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This a listing of the articles and information that composed my Wicca 101 lessons. It is from here I learned how to study Wicca and how to practice. The articles are not significantly edited from the original forms from which I learned, merely formatted for easier reading. The originals were retrieved from a “Wicca 101” downloaded from the AOL members archives in 1999 but posted in 1995. If you can find the originals good luck, I would like to thank the compiler for their assistance in getting me started on the path myself.
A Basic Formulary candles can be placed on the altar at the same time. b. Taper Long and slender. May be burned in a candle holder. Very elegant and can be allowed to drip into a pie pan so that the drippings can be read in a manner similar to tea leaf reading. Come in many different lengths and thicknesses. c. Candle-in-a-jar Large, long-lasting candle, which is formed by pouring either colored wax into a clear glass container, or clear wax into a colored glass container. When annointing the candle, only the top of the candle is annointed. This is probably the safest candle to leave burning unattended, provided the maker of the candle took care to ensure that the wick runs in the center of the candle. Although leaving any candle or open flame burning with on one around is considered dangerous and foolish. d. Specialty Candles Candle-in-a-jar Candles dedicated to a christian Saint or to a Voodoo Loa. The designs, signatures and instructions on how to use the candle are printed on the glass container. Cross Candles Candles formed into the shape of a cross. Comes in black, white, green and red. Used as altar pieces for christian oriented work tables. Male and Female Figurine Candles Comes in black, white, green and red. Used to bind two people together or to separate them. Burned face to face & they melt into each other to bind. Burned back to back so that no wax mixes to bring about a banishment. Seven Day Knob Candles A candle which is cast so that its length is made of seven knobs. One knob is burned each day for the duration of the spell. 2. Colors The color of the candle should reflect the planetary aspect that is assigned to the incense you are going to use. 3. Anointing the Candle There are two general methods which are used to anoint the candle. The first consists of starting at the middle of the candle and annointing it to the top, and then going back to the middle you would anoint down toward the bottom. into the physical. The second method is to start at the top of the candle and draw an unbroken line down the side, under its base, and back up the other side. When you reach the top of the candle, you turn it 1/4 turn and trace another unbroken line in the previous manner so that the candle is 'tied' to your purpose b. When you are using a candle-in-a-jar you would anoint it by placing your moistened finger inside and rubbing clockwise, or counterclockwise as needed, three times in a circle in three sets to make up nine. Here is one of the more popular rhymes used to focus your attention on what you are doing. Perhaps you have heard it before.
Birth of Wicca Numerous people have contributed to the neo-Pagan/Wiccan movement in numerous ways. The most important individual was the founder of Wicca, Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964). After retiring from civil service as a British customs officer, Gardner joined a secret society known as the Fellowship of Crotona (he was also a member of several other secret societies, including Crowley's OTO, for which he was granted a charter to open up a new branch). It was while a member of this group that he claimed he first came into contact with a woman called "Old Dorothy." Gardner alleged that in 1939 "Old Dorothy" initiated him into one of the few surviving witches’ covens. He said that the rituals that the coven possessed were not complete, and he had to use his own knowledge and studies, which were extensive, to make them whole again. The already existing pieces, if there were any, were in the care of the coven’s living members who were all elderly women. In order to generate the publicity that he felt the Craft needed to survive, he began publishing books on the subject of witchcraft after the repeal of Britain’s Witchcraft Acts in 1951. Many Wiccan and non-Wiccan scholars criticize Gardner’s story of initiation. "Old Dorothy" was not believed to be a real person until Doreen Valiente, a student of Gardner’s, produced the birth and death certificates of Dorothy Clutterbuck. Even though the existence of "Old Dorothy" was eventually proven, many still disbelieve Gardner’s allegations and assert that he created Wicca in its entirety with the help of the popular occultist, Aleister Crowley, in an attempt to create a magickal system that would gain wide popularity. Considering that the number one wish of teenage girls in America is to become a Wiccan or a witch, it seems as though they have succeeded. Still, the true origins of Wicca and its relationship to Witchcraft is one of the most heated debates within the neo-Pagan community.
Coven VS Solitary Traditionally, belonging to a coven was the only way to learn the Craft of Wicca. Thankfully that is no longer the case. Thanks to a large number of people who have published their book of shadows, tutorials, etc., it is now possible to learn the arts alone. Personally I have chosen to be solitary. This decision was based, in part, on my own personality. I have never been comfortable in group situations. I'm also very headstrong and felt that I could practice more efficiently alone. Perhaps someday this could change, I could find a group I feel comfortable with. Until such time as I can truly join a circle in "perfect love and perfect trust", I will continue as I have started. That being said, let's compare the two... With a Coven, the rituals are performed by a group of people;with several(principally the Priest and/or Priestess) playing the parts.As a Solitary, you do everything yourself. The Coven meets in a large(usually nine foot diameter)circle. The Solitary has a small, "compact" circle. The Coven uses a "full complement" of tools, depending on the tradition. The Solitary uses only what she/he feels she/he needs. Coven meetings must, to an extent, be held when most convenient for the majority. The Solitary can hold a ritual whenever s/he feels like it. A Coven draws on all its members to build a Cone of Power. A Solitary has only her/his own power to draw on. A Coven has a wide variety of knowledge and specialties. A Solitary has only her/his own knowledge and specialty. A Coven is usually fairly set in its ways. A Solitary can change with her/his moods, age, location, etc. A Coven ritual can become almost a "production" or pageant.A Solitary ritual can be the barest minimum of words and actions. A Coven must attune itself as one. A Solitary IS one. Covens are not to be found everywhere, and finding one can be difficult. There is a saying in Wicca "When the student is ready, a teacher will find them". There's a lot of truth in this. If you truly want to join a coven, chances are you'll find one. Visit local New Age, Metaphysical or Occult stores and take classes on Wicca or similar subjects offered through these centers. More than likely, these classes will be taught by a priest or priestess of Wicca. At the very least, attending such classes will enable the student to meet others of like minds, which could be the basis for founding a new coven or for finding contacts in established groups. In the end, only you can make the decision to be solitary or to belong to a coven. Don't let anyone else pressure you. If someone tries to pressure you into joining their group, run the other way fast! Good Wiccans would never do this. Wiccans don't recruit. We can encourage, but never pressure or push someone into believing as we do. Enjoy the journey, the path may be difficult but is always rewarding.
Cultivating the Magickal Personality Magic is the Craft of Witchcraft The power of magic should not be under-estimated. It works, often in ways that are unexpected and difficult to control. But neither should the power of magic be over- estimated. It does not work simply, or effortlessly and it does not confer omnipotence. Learning to work magic is a process of neurological repatterning, of changing the way we use our brains. In order to manifest anything on the physical plane, it must be formulated and given life on the mental plane. Unless a person can concentrate his thoughts and desires down into a tightly controlled set of symbols, the mental plane has insufficient information to create what is desired. The Archetype of the Magician in the Major Arcanum of the Tarot deck teaches some valuable lessons in concentration. The traditional picture of the Magician shows a man dressed in a white robe, encircled by a belt in the shape of a snake holding its tail in its mouth, and he is wearing a cloak of vermilion. He stands in a garden with four white lilies and five red roses, behind a table where he has laid out his magical tools. With his right hand, the Magician lifts a wand upward toward the sky. His left hand makes the universal gesture of attention, pointing with extended forefinger toward the fertile earth at his feet. The message inherent in this gesture is that the Force of the higher levels flows through the Magician to whatever he gives his full measure of attention. The garden in which the Magician works represents the subconscious field. It is from this subconscious field that the hidden powers come that the Magician directs in his quest for increased freedom. These powers are symbolized by the lilies which stand for various aspects of truth and the roses which are symbols of human desire. The Magician is a transformer and transmuter of experience. He cultivates the flowers in his garden, improving them and by force of his control of their development, takes them far beyond the conditions spontaneously provided by nature. Taking things as he finds them, he watches until he perceives the underlying principle at work in what he observes. Then he applies that principle in novel ways so as to produce a different situation. The Language of the Old Belief, the Language of Magic, is expressed in Symbols and Images. Poetry, which is itself a form of magic, is magic speech. Spells and charms worked by witches in rhyme are truly concrete poetry. The American Indians would call them Songs of Power. Images bridge the gap between the verbal and non-verbal modes of awareness. They allow the two sides of the brain to communicate, arousing the emotions as well as the intellect. The vast storehouse of symbols, which embody all the possible realities of this universe is the subconscious mind. The Archetype representing the subconscious mind is the High Priestess. The High Priestess is depicted as a solitary woman, seated on a cube placed between two pillars of opposite colors. There is a veil hung between the pillars with pomegranates and hearts of palms woven into it. She is dressed in a white garment adorned with an equilateral cross on her breast and surrounded by a blue robe that flows down and out of the picture. She wears a silver crown, made of two crescents and an orb and holds a scroll in her lap. The message conveyed by the High Priestess is two-fold. First she represents memory. Everything that comes to the attention of the mind of her counterpart, the Magician, is recorded on her scroll. Like all languages, the records she keeps are symbols for the reality they represent and it is the second function that she represents that makes the knowledge available to the Magician. The imagery of water flowing through this tarot card is reinforced by the blue color of her robe, and the way it pools down at the bottom right side of the card and seems to flow off the card. Water is the universal symbol of the astral essence of the higher planes and just as waterways on earth served as highways of communication and commerce in the old ways, it is the astral essence that serves as a bridge between the different planes. In order to recall things stored in memory as written down on the High Priestess's scroll it is necessary to still the waters so that they become a mirror and reflect the images you are seeking. The ability to concentrate to the point where a still calmness in the mind is achieved, coupled with the images that surface from the subconsciousness leads to the point where new realities can be visualized. All manifestations on the physical world are rooted in the mental and astral planes. In order to change your physical reality, you need to be able to use creative visualization to plant the seeds of your new reality in the higher planes. The Archetype of the Creative Imagination is the Empress of the Tarot deck. In direct contrast to the virginal High Priestess, the Empress is a pregnant matron. She is Venus, goddess of Love, Beauty, Growth and Fruitfulness. She is seated in a garden backed by trees, with a river cascading down a waterfall and forming a pool at her feet. Wheat grows at her feet and her gown is the color of Spring. She holds a copper shield with a dove on it and a scepter of an orb divided on two and topped by a cross. A crescent moon is at her feet and a crown of 12 stars over her head. She wears a necklace of 7 pearls. When the Magician is joined with the Empress, the cold virginity of the High Priestess is transformed into the rich fertility of Venus. The Empress is imagination, the mind's power to make new combinations from remembered experiences. What you make the object of your attention is what you become, sooner or later. Fix your attention on images of misery, poverty, and weakness, and their actual physical embodiments will become part of your surroundings. Change the patterns by attending to their opposites, and presently creative imagination, symbolized by the Empress, will begin to build you a new life and will impress even the conditions of your environment with new ideas. Remember, even your physical body is part of your environment. The generation of mental images at the level of self-consciousness is a necessary forerunner of changing your circumstances, but it does not do any good if you do not prepare the ground for the seed to grow. Creating prosperity thought forms and then doing nothing to allow them to come through on the physical plane is as senseless as buying a high performance car without any tires. Getting control over your own environment is a necessary first step in preparing for the changes you are working for. Working with the resources at hand, you need to gain control over your environment. Physical and spiritual cleansing of your environment clears away the clutter of old worn-out thought- forms. Actively seeking out knowledge of how to effectively manage the conditions you are trying to bring about sends messages to your subconscious that you are serious in you work and are not going to waste any gifts that come your way. Regulation and supervision are implied by everything in the Archetype of the Emperor. Supervision is overseeing. Thus the function of sight is chief among our senses. The Emperor is seated on a cube on the edge of a cliff overlooking a river which has worn a channel through the mountains turning them into the soil that serves as the base for the garden of the Emperor. He is dressed in armor, symbolizing his willingness to impress his will on his surroundings but he sits in a passive stance content to observe the conditions that exist before he acts. The quality of our vision or observations of how things are determines the course of our progress towards liberation. Unless we imagine, we do not really see. The mind is the true seer. Unless we learn to supplement what our eyes report with imagination based on other senses no true vision of the world can be made. Regulation is dependent on the ability to reason which is the second aspect represented by the Emperor. The basic function of reason is to oversee and control. Through the development of our ability to reason we learn to supervise and control our daily activities. After we have learned to concentrate and visualize what we want to do using symbols from the unconscious and prepared for the work to manifest on the physical plane through observation and regulation of our daily lives we are ready to manifest our new reality through our Personality. Our Personality is not what we truly are, but how we express our Inner Self. It is important that we work in accordance with the guidance of our true 'Essence'. The Archetype of the Hierophant represents the Self. The Hierophant sits between two pillars in a temple like the High Priestess. He is the Inner Self who is also the Emperor. Only the spheres of operation are different. The ministers kneeling before the True Teacher wear garments which are embroidered with the same flowers that appear in the garden of the Magician. The general meaning of the Hierophant is summed up in the word Intuition. Intuition is the Voice of the True Self. Genuine intuition is not a substitute for reason. It is a logical consequence of good reasoning. The inner Teacher wastes no time in fruitless endeavors to instruct the incompetent who will not take the trouble to observe, to remember, to imagine, or to reason. The Voice never speaks loudly and many fail to hear it over the clamor of their own thoughts. Practicing the listening attitude of mind leads to eventually hearing it. The fundamental practice is to be still when you wish the counsel of the Voice. Stop racking your brains when a seemingly insoluble problem confronts you. The harder you try the less likely you are to hear the answer. Patterns appear when we have contrasting elements in what we are examining. The Tables of Correspondence (Spiral Dance) are based on the recognition that everything exists in relation to other things, and we use the process of discrimination to find the correspondences. The Archetype of the Lovers represents the process of discrimination. The tarot card of the Lovers shows an angel bestowing blessings upon a and woman. The message here is that the self- consciousness and subconsciousness are equal and receive the blessings of the True Self. When there are no secrets between the two ( ) they work in harmony under the guidance of the Self and can see the connections between seemingly unrelated facts. The final ingredient needed in the development of the magical personality is the development of the magical will. Development of the Magical Will comes about as the result of synthesizing all the aspects we have been talking about so far. The Chariot is the Archetype of the Will The Chariot depicts a person standing in a chariot pulled by two sphinxes of opposite polarity, before a city surrounded by a wall. At the foot of the wall runs a river. The Charioteer is the Inner Self The sphinxes represent the senses and the reins (which are invisible) by which he guides them represent the mind. The chariot itself is the physical body and it is drawn by the sphinxes. The starry canopy represents the celestial forces whose descent into matter is the cause of all manifestation. On the shield is the Hindu Lingam-Yom symbolizing the union of opposites. The charioteer is a victor. This card represents the conquest of illusion which comes about when the Self guides the personality. The Magical Will is very much akin to what Victorian schoolmasters called character: honesty, self-discipline, commitment and conviction. Anyone who wishes to practice magic must be scrupulously honest in their personal lives. A bag of herbs acquires the power to heal because I say it does. For my word to take on such force, I must be deeply and completely convinced that it is identified with truth as I know it. In this sense, magic works on the principle that "It is so because I say it is so." Unless I have enough personal power to keep my commitments in daily life, I will be unable to wield magical power. To a person who practices honesty and keeps commitments, "As I will, so mote it be." is not just a phrase; it is a statement of fact.
Divine Archetypes Archetype of the Goddess The Craft has always been a religion of poetry, not theology. The myths, legends, and teachings are recognized as metaphors for that which cannot be told'; the absolute reality our minds can never completely express because of the limitations placed on it through biology. The mysteries of the absolute can never be explained - only felt or intuited. Symbols and ritual acts are used to trigger unusual states of awareness in which insights that go beyond words are revealed. When the phrase 'secrets that cannot be told' is used, it is not a matter of oaths taken or the threat of penalties that might be imposed. The true meaning is that the inner knowledge literally cannot be expressed in words. It can only be conveyed by experience and no one can legislate what insight another person may draw from any given experience. This is why the Craft is not a spectator religion, where you can refuse to put any effort in and gain anything meaningful for your own development. This is also why entrenched priesthoods foster the belief that non-priests must go through a hierarchy of priests, heads of churches, and eventually through chosen prophets and sons of the deity in order to receive special attention by the deity. The primary symbol for 'that which cannot be told' in the Craft is the Mother Goddess. She has an infinite number of aspects and thousands of names because She is the reality behind many metaphors for the creation of the universe. Unlike patriarchal systems, the Craft sees the Goddess as giving birth to the world rather than creating it out of nothing. The fertile Lands were made from Her Flesh, the Waters from Her own bodily Fluids, the Mountains from Her Bones, and the Winds from Her own Breath. The Goddess does not rule the world, She IS the world and since She gave birth to us all, we have the potential to reconnect with the spirit of Her in all Her magnificent diversity. Religion for us, then is a matter of relinking with the divine within and with Her outer manifestations in all the human and natural world. One of the basic beliefs that the Craft is founded upon is what Stewart Farrar call the'Theory of Levels', which recognizes that reality exists and operates on many planes. A simplified but generally accepted list would be - physical, etherical, astral, mental and spiritual. It is recognized that each of these levels has its own laws and that these laws, while special to their own levels, are compatible with each other and their mutual resonance governs the interaction between the levels. The point of this excursion into the esoterica of how the universe works, is to point out that we do not separate our physical existence from our spiritual existence. In the Craft, spirit and flesh are joined together and physical aspects of being human such as sex are not considered 'dirty' or 'sinful'. The importance of the Craft for women, is a direct outgrowth in the decline of Goddess religions and the rise of God dominated religions. Male images of divinity are characterized in both western and eastern religions today, and women are thus deprived of religious models and spiritual systems that can speak to female needs and experience. In the extremes of male dominated religions, women are not encouraged to explore their own strengths and realizations. They are taught to submit to male authority, to identify masculine perceptions as their spiritual ideals, to deny their bodies and sexuality, and to fit their insights into a male mold, no matter how ludicrous that may seem. The image of the Goddess inspires women to see themselves in a very different light. As Daughters of the Goddess, they are divine, their bodies are sacred, and the changing phases of their lives are holy. Their aggression is healthy, and their anger can be purifying. Their power to create and nurture as well as their ability to limit and to destroy, when necessary, is seen as the very force that sustains all life. Through the Goddess, women can discover their strengths, enlighten their minds, own their bodies and celebrate their emotions. They can move beyond narrow constricting roles and become whole people. For women, the Goddess is the symbol of the inmost self and the beneficent, nurturing, liberating power within all women. The cosmos is modeled on the female body, which is sacred. All phases of life are sacred and age is a blessing, not a curse. The Goddess does not limit women to their bodies. She awakens their minds and spirits and emotions. Through Her, they can know the power of anger and aggression, as well as the power of love. The Image of the Goddess has a great deal to offer men as well as women. Men are also oppressed in a God ruled, patriarchal society. Men are encouraged to identify with a model that no human being can possibly live up to. Men are expected to be mini-rulers of their own very narrow universes. Men are internally split between a spiritual self, that is supposed to conquer their baser animal instincts, and their emotional selves. They are at war with themselves. In the west, they are expected to overcome the tendency to sin, while in the east they must suppress the desires of the ego. Needless to say, no man comes away from this type of struggle undamaged. Every male who is raised by a mother, will from birth carry within him a strong feminine imprint. a. This is so, because women give birth to males, nurture them at their breast, and in our culture, are primarily responsible for their care until they reach adolescence. The symbol of the Goddess allows men to experience and integrate the feminine side of their nature without danger of losing those feelings which are the touchstone of their masculinity. The Goddess becomes: the mother who will never abandon her child: refuse to nurture him when he is feeling his most vulnerable: tempers her justice with compassion and understanding, all these in ways not always possible in human women and other men. For a man, the Goddess is his own hidden Female self, as well as being the Universal Life force. a. She embodies all the qualities society teaches him not to recognize in himself His first experience with Her may therefore be somewhat stereotypical, in that She appears as the cosmic lover, the gentle nurturer, and the eternally desired Other, or the Muse. All that he is not. As he becomes more whole and becomes aware of his own 'female' qualities, She seems to change, to show him a new face. Always holding up a mirror, She shows what may seem ungraspable to him. He may chase Her forever and She will elude him, but through the attempt, he will grow until he too learns to find Her within.
Divine Archetypes Archetype of the Horned God The Homed God is bom of a Virgin Mother. He is a model of male power that is free from father-son rivalry or 'Oedipal' conflicts. He has no father, because He is his own father. As He grows and passes through the changes on the Wheel, He remains in relationship with the prime nurturing force of the Goddess. His power is drawn directly from the Goddess and He participates in life through Her. The Homed God represents powerful, positive male qualities that derive from deeper sources than the stereotypical violence and emotional crippling of men present in our society. When a man strives to emulate the God, he is free to be wild without being cruel, angry without being violent, sexual without being coercive, spiritual without being unsexed, and able to truly love. For men the God is the image of inner power, and of a potency that is more than merely sexual. He is the undivided Self, in which mind is not split from the body, nor spirit from flesh. United, both can ftinction at the peak of creative and emotional power. Men are not subservient or relegated to second class spiritual citizenship on the Craft. But neither are they automatically elevated to a higher status than women, as they are in other religions. Men in the Craft must interact with strong, empowered women who do not pretend to be anything less than what they are. Many men find this prospect disconcerting at first. For women raised in our present culture, the God begins as a symbol of all those qualities that have been identified as male, and that they, as women, have not been allowed or encouraged to own. The symbol of the God, like that of the Goddess, is both internal and external. Through meditation and ritual a woman invokes the God and creates his image within herself. In this way she connects with those qualities that she may lack. As her understanding moves beyond culturally imposed limitations her image of the God changes and deepens. He becomes the Creation, which is not simply a replica of oneself, but something different and of a different order. True Creation implies separation as the very act of birth is a relinquishment or letting go. Through the God, women know this power within themselves, and so, like the Goddess, the God can empower women. In the Craft, the cosmos is no longer modeled on external male control. The hierarchy is dissolved and the heavenly chain of command is broken. The "divinely revealed" texts are seen as poetry not the "word of God." Instead, a man must connect with the Goddess who is immanent in the world, in nature, in women, and in his own feelings. She is immanent in everything that childhood religions taught needed to be overcome, transcended, and conquered, in order to be loved by 'God'. The very aspects of the Craft that seem threatening also hold out to men a new and vibrant spiritual possibility: that of wholeness, connection, and freedom. Men of courage find relationships with strong powerful women exhilarating and they welcome the chance to know the Female within the self. They enjoy the chance to grow beyond their culturally imposed limitations and become whole. Within Covens, women and men can experience group support and the affection of other women and men. They can interact in situations that are not competitive or antagonistic. Men in Covens can become true friends with other men, without giving up any part of themselves, or subjecting themselves to derision or ridicule.
How we think and its influences on magick Learning to work magic requires that a certain amout of neurological re-patteming of our brains takes place. To be effective, we have to change the way we use our brains. Magic requires the development and integration of the right hemisphere way of thinking with the left hemisphere way of thinking. The spacial, intuitive and holistic patterns of awareness that characterize the right hemisphere modes of consciousness must be able to communicate and work in harmony with the verbal, analytical and linear patterns of awareness so characteristic of the left hemisphere. A person's growth, creativity and personality is deeply influenced during this process and it eventually leads to a person who is truly functional as a whole person. The language of magic is expressed in symbols and images. Images bridge the gap between the verbal and non-verbal modes of awareness. Symbols and images implant certain ideas in Younger Self who passes them on to High Self. By allowing the critical and analytical functions of Talking Self to relax, Younger Self may respond fully and emotionally to what happens during your magical workings. Ritual, which is defined as "a specific set of images and symbols attached to certain actions," allows us to deliberately alter our states of consciousness so that we may perform works of magic. All humans relate to their environment through symbols and rituals. Except during rare occasions, we do not experience our environment directly. Our left hemisphere patterning awareness developed so we could safely ignore anything in our environment which was not potentially dangerous. A direct benefit of this survival tactic was the ability to concentrate, which allowed us to examine the world around us and led to experimentation. Experimentation led to better ways of doing things, such as making tools, and technology was born. It has served as a goad and a goal since then. The way our left hemisphere works is fascinating Working as a filter of all the stimuli coming into the various senses of a human, the left hemisphere examines everything closely and then files the new sensory data away as images, tastes, smells, etc. where it stays in memory. The majority of this activity occurs when we are young and enchanted with the world around us. Maturity is usually judged by the degree to which your enthusiasm for examining the world around you has diminished. Ironically, when you become too mature, you withdraw from the world around you and lose interest, this is usually marked by a tendency to live in your memories instead of the present. This condition is called old age and people who give in to living in the past are called senile. Those of us who never lose our sense of wonder toward all the world has to offer are often accused of having never 'grown up' or if, we have managed to live long enough, to be going through our 'second childhood.' As we approach something in our normal everyday activities we receive an image from our eyes and a part of our brain searches through our memory for an image that matches the one at which we are looking. If there is already an image on file, even if it is not a perfect match, the image on file is fed to that part of our brain which 'sees' what we are approaching. In this instance, assuming that we have not associated the image in memory with something dangerous, we will walk past the object without paying it any attention or actually seeing the object. If there is not an image on file we will stop and examine the new object as if we were seeing it for the first time, which we are. Then having classified and categorized it, we then file it away in our memory for future reference and continue on our way, oblivious to our surroundings. This behavior allows us to concentrate on more abstract things than worrying if our favorite armchair is going to have us for brunch. An extension of this type of behavior is the formation of habits. Habits are ways of interacting with our environment, based on assumptions made using our stored images and experiences as a true picture of reality. In effect, habits are pre-programmed responses to everyday occurrences. A little known fact relating to habits is that habits do fulfill a psychological need. And you cannot break a habit, you can only replace it with another that meets that same psychological need.
On Joining A Coven Reasons for joining a Coven
1. To experience a sense of community. a. As Crafters, we seem to stand slightly to one side of mainstream society. (1) This setting apart makes us feel as though we are alone and surrounded by people who do not understand us. (a) A coven brings together like minded people who can form a surrogate clan or tribe, which then serves as a support group. (b) Most newcomers to the Craft express their feelings at Coven meets as a 'coming home' or finding 'their people.' 2. To find religious freedom a. Most Crafters have had a lifetime of religious bigotry with which to contend. b. Consequently they are more willing to tolerate other peoples beliefs. (1) And, because of their emphasis on direct experience with the Goddess, they are not so quick to condemn your experiences as the result of psychosis or delusion. (a) In most cases, they have had the same or similar experiences. 3. To receive training in psychic development. a. A Coven serves as the training ground in which each member develops her/his personal power. (1) The support and security of the group reinforces each member's belief in themselves. (a) Psychic training opens new awareness and abilities. (b) And feedback from the group becomes the ever present mirror in which we 'see ourselves as others see us.' 4. To gain power over others a. Many times this is the strongest motivation for becoming a witch and joining a Coven. b. The perceived need to gain power over others is a desperate cry for help which indicates an insecure and frightened individual. (1) Patriarchal systems teach that there are a privileged few who manipulate the masses and we are led to believe that our own self worth is direct proportion to the power we hold over other people. (a) This mindset leads to the view of fellow humans as being both competitors that must be 'beaten' and as potential slaves. (b). One of the major objectives of the first degree training of a witch is to get the potential witch to face the Self truthfully. (2) During this process the witch examines her/his own motivations and internal programming. (a) This is in keeping with the Hermetic maxim to "know thyself'. (3) As the witch comes to realize that the need to have power over others stems from a lack of power over one's own self, s/he is taught techniques which lead to gaining control over their own lives and that build personal power. (a) With personal power, the need to dominate others subsides along with feelings of powerlessness.
