The most important
part of a Wiccan Ritual is the Circle of Art. The Circle is casted to act as
many things: a boundary of sacred space to keep out unwanted influences, a
battery that enhances magickal energy by building it up in a condensed space,
as a place between worlds where one can visit gods, summon for the spirits of
arcane origin or cast a spell into the universe. The circle is a symbol of the universe;
it is a microcosm of the macrocosm, a reflection of the universe and its
powers. All acts done within the circle are magickal ones that can bring about
great change within and without. So then the casting of the circle becomes an
important ritual for any Wiccan to learn and know. There are as many ways to
cast a circle as there are Wiccans, I will give an example of my own circle
casting technique, feel free to copy this one or to alter it to your own tastes
just be sure to keep the basic components of the circle casting when making your
modifications and you should have excellent results.
To begin you must first find a space where you and those
participating will not be disturbed during ritual. Once the space is found you
must physically cleans it, sweep away dirt, wipe away dust, clear away
obstacles, you want a large enough working space to fit the circle which can be
as large or small as the space allows. Just be sure you will be able to make
your movements within the circle easily without obstruction. Now that the space
is prepared make sure you have the following items:
·
Athame (ritual knife *optional)
·
4 pillar candles of red, yellow, green, blue
·
Matches/lighter
·
Compass
·
2 small bowls; one filled with sea salt the
other filled with fresh water
Place all these items on our in your
workspace.
The instructions here are build on
the basic formula for a circle casting, now as I have stated you may copy my
ritual here or construct your own using this own as a guide but there are some
basic principles of circle casting that must be adhered to for a successful
casting. So you may change the incantations, you may change which direction you
start in, you can even change the representations of the four elements but the
basic components are best left unchanged.
Our first step, that is a basic in
almost all ritual proceedings, is the cleansing of the space from unwanted, negative
energy. Energy builds up in areas like dust and often it needs to be cleared
away before a magickal proceeding can take place so this energy doesn’t affect
the ritual workings. There are many ways to cleanse a space and you can employ whichever
way is best for you but as long as you cleanse before you begin, this is
important.
I cleanse a space by using Holy Water;
in Wicca Holy Water is a combination of charged salt and water. The symbolism
behind this is that salt represents the purest form of Earth and water is the
main component to every living thing, so then mixing the salt into the water is
a symbolic act of taking purity and spreading it into life (there are different
explanations of this symbolism, this is just one). The instructions for
creating Holy Water that I am about to unfold are a part of the Correllian
Natavist Tradition’s teachings and they can be found at (witchschool.com):
How to Create Holy Water:
·
Place your power hand (the hand you write with)
over the water. Make three Tuathail (counter-clockwise) circles over the water,
concentrating on removing and negativity from it. Say something like:
“Behold I cleanse you, O creature of Water, casting out from you any
impurities which may lie within!”
·
Visualize yellow-white light pouring down from
your hand into the water, and forcing out negativity (which can be seen as
black dispersing like dust particles).
·
Now make three Deosil (clock wise) circles with
your hand over the water. Say something like:
“And I do bless and consecrate you to this work!”
·
Visualize the water being filled with, clear,
blue-white light. Imagine the water filling with this light until it shines as
brightly as if it were a blue-white sun within it.
·
Now turn to the salt. Place your hand over it
and repeat the above instructions like you did the water but when you cleanse
the salt with yellow light say:
“Behold, I cleanse you, O creature of Earth, casting out from you any
impurities that may lie within!
·
Then when you make the Deosil circles with the
blue white light say:
“And I do bless and consecrate you to this
work!”
·
Visualize the salt being filled with the
blue-white light until the light shines like a blue-white sun within it. Now
say something like:
“Behold, the salt is pure! Behold the water
is pure! Purity into Purity then, and purity be blessed!”
·
Add three pinches of salt to the water and stir
clock wise visualizing the whole mixture as shining a bright white light.
·
You have now made Holy Water!
Take the Holy Water and walk Deosil (clock wise) around the
area of your working. As you go around the area, asperse it, that is to say,
sprinkle it with the Holy Water. As you do this imagine the area being flooded
with yellow light. Let the yellow light fill the area, going out in all
directions for a good distance. This is the act that actually sends out the
negativity, so focus on it as strongly as possible.
·
As you asperse the area you may wish to say
something like:
“Behold I cleanse and purify this space.”
When you’ve made a full circle, replace the Holy Water to
the altar. Turn to face the inside of the circle and say:
“I bless and consecrate
this space!”
Now visualize the area being filled with blear blue-white
light, so it is wholly filled in all directions.
You have just cleanse and blessed your ritual space. You are
now ready to cast the circle.
Casting the Circle:
The traditional method of casting a circle is with the use
of a ritual tool called an athame (Ah-THAH-may)
which is a ritual knife. If you do not have one that is fine because all you
really need is your pointer finger of your power hand (the hand you write with),
in the ritual outline when I use the word athame just replace it with the word
finger if you are not using an athame. Before we begin place the four candles
in their proper places, each of the candles represents an element: red is fire,
blue is water, yellow is air and green is earth. Using your compass; place the
red candle in the south, the blue in the west, the green in the north and the
yellow in the east.
