High Magick Class

High Magick Syllabus, the Home Page
To find out about my Copyright statement, click HERE © Daven, All rights Reserved.
Online Magick Course

Syllabus
Well, due to many mundane concerns, I am calling a halt to the class for now. The group
still exists and I will still be writing lessons when I can, but don't expect to see this page
updated that often. See this page for a full explanation that was posted on the list.
This will be a comprehensive course in Magick, from so-called Low Magick to Ceremonial Magick (also referred
to as High Magick). The course will cover Willpower, Visualization, the Basics of the Kaballah, Basics of
Ceremonial Magick, other magickal systems to include "Night Magick" and Shamanistic and Druidic.
Mostly this course will focus on such things as Ceremony in magick, tools and "props", cultivating a Magickal
attitude, Wiccan Magick and Witchcraft, Candle Magick, off the cuff spells for emergencies, Magick and the
Otherworlds. This will NOT be a course in spells, but spellcrafting (writing of spells) will be part of some of the
discussions.
The major thrust of this course will be willpower. That is the key, and we will show you those keys and how to
have them for yourself. Added to that will be some theoretical discussions on Otherworlds, allies, astral beings,
how to will something into your life, and Magick in everyday settings. The goal of this course will be to enable you
to live a magickal existence, no props required.
General outline for the course will be (subject to change without notice):
1. Introduction (About me, Definitions, Basics, Assignments, etc.)

2. The Path of the Magician
3. Tools and Props
4. Visualization and Meditation
5. Magickal Attitude
6. Wiccan Magick (including cord, sex and poppet magick)
7. Elementals and energy work
8. Kitchen Witchery
9. Hedge Witchcraft
10. Psychic Magick (skipped)
11. Shamanistic Magick
12. Druidic Magick
13. Christian Magick
14. Lesson 14 Ritual
15. Lesson 15 EXAM (Password Required)
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High Magick Syllabus, the Home Page
Other articles that are related to this course
● Sex Magick Commentary

● Tools and Magick
● Wicca- For The Low Budget Witch Offsite
● The Magickal Use of Names
There will be required course materials, and in every case, those materials will be available for download and study
prior to the class starting. This will be a forum held in email discussion with the possibility of message boards
being added. There will be assignments and an exam at the end of the course, with a certificate available upon
completion.
This course will be an advanced course in Magick and all of it's applications. No one "style" or "Tradition" or
"School" of magick will be used, but will cover the range of these and will be more focused on familiarizing the
student with what is available and tools to go into a more in depth study of one system. This course will require
thought and work, and will not be easy for the practitioner. Dedication and determination will dictate the success of
the student in this course.
I look forward to seeing you all!
Click to subscribe to Davens_High_Magick
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If you got to this page through a link, and you would like to see the entire site, click here
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High Magick Lesson 1
Lesson 1; Introduction
to High Magick
Greetings and welcome to the First Class of High Magick! I'm Daven, and I'm going to be your teacher for this
class.
I guess we should get started by coming to an understanding of what this class will be and won't be about.
This class is about Magick, not spells. As such, we will be exploring many different schools of magick, from the
classical Kaballah to the new age Night Magick. We will be looking at these each and I will be giving you the
basics of information on that school of magick, to better allow you to decide if that path is for you.
There are some other topics that we will cover as well. The use of Ritual, the magickal mindset, references, how to
make spells for your own use and so on. There will be tables of correspondences, suggestions on how to construct
your own magick for your personal use, anecdotes from my own practice and other's stories.
This class will not teach you spells. I may use a spell as an example of how to construct one properly or as evidence
of one style of magick or so on. But the focus will not be spells. If you are in this class to expand your spellbooks, I
suggest you unsubscribe now.
There will be assignments in this class, and many of those assignments will require you to work. If you are
unwilling to do the work, then you will be banned from this class. I will expect assignments to be turned in on time,
or you will need to send in a reason you can't turn it in for one reason or another. I'm not an ogre, I understand if
family members are sick or dying, and if you are ill, that is a good excuse. Just let me know.
There will be materials that you will need to get or download. In all cases, I will give you enough advance warning
that you can get the material before the class starts that requires that material. I will make sure that the material you
are required to get is not the kind that will require you spend your money. It makes no sense to me to give the class
for free and require that you purchase books to take the class. So, required materials will be available online, but I
will try to give references on that particular school of magick when it is covered. It's up to you to either purchase
those references or not, but in no case will those references be required for you to pass this class.
Speaking of passing and failing, let's see....
In order to pass this class, you will have to get a 70% or greater on the final exam at the end of the class, and you
will have to have turned in 80% of the assignments I ask you to do. Failure to do so will make sure you don't pass
and are banned from the class. For this, you will get a nice color certificate to put in a frame in your home saying
that you passed this class, and you will get a PDF version of this class presented to each of you when you finish.
That PDF file will have the entire class lessons as well as all the discussions that took place during the class.
A few things I have to stress. This class is not designed to be the authoritative work on magick and the practice of
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spells and spellcrafting. I am well aware that there are thousands of references out there that I could be using, many
of them mutually exclusive and contradictory. I am also aware that this will not be able to touch the fullness of any
one particular practice. What this class is designed to do is to start you on the path.
It is supposed to give you enough information that you will be able to make an informed decision on which school
or schools of magick are correct for you and your personality. It is supposed to be the beginning point for further
research. I can't tell you in one post everything there is to know about the Kaballah, or even the Tree of Life,
because truthfully I don't know that much about it myself. I have been doing research and I will be citing references
I'm using if I cite a fact, but there will be so much more that is skipped over in the interest of brevity.
I also can't do this without your cooperation. There is a lot that will be expected from you as a practitioner and
student of magick. I will expect any exercises to be done and practiced rigorously, any material I assign to be read
and any assignments to be turned in. There is a reason for all of this, and I may not always explain those reasons
when I give the assignment. However, if I have assigned something there is a reason.
Eventually toward the end of the class, I will be sharing the whys of the exercises, but by that time I'm hoping that
many of you will have been able to divine it for yourself.
There will usually be several different sections of the lessons. The first part will be specific to the lesson, such as
theory or a thumbnail description of a magickal school or so on. The second will be a practical chore, either an
exercise in writing a spell, correspondences or so on, designed to get you more of a grounding in magick as a
whole. The last section is going to be the assignment for you to do.
This schedule is set up on a two week cycle. That should give you enough time to read the lesson, get any
references you may need to get, take a look at any materials that I assigned, do the exercises and get some sort of
results back, and then write the responses that are needed and post them. As far as I know, the lessons and the
assignments will be going into an approval que, to be sent out the day the next lesson is posted, so if it is a "quiz"
style set of answers you can't cheat off each other by looking at what someone else wrote.
One warning: This class will NOT be covering many of the basics of magickal practice. I am assuming that
everyone here has a couple years of practice in SOME form of magick or religo-magick to default to, and will be
writing my lessons accordingly. I can show you how to strip elements of myth and religion from your current
practice so that you are ONLY left with magick, or I can show you how to incorporate magick into your current
religion, but I won't be teaching magick from the beginning. I am also making the assumption that most of the
people in this class are of Pagan origin and temperament, or sympathetic to Paganism as a whole, if this is not the
case please let me know.
Okay, let me tell you about myself for a bit, so you know why I was picked to teach this class.
I am Daven. I am an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a High Priest in the Seax-Wican tradition (self-
dedicated), a Druid and Ollamh Cainte (Professor of Magick and Ritual) in an online Druidic Society that has since
closed down called Ancient Sites, as well as being a Pagan of some years standing.
I started this quest when I was 4 years old, back in 1972. My grandmother was a new-age Christian who had a
fascination for the metaphysical. She undertook to teach me about some aspects of metaphysics, from auras, to
dreams to AP. Mostly through theory and stories, rather than practical applications of the information she was

trying to convey.
This continued on into my teenage life. At that time, I got started with AD&D and began to wonder about the
validity of all that my Grandma told me. I began reading everything on metaphysics and the psychic that I could
find. One of those books was "Journey out of the Body" by Robert Monroe. I began to practice meditation and astral
projection. For me, at that time, it didn't work. I thought that it was simply a matter of not enough practice, so I
practiced and read everything that I could get my hands on about the subject of Astral Projection. At the same time,
since they were related, I was studying more traditional texts on metaphysics, from Psychometry, to Ghosts, to
Psychokenesis to Telepathy and UFO's.
It was now that I started learning about magick as well. I understood what kinds of cons were out there to
counterfeit actual magickal or psychic acts, and I'm a skeptic to this day.
Time passed, and I became an adult. I spent some time in the Army, learned that I didn't care for the Army at all,
had a crisis of conscience with the Mormon Church, and left them. I began studying about the Pagan religions out
there, and discovered Wicca. I had heard about the witches in the woods for some time, but I never had the guts to
start reading about them before. Luckily, there was a Wiccan in the gaming group I was a member of. My best
friend and another close friend (Native American Shaman-in-training) helped me define what I wanted out of a
religion, and when I discovered Buckland's Big Blue Book, I was hooked.
This was back in 1991 when I dedicated myself into Seax-Wica. From there, it was only a matter of reading and
investigating more in my areas of interest, learning all that I could about Wicca and the Wiccan traditions out there,
and starting to participate in the community.
About this time I met my wife, who had been on a spiritual quest about 8 years longer than mine (she got a late start
and didn't start questioning her Catholic upbringing until she was 12 and Vatican II hit). She helped me even more
to define my perceptions, helped me to clean out the drek that everyone collects in a lifetime, and to focus myself.
She was also a self-dedicated Wiccan, of no tradition. Together we started a voyage of discovery that continues to
this day, almost 10 years later.
I have a daughter, whom I am teaching the ways of Wicca to with my wife's help. You can tell that we are Wiccan
since we named our daughter after a Goddess (even though everyone thinks we named her after the song). My wife
and I are both out of the broom closet, and make no bones about it.
Recently, I have been teaching the basics of Paganism to that group of Druids who don't have the background to fit
some of the more esoteric information on the Druids into a world view because of a lack of knowledge in paganism
and metaphysics as a background. Also as part of that, I have an advanced class in a lot of theory of different
metaphysical phenomenon (in which I have given a brief class in meditation and Astral Projection). I was voted by
my peers as the administrator of the group (called Iona on Ancient Sites) when internal pressures became too much.
I have started a website that has been up for about 2 years now, which has gotten good critical reviews. I do
volunteer work with The Witches' Voice. Llewellyn books also allow me to do some reviews of their books for
them.
Other than that, I am a MIS Specialist for an insurance company in my hometown (which means I fix the broken
computers), I am continuing to learn, and hope to start taking a course of study with the Henge of Keltria in the near
future. I have been participating in debates and discussions for about the past two years online, along with doing my
classes, and running around with my normal life.

Oh, I need to add to this, that I have been projecting for quite some time now. I have had multiple discussions about
the nature of reality with Herne and Rhiannon and my spirit guides, I have talked to other spirits in various worlds,
and I have a "pen-pal" agreement with some of my alternate me's in other universes where we swap news and keep
current on what is happening with each of us (me). I have been on the Astral Plane multiple times, either in my
dreams or during remote viewing and a few times without my body during meditation. I know a lot about this, but I
will leave you to judge this for yourself.
I also have been practicing magick for about the same amount of time, although I would not have called it that if
you asked me what I was doing. I came to understand that both skills, magick and AP are interlinked and dependant
on each other to a point. I have had several major spells go off correctly, and have worked with other Magickally
aware people in local communities that have had nothing but good things to say. I wish I had email addresses to let
you check with them, but there you go. I completely recast the Wards for a store in Fort Worth Texas called "The
Candle Shop" at the request of the owners.
This is the second year I will be teaching for the Online Mystical School, since I gave the AP class online last year
as well. Those students can vouch for my teaching style and I will contact them on your behalf if you wish me to.
I've also been going crazy in the last few months reading books trying to find decent references for you in this class.
Finding references is not the problem, but finding good ones is.
Definitions
Okay, here is where we get somewhat technical. I am going to give you some terms that will be being used in this
class, and these terms are how *I* am going to define them. This is not the only definition of these terms, nor are
they the most accurate. This is how I define them so that you will know what I am talking about.
Magick
"The Art and Science of causing Change according to Will". The actual process of manifesting your wish
in this reality. The real deal, not stage magic.
Magic
Stage Magic, sleight of hand, illusion. What people like Penn and Teller, David Copperfield, Sigfreid and
Roy, and other notable "magicians" do to make a living.
OTO
Ordo Templi Orientis, the organization that Alister Crowley set up from his first work, the Book of Law.
Subsequent works further defined this school of magick. Not to be confused with the Golden Dawn which
was influenced by Crowley.
Kaballah
The path of Jewish Mysticism, to be complimented by the Torah (the books of scripture) and the Talmud
(Jewish Law). Much of Western Mysticism is based on teachings that have migrated from the Kaballah
over the centuries.
Cabalistic

Anything that has to do with the Kaballah or any teachings that have migrated from that practice. So the
"Tree of Life" is Cabalistic in origin, as is the Keys of Solomon, but the worship of the Moon is not.
Gnosis
Intuitive apprehension of spiritual truths, an esoteric form of knowledge sought by the Gnostics. I use it as
a state of being in which one is connected with everything, and a state of being which is the goal of most
magickians.
Hermetic
Of or relating to Hermes Trismegistus or the works ascribed to him. Having to do with the occult sciences,
especially alchemy; magical. These principals were found in the tomb of Hermes Trismegistus and the
Emerald Tablet is the most famous of his works. It includes the saying "As above, so below" which has
been interpreted many different times in many different ways.
Enochian
The system of Angelic magick received by Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley between March 10, 1582 and
April 20, 1587; and the associated writings built upon the foundation established by Dee and Kelley.
(taken from http://eclecticmagick.com/enochian/ ) Denoted by usually working with angelic forces and
using Latin or older Mediterranean languages.
Spell
Any process where you are trying to impose your will on this reality. This can be a hope, wishful thinking,
creative visualization, a prayer to a godform, or a ceremonial ritual complete with black candles and the
slaughtered chicken.
Visualization
A process where one sees, in the mind's eye, the goal of a spell already completed. Seeing yourself
enjoying the products of your labors and daydreaming about winning the lottery is a form of this. The
better your imagination is the easier it will be to visualize things. One of the critical skills of Magick.
Chaos Magick
A free-form style of magick in which whatever works is used. While the term I will be using is NOT the
actual definition, it's close enough for me and my experiences.
Witch
A mage who works with natural flows of the world. Notably a Kitchen Witch or a practitioner of Low
Magick. Noted for potions, charms, folk magick. A Pennsylvania Dutch "Hexmeister" is a Witch, along
with a practitioner of Strega, a brujo/bruja and also a practitioner of Voodoo. One can be a witch without
being a member of a specific religion. Sometimes called a "Hedge Witch" referring to the connection with
the Earth.
Wiccan
A practitioner of the religion of Wicca. This should NOT be confused with a Witch.
Religo-magick
Magick that is used in a religious framework. Catholics, Wiccans, Voodouns, Buddhists all practice a
Religo-magick if they do magick at all. Normally the god-forms of the religion are called upon to cause the
change to occur in the lives of the practitioner. Thus, the prayer of the Christian and the Spell of the
Wiccan are both religo-magick.

High Magick
An extremely formalized form of Magick. Usually distinctive by great amounts of ceremony and ritual, as
well as ritual implements. The process laid out in the Keys of Solomon are High Magick, so too is the
Kaballah and Rosicrucian practice. This is what many people think of when they think of magick or
"sorcerer".
Low Magick
A form of magick which works with the natural flows of the world, the moon, the seasons of the world, the
growth of plants and the energy all around us in life. One who uses the "force" or other life energies to
perform their magick, including the forces inside them.
"The Force"
Life Energy. Best described in Star Wars; "It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us,
penetrates us, it binds the Galaxy together." Many people use this term to talk about the life energies and
fertility of the Earth, the life-force put off by living beings. It is usually the energy source tapped into by
the witch and the Low Magic practitioner. Psychic powers would use this energy.
Shamanistic magick
It's usually notable because of the reliance on otherworld spirits and an emphasis on Astral Projection to
accomplish their goals. Not only the purview of the Native American. Normally, there is a reliance on
Totems or Spirit Animals or just Spirits to act as intermediaries for the Shaman with the Higher Powers.
The Shaman does not necessarily interact with those higher powers on their own.
Magickian
Any person who after practicing different magickal paths is able to transform their life by application of
one or more principals. Normally this transformation is for the improvement of the magickian as a person,
or to help those less fortunate, but this can also be for personal gain or finances.
Whew, I'm glad that's over. So, here's your first assignment:
Write an intro about yourself. The specific information I'm looking for is this:
1) Your magickal experiences

2) Your estimated experience level
3) Time studying magick
4) Any references you have read dealing with Magick
5) What kind of magickian you would class yourself
6) Any further pertinent information about you.
You can include things like your sex, your location in the world, what you hope to get out of this class, your age,
assumptions you are making about magick from the get go, and other information of the same type.
It would probably be best to use my introduction as to who I am as a template for yours.
This assignment is due in two weeks.

Back Home Next

High Magic Class Lesson 2
Lesson 2: The Path of

the Magician
This lesson will cover the stages I have personally observed and experienced journeying on the path. You should
be traveling through them as well as we progress through this course. In preparing for this course, I spoke with
other magicians and elders of various magickal/religious traditions; they verified this information as being an
accurate reflection of their own experiences.
I wrote this a long time ago, not much of it has changed. I will expand on the original thoughts as I come to them,
trying to make it as seamless as possible. The original paper is located at
http://davensjournal.com/TPotM.xhtml.
THE PATH OF THE MAGICIAN

Many people have asked me to teach them spells. My response is always the same. "No," a qualified "no" but still a
no. In my experience, the person asking is usually seeking a "quick fix" for problems in their life, without learning
the principals needed to actually make a change. ("Oh if I had more money, was thinner, prettier, more athletic,
popular my life would be perfect!") Most "spell beggars" tend to be young kids who want to be able to wiggle their
nose and have the world change. They don't realize that magick is a double-edged sword with both good, positive
aspects and negative as well. Many, if not all, have not learned self-discipline. It is the single most important thing
that any magician, warrior or Martial Artist can gift himself or herself with.
There are many things and skills they have to have before speaking their first incantation or chant. It is analogous
to giving someone a loaded pistol, without him or her first learning basic safety, how to aim, maintenance of the
weapon, or even what to do. This is precisely what magic is, a loaded weapon. The skills laid out here are just as
important as learning which end of the pistol to hold when attempting to fire it.
This is the journey that a prospective magician will tread when starting to learn spells:
1. Self-discovery. Finding out why you tick the way you do.
This is the most important the most basic part of the journey. Through meditation and constant questioning of
"why" you will get a sense of yourself and your motivations for most everything. But you must be honest. If you
know why, don't say, "I don't know". Lying to yourself is a sure way to get you into trouble. The more you are
honest with yourself at this stage, the more you will be able to learn and understand later.
If you have not gone through parental grilling recently, or are not in the habit of self-examination, start watching
your actions, and questioning them. Keep notes, a diary and start proposing reasons for your actions. You will
know if they are the truth quickly. As the habit of self-examination grows, you will need to do it less and less

consciously and you may find some rather amazing things out about yourself.
Self-discovery comes first in any magickal discipline. Very occasionally a truly exceptional student can define
him/herself through the process of learning, but most times you HAVE to learn about yourself first. While I am
sure you are exceptional, that very quality should show you why knowing yourself is indeed critical to the process.
During this process you should find out what triggers make you behave the way you do. With those triggers known
you can start learning the discipline needed to bring magick into your life. Accomplish this and you can start living
a magickal existence.
For example, many entities on other planes of existence routinely use your fears against you. If you come into
conflict with them and you are afraid of small spaces and do not know it, or have not over come it, you may
perceive yourself as suddenly being trapped in a small narrow space. This can paralyze you with fear, sapping your
will to do anything to defend yourself, unable to move, caught in a fit of blind, helpless panic. This is an extremely
common tactic.
Self-knowledge allows the practitioner to utilize the most powerful tool available. It is not in a spell book, it cannot
be bought, although it can be "sold", it is Will. How can Will be sold? Easy, drink or eat to excess, take drugs, do
anything that weakens the disciplined life you must lead to be a true magician. When you know yourself, you can
use your will to very potent effect.
Unless you truly understand what drives you, you will never develop the Will to use Magick effectively. Let me
repeat this as it is a most critical point, unless you truly understand what drives you, you will NEVER develop the
Will to use Magick effectively. Will is the key to magick. Knowing yourself is the key to Will. Control of the mind
becomes easy when these techniques are applied. The mind is not used to discipline. Teaching it is a long process.
It takes years. Once applied, the discipline will become second nature. You will gain confidence, self-control, and
be able to apply lessons in a useful manner for the rest of your life.
If what drives you is selfish that is all right, 90% of the accomplishment in the world are done for selfish purposes.
Including the "altruistic" ones. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are doing something for someone else’s
benefit when your true motive is to get noticed/praised/patted on the back/revenge/one up a rival/ well, you get the
point. What is the pleasure/ benefit you receive from your actions? This is knowing yourself, your motives. This is
your True Will. Every spell or process you do in accordance with your True Will will be much more powerful and
likely to succeed. Doing these spells for any reason aside from your True Will dooms it to failure.
In "Empire Strikes Back" Yoda says to Luke at one point that he must learn control. This is what you will be, in
essence, doing. You will learn to control your mind so that you will not be distracted from what you are trying to
learn, and practice.
Know the totality of thyself, for no one else can.
The actual phases that you will go through during this stage follow:
a) Fear of probing the hidden areas of your soul. Bringing the Dark up to the Light and making it visible to you
again. Learning all about that area. Many people bury the dark stinking parts of their soul and never think about it
again. This is wrong. In order to be a whole person, you must come to a working partnership with that dark area.
Dark thrives on lack of light. It grows stronger. That is why so many people in our society have problems with
trauma and self-destruction. They bury the negative and forget it or hide from it, fearing it and themselves. But that
part has not forgotten you. If you learn to use it, it can be a powerful tool. You have to recognize the times and

places when it is appropriate to use that part of you. Soldiers and the police are a perfect example of this kind of
mindset. In many cases, they have come to a partnership with their negative side. This allows them to know when
an application of force is necessary and when it's proper to be kind and gentle.
b) There will be Trauma in re-living some of the memories and in re-experiencing the actions that caused problems
in the first place, but sometimes the only way to heal a deep penetrating wound is to cut it open and let it heal from
the inside out instead of outside in.
This is a dangerous stage. Many loose their nerve here and go never to return, either into insanity or away from this
path altogether. This is not from the study of dark areas of magick, but from remembering past traumas, such as
abuse, molestation, and other things.
THIS IS A NECESSARY STEP in order to know yourself. It cannot be avoided. During this time it is advisable to
have someone to help you through the trauma associated with these memories. This person can be a concerned
friend, a psychologist or a loved one or lover. My wife was my stability just as I was hers. Whomever you choose,
they can commiserate with you as you try to deal with different traumas, slap you when you are too self-indulgent
and self-pitying and so on. Your "guard" must to be someone you know and trust implicitly. They must also know
you well enough not to let you fall into any self-deluding or self-pitying traps. Make no mistake, they will happen.
People want to exculpate themselves from blame.
You will also find areas of your psyche dedicated to the destruction of your ego wants, desires, hopes and needs.
Many times, as you progress, these tendencies will develop into archetypal representations of negative people and
things in your life. It is now your job to acknowledge the tendencies to self-destruct, accept them as part of yourself
and nullify their negative influence on you. The impulses don't care that they will destroy themselves by destroying
you, which is their function after all.
One note, this is generally a stage that many never finish. I had thought at one point that I was done with this
phase, but it turns out that I still have traumas that I have not dealt with in addition to traumas I thought I had dealt
with that are still causing reflexive habits. I am dealing with them now, and my outlook is changing again to reflect
that.
c) Acceptance of that dark side.
Most never get here. "Better buried than stinking again," is the attitude many use to keep from getting here. Learn
to live with the scars. Don’t glory in them, but acknowledge that they have taught you something.
In "Star Trek V, The Undiscovered Country", Captain Kirk utters the following line: "I need my pain. The Pain has
made me who I am. I won't let you take that away." This is one of the truest statements ever made. We are the sum
of all our experiences. All of us are affected by what we have experienced, and nothing can or should change that.
Even people who bury memories of living through different ordeals are still affected by that memory.
Coming to terms with your own personal dark side is important. It cannot be ignored. Dealing with the trauma that
happened caused by things that happened is something else entirely. Different people deal with memories and
trauma in different ways, but you need to learn to recognize when a bad experience is affecting your judgment or
actions so that you can break out of that cycle. Until you break out of a particular cycle of behavior, it will
continues to affect you in many ways, most notably by setting up the circumstances of your own destruction. An
example of this is a person who is married and lying to their spouse about having affairs. The pattern of behavior
can be due to an unresolved problem of the past where the cheater learned that this behavior is "ok". Another

instance is the person who has learned not to trust anyone to be reasonable or worthy of trust as the result of
mistreatment as a child.
d) Doubt of yourself, your environment your family and even the Gods. The belief that "I am not really doing this...
It's all in my imagination."
This is NORMAL. Self-doubt is a good tool to keep from becoming another Napoleon or Hitler. It teaches us. And
while self-confidence is a good thing, too much leads to hubris.
With two exceptions*, all of us have been trained by society to disbelieve anything that we cannot verify with our
five primary senses . While many are willing to acknowledge that there may be other senses we possess, few are
ready to come out and say "Yes, I can see into other worlds and interact with the beings there." Society would
brand them as a freak and do it's best to destroy that person for non-conformity. Since few people are brave enough
to withstand ridicule or societal destruction, we learn to ignore those things we can't rationally explain. Remember,
while this stage is normal, it is critical that the prospective magus advance beyond this stage.
Again, a percentage of people will get this far and give up. Part of coming to terms with your self is to look at your
confidence problems. Many of us who are attracted to this kind of work have very vivid imaginations. It is only
natural that some of us may decide we are crazy and nothing we are experiencing could have happened on this
plane of reality. Please, remember, "As you believe, so will it be". If you believe that you are imagining it all, then
you will be.
The good news is that as you progress through these stages, you will come to know just which destructive
tendencies are originating within your psyche and which are external attacks. The parts that are you and not you
will become very clear. That is why you need to know yourself so well.
e) Trust that what you are doing affects things outside of you.
You must know beyond doubt that your abilities are making a difference that the Gods do care. When you have
found a teacher that meets your criteria, have faith in your teacher. Again, trust that when you operate with pure
intention what occurs is normal and positive in this arena. Without this trust, no further advancement is possible.
This stage is what I call the "Shot in the arm" stage. It is confidence yet too frequently it is tinged with doubt. As
time passes though, as you continue to believe, examine and correct, it moves into the next stage.
This confidence is built by people telling you that the result you desired is happening, that you are effecting things.
The concrete results of your work in your day-to-day life will build your self-esteem. Getting that job you cast the
success spell for and knowing that YOU did it does wonders for your belief in yourself.
f) Megalomania and hubris are next. The scales must balance between doubt and this condition, tipping in neither
direction. These emotions can grow naturally out of the previous stage. It is related to knowing that YOU did
something that was good and right, that you made a difference and that YOUR spell changed the world in some
way that you CAN see. With that knowledge, the immediate reaction is usually, "OH BOY! I can do anything I
want to do because this stuff REALLY does work!"
This is a dangerous stage. The problem here is "I have some training, I can do anything I want and no one can stop
me." Kind of like a beginning student in Martial Arts who is getting an inflated ego. Usually the Master will have
to knock them down a few notches to get them to understand that there are bigger and badder things out there.

There are any number of examples that can be used to show this, but let me use an example from the Military. In
Basic Training, one of the goals of the Drill Sergeants is to break down the identity of the individual and make
them a part of the group. While doing this, the group is given several successes that make it easier to bond with
each other. One of the side effects of this is the individual starts to believe that they can do without the group.
Usually when they start believing that, the Sergeant will completely humiliate the individual so that they see they
cannot exist outside the group. This includes humiliating the individual in front of their peers so that peer pressure
brings the individual back into line.
However, the prospective magickian does not have a group to stay in line with, so their otherworld tutors will do
this. Occasionally, the hubris will bring entities to combat the magickian. The entities will hurt the practitioner or
their allies in such a way that this lesson is brought home. The lesson is that there are other things out there that can
and will hurt the practitioner, despite the knowledge they have. This is also known as the Satchel Paige effect. The
great pitcher’s motto was "don’t look back, someone might be gaining on you".
I went through this stage and it taught me a lot about who I am. I looked at myself and thought that there was no
one out there that was a good as I was. I had Will, the tools, the knowledge and other things I thought I needed to
win in any conflict I engaged in. No one could match me in my chosen arena. Then I watched as a creature I had
conjured critically injured most of my allies while I was trying to banish it. It was a very serious, dangerous close
call that scared the living daylights out of me. I never made that mistake again.
This can be a really humbling experience and it can temper a lot of psychic crap out of you. It is one more
necessary step that must be taken.
g) Doubt assails you once again.
After the hubris phase, and the concomitant things that it brings, doubt comes along once more. Doubt in your own
strength and your own abilities. You have had a rude awakening and now there is a problem with how you see
yourself relating with the world. Once again, a percentage will arrive at this phase and give up Magick completely
since it is "too dangerous and cannot be used by Mankind safely". Some will start seeing phantasms and mental
creations to release tension and insure that their fears verify themselves, reinforcing the need to stop immediately.
In the movie "Top Gun", the very best Navy pilots are chosen for additional training. To be considered the best, a
pilot must have an ego the size and strength of the aircraft carrier he flies from. In the movie, after his RIO dies
Maverick needs to go on with his life. He's not as cocky afterward.
In this phase, you should compel yourself to try to figure out what happened so that the hard won lesson can be
used, not to the detriment of your peace of mind and your confidence but to the understanding of your limits.
This is usually the shortest stage. Many people who go through this, come out the other side a better person. They
can now realize, and move to the last stage. The key to survival and progress is to keep going and trying to grow. It
can also be the longest phase if the practitioner gives up.
h) Peaceful Acceptance, of the Dark, and the Light.
Inner Peace is a stillness of soul that many would call "steady". Acceptance of yourself and the wisdom to over
come in this area. The concept is self-explanatory.

Generally, this is the goal of all magickal systems, in which the practitioner finds him/herself and accepts
him/herself as s/he is. Because of that acceptance the magician is now self-actualized, at peace and able to love
everyone because s/he is no longer dependant upon others for his/her happiness. Able to discover new worlds of
connection to everything within him/herself, this is the "gold" that the Alchemists were after.
i) I am no longer a mere mortal, I feel so Olympian and distant from humanity.
This is one final phase that some magickal practitioners have spoken to me about, and that is disconnectedness
with normal people. While it is normal to pity most of humanity and the fact that they do not understand things as
you do, and that they MUST live in a world ruled by sorrow and misery instead of in a world of joy and wonder,
one must not ever think they are less than us.
I say this because when you reach stage H, there will be the temptation to look at others and wonder why they are
so sad all the time, after all, you aren't. You will want to share your knowledge and joy with them, show them what
it feels like to be happy most times instead of miserable. You will put your words on the Internet, in books, in
pamphlets and any other way you can think of to change life here. This is good, but don't lapse into bitterness and
disillusionment if and when people rebuff you.
One thing I have learned in these several years on the Internet is that many people are not ready to have misery
removed from their life. In many ways, I think Smith on the movie "The Matrix" is correct in saying that humanity
must measure their life in misery. It will be wonderful if you can share with others, but don't define yourself by
who learns what you have to say.
Also, there are billions of non-magickally aware people out there; many more than there are of us who do
understand the construction of the Universe. It is one thing to protect them; it is something else altogether to try to
change their fundamental nature. It is also something else to fail to feel for them. Yes, you can and should seek
partners who can understand the same truths you found, but DO NOT think that you cannot be happy without one.
I have heard about practitioners who had romantic lives that were ecstatic with those who did not understand or
participate in their magickal practices.
What I'm trying to say is that you will have changed, not anyone else. Share what you know, but don't loose your
connection to normal humanity and their wants and desires. Understand them and love them, try to make their lives
better, but don't think that you are no longer human yourself.
In many ways the practitioners see themselves so far beyond normal humanity that they see themselves as a
different species from the group they were born into. Many different Science Fiction works have been written
about this phenomenon, as well as most heroic comic books. Usually the "hero" is super-powered and unless they
are very careful, they no longer understand the drives and motivations of the normal populace they are taking care
of. They then see these "normals" as fodder or slaves, put in place to serve the "super" since the super is obviously
better than the rest, or as simple minded sheep, too stupid to make a move without him/her, OR the "super freak"
will withdraw completely from their "flock" either on this planet or more typically in the comics by flying off to
uncharted realms of the cosmos.
2) Learning and how to learn: Actual study of materials from various sources.
1. Below you will find the pros and cons of various methods of learning.
2. Book knowledge is always an excellent source.

3. A book doesn't have a job it has to be to tomorrow.

4. A book can cover more material than a person can.
5. Other books fill in gaps in knowledge.
6. A book can spend more time with you than a person usually can.
7. Books offer self-paced teaching.
8. You can always go back and get the same information again and again.
9. It is possible to extract good information from the most negative sources.
Drawbacks to solitary study in books
1. There is only one way to do things, if it doesn't work for you too bad.
2. A book can be in depth, but there can be holes in the information.
3. A book can't directly answer the questions it can raise in you.
4. It’s not really as good as someone who is right there with you.
5. It gives you no real-world knowledge or experience, just someone else's interpretation.
6. Some books contain nothing but falsehood and incorrect factual errors, and you might never know. (See
below)
Individual tutoring by someone who has "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt"
1. You can receive custom lessons.

2. The pacing is different than yours.
3. Good teachers answer questions when asked.
4. A teacher can offer alternative techniques.
5. A teacher can help you through traumatic events and offer counseling.
6. Hopefully the teacher will have a large body of experience.
7. Direct teaching offers more give and take, more effective learning.
8. You paid for it, so you will respect it even more.
Drawbacks to tutoring:
1. Teachers are human they don't know everything.

2. The teacher hasn't necessarily had the same problem(s) you will experience.
3. Personality conflicts with an authority figure.
4. A teacher can only speak from his/her own experience or those s/he has witnessed first hand.
5. S/he could pass on incorrect or invalid information.
6. An egomani ... uh teacher could demand that you absolutely believe him/her and not give any references.
Instruction in a group setting
1. There can be a freer exchange of ideas.

2. The environment is more fluid, lessons can depart radically from the schedule as need arises.
3. Everyone taking the class is at same stage.
4. Some people learn better with competition.
5. A group can bond and as feelings about each other intensify, strong bonds can form.
Group Study Drawbacks:

1. Who needs the personality conflicts that crop up ad-nauseam?

2. As per reason 6 in personal tutoring negatives, this could be cult recruitment. (personality, religious)
3. The lessons are Non-customized lessons to your interests and needs.
4. "Lowest common denominator" the teacher must move at a pace that insures everyone understands the
information offered. Repeated over and over until everyone gets it.
5. There is not much flexibility unless the class is extremely good.
6. When lectures are followed by Q&A, you might forget a Question you have.
7. You have to take notes, and if your handwriting is slow or sloppy you may miss information you wanted
or needed.
8. Just how happy were you in High School or College classes? Remember Why?
While discovery is best, there are many, many drawbacks.
1. You personally customize the knowledge you need, and are interested in.
2. You will learn in the manner best suited to you. Some people hear knowledge better, some can read and
learn and some read a little, do a little.
3. You can insure LOTS of practice for yourself.
4. You can discover things others said couldn't be done because you don't know it can't be done that way.
Drawbacks to doing it all on your own.
1. You may miss many pieces of information.

2. It can cause you to take many baby steps as a result.
3. You may not know simple techniques because of that.
4. Can't find out "what happens if" unless you do it.
5. You have NO ONE else's experience to draw on.
6. You can't get out of a bad spot with another's help, you can only do it on your own.
To expand on the reasons above, I feel that learning from various sources is necessary. Without learning, no
growth is possible. While it is perfectly acceptable to learn what you need on your own, there is a fundamental
problem with it, you may not be able to see what it is you need to study or learn simply because you are too close
to the situation.
Regarding learning through books: I have read Douglas Monroe's book "21 Lessons of Merlyn" as part of my
studies for Druidism. All I can say is that it's one of the worst books on the market right now. The reader of this
book would be well advised to take his books with a pan of salt and double check the references he makes. I have a
review of it on my site, taken from another site, but it says it all. http://davensjournal.com/21LoM.xhtml is
where you will find it.
The student would be well advised to read a few reviews of a book that he is thinking of purchasing before getting
it, simply to see what those who have read it have to say. Read the bad reviews as well as the good, and look at
them objectively and see what the bias and dislikes the author of the review as well as the book’s author exhibit
and what is genuine bad information.
I say all this because many people who have read the 21 LoM have contacted me and I want to refute the
information in it. If Monroe has magickal information in there (which I didn't see) it is tainted by his inaccurate
information in all the rest of the book.

I will try to make this class as customized to the individual as possible. There are a number of resources we can
use, and if there is enough interest expressed I can set up a list for chatting, questions and clarifications. We will
use this list for lessons and assignments. Because we currently have 500+ students who are taking this class I ask
you all to remember that I am only one person, it may take some time for me to respond, but I will.
3) Practice: The first steps in casting and using magick.
Initially these should be simple things for knowledge, i.e., divinations, invocations of the deities, spells to help you
remember what happened in a former life. Many of these spells are learned by initiates on whatever magickal path
they are on, be it Cabala, Wicca, Satanism, or whatever. The reason? These are as basic as it can get. Crawling is
crawling after all. They are pretty much "shoot yourself in the foot" proof. By the time you get to actually learning
spells, you will have the knowledge to be able to protect yourself as well as the ability to write your own spells,
and know why you do this and such.
I cannot stress enough that this is the critical portion of this study. You can have all the theory and knowledge in
the world, but if you never put that into practice, actually DO the spells you have been writing and learning, you
will not be able to progress further.
There is a difference between KNOWING the path and WALKING the path. Without actually putting the
knowledge into practice, nothing will ever happen.
Below you will find MY list of exercises to practice and the order to practice them in for maximum results. I tried
to organize these from the "most safe" to "most risky". While I feel that I have clarified why, if there is something
that is unclear, I will be happy to explain further.
a.) Integrating dark with light. Acknowledging your darker traits and realizing that there is a time and a place to use
that aggression and hate, yet not letting it dominate you. In this area of "The Empire Strikes Back" Yoda was
wrong. Just because you use the negative aggressive tendencies does not mean that you will become irrevocably
evil. Using is not the same as being. The aggressive tendencies will always be easier, but you don't have to be
dominated by them.
Have you ever met a cop, and known that this man would keep his calm under the most stressful circumstances?
He is someone who has learned to integrate that dark side with himself. He is "Centered" or "Balanced". One of my
greatest friends has that same aura of calm. He is the gentlest of people, but don't cross him. He will remain calm
no matter the provocation he is enduring; yet he will not shed a tear about having to hurt you, if that is what it
takes.
b) Protective magicks are some of the easiest things to do, and very hard to mess up. Learning these is very good
practice for what will come later. Shields, wards, and the "Tai-Chi of Magick" all fall in this category. Many Earth-
based religions teach these, but there can be many holes in the teaching of differing paths, so keep looking. The
"Tai-chi" reference I made is using your opponent's energy against him/herself. It is working with natural flows,
and cycles of nature.
Once again, it is hard to muff a spell of this type. The worst that can happen is that the protection does not take,
and you won't know that until you are under fire. Eventually you should be able to look at any shielding you have
placed any where and see any weakness.

c) Offensive magicks are next. Intentionally hurting someone is a last resort, but sometimes it is the only one left.
No shame in it. Especially if that person is intent on hurting or killing you or someone you love. Naturally there is
a greater risk here though, since it can be turned against you. Offence includes hexes and curses along with esoteric
things like Levin bolts.
Make no mistake, these spells you need caution for. Most of these can and will come back to zap you if you don't
do everything just right. Practicing them going slowly through the steps can give you the mastery of these kinds of
spells.
Let me say now for the record, my core philosophies are Wiccan, but I am also a Guardian. I do not advocate
violence but I will use it if there is no other way to accomplish my goal. I will not use it to kill, unless there is no
other choice. I am always cognizant of the Law of Three, and as such I make damned sure that I am in the right
before proceeding to this stage. The Rede is not a death pact. It is a moral code, unfortunately, sometimes you have
to ignore that code to accomplish a greater goal. Just be willing to pay the consequences if you prove to be wrong.
d) Healing is a dangerous skill. In order to heal someone, you must first know how to harm him or her as well.
THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS. You are mucking around with someone else's body, mind, or soul. You can do
PERMANENT harm to them unless you know exactly what you are doing and why.
I say "mind" and "soul" because these are as valid a healing as any done for the body. Psychologists and Priests do
this kind of healing all the time. Why can't magick be used to do these same things? I am a Spiritual healer. I have
some knowledge of physical healing, simply because of my studies, and I find great satisfaction in being able to
help someone's soul to be healed of the darker areas that they live with. Healing may leave you with a scar, one
that helps to make you a better person altogether. The technique used the majority of the time is listening.
I have had my share of failures and near misses. It was a question of not listening when I should have. Blind luck is
all that saved my patient and I from something terrible. The patient was almost changed irretrievably into someone
different someone she had not agreed to become. It is the basis of my cautionary warnings.
Spiritual healing can be very dangerous for a number of reasons. True, you won't be physically hurt, but there is
still the insidious little thought that you could have done more, cared a little differently, or tried something else.
Some day ask a doctor who’s lost a patient how s/he deals with it.
e) Finding allies is also in the category of very dangerous to you.
Prospective enemies can come to you in the guise of allies. How better to defeat a budding magician than to know
what they are planning? YOU MUST KNOW WHAT EVIL LOOKS LIKE TO BE SAFE. By that I mean what the
soul looks like. This is one reason you must know yourself so well.
This involves looking around for potential friends or companions. DO NOT OFFER YOUR SERVICES TO
ANYONE. This seems a bit harsh, but there is an old saying that goes "when the student is ready, the teacher will
appear". I have found this statement to be true in more ways than one. Applied to this, it is even truer. When you
are ready to have someone in your life to help you, someone who wants to help, and who is willing to believe will
come along. You simply have to be prepared to accept them and protect them, and analyze what they can offer you
in the context of what you need. It may be that they cannot give you very much, but you can still be friends.
A note of caution is in order. Be careful about getting too involved in established covens or working groups. You

can be seen as an outsider an invader to their established pecking order. If you choose to enter such a group, insure
that each and every individual within it accepts you enthusiastically as possible. This should not constitute a
problem but you never know. I feel that politics is the worst problem we as a community have. I include in that
community Wiccans, Americans, Office and every other kind of group that one can belong to.
f) Working with other beings can have the same level of danger as finding allies.
Many extra-planar beings are malevolent and waiting for a chance to reduce the forces of good. This is where your
Will comes into play. On other planes, the one with the stronger Will is in control and will win. You can be
attacked from any direction, especially internally through your fears. You must know those fears so well that they
no longer have control over you.
It is critical that you understand the inherent danger. Many things that are ironclad here on the physical plane are
fluid on the Astral plane. Up is not necessarily up anymore. Hitting someone is more likely to hurt you than any
one else. There can be many, many problems. I highly advise putting off this kind of spell until you get greater
experience by traveling there. At that point, you will be a known quantity to those who dwell there. Thy will not
immediately perceive you as a threat.
On the plus side, as your skills in Magick increase, so too will your skill in OOBE**. In my experience, skill in
one equals skill in the other.
4) Honing skills:
Once all these basics are mastered, you are ready to take on the TRULY dangerous and important things that you
were born to do. Don't worry; if you make it to this level, you will have more than enough experience and
knowledge to make your hardest problem that of not having enough hours in each day to do everything.
I say this with tongue firmly in cheek, but I a quite serious. You will know yourself and your environment, and
more importantly, you will know your limitations. Most of the magickal courses of study I have seen are designed
to get you to this level.
Power HAS to be paid for. You will pay this price again and again in blood and sweat, sacrificing your resources in
endeavors you choose. You will know how to apportion your Power for the most advantageous use. You will know
how to husband your resources and how to use the environment and any tool that comes to your hands.
You should also know how to pick your battles, one of the most important skills. This is one of those skills that
cannot be done without once you "graduate" from your chosen course of study. It makes no sense to jump into a
situation and use most if not all your resources if the situation is simple justice and the "victim" is getting what is
deserved.
The following paths I have personally traveled at one time or another. Again, I must emphasize one thing; you do
not have to loose your connection with Humanity. Some think that by being a Magician, that you must loose your
"humanness" or your connection to people. This is not so. If you do loose that connection, then you are in danger
of becoming a menace to magicians and more importantly to society in general. Keep those ties with your family
and friends. Understand that if they do not see the same things as you do, and it is not your place to look down
upon them for their difference. It is your job to take care of them.

a. Defending the defenseless.
Think about this one carefully. You will be a trouble magnet. You don’t even have to go looking for fights, but like
the wise warrior you will be, you will pick your own time and place to strike a blow for justice. (Sounds like
Superman. Not far off. You will be doing just about everything he did. And all without the thanks he got.)
For me this is taking care of problems on the Astral Plane. Taking care of troublemakers on the other worlds before
they become a threat to us here I what I do best. You may find you are taking care of irresponsible people here and
now who are messing with Magick that they don't know how to use. Doing things like this would make one a
"Guardian" in many ways, and if you feel a call to this work, know that while the "way to go’s" may be few and far
between, you are needed and appreciated.
b) Healing Earth:
Hugging trees is all well and good, but getting corporations to stop taking what they think they need is much better.
Honoring means stopping the madness before Gaia is dead, then fixing it. This is a long and process, it is one that
needs to be done. Sometimes it can feel like an impossible job, heartbreakingly fruitless. If no one is involved and
fighting, one day we will wake up with no air, a sun that gives third-degree burns with two seconds exposure and
most of all life dead. This is environmental activism in a positive, pro-active format. This does not mean one
should spike trees, or become and eco-terrorist, it means volunteering with the Sierra Club, petitioning the
community on a topic of concern.
There are magickal actions that can be done to help. Things like astrally traveling to the Amazon Rainforest and
casting spells to stop the fires from burning, to heal the spirits that lives there. Similar activities can be done
everywhere as well, like casting shields over endangered areas, forcing poisons from the Earth and so on.
c) Why are you doing these things?
This may be one of the most frustrating parts of your life. You will wake up in the middle of the night and know
you HAVE to do a ritual RIGHT NOW. Yet you may never be told why you had to. Get used to it. It’s part of the
job.
Many times, this is simply a matter of something happening that you don't know about which requires your help or
energy. Let me give you an example from my own experience.
At one point I lived in an apartment complex right next door to soccer field. Normally this would not be very
noteworthy, but this field was in regular use from the children's league soccer groups. The children did not know
how to shield themselves nor did they realize that it had been used in the past as a worship area for those who had
less than ethical intentions. Several times, after games, I would be wakened in the middle of the night, summoned
down to that field in the dark of the night. I would be told to cast a Circle and wait. I would wait for upwards to
two hours for something to happen and it never would.
Investigating these incidents later, I found that the emotional content of the games was wearing away the "buffer"
between the worlds, and potentially other entities could come through to THIS world. My presence there prevented
that. But no one told me that at the time.
d) Moving to the will of the Gods.

Also frustrating, but at least you can see the results of your labor. In the process of self-knowledge you will acquire
a sense of who is speaking to your thoughts and what is going on. You will labor and sweat, but you will have a
concrete result. You still may not know WHY you had to do that, but "you knew the job was dangerous when you
took it."
This is can also include the teacher phase of metaphysics in which you train the next generation and make sure they
know how to do it right, rather than messing with things they don't know how to handle. In addition, it's a good
way to prove you learned it.
As a safety valve, try to find someone who is experienced in this work and stay in touch with him or her. Mental,
emotional, and spiritual fatigues are very real in this kind of work. You will need support when things get to be too
much for you just as they do. A good support structure is critical in order to cope. Ideally this should be someone
who has done this for a while and who can talk you down from the stress this will place in your life.
It is only sensible to have this kind of support, if only to swap stories with, to vent to. One day, you will have to do
this duty for another. Who heals the healer? Another healer of course.
Footnotes:
* Figured it out yet? Love and God, Goddess, Gods and Goddesses, what ever your particular religious belief. In
the case of atheists, "there can be only one". back
**Out Of Body Excursion or Astral Projection. back
Assignment:
This will be a standard of a kind for you. These assignments. Right now, I'm going to assign a permanent
assignment, one that I want you to do every day and week. I will ask you for progress reports from time to time, so
this is kind of important.
Get a notebook (Yes, we teachers DO get a kickback from the office supply industry). I don't care what type it is,
nor do I care where you keep it. What goes into the notebook is what is important to you and your progress. It can
even be on the computer, and you can take notes on a micro-casette recorder. But this is so you can track your
progress.
To do: Start meditating daily. The time is not important, just make sure you are consistant with this meditation.
Start with 10 minutes, and gradually increase it over the next two months until you are at 1/2 hour. I usually do
mine at night, just before I sleep.

I want you to do this because the gnosis part of Magick will happen, and I want you to know what that feels like.
Don't try to do anything, just stay inside your head and let your thoughts flow by themselves. Think of problems
you have been having, dificulties you need to overcome, etc. What you will start seeing is a pattern of behavior.
It is this pattern of behavior that concerns us. Look at the situations you find yourself in and start looking for
patterns of behavior. Spotting these patterns are the first step to correcting them as stated in the first five or six
pages of this lesson. Write these impressions down in your notebook and any flashes of insight you may have.
Those flashes of insight are the beginnings of gnosis, that connection to all.
I am tempted to tell you to start working on fixing those patterns of behavior, turning those negative things you are
doing to positive things, such as avoiding situations where your loud mouth (as an example) will get you in trouble.
However, if you feel that you can be introspective and spot those patterns of behavior, then start working on them.
HOWEVER, if you have not done the introspection thing yet, or do not know how to do this, only look for those
patterns.
(It would be helpful to me if I could see your journals once in a while, but I can't think of any device that would
allow me to ask for your notebooks and be able to read them while this class is online. We may set up a message
board to do this at a later date, but that is a maybe.)
I also want you to start a simple exercise. During your meditation, I want you to see the Moon in your mind. I then
want you to see a connection to the moon going from your heart to the moon, and I want you to see the moon's
light flowing down that connection to your heart. I want you to take in as much of that energy as you can, and then
I want you to disconnect yourself from the moon, and feed all that energy to a piece of jewelry you own. This will
be your primary metaphysical battery. This will be the place you ground any excess energy you have into. I suggest
you start this phase one week after you start the meditations above, and start it on a weekend, this may mess up
your sleep schedule.
Those of you who practice Reiki already recognized what I asked everyone to do, and I bet you know why I asked
them to do it as well. This is basic energy manipulation. This should give you the basics of what energy feels like
when it is flowing through you, it will show you 1) how to visualize, 2) how to ground to an object rather than to
the Earth 3) how to draw energy from other sources 4) how to charge a battery and 5) give you confidence in
Magick. Make no mistake about this, it is as real as the air you breathe. You HAVE to have confidence in this
energy and get used to treating it exactly the way you would if you had a bottle of gasoline in front of you.
When you do start experimenting with this energy manipulation, put those down into the notebook as well. List
what you felt, what you saw, what kind of things happened to you while you did this and so on. Anything and
everything that deals with these meditations, I want you to put down into your book. This will become important
later.
So, here are the assignments in order:
Now: Start meditating and put down everything you experience into your notebook. One week from now: Increase
your time spent meditating to 15 minutes or so. One week from now on a weekend: Practice drawing and
grounding that energy into a piece of jewelry (bracelet, watch, necklace, earring, ring, etc) that you want to become
your primary metaphysical battery. Two weeks from now: Increase your time meditating to 20 minutes.
To turn in: I want to see a synopsis of what you put into your journal over the past two weeks. Only put in things
that are odd, unusual, eerie, you don't understand, things you find disconcerting, things you need to check with me

or the list. Flashes of insight are good. I also want to see where you think you fit in the above "path" based on your
meditations. I will find it highly unlikely that many people are telling me "Stage H" for their placement, because if
you are at that level, you will already understand everything I'm going to be teaching here. Be honest. No one is
grading you on where you are at, and no one will judge you. The reason I ask for it is so you have to figure it out
and determine what level you are at.
To Print out: If you can, print this lesson and the previous one. Many libraries have printing services available. At
the very least, save this lesson off onto disk, and I will have archives available for anyone who requests them. You
will probably be referring back to these multiple times in the coming months and years, so you need to have it
handy.
To read: If you feel like it, and this is by NO means manditory, take a look at the original of this lesson, and the
reveiws I have on my site. There is a lot of good information there, if I do say so myself.... I also have a review of
"Teen Witch" up there as well as some of the more popular recent books from Llewellyn. It's the button to the left
labeled "Reviews".
Back Home Next

Lesson 3: Tools and

Props
No study of Ceremonial Magick would be complete without studying the tools used. Ceremonial Magick in
particular is dependant on tools to be more than just "stage props". These tools are required and certain things must
be done to empower them enabling them to perform their function.
For example, in most Low Magick usage, any Incense will do. The criterion for choosing it seems to be how it
smells. You go out and buy something off the shelf and put it on your altar. Many practitioners of "Low Magic"
don't even bother with buying a tray for the incense sticks, and stab it into a hole in the altar (in the case of stick
incense) or into some other naturally occurring holder (such as a pine cone or rock). Very few people tend to bless
and consecrate the Incense, since it's only going to be burned up anyway.
Despite the flip tone used above, for Low Magic users, the question remains: How do you consecrate the already
sacred? Fire and Air in the form of incense is used to consecrate the implements and area you will work in and
with... how do you make it more sacred? Why would you think you had to, and why would you want to try?
Something can't be a little bit sacred any more that someone can be a little bit pregnant.
In Ceremonial magick that changes radically. Here is an excerpt from the Key of Solomon:
THE EXORCISM OF INCENSE.

O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, deign to bless this odoriferous Incense so that it
may receive strength, virtue, and power to attract the Good Spirits, and to banish and cause to
retire all hostile Phantoms. Through Thee, O Most Holy Adonai, Who livest and reignest unto
the Ages of the Ages. Amen.
I exorcise thee, O Spirit impure and unclean, thou who art a hostile Phantom, in the Name of
God, that thou quit this Incense, thou and all thy deceits, that it may be consecrated and
sanctified in the name of God Almighty. May the Holy Spirit of God grant protection and virtue
unto those who use Incense and may the hostile and Evil Spirit and Phantom never be able to
enter therein, through the Ineffable Name of God Almighty. Amen.
O Lord, deign to bless and to sanctify this Sacred Incense so that it may be a remedy unto
mankind for the health of body and of soul, through the Invocation of Thy Holy Name. May all
Creatures who receive the odour of this Incense and of these spices receive health of body and of
soul, through Him who hath formed the Ages. Amen.
After this thou shalt sprinkle the various Spices with the Water of the Art, and thou shalt place

them aside in a piece of silk as in other cases, or in a box destined for the purpose, so that thou
mayest have them ready prepared for use when necessary. When thou wishest to use the Incense,
thou shalt kindle a fire of fresh Incense, in an Incense Burner, and the Incense being lighted thou
shalt say over it as follows, before putting the Spices beside the Incense Burner:
THE EXORCISM OF THE FIRE.

I exorcise thee, O Creature of Fire, by Him through Whom all things have been made, so that
every kind of Phantasm may retire from thee, and be unable to harm or deceive in any way,
through the Invocation of the Most High Creator of all. Amen.
Bless, O Lord All-Powerful, and All-Merciful, this Creature of Fire, so that being blessed by
Thee, it may be for the honour and glory of Thy Most Holy Name, so that it may work no
hindrance or evil unto those who use it. Through Thee, O Eternal and Almighty Lord, and
through Thy Most Holy Name. Amen.
This being done, thou shalt put the Spices upon the Fire, and make what perfumes and
suffumigations thou requirest.
Over Fumigations of evil odour thou shalt say: ADONAI, LAZAI, DALMAI, AIMA, ELOHI, O
Holy Father, grant unto us succour, favour, and grace, by the Invocation of thy Holy Name, so
that these things may serve us for aid in all that we wish to perform therewith, that all deceit may
quit them, and that they may be blessed and sanctified through Thy Name. Amen.
This is an entire rite in and of itself, and the Holy Circle has to be cast specifically so that one can bless the Incense
before using it to summon a spirit.
As you have probably guessed from the above, one must have properly consecrated incense in order to cast the
circle (working area in this definition) in order to consecrate the Incense. It can get somewhat confusing, and I
would imagine that one could cast the circle, consecrate the Incense, and THEN call up any spirits that one was
wanting to work with. Alternatively this suggests that in High Magic there is an unbroken line of Teachers/pupils
so that the teacher supplies already consecrated incense, although this gets into a chicken and the egg argument,
and you still have the problem of how the first batch got consecrated.
Needless to say, this takes time and energy. Add to that the fact that this kind of ceremonial magick also requires 4
other people, a plethora of other tools (I counted over 20) and long speeches to call up the spirits you wish to deal
with, one can instantly understand why this is called "Ceremonial" magick.
I'm not going to look at all the tools that can be used in Ceremonial Magic in this lesson; rather I will look at and
discuss some of the most common tools that are used in ceremonial and religo-magick.
Candles: They represent Illumination (duh) and Fire, or the Holy Flame of the Gods. From my observation of
different ceremonies and rituals, High Magick or Low, pure religion or spell, these are probably the most common.
I cannot think of one ritual school that does not use candles at one point or another. The Catholic Church uses
candles in ways many Pagans would recognize but that many Catholics don't understand or acknowledge. For
example the ceremony of making more Holy Water right around Easter in which a lit candle is plunged multiple

times into a cauldron of water while prayers are said and incense is used to consecrate the water; or the blessing of
the candles for the coming year in the Church on February third, near Candlemas or Imbolc, the Feast of Lights.
Not having been Catholic myself, I can only imagine the symbolism they ascribe to these candles as they are
consecrated and put out.
I do know that there are many traditions that specify particular types of candles, i.e. beeswax, paraffin or no
paraffin, no animal matter, etc., be used for certain things. In candle magick, for instance, specific colors MUST be
used to represent different things, or else the spell will have a lessened effect. Catholicism specifies that the candles
must be made out of virgin beeswax, and many traditions of witchcraft feel a need to have candles of specific
substances, colors, and materials. Several styles of Ceremonial Magick have an entire production for the
consecration of the candles. Thankfully I have not seen a ceremony to make the candles yet, but I'm sure that
someone will be writing one in the future if it hasn't been done already.
One thing that I realized while I was doing some research, no matter what faith we follow in America, all of us
have done a candle ritual at one time or another in our lives. Remember sitting at the table when you had just
turned 4 or so, having the lights darken, as that golden glow came out of the kitchen, hovering over a cake carried
to you, everyone's attention on you? Everyone is singing a silly song to you, but your eyes are riveted on that cake.
The cake is placed before you; you take a deep breath and make your wish. You blow as hard as you can, blowing
all the candles out, to the cheering of your friends. They ask you what you wished for, but your parent tells you not
to tell because you won't get it. Remember that time?
Congratulations, you just did a candle spell! The principal in which you psyche yourself up for a specific action to
occur during spell casting is exactly the same force you used when you blew out the candles and asked for that
pony you wanted. What was missing was the discipline behind the will it to drive the spell.
Now that you know that you have been doing candle magick all your life, we will examine candle magick closer in
later lessons.
Athame: The Ritual Knife. It is your main magickal tool. You will use this for almost everything, including
stirring things, and threatening to kill someone with it. Don't worry; you probably won't have to follow through.
This tool is probably the second most common throughout the different magickal traditions. I have seen it in most
rituals, with the sole exception being Christian Magickal traditions. I have considered the idea that some of
Christianity's problem with Paganism stems from a difference of opinion on this matter.
Sword: This is the Howitzer version of the Athame's popgun. It is simply an Athame for a group of pagans, usually
a Coven. It is normally handed down to the next generation of Pagans when the original wielders pass on, and thus
the power in it grows. Usually the passing of a sword within the same ritual group or tradition does not require the
sword to be rededicated or reconsecrated.
If, for example, you were acquiring a sword from another source that you know has been used for any reason what
so ever, it would be wise to cleanse a sword of negative energies when it comes into your possession. Unless you
wish to melt the used sword down and reforge it, it is almost impossible to remove all energies from a sword or
knife. With a brand new sword you simply need to consecrate it. Whether a particular sword is one that has been
used in a Coven for the last 50 years, or a Samurai Katana used to behead people in WWII is immaterial. Those
energies will leave a mark on the weapon.

