Days 31–60
Magical Items to Gather
You will need the following magical items during the next 30 days of training:
Day 32
• A 5–6 inch indigo taper candle
• 1⁄4 ounce of an herbal blend consisting of equal parts dried mugwort and star anise
• A compass (you’ll also need this tool on Day 38, 40, 43, 45, 48, and Day 50)
Day 33
• A 5–6 inch yellow taper candle
Day 38
• A 5–6 inch yellow or gold taper candle
Day 40
• A 5–6 inch yellow taper candle
• 1⁄4 ounce of an herbal blend consisting of dried cinnamon bark and pine bark
Day 43
• A 5–6 inch red taper candle
Day 45
• A 5–6 inch red taper candle
• 1⁄4 ounce of an herbal blend consisting of frankincense and benzoin
Day 48
• A 5–6 inch violet or black taper candle
Day 50
• A 5–6 inch violet or black taper candle
• 1⁄4 ounce dried white sage
Day 51
• Four yellow or gold candles
• An essential oil of one of the following herbs: chamomile, clove, cinnamon, bergamot, or rosemary
• Cornmeal
Day 52
• Four 5–6 inch silver or white taper candles
• Sea salt and poppy seeds
• An essential oil of one of the following herbs: cucumber, rose, hyssop, lily, nutmeg
Day 58
• Family photos of deceased relatives
• An altar cloth—can be made of any material, preferably a dark color
• Flowers—just a few to fill a small vase
• Candles—tea lights or candles of any shape or size
• Fresh basil—at least five or six leaves
• Dried mandrake root—usually available at any herbal shop; see the guide in the back
• Small bowl of water
• Dish with a small mound of salt (about 1 tablespoon)
Day 59
• A 5–6 inch black taper candle
• A pendulum (if you don’t know what this is, skip ahead and read the description in Day 59)
Day 31
The Crone: Magical Pass
To begin the magical pass for the crone, stand facing the west. Stand with your hands at your sides, palms flat, facing behind you. Bend the arms at the elbows and raise the arms so that your hands can rest, palms open, crossed on your chest. The right hand should be resting on the left breast and the left hand should be resting on the right breast. Witches also call this ritual posture the Osiris Position.
As you practice this magical pass, attend to whatever sensations or energies it seems to awaken in you.
The Magical Pass for the Crone
(the Osiris Position).
Day 32
The Crone: Invocation Prayer
As you recite the crone’s invocation, you may notice changes in your physical energy, your mood, your awareness and sensation, or you might even notice changes in the energy of your immediate environment. Whatever the result of this practice, stay open and aware of its influences.
What You’ll Need:
• An indigo candle
• A blend of dried mugwort and
star anise to burn as an incense
• A compass
Use the compass to find the west and then stand facing that direction. Light the indigo candle and set it on a table or the floor in front of you. Ignite a self-lighting charcoal and then sprinkle on the hot coal the loose incense you made from dried mugwort and star anise.
As the smoke rises, practice the crone’s magical pass and then hold your arms in this position while you say:
By Hecate and Hel,
By Sophia and Sekhmet,
By Inanna and Rhiannon,
And the countless names of power,
By the dark moon and buckled horn,
Come ye Crone goddess,
Thy Holy Rites reborn!
When you are finished with the crone’s prayer, sit on the ground or in a chair near the indigo candle, close your eyes, and sense the crone goddess’ presence. When you are finished, extinguish the candle.
Day 33
Contemplative Day:
The Center of Knowledge
What is a “Contemplative Day”? Each month within your year of training, you will ex-perience a retreat day of inner reflection during which you are encouraged to explore specific themes through your nonlinear, spiritual mind. As you have discovered in previous days, Wicca is a mystical path that places great emphasis on (and value in) direct experiential learning. While the formal acquisition of knowledge through conventional, linear, intellectual processes is important, your most important spiritual experience emerges from direct nonrational means. The Craft is chock-full of philosophical underpinnings and the contemplative days you will encounter each month facilitate your direct spiritual understanding of these points.
Meditative Question: What is at the center of knowledge?
Symbolic Color: Yellow
Symbolic Direction: East
Contemplation
Is knowledge an end in itself? How far can knowledge take you? The old magical saying is that there is “power in knowledge.” But are there limits to such a power? Does knowledge affect the spirit? Does it change who or what you are at the core? Does it change the essential character of nature? Like a series of Chinese boxes nestled one inside of the next, the contemplative question posed this month explores a great breadth of themes. What may surprise you is what emerges from your own inner core as you discover what lies at the center of knowledge. Is it truth? Is it freedom? Let’s find out together.
How to Use the
Contemplative Question
To begin working with any of the contemplative questions, you should first find a comfortable meditative sitting position in a quiet space. Since this month’s question symbolically aligns with the compass direction of east, you should arrange your chair or zafu so that you can sit facing that direction. Light a candle, set it in front of you, and sit approximately two feet away from the flame. Since this month’s question symbolically aligns with the color yellow, you should choose a yellow candle for this contemplation.
As you sit comfortably and settle your consciousness, cast your gaze upon the flickering candle. Imagine that you hold the contemplative question firmly in the abdominal region. Imagine that you apply pressure to the question as though you were internally gripping an imaginary yellow ball with your abdominal muscles. Relax your shoulders and arms and breathe normally. Sit with this internal “holding” of the contemplative question for 20 minutes. If you should notice extraneous thoughts intruding as you concentrate on holding your contemplative question, simply maintain awareness that thoughts are coming and going in the mind, but quickly shift your focus back to holding the question.
Try not to solve the question through rational means of any sort. Just hold the question internally until an intuitive answer emerges. It is important to note that an answer to the contemplation may not emerge in one 20-minute sitting alone. You may not intuit an answer in direct response to your meditative inquiry. It may occur to you hours, days, or weeks later. It may occur to you as you take a shower or stand in line at the grocery store. For this reason it is important to merge with the contemplative question and engage it through each of your everyday tasks. Be prepared to receive an intuitive answer at any given moment. Give this process time and eventually a shift in your perception will take place through which you will realize your own answer.
Day 34
Devotional Day: Honoring Isis
During your year and a day you will encounter what I have termed “Devotional Days.” During each of these days, you will encounter the spiritual essence of particular goddesses and gods from around the globe. Let us explore the first of these devotions by honoring Isis.
