When we perform spells and rituals, we do them in a “Magick circle”.  The circle is actually a sphere, which surrounds us, protecting us from evil while we work out magick.  It also serves to contain the power we raise while doing a spell, until we chose to release it.  This is sometimes called “the Cone of Power”

Some people will tell you it is necessary to cast a circle every time you do a spell, some will tell you that you can perform spells without a circle.  You do what feels right for you.  A circle can be cast quickly, mentally, around yourself, or your car, for a quick protection spell.

The magick circle consists of the  physical circle, which is marked on the ground, and a sphere, which is created with energy or light. 

The sphere of energy, it reaches above and below the circle, forming a protective bubble for those inside and the Elemental directions.  This pic shows the Altsr in ther North, but you can pllace it anywhere.  I like it in the North, with room to walk behind it.  You can have it in the centre if you wish.

Casting the circle
Steps in casting a basic circle:
 

1. Set up the Altar
2. Place Elemental candles in the 4 quarters
3. Mark out the physical circle –
4. Place all items you will need within the circle
5. Purify the circle
6. Cast the circle *
7. Light the Altar candle
8. light the North Candle.  Invoke the Element of Fire.
9. Light the East candle.  Invoke Air
10. Light the Southern candle.  Invoke Earth
11. Light the Western candle.  Invoke Water
12. Light the Goddess candle.  Invoke the Goddess
13. Light the God candle.  Invoke the God
14. Perform any magickal workings
15. Raise the cone of power
16. Grounding
17. Simple feast (Cakes and Ale)
18. Farewell the God, extinguish His candle
19. Farewell the Goddess, extinguish Her candle
20. Farewell the Water Element, extinguish the Western candle
21. Farewell the Earth Element, extinguish the Southern candle
22. Farewell the Air Element, extinguish the Eastern candle
23. Farewell the Fire Element, extinguish the Northern candle
24. Dissolve the circle
25. Extinguish the altar candle.
 

Step 1
Setting up the altar:  On the altar you have a tool that represents each of the 4 elements and a representation of them.  The tools are the Athame, the Wand, the Chalice and the Pentacle.  The representations are the Altar candle, the Bowl of Salt, the Bowl of Water, and the Censer.  (for more info go here)  You do not need to have all of these tools however, if you do not have an Athame or a wand, simply use your pointed finger, or use a temporary wand or Athame, a stick or a kitchen knife.

Step 2
Place the Elemental candles: Once the Altar is set up, you will need to place a candle or a representation of the 4 Elements in their respective places around the circle.   Instead of candles, you may use a representation of the Element.

Step 3
Mark out the physical circle: You can mark out the circle with a long cord, with a circle of salt, with stones or shells, candles, incense sticks, just about anything.  It helps you to see the circle of protection around you, and marks the boundary line where your circle begins and the real world ends.  Some people have a permanent circle set up in a spare room, or outside, and they have a circle painted on the floor, or a large round rug, or a row of plants to mark their circle.

Step 4
Place all the items you need within the circle: This is quite obvious it would seem, but it is amazing how many times you are in the middle of the ritual, and realise you forgot to bring in something you needed.  If you do forget something, and must get it, you can cut a door in the circle to go and fetch it.  You can cut a door by taking the Athame, or Wand (or your finger) and tracing a line, to become a hole big enough for you to walk through, remember to seal it back up again when you come back in by reversing the direction you cut it in, and imagining the energy of the circle filling up the cut.  I think of it as cutting a flap out of jelly I draw up one side, across the top and down the other, let it flap down - walk through, then to close it I amagine the flap lifting back up and my Athame re-sealing it .... almost like it is in reverse

Step 5
Purifying the circle: Using  salt, walk around the circle, sprinkling it around the circle as you go.  Say:
 

 “With Salt I purify this circle.
 May no harm enter within!”

As salt is the only substance that cannot spoil, it is often used to purify, cleanse, consecrate and bless items.  It is also used for protection and banishing negativity.

Step 6
Casting the circle: Walk around the circle with your Athame, Wand or finger pointed at the ground.  Imagine white flames, or white light streaming from the Athame, wand or finger, to form a protective bubble around you.   As you walk, say:
 

 “I cast this magick circle, that it be a boundary between this world,
 And that of the spirit realm.
 As above, So below, the circle is cast!”

