recently, i have been reading about grounding and circle casting, and obviously depending on where you are looking, some of the ways differ from one explanation to another, and some more complex than others. so, i thought it would be interesting to hear from those on the forum that do grounding and circle casting, and find out how they perform them.

I think, if you don't mind me saying, you are looking for "circle casting in a box" and it doesn't work that way. How to cast something that works for you, your energy, the ritual, working, whatever you are performing is something you have to work out. One size does not fit all I am afraid. You also need to be aware that you are then asking people to share something that is probably very personal to them. People may not be too keen to share.

I don't cast circles often. I cant remember the last time I did. Years go. As for grounding. I am grounded, I don't need to perform something to make me grounded. I think thats why I also rarely use circles I don't need it much anymore.

Try the different methods from the books and see which ones work for you, which makes you most comfortable and then start adapting them for your energy and your needs. Eventually you'll find your own way to cast and ground.

Hmm...I gave up working with circles before I became Heathen. However, there are several methods. The usual Wiccan one is to trace your shape using (generally, though it isn't absolutely necessary) a tool such as a sword, athame, wand or staff, depending on your tradition, what tools you have, and your own preferences. Many people don't use a tool at all, except their finger.

I've known a ceremonial magician who didn't like Wiccan circles, as she preferred a sphere. she said circles didn't prevent things coming in from above or below.

For rituals, if Heathens bother with a shape at all for the ve (sacred space) it's more traditionally a rectangle. That may be narrower at one end than the other. or it may be some other shape entirely, depending on the ground and the circumstances. But mostly, we don't bother. I don't know what other recon religions do.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grounding'. I've heard a lot of talk about this, and, for many, it seems to be crossing into the Otherworld. However, it also seems to mean coming back, so it really does depend on which meaning. Like Xalle, and for the same reason, I can't help. I seem to be grounded. When I cross into the Otherworld I do so using the simplest of techniques, but that possibly is the result of spending years studying and practising, I don't know. And I come back when it's the time to come back -which is all too often before I want to.

I will cast a circle or other shape for some kinds of magic. I don't use it for religion, and I'm afraid I 'lifted' the concept from the wiccish people I met when I left home. It was my first exposure to western magic and I loved how fast and efficient it was, compared to what I had grown up with.

I cast a small circle, more of a sphere, and I install guardians in a subjective sense, seeing them as parts of myself specifically chosen for the design of what I'm trying to do, so they can be any set of (to me) balanced concepts.

The reason I do it at all is because I see a spell as fragile in it's beginning, needing a safe space to become fully formed so it doesn't get blown apart (more drifted than blown - it's a nebulous thing) by distraction and the regular patterns of what's around. A spell is a new pattern I want to release, and I like to use the circle for it to become strong in it's own right before I send it out, so it can overcome or find the proper space among the rest of the patterns out there.

I'm not explaining it very well, because I am not given to self-reflection, but if I am aiming for a specific result it usually isn't one that would happen on its own, or I wouldn't need a spell in the first place. So it has to be strong enough, or 'mature' enough, to lead to that result as naturally as whatever 'would' happen on its own, so it needs to have a certain amount of strength and inertia behind it before it goes out. Having a blank space, cut off from all the other patterns out there, lets it grow to fill that space, so it is less likely to drift apart when released.

I guess a circle for me is a kind of spell womb - I cast it to create the spell and dissolve it when I feel the spell can compete with everything else drifting around out there. then I launch the spell towards it's target, so it is more of a directed thing than a drifting thing. Swimming towards my goal rather than depending on the current to float it there, in a way, so more able to overcome the 'what would happen if left alone' and impose the 'what I want'.

Hey, it works in my head.


unsung

Can't help much on the circle front because I don't do them these days, and when I did, I borrowed straight out of 'Wicca for the solitary practitioner'.

With regard to grounding, I see it as a way of getting myself back out of the headspace I'm in during ritual or magic, and reconnecting with the world. I find I need to do something similar when I've spent hours beading or sewing a costume- your mind has been on laser focus for a while, and you need to broaden it out again to include stuff like food, family, going to the loo, getting ready for work etc.

I tend to pop to the loo, and then grab something to eat or drink, or go out into the garden for a mo and check on whether the pumpkins have taken over yet. Something physical to wake myself up again.

I generally cast a circle if im doing anything, even rune and tarot readings. I only do it though because i like the energy. Also i find it helpful to cut me off from the rest of the world like creating a pychological barrier to stop me worrying about everything else. I only ground really if im feeling a bit fidgety.

If I'm doing solitary work, I don't normally cast a circle, though I have done so sometimes if things have felt a bit odd or in need of more protection or just a quieter background.

Working with others, it depends on what I'm doing. In ceremonial magick, we don't cast circles, but we do do various kinds of banishing, which actually has pretty similar effects. The LBRP (Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram) has a lot in common with circle casting, and in fact its visualisation isn't really very different, but the feel you get is not the same as casting a circle. If I'm doing Feri witchcraft, I'll pretty much always cast a circle if I'm working with others. There are various reasons for this, but mostly for me it's because there are a sequence of things I do in casting a circle that reliably create a, for want of a better description, 'Feri space,' to work in. The ceremony associated with circle casting is also very good for getting people to shut up and stop babbling and start getting themselves into an appropriate mental state for a working.

As for the method of casting a circle, I've been involved with various techniques, and have even written one from scratch that casts a circle using mathematics rather than more traditional imagery. They pretty much all work, but each technique gives a different feel to the space that you create. My preference is to cast a sphere and to call seven guardians -- each compass direction, above, below and centre (which is also yourself). Grounding's not something I generally do (its not typically done by Feri witches, because we don't typically believe in giving away personal power even for grounding purposes), but if I've had excess energy I've typically dumped it into my tools for later use rather than into the earth. The exact technique matters far less than just simply having a clear, strong visualisation of the circle or sphere and its intent, however, so far be it from me to claim that any particular technique is better than another.

I think you need to remember and understand why you cast a circle in the first place and it might help you to understand why people perform this in different ways.

1. A circle creates sacred space!
2. A circle acts as a protective force keeping out unwanted energies whilst you work inside it.
3. It contains the energies you raise within it's boundaries until you are ready to send or direct them to their target.

Dependant on what you are doing at the time, is reflected in the requirement for the strength and size of the circle. Someone has commented though that a circle is actually a sphere, otherwise you will have openings above and below.

You will find plenty of references as to 'How to cast a circle' in any book you pick up, and you will find differing opinions on how many circles to cast. I personally work with only one, the energy one for a Sabbatt which is a celebration, to really mark out the sacred space, but for working rituals it would depend on what I was doing, but generally I go up to 5 as a maximum.


BB
Morph

93
I use a ritual called Star Ruby,which pretty much does the same as the LBRP but uses deities more relevent to todays aeon.
It isnt, as such,casting a circle.More of a protection.
93/93 93

For me grounding myself is very important!!! Sometimes I let myself get carried away by energy. I'm wired, I'm excitable, I'm flying and giddy, this makes concentration or sleeping almost impossible. (and if I do sleep I have the strangest dreams)

I ground myself by taking a walk preferable near trees (the older the better) and finding a seat (a find a bench is better as it helps me to have my feet firmly on the ground).

I imagine roots coming out of my feet and running deep into the ground, I connect myself to the trees, to nature and its calming influences.

This brings me right back down to earth and helps to clear my mind before and after I practice.

I also imagine my energy flowing back into the earth, this helps give back energy I have taken.

This is a really good place to start on what ever path you wish to take as I find it really helps open my mind to the energy and the power in this world!

Just be careful of two things, one: Don't do this on a stormy day!! And two: make sure you send the energy down into the earth otherwise you might end up taking more energy and this can lead in my experience to a temporary insanity! lol

Hope this helps its nice to be able to share this stuff with people!!

I haven't casted a compass in years, but you must consider it not a circle but more like a globe. So in this way you are protected from not only the sides, but above & below as well.
As for grounding, simply stop where you are & share your offerings with Deity. Be it a piece of bread or a biscuit, swig of water & only move away when you think you are safe to. I once broke a bone in my foot after not being fully grounded

i think circle casting is really personal to the practitioner depending upon path and what works best for you and that as morph said the main thing is it serves its purpose, i.e. to protect from anything harmful and to contain and preserve the energy you work with and raise within it until you direct it to a purpose and to provide you with a "clear" working area (sacred space).

The grounding question though, invariably people who spend time out doors and in nature seem to be more grounded that those who are removed from it. I've noticed that people in the city almost feel like they can have static energy build up around them sometimes, bare feet on the grass, cliched but true, and sitting or standing with trees. Being connected to the earth is what grounds us.

bbs LL