The Red Meal: The Housle

It is a common part of many religious traditions to partake in a small, sacrificial meal at the end of the rite or ceremony. We, too, participate in a Eucharistic tradition of imbibing en-spirited wine and consuming en-spirited grain as representations of sacrifice needed for the magic we have performed.

In many witchcraft traditions, this meal is called "Cakes and Ale" or "Cakes and Wine." We call it the Housle, or Red Meal, and base it in part on a ritual created by fellow walker of the crooked path, Robin Artisson.

Here follows our own rite of the Housle.

Preparation

When the compass is first laid, place the following items in the Castle Perilous (southwest corner): Dark bread in a bowl (or lipped dish) and Red Wine in Silver Quaich or Chalice.  In the Spiral Castle (center, near the stang) will be placed the Red Knife.

Ritual

1. The sacrificial meal is brought from Castle Perilous to the Spiral Castle by the Witch.
2. Tread the Mill widdershins three times while singing the Housle Song. (see below)
3. Say, “For our Ancestors, our Gods, and Ourselves, we do this.”
4. Bless the bread by saying: “Here is bread, flesh of the Earth, blessed to give us life and strength. I consecrate it in the name of the Old Ones.”
5. Kill the bread by saying: “I take its life and give it to Them.” Cut it with the red knife.
6. Bless the wine by saying: “Here is wine, blood of the Earth, blessed to give us joy and abundance. I consecrate it in the name of the Old Ones.”
7. Kill the wine by saying: “I take its life and give it to Them.” Slide the knife over the top of the quaich/chalice to cut its throat.
8. Each person eats and drinks of the Meal, making whatever personal offerings they like into the bowl.
9. The remainder of the wine is poured into the bread bowl, and each person dips their finger in and anoints themselves. This can also be used for blessing tools, etc.
10. The Meal is either given to the ground now (if outside) or later (if inside) with the following Declaration:
“As some is taken, so is this given
By the sons and daughters of the family of the Old Faith.
I give it to the Ground.
I give it to the Old Ones
That above and below will become one.
For what is taken is truly given,
And what is given is truly taken.
The day and night are wed
As the living and the dead.
Here is shown a Mystery.”

The Housle Song
To the tune of Greensleeves

To Housle now we walk the wheel
We kill tonight the blood red meal
A leftward tread of magic's mill
To feed the Gods and work our Will.

Red! Red is the wine we drink!
Red! Red are the cords we wear!
Red! Red is the blood of God!
And red is the shade of the Housle.

In October of 2013, three of us recorded ourselves singing the chant and posted it to YouTube.

The Castles: Cross-Quarter Watchtowers of the Spiral Castle

The four Castles of the AFW Tradition can be thought of as four Watchtowers on the Spiral Castle. These Watchtowers (Castles) house the four treasures of the Trad and are kept by the Kings and Queens -- aspects, essentially, of the Witch Father and Witch Mother.

Why Castles? That is an excellent question.

Robert Cochrane writes about the castles of Arthurian legend playing a large role in his sense of the Arte Magical. He discusses the Castles and the Two Kings and Two Queens only a little in his letters with Wilson and Gills, but they are mentioned and even explained to a certain extent.

Also, my (Laurelei's) teacher within the Craft talked a little of Castles as a circle-casting system. However, we never had enough instruction in that system to adequately make use of it.

So, as we read through the Cochrane materials together, we addressed this question of Castles head-on. Did they fit our system? Which Castles were they? What and who was in them? What purpose did they serve?

The many castles that are mentioned within Arthurian legend (and beyond, in sources like the Mabinogian, etc) are integral parts of the Quest. They each hold treasures and are kept by wise and sometimes fearsome Masters. They guard the Mysteries, each in their own way. So, yes, we saw them as symbolically linked to the Tradition we were creating.

The following is a simplistic overview of each of the Castles. In time, we hope to have fuller descriptions of each. (As of this writing, we only have two described in their own posts.)

