Excerpt from The Magic Circle by Blacksaber
Autumn Equinox/Samhain 2009 issue
What is a Magical Circle?
The first thing that we must remember when we talk of circle casting is that the phrase itself and the descriptions for the activity written in many of the craft books are inaccurate.
"As she casts the circle, the priestess projects power from her solar plexus through the blade. Meanwhile she and her coven visualise a violet or golden light flowing down the blade and forming the edge of the circle." V. Crowley, 'Wicca'
The main problem with this sort of description is that people without practical experience may not realise that when we talk about casting the circle, we do not create a 360 degree 'circle' around us but rather a 720 degree SPHERE. We should not just visualise the outer edge of the circle being cast but rather we should visualise a sphere being created both around us horizontally and above and below us.
Our circle acts as a barrier between the space inside and the space outside it. There is an oft-quoted phrase that is very appropriate in that casting a circle creates "A place that is not a place, in a time that is not a time."
This essay is on Circle casting in general; it is not specific to any one tradition of the Craft and in fact contains material taken from a number of different traditions, the author would remind the reader that whilst the information may differ from their own personal practice, the material includes information that is in current use, and is taught to neophytes from traditions that may practice in ways quite different from the readers own. Likewise information is included from sources outside of mainstream Wicca, including Ceremonial Magic.
Why do we conjure a Magical Circle?
I would like to begin with discussing the reasons for why we would cast a magical circle; there are many reasons for doing this and different individuals put varying degrees of importance on each. Bearing this in mind I have listed a number of reasons with a detailed explanation in each case. The following list is in no particular order of importance.
1. Firstly when performing a Wiccan ritual, we will cast the circle to create a sacred space, one that is cleansed and purified to show the honour deserved to our Lord and Lady when we invoke them within the circle.
2. Secondly, the act of casting our circle aids us in shifting the focus of our minds from the realms of the physical up into the spiritual realms; this helps us to prepare for the ritual ahead by focusing our minds on where we are and on what we are doing.
3. Thirdly in a Wiccan ritual, our circle helps us to "Preserve and contain all the power that we shall raise within thee." The circle acts to keep the energy we raise within its confines. It actually increases the amount of energy we raise by more effectively focusing that energy into the task at hand. This could be for empowering a candle or a poppet; or it may be directed by the HPS to then be sent to a specific target - such as when working a healing ritual. In the first coven in which I was a member we either focused the raised energy into a specific object - candle, cords, etc or if the energy was to be sent to someone that was not present the HPS would at the end of the ritual direct the energy to that person.
4. Finally the circle acts as an excellent form of protection for those within "A rampart and protection between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones." This seems to be a subject for much debate dependant upon the reader's personal opinion. I believe that for many of the Wiccan rituals - such as celebrating the Sabbat's - the protective properties of the circle are not the most important as we are not engaged in any activity which would require magical protection. Certainly the circle will not protect us from any entities that we have specifically evoked into the circle with us; such as Elementals at each of the cardinal directions, though it will certainly keep any that are outside from entering the circle.
There are however certain instances, such as when we believe that we are under psychic attack, the protection that a properly cast magical circle provides is invaluable. As the words of a commonly used circle conjuration states, it is "A shield against all wickedness and evil." In Ceremonial Magic, it is often the case that the operator would stand within a ritual Triangle and then evoke an entity into the circle and in this case the circle would act to keep the entity within the circle whilst standing in a triangle would provide protection to the operator.
What types of Magical Circle are there?
There are many different types of magical circles; not all are used by every Wiccan tradition. Though most traditions will use most if not all, and will use many variations of them. For simplicities sake only the basic types are listed here with some discussion, otherwise the list could be practically endless.
Personal Protection
These circles tend to be small and mobile, centred around the person(s) who they are intended to protect. There are many methods for conjuring such a circle, one of which is the 'Blue Egg'. This method was given to me by the High Priestess of my first coven; I do not know conclusively where she obtained it from, however something very similar is mentioned in The Order of the Golden Dawns' lesser banishing of the pentacle ritual, the text of which is included beneath the description given to me.
This method requires you to visualise a root growing up out of the ground beneath you and into the base of your spine passing all the way up to the top of your head. Breathe in through your nose and as you do so visualise yourself drawing energy up from the Earth along the root passing through your body.
With each breath out, visualise that energy coming out of your mouth as a blue mist, form that mist into a layer surrounding the whole of your body around your sides, your front and back, above your head, and beneath your feet. Visualise it as a thick layer, at least a foot thick, then see the edges harden and form a crust. Visualising a golden mist forming at the outermost crust of the Egg can further strengthen the Egg. One drawback of this form of protection is that people will instinctively keep their distance from you and be less inclined to interact with you socially while you are within the Egg.
