Beyond the Book of Shadows : Advanced Ritual Practice

This book has been written as a guide to some of the advanced techniques of ritual circle building within the overall tradition of modern Wicca. It is intended for anyone who is currently practising Witchcraft, of any form, who wishes to explore advanced techniques beyond his or her current style of ritual practice. This book has been entitled; 'Beyond the Book of Shadows' because it is a sincere attempt to explain and develop Wiccan ritual practice beyond where the 'Book of Shadows' left off; especially regarding the awareness of the energetic side of ritual. It is primarily focused on just two practices; the setting up of a magical circle and the invoking of Divine force into it. Together these form the two fundamentals of Wiccan magic ritual. The idea is that if these two practices are learnt correctly and done to the best of our ability, then everything else will fall into place and evolve quite naturally. What really goes on in a Wiccan circle (or indeed, in any ritual circle), on a magical level, is rarely written about. This book is an attempt to remedy this gap, by being a guide to conducting the fundamentals of ritual and an inspiration to the mystery of ritual. For when any ritual truly comes alive it enters into the other world and takes us with it. Wicca, for all its idiosyncrasies and differences has, at its heart, a pure diamond of divine mysteries. It is one of the very few mystery religions we still have with us today.

Chapter 3. Circle Building.Having looked at the underlying foundations and motivations behind practising magic and ritual and before we look in depth at the different aspects of circle building, it is useful to take an overview of the whole process of how we go about opening up a magical circle for ritual. The basic circle ritual forms the backbone of magical practice and certainly is the main practice at Wiccan Esbats and as preparation for the seasonal Sabbats. (continued)