Conjuring Your Courage
Of Frogs and Ponds
You are the foundation of your religious practices and your magick. You can learn the various religious theologies, but it takes your courage to put them into motion. Advances in psychology and medicine confirm the connection between our spiritual, mental, and physical bodies. What affects one, affects the others. Alternative-healthcare enthusiasts have been screaming for years that bodily healing and the mind are connected. During my research on Pow Wow1 magick and faith-healing, I discovered some of the intricate links between mind, healing, body, and Divinity. Astounded at my own successes, I immediately taught my children and friends everything I had learned about those links.
Spirituality is the hub of the Wiccan religion. Without it, magickal achievements quickly degenerate in the face of the complexities of everyday life. Magick without Divinity has caused many downfalls, including the decline of the Hexmeister doctors in south-central Pennsylvania during the early twentieth century. Success in Witchcraft requires serious application of the mind guided by the spirituality of the soul. In other words, don’t mess with magick if your heart isn’t into positive stuff. Eventually, you will fail. A good Wiccan group focuses on spirituality, not egocentricity. It is the same for a solitary practitioner. When spirituality is forgotten or pushed aside for the purpose of widening personal ponds, ritual becomes empty and the matrix of the group is permanently damaged.
We are all like the proverbial frog who strives to be comfortable in his or her own pond. If we allow our pond to become stagnant, we lose. If we drain the spirituality from our pond, we lose. If we try to drag negative energies into our pond, upsetting its balance, we lose. If we try to mess around in someone else’s pond, we are subject to death by drowning. If we insist someone else share our pond with us, demanding our pond be widened to satisfy only ourselves and not the needs of others, the floods of destruction will come—no more pond.
Every human loses when spiritual balance is no longer important.
Those Nifty Tools
Every religious structure has tools designed to assist the seeker. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to the library or turn on TLC (The Learning Channel) or the Discovery Channel and check out some of the major religions of our times (and of times long ago). Most of these religions have colorful tools and props to lift the psychological spirits of the participants. Wicca is no different. I find it amusing that those religions that seek to oppress do not use many props or colorful applications these days. To me, it is a sick person who can find no humor or beauty in religion or gaiety in the celebration of god. To be serious all the time is a mental drag—forcing religion to become a boring and tedious set of motions. These forms of religion condone the repression of the people they were originally designed to serve. In my mind, religion should be more than a book from which everyone can twist the words. It should be built on personal acts of joy, laughter, pleasant thoughts, high self-esteem, and the satisfaction of assisting others in their time of need.
A tool, however, whether it be the wand, cup, pentacle, athame, broom, censor, or whatever else, cannot express joy. It cannot laugh. It does not have high self-esteem. It does not feel the satisfaction of helping others when the job is done. It takes the person activating the appropriate energies of the Universe to do these things. Yes, tools can become filled with your energy, but they do not direct the energy on their own. They need you to do that. To be honest, if tools were necessary for your heightened spirituality, they would have taken the trip through the birth canal with you. That would be an interesting experience! “Yes, Joan, I gave birth to a twenty-pound baby today. He came with a chalice, a wand, a beautiful silver pentacle, and, oh yes, the athame. I believe he is going to be a Wiccan!” Ouch!
The working Witch has his or her view on tools, their need, and their uses in perspective. You don’t have to have them, but they are nice, fun, and assist in the various applications of your work. I’ve gotten far too many letters and phone calls from people who tell me, “I have to wait until I collect all my tools to take my dedication.” Bull! I never told anyone they have to have an entire room stocked with magickal gizmos to practice the Craft. You and Divinity are all that’s necessary—the rest of the stuff is fluff. It’s great if you have it, but you’re not going to fail if you don’t. In essence, you don’t have to have tools to conjure spirituality. Instead, you’ve got to have guts.
Your Work
For one full month, put away all your tools. Work both religiously and magickally without them. Record your experiences, including psychic, mundane, physical, mental, and spiritual reactions.
Harmony Without Harm
I once read a tarot book by Sasha Fenton in which she was describing how to do a particular tarot spread. As she wrote, she realized her sample spread explained a phone call she had received an hour earlier. As the reader, I thought this was interesting. For some reason, how the event occurred during her writing process stuck in my mind. Now I know why.
Today was an interesting day for me. I wrote for two hours, met with a student, took care of my family, talked to my editor, answered some letters, did my school crossing guard routine, did six loads of laundry (I do have four kids, you know), got a call from a close friend in New York, and finally plopped myself back at the computer around 11:00 p.m. Tonight was the second evening of the full moon, hence, somewhere along the line, work needed to be done. Today was also the anniversary of Scott Cunningham’s passing, and that, too, was on my mind. I went to the altar and lit a candle for him.
Back to my desk I went. My husband was watching television, trying to ascertain when the Susquehanna River would crest. He was attempting to read the stock market at the same time. I turned on my computer and got ready to rock—my CRT2 and me.
Wrong.
The phone rang. I looked at the clock. Who could be calling me at this hour of the night? Normally, I leave the answering machine on and wait for the message. If it is an emergency, I’ll pick up. I didn’t wait for the machine to come on, I simply grabbed the receiver.
