Simplicity in the Craft, and The Poor Witch's Circle

The Poor Witch's Circle is a Circle casting and releasing ritual from my own personal Book of Mirrors. I wrote it because I didn't have money to spare to buy tools for the Craft at the time (and still don't, really), and I've updated it recently after getting some excellent advice from Reddit user Dark_Matrix in this thread. Essentially, what he/she recommends is:

 "If you are having trouble with doing rituals when you don't have much time or the tools to do so, do them in your mind and conjure what you don't have on you."

Conjuring an athame in your mind's eye is a great way to keep up with your Craft practices without access to a real athame, whether it's due to location, funds, or time. Thank you, Dark_Matrix! Now, on with the Circle.


The Poor Witch's Circle

Casting

Enter the intended Circle's space. Center you mind and energies. Breathe deeply, relax, and focus.

Go to the Eastern edge of the Circle. Visualize a wand in your hand, draw an Invoking Pentagram* in the air, and evoke the element of Air by saying, "I call upon the Spirit of the East, element of Air. Enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the Southern edge of the Circle. Visualize an athame in your hand, draw an Invoking Pentagram in the air, and evoke the element of Fire by saying, "I call upon the Spirit of the South, element of Fire. Enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the Western edge of the Circle. Visualize a chalice in your hand, draw an Invoking Pentagram in the air, and evoke the element of Water by saying, "I call upon the Spirit of the West, element of Water. Enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the Northern edge of the Circle. Visualize a crystal or stone in your hand (this can be one that is relevant to your spell or one that simply resonates with you personally), draw an Invoking Pentagram in the air, and evoke the element of Earth by saying, "I call upon the Spirit of the North, element of Earth. Enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Walk the edge of the Circle in a clockwise direction (the same direction you went to evoke the elements), evoking the God, Goddess, and the Great Divine/Spirit by saying, " I call upon the Spirit/Great Divine, the God, and the Goddess. I bid you to enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be." When you say each Name, draw an Invoking Pentagram with an empty hand. As you've said this, you should have made two full circles (or only one if you are following the next step).

If you wish to evoke other deities relevant to the spell you are casting, walk the Circle clockwise again, saying "I call upon [name of deity], [god/goddess/spirit] of [dream, love, etc.]. I bid you to enter this Circle, witness my Work, and aid me in my purpose this night. So mote it be." When you say each Name, draw an Invoking Pentagram with an empty hand.

Stand in the center of the Circle. Say, "The Circle is cast and my company, complete."

Now you may do whatever spell or ritual you need.

Releasing

Basically, you do as you did to cast the Circle, just reversed, with Banishing Pentagrams, and in the counterclockwise direction.

If you evoked specific deities, walk counterclockwise once around the Circle, saying "I release [name of deity], [god/goddess/spirit] of [dreams, love, etc.]. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be." When you say each Name, draw an Banishing Pentagram* with an empty hand.

Walk around the Circle counterclockwise once again (twice if you did not evoke specific deities), saying, "I release you, God, Goddess, and Spirit/Great Divine. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be." When you say each Name, draw an Banishing Pentagram with an empty hand."

Go to the North, visualize the stone/crystal in your hand, draw a Banishing Pentagram, and say, "I release you, Spirit of the North, element of Earth. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the West, visualize a chalice in your hand, draw a Banishing Pentagram, and say, "I release you, Spirit of the West, element of Water. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the South, visualize an athame in your hand, draw a Banishing Pentagram, and say, "I release you, Spirit of the South, element of Fire. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the East, visualize a wand in your hand, draw a Banishing Pentagram, and say "I release you, Spirit of the East, element of Air. I thank you for attending this Circle, witnessing my Work, and aiding me in my purpose this night. So mote it be."

Go to the center of the space and say, "My work is done. The circle and my company are released."

Explanation

When I post rituals I have written on this blog, I will always, always give my readers an explanation for it's structure, details, and purpose. If I post one from a source other than myself, I encourage you to ask any questions you might have in the post's comments, and I will try my best to answer them. However, those answers are merely guesses at what the original creator might be thinking.

Purpose: Casting a Circle is like building a wall. It provides protection from unwanted spirits, magick, and energies while keeping what evoke in. It separates the witch from outer influences. Casting a Circle isn't necessary if you want to cast a spell, and it can even be a hindrance if speed is required. It can, however, allow a caster to enter the correct state of mind and help them clear out distractions.

Structure: I wrote this to be simple and to follow the common structure of Circle casting that I have seen. I made it very cookie-cutter in style to allow for adaptation.

Details: As you may have noticed, I made a point to make the caster walk around the Circle three times when evoking everything/everyone. 'Three' is an important number in Wicca. It signifies many things: The triple aspect of the Goddess, the triple aspect of the God, the God/Goddess/Great Divine as a whole, the stages of life, the connection of the God/Goddess/Wiccan. Also, I had the witch walk in a clockwise direction for casting.This is symbolic of the Sun and Moon (symbols of the God and Goddess themselves), as this is the direction the follow around the Earth each day. Going counterclockwise is the opposite of this, so it's used for banishing.

You may also have noticed that I thanked all of the elements and deities involved when I released the Circle. This is very important. Anyone involved with magick and deities has to be respectful. You're basically asking Someone to go out of Their way to do something for you. You would be grateful to a normal human when this happens, so you should be especially so when a god or goddess does it.

Now I have to tell you, dear readers, just because I wrote the ritual like this doesn't mean this is the only way you should cast a Circle, that this is the end-all-be-all of Circles. I encourage you to make this your own, edit it to suit your needs. Have a small work space? Spin in the center of the Circle instead of walking the edge. Can't speak out loud? Project the words from your mind. You don't even need to do another spell. You can use a Circle when you meditate or simply as a retreat while you think. Make this as simple or as elaborate as you desire, need, or is warranted by the situation.

I hope you use this ritual well and that it serves you well. Thanks for reading and Brightest Blessings!

*Simply draw the Pentagram in a specific direction, shown in this image (Source) :