About the quarters and elements

Quarters, guardians, elements, etc., offer an extra layer to your circle and spell work. Once again, this is an area of great diversity for Witches as to what you do when you call a quarter.

The four elements of nature: Earth, Air, Fire and Water are the very foundations of creation and the basis of life itself. Add these elements to Spirit and you have the five points that create the pentagram. These elements are each representational to a cardinal direction, which is referred to as a quarter: East-Air, South-Fire, West-Water, North-Earth (and self-center).

Exercise 1

Take a moment and think about each direction that you studied in Lesson #4 and the element it represents. Write a paragraph on what each direction/element symbolizes to you. Let your intuition guide you on this; don't over think it. What correspondences are you drawn to? What images to the directions and elements conjure? Do you want to work with the elementals, angels or other spirits associated with them? If so which and why?

This is going to give you your base connection to each element. This will be your building block for your relationship with it. There is no right or wrong answer.

For a deeper connection to the elements, try to do a mediation for each direction/ element. Be sure to face that direction during the meditation. (This portion is not required but can be a powerful experience.)

Exercise 2

How do you (or will you) represent the quarters and elements on your altar? Write a paragraph explaining your choices.

---

Calling the Quarters

The quarters correspond to the four elements and the four cardinal directions as well as the powers, spirits, energies, characteristics, elementals, totems, angels, and guardians associated with that direction.

When calling the quarters, some Witches call on the powers of the elements. Others call on elementals. Some call on angels. Some on guardians. Some have calls so long and extensive that they invite EVERYONE to the circle. That is not necessary.

When I began doing rituals, I started out with the basics: the direction and the element. As I became more involved in ritual work and I began to learn more about the quarters, I began incorporating other energies into my quarter calls. Again, do what you feel comfortable with and feel free to change it as you grow.

Before calling the quarters, you need to decide: 1 - Who are you inviting and 2- What will their job be? To protect? To guard? To join in? To aid?

Make sure your wording properly reflects what you are asking of the quarters. For example, if you are doing a Sabbat ritual, you may want to simply invite the quarters to join in celebration. However, if you were doing serious spell work during an Esbats, you might ask them to guard your sacred space or to aid you in your magickal workings.

Note: I used the word "ask" on purpose. There are a few witches who demand or summon or call forth the quarters and the Goddess and God. I much prefer to invite these spirits into my circle. Think about it; how much help would you want to offer someone who demanded your presences instead of kindly inviting you in. And after all, we are mere mortals; it probably won't be in our best interest to demand anything from the spirit realm.

Calling the quarters can be as elaborate as you want it to be. Besides deciding who you are calling upon, you can also decide whether or not you want to mark their arrival in your circle. Some people light an appropriately colored candle for each quarter as they are called. Others ring a bell three times. Some simply offer them a "hail and welcome."

Another thing to think about is how you physically call them. Do you use your athame or wand? Do you speak out loud? Do you close your eyes? Do you stand with your hands out at your side, palms up? Do you hold your hands out? Do you salute them? Again, there is no right or wrong way. Do what comes naturally. But take not of how you do it as it may give you an indication of how your direct energy.

Depending on tradition or how you feel, Quarter Calling usually begins in the East or the North and moves clockwise.

As with casting the circle, if you are unsure of where to begin, look in your books or online for some sample callings. Do you like them? How could you change them to make them your own?

Exercise 3

Write two sets of quarter calls: One for a celebration ritual and one for a working ritual. Why did you choose your wording? Which energies did you call upon and why?

---

Closing the Quarters

As with everything else, what you open must also be closed. Before you finish your ritual, you must thank whomever you called upon from the quarters and then close the quarters.

Note: Again, be aware of your word choice. You want to thank the energy here, not "dismiss" it. Do not presume to be mightier than the energy around you.

The most common way to close the quarters is to walk around the circle widdershins (counter clockwise) beginning with the last quarter called and thank each representative for coming and extinguish the candle representing that quarter. Like the circle casting, you want to do the opposite for thanking the quarters that you did for inviting them. If you lit a candle at each quarter, extinguish it as you thank them. If you rang the bell on their arrival, you can also ring it on their departure.
Always be sure to offer thanks to the quarters when closing them.

Exercise 4

Write a closing to go with your quarter two calls

Exercise 5

Perform one of the quarter calls and closings you wrote. How did you do it? Did you use any props? How did you stand? Did you use tools? How did it feel? Were you comfortable?

