III Third Degree Initiation

Third degree initiation elevates a witch to the highest of the three grades of the Craft. In a sense, a third-degree witch is fully independent, answerable only to the Gods and his or her own conscience. He or she may initiate others to the first, second or third degree and may found a fully autonomous coven which (unlike one with second-degree leaders) is no longer subject to the guidance of the parent coven. Of course, as long as he or she remains a member of the parent coven, this independence is in abeyance; every coven member, of whatever degree, must willingly accept the authority of the High Priestess and High Priest; if a third-degree member no longer can, it is time to hive off.

As it says in the Law:1 ‘If they will not agree with their Brothers, or if they say, “I will not work under this High Priestess,” it hath ever been the Old Law to be convenient to the Brethren and to avoid disputes. Any of the Third may claim to found a new Coven …’

The initiation ritual of the third degree is that of the Great Rite. We gave a form of this, for use at the Festivals, in Section II of Eight Sabbats for Witches. Below, we give Gardner’s Text B version, plus the Text C alternative verse form of the declamation.2 Each of these three forms can be either ‘actual’ or in token. All these ways of enacting the Great Rite differ, but their intent and spirit are the same; and we need hardly re-emphasize that any other ritual form which suited a particular coven would be equally valid provided that that intent and spirit were understood and truly expressed.

In its ‘actual’ form, the Great Rite is a sexual ritual, involving intercourse between the man and woman concerned. In its symbolic or token form, it may be called a ritual of gender, of male-female polarity but not involving intercourse.

We deal in depth with the Wiccan attitude to sex in Section XV below. But to avoid misunderstanding, we should emphasize here that to the witch, sex is holy — an unashamed and beautiful polarity-force which is intrinsic to the nature of the universe. It is to be treated with reverence, but without prudery. The Craft makes no apology for using intercourse between an appropriate man and woman, in private, as a profound ritual sacrament, bringing in all the levels — physical, astral, mental and spiritual. The key to the ‘actual’ (and indeed to the symbolic) Great Rite is the statement in the declamation: ‘For there is no part of us that is not of the Gods.’

In the ritual, the body of the Priestess is regarded as the Altar of the Goddess whom she represents, and for whom she is a channel. Her focal womb is revered as ‘the fount of life without which we would not be’; and no apology is needed for this ancient and holy symbolism either.

The question is, of course, who are ‘an appropriate man and woman’ to enact the ‘actual’ Great Rite instead of the symbolic one?

We would say categorically (and we think that most of the Craft would agree with us) that it should only be a man and woman between whom intercourse is already a normal and loving part of their relationship; in other words, husband and wife or established lovers. And it should always be enacted in private.³ Wicca is unashamed, but not promiscuous or voyeuristic. The ‘actual’ Great Rite should invoke all the levels; and such a total involvement, in the power-raising atmosphere of a solemn ritual, would do violence to any relationship which was not already attuned to it.

That is not to imply that the symbolic Great Rite is a mere makeshift, or in any way ineffectual. It can be a powerful and moving rite, when sincerely worked by two harmonious friends who are not lovers. It, too, invokes all the levels, but in a way which a mature Brother and Sister of the Craft are well able to handle.

Why does the Craft use a sex-ritual, or a gender-ritual, to mark its highest degree of intiation? Because it expresses three fundamental principles of the Craft. First, that the basis of all magical or creative working is polarity, the interaction of complementary aspects. Second, ‘as above, so below’; we are of the nature of the Gods, and a fully realized man or woman is a channel for that divinity, a manifestation of the God or the Goddess (and each in fact manifesting elements of both). And third, that all the levels from physical to spiritual are equally holy.

A man and a woman who are ready for their third degree are witches who have developed to the stage where these three principles are not merely acknowledged in theory but have been integrated into their whole attitude to life and therefore into their Craft working. So the Great Rite, whether ‘actual’ or symbolic, ritually expresses their stage of development.

How then is the Great Rite applied in practice to third degree initiation?

