Witch Nest: Rethinking The Quarters And Tools

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Rethinking The Quarters And Tools

In times past, from our ceremonial forbears, we received instructions on the quarters and their usage. As time and technology has progressed I feel that we need to update our directions, their meanings and usages.

First and foremost there is a move to switch the tools for east and south. This entails moving the athame to south and the wand to east. This is a great idea. Why? Because a tool should not be destroyed by that which created it. Fire help us to refine steel. Carbon dioxide laden air enables plant growth. Courage and bravery are better symbolized by the athame and sword than with the wand.

And in fact, I wonder if our forbearers have tricked us by "pying" or confusing the directions. Some of this has been done in the past to separate the older traditions from the newer emerging ones. It probably happened here also.

So I got to thinking that perhaps an update, a complete update, of the quarters and directions might be in order. After all, no one told me I couldn't. So I did.

I chose a sexual focus for each of the directions, a color, a tool, and a weapon. Energyforms or spirits are optional. The sexual focus seems to be fairly traditional. Since nothing is frozen in stone you can assign either sex to any direction or none at all.

It seems apparent to me that the quarters are assigned to help us focus the elements into a coherent structure surrounding center, the point where Goddess and God meet. Additionally it is the intersection of flesh and spirit. Neither can be separated from the other without massive transition.

Here then is my updated chart of quarters.

DIRECTION
---------
MALE: East, Apollo, Athena, South, Horus, Isis
FEMALE: West, Aphrodite, Neptune, North, Cerredwin, Cernnunos

ELEMENT
-------
MALE: AIR (Yellow, Light Blue), FIRE (Red, Maroon)
FEMALE: WATER (Pinkish Blue, Sea Green), EARTH (Humus, Leather)

TOOL
----
MALE: Fan, Flag, Streamer, Censure, Match, Candle
FEMALE: Chalice, Bowl, Horn, Trowel, Pick, Awl

WEAPON
------
MALE: WAND, Scourge, Whip
FEMALE: TRIDENT, Net, Spear, MACE, Stone Club, War Hammer

In meditations I found that each direction had a general energetic focus. The more active and penetrating ones I assigned the the male polarity.The more passive and enfolding ones were assigned the female polarity. Of course you get to assign them according to your needs.

by Ammond Shadowcraft

Also try this free pdf e-books: