Can you all hear me? Good. Today I will go over the thaumaturgical symbolism inherent in ritual circles of varying complexity. Please pay attention to the illustrations transmitted to your commlink.

The most basic ritual circle is a simple line. It constitutes the most primitive embodiment of the ritual space, a seperation of the within from the without, one world from the next, the magician from the forces outside that may do her harm, and the forces that may harm the magician from the world at large. It is both binding and protective, depending on the need of the magician. The center of the circle is the only point within it, occupied either by the magician or the focus of the ritual. In the case of a binding circle, the center is the null point, farthest from the edge that defines the difference between here and there.

Notice in this illustration haw the basic circle is embellished with a few designating characters: a symbol representing the magician, symbols relavent to the ritual itself, and balancing elements in the form of a written incantation along the outer edge.

Now consider the circle of the second degree. Here, the ritual space is divided into two parts, representing complementary energies or forces. In this circle, the magician stands between, the fulcrum of the different energies, one foot in both worlds. Different cultures develop this as yin and yang, night and day, phsyical and astral. In all contexts, the magician is the bridging entity between the two worlds, a symbol for the magician herself.

This neoteric Babylonian-style hermetic circle displays symbols of Ahriman and Ahzura Mazda, and you may clearly see the magician's footprints in the sand between them. Even if a magician professes a preference or patron from one force or the other, each would be incomplete without the balancing force that the other represents. This dichtomy is the essential difference between circles of the first and second degree.

See here now a circle containing a triangle along three points. Representative of circles of the third degree, triangles are common elements in magic circles due to their mathematical properties, and the mystic symbolism that derives from their history and use. Please refer to the Pythagorean Triangle hyperlink in your e-text.

The third degree is often represented as a balanced triad of some sort. Observe this illustration, the ancient toad's foot-mark of the Weisse, which was made popular a century ago as a "peace" symbol. Inf act, the toad's foot is a potent sigil of protection and magical workings.

The fourth degree varies considerably, but as can be seen in the next illustration, circles containing squares or crosses are popular. Hermetics prefer the square as the balanced representative of the four classical elements: air and earth, fire and water; theurgists prefer associating with the cardinal directions and the appropriate archangels.

Observe here as the houngan stands at the center of a self-constructed crossroads, focusing the power at the center, acting again as the fulcrum for the magical energies he is gathering.

The fifth degree is almost universally marked by the pentalph, or pentagram; less often by the more pleasing geometric pentagon. Pythagorean magican-mathematicians have published expansive essays on the subject and importance of the pentalph to Hermetic theory; I suggest you look into some of the earlier research by Dr. Miles Swineburne on the subject.

Observe here the wu jen, like the Hermetic magician before her, centered in a cricle with five symbolic representations of elements - wood, earth, metal, fire, and water. Again, the key to building and maintaining the forces is proper balance of energies and influences by symbolic manipulation.

The Hexen marks the sixth degree, a star-shape created by the intersection of two triangles, a powerful protective symbol and quite popular among both the Weisse and Hebraic faiths. A magnificent ceramic tile representation from the synogogue of Bel'Shilam in New Brunswick can be observed here. Note the reinforcing lines of Hebrew along the lines.

Few of you will be able to create, much less see a circle of the seventh degree, but if you do, the graduate program in this university makes the most use of the following seven-pointed star. Here, Hermetic symbolism often gives way to numerology. A specific example employed by our own Dr. Owens can be observed in the following illustration.

The Eighth degree is rarer, although the eight-sided compass rose created by two intersecting squares is popular. Here again, the symbolism is the crossroads, the fulcrum and the balance as the magician maintains the balance of mana across the barrier.

There is no illustration of a ritual circle of the ninth degree, I'm afraid, although those of you who persue the post-graduate course should consult Prof. ben Fahid on the astrological symbolism one can obtain using the ancient alchemical symbols for the planets in our solar system.

That concludes todays lecture, please review chapters 14 and 15 for Thursday. Until then.

Very nice!

Don't delete this one!

why does this seem familar to me.... are you recyling AH?....

Don't forget Magic Circles of the twelvth and thirteenth degree, those based on the zodiac.

Class bonus project:
For all you keeners out there, you know who you are, I'll give hefty bonus marks to whoever shows, from first principles, how the following would theoretically work.

I was once of the aquaintance of a rather eccentric Graduate student at MIT&T who while working on his Doctorate thesis (which, sadly, he never finished) once attempted an experiment using a unique form of ritual circle. After a reading of the supplementary literature on Pythagorean geometrics and thaumaturgical operations, he decided that a traditional ritual circle, even with the degree of complexity it is capable of, was inadequate to the task he had in mind. To this end he began to experiment with unorthodox circle variants, meeting with some success but nothing to the degree he desired.

I was brought into this when he sent out a call for any and all opinions on his work. A bold move, considering most Hermetics guard their research carefully until ready to publish, lest someone else beat them to it. As it was I took some interest in the project and after giving what advice I could, I decided to keep tabs on his progress. A mere month after I had first heard of it, he achieved what some might call a startling success.

the ritual circle he settled on was a three dimensional bounded shape, created with twelve individual pentagonal circles arranged to form a closed shape suspended in the air, with the magician at the centre. The secondary effects of this circle when I saw it demonstrated were the truly remarkable properties, but unimportant for this particular project (I'd advise against anyone actually attempting this, as the magical strain can become very overwhelming quite quickly).

10% Grammar and spelling - remember, it only takes a blink to use the auto-correct feature all of your commlinks have, for God's sake use it!
80% The correct theory built from first principles, upon which such a ritual circle would operate.
5% The author and title of the 'secondary source' from which this enterprising student gleaned his idea.
5% The correct reason why the student chose this shape in particular.

Good luck.