Nyx in the House of Night

to Athens and melted the wings of Icarus, causing him to plummet into the sea. The goddess Hecate, who is worshipped by many Wiccans today, personifies fire in all its forms: she is known as Pyrphoros (fire bearing), Pyripnon (fire breather), Daidoukhos (torch bearer), and Phosphoros (light bearer).
    Fire in any of its forms, whether the warming fire of the hearth, the working fires of the forge, or the fire of passion that ignites the soul, can be a force for creation or destruction. This can be seen in Zoey’s Circle, where Shaunee has an affinity for fire. Shaunee is passionate and protective but can get herself into trouble when her passion overrides her reason.
    Fire is an element that is invaluable in our lives, but it must be respected, because if you begin to think it’s tame, it will bite you just to remind you of its power.
Guardian of the west, spirit of water, we ask that you allow love to flow into our Circle. Water, the womb that bore all life, we ask that you wash over us cleansing our spirit of toil and strife.
    Water is the waves lapping onto the shore, the soothing beauty of a stream, and the thunder of a waterfall. Water is the dew on the grass, a gentle summer rain, and a snowy winter’s day. It is the blood in your veins, the tears you weep, and the sweat on your brow. Water is associated with your emotional nature, your hopes, and your fears. From water we learn to yield and flow, we learn patience and persistence. There is nothing more yielding than water and yet nothing is stronger.
    Warriors often revere water. If you strike at it, it’s not there—it flows around obstacles and appears behind you. But this ability of water to yield belies its true power, for it can strip a mountain down to a plain, carve giant canyons, and hew a cavern from living rock. Water has the patience to wear away at its opponent little by little; it is called the universal solvent because it will eat away more things than any acid. Water will erode the earth, extinguish fire, and dissolve air dragging it down to the depths of the oceans. In the end water will always win. In a Wiccan Circle, water is often represented by a bowl of water (sometimes salted to purify it and combine it with earth), anything blue, seashells, and the chalice, and water is often sprinkled around the Circle while asking water to join the ritual. The astrological signs of Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, with their caring and emotional nature, are associated with water.
    The goddess Aphrodite was born from the sea, as indeed all life had its origins in there. Vampyres, Wiccans, and many other religions view water as a cleansing agent and ceremonially immerse, sprinkle, or wash people to cleanse their body, mind, and spirit. The traits associated with water are compassion, caring, wisdom, creativity, compromise, and forgiveness. You can see this in Erin, who has an affinity for water. Erin is very like her “twin” Shaunee, but her personality is not as fiery. She often just flows along with her friend, and is also more willing to compromise and forgive.
Guardian of the north, spirit of earth, we ask that you bring to our Circle the peace and security of the earth. Spirit of the earth, from which our very flesh is formed, bring us grounding and stability as our rite is performed.
    From dust we came and to dust we shall return. This concept sounds a bit morbid, but in essence it is correct. We are formed from the earth—well, mainly we are formed from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen with a few trace elements like calcium to toughen up the bones and iron to give us a bit of color, but when you get right down to it all that is just part of the earth. But what an amazing piece of earth we are, even the humans. (No offense!) We walk, talk, live, and love, all because the spirit moves the earth. But wait, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself; let’s jump back to earth.
    The earth is often referred to as our mother, because it gives us nourishment, shelters us, and takes us back to her after we pass. All the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the tools we use ultimately come from the earth. Vampyres revere the earth, and Wiccans and Native Americans, like Zoey’s grandmother, view the earth as a living conscious entity that has a spirit of its own. They believe the earth will always take care of us—if we take care of it. We should live in harmony with nature, taking what we need, but only what we need and no more. That we are entrusted as