This Page Last Updated August 31st, 2009 (new style reckoning)
Procession Direction
In any good
thing that is done we can compromise and contradict the proper way, if we are
not careful. This is exactly how it is for the processions done during
religious services. There is no good reason at all for altering the direction from the ancient way. I have never heard any good excuse for the modern contradictions. At issue is traveling with, or
against the direction of the sun. The Sunwise or Sunward direction was always understood as the prosperous path. One good reason is that the sun, from the beginning of Creation has been a time keeper. Going counterclockwise was to be understood as being unfavorable. It was not until the 12th century that we see a practice contrary, again towards the 15th century with the Widdershins that went in the opposite direction. What is on the right hand is understood as being good, so when starting a procession we should go to the right, not the left. Even ancient religions get this part right, like the Hindi or ancient Tibetan practices. It is the God ordained way of motion, we ought to follow it when the choice is up to us. As we look to the sky we see the sun and the moon traveling to our right, we should be in keeping with this. The good old Christians have always done it the right way.
In the book titled, “Jesus in history, thought and culture” on page 743 there is this record about Patriarch Nikon changing the procession direction. “... new prescriptions for the order of processions in the Liturgy were published: instead of going clockwise, ‘With the Sun’ in Russian they now had to go counterclockwise, ‘against the Sun.’ To go against the Sun meant, for many, to go against Christ the Sun of Justice. As the processions were an important element in the sacraments, the ‘wrong’ processions made the sacraments ‘wrong,’ that is, not merely invalid but sacrilegious.”
Fictional accounts do often intentionally carry with them factual records. In the novel “The Nine Tailors” we can find this sentence, “He turned to his right, knowing that it is unlucky to walk around a church widdershins, and followed the path close beneath the wall till he found himself standing by the west door.”
The way a shadow moves on a northern hemisphere sundial is most likely why clocks go clockwise.
In the southern hemisphere, according to NeoPagans, widdershins is actually clockwise. This is because the Sun appears to move anticlockwise, so widdershins is the other way around. Perhaps for them neither way is right or wrong. One way is considered good for doing and the other for undoing. Or going to and coming back. Or winding up and releasing.
Neo-style Orthodox (like Patriarch Nikon) reenact Mohammad’s ritual, at least so far as the confused procession direction goes. The next link is a short video with scenes from the hajj pilgrimage which is compulsory on all able Muslims. It should be noted that these Arabic people were ridiculed because God had forgotten about them, so they themselves created the religion of Islam in protest. So they made up contrary forms without even realizing it, for they did not have a sure guide to start with. Part of their ritual also includes the shaving of beards...ouch. I feel sorry for them. I for one do not want to imitate this when the clear teachings of old Russian Orthodox Christianity explain the good way. We all make our choices as to what we do.
Another significant point on this topic is that all belief systems originated in the northern hemisphere, where the Sun travels the same direction.
Return to the Old Believer
Distict Points of Faith and Practice page