Tag: Magic

The Work Ethics of Magic

The Work Ethics of Magic

Author: Crick

Every once in awhile I will take a look at what is being offered on the Internet in relation to paganism and as usual I come away slightly amused. Not that the information that is offered is of no consequence, in a basic way it serves its purpose. But then I begin to wonder if folks have taken such information and have enhanced and/or built upon their natural abilities. For the greatest magic in the world comes from within first.

Each of us is born with latent energies and the ability to tap into a source of energy/power that is much greater than any one individual. I personally like the term, “Mannuz” when describing such energy. This term is from the Hindu Vedas, and basically refers to the Self as part of the universal energy.

As a Traditional witch I resonate with such an ancient concept in that I endorse both, the concept of Animism and the ability of the individual to become as one with the universal energy. It is this union of the human psyche with such energy that creates the energy that what we know as magic. The developing of such abilities is not something that can be done instantaneously.

As an analogy, one does not learn to walk all at once. And Mannuz is an ancient primordial energy that takes a consistent effort and desire to learn. And in this time and age of instant gratification, extra effort and concentration may be required from those who wish to achieve their utmost abilities as such. This is in part because the work ethic of society has undergone some serious downward revisions that are not exactly beneficial to the honing of one’s magical skills.

And so what steps does one take you may ask, in order to step beyond the plethora of basic information that is out there? Obviously I don’t have all of the answers, for each of us are students for the duration of our lives here on earth. And each of us has our own unique goals and spiritual lessons to absorb. But as an old witch I do have some general suggestions.

The first and foremost suggestion is to be absolutely honest with one self and examine the goals and expectations one seeks from being aligned with paganism and the mystical arts. This sense of honest assessment will determine the amount of effort you will need to put forth. Many folks are ok with just wearing a title without any real substance.

This is not intended to be a sarcastic comment but rather a pragmatic acceptance of our pagan community as it is today. If you decide that you are one of those who desire to advance spiritually in a meaningful way, then the next step may be determining just which path provides the means necessary for you to advance in your journey. There are many, many choices in this respect due to the advent of the Internet. As you make this decision, you may want to keep in mind that whatever path that you choose should be seen as a supplemental tool to your spiritual and mystical growth.

As an individual, your goals and spiritual experiences should take precedence over anything else. For each of us is going to grow more or less according to our individual needs in life. The mystical arts and one’s individual spiritual goals should never be defined by the needs of the mass, though each individual can and does add substance to the group setting as a whole. This is what separates the mystical arts from the tenets of organized religion. Even when within a group such as a coven, we are still individuals.

Having made the aforementioned assessments, the next step may be to actually hone one’s abilities through daily — yes, I said daily — practice. The mystic arts in general and magic in particular should be a part of our every thought. And not just something that is half-heartedly engaged in on certain days of the year.

Mannuz is a consistent and ethereal part of our lives. We are constantly though not always consciously connected to the energy that forms the basis of our latent abilities. And this brings us to the next consideration when embarking on the path of the mystic arts. Our level of personal responsibility will over the course of our lives, define our spiritual growth and our ability to utilize that energy which we manifest into magic.

For instance, something as mundane as the spoken word carries power. Do you consciously think about what you say to others before releasing such energy at your fellow travelers? When was the last time that you stepped outside and felt the energy that emanates from the stars above?

When was the last time that you looked up at the clouds and saw familiar shapes forming? When was the last time that you felt a gust of wind touch your cheek and felt the energy of those that that gust of wind touched before it came to you?

These examples may seem benign, but it is such a sense of awareness that one develops when one consciously seeks to expand their latent talents. Magic is not just about manifesting energy into tangible results. Nor is it about making requests from Deity, for Deity has provided us with a plethora of tools to be utilized in our spiritual and mystical goals.

We as practitioners have to but put forth a bit of effort that will in turn open up other avenues of advancement. For each time we experiment and arrive at the answer to a mystery of life, there is always yet another mystical mystery waiting to be experienced. Each of us as individuals has the power to determine just how many such experiences we are willing to confront. And it is that will and desire that determines how far each of us will spiritually grow.

Simply reading books and paying lip service will reap only the results that they have sowed.

It is a well-known practice of folks who engage in the mystical arts these days to want to supplement their latent abilities with external tools. And that is all good. Instead of purchasing your crystals or wands from a store, where your selected tools have been handled and infused, with who knows what or whose energies. Perhaps you may want to consider putting forth a bit of personal effort and taking a walk into the woods and/or mountains and actually harvesting your tools directly from Mother Earth?

Yes, it is easy to come up with a thousand excuses as to why you would not want to do this, but then we get back to the question of work ethic and how sincere you are in your efforts to improve yourself spiritually and to enhance your magical talents. As an individual, only you can provide an honest answer to yourself. You have no requirement to answer to anyone else.

But at the end of the day, you may want to keep this in mind: Anything that affects ones spiritual growth and the development of their magical abilities always starts from within oneself.

Each of us has an inner voice, listen to it, it is there as a guide. Some will realize great strides in their mystical abilities, others not as much. But then it is what is. Magic and the mystical arts is not an equal opportunity for all. It requires discipline and a true inner desire and just as importantly a strong work ethic in order to truly succeed.

The Book of Shadows

The Book of Shadows

Most Wiccan traditions treasure a Book of Shadows. Such books are rarely
published or even shown to non-initiates. In them, the Tradition’s specific
beliefs and modes of worship are thoroughly or sketchily outlined. Though
contents and organization of these ritual manners vary, most Books of Shadows
include instructions for the circle casting and banishing; religious rituals;
the consecration of tools; laws; coven organizational notes magical rites;
prayers and perhaps herbal lore. Some contain lists of the Traditions
pantheon, training exercises for new students and, finally, initiation
ceremonies.

Such books are vitally important to the establishment and maintenance of all
Wiccan traditions, for without them, the tradition’s specific rites and other
lore must be carefully memorized and passed down by word of mouth. This always
leaves room for error, misinterpretation, and even loss of the material. Don’t
misunderstand this: no Wiccan tradition has been able to record every single bit
of information. Much is verbally passed from teacher to student. Still a
tradition’s Book of Shadows provides and unchanging guide and memory trigger for
the practitioner.

There are many different Books of Shadows today. Some are used by hundreds of
Thousands of Wiccans. Others are created by Solitary Wiccans and never shown to
others.

Information from Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by
Scott Cunningham

To me the Book of Shadows is a very special book. Mostly because it is innermost
thoughts that come from your heart and soul As you study and Learn you will fill
that book up with all kinds of things from Spells to Thoughts, To just writing
how you are feeling about things. And it doesn’t matter what kind of book of
shadows you have whether it is a three ringed binder to a home made book. How
you wish to organize your Book of shadows is up to you. Just make sure that you
put as much love and care into as you do yourself. Cause that will always be a
very special and important book in this Life’s Path. And May the Goddess Shine
Brightly in your Heart for Always.

The Old WOTC

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE WICCA BROOM

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE WICCA BROOM

As Witches, we need to be aware of the Ancient Broom Lore that has been passed
down to us from those wonderful Crones of the past.

1- Never leave home for long periods of time without telling your broom.

2- Treat your broom as you would any other member of your family, with honor,
reverence and respect.

3- Magickal Brooms are not regular cleaning brooms and should not be used for
such mundane tasks.

4- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside your cast circle.

5- Speak with your broom as you would speak to other members of your family or
coven.

6- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside in the weather unless you ask the
Broom.

7- Oil your broomstick with every turn of the wheel.

Brooms have long been known for their magickal ways, probably due to it’s shape,
use in purification rites and kinship with magickal wands and staffs. The common
household tool has been known to be so sacred that in many parts of the world
there are Broom Deities.

Sao Ching Niang – The lady with the broom who lives in the Broom Star. When
there is too much rain and the crops are threatened, it is not uncommon in China
to see pictures of Brooms hanging on the front door or fences to bring clear and
sunny weather to the field.

As this is invoking the Great Earth Goddess herself, the Broom Star is the
fertile womb of our Great Goddess, and thus she gives us life of the fields that
are represented by the Corn Fields. Hence the broom is brought into our homes
from the womb of the Goddess.

In Mexico, the Witch Goddess Tlazoiteotl is depicted riding on a broom. This
symbolizes the coming of the night, the dark part of ourselves, the growing
darkness of the winter.

The priests in South America hve been known to burn offerings of owls and
snakes. These were offered at the dark moon. Through these offerings, the people
were calling upon the Broom Witch to sweep away their transgressions.

My grandmother was a Broom Witch. Here are some of the old magickal things that
can be done with a broom. On a hot summers day, I would watch her go out on the
front porch and swing the broom over her head. Grandma would just tell me to be
quiet, the rain was coming. And if fact she was right. A few hours later we
always had rain. So Granny would call the rain with her broom by swinging it
clockwise over her head.

In turn, if it was raining too much, she would go out and talk with her broom
for a while on the front porch. She would sing “Rain, rain, go away, come again
some other day”. Then she would raise her broom and swing it over her head
counter-clockwise to stop the rain, and again, a few hours later the rain would
stop.

With some practice, I know have mastered this little broomlore spell. I find it
handy to tell the broom what I want it to do before I do it, then I say my
incantation and swing the broom.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF A MAGICKAL BROOM

When you first get your broom, always greet it by rubbing your hand over the
entire staff of the broom. Learn the body of your broom, inspect it’s divets and
curves. Use anointing oil to open and activate your broom. A good oil is made
from rosemary, thyme, myrrh and lavender in base oil. Make this oil by the full
moon and then open your broom on the first day of the new moon.

When getting a new broom, it’s always good to talk with it awhile. I usually
carry mine along with me in my car, and I sleep with it by my bed. Talk with
your broom, it’s amazing how much these magickal tools have to say to us and how
lonely they become when cast to the side. When shopping for a new broom, always
put out your intention on the day after the new moon, burn pink and white
candles, and ask for the right broom to be shown to you. My preference is a
broom made with natural corn, or harvested brambles. I like to find a natural
handle for the broom. Elm, birch, ash, oak, sassafras, those are all really good
magickal woods to use as broom handles. If you are lucky to live in a natural
area, you can make your own from the Divine Goddess Garden. If you are a
city dweller, local shops sometimes carry natural brooms that are hand-tied.
Usually they are found at local gift shops or craft fairs. Also go to the local
Antique mall. Sometimes you’ll find an interesting retired broom that would like
to be put back into service. Nothing is worse then to have a wise old broom and
not have it in use.

After your broom has been chosen and spoken to, then start using it to call in
your circle. I point the broom in the direction that I’m casting and use this to
focalize the energy.

Once the circle is cast, then I lay the broom across the east to guard the
entrance until my magickal work is done. I also sprinkle salt in the east over
the broom to strengthen the seal, especially if I find myself doing some intense
spell casting.

Once I’m done with casting my magickal work, I thank my broom and lift it from
east and dismiss the quarters. A broom can also be used to cast a circle in a
hurry, much the same way a staff can be used. If I know I need immediate
protection, I point my broom to east and cast a circle with my broom pointed to
the earth, moving in a clockwise direction. This really works if you are in a
hurry and need to have some sacred space like NOW.

I also oil my broom handle with my anointing oil 4 times a year during each turn
of the wheel. This helps recharge the broom and helps you reconnect with it. It
likes to be stroked and caressed. Your broom is a sensuous creature and like to
be part of the Divine Feminine.

BROOM SPELLS

The “Come to Me” Broom Spell

On a warm night (or turn the heater up), put on some Goddess clothing (loose and
feminine), put on some soothing music that makes you want to dance. Now take
your broom as if it were your beloved and dance with the broom until you are
flying into the arms of your beloved. Whisper this four times to yourself….

By night’s light we shine bright
By sun light we are right
By days end we are together by sacred rite.

Now cast your circle by laying your broom in each quarter. Lay the broom in the
east and jump clockwise over it. Lay the broom in the south and jump clockwise
over it. Lay the broom in the west and jump clockwise over it. Then lay it in
the north and jump over it. Once you have completed your circle, your beloved
will come to you within 24 hours. Use this spell to mend fights, or if you don’t
have a mate, use this to call a mate to you.

SWEEPING SPELLS AND LORE

If you feel your life is in chaos, take a look around at your front porch and
front walkway. If the front walk is cluttered with leaves and dirt, then sweep
your walkway and front porch clean with your magickal broom and envision that
your life is in order and that all that comes to your will be clean and cleared.

When you move from one house to another, it’s always good to change your
workaday broom. Either burn your old one, or make sure that it is buried with
honor. Always bring a new broom into the new house, but sweep some dirt from the
outside in before you sweep the dirt from the inside out. This is to bring in
good luck from the beginning and not push your luck out the door.

Always hang a broom by the front door for protection. Brooms will keep the bad
things out and the good things in. I have a broom at every door of my home. I
keep it in the corner. Always stand a broom on end with the brush facing up.
This helps the wear and tear on the brush and it’s also said to bring love from
the earth through the broomstick and given up to the heavens through the brush.

