Ways To Set Sacred Space For Ritual
Hello dear friends,
Whether you are getting ready to do some full moon rituals, a cord-cutting ritual, a banishment ritual, or any other special spellwork or ceremony, the first thing you must do is set your sacred space. I’ve had many people reach out and ask me how to do this, and since there are several different options, I thought I’d write it all out for you!
Over the years, I’ve certainly done rituals without first setting space, and while you can do this, I’ve found that I feel more comfortable when I do. It also helps me focus my intention more strongly on whatever I’m doing. Plus, it seems that the results of the spell, or the energy of the gathering is more powerful when I take the extra step to do this.
I am going to share my favorite ways to set sacred space, but it’s important to know that how you do this is completely individual. It will depend on your spiritual or religious beliefs, your location, your education or training, and plenty more. I encourage you to take these as suggestions or guidelines, and then make it your own!
So, let’s dive in. Here are some ways that you can set your sacred space for ritual or other spiritual work:
1. Cleaning and tidying
Remember that physical objects carry energy, and that the state of your surroundings can seriously impact your ability to be present for your ritual. I always suggest doing some tidying up of your space beforehand. Pick up the clutter, dust or wipe down surfaces, and put away anything that might be distracting. This is a great way to communicate the importance of what you’re about to do, and help you stay focused.
2. Energetic cleansing
Tidying up physically is great, but tidying up energetically is even better! The most popular way to do this is with smudging, or using the smoke of burning plant material, incense, or resin to purify the air. I recommend smudging your area with sage, palo santo, or another plant that calls to you- check out this guide to smudging and a list of smudging materials and their meanings. Before a ritual, I tend to smudge my home, myself, and my ritual tools.
3. Using Reiki
For attuned Reiki practitioners, you can use the power of Reiki to help cleanse, protect, and bless your ritual space, which is something I love to do. If you’re a Reiki Level I, you can play with infusing your area with Reiki energy, or channeling some Reiki for yourself while you’re doing the ritual. For those Reiki Level II or higher, you can draw the symbols into the space- I typically put the symbols into all four corners. And that brings me to the next piece of setting sacred space…
4. Calling in the 4 Directions
Every month, at my group’s moon circle events, we open our sacred space by calling in the four directions. Many different spiritual traditions do this, and each has their own spin. Some use the 4 Watchtowers while others use the animal spirits of each direction, which tend to differ depending on the lineage. Sometimes I use the full prayer of the Munay-Ki tradition, but most of the time I use the basic guide below:
East- Eagle, element of air
South- Coyote, element of water
West- Bear, element of fire
North- Buffalo, element of earth
It’s also nice to include Father Sky and Mother Earth, so you’re protected above and below as well.
5. Calling in other guides
I believe that all of us have a group of spiritual beings and ancestors who are here to watch over us, and I always invite in my guides before doing any kind of ritual or healing practice. If you are familiar with some of your angels/spirit animals/loved ones/etc, feel free to invite them by name, otherwise you can simply invite in any guides who are here to serve your highest good. You can ask them to bring their presence and energy for the specific intention of the ritual, if you’d like. Psst- I talk about working with spirit guides in Module 7 of my Master Your Energy online course.
6. Casting your circle
One beautiful traditional practice of many pagan and witchcraft traditions is that of casting a circle. I think of this as a more formal way to delineate the ritual space, and there are a few ways to do this.
Visualization- close your eyes, visualizing a circle or sphere of light surrounding your ritual area and those within it.
Walking- you can walk clockwise 3 times (or 7) around your space, as you hold the intention of protection, blessing, and power.
Drawing- standing at the center of your space, you can hold a tool in an outstretched arm, moving clockwise, seeing a circle being drawn to enclose it. Many people use wands or athames for this.
Outlining- pour salt along the ground of the ritual space, counterclockwise in a circle that’s big enough to contain you and your tools.
Note: to take down your circle, do the same, but counterclockwise! (e.g. walk counterclockwise, erase your circle with your wand counterclockwise, sweep up your salt counterclockwise)
There are many complex ways to cast a circle, including invocations and specific prayers, which you can read more about online if this especially resonates with you!
No matter what type of ritual you are planning to do, or what kind of spiritual gathering you’re hosting, I highly recommend taking the time to set sacred space beforehand. You can use all of these steps, or just a few, depending on your preference. I hope they help you feel more grounded, powerful, and protected in your practice!
Many blessings, friends.
~ Wishing you joy and ease ~
