Undoing the Witches’ Compass

This rite is used to dismantle the Witch’s Compass and return the ritual space to a neutral state. It symbolizes the reverse of the journey taken when laying the compass, moving out of the Spirit Realm and closing the way between worlds.

Begin at the Center

To begin, stand quietly at the heart of the Compass area. Bring your awareness fully into your body; shake off any post-ritual haze and ground yourself. One oft-suggested method of doing this is thinking of your feet, focusing all of your attention on the sensory experience of your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Retrace the Three Rings in Reverse

Move anticlockwise as you undo the rings, beginning at the innermost circle and working outward. As each ring is unmade, its associated element or material may be swept aside, gathered up, or symbolically dissolved (e.g., pressing earth over water lines, covering ash with soil, breaking the lines with your fingers, or brushing away chalk). As you work, focus on making the symbolic journey back from the Spirit Realm, experiencing a journey of rebirth, and rooting yourself back in the mundane.

Release the Cardinal Points

Turn counterclockwise around the Compass and extinguish or remove each quarter marker as you go. Speak (or think) a dismissal appropriate to each direction. For example:

• To the West:
  By the setting mist and the quiet sky,
  I bid farewell; the spirits must fly.

• To the East:
  By the waning light and the stilling breath,
  I close the gate where I passed to death.

• To the South:
  By the fire’s dimming and the fading flame,
  I release the path, no spirit to claim.

• To the North:
  By frost’s retreat and the fading wind,
  I thank the spirits, and the journey ends.

Final Severing Gesture

At the center, use your fingers to make a final counterclockwise sweep, as though slashing with a blade.

Speak:

The crossroads fade, the thread unspun,
By wit and will, the work is done.
With ash and breath, the spirits fly,
The path is shut, the night drifts by.

Grounding and Return

Close with a symbolic grounding act. Touch the earth, place your hands on the floor, pick up your tools, or extinguish the final candle. You may choose to speak a final simple phrase such as:

So I stand, in flesh and bone.
This work is done. I part alone.

Undoing a Circle for Spirit-Summoning

This rite can be used to dissolve a Circle conjured for spirit summoning and release any entities or spirits that were present for your ritual. It unbinds the space and returns it to ordinary, sealing the work that has been done. *This is not intended to be used to close a Wiccan Circle; it is specifically intended as the counterpart to this Circle Conjuring rite.

Stand just outside the conjured Circle with your feet planted firmly on the ground. Take a grounding breath and say:

By pact and prayer, by bond and breath,
The road now fades, the way is set.
No oath remains, no word untold.
Depart in peace, be free, be whole.

Extend the index and middle fingers of your dominant hand. Begin to trace the Circle’s triple boundary in reverse. Move anticlockwise first to loosen the bonds, then clockwise to begin dissolving the space, and finally anticlockwise once more to fully unmake the seal. As you trace the boundary, recite:

This line is dust, this mark undone,
The veil is drawn, the thread unspun.
By root and flame, by blood and stone,
Go now, unseen; return to your own.

When the final tracing is complete, scatter earth, sprinkle water, or your blast your breath over the space where the Circle once stood. Finish by saying:

The wind forgets, the stars bear witness.
The Circle is closed, the rite is finished.

Closing the Threshold

This rite is used to unmake a liminal space and close the passage opened for ritual. Stand at the heart of the space, where the threshold was opened. Remove the crossed items from the ground or retrace the cross you made when opening the threshold, this time with the intention to unmake.  Speak clearly:

Upon the line where worlds divide,
Where whispers passed and will did guide,
I shut the gate, I close the seam.
Let waking wake, let dreaming dream.

Lower your hands, pressing them to the earth or bringing them to your chest. Breathe deeply to ground your energy and finish saying:

Threshold closed, the veil withdrawn,
What once was laid is now forgone.
By stone and tree, by root and tide,
The way is shut, the doors denied.

Step backward, away from the center. Scatter earth, breathe out over the space, or snap your fingers as gesture to banish the threshold.