most forms of paganism involve some aspect of circlecraft, whether it be for personal spellwork or for ritual use. one of the most common elements of circlecraft is acknowledging and working with cartesian compass directions that usually have elemental correspondences. we divide our circle into quarters, corners, and quadrangles and associate qualities and energies with them. but how does each ‘quarter’ relate to its supposed element? and why do we place spiritual entities (that may or may not have anything to do with elemental qualities) within these quarters? superficially, this doesn’t make much sense… these divisions seem to have little relation to the geometry of a physical circle and would be relative to (not to mention subject to change by) the position of the practitioner. but spiritually, there is a deeper purpose to such an organizational schema – and its origins lie in the ceremonial western mystery tradition.
in the physical realm, we can generally figure out which direction is which by knowing our position relative to the earth, but we can’t really pinpoint the boundaries of the three dimensional space that make up ‘east’, for example. euclidean geometry is incapable of taking the third dimension into account which is problematic since we all live on a giant, fully 3D oblate spheroid known as the earth. and even though our ‘circles’ tend to be visualized as 2D geometric shapes, we’re still using language and terminology that applies to rectangles and squares, rather then the somewhat more mathematically complex terminology that would apply to curving bodies.
if we look at it more from a spiritual perspective, however, it begins to make a little more sense. the nature of reality of the spiritual realm is much different then that of the physical realm – on the field of potential phenomena (the ‘emptiness’ that embodies all reality – physical, mental, spiritual, transcendent, and beyond) the causes and conditions that give rise to the very rigid and deterministic natural laws that govern the physical realm are different then those that give rise to spiritual realm. consequently, different ‘models’ of reality can arise and dissolve simultaneously within the spiritual realm, where only one object can reside in a particular point in spacetime within the physical realm. this allows for our mental consciousness to conceptualize spiritual reality in multiple ways at the same time. our ‘circles’ can can also be ‘spheres’, and yet can also have points, and corners, and quarters as if they were rectangles all at the same time. the effect of this seemingly spiritual chaos is that back on the physical plane, even though we don’t know where exactly ‘east’ ends and ‘south’ begins, we will have general regions whose energetic effects match our intentions and can produce real work within the circle.
but before we figure out what element goes where and why, i think its important to look at why we call elemental energy into our circle to begin with. what is the point of having earth, air, fire, and water energy within our circle? we’ve already got our physical reminders of the elements, so isn’t that enough? short answer is no. there are actually two reasons why we call in elemental energy into our circle. the first reason is practical – all things have a mixture of spiritual energies, physical manifestations, mental consciousness, and divine qualities that make up their inherent natures in differing proportions. the more ‘physical’ a thing is, the lower its vibratory rate. vibratory rate increases as it becomes more mental – then spiritual – and finally, divine. with a higher vibratory rate, things become progressively more pure until, ultimately, at the apex of creation, a thing is completely divine, and therefore completely pure. defilement, on the other hand, tends to spread from the more impure to the less impure, but something remarkable happens between the divide of ‘mental’ and ‘spiritual’ vibratory rates. the nature of defilement is lower-order energy; it comes in the physical and mental varieties. but when defilement encounters spiritual energy, the higher-order nature (more specifically, the higher-order methods) of that spiritual energy acts to transform the defilement into a higher-order manifestation of its natural self – thereby purifying the defilement into an undefiled state. this purifying and transformative effect is a natural quality of spiritual energy.
so how does this relate to the circle? when we call in elemental energy, we are really calling in the essence of each element. that essence is the spiritual expression of the element, anchored to the circle by the physical manifestation of the element within (for example, we ‘call in’ the spiritual essence of fire which can manifest in the physical realm because we have actual, physical fire somewhere within the circle). that spiritual essence of fire embodies all of the purifying qualities of physical fire, but in more concentrated, higher-order form. because it is spiritual energy, when it encounters defilement (that would be us…) it acts to purify what is defiled into its non-defiled state. so each of the ‘spiritual’ elements purifies the circle and its inhabitants by raising the vibratory rates of everything within the circle.
the second purpose of quarter calling is devotional in nature. usually, calling in elemental energy is a prelude to calling in divine energy. when we work with the gods in circle, we are inviting them into a temple outside of spacetime. just as with guests in our home, we want to make the temple as inviting, pure, clean, and filled with the things they like as we possibly can. it is an act of worship to strive to emulate the creative works of the gods – and by presenting the gods with the spiritual ‘building blocks’ from which they themselves created the universe, we are emulating the desire to create in their image; we are presenting the gods the ‘work of their hand’ as it were. ultimately, quarter calling is an offering to god.
next part is going to look at where we put each element within the circle, and why we do it that way. any questions or thoughts, leave a comment.
-justin
i believe that the one quality which members of all religions and cultures share is our humanness; and that humanness secures us the right to experience and express our relationship with god in whatever way we determine is best for ourselves – even if the experience is similar to the experience from another culture or religious framework. i believe we have the right to adopt practices and beliefs that work for us, and to reject those that do not, regardless of the time period or tradition from which they originate. i believe we have the right to wear or discard the labels of our choosing, or to refuse to label ourselves or accept the labels imposed by others if that is our choice. ultimately, i believe in religious self-determinism… that we are beholden to no one but ourselves and our gods in developing our spiritual relationships.
