directions

[xblue420x]

I'm a little dense and not so good with directions, and no compass heh
So does anyone have any tricks to find North, south ect? I know theres the whole moss on trees thing, but there isnt moss on the trees(actually not very many trees either) here heh So yeah How would I know which way is which?

[pagan_majik]

umm...how bout the whole sun rises in the east, sets in the west thingy?

[*GrumpButt*]

Whats that thing about moss on ---?--- side of the rock/tree?

[xblue420x]

the moss thing...dont they teach boyscouts that moss always grows on like the south side of a tree??? something like that

[LeftToWonder]

I thought it was north side....

Well I know one group of peopel that should NOT go on a hike together!:lol:

[Autumn]

I second the north side!

Sun directions are better unless you are very far north...

if you face the sun set your right hand is to the north and your left is to the south...does that help?

[Nighthawk]

I'm a little dense and not so good with directions, and no compass heh
So does anyone have any tricks to find North, south ect? I know theres the whole moss on trees thing, but there isnt moss on the trees(actually not very many trees either) here heh So yeah How would I know which way is which?

I carry a small compass.... smarter than I and more accurate.. Cheap too. Might give it a try and use it at night too.. check out the stars and in time you might learn it. I have not but, oh well... Good day

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

I always go with the sun thing. Easiest way to tell in my opinion.

[Heathen Dawn]

I have a compass, yeah ... but when you approach the magnetic rocks of the Galilee and the Golan Heights, a compass is as good as sawdust.

[Fairywolf]

I use the sun more often then not.

[Equinox]

Hi! I just had to post on this one - it touches too close to my spirituality to ignore!

This’ll be a long post because being aware of the directions is central to my spirituality.

First, I’ll touch on how to know where North and South are, then I’ll get into describing why I care. Note- I’m assuming you are in the northern hemisphere, above 25 Lat, as I am. If you are in the S hemisphere, reverse all this, if you are between + & - 25 lat, skip this entire post.

To tell north, simply use the position of the sun, moon, or stars in the sky. This isn’t that hard, and as a People, it helps me feel more connected to our world. You might want to start with just the sun. The sun rises in the East (E), is in the south (S) at noon, sets in the W. When the date is close to Litha, it rises & sets more northerly, and when near Yule, it rises and sets more Southernly. Remember that regardless of the date, the sun goes around the entire wheel each day, so the sun will be in the:

N midnight
NE 3 am
E 6 am
SE 9 am
S noon
SW 3 pm
W 6 pm
NW 9pm

Thus, if you know the time of day and can see the sun, you know where N is. Example – say it is 3 pm, the sun is in the SW. You can see where the sun is, so that is SW, just left of that is S, opposite S is N, etc.

The sun going around the wheel each day helps to keep me focused during the day. I see the sun rise (E) reminding me that this is the time to plan the day, (also a good time for spiritual phenomenal like sundogs, parhelic arcs, etc (http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm), then the sun is (S), I’m working (I work a regular 9-5 job), I sleep when the sun is between NW and E, just like the hibernation of the earth from Samhain to Ostara. This is all discussed in more detail on the wheel overview link below.

Next level of learning – use the phase of the moon to know where the sun is, then use the position of the sun to know the directions. Full moon – the sun is opposite the moon, quarter moon, sun is on the lighted side of the moon, 90 degrees along the ecliptic. Oh yeah – remember that all the solar system stuff, sun, moon, planets, stays roughly on the ecliptic, which is just the name for the path the sun makes in the sky.

