BOOK OF SHADOWS
BOOK THE SECOND
PP. 453 - 906
RIDERS OF THE CRYSTAL WIND
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Minster Speaks Out (J. gordon Melton) .........................975
A Plea For Initiation Standards (Ellen Cannon Reed) .............908
A Tale of Two Witches (Mike Nichols) ............................147
All Hallows Eve (Mike Nichols) ..................................137
Altar Dedication (Durwydd) .....................................125
Amazing (Pagan?) Grace ..........................................959
Ancient Art, The ................................................551
Answers (Grove of the Unicorn) ..................................479
Asatru (Rathulvf Jamieson) ......................................952
Astral Projection (Monroe Technique) ............................783
Athame Dedication (Durwydd) .....................................125
Autarchic Creed .................................................562
Banes, Bindings, and Mirrors (Judy Harrow, Hugh Read) ...........628
Bare Bones 3rd Degree (Humor) ...................................463
Basic Beliefs of WICCA (C.O.G.) .................................947
Basic Love Spell ................................................958
Basic Spell Construction ........................................113
Basic Principles (American Council of Witches)...................310
Basic Ritual Outline (ED FITCH) ...................................6
Beltaine Ritual (Firestar Coven, 1986) ...........................36
Beltane Ritual (Seastrider) .....................................464
Beltane, Its Origins (Rowan Moonstone) ..........................126
Bible, Books not included .......................................652
Bibliography (annotated) ........................................929
Binding A Spell (Farrar & Farrar) ...............................157
Blood Sacrifice (Althea Whitebirch) .............................547
Burning Times, The (Marios) .....................................951
C.O.G. Pledge ...................................................309
Channeling (Jast) ...............................................969
"Condensed" Definition of Wicca (Lady Phoenix) ..................948
Candle Colors ...................................................982
Candle Magic ....................................................417
Candle Scents ...................................................988
Candlemas (Gwydion) .............................................537
Candlemas (Mike Nichols) ........................................168
Catharsis Circle (Judy Harrow).....................................8
Cauldrons (Elemental)............................................420
CELTIC NUMEROLOGY (Mike Nichols) ................................454
CELTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY (Rowan Moonstone) ...........................298
Chants w/ASCII Notation (L.A.Hussey) ...........................1081
Chaos Magic (Mark Chao) .........................................398
Charge of the Phone Goddess (Magenta Griffith) ..................759
Charge of the Goddess, The ......................................193
Charge of The Horned God, The ...................................936
Check List for A Well Working Group (Earthrite BBS) .............957
Church of All Worlds ............................................353
Christian "Cults" ..............................................1000
Circle Closing ..................................................540
Circle Casting (Avaloian)........................................541
Circle Purification for Asthmatics ..............................780
Circle Casting (after Valiente and Farrar) ......................130
Circles, why use them? (Mel White) ...............................65
Cleansing (Rowan Moonstone) .......................................2
Comparison of Wicca and Christianity.............................622
Computer Blessing (Zahai Stewart) ...............................757
Coven Offices ...................................................762
Coven Leadership ................................................543
Covenant of the Goddess .........................................305
Consciousness & Politics (Carol Moore).........................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Craft Ethics (J. Crowley) .......................................751
Creation Story ..................................................619
Creed Of The People Of God (Catholic) ..........................1005
Crone Energies (Grey Cat) .......................................559
Crystals, their care and feeding (Matrika).......................413
Cult Danger Evaluation Frame (P.E.I.Bonewits) ...................343
CUUPS (C.O.G. Salt Lake City) ..................................1002
"Dark Night of the Soul".........................................286
DCW Landmarks ...................................................492
Degrees within Covens ...........................................623
Deity Engineering Worksheet .....................................607
Denver Area Wiccan Network ......................................200
Descent of The Goddess (Sewna Silvara) ..........................750
Dianic Wicca (Inanna Seastar) ...................................614
Divination (Bibliography) .......................................605
Divination (RMPJ) ...............................................603
Drawing Down the Moon ...........................................557
Dream Problem Solving ...........................................573
Dream Bibliography ..............................................576
Dream Life ......................................................571
Dream-News ......................................................567
Dreams Precognition .............................................575
Dying God (Ammond ShadowCraft)...................................685
Eclectic Circle Ceremony (Durwydd) ...............................40
EcoMagick .......................................................614
Eight Paths to Altered States (Carrie McMasters).................222
Elements, A Hermetic Summoning (Marios) .........................960
Elemental Correspondences (from Starhawk) .......................979
Elemental Correspondences .......................................560
Ethics and Morals (RMPJ) ........................................315
Ethics and Magick (Warren Stott) ................................415
Ethics and Love Magick (Mike Nichols) ...........................554
Ethics or Etiquette .............................................565
Etymology of "Wicca" ............................................356
Evolution of Wiccan Ritual (Paul Hume) ..........................946
Exorcism ........................................................613
Festivals .......................................................587
Film Guide '89 (Mike Nichols)....................................528
First Degree, What is it? .......................................351
FISH (Creative use of Christian Symbology) ......................611
Five Fold Kiss ..................................................744
Fool ............................................................590
Fortune, The (RMPJ) .............................................953
Full Deck Tarot Spread ..........................................625
Full Moon Ritual (Seastrider)....................................634
Fundamentals of Human Ecology ...................................616
Glossary (Rowan Moonstone & Durwydd MacTara) ....................206
Gnosticism.......................................................694
God/Goddess Balance (Adrienne)...................................223
Golden Dawn (Calif.).............................................689
Golden Dawn Training (outline)...................................691
Goodwife (Story by L.A. Hussey) .................................644
Great Rite, The (Symbolic) ......................................656
Greek Fire Initiation............................................982
Halloween, Origins of (Rowan Moonstone) ..........................26
Handfasting ......................................................68
Harvest Home (Mike Nichols) .....................................176
Harvest Thoughts (Gary Dumbauld) ................................630
Harvest Home - 1987 (Michael Fix) ................................13
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Heal The Earth (a meditation) ...................................661
Healing (one method) ............................................655
Healing Myth (Nihasa) ...........................................165
Helpful Hints (Humor) ...........................................966
Heretic's Corner (RMPJ) .........................................869
Heyokah (RMPJ) ..................................................632
Hidden Codes in the Torah .......................................733
High Technology Meets The Ancient Wisdom ........................964
History (Weyland Smith) .........................................786
History of Witch Craft ..........................................791
Homeblessing (Selena Fox) .......................................663
Hypnosis 101 ....................................................667
Imbolc (Solitary Ritual) ........................................664
Initiation, Outdoor (adaptation) .................................72
Initiation (Brad Hicks) ..........................................50
Introductory Book List ..........................................926
INVOCATIONS
Freyja (unknown) ............................................56
Frigg (Russ Anderson) .......................................55
Brigit (Russ Anderson) ......................................57
Baldur (unknown) ............................................55
Freyr (unknown) .............................................56
Herne (unknown) .............................................57
Thorr (unknown) .............................................58
Irish Myth Concordance (Mike Nichols) ...........................422
Ishtar ..........................................................740
Issian Circle (Matrika) ..........................................59
K.A.M. ..........................................................735
Kabballah (Colin Low)............................................236
Kali and Modern Physics .........................................730
Keltria (The Henge of) ..........................................739
Lady Day (Mike Nichols) .........................................171
Lammas (Mike Nichols) ...........................................174
"Landmarks" (D.C.W.) ............................................990
LBRP, an Essay (Tim Maroney) ....................................103
Learning Process ................................................962
Lilith (BBS Conversation) ......................................1083
LLEW, Death of (Mike Nichols) ...................................179
Lucid Dreaming (Omni Magazine) ..................................955
MABON Outline (anonymous) ........................................43
Magick, Physics, & Probability (Hurn) ...........................811
Magick (A. Crowley) .............................................817
Magick Vs. Prayer (Salgamma) ....................................684
Magickal Book List ..............................................923
Magick Course Outline (Amber K.).................................815
Magickal Ethics (Judy Harrow) ...................................502
Magickal History (Fra.: Apfelman) ...............................406
Magickal Definitions (RMPJ) .....................................814
Magickal Laws (after P.E.I. Bonewits) ...........................831
Magickal Musical Selection Guide ...............................1079
Magickal Pyramid, The (Durwydd MacTara).........................1096
Magickal Stones & Gems ..........................................912
Manhood Rituals (RMPJ) ..........................................760
Mantra Web technique ............................................288
Mayan Deities (777 Supplement) ..................................834
Mayday Celebration (Mike Nichols) ...............................837
MAYDAY Celebration (Mike Nichols) ................................79
Media Management (Windfire Coven) ...............................851
Maychants (4) (Tanscribed by SeaStrider).........................911
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Memory & Perception, a new Model (Paul Seymour).................1077
Midsummer (Mike Nichols) .........................................45
Mind Control Techniques (Dick Sutphen) ..........................512
Models of Magick (incomplete)....................................216
Modern Pagaism, Q&A .............................................920
Modern Pagan Persecution (Jonathan Hutchins) ....................942
Mothers Day Message ............................................1076
Monotheism vs. Polytheism (Dan Holdgriewe) ......................941
Mycenaen Mysteries (J. Teller)...................................365
Mystical Pentagram ..............................................110
Nature Spirit Magick (Larry Cornett) ............................357
Necromancy (reprint) ............................................841
Neo-Pagan Ritual (Brad Hicks) ....................................77
Neo-Paganism (J. Brad Hicks) ....................................329
NeoPagism (Eric S. Raymond) .....................................333
NLP- Applied Magic (Brandy Williams).............................459
NROOGD SAMHAIN - 1987 (l.a. Hussey) ..............................21
Occult Resurgence, A theory .....................................224
ODINISM, What is it? ............................................764
Open Circle Ethics (Brandy Williams) ............................377
Open Letter to A New Witch ......................................910
Open Letter to Selena Fox (Isaac Bonewits) .....................1089
Opening (ending) The Circle ......................................12
Origins of the Mandan (Madoc) ...................................949
Pantacle, The (Gary Dumbauld) ...................................392
Personal effects of Ritual (Nihasa) .............................868
Polarity and Single Sex Covens (Marios) .........................945
Pornography & Pagan Ideals ......................................972
Power Animals (RMPJ).............................................411
Psychic Self-Defense ............................................594
Psychic Attack ..................................................563
"Quantum" Kaballah...............................................282
Quantum Magick (Larry Cornett) ..................................857
Quilting and "Craft" (J.M. Cortese) ............................1103
Rainforest Ritual (Michael Harismedes, 1988) ....................212
Ritual Bath (Sewna Silvara) .....................................745
Runes, What are they? (Lokrien) .................................215
Runic Thorn Ritual (Faunus) ....................................1097
Sangreal Sodality, The (Alfgar Maharg) ..........................944
Samhain Notes (Farrar)...........................................143
Samhain Ritual (L. A. Hussey) ....................................19
Samhain Ritual (O.T.O.) .........................................145
Samhain (United Wiccan Church) ..................................141
Satanism vs. Wicca (Diane Vera)..................................194
Saxon Wicca (Matrika) ...........................................158
Scorpio Dragon (Sewna Silvara) ..................................749
Second Degree (Gary Dumbauld) .....................................3
Sex and Magick (Fra. Apfelmann)..................................231
Shamanic Binding (Gaffer Maccluiunn) ............................937
Shamanic Lifeways Fellowship (Michelle Haas) ....................384
Smudging (Michelle Haas) ........................................184
Solitary Moon Rite, Issian (Ellen Cannon Reed) .................1100
Sophia and Gnosticism (Terry J. McCombs) .......................1105
Spitual Emergence or Emergency (Paul Seymour) ...................939
Spring Equinox (Farrar and Farrar) ..............................182
Standing Stones Book Of Shadows (Scott Cunninham) ..............1010
Strings On The Winds (Bardic Fiction)............................778
"Super-Dimensionality" ..........................................289
Taleisin's thoughts .............................................676
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Tea Ritual (Sewna Silvara, Triskelion)...........................747
Technology and The Craft (Fun!) .................................132
The Postures of Ecstasy .........................................617
Tool List (Seastrider) ..........................................136
Tool Blessing Ritual ............................................122
Tool Consecration ................................................17
Traditional Wicca (K.A.M.) ......................................186
Trickster Energies ..............................................234
Twelve Exercises Nobody Needs ...................................619
Wartime (Michelle Haas, 1991) ...................................117
Watch Towers, Rethinking The (Mike Nichols) .....................344
What is WICCA? (Texas Pamphlet) .................................322
What is Shamanism? (Michelle Haas) ..............................354
What is Wicca? (Amber K.) .......................................340
Wicca, from My Point of View (Lady Phoenix) .....................149
Wiccan Information Network .....................................1087
Wiccan Way, The .................................................192
Wiccan Pentagram Ritual (Paul Hume) ..............................98
Wiccan Traditions, A comparison (Hurn, RMPJ) ....................154
Wiccan Path (Madoc)..............................................227
Wiccan Shamanism (Selena Fox) ...................................162
Wiccan Principles (American Council of Witches, 1974)............190
Wiccan Rede, An Exegesis (Judy Harrow) ..........................317
Witchcraft Q&A (Dr. Leo Martello) ...............................150
Witches Creed (Doreen Valiente_ .................................320
Women vs. Men (Michele Haas).....................................195
YULE (Mike Nichols) ..............................................84
Yule in Britain (Tana) ...........................................94
Yule Ritual (Starhawk) ...........................................88
v
453
TOWARD A CELTIC NUMEROLOGY
==========================
by Mike Nichols
'...I have been a word among letters.'