While most of the energy can be transmuted to another "feeling", it will be almost impossible to remove all of the
energy from a given object. That is why psychometry (readings done from objects) is possible.
As far as Wiccan Magick is concerned, the following comments are relevant. While they are NOT true for most
types of ceremonial magick, where the form and function are critical, for various forms of Low Magick, these
statements are true in most cases.
Athame, Sword and Wand: As far as rituals are concerned, these are interchangeable. It does not matter which
you choose to use, for they all do the same thing, channel energy from you to somewhere else. Different are
symbolic of different things, and that is the only distinction.
Working in a group setting, one would use the Sword for energy channeling when everyone is focused on the same
goal. However, in that same setting, if you were doing energy work for a personal reason by yourself, you might
choose to use your Athame to channel that energy. The wand (in my experience) is only used in specific rituals to
represent the Phallus. This does not mean that one cannot use the wand for the same purpose as an athame. The
wand is just a capable of defining the circle and directing group energy as the sword. It's role may be limited in
modern times by modern perceptions, thoughts and glamour.
Specifically, the Sword and the Athame should be double-edged. This dual cutting edge represents the fact that
they can be used to harm or heal. One edge is used to destroy; yet the same knife can cut out a cancer. In Dune,
Frank Herbert brings up the "Philosophy of the Knife": "Cutting off that which is useless and declaring 'now it is
complete, because it ends here'". That is what the double edge represents.
Some schools of thought specify that an athame should be dull, while the White-handled knife should be sharp.
Other philosophies demand that the athame be razor sharp. One explanation offered is the athame should be dull so
that it can cut on the Spirit planes, specifically the beings and astral creations that exist there. Also one does not
have to have a sharp knife to channel energy from here to there.
My advice in this matter is simple. If your tradition dictates that you have both an athame and a white handled or
use knife, keep the athame dull. However, if the athame is being used to scribe other items for your rituals as well,
then it should be sharp. Follow the tradition you are learning on this matter. One non-magickal school, although it
can be argued that any philosophy is a magickal school, is Buddhism. In it, they have a knife called a "purbah",
which has a triangular shaped blade with a face carved in the hilt. You may have seen it in a movie called "The
Shadow" in recent years, and it can be found at http://www.ourpeak.com/gibson/u-820.jpg (please note, this is
only a picture. The original link to the manufacturer seems to have disappeared. They no longer carry this
weapon.). It is a brass knife, deliberately left dull, designed for attacking and harming spirits only, it was not
intended for use on this plane.
I could write a lesson all on it's own about the Athame, Sword and all the other "necessary" sharpened instruments
of Magick and ritual, but that would be a waste of your time and mine. Suffice it to say that in the end, the athame,
sword, poniard, kerfan, scimitar, sickle, burin, black or white handled knife, and about 20 other tools I could name
such as the switch, staff, rod and the wand, are interchangeable as far as their use in a low magick setting is
concerned. All of them are used to do one of several different things, channel energy from the holder to the target,
take energy from the target to the magickian, define the area to be worked in magickally (usually by pushing
energy from the practitioner to the Circle) and/or to menace or cut things on the Astral Plane in the case of
"bladed" tools.
Incense: Smells good, and represents Air. Carries the prayers up to the Gods in some Traditions. It is used as a

sacrifice to the beings that exist on the Astral Plane in many schools, because the smoke and scent are something
so ethereal and non-defined. It is used primarily, in my experience, to evoke a specific state of mind.
Think about this for a few moments. Think about smells you may know. What is the first thing you think of when
you smell burning rubber? Call up the memory of that smell in your mind and smell it again. What do you think of
when you smell it? Most people think about danger of some sort. If rubber is burning, then the car is messed up or
you have a problem with the electrical wiring of the house. What do you think of when you smell flowers? Spring
time, new growth, and renewal normally. What about cordite (burnt gunpowder)? Do you think about something
getting shot or being hunted? How about the smell of cooking food? What about sulphur (lighted match)?
All these smells bring up specific and exact associations within your psyche. A lit match smell may remind you of
the candles you lit with a match last week, and those roses may remind you of that time you spent in the garden
weeding and pruning rosebushes. That is why smells are normally used for triggers.
So if this is true, can smells be used to enhance magick? Of course they can. Take, for example, a spell to heal a
loved one. Now, what smells can one associate with healing? Lysol perhaps for that antiseptic smell? Possibly the
smell one gets when one goes to the doctor's office of strong chemical cleaners along with cotton cloth? So, maybe
opening a bottle of Lysol can help put your mind on what you are trying to do when you DO cast that healing
spell? In addition there is the belief that the smell of a scent can carry your wishes up to the heavens to the Gods or
whomever you honor in this case.
This is how specific smells and scents became associated with certain rituals and deities. My wife falls into a
reverent mindset at the smell of burning beeswax, frankincense and myrrh mainly because this is the scent she
knows from years of being Catholic.
Sounds can also be classed in the same category as scent, just as incense and bells can do the same thing. Hearing a
pipe organ or choir music puts one in a distinctly different mindset than listening to Motley Crüe. Part of your job
is to discover the scents and sounds that put you into specific mindsets and use them. You can make a list if you
wish, but most often if you sit and think about it for a few moments before setting up for the ritual or spell you
wish to cast, the associations will become plain to you.
Chalice: also Goblet, Horn, other names. A drinking glass for toasting the Gods.
It has been my experience that many traditions of Magick use this in one form or another. Most often, the chalice is
used to hold different liquids for use during the rituals. In Wiccan practice, it can be used to hold the water for the
water/salt combination as well as the wine for the Cakes and Ale portion of the rite, and also any other liquids
needed.
This does not always have to be a goblet or chalice. In this case, any cup or bowl specifically to hold liquids
qualifies, which includes many common symbols from a multitude of traditions. Most often they call it a goblet or
chalice, but they don't have to. I believe there is one type of witchcraft (based around the Arthurian myths) that
calls this tool a Grail.
Pentacle: This is usually just a pentagram (a five-pointed star with a circle around it). I use mine as a paperweight
(comes in handy on windy nights) others use it for various reasons. Mostly it's there to represent all the elements.
I wrote the above section a long time ago in a class called "Pagan Basics" intended to introduce those who were

role playing pagan characters to some of the basics of Paganism, so their characters could be convincing. I didn't
know as much then as I know now.
I have since discovered that while what I have above is true, it does not go far enough. There are all kinds of
"pentacles" that exist, most often in Ceremonial Magick, which are not used to represent all the elements. Things
like the famous "Seal of Solomon" which is actually about 150 different seals, intended to control the spirits that
are summoned up by his spells. None of these have any elemental association, unless the spirit has an elemental
association, but instead are used as a "seal" on a document, intended to keep the spirit in it's plane, rather than
giving it access to this plane.
The illustrations of these different pentacles and seals are many and various. These are a few examples:
http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/l1202f2.gif
http://www.esotericarchives.com/gifs/ksol1.gif
http://www.esotericarchives.com/gifs/g78.gif
http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/o35a.gif
http://www.esotericarchives.com/gifs/g76.gif
and so on. I think you get the picture. There is (thankfully) a full list of all these seals in the Key of Solomon,
which we will be studying later.
Other than the Keys and Witchcraft, I can think of no other traditions that use pentacles or seals extensively. I'm
sure there are some, but I am not sufficiently familiar with those traditions to be confident in saying just what they
are or are not.
Ritual book: This is the book that most Pagans write the ceremonies down in, also spells, thoughts, feelings,
insights. Also called a Book of Shadows, The Tree, and other names.
Some Pagans split the Journal part of their BOS and the Ritual and ceremony part into different books. The journal
part is then called (in my experience) the Book of Mirrors, to reflect the soul. This is what (ultimately) your
notebook will become. In this will be poems, thoughts and so on that you feel are special. Many argue that these
books should be hand-written, but I feel that it is all right if they are digital too. Just so long as the information is
preserved for you, if no one else.
This can also be the workbook you are using for a current spell. I can't imagine trying to memorize the complex
spells and rites in the Keys of Solomon and recite them from memory. Thankfully instructions in various traditions
for making tools are extremely explicit. In addition the tradition will spell out instructions on making a ritual book
to allow the practitioner to read the spell out loud. This would, of course, have to be consecrated as well.
It's interesting to note, that in Christian Magick, the Bible can be considered their Ritual book, with the Torah and
Talmud in Kabalistic Magick and the Koran for Islamic Ritual. It, in short, is any book that is read from during the
rite or ceremony. An alternative is a book in which rituals are written down for later use. Thus, your notebook(s)
could be seen as being a ritual book, as well as the three ring binder you index your information in for use in the
Circle.
I'm going to end the litany of tools here, and say that it is possible for this list to go on for quite some time. I could

add things like the salt, libation dish, amulets, candelabra and so on, but these are mostly individual to the tradition
itself.
Ritualistic or Ceremonial traditions will provide you with a list of the necessary tools for that tradition, along with
the means of consecrating them and dedicating them in the specific magickal tradition. I would advise reading the
instructions regarding the making or acquiring of these tools, and following them exactly.
I mean this statement. If your esoteric tradition demands that you make a book by hand out of virgin parchment
bound in kid leather for your ritual book, you better start studying bookbindery and secure a supply of parchment.
These instructions are not written down randomly, they are there for a specific purpose, and most often it is
because other methods have been tried and failed for one reason or another. Trial and error in most of these
Ceremonial Traditions has already been done, and the processes described are not open to modification.
However, if the tradition does not specifically state that you MUST make the tools out of new materials, then some
improvisation is allowed. So, let's discuss how to modify a tool to be used in a current tradition.
One thing I want to stress is that I'm not a huge proponent of recycling tools. If a sword was used in a Druidic
tradition, then it has been consecrated and dedicated for that tradition, and should ultimately stay with that
tradition. However, if the practitioner needs to use that sword from that Druidic tradition, then some common sense
precautions need to be stated.
First and foremost, if the tool you are using was used for blood sacrifice (even if it's as benign as slitting open the
user's vein for some bloodletting) then I personally believe that it can never be cleansed of that influence. It is my
experience that it must from then on be used only for blood sacrifice.
The reason I state this is simple. There is a tradition that has been explored somewhat in fantasy works that (as far
as I know) is not practiced in reality anywhere in the world. It is called "Blood magick". The human creature has a
tremendous amount of energy in the body, spiritually speaking. Should that creature die for one reason or another,
that energy can be ripped from the person at the moment of death and used for another purpose. It is one reason
that death-curses are so potent. If, as I die, I cast a curse on someone, and channel my life force into it, that curse
can persist long after the target of the curse is dead. It's one reason that the story of the curse of the Hope Diamond
is still around.
Using a tool that has been exposed to blood magic energy contaminates it rather quickly. Plus, you have to be a
stone cold killer to murder someone just to power a spell. There are all kinds of factors that could contaminate a
tool of this nature, and these are only a couple. The hate energy, the fear of the victim, the malice of the
practitioner and so on all combine to make the tool "dark" and ensure that it cannot be cleansed.
I know that there are some traditions (like Voodoo and Santeria) that use animal sacrifice as part of their rites, and
use the death energy from that to fuel their spells. While I can understand that usage, I still cannot see a ritual knife
used by a houngan (Voodoo priest) that has killed thousands of chickens in the process of his worship being used
by a Witch (even after cleansing) without some real problems occurring.
This is another of those hotly contested debates in the Pagan community. There are those who believe that any tool
can be cleaned of all energy, and just as many who think that while the majority of the energy can be cleaned, not
all of it can be as I said previously.

I come down on the side of those who think that not all the energy can be cleaned out.
The next common sense rule of reusing tools is to try to use the tool for the same purpose it was consecrated for in
the first place. If you have the same sword from the Druids (as mentioned above), try to use it as a sword, not an
athame. You will get better results if you do.
Next is modification. It helps YOUR magick if you make some sort of modification to the tool you want to use.
Using the same candlesticks that were used in a Civil War Chapel for your altar is a good thing, but you may want
to inscribe a few runes on it to make the purpose of the candlestick more yours. Understand that after a while of
being exposed to energy in a rite or ritual, especially magickal energy, the tool will start to pick that energy up and
take it into the item.
(As an aside, I can hear the antiques freaks protesting and getting ready to lynch me. However, the same thing can
be accomplished by tracing the runes/symbols with salt water or the holy water of the tradition, or anointing oil.
These are magickally charged to "alert" the intelligence of the tool to the change in purpose, without marring the
mundane value of the piece to collectors.)
This is what you want to happen. However, there is a flip side to this, and that is, the tool then develops a
rudimentary intelligence. The candlestick will know that it is supposed to hold candles and that is its purpose. If
you try to have that candlestick hold incense or something else, there will be a sense of "wrongness" to the entire
ritual, until you either rededicate that tool to it's new purpose, or start using it as it was intended to be used.
This is animistic in origin, saying that these tools will have a "persona" and an awareness of what is going on, but
remember; this is magick we are dealing with. This is the stuff that creates changes in the fabric of the universe and
simple contamination (and sympathetic magick as well) will cause this to happen. It is a good thing for, as the tool
knows its purpose, it can then cooperate with the magickian toward the goal of the ritual.
It is for this reason that most schools will demand that you make your own tools or that you have them made
specifically for you. Many traditions will demand you make all the tools yourself, and while this is interesting, it
may not be practical these days, especially given the amount of tools that are needed and the paucity of free time in
the modern world.
When a craftsman makes an item, he puts part of himself into it. It does not matter if it is a nail or an intricately
carved piece of wood, in fact, the more effort and attention that the craftsman puts into the piece, the more of his
energy will be in that item. So, buying hand crafted knives for use in a ceremony, even if they are cleansed and
consecrated, will have the contamination of the maker's energy.
In the case of mass-market items these days, this is not a problem. A machine can't really put its will and energy
into an item you purchase. However, when dealing with items that have to be custom made or hand made, you
have a whole different story.
It is due to these factors that the old magicians advised the practitioner to manufacture their own tools. Once the
practitioner becomes adept in one particular style or tradition of magick, s/he can decide which rules can be bent
and which can be broken.
After the tool to be recycled is cleaned of any extraneous energy, by taking all the energy contained in it,
grounding that energy, and infusing it with your own energy, it can be used again for your rituals. If it had runes or

symbols on it, I would buff them off and place my own on there.
Now, obviously, this is not intended to apply to those things that will be destroyed during their use. Things like
candles and incense, water and salt, don't really need to be drained of energy and consecrated again, but if your
traditions says that you must do this, then I would do it.
The reason I advocate following a particular tradition's teaching verbatim is because the teachers of that tradition
know more than I do. If you feel a call to practice the Ceremonial Magick of the Rosicrucians once this class is
done, go for it. But no matter how many degrees you have in other magickal traditions, or how much knowledge
you have in these particular practices, nor how similar to Tradition X their magickal system is, IT IS NOT THE
SAME THING. Practicing a particular school of magick's way automatically subjects the practitioner to the way
they do things. Every single aspect of that tradition, from the ritual to the props to the hand motions and gestures to
the words recited to the ethical structure and philosophy is necessary to that tradition. It is good if you have a
grounding in other magickal systems, this will help you in understanding the underlying structure and reasons for
the rules that are given. It is only when you become the "master" in that system of magick that you can start
messing with those rules and trying different things.
As you get to know me, you will find out that I'm a Martial Artist from a LONG time ago. I will be using these
analogies quite a lot in these lessons, so I want you to understand that up front so you can understand some of my
analogies.
I stress the need to keep the traditions pure until you are completely familiar with them because if you don't you
may find that something that should be working is not. It would be as if I were practicing Tae Kwan Do, with all
the punches and kicks it has, and I was already adept in Judo. Now, they are both martial arts, both have punches
and kicks, but the movements in Judo are completely different than those in Tae Kwan Do. If I am studying Tae
Kwan Do and I try to use the punches and kicks from Judo, I will not only fail, but the instructor would be well
within his rights to throw me out of his training hall for disrespect.
This is because while the basic movements look the same, the philosophy of the sport as well as some of the more
subtle aspects of the movements are completely different. If I used the "use their energy against them" mode of
Judo, I would not be able to understand or comprehend the direct "dodge or be hit" mode of Tae Kwan Do.
This is a long illustration for simply saying, pick a tradition and stick with it. If you start thinking that you know it
all simply because some aspects of the discipline and the magick look similar, you may miss a LOT of the more
subtle aspects of the practice. So, wait until you know why they do thus and so before you throw out that aspect of
the practice.
Assignment:
I want your impressions of the Moon energy exercise. While I know that many of you already turned that
information in in the Assignment for Lesson 2, I want any further thoughts or inspirations you have had in the
meantime. If you shared this lesson with your spouse and his hematite ring blew up when he tried it, and so forth
and so on, I would like to hear about it.

I am emphasizing the energy exercises, because you have to know what the energy moving feels like to you.
Knowing how to draw and ground energy is a good thing, but if you don't know that for you, pulling energy gives
you goose bumps (like it does me) then you will not know when you have the energy moving in the Circle. It is up
to you to identify and articulate what the energy feels like when it is moving through you.
Toward that end, I am going to have you drawing from a different source again. I want you to increase the
frequency of the Moon drawing and dumping exercise to a nightly schedule as you meditate. Simply decrease the
time allotted for this to a few minutes. I want you to raise the energy from the moon and dump it into your chosen
"battery". Starting this weekend, I want you to switch from drawing energy from the Moon to using the Wind for
power.
Instead of visualizing the Moon, visualize the sky and the wind or the effect the wind has on the world around you.
Visualize the waves of grass as the wind blows across the seed heads, the branches of the trees as they dance and
sway to the silent music the wind brings to them. Tap into that force and start drawing from there. Once again,
dump it into the battery you have set up.
Don't be too worried about the battery. In experiments I have done, an infinite amount of energy can be put into
one atom of matter. Energy of this nature has a form, but no substance, so you can put as much as you want into as
small a location as you want. You will have to be careful about fragile batteries like stone rings, but that is about
the only thing you need to worry about. The energy you are storing in your battery will make fragile things more
fragile, simply because the extra energy is exciting the atoms and making their bonds expand, thus causing it to
become slightly more fragile. Most of the time you won't see the effect of this, but in some cases, it can be
spectacular. I have shattered more carnelian rings and hematite rings than I care to count because of this resonance.
Keep meditating. Increase your time spent meditating to 20 minutes. This will probably be the upper limit of your
meditations; most of what you need to work out will be able to be explored in depth in this time. Spend about 1/4
of the time in the energy manipulation practice with the Moon and Wind, the rest in introspection.
At this time I would like you to change the form of the meditation, and instead of simply being passive and
thinking about whatever comes into your head, I would like you to pick an action you do habitually and track down
the reason you do it. It can be something as simple as having to have a door opened or closed, or a fear of some
insects, for example. I want this meditation to become more introspective and for now at least, focus more on
searching out the roots of some of your problems.
We are going to keep these meditations on this level for about a month now, so you can look at multiple problems
within that time period. At one point, and it's up to you to decide when, I want you to meditate for as long as you
can. Make a note of the time when you decide to start and when you come back to yourself. My record is two and a
half hours. I did that on September 12, cleaning up the mess left with all those dead souls that needed to be
released.
Some of you have stated that you are experiencing a floating sensation or a disconnectedness to your body. This is
good, since these are the first steps in achieving OOBE, but since this class is High Magick, I want you all to not
go anyplace just yet. Those of you who are actually leaving your body and finding yourself in other realms don't
panic; simply will yourself "home" to your own body. You are on the Astral Plane, and you can't loose your
connection to your body. The next lesson is an exposition (reprised from the Astral Projection class) on meditation.
There will be some slight modifications to the text.
Those of you who have met and spoken to people while meditating, don't be frightened; these are your Spirit

Guides or Teachers or Guardian Angels as you choose to identify them. Basically they are a disembodied spirits
whose job it is to educate you, guide you and take care of you in a metaphysical sense. They won't harm you. I will
be showing you how to construct wards and shields later to protect from "things that go bump in the night." I'll
leave it till then to go into all the aspects of meditation.
So, in the following order:
Now: Keep meditating and increase the time you meditate to about 20 minutes. Spend 5 minutes of that meditation
transferring energy from the Moon to your battery.
This weekend: Switch from the Moon as a power source to the Wind as a power source. Use whatever
visualization is comfortable for you. Put the Wind Energy into your battery just like you did with the Moon
meditations.
Next Week: Turn in any significant entries from your journal. Also turn in a short essay on ONE tool from your
favorite path of Magick. By now you should know what I mean by your favorite Path of Magick. Tell me what that
tradition says about the tool you have chosen, as well as what it is used for, how it should be constructed, what
materials it is made from and so on. Tell me why it is used over other tools that are similar in form (i.e. why do you
use the white-handled knife rather than a burin or Kerfan, and instead of using the already dedicated athame?) and
so on. Please try to be original in this and pick a "less popular" tool. Also make sure I understand just what your
favorite Magickal tradition is. It does me no good to read a 5-page essay on why the scourge is used in your
tradition if I don't know that your tradition is Catholic Magick.
Keep writing in your journals, this will become an important record of your progress. Just ask anyone on this list
that habitually keeps a journal about the importance of their journals once they complete the course they are
studying. I personally have gone back and re-read some of my original entries from my journal, and it's amazing
just how much I have grown and matured.
After the assignment is turned in, and for your personal information (to share if you feel like it): Make a list of the
tools you would demand if you were creating your own magickal tradition. What would be there, why and what
use would it be used for? What kind of materials would it be made out of and why? Have these make sense, don't
put a tool there just to have it there.
I'm asking you to do this because by the time you are done with this course, you will all effectively have your own
magickal tradition, and this is the beginning. Deciding what you want as tools and props and more importantly why
they are there. This is going to be a tradition that you will be practicing and one that you can potentially teach to
others.
This list of tools is completely open to anything your heart desires. If you decide that your tradition needs a Sacred
Clipboard, as long as it can be justified, then go for it.
Please note, the essay above is about your CURRENT tradition, not this one you are developing.
To Study: Yourself. I have no print reference for you to use right now, but I want you to understand yourself. As I
said in the last lesson, the only person who can know why you did something is yourself. From here on in, I want
you to meditate on aspects of yourself and determine what needs to be fixed, corrected, enhanced, where you need
to learn more and so on. There will be specific magickal exercises and during your meditation you will be doing

those as well, but if I don't tell you differently I want these meditations to be probes into your own mind. Some of
it may be painful, but it is something that needs to be done.
Other than that, have fun and try to enjoy yourself and your life. I'm totally serious; it's one of the key reasons we
don't go drifting off into the ethers. A good grounding in this life and the world around us is our bedrock. Don't be
afraid to enjoy the birds singing or the fact that you just set the hem of your ritual robe on fire. In the words of
some Bards I know called the "Eagles"... "Take it easy.... take it easy.... Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy.... Lighten up while you still can, don't even try to understand, just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy."
And to quote Robin Williams "Angels have wings because they take themselves lightly."
Back Home Next

Lesson 4; Meditation
and some basics
Recently while I was in the Q&A sessions run by the Online Mystical School, I was got a high percentage of
questions regarding meditation. I answered some of the questions then, and many more I put off till later. A couple
concerns that were cropping up in the assignments I answered in the last lesson, so now it's time to discuss one
more important aspect of magick, that of Meditation.
Meditation is like the ability to write neatly and legibly. While you may not like the exercises, drills and repetition
while you are learning the skill, it is a skill that you will use for the rest of your life. So it is with meditation since it
is one of the critical skills in magick.
This is why; how do you expect to truly still your mind and clear all extraneous thoughts from your head in order
to focus on the spell at hand unless you know how to meditate? It's the same thing. Taking a deep breath and
clearing the mind is the same process that is used in meditation, the only difference is that the magickian's mind is
already disciplined to accept the meditation in a "quick and dirty" fashion like this.
This lesson is based on two lessons I gave to my OOBE class. Both of those lessons deal with Meditation and how
it applies to OOBE, I feel all of you will quickly see how this same set of instructions is applicable to meditating
for High Magick.
I'm going to warn you, there is a TON of information here. A lot of this will be on the exam, but I don't expect you
to have this down perfectly by next week. Print this lesson, if you never print another word from me, and keep it
around for reference. It's long, but you can take breaks when reading it. This will make up for my having only a
few pages on something else at one time or another. ;-)
Basic Meditation
First and foremost, getting to the Astral Plane, or projecting, is a mental discipline. There are no shortcuts to the
ability to force yourself out of your body (believe me, I've looked). These are some devices techniques and tips that
will bring about the proper states of mind, or a trance state.
Sit and close your eyes, and think about nothing. Sounds easy? Well, it can be just as it can also be the hardest
thing you have done.
Relaxation is the key to meditation, just as meditation is the key to Astrally Projecting. The more relaxed you are,
the easier it will become to fall into the state where by you can leave your body and reach other planes. The key to

all of this, unfortunately in some ways, is the mind.
The mind is like a spoiled child. It resents having to do something that it has not already learned. As such, it will
resist when you try to force it to meditate. Your mind wants to do things the same old way it always did, so that
when you actually start meditating on a regular basis, you may find a tendency to drift onto subjects that have
nothing to do with the meditation. Based on the desired result of your meditation, this can be good or bad.
Let's talk about the structure of the mind for a bit, before we go any further. Freud postulated that the mind is
composed of two parts, the Conscious, and the Subconscious; this is the same as the Ego and the Id. Eventually,
others introduced the Superconscious and Superego. These three parts make up what we term our thought
processes. The Superconscious/Superego is the moralizing, logical part of us all, the thinker, the reasoner, and so
much more. The Subconscious is the storehouse and also the random thought processes, the artist, the base
animalistic side of our nature, the one who remembers everything we do and say as well as being the sex drive,
emotions and the urge to reproduce. In between these levels is the Conscious mind. This is the part of you that
thinks thoughts, accesses memories and makes up your personality and all the things you think of as going on in
the front of your brain. Please keep these sections clear in your mind. The Superconscious and Conscious mind
define your Will for Magick, and the Subconscious actually controls the energy and the effect. In order to affect a
change in the world you first have to convince your subconscious to accept the change.
It is my personally held belief that once the Superconscious shuts off in sleep the Conscious mind disappears. The
Conscious is the border area, the overlap between the Super and Subconscious that allows us to think and behave
as we do when we are awake. When the body lies down to sleep, the Superconscious and Conscious shut down,
like a computer, thus allowing the Subconscious to run free. Note that this is only my belief, not one held by the
psychological community at large, and I came to this conclusion through conversations with various people's
Superconscious during hypnotic sessions.
When you practice and unfocused meditation, you are doing basically the same thing, shutting down the logical,
reasoning part of yourself, and allowing the undisciplined animalistic part of yourself to run free without fetters. As
a result, your mind will wander into little side-paths of thinking and dreaming, songs will start up for no reason,
you will find yourself thinking of things that you haven't thought of in weeks or months, or old memories will
surface. This is because the subconscious does not like changing the already established patterns of behavior.
However, just like a child, once the discipline and rules become consistent, the subconscious usually settles down
and follows the rules you just gave it. This is where you start deciding on how you want to meditate. Much of this
is discussed later, but for now, if you want to do stream of consciousness meditations, this is when you would
decide that. Please note that as you continually apply the rules you have decided on, they will become easier to
impose on your mind. For the first month, however, all kinds of things will distract you and try to prevent you from
meditating. Ignoring that itch that the Subconscious has dredged up to distract you can be HARD....
This will take time and constant effort. That is why it is so important to consistently practice meditation and to do
it about the same time everyday. But, once the mind is bowed under the "yoke" of learning a new way of
functioning it will stop throwing up distractions to what you are trying to accomplish. Instead, usually it will start
throwing up solutions helpful memories and thoughts. The Subconscious is a very intuitive entity. Because it is
"wordless", it will portray the information to be conveyed in symbolic pictures. It can use that for you during
meditation. Still, you have to meditate on an ongoing basis at about the same time everyday, with the same
environmental conditions.
There are other ways of achieving this state, but by far, the easiest is by use of meditation. However, it is germane
to the issue to discuss the other means by which this state of awareness/not-awareness can be reached.

The first is probably the most expensive in terms of doing it properly. That is the use of equipment for sensory
depravation. Most people remember the Sensory Deprivation tanks that were used in the 70's for experimentation
in the human mind. These experiments showed that left to it's own devices; the human mind will invent things just
to give itself input. However, not all equipment needs to be this elaborate. The same ends can be achieved with a
pair of ear-plugs and a blindfold. The goal here is to cut off the distractions from the outside world, to remove the
input of the senses, so that the mind turns inward. The only thing the tanks do that can't be done by other means is
to cut off the sense of touch and smell. As a necessity, once the primary senses are frustrated, the remaining senses
become heightened. Turn off sight, and the hearing becomes stronger. Turn off sound, and the sense of touch
becomes that much more powerful... and so on. Your senses are still there, just denied input. SCUBA diving does
something similar to the mind, and SCUBA diving in the pool with a blindfold on will do exactly the same thing as
all the elaborate equipment. Buckland even recommends a primitive version of this in the Big Blue Book, with his
"witches' cradles" and so on.
The next means of achieving this trance state is through dreams. Every night you go into a self-induced trance
when you are falling asleep. This is a hypnotic state, and it is very easy to fall into, but it is also easy to fall out of
into sleep. In my experience, this kind of AP is the most unreliable, although there are some spectacular results that
can come from adepts who use this regularly. I will wait until another lesson to go into this in more detail.
There is Ecstatic Trance that can free your mind to roam the Astral Plane. An example
that I can think of is the Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi Muslims. It was believed that
their spinning allowed them to be receptive to God. In this state, the body does not
matter. It was also used as a meditation for the Sultan who would watch the dance and
open himself to the mind of God as well. Having seen some film of these dancers, and
knowing that they go for upwards to 5 or 6 hours of spinning, I can only imagine that
they are in a state of trance. But this is not the only kind of ecstatic trance that can be
induced. The "frothing at the mouth" or speaking in tongues that happens in some
primitive Christian groups is exactly the same kind of state. It is a trance that is self-
induced by hysteria. So the devotional prayers in some churches, also called "storming
heaven", are a form of this. As many people as possible pray for as long as possible for a
specific goal, with the belief that they can positively coerce heaven into doing their will. Being "ridden by the Loa"
in the Voodoo tradition is also a form of this trance state. They consciously enter a state of trance through dancing
and expect spirits (or Loa) to use them as vehicles to communicate with others.
Another way to achieve the state of trance that allows AP is through mortification of the flesh. Ever wonder what
the heck a scourge is used for in some traditions of Wicca? Here is the answer. According to the Alexandrian
tradition, as related by Janet and Stewart Farrar in their book (and shown to us in the Online Alexandrian Book of
Shadows under the topics of "To Gain the Sight" and "To Leave the Body"), the scourge is used to whip the person
who wishes to have their mind opened and to see into the "realms beyond". However, this takes two people, one
who needs to be experienced in doing this kind of work, and one to be the subject. It is not something for the
inexperienced to do. Put it this way, I have been traveling out of my body for about 8 years now with confidence,
and I have never tried this version. From what I have read, the theory is sound. This is the same thing that the
Christian Monks did in the Middle Ages (and the Hispanic Penitentes still do). Druids also followed this path,
using Sensory Depravation as well by having their adherents lay in a pitch-dark cell beneath the ground with a
heavy stone on their belly.
Another method to the Trance State is to take drugs. Let me state now, that this is the absolute last option that
anyone should take. I do not advocate this, nor do I approve. However, I do know of shamans who do use this
method to great effect in the Andes Mountains of South America. I would point out that they do this with years of
experience and training behind them. Basically the drug(s) used throw the conscious mind out of gear enough that

receiving visions and leaving the body is natural. However, one cannot control any aspect of the trance at this
point. By taking the drug to inhibit your thinking processes, you are necessarily also inhibiting the controls that
you would have without the drugs. That is the whole point of taking the drug after all.
The last method of trance that I can think of is to be hypnotized. This is almost exactly like the Dream method, but
instead of self-willing it, you are guided to this state by another. They can give you suggestions and visualizations
to use to help you along, and in all cases you have to actively participate in the hypnosis. I will talk more about this
later in this lesson.
All of the above methods of entering a trance state have been used in the past and continue to be used today. The
desired effect is to enter a state in which God (or your deity of choice) can talk directly to you. From this state, it is
an easy leapfrog to leaving your body.
I'm going to touch on a few basic techniques of meditation so that you can see that it is not the technique of
meditation that is important to achieve this state.
The first technique, in my experience is the "Void state". This technique sounds simple, and is to a point, but it can
be one of the hardest to maintain over time. You simply close your eyes, and think of nothing. Some people go
rigid, or become flaccid, and others keep a state of tension in their bodies as though they were expecting
something. Many close their eyes, some don't. The practice varies, but the technique is simple. Any thought, any
sensation, any sensory input is disregarded or stopped. You don't think of anything, or feel anything, etc. If your
mind starts supplying things, you cut that off and go back to being nothing. It is theorized that by doing this, you
get closer to the Mind of God. By doing this enough, and by coming into contact with the Mind of God enough,
that some of His wisdom will leak over to you, that the practitioner of this type of meditation will have an
epiphany where they suddenly understand everything. It is exactly what Zen Buddhists do in their meditations in
trying to reach Nirvana.
Lucid Dreams are another technique. This technique, when applied properly, will allow you to do two things at
once... sleep and AP at the same time. There are a few catches though. First is REMEMBERING your dreams. The
way to do this is to tell yourself to remember your dreams before going to sleep, and to keep a notepad and pencil
by your bed when you do sleep so that you can write down what you remember upon awakening. This does work
extremely well. I did this for about a year, and while I got no closer to AP, I did dream very vividly, and can still
remember my dreams from that time. When you wake, IMMEDIATELY grab the pad and write everything you
remember from your dream. No matter how disjointed, you will get something. Enough to jog your memory later
in the day when you can sit down and write a five-chapter treatise on what you dreamed.
It is interesting that this is one of the techniques for meditation. I say this because you naturally AP every night. All
those dreams you have vague memories of when you went somewhere and saw things and then fell so that you
were startled awake, are true AP experiences. Most of us have memories like these (I know I do *S*) and forget
them after a while. This is one of the reasons to have a dream diary.
Once you remember your dreams, the next step is to CONTROL those dreams. It is a matter of realizing you are
dreaming, while you are dreaming, and changing it to what you want the dream to be. This is not as easy as it
sounds. Many people wake up at firs when they realize they are dreaming, and many never realize it in the first
place.
Once the control of dreams is accomplished, it is a very easy matter to decide to visit other places. Or times. Or
people. It is possible to go anyplace that your imagination can take you, which is why this is an advanced skill and

why you must be careful.
A factor that complicates things is that dreams are our subconscious mind's attempt to assimilate what has been
happening our lives. It is a way to vent, and to remember what has been going on by associative symbol. It is also a
way to work out problems. By dealing with them in a "safe" environment, we can confront problems that we may
feel are insurmountable.
The third technique that I have used is The Lotus Position. This is what many people think of when we speak of
mediation. It is sitting in a somewhat uncomfortable position, chanting, or doing other goofy things. You don't
have to do any of that. The only reason that you sit in an uncomfortable position or concentrate on saying "Ohm...."
over and over is to focus your mind. This kind of meditation is as easy as daydreaming. You could as easily focus
on your big toe, a candle, a picture, etc.
Brainstorming, daydreams, "put it in the back of my mind" are all forms of this. You simply let your mind drift
among many different paths. You do not try to force any one thought upon it, you simply go where association
takes you. You may start with a problem, think about it, but you will find yourself, usually, miles from where you
started.
An example; I work with computers IRL, which is my day-job, the one that I earn money from. If there is a
problem with the software that I don't have a clue about, I will take a break, think about what the problem is, define
it, and start on a trail of associations that will lead me to a working plan. Usually this turns out to be the right plan,
but the way I got there might be through such stuff as MP3s, my cousin, his computer, the modem and cable
modem on his computer, to "device driver problem or conflict" which will usually be right. But the problem I
started with was "software locks computer". Channeled right, you can break "intuitive flashes" and "gut reactions"
down into steps that you can follow in your mind to get to the same place. Those gut reactions are the previously
described process speeded up so you are unable to consciously see the components.
Doing it this way can result in some interesting connections and associations coming to light. Why would thinking
of Montana make you think of your mother's dog (as an example)? While the train of logic is a good one for you,
and the associations are interesting, for someone else, they will seem the stupidest way of associating the particular
piece of data.
One thing I did want to talk to you all about was "guided meditations". These are interesting as they are neither
hypnosis nor a meditation, but have elements of both incorporated into them. I have an example audio file where I
am reading a guided meditation, and you can listen to it here: http://davensjournal.com/FS.zip . It's a fairly large
zip file (about 7.5 Megs) so it may take you a while to download it. Be patient. There are two files inside, both are
the exactly the same. One is a wav file, the type that Windows uses to make all the sounds. Everyone should be
able to listen to that. The other is the MP3 version. Feel free to use this if you wish to and to keep them. You can
find the original text to this meditation at http://davensjournal.com/FaS.xhtml page.
Meditation in depth:
I have pontificated on the various ways of achieving a trance state, citing meditation as the easiest to maintain, and
the safest. Now we are going to talk about different portions of meditation, examples of what happens, using
hypnosis and guided meditations as aids to gaining and maintaining a trance state.

Let me define what a trance is first. Several different people have defined trance as a hypnotic, cataleptic, or
ecstatic state. This can apply to any number of different conditions in the human body, like being under the
influence of a drug or alcohol, daydreaming, or sleeping. For the purposes of this class, a trance is defined as the
state between waking and sleeping, where the mind is somewhat awake with a heightened and focused ability to
function, while the body is relaxed as though for sleeping.
Herein is the distinction: A trance state is a state in which there is a self-willed "release" from the reality you
interact with every day. You don't see anymore, you don't hear anymore, you don't feel anymore, so forth and so
on. Does this sound familiar? It should, you do this every night.
Yes, you go into a trance every time you go to sleep. You pass through the trance state into the unconscious state,
but you come back up into the trance state often during sleep as well. It is described as being relaxed with the eyes
closed. Medical researchers call this state of trance the "Alpha brainwave" state. It is the same state that is invoked
in hypnosis and guided meditations. The awake state is the Beta brainwave state. Paradoxically, when we dream
we reenter the Beta state.
Since this state is self willed, meaning that you put yourself into this state, how can it be a hypnotic state, which
someone else puts you into? Good question. A "hypnotic" state is nothing more than a co-operative effort between
the hypnotist and the subject. The hypnotist puts you into a relaxed state, usually through words and visualizations
and allows for a high degree of suggestibility. This involves giving up some control to the person who is usually
called the hypnotist, allowing them to lead you to this state, rather than going to this state for yourself. You can
actively resist being led to this state since it is cooperative effort, and the myths of being forced into a hypnotic
state and told to kill your mother are bunk.
If you ever want to know what it is like to be hypnotized, go to sleep sometime and pay attention. Right in that
time when you relax your body, and your mind starts drifting is a hypnotic state. Just be careful you don’t do what
my wife did many years ago. In trying to pay attention to what happened as she fell asleep, she gave herself
insomnia. She was paying too close attention. Why do the scientists call it "hypnotic" rather than something like
"the pre-sleep state"? Who knows? I don't. It's one of those things that scientists do, naming the same object or
state twenty different names. I guess it was to differentiate it from a self-willed sleep.
But you know what? Self-hypnosis tapes and guided meditations do the exact same thing to you. You may not
realize it, and there are not usually any suggestions to quack like a duck, but it's the same process, the same feeling,
and the same state. Because of that, hypnosis is a good tool for use in achieving a trance state and staying there for
an extended period of time.
However, you may not have a hypnotist handy whenever you want to practice, and they cost a lot of money. So,
what other alternatives to hypnosis do the Astral-Projector-on-a-budget have available?
Guided meditations: These are wonderful things, a whole sequence of sayings, affirmations, feel-good thoughts,
and suggestions for yourself. They're supposed to be used in a group setting, there are no specific suggestions of
"You must give me all your money and treat your mother Karen with respect and goodwill" (said sotto voce).
Instead, the suggestions will be more along the lines of "you feel good about yourself, the world around you, and
the people you meet." The suggestions will be general in nature, rather than specific.
What's the flaw in these types of tools? Well, you need to listen to them. Both hypnosis and guided meditations
need to be listened to, while you cooperate with the person doing the speaking to achieve the trance state you wish
to.

Obviously, this will not work too well for those who are hard of hearing, deaf, or speak another language. So, the
best option is to construct your own "guided meditation" for use on yourself.
Doing it this way will be ultimately more powerful for you. The visualizations, the sights, the feelings, and the
attitude of the whole meditation will be custom made for you, and you alone. For that reason, those who use
meditations as a daily part of their lives tend to have about 3-10 different sets of meditations that they use over and
over to allow them to achieve a trance state. This is important because without achieving this state and staying in it,
conscious OOBE will not be possible.
Some general themes of the meditations used are listed here:
1. Suggestions to relax.
2. The feeling of a safe environment around you.
3. Lack of distractions from the world.
4. A sense of comfort and love.
5. Pictures and visualizations of a scene that is pleasant for you.
6. A descent of some kind.
7. Arrival at the desired destination.
Each of these parts comes into play, and can be useful in maintaining trance. For some meditations and some
schools of thought, sounds can be important in maintaining this state as well as anything you come up with. One
group who thinks that sound is important to the mind and memory is the Native Americans and the Whale totem.
The Whale holds all the knowledge there is to know, and it accesses that knowledge through the songs it sings.
(This is taken from the Native American Medicine Cards; I have no idea what NA spiritualism says in this in
general.)
Given this set of generalities, let me share with you my personal meditation that I use. I will post it here
http://davensjournal.com/TTDM.xhtml . Take a look at it and read it. Look for those 6 general aspects of all
meditations in there. Then go back and look at the Flame and Shadow Guided Meditation at:
http://davensjournal.com/FS.zip for the wav and http://davensjournal.com/FaS.xhtml for the text.
The best part of this is that once you know the general shape of what your meditation will be, you don't have to
read it out loud. You can follow it all in your head to its conclusion, without ever having to disturb your meditation
or the environment around you. No tape recorders, no .wav files, no anything except your own imagination and
willpower.
Now, lets say that you get into the trance state and are completely relaxed. How do you maintain that state over
time? There are a few things that will help you but ultimately it's your will that will decide whether or not you
maintain that state.
Tool number one: Visualizations. Seeing pictures and environments in your head. Imagining a scene and make it
real around you, from the sights, to the smells and the sounds. Feeling the heat from a lazy summer day, hearing
the drone of bees and sensing the humidity in the air, just before the thunderstorm. Making that environment real
around you in every way imaginable.
This takes some doing, and not everyone can achieve a complete mastery of visualization. I have not yet, although
I have been practicing for multiple years on being able to achieve this, sometime soon, perhaps. I have gotten

close, however, which is a tremendous step forward. And I have had this fantasy environment "snap" into focus
around me at different times, showing me that I was now projecting out of my body.
These are some hints I can give you about this tool in attempting to maintain trance: Don't get to detail oriented. If
you get caught up in making every snowflake different, and forget to include the cold, then something is wrong.
Start from the general and work your way down to the specific when doing this. For example, make it day, make
the sun shining, make the wind blow, make the wind cold, make the trees sigh around you, then make the
snowflakes around you different. Going the opposite way, from the specific to the general only frustrates you and
makes it seem as though it's too much bother.
Tool number two: Hypnagogic images. Watch that pretty light show there behind your eyelids. ;-) That is the
hypnagogic images. It is theorized by some (most notably Dr. Donald DeGracia,), that this hypnagogic light show
is a gateway to the Astral Plane. Watching the lights and looking at the patterns can open a window in you to other
worlds. Dr. DeGarcia is a gentleman who taught a class in Astral Projection a long time ago. I reference heavily his
work and in my class lessons on OBE and I put my commentaries in about his teachings. If you do a web search on
his name and Astral Projection, I bet you will find his class.
Basically what he recommends is that you look at the lights. Those lights will form random patterns on your
eyelids, as you watch them. Rather than visualizing something in your head, he believes that if you watch the
patterns long enough, you will start seeing images form in those patterns and in the darkness behind your eyes.
I have experienced this phenomenon myself, and can only say that what he describes in his class on CompuServe is
accurate. I have not yet projected from that state of watching the hypnagogic images into a true projection episode,
but with practice I hope to be able to do so.
The advantage to this kind of maintaining of trance is that you are passive. There is nothing that you have to do or
think of in order to remain in this state. At most what you have to do is to keep reminding yourself why you are
looking at this light show, and keep mentally jerking your mind back on track until it becomes automatic with no
further thought required.
Tool three: The next means of maintaining trance is thinking about one thought to the exclusion of everything else.
In this method of maintenance, you pick a thought or problem, and you think it through to its logical conclusion.
You acknowledge that there are associations and sidetracks that you could take, but you set aside the digression for
later in the meditation. This is how many who meditate and come back with answers to problems go about it.
For instance consider this problem: you want to find out why you feel restless in a relationship (this is only an
example). You would start with the problem, define the problem by asking questions of you like "Why do I feel
restless" and "who is causing the restlessness in me" and "am I the reason for the restless feeling or is it someone
else?" From there, taking the answers to the preceding questions, you would narrow the problem down until it is as
exact as possible for you to define.
Once the problem is defined and the questions asked, you would start thinking about different solutions to that
problem. Let's say, for example, that in the above question, it was finally defined, as "I am restless in this
relationship I am in now because of what I am perceiving as a threat from my significant other and I am
embarrassed or uncomfortable or smothered by their 'clinging' to me." Once you have reached this level of
exactness, you can start finding solutions to this problem by thinking about "if-then" scenarios.
Now, this is not to say that every meditation needs to be this introspective, but it will help if you know yourself as

well as you can before you start projecting out of your body. There will come a time when your fears, hopes, hates,
and all the sludge you pile up in your life will personify on the Astral Plane and challenge you; get past it or stay in
your body. This concept is called the Guardian at the Gate. And you MUST defeat it in order to continue to
progress.
Okay, having said all of that, let's talk a little about "conscious meditation" or being able to meditate while
physically active.
"You can't do that," you say? You can't meditate while doing something with your body because you have to be
physically relaxed in order to ignore the body? Yes, that is true, but I beg to differ in some of the substance of this
statement. You CAN meditate while doing something physical, but it takes some doing.
For example, have you ever been walking outside and let your thoughts drift? Suddenly, you are where you wanted
to go with no memory of having crossed the intervening space? That's an example of conscious meditation. Martial
Artists are a group that uses this technique. My wife insists it is an aspect of being able to tesser (term coined by
Madeleine L’Engle in the Wrinkle in Time series) or to fold time and space so that you can step from one place to
another without crossing the intervening distance.
Martial Artists have a series of prearranged movements that they do called "katas". A kata sequence of movements
will have stances, punches, kicks, blocks, and strikes with other body parts, movements from point A to point B,
motions and many other elements to them. The movements are combined in different degrees of difficulty and
pattern to teach the body the pattern of what to do without conscious thought. It is part of the practice that each and
every one of the Martial Artists go through to train the body and discipline it. Some of the most well known katas
are the motions and "dance" people who practice Tai Chi do. It is slow and graceful and beautiful. But there is a
bigger purpose to these movements than you suspect.
I'll give you the simplest example that I know of, from my own days of taking Martial Arts.
I'll have to explain some of the terms since the movements and the strikes and blocks are in Japanese and will mean
nothing to you unless you know what stance they are talking about.
* Look West. Step out to West into zenkutsu-dachi (this is a stance. Basically, the stance position is weight
forward on the left leg bent at the knee, with the right leg extended behind you. The feet are shoulder width as seen
from head on, and about twice shoulder width front to back. Most of your weight is distributed as 60% front leg,
40% rear leg. Feet are at a 45% angle to your hips and your back and spine are straight) and execute a left hand
gedan ude-uke. (Here's a block. It's called a "Down block" since you are blocking downward. Ultimately your
closed fist winds up over your knee, separated by about 2 inches. It blocks low kicks and sweeps them to the
outside. Either hand can execute it.) KIAI (this is a yell.)
* Right foot steps forward into zenkutsu-dachi (see above) and execute a right hand chudan zuki. (Reverse punch.
Punching hand slams into the solar plexus and the opposite hand counterbalances the power by pulling back to the
hip.)
* Look East (over right shoulder). Right foot steps clockwise 180 degrees (end facing East) into zenkutsu-dachi
(see above) and execute a right hand gedan ude-uke. (See above again)
There is more to this. The point of my showing you this is to let you know just how complex this process can be.

Bear with me a few moments longer. I'm trying to make a point.
If you wish to see more of the above example, I got it from http://www.ryu.com/ryu-cgi-
bin/search_item/:CD_kata?Taikyoku_1_Shudokan
Once these movements are mastered, then the student practices constantly (over a period of months) until they can
start seeing the opponent they are supposedly fighting against. At this point they are not thinking about the
individual movements any longer, but thinking instead about how they are supposed to be doing the kata. From
this, and with a lot more practice, they don't even have to have their mind on the kata anymore, just on whatever
problem they are thinking about.
Let me elaborate on the stages that are occurring here for a moment: In the beginning, not only is the student
learning the above movements, but they are also concentrating on technique, proper stances, balance, memorizing
the movements of their body, correct punches, correct blocks, correct transitions from one stance to another, and
many more things, like hearing the teacher.
So, while they do these katas, they seem jerky, unsure, sporadic, and sometimes they have to do the same
movements over and over again. From there, as they learn the kata, they can free up sections of their mind to deal
with other things, like the visualizations. Because all their concentration was taken up with just LEARNING the
kata, now they free portions of their mind to worry about their imaginary opponent, and perfecting their
movements and their strikes and blocks.
Seeing how this relates yet? As the body and mind learns something repetitive, the mind is freed to start focusing
on other things.
After they move through this transition point, to a point where the kata is so firmly locked into their muscles and
their brain stem that they don't have to think about the kata at all anymore, they can meditate while doing the
movements. And some of the results from meditations like this can be spectacular.
This holds true for any repetitive action that your body has learned to a point where it is reflexive in nature, from
running to breathing. After a while of doing an action over and over again, the body knows what is supposed to
happen now, and the mind can wander into other areas of thought and consciousness. I know someone who
meditates to dishwashing like this. The movements and actions are no longer the focus of what she is doing, but the
rhythm is what is important.
A mild example of this can be seen in highway hypnosis. Your body knows how to drive a car and it shuts the
mind down so that it can drive. The driver becomes less and less alert and "spaces out" for a while, while the body
drives on autopilot.
Knowing that this kind of action is possible now, you should be better able to understand how much practice they
have when Native Americans go on a Vision Quest out into the hinterlands and the Native peoples of Australia
(g'day) go into the Dreamtime. The dances and the movements are learned by rote, like multiplications tables, and
the motion is translated into a meditation.
Please understand, I don't advise this for everyone. It is a hard place to get to and you HAVE to practice the
movements to whatever you use as your device for this kind of meditation constantly. I am only informing you that
it is possible to do this kind of meditation. I have never had the experience of OOBE while doing any of these

exercises, but knowing the state of mind that is invoked during some of them, I can see it happening.
On a side note and of relevance to the High Magick Class, this is the same thing that happens during ritual,
especially repetitive rote ritual. Doing the same movements, saying the same things, smelling the same incense,
and so on can throw the mind out of gear enough to be a meditation all on it's own. Some things, like the long
rituals of the Key of Solomon, can throw your mind into a meditation due entirely to the chants. I state above the
one should not meditate like this to achieve OOBE, and that's true. However, it is perfectly acceptable to meditate
like this in a Magickal ritual. That's one of the purposes of the ritual after all.
That's it on the lessons on meditation from the OOBE class. The other part I have is a document on shielding and
warding, which in this case relates to some concerns that have been expressed to me in various mediums.
Shielding and warding places are some of the most common spells you will wind up casting as time goes on. You
may only cast that "Fortune" spell once in a while, you will probably only do the healings when someone is hurt,
but every time you go into a magickal ritual, you will cast some variant of a shield or ward.
Shields and Wards

One of the first things that you need to accept and act accordingly when dealing with these protections is that they
are real. If you assume that they are simply a projection of your imagination, you may as well stop now. No matter
the tradition you are trained in, ALL of them have some variant of protection as part of its structure. Some
examples of this are:
Wiccans "Casting a Circle" Christians "Dedication and Sanctification" Native ceremonies of blessing and
consecration of the Drum Circle Prayers for protection
There are more, but I think you have the idea. Most of these seem to be definable as prayers; very few traditions
and religions go so far as to make this a magickal rite in and of itself.
However, when dealing with the Astral World, one must assume that because you are able to interact with that
world, that there are things that need to be protected against. Some of them are nuisances, some are curious, and
some are truly dangerous. Also you must keep in mind that just as you can protect an area for yourself, so can
others. Thus, if you encounter a wall on the Astral Plane that you cannot get past, leave it alone. Let me say that
again, if you encounter a wall on the Astral Plane that you cannot get past, leave it alone.
Regardless of the type of protection that is needed, there are a few steps that are similar.
First is the preparation; getting yourself into a meditative or ecstatic mindset in which your consciousness is altered
enough to allow you to see on the Astral Plane without leaving your body.
Second is the visualization of what you want to do.

Third is usually the actual construction of the protections (generally with the medium of a god-like being helping
or doing it themselves).
Finally, there is the assumption that the protections are working and forgetting about them.
The preparation phase is probably the easiest to actually do, since it's the same state that you go into each night
before you fall into true sleep. It's a self-hypnotic state in which you can see into the Astral Plane, see the things
that you wish to protect against, sense them or what have you. It's a lowering of the mental barriers the most of us
have in place on a day to day basis that allow us to function in only THIS plane. Once they are lowered and you are
calm and centered, step two can be started.
This is where you decide just what you need. Do you shield yourself or Ward the House you are in? A shield is
mobile and will travel with you, and consequently is easier to construct, but a Ward will protect anyone in the
home with you. However, to counteract that advantage, anyone on the inside of the wards will be able to invite
other beings across. There are a few ways around this. You can make sure no one ever comes in your house, but
that is not very practical. I will discuss another way in a while.
Understand, a Shield or Ward acts exactly like a force field on the Astral Plane. It will repel and prevent things on
the Astral Plane from crossing its boundaries so long as it is in existence. In addition, anything that exists on the
Astral plane inside those protections will be unable to cross those protections to get out, so it could be effective in
trapping a spirit that you wish to be contained.
Generally, the mental visualization that many use is a sphere or egg of light, surrounding and encasing whatever it
is they want to protect. That sphere is sometimes shrunk down to the surface of whatever is being protected, but not
always. In this case, your aura is almost exactly like a shield, the only difference being that the aura itself is
completely unconscious protection, and a shield is under conscious control.
A shield or ward can also protect from things like magick and psychic abilities as well. If, for example, you are one
of those who feel other people's emotions all the time (also referred to as an Empath), a shield can keep those
emotions out of your perception and allow you to regain a good deal of mental stability.
Many meditations, self-hypnotic tapes and guided meditations take you through this step without you being aware
of it. If you have ever listened to any of these, do you remember the part where the person speaking was talking
about how your body was relaxed and the light was all around you? That is the set of suggestions that enable you to
construct a simple shield around yourself. It usually doesn't last beyond the end of that session, but it still protects
you to an extent while you are in this trance.
Now, having determined the type of protection you need, how do you go about creating it?
Most shields and Wards are created entirely with the visualization of the mind. Normally, the caster creates the
structure of the protection in his/her imagination, feeding energy into it from him/herself, then releasing it to settle
around whatever is to be protected. It can be as simple as feeling as though you are wrapping yourself into a thicker
and thicker blanket, to standing under a waterfall, to building a brick wall around you, to seeing a crystalline
faceted geodesic sphere around your house. It all depends on what you want it to look like and your skill in
visualizing it.

Normally many people have a good idea what they want to keep out with this kind of ritual, be it intangibles such
as thought and emotion, to magickal energies that could be directed at them, to astral beings that are not
specifically invited into the wards, to everything. You need to keep this in mind as you construct these wards and
shields.
I'll share with you MY shielding/warding spell and tell you about my permanent wards on my house, just to give
you an idea. However, this is not all-inclusive and there will be links to other articles dealing with this same
subject at the end of this essay.
Daven's Wards and Shields

I have two different kinds of shields, really. I have the wards on my home, which I take a part of when I leave, and
the shields that I put up in case I need to do something psychic away from home. I'll tell you about the second kind
first.
When I start (we will assume this is a magickal rite, or a spell that I'm casting), the first thing I do is define the area
I wish to protect. If it is only myself, as opposed to a Circle in which I invoke the Gods and so on, then all I do is
simply see a ball of light deep inside my chest, inside my heart. I see that ball as being perfectly solid, bright and
full of energy. I grow that ball larger and larger, until it is solid and filling my chest area. Now, this does take
energy. I then tell that ball of light that it will be come a shield around me to keep out ________________.
Because I'm the one creating this, I make sure that the energy understands me and that I have convinced it that it
will become a shield. Then I continue to expand that ball, while a hollow place in the center of that ball forms. As
the sphere continues to expand, the walls get thinner and everything that is negative in myself driven out in front of
those expanding walls of light.
Eventually, I finish expanding it around me. Now I'm in the center of that sphere of light, with it surrounding me
and taking it's energy directly from me and my life force. Usually at this point, I shrink the sphere down so that it is
right next to my skin, once again surrounding me and continuing to glow brightly. I dim the intensity of the glow
down so that it is not so bright, and thin the walls of that shield until I can sense the things I need to outside of the
shield.
That's it. End of the fireworks.
The process is similar for a Ward, and my first ones were exactly the same, save that I kept expanding the shield
until it surrounded my house, then shrunk it down to the walls of the house I was in, and then I hooked the
electrical power in the walls into the shields so that the ward would be powered by the electricity itself, rather than
from me. With this process, you can also make your doorways "clean room suits". Imagine that as a person enters,
the ward bends around them stretching over them like a glove so that they are inside the room but not the wards. It
is analogous to the suits attached to long plastic umbilicals used for very dangerous germs and viruses.
Here are links to some other wards and shields I know of:
http://davensjournal.com/TTRoW.xhtml
Ward and Guards
Questions and answers about shielding
Protecting Yourself

A Simple Warding
Two Protective Rituals
http://pagan-home.com/bos/shield.htm
http://www.tryskelion.com/banishing.htm
http://www.tryskelion.com/cast_circle.htm
http://www.tryskelion.com/mirror_shield.htm
http://www.tryskelion.com/protcone.htm
http://www.tryskelion.com/spell18.htm
just to name a few. ;-)
Most often, wards and shields are nothing more than creative visualization. There are certainly times that someone
takes the process to an extreme and makes a whole rite out of it.
Please note a few things:
1. These do not necessarily get rid of something that is already there, it will only protect from new outside
influences
2. This does not sanctify an area, that is a whole 'nother rite.
3. People inside the wards (as opposed to the shields) will be able to invite other beings inside, without your
consent, unless you take steps to make sure that you are the only one with the authority to invite them in
(adding a structure to the ward).
4. These need power continuously. Most commonly a shield is directly linked into the spine and powered
from your energies. A ward is usually powered by an outside source, such as the elements or electricity.
5. As the creator of them, YOU will know if someone breaches them without consent, but you will have to
figure out what that "feels" like.
And finally, a caution, once cast, you can get rid of the wards or shields by simply believing them not there. So, if
you have the occasion to remember your shield or ward, know that they are still there; still protecting you, or you
will have to go through the entire process again.
I'm adding the text of an email I sent a while back to a mother who was being haunted by an astral entity, and had
written me for help. She consequently wrote back and told me that it worked perfectly and she had no further
problems.
Greetings!
Well, this is an interesting problem you have. I can only offer some suggestions, not a solution.
First off, you must understand that a shield like what you tried to erect around your house only keeps out new
influences, it does not prevent those that are already there from continuing to occur.
Think of this like you would a building. The Shield or Ward is like the physical walls of this building, and locking
the doors will keep out others, but not prevent everything from being stolen by those who are already inside.

You are going to have to cleanse your house. By that I mean you will need to vacuum the entire house, bottom to
top, dust and clean everything in your house, including anyone who is living inside. If it helps, use an herbal bath
designed for cleansing like you will find in some books or on the Internet under "aromatherapy".
Next, you will have to bless your house. First, raise a "temporary" shield around the house. Think of a force field
like from Star Trek completely enclosing your house, even through the ground. Next you will use that smudge you
had to drive out the things in the house. "See" them, in your mind, being driven out of your house by the smoke of
the smudge and through the force field you put up. Go through every part of the house with this smudge, fanning
the smoke into the corners and against the walls as well. Start from the center of the room and work your way
outward.
Once that is done, turn the shield you have around your house into a permanent barrier. Simply "see" it shrinking
down to the walls and roof and foundation of the house and settling there. See the electrical system feeding the
energy to the shield to keep it erect and present. That's all you need to do.
This should keep out everything that you do not specifically invite into your home. Your Angels, Guardians,
Guides, Teachers, what-have-you will not cross this barrier unless you tell them it's okay for them to be present.
Everything else it will keep out.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, ends the parts pulled from other lessons. I may reference things from here, so I
hope you all understand this material. If not, there will be Q&A sessions where you can ask me to clarify it.
There is one other aspect to this that you must know about. That is "Grounding and Centering".
This pair of skills is critical to your success in meditation and in casting any spells. Centering brings your whole
being into harmony with what you want to do, and gets it all focused on the job at hand, while grounding gives one
a "shunt" if you will to be able to drain off excess energy or channel overloads in the case of a surge.
The means of doing this is pretty simple. To Center:
First, clear your mind of all thoughts, other than the work you are about to do. Don't worry about anything.
Spend a few moments feeling your energy inside you. Gather that energy into one place, generally just behind your
navel, in the place that the Japanese call the "hara" or the center of your being. Let that energy flow to that place
and pool there. The more energy you have flowing there, the more you will have to draw upon when you begin
your spell. This is your internal metaphysical energy battery. It's exactly the same as your external battery, but this
is always with you and is recharged by food and life. This is what you draw upon when you are in the Circle and
casting a spell to help out person X.
Once you have collected as much energy as possible in the hara, feel a tendril of your life force leaving your body
through your root charka, usually seen as either at the base of the spine or just between your legs. Feel that tendril
or conduit going down into the ground as deep as you want to go or as deeply as it wants to go. At some point
while sending out this tendril of energy, it will stop flowing out of you and you should feel it resting on something
solid. At this point, I usually see the end of that energy forming itself into a ship's anchor and biting into the ground

at that point, staying stable an positioned there where only I can release it. My wife sees it as the tap and feeder
roots of a tree.
Congratulations, you have just grounded and centered. Centering is gathering that energy together for use, and
grounding is sending that tendril out to hold you anchored to here/now. That ground also gives you a shunt to
dump energy into the Earth that could overwhelm you, or a conduit to draw energy from should you need it. Some
people have spoken of having all the energy they just centered in their hara dump suddenly into the ground. If this
happens to you, don't worry, this is normal and it's the Earth's way of making sure you stay balanced. If you wait
for a while, that energy will come back, but the "flavor" of that energy will be different.
What is happening is the Earth felt that energy and realized that there was something wrong with it, that it was
contaminating you for some reason. It pulled that energy out of you to cleanse it, but to do so correctly, it must
give you back the same amount of energy it took, so it is giving you Earth Energy to replace your own store of
energy. This is normal do don't panic if it happens.
Others have also told me about them "grounding" to something other than the Earth. I know of one person who
grounds into a tree, and a few who can ground into the Air. In other words, the Ground is not necessarily the Earth.
It's like the ground wire in an electrical circuit; it's what completes a connection and allows the energy to flow. So
don't worry if suddenly you find yourself grounding into a lake rather than into the Earth.
Okay, that's enough for now. This is a whole lot to absorb in one lesson, so I'll see what I can do to make the
assignment simpler.
Assignment:
Continue drawing energy from the Wind, but add the Earth now. Same procedure and technique, and I describe
another way of doing this in the section on grounding. Once again, write your impressions into your journals.
Practice gathering your energy into your hara, in the same way that I described in the final section of this lesson.
Gather it there and go on to whatever else you have to do in that meditation session. When you come back for the
next meditation, make note how long it takes to gather that energy again. Eventually what should happen is that it
takes only a few seconds to gather your energy together and be ready. Most of the energy should start naturally
pooling there.
Continue to charge your jewelry battery, but also start pulling from it somewhat. I want you to become proficient
in pulling and sending this energy from one place to another. Those of you who have a lot of practice with this, I
want you to pull and send energy to and from something that is distant from your physical location. If your battery
is a stone, take it to work one day and leave it there. During your next meditation, I want you to draw/put energy
to/from that battery, even though it is not with you. Just another step.
Don't worry; everyone will eventually be doing this.

