If the Land is already the greatest book of secrets one may ever have the privilege to read, the growing things that spring from the land are the words that comprise the oldest spells and speak of the deepest mysteries. There is an entire Witchcraft available to those who are wood-cunning and wort-cunning, those who can view the growing things of the world as the sorcerous powers that they are, but also as the expressions of the presence of sentient forces that they are. The forest is as much our natural home as anything that dwells there- though the “civilized man” in us thinks of buildings and streets first in terms of "home". The wild places in us are forest-dwelling things, things that yearn for hills and heaths and woods and waters.
Here is the lore of the woods that I have collected over much time and on many journeys.
Alder, the Fire-Tree: full of the nature of fire, the Alder-weird resists water. It was used for all supports to buildings or structures that had to be exposed to moisture, like the foundations of bridges. No fire burns hotter than an alder-fire, for the essence within is released to full expression. Water symbolizes that force that gradually washes things away, the persistent change of time and cycles- and the Alder can resist it longer than any other power. Carving symbols that represent your relationship and happiness with loved ones onto Alder bark and keeping these safe is a means to preserving your happiness as long as it can be from the Weird powers that dissolve and wash away life-situations.
Apple, the Life-Giving Tree: Apples are expressions of the Weird power that gives eternal life- or should I say, which opens the awareness to the already-existing reality of eternal, perpetual existence. This is why the Gods of the Heathen world derived their "youth" from magical apples- their perpetual existences come from their awareness of the truth of themselves and this world. It is said that the dead eat apples for their sustenance; the power of the apple in this world can sustain our lives, and in the inner world, it continues to sustain, though in another manner- the dead need the realization of their true natures, and the living leave out apples hoping that the dead will receive it.
The apple is the Aphrodite-fruit, the beguiling fruit of love and death simultaneously- and here we see the ancient connection between love and eternity, but also sex and death. Those who are sweetened by the apple charm may find love, and those who eat the flesh can fill their bellies and live on, but one day must die. Those who consume the true essence of the apple will live forever, and understand that love is a name given to our experience of our true connectedness with all things.
Few trees are as sacred as the apple- where they grow, the ground is even more sacred than it normally is; the pitch of sacred awareness is raised to a shriek. The dead buried beneath the roots of apple trees will come to great awareness, and through that place, commune with this world. Life and death collapse into the wholeness that they are in the apple's mystery, and love appears. Slice the apple in two, place the names of the lovers inside, and restore the apple to wholeness with thin slivers or wood or pins, and they will be joined, if one can create the charm needed with proper sorcerous insight. Real knowledge is insight into wholeness- not for no reason was the apple the tree of knowledge and death, for the experience of wholeness kills the mortal that once was. The last apple on a tree or in an orchard must never be taken; it is left for the Apple-weird, the “Apple-man”, as his due.
Aspen, the Shivertree: people tremble at the thought of death, and the Aspen-weird seems to be sympathetic to that plight, as it is called the "shivertree" itself, and its wood was used to make the mete-stick that were used as the measure of a corpse when coffins were made. The Aspen is a healer and a protector- thought to heal fevers and ague. Taking a lock of one's hair and pinning it to the trunk of an aspen tree and saying the charm:
"Aspen wight, honored tree,
I pray you shake and shiver instead of me".
And thus the Aspen will take away the fever- assuming, of course, that one realizes the three-pronged secret of sorcerous invocation, and if one is polite enough and respectful enough to create a true heart-level relationship of reciprocal grace with all living things, including the power of the Aspen, who can be considered a godly spirit for the purposes of this work. The Aspen's wood- bark-plates or sticks- can be bound up with red threads to make protective charms, shields against wicked sorcery.
Ash, the Tree that Courts the Flash: Old Man the Ash-weird has a broad history among our ancestors for his many powers and the many things he has come to mean throughout the ages. His power is vast and mighty. His mysteries speak of human origins- the origins of these bodies of matter- for many ancients believed that mankind descended from the ash, or had their fleshy homes shaped from the trunk of an ash. The Ash-weirds or wights speak of our origins in sorcery, however- for the powers of life are sorcerous powers. The ash is the presence of the cold, blasting windy spirit of sorcery, the liberated spirit of humans that move like the wind, and the other powers that exist beyond our state, who are also in a condition of perpetual “mobility”, symbolized by wind and flight.