--the Book of Taliesyn, VIII
What's in a word? Or a name? What special power resides in a
word, connecting it so intimately to the very thing it symbolizes?
Does each word or name have its own 'vibration', as is generally
believed by those of us who follow the Western occult tradition? And
if so, how do we begin to unravel its meaning? Just what,
exactly, is in a word? Well, LETTERS are in a word. In fact, letters
COMPRISE the word. Which is why Taliesyn's remark had always puzzled
me. Why didn't he say he had been a 'letter among words'? That, at
least, would seem to make more logical sense than saying he had been a
'word among letters', which seems backwards. Unless...
Unless he was trying to tell us that the word is NOT the important
thing -- the critical thing is the LETTERS that make up a word! The
Welsh bard Taliesyn was, after all, a pretty gifted fellow. He
certainly put all the other bards at Maelgwyn's court to shame. And
over the years, I've learned never to take his statements lightly --
even his most enigmatic statements. Perhaps he was really suggesting
that, in order to understand the true meaning of a word or name, one
must first analyze the letters that comprise it. Of course, this is
certainly not a new theory. Any student of arcane lore would at
once recognize this concept as belonging in the opening remarks of
any standard text on numerology. But to read the same meaning behind
a line of poetry penned by a 6th century Welsh bard may be a bit
surprising. Is it possible that the Celts had their own system of
numerology?
Let us begin the quest by asking ourselves what we know about
numerology in general. Most of our modern knowledge of numerology has
been gleaned from ancient Hebrew tradition, which states that the true
essence of anything is enshrined in its name. But there are so many
names and words in any given language that it becomes necessary to
reduce each word to one of a small number of 'types' -- in this case,
numerological types from 1 to 9 (plus any master numbers of 11, 22,
etc.). This is easily accomplished by assigning a numerical value to
each letter of the alphabet, i.e. A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on. Thus, to
obtain the numerical value of any word, one simply has to add up the
numerical values of all the letters which comprise the word. If the
sum is a two digit number, the two digits are then added to each other
(except in the case of 11, 22, etc.) to obtain the single digit
numerical value of the entire word, which may then be analyzed by
traditional Pythagorean standards.
454
The problemhas always been howto be sure ofthe numerical value
of each letter. Why SHOULD A equal 1, or B equal 2, or Q equal 8?
Where did these values come from? Who assigned them? Fortunately,
the answer to this is quite simple in most cases. Many ancient
languages used letters of the alphabet to stand for numbers (Roman
numerals being the most familiar example). Ancient Hebrew, for
instance, had no purely numerical symbols -- like our 1, 2, 3, etc. --
so their letters of the alphabet had to do double duty as numbers as
well. One had to discern from the context whether the symbol was
meant as letter or number. This was true of classical Latin, as well.
Thus, in languages such as these, it is easy to see how a number
became associated with a letter: the letter WAS the number.
It is a bit more difficult to see how the associations in 'modern'
numerology came into being. The modern numerological table consists
of the numbers 1 through 9, under which the alphabet from A through Z
is written in standard order:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
---------------------------------
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
This arrangement seems somewhat arbitrary, at best. At the very
least, it is difficult to sense any 'intrinsically meaningful'
relationship between a letter and its numerical value. After all, our
modern alphabetical symbols and our modern numerical symbols (Arabic)
come from two completely different sources and cultures.
For this reason, many contemporary numerologists prefer the
ancient Hebrew system because, at least here, there is a known
connection between letter and number. However, when we attempt to
adapt this system to the English language, a whole new set of problems
crops up. For one, the entire alphabet is arranged in a different
order and some of our modern letters have NO Hebrew equivalents.
Thus, based on the Hebrew alphabet, the only letters for which we have
numerical values are the following:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
------------------------------------
A B G D H V Z P
Y K L M N W
Q R S T
Obviously, a modernnumerologist wouldn't get veryfar with this
table. In order to compensate for the missing letters in the Hebrew
system, most modern textbooks on numerology 'fill in' the missing
letters by 'borrowing' numerical values from the Greek alphabet, thus
mixing cultural symbols in an eclectic approach that is not entirely
convincing.
455
Another problem is the exclusion of the number 9 from the table --
which modern textbooks often 'explain' by saying that the Hebrews did
not use the number 9, since it was a 'sacred' and 'mystical' number.
The real truth, however, is far less esoteric. The fact is, the
Hebrew alphabet DID have letters with the numerical value of 9 -- the
letters Teth and Sade. But, since Teth and Sade do not have
equivalents in our modern English alphabet, the 9 value must be left
out.
And finally, it is once again difficult to see any INTRINSIC
relationship between a Hebrew letter and the number it represents.
Why should one symbol stand for 1, or another for 2, or yet another
for 3, and so on? The whole superstructure seems somewhat shaky.
But letus now turn our attention to a Celtic alphabetic system
called the 'Ogham'. This alphabet is written by making a number of
short strokes (from 1 to 5) below, above, or through a 'base line'
(which in practice tended to be the edge of a standing stone). Thus,
A, O, U, E, and I would be written, respectively:
---/----//----///----////----/////---
Of course, in this system it is easy to see how a letter becomes
associated with a number, since the numerical value of each letter is
implicit. Thus, A=1, O=2, U=3, E=4, and I=5. (It is true there is
much disagreement and confusion among modern scholars as to how the
Ogham alphabet should be rendered. Further, a number of different
Oghams seem to have been employed at various times by different
Celtic cultures. But this confusion usually centers on whether the
strokes should be above, below, or through the base line -- NOT on the
number of strokes used. On that point, there is general agreement.
And though orientation to the base line is important, it is not
essential to our discussion of numerology, since we need only concern
ourselves with the NUMBER of strokes used.)
Thus, based on the work of such scholars as P.C. Power, S.
Ferguson, D. Diringer, I. Williams, L. Spence, and D. Conway, I have
synthesized the following table of Celtic numerology:
1 2 3 4 5
---------------------------------
A D T C I
B G U E N
H L V F P
M O W J Q
X K R
S Y
Z
456
Using this table, the student of Celtic numerology would then proceed
to analyze any word in the generally accepted manner. One should not
be concerned that the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9 do not appear in this
system, as the Ogham alphabet had NO letters with these values (as
opposed to the Hebrew alphabet which DID have letters with the missing
9 value, as mentioned earlier). Another consideration is that the
Ogham alphabet is just that -- an alphabet. It never represented
any particular language, and historically it has been employed by
many different languages. Again by contrast, the Hebrew alphabet was
structured for a particular language -- Hebrew -- and many problems
arise when we attempt to adapt it to a language for which it is not
suited.
Althoughthe Ogham alphabet onlyhas letter valuesfrom 1 through
5, all of the numbers from 1 through 9 (plus any master numbers of 11,
22, etc.) will be used in the final analysis (just as in the Hebrew
system). To understand how this works, let us try an example. We
will use the name of the Welsh goddess Rhiannon:
R + H + I + A + N + N + O + N
5 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 5 + 5 + 2 + 5 = 29
2 + 9 = 11
Most numerologists will agree that
11 is a 'master number' or 'power number' and therefore it is not
further reduced by adding the two digits (although, if one does this,
1 + 1 = 2, and 2 is considered the first even and feminine number in
the numerical sequence, certainly appropriate for a Welsh Mother
Goddess). Viewed as an 11, the analysis is usually that of someone
who is on a 'higher plane of existence' (certainly appropriate for
a goddess), someone who brings 'mystical revelation'. Often this is
someone who feels slightly distant from the people surrounding him or
her, and who has trouble feeling any real empathy for them (which
seems to fit a faery queen who has come to live in the land of
mortals). Also, this is sometimes the number of the martyr,
or of someone unjustly accused (which is certainly true of Rhiannon's
story as told in the 'Mabinogi', in which she is falsely accused of
destroying her own son).
By way of contrast,the 'modern' system would haveRhiannon be a
3, a somewhat inappropriate masculine number (not that all feminine
names should always yield a feminine number -- but one would at least
expect it to do so in the case of an archetypal mother goddess). The
Hebrew system would yield an even more inappropriate 4, that being the
number of the material world and all things physical (and since
Rhiannon hails from faery, she is definitely not of this material
plane.)
457
By now, some of my more thoughtful readers may think they see some
inconsistency in my approach. Why have I gone to so much trouble to
point up the flaws in traditional systems of numerology (even going so
far as to suggest an entirely new system), only to fall back on
interpretations of the numbers that are strictly traditional? The
reason is this: all of my objections thus far have been limited to
METHODOLOGY. When it comes to interpreting the meaning of the
numbers, I have no quarrel with the traditional approach, since here
we enter the field of universal symbolism. All systems of
numerology, be they Hebrew, modern, Oriental, or whatever, tend to
attach the same interpretive meaning to the numbers. When Three Dog
Night sings, 'One is the loneliest number that you'll ever know...',
it is a statement which is immediately understood and agreed upon by
people from widely diverse cultures. And the same holds true for all
other numbers, for we are here dealing with archetypal symbols.
It is worth repeating that, although I believe this system to have
a firm theoretical basis, it is still in an embryonic state -- highly
tentative, highly speculative. To the best of my knowledge, it is
also an original contribution to the field of numerology. While some
writers (notably Robert Graves in 'The White Goddess') have dealt with
the numerical values of Ogham letters, I believe this article is the
first instance of employing it specifically as a system of numerology.
I have spent many long hours working with Celtic numerology -- putting
abstract theory to use in practical application -- but much work
remains to be done. For this reason, I would be happy to hear from
readers who are interested in the subject and who would like to
share their own experiences and thoughts.
458
NLP: APPLIED MAGIC
by Brandy Williams
One: Matching Representations
In studying magic I've been exposed to a lot of related
fields--history, mythology, music--which enrich my understanding
of my vocation. One of the most helpful series of books I've
encountered is a set of five volumes starting with The Structure
of Magic I. and II. which focus on... psychology.
John Grinder and Richard Bandler developed the field they
called Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP. One reason I
suggest everyone I know become familiar with it is that they've
taught this stuff to salespeople, managers, Pentagon employees...
I see their techniques on television commercials and read about
them in seminar descriptions. NLP is a people manipulator par
excellence, and I think it's important others are made aware of
this.
Another reason is that it's so incredibly useful.