Next level of learning/awareness – remember that the stars appear to be “fixed” on the inside of a rotating sphere. It appears this way due to their great distance and the rotation of the earth. So, everything, including the stars, planets, moon, sun asteroids, etc, rises in the east and sets in the west as this “sphere” rotates around it’s axis at the north star. Watching the stars while camping in September is the best way to learn this. After a little practice, you will be able to tell N, S, E, W from the stars too, as well as to use the stars to tell the time at night. :graduate:

That’s the best way to know the directions aside from using a compass. It is a good idea to have a compass whenever in the outdoors because it can get cloudy at anytime, and when that happens, it doesn’t matter how well you know our sky. Forget about the moss thing – while often true, it’s affected by humidity, local terrain and such, and is terribly unreliable not to mention inconvenient. In the US, don’t worry about compass declination unless you are in the pacific NW.

That's the "how" to tell the directions. For the "why", see next post...

Continued in next post.......

[Equinox]

Continued from last post.........

OK, enough of how to know the directions, now for the why (for me)……

The wheel (both the wheel of the directions and the wheel of the year) is central to my spirituality. Both “wheels” are actually the same, with N representing winter, etc. The wheel of the directions is a metaphor to remind me to navigate my own life (http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~leta/TREATISE/tjownself.htm), and the wheel of the year, and the wheel of our lives have many other meaning to me as well. I’ve described some of them here:
http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~leta/TREATISE/TJPSUM/woverv/wovervhome.htm

Knowing the directions not only reminds me of all these spiritual meanings, it also connects all of the places I’ve been to each other, so my childhood home isn’t some place floating “out there” somewhere. It is to my right about 65 miles from where I am sitting now. Similary, though I’m in a windowless room, I can point right now to the sun, moon, and some other things (like venus) – some are “below” me, on the other side of the planet. Knowing where I am, all the time, wherever I go, means I don’t feel lost (either in my life's plan nor in my location). I’ve talked a little about this in Chapter 5 of my spiritual history. Here is the part from Chapter 5 after my trip around the world:



I had gone east until I got back to where I started from. Seeing firsthand that we live on a spherical planet helped me to see my neighborhood as it really is - perched on the side of a spinning planet! Not that I didn't "know" that already, it's just that now it was a little more real. A little earlier I had started to keep track of the ecliptic and the moon. These also caused me to "see" the world, moon and sun as if I were sort of looking at them from space. As a result, knowing the phase of the moon and the time of day meant I knew where the moon was, not as a mental exercise, but as an obvious fact. This was true whether it was cloudy or if I were in a building. It also meant that I saw the landscape around me as sitting on the side of a moving globe, not as steadfast or even really horizontal.

Understanding the ecliptic and knowing where the sun was also meant that I automatically always knew which direction I was facing. I began to attach North, South, East and West to the mental pictures I had of places I had visited or was visiting, and automatically locate them in proper relation to each other in my mind. Without knowing it, I had radically changed my view of the world. From then on, all the locations in the world became interconnected, and I always felt the freedom of knowing where each of them were from my present location. This sounds like a small distinction, but it wasn't. I don't know which of those two kinds of worlds you live in, but imagine you lived in a mansion with elevators. Imagine that there was some kind of silly rule that you had to be blindfolded, spun around, and moved when you wanted to be in a different room. All the rooms would exist in your mind, but they would be separate "places". Now imagine that you are suddenly given free reign of the mansion, you quickly learn which rooms are at the front vs. the back of the mansion, and see how they are located with relation to each other and how they are connected. What a change in your view of where you live! I now have to strain to imagine living the first way, though I lived like that for most of my life.
(end of excerpt)

In summary, knowing the directions is part of my spiritual connection to our world, and the compass is part of that. The compass face is the wheel – a religious symbol for many of us. I keep one with me when camping, etc, in case it gets cloudy. After all – how many religions have a religious symbol that is an essential tool (especially when in a spiritual place like the wild)?

I’m this will look a little weird and over the top to some. That’s fine with me – each to his own. This is my own.

-Equinox

[xblue420x]

thats great equinox! Hopefully in time I'll be as good with the directions as you are. I totally understand how it would be a part of spirituality and spiritual growth. Thank you for sharing it with me, I'm gonna practice everyday(and night):colorful: