A Good Night’s Sleep Mojo Bag And Oil

How To Find Your Path As A Witch (Or Not)

New witches often come to me confused and lost because they’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of directions that they could potentially take their craft. They see talk of green witches and kitchen witches, tech witches, sea witches and so many others and they have a completely human reaction to being confronted with such an overabundance of information.

THEY FREEZE UP!

Without a defined direction they feel incapable of continuing forward, they stagnate while they try to pick a path and they stop learning. They don’t want to pursue something only to have to backtrack later so they pursue nothing at all!

How is anyone supposed to get their start in the craft when they have NO IDEA what direction they want to go in? Or what if they have more than one kind of witchcraft that interests them? How do they choose?!

The answer is surprisingly simple.

You don’t!

Having a specialization or a personal path in your witchcraft can be a wonderful thing but unless you just KNOW right from the jump what kind of specialty is for you there’s no need to get wrapped up in those sorts of details.

The important thing is that you keep learning.

For the majority of people their path unfolds in the natural course of events.

Maybe you try a bunch of different things but you find after a few months that you’re gravitating toward divination almost every time you practice your craft.

Or perhaps you started out with kitchen magic but suddenly find yourself with a burning interest in stars and how they can be used in the craft.

Perhaps over the course of your time as a witch you even find that you prefer not to narrow your focus, instead pulling from many paths to create something personal to you.

Every individual witch will find their own path which, while they may choose to call it by a recognizable title, will be entirely unique to them. Finding your path is not about choosing what kind of witchcraft you want to practice, it’s about allowing your craft to develop its own flavor and personality as you learn and grow.

In order to find your path you must let go of the imposed boundaries of titles. Titles can be useful in many ways but for newer witches they can be limiting. Witchcraft is a way to claim your power! Why would you limit yourself in that pursuit?

Instead cast your net as far as you like, read about anything and everything that interests you. Allow yourself to wander in your learning, follow your whims and soak up as much variety as you can.

Don’t limit yourself to only the things that are obviously magical! The mundane can always be made magical. What do you love? Can you transform your hobbies and existing interests and incorporate them into your craft? (Hint: the answer is almost certainly yes!)

As you explore and learn and practice your path will make itself clear, the things you love, the things that make you excited will always come to the surface. You will find yourself reaching for the practices that truly FEEL magical to you again and again.

That is the essence of your craft! Those foundational practices that you use so regularly that they come as easy as breathing are what make up your personal path.

Tomorrow I’m going to be telling you about the workshop I’ve been putting together to help new witches get started and avoid the stagnation that can come from this sort of information overload!

What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to pursuing your craft? Tell me about it in the comments!

I just want magic

In life, in a lover, in everything.

I just want magic.

Fruit Dragons by Alexandra Khitrova.

You’ve probably heard of runes and you’ve probably seen them throughout popular culture media, - they’re often used in fantasy based television shows and films. It is likely that the runes you have seen are Elder Futhark Runes (old Norse ones - we’ll cover that later) but the ones featured in this post, are Witches Runes. They’re often inscribed on stones or used in rituals.

Crossroads: use if you’re going through a change, have decisions to make or wish to bring about change.

Man: use in magick that deals with men (naturally!), masculinity, or (if you’re religious) the strength of your God(s).

Woman: use in magick that deals (again, naturally!) with women, femininity, or to invoke any Goddesses you have.

The Eye: use in psychic workings or dealings with truth; to reveal deception, for example. Used also in/for protection.

Harvest: use for prosperity and abundance magick, dealings with money or to attract something good to your life.

The Sun: use for growth and happiness, strength and masculinity and for invoking any deities that are associated with the Sun. Use also in protection magick and on Sabbats.

The Moon: femininity and magick. It enhances power and is used in the invocation of deities associated with the Moon and during Esbats.

Flight: higher knowledge and the attraction of something new; success and business ventures - brings about new opportunities.

The Rings: used for binding and attracting new love; it strengthens existing bonds.

Romance: naturally, this attracts new love and/or romance. Used in sex and fertility magick and heals broken hearts.

