Quarters, Elements, Elementals & Watchers :: Watchers

Also called the Guardians of the Art, the Keepers of Ancient Wisdom, the Lords of the Watchtowers, the Guardians of the Watchtowers, the Guardians, the Old Ones, the Grigori, Archangels, Star Lords, Shining Ones and Beings of Light.

In early history, the Watchers were considered to be beings that had once lived on earth but had achieved a spiritual enlightenment sufficient enough to allow them to return to their celestial origins. To the stellar cults of ancient Babylon, they were the four royal stars that ruled over the four directions and guarded heaven and earth.

Some theorize that the ziggurats (stepped cosmic mountains) built by Mesopotamian cultures were platforms from which celestial observations could be made and the sites of rituals in honor of the Star Lords. From this practice, the Lords attained the moniker Lords of the Watchtowers.

Hebrew people conceptualized these four lords as archangels, beings that were closer to god than to man but who possessed their own consciousness, if not their own free will. As archangels, their names and associations are:

As solar and lunar cults replaced the older stellar cults, the positions of the watchers became less prominent. To the Greeks and Romans, they were the four winds.

In the 16th century, Dr. John Dee and his assistant Edward Kelly developed the system of Enochian magic and revived and morphed the role of the Watchers. In the Enochian system, the Watchers are angels who live in astral cities. In order for these angels to enter human consciousness and aid humans on their quest for spiritual enlightenment, the gates of the watchtowers must be opened.

The use of the Watchers or watchtowers is said to have entered Wicca from the work of Dee and Kelly, others assert that they entered via Crowley’s influence, while still others maintain that they are four guardians that have always been a part of magic and ritual, just in different forms. Traditional Wicca, those systems developed directly from Gerald Gardner or Alex Sanders, views the Watchers as the Old Ones. They are the ancient gods who guard the portals to other worlds (or planes of existence) and witness the rites enacted through the ages. The Watchers are also believed to have the power to invalidate any magic worked that is not in harmony with the universe. Modern Wicca tends to see the Watchers as Lords of the Elements, the rulers of the elementals that inhabit the four elements. They are conceived of as higher beings who aid an individual’s growth and exploration. Conceptualizations of the Watchers have evolved over thousands of years and through repeated use they have become powerful, archetypal beings.

As with the elements and the elementals, every practitioner conceives of the Watcher and their role in different ways. Generally speaking, the Watchers do not enter the circle, rather they stand guard outside of it, creating a second, outer circle (some say square) around the inner circle. The inner circle has open portals at each of the four directions through which the elements, elementals or elemental rulers enter sacred space. These four portals allow access to the Elemental Plane (or Plane of Forces) while the outer circle is a continuous boundary guarded at the four directions by a Watcher. In this capacity, the Watchers have the ability to either allow or reject access to the astral plane. In order for magic to be successful, it must be allowed onto the astral plane in order to effect change.

Watchers are invited to the circle with more formal invocations than elementals or elements. Their purpose is to witness the rites being conducted and to protect and guard the circle and those within it but their role is not a participatory one. They are intelligent, powerful, sophisticated, advanced beings that have evolved past the need for physical bodies and they should be approached with respect, reverence and confidence. The Guardians should be invoked after the circle has been cast. Move to each quarter, focus on the energy you are calling and invoke in a loud, clear voice.

An example:

As with the others, this example can be enhanced. Place a small tower or pillar at each cardinal point and light a votive to signal the Watcher’s presence, for instance.

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Featured Articles

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• ◊ Rethinking the Watchtowers