Fourth Lunation: Waxing Moon Cycle
Days 1–16
Day of Silence
Observe silence for as much of the day as possible. Speak only when necessary, and choose your words wisely. As the day goes on, put twenty percent of your attention on the physical sensations in your body. Put the remaining focused attention on whatever task is before you. Can you split your attention like this? It is possible and powerful.
At the end of the day, take time to journal about the effects of maintaining some awareness inside the body at all times.
Third Cardinal Axiom
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Direction: |
West |
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Power: |
Daring and accepting |
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Season: |
Fall |
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Festival: |
Fall Equinox |
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Theme: |
Inclusion |
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Dates: |
Around September 19–22 |
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Axiom: |
A practitioner of the Old Ways stands as witness to the unfolding of the Great All, and knows that the oceans do not refuse any form of water. |
Third Cardinal Axiom
The traditional Wiccan power aligned with the west is “the power to dare.” When we think of daring, we think of going beyond the bounds of something. But in order to go beyond, we have to have knowledge and experience with the boundaries themselves, and everything contained within.
Daring is important in Wicca because, as Witches, we answer a deep call to go beyond the known world, at least spiritually. The familiar world, for those hovering within the warm currents of the mainstream, is one defined by social and cultural norms, customs, values, gender expectations, family rules, and everything else deemed acceptable by social standards.
Going beyond the village light, the village bonfires, requires some nerve. This twilight journey into the unknown is often too difficult, too dangerous, for most people to face or complete. So most people stay with what’s familiar to them, even if it does not lead to living a fulfilling or empowering life.
But everyone, even if they are not on an intentional magical journey, as are you, eventually gets pushed to venture into the twilight world from time to time over the course of a lifetime. Someone dies. Someone gets married. A child is born. A job is lost or started. These are all everyday experiences that push the seekers of safety out of their comfort zone and cause them to walk along the uncomfortable, shifting sands of the twilight world. Mainstreamers who are pushed out into uncharted waters by life circumstances frequently seek safety and familiarity as soon as possible, since venturing beyond the known causes such discomfort and anxiety, and usually requires them to make behavioral changes (which are often too difficult or anxiety-provoking to maintain).
Witches, however, learn that there is little power for them in staying exclusively within the known village compound. The comfort of what is known, routine, and expected is not necessarily where power resides. The journey outside of social boundaries causes those of us on the magical path to see things from new perspectives, fresh vantage points. As a result, more of life is included in our world vision, and it compels changes in action in order to meet the demands of the new, unfamiliar terrain.
But this journey into the unknown cannot be started aright without first knowing the village and all of its inhabitants well. Charting the world you inhabit with complete intimacy is called the “power to accept.”
The power in accepting comes from complete intimacy with the reality of your existence. Once you can fully accept what is in your world, you can take the right action. For example, if you think you are being harmed, then you might take a certain course of action to stay away from harm. But if you refuse to see or accept that harm is occurring, then you may never take the action necessary for your own well-being. Or perhaps you must accept the reality of your financial situation. Or maybe it is time to accept and see clearly the realities of your relationship. These are all difficult to do, but once you open your eyes to the reality of your situation, then it becomes easy to claim power in your life.
Accepting, too, has its limits, if relied upon solely. When you stay in a pattern of acknowledging only the facts of your life, it may protect you from anticipatory anxiety, but it can also result in a lack of vision and imagination. Sometimes it is important to see the whole mountain before you climb it. That kind of action allows you to evaluate the scale of what you are doing and whether you have the skill required to involve yourself rightfully in a task. If, for example, you believe that you are going to build a house, but in actuality you have no skill or background in construction, you may be setting yourself up for trouble.
Inclusion is a process that encompasses a balance point between daring and accepting. It helps us venture into the unknown, yet still retain a grounded vision of our spiritual work.
