Casting a circle is an essential ritual skill that many magickal practitioners learn early in their training. Speaking from a Wiccan perspective, it’s a basic skill and element of Wiccan (and other) rituals that is easy to take for granted, but it’s an important and ancient practice. Here are four reasons to cast a circle.
To create sacred space
Some practitioners believe that everything and every place are sacred; I am not one of those people. We know things by their opposition or complementarity. We know darkness because of light and sadness because of joy. For something to be sacred, something must be not sacred. The difference between sacred and profane is at the heart of religion and spirituality: sacred words and ceremonies, sacred symbols and artefacts, and sacred places.
The word sacred comes from the Latin “sacer”, which refers to that which has been consecrated, devoted, hallowed. To cast a circle is to create a sacred space. It is to dedicate that space for the service or worship of a deity or magick. It transforms your room into a temple. It delineates an already enlivened space outdoors into one dedicated to the gods, spirits or anything in their power. Creating sacred space sets the stage for magick to come.
To create a barrier
When you cast a circle, you create a boundary between that in the circle and that outside the circle. The barrier is sometimes fragile. In Wicca, crossing the border can break the circle. Wiccans cut a doorway with the athame or sword, which they open and seal, to exit and re-enter the circle.
Other times, you might want a firm boundary. Your magick may attract unwanted attention, and sometimes you want to keep specific energies or entities away. A strong circle can do that.
To create a container
We commonly call it a circle, which suggests a flat shape, but many Wiccans envision projecting a sphere to a plane. Either way, the circle acts as a container for the energy raised within it until the practitioner is ready to release it. Referred to as the cone of power, energy is visualised as a cone that encompasses the circumference of the circle and tapers off to a point above the practitioner(s). It is really valuable when working with a group.
To create reality
This may be the most overlooked reason for casting a circle, and it is related to creating sacred space and the circle as a container of energy. We cast a circle to create magick in the microcosm (the small world), the power of which is directed and released to manifest in the macrocosm (the great world). “That which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from to that which is above.”
Not every act of devotion or magick requires a circle. For example, I created my temple room as a sacred space for devotion and magick. Every day for my morning practice, I go in, light a candle, and get started. Still, sometimes I want a strong barrier or a temporary container, and then I cast a circle. In group rituals, my coven almost always casts a circle, sometimes a soft one, and sometimes it’s stronger.