Legality of Wicca In the past two decades, Witchcraft and Wicca have gained ground toward becoming more accepted by society at large. In the 1985 case of Dettmer vs. Landon, it was decided that Wicca is a legitimate religion and is therefore entitled to protection under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In Condon vs Wheeler and the Church of Y Tylwyth Teg (1987) an Administrative Court of the US Post Office found that Welsh Witchcraft is a religion. ( http://www.usps.com/judicial/1989deci/md-45.htm ) The I.R.S. has recognized various pagan organizations as religious non-profits under 501 c 3 rules. The Department of Army Pamphlet No. 165-13, titled "Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups-A Handbook for Chaplains," also recognizes Wicca as an official religion, and has since about 1980. Wicca is a recognized and sanctioned faith in the military today, in spite of recent efforts by Bob Barr (R-GA) and Senator Strom Thurmond to outlaw its practice on military bases. In early 1999, a 17-year-old Wiccan took her school to court to win back the right to wear her religious symbol, the pentacle, on school grounds and won. Despite these victories, and the fact that many Wiccans have "come out of the broom closet" about their beliefs and attempt to educate others, persecution still takes place. Fortunately, there are many groups in existence that fight discrimination, such as The Witches Voice, the Universal Federation of Pagans (UFP), Southeastern Pagan Alliance (SEPA), the Earth Religion Acceptance League (ERAL), the Witches' League for Public Awareness (WPLA) and the Alternative Religions Educational Network (AREN) formerly the WADL founded by Leo Martello.
Magic In The Craft Working Definition Magic is the craft of shaping and has been defined as "the art of changing consciousness at will". The art of changing consciousness at will is a demanding one, needing long and disciplined apprenticeship. The outward acts of waving a wand, lighting a candle, or crooning a rhymed incantation, are meaningless without the proper mental preparation. But when the force of a trained awareness is behind the gestures, they are far more than empty motions. The Witch as Cosmic Artist We exist on this plane as multi-faceted jewels, which conceal a spark of the essence of the Goddess in the heart of each jewel. Each facet of the jewel that is ourself is likened to shells, or "bodies" in which we wrap the heart of our jewel. These "bodies" are divided into two groups. The Individuality Upper Spiritual- Consists of pure or abstract Spirit. Sometimes call the 'Divine Spark', it is substance and energy from the Great Unmanifest which we symbolize with the archetype of the Goddess. Lower Spiritual- This is the individualized spirit which has separated from the abstract. This is where the spirit embarks upon it's own journey of self-discovery. And where it eventually returns before it adds its experiences to the Great Whole and rejoins it as a drop in the endless ocean of being. Upper Mental- This is the realm of the abstract mind. Individualized spirit begins to be self-aware, and form polarities which lead to the development of the personality. The Personality Lower Mental- The person develops a concrete mind held together by form and memory. Upper Astral- Level of abstract emotions. Attraction of polarities leads to a desire for union. Lower Astral- Level of instincts and passions. A desire to attract other polarities and to possess things develops. Etheric Body- Tenuous energy-web of near-matter which links the Physical with the subtler planes. Without the Etheric body to hold the physical body together, individual sparks of the spirit cannot manifest on the physical plane. Physical Body- Made of dense matter. Taking a broad look at the Personality, we find that it is an instrument, or machine, consisting of three distinct 'bodies'. These 'bodies' are built up during one incarnation and discarded in the Surnmerland after they have served their purpose. A physical form that naturally moves and acts on instinct and orders from your mind. This physical form has its own set of laws that govern it. It exists in time and space, and it has to be acted upon; it is not capable of thinking. We know that our body is not the cause of us, because it has to be acted upon to function. And anything that has to be acted upon is an effect, caused by something else. An emotional 'body', operating from laws similar to hydrodynamics. If our emotions become blocked, we are like a river whose flow is dammed up, building up untold pressure until some release occurs; or we go dead inside and stagnate, diseased and toxic to ourselves and others. Crafters know that pent-up emotions are to be released and understood, so that this constricted energy can be expressed for the purpose of validating our existence. A mental life, our unique world of personal thoughts, that is creative by nature, and has no limits except those it chooses to construct for itself. Since we exist in a Universal Mind that is all knowing and limitless, we know that limitation is not a universal law, but only exists in the individual use we make of these universal laws. Our Personality is responsible for our being able to function on this plane and it is through our personality that we create the world around us. Without our input the world is neutral, colorless and meaningless. It is only when we assume the role of creators or artists and paint an image of the world in our minds, colored by our feelings, does the world affect us. This is way two people can have the same experience and respond in two entirely different ways. We constantly choose moment-by-moment what our world is like. A person who opts for a negative experience descends into a universe that contains all the potentially negative forces that are waiting to make up reality. And no matter what someone outside does to make it less negative, it will not change. Having set up the polarity for a negative experience, the negativity acts as a magnet, attracting more and more negativity until it is overwhelming. On the other hand, a person who opts for a positive experience, ascends into another universe, that immediately cooperates, and instantly, forces begin moving to manifest a positive result. The main work of a person on the Path of Return is to integrate the creative aspects of the Personality under the guidance of the Individuality, or Essence, so that they can develop as a member of the universe in full harmony with the rest of it. When this happens the Seeker discovers an inner state of harmony where all actions begin corresponding to a deeper truth resident within. It is as though every thing flows naturally and easily. Even what had seemed 'impossible' before fades into nonexistence and a new possibility takes its place.
Magick in Practice The early magical systems were based on the observation that all of reality is based on the interaction of various natural forces. The two basic magical powers that are taught to all humans as their birthright are the ability to embody complex concepts in symbolic words and to divide the world into 'pieces' so that they can examine it for short periods of time as though it were caught in a 'freeze frame.' We dismiss the ability to embody complex concepts in symbolic words as being too fundamental to consider, but it is the basis for all learning. This process, which we call naming, is vital to our understanding of the world around us. By creating names that embody specific concepts, we create a vocabulary by which 'initiates' in the subject can manipulate the relationships between the different concepts to reveal new truths that lead to a better understanding of the world around us. Gaining control over something by learning its name is one of the oldest forms of magic. In the Christian Bible, God instructs Adam and Eve to name all the plants and creatures and to exercise dominion over all of them. In societies which practice magic, mothers give their children 'true names' and 'public names' to protect them from harm by someone wishing the child ill. Most people have heard the story of Rumplestiltskin, where the heroine must guess the villains name, otherwise she will be unable to stop him from carrying out his evil deeds. Or the story of the wizard who manages to summon a demon to do his bidding, only to wind up becoming a slave to the demon because he did not know the demons proper name. Once humankind began to exert its influence on the world, the need to differentiate its parts and count them became very important. We differentiate the world through the use of DISCRIMINATION and this allows us to count the separate parts. Discrimination is the ability to separate an object from its shadow, trees from a forest, your child from a group of children, and your friends from your enemies. Counting took on additional significance when trading surplus food for finished goods became the basis of early commerce. The merchants needed to develop a method of keeping track of their transactions. At first they used a picture code similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics, which involved drawing a picture that represented the goods traded and which were then assigned a numerical value in accordance with how much could be traded for the goods. This was before the concept of money and allowed merchants to trade for credits of non-tangible assets. As competition grew the merchants started abbreviating the pictures of their trade goods and the symbols became the letters of the various alphabets, with the number values still attached. As astronomy and astrology were developed, the people who were learning to recognize these interactions of the forces of nature needed to record their knowledge, and they seized upon the merchants secret trade codes, or alphabets (named after the first two letters in the Phoenician script.) Because they placed great importance on the measuring of things they also adopted the numerical values of the letters as representing the numerical truth of the symbols they were using to record their new knowledge. This led to the magical system called GEMATRIA, which is based on reducing the letters of someones name, etc to a number which is assigned special significance. Gematria was especially popular with biblical scholars. In the thirteenth chapter of Revelations in the Christian Bible, a beast it comes up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns, and on its heads the name of blasphemy". One of the heads had been 'wounded to death', but the wound had healed. "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred, threescore and six." It is generally accepted now that the Beast was meant to stand for the Roman Empire and its seven heads for the seven Emperors. The head which was wounded to death but healed, looks like an oblique reference to Nero, who took great delight in persecuting the new Christian faith and its followers, one of the more well known of which was letting them fight lions bare handed in the Coliseum. He was murdered in 68 AD, but there were persistent rumors that he had risen again and had escaped to the East, and would soon return with an army to take his revenge. Aleister Crowley adopted the name of The Great Beast which, when reduced from greek into numbers using gematria, equals 666. He did this partly to shock the good people of the late Victorian era and partly as an exercise in imitative magic. Another story told of the importance placed on the interpretation of the Christian Bible through gematria involves the same chapter of Revelations and the Social Security Administration in the United States of America. In chapter 13:16-17, the author speaks of a second beast which comes after the first. 'Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to marked on the right hand or the forehead,' 'so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.' These verses were quoted over and over from pulpits in the United States when it was announced that everyone was to be issued a Social Security number for purposes of identification, and that all government files would require the populace to submit their Social Security number along with their name, to be sure they were properly identified. The citizens, whipped into a fury by the clergy, deluged their Congressmen with letters of protest. The Congressmen, being pragmatists, came upon a plan to soothe the savage breasts of their constituents and still get their own way. They made it a part of the Social Security Act that the number was not to be used as identification for any purpose other than for Social Security. This is why all Social Security cards bear the legend "Not to be used for Identification." Many years later, around 1973, this was set aside when Military Service numbers were abandoned in favor of using Social Security numbers to identify military service personnel. Even today the Social Security card is not generally accepted as identification, not because of the original objection, but because it does not have a photo of the bearer. The ancients, in seeking to bring order and under- standing to their world, developed the concept of the Elementals. They recognized that everything was the result of the interaction of four great natural