The individual on the other end of the line was a stranger to me. He’d been given my number by a local shopkeeper. I’m still a little mystified as to why I was the lucky recipient of this call, other than the fact that the caller said he was a Wiccan.
Okay, I thought. At least it wasn’t someone who wanted me to scare “boogies” out of his house. (Hey, it was a full moon; you get all kinds, you know.) I assumed I was on firm ground. I was talking to a strange person at 11:30 at night who said he was a Wiccan and believed—never mind, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It might as well have been a boogie haunting by the time I’d spent twenty minutes in the conversation.
Very carefully I began asking questions here and there, trying to help him with his problem. At one point I closed my eyes and asked the goddess for support and to allow the right words to come out of my mouth. (It was a full moon, after all.) Setting the individual’s problems aside for the moment, I discovered that the person had never done any ritual, had never heard that Wiccans do any type of religious devotions, nor had he even attempted to cast a circle. He did say he burned candles and told me jokes about coming out of the broom closet. A half an hour into the conversation, I was more confused than my caller—who never did give me his name, but informed me he was highly intelligent (didn’t I realize this?) and had many, many books.
Uh-oh.
Here was precisely the example I was trying to explain, not but—oh my stars—an hour before. Time certainly flies under a full moon.
And here was a message for me to pass on to you. Magick does travel the path of least resistance. This time it was through my phone line. The message? Oh, sorry. Books are great, networking is great, phone conversations are great, but none of them will do you any good unless you put what you learn into practice and experience life and religion for yourself. To be a Wiccan or a Witch, whichever handle you deem most appropriate, you have got to live the structure. Wearing a pentacle and cracking jokes about “closet time” doesn’t cut it.
Did I say this to the fellow on the line? No. Granted, there are people who need a slap upside the head, but not this guy. He needed me to keep my mouth shut and my ego in check. Explaining how magnificent my pond is and bragging about what I know would not have been an act of service to this individual. Basically, he needed someone to listen, and with luck, create harmony without harm.
Daily Devotions
One of the things I covered with our caller (I say “our” because you are sharing this experience with me) was to explain the concept of daily devotions. The individual was a stranger to me, and time was limited. There was no way I could educate him on the structure of Wicca in a forty-five-minute phone call. Remember that all individuals are seekers—each looks for harmony and balance in his or her own way. Each person is struggling with the ecosystem of his or her own pond. Don’t feel bad if your efforts don’t go well, as long as you know in your heart you did what you could. Perhaps your job was to open a mental door. It is not your responsibility to walk the person through it.
When people come to you with their problems—whether they be religious or mundane—listen first to determine what you can do to help them, and learn to compartmentalize issues. That’s what a Witch at work does. Use your wisdom to determine what is beyond your scope of assistance. This process will allow you to give the seeker the most service possible in a short time. If you get off-track with the individual, he or she may be parked in your dining room for several hours.
Daily devotions are very important to the working Witch. You can throw the bones and celebrate all the holidays you want, but when it comes to choosing which way to go and how to get there, daily devotions are the key to success. Witchcraft is not simply a set of magickal operations—it is, indeed, a religion. It is based on holy precepts that have a basic rule of order, including petitions to Divinity in the form of daily devotions. When you are up to your eyeballs in goop (that you most likely created yourself with the help of your personal, built-in goop maker), you can dump it all at the feet of the god and goddess and say, “Help! I’ve created a monster, and I don’t know what to do with it. Save me before it eats me up!” The difference between Craft prayer and other religious prayer is in the focus and control of energy.
Before I analyze devotions for you, let’s do some work.
Many religions have sacred hours where prayers are intoned or acts of honor are practiced. The Craft is no exception. Many of us say grace before meals, prayers before bedtime, etc., as in any other religion. Devotions have a purpose—they calm the mind, open the spirit, and allow each one of us to look beyond the present events that keep us occupied and open us to the positive forces of the Universe. The most common times to perform sacred devotions are:
Upon rising
Noon
Sunset
Before sleep
Before meals
Before a magickal working
Before a ritual
A daily devotion isn’t kneel, blab, run off to the shower. It is a testimony of faith and can be an act of intricate beauty, leaving one fulfilled if done correctly. It is an act of personal empowerment.
The biggest drawback with devotions is remembering to do them. Later in this chapter I will walk you through a few devotions I’ve written, but such devotions need to speak to you on a personal level. You will get a chance to write both informal and formal devotions.
Your Work
Project 1: Write five simple devotions for the following times: Upon rising, noon, sunset, before sleep, and before meals. Keep them short and to the point so you can memorize them.
Project 2: Practice these devotions for at least thirty days, then stop for one week. Can you tell the difference in yourself? These devotions will allow your spirit to grow and teach your mind to calm itself when calm is most needed. When you have mastered the simple devotions, choose one sacred hour to be a little more elaborate then the others. Your decision may rest on timing (you know you won’t be disturbed before bedtime) or because you enjoy a particular hour of the day (such as sunset).
A daily devotion fits into any positive religious structure. Although this is a text on the religious and magickal applications of Witchcraft, there is no reason why anyone of any positive faith could not use its teachings in other religious formats. If you have a friend who is going through a bad time, why not suggest the idea of a devotion to him or her? The devotion is not unique to any one religious structure—it is for everyone.
