'The Witch's Nowl'
Hallowing of the Working Ground’
“Whether it is for use by a solitary practitioner, or by an assembly of the Craft, a special place will be sought for the working of magic and rites of the Arte. It is essential that such a place is as secluded and as private as is possible, and far from the world of men', so as to be a place of wild nature and spirit forces; a place of potency. It is for these reasons that such a place might referred to as 'the lonely place', 'the secret place', 'the hidden place' or the 'haunted place'.
Where the chosen location possesses also the blessing of remoteness, journeys to visit the working ground will embody an act of magical and sacred pilgrimage. Journeying and wandering in this manner is, for the witch, a meditative and power gathering act so useful to the rites and workings of the Arte. The chosen place will also be perceived to be possessed of some special or uncanny virtue, spirit presences, and natural potency, and thus described by some as ‘pulse spots'. Such virtues are of course highly useful to the work of the witch, and places with a proximity to water are highly regarded for their liminal quality, whereby the Otherworldly may be all the more accessible.
The Wise will visit the potential working ground upon numerous occasions, there entering into exploration via contemplation and meditation, to imbibe of and engage with the spirit and essence of the place through all of the senses. Signs that a suitable place has indeed been found may take the form of the location arising in one's dreams, indicating perhaps that a deeper, working interaction is being invited.
The working ground having been positively identified, a rite may be performed in order to set the ground 'apart' and dedicate and empower the place unto its new purpose. Such a rite may also serve to forge and seal the working relationship between the Wise and the spirit of place.
Central to the rite here given for this purpose is the witch's nowl; a large nail of iron employed by some practitioners and lineages of the Craft. The witch's nowl is associated primarily with power and potency; such associations arising quite naturally from its form and the substance from which it is created. The form of the nowl is of obvious phallic nature with its attendant virtues of fertility and life giving force. Akin to the knife, the pin and the thorn, its use in magic often employs the nowl's ability to penetrate and to fix in order to convey and impart the intent and of the spell or rite, and give life and fertility to the working. Its substance, being of iron, has its old associations with power, blood and with fire; telluric and heavenly. The Nowl within witch rites, along with other items forged of iron, is regarded also as deeply emblematic of Old Tubal Cain; the ‘Hairy One', born of the ‘Serpent Blood', the first smith and bearer of Craft, skill and power.
It is a tradition found within some lineages of the Craft that a potent fire, power often depicted as a serpent, dwells within the earth, animating and empowering the land with life. This fire flows also within the body of the witch as the ‘Serpent Blooď and is itself of the Divine Fire which fell to earth from the heavens. Witch-blood, the bloodline of the Serpent, is said to have been initiated by primordial union between man and the Old Ones, the bearers of light, thus is the mystic fire often depicted betwixt the horns of the Horned One; the awakener, illuminator and forefather of the witch.
It is this Serpent Fire which shall be employed within the rite here given via the use of the witch's nowl. Within acts of operative witchcraft and cunning, the nail is often pushed or struck into the ground for various purposes. As Steve Patterson, a witch and traditional magician in Cornwall explains, the iron nail may be used to ʻpin down’ your magic onto the land, and Cecil Williamson spoke of witches putting a nail to the ground in graveyards in order to listen to the spirits of the departed.
Another item employed within the rite here given is the 'Devil's Scourge'. Within some traditions and lineages, this scourge has horse hair in place of the leather or silken thongs more often encountered in some expressions of the Craft. To many Crafters, the horse represents not only witch-divinity in both its male and female aspects, but a symbolic vehicle for magical power and force itself. It is for these associations that items relating to horses are to be found employed as magical and ritual tools within some Craft circles. Such items of course often relate to the tame or harnessed horse, and so symbolise the harnessing of power unto the will of the witch, and its conjuring into, or sending forth from the witch's circle.
The nail of course is also part of the magical symbolism of the horse, harnessed and shod. This symbolism is exemplified in the practice, found in some Craft traditions, of 'shodding the stang' whereby a nail may be ritually struck into the base end of the stang; the forked staff, sometimes called 'the Horse', representing the presence of the divine and Otherworldly power within the circle. Thrust into the earth, the nail within the stang's base represents the fallen telluric fire below to be drawn upon to empower the magical rites and workings of witchcraft.
Reified within the form of the 'Devil's Scourge' is the Serpent, thus it is a tool emblematic of telluric potency, as well as witch-power and divine force. Snake and scourge alike being also phallic in form, it too is emblematic of fertility and enlivenment. Like the iron of the nail, the fiery scourge is also exorcising and punishing in nature and so has its place within rites of banishing and blasting.
Within the empowering of the working ground however, the 'Devil's Scourge' may be employed to ritually and symbolically 'strike’ the ground in order to stir and raise the Serpent Fire of the land, to conjure forth the 'steed of power' into the circle, and to impart fertility and potency to all magical and ritual acts performed therein. Within a rite of assembled Crafters, the scourge would be employed by the presiding witch in the role of the Old One, yet is of use also to the solitary practitioner. Again, the rite here given should easily be adaptable for both circumstances.”
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The Devils Dozen:
Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One
‘The Witch’s Nowl’
by Gemma Gary