It is the wood of the handle of the broom of the witch, for obvious reasons, but it is also a symbol of the ancient tree that was believed to connect all things. It is not that a tree actually connects all things; the metaphor refers to the airy nature of the liberated mind and spirit that, by virtue of wholeness, can access all things. The ash-power is therefore the power of lightning-fast transition between states of mind, and of liberation of the spirit. It is the power of trance. It is believed to “draw lightning” or “court lightning”- a fine enough belief, considering that the power of lightning is the very natural sympathetic manifestation of the instantaneous speed of spirit and mind to course through the airs and sky and into the earth.
The ash tree’s powers and mysteries are reserved for humans and other powers like us; what are we if not beings capable of leaping from one state of consciousness to another? The ash is the tree of man. And it is a healer in its own way- it heals children- and presumably adults- of hernias through being cleft and then becoming whole again. Ash-trees were cleft, and a child passed through them, before the tree was bound up tightly, and as it healed, the child would heal.
It has a power against ill-wishers, specifically female ill-wishers, and it is a wood of divination. It also protects from serpents and snakes- they are said not to molest one carrying the parts of the plant. The wood of the ash-tree, curious to say, will not complain or sputter if burned green, and the smoke is a powerful incense for protection and insight. A newborn child passed through the smoke is given its “ash fire bath” before the first bath of water, for protection. The “even ash” leaf- a leaf that has equal divisions on both sides- is a rare find, but should be plucked if found, with a charm for good luck:
Ash-weird, your even leaf I pluck
That every day and night to come I have good luck
Give that luck to me, of if not,
I’ll give it away to reek and rot.
Foreparent tree, good luck to me
And ever grateful I will be.
Bay, the Fragrant Tree: The Bay tree is reputed to never be struck by lightning, and thus was planted in front of houses and in gardens for its protection. If one looks deeper, one sees that more esoterically, the Weird of this tree wards off unexpected strokes of bad fortune- though I must admit to never having seen one struck by the actual physical lightning of the sky, myself. The leaves are fragrant for bowls and cooking- and there are some who call this tree a physician among trees, its leaves and wooden body keeping pestilence away. A suffusion of its leaves poured into bath water is healing and soothing. A leaf placed under the head at night when sleeping summons pleasant and perhaps informative dreams- if one conjures the power of the tree to ask questions, that is. It will expect ribbons to be tied on its branches as return offerings, and other offerings left before it.
Beech, Queen of the Woods: The Beech is the Oak’s queen. It is said that the first books were thin slices of beechwood, bound together- and the Anglo-Saxons called this tree “bok”, from whence we derive “book”. They say that the beech-weird is tied to the transmission of knowledge, and indeed, the “speaking mattresses” were stuffed with beech leaves, making their hissing and whispering when they were lain upon. Questions may be asked of the beech weird when sleeping upon its leaves, and answers come in dreams. The root-systems of beech trees grow quite serpentine- and the serpent is tied to the power of this tree. It was the wise serpent, after all, who was the first teacher of mankind in esoteric and exoteric knowledge, was it not?
Any prayer- any use of words- under the shade of the beech tree is more powerful; any wish made there is more likely to come true, as are any curses. Carving the letters of your desires onto beech wands and branches and twigs, and then burying them causes them to “appear” in the outer world as the talisman rots under the ground. If you would have your luck-power increase, give offerings of strong drinks or delicious ones to the roots of a beech, and shelter in its shade, pressing your face against its bark as though it were a beautiful woman; let your heart truly accept the beech as the body of the earth-mother, and you will be many times blessed.
Birch, the Renewal Tree: when the forests were new, after the cold-weirds and ice-weirds returned to their homes in the north and deep under the seas, it was the Birch-weird that sprung up first from the pregnant ground. In her glorious soft whiteness, she is the tree-weird of renewal and purification. She “makes new” all places that are blessed with her power- her shaved bark and leaves mixed with cold, clean water is the lustral water of cleansing, purification, and renewal- though your hands must be well washed before you dare touch her. To bring her leaves and branches into your home averts malevolent influences and gives good fortune. She is the “beginning tree”, starting all things off in the numinosity of freshness. Striking the ground, cursed places, or even people and animals with the twigs of the birch drives wickedness out of them. It is the best and only wood you should want cradles for children built out of- it nurtures small children like the mother-weird it is.
