dEste Sorita - Circle of Fire: A practical guide to the symbolism & practices of modern Wiccan ritual

Wicca: CIRCLE OF FIRE

A practical guide to the symbolism
& practices of modern Wiccan ritual

by Sorita DEste & David Rankine

Guide O fire the seeker

On a path of illumination

On a path through the mysteries

Through the circles of time and space

Through the passions of a loving embrace

Truthful path of perfect will

Mysteries from the cauldron spill

Revised & Expanded Second Edition 2008
This Kindle Edition, February 2012

BM Avalonia

London

WC1N 3XX

England, UK

www.avaloniabooks.co.uk

WICCA: CIRCLE OF FIRE

Print Edition ISBN (10) 1-905297-16-5

Print Edition ISBN (13) 978-1-905297-16-0

First Edition May 2005

Revised & Expanded Second Edition May 2008

Copyright 2005, 2008 Sorita dEste and David Rankine

Design by Satori.

Illustrations by Satori, with the exception of p. 130-132 by Brian Andrews

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or used in another book, without written permission from the publishers.

Sorita dEste and David Rankine are the founders of the StarStone Network, a network of Wiccan tradition training circles and covens in the UK. Together they have facilitated many workshops, given lectures and written on a wide spectrum of esoteric topics. Soritas interest in the magickal started through out-of-body and psychic experiences as a child . Her interest in classical pagan deities and mythology was fueled by the romantic poet s. David entered into the magickal world in the 1970s after reading Aleister Crowleys Magick and the classic handbook Techniques of High Magic by Francis King and Stephen Skinner. Interestingly, many years later, David would meet Stephen Skinner and enter into a very fruitful writin g partnership with the very man whose work inspire d him when he first started out. Sorita and David are both vegetarian, but whilst David adores macadamia nuts, Sorita prefers dark chocolate. They both like carrot juice, with fresh ginger!

You are welcome to write to the authors:

Sorita dEste & David Rankine

c/o BM Avalonia, London, WC1N 3XX, United Kingdom

For more information on their work see: www.avalonia.co.uk

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the bea utiful members of

VITRIOL Grov e

& all the hidden children of the

Stone of the Stars.

Blessed Be.

Open your eyes and you will see that the door has been opened and the world of the God s lies within: and your spirit, rejoicing in this vision, will find itself drawn onwards and upwards.

Greco-Egyptian Magic al Papyri (Unknown Translation)

1. What Is Wicca?

Wicca encompasses an entire worldview and way of life, and is always there in the way you look at and interact with the world . It is an experiential system of magick , mysticism and spirituality that works with the divine as both masculine and feminine , whilst emphasising growth through balance and discipline. This balance, be it of light and dark, feminine and masculine, or active and passive, acts as a dynamic tension to create harmony and enable the individual to progress in their development through understanding their relationship with themselves and the world around them. It provides a spiritual way of life; its simple effectiveness an d organic beauty combine to make its appeal grow greater as we move further into the twenty-first century, with its bombardment of technology and information. It is constantly growing and evolving, fulfilling peoples need for magick, mysticism and spirituality , whilst placing the responsibility for spiritual growth and fulfillment firmly back in the hands of the individual.

The History of the Tradition

Wicca , as an initiatory magickal tradition with Pagan spiritual philosophies and witchcraft practices , first came to th e public attention in the 1950s at the hands of retired civil servant Gerald B. Gardner. It is however impossible to assign the actual origins of the traditio n to an exact period in history - many claims and counterclaims have been made over the years, but what is clear when you examine the evidence of the practices found in the tradition today, is that the tradition we now call Wicca most likely did exist in one form or another prior to the involvement of Gerald Gardner. We explore the origins of the key practices in our book Wicca Magickal Beginnings , showing that some of the practices used today can be found dating back to 3000BCE, with many more seemingly being derived from the magickal practices of the medieval and renaissance grimoire magickians, with a small amount of classical mythology, British and European Witchcraft , mixed with a little bit of Victorian Ceremonial magick.

It is clear from this that Wicca draws its inspiration from a range of practice s, myths and symbols, from different parts of the world and different points in history. Merged together and synthesized to produce a beautiful and effective simple form of practical spirituality.

Goddess & God

The celebration of the feminine and masculine divine through the changing seasons of nature is at the heart of the Wiccan tradition, flowing through the ceremonies and beliefs held by those who practice it. The deities of the Wicca n Tradition can be viewed through the eyes of a variety of spiritual philosophies and religious systems, each considered valid in its own way . There is no one prescr ibed way in which it is expressed , thus Wiccans might be monotheists, polytheists, pantheists, pantheists , henotheists, or a combination of these without any perceived contradiction. The feminine divine, or Goddess , is associated with the Moon, but also has stellar, terrestrial and cht h onian associations. The masculine divine, or God , is considered to be animal horned and is associated with the Sun, forests, woodlands, animals and the underworld. Many practitioners today also describe the deities of the tradition as being part of a n ultimate divine, a unifying force , from which the feminine and masculine divine permeate.

T he Eight Sabbats

Wiccan s celebrate the eight seasonal festi vals which are better known as the W heel of the Y ear. These festivals mark the changing seasons and bring practitioners t o a closer understanding of nature.

The eight seasonal celebrations or Sabbats are:

Samhain (Halloween) October 31

Yule (Winter Solstice) December 21

Imb olc (Candlemas) Feb ruary

Eostra (Spring Equinox) March 21

Beltane (May Day) May 1

Litha (Summer Solstice) June 21

Lughnasad h (Lammas) August 1

M odr on (Autumn Equinox) September

Please note that the dates given here are as they are used within the Northern Hemisphere . In the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed and different from those experienced in Europe . A s a resul t of this the festivals are usually reversed in order for them to fit in with the seasons within the locality they are celebrated in. Also keep in mind that the dates for the Solstices and Equinoxes may vary from year to year, so it is important to consult an astrological calendar for the exact dates each year.

As well as being celebrations or festivals, the Wheel of the Year Sabbats mark changes in all nature, in animal and plant life. They also represent a mythical cycle of life experience for the goddess and god, which reflect the experiences of the human lifecycle, demonstrating the magickal axiom of As above, so below .