The most common interpretation of the stang concerns the masculine mysteries.
The stang is often thought of as a simple representation of the Horned Lord or Witchfather, with its forked tines standing in for the horns of the God.
Sometimes the skull of a horned animal is bound to the stang to reinforce this idea.
This practice may have old ties to the use of horned animals as a substitute sacrifice for the King.
Many, if not most, versions of Cochranite Craft use the same elemental quarter associations that we have described here before.
Furthermore, EJ Jones actually writes about a very similar deity association, as taught to him by Cochrane, to what we use here at AFW.
East = Fire, the birth of the sun, the seat of the Horned Child
West = Water, the place of the dead, the seat of the Master of the Wild Hunt, the Sacrificial King
North = Air, winter, the Dark Goddess
South = Earth, summer, the Light Goddess
In both the East and West, though not always specifically identified with the name Tubal Qayin, we can recognize him in his guises as the light-bringer and the lord of the dead.
East and West, Fire and Water, are opposed in the Traditional Witch’s compass, as are North/Air and South/Earth.
Elemental opposites are called into the center along roads of power. We very literally have a crossroads at the center of the compass.
What’s more, we have a Devil who stands there. He is the Witchfather, the Horned One.
The stang, with its horns, is symbolic of Qayin himself and of all the masculine mysteries.
The stang is often dressed by hanging two arrows (sometimes with points up, sometimes with them down) on the shaft.
These arrows are symbolic of the male msysteries, as well.