յ. no magick is done at a Sabbat unless there is an emergency such as a healing desperately needed, but there is much feasting and merriment, if someone needs to work magick they can do it during an Esbat or do a special Circle sometime before or after the Sabbat evening
շ. as the Goddess is celebrated witch the phases of the Moon so is the God with certain phases of the Sun that are the Lesser Sabbats, while the Greater Sabbats are seasonal and therefore times for honor both the Goddess and the God
Յ. we can think of the God as predominant in winter (dark half) and the Goddess in summer (light half), but neither excludes the other cause both have masculine and feminine attributes so they are both honored during these Sabbats
կ. if the sabbat date coincides with a full Moon the the Full Moon Rite is to perform after Erecting the Temple
Տ. the Greater Sabbats follow a particular story of the gods and each of them have specific details
Samhain (or Hallowe'en): the God starts his journey to the underworld and it bears the light of the Goddess at the end – it was the Celts' new year, the time of the year for getting rid of weakness, witches usually bring into the Circle a small piece of parchment with their weakness or bad habits that they'd want to lose written on it, on the altar and around it there should be autumnal decoration and the color of the candles and clothes should be orange
Imbolc (or Candlemas): the God is midway coming back to the light of the Goddess – it's the “feast of lights” traditionally devoted to the Goddess (Brigid), besides the altar should be a “crown of light” a circlet of candles, the color of the candles and clothes should be brown
Beltane (or May Eve): the God and the Goddess get together again and she is impregnated – the altar may be decorated with flowers and the Circle can be bigger to contain a Maypole, the color of the candles and clothes should be dark green
Lughnasadh (or Lammas): the God, Goddess' lover, is killed by the new younger God – God's his death and rebirth will bring a better harvest, summer flowers should be on the altar and around the Circle, the color of the candles and clothes should be yellow
ճ. the Lesser Sabbats are Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon, we'll talk about them more in the next lesson
from Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar
about how meditation works, technique, posture, area, time of day, method, the source of dreams, dream interpretation and symbology, remembering dreams, personal symbols, the repetitive dream, group dreams, dream vs out-of-body experience, rituals
յ. meditation is a fine art developed by eastern people for centuries, quite simply it is a listening to the inner self, the creative force, the higher consciousness,that is found passing through our conscious and subconscious
if properly used it can open the door to individual growth and personal advancement
to understand how meditation works we must realize that we are spiritual as well as physical beings and the two bodies are connected at the vital centers, known as chakra, that during meditation being to open as the mighty psychic force called kundalini begins to flow within you
շ. meditation should be comfortable and secure therefore you posture should too, you may choose any position you like so long as you keep your spine straight, in a quiet place away from outside noises
Յ. the best time for meditation is generally a matter of personal convenience, there is some evidence to suggest that a period close to the hour of your birth is best, but since it could be a noisy time you should choose the time that is most convenient to you, the important thing is that you do meditate
to be successful in your meditation it is recommended to meditate for at least 15 minutes everyday and being consistent in the time of the day and the length of time
կ. master teachers of eastern philosophies suggest that during meditation you focus your attention on the “thousand petaled lotus” of the third eye, the seventh and highest chakra, reorienting yourself
Տ. dreams are also very important as they are a manifestation of the unconscious, or higher spiritual mind, that we refer to as superconscious, an element of the universal consciousness that is therefore totally versed in universal symbolism, so your dreams are expected to contain some of this symbols of which the book offer a list (down below)
to interpret dreams you obviously should first remember them, you can help yourself during meditation and before going to sleep by affirming you will remember you dreams three times, then you can record them every time you wake up, examine the dream to see if it fits any event of the previous day, then you must determine if it's literal (the main character or image is a real person or thing in your life) or symbolic (the main character or image cannot be take as a real person or thing)
sometimes dreams are repeated in order to emphasize their meaning, a recurring dream could generally be precognitive or prophetic, a compensation for an improper attitude, or the result of a traumatic incident
ճ. back to the Sabbats, the Lesser Sabbats are all about the phases of the Sun and therefore about the God alone, here are their specific details
Yule (Winter Solstice): the new God is born – the Circle may be decorated with holly, mistletoe, ivy etc. and the color of the candles and clothes should be purple
Ostara (Spring Equinox): the God is the young wild Green Man of the forest – spring is the seed time where the seed is an idea that you’d like to grow into an opportunity, on the altar is a priapic wand, a wand shaped like a phallus and used in various fertility rites that is named after the Roman god Priapus, there should be spring wild flowers all around and coveners may also wear then in their hair, the color of the candles and clothes should be light green
Litha (Summer Solstice): the God and the Goddess are united – the Circle should be decorated with summer flowers, fruits and green branches, on the altar is a large candle, the color of the candles and clothes should be white
Mabon (Autumn Equinox): the God is now the the dark lord of death and resurrection and the Goddess reaches for him in the underworld – the Circle should be decorated with autumnal flowers, acorns, gourds, pine cones, corn sheaves etc. and the color of the candles and clothes should be red
Դ. now, start a dream diary to record all your dreams, there is no need to write down an interpretation but at least think of their meanings as you record them, the important thing is to capture what you can, write down all the details you remember, describe people, situations, clothes, emotions, activities, and your attitude, pay special attention to number of things and their colors
from Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
The Dream Game by Ann Faraday
The Silent Path by Michael Eastcott
Dreams by Carl G. Jung
Practical Guide to Astral Projection by Melita Dennings & Osborne Phillips
list of universal symbols
aboundance: desire for independence
accident: something unplanned
actor/actress: desire for recognition
adultery: guilt
altar: self-sacrifice
anchor: stability, sometimes a desire for a permanent home
anima: the feminine aspect of the individual, guide to the inner world, the Goddess, receptive, prospective and nurturing
animal: depend on your feelings for the particular animal
animus: the masculine aspect of the individual, uncompromising conviction, the God
apple: desire
arrow: pleasure, festivity
auction: promise of aboundance
baby:if crying it’s frustrated plans, if laughing it’s plans fulfilled, if sleeping it’s waiting period or patience
balloon: frustration
basement: a place of refuge, retreat, concealment
bathroom: cleansing, elimination of the undesired
battle: internal conflict
bedroom: place of rest and recovery
bells: fulfillment of plans, joy
bicycle: hard work will bring to fruition
birds: usually transcendence from one state of being to another
birth: transition to a new phase or new aspect of self
hair: thought, gray or silver hair indicates wise thoughth
hammer: power to drive forward
helpful animal: the instinctive self
highway: the path, the way ahead
horse: if white it’s prosperity, symbol of life (the Keltic goddess Epona was often depicted on a white mare), if black it’s change of fortunes, if wild it’s uncontrolled instinctive urges, if winged it’s transcendence from one state of being to another
house: personality and conscious interest from the spiritual view
pearl: joy, a broken string of pearls is misunderstanding
pirate: suspicion
pyramid: thirst for knowledge, seeking
railroad: a set path to follow
rainbow: great happiness, opportunity
reading: learning, gaining knowledge, perceiving
red: strength, health, vigor, sexual love, danger, charity
right: the conscious, correctness, the artistic side
ring: completion, loyalty
river: spirituality, a boundray
rocks: the unchanging self
rodents: transcendence of a less-than-nice person, distrust, betrayal
ruins: failure of plans
sacrifice: overcoming pride
school: a place of learning, a need to learn
scissors: distrust
self-image: the inner or spiritual self, the age indicate maturitu or lack of it
seven: completion, old age, endurance, evolution, wisdom, stages of spiritual transformation
sex: union of opposites, union of male and female principles, satisfaction, completeness
shadow: the subconscious, insubstantiality
six: cooperation and balance, interaction between the material and the spiritual, mental and physical, psychism, peace, completion of the second plane
skeleton: the basics, the root of a problem
snake: spiritual wisdom, transcendence into a state of wisdom
snake-bite: infusion of wisdom
soldiers: force, power, regimentation
spade: penetration, cutting, tough work lies ahead
sunrise: clearing of consciousness, awakening
sunset: need to protect assets
swan: beauty, comfort, satisfaction
sword: penetrating and cutting, conflict
table: support, a platform for presentation
telescope: need to get closer to subject
thief: loss or fear of loss, insecurity
three: the trilogy, father, mother and child, past, present and future, completion of the first plane
thunder: anger
touching: normally the laying on of hands and healing, on rare occasions it’s a curse, can be comfort and securty
transcendence or transformation: achieving full realization of the individual self
transportation (airplane/automobile/bicycle/flying/journey/railroad/riding/rocket/roller skates/ship/trains): spiritual advancement, the more efficient the mode the more effective and rapid is the advancement
traveling: the act of spiritual advancement
tree: the life principle, psychic gowth and development, success
tunnel: hiding, being afraid
turning: changing or development, turning in a circle is lack of progress
twins: ego and alter ego
two: duality, the male and female, positive and negative
about working tools, knife, marking in metal, sword, other tools, dress, jewelry, horned helmet, inscriptions, your witch name
յ. the working tools are dictated by the tradition, usually every witch has a personal knife that in many traditions is called athame, it usually has a steel or iron double-edge blade and the length should be whatever feels comfortable for you
շ. if you're not able to make one you can adapt an existing knife, the main point is that it should have something made by you, so get a knife (such as a hunting knife) and replace the handle and/or carve your craft name or monogram on it, don't worry if you have one you think was used to murder someone, cause all tools after being made will be ritually cleansed and purified before use to remove any negative vibrations, then they'll be personally charged and consecrated
Յ. the knife is your personal and magical tool and as such is something very special, so it'll not do to simply go to a store and buy and unaltered ready-made knife, you have to work on it to make it your own
կ. there are two ways you can etch the blade to inscribe something on it:
you can use wax, cut into that what you want on the blade, pour on acid or some other etching agent and then wash it after some minutes, or you can engrave the blade, writing on it with a proper engraving tool that can be motorized, it's still effective but this method doesn't give a solid marking as the acid etching
Տ. the knife can substitute the sword, that is usually not essential but many covens like to have a coven sword, usually used to mark the circle at the start of every meeting
ճ. other ritual tools are the wand, staff, bell, burin (or white-handled knife, an engraving tool used to mark the name or sigil ritually on your magickal tools) and cords, which use will depend on the path you decide to follow
also, even if it's recommended to work naked, if you prefer not to you can wear a robe, that can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, the material can be whichever but natural materials are preferred
the book then illustrates a simple method to make one: first you have to measure from wrist to wrist with your arms outstretched for the height of the material, then from the nape of the neck to the ground for the length needed of material, fold it inside-out, cut each side as indicated and sew the sides
most witches used to wear white robes, lately more colors appears at festivals and in various traditions, a few wear black but, while acknowledging that it's a powerful color, some think it plays up the misconception of equating Witchcraft to Satanism and it should be avoided, this is a religion of nature and nature is made of color, so let's use them more!
other things used can be jewelry, in some traditions used to signify ranks, usually made of silver or copper, and horned helmets, usually used by the priest in some rites where they specifically represents the God
Դ. about your craft name to etch on your working tools, there are a number of different magickal alphabets that can be used, the most popular are various runic alphabets and the theban form of writing
the word rune means mystery or secret in early english and it's charged with overtones, the book then shows the Saex-Wica runic alphabet, specifying that if there are double letters in a word any of the glyphs can be written backwards giving a mirror image
now, by starting the witchcraft path you are starting your life anew, so why not start it with a name or your choosing? Many choose a name that reflects their personality or describes them cause names are important, and powerful
to choose a name you have to check out numerologically the ones you'd like, there are different systems of numerology but the one described here is the most commonly used, let's give an example: Jessica born on 15 march 1962 wants to call herself Rowena
Jessica will have to find her birth number by adding each digit of her date of birth, so 1+5+3+1+9+6+2=27 and bring that down to a single digit so 2+7=9, note that it's important to include all the digits of the year too
after having found the birth number she'll have to find out the number of the name she chose, Rowena, so she'll have to number each letter of the alphabet from 1 to 9 as in picture and then sum up the numbers as before, so 9+6+5+5+5+1=31=4
if, as in this case, the number of your chosen name doesn't match you birth number, you could add letters to it to reach the right number, or try with another possible one
Ց. choose your own name and write it in various forms - your witch name should match your birth number cause it's the one thing about you that is unchanging and by doing that you are aligning with the same vibration of the moment you chose to be born
once you have found a proper witch name, practice writing it in various forms of magickal script
գ. here is an example of the name Galadriel written in Saxon runes and its monogram:
from Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
about history and development, persecutions, reemergence, the philosophy of witchcraft, principles of wiccan belief, the power within, spells and charms