The Glass Castle – Caer Witrin, Glastonbury


Keeper: The Holly King, Janicot, the Goat God
Treasure: Glass Orb 
Symbol: an empty blue circle
Location: upon a cloud, northwest
Times: Yule
Totems: Goat, Holly, Wren


Castle of Revelry – Valhalla, Hell, Golden Castle

Keeper: Hulda, Freya, Brighid
Treasure: Golden Lantern 
Symbol: a yellow circle with a yellow dot at its center
Location: surrounded by a Lake of Fire, northeast
Times: Spring Equinox
Totems: Hare, Goose, Birch


Stone Castle – Caer Bannawg, Four-Cornered Castle, Hillfort

Keeper: The Oak King, Basa-Jaun, Cernunnos, the Stag God
Treasure: Stone Bowl 
Symbol: a green circle with an equal armed cross
Location: upon a hill, southeast 
Times: Midsummer
Totems: Stag, Robin, Oak


Castle Perilous – Grail Chapel, Binah, Bloody Castle, Silver Castle
Keeper: Silver Queen, Cerridwen, Babalon
Treasure: Silver Chalice 
Symbol: a red circle with a horizontal line
Location: surrounded by a Lake of Blood, southwest
Times: Autumn Equinox
Totems: Chicken, Swine, Vine

The Cauldron

More than the broom, or even the stang, the cauldron is the classic witches’ tool. In classical Greece we find stories of the witch Medea who brewed the elixir of life and death in her cauldron. Across Europe among the Celtic peoples are tales of Cerridwen whose potion of Awen was simmered in her own cauldron for a year and a day, and Bran, whose cauldron would regenerate fallen heroes. The cauldron of Dagda also featured in the celtic myths. His cauldron poured  forth endless food and wealth. It is echoed today in tales of Baba Yaga and Strega Nona  both of whom have special cook pots that are never exhausted of food, provided that the correct magical phrases are uttered over them.

 Even Shakespeare's infamous three witches from his play MacBeth are seen to gather around a cauldron and chant their nefarious rune.

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poisoned entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Sweltered venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first in the charmed pot!
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake!

~William Shakespeare
MacBeth, Act IV, Scene 1

Robert Cochrane writes on the “two words that do not fit in the cauldron” as a mystery of the Craft. The answer to this riddle is “Be Still” for within the cauldron lies all motion, all potential, and all things. It cannot hold stillness, but this too is a mystery. The cauldron is used not just for the brewing of potions, but also as a vessel for scrying in liquid or flame. To accomplish this we must find stillness within the cauldron, by quieting our own minds.

The cauldron is also very similar to the Holy Grail of legend. We must ever seek it and its mysteries, for in it lies true communion with the Gods, and deep healing of our souls. “Who does the Grail serve?” is the riddle traditionally associated with this quest. The Grail serves all who seek it with honest intent, for it is only in not questing for the mystery that it serves no one.

“In fate and the overcoming of fate, lies the true Grail.” ~ Robert Cochrane

In our tradition the Cauldron is associated with the Grail Queen of the Silver Castle -- Castle Perilous -- as Cerridwen-Babalon. We drink deeply of her bloody cup, and rejoice in the coming of the Season of the Witch at the Autumn Equinox.

Autumn Equinox 2012 Photos

Autumn Equinox 2012 altar.  At this Sabbat we celebrate the Grail Queen of the Silver Castle -- Castle Perilous -- as Cerridwen-Babalon. We drink deeply of her bloody cup, and rejoice in the coming of the Season of the Witch.

Altar detail.  The lovely stone sphere is Chimera Stone (tm).  The large gold and scarlet chalice is the Cup of Babalon, used each year during the Feast of the Beast at the Babalon Rising Festival.

At the base of the altar are L-R: coven chalices, the Spiral Castle, Tubal Cain & his anvil, coven member totems, salt water, sterile lancets, and our Grimoire.

The Housle Song
To the tune of Greensleeves

To Housle now we walk the wheel
We kill tonight the blood red meal
A leftward tread of magic's mill
To feed the Gods and work our Will.

