deasil: clockwise; moving in the same direction as the sun
widdershins: counterclockwise; "the wrong direction," aka moving against the sun

Bravo to the inhabitants of the British Isles for all of the wonderful, fascinating words they've contributed to our lexicon. These two are Scottish, and the whole "direction of the sun" business comes from their observation of the world and the way the sun moves from high in the Northern Hemisphere.

More than just left and right, both of these very old words had special connotations regarding good or bad fortune. Deasil was considered "the right direction" and was associated with good luck, or creating good fortune by turning that way while walking.

Widdershins was taken to a bit further of an extreme, with superstitions suggesting that when approaching Satan, demons always move toward him widdershins. As you can imagine, it's associated with all sorts of "wrong" things, including very bad luck.

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