Concentrate on doing this for now, I won't make you study anything further. Focus on practice and writing down
what you see/feel and experience while doing these exercises.
Your assignment to turn in is four entries, verbatim, from your journal that you feel are representative of a typical
session of meditation or significant in some way to what you are doing. The time period I want to see is this past
month.
If these are embarrassing or highly personal, contact me at daven@davensjournal.com and we can see what other
arrangements we can make.
Go, have fun, sin no more and take care of yourself.
Back Home Next

Lesson 5: Having a
Magickal Attitude
Well, as the title implies, this lesson is about the attitude you must maintain in your life if your magick is to be
successful. This is a short list so don't be too distressed. The only possible problem is that this list is absolutely
critical. Skipping one of these needed qualities will result in the failure of spell after spell after spell. However,
many of these qualities are easily gained with experience.
I'm going to list these in order of necessity. Some may feel that one quality is more important than another, but
most agree that this is usually the list of most needed qualities.
● One word: Will

● A knowing, not a believing
● A sense of non-doubt (the only way I can describe it)
● The ability to visualize
● The ability to do many things at once
● The ability to almost think something, but not quite
● Arrogance
I state that one needs arrogance because it's pretty arrogant to think that actions that we do here are going to carry
over to the Gods and affect them, just as their actions will affect us.
I'm going to elaborate on the above points for a while since they could use some additional definition.
Will:
Will is the key to all magick, not the person (ha, ha), the attitude. One must have the will to do things, the will to
drive it through the æthers to the rest of reality. Without this ingredient, you may as well recite poetry for all the
effect your spells will have on reality.
(Tangent time) Some of you may ask which reality, and that's okay. I'm talking specifically about this reality. It's
this plane that many of us wish to affect with our magick, to bring what we desire into our lives. Whether it is for
the betterment of ourselves as people, the betterment of our skills as providers or what ever else you will to change.
It would do no good for you to cast a spell to make yourself a better person if what you need is a spell to bring
more money to you. However, this is a subject for another time.
In order to do one's will, one must know what one wants. By this I mean that one must know those deep areas of
oneself to see if what the Conscious mind wants is what the Subconscious mind wants and what the
Superconscious mind wants. Once one feels the desire is in harmony, one must be assured that it will cause as little
harm as possible to others. Again, while this is a topic for another time, it is vital that one always be aware of it.
While it is possible in my experience to override what those other areas want on a regular basis, it's not something

that one can do all the time or with impunity. Knowing with the conscious mind that having a better job will lead
one to having more money is great, but if other parts of your conscious mind simply want the boss' job, then
casting all the spells to find another job will ultimately fail if you don't know that you want to see the boss fired
and you sitting in his office.
This is one reason why I stressed that one must know one's own mind. Using the above example, if you knew that
Subconscious wanted your boss's job, it would be easy to meditate and get the Subconscious focused on getting a
better job, rather than on what it wants. But you must FIRST know what those deep parts of you want, meaning the
Subconscious and Superconscious.
There are also two kinds of willpower that I'm speaking of here. One is the desire for something, be it an object or
a goal, and the other is the force of spirit to push that desire into reality (with the medium of a spell) despite
opposition.
Simply desiring something is not all that is required, this must be a desire that makes everything else become a
minor want in the background of your life. This desire should, at best, be a complete obsession in which attaining
that desire is the only goal you have. Nothing else matters outside of gaining that object that one wants, or that
knowledge, or what have you. This should be the only thing that is worthwhile in your life.
There are those who can't maintain that level of desire for long without slipping over into true insanity and
obsession. In the case of the Magickian, it is possible for the practitioner to be able to desire something that
completely for a relatively short time period, then end the spell and go on to another want/desire for a while. It is
also possible that they simply go on with their lives after that, safe in the knowledge that they will get what they
want.
The point of this is the Will that drives everything. How many times have you been thinking of someone and that
person has called you? How many times did you get what you had been dwelling on eventually? My mother dwells
on how "righteous" her children are and how they MUST follow the Profit (yes, I'm being catty in regards to the
Mormon Church) and she is deathly afraid that someone will fall away from the Church, and eventually I did. She
also dwells on how she can get messed up by the world and the people in the world, and so she is getting messed
by them.
If you show me someone who has everything in their lives going wrong, I'll show you someone who doesn't know
what they really want. Aleister Crowley called this level of knowledge and will one's True Will. It's much easier to
get something to happen if one knows their True Will, than if they continually try to do things counter to that Will.
"A Knowing, not a Believing"
This is going to be somewhat hard to explain, but try to stick with me here.
To know something, to accept fully that it is an unquestioned fact, one that does not change at all, no matter how
many outside influences come to bear on it. Knowing that the sun rises in the East, knowing that the moon is a
rock, knowing that the air is what we breathe are all examples of a knowing that is unquestioned, and thus they
focus us and are unchanging.
A person who is outside who knows the sun rises in the east, who is lost and confused with no direction can orient
themselves by the sun (which is in the east) and find their way home if they are skilled enough. By knowing that

the sun is in the east at that time of the day, they can at least extrapolate where home should be in relation to their
last known position.
However, if the sun were to rise in the west sometimes, the east sometimes, the south west sometimes and so on,
knowing would move into the realm of believing the sun rises in the east.
A belief is something that can or cannot be proved. It is something that is subjective and sometimes personal in
nature. It changes depending on the circumstances of the observer. A lot of times a belief will have "as far as I
know" attached to it.
Knowing implies doubt to your psyche and subconscious. Doubting translates into failure at some levels because
the circumstances can change and what was true one moment may be true no longer, and thus failure is imminent.
So when I say that a Knowing is important, for me it is the second most critical thing there is. Without knowing
that magick exists and that you can do it, knowing that your spell will work, you could fail. If you only believe in
your magick or spell, you are already setting up yourself to fail. There is the doubt in the back of your head that is
saying, "this could change" and "it may not be true."
Knowing that your spell is the key. It's a hard one to master because we have been taught all our lives to think that
magick is the realm of fantasy and myth, that magick does not exist in the "real" world. We have been taught to
trust only that which we can see, touch, taste, smell and hear, because that is all we know about. We may have
been taught about faith as children, but it is the rare person who can retain that innocent faith as they grow to
adulthood in this world.
Well, I say bunk. There are any numbers of senses, but one must understand that just because we know those
senses exist it does not follow that we will understand the input from those senses. Let me give you an example of
this.
Empathy is becoming one of the more common abilities that people have. I'm not sure why this is, but when asked,
most people will be able to tell you that they can feel what others are feeling, even when they don't know what is
going on. Look back into historical documents or personal journals and you will probably find that this is not
necessarily so among a large percentage of the populace.
Just because we are developing this sense, it does not mean that the instructions will be coming along any time
soon. I'm sure when our primordial ancestors walked out of the ooze and had stew for dinner (read The Princess
Bride if you don't get the reference) they didn't know how to coordinate their limbs and didn't know what that
"touch" sensation was either. They didn't know that this thing, with it's point, would hurt you if you touched it, and
they didn't know that it only hurt if you touched it and put pressure on the sharp part, so forth and so on.
So, empathy is something that we have to know, rather than believe. Magick is the same way. There seem to be
more and more people who are able to sense magickal energy and know that it exists, but without that knowing, the
magick will not be there.
Please understand something about my personal philosophy (tangent time and background info on Daven). I know
that all of us are more than we seem to be. I know that we all are gods and goddesses in training. This world is our
training grounds where we came, voluntarily, to learn how to use our incredible gifts and to learn different lessons.
Because of this, the world around us seems to be real and complete. We look like we will cease to exist when the

body dies, and it looks like there is nothing happening outside of us that we cannot observe.
Yet I have come to understand something, because we are gods and goddesses, it is possible to tap into that
knowledge and understand how the true reality is put together. It is not this place, nor our bodies, nor our senses.
These are the training films used to get us to understand ourselves. We can re-write the script and the film to suit
our needs at any moment. If I need to learn a lesson in humility, something will happen to me to force me to be
humble. If I need to learn what it is like to have a spell fail, then all I need to do is to doubt that magick exists.
Did you get that? "Believing" something implies failure, and because it implies failure at some point it will fail, if
only to teach us what it is like when it does fail. But if we are writing the scripts as we live, then knowing magick
exists will make it so. This then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is one of the core parts of my personal philosophy, and it is also a part of just about every magickal tradition
there is. Part of the advice of almost every school is to never doubt the magick or the spell, to have faith in it and to
know it is working. Well, this goes directly to this part of a magickal attitude. The knowledge that the magick is
there, working and the spell will be successful is critical.
I don't see energy flows, I don't see magick when it goes out of me, I don't see energy that is raised. I can feel that
energy, like silk against my skin, and I get goose bumps when it flows, but I know the energy is there and that I can
tap into it. Thus, I am able to do so. If I only believed that I could do that, most times I wouldn't be able to touch it
at all.
So, on to the third component in a magickal attitude!
The ability to visualize:
This is one of those skills that you either have, or develop, or you do without it. It's not that hard a skill to develop
either, and many of you are developing it now, or have in the past.
Why do I count this as one of the critical skills? Well, it's easy. Not all of us have the ability to see the energy that
is flowing around, or see the spell we just cast as it starts operating. In many cases, we have to visualize that energy
flowing around and into our desired end in order for it to have an effect. For instance, I can't "see" it with my third
eye or my real eyes (I'm somewhat headblind), but I can see it in my mind's eye with my visualization. As long as I
can visualize it, I can make the energy go where I want it to go.
Additionally, many spells in the current crop require someone to be able to see the end or the goal in their mind's
eye in order for it to be "set" correctly. In other words, you can't see the spell working; you have to see it done.
And once again, in order to do that you must be able to visualize.
If the goal can be seen while the energy is being called to feed the spell (since energy can't be created or destroyed,
you are actually calling it from someplace and channeling it into the spell), then the energy starts flowing into the
shape of what the outcome will be.
Let me give you an example. If I cast a spell to get an A+ on my exam, calling upon whatever forces I think are
appropriate, and I can see my exam paper with a big red A+ at the top, the energy flowing into the spell SHOULD
start moving very specifically. It should energize me so I have the stamina to do the studying needed and retain the
knowledge, it should start making a "filter" to highlight the information going in and what I already have to make

retention easier, as well as making recall of that same information much easier. It should set up "data dump
conduits" to the Akashic Record and the Collective Unconscious so I can access the information there if I need to
during the test. It should start making a pool of energy so that I remain awake and alert during the exam. All of this
should happen without my direction, IF my visualization of the GOAL is accurate enough.
Then it's simply a matter of studying as I normally would. I did not see the means for me to get the A+, I did not
see the shunts and spells and components that the spell set up to allow me to get that A+, but I saw the end. If my
visualization has been accurate enough, my will strong enough and so on, then when I get that paper back I should
have my A+ on it.
This is one of those spells that give a boost to what is already there, and help a process that is already existent
along, kind of like Nitrous Oxide being pumped into the cylinders of a car that is running flat out. It gives a
powerful boost to what is already there, but this does not mean that you can just let the spell do it all on it's own,
there will still be a lot you have to do.
Still in all, being able to visualize the end result is one of the keys. Without being able to do that, just about
everything else is useless. It will help, and you may ultimately get an A, but not the A+ you need.
So how does one go about honing the visualization skills? Well, there are several methods that one can use. But
really it comes down to practice. One must get into the habit of being able to visualize things down to the smallest
component on a regular basis.
You can do visualizations during your meditations, in which you simply think of a common object you have, like
your rings. Imagine them in as much detail as you can get, from the feel of them, to the scratches and nicks on the
surface of the ring, to the smooth inner side to any writing on it. See it suspended before you in three dimensions,
and larger than you are. Move yourself around the ring and through it, inspecting all sides of the ring. Then
actually look at the physical counterpart and see how accurate you were.
Doing exercises like this consistently will hone your visualization skills. The next step from there would be to
visualize something you want, a feather or a stone, in as much detail as you can, and do that consistently again,
then finally things you would have in spells. Scenes and places are good things to visualize and so too is objects.
Consistent practice will help you with this skill.
I personally used the medium of Role Playing Games to hone my visualization skills. In most RPG's, the master of
the game, the person controlling the story and all the people in the world except the player's characters, describes
scenes to the players that they are interacting in. After a few months of having scenes described to you, even the
most unimaginative person will be able to visualize a circus ring down to the last hay stem laying under the feet of
the lion. Then it's a matter of being the master yourself, and keeping in mind, clearly, not only the scene that the
players are in, but also what else is going on in the rest of the world. Being able to describe the various scenes is a
huge help as well.
Which brings us to our next key:
Multitasking.
Keeping in mind that once you start a spell, that usually you are not doing ONLY that spell, being able to multitask
is a real benefit. Look at it this way:

If you are working at a job, chances are that you can't start something and go until it's done. Normally you are
waiting on other's to finish one part of a job, so that you can take that part and put your effort into it, to give it back
to them and so on. It's the rare thing where you can sit down and devote as much time to one thing as needed to get
it worked out.
Add into that normal family life, and when you leave work and come home being able to shift gears and focus on
your family with the same intensity you just gave to the job, run here and get that and do this laundry and so on,
and once again, you can't afford to give all your attention to one thing until it's done.
Well, in ritual magick, you MUST give all your attention to one thing, but you won't be able to finish it
immediately. Other components and parts must be added at appropriate times for the ultimate outcome to follow
the pattern of your will. The skill in being able to focus everything you have on THIS spell, to help it along and
give it more energy, then shift gears completely, and give that same attention to THAT spell, all the while keeping
in the back of your mind the fact that the spell is still working and going on, without interruption, and still going to
work out. And being able to do all that while still not letting those thoughts distract you from what you are doing
NOW is a real help.
Okay, so far this sounds impossible, right? Not so, as magickians have been doing this for centuries now. Every
magickian of renown, every one of them had these skills and more. They were able to ignore the fact they spent
their last copper on this component for the spell, and focus on JUST this spell, rather than worrying about their
empty bellies. They were able to focus on the spell so that it became the only thing in their universe. Then when
that spell was done, they were able to just as thoroughly drop that awareness and focus on something else.
It's a skill that many of you have, I bet. Being able to focus on driving, being able to focus on a song, being able to
focus on a book, and so on. Don't worry that you can't do those simultaneously yet, that takes time and practice.
For now, just focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. Find that thing in your life that you can "tune
out" the world while you are doing it. Then start expanding that to other aspects of your life. Don't strain and grunt,
because that makes it harder. Relax and let yourself be caught up in the activity and forget about everything else.
Allow those cares to fall away until all that is left is you and the activity you are doing.
That is the essence of this exercise and skill. It is a form of meditation and self-hypnosis, and a purposeful tunnel
vision. You can practice by doing your meditations and your exercises in focusing your concentration.
And the next skill flows out of this one.
The ability to think something, but not quite.
This is a skill that I picked up on and it shocked me when I did. I knew there was a thought in the back of my mind,
a little voice that would whisper "this is not real, you are fooling yourself". While I could hear it, I would not let it
bubble to the front of my mind, where I would end up thinking it.
Did that make sense? I have tried to explain this concept to others and most were unable to understand what I was
talking about. This is another of those critical skills, since if you know your subconscious is thinking that this
ritual, this spell is fake, you HAVE to prevent yourself from thinking it or you will mess up the spell/process you
are working on.
You would not believe the amount of things that the subconscious thinks and considers, that you never think of or

hear. That is because most times the subconscious is simply busy assimilating information, having emotions, filing
input from your senses and all the other jobs that it does to be able to shout loud enough for you to hear its many
comments about what you are doing. But every now and again, there will be one or two comments it can make that
escape and affect you.
Because of that, you need to know when one of those thoughts is coming, and then not allow it to leave your
subconscious. This can be done.
The process for hearing these thoughts before they are thought and quashing them is a series of stages really. The
first stage is to allow the thought to come to the front of your head, and then take immediate steps to counteract
that thought.
For example, if one has been taught from childhood a particular prejudice concerning weight, race, religion, or any
other thing, when circumstances cause the prejudice to come into effect, you must then take immediate steps to
minimize that thought or negate it completely. If the thought was something along the lines of "they are lazy no-
good people..." then you must append to the back of that IMMEDIATELY "but that's a stereotype and many ____
are wonderful human beings."
What this process will do is start bringing to the forefront thoughts that have been affecting you like that for some
time, so that you think it in words, instead of thinking it in feelings as you normally would. Once the feeling or
thought can be articulated, you can take steps to correct that thought.
After a while, you will get a feeling when one of those thoughts is "waiting in queue" as it were. You will "feel" a
thought waiting to come out, and you can simply not let through. But sometimes it will be a good thing to let that
thought flow so you can see the "shape" of negative thoughts.
I occasionally get thoughts about being scared when I see a police officer on the road. This is due to some really
bad incidents when I was younger. I know that potential for being scared is there, and I know that if I let that fear
out, it will resonate on the Astral Plane, and it *may* draw the policeman's attention to me. Which will then cause
him to pull me over and then I will get even more scared and so forth and so on, becoming a self-fulfilling
prophesy.
So the solution is to not feel that fear. I know what the mental "flavor" of thoughts and feelings like that are, from
experience. So I see the policeman now, I taste the "flavor" of one of those "fear thoughts" and I refuse to allow it
to come to the front of my head and affect me.
It's this "pre-echo" that I'm talking about. When I asked about this phenomenon among a group of spell casters I
belong to most of them could relate to what I was talking about. It's another skill that will develop with practice
and meditation. In many ways it is a compartmentalization of your conscious mind, but in this case it can be a good
thing. In many ways it is burying your head in the sand and ignoring something you don't want to see, but this is
only a detriment if you never go back and deal with that thought in the first place.
All this brings us to another critical skill, although there are those who would argue that this is not a skill so much
as vanity.
Arrogance

I know that this sounds more like a disadvantage than a skill you have to have for a magickal attitude, but trust me;
this is one quality that is good in small amounts. The caveat of course is this quality can get you in severe trouble if
you don't watch it.
So, you have to have a certain amount of arrogance. Most often this means that you have a total knowledge that
your magick will work, that you are very good at what you do, and that you can handle whatever comes your way.
But along with this are a few dozen notes of caution.
Make sure that you actually do know what you are doing. Getting into a situation because you were too confident
to read the manual is one of those things that will cause most magickians to laugh at you, if you survive. So, read
through the directions a few times, think about what you want to do, make sure you have what you need to do it
with, THEN be confident you can handle the spell.
In magick, as I have said in many other place, knowledge is key and trust in yourself is primary. Knowing that you
can do is just as important as knowing that the spell is doing.
Another caution is that you have to acknowledge those who have more actual experience than you do in their areas
of expertise. Granted you may be an absolute grand master in your own area, but when meeting someone who has
more knowledge in an area you know little or nothing about, you have to respect that knowledge, while at the same
time not allowing them to disrespect your knowledge.
For example: I'm on an email list of a whole bunch of Druids and we talk about Druidic philosophy and history and
spirituality. On that list, there are many who have been practicing Druids for 40 or more years, who are accounted
masters in their fields. There is one gentleman who is a natural scholar and has studied the Celts and their social
structure for over 20 years at this point. He knows the history of the Celts and their society, as do few people I have
met. I acknowledge him as a master of history and someone I could learn a LOT from, just as he acknowledges me
as a master of Magick on that same list, and someone HE could learn a lot from.
Recently a young lady came on the list and decided to make trouble. She started spewing facts that were counter to
90% of the lore we have access to, and I took on the job of correcting some of her more obvious mistakes
specifically with Magick and Ritual while other members covered areas of their own expertise. She countered not
with facts and references but with the accusations of the group being elitist and "more expert than thou". She
actually appears to have thought that we would not stand up for our individual areas of expertise.
In private, I stated to another Druid (in response to her accusation that we were trying to be "the experts") "aren't
we? I have about 20 years of experience in magick, parapsychology, metaphysics, psionics, ritual and meditation. I
have twice the practical spell-casting knowledge of anyone on this list and about 4 times the book knowledge.
Doesn't that qualify me to call myself an expert?"
This is the kind of arrogance I am talking about. Not false humility, not a sense of worthlessness, but a true
acknowledging of your skills and abilities as compared to other people. Knowing what you do know, and more
importantly knowing where you need to increase your skills.
For instance, in this class, I am speaking as an expert in most things, but you will notice that if I don't know
something, I say so. If I am familiar with some aspect of a tradition or path and not familiar with the deep
teachings, I also say so. I know that there are those on this list who have twice my experience with (fill in the
blank) style of magick, but I also know that there are things they can learn from me. I acknowledge both states and
I don't let my arrogance in being a generalist interfere with my humility in one specific aspect of magick. I know

there are things I still need to learn.
This is the arrogance I speak of, the arrogance of excellence.
But then, it's not arrogance; it's statement of fact.
All these skills together make up a magickal attitude. It is an attitude that can be carried around and over into all
aspects of your life. In today's world, being willing to stand up and say, "I don't know" is just as valued (in some
places) as a willingness to step up and say, "I can do that."
Don't confuse this attitude with morals. They are two completely separate things, and each magickal system has it's
own set of morals and their own moral structure.
Wiccan magick, for instance, says that one MUST only use magick for non-harmful purposes. By that ethical and
moral structure, you can use magick to bring money into your life, but you can't use it to punish someone who has
harmed you. However, Satanic magick states that it is entirely acceptable to ensure that someone who has wronged
you will get what s/he deserves, especially if s/he have wronged you in some way.
So, it is up to the practitioner to find out what ethical/moral structure is imposed by the Magickal School being
studied. A portion of the ethics will be daily life as well as the appropriate circumstances for the use of magick as
well as if it can be used for personal gain etcetera.
Once a comfortable set of ethics are or created or studied the practitioner is free to concentrate on the structure of
the magick rather than dwelling upon the background of the magical school. Skills such as visualization and will
power, the ability to think in a certain way, and specific spells can be the focus of study.
Make no mistake; those ethics will be called into question multiple times during throughout the life of the
practitioner. This is normal and good for it requires the practitioner to redefine his ethics on an almost daily basis.
However once the general shape of your personal ethics are defined, any ethical crises of conscience should not
alter those ethics that much. If they do, you should and must reexamine your path, something is wrong.
For example in contemporary Christianity it is considered wrong to kill. Because that is one of the basic ethical
believes of the system, 90 percent of the time it is not called into question. However, there are specific instances
where it is acceptable for Christian to kill in modern society. For example, as a member of the Police force or
during times of war as a member of the military it may become required to kill in the course of duty. This puts the
onus of responsibility for the decision on the individual Christian. It is those differences that cause so much
conflict between individuals in the same ethical system.
So, the practitioner must define those gray areas inside him/herself on a case-by-case basis. Once one's personal
ethics are defined, then all the other attitudes can be enhanced. It is hoped that most people going into magickal
study will already have some experience in stubbornness, in daydreaming, in thinking things in the back of their
mind, and so on. However, it is understood that in many cases this will not necessarily be so. This is why most
schools of magickal study will give exercises to students, to build and strengthen those unused portions of the
brain.
This is also why skill in magick relates directly to skill in Astral Projection and vice versa. It is why some of you
are experiencing spontaneous astral episodes during the exercises for this class. It is the same set of skills. These

episodes may get more intense when we move on to the direct energy manipulation exercises and the exercises
designed to show you if you have "second sight" or the ability to see into other realms like the astral, or the ability
to see auras. If you find this disturbing your waking or sleeping please let me know.
Do not think that once you learn one system of magick or morals that you can drop it all and suddenly begin
believing a set of other morals that are either contradictory or drop key pieces of belief out of your structure. For
instance, most people who currently follow a Wiccan morality set had a hard time dropping the "nudity taboo" that
is common in most other morality sets, such as Christianity. It took them a long time to be able to discard that fear
of being seen without clothes on, the fear of ridicule and that feeling of unattractiveness. I know it took me a long
time to do that, but nudity is demanded by the Wiccan morals, especially in the magickal practice.
The point of this part is to remind you that there WILL be a time of adjustment to a new set of morals and beliefs.
One should not rush it and should use this time to study the system in more depth, as well as adjust the thinking of
the practitioner. Meditation is, once again, the key to this time. It is also one thing I'm speaking of when I talk
about the "Dark Parts" of the mind that the new practitioner MUST know in order to function properly.
Okay, having pointed this out to you all, I'm going to share the "Magickal Laws" now. This is the set of laws that
are used in MOST styles of magick. This is what has been passed down to us from other times, and it is based in
Witchcraft and Hedge-Witchery, with a good leavening of Ceremonial and Hermetic Magick thrown in. These
laws are what have been observed in magick, which is why they became laws. However, like everything else, they
are ultimately subject to your control, if you are strong enough. If you want your magick to obey these laws, then
you simply need to decide that it is so.
This is taken from a document that I found on AOL a long time ago, and as far as I know is not attributed to any
author. If any one does know the origin, please let me know and I will be happy to amend this document.
I'll add my thoughts to these in parentheses at the end of the "official version".
Magical Laws
1. Law of Knowledge: to effect/affect a thing you must know the thing. The more you know about yourself the
more you can know something else. (This law is in action mainly for humanity, not things. The more you know a
person the more you can affect the actions of that person. The more you know yourself, the greater chance you
have of affecting others and knowing others. This is one of the main reasons I harp on "know thyself" so much to
my students.)
2. Law of Identification: with your will you can become anything- be one with anything. [Our only tool is the
brain] (I would assume that this is would apply to being able to project and become that thing, astrally. However,
having never seen this in action I don't know. My wife points out our occasional overlaps during study of the occult
as a refutation of that statement. We have meditated together on one subject and begun fusing into one person
regarding thoughts, opinions and feelings about that subject. In fact my family calls us Meric and Airy instead of
Mary and Eric.)
3. Law of Contagion: anything that has been in contact with something else maintains contact with that thing
through the ether. (One would add that this is intimate contact. Some magickians go so far as to say that anything
that was in contact with something just a split second retains this etheric connection, but I don't give credence to

this. I can see how it COULD be, but I don't agree with this stance. This law would apply if I took the shirt of
someone I wished to cast a spell on, since they have been in continuous and intimate contact for an extended period
of time. However, taking a portion of the ground where they have stepped would NOT. Still, to each their own.
This is why the masters of various schools demand that you safeguard your tools and materials when not in use.)
4. Law of Names: knowing the True Name of something defines the action you take to focus a function on that
thing. (Obviously, this applies to living animals. Keep in mind that names vary from culture to culture. This is also
the "truename" of the soul.)
5. Law of Cause and Effect: under exactly the same conditions using the same actions you will always obtain the
same results. (This is one of those principals that should be unstated, however, some people include this as a law,
when it is a principal of the universe.)
6. Law of Infinite Data: there is more in the universe than we can sense or know. Learning never stops. (Some go
on to include that knowing as much as possible about the subject will give you greater control and power over it.
Just knowing that someone is called Charlie is not necessarily enough, however, knowing that Charlie is a gay
male in Connecticut USA, who enjoys sitting in the woods alone while in women's dresses, would give you enough
information to be able to locate his "record" in the Akashic record and do some research on what would affect him
the most.)
7. Law of Association: if a thing reminds you of something else it can be used as a simulacrum for that something
else for magickal purposes. (This is also called the "Law of Sympathy" or Sympathetic Magick. If this herb
reminds you of the shape of this organ, it can be used to affect that area of the body. Things like killing a figurine
of a buffalo in a ceremony would ensure a successful hunt. In witchcraft, this is probably the most commonly used
law.)
8. Law of Infinite Universes: change your perspective in one area and you change your universe. There are always
three choices available. (I don't think this could be seen as a magickal law, but many do see this. I do believe in
multiple universes, and thousands of choices at every impasse, but we may not be aware of all of them. Plus, too
much will depend on the choices of others. However, when you can apply this magickal law, tremendous changes
in YOUR psyche can occur. For example, being hung up on your work, and deciding to change your mental
outlook about opening your own business can result in a multitude of opportunities being available to you that
were not before.)
9. Law of Invocation and Evocation: there are forces outside and inside of you that you can tap and direct through
your brain. (Which again, should be one of those unstated things, but let me define these two terms really fast:
Invocation; inviting forces outside of your self to have an effect on you and your environment. Evocation is using
your will to affect yourself and your external environment. When dealing with extra-planar beings, one wants to be
on the invocation side of the equations, since inviting them spreads goodwill.)
10. Law of Pragmatism: if it works, it is true. (This is one of those rules that everyone knows, but no one talks
about. It's the basis of Chaos Magic, and for most of my system of magick, which you will learn about during this
course.)
11. Law of Predestination and Free Will: events are predestined, each person chooses whether and to what extent to
participate in them. (I used to believe in this law, but circumstances have shown me how fragile this "law" is.
September 11th only occurred for us, on almost every other world I know of, this never happened. So, there must
be SOME principal that explains this. Perhaps, "Free will can overrule Predestination. Participation in events or not

can change human-made events.")
12. Law of Polarity: everything contains and implies its opposite. (One of the principals of Hermetic Magick, also
known as the Law of Balance. If you push on someone very hard in one direction, they will try to compensate in
the opposite, and eventually they will swing to the other extreme.)
COROLLARIES:
a. As above so below. You can extrapolate the universe from one atom. (One of the laws of Hermetic Magick, as
found on the Emerald Tablet.)
b. Rhythm serves as a counterbalancing pendulum. (Which correlates with the Law of Polarity above.)
c. "Chance" is a Law, which tends to be ignored. (It's ignored all the time, but one must NOT come to rely on it.)
d. "Time" is a function of perspective, subject to the aggregate psychological outlook of your society. (If one can
gain perspective by Astral Travel, you will realize that space is a function of time, and both are artificial constructs
of our perceptions. Closer to home, one who lives a strictly agrarian life like the Amish is attuned to a seasonal
clock, for them time passes much more slowly than for someone in New York who had continual deadlines in their
job.)
e. Matter is a function of energy; energy can be converted but not destroyed. (However, we can usually only
convert matter into energy through burning, not the other direction with the exception of turning our food into new
cells to replace old ones. When we learn to do that, we truly will be the masters of the universe.)
f. The combination of any two energy forms will result in a third energy form more complex that the combination
of the original two. (Also known as a gestalt, in which the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Normally this
happens accidentally, rather than in a planned form. However, on the Astral Plane, this is not only possible, but it
occurs all the time. It all depends on the world you wish to work on.)
g. Even though there are always three choices available, you can always think of another one. (and hopefully
another and another and another....)
h. There is no such thing as a wrong emotion, just an incorrect interpretation and manifestation thereof. (If you
become angry for some reason, look at the cause and your response to it to control how you react. Most times you
can't control what someone else does, but you can control how you react to that circumstance.)
i. Don't take yourself too seriously; you are a physical function of a very young race. And Life is a lowlife clever
practical joker that loves to piss on your plans - keep your sense of humor. (I know of no circumstance in which
humor in a ritual caused catastrophic consequences. NO one has ever been hurt for laughing. The worst I know of
happening is that the ritual had to be started again. Other than that, most times I hear the Gods laughing at me as
well.)
j. It may not matter 10,000 years from now, but if it affects you it matters. Understand it and react accordingly.
(This corollary tends to get overlooked these days. One is assumed to be able to ignore the immediate reactions and
see the "big picture", and ignore the fact that it makes us uncomfortable NOW. However, if it affects you, then it is

real. One must understand this in order to completely function in a magickal mindset.)
k. Don't pee in the beer. (Always good advice, meaning "don't shoot yourself in the foot" by setting up artificial
barriers with things like "I can't" and "I shouldn't". Have confidence in yourself, and others will have confidence in
you as a result.)
That's it for now - your assignment will follow.
Assignment:
As you have been charging your batteries with Moon, Wind and Earth energy, now it's time to do Water. You have
several choices at this point in how to do it, but one thing I want you to do before you start drawing this energy is I
want you to completely ground.
Go through the grounding/centering ritual, but when the energy runs out into the ground, cut the connection before
that energy comes back. Draw energy ONLY from the water until you fill yourself back up. Then reconnect your
Ground and let any energy come back into you. Dump all that energy into your battery and sever all the
connections.
The purpose of this is so you have no distractions with other energies as to what the energy feels like to you. Also I
want you to know exactly what it feels like to have all your energy gone, so you know the difference between
energy depletion and a potassium imbalance for example.
Another set of exercises I want you to undertake as you can is to ground into other objects besides the Earth.
Ground into the Air and dump your energy there, ground into a tree, into a cat, so on and so forth. Those of you
who have access to snakes I want you to ground into them. I have found in my experiences that animals generally
shunt energy to and from themselves without thought, and that snakes simply cleanse energy you put into it. For
example, giving a snake energy from a contaminated sword as you are cleansing it will result in the snake giving
you back only energy, with no qualities or contamination at some future time.
However, I would like those of you who are grounding into other animals to be very careful. You can hurt the
animal if you give too much energy to it, or energy of the wrong type.
Last exercise: I know that all of you have been working very diligently on charging your battery, now I want you to
completely drain it. Drain that energy into yourself and keep it there for ONE day, allow your battery to stay
discharged for that time. Then, dump all that energy back into the battery later.
This is to get your body used to transmitting/holding/storing/moving great amounts of energy. Normally you will
have huge amounts (on the order of 20 to 50 times the amount of energy in your battery) moving in a spell, and you
HAVE to know your physical reactions to that amount of energy. The time to find out that moving energy like that
through you will result in all your energy going with it is NOT in the middle of a spell that requires your
concentration. You HAVE to know what physical/psychological effects there are going to be on you, and what
kind of personality effects you will have to compensate for during the day when you have that much energy in you.

I would suggest doing this last exercise on a weekend so that if there are adverse effects you can compensate for
them in a controlled environment.
Some things to do if the energy starts overwhelming you is:
Ground it all out to the Earth Send all the energy back to your battery Eat some bananas and Gatorade to rebalance
your electrolytes and potassium. Have someone who is experienced in doing this on hand to help you. Take a
shower and let the extra energy drain away into the drain.
If you do start "loosing it" you can put all that energy back into your battery, or into another one. You could also
dump it into your car. I know that sounds daft, but trust me, those of us who have been dumping energy into our
vehicles on a regular basis over time we wind up with a sentient car.
As to your journals: Write the results and your feelings and experiences to these exercises down, especially your
reaction to holding that much energy in you for an extended period of time. It is possible that you won't have much
of a reaction, but it is just as possible that you will have a major reaction. It is important for you to know this and
be able to have something to refer back to.
Those of you, who are conducting personal research into various schools of magick, continue to do so. Everyone
should read "True Magick" by Amber K in preparation for out next class. If you cannot read that book specifically,
any book dealing with Wiccan Magick should do, as they are based on the same principals.
I would like to see your reactions to the preceding energy exercises, however I understand that you will probably
not have time to do all these and turn it in. So send in what you can.
And finally, I should apologize to all of you. I have been being plagued by many real life issues and have not been
able to make it to the interactions. Do not think that this means I do not care or that I won't answer questions. Far
from it, any of you who have questions can email me directly at daven@davensjournal.com with your question,
and I will assemble them into one "extra" lesson for posting to the email list. It is outside the scope of the class,
which is why I call it extra, but it will still be part of this class. Depending on the amount of questions I receive, I
can't promise they will be regularly spaced throughout the course. The first could be two weeks, and the next a
month later, and the next two days after that.... So on and so forth.
Other than that, have fun and keep your sense of humor.
Back Home Next


Lesson 6: Wiccan
Magick
Please bear with me as I repeat a lot of things that many of you may be familiar with already, it is necessary for
those who don't have a background in Wicca to understand the following information.
I'm going to cover a lot of aspects of Wicca really fast, but I am not going to dwell on any one aspect except the
magickal structure to any great extent. There will be other topics that touch on Wiccan Magick, and I will cover
those as I come to them, such as Poppet Magick, Sex Magick, and so on.
The one thing I won't be covering is the spirituality and the Religion of Wicca; only so much as those aspects touch
on the Magick of Wicca.
So, let's start with a short History lesson.
It was back in the 1950's that the world first heard of the term "Wicca". It was in a book by Gerald B. Gardner, and
it described a group of people, who called themselves Wiccans and Witches, who had a thriving religion that had
been passed down for centuries from before Christianity in the British Isles. This proved Margaret Murray's essay
as a real thesis and the world was stunned.
Time has passed and we now know that most of what was claimed was not as true as it could be. Gerald, instead of
being initiated into a coven and being taught these secrets, took elements from many extant religions and magickal
schools and combined them into what he presented as Wicca. One source he drew heavily on was Margaret's
essays, which is why it appeared to prove them. In his E-book "Witchcraft, a Concise History", Isaac Bonewits
explains the timeline that has been uncovered and shares his evidences for claiming that Wicca is a fabrication,
albeit a good fabrication. (You can find his book at Amazon.com and also it is reprised in "Witchcraft, a concise
guide" also available at Amazon.)
Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not down on Wicca. As I stated in my bio and in the first post to this class, I
am Wiccan in many of my philosophies. However, just as I have stated that the practitioner must know himself or
herself to operate at peak efficiency, s/he must also know the true history of the school he or she is studying, not
the fantastic mythology built around it.
As I stated earlier, Wiccan Magick is made up of elements taken from a lot of different places after all; Gardner
was a canny person. While many think that he took elements from the Druids and the Celts, the truth is that he took
from many other sources, and not his native English traditions.
It has been established that Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn, the OTO, and the Rosicrucians heavily influenced
Gardner. It would make sense since he was a member of both organizations and good friends with Aleister
throughout his life. The New Forest Coven consisted of 5 members of an experimental group of magickians who

were practicing a combination of Freemasonry, Rosicrucian Magick and what would become known as Wicca.
From there, many different things happened. Alex Sanders was initiated at some point, and he split off from
Gardner and created his own tradition, called Alexandrian, into which his extensive Ceremonial Magickal
background got inexorably mixed. Doreen Valente took the original borrowings from Crowley and re-wrote a lot
of the material, making it more poetic and flowing. Gardner himself sent "proof sets" (which is the only thing I can
call them) to several of his followers for corrections/expansions. Raymond Buckland took Gardnerism across the
"Pond" to America. After divorcing his wife he created Seax-Wica, legitimizing self-initiation for the masses.
Now, I would point out a few things. First off the above history comes from Bonewits' book, Witchcraft, a Concise
History. I had the privilege of receiving an advanced copy of the book for review. I make no claims to the
authenticity of the material, other than to say that I trust the source for his integrity and honesty. I'm sure that if
specific issues need to be addressed, I imagine the author would be happy to take them up on a point-by-point
basis.
I make no judgments on this history. It has appeared to me in many email debates that the "true" history of Wicca,
especially Gardnerism, is a matter of hotly arguing peoples on both sides. While I will not make judgments, I tend
to believe the documented historical facts, rather than the flights of fancy. However, if one wishes to believe that
sundogs live on the Sun, whom am I to dissuade them?
All of this does tend to point out a few things, however.
1. Wicca is a created religion

2. Wicca is not ancient, as many have claimed, although there are "ancient" concepts inherent in it
3. Wicca is a magickal composite of a lot of different traditions
4. Wiccan magickal/ritual elements should be familiar with ceremonial magickians.
Now, the first point is irrelevant, as it does not matter that a person created this religion in modern times. Many a
good religion and magickal way has had the same origins, and to the practitioners of that system, this is negligible
and has no effect on their spirituality. The only bearing I can think of is in point 2, which can be argued is a critical
point. For a young religion, it would be wise to take the elements of magick slowly and pace oneself before
deciding suddenly to add new elements to the mix.
Here is an example of the need to, "Take it slowly". I know of a friend who recently went to what he has come to
call the "Ritual of Ragnarök" and his lady Grinwithin is with us in this class. According to my understanding, a
Druid (who really should have known better) invited everyone in an open ritual to invoke their own God/desses in
the group of about 250 people. Naturally, there was the usual large group of deities invoked, which led to enemies
of each other being invoked as well as completely incompatible pantheons being called on. Needless to say, this
had a profound effect on the local conditions, going so far as to cause a highly localized storm that would probably
be classed as an almost-tornado.
It's important to understand whom you are invoking for what reason. It's important to KNOW who has problems
with whom and why. There are times when a practitioner of this kind of religo-magick DOES need to invoke
conflicting Deities for one reason or another, they should have enough experience to be able to "control" the beings
called, or at least be able to command enough respect that mutually antagonistic beings will work together because
the invoker asks it.
As another example, Dorothy Morrison, author of Yule and The Craft, related to me in an email that she does use

multiple pantheons in her private workings. She advised in her book that occasionally the Gods need to be treated
like naughty children, but that it depends on the personalities of the Gods themselves. However, having worked
with her Goddesses for many years and winning their trust over time, and also having a true understanding of the
nature of those Goddesses, Kali and Calliope (the muse) will work together out of respect for Dorothy, rather that
turn on each other as they may normally do. HOWEVER, and this must be stressed, this is after many years of
practice and work with those specific Goddesses individually.
I mention this only because invocation is a large part of Wiccan Magick. As with most religo-magick, Wiccan
Magick seems to work well by sending specific prayers out to the universe and ask the Powers that Be, or the
Goddess, or whomever, to cause this action to happen. However, this is not true with the entire system, as will be
explored below.
Another component of Wiccan Magick is the Elements. These are the classic Hermetic Elements of antiquity of
Air, Earth, Fire and Water, pointing to a strong influence by Hermetic Schools, reinforcing the assertion that The
Golden Dawn influenced Gardner. Had Gardner been pulling from truly contemporary sources native to the British
Isles, he would have found the Druidic elements, or Dhuile, which are much more complex.
The arrangement of the elements is interesting, and can point to deliberate tampering, according to one article.
General placement against the compass rose is this: Air=East, Fire=South, Water=West, Earth=North. There are
color associations to go along with these directions and elements; however, those colors seem to vary depending on
the practitioner or the color associations of the individual tradition, if you are interested, I would recommend
checking with the tradition you are personally interested in. (According to the Alexandrian Book of Shadows the
color associations are Air=Yellow, Fire=Red, Earth=Green and Water=Blue. This does seem to be the most
common color associations in Wiccan Magick.)
In recent years, some arguments regarding alternate positioning have surfaced. Most noted is an article by Mike
Nichols, a practicing Wiccan of more years than I have been alive, who places Air in the North, and his arguments
are very sound. His article is here: Rethinking the Watchtowers.
There is also one book out there, dealing with Female spirituality and Wicca that advocates coming up with your
own elemental directional associations based on personal practice and your geographic location. Her arguments
include the point that a practitioner on the East Coast of the United States would not get much energy out of
placing Water in the West, since the Pacific Ocean is thousands of miles away from their geographic position.
However, placing it in the East, and putting Earth in the West would be the proper arrangement of the Elements
*for that practitioner*.
Additionally, there is a reliance on many tools from Ceremonial magick, once again pointing to Hermetic origins
of parts of Wiccan Magickal practice. The Athame and White Handled Knife are names taken right out of
Ceremonial texts, along with the Wand, Pentacle and so on.
It also appears that in calling the Watchtowers at the opening of the Circle, Gardner was calling on Enochian
Magickal rites, and in references to "Banishing and Invoking Pentagrams" he was pulling material directly from
the teachings of the Golden Dawn.
So, initially at least, it appears that Wicca was to be another Ceremonial Tradition, with a mythological basis in
Celtic England and at the same time legitimize the essays by Margaret Murray, by proving that the Witch Cult did
indeed exist since "olden times". There was an attempt to get initiated into this budding tradition a great number of
"wise wo/men" to legitimize these claims to antiquity. However, it appears that these wise wo/men were Horse

Whisperers and Herb Wo/Men who had handed down homeopathic and/or herb lore from parent to child.
With the claim that Witchcraft was a part of Wicca, and the autonomous nature of the Covens, it appears (and this
is speculation) that someone started including elements that were not originally introduced. Moon worship started
becoming more common. So, another component of magick became common as well, directly related to the Moon
phases. In order for a spell to be successful now, it had to be cast during a favorable time of the Moon, rather than
the planets or Stars. The Moon came to have more influence over the cycles of magick in Wicca, which truly
makes Wiccan magick unique. I know of no other system that places such a reliance on the phase of the moon for
the success of its magickal workings.
In brief, constructive magicks should be cast in the time of the waxing (to full) and the Full moon. Spells should be
timed so that they are performed from the Quarter Moon phase and cast every day culminating in the climax of the
spell on the day of the Full Moon. Destructive spells, ones designed to get rid of negative aspects in the
practitioners life, were to be timed to be cast from the Three Quarter Moon with it waning to New, culminating on
the New Moon, as with the Full Moon. No magick was to be undertaken at all during celestial events such as
eclipses of the Moon or Sun, since those influences messed the feel of the energies up too much.
In addition to the Elements as being a source of energy to draw upon to fuel the spells, the Moon also became a
source of energy. Since most Classical mythology associated the Moon with a Goddess (and because Robert
Graves clutched some straws and associated ALL goddesses together as one Goddess) the Moon also came to
represent the Maiden/Mother/Crone aspects of the Goddess. The Sun came to be the God, and the Solar year
(Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) was celebrated just as the quicker cycle of the Moon was celebrated. However,
the Solar Cycle was de-emphasized in favor of the Moon Cycle. No longer did a practitioner have to wait till the
Month of Saturn, the Day of Saturn, the Hour of Saturn to do a spell to bring knowledge into them, they could
write their own rhyming spell asking the Goddess to grant them knowledge and perform this spell daily from the
Quarter Moon to the Full Moon.
In this Wiccan Magick became very mixed up with Low Magick. The Ceremonial elements were still there, and
most practitioners were unaware of the actual origins of the rites.
Time passed and Wicca started incorporating many elements from the times around them. From the
Victorian/Edwardian eras and the time following World War II Wicca incorporated elements of the Spiritualist
movement, such as Tarot Cards, Ouija boards, Pendulums, Scrying Mirrors, séances, and Guides and Spirit
Teachers. From the American New Age movements came crystals, Spirit Totems, ritual drug use (in some extreme
cases), "Feel Good" self-help, sensory depravation and Psychic powers. Now, all these elements were already
present in one form or another in the original core of Wicca, but with better communication and people looking for
spiritual roots and publishing books on those topics, this went rampant. Pulling diverse elements such as Spirit
Totems from the Native Americans and adding that to the Loa of the Voodoo practitioners of New Orleans, and
combining them with the Hermetic Elements, may actually work, but it is somewhat irresponsible in my opinion.
However, I will grant that these people are only following in the footsteps of Gardner when they do this.
This taking from diverse elements came to a head in the late 1980's and early 1990's with the "Eclectic" phase of
Wicca, in which no belief was sacred. If some Wiccan someplace joined the Masons, pretty soon there would be a
coven that used Masonic traditions in some of their practices (which is where the phrase "so mote it be" came from
in the first place.) If a Wiccan joined a Role Playing group; pretty soon you had ranks of Paladin and Ranger in the
Coven. It became a severe problem in the mid 90's and in many ways we are still dealing with the consequences
now.
Thankfully, for the most part, these "creations" had one of three outcomes. Either the practitioners of such an

eclectic melding get wise and start learning more and gaining more respect amongst society in general and in the
Wiccan communities, they get so far into whatever things they have incorporated that they forget Wicca and claim
another tradition, or they get reprimanded by the mundane community at large for their deviant behavior and fade
into the mists.
Because of this, some of the specific influences and tools in Wicca are interesting. Such as "poppets" being used in
spells. Typically the poppet is used as a material focus for the spell. What is done to the poppet, who represents
person X, will happen to that person as in Vodoun magick and their dolls. Poppets are easy to make and the
sympathetic properties make this a prime example of Low Magick. If I make a poppet of my wife, stick a needle
into it in specific locations, cast a spell that ties the poppet to her, her to the poppet, and the pins to her arthritis,
and I remove the pins, I am sympathetically removing the pain from her joints. Or I could reverse it, dedicate the
poppet first and then insert the pins as in acupuncture to help her out. I could also make a poppet of my boss and
take my anger out on the poppet instead of on him, and dedicate the poppet to ground the anger I feel at him into
the Earth, so I don't blow at a critical time and take his head off for being a moron.
It could be used to injure, except for the prime ethical structure of Wicca which is summed up in two phrases: "An
it harm none, do as you will" and "Ever remember the law of Three, what you put out comes back to thee". In brief,
don't harm anyone but do as you want to, just remember that whatever you do will come back to you three times.
It is one of the most hotly debated topics in modern Wiccan conversation trying to decide just how far to take these
ethical constraints. Many say that you should take these statements literally and NEVER harm anyone for ANY
reason, others take it to mean metaphorically, while still others decide that it only applies to magickal acts, and still
others modify it to be "harm the least amount of people you can", and so on. Each practitioner will ultimately have
to decide for him/herself how far to take these constraints, as this is the only ethical statement in all of Wicca.
Where most systems have a long list of Do's and Don'ts, Wicca only has this explicitly stated. There are many who
add to it, elaborate on these, modify the statements as they need to and so on, but as I said this is the only explicitly
stated ethical statements.
Gardner does go into a LOT of behavioral statements and constraints, but those are only on the behavior of the
person in question, coven management, your tools and so on, and in my opinion they are outdated rules. There are
some pieces of good advice in there, but most of those rules need to be modified or ignored. However, I'm heir to a
tradition that does not acknowledge those Laws, so I'm somewhat biased.
http://www.omphalos.net/bosh/thelaws.html These are the Alexandrian Laws, but they are identical to the
Gardnerian Laws and the Laws according to Lady Sheba (my commentaries on Lady Sheba's version can be found
here: http://davensjournal.com/ToL.xhtml )
There are a few other components of Wiccan magick, Sex Magick (as shown in the Great Rite), Cord Magick,
chants and prayers. Some of this can be verified through some research, but a great deal of what I am going to state
is speculation on my part through a broad base of knowledge.
Sex Magick seems to have come about in Wicca as a response to the Victorian Moral mindset. In the Victorian
Morals, one was not naked for any reason, except in the bathtub. Sex was something to be done to propagate the
species, not something to be enjoyed, and certainly not to be reveled in or used as a tool of worship. However, in
Wicca, Sex becomes a prime form of magickal power, a way of making the spell correctly, a rite of worship, all
rolled into one. Some feel that it was an attempt to recreate the way in which our primitive ancestors must have
worshiped. Reasoning that they would have had such rites and therefore by incorporating sex, they added
legitimacy to the ancient feel of Wicca.

As Tantric Yoga practitioners have known for centuries, sex raises power. There is a tremendous amount of power
that is collected and raised during the time when a person is making love to their partner, and usually it is "wasted"
when sex is for pleasure. It is my belief that this energy can go to making a baby, when the time is right, but this is
unproven. Normally there are several components to factor in to the sex act.
First is the spiritual aspect. Making love feels good and it is actually an altered state of mind. In this state, the brain
releases endorphins that act as drugs on the conscious mind, shutting it down somewhat and making the
subconscious slightly more powerful. People who report that their partner was an "animal", are not far from the
truth. The subconscious is the animalistic part of the mind, the primitive part, the sensual part.
Then there is the physiological part, the actual fertilization of the egg to become a new human. I'm not going to
elaborate on this anymore, if you don't know the Birds and Bees by now, it's not for me to explain it to you.
There is also the energy part. If the sperm and egg becomes a baby, the baby gets the energy to become a person
from this source. As I have said, there is a tremendous pool of energy to draw upon. Take that energy away in a
spell, and while the act may result in a person, it is my belief that there will be something missing because of this
lack of energy. Thus it behooves the ethical practitioner to insure that no one is able to get pregnant while doing a
spell involving sex magic. However, there are no studies or experiments to back me up with this, only speculation.
The adept can take sexual energy and channel it into a spell. Having done spells of this nature, I can attest to the
strength of this energy. The energy is perfect for creation. However, there are practical problems involved in this
process for neophyte practitioners. Most times during this process, the partners are not thinking clearly enough to
visualize and will the spell into completion, due to distractions and overwhelming stimulus. The solution is to
begin the process LONG before the actual act, get it clear in the minds of both participants what is going to be
happening so some small part of their consciousness can be focused on the spell and the working of it.
I have an article sharing my comments on sex magick at http://davensjournal.com/SMag.xhtml
In Wiccan ritual, there is a celebratory rite called "The Great Rite" which can be performed either literally or
symbolically. In brief, The Great Rite is the sex act, magickally and ritually redefined to celebrate fertility, be it the
fertility of the Earth, the animals, the people or what have you. Obviously, the literal version of The Great Rite
consists of a male practitioner (usually the Priest) ritually having sex with a female practitioner (normally the
Priestess). The energy from this rite is channeled into the Earth, as a ritual offering and sacrifice and in celebration
of fertility.
In the Symbolic version of this rite, it is exactly the same, with the exception that the Athame and Chalice are used.
Normally the Chalice is held by the woman (again, normally the Priestess) and the Athame is held by the man
(once again, usually the Priest). It is slowly inserted into the Chalice and the ritual and symbolic aspects are
invoked, with the same act being performed as in the literal Great Rite.
Normally, the literal version is NOT done in the Circle with observers, it is usually only done in the privacy of the
bedroom and between consenting adults. Most often they are married or in a permanent relationship as well.
However, this does not mean that it NEVER takes place in the Circle, as it has been known to happen.
One example of this is in the book "Heather, Confessions of a Witch" in which the primary character makes love
with the Coven Priest in the Circle during the ritual. I must caution you, however, this book has a LOT of flaws. It
purports to be a true story and yet for myself, it is sensationalized fiction written by someone with a bit of
knowledge about Gardnerian covens. From what I know about the rituals, it's somewhat accurate, but there are

major flaws. So if you decide to read this book, please take it with a pan of salt.
This is the only ritual sex in Wicca that I am aware of. Most Sacred Sex is for fueling spells, and it can be a very
powerful means of fueling a spell. One other comment on Sex for Magick is this; it is possible for a solo
practitioner to use Sex in their spell work. I'm going to end it there, and let you figure out what I am talking about.
I have some references on Tantric Sex, which can relate to Wiccan Sex Magick as well, which I will give you later.
Chants are a means of focusing the will and the mind on a desired outcome, and while Chants are used in most
Ceremonial Magickal Traditions, normally their chants are much longer than a typical Wiccan Chant. In addition,
many chants require a "call and response" so that they need more than one person. In some ways it corresponds to
the Catholic magic of the high mass. I will give you an example of a Wiccan Chant here:
E-O-D-O
(Standard 4/4 beat Each line should fit into one measure)
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,

E-O-D-O Ha hay yay. (Repeat throughout)
Air Breathe, Air Blow,

Make this wheel of magic go.
Work this wish for which we pray,
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay.
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,

E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,
Water bubble, water boil,

Make this wheel of magic toil,
Work this wish for which we pray
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay.
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,

E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,
Earth without, earth within,

Make this wheel of magic spin,
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,

E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,
Fire blaze, fire burn,

Make this wheel of magic turn,


E-O-D-O Ha hay yay.
E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,

E-O-D-O Ha hay yay,
(Keep chanting until you send the energy off)
This is a "hymn" that I learned from a Priestess in Texas. It is a really good one, invoking all four elements and
building the tension throughout the chant. With that tension, the energy builds and continues to build. One person
recites the speaking part in a loud voice, while everyone else in the group chants the E-O-D-O Ha hay yay until the
spell's controller/channeler signals that it is enough energy to send off.
One thing that must be mentioned is that I have not yet found another tradition that has such a well-developed
system of GROUP magick, with tools and techniques that help work. Group chants are only one tool in this system
of group magick, the others being dances and meditations. If one ignores the dancing one could, I suppose compare
it to RC ritual magic again in the Mass and also in the prayers and devotions that are * suppose * to be done daily.
There are instances in which the synergy and gestalt of the Coven is so much more effective than the individual
efforts. If my research is correct, there are entire rituals to simply raise energy and send to others for THEIR use.
Consider this for a minute. You know how much energy is in your battery and what it feels like to hold that energy
in you for some period of time. Now, imagine that amount of energy being multiplied 12 times for the other
participants in the group, double it for the synergistic energies, and then double it again for the amount that is
generally raised through chant and dance during one of these rituals. Then that energy is sent to someone else to
help them, for their spell, for their healing and so on. THESE are the kinds of energy and amounts of energy I am
talking about. For those who are unprepared for this, it can be enough energy to make them black out (as it did me
once upon a time).
However, for those who participate in Wiccan magickal rituals frequently, it becomes a matter of course to handle
this much energy. Normally what winds up happening is that one person is chosen as the focus, the person to hold
the visualizations/outcomes in their mind throughout the ritual. The other people are there as "generators" and they
raise energy. It does not really matter how they raise it, as the individual practice varies, but once the peak amount
of energy is raised, everyone focuses on the chosen person, who channels all that energy into the spell. This means
that the group has to have complete trust in each other, be able to work in concert with each other without rancor or
anger, and have what has essentially been described as a "group marriage".
In fact, one of the ritual challenges for entering a Wiccan Circle is the caller (person challenging your right to be
there, normally the opposite sex from you) holds the Athame or Sword to your throat and asks "How do you come
here?" or some variant. The correct response is "With Perfect Love and Perfect Trust". This means that while in the
Circle, there is no animosity, only love, no doubt. I hope you all can see why this attitude is a necessity when
dealing with this amount of energy. This is not only Love and Trust in your co-participants, Love of the Gods and
what you are doing; Trust in what you do as being effective. These are all Magickal attitudes to have while in a
ritual with others. Sadly, if the group is political in nature, the phenomenon will not occur although some people
will claim to be exhausted or elated from the ritual as a result of the energy raised and expended.
For information on Cord Magick, I'm going to paraphrase the section from Buckland's Complete Book of
Witchcraft to tell you about this, since while I know about it, I have never done Cord Magick.

Essentially, Cord Magick uses one tool, the Cord. Now, by my understanding the Cord is 9 feet in length, made
from some kind of natural fiber like Linen, Cotton or Silk, no polyester or blends. With this Cord, normally one
would use it for tying initiates when they are brought into the Circle, thereby signifying their "birth" into a new life
as a Wiccan. However, when using them for Cord Magick, it is used as a repository for Magickal Energy. It is,
basically, a battery for temporarily storing the energy in a very specific manner, for it to be used later.
If, for example, the best time to cast a particular spell is on the Waxing Moon, but it is being used for a destructive
spell, to be completed on the New Moon, and started during the Waning Moon. What does one do? The energy
would be raised in the Circle with everyone else chanting and singing and so on, and at an appropriate time (i.e.,
when the practitioner desired and felt it was right) they would tie a knot in their Cord and say the rhyme that goes
along with it. There is a pattern to the tying of the knots, and I would advise you to look it up in the Big Blue Book
(Buckland's that I mention above) if you want to know the poem and the pattern. Unfortunately my copy was given
away to my wife's student and I have not been able to replace it yet.
This has basis in some of the drawings of a LONG time ago where the sailors would buy Cords from "witches"
who had trapped the winds in the knots.
Finally, when it came time to release that energy, the spell would be started, and at the end of the spell that day, the
first knot would be untied, releasing the energy bound in the knot into the spell. This would continue for the next 8
days, until the climax of the spell occurred in the New Moon, and the ninth knot was untied, releasing all the pent
up energy into the climax of the spell. It is my understanding that this is pretty effective, but as I have no first-hand
experience, all I can do is speculate.
One last point, ALL current Wiccan traditions can trace their roots directly back to Gardnerism and Gerald
Gardner. I state this because even with the plethora of traditions now on the market and available to the average
reader, each and every one of them take aspects from Gardner, even if it is the most superficial of aspects. Some of
the teachings are included; some of the rituals are included and so on. There are many aspects of eclectic Wiccan
tradition that are components of Gardnerism. It is amazing just how many people refuse to acknowledge that.
Some points to remember when thinking about this:
● All Wiccan Traditions have the same basic ritual structure

● All Wiccan Traditions call upon the God and Goddess
● All Wiccan Traditions use the same basic tools
● All Wiccan Traditions use the same basic ethical structure
The difference lies in the details. To say that all Wiccan traditions use an Athame is true, to say they all use Cords
is false. This is one of the details that change from tradition to tradition, and coven to coven. The Gods and
Goddesses that are called on differ from each Wiccan and while some may call upon the same names, the aspects
of the Gods they call upon will most likely be different. While the details of the ethics of Wicca will also differ, the
Rede will always be part of a Wiccan group. Because all these came from Gardner and his researches, we must
acknowledge Gardner as the Father of all modern Wicca.
Tantric References: This is the list I promised to give you above. It relates to Sex Magick as taught by the Yogis of
Hindu belief. This list was assembled by a friend of mine named Richard Ballard who shares his thoughts on this
and quite a number of other subjects on alt.religion.wicca.moderated, a newsgroup available at Google.com for
those of you who are interested.

1. "The Art of Sexual Ecstasy: The Path of Sacred Sexuality for Western Lovers" by Margo Anand A well-
written, well-illustrated introduction to (Western) Neo-Tantra. ISBN 0-87477-581-7
2. "Sexual Energy Ecstasy: A Practical Guide To Lovemaking Secrets of the East and West" by David and
Ellen Ramsdale A well-written, well-illustrated detailed guide to (Western) Neo-Tantra. ISBN 0-553-
37231-9
3. "Sexual Secrets: The Alchemy of Ecstasy" by Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger A well-written, well-
illustrated detailed discussion of Hindu contributions to (Western) Neo-Tantra. ISBN 0-89281-266-4
4. "Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving" by Charles and Caroline Muir ISBN 0-916515-86-9
5. "Tantra: The Cult of the Feminine" by Andre Van Lysebeth An academic discussion of the history and
philosophy of (Eastern) Tantra. ISBN 0-87728-858-5
I have a list of references for those who are interested in researching Wicca more in depth. My "top ten" list
consists of these references:
1. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland

2. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham
3. The Tree by Raymond Buckland
4. Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi
5. Faery Wicca: Theory and Magick a Book of Shadows and Lights by Kisma K. Stepanich
6. An ABC of Witchcraft by Doreen Valente
7. A Witch's Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar
8. The Family Wicca Book by Ashleen O'Gaea
9. True Magick by Amber K
10. The Craft by Dorothy Morrison
I would also highly advise anyone who is interested in the history of Wicca to pick up Bonewits' book, Witchcraft;
A Concise Guide referenced above, and to also read Gardner's books "High Magicks Aid" and "Witchcraft Today"
which brought Wicca to the attention of the World.
Assignment:
Well, the assignment to ground into other things besides the Earth seems to be going well, and I am proud of all of
you for the progress you have been making. Now it is time to step it up.
This time you will be drawing energy from the Sun and from the Fire. If you need a visual for drawing from Fire,
watch the films of the wildfires in Colorado or Arizona, in which thousands of acres of forest are being lost every
week. Understand that the fire is not a bad thing, and that it brought life and health to our ancient ancestors. It
preserved them from the animals that would sit outside the range of the firelight, and it cooked their food.
Understand that Fire heats your home, cooks your food, runs your car and a thousand other little uses that many
don't think of.
It also destroys. Make no mistake about it, every one of the elements has a good side and a bad side, a positive and
a negative. The Fire that heats also destroys the home if left alone. The Air that moves so that you can breathe also
blows houses down and strips the rocks away with the tornado. Understand that duality and you will understand a
prime motivator of the Universe.

My daughter also relates to Fire as "The eraser of the Gods". It is the means by which the Gods destroy and take
away what is there and leave a lot of nutrients and other things behind to allow for the renewal of the Land.
Sun can be the ultimate Fire. However, I want you all to write down your impressions as to what Fire and the Sun
represent, as well as those for all the other elements you have worked with so far. This will be the start of your own
chart of correspondences. In the next lesson, I go into depth with the elements, what they are, how they work, my
correspondences and so on. I will show you that these correspondences, while important, are ultimately up the to
the practitioner to determine.
After this set of elements, there is one more that I want to discuss, and it will be the first thing I discuss next lesson.
So, write the results/impressions into your journals, send them in so we can all get ideas off each other.
Also, I want you to draw absolutely as much energy as you can during one meditation, dump it immediately into
your battery, then draw that much again, dump it again, and so on for 5 cycles total. This will make up for having
you discharge your battery last time. This energy that you do this for does not have to come from the Sun/Fire
energy, it can come from the element you choose and are the most comfortable with.
One last exercise: Take the chant above and perform it. Pull the energy raised from that chant and channel it into
your battery. I would like to hear what happened when you did the chant. Please note, that usually it takes a few
cycles of the entire chant to have dramatic results. I wish I could teach it to you, but the best we can hope for is for
me to emphasize that it is a 4/4 chant, meaning that it has the same beat structure as "Michelle" or "Yesterday" by
the Beatles. It can be done fast, in which it would act as a supercharger, or a lot slower and it becomes almost like a
Gregorian Chant. The speed that I know this is sung at is the same speed that "Havah Nagilah" recordings of
Havah Nagilah made in Europe in the 20's go at a relatively slow pace. The Hora rhythm was added later, came
from a Rumanian folkdance brought to the yishuv by the Halutzim.
To read: Any of the references cited. Those of you who are practicing Wiccans can skip this part. However, you
may want to go back and re-read some Wiccan basics literature. It's amazing just how much additional knowledge I
picked up skimming through some of the texts that I was choosing for this course, even in Druidism and Wicca,
despite the fact that I have been doing this for 11 years. So, sometimes it's good to go back and refresh your
knowledge. Those of you who are not Wiccan will learn more about this system of magick and the philosophy
behind the religion. In this case, the religion and the magick cannot be easily separated. One can practice magick in
a Wiccan fashion, but just casting the magickal rites will force others to label you as a witch, rather than as a
Wiccan.
We will eventually be going over Witchcraft later.
Let me finally suggest that if you have a problem getting some of the references I'm talking about, then a trip to the
library may be in order. The local metaphysical shop may also help you, as sometimes, and I stress this
"sometimes", the owner of the shop may be willing to loan you a copy of a book you wish for some kind of equal
service. I have only known of one group that did this, however, but that is not to say that it will happen in your
local shop. The place that did this was a community center and was created for a purpose like this. I'm also going
to suggest that you ask your friends. I'm assuming that you are all connected somehow with the local communities
in your area that studies these subjects, and you may be surprised to find out the amount of references available in
your local community.

