How important or necessary are magic circles?

I know that in the vast majority of cases tools and ritual implements are usually not needed at all, they just work as a focus for the magician. But I get the impression it might be different with magic circles. Is it?

If I do need to have a circle, how can I get one? I don’t have the money to get one off the BALG store, and according to E.A. his circles are a lot less expensive than most… I’ll take a look around the web for cheaper circles later, but if I can’t find any… Can I just skip circles altogether until I CAN afford one?

(I DO realize that things like candle magic and “firing up a sigil” don’t require one)

1 Like

Nope. not necessary at all.

Thatrandomguy is spot on, not necessary at all. If you want one then feel free to go a head, but you shouldn’t feel it will benefit you in anyway.

You can always make your own, in whatever style is appropriate to the work you’re doing, on a plan bedsheet or piece of canvas or something.

Or simply cast a circle around youreself, visualising light, and then see how that feels, as a first step.

There are some of older threads about this where people shared a lot of different points of view, here are some of the more recent ones:

Do I need a protection circle

Magick Circle

Thank you all - that’s one less thing to worry about!

For what it’s worth Eva, I DID try the search function. Maybe I should’ve tried narrowing the search because a ton of threads showed up. Thank you for the suggestions, too

No probs! I only remembered those two as being reasonably active because I’d posted in them, but your question was different, and anyway, any forum that discourages posts if the topic was ever discussed before will sooner or later disappear up its own… archives. :o)

Something else while I’m on your thread, a lot of crystal healers use four quartz points to mark out the cardinal points of a circle - that’s portable, durable, and usually reasonably cheap, and very effective - especially if you take time to program the crystals. You could probably even dedicate them to specific spirits at the four major points, if you want to work with them for a long period of time, and maybe wrap the end of each crystal with a small ribbon in a colour that matches its allocated station. Or maybe get one of those decorative old-fashioned card labels on string, and draw a sigil on it.

2 Likes

Magickal circles, as with all the tools of the trade, are foci to help the magician to change their own state of mind and shift from a normal waking consciousness into a more trance like state where they can better perceive ethereal beings that would otherwise not be detectable in the physical in all but the most extreme circumstances.

But, there is also the issue of formality here, which is mostly what we speak of. Its formal to make a circle, and theres nothing wrong with doing so. But its like being forced to wear dress cloths or formal wear at some mundane event; you dont NEED to dress up to talk to the people or walk around, but its a sign of respect to just do so when you are expected to. I think the same applies to some degree generally for magickal communication at least with brand new contacts.

It also shows a contact that you are willing to go out of way and put in time and effort into setting up something nice for first, second, etc contact with them.

The relationship with the contact in question is also important. If its strictly a business relationship, just as in an earthly business, each side expects some things from the other just as a sign of mutual respect. In that case a formal ritual for contacting once a good report is established would probably still be wise until the spirit says otherwise, and perhaps becomes more than a business contact and moves towards being a friend or otherwise. Theres also no harm in asking how that spirit would prefer being contacted, just as you might do in the physical to a business acquaintance.

If you are friendly with the spirit, a lighter atmosphere after the first several communications is OK, and youll feel whats OK to do and whats not. A circle is probably still a good idea, because its one of the most basic implements and just shows that you respect your friend still.

The relationship could grow to even more where no ritual at all would be needed, but never assume that to be the case; always use your heart to sense that. It will be the distinct feeling of “it is no longer necessary that I do all this”, in reference to the ritual, while you are performing that ritual, and is specific to the entity being contacted.

A relationship that is of a mentor/student quality is one where formal evocation may not be necessary, unless its related to what you are being taught, thus the circle may not strictly be necessary at all times.

If are you blessed with a loving and/or familial relationship with an entity it can be that all you have to do to communicate with them is think of them, and they are there… Or just remember that they never left.

So all this comes down to two things concerning the magick circle, and by extension, all magickal tools. One is its utility as a focus object, which is always good to have something as for your own personal benefit, and two, as a formality issue and a showing of respect that you are willing to put in effort and time to establish communication. Nice incense, some colors that the spirit supposedly likes, maybe even some artifacts the entity is said to associate with (crystals its said to like) etc, same thing.

Being creative is appreciated a lot too, like making your own circle out of objects special to that spirit.

It really depends on what kind of relationship you seek to attain with that spirit. If its just business, then keep it formal, respectful, and official. The spirit AFAIK will always respect that.

1 Like

the magician’s circle… so much can be said… but you don’t even need a physical one…

the magician’s circle is a literal portal. it connects the magician with his/her own divine self. it DOESN’T need bells and whistles to DOESN’T need to have the symbols of a forgotten language written on it.

what you do need is to USE ONE. hell it could be some scotch tape haphazardly strewn across the floor.

im gonna lay down a technique that i’ve been using since my earliest days using occult practices. its powerful and i still use it to this day.

while in your ritual space, extend you finger and visualize a point of light at its end. extend that light down on to the floor and trace the area where your physical circle is. or if you aren’t using one, just do the same and have an astral circle ^_^. once you have drawn a circle of light around you and connected its ends, i want you to say these words with as much potency as you can muster: “THE CIRCLE IS OPEN”.

this is the cool part; because you have vocalized your intent and have drawn a circle around you, even if imperfectly, your divine self will do the rest.

crazy i know, but once you even have the tiniest resemblance of the circle around you, and you have declared on the physical that this space IS your circle, your divine self on the other side WILL connect thee dots.

this technique is VERY important, at least in my path, and very useful. its so versatile that it CAN be used without a physical backup.
its important to note, especially for someone who might not know, that while standing in the magician’s circle the magician IS GOD. no seriously, YOU ARE A GOD WHILE INSIDE OF A OPEN CIRCLE. (open in the sense that an active electrical current is referred to being “open”)this is the reason the early beginner is so often pushed to get inside of one. you NEED the experience and the true rush of experiencing your own divinity.

if you haven’t felt that yet, then i’m afraid you’ve been doing it wrong.

3 Likes