Inclusion is a very different concept for those of us in Western cultures because there is a decided accent on denial. We are taught to evaluate people or situations to determine if they might be distasteful or lacking utility or just undesirable in some way, and we learn to reject them with automaticity. Meanwhile, on the path of the Goddess and the God, there is nothing you can see, taste, touch, hear, or smell that is not a manifestation of their energy. The Gods are our bodies. We are walking on them, breathing them, eating them, excreting them, hearing them, and touching them right now.
But let’s take a look at some images from nature to elucidate this point, since nature should be one of the Witch’s primary sources of spiritual inspiration. My first image to consider here is that of the vast, churning oceans. The oceans accept all forms of water, and they do not discriminate, separating out the supposed “good” water from the “bad.” The ocean does not label its droplets in this way. All contributions are rolled into the whole ocean.
Another image to consider is the lives of animals. Think, for example, of a bird, which does not act based on separating out good from bad experiences. Instead, a bird (and most other animals) meets the moment head-on, with no preconceived notions. It takes in the immediate circumstances and may have some behavioral, physically reactive memory of past experiences. But these past experiences do not change the bird’s immediate needs or its response to the requisites of the moment.
The purpose of these examples is not to ennoble animals or oceans, raising them up in some way to further erode the experience of inclusion. Rather, they can help us to consider our own process of picking and choosing, labeling and separating experiences into categories of so-called good (which usually means pleasurable or preferred) and bad (which usually means unpleasant or at least nonpreferred). In this contrast, we can understand that when we separate out the experiences of our lives in these ways on a habitual basis, we start down a path that fundamentally fractures life itself.
Without taking a breath or even realizing what has happened, we come to live our lives based on personal opinions rather than based on including all of the ingredients of life. And we often miss (or misinterpret) the actual circumstances and requisites to which the moment is pointing. It is common for likes, dislikes, debates, haggling, and feelings of love, hate, fear, and desire to run our lives when we don’t notice that it is happening. But in the heat of the ongoing parade of opinions, we are less capable of acting in accord with the needs of the moment with the immediacy of a lightning strike. This “lightning strike” responsiveness is the most powerful action we can take in the moment.
It is important to notice how frequently we engage in distracting internal discriminations, because they ultimately slow us down and make us less willing to be fluid with life’s ever-changing circumstances and demands. If you either grasp at certain preferred circumstances or avoid things you deem intolerable, then you engage in a continual push-and-pull that is alien to the inclusiveness of nature. In fact, nature defies the smallness of our personal push-and-pull, doing only what it does, following its own rhythms and cycles, despite the churning of human feelings, desires, and dislikes.
In order to follow the third magical axiom, to be powerful like the tides of nature, it becomes important to include all of life in your experience. See it. Hear it. Dive into all of its joy and pain without the “extra” of running commentary. By doing so, Witches can act powerfully, just as nature does.
When you engage the world in this watery, inclusive way, you develop a softened approach to life and the people in your sphere. Water and inclusion temper the spirit, like a red-hot sword being plunged into water.
Over the next days, we will practice aligning ourselves with the balancing point of daring and accepting, which is inclusion.
Daring/Accepting Incense and Oil
Magical Purpose: Creating herbal aids to help foster a balance between the poles of daring and accepting.
Daring/Accepting Incense
What you’ll need:
• ¼ cup powdered sandalwood
• ¼ cup powdered mesquite, elm, alder, or willow
• 1 teaspoon orris root (Try to find powdered. If not, grind up some orris root bits in a food processer as finely as possible.)
• 3 drops rose essential oil (the best quality you can find)
• 3 drops gardenia essential oil
• 3 drops iris essential oil
• 1 ounce vegetable glycerin or other carrier oil
• An airtight container
Mix the dry ingredients first. Add the essential oils to the glycerin or carrier oil. Mix everything together until the dry ingredients take on the scents from the essential oils and the mixture looks fluffy. Keep stored in an airtight container until you use it.
