Tag: Watchtower (magic)

All Information Needed to Become a Novice Apprentice with Lady Beltane

WOTC’s INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT

You must be 18 years old to apply to be an apprentice mentored by Lady Carla Beltane. 

You will automatically become a member of Heart Spirit’s Coven when accepted as an apprentice.

Scroll down for the apprentice handbook, novice course outline course, and application to become an apprentice. Please copy and pasted the application into the body of an email with your answers in English or included what language you are writing in. The inclusion of the language you are writing in is so Lady Carla Beltane (from here on I will be using LCB) can find the proper translation app for it. Thank you!

If you have any questions about becoming a novice apprentice with LCB please use this email address wotcladybeltane@gmail.com. If you write in any other language besides English please start with what language it is for translation reasons.

All lessons are done via email in English. The Heart Spirit’s Coven chats and Sabbat gatherings are held online in a Skype private meeting room.

The Novice Course fee is $100.00 USD total which includes the $20.00 USD that needs to be paid when you send in your application. If you are accepted this will go towards your course fee. If you are not accepted, you will receive a refund of $19.00 USD because of fees charged to us by PayPal. Use the DONATE button on WOTC’s Homepage to pay for your application payment and class fee, please.. Thank you!

Any novice apprentice starting on or after October 31, 2026 will need to purchase LCB book Witchcraft Bare Basics as it will have novice course information and lessons included in it. There will also be a change in how the lesson receive their due dates as you will have all of the lessons in the book. More information about this is available by writing to LCB at ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com The cost of the book has not been decided as of yet. For more information on what the book will contain please use this link before writing to LCB Witchcraft Bare Basics by Lady Carla Beltane

The course fee paid for novice apprentice course is nonrefundable in any part if you decide to quit lessons or are dropped for not meeting the requirements from the Apprentice Handbook agreed to do when accepted into WOTC’s International School Witchcraft

WOTC’s INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT STUDENT HANDBOOK

You must be 18 years old to apply to be a student. 

If you have any questions about becoming an apprentice at any level with Lady Carla Beltane please use this email address ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com. The application for becoming a novice in Heart’s Spirit Coven is available here. Please copy and pasted it into the body of an email with your answers. Thank you!

The Novice Course fee is $80.00 USD total including the $15.00 USD that needs to be paid when you send in your application. If you are accepted this will go towards your course fee. If you are not accepted, you will receive a refund of $14.00 USD because of fees charged to us by Cash App. Use $Carla0558 on Cash App to pay for your application payment or class fees, please. Thank you!

The course fee for novices is nonrefundable in any part if you decide to quit lessons or are dropped for not meeting the requirements of put forth here.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS for NOVICES

All apprentices must check the WitchesofTheCraft.com a minimum of once a week for a post you want to read. You must leave at least one comment on one post every week so we know you are checking the website for posts that can further your education in The Craft. A Thought for Today and A laugh for Today do not count as a post for the week.
To easily meet the reading and commenting on one post every week you should use this box on WOTC’s Homepage “FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL.” Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.” Than you can either make your comment by replying to the email after you read the entire post or make a WordPress account and read any past or present posts and make your comment right below the post. Lady Beltane receives a notification everytime someone makes a comment. This way she can acknowledge your comment.

The lessons for a novice are like bricks in the foundation of a building if you miss putting a brick in somewhere or do not lay them in the correct order the whole foundation is weak. When practicing magick there can be no weak spots in your foundation if there is than your magick, especially spell casting, may not be being done safely and you could hurt yourself, someone or something else somewhere in the universe or your spell or ritual might not turn out like you wanted it to.
I expect all lessons to be done in order and completed before sending them to me by their due date. I will then review your lesson on its due date if sent in early and email you back with any corrections that need to be made or if further research is needed on any of the questions or comments I have about your answers. If there are corrections to be made you will not receive your next lesson until they have been submitted and cleared.

Email every lesson in its own email with the “Subject” line having the lesson number in it use this email to write your replies for the questions. The lesson answers have to be sent in the body of an email. No attachments with the exception of the novice’s first lesson will be accepted.

All Novice lessons will have a specific due date and will not be accepted for review after the due date unless arrangements have been made with Lady Beltane ahead of time. If the lesson is sent in before the lesson’s due date, it will just sit in the email inbox until their due date. After your lesson is reviewed and if any further information requested is also reviewed you will receive an email with comments from Lady Beltane after she has thoroughly reviewed your lesson. The next lesson will be emailed to you when your current lesson is completely finished.

You will not have a lesson due to turn in every week. If you do not have a lesson due you have to send a short email every week you do not turn in a lesson no exceptions.  Just so we know you are still interested in studying with WOTC’s International School of Witchcraft/Heart’s Spirit Coven. It can be very short, just a “hi” will do, but you must email her.

If we do not hear from you for three weeks in a row, we will believe you no longer wish to study with us and will remove your email address from the WOTC’s International School of Witchcraft email list and you will be taken out of the private meeting room on WhatsApp.