A devotion may be as long or short as you like; however, it must encompass enough linear time for you to ground, center, perform the devotion, then ground and center again.
To ground means to make yourself stable. This can be done in a variety of ways. I teach my students to envision their legs as tree trunks, rooted to the Earth Mother. Other people like to begin by putting their hands on the ground, the altar, or a table top. If you are into gems, you can hold a piece of hematite. Take several deep breaths and exhale slowly. Shut your eyes and feel your connection to the earth.
Centering is the process of pulling your energy to a central point in your body, normally at your navel, or slightly above or below. Try all three to determine which is the most comfortable for you. Almost every meditation or Craft book on the market today talks a little bit about centering. Your center is the seat of your power, and in an emergency you will need to access it. (We will get to that later.) For now, practice is important. If you use your devotions every day, at least morning and night, you will also be practicing your magickal skills.
Centering is normally done after the grounding process. To get the feel of centering, imagine that your energy is a big sheet stuffed in a little box (you). Let the sheet expand past your body. Let it flap in the breeze for awhile, then suck it back in. Let it out again, this time halfway, then pull it in again. Now let it out a little bit, and bring it back. Do this at least ten times a day until you get used to the “feeling.”
One of the most important things I have discovered when teaching others is that they must learn to ascertain for themselves what various spiritual, healing, and magickal activities feel like to them. For example, you know by now how you feel when you are coming down with a cold or the flu. With every person, the energy balances in the body register differently to the conscious mind. It is vital that you realize how that energy manifests symptoms or signals that will be processed by your conscious mind. To do this, you must take your time and register the feeling when it occurs. Allow your mind to catalog it for future reference.
This is how the High Priestess or group leader learns to manipulate energy, both her or his own, and that of the group. Some work on instinct, others by feeling, and still others by sight. It is also how the working Witch knows when the time is right to let go of building power or to focus on something specific. Anyone can do it; it simply takes practice and belief in yourself. If someone says to me, “I’ve been trying and trying to raise energy, but nothing happens,” I know they haven’t walked themselves slowly enough through the process.
After any type of meditation or magickal exercise, you should ground yourself again. There are several ways to do this:
1. Run cold water over your hands.
2. Hold a piece of hematite in your hand. (You choose the hand in which it feels best.)
3. Imagine energy draining from your body, through your feet, into the earth.
4. Send the excess energy into the Universe for peace, healing, etc.
5. Send the excess energy into your tools or into your altar.
A devotion should always raise your energy level and leave you feeling refreshed. A very wise elder once said to me, “No, no, dear, you never use your energy. You manipulate the energies around you.” Now, here is where the grounding and centering part comes in. To show you exactly what he meant, practice the grounding and centering exercise below.
the tapestry meditation
Steady, Even Breathing
Take a deep breath and relax all the muscles in your body. Take another deep breath and relax your mind; think of a positive place. Take another deep breath and imagine you are floating freely in a positive Universe. Continue until you are completely relaxed and calm.
Pull in your personal energy to your navel. Count down from ten to one, slowly.
The Energy of the Sacred Horn
Visualize the god above you, glowing gold, reaching out to touch you. A beam of golden light leaves his hands and spirals downward to kiss your head. Your head fills with the light, which continues downward through your body, traveling deep into the womb of the goddess.
The Energy of the Sacred Cauldron
Visualize the goddess below you, now connected to the god by the gold light. Her aura glows silver. She is reaching out to touch you. A jet of silver steam leaves her hands and spirals upward to kiss your feet. Your feet fill with the magnetic steam of the earth, and this steam continues to spiral upward through your body.
The Sacred Tapestry
The rising earth power weaves around the descending golden light, and circulates through your body. The sun power flows down to connect with the belly of the earth. The cauldron/earth power rises to connect to the sun.
Your Sacred Center
Feel yourself now glowing with the energies of the Universe. Center the energy given to you. Direct this energy into personal healing, healing for others, or for some other positive goal.
The Sacred Return
Return the gold energy to the god with thanks. Return the silver energy to the goddess with thanks. Center yourself once again. Let any excess energy drain off into the ground or toward a positive goal, such as healing the earth.
Count slowly from one to ten. Open your eyes and breathe deeply. You should feel relaxed and wide awake.
In basic Wiccan belief (although this may differ from trad3 to trad or group to group), it is said that the god emanates the power and the goddess directs and disperses it wisely. In this way, balance in the Universe is created. This devotion meditation isn’t easy. If you are not up to par with your visualization work, you will have to practice it a bit until you can get the images focused and moving in the required manner. If you work with it long enough, however, you will be delighted at the benefits.
A devotion should be focused on positive energies. As you have seen with the previous example, your intent and focus should be on thoughts of happiness, joy, reverence, honor, etc. When you are finished, you should feel refreshed, cleansed, and at peace with the world.
Not all devotions are meditations. For example, every morning I go to my altar, ground, center, say a small prayer, then anoint myself. When I began doing devotions, the feeling of peace and calm came to me when I had finished. Now, all I need do is touch my altar stone to begin my devotion and my pattern of “peace with myself and the world” immediately kicks in.