Red, red is the wine we drink

Red, red are the cords we wear

Red, red is the Blood of God

And red is the shade of the Housle.

Castle Perilous

Water

Southwest

Autumn

Bloody Castle; Grail Chapel

Womb

Cauldron of Cerridwen = Grail = Silver Quaich

The Spiral Castle Tradition situates the Castle Perilous in the Southwest, as the compass is laid. In Arthurian legend, the knight who finds the grail (sometimes identified as Percival, sometimes Galahad, sometimes Lancelot) discovers the sacred cup in castle surrounded by water. This is proper, as the cup’s elemental association is indeed water.

The power of the grail is its association with blood and, therefore, life – and death. Whether we see it as the cup that caught Christ’s blood, the cauldron of transformative Goddess Cerridwen, or the chalice of the great whore Babalon makes no difference. The treasure of Castle Perilous is the same cup, and we drink the same death and rebirth – the same transformations – by whichever name or image we use.

This castle and its images are associated with Chalice Well in Glastonbury. Chalice Well has a long-standing association with grail-lore, and the iron content of the water lends both the flavor and colored tinge of blood as well as the healing properties attributed to the cup/cauldron. Note the similarity in the Chalice Well symbol and our simple symbol for this castle’s treasure (the silver – bloody – cup).

We envision the cup filled with life-giving blood, just as the fertile womb fills each month with blood. So it is that at the Housle (the Red Meal), we fill the two-handled Quaich with red wine. When we cut the throat of the cup and spill its “blood,” and likewise stab and rend the flesh of the dark bread, we more aptly feel the sacrifice that we associate with this castle and cross-quarter.

Both sacrifices are made with the shelg, the red knife. This is the blade of Castle Perilous, the blade of blood and of sacrifice.

Blood and red wine are a potent mixture. They remind us of the Mithraic Mysteries, in which a bull was sacrificed in a subterranean vault. Killing the bull wasn’t the point of the rite, though – collecting its blood was. The blood was mixed with wine and drunk by the initiates. Later, only the wine was drunk, as a representation of the blood of Mithras himself. We see in this blood-letting ritual the foundational element of many sacrificial meals, including our own Housle.

Cerridwen, the keeper and queen of the Castle Perilous, is an appropriate mistress for the mysteries of sacrifice and transformation. Her myth tells how she set the young Gwion to the task of stirring a cauldron of knowledge and wisdom. The brew within was intended for her son, but when three scalding drops landed on Gwion’s hand, he instinctively sucked away the pain – and wisdom. Enraged, a pursuit ensues in which Gwion shapeshifts to escape Cerridwen’s wrath, but she transforms to capture him. When he was a hare, she was a greyhound. Then he was a fish and she an otter. Next, he was a bird, and she was a hawk. Fourth, he changed into a grain of corn, and she transformed into a hen, pecking every grain until she had consumed him. Once she had him, she transformed again to the shape of a woman, and gave birth in nine months’ time to the great bard Taliesin. This last is their fifth and final transformation.

Women’s blood mysteries are best understood within the Castle Perilous, and the rites of passage associated with them have an obvious home here.

The Mystery of the Cauldron mentioned by Robert Cochrane in his letters is also well contemplated in this cross-quarter. Cochrane asks, “What two words will not fit in the cauldron?” In a later letter he answers his own question with the words, “Be still.” (We’ll talk more about this and other Mysteries mentioned in the Letters later.)

Castle Perilous is the entry point into the compass at the time surrounding the Fall Equinox.

Meditation: Visiting the Silver Queen, Cerridwen

Our tradition uses guided meditation to help impress certain symbols on our member's consciousness. Below is our Autumn Equinox meditation. It takes place in the Castle Perilous, which is the southwest area of our compass.  It is the home of the Silver Queen, who we honor as Cerridwen.  To use this meditation let yourself relax comfortably and picture yourself drifting downward and inward to the third realm, the lower realm. The third realm is a place of darkness and mystery.  Let yourself sink down into the third realm and rest there peacefully.