We realize there are times health issues or emergencies happen, if possible, email Lady Beltane or have another person email her that you are sick, there has been a family emergency, or just had a baby, etc. For these reasons we will keep your email address for six more weeks for a total of nine weeks before deleting you completely. This is also the rule for commenting on posts.

If at any time during your study level you chose to quit studying with us, Lady Beltane will need an email telling us you no longer want to study with her and a reason as to why you are quitting. As it might be a simple reason and together with you she might be able to work something out to keep you studying with her and the coven.

Remember course fees are nonrefundable.

Lady Beltane is available by email or to meet on WhatsApp if you need help with a lesson or have any questions about The Craft. These meetings, when at all possible, should be set up a minimum of three days in advance. When requesting a one-on-one meeting with Lady Beltane on WhatsApp please give her two different times and days that are convenient for you to meet. She will pick the one that fits into to her schedule.

Lady Beltane will try to answer all students’ emails within three days of receiving them for those with questions and when a lesson due has come

Lady Beltane will hold a Chat on the 3rd Sunday of every month 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM CT which may run longer. Attendance is Mandatory for at least 15 minutes sometime during the hour. Chats may go on longer than 1:00 PM CT
If you cannot attend, you must send an email to ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com before the starting time of the chat or in the case of an emergency as soon as possible. Important information on lessons and/or other topics can come up that are not covered in the study material or on the website.

The Sabbat gatherings are held ass close to or on the date they fall on. A chat is held before the celebration ritual it starts at 10:00 AM CT with Circle cast at 10:30 AM CT. Attendance is mandatory. You can use this link to find your local time (I suggest you bookmark this website for use in the future) Use this to find your local time for chats and gatherings.
Before the sacred circle starts anyone entering the Heart’s Spirit Coven/WOTC’s School of Witchcraft WhatsApp private meeting room is welcomed to socialize with anyone else that is there. You can ask questions about lessons or anything else. This is a great time to get to know your fellow coven members better. Once it is time to cast the circle all conversations must stop, they can be picked up again after the circle is opened/closed. No one will be admitted to the gathering once the circle has been cast. It will count as if you did not attend.

Novicess accepted will be asked to copy and paste this handbook onto their own computer for reference.

Email this sentence, “I have read the Student Handbook and agree to what is expected of me as a novice in Heart’s Spirit Coven/WOTC’s International School of Witchcraft.” I understand the consequences of not doing what is expected of me.” to Lady Beltane at ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com This way she knows you have read and understand what is expected of an apprentice and what they can expect from her.

Novice Apprentice Application

Please copy and paste this application into the body of an email to submit your answers to ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com. No attachments will be opened by Lady Carla Beltane!

What name do you want to use? Please give just your first and if you have one your pagan name.

Where do you live? Just give your state or country, please.

How old are you? Please include your full date of birth

What email address will you use to correspond with me for your novice course?

What is the main reason you want to study magickal and spiritual witchcraft with this coven? Please answer with at least a 300-word essay.

Are you formally studying other pagan paths now or in the past? If so what is/was your motivation for doing this? Please answer with at least a 100-word essay

Are you prepared to contribute to the well-being and uphold the sanctity of the coven, and if so, how? (E.g., respecting its members, its hierarchy, and its privacy.)

Will you stick with the coven even if it gets boring or tiresome to you sometimes? Please explain your answer.

Will you keep the coven membership a secret if you leave it? If your answer is no please explain.

How long have you been practicing witchcraft?

Do you follow a specific tradition?

Have you ever practiced, or do you now practice, any type of dark magick?

Do you promise to follow the direction of the High Priestesses?

Are you willing to question the High Priestesses if you feel they are doing or saying things that may hurt another coven member or the coven as a whole? Please explain your answer.

What is your feeling of the phrase ”In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust”? Please explain your answer.

Have you read the Student Handbook? Answer – yes or no. If your answer is no, please read it before submitting this application.

Do you have any questions about any of the expectations expected of you as an apprentice as outlined in the Student Handbook?

Please email the application in the body of an email to ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com

This NOVICE ONLY application and your answers need to be accompanied with a $20.00 USD payment. Use the  Cash App name of $Carla0558. If you are accepted as a student in WOTC’s School of Witchcraft, the $20.00 USD will go toward your $80.00 UDS course fee. If you are not accepted, you will receive a refund of $19.00 USD because of the fees Cash App charges us for transactions. You will also receive an email detailing why you were not accepted as a student. 

Novice Course Lesson Outline 

1. Making Your Book of Shadows/Grimoire – This is that magickal tool that is highly recommended to have. (This is the ONLY lesson that will be accepted as a picture attachment)

1A. What type of things should or could be written or included in your Book of Shadows/Grimoire?

Make sure you write down the date you receive the reply for this lesson as that is the date your 1 year and 1 day of study as a novice apprentice starts. All lessons must be completed by this date unless given an extension by Lady Beltane. To request an extension, you will need to submit a 300-word explanation on why you need it. Than email it to ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com

2. Definition of Common Words and Phrases used in Witchcraft

3. Name each Moon phase. Explain what defines each Moon phase

4. What are some of the magickal correspond for each day of the week?

5. Explain where objects representing the elements go when setting up a pentagram.

5A. Research 6 Gods and 6 Goddesses than explain why you pick those particular Gods and Goddesses to research.