---

Parting notes: As with circle casting, don't get hung up with calling the quarters the same way every time. As you become more comfortable with this part of the ritual, you may find yourself making up calls off the top of your head. There is nothing wrong with speaking from your heart directly to the quarters or deities. It is just important that you have a good feel for the energy and symbolism of the quarters before doing so. Feel free to experiment. Eventually you will find yourself falling into a patter that works for you for calling the quarters.

 

Invoking the deities; statement of purpose

Our focus this lesson is on invoking the deities into our circle and declaring our statement of purpose.

Invoking the deity/deities is a very important part of your ritual. This is where you invite the Goddess and God into your circle to watch or aid you in your Rite, where you demonstrate your willingness to open yourself to the God and Goddess.

Before you think about invoking anyone, you need to figure out what you are going to do during this ritual. This is your statement of purpose. This will dictate your choice for circle castings, quarter calls, deities etc.

Once you have a goal in mind, it is time to think about which deity/deities will work best with that goal. Do you work with just the Lady and the Lord or do you work with a particular pantheon of deities? If you work with a pantheon, which deity/deities rule over what it is you are doing in your ritual?

For instance, if you were doing a healing ritual, you may want to call on the Celtic god Bran and goddess Airmid or the Roman god Apollo. Some rituals have their deities built in. For instance, Imbolg is a ritual honoring Brigit, the goddess of light.

An important note: While you are not limited to any one pantheon in your practice, it is highly suggested that you limit yourself to one pantheon per ritual. It is not a good idea to mix and match deities within the same circle.

The basic idea behind invoking the Goddess and/or God is to invite them to come into your sacred space.

Here is an example of a basic Goddess and God call.

Goddess Mother, hear my cry.
Across the world, my spell shall fly.
To ask of thee upon this night
Please aid me in my magick Rite
Father God to thee I call
Lord of forest and oak tall.
I ask of thee upon this night,
Aid me with your magick might.

As with the quarter calls, you need to think of what it is you want the Goddess and God to do. Do you just want them to be present? Do you want their help or guidance? To you want them to aid with their power?

If you have written an invocation, make sure you have this part of your ritual memorized; it is important that you concentrate on the words you are saying, not the act of reading them.

Again, this is an area where you may eventually begin just speaking from the heart when you ask the Goddess and/or God to join you in the circle. Just remember, don't ever order a deity to do you bidding.

It is common practice to invoke the Goddess first, but again, do what feels right for you.

Exercise 1

Write two invocations for the Goddess and God: Yule is our next Sabbat. Write an invocation that could be used for that ritual. For the second ritual, write an invocation you might use if you were going to do a working circle for one of the following topics: money, love, protection, psychic ability. Include who you would call and why.

---

Statement of Purpose

Now you have your deities, along with the quarters, present. The next step is to tell them why they are all here. Some Witches leave this step out. Personally, I like to state my purpose, not only to keep me focused, but also to get all the spirits and energy "on the same page."

A statement of purpose can be very simple and direct: I have asked you here tonight to help with �? Or I have invited you into my circle to join with me in the celebration of�?/FONT>

Or again, you can speak from your heart and be a little more elaborate and detailed in what it is you plain to do. For example: I asked you to join me today to lend me your power and aid in the healing of Joe whose cancer has come back and needs our help to put him back in remission. You could then continue on to explain why Joe deserves their help and why he is so important to you.

For me, the statement of purpose part of the ritual is a time for a heart-to-heart with the deities. I tell them exactly what's going on, why I am here and what I would like to accomplish. I am always careful to never demand anything and to always be polite.

This is a time to be humble. It is not a time to play all-powerful witch making orders right and left, less smiting begins (not really, but it still isn't a good idea to make demands on the deities).

Thanking the Deities

As with the Quarters, you want to thank the deities when you are done. Please do not be so brass as to "dismiss" them. They are not your minions and won't take to kindly to that act. Just simply thank them for their time and wish them a safe journey back. Again, feel free to speak from your heart with this.

Exercise 2

Write a thank you to the deities that compliments the two invocations you wrote in Exercise 1.

--

A summary so far:

At this point, you know have basically everything you need to do a celebratory ritual. You know how to structure a rite: creating sacred space, casting a circle, calling the quarters, invoking the deity and stating your purpose. The last two lessons will focus on common questions that arise during rituals such as how and why do you raise energy and what do you do with the energy once it is there