Table of Correspondences: Isis
Symbols: The magic circle, women’s bodies, the cosmos, nighttime sky, throne
Tools: The magic wand
Magical Essences/Herbs: Papyrus, storax, willow, lily, and ivy
Direction: Isis is aligned with the center.
She Rules: All compass directions, elements, and powers
Animal Symbols: Cow, swallow, sphinx, lion, and eagle
Sacred Foods: Bread and wine
Magical Stones: Quartz, star sapphire, and amethyst
The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis is perhaps one of the most complete and all-encompassing figures in myth and symbolism. The cult of Isis was popular through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of ancient Egypt. Her worship continued past the end of Pharaohic Egypt. Because of her popularity in the ancient world, other minor goddesses throughout the Mediterranean region and across the continent gradually assimilated Isis’ qualities. For example, to the Greeks and Romans, the image of Isis was transformed into “the star of the sea,” who was patroness of travelers.
Isis is a goddess of sky and earth. Her archetypal aspects included the “dutiful wife,” the “grieving widow” and the “protector of the dead.” She was the female counterpart to the god Osiris. In this sense, Isis represented the life principle while Osiris represented death. Her myths describe her as the embalmer and guardian of Osiris. She was an enchantress and a goddess of magic. Together with the god Thoth, she was a teacher of the healing arts, of balms and medicines.
Isis is a goddess of the entire life cycle: birth, growth, and cessation. There are no gaps between one’s own life and Isis’. The ancients believed that all things emerged from her. In mythic terms, Isis is your very body and spirit. Each of us, and everything seen is her body, mind, and spirit.
Isis rules all natural magic. When you tap into her spiritual energies, you also evoke your ability to become one with the natural world, with both sky and earth, life and death. Rely on Isis when magical aid becomes necessary in your life. The ancients believed that Isis had the power to bestow boons upon those who humbly sought her assistance.
Isis Practice
In honoring Isis today, create an altar to her using the various symbols, images, candles, and incense that evoke her presence. Once you have created your altar, take time to face it and slowly, vocally intone her name, one syllable at a time (I-sis), until you feel or sense her presence surrounding you. Once you become aware of her energies filling your magical space, spend some time contemplating what it might mean to align with this aspect of deity. Take time to ask Isis what it would mean to live life through her energy and listen for her answer. Spend the day honoring this goddess by fulfilling another person’s desire.
Day 35
Day of Silence and Review
Sporadically throughout your year and a day of training, you will encounter a “Day of Silence.” Witches observe regular periods of silence for three reasons. First, the observance of silence most likely emerged from the Renaissance, when anyone found to be a practitioner of the Old Religion was subject to officially sanctioned torture and death. Silence meant safety for oneself and one’s family.
Second, Witches observe silence because truth, power, and spirit (all of which are multidirectional and nonlinear) cannot be adequately placed into one-at-a-time words and descriptions. How can one ever hope to explain personal spiritual revelation? Words fall short of experience.
Third, Witches have found that silence is a method of preserving one’s personal magical power. The water from a dam can be channeled to generate electricity, as long as the dam contains an adequate reserve of water. Days of silence help Witches to restore their spiritual resources.
Today, you will begin to learn firsthand the power of your own silence. It is best if you can maintain complete silence throughout the day. However, since this is not generally possible for many contemporary practitioners, it is necessary to adapt this practice. During the normal course of your day, limit your utterances to only that which is necessary. As you observe silence at whatever level possible for you, focus your attention on your thoughts. Do not attempt to limit your critical thinking; simply observe your mental activity. When the day is complete, answer these questions:
• Was it difficult to maintain silence?
• When did I most want to verbally communicate?
• Did silence help me to notice what was going on in my own body, mind, or spirit?
• Did I have times when mental activity increased or decreased?
• Did I have times when physical activity increased or decreased in response to silence?
• How might periodic observances of silence be beneficial to me?
Day 36
Meeting the God: The Inseminator
Just as the goddess reveals her wisdom and power through three distinct aspects, so does the male counterpart of divinity. The first of the god’s aspects, the inseminator, is his most youthful. In this aspect, the god represents youthful exuberance, pure undirected energy, and a sense of play. The inseminator is the bold youth, full of foolish bravery and carefree charm. He is the archetype of youthful, active, outwardly directed power. He is boisterous, sexually motivated, and extroverted as he faces the world. Let’s face it; the inseminator is the party boy or party girl in each of us! The inseminator in all of us just wants to get down and have a little fun. Okay, maybe a lot of fun. This archetype represents the wildness of fire and spontaneity in all of us, no matter our physical gender. He does not know what lies ahead of him in life, therefore he has no obstacles. The inseminator knows no limits; all things are possible to him. He is the energy of one who won’t learn from other people; he must learn from doing and experiencing for himself. Like the maiden, his energy represents simplicity and purity of heart.
The god in this aspect represents your enthusiasm, your physical strength, energy, and optimism. He is the part in each of us that is motivated by sexual and energetic drives. He is there when we accomplish what others say is impossible and when we feel the urge to clown around.
The inseminator also has a dark side. The dark side emerges when we (consciously or not) cling to our own internal inseminator energies rather than allow a free, natural flow of energetic expression in our lives. In his dark aspects, he can represent our wild destructiveness, a lack of impulse control, a lack of constructive direction, indolence, and our potential for flagrant self-indulgence. In his dark aspect, the inseminator can represent our potential to be driven blindly by physical urges and impulses.
Some inseminator gods in mythology include: Pan, Eros, Dionysus, Cupid, Enki, Gwion, Loki, Hermes, Janicot, Iacchus, Adonis, Mabon, Lugh, Prometheus, Dianus, Raven, Faunus, Shiva, Taliesin.
Table of Correspondences:
The Inseminator
Commit to memory the magical correspondences that evoke the inseminator’s energies:
Solar Phase: Waxing year
Seasonal Phase: Spring
Color: Gold/yellow
Pagan Celebration: Beltane, May 1
Direction: East
Time: Morning
Incense: Cinnamon or pine
Essential Oils: Carnation, cinnamon
Magical Number: 3
Vocalization: “ah” (as in caught)
Herbs: Woodruff, hops
Planet: Mars/Sun
Body Part: Muscles
Chakra: 3rd—Solar plexus, between navel and stomach
Exercise: Knowing the Inseminator God
Think about your own inseminator traits. On a single piece of paper, draw a line down the center. On one side write down your personality traits (no matter if you are physically male or female) that reflect positive inseminator qualities. On the other side of the page, write down any shadowy inseminator qualities you might recognize in yourself. If you do not note any of the inseminator’s qualities in your life, you need to get out and enjoy things a bit more! You will find it spiritually beneficial to spend time cultivating this archetypal energy. In the days that follow, you will learn methods for invoking this energy. Use these methods to invoke the inseminator in you whenever you need a boost of energy or if you simply need to lighten up.
