Many sociologists have pointed out that the city, township, or municipality is about the largest unit of social structure to which people will "naturally" give their loyalty. We perhaps see this demonstrated most clearly in the amount of support shown to the "home team." Although people will pledge their allegiance to larger units, such as the state or the nation, it is a somewhat more "artificial" process and it is typically bounded on all sides by laws and structures to keep that loyalty in place. It does not have the same intimacy of feeling that resides in the phrase, "This is my hometown." Therefore, I posit that our Circle of blessing and purification grows no larger than its diameter at Midsummer.
Further, it is my belief that the Circle begins to collapse back inward after the Summer Solstice. One old folk belief about marriage (although much ignored today!) was that weddings should always be held in the waning half of the year, because that is a time when days are getting shorter, nights are getting longer, the wind is getting colder, and we are naturally drawn back indoors, to the warmth of the hearth and safety of the home, protected from the approach of winter's chill. Conversely, it was considered highly unlucky for a bride and groom to take their vows in the waxing half of the year, when days are lengthening and warming, and our natural instinct is to move away from the family-oriented life of hearth and home, and to ramble and roam through a wider community. The month of May was especially perilous for weddings.
So my model is that of a Circle that begins as a single point at Yule, and expands until it reaches its widest girth at Midsummer, encompassing the entire local community. But from that point onward, it begins to shrink again, in the same increments as before, but reversed, until it once again dwindles to the seed-point of Midwinter. Thus, the Circle of blessing and purification expands and contracts on a yearly basis, mirroring the spiritual heartbeat of our lives, our planet, and our solar system. It may now be guessed that the true and proper title for this article should be, "The Ever-Pulsing Circle." May it forever protect you within its circle and strengthen you with its pulse.
This article was first published by Witchvox.com and is reprinted with permission.
Mike Nichols is the author of The Witches' Sabbats and a contributor to Creating Circles & Ceremonies. He has been a featured speaker on National Public Radio, Spiral Dance Radio, and Eclectic Pagan Podcast (episodes 16 and 22) on iTunes. He does extensive online teaching and writing, occasionally guest lectures at Pagan festivals, and performs in a Pagan band called Spellbound. Many of Mike's articles, including his essays on the Pagan holidays, have been available in the file areas of various Pagan computer bulletin boards since 1988, and have by now reached and influenced a worldwide readership. Visit Mike's website at www.witchessabbats.com.
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