The Scythe: used to break curses and hexes; removes bad luck and influences and can be used to break or weaken bonds and relationships.

The Star: a wishing rune that, when meditated on, brings about good fortune and good luck.

Waves: symbolizes purity and can be used for forgiveness and healing, as well as the expulsion of bad and negative energies.

[Taken from my own personal grimoire.]

common spell components for glamours:

CRYSTALS — rose quartz / clear quartz / amethyst / selenite / tiffany stone / opal / kunzite / morganite

WATERS — full moon water / sun water / dew / melted snow / ocean water

TOOLS — candles (pink, white, blue) / brushes / mirrors / ribbons

ENCHANTED OBJECTS — jewelry / makeup / charms / clothes / other accessories

MISC — flowers / fruits / sugar / herbs

suggestions for various types of glamours:

BEAUTY - roses, catnip, dew, ginger, ginseng, heather, maidenhair, orange

COURAGE - basil, fluorite, mullein, sunstone, sweetpea, thyme, tiger eye, amatrine

FOCUS - amber, aquamarine, celery, celestite, ocean water, onyx, master root

TRUTH - bluebell, iron pyrite, moss agate, opal, selenite, yellow candles

STRENGTH - bay leaf, ebony, mulberry, pennyroyal, saffron, thistle, tourmaline, oak bark

WISDOM - almond, amethyst, bay leaf, coral, iris, sage, sunflower, skullcap

ATTRACTION - honey, cinnamon, cardamom, carnelian, patchouli, damiana, rosehips

Secular Celebrations - Yule

At the very end of the Gregorian calendar comes the winter solstice and Yule. Technically, this is the FIRST holiday on the Wheel, since Samhain is the boundary between the old year and the new. But since most of us have to follow the January to December schedule in our day-to-day lives, we’ll end with Yule.

The winter solstice is a time when we focus on hunkering down and staying warm. We look to the homestead, we take care of our families, and we make sure our communities are surviving the winter as comfortably as possible. This is one of the times that the Wild Hunt was said to ride, their presence indicated by howling winds and stormy nights when it wasn’t safe to venture out. All manner of entities personifying hunger and cold and death stalk the landscapes of winter mythology, so we fortify our homes however we can and indulge in a little midwinter revelry to keep ourselves going until the spring.

Decorate with pine bunting, pine cones, holly, mistletoe, snow symbols, fairy lights, electric candles, ribbons, streamers, local fauna active during winter, whatever you like. There are plenty of Christmas wreaths out there, so don’t be afraid to make a witchy one with a big old star in the middle. Make sure that any ACTUAL foliage is kept away from the pets, and of course, observe fire safety for any lights you put up. Way too many house fires are caused by electrical shorts in holiday lights, so be extra careful. Do NOT plug an extension cord into a power strip. And go easy on the plastic glitter. Anathema to some, I know, but the more of that we can keep out of the waste cycle and the water system, the less will end up in the oceans.

If you have a fireplace, you can burn a symbolic log “to drive the cold winter away.” Or, if you only have a cauldron or a burning bowl, you can find an outdoor space to burn some twigs and incense for the same purpose. Or you can light some candles with appropriately wintry scents. Or, if you can’t burn anything at all, an LED candle left alight overnight on the altar should do the trick. The whole idea is to symbolize keeping warmth in the home, keeping the dark and the cold at bay, and keeping the home fires literally burning for those who must be elsewhere. However you manage this is fine.

Spend time with your near-and-dear, if you can. Eat good food, drink good wine, and do cozy things. Share treasured memories, and tell stories. Fun fact: Yule and Christmas are another traditional time of year for ghost stories, so feel free to pull those out again. If there’s a family tradition of feasting and gift-giving, lean into it. There are a lot of Christian traditions from Christmas that have made their way into the secular sphere. Sure, they still have some religious associations, but I know plenty of atheists who still exchange presents because it’s FUN. You can also give gifts to others by contributing to charitable organizations, donating to clothing drives and food pantries, or through random acts of kindness to those who need it.

