The Northern Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is above the Equator. The Southern Hemisphere is the half of the Earth that is below the Equator. The Equator is an imaginary line around the centre of the Earth, a bit like a belt.
Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere.
In the Northern Hemisphere the Sun's apparent motion is clockwise. This is because, as the Sun travels across the sky every day, it does not travel straight overhead but in a slight Southwards curve.
This means that in the Northern Hemisphere Deosil is "sunwise" or "clockwise".
In the Southern Hemisphere, where Australia is, the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West of course. However, its apparent motion is that of a Northwards curve.
Image of the Sun's apparent motion in the Southern & Northern Hempispheres
Deosil is "sunwise". That does not change. However, because the apparent motion of the Sun is anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, Deosil is anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Image of deosil in the Southern Hemisphere
There is a lot of confusion in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly among younger Neopagans, about the seasons and other differences here in the Southern Hemisphere. On message boards there are instances in which a younger Northern Hemisphere Neopagan has been so confused they ask if the Sun comes up in the West in the Southern Hemisphere. (It comes up in the East in every part of the world.)
