A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

The Triple-Cast Circle: The Ritual
Casting the Circle
Workings and Rituals

In order to choose the site for your ritual you will need to define first the purpose of the ritual, then exactly how the ritual is to be facilitated.

A schematic illustration of the layout of the Circle

Some of the factors that affect the choice of site will be:

· The number of participants at the Gathering

· The site’s accessibility

· Whether the site needs to be indoors or outside

· The weather

· Whether the ritual will be held at night or during the day

· What ritual tools and accessories will be required and how they will be transported and placed within the site

There are other factors to take into account, of course. The response of your internal energy to the location you are contemplating is immensely important. The influences of local ley lines and other external influences will also have to be considered.

Many ancient pre-Christian gathering sites have particularly potent intrinsic energies that have been amplified by the resonance of the rituals conducted on them for millennia. If you are not able to use one of these energized locations, the next best choice should be a neutral location, a site that is free from negative influences. This is often the case if you are intending to facilitate an indoor ritual. There will be very few positively energized indoor sites. Most represent a neutral environment, unless you are unfortunate enough to select an indoor location that has at some time been contaminated by previous workings of a negative influence.

It will be necessary for you to cleanse and purify the site as explained earlier to safeguard against any lingering unwanted influences. Cleansing a ritual site is the physical cleaning of the site prior to use—sweeping, dusting, washing, whatever is required to make the site usable. Once your site is selected and you have gathered together the tools and accessories for your working, you may begin to arrange your ritual site.

The first step in casting any Circle is to identify the orientation of your ritual site. This is normally done by using an ordinary compass. There are, however, some people who have the gift of being able to dowse the cardinal points; others choose to use the traditional Druid’s stone or a magnetized needle.

Whatever method you choose, once you have oriented your site, mark the cardinal points on the ground. This can be done with a simple cross somewhere near the proposed entry portal of the Circle showing the four cardinal points of the compass. Then walk to the “notional” center of the Circle and mark the center point with a similar cross, again oriented to the cardinal points.

Depending on your chosen location, you may now need to erect your portable working stone and convocation stone, if that is what you are using, and set out your ritual tools and candles before casting the Circle. Remember that the head of the person lying on the convocation stone must be located at the center point of the Circle. The person will be lying in the north/south orientation, feet pointing toward the working stone and head at the center. Once the stones are erected and your ritual tools are in place, you may begin the working for casting a triple-cast Circle.

For this working you will need:

· Your stave, to cast the first Circle.

· Your salt canister, which should contain enough salt to cast the second Circle.

· A flask of moon-cleansed water, to anoint the Circle.

· Two floor-standing candleholders plus two natural wax candles, or enough material to set two small fires. These will be set on each side of the entry portal of the Circle and will be used to cast the third Circle.

To begin the working, stand at the southern extremity of the proposed Circle, at the center point of the proposed entry portal, facing the north and the center mark of your intended Circle. Place a candleholder at your left and right sides, arms’ width apart. This marks the entry portal.

Like most other rituals and workings, the Circle-casting working begins with the Druidic priest or priestess focusing their sensory awareness using the power position of the inverted triangular pyramid. Standing between the entry portal candles, assume the inverted pyramid stance and focus your awareness as explained earlier. Once you are confident that you have achieved your desired level of sensory awareness, lift your stave in both hands as high into the air as possible and say:

“I begin the casting and call upon the energy of the elements to protect all those within.”

Place the base of your stave at the base of the candleholder on your left. Step inward into the inside of the circumference and begin to draw or cast the Circle on the ground, encompassing the area you plan to use in your ritual. You will end at the base of the second candle-holder, thereby completing an unbroken circle from one candleholder to the other, leaving only the space between them as the portal.

Set aside your stave by leaning it against your working stone. (As a point of etiquette you should never lay your stave flat on the ground.) Pick up your salt canister from the working stone, open it, and, holding it high in the air with both hands, say:

“I continue the casting and call upon the energy of the elements to protect all those within.”

Beginning at the same point at the base of the candleholder on your left, walk around the inner circumference of your Circle sprinkling salt on the ground at the Circle’s perimeter until you again reach the second candleholder, thereby casting an unbroken salt Circle from one candle-holder to the other.

Replace the salt canister upon the working stone, and pick up your matches or flint or whatever you intend to ignite your candle with. Walk to the first candleholder and light its candle. Remove the second candle (from the candleholder on the right) from its holder, and light it from the flame of the first candle. Holding the second candle high in the air with both hands, say:

“I complete the casting and call upon the energy of the elements to protect all those within.”

Place the wick of the second candleholder back into the flame of the first candleholder, and from that point walk the perimeter of the cast Circle with the flame of the second candle directly over the previously cast circumference. When you arrive at the second candleholder, place the lit candle in it, thereby having cast an unbroken flame Circle from the first candleholder to the second. As you place the candle into the candleholder, say:

“The casting is complete, the Circle is closed. Once sealed, let none defile its protection.”

This then completes the Circle casting. The Circle should now be entered and exited only through the portal left between the two candleholders.