Ch.8 The Magick Circle (WMB 8.h)

Extract from: Wicca: Magical Beginnings written by d’Este & Rankine, 2008 (Avalonia.) PB / Kindle @ https://amzn.to/3Ay4HJr.

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A major functional difference between the Wiccan magick circle and the magick circles of the grimoires and others discussed above is the concept of ’being between the worlds’ when working within it. This seemingly modern concept of being ’between the worlds’ may derive from the ancient Egyptian concept of there being no time when within a sacred space. This was because for the Egyptians stepping into a sacred space was seen as returning to the beginning of time, to enable the priest to tap into the energies of creation. This was expressed very clearly by the religious historian Mircea Eliade, who wrote in his book The Sacred and the Profane:

“by its very nature sacred time is reversible in the sense that, properly speaking, it is a primordial mythical time made present. Every religious festival, any liturgical time, represents the reactualisation of a sacred event that took place in a mythical past, ‘in the beginning’.”

It is clear that the use of the magick circle in the Wiccan tradition initially appears to derive from the Grimoire Tradition. Considering the examples given previously of magick circles being linked to medieval witchcraft at a time when the earliest grimoires were starting to appear, the possibility of magick circles entering into witchcraft via a different route cannot be ignored.

Extract from: Wicca: Magical Beginnings written by d’Este & Rankine, 2008 (Avalonia.) PB / Kindle @ https://amzn.to/3Ay4HJr. Shared here with the intention to inspire and inform the now and future generations interested in Wicca and other Pagan traditions inspired by it.