Charity and compassion should be emphasized during this time of year. I mean, you should be charitable and compassionate ALL year when you can manage it, that’s just common decency. But especially when it’s cold and people are feeling that lack of money or resources and we’re surrounded by all these super-capitalistic ad campaigns telling us that our love for others is worth only as much as the kitchen appliances and diamond jewelry we put under the tree….yeah, maybe bring something a little more altruistic to the table. It doesn’t have to be huge, it doesn’t have to be performative. Just look for those opportunities to help someone out or make their life a little easier. You’ll know them when you see them.

If you’re crafty, pull out those projects you’ve been saving for a rainy day. We often spend a lot of time cooped up in the house during cold weather, the more so in 2020 with the various lockdowns, so why not turn it into something productive? Fix something, create something new, work on that scarf you’ve been meaning to finish since last winter. Make a pinecone feeder for the local birds, or scatter some nuts and dried berries for any critters that happen to be out and about. Do winter crafts with your kids to keep them occupied, if they happen to get bored of watching Frozen 2 for the hundredth time this week. (Hey, I only have nieces and a nephew, but I’ve still heard the horror stories.)

Let me pause a moment to address the proverbial elephant in the room. And this MIGHT be dipping a toe into the religion pool, but it’s an issue that a lot of us face. Late December can be a tough time for witches who were raised Christian but are, for one reason or another, disconnected from the faith or the Church at present. There’s the constant symbolism in music and decorations all around, pressure from our friends and families, people gnashing their teeth about red coffee cups, and so on. And we’re not even going to talk about the annual arguments over who stole whose holidays. If you know me, you know exactly how salty I can get on the topic, and we don’t have time for that today. This is about finding ways to celebrate, not my personal rage over people who don’t understand the difference between conflation and syncretism, and can’t be arsed to read history that doesn’t come from-...

Ooooo deep cleansing breath. Come on, Bree, you promised. (-hiss- I LIED.)

ANYWAY. Yule is a time when it might be worth remembering literally anything positive that came out of your experience with Christianity. Some of us have it, some of us don’t, that’s purely a personal matter. Some of us miss the carols, okay? There can be a lot of nostalgia involved in the season that’s disconnected from whatever trauma or differences in belief led to that split. And if you want to pause and remember that fondly, that’s okay. I will fully confess to singing along to Christmas hymns on the radio in my car at top volume because that’s a big part of the season for me and always has been. Heck, I might even attend a service at the local Unitarian church. They’re nice and non-denominational and they focus much more on the meaning behind the season than any particular holiday. So if you feel the need for that fellowship, see if there’s a UU church near you, or a virtual service online. There’s nothing wrong with revisiting your roots.

Moving back into witchcraft territory, you can collect clean snow and icicles to melt for winter moon water. This isn’t really much different from moon water you’d make at any other time of year, but it’s another method of gathering the base material. Also, icicles are great for any water you’re setting aside for more aggressive or protective purposes. The fact that they look like hanging spears isn’t lost on me.

Check your household protections and see if anything needs shoring up. Like I said, I cast my wards every year at Samhain, but they always seem to need a bit of detail work by the time Yule rolls around. Or heck, you might find Yule a more appropriate time to perform that casting, or maybe you refresh your wards at every holiday, who knows. Whatever works for you, as long as you remember to do it at some point. Cleanse your thresholds and the corners of your home, at the very least, just for good measure. But don’t go sweeping anything out the door. That’s sweeping away your good luck for next year.

And speaking of New Year’s, if the year you’ve had has been particularly….well, like the year we’ve had, you can also burn the year in effigy and cleanse with incense for a fresh start. Just write it on a piece of paper and burn that S.O.B. in the cauldron. While you’re at it, you can symbolically burn lingering worries, bad habits, bad memories, and regrets with either candle flame or a burning bowl. And yes, that includes all those negative things you think about yourself that you wish would go away.

And finally, reflect on the year as a whole, with all the joys and lessons it’s brought you. What memories have you made? What has brought you joy? What do you regret? What have you learned? What skills have you developed and how will you use them? What improvements do you still wish to make? And what do you want to do with the coming year?

And around and around it goes….

