the elements of ritual
What We Do in the Circle
Most Witch ritual today is made up of five components: purification, invitation(s), the working, cakes and ale/grounding, and dismissals. Ritual consists of more than five distinct parts, of course, but the various pieces that make up a ritual can generally be grouped into these five categories. Occasionally you might participate in a ritual that leaves out one of these components, but that’s rare. Since these five components are the building blocks of ritual, it’s worth spending some time with each of them to look at how they fit into ritual and what roles they serve.
Purification
Purification rites cover two specific areas: preparing the individual Witch for ritual, and cleansing the space being used for ritual. During the course of a day, our bodies and minds come into contact with all sorts of energies. Often these energies are negative or unwanted. (Think of that frustration you experienced today at work.) Purification rites are designed to remove that bad energy from the body and mind. They help to prepare us for whatever work we are about to undertake in the magick circle and to cast aside our mundane worries and anxieties.
The spaces we use for ritual are also subject to unwanted energies, which is why ritual space is often cleansed and purified before beginning any serious Witch work. If there’s been a negative interaction in the space you’re getting ready to do ritual in, the energy of that interaction will be a part of your space. Cleansing and purifying the area before ritual will ensure that those unwanted energies don’t influence you or your work.
Purification rites also help to rid a ritual area of any unwanted entities. I’m not suggesting that your Witch space is continually full of malevolent spirits, but it’s been known to happen from time to time. One of the oldest adages in magick is the idea that “like attracts like.” Magickal and ethereal beings are most likely going to be attracted to your ritual space because of this rule (your ritual space should be magickal after all), so it’s best to give any unwanted visitors the boot.
There are a whole host of techniques that can be used for purifying and cleansing. Smoke in the form of incense and bundles of sage is extremely common, as is salted water. Using both incense and salted water in tandem is called censing and asperging. Other techniques include sweeping away negative energies with a broom, using essential oils, and performing a ritual hand washing. I’ve also used sound to cleanse a room, and there are covens that require ritual baths or showers before serious workings. All of these techniques (with the exception of ritual baths or showers) will show up in the various rituals included in this book.
The preparation rites involved in cleansing and purification are often a part of the ritual. Many Witches will ceremonially bless, consecrate, and mix together the powers of air, fire, water, and earth (generally represented by incense, a lit candle, a chalice of water, and salt) before using them to purify the ritual participants and space. In my own coven, we ritually bless salt and water and then incense and candle flame before using them for cleansing. It’s not necessary to do these things publicly, but I think it can help to create an effective ritual atmosphere.
Unlike the rest of the components we’ll be looking at in this chapter, purification rites sometimes happen outside of ritual space. This is obvious in the case of a ritual bath, but sometimes purification rites might only be available for whoever needs them privately before the ritual starts. (This occurs with some frequency at large rituals where there is not a lot of time or space.) My coven uses a blessing bowl before ritual for those who have a lot of negative energy to get rid of. (A blessing bowl is part of the Imbolc solitary ritual in chapter 15.)
In addition, purification rites depend to a large degree on the individual being cleansed. No amount of salt water or incense is going to rid someone of anger if they wish to hold onto it. I think purification rites are essential to a good ritual, but they are not a cure-all. Ultimately, we are all responsible for preparing ourselves for ritual. If we can’t get into the right headspace, that’s on us, not on the people running the ritual and not on the purification technique that is being used.
The Invitation
The invitation section of a ritual is just that: a series of invitations to various deities, powers, elemental energies, ancestors, and all the Witches who are in attendance at the rite. This is probably the most complicated component of ritual since it’s made up of several different pieces, each of which is worth writing about in its own right. In addition, the various rites that make up the invitation section don’t all serve exactly the same purpose.
Statement of Intent
Most of my rituals begin with a one- or two-sentence statement summing up the observance and outlining the purpose of the ritual. I think of it like a ritual thesis statement, and when writing ritual, I use the statement of intent as a lamppost. If something I’m thinking about adding to my rite doesn’t sync up with the statement of intent, then it probably doesn’t belong there.
For example, when celebrating the Winter Solstice, my statement of intent might look like this:
Tonight we celebrate the Winter Solstice. We honor the year’s longest night and gather to celebrate the rebirth of the Lord of the Sun. Though it is dark and cold, tonight’s sabbat is one of joy, for the God has returned and the light is reborn. So mote it be!