Consider this: "The meaning of a communication is the
response you get." In their terms, an elegant phrase. It's
changed my entire relationship with others. If I don't make
myself clear, I don't blame the listener. I restate my case,
maybe trying a different body language, a different representa-
tional system, a little pacing...
Representational system? Well, what senses do we use to
explore the world? Sight--hearing--touch, and taste and smell to
a much lesser extent. So how do we think? In images, sounds and
feelings--or, in NLP terms, in visual, auditory and kinesthetic
representational systems.
What's interesting is that we all make images and sounds and
feelings to store experience, but we're usually only conscious of
using ONE system. The words we choose to describe our experi
ences reflect that: "I'm not very focused and I can't see what
you're saying." Or, "I've got a handle on the feeling that's
been bugging me." Or, "I hear that, it sounds like it will
work."
Spend one hour listening to people and you can verify this.
Now, if I say, "I just can't feel good about that," and the
person I'm talking to says "I don't see what's wrong with it," my
communication hasn't received the response I want. If I switch
to my partner's most favored representational system and say,
"Let me make that clear to you. It looks like a really bad
situation," that's one way to match, or pace my partner.
See what I mean? Or maybe that gives you a feel for the
power of this particular "psychology".
What does any of this have to do with paganism or magic?
For starters, I wonder how many circle conflicts could be solved
by something as simple as accommodating each other's most favored
rep. system.
In a working circle, is someone having trouble visualizing a
goal? Is someone else very good at constructing mental temples,
459
but totally unable to feel when to release the energy? Put them
together, get them to trade notes and teach each other; both
skills are part of the same experience.
When you direct rituals, do you always include something to
see or imagine, hear or sing, feel--in the body or tactually? Do
your rituals work for some people and not others? You might
check to be sure you're satisfying everyone's most favored rep.
system.
The function of magic is the response you get.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Works by John Grindler and Richard Bandler:
The Structure of Magic I.
The Structure of Magic II.
Frogs into Princes
Reframing
Trance-formations
460
NLP: APPLIED MAGIC
by Brandy Williams
TWO- Inside/Outside
Remember representational systems? The idea that humans
think in images, sounds, and feelings?
While we're calling up images (a process called accessing),
we're not able to look at what's going on in front of us. While
we're listening to music, we're not able to remember our favorite
song. While we're feeling our shoulders for tension, we're not
aware of the touch of cloth against our skin. Seeing with the
mind's eye and the physical eye are mutually exclusive processes.
In Neuro Linguistic Programming, accessing -- thinking -- is
called downtime, and observing with the senses is labelled
uptime.
I run uptime as a meditation. Try this: for three minutes,
look at the colors in front of you, the textures of surfaces,
shapes... listen to the volume and pitch of all sounds in your
vicinity... feel the surface you're sitting on, your hand
touching something in front of you...
The next time you generate an internal image, talk to
yourself, feel your stomach tightening -- notice the difference.
It's the difference between accessing and observing, downtime and
uptime, external and internal reality.
One thing that I notice about uptime is that it links to the
concept 'sacred'. When I take a walk by the river, I watch the
water rippling over rocks, listen to the white noise of the
current, feel the moist air touching my skin. I bring myself out
of my own internal creations and allow myself to live in the
world.
Another thing I notice about uptime is that some people
don't do it very much. Most of us drop into internal reality
when our environment is unpleasant, and that's a very useful
thing to be able to do. But then a lot of people forget to come
back out-- come to their senses, literally -- and experience the
world again.
Such people are very difficult to talk to. When I have a
conversation, I like my partner to be listening to what I say,
and watching my body language. More often, my partner is access
sing some internal meaning for, or response to, what I'm saying.
That internal meaning may or may not have anything to do with
what I'm communicating.
It isn't possible to observe someone (with all senses) when
we're accessing. It isn't possible to achieve rapport with a
person we're not observing. One of the bases of magical group
workings is rapport between the participants.
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Try this: the next time you have a conversation about magic,
observe your partner. Watch for: body position and gestures.
Often people I talk to demonstrate what they feel when they do
magic. [A woman describing her circle method moved her hand from
her forehead down toward her feet, from shoulder to shoulder, and
from her heart straight in front of her -- gesturing the three
energy poles a circle creates.]
Listen for: sensory descriptions --"I saw, I heard, I felt."
Learning to go into uptime at will, and differentiate our
representations of reality from our observations, is perhaps the
most useful magical skill we can possess. It provides the basis
for a reality check; it helps us communicate our experiences more
effectively to others, and to help them duplicate what we do; and
it is one of the most profound alterations of consciousness.
- Brandy Williams
~~~~~~~~~~
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Works by Richard Bandler & John Grinder:
The Structure of Magic I.
The Structure of Magic II.
Frogs to Princes
Reframing
Trance-formations
462
Bare Bones
Third Degree Elevation (spoof)
(Emphasis on action with minimal vocal requirements.)
by Orion
1. Ritual Bath - Both play in water for an inappropriately long time.
2. Casting of Circle - Cast in the usual manner with items at hand.
3. Reason and Challenge - "You're here for Thirds. Are you ready for
the test?
4. Response - "Ready, willing and able!"
5. The Mystery - Perform Great Rite multiple times until sated or worn
out.
6. Cakes and Wine - Required in order to continue.
7. Reprise - Repeat step 5 if desired.
8. Closing of Circle - Must be done before falling asleep.
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BELTANE
This a Pagan Ritual file, of interest to Neo-Pagans,specifically
Wiccan based religions.
Equipment- see standard list
Set up a candle in each of the four cardinal directions. Lay the
rest of the tools on the altar cloth or near it. The altar can be on
the ground, a table, a rock or a stump. The altar should be in the
center or just north of center of the Circle. Light the six candles
and the incense, start the music and begin the ritual.
The Beltane ritual should start before sunrise or in the evening
of April 30th. This is to welcome the sun in and to make effective use
of the bonfire. The party or the ritual should finish some time after
sunrise.
THE RITUAL
Facing North, the High Priest and Priestess kneel in front of the
altar with him to her right. She puts the bowl of water on the altar,
places the point of her athame in it and says:
"I exorcise thee, O Creature of Water, that thou cast out from
thee all impurities and uncleanliness of the world of phantasm; in the
names of Cernunnos and Aradia"
She then puts down her athame and holds up the bowl of water in both
hands. The High Priest puts the bowl of salt on the altar, puts his
athame in the salt and says:
"Blessings be upon this Creature of Salt; let all malignity and
hindrance be cast forth hencefrom, and let all good enter herein;
wherefore so I bless thee,that thou mayest aid me, in the names of
Cernunnos and Aradia."
He then puts down his athame and pours the salt into the bowl of water
the High Priestess is holding. The High Priest then stands with the
rest of the Coven outside the Circle. The High Priestess then draws
the Circle with the sword, leaving a gap in the Northeast section.
While drawing the Circle, she should visualize the power flowing into
the Circle from off the end of the sword. She draws the Circle in a
East to North or deosil or clockwise direction. She says:
"I conjure thee, O Circle of Power, that thou beest a meeting
place of love and joy and truth; a shield against all wickedness
and evil; a boundary between men and the realms of the Mighty
Ones; a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain t h e
power that we shall raise within thee. Wherefore do I bless thee
and consecrate thee, in the names of Cernunnos and Aradia."
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The High Priestess lays down the sword and admits the High Priest with
a kiss while spinning him deosil and whispers:
"Blessed Be"
He then admits a women the same way. Alternate-male-female-male. Then
the High Priestess finishes closing the Circle with the sword. She
then names three witches to help strengthen the Circle. The first
witch carries the bowl of consecrated water from East to East going
deosil, sprinkling the perimeter as she/he goes. They then sprinkle
each member in turn. If the witch is male, he sprinkles the High
Priestess last who then sprinkles him. If female she sprinkles the
High Priest last, who then sprinkles her. The bowl is replaced on the
altar. The second witch takes the incense burner around the perimeter
and the third takes one of the altar candles. While going around the
perimeter, each person says:
"Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Harken to the rune I say.
Four points of the Circle, weave the spell,
East, South, West, North, your tale tell.
East is for break of day,
South is white for the noontide hour,
In the West is twilight grey,
And North is black, for the place of power.
Three times round the Circle's cast.
Great ones, spirits from the past,
Witness it and guard it fast."
All the Coven pickup their athames and face the East with the High
Priest and Priestess in front, him on her right. The High Priestess
says:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, ye Lords of Air; I do
summon, stir, and call you up to witness our rites and to guard the
Circle."
As she speaks she draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air
with her athame:
1,6
4 3
2 7 5
The High Priest and the rest of the Coven copy her movements with
their athames. The High Priestess turns and faces the South and
repeats the summoning:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, ye Lords of Fire; I do
summon, stir and call you up, to witness our rites and to guard
the Circle."
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She does the same pentagram and then faces West and says:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the West, ye Lords of Water, ye
Lords of Death and Initiation; I do summon, stir, and call you u p ,
to witness our rites and to guard the Circle."
She faces North with rest of the Coven and says:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, ye Lords of Earth;
Boreas, thou gentle guardian of the Northern Portals; thou powerful
God and gentle Goddess; we do summon, stir and call you up, to
witness our rites and to guard the Circle."
The Circle is completed and sealed. If anyone needs to leave, a gate
must be made. Using the sword, draw out part of the Circle with a
widdershins or counter-clockwise stroke. Immediately reseal it and
then repeat the opening and closing when the person returns.
In this part of the ritual the Goddess becomes incarnate in the High
Priestess. The High Priestess stands in front of the altar with her
back to it. She holds the wand in her right hand and the scrounge in
her left. She crosses her wrists and crosses the wand and scrounge
above them while holding them close to her breast. The High Priest
stands in front of her and says:
"Diana, queen of night
In all your beauty bright,
Shine on us here,
And with your silver beam
Unlock the gates of dream;
Rise bright and clear.
On Earth and sky and sea,
Your magic mystery
Its spell shall cast,
Wherever leaf may grow,
Wherever tide may flow,
Till all be past.
O secret queen of power,
At this enchanted hour
We ask your boon.
May fortune's favor fall
Upon true witches all,
O Lady Moon!
The High Priest kneels before the High Priestess and gives her the
Five Fold Kiss; that is, he kisses her on both feet, both knees, womb,
both breasts, and the lips, starting with the right of each pair. He
says, as he does this:
Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be.
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names."
466
For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length to length, with their
feet touching each others. When he reaches the womb, she spreads her
arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips. The High Priest
kneels again and invokes:
"I invokethee andcall uponthee, MightyMother ofus all,
bringer of all fruitfulness; by seed and root, by bud and stem, by
leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love do I invoke thee to
descend upon the body of this thy servant and priestess."
During this invocation he touches her with his right forefinger on her
right breast, left breast, and womb, repeats the set and finally the
right breast. Still kneeling, he spreads his arms out and down, with
the palms forward and says:
"Hail Aradia! From the Amalthean Horn
Pour forth thy store of love;
I lowly bend Before thee, I adore thee to the end,
With loving sacrifice thy shrine adore.
Thy foot is to my lip (he kisses her right foot)
my prayer up borne Upon the rising incense smoke;
then spend Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend
To aid me, who without thee
am forlorn."
The High Priest stands up and steps backwards. The High Priestess
draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air with the wand and
says:
"Of the Mother darksome and divine
Mine the scrounge, and mine the kiss;
The five point star of love and bliss
Here I charge you in this sign."
The High Priest says:
"Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also
calledamong manArtemis,Astarte, Athene,Dione,Melusine,
Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianhod, Isis and by many other names."
The High Priestess, who should be in a trance, says as the Goddess:
"Whenever you have need of anything, once in a month, and better
it be when the Moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret
place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all witches. There
shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not
won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach things that are yet
unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be
really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; dance, sing, feast, make
music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of the
spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all
beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let
naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the cup of the wine of
life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of
Immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto
the heart of man. Upon Earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit
eternal; and beyond death, I give peace and freedom, and reunion with
those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold I am
the Mother of all living things, and my love is poured out upon the
467
earth. I who am the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the
waters, and the desire of the heart of man, call unto thy soul. Arise,
and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the
universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must
return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and men, let thine
innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let
my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold, all acts
of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty
and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and
reverence within you.