Step 7
Light the Altar candle: The Altar candle is the candle which represents Fire on the altar.  This is usually the first candle to be lit, and this is used to light all the other candles.  The Altar candle should be Red or White.

Steps 8 – 11
Invoking the Elements:  (You can change the invocation wording to suit you) Light the North candle (Fire).  Stand with your arms outstretched, feet slightly apart (You may have empty hands, or an Athame in one hand, and a Wand in the other).  Close your eyes and think of the element Fire.  You can picture this as a person, with Fiery qualities, as a brilliant flame, or just picture the colour red, or heat.  The Elements are sometimes called the “Guardians” and they can lend their individual powers to yours, they also act as a protective guard against evil that may enter into the circle.  Say:
 

 “Hail Guardian of the Watchtower of the North,
 Element of Fire!
 I call upon thee, to guard and protect,
To lend your power to mine.
 So mote it be!”

repeat for the other Elements.

Step 12
Invoking the Goddess:  (You  can change the wording to suit you) Stand before the Goddess candle, which is usually a White, silver or purple candle, and light it.  Close your eyes, and think of the Goddess in one of her forms which you would like to invoke.  Stand with both feet slightly apart, and arms outstretched.  You may like to have the Wand in one hand, the Athame in the other.  Say:
 

 “Holy Mother of the Earth.
 Shining Lady of the Moon.
 I call upon thee, to assist and protect,
 To lend your power to mine.
 Welcome, loving Goddess, into my circle”

Step 13
Invoking the God:  (You can change the wording to suit you) Stand before the God candle, which is usually a Yellow, Gold or Red candle, and light it.  Close your eyes, and think of the God in one of his forms which you would like to invoke.  Stand with both feet together, and arms crossed over your chest.  You may like to have the Wand in one hand, the Athame in the other.  Say:
 

 “Holy Father of the Sky.
 Blazing Lord of the Sun.
 I call upon thee, to assist and protect,
 To lend your power to mine.
 Welcome, loving God, into my circle”

Step 14
Perform any Magickal Workings: This is the time in the ritual when you perform any spells or rituals you need to do.  Make sure you take all the items you will need for the ritual or spell into the circle, so that you do not have to open it again to fetch something.  Set the items you will need for the spell/ritual out on the altar, and follow the directions for the particular spell or ritual.

You may need to consecrate more salt and water to use for future use, or for any spells you need to perform.  You may also need to consecrate some tools, or items.  Place the item to be consecrated on the Pentacle, Pass it (Quickly) over the candle flame, the incense smoke, sprinkle it with Salt and Water (For each of the elements).  Then touch it with the Athame/Wand or if none of these have been consecrated yet, use your finger.  Say words such as:
 

 “I consecrate thee, O creature of ….<Wood>… May you serve me well, and harm none.
 By the power of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, And in the Names of the Goddess and God,
 Thou art consecrated!”

You can make holy water by saying the above over water that has had salt and rose water mixed with it.  Once you have made the holy water, and consecrated the salt, you can save them in an airtight container, for future use.  You may use ordinary salt, however Sea salt is said to have more powerful energies, as it is from the sea.  Tap water will work, but Pure rain water, or from a stream, river, pond, lake etc. has more powerful energy as it hasn’t been treated with the chemicals.

Step 15
Raising the Power: Raising the “cone of power” means that after you have performed a spell or ritual, you build up the energy, by chanting or dancing, and when it has built up enough, you release it, sending it off to work for you.  One of the most common chants for raising power is: “Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Innana.”

To help you pronounce the names of those Goddesses, try saying:
Isis = “Eye – sis”, Astarte = “A – star – tee”, Diana = “Dee – arn – a”, Hecate = “Heck – a – tay”, Demeter = “Dem –  ee – ta”, Kali = “Car – Lee”, Innana = “In – arn – a”

As you chant, you can get louder and if you are dancing or walking around the circle, start to go faster and faster, building up energy as you go.  Imagine it swirling around you.  You can also use instruments like drums, or sing songs to help build up the power.  If you can’t dance around, you can imagine the energy swirling around you, building up speed and power.
When you have built it up enough.  Stop suddenly and either scream loudly, or just imagine the power shooting out of the top of the circle.  You can imagine the energy you send going to a particular use, if you performed a healing spell, imagine the energy you raised going to heal that person.

