Working with Wicca and Pagan ritual circles...?

Question

I have just passed my year and a day oath, but before I start my dedication I have a couple things that are still unclear (solitary practitioner by circumstance, not choice).

I have been casting a full ritual circle every sabat and esbat, and all the times in-between. What I want to know is if the full circle cast and quarter call is always needed. I have never done a ritual without these steps and, to date, have never had a problem with negative spirits or energy during, or as a result of, my work. But as a fulltime employee and full time artist, I have little time to go all out these days. I have read that some Wicca do not use a full circle when out doors because of the abundance of nature energy to protect you. Is this true for you as well? Why or why not?
Is it wise to attempt to simply keep negative energy out of the room in which I work by using spells, wind chimes(feng shui), and amulets? Are there other ways of keeping the energy clean?
Blessed be!
)O(

I've never had a guide or a teacher. I have been doing the best I can with what I have, which is a handfull of books and what ever I find online. There are no other Wicca in my my town, that I know of. I know I need more study and there is a LOT I still don't know. This is why I need your help.

Answer 1

Many of the challenges in understanding the meaning of the ritual work you are performing are not uncommon among people dependent upon books rather than bodies of experience and tradition communities. However, there are some significant flaws in how you are approaching this, at least from the perspective of our tradition of Wicca, that make me wonder how much you are really getting out of the circle casting and reverencing of the four directions.

Done mindfully, with a sense of what these liturgical actions mean, they can add profoundly to your experience of the sacred.

In our tradition, we do not hold with the concept of "negative energy." Certainly we do not believe in the existence of "negative spirits." And most fundamentally, circle-casting and reverence of the four directions is *not* about keeping something undesirable at bay.

There are many ways that ceremony can begin. Especially in private, solitary practice, you may (where appropriate) use other methods to call yourself to be here, now, and to affirm your sacredness-connectedness.

One cannot keep energy "clean," as the Universe is not dirty. That dualistic good/bad, pure/impure thinking is essentially alien to Wiccan belief; it is a characteristic of other religious systems, but not Wicca. In Wicca, there is only what is, the All, the Universe in Its sacred and multiform presence, and the web of sacredness-connectedness which interpenetrates It. There is nothing to be protected from, and nothing with which to protect yourself. There is only the Universe, sacred and alive, of which you are a cell in the body.

Meditate on what happens in your body when you cast circle, on what happens in your body when you speak to the four quarters in praise and love. When you understand what you are doing, and you have learned the rules, you will known when and how to break them properly. Keep studying. Good luck.

Blessed be.

Answer 2

Maybe it's just the tradition you're a part of, but I see several fundamental flaws in your question:

#1. "Casting the Circle" is only one way of erecting the Temple.
#2. "Calling the Quarters" is only one way of casting the circle.
#3. The Temple rite or circle is not designed to "protect you."
#4. The circle is not designed to "keep energy clean."

Frankly, I don't know what to tell you. You say you've been studying a year and a day, but it's not something I recognise as particularly Wiccan in its nature.

It sounds like the only people who can answer this are those you've been learning from, because their paradigm and general Wicca aren't one.

Google the Gardnerian book of Shadows and look at the 1949 Casting the Circle rite. If it does not meet all the qualifications of a circle in your tradition, it's overdefined in your tradition.

As for the proposed Wikipedia article, it's junk.
I got to the part where it confused the Erecting the Temple rite in Wicca with the circle (the beginning) then got to the part where it confused the (tradition specific) poem Rede of the Wiccae with the Wiccan Rede and didn't bother to read further. It's junk....
Like most of Wikipedia.
I do agree it's shocking you've been taught to do something you don't understand, however.

Edit: Re your additional information. Sounds like you need to find a mentor or tradition.

Answer 3

I, personally, do not always call the quarters (likewise, work full time and am heavily involved in theatre, which takes up an awful lot of my free time), but I do always cast a full circle. Even outdoors I wouldn't skip that step. In my opinion it's just too risky.

I've never had a problem with just casting a circle and not calling the quarters.

)O(

Answer 4

i'm not wiccan, but i use a wiccan format when i do formal ritual. i rarely cast a circle when i'm working solitary. i haven't felt a need for shielding, but i don't feel the energy as well as others do. many of the solitaries i know who are very sensitive to the energy use a personal shield instead of casting circle every time. but take it for what it's worth, the only wiccans i know are in covens. that seems to be the only place you can keep a wiccan.

Answer 5

There is no set of rules you have to follow.

You follow what rites you feel you must, as much or as little as you FEEL is right for you.

Since you are solitary, you decide what is best for you within the parameters of what you set yourself, not a set of rules established by someone else.

Answer 6

i dont know, i wish i could help you, i do not practice wicca, but i know people who do..

and for all of the people that will make fun of you for being wicca or pagan. just ignore them, im sure they are just brainwashed christian fools!

Answer 7

The article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_circle ), to which I contributed heavily, deals with the purpose of the circle. I'd have thought that you'd be taught what the circle is for before you were taught to cast one.

Answer 8

It is true, but remember that negative energy is essential to the continued existence of the body.

Don't you know anything about the balance of nature yet?

Answer 9

I see the paranormal paranoia is already kicking in for you--you can cleanse energy with laughter or a happy thought, no need for all that dogma, edit your rituals to suit your life!

Answer 10

After a year and a day, you should know this stuff.