The purpose of the circle is much like the purpose of a church to a Christian. It is a sacred place in which to work your magick and hold your rituals. Casting a circle can be a bit tricky until it is practiced over and over (why do you think I call this "The Practice" of witchcraft? lol). To cast a circle, stand up, and extend your "power" hand. This is the hand which you feel has the most power in it, I am right handed and I use my right hand. Now, keep your hand open, and clench all your muscles, starting with your feet. Concentrate all that energy to the tip of your fingers (you can also use a knife to do this), when you cannot hold it anymore, without moving your hand, project the energy out in the shape of a circle. You will FEEL this. When your circle is done, begin your magick or your ritual. We always touch our circle to see how strong it is, although I can see the circle. If you cannot see your circle don't worry. As long as you can feel it, it is there. Touching your circle will tell you alot about it. What shape it is, how strong it is, etc. Now, what if you want to leave the circle? There is much debate about this, many people have different opinions, nothing is RIGHT, just what is right to you. We do this: Using our knife, we "cut" a doorway in the circle so we can leave (if we *doh* forgot something and so on). You can actually FEEL the air outside the circle come in, so be quick about it and remember to close it after you are done. That is our way of casting a circle. If you come up with an easier way, or more powerful way, be sure to let us know!