·
Begin in the East, point your Athame outward
past the elemental candle. The boundaries of the circle is not limited to the
space of your room, it can become much larger, since the circle is made of
energy it is not blocked or hampered by walls, so make your circle a
comfortable size. Just be sure that the area you cast the circle in is cleansed
and that no other people will be wandering through it.
·
Visualize a beam of red light shooting from the
tip of your athame and ending at the area you are pointing at.
·
Focus hard on this light and now begin to trace
a circle with the red light, walking Deosil towards the south side, keep
focusing on the red light.
·
The most important thing is to focus on the
circle boundary being strong, but if you want to say an incantation to help
with visualization you can say something like:
“Behold, I do cut a space between the realms;
a Circle of Art, to focus and contain the power raised herein!”
·
Continue this way pass the west side then the
north and back to the east. See the red line connecting to its starting point
in the east.
·
Now raise your athame and visualize the circle
expanding into a dome above you and say:
“As Above,”
·
Now lower you athame, pointing it to the ground,
visualize the dome of red light extending below you, so that you are encased
in a red sphere of energy and say:
“So Below!”
You have just casted the circle.
Now it is time to call the Quarters also called the Watchtowers. They are the elemental
guardians and they aid us in our magick so that its manifestation is more
successful, they control the flow of energy into the universe.
·
Walk to the eastern yellow candle and light the
candle saying,
“Hail to the Guardian of the Watchtower to
the East, power of Air and intellect! Be here with us in our circle and give to
us your blessing and your aid in our work. Hail and Welcome!”
·
Visualize a pillar of yellow light rising up
before you from the yellow candle.
·
Now go to the south, light the red candle while
saying,
“Hail to the Guardian of the Watchtower to
the South, power of Fire and Will! Be here with us in our circle and give to us
your blessing and your aid in our work. Hail and Welcome!”
·
Visualize a pillar of red light rising up before
you from the red candle.
·
Now go to the west, light the blue candle while
saying,
“Hail to the Guardian of the
Watchtower to the West, power of Water and emotion! Be here with us in our
circle and give to us your blessing and your aid in our work. Hail and Welcome!
·
Visualize a pillar of blue light rising from the
blue candle.
·
Now go to the north, light the green candle
while saying,
“Hail to the Guardian of the
Watchtower to the North, power of Earth and silence! Be here with us in our
circle and give to us your blessing and your aid in our work. Hail and Welcome!”
·
Visualize a pillar of green light rising from
the green candle.
You have successfully invoked the four
Watchtowers to guard and aid your Magick Circle. The Magick Circle is now cast.
Now you must invoke Deity and then you can proceed with the body of your ritual
or spell.
The invocation to Deity should come from
your heart and from your own words especially if you are working with a
specific God or Goddess. If you wish you may use this general invocation to the
Great Spirit from which all Gods and Goddesses come from:
“Holy Mother-Father God, Universal Force of
life Which sustains all things, be here with us now and aid us in our work.
Give us your blessing and your guidance, I pray to you with love and gratitude
for your aid!”
Now at this time you would proceed with the
body of your ritual or spell, performing any magickal act that needs to be done
within the circle. Once finished its time to deconstruct the circle, first you
must Devoke the Gods:
“Holy Mother-Father God, Great Spirit of the
Universe, thank you for being here with us during this rite. The working is
over, I offer you my love and bid you Hail and Farewell!”
Now we must depart the watchtowers starting
in the North this time and walking Tuathail (counter-clockwise). In the North
stand before the green candle and pillar of light, say:
“Guardian of the Watchtower to the North,
thank you for being here with us during this rite. We thank you for your aid
but the rite is now over. I offer you my love and bid you Hail and Farewell!”
Visualize the Green pillar of light
descending into the green pillar candle and then snuff out the flame (do not
blow it out!). Continue doing this for each of the Watchtowers and candles;
saying thanks to the watchtowers and biding them farewell, seeing the pillar of
light descending into the candle and then snuffing out the candle. Do this
until you get to the east and once that candle is snuffed pick up your athame
and point it out wards towards the east where the circle of art is. Visualize
the red light of the circle being sucked into the athame while you walk
Tuathail around the circle while saying:
“The rite is over, the spell complete; this
ring of power shall now dissipate. So Mote It Be!”
Continue absorbing the circles energy with
your athame until you are back at the east.
You have just casted and dismantled a
magick circle.
There
are many variations to this as I stated earlier. Instead of four candles you
could use the four Ace cards of the Tarot (Swords is air/east, wands is
fire/south, pentacles/coins is earth/north, and cups is water/west) or you
could use physical objects of the elements (Candle for fire, rock for earth,
shell for water, incense for air). Whatever works best for you, just be sure to
stick to this format: Cleanse space, set up altar, cast circle, call Quarters,
invoke Deity, perform body of ritual/spell, devoke deity, bid farewell to
quarters, and then absorb the circle. You can personalize this as much as you
want just be sure to keep this basic structure intact and your circle casting
should be successful.
