Casting Circles, drawn, summon, cut Options

What kind of experiences do each of you have with circles. I have experimented with the three kinds of circles with different results. By far, I find cutting to be the most powerful technique and drawing to be the least effective, but that's just me. What is everyone else's opinion? Which works best for you? Have you tried combinations?

For those that don't know, there are three kinds of circles that can be made before a ritual. The most common is the drawn circle, which is where the circle is drawn or marked with something physical such as salt. The second and less commonly used is the summoned circle where you summon the circle out of the ground, or air, ect. The third is cutting where you take an athame and cut into an energy souce to place it around you. For example, you could use the current energies given off with the retrograde Mercury and it's recent transit across the face of the sun. By cutting into that energy, you bring it around you and therefore make the circle. Afterwards, the cut energy is cut back into its home.

So, any ideas, questions, comments? I'm wondering, because I'm intergrating the different kinds of circle casting into rituals and any stories about experiences in any of the three would be a tremendous help.

Cheers,

Ishkbal

When space has been limited I have worked purely with the visualisation of the protective circle. This may not be ideal but if you want to do something you have to make the most of the tools with which you have to work.