Step 16
Grounding: It is very important to ground after you raise energy, as any “left over” energy can stay within you, which can cause headaches and other symptoms if it is not released. One of the simplest ways of grounding is to immediately drop to the ground, and place your forehead and palms on the ground.  Imagine any excess energy flowing back into the earth, not draining you, but releasing any extra energy that you don’t need.  You can also lie on the ground, and feel the energy flowing from your whole body into the ground below you.

Another simple grounding technique is to imagine you are a tree, and your roots are reaching down deep into the earth.  Your branches are stretching up towards the sun.  Feel the sun on your leaves, and the cool earth surrounding your roots.  Feel any excess energy you have flowing through your roots into the ground around you. There are many other forms of grounding, these are just examples.  Whichever method you chose to ground yourself, make sure you imagine the excess energy in your body flowing out into the ground.  Only the excess energy, otherwise you will find that you are giving your much needed energy back into the earth, and leaving yourself depleted.

Step 17
Simple feast (Cakes and Ale) The simple feast, which is also known as “Cakes and Ale”  (Even if you don’t actually eat cakes, or drink ale, serves 2 purposes.  Eating food helps to ground you, and the Simple Feast is a celebration, you are sharing the bounty of the earth with the Goddess and God.  You should make sure that all the foods you will be eating are already in the circle, so that you don’t have to break the circle to get them.  Set the plate of cookies, cake, nuts, bread or whatever you have chosen as your “Cakes” on top of the pentacle.  Taking the Athame, touch the “cakes” and say words such as:
 

 “I Consecrate and bless these …<cakes>….
 In the name of the Goddess and God,
 Thou art consecrated!”

Take the chalice of water, wine, juice or whatever you are using as “Ale”, place it on the pentacle, dip the Athame into it, saying the above verse.  You are now ready to eat the feast, you may like to thank the Goddess and God for the food as you eat it, by saying something like:
 

 “Blessed be this …<food>.. unto my body
 May it restore health, and give vitality.
 May I always be aware of the bounty of Mother Earth!”

You can eat as little or as much as you would like… but remember to leave some for the Goddess and God.  You can do this by pouring a little of the “ale” onto the ground (After the ritual if you are inside), and leaving some a small amount, or crumbs from the “Cakes”  under a tree, or on the ground.

Step 18
Farewell the God: After you have held the Simple Feast, it is time to start closing the circle.  Stand in front of the God candle.  Thank him for being with you in the circle, thank him for his power and protecting, you can say words such as these:
 

 “Farewell O’ loving God,
I thank you for your assistance and protection,
Both within this circle, and in my life.
I now bid you farewell,
may you go in peace and love.
Blessed be.”

Blow or pinch out the God candle.

Step 19 
Farewell the Goddess: Stand in front of the Goddess candle.  Thank her for being with you in the circle, thank her for the power and protection she has given you, you can say words such as these:
 

 “Farewell O’ loving Goddess,
I thank you for your assistance and protection,
Both within this circle, and in my life.
I now bid you farewell,
may you go in peace and love.
Blessed be.”

Blow or pinch out the Goddess candle.

Steps 20 – 23
Farewell the Elements:  Stand in front of the Western candle.  Thank the Water element for their help and protection within the circle.  Bid them farewell and blow/pinch their candle out, with words such as:
 

 “Farewell Guardian of the Watchtower of the West, Element of Water!
  I thank you for your assistance within this circle.
 I bid you now farewell, may you go in peace and love.
Blessed be.”

Repeat for the other Elements

Step 24 - Dissolve the circle

After you have dismissed the Quarters (The Elements), start at the Northern point of the circle, and holding the Athame or wand (or  using your finger), imagine the flames or light you used to form the circle, flowing back into the Athame/Wand/Finger as you walk around the circle.

When the circle is completely dissolved, place the Athame or wand on the Altar, and say:
 

 “May the circle be open, but  unbroken”

Step 25
Blow or pinch out the Altar candle, and if you have not already left the Goddess and God’s part of the “Cakes and ale”, then take these outside and leave them in the garden or under a tree.  If you have no garden, leave it in a pot plant, or save it until you can go somewhere that has lawn or trees or gardens and leave it there.  Clear up all the tools and other items.  It is done!