There are only two active participants in the Rite; the rest of the coven merely support it by their silent presence, whether for the whole of a symbolic Rite or for the first part of an ‘actual’ one. These two may be either the man (already third degree) initiating the woman; or the woman (again, already third degree) initiating the man; or the man and woman may both be second degree, taking their third degree initiation together under the supervision of the High Priestess and/or High Priest. The last case is of course particularly suitable for a working partnership, especially if they are preparing to set up their own coven or are already running one as second-degree witches under the guidance of the parent coven (we ourselves received our third degree together in such circumstances, as we explained).

The ritual in each of these cases is the same; so in the text which follows, we refer to the woman and the man simply as ‘the Priestess’ and ‘the Priest’.

Unless the Priest is in fact the High Priest, accustomed to enacting the Great Rite at festivals or on other occasions, it would be asking too much to expect him to know the long declamation by heart. So it is a matter of choice whether he reads it or has the High Priest declaim it while he performs it. (This is the only situation in which a third person takes an active part.) If the Rite is ‘actual’, he will of course have to read or learn the final passages himself.

Gardner’s Great Rite texts include three successive ritual scourging — the man by the woman, the woman by the man, and again the man by the woman. We do not use these ourselves, but we give them below for completeness, as their use is optional. Some witches hold that Gardner was too fond of ritual scourging, and many of his detractors maintain that he had a psychologically unhealthy addiction to flagellation. Quite apart from the fact that such a notoriously gentle person as Gardner is most unlikely to have had any such leanings, all this is based on a complete misunderstanding. The technique of not-too-tight binding and gentle monotonous scourging is not even a symbolic ‘suffering to learn’ as it is in the first- and second-degree rites; it is a deliberate and traditional method, hedged about with precautions, to ‘gain the Sight’ by influencing the blood circulation. It is described in detail in a non-ritual passage of the Book of Shadows, which we give in full, with Doreen Valiente’s and our own comments.

The Preparation

Neither Text A, B nor C mentions or describes the point at which the Priestess, after the Fivefold Kiss, lays herself down on or in front of the altar, where she has to be from ‘Assist me to erect the ancient altar’ (or its verse equivalent) onwards. But Doreen Valiente tells us that the Priestess ‘would have been lying across the Circle, placed thus by the Priest, with her head to the East and her feet to the West. She would be lying either actually upon the altar or upon a suitable couch or pallet laid in front of it, with a cushion beneath her head. The Priest would kneel beside her, facing North’.

So in preparation, either the altar (if it is large enough for the Priestess to lie on it) must be cleared of its normal candles and tools and made suitably comfortable, or the couch or pallet must be ready. Using the altar itself seems to imply the old custom of having the altar in the centre of the Circle instead of at its northern edge (the usual practice nowadays, especially in a small room, to leave room for working) because Doreen goes on to say: ‘In this position, the vagina of the Priestess would actually be about the centre of the Circle’ — thus symbolizing its focal significance as ‘the point within the centre’, as the declamation refers to it. If, then, a couch or pallet is used, it should be so placed, along the East-West diameter.

If the ritual scourgings are to be included, a nine-foot red cord must be to hand for the cable-tow binding.

The chalice filled with wine, and the cakes, must be ready as usual. So must the Priestess’s athame and the scourge (whether or not the scourging is included, because she has to hold it at two points in the Osiris Position).

If the Priestess will not be sitting on the altar itself at the beginning of the ritual, a suitable throne (a draped chair) should be placed in front of it.

The Ritual

The Priestess seats herself on the altar (or on a throne in front of the altar) with her back to the North, holding the athame in her right hand and the scourge in her left, in the Osiris Position (wrists crossed in front of her chest).

The Priest kneels before her, kisses both her knees and then lays his forearms along her thighs. He bows his head to touch his forehead to her knees, and remains there for a moment.4

He then rises and fetches the filled chalice. He kneels again, holding the chalice up to the Priestess.