Meditation: Visiting the Silver Queen, Cerridwen

Artwork by Thalia Took

You awake in a cool thicket at twilight.  You notice that beneath you is a thick clump of ivy, which you haven been using as a bed.  The trees of the thicket are in autumn array.  Their leaves are scarlet, golden, russet, and brown, but seem gray, violet, and black in the fading light of sunset.

You notice that the thicket borders a field of grapes to the west.  In the western sky is a reddish violet glow.  You hear the keen of a hawk cut clearly through the dusk.

You walk into the vineyard, plucking ripe grapes from the vines and eating them.  Although the evening is cool, the grapes have held the warmth of day and their warm tart juice seems like blood in your mouth.

You hear a rough noise from within a stand of grapevine.  Suddenly an enormous boar leaps in front of you.  It snorts violently and bears its tusks.  You turn in fear and try to escape the beast, but you are hedged in by twisted vines and tangling ivy.

The boar charges at you, flinging spittle and rolling its eyes wildly.  Its tusk catches your ankle just above the heel. Your ankle throbs in pain at the gash. The boar flails its head around, tossing you into the air.  You land astride the massive boar and in a panic grab its tusks with your fists.  The boar bucks attempting to toss you from its back, but you are firmly planted.

The boar runs westward with you upon it still clinging to its tusks.  The scent of the beast assaults your nose.  The wound in your ankle is deep.  Blood runs down the side of the boar as it rushes onward towards the setting sun.  The jostling movement of the boar, the pain of your wound, and rapid blood loss make you feel disoriented.

On the horizon you see a dark lake.  The boar continues its frenzied charge into the dark lake.  You are now riding through the lake on the back of the swimming boar.  The lake is warm and dark, like the warm dark blood that flows from your ankle.  It reflects the violet-red of the setting sky above, making it appear to be made of blood.  You realize then that this is no illusion of light. The lake itself is a lake of blood.

The bitter metallic scent of blood fills your nostrils as the boar charges onward towards an island.  On the island is a castle of dark stone.  The castle is embellished with silver and rubies, and from its turrets fly banners of crimson.  As you reach the shore of black sand, you can hear wailing from within the walls of the castle.

The boar stops at the shoreline and gives a loud snort.  You climb off of the boar carefully, nursing your wounded ankle.  The boar regards you for a moment and then rushes back into the lake of blood, leaving you behind on the dark island.  You wonder aloud what place this is, and from the shoreline comes a low and melancholy reply, “This is a place with many names.  Some call it the Grail Chapel. Others call it the Well of Souls.  I call it the Castle Perilous.  It is the home of Queen Cerridwen and her silver cup.”

You turn to see a darkly robed and hooded figure standing in a boat at the shoreline.  The boatman's face is hidden in the shadows of his hood, but he stretches forth a pale bony finger to point at the great doors of the castle.  The doors open slowly with a creaking noise, and the smell of myrrh and moss meets your nose.  You enter the castle and the doors slam shut behind you.

Sounds of dripping cave water and distant wailing fill the air.  You shudder to find that what you thought were rubies studding the walls are actually drops of blood, so that the walls appear to be bleeding.  It is damp and cold here, and the sound of your shuffling feet echo through the dark halls.  Your ankle throbs in pain from the boar's wound.  You are filled with dull and nameless despair, yet you shuffle forward.

At the end of a long dark hall are two large silver doors covered in countless finely sculpted symbols.  Among these you notice a sow and a cauldron.  You move to touch the doors and they swing open at your gesture.

The room inside is bathed in soft silver moon light.  In it you see an aged and beautiful woman with long gray hair.  She is seated on throne of silver and she wears a dress of black.  Her eyes are the color of the stormy sea and she offers you a knowing smile.  To her right is a table with glowing silver cup upon it. The light of the room seems to be coming from this cup.  To her left is a large iron cauldron adorned with a silver ivy and vine design.  “I am called Cerridwen” she says.  Her voice is a deep and rhythmic like the pounding of waves against the shore.  You can taste salt in your mouth when she speaks.  The scent of myrrh and cypress fills your nostrils.  Your entire being is infused with rushing coolness and you feel slightly dizzy.

