🕉 Witchcraft 101: Casting The Circle 🕉

🕉 Witchcraft 101: Casting the Circle 🕉

Cast the Circle thrice about

To keep unwelcome Spirits out.

Bind it whole, and bind it well

To serve as altar for my spell.

Mark this ground with all my soul

To consecrate with my control.

The sacred Circle is one of the oldest and most powerful tools of witchcraft. The shape of the Circle symbolizes the unity of nature; the unending cycle of life, death, and rebirth; and most importantly, a structure with no corners, no weak spots, no vulnerability. Casting a magick Circle can provide protection, seclusion, power, focus, and a host of other benefits. It is arguably the first piece of magick a witch should learn when exploring ritual work, and it can serve you in an endless number of ways.

In short, a Circle is a place of power designated by a Witch exclusively for a spell or ritual. The Witch consecrates this space with their energy and declares it to be theirs and theirs alone for the duration of the spell. This area is bounded by a physical circle which no energy can cross without the permission of the Witch.

Circles have been utilized by various magickal traditions for thousands of years, and over that time they have taken many different forms. Almost every tradition has a different method for designing a Circle, casting a Circle, and using a Circle. In this post, I will be discussing my own personal method of Circle casting, along with some traditional methods.

What are Circles used for?

Traditionally, a Circle is cast at the very beginning of any ritual. Before any spirits are summoned, before any gods are invoked, perhaps even before any candles are lit, a Witch will cast a Circle around the area they’ll be performing magick in.

When utilized like this, a Circle has three functions:

1) Establishing a Place of Power

A Circle designates a specific area as separate from the world around it. In a way, you are taking this physical space and removing it from space and time. Outside of the Circle the world continues to go about its unending business, but within the Circle, all energy is dedicated towards the completion of the spell.

This aids the witch in achieving the state of gnosis required for the spell. By removing yourself from the human world around you, you are declaring that you are more than human. You are reclaiming a piece of your spiritual godhood, and I find that this is very lucrative for tapping into that special “energy” of magick (if you’ve experimented with deep states of magickal gnosis, you’ll know what I’m talking about).

2) Protection

This is possibly the oldest use of the Circle, which can be traced back to Ancient Greek and Zoroastrian Craft. In some ways, a Circle is the most basic form of a Ward. You are creating an energetic barrier around yourself and your space that prevents any random energies or spirits from wandering into your spell.

Some of the earliest known rituals involving Circles were summonings and evocations. In this function, the magician would enclose themself in a special protective Circle before conjuring a spirit or deity. As long as they remained within the Circle, the being could do them no physical or spiritual harm.

3) Focusing Energy

This function partially relates to the first function I mentioned, creating a place of power. When performing a spell or ritual, you are essentially constructing a special, high-vibrational energy to be released into the universe. Utilizing a Circle helps to encase this special energy, allowing you to freely manipulate it without interference and without the energy dissipating into the environment around you.

How do you cast a Circle?

A precise method for casting a Circle is hard to pin down, just because they are so unique to each individual practitioner, and there are so many different methods that exist already. In general, though, a basic Circle can be cast with three simple steps:

1) Purify the space

Using any preferred method of purification, purify the space you’ll be performing your ritual in of all disruptive energies. One of the most effective and traditional methods is to burn a purifying incense, such as sage, thyme, frankincense, sandalwood, etc.

For those of you who can’t burn incense for whatever reason, this can also be achieved with sound vibrations (singing, ringing bells, etc.), visualization (manually clearing the space with your own energy), spraying herbal water in the area (a common new age type of cleansing), or any other type of purification you may utilize.

2) Mark the Boundary of the Circle

Mark the boundary of your Circle on the ground. This can be done with salt, chalk, a crystal grid, sticks, leaves, oil, water, or any number of other methods. A Circle can also be traced in the ground if you are standing in sand, dirt, gravel, etc.

A common misconception about Circles is that they have to be physically marked on the ground. This simply isn’t true, though. If you lack the materials, space, or ability to physically create a Circle around you, you can also mark the ground with a Circle through visualization.