And thouwho seekest to seekfor me, know thyseeking and
yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery; and if
that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee,thou will never
find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the
beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."
This declamation can be said by the High Priestess, the High Priest or
the Coven as a whole.
"Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night,
When dark was our destiny's pathway,
That now we bring forth into the light.
Mysterious Water and Fire,
The Earth and the wide ranging Air,
By hidden quintessence we know them,
And will keep silent and dare.
The birth and rebirth of all nature,
The passing of winter and spring,
We share with the life universal,
Rejoice in the magical ring.
Four times in the year the Great Sabbat Returns,
and the witches are seen
At Lammas and Candlemas dancing,
On May Eve and old Hallowe'en.
When day time and night time are equal,
When sun is at greatest and least,
The four lesser Sabbats are summoned,
Again witches gather in feast.
Thirteen silver moons in a year are,
Thirteen is the Coven's array.
Thirteen times at Esbat make merry,
For each golden year and a day.
The power was passed down the ages,
Each time between woman and man,
Each century unto the other,
Ere time and ages began.
When drawn is the magical circle,
By sword or athame of power,
It's compass between the two worlds lies,
In the land of shades that hour.
This world has no right to know it,
And the world beyond will tell naught.
The oldest of gods are invoked there,
The Great Work of Magic is wrought.
For two are the mystical pillars,
That stand at the gate of the shrine,
And two are the powers of nature,
The forms and the forces of the divine.
The dark and the light in succession,
468
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess:
This did our ancestors teach.
By night he's the wild wind's rider,
The Horn'd One, the Lord of the Shades.
By day he's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller in green forest glades.
She is youthful or old as she pleases,
She sails the torn clouds in her barque,
The bright silver lady of midnight,
The crone who weaves spells in the dark.
The master and mistress of magic,
They dwell in the deeps of the main,
Immortal and ever renewing,
With power to free or to bind.
So drink the good wine to the Old Gods,
And dance and make love in their praise,
Till Elphames's fair land shall receive us
In peace at the end of our days.
And Do What Thou Wilt
shall be the challenge,
So be it in love that harms none,
For this is the only commandment,
By magic of old, be it done!
Eight words the Witches Creed fulfill:
If It Harms None, Do What Thou Will!
The High Priest faces the Coven, raises his arms wide and says:
"Bagabi lacha bachabe Lamac cahi achababe
Karellyos
Lamac lamac
bachalyas
Cabahag sabalyos
Baryolos
Lagaz atha cabyolas
Samahac atha
famolas
Hurrahya!"
The High Priestess and the Coven repeat:
"Hurrahya!"
469
The High Priest and High Priestess face the altar. The High Priest
continues:
"Great God Cernunnos, return to Earth again!
Come to my call and show thy self to men.
Shepherd of Goats, upon the wild hill's way,
Lead thy lost flocks from darkness unto day.
Forgotten are the ways of sleep and night
Men seek for them, whose eyes have lost the light.
Open the door of dreams, whereby man come to thee.
Shepherd of Goats, O answer unto me!"
The High Priest and the rest of the Coven then say:
"Akhera goittiakhera beitti!"
And lower their hands on the second phrase.
This is a ring dance as usual. This can be replaced or others added as
desired. Everyone should take part. Use what music you feel
comfortable with.
Walpurgis Night, the time is right,
The ancient powers awake.
So dance and sing, around the ring,
And Beltane magic make.
Walpurgis Night, Walpurgis Night,
Upon the eve of May,
We'll merry meet, and summer greet,
Forever and a day.
New life we see, in flower and in tree,
And summer comes again.
Be free and fair, like earth and air,
The sunshine and the rain.
Walpurgis Night, Walpurgis Night,
Upon the eve of May,
We'll merry meet, and summer greet,
Forever and a day.
As magic fire be our desire
To tread the pagan way,
And our true will find and fulfill,
As dawns a brighter day.
Walpurgis Night, Walpurgis Night,
Upon the eve of May,
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We'll merry meet, and summer greet,
Forever and a day.
The pagan powers this night be ours,
Let all the world be free,
And sorrow cast into the past,
And future blessed be!
Walpurgis Night, Walpurgis Night,
Upon the eve of May,
We'll merry meet, and summer greet,
Forever and a day.
The Coven spread themselves out around the Circle. They start a soft
rhythmic clapping. The High Priestess says:
"Now it is time for the Oak King to impregnate Our Lady. No
longer will she be the Virgin Huntress and Maiden. She is now to be
Hecate, the Queen of Elphame. But first she must catch him."
This song is from Robert Graves "White Goddess". It is an old Scottish
Craft song. In it, the High Priest turns into a variety of animals and
the High Priestess chases him. Starting with the High Priest and
Priestess, then followed by the other couples in the Coven, the men
are chased by the women. The ladies use a scarf to signify the
capture at the end of the song. The dancers should try to imitate the
animals they are playing. The dance and the tune should be slow. After
all the couples have done so, the High Priestess and Priest repeat it.
High Priest:
"O, I shall go into a hare
With sorrow and sighing and mickle care,
And I shall go in the Devil's name
Aye, till I be fetched hame."
High Priestess:
"Hare, take heed of a bitch greyhound
Will harry thee all these fells around,
For here come I in Our Lady's name
All but to fetch thee hame."
Coven:
"Cunning and art he did not lack
But aye her whistle would fetch him back."
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High Priest:
"Yet I shall go into a trout
With sorrow and sighing and mickle doubt,
And show thee many a merry game
Ere that I be fetched hame."
High Priestess:
"Trout take heed of an otter lank
Will harry thee close from bank to bank,
For here come I in Our Lady's name
All but for to fetch thee hame."
Coven:
"Cunning and art he did not lack
But aye her whistle would fetch him back."
High Priest:
"Yet I shall go into a bee
With mickle horror and dread of thee,
And flit to hive in the Devil's name
Ere that I be fetched hame."
High Priestess:
"Bee, take heed of a swallow hen
Will harry thee close, both butt and ben,
For here come I in Our Lady's name
All but to fetch thee hame."
Coven:
"Cunning and art he did not lack
But aye her whistle would fetch him back."
High Priest:
"Yet I shall go into a mouse
And haste me unto the miller's house,
There in his corn to have good game
Ere that I be fetched hame."
High Priestess:
"Mouse take heed of a white tib-cat
That never was balked of a mouse or a rat,
For I'll crack thy bones in Our Lady's name:
Thus shall thee be fetched hame."
Coven:
"Cunning and art he did not lack
But aye her whistle would fetch him back."
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The High Priestess finally catches the High Priest at the last
refrain. She drapes a scarf over his neck to signify her catching him.
The Maiden and the Coven say:
"TheQueen of Elphame has caught herSon who is also her
Consort. They must mate so that the Earth may bear it's fruits and
that man and animal may live. "
The High Priest and High Priestess, and the rest of the couples in the
Coven, kiss with vigour. The men should wilt and fade back to the edge
of the Circle. The women gather around the unlit bonfire or the
cauldron with the candle in it. The High Priestess says:
"The Oak King is dead. He has died of his love for the Lady
that the Earth may live. So has it been for year after year, since
time began. But the Oak King, the God of the Waxing year, must live
so the crops in the Earth can come forth. "
The Coven shouts:
"Kindlethe Beltanefire.Maythe OakKingliveagain. Maythe
Earth bring forth her fruits, may the animals bear their young and the
land be fruitful again."
The High Priestess lights the bonfire using a taper lit from the altar
candle. She then says:
"Come back to us, Oak King, that the land may be fruitful."
The men gather around the fire, next to their partners, and the say in
unison:
"I am the stag of seven tines;
I am a wide flood on the plain;
I am a wind on the deep waters;
I am a shining tear of the sun;
I am a hawk on a cliff;
I am fair among flowers;
I am a god who sets the head afire with smoke."
The High Priestess and High Priest lead a ring dance around the
bonfire. Start out with "A Tree Song" from Rudyard Kipling's "Weland's
Sword" story in "Puck of Pook's Hill". The dance should be joyful.
"Oh, do not tell the Priest of our Art,
Or he would call it sin;
But we shall be out in the woods all night,
Aconjuring summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth
For women, cattle and corn
Now is the sun come up from the South
With Oak, and Ash and Thorn!"
Continue the dance with this song and/or any others that sound
appropriate.
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This chant goes to the tune of the old folksong, "The Lincolnshire
Poacher":
Come join the dance, that doth entrance,
And tread the circle round.
Be of good cheer, that gather here,
Upon this merry ground.
Good luck to we that faithful be,
And hold our craft so dear,
For 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
Oh, 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
While stars do shine, we pledge the wine
Unto the Gods of old,
Nor shall there fail the witch wassail,
Nor shall their fire grow cold.
Good luck to we that faithful be,
And hold our craft so dear,
For 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
Oh, 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
Throughout, about and round about,
By flame that burneth bright,
We'll dance and sing, around the ring,
At witching hour of night.
Good luck to we that faithful be,
And hold our craft so dear,
For 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
Oh, 'tis our delight of a shiny night,
In the season of the year.
Near the end of the dance, the High Priestess should call out the name
of either a person or a couple. They should then jump over the fire
while making a wish. They should then rejoin the ring and another
couple or person do it. When ready, stop the dance and sit down about
the fire. After a break, perform the Great Rite.
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The Coven, except for the High Priestess and High Priest,arrange
themselves around the perimeter of the circle, man and woman
alternately as far as possible, facing the center. The High Priestess
and High Priest stand facing each other in the center of the circle,
she with her back to the altar, he with his back to the South.
The High Priest kneels before the High Priestess and gives her the
Five Fold Kiss; that is, he kisses her on both feet, both knees, womb,
both breasts, and the lips, starting with the right of each pair. he
says, as he does this:
"Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be.
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names.
For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length to length, with their
feet touching each others. When he reaches the womb, she spreads her
arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips. The High Priestess
then lays herself down, face upwards, with her arms and legs
outstretched to form the Pentagram.
The High Priest fetches the veil and spreads it over the High
Priestess's body, covering her from breasts to knees. He then kneels
facing her, with his knees between her feet.
The High Priest calls a woman witch by name, to bring his athame
from the altar. The woman does so and stands with the athame in her
hands, about a yard to the West of the High Priestess's hips and
facing her.
The High Priest calls a male witch by name, to bring the chalice of
wine from the altar. He does so and stands with the chalice in his
hands, about a yard to the East of the High Priestess's hips and
facing her. The High Priest delivers the invocation:
"Assist me to erect the ancient altar, at which in days past all
worshipped; The altar of all things.
For in old time, Woman was the altar. Thus was the altar made and
placed, And the sacred place was the point within the center of the
Circle. As we have of old been taught that the point within the
center is the origin of all things,
Therefore should we adore it;
Therefore whom we adore we also invoke.
O Circle of Stars, Whereof our father is but the younger
brother, Marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space,
Before whom time isashamed, the mind bewildered, and the
understanding dark,
Not unto thee may we attain unless thine image be love.
Therefore by seed and stem, root and bud, And leaf and flower and
fruit do we invoke thee, O Queen of Space, O Jewel of Light,
Continuous on of the heavens; Let it be ever thus
475
That men speak not of thee as One, but as None; And let them not
speak of thee at all, since thou art continuous.
For thou art the point within the Circle, which we adore; The point
of life, without which we would not be.
And in this way truly are erected the holy twin pillars; In beauty
and strength were they erected To the wonder and glory of all men."