If your broom falls from your hand while you are sweeping or doing other work,
make a wish before you pick it up. It’s also said that if a broom falls from
it’s kept place, company is coming and it’s not good news. When you pick up your
broom after something like this happens, sweep the energy out the door and bid
it adue not to return again.

If you or your kin are having recurrent nightmares or night hauntings, sweep the
room clockwise while stating that all that lies between here and the other world
be gone and back whence you came.
Hither, hither, hither gone.
Hither, hither, hither gone
Hither, hither, thither gone
So Mote It Be.

Now stand the broom outside the bedroom door and place a piece of garlic under
the bed.

HANDFASTING AND MARRIAGE BROOM LORE

As a Priestess and Wiccan Minister, I perform several Handfasting Rites per
year. One of the main things I encourage Wiccan engaged couples to do is to find
a broom together. This is the symbol of hearth and home. Once the broom has been
found, then it is anointed as I stated above, then some of the broom brush is
pulled from the stem. That brush is then woven together and placed upon the
wedding altar. The broom is present during our counseling sessions and then the
wife-to-be is usually the keeper of the broom until the wedding. This represents
that she is the keeper of the home and keeps peace and harmony while the man
goes out to work. It also means that she is the keeper of the Magickal power of
the home. As it seems in these modern times that this is wrong to have such
sexed roles, this is celtic lore from more than 600 years ago.

The night before the wedding, the couple will dress the broom by weaving 3
strand of colored ribbon around the handle. What this represents is the inter-
twining of their lives and they themselves are no longer individuals but are
part of each other. The broom is then placed either standing by the altar or
placed lying under the altar during the ceremony as the vows are said, the
promises made, that hands fasted. They are pronounced husband and wife and the
broom is then put before them as the final test of love. The couple either
steps, or in old tradition, jumps, over the broom. This is the final end of the
ceremony. Then it is recommended that the couple takes the broom home and
makes love with the broom under the bed. This seals the marriage.

Your broom can be your best friend and your magickal ally. Treat your broom with
honor, reverence and respect and you will have a life-long companion and ritual
tool.

Old WOTC

** MAGICK 1 — WHY MAGICK **

USED BY PERMISSION

** MAGICK 1 — WHY MAGICK **

The ability to think seems to set us apart from

other creatures. And although we are concerned with

living in the physical world, we are mental beings. The

fact is we are thinking all the time. We plan, we brood,

we get depressed or elated — all of it is thought. But

the universe is mental too, and if we could control our

thinking we would see magnificent results in the everyday

world.

Many systems have been developed over the ages to

help us control our thoughts. A great amound of dogma too

has been kicked around in an attempt to make us into better

people. Magick (the occult kind, spelled with a ‘k’) is one

of the oldest and most general of these systems. Magick is

the study and application of psychic forces. It uses mental

training, concentration, and a system of symbols to program

the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the

environment according to the will.

Most of the magick we see today comes to us from

ancient Egypt and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans

developed their own unique types of magick. Western magick

was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years

and then supressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not

until medieval Europe that magical knowledge was rediscovered

by the alchemists and Cabalists. Only during the past hundred

years or so has western culture been open minded enough to

permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since

the start of the twentieth century has science shown much

interest in it al all.

PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA

Through parapsychology, we are at last beginning to

gain insights into the hidden nature of man. Parapsychology

is a branch of psychology which studies psychic phenomena.

Remarkable evidence has been gathered on numerous cases of

psychic phenomena. Knowledge gained from parapsychology

studies can be applied, so far as it goes, to the much

broader based, much more theoretical study and practice of

magick.

Thus, the human mind and body appears to broadcast

psychic energy or force, much like a radio station. Kirlian

photography and cloud chamber tests tend to support this

theory. Although the exact nature of this psychic force is

subtle and unknown, it is undoubtedly the energy behind all

psychic phenomena and magick. However, it is *not* a radio

wave, since it behaves somewhat differently. The psychic

force is too weak to be measured directly (at least so far as

we know). Everyone has some psychic ability. There are

numerous types of psychic phenomena. Parapsychology separates

them into two groups: ESP and PK…

5

EXAMPLES OF ESP

ESP, the abreviation for extra sensory perception,

means the reception of information through paranormal means

(ie. not regular physical senses of sight, sound, touch,

smell, or taste). In theory, this is accomplished by

receiving psychic force from outside the body. Here are some

examples of ESP:

1) Clairvoyance, or Remote Viewing — the ability to

sense or ‘see’ (non-physically) distant objects, places, and

people. Individuals who see ghosts and spirits are probably

clairvoyant.

2) Astral Projection (OOBE) or Traveling Clairvoyance

— Full experience at a remote location while the physical

body sleeps.

3) Psychometry — the reading of information by the

touch of physical objects.

4) Telepathic receiver — the ability to directly

receive thought (communication) at a distance, with no

physical connection to the sender. There are many everyday

examples of this, in which we think something just as another

person is about to say it. This is an easy one to test for

through experiment. Very dramatic cases of telepathy have

been recorded; there is often an emotional element in such

cases.

5) A medium, as in a seance.

6) Experience with a Ouija board, pendulum, or

automatic writing.

7) Precognition — to forsee the future. Again,

highly emotional events are the ones most likely to be ‘tuned

in’.

EXAMPLES OF PK

PK, the abreviation for psychokinesis, is the active

or sending side of psychic phenomena. The theory here is that

psychic force is sent out from the individual. Examples of PK

include:

1) Telepathic sender — the transmitter in the

telepathy just discussed.

2) Psychokinesis (or telekinesis) proper — the

ability to move objects by means of psychic force.

3) Somewhat along the same lines are poltergeist

(noisy ghost) phenomena in which objects move of their own

accord or noises are heard. There is always a human agent

involved — frequently a teenage girl — who appears to be

the source of psychic energy.

4) Psychic healing — the ability to heal various

illnesses and infirmities. There are many documented cases of

this. Usually it involves a healer and a subject, although

there are recent cases invloving cancer patients learning to

heal themselves.

5) Teleportation, apportation, and levitation.

Some occultists feel a magician producing PK effects

is simply a channel for universal energy. Others think the

force originates some way directly within the magician.

 

6

 

THE SUBCONSCIOUS

 

Postulated by Freud and others, the concept of the

 

subconscious mind is an important one. Basicly, this is the

 

idea that part of the mind normally operates below or outside

 

of ordinary consciousness and awareness. Dreams and hypnosis

 

are examples of this. Also subconscious are the many

 

automatic functions of the physical body such as respiration

 

and digestion.

 

WHY DO MAGICK?

 

Magick encompasses many things — science and art,

 

philosophy and metaphysics, psychology and comparative

 

religion. Magick is an adventure at the borderlands of the

 

unknown. It can fit the pieces of the puzzel of life into a

 

meaningful whole.

 

_Magick is fun_ and interesting. Use magick to help

 

raise consciousness without drugs. Gain new experiences.

 

Fantacy can come alive through magick. Psychic phenomena can

 

be controlled and be fun and helpful.

 

_Magick is beneficial_. It can help you to have

 

excellent health, and bring you good luck. With magick life

 

runs smoothly; life is good. Also use magick for personality

 

improvement, to control bad habits and to develop new

 

motivations.

 

_Magick is powerful_. Never underestimate the

 

tremendous power of magick. Use magick to alter events and to

 

achieve your goals. Exert an influence over people and

 

phenomena. But power for its own sake is self defeating. The

 

power which magick can give you should not be your primary

 

reason for studying it.

 

MAGICK AND WITCHCRAFT

 

A number of other occult disciplines are prevalent

 

today besides magick. There are many cults and sects which

 

profess their own views, but there are really few differences

 

between them. One popular area in the occult today is

 

witchcraft. This is far removed from the cliche of devil

 

worship. Real witchcraft is a nature religion (pagan).

 

Witchcraft has much in common with magick.

 

Alchemy also has much in common with magick. It’s

 

heritage comes from the middle ages. Alchemy fathered

 

chemistry and the physical sciences. But the avowed purpose

 

of alchemy, turning lead into gold, is too limiting to be

 

called magick. Sometimes the goal of alchemy is interpreted

 

in another way, as the transformation of man into a spiritual

 

being.

 

Then there are the numerous modern day seers or

 

‘pychics’, as they like to be called, who operate within

 

their own somewhat unique systems. Although many of these

 

people are deluded frauds, some are very powerful occultists

 

indeed.

 

Of course, everything I have said here is a

 

generalization. Magick, witchcraft, alchemy, or any occult

 

field are complex subjects. Suffice it to say that magick

 

7

 

includes them all (it is eclectic). For magick is undoubtedly

 

a philosophy which has, as the late Aleister Crowley wrote,

 

“The method of science — the aim of religion.”

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS

 

1) Define magick.

 

2) Define ESP and PK. Give examples.

 

3) What is the subconsicous?

 

BOOK LIST

 

Hal N. Banks, An Introduction to Psychic Studies.

 

Annie Besant, Thought Power.

 

Michael H. Brown, PK, A Report on the Power of Psychokinesis.

 

Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts.

 

Alexandira David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet.

 

Raynor C. Johnson, The Imprisoned Splendour.

 

Ostrander and Shroeder, Psychic Discoveries Behind the

 

Iron Curtan.

 

** MAGICK 2 — THE SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPERIENCE — **

 

Your awareness of the physical world and of your

 

place within it is mostly based upon the physical senses

 

(hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste). These five senses

 

continually send information to the mind, and it is up to

 

the mind to select and interpret them. If you could not do

 

so, your senses would overwhelm you and be meaningless.

 

Selection and interpretation of your sensory inputs is

 

essentially an automatic, mostly subconscious function of

 

the mind. The program or map which the subconscious follows

 

as its reference point is called a _model_. The model is a

 

subconscious mental photograph of how you believe the world

 

looks (ie. worldview, mindset, egregore, or belief system).

 

It was built up from an early age by your religious and

 

cultural background through interaction with family and

 

others. It contains your experiences, attitudes, and

 

habits. And whether you realize it or not, most of your

 

behavior, thoughts, feelings, and habits are based upon and

 

conditioned by that model; even personality. The model is

 

one of the mind’s master programs. Change in behavior

 

generally requires a change in the model. These limitations

 

built into our way of thinking cause our perceptions to be

 

subjective. That is why Hindu philosophy looks upon the

 

world as illusory (maya); the world itself (object) is not

 

an illusion, however from our viewpoint through perception

 

(subject) it is.

 

Thus we are all conditioned by experience. Except

 

that our perceptions, hence our experiences, are first

 

conditioned and limited by the model. Our perceptions and

 

experiences tend to conform to what we expect. We tend to

 

misinterpret or ignore things which do not match our

 

preconcieved notions about them. This is automatic.

 

THE TRUE WILL

 

8

 

The forgoing demonstrates how it is that there are

 

so many different versions of ‘truth’. One’s particular

 

view is almost arbitrary. Although numerous religions,

 

philosophies, and occult systems abound, they do not

 

contradict one and other as much as it might appear.

 

Rather, they describe the same (universal) reality taken

 

from different perspectives. For there can be no ultimate

 

truth in the physical world. We can only base our actions

 

upon assumptions and agreements. All experience is

 

subjective.

 

Yet, there is a separate reality within each of us

 

which is often ignored unless we seek it. This inner self

 

is in magick called the ‘true will’. The true will is the

 

center of consciousness and identity. It is the ‘real you’.

 

Everything else is an interface or link to it from the

 

outer (illusory) world. Since that interface is based upon

 

our model, it is conditoned and may sometimes produce false

 

information. ‘Do what thou wilt’ (Crowley) is an axiom of

 

magick; for the true will expresses our exact desires. And

 

what we truly want (‘down deep’) we tend to automatically

 

get. This isn’t always in our best interests, since the

 

true will can be conditioned (tricked) by the illusion; and

 

then we might desire and obtain that which is not

 

ultimately good for us. (Karma strikes again!) The task of

 

the magician therefor is to awaken his awareneess of the

 

true will, to be free of conditioning, and thereby to

 

transcend maya. (‘My will unconditioned is magical’ —

 

Spare).

 

HAPPINESS IS BEING HAPPY

 

There is no great secret to changing behavior or

 

habits. It is largely a matter of determination. It

 

requires that you ignore the ‘pull’ of the model when you

 

strive for changes within yourself. The model is, after

 

all, a collection of ‘habits’, some of which must be

 

unlearned for permananent change to occur. There are two

 

ways to do this: direct, through will power and awareness

 

alone — observing and acting out in an unattached or

 

indifferent manner; and indirect — through conditioning

 

such as affirmation (explained later), self-hypnosis, and

 

magick. Meditation may help too, by relaxing tension and

 

conflict.

 

Emotions follow physical expression: smile and act

 

happy and you will tend to feel and be happy. The same is

 

also true for other emotions. Also, emotions can be

 

purposely used (or programed) to replace other emotions.

