There are some spirits that will only respond if evoked in a traditional way. They expect the magician to be within a protective circle. If he’s not, they will either leave, or attack him for his disrespect.
Yes, some spirits may see no circle as disrespectful because the lack of a circle might give the impression that the magician thinks the spirit is weak, and thus not a threat.
Contrary to the belief that “demons are all lovable and fluffy” which seems to permeate this forum and the LHP in general, there are many demons (and angels, for that matter) that are NOT all rainbows and unicorns, and they will kick your ass if you do not evoke them properly. I learned that the hard way.
A lot of the more religious minded magicians seem to have this impression that a protective circle is offensive to the summoned, but, in my experience, it is not. It’s main purpose isn’t even really for protection. It’s to separate the mind from the every day, centre the magician in Eternity, and act as a show of power.
When I evoke, I generally use EA’s Universal Circle, and cast another circle around it (I also have a shield around me, thrown up by my Greater Self when I was a child, that is basically a permanent magick circle. Any spirit I evoke appears within it). Some of the spirits I have summoned have even tested my circle to see if it was a solid boundary (Belial did so when I evoked him for the first time, if I recall correctly). Sometimes I will enforce the circle with the archangels, sometimes with the familiars of Hecate (when using Jason Miller’s banishing), and sometimes with my own Will and authority as a Divine Being. No matter what method used, I’ve never had a spirit complain about it, or whine that they felt disrespected. If anything, they seemed to see it as an acknowledgement of my respect for their power.
A lot of modern magicians want to get rid of the trappings of ceremonial magick without really understanding their use or purpose. They want to immediately get into summoning every demon they can, without even knowing the basics of how to do it properly. There’s a reason banishing rituals and setting a circle are usually the first things taught, and, the yattering of fear mongering whitelighters aside, it has little to do with “safety.”
I’ve evoked with and without circles, and I have not noticed any appreciable difference in my connection with the spirit called. What I have noticed, however, is that the evocations with a circle were just all around better for me. I felt more powerful, more in control, and the spirit manifestations were much more solid.
In Evoking Eternity, by EA Koetting, the last thing he teaches, once the student has experience with every permutation of evocation, is to step outside of the circle. It is the final test, and the only way to pass it, is to truly understand the purpose of the circle to begin with, so that when you do break it, you truly know the significance of that act.