Running around in Circles
 by Micah Barnsley
First scratched on rocks 25,000 years ago, one of the oldest symbols known to humanity is the circle and they are everywhere. Given many different meanings, universally people associate circles with three main concepts: eternity (encouraged with the symbology of the snake consuming its tail), unity (an un-broken line), and astrological bodies. Recently it has also been identified with female power and the goddess.
The type of circle design can also mean more mundane things, such as the location of a town marked by a quartered circle.
Through the ages circles have been used to define ritual space and create stable boundaries to work within. Yogis, Buddhists, and early Hindu priests would place themselves in the center of circles to help define their sacred space as well as help them associate with the center of the world serving to take them out of where they existed in the mundane world.
For Wiccans, circles are usually boundaries of light and flame. While a circle is sometimes marked with something physical, more often than not they are simply 'there', left physically unmarked and simply sensed. For Wiccans circles are almost exclusively used to define ritual space, however small, and most strongly associated with feminine energy and the sun and moon. Circles tend to take on an almost exclusively sacred connotation, and depending on the ritual object being used circles can become male or female oriented energy wise in the ritual.
Quartered circles, in Native American traditions, form the basic medicine wheel and play a vital part in rituals. It becomes a kind of compass for the four, or six, directions (depending on which tradition you're looking at). Not having those represented makes the spirit journey or healing effort more difficult and perhaps less effective. To encourage a success in the ritual, circles are represented everywhere from the tools used to the dancing that whips the energy to greater heights.
On the flip side, Christian churches have used variations of the quartered circle while calling it a Celtic cross. The Celtic cross is believed to have come from the Celts' days of sun and moon worship. Some stories have St. Patrick converting the druids by "crossing out" the circle and turning it into a Christian symbol by way of the cross.
Some circles, divided into sixths, take on the representation of the Wheel of Life in Buddhist tradition, a slightly more complex medicine wheel for Native American's, and a simple mandala for Hindus. When these are used in ritual, it's usually to encourage movement, renewal and rebirth. Mandalas also can represent the cosmic center, providing a base for meditation. The border between the powers above and humanity below, these mandalas become vehicles for meditation and enlightenment.
Circles with a bindi in the middle become a symbol of masculinity in Hindi tradition and are believed to encourage fertility. The symbol literally symbolizes the male spark of life in the cosmic womb. Similarly, maypole circle dances mirror this fertility concept by having women dance about a phallic object (the pole) and it is what everyone's attention is fixated upon.
Circles with five-pointed stars within have become physical representations of the elements bound together as well as a sign (when upside down) of the Christian devil. For Pagans, this association with Satan is a very sore point as the pentagram is a sacred symbol. The Satanic association increases public misconceptions of Paganism.
When using circles in ritual, it is wise to have a sense of what the chosen symbol can mean as well as what is desired. The sun is represented as a simple circle, a disk, a circle sliced into quarters, sixths or eighths or even ninths. For instance, someone following a Native American shaman path would most likely never use just a hoop unless they were building a medicine wheel in the ritual. Since the symbol can mean eternity, if the intent is to heal, having the healing take an eternity--it might not be the best plan especially if one uses the physical circle to help call for aide associated with specific directions.
Circles are things to be used with respect. They can be used to do a variety of things because of the meanings associated. Sometimes the simple symbols are the most powerful and lasting. So while the meanings are varied, circles will always work--circular logic or thinking not required.
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A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
~ Henry W. Thoreau
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