forces. These Elementals were not seen as what the world was made of, like todays' elements in chemistry, but a shorthand way of explaining the way things interacted. After a while the process of visualizing the Elementals as personifications of the natural forces produced thought forms which were able to act independently of their creators. The major force that exhibited the principle of motion was ascribed to the Element of Air. In visualizing airy beings the race of Sylphs were actualized on our planet. These creatures had wings of gossamer, with very slight and tiny bodies, their facial features were made up of sharp planes and they tended to very short attention spans, and this usually left them in very good spirits because it was not their nature to brood. Childhood stories retain a racial memory of the Sylphs in our present day Fairies, much as Walt Disney drew Tinkerbell. When the natural attribute of a force was expansion it was said to have a Fiery nature. The Elemental creatures of Fire were the Salamanders. These creatures loved to play in the warm ashes of fireplaces and their skin glowed with alternating colors just like a hot piece of charcoal.They were quick to take offense and could carelessly allow a fire outside of the fireplace, if the family they chose to live with allowed the ashes to get too cold for them to be comfortable. With our present dependence on natural gas and electricity to provide our heat, we have lost touch with the fire Elementals, but the big brothers of the Salamanders were dragons, which possessed the airy quality of flight, the fiery quality of being able to exhale fire and the earthy quality of being fascinated by bright jewels and glittering gold. The natural force of contraction was assigned to the Elemental of Water. The race of water Elementals were called Undines after the undulating property of water, which rises and falls in synchronization with the movements of the Moon. The Undines were thought to be related to the Sylphs but of a stouter character. They were slow to anger and slow to soothe, and steadfast unless stirred up by the Sylphs. The epitome of the solid earthiness the last Elemental was the Gnome and his burrowing cousin the Dwarf. Gnomes and Dwarves were as big hearted as they were diminutive, but they did not take kindly to anyone who harmed the earth. The forest was the natural habitat of Gnomes and they knew all the secrets of each bud, leaf, root, and tree. The Dwarves lived inside the earth and mined the treasures that were uncovered by dint of their delving. Skill in metalsmithing developed alongside their shrewd sense of trading and woe to the person who got between a Dwarf and his treasure or bested him in a deal. In the early stages of humanity's development, the personifications of the Elementals lived on the fringes of human settlements, and developed their own societies and kingdoms. But as humans started to infringe upon their domains and closed themselves off to seeing the Elementals, they in turn withdrew into the higher planes. Since they were originally expressions of natural forces on earth, they are bound to it and serve as caretakers for the earth until humankind is wise enough to care for it without their help. Because they were actualized on this plane by the strength of human thought, they owe a debt of brotherhood to the human race and will appear and help those humans who learn how to summon them. Confronting the twin mysteries of Birth and Death, early humanity was forced to consider the existence of a Supreme Being responsible for these Mysteries. Why some societies chose to see these forces as warring or opposite, while others chose to view them as mutually beneficial or complementary, we can only guess. What we can be sure of is that a lot of their rituals and magical acts were motivated by their particular world view. The body of accepted rituals and magical acts were codified and served as the basis of the religion which would grow up to explain how the world began, how someone was supposed to act while in it, and what happened after s/he died. Imitative and Sympathetic Magic evolved as a means of influencing the world around the Ancients. These two forms of magic were based on the principles of mimicry, contagion, and the belief that man is a microcosm of the macrocosm. Imitative magic is the general category which covers magic performed on a model, doll or actor representing the real world counterpart, which is to be affected. Examples of this type of magic would be cave drawings depicting successful hunts, love poppets and Voodoo dolls, and the survival of ancient folk dances wherethe dancer dons the skin and horns of an animal while the other dancers act out the stalking and killing of the "sacrifice." Mimicry of a real life situation, while utilizing parts of the subject to form a bond is the basis for imitative magic. Underlying imitative magic is the Theory of Contagion, which holds that parts of a living being contain the essence of its life, even after being separated. In simple terms, a magical link exists between ourselves and our parts. American Indians and Orientals did not want their pictures taken, for fear of losing their spirits inside of the camera. Many of the Grimoires from the Middle-ages warning against allowing nail clippings, locks of hair, or old articles of clothing to fall in the hands of your enemies for fear of the harm your enemies could bring against you by harming them. As a side note, the dancers in the mummers plays took great care to ensure that the skins and horns of the animals that were used in their dances were taken from male animals, this ensured that the females were left to breed and produce new for the future. Sympathetic magic is based on the belief that man is a miniature reproduction of the universe, that he is the microcosm to the universes macrocosm. This is based on the drawing of analogies between two like beings. Many of the important magical analogies are not natural to most peoples minds today, but have been handed down by tradition from the remote past. Salt is used to ward off demons. All demons are supposed to detest it and no salt should be used in ceremonies designed to attract them. Salt is anti-demonic because it is a preservative. Since demons are creatures that corrupt and destroy, anything that has a preservative quality is contrary to their nature and is disagreeable to them. Attempts to group observations into a codified system of relationships resulted in the development of the many Tables of Correspondences, which have been handed down through the ages and serve as source documents for creating new rituals. These tables usually ascribe variously corresponding items to one of the old Astrological Planets. Each planet is ruled by a Goddess or a God from the local pantheon and has its own number, color, musical note, metal, gem stone, hour of the day, herbs and flowers, and attributes.
Ritual Etiquette A. The Ritual Bath Before performing a ritual it is necessary to prepare yourself for the work ahead. A ritual bath washes away the dirt and grime of the everyday world along with the tensions of the mundane world Draw a hot bath and add some essence, oils or perfume that makes you feel good. If you have studied the uses of oils and scents in magic, you might want to tune your additives to the work to be done. Turn off all the lights and light a single white taper. Make sure that it is in a candle holder that will handle it without you worrying about it setting fire to anything or spilling wax where you do not want it. Votive candles and holders work very well for this. Light a stick of incense or place some on a glowing coal in a censer that you can pick up. Place some sea salt in a white dish or small bowl. Being so close to the sea (southern California) it is easy to collect sea salt by just taking some ocean water home and letting it evaporate in the direct sunlight until all that is left is the salt crystals. If you cannot get sea salt, you might want to use some iodized or rock salt from the market. It is essentially the same thing but personally I like the idea of making or collecting my own salt. You should have some purified water in a cup or vial. Fresh spring water or stream water is ideal but most of us living in the desert have to make due with bottled water from the store. Rain water, collected, strained, and kept in glass bottles is a good substitute. It is definitely preferred that you not use tap water because of the additives in it. The following is a very simple ritual for consecrating the ritual bath. Lock the doors and unplug the phone. This is to ensure that you are not disturbed. Once the bath is drawn and any oils have been added to it as desired, take the candle and make three slow passes over the water as you say the following evocation. "By this creature of fire do I purify this ritual bath. May all impurities flee before its light." Set the candle down so that it is out of the way but still sheds light on your work. Take up the dish of salt and, sprinkling three pinches of the salt into the water say the following. "By this creature of earth do I purify this ritual bath. All impure creatures may not approach it." Set the dish of salt aside and pick up the incense or censer and make three passes over the water as you say the following evocation. "By this creature of Air do I purify this ritual bath. May my hopes and aspirations rise upon the smoke to be carried by the winds to the Lady." Set the incense aside and pick up the water. Pour the water into the bath. You may form patterns that appeal to you if you like. Say the following. "By this creature of water do I purify this ritual bath. May this bath contain the Waters of Life that spring forth from the Heart of the Mother." Settle into the bath and soak until the water starts to get too cold to stay in or until you have fully relaxed and left the tensions of the world behind, which ever comes first. This is a good time to meditate on the work you wish to do. Dry off with a freshly cleaned white towel, that has been allowed to dry in the sunlight if possible. Again, the color of the towel can be coordinated with the work you intend to do. I prefer large bath sheets that I can wrap around myself until I am ready to dress. Apply any anointing oils that you plan to wear and dress in fresh clean clothes, or in robes if you do not have to travel to your working site. B. Handling Ritual Tools A Witch's tools are more personal than her toothbrush. Generally, it is considered extremely bad form to handle another persons tools without prior permission. Some witches charge their tools so that others who handle them incorrectly can receive a nasty jolt of psychic power to teach them to keep their hands to themselves. Personally, I do not approve of this practice as it may result in ham-iing someone too innocent to know that they should not be handling the tools. Some Covens maintain ritual tools that they only allow their own members to handle. If you are a guest, it is always best to avoid offending anyone by not handling anything unless it is specifically offered to you. Entering and Leaving the Circle A witch's magic circle is designed to keep the power raised within it contained and concentrated. Leaving and entering the circle during the ritual tends to weaken it and for this reason it is not encouraged. Animals and small children can pass through the barrier of the circle because they live in a 'state of grace'under the protection of the Goddess. Even so, animals and children should be kept out of the ritual area unless they are a specific part of the ritual because they are distracting. When it cannot be helped, the High Priestess will open, or ,cut' a door in the circle so that people who need to, can pass into or out of it. Naturally, after the person has passed through the High Priestess will set a guard or close (seal) the Circle. Walking across the barriers of the circle is considered to be extremely disrespectful and only someone who wants to test the patience of the High Priestess will do it knowingly. C. Movement Within the Circle Movement within the circle is in accordance to the order found in nature. As you face South you can track the Sun and Moon from your Left to your Right. This is the order of how we move in the circle, from side to side when doing things such as lighting candles, etc. Continuing the movement from the West to the North and back to the East we have inscribed a circle in a clockwise or Deosil (for as the sun travels') motion. Deosil is the direction the Circle is cast in, and all circular movement within the Circle should be in a clockwise direction. There are times when we would move in a counter clockwise direction but that would be only under the specific directions of the High Priestess and even then only after explaining why we were doing it. The general rule is "Always move in a clockwise direction." Each Coven maintains its own practices for giving salutes during invocations, evocations and blessings. Invoking and banishing pentagrams are also used in setting up the Circle and during other rituals acts. Imitating the others in the group is a 'safe' way to avoid any social blunders. When in doubt, do not do anything that you feel uncomfortable about.