A devotion can be spontaneous or you can write one in advance. There are two kinds of devotions—impromptu (when you say what is on your mind) and rehearsed (a set of memorized words or motions). Both work well. Both will reach the same desired end. For the most part, I do not recommend reading a devotion, though you could read a favorite passage in the middle of a devotion, if you so choose. A long reading, whether it is in ritual or in devotion, takes away from the focus as we are apt to blab off words rather than live them. I’ve noticed participants in group ritual tend to become bored during long readings. They shift their feet, look around, and are not spiritually moved by the piece. (Hint: If you are visiting a group ritual where long readings are the norm, close your eyes and meld with the spirit of the words—the purpose can touch you through visualization.) Rehearsed words, if said at the right pace, can provide you with a profound experience, or can be used as a springboard for impromptu speech.
A devotion is a ritual of energy. Seekers are always striving toward learning the Wiccan Mysteries. Although I am a traditional Witch myself, I clench my teeth every time a magickal person alludes to “the Mysteries.” After many years of personal and group training, I have discovered that those who spout about “the Mysteries” in vague terms are merely trying to impress others, or hide the fact that they never figured the mystery out. The mystery is not hard to comprehend. We are all one. That’s it—that’s the mystery. How you meld with the collective unconscious is your set of “Mysteries.” How you feel in meditation is your set of Mysteries. How you participate in group energy and ritual is your set of “Mysteries.” How you do magick is your set of “Mysteries.” How you raise your spirituality and commune with god/goddess is how well you understand “the Mysteries.”
When you work with the combined energy of yourself and the divine, you have accomplished, understood, and interacted with a Wiccan mystery. A devotion, then, is a Wiccan mystery.
A devotion should be done in private or in a group ritual environment where the practice is understood and respected. Religion and magick are both private affairs. If there are people around who are going to make fun of you, look down at you because they think you’ve chosen a second-rate religion, or disapprove of the actions you’ve chosen to honor Divinity, it will only cause stress on your part and inhibit your performance.
I receive many letters from people who either are interested in practicing Wicca or have begun recently, and are having difficulty with parents or partners who will not accept their choice. In most cases, this opinion comes from one of four sources:
1. The partner or parent is uneducated about our religion. This is not an insurmountable problem and can be solved by time, patience, educational materials, as well as the partner observing how you live, the positive changes that come about in your personality, and the fact that you have not grown another head.
2. The partner or parent has been educated, but is selfish. “How will it affect me?” he or she thinks. “What if the neighbors, our family, or my business partners find out—what will they think of me?”
3. The Wiccan doesn’t really want to share his or her religion. After all, it makes the person special and can be something reserved for self. This too, in its own way, is a selfish act. As the partner is shut out, it hurts his or her feelings and makes him or her think the worst.
4. Intensified brainwashing from other structured religions or friends. This is a hard one to deal with. If the mind is truly closed, you will have to come to grips and make a choice. Either it is what you want, or what the world wants. If you cannot compromise, something has to give.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to fight the battle on the home front for my religion. First, I educated my partner. Fine, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t swing into number two or three. We did. We had several verbal rows over the subject. Our story, however, has a happy ending (although I’ll admit that a bizarre set of circumstances guided my spouse and me closer together).
When two elders of the Craft were scheduled to visit me to confer my third degree, I was really worried. My husband no longer objected to my religious choice and had been working with me in the magickal community for quite some time, but I knew in my heart that he was very uneasy about the entire situation in general. We vacillated between number two and three on that list. I can still remember sitting at the dining room table, waiting for the elders to arrive. My husband was standing at the window, then walked outside on the patio. Two car doors banged and my husband stuck his head in the door, “They’re here,” he whispered. “And you’d better prepare yourself.” I later found out my husband was talking about Lord Serphant, who looks the equivalent of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings—staff, beard, and all.
A friend of mine was with me, and we looked at each other in terror. How my husband accepted these people would determine whether or not my weekend was going to go in the toilet. Let’s face it, if your spouse is miserable, it is going to affect you, one way or another. My husband is a Leo, so guess how effective he can be. Ahem.
The first evening was noncommittal. Well, one down, two to go, I thought.
The second day was absolutely bizarre. To begin with, my husband helped Lord Serphant take all the furniture out of my dining room. Together, they made a ritual area, complete with many stones from the yard, and also constructed a stone altar. I was in shock. Not only was my husband extremely amiable to these people, he was helping them rip the house apart. Did anyone have a camera?
On the second night, the ceremony commenced. Because my husband would continue to work with me and assist in my training and rituals of other individuals, it was determined that he would be allowed to participate in my third-degree initiation. Yes, I know this is practically unheard of in traditional circles—but wait until I tell you what happened, and how I know it was the right thing to do.
As with all Wiccan ceremonies, there is a time when the god and the goddess are invoked. This isn’t a secret, and I’m not telling you the entire ritual so I’m not going to get batted on the head for giving out private information. Anyway, this was done, the work finished, and the circle closed. The degree had been conferred. I remember sitting in the middle of my dining room floor and saying to Serphant, “We’ve done this before, you know.”
He smiled, patted me on the head, and said, “Welcome home.”
Then, we turned right around and initiated five of the women who had been working with me. To put it bluntly, it was a night of magick, mystery, and exhaustion.