Blackthorn, the Blasting Tree: the hardy blackthorn is a most powerful weird- it is a thorny tree, and like all thorny plants, it is naturally and powerfully protective. It grows into thick hedges that cannot be crossed- and this power of impenetrability in this world is true in the inner world, as well: its weird can be used to create impenetrable barriers. It is a native plum tree to Britain; it produces sloe fruits, from which the strong alcoholic beverage sloe gin is made- and this form of gin has many powers of its own; it is an excellent offering to spirits of all kinds, and an excellent intoxicant for use when dealing with spiritual contact, most especially with the blackthorn-weird, but with any weird besides. It, along with elderberry wine, are two very potent and sacred substances derived from the green world of Weird. The blackthorn’s sticks and staves are the favored stick for “Blasting” sorcery- for driving away wicked powers and protecting an area. Blackthorn is a sister to the Hawthorn, and where they grow together is a very powerful place. The blackthorn can help “blast” enemies with curses- and the devil was said to prick his initiates’ fingers with a blackthorn-needle.
Bramble, the Flayer of Evil: the bramble- the blackberry- is a thorny vine, and thorns are the averters and flayers of wicked powers, very protective. The leaves are used, when mixed with water (hopefully from a sacred spring or well) to heal burns and scalds and inflammations of the skin- the wet leaves and the infused water are laid on the injured skin and poured onto it, with the chant:
Three luminous spirits came from the east
Two bearing frost and one searing fire:
Out, searing fire, into me, frost;
Out, searing fire, into me, frost.
The protective qualities of the thorny bramble vines are this plant-weird’s greatest gift- they can be wrapped around wreathes for front doors and windows, or used in other protective rites- and they alone can make the “spirit flail” or the “sprite flail”, a whip used to scatter harmful weird-power and drive away wicked powers. Nine well-thorned lengths of bramble are tied at one end with willow bark, though red thread or yarn or any string can be used, and held in the left hand while being used to make sweeping motions. Someone once told me that paths through forests that had been unused for some time could collect dangerous powers- and this sprite-flail can be used to “clear” those. Any place that seems to have been cursed can be “cleared” by lashing the sprite-whip about in it; the sweeping motion needs to be nine swipes.
Elder, The Old Lady: the Elder-weird, called Hylde-moer, or Hyldor, and called the Bourtree or the Eldurntree, is powerful to the old craft. Frau Elle or Frau Ellhorn is another name for the powerful female Weird-presence of the tree; it was at her hands that I had my first initiatory experience, one that still chills my spine to this day. She has a mysterious relationship to the powers of death and can make you confront death, and “take you apart” and “put you together again” in a powerful, transformative way. The Elder tree is the tree of the faerie people or the hill-folk, more powerful than any other for contacting their world. It is a funerary power, Saturnian in the extreme, but strongly connected to the solid ground.
On Beltaine, Elder twigs and strips can be woven into garlands that give the wearer the power to see the unseen world’s motions. Standing under the tree on Midsummer is said to show faery-people; sleeping under it- though dangerous, in a way- can make one “awake in the otherworld”- have visions or out of body experiences. Warding is needed lest otherworldly powers attempt to steal you away fully. It is deadly to burn the “quick” Elder wood- living elder wood, green and fresh, but not so dangerous if it is dead wood. It must never be brought indoors, either, on the pain of the darkest of fortune and death. Gathering the elder’s wood is somewhat tricky- the Weird of the elder must be propitiated using a certain charm. When you take any part of the living elder, you must first lower your head- uncovering your head if wearing a hat- and say
“Old Lady, give me of thy wood, and I will give you some of mine, when I grow into a tree.”
Of course, this “virid pact”- by which one binds oneself to a reciprocal contract of giving with the Old Lady, can (and probably should) be satisfied by taking the seed of some tree or plant, and dipping it in your blood, and naming the infused seed with your own name, then planting it somewhere safe, and allowing it to grow. Thus, “you” have grown into a tree or a plant, and the Elder-mother can take of that, if she needs. You will not need to actually be constrained to take up residence in a tree or plant form after death to make good on your pact.
