Once you are ready for the ritual, you cast the circle in the space you have designated for the ritual area. This need not be a special room, but if possible, it should be a space set aside for rituals. In some cases (i.e., teenagers with fundamentalist parents) this may not be possible. Don't worry. If you have to, you might even use a t.v. tray on cinderblocks as an altar.
You cast the circle by calling the quarters after invoking the circle as an entity in and of itself.
The circle call would most likely go something like this while walking around the perimeter of the circle, at the same time visualizing a bubble of positive energy surrounding you and your ritual space, of any color (etc.) that you feel most comfortable with:
from all harm on the physical and on the astral planes.
I cast this circle to draw into it only the positive forces that are right for me/us and that will not harm me/us.
The circle is cast.
You can see that this is designed to call the circle as an entity and to specify that you do not want any nasty beasties coming in here while you work--not on the physical plane, and not on the astral (psychic) plane either, thankyouverymuch.
Often, the caster will walk the perimeter three times. I'm not sure where this came from, but it does seem to be popular; it may be that it represents the Triple Goddess. If you read the extended Wiccan Rede, you will have noted that it says to "cast the circle thrice about, to keep the evil spirits out." It basically boils down to which way you feel is right for you. In the event that you decide to cast the circle thrice about, you might want to work up a chant to say as you walk around it (a chant for the first pass, a chant for the second pass, a chant for the third pass).
Scott Cunningham recommends walking the circle and using your athame as a focus to pour energy outward and form it into a circle. This works well for me.
Calling, or invoking, the quarters (compass points), you would most likely begin in the East or the North; the East is generally favored because it is the direction of sunrise and new beginnings. In the East or North (or whatever direction you decided to start in), you would invoke the element that you had assigned to that quarter, most likely "drawing" a circle around with the appropriate tool. For instance, you might begin in the East with Air, with a quarter call something like this:
The East, the Air
The sylphs, the wind
Positive forces,
I call you in.
The East is to specify the direction (cardinal compass point), or quarter, that you are calling. The Air is to specify which element you are calling. The sylphs is to specify the elementals, the creatures associated with the element, that you are calling. Be cautious with elementals; they are sentient, having a thought process. The wind is another specification of element. Positive forces is specifying that you are only inviting good forces to your circle. I call you in is stating precisely what you are doing. Magick and ritual requires some degree of exactness, or else you wind up with something you hadn't planned at all. It is not your goal to have a psychic vampire (someone or something that feeds off of others' psychic powers) get your name and number, is it?
When you get a little farther into Wicca, you will find that there are many ways of calling a circle; I use this one here because it's what I know. However, you will find types of circles that you can cast entirely in your mind, with a bottle, with just about anything you can think of. I've run across a quarter-call in rap! And, furthermore, it was entirely usable and actually rather beautiful (in its way). The words don't have to rhyme. Use what you feel is right. There are many ways to cast a circle, but this one is the one I use, so I'm telling you about it. For instance, there's circle castings that don't mention the quarters, and some--like mine--that are essentially just using the quarters.
Got that? Good. And if you don't, then tell me and I'll try to clear it up for you.
So, you've called the first quarter. What do you do now? You create a similar chant, involving Fire for the direction you've chosen for Fire, Water for its direction, and Earth for its direction. It's a good idea to say, when you've finished casting the circle, "As above, so below. This circle is sealed." (Makes you wonder about the person in the apartment below yours, doesn't it? If you have a neighbor below you, you can visualize your circle as more like a bubble. Bubbles are actually hexagonal in shape, and will conform to the shape of their container, which will work excellently for you.) That seals the circle so that nothing can get in--or out. If it is necessary to leave the circle during a ritual, then cut a door for yourself by taking whatever you cast the circle with and making the outline of a door in the bubble of energy. Step through that door going out, and come back through that door when you come back in. You do not want to tear the bubble-energy. That might let nasties in, which is never a good thing.
Got this far? Good. A complete set of Quarter calls can be found here, since I got requests for them.