Day 37
Exercise: Calling On
the Inseminator
Here is an exercise that will get your sexual attention. Oh come on, don’t be a prude! Try this exercise to expand your consciousness, for goddess’ sake.
Find a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths. Relax your body from head to toe with each exhalation. Once you are relaxed fully, visualize yourself engaged in sexual activity with a partner. With your spirit-voice, internally intone the name of an inseminator god. Soon he will appear before you as you engage in your fantasy sexual activity.
Look into the eyes of your imaginary sexual partner and you will notice a flame, a wild energy there. This is the energetic expression of this deity. Continue the imagined sexual act and soon you will hear a word that represents your own inseminator energy. After you hear the word, immediately return your awareness to your physical body and then open your eyes.
Remember the word you learned in your vision and act from that word for the entirety of the day.
Here are some questions you might consider:
• Was I either unduly drawn toward or did I feel repulsed by this visualization?
• What might be some contributing factors to my feelings about this exercise?
• What are my experiences with sexuality?
• Should religion and sexuality ever find common ground? Why? Why not?
The Inseminator: Intonation
What You’ll Need:
• A yellow or gold candle
• A compass
Set an alarm clock so that you know to begin this exercise during the sunlit morning hours today. Use your compass to locate the east and place a cushion on the floor or set a chair so that you can sit facing this direction. Light the yellow or gold candle and set it in front of you so that you can gaze upon the candle’s flame. Take a deep breath that not only expands the lungs but fills the belly as well. As you exhale, begin to vocalize the sound “ah” (like the vowel sound in the word caught). Sustain the sound until all breath vacates your lungs. Allow the next inhalation to arise from the empty feeling you create in your lungs. Then fill your lungs to capacity and repeat the intonation. Practice the inseminator’s intonation for a total of three breaths. When you complete the third intonation, sit in silence for 15 or 20 minutes and allow the essence of this intonation to realign your consciousness.
Day 39
The Inseminator: Magical Pass
Begin by facing the east. Stand with your hands at your sides, palms flat, facing behind you. Bend the arms at the elbows and raise the hands so that they are level with your ears. Hands should be approximately eight inches away from the ears on either side of the head. With both of your hands, extend the forefinger and little finger, and close together the remaining fingers and thumb. This forms the Witch’s “stang” (symbolizing the antlers of the young horned god).
The Inseminator Position
As you practice this magical pass, focus your awareness on any sensations, thoughts, feelings, or energies that it may evoke for you.
Day 40
The Inseminator:
Invocation Prayer
As you recite this invocation today, you may notice a change in either your own energy or the energy of your immediate environment. Again, be sure to focus your awareness on the process that is happening to you both internally and externally.
What You’ll Need:
• A yellow candle
• A blend of dried cinnamon bark and pine to burn as an incense
• A compass
Use the compass to find the east. Face that direction. Light the candle and set it on a table before you. Ignite a self-lighting charcoal and then sprinkle the dried cinnamon bark and pine onto the hot charcoal. Wait for this to smolder.
Assume the inseminator’s magical pass, and hold your arms in this position while you say:
By Pan and Prometheus,
By Dionysus and Dianus,
By Loki and Llugh,
And the countless names of power,
By the morning sun, by hoof and horn,
Come ye fertile god,
Thy Holy Rites reborn!
When you are finished with this invocational prayer, sit where you are, close your eyes and sense the inseminator god’s presence. Set the candle someplace where it can safely burn completely out.
Day 41
Meeting the God: The Provider
The provider is the god’s second aspect. The provider represents the god in his maturity, at his zenith of power. In his provider aspect, the god represents self-sufficiency. He is able to care for himself and others. The provider represents action done because action is needed. There is no hidden motive behind the actions of the provider. He does that which needs doing. Societal, communal, or tribal benefit is often the reward of his action. The provider is the active principle, the individual involved in the concerns of building community, and preparing and protecting the space into which the next generation will come. The provider is the vehicle of society. He is the archetype of adult male power: he is focused, attentive to what is needed, active and purposeful. He represents the growth-movement of all life. You can find him in the ripening of the fields and in the consequences of your own actions. The provider in each of us understands the brevity of human life and the value of each action you take in this moment.
The provider represents our drives to complete what has been started, to provide what is needed, and to be self-reliant. He is the part of every man or woman that becomes motivated to accomplish. We can see his energy when someone demonstrates a paternal concern for other people. The provider in each of us notices societal/social limits, guidelines and structure, and understands the benefits of honoring these limits. On the flip side, the provider is also that part of each man or woman that understands the importance of challenging the limits so that new frontiers can open in a way that benefits the whole of society. The provider is the manifestation of the sun’s vital energy and an energized, focused mind.
The provider also has a dark side. This shadowy side emerges when we (consciously or not) cling to our own internal provider energies rather than allow a free, natural flow—a variety of energetic expression in our lives. When we hold to this energy, the dark provider can represent our blind ambitions and self-reliance taken to the point of self-serving. The provider in his dark side can represent our anger and impatience. It can be our insistence on social rules, regulations, and norms. In his dark aspect, the provider can be our potential to inflexibly identify with the rules of our society, our jobs, or organizations.
Provider gods throughout the world include: Sol, Cernunnos, Herne, Ra, Zeus, Dyaus, Yahweh, Apollo, Ares, El, Helios, Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Nereus, Oak King, Nick, Odin, Saturn, Sin, Thor, Thoth, Wotan.
Table of Correspondences: The Provider
Commit to memory the following magical correspondences that evoke the provider’s energies.