Ritual Format A. Creating Sacred Space The High Priestess or assistant casts the circle. The circle can be marked out by stones, chalk, salt or any other natural material. No one is allowed to enter the circle until it has been properly cast. Once cast, other members of the ritual enter the circle through a pre-arranged 'door' in the circle. Usually in the north.
B. Evoking the Guardians of the Watchtowers The guardians are evoked, one at a time and welcomed. The circle can be purified by that Element assigned to each Guardian, as the Guardian is evoked or later, after all the Guardians have been evoked.
C. Invoking the Goddess and the God Many traditions invoke the Goddess in all their rituals. Some invoke the Goddess and God at Sabbats and the Goddess only at Esbats. Some traditions invoke either the Goddess or the God, in accordance with the Season.
D. Feasting The ritual feast can consist of eating a simple meal of ritual cakes and wine or a full blown feast in honor of the Goddess and God and the season. It is traditional to pour a libation from the chalice out onto the ground for the Goddess before anyone else has a drink. Some traditions have a modest meal of cakes and wine and then, after the circle is over, settle down for some serious feasting.
E. Working Magic/Raising the Cone Any magical work or healing is usually done at this time.
F. Grounding of the Cone of Power Some traditions perform a ritual to rejuvenate the Earth Mother by grounding any unused energy raised during the formation of the Cone of Power.
G. Thanking the Goddess and/or the God A formal declaration of thanks for attending the rites and for any special favors granted.
H. Thanking and releasing the Guardians A formal thanking and leave taking of the Guardians.
I. Closing the circle Either the circle will be banished so that it cannot be discovered or a maintenance spell will be placed upon it to allow it to retain and grow in power.
Ritual Tips A. Creating Sacred Space We define a new space and a new time whenever we cast a Circle in the Craft to begin a ritual. The Circle exists outside the boundaries of ordinary space and time. We say it is between the worlds of the seen and the unseen. It is a space in which alternate realities meet, in which the past and future are open to us. Casting the Circle is an enacted meditation. We create an energy form which serves as a boundary that limits and contains the movement of subtle forces. In group work, it is usually the High Priestess or her assistant who casts the Circle. Casting the Circle is the formal beginning of the ritual. It is the complex 'cue' that tells us to switch our awareness into a deeper mode. In ritual, we 'suspend disbelief just as we do when we are watching a play or reading fiction. In the permanent stone circles of the Megalithic era, where rituals were enacted for hundreds of years, great reservoirs of power were built up. There was no need to draw out the circle as we do today, because the stones defined the sacred space. Casting a temporary circle as we do today probably began during the time of persecution when tearing down stone circles was a popular sport of christian mobs. To further the 'destruction' of our circles, the church ordered that christian churches be erected over the old sacred spots in the countryside.
B. Evoking The Guardians of the Watchtowers The concept of the quartered circle is basic to the craft, as it is to many cultures and religions. The four directions each correspond to and resonate with a quality of the self, to an Element, a time of day and year, to tools of the craft, symbolic animals and forms of personal power. These correspondences are usually set down in a table similar to the one in the back of The Spiral Dance and provide the basis for visualizations throughout the ritual. Constant visualizations of these connections create deep internal links, so much so that physical actions during ritual can trigger the desired inner states. The Guardians of the Watchtowers are energy forms. They are the Spirits or Wraiths of the four Elements. They bring the elemental energy of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water into the circle to augment our human power. The vortex of power created when we evoke the four Quarters guards the circle from intrusions and draws in the higher powers of the Goddess and God.
C. Each Movement in a Ritual has Meaning When we move deosil or sunwise we follow the direction the sun appears to move in, and draw in power. Deosil is the direction of increase, of fortune favour and blessing. When we move widdershins, or counter clockwise, we move against the path of the sun. This direction is used for decrease or banishing.
D. Cosmic Power Some traditions assign one of the four seasons to each of the four Elements. When this is done, they will orient their altar to face that quarter which represents the season that is being honored. Tthe East is associated with Air and the Spring, South is associated with Fire and Summer, West with Water and the Autumn and the North with Earth and Winter. Depending on the time of day or night, some traditions encourage facing towards one of the four directions to draw power and perform magic appropriate to the Element used. From sunrise to noon you should face East, Noon until sunset face South, sunset to midnight face West and midnight to sunrise face North.
E. Raising the Cone of Power Energy is raised in coven rituals and most often molded into the form of a Cone. This is called the Cone of Power. The base of the cone is the circle of coveners; its apex can focus on an individual, an object, or a collectively visualized image. At times the cone is allowed to rise and fall naturally without being sent anywhere. At these times the cone is used to renew the coveners personal power. It may also be sent off in a burst of Force, directed by one person who may be a part of the circle or may stand in the center serving as the focal point. Rhythmical drumming, hand claps and dance movements may all be used to raise the Cone of Power.
