Class II: Ritual Spaces
bit of a Quest!).
Tack down the four corners of the sheet with just
enough tension to get rid of the wrinkles. Then insert
a thin finishing nail through the knot at the end of
your cingulum. Hammer this into the center of the
sheet, but not so far that you can’t easily pull it out
again. Then hold a piece of chalk at the first knot, and
draw the circle round. This will be 7’ in diameter. Then
draw over the chalk lines with a white fabric marker.
Where the ironed creases extend beyond the circle to
the corners of the sheet, use the fabric marker to draw
symbols of the four Quarters.
When setting up an indoor ritual area, be sure to
check on the alignment of the cardinal directions! (I
think every Wizard should consider a compass to be
a basic magickal tool.) Symbols of the Elements should
be placed at the four Quarters. These may be as simple
as colored jar candles (E = yellow, S = red, W = blue, N
= green), or as fancy as full-scale semi-permanent
Quarter altars. Determine which walls or corners of
your temple most nearly align to those directions,
and then decorate them accordingly. Some people
hang different colored banners marked with appro-
priate sigils. Others put up pictures that remind them
of each of these Elemental directions, such as clouds,
birds, or a sunrise for East; an erupting volcano, light-
ning, or Sun for South; a seascape or underwater
scene for West; and mountains, crystals, or a snowy
Winter landscape for North. I have even designed a
set of directional wall plaques just for this purpose,
and many people use these: a bird goddess for East;
a Sun god for South; a sea goddess for West; and a
Green Man for North. Here they are:- Introduction: Ritual Spaces
ITUALS MAY BE HELD IN MANY KINDS
of spaces, some temporary and
others permanent. Temporary
Circles may be set up in your
home or in public places, such as
parks or rented meeting halls.
Depending upon circumstances,
a ritual area may be set up quite
elaborately, with a Gate, Quarter Altars, statues, ban-
ners, Maypole, bonfire circle, and other items. Or it
may consist of no more than clearing a little space in
your room and placing a simple altar in the middle of it.
The important thing is, form should follow function.
So here are a few notes on designing appropriate ritu-
als areas for your Circle:Lesson 2. Indoor Temples
Any suitable indoor space may be made into a temple,
as long as it has room enough for the people who
want to use it to gather together in a Circle. If you are
working solitary, you won’t need much space, and
the description of creating your temple in your sanc-
tum sanctorum (3.IV.3: “Your Temple”) should be en-
tirely adequate. However, if you expect to be doing
rituals with three or more people, you will want to
create a larger ritual space. Circles should be odd-
numbered feet in diameter. The traditional Witches’
Circle, for instance, has a diameter of 9 or even 13
feet, to provide room for a full coven of 13 Witches.
But smaller groups can certainly get by with smaller
Circles, such as 7’ or 5’.
Some people actually paint a ritual Circle on the
floor of their temples, often inscribing a pentagram
within it, and marking areas and points in different
colors. This can be as simple as a plain circle with the
four directions indicated; or as elaborate as the
Magick Circle Mandala I drew in 3.VI.2: “The Magick
Circle.” Such a painted Circle may be covered with a
rug when not in use.
A way to make a permanent Magick Circle for
your temple without painting on the floor is to use a
large piece of cloth (black is recommended, so it will
seem as if you are standing in outer space). A top
sheet for a California King-size bed should be just
about the right size (8’ square). Find the exact center
of the sheet by folding it carefully into quarters di-
agonally from corner to corner, and iron it. Put a dot
of white chalk at the center, and then spread the whole
sheet out on a flat wooden deck or floor that it won’t
matter to stick thumbtacks or nails into (this may be aGreen Man
(North)Sea
Goddess
(West)Sun God
(South)Bird
Goddess
(East)Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 6 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM