Grandmother Spider's SpiritWeb

I remember when I first started as a wee little Witchling. I had one book from the library. (The only book, as far as I could tell!) It showed a single method for casting a circle ~ the author's favorite ~ along with the note that one must have a wand to cast a circle, but one must consecrate the wand in a cast circle. What's a girl to do! :-? I had no other Witches to cast up a circle for me! Ahh, but there was one other acceptable method in the rear of the book. It seems that one can cast a circle with sea salt in order to charge the wand! This is the way I cast my first circle.

Even at the time it seemed odd to me that there would be only one way to cast a circle. (It also seemed quite contradictory for there to be another way to do it after the author insisted that this was the only way!) Since I had no other frame of reference at the time, I chose to err on the side of prudence. I wasn't experienced enough to figure out another casting method anyway.

I've since noticed that there are as many ways of casting as there are Witches. I was intrigued many years later when RavenWolf devoted a chapter in To Stir A Magick Cauldron to experimental circle casting. The variety of casting methods in the various books I had read prior to this hadn't escaped me, but I guess that, before she mentioned it, I hadn't given much thought to the amount of experimentation one can put into a circle. I'd certainly been re-working my personal casting method for some time prior to this, but it still followed some basic guidelines. I promptly set about not only trying her suggestions, but devising some different castings of my own.

Since then, I've done my fair share of experimenting with circle casting. The subject is far from exhaustible, however! While I have a couple of standard methods that I use, I'm always looking for new ways to create my sacred space.

One method that I've been using a lot lately involves drawing the circle itself with my wand, making 3 passages around, then standing in the center and swinging the arcs up and around to form the sphere. I set it to a spin, which is rather interesting when you're working up energy! This circle usually comes out in a brilliant light blue.

I have another friend who works with a group in Salt Lake (quite a drive from Vegas, but she really likes working with this coven!) They cast their circle with a besom! Sounds like yet another chance to experiment!

I wonder how it would be to cast a circle with a stang. Would it carry a heavy male energy?

What casting methods have you used yourself or experienced with others? Anything unusual?

If you try my "swinging blue arcs" circle, tell me how it works for you!