Like I said at the beginning, this is by no means exhaustive. These are just some basic ideas to get you started. You can make your own celebrations and your own traditions as you, either by building off of existing ones or by creating something new. As long as it has meaning to you and marks the occasions you deem important in ways that are fun and festive, it’s all good. This is something I’d love to see more often as a discussion - personal traditions, things that are unique to families or particular regions or individual witches, all the places they intersect, and all the various ways that we celebrate ourselves and each other and our craft.

- Hex Positive, Ep. 011 - Secular Celebrations (November 1, 2020)

Other Posts In This Series:

Imbolc

Spring Equinox

Beltane

Midsummer

Lughnasadh

Autumn Equinox

Samhain

Yule

This is my little precious dark prince!. He means the world to me. And I’d do anything to keep him out of harms way. I’m here to share some Protection Spells for pets!

 Animal Blessing Protective Spell Number One:

 You will need: 

Blessed Water or either Holy Water 

 Say the following three times: 

 “Bast of grace and beauty, Protectress of all the animal race, Shield my pet/pets (name your pets) from all harm and hurt, Keep my animal warm and safe always, Watch over my pet (name your pet/pets) from day to day and at night, If my pet goes stray, grant them happiness and keep them safe but please bring them back to me in due time, Let my pet have a life that is stress free and no strife”

 So Mote It Be 

 When you say the spell drip only one drop of the blessed water on the forehead of your pet. 

Animal Protection Spell Number 2: 

 What you will need:

 A couple of green candles 

 One white candle 

 A picture of your animal 

 Consecrated water and salt 

 Protection oil 

 Favorite treat that your pet likes 

 What to do: 

 Take your two green candles and light them. The candles represent the conscious of what is going on in regards to the conservation issues that’s in your animal. 

 Take your white candle and light it because it represents the animal that is concerned or that you want to protect. 

 Take your picture and the white candle then say:

 “Spirit of fire burning bright, give protection to my pet this night (name your pet) The moon above for this pet please provide shelter and keep them safe from harm Draw close all spirits of the same as my pet come hither, come hither. Power of the wild and of strength that is so great please help to defend and protect the fate of my pet, so mote it be.” 

 To finish the spell give the treats to your pet or either scatter them outside for other animals to enjoy having.

 Animal Protection Spell Number 3:

  Sometimes you need to do a protection animal spell but you might not have any items to do the spell. This spell does not require anything except a quiet room to concentrate. 

 Here is what you do:

 Close your eyes and picture a white light around your pet. Say this: 

 “My pet is protected right now and safe. No harm or sickness can come to my pet” So Mote it be. Say it 3x .

 If your pet is astray then say this:

 “My pet is astray right now Goddess so please keep my pet safe from all harm. Let my pet quickly find his/her way back to me. So Mote it be”

 Say it 3x and picture your pet returning back to you safe and happy.

 Conclusion:

After you do the spells or affirmations think positive about your pet and know now that your pet is safe from all harm. If know any other protection for pets, feel free to share! :)

Simple Home Wards

For outside:

Drive sturdy sticks into the corners of your property to bolster those areas and strengthen wards. It adds firm definition to where you are warding. Using sticks from your property is a great way to connect everything on your land

Hammer three nails in the ground near your front door to act as a potent warning to spirits below.

Use solar powered lights to line your path to the door to keep it feeling bright, warm, and inhabited. Keep a small light on your keys and it will help to keep you from getting lost. Make sure to program all lights and keychain lights at the same time to sync them together.

Enchant wreaths to draw in abundance and repel misfortune and negative entities.

Choose a striking door knocker to act as a guardian against thieves and predators.

Plant hardy flowers and bushes that are native to/thrive in your area around all entrances and exits. Find out what the bees in your region like (if possible)!

Use windchimes to ward off entities looking for stagnant places. Sound and motion tend to clear away that kind of energy.

Draw (or use energy instead of a drawing utensil) a sigil on the outer walls of your home, especially on pillars and doorframes. You can do this before your home is completely built if you are in that process!

Draw similar sigils and/or statements on your driveway in the summer to bake them into your land and charge them. You can use water in a squeeze bottle to do this as well, and it will fade away immediately if your area is hot.