She nods at you and gestures to the silver cup to her right.  “This is the treasure of Castle Perilous.”  At her words the cup floats from the altar towards you.   It rests against your lips and tips its vintage into your mouth.  You drink deep of its contents.  You can feel the wound in your ankle knitting closed, and all other pains and illnesses being cured and healed within you.  Power seems to vibrate from the base of your spine up through the crown of your head.  You tremble at the sensation of vitality and power that has infused your being.

Cerridwen fixes her gaze upon you and leans forward from her throne.  Her eyes are like sacred wells.  You feel that you may faint from the overwhelming flood of power in and around you. “I have a message for you,” she says.  She takes the cup from your lips and whispers her secret message in your ear. [long pause]

Cerridwen bids you farewell and touches your forehead.  You shiver at the cool dampness of her touch.  The cauldron beside her begins to boil.  You take your leave of the room hastily, disoriented by the power still coursing through you.

The hall is dank and still filled with distant wailing, but you understand now that it is not just the wailing of despair and sacrifice, but also of labor and infancy.  On the black shore the boatman waits with an outstretched bony hand.  You reach into your crane skin bag and retrieve a silver coin.  On its face is the profile of Cerridwen.  On its reverse is a boar leaping from a cauldron.  You place the coin into the boatman's skeletal hand and climb into the boat.

The boatman pushes off and begins to row you back through the dark lake of blood.  A hawk cries out as it circles over the barge. At the shore you can easily find the path that the boar created when it violently carried you off earlier.  You trace the path back through the vineyard and into the autumn thicket where you began.  There in the thicket is the patch of ivy you had made into your bed.  You lay down on the ivy and rest.

Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas Learmonth (also spelled Learmount, Learmont, or Learmounth), better known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas, was a 13th century Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune").

Sir Thomas was born in Erceldoune (also spelled Ercildoune - presently Earlston), Berwickshire, sometime in the 13th century, and has a reputation as the author of many prophetic verses. Little is known for certain of his life but two charters from 1260–80 and 1294 mention him, the latter referring to the "Thomas de Ercildounson son and heir of Thome Rymour de Ercildoun".  His reputation for supernatural powers for a time rivalled that of Merlin. Thomas became known as "True Thomas" because he could not tell a lie. Popular lore recounts how he prophesied many great events in Scottish history, including the death of Alexander III of Scotland.

Thomas interests us due to a 13th century ballad that was written about him and his time with the Queen of the Fae, who we identify as our own White Goddess.  Much can be learned of the ways of the Fairy realm and its queen by examining the lay.

Thomas the Rhymer

True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank,
A marvel with his eye spied he.
There he saw a lady bright
Come riding by the Eildon Tree.

The Eildon Tree was a sacred hawthorne in the hills of Ercildoun, where Thomas was said to hail from. And the hawthorn is also sometimes known as the fairy bush, for the fey folk are said to inhabit its branches and are its guardians. Sprigs of hawthorn and its flowers were gathered to serve as protection from evil.

Her skirt was of the grass-green silk,
Her mantle of the velvet fine,
At every lock of her horse's mane
Hung fifty silver bells and nine.

True Thomas he pulled off his cap
And bowed down to his knee:
"All hail, thou Queen of Heaven!
For thy peer on earth I never did see."

"O no, O no, Thomas," she said,
"That name does not belong to me;
I am but the queen of fair Elfland
That am hither come to visit thee."

"Sing and play, Thomas," she said
"Sing and play along with me,
And if ye dare to kiss my lips,
Sure of your body I will be."

"Betide me weal, betide me woe,
That fate shall never frighten me."
And he has kissed her rosy lips,
All under the Eildon Tree.

"Now ye must go with me," she said,
"True Thomas, ye must go with me,
And ye must serve me seven years,
Through weal and woe, as chance may be."