The statement of intent in this case says a couple of specific things. It reminds everyone of just what holiday is being celebrated and why we are all celebrating. Rituals can be both somber and joyful, and everything in between, and in this case the statement of intent let’s everyone gathered know that the ritual will be a fun one. It’s all pretty simple.
A statement of intent doesn’t necessarily have to be verbalized at the beginning of ritual, but I often find it helpful to do so. By letting everyone know the tenor of a ritual beforehand, no one is caught off guard or unprepared for how things will unfold. The statement of intent also serves as a welcome to all the Witches in the circle.
Casting the Circle
Circles are where most Witches do their work. They are human-created sacred spaces where mortals can freely interact with deities and raise magickal energy.1 Circles serve three purposes in ritual. They are protective places and are designed to keep out negative energy and entities. Circles also contain and store magickal energy until it’s ready to be released; this is often called “building the cone of power.” And finally, circles are a space between the worlds—a world that exists between our physical reality and what lies beyond. A well-cast circle helps us interact directly with deity, spirits, and various other powers and entities.
Circles are created by Witches using magickal energy, generally channeled through a tool such as an athame,2 a sword, or a wand (though your finger will work just as well). Circle is a bit of a misnomer though, because most Witches actually cast a sphere: the circle goes above and below us, and has a definite top and bottom. Circles are generally cast deosil (clockwise), beginning in the east or the north. Most Witches take them down widdershins (counterclockwise), though I have encountered some who do not. Do what works best for you. Standing in a circle with other Witches is an honor and a privilege. Shared sacred space is something to be treasured.
Calling the Quarters
Most Witches invoke elemental energies (or entities) at each of the four cardinal points of the compass in their circles. The energies correspond to the four elements of air, fire, water, and earth. (Every Witch knows that the universe is made up of more than four elements, but most substances can be classified as a gas, a solid, a liquid, or a flame; hence the four elements.) But “calling the quarters” in the east, south, west, and north is often more nuanced than most Witches believe, because there are several different entities and energies that are often called upon during this part of ritual.
The most common energy associated with the four quarters is elemental energy. These elemental powers are nature in her purest and most primitive form. When a Witch says, “I call to the powers of water,” they are requesting that the power of that specific elemental energy join them in the circle. This energy can then be used to assist in magickal workings.
When a Witch invokes the power of a watchtower, they are most often requesting the protective energies associated with an element to join them in the circle. I say “most often” because “watchtowers” originally referred to the angels—Raphael (air), Michael (fire), Gabriel (water), and Uriel (earth)—who were invoked by ceremonial magicians to protect their workings. Though angels are not super common in Witchcraft circles today, there are still some Witches who call them to guard the four quarters.
In addition to angels, some Witches call upon the fey to stand watch at the quarters. There are dozens of different kinds of fey, though the ones I’ve seen invoked at the quarters the most are sylphs (air), salamanders/dragons (fire), undines (water), and brownies or gnomes (earth). Because both angels and the fey are sentient beings, I recommend using caution when calling them. No matter what Disney might have you believe, the fey have a long history as troublemakers in mortal matters.
The quarters are most often associated with the following directions, energies, and colors, though this can and does vary among Witchcraft traditions.
East/air/yellow
South/fire/red
West/water/blue
North/earth/green
The quarters are typically called in a clockwise (deosil) direction, usually beginning in the east or the north, but since we’re working in a circle, there are no true absolutes here. How the quarters are dismissed varies from group to group and tradition to tradition. I know many groups that dismiss their quarters in the order they were called (generally deosil) and others who dismiss them widdershins. I include both ways of doing things in this book, though you should do whatever makes the most sense to you. The same goes for color correspondences. If the color yellow doesn’t make sense to you in association with air, pick a different one.
Many Witches light a candle in conjunction with calling the quarters. This is not necessary, though it does add a certain ambience to ritual. In addition, it’s acceptable to call upon two different sets of quarters in the same ritual. For instance, my coven invokes the elemental energies of air, fire, water, and earth and then calls to the watchtowers. It’s a nice little extra layer of ritual that works for us, though it’s not always necessary.
In this book I’ve included a variety of methods for calling the quarters 3 (the fey, angels, elementals, and watchtowers), so you can pick and choose what resonates most with you. In addition, I’ve included the creation of the Witches’ Compass (see the Lammas coven ritual in chapter 30), a technique used by some Witches that combines casting the circle and calling the quarters into one rite. This technique is most often associated with the practice of Traditional Witchcraft, but it can be used by any Witch.