յ. thousands of years ago paleolithic wo/men depended upon hunting to survive and nature was overwhelming, so much that they made each aspect of nature a diety, the two most important were the God of Hunting, generally depicted as a horned man, and the Goddess of Fertility every pagan religions had their own version of the same dieties in their pantheon, names changed but they were all ultimately praying to the same gods
շ. people back then started using sympathetic magick: they thought that similar things had similar effects, therefore if they mad a life-size clay model of a bison and killed it then the hunt of a real bison would end with its death too
Յ. with the coming of Christianity there was not an immediate mass-conversion, it was a man-made religion it didn't evolve gradually and naturally over thousands of years like the Old Religion for this reason Pope Gregory built the early curches on the sites of the older temples, where people already used to gather together to worship, so that they would become accustomed to go to church instead
կ. though the only artisans available to build the first curches were among the pagans themselves and incorporated figures of their own dieties in their work, many of these figures are still in existence today the Goddess' carved figure usually had spread legs and enlarged genitalia and was known as Shiela-na-gigs, while the God's had horns surrounded by foliage and was known as Jack of the Green or Robin of the Woods this is also the reason why the Devil is horned: the Old Religion was the rival of the new one and its God was horned, so christians made him its Devil and claimed that pagans were Devil worshippers
Տ. as the centuries passed Christianity grew in strength, the Old Religion was slowly pushed back and the accusations started, so in 1486 two german monks wrote an anti-witchery book called The Witches' Hammer in this book the monks Heinrich Institoris Kramer and Jakob Sprenger gave definite instructions for the prosecution of witches and that resulted in cases of hysteria like the so-called "witches of Salem" in Massachusetts where over 200 people were accused and 19 hung note: in New England the law was an in England so witches were hung, it was in Scotland and the rest of Europe that they were burned at the stake
ճ. by the late 17th century the surviving witches had gone into hiding and with the invention of printing every book about Witchcraft was written from the church's point of view, until 1921 when the anthropologist Margaret Alice Murray wrote The Witch Cult in Western Europe studying the records of the trials of the Middle Age she picked up clues that seemed to indicate that there was a definite, organized, pre-Christian religion behind what the Church made people believe
Դ. the last laws against Witchcraft in England were repealed in 1951, this cleared the way for the witches to speak up, so from that moment many covens with different traditions finally came into the open
Ց. in England the first one to come out was Gerald Brousseau Gardner in 1954 while in America was Raymond Buckland himself: they openly talked about the Craft and some of the different traditions and ways of practicing, writing many books about it the book then provides this list of some of the covens/traditions that can be found today (listed below), you can also search on the web to see if there's a coven of your liking near you to join
գ. in april 1974 the Council of American Witches adopted a set of Principles of Wiccan Belief that summarizes Wiccan philosophy, many has to do with its empathy with nature i'll be listing them down here, read them carefully:
we practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters and cross quarters
we recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment: we seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and conciousness within an evolutionary concept
we acknowledge a depth of power far grater than that apparent to the average person, because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called supernatural, but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all
we conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity -as masculine and feminine- and that this Creative Power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine, we value neither above the other, we value sex as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energy used in magickal practice and religious worship
we recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, Inner Planes, etc, and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises, we neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for put fulfillment
we do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership
we see religion, magick, and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it -a world view and philosophy of life that we identify as Witchcraft- the Wiccan way calling oneself witch does not make a witch -but neither does heredity itself, nor the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations- a witch seeks to control the forces within themselves that makes life possible in order to live wisely and well without harm to others and in harmony with nature
we believe in the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning the universe we know and our personal role within it
our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be the only way and have sought to deny freedom to other ways of religious practice and belief
as witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions, we are concerned with our present and our future
we do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as Satan or the Devil, as defined by the Christian tradition, we do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor accept that personal benefit can be derived only by denial to another
we believe that we should seek within nature that which is contributory to our health and well-being
յօ. there's power in all of us and the aura is a visible manifestation of that power, witches have always had the power and used it, this is why spells and charms are usually very commonly used even by solitary witches, cause the most important ingredient in a spell is emotion
from Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
Witchcraft from the Inside by Raymond Buckland
The God of the Witches by Dr. Margaret A. Murray
Witches: Investigating an Ancient Religion by T. C. Lethbridge
The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion Starkey
here’s listed a sampling of different paths of Wicca with a brief description from the Big Blue:
Alexandian Wicca is a tradition founded by Alex Sanders in England, rituals are mostly Gardnerian with many Judeo-Christian/Ceremonial Magick elements incorporated, coveners generally work skyclad, the eight Sabbats are observed and both the God and the Goddess are horned
American Celtic WIcca is American tradition stem from Jessica Bell (Lady Sheba), the rites are virtually the same as Gardnerians but they work robed
Church of Y Tylwyth Teg, originally organized by Bill Wheeler in Washington, is a Keltic/Welsh tradition whose purpose is “to seek that which is of the most worth in the world to exalt the dignity of every person, the maximum service of humanity, to aid humanities’ search in the Great Spirit’s Universe to relink humanity with itself and nature”, it teaches the balance of nature, folklore, mythology and the mysteries
Curch of Crescent Moon, origianlly organized in California, the Church offers many paths to “the ultimate oneness with the absolute”, its purposes include perpetuating the uncorrupted religion of ancient Ireland and provifing information and structure about the goddesses and gods in general, irish culture and many occult subjects, though they don’t call themselves Wiccans
Circle Wicca begun by Selena Fox and Jim Alan in Wisconsin, it is more aligned with Shamanism and Amerindian ways, they publish an annual source Circle Guide to Pagan Resoursces and a newspaper Circle Network News, the Circle Network is an internation exchange and contact service for Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, Pantheists, Goddess Folk, Shamans, Druids, Eco-Feminists, Native American Medicine People, Seers, Ceremonial Magicians, Mystics and other related paths
Coven of the Forest, Far and Forever is a Florida denomination formed by Elivri and Giselda, there is a good balance between the male and female aspects, their main purpose is to become vehicles to the more fundamental living forces by invoking the gods to balance and develop their own nature and grow closer to the universe, the worship is skyclad and Esbats are held each full Moon
Deboran Witchdom, founded by Claudia Haldane and promoted by Erinna Northwind in Massachusetts, is an eclectic branch, they work with balanced polarities, aiming for a reconstruction of the Craft as it would be if the Burning Times had never happened, they use research, logical deduction and divination and with little use of nudity during rituals
DIanic Feminist Wicce, started by Ann Forfreedom in California, is a tradition that is both religious and practices magick, it includes both female and male practitioners, it encourages female leadership, insists that a priestess must be present for a Circle ritual to be held an d involves its practitioners in feminist and humanist issues, they work either skyclad or robed
Frost’s Wicca was found by Gavin and Yvonne Frost in North Carolina as “The Church and School of Wicca”, it’s one of the many Welsh-based traditions, the course material was presented in book form under the title The Witches’ Bible, originally there was no mention of the Goddess but this has now been rectified
Gardnerian Wica is the very first denomitanion of the Craft t make itself known publicly and the firts tradition to appear in the United States (by Raymond and Rosemary Buckland), it was founded by Dr. Gerald Gardner who was initiated into a surviving celtic coven in England, the majority of Wiccan traditions are based on this, it places emphasis on the Goddess over the God, it has a degree system of advancement, the emphasis is on worship of the gods with magic focused primary on healing, covens work skyclad
Georgian Wicca, founded by George E. Patterson in California, it’s an eclectic tradition based on Gardnerian and some other engligh traditions, both religious and magickal, God and Goddess oriented but leaning more toward the Goddess, they celebrate the eight Sabbats
Maidenhill Wicca is a “traditional” Wicca group established in Philadelphia that has strong ties with the Coven of Rhiannon in England, its main focus is the worship of Goddess and God, there is no limitation to particular cultural-ethnic tradition, the members go through a Garnerian training and then are incouraged to find a particular myth cycle or path consistent with their personal beliefs
