Friday, April 15, 2011

To Cast or not To Cast

I have a dilemma.  When it comes to casting circles, I love them, but don't love the time for the set up.  I've discussed this with friends and they are quite comfortable casting a quick spell and moving on.  I'm not an expert so I want to do what is best.  I find that my spells work much better in a circle, but really don't want to depend on the circle when I want to do a quick spell.  Other magickal systems don't cast spells.  Kitchen witches, hedge witches etc. don't always cast spells.  Would a white light of protection do as well.  What about all that energy that is raised during a spell?  What I do love about a cast circle is the energy you feel at the perimeter of the cast circle and calling quarters.  Whatever I do in the circle seems so reverant.  So please offer up your opinion, advice and or experiences.  Share your knowledge.  Blessed Be.

7 comments:

  1. I don't do what's considered standard ritual magic, so all I can offer is my experience in my path.
    I don't feel comfortable connecting to the energy of the world without some form of protection, and following a set of actions that are fairly consistent every time helps me to further set my mind in the 'casting' frame. To that end what I do is set up a phrase, or mental 'switch', that I say or flip every time I start. Something simple that after several uses becomes synonymous with the 'feeling' of casting the full circle, so that the energy lines up as if I had.
    I hope that doesn't sound like some weird rambling and helps =).

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  2. I think the most important thing is that you feel comfortable in what you are doing! =)

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  3. Thank you Traveler and Mrs. B, this helps very much!

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  4. Responding a little late on this one, but I've been busy...

    I have a circle casting that can be done "long style" with all 2 verses + circle energy creation of it and there's the "short style" which is simply the last 2 lines to trigger the circle energies.

    The short style is what I use when I'm in a hurry (ie: 'zero to witch in 2.5 seconds') or want to keep things simple. I think this is the one I do tend to use most often!
    The longer version is what I'll use if I'm doing a sabbat ritual or similar or want a little extra oomph to my circle, if that makes sense?

    OMGds, I just reiterated what The Traveler explained... :)
    I also agree with Mrs B; go with what feels comfortable for you, because bells, whistles and all that stuff only works if you feel it does for you.

    :)

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  5. Hi Charlotte, not too late to post. Good to hear from you. I've been pondering this, I like the idea of the short version. I will be casting more circles just to get the hang of it so that I can feel comfortable and get in touch with those circle energies! I think once I'm confortable casting a circle without looking at my notes, I will be able to do a shorter version without all the bells and whistles. I so love the advice I'm getting from the magickal community. Bless Be.

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  6. I have to add, I've been known to take a tip from a fictional character and create instant circles around me by forcefully saying the word "Rhombus!". Takes a bit of practice to make it feel right, but if you've been casting circles for a bit and can visualize well - it works!

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  7. I like your creativity Mrs. B! Maybe I can come up with my own instant circle magic word. Me thinks its time to get creative.

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