Casting the Circle

Casting the Magickal Circle

This is the way that I go about raising a Circle. You may find it useful to modify it to fit your needs, and that is perfectly O.K.!!! To aid in visualization, many Witches will mark a physical Circle on the ground or floor. You can do this using a cord, chalk, stones, flowers (ideal for spring or summer rites), pine needles (winter and fall rites), salt, earth, or crystals. use objects that are in tune with the ritual that you are performing.

The Physical Circle:
The Circle is usually 9 feet in diameter, but any size that is comfortable for you is fine. Depending on your personal preference , candles can be placed at the Cardinal points: Brown or green for Earth (north), Yellow for Air (east), Red for Fire (south), and Blue for Water (west). The working tools can be placed at these points as well, especially if you do not use an altar. Place the pentacle, bowl of salt, or earth to the North. Place censer containing incense at the East (fresh flowers or stick incense can be used instead). To the South, you can place a burning red candle (A lighten oil lamp, or a lava rock would suffice here). A cup or bowl of water is placed at the West.

The Altar:
Once your physical Circle has been constructed, you will next need to construct an altar. The altar is normally positioned in the center of the circle, leaving sufficient room to walk around or dance around it while remaining within the magickal boundary that you will set up.

Preparing the Circle and Self:
As with other aspects of working magcik and performing ritual, the process of casting a circle is a highly individualistic act. I cannot emphasize enough that there is no right or wrong way of doing things. You need to experiment and try different methods then improvise to fit you and what you prefer.

Purification of Space:
If you are practicing at home, as most people do, be aware that "astral garbage", pockets of negativity and other non-productive energies collect in our living spaces. For instance, you may have had an argument with your spouse, or scolded one of the kids, or ever received an unexpected bill and cussed the sender. These are all perfectly normal everyday happenings, but all produce negative energies the residual of which hang around and remain to stagnate. As these energies can be disruptive to our "Sacred Space", we need to ritually cleanse the area being used prior to the start of our workings.

Before laying out your physical circle and altar, clean the area physically with a brush, vacuum cleaner, or mop depending on your floor covering. Now we can clean up any negativity that might be present. There are several ways of doing this:

1.) If you have among your tools a ritual broom, use it to sweep away the negative energies that are lying around. This is in effect a symbolic action: the bristles of the broom need not actually touch the floor. Sweep rhythmically while visualizing energy sparks or flames shooting from your brooms bristles, blasting all of the negative energy away. You could also chant: "Sweep. sweep. sweep this palce. Cleanse and clean my sacred space."
2.) If you don't have a magickal broom, an alternative is to use a bell. Ringing a bell unleashes powerful energies, visualize its vibrations attacking and demolishing any negative energy. Start at the Noth point of the circle and work your way deosil (clockwise) through East, South, and West. Be sure to stop at each point and ring the bell. Know and feel that the vibrations are cleansing the area. Any type of bell can be used.
3.) Another method is to burn a purifying incense such as frankincense, myrrh, sage, thyme, or rosemary. Fumigate the area by walking deosil around the circle and dispelling the negative energy.

Once you have ritually cleansed the area, you can set up the altar and mark out your circle. Lay out all of your tools with any extra equipment that you are going to use.
Next, you may want to purify yourself with a ritual bath or shower while mentally preparing yourself for the coming ritual. Once you have done this you will need to consider what to wear. This totally depends on you and what works for you. One other thing to keep in mind is music. Since the ancient times, music and dance have been used in ritual. It enhances the atmosphere as well as stimulates our actions and producing magick.
The last and final thing you need to do is make sure that you will not be interrupted. If working inside your home, disconnect your phone, close any curtains, and lock all the doors that lead outside. if need be place a note outside saying that you are not to be disturbed.