 

Using this technique, a magician is somewhat like an actor

 

in that he learns how to turn his emotions on and off at

 

will. Note that this is not ‘fakeing it’; the magician is

 

probably more in touch with his true feelings than most

 

people. And for these reasons we say that happiness is

 

being happy.

 

SYSTEMS OF MAGICK

 

Magick always involves self-hypnosis. However, it

 

is more than that too. For one thing, there are objective

 

forces involved (or so it would seem). Deities, spirits,

 

and cosmic force can have an independent existence. And the

 

repetitive physical movement sometimes involved in ritual

 

can itself generate PK force. On the other hand, it could

 

be argued that all of this is subjective to the magician.

 

Perhaps all magical effects could be produced through

 

hypnosis alone. But the effects are certainly real.

 

Great complexity is not necessary in magick.

 

Although basicly magick is a medieval system of symbolism

 

(in a modern context), any cosmological system will work

 

from Cabala to Star Wars. We usually use the medieval one

 

in magick because it is convenient and traditional, and

 

because it seems to fit our thought processes well. What

 

really matters is that the model of the magician be

 

understood and programmed, and thus that the model and the

 

cosmological system do correspond.

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS

 

1) Contrast subjective with objective.

 

2) What is a ‘model’?

 

3) Explain the task of the magician.

 

BOOK LIST

 

Eric Berne, Games People Play.

 

Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics.

 

Carlos Castaneda, The Fire From Within.

 

Arthur Koestler, The Roots of Coincidence.

 

John C. Lilly, Simulations of God.

 

Alan Watts, The Book (on the taboo against knowing who you are).

 

** MAGICK 3 — THE FOUR WORLDS **

 

The ancients described man as mind, body, and soul.

 

Psychologists of the twentieth century added the

 

subconscious to that deffinition. This produces a four-fold

 

classification. The universe is also divided into four

 

corresponding parts (‘worlds’), as shown below:

 

WORLD BODY QUALITY

 

===== ==== =======

 

spiritual world spiritual body (soul or kia) intuition

 

mental world mental body (conscious mind) rational

 

thought

 

astral world astral body (subconscious) emotions

 

physical world physical body physical senses

 

The astral body (subconscious) is the intermediary

 

for intuition, magical and psychic phenomena, and is the

 

‘psychic link’ to the physical world. Most occult and

 

magical phenomena originate in the invisible, non-sensate,

 

non-physical realm (ie. without physical senses). Each of

 

the four worlds interacts with the other worlds. Psychic

 

energy flows from the spiritual to mental to astral to

 

physical. The physical world is a projection (manifestation,

 

reflection, or shadow) of the higher worlds. Our center of

 

consciousness is generally within these higher worlds.

 

“We are”, to quote the rock music group the Police, “spirits

 

in the material world”.

 

There are many similar terms used by other occult

 

groups. For example, ‘astral light’ is another name for

 

astral world, although it may sometimes also refer to the

 

entire non-physical realm, as may ‘inner planes’ or ‘the

 

invisible world’. Planes are essentially the same as worlds.

 

Vehicles or sheaths are the same as bodies. Some groups

 

include an etheric or vital body between physical and

 

astral: it is mostly ‘physical’ with a little of the

 

lower ‘astral’ besides. And sometimes astral and mental

 

are each divided into two parts (upper and lower). The

 

‘causal body’ is the upper ‘mental’.

 

MICROCOSM AND MACROCOSM

 

We have been describing ‘traditonal’ occult

 

philosophy here, and certainly an important part of the

 

tradition is the idea (and terms) microcosm and macrocosm.

 

The greater universe, known as the *macrocosm*, includes

 

everything that exists. It corresponds with the *microcosm*,

 

or tiny universe, ie. man — who is thought of as a

 

miniature replica of the macrocosm (whole universe).

 

This basic magical relationship is demonstrated in the

 

Bible (Genesis 1.27), where God is the macrocosm; and in

 

the writing of Trismegistus (“As above so below”). Since

 

man is in the image of God (universe) it follows that God

 

is in the image of man (in other words, man and the

 

God/universe match each other). The magician, as a microcosm

 

is thus connected with the macrocosm. There is an intimate

 

relationship of energies between you and everything else.

 

The universe is reflected within us and we are projected

 

into the universe. This is an important theory behind magick

 

and astrology.

 

MAGICK WHITE AND BLACK

 

‘Personal magick’ is that magick used to affect the

 

self; often involving affirmation, self-suggestion, and

 

self-hypnosis. ‘Active magick’ is outer directed magick (as

 

in PK) used to affect someone or thing, or to bring about

 

an event. ‘Passive magick’ is to be affected (as in ESP)

 

by an outside non-physical cause. Everyone possesses some

 

magical (and psychic) potential. Some are especially

 

gifted. Usually people are better at one kind of magick

 

(ie. active or passive) than they are at the other kind;

 

only rarely does an individual excell at both. Traning

 

and practice will, of course, improve ability somewhat.

 

Although the forces of magick are neutral, various

 

systems may take on the qualities of good and evil. There

 

is so-called white magick or good magick, black magick or

 

evil magick, and gray magick between them. When many people

 

refer to white magick they mean magick for unselfish

 

purposes, also healing and mental influence with specific

 

permission. By black magick they refer to magick for

 

self-interest and healing *without* specific permission.

 

Using magick to forcefully control another’s will is, in a

 

sense, black magick too. There are also some people on the

 

occult fringe who claim to be, possibly even think they are,

 

‘Satanists’, devil worshipers, or black magicians. These

 

people are most likely charlatans, hoaxters, dablers, or

 

merely misinformed. They may be attracted by the ‘art’ of

 

black magick, or even by the ‘glamor’ of doing something

 

against the ‘rules’. But a real black magician is very

 

dangerous. Because he has dedicated his life to evil. We

 

usually think of ‘white magick’ as having *unselfish

 

intent*, and (in the extreme case) of ‘black magick’ as

 

being actual Satan worship, human or animal sacrifice,

 

dangerous unconventional magical practices, and other

 

bizarre stuff as makes a nightmare. It is all a matter of

 

degree. Most mild self-interest magick (one of the most

 

common kinds) would be called ‘gray’. Better terms may be

 

*constructive magick* as being beneficial; and *aversive

 

magick* as magick intended to work against the natural

 

order, and to tear down. There is also the *high magick* of

 

spiritual alchemy (ie. spiritual growth), also known as ‘the

 

Great Work’; and conversely there is ‘low magick’ which is

 

concerned with materiality.

 

Any magick act is likely to produce side effects

 

regardless of whether or not the desired result is achieved.

 

Such side effects are no problem for constructive magick,

 

since they are benificial as well. However, aversive magick

 

can produce aversive side effects which may even harm the

 

magician — aversive magick is dangerous!

 

MAGICK IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

 

What we have been calling ‘magick’ is actually a

 

continuous process. Since your subconscious never rests,

 

your environment is continually being shifted into line with

 

your model. This is true whether you study magick or not.

 

For most people, these effects are usually very subtle, and

 

they are probably not aware of them. However, as you work

 

with the occult, the flow of psychic energy and your

 

awareness of it increases. Your true will is more likely

 

to be strongly expressed. Your luck may be affected (either

 

in a positive or a negative way). Remember, our lives tend

 

to follow what we want down deep. That is why a positive

 

outlook is so very beneficial to us.

 

THE MAGICAL DIARY

 

Sometimes it is helpful to keep a diary of your

 

magical experiments and research. Such a diary should include

 

the date, perhaps even some astrological data (or anything

 

else you think may have a relationship to what you are doing).

 

This is also a good time to begin recording your dreams —

 

at least the important ones — in a dream diary. Your dreams

 

can tell you a great deal about yourself, and may sometimes

 

reveal premonitions. Dreams are personal. Don’t fall for the

 

commercial ‘dream book’ gimmick.

 

AFFIRMATIONS

 

The mind is always open to suggestion — especially the

 

subconscious. Most of the time we censor any suggestions

 

according to the model; but one way to break through the censor

 

is with repetition. An affirmation does this exactly. By

 

suggestion, we mean any statement which is capable of affecting

 

your model. Usually suggestion is in the form of a positive

 

statement (such as the hypnotist’s patter — ” You are

 

becomming sleepy”). An affirmation is the same kind of thing —

 

a positive suggestion, which you repeat (affirm) to yourself

 

aloud or silently (for example, “I remember my dreams”). If

 

there is some quality you wish to change or develope within

 

yourself, an affirmation is ideal. Repeat it several times

 

every day at several different times throughout the day,

 

expecially when you go to bed. Affirmations are subtle and may

 

require a few months to work. Use them for changes, not

 

miracles.

 

SIMPLE BANISHING TECHNIQUE

 

Visualization is another important method we use to

 

influence the subconscious. A good example of this is the

 

simple banishing technique which follows. Banishing is used in

 

magick to ‘clear the air’ of negative ‘vibes’ and

 

interference…

 

Visualize a strong white light flowing out the top of

 

your head, flowing down around you and covering you. At the

 

same time imagine you are throwing away any ‘problem’ vibes.

 

Maintain the visualization for a half a minute or longer.

 

Good way to help you handle your emotions, and to control

 

worry or anger.

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS

 

1) What is a microcosm?

 

2) List the four worlds. Explain.

 

3) What is an affirmation? Give an example.

 

BOOK LIST

 

Geoffry Hodson, Theosophy Answers Some Problems of Life.

 

Marc Edmund Jones, Key Truths of Occult Philosophy.

 

Marion Weinstein, Positive Magic.

 

Nelson & Ann White, The Wizard’s Apprentice.

 

Beatrice Bruteau, The Psychic Grid.

 

** MAGICK 4 — ELEMENTS AND FORCES **

 

The Ancients divided the world into four basic

 

principles or *elements* — earth, water, fire, and air.

 

That viewpoint has mostly changed with advances of science,

 

but the four elements are still accepted in magick, for they

 

are more closely linked with the emotions than modern

 

explanations of the world. Many occultists think of the magical

 

elements as forces, or as *qualities* of energy; especially

 

within the astral world. Each element has a symbol and color.

 

(Common symbols are — fire: a triangle pointing up; air:

 

a triangle pointing up and with a horizontal line through the

 

middle of it; water: a triangle pointing down; earth: a

 

triangle pointing down and with a horizontal line through the

 

middle of it.) Colors of the elements are — earth: brown and

 

green; water: blue; fire: red; air: yellow…The Eastern

 

tattvic system uses different symbols and colors. The elements

 

are often used in magick ritual.

 

Magick sees relationships between things. These

 

relationships are called ‘correspondences’. Although magical

 

correspondences are not literally equal to one another, you can

 

think of them that way (such as gold equals sun). Tables of

 

these relationships, called ‘Correspondence Tables’, are

 

available (an important one is Crowley’s ‘777’). Thus one thing

 

or symbol can be used to suggest another. This is important in

 

magick, for the magician may surround himself with as many

 

appropriate correspondences as he can to vividly affect the

 

senses; thus making his magical contact with the inner planes

 

more lucid.

 

The magical elements have correspondences with the

 

tarrot cards as the four suits. The four quarters (directions

 

of the universe as used in magick ritual) and the Archangels

 

also correspond with these same elements —

 

Element Suit Quarter Archangel

 

======= ==== ======= =========

 

earth pentacles north Uriel

 

water cups west Gabriel

 

fire wands south Michael

 

air swords east Raphael

 

ELEMENTALS

 

The magical elements are said to be peopled by spirits

 

and mythological entities called elementals or nature spirits.

 

These are grouped into four main categories —

 

Gnome (earth) Undine (water) Salamander (fire) Sylph (air)

============= ============== ================= ===========

dwarfs nymphs jin (genies) fairies

elves tritons storm angels

brownies mermaids

hobgoblins mermen

lepricauns sirens

harpies

Elementals are usually only visible to those with

clairvoyant sight and are more likely to be seen at night in

the mountains or country away from cities — especially if you

are tired or sleepy. Although elementals exist naturally, it is

also possible to create one which will exist for a limited time

— no elemental has immortality. A created elemental is called

an ‘artificial elemental’.

To the Ancients, elementals were the physical

explanation of the universe. However, some contemporary

occultists see them only as symbols for forces and otherwise

not ‘real’ at all. Another word sometimes used for elemental is

‘familiar’ (usually in medieval witchcraft); the term is

ambiguous, as it might merely be an ordinary household pet such

as a dog or cat.

YIN YANG

Chinese philosophy and acupuncture talk of yin yang.

This is the idea of polarity, or opposite pairs, as shown —

YIN YANG

=== ====

water fire

contraction expansion

cold hot

feminine masculine

moon sun

negative positive

passive active

ebb flow

wane wax

The list could go on. In Chinese literature it is quite long.

Some occultists suggest everything can be similarly arranged

into related opposite pairs.

SIMPLE MAGICK

Here is a simple magical technique you may wish to

try. It is a variation of affirmation, which was discussed

in an earlier lesson…To help to you achieve your goal

(magical or otherwise), find a word or short phase which sums

up what it is that you want to accomplish. Write the word (or

phrase) down 10 times each day until you achieve success.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) List the four elements.