The Priestess lays down the scourge and, holding the athame hilt between the palms of her hands, she lowers the point into the wine, saying:

‘As the athame is to the male, so the cup is to the female;⁵ and conjoined, they bring blessedness.’

She then lays down the athame, takes the chalice, kisses the Priest and drinks. She kisses the Priest again and gives him the chalice.

The Priest drinks, rises and gives the chalice to another woman with a kiss. The wine is passed woman-to-man, man-to-woman, with a kiss, until all have drunk, and the chalice is then returned to the altar.

The Priest fetches the dish⁶ of cakes and kneels again before the Priestess, holding the dish up to her.

The Priestess touches each cake with the moistened tip of her athame, while the Priest says:

‘O Queen most secret, bless this food unto our bodies, bestowing health, wealth, strength, joy and peace, and that fulfilment of Will, and Love under Will, which is perpetual happiness.’⁷

The Priestess takes a cake and bites into it, then kisses the Priest, who takes a cake himself. The cakes are then passed round with a kiss in the same way as the chalice, and the dish is then returned to the altar.

The Priest again kisses the Priestess’s two knees, lays his forearms along her thighs and touches his forehead to her knees for a moment. Priest and Priestess both rise.

(If the scourgings are to be omitted, proceed directly to the presentation to the Watchtowers, and then to the Priest saying, ‘Now I must reveal a great mystery.’ If not …)

The Priest says:

‘Ere I dare proceed with this sublime rite, I must beg purification at thy hands.’

The Priestess fetches a red cord and binds the Priest, tying the middle of the cord round his wrists behind his back, bringing the two halves of the cord over his shoulders to tie them in front of his neck, and letting the ends hang down his chest as a cable-tow. She then takes him once round the Circle, deosil, leading him by the cable-tow.

The Priest then kneels facing the altar. The Priestess fetches the scourge and gives him three8 light strokes with it. She lays the scourge on the altar.

The Priest rises, and the Priestess unties him. He then ties her in the same way and takes her once deosil round the Circle, leading her by the cable-tow. She kneels facing the altar. The Priest fetches the scourge, gives her three light strokes with it and returns it to the altar.

The Priestess rises, and the Priest takes her by the cable-tow to each of the quarters in turn, saying:

‘Hear ye, Mighty Ones of the East [South, West, North]: the twice [thrice]⁹ consecrated and holy — , High Priestess and Witch Queen, is properly prepared, and will now proceed to erect the Sacred Altar,’

He then unties her and says:

‘Now again I must beg purification.’

The Priestess ties him, leads him round and gives him three light strokes with the scourge, as before. He stands, and she unties him, replacing the scourge and cord on the altar.

The Priest says:

‘Now I must reveal a great mystery.’¹⁰

The Priestess stands with her back to the altar, in the Osiris Position (again taking up the scourge and athame in her hands). The Priest gives her the Fivefold kiss.¹¹

The Priestess puts down the scourge and athame.

The Priestess now lies face upwards, either actually upon the altar or upon the couch or pallet in the centre of the Circle. Her head is to the East and her feet to the West.

The Priest kneels beside her, facing North across her body. (In the following declamation, ‘[kiss]’ means he kisses her just above the pubic hair, except in the two instances where it is otherwise described — namely, the kisses on the breasts and the kisses of the Third-Degree Sigil.)

The Priest says:

‘Assist me to erect the ancient altar, at which in days past all worshipped,

The Great Altar of all things;

For in old times, Woman was the altar.

Thus was the altar made and placed;

And the sacred point was the point within the centre of the circle.

As we have of old been taught that the point within the centre is the origin of all things,

Therefore should we adore it. [kiss]

Therefore whom we adore we also invoke, by the power of the Lifted Lance.’

(He touches his own phallus and continues:)

‘O Circle of Stars [kiss]

Whereof our father is but the younger brother [kiss]

Marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space,

Before whom time is bewildered and understanding dark,

Not unto thee may we attain unless thine image be love. [kiss]

Therefore by seed and root, by stem and bud, by leaf and flower and fruit,

Do we invoke thee,

O Queen of Space, O dew of light,

Continuous one of the heavens [kiss],

Let it be ever thus, that men speak not of thee as one, but as none;

And let them not speak of thee at all, since thou art continuous.