The High Priest removes the veil from the High Priestess's body, and
hands it to the woman witch, from whom he takes his athame. The High
Priestess rises and kneels facing the High Priest, and takes the
chalice from the man witch. (Note that both of these handings over are
done without the customary ritual kiss. The High Priest continues the
invocation:
"Altar of mysteries manifold,
The sacred Circle's secret point
Thus do I sign thee as of old,
With kisses of my lips anoint."
The High Priest kisses the High Priestess on the lips, and continues:
"Open for me the secret way,
The pathway of intelligence,
Beyond the gates of night and day,
Beyond the bounds of time and sense.
Behold the mystery aright The five true points of fellowship...."
The High Priestess holds up the chalice, and the High Priest lowers
the point of his athame into the wine. Both use both of their hands
for this. The High Priest continues:
"All life is your own,
All fruits of the Earth
Are fruits of your womb,
Your union, your dance.
Lady and Lord, We thank you for
blessings and abundance.
Join with us, Feast with us, Enjoy with us!
Blessed Be.
Then, draw the Invoking Pentacle of Earth in the air above the plate
with the athame.
"Here where Lance and Grail unite,
And feet, and knees, and breast, and lip."
The High Priest hands his athame to the woman witch and then places
both his hands round those of the High Priestess as she holds the
chalice. He kisses her, and she sips the wine; she kisses him, and he
sips the wine. Both of them keep their hands round the chalice while
they do this.
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The High Priest then takes the chalice from the High Priestess,
and they both rise to their feet.
The High Priest hands the chalice to a woman witch with a kiss,
and she sips. She gives it to a man with a kiss. The chalice is passed
around the Coven, man to woman, with a kiss each time, until the
entire Coven has sipped the wine. The chalice can be refilled and any
one can drink from it without repeating the ritual once the chalice
has gone around once.
The woman lays down her athame and passes the cakes to the man with a
kiss,he passes them back with a kiss and they are passed around the
Coven the same way the wine was. Be sure to save some of the wine and
some cake for an offering to the Earth and the Little Folk. After the
meeting,leave the offering outside of the house if working indoors, or
behind in the woods or field, when you leave if you are working
outdoors.
The High Priestess faces East,with her athame in her hand. The
High Priest stands to her right with the rest of the Coven behind
them. If any tools have been consecrated, they should be held by the
person furthest to the back. The Maiden stands near to the front to
blow out each candle in turn. The Priestess says
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, ye Lords of Air; we do
thank you for attending our rites; and ere ye depart t o y o u r
pleasant and lovely realms, we bid you hail and farewell....Hail and
farewell."
As she speaks, she draws the Banishing Pentagram of Earth in the air
in front of her thus, each time:
2 7
4 5
6 1 3
The rest of the Coven copy the Pentagram and chorus in on the second
hail and farewell. The Maiden blows out the candle and the Coven faces
the south and the High Priestess says:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, ye Lords of Fire;
we do thank you for attending our rites; and ere ye depart to your
pleasant and lovely realms, we bid you hail and farewell....Hail and
farewell."
She turns to the West and says:
"Ye Lordsof theWatchtowers ofthe West,yeLords ofWater;
ye Lords of Death and Initiation; we do thank you for attending our
rites; and ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realms, we bid
you hail and farewell ....Hail and farewell."
477
She turns to the North and says:
"Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, ye Lords of Earth;
Boreas, thou gentle guardian of the Northern Portals; thou powerful
God, Thou gentle Goddess; we do thank you for attending our rites; and
ere ye depart for your pleasant and lovely realms, we bid you hail and
farewell ....Hail and farewell."
This ends the Circle. The party following this should be a loving one.
If there is a May Pole available, circle the May Pole. Beltane is also
a time for forfeits. The High Priestess picks out the people and
their forfeit, except the High Priest picks out the last one to play
on the High Priestess. Beltane is also a time for "green wood
marriages" and other unbridled sexuality and such.
(Distributed in the public domain via Seastrider)
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WITCHCRAFT: Some Answers for the Curious
prepared and released
by Ka'l El
of the
Grove of the Unicorn
07/07/88
What is a Witch?
Contrary to many widely-held myths, witches are quite normal, engaged
in the sorts of activities that are common to people in any culture or
civilization. We work in a variety of professions, we live in all
climates, we drive cars, raise families, tell jokes, and in most ways
come across as perfectly normal people. This, however, doesn't answer
the question, so let's approach it from a different angle:
Technically, witches are initiated members of a Celtic-style nature
religion. In this sense (which is, strictly speaking, the proper
one), a witch is a person who has demonstrated a firm understanding of
the principles of the Craft, has been trained in the meaning and
purpose of ritual and the performance of ritual, and in all ways seeks
to live a life that is in harmony with Nature and the cycles of the
universe.
What are Warlocks, then?
The term 'warlock' specifically means 'oath-breaker'; it is used to
describe one whose word cannot be safely trusted. To call someone a
warlock is a serious matter in Pagan circles, as we hold integrity and
trustworthiness in very high regard. Warlocks are generally outcasts,
and may be either male or female. Just so, the term 'witch' is
correctly applied to both male and female.
You've mentioned Paganism twice; I thought Pagans were godless
heathens!
'Pagan' comes from the Latin pagani, which means 'country-dweller'.
During the Middle Ages, when the Roman church began to consolidate its
influence in northern Europe (and specifically in the British Isles),
they concentrated their efforts around the noble courts, which were
generally centers of population. As members of the court began to
accept the new Way of Christianity, others began to see advantage in
being on the new team, and followed those with money and power into
the fold.
The new religion was not so popular among the common people, who were
more inclined to tend their flocks and crops than to curry favor with
the nobility in town. The courtiers, educated by Latin-speaking
clergymen, referred to these un-Converted masses as pagans, or
'hicks', as might be said today.
'Heathen', that all-purpose accusation, is just the old English
translation of 'pagan'; both terms simply mean that the fashionable
people of the Dark Ages didn't think much of the arrogant rubes who
wanted to hang on to their own ways rather than disbelieve the
evidence of their lives and experiences.
As far as 'godlessness' is concerned, only repetition has given these
words that connotation.
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That doesn't tell me much about Paganism.
Paganism is a broad group of traditions that share a more-or-less
common world-view, and in that way is similar to Christianity. This
world-view is marked by several elements:
- Creation as an on-going process (as distinct from an event);
- Time as an ever-repeating cycle or spiral (no start or
finish);
- Universe as an organism becoming conscious (as distinct from a
machine produced by a celestial engineer);
- Love as the essential nature of the Universal organism;
- Experience as the means by which the Universe becomes
conscious;
- Incarnation as the means by which experience is forged into
wisdom;
- 'God' as a description (as distinct from a name or title).
Although there are differences between them, Wicca, Shintoism,
Hinduism, Polynesian Kahuna, Taoism and American Indians are among
those groups who substantially share this world-view. Many of these
concepts are espoused as well by some 'New Age' groups. In essence,
Pagans hold that spirituality and divinity are inherent in the
Universe, that we live to experience, and through that experience we
gain wisdom and increased awareness.
Do witches Believe in Jesus?
Some witches believe in a historical Jesus while others believe in the
symbolic or mythic Jesus; others believe in neither, and for many, the
question of Jesus is irrelevant. I have heard many of my brothers and
sisters voice the opinion that Jesus was a genuine Divine Being who
taught a path of love and service, and who in his role as the Sacred
King gave his life that the lives of the people would be renewed. For
these things we honor him, yet we do not believe in messiahs, and I
know of no Witch who worships him as the 'only son of god'.
Then how do Witches propose to Escape Hell and Attain Salvation?
This dual question has no real meaning for us; we see life as a
school, not a lottery. In this school, we learn from the mistakes we
make as we thread our ways through the world, and the lessons we learn
are of love, tolerance, humility, understanding and joy. We believe
that we learn these lessons, in common with all life every-where,
through face-to-face interaction with the 'way things are'; and we
believe that, though these lessons are often accompanied by feelings
of sorrow or loss, they are worth the learning. On the subject of
salvation, we believe that Hell (so-called) is the result of
becoming attached to things and people (being 'of the world', as
Christians might say), taking the lessons of life personally and
perceiving them as troubles and blaming ourselves and others for the
problems in our lives. On the same note, the closest we get to an
idea of Heaven is through accepting the pains and frustrations of
day-to-day life as lessons, and learning how we have caused ourselves
and others pain through our errors, thereby freeing us to go on with
our lives stronger, wiser, and more balanced.
Where do you think you go when you die, then?
We tell stories of a place we call Summerland, which we think of as a
place of welcome rest after the rigors of life on Earth. We expect to
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be rejoined with friends and loved ones who went before us, to digest
and understand the lessons we have learned during our time
'incarnate'. From there, we will return to life on Earth after a
time, to learn and teach until we achieve perfect knowledge and
understanding of this cycle of existence. Honestly, we don't much
occupy ourselves with thoughts about afterlife, as we believe there
is nothing to fear.
I guess you don't believe the Bible is the 'word of god'...
No we don't; the ways it teaches are not our ways, although we
respect them as we respect all the many ways that people use to 'touch
the heart of God'.
What do you use, then, for a Bible?
The world is our 'bible' (Latin for 'book'), and all that is on it, in
it, and around it. For us, the Earth is our mother, our teacher and
our provider. From her, we learn to survive, to sing, to create, to
rest and to believe. The Sun for us is a symbol of the father, from
whom we learn to dare, to question, to heal, to dance and to dream.
The seasons teach about birth, death and rebirth, and about the need
to live in harmony and balance with the rest of creation. For us, the
Divine is all about us, befriending us, teaching and guiding us.
Are Witches Pantheistic or Polytheistic?
Both. Yet the truth is not reached by so simple an answer. We are
pantheist in the sense that, for us, the gods are everywhere. This is
essentially what Judeo-Christianity refers to in speaking of God as
omnipresent. The gods are also within us (the Kingdom of God within,
as Christians would say), because we contain the Divine Spark ('Holy
Spirit') in common with all that exists. Because we perceive this
ever-present spiritual manifestation around us, we are also
polytheistic, meaning that the attributes or characteristics of
perfection and divinity take on many forms; therefore, they can be
understood in many different senses and deepen our comprehension of
the Truth that is behind and beyond all Ways and all religions. To put
it another way, we are Polytheist because (for us) the Absolute (which
roughly equates to the Christian concept of 'God') manifests as male
and female, and so we worship both God and Goddess. We are Pantheist
because this primary dual manifestation is reflected throughout
creation and so, everything that is tells us about some aspect of the
Absolute (and is therefore holy). Tell me something about the Gods you
worship.
481
Please bear with me on this, as the question requires some groundwork.
In common with the monotheistic religions, we believe that there is a
single Source of all things, beyond our observation and comprehension.
In our conception, the Source is neither a thing nor a Being, but
instead transcends such limited human concepts. It serves the same
role, conceptually, as that of a 'Supreme Being'. We do not worship
the Source (also referred to as 'the All' and as 'the Absolute'), as
such, because in our view, one can only approach a relationship
with the Source by becoming mindful of its characteristics and
qualities as they manifest themselves in the world in which we live.
These characteristics and qualities, over the years, have become
personified as 'gods'. In such forms, they appear in the myths and
teachings of many cultures, including the antique world of Greece,
Rome, Egypt, etc.
The names of these gods are not of particular importance, because the
gods themselves are only important as symbols of various aspects of
existence. Through them, we are able to see ourselves as part of the
universe, as manifestations of the Source in our own rights. We
believe it is the destiny of all things to return to the Source
through true understanding. Having said all this, let me now show you
how it all comes about for us.
We believe that the Source is made manifest in the Creation that
surrounds us; and we see this manifestation as being made up of
dualities, which are linked in a meaningful way. The most obvious of
these polar pairs are male/female, heat/cold, light/dark, sky/earth,
and sun/moon; there are, literally, thousands of such pairs of
complementary opposites, and each plays its own role, but for our
purposes here, these are enough.