Typical Coven Organization A. Structure 1. The structure of the craft is cellular, based on small circles whose members share a deep commitment to each other and the craft. a. The craft tends to attract people who, by nature, do not like to join groups. (1) The coven structure makes it possible for rabid individualists to experience a deep sense of community without losing their independence of spirit. (a) Even so, because the coven becomes a family, that makes demands upon its members, just as any family does, there are crafters who cannot function within the strictures of a coven. (b) These crafters usually work their rites alone except for those rare occasions when they can join their brothers and sisters in the celebration of the Mysteries. (c) These people are rightly called Solitaries or Solos, and their dedication to the craft requires them to forego the camaraderie of a support group such as a coven. 2. A coven, by tradition, usually (?) contains no more than thirteen members. a. In such a small group, each person's presence or absence affects the rest. (1) The group is colored by every individual's likes, dislikes, beliefs and tastes. b. Some, less traditional, covens consist of any number of members from 3 - 20. (2) Many times this comes about because of the many people who wish to work in the craft and the shortage of qualified leaders to accommodate everyone. (a) Other factors that may affect the size of a coven are the group's philosophy, the size of the working circle, and the available members. 3. Originally, the members of a coven were the teachers and priestesses/priests of a large pagan population of non- initiates. a. They formed the Council of Elders in each clan, the wisewomen and wisemen who delved beneath the surface of their rites and sought the deeper meanings. (1) At the Sabbats, they led the rituals, organized the gatherings, and expounded upon the meanings of the ceremonies. 4. Each coven had its own territory, which by tradition extended for a league in all directions (about 3 miles). a. When a new coven hived off from an established one, they were expected to honor the league rule and move off away from the established territory. (1) This allowed the new and old covens some elbow room and discouraged the new coven members from running to the old coven leaders whenever things did not go smoothly. (a) It is impractical in a modem urban setting to observe the league rule, but new coven members should at least try to keep their distance from their old coven except during community gatherings. (2) As mentioned above, neighboring covens might join together for the Great Sabbats in order to share knowledge, herbs, spells and (of course) gossip. 5. Every coven is autonomous a. Each coven functions as its own authority in matters of ritual, thealogy, and training. (1) Groups of covens who follow the same rites may consider themselves part of the same tradition. (a) Some traditions make provisions for the leaders of parent covens that have other covens hive off to receive recognition for their work. b. The reputation of a coven in the community is many times all that other covens have to go on when determining whether it invite them to gatherings or not. (1) This means that the integrity of the coven leaders coupled with the reputation of its members as being sincere followers of the Path is what a coven is judged by. (a) The craft is a religion that is lived, and if the livesof this members do not reflect the teaching of the craft, then the reputation of the coven suffers. B. Organization 1. Officers a. Every group which hopes to accomplish anything must have people who provide leadership and organization and the craft is no exception. (1) Most covens are led primarily by a High Priestess, who has gone through a lengthy training program in magic, psychic development, ritual and leadership as well as thealogy. (a) During ritual the Goddess is invoked into the High Priestess and she is treated accordingly. (b) Outside of ritual the High Priestess acts as the final authority when deciding coven policy, but to disagree with her is not an offense against the Goddess as some have espoused. (2) In those covens that recognize the God as separate ftom the Goddess, the High Priestess shares her authority and responsibilities with her High Priest. (a) As with the Goddess, the God is invoked into the High Priest during some rituals. (b) In covens that do not recognize the God as separate from the Goddess, the High Priest is subservient and below the High Priestess is authority. (c) It is extremely rare to find a High Priestess that is below or subservient to the High Priest in this day and age. (3) Traditionally, the High Priestess is aided by the Maiden. (a) The Maiden is usually a Priestess-in-training or a visiting High Priestess. (b) Some traditions call for the Maiden to be the daughter of the High Priestess and in some cases this is satisfied by having the High Priestess 'adopt' the Maiden when she accepts her as a Priestess-in-training. (c) It is the Maidens duty to assist the High Priestess during ritual by handing her equipment, keeping the candles and incense going, etc. (4) Some Traditions make allowances for a Summoner. (a) The Summoner, also called Puck, is responsible for acting as the private messenger of the High Priestess. (b) He may be a Priest-in-training or simply someone who is capable of being seen anywhere without arousing suspicion. (c) Along with the High Priestess, he is usually the only one who knows all the other witches in the area with the possible exception of the High Priest. (d) He is responsible for the mundane matters of the coven such as contacting coven members when a coven-meet is called, overseeing coven finances, buying ritual supplies, coordinating gatherings and providing light for the High Priestess or the High Priest as needed during circle. 2. Finances a. The craft is not for sale. There are no fees for initiation and it is considered a breech of ethics to charge money for coven training. (1) Covens might charge dues to cover expenses for candles, incense, and other necessities but no one profits from commercializing the craft for long. (a) One of the tasks normally assigned to someone who is about to undergo initiation is to bring a bottle of wine or to provide some homemade Sabbat cakes for the ceremony. (b) This is to impress upon the new initiate that everyone is responsible for providing for the circle according to their ability. (c) More often than not, the coven members provide morethan expected. Not to show off or gain favor, but because they want to contribute and have the ability. After the gathering the remains are offered to the feathered friends or sent home with other members who may have a need. (d) There is no shame in admitting a need and taking home any leftover food or supplies, because it was all given in the spirit of providing according to one's ability and you do the provider the honor of seeing that the gifts do not go wasted. 3. Degrees of Training a. Most traditions possess a system of degrees to denote the amount of training that the members of the coven have undergone. b. Some traditions, such as the Welsh Celtic tradition taught in Georgia, go from the sublime to the ridiculous. (1) This tradition claims to have nine levels of enlighteranent. (a) Most of which their leader believes even he may never reach. c. Happily for the rest of us mortals, most other traditions only recognize three degrees when they recognize any at all. (1) The 1st degree is the degree of the Initiate. (a) Training for this degree consists mainly of learning the mythology and cosmology of the tradition, psychic and personal development, Low Magic or spellcasting, divination, and healing. (2) Once you attain the 2nd degree, you become an Elder in the Coven. (a) Training involves learning the laws of the tradition, ritual magic, folklore, Spirit contact and trance mediumship. (3) The 3rd degree escorts you into the wonderful(?) world of being a Priest or Priestess. (a) Training focuses on rituals of life such as Wiccanings, blessings, handfastings, and funereal ceremonies as well as training in leadership and group dynamics. (b) Inner teachings are presented during this training and the Priest/ess is offered the option of leaving the group to start a coven of their own or remaining to serve on the Council of Elders as a representative of the Ancient Ones. d. Some traditions have pre-initiation degrees that apply to what is called 'outer-court' teachings. (1) Many times these teaching will consist of courses very similar to the ones associated with this series of lessons. (a) No matter what the degree structure is, the important thing to remember is that the material you are supposed to learn on your way up is the foundation on which you build your future understanding. (b) All too many people rush through the basics to collect as many degrees as possible only to find that they have wasted their time pursuing the illusion of prestige that goes along with the degrees and never gained the knowledge and experience the degrees are supposed to represent.
Western Traditions of Ceremonial Magic Hermetic Magic This is the main tradition of the West and has been championed by many secret societies such as the Freemasons, Golden Dawn Society, and the Builders of Adytum. Franz Bardon has written three volumes of instructions for aspiring Hermetic Magicians. What we know of Hermetic Magic dates from the first century AD. Hermetic Magic is a mixture of traditions. It combines Egyptian knowledge with ideas of the Greeks and Jews who lived in Egypt, principally in Alexandria, at the time of Jesus. These three groups all claimed that the knowledge they held in common was divinely inspired. There are two different accounts of how the knowledge had been received. The first account derives from the apocryphal Book of Enoch. In a passage that amplifies Genesis 6:1-5, Enoch tells how 200 angel descended from heaven to Mount Hermon and took wives from the "daughters of man." The angels taught their knowledge to these women and to the children they bore. For this presumption, the angels were thrown out of heaven. Hermetic scholars recognize in this account a parallel to the myth of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the Gnostic interpretation of Adam and Eve's fall, Jehovah is not The Deity, but a powerful though lesser spirit, who built the material world and rules over it. Because of his jealousy and pride Jehovah forbade knowledge to Adam and Eve hoping they would worship him as the Highest God. The serpent, in this interpretation, is not Satan, but the spirit Ouroboros, sent by Wisdom (Sophia) to liberate the minds of men and women. Magical knowledge is thus seen to be a higher and more pious wisdom than obedience to Jehovah and the serpent Ouroboros, far from being humankinds enemy, is seen as one of its greatest saviours. In a second account, magical knowledge came from Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice Great Hermes) who has given his name to the magical sciences. Hermes was a god of Greek settlers in Egypt, and was also identified with the Egyptian God Thoth. Through the agency of an ancient Egyptian king, this god gave humankind 42 books of knowledge, of which 14 short fragments, in Greek, survive. The most important of these is the Emerald Tablet. What we derive from Hermes above all is the Doctrine of Correspondence: "That which is above is like that which is below." In other words, each man and woman is a small model of the cosmos. Each mind is a model of the Divine mind. The four material elements - water, earth, wind and fire - are models of the four universal principles. The Ptolemaic scheme of the solar system is a model of the system of the astral spheres. The Doctrine of Correspondence is essential to magic, and to all occult studies. !!!!!From Hermetic Tradition we derive not only Ceremonial Magic, but also Alchemy. Magicians have usually practiced both sciences; and both are said to have been taught by the angels of the Book of Enoch and by Hermes Trismegistus. The difference between them is that, in alchemy, the magician tries to bring about a special physical manifestation of ether. This is the Philosophers Stone, the prima materia. With it the Alchemist can transmute base metals into gold, which is the highest material form. The Ceremonial Magician on the other hand, manipulates the ether to call upon spirits and to learn from them. Obviously, these are two similar, though very different branches of one science.
Faustian Magic Faustian magic is the evocation of demons, and it began to develop well before the 16th century when Faust lived. We do not know how much Faustian magic the 16th century wizard, Dr. Johann Faust, actually practiced. There are several copies extant of a book attributed to him. Doctoris lohannis Fausti magiae maturalis et innaturalis, printed in Passau in 1505. The most significant of the magical practices advocated by these books is the use of a book of spirits or Liber Spiritum. The Liber Spiritum must be written on virgin paper. On the left hand pages are pictures of demons and on the right hand pages are oaths that those demons have taken to serve the sorcerer. Each oath is signed by the demons mark. The book must be consecrated by a priest, who says three holy masses over it. The process the good doctor had to go through to evoke the demons and force them to swear oaths to him was very involved. !!!!!!!! Here is a short biography of Faust.Johann Faust (ca. 1480 - ca. 1540 ) probably bom in Swabia and was described by a contemporary as "a most filthy beast, the midden of numberless devils." He was as notorious for his homosexuality as he was for his reputed pact with Mephistopheles. When he died there was "a great noise and shaking of the house that night ...... In the morning he was found dead, with his neck rung behind him; the Divell whom he served having carried his soule into Hell." Although he sold his soul for material gain, he seems to have died in poverty.
Enochian Magic What we know of Enochian Magic comes from a book called "A True and Faithful Relation of What Passed For Many Years Between Doctor John Dee and Some Spirits", edited by Meric Casaubon and published in 1659. The book is a memoir of the Welsh scholar John Dee (1527- 1608), concerning the experiments he conducted with the aid of the psychic Edward Kelley (c. 1553-1595). John Dee was a mathematician and astrologer at the court of Elizabeth I of England, while Edward Kelley was a psychic; he was also probably a sorcerer and necromancer. Dee learned the Kelley had a gift for contacting spirits by means of crystal gazing, and from 1582 to 1587 he used Kelley in arduous attempts to learn the wisdom of the angels. Kelley, for his part, was never sure he was communicating with angels and he constantly tried to with- draw from the experiments, but Dee convinced him to continue. Eventually, the spirits (chiefly a guide named Enoch) communicated through Kelley a spiritual language. This Enochian language had an alphabet of 21 letters. The spirits supplied 19 invocations in this language and they translated these for Dee. They also dictated magical diagrams, primarily squares, some of them containing as many as 2,401 letters and instructions for their use. Despite the wealth of knowledge it encompassed, Enochian magic fell into obscurity for many years. It was revived by the Order of the Golden Dawn and is currently on the market titled "The Book of Enoch", and claims to present the complete Enochian system in a simplified and easy to use format.