She mounted on her milk-white steed,
She's taken True Thomas up behind,
And every time her bridle rung
The steed flew faster than the wind.

The horse is sacred to the White Goddess, as a symbol of sovereignty, and her own horse is white, adorned with silver bells.

O they rode on, and farther on,
The steed went swifter than the wind;
Until they reached a desert wide,
And living land was left behind.   

"Lie down, lie down now, True Thomas,
And rest your head upon my knee;
Abide and rest a little space,
And I will show you wonders three."

"O see ye not yon narrow road,
So thick beset with thorns and briars?
That is the path of righteousness,
Though after it but few enquire."

"And see ye not that broad, broad road
That lies across the lily leven?
That is the path of wickedness,
Though some call it the road to heaven."

"And see ye not that lovely road,
That winds about the fern'd hillside?
That is the road to fair Elfland,
Where thou and I this night must ride."

The three roads are the paths of life itself.  One may choose the easy life, which leads to damnation, the austere life, which leads to redemption, or the "middle road" that leads through nature, the path of the Ancient powers, the path that seeks balance, and leads to the Fairy realm.

"But Thomas, you must hold your tongue,
Whatever you might hear or see,
For if you speak in fair Elfland,
You'll never get back to your own country."

Witches are admonished "to keep silent" about the ways of magic if they seek success.  Likewise, the world of the fae operates under its own strange laws.

O they road on, and farther on,
And they waded through rivers above the knee,
And they saw neither sun nor moon,
But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was dark dark night, and there was no sun light,
And they waded through red blood to the knee;
For all the blood that's shed on earth
Runs through the springs of that country.

While on the journey to the Fairy land Thomas and the Queen must pass through liminal space.  Here it is eternal twilight, though neither sun nor moon is seen.  The pair pass through a sea of blood, just as each of the castles of our tradition are bounded by a moat.  Indeed, the Castle Perilous is accessed by wading through blood.

Soon they came to a garden green,
And she pulled an apple from a tree;
"Take this for thy wages, True Thomas,
It will give ye the tongue than can never lie."

The apple is another sacred symbol of the White Goddess.  Elfland is sometimes equated with the Isle of Apples, Ynys Avalon.  The apple is red, symbolic of the food of the dead, and of the Housle.

"My tongue is my own," True Thomas said,
"A goodly gift ye would give to me!
I'd neither dare to buy or sell,
At fair or tryst where I may be."

"I dare neither speak to prince or lord
Or ask favor from fair lady -"
"Now hold thy peace," the Lady said,
"For as I say, so must it be!"

He has gotten a coat of velvet cloth,
And a pair of shoes of velvet green,
And till seven years were gone and past
True Thomas on earth was never seen.

Laying the Compass

(This post has been edited, as of Oct 12, 2013 to reflect how we have grown into the laying of the compass.)

Most modern witches have been taught to work in a circle.  The circle is an organic shape that places each of its members as equals.  Energy flows smoothly when directed in a circle, and the circle serves as both container and barrier for various energies.

In our tradition we also work in a circle, although its creation and its purpose differ from the Wiccan circle.  Whereas Wicca has been influenced by Ceremonial Magical traditions to cast a circle to serve as a metaphysical protection from outside energies, we view the circle as a kind of cauldron. It is a container to intensify and direct energy from.

Wiccan circles are cast three times, once with salt and water, once with fire and incense, and once with steel (an athame or sword). Our circles are cast by calling in the three spheres/circles of power and protection -- the Realms, the Gates (Quarters), and the Castles (Watchtowers).

The cutting of the boundary is less important than the laying of the compass.  By laying the compass we invite the wards and energies of all of the realms and directions to be present in our circle. In our tradition we base the laying of the compass on our year wheel, and we call Powers that lie opposite each other as a pair. So for example, when calling the Gates, we call North, then South -- both being called toward the center of the circle. Thus, they form a road or an energetic pathway, with the Stang as the center point. The we would do the same with East and West, which creates two crossed roads.