Solar Phase: Full midday sun
Seasonal Phase: Summer
Color: Red
Pagan Celebration: Summer Solstice
Direction: South
Time: Noon
Incense: Frankincense
Essential Oils: Frankincense, chamomile, benzoin, patchouli
Magical Number: 5
Vocalization: e¯ (as in heat)
Herbs: Chamomile, hemp
Planet: Mercury/Sun
Body Part: Neck, throat
Chakra: 5th—Throat, at the hollow point/base of throat
Exercise: Knowing Your Provider
Consider your own provider traits. On a single piece of paper, draw a line down the center. On one side write down your personality traits (no matter if you are physically male or female) that reflect positive provider qualities. On the other side of the page, write down any shadowy provider qualities you might recognize in yourself. If you do not note any of the provider’s qualities in your life, this is an archetypal energy that requires balancing in order for you to claim your full potential and power.
Day 42
Exercise: Calling on the Provider
Be observant today and take note of the needs of others. Attempt to take actions that benefit other people today. Instead of seeking approval or reward, simply perform actions that benefit other people because action is needed. As you perform actions that benefit others, take note of how you feel. What changes in your mind, body, and spirit do you perceive?
Call your father on the telephone or converse with a father figure. Find out what is important to him and what makes him tick. After this conversation, think about what he said. What from this conversation can you use as a guide today? What from this conversation made you uncomfortable? Why do you suppose you felt discomfort or not? Is there anything in this male power symbol that stirs your emotions in one direction or another? Now think about your family life. What was your relationship to your own father (or other father figure)? Can you draw parallels from your own father to the image of the provider?
Day 43
The Provider: Intonation
Today’s working will involve intoning sound that will invoke the energies of the provider.
What You’ll Need:
• A red taper candle
• A compass
Set an alarm clock so that you know to begin this exercise at noon today. Use a compass to locate the south and find a comfortable seated position facing this direction. Set the red candle before you and light it. Set your gaze upon the candle flame. Take a deep breath, expanding both lungs and belly. On the exhalation, vocalize the sound “e¯” (as in the vowel sound in heat.) Sustain the sound until all breath vacates your lungs. Allow the next inhalation to arise from the empty feeling you create in your lungs. Then fill your lungs to capacity and repeat the intonation. Practice the provider’s intonation for a total of five breaths. When you complete the fifth intonation, sit in silence for 15 or 20 minutes and allow the essence of this intonation to realign your consciousness.
Day 44
The Provider: Magical Pass
Stand facing the south. Begin with your hands at your sides, palms flat, facing in front of you. Bend the right arm at the elbow and raise the right hand so that the palm faces out and is level with your right cheek. The left hand remains open at the left hip. Close the little finger and ring finger of both hands, which creates the hand gesture of esotericism. This pose has some similarities with the well-known “Baphomet” image of the Knights Templar.13 As you practice this magical pass, sense what energies it invokes for you.
The hand gesture of Esotericism.
Day 45
The Provider: Invocation Prayer
As you recite this invocation, you may notice a change in either your own energy or the energy of your immediate environment. Simply remain aware of your process both internally and externally.
What You’ll Need:
• A red candle
• A blend of frankincense and benzoin to burn as incense
• A compass
Use the compass to find the south. Face that direction. Light the candle and set it on a table before you. Ignite a self-lighting charcoal and then sprinkle the frankincense and benzoin onto the hot charcoal.
Practice the provider’s magical pass and hold your arms in this position while you say:
By the Oak King and Odin,
By Herne and Helios,
By Thoth and Thor,
And the countless names of power,
By the noonday sun, by hoof and horn,
Come ye father god,
Thy Holy Rites reborn!
When you are finished with this invocational prayer, sit where you are, close your eyes, and sense the provider god’s presence. When you are finished, extinguish the candle.
Day 46
Meeting the God: The Sage
The sage is the third of the god’s aspects. He represents the human energy that is past its physical zenith. The sage represents the once outwardly directed energy that is now turned inward. In his sage aspect, the god represents our human ability to become self-reflective and to develop wisdom and spiritual power. The god here represents prophetic vision and good counsel given to others. He is the one who presides over the rites and ceremonies that mark the passages of time and the seasons of human life. He is the teller—and the keeper—of secrets. He is the wisdom of the great wheel of the year itself. He knows what actions to take and when to take them. He is reflective and meditative. The sage in each of us is the weaver of stories by the hearth, he is our ability to laugh at a lifetime of mistakes, he is that part of us that sees through the facades of other people.
The god in this aspect represents our ability to turn inward and to learn that the deepest secrets of the magical path have been here, in front of us, all along. The sage does not move to the rhythms of the earthly seasons, but rather to the seasons of spirit and intuition. The sage sets no limits or time frames upon tasks. He understands that life is a journey, not a destination. He is the manifestation of the serenity that comes with deep reflection and the dissolution of all personal requirements and fears.
The sage, too, has a dark side. When we cling to our own internal “sage” energies, he can represent the expansion of consciousness beyond that which has any practical value. The sage here can represent our foolish inability to protect ourselves in the face of actual danger. In his dark aspect, the sage can be our potential to ruminate on our past or to become acerbic or grim.
Some sage gods in mythology include: Thoth, Woden, Dagda, Arawyn, Llugh, Osiris, Pluto, Saturn, Beli, Mandred, Oghma, Balor, Farbanti, Kronos, Minos, Hades, Anubis, Set, Harpocrates.
Table of Correspondences: The Sage
Commit to memory the following magical correspondences that evoke the sage’s energies.
Solar Phase: Waning Sun
Seasonal Phase: Winter
Color: Violet or black
Pagan Celebration: Winter Solstice, December 21
Direction: North
Time: Midnight
Incense: White sage (also called desert sag)
Essential Oils: Sage, lotus, pine
Magical Number: 7
Vocalization: Nnnn
Herbs: Holly, mistletoe, pine
Planet: Uranus/Sun
Body Part: Head, brain
Chakra: 7th—crown, at the top of the head
Exercise: Knowing your Sage
Consider your own sage traits. On a single piece of paper, draw a line down the center. On one side write down your personality traits (no matter if you are physically male or female) that reflect positive sage qualities. On the other side of the page, write down any shadowy sage qualities you might recognize in yourself. If you do not note any of the sage’s qualities in your life, this is an archetypal energy that requires balancing in order for you to claim your full potential and power.
Day 47
Exercise: Calling on the Sage
If you talk all the time, you have few opportunities to listen. The sage is about the wisdom that comes from bearing witness to life, to people, to events. His are the arts of “listening much” and “speaking little.” The sage represents the ability to observe life without judgment or internal comment. Through this power, one is able to see nature unfold, just as it is—not as one wants, hopes, or dreads.