During the winter, you can also use water to cut through the snow or to freeze onto your property. Be careful, of course, and bear in mind where you or your pets may walk.

Use potted flowers to hide non-deteriorating crystals and wards. Put permanent wards inside the pots before planting.

For inside:

Enchant and place coins or other small tokens above every doorway and in every windowsill of your home to draw in wealth and repel malevolent forces. Bobby pins, dimes, toothpicks. It all works, but I recommend charging them every month or so.

Hang tapestries or other kinds of wall decor to break up stretches of potentially stagnant spaces. Clocks move and typically have a sound, which have always served me well in cleansing and keeping up with the flow of energy.

Salt lamps are actually quite useful. They are very dangerous for animals and small children, though. If you're good with the lamps being safe, they are excellent at cleansing, warming up, and protecting an area.

Rugs can be used to make wards all ob their own. You can create a design on the underside if you want, or just use energy to enchant it.

Wipe vents down with some sort of ritually clean and positively charged solution. Gem elixir, moon water, herbal tincture, etc.

Enchant fixtures already setup to protect you and your family. Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, security systems, locks, etc. Use energy opposed to physical materials for most of these to protect their functionality.

Ward your attic. Birds get in, squirrels get in, entities and energies get in.

If you have a chimney, ward the fireplace or surrounding objects. Grates and screens are awesome for this.

wish fulfillment spell for the full moon

the Hunter's Moon is coming on October 9th, and I just found a cool spell online to do on that night! As always, you can tweak things around according to your circumstances.

Take a glass of any juice you like

Go outside in a moonlit spot

Gaze at the moon while you tell her all your wishes, detailing them as much as you can. When you're done, raise your glass for her and say the following words:

"Mother Goddess, look and see

this chalice I'm offering you.

It's yours for everything you've done,

graceful silver Goddess."

4. Spill the drink on the ground and be sure that your wishes will be fulfilled.

Practical Magic: Circle Casting

If you’re brand new to witchcraft, you’re probably seeing this phrase left and right: casting the circle, or circle casting. For some, it seems fairly obvious, because casting circles is often represented in pop culture, from the Devil’s Traps in Supernatural to the circle of brooms in Practical Magic. 

However, what purpose does casting a circle serve? How do you cast a circle? Why does it have to be a circle and not, say, a square? And do I always need to cast a circle when working magick?

Well, we’ll take this in small bits!

Why should I cast a circle?

A circle serves several different purposes in witchcraft. For some, it’s a means of protection. To others, it’s a means of magnifying ritual energy. For still others, it encourages slipping into meditative consciousness. Whatever the reasons for the tradition, it remains a rather good way of getting the spell started.

In terms of protection, the circle acts sort of like a bubble. After all, it’s not just a cylindrical wall. When a witch casts the circle, he or she is envisioning the energy rising up from where it had been cast on the floor and forming a dome over the ritual space, and below the floor to encase the space in a bubble of intent. For many witches, this forms a sort of shield from outside spiritual influences, and to enter the circle after it’s been cast would require cutting a doorway into it.

As you cast your spell or work your rite, the energy you send out interacts with your altar, your tools, yourself, and your ritual space. The circle acts sort of like a can of soda that’s been shaken up. It holds in all of that energy, allowing it to increase in concentration and potency, allowing it to continuously interact with all ritual components, including the witch casting it. When the rite is done and the circle is opened, it sends all of that energy out into the world with extra force and intent, allowing it to more effectively do as the witch desires. This is particularly useful for rites and spells intended for someone else, or for spells intended to cause large changes.

Furthermore, casting a circle is usually the first or second act done in a spell - often a witch will cleanse a ritual space by asperging or smoke cleansing before casting the circle. As a result, casting the circle is an ideal start to a rite because it begins to set you into the state of mind you need for spellwork. By channeling intent and starting up the circle, you get your magical energy moving so that by the time the ritual starts, you’re already warmed up (like an athlete taking a couple of laps around the track so she can be warmed up and ready to go for practice or for the game). 

Why does it need to be a circle instead of another shape?