Daring/Accepting Oil
What you’ll need:
• 3 drops gardenia essential oil
• 3 drops iris essential oil
• 3 drops orris root essential oil
• Pinch of dried rose petals
• 1 ounce vegetable glycerin or other carrier oil
• An amber or dark-colored bottle with a tight lid
Mix the ingredients together, and store in an amber or dark-colored bottle that has a tight lid to preserve the magical properties of the essential oils.
Creating Your Own Blend
If you are interested in creating your own magical blend, here is a list of herbs and essential oils that can help balance daring and accepting:
Mercury Herbs:
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Alder |
Aloe |
Apple blossom |
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Lemon balm |
Chamomile |
Camphor |
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Catnip |
Cardamom |
Cherry |
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Coconut |
Comfrey |
Elder |
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Elm |
Eucalyptus |
Iris |
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Gardenia |
Hazel |
Heather |
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Hyacinth |
Jasmine |
Lemon |
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Licorice |
Lilac |
Lily |
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Lotus |
Mesquite |
Myrrh resin |
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Orris root |
Passion flower |
Sandalwood |
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Peach |
Rose |
Spearmint |
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Sweet pea |
Tansy |
Thyme |
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Tonka beans |
Vanilla beans |
Violet |
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Yarrow |
Ylang-ylang |
Willow |
Go to a health food store to smell the various essences and herbs. Find the ones that are most evocative of water to you. Make sure you test any essential oils for allergic reactions.
Daring and Accepting Meditation
What you’ll need:
• Daring/Accepting Incense
• Daring/Accepting Oil
• Your chalice
• Your circle-casting tools
One very simple way to evoke the balance of inclusion is to bring awareness to your personal catalogue of opinions that may affect your actions. Building and maintaining awareness of these influential opinions is a process. It is not unlike allowing muddy water to settle and eventually to clarify. Clarity helps you discern between action based on opinion and that dictated by the needs of the moment.
To begin, light a coal in your incense burner and sprinkle on the hot coal some of the Daring/Accepting Incense. Allow it to burn, filling the sacred space you are in with its energy. Take the burner, and walking clockwise, trace a simple circle around the room, making sure that you accommodate the area where you will be sitting to do the exercise.
Anoint yourself with the Daring/Accepting Oil, drawing a water-invoking pentagram at the heart chakra, at the center of the chest.
Face the west and use your chalice to draw a water-invoking pentagram before you.
Next, sit either in a chair or on a meditation cushion facing the west. Align your body, breath, and mind by first counting each of your exhalations for a few minutes.
Now do not count at all. Simply sit in silence while facing the west with your eyes cast downward. As you sit, your mind will likely produce thought. Your magical action is to label your thoughts and feelings as they arise. For example, you may start thinking about work, so you’d label (silently to yourself) the thought “work.” If you started thinking about Missy from work, whom you don’t like, you could say “Missy,” or if you’re keenly aware of your emotional state, you could label the feeling “frustration.” Engage in this mental noting for at least fifteen minutes.
After that, stand and use your chalice to draw a water-banishing pentagram.
Using the Daring/Accepting Oil, draw a water-banishing pentagram at the heart chakra, at the center of your chest.
Magic Right Now
Magical Purpose: Creating change through interaction.
Witches sometimes become discouraged when their magic seems ineffective, or when they cannot see the results of their work with their own eyes. Remembering that magic is a process of transformation and connectivity can help us recognize two important pieces of information. The first is that you cannot see the whole of life at any given time. You do not know what transformation has occurred due to your magical activity. Therefore, the term “ineffective” is only a judgment label that can dilute the energetic momentum behind your magical working. The second thing to keep in mind is that magic has less momentum (giving it more opportunity to be “ineffective”) when you start it from a place of misalignment from the source of universal power that runs through everything.
