How to Set Up
Your Circle of Eight
The Circle of Eight is simple to set up. It requires a compass, a meeting place, up to eight people, and a basic knowledge of the Wheel of the Year or the local seasonal changes as related to the equinoxes and solstices. You can also work the Circle of Eight on your own.
The Circle of Eight retains the very broad structure of the relationship between the sun and the earth that is found in the Wheel of the Year. Beyond that, it focuses on the local and immediate rather than theoretical, abstracted, or general notions of what belongs or occurs in each of its eight positions. Every Circle of Eight is an experiment, discovering through observation and experience how the eight points of the circle exist in this place and time for these people. It is relational, learned through the process of inhabiting the eight positions, and it develops as you develop your understanding and practices.
The Circle of Eight is ideal for groups or individuals whose surrounds do not match what is written in the books. This applied to us in the Southern Hemisphere, where even if you reverse everything and turn the wheel the opposite direction, still the seasons and resonances are all different. In Australia, for example, the summer sun is not the beneficent, welcomed delight that it is in England; it’s a ferocious energy that brings drought, bushfire, and skin cancer. In other places, also, the climate and terrain don’t match what is assumed for the directions or the Wheel of the Year. In Switzerland winter lasts well past Imbolc; in Malaysia, practically on the equator, there is almost no discernible difference between the seasons.
Even in a temperate, well-ordered climate that echoes the expectations set down in books, the Circle of Eight will teach local magic. It may be harvest time, but what is being harvested? Avocados, wheat, mushrooms, coffee? Harvest may not be at the Autumn Equinox at all but spread throughout the year or at several times of the year for different crops. The Circle of Eight localizes magic and ritual, placing it within the context where it occurs. This strengthens the magic; Paganism draws on earth energies.
The same necessities exist for the Circle of Eight as for any other group: to choose how often to meet and where; if the group is open or closed, and, if it requires a commitment, for how long the commitment lasts; to decide the content and organization of meetings. The nature of this work lends itself to a more committed group, exploring in depth. Having everyone there every time enhances this, rather than always explaining it to newcomers; however, it may take a while for your group to settle or to find eight people, and during this time you may choose to leave your circle open for people to come and go. For solo practitioners a minimum length of time to explore this system is eight months if you change position every month, but ideally you would stay with it over several years to drop into the deeper levels of the work.
You may choose to meet with your circle outside or in a different place each time. You may choose to celebrate the festivals as well as meet as a Circle of Eight, or your Circle of Eight meetings may be combined with the festivals. If you do choose this—meet eight times a year—be aware that in your circle people will always be in the same relationship to the Wheel of the Year. That is, the person who is in the East at the Spring Equinox—and so “on” the festival—will turn with the wheel to Beltaine and so be on the festival again, continually. Someone else will be just ahead of the festival every time, another just behind it, and another always opposite it. Meeting and turning the wheel sixteen times a year would provide more variety, but it would result in a similar outcome, a regular pattern.
We tied our circle meetings into a phase of the moon (the new moon), but you could meet on full or dark moons or any other phase. You could meet every two, three, or five weeks in order to meet more frequently than the festivals and thus provide a more random and changing selection of experiences for those in the circle.
Your group may choose to work with the Circle of Eight simply to explore the eight directions and the nature of the Wheel of the Year in your location and deepen your magical relationship to these things. It may be that you are already a group that meets together—a discussion group, ritual or magical group, women’s or men’s group, or support group. It may be that you are seeking a container within which to create magic, celebrate the seasons of the year, or do other work, such as mythic, dream, or magical work, or personal development. The Circle of Eight can encompass all of these things. Essentially it is an empty structure—a powerful, vital structure, but an empty one—allowing you to bring your learning, enquiry, and celebrations into it, and in turn teaching you about itself.
How to Begin Working with Your Circle of Eight
Time: 2–3 hours
You will need:
• up to eight people
• eight cushions or chairs
• a compass
• music to move to
Optional:
• an altar in the center
• markers for the eight directions, with their names
• instruments to play
Set out your cushions or chairs according to the compass directions. Place the markers for directions, if you have them, in front of the chairs or cushions. If you have a simple altar, put it in the center.
1. Introductions
To begin with, people can sit anywhere at all or you may choose to have the preliminary discussion somewhere else and then approach the circle. Spend some time introducing the ideas behind the Circle of Eight and explaining why you are interested in it and what you think its benefits might be. Even if you have spoken with everyone individually before, it is great to have a detailed explanation given to the whole group so everyone knows they are starting together and is reminded of the purpose of the meeting.
If the group is new, have everyone introduce themselves in some depth, saying a little about themselves and why they have chosen to be a part of this. It’s best to begin yourself; in doing this, you let others know how long to talk for and what to include. If the group doesn’t know each other at all, you can also ask them to briefly share their previous magical or ritual experience. If you do know each other, you might ask people to speak about their current interests, passions, or learnings in ritual and magic.
