Casting a Candlemas Circle
This blog unpacks how I plan to cast a Candlemas Circle and Ritual for the Eastern Sierra Moon Mamas this week. I wanted to share these basic steps to cast Magickal Circle that I have been practiving for decades. Once the ritual lives in your bones, it makes it easier to weave the Magick of the season into your witchcraft. Decide what works for you. Steps in a ritual are like steps in a recipe. You can follow along, or modify as you see fit. In a structured Magickal Circle, each person helps to manifest a spiritual place, an alterened sacred space, to co-create with an alive universe.
This celebration begins with making an egg bake or quiche. Ask each person to bring two eggs - one to represent letting go and one to represent what you want to grow. Have pre-chopped veggies or other fillings. We will chat and make herbal tea while the quiche bakes at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. When the quiche is ready, ask your guests to line up outside of the circle to be cleansed with smoke of handpicked sage and blessed on the third eye with uncrossing oil before entering the sacred space. Make sure that everyone walks clockwise only within the circle. I prefer that everyone remain standing for this part of the ceremony.
Once everyone is settled in their position, you must “set the table” by telling everyone why they are there. For Sabbat rituals, it’s important to give tangible examples of the lessons inherent in each holiday marking the eight spokes on the Wheel of the Year. This week we are at the beginning of February and will celebrate the pagan sabbat, aka holiday, known as Candlemas, Imbolg, or Brigid’s day. It is a time of year when we feel the rustling of an idea, a seed, a dream in its embryonic phase. Candlemas represents the quickening of life stirring in the dark womb of Mother Earth. It is a time to burn away what doesn't serve you (old ideas of how you see yourself or your options) and plant seeds for what you want to grow. Nature abhors a vacuum, so you need to fill the space that you empty with what you need today.
Ask your guests to take deep centering breaths. Recite the Tree of Life Meditation.
Next, you will welcome the Elements with an invocation of your own, or try the one below. Ask each guest to face the direction you are invoking. They can raise their arms to the sky or simply open their hands to receive the power, protection and guidance from each of the Elements. You can also choose to assign one person to each direction to read the invocation, or ask that everyone repeat each invocation.
Next, welcome in the Divine Male and Divine Female energies within us all. I plan to sprinkle rose petals for the Goddess and seeds for the God.
Begin raising a Cone of Power by asking each person to squeeze the person’s hand to their left and imagine the energy moving from hand to hand in a clockwise direction. Now imagine that energy is running a circle through each person’s heart, then around again just above the head. Invite others to see protective energy circling around the group and rising up higher and higher through the skies to a singularly bright star. Ask them to hook this Cone of Power onto the star and visualize a gossamer triagle of protection to seal out the mundane world while we do our Magick. This is our sacred space between the worlds, a meditative space to create Magick with an alive world.
Since we are celebrating Candlemas, we must first recognize that we are in midwinter. It’s cold and dark outside, like the womb of Goddess Brigid, patroness saint of Ireland who rules over the hearth, fire, creativity and smithcrafting. The Cave Meditation guides us to where nature lives. You can listen to the meditation here.
We’re going to make beeswax candles to celebrate the returning light in nature and that spark that burns in our heart of hearts. The steps are:
Cut wick for how tall you would like your candle.
Secure one end of the wick at the bottom of the candle and leave a half inch tail at the top
Optional to add dried flowers or essential oils onto the beeswax
Roll the beeswax toward you, keeping a tight seal and moving straight
Trim the wick to 1/4-inch
Seal the edge of the wax into the candle by pressing down.
Optional to carve symbols or roll the candle through more dried flowers.
Enjoy the Cakes (quiche) representing the Divine Male and Ale (herbal tea or wine) representing the Divine Female after you have made your candles in silence while focusing on feeding that inner light. You may choose to share in this moment but do keep this portion of the ritual short so that you can close the circle without losing the magickal momentum and sacredness of transcental work. This is the moment of gratitude for the gifts that are on their way to you as a result of you shining your light upon the world.
When you are done dining with the divinity, thank the Goddess and God for their presence to your ritual. Next turn to each of the four directions, beginning in the north and say. Thank you Element of North for your presence, protection and guidance. Stay if you will, go if you must, Hail and Farewell, Blessed Be. Repeat your gratitude prayer to each direction going counter clockwise now. As you release each of the Elements, the Cone of Power slowly dissolves. You can also visualize pulling back the heavy curtains of a movie theater. We are once again returning this sacred space to the world of the mundane.
Sing Merry Meet and Merry Part Chant. Watch video here to get the tune. Lyrics are: May the circle be open but unbroken May the peace of the Goddess be ever in your heart Merry meet and merry part And merry meet again.
