Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

34 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
Preparations
By Oberon
It is a good idea in the beginning to mark the Circle with tape or string on the floor, or
inscribe it in the dirt with your Wand, Sword, Staff, or Athamé if outdoors. We have even drawn
Circles of lime, corn meal, flour, and chalk powder for outdoor rituals in grassy parks. This will
serve as a visual aid to focus your attention on the proper boundary line. For small circles, you
can mark out a circle using your Cingulum (a braided cord worn around the waist, with knots at
various lengths) as a compass, with the knots measuring the radius (see above).
A really wonderful way to mark a permanent (and portable!) Circle is to paint it on a piece
of canvas, carpet, or other material that can later be folded up and put away when not in use.
This is a good idea because the Circle stays the same and will absorb some of the energy created
curing the rituals. And you can make a painted design very elaborate, like the one on page 19.
However you decide to mark the Circle, one thing is most important: it must be correctly
oriented towards to the Cardinal Directions. Consider a compass an essential working tool of
magick, and learn how to use it, including compensating for the difference in degrees between
magnetic north and true North (something you will need to look up for your local area). The
most ancient and ideal way to orient your Circle is by the stars, with the Northern point of the
circle pointing towards the North Star. With the Altar (or a temporary stake) in the center,
sight across from the South side to Polaris, the bright star at the end of
the handle of the Little Dipper. Then note and mark the points where that
line of sight crosses the Circle perimeter, and you have it. For East and
West, just mark points halfway between North and South.
In the Southern hemisphere, unfortunately, there is no corresponding
South Pole star. The Southern Cross is only
an approximation of the general direction, which
will vary greatly through the seasons and the hour
of the night. So “down under” you will have to
rely on your compass.
Purifying the Temple
If the room or area where you will be working is normally used for mundane activities (such
as a living room), you may want to cleanse your Temple of any negative thoughts and vibrations
before beginning the ritual. Put some water into a small bowl and add a scoop of salt from the
blade of your Athamé, stirring it into the water. Use a sprig of herb (rosemary, basil, lilac, or
pine) as an aspergillam and, beginning in the East, asperge (sprinkle) the salt water around the
room in a deosil (clockwise) direction, saying:
Water and Salt, where you are cast,
No spell or adverse purpose last
That is not in accord with me.
As I will, so mote it be!
Then light a bundle of sage or cedar and, starting in the East, carry it around the room deosil
(we hold it in an abalone shell, but a ceramic bowl will do), fanning it into all the corners with
a feather fan or bird’s wing, while chanting:
Fire and Air, this charge I lay:
No phantom in your presence stay
That is not in accord with me.
As I do will, so mote it be!
As you do this, visualize with your mind’s eye all of the negative thoughts and vibrations
leaving, with only the pure white light of Spirit remaining to permeate the area. Ring a bell