In the movie Practical Magic, the witches gathered a group of women when they wanted to cast the bad guy out of the girl’s body. They joined hands in a circle and cast a spell. When the bad guy left the girl’s body, he was unable to leave the confines of the circle, and their spell destroyed him. Keeping something or someone confined is the power of the circle. Whether that confinement is inside or outside the circle depends upon the purpose the caster designates.
Why is circle work the first step in any magical ritual? What’s the magic about a circle? A circle is separate from everything outside of it. The circle’s border is one continuous line without a beginning or an end.
The Grimorium Verum, a notorious book of black magic, says that the evocation of spirits should happen from within the safety of a circle. Draw the circle with charcoal and fumigate with mace. Ceremonial magicians use the circle to summon spirits or demons. Sometimes, the magician will summon the demon to the inside of the circle, and the demon cannot get out of it, thereby giving the magician control over it. Other times, the magician stands inside the circle’s protection and summons the spirit or demon outside the circle. Sorcerers command the spirits or demons to do their bidding.
Witches, conversely, use circles to keep the power they believe they can raise with their bodies to prevent that power from dissipating so they can use it for their purposes. To witches, the circle is between the mundane and the spiritual worlds. No one should go in or out of a circle until the practitioner releases the guardians and opens the circle.
Various methods exist for circle casting. Each tradition or belief system has its own practice and spin on how to do it. Sometimes, a practitioner will physically outline a circle with salt, flour, or chalk. The material used has meaning. Salt is typically for protection, while some types of flour repel ghosts. In other uses, the dividing line between the mundane and spiritual worlds exists without any physical substance outlining it.
In many pagan practices, the priestess walks clockwise, chanting, while raising and lowering a dagger to ‘cut the air’ and create the separation between the mundane and spiritual worlds. Next, she calls upon the guardians from the east, south, west, and north to protect it.
The basic steps to forming a circle are as follows. Remember that in witchcraft, the power of the individual witch is important. It is not necessary to follow restrictive guidelines established by someone else. Develop rituals that have significance to you.
- Prepare the area. Set the altar inside the circle with the appropriate candles, statuary, and other symbols.
- Draw a nine-foot circle around the altar with charcoal, salt, or flour. Whether or not a substance is used and the type of substance used depends upon the circle’s purpose.
- Walk clockwise around the circle, using a duly consecrated athame to ‘cut the border’ between the worlds. Visualize a circle of energy developing behind you as you walk. Speak as simple as “here is the circle’s boundary.” Sometimes, the words might be, “Here I am drawing a line between time and space, carving a spiritual circle out of the mundane.” Modify the words to suit the purpose of the ritual.
- Call upon the corners. These are the guardians that will protect the circle until you release them.
- East, the power of air or breath
- South, the power of fire or energy
- West, the power of water or life
- North, the power of earth or sustenance
- You have now cast a circle. Proceed with your ritual or spell work.
- To close, release the guardians, and open the circle.
Here are some of the other ways in which people have used the concept of circle:
- In Enochian Magic, one traces a pentagram in the air while facing each direction and saying certain words.
- In Judaism, an attendant will draw a circle with a knife around a woman giving birth to protect her and the infant from the demon Lilith.
- A Roman ambassador would draw a circle around himself with his staff to protect him from attack.
- To the Native Americans, a circle represented many things: the sun, the moon, the cycles of the seasons, and the circle of life from birth to death to rebirth.
- The same concept of creating a secure space involves joining the hands of people engaged in a séance.
Whatever you might think about circles, they do have power. Circles have no beginning and end, such as in a wedding ring, which symbolizes eternal love. There are social circles, prayer circles, work circles. and play circles. Some call these circles groups, teams, or clubs, but they’re the same thing. My father believed in the concept of drawing people into your circle. One of his favorite poems, by Edwin Markham, speaks to this:
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win
We drew a circle that drew him in.
I’ve always remembered that poem. I’ve always tried to engage with people who feel left out of the circle and bring them inside. While others may ignore the outsider, I often will try to talk with them to make them feel less alone. Of course, my reason for doing that may be because I was so often on the outside myself. Growing up, my family moved every couple of years. Between kindergarten and graduation from high school, I went to seven different schools.
But I’ve veered off point. Nowadays, I seek out spiritual circles, whether I’m the only person or whether there are others involved. My routine is simple: I call the corners and declare I have cast a circle. Occasionally, I will walk or outline the circle, but that is not a part of my usual routine. A spiritual circle is whatever you believe or need it to be.
Bibliography
Cavendish, R. (1970). Man, myth & magic (1st ed., Vol. 4). BPC Publishing Ltd.
DeSalvo, John. The Lost Art of Enochian Magic. Simon and Schuster, 14 May 2010.
Gardner, G. G. (1954). Witchcraft Today (1st ed.). Rider & Company.
Peterson, J. H. (2007). Grimorium Verum (1st ed.). CreateSpace Publishing.