This largely is rooted in tradition. If you really feel that a different shape is more sacred than a circle, you’re welcome to use that instead in your practice - some cultures believed in triangles being the shape of perfection. However, in most cultures and beliefs, the circle is a rather sacred shape. We see it everywhere, the only shape that can truly be called perfect - no corners, no sharp edges, no beginnings, no endings. It is a symbol of eternity, and reflects the shape of Mother Moon and Father Sun.

The circle also has another impact in witchcraft in that it can be seen as a fertility symbol - representing the full womb. 

When casting a spell and beginning with a circle, you’re creating a sphere of energy - a magical manifestation of the principle of “as above, so below.” In a sense, you’re not casting a circle, but instead casting a sphere. It allows you to encompass your ritual space in a way where the energy can flow smoothly and freely like water. In general, other shapes don’t allow this kind of movement. Just like in Feng Shui, corners collect energy, prohibiting it from moving freely and causing it to grow stale and potentially sour into negative energy. Without the corners, you don’t have to worry about stale energy.

Do I always need to cast a circle in order to work magick?

The simple answer is no. The more accurate answer is that it largely depends upon the tradition you follow and what brand of magick you work. There are witches out there who will absolutely refuse to cast any kind of magic without the protection of the circle. Meanwhile, there are witches out there who only cast the circle for esbats and Sabbats. What feels best for you should be what dictates how frequently you cast your circles.

In my case, I always cast a circle when I am doing a full rite. Since many of my spells are done on the fly (intuition is key for me, so I don’t always write out elaborate spells), I don’t cast a circle for every working I do. Instead, with some spells I make use of circle imagery in order to provide the same effect - the pentacle is basically a mini circle. If you’ve seen the picture I showed of the protection altar I made for a friend of mine, you would notice that I have the pentacle there, but on either side of the pentacle are crystals pointing outward - through the use of imagery, and by using the crystals to project the energy, I’ve managed to cast my circle in the process of casting the spell.

When I’m working in my kitchen, I never cast full ritual circles - the pots and pans provide the shape, and I can cast the circles in the bottoms of those utensils if I need to empower the food.

I do, however, recommend casting circles any time you wish to work with spirits or any time you perform divination or healing spells. This is as much for empowerment as it is for protection.

How do I cast a circle?

Casting a circle can be as elaborate or as easy as you feel it needs to be. It can make use of actually drawing a circle on the floor, or it can be entirely energetic and felt. Ultimately, like any aspect of magick, the circle should be cast in the way that you feel it should be. The guidelines I give here are exactly that: guidelines. Work with them however you feel works best for you!

Step One: Cleanse your space

Cleansing your ritual space is necessary for any magick, depending  upon your craft. When doing a ritual spell, I always cleanse with sage smoke or asperge with holy water. When you feel your ritual space is cleansed of all negativity, you’re ready to begin the casting of the circle.

In my practice, I go around the circle a total of three times. The first time is when cleansing the space. In addition to cleansing the room, I cleanse the circle in a clockwise direction, stopping briefly at each cardinal point to allow the smoke to linger in the space. For me, this helps begin the process of casting, and enhances the visualization.

Step Two: Physical Representation (If Any)

I don’t often draw a circle on the floor. This is largely because most of my magic is intuitive. However, when working with the coven, we sometimes do lay out a circle depending upon the rite we’re working. Especially for new witches who struggle with visualization, laying out a circle can be very nifty and helpful. As such, if you’re new to witchcraft, I do recommend laying out a circle if you feel it helps. If you’re still in the broom closet and want to cast a circle discreetly, you may have to rely upon visualization alone.

Regardless, there are a couple of ways you can lay out your physical circle. The first is to only provide representations at the Corners, or Cardinal Points - North, East, South, and West. If laying out the circle is ritualized for you, it is often recommended to start in the East and move clockwise around the circle. When providing only representations at the Corners, you can either place candles in each direction, or you can provide something that represents the element associated with it (a feather for air at the east, a candle for fire at the south, a glass of water at the west, and a jar of salt for earth at the north, for instance). My coven has considered casting spells at the beach, and we all loved the idea of taking tiki torches and setting one up in each corner, lighting them as we greet each guardian.