The sky (and the circle) is truly the limit when it comes to calling the quarters, and it’s a practice that can be done in a variety of ways. However, I think it’s important to know just what you are calling and to do so in a respectful manner. In addition, it’s best to call the same types of energies/entities at each of the four quarters. No one wants to see a fight break out between Archangel Gabriel and a dragon in the middle of ritual.
Some Witches invoke a fifth element, generally referred to as spirit. This element is honored in the middle of the circle and is most often seen as the cosmic force that binds the elements and the universe all together. It’s also sometimes thought of as the original source of energy from which all things come (sort of like a spiritual version of the big bang theory). Spirit is not something I see invoked in very many Witch rituals these days, but it still pops up as a concept from time to time. If it works for you, use it! If it doesn’t, then it can easily be discarded.
Ancestors
Not all Witches formally invite their ancestors to every ritual, but some do. My coven has a standing invitation to our Mighty Dead (our Witchcraft influences, known to us both personally and through books), but we don’t formally acknowledge them at most rituals. Some Witches call their ancestors only at Samhain or on other specific occasions. The ancestors generally refer to our genetic, adoptive, and magickal families from across the centuries.
Deity
While a belief in goddesses and gods is not required in Modern Witchcraft, it’s fairly common. Even Witches who aren’t believers in deity in the traditional sense often call upon the gods in ritual to symbolize or represent natural forces. The most common way to invite a deity into ritual is with a call (also known as an invocation). Calls to deity are verbalized invitations to goddesses and gods to be a part of a ritual. Whether or not they show up is entirely up to them.
A call can be a couple of sentences made up on the spot, or something written prior to ritual and more formalized. Simply saying “Great Brigid, join us in ritual tonight” constitutes a call. Calls aren’t complex things, though I suggest knowing exactly who you are calling before you do so. In addition, deities like to be flattered, so peppering your calls with compliments isn’t a bad idea.
Calls can be addressed to “greater” deity concepts such as the Horned God and the Mother Goddess. They can also be used to attract the attention of specific deities such as Lugh or Isis. This book includes calls at both ends of the spectrum. In many Wiccan traditions, it’s commonplace to call to both a goddess and a god at any given ritual, though this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. When calling to more than one deity, make sure those gods actually like one another or are at least compatible in some way. (You can check on this by reading mythology or simply by asking them before ritual.)
Drawing Down the Moon
Drawing down the moon is the process by which a deity enters the body of a willing human being. Most often, drawing down the moon refers to a Witch invoking a goddess into themselves, while invoking a god in the same manner is called drawing down the sun (though women can draw down male deities and men can draw down female deities, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!).
Drawing down the moon is a complex rite and should not be taken lightly. While I think it’s one of the central rites of Wiccan-Witchcraft, it’s not appropriate for every ritual and it’s not a parlor trick. It should be attempted only after establishing a relationship with the deity being drawn down. Since drawing down requires the cooperation of both deity and our physical bodies, it often doesn’t work—an important consideration to keep in mind if you plan to utilize it in ritual.4
Drawing down the moon can lead to unpredictable results, since it literally involves ceding control of a ritual to a goddess or god. Sometimes a deity will play along with whatever someone has come up with for the ritual, but on other occasions they’ll completely throw out the script and take the ritual into weird, wonderful, and different directions. Remember, with drawing down, you’ve called an honest-to-goodness goddess or god into your circle! Most often a deity will spend a few moments with everyone at the ritual after they’ve been drawn down, and will perhaps offer the participants some advice or a glimpse into the future. Because drawing down takes a lot of energy from the body, it typically doesn’t last very long, usually no longer than thirty minutes to an hour.
When a drawing down doesn’t work, many Witches will read the Charge of the Goddess or the Charge of the God (depending on who was called) in its place. Charges function as divine revelations from deity, offering insights into the mysteries of the gods. While charges are of course written by human beings, many of us believe they are divinely inspired. The most famous charge is Doreen Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess.
Because most charges are lovely pieces of liturgy, many Witches read them during ritual after calling to their deities. One doesn’t have to wait for a failed drawing down to use a charge, as they are a worthy addition to ritual in their own right. Some of my favorite ritual memories are of my wife, Ari, simply reading Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess. I get goose bumps just thinking about it!
