Who are the Guardians in a Circle?

[Klia]

Hello all! Merry meet again!

Just a quick question. When people cast circles and call the quarters/elements, they say something along the lines of "may the guardians of ___ (element) be in my presence/circle tonight" or however the individual prefers to say it.

Who exactly are the Guardians? Are they angels? Guides? Spirits?

Thanks!

[p3nathan]

Most people think of them as spirits. Earth, air, fire and water are usually represented by gnomes, sylphs, salamanders and undines respectively. They are considered the spiritual representations of each elemental energy. That is what you're calling when you do your circle.

Does that make sense?

[Klia]

Yes it does. But I don't believe in gnomes or faeries. Could I imagine animals as the guardians?

[firebirdflys]

But I don't believe in faeries.

hopefully Tink didn't hear that!!

[Klia]

Oh no! ha. I've heard they can be mean. That's just me, but of course I haven't opened my mind to them yet. =)

[firebirdflys]

Out of all the things that go bump in the night, the Fae, I have had the most close encounters with.
They have been know to be mischievous, and they would love to thwart your path, but they are easily humored and will be unable to locate you to cause mischief if you turn your clothes inside out.
When you call on guardians...name them if you like...could be the Gods or Goddesses you resonate with, otherwise the guardians are any who would guard the circle, but as P3nathan said... usually are the elementals of the quarter, like Gnomes, Sylphs, Salamanders and Undines.
Some would call them Angels, but that may be for those who are practicing Christian Wicca.
BB, Firebird

[Echo_of_shadows]

When you call on guardians...name them if you like...could be the Gods or Goddesses you resonate with, otherwise the guardians are any who would guard the circle, but as P3nathan said... usually are the elementals of the quarter, like Gnomes, Sylphs, Salamanders and Undines.
Some would call them Angels, but that may be for those who are practicing Christian Wicca.

I agree. This is one of the things that varies from tradition to tradition, and even individual to individual. Whatever you feel comfortable calling upon and working with would be appropriate here. Choose what or who you want to work with, and visualize them as you invite them into your sacred space. I feel that if there's anything that makes you uncomfortable in the Craft, you can find a solution to that makes you feel better.
If calling upon John, Paul, George, and Ringo as you cast a circle makes you comfortable, then Koo-koo-ka-choo.

[Klia]

Wow thanks guys! I really had no idea what to call into my circle, but now I do. I never thought of the different things/people that could come into it. I may have been calling in something that I had no idea what it was. Scary, but of course I always say "only positive beings are welcome in this circle."

So for examples, who do you call when you name off the quarters/elements? I need some ideas - I've done circle casting a few times so it's still new to me. My idea was to name off animals of the element. Fire is going to be tough though.

What kind of experiences have you had with Fae, Echo, if you don't mind me asking?

[Lightbringer]

I noticed similarities between traditional circle casting and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, so I call on "the" four Archangels. It never felt right to me to just call upon mysterious, unnamed elemental spirits to guard my circle (because like you mentioned, I could be calling up something that I had no idea what/who it was).

Raphael is Air/East, Michael is Fire/South, Gabriel is Water/West, and Uriel is Earth/North.

I did have to get over some slight reservations about asking for angels to participate in my Wiccan rituals. Uriel isn't even recognized by Christians; she's entirely an occult figure. A lot of old occult practices involved Biblical names but would never be considered Christian because of their magical nature. I guess I'm trying to say working with angels doesn't automatically make you a Christo-pagan.

I don't know much about animals since I work almost exclusively with humanoid beings But salamanders would probably be an appropriate fire animal, right?

[Klia]

I like your idea with calling people/Archangels into your circle. I never understood how much went into the quarter calls. I really need to figure out WHO or WHAT I want to call in. I will do some more research.

[p3nathan]

Just to clarify, I don't really believe in gnomes etc in the fairy tale sense either, I really just think of them as symbols to help identify more with formless energies

[Echo_of_shadows]

I've got two kinds of experiences here. When I was in a coven, we didn't call on any "guardians" for the quarters. It was just a general "Hail and welcome powers of 'element.'" The only specific names we used when setting up our circle were various names of the God and Goddess, depending on the sabbat. On my own, I just welcome guardian spirits. It's sort of my way of saying "come as you are, as long as you come in peace." I haven't really worked with a specific type of guardian like an elemental or angel.

Wow thanks guys! I really had no idea what to call into my circle, but now I do. I never thought of the different things/people that could come into it. I may have been calling in something that I had no idea what it was. Scary, but of course I always say "only positive beings are welcome in this circle."

I feel that way too. I try to be extra careful with anything I call. My personal rule is "don't call that which you cannot release."

So for examples, who do you call when you name off the quarters/elements? I need some ideas - I've done circle casting a few times so it's still new to me. My idea was to name off animals of the element. Fire is going to be tough though.

Off the top of my head, I do know that snakes are associated with fire. My former High Priestess gave us shedded snake skin for magickal uses. I used to keep mine on my altar. I don't know where mine went, though. I kind of miss it. ...and maybe I sort of miss the snake it came from too.

What kind of experiences have you had with Fae, Echo, if you don't mind me asking?

I haven't worked with fae yet, but I do love fairies. I have a section of my BOS dedicated to fairies. I'm a bit partial to phoukas. I'm not sure why. I think it all started with a little tabby kitten named Puka.

[Kassandra]

.

IMy personal rule is "don't call that which you cannot release."

Good advice.

My former High Priestess gave us shedded snake skin for magickal uses.

Awesome.

If calling upon John, Paul, George, and Ringo as you cast a circle makes you comfortable, then Koo-koo-ka-choo.

lol I like it.



.

[Alura Noel]

So for examples, who do you call when you name off the quarters/elements? I need some ideas - I've done circle casting a few times so it's still new to me. My idea was to name off animals of the element. Fire is going to be tough

With your idea to use animals that represent the guardians or element. What animals did you end up using to represent them so far?

For some reason I associate foxes with fire. Its hard to tell what they will do next, kinda like how fire is unpredictable.

[DPhoenix]

A while back I posted a Guardians of the Watchtower Banishing Spell which you could use as an example for calling the Archangels.

The Native Americans have what's called a medicine wheel. In it they associate certain animals with the directions & elements. The different nations differ slightly but the most common are...

North/Earth: Buffalo, the buffalo was a big source of sustenance and abundance especially for the midwest & plains tribes. It was a source of food, clothing, skins for shelter, teeth & bones for beads, tools & instruments. (some tribes use Moose as moose was also a means of food or Bear as they spent the winter within the earth during hibernation)

South/Fire: Mouse, fire represents passion & energy. The mouse is a bundle of energy & procreates more than any other mammal. (some tribes use the wolf for it's energy in running down prey and the passion of it's howl)

East/Air: Eagle, other then the obvious connection with air & flying. The Eagle is considered the messenger to the Great Spirit, carrying the prayers of the people up into the Heavens. (other common birds are the hawk & owl)

West/Water: Bear, associating the bear to water may seem a bit odd. They lumber along in an easy going stride like a slow flowing river. But when the bear stirs angrily, it's wrath is like a mighty Hurricane. (Snakes with their rippled stride can also represent water, their shedding of the skin represents the changes of water from liquid to steam to solid)

If you know some of the animals in your totem or a strong affection for specific animals, it's perfectly fine to use them. Just consider their attributes and place them in the elemental position that feels right to you.

Hope that helps!