We were all busy the next day, seeing our guests off and doing all the things that go with entertaining, so I didn’t really notice much. Besides, degree ceremonies have a way of opening things, changing attitudes, etc., so I doubt I would have noticed Lady Godiva riding naked on a horse down the street.
It was two days later that I realized something very strange had indeed occurred. Actually, I didn’t notice it—the children did.
“What’s happened to Daddy?” They were all lined up in front of me—one, two, three, four—and the dog was sitting at the end of the line.
“What do you mean? He’s out in the backyard, isn’t he?” I asked.
They all looked at each other the way children do when they are sure that you aren’t going to want to hear what they have to say, but one of them will have the guts to blurt it out. It was the oldest who finally took the plunge. “Daddy is different.”
This was starting to sound like a B-rated horror movie. If I remembered correctly, my house is not situated in Amityville, nor was I recently involved in the remake of The Body Snatchers. “Different how?” I asked.
Child number two: “Well, different, that’s all—but different nice.”
“That’s right!” said child number three.
Child number four nodded solemnly, which is unheard of—he’s a Sagittarius and I don’t think he ever stops smiling.
“I’m glad you all think Daddy is different in a good way,” I said lamely. Come to think of it, my husband had been acting differently ever since the night of my ceremony. He was calmer, happier, and very nurturing to everyone, even strangers. (Leos don’t particularly care for strangers on their turf.) Now, let me make it clear that my husband was a nice guy before the ceremony; that’s why I married him in the first place. But, to be sure, he was different somehow . . . but different good.
Today, my husband functions as an elder in the tradition. We work as a team on many things. With others, he leaves me my space to do what I need, and I leave him space to do what he needs. It is my firm belief, and the belief of the elders present that night, the belief of my children, and the belief of all those who were connected to the work here at that time, that something strange and wonderful blessed our home that night. From that moment on, we have never argued about the Craft. She truly does change everything she touches, and everything she touches changes immensely.
I debated on whether I should tell you this story or not. It is rather unbelievable. At first, I was going to fictionalize it and put it in Beneath a Mountain Moon. It occurred to me that in a fictionalized version, no one would really believe it, but one could hope that something like it could happen—that’s what fiction is for, after all—to explore alternative realities. At the last minute, I took it out of that book. It happened. It’s real. And you should have the advantage of that knowledge in a book about my reality.
A devotion does not require ritual tools, although they can be added if you so desire. Devotions can be performed with wands, chalices, bowls, athames, or your hands. You do not need a big collection of items to become one with Divinity. Part of my personal morning devotion is to light a candle that burns until mid-afternoon. At sunset, I light another that burns till about my bedtime. What makes the devotion special is how you tailor it so it gives you the most benefit.
A devotion can be done anywhere, at any time, depending upon the focus, of course. Most of us lead busy, active lives, and it is not possible to perform a lengthy devotional several times during the day. Most of the working Witches I know reserve at least one time a day for a complete devotional, such as morning or before bed, and the remainder of the day perform “quickies.” (Don’t get funny.)
Fast devotionals can be a walk outside at lunchtime where you breathe deeply, relax, and link yourself with Divinity, or when you simply shut your office door, lean back, and meditate for five or ten minutes. If you are constantly surrounded by people, go to the bathroom. Hopefully, no one knows what you are doing in there, anyway.
A devotion does not need to be done in sacred space, but you can make it so. Sacred space is a purified area, a specific place you have cleansed and consecrated for a specific function. We will cover sacred space, cleansing, and consecration in detail in chapter two.
A devotion does not need to be done in a cast circle, but you can make it so. A cast circle is called a magick circle, where energy is erected to pocket the energy you raise until it is ready to be released. (See chapter five.)
The mystery of the devotion is becoming one with the Universe.
Daily Devotionals for You to Try
I wait to do my morning devotion until after I am fully awake and walking around the house. I figure if I’m bleary-eyed and unsteady, I’m not giving my full attention to the matter at hand. I don’t know about you, but my focus upon rising is lousy. Also, you will find a house full of tumbling people at 6:30 a.m., charging around each other to muscle into the bathroom, my postage-stamp-sized kitchen, and out the door. The first thing I do is drink something warm, then get dressed and awake enough to deal with the day. At night, I wait until everyone—I mean everyone, including the dog—has settled down for the evening. I take a long shower or ritual bath (so I will not be bleary-eyed again, this time with exhaustion) before the devotional. The evening devotional is my favorite. I can take time with it and relax, with the cares and worries of the day long past and laid to rest. I play favorite music on my stereo and sit by my altar, soaking up the peaceful energies of Divinity.
The following devotionals are those I practice myself. You will not find them in any book. I wrote them, and have been performing them for many years. Some have words, some do not. They are often simple, sometimes complex, patterns to connect with spirituality.
devotion to the lady and lord
Stand at a window that faces the rising sun (moon). Ground and center. Stand in the goddess position (feet apart, arms out from either side, palms tilted toward the sunrise). Breathe deeply again.
Lift your chin. Balance your energy by turning one palm down and leaving the other up.
Continue to breathe deeply. Turn your palms the opposite way, turning the palm that was down up, and the palm that was up, down. Continue reversing your palms, allowing the energy to flow through your body.
