#modernisation

The traditional associations of casting circles are pretty simple: call the spirits of the elements at each of the cardinal directions, invoke whatever deity or deities with whom you work, “brush” or push the negative forces out from within the circle to without it, and then seal it with your own magick and Will. 

The problem is, though, that this was created by people living in the United Kingdom, and as such it was created with the UK’s cardinal directions in mind. These are not always appropriate for where you live, though! Traditionally, you would invoke

Earth in the East
Fire in the South
Water in the West
Air in the North

But here in Australia that makes no sense. In Britain, the further south (towards the equator) you move, the hotter it gets… but in Australia you move NORTH to approach the equator. Fire spirits would be found more towards the North of Australia where the heat is greater and the days are more equal.

In Britain, with the Arctic to the North, Air is placed in the far North as Air spirits love the cold and winds of tundra plains. However, being a Southern hemisphere country, Australia’s cold region is the Antarctic to the South, and so it makes more sense to listen to the Air spirits there, where you’ll actually find them. 

Here on the East Coast of Australia the beautiful Great Dividing Range - a vast mountain range that stretches for thousands of miles and divides our beautiful nation in twain - and the bulk of the Australian continent stretch out towards the West. Meanwhile, to our East, the south Pacific ocean flows with vast Ocean spirits that bring cyclones and thunderstorms to our fair continent. So it makes sense to not place Earth in the East like in the UK (where Europe is all eastwards) but instead in the West, and likewise place Water in the East where the largest ocean on Earth sits, placidly, waiting to devour us all.

But, of course, this is not the same for all! Japan might choose to have the Air of Hokkaido and the Arctic in the North, equatorial Fire in the South, Pacific Water in the East, and Asian Earth in the West; Kenya might have Fire in the East to represent the great Sahara Desert, Water in the West, Earth in the North and Air in the South. The world s full of diversity, and adhering rigidly to the rules of a bunch of 1920s British Wiccans who’d barely even left England in their entire lives and had never seen a non-white person probably isn’t the best idea in our modern world of inexpensive plane tickets and cultural diversity. 

Live on, my bright Wiccans and Witches of the wider world, and let the Spirits of your own lands guide you!

– Juniper Wildwalk, Wiccan of the World