The Magick Circle
Enter the circle and light any altar candles that you will be using. if you are using quarter candles, starting at the North point light the four candles walking deosil around the circle. This is also when you can choose to call the Elements or Quarters or Guardians of the Watchtowers, whiever you prefer. To invoke the Elements, you can use a simple chant such as the following for doing so:

Starting at the North, hold your wand, athame, or hand up and say:

O Spirit of the North,
Ancient Ones of the North,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

Lower your wand then move to the East, then as before, raise your wand, athame, or hand up and say:

O Spirit of the East,
Ancient Ones of Air,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

Lower your wand and move to the South, again as before, raise your wand, athame, or hand up and say:

     O Spirit of the South,
      Ancient Ones of Fire,
      I call You to attend this circle.
      Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

Lower your wand and move to the West. Proceed as before and say:

     O Spirit of the West,
      Ancient Ones of Water,
      I call You to attend this circle.
      Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

After doing this, stand in the center of the area that you are going to cast your Circle around and you can chant the following:

I conjure thee, Oh great circle of power
So that you may be for me a boundary between the world of men
and the realm of the mighty spirits
a meeting place of perfect love, peace, trust, and joy
containing the power i will raise within
I have called upon the Elements of the North, East, South, and West
to aid me in this construction
in the name of the lord and the lady
Thus i do conjure thee, Oh great circle of power

Now you are ready to invoke the God and Goddess. If you are calling on a specific Deity for your ritual, then you will need to invoke them directly. If you are not calling on a specific Deity, then you can use a general invocation such as the following:

Oh great Goddess I ask you as your child to come down and allow me to channel your power through me. Help me be the insturment of your power. I ask you to watch over me and my circle and protect it as I work my magick. Oh Great God who is the counter part of the Great Goddess. I ask you to allow me to channel your power through me. Help me to be the insturment of your power. I ask that you watch over me and my circle             as I work my magick.

Stand in front of your altar or at the center of your circle if you are not using an altar, and face your preferred direction. Concentrate and build your personal power within you. When it has reached a fine pitch (you will know when it has with practice), hold out your projective hand (whichever hand you use to write with) palm down at waist height and point your fingers at the edge of the physical circle on the ground (you could use your athame if you wish, or some use their wands). Push out with your personal power and see and feel the energy flowing out from your fingertips (athame). Visualize it as a bright light (colored if you wish) and walk slowly deosil around the circle. Now form it with your visualization into a swirling band of magickal glowing light the exact width of your circle.

When you can see the band of light swirling about you, expand it with your visualization and stretch it over and around you in the form of a dome, it should encompass the whole ritual area. Now extend the energy down into the Earth, see it forming a complete shere of pulsing glowing light as you stand at its center. Feel it solidifying into a living glowing reality all around you. you may even feel the temperature rise, as the air inside grows warm, charged with your energy and alive with power. When the circle seems complete and solid around you, cut off the flow off energy by turning the palm and clenching your fist and pulling it back to your body.

Mant times it may be necessary to leave the circle. Contrary to some teaching, simply walking through your circle will not cause any undue damage. At most, wakling through the circle will give you a jolt of energy and dissipate its strength. To prevent this from happening it's a common practice to cut a doorway through which to walk. Do this by facing Northeast and using your athame. Peirce the wall of energy near the ground and cut and trace an archway large enough to walk through, Movi counterclockwise in line with the edge of the circle as you are cutting and visualizing that part of the circles energy being withdrawn into the athame. Finish back at the starting point thus creating a hole through which you can walk. Withdraw the athame and you are free to leave and re-enter without breaking the rest of the circle.

To close the doorway reverse the procedure. Point the athame at the Northeast corner of the archway and push it out with your power. Visualize the energy you removed flowing out of the athame and retrace the archway by moving clockwise. Feel the energy being replaced and converging with the rest of the circle. When you are happy the circle is complete again, cut off the energy flow and withdraw the athame and you are free to continue your magickal workings.

This then is your magickal circle, your sacred space completed. Time now to recoup your energies before starting the next phase of the ritual. Do this with a bite to eat or a sip of wine or water, while savouring the atmosphere you have created. What you do next largely depends on your ritual or the nagick you intend to perform.

Once you have performed your rite, and have dismissed your quarters, etc, you are ready to close your circle. Closing the circle is normally a reversal of the casting process with a few minor differences. Once the rite has finished and your magickal work complete, thank the God and Goddess for their help if you have called them. Take up your wand and move to the North and hold the wand aloft and say something like

"Farewell Spirits of the North. I thank you for your presence. Stay if you will, go if you must, but if you must go, I bid Thee Hail, Farewell, and Blessed Be, harming none, so mote it be."

Repeat the same process for the other directions, moving to that postion, widdershins, counterclockwise. Once you have bid farewell to each of the elements, replace the wand on the altar and return to the North. Pierce the wall of your circle with your receptive hand (or the athame if that is what you ised to create it). Your receptive hand is the hand that you do not normally write with. Moving widdershins, visualize the circles energy and power being sucked into your body (or athame if that is what you are using). Feel the circle dissolving and shrinking as you pull back its energy. As you are doing so, sense the outside world regaining its dominance over the area as you finish back at the North. your circle is no more. When you are finished dispelling your circle, you can say something like: "The circle is closed, but never broken, may the God and Goddess forever preserve the Craft, harming none, so mote it be."

Why do we raise a Circle in magick?
Many people will tell you different things on this question. But if you research Wicca, Magickal Practices, etc, you will see that many people come up with the basically same idea just in different words. We raise a circle because of many different reasons. To keep your own energy contained, to keep unwanted energy out, as well as protection from unwanted spiritual and magickal influences.

The purpose of the magick circle according to most witchcraft traditions is to raise magickal power; to create an area to serve as a passageway to the spirit realm and to contain and focus the energy you are creating through casting the spell to make it more potent. When a Witch is performing a Magickal Rite (of any kind) she becomes very vulnerable to attack. These attacks can be psychic attacks, as well as magickal attacks. If you raise a Circle before you perform your rite, then you are protected from these attacks.Also, while performing your Rite, you are more suceptible to spiritual influences, influences that you may not want around. Raising a Circle will prevent this from happening also.

Is raising a Circle a must? Not in my opinion. Many people do not feel the need for it. many people are not comfortable with it. So if you are unsure, or you don't have the time, or you just don't feel that it is something for you, then by all means, do not do it. Magick is something you should be comfortable with, and if raising a circle is not something you care for, then things could go wrong.
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When do we raise a Circle?
Many Witches will tell you that they only raise a Circle if they are casting a spell. Others will say that they will cast one only during meditation. There are even those that will say that they cast a Circle anytime they are doing anything supernatural; reading tarot cards, reading runes, meditation, spell work, spell writing, scrying, etc.

Again, it all goes back to you feeling comfortable and what you feel is right for you. Whatever you think is, is. If you do not feel a need to raise a Circle while meditating, then don't. If you do not feel a need to raise a Circle while writing spells, then don't. It is up to you. Nowhere is there a law that says that you have to raise a Circle anytime that you do anything magickal or else. So it's up to you.
In my opinion, the time to raise a Circle is anytime that you perform a ritual, spell, or charm of any kind, when meditating, and especially when doing magick for healing, protection, and calming.

The Ethics involved with a Magickal Circle
As with everything that we do, there has to be ethical decisions made. Many Withce ssee the Ethics of the Magickal Circle very differently. What I will portray here are my own opinions but you still need to ask yourself "How would I feel if that were me on the other end of the spectrum?"

Children: In my opinion children under the age of 13 have absolutely no business being in a circle. Even during a Wiccaning (Wiccan form of baby blessing). It is too easy to pull energy from others within the circle. Children are natural sources of very powerful and pure energy. And it is not fair to the child to suck their energy from them and then have them end up sick because they cannot ground themselves properly. It is also not fair to the child because they do not fully understand exactly what is happening around them. Psychologically it is wrong in my opinion. I personally do not raise a Circle when I do a Wiccaning, I just ask the God and Goddess to protect all persons present. And they will!

Animals: I have no problem with allowing animals into a circle. Other witches may disagree with me. I have 3 cats, all of whom I allow to roam in and out of my circle. The same goes for my dogs. Many times I have been known to ask permission of my fish if I could place him at the west as a representation of the element of water. However I make it point to ask him first.

Other humans (non-witches): Unless you ask their permission and they fully understand everything that is going on, I would not recommend having non-witches in your circle. This is a powerful and very sacred space, so that again must be thought of. There are just some things that friends, even the closest we may have, have no business being a part of.

Witches other than yourself: NEVER EVER raise a circle around another witch without his or her permission. This actually goes for anyone, witch or non-witch. Its just not right. If they do not want to be in a circle with you and you have raised one without their permission, then you have done the worst thing you could to a person. You have broken their free will. Big NO NO!!!