This is a very basic ritual pattern that describes the parts of the wiccan rituals that are common to all traditions. It is good to attend a ritual to understand the group dynamic and the state of mind that occurs, as well as the variety of possibilities for innovation that are possible within the traditional frame. Pagan circle music is sometimes the best reason to attend the circle! We use a circle because the moon and sun are circles, and the horizon is a circle, as are many other things in nature, for it is the most basic of geometric shapes.
Casting the Circle
Most Wiccan rituals begin by "casting the circle", which is the act of defining sacred space. The magic circle, within Wicca, is treated as a kind of division between the mundane world on the outside and the sacred world within, where magic can happen more easily. Any place can be transformed into sacred space, by pushing the furniture in a room to the walls or by selecting an empty spot in the woods or on a beach. It is also considered a container for power; in this sense it acts to keep things in more than out, though protection from dangers without can also be a part of its function. Usually the circle is cast using a sword, though any of the "masculine" tools, like the athame, wand, or staff can be used instead.
The Witch who casts the circle starts in the east and walks deosil (clockwise) around the area prepared for the ritual three times. There are two reasons for making three passes: the circle is being cast in the sight of the Gods, nature, and the people; and also on the physical, mental, and spiritual levels. To symbolise these three levels, the first circle is made with the sword pointed to the ground level, then to waist level, and then raised above the head level.
Occasionally a circle may be cast counterclockwise (widdershins) if the purpose is banishing or decrease of something, but this is not common. Usually the flow of energy is deosil, the direction of creativity, life and growth. Deosil is the direction that the Sun and Moon appear to turn in, if one faces south and imagines them moving from East (at rising), South (at its highest point), West (at setting) and North (when under the horizon). When moving about within the circle, always try to move deosil when possible, except while saying farewells and closing the circle (at which point the circle is being undone).
Some witches like to anoint each person with an anointing oil, or asperge (sprinkle) each person with water, smudge each person with incense or sweetgrass, or offer each person a token (small candle, drink from a chalice, a kiss, and so forth) as they enter the circle, to bless and welcome them into the sacred space. The traditional method is for the priest to greet women and the priestess to greet men, but in a ritual led by one person, he or she will be greeting everyone. Another method is to pass the oil around the circle, with each person anointing the person next to them. This is a good way to bond the members of the group to each other and create a sense of community.
Sweeping the Circle is the cleansing of the circle of unwanted influences, once sacred space has been established. It is done by sweeping the circle once around, deosil, with the besom (witches' broom). Often, the witch will touch people's feet with the broom while sweeping, to emphasize that the people are being cleansed as well as the space. The circle is ritually cleansed and purified with the four elements in order to make ready a place for the powers of those elements to enter. This may be done by the priest or priestess, or by people previously selected to represent the four quarters. Some me traditions perform elemental purifications before the circle is cast. The typical purification method is to carry an elemental tool deosil around the circle, starting with air (incense) in the east, fire (a candle) in the south, water in the west, and earth (soil or salt) in the north. Sometimes the tool is raised in salute as the witch passes each of the quarters. Purifications may be silent, or a purification spell may be spoken.
Calling the Quarters
Once the circle has been made ready for the elemental powers to enter, they will be called. It is good to know the elemental correspondances well so that one can call upon particular aspects of each element that are needed for the occasion, or if one is improvising the calls to suit the specific ritual. It is at this point that divine forces enter the circle, and so honourific gestures are used such as bowing or raising hands in a gesture of welcome, and honourific words such as "blessed be" or "hail and welcome".
Here is an example of traditional Quarter Calls...
All raise their athames and face East, with the Priestess in front. She draws the Invoking Pentacle in the air before her saying:
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, Ye Lords of Air, I do summon, stir, and call you up to witness our rites and to guard our circle.
All raise their athames and face South, to make the call:
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, Ye Lords of Fire, I do summon, stir, and call you up to witness our rites and to guard our circle.
All raise their athames and face West, to make the call:
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the West, Ye Lords of Water, I do summon, stir, and call you up to witness our rites and to guard our circle.