With that, until next time....
May the Stars light your Path.
Back Home Next

Lesson 7: Elemental
Magick
In previous lessons, I have had you pulling energy from the various elements and transmitting it to your battery. I
think I explained some of the reason for doing this to you at the time, but there were other reasons as well.
1. I wanted you to get a feel for that kind of energy, to be able to tell Air energy from Moon energy and so
on.
2. I wanted you to be able to increase your powers of visualization.
3. I wanted you to reach the point of KNOWING that you COULD do this, because you WILL need that
faith.
4. I wanted you to know what the different energies felt like so you would set up a subconscious
correspondence table.
5. I wanted you to find out which of the elements you work with the easiest.
All of these are important since part of what we will be working with in this unit relates directly to those exercises.
You know what the energy feels like, now it's time to discuss the magick associated with that energy. I will also
give you several more exercises for energy work, all exercises that I have done in the past, with really surprising
results in some cases.
Now, as promised in the last lesson, I will start with the final energy source that I use, which is the Stars.
It makes sense. You have the four classical elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water, the Sun and the Moon; it is a
logical extrapolation to have the Stars as another power source.
I use the Stars in my own practice as a source of power for the best of purposes, what I call "lily white" in nature.
These purposes are where there are no gray areas; they cannot be misinterpreted for any reason. Only the best
motives need apply. Examples would be Healing of others, settling souls that died in their correct place, ending
conflict and spreading peace and calm. I pulled heavily on the Stars when September 11th happened and I worked
on helping those newly dead people go on to wherever they were supposed to go. I sometimes refer to the Stars as
"God's battery".
I'll give you my correspondences for the Stars later in this lesson. However, let me say that many metaphysicians
would not agree that they should be used as a power source. I believe that star energy is the same ambient energy
that one can feel on a moonless night, when it seems as though the entire universe is close to you. That high-
pitched hum that shivers your bones during those nights is the stars singing in the darkness, talking to each other,
sharing stories, talking about the beginning of time until now. One can learn a lot by listening to them.
I tend to group the 4 classic elements as the "Terrestrial Elements" and the Sun, Moon and Stars as the "Celestial
Elements".

Generally, the Terrestrial elements are used as power sources and for work here and now. The Celestial elements
are used as an energy boost; the energy comprises parts of many different energy sources. Attributes that are
usually associated with one element are combined in Celestial Elements. For instance, Sun energy combines the
best qualities of Fire and Air (for the gasses in it) as well as masculine energy.
Let me stress something before we get too much further. These are the correspondences I have come up with, it is
what is comfortable for me to use in my own practices. Out of courtesy it is good and wise to use the
correspondences of those you are working with in group practice, and your own correspondences in private
practice. You should use whatever system of associations and energies in common practice in the tradition you
decide to follow, at least initially. Once you get used to using these elements, used to the way the energy feels to
you and what associations you make to each, then you can use them in private practice as you see fit.
Use my words in this lesson as a guide only, not as the final word.
The first element we will look at is Fire:
This is the standard "symbol" in most Classical Magick references to the element of Fire. Note, the color of the
triangle is my own associated color, not what is normally associated with this element. The picture is there to help
visualize this element for you.
Associations:
Gender: Male
Astrological: Active
Direction: West
Elemental: Salamander
Archangel: Uriel
Time of life: Old age/Death Moon
Phase: 3/4 Waning to New
Goddess/God: Crone/Guide
Color: Red/Yellow
Season: Autumn
Fire rises and is active, therefore, like the male phallus;

it is seen as being male, rising toward the heavens. It is
considered active in Astrology because it affects things,
instead of being affected by others.
I told you about the "God's eraser" aspect of fire last lesson, but this brings up an interesting point; what allows fire
to live?
Fire cannot exist in a vacuum, as we know, because it lacks oxygen to allow it to breathe and thus burn. And I'm
not just talking about the actual flames here, but also the coals and the sparks. All of them need oxygen, and thus
Air to ignite.
Also, fire requires a fuel to burn. I don't want to get into a discussion of various flammable liquids and gasses, but I
will say that most of those sources of fuel come from the same source as the most plentiful fuel source, the Earth.

Earth (or some of the things that are dependant on the Earth to live and thus become fuel, like wood and flesh) is
the primary fuel source for Fire and Fire exists between Earth and Air. Fire is dependant on Earth and Air to
survive without either of these it does nothing. By the same token, Water will kill fire, so it is opposite of Fire.
I decided to put Fire as the time of old age for a couple reasons. When I was coming up with this correspondence a
LONG time ago, there was no other element to place with old age, since then, I have found that for me, Fire
represents the spark of life. As the body ages and starts shutting down the spark becomes more prominent and
accessible. In some cases, the spark of life is so strong that it actually starts burning the body up so it can ascend to
the next life.
Autumn is the hottest time of the year, normally, and because of that, the season of Autumn fits perfectly with Fire.
The classical creature of Fire is the Salamander. Uriel, is the classical angel of death, with Fire being associated
with Death, this is the logical association.
Air:
Once again, this symbol is the classical hermetic symbol. I read it as this: The triangle is the building block, the
most stable structure in the universe, three lines, mutually supporting each other, leaning on each other so that any
weight put on it is supported by all three lines, rather than just one or another. The triangle is pointing up, to show
that the Air rises, just as the Fire rises. However, there is a line in the Air, denoting that it is the "ceiling" of the
elemental world, just as the line in the Earth shows it as the Floor. Since Water and Fire have no lines in them,
these two elements exist between the ceiling and the floor of Earth and Air.
Associations:
Gender: Male
Astrological: Mutable
Direction: North
Elemental: Sylph
Archangel: Michael
Time of life: Pre-life/The Astral Plane
Moon Phase: New
Goddess/God: Guardian/Warrior
Color: Blue (the color of the sky)
Season: Winter
Air is a cold element, to offset the Fire right next to it.

The worst wind is the wind that blows out of the North.
It is also the realm of the dead, both before birth and
after death; many cultures place the afterworld behind
the North Wind. The Celts, in fact, put the Spiral Castle behind the North Wind, where Arianhrod, (her name =
Arian = Silver and Hrod = Wheel thus moon) and she has the most associations with magick and the dead, hence
the triple (there goes that number again.) associations with the astral world, Winter and the North.
Air is an intellectual element. It's said that those who use this element all the time will gain the knowledge of the
universe. It's has also been said that the fact the Christian symbol of the Cross, which has an extended southern bar,
representing Earth, and a shortened top bar, representing a lack of Air, is why many Christian faiths are concerned
with things of this world and dismissive of those intellectual qualities that have been the hallmark of so many other

religious orders.
Air is a very fast element. If Fire is the fastest in terms of energy, Air is the next on the list. With Fire, once the
energy is moving toward a goal, it is really hard to control. It can best be described as being akin to riding the tiger
where he only tolerates you being there. Air energy is like hanging on to a parachute during a whirlwind. Fast,
furious and uncontrolled, ready to explode at any minute, your job should you choose to accept it, is to keep
guiding that energy into what you want, because it's very mercurial and changes easily.
Sylphs are very interesting creatures. They like hearing music and smelling scents and bright shiny objects
fascinate them (especially those that spin and dance to the wind's moods). But they are precocious and change their
moods about what they want, what concerns them, what they like from second to second. I can attest to this since I
work with the Sylphs all the time.
Air energy is a cool energy, frosty and effervescent. I enjoy feeling Air energy because it makes me feel lighter in
spirit.
Once again, Air rests on Fire and Water, and both those elements make up Air. Smoke from the Fire rises to
become one with the Air, as well as releasing other gasses, and the Water evaporates and makes the Air up in the
water vapor. So each of those elements is supportive of Air, and Earth is the opposite of Air, since Air and Earth do
not combine. If there is Earth in one place, there cannot be Air. While that can be true of Water too, Air will
dissolve into Water and it will not in Earth. Many different kinds of plants create Air, but the Earth and all other
things would be sterile without the Air to breathe.
Air also is a blanket around us. One of the reasons that there is snow on the mountains in July is because the
thinner air does not insulate as it does in the lower regions of the world. It is also protective and screens out some
kinds of radiation from the sun and space.
Next is the Water:
Well, this is one of my personal banes, Water. I enjoy the water, once I'm in it, but getting me in the water is a
chore of patience (just ask my wife) and this is true for the pool, or the shower.
Once again the classic Hermetic symbol shows there is no line in the triangle. I find this symbolizes that it is
between the floor and ceiling. It also points down, showing that it rests on the ground, in the lowest places there
are. Those with even a rudimentary education in physical sciences can see this is true.
Associations:

Gender: Female
Astrological: Mutable
Direction: East
Elemental: Undine (pronounced un-dean)
Archangel: Gabriel the Herald
Time of life: Birth and Childhood
Moon Phase: 1/4 Waxing to full
Goddess/God: Maiden/Wanderer
Color: Green (the color of seawater)
Season: Spring
The gender association I make in this element is

confusing to many, till you remember that we all start
out in water while we are alive before birth. Yep, I
associate this element with amniotic fluid. We start our
existence in Water, to the point that for a short time,
we even have proto-gills. Then we are born.
This allows me to say that Water exists between Earth and Air. We need Air to live, the Earth to live on, and water
to rehydrate our bodies or we will die. Since our bodies are made up of over 70% water, this is a natural
association. Most often Water rests upon Earth, but the two mix readily enough to create mud and the water table.
Air mixes with Water providing oxygen to the fishes and other marine animals.
Since we live in water for the first 9 months of our lives, placing Water as the beginning of our lives is a natural
choice. If one stretches, one can understand how wishy-washy we are during that time, not one thing nor another,
changing almost at a whim from astronaut to scientist to dancer to fireman to doctor to private investigator and so
on. There are very few children who "know" what they want to be as an adult at this stage of their life and then
follow through with that goal, and this is a very Water trait.
Astrology calls this a Mutable element, meaning that it changes a lot and causes changes in the environment rather
than being effected. When combined with Air, this causes weather changes, since both are mutable elements and
thus very unstable.
Since the East is the beginning of the day, and the Water is the beginning of life, the two being paired is natural.
Gabriel is the Archangel who announces the new period of time, heralding the Dawn and announcing a new phase
in life. In Christian magical tradition, he is the Angel who announced to Mary that she was to give birth to the
Messiah.
One thing that MUST be pointed out is that Fire and Earth support life, but Air and Water are the medium in which
life lives. If one took the plankton out of the Water, it would die, even if everything else were provided for it to
survive. This holds true for the Air as well. Take the Air away from any animal on the face of the Earth, and you
will have a dead animal very quickly. This does not hold true for those things that exist in the Earth. If you take the
ant, the worm, the plant out of the Earth, it can still survive and possibly thrive. It's what makes hydroponics
viable. So, half these elements are necessary for life, the others are critical for life.
The last Terrestrial Element: Earth
Earth is what we live on, like duh. It is what supports our home, holds the plants down, creates gravity to keep all

things safe and secure. It germinates life, and in that it is the same as Fire, a catalyst to life. Anyone who has lain
on the ground for an extended period of time can attest to the Earth being a living being. As such, we cannot do
without it, although successful adaptations have been made to an Earth-less state. It is interesting to note that those
who stay away from "Mother Earth" for too long, have difficulty readjusting to her "pull".
The Earth is the floor in this paradigm, just as the Air is the ceiling. As such the symbol of Earth has a line through
it, signifying the "floor" state. It is a triangle pointing down, showing it is the bottom, as opposed to the top.
Associations:
Gender: Female
Astrological: Stable
Direction: South
Elemental: Gnome or Dragon
Archangel: Raphael
Time of life: Adulthood and middle age
Moon Phase: Full Moon
Goddess/God: Mother/Hunter
Color: Brown (as seen from space)
Season: Summer
Many people from the dawn of time have referred to the

Earth as "Mother Earth" or "Mother Nature" and as
such, we have believed a female soul for the Earth. This
is only fair since in some cultures, the Goddess is
supposed to be in the Earth someplace, controlling the fertility of the Land. See the myths of Persephone and
Frigga's descent into the earth in search of her magical necklace, Brisengamen.
Since the Earth is also linked to material things and many parents are focused on providing for their children and
families, putting parenthood in this time and element is a natural resonance. While I understand that many parents
are not focused exclusively on the physical and the acquisition of money and things, it does take up an enormous
amount of time and energy, simply to provide for child(ren). As a parent I know that this is one of the overriding
drives in my life right now.
Earth is opposite of the Air, so if the Air is in the North, the Earth must go in the South, by necessity. The Earth
supports Fire and Water, as well as the Air.
(Just as an aside, the directions of Fire and Water are interchangeable as to which goes in the East, and which in the
West. Since for a long time I lived on the East coast and since I now live closer to the East Coast than the West, I
put the Water in the East, rather than in the West.)
Some traditions support the belief that Raphael was the Archangel put in charge of guarding the Garden of Eden,
and keeping Mankind out of it. The Garden is connected with All that Mankind needs to succeed and live without
toil, since this is the time of life when we are toiling for our survival (according to some), the connection between
Raphael and all that is material is natural.
Soil is brown in color, not green. The plant material may be green, and it may be the plants that provide life to us,
but ultimately it is the soil that enables the plants to grow. It is the soil that holds the plants erect, that starts the

germination process, the soil that holds the nutrients and nitrogen to nourish the plant. Now, granted all this can be
put into a liquid and the plants roots suspended in that, but ultimately it is easier to just put the plant in the soil.
The Sun
Life-giver, fire of creation and God of life.
Associations:
Gender: Male
Astrological: NA
Direction: Above
Elemental: NA
Archangel: NA
Time of life: NA
Moon Phase: NA
Goddess/God: Any Sun God, Ra, Apollo, Zeus, or any other. There are some Goddesses associated with
the Sun, Geb, Briggid and others.
Color: Gold
Season: the Year
If the Elements are the Terrestrial elements that give us life and that are closest to us on THIS plane, the Sun is the
most powerful of the Celestial elements. It is so powerful, that much of the time it interferes with our abilities in
the psychic realm (from my observations). It is a tremendous energy source, freely giving of its energy to those
who need it. Indeed, that is its purpose in life, to create energy and give it to us. This is why it seems to fling
energy at us when we start pulling from it.
This element combines the best qualities of Air and Fire, both male elements, both very powerful in nature. The
energy is very fast and can overwhelm those who use it rather quickly, as many of you found out when doing the
exercises. Because it is so fast, pulling energy on it for instant spells and for those situations where you need a
huge pool of energy quickly, the Sun is the first source many should think of.
However, just as the Terrestrial Elements have their problems and their bad side, the Air is home of the tornados,
the Water floods and destroys, even just dripping on one place over the centuries will destroy the stone. The Fire
burns out of control in some cases and wipes the slate clean to start again, and the Earth has quakes that smash
anything that sits upon it. The Sun can burn and once the energy is moving one direction, it HAS to be monitored
because there is a tendency to get away from the practitioner.
To counteract this, because of the strength of the Sun and the ease of acquiring the energy, it is one of the best
sources for any purpose that can be found. The only times one must beware of the Sun's energy is during the
Winter when the Sun is further away and weaker, and during the night when it is not in the sky.
So, we come to The Moon
The next Celestial Element, our Mother, the Lady, She who changes each month.
Associations:

Gender: Female
Astrological: NA
Direction: Below
Elemental: NA
Archangel: NA
Time of life: NA
Moon Phase: All of them
Goddess/God: Diana, Ceridwen, Arianhrod, and any number of others. There are a few gods associated
with the Moon as well.
Color: Silver
Season: NA
In opposition to the Sun, the Moon cycles much faster and exerts an immense force upon us. I would like you to
think for a little while about just HOW much influence the Moon has on us. There are the tides, the cycles of the
body (including the menstrual cycle and male cycle as well), the fact that if you dig a hole in the full moon, there
will be more dirt than the hole can contain, and if you dig a hole in the New moon, there will not be enough dirt to
fill the hole. There is anecdotally more accidents and calls on the Police and medical services during a Full Moon
than at any other time. Scientists tested clams that open during a specific phase of the moon, removing them from
the ocean. The clams continued to open at the moonrise time they had previously been accustomed to, until the
scientists artificially "changed" the moonrise time. These are documented facts, and I'm sure with a bit of
searching, you can find any number of Moon lore sites for additional information.
Heck, the term "month" comes from the Moon; it was the first calendar of our ancestors. Lunacy is directly
attributable to the insanity one is prone to during the Full Moon. I have surmised that the thousand years that
Methuselah lived according to the Bible could be a thousand month, or cycles of the moon, which relates to
approximately 80 years on a solar scale. The Moon exerts a HUGE influence over us, and in these modern times
almost no one thinks about it.
I already discussed the Stars above for a little bit, so I won't go over them again. However, it is germane to this to
mention that if each of the celestial elements have a direction, then the Stars are within.
Putting these in a 3 dimensional model, the Air is in the North, the Earth in the South, the Water is in the East, and
the Fire in the West. The Sun is above and the Moon below. Stand a person in the exact center, and Man is made of
each of these elements. The Stars are internal, and we are part of them.
Indeed, a well-known poster stated that every part of our bodies was once a part of a Star. Most magickians believe
in the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, and one of the basic beliefs of Hermetic magicks is "As above, so below".
What this means is that our bodies reflect the universe, and what we find internally is reflected in the Universe. The
orbits of electrons in the atom is comparable to the orbits of planets around the Sun, the orbits of stars in the
galaxy, and the orbits of galaxies around some as yet unfound point. All is reflected in each other.
The color of the Stars is Platinum, the highest vibration rate for a metal used in metaphysics. Silver is the lowest,
Gold is next and Platinum is the highest. There is a reason the Sumerians called Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, and
AD&D adopted it.
The above information places the elements on to a 3-D cube, but what if we alter the cube to a 2 dimensional
pentagram? The pentagram that so many of us know is prime for this one. Put Air on the first point to the left of the

top, Water on the next clockwise, Earth on the next, and Fire on the point to the left of the top point. On the
topmost point put the element of Spirit, which comprises all three of the Celestial elements and you have it. Or put
the Stars at the top point, the Sun in the Center and the Moon as the Circle around the pentagram.
I'm sure you can find more geometric shapes relating to metaphysics that work.
There are a few other elemental structures that we need to look at now.
First are the Druidic elements, also called the Dhuile.
There are nine elements in this system, and three means to work with them, Internal, External and Directional. This
is the full chart.
Internal External Directional
Face Sun South
Mind Moon Inwards
Blood Sea West
Breath Wind East
Head Sky Above
Hair Green World Outwards
Flesh Land Below
Bones Stone North
Spirit Clouds Through
I have only worked with the External correspondences, and even then it has only been the short list of Air Earth
and Water. You will notice that Fire is lacking from this model, as the Druids believed that Fire was sacred to the
Gods, because of its power to erase the pallet and start again.
I saw the Chinese system of elements and it was very interesting. Instead of using Air Earth Fire and Water, they
use Wood, Metal, Water, Fire and Earth. Hermetic magickians believed Metal and Wood were part of Earth so did
not need to be explicitly stated again.
This elemental system passed down from the Emerald Tablet is not sacrosanct. Many other ways of using the
elements have been practiced over the centuries and they are just as correct as any other. My own means of using
the elements is not written down anyplace other than in this lesson and my book of shadows. This is what works
for me, and there are many who change the directional associations to what works for them.
I already directed you to Mike Nichols' article and I have told you about what I use. Now I'm going to show you on
a web page what the relationships look like when put out there and arranged in a visual matrix. Oh, you can copy
the pictures for your own use if you want to. I made them and have released them into the public domain already,

which means there will be no copyright violation if you use them.
My arrangement (excluding the Celestial Elements) http://davensjournal.com/images/DEle.xhtml

Mike Nichols' arrangement http://davensjournal.com/images/MNEle.xhtml
The "classical" arrangement of the elements http://davensjournal.com/images/CEle.xhtml
I would point out that the colors used for the triangles are my associated colors, not the classical colors at all. Keep
that in mind.
I have some practical exercises for you, and some more theoretical discussion.
Basic exercises with energy:
First and foremost is the energy exercises you have been doing with the elements.
Grounding exercises into each of these elements is another exercise you should be adept with. It is only proper to
return energy to these elements when one pulls energy from them. So, you can ground into the Fire; send energy to
the Moon and so on. Each of these have different feels and dangers inherent in them, and the adept magickian
should be familiar with them, so that if one has to Ground into the Air, one can. (Good visualization with the
sheeting energy being blown away BTW. I really liked that.)
One of my favorite ways to practice energy work is by transferring energy from one hand to another. Let me
describe this for you, quoted from a prior class on just this subject.
"1. First things first. Turn your right hand, palm upward and place your left hand's fingers about three inches above
the palm of your right hand. Now, this in itself is not going to do anything. But now think of a flow of light, like
some super hero coming out of the palm of your right hand and bathing your left fingers. Do this for a few
moments. Close your eyes if it helps you concentrate.
2. Okay, what you were doing was pushing your energy from inside you out. And you were allowing your other
hand to feel it. You may have felt a hot sensation on your fingertips, or a tingling, or coldness, or any other reaction
to that energy, but you would have felt something, unless you were doing it wrong. If you were not feeling
anything, try again, and this time move your left hand up and down until you DO feel a difference.
3 Feeling the energy. Do the same thing as above, but with different parts of your body as the "receptor". Do what I
have told you, but project the energy out of your finger, at your leg, your arm, your forehead, and other places of
your body.
4. Energy flow. Now, once having mastered the previous two, hold your hands, palms toward each other and
envision a beam of light flowing from one hand to the other, Now, reverse the flow. A separate person putting their
finger in between those hands should feel a really hot area, that is not present in any other place.
5. Controlling the flow. Similar to exercise two, it is exercise three taken to the next level. Your hand should be the
projector, and another part of your body should be the receptor. You should feel the energy flowing and warming
that part of your body, and as you move your hand, this area of warmth should move with it.

If you start getting a headache while you are doing this, stop. You have exceeded your energy limit for the day, and
are in danger of really harming yourself if you continue. Take some aspirin or acetaminophen (sp) and drink some
Gatorade. The electrolytes in the Gatorade will replace what you have spent, and then go to bed. A good night's
sleep will help a lot.
It is good to have someone around who is doing these exercises as well, or at least someone who will verify your
perceptions as to whether or not you are projecting something. It's just a check, and you do not need to do this. But
it helps."
This document can be found in it's whole at http://davensjournal.com/Ener5.xhtml It may help you to read it so
you can see these comments in context, and the reason I'm not including it all here is because there is a LOT of
information, so I won't be copying this and emailing it.
All of these exercises are the beginning steps, along with what you have been doing with drawing and grounding
the energy from those elements, but let me take a moment and talk to you about what else you can draw energy
from.
You can take energy from the electrical system of your home. Electrical energy and BioElectric energy is almost
exactly the same, as doctors have known for quite some time. If BioElectric energy is almost the same as
Metaphysical energy, as used in spells and in those exercises I had you do, then Electricity and Metaphysical
energy are almost the same as well. Two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. I use electrical
energy in my spells all the time. I have not even seen a jump in my electricity bill either.
I can pull from other people and animals. Sometimes in the cases of those who are hyper, this is the only way to
calm them. I was able to keep a hyperactive dog from injuring itself at a metaphysical shop this way. This is called
"psychic vampirism" in many people's lexicons. But there is a difference and it is critical you understand that
difference. Most psychic vampires are concerned with sucking the emotional energy out of the victim; here we are
concerned with sucking the energy out of them. It may have the same net effect, but they are two different
processes.
This is the process you use when you are healing someone of negative energy, but instead of sending it into the
Earth, you are drawing this energy into yourself. I use the visualization of an "energy indicator" internally, and
seeing their indicator fall, and mine grow. After a few moments, usually the person that I am taking from shows a
physical reaction, either in an increase of REM movement, a slumping of the shoulders, a reduction in their
breathing and so on. It's an interesting phenomenon to watch.
Drawing from animals won't kill them usually, but putting energy into them can make them hyper or have other
actions until their system can cope with it. It's the same thing that happens to you when you take great amounts of
energy into your body unexpectedly. I would like to digress somewhat and mention that a familiar has already
given it's consent to you to draw energy from it when you have need of it's energy, that is one of the things that
make it a familiar.
I draw from my battery and recharge it all the time. I recharge it with nervous energy, adrenalin energy, fear energy
and all that energy that you get dumped on you at odd times and I instantly shunt it into my battery, to calm myself
down so I can handle the crisis rationally. These shunts have been set up for a long time, and at this point, I don't
have to think of them anymore. I get scared, the adrenalin SHOULD kick in, but the shunt kicks in first, and all that
energy that would be wasted in fear and fight or flight reflex goes to my battery, to stay there until I need it.

The rest of the exercises are fairly easy. The first that I use to practice with all the time is with energy balls. This is
simply an extension of the above exercises of shunting energy from one hand to the other, and sending it to
different portions of your body and feeling the effects.
Create a ball in the palm of your hand, about the size of a rubber ball from a jacks set, about an inch across. See it
glowing there, and then make the motions of throwing it at someone who is unsuspecting. No matter how
headblind they are, eventually they will react, either with a headache or some other means of letting you know they
are getting hit with that energy. It helps if this person is metaphysically aware too, if they are, you can have catch
and throw competitions, and it's interesting to watch from an outsider's perspective. Mundanely, there is not much
going on, just a bunch of people making throwing motions at each other, but by invoking your sight where you can
see the energy, you have a bunch of multi-colored balls of light flying at each other. Then you can move on to the
other exercises based on this one.
● Instead of letting it impact on you or your shields, try capturing this energy thrown at you and sending it
back to the person who sent it.
● Catch and return the energy as above, but add your energy to it while you have control of that energy, see
how big you and the others in your group can grow it before someone HAS to take it, and then see the
effects of it on them.
● Instead of making throwing motions, try just holding your hand out, creating the ball, then willing it to
where you want it to go. See it simply fly out of your hand and impact the other person.
● Try doing it to unsuspecting people who are aware of energy and see how long it takes for them to notice.
* See what this does when you throw it at your pets.
Please note, this energy is not a lot. It's just enough to get noticed, the actual output is not even enough to give you
a headache, unless you do it for hours.
This next activity is appropriate for a gathering of people, all trying to feel energy, such as your working group or a
coven. It's a take off on Blind Man's Bluff and Marco Polo. I call it "Jedi's bluff"
Choose a caller. This one person is the only person allowed to speak during the entire game, and they are outside a
pre-defined area. Any player going outside this area MUST shield when they are out, and are out of the game. One
player is the "Jedi" and they are blindfolded. Their job is to catch the others in the play area. They can use no
senses other than their sense of feeling for other people's energy. They are opening their other senses up to the rest
of the players and locating them by what they "feel" like or their energy signature.
The caller will state that the players can take X amount of steps in any direction. The players can take steps as big
or little as they wish. Once those steps are taken, the players freeze. The Caller then tells the Jedi to take X amount
of steps in any direction that they want to. Once again, the Jedi can make this as large or as small as they want.
Depending on the object of this exercise, the Jedi can either tag someone, who then is the next Jedi, or they can
point at someone and say "so and so is there", thus "tagging" that person so they are the next Jedi. If the object is to
simply find people by their energy signature, then the first version would be preferable, if it's specific identification
of individuals based on their energy signature, then the second would be preferable. To make it really difficult, the
Jedi must tag and correctly identify the person they touch. Really advanced players may want to correctly find and
identify every player in the play area.
After a failed identification or a missed tag, the players are allowed a free move to get into new positions under the
guidance of the Caller. This game can go on for as long as everyone wants. The Jedi changes out when a correct
tag or identification is made. The players are allowed to throw energy balls wherever they want to try to confuse

the Jedi, but they are NOT allowed to Shield. This rule can be dispensed with if the person running this exercise
feels that all the players are sufficiently advanced to be able to handle this additional layer of complexity.
The last variant, timed with a Caller who simply says, "Jedi move, Players move" with no number of steps
specified. The Jedi has X amount of time to find everyone in the play area. Players and Jedi may move as far as
they want, as well as doing contortions to get out of the way of the Jedi. Play ends when time is up.
(My thanks to my wife for originally coming up with this training tool. Thank you Mary.)
Another suggestion would be to throw energy balls upward and letting the energy fall back down onto yourself.
All these exercises will get you used to manipulating energy in all it's forms, feeling this energy and used to using
this energy. Energy manipulation is primary in Magick, be it high or low.
Assignment:
Okay, you knew this was coming.
First please practice pulling from the Stars. Write your impressions down and share them with me.
Second, practice all these exercises above during your day. If you get any spectacular results that you feel germane
to this class, please share them with us all. I understand that it will take time to see results from some of these
exercises, but keep trying. I would especially like to hear of any successes with Jedi's Bluff.
Please come up with a full set of correspondences for all the elements you wish to use, be they classic Hermetic
elements, what I'm using or any other correspondences that are right for you. You don't have to share them, but
write down everything you can and all the associations you have made, and keep that in your journal. This is part
of your system of magick, just as the list of tools is. Please understand why you have that association, even if it is
something as silly as "there is no place left to put it". But do look for any other correspondences you can.
One last thing, a class project:
Those of you who have been raising energy with nowhere to send it now have a place to send it and some good to
do with that energy. I would like to see your results in one week.
I solicited some volunteers for this exercise from Alt.religion.wicca.moderated, a newsgroup dedicated to
discussing Wiccan issues. All of these people are experienced in Wiccan Magick, have cast spells for various
reasons and have agreed to be guinea pigs for this.
What I want you to do is simply raise and send them energy. However, there are a few things to think about first.
Primarily is that you focus. Raising a lot of power and then just letting it drain away is no good. You must raise it

and then "fire" it toward your intended target. I have pictures of some of them, and I think you can get good
"feelings" from what is written down in the case of those who don't have pictures.
I want you to print the picture (B&W will work for this) and focus on it when you are doing your energy
raising/releasing exercise. Raise the power through the chant, drawing from any of the seven elements we have
discussed, any other elements you feel are appropriate, from your battery, from your being, in short, wherever.
When you feel you have the most energy you can, I want you to "fire" it like a gun toward the target. See that
energy stream out of your working area, like a bolt of white light.
Don't worry about it after that, trust that the energy will get there and that the person who it is intended for will be
able to use it.
There are a few rules:
1. Your energy is very personal. Make sure to send it "scrubbed". Otherwise the recipient may be overwhelmed by
you. By this I mean that you must do your best to remove all your thoughts and energy from it. Having the energy
collect in an external source, such as the air around you, will cleanse the energy in most cases. See the area
immediately around you while you are raising this energy as being a cone-shaped creation. The physical limits of
the bottom are as large as you wish them to be, but the apex of the cone should be over your head in the center of
the circle. This is where all the energy you are raising is collected.
2. See number one... If you can't figure out how to scrub energy before sending it, DON'T!
3. See number one.... Set a time delay on the energy so that the recipient gets it at an appropriate time. For
example, if I am sending energy to someone in Europe and it is midnight their time, they aren't going to be able to
sleep and the next day when they could REALLY use it will be even more tired than ever. By this, if while you are
getting ready to fire off the energy you will simply see a person-shaped blob with the face of the person you are
focusing on, with some kind of time-keeping device visible, and make sure it shows a couple hours after most
people would normally awake, then this is a time delay. See the clock's hands pointing at 9 AM for instance, and
see them receive the energy you sent out. Then no matter when you send it, nor where in the world you are, they
will get that energy when they can handle it and channel that energy into their spell.
One last thought, only do one person per day, and no other. Do one person, move on to whatever other work you
are going to do, and then ground out. Do not do more than one.
Here is the list of people to use, along with the location of their pictures. If you can't focus on these people, then
don't do anything.
Update December 23, 2002 I have pulled the people and pictures from this page for this project. I have done this
because the information on these are out of date enough that it may be doing harm more than helping. So, let's go
with this instead. Send your energy to me.
You will find a picture of me on Daven's Biography and I know enough to be able to take an use this energy
correctly. So send it on and we will discuss it when I feel it come in.
Any questions you have, please share them with the list and I will answer them as I can.

As always, after any of these exercises, GROUND. Let the energy flow out of you and into the ground, letting
enough return back to you so that you are in balance again. If you are doing "Jedi's Bluff" make sure that everyone
else involved grounds too.
Have fun with this everyone.
Daven
Back Home Next

Lesson 8: Kitchen
Witchery
In Lesson 6 we looked at one form of Witchcraft, namely Wicca. This time I will be discussing another form of
Witchcraft, Kitchen Witchery.
As you will see, Kitchen Witchery combines many different elements into a complete whole. I will be talking
about how Kitchen Witches (also called a Hearth witch) can be a chaos magickian and just as ceremonial as
anything coming out of the Golden Dawn. But I'm hampered by something, Kitchen Witchery is not my forte, nor
is it easily described.
See, I can describe how the OTO practitioner approaches his magick and the rites and rituals of the Golden Dawn. I
can show you, that you can't take the religion out of the Kaballah without invalidating it. I can help you understand
that the Catholic practitioner uses prayers as mantras to focus their will, but there is literally an infinite variety in
practicing Kitchen Witchery. There is very little information on them or on how they do their magick, because of
ALL the magickal traditions out there; THIS is THE tradition that is passed down orally from parent to daughter,
unbroken. As we go along in this lesson you will see what I mean by this statement.
Many people, while acknowledging that this is a valid tradition of Witchcraft, don't really stop and think about
what it is that Kitchen Witches do, or how they do it. To put it simply, a Kitchen Witch's sacred space is the
kitchen. Her athame is the butcher knife; her elements are the stove and oven for Fire, the food being prepared for
Earth, the aroma of the food for Air, and the spring or Tap for the Water. All of these come together in one whole
that generally impresses those who enter into her domain, the home.
Kitchen Witchery is truly about taking care of domestic concerns, not just taking care of the kitchen. The Kitchen
Witch's tool is just as much the sewing kit as it is the boline, the spinning wheel as much the herb garden. Taking
care of the family is the Kitchen Witches' job and her magick.
This kind of practice is reflected in many Pagan traditions and Gods and Goddesses. Goddesses like Athena, the
Three Fates, Pales, Hestia, The Minoan Snake Goddess, Men-Shen and Janus are just a few examples, and if one
looks hard enough I'm sure that there are multitudes more that can be considered Gods and Goddesses of the
Kitchen.
This is a tradition that extends back into the far reaches of history. Want proof? What do you call Arachne if not a
Kitchen Witch?
One disclaimer: don't let this lesson, and the fact that I will continually call the Kitchen Witch (it's to hard to type
that all the time, so I will start typing KW) a "she" or "her" put you off, I was a KW at one time myself. My magick
ran through me and into my daughter, the home, cleaning, and cooking. I carved beads for others, used my athame
to carve roasts and took care of the family. It is just as much the skill of a man as it is the woman. The methods of
accomplishing the tasks may be different, but they all accomplish the same end.

It is possible I suppose to be a KW and other styles of Magickian as well. It is perfectly possible, in my experience
to be a Hedge Witch and a Kitchen Witch, a Ceremonial Magickian and a KW, and so on and so on. The
disciplines are the same; it's just the ritual that is different. For example: while I was being a Domestic God, I did
do a LOT of ritual in the kitchen, namely I made candles. Not just any candle, but pure beeswax candles and I sold
them to other magickal practitioners. I called myself a Wiccan, and I did celebrate the Sabbats as well. Looking
back, I also spent time being a magickian as well, Shaman style. I projected out of body and took care of spirits
that were harassing my friends or just problems in general.
Don't get me wrong; a KW can be frighteningly effective. She can make dinners to die for, turn out a doll that will
bring good luck or bad to the holder, she can brew potions that could change the world and teach the children to be
wonderful people. Do not make the mistake in thinking that simply because all her efforts are focused on the
family that she is ignorant of what is going on in the world, she's not. That is one of her main motivators, in my
experience, to teach the next generation of people, so they can improve it through their actions.
Some of the skills of the KW are:
● Cooking
● Sewing or Weaving
● Herbalism
● Crafting (Hobby style crafts)
● Washing and cleansing
● Teaching
● Managing money
● Psychology (just ask any homemaker who had to deal with a stressed out spouse or a child)
● Time management
● Healing and First Aid
● Counseling
● Handyman and troubleshooter
● Veterinarian
● Helper to the Spouse (and their specialty)
My wife is the KW of our family currently. She's a damned good one too, and no one ever says that KW is not a
valid path once they have come over and eaten under our roof. The food she prepares is on par with some of the
greatest dishes ever served in 5 star restaurant in my opinion*. And then I look at that person and say, "I told you
so..."
*Mary's disclaimer - I do NOT offer Haute Cuisine meals, just plain and simple fair, but it is usually eatable in the
worst of cases.
But KW is a dying art.
Think about this for a while. How many of you in the Western World are required by the standard of living to have
two incomes? How many people who would rather be home taking care of the children and cooking the meals are
required to go out into the workforce? I know I would rather be at home with my wife and daughter, but I'm
fulfilling my role as the hunter of the elusive "greenback" and then gatherer of the food at the grocery store, where
I trade in my kill of the greenback for the crops of others. How they grow that squeezy cheese I will never know,
having never seen a "Cheese whiz plant".

But my wife, bless her soul, does everything else for our family.
I am continually in awe as she takes her athame (a Chinese cleaver) and uses it to dice the shrimp I got into a
paste, mixes that with the onions and the water chestnuts and then puts them in the skin of the Wonton, and fries
them into a wonderful food for all of us. How she uses that same knife to pound meat into a tender cut out of a big
old honkin' chunk o' beef, and slices it into paper thin slices, which she serves with some sort of gravy for dinner.
But a family being able to survive on one income is a rare situation today.
So, it is incumbent on any companion of the KW to help. In a two-income family, one person will probably take it
upon themselves to do most of the domestic chores, to be the homemaker and the KW. (I know it sucks, it's not
fair, and it is usually the woman who gets the "blessing" of this job.) It is the responsibility of all the rest of the
family to do as much as they can to facilitate this. I would point out that this is the same situation that any two-
income family faces in dividing the chores. It may even be that the children of the KW can help out as part of
learning how to be a KW, which would take some of the strain off those who have both adults working outside the
home.
Now, enough of my soapbox, I'm going to run down some of the more common skill sets that KWs use.
Herbalism. I don't know of one KW who does not have SOME knowledge of herbs, and not magickally either, but
culinary. If you don't think that this is a form of herbalism, I would refer you to thousands of chefs who would
disagree. It may not be the same as brewing potions of bat's claw and eye of newt, but the curative properties of
Garlic are just being discovered by medical science, although KW's have known about this property for literally
centuries. My wife's grandmother used to feed garlic to her when she was sick, and didn't need any doctor to tell
her that she was right or wrong.
You know the properties of Willow bark for lowering the temperature of a fevered body, or the mustard packs of
childhood diseases? Well, medical science is about 400 years behind the cutting edge of herbalism, and most of
that came from knowing when to feed these substances to their family when they were sick. I know I feel better
when my wife gives me garlic, and it's wonderful when she puts it in the spaghetti, just so I will eat it.
General Craft Skills: Most times many homemakers (and I'm counting men here as well) need some things to pass
some of the time. Generally this is when there is a lot of time on the hands as when the children are at school or
have left to have families of their own. That is when the KW has enough time to do projects like making
decorations for the Yule time and making corn dollies for the Lughsnadah celebration. Which, incidentally, works
for use as poppets for spells later.
So knowing your way around a toolbox and understanding the difference between a pipe wrench and a crescent
wrench can be helpful. Never mind that sometimes you will have to affect your own repairs in an emergency until
the repairman can get there.
Remember when I was talking about how anything that is made carries a trace of the creator's energy in it forever?
Here's the fulfillment of that. With the KW, creation is a daily task, rather than a one-time event. She creates the
culinary dishes, she creates the environment, and she creates the projects, from wall hangings to the clothing.
Psychology: It's always useful to know just what words will quell the raging temper tantrum, what saying will

facilitate the venting of emotions so that there is not a mental breakdown. It is also helpful to know what kind of
person is correct for the children to be associating with, and it's good to know what battles are worth fighting. Skill
in psychology is crucial; you have to know when enough is enough and to take some time for yourself before YOU
crack.
First Aid: Okay, this is going to sound stupid, but knowing the difference between a trip to the hospital and when
to "kiss it and make it better" is a skill that is really important. You might agree that giving a sugar bread sandwich,
(bread with a spoonful of sugar dumped on it) to a cheer the child up is a spell, yet, it's a spell that would not work
on a broken limb.
Sewing would be a good skill to have, since a KW who makes a quilt or pillowcase; could make it with good
dreams sewn in. Most dream pillows are made this way. If we were to really promote a domestic goddess, one
could add in weaving, spinning, needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery, knitting and crocheting, and so on. Not just
the skill to make an outfit with the sewing machine, but the skills necessary to take it from the raw materials to the
finished product. All those skills would be a bonus, but not necessary. I mean, lets, face it, who has room for a
spinning wheel and a floor loom in their living room? Never mind the time to use it. What was once necessity is
now luxury, ironic, no?
I could go on with skills necessary, but to get a good indication, just look inside your own family. Any examination
of the grandmothers or mothers in one's family will probably reveal a KW, only without the knowledge of spell
crafting. She would have been doing it unconsciously, but I know that my grandmother cast some mighty spells,
never knowing exactly what she was doing, or at least I don't think she would have labeled what she did as spell
crafting.
Unfortunately I can't teach someone how to be a KW, I can only tell you about what a KW is, and what is normally
done. I can talk about how to cast spells in a skillet with little more than knowledge of what a spell is. I can talk
about skills I think are necessary, but ultimately each KW is a unique person in and of themselves.
The thing that makes a KW a KW is that they use their spells and knowledge to make the Home a place that
everyone wants to come to, even people that are not members of their immediate family. That lady down the street
who bakes for all the children in the neighborhood is as much a KW as any Wiccan who ever stepped into Kitchen
to make a meal no matter the God(s), or Goddess(es) she prays to.
Here is a typical Kitchen Witches' spell:
Recipe For Happiness
2 Cups Patience
1 Heart Full of Love
2 Hands Full of Generosity
Dash of Laughter
1 Head Full of Understanding
Sprinkle generously with kindness. Add plenty of faith and mix well Spread over a period of a
lifetime, and serve generously to everyone you meet
Now, I know that just about everyone has seen something similar in the kitchen or homes of their grandparents or

parents, but this holds more truth than not. This is the recipe for a typical KW. I know it looks sappy and syrupy
when you see it from the outside, but how many KW's do you know in your life that acted just this way?
Up till now, we have been discussing the skills that anyone can acquire with some patience and work, effort and
some common sense. Not too magickal or ritualistic, right? But stop for a little while and think about the ritual you
probably saw and just never knew about.
Think back to your childhood for a moment. To that one person in your life you loved to go to their house on a
daily basis. They always had cookies or a hug for you, they didn't mind you staying for several hours simply
because you were there, and you didn't mind that they didn't have cartoons or that they didn't play with you, but
sitting and talking was the greatest thing.
Okay, see them cooking in your mind's eye. Did they measure something, did they consult a book of recipes for
how to make this dish, or did it look like they simply did it? Was it magic? Certainly, it was, but a very formalized
and ritualized form of magick that you didn't recognize.
They had measured in the past, when you were not watching. At the time when they were learning this method of
creation (which is what cooking is), they had their cup measurers and their tea and tablespoons; they had their
spellbook of recipes. Their tutor (usually a mother or grandmother) would walk them through the process of
making this dish and serving it to all and sundry.
Most often they would complain that their dish didn't come out like their tutor's dish did. There was whining and
tears that it didn't taste right.
My wife described her attempts to emulate her grandmother's cooking and I nearly cried because she told me that
her grandmother hugged her and said, "Of course it doesn't taste like mine. You are not me, and your love went
into it, not mine. When you grow up, your dishes will taste like YOUR dishes, not mine because of that."
She sounds like a Kitchen Witch to me.
But it also shows that a ritual can be baking or cooking, just as much as Calling the Quarters and Summoning the
Lord of the Elements to do your bidding. Getting the flour out, the milk, the eggs and the other ingredients is a
ritual too.
Recently I have become addicted to the show "Iron Chef" on the Food Network. In this show, there are two Chefs
competing against one another in a one-hour race to create totally unique dishes from the theme ingredient like
Tuna, Giant Mushroom or whatever.
You want to talk about rituals; I am impressed every time I look at this show. These chefs never seem to measure
anything, yet it is all apportioned exactly. They know exactly how long to cook each dish, how to cut it, how to
mince it or whatever to make the flavors come out with the food they are doing, and they never seem to be under
any strain. Their ASSISTANTS on the other hand are flying around like pigeons scattered by beaters, but these
chefs stand in the middle of this whirlwind of activity, calmly dicing and cutting, sautéing and mixing, pouring and
dressing, and these creations come out an hour later that are masterpieces, never before tasted by anyone.
If I were into food I would be drooling, and my wife often does (she used to be married to a Head Chef for 15
years, so she knows just what goes on in a professional chef's kitchen). *

*Mary's comment - yes I was and as such I am aware that one of the reasons The Chef is The Chef is all of his
tension is internal the quote "Never let them see you sweat" should have been invented by a chef.
Suddenly, out of a pile of flour and an egg in the middle, pasta is born. Out of nowhere, the fried cutlets are torn
from the oil and suddenly we have appetizers and finger foods. The water has been boiling for a while is poured
over some rice and raw kelp, and a soup is created. It's incredible I tell you.
You don't think these guys are pouring their love and energy into these dishes? I'm surprised that they don't faint
from exhaustion at the end of the show.
But also because they are doing things they have not made before, they are improvising as well. I saw one chef
make a burger out of mushrooms. The buns were the mushroom caps (these things were huge I tell you!) and the
filling was just lettuce, cheese and some other vegetables one would put on a burger, but no meat. I have never
seen anything like it in my life, a veggie burger made from mushrooms. He had the knowledge to know how and
when to improvise.
In so many ways, the KW is the ultimate improvisational spell slinger and a Ritual witch as well.
What's sad is that this style of spell casting is dying. I did a web search on Google looking for "Kitchen Witch" and
found a LOT of sites, but very few of them about actually being a Kitchen Witch. Most of them either sold
"Kitchen Witches" (essentially corn husk dolls on "brooms") for the kitchen, to bless your kitchen with their
magick, or they were only cooking sites that only had recipes for different foods and called themselves "kitchen
witches". I managed to find a few (very few) sites that actually deal with KW as a pagan religion and spell casting
tradition. Those few sites are listed below.
I can't go on much more about this, because it is such a specialized, individualized, personalized form of
witchcraft. So, I will talk instead at this point about improvising spells.
Remember when I was talking about the Magickal Attitude? This is where you will actually use those skills I
listed. But first I need to tell you that EVERY action is a magickal one.
Many will tell you that to cast magick, you must do chants and have a smoldering cauldron and so many other
things, but the essence of improvisational magick is that it believes that each and every action taken is a magickal
one. For instance, a spell, in the classic definition is imposing your will on the universe. But each style of magick
uses different means to achieve the same results. That's because a few core elements are the same, no matter the
school of magick.
In Wiccan Magick, one casts a circle, states their intentions, calls the Gods and other sprits to help give them
energy, calls upon the elements and channels that energy into their desire. In Christian Magick, one kneels down
and prays to God for what is desired. In Ceremonial magick, one goes to a great deal of trouble to sanctify their
space, pull out their ritual tools and summon up spirits to manifest the magickians desire.
Each of these has two things in common, your desire and the manifestation of that desire. In other words, you
simply wanting something is the essence of every spell, the process and entities called upon to manifest that desire
are ultimately immaterial.

Ultimately, if I desire a pencil that is near me, I can get up and get it myself, I can make a string lasso to snare it
and bring it to me, I can use a stick to pull it close to me so I can pick it up, or I can ask you to pick it up and hand
it to me. In EACH of these cases, I have a desire and through actions of others, or myself my desire gets
manifested.
This is the core of improvisational magick. It is how Chaos Magick works. One uses any and all "legal" means at
hand to manifest one's desires, without regard for the tradition or the school of magick used to grant the desired
outcome. In many ways, this is magick at it's most pure. But even improvisational magickians fall into ruts and into
patterns of behavior.
This is where I pull out another Martial Arts analogy. In the 1960's Karate took off in a lot of ways. Previous to
this, the martial arts were the purview of Asians, and it was almost impossible to find people to teach one the
Martial Arts without going to Asia and studying there. Then a young man called Bruce Lee came along.
If you want to look up the biography of him, I highly encourage it, it makes for fascinating reading and studying (I
found a page with a lot of links to different sites at Bruce Lee ). But the key point here is that he made one HUGE
contribution to Martial Arts, that of Jeet Kune Do, the "Way of the Intercepting Fist". This style uses anything that
works as it's "style". It promotes no particular response to a specific action, like many styles of martial arts. Their
style of fighting is centered on "you do THIS, I respond with THAT." Most times, Jeet Kun Do has you acting
before you even know what is coming at you. Watch "Enter the Dragon" sometime. To accomplish this, the
"masters" of this style are encouraged to learn from any and all sources and to add to the knowledge and ability.
"Having no Way as Way. Having no Limitation as Limitation" --Bruce Lee
That is exactly what Chaos and improvisational magick do, draw on any and all sources to enable the spell to
succeed. You may find improvisational mages and chaos magickians pulling a paradigm from Ceremonial magick,
mixing this with the thoughtforms of the Dorsai and Dune, adding to that the Gods of the Mabinogion, putting that
with the worldview of the Norse and actually using the ritual structure of the Wiccans. Their incense may be a bell,
the Fire may be a burning cigarette, the water may be the water fountain five rooms away and the rice that a co-
worker is eating could be Earth. Or they may discount all that and write their spell directly on a piece of paper,
sigilize it and eat the paper.
The form does not matter to improvisational magickians and Chaos magickians, only the outcome. Only the
manifestation of Will matters.
Ultimately this is the core of all magick, manifesting your will. That is why I am teaching this class, to show you
the tools you can use, it does not matter which you choose, the only difference between them is what you decide
there is. What feels right? That's up to you and your comfort level. It's for you to decide which path feels
comfortable, but all of you will have the key components to the core of magick, no matter the path.
Sorry for the tangent there, but this is an important thing to realize. All magick is the same, the manifestation of
your will on the universe, and to that end any technique for bringing that desire to your world is magick. So, ALL
acts are magickal. If I go to a temple, and pay to watch the dancers in a ceremony, then the temple owners who set
out to make money accomplished their magickal will by advertising and attracting me to their temple.
If I send out my resume' to 500 employers, eventually one of them will hire me, so my magickal spell of a new job
gets fulfilled. My desire for the job is fulfilled. Now, the spell and the energy may have tipped the odds in my favor
for finding the job I wanted, but so could have sending my resume to the employers I was interested in. I have

nothing but my knowledge of the energy I was sending out actually tipping the odds, but ultimately, it doesn't
matter, because my Will of a new job was manifested in a new job.
So, given what I just said, it makes one wonder, what's the use of spells after all? Does magick really work?
Well, to answer the second question first, yes, magick really works.
The first question is a lot more problematical. It depends on how you see the universe. If you see the Universe as a
huge unknown place made up of stars, planets, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, different gasses, atoms and so on, then as
far as those who believe in a physical universe are concerned, then Magick and spells are of no use at all, because
their effect cannot be quantified and measured at all.
However, if one believes in a universe made up of souls, energy patterns, Gods, divinities, the Astral Plane, and
imagination, then magick is one of the most powerful forces there are. In that universal matrix, will is the only tool
any of us have to bring what we want to us. On the Astral Plane, the main playground for this view of the universe,
Will brings to us what we want, and the one with the stronger Will wins. Anyone who has gone to the Astral Plane
on a regular basis can verify this statement. If you believe it, so it will be.
If you believe that Magick does not work, then it will not work, period. Those who have come back from the Astral
plane, Near Death Experiences, or shamanistic journeys all report some of the same things, that which they wanted
to see, they saw. The environment they wished to be in they were in, the angels they wished to interact with they
saw, along with their non-embodied relatives. But these things are expected to a point, subconsciously or not. We
have all heard of the "Tunnel of light" and so those beings who meet us when our body ceases to work try to
comfort us by showing us things that we will be comfortable with. Along with our will projecting a backdrop of
our expectations on our environment.
So, keeping this in mind, the techniques don't matter. Using the athame as an energy director, or using the finger,
the pewter wand, the basket or the plastic jewel-encrusted cigarette holder does not matter, nor does it being
sanctified or not.
So why do the tools and the ritual make a spell or rite more powerful? The main vehicle of our Will is the
Subconscious. That child portion of yourself that comes out in your dreams and which assimilates your experiences
together with the rest of your mind, speaks in the language of symbols. Consider for a moment:
Every tradition, from Christianity to Judaism to Wicca to Witchcraft spend inordinate amounts of time teaching
adherents what THIS symbol means in the context of the rituals that are being performed. This has a goal whether
or not the teachers realize it or not, and that is to train the subconscious to the symbols of that tradition.
In Christian Magick (and I'm going to use the subset of the Mormons for this example, it's the one I know the best),
there are multiple symbols. The Laying on of Hands by one of the Priesthood holders (with their magickal
authority granted to them directly from God through the medium of Angels) tells my subconscious that these
gentlemen are authorized by the power of God to do this healing ritual or blessing on me, and God will make it
work. They pour oil, sanctified in a Temple rite, and specially blessed for this very purpose on my head. They
place their hands on my head, on the crown Chakra, and I start feeling the holy energy going from their hands into
my body.
Now, to anyone else who was not raised Mormon, or who had not been trained in this form of religion, what

happens is that these three guys have you sit down in a chair, one of them asks your name, they part your hair with
their fingers and drizzle some oil there, and then they put their hands on your head and pray over you, calling on
God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost, calling you by your full name. Meanwhile, they are moving in a very small
circle, and your head is moving that way too, making you slightly dizzy. Their hands are also get heavier and
heavier (there are 6 hands after all) and you start getting a headache. You sit there until the middle one finishes
droning on, and then you are allowed to get up. You are expected to shake hands with each of them.
The symbols haven't changed from one "spell" to another, but the meaning of those symbols has for the recipient of
the spell. There is a huge difference between the results because the person it is cast on participates to a point with
the caster.
Let me say that again: A person that a spell is cast upon participates to a point with the magickian casting it.
In some types of magick, the victim of the spell HAS to be shown the fetish or the representation of himself or
herself in order for the spell to take effect. If they are not shown that fetish, the spell won't work. If you are of
THIS culture, and I am of the same culture, I cast a spell on a doll I made of you, show it to you and you know
what that fetish represents, then your defenses are lowered a trifle and YOUR belief in the effects of the spell goes
to work, and thus makes MY spell stronger.
However, if you are of another culture, one that has not been told that my symbols represent you and you do not
believe it, then my showing you the bundle and telling you what I did to it will mean nothing. Your attitude will be
"yeah, and...." wondering why I am telling you this. Thus you will not be subconsciously cooperating with my
spell, your defenses won't be lowered and you won't be participating in a spell designed to hurt you. That example I
feel is becoming less true as the popular media spreads the notion of Voodoo dolls by the way. No matter how
"funny" you found the movie you first encountered the idea in, the seed was planted in you subconscious.
It's for this same reason that many magickal traditions tell you not to tell anyone that you cast the spell. If the
above is accurate and YOUR will must work with mine for a spell I'm casting, then if I tell you I cast a spell, even
if it is one that does not affect you at all, and you don't believe in magick, then your will is in direct opposition to
mine, and my spell may be weaker because of that.
But, ultimately, if I don't tell you about my spell, it is stronger because of my will being manifested and your will
opposing that manifestation is missing.
See the difference? That's not to say that the magickian who cast the spell in the culture that has to show the victim
the object of the spell is wrong, but in that tradition, only those people who are raised in the same tradition will be
having spells cast on them. I'm thinking about Voodoo and Haiti right now, as should be obvious.
What does this prove? Several things. First it proves that magick actually exists and works, so long as you believe
in the supernatural, it proves that the collective will is stronger than the individual will, and it proves that magick is
a real force that anyone can tap into with enough focused willpower.
What does this mean? You need to control your thinking. Remember the lessons on knowing yourself? There was a
reason you got that as the second lesson, so you could start training your mind to do, as you want it to. In that way
the self-defeating thoughts of "I can't" or "it doesn't" and so on don't get into your way as you continue on this path.
It means that you will automatically censor out those thoughts that are trying to set you up to fail. So that you
KNOW, not BELIEVE.

Faith is a four-letter word. Faith is not what you need to have, knowledge is what you need to have, a knowing that
this is happening.
Okay, went into pounding on your heads mode again, but if you get nothing else from this class, learn that you
must KNOW, not believe and not that you have faith, or not that you think.... That you KNOW.
I'm going to be honest, this will take a LOT of time, in fact it will probably be a lifelong journey. I myself am still
working on aspects of this, but I do know - I don't believe. I know the gods are there, I know that magick is a force
I use and control. All else is window dressing and blue smoke and mirrors ultimately.
But just as every shaman is also a showman (because some people will just not get it until it's presented with a
flash of powder, gourds rattling, and eerie music playing) every showman is also a shaman, for they need to know
what the genuine looks like to be able to counterfeit it correctly. So, some very valuable lessons can come from the
weirdest of places. Look for those lessons.
Below you will find a set of links I have on different topics, both printed works and Internet sites. Look over them
and take what you want from them to add to your personal practice.
Kitchen Witchery:
● Momma Rose's Kitchen

● The Kitchen Witch Magickal Shop
● Thymewise: Tales of a Kitchen Witch
● Cyn's Moon
● The Kitchen Witch Collective (under construction)
● Candleberry Cottage
● The Kitchen Witch
One book I want to recommend to you is "The Pagan Family: Handing the Old Ways Down" by Ceisiwr Serith
and published by Llewellyn books ISBN: 0875422101. In there, you find magickal rituals for every room of the
home, as well as rituals for the House Spirits. It's not Wiccan specific, but it should give you enough ideas to be
able to take those ideas and make your own KW tradition from it. It's out of print, but well worth trying to run
down in used bookstores to find a copy.
Another book is "Song of Sorcery" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough in which a Hearthwitch goes on an adventure.
If you can find it, it's a good fantasy book on this topic.
Chaos Magick:
● Chaos magick article

● Another article on Chaos Magick
● Several different articles on Chaos Magick
● Good site on Chaos magick and talking about sigils.
● Firewraith's Chaos Magick
● Chaos Matrix, the home of Phil Hine, one of the creators of Chaos Magick as a tradition.

● Phil Hine's site, including all his books.
Assignment:
Okay, hold on to your hats, we are back to full speed. I hope you all have been keeping up with your exercises.
I was rereading some of the previous classes, and I made a mental note to do this exercise once you understood
about energy and how to draw and dump it, so now is the time.
I'm sure you all have been to a flea market or a garage sale or some kind of swap meet and found an object you
wish to use as a tool in your rituals. Well and good. If you have not done that, go out and find a tool at a garage
sale and so on and buy it. It does NOT have to be expensive, and for the purposes of this exercise, you don't even
have to use it for a tool, the point is to get an item that someone else had. You are going to cleanse this item.
I mentioned this activity several times, and I know that you all went "what does he mean by that?" Even the
experienced witches on this list probably thought they knew what I was talking about, but I can almost guarantee
you that they didn't do as thorough a job as could have been done (no offense intended).
So, you get an object that someone else owned for a long time, and have it with you for this exercise.
Sit in your meditation with it near you. Drop into the state where you can feel the energy around you, the energy of
the elements you have been working with, the energy of the battery you have, and your energy. Ground and center
yourself, and reach out with a mental hand and feel the energy of the object you got for this exercise.
I want you to identify that energy, savor it, feel it and acknowledge it. Remember any impressions you have on this
energy and start drawing it into you. You will have to filter it through your shields to strip the "scum" of negativity
off it. Let those negative energies drip into the ground. Keep doing this, and simultaneously, I want you to have
energy flowing into it from another direction. It can be from you, with another mental hand, or it can be from one
of the energy sources you feel comfortable with.
What you need to be visualizing is the energy of the object flowing into you and another source of energy feeding
the object to replace that energy.
If it were I, I would be visualizing this way:
I would see the energy of the object (let's say it's a beautiful porcelain cup for my libations) as a murky green mess
of energy. I would reach out to that cup, and start drawing the energy to myself. I would have another "hand" of
my energy on the other side of the cup. As I draw energy away from the cup, I could immediately replace it with
my energy.
As I drew the cup's energy into me, my shields would be stripping the green sickness off the cup's energy and
changing it to white energy to flow into me, while the "bleh" energy stayed outside my shields and ran down to the
Earth. I would keep doing this for as long as it takes.

Go ahead and resign yourself to not getting all the energy out of this object. There will still be some energy left in
it that is not yours. If it is really messed up energy wise, you may want to pass your hand over it a few times, and
allow your shields to force the "bleh" energy from it, like a juicer. Let that energy slide off you and into the
ground.
What you should be left with, if you did everything correctly, is an object that still looks the same, but
energetically and magickally, it feels completely different. It should feel like the energy you were putting into the
object to your senses.
At this point, if you choose to use it in your rituals, you should dedicate and consecrate it. Many Wiccan and
Witchcraft traditions assume you know how to do the above steps to cleanse an object, but very few ever tell you
how to do this. You may want to remember this process and pass it along at some time. I know the books I read
implied all I had to do was to wave it over a stick of incense and sprinkle it with saltwater and it was all holy now.
While that helps, it does not do it all.
So, this is what I would like you to turn in, this process, your notes on it and what you felt/saw/heard/sensed and
what it feels like the outcome was after this process. Those of you who are taking this course along with having a
teacher in real life, show this exercise to your teacher as well as the object you used and cleansed so they can judge
how you did.
Please understand, I'm not asking you to go out and purchase a sword from someone or a really expensive athame
or anything. Just picking up a necklace for $1.00 or a tray for 50 cents will do the same thing and that's perfectly
useful for your tradition. Don't pauperize yourself.
That's the FIRST exercise.... Oh, stop groaning; you know I don't give just ONE assignment each lesson. Why did
you think this one would be different? LOL
I want you to write a spell. Yep, write a spell. HOWEVER, it should be in the style of a Kitchen Witch.
This lesson has given you enough information to allow you to do this, and the resources I have listed should give
you additional information. But what I am looking for is how you would add energy and from what sources to
make it a real spell for YOUR KW tradition. It can be literally anything, from sewing an embroidery sampler to
cutting negativity out of your life, to brewing a potion for good luck, to cooking a meal. But you must describe it in
detail, explaining anything you don't think we will understand.
I also want you to think about a shrine in your house. You don't have to go out and actually set one up, but if you
were making a shrine in your home for yourself, what would be on it, what would be in it, what symbols would
represent what, and where would it be located? Write this down in your notebook and share it with us if you feel
like it.
Let me add some definitions here:
Shrine
A place that is dedicated to one deity or group of deities, that gets interacted with quite a lot, where items
are added, taken away, offered, and so on. Usually for quick rituals or prayers.

