This means that if the masculine fire is in the south, then the masculine air MUST be in the north. If the feminine water is in the west, then the feminine earth MUST be in the east. If any adjacent pair were switched, the generator would stop dead. This makes logical sense. When we look at the horizon of the earth, we see a horizontal line.
Water also seeks a horizontal plane.
Fire, on the other hand, always assumes an erect or vertical position. Air, too, can rise upward, as earth and water cannot. In modern Witchcraft, there are four principal altar tools, the same four tools shown on the Tarot card, the Magician. And, like the four elements, two of them are feminine and two of them are masculine. The pentacle is a shallow dish inscribed with a pentagram, representing earth, and is here placed in the east.