The first thing that we must remember when we talk of circle casting is that the phrase itself and the descriptions for the activity written in many of the craft books are inaccurate.
"As she casts the circle, the priestess projects power from her solar plexus through the blade. Meanwhile she and her coven visualise a violet or golden light flowing down the blade and forming the edge of the circle." V. Crowley, 'Wicca'
The main problem with this sort of description is that people without practical experience may not realise that when we talk about casting the circle, we do not create a 360 degree 'circle' around us but rather a 720 degree SPHERE. We should not just visualise the outer edge of the circle being cast but rather we should visualise a sphere being created both around us horizontally and above and below us.
Our circle acts as a barrier between the space inside and the space outside it. There is an oft-quoted phrase that is very appropriate in that casting a circle creates "A place that is not a place, in a time that is not a time."
This essay is on Circle casting in general; it is not specific to any one tradition of the Craft and in fact contains material taken from a number of different traditions, the author would remind the reader that whilst the information may differ from their own personal practice, the material includes information that is in current use, and is taught to neophytes from traditions that may practice in ways quite different from the readers own. Likewise information is included from sources outside of mainstream Wicca, including Ceremonial Magic.
Why do we conjure a Magical Circle?
I would like to begin with discussing the reasons for why we would cast a magical circle; there are many reasons for doing this and different individuals put varying degrees of importance on each. Bearing this in mind I have listed a number of reasons with a detailed explanation in each case. The following list is in no particular order of importance.
1. Firstly when performing a Wiccan ritual, we will cast the circle to create a sacred space, one that is cleansed and purified to show the honour deserved to our Lord and Lady when we invoke them within the circle.
2. Secondly, the act of casting our circle aids us in shifting the focus of our minds from the realms of the physical up into the spiritual realms; this helps us to prepare for the ritual ahead by focusing our minds on where we are and on what we are doing.
3. Thirdly in a Wiccan ritual, our circle helps us to "Preserve and contain all the power that we shall raise within thee." The circle acts to keep the energy we raise within its confines. It actually increases the amount of energy we raise by more effectively focusing that energy into the task at hand. This could be for empowering a candle or a poppet; or it may be directed by the HPS to then be sent to a specific target - such as when working a healing ritual. In the first coven in which I was a member we either focused the raised energy into a specific object - candle, cords, etc or if the energy was to be sent to someone that was not present the HPS would at the end of the ritual direct the energy to that person.
4. Finally the circle acts as an excellent form of protection for those within "A rampart and protection between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones." This seems to be a subject for much debate dependant upon the reader's personal opinion. I believe that for many of the Wiccan rituals - such as celebrating the Sabbat's - the protective properties of the circle are not the most important as we are not engaged in any activity which would require magical protection. Certainly the circle will not protect us from any entities that we have specifically evoked into the circle with us; such as Elementals at each of the cardinal directions, though it will certainly keep any that are outside from entering the circle.
There are however certain instances, such as when we believe that we are under psychic attack, the protection that a properly cast magical circle provides is invaluable. As the words of a commonly used circle conjuration states, it is "A shield against all wickedness and evil." In Ceremonial Magic, it is often the case that the operator would stand within a ritual Triangle and then evoke an entity into the circle and in this case the circle would act to keep the entity within the circle whilst standing in a triangle would provide protection to the operator.
What types of Magical Circle are there?
There are many different types of magical circles; not all are used by every Wiccan tradition. Though most traditions will use most if not all, and will use many variations of them. For simplicities sake only the basic types are listed here with some discussion, otherwise the list could be practically endless.
Personal Protection
These circles tend to be small and mobile, centred around the person(s) who they are intended to protect. There are many methods for conjuring such a circle, one of which is the 'Blue Egg'. This method was given to me by the High Priestess of my first coven; I do not know conclusively where she obtained it from, however something very similar is mentioned in The Order of the Golden Dawns' lesser banishing of the pentacle ritual, the text of which is included beneath the description given to me.
This method requires you to visualise a root growing up out of the ground beneath you and into the base of your spine passing all the way up to the top of your head. Breathe in through your nose and as you do so visualise yourself drawing energy up from the Earth along the root passing through your body.
With each breath out, visualise that energy coming out of your mouth as a blue mist, form that mist into a layer surrounding the whole of your body around your sides, your front and back, above your head, and beneath your feet. Visualise it as a thick layer, at least a foot thick, then see the edges harden and form a crust. Visualising a golden mist forming at the outermost crust of the Egg can further strengthen the Egg. One drawback of this form of protection is that people will instinctively keep their distance from you and be less inclined to interact with you socially while you are within the Egg.