Magic Circles - study group?

[earthair]

I'm doing a personal project type thing exploring and researching magic circles from as many different sources as I can lay my hands on!

So I thought ...if anyone fancies joining me on this thread we could add images and instructions to form a compendium of all the different methods of creating magic/protective circles that we can find?

And maybe discuss what we think of the various methods as we go along?

I'd like to cover everything from Stonehenge to Greater Key of Solomon, but let's start at the beginning... with the basic circle!

Which means one must decide where to cast it, how to cast it, what tool/finger to use, how big, clockwise... or not... there are so many possibilities...

 

[earthair]

So I thought of an experiment for starters [If you already use protective/meditative/magic circles and have learnt an 'official' Wiccan/GD/magickal way of doing things, maybe try to imagine you're doing it for the first time without any preconceived ideas?] I'm trying to find out if there's a universal way humans do circles.

Stand up in a room with a bit of space around you. Now pointing with your index finger, 'draw' a circle around you. Don't otherthink it, just do whatever takes your fancy!

Which direction did you go in?
How high off the ground did you point?
Which compass direction did you start at?
How big was your circle? Did you walk around the room or rotate on the spot?
Did you see or imagine the circle existing as a line/energy field/light/colour?

Now try to 'undo' your circle. Use any method you like. What did you do?
How did you feel before/during/after?

Please don't read on until you've tried it because I don't want to influence anyone!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




The first time I tried this, way before I had read anything about anything, I naturally went anticlockwise, because it felt like it had the strong natural energy direction of hurricanes and plug holes of the Northern Hemisphere! Clockwise felt more soft and weak. (But nowadays.... the clockwise direction feels purer and calming, and anticlockwise feels destructive and more suitable for undoing circles.) I naturally stood upright, rotated on the spot, pointing in a 45deg angle down and outwards at a circle which is 3metres in diameter. Smaller rooms felt a bit constrictive. I 'drew' about a foot off the floor. The colour wasn't that strong, maybe indigo. I didn't intend it to be any colour. I started in the South.

 

[celticnoodle]

This sounds very interesting! I remember when I took a few classes with a shaman here in my area, we always opened and closed with a circle, inviting in the 4 directions and asking for their protection and assistance andthen at the end, thanking them as well. I thought about it, and I'm sure if I were to do this (which I hope to try tomorrow), I would start out facing our television (it will be off tho), which is facing East. Then turn to the South, and then the West and finally North.

I would start this way, as I do this whenever I am doing my tai chi. It just feels natural to me. I have a psychic-medium reading to do for a friend, and I am hoping to do it tomorrow, before the weekend comes. I think perhaps I will start out first by casting this Magic Circle and see how this works for me. I don't normally cast a circle to do my readings--but it makes perfect sense to do so. I generally meditate first for at about 15-20 minutes after I ground and protect myself. I'm going to try to come up with a new way though, and incorporate the magic circle in it. We'll see how well it works for me. I'll post about it here, once I get the chance to do this!

Thanks for the idea and for posting this thread.

 

[earthair]

I would start out facing our television (it will be off tho), which is facing East. Then turn to the South, and then the West and finally North.

Interesting! Thinking about it, it felt right to start in the south because that's where the window is= light, but like you my television is also placed in the east. Maybe this placing TVs in the east is a Feng Shui thing? The concept and tradition of starting in the East where the sun rises and thought begins may explain why I started at the point the light had reached in the day, which was midday?

What time of day did you do your circle?

 

[Tanga]

Stand up in a room with a bit of space around you. Now pointing with your index finger, 'draw' a circle around you. Don't otherthink it, just do whatever takes your fancy!

1 Which direction did you go in?
2 How high off the ground did you point?
3 Which compass direction did you start at?
4 How big was your circle? Did you walk around the room or rotate on the spot?
5 Did you see or imagine the circle existing as a line/energy field/light/colour?

1 Clockwise with my left hand. (I noticed I don't like rotating looking over my shoulder in the direction I'm going, when drawing a circle - so I use my left. But if "directing energy" in anything else, I use my right.).
2 2.5 feet - a bit more than 45 degrees from my upright body at the armpit.
3 East (I will usually check for East. If I don't - I may start in the North.
I like the North and all it's associations because I'm an Earth sign. And also because North was where the Ngong Hills were on the horizon, where I grew up).
4 With no restriction my circle diameter might be 2.5 meters in diameter.
Indoors, it's usually 1.5 meters. I rotate on the spot.
5 Energy field lighting up like a wall of iridescent fire, as the circle is sealed it becomes a
sphere. Colour white/violet.

