The Alchemical Magic Circle: Create Your Sacred Space to Defend Yourself from the Outside World

 Dear readers and friends,

Today I present to you another article of my  Magic Alchemic Path : the magic alchemical circle. An introduction to this beautiful and very controversial discipline. 

The magic circle (or magic circle) is a ritual of very ancient origins that was particularly used in ceremonial magic, practiced above all between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and then returned to use in the 19th century.

The tracing of this circle was used as a form of protection, to keep out potentially negative and evil energies that were evoked in a triangle placed outside of it. The magic circle draws its symbolic essence from the archetype of the circle, a geometric figure that is a symbol of fullness but also of continuity and cyclicality. The shape of the circle itself is meant to symbolize harmony, completeness and perfection, therefore a state of consciousness projected into a symbol that, according to the studies conducted in psychoanalysis by Carl Gustav Jung, represents the archetype of psychic individuation (i.e. the affirmation of one's Self).

In the ritual context, the Magic Circle expresses the practitioner's will to recreate a space around him in which to recall energies, linked to the universe and its dynamics, necessary for the performance of his rituals. The magic circle therefore represents the sacred spiritual space in which to perform rituals, acts of devotion, meditation and spiritual practices.

Magic circles can be created from small stones, ropes, minerals, candles, among other objects.

How to create the magic circle

The first thing to do is clean the place where the magic circle will be created. Sweep the floor if it is indoors, light some incense or create one with the herbs that we will see later. If it is outdoors, which I highly recommend, you do not need to do anything, nature does everything. You could go to a forest, a pine forest, obviously away from prying eyes and noises. Obviously there are many theories about its construction depending on the times and places in which it was conceived. Here we will give the basic rules that have been adopted in Europe as in all the topics of this course. Before building the circle, you gather in meditation, breathe deeply and manifest the intent for which you want to create the circle, to create a sacred space for example. You start from the East, then you invoke the elemental spirits or the divinities that are most similar to you, we have seen many in agreement with the elements. Then you invoke the power of the air element, you place an offering to mark the cardinal point, such as a lit incense. So here you can use different methods and visualizations, the most common is visualization with the use of a wand. But like all objects they are not essential, they are just extensions of ourselves. So I always use the 3 fingers of the magician. You visualize the energy of the color of the air coming out of the fingers or the wand and rotating clockwise you trace the first line until you reach the north. Here you do the same procedure and you make a donation (a bowl with some earth for example) then with the energy of the color of the earth you trace the second line until you reach the west. Here again the invocation and the offering (for example a bowl with water) and you continue to trace the circle with the energy of the color of the water element until you reach the south. Where obviously you do the same procedure: invocation and offering (for example a lit candle) and you continue to trace the circle with the color of fire, red, until you reach the east again. Once here, the circle is consecrated with an invocation such as: “With the power of the elements that have been granted to me, I close and consecrate this circle for my protection. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you”. This is the version with the 4 elements. The version with the 5 elements only changes the visualization: the energy that comes out of the fingers or the wand is bright white with the fifth essence that we will see in the third course.

Of course before you cast the circle for any purpose, bring with you everything you need to perform your ritual. Once the circle is closed, it is best not to break it or cross it before the ritual is over.

To remove or open the circle, this time you will start from the north and visualize the energy with which you created the circle entering back into you through your fingers or through the wand. When you have finished opening the circle, thank the four elements, the elemental spirits and all the deities you have invoked. At the end of the closing, return the energy of the circle to the earth. This is generally accepted and performed. A simple visualization of the excess energy that through your feet (better if barefoot) returns to the earth. Once the meditation is concluded with visualization always at your discretion, remove all the offerings and if you can donate them to nature, bury them if they are not polluting or throw them in the garbage. If you are outdoors, always leave the area in which you have worked better than how you found it.

Medicine wheel from Native American tradition, an example of a magic circle from another point of view.