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and you will never again believe you're inferior.
Casting the Circle
The Casting of the Circle is crucial for any ritual work. The ritual work must correlate the correct planetary aspects
with the purpose of the work.
Gather the sisters participating in the ritual and measure a circle by holding each other's hands and standing at arm's
length. Mark the circle by gathering a stone to replace one's foot space. Gather more stones and build an altar in the
middle of the circle, slightly to the north (power comer). Upon the stone altar, set your representation of the Mother
Goddess; an image, or a single rose, is fine. Place two white candles (one to the east, one to the west) of the Goddess
image.
Each woman now places one white candle on the altar, and one on the outside circle stone.
Women are needed to mark out the circle with flour and barley, and write the names of the Goddess within the circle.
They are also to consecrate the grounds with fire and air by walking around with incense in the circle (frankincense
and myrrh are traditional; herbal incense is fine).
The High Priestess (HP) purifies all the grounds and herself with water and salt (or seawater, if it is available). Her
priestesses leave the circle to meditate. The HP draws the circle with her witch's knife on the ground in an
uninterrupted way, separating the grounds of worship from the rest. It is drawn from east to south to west to north,
leaving a gate to the east open for the women to enter.
Women gather to enter, oldest first, youngest last. The HP sprinkles purifying water on each one, saying:
/ purify you from all anxiety, all feajs, in the name of Diana.
Woman answers:
/ enter the circle in perfect love and perfect trust. HP kisses and embraces the woman:
Welcome to the Goddess's presence.
With incense, HP consecrates each woman with a pentagram in the air. Each woman then attends to lighting her candle
on the altar and outer circle. When the last woman has entered, the HP closes the gate with her knife and says:
This circle is closed. The Goddess blesses Her women.
To unify: Form the circle with linked bodies, hands on napes of necks. Breathe deeply to oxygenate. Every woman
makes a sound with her body that can manifest as a low hum, or Goddess names, or just variations of the sound the
group uses.
Backing the HP, the women turn to the east, drawing a pentagram in the air with their witches' knives.
HP walks to the east corner, drawing a pentagram in the air with her athalme, kissing the blade after each invocation:
(East:) Hail to thee, powers of the East! Hail to the great eagle, corner of all beginnings! Ea, Astarte, Aurora, Goddess
of all Beginnings! Come and be witness to our rite as we perform it according to ancient rites!
(South:) Hail to thee, powers of the South! Corners of great fire and passion, Goddess Esmeralda, Goddess Vesta and
Heartha! Come and be witness at our rite as we perform it according to ancient laws!
(West:) Hail to thee, powers of waters! Life-giving Goddess of the Sea, Aphrodite, Marianne, Themis, Tiamat! Come
and guard our circle and bear witness to our rite as we perform it according to ancient rites!
(North:) Hail to thee, corner of all powers! Great Demeter, Persephone, Kore, Ceres! Earth Mothers and Fates! Great
sea of glass! Guard our circle and bear witness as we perform our rite according to your heritage!
HP moves back to the east corner and seals the circle with her kiss. Now the circle is really closed, and nobody can
leave it until the spirits evoked are properly thanked and dismissed.
The Ritual
All place their knives down. Arms are linked one more time it's time to raise the witches' power. First a low hum is
produced, but then creativity and imagination can be used to embroider on the overall sound of everyone. Unusual
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sounds can come up, animal sounds, howling at the moon like dogs or hooting like owls.
While this is happening, the HP feels when the time is right (energy has been raised) and invites the Goddess's
appearance. This part is always improvised, but there are ancient lines to memorize, if you are so inclined (see the
Sabbats for details):
Blessing upon all tools, food, people.
All extend hands in the sign of the Horn (little finger and thumb extended, rest tucked under), never interrupting the
hum, which is the energy to use throughout the ritual:
Gracious Goddess Diana! Eternal Sister! Bless this food to make us strong! Bless our tools, too, and hearts! We gather
together to receive your teachings and draw near your presence.
All coveners say:
Blessed be! HP pours the wine into the chalice, holding it up to the moon:
Lovely Goddess of the bow! Lovely Goddess of the arrows! Of all hounds and of all hunting. Thou who wakest in
starry heaven when the sun is sunk in slumber. Thou with moon upon thy forehead, who the chase by night preferest
unto hunting in the daylight, with thy nymphs unto the music of the horn thyself the huntress, and most powerful: I
pray thee think, although but for an instant, upon us who pray unto thee! Fair Goddess of the rainbow, of the stars and
of the moon, the Queen most powerful of hunters and of the night. We beg thee thy aid, that thou mayestgive to us the
best of fortune ever!
HP pours wine upon the earth as a libation and all coveners, when receiving the chalice, do the same. She sips of the
wine and says,
"Blessed be!" or gives us a short blessing, or whatever is close to the heart.
Practical Advice for Circling-
We have gathered practices based on improvisation. So, rule number one is to improvise any time you feel as though
creative juices are flowing. This is very important. Spontaneous praying is more powerful than the memorized, out-of-
the-book kind. What comes through the soul in the moment is more powerful than what is hammered into the brain.
When you recite poetry, don't worry about forgetting a line or two. Do not read from a piece of paper. Nothing can
ruin high energy more than somebody whipping out a flashlight and starting to read. It's different when you are settled
down at the last part, the feast part of your circles, and there is free-flowing conversation. You can read your poetry
then. Remember the earth's religions preceded writing and they invented it.
Take some time alone and walk through rituals in natural places to find out what works for you. Try to worship
outdoors as much as possible. Don't let yourself become too much of a backyard pagan or a livingroom witch. That's
missing the point.
Indoor gatherings are more practical when the weather is cold and you intend to go sky-clad. Sky-clad means taking
your clothes off, remembering that in the craft, the naked human body represents truth the goddess Maat, for
example, is always shown nude, with feathers only; and she's the goddess of truth. Remember that it is a great
equalizer, not a sexual thing, to take your clothes off. It also teaches you love for your body, respect for your body, and
acceptance of the variety around you.
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