cast out or keep near?

thing is, people tend to start with books and then don't question why they are doing something.

One of my biggest pet hates is sprirituality without discernment. Blindly believing what you have read in a book or been told without thinking about it to see if it actually makes sense.

I am pleased to see that everyone who responded to this thread falls outside this category and has thought about it... but there are many that don't I fear.

I was asked to help out a Birmingham UK Wicca Coven at a Full Moon ritual and discussion who felt their ritual had become stale and many members even doubted the presence of their Lord and lady. I have been in communication with the High Priestess for about two years after she visited my website and she felt that although my path was contradictory to some areas of there path~ the visit of an outsider might just act as a catalyst.
It occurred to me there may be some here who are unaware of the old ways of casting and it could possibly enhance or rejuvenate their spiritual experiences.
I humbly offer the following basic “Old Faith” principles
Casting a circle {even for meditation} not only locks out but also locks in ~ so we pause just before completing it to usher out those influences we don’t want with an appropriate command.
Manifestations and evocations within the circle can only manifest from what is within it ~ so if you call earth fire and water and you don’t have a flame, some earth or water within the circle they will drain it from YOU.
Likewise any Gods or Goddesses will require a symbol, herb or crystal or they will simply be locked out and may seek vengeance later when you unlock the circle.
It is also very important to call Deities who speak the same language, are fond of each other and not those who are sworn enemies.
Lastly calling the same God/Goddess from different eras (i.e. Artemis and Diana} could cause a shift in the time space continuum and send the earth spinning into a black hole or give you a large yellow spot on the end of your nose.

Bless, Raymond

hmmmmm... this steps into the realms of what you believe.

It's like a friend was telling me that some angels can be mean.... it just doesn't resonate with me.

I can see the logic of having a representation of the element and the god and goddess in the circle but I am not sure about the language or time thing.. or that they have to get on, as this doesn't resonate with my belief of what delities are. But they are interesting concepts.

I am working on a ritual meditation where everything is done in meditation and not in the 3d... how would that work with needing physical representations?

[norseman]

Save yourself all the doubt and hassle by calling the Lords of the Powers of the Four Elements and the blessings of Mother Earth. Obviously place the Lords in their proper orientation - Earth - North, Air - East, Fire - South, Water - West.
[oops, already posted all that ]

Thank you Sungirl for taking the time to consider my post
Your quite correct that it depends on your perception of deities and thats why I specificaly quoted the background to my post.

Notwhithstanding its sometimes worth taking a fresh look at who or what you are asking to attend your circle and why

Norseman ~ once more a pragmatic and balanced approach for the non-dogmatic ~thankyou for your imput

Bless, Raymond