Now try to 'undo' your circle. Use any method you like. What did you do?
How did you feel before/during/after?

...If I'm following the questions exactly - I'd do what I did in reverse.
But there's the rest of the rigmarole I usually include in a circle casting - Calling/welcoming the quarters in some way - and if specifically needed, invoking a Deity.

So - in reverse I would:

1 Thank the Deity and bid farewell.
2 Thank the quarters in anticlockwise direction and also deconstruct the circle. OR thank the quarters anticlockwise first, then deconstruct the circle anticlockwise. Using my right hand.
I imagine the sphere of white/violet fire dissipating as I go.

How do I feel before: twinkling with anticipation.
How do I feel during: having fun/exploring the meditative process with curiosity, and
"listening" with a "pricking of my thumbs" awareness at what I feel inside-and-out.
How do I feel afterwards: peaceful.



As for time of day. It's 3pm right now which is when I'm reading this.
But I usually do circle casting at night between 10.30 and 12.30, when the other half has gone to bed so I can have proper privacy.

During the day if I feel it necessary to "create protection", I'll usually visualise strengthening my auric field in some way. Sometimes just imagining deep breaths making the colour stronger (colour will vary according to mood), sometimes using my own personal circle casting chant:

1 THE SPHERE OF SEVEN

I cast my circle in peace
Power is in the North
Vision is in the East
Courage is in the South
And Compassion, in the West.

Inner Wisdom guides me through infinite possibility
Serene mother of the stars
I welcome your council
Gaia, speak to me of eternity
Teach me
To allow myself to be who I am.


OR - 2, If I need more UMMMPH and RWAAAR
sections from my version of the Sally Morningstar modified LBRP:

Kali is before me to clear the way
Hecate is behind me, she seals the doors
To my left Isis, great lover and mother
To my right Artemis, who's aim is ever true
Above me Innana the Queen of Heaven
and Below me Gaia, the root of all things.
The Goddess is my impenetrable shield,
and I walk in beauty.


OR - 3, I may invoke my 5 guides, in the positions of
before, behind, to my left, to my right, and above & around me.




For CARD READING
If I have the time I say my short Tarot chant, which casts by the mention of the seven spheres:

Sun, moon, stars, infinity,
I Am That of which I seek.
Lord, Lady, Sacred Androgyne,
I am all that which I meet.

Powered by the seven spheres,
I grow in strength unseared.

Spirits Speak!
Luce, Verita e Pace.

 

[celticnoodle]

Interesting! Thinking about it, it felt right to start in the south because that's where the window is= light, but like you my television is also placed in the east. Maybe this placing TVs in the east is a Feng Shui thing? The concept and tradition of starting in the East where the sun rises and thought begins may explain why I started at the point the light had reached in the day, which was midday?

What time of day did you do your circle?

I don't know if it is a feng shui thing for the tv or not. In our farmhouse, there is a cabinet built right into the wall and it has a space for the television to fit right in. So that is why we put it there.

And, curiosity got the better of me, so I googled feng shui rules about television placement in the living room. According to this site: http://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/Feng_Shui_Living_Room

Electronics such as TVs and computers are yang energy and very active, so place these in areas you wish to activate. For example, the north (career) or south (fame and recognition) sectors of the room are excellent choices.

OOPS!

 

[Tanga]

I don't know if it is a feng shui thing for the tv or not. In our farmhouse, there is a cabinet built right into the wall and it has a space for the television to fit right in. So that is why we put it there. ...

On the subject of that - I had my house dowsed (by a professional dowser) to discover that absolutely everything (almost) needed to be changed around for ideal healthy/energetic placement. This just wouldn't work for how our house is now. Maybe if I'd done it when we first moved in, and if both my housemates were into feng shui et al. ideas (they're not).
So....gave up on that and just had some "correction" gadgets and large crystals installed.
Mostly - without the rest of the house occupants knowing.

My TV is also in the East. Lol.

Traditions on where to start with magick circles can vary...I believe.
I generally "corrected" mine (from North) after I'd read a few Wiccan books (English Wicca) and been in the company of Wiccans who always do it that way.
...I think I read somewhere that beginning in the North is present in some American Indian Shamanic traditions...
(could be wrong as I did all my Shamanic reading years ago).