The Working
The working is the meat (or tofu) of the ritual. After all the cleansing and calling, the working is the ritual’s main event. It’s also the most difficult part of ritual to write and/or execute. I have been to many rituals where everything was beautifully set up, with stirring calls to deity, powerful summonings of the quarters, and a sturdy circle casting, but then the working involved nothing more than a guided meditation and giving a flower to each participant. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.
The working is the part of the ritual that’s supposed to connect us to that thing that is bigger than ourselves. But creating a working that does this is challenging, and sometimes even the best ritual writers (me included!) fail to reach that objective. There are several different types of workings, and nearly all of them show up in this book at some point or another.
A Magickal Act
For many Witches, magickal work is a foundational practice. Because of this, it’s not surprising that it shows up in a lot of seasonal rituals. Magickal workings can be complex or simple. They might involve nothing more than building a cone of power (filling the circle with energy and then directing it for a specific purpose) 5 or practicing some candle magick. Some magickal acts are more involved and might utilize something related to the current season, such as a sheaf of grain in the autumn or a bit of snow in the winter.
Sacred Drama
Especially common in large public circles is sacred drama, which functions much like a play and is generally done to illustrate certain truths about the gods or the change of the seasons. Many times the people involved in sacred drama have been touched by the deities they are portraying. I remember one Samhain when I was playing the part of the sacrificial Horned God and I went from simply reading my lines to truly feeling the Horned One in my soul and then experiencing his pain and his love for all of us as the drama unfolded. As I “died,” those assembled shrieked and cried over my demise. It was a powerful rite and worked as intended.
However, sacred drama can be hard to pull off. Done right, it involves the audience in some way, either by having them participate in the drama in some fashion or by making sure they are emotionally invested in the story being told. Rituals are not plays, so when one chooses to engage in sacred drama, there has to be a definite hook to get everyone involved.
Divination
A few times a year, my coven throws a deck of tarot cards on our altar and we take turns picking cards for ourselves and our coven. Working together, we create a little energy, infuse it into the cards, and then take a look at what the next few months might bring us. This may not sound like much of a ritual, but it’s always been one of our favorite workings and we look forward to doing it a few times a year.
Tarot cards are not the only way to engage in divination as a working. There are all sorts of divination systems out there that work well in ritual, including scrying, tea leaves, and runes. It’s also possible to draw down a goddess or god known for prophecy and then build a ritual around what they might reveal.
Tokens/Gifts/Handouts
Passing out tokens and other small objects as gifts during ritual is a common and popular activity at many large rituals. Such things can work very well in ritual if they somehow fit into the sabbat being celebrated. One of the more common handouts in ritual is seeds, which can be tossed into a cauldron or taken home for planting, usually after being infused with magickal energy.
Most often, gifts are used in combination with some other sort of activity. At a public Beltane ritual a few years ago, we crowned every attendee to illustrate that we were all Queens and Kings of the May. Tokens, especially at large public rituals, can make great keepsakes, though I think giving something away just to do it is rather wasteful.
Energy Raising/Dancing/Physical Activities
Many of the rituals put on by the open circle in my area end with an energy-raising dance around the circle. This is often accompanied by drums or recorded music relevant to the sabbat being celebrated. Oftentimes these dances don’t serve any higher purpose than bringing our local community together. Workings that are little more than an extended dance around the altar often feel tired and unimaginative to me, but there’s a reason they are commonplace in a lot of circles—they can be a lot of fun!
My friend and coven-sister Phoenix LeFae 6 once put together a Dionysian rite at a festival we were attending built around ecstatic dancing, a bit of drumming, and a drawn-down Dionysus. It was wondrous because the energy we raised while dancing and chanting perfectly complemented and added to the power of Dionysus. Energy raising can be a great working if it fits the purpose of the rite.
Some Witches celebrate the sabbats with games of various types. While these don’t always raise a lot of energy, they can help build community. The only downside to activities like this is that everyone at your ritual has to really buy into the idea to make it work. Asking people to engage in a three-legged race to celebrate Ostara when it’s barely above freezing is not going to go over well, but it might be fun at Midsummer, provided the weather is nice.
Deity and Other Experiences
Some of my favorite workings revolve around various deities and other entities. At Samhain it’s commonplace to welcome the dead into the circle to experience a moment of reunion with those we’ve lost. This book includes an Imbolc ritual dedicated to the goddess Brigid that offers participants the opportunity to interact and commune with her (see chapter 13). At Midsummer many Witches honor the fey and actively seek them out. Workings built around goddesses and gods and other powers are some of the most powerful ritual experiences one can have.
