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Aloha, On 5/16/2012 11:41 AM, Magliocco, Sabina wrote: >This is essentially correct. In European folklore, deosil movement has positive >associations, and widdershins negative ones. [edit] Thus, widdershins movement is >popularly understood as a symbolic inversion of deosil movement -- something that >undoes good outcomes, or that is performed by beings in a counter-world. >It makes sense that this general tendency was incorporated into Craft fairly early on, >since it was part of the habitus of its creators. It doesn't mean, however, that we are >bound by that tradition forever. My uncertain recollection is that I learned the association of clockwise/sunwise rotation from my family (who'd immigrated from Northern Europe, the British Isles, mostly). And from child's play sources, most likely several years of "folk" dancing classes at summer day camps (pointedly multi-cultural across European, American, and Asian dances, but probably not all that authentic as to form and execution). But I'm pretty sure that I learned the terminological pairing--"deosil- widdershins"--from book sources. I want to say from some science fiction or fantasy book, since I was an avid fan. But it also could have been from some popular book on witchcraft and magic, more of which I read than most of my hometown age mates. But nobody ever uttered those terms in my hearing then. Not even the person who first taught me lots about magical practices. The association of prosperous and good outcomes with clockwise/ sunwise movement seems to be much more widespread in the popular culture of Western America than the particular "deosil"/"widdershins" terminology. I imagine that this equally holds true for European immigrants to the Southern Hemisphere. My question is--Did not-so-magically-motivated rotational movements such as those Sabina mentioned--cooking, folk dance, and the like-- alter in the Southern Hemisphere? Or is the circumambulation problem limited to magical or religious contexts? Musing Which Way To Turn? Rose, Pitch