The Cardinal Points

This is where magick takes place, within a circle inside a square formed by the cardinal points.  The four directions are the cardinal points.
Some traditions add a fifth, called zenith or center, but Robert Graves wrote in The White Goddess:
 

Sacred to Shun, god of the cardinal points.
An obelisk represents dominion over four quarters, plus zenith.

 The golden Egyptian Amulet of the Tet was also called the Backbone of Osiris. The four crossbars at the top of the Tet amulet represented the cardinal points. A symbol of great religious importance, it enabled the reconstitution of the body in the afterlife and made the deceased a perfect spirit in the underworld. It was steeped in flower-water, empowered with these words, then worn as a necklace:

I Rise up thou, O Osiris! Thou hast thy backbone,
O Still-Heart! Place  thou thyself upon thy base,
I put water beneath thee, and I bring unto  thee
a Tet of gold that thou mayest rejoice therein.

NORTH

The most powerful direction - the location of magick - the source of Otherworld powers.

Element: Earth - Air
Season: Winter
Time: midnight
Tool: pentacle
Color: brown - black - green
Animal: white buffalo
Rules: lungs - the body - rudeness - mystery - silence - purity - clarity - renewal - vision - the unseen - the power to listen, to keep secrets, to know what not to say

INVOCATIONS:

Goddesses:

Athena - Baaltis Zapuna - Belili - Earth goddesses - Mertseger, Friend of Silence - Nebhet - Neith - Nephthys - Nerthus - Uatchet

Gods:

Baal Zebul, Lord of the Mansions of the North - Baal Zephon, Lord of the North - Bel - Hapy, Lord of the Watchtower of the North - Jupiter - Osiris - Seth, Lord of the Northern Sky - Soma - Uriel - Zeus

From The Egyptian Book of the Dead:

Thou Beautiful Power, thou Beautiful Rudder of the Northern Heaven,  Power of Heaven, Opener of the Disk, thou Beautiful Rudder of the  Northern Heaven

The North Wind:

Awake, O north wind;
and come thou south,
blow upon my garden,
that the spices thereof may flow out.
- the Song of Solomon

Invocations:

Aquilo - Boreas - Cardea - Erichthonius - Ophion
The Silver Castle, the Corona Borealis, is at the back of the north wind.

NORTHWEST:

Invocations: Mahabala - Tiksnosnisa - Vayu

NORTHEAST:

Invocations: Isa -  Soma - Uluítuyar - Uruín Ajy Toyoín

SOUTH

Element: Fire - Water
Season: Summer
Time: Noon
Tool: wand
Color: red - orange
Animal: lion - coyote
Rules: liver - energy - spirit - will - love - gentleness - trust - innocence - warmth - hospitality - rapid growth

INVOCATIONS

Goddesses

Fire Goddesses: - Isis, Queen of the South - Mahamantranusarini - Mahapratisara - Mert - Nirrti - Satet - Satis - Satjit - Tin Hau - Vajrapasi

Gods: Ea - Imset, Lord of the Watchtower of the South - Michael - Ninib - Prajnantaka - Ra - Sachiel - Saturn - South Star - Yama - Zocho

From The Egyptian Book of the Dead:

Dweller in the temple of the Red gods,
Beautiful Rudder of the  Southern Heaven,
Dweller in the House of the Tesheru Gods,
the  Beautiful Rudder of the Southern Heaven.

The South Wind:

Invocations: Auster - Cardea - Ninurta - Notus - the Breath of Set, Lord of the Chambers of the South

SOUTHEAST:

Invocations: Agni - Takkiraja - Tejosnisa

SOUTHWEST:

Invocations: Niladanda - Nirrti - Surya

The Southwest Wind: Auster - Notus

EAST

The world direction of the new day.

Element: Air - Fire
Season: Spring
Time: dawn
Tool: athame/sword
Color: white - violet - pastels - green
Animal: eagle - highflying birds
Rules: stomach - spirit - mind - illumination - passion - wisdom - beginnings - the power to know

INVOCATIONS: all dawn god and goddesses

Goddesses:

Aja - Aurora - Eos - Hesionë, Lady of Asia - Mahamantranusarini - Neith - Nebhet - Nephthys - Salmaone - Zorya

Gods:

Chac, Lord of the East - Duamutef, Lord of the Watchtower of the East - Horus, Lord of the East - Indra - Mars - Morning Star - Raphael - Shar - Sopedu, Lord of the East

From The Egyptian Book of the Dead:

Splendor, Dweller in the temple of the Ashemu gods,
Beautiful Rudder  of the Eastern Heaven, Khu, Dweller in the
House of the Ashemu gods,  thou Beautiful Rudder of the Eastern Heaven.

The East Wind: Invocations: Cardea - Eurus - Volturnus

WEST

Element: Water - Earth
Season: Autumn
Time: twilight
Tool: chalice/cauldron
Color: sea green - blue - gray - purple - white
Animal: fish - dolphin - sea serpents
Rules: intestines - emotions - guts - introspection - undercurrents - vitality - daring - strength - endingd - the courage to face deepest feelings

INVOCATIONS

Goddesses:

Amenti - the Hesperides, Daughters of the West - Hsi Wang Mu, Royal Mother of the Western Paradise - Isis - Mertseger - Sekhmet, Lady of the West - Selkis

Gods:

Cteryon, King of the West - Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl - Favonius - Itzamna - Gabriel - Hastehogan - Khenty-amentiu, Foremost of the Westerners - Sachiel - Salim - Thoth - Quebehsenuf, Lord of the Watchtower of the West - Ra - Varuna

From The Egyptian Book of the Dead:

Thou who circlest, Guide of the Two Lands, Beautiful Rudder
of the  Western Heaven, Ra, Guide of the Two Lands,
thou Beautiful Rudder of  the Western Heaven.

The West Wind:

Invocations: Cardea - Favonius - Zephyrus

BELIEF SYSTEMS:

Mayans assigned these correspondences to the cardinal points:

The Celts had a Four-fold Cycle:

The ancient Irish divided their land into five directions, each with its own correspondences: