When I started planning
this ‘article’, I thought back a long time to when I first started studying the
practice of witchcraft. Before I started practicing, I didn’t really understand
the importance of casting a circle; it seemed like such a silly thing to do,
walking round in circles, wand in hand, creating imaginary walls of energy,
building sacred space. I didn’t believe that these things could come from me,
be evoked from within and be helpful to what I was really looking forward to –
casting spells! The folly of youth and inexperience; I didn’t realise during
those early steps on my path that casting a circle, a long with other
protective measures like grounding and centering were an essential part of the
Craft as a whole. There is an adage in witchcraft and spiritual practices known
as The Four Pillars of Balance: ‘To Know, To Will, To Dare, To Keep Silent’;
the casting of a circle invokes all parts of it – ‘To Know’ most predominantly
– know yourself, know your feelings, know your own power and not only know it
but trust it. For me, with practice, this trust came. I had to feel my energy
and become comfortable with it in myself to access it’s power, my power. Once I
gained that access, with much more study and practice, I began to use, harness
and eventually channel my own energies outward to cast and create my circle.
I thought I would answer some of the basic
questions about casting a circle which can easily baffle given the amount of
information available via books, websites, moots and covens. I will begin with
the most basic:
What is a circle?
The witches circle is made by a practicing witch,
channelling energy from the aether or from the earth, through his/her body,
through the hand and through the wand/athame/finger. The energy is projected
outward to create a circle which surrounds the practitioner.
Ø A Boundary
A boundary of energy which
blocks out the everyday world so the witch is surrounded only by a concentrated
atmosphere of magick and divinity. Within a magick circle the worries,
annoyances and problems of the mundane world are not present and so will not
influence your chosen activities within it. Weave this concept into your intent
as you cast your circle to enforce its prominence within the energy.
Ø A Sacred Space
As all the earth is sacred
this may seem a redundant point to make about the circle but when you create
the boundary, you are creating a concentration of sacred and divine energy. You
are saying this is the place I choose to do something special; this is where I
am opening up to deity, to the elements, to magick. In this context, the magick
circle becomes your personal sacred space; it is your place to worship, honour
and experience the energies of the universe.
Ø Protection
When working with energy:
meditating, opening your chakras, casting spells, performing rituals… you
become vulnerable, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. The circle provides
protection by only allowing the deities, entities and energies you desire to
have access to you while you are in this vulnerable state. I will state here
that while a circle is high on the list of protective measures, it is more
effective as a protection when combined with other methods, such as grounding
and centering.
Ø ‘As Above, So Below’
I was going to add this in
later but I think it fits here. This perception is from the Hermetic faith and
tradition; it brings the concept of balance to a circle. The exact translation
from the Hermetic texts is: “That which
is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above
corresponfs to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One
Thing.”
This is interpreted as
whatever occurs on an emotional, mental or physical level, will be mirrored in
each other level; it is, however, much more commonly associated with the
microcosm (the self) and macrocosm (the Universe) – one is as the other, and
each is within the other – through understanding one, the seeker may learn to
understand the other.
When casting a circle, this
principle is incorporated because the energy of you is projected out to the
universe – the circle is your microcosm expanded into the macrocosm, there for
it will expand back to you, making your working more energetic
Why cast a circle?
I have touched on why a circle casting is important
already but I am taking this opportunity to go a little deeper. Protection is
the obvious reason and I will look into that more but also cast a circle for a
stronger connection to divintiy and to make the energy you create within the
circle more concentrated.
Ø Mood over Matter
Getting home and going
straight into a ritual without preparation is not a good idea… if you do this
you drag the mundane world into your working; any negativity from the day will
still be in your mind and will impact or impede the outcome of your
magickal/spiritual activities. Just preparing to cast a circle will calm your
thoughts immensely – cleansing yourself, bringing together needed items,
smudging your circle area… all of these things are relaxants. This process along
with the actual casting, both physical and astral, create the magickal mood and
sacred atmosphere which makes for a more connected experience.
Ø Protect Me!
This is the initial purpose
of the circle – to function as protector. It is there to keep negative
influences away from you and your workings. I believe protection should be a
witch’s most esteemed priority so that once you are in circle and ready to do
your workings and practice, you feel safe and comfortable opening yourself up.
Ø … “and Open!”
You will have heard the
term ‘between the worlds’ when looking into circles which relate to witchcraft;
this is because when you cast a circle, while you are physically still in this
world, you are opening up your mind, your heart and your spirit to the world of
Deity, the world of faery, the world of spirit animals and other guides. A
circle is cast in part so you can safely have these experiences without threat
of psychic attack or negative influence.
These are just a few of my reasons for a circle…
there are many smaller ones but what I would never do is cast a circle only for
the reason that ‘I’m supposed to’. I’m not, not supposed to either but I find
if I do something because a book tells I have to then I am only doing what
feels right for the author of that book. The beauty of following a pagan path
is the incredible freedom of interpretation. I cast a circle when I feel I
should or if I feel I need to. I hope people do take on board what I have said
about circles, maybe find their own importances for why to cast circles and
what it means to them but following instruction to the letter in a pagan path
stifles creativity.
