Watchtower (magic)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Watchtower" magic – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A watchtower or guardian in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (East, South, West and North). In many magical traditions, they are understood to be Enochian angels or the Archangels Uriel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel. They are also variously associated in other traditions with each of the four classical elements (Earth, air, fire, and water) or stars (Fomalhaut, Aldebaran, Regulus, and Antares). Originating with the Enochian tradition of John Dee, a version of it was popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which became hugely influential in modern Western Esotericism, including Wicca. The watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.