At first it was clockwise only. I couldn't imagine it going the other direction. But as I stared at it, it suddenly switched. Now I, too, can make it go in either direction. However, it usually starts in the clockwise spinning direction when I first look at it. Not always, but mostly.
I write software for a living, and mostly feel I live in the left-brain world - so this surprised me. I have a great love of art, and have read the book "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" many times (and practiced the exercises many times as well). I've found that if I'm having difficulty with figuring out a problem, I'll "push it into the right side of my brain" and let it stew while I work on something else.
What usually happens is that the solution "pops" into my consciousness, fully formed, at the most unexpected times (like while I'm watching TV, sleeping, in the shower, mowing the yard...). My right side worked on the problem for me while I was doing other things.
Cool pic/exercise!