This profusion of paired opposites suggests to us that duality is the
essential character of creation, and to humans, the most significant
of these pairings is that of male and female. From this primal pair
emerges the concept of god and goddess. In this light, the pairs we
listed just now are categorized by their apparent natures:
God - male, light, heat, sky, sun;
Goddess -female,dark, cold,earth, moon;and fromthese
categories, it is derived that the overall character of god is active,
and that of goddess is passive. At the risk of oversimplifying, I
will leave this part of the discussion, with a word that these
qualities of god and goddess are archetypal, rather than literal
absolutes.
We refer to god and goddess, generally, as the Lord and the Lady. The
Lord is the Father of all, and his qualities of light, warmth, and
energy are most often symbolized by the sun, and whose nature is most
often represented by the sky. The Lady is the Mother of all, whose
patience and receptivity is symbolized by the earth, and whose
adaptability and steadfastness is represented by the moon. Our bodies
are the sign of her love and creativity.
482
We see this endless chain of dualities reflected in our interactions
with the world in which we live, and with our fellow creatures, who
are also the children of the Lord and Lady. We see this chain in the
eternal cycles which move the universe around its unknown center.
There is more to male and female than mother and father: the Lord also
represents our Brother, our Friend; and likewise is the Lady Sister
and Friend to us. Like each of us, they have many names, many
faces, many roles, yet they remain themselves. Our gods have grown, in
a sense, as our understanding of ourselves and the creation around us
has grown; and yet they are just as they have always been. "As it was
in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be" is true to us, as
well.
As we learn more about the divine creation around us, we learn to move
in harmony with it and with the creatures that share it with us, just
as sailors learn to work in accord with the winds, the currents and
the tides in order to reach their destination. As we learn about
ourselves, we learn to rise above the fear and frustration that can
accompany life, and learn to accept ourselves and others as we are, to
experience joy and love in our lives. As we learn about the gods, we
draw closer to them and learn under-standing, tolerance, humor, and
thankfulness. And, for us, doing any one of these is doing all of
these.
Do Witches worship the Devil?
NO! In fact, for many centuries, Wicca (as we call the indigenous
paganism of northern Europe) and Christianity co-existed peacefully:
the Christians did not claim to be the sole access to God, and the
Wicca offered sincere reverence to Jesus as a great Sacred King whose
sacrifice touched everyone. However, as the Roman church grew in
power and influence, it became jealous of the very large number of
Wiccans who - though acknowledging the divine role of Jesus and
respectful of the Path walked by those devoted exclusively to his
message - still steadfastly refused to render obedience, wealth and
land to Rome (and its emissaries); for northern Europe was almost
entirely inhabited by those who held to the 'Old Religion'. This
jealousy was the beginning of the Roman church's deliberate attempts
to discredit the old ways. These attempts included the creation of a
'devil' that was deliberately designed as a caricature of the Horned
God worshipped (though not exclusively) by the Old Religion; the
attribution of any and all natural calamities, and any source of
distress, to the practices of the Wicca, which, it was claimed,
invoked this 'Power of Evil' the church had created; and by accusing
women (who lacked sufficient maleness to have been created in 'God's'
image) of being inherently demonic temptations, drawing men away from
the church and into the natural world of life and death.
483
In this light, it is hardly accidental that the whole-sale persecution
of the Old Religion began during the time of the Black Death. This
plague did much of the church's work for it: by killing off one
fourth to one third of the population, the black death eliminated an
enormous number of adherents to the Old Religion. That done, and the
Wiccan civilization still disorganized from the imperial Roman
extermination of the Druids years before (the Druids were masters of
history, ritual, poetry and law), it became a simple matter to
convince the survivors that the natural world was their enemy, and
women the wanton agents of the 'Enemy'. The stage had been set for the
Inquisitions, whose victims were overwhelmingly women and persons of
wealth and influence in the lives of the decimated pagan community.
Since those times, the Roman church and it's successors (such as the
'PTL' and '700' clubs) have used this manufactured association with an
artificial Arch-BadGuy as a means of justifying the CONTINUED
persecution and murder of those who still follow the Wiccan Way.
In "The Satanic Bible", it says that Witches ARE devil-worshippers but
are ignorant of the fact.
The Satanic Bible was written by a man who worships 'Satan', who is
supposed to be the 'father of lies'. This suggests to me that his
commitment to the truth may not be trustworthy. Essentially, by
declaring his belief in the church's own image of their created Enemy,
he has declared his acceptance of the medieval Christian character of
the game they play; he has chosen the 'Party Line', and his place of
the side of the imagined Adversary. We do not define the world in
Christian terms, for we have essentially nothing to do with Christian
beliefs and practices. (This is not to say that these is no common
ground between Christianity and the Craft, for there is much that we
share.) Not so the Satanists, whose every practice is either a
perversion or a violation of some Christian form (e.g., the 'Black
Mass', which Witches would still consider a foolish and irreverent
waste of time and energy, even if it were otherwise harmless), or the
more-or-less self-conscious pursuit of evil, which cannot be seriously
defended.
Though we are not believers in 'Satan', we do have a concept of evil,
which I will attempt to delineate: most of the problems we experience
in life can be thought of as arising from the four qualities of
attachment, greed, fear, and ignorance. These "qualities" cause us
all great pain in life as they warp our under-standing of events and
cause us to respond in ways that hurt and confuse. This is 'sin' in
it's original meaning of error and mistake, and often it is quite
innocent of any desire or intent to hurt, mislead or abuse. Evil is
the result of adding a fifth quality to the others, that of self-
centeredness. When self-centeredness enters the picture, then the
seeds of evil truly exist. Self-centeredness allows the self-centered
one to discount, or even ignore, the feelings, the rights, and even
the humanity of anyone outside that narrow focus. It is just such
'object'-ifcation that allows truly horrendous crimes to be committed,
that creates characters such as Jim Jones, Idi Amin, Josef Stalin,
Torquemada, Cromwell, and Hitler. The same self-centeredness, moved
from the individual self to the group self, allows war, slavery,
torture, terrorism, profiteering, persecution and genocide. I
ask you to remember that this is my formulation of a Pagan concept of
evil, and may not be agreed to by others. Regarding the idea that
Witches are ignorant of the focus of their spirituality, I can only
say that this is both false and flatly insulting, much as it would be
484
to state that Christians do not worship Jesus, but a shoe salesman
from New Jersey who they think is Jesus.
What about these reports of Ritual murder, Sacrifices, and
Cannibalism?
These things have nothing to do with us, and we have nothing to do
with such practices. We find the reports of such things disgusting
and horrifying, for we have and maintain a deep respect and reverence
for all life; the suggestion that we are involved in such things
causes us great pain, for to be so involved would run counter to
everything we hold sacred. It would be, quite literally, "against our
religion".
Episodes of such anti-human, anti-life behavior are attributable to
derangement and insanity, or to Satanists, who make no pretense of
their worship of Christianity's manufactured 'prince of darkness'.
So much the worse for us: because of the original program of
opposition against Wiccan (and by that extension, all) Paganism, all
Satanists are assumed to be Witches by definition.
It is interesting to note that, in the days when Christianity was new,
the Romans accused them of many of the same vileness: blasphemy,
killing and eating of children, trafficking with demonic spirits,
ritual sacrifice. It is also interesting that in the hey-day of the
Roman church, Jews were subjected to these appalling charges, which
fuelled anti-Semitism right up to the Nazi exterminations. Indeed,
such accusations seem almost to be a 'traditional' means of
discrediting and destroying political/economic enemies (witness the
naming of the USSR as "an evil empire"). Perhaps the day will come
when peoples of different ways can live together without accusing each
other of abominations.
Why do you call Wicca a Religion, rather than a Cult?
Religions arise from principles and understanding and teach a way of
life; cults are based upon charisma and fascination, and are motivated
by profit and ascendancy. Religions thrive on independent conscious
participation; cults thrive on manipulation and obedience.
Wicca teaches a way of life based upon the perfection and
perfectibility of the spirit, closeness to the gods, right action, the
gaining of wisdom, and the Oneness of all life. In token and
celebration of this, we come together at our appointed times to
worship and to share the love, joy and 'fellowship' that life holds
for us, and to take note of the lessons that the events of the
seasons, and of our lives, have to teach us.
485
Our religion is the wellspring of our joy; it is the sharing of the
knowledge that we are endlessly in the radiant presence of all that is
holy, all that is sweet and uplifting. It warms us and fills us and
makes us whole, strengthens our minds and clears our spirits. It is
the knowledge of the love of our Mother the Earth, who provides for us
even in our thoughtless and destructive ecological folly, and who is
more beautiful and more patient than praise can express. It is the
knowledge of the guidance of our Father the Hunter, who quickens us,
who teaches us love and laughter, wisdom and prudence. It is the
awareness that we share this world, this life with countless others;
that each of us both deserves the respect of, and owes respect to, the
other children of the Lord and the Lady.
Why does this Religion seem so strange to us?
It has been suggested that there are two kinds of religion: Type One,
which has been called 'primitive', believes in a cyclic, ever-renewing
concept of time, and a belief in reincarnation frequently accompanies
this view. This type encourages a sense of appreciation and oneness
with Nature, and of personal responsibility both practical and
spiritual. Typically, a Type One religion will have a dualistic and
complementary images of Godhead, representing polar aspects of
Creation as male and female. The Pagan religions are Type One.
Type Two, which has been called 'revealed', believes in a literal
beginning and ending of Creation- a linear concept of time, with life
considered as a one-shot ordeal. Type two religions encourage a
detachment from the world of Nature and a reliance on authority
(beyond the initial choice of whether or not to follow orders); they
will have a dualistic and antagonistic images of Godhead, representing
polar aspects of Creation as good and evil. Monotheistic religions
such as Christianity are Type Two religions. Type One and Type Two are
so called because they are the first and second types, respectively
and sequentially, to show themselves in human affairs.
The typical American is raised Christian, has virtually no contact
with members of Type One religions, and little meaningful inter-action
with members of the other monotheisms (Judaism, Islam,
Zoroastrianism). As a result, most opinions are formed based on
the images that are provided by the culture, and today this means the
images provided by movies and television. From the beginning, these
images have been selected to amuse and shock, rather than to enlighten
or inform. Truly, after nearly 2,000 years of exceptionally bad
press, Pagans of any sort from the 'superstitious' Hindu to the
'savage' native American to the 'wicked' Witch, are notoriously easy
targets for caricature. One can only say, 'Please don't believe
everything you see and hear!'
Why do Witches go off into the woods at night to worship?
First, we prefer to worship out-of-doors; as we are a nature religion,
we believe that no building can give us the sense of contact we feel
when our bare feet rest upon the Mother Earth, or the sense of
blessing we feel when a breeze caresses our skin. To worship is to
enter the presence of God or the Gods or Universe; so for us,
worshipping inside a building is more like leaving the Divine
Presence.
Given that, the best place to do this would be in a quiet spot, not
frequented by picnickers, traffic, or smog; a place remote enough to
486
minimize the distractions of the man-made world. These days, there
are few areas that offer much along these lines, but there are still
woods to be found, and when we can, we worship there. The fact that
trees are important symbols for us only enhances the appeal of the
woods.
So, why at night? There are several reasons: after dark, people go
indoors & get quiet - this enhances the peacefulness (as almost
everyone knows) and the serenity of our outdoor communion, which is
important to us; also, the moon for us is a symbol of the Goddess, and
our rituals are synchronized with the lunar phases - this makes
nighttime appropriate to us, for night is when the moon is most
prominent.
There is one more reason we hold Circle (our worship) in the woods at
night - in practice, the more isolated we are, the safer we are. In
our Circle site in Lithonia, we were too close to go unheard, and too
far to be understood; the sad result of that incident was that we were
driven away by wild rumors and fears of the unknown.
If Witches are all the good things you say, what are you afraid of?
