Sacred Space

Sacred space is the area that you use only for ritual and magic. It can be as simple or elaborate as the individual wishes. This space can be a large permanent place, small areas in more than one place, or a temporary spot set up while traveling. Broadly defined, any place is sacred when certain ritual items are set up and/or a consecrated circle is cast there.
Ancient Witches either cast their sacred circles secretly in their homes or out in nature at natural power places, such as crossroads, stone circles, hilltops, or near ancient healing wells that were visited by others very rarely. They meet at night because that was the ancient practice and because fewer non-Wiccan people would see them. To be reported as a Witch meant a death sentence.
If you have an extra room to turn into a ritual room, feel fortunate. Otherwise, you must devise some way to set aside a corner of a room in which you allow no intrusion of everyday items. If you have a room you can dedicate to rituals and magic, there are a few things you should consider. Try to locate the room away from central areas of household traffic so that you can have privacy in your work. If necessary, install a lock on the door. The last thing you want is someone entering the room to ask what you are doing in the middle of a spell or ritual.
If you share the house with others, you may wish to make a sign that says, “Do Not Disturb. Work in Progress”, to hang on the door. 
If you have windows in this room, it is a good idea to have a good set of heavy drapes or blinds.
Decorating a dedicated ritual room is the dream of all Witches. You may want to use restraint in decorating the rest of the house, but when doing a ritual room, all your creativity can come out. The color white is the best choice. Dark colors can make you feel like you are standing in a very small, enclosed place, as they tend to visually diminish the room’s size. The color white encompasses and reflects all other colors, and opens up the visual dimensions of a room. If you want a dark color in the room, consider painting black or dark blue on the ceiling, and then decorate that area with small, silvery stars, the moon or clouds. In lieu of murals, you can decorate the walls with pictures and posters that remind you of the Goddess and the God, or other Pagan symbols and scenes.
The main feature of your ritual room should always be the altar. Whether your altar is permanently set, or must be put up and taken down each time, most Witches say that the altar should be positioned either in the center of the working area or on the eastern edge of the circle. In the beginning, the apprentice should follow this rule and stand at the altar, facing the eastern direction. 
There should be small sturdy stands at each of the four directions to hold candle for the quarter guardians. Place each candle in a metal or fireproof holder with a large edge to catch drips.
If you have the space, you may also wish to have within the ritual room a larger cupboard or a dresser with drawer for storing supplies you use frequently and for exhibiting deity statues, extra tools, collections of stones, and perhaps your magical books. Bookcases are also useful for exhibiting and storing collections of deity statues, extra ritual tools, stones, sells and supplies you might want at hand during a ritual. 
Many Witches prefer to do their rituals with the only light coming from altar candles. If you find, however, that this makes it too difficult to see your BOS, use the electric lights. This doesn’t make you a nontraditional Witch. Some people see better than others in the near dark.
If you do not have a separate room for ritual, you can still be a faithful, practicing Witch. Choose an out-of-the-way place in your apartment or house where you can work undisturbed. In this space, have a dresser with rollers or a special small table that can be placed in the proper position when needed. Keep your ritual tools and supplies in a place that is separate from mundane articles. If you choose the dresser, you can use the drawers for storage of these items. You can set up and take down your altar each time you do ritual.
Wherever you plan to use candles, however, be very certain that the lighted candle is well away from the wall, draperies, or other flammable objects. The heat from a candle can start a fire up to two feet away. If you choose to use a shelf for an altar, I strongly recommend that you do not use lighted candles.
When you set up a devotional altar, or even your regular altar, you should think about the symbolism and significance of what you are doing. Each object should speak to you of a step along your spiritual path. It is best to not clutter your spiritual ritual space with items that have no meaning to you.
Above all, do not spend hundreds of dollars for an altar and/or devotional shelves. Begin with what you have at hand. You can always replace or refinish furniture later if you wish.
The Mechanics of Casting a Circle
The use of circles in ritual and magic is mentioned as far back as ancient Assyria. Certain clay tablets tell of its use and note that the circle then was called usurtu. The circle is a worldwide symbol of eternity and infinity, with no beginning and no end. The alchemical symbol of this circle was a dragon with its tail in its mouth.
Almost all Witches, whether solitary or in a coven, cast a psychic, magical circle to work within when doing rituals or magic. 
Standing within a consecrated, cast circle represents a return from multiplicity to a point of unity or oneness, from a place of time to timelessness, from a mind ruled by consciousness to one governed by the subconscious. It is the ultimate state of Oneness with the Goddess and the God.
A psychically marked and ritually consecrated magic circle has other purposes. It produces protection for the worshippers from evil and unbalanced forces, and both a meeting place for the gods and a reservoir for the power built up during the ritual. This power is deliberately directed toward a goal and released during a crucial point of the ritual. This power may be raised by dancing, chanting, or through a specific spell. 