2) What is an elemental?

3) What are correspondences?

BOOK LIST

William Britten, Art Magic (long out of print, but in some

libraries).

Pete Carrol, Liber Null.

Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy.

Manly Hall, Unseen Forces.

** MAGICK 5 — CHAKRAS AND MEDITATION **

According to East Indian philosophy, man possesses seven

major *chakras* or psychic centers on his body. Each of these

forms a bridge, link, or energy transformer; changing pure

(higher) energy into various forms, and connecting the four

bodies (ie. spiritual, mental, astral, and physical) together.

The chakras are located along the nadies (a network of psychic

nerves or channels) and follow the autonomic nervous system

along the spinal cord. Chakras correlate with major acupuncture

points along the ‘governing vessel meridian’ (acupuncture term).

The seven major chakras are connected together by three major

nadies which are parallel and near each other. The middle nadi

is called *sushumna* and it has neutral characteristics. The

nadi on the left (ie. nearest your left hand) is the *ida* nadi

which has yin characteristics. On the other side of sushumna

(nearest your right hand) is the *pingala* nadi, having yang

qualities.

Chakras are visible to clairvoyant sight as varously

colored rotating circles or funnels. In the East they are

described as petaled flowers or lotuses. Sources disagree on the

colors.

The first chakra, located at the base of the spine at

the perineum is the *root chakra*, muladhara. It primarily

relates to the element of earth and to psychic smell.

The second chakra, known as the *sacral center*,

svadhisthana, is located above and behind the genitals. Its

dominant element is water, and it is related to psychic taste.

Third of the chakras is the *solar plexus*, manipura,

located at the navel and corresponding with the emotions and

with the element of fire; also with psychic sight

(clairvoyance).

The *heart chakra*, anahata, is the fourth chakra,

located over the heart and corresponding with the element of

air, and also with psychic touch.

The fifth chakra is the *throat chakra*, vishuddha,

located at the base of the throat (thyroid) and corresponding

with psychic hearing (clairaudience).

The remaining two chakras are very important. They

relate mostly to elevated states of consciousness. The *frontal

chakra*, (or ‘third eye’) ajna, the sixth chakra, is located

between, and slightly above, the eyebrows. Ajna is the center of

psychic powers and can produce many psychic effects. Meditation

on ajna is said to cure nervousness.

Finally, the *crown chakra*, sahasrara, located atop the

head, (pineal gland) is the seventh chakra. It is referred to as

the thousand-petaled lotus and corresponds with astral

projection and enlightenment.

There are also many minor chakras throughout the body.

Each chakra has a sound (letter) and a pitch which is sometimes

used to invoke it.

THE TATTVAS

Some occultists prefer to describe the magical elements

as tattvas according to the Eastern system. Notice that these

symbols and colors are generally different than the western

symbols and colors for the elements.

element tattva tattvic symbol

======= ====== ==============

earth prithivi yellow square

water apas silver crescent

fire tejas red triangle

air vayu blue circle

(spirit) akasa black oval

YOGA

Yoga originated in India. It is a physical or mental

discipline designed to condition and invigorate the mind and

body. There are many kinds of yoga, but they may be generally

divided into three main types…

Hatha yoga — affect the mind through the body using

physical exercises; improve physical health and endurance.

Raja yoga — affect the mind through mental training;

improve concentration.

Mantra yoga — affect the mind through chanting and

affirmation; achieve relaxation.

MEDITATION

This is a much touted area of the occult. There are many

meditation techniques, and many claims made for the benefits of

meditation. Basicly, meditation has two functions — relaxation,

and perhaps, improved concentration. There are two main types…

1) concentration meditation (focusing),

 

 

THE BASICS OF MAGICK

THE BASICS OF MAGICK

 

2

I. Ethics

A. The Wiccan Rede

B. The Law or Return (sometimes called the “Threefold Law”)

C. Perfect Love and Perfect Trust (among partners in magick)

II. The Witches’ Pyramid

A. Faith in your abilities and powers.

B. Imagination to vividly create in your mind that which you desire to

manifest.

C. Will to achieve your goal despite all obstacles.

D. Secrecy to keep your magickal intention concentrated and pure.

III. The four Qualities of the Mage

A. To know

B. To will

C. To dare

D. To keep silence

IV. Preparatory Skills (hatha and raja yoga are good aids to developing

these)

A. Cleansing, clearing and stilling

B. Grounding

C. Centering

d. Concentrating ieving one-pointedness)

V. Defining the Goal: Form vs. Essence

VI. Working with the Power

A. Confining it (casting the Circle)

B. Raising it

C. Sending it (channeling it)… for imediate effect or into storage

D. Earthing the excess (grounding it)

VII. Systems and Techniques

A. Spellcraft

B. Words of Power and affirmations, charms and incantations

C. Dance, postures and mudras

D. Meditation, trancework and hypnosis, fascination

E. Stone magick

F. Candle magick

G. Amulets and talismans; power objects or “psychic batteries”

H. Healing

1. Psychic (visualization, laying on of hands)

2. Herbal

3. Energy channeling iwht auras and chakras

4. Color therapy

5. Other systems listed above

I. Divination

1. Scrying

2. Astrology

3. Tarot

4. Runesticks

5. Lithomancy (casting the stones)

6. I Ching

7. Other systems

8. Pendulum or radiesthesia

J. Astral travel

K. Thought forms; wraths, fetches, artificial elementals

L. Extra-sensory perception

1. Clairsentience

2. Clairvoyance

3. Clairaudience

4. Precognition

5. Telepathy

6. Telempathy

7. Psychometry

8. Telekinesis

9. Teleportation

M. Sympathetic magic (poppets and such)

N. Runes

O. Mediumship, necromancy, and spirit guides

P. Philtres and Poteins

Q. Cleansing, purification, protection and blessing; esxorcism;

ligature, binding

R. Power animals, totems and familiars; shapeshifting

S. Tree magick

T. Dreamcraft

U. Ritual tool magick

V. Invocation, evocation and going into aspect

W. Symbols, sigils and images; Tattvic symbols; numerology

X. Conjuration or summoning; banishing or exorcism

Y. Commemoration or linking

Z. Past life regression or recall

AA. Pathworking on the Tree of Life

BB. Ceremonial magic

VIII. Timing

A. The lunar cycle

B. The Wheel of the Year

C. Astrological conjunctions

D. Planetary hours and days

E. Individual biorhythms

IX. Creating your own reality, following your True Will

Prepared by: Amber K

Our Lady of the Woods

The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft.

The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft.
by Torin W. (e-mail: athame@flash.net)

copywrite 1996 White Circle Enterprises
All rights reserved.

 

 

**Notice**
This document may be distributed freely so long as it is not altered, edited, or changed in any way from its original form. A copy of this document in its true original form may be gotten from our home page.

In order to live a full and successful life as a ‘White Witch’, one must first understand what the rules of the game are. The princliples which are put forth below are intended to be a very simple, basic way to remember the way of the White Craft.

The total idea may be visualized as a four legged stool. Each of the Rules can be seen as a leg and The Law may be seen as the seat. The Rules without The Law are uncomfortable and nigh on to useless in their function. The Law without the Rules gives you a comfortable place to be, but it is rather impractical and again, nearly useless. However, when all of these are brought together they make a highly stable, functional, and enjoyable life.

The Four Rules:

1) Live – Live each day as if it were your last, for one day you will be right.

2) Love – Love yourself first and foremost. For when you truly love yourself, loving those around you will come as easily as breathing – and we all must breathe.

3) Learn – Learn your life’s lessons – each as it comes – for that is the reason we are here.

4) Enjoy – Enjoy your life, because if you do not most likely someone else will enjoy it for you… and then your time here will have been wasted.

The Law:

Harm None.

Explanations

**Live

The first Rule put forth sounds pretty straight forward at first. Then you actually try to live it! 🙂 Living each day as if it were your last means maximizing your potential for every moment that you have been given.

If you are let go from your job… that is an opportunity to face truth and see what you can do to make yourself more marketable and go get a BETTER job. Or, if you are highly motivated, dedicated, and a risk taker you can take that chance to start your own company.

When I first began to follow these principles, my business was not very successful, my marriage was only tolerable, and I often felt depressed about my situation as a whole. Then I began to live each moment.’Carpe Diem’ (Sieze the day) became my motto. I began to maximize every moment and live in the moment, not for the moment.

This does not mean that in order to be a good witch that you have to work like a rabid squirrel on ‘speed’… but it does mean that you have to be honest with yourself to see what your situation really is and to make the most of it.

I believe that if I can go to bed at night and think to myselfthat I had done the very best I could that day with the information I had at each moment of opportunity, then the day was a success. But if I go to bed thinking that I had let an opportunity slip away I do not beat myself up over it. I simply say to myself, “Gee Torin, that was one you missed. I’ll get it the next time it comes along.”

**Love

What is life without love? Honestly, I can’t imagine what that would be like. Yet many people live their lives without the most important form of love there is – the love of the self. If you truly understand yourself and are willing to take responsibility for your own actions you will suddenly find a great love for yourself.

In order to give free and unconditional love to another person you must first have that kind of feeling for yourself. This is all this means.

**Learn

One of the cornerstones of The Craft is the belief that our souls are here on this plane of existance at this point in time to learn lessons. Your lessons are different from (although probably quite similar to) my own. Learn what life teaches you. It is no more difficult than this.

**Enjoy

The life of the witch does not require you to live your life in suffering nor poverty. There are no mandates for pain, unhappiness, or unpleasantness. We do not see suffering as the ‘key’ to getting into Heaven (or the Summer- lands as some of us call it). Indeed, we see such things as exactly what they are… unpleasant! This does not mean that we never have unpleasant things happen to us, nor that we walk around in a constant state of denial.

We see suffering as either the result of an action we took (i.e. going to jail for robbing a bank) or the way that The Unknown (see “The Dieties of Witches” by Torin W.) has chosen to teach us a lesson which we need to learn but have not done anything consciously to bring about the circumstances (i.e. the totally unexpected death of a close friend).

Witch Craft allows you to reap all of the happiness and prosperity from your life that you can muster… so long as you stay within the accepted boundaries. For instance, if you work hard at an honest job you like to do then there is nothing which says you should feel badly for being more suc- cessful than others. But if you rob a bank, you may be happy with the things that the money can buy for a short period of time, but eventually you will suffer far greater than if you had simply worked for it. (I know this may sound some-what like a contradiction to what I said earlier, but I do not believe in keeping a job which does not give me enough pleasure, satisfac- tion, and money to make up for the difficulties I endure.)

**The Law: Harm None.

I have been asked to explain this statement more than all of the previous ideas combined. I often describe ‘Harm None’ as “the Law which must remain unbroken, but cannot remain whole at all times.” Think about it, you can’t do it as a human being.

In order to actually harm none you would have to be in total and complete harmony with all things int he Universe at exactly the same time. Your immune system would not kill bacteria and other infections (because that would be harming them). Nor would you allow the bacteria to infect you because that would cause harm to yourself. You would not eat meat, nor vegetables because it would cause the destruction of either. Neither would you not eat because that would harm you. Do you see how this is simply an impossiblilty?

What I teach my students is to take great pains to Harm None and to think out the results of any act as far as possible ahead of time. I also stress that whenever magics are being worked that the free will of any individual or group should never be infringed.

I have been asked specifically about the use of various types of drugs in witchcraft and their relationship to the ‘Harm None’ principle. I believe that The Bright Ones gave us a sober state of mind for a reason. They also gave our brains some of the most potent chemicals known to man for achieving altered states of consciousness. Therefore i see no reason to alter the chemistry of the brain in order to ‘gain enlightenment’. Ask any recovering drug addict… he/she will tell you that the drugs lie to you.

Because of part of the training I give, I require that no illegal drugs are used while under my tutilage. In fact, if a student becomes sick during training and requires a prescription strength pain reliever, the training schedule is re-worked to allow for the purging of the body before training resumes.

One of my students used to do a good deal of psychotropic drugs (i.e. LSD, mushrooms, etc.). Then he and I began to work together. After a few months of training, we worked a circle to allow him to develope his psychic senses (i.e. clairaudience, clairvoyance, etc.) When he left the circle he related to me a feeling such as none he had ever known. His words were, “It was a hundred thousand times better then the best acid trip I had ever taken.”

In short, I personally feel that drugs can be a great hinderance and only cause damage to your soul. But I also recognise the free will of the individual. I can only tell you that in my own perception, drugs do cause harm to you.

White Witchcraft Magic: What It Is and Isn’t

White Witchcraft Magic: What It Is and Isn’t
by Torin W.

 

copywrite (c) 1996 White Circle Enterprises
All rights reserved.

**Notice**
This document may be distributed freely so long as it is not altered, edited, or changed in any way from its original form. A copy of this document in its true original form may be gotten from our home page.