We are afraid of ignorance and of the violence that too often
accompanies it. To draw an example from history, the church-inspired
inquisitions caused the murder of 9,000,000 people. These people met
their ends through torture, starvation, burning, drowning and hanging;
their property was seized by the church, and their families were
scattered. Many of them were forced to watch loved ones suffer
agonies while they awaited their turns. The only accused who survived
were those who 'confessed' to the most loathsome crimes and outrageous
- even nonsensical - acts, and recanted their 'heresies'. All
who protested their innocence died.
Today in the 20th Century, members of the Craft have been fired from
their jobs, have been beaten, harassed, and sometimes murdered. Some
have lost their children in ugly legal battles, homes have been looted
and burned, and perfectly wholesome people have been declared
anti-social and a menace to the community. Yes, all these things do
go on now, today, often perpetrated by "well-intentioned" Christians
in a state of great fear and utter ignorance.
This is the reason for this pamphlet: to bear a lamp in the darkness
so that this holocaust may finally come to an end, and innocent people
may go about their lives unafraid.
As an example of why we're afraid, the next question is pretty good:
The Bible says, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"; Why should
we?
The 'King James Version', on which virtually all English-language
translations are based, was begun and completed during the Burning
Times (our term for the anti-Pagan holocaust in Europe). Several
terms were rendered as "witch" in the final version. These terms
were, roughly, "evil-doer", "poisoner", "one who works harm in
secret". We shall probably never know whether this substitution was a
matter of political calculation or honest error. I think it likely
that there was a healthy portion of each at work. Further, the context
of this passage is significant. At the time, the Israelites were
preparing to invade and conquer the land of Canaan. In this light, it
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is highly possible that the original warning was against Canaanite
saboteurs and/or infiltrators, partisans working against the Israeli
occupation. It would take a deliberate decision to apply such a
stricture against a different people of another time in another land.
It may be interesting to note, in this context, that the warning
(often quoted) against soothsayers, magicians, etc. was specifically
aimed at foreign practitioners. Jewish soothsayers, etc. were not
mentioned.
Are there any guidelines a Witch might be expected to live by? There
are many precepts that help us learn how to live in harmony. One of
the most important of these is personal responsibility. We hold that
each of us is responsible for choosing any and all words, deeds,
opinions, thoughts, feelings and responses. Another is called
the Law of Three-fold Return. This teaches us that we directly
experience the results of our choices, deeds and behavior. It works
much like the 'golden rule'.
From these two, arises one that almost might be called 'the Witch's
Motto': An it harm none, do what ye will. This one carries much of
the weight that the Ten Commandments carries for Christians. It means
that we are free to act as we see fit, providing that no other person
suffers injury, pain, anguish, loss, or corruption, as a result of our
actions.
Also, there are the 13 Wiccan Virtues, which also guide us in our
growth and spiritual development. These virtues are Tolerance,
Charity, Humility, Devotion, Patience, Kindliness, Forbearance,
Sincerity, Courage, Precision, Efficiency, Discrimination, and Wisdom.
These are taken to a rather highly developed point in application, but
not changed from the qualities one would assume. I would like to point
out that 'discrimination' refers to the skill of recognizing the fine
points that make one person/place/situation/ moment different and
unique from any other. It has nothing to do with segregation, or with
injustice.
What does the number 13 mean to Witches?
Simply, it represents the 13 lunar months in a year; we celebrate the
passage of these months, or 'moons' in our rituals.
What are Wiccan rituals like?
In substance, they are no different from any other religion's
observances, though they do look different.
488
We begin by preparing ourselves with prayer and meditation; we then
'cast the circle'. The Circle is our temple, and it is built and
purified for each ritual; it usually has no overt form or structure,
not even a chalk boundary, but is always circular in shape. Every
participant must declare themselves free of malice, and ready to
celebrate in a spirit of harmony and good-will before they can be
allowed to enter the Circle. Once all have gathered, we use a group
prayer (chanted by all, usually) to further unite us and elevate
our hearts, and to turn our minds toward the gods.
The priest and priestess (our clergy) then call upon the Lord and the
Lady, asking them to be with us - to receive our love and blessings,
and to share their love and blessings with us. We share lessons and
moral exercises at this time, which serve to emphasize the spiritual
focus and the significance of the occasion. Through chanting and
exaltation, we internalize these lessons and this significance so
that we may be in harmony with the unfoldment of the Divine Purpose.
We then share bread and wine as a sign that, as children of the Gods,
we share in the bounty of nature and receive our nourishment from
them. Thanksgiving is then offered to the Lord and Lady, and to the
Creation in which we take part, and we receive their bene-diction. A
ritual is frequently followed by food and fellowship. Most of our
rituals are for worship, for spiritual focus and development, and to
harmonize with the Divine Purpose ("the Path"). We also perform rites
of passage and sanctification: namings (christening/baptism),
handfastings (marriage), and memorials (funeral rites), among others.
What about Magic?
We do use magick for a variety of purposes (we spell 'magick' with a
'k' to distinguish what we do from stage magic, with its connotations
of illusion and trickery): healing, behavior change (a witch only
works on his or her own behavior), and general self-improvement.
These are the primary aims of magick, as practiced by a witch who
knows what she's doing! It is sometimes true that someone will say,
"I am a witch", and then do things that no witch would do, just as
some have claimed to follow Jesus, yet have done things in his name
that would never have gained his approval.
In this context, let me share something with you: no true witch will
employ magick to harm another; or to manipulate or influence another
without the knowledge and permission of the person to be affected.It
is standard to get a person's permission even before attempting to
heal that person. This means that love spells, hexes, curses, and
"the evil eye", whatever that is, are specifically out of line and out
of the question for a true witch.
Other uses of magick include seeking guidance, protection, finding
lost persons or articles, to harmonize with the gods and with the
natural life and cycles of the planet Earth.
Magick is a way of approaching situations that allows one to bring all
one's abilities and internal resources into play. It is similar to
Positive Thinking, combined with self-awareness and a clear
understanding of exactly what one hopes to achieve. All this is done
from within a focussed, prayerful attitude to ensure that the effort
is in harmony with the Divine Purpose.
Magick, done properly, does work; and harmlessness is a major part of
doing it properly. It can be powerful, which is why no true witch
489
will attempt to teach magick to a person who is unstable or immature
(remember, we consider ourselves responsible for our acts and
choices!); nor will any true witch use magick to impress others, nor
to enrich herself or himself at another's expense.
How can I recognize a true Witch?
Witches are human, like anyone else; therefore, they are not perfect.
A true witch, however, will be actively involved in becoming the best,
most complete and well-balanced person that she or he can become. As
a result, you should be able to see all 13 of the Wiccan Virtues
active in the person, though you may not see them all at once, and
perhaps not in their perfect expression. A true witch tends to be
active, good-humored, perceptive of her own faults, and tolerant of
faults in others. There may in fact be no clear way of recognizing a
witch as a witch; but if you know a witch, or someone who claims to be
a witch, my advice would be "By their fruits shall ye know them; for
an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, neither can a good tree
bear evil fruit."
On the off chance that I wanted to know more, where could I look?
Larger cities sometime have a group or two that are more or less
"public". This may give you a starting point if you actually want to
talk to someone. Try meeting with current and former members, if
possible. For those with a more academic interest, there are several
books one can read:
Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler
This book is available at B.Dalton Booksellers, Waldenbooks and
others. A national journalist, Ms Adler has done a commendable job of
sampling the diversity of Wiccan/Pagan activity in the U.S. today.
Witches by T.C. Lethbridge
An older book, it provides some good historical data, along with
some fascinating speculations.
Witchcraft from the Inside by Raymond Buckland
This was thefirst book I read, and I still think it gives a good
picture of the roots and history of Wicca as a religion.
The ABCs of Witchcraft by Doreen Valiente
This book comes highly recommended by my friend and priestess, Lady
Galadriel, who suggests that I read it. For a general understanding of
non-monotheistic religions:
The Masks of God, in 4 volumes by Joseph Campbell
When Mr. Campbell died earlier this year, he left behind a
treasure-house of researches and reflections on the nature and essence
of religion on planet Earth. This massive work is well worth the time
taken to read it, as there is brilliance on nearly every page. While
he does not deal with the Craft as such, he provides superb insight
into the world-view we share with other pagan and monotheistic
religions.
490
AFTERWORD
I have tried in this article to give respect to religious faiths other
than my own. Some of the historical facts regarding the relationship
between the Craft and Christianity are not pleasant to relate, and
they may not be flattering to hear; yet these things are matters of
record, and they are crucial to an understanding of a Wiccan position,
so I have included them. I have also, at times, used a 'voice' that
is basic and direct, at the expense of formal correctness, in an
effort to give as clear and unambiguous a picture of the Wiccan 'side'
as possible. I have done so without malice, and I intend only real
communication; if you find some of this offensive, therefore, I ask
you to consider the 'gentleness' with which we have been treated over
the centuries, and find it in your heart to forgive me.
disclaimer
I speak for no-one but myself; however many witches might agree with
me, I assume no right to speak for any others;
I am the sole author of this work, relying on my training and
experience and the reading and research of a lifetime in writing this
work;
I am under no influence, nor working at the request of any other
person; therefore I am responsible for the contents;
I am indebted to the Grove of the Unicorn for my long and rich
association with the Craft, and for the training and practical
experience I have received; they share what virtue is here - any
mistakes are my own.
If you feel moved to respond to this effort in some way, please
contact me in
writing at: PO Box 13384, Atlanta, GA 30324.
491
LANDMARKS OF THE CRAFT
A landmark is a prominent feature used to mark the boundaries of real
estate. Therefore, these landmarks of the Craft ar prominent features of
the American Rite, or Druidic Craft of the Wise. Just as departing from
the landmarks in real estate signifies that one has departed from that
piece of land, so does departure from the landmarks of our Craft signify
such a person or organization has departed from the correct defines of the
Craft. Other branches of the Craft sometimes call this their "Law".
THE LANDMARKS
The landmarks were given to man by The Great God, Pan,
In the dim, dark ages of the past
For the rule and regulation of the wise,
To advise and help them in their troubles
And relations, one with the other,
That all might work and love together.
They are the Bill of Rights of each member,
And the code of operation of the Coven.
And are to be honored by all
Or else they become meaningless and of little use,
And departure therefrom by any person or Coven
Shall be a departure from the rest of the Covens
Which constitute the American Rite.
And they shall be disfellowshipped, they from the rest of us,
And no further communication shall be established
Concerning things of the Craft
With either He or They until
They shall return to the fold of the Craft
In love and cooperation.
For the Gods love the Wise, the Brethren of the Way,
And so should we return that love.
But this can only be done and made manifest by love expressed
In deeds for the Brethren of the Craft,
Not in pride, but in cooperation and sincerity.
THE FELLOWS OF THE CRAFT
Any person, be male or female, who is of good mind
And free to decide for himself in good faith,
Who shall learn of the Craft and its Tenets,
And shall desire to follow the Way,
Shall be permitted to do so,
And none may say him "Nay".
And the Gods will love him and look after him,
And they shall bless him on all things,
And his needs shall always be satisfied,
As he shall show forth love and affection
For all the brethren and sisters of the Craft,
And he shall obey the Admonishments
Of the Craft as to secrecy and correct living.
492
THE FELLOWS OF THE CRAFT (continued)
And when he shall desire to join the Craft,
And to follow the Way to Perfection,
He shall make his desires known to any member
Of the Priesthood.
And they shall observe his readiness and sincerity,
And shall then administer the rites of
Secrecy, which is sacredness and brotherhood.
But a Priest shall accept the Sister,
And a Priestess the Brother,
As an eternal reminder of
The duality of the Universe.
And a new name and secret mark
Shall be given each new fellow.
By this name, and under this mark,
Shall they be known among the members
Of the Craft, in love and harmony,
And their old name and identity shall not be known
Even among the members of their own Coven,
And none shall inquire for his name or his house
And he shall inquire these of none.
But the Gods have decreed, that in joining the Rite,
Free Will and independence shall not be in jeopardy.
And he shall have the right to follow the Way.
