The Four Directions and how they can be used to engage your intuition. (This article is a class hand-out from my Magic Circle Intuition Class) Communing with the four directions is a method of divination, one of a hundred ways to engage the intuition. Different techniques work for different people. We will try different ones in this class so people see what works for them.)
Each direction, East, South, West, and North, has different associations with it, i.e. “relationships, emotions” or “the future” or “what you’re manifesting in your life” etc.
The very simple exercise that can evolve into a process that yields a lot of information, is to begin in the East, and facing this direction, open yourself to new ideas, enlightened philosophies, whatever you can receive that comes from a higher spiritual consciousness, that gives you new thoughts and perspectives.
The East is associated with the air element and higher spiritual realms.All you have to do is want to receive them, and then listen and see if you get anything.
What helps the whole process is to do something like rattle a rattle, or sing, or anything that means to you: “Now I’m turning off my regular thoughts and letting new thoughts come to me, I’m getting into a different state of consciousness, and this rhythm I’m making, or sound, helps me stay focused on that.”
Then turn to the South, and in this direction, you can expect to receive pictures or information about your creativity and what you are creating in your life—it could show you are getting ready to be more outgoing, or that people are going to give you something, or you’re boxed in by former choices, or running yourself ragged. It can say anything. Once you get something, or get bored, turn to the West. The South is associated with fire, new beginnings, and what a person is manifesting in their life.
Turning to the West, you can expect to get information about your body, your relationships, your emotions—but none of these categories are fixed in that they build up over time, and begin with a few simple ideas. Different cultures have different schema and associations with the four directions, but it doesn’t matter which one you use. Online you can see Native Americans have different concepts linked to the directions and their medicine wheel, the Chinese have another, etc.
Make an effort to be receptive, see if the West direction and element of water has a message for you, if there’s any information that comes to you in words, pictures, symbols, etc. Being receptive and non-judgmental will allow you to build up your own language and get quite specific messages.
The North is associated with the Earth, and here you can get info about what it takes to make something happen, what’s going to happen in the future, where you’re headed, what you must give up….these are some of the associations that have been consistent over time when I look in the directions, and other people will have their own.
Question: What if you don’t get anything? There is no normal development ruler…it’s valuable to know what kind of “maps” you respond to, to know if your intuition is blocked at first…whatever happens is valuable information because it’s telling you where you’re at with your own inner guidance system, and you can start from there.
Most important is having a willingness to let go of the regular personality for a couple of minutes, and synchronize with what is in nature, with the understanding that everything in nature communicates, and that “ask and ye shall receive” is a principle that yields insights when applied.
Elissa Heyman www.elissaheyman.com 505-982-3294 Santa Fe, NM Magic Circle Intuition Class
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