Please e-mail any critique or questions to me if you cannot find me on the IRC at #Witchcraft_102… flames will be ignored.

It should be noted at the outset that Magic, like all forms energy, is morally neutral in its nature, i.e. neither good nor bad. The descriptive terms ‘White’ and ‘Black’ are used to decribe actions which work toward good or bad ends respectively. An example of White Magickal action is helping a sick person to become well again so that he may continue to provide love and sustenance to his family. An example of a Black Magickal action is helping a sick person so that he may continue to steal items for you to have. Magical power, regardless of what is done with it, all comes from the same source. The source of Magical power is Divinity – in its many forms. My hope is for everyone who reads this information to learn and to follow a life path of White Magic. If this is you, I want to say Merry Meet, congratulations, and I love you. For those who decide to go the route of Black Magic I want to say that I love you dearly. Without those who walk the path of Black Magic it would be far more difficult for me to see where I don’t want to be with my life.

Blessed Be!
T.W.

I. White Magic

I can best describe White magic like this:

-It is not a conduit for power over others, but rather a way to focus power for the benefit of all;

-It is not parlor tricks with which to amuse yourself or others, it does many amazing things every day – we merely have to become aware of them by not taking the ‘small’ miracles for granted;

-It is not necessarily full of pomp and ceremony with rhyming incantations, dancing, cauldrons, and bonfires but it can be if the time, people and place are right;

-It is a circular path of never-ending learning, teaching, and re-learning;

-It is not infinite power, but it is a way of tapping into that power;

-It requires a clear mind to learn the lessons;

-It requires a light heart to love those who do not seem to love themselves;

-Most of all, it requires an awakened developed soul which wants to strive forward.

The path of the White magician is extremely narrow, often tediously slow and painstaking. However the reward for taking the White path is always worth the effort.

Magic is a means of tapping into the infinite of The Deities and making a direct effect upon the physical and metaphysical worlds to make a change in one or both in accordance with The Way. When it comes right down to it, magic is nothing more than prayer. The differences between pagan prayer and non-pagan prayer are:

1) the prayer ritual is usually done outside in a natural setting rather than a building;
2) the worshipper uses many tools, often of his/her own making, to help concentrate the power of the prayer;
3) whle praying to pagan deities, the worshipper often has the physical presence of those deities with him/her as opposed to praying to a god in some far away place.

The solitary practioner (a.k.a. hedge witch) is often equally if not more ‘powerful’ than the practioner who looks to another for spiritual guidance (i.e. a coven). This is because no other person knows what you find to be true better than you. This means that in order to work the highest of magics one must look inward.

The Price of the White Path vs. the Black Path

Like all things worth while in life, there is a price to be paid for living the White magic path. However instead of paying with money, we pay with time, care, loving, and hard work. The greater the personal gain, the greater the price we pay. The difference between the White path and the Black path is when the debt is paid. The debts of White magic are paid up front… C.O.D. if you will. We may labor for months or even years to develop our talents to their maximum potential in those areas where we as individuals desire to excel. The White magician may work hard to achieve great monetary wealth, happiness and tranquility at home, advanced scholastic degrees, etc. So long as The Law is not broken, there can be nearly boundless prosperity. The White magic way to these things is through fair play, honesty, and hard work. The Black path offers pretty much the same benefits, the difference is that the karmic price may be put off until a later date. As with any other installment plan – there is interest to be paid in addition to the principle. One of my closest friends is now a traveler of the White path who spent a full 10 years paying the karmic debts he had accumulated during his sojourn down the Black path. At one point my friend had wealth, women, and all the drugs he could pump into his system. He also had more magical power than anyone else he knew. All of this had been gained through a voluntary participation in Black magic. After years of living this way his eyes were opened to what he had done. He finally realized all of the harm which he had brought into his life and the lives of those around him through lying, cheating, and hurting whenever possible. Fortunately for my friend (and me!) he took responsibility for his debt and labored a full decade to return to the White path. He is now honest, clean, and much wiser for his mistake.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Torin W. athame@flash.net
What you do today may come back to haunt you many many years from now.Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Lady A’s Spell Of The Day for 8/10: SPELL TO AVERT EVIL

SPELL TO AVERT EVIL


You will need:
* three small pine branches, a few feet in length (or three fern fronds)
The Spell:
To banish evil that has come, go into your garden at night.
Cut three small pine branches, a few feel long, or three fern fronds.
Circle your garden with these slowly and call forth all the powers and spirits of your garden
in whatever words feel good to you. Express your hurts and fears and ask for help from the
Earth Mother. Then “sweep” the house with these branches or fronds, pushing all the
dark energies out the front door forcefully, saying:
OUT! OUT! AVERT! AVERT! EVIL OUT IS– ALHIZ! ALHIZ!
Throw the branches away, off your property.

“Witch”

“Witch”

 

The Random House College Dictionary derived “witch” from medieval English wicche, formerly Anglo-Saxon wicca (masculine), or wicce (feminine): a corruption of witga, short form of witega, a seer or diviner; from Anglo-Saxon witan, to see, to know. Similarly, Icelandic vitki, a witch, came from vita, to know; or vizkr, clever or knowing one. Wizard came from Norman French wischard. Old French guiscart, sagacious one. The surname Whittaker came from Witakarlege, a Wizard or a Witch. The words “wit” and “wisdom” came from the same roots.

There were many other words for witches, such as Incantatrix, Lamia, Saga, Maga, Malefica, Sortilega, Strix, Venefica. In Italy a witch was a strega or Janara, an old title of a priestess of Jana (Juno). English writers called witches both “hags” and “fairies,” words which were once synonymous. Witches had metaphoric titles: bacularia, “stick-rider”; fascinatrix, “one with the evil eye”; herberia, “one who gathers herbs”; strix, “screech-owl”; pixidria, “keeper of an ointment-box”; femina saga, “wise-woman”; lamia, “night-monster”; incantator, “worker of charms”; magus, “wise-man”; sortiariae mulier, “seeress”; veneficia, “poisoner”; maliarda, “evil-doer.” Latin treatises called Witches anispex, auguris, divinator, januatica, ligator, mascara, phitonissa, stregula.

Dalmatian witches were krstaca, “crossed ones,” a derivative of the Greek Christos In Holland a witch was wijsseggher, “wise-sayer,” from which came the English “wiseacre.” The biblical passage that supported centuries of persecution, “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18), used the Hebrew word kasaph, translated “witch” although it means a seer or diviner.

Early medieval England had female clan-leaders who exercised matriarchal rights in lawgiving and law enforcement; the Magna Carta of Chester called them iudices de wich (judges who were witches). Female elders once had political power among the clans, but patriarchal religion and law gradually took it away from them and called them witches in order to dispose of them. In 1711. Addison observed that “When an old woman begins to doat and grow chargeable to a Parish, she is generally turned into a witch.”

Reginald Scot remarked that the fate of a witch might be directly proportional to her fortune. The pope made saints out of rich witches, but poor witches were burned. Among many examples tending to support this opinion was the famous French Chambre Ardente affair, which involved many members of the aristocracy and the upper-class clergy in a witch cult. Numerous male and female servants were tortured and burned for assisting their masters in working witchcraft; but in all the four years the affair dragged on, no noble person was tortured or executed.

Illogically enough, the authorities persecuted poor, outcast folk as witches, yet professed to believe witches could provide themselves with all the wealth anyone could want. Reginald Scot, a disbeliever, scornfully observed that witches were said to “transfer their neighbors’ corn into their own ground, and yet are perpetual beggars, and cannot enrich themselves, either with money or otherwise: who is so foolish as to remain longer in doubt of their supernatural powers?” Witchcraft brought so little profit to Helen Jenkenson of Northants, hanged in 1612 for bewitching a child, that the record of her execution said: “Thus ended this woman her miserable life, after she had lived many years poor, wretched, scorned and forsaken of the world.”

“Women which be commonly old, lame, blear-eyed, pale, foul, and full of wrinkles; poor, sullen, superstitious, and papists; or such as know no religion; in whose drowsy minds the devil hath gotten a fine seat; so as, what mischief, mischance, calamity, or slaughter is brought to pass, they are easily persuaded the same is done by themselves . . . They are lean and deformed, showing melancholy in their faces, to the horror of all that see them. They are doting, scolds, mad, devilish; and not much differing from them that are thought to be possessed with spirits.”

Persecutors said it was heretical to consider witches harmless. Even in England, where witches were not burned but hanged, some authorities fearfully cited the “received opinion” that a witch’s body should be burned to ashes to prevent ill effects arising from her blood. Churchmen assured the arresting officers that a witch’s power was lost the instant she was touched by an employee of the Inquisition; but the employees themselves were not so sure.

Numerous stories depict the persecutors’ fear of their victims. It was said in the Black Forest that a witch blew in her executioner’s face, promising him his reward; the next day he was afflicted with a fatal leprosy. Inquisitors’ handbooks directed them to wear at all times a bag of salt consecrated on Palm Sunday; to avoid looking in a witch’s eyes; and to cross themselves constantly in the witches’ prison. Peter of Berne forgot this precaution, and a captive witch by enchantment made him fall down a flight of stairs – which he proved later by torturing her until she confirmed it.

Numerous stories depict the persecutors’ fear of their victims. It was said in the Black Forest that a witch blew in her executioner’s face, promising him his reward; the next day he was afflicted with a fatal leprosy. Inquisitors’ handbooks directed them to wear at all times a bag of salt consecrated on Palm Sunday; to avoid looking in a witch’s eyes; and to cross themselves constantly in the witches’ prison. Peter of Berne forgot this precaution, and a captive witch by enchantment made him fall down a flight of stairs – which he proved later by torturing her until she confirmed it.

Numerous stories depict the persecutors’ fear of their victims. It was said in the Black Forest that a witch blew in her executioner’s face, promising him his reward; the next day he was afflicted with a fatal leprosy. Inquisitors’ handbooks directed them to wear at all times a bag of salt consecrated on Palm Sunday; to avoid looking in a witch’s eyes; and to cross themselves constantly in the witches’ prison. Peter of Berne forgot this precaution, and a captive witch by enchantment made him fall down a flight of stairs – which he proved later by torturing her until she confirmed it.

Any unusual ability in a woman instantly raised a charge of witchcraft. The so-called Witch of Newbury was murdered by a group of soldiers because she knew how to go “surfing” on the river. Soldiers of the Earl of Essex saw her doing it, and were “as much astonished as they could be,” seeing that “to and fro she fleeted on the board standing firm bolt upright . . . turning and winding it which way she pleased, making it pastime to her, as little thinking who perceived her tricks, or that she did imagine that they were the last she ever should show.” Most of the soldiers were afraid to touch her, but a few brave souls ambushed the board-rider as she came to shore, slashed her head, beat her, and shot her, leaving her “detested carcass to the worms.”

From ruthlessly organized persecutions on the continent, witch-hunts in England became largely cases of village feuds and petty spite. If crops failed, horses ran away, cattle sickened, wagons broke, women miscarried, or butter wouldn’t come in the churn, a witch was always found to blame. Marion Cumlaquoy of Orkney was burned in 1643 for turning herself three times widdershins, to make her neighbor’s barley crop rot. A tailor’s wife was executed for quarrelling with her neighbor, who afterward saw a snake on his property, and his children fell sick. One witch was condemned for arguing with a drunkard in an alehouse. After drinking himself into paroxysms of vomiting, he accused her of bewitching him, and he was believed.

A woman was convicted of witchcraft for having caused a neighbor’s lameness – by pulling off her stockings. Another was executed for having admired a neighbor’s baby, which afterward fell out of its cradle and died. Two Glasglow witches were hanged for treating a sick child, even though the treatment succeeded and the child was cured. Joan Cason of Kent went to the gallows in 1586 for having dry thatch on her roof. Her neighbor, whose child was sick, was told by an unidentified traveler that the child was bewitched, and it could be proved by stealing a bit of thatch from the witch’s roof and throwing it on the fire. If it crackled and sparked, witchcraft was assured. The test came out positive, and the court was satisfied enough to convict poor Joan.

Witches were convenient scapegoats for doctors who failed to cure their patients, for it was the “received” belief that witch-caused illnesses were incurable. Weyer said, “Ignorant and clumsy physicians blame all sicknesses which they are unable to cure or which they have treated wrongly, on witchery.” There were also priests and monks who “claim to understand the healing art and they lie to those who seek help that their sicknesses are derived from witchery.” Most real witch persecutions reflect “no erotic orgies, no Sabbats or elaborate rituals; merely the hatreds and spites of narrow peasant life assisted by vicious laws.”

Witches provided a focus for sexist hatred in male-dominated society, as one writer pointed out:

“The spirit of the Church in its contempt for women, as shown in the Scriptures, in Paul’s epistles and the Pentateuch, the hatred of the fathers, manifested in their ecclesiastical canons, and in the doctrines of asceticism, celibacy, and witchcraft, destroyed man’s respect for woman and legalized the burning, drowning, and torturing of women . . . “Women and their duties became objects of hatred to the Christian missionaries and of alternate scorn and fear to pious ascetics and monks. The priestess mother became something impure, associated with the devil, and her lore an infernal incantation, her very cooking a brewing of poison, nay, her very existence a source of sin to man. Thus, woman, as mother and priestess, became woman as witch. . . . Here is the reason why in all the Biblical researches and higher criticism, the scholars never touch the position of women.”