In honor of living your life according to the sage’s principle, allow the silence of the day to fill you. Focus your attention on the environmental sounds that pervade your life: the voices of other people, the sounds of birds, a wind chime, the music from a neighbor’s house. Speak only when spoken to, and at the end of the day take note of how this exercise made you feel. Are you more peaceful? Do you feel agitated? Do you feel energized or exhausted? How does your ordinary state of mind appear to you when confronted with stillness? Did this process help you to tap your intuitive wisdom?
Day 48
The Sage: Intonation
What You’ll Need:
• A violet or black candle
• A compass
Set an alarm clock so that you know to begin this exercise at midnight tonight. Find a comfortable sitting position while facing the north. Set the violet candle before you and light it. Set your gaze upon the candle flame. Take a deep breath, filling both the lungs and the belly. As you exhale, vocalize the sound “nnnn.” Sustain the sound until all breath vacates your lungs. Allow the inhalation to arise from this emptiness you create from the vacated lungs, and then again fill your lungs to capacity. Repeat the intonation six more times, which will make a total of seven intonations. When you complete the seventh intonation, sit in silence for 15 or 20 minutes and allow the essence of this intonation to realign your consciousness. When finished, extinguish the candle.
Day 49
The Sage: Magical Pass
Begin by facing the north. Stand with your hands at your sides, palms flat, facing in front of you. Bend the arms at the elbows and raise the arms so that your hands can rest, palms open, crossed on your chest. The right hand should be resting on the left breast and the left hand should be resting on the right breast. This is the same Osiris position that you learned for the crone’s magical pass. Symbolically speaking, the double use of the Osiris position indicates that in old age, there is a blending of energies that were once quite separate, as well as a blurring of gender lines. As you practice this magical pass today, focus your awareness on thoughts, sensations, feelings, and energies that it may evoke for you.
The Sage Magical Pass.
The Sage: Invocation Prayer
What You’ll Need
• A violet or black candle
• Dried white sage to burn as an incense
• A compass
Use the compass to find the north. Face that direction. Light the candle and set it on a table before you. Ignite a self-lighting charcoal and then sprinkle the white sage on the hot coal.
Practice the magical pass of the sage, and hold your arms in this position while you say:
By Arawyn and Anubis,
By Beli and Balor,
By Osiris and Oghma,
And the countless names of power,
By the absence of sun, by hoof and horn,
Come ye Sage god,
Thy Holy Rites reborn!
When you are finished with this invocational prayer, sit where you are, close your eyes, and sense the sage god’s presence. When finished, extinguish the candle.
Day 51
Finding the God and Goddess
in Your Life
Because Wicca is a mystical, shamanic path, establishing a direct link to the divine is a key practice. One way that Witches begin building a bridge to the divine is by approaching it through a sense of wonder. In other words, they set aside all of their preconceived notions about god or goddess. Certainly, as you have done in past days, you might learn specific correspondences and symbolic representations of various deity forms. But these references are not deity themselves. They are, as one Eastern mystic said, “a finger pointing to the moon” rather than the moon itself. In order to know the gods directly, it is important that you begin by opening your consciousness to include any and all possibilities. This then leads someone to wonder, “What is divine?” Is the sacred dimension something that stands over and above everyday life? Over the next two days you will experience these energies of the god and goddess as manifestations of your everyday life. Let us begin with the god.
Practice: A Day in the Life of the God
What You’ll Need:
• Four yellow or gold candles
• An essential oil of one of the following herbs: chamomile, clove, cinnamon, bergamot, or
rosemary
• Cornmeal
Despite your physical form, gender or gender-based personality traits, this is a good exercise in which to engage to begin the process of incorporating the divine masculine energy into your life. It doesn’t matter if you are the roughest leatherneck around or the laciest frill-seeker—this exercise will hold power and can open you to significant self-understanding.
Allow yourself some time early in the morning to begin this all-day spiritual task. Begin by making a list of personal traits that you feel represent your own god or spiritually masculine characteristics. Your list can include any traits from your physical body (especially if you are male), to your thought processes, activities, actions, and feelings. This list of personal associations with the god energy does not necessarily need to align with the archetypal, symbolic qualities of the god as described in our explorations of this energy. The list should only relate to your own experiences and personal associations with masculine energy.
Once you have your list, mark out a small circle (4-foot diameter) on the floor (or ground) using the cornmeal. Place the four yellow/gold candles at each of the four compass points (north, east, south and west). Find a comfortable sitting position and then anoint yourself with the essential oil at each of your seven chakra (or body-energy) points. For easy reference, here again are the chakra points:
• The point between anus and genitals
• Just above genitals
• Just below the navel
• Center of chest
• Hollow or base of throat
• Center of brow, between eyes
• Top of head
Light the four candles. Now close your eyes and begin to focus on your breathing. As you inhale, focus on expanding the solar plexus region around the navel. Begin to relax your body and imagine that any muscle tension you detect drops away from you so that the earth absorbs it.
Imagine that the solar plexus region of your body begins to radiate a bright, golden light. This is your energetic connection to the god. Allow this radiating light to expand and grow with each inhaled breath. As the golden light grows, imagine that it fills your entire being. Continue to breathe and watch the energy grow until your entire body is flooded with this golden energy. When you have finished, open your eyes. How do you feel?
Take a few moments to stay centered in this energy before you begin your usual daily routine. When you are ready, extinguish the candles. Sweep up the cornmeal, take it outside, and bury it in the ground. Put away all ritual items and go on with your day.
For the rest of the day, pay close attention to the god aspects of your personality, actions, or communication style. Complete all of your usual daily tasks from the center of this golden light that permeates your entire being. Allow the golden light to direct you in your tasks and to inform your decision-making.
If you feel as though you have somehow lost your connection to the god energy during the day, repeat the guided imagery exercise and anoint yourself with your essential oil. Take time at the end of the day to journal about your experiences or to share them with a friend.
Day 52
A Day in the Life of the Goddess
What You’ll Need:
• Four silver or white candles
• A mixture of sea salt and poppy seeds
• An essential oil of one of the following herbs: cucumber, rose, hyssop, lily, nutmeg
Today you will learn how to fill your being with the divine energy flow of the goddess. You will also learn how you might integrate this goddess energy into your daily routine. Again, regardless of your physical characteristics, gender, or traits, this spiritual exercise will awaken your internal goddess energies. In my experience over the years of working with a wide variety of magical aspirants, I have noticed a tendency of men in particular (not all men, mind you; this isn’t a sweeping generalization) to shy away from regularly tapping into their divine feminine energy, but it is important for practicing Witches to draw power from all aspects of deity.
