Crossroads, Compass, and Circle

One of the oldest places associated with the practice of the Craft is the Crossroads. And so the question is "just what actually is the crossroads"?

Simply put, the crossroads is a meeting place. The directions of South and North meet East and West, forming an area with a clearly delineated Center. This center space may be said to be not only "of all directions" (or "of all places" or "of all realms") at once– being where the four cardinal directions meet. And so we may say that it is therefore "the meeting point of all realms". But the Crossroads is also "of no place at all" at the same time. Thus is it a paradoxical "between" space, or liminal place.

If we look on a map, we can find a similar figure delineated in the map’s legend called The Compass Rose. This symbol comes to symbolize the Crossroads themselves. And at the very center of the Crossroads, we create the Circle.

The circle’s purposes in Witchcraft are many depending on the Tradition, but in all cases the circle is a nonphysical, circular space built by the practitioners through magic for a particular purpose. Afterwards it is either ‘taken down’ or allowed to naturally dissipate on its own once its use is complete. Its establishment has several purposes within Witchcraft and the religions and traditions which utilize it.

Chiefly it is a holy and sacred space, just like a church or temple, wherein the blessed spirits of ritual and spiritual significance are called forth in Convocation; as our sacred spaces exist in all of the world, and all of nature, and yet we have no physical temples, we must create them ourselves wherever we go. The circle does this by creating that magical space ‘between’ both the spiritual and the mundane, where both worlds exist and yet don’t at the same time, within the same space.

Secondly, in addition to demarcating sacred space, the boundary of the circle works a little bit like a sacred shield; if you were to reach out of the circle during a rite, for instance, you’d likely notice that the edge of the circle has a tangible energetic feel. This is because it’s a boundary of magical reality. A place where the rite ends, and is separate from the outside world of magical nothing.

As a space between spaces, beyond it lies the spiritual "Void". And so it keeps friendly energies inside, and acts as a barrier of protection against outside influence, hostile energies, and malicious entities- keeping the sacred space and all within it safe. This is especially important when one is working magic or trafficking with Spirits. Especially since circles may also be used to exert some means of control over forces within them if necessary (or constructed for such purposes), such as Spirits- though this is typically reserved for emergency procedures such as banishments and exercises. And such actions are never taken lightly.

Regardless, to breach the circle's boundary is to bring into the Coven’s midst the stuff of "the Void", unmediated by any filtering agency. This is one reason that Wiccans, at least, are so very careful about the boundaries of their circle (and another reason for The Sentinel's duty as protector of the circle and its border).

And finally, since practitioners often raise energy in ritual in order to do magic, the circle acts a container for power until it is ready to be released to achieve its purpose- and as a lens which focuses the power that's raised once it's released; it's akin to a pot of boiling water: When the lid is on, the water boils faster and more intensely, and the water is trapped inside until you take the lid off ... After all, you wouldn’t want to go to all the trouble of raising energy only to have it seep out all over the place before you could actually use it!

So, now we have our Center (‘All Things and No Thing’), and our boundary (‘Nothing and Void’). What, then, of our four directions previously mentioned? The circle itself (and its process of creation) has many symbolic meanings in which these play an integral role. Unfortunately this is where we run into some controversy, as things such as the elements are an item that seems to be widely misunderstood.

In the largest symbolism, the Circle represents the Earth. In its smallest symbolism, it represents the self. Somewhere in between its largest and its smallest symbolism, it represents one’s spiritual home. This is because together the entire process of casting the circle creates a microcosmic model of the greater universe where all of the elements of life are present- from the literal elements to themselves, to the cycle of the sun and moon, the seasons, the cycle of human life (working sunwise around the circle), and more.

The Four Directions themselves are sources of Power. They represent four basic principles that combine to form the Magical and Outer Worlds. Alchemists termed these principles ‘Elements’ in the sense that they are the purest metaphoric examples of those things which make up being and creation … In other words, the Directions and Realms are not ‘elements’ in the literal sense, but essences. In modern thought, however, this has become confused with the idea that these elements are themselves reality instead of simply metaphors for its various parts.

The fact that they are essences, however, matters, because the Circle incorporates not four, but at least five directions. Likewise, Alchemy also posited a fifth essence or ‘Quintessence’- although it is largely ignored in popular pagan publication and practice that clings to ‘the four elements' model. Regardless, the Compass or Circle may ultimately be seen as the Crossroads– or the meeting place– for these four basic essences.