Men displayed a lively interest in the physical appearance of witches, seeking to know how to recognize them-as men also craved rules for recognizing other types of women from their physical appearance. It was generally agreed that any woman with dissimilar eyes was a witch. Where most people had dark eyes and swarthy complexions, as in Spain and Italy, pale blue eyes were associated with witchcraft. Many claimed any woman with red hair was a witch.

This may have been because red-haired people are usually freckled, and freckles were often identified as “witch marks,” as were moles, warts, birthmarks, pimples, pockmarks, cysts, liver spots, wens, or any other blemish. Some witch-finders said the mark could resemble an insect bite or an ulcer.

No one ever explained how the witch mark differed from an ordinary blemish. Since few bodies were unblemished, the search for the mark seldom failed. Thomas Ady, one of the few 17th-century English debunkers of the witchcraft craze, author of A Perfect Discovery of Witches (1661), recognized this, and wrote: “Very few people in the world are without privy marks upon their bodies, as moles or stains, even such as witchmongers call the devil’s privy marks.” But no one paid attention to this.

Trials were conducted with as much injustice as possible. In 1629 Isobel Young was accused of crippling by magic a man who had quarreled with her, and causing a water mill to break down. She protested that the man was lame before their quarrel, and water mills can break down through neglect. The prosecutor. Sir Thomas Hope, threw out her defense on the ground that it was “contrary to the libel,” that is, it contradicted the charge. When a witch is on trial, Reginald Scot said, any “equivocal or doubtful answer is taken for a confession.”

On the other hand, no answer at all was a confession too. Witches who refused to speak were condemned: “Witchcraft proved by silence of the accused.” Sometimes mere playfulness “proved” witchcraft, as in the case of Mary Spencer, accused in 1634 because she merrily set her bucket rolling downhill and ran before it, calling it to follow her. Sometimes women were stigmatized as witches when they were in fact victims of unfair laws, such as the law that accepted any man’s word in court ahead of any number of women’s. A butcher in Germany stole some silver vessels from women, then had them prosecuted for witchcraft by claiming that he found the vessels in the woods where the women were attending a witches’ Sabbat.

Sometimes the accusation of witchcraft was a form of punishment for women who were too vocal about their disillusionment with men and their preference for living alone. Historical literature has many references to “the joy with which women after widowhood set up their own households, and to the vigor with which they resisted being courted by amorous widowers.” The solitary life, however, left a woman even more vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft, since men usually thought she must be somehow controlled.

Those who tortured the unfortunate defendant into admitting witchcraft used a euphemistic language that showed the victim was condemned a priori. One Anne Marie de Georgel denied making a devil’s pact, until by torture she was “justly forced to give an account of herself,” the record said. Catherine Delort was “forced to confess by the means we have power to use to make people speak the truth,” and she was “convicted of all the crimes we suspected her of committing, although she protested her innocence for a long time.” The inquisitor Nicholas Rémy professed a pious astonishment at the great number of witches who expressed a “positive desire for death,” pretending not to notice that they had been brought to this desire by innumerable savage tortures.

The extent to which pagan religion, as such, actually survived among the witches of the 16th and 17th centuries has been much discussed but never decided. Dean Church said, “Society was a long time unlearning heathenism; it has not done so yet; but it had hardly begun, at any rate it was only just beginning, to imagine the possibility of such a thing in the eleventh century.” In 15th-century Bohemia it was still common practice at Christmas and other holidays to make offerings to “the gods,” rather than to God. European villages still had many “wise-women” who acted as priestesses officially or unofficially. Since church fathers declared Christian priestesses unthinkable, all functions of the priestess were associated with paganism. Bishops described pagan gatherings in their dioceses, attended by “devils . . . in the form of men and women.” Pagan ceremonies were allowed to survive in weddings, folk festivals, seasonal rites, feasts of the dead, and so on. But when women or Goddesses played the leading role in such ceremonies, there was more determined suppression. John of Salisbury wrote that it was the devil, “with God’s permission,” who sent people to gatherings in honor of the Queen of the Night, a priestess impersonating the Moon-goddess under the name of Noctiluca or Herodiade.

The Catholic church applied the word “witch” to any woman who criticized church policies. Women allied with the 14th-century Reforming Franciscans, some of whom were burned for heresy, were described as witches, daughters of Judas, and instigated of the Devil. Writers of the Talmud similarly tended to view nearly all women as witches. They said things like, “Women are naturally inclined to witchcraft,” and “The more women there are, the more witchcraft there will be.”

Probably there were few sincere practitioners, compared with the multitudes who were railroaded into the ecclesiastical courts and legally murdered despite their innocence. Yet it was obvious to even the moderately intelligent that Christian society deliberately humiliated and discriminated against women. Some may have been resentful enough to become defiant. “Women have had no voice in the canon law, the catechisms, the church creeds and discipline, and why should they obey the behests of a strictly masculine religion, that places the sex at a disadvantage in all life’s emergencies? Possibilities for expressing their frustration and defiance were severely limited; but voluntary adoption of the witch’s reputation and behavior was surely among such possibilities.

MAGICK IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

MAGICK IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

What we have been calling ‘magick’ is actually a

continuous process. Since your subconscious never rests,

your environment is continually being shifted into line with

your model. This is true whether you study magick or not.

For most people, these effects are usually very subtle, and

they are probably not aware of them. However, as you work

with the occult, the flow of psychic energy and your

awareness of it increases. Your true will is more likely

to be strongly expressed. Your luck may be affected (either

in a positive or a negative way). Remember, our lives tend

to follow what we want down deep. That is why a positive

outlook is so very beneficial to us

MAGICK WHITE AND BLACK

MAGICK WHITE AND BLACK

‘Personal magick’ is that magick used to affect the

self; often involving affirmation, self-suggestion, and

self-hypnosis. ‘Active magick’ is outer directed magick (as

in PK) used to affect someone or thing, or to bring about

an event. ‘Passive magick’ is to be affected (as in ESP)

by an outside non-physical cause. Everyone possesses some

magical (and psychic) potential. Some are especially

gifted. Usually people are better at one kind of magick

(ie. active or passive) than they are at the other kind;

only rarely does an individual excell at both. Traning

and practice will, of course, improve ability somewhat.

Although the forces of magick are neutral, various

systems may take on the qualities of good and evil. There

is so-called white magick or good magick, black magick or

evil magick, and gray magick between them. When many people

refer to white magick they mean magick for unselfish

purposes, also healing and mental influence with specific

permission. By black magick they refer to magick for

self-interest and healing *without* specific permission.

Using magick to forcefully control another’s will is, in a

sense, black magick too. There are also some people on the

occult fringe who claim to be, possibly even think they are,

‘Satanists’, devil worshipers, or black magicians. These

people are most likely charlatans, hoaxters, dablers, or

merely misinformed. They may be attracted by the ‘art’ of

black magick, or even by the ‘glamor’ of doing something

against the ‘rules’. But a real black magician is very

dangerous. Because he has dedicated his life to evil. We

usually think of ‘white magick’ as having *unselfish

intent*, and (in the extreme case) of ‘black magick’ as

being actual Satan worship, human or animal sacrifice,

dangerous unconventional magical practices, and other

bizarre stuff as makes a nightmare. It is all a matter of

degree. Most mild self-interest magick (one of the most

common kinds) would be called ‘gray’. Better terms may be

*constructive magick* as being beneficial; and *aversive

magick* as magick intended to work against the natural

order, and to tear down. There is also the *high magick* of

spiritual alchemy (ie. spiritual growth), also known as ‘the

Great Work’; and conversely there is ‘low magick’ which is

concerned with materiality.

Any magick act is likely to produce side effects

regardless of whether or not the desired result is achieved.

Such side effects are no problem for constructive magick,

since they are benificial as well. However, aversive magick

can produce aversive side effects which may even harm the

magician — aversive magick is dangerous!

MAGICK AND WITCHCRAFT

MAGICK AND WITCHCRAFT

A number of other occult disciplines are prevalent

today besides magick. There are many cults and sects which

profess their own views, but there are really few differences

between them. One popular area in the occult today is

witchcraft. This is far removed from the cliche of devil

worship. Real witchcraft is a nature religion (pagan).

Witchcraft has much in common with magick.

Alchemy also has much in common with magick. It’s

heritage comes from the middle ages. Alchemy fathered

chemistry and the physical sciences. But the avowed purpose

of alchemy, turning lead into gold, is too limiting to be

called magick. Sometimes the goal of alchemy is interpreted

in another way, as the transformation of man into a spiritual

being.

Then there are the numerous modern day seers or

‘pychics’, as they like to be called, who operate within

their own somewhat unique systems. Although many of these

people are deluded frauds, some are very powerful occultists

indeed.

Of course, everything I have said here is a

generalization. Magick, witchcraft, alchemy, or any occult

field are complex subjects. Suffice it to say that magick

includes them all (it is eclectic). For magick is undoubtedly

a philosophy which has, as the late Aleister Crowley wrote,

“The method of science — the aim of religion.”

WHY DO MAGICK?

WHY DO MAGICK?

Magick encompasses many things — science and art,

philosophy and metaphysics, psychology and comparative

religion. Magick is an adventure at the borderlands of the

unknown. It can fit the pieces of the puzzel of life into a

meaningful whole.

_Magick is fun_ and interesting. Use magick to help

raise consciousness without drugs. Gain new experiences.

Fantacy can come alive through magick. Psychic phenomena can

be controlled and be fun and helpful.

_Magick is beneficial_. It can help you to have

excellent health, and bring you good luck. With magick life

runs smoothly; life is good. Also use magick for personality

improvement, to control bad habits and to develop new

motivations.

_Magick is powerful_. Never underestimate the

tremendous power of magick. Use magick to alter events and to

achieve your goals. Exert an influence over people and

phenomena. But power for its own sake is self defeating. The

power which magick can give you should not be your primary

reason for studying it.

WHY MAGICK

WHY MAGICK

The ability to think seems to set us apart from

other creatures. And although we are concerned with

living in the physical world, we are mental beings. The

fact is we are thinking all the time. We plan, we brood,

we get depressed or elated — all of it is thought. But

the universe is mental too, and if we could control our

thinking we would see magnificent results in the everyday

world.

Many systems have been developed over the ages to

help us control our thoughts. A great amound of dogma too

has been kicked around in an attempt to make us into better

people. Magick (the occult kind, spelled with a ‘k’) is one

of the oldest and most general of these systems. Magick is

the study and application of psychic forces. It uses mental

training, concentration, and a system of symbols to program

the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the

environment according to the will.

Most of the magick we see today comes to us from

ancient Egypt and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans

developed their own unique types of magick. Western magick

was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years

and then supressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not

until medieval Europe that magical knowledge was rediscovered

by the alchemists and Cabalists. Only during the past hundred

years or so has western culture been open minded enough to

permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since

the start of the twentieth century has science shown much

interest in it al all.

The Magick is in the Witch…Not the Bitch

The Magick is in the Witch…Not the Bitch

Author: Phoenix Forestsong

I recently placed myself in a position where I had to “explain myself” to a non-magickal person. Surprisingly, this situation planted a very interesting seed into the fertile soil of my mind. Ultimately that seed has culminated in this essay, minus the offensive title. Without getting into irrelevant details, the conversation essentially boiled down to “I don’t care what you say, Magick doesn’t work because I refuse to believe in it.”

Yup. That statement is one hundred percent factually true. Magick only works if you open yourself to it first, even if you don’t believe but still accept the possibility, then Magick can move in your life. A non-magickal person or, to upset those witches that take themselves way too seriously, a Muggle who “does not believe”, but “refuses to believe” will not be knowingly influenced by Magick. The key here is in the word knowingly. Magick is life and Magick is energy, thus all that lives is filled with the energy of Life; whether it knows, believes, or denies the possibility of Magick, the human spirit is still affected by Magick.

The problem that most non-magickal people have with Magick, aside from centuries of brainwashing by Christianity, is the concept of a binary world. The concept of a binary world is anathema to traditional stratified religions where there is Earth, Heaven, Hell, and only The Creator and The Destroyer can manipulate “Magick” to make things happen. Even then, it is only good and “Holy” when that power comes from God or Jesus, and “evil”, “unnatural”, or “Satanic” when it comes from any other source, for as we all know, that which is not exclusively from the domain of God, comes from the Devil’s own hand.

