Everything Under the Moon

There are many ways of calling the elements. You can simply ask them to be present or you can make calling them an important part of the ritual.

I have read and researched many different ways and directions that the elements are placed and called. The most popular one I have come across is in the wicca tradition, Earth - North, Air - East, South - Fire and west - water.

However this has never made sense to me so I have made my own below and added what I have learnt and felt are correspondences to each element .

North is air because I face north and I can see the sky, East for me is obviously the sun because the sun raises in the east, South is the Earth because it is below my feet and is also behind me, Water is West because I live in the north west of England and the closest stretch of sea is to the west of me. Water is also the opposite of fire, so placing water in the west makes perfect sense to me. And spirit is of course placed at the top or in the centre.

Element = Wind/Breath
blue (north) hardship, defeat, trouble,... winter - a season for survival and waiting
Wisdom, intellect, the adult self, the mind.


Element = Fire/Life Source
yellow (east) success; triumph ... spring - a re-awakening, the power of new life
Illumination, creation, self, spirit


Element = Water / health
White (west) ... peace; happiness ... summer - a time of plenty
Trust and Innocence, emotions.


Element = Earth
Brown (South) ... death ... autumn - the final harvest, the end of life's cycle
Introspection and intuition, the physical body.


Element = Spirit
white (centre) and all of the elements
... learning, SELF
Balance, beauty, harmony, transformation, change.

I was wondering first what people think of this and would love to see how other people call the elements and where they are placed in the directions if at all.

A fairly common one is: Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the north powers of mother and earth I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the east powers of air I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the south powers of fire I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the west powers of water I call to thee.

Melindrose wrote:A fairly common one is: Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the north powers of mother and earth I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the east powers of air I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the south powers of fire I call to thee, Hail to the guardians of the watch towers of the west powers of water I call to thee.

Hi Melindrose

Thank you for your post. Yes I have heard of the guardians and calling them to a ritual. In wicca the guardians known as the watchtowers are called and are summoned in each of the four corners or directions of the circles. Some say that we should not call directly to the elements themselves in a circle but rather the guardians of the elements., this is because if an element is called upon to strongly it could cause havoc such as burst pipes or for a fire to occur, so having respect and caution is a most.

Personally I have a lot of water in my life, for example I can feel very drawn to this element and have felt the need to bring this element into my life. In the past I have problems with too much water such as floods and pipes bursting, up to date it has happened in every house I have ever lived in so I do hope to learn to balance the elements in my life.

I don't call upon guardians of the elements as such but rather the raw energies of the elements and seek to invite the qualities of the elements into my life, such as strength and grounding in the earth or passion and drive in fire. In other words I seek rather for the qualities of fire and not for for fire itself.

I have also started to seek my own spirit guide and always ask for the goddess and spirit to assist and watch over the circle, however this part is something I feel fairly new to and I'm still learning and always trying to reach this through mediation and visualisation.

Would love to hear any stories or experience that people here may have with calling or stirring the elements or a particular element.