Altar
A static worship area, usually dedicated to a group of gods where the contents don't change very often,
where major celebratory or magickal rituals take place.
Stang
A forked stick usually used as a quick, portable altar. More at
http://www.witchery.ca/witchcraft/tools.htm
Thus, the niche for a saint in the Catholic Church is a shrine, but the big marble slab at the front of the Church is an
Altar. The Stang is a shrine, the table and decorations for Mabon is an altar. Your working space is a shrine
(temporary), the full ritual with all the props is an Altar (temporary).
So, figure out what the shrine to the spirits in your home is going to be like. Is it going to be on a small shelf near
the door (the threshold) or will the hinges of your door be dedicated to Janus? Think about this and come up with
something. Set it up if you feel so inclined. Write these down in your notebook so you have it for later reference.
Once again, don't pauperize yourself setting this up. A shrine should be simple and direct. You don't have to have
to make it really elaborate, just something that when you see it will take your mind to thinking of the idea the
shrine represents.
For instance, our house shrine is a Kitchen Witch (an orange and black corn dolly on a broom) who hangs in the
middle of the Kitchen, reminding me that the Kitchen is a magickal place. Along with her we have a set of wind
chimes that are attached to the hanging basket we store produce in, so when we grab a potato or a bulb of garlic,
we invoke the air sprits with their ringing. We also have our house shrine on top of the cabinets where we store the
representations of the Gods until we have a ritual, along with the Goblet, chalice, lamp oil and a lot of our other
ritual tools.
Okay, that will do it for now. Off you all go....
Back Home Next

HIgh Magick, Lesson 9, Hedge Witchcraft
Lesson 9: Hedge
Witchcraft
Well, this is it, the lesson about the typical person's concept of the term "witch". They think of the woman standing
around in the black robes, with a bubbling cauldron over a fire, stirring it with a spoon, brewing some sort of esoteric
potion. If they are charitable they may think about Ceridwen, who brewed a cauldron of Inspiration and Science for her
son, until Taliesin accidentally got the benefits of that potion.
They may think of the Witch of Endor, who advised King Saul in some matters and had a "familiar spirit" to tell her what
was going on. They may think of the Burning Times, and how so many hundreds of thousands of people were killed in
the hysteria. They may think of Salem Massachusetts where 26 people were put to death for being witches, and hundreds
more were accused, and confessed to being Witches.
Here's the rub, however, there were no witches in Salem, only one lady practicing her native religion and a lot of political
infighting. The Burning times were not about witchcraft so much as about rooting out heresy in the Catholic Church,
along with political and financial gain. (The witch finders got a percentage of the property seized when a witch was
executed.)
I know some of you may know this short history lesson, but for those who are not familiar with the facts, it's necessary to
state this again.
Witchcraft developed out of several traditions. Margaret Murray proposed in her essay "The Witch Cult in Western
Europe1" and further revised in "The God of the Witches2" that there was a cult of witches who had been practicing in
secret since prehistoric times. Her evidence was flimsy to say the least, consisting mostly of folk practices and
coincidence. However, with no contradictory evidence available, her essays were eventually accepted despite the
controversy that dogged her works.
In basic terms, she proposed that the religion of the prehistoric peoples of Europe had been passed down through time
pretty much unchanged. Cave paintings, folk customs, Kitchen Witch traditions, herbalism and herbal knowledge, she
theorized were all extant in times predating the arrival of Christianity in Britain. She did not seem to think that there was
any civilization in Britain until the landing of the first Christian Missionaries, and so on.
Most of the older books on Witchcraft will still cite this as an authoritative reference, but at this time most of these
theories have been proved incorrect. It makes for interesting historical reading and a familiarity with these texts is usually
part of most Wicca or Witchcraft 101 courses, even though they are not taught as gospel any longer.
Regardless, the theories she presented were propagated for a time, and became the basis for Wicca's misstated history. It
is my assumption there were traditions that were passed down, parts of which could be considered witchcraft. Witchcraft
in its present form is NOT the religion of the ancients, in that there is no veneration of the sky gods or the sacrifice of
animals and possessions to appease them. As stated in the last lesson, while customs and herbal knowledge was passed
down, this is what became the beginnings of modern Witchcraft.
If you chose to continue your path and continue to learn, you will eventually hear some people trying to sell you on the

fact that the tradition they have been trained in has been passed down since who knows when. Some will claim that
Gardner (or whomever) stole all their knowledge from either themselves or their ancestors. While it is possible for some
parts of the individual's knowledge to have been passed down from his/her parents, it's highly unlikely that _____ (fill in
your own blank) stole from them without a LOT of evidences, such as original manuscripts that predate the magickal
traditions that exist now.
Many traditions of Witchcraft have actually been in practice for quite some time. The Romany (Gypsy, or Romanian)
version of Witchcraft and prophecy is one example, along with the spaewives of Nordic legend, as well as people like old
time midwives and so on. One has to remember that these wise women and men were the only doctors that existed at
those times. Their knowledge could be seen as being supernatural, especially when the fevers broke due to the bark of
this tree they used and that saves the life of a child. Unfortunately they also got the blame when a child died despite their
best efforts.
I suppose that some of these legends could have been passed down because of the traditional way certain medicines "had"
to be harvested. It seems to me that most of the traditions are degradations from the original processes. (Why do you cut
the ends off the roast? Cause that's the way my mom did it. Why does she cut the ends off the roast? That's the way HER
mom did it. Why did she do it that way? Cause it didn't fit in the pan! Some times old ways are just old, not right.)
If you don't know that it is a chemical in the Willow bark that cures the fever and headache, but you think that part of it's
essence and virtue comes from the dancing around the pile of bark you just harvested and put on a stump of a willow tree
under the moon, then it can look like the "spell" is the efficacious part of the cure.
However, when we speak of witchcraft, we are not speaking of Wicca or Wicca's magickal system. We are talking about
several different magickal traditions that have quite a bit of things in common. We are talking about "Green Witchcraft"
in which the traditions of nature worshiping magickians are celebrated. We talk about Pennsylvania Dutch Hexmeisters,
we talk about the Strega of Italian Witchcraft and we are talking about the brujo and bruja of Mexican Witchcraft along
with what you old country grandma did when people got sick.
These have a common thread in that it is passed down from parent to child or grandparent to grandchild. It can also
resemble Kitchen Witchery. It can contain pagan religion(s) that venerate the natural parts of the world. The herb magic
aspect can work to cure sickness and it is the source of much of our modern pharmacopoeia. This is where a lot of
knowledge of cures and homeopathic medicine came from. There is honoring of the natural cycles, of life and death, birth
and old age, sickness and health, but it does not hide the fact that for every good thing that is in life, there is something
negative. There is an old belief that for every cat that is born, there is a cat that dies. [Mary's aside, I am reminded of the
old Blood Sweat and Tears song, "And when I Die" which has the line "… and when I die and when I'm gone there'll be
one child left in this world to carry on."] Witchcraft generally acknowledges that death is part of life and needful for life
to go on, but it does not try to shield people from it, nor does it try to pretend that death will not occur. Those who are left
without the physical presence of the one they love feel pain and sorrow.
Witchcraft, in a lot of ways makes sure that those around the witch understand that love and kindness are the important
things, not fear and hopelessness.
I think that this is one of the main reasons that there was so much friction between those practitioners who actually
*were* witches and the Catholic Church when it came to the areas where Witchcraft flourished. Witchcraft was an
empowering philosophy along with being a spell casting way of life. However, the RCC wanted to be the only spell
slinging game in town, and they taught by fear of God, fear of Hell, fear of Satan, fear of the body, so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, they did a thorough job of suppressing the religions that were present in the areas they moved into.
So, now we have bits and pieces of information, folk tales, some historical records (like some of the CC's own internal
documents talking about Witchcraft as a Goddess Religion, a Dianic cult) and so on. I would refer you to Raven
Grimassi's research. He has compiled the evidences together in a new book he's authored that Llewellyn is publishing

called "The Witches' Craft". According to the advance excerpt I received, it's going to be out sometime at the end of
October. He will be touring the Northeastern US at the same time. The book will be $16.95 and have an ISBN of 0-7387-
0265-X. The little bit I read makes me look forward to getting the book and reviewing it. The research he has in the
Introduction and Chapter 1 make me think he was either on to new information or that he has been reading too much
Margaret Murray. Some of the topics he talks about are the same evidences she used, salted liberally with Joseph
Campbell, yet he does have some unique material. Considering that he is one of the practitioners of a legitimate version
of witchcraft that survived the Burning Times (Strega), I will give him the benefit of the doubt until I read more.
Back to the history lesson for a bit longer, the Burning Times reference above is a reference to the actual time period of
1550 to 1650. It was in actuality the persecution the Catholic Church carried out against it's own members. In reality they
were attempting to root out heresy within the church. The inquisitors found heresy all over the place. For instance: The
Spanish Inquisition (which no one expected since it was based on three, no four factors.... if you don't get the reference,
let it go...) was started by Queen Isabella of Spain. Her goal seems to have been a desire to purge a land steeped in Islam
from approximately 710 to 1480, as well as ridding the land of Jews. She went really overboard, and that was the
beginning of the whole pogrom against witchcraft and Satanism in Europe. Nowhere was the search for hidden heretics
carried on as ferociously as it was in Spain.
I'm not going to give you the full break down of the horror, just hit a few highlights I think you may be interested in.
1. Witchcraft was declared heresy by the CC, but it was not considered a crime to be a witch, only to cause harm
by witchcraft skills.
2. It was not ecclesiastical courts that tried and sentenced suspected witches, but the mundane court system,
although the majority of Witch finders were from among the ranks of the Dominican Monks of the CC.
3. The Hammer Against Witches (Malleus Maleficarum3) seems to have been one of the sparks to set the pyre
alight, although the document was rejected several times by CC scholars before being accepted into the body of
work.
4. While the Inquisition and hunt against heresy went on for about 500 years, from about 1300 to 1700 or so the
actual time period considered to be the Burning Times was only from 1550 to 1650 in Europe.4
5. The only place in England where witches were burned was in Scotland, everywhere else they were hanged.
Dead is dead, but let's lay this rumor to rest.
6. No one was burned at the stake in Salem. Twenty-five people (the majority of them women) were hanged and
one was pressed to death under several tons of stones.
7. In one village in Germany, they executed 139 accused witches in one day. The scholar noting this down wrote
that the place of execution (the main square) looked like a small forest from all the stakes in it.
8. Hungary was the first country to completely abolish all their laws against witchcraft. In the 1100's the last of
Hungarian law was stricken from the books and no law against witchcraft was ever put back on the books.
(While I would like to cite this source, I can't. It was told to me by a Hungarian Literature professor that I can no
longer contact. If ANYONE has any references supporting this I would love to hear them.)
9. Almost all of those who were accused of witchcraft and subsequently tried and executed were Christian. Of
those who died in this time period, only a small percentage of them (probably less than 1/2 of 1%) were non-
Christian or practicing pagan religions. The purpose of this time was to root out heresy in the CC, not to
persecute those who had not been brought to the peace of Christ yet.
10. In Wurtzburg Germany, all 600 inhabitants were sentenced to death by the Inquisitors because "almost the entire
town was possessed by the Devil". Among the victims were 19 priests and 41 children.
11. The expression "The Third Degree" came from the torture of accused witches. It was the level of torture in
which the victim died.
12. One favored means of interrogating witches in England and America was called "Swimming the witch". The
accused was tied hand and foot and thrown into a handy lake. If she floated, she was judged a witch and
sentenced to death. If she drowned, she was judged innocent of witchcraft. It didn't seem to matter that she was
dead either way. Logic didn't enter into this frenzy.
13. Witch finders were strictly enjoined from looking an accused witch in the eye during interrogation, lest she cast
her spell on the interrogators. Presumably the compassion that one could feel for an accused witch could not be
felt by a witch finder, which left no room for mercy, only torture.

14. No confession could be believed from an accused witch without torture. If I, for instance, were accused of
witchcraft, and I confessed, I MUST still be tortured to extract another confession under torture since the first
voluntary confession would not be supported in court.
15. All witches never acted alone. Because of that, a town where a witch was accused of witchcraft MUST have
other witches in it, and the accused was tortured until they named names, where the whole process was repeated.
If let go long enough, the entire town would eventually be accused of witchcraft.
16. The most fantastic estimates from modern scholars for those killed during this time is 350,000. Somewhat
accurate estimates put it someplace around 60,000 to 150,000 for the entire 200 or more year period, with ALL
those persecuted for religious reasons being included from that time period. The popular myth of 9,000,000
women being executed in that 100 year period is false. If that were true, there would be no Europe anymore, as
ALL the women would have been killed.
17. Witchcraft accusations and executions are still happening in other countries, and persecution of religions
happens in America too, look at Waco.
One last fact must be stressed; truth did not enter into this, compassion had no place, mercy was a thing of God, not of his
ministers who found the heretics. Keeping your head down did not help. Simply having knowledge of herbs and of
women's mysteries (like childbirth and other priestess-related acts) one was considered a witch, and thus subject to the
possibility of accusation. Many think that the Witch Hysteria inadvertently caused the Bubonic Plague that so decimated
the villages and towns of Europe.
If a witch was accused in a town, she must have supernatural helpers, any of which could be the cats of the town. Thus,
all the cats were gathered up and murdered, leaving the rodents to run free and propagate as they desired. Thus letting the
flea population that flourished on the rats to breed and infect the humans with the Bubonic Plague. Thus causing more
deaths.
Last fact: It is still happening. It may have slowed down, it may not be such a madness anymore, it may not be as much
of a hysteria, but accusations of witchcraft still happen, and the hunts still occur. They have changed faces from "Burn the
witch" to "removing the child from the home due to a detrimental influence" and "separation of church and state". Don't
believe me? Look at The Church of the Iron Oak, ( http://www.ironoak.org/ ) look up Randi Blackbear, check The
Witches' Voice for all those articles about kids being suspended for wearing pentacles to school (satanic symbols you
know), and do a search for cases where pagans and Wiccans have had their children taken from them by Christian
Fundamental Parents.
I love getting emails from people who think that just because there are no burnings in public squares of Witches that it
isn't happening. How about those saying that no Witches are being arrested? What do you use to justify the West
Memphis Three then? One boy, practicing the religion of Wicca, was arrested because a lot of circumstantial evidence
was pointing to him and his two friends in the disappearance/murder of a small child and so on. If you want the details,
look them up; there are any number of sites relating to those three and their story.
But enough of this, as I said, Witchcraft was a polyglot of religions and folkways. Spells using blood (especially
menstrual blood), herbs in spells, poppets, candle magick, sympathetic magick and so on were all parts of the classical
Hedge Witch. I can see how witchcraft of this sort could be considered the "English" of the magickal world (meaning that
it steals from whatever magickal system it comes in contact with and it is slowly becoming the most common version of
Magick there is). Any and every thing that helps magick and magickal workings out was probably in one way or another
incorporated into Witchcraft.
Now, however, we have several schools of witchcraft. As I said earlier, there is Strega and so on, each of them developed
over time and each of them unique to the region that they come from. Strega is vastly different from Dutch Hexmeistery,
which is different from Brujo/Bruja, which is different from classical European Witchcraft, which is different from the
magick of the Gypsies. Each of these are based on the same principals, internal power, doing X to figure Y causes Z to
occur, but the processes each go through to accomplish their ends are vastly different.

I can only speak to the classical Green Witchcraft of Europe rather than any other style of witchcraft, since I have not
been initiated into those ways and do not know their secrets.
While these styles all have some of the same things that occur in common to other styles of magick, such as elementals
and elements, personal power and so on, there are other elements that are not in common with any other style of magick.
In many ways, witchcraft is about as pure as you can get magickally and still use a process. It does emphasize the female
side of the world, it does emphasize the dark portions of magick as well as the light, and it uses blood, even if it is not a
way of blood sacrifice. Things like a "Witches Bottle" should require blood to make it more effective, and it is rumored
that some red candles were actually colored with their maker's blood.
I have come up with a personal theory, with absolutely no evidence to support it. I believe that way back prior to the time
of the Druids in the British Isles (when the Mabinogion was being written) there were two classes of spiritual leaders.
The group who would become the Druids that took care of the Male Mysteries, and the priestesses (or witches) who dealt
with the female mysteries. The mysteries of childbirth, the mysteries of the first menstruation of a girl, the celebration of
first sex and so on were all things that the Priestesses took care of, and it could have been organized as the "Mists of
Avalon" was. I'm not saying that it did occur, it makes sense that something like it took place, especially when one looks
as what we have now.
We have a group of spiritual leaders, the Druids, who were the primary spiritual leaders of a group of people, who were
wiped out by the Romans, composed most often of men. Now, granted that there were women among the ranks of the
Druids, and I'm sure that there were men among the ranks of these groups of priestesses. But there are some things that
men just can't help young girls cope with, just as there are things that happen to boys that mothers can't help with. So I
would think it reasonable that there were two groups of spiritual leaders, just as in Native American cultures there are
some rites reserved for the women, and some reserved for the men.
It is my personal theory that when the Romans came in and destroyed the visible religion of the Celts, the Druids, the
female groups went underground. They didn't expose themselves to attack as the Druids did, but instead simply faded
into the kitchens and into the hedges and continued to practice their version of religion, changing it and mutating it over
time until we have the Kitchen Witch and the Hereditary Witch.
Now, I know I said that I doubted that there were that many FamTrad witches around (FamTrad is a short code coined by
Isaac Bonewits for "Family Tradition") I never said that I didn't think that they existed. I doubt that as many people who
claim to have a family tradition passed down unchanged from the pre-Roman times. I do think they exist, but I think that
a lot of those who claim to be family tradition are fooling themselves. [Mary aside - I feel that much of it stems from the
need to feel special and different, as if being by choice Neopagan wasn't different enough! I would love to claim that I
learned craft secrets from my granny, but her wisdom was of another sort, of the hearth and earth of acceptance for her
family no matter what they did. As long as she could feed them of course!]
This also makes sense if you look at the general attitudes of the differing cultures. The Romans were very misogynistic
and male-dominated, and women were less than the dust of the Earth. The Celtic peoples were generally more respectful
of women and were willing to grant a woman a hell of a lot more respect than other cultures of the same time period. As
a result, the Romans came in and saw Male=Priest=Druid, wiped them out and never thought to look for the women
priestesses. So the ladies faded into the background and disappeared. Their teachings turned into folk magick, medicine,
granny wisdom, old-wives tales and so on.
How many of you have heard some oldwife's tale and went "Yeah, right..." just to have that turn out to be right?
Now, even given all this evidence and theory, just because your great grandmother used herbs to heal you didn't mean
that she was a witch. It meant that she has the potential to be a witch, and that she had some knowledge that the Witches

had. Only that. What the difference is between being a superstitious old biddy and a Witch is simply this; intent. You
have to have the intent to do a spell, the will to do the spell, the knowledge that THIS component, the nutmeg or the
mullein that you are putting in this punch means happiness or longevity or what have you in order to make the spell.
Putting in the same components and not having this intent does not make one a witch.
I think this is one of the most common misconceptions in modern Witchcraft today. That simply because your
predecessors had some of the knowledge that Witches had means that they must have been witches themselves. Listen
up, the only way to cure a headache was with willow bark until relatively recently, the only way to cure chicken pox was
to use oatmeal plasters, the only way to have a baby was by "natural childbirth" without drugs and so on. This is what
made witches so hard to identify to the witch hunters.
If I, as a witch-finder, come into a town in 1600's Germany, ANYONE in that town could be a witch, from the barrister,
to the Burgher, to the Midwife, to the farmers and to the priest any of them. That is why it was SO important to get a
confession from one witch, and have that witch name names, so I could find more and more witches. So I could root that
evil out of the town once and for all. But just because this woman knew how to get rid of a tick didn't make her a witch,
after all, I know that to get rid of a tick to poke it with a hot ember. That could make ME a witch and I could be accused
too.
The point of this is 90% of what you think you know about witchcraft is not true. Some of it is, and most of it is not.
There were real witches, who cast real spells in olden times right on down to today. That does not make every
superstitious ancestor of yours a witch, nor should it.
Also, understand that Wicca's ethical structure DOES NOT carry over to witchcraft. There will be authors that say that it
does, that all Witchcraft is Wicca craft, that any spell caster is subject to the Rede and Law of Three, but don't believe it.
I cannot stress this point enough: YOU ARE ONLY SUBJECT TO THE RULES YOU DECIDE YOU ARE
SUBJECT TO!!!! If you, as a spell user, decide that you cannot cast your magick while you wear clothing, then you will
not be able to as a witch. If you decide your spells will only be effective under the full moon in months ending with a
"Y", then you had better get a GOOD lunar calendar and be prepared to do a LOT of spell casting on the 4 months that it
applies to.
This, however, does not mean that you can pick and choose which you wish to be subject to. Some of these rules will be
imposed by the school of magick, some will be imposed by your will, some will be imposed by your moral structure. I
recently got into a debate with a student (not one of ours here) who was trying to tell me that any tool used for blood
sacrifice would be contaminated beyond redemption and it MUST be disposed of at that point. I gently corrected her in
this. At that point she told me that Wicca had nothing to do with Ceremonial Magick, and that ALL Asatru practitioners
were evil and bigots to boot. (stop laughing, I have the transcripts of this....)
Well, needless to say, I jumped all over these statements, pointing out the Kitchen Witch, the Ceremonial trail of
Gardner, the reasons that some Asatru may be considered to be arrogant, but not necessarily bigots and so on. She didn't
write back.
But you know what, when she becomes competent enough to start using magick (as her teacher decides), one of her
"rules" will be that she cannot practice any blood sacrifice, and that if she accidentally slashes her hand with her athame
or white handled knife, she will HAVE to melt that tool down and replace it. That's okay, her rules, her decision. If she
thinks blood is so bad, she may even go as far as to not cast any magick when she is on her period, and that's okay too.
We will be looking at one type of magick that, while it allows for blood sacrifice (or it did) now in current usage, avoids
blood being taken into the body in their food. And that's okay too.
But, and I'm going to stress this again, I highly advise that if you are going to study a magickal system, to do so the entire

way. Obey their rules and their laws, do what the teachers advise you to do. This is because some sections of magick for
that school may be ineffectual if you try to impose other rules and ways of doing things on it, without knowing why it
was there in the first place.
Let me give you an example.... (Groan if you want, it's okay, but you are still getting the example...)
Phil Hine, one of the founders of Chaos Magick, at one time was experimenting with other forms of magick. On a lark he
and his friend decided to use some of the rituals in the Lesser Key of Solomon to "see what would happen". (You can,
BTW, find all this related in his essay "Some observations from the Goetia Project" in the e-book Aspects of Evocation
on his website. The site URL is listed in Lesson 8.) When they just did the ceremonies the way THEY felt those
ceremonies should be done, the being summoned was fuzzy, indistinct, drained, and run down for DAYS afterward.
When they did the same ceremony as laid out in the rules in the Lesser Key of Solomon, the being was distinct, obeyed
their commands and so on. In other words, doing it as they felt like resulted in a practical "failure" while doing it the
correct way for that tradition of magick ended in a "success".
At least try to understand why this aspect of a practice you are considering discarding was put there in the first place,
before you just toss it out. It may result in a "tossing out the baby with the bathwater" situation.
Another example of this from my own life; When I first got into Wicca, I read what I could from the various sources
available about 10-12 years ago, to find out what was out there and how it worked. I took basic Wicca 101 classes and
talked to the Gods about what was necessary and what was not. Thus, I understood the need for the Scourging in
traditional Gardnerian Wicca, and I understood what it symbolically represented. I decided that was not for me
personally. So I looked a little deeper into Seax-Wica, found that while there are symbolic prices to pay for knowledge,
there was no scourging to go along with the symbolism.
But many people today (not all of them "fluff bunnies") disregard the scourging in Wicca. They never mention it nor
discuss it in their books. Thus, the practitioner who is learning from those books don't value the knowledge gleaned from
those books, they don't value their Priests/esses for knowing more, they don't see that they actually have to WORK to
gain knowledge, and they never see the price they have to pay for the power they want.
Anyhow... </tangent>
To get back to the subject of Witchcraft, let me somewhat sum up again....
It's not a religion. Your parents/grandparents probably were not repressed witches Most of the myths of Witchcraft were
exaggerations at best, outright lies at the worst It has been around centuries, but anyone who thinks that it is unchanged is
self-deluded
What is witchcraft today? Well, Wiccans will tell you that it's Wicca. However, while Wicca has elements of Witchcraft
as part of it's practice and beliefs, Witchcraft is NOT Wicca. By keeping that basic fact in mind, you can avoid ticking off
a real witch by assuming they are Wiccan.
Witches pretty much run the spectrum of beliefs. In many cases, this was truly the first of the improvisational magickal
schools. However, just like everyone else, Witchcraft fell into ruts. There are Christian Witches, Norse Witches, Hindu
Witches and so on. It's not the god that they pray to, nor even the Goddess, but rather the way in which they incorporate
their beliefs into their life.
Dianna and/or Hekate (however you want to spell Her name) were probably worshiped as the Goddesses of Witchcraft. It
was a practice that centered on fertility, harvest, life and death. I suppose that some individual witches also did go out and

brew love potions, poisons and so on, but once again; it's still brewing, which means herbs and the harvest. It did not
celebrate any holidays that we know of, and it seems to have been a solitary practice that was passed from parent to child.
I have read in more than a few books that THIS author has the only honest-to-god/dess tradition of Witchcraft that still
exists, but I am skeptical of that claim. While it may be their families' honest-to-god/dess unchanged means of practicing
witchcraft, any claims to the ONLY would need to be taken with a few fistfuls of salt.
Some think that because Witchcraft celebrates death as well as life that it's somehow bad. Well, let me say this to those
detractors: Life without Death is a cancer. Death is an integral part of Life, and you can't have life without death. It's that
simple. Like creation, you can't have creation without a male and a female; you can not separate the life from the darker
aspects of death. It simply cannot be done.
Certainly people try very diligently to do exactly that. Look at mainstream Christianity for a perfect example. The priests
spend an inordinate amount of time running around making everyone afraid of death and how they will burn when they
die and how everything they are will be lost when they die UNLESS... Well, I'm sure that this has happened to you as
well as me, so I won't beat that dead horse anymore.
However, Witchcraft in specific celebrates the cycles of nature. Everything that is in nature is part of self-sustaining
cycles that we can take advantage of if we choose to. The cycle of the moon, the cycle of the water, the cycle of life and
death, the cycle of the harvest are examples of this. Along with that we have a responsibility to take care of that which we
have, not abuse it, nor do we have the "right" to take without giving back. We may plant rows and rows of crops for the
sustenance of our bodies, but we don't have the "right" to take those crops without giving back the energies that it took to
grow those crops or something to keep nature in balance.
That means that we put our bodies into the Earth, without all the poisons to keep the body uncorruptable in them, as a
way of honoring those cycles and that which we took from the Earth. We are honor bound to use every part of an animal,
which is slaughtered to feed us, and we never take more than we can use.
I know this sounds like some sort of new-agey fluff bunny feel good nonsense, right? Well, this is what has been
happening for centuries. Much of it was unintentional, accidental, but some of it was deliberate and with purpose. But
that also means that death becomes just another milestone in life, no more threatening than getting married or taking one's
first steps, or hitting puberty. When these events were contemplated prior to their occurrence, it can be scary. Some
people may have even tried to avoid them, but they come to everyone eventually, and death will come too.
Some of these concepts are beginning to be explored by modern Llewellyn authors, like Ann Moura. She has recently
published three books that I think are above-average examples of Witchcraft as it SHOULD be. Green Witchcraft
(ISBN 1-56718-690-4), her companion book to that one, Green Witchcraft II (ISBN 1-56718-689-0) and Green Magic
(ISBN 0-7387-0181-5) all from Llewellyn Publications and costing around $12-$14 each are really good examples of
Witchcraft in my opinion. Generally speaking, they lay out HER version of Witchcraft and she is to be commended for
her insistence that it is how her family has preserved their teachings of Witchcraft, not the only way it is. But, by the
same token, I do not recommend another book by her, The Origins of Modern Witchcraft. As good as her series of books
on Green Witchcraft are, that book is about as bad as it gets. I have reviews of all these books on my site if you are
interested in reading them.
Once again, I'm handicapped in describing just what a witch is and what she does because of the fluid nature of
witchcraft. I can recommend the above references and some of the links I have below, and tell you that there are more
and more people who practice a self-aware, world-honoring path of magick, using the natural bounty of the planet in their
workings, but that's about it.
The witch seems to be more focused in health of the community and the land than the Kitchen Witch is. The witch does

seem on first glance to be the same type of practitioner, and indeed they have many things in common, but they are not
the same. Just as the Witch is not necessarily a Wiccan, a Witch is not necessarily a Kitchen Witch. If I may revise my
definitions from last lesson, a Kitchen Witch is primarily focused on her family and her home, A Hedge Witch is focused
on her community and making money from her magickal skills.
Yep, that's right. A Hedge Witch sells her services to those who can pay for them. Because of that, it can look as if she
has little or no moral values, but that is not right. She has the morals she is comfortable with depending on the religion
she grew up with and the rest of relegated to the trash. She is not that concerned with justifying herself to anyone other
than herself. Her survival is paramount. She does do what she feels necessary to survive, and inside that she is really
powerful and capable. [Mary aside - Here we go! What is the moral and ethical use of her powers/spells? Is he/she "just"
a hired gun, with all the "threefold return" to rebound on her employers? Is it proper that she judge the intent desire and
qualifications of those that come to her so that she *only* sells to those morally fit to use them? Be careful about how
you judge, it is a slippery slope you will have to face for the rest of your adult life as a practicing magickian.]
Her components may be her own blood, the eyes of creatures, and it may all be bound together under the moon, but that
does not make her magick any less capable. She is still focusing her will and her mind and her thoughts on the spell she is
casting. She does have spells that are more classical spells than most magick users.
Prosperity Spell Rowan

Moonstone
The following is a quarterly prosperity spell given to me by Angel and Gracie, my first two FamTrad
teachers. I have no idea where they got it, but I can tell you that it DOES work. I've used it for years
and it never fails to bring me some un-looked for money. I find that I've overpaid a bill, or an old debt
which I had written off as un-collectible gets repaid, I find a $20 on the sidewalk, etc. Try it, it works!
The spell is to begin at one minute past midnight SUN TIME (I HATE daylight savings time when I do
this. Means 1AM!) on the night of April 30 (May 1), July 31 (Aug 1), Oct 31 (Nov. 1) and Jan 31 (Feb
1) In other words, on the first minute of the cross quarter day.
You will need the following:
1 gold candle
6 green candles
9 white candles
Pine oil for anointing candles
salt
All candles must be dressed with pine oil and then arranged as follows:
gold candle in the center green candles in a circle around gold candle white candles in a circle around
green candles. At one minute past midnight on the appointed day, trace a salt circle around the
outermost circle of candles, light the gold candle first, then the green candles, moving deosil, then the
white candles, moving deosil. Circle the altar three times, chanting "Orbiting Jupiter trine the sun, bring
money on the run." Do the chant 3 times also. Sit quietly for a few minutes and visualize your
monetary NEEDS. (needs, not desires). The SNUFF (do not blow or pinch) the candles in reverse
order.

That's it. That's all there is to it and it works beautifully. Since Lammas is coming up, thought I'd post it
for everyone to see. I've got a bunch more stuff from these two ladies if anyone is interested. They
worked a great deal with Archangels and I suspect a strong Cabalistic crossover in there somewhere.
But the spells and rituals DO work quite nicely.
BB Rowan
This spell from Rowan Moonstone, is pretty typical of a witches' spell. It uses times of the season, along with the Moon
times and colors to make the magick work. There is a sparsity of ritual, since most of this is internal visualizations.
One thing that must be mentioned in regards to these spells, all of the energy to fuel these spells comes from INSIDE the
witch. It has only been in recent years that they began pulling from other sources. Most often, to my understanding, all
the spell energy came from the practitioner or her familiar. There were times when they had a strong connection with one
or more elements, and they could pull energy from those sources in addition to the internal energy, but most often it was
all personal energy. This is one reason that usually the witch only did spells for herself.
And since I touched on it slightly, let me talk about familiars:
Just because you have a cat/dog/bird/fish/what-have-you as a pet does NOT mean it's a familiar. Yes, not just cats can be
familiars. If you ask modern pagan practitioners, ANY animal that the witch has a connection with has the potential to be
a familiar. In that way, familiars are not that different from the Native American Totems.
A familiar in the classic definition is a spirit, usually housed in a body of a pet that is demonic in nature, which gives the
witch her instructions from Satan. Because cats can be shoved out of their bodies easily, and they can see into other
dimensions, they are generally the target of the imps or demons for possession. In actual working definition, you can
think of a familiar as a living battery for the witch.
Yep, what I have had you doing with your jewelry and the energy can be done with a familiar. You can dump energy into
them, you can draw energy from them and they have an awareness of metaphysical workings. In mythology, a familiar
was able to share it's senses with the wizard it was attached to, but in practical applications, that could be a manifestation
of how close a bond they have to develop magickally. When I had a familiar at one time, I developed just such a bond,
and once I went stalking with Kittidiot at night. It was truly an illuminating experience.
The bottom line is that a familiar is a magickal partner for the witch. It is an animal that can give its energy to the witch
as she needs it in her workings. It can drain and ground energy from the witch if needed during a ceremony or spell, and
for all intents and purposes the wards/shields of the witch don't exist to the familiar. Ritually consecrating the area and
shielding it during a spell would not keep out the familiar, and it could come and go as it saw fit without affecting the
protections.
If you want a humorous article I wrote a LONG time ago, read http://davensjournal.com/AFT.xhtml
Okay, stop laughing. At tongue-in-cheek as that article is, there is a lot of truth in it. A familiar is SUPPOSED to be in
the Circle with you while you do your work. But just because a cat or dog comes into the Circle, does not mean that it is a
familiar anymore than using a mustard plaster on someone makes your granny a witch.
So, what are some of the "symptoms" so you can find out when a pet is a familiar? From what I have seen, heard and
experienced, look for this:
● A pet that "knows" when you are doing a ritual

● A pet that is supernaturally aware of energy moving around your house

● A pet that can see into the Astral Plane (although this includes EVERY cat I have ever met)
● A pet that HAS to have attention when you are doing a ritual
● A pet that can share its feelings and thoughts with you
● A pet that will give you its energy during a ritual (if you are drained and you caress this pet, and you feel better
and perky afterward, this is a strong indicator that your pet has agreed to be your familiar.)
There is a wonderful dedication ceremony in the book "Green Witchcraft II" (mentioned above) and it's the only ritual
like it I have EVER seen. While I don't think that a familiar is something that needs to be dedicated, it sometimes helps
you to set that pet off subconsciously as special. If you have dreams where you ARE that pet and you are doing things
(especially for cats, and other nocturnal pets) then you are probably sharing the thoughts of that pet. Another indication
can be when you see that pet and *KNOW* what it is thinking, and when it "speaks" to you, and you actually understand
it, then you probably have a familiar.
Just to be on the safe side, however, it's a good idea to ask the Powers That Be if your pet actually IS a familiar.
As far as some of the standard equipment that fiction has us using, it's up to you. If you want a broom to sweep out the
negative energies from your ritual space from, and a vacuum cleaner to fly around on, a cauldron to bake bread in over an
open campfire, or a black robe and pointy hat, or even green makeup to paint your face and hands with, go for it. I have
found that some tools are needed and others are just nice to have. This is one of those times.
The cauldron, as many may remember, is representative of the Cauldron of Ceridwen, or the cornucopia, the horn of
plenty. It is NOT needed in any stretch, other than to cook things in. But if you only have 4 pots, one of them happens to
be a cast-iron cauldron, and you use it for cooking your meals in, and brewing a tea or potion, then you are using it
correctly, in my opinion. The tools you use in this are completely up to you.
And once again, this style of magick can cross over to Kitchen Witchery as well. Many, many practices of the KW came
from this style; they simply dropped the dancing in the fields to ensure the harvest and focused on the home. But a TON
of practices are the same.
That's pretty much it for this unit. As usual post your questions/thoughts to the list.
Some resources you may wish to look at:
http://www.elbrujo.net/ The way of Mexican Magick for men. Course offered for a fee. Caveat Emptor
http://www.spelwerx.com/magick.html Some information on magick and witchcraft
http://www.stregheria.com/main.htm Raven Grimassi's Italian Witchcraft site
1 http://sacred-texts.com/pag/murray.htm (back)
2 ibid (back)
3 http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/ (back)
4 http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_burn.htm (back)
This is a web page that chronicles the persecutions in Europe. It is a good reference clear and concise.
Assignment:

All right, you know what is coming now....
First off, I want to see the entries for the energy you send to Crowitch. I'm assuming at this point that everyone in the
class is going to be doing this at one point or another, and because this is a magickal exercise, you will be writing your
feelings and impressions down. I want to see that. I would like to be able to compare notes with each other.
Also, I want to start planning the online ritual. So, I'm goaling for sometime around 16 November, 2002 at 3 PM GMT. I
want to coordinate this with as many of you as possible, so I'm putting this as FAR in advance as I can. We can meet in
an IRC chat room or some other place mutually acceptable to all of us. However, I also am not making this mandatory,
this is for your experience only. So, start making plans. It's about a week before the Full Moon, nothing is happening
other than Thanksgiving for those of us in the US, and so it should dovetail into everyone's plans.
Next, I want you to develop your own ethical system. You all have your own ethics that you have been living with all this
time, you have been exposed to the ethics of other magickal systems, and now it's time for you to decide just what your
magick will do and not do.
I want you to answer these questions specifically:
1. If a friend was dying, would you use magick to cure them?

2. If the same friend had no hope of being cured, would you use magick to help them die?
3. Would you use your magick to bring someone to what they deserve and have earned?
4. Would you use your magick to harm someone who had harmed someone you care about?
5. Would you use it to harm someone who harmed you?
6. Would you use it to protect yourself in the workplace from your asshole boss?
7. Would you use your magick to get your boss fired?
8. Would you take money for casting a spell on someone?
9. Would you cast a love spell on someone you cared about?
10. Would you reverse a love spell to drive an ex-lover away?
11. What kinds of uses of your magick do you consider to be ethical, moral, and correct?
12. Would casting spells for others (at their request) be ethical?
13. Would you take goods/services for casting a spell for another?
Write these down and *I* want to see them. I understand that some of these may be a bit personal, and you DO NOT
have to show these to the list if it makes you uncomfortable, and if that's the case, please send them directly to me. I want
to make sure that you have come to a good ethical balance with your magick. And I will warn you, I will come up with a
fictional situation and I will play the Devil's Advocate when you apply your ethics to that situation on the list.
In other words, I will give you a moral dilemma, and then on the list, we will discuss your ethics when applied to that
situation, and I will be playing the other side. There is a reason for this, and I'll share it with you later, but for right now,
this is the ethical exercise.
Next: I want you to hug a tree. <no smile> I'm serious. Plant energy is another form of energy that you need to become
familiar with. So, hug a tree, sit in the grass, lean against the tree and meditate. Feel the plant's energy and take it into
you. Experience the life of the tree, the hurts and the places where it has its roots, become the tree.
If you are not lucky enough to live in a place that has a lot of outdoors to do this in, you can do it with a houseplant, but I
will warn you, it will be a vastly different experience. Ideally, I would like you to go out into a field that crops have been
planted in, and meditate in that field and experience THAT energy. I want you all to experience what it may have been
like as an old time Earth Priestess. If possible you should then return to the same field and experience it once it has been
harvested. The difference is vast I assure you.

I would also like you to pay attention to your chosen plant for the period of one week, pay attention to it every day,
meditate with it, commiserate with it, sympathize with it, feel the energy every day. After a week, collate the journal
entries together and turn them in, as well as any changes in the tree/plant you have observed/felt.
I'll warn you that there will be some changes in you and in the plant. It may take some time, but I guarantee that you will
notice a difference.
Last assignment: Energy infusion. Last time we cleansed and stripped energy from an object. Now I want you to take an
object that you think you will be using and dump a lot of energy into it. You have been doing this with your batteries, and
doing it with the last exercise, but now you will take another object (like a wallet for money spells) and infuse energy into
it with *purpose*. As your energy flows into that object, you should be holding a thought in your head as to what you
want this object to be "enchanted" for.
See, that is how the great sorcerers of the past created magickal items. They took an object and let energy flow into it
with a purpose, and in so doing they magnetized it for that purpose. They set that object up to draw a specific thing or
concept to them through the medium of that object. Thus they consecrated, dedicated or enchanted that object for what
they wanted it to do.
If *I* were to do this, I might do something like this:
I have a copper cauldron at my house. When I got it I stripped it of all the energy (or as much as I could) when I first got
it, but then I put it on a shelf and just started to put my change into it. However, now, I want to enchant that cauldron to
draw money to me. Now, the cauldron is made of copper (the penny's metal), it already knows it's purpose (to hold
money) and I have been using it like this for a while now.
So, I sit down with that cauldron, I hold it in my hands and touch it and caress it. I start letting my energy flow into that
cauldron, but I tell that energy while it is flowing into the cauldron that it will bring money to the cauldron; it will
become a magnet for money, because it holds money already. I keep telling that to the energy as it goes into that
cauldron, the whole time. Eventually I will be stopping and when I do, I tell it that as long as I own the cauldron (talking
to the rudimentary intelligence that is now in the cauldron) that it will bring money into the home, and I will put money
into the cauldron. Its purpose is now to hold money and bring money.
This is now an artifact. It is officially a magickal item and an enchanted item. This is the EXACT same process that ANY
magick user or sorcerer goes through to make an artifact like that, it's the same thing you did when making your ritual
knife. You almost did this last exercise when you drained the energy out of the item you used, the only difference is that
you didn't tell the energy going into that object what shape to take.
See, what happens is that the energy flowing in has a certain feel to it. That feeling sets up a "vibration resonance" on the
Astral Plane and the Other worlds. That resonance will start attracting things to it that resonate at the same "frequency",
just as a string on a guitar will vibrate in tune to the string next to it that is plucked in a song. It's a sympathetic action.
So that energy sends out "I'm here and I want _______" vibes into the aethers, bringing things that fit that vibe to it, and
into your life. Now, I set a condition on that cauldron, and upon my death, the spell should dissipate. This is something
that you may want to carefully consider since it is an object and it is possible that at some time you may not want that
object anymore.
Get another object. It can be the same one you used last time, it can be a coin, a horseshoe, it can be a lucky charm
whatever, but it MUST be something you want to keep and use in your rituals. Cleanse it as you did last time, and then
enchant it. Infuse your energy with your desire into that object and then end the ritual. Put a condition on it if you choose

to, but do this. Some things you may wish to enchant into an object are:
Luck Money Happiness Love Kindness Patience Prosperity Spirituality Protection Health
Then put that object into a place where it would naturally work. A "Health" rock I would put in the medicine cabinet, and
possibly make sure it was made of soapstone (a stone that has a "soapy" feel to it, and soap is what makes you clean, and
cleanliness makes you healthy, you get the idea.) Pull whatever other correspondences you think are applicable to this
ritual.
I want you to write this spell down in your journal. I would like to see the outcome and your thoughts and feelings on this
ritual, but I don't have to see the spell. Share it if you want, but you will be writing enough as it is.
That's it. Good luck.
Back Home Next

Lesson 11: Shamanistic Magick
Lesson 11:
Shamanistic Magick
Quickly defined, Shamanism is magick through ecstatic trance and Spirit work. It's a LOT more complex than that,
but all forms of Shamanistic magick have that element in common. This is why anthropologists originally confused
the Shamanism of the Laplanders with the Medicine Men of the Native Americans.
I'm going to give you some elements of Shamanistic magick, and tell you what I have found out about this style of
magick.
One of the main things that define Shamanistic magick from all the other kinds of magick out there is a well-
developed course of how to astrally project. This talent seems to be the key to Shamanistic magick since a LOT of
their magick is tied up with AP and working with Spirits. In fact, it seems that one of the requirements to be a truly
powerful Shaman is to have had a Near Death Experience during childhood that the Shaman helped alleviate.
There are many stories of Shamans who go to the spirit worlds, either to bring the patient's spirit back to the body
thus preventing him/her from dying or to drive off spirits that are making him/her sick. Hollywood has presented
the classical scene in which the Shaman holds the rattle and shakes it, fans smoke toward the sick child, sings and
chants as the be-all and end-all of the process. This is barely the beginning of the process to prepare the patient,
onlookers and Shaman for what will follow. This purification process in which the Shaman cleanses the room and
the patient, sets the tone for the trance the healer will fall into just afterwards. That is the REAL magick. This time
is analogous to Casting the Circle for the Wiccan.
In that trance, they leave their bodies through an act of will, and stay in the same "place". They don't go to any
place other than the Astral World, Spirit World, Summerlands, Asgard, Hel, or whatever name for "not here" you
choose to use.
Normally they don't see the Gods, as part of the healing session, although I would suppose that it is possible. The
scene that will appear as the symbols the Shaman needs and will understand in order to heal the patient.
At other times, the Shaman may seek the trance to learn lessons for his/her own life or to seek answers to help the
community s/he lives in. S/he has been gifted with a special talent and uses it for physical as well as spiritual
healing within his/her group. What is seen may be more along the lines of the perfect world we would have if
only.... It can be something of an alternate reality in which everything, from the grasses to the trees, the animals to
the rocks, is pristine. In this place every living thing has a spirit with which the Shaman can interact. Therefore, the
spirit of the dying tree can be talked to, comforted, soothed, held and questioned, all without much time passing
here.
By the same token, a lot of work can be done on the Spirit Planes. The main problem seems to be interpreting the
messages the prospective Shaman receives while in a trance correctly. That is why Shamanistic training
traditionally takes years under the tutelage of an older more experienced Shaman.

Please pay attention to the following statement: I'm going to make some generalizations here, and associate a lot of
this with Native American Medicine Traditions. I am familiar with some of their ways, although not as familiar as I
would like to be. I am not familiar enough with the Shamanism of other cultures to utilize them successfully for my
examples. The knowledge of Shamanism is based on the Native American Template. The little I have seen, read
and been told bits and pieces regarding other Shamanistic paths. For example, Australian Aboriginal dream time,
Norse and African approaches to this issue. I understand that while the rites and the rituals of each path are
different, the basis of the mysticism is the same. To those who will object to that I am not and was not raised in
Native traditions or culture and should keep my hands off, or who will wish to pick apart the fact that not all North
American natives did things "this way or that way" I can only say, this is a GENERALIZED EXAMPLE NOT
the definitive work on this subject.
In the Spirit World, as stated previously, you may interact with a perfected version of THIS world. Therefore, the
Shaman might see everything with a healthy glow. Things that are wrong or diseased may appear to be darkened or
stand out in some other way. As an example, if the Land is being injured through construction or deliberate
poisoning, while in the Spirit World, the Shaman may see the "problem overlay" as a swamp, or as a dead animal
lying where the real world equivalent of the problem is. It is necessary for the Shaman to interpret these symbols of
the Spirit World correctly in order to take care of the problem.
Shamanism in general seems to be concerned with the harmony of everything; the harmony between the people
and the animals, the animals and the plants, the plants and the people, the Spirit and the Material and so on. In
many ways, Shamanism is an animistic way of life. This means that (according to animism) everything has an
animus, or spirit within it, that animates and makes it aware of the world around it. Because of this, the Shaman
must honor any spirit that s/he chances across in the course of his/her life. If, for one reason or another, the Shaman
must change the destiny of the spirit (such as killing it to eat or construct a dwelling), then usually ceremonies or
rituals celebrating the spirit are performed.
An example of this would be:
The Medicine Man of the tribe wakes up one morning. He may look into the sky and thank the sky for being there
and bringing the sun to them. Then he would go about his daily business. In talking to various people in the tribe,
he may discover that a horse is sick, and the owner doesn't know why. He might go to where the horses are grazing
or ask that the animal be brought to him. He would then, perhaps, drop into a trance and ask it what is wrong. In
this state, he could see the Spirit of the Horse and that Spirit would be able to respond to the Shaman. He might
discover that there was some sort of poison in the water and it was responsible for making the horse that drank
from it ill.
In the above example the Medicine Man has dropped into a trance without much if any preparation and spoken
with the Archetype of Horse to seek a solution. This is a state of mind rather than a true astral projection. It can be
compared to the state you drop into when you are sensing the energies of an object in your exercises.
Having discovered the source of the horse's illness he might then choose to go to the River. There he could chooses
several paths, but for the sake of the example, I will have him start talking either to the Spirits that inhabit the river,
for example, the Spirit of the Water, or going to the Spirit World or by just asking the fish and birds that survive on
the fish. He may then discover that there is a "problem" upriver that is poisoning the water.
In the above paragraph, this action would take several hours or more of patient searching and questioning,
verifying and confirming the information gained. The entire process would be more akin to solving a complex
mystery than looking up a fact in an encyclopedia. It is possible that this stage could, literally, take days.

Having ascertained the information he needs again he is faced with choices. For the sake of example, our Shaman
will follow the river to the source of the poison. He may pack a few things and start traveling upriver immediately
or the next day. Presumably, one or more warriors would accompany him. He would probably take some food,
most definitely the medicine bundles and bags he deemed necessary. If the journey took more time than he thought,
his group would probably run out of food. Again there are choices. The warriors can go off and hunt, the Shaman
could ask the Spirits for food. If the warriors leave, the Shaman is unguarded, so in this instance our Medicine Man
will drop into a trance and then speak to all the Spirits at once, simply stating the needs of his group. He would
next ask which of the many animal brothers would be willing to give their life.
When he got a satisfactory response from one of the animal spirits, he would come out of that trance, and let the
rest of the group know what animal to look out for. If the Spirit Fish said, "I will give my life to help you", the
group would then start fishing in the river, assured of a strike and little attempt at escape for that fish. They would
continue to fish until there was no more needed, taking only the amount needed.
While preparing the meal, the party will honor the fish that died that they may live by singing, possibly by praying,
by talking to the spirits of these fish specifically, praising their courage and their sacrifice, talking to them about
how much the sacrifice is appreciated. Then the food would be eaten without regret.
The Shaman above chooses the options that speed the task along with minimal time, effort or energy wasted. His
vision will goad him on to continue with haste. Please note, he uses all "normal" avenues of remedy before calling
on Spirit Allies.
On the way to remove the source of the poison, they may find another village that has several people ill, possibly
from the same source. If there is a healer or Shaman in the village, our Medicine Man might stop and talk to his
counterpart about what each has learned. If it were discovered that the problem was the same poison our Shaman
was on his way to fix, he would journey on. If the group was too small to have their own healer, or that healer were
also stricken by the "evil water", our Shaman could help those afflicted by this malady by using herbs (after finding
the appropriate remedies and thanking the spirits of the herbs for their gift), and perhaps later by directly fighting
for their lives in the Spirit World.
He would go into a Medicine Trance, a meditative state in which he can leave his body. He may do that by calling
on his Spirit Animal to help him, or he may do it by means of the Drum and Rattle, first using the Rattle to call the
Spirit of the person he is healing. This gets the spirit's attention back on this plane and the body. The Drum
connects the Shaman's heartbeat with the rhythm of the universe sending him to the "place within - without". *
Mary's aside - This is one reason for the failure of traditional medicine in the face of an epidemic caused by the
germs the whites brought to this country. Not only did the people have no immunities, each person had to be
treated individually with the energy coming from one Shaman. It would be almost impossible for that one person to
cope with such an outbreak without collapsing and dieing him/herself. *
From there, he will go to the spirit of the patient. He will calm and soothe the spirit if it is scared FIRST. Then he
gently leads the spirit back to its body, making sure it is acceptable to the Great Spirit (if his religious tradition
acknowledged a higher being) that this particular person live. He must confirm that it is not this person's time to die
before acting further. In some North American cultures the previous statement does not apply, and the Shaman is
free to fight as long and as hard as s/he wishes.
Assuming that it was proper for this person live, he would hold their spirit in their body by the force of his
willpower if needed, possibly going out to bring a wandering spirit back several times or to fight off the little

beings or people or spirits that came to torment the ill person, up to and including confronting death itself and
driving it off in order to accomplish this task. In addition to this work on the spirit plane, he would be laboring with
medicine and herbs to heal the body, to reconstruct the house that clothed the spirit of the ill one. Once the body
was well enough to complete the task on it's own, he would cease his labors and collapse for a while.
Think about the above situation. You know what it is like to hold a trance as well as moving around a lot of energy
for an extended period of time. Now, combine both of those activities and do them at the same time, while ALSO
checking with spirits mentally, looking into the Spirit realms, fighting a running battle if needed, AND brewing
herbal concoctions, spoon-feeding the ill those concoctions, playing musical instruments and singing. Meanwhile
the family has to be comforted and your assistants need to be instructed as to what to do.
This is what the Medicine Man and Shaman could end up doing depending on the situation, all at one time,
sometimes for up to 72 hours straight, with just a few catnaps. Any wonder why you hear about these major
healing sessions happening and the Shaman collapses afterward? Remember, while they could call upon the Spirits
of the Land, Water, Sky and so on, they generally did not use these as energy sources. I assume that this is because
they saw these spirits as living beings, and it was not their right to ask for energy from them when the shaman has
his own energy to use. All this power is coming from internal sources and they are writing IOUs to their body.
Getting back to our questing Shaman, he recovers and moves on to finish the job he started. He actually locates the
cause of the poison, several large animals drowned and stuck on a sand bar. Eventually the situation will resolve
itself as the animals rot, but to save his people and horses, he and his companions begin to remove the carcasses.
Once the removal is complete, he has to do some things.
He has to heal the land of this injury and free the spirits of the dead animals. Yep, he would heal the land just as he
heals a person or an animal. In many cases, if it came to a choice between the land and a person, the Shaman
should choose the land first, since the people come and go quickly, but the land is eternal. It takes a LOT of effort
to heal the land, and it can use all the help it could get.
For this activity, our Shaman decides to go on a Vision Quest and do the healing in the Spirit World, where it will
be somewhat easier to accomplish. He has to do several things: He and his companions have to cleanse the water of
poison, he must send the spirits of the animals on and the area must be investigated to determine why there was
such a large animal kill in the area.
With the animals removed from the river, it is capable of cleaning itself given some time. Disposing of the
carcasses would be a matter of spreading them out for the carrion eaters. Propitiating their sprits would indeed call
for a ceremony of some kind. The further investigation could reveal that part of the river bluff gave way during a
severe storm, during which the animals spooked and went over the cliff, or it could presage something else.
Our medicine man will do the minimum intervention needed for sometimes there is too much food, sometimes too
many predators and nothing of this earth remains changeless.
He asks the land what it wishes to do. He communes with the Land for a while to find out what would be
appropriate, when he gets told by other spirits that this is how it should be. At which point, he stops trying to heal
the land, reasoning that this is like a toenail breaking off when it gets too long, it is how it should be.
His job done for now, our Super Shaman would leave to go back home. Getting home, he finds that there is a food
shortage. Since the horses are sick, no food can be hunted. So, he calls the village together and they have singing
and dancing while he sends his prayers out to the Spirit World, detailing their plight and what is needed, namely

game food. He shows what been has done to make this as small a request as possible. In this case, most of the non-
meat items used as staples may not be available at this time of the year. He must show that is not a request of
convenience for the tribe, but a matter of real need. While this is happening, he is constantly looking for omens and
some kind of message that the pleas of the village have been heard and that help is coming.
Suddenly, a white man screaming about buffalo and putting his fingers next to his ears comes stumbling into the
firelight, only to be attacked by the rest of the village. And here, right on schedule, is his answer.
Okay, sorry about the liberty with "Dances with Wolves" but I couldn't resist.
I know that this seems like it is really fictionalized, but ask just about any practicing Shaman out there, and they
would probably agree with this capsule description of what can happen. They might say it was tremendously
oversimplified, but they could probably still agree with the accuracy of the content. This is not to say that it's this
simple either, it is quite possible that our mythical Shaman would have to spend DAYS doing rituals with everyone
in the village in order for it to work. (By which time the horses may have healed. At which point the question
becomes, did the spirits heal the horses, did the herbs heal the horses or, did the Shaman? But philosophical hair
splitting will have to wait for another day on that question.)
It does point out the following principals:
Working with Spirits is the primary means of magick for the Shaman.
Ecstatic trance is also of primary importance for the Shaman.
Shamanism is concerned with self-improvement.
Shamanism is a partnership with the Spirits, not superior human, inferior spirits (as with Ceremonial magick) or
inferior humanity and superior spirits (Western Religions).
Shamanism is animistic, although there are some who fit it into a framework of religion with Gods and so on.
Shamanism stresses fixing the problems within yourself before starting on the problems of others.
Shamanism is a path of self-discovery.
Rituals vary from group to group, but the rituals are not what is important in the first place. Through trance and
meditation, Vision Quest and self-mortification, some drugs or simply discipline the Shaman can move into worlds
that most people can't see. For some small groups, the use of peyote or other drugs such as the South American
Shamans use facilitate this journey. While in trance, they see symbols and visions that they interpret depending on
their experience.
Some examples of one visionary drug that has been used in the past can be found at:
http://www.maps.org/research/kristensen.html http://pages.prodigy.com/GBonline/liquix.htm
http://diseyes.lycaeum.org/fresh/wasson.htm (ceremonies described in second half.)
And a comment from a reader: "I have smoked Salvia myself, and it's an amazing visionary plant. The DEA is
currently trying to schedule it as illegal. This is horrendous - it's definitely a spiritual plant, not a recreational
"trip" drug that would lend itself to abuse. If you're against the Drug War, spread the word: Salvia Divinorum
Action Center"
The main thrust of Shamanism seems to be a reliance on Spirits for guidance. Of the groups we have looked at so
far, this is the first magickal tradition that uses forces primarily outside of the magickian as the catalyst for change.

A Shaman's alliance with the Spirit World can produce magickal effects. If the Shaman needed food for the village,
he can call upon the Spirits to send food to the pot. His vision may then direct the village to an area where Spirit
tells them to wait and soon, a herd appears. The number of animals caught is solely dependant on the skill of the
hunters.
Now, it can be argued that this is not a spell, but the effect is the same. The Shaman had a desire and through his
actions and the actions of the Spirits, it comes to pass. Yet, he did not impose his will on the universe; instead he
worked in cooperation with the spirits to bring his desire to fruition. The Spirits guide him, but each of his actions
is independent of them. He is neither their master, nor is he their slave.
There is the chance that he is told "no" by the Spirits. The spirit of Fish may tell the Shaman that it cannot sacrifice
any more fish, there are simply not enough left to support the species. Therefore the village must go hungry, or find
other food.
Another way the Shaman interacts with both worlds is by talking to individual spirits. Suppose the Shaman in
question must travel, but the only transportation available other than her feet is a mule. Some people might say,
"too much trouble, mules are too stubborn" and walk. The Shaman could choose instead to talk to the Spirit of
Mule and bargain with it, on behalf of the real-world mule. Thus, the Shaman who tames the unbreakable horse is
not so much as taming the wild as speaking to Horse and asking Horse what is needed for the horse to cooperate
with the Shaman.
While it is correct that the word "totem" comes from Native American spirituality, they do not speak of the Spirits
themselves. The word totem means the painted or carved representation of the spirit animal, used as a reminder for
the tribe or family group. Thus, the soapstone figurines that are sold in most metaphysical shops in the shape of
bears and dolphins and so on are Totems, but the spirit they remind you of are not. About Totems The figurines
called Kachinas are not quite in the same category. Since they represent in most cases the person dressed as the
spirit they represent. Zuni figures can be found here.
The Spirits are just that, spirits. As the Goddess in Wicca represents all the feminine attributes, both good and bad,
the Animal Spirits are everything that particular species of animal can be. Mythic stories are created and shared
within the tribal group to illustrate the qualities of the particular spirit, both good and bad.
Part of this magickal path is to discover the particular spirits that one resonates to, and learn from them. For
instance, one of my Spirit guides (among others) is Eagle. Those with Eagle as one of their Spirit Animals, see
problems clearly, are high fliers, are prompted to seek closer union with the Spirits and they are very good at
finding what they need. To compensate for this, they tend to be emotionless and remote, they tend to be arrogant
and they tend to be overly confident. Each of these qualities contains both good and bad within itself, and it is up to
the practitioner to discover this and to compensate for these negative qualities as needed. * Mary's aside and it is
often the duty of the other in the Eagle's life to know what is self-confidence and what is overweening ego and
respond with the appropriate slap or hug. *
Additionally, these Spirits are to lead the practitioner to others the Shaman needs to learn from. In many ways, the
Spirits are like the Familiars of the Witch, only dwelling in the Spirit world. They teach, they participate, they
bring visions or are large components of visions, they share their material bodies with the Shaman, they can give
their spirit form to the Shaman in question and they teach.
The use of animal spirits exists not only in Native American Shamanistic traditions (both North and South), but
also in Northern European traditions, the Eskimos and the Inuit as well. All of them used animals native to the

locale to guide and teach themselves the lessons they need to survive. After all, who better to know the benefits and
costs of an area than the animals native to that place? Who better to ask how to survive above the Arctic Circle
than the Polar Bear, who not only survives but also prospers in sub zero temperatures?
Don't be fooled by this into thinking the spirits are only animals or animalistic. A number of Native cultures use
human spirits in place of animal spirits, or hybrid animal/human figures. This can be clearly seen in Voodoo
which, it can be argued is of strongly Shamanistic roots along with Celtic and Norse Spirituality as well.
This lesson will also not debate the merits of Native life and culture versus Western Culture and life, as it is
immaterial to this class on magick.
Another component of Shamanistic magick is the Vision Quest. This is not simply sitting in a "sweat lodge" and or
inhaling marijuana fumes or taking peyote, it's a sacred rite in which the body is mortified in order to release the
spirit to go wandering in the Spirit realms. Let's go back to our Super Shaman for a few moments:
Once all the excitement has calmed down, and he has a few days to use for himself, he may decide the time is right
to do some magick for his own self-improvement. He wishes to learn more about life. Since there are others in the
village that also wish to enlighten themselves, he lets it be known that for the next few days, there will be a sweat
lodge available for those who wish to use it. With the assistance of those who are studying various Medicine ways,
he sets up the location where they will have the lodge.
Basically, if a new lodge is to be constructed according to the ways of the people instead of an existing set-up
being used, this is what would happen. A largish trench would be dug with an area around the trench cleared to
prevent the fire from spreading. A great deal of wood and stones would be needed as the sweat can take up to 3
days. A large fire would be laid in the trench with stones going on top of it and more fire would be laid on the
stones. Special herbs could be interlaid with the wood and kindling or could be placed inside the sweat lodge. With
appropriate ceremony the fire would be lit and, in about 3 or 4 hours, it would have heated the stones to proper
heat. The sweat lodge would have to also be constructed, usually a smallish circular structure covered in layers of
hides to keep the heat in. Water is also placed inside the lodge also. There would be a delineated area where the
heated stone would be placed in the center of the lodge. Aides out side of the lodge would be charged with keeping
the fire going, heating more stones and swapping cooled stones for hot ones. Inside the lodge one or more people
would be designated to insure the steam continued by sprinkling water on the red-hot stones. Those in the lodge
stay in there for a long period of time, purposefully dehydrating themselves and fasting. There could be chanting
and drumming either from the participants or from the outside. A Sweat Lodge
Unfortunately, modern myth makes it appear that this process took hours; when in reality it could take weeks.
Some people would be responsible for monitoring those who were stressing their bodies. Those seeking this path
could include Shamans, elders, leaders, and on occasion those adults who felt they needed it for one reason or
another, and children starting to find their spiritual identity.
Our Shaman sits in the lodge, sweating and chanting, banging on his drum while another throws water on the
stones and herbs to make the environment smell nice. Movement from the interior to the outside and vice versa was
discouraged as much of the heat might escape during the transition. Suddenly, his light-headed and dizzy state
changes, and he's in the Spirit World. There next to him is his Spirit Animal, guiding him to someplace. He sets off
through the spirit world, chasing his Spirit Animal, and because it's more efficient, he transforms his spirit body to
that of his Spirit animal, and rockets along next to his guide and friend.
From there, what he sees and feels and hears would be between him and the Spirits. He may come back with more

knowledge than he had, he may come back with nothing more than a "good job" from the Spirits, he may be told
"yes this is important, but not as important as THIS over here. Pay attention to that instead". He may be directed to
the fact that another village is planning on raiding and to alert the warriors. Any number of things can happen
during this time.
If we look at this entire process from an objective perspective, we discover a few things.
This is a meditation, an extreme one to be sure, but still a meditation with props and tools, sayings and chants, all
designed to shove the participant out of their body.
The Spirit World, once again, is simply the Astral Plane. Normally one who is adept at getting to the Astral Plane
does not forget how to do that. This entire process we can do right now, with a sauna and some patience. The
Secret Rituals are basically discipline and being able to tough it out combined with the spirituality of your group or
tribe.
I don't want to minimize the accomplishments of the Shamans. Please understand that this is a very dangerous
practice to undertake, and there have been cases in which those participating have died for one reason or another.
They also have one of the oldest consistent courses of training for OOBE in the world. World wide, Shamans
discovered all these techniques themselves, found the Summerlands and the World Tree, the Spirit World and
Happy Hunting Grounds and so on centuries before most of us knew what magick was. This is a massive
accomplishment.
But once you know the tricks of the trade, the processes, and the procedures, it's pretty easy. Spending time in the
Spirit World becomes no big deal once you are practiced in it as these Shamans are, talking to a tree is nothing,
having a tree respond to you is interesting, knowing that this tree you are seated under is currently discussing the
weather and soil conditions with a tree in the Amazon Rain Forest and they both are conversing with another tree
on the Serengeti Plains is impressive, but not surprising anymore. What would be shocking and upsetting is if the
tree stopped talking to all the other trees. How do you think that mythic adepts like Math, son of Mathonwy (of
the Mabinogion fame) were able to hear news on the wind? Did you think that the wind actually blew the words to
him? No. He heard the words in the Spirit World and acted on that information in THIS world.
In healing, the Shamans generally do use herbs and other medicines to heal, but they also did many other things.
Once the body was on the mend, the Shaman would go into the Spirit World to heal the spirit of the person injured
or sick. Let's face it; modern medicine is only starting to realize that you need to heal the psyche and soul of the
injured as much as the body. The Shamans knew this a long time ago.
As delineated in the tale of the Super Shaman, there is an order needed for success, the spirit must be prepared,
coaxed to return, healed of trauma along with the body for success. The only way I can explain this is to give you
some of my own experience in this area.
Once upon a time, there was a young girl who had her appendix rupture. She was rushed to the hospital for
emergency surgery. I heard about this event minutes after her appendix burst. I was several thousand miles away
yet I did what I could. First I dropped into trance to hold her spirit to this plane, preferably to her body until the
doctors could remove her appendix and begin clearing the abdomen of the infection from the appendix.
I knew this would not be enough. So, still willing her soul to stay with her body, I did a couple other spells to make
sure the body would heal as rapidly as possible and that the surgical incision would not go septic from the
infection. Then I looked at her spirit and soul.