The other way of laying a physical circle is to actually draw out the whole circle in some way. If you’re at the beach or in an area where you can draw a circle in the earth, you’re set. But other times, you may be in an area where there’s a bit of foliage, or you’re indoors and don’t have the luxury of scratching a circle into your apartment’s carpet. Depending on what kind of surface you’re using, you can pour salt around the ritual space as a circle, or you can use a protection powder (such as ground eggshells, or ground cinnamon). If laying down something that’s granulated or powdered is a bad idea, because carpets, some witches will use ribbon instead.

One of my favorite moments with my coven was when we had cast a circle on a hill for a Sabbat rite. The hill was rather overgrown, and we were working in a small, grassy clearing. Since the rite was for Imbolc, we had decided that spring flowers would be beautiful. So we took flowers and laid them out in a circle around our ritual space.

Whatever method you use, it is often easier to lay out the physical circle before casting it spiritually.

Step Three: Greeting the Quarters

The second pass around the circle is done as a means of welcoming the Quarters. If your tradition does not have guardians at the cardinal points, you may substitute as needed (welcoming the Faeries, or welcoming deity, for example) or you may omit this step entirely.

Starting at whatever direction is traditional for you (I always start in the north, but many witches prefer to start in the east), greet the guardian, welcoming it to the circle. I do this with an invocation and with the ringing of a bell. Something to the effect of:

I welcome the element of Earth to the North, that it strengthen the circle.

Or

I welcome the Guardian of the North, that it may bear witness to my work. Come in peace and love, so mote it be!

You would move in a clockwise direction around the circle, stopping at each cardinal point and welcoming its guardian or spirit in turn.

Once done, return to the altar.

Step Four: Casting the Circle

My third pass around the circle is the actual casting of it on a spiritual level. Depending upon your tradition, you would do this with a staff, sword, athame, or wand. My personal tradition is flexible - cast it with your hand if you feel that is more effective. I do, however, often cast the circle with a wand - the quartz in my wand helps to empower the circle, and I love encouraging that as much as possible.

With whatever implement you prefer in your casting hand (some traditions emphasize casting hands, others don’t; in general, your casting hand is your dominant hand or whatever hand you use to write with most often; if you’re ambidextrous, this could be either hand), start with the point you began at. Point the implement toward the floor at that point (physical circles help with this - point at the border you’ve created) and begin moving clockwise about the circle, envisioning your energy flowing outward from you, through your implement/fingertips, to the floor and creating a barrier.

Personally, I always tend to see energy as being like slow, fire-like mist that glows blue. I see it coming outward from my heart, traveling down my arm, through the wand (glowing brighter as it passes through each crystal) and then passing onto the ground where it ignites like a little wall of fire. Every witch sees it differently. That’s just how I visualize it.

Some witches will see the circle forming a sphere on its own. Great! If you feel you need to shape the sphere yourself, you can do so. Once you’ve cast the circle, go back to the altar and lift the energy upward from the floor until it closes above your head, creating a dome, and then push it downward in the same manner so that the sphere encloses the space below ground.

Visualization is key.

Congratulations! You’ve cast your circle. Some traditions will mark this in the ritual format: “Here is the border where the circle is cast none but love may enter, none but love may leave” or “The circle is cast in the presence of Goddess and God, so mote it be!”

When doing a simple spell and casting a circle for it, I acknowledge the casting quietly before setting to my work.

In Conclusion…

As you can see, casting a circle is something that can be very elaborate or very simple. It can be required for all workings or it can only be required for some. I feel that the way you cast your circle is often deeply personal. For that reason, in the steps I gave as an example above are only some of the key parts of how I cast the circle without revealing any personal details of what I do for it when not working with the coven.

Every tradition, every path, every witch casts circles differently. If you are starting out as a witch, I greatly encourage you to create your own, personalized method of casting the circle. If you keep a Book of Shadows (as most witches do), the way you cast your circle should be one of the first things that you write down in it.

All that said, may all your circles be unbroken!

Blessed Be! )O(