What is the Homeland?
It was believed by the early inhabitants of Europe that the Gods they worshipped inhabited the land itself. Many were migratory people, and so as they travelled across the continent they took their Gods with them. As they travelled, though, these people often looked toward the North Star, Polaris, for guidance. It was a fixed point in the night sky that they used as a reference point. When these early Europeans wished to honor their Gods, they created a connection between their homeland, where their Gods resided, and the land where they stood. In this way, the new land became a part of the homeland. The elemental correspondences to the cardinal directions act as a way of aligning yourself with the homeland.