Again, this is an all-day practice, so set time aside in the morning to begin this process. Begin by making a list of your traits that you feel represent your personal connection to the goddess or spiritually feminine aspects. Again, list any traits from your physical body (especially if you are female), as well as your thought processes, activities, actions, and feelings.
Once you have your list, mark out a 4-foot diameter circle on the floor (or ground), using the mixture of sea salt and poppyseeds. Place the four white/silver candles at each of the four compass points (north, east, south, and west). Find a comfortable sitting position and then anoint yourself with the essential oil at each of your seven chakra points.
Light the four candles. Now close your eyes and begin to focus on your breathing. As you inhale, expand the heart region around the center of the chest. Relax your body and imagine that any muscle tension you detect drops away from you and is absorbed by the earth.
Imagine that your heart region begins to radiate a bright, silvery light. This light represents the goddess’ energy within you. Allow this energy to expand and to grow with each inhalation. As the silver light grows, imagine that it fills your entire being. Continue to breathe and watch the energy grow until your entire body is flooded with this silvery goddess energy.
When you have finished, open your eyes. Take time to assess how you feel now that you have attuned yourself with this divine feminine energy. Take a few moments to stay centered in this energy before you begin your usual daily routine. When you sense that you are ready to begin your day, extinguish the candles. Sweep up the sea salt and poppyseed mixture and take it outside; bury it in the ground.
For the rest of the day, pay close attention to the goddess aspects of your personality, actions, or communication style. Complete all of your usual daily tasks from the center of this silvery light that permeates your entire being. Allow the silver light to direct you in your tasks and to inform your decision making. At the end of the day, take time to journal about your experiences, to discuss them with a friend.
Day 53
Seasons of Spirit
Spirit develops much like the changing of the seasons. In the environment we notice that the turn of seasons ushers in changes of growth, warmth, and light. The briskness of autumn follows upon the lazy, leafy days of summer. There is a simple wholesome purity in this seasonal process. And in many ways, this same simplicity applies to our own lives. Wiccans take note of this and see the four seasons of our planet as metaphors for human spiritual development.
Some of the features that share commonality with spiritual development are:
• Both spiritual and seasonal progressions are cyclical. There is no forward movement per se. Both represent perpetual cycles of change.
• Both the changing seasons and spiritual development are a process of unfolding. Seasonal changes come upon us gradually, in tune with the right planetary conditions. Similarly, your spiritual understanding unfolds in a gradual manner, facilitated by certain conditions such as regular spiritual practices.
• The seasons do not strive to change their inherent nature. Winter does not try to be something more or less than cold, rainy, or snowy. It realizes its full potential by being itself fully. Similarly, you express your greatest spiritual power by be-ing what you are completely. Repressing your fullest expression is a dark, unhealthy, and magically destructive path.
• All that ever changes about the seasons is your experience of them. The same holds true of spiritual changes. You can live in reaction to the seasons, loving or hating them, or you can live in harmony with them, learning from their pace, their rhythm, their very presence. Similarly, you can live in reaction to your own true nature by either loving or hating yourself—or you can simply accept what is.
Exercise: Learning Your Season
Today’s task involves determining your individual spiritual season. To begin, review the list below that describes the seasons as metaphors for your current spiritual life phase.
• Spring: newness, beginnings, birth, potential, seeding, awakening, freshness, individual way
• Summer: achievement, fruition, full potential, activity, growth, externalized expression, group way
• Fall: ripening, wisdom, maturity, reaping, receiving, realization, gratitude, reflection
• Winter: silence, internal expression, inward movement, release, repose
Perhaps you have additional or alternative seasonal associations. If you do, please take time to add those to the words listed above. As you consider your life as it is right now, which season seems to represent your current phase? Which represents your spiritual life? Honor your seasonal phases today by dressing in seasonal colors, eating seasonal foods, or listening to music you associate with your season. It is a good practice to periodically note your current spiritual season, so be sure to try this exercise again—perhaps at the time of the next full moon.
Day 54
Celebrating Life’s Seasons
A Witch is keenly focused on the simple experiences of living in the world. Witches follow their heartbeat, their intuition, their dreams, and sensations. They live their lives in this way because they know that experiences of simplicity tune them into the cycles of the natural world. That is where the Witch finds power and spiritual unfoldment.
Because of this, Witches mark the passage of the natural seasons with celebrations, rituals, and magical doings. Aside from the more formal observations of specific ceremonial days, Witches take time to celebrate each day of their lives. The celebrations of everyday life allow the Witch a simple spiritual perspective from which to look back at where she has been and to look ahead at where she is going. All the while, her daily celebrations are about what is happening right now. Witches celebrate their times of happiness and mark their moments of pain and regret. They observe their laughter, their fears, their anger, and their ecstasy. They commemorate the grand parade in which we all participate.
Taking up the practice of noting and celebrating where you are in your life right now is a powerful step on your own spiritual path. Not only is celebrating each day a centering activity, it also helps you to recognize the value of each day. With each sunrise you can find another opportunity to open up to the wonder and magic of your life.
Practice: Celebrating the Moment
Begin this exercise by listing those aspects of your life that deserve or require recognition. If you have nothing that you can list, consider what that might mean. Are you cultivating an authentic, multifaceted life? If you have nothing that you consider worth honoring, consider how you might have arrived at this point in your life, or how this perception might have emerged.
It is easy to get caught up in the grind of our work, the headaches of traffic, managing our social obligations and our families. Before long, we lose touch with the experiences of simply being in the world that can bring us joy. For example, we lose track of the importance of simple pleasures like a cool breeze on a hot day or the laughter of our children. Maybe we’ve lost track of how to savor a spoonful of ice cream, or the sensuality of a hot bath. The purpose of today’s activity is to open your sense of wonder and appreciation about the simple delights of living.
Sometime today, pause to breathe deeply and to appreciate a simple quiet moment. Perhaps you can enjoy the sunset, a beautiful cloud formation, or the purr of a cat. Find some aspect of your daily experience that can become a point of celebration. When you build upon such moments, life begins to take on greater meaning—and ultimately, magical power.