Walking alone if he will it that way,
Or with a Coven of living brethren
If he so shall choose;
And he shall have the right
To withdraw from any coven at any time
Without the need to say why,
If he shall so choose.
And this either for the purpose of joining another
Or to become solitary for his own reasons,
And there will be none to censure;
And he shall have the right to remain
In a certain Coven, and none shall say him "Nay",
Or to attempt to force him to leave and depart;
Except that should he lose harmony with them
Then they may so decide
And he shall depart.
But no man shall have the right
To speak for the Craft,
And leaving one Coven does not mean
Leaving the Craft, or
Leaving the Way
And each is free, then, or at any time later,
To remain solitary
Or to seek admission to another Coven.
493
THE FELLOWS OF THE CRAFT (continued)
But let him and each other fellow of the Craft
Keep a book, and this shall be of the colors of the Craft,
That it may be readily recognized,
And here he shall keep all the Laws and Landmarks,
And the tenets of the Craft,
That he might not forget,
And if he do forget, that his mind might be
Renewed.
And in this book, all things shall be the mark
Of his own hand, and in ink,
That it shall be long lived.
Let each of the brothers and sisters
Copy what they will from the book,
Providing that they are of sufficient worthiness,
To receive it, and are of sufficient rank,
Or that the writings are of sufficient nature
As pertain to their own rank.
Never suffer this book out of hand or possession,
And never borrow the writings of another
To keep, but merely to copy.
And each shall guard and keep these writings,
As his most sacred possession
And destroy them when danger threatens.
However, should one be of sufficient power,
To remember his past as a wise man,
This book and other Craft artifacts,
May be buried in a stone box
Prepared for them from time to time,
And this in view of immediate death,
And the desire to save them for a future life.
Otherwise, on notice of impending death,
This book should be destroyed by fire,
As well as other things of the Craft,
Which one may posses.
But the wise man will have nothing around
Which has only a Craft use or meaning,
But only things which can be used in daily affairs.
If there is no reason to own a sword,
Then do not own one;
The white wand is just as powerful,
And less distinctive in the minds of the infidels.
If a white wand is too distinctive,
Then any old wand will do for the purpose
Of the ceremonies.
494
THE FELLOWS OF THE CRAFT (continued)
Have no names written and signs drawn
On anything permanently,
When necessary these can be written
In charcoal or chalk
And erased immediately without the telling of tales.
Let the knife have the shape of,
And be stored with the kitchen knives;
Let the cord be seen around the house,
And be used for a vulgar purpose,
In order to fool the infidels.
Never boast, never threaten, never brag
Of your powers; not even to the Craft,
Above all, never harbor ill thoughts toward another
For the power may make it happen for harm;
And never wish ill to anyone.
As it will Occur.
If anyone speaks of the Craft, to down it,
Remember: the Craft needs no defense,
For it has the Father and
All things will be as He wishes
In the end.
THE COVEN
And it shall be that any Fellow of the Craft,
Finding himself in a place where he knows of no Coven,
Or other Fellow of the Craft
Shall have the right, nay, even the duty,
To seek out such a Coven,
Or other Fellow of the Craft
Without censure.
Provided that he shall not reveal secrets to jeopardize
His former Coven or the members of it,
Or the Craft itself.
And two or three Fellows shall have the right
To meet and discuss subjects of Craft interest,
And to help each other along
On the Way to Perfection,
Except that Craft ceremonies
Must be done by the Priesthood.
Any five fellows who shall desire
To form a Coven may do so,
And they shall apply for a charter
To any High Priest or Priestess,
And they shall then select and choose
A man and a woman to lead them.
And their elected leaders shall be ordained by their High Priest,
And they shall choose two more,
A woman to be the deputy; to learn to be a priestess,
And a Scribe for their Coven.
THE COVEN (continued)
495
But these shall not be ordained to the Priesthood,
Unless also qualified for another reason.
And this Coven shall belong to the High Priest,
And shall be answerable to him in all their doings,
Because they did owe their Priesthood to him,
And he shall act at all times in their interest
As their Spiritual Father in the Craft
So that he may lead them as they walk
The way to perfection.
But the newly appointed Priesthood,
Should it be lacking in the knowledge and wisdom needed,
For the positions to which they have been set apart
Then it shall be his responsibility as their High Priest,
To lead and instruct them,
Or cause it to be done by another.
But should the new Coven refuse to follow
The teachings and instructions of their Spiritual Father,
Then he may, at his discretion and Judgement,
Recall their charter, and their right to work as a Coven.
For that which one can give he may also retrieve,
And they shall not again meet,
Unless they can find another High Priest,
Who will assume responsibility over them.
It is the bounden duty of the High Priest to preside,
For all things must be presided over by the High Priesthood;
And should any Coven desire to change,
Their allegiance from one High Priest to another,
For any reason, even the loss of harmony,
Or if, in their considered opinion, their Spiritual Father
Is no longer spiritual, or serving the Father
Then they shall be reordained in the Priesthood
By the New High Priest, and this shall then
Have superceded the original ordinations,
And there shall be for them
A new Spiritual Father.
And if any Priest or Priestess, or other member of the Priesthood,
Find themselves in a place wherein there is no Coven for them to lead,
Then it is their bounden duly to try to the extent of their Power
To find Fellows of the Craft
And organize them into a Coven.
And should they find that there are no other Fellows of the Craft,
In that place, but there are some of the same good bend of mind,
It is then their duty to teach them by word and deed,
Until there be sufficient to form a Coven,
And this shall be done under the supervision,
And with the knowledge of their High Priest,
Through which they received their ordination
And their Powers.
THE COVEN (continued)
And they shall obligate, teach and initiate all the members of their Coven,
And they shall be theirs and they shall be to them
496
As elder brothers and sisters,
And shall care for them in all their affairs,
And not just at meetings,
For it is in this that the Craft differs
From all man-made institutions.
Should any member be absent, and love of the Priestess is such
That she shall continue to contact them in any manner
And by any method possible,
To tender them her loving care
At all times of sickness or stress.
And should any member move to a far city
The Priestess will continue to care for them
In love, by whatever method is available,
Until such time as they shall,
Of their own free will,
Obligate themselves to another Priestess.
And the Priestess shall at all times remember
That she is the direct representative of the Goddess to her Coven,
And the Priest is the direct representative of
The unknown God, the Father,
And both must act as such at all times.
Yet the Priestess shall have whomever she shall choose
As her Priest, be he of that rank, or qualified to be,
Or else another Fellow, who shall be called
her Magister.
And she must remember at all times that the man provides the power,
For the woman to direct, and so it is,
That the Priest resigns all his power over to her,
Yet it is not his power, nor hers to keep,
It is the power of God to use in the performance
Of the Work.
The Power of God is only lent to be used,
Wisely and Justly.
Both the members of the Priesthood shall remember their Spiritual Father,
At all times with gratitude, love, veneration and cooperation,
keeping constantly in contact, and acting with him in utmost harmony,
For they must always remember that the power
And wisdom which they use,
Comes to them through him.
In the days of old, ere the coming of Christendom,
The Craft was free and open in its ceremonies,
And entire states and nations worshipped the Gods
Freely and without restraint;
497
THE COVEN (continued)
But in these unhappy days, we must remain secret,
And hold our rites and ceremonies in secret,
And there are those who will talk, even without torture,
Which loosens any tongue.
Then let it be ordained, heeded and supported by all
That no Coven shall know wherein
The next Coven shall abide, or who its members be,
Except only the Priestess, Magister and Deputy,
And even they shall not remember
Except for good and sufficient reason.
But, and if only, it should be safe, may the covens meet
In some safe place for festivals, and while there,
None may say whence they came, nor give their true names,
Or tell of where or when their meetings are, and
No secret things shall be spoken of
At these festivals for fear of Cowans and Eavesdroppers.
Let each Priestess govern her own Coven in justice and love,
Ever heeding the advice and instructions of her High Priest.
She will ever heed the complaints of the brethren
And strive to settle all differences between them with love.
But there are those who, in pride, will ever strive
To force their will upon others
But these are not necessarily evil
And will think that they do rightly.
Oft they have good ideas and such ideas
Should be discussed in council with their brethren.
But if they will not agree with their brethren,
Or if they say "I will not work under this Priestess",
Then they shall have the right to withdraw from that Coven,
And work Solitary.
Or if five or more of them shall withdraw,
They shall have the right
To form another Coven under another
Priestess.
Even as it shall be the right of any five or more persons of a Coven
To withdraw, and form a new Coven, for any reason whatever,
But they shall then utterly avoid the old Coven
In all things, as it shall then have ceased to exist for them.
498
THE BOOK OF SHADOWS
Let every Coven of whatever rank
Keep a record in a book of black and silver,
And it shall contain, first, the Landmarks and Tenets,
Then a collection of Wisdom of the Craft,
The Rites and Ceremonies of the Coven
As well as the History of the Coven,
And its charter empowering it to work.
And a record of every meeting shall be written therein,
Together with a record of the doings of any member thereof
With the other side, or the Father, or
Any other thing which is for the teaching of all,
Even unto the listing of herbs and medicines
Spells and incantations and Rites
Which contain power for the use of man.
This book shall be kept by the Scribe,
And it shall be kept and approved by the Priesthood
And also the High Priesthood, when it shall come,
But no names or Craft secrets shall be written therein
That he Craft should not be betrayed
Should the book be taken by force,
Or slyness, by the infidels.
And when the coven shall disband,
It shall be the duty of the High Priesthood
To secure this book and make suitable disposition
That it might not endanger the Craft
Or any brother within it
As if the Coven were a person or Fellow
And the book were his book,
So let it be burned.
499
THE PRIESTHOOD
The Mother, The seven Elder Children, and all the worlds,
Draw their power from the Father.
But the children of the Father are like the sands of the sea,
And He has ordained and set apart certain of his older children,
To help and assist Him in caring for the younger children,
And has given them the Power and the Wisdom to do so,
And these children constitute the Priesthood.
The Father will bestow this power upon whom he will, and none may say him
"Nay"
Yet also may the Priesthood choose workers and helpers
And shall share their power with them,
And this is called ordination.
The Power of the Priesthood is that of the Father
And it is love unfeigned and sincere,
Compassion and gentleness and meekness,
Persuasion and long-suffering and kindness,
And there is no authority over the free will of men
Inherent in the Priesthood,
Nor to be assumed by the members of it.
And the Power of the Priesthood is the Power of God,
And the Power of God can never be wielded by an ungodly man,
Nor an evil man; nor the love of God by an unloving man;
And when the man becomes evil, the Power of God is withdrawn from him.
Nor can a member of the Priesthood be inactive,
For inactivity without cause is lack of love for the Father,
And this man's priesthood shall depart from him
At the end of a year and a day,
For it is truth eternal,
That the thing which is unused will be taken away.
So if any Fellow of the Craft shall desire the Priesthood,
First let him learn to be a leader of men,
For a Priest with no following is no Priest,
And his Priesthood is in vain.
So therefore let the Fellow who would be a Priest
First learn the knowledge and wisdom he will need in the new appointment,
Then let him learn to lead men, and
When he shall either have been selected
As leader for his Coven,
Or when he shall have gathered up a Coven of his own,
Then let him apply for ordination.
And he shall apply to a High Priest, for it is written
That only the higher can ordain the lesser,
That there shall be an unbroken line
Of power and authority extending
Back through the line of ordination,
To the Father Himself.
500
And no man can ordain his peers,
For the Lord's House is not a house of confusion,
So let not the line be broken
For it is the cable tow by which
Men are drawn from the lower
Up to the greater;--
An impossibility without it.
And each must work within their line of ordination
In perfect love and perfect trust,
With perfect harmony in all things,
But should they find that they fall out of harmony
With their line of ordination,
Then let him seek another, to be ordained of him
To be their new spiritual Father.
Let the Priesthood be a leadership of fact; not of fancy,
For those who have no following to lead,
Why are they in the Priesthood?