6. What is a Witch’s Familiar a.k.a. Magickal Companion?

7. What are Magical Tools? Please describe any that you have or might want to have someday. (NOTE: Not all the tools you may read about are needed for performing rituals and/or spells.)

7A) Explain why should chose which magickal tools you feel you will need and/or want to practice witchcraft.

8. How would you set up a Basic Altar?

9. What are the basics of meditation?

10. How would you cast a Sacred Circle?

10A. Why is it important when performing any type of magick to do so in a sacred circle? WAit to cast your first SAcred CIrcle until you hear back from Lady Beltane about this part of the lesson.

10B. After doing your first sacred circle explain in detail how it felt being in the circle, what you felt went right if you felt anything went wrong, etcetera

11. Explain the questions you should ask yourself whenever you write a spell

11A. Write a Self-Protection spell. Submit it for review before casting it

12. Write a Ritual to perform to cast your self-protection spell in a sacred circle. Explain which Moon phase is best for protection work.

12A. Submit for review before attempting to do your ritual and spell.

12B. After doing the ritual explain in detail how it felt doing it, if you think anything went wrong, etcetera

13. What is an Esbat?

13A. How often can an Esbat gathering occur?

14. Write an Esbat ritual for a New Moon

14A. Submit the Esbat ritual before performing it.

14B. Please explain in detail how do you felt your ritual went

15. Write an Esbat ritual for a Full Moon

14A. Submit the Esbat ritual before performing it.

14B. Please explain in detail how do you felt your ritual went

16. Explain in detail what and when each Sabbat is for the hemisphere you love in. Make sure to include your hemisphere in your answer.

16 A. How they are Placed of the Wheel of The Year starting with Samhain.

16 C. Explain the difference in how the Sabbats are celebrated in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

17. Write a Sabbat Ritual for the next Sabbat on the Wheel of the Year for whichever hemisphere you live in (Please put which hemisphere you live in next to the lesson number in the emails subject line). Submit ritual before preforming it.

17A. How do you think your ritual went?

18. Write a Ritual for Your Personal Dedication to The Craft. Do you want to do your dedication privately, or with just the Beltane or the whole coven?

19. Please write a Review about Being a Novice Apprentice within Heart’s Spirit Coven. Do you think anything should be added to the novices apprenticeship? Please explain your answer in detail. Do you think anything should be omitted from the novice apprentice lessons? Please explain your answer.

All lessons must be in the body of an email, except lesson one which the picture can be an attachment. Your lesson will be reviewed, and you will receive a reply within three days from the date your lesson is due.

If you have any questions about any lessons or anything having to do with witchcraft, please email me at ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com

(One Person’s View Point) RE-THINKING THE WATCHTOWERS

RE-THINKING THE WATCHTOWERS
or
13 Reasons Air should be in the North
by Mike Nichols
copyright 1989 by Mike Nichols

Introduction

It all started 20 years ago. I was 16 years old then, and a recent initiate to
the religion of Wicca. Like most neophytes, I was eager to begin work on my Book
of Shadows, the traditional manuscript liturgical book kept by most practicing
Witches. I copied down rituals, spells, recipes, poems, and tables of
correspondences from every source I could lay hands on. Those generally fell
into two broad categories: published works, such as the many books available on
Witchcraft and magic; and unpublished works, mainly other Witches’ Books of
Shadows.

Twenty years ago, most of us were “traditional” enough to copy everything by
hand. (Today, photocopying and even computer modem transfers are becoming de
rigueur.) Always, we were admonished to copy “every dot and comma”, making an
exact transcription of the original, since any variation in the ceremony might
cause major problems for the magician. Seldom, if ever, did anyone pause to
consider where these rituals came from in the first place, or who composed them.
Most of us, alas, did not know and did not care. It was enough just to follow
the rubrics and do the rituals as prescribed.

But something brought me to an abrupt halt in my copying frenzy. I had dutifully
copied rituals from different sources, and suddenly realized they contained
conflicting elements. I found myself comparing the two versions, wondering which
one was “right”, “correct”, “authentic”, “original”, “older”, etc. This gave
rise to the more general questions about where a ritual came from in the first
place. Who created it? Was it created by one person or many? Was it ever
altered in transmission? If so, was it by accident or intent? Do we know? Is
there ever any way to find out? How did a particular ritual get into a Coven’s
Book of Shadows? From another, older, Book of Shadows? Or from a published
source? If so, where did the author of the published work get it?

I had barely scratched the surface, and yet I could already see that the
questions being raised were very complex. (Now, all these years later, I am
more convinced than ever of the daunting complexity of Neo-Pagan liturgical
history. And I am equally convinced of the great importance of this topic for a
thorough understanding of modern Witchcraft. It may well be a mare’s nest, but
imagine the value it will have to future Craft historians. And you are
unconditionally guaranteed to see me fly into a passionate tirade whenever I’m
confronted with such banal over-simplifications as “Crowley is the REAL author
of the Third Degree initiation,” or “Everyone KNOWS Gardner INVENTED modern
Witchcraft.”)

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.