There are really only two ways that you can act in the world. One way leads to harmony and inclusion, and the other leads to exclusion and disharmony. If you promote inclusion and acceptance, then you are living in greater alignment with nature and your inherent magical power. When you exclude, you separate from the streams and oceans of power that course through your life. Therefore, it becomes essential in your year and a day of practice to take stock of your habit patterns to see if you are aligning with nature or against it; if you are aligning with your power or diminishing it.
Today and tomorrow, take time before each conversation, before each interaction, before you take an action, to pause and determine if your action includes or excludes. Does it promote harmony, or does it tear it apart? After you notice, you can always shift your perspective and your action.
At the end of these two days, take time to journal about your experience. Ask yourself:
• Was this practice difficult or easy to do?
• Do you more frequently tend to include or exclude?
• What was the result once you changed from excluding to including?
Mercury Oil and Incense
Magical Purpose: Magic through the energies of Mercury.
Astrologers say that Mercury governs thinking, thought processes, logic, making conclusions, communication, ideas, sensory information from both unconscious and unconscious sources, understanding, and making sense of things. Mercury also governs magical practice and speed.
The oil and incense you will make over the next days will help evoke these and other Mercurial energies.
Mercury Incense
What you’ll need:
• ¼ cup powdered cedar
• 1 tablespoon dried fennel
• 1 tablespoon dried cassia
• 1 tablespoon dried mandrake
• 3 drops lily of the valley essential oil
• 2 drops meadowsweet essential oil
• 1 ounce vegetable glycerin or other carrier oil
• An airtight container
Mix the dry ingredients first. Add the essential oils to the glycerin or carrier oil. Mix everything together until the dry ingredients take on the scents from the essential oils and the mixture looks fluffy. Keep stored in an airtight container until you use it.
Mercury Oil
What you’ll need:
• 2 drops cedar essential oil
• 3 drops lily of the valley essential oil
• 2 drops meadowsweet essential oil
• 1 ounce vegetable glycerin or other carrier oil
• An amber or dark-colored bottle with a tight lid
Mix the ingredients together and store in an amber or dark-colored bottle that has a tight lid to preserve the magical properties of the essential oils.
Make Your Own Incense and Oil
Use the following lists to come up with your own blends that ring with Mercurial power for you.
Mercury Herbs:
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Caraway |
Dill |
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Fennel |
Fern |
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Five-leaved grass |
Fumitory |
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Ginkgo |
Golden maidenhair |
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Hazel |
Honeysuckle |
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Horehound |
Licorice |
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Lotus |
Marjoram |
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Parsley |
Pimpernel |
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Savory |
Smallage |
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Sweet marjoram |
Valerian |
Mercury Essential Oils:
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Cucumber |
Dill |
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Fennel |
Honeysuckle |
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Lavender |
Licorice |
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Lily |
Lotus |
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Sweet marjoram |
Vervain |
Second Pentacle of Mercury
Magical Purpose: Learning about and charging a pentacle that allows any question to be answered.
Everyone has questions about things that can’t be readily known. “Will I get better?” “Is my job safe?” “Will I find a partner?” Questions such as these tend to cause mental discomfort and disrupt a sense of ease that might otherwise flow throughout the day. This can, in turn, impact your overall magical effectiveness.
Work with the Second Pentacle of Mercury can help answer the questions that keep you feeling unsure, distracted, or uncomfortable. This pentacle is reputed to inspire the seeker with direct answers to his or her questions.
A Word to the Wise: It is my recommendation that you exercise caution with the questions you ask. Be sure you are certain that you want to know the answer to something before you ask a question. Sometimes receiving an answer can be more upsetting than not knowing.
In lieu of asking a question that may result in a response you’re not quite ready to hear, you might try diving into any feelings of anxiety or disquiet you recognize running in the background of your life. Instead of allowing them to run the show from the shadows, bring them out into the open. Feel them fully, allowing them to arise. No feeling can last forever. Feelings simply arise and pass. Staying with the feeling may help you develop inner serenity and balance.
