directions of the elements...

[StormVixen]

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=94410
^ this thread got me thinking...

does it matter which direction each element is corrisponded with?

the conventional way is...
north=earth
east=air
south=fire
west=water

but i choose my elemental directions buy looking at what element is most predominant in the landscape...

earth= mountains, fields, woodland, wilderness, etc.
air=where the most sky is visable (if working in a forest), the direction the prevailing wind comes from, etc
water=nearest sea, lake, river, spring, etc.
fire=the other direction (where i build a fire).

um yeah :fpeace:

[Gabriel Le Chat]

It's my understanding that the "conventional" direction of the elements came from Europe, where geographically, the ocean is in the west, the plains to the east, the mountains to the north, and the sun in the southern sky.

As a resident of New England, during my invocations, I flip water and air given that my ocean is in the east and the jet stream flows from the west. North and south still work for me as is. I know other witches who make similar adjustments given geography.

When I first started, I tried using the traditional directions -- it just didn't feel right.

[StormVixen]

my nearest big water is the river severn in the north... wind comes from the west... earth is south... fire is the east...

[Jenett]

I (and the group I work with) use the conventional ones - partly because they happen to make sense (we're in Minnesota: water's about equidistant on both sides, for example)

The thing I think is useful to keep in mind if you move them is that in many traditions or paths, they interrelate to other things, too - specific tools, specific other associations (east with dawn, for example, which with air is associated with the wind of new beginnings or inspiration, or stuff like that.) Sometimes if you swap the elemental association or the direction, you affect all sorts of other things as well (sort of like shifting a thread on a loom).

That's not necessarily bad, but it does suggest it's worth thinking through and keeping in mind, not just making a quick decision about it. And, if you do flip them, be extra cautious when you read other people's stuff that's related: why does it work for them? Which associations need to be consistent for it to be adapted to what you do? How do you translate it?

[Ben Gruagach]

Jennett's points are good. Correspondences "work" when they are treated as part of a whole interrelated system, so when you change them around make sure that it makes sense particularly with how it relates to the rest of your correspondence system.

The traditional (European/British) correspondences might not make a lot of sense for people who live in the southern hemisphere either. For them, attributing south with fire doesn't make a lot of sense, as the equator (the hottest part of the globe) is north for them, and the sun's path goes to the north and not the south. South is where the nearest polar cap is located. So for people "down under" it makes a lot of sense to not use south=fire and north=earth.