Her soul was not injured. Yet she saw herself as being diminished by the removal of the appendix and then
assaulted by the surgery. She had gaping wounds where her appendix would have been if it existed on the Astral
Plane. The first order of business was to correct that.
As a result of that negative self-image, I spent about 3 hours (subjective time) in the Spirit World healing that
psychic trauma to her self-image, so that she could perceive herself as whole and thus cooperate with the healing
process.
I was still not done. I had to fend off several little critters that came to feed off of her psychic injury and pain. As if
they were psychic carrion eaters, they started tormenting her because she was in pain. These are not nice critters,
and while it was no problem for me to drive them off, it was just one more thing to do. I had to cast a shield over
her to a) keep her soul in her body when I stopped and to b) protect her from those things again and keep any "walk
ins" from attaching themselves to her and taking over.
(As an aside, a walk in is either a deceased person or a person who has not had a body, who through can acquire a
body from someone who is dying or suicidal. They simply do a switch and the soul who had the body goes on, and
the soul who wants the body gets one.)
All of this was done over the course of about 10 minutes real time, but it felt like a lot longer. This is one example
of the elasticity of time when our perceptions are not concentrating on what time it is.
Needless to say, I was exhausted when I finished. But I also knew that all of that would hold past the moment, and
it didn't matter that she was JUST getting into the operating room to have her appendix removed, I knew that all of
it would take effect when needed. That night, I stayed with her on the Astral Plane, watching and fending off
things, and just generally monitoring her condition.
When news came in about a week later, I found out that she was out of the hospital, fully recovered and she would
not even have a scar. The doctors said her recovery was miraculous and were all taking credit for themselves. I just
smiled and went on. I never mentioned it to the girl. Her beliefs stretched far enough to praise God for her life and
miraculous recovery, to give thanks to Him for everything she had and how she must have a holy mission in life
since she didn't die (it wasn't her time). They would not extend to accepting what I had done, even though she
vividly remembered me driving off one dead soul who wanted her body for itself and didn't care that she was still
using it. <shrug> Whatcha gonna do?
Most of the spells of the Shamans seem to be petitioning of the Spirits, cooperation with the Spirits directly, or
sacrifice to the Spirits in extreme cases. This is one of those groups who use an intermediary to cause their effect to
come to pass. In other words, they want the pencil on the floor, they ask the Spirits to bring it to them. Please note
that they ASK. They are prepared to accept "no" as an answer and live with it. Shamans assume routinely that the
Spirits have more information than they do in many areas, and that there could be a perfectly valid reason for not
getting what they want.
Here is some more information on Totems and the Spirits and their anthropological relationship to different native
peoples. Totemism
Looking back over my notes, I wanted to bring up one of the most famous examples of Shamanistic Spells that
ever existed, the Great Ghost Dance. For those of you not up on American mythology and history, I shall

summarize.
After the massacre of Native Americans at Tippecanoe there began a movement in the late 1800's to unite all the
Native Americans in spiritual harmony. The leader of this movement, Wovoka had some powerful visions of a
flood of titanic proportions sweeping over the American Continent and destroying all the settlers, leaving the land
to the original inhabitants. To this end, there were several thousands of people gathered together and donned white
shirts painted with personal power symbols to protect them from the white man's bullets and the floodwaters.
Unfortunately, the Army attacked the village at Wounded Knee, killing most of the inhabitants (who were mostly
women and children, some pacifistic warriors and old people), which effectively ended the Ghost Dance for the
1800's, although there is many rumors of other dances coming back and devastating the whites.
These links below lead to other sites dealing with the Ghost Dance.
Words of Tenskwatawa
prophet.html
Tenskwatawa
Tippicanoe and the Internet Too!
A Story of the Great Ghost Dance
Imaging and Imagining the Ghost Dance: James Mooney's Illustrations and Photographs
The Native American Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance Movement
"Dreamtime"
This is a state that, while not unique to the Australian Aborigines, is certainly well defined by them. In basic, the
Dreamtime is the Astral Plane in which the Dreamtime adept can move in and out of other people's dreams,
interact with his own mind, see visions from the Gods and interact with Ancestors. In this state, the Shaman can
interact in a reality in which all animals can talk to him or her, they can resolve problems within themselves, they
can resolve problems with others, and they can sometimes affect the environment around them.
I have heard the dreamtime talked about as though it is another world in and of itself, and I must admit that I can
see how that is possible. The Dreamtime is a part of the Astral Plane in which everyone is together and problems
are magnified. However, when you listen to the descriptions and compare those with other Astral Projector's
accounts, they sound like the exact same place. One more link in the chain.
All this brings up a few questions. Could it be that Morris Dancers are a form of Shamanism left over from the
1000's? Could it be that they took up where the Druids left off? Make no mistake about it, the Druids had a heavy
Shamanistic influence, although they did accomplish things by different routes than some other Shamanistic
orders, they still accomplished the same ends. Could it be that the ritual dancing of the Morris Dancers, their
clinging to tradition, to using the same ritual garb from 1400 or so, that they are all that is left of a Celtic
Shamanistic order? It does make one wonder. That it can be indisputably proven will probably never happen.
I also wanted to mention this aspect of Shamanism, it's not the tools that define the Shaman, but rather the way the
Shaman uses the tools he has. The drum, rattle, medicine blanket, spear and so on are only important in that they
give the Shaman a focus for his attention. When the Shaman is focusing on keeping the drum beating like a heart,
they don't have time to focus on how their feet hurt, how the pebbles are digging into their backside and so on. The
dance is to wear the body out, to basically mortify the body and put it in a state where the natural impulse is for the

body to rest, which is denied by the spirit of the person dancing, at which point the mind and spirit start ignoring
the body because it's hurting. This is the tough-it-through type of reaction that many distance runners report as
"runner's high".
One thing to note, while the means of accomplishing what you want to do may be interchangeable between
Shamanistic paths; the spirituality that is part of it is NOT. You may go into meditative trances in order to go to the
Astral Plane and defend a loved one from something on the Astral Plane, but the version of Shamanism you
practice may not believe in animal spirits, instead your path uses ancestors to do the same thing. Please don't think
that just because you know all about Native American Shamanism that you can walk into an aboriginal Australian
ceremony and know what is going on.
I think I've exhausted most of my knowledge on this topic. There are some links you may be interested in for
further study.
This article on Northern European Shamanism was sent to me and I thought it might be helpful for the upcoming
Shamanism class
"A small collection of Shamanistic links"
Assignment:
Well, with our energy exercises you seem to be doing really well. So it's time to kick it up a notch.
I want you to set up shunts. These are permanent grounding points in objects or into the elements, but I would like
you to set them up into your batteries. Thought I forgot about them didn't you? Well, this is a trick I use a lot to
remain calm when all about me are loosing their heads.
I mentioned these several lessons back, but now you have to actually do this. First, ground into your battery. Drain
your energy into the battery, but don't draw any from any source. See the link between you and your battery. Firm
it up till instead of being a tenuous thing like a thread or a piece of string, it's about a 1/4 inch across, or about 1 1/2
CM thick. Push your energy down into that battery, and pull all the energy back into you. Do this several times
back and forth, back and forth. This is opening and clearing the conduit to your battery.
Now, what should happen is that you have an automatic overflow control where any excess energy that you can't
handle can flow and stay. Think of this as the overflow drain on a sink. You get filled with all the energy you can
handle, and the rest of the energy goes into the battery.
That's the end of the fireworks. Do that.
You can set up several of these for specific purposes, to activate when something happens to trigger them.
Personally, several of my shunts are programmed to activate when I get frightened. For instance:
Not too long ago, during this class in fact, I was almost killed in an auto accident. Don't panic, no one was hit, but
it was one of those really close things. I was driving down a two lane Interstate bypass, passing a semi, when he

suddenly decided (when I was right next to the cab) that he needed to be in my lane. He came left and started
forcing me off the road.
On the side I could go to it was grass and really uneven ground. We were doing about 65 miles per hour
(something like 120 KPH). Needless to say if he had touched my car at all, I would be dead now.
Normally when something like this happens, a person's adrenalin kicks in and takes over the body. Heart pounding,
head rush, a few seconds of inactivity and so on. But my shunt kicked in and all that energy that would have gone
into being afraid and screaming in panic got instantly drained out of me into my battery, without my doing a thing.
I was suddenly a superman.
I knew that if I hit my horn, I would shock the driver of the Semi and he would jackknife and wreck, taking me
with him. I knew that if I went into the ditch, I was dead. I knew that if I slammed on my brakes, the car behind me
would rear end me, the net equivalent would be the same as the semi hitting me. So, without panicking, I pulled
into the shoulder as far as I could (still doing 65) and started pumping my brakes. I couldn't stand on them, but the
car behind me got the message, stood on his, and I was able to fully apply my brakes and drop back behind the
semi that was still oblivious to how close we all were to death.
Now, under almost any circumstances, most drivers would have to pull over to recover after a near-hit. In this case
my shunt had done such a good job, that I just kept going. I had about the same amount of energy in my body as I
had before. No panic, no rapid breathing, no shock, no dilated pupils, nothing.
Anyhow, a shunt is simply a permanent ground. Generally I use them to ground into my battery since being
grounded into the Earth all the time could be a nuisance with the energy problems, but that's me. It is also
something you can set up for temporary overflow, such as in the case of doing a LOT of energy manipulation, a
shunt helps keep you from being overwhelmed with the energy.
And one more energy type to draw/ground/play with: Electricity.
When I say this, I don't mean that you should be pulling raw wires out of the wall and shocking yourself, but next
time you are in the middle of meditating and you want an energy boost, instead of reaching for one of the elements,
reach your mental (not metal) hand out to the wall socket.
What you should find is that this energy is the same as the energy you have been messing with all this time. It is
simply a lot more immediate. It's faster than Fire, more powerful than Water, more slippery than Air and as
uncontrollable as the Earth. This energy is literally an element in and of itself, as the Native Americans found out
when they classed this as "Lightning". Electricity = Lightning = what comes out of your wall socket. Because of
that, it's a POWERFUL element, and one that should be used with caution.
However, because it's so powerful, it can and has been used to fuel spells, giving them a constant energy source
that is also controlled, meaning that the flow of energy into the spell is always constant. Normally I use Electricity
for fueling spells that are permanent in nature, like Wards and Shields, sometimes blessings and so on. All the
other spells I cast I may want to end at some point and therefore I use other sources.
I discovered the use of electricity in metaphysics a while back when I was reinforcing my house Wards, and found
that they were powering down and getting thinner. I couldn't figure out why, but then I realized that the energy
source I was using (the Earth) was going into its Winter Torpor and the energy available was going to be at it's

nadir. Therefore I needed to find alternate sources to fuel the Wards. I quickly reviewed the potential sources and
discarded all of them for one reason or another (Air, didn't know how to link it in; Fire, not a constant source
nearby (okay, I was young and new, I didn't think of the pilot light); Water, not a constant source nearby, besides
the sources that were nearby would be subject to freezing and that was just as bad; Sun, getting weaker in Winter;
Moon, waxes and wanes. Didn't want the Wards to have holes in them 3 days a month.) while I was contemplating,
I grabbed the electrical wires and shoved that energy into my Wards.
To say I was shocked is a bad pun, but it is true. The wards lit up like I had not been able to get them to previously,
all the thin spots toughened up, the Wards armored themselves and basically the spell completed itself. I came
close to fainting from shock.
The point was that I had never considered Electricity in a metaphysical sense before, but once I thought about it,
studied electricity somewhat and applied some logic, it became obvious that it could be used like this. We can
discuss the reasons later, but I want you to reason them out as well, and turn that reasoning in as part of your
assignment.
So, mostly this next set of assignments will consist of you turning in impressions of things from your journals,
even though you don't have to send the exact entries. Thoughts/feelings/experiences on setting up the shunts and
using them, using Electricity as an energy source for magick, and reasoning why Electricity works with
metaphysics.
That should be enough for now. ;-)
Back Home Next

Lesson 12, Druidic Magick
Lesson 12: Druidic Magick

First things first, Druidism is a way of life, not a magickal practice, nor a religion. I know that almost every religion out there claims this, but
Druidism is this. You cannot separate the philosophy from the spirituality from the magick without invalidating the way of the Druids.
(One aside that is a personal gripe of mine, the pronunciation is Keltic, with a hard C sound, not Seltic with a soft C. It's Celtic like Chaos.)
This lesson will show you the tools the Druid uses, it will bust myths, and it will give you the truth about the Druids (or as much of the truth
as we know and can figure out). We are daily discovering more things about the Druids, and we are constantly looking for more and more
information on what the rites and practices of the Druids were.
One thing I must stress in this lesson is THIS IS NOT AN ECLECTIC PATH. This is the spirituality and the way of worship of the Celts.
You can call upon Juno if you want, invoke the Archangels, call upon Arthur and Merlin if desired, but DO NOT call that "Druidism". Call
it an eclectic path that is influenced by Druidism. This is the problem with a lot of the Druidic paths out there these days, they made up their
own junk and decided it was "real" Druidism and they started writing books and teaching their path as the real thing.
We will start this lesson with a short (for me that is) history lesson.
No, the Druids did not build Stonehenge. It was there when the Druids first showed up on the scene. Most of the information we have about
the Druids is from the enemies of the Druids, namely the Romans and the Roman Catholic Church. We have Caesar's account of the Druids
in "The Gallic Wars" and his correspondence to the Senate while he was attempting to conquer the Celts.
Mary's aside * The Catholic missionaries took what they found, learned as much as possible, converted it from the stories of the pagans to
stories of Catholic Saints (Brighed comes to mind immediately.) and pronounced everyone Catholic. By winning over the rulers of a place
("more power in * your * hands my lord, * we* would never seek such a thing.") They claimed that all the "subjects" of said rulers were
converted. I realized this is turning into a rant so I'll be quiet now. Back to your regularly scheduled program *
But let's start correctly. Back in the pre-history, there came peoples from the Steppes of what is now called Russia. These peoples migrated
all over Europe and Asia. In some cases, they were called the Goths (including the Visigoths, Ostrogoths and so on), the Belgae, the
Germans, the Jutes, the proto-Danes, the Magyar and many other ethnic peoples. The group that would be called Celts appeared on the scene
sometime in about 700 BCE and started migrating to the West, settling in Gaul (France and Spain), Germany, and going over the sea to
England. The Spanish Gauls invaded Ireland many times and took over from the natives there, called the Tuatha de Dannan and the Firbolg
(whom the Tuatha de' conquered). (The Russian Steppes seemed to be a genetic hotbed, and quite a few ethnic peoples got their start in this
area. The Norse and Classical Greek, Afghans and Indians as well as what is listed above.)
More can be found at http://ragz-international.com/celts.htm.
This time period seems to be the time that the Red Book of War, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, the Mabinogion and other Irish/Welsh mythic cycles
are set in, the very beginning of this integration. I'm not going to go into every nuance and aspect of those stories, although a major portion
of Druidism is the stories and myths along with the History.
(These cultural comments are important to understand what Druidism was, since you literally cannot separate the spirituality of the Druids
out from the culture of the Celts. The culture is infused with the spirituality completely, as in Native American beliefs and life, and the
spirituality has many aspects of the culture reflected in it's structure. It would be like trying to separate the Kaballah completely from
Judaism.)
The most current archeological thought has the Celts appearing in England and Ireland sometime around 400 BCE. Their civilization was
based on the tribe and village. There was a clan Chief and under him was the warrior class. Under that were the artisans and crafters, the
support structure of the tribe, in addition a powerful chief would encourage other chieftains to become his "clients", thus increasing his status
in the region. Standing outside all this was the Druid. Things persisted this way for quite some time, although Ireland's social structure and
political structure changed over time and became quite monarchial and rigid. There were 5 kingdoms of Ireland, each "owned" and ruled by
a Righ or King. Under each Righ, there were the Chieftains, heads of the different families who would make alliances with the Righ in

exchange for help and protection from enemies.
Now, nothing was free. For this, the Chief was expected to supply their own troops, food for the warriors, space for them to live and so on. It
was also the custom for the Chief to buy the loyalty of his followers and the people he protected. The political structure was in a sense
electoral, for if the Chief lost the favor of the people through old age or poor judgment, he could be replaced, often without a war. The rulers
held power by the tolerance of the people.
Where did the Druids fit in this structure? They were outside it completely. The Druids were untouchables in many ways. They were not
loyal to a specific clan, chief or person, they were loyal to the land and each other. They were advisors and helpers. They taught and
educated people in many things like herbs and astronomy. Because their life was dedicated to the service of others, they were granted
multiple powers that (we hope) they took care not to abuse. They were the lawmakers and sat in judgment of many.
Each of the Righs also owed their loyalty to the Ard Righ or the High King, who united all of Ireland under them. Druids were there to
advise him as well, and they were also developing a structure of their own order. There was the Arch Druid, the head of the entire Irish order
of Druids. He was (apparently) elected to the position by the body of Druids and was supposed to be THE expert in every aspect of druidism,
although, I suspect, most often he was just the best politically.
Generally the Arch Druid advised the Ard Righ, along with a council of Druids to do things like interpret the laws and keep the history.
There were colleges established for the education of new Druids, and much of what we know about the political structure of Ireland and the
Druids is because this was written down centuries after the fact. There are clues in the mythology and the stories told, such as the stories of
CuChulainn and the Welsh Mabinogion. There are clues in the laws from that time, as written by the Brehons (the Druidic group who made
the laws and passed judgment on people, like the modern American Judicial system).
There are, however, very few documents that detail the Druidic organization from the Druids themselves. A great deal of what we know
comes from documents sent to Rome by Caesar and written down by Pliny in their compilations and reports. A lot of them, therefore, are
slanted to show the Druids as evil amoral creatures who willingly go out and capture hundreds of their own people and bloodily sacrifice
them on altars to strange and evil gods who demand blood.
However, by crosschecking these documents with accounts written from centuries later by Christian Monks and the legends we have, we
discover a LOT of good facts. In this lesson we will look at some of the facts discovered by the modern Druids, Celtic Reconstructionists
and historians.
1) The Druids practiced blood sacrifice. Yeah, this is the big one. However, it is not nearly as prevalent nor bad as was told to Rome. The
style of blood sacrifice that was practiced was like the sacrifice of the Shamans and the witches. It was used for magickal purposes
(remember the previous comments on the amount of energy released in a death?) but more often it was used to prove to the Gods that there
was a desperate situation going on and gain their attention.
Here's an example of a possible type of Druidic blood sacrifice: There is a drought going on in the land of a specific tribe and everything that
can be done to alleviate this has been done, to no avail. Prisoners captured in the most recent skirmish with another tribe or tribes might be
offered a chance to redeem themselves from the perceived cowardice of allowing themselves to be captured by pleading the case of their
captors to the Gods. The severity of the situation would dictate how many people would be sacrificed. A very severe situation would demand
several people be sacrificed.
More than likely, the captive would be taken by the victorious warriors and used as a slave, abused and so on, until death ensued. According
to what we know of the "honor" structure of the Celts, this was a disgrace to the captured warrior. Their participation in sacrifice would
allow them to die an honorable death and go to the Gods, instead of dying a death in slavery which was considered dishonorable. Since most
Celtic spirituality was focused on living an honorable lifetime, this was of prime importance.
This would also allow a death of dignity and honor, rather than one of humiliation. Don't think that simply because the prisoners were being
sacrificed that they were tortured, they were not. The general attitude of the sacrifices was "what good would it do to make the sacrifice
suffer? It means their soul would be confused and be unable to take the message to the Gods." So the Sacrificers were very skilled in death,
both dealing it and their understanding of it. They also had an understanding of the death process from the perspective of the Shaman, and
the journey the soul took once released from the body.
In some cases, the sacrificers could have seen themselves as doing a favor to those who were trapped in a body and unable to die. It could be
seen as common (I have no evidence of this, so it's supposition) that a sacrificer could be called upon to release a dying person.

Don't think that tribe members were not used as a sacrifice, because they were. In fact, sometimes the Druids themselves were sacrificed to
the Gods. There could be no greater magick than this. There is one body that was uncovered in the bogs of England and it shows all the
marks of having undergone the "triple death" of blunt force to the back of the skull, garroting, and being stabbed in the jugular. This article
may shed some more light. Or you can also search the net using the listing the "Lindow Man".
Nor were people the only things sacrificed. One ritual for the diviner (Druid tasked with oracular vision and scrying and prophesy gifts) was
to lie on a white bull's hide for a period of time, and enter a trance. It was believed that the spirit of the Bull would bring the diviner a vision
of the future and it was given a special weight. This was ALWAYS done on the New Year, and at other times during the year as needed.
This was the most powerful means of prophecy available to the Druid. Now, the hide had to come from someplace, and usually a white bull
would be raised specifically for this purpose, the bull would be sacrificed, the meat eaten and the bloody hide would be slept on.
It's logical to assume at this point that if a bull can be sacrificed and humans can be sacrificed, then other animals can be sacrificed as well,
but the archeological evidence is not very clear about this subject.
One interesting ritual sacrifice is the harvesting of the mistletoe on the night of the Sixth Moon. In this rite, according to Pliny the Elder, the
Druid climbs the tree that the Mistletoe grows in and cuts it with a golden sickle. Then two white bulls are sacrificed to the gods. I would
assume that the Druids also thanked the Gods for the Mistletoe and thanked the tree for its gift. These links will give MUCH more
information on this.
Romancing the Mistletoe

Natural History Excerpt
Classical Authors about the Druids About half way down the page under "Pliny, Natural History"
The Druid's Mistletoe Rite
2) There were multiple classes of Druids. Sometimes for those reading about the Druids, it can get confusing to those to hear that a Bard was
treated as a Druid, a Brehon was a Druid, and a Cainte or Fildh were Druids. But once you know the structure, it's obvious.
A Druid was trained for at least 20 years before attaining the title of Druid. During that time, if you had accomplished 12 years of study, you
were a Bard, because that was what had been studied up to that point, the history, stories and songs of the Celts. Yep, you were spending the
first 55% of the study time you had to go in this course in JUST absorbing the lore and history.
This sounds excessive, but the children of the Celts had similar structures of study for ANY life path one chose. Additionally, think about
your own life for a while. How many years did you take to learn what our Western Culture told you were critical for your existence? (Here's
a hint, you were in school when you did this) Twelve years you said? Hmmmm sounds right to me.
After that, the Druid went on to learn other skills; the Brehons (law givers) would spend the next three years learning the legal code of the
Celts. Believe me, they needed this time. Their legal code was about as complex as the legal code of America. It was based around a couple
principals: every person had worth inherent to their being, and that any crime could be forgiven if that worth could be paid. This was the
concept of "honor price". Simply put, the greater your standing in the overall "tribe", the more personal value you had.
Most of the value came from your contributions. Let's say for a moment, that a farmer had been killed by a warrior of the tribe in retaliation
for some slight. The Brehons would hear the case. They would determine that the farmer had a value of 2 cattle and the warrior would have
to pay 2 cattle to the family of the farmer. This is an example, the actual Brehons has a very complex method of determining a person's
worth and once determined it was not open for debate. So long as the warrior could pay the honor price of the farmer he has slain, he would
not be punished further.
This code also assumed that those outside the tribe they were in were non-people. If, for example, I were a member of the Iceni, all other
Iceni were people to me and the laws. A Cumhaill who was captured in a raiding party was not only a non-person, but also a slave. If he was
beaten to death, the person doing it would owe nothing to his family members of the Cumhaill. After all, he's "one of them", not "one of us"
and thus he has no worth. I may have to pay the OWNER of this slave for the work he will not do now, but the Cumhaill and his family can't
bring a protest about ill treatment, someone in the Iceni clan must do so. This is one reason why banishment from the clan was such a HUGE
penalty, because it severed all ties to a group and made the person so sentanced into nothing, no family and made sure that he (or she) was
outside all the protection of the laws. It also explains why a slight against a member of the Cumhaill by a member of the Iceni usually led to
an armed conflict, this was the only way to gain satisfaction.
It goes on. Celtic Law - A Short Summary is one resource, Brehon Law Project is another, along with Brehon Law, and there are many

more. One site I found is a continuation of a site I first became a druid on, Ancient Worlds which has a whole section devoted to the historic
study of the Druids and the Celts, along with a section where Brehon scholars of today talk about the Brehonic laws in the context of the
Celts. It's a serious site, even though there is a LOT of role-play, I leaned most of what I know from this site and sites like it.
The final title is the Druid. After passing through the preliminary stages of Bard and Brehon, the title of Druid was achieved. Generally, this
level of Druidry was concerned with understanding the magick and spirituality of the Celts. They could still specialize in certain aspects of
Druidism, much like a college professor of History could specialize in a time period, culture or even a certain aspect of history. And once
again, there were different jobs a Druid could do. A Druid who felt a call to politics could advise the Righ or Clan Chief, or they could
decide if they didn't like politics to "minister" to the needs of the people in a village or area.
There were different titles for the specialties, one of which was the Cainte, or Magickians and Ritual Experts. I learned that those who were
masters of an aspect of Druidic practice were called Ollamhs in some recreation groups, which is where I earned my title of Ollamh Cainte,
or professor or master of magick and ritual. I have a good friend who earned the title of Ollamh Fili, Master of Song and History, what a
Bard eventually grew into, another who was an Ollamh Sencha, or Master (in her case mistress) of the Healing Arts and so on. (This was
what we used on AncientSites, not what actually was used in the past. I must make that clear.)
3) There were three groups of Celts; the Gauls, the Irish and the Britons. Each had different cultures, customs and ways of doing things.
However, the Druids were able (for the most part) to move from one group to another. It was uncommon, but it was possible. Most often, the
Druids of the Gauls (France, Spain, Portugal, some of Italy, some of Germany) did not associate with the druids of Briton (England and part
of Scotland, the Islands of Anglesey and Mann, and Wales) and Ireland (where they eventually migrated to Scotland). The time period of the
Druids was approx 450 BCE to approx 100 CE at which point, the influence from Rome became too great. While Ireland was never
conquered by Rome, and Hadrian's Wall cut England off from Scotland, the cultural and religious conquering was very thorough. Patrick
didn't drive all the snakes out of Ireland, he drove all the Druids out, or so it's said. Some legends equate the Druid of the Celts with the
Snake of the Old Testament (since they are both evil...) and THAT is what Patrick drove out. ( references: The Truth Behind St. Patrick's
Day and The Catholic Encyclopedia ) However it is a known fact that Patrick was captured in a raid and made a slave to a Druid, and
learned the ways of Druidism and used that knowledge to undermine and disintegrate the religion of the Druids MUCH later in his life.
I should probably add a note here: The Celts covered an area that was HUGE. Think the entire continent of Europe and parts of Asia at the
height of their culture. Even given that, it was a bloodline and a genetic group, not only a culture. And each region, the Gauls, the Irish and
the Brittons, were different with different customs and language and religious/spiritual practices. While there was some transfer between the
regions through the Druids, that was pretty much it. There was even a difference between the Northern Guals (made up of the
French/Germanics) and the Southern Gauls (Spain/Portugal/Italy). There was combat between the clans and the tribes, but they pretty much
stayed in their region. There is only one story I can think of where there was cross-regional activity, and that is ONLY because Britain and
Ireland are so close to each other and it resulted in ALL of the human life on Ireland being wiped out (at least, that's how the myth goes).
Being Celtic is not a matter of having red hair, and in fact, Hitler's vision of the Arian race is pretty close to what the typical Celt was back in
the time we are talking about. Read "The Gallic Wars" by Caesar sometime and pay attention to his description of the main people.
4) Modern Druidism is NOT the same thing the Druids of old times practiced. Because of the lack of writings from the Druids themselves,
and the fact that MOST of what was written down was preserved centuries after the last free Druids disappeared (in this case meaning
Druids who were not being hounded by Rome or Catholicism), we have no clue what the spirituality of the Ancient Druids actually was.
There are hints and clues in the documents of the times, hints in the writings of their enemies, hints in their mythology and so on, but it
leaves holes in our knowledge. So, for the most part, Druidism of today takes what we DO know, uses what is hinted at, fills in with logic
and archeology and research and creates the parts that are still missing from whole cloth. But just because this is what we have to do, even
though we don't know exactly what was believed, that does not mean that we are not close in what has been practiced in the past.
We have some information preserved in mythologies and one document called "THE COLLOQUY OF THE TWO SAGES" in which one
Druid talks to another (possibly an apprentice) and they discuss what a Druid needs to know to be considered a Druid. Many scholarly
papers have been written on this subject, and a look at this is beyond the scope of this lesson. Suffice to say it's occult (hidden) enough that
unless you are already familiar with many of the principals in this document it's easy to miss the key points.
Basically what you have is three main branches of modern day Druidism. You have the OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids),
which was created in the mid 1800's as a gentleman's society. It was known at the time as the "Ancient Druidic Order" at the time, and the
OBOD eventually broke off from them to become what we know now as the OBOD. druid_history.htm
You also have the most well known Druidic organization in America, the ADF, or Ar nDraiocht Fein (translated to "Our Own Druidism")
which was started by Isaac Bonewits. You can find their site at http://www.adf.org/core/ and Isaac Bonewits' site at
http://www.neopagan.net. There was a problem with some political aspects of the ADF and Isaac retired from the ADF with the title "Arch

Druid emeritus" in honor of all his work in creating and running the ADF for so many years. I will let you follow the links and read the
stories of both these organizations right from them. Here are a few relevant articles you may also be interested in by Bonewits himself. (By
the way, you may be most familiar with Mr. Bonewits' work in the "Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame" that has been
republished all over the net and in many books. It's pretty much the standard for evaluating whether or not an organization is a cult or not
these days. I recommend to you that if you do not know this document, look it up at http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html )
Then we come to those groups/people who have studied Druidism independently and have come to some conclusions that don't necessarily
agree with the groups listed above (like yours truly) or who have had some dogmatic differences with the parent groups and left to start their
own group reflecting that which they believe (like the Henge of Keltria) or who have done some independent study, come to some
conclusions, shared those conclusions with others and created their own tradition of Druidism (like The ODU and his the founder's
personal site and The Summerlands)
There are other organizations in the UK and Europe currently, and unfortunately I don't know enough about them to tell you what they are
like. My best suggestion is to ask around online if you are in that geographic area. However, this was shared with me by a reader: "arguably
LAW (Loyal Arthurian Warband) has the highest political recognition, possibly the BDO - British Druid Order is more recognizably active
and of course the Welsh/Cornish culture Eisteddfod are also well recognized even though not what neo-pagans would call Druids."
Eisteddfod is an annual poetry/singing competition held in the UK in the Druidic style, but other than that, I can't tell you much.
(I should mention here that in each of the sites I recommend above , I know the founder/administrator/Arch Druid personally and have had
many discussions with them, or someone I know knows them personally. For instance, I have had a few discussions with Isaac in the past, I
have had quite a number of discussions with Dark Owl and Searles O'Dubhain and I know TopazOwl (second in command of the Henge of
Keltria) pretty well. I have not had the honor of speaking on an intimate basis with Mr. Phillip Carr-Gomm (of the OBOD), although
DarkOwl knows him on an intimate level and advised me that he is a nice man to speak with. Please understand I'm NOT name-dropping,
but in some cases it's very much a matter of "who you know" and this is one of those cases. Each of these people and organizations have
been around for a long time, and these organizations influenced much of modern Druidism. The organizations themselves reflect the
personality of their founder/leader and I'm telling you that all these can be trusted to give you the best information they have, unlike SOME
people like Douglas Monroe. But that's a whole separate issue. )
In each of these cases, these groups and people are not fooling themselves into thinking that they are practicing as the Druids of the Celts
practiced, but that they are trying to recreate the spirituality of the Druids as best as they can in modern times. That's an important factor to
look at as some groups and organizations will try to have you think that they are the direct descendants of Merlin or the High Grand Order of
Druids from 100 CE or that they have found a book written by the Druids in Latin which describes their belief system....
All I can say to those claims is Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware). I am not going to say that they are lying, but there have been several
cases of books that were claimed to be written by the Druids and were later proven as forgeries. Do some research and ask questions of those
groups and people you trust to know who's who in the druidic communities. The Druids and such groups are small enough as a community
right now that almost everyone is known to someone else or information on that person is easy to come by. But don't ask me, I'm just a
Witch who knows a lot about Druidism. ;-)
5) Women were Druids. Reference
I know that in most people's minds they see the Druids as men who wore long white robes and who had long white beards, but that's not the
only Druids that were. Women were druids as well, fully capable of doing all the rites of Druidism and fully trained. They underwent the 20
years of training and used the magick just like their male counterparts. One of the most famous accounts of females in Druidism is the attack
on Anglesey by the Romans. In one section, the chronicler was writing about "wild women running back and forth in front of the army,
enraging it and casting their fell spells" which proves that there were women welcome in the ranks of Druidism.
This would also make sense when you look at the Gods. Dianecht was the physician of the Tuatha de Dannan, and he was a skilled healer.
He killed his son (Minach) for being a better healer than he was, and his daughter found growing on her brother's grave 365 herbs that would
make man immortal, showing that the goddesses were healers too. That the contribution of the female was not overlooked nor was it
disparaged like would happen in later years and the coming of Christianity.
Before we move on to Magick, I want to recommend two fictional books to you that illustrate a lot of what I'm talking about. The first is
"Red Branch" illustrating the Irish Warrior culture as seen in the myth of CuChulainn. The other is called "Druids" which looks at the Druid
order and spirituality from the perspective of the High Druid of Gaul during the Gallic Wars. Both of these books are by Morgan Llewellyn
and can be found on Amazon.com.

Okay, enough clearing up of Misconceptions of Druidism, on to the part you have patiently been waiting for, the Magick of the Druids.
I am going to have to warn you here, be careful. There are aspects of this practice that will look familiar, but other aspects are VASTLY
different. For instance, there are sections of Druidism that are VERY shamanistic in nature, but as I showed you before the Dhuile is so
different from any elemental system that modern NeoPagans know that it's easy to get lost. So, let's take this one element at a time.
Awen/IMBAS.
These are the same thing, just in Welsh it's Awen and in Irish it is IMBAS. This is literally knowledge from Illumination or channeling.
When the Druid is in a meditative state, they can receive visions and information from the Gods, directly instructing them in what they need
to know. It can be about anything from the properties of an herb, to the song a plant will grow to, to what weather the Clan will have
tomorrow to anything else that is necessary. To receive this was considered a great gift, a special attachment to the ALL, and was seen as a
mark of high favor. In fact, one of the most flattering compliments I have EVER received was when DarkOwl read my poem on the Dhuile
and him calling it pure IMBAS.
However, this was NOT just "open the head up and pour the knowledge in" as some seem to think, there was a lot of work to be done
beforehand to encourage this state.
For instance, in that poem, it was not just *BOOM* and it was there, completely written and proof read, or not the Gods taking control of
my body and writing it themselves. I did have to know what I wanted to do, how I wanted to say what needed to be said, the basic overall
structure and the rules for poetry.
In the case of that poem, I knew I wanted a poem to instruct in the Dhuile. I wanted one that would capture what the Dhuile sets were in the
stanzas and I wanted it to be a pneumonic device for students to have to learn the dhuile. I wanted it to have the sets of dhuile in the first
line, and have the rest describe what they were. And I had to have them arranged so that in the first line they were Internal, External and
Directional in that order, so the "columns" of Dhuile were consistent.
After that, I wrote the first line, and relaxed the control I had on my mind and let the words flow. I did some tweaking to them afterwards,
and I simply let them flow out of me, as though I was the vessel they were contained in or like I was a funnel.
It is a trance of sorts, in which your mind is still present, but it gets out of the way enough to allow whatever is needed to speak through you
to do so. It's like interpreting tarot card spreads after you have been doing it a while. You may pull out the Two of Pentacles (juggling too
much) and put it in the "past" in a Celtic Cross spread, then pull out the Eight of Swords (trapped in the situation and helpless) and put it in
the present position and finally put the Two of Wands (choice between the spirit and the material) in the "final outcome" space. While each
of these cards mean something specific and the position they are in means something specific, seeing them in this order may prompt a reader
to say "In the near past you felt that you had too much to do and that you were getting overstressed, while now you feel that you are trapped.
Don't worry, the end says that the choice is yours to make between your mental and spiritual being and your physical one." An experienced
reader in the throes of Awen may say "I see that you got into a situation recently where you felt you were doing too much with too little. You
now feel trapped by this situation and that any choice you make is a bad one. But let me ask you this, is it better to be worried about what
others will think, or what you need to survive? Your ship is coming in, and I would advise you get out of this relationship you are in that has
you trapped an unable to do anything. You are helpless now, but you have the ultimate power to make the choice between what you actually
DO need and what you THINK you need."
The first reading anyone can read out of the pamphlet that comes with the deck. The second is true IMBAS, in which seemingly unrelated
information simply springs into your mind, and you find yourself speaking it without knowing quite why, and subsequently freaking out the
person you are reading for. But you still had to know what each of the cards meant, you had to know what they meant in the context of the
reading and in their positions, and how they related to each other. But that extra little something kicked in and started you mentioning
information that is relevant to the situation, but which is not found in the books of tarot cards.
That is IMBAS and Awen at its finest.
How do you know that you had that kind of experience? The same way you know that energy is moving around you. For me, my hair on the
nape of my neck stands up and I get goose bumps all over my body when Awen comes on me. And it doesn't matter whether or not I have
written something and am re-reading it or if someone else has written it, it's all the same feeling. It's the way I use to find the truth in what I
have read or heard.

Anyhow, the next means of magick of the Druids was the Dhuile.
In this tool, it is very much "as above, so below". The cosmos is mirrored in us, and in the Sea. The three primary elements of the Druids
were the Sky, the Land, and the Sea. Those three realms are where everything is at, from the Stone to the Face to the Clouds. The full list is
here:
Internal External Directional

Face Sun South
Mind Moon Inwards
Blood Sea West
Breath Wind East
Head Sky Above
Hair Green World Outwards
Flesh Land Below
Bones Stone North
Spirit Clouds Through
This is probably one of the most confusing sets of elemental associations that there is, and I don't understand it yet. But this is also one of the
most mystical when used properly. I'll be honest, because I know of and can use it, does not mean that I understand it. I have not used this
system completely enough to fully be comfortable with the Dhuile. When I use it, most often I use it like a codebook, with long laborious
translation. But there are aspects to it that relate around and to other parts of Druidic spirituality, as we will see in a few moments.
"The Three Cauldrons"
This tool of Druidism is one of those things that you go "huh?" about, but once you understand what the Three Cauldrons represent, the
beauty of it is obvious.
The best way I can explain the Cauldrons is by saying that each Cauldron represents a "body" in Buddhism. Zen Buddhists believe in three
bodies, the physical body, the mental body (intellect) and the soul or spiritual body. Freudian Psychology also recognized these bodies with
the Id, Ego and Superego. This explains the Cauldrons also. I have also heard the Cauldrons described as being the Celtic system of chakras.
I have also related these to the path of Self-Actualization.
In brief, there are three cauldrons in each of us, The Cauldron of Warming (physical), the Cauldron of Vocation (mental and intellectual) and
the Cauldron of Knowledge (spiritual). The Cauldrons turn at different times in our life. All the Cauldrons go from inverted, mouth down, to
on it's side to mouth up. The Cauldron of Warming is the only one that is upright from birth, which is obvious since the physical is working
from the first moment of life.
It's important to note that the Cauldron of Knowledge CANNOT be turned upright until the Cauldron of Vocation is turned and filled. It's not
enough to turn the cauldron; it must be filled as well. For instance, I cannot logically turn the Cauldron of Knowledge (spirituality) until I
have knowledge to put that spirituality to work. I cannot logically gain knowledge unless my body is at its peak performance.
If I were to put this visually I could use this:
Warming Vocation Knowledge Description
Time before birth
Just after birth and for the first few months of life

When learning starts (as you can see, the Vocation cauldron is
on it's side, in preparation to be turned upright)
Time in School, studying some part of life skills
In the middle of a religious epiphany (baptism, Seminary, holy

ecstasy)
What most humans would be striving for during their lifetime.
However, it is also possible for these cauldrons to spontaneously rotate around and empty by life experiences, such as death or sadness, or
other events.
Warming Vocation Knowledge Description

Physical illness, such as disease or so on. The knowledge is
still there in the Vocation Cauldron, but the Cauldron of
Knowledge has rotated because while the body is sick, you
can't give your full attention to the spiritual. If the Cauldron
of Warming were completely inverted, the patient would be
dead.
This could be an example of a catastrophic event, like loosing

your home, winning the lottery, or something that makes you
stupid for a while.
Death of a loved one, in which it makes you forget your

training and grieve for the unknown. The knowledge you
gained is still there, waiting for you to remember it, but you
can't use it because the Cauldron of Knowledge is
overwhelming the Vocational Cauldron as well as the
Warming Cauldron with the grief.
In each of the above events, you can re-focus on the areas of your life that the cauldrons relate to and turn the cauldrons again.
This is an email discussion I had with DarkOwl about the Cauldrons. He told me that each of the Cauldrons related directly to one of the
Dhuile, and this is what I found out. Mind you, this is what I felt, and he told me that this is pretty close to what he uses in his training
classes and it was pretty good for coming off gut impulse. He said that the major difference is that the directional associations were different
in his tradition (which he teaches for free, as opposed to those traditions that ask for outrageous fees).
Okay, working on impulse here. Don't know how close it will be. Basically I "asked my Center" what the answer to these were, and got
responses. Here is what I got.

Internal
Vocational External Directional
Knowledge Warming
Face (V) Sun (K) South (W)

Mind (V) Moon (K) Inwards (W)
Blood (K) Sea (W) West (V)
Breath (W) Wind (K) East (V)
Head (K) Sky (V) Above (W)
Hair (W) Green World (K) Outwards (V)
Flesh (W) Land (V) Below (K)
Bones (W) Stone (K) North (V)
Spirit (K) Clouds (W) Through (V)
Some of these I have reasons for, here are those:
● Internal = Vocational These internal qualities relate to the Mind and the Intelligence.
● External = Knowledge Taking note of these usually doesn't happen until one is very advanced and realizes that they all have a
spirit
● Directional = Warming These are some of the first things that are noted by us, that here is different from THERE and up and down
are different.
● Face: One's personality is on the Face. If one can control the face, one is an actor. Of the Mind, discipline and will.
● Sun: The Sun is a God, understanding and LIGHT of the sun have been likened to IMBAS and Awen all the time, the light bulb
moments.
● South: As a direction, we general want to go toward where it is warmer, which is a bodily need.
● Mind: DUH, of the mind.
● Moon: Mother and nighttime, holding secrets, knowing when to hold secrets and when to be gentle.
● Inwards: Some of the first things we learn is to listen to our body, pain, gurgles in the stomach, our mother's heartbeat.
● Blood: Our blood is the essence of ourselves, the distilled essence of us. That is why it is a spell component. All that is us, reduced
to a physical form.
● Sea: IT was our birthplace.
● West: It is the land of danger in some myths, but because it can be guarded against, that is something a thinking person can do.
● Breath: You need breath for life
● Wind: Wind carries all that is spoken on it to us, as Math was able to know, a very Awen trait
● East: Beginning place, sunrise and the start. There is you, and there is the start.
● Head: The location of the brain, and thus the seat of our consciousness.
● Sky: The patterns of life can be seen in the patterns of the sky, the birds, clouds and so on. Contemplating it can lead to wisdom
● Above: As above, so below, first principal of magick and life in general
● Hair: The seat of our strength, as in Sampson and some other
● Green world: The Green world is us made large. All that is in the Green world is reflected in ourselves.
● Outwards: Noticing that there is another place other than in your mind, is the start of learning
● Flesh: Um, Warming? Am I close.?.?.?
● Land : The land supports us and nourishes us. It has it's own life and life cycle. We can take advantage of that.
● Below: The underworld, the place where we can be and learn from those who have passed through before.
● Bones: The framework, the scaffolding which keeps us erect.
● Stone: There are times when being stone is not a fantasy. It is a state that Buddhists strive to be at times. Solid and grounded,
empty, immortal. Spirit
● North In the North, good things dwell. Spiral Castle, Arianhrod, Santa Claus. One can gain knowledge by going there and coming
back.
● Spirit: This one should be obvious.
● Clouds: Clouds are made of water and dust. They are not of the air, they dwell in the air. They are made by the Earth and us.
● Through: We seek to pass through, that is when enlightenment happens, when knowledge is gained. NOT wisdom, but simple
knowing.

The next major tool in Druidic magick is the Ogham. Don't make the mistake and think that the Ogham is like the FUThARK runes, which
has a method of divination built around it, it's not.
The Ogham was used originally as a writing script. They used it to mark boundaries and to advertise things like "Cathbad makes good
combs" and "This sword belongs to Keith". At some point, the Druids took this script and associated each letter with a specific tree, who's
qualities they admired. With this association, the basis for a set of divination runes was laid. Note this is different from the FUThARK runes
in which the writing was all that existed and modern scholars tried to make a divinatory system out of it.
I can't say that I use the Ogham to divine with, I generally use omens and IMBAS to forecast the future, however, Searles at The
Summerlands gives a course in Ogham Divination twice a year. The fee is nominal, and basically covers the cost of the book used in the
course. While I have not taken it yet, I hope to one day.
Next are the Gods and Goddesses of Druidism

Please understand something, the deities of the Druids are critical. You cannot call yourself a druid if you remove the Celtic Gods from the
picture. It would be like trying to describe color to someone who had no sight from birth, who had absolutely nothing to hang your
description of "red" on. The flavor of Druidism changes vastly if you try to substitute other deities for the Celtic Gods.
The Gods were pretty much unique to the different clans. They had their own patron deities, and they had their own names for the different
deities, which is why you find that Brigid is spelled four different ways in Celtic Mythology. The goddess of Fire was important to the
region, but they had their own name for Her. It was not until the Catholic Monks started compiling the deities into a mythological
concordance and collecting the stories together that they started reconciling the deities' names.
The two links following are compilations of those appearing in mythology, which is assembled by Mike Nichols. One is the list of deities
and people for the Irish, and the next is for the Welsh. Unfortunately, Caesar did a good job in Gaul and we have lost the mythology of those
people, except what Caesar and Pliny assembled which is slanted terribly.
Irish Myth Concordance

Welsh Myth Concordance
Verbal magick
One last component of Druidic magick is the spoken and written word. Consider this for a moment, the Bards are a grade of Druid, and their
magick is through the songs of the tribe. The Bards know the histories and so on of the group and they share those with those that they meet.
Because of this, the people talked about in stories never die.
Also consider the power the word had now. If I said to my boss, "Stick it up your ass", I would probably be fired pretty fast. However, if a
doctor said the same thing about a suppository, it would probably be considered crude, but accepted as instructions on how to use the
medicine. Think of how many flame wars have been started online by one person taking what another said amiss and deciding to be
offended. Think about how often plainly spoken words are misconstrued to be an insult, and conversely how often insults are missed by
some who don't quite understand the context it's said in.
Words can be powerful magick. I'm speaking about the same things that make a strong woman into a dependant hurting person without
leaving any visible scars and the same thing that can build confidence up to a point where the world can be conquered. Think about how in a
diplomatic situation that a war can be started by a single misunderstood statement.
These are all well-known effects of words and writings, so is it any surprise that the Druids use it all the time? Consider this satiration:
> I was just wondering has anyone gone to their local churches or
> communities and educated people about the Wiccan religion and the danger
> of doing spells with no knowledge of how and why to do it? Like a goddess
> or god invocation, and what it means to do an invocation. Or the

> unforeseen consensequences that doing spells can cause? The law of
> returns, ending a spell and closing a circle correctly. There are alot of
> young people drawn to doing witchcraft that don't properly research or
> have the knowledge of what they are setting into motion. I am thinking
> about doing it because there are people who are interested, but want
> privacy, and not getting proper guidance from the massive contradictory
> internet about where they should start. So they jump right in and end up
> doing something unknowingly, like inviting then trapping a spirit in the
> house, without proper knowledge of what they did and how to fix it. And
> how to keep it from happening again.
<FULL RANT MODE>
What makes you think that we have not been doing this all this time? Many of us have been trying to educate the public about the
dangers/rewards of magick, it's just that you fluffy canars don't seem to get the point. Let me illustrate for a minute...
I'm teaching a class online in magick and part of the course requires the student to be familiar with different schools and philosophies of
magick. So far, I have been teaching this class for about 9 months and I'm only half way through it. This is an enormously complex subject
and you can't learn it by sitting in the Circle with your HPS and chanting for a bit. You cannot call yourself a witch because you make one
potion of relaxation bath salts successfully ONCE. You don't know everything when you walk into someone's home and ask a benevolent
ghost to leave. When you have walked into a house and forcibly ejected a malevolent spirit bent on destroying the occupants of the house
and you have kept it from coming back, when you have successfully conjured the elemental ruler of Air, made him obey you and had him
assign one of his dukes to be your personal servant, when you have cast enough spells to bring money to you that you realize that the
Threefold return and the Rede are simply known as "cause and effect" THEN I will let you call yourself a mage and a witch. Until then you
are a fluffy canar, and depending on the severity of the affliction you may even be a fluffernutter.
Has it occurred to you that 90% of humanity doesn't WANT us sticking our nose into their business on a regular basis? Has it occurred to
you that a Christian being told that by praying to God that he's casting a spell doesn't WANT to know that, even if it is true? Has it occurred
to you that you would be so totally insulted and you would go immediately into "persecuted witch" mode if a Jew came in and corrected
your pronunciation of the chants Gardner added from the Key of Solomon, and that you would be ready to hit something if a Catholic Priest
decided to teach you how to conduct a ritual correctly? Has any of this crossed your puny pea brain? No? Why not?
Could it be that according to you, it's good and correct for you to stick your nose into everything in the universe, but no one better stick their
nose into yours? Guess what.... THAT'S CALLED KETTLEITIS IN MOST PLACES.
Oh, and by the way, can I watch as the Goddess slaps the crap out of you for breaking the Rede? How you may ask? Causing harm to these
people by going in and condescendingly telling these people what they are doing wrong with spells and such you are causing so much
mental trauma to them that you deserve to be bitch-slapped by Kali or the Morrigon. I want to watch it. After all, this could be their way of
learning, through trial and error.
And what makes you think you are qualified to tell them that their spells are wrong in the first place? Don't you fluffy canar realize that most
of the spells you are going to be "correcting" came from the RCC in the first place, or at least from those who were members of the RCC? In
fact, there are several Popes and Cardinals who were rumored to be magickians that could blow away those like Crowley. Did you know that
Elphias Levi, one of the huge magickal minds of the 19th Century was a Catholic Monk for most of his life? Ever heard of the Grimoire of
Pope Honorous III? Do you even know who Elphias Levi was?
In short, fluffy canar, you are doing to them what you have accused them of doing to us for centuries. Besides, if the infestation of the ghost
is too severe, they can always call in an exorcist to drive it out. Yep, there is a whole section of the RCC that deals with JUST driving out
malignant spirits that infest people and places, the difference is that they actually STUDY the problem before leaping in and deciding that
THIS is the problem. Ya know, like they do some experimentation and actually use Occam's razor to see if there is another explanation
before chiding the occupants of the house for summoning a spirit they can't control.
Ever walked into a chapel? Ever felt their Wards? What?!?!? You don't even know what a ward is? Then how does that qualify you to chide
these people for miscasting spells they don't know how to control? They seem to be better magickians than you.
In short, silly fluffy canar, back the hell off and cast the beam from YOUR eye before touching the mote in theirs.

</RANT MODE>
I wrote that rant in response to the post quoted above. It was on a private list I'm a member of specifically for ranting about fluffy members
of the Pagan community (also called the canar community to differentiate it from those pagans who are Hindu, Buddhist and so on. For a full
definition please see Canar Definition ) the quoted section was posted for ridicule, and I decided to do the rant. It's very satirical and made
to be scathing and quite flaming in nature. But it was also a private satire for those who agreed with the general content of the rant.
(Basically I was preaching to the choir on this one, everyone on the list agreed with the general content of the rant.)
And this is only one example of satire, now imagine this same thing set to music and spoken in the public square by every bard that was in
existence. This was a magick that literally ruined reputations and caused some to commit suicide to get it to stop. At a time when a person's
reputation was everything, it was a deadly power to be able to publicly ridicule them.
Lastly, please read this review of the 21 Lessons of Merlin if you have not already. It just goes to show you that even if you call yourself a
Druid, it does not mean that you actually are a Druid.
These are some of the better references I have in my "Favorites" folder on Druidism. Each of these work when I copied them here, so if
something is not working, wait a while and it may be working later.
● Táin Bó Cuailnge - The Cattle Raid of Cooley

● The Druid Archive
● EARTH MYSTERIES Introduction
● Clófhoirne Oghaim Ogham Fonts
● Complete Cattle Raid of Cooley, Irish and English
● Celtic Folklore - original Celtic Folklore, Legends and Lore
● Ár nDraíocht Féin_ A Druid Fellowship
● Who Were the Druids
● DarkOwl's Druid Grove
● Isaac Bonewits' Homepage
● Merlin's Voice
● The Mabinogion
● The Encyclopedia Mythica
● The Summerlands
● Celtic Myth - Irish and Welsh
● The Lebor Gabala Erren
● List of Published Texts at CELT
Assignment:
Well, I'm going to give you some theory on another source of energy for spells, one that I'm loathe to tap into very often for reasons that
should become plain as I write.
This is the emotion as a source of fuel.
Okay, get Yoda's voice out of your head. His advice only applies to those who believe it applies. (Those of you not in the know, his advice to
Luke and others consists of "Anger, fear and hate are of the Darkside, it causes suffering and forever will it dominate your days once you
start down that path.") I have never agreed with this stance of always being contaminated by the darker emotions of anger and hate.
First off, if I was not angry at the injustice in the world, would I do anything about it? If I did not hate what those in public office were

doing, would I get out an vote? If I did not fear what could happen to me, would I have the impulse to learn to protect myself? All these
situations are times when these "negative" emotions are useful and good to have. Without them there would be no impulse to change or
grow.
So too can these same emotions be used to fuel spells. Let's take some examples:
Hate: In this I'm talking about the emotion that we have that causes us to hate situations, and also that same emotion that causes us to hate
people. I hate my boss, so I use that hate to fuel a spell that I have targeting him. Now, in some cases, I can be using it to cause a specific
thing to happen to him, or I can simply use that hate to cause him to get what he deserves.
Anger: I'm angry at what a soon to be ex-husband has been doing to a friend of mine, and I can use that anger to fuel a spell to hurt him, or
to simply keep him so busy dealing with the consequences of his actions that he's too busy to do much of anything else.
Fear: I'm afraid of being hurt while I'm on the Astral Plane, so I use that fear as the impetus to set up a ward to keep me safe.
Now in each of these cases, the "flavor" of the emotion will linger. The fear in the ward will attract those things that feed off that fear, and
the anger of my spell will cause the victim to become angry about the effects of my spell, rather than accepting it. In other words, it could
feed into a negative cycle of action/response.
But for all that, it can be a powerful fuel and energy source.
I want you to take notice next time you are under extreme emotion. Check your physiological reactions, your pulse, your breathing, your
mental processes. Write these impressions down in your notebook for later comparison. Do this every time you are under extreme emotion,
be it fear, hate, anger, ecstasy, joy, love or what have you. Write these down. You don't have to write down the time and date but the entries
should look something like this:
"FUCK HIM! Theat GOD*AMN BASTID of a SON OF A B*TCH F*CKER has done this to me for the last time! I WILL NOT TAKE THIS!
Shit.... heart's pounding, my hair is standing on end, Shit it's hard to see.... Head's swimming. Damn, every time I think of htis I get mada ll
over again.... Crap.... I can't believe that this happeneded AGAIN! I'm so pissed I can't see straight. I want to go out and kick him in the nuts
to make him hurt and hurt and hurt...."
I think you get the idea. Part of this is to purge this emotion also from you, to give you a constructive way of dissipating this energy so you
don't get in trouble.
Now, a week later or so, take out all those entries, and I want you to meditate. I want you to look for a few things:
1. How much energy is in the entries in your journal? I'm betting that it will be a significant amount of metaphysical energy that in in
the words and letters and paper of the rant. Compare it to other entries where you were calm and/or grounded
2. What does that energy feel like? In this one I want impressions of how the energy feels, not what source it came from (ie, "I was
mad", "I was scared..." but more "It feels like a sea urchin, all poking/stabbing points, spiky.")
3. Next time what would you do with that energy? Are there situations where you could use it to fuel a spell? Would you use that if
you could?
4. Would grounding it out help? If you could not ground it for one reason or another, what would you do with that energy?
The next time this happens, situations like above, especially with sorrow and so on, I want you to channel it all into your battery or at least
*A* battery. It does not have to be your primary battery because this energy may need to be cleansed and cleared up, but I want you to treat
this emotion as though it were just another energy and then get what happened and those impressions down on paper.
I would like to see a representative sample of these entries, and I'll let you have till the 14 th of February to do this, so that you get a wide
range of emotional stresses.
There are a lot of other things that you could look for, see what you come up with. Any impressions or thoughts will be valuable to you.
And please note, this is not only the "darker" emotions of hate and fear and anger, but also extreme joy, happiness, the sappy crying one does
when seeing a coffee commercial on TV with the older brother coming home for the holidays.... (Perfect timing, as the advertisers will be
pulling heartstrings at this time of the year.) These extreme emotions are just as valuable as the darker emotions, the effects of the darker

emotions is just more noticeable is all.
Why are we looking at these emotional swings? Because it occurs to me that we have not discussed "Death Curses" like I thought we had, so
we will cover it now.
As you have been finding out in your experiments and throughout this course, everything has energy to it. Plants grow, have energy to them,
we cut them and take that energy into ourselves. The elements have energy to them, our children have energy to them, the pets, the wind, the
sun and on and on. One of the greatest sources of energy is ourselves. We can use our personal energy to fuel spells and spell-like effects
that, if we did not tap into our personal stores of energy, would take a lot of time and effort to do. This is why in many cases when we get to
the end of a spell-casting session that we are exhausted, because we have poured our own personal energies into the spell without realizing
it.
So, this being true, can we harness the release of energy of ourselves when we die? Obviously I'm going to say "yes" simply because I
mentioned it above.
Yes, we can harness the energy given off at the time of death and use it for our purposes, just as we can harness the energy of life creation as
in Sex Magick. It seems to me that when a body is alive, there is an energetic structure holding the soul in place, preventing it from escaping
into other areas of reality. We can learn to see and manipulate this structure for our own purposes, and thus we are able to Astrally Project,
remember past lives and so on. Well, upon death, the soul escapes that energy structure, and it can take that energy with it, let that energy
dissipate along with the body, or use it to fuel a curse or blessing.
How many legends do we as a culture have that depends on the hate and anger of a poor old woman being channeled into a curse on a
family? How many of those come from the death of the old lady? I'll point you to Macha Fleet-Foot as one example... this page and this
page . She harnessed a couple energy sources, the source of pain from birth, the source of death and the source of her anger, and threw this
curse on ALL men, not just those present, but all of them in that country, and that curse persisted for 10 generations. Talk about a powerful
spell. Even if one stipulates that magick was more common then, that's still one powerful spell.
The point of this section is that this kind of power does exist and can be used by us. Granted it is hard to touch, but that does not mean that
we cannot use it at all. Here's another example of the power behind emotions; the parental blessing.
How many people do you know who have gone against the parental wishes in something, and had their world fall down around them while
those who have gotten permission from a parent for some activity they were contemplating had everything go right? How many times did a
parent look at them and say "I told you so...." in that tone of voice that makes the child feel like they are 5 again? An example of this is
Jacob and Esau from the Bible.
It's an incredible power, but when you look at it objectively I can see these steps to the parental blessing:
1. Nervousness on the part of the child or person seeing the blessing

2. Heightened awareness and an altered state of mind in the person seeking the blessing
3. Curiosity on the part of the parent
4. Surprise and shock on the part of the parent
5. Joy and release on the part of the person asking the blessing
...all of which are emotions that when channeled into something, like the ritual words of a parental blessing (such as seeking the hand of a
person in marriage or leaving on a journey such as college) can become a powerful thing which can carry over for quite some time. The
more energy and power, or the more excitement and surprise, the more energy is going into the spell.
So, work with those emotions, and try to channel the energy from an extreme emotion into a spell once or twice. There will be times when
you need that extra boost in power.