Focus on the energy of the Lady moving up from the ground. Focus on the energy of the Lord in the sunlight that touches you through the window. Say:
I am one with Universal perfection.
I invoke the positive energies of the Lord and Lady to cleanse and bless my body and spirit
so that I may perform this day in love and honor
(sleep this night in peace and wisdom)
as is befit a member of the Craft of the Wise.
So mote it be.
Put your arms down. Breathe deeply again, then ground and center.
In the evening, stand where you can see the moonlight, and rework the words a bit for blissful sleep and dreams of wisdom, as in the example above.
devotion of the elements
This is an excellent devotion for outside, but it can be done inside if you have something to represent the four elements on a dresser top, your altar, etc. Get dressed properly for the weather (of course) and step outside.
This is a type of devotional that can be done “down and dirty.” For example, let’s say you are busy in the morning and don’t have much time to spend on your devotion. This one could be done at a bus stop in a very obtuse manner. Simply turn in the appropriate direction and shut your eyes or look upward. No one will know what you are doing.
Face east, toward the rising sun, and breathe deeply. Ground and center yourself. Put your hands out in front of you, palms facing east. Feel the energies of the east moving beyond your fingertips. Say (or think):
Element of the east,
I greet thee this morning (afternoon/evening) in perfect peace and perfect trust
bless me this day (afternoon/evening) with patience, wit, and mental harmony.
Turn to the south, or take a walk in that direction until it feels right, then stop. Ground and center yourself. Put your hands out in front of you as before, palms facing the south. Feel the energies of that direction moving at your fingertips. Say (or think):
Element of the south,
I greet thee this morning (afternoon/evening) in perfect love and perfect trust
bless me this day (afternoon/evening) with passion and healing.
Take a walk to the west, or simply turn in that direction. Ground and center as before, then put your hands out before you. Say (or think):
Element of the west,
I greet thee this morning (afternoon/evening) in perfect love and perfect trust
bless me this day (afternoon/evening) with healthy transformation and love.
Take a walk to the north, or simply turn in that direction. Follow the previous steps of grounding and centering, then put your hands out before you. Say (or think):
Element of the north,
I greet thee this morning (afternoon/evening) in perfect love and perfect trust
bless me this day (afternoon/evening) with stability and prosperity.
Walk to a place you feel is center, and ground and center again. Cross your arms in the god position (arms folded across your chest, legs spread apart). Say (or think):
Guardians of the Spirit,
I greet thee this morning (afternoon/evening) in perfect love and perfect trust
Bless me this day (afternoon/evening) with wisdom.
Cleanse my body and spirit, so that I may be strong among the ranks of the Craft of the Wise.
Ground and center.
This devotion can be repeated at noon and sunset, beginning with the direction of the sun. For example, at noon, the sun is overhead, so begin with the south, the element of fire and midday. At sunset, the sun is in the west, so you would face the west and begin your devotional there. Finally, before you retire, begin at the north, in honor of home (magnetic north). You are traveling clockwise around the wheel of elements.
devotion of ancestral fire
This is one my of favorites, since Pow Wow—a mixture of Pagan, Celtic Witchcraft, and Native American Indian energies—is part of my genetic heritage. In Pow Wow, fire (representing the south) and ice (representing the north) are the main elements used for magick and healing. I perform this devotion around midmorning, but it can be done as soon as you awaken, if you like. If you must leave for work in the morning (as most people do), use a birthday candle. If you work at home, then use a tea candle, as it will burn until about noon. Consider the size of your candle and the amount of time you have available. I also perform this devotion before I retire each night.
Although you can simply use the Lord and Lady for this devotional, it is best tailored to the divinity you have chosen as your patron goddess or god. If you have not chosen one, keep in mind that archetypes have many faces, yet the energies attributed to each remain the same. This devotional would be excellent for Sekhmet (the Egyptian Lion-Headed goddess), Bried (as she is seen as a Celtic Fire goddess of healing and has a cauldron in some myths), Igaehindvo (Amerindian Sun goddess), Vesta (Roman goddess of Fire), Agni (Hindu Fire god), Nusku (Babylonian Fire god), or Taranis (Continental Celtic god of Lightning and Shrines). If you are a traditional Witch, by all means use the deities most familiar to you.
This is a simple devotion, but heavy in energy. As it pulls in ancestral worship, you may wish to call upon one of the Ladies of the Gates of Death (such as the Morrigan, Gubba, Hella, or the Cailleach) to allow ancestral knowledge to reach you. I believe in working with gods and goddesses who are part of your personal, genetic mythology, especially in the beginning of Craft practice. I think a lot of seekers disregard these archetypes because they are looking for something new. If you like working with archetypes outside your cultural lineage, by all means do so, but give your history a chance at some point in your studies. In this ritual, I move between continental Celtic deities and a few of the pagan deities later absorbed into the Germanic culture.
Before you begin this devotion, keep in mind that all work is to be done with cleansed and consecrated items. This means that each item has been passed through the energies of the four elements, relieved of their negative energies, and blessed in the name of Divinity. If you use your working items only for magick and devotion, then cleansing, consecrating, and empowering need only be done once a month (preferably at a full or new moon, inside a cast circle). Personally, my magickal things are only that—magickal, religious items. I don’t use them for cooking, cleaning, or other mundane employment. There are working Witches who use their magickal items for mundane chores as well. The choice is yours.
