‘A Rite of Witch-Initiation & Dedication’
“At midnight, at the full of the moon, go to the churchyard bearing with you a hooded cloak, a candle lantern, a sharp and clean knife for use in the arte, a good bottle of drink and a small vessel of oil or grease mixed with soot. Have with you also a cord with which to mark out a circle large enough for you to kneel within with your other items.
When you have entered quietly through the gate, stop, and without words acknowledge the spirit wards of the churchyard and affirm the nature of your business there; for they must be assured you have not arrived to work damage or harm to the place they guard, but have come for a sacred purpose. One can also ask the spirit wards of a churchyard for aid in keeping one's work hidden from prying eyes.
Go to the north side of the church, and there mark out your circle and arrange the things you have brought with you. Remove your clothing and wrap yourself within vour hooded cloak. Light the candle in your lantern and begin the circumambulation. Backwards, and in the direction against the sun, slowly walk around the outside of the church. This is to be a contemplative act, in which one is walking the 'path of return' away from the ways of ordinary man and his separation from nature, the wild and the 'other', to tread the path of the witch, back into the shadows to find that hidden light and re-union with the divine spark from which all proceeds; symbolised this night by the lantern.
To do such a thing in a remote and darkened churchyard is perhaps not an easy task, and spirit presences may arise, taking an interest in your activity, and are likely to arouse fear, as are the mundane sights, sounds and sensations of the night. The mind however must be fixed upon the work, and any fear turned towards fanning the inner fire; setting one's prayers ablaze.
Upon reaching the circle for the ninth time, enter therein and kneel before the light of your lantern and speak, quietly, the following prayer of acceptance:
On this night and at this hour,
Of my own will and accord,
The secret Craft, its artes and power
I wholly accept by blood and word.
By hidden path and backwards Round,
By the Devil's lamp revealed,
By the toad and the hound,
The old pact made and be it sealed.
Blackened bull to lead the Wise
My call and prayer this night be heard,
Spirits of the Way arise,
Old One hearken to my word.
The right hand is now placed upon the crown of the head, and the left beneath the foot as the dedication is made:
Old One, Great Initiator,
Bearer of the light of All,
Illuminator of the Hidden paths of night.
I here do pledge all betwixt these my two hands unto thy secret Way,
To the curse and blessing of the Wise-Blood aflame!
Ever shall I keep the witch's silence,
Except it be unto a true brother or sister of the Arte.
By blood and word, sealed and bound,
Pledged and placed beneath the horns!
So shall it be in the Old One's name!
The knife is now taken up and a small nick is made to draw forth a little blood, perhaps from a fingertip, and a drop or two of blood is allowed to fall upon the earth. This act is not only an offering of the self, but the themes of death, rebirth, and light from the dark are enshrined within the union of one's life blood with the earth. Within this initiatory rebirth is found also the awakening of witch power, the vehicle and vessel of which is the witch's blood, and is itself enshrined within the witch's oneness with the land and its spiritual reality. The act of blooding has a long history in witch initiation, in which it is cognate with the tradition of the witch's Mark and the sealing of the compact.
In token of this rebirth unto a new life and the Craft, it is fitting that the witch should now take on a new and secret name. In a covine situation, this name would be known only to the witch's brothers and sisters in the arte. The new witch-name is now spoken in the act of anointing, also related to the tradition of the witch's Mark, and the 'Devil's baptism'. It is therefore an act that should be administered by the presiding witch guised in the role of the Old One during a rite of covine initiation.
Take up the pot of soot-mixed grease or oil, and mark the hands and then the brow, the latter in the sign of the six- armed cross, speaking these words:
Marked and anointed as Wise One and witch.
It is at this point that the witch might choose to dedicate some of the working items of the arte, such as the knife and perhaps a staff or wand. In group situations the tools might now be presented and dedicated to their purpose before the covine. The item is taken up and held above the lantern with these words:
By the spirits of the Way,
And in the Old One's name,
I dedicate this my blade of Craft and Arte.
The rite is concluded by pouring out some of the drink in offering and thanks to the place, its spirit wards, the spirits of the Hidden Path and the Old One before the witch drinks also.
The items of the rite are carefully gathered up and packed away, and the witch re-dresses to return quietly home to their bed, leaving no visible sign of their activities in the churchyard that night.”
2–‘Under the Horns: Dedication & Initiation of the Witch’
Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One
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