We begin at the center of the compass and raise the stang.  The stang serves as the world tree and connects the three realms of upper, middle, and lower.  If we are going to voice the calls, we speak an evocation to the 3 Realms -- Upper, Middle, and Lower. At the base of the stang is the oath stone, or anvil.  It is on this stone that we make our blood oaths to the tradition and through which we call forth Tubal Cain.  Near the oath stone are the cauldron and the skull.  These represent the mysteries of life and death, and tie us to our ancestors.  Also placed at the center of the compass are the personal fetishes of each member of our Clan, and the three knives.

With the raising of the Stang and the calling of the Realms, the 1st Circle is cast.

Then we begin calling the next circle, which can either be the Elemental Gates or the Castle-Watchtowers. This really is up to you (or perhaps you will base it on the time of year. We often begin with whichever part of the Year Wheel we are actually in  -- so, Castle Perilous would be the first thing called, if we were closest to the Fall Equinox, West Gate if we were at Samhain. If you call a Castle, its opposite across the Circle should be next, followed by the remaining two Castles. The same philosophy applies to Gates. Call them as opposite pairs, as siblings, as light and dark halves of each other.)

For this example, we are going to call the Gates as our 2nd Circle, beginning in the North.

At the north gate are placed the staves of the coven, along with the spear, and the troy stone, or gate stone. Also at this gate are symbols of the Black Goddess (including a lily) and totemic pieces associated with her.  Thus, an owl's feather, fur from a cat, and a stave of willow are all acceptable here. Any tools associated with air are kept at this gate, such as the censer if one is used. If the scourge is to be used it is also placed at the north gate.

The south is the gate of the White Goddess.  At her gate are placed red roses.  The weapon kept here is the targe, tool of earth.  The binding cords and the bread for the red meal are placed at this gate.  Horsehair, apples, and swan feathers are all symbols for this gate.

In the east are the tools of fire.  Here we place the blacksmith's trade (hammer and tongs) and keep a bonfire burning, if we are outdoors.  The coven sword is here, as is appropriate to a weapon of steel. This is the home of bull, hawthorn, and bee, so offering of honey, or mead in cow horns is appropriate. Also kept here are offerings for Tubal Cain, such as dark beer.

The west is the gate of water.  It is the quench tank of Tubal Cain. Representations of water are placed here, along with toad, and crane. Elder is only brought into the circle for certain dark magics.  The weapon of this gate is the helm, and the masks of the Clan are kept here.

Whether you speak words, silently call, dance, etc. is up to you. But having called the Gates, the 2nd Circle is now cast.

Now, we call the 3rd and final circle, that of the Castles.

At the north-east is the Castle of Revelry.  Here we place the lantern of inspiration and the broom. The totems are hare, birch, and goose, so a goose feather, a rabbit's foot, and some birch bark are all good to place here.  Also, if you can procure a model of a castle painted gold it would be well to place it here.

In the southwest is kept the silver chalice or quaiche, along with the red wine that it will hold.  Hawk feathers, vines, and representations of the boar or sow are also placed here.  The Castle Perilous is represented in miniature as a castle painted black with red accents.

At the northwest corner is the Glass Castle.  It is represented by the serpent's egg, or glass orb.  The totems are goat, holly, and wren.  Tools of divination are kept in this castle.  It would be nice if you can find or commission a small castle made of blown glass to place here.

The south-east is the home of the Stone Castle.  The stone bowl and the casting stones are kept here, along with stag horns, acorns, and oak staves.  A model fortress painted grey, or appearing to be made of stone, is placed here.

The 3rd Circle is now cast, at which point we usually acknowledge once more the center-point of the Compass, the Stang, the Spiral Castle, which opens into every place and is at the crossroads.

Thus is the compass laid. It may be as elaborate or as spartan as your tastes and needs dictate. Although the instructions above explain the placement of all of the gates, treasures, tools, weapons, and totems, simply treading the mill once and acknowledging the four gates and the four castles, along with their rulers, is enough to lay the compass.