The biggest downside to building a ritual around an experience with deity is that sometimes the deity decides not to show up. Deities (and beings like the fey) aren’t our subjects and aren’t ours to command. If Brigid decides not to show up at my Imbolc ritual, that’s her prerogative. So if I’m building a ritual around the idea of Brigid showing up, I might want to have a few other activities planned just in case she chooses not to put in an appearance.
Seasonal Observances
Many sabbats are built around experiencing and celebrating the change of the seasons. A coven might celebrate the returning light at Yule or honor the balance between night and day that takes place on the equinoxes. Many Witches at Beltane simply set up a maypole and use that as the focus of their rite. This is a simple idea, but it’s a great way to bring a community or coven together through a shared activity.
Seasonal observances can be simple things too. Drinking apple cider or eating a few pomegranate seeds in the autumn is a seasonal observance. I grow closer to the natural world when I eat in a way that takes advantage of where we are right now on the Wheel of the Year. Dyeing eggs at Ostara is fun and connects me to the energy of springtime. When I lived in Michigan, one of my favorite seasonal observances involved melting snow over a candle at Imbolc and often Ostara (though never Beltane luckily). It wasn’t the most imaginative thing, but it connected me to winter and my hope that spring would soon arrive.
The various types of workings discussed here are not exclusive either. Oftentimes they are combined and used together in ritual. For instance, a sacred drama might lead to an experience with deity that then leads to a divinatory moment. Many seasonal observances and magickal workings go hand in hand. And at very large rituals, it’s common to have several different activities happening at once to allow everyone to participate.
Cakes and Ale/Grounding
After a successful working, many people become a bit overwhelmed and tingly due to the magickal energy coursing through their bodies and around the circle. While this feeling can be rather pleasant, it’s probably not a healthy one. (Imagine a battery with too much charge in it.) Getting rid of unneeded energy in order to return oneself to a more mundane state of being is known as grounding. Grounding is not a part of every ritual, but it’s often necessary if a working has been particularly successful.
There are many ways to ground. One of the easiest is to simply put your hands upon the ground and push any extra energy coursing through your body down into the earth. In our coven, we often “brush off our hands” after a working if there’s a lot of residual energy within us. No matter how grounding is done (and there are probably hundreds of ways to ground), the idea behind it is to rid the self of unneeded energy. As long as the technique works, you can do it however you wish.
Grounding rites are often not built into ritual and are simply inserted at the end of a working if the High Priestess thinks it’s necessary. (In my own rituals, I leave the decision to do a specific grounding ritual up to my High Priestess wife.) On some occasions, we’ve also had coven members ask for a bit of grounding. Grounding is one of those little unwritten rules of ritual, and it can take a few years before knowing exactly when it is appropriate and necessary. Leading ritual is a skill that we get better at over time. There are no specific grounding rites in this book because they are not always necessary. However, when grounding is needed, it should be done of course.
Another, less dramatic way to ground is the rite known as cakes and ale (or cakes and wine). Eating and drinking things helps the body to ground naturally, no directions required. But cakes and ale is about more than grounding. It’s a celebration of both the earth’s abundance and the deities we honor. Shared food and drink also helps to bring a community together. The Pagan group the Church of All Worlds has a saying: “Water shared is life shared.” This is true—even if I’m more likely to say “Wine shared is life shared.”
The food and drink used during cakes and ale is generally ritually blessed and consecrated, meaning that the powers present in the ritual circle have been added to it. Though wine and bread (or other baked goods) are common defaults for cakes and ale, I like to use seasonally appropriate food and drink when I can. This might mean Santa Claus cookies and hot chocolate for Yule, or fresh strawberries and lemonade at Midsummer. Many Witches use alcoholic beverages for “ale,” but anything can be used as long as it resonates with the individual Witch and/or group.
Often during cakes and ale, a bit of food and drink are set aside for the gods, the earth, or other powers. This is known as a libation. If the ritual is outdoors, the libation might be poured directly onto the ground or thrown into a fire. Those of us who primarily work indoors often put our offerings into a libation bowl that is then taken outside at the end of ritual.