Day 55
Sabbats: Wheel of the Year
In honor of the changing spiritual seasons of our lives, Witches celebrate eight annual seasonal celebrations that they call sabbats. The word “sabbat” is itself the subject of speculation. Some scholars believe that the word may have its origins in the Hebrew shabbathi, which refers to the planet Saturn. Other accounts suggest that the word has its origins in the rites of Dionysus, whose celebrants would cry out “Sabai!” during the height of ecstatic trance. Some scholars trace the word back to Witch trial testimonies of the sixteenth century. In one French account, an accused Witch stated that her coven would chant, “Har, har, Hou, Hou, danse ici, danse là, joue ici, joue là. Sabbat, sabbat!”
Whatever the true origins of the word, the Witches’ sabbats mark eight annual passages of earthly and spiritual energy. Together, these eight sabbats comprise the Witch’s wheel of the year. Each of the celebrations belongs to one of two major categories: they are either one of the greater or lesser sabbats. The lesser sabbats typically mark the passage of the sun through the heavens in the course of a year. Each of the four seasons begins when the sun enters into one of the cardinal astronomical constellations. These four seasonal celebrations are the solstices and equinoxes. The dates of the solstices and equinoxes vary from year to year because the earth does not orbit around the sun in a perfect circle of 360 degrees. The Winter Solstice begins when the sun enters the sign of Capricorn. Spring Equinox marks when the sun enters Aries. Summer Solstice starts when the sun enters Cancer, and the Fall Equinox is when the sun enters the constellation of Libra.
The remaining four sabbats—Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas—are the greater sabbats. In Wiccan lore, these sabbats are “as old as time itself.” The greater sabbats are on fixed calendar dates, unlike the solstices and Equinoxes. The ancients of Old Europe positioned these celebrations on days that coincided with their agricultural cycles of planting, growth, and harvesting. The greater sabbats are rooted deep within the rhythms of the earth herself. Since the four greater sabbats align with the cycles of the earth, Witches believe that they are feminine in their character and energy. The solstices and equinoxes, marked by the sun’s passages, are masculine in their energies.
Here are the eight sabbats in their order, their type and energy. Take time to memorize the sabbat names and dates. In the coming days you will learn more about the meaning of each of these sabbats.
Samhain (pronounced: SOW-en), October 31, a greater sabbat, feminine
Winter Solstice, December 19–23 (when the sun enters Capricorn), a lesser sabbat, masculine
Imbolc, February 2, a greater sabbat, feminine
Spring Equinox, March 19–23 (when the sun enters Aries), a lesser sabbat, masculine
Beltane, May 1, a greater sabbat, feminine
Summer Solstice, June 19–23 (when the sun enters Cancer), a lesser sabbat, masculine
Lammas, August 1, a greater sabbat, feminine
Fall Equinox, September 19 –23 (when sun enters Libra), a lesser sabbat, masculine
Day 56
Samhain
Samhain, Hallows, or “Halloween” is an annual festival of death that occurs at the conclusion of the Celtic agricultural cycle. It also marks the Celtic New Year. Samhain is a Gaelic word that means “summer’s end.” Wisely, the ancient Celts noted that endings and beginnings were united. What is an end? What is a beginning? These were the mysteries that our ancient ancestors acknowledged through the rituals and activities of Samhain.
In Old Europe, Samhain was a time in which the herds were thinned through ritualized slaughter. Only the strong and the hearty survived the harsh Northern European winters, and herdsmen believed that slaughter of the weak and feeble saved animals from the cruelty of the winter frosts. Farmers would be sure to collect their crops before Samhain. Otherwise whatever was left behind was considered untouchable and fit only for night-spirits, fairies, and otherworldly beings that could easily slip through the veils of death into our world at Samhain. Some rural folk believed that whatever remained in the fields after Samhain was cursed. It was an omen of foreboding for whoever ate food harvested after Samhain.
Lighting of hearth fires and bonfires on the highest ground near to the home was another old Samhain practice. In Scotland, the hearth fire was called Samhnagan. In James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, he describes an unusual custom associated with the bonfires. Once the last spark of the ritual bonfire became extinguished, people would run about shouting, “The cropped black sow, seize the hindmost.” What seems to be an incomprehensible statement in modern English makes some sense when one understands both the older forms of the language as well as the fact that the sow is the totem animal of Cerridwen, a Celtic crone-goddess who presides over the rites of Samhain. Essentially, the statement was one of warning, telling the folk to run and hide before the crone, the death figure, finds them.
Contemporary pagans believe that the boundary separating the world of the living and that of the “Mighty Dead” is thin at the time of Samhain. Because of this thinning of the veil, tradition holds that communication with deceased loved ones is possible at this time of the year. At Samhain, Witches make offerings and build altars to pay homage to the dead. Part of their rituals include a dumb supper, which is a meal prepared for the spirit world. The dumb supper includes setting out a plate filled with the finest foods to feed the spirits of loved ones. The food may appear to go untouched through the meal, but Witches believe that the dead eat the essence of the food. The name of the meal comes from the practice of eating mutely, in ritual silence, during the meal shared with the spirit world.
Witches traditionally associate the feast of Sam-hain with two specific aspects of deity: the crone (or the hag) and the Lord of Death, who is also the Lord of the Underworld. Each of these aspects of deity signifies the process of human aging, cessation of life and death itself. The crone and the Lord of Death represent the wisdom that comes with age and the mysteries of passage through to the Summerland, the Witches’ mythic place of rest and regeneration after death.
Practice: Exploring Samhain
• Take out some paper and journal about your past memories of Halloween.
• How does it feel to celebrate death?
• Is death something to celebrate? Why or why not?
• How does death touch your life in this moment?
• How did it feel to think about death today? From where do your reactions about death come?
Day 57
Samhain’s Meaning
Why do Witches celebrate death? To folks who are new to the Craft, the celebration may feel morbid, frightening or distasteful. However, it is important to remember that it is a lifetime of conditioning that tells you that death is morbid or frightening. These are learned concepts about death.
So what is the right attitude to take about death? The most powerful position you can take is one void of opinion. This means that you consciously make an effort to hold no associations at all with death. When you clear your mind of everything you have learned about death, it unfolds as a simple, natural process. When you come to this more neutral understanding, death holds no power over you.