To Wiccans and pagans there are two worlds that make up our lives. There is the physical and material world that simultaneously and conterminously coexists with the spiritual world, which is the world of energy, the world of magick. When we see the forest, we see the physical world with trees, rocks, leaves, streams, and forest creatures; however, we also see the energies that these seemingly simple physical things are made of. It is natural to see this world and to live in this world; in fact, from the moment of birth we are completely opened up to the True World. As we gradually learn more about the “Real World”, the exclusive world of the physical, we do so ignorant of the natural abilities that we were born with. Thus, the situation creates a disconnect within us where “something” is missing, but we’re not quite sure what.

The Witch

The Witch, The Wise, A Wise One, or whatever name we are known by, changes neither the responsibilities nor dedication that it takes to become a Witch. When you first began to follow your path, there was a tremendous amount of information that had to be learned, a lot of books to read, and a ton of thinking, meditating, and writing that needed to be completed before you really had even the slightest clue of just what you were doing. However, setting aside your confusion you pressed on, slowly coming to master the basic talents required by the Craft. You can now raise power, know your correspondences for candles, herbs, and gemstones. More than likely you have delved into divination with the Tarot, a pendulum, or Runes.

In any event, you are a Witch and it took a lot of thought and effort to, not only learn and master your skills, but to acquire the right philosophy and spirit to actually put them to use. It is the same as a computer technician who spends long hours in class working for a Bachelor’s degree. Though some of what will be learned may seem pointless at the time, overall it has taken at least four years to learn enough of the basics of Computer Science to be proficient at your chosen field. While you may not be an expert in every area of computer technology, you are pretty damn good when it comes to identifying, troubleshooting, and repairing a computer whenever it fails…it’s all fundamentals to you now.

For the IT Professional, the medium that is best used to faithfully execute their duties is the Internet. Obviously I use this profession for the example because, well, write what you know. I have the B.S. Degree, I’ve had several technical positions, including a management position and a consulting business, and so I have witnessed and experienced the IT field from several different angles. I would regularly run into computer programs that I’ve never even heard about prior to accepting the client. So I would research.

I would hit the Internet, learn more about this new technology, and I would test it out prior to taking any drastic action. I taught myself how to operate that computer program, usually better than the employees who had to use it on a daily basis. The point is that I didn’t know it before, I recognized the fact, did the research, got the hands on experience, and incorporated new, albeit somewhat situational, knowledge into my life. I had to make an effort to grow, to learn, to develop something within myself in order to learn this new skill.

How does this have any relationship to Wicca? Imagine that your sister is in a relationship with one real bad dude. When you do see her, which rarely ever happens, she always wears clothing and makeup that conceal the abuse. When you say something about it she gets worried, not angry, and begs you to stay out of her life. Just this past Thanksgiving she missed the traditional family meal, so you decided to stop by her house and check everything out. She answers the door in tears, blood streaming from her broken nose. She tells you, panic blazing from her eyes that she broke her nose falling down the stairs and that everything is all right. Don’t worry; just go home she’ll be fine.

Sure. What do you do? Right off the top of your head the best solution is to call the police. If they can’t (or won’t) do anything, then call the YWCA, even a local church with a women’s outreach group, someone who is trained to handle domestic violence. So, once you’ve called the cops, and no one presses charges, and the beatings continue, and you see your sister less and less often, in greater agony at each and every meeting. What do you do?

You are a Witch, you know the basics inside and out, you have the Rede, and you have a very desperate need. Using the Rede as your guide, you begin to peruse the Internet and your own Magickal library to research how to safely and permanently get rid of this guy. You find the best way is through a spell of binding placed on him (‘An it harm none…’An he IS harming someone) so that he will be unable to harm your sister in any way followed by a spell of protection placed on your sister. The research completed, you hit up your local craft shop or Wally World and get what you need for the ritual. You create the necessary components required for your ritual, prepare the ritual, work the ritual, raise power, empower the spell with your most desperate need, and fire it off into the Aether, knowing with all certainty that it has already worked.

When a computer guy fixes a computer, he or she knows that it is fixed because there is a very noticeable and measurable change in the machine. Mainly, that change is that the computer now works, however, in more complicated computers, such as Internet Servers, the change may not be drastically noticeable as the computer is not running just one or two applications like your PC, it is executing thousands at a time. An adjustment here and a tweak there will create noticeable results; however, it takes patience and experience to notice those changes.

When a Witch fixes a situation, he or she knows that it is fixed because there is a very noticeable, yet subtle change in the situation. As our “Fundamentals” are not well-documented scientific skills but rather are naturally-born abilities that, once trained, unlock greater levels of perception in the Witch, we notice the change in energy before the event actually moves in that direction. Two very important rules to remember are: “Magick always follows the path of least resistance” and “Energy always occurs before motion.”

Energy occurs before motion is an accepted scientific law. Simply look to the famous Sir Isaac Newton and his three marvelous and Magickal laws of motion. The First Law of Motion, which is the only one we’re interested in, states that an object in motion will stay in constant uniform motion and an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by some external force, with force being kinetic energy.

To simplify even further, things tend to do what they were already doing unless some outside force influences it. Thus, the ball just sits there and does nothing until you kick it, which is the application of kinetic energy. Thus the bastard will remain abusive (an A-hole in motion) until some outside force (emotion, Magick, POLICE) pushes him (and his energy) onto another constant, uniform course, which hopefully leads straight to a jail cell and a karmic reward.

Now, I know all you eggheads out there are just drooling about the big flaw in my argument. I can hear it right now, it goes something like this…Dude, that only applies to an object with constant mass, not to something that can grow or shrink, thus changing its mass and, potentially, its momentum and direction! That is what is so cool about the flaw; the first law only ALWAYS works on things, static things, things that don’t change and people their situations are dynamic.

In the world of spirit, we’re not simply bundles of energy floating around without thought, without direction. Hell no! People are driven, motivated, self-directed, and above all else, highly intelligent and sentient individuals. We steer ourselves through life; our Spirit hops into the driver’s seat, takes the wheel, puts the pedal to the metal, slams on the break, grinds the transmission, and tries to go where it wants to go. Magick, like a sudden gust of wind upon the interstate or two tons of rolling steel smacking fatally into you, still affects your motion. The difference between a gust of wind pushing your car and the horror of a traffic fatality is force, which is energy.

In Magick, it is a disciplined and focused Will that sets the direction of the spell, and it emotion and desire that give our spells force, “kinetic energy”, the kick. Correspondences naturally add additional power to the magick, thus increasing the force of the spell. The energy is raised, the desire for change churns at the heart of the spell, waiting to be let loose, the spell is directed, it’s energy changing to comply with the Will of the Witch, transforming into what it needs to become to do its job. The spell is let loose, it’s aim is true and the force behind the spell is mind-shatteringly intense. You ground, center, thank your Deities, and close out your circle, cleaning up along the way. You listen for the phone.

An hour passes, you near nothing. Two hours pass, still nothing. After four hours you have to sleep, the ritual was too much of a draining process to keep sleep over the horizon for much longer. One day goes by, nothing, two, three, five, still nothing. You stop by her house but she won’t open the door, she keeps the chain latched and hides her face in the safety of shadows. You know. You’re not upset; you’re pissed. “’An it harm none…” as your first thought is to personally explain Newton’s Laws of Motion using the example of his face as the object with your fist as the application of kinetic energy, which would technically violate that whole “harm none” thing. As Plan A won’t really work out, you fall back to Plan B and call the Police who rush out to arrest the guy who, surprisingly, actually gets charged, convicted, and sees the inside of the Pokey for a while.

The Bitch

Oh! I see. You spent all that time worrying and worshiping the Devil, and all you had to do was call the Cops. See! Magick doesn’t work! Tee-hee! Tee-hee! Sure, the Police were called and it was the Police who dragged the human filth out of the house and into a cruiser, but they had already been called before without any result. Now, there is a noticeable result. Notice that the spell took time to work; it could have taken months even! Why?

The Jerk is self-motivated, self-directed, and self-centered, thus instead of a ball of rock floating idly in space, he is a jerk behind the wheel of car and he’s going wherever he wants to God Dammed go! Your Sister, for her own reasons, was attracted to him which drew her closer to him, the distance between them lessened and he began to influence her. The proximity of their paths and the momentum of his desire and his will to be abusive does not simply stop and cease to be because one wishes for it too. It stops because some outside force, some outside energy, slammed full-force into him and pushed him in another direction. The spell of protection cast upon your sister, it too slammed into her life, pushing her away from his abuse.

Now, neither the Jerk nor your Sister were ever aware of your spell, so to their knowledge nothing abnormal ever occurred. However, Magick always follows the path of least resistance. The Jerk, being a physical guy, liked his drink and he liked women, but when he got drunk he would get violent. It was his nature and he followed his nature. Your sister, after having a half-remembered dream about watching some show on TV last week about fidelity and abuse, was growing more resentful and angry the more she thought about things. It took a few days but when you stopped by the house the tension that had been mounting over the past few days, the stress fractures of two lives being pushed away from each other, were the trigger.

Directly, did you Physically do anything to anyone in that scenario? No. What did you do? You gave a situation, two lives, a necessary push and nature took care of the rest, because Magick follows the path of least resistance. This is a completely fictional story, but one designed to show the mechanics of Magick. While situations for your spells will be different, never doubt its power. Even science has proven that Energy comes before Motion, therefore the mechanics of Magick, the First Law of Magical Motion, is a logical and “provable” concept.

In Land of the Blind…

I walk down the street at noon, a gentle breeze ruffles my hair, trees shimmy and shake their leaves, making a cacophony of sound like hundreds of sheets of paper being torn to shreds. The bright golden sun assaults my eyes as it glares angrily from dingy storefront windows and the hot windshields of boiling parked cars. A sea of people flows around me, or I flow amongst them, I don’t really know and It doesn’t really matter, I’m a part of something.

I come abruptly upon the strangest sight, a plaza full of men, women, and children with blindfolds painfully tight upon their heads, dirty thick padding covers their ears, a cloth gag obstructs their mouths, while filthy rags consist of their clothing. Each and every soul in the plaza sits in silence, suffering etched deep into their faces while one lone man cries loudly above the noise of the city. You strain to hear him over the sounds of construction, but eventually his message is heard.

“Fear! Fear my God! For he has declared this world to be an illusion and all upon to be evil and ill. Repent of your sins, surrender your body, mind, and soul unto me, blind yourself unto the evil illusion of this world and you will be rewarded in your next life.”

Out of a morbid sense of curiosity I wandered into the plaza; I had to know what was going on. Ignoring the absolute stench of the place, I located the preaching man and moved swiftly to him. His blind eyes passed me over, seeing nothing. Questions flooded my mind, yet I remained in control and simply spoke to the man. “What are you doing Sir?” I ask him, “What are all of you doing here?” His answer surprised me, shocking me into an absolute funk.

“My God, My God, My most powerful and omnipotent Lord. He has told me that this world is nothing more than a great illusion, a false reality, and the evil of this place is too great and My God demands judgment. Fire and Death shall rein down from the heavens, the earth will crack and the seas shall heave. The blood of the unsaved shall run like a river of crimson Justice! Join me and blind your eyes, deafen your ears, silence your tongue, and feel the full suffering of the flesh. For only through suffering can we purify our souls in order to gain Paradise! Give your Illusionary life to me and My God, and you will receive wealth and wisdom beyond measure after death.”

It just sounded too good to be true! Blind my eyes, block my ears, silence my tongue, suffer in the flesh, but at least I wouldn’t be dead from fire, death, cracking, or heaving. I was confused.

“Sir, how do you know this to be true? Have you any proof?” His grimy hands rummaged through a tattered burlap sack, quickly withdrawing a badly damaged cassette tape player. “God himself recorded his message for me on this holy artifact. Unfortunately even the most enlightened individuals cannot bear to hear the true voice of God without its perfection causing immediate and violent death. For the mysteries of God are Deadly to the wicked and can only be revealed through suffering in darkness and silence. Join Me! Else you will be punished for your lack of faith for all eternity, for my God is a wrathful God!”

…The One-Eyed Man Will Be King

After that exciting excursion into the world of Sir Isaac Newton and his wonderful First Law of Motion, and a quick escapade to an obviously allegorical plaza filled with walk-ons left over from the filming of Tommy, what was the whole point? There is a morbidly humorous saying: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man will be king. When we are born, all of us, are born with two eyes, we see both worlds, the world of the physical and the world of energy.

As our world really is a binary world, we are literally being asked to blind one eye in order to become a part of society. Our society is one that is based upon science and Judeo-Christian values. Magick, and any other current scientifically improvable concept, is not “real” because it cannot be measured and it goes against those long-standing values that are so important to our national identity. Although, just because something is not scientifically proven beyond a shadow of a doubt does not mean that it is wrong.

I work magick, you work magick, and millions of people the world over work some kind of Magick. We believe in it because we can feel it, it may not be quantifiable, yet it exists. We believe in Magick because it works, and it works every time we try it. The situation may not be completely resolved, but it will begin to move, slowly at first, but soon it will be defused in no time at all because you gave it a little nudge to knock it out of the way.