What you’ll need:
• A printed copy of the Second Pentacle of Mercury (see illustration). It would be convenient to print this pentacle from your color printer (if you own one) in purple ink (or another mixed color that suits your purpose, such as gray or orange). If not, you will have a chance to retrace the image with your own homemade purple ink.
Second Pentacle of Mercury
• Purple ink (you have either already made this or purchased it)
• A feather quill pen
• 4 purple votive candles or tealights
• Mercury Incense and Oil
• Your circle-casting tools
Information about the Second Pentacle of Mercury:
• The letters between the central lines of
the pentacle form the name Boel and the names of other spirits. Boel is a spirit of Mercury whose name means “Deity is in him.” According to myth, Boel holds the keys to the four cardinal points of the material world; thus he controls all four energies: air, fire, water, and earth.
• On the outside circle are four letters of the Hebrew alphabet. At the highest point is Aleph. The next letter, to the right, is Vau. Next is Lamedh, and the final inscription is Bet.
Start by finding the Second Pentacle of Mercury online and printing it out in deep purple ink (if that is available for you). Before you print the pentacle out from your printer, be sure to match the one you find online with the one printed in this book. If you are not printing the image from the Internet, photocopy it from this book and cut it out.
Cast a circle in the hour of Mercury (refer to the planetary hours charts in days 11–12 of the second lunation). Light the four purple candles and place them at the four cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north.
Before you set the candle in the east, intone the name Vau (pronounced vow).
In the south, before you set the candle down, intone the name Lamedh (pronounced la-med).
In the west, before setting the candle down, intone the name Bet.
In the north, before setting the candle down, intone the name Aleph (pronounced al-ef).
Light the Mercury Incense and retrace the circle with its burning smoke. Anoint yourself between the brows with Mercury Oil, tracing (as best you can) the magical letters of Mercury:
Magical Letters of Mercury
Using the purple ink and your feather quill, retrace the images of the Second Pentacle of Mercury. While you do this, concentrate, imagining that your activity is imbuing the pentacle with spiritual power and your intention to have answered all questions that you ask.
Sprinkle the pentacle (carefully, so it doesn’t smudge) with blessed water and salt. Hold it over the burning Mercury Incense and then pass it quickly (so as not to singe) through the fire candle on your altar.
Use the middle finger of your right hand to trace the outer circle of the Mercury pentacle with Mercury Oil. Present the Mercury pentacle to each quarter, starting in the east and moving clockwise.
At each quarter, redraw an invoking pentagram for each respective element using the Mercury pentacle as your magical evocation tool. Thus, at the east, use the pentacle to draw an air-invoking pentagram. At the south, use it to draw a fire-invoking pentagram, and so on, returning back to the east of your circle.
Stand at the center of the circle, hold the pentacle up to the sky, and close your eyes. Intone the following magical words, which are based on imagery from ceremonial magician Henry Cornelius Agrippa and the Orphic hymns:6
Hermes, draw near, and incline to my invocation,
Winged of Jove and Maia’s son attend my invitation;
Studious of contests, ruler of all-kind,
With heart almighty, and a prudent mind.
Celestial messenger, and bringer of skill,
Whose powerful Arts could salve or kill:
With winged feet, ’tis thine through air to soar,
O friend of man, and prophet of lore:
Great life-supporter, to rejoice in wine,
Of pleasures both mystic and divine:
With power to speak and to expound,
Oh ye of magic, and the source of sound.
Whose hand contains the sacred rod,
Blessed be, O wisdom-God;
Ye weapon of tongue, which men revere,
Come to us, Hermes, and draw thee near;
Assist my works, and make them aright,
Give knowledge, wisdom, and blessed insight.
As you intone the magical words, imagine that the pentacle in your hands blazes with power. When you are done with the rite, close the circle quickly, starting by extinguishing the purple votives. Place the Second Pentacle of Mercury someplace where it will be protected from smudges.
