Circles

Apparently my last post was a little vague.

I am sorry about that. I was in a hurry and just a bit annoyed. Now that I have a little more time, I will elaborate.

Pagans are not a particularly formal bunch. At times there can be high ceremony in a ritual but just as often it can be a casual and relaxed, though still serious, affair.

Many faiths have places specifically dedicated to worship:
Christians have churches, the Jewish have their synagogues*, Muslims have mosques, and many others have temples or shrines.

Most Pagans do not. Like the actors of MidSummer Night's Dream, all we need is a is a small piece of ground to practice our art.

Our temple is carried within us and when it is needed we draw it out with wand, sword, knife, or merely our wills.

We do this by casting a circle. Methods of doing this vary widely but the basic process is the same, mark out the perimeter of the circle, either physically with chalk, paint, rope, etc or just in our minds and then call the elements in each direction to watch over it.

(If you are interested in specific details there are a great many sources out there any basic internet search should turn them up.)

My practice is mostly solitary. I rarely have guests in my circle, but very recently I did. And this is where I ran into trouble.

You see the "experts" recommend that a circle for a solitary practitioner be 5 feet in diameter. They recommend a diameter of 9 feet for a "coven" (three or more). Everything written about Pagan ritual seems to be either directed at one person working alone or at a group. Very little seems to be oriented towards people working in pairs. I find this omission a bit odd considering the nature of the dynamics, but that's just me.

Part of the goal for the day was healing work. Healing, for me at least, works better when the recipient is lying down. My guest for the day was a bit over six feet tall. It was then that I realized that someone six feet tall was not going to fit lying down in a five foot diameter circle.

For reasons I hope are obvious, once a circle is cast everything is supposed to stay inside it, feet sticking out over the edge really won't do.

And 9 feet? Well first of all my living room isn't big enough for a circle that size, and even if it was, circles that size are often a bit too big for just two.

So it got me wondering what size circle is best for two people?

7 feet worked just right. and gave me just enough room for the candles at the outer edge. :)

But then I got thinking of all the ways the work and worship inside a circle take form. Many people probably end up laying down at some point.

But, as I said, most adults are taller than 5 feet so they would not fit lying down inside a personal circle of the "standard" size.

Made me wonder if we need to think these things through a bit more carefully...

Ms. Bety

*Special greetings and good wishes for those who attend the local synagogues here that were recently targeted for protests by a hate group. You all handled it admirably.