Five Directions is an ancient way to cast a ceremonial circle, by inviting in the spirits of the East, North, West, South, and Center. It is also:
A way to situate ourselves in the world in Mind, Body, Heart, Will, and Spirit.
A way to map women’s life-stages, as we move through Maiden, Mother, Queen, Crone, and Spirit.
A way to structure books and other creations, which I have used to shape nearly everything I have created over the past decade: a line of ceremonial jewelry, a group of perfumes, a book of poems, a guide to an anthology of writing on abortion, a set of notecards, a series of poetry performances—and the transformational Five
Directions Workshops.
Whether physical, ritual, or aesthetic, all of these creations are a way of making the world sacred, a way of welcoming all the parts of ourselves, a way of building community.
This is a story of spiritual breakthrough and transformation—and I’m inviting you to join it.
When I first began to follow the path of earth-centered spirituality, I cast my circles with four directions, as I had been taught. I knew that some cultures used five or even seven directions, but I saw no need for a fifth. If you read my book Among the Goddesses with its closing ritual to heal after an abortion, you will see that ritual calls on four directions in clockwise order.
But then, practically overnight, my life fell apart. Within one week, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and severed from my 30-year university teaching career. Destined to build a new and better life, I chose to build it on a witchy foundation— and discovered that four clockwise directions were not adequate to support this full-strength witch.
With five, counterclockwise directions, my life began to spin in earnest in the direction of the Goddess, and I have not tired of the sweet depth and flexible complexity this system of understanding makes space for, in all the parts of me—including the Will, which is the direction left out in a four-direction system.
There is much more to say, but now it’s time to hear from you. The story of five directions is your story. What happens when you make space for yourself in mind, body, heart, will, and spirit? What happens when you listen to the voices of all these parts of you through the precise and loving medium of written language? What happens when you create space for each of these parts of you within a supportive network of community? What happens when you make space for each of these parts of you through ritual?
I’m looking forward to hearing your version of the story of Five Directions!