Elder wood should never be brought near babies or their cradles. It has hollow branches and twigs, perfect for making flutes and whistles that can easily summon spirits. It’s berries have dozens of medicinal and culinary uses, including the creation of a strong dark red and black organic dye that can even dye hair darkly. Elderberry wine is an ancient sacramental drink. The Elder-weird has much to teach witches, and her sacred grove in the underworld is a place of terrors and wonders. Elder wood can be used to make warding crosses and wreathes to be hung outside of a house, only, but are very protective. In earlier days, the Elder Tree was supposed to ward off evil influence and give protection from witches, a popular belief held in widely-distant countries.
Lady Northcote says:
'The Russians believe that Elder-trees drive away evil spirits, and the Bohemians go to it with a spell to take away fever. The Sicilians think that sticks of its wood will kill serpents and drive away robbers, and the Serbs introduce a stick of Elder into their wedding ceremonies to bring good luck. In England it was thought that the Elder was never struck by lightning, and a twig of it tied into three or four knots and carried in the pocket was a charm against rheumatism. A cross made of Elder and fastened to cowhouses and stables was supposed to keep all evil from the animals.'
In Cole's Art of Simpling it says that
“In order to prevent witches from entering their houses, the common people used to gather Elder leaves on the last day of April and affix them to their doors and windows, and the tree was formerly much cultivated near English cottages for protection against witches.”
Canon Ellacombe says that in the Tyrol:
“An Elder bush, trimmed into the form of a cross, is planted on a new-made grave, and if it blossoms, the soul of the person Iying beneath it is happy.”
For the Elder-Mother is there, with the dead. She’d know.
Elm, the Coffin Tree: the Elm, the tree that some legends say the first woman was made from, was the wood favored to make coffins, perhaps because of how well it fares underground. This usage shows the other side of women’s wondrous ability to give life: the necessity to die. Elms are very stately and picturesque; and they are the guards of the dead, and the passage the dead must take to the underworld. It is thus the Weird of transition into the afterlife- and a “hater of men”, as it is called sometimes in folklore, famous for dropping heavy branches onto people. The elm is the boundary-tree, a common marker of boundaries, and another connection to its role as guard of the transition across the boundary of life and death.
Hawthorn, the Hedge Tree: any tree or plant with thorns is naturally protective. The Hawthorn, or the whitethorn, or just the “thorn” is not only protective, but one of the great “faery trees” of the old tradition. It is the “hedge tree” that symbolizes the hedge or protective boundary-divider that keeps the village (or home) safe from the weird and chaotic powers that exist in the wilds around it. But the faery-thorn, like the hedge, is also the place where the unseen and weird-world beyond can be accessed, and the roots of the thorn are one of the most powerful traditional passageways “down below” to the depths and the underworld, or to the faery-world. Sitting below the thorn tree on certain powerful days and hidden seasons is to run the risk of being “taken” by the weird-powers.
You must never harm any tree or plant if you can avoid it; taking prudently and respectfully of a tree or plant is never “harm” in this sense; but the thorn, more than most trees, is dangerous to destroy, for weird forces protect it strongly.
The bright white and light-colored blossoms that the thorn produces are the true signs of summer’s arrival, of the coming of the bright time of the light half of the year. It is called the “may tree” for this reason. Hawthorn twigs can and should be gathered- respectfully- to be used in “thorning the ground”- creating a circle of protection (a miniature hedge, actually) which is useful for many reasons of protection and sorcery. But they must be gathered by another person for their potency to be good.
Thorn trees by crossroads or in other powerful places- or at powerful times- are gateways to the world below the graves. William Bottrell, sometime before 1870, collected the report of a traditional sorcerer who used the thorn to access the “powers below”- the powers of the dead merged with the underworld- to gain magical assistance. He recounted the sorcerer saying:
"I went on my knees under a White-thorn tree by the crossroads, and there, for best part of that night, I called on the powers till they helped me cast the spells that gave old Jemmy and his family plenty of junket and sour milk for a time."
Do not bring the blossoms of the hawthorn indoors, but the branches and leaves can be brought. It’s better to keep them outside, at any rate; thorning the ground, or growing thorns near the house or around it, is a powerful protection charm. You may make a “may bush” or a “hawthorn bush” by respectfully taking a branch with many lesser branches and bending it into a globe, and hanging it in your kitchen or hearth all year for luck- but on new year’s day, you must burn it in a field, in a straw fire, and make a new one. Singe that new one in the coals of the old one, and it is good for one more year of protection and luck. That field will be blessed, by the destruction of the old hawthorn charm, protected from every manner of wickedness and misfortune.