The power raised within a circle is frequently spoken of as a Cone of Power. Seen by outsiders with psychic sight, the cone may have been the original idea behind the pointed Witch’s hat.
The traditional Witch’s circle is first marked out by an athame or sword drawing the line in the air, then by sprinkling this circle with blessed water and salt. Almost all circles are cast with the Witch moving in a deosil, or clockwise, direction. Traditionalists say that the circle should have a nine-foot diameter, although this is far too small for large groups, and often far too large for the solitary Witch who may not have much room.
Some occasions may call for a circle made widdershins, or counterclockwise. The Irish Celtic word for widdershins was tuathal, while the Anglo-Saxon word sith meant, “to walk against.” However, most Witches and apprentices should involve themselves only with a deosil circle.
Cleanliness is important to a good, positive ritual, so make certain that your ritual area, the altar, and your tools are clean. Laziness and dirt attract negative energies and beings, thus creating difficulty in making your circle absolutely impregnable to unbalanced forces.
The altar is either set in the center of the circle or close to the eastern edge, so that the participants face the East when working.
Four Element candles of the appropriate colors for each cardinal direction are placed near the circle’s edge. The rulers of these Elements are called or invoked for assistance and protection at the proper place in the ritual.
To begin the actual circle casting, the circle is sealed by retracing the line in the air with the athame or a sword. Next, the circle is blessed and cleansed by sprinkling its circumference with a mixture of salt and water. Sometimes, this procedure is repeated by carrying a lighted incense around the circle. This offers protection against potentially malevolent and dangerous forces or spirits. The circle line is begun in the East, drawn deosil, and finishes in the East by overlapping the ends.
Do Not cross the circle boundary once it is cast. If you must leave, cut a symbolic door in the air with your dagger, go through, and then re-mark the line to seal it. Lay your dagger on the floor in front of this ‘door’. When you return, cut the door again, go through, and reseal the boundary. However, it is best if you simply do not leave the circle until you are finished.
The cardinal directions of a circle are then oriented by the lighting of a candle at each cardinal direction and calling the spirits of that direction. Some Witches draw an invoking pentagram at each quarter when calling up the guardians and a banishing pentagram at the end of the ritual when the guardians are dismissed.
Even if you do not use the invoking and banishing pentagrams at each quarter direction, Witches or magicians should banish all attracted entities before they cut the circle. This can be done by formally thanking the gathered entities. You must also ground any remaining power from the Otherworld. If you are proficient in magic, you can do this by word alone. Since most apprentices and beginning Witches are not, you can do this by placing your power hand on the altar or the floor. This grounds whatever energy is left within the circle, and will not leave you with unwanted, troublesome pockets of energy. 

Pouring this energy into a power sink stone kept on the altar is also an excellent method of grounding the remaining energies. Finally the circle should be ritually broken with the dagger or sword.
Casting the Circle
Actually casting the circle is the second step in preparing your ritual area for ceremony and magic. The first step is to put all the tools you will need on the altar, and anything less vital, but still to be used, at least within the area that will be enclosed by the circle. 
Using the broom, ritually sweep, in a clockwise movement, all negative energy and entities out of the ritual area, while saying:
All negative out, all positive in.
The pentacle is placed in the forward center of your altar, close to where you will stand. Set the chalice of water on it, with the container of salt nearby. Have the paper with the ritual near this. Place the white pillar candle to the right of this and light it. Lay the small taper candle near the pillar candle, with the snuffer beside it. Put the censer on the left side of the altar. If you use a charcoal tablet, light it well in advance of the ritual, so it can be properly heated. Place the container of incense or incense cones near the censer. Put the dagger near you on the right side of the altar so you will know where it is at all time. Near the dagger, place the hand bell.
If you do not have charcoal tablets and powdered incense, and are using incense sticks or cones, point the dagger at these while saying both parts of the ritual intended separately for the burning charcoal and the incense.
The Element candles are set, one at each quarter mark of the circle. The modern colors most often used are yellow in the East, red in the South, blue in the West and dark green or brown in the North. Before you begin a circle casting, you should decide what form you will use in addressing the Elements (Lords and Ladies, Watchtowers; or the names of the elemental rulers).
Stand before the altar. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and center your thoughts on the upcoming ritual and the reason behind it. Ring the bell once and say:
This ritual has begun
Next, move to the eastern edge of the ritual area, holding your dagger in your power hand. Visualize a blue-white flame issuing from the tip of the dagger. Point it at the floor in the East. Walk clockwise or deosil around the circle, drawing the circle mark in the air as you go. Be sure to overlap the ends in the East as you finish.
As you walk, say:
I consecrate this circle to the Goddess and the God Here may they manifest and bless their child.
