noon here, the points halfway between sunset and sunrise, and between
sunrise and sunset, respectively.) These associate nicely with the seasonal
attributes just discussed. It is easy to see why sunrise should equate to east,
and sunset to west. And, once again, from the perspective of the British Isles,
the sun rises over land (earth) and sets over the ocean (water). South is
related to noon because it is the moment of greatest heat (fire). Leaving the
“invisible” element of air to be associated with the sun’s invisibility, at
midnight.

7. MYTHOLOGICAL: In Celtic mythology, north is invariably associated with air.
The pre-Christian Irish gods and goddesses, the Tuatha De Danann, were “airy”
faeries (later versions came equipped with wings, relating them to sylphs). The
Book of Conquests states their original home was in the north, “at the back of
the north wind”. And when they came to Ireland, they came in ships, THROUGH THE
UPPER AIR (!), settling on the mountaintop. (It has always struck me as odd
that some modern writers see mountains as a symbol of earth. The crucial
symbolism of the mountain is its height, rising into the air, touching the sky.
Virtually all Eastern traditions associate mountains, favorite abodes of gurus,
with air. A CAVE would be a better symbol of earth than a mountain.) In Welsh
mythology, too, Math the Ancient, chief god of Gwynedd (or NORTH Wales), is
specifically associated with wind, which can carry people’s thoughts to him.

8. YIN/YANG: Many occultists believe that the four elements have yin/yang
connections. Both air and fire are seen as masculine, while earth and water are
seen as feminine. If air is associated with the north point of the magic
circle, and earth is east, then one achieves a yin/yang alternation as one
circumambulates the circle. As one passes the cardinal points of east, south,
west, and north, one passes feminine, masculine, feminine, masculine energies.
This alternating flux of plus/minus, push/pull, masculine/feminine, is the very
pulse of the universe, considered of great importance by most occultists. That
it was equally important to our ancestors is evidenced by standing stones in the
British Isles. At sites like the Kennet Avenue of Braga, the tall, slender,
masculine, phallic stones alternate precisely with the shorter, diamond-shaped
yoni stones.

9. GENERATOR: This argument flows out of the previous one. Practicing magicians
often think of the magic circle as a kind of psychic generator. Witches in
particular like to perform circle dances to “raise the cone of power”. Hand in
hand, and alternating man and woman, they dance clockwise (deosil) around the
circle, moving faster and faster until the power is released. This model has an
uncanny resemblance to an electrical generator, as man and woman alternately
pass each of the four “poles” of the magic circle. These poles themselves MUST
alternate between plus and minus if power is to be raised. This means that if
the masculine fire is in the south, then the masculine air MUST be in the north.
If the feminine water is in the west, then the feminine earth MUST be in the
east. If any adjacent pair were switched, the generator would stop dead.

10. MASCULINE/FEMININE AXIS: When you look at a typical map, north (the cardinal
direction) is at the top. Any north-south road is a vertical line, and any
east-west road is a horizontal line. Likewise, a “map” of a magic circle makes
the vertical north-south axis masculine (with air and fire), while the
horizontal east-west axis is feminine (earth and water). This makes logical
sense. When we look at the horizon of the earth, we see a horizontal line.
Water also seeks a horizontal plane. Feminine elements, considered “passive”,
have a natural tendency to “lay down”. Fire, on the other hand, always assumes
an erect or vertical position. Air, too, can rise upward, as earth and water
cannot. Masculine elements, being “active”, have a natural tendency to “stand
up”.

11. ALTAR TOOLS: In modern Witchcraft, there are four principal altar tools, the
same four tools shown on the Tarot card, the Magician. They also correspond to
the four Tarot suits, the four ancient treasures of Ireland, and the four
“hallows” of Arthurian legend. And, like the four elements, two of them are
feminine and two of them are masculine. The pentacle is a shallow dish
inscribed with a pentagram, representing earth, and is here placed in the east.
The womb-shaped chalice, symbolizing water, is placed in the west. They form
the horizontal feminine axis. The phallic-shaped wand, representing fire, is
placed in the south. And the equally phallic-shaped athame is placed in the
north. They form the vertical masculine axis. (The gender associations of cup
and blade are especially emphasized in the ritual blessing of wine.)

12. AXIS SYMBOLISM: In nearly every culture, the vertical line is a symbol of
yang, or masculine energy. The horizontal line is yin, feminine energy. When
the vertical masculine line penetrates the horizontal feminine line, forming the
ancient Pagan symbol of the equal-armed cross, it becomes a symbol of life, and
life-force. Place a circle around it or on it, and you have a circle-cross or
“Celtic” cross, symbol of everlasting life. (Please note the importance of the
EQUAL-armed cross. If one arm is longer or shorter, then the four elements are
out of balance. The Christian or “Roman” cross, for example, has an extended
southern arm. And many historians have commented on Christianity’s excess of
“fire” or zeal. Some versions actually show a shortened northern arm,
indicating a dearth of “air” or intellectual qualities.)

13. ASTROLOGICAL: The astrological year is divided into four equal quadrants,
each beginning at a solstice or equinox. And each quadrant is governed by one of
the four elements. Which element can be discovered by examining the exact MID-
POINT of the quadrant. For example, the first quadrant, beginning at the winter
solstice (north) is governed by air, which rules 15 degrees Aquarius, symbolized
by the Man or Spirit. The second quadrant, beginning at the spring equinox
(east) is governed by earth, which rules 15 degrees Taurus, the Bull. The third
quadrant, beginning at the summer solstice (south) is governed by fire, which
rules 15 degrees Leo, the Lion. And the fourth quadrant, beginning at the fall
equinox (west) is governed by water, which rules 15 degrees Scorpio, here
symbolized by the Eagle. Thus, north, east, south and west correspond to air,
earth, fire, and water, and to man, bull, lion, and eagle, respectively. If the
last four symbols seem familiar, it is because they represent the four elemental
power points of the astrological year, and their symbols appear in the four
corners of the Tarot cards, the World and the Wheel of Fortune. (The same
figures were later adopted by Christians as symbols of the four gospel writers,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

If those are the arguments in favor of Air-in-the-North, where are the counter-
arguments in favor of Earth-in-the-North? Surprisingly, I’ve heard very few.
The most common by far is “But we’ve always done it this way.” Not too
convincing. However, no matter HOW persuasive my arguments may be, many have
countered that magic doesn’t lend itself to rational arguments. It’s what FEELS
right that counts. True. And there’s no denying that many practitioners do
just fine with earth in the north. Granted. Still, if they’ve never tried it
the other way, how would they really know?

My challenge to my fellow practitioners then is this: give Air-in-the-North a
shot. Just try it on for size. See what it feels like. And not for just a
single ritual. It’ll take several tries just to overcome your habitual ritual
mindset. And nothing is as habitual as ritual! So in order to give this a fair
shake, you’ll have to do a whole series of rituals with air in the north. And
go into it with an open mind. Like all magic, if you decide ahead of time it
won’t work, it won’t. Then, once you’ve tried it, compare it to your old method.
Ask yourself what’s different, if it worked any better, and why or why not. And
let me know. I’d enjoy hearing about your experiences.