Nearly all formal craft rituals revolve around the circle. The circle is a sacred space that separates the physical world from the spiritual world. Not only that but it forms a protected area where space and time almost become irrelevant. A place where the “normal” world is effectively now in suspended animation. From this sacred space the spiritual world becomes accessible and almost all becomes possible. The possibilities are literally endless for the practitioner.
Nothing this special comes about without some work being involved. The circle has to be planned, it has to be molded, it has to be shaped. It needs to be given substance, life, and of course, power. In other words you have to build it.
You don’t just dive straight in to casting a circle. You need to ritually prepare for it. This means cleasning not only the area where the circle will be created but cleansing your mind, spirit, and body. Why is all this necessary? Because if you want your magick to work you, as well as the circle, need to be at your very best. If you’re not at your best neither will the spiritual realm be. And that will definitely affect the quality of your magick. The circle will cease to be an effective workspace and to all intent and purpose it will be useless.
This is the order that most practitioners choose to use:
Personal Preparations
Ritual Bath
Size & Boundaries
Quarter Guardians
Altar
Cleansing The Area
Casting The Circle
Calling The Quarters
Invoking The Deities
Rituals
Cakes & Wine Blessing
Releasing The Deities
Releasing The Quarters
Closing The Circle
Libation To The Deities
Despite what many would have you believe, there is no one right way to cast a circle, no one right ritual to perform, nor are any words spoken as part of the ritual sacrosanct. That’s the beauty of Wicca and witchcraft. It’s what you want it to be, it’s what works for you and what you make it. Wicca and witchcraft are guidelines to a way of life. There is no one set of rules that have to be obeyed! Remember the old saying… “Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools.”