 

[earthair]

Traditions on where to start with magick circles can vary...I believe.
I generally "corrected" mine (from North) after I'd read a few Wiccan books (English Wicca) and been in the company of Wiccans who always do it that way.
...I think I read somewhere that beginning in the North is present in some American Indian Shamanic traditions...
(could be wrong as I did all my Shamanic reading years ago).

Me too!!!- I've also corrected, and then recorrected E... N... E according to whatever book I was reading! So I was a bit surprised to discover that I start in the S when I do what felt natural But I might be a bit more flexible in future according to what the circle is for.

Interestingly R Buckland says 'you are moving clockwise with your right shoulder to the altar' (north) which seems to imply turning backwards?

 

[Tanga]

Me too!!!- I've also corrected, and then recorrected E... N... E according to whatever book I was reading! So I was a bit surprised to discover that I start in the S when I do what felt natural But I might be a bit more flexible in future according to what the circle is for.

Yes. By myself - I just start where I most feel like (often the North, Lol).
I may if I have a particular elemental theme - start in that corner.
In any group here so far - it's always the East.

Interestingly R Buckland says 'you are moving clockwise with your right shoulder to the altar' (north) which seems to imply turning backwards?

Hmm - perhaps not enough detail for me to be sure what he means...
Is it:
1) Starting with right shoulder pointed at the Altar in the North, whilst drawing the
circle from the outside of it's circumference? In which case that means drawing the line with my right hand and walking along the circumference line.
At any point on the circumference I could still have my right shoulder pointing towards the Altar. (If I use my left I can't).

OR does he mean:
2) Starting with the right shoulder pointed at the Alter in the North, whilst drawing the circle from the inside of the circumference? In which case this means drawing the line with the right hand and walking along the circumference line (Or alternately, standing in the middle and pivoting on the spot). As I get to East, South and West, my back is turned to the Altar. As I turn and come close to North my right shoulder re-aligns to North...



I draw from the inside of the circle pivoting from it's centre - with my left hand (when by myself), so it's impossible to start with the right shoulder pointing to the Altar here.
Unless I start drawing in the West.
Mind you at home - my fixed Altar is actually on the windowsill South-West and I don't include it in circle work (Plus I have more than one).
If I draw a circle, I set up a mini Altar with items of specific correspondence if that's the theme - and that will usually be a little ahead of me sitting in the centre, with quarter direction or not.
Otherwise, I may have no Altar or just one item representing Spirit.
I do like to put something in each of the 4 quarters though.
[And if I'm on my trampette/mini trampoline, and decide to draw a circle, then there will be no paraphernalia whatsoever - only facing each direction and chanting as I bounce up and down - and imagining the circle lighting up ].

(If I were at the beach - I'd draw in the sand walking along the circle circumference. And of course if one were drawing with the proverbial chalk - one would be walking along the circumference.).


In a group...it depends on how things are set up in the space (if the quarters are set up against the walls of the room, you can't physically walk along the outside of the circumference - unless you're drawing the circumference inside of the span of the quarters themselves. In my experience here, the quarters have sort of been ON the circumference.

One thing I will do in a group, is draw the circle by walking along it's circumference rather than pivoting in the centre, as I do when alone.
This is because a) the participants can all visually see where you are drawing the line.
b) drawing by walking along the circumference rather than pivoting, is more "group-like" and less "personal" than pivoting, if you see what I mean.
Depending on the tradition, one would then "cut a door" for all participants to enter and seal it behind them afterwards (individuals will ask permission for the door to be opened if they wish to leave mid-ritual - rather than just suddenly charge out to go off).
OR one would formally invite participants to enter and then say some words to "seal" the circle.

 

[earthair]

The only thing I can think of regarding the Buckland shoulder thing is that a person starts in the centre, facing W with their right hand pointing to N, then one turns on the centre spot so you can better see the circle you have cast...but then I wonder if he starts at N.

Another possibility you've raised is casting circles from the outside. So maybe when one only needs/has a small area to work in, one could put objects on the table for instance and cast a circle around them.

Going back to your other posts you've also brought up something I was going to get to later on- "the rest of the rigmarole I usually include in a circle casting - Calling/welcoming the quarters in some way - and if specifically needed, invoking a Deity."

So maybe let's find out some more...

Do people use a script they've learnt from a HP or book?
Or make up their own?
What deities/godesses/gods/angels/elementals/other are people calling? (And to which points?)
Do people using Hebrew worry about the pronunciation?

Personally I'm not religious so I have purposefully not included any Jewish/Enochian/Wiccan deities or language into the casting. I keep it simple with 'I invite Air' etc