Back Home Next

Daven's Journal
http://davensjournal.com/index.htm?HML12.xhtml&2 (14 of 14) [9/19/2003 2:13:18 PM]

High Magick, Lesson 13, Chrisitan Magick
Lesson 13; Christian

Magick
When I first conceived this class, I debated with myself whether or not to include this as a spellcasting tradition,
and then I realized that if I didn't include it, that some of my references and thoughts just wouldn't fit together
correctly. Don't think that because I consider this religion to be a magickal one that I am down on Christianity, I'm
not. I think that it's wonderful in and of itself and that the moral/spiritual structure is a thing of beauty. (Some
fundamentalists could consider any non-dogmatic references and criticisms to be negative.)
Keep in mind that as we go through this lesson that I am not an expert in every aspect of Christianity, and that just
like Wicca, for every 10 Christians I say THIS statement is true for, there will be 1 or 2 Christians that it's not true
for. So, I can only relate to Christianity in general, as a group, and specifically in the Mormon Church and the
Catholic Church.
One other thing I need to clear up before I start. It's a pain in my fingers to type Christianity over and over, so I'm
abbreviating it to Xtianity or something similar. THIS IS NOT IN DISRESPECT. The X is the Chi character in the
Greek Alphabet, and it stands for the first two letters in Christ's name. Among many scholars and religious people,
this is an acceptable abbreviation of Christ, Christian, Christianity and so on.
To quote a recent debate on another list: "Many people seem to think that it was the pagans, ..., who came up with
replacing "Christ" with "X." It wasn't. It was the Christians. "X" is the Greek letter Chi, with the Greek word for
Christ being XPISTOS. "Xian" is a perfectly valid abbreviation of "Christian" (think: "MERRY XMAS," which a
lot of Christians wish each other); X and P often appear as a symbol of Christianity, superimposed, visually
representing the cross and the shepherd's crook. Another appearance of X is in, "IESOUS XPISTOS, ThEOU
YIOS, SOTER" or "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior," the initials of which spell IXThYS, the Greek word for "fish"
and the origin of the fish symbol on Christian cars." This was said by Paul Kershaw, also known as Brighn on the
list "WiccaVent" and he further suggests these webpages: http://udel.edu/stu-org/war4christ/fish.html and
http://www.betasigmapsi.org/news/devotions/ichthys.html
Now, with that out of the way, let us move into the meat of the lesson. Normally I give a history of the school that
is the focus of the lesson, but I can't do a history of Xianity justice in the limited space I have to write in. Suffice to
say that every part of you, who you are right now, has been greatly influenced by Xianity even if you don't believe
in it's tenets or philosophy. Now, before you dash off a letter telling me just how wrong I am, stop and consider for
a minute what I'm talking about. Every modern invention you see was created by men and women of Xian belief,
or they had a hand in it. The fact that you are reading books was because a Xian person needed a way to use up all
the rags left from the Plague, and thus the Guttenberg press was invented. Better than 4/5 of the information on
Paganism you know was written down by Catholic Monks and researchers. The United States of America would
not exist if not for Xianity. Even when other groups have their influence on these events, the last century was so
inundated with Xian thought/feeling/concepts that many of us don't think about it anymore.
Take a really minor sticking point between the Pagans and the Xians; nudity. Here are the Pagans saying that
nudity (especially casual domestic nudity) is allright, a valid form of worship, a good thing to do, and the body is

not something to be ashamed of, but then there are the Xians who are screaming that except for being in the
shower/bathtub one MUST be covered with cloth for modesty's sake. How many of us had absolutely no problem
taking off our clothes where others could see us, how many had problems taking off clothes where the significant
other could see? How many of us scream and cover up when our child wanders in while we are using the toilet?
How many of us are embarrassed at the thought of stripping naked in our rituals and rites outside? And how many
laws reflect the morals of the Xian mindset?
That's one example, and there are literally thousands more I could cite. It has been argued that the Crusades
changed the map of the world, the Pope literally changed the face of the planet (just look at where they speak
Spanish and where they speak Portuguese if you don't believe me), the number of wars that raised empires and
destroyed nations over one little section of dogma in the Xian religion (Catholics vs. Protestants) and so on.
Every single event in the Xian church had an impact on the world as we know it. Heck, even the Nazi party
considered themselves to be mystical Teutonic Xians.
I'm stopping now before this section becomes a burden and a pain in the backside for you all. Suffice to say that if
you read any history of the world from the CE era on, you are going to be reading about the history of the Xian
Church and all it's offshoots. (There is another one, the BC/AD measurement of time, along with the calendar
[from Pope Gregory] and so on.)
One thing that should be pointed out is that during most of these times, when Xianity was growing and propagating
itself, magick was somewhat acknowledged by the clergy. They didn't call it that, and they were very careful to tap
dance around the issue. They made it plain that Magick was of the Devil, Miracles were of God. However for the
outside observer there was no effective difference. So, it basically came down to, if a Priest of the Catholic Church
(the only Xian game in town at the time) did something and magick occurred, then it was a Miracle. If someone
else did something and Magick occurred, it was of the Devil and therefore evil.
The pogroms against many of the pagan religions of the time was directed toward (when it was not about political
power and monetary gain) finding those who used magick and getting rid of them. Magick was officially ONLY
the property of the Catholic Clergy. All others were discredited, persecuted, exiled, ridiculed, reviled, executed (in
some cases) and accused of heresy. So, if a pagan wise woman cast a spell to make the fields fertile, it was not her
that did it, it was Satan. If a priest did the exact same thing, it was a miracle of God.
So, where does this leave us? With a wealth of documentation and evidences for Xianity being a magickal
tradition. But first let me show you how it's a magickal tradition.
So far, we have talked about magick coming from within the practitioner (as with Witchcraft), in partnership with
Spirits (as in Shamanism), from symbolic devices that explain the world around us (as with the Elements and the
Druidic way of magick) but here we have a whole different way of doing magick, asking a Deity to do it for us.
Yes, prayer is the basis of 90% of Xian magick, and Faith is the other 10%. I, as a Mormon, kneel down and pray
to Heavenly Father that I need help with my finances, that I'm having trouble meeting my bills. I have faith that He
will help me out, since I'm a good member of His one and only true church on the face of the Earth, and when I get
a raise, it's Heavenly Father's credit and His blessings showering me. However, if the promotion that I was
counting on falls through, it's my fault since I wasn't faithful enough or worshipful enough or selfless enough, or
Heavenly Father decided that the promotion wasn't right for me and that I didn't need it since something else was
coming.

Now, did you see the trap? Everything that is good comes from God, everything bad that happens is either MY
fault or He is testing/doing things for my betterment down the road. The whole of Xian magick is based around
this. This sets up a mindset of Superior Deity/inferior human. It's not MY credit or hard work that caused me to get
that promotion, it's God giving it to me. Conversely it's not anyone else's fault that I failed because my boss was
setting me up for failure, it's my fault that I was unable to do what was needed.
I'm sure that there are many of us who came from a Xian background, so I probably don't have to go into a deep
discussion of the basic concepts of Xianity, but I have asked one author if he minds if I use an article of his to
explain Xianity to the Pagan mind. It's at Christianity for the Perplexed Pagan and it's pretty good. Note, please,
that this was designed to be tongue-in-cheek, meaning it was written to be humorous, but there is enough truth in it
that I decided to include it in the materials for this class.
Now, given that much of current philosophy looks like Xian thought, how do we know it's Xian magick? Mostly
because of who gets the credit. Let me give some examples of Xian magick.
Lourdes/Fatima/Guadeloupe
Lourdes
Fatima
Guadeloupe
Each of these sacred sites, the Virgin Mary showed up and blessed the place. She usually had a message to be
shared with the world, and by the belief of the followers of Xianity, they effectively enchanted the area to make
miraculous things occur there. For instance, in Lourdes, healings occur regularly to those of faith and belief.
Lourdes (MUST have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC to view)
Now, what makes this area so special? Nothing other than the mystical belief that has been given to these locations
by those of faith. What do I mean when I say "faith"?
Faith is defined by the Catholic Encyclopedia as "In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means essentially
steadfastness, cf. Exod., xvii, 12, where it is used to describe the strengthening of Moses' hands; hence it comes to
mean faithfulness, whether of God towards man (Deut., xxxii, 4) or of man towards God (Ps. cxviii, 30). " ( Entry
) This definition does not tell us much, however.
My definition of "faith" is that one believes in the existence of something that cannot be proven by any means we
have currently, despite any evidence to the contrary. I can come up with 800 pieces of evidence, scientific to the
philosophical, that proves the Xian God does not exist, and those of faith will still believe in that God despite me. It
is, in a way, a blind following of that which one cannot see.
This is NOT, however, saying that is all Faith is. It is a powerful tool for the Xian, and it is central to their beliefs
and their magick. Without this faith, nothing else is possible.
So, the pilgrims of Lourdes and Fatima and Guadeloupe have faith that something unexplainable happened. They
have faith that the mother of Christ showed up there in a holy vision, and they point to evidences that "prove" these

visitations. For instance, in Lourdes they point to the healings coming from the fountain as proof. In Guadeloupe
they point to the manifestation of the portrait on the poncho of the person to first see this apparition. Even when
evidence to the contrary is introduced, it is explained away by twists of logic or, in some cases, by simply declaring
"I have faith".
This faith extends to other areas of Xianity, sometimes very odd ones. For instance, this faith and ecstatic trance
are combined in a group of Fundamental Xians called the Snake Cults. While known in America, normally those
outside the borders of the United States don't know much about them.
Basically, they are Xian groups who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible (the holy book of the Xians). In
this paradigm, what is written down in the King James Version of the Bible is what literally happened in Ancient
times. It would be analogous to saying that the mythic stories of the Norse actually happened, exactly as they are
written down. Part of that belief in a literal translation is the belief that God will keep those who have Faith safe in
the midst of the serpents.
In one of the stories, the Hebrew God sent a plague of poisonous snakes to test his "chosen people" and to weed out
those who did not believe in him. To this end, He told His prophet to erect a pole with a snake on it where
everyone could see it. He then told His people that those who believed in Him would be safe, and if bitten they
could look upon the snake on the pole and they would not die.
The Snake Cults take this literally. While many of them don't have poles with a snake on it erected in their church,
they do handle poisonous snakes in their worship services. They are showing the faith they have in their God by
doing this. They dance and sing while holding Rattlesnakes, Water Moccasins, Copperheads and (when available)
Cobras. They sling these snakes around themselves, chant at them, stick the heads of the snakes in their own
mouths, and all kinds of ecstatic activities with these snakes.
They must be doing something right as the incidents of snakebite tends to be low. But it can also be a case of the
snake going "what the hell?" and being too confused to do anything. It also occurred to me that this can be seen as
the same kind of activity that is undertaken by the "Snake Charmers" of India. So this phenomenon is not entirely
unknown.
Some of the magickal belief can be seen in portions of the RCC (Roman Catholic Church) itself, in such
documents as "The Grimoire of Pope Honorous III". ( for his Papacy in the RCC, for the actual Grimoire and
here) According to what I could find out and assume, apparently the pope Honorous III (who was a real pope)
penned a grimiore that told one how to summon and contain evil spirits for their own use. I have not read this
work, and I could only find passing references online or advertisements where the book was for sale, but it seems
somewhat well known, especially among the LHPers (Left Handed Pathers, or those who believe that magick is a
tool, useful for whatever one wants to use it for, good or ill. Satanism, Voodoo, Santaria and some Koptic groups,
as well as some very liberal definitions of Asatru would be considered LHPers.)
You can also find this in some of the rituals of the RCC itself. One indication of magick being part and parcel of
the Church rituals is "The Stations of the Cross". ( Stations of the Cross ) This is a ritual in which the participant
moves around the church building (usually inside the chapel itself) and ritualistically "visits" the holy places that
Jesus was at during his ministry as though they were on a pilgrimage around the "Holy Land". This is done as a
sacred ritualistic play, with icons at each station that represent something they would be seeing were they actually
at the site, and indulgences are given at each station.
(One side note, a Catholic Indulgence is pretty much a "get out of jail free card". For some sins, you spend a finite

amount of time in Purgatory, suffering a punishment for that sin. These are what are called "venial" sins, meaning
that they are minor. Examples would be lying, wishing your sister dead, theft of gum and so on. Each sentence for
these sins could be 10,000 years or so. [Hey this is Eternity we are dealing with here, that amount of time is an eye
blink.] Each indulgence shortens that amount of time. These indulgences were commonly given out as rewards to
those who performed properly, knew their dogma and so on. Mary had earned, before she left the RCC at 12,
something like 300,000 years of indulgences, simply for knowing and being able to recite her Catechism (cat-a-kis-
m) or the dogmatic beliefs of the RCC at the time. Indulgences for things like this could amount to 500,000 years of
indulgences or more. It was the selling of these, for money, that started the whole Protestant Reformation with
Martin Luther's 97 Thesis.)
But it's the ritual reenactment of the Crucifixion, arguably one of the most important Mysteries of the Xian Church,
that generates the power. I'm not really sure what it goes for, but I can take a guess. Based on what I *do* know of
the ritual, the energy generated goes into transformative uses for the practitioner. In other words, hopefully, the
participant will grow closer to God and Jesus by reenacting his life, and therefore will be fundamentally changed
when they finish.
But then there are things that could truly be considered spells too, like the Exorcism. This rite is probably one of
the most circumscribed in the entire RCC, mainly because of the inherent chance of misidentification of an actual
possession. Understand something, according to the RCC, what you see in movies like "The Exorcist", "The
Amnetyville Horror", "Stigmata" and so on are NOT what actually happens. There are not demonic voices,
spinning heads, pea soup vomit, levitation and so on, although they can certainly be a part of the manifestation.
Most often, the manifestations of Fallen Angels or Demons is through things that could easily be mistaken for
mental illness. Personality changes, self-mutilation, insomnia or catalepsy, sleepwalking, responding to voices that
no one else can hear and so on, all are symptoms of either a mental problem, or possibly a demonic possession.
Therefore, the RCC is very careful in diagnosing a case of possession and even more cautious in actually
performing an Exorcism. Generally, to my understanding, actual Exorcisms are performed no more often that once
every five years per regional area (also called a Dioceses), IF that. The problem that could be interpreted as a
demonic possession is investigated using ALL mundane forms of science that we know of to rule them out, and
only when all those are exhausted is a tentative diagnosis of possession forwarded.
From there, the Exorcist takes over. Generally, to my understanding, the Exorcist is a small branch of the RCC and
there are only a handful in the world, although any Priest could do this rite. These people are specialists. They
carefully review the case and do the rituals and spells, to drive the demon out.
Please understand, this is not something they take lightly, although there are some who abuse their ability to do
this. It is circumscribed, watched, looked at and reviewed and 999 cases out of 1000 are found to have other causes
rather than demonic possession. The RCC has come a long way from Medieval times when EVERYTHING was
caused by Demons. I believe there is possibly even an oversight board of Cardinals or the Pope himself to make
sure that this process is obeyed.
There are many rituals like this that could be cited, but let's look at one aspect of Xian magick that transcends the
traditions, healing.
Now, you and I know that it is possible for the energy from one person to go into another person or animal and heal
them of problems. It's the same process that the body would go through under perfect conditions, speeded up to a
great extent. Therefore, congenital birth defects can't be healed since the body can't be restored to a state in which
something that didn't exist suddenly does. Thus those who were blinded from birth because of blurry chromosomes

could not be healed of that blindness, but someone who was blinded by pinkeye at age 2 could be.
The Xian church takes the ability that is told about in the Bible and uses the fact that, according to the myths, Jesus
could heal and declares that they can to.
As silly as this sounds, they actually do manage to do so.
The process is VASTLY different than what you and I would be doing. Instead of being in a Circle, sending our
energy out and imposing our Will on that energy with the DEMAND that this WILL happen, the average Xian will
kneel in prayer to their God, either singly or in a group, and ask that their God do this for them. After all,
(according to their belief) God made the entire world and everything in it, therefore He can do anything He wants.
It's an interesting side note that for the most part, single prayer like this or even prayer in small groups doesn't have
any effect, but when you get to the level of a large amount of people praying all with the same goal in mind, it
does. This technique is called in the RCC "Storming Heaven" in which hundreds or thousands of people will all
pray at the same time for the same goal. The theory is that while it would be possible for God and His angels to
ignore one or a dozen people's requests, ignoring thousands of the SAME request is impossible. Basically they are
trying to blackmail their god by saying "we will keep asking for this until you do it. Do it and we will shut up."
(For the record, yes, I am aware that is not what they are literally saying, but it sure seems like that.)
This can be seen in the Christian Scientists as well, who don't believe in modern medicine. There are many
documented cases of this phenomenon, not just with the CS, they are simply the most well known. Please see here
and here for further information about this.
For instance, the Mormons (also known as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or the LDS) believe
that only certain people designated by holding the "priesthood" (effectively every post pubescent male) can heal by
laying on hands. They put their hands on the Crown Chakra of the patient, say a prayer over them and they will be
healed, or at least healed enough that they won't die. I have first hand experience with this, as I was given one of
these healing prayers when I had an acute attack of Appendicitis. To hear my mother speak, it was a miracle of
Heavenly Father that I didn't die. When the doctors got me open and started removing the appendix, it was already
split and oozing puss, and going septic. My mother credits the blessing I got just before going to the hospital with
saving my life. I actually think it was more that I was too stubborn to die.
Irregardless, the Mormons see their healing not so much as something they are doing, or something God is doing,
but more as they are the conduit for the healing that Heavenly Father sends out. They are the requestors of the
blessing/healing, and because they are the ONLY true church, Heavenly Father pays attention to their requests
while ignoring everyone else. So when they request something from Heavenly Father, they become the funnel for
the Divine Intervention that will occur.
Now, talk to 50 Mormons or ex-Mormons, and you will get 50 different descriptions of what will happen, but when
you boil it down to essentials, this is what you wind up with. Essentially, the Priesthood holder is a Divine Funnel.
All things come from Heavenly Father, the only difference between the Priesthood holders and the lay person
walking around in one of those "false" churches is that Heavenly Father hears AND responds to EVERY request
from a Mormon Priesthood Holder, and because of their blessed status, they have a shorter route to the ear of God.
You must also understand that Xian philosophy and mysticism in the RCC and other churches wound up spinning

off the Spiritualist Movement. There were two main people that came out of that time, Alice Bailey and Madame
Blavatsky. Both these women were responsible in different ways for the New Age teachings and for the OTO and
other metaphysical associations.
From what I understand the sequence of events to be, they both had visions in different ways, and from those
visions they determined that God was wanting them to spread a message to the populace at large. In the case of
Alice Bailey, she had an ongoing series of visions and information would appear in her head. Eventually she
decided to start writing it all down into books. If you have ever seen the books printed out, they tend to be different
thicknesses, but they all are about a foot tall, by about 7 inches wide. When her collected works were stacked in a
shelving unit my grandmother had in her bedroom, these books took up something along the lines of 5 feet of shelf-
space. I was able to acquire a CD version of her work, and it takes up the ENTIRE CD. That is a ton of
information.
Now, as it turns out, there was an Indian gentleman who was collaborating with Ms. Bailey on these works, and
even when she found this out, it was still a miracle of God that they were able to work on this together. So despite
the fact that she and this gentleman were doing all the work, collaborating on a project on the Astral Plane, it was
still a miracle of God that they were in contact with each other in the first place.
And this carries over to many of the famous spiritualists of the time, like Edgar Cayce. As far as I can find out, Mr.
Cayce was either agnostic or a non-practicing Xian, but one who credited God with his abilities and gifts.
This kind of starts explaining why most rational thinking people are able to be rooked by Televangelists like Oral
Roberts and Jerry Fallwell into sacrificing millions of dollars to them, not to their God.
I often hear a joke that says "God, my minister has said that You need my money. Here's what I'll do, I will throw
my cash up in the air, You grab what You need and want, and I keep the money that hits the ground, okay?" I keep
waiting for god to say something like what is found here.
And the connections of Xianity to Metaphysics does not end there. One of the most famous magickians, Elphias
Levi started out life as a Catholic Monk. Now, that is not that odd, but what he did was incredible. Bio of Eliphas
Levi and Eliphas Levi (the spelling changes from Eliphas to Elphas depending on who is writing things.) He was
educated, like most of his generation, to be a good Catholic person, but his metaphysical bend took him into the
priesthood. He worked long and hard and became a monk, and had many revolutionary writings.
However, his writings on magick and metaphysics are what became his claim to fame. That and his associations of
the Tarot with the Kaballah. Yes, the "traditional" associations you have been using in your tarot readings were
invented by this man. Apparently this was a study that took him years, but it would not have been possible except
for the Catholic Church. They educated him (remember, all knowledge and literacy were the SOLE province of the
clergy at the time) and made the relevant information available to him.
Interestingly enough, I can't find a record of him being excommunicated by the RCC, although there is no entry in
The Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent ).
But this still points out how the Church is mixed up in magick. Not just the practitioners, but in the education of
and subtle acceptance of magick in their own ranks. For instance, has anyone questioned why the RCC has such a
magickal ritual that is performed almost daily? Which one, you may ask. The Mass. Yes, this is a magickal
ceremony, and if looked at closely it will show itself to be a magickal rite, complete with spell and a subtle effect

on the practitioners.
One of the reasons we do magick is to make a change in ourselves. That is only one goal, but it's a primary one.
However, for the Christian Practitioner, the worshiper, this is a primary activity. The ritual of Mass brings a change
in themselves and blows away the belief that magick does not happen for them. After all, there is their priest up
there performing a miracle every day, changing the bread to flesh and the wine to blood.
Now, to you or I, the bread stays bread, and the wine stays wine. But to the devout Catholic, this miracle happens.
The bread literally becomes flesh, and the wine literally becomes blood, and by eating it, they are redeemed from
their sins and transgressions, to be made pure and allowed to be newborn again. It's a constant initiation, and no
one disputes how magickal that ritual is for us.
Recently, I have been continuing my studies with the Ord Draiochta na Uisnech (the Druid Order of Uisnech) and
some valid points were made about magick and ritual. In one point, the text of the class I was studying said that
ritual's purpose was to bring about a change in the practitioner, to blast away the miasma of daily life and
preconceived notions that all of us fall into. With those notions and that "tunnel vision" gotten rid of, you can
connect with all the rest of creation and with all the rest of Magick and the Gods easier, since you are now in a
mind set to perceive them, rather than willingly blinding yourself.
One last segment here before we get to the assignment: When I first called a hiatus to this class, and explained
what was happening to you all, there were a few who left through a misunderstanding. I gave those few the
resources I had been using and allowed them to pursue their own path in this. One of the questions that was raised
by one of them was the purpose of the class, if I was not teaching any one school of magick. I replied with one of
my favorite tools for teaching, the analogy.
I said that I was not teaching a specific tradition of magick because I simply didn't know all the specific traditions
of magick out there, but I was giving the basics of magickal practice that one would need no matter the tradition
one decided to pursue. I likened it to my being a teacher of glass making. I was teaching how to find the glass,
what glass was, how to melt the sand, find the proper sand for the job, how to mold it and how to shape it. I was
describing the basic techniques of glassblowing, stained glass, glass sculpting and theory on transparent metal and
so on, but I was only teaching the basics of that glass making, which would be needed no matter the specialty one
decided to pursue later.
That's why I'm not showing spells or telling you "a pinch of this, a dash of that, put it in the cauldron and boil for 5
days...." but rather showing you what the magickal energy feels like, how to raise it, how to channel it, how to
visualize it and how to direct it. All these skills are the basis for every other magickal act you will take later in life.
They are IMPERITIVE, and there is no getting around them. Just chanting the words and understanding some
theory means nothing if you don't know when you have energy ready to pour into the spell structure you have
created, and if you can't visualize the goal in your mind, all else is useless.
So, that is the overall goal here. I want to make sure you understand the basics and have "the common skill set"
down perfectly, and understand the specialties of magick (or the traditions) well enough to go with what appeals to
you and what you are comfortable with. But this skill set that you are learning in the assignments is critical and it
covers the entire group of specialties that are possible. Some groups, like the Xians, won't call the feeling you get
when energy is moving "energy moving", they will call it "feeling the Holy Spirit", but you know what? It's
ultimately the exact same thing, just by another name.
"What’s in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet; " --Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene II
Assignment:
First off, let me say that I'm very grateful that you all have stuck with me on this. Your patience is a gratifying
thing to see. I am pleased with the progress you have made and I enjoy seeing the results you write down. It's like
seeing a baby take their first few steps without falling, because it all suddenly clicks in the head and you get it.
So, that said, now it's time to be the taskmaster again.
To date: I only have about 4 people's assignments that were due in mid February. I said that I still wanted to see the
results of those assignments, and most of you have not turned it in. So, if you have not, please do so post haste.
This lesson's assignment builds on the progress you have already made. Now you get to draw and ground energy at
the same time.
Before I had you drawing energy in one act, then grounding that energy in one act. You were being a pump, taking
the energy into you and then sending it someplace else. This time you will be the conduit or pipe for the energy.
In your meditation over the next week, connect to the elements in the way you would as though you were going to
recharge yourself. As soon as that is done, ground into your power sink. Start pulling the energy from the elements
into you, but instead of building up the reservoir of energy in you, let that energy flow out and into your battery,
without hindering or stopping it. Just be passive and allow the energy flow from the elements directly into the
battery, with you acting as the pipeline.
Once that is done, and you feel no further energy flowing through you into your battery, reverse the flow. Draw
energy out of your battery (probably the same energy you were putting in) and split it to the elements and dump
that energy to those elements. Still remain passive and control the speed of the flow, and how the energy is split,
but don't draw it into you and then dump it into the elements. I think you get the picture.
Do that for one week, write down your progress and turn them in.
In this one, you are not acting in any manner other than as a channel for the energy. To use an analogy again, you
are the streamed the "river" of energy is flowing through. You contain the energy long enough to send it someplace
else, but you are not inhibiting it, stopping it or controlling it other than as the channel. This is hard to do, since the
energy will naturally, like water, seek it's own level.
You may, for instance, find that you are doing part 2 first, and your battery is dumping through you and into the
elements, rather than the reverse. This is normal, because the energy wants to equalize so that there are equal
amounts of energy in each place. You may have to act as a dam, and stop the flow of energy from one to the other
at times. But many times you will act as that conduit.
One other exercise you will be doing once you have the above skills down is drawing and sending through your

hands. This is part of the simultaneous drawing and grounding.
Get someone who wishes to be the victim for this experiment. First, draw some energy into you from the source of
your choice, be it your battery or what have you. Send energy from you into the victim and ask their reactions and
what they felt. Then pull energy from them and find out their reactions. Gradually move your hands back from
them until your hands are about a foot off their body and keep doing this drawing and sending. You will probably
be using both hands for this exercise.
One thing that must be stressed, if you or your victim get headaches or other physical symptoms, stop and ground.
Headaches will be the most common, followed by physical aches as energy that is used to support sections of your
body is siphoned off to do this exercise. If you have these problems, stop and ground. Things will equalize and you
will be better, but you have to stop at that point. Trust me, you really don't want to push this one. I did once, and
suffered from lower back pain for about a month before things stabilized enough to let it go.
Now, after mastering that skill, of sending and drawing from another person, do it simultaneously again, using one
hand as the drawing hand, and one as the sending hand. Make a circuit and move it back and up to about a foot
again. Then, lastly, do both the drawing and the sending from the SAME hand. Believe me, it sounds hard or
impossible, but it can be done. Divide your hand in half, and have one section being the sending section and one
the drawing. Then do the same with the other hand.
I think that will be enough to keep you all busy for the next few weeks while I write the next lesson. As always,
questions to the list, assignments to the list, write down your experiences and your victim's experiences and share
them.
Back Home Next

Lesson 14; Ritual
Lesson 14: Ritual

In previous lessons I touched on Ritual and it's use. In this lesson we will look at ritual in depth, including one of
the best examples of ritual I have seen.
Let's start with some basics: (please note that I am taking part of this from another lesson I prepared previously. I
have revised this slightly and corrected a few inaccurate statements.)
One thing that I want to stress as we get into this is, you can't really screw up a ritual. About all you can do is make
it meaningless or knock yourself out of the "mood". There is nothing (unless you are doing a spell) that you can do
to really screw things up, so don't worry. Relax.
Ritual serves the same purpose as myth. It is a language of symbols, frequently those symbols will be the same
ones that you have on your altar, in your directions, and that you use in your divination. In and of themselves,
doing the rites and rituals don't mean anything. The only meaning there is what YOU as the participant or
conductor bring to it. That's all.
So, if the ritual has no meaning, why do it? Simple, it serves the same purpose that every other symbol serves. It's
an outward expression of an inward state. It is a concrete representation of what you wish to bring to be.
For example, you want to celebrate the Lord and Lady. So, you decorate the Altar with symbols representing the
time of year, the way you feel about Them, what you wish to give them, and so on, and your ritual is centered
around giving your Love to Them and making Them feel appreciated.
Sadly many Pagans get caught up in the "High Episcopagan" mind set of "I MUST do this action now, and say
these words, and have THIS in my hand at THIS time" (said sotto voce) that they loose sight of the MEANING of
the ritual. The meaning they are supposed to bring to the ritual is someone trying to show their appreciation to the
Gods.
So, if your sleeve catches fire when doing the rite, curse and yell, if you drop the platter of cakes, laugh and keep
laughing. The Gods won't be offended; in fact, they may even be joining you in your mirth. I have heard them
laughing when I fell on my face during one rite because my robe was too long. Just about every practicing Pagan
has something similar to share.
Disclaimer: Here I will be breaking down rituals into parts and explaining those parts, but this list is not all-
inclusive. I have probably skipped something, and I KNOW that I have not put every kind of ritual down for
discussion. This is a *general* outline of what I have encountered in rites and rituals from 10 years of work. These
kinds of rituals and ritual structure even carries over into other mainstream religions, so keep an eye out.
Definitions:
rite

Lesson 14; Ritual
Pronunciation: 'rIt
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin ritus;
1.
a. a prescribed form or manner governing the words or actions for a ceremony
b. the liturgy of a church or group of churches
2. a ceremonial act or action (initiation rites)
ritual
Pronunciation: 'ri-ch&-w&l, -ch&l; 'rich-w&l
Function: noun
1. the established form for a ceremony; specifically : the order of words prescribed for a religious ceremony
2.
a. ritual observance; specifically : a system of rites
b. a ceremonial act or action
c. a customarily repeated often formal act or series of acts
Function: adjective
1. of or relating to rites or a ritual : CEREMONIAL (a ritual dance)

2. according to religious law or social custom (ritual purity) - rit·u·al·ly adverb
Types of rituals:
Worship/Devotional/Celebratory: This is the type of ritual that takes place in Sunday Church, Friday Shabbos
rite, Saturday's 7th Day Adventist service or study at a mosque. It is a worship of a God or Gods in which you
generally give thanks for what you have, praise the God, and hear any messages that the God has for you, usually
through the medium of the Pastor or Minister. This kind of rite is the single most common type of ritual there is. It
cuts across all religions, faiths, ways, and creeds. Even many groups that you may not think about as being
"religious" in nature like the invocation at a football game, the Scouts, and other examples.
One thing that goes with this section is a sacrifice. I just recently came across an excellent short article by a good
friend of mine who summarized a section of a book talking about sacrifice. It can be found here:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/clergyramblings/3046.html#cutid1 Condensing the article
additionally, the theme is there are three kinds of sacrifice: Communion, Celebratory and the "Guilt Offering".
Communion opens up communication between you and the divine, or other entities, Celebratory is just that, a
celebration, and Guilt is trying to expiate something in your past, canceling its effect on you. These are important
to keep in mind. An additional article on Blood Sacrifice is available at http://davensjournal.com/BSac.xhtml
Meditation/Self Improvement: This kind of ritual occurs when you start a process to transform yourself or to get
rid of habits or to initiate or continue a spiritual journey. Meditation tapes are a good example. In some cases, so
too is a visit to a Psychologist. Especially if just walking through the door of the office gets you into the mood. A
"Sweat lodge" could also fall under this kind of heading.
A ritual I went through a long time ago follows:

Lesson 14; Ritual
Once upon a time, I went to a spiritual center and hung out there almost all the time. It was a nice place, I attended
classes there, helped with mailing newsletters, and so forth. One lady there did counseling and taped journeys of
the soul. I asked her what she did exactly, and she offered to take me through one of those sessions. I said, "Sure,
why not?"
What happened to me I remember to this day, more than 10 years later. Basically she laid me on a couch, and put
some headphones on my ears and started a tape. In it, I was invited to relax, let go and see what the voice on the
tape was telling me to see. And boy did I.
At the end of the one-hour, I was crying like a baby. I was able to purge many negative thought processes. I was
able to accept myself as a good person, simply because I was alive. I didn't have to kill my success and myself
simply because I didn't deserve anything. And I got better.
These rituals are common when one considers just how many rituals of this kind are out there. A simple meditation
with your Gods, a ceremony to purge yourself, and many others all fit into this category.
Initiatory: While this ritual can be combined with the ritual above, it can also stand on it's own. The best example
of this kind of ritual I can think of is a adult baptism in the Christian Church, Bar/Bas Mitzvah in Judaism or
Confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church . You go in to the ritual as one person, and leave it as another. A
typical result of that initiation is for at least a while, you behave act differently. So too, in Paganism, we have the
initiation and dedication rituals that do the same thing.
Many additional examples of this exist other than initiation, RC Stations of the Cross from another lesson for
example, and the Coming of Age rituals. A Native American Sun Dance, where the pain of the process, the pulling
to get free, the mortification of the flesh all combine to change the participant into something else.
A symbolic death is as good as a real one for a sacrifice in some traditions, notably Wicca. It binds the group
together over that death, and each can relate to it on a personal level at that point. An initiation is a symbol of the
death of the old person, the rebirth of the new person (some traditions going so far as to blindfold and restrain the
new person in the initiation, or make them crawl through the legs of all the women, or swim between them also),
the old person is now dead, a new one born, complete with a new name.
Not all milestones are ritually marked. A coming of age rite that is extremely important for many Teens is getting
their driver's license. They take classes (preparation), study, practice, and go for the test. Once they pass it and then
drive their parents around for a while (while the parent is white-knuckled in the passenger seat). This is an
important rite, a rite of maturity. Yet, rarely is there a ceremony per se.
Certainly a bachelor party or a wedding can be seen in much the same light, as well as the night of drinking typical
of western youth when one becomes 21 and can legally buy alcohol.
All these "rites" can be seen as sacred societal rites, not necessarily religious in aspect, but as transformational
initiatory rites.
Spell work: This is the "ooie ooie" part of Paganism, the spells. Yes, casting a spell is a ritual all by itself, and one
that is vastly different from those above. Pretty much, this could be considered the "prayer" part of a Sunday
service in the Christian Church. It's the "Coercion of God" or the "imposition of your Will upon the universe." As

Lesson 14; Ritual
such it is it's own rite. Some of the basics to this type of rite will be similar to the rest, but the aim, the goal of the
rite will be very different.
In each of these types of rituals, there will be elements that will be exactly similar to each other, and normally
practitioners will combine one with the other. For instance, using our Christian Church as an example, our dear
minister may have the celebration service early Sunday morning, followed hard by the spell work section of the
service (the prayer). There may be a break of several hours where he talks to different members of the congregation
and counsels them (self improvement), after which there is a gathering on the lawn for the softball league
(celebration again) and move right on into the baptism of a new member to the church (initiation). At no one time
are the rites ended, but at different points the disinterested members are free to leave.
Any ritual that you find will fit one or more of the above categories. Other authors may give them different titles
but there will be commonalities among them. Also note, a rite is a way of doing things that has been passed down
for years, a ritual is the actual doing of a rite. The distinction is subtle but important.
This is a breakdown of a ritual into it's component parts:
Preparation
This is the stage where you gather that tools and/or the objects you need. It is here you go over the rite in your head
and figure out what you are going to say and what you will do. You set up the Altar and lay out the tools for easy
use when you actually begin. You may choose to start a little earlier with a ritual bath to cleanse and purify
yourself in preparation for this ritual. You could even start earlier than that with a fast, diet or abstinence from
certain vices, all with the goal of preparing you for the actual rite itself. Any research for the ritual should be done
in this stage, drawings made for the ritual, and all other things that you need to do before you begin, so that there is
no interruption once you start.
Consecration
This is the start of the actual ritual itself. Relating to Paganism, this is where you bless and prepare the space for
use. You ritually cleanse the Circle of any negative influences, seal the Circle by "casting" it, bless the participants
in the rite, and bless the area. Basically, what you are doing is making this plot of ground "holy" for the purposes
of inviting the Gods to attend. It's analogous to the cleaning frenzy many of us go through when acquaintances are
coming over for a while. Usually once this part begins, you don't leave for any reason, unless it's a DIRE
emergency.
Invocation
This is where you invite the deities or other entities to join your Circle, and bless it with their presence. I say "other
entities" because there will be times when you may want other astral beings to be present. For example, if you
choose to ritually Invoke the Watchtowers or Call the Quarters, this asks another being to be present at the Circle,
and in some cases it commands them to be present. I urge you to use the invocation rather than a summoning.
Remember this from a previous lesson? Here is where that advice is useful. By Invoking, you ask them to help and
to be present. You do have to accept "no" for an answer, because they may be busy. However, the trade off is
cooperation. When invoked, goodwill is given and received, trust is stated and given. By summoning, you are
treating these astral beings as slaves or servants, and a slave will never give you their help unasked.

Lesson 14; Ritual
The Working
Okay, this is the actual "working" part of the ritual. Usually this is the specific rite (reason) the Circle was cast.
Some examples would be a worship service, spell work, and so on. The actual process done in this section varies
from group to group, and even from person to person. It's where you do all those esoteric things that you see done
in movies and TV. A lot of times while the previous steps go by quickly, if only from repetition, this is where you
take your time.
I like analogies, and here's one. If a ritual can be likened to car repair, then the Preparation is getting the tools out
and popping the hood, the Consecration is laying out the tools and hoping you don't screw up, the invocation is
yelling at the car for doing this to you, and the actual repair is the working. This is where you slow down and take
your time with everything. This is where you meditate, get your feelings together, figure out what you are doing,
and so forth, and actually start the process that you got everything out for.
There are some practitioners that combine a lot of separate rites and rituals into one during the Working section.
There are arguments for and against this practice, which I will go into more detail once we begin to look deeper
into the way to "rearrange" this format. What? You thought this process was written in stone? More the fool you.
No, this is all fluid, under some conditions. It's while it is helpful to stick with the format I give and follow it as
much as you can.
Thanks
This is the Thanksgiving part. In our car repair analogy, this is where you say "Hot DAMN!" and celebrate.
Basically, it is showing your appreciation to the Gods for what you have, and telling them that you will not take
this for granted. It would be a shame to have it (whatever it is) taken from you through lack of appreciation. This is
when I also show my appreciation to those other entities that I asked to the Circle. After all, they didn't have to
come. Also, if you have any offerings to give the Gods, Cakes and Ale, sacrifices, herbs, other things (no children,
please) this is the time you would give it to them.
One exception to this guideline is the "Guilt sacrifice". That would be a ritual in and of itself, in which the sacrifice
would be central to the rite. One could not break the sacrifice of food out of it and put it in this section simply
because it is the rite. Passover would be a prime example of this, as well as a ceremony of appeasement for certain
extra-planar beings.
Unmaking the Circle (or any dismissal of the participants and cleanup)
While some pagans and Metaphysical practitioners may have problems with my terminology, but this is what you
are doing. You are unmaking the Circle. It's the same thing you did in step 2, only in reverse. You open the Circle,
say goodbye to everyone you invited (both physical and non-physical) and go your merry way. Many call this
"Opening or Clearing the Temple", "Grounding the Circle" or an other name. The practice varies from group to
group as to how they do this in the specific, but there is usually some variation of drawing the energy of the Circle
back into themselves or pushing that "wall" the Circle made down into the ground. Here is where you would have a
party with different people, and perhaps do divination to see how it worked. You would also talk to those who
attended to see what they felt. This is the social part of the ritual.
I'm going to give you the example of Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's ritual for the Solitary Magickian. (This is used

Lesson 14; Ritual
with her permission and with much thanks.)
Servants of the Light ( online study ) A group that Delores belongs to and writes on.
Her personal site
Biography
Taken from "First Steps in Ritual" by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki
© Delores Ashcroft-Nowicki 1982, 1990

The Aquarian Press
Revised and Enlarged edition 1990
ppg 80-85
Chapter 7: The Solo Magician

Ritual One: The Warrior Guardian
The Blessed Isles in particular have a long tradition of Warrior Guardians. In many ways, they are the descendants
of the Priest-Kings of Egypt, their function is to gather wisdom, teach it, practice it and guard it. The names of
Arthur, Merlin, Cuchulainn <sic>, Bran, Gwydion, Math, Rob Roy, Robert Bruce and Llew Llaw Gyffes - and
Boudicca also - come to mind. Every land well loved is worth defending, and the role of the Warrior Magician
should not be lost as so much that is of value has been lost, simply because no one thought to write it down. It is all
too easy for traditions and ways to die out when the last holder of the secret dies without passing it on. I am, so my
students tell me, paranoid about putting things down and keeping records. My excuse is that so many things have
now gone forever because there was no one near to take them on or write them down, and the future will always
have need of true records.
Magicians are not always known for their capabilities as warriors, but the warriors are there under the robe and the
lamen. To arouse the Mars within can be dangerous, but unless you try you will never know how to control the
power. Learning magic is a tricky business, but spell-burnt fingers teach you a lot... fast!
This is, as you will have guessed, a solo ritual, and although I have written it for a man it may just as easily be
worked by a woman, as a Warrior Priestess. In fact these two rituals are more or less androgynous. [Daven's note:
In the interest of Copyright and brevity, I have only included one ritual here, you can probably find a copy of this
excellent book someplace near you, and read the other ritual for yourself.] You will need in your sacred place an
altar, covered with a red cloth, and a spear or a sword and shield if you have one. Wear a dark red robe; if you only
have a black one, tie around it a thick dark red girdle (my apologies to my American friends for whom a girdle is
_not_ necessarily something you tie around a robe!). Bare feet are best if working indoors; if not, wear thick
sandals. Indeed, if you live in a flat with neighbors living below, leave this ritual until you can do it out of doors --
it can get noisy.
Incense should be of the 'hot' Martian kind, and any reputable occult supplier will be able to furnish a ready-made
incense, or provided the raw ingredients for you to blend yourself. Place five red candles on the altar, five being the
number of Mars, red the color of the Warrior; they should be the only light source. A statue, symbol, or picture of a

Lesson 14; Ritual
warrior should act as an altarpiece and a tape recorder with some martial music is the last requirement. Mars, from
Gustav Holst's _The Planets_, some parts of Prokovieff's _Romeo and Juliet_ (mainly the "fight" scene), and the
film music from Olivier's _Henry V_ are all good choices. If you can record the music so that it flows from one
piece to another with a break it will help the atmosphere to build up. One side of the 90-minute tape will give you
enough time for the whole ritual.
Carrying the sword and shield, or the spear, come to stand before the altar, or, if out of doors, the place where you
have arranged the ritual implements. Stand quietly holding the weapons for a few minutes then go to the east and
salute it with the sword/spear. In the imagination build up the figure of Arthur Pendragon with Glastonbury Tor
behind him. When you have it as clear as possible, salute him with the sword:
'HAIL ARTHUR, KING OF THE ISLES OF THE BLESSED. I AM HERE TO TAKE MY WATCH OVER THE
KINGDOM ON THE INNER LEVELS, WITH OTHERS OF MY KIND.'
Move to the south; there you build the image of the Saxon King Alfred, who is credited with the formation of the
first British navy. Behind him there are the high cliffs of the coast and the sea winds blow his cloak away from his
shoulders. Salute him with the sword/spear:
'HAIL ALFRED, LORD OF BRITAIN, I AM HERE TO TAKE UP MY POST AS SENTRY ON THE INNER
LEVELS AND TO MY GUARD THE APPROACHES TO THESE ISLES, WITH MY PEERS.'
Move to the west; and there the image is one of Merlin the Archmage with his staff bearing a carved horse's head.
Behind him you see the dark forests of his native Wales. Above his head hovers a falcon. Salute him:
'HAIL MERLIN, ARCHMAGE AND GUARDIAN OF THIS LAND. I AM HERE TO OFFER MY HEART AND
HAND ON THE INNER LEVELS TO DEFEND THIS LAND FROM ITS FOES.'
Move to the North and build there the image of Herne the Hunter, horn-crowned and cloaked, astride a black
stallion, two wolfhounds at his heels. Salute him:
'HAIL HERNE, ANCIENT DEFENDER OF GRAMMERYE AGAINST THE LORDS OF THE DARK FORCE. I
AM HERE TO OFFER MY SWORD-ARM IN YOUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE AGAINST THE DARK."
Return to the altar and turn on the music. As it fills your place of working let it flow through you and begin to stir
your blood. Let your body sway and your feet begin to move. Soon the music and the atmosphere within your
working place will build up and you will feel the surge in the blood that lifts the heart of every warrior before he
goes into battle. There are times to be a priest and a magician, ad there are times to be the magical warrior. Dance
now as the ancient defenders did, shake your sword and stamp your feet, and mime the sword and spear play as
you circle the Temple. you are the Warrior Priest upon the inner levels and you are ready to defend the Land
against any who would seek to break its defenses on the inner levels.
Dance until the music ends then rest, leaning on your sword or spear. Move with dignity to the east and salute the
King; he turns to face the east and together you take up the vigil of the east from the top of the ancient Tor. You
keep watch with the inner eye, and soon before you there builds the land to the east of where you stand. Look over
it closely and you will find you are able to see all the way to the coast and to the sea beyond. You will see its
ancient peoples and towns and marvel at the continuity of its life and laws. Gradually there builds up around you
other figures. First the Knights of the Round Table -- Lancelot, Gawain, Kay, Bedevere, and others -- then slowly

Lesson 14; Ritual
the others, archers and foot soldiers, grenadiers and Templars, crusaders and Highlanders, soldiers from every
century gathering around you. Always at your side and a little in front of you is the King, and fro time to time he
turns his head and nods to you. When you feel the time is right, salute him, bow, and go to take up the vigil of the
south.
Here Alfred stands high on a cliff overlooking the sea, and you take your place beside him. You can feel the sea
winds tugging at the robe and hair, taste the salt on your lips. Before you, you see passing, the small wooden craft,
high-powered galleons, and men-of-war. From all centuries they come, still sailing the seas they loved and
defended. There sails the _Golden Hind_ with Drake at the prow, Sidney, and Raleigh, and those who sailed with
them. Cook and Cabot are there, as are the crew and captains of smaller ships that struggled against all odds at
Dunkirk and won. Still their shades patrol the seas and guard the approaches to the Blessed Isles. When you have
fulfilled your time, salute Alfred, bow, and then go take up the vigil of the west.
Merlin acknowledges your presence and you both turn to the west. Before you is a dark sky jeweled with lightning,
and together with Merlin you use your magical strength to keep it from overpowering the land before you. Every
land is threatened from time to time by the Dark Ones and in every land there are those who from time immemorial
have taken their turn on such vigils. Around you, you see others of your kind; you may even see faces you know
who like yourself have offered their service to this task. Some still have physical bodies, others have withdrawn to
the inner levels and take their turn in the vigils until such time as they must once again wear a form of flesh and
blood. You can feel the energy being demanded of you as you work together to keep the darkness from
overwhelming the land. When you time is up, another cloak-wrapped form steps to your side to take your place.
You turn and salute Merlin, who raises his staff in answer, you bow, and move to the north.
The stallion snorts and dances sideways as you approach Herne; behind him you can see the shadowy forms of
ancient shamans, druids, and older and darker figures that wear strange robes and headdresses. Around them move
four-footed shapes -- wolves, bears, tusked board, and the white-coated, red-eared hounds of Annwn <sic>. Herne
looks down at you and raises his hand in salute, and you answer in kind, one of the shadow figures brings to you a
horse with a silver bridle and you mount. The Hunt begins.
Out onto the inner levels of the Isle of Grammerye you sweep and the land rolls away beneath the flying hooves.
Around you jostle the ancient magical warriors, and in between them you see glimpses of the Heroes of legend.
Later still as you sweep across the mountains Aengus Oge and his warriors ride with you, circling the whole of
Grammerye, checking and searching and guarding. Sometimes a figure from a nightmare looms out of the twilight
and it is set upon by the might throng of the Hunt. Sometimes you pause and wait, and another figure will join you,
a warrior from earth whose life has been made forfeit and who will be taken by the Hunt to a place of rest. So
passes this vigil and all too soon you are back within the enclosure of your sacred place. You dismount and salute
Herne, he acknowledges your gift of time and waits for the Temple to be closed. You walk to the altar and lay
down your sword and place both hands palms-down upon the altar.
'HAIL TO THEE GUADRIANS OF THIS LAND, STRENGTH TO THEE AND COURAGE ALSO, I GIVE
THANKS FOR THE BLESSING OF THY PRESENCE AND FOR THE CONTINUING WATCH OVER US
ALL. I COUNT IT AN HONOUR TO TAKE MY PART IN THIS AND PLEDGE MY SUPPORT TO YOU IN
THIS WORK. SO MOTE IT BE.'
Lay the sword upon the altar and go to the east; salute.
'HAIL AND FAREWELL ARTHUR, HIGH KING OF BRITAIN AND GUARDIAN OF ITS LAWS AND
DESTINY. IF THERE IS A NEED, CALL ME AND I WILL COME AND TAKE MY PLACE BESIDE YOU.'

Lesson 14; Ritual
Move to the south.
'HAIL AND FAREWELL ALFRED, KING OF ENGLAND, GUARDIAN OF THE SEAS. I COUNT MY TIME
WITH THEE AN HONOUR, AND PLEDGE MY SUPPORT TO THEE WHEN THERE IS NEED. SO MOTE IT
BE.'
Move to the west.
'HAIL AND FAREWELL MERLIN, ARCHMAGE OF BRITAIN, GUARDIAN OF THE INNER LEVELS OF
GRAMMERYE. MY PLEDGE TO THEE STANDS, CALL ME AND I WILL COME. SO MOTE IT BE.'
Move to the north.
'HAIL AND FAREWELL HERNE, HUNTER AND DESTROYER OF THE DARK. I WILL RIDE WITH THEE
WHEN THOU HAST NEED OF MY PRESENCE. SO MOTE IT BE.'
Return to the altar. Then put out the first red candle.
'RETURN TO THY PLACE ARTHUR KING OF BRITAIN.'
Put out the second candle.
'RETURN TO THY PLACE ALFRED KING OF BRITAIN.'
Put out the third candle.
'RETURN TO THY PLACE MERLIN ARCHMAGE.'
Put out the fourth candle.
'RETURN TO THY PLACE HERNE THE HUNTER OF EVIL.'
Put out the fifth candle.
'THIS SACRED PLACE IS CLOSED AND ALL IS AT PEACE. SO ENDS THIS RITE.'
This ritual can be used by anyone for the guarding of any land -- simply replace the four guardians with heroes,
kings, and/or god forms of that land. Women can replace them with Elizabeth I, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Dion
Fortune, and Boudicca, for example (an interesting gathering if nothing else!). Use your knowledge and research to
find your own guardians to work with.
You can also adapt the ritual for a longer vigil. Every magician should be prepared to take an all-night vigil once in
each Tide or Season. Then you choose either to watch over one quarter, or to perambulate the coast on the inner
levels. Alternatively, you can keep spiritual vigil by the altar, flowing out your energies and love to those in need

Lesson 14; Ritual
throughout the night. A vigil such as this is usually made from sunset to sunrise. It does take a lot of stamina and
you would be wise to start with a one hour vigil and increase it by one hour each Tide, taking a full two years to
work up the all-night vigil.
Now, you should note when going through this ritual that she includes many elements in this ritual, the preparation,
the visualizations and so on. One thing I want you to do is to go back up and read this through again, and identify
the various "sections" of this ritual. Find where the preparation phase is, where the Thanksgiving part is and so on.
Print this out if it will help and mark up the page with your notes.
Also understand that 99% of the rituals you will see will have all these elements and more in them.
Variations on the basic ritual
Having discussed the basic structure of the rites and rituals that you may be called upon to perform, here we will
discuss the variations of that same structure. Just as there exceptions to the rules of language in most spoken
languages, so too are there exceptions to the language of Ritual.
Make no mistake about it, ritual is a language, with the same goals as the practice of speaking, clear
communication of the desired information/need.
[Mary's Aside: Regarding language and communication, during the editing of this lesson the following
conversation occurred between Mary and I on Yahoo Messenger:
marymeet27: ok, but isn't language used to communicate need?

Daven: Yeah, but it can't communicate the need itself, only the reasons for the need.
Daven: If I were to say to you, I need to go to the bathroom....
Daven: intellectually you understand that.
Daven: None of my biological need is communicated though.
Daven: you can internalize it with the SUBconscious, but that's all.
Daven: Need and want comes from the sub.
Daven: the communication of that need/want comes from the super conscious.
Daven: IMO
marymeet27: LOL good explanation is it in here?
While it may feel wrong initially, after thought I would have to agree with Daven. I can't emotionally know how
desperate his need is or how miserable his bladder, kidneys or colon are. I can empathize drawing on my own
experience but I can't know simply because I am not him. The phrase "I know how you feel." should probably be
changed to "I know how I would feel if it were me." in most if not all cases. ~ Mary]
What is the main purpose of speaking or for language? To communicate an idea from one person to another with
the greatest efficiency. One purpose of ritual is to transmit an idea from your conscious mind to your subconscious
mind as efficiently as possible. In order to do that, you speak to the subconscious mind in a language it
understands, symbols. It is why churches spend so much time inculcating followers with symbols and its meanings.
Having now become versed in the basics of the language of ritual, you are ready to move on to the point of

Lesson 14; Ritual
learning when the rules don't apply.
Discarding the "Preparation" phase: This is a bad idea. The preparation starts your subconscious thinking about
the symbols it will see, and thus it makes the whole ritual stronger. Additionally, by including the preparation in
the ritual, you don't have to worry about things like "did I get the matches for the candles? Or will I have to dig
them out from between my toes?" (Believe me, this is the single most common mistake in ANY group ritual
situation. It's always good for a laugh.)
Then why would you want to discard this phase? Think for a few moments on this and stop reading HERE! Did
you come up with some good answers? Here are the ones that I am thinking of: a) if the Altar and all the necessary
items are already laid out, and b) if the ritual or rite is needed NOW!
At many points in my life B has been the driving force of a ritual. From emergencies like healing to luck spells for
my family. Every second is precious and you don't want to mess around with carefully gathering your equipment.
That's when you want to grab the bare necessities, like salt, a glass of water, a cigarette (for the incense) and a lit
match and go. I have done things this way more than once. As for A, well that implies that you already did all the
preparation at the end of the last ritual you had, or that you are a compulsive neat-freak... (A place for everything,
and everything in it's place....) In that case, congratulations, you will not have to worry about half of the things
most of us have to worry about when we start a ritual.
Being a neat freak or maintaining your altar can however, backfire. Suppose that you do not want your friends and
family knowing that you are interested in the occult. Having your altar set up 24/7 is counterproductive if you are
in the "broom closet". If nothing else, it is a just about a guarantee that someone close to you will see it. However,
if this is not a concern, Congratulations!
Discarding everything BUT the working part of the ritual: Sounds dangerous? It can be, but I bet you do
something like this everyday without thinking about it. Tell me, who out there gets out the knives and cutting
board, all the meat, the milk, a placemat, the five piece place setting, the 16 pieces of silverware every time you go
into the kitchen? Anyone? No, you don't, and in some cases, you should not do an entire ritual when you are doing
things that don't need to be done ultra ritualistically.
One possible occasion to discard everything is when you have an inability to do an entire ritual yet need to be in a
ritual mindset. For example, when you are taking herbs from nature as offerings to the Gods in other rituals. Going
out into the woods and picking the herbs is a ritual act, but Casting the Circle and Invoking the Deities is not
necessary for this activity. You do need to thank the plants and herbs for their gift to you, and perhaps leave some
milk or something for the plant, but doing an entire ritual to pick sprigs of parsley? Kind of silly, if you ask me.
Another example would be preparing something else to be used in a ritual later. If for instance, you were working
on a tool or making a special dinner for Cakes and Ale after the celebration. You don't want to have to stop before
the dinner starts getting fixed and lay out your Altar and start chanting and celebrating just so you can cook the
meal. That is what the ritual itself is for. At that point, you discard everything but the work, and keep that ritual
mindset in your head while the food is being cooked. Besides, you don't want others coming in and out of the
Sacred Space while they help you, do you?
Additionally, circumstances may demand discretion, or the physical area you are working in will not contain the
entire ritual. When you are plowing the garden to make it new and fresh for the spring, it would be difficult to
enclose the space with the neighbors looking on. This is a ritual act, celebrating the fertility of the Earth and
readying it for the coming growing season. As such you want to consecrate the garden for the Goddess so She can

Lesson 14; Ritual
do Her work in it. However, you have a relative who is made extremely uncomfortable by your beliefs, and
wishing to give them room and time to accept them, rather than force those beliefs on them, you need to skip the
ritual. You can always come back and consecrate the garden later. So, how do you accomplish staying in a ritual
mindset without all the brouhaha?
I'm glad you asked that question. It shows initiative and that you are paying attention to the lesson. Good job and
well done. Now, if there are no other questions....
Okay, here's where your mind and imagination comes into the picture. In this type of circumstance, you would
have to use your imagination to conjure (for yourself) the appropriate mindset. Many would do this by praying
silently to the Gods as they work, others by remembering other rituals in which they had the appropriate mindset
and "holiness" and bringing that same mindset to the front simply by remembering. In addition, one can use
creative visualization, guided meditation, or by simply deciding to be in that mindset. This will take practice, so
don't rush it.
Now, having looked at the exception to the rules in these various parts of the rites, let's look at changing some
sections or changing the order of those parts.
Changing how you do things: This is one of the easiest things to do, since you simply change some aspect of the
ritual into something else. For example, if you are used to working in your Circle fully clothed in ritual robes and
with all of your jewelry on, try it with only your street clothes on, or with nothing on. Instead of invoking the God
first, as you have always done, invoke the Goddess first or visa versa. Instead of uncasting the Circle by calling it
back into your athame, ground the Circle into the earth instead.
Basically, all this type of variation in the ritual does is to keep things fresh. We all fall into a rut, and "old habits
are hard to break". But when you change certain aspects of the ritual, you keep them fresh without causing damage
to the overall structure of the ritual or the purpose of it (namely getting you into a particular mindset or mood).
Some slight variation when doing the actual ritual is a good thing as it brings spontaneity to the ritual. One of the
biggest complaints that many traditional practitioners of religion have is the loss of spirit in the ritual. Many of you
know from personal experience that sitting there in the pews and hearing the minister drone on in the service about
this and that... gets boring. Bringing a sense of life to the ritual by changing things up can freshen it up and make
others pay attention. This can be as simple as having different people doing different speaking parts and help in the
Circle.
One example of this is having the "audience" actually do part of the ritual, such as the invocation of the other
entities (those spirits that will be present other than the Gods). By having different people doing this from ritual to
ritual, it can keep the people's attention on the ritual, rather having it wander off onto the state of their checkbooks.
Changing the order of the ritual. Suppose you have someone who desperately needs to go to see a relative in the
hospital. They have come to the ritual to ask that there be a quick healing spell done so that they can sleep a bit
better at night. As much as they want to stay for the Handfasting that is taking place later, they can't. So, you do the
consecration, invocation, the healing rite, thanksgiving, open the temple enough to let that one person go, do the
Handfasting and then unmake the sacred space.
See what happened? All the elements are there, and all that really changes was that the Thanksgiving part came
before all of the "working" parts were done. While this is an extraordinary circumstance, it is an example. As you
progress and grow, particularly in a group setting, you will discover your own examples happening not in theory

Lesson 14; Ritual
but in real life. Things like this happen, and no one can really prevent them from happening. So make sure there are
"safeguards" built in to allow someone to safely leave and come back into a temple that has been created.
Changing the dimensions of the sacred space. Okay, so you want to have a ritual, and you are currently
babysitting a friend's puppy. You don't want the sacred space to become contaminated by the dog coming and
going from that area (although I don't personally think animals detract from a rite, there are purists who do) or your
child is toddling around and getting into things. How do you still have the rite without the sacred space or circle
eroding from someone who comes and goes from that area like there was nothing special about it?
You make your entire house a sacred space. It's not too hard to do. You simply cleanse the space again, and during
the consecration phase, instead of the immediate area you are in, you simply imagine the entire house (or apartment
or yard or whatever) as being included in the boundaries of what is made pure.
That means that if you are going to be doing a really special ritual that the other occupants of the home you are in
also have to be blessed and cleansed. Sometimes you can get away without doing this, like in the above example
with the relative, but most times it's good to have them prepared too.
Now lets talk about another variation of the ritual.
Adding pieces to the ritual. In this, you are not adding components to the ritual so much as adding parts to the
"working" section of the ritual. An example would be something like Prep, Cleansing, Invocation, Healing ritual,
Handfasting, Dedication of a child, Initiation, Celebration, Thanksgiving, Dismissal, Unmaking.
In this, you have multiple parts in the "working" portion that can go together, but which can also stand on their
own. This is perfectly acceptable in most practice, although if it is a Sabbat celebration, you really should only do
the celebration rather than all the extra stuff. Anything else can be put off until the next regular meeting, or if it
can't wait, can be done after the celebration. By doing this after the celebration, I mean that you go through the
whole ritual, right up to the unmaking, for the celebration, then start all over from scratch for whatever is left. [This
obviously only applies to those who celebrate the Eight Sabbats.]
The reasoning behind this is simple. During a celebration, the area that is consecrated is likely to be violated
multiple times, by the celebrants. While this is not bad, remember the energy work we did so long ago? During a
celebration, the participants generate a lot of that kind of energy. It collects, and at the end and unmaking portion,
that energy can be gathered up and put into the ground for the Earth's fertility.
Because all that energy is there, it acts as a lure to other planar beings that feed on it. They just wait around for a
hole or something to occur in the "shields" or wall you put up around the sacred space to open, and they take what
they want.
During other rituals, increase that energy output by a factor of 10. I have had a celebrant faint from the energy
during a Handfasting I was conducting, and that was while she had a knife to her throat during the vows. A hole in
your protections at a time like that can be disastrous. So, you re-consecrate and re-invoke and do the actual
working. You don't have to do the entire thanksgiving portion of the rite, it can be simple as "thank you for coming
again", but it is nice to acknowledge their return again.
I think some example rituals are in order now:

Lesson 14; Ritual
A General Ritual
A Handfasting
***The Chocolate Ritual***
Ritual of the Mists
Dedication of a Sword
Full Moon Binding Ritual
Warding
Basic Ritual
Consecration of Tools
One other thing that ritual does is create what has been called a "C-Shift" or Consciousness Shift. In other lessons I
talk about what that is, but a quick look at it is advisable.
C-Shift can be attained through many means, but the most common forms are fasting, drugs, sensory overload (like
sexual relations), trance, ecstatic dance, drums and musical instruments and sensory deprivation. Each of these
takes us out of the world of here and now and puts us into a world where it's easier to touch the Divine.
Now, no cynical analysis of magick would be complete without pointing out that it's possible that the feelings and
thoughts provoked by these techniques could be hallucinations. Take away sensory input, and your mind starts
creating input to compensate. Pump someone full of chemicals, and they will not only see God, but may well
become God. Dance long enough, and the body starts putting up all kinds of responses to try to force the mind to
rest the body instead of continually abusing it.
Is there a way to tell the difference between a true religious ecstatic response and a hallucination? Nope. Certainly
not easily. It is entirely possible that mankind has been deluding themselves throughout the millennia and seeing a
God where none exist. But we won't know until after we are dead.
So what does this ultimately mean? If these techniques work for you, they do not conclusively prove that there are
other worlds or even a deity. It means that the divine could be one explanation among many for what has
happened.
Let's assume that the divine or that some force outside of ourselves is the most logical explanation. Using these
techniques will throw your mind out of focus long enough to allow one to connect with that something else, if only
because they are no longer mesmerized by day to day life.
In most of our days, we spend them wandering around in a half daze in which we only see what we want to see.
We don't see the fact that a co-worker has a different haircut because we don't want to see that. We don't see the
sights on the route home because we have seen them too many times before. We don't look for the car following us
because we don't think anyone would be following us. We don't look for the new picture on the refrigerator that a
child drew because there are so many others up there. All those things combine to keep us with blinders on, not
allowing us to notice 90% of what goes on around you.
For instance, the Fourth of July is coming up, and for those of you in other countries, fireworks are set off at this
time of the year. If you know any expatriots they may well have fireworks to set off. Even if you are from another
country and don't know any Americans, how many people think it's odd for a sudden "Crack" to sound in the
night? How many of you would go and investigate it, or would you simply chalk it up to firecrackers? How about a
rumbling noise nearby? Would you look and see if that was a detonation of some explosive, or would you wonder

Lesson 14; Ritual
if it was going to rain?
C-Shift breaks us out of those mindsets. It is a way to remove the barriers and see with all of our vision, not just the
tunnel vision that many of us spend 90% of our time in. Because those blinders are now removed, there is more of
a world out there than just what we see when we are doing things day to day. Because of that, we can connect with
the rest of the world in new and interesting ways.
Understanding that there actually is purple or blue grass as well as green grass is one of the first steps in breaking
out of a "rut" mindset. It allows us to take the first steps in understanding the diversity of our Earth and what part
we play in it.
Ask most people about the color of grass and the first answer out of their mouth, emphatically stated with great
conviction, will be green. When asked about purple or blue grass they will deny its possible existence. It is the
same mindset we fall into when we start talking about "everybody says..." and so on. Has anyone ever seen an
"everybody" or a "they"? If one person disagrees with "everybody" does that mean they drop to "most everybody"?
Or does it put you into a class of "not them"? These are the kinds of things that are affected by C-Shift.
Ritual starts the C-Shift process, and also takes advantage of it. As I have before, the act of starting the ritual puts
you into a certain mindset, which will ultimately allow you to see and experience more than just a little section of
the world.
Honestly, isn't that the point of all this? Magick and ritual and worship and gods and deities and prophesy and
divination and scrying and meditation and healing and herbs and decanting and incense and altars and altered states
and chanting and drums and hymns and mythology and self improvement.... isn't the point of all that to change
ourselves in a fundamental way? To allow us to grab a little more than just the small part of the all we deal with
every day? Isn't that the reason you got into this in the first place, so that you could understand more than you
knew?
In short, ritual and C-Shift will allow that to happen fairly fast, if you practice it faithfully. Just like meditation, the
mind needs discipline and will work with you when you start a new habit. But like every other new thing to shift
your mind out of the ruts it is in, once is not enough. Repetition is the key. Doing ritual whenever you can is
primary.
And that's it for today.
Assignment:
I want you to compile the traditions that you have been working on into a coherent whole now. Spend some time
outlining just what it is you believe, the processes and rites of your tradition, the correspondences, the core beliefs.
You don't have to have them fully written out and complete yet, but a good outline is essential. It should be
something like this:
Core Beliefs:

Lesson 14; Ritual
Name
Threefold Law
Rede
Magick is permissible if no other solution exists
Moral statements (1, 2, 3, 4, etc)
Ethical statements (1, 2, 3, 4 etc)
Correspondences
Deities
Other honored beings
Ritual format
Celebration cycle
Outline of a sample ritual for reference
Magick, tools, other elements
Optional stylistic ways: (things that change depending on the practitioner)
Ethical statements
Tool substitutions
Ritual substitutions
Deity substitutions
Get this all written down in your Journal. Flesh it out to your heart's content. Turn in your working draft to the list.
Congratulations, you just created a magickal tradition and religious tradition. You can take any element from
anyplace and add it to this tradition and teach it to others. You are solely responsible for the content of that
tradition, the master and the founder. Keep that information with you and look at it and think about it.
This is your trad, your style. Consider what your children will see, and determine what parts of this are critical, and
which are simply because they make sense to you. Consider who will have access to this tradition, you alone, your
children, your family (extended), those on the Internet, a list group, who gets to practice this? How big do you want
it to grow?
You have been working toward this since the first lesson. Some of this you should already have written down. I
only need to see the outline, the working sheet you come up with. The whole liturgy and dogma you come up with
and put in your journal. Make sure this is a style you want to practice yourself, if not what you currently practice.
And unless it's 99% Wiccan belief, then don't call it "Whatever Wicca" or "Wicca whatever". Wicca implies a very
specific set of beliefs and if your new tradition has less than 20% of those beliefs, it's not Wicca anymore. Just like
Christians have to accept the divinity of Jesus, the stories told in the Gospels, the father being God, Satan and a
whole slew of things or they are not Christian, you have to have specific core elements in Wicca for it to be Wicca.
Use your imagination. If you are unsure if you can call your trad Wicca, check with the list here, and we will help
determine if it meets the "requirements". ;-)
Other than that, go back over your lessons, print them out and re-read them. Review and ask questions (Please for
the sake of my sanity, use a quote to indicate where the citation is coming from so I have a reference!).

