Magic circle

'[2] Moreover, as magician and historian Jake Stratton-Kent writes, 'In short a circle is not an obsolete symbol of a superstitious fear of spirits, but an intentionally created ritual space for various purposes.

[5] Examples of Jewish customs showing the use of the magic circle can be found in the birth protection rituals of Alsace and the surrounding area.

As early as 1560, a text by the rabbi Naphtali Hirsch ben Elieser Treves notes a custom in which a circle is drawn around the birthing woman to protect her from Lilith and demons.

[6] Paul Christian Kirchner’s description of Jewish birthing customs from 1734 includes an illustration showing a knife or a sword near the bed, and likewise Johann Christian Georg Bodenschatz describes a sword placed near the pregnant woman in the eighteenth century, indicating the likelihood that this custom continued through the centuries.

Oral accounts from 20th century Baden-Württemberg in a publication by the Jewish Museum of Switzerland also reference circling movements with a knife in order to protect a woman in childbirth.

[6] The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which has had one of the largest influences on contemporary Western esotericism, introduced the practices of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Opening by Watchtower.