I recently attended a ritual at the beach with several other women. See Ritual, Waves, and Wedding Magic. One of the incidental joys of the weekend was getting to spend time with and share a room with my niece, Becky.
On the last night Becky and I were lying in bed talking about this and that and how the ritual went and I said, “You know, when you called the powers of the west, your wording was so close to the way we call the guardians of the watchtowers* that they all came—not just the west, but every quarter.” As soon as I said that the light in the ceiling fan started to glow softly and then got brighter and brighter. Then it dimmed back, leaving the room in darkness. Becky and I stared up in disbelief. As if to reassure us that we weren’t imagining things, it did it again. Then the fan came on, sending a blast of cold air down onto the bed.
“Um, Becky?”
“Yes.”
“Did you turn the light all the way off before you came to bed?”
“Yes.”
We lay there in silence, covers pulled up to our noses, and contemplated the ominously whirring fan.
“Uh, Becky?”
“Yes.”
“Could you go turn it off again?”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Cuz you’re closest?”
“Oh, all right.”
Becky checked the dimmer switch and found that it was, indeed, off. But there was a switch above it that locked both the light and the fan. She pressed it and the fan stopped. My brave niece crawled back in bed and we watched the offending fixture suspiciously. It remained off. We speculated about what could have caused such weird behavior, but failed to come up with a satisfactory explanation. Becky heard someone walking in the room above us just before the light began to glow, but we couldn’t see how that would have done anything. The conversation drifted off to other topics and then Becky went to sleep.
I, however, was wide awake. This whole thing might have been just a short in the wiring; but if there was “something” in the room with us, I wasn’t going to sleep until I knew what “it” was. So I “reached out” and started cautiously feeling around the room and found…
“Grandpa!” See Magic in a Mining Town
He was waving and laughing.
“That was not funny!”
“Oh, but it was. You should have seen your faces. I just wanted to get your attention…”
“Well, you did!”
“…and let you and my great-granddaughter know that I’m one of your guardians. Whenever either of you calls the watchtowers, I’ll be there.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Thanks Grandpa,” I said, and fell asleep.
When you are between the worlds it’s ever so nice to know that there’s family watching your back.
*When an Alexandrian witch (that would be me) casts a circle she/he calls the Guardians of the Watchtowers at each quarter. The Guardians are spirits of deceased men and women who choose to remain available to magic users and guard their circles and offer aid if necessary. I think that the Guardians tend to adopt witches. I know that the same ones come to our circles and I suspect that Becky and her husband, Nikos, have many of the same ones I do.
Most pagans nowadays call powers or spirits of the East (air), South (fire), etc. to the quarters.This is nice, but the powers are elementals, beings of pure air, fire, water, or earth. They don’t have any real understanding of humans, who embody all four elements, and function strictly as place holders that channel their particular elemental energy into the circle. If they are not dismissed properly, I have known them to stick around and wreak havoc. Water pipes leak, fires start at the slightest provocation—stuff like that.
9 thoughts on “Another Ghost Story”
Nice to know somebody’s watching over you–even if he likes a good practical joke.
Yes, Grandpa has a wicked sense of humor.
Thank you for sharing this experience. And I really appreciate the explanation of calling Elementals vs. Watchtowers!
You are welcome. I’m hoping that if pagans understand about the Watchtowers they will start calling them.
This is a wonderful explanation of the Guardians of the Watchtowers. It differs from my current practice, but I feel like there must be room for both. I will sit with this and considerate. I really appreciate your wisdom and the depths of your understanding. Thank you.
I recently had an old friend pass, one of many whose well-being I wish for daily. The day his body was cremated, he visited me in dreamscape, and gave me what I asked for, his address in the Bardo.
Although I’ve been initiated into several “orders” of magic, when left to my own devices, I make it up in the moment. When calling the quarters, I say: “Guardians of the Watchtowers of the ______,” and I attribute a goddess to each direction, a nurturing, motherly figure that represents the power of that direction to me. What I see at each direction is a triangular opening with the Goddess at the apex, and columns of elemental power at the base angles. The energy of that element comes flowing through the opening. Then I ask for help with the magic I’m working, and I start to rant in rhyme. When I’m done, I say thank you, and “Hail, and farewell.” When I do this, I get results—some very awesome, humbling, and astoundingly immediate.
I also sense that bringing the energy to me are trusted people from my past, those that watch over me daily, and aid in my karma yoga practice. They protect me, (and others) from my own stupidity, mostly, like the Beltane when I pitched my tent less than six feet from the rattlesnake nest, and didn’t notice until I took my tent down Sunday morning.
I am not missing my friend that much—my first water brother joins the men who come from my West, my father and my uncle, in the Boat on the Lake, fishing for dream fish. My father taught me how to swim, my uncle taught me how to sing and whistle. My friend taught me to drink life to the dregs, taking risks, and enjoying the show without fearing the Stage Manager in the wings.
I thank you, Chrissie, and your partner in all things, Craig, for giving me a reality based boat ride and for saying the key phrases in the right moments, including the ones here, that helped me put the above understanding all together. Blessed be
You are so welcome.
You’re lots of fun to take on boat rides!
And thank you for sharing your beautiful method of calling in the quarters.
Thank you Chrissy for being our patient, kind and incredible teacher! It’s a great exercise to consider the difference between the “spirits” of the directions and the guardians. Most recently I have found myself circle casting with spirits and deities in combination. But your piece has me considering the differences among the various invocations. You also have me curious to know my guardians better. Just who from the afterlife watches over me? I have my suspicions, but perhaps it’s time to get a few confirmations! Thanks so much for giving us all something really important to consider! Namaste’ Rebecca
Yes, I think it’s important to consider these things. The knowledge and understanding makes our practices so much richer.