Hazel, the Wise Tree: Hazel is thought to be the wisest of trees, and its nuts are both a good food- from the perspective of the everyday world- and the full presence of omniscient wisdom from the perspective of wholeness. No charm for the development of wisdom or sight should go without the nuts of the hazel. “Enhazeled earth”- an area of ground marked out by a boundary of hazel stakes, is a protected and powerful area, though perhaps protected in a different manner than the “thorned earth”- wisdom protects in a different way; it protects from illusions and mistakes in perception and judgment. It protects from glamours. The “green hazel branch” is also a powerful charm against serpents- and by extension- harmful powers in the land itself that may mean you ill-will. The hazel-weird is a weird of divination; divining rods are best made from this wood, and hazel nuts cast into water, one for each partner in a relationship, can determine if they will stay together or come apart- by how the nuts float. A rod of hazel wood is the wise-staff of the weird-worker, a symbol of authority that goes far beyond temporal matters.
Holly, Who Bears The Crown: holly’s many sharp, angled leaves prick the very eyes of evil- the evil eye, and malevolent beings, forces, and people are turned away from places where the boughs are hung. It is also one of the other great “lightning protectors” of green-world lore. An old carol says that “of holly and ivy, when both are full grown in the wood, it is holly that bears the crown…” the crown, of course, being the crown of life and summer, for at midwinter, the evergreen holly carries the power that has temporarily fled the oak and the other trees. Thus, it is the crown and clothing of the “holly king”- the name given to the power of the kingly spirit of life itself, as it must transform itself in winter.
Juniper, the Warding Weird: Juniper branches and twigs make a most efficacious charm for warding away evil, and its smoke, when burnt, is intolerable to malevolent forces.
Maple, the Long-Life Weird: Wassailing bowls- bowls that are used in the yearly ritual (performed around the yule-tide) to propitiate the spirits of fruit-bearing trees and drive away wickedness from them, are made of maple. To wassail- to be whole- is a process and a blessing that has many levels, and the maple is mysterious connected to it. Even though the maple does not appear to be very long-lived (for a tree), it is connected to an ancient rite for long life: a young child is passed through its branches to confer on them longevity.
Mistletoe, the Druid-Wood: at the time of the winter solstice, the mistletoe, a strange green parasite that grows in the boughs of trees, bears its powerful fruit. Its dark green color- the color of life triumphant- is matched by its white berries, both revealing the mystery of eternal life. In this world, you will find that the druid-wood is poisonous; but in the wholeness, in the unseen, it is perpetual life-giving. The mysteries of life and death being two sides of one wholeness are captured in the mistletoe-weird; now, as in ages long past, it is the key to the entrance to the Underworld. Bearing a bough of mistletoe with you down below will give you admittance past the guardian-weirds who try and block the way to the spiritual deeps. The vision of eternity and life everlasting is the supreme gift of the old ways- and the presence of the mistletoe is one of greatest fortune, but it must never be allowed to touch the ground. When taken from a tree- preferably an oak- it must not touch the ground between the nights of Yule and the following Candlemas- though after that, it can hang throughout the year in the house, protecting from ill-luck, lightning and fires, to be replaced next Yule.
You will notice that the mistletoe and the holly have similar features- and this is a secret hidden in plain sight. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is more sacred than most people realize; eternity is only experienced in the presence of others and the community of all creatures, so bonds of affection- demonstrated under the mistletoe- are offerings to the greatest of weird-blessings. It would be bad luck not to kiss or hug beneath the sacred bough during the winter season. The druid-wood is a healer of great power, though the berries are poisonous in certain amounts. Herbalists today rightly use its leaves and twigs for treating many illnesses.
Oak, the King of the Wood: the Oak is the sacred and favored tree of the kingly spirit of lightning, thunder, and the sky. The oak-weird has an ongoing relationship with this ancient power, attracting his lightning and being struck often- though greatly increasing in its power when this happens, assuming the weird is not “taken up” to the sky (if it dies from the lightning stroke). Ironically, oak is seen as protection from lightning, again, taking the lightning stroke to itself. Any part of a lightning-struck oak is simply the most powerful protection charm from evil and from further lightning strikes. The acorns are powerfully protective for any reason or cause. The oak-weird is the kingly weird of the wood, the image in the green world of the mighty lord of natural places and living creatures himself. His acorns are his sperm- full of the potentials of all things, for great forests grow from small acorns. There is a secret to manifesting magic, here, for the wise. It is blasphemy against the weird and life itself to destroy an oak without the best of reasons.
