invoking or inviting the quarters

“Calling the Quarters”

Having meditated on the elements and experienced them more in your life, you will want to be able to invite them to join you and bring their qualities into your celebrations and rites.

In Wicca, the invocation of the elements is performed after casting your circle.
As you call the element raise your arms in the blessing position. The elements are usually called starting in the East, place of Air and new beginnings. You then turn deosil (clockwise) to the South to call Fire, then to the West to call Water and to the North to call Earth, finally turning back to the East to complete the circular motion.

The traditional Wiccan way of calling the elements, which is published in many books on Wicca is as follows:
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, ye Lords of Air; I do summon call and stir you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, ye Lords of Fire; I do summon call and stir you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the West, ye Lords of Water; I do summon call and stir you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, ye Lords of Earth; I do summon call and stir you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle

In our group we tend not to use this form, as we feel it is preferable to invite the elements rather than command them, as commanding implies dominance and power over rather than power with.

Here is an example of how we may invite the Elements:

Powers of Air, I call to you and invite you to join us in this rite, to share your qualities with us; In Love and Truth, we bid you Hail and Welcome!
Powers of Fire, I call to you and invite you to join us in this rite, to share your qualities with us; In Love and Truth, we bid you Hail and Welcome!
Powers of Water, I call to you and invite you to join us in this rite, to share your qualities with us; In Love and Truth, we bid you Hail and Welcome!
Powers of Earth, I call to you and invite you to join us in this rite, to share your qualities with us; In Love and Truth, we bid you Hail and Welcome!

Obviously when you have finished your rite you say farewell to the elements, starting in the North with Earth and moving widdershins (anticlockwise) to Air in the East. This is done before opening the circle, as the closing of a rite is done in reverse order from the opening. Banishing energies and departures are usually performed in a widdershins direction. (anti-clockwise)

Here are the corresponding words to the above invocations:

Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, ye Lords of Earth; I thank you for attending my rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, I bid thee Hail and Farewell.
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the West, ye Lords of Water; I thank you for attending my rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, I bid thee Hail and Farewell.
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, ye Lords of Fire; I thank you for attending my rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, I bid thee Hail and Farewell.
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, ye Lords of Air; I thank you for attending my rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, I bid thee Hail and Farewell.

Again, our way of saying farewell is slightly different, i.e.:
Powers of Earth, I thank you for joining me and sharing your qualities with me in this rite, and with love and joy and thanks I bid you Hail and Farewell.
Powers of Water, I thank you for joining me and sharing your qualities with me in this rite, and with love and joy and thanks I bid you Hail and Farewell.
Powers of Fire, I thank you for joining me and sharing your qualities with me in this rite, and with love and joy and thanks I bid you Hail and Farewell.
Powers of Air, I thank you for joining me and sharing your qualities with me in this rite, and with love and joy and thanks I bid you Hail and Farewell.

If this is done in a group, you would see “We” rather than “I” and “us” rather than “me” when performing the calling and the farewells, and any other people present should all chorus “Hail and Farewell” after you have said it. You can also change the words for each of the quarters, or write your own. To begin with it is a good idea to use standard words which you can memorise or read for your ceremonies. This is important so that you can both gain confidence and experience of how it is done, and so that you can gain a better understanding of how it works. When you have done this a few times you will better understand of what to include and what not.