Abramelin Magic This branch of magic is based on an 18th century french manuscript titled "The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage". Abramelin set forth the semi-Gnostic doctrine that the world was created and is maintained by demons who work under orders from angels. A magician given the help of a Guardian Angel, could learn to control the demons for his own purposes. An adept depends heavily on word magic in the process and especially on palindromic magic squares.
The Great Books Of Magic All great fairy tales mention the Magic Book of Spells, kept by the great magicians of times long ago.These are records of incantations and gestures that have been tried out hundreds of times before and proved to be most effective. Medieval magaicians collected any and all books on magic they could get their hands on. There was an explosion of magical books in the Middle Ages. Most were imperfect copies of each other as they were translated from language to language and back again. These books were called Grimoires, perhaps an adulteration of the french word for Grammer, which was applied to books used to teach the basics of different subjects to the children. Actually there were only about five books of magic which had any claim whatsoever of being authentic and most of the others were incomplete, and usually incorrect, copies of these basic five.
History of the Grimoires The Testament of Solomon is the first great book of magic known to us. It was published in Greek between 100-400 AD. Probably copied down by hand in the 2nd century. Speaking of the book as being published is of course strictly a convention since all books were hand copied until the invention of the printing press. This book purports to be Solomon's autobiographical memoir of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, which he accomplished with the slave labor of devils. With the help of a ring given to him by the angel Raphael, Solomon bound the vampire devil Ornais and forced him to work on the Temple. Solomon learned the names of the other devils from Ormas and bound them as well. By the 12th or 13th century, a list of 51 useful demons had crept into copies of the Testament of Solomon. These were demons who could be persuaded to bring material benefits to the sorcerer. The Key of Solomon is perhaps the most famous of all the magical texts. There are many versions in various languages. The bulk of these are in French and Latin, some dating from the 15th century. The Grimoire itself is believed to be much older. In the I st century AD Josephus referred to a book of incantations for summoning evil spirits supposedly written by Solomon. A Greek version in the British Museum may date back to the 12th or 13th century. The Key was prohibited as a dangerous work by the Inquisition in 1559, although like most books of magic, the local clergy were allowed to keep (and to use) copies as long as they did not step out of line and/or defy the authority of Rome. The Key was concerned almost wholly with the practice of magic for personal gain. It contained no hierarchy of demons, but it did offer a system of magic based on the drawing of pentacles, which are five pointed stars inscribed with charms. These were grouped according to astrological signs. The pentacles for Saturn, for instance, were useful for causing earthquakes, inciting demons to fall upon victims, and in general bringing about ruin, destruction and death. The Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon, appeared not long after the Key of Solomon. It was divided into four parts. The Goetia, Wier, Agrippa's pupil was said to have drawn on the Goetia for his Grimoire called Psuedomonarchia Daemonium. second, Theurgia Goetia; third, The Pauline Art; and forth, the Almadel. The Almadel was mentioned in writings dating back to the 1500's. The Lemegeton included a complete hierarchy of 72 demons, whom the sorcerer could evoke for his benefit. The origin and meaning of the Lemegeton is unknown. The Constitution of Honorius first appeared in 1629. It was attributed to Pope Honorius 111 (1216-1227) and its main contribution was to put a strongly Roman Catholic construction on magical evocation. Manuscript copies (corrupt ones) of the Constitution of Honorius made their way to Germany well before 1629. These had been translated from Latin to French leading some to believe that it had made its way into France before coming to Germany, where it was translated from French into German. Elements of the Constitution mingled with certain other available texts and from these arose the strange mixture of practices that can properly be called Faustian magic. The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage is another puzzling text with no definite source. As far as we know, it began as an I Sth century French manuscript, dated 1458, and it claimed to have been translated from Hebrew. MacGregor Mathers, who founded the Order of the Golden Dawn, came across the text in the British Museum and translated it into English. Since then it has had a strong influence on the practice of magic. Other Grimoires As previously noted, there was an explosion of Grimoires in the Middle Ages and they continued to proliferate with the advent of the Rennaisance. Most of these Grimoires were rip offs of the Key of Solomon or later additions by lesser known magicians to works attributed to well known magicians. Grimorum Verum, written in French and supposedly published in Memphis by Alibeck the Egyptian in 1517, although it probably dates from the 18th century and seems to be based on the Key of Solomon. Grand Grimoire, was written in French and dating from the 18th century. The Red Dragon, a version of the Grand Grimoire True Black Magic or The Secret of Secrets, a French version of the Key of Solomon published in 1750. The Arbatel of Magic, published in Latin at Basle, Switzerland in 1575. The Black Pullet, supposedly published in Egypt in 1740, it probably dates ftom the late 18th century. The Fourth Book, added to Agrippa's Occult Philosophy after his death, and rejected by his pupil Wier as a forgery. The Magical Elements of Heptameron Attributed to Peter of Abano, who died in 1316. It was probably written in the 16th century as a supplement to the Fourth Book.
The Witches Pyramid and Witches Wheel The Witches Pyramid has two varients. The more common variant is found under the heading “The Witches Temple Four Pillars”
The Witches Pyarmid has 3 components
Purpose - there is a purpose to do what you do - that purpose must drive you to doing what it is you need to do
Faith - You have to believe in it to make magic work - You have to believe you will succeed or you won’t succeed.
Willpower - You have to want it or need it to receive it. - You must do non magickal work to assist your magickal work or you show you really don’t want it.
The Witches Temple four Pillars There are many tools used in Modern Witchcraft. According to some Wiccan systems, the first four are not physical, but rather are qualities which must be developed within the witch. The "Four Pillars of the Witches Temple" are; To Know (nescere) Basically this has to do with the gaining of knowledge, whether it be from books, teachers, or from experience. This also includes anything having to do with organising said knowledge: remembering, analyzing, dissecting, logical reasoning, imagining, linking, and many more. This is shown in the many kinds of knowledge needed to do ritual: from remembering the words to the invocations, to knowing when to cast the circle, to knowing what incense to use, to remembering how it feels when one grounds correctly. In witchcraft knowledge is power. No knowledge is ever wasted, and you may find that your fifth grade Creative Writing class taught you things useable for creating invocations, or that your Aunt Jean's gardening tips are helping you with your herb growing, or your Tai Chi class helped get the idea of centering across. The admonitions "Know Thyself", "Know your Craft", "Learn" and "Apply your Learning" are all included in this pillar. To Will (velle) This can be split into two categories: the mundane and the Magickal. The mundane is where a witch tries to keep their life in good order, and to follow through on promises and commitments. The magickal version refers to the Will to see a spell or ritual to its completion, keeping the intent clear without letting oneself get distracted. Concentration, Discipline and Drive are definitely a part of this, as well as Enthusiasm for doing the ritual in the first place. Placing one's will in tandem with Divine Will is also included. "Keep your thoughts and deeds in good order" and "Breathe and Eat correctly" belong here (though really just the act of living up to all the Goals could be listed under "To Will"). To Dare (audere) "To Dare" encompasses the acts of facing fears, especially with regards to doing magick. Dare to experiment with what one has learned to gain more experience, like trying out that new astral travel technique or trance working. Dare to meet the Gods and interact with them. Dare to deal with inner darkness. This is not to say that one must never feel fear. Fear must be felt and examined before it can be dealt with. The more one tries to hide one's fear from one's self, the more power that fear will have over one's self. Facing the Shadow within can be more traumatic than facing the most awe-inspiring Deity. However, Starhawk mentions in her book The Spiral Dance, "Where there's fear, there's power." One's greatest fear can mask one's greatest strength. It must be stated that any emotion or personal attribute brought into a magick circle will be increased and strengthened. This explains the admonition at the gateway "Better to fall upon this knife/Than enter here in fear, or strife". Give strength to your courage. To Keep [the] Silence (tacere) "To Keep the Silence" is often interpreted as "To Keep Silent": that is, to keep secret the knowledge of witchcraft, of membership and places of meetings etc., except in the cases of vouched-for persons. "To Keep Silent" is probably a good general practice since it keeps the foolhardy from trying things that might be dangerous or from getting flack from less than sympathetic neighbors. This is, however, not the whole story. "Silence" represents the 'still point'... The silence within... The correspondence with Earth here also gives another hint of this interpretation, since in order to begin to work magic we generally "ground" and "center" ourselves. It is difficult to keep clear one's intent if other extraneous thoughts keep flitting by and being distracting. Listening to the Gods and Nature (and other people for that matter) is also intimated, since one cannot hear unless there is silence first. Again, "Keeping your thoughts in good order" as well as "Meditate" come under this heading. |
