Circle casting question

[freckledcat]

Can someone explain the purpose of casting a circle to me. I have all the books, but i'd like someone who practices Wicca in everyday life to explain it to me. What is grounding? And how can you have access energy?

oh, In all the books i have, they mention calling the corners, and the calling the goddess/god. I find these to be very very wordy. I mean i'd never memorize them. Can you rewrite them, or write your own versions? Does it have to be the same everytime?

one last thing, i know everywhere says if oyu make a mistake the gods will laugh, or let you know you did something worng, or what ever you are doing simply won't work. Is it possible to accidently hurt someone else or even yourself if you make a mistake? I mean i know intention plays a large part, but can it happen accidently? how can you prevent someone else from getting hurt? If you do make a mistake, can it have negative reprecussions -ie, negative energy, or evil energy if you will?

:bouncybob thanks alot. this is the first post of many. get your thinking caps on ladies and gents.

[AuroraSilvermist]

Good questions. :)

I'm not Wiccan, but I did study Wicca to some extent until I found my own path. One thing I've discovered as that there are no "have to's" in pagan spirituality. You don't HAVE TO call the corners/quarters/Ancient Ones/Guardians of the Watchtowers if that doesn't feel right to you.

Can you rewrite them, or write your own versions?

Absolutely. Or, once you know what calling the quarters means to you, you can just speak whatever's in your heart and mind, and know that it will be appropriate.

Does it have to be the same everytime?

In my opinion, the more spontaneous the better. Again, just knowing what it all means to you is the first step in making ritual work. You can read words and scripts, but if you don't feel what you're saying it's all rather empty.

What is grounding? And how can you have access energy?

The Universe (personally, I view the Universe itself as a form of deity, and don't pray to any specific entity like the goddess or god) is filled with energy. You can't see it, but once you learn to recognize it, you can feel it. After a while, you may learn to manipulate it, as well. I like to use a little trick for energy play suggested by Scott Cunningham in Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Hold your hands out in front of you and rub them together very fast for 30 seconds or so. You'll feel the friction (a form of energy!) creating heat. Then, slowly separate your hands...just a little bit. Feel the sensation? You can literally feel the energy zinging between your hands.

Wiccans believe that energy accumulates in the body during ritual or spellwork--any time you raise energy, in other words. Personally, I've never experienced an excess, but I know many who have. Grounding helps to remove the excess energy as it can cause you to feel unsettled and jittery, even nauseous, if you don't rid yourself of it. You can ground by hugging another person, which is very grounding! Or imagine yourself as a tree and send your roots down into the earth. Imagine a stream of silvery white light flowing through the top of your body down into the earth. The stream is carrying the excess energy away from you, and giving it back to the Universe where it can be reused. (Everything in Paganism is recycled! :D) You might see flecks of black or discoloration in the stream of light. Continue grounding until the stream is cleared and you feel centered. That's what grounding is.

one last thing, i know everywhere says if oyu make a mistake the gods will laugh, or let you know you did something worng, or what ever you are doing simply won't work.

Um, who told you that? I think you were given misinformation. Yes, your energy work may not always produce a result for you, but there will be no gods laughing at you or signaling that they think you're some sort of cosmic joke. Your positive intent and the feelings and beliefs you hold closest to your heart are all that really matters.

Is it possible to accidently hurt someone else or even yourself if you make a mistake? I mean i know intention plays a large part, but can it happen accidently? how can you prevent someone else from getting hurt? If you do make a mistake, can it have negative reprecussions -ie, negative energy, or evil energy if you will?

Many believe it is possible to accidentally hurt yourself or someone else, yes. The simplest rule to remember is that what you send out comes back to you, one way or another. And my favorite rule is this: the Universe has a bizarre sense of humor. :p That being said, I think it's far less likely to hurt somebody by making some sort of mistake than it is to hurt somebody (or yourself) by not thoroughly analyzing your own intent, and the possible repercussions of your actions.

When I do ritual work, I do it for myself. I don't do any sort of workings for others unless it's requested. Do that, and it's unlikely you'll create any sort of problems for yourself or others. Wiccans/pagans do not interfere with the free will of others. Personally, I don't believe in doing binding spells (the type you might have seen in the movie, The Craft) or anything that affects another. But if somebody asks for energy to help with a problem, I'm more than willing to send it.

Basically, I'd say...read. Read a lot. You'll stumble across conflicting information (you'll probably get some in this thread :p), but it's up to you to decide what feels true to you. Learning your own truths is something you'll spend a lifetime doing. It's nothing to be afraid of. Jump right in and enjoy the journey. :hugz:

[Faelon_Moon_Hawk]

Hi, welcome MW ^_^

Ok to try and answer your questions....

Circles have a variety of purposes, the two main ones are to contain the energy raised durring a spell or ritual, and the other is for protection. To keep out all the entities and energies that you do not want wandering into your circle while you are celebrating or doing spellwork. Grounding is basically connecting yourself with the energy of the earth. If you do a spell or ritual using only your energy, you will be ::very:: drained, so when you ground and center you allow yourself to become connected to the energy of the earth, and then you can utilize that energy. You can draw energy from the earth and use that in your ritual or spell, which gives you more enrgy and power to work w/ kinda amplifying your powers and preventing you from draining all of your own energy. at the end of a ritual or spell you can return the extra energy you raised back to the earth, to be recycled. Having excess energy is kinda like making too much food for a party, you think you need a certain amount, but really you didn't need all you thought you did.

Of course you can make your own invocations and quarter calls ^_^ I've never had much success w/ any from books, no matter how much i've liked them. I make my own, and they usually vary a little each time i say them.

hehe, i make mistakes all the time ^^;; even things simple as calling quarters and casting my circle. Nothing bad has happened, i'm sure Bast and Ullr have a good laugh, or do that smile thing that parents do when their kids try something and mess up, but you know, they tried and they love them anyway. I don't think if you do something completely on accident it will have terribly bad repercussions. Intent is the most important part of any working.