You might try using this pentacle at the full moon ceremony coming up. To activate the pentacle, hold it to your brow and intone the names slowly:
Vau, Lamedh, Bet, and Aleph!
After you intone, ask a question silently to yourself. Make sure that you have a clear question. In my experience, this pentacle only works once. You will need to create a new pentacle each time you wish to have a magical response to any question you have. Remember to pay attention to any information coming to you, whether it is in dreams, writings, the words of others, or pure intuition.
After you receive your answer, burn the pentacle in your thurible and dispose of the ashes.
Full Moon Ceremony
Today we are going to put our Goddess alignment to use. For the next several days, following the full moon, we will be exploring magic that requires your deity guardian. Tonight, as you engage with the full moon ceremony, you will use incense and oil you’ve already made, as well as many of your magical tools to “draw down” the energies of the Goddess.
Aspecting
Aspecting (also known as “channeling”) is an important magical art that forms the basis of a central Wiccan mystery called Drawing Down the Moon. Not everyone can aspect successfully. But during your Second Degree year, aspecting the Goddess (and later on, the God) is a skill with which you must be familiar and practiced.
Aspecting is the process of making room inside of your consciousness for the direct presence of Goddess (or God) energy. The purpose of this practice is to mediate communication between deity and your coven members, or even just for yourself.
The process is rather simple, but it is not necessarily easy to open the mind sufficiently or hold it open long enough for messages to begin flowing. This may take some time and practice. And luckily you will have the chance to practice Drawing Down the Moon from now on at each of your full moon ceremonies.
Many of the techniques that we have been practicing over the past several months have been aimed at reducing some of your inner ruminations and habit thoughts that can impede your alignment with deity and with life itself. Now you will be able to put these months of practice to magical use.
During Drawing Down the Moon, you will recite an important Wiccan liturgical text entitled The Charge of the Goddess, which communicates the Goddess’s promise to teach and guide all Witches.
The original text was said to have been written by Gerald Gardner in the 1940s. His original draft of the Charge drew heavily from texts and ideas that came from several of Aleister Crowley’s works, including Liber AL (The Book of the Law), his Gnostic Mass, and Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente, as well as Charles Leland’s 1899 classic, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.
The most common form of the Charge, found in various edited and unedited forms in a variety of Wiccan books, was penned by Doreen Valiente. She rewrote Gardner’s original text and added her own innovations.
It was not uncommon for those interested in the magical arts during Wicca’s early days to derive inspiration from classical texts, such as Aradia. Thus, since our Second Degree year focuses on examining and working with many source texts, I have provided an adaptation of the Charge of the Goddess, which I have based on Leland’s original words.
As a final note (as I’ve already commented, though it deserves reminding), though it breaks from sometimes rigid traditional Pagan ideology, readers should feel comfortable Drawing Down the Moon on male Wiccan practitioners. Remembering the principle of “as above, so below,” we can see that physical gender can directly link our bodies to the Goddess or the God. While physical gender may make it be easier for women to link to the Goddess and men to link to the God, by no means does physical gender, nor gender identity, preclude men or women from channeling deity in any form. And in some circles, a male may be called upon for any number of reasons to aspect the Goddess, while a female coven member may be needed to aspect the God.
What you’ll need:
• Supplication Incense and Oil
• Your circle-casting tools (including wand, athame, chalice, and pentacle)
• First Pentacle of Saturn candle (the white pillar with the image of the pentacle on it from the second lunation)
• A black, fairly translucent veil
A Word to the Wise: The following ritual makes references to womb and phallus, which you bless. You may choose whichever word suits your gender or physical sexual characteristics. Remember, magic is about shifting consciousness rather than specifically blessing a body part. The point of blessing yourself in this way is to honor the life-generating force as expressed by sexuality and reproduction. So again, choose whichever word (either womb or phallus) that will have meaning for you.