Lesson 14; Ritual
I have some of the questions written, not all. I'll do this similar to the exam for the OOBE class, with 25 T/F or
Multiple choice questions counting 3 points each, 5 short answer questions counting 3 points, and one long essay
question counting 10 points. 80% or greater passes the course.
(Damn, I just remembered, now I have to redesign the graduation certificate...)
Back Home Next

Daven's Sex Magick Commentaries
Sex Magick
This is a very potent type of magick in which the act of making love is used to fuel the spell.
The first thing that needs to be done is for both partners to have it clear in their minds just what the goal of the spell
should be. This is necessary so that both people can have an idea of what needs to be done. The man may not be
able to keep his mind on it, and the woman may find it hard to do so as well, but they both need to subconsciously
keep their minds on where the energy is going and what it is supposed to do.
After the goal is clear in each person's mind, stimulation should begin. Start slowly and build higher and faster.
Normally this process should take at least a half an hour. Penetration and orgasm should be avoided at this time.
The male should be over-stimulated, while the man is also arousing the female. Ideally, the man should be almost
mindless with pleasure.
When the male reaches this point, penetration should occur. The female should do everything in her power to attain
orgasm at the same time the male does. The female needs to take the energy released by the orgasm of the man as
well as her own energy and channel it into the outcome she has kept in mind.
That's the process, now let's take the rest of the article to discuss a few theoretical thoughts.
At orgasm, there is an incredible amount of energy released. This energy is the reason that the man normally falls
asleep after sex and the female usually wakes up. Just like she becomes the repository for the sperm, she also
becomes the caretaker of all that energy. Energy that usually goes toward making a new child. The amount of
energy built is proportional to the amount of stimulation and the time taken during foreplay.
Just as the energy is sacred, so to are the sexual secretions (the sperm and semen and vaginal fluids). The salted
water is representative of semen. Thus, the semen can be used directly for the consecration of those things you
need to anoint. Unfortunately, the semen doesn't stay fresh for very long.
All of this is creation magick. None of it can be used for destructive purposes. Think a bit. The primary purpose of
sex is to have children (creation of life). Thus the energy and secretions can only be used to create things and
situations.
Let's assume that you wish to stop smoking. Destructive purpose, right? Not necessarily. You can use the energy to
create a situation where you don't smoke anymore and don't need to smoke.
Masturbation can be done when you have no partner. This is perfectly acceptable. There is no shame in it.
Autoeroticism has a long and glorious past, and only the Christian Church has made people ashamed of it.
Because the sexual secretions have residual energy in them, anything anointed with those secretions will be
charged from then on. Granted, it will be a small amount of energy, but you may want to consider it a magickal
"primer". Any charging you do will be easier from that point on.
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Daven's Sex Magick Commentaries
Any sexual energy you don't use for another purpose will automatically go to those items and spells that use that
sexual energy as a primer or as an integral part of the casting. For example, if the energy is used to cast Wards,
then sex only for pleasure will send that energy to those wards, reinforcing them. The sex energy in the "primer"
will attract any other sexual energy like a magnet attracts iron filings.
The exception to this 'rule' is when you do a sex ritual to renew the Earth's fertility. When this ritual is done, it
must be done consciously every time. There is no default on this one.
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template
Tools and Magick

Time for the next installment of....
WHAT PISSES DAVEN OFF!
Before I go too far in this, let me ask a question. Why did you come to this site? Was it to read about what a Druid
feels? To read some about Wicca? Maybe see what is in the classes on High Magick and Astral Projection? To
learn how to cast spells for fun and profit?
Was it to do research on Magick?
Now, let me ask another question: Do you really think that the plastic dropcloth that you bought at the local
Martmart actually has a mystical power when combined with a candle and a piece of string? The string is any
string you could find anyplace, including the gutter, and the candle is just gasoline leftovers with a wick in it. Do
you honestly think that getting these three things together and saying some words over them will give them
magickal powers?
Ceremonies from the actual grimoires of the Middle Ages, things like the "Key of Solomon" and so on, had entire
rituals just to make the tools that another ritual called for. The spell would usually call for the magickain to get the
components of the item, cast a magickal circle and then to scribe the medallion (or whatever) with the symbols and
so on, pray over it, cast spells on it, dedicate and consecrate the medallion, name it what it was supposed to be (The
Seal of Hiytoieha;ln or whatever) and THEN, and only then, could it be used in the ritual it was made for.
But the item was utterly changed at that point. Magickally it was a new thing, different from what it was before. It
had been cleansed and infused with new energy, given a purpose and a "pattern" to be that was different from what
it had been. But this process took sometimes days and a great deal of effort on the part of the magickian.
Did this give some sort of special virtue to the item? Well, yes and no. If the magickian in question didn't go
through this process, then no, it would not have. It also did not change the tool from what it was to something else.
In other words, it would not change the silver dagger to plastic. But it did change the item on a
spiritual/metaphysical level.
These days, however, with $RW and many others, we have "insta-magick" where we don't have to go through
making our own tools. Go out buy a dagger off the K-Mart shelf and voila! Instant Witch, just add athame and stir.
Because of that, no one wants to go through the long processes of making tools for use in spells, just buy it off the
shelf and make it work. Well, it can, but there is something that needs to be substituted. Will and desire and
visualization needs to be substituted for virtue of tools at that point.
See, this is where we get away from Ceremonial Magick and into Chaos Magick. Chaos Magickians do not use
tools very much, they use their mind. In the ChM view of things, it's the willpower of the person and the attitude
they bring to it that makes or breaks the spell, not the tools they use to actually cast the spell.
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For instance, a ChM (Chaos Magickain) casts a spell to call their true love to them. This could be done in a variety
of ways. First is sitting and doing a meditation in which he sees himself and his true love together, doing
something. He could write all the qualities his true love will have down, sigilize them, chant something like "Thou
and me, become WE" 50 or 60 times to set the spell and then burn the paper to release all that energy. He could do
a poppet spell (ala Wicca) to bring that person to them. He could go on dates and send out a set of personal
vibrations to bring someone who "resonates" to that vibration to them. He could ask the Angels, demons, Gods,
Sylphs or whatever entity to push the perfect person to them. Or any number of other things. He could do a
Cabbalistic tree path (the true meaning of "pathwork") and trace the route from one place to the other where he is,
bringing her closer to him.
See, to the ChM, it's not the tools that are the real deal, it's the willpower and HIS energy put into it that make the
spell. If he puts no energy or willpower into it, then there will be no return, no matter if he follows an ancient spell
or one from Llewellyn. It's that willpower, his DEMAND that the universe order itself THIS way that is the key.
Unfortunately this is what SHOULD have been written down in all those spellbooks with the pretty covers and the
crescent moon on the spine, but most don't have this basic information. They don't say "these pieces of wax in the
shape of people have no meaning, it's the meaning YOU give them to represent the people in your life that is the
key", so you are left with the impression that all you need is a few pieces of candle carved into the shape of a
person and that's the object of your hatred, and it just isn't so.
I mean, come on, it's just a candle, so what if you scotch taped a picture of your worst enemy on it? It's still a
candle. It's your BELIEF and your WILL that makes it special, not the words you recite over it.
WAKE UP!
If the spell calls for a 30" by 30" piece of plastic tarpulen, and all you can find is 18" by 36", then use that, it's your
WILL that makes the spell, not the tools you are told you need.
The only tool you absolutely need is a sharpened, intelligent, creative, visualized, stubborn mind. That's it. Nothing
else is necessary.
(addenda 4-26-03)
While driving home the other day, I discovered the perfect analogy to explain this to you: Music.
Let's compare two different musical styles to two different magickal styles. We will associate Top 20 music to
Ceremonial Magick, and Acapella music to Chaos Magick.
In Top 20, you have a group of singers, instruments (usually a lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, various precussion
instruments, and possibly in some cases an orchestra), producers, a studio, vocal coach, mixing board, microphones
and so on, and the musical score that someone has written. Now, each of these peices took time to produce, from
the training going into the singers themselves, to the skill of the players of the instruments, the time to design and
make the instruments, the time of the producers and mixers to get the balance of the parts together and the time to
make those parts, plus the skill of the makers of the various electronic pieces (microphones, amps, recorders and so
on), and finally the skill of the person who wrote the music in the first place, and his creative vision.
If we relate these to the Ceremonial Magickian, each of these parts could be considered one of his consecrated

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tools, and each of the people involved may be one of the other participants in the actual magickal ritual. There were
up to 4 other particiapants in a Ceremonial Magickal ritual from the Key of Solomon (the basis for most Western
Magick as we know it) at various stages of learning. The point seemed to be that the Master took his students into
the rite to teach them and get them used to the other entities that would be shoping up.
Now, given this, a lot of flaws in the singing (or the spell) could be covered up by the other parts of the song (or
rite). A fuzzy voice (near larengytis) could be masked by a guitar playing a bit louder or another singer's volume
being increased slightly. A dropped microphone could be re-recorded over, called overdubing, and edited out of the
performance. Finally, any part was interchangable with an identical part from someone else. If the flute player was
sick one day, for a performance, another flute player of comparable skill could be hired to take the place of the sick
one. As long as they had the same sheet music, their performance should, for all intents and purposes, be identical.
The downside to this is the complexity of the music. For the band, going on the road and performing this live to an
audience does not allow for many mistakes, and they have to take ALL the original members and instruments with
them. They may even have to hire more people to sing things like backup (which could be handled by studio
performers but not necessarily on the road) and road crew to pack up and set up. All of which takes time and effort.
Once they have recorded a song with all these elements, they cannot do without them.
The Acapella singer, by stark contrast, has less complexity in their singing, but has a LOT more depending on their
performance. If you put the acapella singer into a studio situation, with a song they wrote, they can improvise
around the song as they see fit. They may have a metronome to keep time, and possibly a recording of the song that
only they can hear so they can keep track of the tune in their mind. The song, however, rises or falls on the strength
of the singer's voice, and the skill they bring to the song. They cannot correct small flaws later, they cannot depend
on another instrument to cover a choke, and so on and so on. All the advantages the Top 20 band has vanishes in
the mist when the acapella singer takes stage. They ONLY have their skill in singing to depend on.
Which means that they also have to have a LOT of native talent as well. A perfect example of someone who should
not be singing, but who actually sounds good when recorded due to electronic tricks is Nancy Sinatra. According to
my understanding (and I was not able to find any verifcation to this online, so it may not be true), Nancy sang
"These Boots are Made for Walking" the first time, and her father (Frank Sinatra) had a special synthicizer made to
filter her voice and make it sound better, and she wound up with a pop hit out of it. I can only assume that she
learned to sing later.
But had she not had the electronic stuff, that song may never have seen the inside of record stores.
So, relating this to the magickian, the Chaos Magickian has only his willpower to rely on. The tools are there to
focus the will somewhat, but there is only so much they can do. The Will is the key, first, last and always. With the
Chaos magickian, because the tools and helps he uses have no inherent virtue or spells on them, as they are nothing
special, he has only his trained will to make the spell come to pass.
To counteract this, the Chaos magickian is the master of improvise, they can do a ritual with TONS of tools
(enough to make a High EpiscoPagan blush with envy) or they can do it with none. There is nothing to set up,
nothing to tear down, spells of the Chaos Magickian can be done while driving down the highway, hundreds of
miles from their ritual implements, in the bathroom, with their street clothes on or in bed even. I have even heard of
one Chaos Magickian casting a spell underwater.
By contrast, the Ceremonial Magickain must drag out all the special tools from their storage locations, summon his
helpers (the time has passed when the apprentices lived with the Master), check the configuration of the Stars, and

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make a ton of preparations before they even think of casting a spell.
However, the Chaos Magickian must come up with a new spell everytime. They may be able to use a successful
framework that was used in the past, but more than likely, the framework they have is all there is, the specifics
change from casting to casting along with their state of mind. If they are having an off day, or if they have a
headache, they must go past that and still cast the spell anyway. It is more likely (in general) that a spell done in
such a way will fail because of all the multiple factors that can affect the outcome.
By contrast again, the Ceremonial Magickian has greater leeway and the spells tend to be more forgiving of flaws.
A mispronounced word, a tool in the wrong place, a helper who is afraid can all be forgiven because of the magick
of the tools. They set up a resonating field that multiplies the power of the spell, and which the willpower of the
magickian only adds to and directs.
It's not a question of one being better than the other. It's a matter of taste and ability. It's also good to have a
knowledge of both systems, simply so that if you do find yourself (as a Ceremonial Magickian) without tools, you
are not completely disarmed, or when you have the time to do a full ritual (as a Chaos Magickian) it will be that
much more powerful.
Because, think of it, the willpower of the best Chaos Magickian, added to the framework, strength and resonance of
the Ceremonial Magickian. That's a spell that could change the world.

The Magickal Use of Names
The Magickal Use of

Names
Those who have been studying magick for any length of time will probably have come across the concept of a
"true name". You will hear dire warnings about giving your true name out to someone you don't know, because
they can do all kinds of damage once they know your "true name".
The problem with this bit of advice is that no one ever stops to explain it. Most teachers are blank when asked why
by their students, because they are repeating a statement given to them by their teachers. So, in this essay, I will try
to explain the use of a true name, what it is, and why names are important.
A name is an identity. It is a label to identify something.
Think about all the names you have had thorough out your life. I'll give you the example of my life.
I have had these names:
● Eric
● Daven
● Honey
● Ace
● Daddy, dad, pop, poppa, "FATHER" and every variant you can think of.
● Bucktooth
● Colin McDaniel
● Joe
● Joy
● Multiple names for RPG characters
● James Eric Landrum
● Landrum
● Private
● Soldier
● Brother Landrum
● Brother
● Son
Each of these names has a certain meaning to me. Each of them are different.
Since Eric is my given name, and James or Jim is my father, I generally don't use that name to identify myself, Eric
is the name that gets used most often. Just about everyone who doesn't know of my online life calls me Eric. It is
the name that is the most "me".
Daven is the name most everyone knows me as online, and those in the metaphysical community know me as. It is
my magickal name, taken from several sources. Many think that this means that I identify as a "David" but that's
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not the case. "Daven" comes from a previous lifetime in 850 CE Scotland where I first fell in love with the spirit
that is my wife now. I was Daven MacDavid, and she and I were happy for a few years, and I lost her under some
tragic circumstances.
Honey should be self explanatory. Variants of that term of endearment occur, "myhoney" "dearheart" "my life,
love and heart" "darling" and so on.
"Ace" will take some explanation. Once upon a time I was Mormon and a Boy Scout. During that time period, I
took a little hike with a group who were going out to go up the Appalachian Trail, 50 miles worth. It was to be a
hard trek, with a 70 pound backpack. One kid took a dislike to me for some reason, and started calling me "Ace" as
a means of derision. The nickname stuck among the 20 members of our group, and became a title of honor and
accomplishment, instead of a way to destroy. Because it backfired, he tried again to deride me, but that failed, and
IF I have to have a nickname, I use "Ace". [Mary's Aside - The name "Ace" has very negative connotations for me.
My very best friend in the whole wide world was in a 9 year abusive relationship with a real horror named Ace.
Had Eric been called that when I met him we would have NEVER EVER gotten together. I not only would have run
screaming I would have done my very best, which is amazingly excellent btw, to force him away from my daughter
and granddaughter. That is how strong the connotations are for me.]
Daddy etc., should be obvious as well, since it brings up tenderness and protection of those weaker than myself. I
hear that name and I find that I am greater than myself, able to do anything and go to any length to protect my
daughter and teach her whatever she needs to succeed, to become greater than I am.
Each of those above names have associations like that, both good and bad. "Bucktooth" was a cruel nickname I
was given for a summer to make fun of the severe overbite I had when I was 7 and 8.
But because these names have specific connotations in my mind, and they call up specific associations, there are
also massive blind-spots inherent in those names.
When someone calls me Daddy, no danger is too great for me to brave to keep my children safe. Therefore, I will
be throwing myself into situations that many people would avoid like the plague to keep my "children" safe. By the
same token, being called "son" makes me dependant on my parent, and makes me less than the adult in my life.
Someone who knows these associations, who can research, who has access to GOOD information, can use those
names as weapons against me. IF I don't know about those vulnerabilities and take steps to protect myself from it.
If I were in a combat situation, which has actually happened once or twice in my lifetime, and my enemy had done
some homework on the Astral Plane and in the Akashic Record, they would have information about my
vulnerabilities and my fears. By calling me the name that those fears and vulnerabilities are tied to, it could create
holes in my armor that I may have corrected in other times. Eric may have gotten rid of the need for approval, but
Son probably hasn't.
Thus, names have power. Names have those associations attached to them, and those vulnerabilities as well. Many
people have these vulnerabilities, and by their very nature they don't realize they exist. I allow very few people
online to call me anything but Daven because of the blind spots I have inherent with other names.
Which brings up the question, if I am like this with some names, and the totality of myself is NOT defined by any
of those names, is there an identity that I have that does cover Daven, Eric, Honey, Daddy and all the others? Is

there one name that incorporates all of me in one?
There is, and it's called a "Truename". Most people have not gone to the length to find their truename out, and even
if they did, the holes and vulnerabilities would be covered by the strengths as well.
As well as personal names, there are titles to identify yourself that have the same flaws and strengths. As I
explained in one e-mail, being called Wiccan has certain connotations associated with it that the general public
may understand, but which may or may not be true for you.
This is one reason why traditional Wiccans (Gardnerian and Alexandrian for example) get so upset when they see
some eclectic fluff bunny calling themselves "Wiccan" when what they practice is nothing like the original Wicca,
as defined by the founders of their religion.
If some person who liked the Norse Gods, had read the Deities & Demigods (TM) from AD&D and thought they
knew what Thor was like, Frey was like, Loki was like, who had studied some Wiccan information, and a lot of
New Age mysticism. Our hypothetical someone has not studied the Eddas, any Norse history, no rituals that flesh
out the spirituality, but they call themselves Asatru. This has nothing to do with the actual religion of Asatru, they
have not learned any of the rites nor rituals that make up the religion, but they are calling themselves Asatru.
Can you understand how that would upset a practitioner of the real spirituality? It's nothing but a word, just a few
letters strung together, but that word has a meaning, a life of it's own that makes it different from all the other
Norse spiritual paths out there.
This should explain why Witches get so upset and why Wiccans get so upset too. It can be seen as a defiling of a
sacred thing, just like using the Shroud of Turin as toilet paper. It doesn't matter that it is only a word, and that
word can be redefined, or another one could be created, it's the principal of the word has a life of its own.
So if names are this important, what can the average person do? When a life changing event happens, like an
initiation, one should take on a new name to denote that there is a difference between the old and the new person.
Ultimately names can act as pictures do for magickal purposes. Sigils of names, the name itself, a drawing,
photograph, all of these can be a vulnerability in whatever protection you may have, and a route for an attack to
come through IF you let it.
For instance, if someone were to attack me knowing only my name of Daven, he may have a very hard time getting
through my defenses, but if he were to use the name "bucktooth", it would probably get through on some levels
simply because it attacks on a level that is not easily defended against.
The solution is to watch how you call yourself, and what names are given out and who knows who you are. Make
sure that you trust the people you identify yourself to and how you do so. It's simple prudence, nothing more.


The 21 Lessons of Merlyn, a review
The 21 Lessons of
Merlyn
(Note from Daven: Yes, I grabbed this totally from DruidBooks, and I'm not sorry about that. I feel that the 21
Lessons of Merlyn is one of the most devastating books ever foisted onto the public in the name of "scholarship". I
have read excerpts from it, and none of it is true. As a student of Druidry, I find myself compelled to speak out
against this book on a regular basis.
Let me tell you a story:
Update 7-19-03: I have taken some criticism for this following passage, being that it's not really the way things
are, and that it's not accurate. All I can say in defense of this is that this story was told to me by my wife, who
was married to a Welshman, who also speaks fluent Northern Welsh. He is the one who said all this, and I think
he's in a possition to know. Regardless of that, repeated questioning and re-questioning of my wife, she stands
by the story. If he lied to her about this, that's not my fault. I'm only repeating what I was told, and the sources
for that story. Now on to the story....
My wife was married once before, to a Welshman, native to Wales, and he grew up speaking Welsh. When I found
out that Monroe had stolen the "Charm of Making" from the movie, Excalibur, she laughed her head off. It turns
out that that famous scene, where Merlin is speaking to Morgan leFey's dreams, making her recite this invocation
over and over, creating a thick fog out of her mouth made her then-husband laugh his head off when he first saw
the movie. Turns out that all she was saying at that point was "Mary had a little lamb" over and over in Welsh.
It should make you stop and think about those who would plagiarize a movie for their source material, and then
not even check it to see what the heck they are actually speaking.
Most times, you will find me defending Llewellyn Books as a source of Pagan Literature. However, in this case,
Llewellyn really screwed the pooch. It's books like this that wind up messing up a publication house's reputation
completely. They have a few marginal works in their catalog, but this one should be thrown out completely, and
Mr. Monroe should be made to reimburse them for their expenses.
What is so terrible is that more and more newbies come to Druidism having read ONLY this book, and they need
months of intensive work to correct everything that they were "taught" by this man.)
From http://www.druid.org/druidbooks/monroe.htm
Where is the 21 Lessons of Merlyn?

Druidbooks lists well over one hundred books -- on subjects ranging from ancient Celtic archaeology to Hindu
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cosmology, Greek religion to Welsh folklore. As one of the most comprehensive Druid bibliographies on the
Internet, one might wonder: why isn't Douglas Monroe's The Twenty-One Lessons of Merlyn or The Lost Books of
Merlyn included in this list of recommended Druid books?
The reason is simple. This is a list of recommended books, not just available books. There is a huge difference.
Many books have been published, not only in recent years but at various points over the last few centuries, that
claim to contain "the truth" about Druid culture. Often, these books claim to provide privileged information on
"hidden" or "esoteric" truths, often consisting of material from "ancient" books to which the author had special
access.
It's a beguiling concept. One book that contains "the truth"! Alas, without exception, books that make claims like
this turn out to be fraudulent.
"Authentic"? "Genuine"?
The Twenty-One Lessons of Merlyn is a great case in point. This book claims to be "the complete course in
authentic Celtic Druidism" (as if there were such a thing as non-Celtic Druidism), featuring a course of study
"based upon history rather than fantasy", including "genuine" lore and "authentic" lessons from the "authentic"
Merlyn-the-Druid...all based on the so-called Book of Pheryllt, an "actual, never before published" manuscript
from the sixteenth century!
Well, here are a few questions:
If this book is really so "authentic" and "genuine," why does it need to keep saying so? If The Book of Pheryllt is
so important, why hasn't it been published? Why haven't other prominent Druid writers, like Philip Carr-Gomm
and Ellen Evert Hopman, used The Book of Pheryllt in their work? Why does the book contain stupidly obvious
factual errors: like saying the Druids used pumpkins in their rituals (see page 131), when the pumpkin came from
the new world, meaning it would not have been available in Europe before the fifteenth century? Most disturbing
of all: why is the book so sexist, especially when most scholars believe the ancient Celts were extremely liberal in
their balance of power and freedom between men and women? In short, nearly all serious, scholarly students of
Celtic Paganism and Druidism dismiss the writing of Douglas Monroe as nothing more than fantasy. Isaac
Bonewits (the founder of ADF) calls this book The Twenty-One Lessons of Hogwash. Ellen Evert Hopman (a
leader of Keltria and the Order of the White Oak) wrote an in-depth letter to Douglas Monroe, identifying some of
the many flaws in the book.
"But I read the book, and I liked it!"
Alas, The Twenty-One Lessons of Merlyn is a best-selling book on Celtic spirituality. Chances are, many people
who are interested in Druidism will stumble across this book -- and without anyone to steer them in a better
direction, they'll read it. Sure, many folks will go on to read better material, such as the books listed here in
Druidbooks. But how many others may abandon Druidism and Celtic spirituality altogether, after being put off by
Douglas Monroe's sexist, pompous, and erroneous writing?
If you have already read The Twenty-One Lessons of Merlyn, please do not see this as an attack on you personally!
If you enjoyed it, that's okay. But please understand -- it's not an accurate picture of Druidism. Responsible, hard-
working scholars who have the integrity to admit when they don't know an answer have written dozens of useful

and interesting books on Celtic culture, religion, and society. Many of these books are listed here in Druidbooks.
Almost all of them present a view of Celtic society radically different from what Douglas Monroe depicts. Read a
dozen books from Druidbooks -- take your pick. And then go back to The Twenty-One Lessons, and you'll see
what I mean.
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
I don't want to belabor the point. Douglas Monroe is not the only fantasy-writer who has tried to pass off his
imaginary world as reality. This has happened before, and will no doubt happen again. What is truly important are
the many worthy books that are, and will be, available. We who care about intelligent scholarship and academic
integrity must continue to read, review, and teach books truly worthy of the Druids.
Remember, the ancient Druids were scientists, philosophers, and lawyers. We have no reason to believe they flew
in UFO's, beamed over to Ireland from Atlantis, or stuck crystals up their nose. On the other hand, we can assume
they stood for rigor and discernment in the pursuit of knowledge. If we dare to call ourselves "Druids," the least we
can do is approach our research and study with a similar standard of discernment and excellence.
Read good books.
(Note from Daven: The below was turned into several NewsGroups at various times, and keeps getting re-
circulated. It's one of the best out there, and raises many different points that need addressing. Interestingly
enough, Mr. Monroe has NEVER responded to this or any of the points raised.)
[Webmaster's Note: I usually do not pay much attention to what the popular press has to say about Druidism,
because the popular press, being a profit venture, is not constrained by truthfulness in the same way that the
academic press is. The book reviewed below is thus far the only case in which I feel compelled to act; printing this
letter is one way that I have done so. --cathbad]
I have attached a review I did of the 21 Lessons of Merlyn, for Keltria's magazine. I am sure others on the list will
have things to add. Slan Saille
The 21 Lessons of Merlyn: A Study in Druid Magic and Lore
by Douglas Monroe, Llewellyn Publications, ISBN: 0875424961
From Philip Carr-Gomm: One of the most widely read books on Druidry is unfortunately the worst - Monroe's 21
Lessons of Merlyn. We get many emails asking our opinion of this book...
From Ellen Evert Hopman: Hello Philip: Here is my review of the 21 Lessons which I wrote right after it came out.
The female head of Monroe's order never responded to me (I doubt she even exists) and Monroe's response was
that he could counter every thing I had said but decided not to. The review was published in the Keltria Journal and
has appeared all over the web. I am sure it could use some slight editing, feel free to use it. Also look for the new
issue of Gnosis magazine. Their review is priceless and would make an excellent companion piece to this one
cheers Willow
Dear Douglas;

As a Druid initiate I am always interested in new interpretations of my religion. I became aware of your recent
book "The 21 Lesson of Merlyn" when several people recommended it to me as a "genuine" text from antiquity.
Knowing that the Druids never committed their teachings to writing I was determined to investigate.
What I found was a well crafted work of fiction, one worthy to stand as a companion piece to Bradley's "Mists of
Avalon". The magical systems that it contained seemed to have an inherent consistency that would make them
useful (though a fluent Welsh speaker I know says that your phonetic breakdowns of the word-spells are
impossible).
What troubles me is that people are accepting your writing as a true " ancient Druid " system. You do much to
encourage that belief by your constant reference to " The Book of the Pheryllt " which you describe as part of a
triad of volumes along with " The Gorchan of Maeldrew " and " Song of the Forest Trees ". What you fail to
mention is that all three of these works are blatant forgeries perpetrated by the notorious romantic Iolo Morganwg.
Further I find that your book is the second from Llewellyn that presents Druidism in a strangely misogynist light.
As you insist on presenting the work as a religious text I feel compelled to point out its many inconsistencies and
problems.
First are the historical inaccuracies. You state (p. 5) that 400 B.C. marks the traditional beginnings of Druidism.
Actually the Celts arrived in Ireland sometime around 1,000 B.C. and brought their religion with them.
You state (p. 6) that the word " Druid " means " oak-men " in many languages and that the prefix " dru " refers to
the oak tree - " King of All". In fact " dru " refers to truth - making a " Dru-id " a truth-knower. Further, the oak
tree is both male and female, the pin oak is especially sacred to Brighid. The Celts venerated many trees, the oak
was prominent with the Gaulish Druids while the Yew was a bit more significant to the British and the Rowan to
the Irish.
You state repeatedly in the book that Anglesey was an island of male Druids while Avalon was an island of
females. Yet you contradict yourself by presenting the quote from Tacitus, a contemporary Roman witness to the
slaughter of the Druids at Anglesey in A.D. 61 (p.7) ; " ...between the ranks dashed women in black attire like the
Furies...". If women were forbidden on the island what were they doing there defending it? The only reference we
have to an island of women is Strabo's. He mentions an island of " virgins " in the Atlantic and
Avalon/Glastonbury can by no stretch of the imagination be called an island in the Atlantic.
You state in several places that the Druid path is a remnant of the ancient religion of Atlantis. On what evidence?
And you say (p. 26) that after the slaughter of the Druids of Anglesey " the surviving Druids took refuge on the
Caledonian ( Scottish ) island of Iona." Yet you fail to mention that the Romans never got to Ireland !
You claim (p. 9) that Ogham was " a symbolic magical alphabet, used by the Druids SOLELY as a religious device
for divination and revelation " ( emphasis mine ). I can only ask if you have ever visited a Celtic country ? If you
had you would know that the Ogham was used to mark boundaries, property lines etc. a most mundane function. I
urge you to visit the University of Cork which has a vast collection of such markers.
You mention several " Druidic customs " pertaining to seasonal celebrations such as kissing under the mistletoe
and the Easter bunny. You describe Easter as the old Gaelic festival of Ishtar or Ostara. In reality Easter comes
from the Germanic festival of Oestre a Goddess whose attributes were the egg and the hare, symbols of Spring's
fertility. Ishtar ( whom you mention several times in the book ) is a Mesopotamian Goddess. The custom of
venerating the mistletoe comes from the Scandinavian legend of Baldur. The Christmas tree you describe as a
derivative of the Druidic Yule log, yet this custom is also Germanic (p. 12).

Which brings us to the subject of religion:
I notice in your book a disturbing tendency to group Celtic Deities into male or female functions, into THE
TRIPLE GODDESS or THE GOD OF DARK AND LIGHT. Alas the reality of Celtic thought was not so simple
and much more wonderful. Your supremely irritating attitude towards the female ( i.e. female = passive, male =
active ) I will deal with below, but the division of the Gods into " male and female " is a holdover from Gardnerian
Wicca which lumps all the Goddesses into THE GODDESS and all the Gods into THE GOD.
Almost four hundred Celtic Deities have been currently identified. Each tribe had its own pantheon with the
possible exceptions of Lugh and Brighid who were pan-Celtic Deities. I hasten to add the both Brighid and Lugh
are Deities of light and fire, neither is particularly associated with darkness or passivity or the moon etc. This
makes perfect sense when we examine the similarities between Hindu and Celtic religion - many see these as
opposite ends of a common cultural trend, the result of the Celtic migrations to East and West. Ancient Druidism
and the Brahamanic tradition of India were and are religions of fire worship. The most important Celtic festivals
are called Fire festivals and the Arch Druids were in charge of perpetual sacred fires at Uisnach etc. When the
historic St. Brighid converted to Christianity she and her followers kept up the sacred fire at Killdare into which
they would scry to answer questions posed by the folk.
Another common misconception, probably derived again from Wicca of the 1950's, is the idea that THE SUN IS
MALE and THE MOON IS FEMALE. In the Gaelic language the sun is a feminine word and the earth is a
masculine word !
I could not help but notice that you left out the concept of the Divine Child in your theology. Mabon/Maponos
(divine youth ) is the personification of the sacred child in Welsh tradition for example. You also leave out the
Sacred Couple, examples of which are Leucretius and Nemetona from Aquae Sulis. But then you probably do this
to justify your theory that the Druids were celibate ( more on this later ).
It would be impossible to discuss all of the variations of Deity in this letter but I urge you to examine PAGAN
CELTIC BRITAIN by Anne Ross if you want a good overview. I will point out a few prominent examples that
contradict your statement (p. 21); "For the Celts, all reality was a direct reflection from either the SUN REALM
(i.e. the masculine, radiating, active sphere ) or the MOON REALM ( i.e. the feminine, absorbing, passive
sphere)."
The sun was clearly seen as both masculine AND feminine. Belenos is a good example of a solar Deity and
Grainne a solar Goddess. Dagda Mor is a classic example of a Divine Father who is also an Earth God while
Anu/Danu is the Divine Earth Mother. Brighid is a Goddess of skill and craft, being patroness of smithcraft, poetry,
healing, motherhood, and other arts. Similarly we have Lugh as a master of every art. In the realm of medicine we
have Diancecht and again Brighid as male and female Deities. Along with horned warrior Gods such as
Belatucadros and Cocidius we have the warrior Goddesses such as Macha, the Morrigan etc.
And then you have left out the numerous sacred animals and birds. The ancient Druids were shamans as well as
clergy as evidenced by their costumes which included feathered capes and headdresses ( see Anne Ross for more
on this ). The swan, raven, goose, owl, eagle, and crane were among the sacred birds and the cat, bull, boar/sow,
horse, stag/deer, dog, wolf, ram, bear, and fish were among the divine animals. So prominent were the animal
associations with the Otherworld that early Christian saints called upon deer to guide them to a good site to found a
monastery etc.

On page 26 you make the rather startling statement; "...the Catholic church to this day does not allow their Priests
to marry or engage in [ hetero(?)sexual ] relations - and this, without doubt, is a blatant remnant of old Druidic
Law." Are we to assume that the apostle Paul was a trained Druid or is it simply that celibacy was unknown to the
Hebrews, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, etc.? You also mention the adoration of the cross as an ancient
Druid custom picked up by Christianity. The cross of the four directions is a universal symbol used by Native
Americans, Lappish shamans, and many pre-Christian peoples. The Egyptians had their version in the Ankh
etc.etc.
You list several examples of celibate, enlightened men who kept their distance from women in order to " maintain
their heightened awareness ". Mohammed who is included in your list actually had several wives and children.
There are many who believe that Jesus was sexually involved with Mary Magdalene.
You also state that the ancient Druids were vegetarian and that this was a requirement for enlightenment. I can
recall no reference to vegetarian Druids in the literature and I would remind you of the fact that Tibetan Lamas and
the great Native American seer/sages such as Black Elk were and are meat eaters.
Your attitude throughout the book is so blatantly sexist that it would be impossible to comment on every instance .
examine the history of the ancient Celts rather than basing your opinions on the ideas of a forger (Morganwg). For
example Tacitus tells us that " the British make no sexual distinction among those that enjoy sovereignty ". Here is
a description of queen Maeve from the Cattle Raid of Cooley; " Although King Aillil was the ruler, his queen
always had the final word in the land of Connacht, for she could order whatever she liked, take as lover
whomsoever she desired, and could get rid of them as she felt inclined. She was strong and restless, like a goddess
of war, and she knew no law other than her own strong will. She was, it was said, tall with a long, pallid
countenance and she had hair the color of ripe corn."
The ancient Romans reported that the female warriors of the Celts were more fierce than the males and it was a
queen of the Iceni tribe who led the last revolt against the Romans in England. We know also that Celtic women
trained children in the use of weapons and that the greatest warrior, CuChulainn, was trained by a female teacher.
But now let us examine your views : (p. 217) to be born as a man indicates a need to develop the qualities of
intellect, assertiveness and outer world mastery. To be born as a woman indicates a need to develop passive,
emotional, inner-world qualities. As we have seen from the examples of Celtic Deities and queens above the
ancients felt that women were just as capable as men of being warriors, healers, artists, etc.
Women (p. 224) absorb life energy, while men radiate it. This is a fascinating concept that points to a pathological
fear some men have that women will somehow steal their life force by absorbing their semen. If it were true that
women absorbed the life force how on earth could they nurture a baby in their womb ? Women¹s bodies GIVE life,
in the form of milk, warmth, nurturing, their very blood.
You quote a ridiculous poem on page 225 ;
"Wouldn't you rather be the sun that shines so bold and bright, than be the moon, that only glows with someone
else's light?"
We are meant to see the sun as the desirable (i.e. male) station and the moon as the weak (i.e. female) state. Given
the reality of the Celtic queens and war Goddesses this entire concept is absurd.

In your chapter "Deadliest of Species" you have Merlyn instruct the young Arthur in the dangerous nature of
women. You cite the example of a species of female spider that devours its mate after copulation as proof of your
thesis. Are you aware that male felines of all species devour the kittens of other males? Do you know that
chimpanzee males and langur males do the same? And among humans which sex is it that perpetrates the vast
majority of the murders, rapes, wars, genocides?
You present an interesting diagram on page 234. You show a human brain neatly divided in two with one half
labeled female ( right hemisphere ) and one half labeled male ( left hemisphere ). You outline the qualities that
supposedly adhere to each sex i.e. "female" is intuitive, timeless, visual, subjective, emotional, dreamer, holistic,
spontaneous, artistic, while the " male " is labeled analytical, sequential, verbal, objective, logical, scientific,
mathematical, etc. Yet both sets of qualities exist in one head! Obviously men and women have both and to
separate the sexes according to any one set of qualities is useless.
You make some rather interesting claims about ancient Druid herbal formulas and recipes. Your Samhain absinthe
recipe calls for pumpkin blossoms as a garnish . In October? And you quote the Pheryllt manuscript (p. 154) as
devoting a lengthy chapter to "16 healing herbs which were the basic standards of Druid medicine". You manage to
leave out some of the most obvious herbs that are to be found in the literature such as dandelion, oats, and sorrel
yet you also include herbs which were unknown to the Druids such as echinacea and goldenseal - both Native
American plants (as are pumpkins) unheard of in Europe until relatively recently. You mention mistletoe but do not
include its most important use - in curing cancer.
Finally I have to take exception to your statement about American Druidry. You claim (p. 415) that the NEW
FOREST which you represent is an archetypal remnant of the ancient tradition which will benefit American Druids
who " wish to seek old knowledge according to authentic tradition ". You further state that " Every current Druidic
Lodge of note, seems to have built its extrapolations upon Matriarchal, Wiccan-based forms of Earth Magic - and
most claim that that the original Priesthood itself was Matriarchal".
The two largest Druid Orders in America are Keltria, of which I am vice president, and A.D.F. neither of which
subscribes to the these views. As you can see from the above arguments I have made, our view is a balanced one
that seeks to discover and nurture the talents of women and men while worshipping both Goddesses and Gods.
Keltria in particular makes every effort to achieve balance of gender in it¹s officers. In fact if you examine the
recent statements of Maccrossan ( another Llewellyn author ) and of many of the British Druid Orders you will
find them to be overwhelmingly Patriarchal in tone. Rarely does a Druid order attempt to honor the true place of
women in the Celtic tradition. I find that your volume is another offering from a man who is clearly uncomfortable
with the idea of the essential power and Divinity of woman. As evidence of this I quote you from page 99; "Šthe
depths of ANNWN : that indigo, hidden-realm of creation, into which no woman may look ".
I am forwarding a copy of this commentary to Theresa L. Worth, Directress of the Center For New Avalon and I
invite you both to respond. I would like permission to print your replies in one of our
Blessings of Earth, Stone, Water, Fire, Air, Wind, and Sea and of the Dee and the un-Dee;
Ellen Evert Hopman known as Willow

Teen Witch, A Review
Teen Witch, a review

By Daven
Teen Witch, by Silver RavenWolf (Llewellyn Publications, 2000, ISBN 1-56718-725-0) starts out strong and
peters out into mediocrity. I had such high hopes for this particular book and most of them were shattered within
the first 100 pages.
Let me explain my disappointment to you, so you can see why I felt let down.
Silver starts out the book by saying that she wrote this for the Teen and the seeker who is going through the times
and trails of being a teenager while also trying to find their spiritual self. She starts out strongly with several good
pieces of advice. In addition, there is a section for the parent who may not be Wiccan, to try and lay their fears to
rest.
Her stated purpose in this book is to teach teens how to cope with life, and to show them some of the mysteries of
Wicca as a religion. This is what she tells the adults in the beginning of the book, as she speaks from the
perspective of a parent herself. However, this never manifests anywhere in the text she wrote.
In the first two chapters, Silver does a good job of staying on topic, giving a brief synopsis of what Wicca is and is
not. She bursts several popular misconceptions with humor and good sense. She goes into some of the more
difficult aspects of being a teen (such as drug use) and gives some good insights into what a teenager is going
through.
There is a good description of the journey she has taken in her spiritual quest and some of the trials she had with
her own teens in the beginning of the book. It lets people understand her, know that she is human and that she has
"been there and done that" with her parents and her children.
Her cautions on Drugs and Alcohol in Magickal workings are needed injunctions. She illustrates this point with a
true-life story that she was told by a friend. Her thoughts on teen pressure and how to cope with it are good also,
but there are too few of these gems in the book compared to the overwhelming topic: SpellCrafting.
In the very beginning of the book, she states that she is "-one of the most famous Witches in the United States
today" as a way of introducing herself to the parents of a teen who is investigating Wicca. This statement may be
fact, but it is not the way to make the readers comfortable with the material.
The thumbnail description of Wicca is necessary, and it gives the reader a chance to define what they believe. By
the third chapter, despite saying that Wicca is a religion over and over, she goes into Magick and Spells, continuing
this topic for the next 8 chapters. Spells on this, spells on that, how to protect your locker with a spell, how to shop
with a spell, how to gain money with a spell, never again focusing on the religion.
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There is one brief chapter about how to do a ritual, along with the holidays, and Esbat celebrations. In that chapter,
she has teens getting together and having a Circle, invoking the God and Goddess and bringing Them into
themselves, and doing Magick. She shows the teen casting spells left and right for one thing or another throughout
the book. Even though she states multiple times that you don't have to do all the ritual she describes and "scripts"
out, since that is all that Silver presents, the teen is left with little choice but to think that Spellwork is all there is to
being a Wiccan.
If she is trying to show Wicca as a valid religion, this book falls far short of the mark. If she is trying to help teens
through a troubling time in their life, then again she fails. If she wants to perpetuate the stereotype that Wiccans
cast Magick all the time then she did a good job.
There is a tendency to throw out esoteric pronouncements that make no sense within the context of the statement,
with little or no explanation to clarify them. For instance, here is one paragraph talking about the rules of Love
Magick:
You cannot own another person. A person doesn't "belong" to you like a
piece of property. Witches never give away their "shields" to another
person. You always retain your personal power. Teen Witch, pg. 138.
I have studied Wicca for 10 years and metaphysics and Magick for 30, I asked others, and reread this particular
passage multiple times trying to understand what she meant, to no avail. It makes no sense in the context of the
thought to throw out a statement like that about personal power and shields. I can think of only two explanations
for this: 1) People really are possessions, and she is equating another person to a shield to protect you from harm
and you should not give them away to another person at all, or... 2) The publisher and author made a mistake in the
manuscript that no one caught by misplacing this passage.
There are multiple contradictory statements in this book. Silver states repeatedly that Witches don't do Magick to
force anyone to be with them, and that readers of this book should not do that either. However, she goes on to give
18 different spells on love and relationships. One of which makes someone who is pursuing your "boy/girlfriend"
go away forcibly. This sounds like a spell targeting a specific individual to me.
There are some spells that are good and positive, and I will probably use some of them in my own practice. For
example, a spell to make a romantic break up more amicable than it might be and her section on healing is good.
While Silver harps on the fact that Magick is not the way to solve problems in teen life, she goes on to give them
nothing but spells as tools to cope.
This makes for a very confusing book.
This is not to say that everything in this book is worthless. There are some good anecdotes on different problems,
good suggestions for a "minimalistic" circle and sound advice. Unfortunately, there is so little of it in comparison
to the spells, I'm afraid the advice gets glossed over. She went to a lot of trouble to write these spells, and they
should be used, but by practitioners with a through understanding of the religious aspects, as well as the full
knowledge of the consequences of the spells they are casting. One of the positive aspects is Silver does have the
definitions for most of the esoteric words that are used right there with the text that uses that word. This is all to the
good.
Some of the other positive aspects are a wonderful solitary ritual for "Cleansing the Sacred Space" using the
example of her daughter. I read it and thought that the ritual was very beautiful.

Craft parents who are trying to teach their children to be Wiccan should use this book. There is a lot of simple
explanation in there for the child or teen and it would be valuable for them. (Her example of a 10 year old using her
stuffed animals as her Deity representations and as her Circle boundary is a really good one.) This is not for the
teen that sees it on the shelf of a bookstore and decides to get it to see what Witchcraft is about.
"Teen Witch" is a spell book. Granted it is a good spell book, but it is not what it was representing itself as, namely
a guide to teen spiritualism.
All in all, for fulfilling the purpose it was written for, I give it 2 stars out of 5. However, as a reference for the Craft
Child, with the support and guidance of a parent or Priest/ess to help, it rates 3 1/2 stars on the same scale. There
will still be a lot of work the teacher will need to do to help the teen along.
Stars light your path.
© Daven, 1999 No part of this document may be used without the express, written consent of the author. Email me at Daven@davensjournal.com

Flame and Shadow
(Note from Daven: This is a guided meditation that I got as part of a course I was taking a long time ago in Wicca
and Paganism. It's a lovely piece, and although I don't know who is the original author, I hope that you all will be
honorable enough not to steal it.
I have recorded an audio version of this meditation, and you can download it here .)
Flame and Shadow

See yourself standing on a rocky plateau. The stone beneath you feet is warm from the sun; you hear the Whisper
of the wind as it sings through the rocks, and the murmur of the spring as it curves around the boulders and makes
it's way down the mountainside. There isn't too much time before sundown, and you want to walk for a while
before you return home.
You wander through the boulders and find yourself at the edge of a cliff. Gazing out, you can see the valley
below. From this height, you can see the shadow of patterns of the afternoon and the rich colors of an earth ready
for harvest. You note the deep flame colors of ripened berries and the meandering patterns of the brooks and
streams, but you turn away from the rich golden fields of grain, the greens of forest and field.
As you turn, your eye is caught by a shadow nearby. Looking more closely, you discover an old trail to one side.
Apparently it once crossed the edge of the cliff, but time has worn part of it away, and its presence was hidden as
long as you looked only outward at the beauty of the valley.
You decide to follow it. Stepping carefully, you find that it winds down and around until you reach a level place
surrounded by boulders strewn like a giant's toys.
Moving ahead, you follow the trail. Away from the sun-warmed stone heights you left behind, the light of the sun
fades quickly. You desire the sunlight as an aid in reaching home.
But it is suddenly dusk. You are on an unfamiliar trail and have no idea which way to go. In the early evening
shadows you see a glimmer of light ahead and move toward it. You are curious and unafraid, yet also grateful for
the glow it shares with the pathway.
As you round a curve in the trail you find the opening to a cave before you. The glow which has lighted your trail
comes from within. It's challenge to the darkness reassures you. You enter to search for its source.
The passageway winds, you pass under an archway into a cavernous room of light. Candles of all colors and sizes
burn about you on tiers and ledges which line the vaulted room. In wonder, you move closer. On each candle is
inscribed a single word or short phrase. The tall candle is labeled "Love". A stubby one next to it, burning fiercely
is marked as "Resentment". Bewildered, you look further and find "Joy", "Thoughtfulness", "Lies", "Truth",
"Meanness of Spirit", "Hope", "Wastefulness", "Procrastination", and "Wisdom"...
As you study each candle, you see it's attribute clearly within yourself. Some of the visions please you. Others
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Flame and Shadow
disturb you and you try to move onto another spot. However, you are held there until you see yourself and its part
in your being clearly. You see all that is noble or mean, great or petty, loving or hateful within you.
Then you understand that each tiny bit of light is a part of what becomes the light of your Inner Spirit, the flame of
your soul. You have lighted each of these candles at some point in this life or another. From that time, that quality
has burned within you.
Suddenly, a candle sputters and goes out. Looking closely, you see the quality, "Ignorance". Amazed, you
discover that rather than becoming darker, the light increases as other candles blaze brighter than before. Curious,
you wander back to the candle labeled, "Meanness of Spirit" and extinguish it. "Hope" and "Truth" on either side
of it take on an added glow.
You move purposefully, now willing to see yourself as you really are -- both the good and not-so-good within you.
As you accept each inner reflection, you extinguish the candles which symbolize those attributes you do not
desire. As those darker traits within you begin to fade, the room grows even brighter than before.
The color of one candle reminds you of an old acquaintance with whom you have had harsh words. For a moment,
you mind dwells on the memory. You turn, and find that "Resentment" and "Intolerance" have relit. now, you
realize fully that the perfection of positive traits is a constant process, not one which you can do symbolically once,
and have it remain. You must constantly work to promote "Understanding" and "Tolerance" to prevent the darker
candle flame from burning.
As you turn to leave the cavern, you walk unafraid. Now you know that you carry the sacred flames within you.
Your spirit is that light, in what ever degree of brightness you choose. Because you are that light, you learn to
recognize it in all others, knowing that there are none who have not some spark of that Light Eternal.
Adjusting your eyes to the changing light, you look closely and see a circle of light before you in the darkness. It
is the golden light of the sun and the shimmering silver of the midnight moon.
Look beyond the physical flames. See clearly the faces reflected in the glow. Each one is a brother or sister light
to be cherished as another part of the flame of life and light.
Remember that we are children of the Lord and Lady. They have given us the sun and moon and earthly flames.
Within us burns their timeless flame which is our Trust -- for we are Keepers of the Flame.
A hand touches yours. Look around you... you now stand in a circle of flames which reflect on faces you know
and love. The Flame within you touches another and merges. The light continues to grow.
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Daven's Meditation
Daven's Meditation
This is the meditation I most often use to get into a state of trance. There are elements here common to most
meditations and guided meditations. I explored this concept in part in a class I teach on Astral Projection. Here
are the common themes that most meditations and guided meditations have in them:
1. Suggestions to relax
2. The feeling of a safe environment around you
3. Lack of distractions from the world
4. A sense of comfort and love
5. Pictures and visualizations of a scene that is pleasant for you
6. A descent of some kind.
You may see these themes as you read through the meditation.
Sit or lay down and become comfortable. Relax your body completely and start thinking about these scenes.
Find yourself in a wooded area. The sun is warm on your back and head, and the breeze is cool on your face.
There is just enough of a breeze to disturb your hair, but not enough to make you uncomfortable.
There is a path under your feet. It leads to a distant place, and you know that at the end of this path, you will find
many wondrous things to do and to experience.
As you walk along the path, you hear the birds singing in the distance and hear the crunch of the leaves as you step
on them. You smell the scents of the woods around you, and hear the running water of a nearby stream.
Relax your toes. Let the toes become heavy and unresponsive. Feel the light of the Sun entering into the toes on
each foot, warming them and making them distant. Know that as the light of the Sun enters your body, that it will
warm and protect you from anything outside of you, keeping you safe for the time you are here.
Feel the warmth of the Sun move up your feet and into the ankles. These portions of your body are completely
relaxed and kind of numb. There is a distance between you and your feet at this moment. They are safe and
function fully and completely, with no problems. Anything that is wrong with your body will be corrected once
the light of the Sun reaches them and you are relaxed.
Move the sunlight up your legs now, into your knees. The glow is warm and kind, not harsh or too hot. The
breeze is blowing and you are cooling off even as the sunlight makes you warm.
The light is now in your thighs and your groin area. From the waist down, there is a warmth and a wellness that is
hard to describe. Everything in your lower regions works perfectly and completely, with no problems or
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Daven's Meditation
imperfections. The lower half of your body is safe and warm and comforted, complete and whole, ready to
function as you desire it to.
Move the light from the Sun up into your belly region now. As the light penetrates the lower back and the
stomach, see the impurities in your body dump themselves into your colon, and see the intestines work most
efficiently to rid the body of that waste.
Now the light moves up your back, across the shoulders and into the chest. Your heart beats easier and your lungs
breathe without restriction. As you breathe in, the light of the sun flows into your lungs, and with every breath
outward, all that is negative and contrary in the universe flows out into the air. This negativity cannot come back
in. It's as though you were wearing a filter on your mouth that keeps the bad from coming back into you.
Relax more. Everything below your neck is now relaxed and working most efficiently. Your body is whole and
perfect, fully functional in every way.
The light now penetrates your arms and hands, illuminating them from the inside. You can see the bones and the
blood vessels in your arms and hands, and you see that there is no restriction of these pipelines and supports. The
blood flows in, is cleansed by the Sun, and it flows away having delivered it's package of Oxygen to your body.
The back of your neck feels the sunlight now, and it rapidly spreads upwards across your scalp. Your thinking
becomes clear, your thoughts transmitted to your body with the speed of timelessness. There is no delay in the
thought and the action now. Your brain is illuminated and all those dark shadowed places in your soul are laid
bare, showing you what they contain, allowing you to face those negative parts of yourself.
The light continues across your forehead, over your eyes, past your nose and across your mouth. Now you are the
light, the light is in you and around you and part of you. You open up your hand and pluck the Sun out of the sky
and swallow it. Now that Sunlight is your radiant self shining out of your skin. You see shadows that are cast by
you as you finish your walk through the forest.
At the end of the trail you are on, you find a cave. You see that it extends deep into the Earth, but you have no fear
of the dark since you are light. You enter this cave, walking carefully to avoid the water puddles you see around
you. But you stop and look into one of those puddles.
You see a scene of your past. You watch it again and understand what was happening that day that you were not
aware of. You see everything and everyone that was there, clearly and completely. You see subtitles and you
realize that those words are what you were thinking at this time.
You move closer to one of these puddles. In a second you slip slightly and your foot comes down in the puddle
and you find yourself in that scene again, almost as though you were in a three-dimensional fully interactive
movie. You can hear yourself and others, and even hear the conversations you were not able to hear before.
You stand and watch for a bit, and no one sees you or talks to you. And now you realize what this cave is, it is the
Cave of Memory. Everything you have ever seen or done, every thought, every attitude and event is recorded here
in these puddles of water, and you can view them at your pleasure.
You decide to explore your memories another time.

Daven's Meditation
As you walk out of the cave, still shining as the sun, you see the scene different outside. It is where you decided to
go when you started meditating this time. It can be a problem that you can now look at and interact with, or it can
be another place. Perhaps it is your Temple and the Gods are waiting to teach you again. It is now up to you to
decide what you are going to be doing.
You may wake when you choose to, completely rested, whole and hale, relaxed and de-stressed. There have been
no emergencies while you were gone, and any that come up now you will be able to deal with rationally and
calmly. Everything in your body works perfectly and at peak efficiency. You are loved.
Stars light your path.
© Daven, 1999 No part of this document may be used without the express, written consent of the author. Email me at Daven@davensjournal.com

The Elements of Daven
Daven's Arrangement of the

Elements
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The Elements of Daven
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The Elements of Mike Nichols
Mike Nichol's Elemental

Arrangement
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The Elements of Mike Nichols
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The Classical Elements
Classical Elemental
Arrangement
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The Classical Elements
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High Magick Class

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High Magick Syllabus, the Home Page

Online Magick Course

1. Introduction (About me, Definitions, Basics, Assignments, etc.)

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Other articles that are related to this course

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Back Home Next

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Speaking of passing and failing, let's see....

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1) Your magickal experiences

It would probably be best to use my introduction as to who I am as a template for yours.

This assignment is due in two weeks.

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Lesson 2: The Path of

THE PATH OF THE MAGICIAN

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Know the totality of thyself, for no one else can.

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c) Acceptance of that dark side.

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g) Doubt assails you once again.

h) Peaceful Acceptance, of the Dark, and the Light.

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i) I am no longer a mere mortal, I feel so Olympian and distant from humanity.

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3. A book doesn't have a job it has to be to tomorrow.

Drawbacks to solitary study in books

1. You can receive custom lessons.

1. Teachers are human they don't know everything.

Instruction in a group setting

1. There can be a freer exchange of ideas.

Group Study Drawbacks:

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1. Who needs the personality conflicts that crop up ad-nauseam?

While discovery is best, there are many, many drawbacks.

Drawbacks to doing it all on your own.

1. You may miss many pieces of information.

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3) Practice: The first steps in casting and using magick.

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e) Finding allies is also in the category of very dangerous to you.

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a. Defending the defenseless.

c) Why are you doing these things?

d) Moving to the will of the Gods.

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**Out Of Body Excursion or Astral Projection. back

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So, here are the assignments in order:

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Lesson 3: Tools and

THE EXORCISM OF INCENSE.

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THE EXORCISM OF THE FIRE.