Supplies: An empty table or altar, a small cauldron (or fire-safe bowl), a candle cup or small holder that will fit inside the cauldron, a small handful of ice chips, one candle, a lighter.
Preparation: Set the cauldron in the middle of the table. If you can, make sure your body is facing either north or south, as these are the energies you will employ. Place the candle cup inside the cauldron. Sprinkle the ice chips around the outside of the candle cup, inside the cauldron.
Breathe deeply, then ground and center. Hold your hands over the ice and say:
I greet this day in love and trust
I call my ancestors from the dust
steadfast energies from the North
wisdom now, come ye forth.
Light the candle and place it in the candle cup. Ground and center. Hold your hands over the flame (not too close, of course), and say:
I greet this day in love and trust
I honor my ancestors, gone to dust
south brings harmony, passion and gain
in service doth the working Witch reign.
Ground and center. Put both hands around the cauldron and meditate on connecting with Divinity. You should feel your energy level rising now. If it helps, mix the energies of fire and ice together by moving your hand in a clockwise direction over the cauldron.
In honor burns this candle bright
of those gone long before
to thee, O _________ I call your light (I call this night)
to guide me ever more.
Ground and center, leaving your work area with a smile on your face.
the meal devotional
The blessing of food and drink is older than our modern calendar. People of many cultures and religions have called upon Divinity to bless the food and drink set before them, and have used the food and drink as representations of Divinity, long before the advent of Christianity. In ritual ceremony, this is called the blessing of the cakes and ale.
If you are at a table with several people, suggest they hold hands while the blessing is said. The mixture of energy helps small ones to focus and keep their hands off the food before it is served. Big people settle down, and are not apt to crack as many jokes once hands have been linked, especially if you are at the head of the table, monitoring the energy flow.
This particular blessing was designed to include the weather patterns in which we live. For example, the weather fronts move across our area from west to east.
From the east the sun rays shine
from the south the gentle rain
from the west blow winds divine
from the north the gifts of gain.
We gather now to bless this food
in perfect peace and love
Lord and Lady touch this meal
with magick from above.
altar devotion (by jack veasey)
Let what I feel fill me
but not consume me;
let me follow what I feel,
but not be forced;
let me become the kind of soul
who never clings too hard,
who lets go and yet loves;
let me imagine better worlds,
yet work in this one;
let me touch, and treasure, even
people I can never hold,
and let me learn from all my losses;
let me out and let me in,
and let me see, and let me be
a window—maybe broken— but through which
a bit of air and sunlight comes.
the devotion of the altar
This is, by far, my favorite devotional. I wrote it three years ago for my study group and we have been using it ever since as an integral part of both our outer circle and traditional teachings. It is a result of watching several traditional Witches performing their opening ceremonies. It can be used by anyone, whether solitary or traditional. The altar devotion serves several purposes:
1. It allows the Witch to ground and center before any magickal working.
2. It sets the tone of the ritual.
3. It prepares your mind for spiritual and magickal pursuits, blocking out the mundane.
4. It focuses your mind and body on the energies embodied at the altar.
5. It mixes the energies of the four elements on the altar and melds them to spirit.
Supplies: Salt (place at compass north); water (place at compass west); stick incense (place at compass east); one candle, preferably red (place at compass south); illuminator candles or lamps, if you so desire.
Timing: Any time, whether before ritual or as a daily devotional.
Tools: None is required, though some individuals prefer to use a wand or athame. These days, I use my hands for most of the devotion, save when making holy water. Then, I use my athame.
Recitation: The altar devotion can be said out loud, or you can do it in your head. Wicca, unlike ceremonial magick, does not entirely depend on the precise blend of words or syllables to create a specific energy.
With all your supplies on the altar, take a few moments to relax and consider the task at hand. Shut out offending noises; become the center of your focus. Music helps to enhance the mood.
Breathe deeply; ground and center. Raise your hands before you, above your head in the goddess position. Slowly pull them down and in at eye level and envision touching Divinity. Draw them slowly down and in toward your heart chakra,4 then cross your wrists on your chest in the god position. You are now ready to begin.
Light the illuminator candles, envisioning the light of Divinity shining upon yourself, the altar, and the work that is to be performed.
Begin at the east. Light the incense; clap your hands sharply over the flame to extinguish it. Hold your hand over the incense and say:
Creature of air
I cleanse and consecrate thee by the ancient energies of the east
I remove all negativity in this world and in the world of phantasm.
Blessings of the Ancient Ones be on you now.
So mote it be.
Pass your hand over the incense three times (some Witches prefer to do a banishing pentagram5) to banish, then imagine a sparkling light around the incense.
(Because of my Pow Wow heritage, the element of fire is of great importance to me, therefore, you will find this incantation a little longer.) Light the candle, then hold it up at eye level and say:
O creature of fire
work my will by my desire.
Black Forest ancestor, light my way
aid the magick cast this day.
Set the candle down in the south, then say:
O creature of fire
I cleanse and consecrate thee by the ancient energies of the south.
