How To Be A Witch

Ritual Formats

Okay, so you learned a ton of new tips for spellcasting, and these are all often used in a ritual format, as I'm sure you've all noticed. But where does it all go? You may have seen me mention where a certain something goes here and there, but honestly, that's a bit vague.

One of the key things here is that it's really important understand that there are lots of different formats. I think you've gotten the gist by now that nothing, absolutely nothing is completely set in stone in Witchcraft. Nothing. And that's part of the freedom of it.

There is one thing that I do believe I have forgotten to mention before in previous chapters. You may believe that casting a circle is basically cleansing and charging for a space, but it actually isn't. Yes, it invokes energies and spirits. Yes, it sets a space for protection. But it really doesn't do much good if the space itself isn't cleansed and charged. However, since I already started a ritual format chapter, I'll make sure to do it right after. Promise!

All rituals typically include cleansing and charging of some sort, invoking energies, spellwork, and releasing the energies. That's what they all have in common, but what is a basic ritual? Well, you can make it as basic as you want it, depending on your purpose, but here's the format for a typical and basic ritual.

First, you cleanse and charge yourself. You can either take a bath or shower (many people have added herbs to their baths for this purpose), put on ritual clothes, or just take off your clothes in general if you prefer. You can wave incense around yourself, dilute a few drops of essential oils into water and rub it into your skin (be sure to look at the instructions on the essential oil bottle first), or any other methods. But I don't really recommend any type of burying. Or sitting in a tree hole. Unless you're really bendy. Or are okay with breaking some bones. Or suffocating. Okay, just don't do that. Bad energies. And bad common sense.

 I'd say it's good to ground and center right now. You could also ground and center before everything else. It's up to you.  

Then, you set up your space. This includes setting up any altars, element or deity representations, and gathering all your tools and supplies. After that, you cleanse and charge all your tools. This is really important, and you should cleanse yourself first because you'll be handling them while trying to cleanse and charge them. Be sure to prepare offerings, too. More on that later.

Next, you create your sacred space. This is what I mentioned before: the cleansing and charging of the space. Not casting a circle. There's lots of different ways to do this. We'll go over this later, so just bear with me here.

Now you cast your circle. An important thing to remember is that this is not required. When doing simpler spells, you don't have to do this if you feel that you don't need that extra protection. However, for beginner witches, it's a good idea for both protecting yourself when you're just starting out and more prone to make mistakes and also to just learn how to do it and find what method is best for you. If you don't do this part, you still call any spirits, energies, or deities you want to, though. However, we'll include those in circle casting right now.

Now, here comes the meat of the spell. The hamburger amongst all that bread and lettuce and ketchup and cheese and whatever you put on it. The cake under the frosting, the apple under the pie crust, the most awesome scene in a whole book, the- okay, you get it. THE SPELLWORK!!! Now this is the fun part. We haven't really discussed this yet, considering we only went through the basics of what you need to know to actually do the spellwork. Don't worry, we'll get to the fun part soon.

Next, you raise the energy if you so choose. This can also be fun, depending on how you do it. Or it can be peaceful. Just do something. Or nothing at all, it's your choice.

Okay, now you close the circle. Well, actually, you thank and release any deities. Then you thank and release the elements, and THEN you close the circle. It has to be in that order. Otherwise, it's just rude to the spirits.

Here's where you ground and center again. You've just finished working with spirits, sending energy into the universe, and so on. It's all tiring. Even if you don't feel tired right then, if you don't ground and center, you'll start to feel it creeping up on you. You should also do this other times as well, much like cleansing tools, spaces, and yourself.

And from there, you put everything away.

Yay! You just completed your first ritual!

Well, you did if you did one while reading this... still, you read it, and that's good. Here's a simple list without all the explanations:

Cleanse yourself.

Ground and center.

Set up area.

Cleanse and charge tools.

Create sacred place.

Cast circle/invoke spirits.

Spellwork.

Raise energy.

Thank and release spirits/close circle.

Ground and center.

Put everything away.

So there's a really basic ritual. Not too difficult, right?

Just kidding. When I first read a book on this, I was mind boggled, thinking, how can I do all that?! However, I think part of this was because the author didn't really organize it very well, which is why I made the simple list and really pressed that it didn't have to be one way. It's all up to you, guys.

But other than that, it's totally doable.

Depending on what tradition you're in, or if you're even in any, or how you make your path, you could also add some other pieces to the ritual, such as communion and feasting. Even skits have been used for Sabbats. However, since this is almost a thousand words, that should probably be left for another chapter.

Thank you all for reading! Please comment below on what you'd like to see information on. I've got a huge list on topics to cover, however, I'm always looking for more to help you all find the information you need.

And until the next chapter, I bid you all well!

~Rae