Return to the altar and stand facing it. Raise your arms with the dagger in your power hand and say:
This is a time that is not a time, in a place that is not a place, on a day that is not a day. I stand at the threshold between the worlds, before the Veil of the Mysteries. May the Old Ones protect me that I may walk the true path forever. By the bright circle of the golden sun, by the bright courses of the glorious moon, by the dread potency of every star in the mysterious zodia’s burning girth, by each and all of these supernal signs, I do call and command you with this sacred blade. Guard me in this time and place from all evil and unbalanced forces.
Lay the dagger on the altar, raise your arms in greeting and say:
Come, all those who would help me here this night. I give you welcome within this sacred circle. Join your powers with my desires that I may create and accomplish.
Take up the dagger and hold it point down over the chalice of water, say:
The blessings of the Goddess be upon this water, symbol of Water. May it ever remind me of the endless cauldron waters of rebirth.
Hold the dagger with the point down over the container of salt, say:
The blessings of the Goddess be upon this salt, symbol of Earth. May I ever honor the blessed earth that is Her body in the physical world.
With the tip of your dagger, scoop up a little of the salt and tip it into the chalice of water. Put the dagger aside and take up the chalice in your power hand. Swirl it gently three times in a clockwise movement.
Hold the chalice high over the altar and say:
Water and Earth, Elements of birth. By touch, purify. By power, sanctify. Great Goddess, be you adored!
Using the fingers of your power hand, lightly sprinkle the water around the edge of the circle, beginning and ending in the East
Replace the chalice on the altar, and take the dagger in your power hand. Hold it point down over the burning charcoal and say:
May the blessing of the God be upon this charcoal, symbol of Fire. May I ever honor the sacred Fire that dances within me.
Hold the dagger point down over the incense and say:
May the blessings of the God be upon this incense, symbol of Air. May I always listen to the spiritual inspiration that whispers to my soul.
Lay the dagger aside. Put a small amount of the incense on the burning charcoal. Hold the burner high over the altar and say:
Fire and Air, Elements so fair. By touch, purify. By power, sanctify. Great God, be you adored!
Carry the burning incense around the circle, beginning and ending in the East. Return the censer to the altar.
Stand facing the altar and say:
Round and round, the power has bound, this circle tonight in Otherworld light. No evil may enter, no harm befall me. For this is my will, and so shall it be.
Take the small taper candle and light it from the white pillar candle. With your dagger in your power hand and the taper in the other, go to the East. Light the yellow candle. Trace the invoking pentagram in the air over the candle while saying:
Lord and Ladies of the East, all those ruled by the Element of Air, I do summon you to witness this ritual and to guard this circle.
Go to the South; light the red candle. Trace the invoking pentagram in the air over the candle while saying;
Lords and Ladies of the South, all those ruled by the Element of Fire, I do summon you to witness this ritual and to guard this circle.
Go to the West; light the blue candle. Trace the invoking pentagram in the air over the candle while saying:
Lords and Ladies of the West, all those ruled by the Element of Water, I do summon you to witness this ritual and to guard this circle.
Go to the North; light the green candle. Trace the invoking pentagram in the air over the candle while saying:
Lords and Ladies of the North, all those ruled by the Element of Earth, I do summon you to witness this ritual and to guard this circle.
Return to the altar, snuff out the taper candle, and lay it and the dagger aside. 
(This concludes the casting the circle part of a ritual. This is usually followed by the Charge of the Goddess, the blessing of the wine/juice, and a suitable celebration. These celebrations can be of the New or Full Moon, a rite of passage, or one of the eight holy days. Spellwork also can be performed at this time.)
Closing the Circle
When the complete ritual is finished, take your dagger in your power hand and the candlesnuffer in the other.
Go to the East. Extinguish the candle flame and trace the banishing pentagram in the air over the candle. Say:
Lords and Ladies of the East, all those ruled by the Element of Air, I bid you peacefully depart. My thanks, and farewell.

Go to the South. Extinguish the candle flame and trace the banishing pentagram in the air over the candle. Say:
Lords and Ladies of the South, all those ruled by the Element of Fire, I bid you peacefully depart. My thanks, and farewell.
Go to the West. Extinguish the candle flame and trace the banishing pentagram in the air over the candle. Say
Lords and Ladies of the West, all those ruled by the Element of Water, I bid you peacefully depart. My thanks, and farewell.
Go to the North. Extinguish the candle flame and trace the banishing pentagram in the air over the candle. Say:
Lords and Ladies of the North, all those ruled by the Element of Earth, I bid you peacefully depart. My thanks, and farewell.
Return to the altar. Lay aside the candlesnuffer. Lay both hands, palms down, on the altar to ground any remaining power.
Raise your arms in greetings as you say:
Fairies, Spirits, Elementals, and all in the invisible, I give my thanks and my blessings. May we always work in harmony together. Blessed Be!
You have just successfully cast and cut your circle.