Close your eyes, and visualize your energy tracing a Circle in the ground around you and your sacred space. A visualization thats often helpful for me is imagining a Circle of fire igniting around me, but use whatever visualization works best for you.

3) Enchant the Circle and Make It Yours

This step is the most unique from practitioner to practitioner. Every Witch does things a bit differently, but essentially, the last step is to consecrate your Circle to protect this space from invasion and to focus the energies within towards your will.

I commonly perform this step with a simple spoken spell that goes something like:

Hear my words, for they are sacred.

Feel my power, for it is manifest.

I consecrate this Circle as my place of power, wherein I and I alone have total dominion.

I mark its border upon the ground, and by my power, I declare that nothing may enter here without my invitation.

As I command, so must it be.

Final Thoughts on Circles

• This is a very simple type of Circle. While it is perfect for keeping out stray energies and weaker spirits (like ghosts or nature energies), it is reliant solely upon your own strength. Depending on how effectively you cast it, it may not be enough to keep out stronger or more malevolent energies.

• A Circle can be strengthened through any number of methods, such as marking its border with charged crystals or designing an intricate Circle using sigilcraft. Research, experiment, and find out what works best for you.

• A very common method of strengthening a Circle is by evoking the Four Elements/Watchers, which I will discuss in a future post.

• After casting a Circle, make sure to invite in any spirits/deities that you evoke in your ritual. If you summon them to you but don’t invite them into your Circle, they may be present but will be unable to interact with you or your spell.

• After completing your ritual working, be sure to unbind/release your Circle. This will deconsecrate the space and release the energy you’ve created into the universe for manifestation.

Be safe, and Happy Witching! 🕉

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218 notes View Post

magickandcoffee

3 years ago

Simple Bonding With Your New Deck

A straightforward guide for understanding and bonding with a new deck

⋆ ｡˚۰ ˚☽˚ ⁀➷ ｡˚ ⋆ ༄ ☼ ➶

❶ Cleanse your deck

This can be done with numerous methods. Saining ritual, Crystals (like selenite or salt), Sound, Knocking, Moonlight, Sunlight, etc Choose the one that you like best, whichever feels right to you, or use a combination of these that feel good for you!

❷ Explore your deck

Before reading the booklet that comes with your cards, flip through the deck card by card and explore the imagery and symbolism of each card. If you can, journal down your initial thoughts for each card, including how each card makes you feel. Is there a specific card that you're drawn to? Why?

❸ Read the guide book

Repeat Step 2 while reading through and referencing the little white book. How do the author/artist's intentions line up with your original intuitions about each card? Do they conflict? If so, look deeper and try to figure out where your view of the card differs. (this does not necessarily mean your intuition is wrong)

❹ Spend time with your deck

This can include sleeping with your deck next to you/under your pillow, travelling with your deck on your person, carrying around and focusing on a specific card each day, spending time shuffling the cards to mix your energy, or any other ideas you can come up with that allows you to keep the deck, the cards, and the imagery/symbolisms on your mind throughout the day.

❺ Interview your deck

This can be done at any point, but often it’s the most rewarding after you understand the cards to a decent degree. At this point, you should have a good feel for the deck's overall energy and a general idea of what each card represents and why. You'll be able to understand what the deck is trying to tell you much better than if you did this step at the beginning.

❻ Start using your deck

When you feel like you understand the cards and feel comfortable using them for readings, go for it. From this point on, it's going to be growth via experience. Continue to grow your intuition and personal associations with the deck, as well as remembering how the guidebook describes their meanings as that will be different from deck to deck, even if they’re all still tarot cards. Journaling, taking notes, or even just photos of your readings will be super helpful to build an understanding of the decks personality and to see where you might have previously misunderstood something.

STOP.

Being a witch is not a secret superpower that has to be unearthed. It is not an inherited genetic marker that magically manifests at a certain point in a person's life.

