Friday, February 19, 2016

Wordplay: Casting a Circle vs. Creating Sacred Space

So I'm starting to realize that my definition of casting a Circle and creating a sacred purified space are a little different from other people's and a I just wanted to clarify. So when I cleanse a space, I physically sweep, vacuum, mop, etc, the area. I sweep all the negativity away physically. When I purify a sacred space, I call upon the elements in a chant to drive negative energies away. I usually use a physical representation of each of the elements (Water, Salt, Candle, Incense) and walk around the space with each while chanting. I may also smudge the area as well. I am casting the Circle when I am calling upon the Watchtowers, Goddess, and God to protect the space and aid with the ritual at hand.

Some people may say I'm being a little bit picky about this but the only reason I want this to be known is because words have power. Names have power. Everything you say gets sent out into the universe physically; I believe your words can be even more powerful than your thoughts. So to me, it only makes sense to be as clear as possible when stating your intentions for ritual or spellwork. This is why spells are called spells! Grammar is tremendously important!

In Druidic traditions, teachers don't give their students the names of sacred tools such as wands, athames, and cauldrons until they know their student has an in depth understanding of what the tool is for. They describe their tools to the student instilling this understanding and then, only after, do they divulge the name - because it has power.

So I invite you, dear reader, to explore these words and come to an understanding of what they truly mean. Let's not use them interchangeably but for the specific purpose for which they were constructed. Let's not interchange words such as Witch and Wiccan either. We can't assume everyone who is Wiccan is a Witch and all Witches are Wiccan. That's for another rant though.

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