East and The Kite

One of the first things a beginner to the Craft learns is how to cast a circle and call the Quarters.  A circle defines a protected space that is separate from the outside world.  It not only keeps unwanted energies out of the space, but helps contain the energy created by your working until it is time to release it.  An important part of creating that circle is to call the Quarters – each of the four elements: Air (East), Fire (South), Water (West) and Earth (North).  Sometimes Ether or Spirit is called as a fifth element (Center).  

We learn that each Quarter is equally important.  We memorize the appropriate direction, ritual tool, color, animal and deity association and all the attributes that go along with that element.  We know the time of day and the season of the year that corresponds with it.  We create and memorize a quarter call for each one, and eventually feel confident enough to burn the paper and call the quarter from what speaks to our heart.  That is usually the first moment when you realize that you have only been going through the motions and now you have that feeling that you actually succeeded in doing it.  You truly feel the presence of the element.  The room gets hotter when you speak of Fire.  There is a sudden downpour when you beckon to Water.

 

You get better at it and it becomes second nature.  You relish that feeling of working with the elements.  You may take anywhere from a week to a year to work with each element individually.   It’s a great opportunity to grow in your practice.  You’re excited about your work and your progress and then WHAM it happens.  You may be with a group of folks who are planning a ritual and asking for volunteers for Quarter Calls and they need someone for North/Earth and you feel panicked that they might ask you.  Why?  Because you suddenly realize that it’s not your strongest quarter.  You not only have a favorite one, but there’s one you really would rather not deal with.  There’s no way getting around it when working alone, but if you can dodge it otherwise, you would be more than happy to.

East was the Quarter I avoided for quite awhile.  When I lived farther north, I was in an area where almost every day you could feel wind.  It was always around you, and the sound of rustling leaves in the trees before a summer storm was magickal in of itself.  When the air was still, it had an eerie quality and you just knew something was amiss.  Paganism was a new beginning, I wasn’t even a Maiden yet when I started having spiritual experiences, I was born in the spring, spent summer vacations at the shore flying kites every evening, brought home every feather I could find and majored in literature and communications in college.  East and I were on very good terms.

Then I moved farther south.  What wind.  It’s either very still or we are under a hurricane or tornado watch.  We had one very windy day a few years back.  I sat on my porch for hours just listening to the trees sway with the breeze.  Last year we went to the mountains and I had a moment of homesickness when the wind picked up and there was that sound again.  I’ve moved way beyond the spring portion of the wheel in chronological years and I look hideous in yellow.  East and I had become merely acquaintances.

    

What can we do when we find that our relationship with an element is not quite what it should be?  A few years ago some friends and I gathered at the beach for a weekend away.  We planned on working on each of the elements individually for a few hours.  Part of our East project was to build a kite and then fly it on the beach.  First off, I’m not the most creative person when it comes to anything crafty, and my version of a kite was, shall we say, interesting.  But there I was, running across the sand trying to get the kite up in the air.  I had flown kites for years in my youth.  Instead, it stayed close to the ground and just spun wildly like a pinwheel that had too much to drink. But it made me laugh.  A lot.  I was a kid playing with a homemade toy.  The wind whipped that poor kite around until finally it tore apart.  I was still chuckling as I picked up the pieces.  The kite may have been a disaster, but I had once again connected to East.  I could see it, feel it, and hear it.  It was fun, just like the old days.  East had brought out the inner child.

If you find yourself hiding when volunteers are being sought for a particular element, then find a way to play with that element.  Figure out a way to have that element speak to the kid hiding inside.  Calling Quarters in ritual is serious.  But having a connection with the elements outside of ritual will enhance your journey through life.  Make it a fun one.