Being a witch is a choice that a person must make for themselves. They cannot be INFORMED that they are a witch if they have not previously made this choice of their own volition. You don't get to TELL people that they're witches. That is their decision to make.

It's not something you can read in a palm. It's not something you can see in cards or tea leaves or a psychic vision. It's not something you can TEST for arbitrarily.

You don't get to tell someone they're a car mechanic if they aren't. You don't get to tell someone they're in a coven if they haven't taken vows. You don't get to decide for someone whether or not they're a witch.

(Apparently, this is a new "thing" among novices, particularly those of school age, this idea of doing a reading for someone and "determining" that the client is a witch, without the person having ever made that choice for themselves. Sure, it might spark interest and bring them to the community looking for more information, but the idea of being able to designate or "tell" other people that they're witches, independent of their own choices, needs to be squashed.)

Even if you have reason to believe that someone is secretly a witch, it is Very Poor Form to inquire directly, if they haven't chosen to share. Plenty of practitioners have Very Good Reasons for keeping their practice under wraps. If you want to make a private inquiry, that's fine. Just be prepared that you might receive a denial, no matter how sure you are. If the answer is no, that's it. Don't invade people's privacy, especially if you live in an area where being publicly labeled as a witch might be unsafe.

I know we like to say that witchcraft doesn't have universal rules, but there ARE overarching codes of conduct. And one of them is that you do NOT out someone as a witch without their permission. Ever. Because you do not know what the repercussions might be for that person and you may be placing them in danger without knowing it.

If someone decides to be a witch or to live openly as such, that is their decision to make and theirs alone. And if they choose not to be, this must likewise be respected. You don't get to make that decision for them, just as you wouldn't want anyone else making that decision for you.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Lived Through The Satanic Panic And Has Done A LOT Of Research About Witch Hunts

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magickandcoffee

4 years ago

✨🌱🌿💚🐈💚🌿🌱✨

566 notes View Post

magickandcoffee

3 years ago

autumnal asks 🌙

1. what is your favorite autumn scent?

2. would you rather go through a corn maze or go pumpkin picking?

3. what is your favorite halloween candy?

4. favorite autumn holiday?

5. rainy,foggy autumn days or cold,sunny autumn days?

6. favorite horror movie to watch on halloween?

7. do you like raking leaves?

8. do you have any special autumn traditions? what are they?

9. do you like carving pumpkins?

10. combat boots or cardigans?

11. yellows,reds and browns or purples,blacks and oranges?

12. favorite autumn drink?

13. do you like pumpkin spice flavored things?

14. favorite type of pie?

15. do you have any special halloween traditions? what are they?

16. halloween parties or giving out candy to trick or treaters?

17. hayrides or campfires?

18. describe your ideal autumn day?

19. coffee or hot chocolate?

20. alcoholic or non alcoholic apple cider?

21. what is your go to autumn outfit(s)?

22. do you wear scarves?

23. describe your dream autumn date?

24. scary stories around a camp fire or getting lost in a corn maze with someone?

25. black cats or bats?

26. do you decorate for autumn? what is it like?

27. vampires or witches?

28. do you collect crystals?

29. do you like cold weather?

30. what was your favorite autumn activity as a kid?

3K notes View Post

magickandcoffee

4 years ago

witchcraft 101: veiling!

today we’re gonna be discussing veiling. veiling is the act of covering your hair/head either partially or fully. this could be anything from wearing a bandana to wearing a full coverage headscarf.

there are many reasons why a pagan or witch may participate in veiling, here are a few:

as a reminder of a connection with a deity (usually deities such as hestia but it can be any deity)

as an offering or devotional act to a deity

as a reminder of what is above us

to cover or protect the crown chakra

to help with grounding

for shielding (this is often used by empaths)

to focus power or focus the mind

to signify adulthood/womanhood (!! this does not mean that men or nonbinary people can’t veil!! i’m nonbinary and i veil a lot)

as a practise of modesty

because it brings comfort to a person

in old traditions, a witches hair is said to be a measure of their power so people cover their hair in order to protect it