Many groups perform the symbolic Great Rite before cakes and ale. The Great Rite has a multitude of meanings, but I generally look upon it as a celebration of what happens when different forces join together. To create just about anything in the world or universe, two different energies have to combine in some way. Food and drink are very real, tangible representations of that magick, which is why the Great Rite and cakes and ale pair together so well. The Great Rite also symbolizes the triumph of life over death, as life continually returns to our world no matter how much we humans neglect and abuse it. The cakes we eat and the beverages we drink during cakes and ale are all the result of the earth’s fertility and the power of the natural world, and the Great Rite celebrates this too.
In addition to the symbolic Great Rite, the act can also be celebrated “in truth,” which involves ritual coupling/sex. The Great Rite in truth is rarely if ever performed in front of other Witches and is not done with much frequency in group settings these days. The Great Rite in truth is not a part of this book, but you can read more about it in—wait for it!—my book Transformative Witchcraft.
For several decades, the Great Rite was seen by many as simply representing the sexual union of women and men. I’ve always believed this to be a rather limited way of looking at the world, and one that doesn’t reflect the reality we live in. Every coupling produces new energies, and our world wasn’t born out of sexual intercourse. Restricting the Great Rite to vaginas and penises restricts the power of the natural world and can be alienating for some Witches. Witchcraft is about inclusivity!
The Great Rite is generally enacted symbolically by joining the athame with the chalice or cup, but there are other ways to celebrate the Great Rite. Some groups use two cups and exclude the ritual knife. If it makes sense to you, it’s fair game. I’ll admit though that I generally use the athame and cup because that was the way I first experienced the rite. It’s also acceptable to simply skip the Great Rite if you’re worried it might upset someone.
In my own practice, we generally do grounding rites immediately after the working if necessary. From there we move to the Great Rite and cakes and ale. Occasionally, if our first grounding and cakes and ale didn’t quite do the trick, we might lead the coven or circle in a second grounding after finishing up with our food and drink.
Dismissals
Dismissals are just what they sound like: a chance to say goodbye and return your ritual space to the mundane place it was before ritual. Just as a good host always says goodbye to their guests, a good Witch always thanks the deities they’ve invoked, wishes the quarters well on their way, and takes down the circle they’ve cast. Dismissals sound rather boring, but they’re a requirement for good Witch housekeeping.
In addition to dismissals, many groups end their rites with a statement celebrating their community. The most common one is “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!” I often add a hearty “And may the gods preserve the Craft!” as a final coda.
Basic Ritual Outline
When these components are all put together, a ritual outline generally looks like this:
• Cleansing/purification
• The invitation/statement of intent
• Circle casting
• Calling the quarters
• Calling to deity
• The working
• Grounding (if necessary)
• Cakes and ale/Great Rite
• Goodbyes to deity
• Dismissal of quarters
• Taking down the circle
• Final statement
While many Witches stick to a ritual structure resembling this one, it is acceptable to move the various pieces around if the rite calls for it. I’ve started Yule rituals with a working before calling the quarters, and sometimes circumstances require cakes and ale to be done on the way out the door if food and drink are not allowed in the ritual space. (This has happened to me when leading rituals at a local Freemason hall.) Perhaps the gods are even invoked in the middle of a working—it can happen!
I also know many Witches who prefer to call the quarters before casting their circle or to purify ritual participants after the circle is cast. If a change like that makes sense to you, implement it! If you decide to do cakes and ale at the start of ritual, you might want to warn everybody before starting, but most other changes to the general order of things won’t bother or confuse anyone very much.
1. I spend a lot of time talking about circles and their function in my book Transformative Witchcraft: The Greater Mysteries, published by Llewellyn in 2019.
2. Another shameless plug: I wrote a book all about athames in 2016 called The Witch’s Athame, again published by Llewellyn.
3. “Calling the quarters” is probably a bit too simplistic here, but it’s an easy way to categorize things. Always keep in mind that angels, fey, and other sentient beings aren’t “quarters” in the way that elementals and watchtowers are.
4. Yet another shameless plug: I spend a lot of time on drawing down the moon in my book Transformative Witchcraft. (At least I’m not suggesting you pick up a third book of mine. That will come later.)
5. Another footnote, another plug for Transformative Witchcraft. The cone of power is such a cool thing that I wrote 20,000 words about it in that book.
6. You can check out the blog she writes with her husband, Gwion Raven, called “The Witches Next Door,” at https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thewitchesnextdoor/.