The sun still shines its light of love and heat of hope upon the Earth oblivious to the fact that Jim in Accounting absolutely refuses to believe in the Sun’s existence. It still doesn’t change the fact that the Sun is a star and that Jim in Accounting probably could use a long vacation somewhere with sun, sand, and surf. Of course Jim won’t burn on his vacation because he doesn’t believe in the Sun.

When Jim finally returns from his long vacation, he is as red as a steamed lobster. He begins to explain to you how he contracted this strange skin disease at the beach and how it was strange to be at the beach without the Sun. As a Witch, and since Jim is nuttier than a fruitcake by now, you promise to work some magick on his…rare condition. Jim doesn’t believe in Magick and is violently opposed to it. You decide to work a spell on him to alleviate the pain from his sunburn without telling him. He feels better the next day after discovering an exotic cure for his illness…aloe.

Show Me Da Magick!

This essay has been a bit juvenile in its examples, yet the point was not to provide the very best example of a situation, it was to provide the best example of the mechanics of Magick. If you begin to study your own spellcraft, watch where the energy that you send out ends up by feeling for it. You will begin to learn and eventually understand just how Magick, and Life, flows and brings change where it’s needed most. The one fatal mistake that any Witch can make is to give away their power in the face of a challenge. The idea that “I can’t help with that! It’s too tough!” Well, you’re right; you can’t do anything because you have decided that you do not have the power to…so now you don’t.

But, just like the blind man who ignored the visible world, and the overzealous Christian who demands suffering and pain as a sign of submission, their refusal to accept the real world around them doesn’t change the nature of the world around them. It only changes their reactions to that outside stimulus that they detest. A closed-minded individual who refuses to believe in magick can still be swayed by magick, just as the boy who believes himself to invincible can be knocked over by powerful wave. Their refusal to accept does not change the fact that Magick exists, has always existed, and will always exist. The blindness in their eyes does not change the fact that there are Two Worlds, not one, two. Just because a person refuses to see a painting does not mean that it was never painted, it exists in all its intricate beauty, that person simply refuses to appreciate it.

As Witches we walk the world with all our senses developed and alert, this allows us a greater depth of understanding and perception concerning people and situations. We do not walk our Path with our eyes blinded, nor do we walk our Path with one eye closed. We walk our paths with both eyes open; both worlds, the physical and the spiritual are real and readily available to us, each just as real as the other. We have to remember that WE hold the power to create change in the world, it is not something that can ever be delegated to another, it is our power, our will, and our destiny to develop into the individual who we want to be.

Magick, a natural part of life, will always be an influence even on skeptics, for just as matter moves, so does energy. Regardless of denials, misunderstandings, and flat-out lies, one can no more banish Magick than one could Banish the oceans, it is a natural part Life, just like the rising and setting of the sun and the migration of birds in the Winter. It’s natural, it exists, and nothing and no one can ever change that.

Blessed Be,
-Phoenix Forestsong

A SPELL FOR WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

A SPELL FOR WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

Ingredients

Time: best done on a full moon.
Cast a circle your normal way, but with an altar facing to your corresponding direction.
(i.e. October birth=east watchtower) have at hand dragon’s blood, sandalwood and rain mist incense.
Burn them as you call upon the Goddess and the God. Explain to them your situation and ask
for wisdom, courage, strength, and knowledge to be bestowed upon yourself.
Once you have done this, do a chant of thanks. Thank the Goddess and God
for their assistance then close the circle thanking all deities that assisted in your endeavors
by making it easier to speak to the Goddess and God. Ensure that you close your circle well.
Sit there and meditate on your request a little longer whilst allowing the incense to burn out naturally.
Once this is done thank yourself and the area that was bestowed upon you to allow you to perform
such a nurturing ritual.

BLACK OPAL CHARM

BLACK OPAL CHARM

Ingredients

The black opal is widely known as the “Witches Stone” and is prized for its magick enhancing properties. To increase your magickal power, charge the stone with the following chant and place it on your altar.
“Opal black, of burning fire
Add the power that’s required
To make my magick hit its mark,
By light of day, or night so dark.”

RELATIONSHIP-ENDING SPELL

RELATIONSHIP-ENDING SPELL


Here is a handy spell to end a relationship. You will need to know your astrology symbols.
Get a black piece of paper.
On this black paper at the top of it you want to put the signs for Pluto, the Moon,
and Saturn, on the paper, in black ink, at the top.
At the bottom put a pentagram (five pointed star) upside down, also in black ink.
On one side of the star put your birthday, on the other you put your partner’s birthday,
also in black ink.
Burn the paper. As you do so shout “NAI-KAM-MO”
Mail the ashes to the person. (Only do this spell once a week until that person leaves.)

THE ART OF SCRYING

THE ART OF SCRYING

Some people have a natural aptitude for scrying. They only have to walk past a shallow puddle in the road, glance at a piece of black glass, admire the glossy fur of a black cat or look at a wet patch on a black rubbish sack and numerous images flood into their minds. Others have to spend days, weeks, months, even years, mastering this apparently simple technique, staring into elaborate black mirrors and seeing nothing but their own dark reflection – frustrating indeed – and of course, that very frustration makes things more difficult. As with all magic, it needs to be taken seriously, but with a playful and curious state of mind. Trying too hard is counterproductive.

One of the things which makes scrying so hard for some people to do is that, like meditation, it requires an altered state of consciousness to be achieved, but with the eyes open. In meditation, pathworking, and in parts of a ritual, most people prefer to work with their eyes closed because this makes an altered state so much easier to reach and to maintain.

Those who can scry in anything are fortunate to have this magical skill so long as they are able to switch it off at will and do not become completely distracted every time they see a shiny black surface. For the rest of us there are many things we can experiment with to make scrying easier – and different things will work for different people.

Dark water is a good way to start, not least because it is easily available and costs nothing. A pool can be lovely to scry in, though I would recommend sitting or kneeling down to do so, since it is very easy to forget what your body is doing once your mind becomes absorbed, and it is somewhat undignified to fall into the (possibly stagnant) water at a moment of great revelation. A black bowl filled with water is another method and has the advantage of being safe and suitable for indoor use. Tap water is fine, but spring water will probably work better. Perhaps the best kind of water to use is Moon water: spring, rain or sea water which has been placed in the Moonlight every night for a whole lunar cycle. The water can be blessed in whatever way you feel is appropriate, possibly dedicated to one of the Moon goddesses who rule such activities as these.

An alternative to using a black bowl is simply to use any dish but to darken the water with black ink. The old witch in her cottage would doubtless have done her scrying in a bubbling cauldron of stew or in the water boiling in an iron pot ready to make up some herbal brews. Red wine (especially elderberry) or dark beer both make good scrying material, though definitely not after drinking any of it! Coca Cola would probably be effective too, though I have never tried it. The possibilities are endless…

Personally I find black mirrors easiest to use because they don’t slop about like water (at least not under normal circumstances!). They are expensive to buy but very easy to make. Spray the back of the glass from a cheap clip frame with a couple of coats of black enamel paint. Make sure the glass is spotlessly clean before you do so as any little marks may spoil your concentration when you come to use it. Once the paint is completely dry, return the glass to the frame. Bless the mirror if you wish to and treat it with the respect due to any magical object. It can be kept hanging on the wall or put away after use, wrapped in a natural material like silk or cotton. If you prefer something a little more fancy, charity shops are excellent hunting grounds for interesting frames. Even better, you could make your own out of wood (carved, if you are skilled in that craft), papier mâché, textiles, or anything else that appeals to you. Indeed the more effort you put into making it, the more personal it will become – imbued with your own energy, in tune with you, and therefore easier for you to use. The size of the mirror is not important, although if you are just learning the technique, a larger surface area will probably prove easier to use. I would also avoid too elaborate a frame on a small mirror as it may prove unhelpful.

Once you have mastered this art, you can do it anywhere and in any light, but at first it is best to be in a dimly lit area, possibly using candles. The bowl or mirror needs to be placed at a height and angle which are comfortable, so that you can sit relaxed and breathe calmly and easily. Candles or other lighting will need to be in a position where their reflection will not bother you. Do not be disheartened if nothing happens for a while. It is a knack and perseverance pays off in the end.

A further use of this art is to communicate with another person, such as a magical partner, especially if they live a long way away and you cannot meet very often. Each person should have their own mirror, dedicated solely to this purpose. Ideally the mirrors should be identical and made by the people involved on an occasion when they are together, to ensure the closeness of the link. When separated both people look into the mirror at an agreed time and a good psychic channel of communication can be set up. With practice, it becomes possible to call the other person to the mirror if you really need to talk to them at a time when you have not agreed to “meet”.

Scrying is a magical art with many possibilities. Exactly what it is and how it works is for each individual practitioner to decide for themselves, but it will certainly enhance and focus both the psychic and creative abilities of the magician who is drawn into dark pools to find the bright treasure of secret knowledge.

THE ART OF SCRYING

THE ART OF SCRYING

Some people have a natural aptitude for scrying. They only have to walk past a shallow puddle in the road, glance at a piece of black glass, admire the glossy fur of a black cat or look at a wet patch on a black rubbish sack and numerous images flood into their minds. Others have to spend days, weeks, months, even years, mastering this apparently simple technique, staring into elaborate black mirrors and seeing nothing but their own dark reflection – frustrating indeed – and of course, that very frustration makes things more difficult. As with all magic, it needs to be taken seriously, but with a playful and curious state of mind. Trying too hard is counterproductive.

One of the things which makes scrying so hard for some people to do is that, like meditation, it requires an altered state of consciousness to be achieved, but with the eyes open. In meditation, pathworking, and in parts of a ritual, most people prefer to work with their eyes closed because this makes an altered state so much easier to reach and to maintain.

Those who can scry in anything are fortunate to have this magical skill so long as they are able to switch it off at will and do not become completely distracted every time they see a shiny black surface. For the rest of us there are many things we can experiment with to make scrying easier – and different things will work for different people.

Dark water is a good way to start, not least because it is easily available and costs nothing. A pool can be lovely to scry in, though I would recommend sitting or kneeling down to do so, since it is very easy to forget what your body is doing once your mind becomes absorbed, and it is somewhat undignified to fall into the (possibly stagnant) water at a moment of great revelation. A black bowl filled with water is another method and has the advantage of being safe and suitable for indoor use. Tap water is fine, but spring water will probably work better. Perhaps the best kind of water to use is Moon water: spring, rain or sea water which has been placed in the Moonlight every night for a whole lunar cycle. The water can be blessed in whatever way you feel is appropriate, possibly dedicated to one of the Moon goddesses who rule such activities as these.

An alternative to using a black bowl is simply to use any dish but to darken the water with black ink. The old witch in her cottage would doubtless have done her scrying in a bubbling cauldron of stew or in the water boiling in an iron pot ready to make up some herbal brews. Red wine (especially elderberry) or dark beer both make good scrying material, though definitely not after drinking any of it! Coca Cola would probably be effective too, though I have never tried it. The possibilities are endless…

Personally I find black mirrors easiest to use because they don’t slop about like water (at least not under normal circumstances!). They are expensive to buy but very easy to make. Spray the back of the glass from a cheap clip frame with a couple of coats of black enamel paint. Make sure the glass is spotlessly clean before you do so as any little marks may spoil your concentration when you come to use it. Once the paint is completely dry, return the glass to the frame. Bless the mirror if you wish to and treat it with the respect due to any magical object. It can be kept hanging on the wall or put away after use, wrapped in a natural material like silk or cotton. If you prefer something a little more fancy, charity shops are excellent hunting grounds for interesting frames. Even better, you could make your own out of wood (carved, if you are skilled in that craft), papier mâché, textiles, or anything else that appeals to you. Indeed the more effort you put into making it, the more personal it will become – imbued with your own energy, in tune with you, and therefore easier for you to use. The size of the mirror is not important, although if you are just learning the technique, a larger surface area will probably prove easier to use. I would also avoid too elaborate a frame on a small mirror as it may prove unhelpful.

Once you have mastered this art, you can do it anywhere and in any light, but at first it is best to be in a dimly lit area, possibly using candles. The bowl or mirror needs to be placed at a height and angle which are comfortable, so that you can sit relaxed and breathe calmly and easily. Candles or other lighting will need to be in a position where their reflection will not bother you. Do not be disheartened if nothing happens for a while. It is a knack and perseverance pays off in the end.

A further use of this art is to communicate with another person, such as a magical partner, especially if they live a long way away and you cannot meet very often. Each person should have their own mirror, dedicated solely to this purpose. Ideally the mirrors should be identical and made by the people involved on an occasion when they are together, to ensure the closeness of the link. When separated both people look into the mirror at an agreed time and a good psychic channel of communication can be set up. With practice, it becomes possible to call the other person to the mirror if you really need to talk to them at a time when you have not agreed to “meet”.

Scrying is a magical art with many possibilities. Exactly what it is and how it works is for each individual practitioner to decide for themselves, but it will certainly enhance and focus both the psychic and creative abilities of the magician who is drawn into dark pools to find the bright treasure of secret knowledge.