I remove all negativity in this world and in the world of phantasm.
Blessings of the Ancient Ones be on you now.
So mote it be.
Pass your hand over the flame three times (or do the banishing pentagram) to banish, then hold your hand steady to bless, imagining a sparkling light surrounding the candle.
At the west is water. Say:
Creature of water
I cleanse and consecrate thee in the names of the ancient energies of the west
I cast out all negativity in this world and in the world of phantasm
blessings of the Ancient Ones on you now.
So mote it be.
Pass your hand over the water three times (or do the banishing pentagram) to banish, then hold your hand steady to bless, imagining a sparkling light surrounding and infusing the water.
At the north is salt. Say:
Creature of earth
I cleanse and consecrate thee in the names of the ancient energies of the north
I cast out all negativity in this world and in the world of phantasm
blessings of the Ancient Ones on you now.
So mote it be.
Pass your hand over the salt three times (or do the banishing pentagram) to banish, then hold your hand steady to bless, imagining a sparkling light surrounding and infusing the salt.
Hold the bowl of water in your hands and raise it before you, silently, in communion with the gods. Move the water bowl to the center of the altar.6
Place three pinches of salt in the water (or balance a little salt on the athame blade and sprinkle it into the water three times—this takes practice, by the way). Stir thrice with your finger (or the blade). Pick up the athame, and say:
As the rod is to the god
so is the chalice to the goddess
Begin to lower the knife into the water. As the knife is inserted into the water, say:
And together, they are One.
At this point, envision the water exploding with divine energy. Make this energy colored, if you like.
Remove the knife. Imagine that the altar is a giant cauldron. You have cleansed and blessed each element on the altar. Now, you are going to mix them together—meld them, if you will—into a vortex of positive, divine energy. Beginning at the north (as all things come from the north for me, but some Witches prefer the east) in a clockwise, spiral motion, stir your hand over the altar five times, imagining the energies mixing together.
Tap the hilt of the knife, or your fingers, soundly five times (one for each element, plus Spirit) at the right, lower corner (the corner closest to your right hand if you are right-handed, the corner closest to your left hand if you are left-handed) to seal the power of the altar.
The devotion is done. Ground and center.
At this point, you can quit (if you are performing a daily devotional) or continue with your working. Throughout the text, I will refer to this devotional as a starting point for the Witch at work. Keep in mind that there is no single, right way to do anything in the Craft. There are a variety of actions, words, and patterns to complete any task. This is simply one way to do it.
Before we go further, I’d like to talk a little bit about “feelings.” During any magickal act, such as the previous devotional, you may experience a variety of sensations. Some individuals get hot flashes, feel a tingling in their fingers, or experience an all-out zap of energy throughout their bodies. Intuition and feelings are important in the Craft when it comes to spirituality and magickal workings. If it feels right, keep going. If it doesn’t, stop and consider what may be wrong. Sometimes we are too tired to work magick, or we are sick, etc. In these instances, relax and feel the energy of Divinity, ground and center, and utter a short prayer. There are times when we are not physically capable of much of anything and that is okay. No one expects you to be super Witch. Do your best, and feel at peace. That is all anyone can ask for, and it is all you can ask of yourself.
Your Work
Project 1: Write a set of your own daily devotionals.
Project 2: Practice them for thirty days, preferably from new moon to new moon or full moon to full moon.
Project 3: Perform some or all of the devotions in this chapter.
Project 4: Conduct a favorite ritual, adding a new devotional written by yourself.
1. Pow Wow is Pennsylvania Dutch German Witchcraft. See HexCraft (retitled American Folk Magick in 1998) by Silver RavenWolf, Llewellyn Publications, if you are interested in this topic.
2. CRT is an abbreviation for Cathode Ray Tube—generally used in referencing one’s computer.
3. Trad means tradition or traditional Witch; one who belongs to a specific branch of Wicca. See chapter nine for a full discussion of traditional Witches.
4. The chakras are seven energy vortexes in the body. These vortexes are located at specific points all in a row, which makes them easy to remember. Their locations and colors are: crown of the head (white); third eye or forehead (purple); throat (blue); heart (green); navel (yellow); below the navel (orange); groin (red). Individuals working in healing or meditational exercises often refer to the opening and closing of chakra centers to clear out negativity, promote self-healing, and bring protective and positive energy into the body.
6. Some traditions prefer a flat pantacle (not pentacle) in the center of the altar, or a wheel, pentacle, or in our case, cauldron. This serves as a focal point of what the tradition represents or what the solitary works with, and gives you a hint of the type of magick performed. For example, if the pantacle is in the center, most of the ritual formats revolve around a mixture of Witchcraft and ceremonial magick. If a wheel, then a great deal of the work hinges on cycles, such as the wheel of the year, the seasonal changes, the eight paths of raising power, or the phases of the sun or moon. If there is an astrological symbol, or symbols, a great deal of the work follows the path of the heavens. If a cauldron, you are dealing with transformational change, where a great deal of ritual is focused on the betterment of self in the spiritual planes and the protection of the land and its people. If a stone, you are touching natural magicks of earth, air, water, fire, and the unity of the spirit. None of the focuses listed are right or wrong—simply different, designed to meet the various needs of the group mind.