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| In most if not all religious traditions, attention is
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| given to the place in which worship and other religious
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| activities occur. There is much information
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| about circular forms in comparative religion and
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| depth psychology. Circles often, for example,
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| represent the earth and the mother principle. In
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| Jungian psychology, they symbolize wholeness
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| and unity. Mandalas, which are meditation
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| diagrams associated with Hinduism and
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| Buddhism, are frequently drawn in the form of
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| circles. According to the South Asian tradition,
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| meditating on mandalas allows meditators access
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| to different realms of consciousness. In a roughly
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| parallel manner, magic circles are viewed as functioning
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| as doorways to alternate realities.
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|
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| In ceremonial magic, magicians cast (create) a
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| circle around themselves as protection, as a way of
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| keeping out negative energies and entities. The
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| utilization of circles for protection is actually quite
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| old. During the Western medieval period, for
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| example, circles would be drawn on the floor
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| around the seriously ill and around newborns and
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| their mothers to protect them from demonic
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| forces. Circles are also cast to contain the energies
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| that are created within the circle during a given
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| ritual—they become invisible boundaries that one
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| does not cross without disrupting the energy.
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|
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| There are several ways of conceiving the circle as a kind of energy containment field.With respect
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| to such activities as casting a spell, for example, the
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| circle allows energy to build up without leaking
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| out into the surrounding area until the proper
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| moment when the energy is projected outward in
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| a concentrated burst. More generally, the circle
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| provides an arena within which the vibrations of
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| the group energy can be altered so as to draw the
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| participants nearer to the otherworld.
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| In most religious traditions, one finds the notion
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| that the normally unseen spiritual world coexists in
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| the same time and space as the physical world, in
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| what might be referred to as a different dimension.
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| What separates them is their differing rates of vibration
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| (understood literally or metaphorically). Thus,
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| in order to enter into rapport with the otherworld,
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| one needs to create a space—in this case the circle—
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| within which the rate of vibration can be modified.
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|
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| In occult traditions, the other dimensions are
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| understood as constituting a series of different
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| realms or planes, arranged according to rate of
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| vibration. It is the subtle energies found in these
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| other realms that one manipulates during magical
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| operations. In occult literature, the plane closest to
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| the physical is referred to as the etheric plane, and
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| the subtle energies of this realm are often termed
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| etheric energies. Etheric energies are subdivided
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| into four categories according to the four classical
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| elements of Greek philosophy—earth, air, fire, and
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| water—and hence are sometimes also referred to
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| as elemental energies. It is from these etheric energies
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| that the magician constructs the circle.
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|
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| As both consecrated space in the physical
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| realm, and space that has also been etherialized by
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| being raised in vibration, the interior of the circle
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| is, in a sense, “between the worlds.” From this
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| energized space—a physical/etheric temple floating
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| between the worlds—it is easy for participants
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| to extend their imagination into the subtle realms,
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| and thus facilitate magical operations. By the same
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| token, it is easy for spiritual entities and other
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| powers to be drawn near the participants.
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|
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| For Further Reading:
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| Amber K. True Magick: A Beginner’s Guide.
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| Llewellyn, 1991.
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| Farrar, Stewart. What Witches Do: The Modern Coven
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| Revealed. New York: Coward,McCann, 1971.
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|
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| --''James Lewis''
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