Pine, the Illuminator: the resins of the pine tree are the best for kindling fires, and this weird is the illuminator and the torch-bearing power. The cones of pine represent warm, generative force, and they chase away cold-weirds and other harmful powers of the winter and those powers that thwart fertility.
Poplar, the Resurrection Tree: the poplar weird “speaks” when the wind rustles its leaves; arrows and wands made from its wood have been used for divination in the past. But the real power of this growing weird is the story it tells of resurrection- of the passage into the inner world and the conscious return from it. A crown of poplar leaves was worn by the ancient Greek hero Heracles as he made his descent into the underworld, and next to the “well of forgetfulness” in the underworld, legends say a white poplar grew. Taking the poplar-weird’s blessing onto yourself is a sure way to gain an ally that will not let you fall to the oblivion of forgetfulness- though if you do not, it will see that you forget.
Rowan, the Protector: planted near the door or garden-gate, the rowan-weird keeps the house safe from unwanted powers. But it protects in other ways- a charm carved onto the wood of rowan spares people from drowning. Rowan twig-crosses tied with red yarn or thread (and sometimes mixed with birch) are some of the strongest protection charms for houses and barns and sheds- especially against foul witchcraft- but the rowan twigs or boughs must be removed without a cutting instrument. Those same crosses can and should protect freshly planted seeds. A necklace of rowan berries protects the wearer from medical problems.
Willow, the Water Tree: loving the water and often being found next to it, the willow-weird has abundant life- cut away any branch of it and stick it in the ground, and it will sprout into a new willow- this weird is the weird of resilience, but also the weird of passage across water (some species of the willow have boat-shaped leaves) and across spiritual boundaries. It can also create boundaries- the “beating of the bounds”- the ceremonial creation of boundaries within which a family may live, or a village may be built, or a ceremony of sorcery may be done, is performed by walking the boundaries, beating the ground with willow switches. The moon-weird and the willow-weird have a powerful relationship; and one must be cautious- old man or lady willow can open up the door to conscious access to the deep places of the mind, but the willow can never be used to strike other people or animals, because it is cursed- it will retard their growth, if not on the outer level (though it may) then on the inner level. Of course, if you intend to curse another, that is a separate matter. The willow-weird communes with any water that it grows near, and a rod of willow from a tree near water contains not only the power of the willow, but of that body of water. It is said that the willow-weird can uproot itself and walk, late at night, and they can be very protective of their natural homes.
Yew, the Eternity Tree: No tree lives longer than the yew, and it, more than any other tree-weird, mediates the essence of eternity and eternal life into our world, in a form that we can tangibly recognize it. The bones and/or ashes of the dead should be buried under yews or near them so that they can be “drawn up” into the eternity more surely. Like most of the weirds of eternal life, the yew is very poisonous, and on very hot days, it gives off a resinous vapour that can cause visions.
The yew’s power is inwardly connected to all times and places, a perfect image of the Weird-power as a whole. The yew-weird can help lovers stay together through adversity, and even see that they are reunited after death, weirded together to be reborn together in many conditions. Sprigs of yew should be sewn into the clothes or shrouds of the dead to speed their passage into wholeness. No tree is more connected to the dark goddess of Fate, the Weird-Mother herself, and her power to overcome all, whose powers have ensorcelled all, and who gives access to the deepest truths.
* * *
This short walk through a catalogue of tree-weirds should help you greatly in your own sorceries. Trees and plants, more than any other powers, draw us to the ground- to the places where we work and live, and perform rites. You have seen what woods are good for sanctifying and protecting a ground- any tree strongly associated with protection is the power you should interact with for such causes. A sprinkling of flour around an area, making a white boundary, and mingled with finely reduced barks or pieces of oak is a forceful “encircler”; mingle it with graveyard-dust, and you will have even more protection from malevolent things.
A conjured fire in the center of such a circle fulfills it; “roads” of water cast in straight lines to the four directions, leading out from the cardinal “corners” of the circle provide spiritual powers with a path to reaching you, seeing as they can the light of your fire. One must not be remiss in the use of fire and water in any sorcerous act- both fire and water can purify; both can be used to make boundaries; but their supreme use is as I just described.