2. Orientation
Briefly, using a few sentences for each one, introduce each of the eight positions of the circle. Call them by their compass direction (the North-East, the East) and mention which festival each is aligned to. The diagrams for this are on page 12. Adding some local geographic features is helpful; for example, that the sea lies to the East or the river gorge to the South-East. You can also align the positions with the phases of the moon.
Ask for any questions or comments, and then ask the group to stand and move together to one of the positions, gathering around it. Since no one is sitting or standing in the position at this moment, it’s a great time to talk about how each position exists independent of people; how the people will circulate while the position remains the same. Ask everyone to feel into the position you are standing around, and after a minute or so of silence, ask for their impressions. People will report this in different ways: some may report on physical sensations, colors, or emotions, others will list correspondences for the direction or their prior experiences. Allow these impressions to build upon each other and coexist, discouraging any debate of right or wrong. Try to sum up in a few phrases what the contributions have been.
Move onto the next position, moving sunwise around the circle. In the Northern Hemisphere you will be moving clockwise; in the Southern Hemisphere it will be anticlockwise. Repeat the exercise with each position: a moment’s silence, brief sharings from all, and then a summation. After all eight have been explored you can ask for general comments and observations, stressing again that there are no right or wrong answers and this is a learning experience. Keep this section brief; it is mainly to allow people to consolidate their own impressions and understandings rather than to begin discussing or overly defining concepts.
3. Choosing Positions
Put music on and ask everyone to spend some time moving or dancing around the circle. They should take the time to move into each of the eight positions, feeling their body responses and noting how they feel in each place and where they are drawn. Mention how long the music is—ten to fifteen minutes is a good length of time—and that at the end of the music each person will be asked to move into a position, which is the position they will hold until you meet again.
It’s worth trusting this process. You may be worried that people will choose the position closest to the fire or next to someone they like rather than because of the energetics of the Circle of Eight, and you might even mention this to the group. There is no right or wrong reason for choosing a particular place, and by the peculiar grace of the circle, it will work out more perfectly than it ever could have if you masterminded it. People get what they ask for—that seat next to the fire may turn out to be uncomfortably hot in more than one way or that lovely friend they wanted to sit next to might become grating after one or two or three rounds of the circle... However it works out will be fine. Essentially this is people’s first interaction with the Circle of Eight; let them do it how they like.
Once people have settled into a position, spend a few moments in silence, allowing impressions and sensations to gather. Ask each person to share how they chose their position and how it feels now that they are there. People may also comment on how the circle looks or feels from their position—on who they are opposite and what that reflects, on whether their position is what and where they expected, and what it feels like to step into the circle and claim a place within it.
4. Casting a Circle
Casting a circle is always a magical act, but casting a circle for your Circle of Eight is particularly so. It involves discovering a different way to cast a circle, which does not rely on anything you have learned in a tradition, read in a book, or been taught about the correct way to do it. It may take your group many times of doing this to feel comfortable with this method, which relies not on memory or a recitation of particular qualities, deities, or even elements, but upon emptying your mind, breathing into your body and the position you hold in the circle, and allowing it to speak through you.
There is a section in the appendix about casting a circle, but on your first meeting it is enough to stand facing outwards from the circle and greet the directions, one by one. If you wish to speak a few words to or from your direction, then do so; otherwise, simply call to the direction by name and ask that it present itself in the circle and in your life.
5. Ritual, Magic, or Process
Having set up your Circle of Eight and cast a circle, now is the time for whatever ritual, magic, or process you have planned. It will probably be a shorter, simpler ceremony than in other meetings, as a lot of your time will have gone into setting up the circle. You may have something already planned or you could do one or more of the following. These activities are also suitable for solo practitioners.
• Celebrate the phase of the moon, conducting a ceremony as appropriate. If it is the new moon, each person can speak about the beginnings currently in their life, and you could each draw a Tarot card or other divinatory card and speak about what that card offers you. If it is on or near a full moon, you can celebrate the richness of your lives, sharing your adventures in work, love, and personal journeys and together make a collage, build an altar, or blend oils into a magical potion. If it is on or near a dark moon, you can spend time silently journeying within, perhaps with a drumbeat and an intention you’ve chosen. When you emerge, share your journeyings and your glimpses of your deepest selves. For any of these activities, encourage people to also comment on any contribution they feel the direction they are now holding may bring into their lives.
• Spend some time creating music together, using drums, rattles, voice, and any other instruments you have. Teach and share chants you know, or allow your voices to blend and sound in a wordless song. If you wish, you can offer this music into the eight directions, allowing it to change as it shifts around the circle.
• Work with a guided visualization led by one or more people that reflects the time of year you are in. You can use this meditation to conduct spirit journeys out across the land, speaking to the elements and the living creatures who share this geographical space with you, asking them for their wisdom or ways of understanding this piece of land and time of year. Afterwards, share your individual journeys with the others.
6. Conclusion
At the end of your time together, decide when you are meeting again and make plans for that meeting. You may wish to each bring something for the altar, representing your direction, for example. One or more people may take responsibility for that meeting, or each person can bring a piece or an activity to contribute. Discuss how people intend to explore their direction during the intervening time; this may be individual or you might agree to an activity everyone will undertake.