For thou art the point within the circle [kiss] which we adore [kiss],

The fount of life without which we would not be [kiss],

And in this way are erected the Holy Twin Pillars.’12

(He kisses her left breast, and then her right breast.)

‘In beauty and in strength were they erected,

To the wonder and glory of all men.’

If the Great Rite is ‘actual’, all but the Priest and Priestess now leave the room, opening the ritual gateway and then closing it behind them.

The Priest continues:

‘O Secret of Secrets,

That art hidden in the being of all lives,

Not thee do we adore,

For that which adoreth is also thou.

Thou art That, and That am I. [kiss]

I am the flame that burns in the heart of every man,

And in the core of every star.

I am life, and the giver of life.

Yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death.

I am alone, the Lord within ourselves,

Whose name is Mystery of Mysteries.’

He then kisses her in the pattern of the Sigil of the Third Degree (the upright triangle above the upright pentagram)¹³ as follows: above the pubic hair, on the right foot, on the left knee, on the right knee, on the left foot, and above the pubic hair again; then on the lips, the left breast, the right breast and finally the lips again. (See Figure 1.)

Fig. 1

He lays his body gently over hers14 and says:

‘Make open the path of intelligence between us;

For these truly are the Five Points of Fellowship —

Foot to foot,

Knee to knee.

Lance to Grail,¹⁵

Breast to breast,

Lips to lips.

By the great and holy name Cernunnos;

In the name of Aradia;

Encourage our hearts,

Let the light crystallize itself in our blood,

Fulfilling of us resurrection.

For there is no part of us that is not of the Gods.’

The Priest rises; the Priestess remains where she is. The Priest goes to each of the cardinal points in turn, saying:

‘Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East [South, West, North]; the thrice consecrated High Priestess greets you and thanks you.’

Alternative Verse Version

The verse version of the Priest’s declamation, which Doreen Valiente wrote for Text C, is available as an alternative. It replaces the declamation from ‘Assist me to erect the ancient altar’ down to ‘Lips to lips’ (or, if preferred, the whole declamation down to ‘not of the Gods’).

The kisses are as in the Text B version, just above the pubic hair — except in the two places indicated as ‘kisses on the breasts’ and ‘kisses of the Third Degree Sigil’.

‘Assist me to build,

As the Mighty Ones willed,

The Altar of Praise

From beginning of days.

Thus doth it lie

‘Twixt the points of the sky,

For so it was placed

When the Goddess embraced

The Horn’d One, her lord,

Who taught her the Word

That quickened the womb

And conquered the tomb.

Be this, as of yore,

The shrine we adore, [kiss]

The feast without fail,

The life-giving Grail, [kiss]

Before it uprear

The Miraculous Spear, [touches own phallus]

And invoke in this sign

The Goddess divine! [kiss]

Thou who at noon of night doth reign

Queen of the starry realms above,

Not unto thee may we attain

Unless thine image be of love, [kiss]

By moon-ray’s silver shaft of power,

By green leaf breaking from the bud,

By seed that springeth into flower,

By life that courseth in the blood, [kiss]

By rushing wind and leaping fire,

By flowing water and green earth,

Pour us the wine of our desire

From out thy Cauldron of Rebirth, [kiss]

Here may we see in vision clear

Thy secret strange unveiled at length,

Thy wondrous Twin Pillars rear

Erect in beauty and in strength.16 [kisses on the breasts]

Altar of mysteries manifold,

The Sacred Circle’s central point,

Thus do I sign thee as of old,

With kisses of my lips anoint, [kisses of the Third Degree Sigil]

Open for me the secret way,

The pathway of intelligence

Beyond the gates of night and day,

Beyond the bounds of time and sense.

Behold the mystery aright;

The five true points of fellowship,

Here where the Lance and Grail unite,

And feet and knees and breast and lip.’