Angels-DIRECTIONS (ANGELS OF THE)

Almost every traditional society invests special significance in the
four cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west. The directions
are the dwelling places of specific gods or other spiritual beings, who
often “rule” the energies specifically associated with the directions.
Today all sense of the sacrality of the directions has virtually been lost.
One of the few sources offering a dim reflection of this rather archaic
way of viewing the world is the popular movie The Wizard of Oz,
which aligns specific “witches” with each of the directions.
Traditionally, the four principal archangels were associated with
the four directions. It was believed that Raphael ruled the east,
Michael the south, Gabriel the west, and Uriel the north. These traditional
associations survive in ritual magic, in which the power of the
archangels is invoked when drawing a magic circle.