Witches do not believe that death is the end of life. The spirit, the immortal part of you, survives death. Wiccan myth says that the spirit journeys to the Summerland, a place of endless bounty and feasting. There, you reunite with loved ones that have already passed over. Witch lore states that your time in the Summerland is one of rejuvenation, so that you can replenish yourself before re-entering the world of physical form.
Witches believe in reincarnation not as a symbol, but as a literal fact. Although the concept of reincarnation may, upon first encounter, appear to be eastern in origin, it is a belief common to many spiritual traditions around the globe. One can find historical evidence for belief in reincarnation throughout Old Europe and later in the classical world of Greece and Rome. For example, Julius Caesar said of the Druids, “They wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another . . . .” The Greek Pythagoras also believed in the transmigration of the spirit from one body to another: “The spirit wanders now here, now there and occupies whatever frame it pleases.” Contemporary Witches base their beliefs on these ancient western notions of reincarnation. Contemporary Witches have added lore to classical western reincarnation beliefs. In particular, modern Witches believe that the purpose of reincarnation is that of spiritual learning.
If we contemplate the symbolic level of Samhain, we discover that it is directing our attention to the theme of endings. It is about ending one phase of our lives and beginning another. But if we consider this thing we call “endings” rather closely, we can see that it is a concept, an invention. Does anything ever really end? Perhaps, more appropriately, one might say that all things in life have their progression. People, events, conditions of life transform from one moment to the next. In that sense, each moment is an ending and a beginning. Samhain is a time to contemplate these truths and to gain insight into how they affect your life.
• Take time to journal about your thoughts and feelings about death. Sit down with paper and pen and simply free-associate about death for five minutes. Set a timer and do not allow the pen to stop during the five minutes. Just keep on writing, even when you have nothing to write about. Say whatever is coming to you and even if initially you experience writer’s block, you’ll move through it to reveal your deepest insights and understandings.
• Make a list of every deceased person you have known or that has been part of your life. Examine the list and, if possible, visualize each person whose name appears on it.
• Imagine your own name appearing on the list and then add it in writing.
• Post this list near you and refer to it throughout the day.
• Take note of how it feels to periodically refer to deceased persons throughout your day.
Day 58
Samhain: Ancestor Practice
Witches honor the departed members of their family tree, but in a wider sense, they also honor all creatures as branches and roots of the wider existential tree. These are the Witches’ ancestors.
Ancestor practices are some of the very oldest religious observances worldwide as evidenced by ancestral shrines found in Neolithic archeological sites. In primal cultures across the globe, tribal folk called upon their departed ancestors to bring magical aid and teaching from the spirit world.
Witches pay homage to their ancestors as part of their contemporary Samhain practices. One growing custom among contemporary pagans is the building of ancestral shrines on Samhain. Although it may not be Samhain today, our practice will focus on this custom of creating a magical ancestral shrine.
What You’ll Need:
• Family photos of deceased relatives
• An altar cloth
• Flowers
• Candles
• Fresh basil
• Dried mandrake root
• Bowl of water
• Dish of salt
To begin this practice, leaf through your old family photo albums. Rummage through that old box of family memorabilia. Look for photographs and items that were once part of your deceased relative’s lives. If you cannot find anything suitable, take time to write a memory of each deceased ancestor you can recall. You needn’t spend hours on writing, simply put a few memories down on paper.
Next, find a table in the westernmost part of your house and use this as your altar. Lay out a beautiful altar cloth of any color. Spread out on the cloth the photos and other items that were once your ancestor’s belongings.
Now you should be creative. Add to the altar fresh flowers, or scatter flower petals. Arrange some fresh basil and dried mandrake, two traditional death herbs. Light tea lights or candles. Hang tiny white Christmas tree lights around. Drape your photos with sheer fabrics. Set out toys or trinkets that are beautiful or symbolic to you in some way. You might also add in foods or items that the ancestor once enjoyed. Light some pleasing incense.
When you have finished decorating your altar, sit in front of it and take time to silently thank the ancestors for being part of your journey in this world. Allow the candles to burn completely out. Since you will use the altar again for tomorrow’s spiritual work, try to leave the altar undisturbed. For the remainder of the day, keep thoughts of your ancestors in your mind.
Samhain: Ancestor Divination
Witches consider Samhain the perfect time to commune with departed loved ones since the worlds of the living and the “Mighty Dead” are not too far apart. Witches seek the advice or the teachings of their ancestors through divination methods.
Practice this divination method today and be sure to include this method as part of your Samhain celebration on October 31.
What You’ll Need:
• Your ancestor shrine
• Two pieces of paper, one with the word “yes” and the other with the word “no” written on it
• A 5–6 inch black taper candle
• A pendulum
Before you begin, either buy or create a pendulum. A pendulum is a divination tool that consists of a small weight tied to a length of cord. To create your own: cut a 13-inch length of string or thin cord. Tie a ring or similar small, weighted object to one end of the cord. Some objects that people use to make pendulums include crystals, I-Ching coins, stones with holes in them—even plain metal washers will do. If you would like to purchase a pendulum, check the resources section at the back of this book.
Begin this practice by standing in front of your ancestral shrine. Hold your left hand, palm down, over the photos and memorabilia of your departed loved ones. Grip the pendulum’s length of string between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand. Hold the pendulum over your ancestral memorabilia. Say, “Which of my departed ones will speak and teach?” Now state the names of each departed ancestor. Be sure to pause at least 60 seconds between the names you recite and watch the pendulum for movement. If it begins to swing, then the loved one you last named is one who will teach and guide you during this exercise.
If you have a photo of the ancestor who wishes to teach, place it before you now. If not, use a pin or a knife to inscribe the name of the person along the length of a black taper candle. Light the candle and set it before you on the ancestral altar. Now take out two pieces of paper. On one paper write the word “yes,” on the other write the word “no.” Set them before you on the shrine, close your eyes, and then imagine your ancestor’s face. As you visualize your ancestor, recite the following incantation, which is based on old European death chants.
Death swims on the water
Summer will soon be here
And do thou, O holy________
[name of ancestor],
Give us a good year.
Speak this night of sabbat
Although the hour is late,
And do thou, O holy________
[name of ancestor],
Tell us fortune’s fate.
Ask any specific yes or no question at this time. Once you ask the question aloud, hold the pendulum over the papers that say “yes” and “no.” When the pendulum swings over one of the words, this represents your answer. When you have asked each question you have in mind, simply leave the shrine and allow the black candle to burn out completely.