Outer Circle Etiquette

Someday you will very likely want to attend rituals put on by other people and groups. Here is a guideline for how to behave, along with some information to help you feel comfortable.

1. A ritual is not a spectator sport. If you don’t wish to participate, please stay far enough away that your conversations, etc. won’t interfere in the rite.

2. Leave your mundane self and earthly business outside the Circle, and enter with your magical self having worked through personal difficulties beforehand.

3. Meet everyone’s magical self in the Circle as if for the first time. Treat everybody and everything in the Circle with respect, tact, courtesy, and love.

4. A ritual is like a religious service, one in which considerable power may be raised. So please behave reverently and carefully in Circle.

5. Keep solemn silence except when Truth wishes to speak through you. Speak only Truth in Circle, and your magical affirmations will have the force of that Truth.

6. A ritual need not be solemn, yet it should be serious in that humor should be used with purpose. Gratuitous remarks can disrupt the Circle's energy and focus, so please refrain from making them.

7. The best rituals are those that seem spontaneous, yet they’ve often been planned carefully. So look to those leading the rite for clues on when to join in with chanting, drumming, etc.

8. When moving about in the Circle, always move in the direction of the Casting (usually sunwise). Walk around the Circle if necessary, but don’t walk across or against the flow.

9. Ritual objects and tools are invested with power and should be treated with respect. A person’s tools and musical instruments are private and should not be touched without permission- especially anything wrapped, sheathed, or boxed.

10. Once the Circle is cast, enter or exit only at great need. If you must enter or exit the Circle, please cut yourself a door or have one of the ritual officers do so.

We are all siblings in the Circle, but we may work in different ways. Be sensitive to different needs and styles before and during a ritual. Respect the differences between all magical selves and include them, for they are all needed to complete the Circle.