All raise their athames and face North, to make the call:
Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, Ye Lords of Earth, I do summon, stir, and call you up to witness our rites and to guard our circle.
Drawing Down the Moon
At this point of the ritual, witches call upon the Goddess to enter the circle. The priest recites an invocation before the Priestess, and the spirit of the Goddess enters the priestess, to speak with her voice. He might say: I invoke thee and call upon thee, O Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness, by seed and root, by stem and bud, by leaf and flower and fruit do I invoke thee to descend upon the body of this thy servant and priestess.
...perhaps adding additional, prepared or improvised words if a particular aspect of the Goddess is desired. When the God is called, it is the Priestess who recites the invoking spell and the Priest who internalises the aspect of the God. In this case, it is called "Drawing Down the Sun".
When the invocation has been complete, a traditional (Gardnerian) "Drawing Down" continues with a recitation of the Charge of the Goddess, with the priest speaking the introductory lines and the priestess, who is now the earthly representitive of the Goddess, speaking the words of the Lady.
Some traditions prefer not to do a full Drawing Down for every occasion, but instead make a Call to the deities to be present spiritually but not invoked into the ritual leaders. There need be no defined wording for the God & Goddess call, although as with Calling the Quarters, it typically ends with "blessed be".
The Great Rite
This part of the ritual is understood as more than a simple ritual act, but as a form of communion with our Gods. Briefly described, for I have included more detailed notes below, the Great Rite is the ritual dramatisation of the creation of life, the coupling of the spark of life with life's substance. A traditional and complete Great Rite is the sexual copulation of a man and woman. A symbolic Great Rite, which is far more apropriate when there are other people present, is for the priestess to hold a chalice full of wine and the priest to dip his athame into the wine. This is called a "wine blessing". The wine, thus blessed, is passed to the assembly for all to drink. The priestess and her chalice represent the womb of the Goddess, the sea from which life first arose, and the wine contained within it is the blood of life that links all living things in kinship.
Raising the Cone of Power
Dancing and singing have been a part of world religion for millenia. Witches raise the cone of power by dancing deosil around the magic circle, hand in hand, often while reciting a chant or singing a round. The Witches' Rune is an ideal example of a circle chant for power raising. The power is described as psychicly tangible, shaping itself in a cone with the dancers in the circle at the base and the point reaching up to the sky. The dance continues until the ritual leader signals for it to stop. The energy raised in the Cone of Power is directed by the ritual leader into a practical use, such as for consecrating of a place, empowering of the participants for divination or healing, for blessing the land, crops, or animals, attracting good fortune, or any other magic work. I imagine that the circle dancing that once happened around holy wells, sacred trees, bonfires, and Maypoles, which the christian clergy and witch hunters dissaproved of so angrily, was a kind of magic dance for raising power. Raising the Cone of Power is also fun!
The use to which the energy is put is called the work of the ritual. Other work can be carried on after (or substituted for) the Magic Dance as well, such as a guided meditation or a dramatisation of a scene from mythology. A common and important part of medaeval witchcraft was a feast, to which each member of the coven contributed, and was consumed after the dance or after the circle is undone. As with the magic dance, a communal feast is an excellent way to bind a community together.
Undoing the Circle
At this point the magic circle is undone. We say farewells to the God and Goddess, as they depart the Circle, although there is a sense in which the Gods are always with us and never truly depart. It is not the Wiccan way to banish or dismiss the spirits.
When farewells are said to the gods, then we say farewell to each of the Quarters, widdershins (counter-clockwise) from North to East. All face each direction in turn, with the priestess in front, who might say "Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North (west, south, east), ye lords of Earth (water, fire, air), we do thank you for attending our rite, and ere you depart to your pleasant and lovely realms we bid you hail and farewell." It is common for the assembled company to repeat the last "Hail and Farewell" together. The ritual ends with the leader announcing that the circle is lifted, and the company affirms this with the phrase "So mote it be".
So mote it be!
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