Nyx in the House of Night

various human groups as to which point represents which of the other elements.
    I’ll tell you one possibility that I especially like, as its order mirrors the creation of the planet. The spirit point is of course at the top, because everything begins and ends with spirit. Now, when the earth was formed it would have first been a glowing ball churning in a massive inferno of molten elements; therefore, as you trace the pentagram from the top point down and to the right, the first point you encounter is fire. As the inferno began to cool the planet would have begun to take shape, forming a congealed scab over the otherwise blazing interior and giving the first inklings of what this churning sphere was to become, so as the pentagram is traced from the bottom right to the top left the next point that is reached is earth. As the planet cooled, gasses would have been expelled from the heaver elements in a hissing rush of nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, which, along with other gasses, formed the first atmosphere. Therefore, as we trace the pentagram from the upper left to the upper right we next arrive at air. As the planet continued to cool to a point below the boiling point of most liquids, the vapor that had formed from the hydrogen and oxygen mixing in the atmosphere would have started to condense and the first rain would have begun to fall in a torrential downpour, filling the first oceans and creating the primordial soup from which all life arose. Therefore, as the pentagram is traced from the upper right to the lower left, we encounter the point of water. All things in life are a circle, or at least a cycle, so we finish our pentagram where we began. As our line ascends to the top we again encounter spirit because, of course, everything begins and ends with the spirit.
    In addition to being associated with a compass point, each element also has a color that represents it, and in Circle an appropriately colored candle is often used to represent the element. However, before I begin talking about elements and ritual I think I should pause a moment to discuss what Circle is. Circle, for the children of the earth, is a religious service, but not one like many of you will be familiar with. Circles are held for the same reasons all religions hold services and perform rituals. They are held to celebrate sacred times of the year, honor Deity, mark passages (births, weddings, funerals), ask for boons from the Divine (healing, money, or love), and any other reason one might wish to work in conjunction with the Divine. In Circle people stand facing each other, and every person fully participates in the ritual as everyone dances, sings, chants, and experiences the closeness to the Divine that Circle brings. Circles may be performed for a variety of reasons, but each begins by honoring the primal forces of creation—the elements.
    For vampyres, Circle begins in the direction of the rising moon, although Wiccans would say it begins with the rising sun, so Wiccans and others associate the eastern quadrant and the element of air with the yellow of that orb. Fire burns with a red/orange flame and embers glow crimson, so the southern quadrant and the element of fire is associated with the color red. Water is blue, and green is the color of the living earth, the grass and trees covering the planet; therefore both the colors for the western and northern quadrants are pretty much self-explanatory. This only leaves spirit as the final element, and what is the color of spirit? There is some debate on this amongst the different groups that comprise the children of the earth. Vampyres and many others use purple as the color of the final element, as it’s the highest frequency of light people can discern with their unaided eyes and it’s the color of the highest chakra, or energy center, of the body in Hinduism. However, others say spirit is the purity of white absent of all color, or black, since all colors are present within it, or even a blend of the two representing the yin and yang of the soul. Possibly spirit should be the silver and gold of the moon and sun, which many use to represent the Goddess and God. Or perhaps the color of spirit is the palest green of a shaft of light, a bit of fire from the sun after it travels through the air and reflects off a pond covered in water lilies. The experience of spirit is different for every individual and the colors used to represent it can be just as varied and unique.
    In ritual, when