@KentuckyConjurer Being in the broom closet and living in the city means I can't really cast a circle. As far as protection is concerned, as a newbie to the craft I'd do it just to familiarize myself with it even if I don't need it. It can't hurt.
No. I live in a small flat and there is not much space for an actual circle. Also, I do not have a garden and I live in the middle of a large city, so no spaces in nature where I could be on my own for rituals either.
John Beckett has written about an alternative to a circle. When he does some rituals, he says with intention, "I consecrate this space, may it be sacred to my rite."
I tried that and it works very well for me.
@KentuckyConjurer my circle is a mental one, I envision a circle of light around me. Also sometimes I sit in the middle of a mini trampoline and that does the trick 😅
@KentuckyConjurer If it’s a big spell, I’ll cast a circle. If it’s just something little, I don’t. I get into the mindset of spell work by centering more than circle casting.
@KentuckyConjurer@MsHearthWitch Ceremonial work is fun in groups, all that drama and symbiology to get everyone's minds on the same path, but when I'm on my own its the breadknife and some small offering for the land - what I like to call being a Weatherwax Witch.
Precisely. Growing up in the 80s and early 90s, most of the readily available books were heavily ritualistic. I think Scott Cunningham sort of lessened that when he started putting out general knowledge books on candle magic and herbal magic, but it was still pretty much pushed that witches made circles all the time and used special knives and cups.
It's funny because that's when I came up too. But I went straight into a Gardnerian Coven. Learned a lot but as I became more progressive I quickly found Wicca was not for me.
Did a stint with the OBOD druids which (to me) felt in a lot of ways like Wicca with a more "celtic" flair.
As I near my 40s I'm so the opposite of ritualistic it's funny.
@MsHearthWitch@KentuckyConjurer I'm a little bit older than that, i started in the late 70s lol. I did the Wicca thing and the Druid thing and then did my own thing too.
Absolutely agreed on the purpose of ceremony (and correspondences, I feel - they're just ritual for solo work, and should be just as fluid and personal).
It's literally the first thing I tell any new witch who comes to me for teaching/advice... throw out the lists. The meanings of things are far too rooted in both cultural, social and then ofc personal history for those mass-circulated lists to be truly impactful.
What does it mean TO YOU.
I do sometimes miss group work, cuz it's nice to not be alone. A loose coven would be perfect
We don't have a coven, but we host events for a group of over 600 in Indiana, covering IN, IL, and KY. Basically, we wanted to be a jumping point for people on similar paths to meet. It's been somewhat successful. The four of us leading are very different and group rituals are always the leader's preference. Sometimes Wiccan, sometimes heathen, etc.
Outside of my social justice group, I really don't get anything out of group rituals unless it's like drumming or dance ritual, with the building of energy.
Yeah, eons ago there was a group kinda similar here in the GVA. For the holidays they'd throw big parties. There'd be some basic group ritual always done by different local groups. And it was lovely. I stopped going for a while for reasons I don't even recall, life, probably. I just liked the social aspect. I'm rather lonely where I'm at right now.
Covid really put a kink in our events, too, and it still does. Almost all of our events are held outdoors now. We do rent shelters in the winter, but do ritual and most everything outside and around a fire.
I WANT to feel the seasons around me and I think, energetically, it really influences my work.
I'm sorry connecting where you are is difficult. I do enjoy the social aspect of it also.
We do a monthly full moon Jan-Sept then new moon Oct-Dec. We hold big events on the equinoxes and solstices...rent shelter houses in the woods and have ritual and a big feast.
My favorite is my social justice group, though. I will get one going on here after summer. I'm just swamped with work right now.
Totally understand being swamped and not wanting to add to your plate. I am looking forward to when you do have the space for it though.
That kind of group sounds exactly like the one that was around me. When i return from vacation I might look for them again. Surely something like that exists in the Vancouver area! That said, as mentioned I think, Covid makes such things so much more difficult. I've mostly learned to be satisfied with online connections.
@KentuckyConjurer@SteveHynd Also same. I have some hearing issues, like auditory processing. And a lot of background noise/chatter makes it hard to parse what I want to hear.
@KentuckyConjurer@RevXenoFact
I personally do not most of the time. But then my idea of 'spellwork' has more to do with rearranging probability currents than it does lighting a colored candle and putting some herbs in a jar. Which is to say, I'm more likely to find myself in the middle of spellwork than setting out specifically with that intent.
A lot of the work I do is in the woods, so I don't use candles (fire hazard), call in quarters, etc. I feel like when I'm in the space where all the elements are naturally represented, they are already there.
Those ritualistic actions never felt natural to me.
@KentuckyConjurer I do most of the time, puts me in the right space, as your question so wonderfully put. I also do to honor those who have come before me and those yet to come.
When we do group work, we will often cast a circle to help center everyone and solidify us together for the task at hand.
When I'm working on my own, I rarely use a circle unless I'm calling in or working with those who have passed. I want that energetic barrier between us.
Add comment