Instructions for Creating Quarter Calls
In Neo-Pagan rituals, we use invocations called quarter calls to bring the energy of the four elements, aligned with the four directions, into the circle. Although traditionally part of casting the circle, or formally setting sacred space, quarter calls offer additional benefits. You can write and use your own quarter calls to invite the energy of the four elements into your life and connect you more deeply with them. This can add life to your tarot readings and balance your own energy.
Thank you to participants of this month’s in-person tarot meetup for helping me clarify my instructions and develop the template and example below.
Explore the Energy
Separate your deck by suit. Pull out the four Aces. Spend time examining the cards and journaling your thoughts for each step below.
- Element and Tool. Examine the Four Aces and determine which of the four elements matches each Ace (most common is Fire=Wands, Water=Cups, Air=Swords, and Earth=Pentacles, but some traditions change this). How does the element show up in the card? If you could name this energy or give it a title, how would you address it?
- Environment. What environment is appropriate for each suit and its element? Look through all the cards in each suit to determine likely locations, places, or geographies that represent or bring to mind this element.
- Animal. What animal represents this suit and element for you? Look through the cards in each suit to see what correspondences the deck creators used, but also take into consideration your own ideas and experiences.
- Advice. What advice does the suit/element have for you? What do you want to learn from the suit? What quality do you most admire in this suit?
Write the Quarter Calls
Taking into consideration the ideas you explored above, write invitations to each element and suit. These invitations are traditionally called Quarter Calls and mark the four corners—the compass points–of the circle. East=Air=Swords; South=Fire=Wands, West=Water=Cups, and North=Earth=Pentacles.
These can be as formal or casual as you like, in poetry, prose, or improvised, but they are most effective when you think of the element as a living, spiritual energy that you are inviting into your space.
Include the direction, element and tool, environment, animal, and advice from the first section. The quarter calls can be brief and simple, dramatic and ceremonial, or anything in between. Most importantly, you are trying to make a personal connection with these living energies.
I encourage you to write these in a way that is most personal to you, but to get you started, I’ll offer a simple template to help you organize your thoughts.
Quarter Call Template
I look to the _________________ (environment/geography) in the _________________ (direction)
To the __________________________________ (the element/tool title)
And call forth _________________ (animal)
So I can _________________ (advice).
Welcome _________________ (element) to the circle!
Quarter Call Example
I look to the _mountain peaks of higher consciousness_(environment/geography) in the _East_ (direction)
To the _Sword Point of Stillness_ (the element/tool title)
And call forth _the eagle’s view_ (animal)
So I can _listen to my inner voice_ (advice).
Welcome Air to the circle!
How to Use Your Quarter Calls
Many people invoke the four elements and/or four directions by themselves, without a formal ritual opening, to set the space for a spiritually-based meeting or conference.
You can use your quarter calls for meditation. Writing quarter calls is itself a meditative practice, and you can use your quarter calls daily to meditate on the four elements, what they mean to you, and how they’re showing up in your life.
Invoking the four elements helps you perceive the living spiritual energy they symbolize. This augments your mental understanding of the elements with a visceral experience of them. As a result, your tarot readings (or astrology chart readings) come alive as you feel the melody, rhythm, and sentiment of their dance.
You can use your quarter calls to balance the energy of yourself and your space. As you call in the energy of each element and direction, spend a few moments with it to connect with and integrate it. You’ll feel more balanced and your space will feel clear and energized.
Come back next week when I share a Tarot Based Ritual Opening and Closing. It includes a script for casting the circle, calling the quarters, and invoking the Divine, all using tarot card symbolism. I wrote some basic quarter calls for this, but you can substitute your own quarter calls instead!
Experiencing the Four Elements to Bring the Astrology Chart to Life
Please join me Sunday, March 30, 2025 for my talk on invoking the four elements in astrology to bring the chart to life.
Entire books have been written about the four classical elements: fire, water, air, and earth. But study as we may, book learning will never give us the visceral experience of the elements that ultimately brings these archetypes to life. By engaging the living elements, we create chart delineations that are dynamic and relevant. In today’s talk, we’ll invite the four elements through meditation and invocation. By calling forth these esoteric qualities, we deepen our connection with the spiritual energy that underlies the chart and animates our practice.
Presented by The Organization for Professional Astrology. Register at their site.
