9. Drawing the Magic Circle: The Definition, Use and Effect of Magic in Modern Witchcraft

'I conjure thee, O Circle of Power, that thou beest a meeting-place of love and joy and truth; a shield against all wickedness and evil; a boundary between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones; a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that we shall raise within thee. Wherefore I bless thee and consecrate thee, in the names of Cernunnos and Aradia.'1

The chants rose and fell on Samhain night sung from the lips of the dancers whirling round a blazing bonfire. Under the night sky, bright with Winter-sharp starlight and a crescent moon resting on the treetops, in a clearing in an orchard at the end of many dark lanes, in a little village within commuting distance of London, Witches worked their magic. They began by opening the magic circle, calling the elemental guardians or watchtowers of the four quarters to establish the sacred space of Witchcraft and scene of magical operations.

As she carves the invisible with her Athame, shaping a magic circle where reality becomes unreal and the unreal real, what does our modern Witch mean by magic? What does our modern Witch use this magic for? And what effect does it have upon her? We will examine both written accounts and previously unpublished interview transcripts to explore the varieties of definition, to attempt a classification of such variety, to reveal what Witches use magic for and to discover what the effect of practising magic is.