Cast your circle using the circle-casting script in appendix A. Once the casting is complete, light your Supplication Incense and cense the perimeter of the circle. Start in the east, walking clockwise, and finish in the east. Light the pillar candle with the First Pentacle of Saturn on it. Hold it with the image facing the outer perimeter of the circle, and retrace the circle with the candle.
Using the middle finger of your right hand, dab Supplication Oil on the tops of your feet, drawing an invoking earth pentagram on each, saying:
Blessed be my feet, which have brought me in these ways.
Using the Supplication Oil, draw an invoking earth pentagram on each knee, saying:
Blessed be my knees, which shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Draw an invoking earth pentagram with the oil just above the genital area, saying:
Blessed be my womb/phallus, without which we would not be.
Using the oil, draw an invoking earth pentagram on each breast, saying:
Blessed be my breasts, formed in beauty and strength.
Finally, draw an earth-invoking pentagram at your chin, saying:
Blessed be my lips, which shall utter the sacred names.
Over your head, place a black veil that masks the features of your face but still allows you to see through it clearly, as depicted here:
Black Veil
Using your wand, draw the sign of the First Degree starting below the navel, then to the left breast, the right breast, and back to just below the navel:
If you are working with another Witch, have this person use the wand to draw the First Degree triangle. This person then hands the wand to you, the priest/ess who is aspecting.
Hold your athame in your right hand and your wand in your left, then cross them over your chest in the Osiris position.
Osiris Position
Recite the traditional evocation:
I invoke and call upon thee,
Mighty Mother of us all,
Bringer of abundance,
Gatherer of seed, root, leaf, and bud,
Gusts over moors, and fires of the hearth;
Storms of the sea, and majestic stillness of mountain,
Come, O come, bringer of life;
I invoke and call upon thee to descend
Into this, thy priest/ess.
Speak with my tongue, touch with my hands,
Fill the world with thy sacred utterances.
Intone the name of your patron goddess, one syllable at a time (for example, if your goddess is Inanna, chant each syllable: In-an-na). Stand in silence and allow words to emerge, if they will come. Sometimes you may see images or scenery, hear sounds, or more. If you see rather than hear, then simply verbalize what you are seeing, feeling, hearing, or sensing. Audio-recording your aspecting sessions can be helpful, as you may not necessarily recall the things you said afterward.
Following Drawing Down the Moon, Witches traditionally recite the Charge of the Goddess: 7
Whenever ye have need of anything,
Once in the month, and when the moon be full,
Ye shall assemble in some secret place,
Or in a forest all join together
To adore the potent spirit of your Queen,
Who am I, the Great Mother of all.
And ye who are fain to learn all sorcery,
But yet have not yet won its deepest secrets,
To them the Great Mother will teach,
In truth, all things yet unknown.
Thus ye shall be freed from slavery,
And so ye shall be freed in all things;
And as a sign that ye are truly free,
Ye shall be naked in your rites; both men
And women also. And in thy rites, you shall feast,
And call upon the Great Mother so, saying:
You, who art indeed our body,
Since without thee we could not live,
Thou who, before becoming flower
Went as seed into the earth,
To the darkest place where all secrets hide,
And when below the ground, didst thou dance
Like the dust that swirls about in the wind,
And yet there too didst thou bear with thee
The secrets of magic rare and strange.
And while thou grew into the glittering grain,
Even then the fireflies came to cast their
Shimmering light upon thee!
Oh Great Mother, you who unites the races
Of Witches and fairies, hurry apace!
You who art brilliant and fair,
I will study your bright mysteries
Till they are fully revealed;
Thus to all thy magics I shall attain,
Of wing and hoof, of plough and grain,
And when the earth’s dark secrets are known to me,
I shall cry out Blessings Be!
6. See, for example, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II, Ch. LIX: “Of the seven governers of the world, the Planets, and of their various names serving to Magicall speeches.”
7. See, for example, Charles Godfrey Leland, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (Newport, RI: The Witches’ Almanac, 2010), pp. 7–12, based on the original work, published 1899.