Ways of the Circle
OR
..
Sacred Geometry..
Part One
Basic introduction
My old math teacher would
be dancing in the streets
to hear I finally learned
geometry, no matter what the reason !
I promise not to
drag you into a bunch of boring theories ..
As that's not
what this is about ... If you are a walking calculator and into such things
..
there's lots of Geo sites
to go play with :)
That said
Onward
On the ways of the Pagan
Path
We cast a Circle in which
to do our Rites and Say the Graces
According to Geometry..
And all the tricks that
pertain to it
This is that Circle
Cross Quartered Circle
.. Starwind
Geometry 101 Free domain
text book is base image
I know its Not just the basic geometric
form..
but that was boring ... and Im a frustrated
artist
so I made a few quick passes in Photoshop
and dressed it up a little :)
Because the plain geometric form would
not
illustrate my point
As this is about how we use
this form ... which the plain Jane wouldn't do,
this does .. I hope :)
Look up any page under
Geometry and you will see this form with all manner of math and other such
things
attached to it. We are
NOT going there, as I said .... anit ya glad to hear that ? :)
Where we are going ?
The Points on the Compass
of the Wheel of Life
And their purpose in
the Rites we weave
I know pretentious
.. what can I say I like formality sometimes
Oh why lie ..
when It comes to Ritual, I'm as formal as they come :)
Now most everyone knows
of North, East, South and West
with regard to the Pagan
paths ... In fact look at most any religion and you will find these
aspects represented
somewhere with their
basic attributes intact..
they are a commonality
But, there are other
points on the compass that have meaning
which we will also talk
about in terms of Rite and Ritual
The accepted meaning
behind N,E,S,W is the four elements
and that is correct ...
however the whole circle,
stands for much more
The Four
Elements alone ... when set up
Create not a circle but
a square (see above)
Which for the Rites we
overlap by casting the circle
overlaying the Earth
based Elements
with the realm of the
Spirit
Why ? Because
Earth the Square of Element, is finite .. limited
Whereas
The Circle encompassing
them is boundless, endless..
Ok .. but again why ?
The old Math question..
compute to the last digit the value of Pi
can't do it.. its an
infinite number..therefore a circle is infinite
And this is just the
"thing" itself not even getting into is esoteric meanings yet...
but its Esoteric derive
from its geometry
Deep
stuff for such a simple thing as a Circle .. huh ? :)
Look back as far as you
can go .. and you will find the Circle
in every religion, and
in every aspect.. Always related to
Spirit or Sun .. which
is also another way of saying spirit
in the Old world
The meaning is unchanged
... to this day
Now the Square
The Square of the Elements
= Earth .. the physical world
Which comes as no surprise
there ... Earth, Air, Fire, Water, make four sides
The attempt to "square"
the circle, to
bring spirit into something
tangible , has been done many times
Pyramids for one .. There
are other examples
Which is what we
are doing ... with the square of the elements ... within the circle of
the Spirit ..
connect all the points
together you get an Octagon .. which defines all the quarters of the wheel
which
combines all of the above,
into one continuous whole
Wow .. say all that on one breath, and ya get dizzy.. :)
Ya with me so far..? Ok :)
Now for the Ritual uses
of such things
We like to think when
we start a Rite that we have it all nailed
... as to what we expect
to do and why...
however this changes
a bit as it's being done..
the Wheel of the Circle
is why
What kind of changes..?
Lets see
Around the Wheel we go
Note : In Ritual terms there are a
variety of "starting" points I am using one this simply because
the compass is set up that way , to
make it easier to follow the diagram
North, the way of Earth
... the Earth itself .. Life and Death
Yin and Yang .. In Ritual
terms it is the space of grounding
so it's very often a
starting and later ending point for this reason
Here is where Rites are
done for Earths sake and all that pertains to it.. growth
all things of increase/gain
.. all things to see more done/happen .. be created
( among many others ..
but we will stick with this one for our example ..)
Say that increase of
"X" is the work of the day ?
This is our purpose behind
the Rite .. let's follow it around
the wheel and see how
the other points relate to it
and what happens to it...
North/East .. the mix
of Earth and Air .. The sunlight which brings the growth
and the wind which carries
the seed ...
It is the space of Creativeness
... which , given the point before it, is perfectly sensible ..
at point one you have
asked for increase
At point two you ask
for HOW to do it...?
What will make for gain
? what is the state of mind
needed for this ? what
will give it the best effect..?
The first thought of
how
to send out this spell to best effect
.. is here ..
East .. the Way of Air..
the Realm of flight, the Orbs of Space
The infinite .. to stand
at Air is to be reminded that there is no such thing
as a limit, as we tend
to limit ourselves a great deal..
This point around says
.. let go your limits and reach beyond yourself .. blowing here are the
winds of infinity
to clear the mind of
cobwebs that the Will and intent, be clear ...
Letting go of the Earth
bound self
South/East .. the mix
of Air and Fire .. The way of interdependence ..
the point of cooperation
.. The dance of life
Once you realize that
you can do no more alone .. then the interplay comes into place.. you and
the Divine..
you and your fellows,
if you have a coven .. all the players must come into view, to make the
spell for the increase, work
As no one is Ever alone
in works of Magick
South the Way of Fire..
the Realm of Inspiration,
The way of the mind ..
Now the mind comes into full play.. the sudden thought ..
the How to ..
becomes more than a suggestion ..
as was set up in the
North/East ,
now it becomes a concrete thought .. the Way of the Will and
the Word
is now there, in all
its possibilities
South/West .. the mix
of Fire and Water, the active principal of Water, the way of opposites
in balance ..
now that you have the
thought, it's time to mull it over a bit, toss it about and see it
from both sides of the coin ..
Will it work.. ? Can
it..? How about ?
West the way of Water..
the Realm of Healing, of Emotions
Here is the way of water
.. the flow.. to let the striving go and let it fall into place.... Not
try to force it ..
but surrender to the
waters cool embrace, and let the work free to become what it must be
North/West the mix of
Earth and Water .. the way of Ice,
of crystals .. of waters
way, made into form .. once the thoughts are chilled
into sensibility by Waters
embrace ..
now this point makes
them firm again .. the solid form flowing
The will intact and strong
now .. reformed and purified
Back now again to North
.. but now the work is done
we have the tools, the
knowledge .. we sought coming through
all the points of the wheel back to
the start ..
only now it's time to
let the power that is the work ..
go .. send it out to do its best for
your intent .. complete .. and whole
After its journey thur
Earths deep embrace .. the Sunlight's warmth .. the Airs cleansing ..
the
dance of intention ..
the way of Fires intellect
.. the action needed becoming clear ..
the Water to soothe the intent,
least we be too hasty..
then Crystal to make
it whole and solid ..
back to the foundation where we can let it go ..
out into the void .. while we ground
out the body whose work
is now done ...
This is the way of the
Circle .. one smooth continuous flow that works on and changes the Will
from a thought ..
to a Word of Power that
has, form .. depth .. reason .. solution .. and substance
Heck of a lot of work for a simple Geometry form huh ? :)
There are many other ways
to do this .. but this is the basic intention..
of how Function follows
Form .. in this case
The Sacred Geometry of
the Circle
May your Journey around be a Merry One
Companion
works
Shadowfire Graphics
For the wicked looking
Header center
which is ,believe it
or not, a background tile
which is no more, but
I give them their due anyway
For the neat little bullets
and page after page of other good stuff
You will be seeing this
link back... a lot.. LOTs of neat things
