I was recently having a serious conversation with a friend of mine about why some group dynamic work for magical purpose and other group dynamics do not. The conversation stemmed around a healing circle that we had done for my friend because of a problem that she has been having with her kidneys failing. The ritual was simple and did not last a long time (unlike many of the rituals that we do together) but the energy raised during the ritual was enough to assist with the removal of the long time infection she had been suffering and the turning around of her failing kidneys to full functionality. Anyway, the basic premise of the conversation began when she had asked me why it is that such a small group of us (there were five in total) could produce such a large magical change, but a large group of us together on many occasions could barely raise the energy to produce a circle. My explanation was simple: we are all like cups.

Every person on this earth is like a vessel, always seeking something more then what we are or where we have been. Our vessel has substance added to it by those who we meet who are spiritually enriching to our lives and substance removed from it by those who are draining on us. The more we seek out those who want to fill our cups the more we are apt to use that energy and pass it along to others also looking for fulfillment in life. The more we seek those who are physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining on us the more our cup is emptied out and the less we have to put back into the world. This is not to say that I think that the people in my circle are necessarily the latter, but I have found that many times when people are not wholly trusting of those they are working with the less of themselves they are willing to put out to be hurt in the process. It also has to do with I think the level of ability of some, those who are new to the craft are quite possibly not familiar with the process involved with producing the magical energy needed to sustain a circle. I know in the pagan path it states that we should enter into ritual in “perfect love and perfect trust” but there are many who are just not willing to do that no matter how much honesty and compassion is shown to them.

So on with my cup analogy, for which I actually used cups as a demonstration. We are all the vessels for energy and change, each of us is say on average like an 8oz cup of water. Alone we are fine and we have the ability to sustain ourselves in our magical working, but when put together with other people we have to give some of ourselves to everyone in the circle thus depleting out reserves. Here lies the trick. If you have each person in the circle giving of themselves at the same rate that they are taking from someone else, no one’s cup will go empty, the energy can stay raised, and the work can be performed. However, if you have say just one person in the group who has the 8oz cup but does not have anything in it when they come into circle (which can happen), you have to have extra compensation for the person with the empty cup to fill that person and to keep everyone else on the same level. Which is very hard to do and in many cases in order to make that person feel the energy everyone else has to deplete themselves to a lesser then full cup of water. Which in turn lower the energy vibration of the circle. I have also found here that those who do not have at least a little bit in their spiritual cup tend to also have bigger cups then the rest of us. Meaning that you and I may have an 8oz spiritual cup that is full, but Joe who has nothing in his cup actually has a 32oz cup that needs to be filled. Try as you and I might, 16 oz of ourselves will never fill the entire 32 oz cup for Joe.

The math of the cups was something like this:

32oz Joe (empty)
8oz Jane
8oz Sally
16oz Wendy (empty)
8oz Bob
8oz Mike
16oz of water to fill 48oz of spiritual cups

This in the end is impossible to do and people end up coming out short and feel cheated out of an experience that could have been wonderful.

When you have people giving to someone who has nothing to give back, or have people giving to someone who has something to give but just sits and takes the energy of the circle is lessened and the magic is less effective. In a circle, everyone has to be giving equally for the work to be done and if you have four people trying to fill people with the same amount of energy they have in them, the work will go nowhere because the energy just stays and sits in those not using it. We cannot fill a 32oz cup with only 8oz of water.

Therefore, in the end the dynamic of the group is important when trying to accomplish something in the magical realm. Choosing the right group dynamic for the work you want to do can be even harder. If you do not have at least something to give when in a circle, you are not going to get the experience out of it that you could.  So it is here that I say go forth and drink well from the cup of life. Seek out the spiritual and fill yourself with all that that realm has to offer.

In your cups, eh?

**************************

Lost in the clouds with Jupiter transcendent

Lost in the clouds with Mars ascendant.




Love Luck and the music of the Spheres.



Azure in the arms of Cerulean


Cast adrift in the Indigo isles


May Angel love and Moon glow light your path.