Casting a circle

Items you will need 

5 candles 

East Yellow
South Red
West Blue
North Green

Altar Candle 

When doing your magical work, you will usually create a safe sacred space where you can do it. This is normally done by casting a circle around you. For Wiccans working in a coven with others they normally cast a circle of 9’ diameter, but if you are working alone, something smaller may be easier to deal with. 

How to cast your circle

You need to purify both yourself and the area in which you will create the circle.

To purify yourself by taking a bath which will mentally remove all the stress and residue of daily life. You can then spend some time meditating on the intent for the work to be done within the circle. Try having a cup of herbal tea to help you relax. 

Then you can start to purify the area for the circle by sweeping it with your besom (broom), not only to remove the physical dirt, but also to remove any energy that would reduce your positive magical workings. Imagine a white energy that flows through you and out the end of the besom removing all negative energies and replacing them with positive energy. Your next step is to set the boundaries for your circle. 

Setting the boundaries of your circle

This can be done in several different ways, you can draw it on the ground, lay a piece of rope around it, draw it with salt or sand, or whatever works for you. Having a visible boundary is not mandatory but it does help.

The traditional Wiccan method is using the sword or Athame to draw the circle, walking deosil (circles are generally cast clockwise in the northern hemisphere) whilst doing the visualization and saying: 

“I cast this circle around me both above and below

Protect me in this place and time and for as long as I dwell in this sacred space.”

I cast this circle of power, that it maybe a meeting place, of Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, a boundary between the realms of man and the realms of the spirit world.

A circle to keep out all evil and a circle to contain the power that I may rise within it.

Or something that your happy with. 

 

Calling the Quarters

This is where the elements are invoked 

East

Starting in the east walk in a clockwise rotation and saying something like:

Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East

I call upon the Spirits of Air

To witness my rites

And guard my circle

Now light your yellow candle 

South

Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South

I call upon the Spirits of Fire

To witness my rites

And guard my circle

Now light your red candle 

West

Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West

I call upon the Spirits of Water

To witness my rites

And guard my circle

Now light your blue candle 

North

Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North

I call upon the Spirits of Earth

To witness my rites

And guard my circle.

Now light your green candle 

End the casting with a ritual at the altar. Light your altar candle and with a dedication to the appropriate deity (or deities). 

If the circle will be used for casting Magick, then you might want to dedicate the circle to a God or Goddess associated with the kind of Magick you will be performing. If the circle will be used for a Sabbat, then you will want to dedicate the circle to the Gods or Goddesses associated with that Sabbat. 

Of course, it is always appropriate to dedicate your circles to your personal God or Goddess (or both) for any purpose 

When you are done with the circle, remember to clear it. All you need to do is reverse what you did to cast it. Start at the altar, snuff out the candle and thank the lord and lady for their help and their being there. In a counter clockwise rotation do the same in the north, west, south and east, thanking each of the Guardians and the element they represent then snuff out the candle as you go.