Northern Way also called Asatru, was founded in Chigago and is a Norse based noninitiatory tradition, the gods names are Old Norse, the group is not hereditary, they observe the Solar Fire Festivals (Lesser Sabbats) and those indigenous to the Norse religion, they work robed
Nova-Wicca is an eclectic group frounded by Nimua and Duncan in Illinois, it’s Gardnerian based and it classifies itself as a mixed, traditional, teaching/training coven, they work robed at Esbats and Sabbats but skyclad at initiations
PectiWita is a scottish solitary tradition passed on by Aidan Breac who personally thaught students in Scotland, it’s attuned to the solat and lunar changes and all aspects of nature, there is balance between the Goddess and the God, the emphasis is on magick rather than worship, meditation, divination and herbal knowledge play a large part in the tradition, there is emphasis on the blending of magick into everyday life
Saex-Wica, founded by Raymond Buckland, has saxon basis, a democratic organization and its rituals are open to anyone, covens decide for themselves whether to work robed or skyclad
Stregheria or La Vecchia Religione (the Old Religion) originates by the Italian-American Leo Martello in Massachusetts, it is a form of Witchcraft with Southern European roots but also includes Italian American witchcraft, the word stregheria is an archaic italian word for "witchcraft", the tradition centers around a duotheistic pair of deities that are regarded as divine lovers, practices include the celebration of seasonal holidays, ritual magic and reverence for gods, ancestors and tradition-specific spirits, strict adherence to performing their rituals skyclad
Thessalonian Tradition, founded by Monte Plaisance in Louisiana, it’s an attempted reconstruction of ancient greek magickal practices and religious philosophies, it acknowledge all of the dieties of ancient Greece with each member placing emphasis on a “patron” god or goddess, their stated purpose is to bring themselves closer to divinity through the invocation of divine powers and the application of divine knowledge, the worship is performed robed
so i made my own god and goddess statuettes the other day
i used white clay to make them, for the god i used twigs for his horns, for the goddess i placed some dry leaves on the breasts and her belly
it took forever for them to dry and then i had to reattach their head with glue but they're ready now and i'm pretty satisfied with how they turned out!
about Handfasting rite, Handparting rite, Birth rite, crossing the bridge, the intuitive process - categories of channeling, clearing the channel, external focal points, interpreting channeled information, the aura, sensory deprivation, the witches' cradle
յ. handfasting is the wiccan word for the marriage ceremony, it doesn't join man and women “till death do them apart” but it joins people “for so long as love shall last”, as a marriage it still meant to be a lifetime partnership but Wiccan understands that some marriages just doesn't work out, in these cases the couple will dissolve the partnership with the ceremony of handparting
շ. generally speaking Witches are very open-minded especially where religion is concerned, they feel that all should be free to choose the religion that best suits them, including Witches' own children
a child should not be forced to folllow a particular religion just because it's the parents' religion, for this reason there is no wiccan “baptism”, instead in a simple ceremony the parents ask the gods to watch over the child and give them wisdom in choice when older, so children will be fully initiated when they'll be old enough to decide for themselves
also in many branches of the Craft people are free to leave and also to return whenever they wish so
then since Witches believe in reincarnation death is a moment of celebration rather than grief, that is a sign of selfishness as we are sorry for ourselves to have been left behind
the rite performed at the death of a Witch is called crossing the bridge, there are no rules on what should be done with the body after
Յ. the word psychic means that which pertains to the spirit or higher consciousness, the word occult means that which is hidden from the uninitiated, in fact every one of us has beyond-the-physical abilities and they differ in individuals
let's look first at channeling, the tapping into the collective consciousness in order to obtain needed information, the main two categories are:
the physical, which relates to or has an effect oh physical objects and it includes psychometry, pendulum (radiesthesia), tea-leaf reading (tasseography), card reading (cartomancy), etc.
the mental,, which deals with impressions received on some level of conscious awareness and it includes clairvoyance (“clear seeing”), clairaudience (hearing), clairsentience (sensing) and telepathy (thought transference)
կ. to become a channel there are some major points you must address in order to clear your mind: controlling the mind, removing emotions, self-examination, possessiveness, love, and meditation, as you continue to work on these the channel will gradually begin to clear
Տ. by clearing the mind and listening to you subconscious you can also locate lost objects like keys, there are tho methods to do that: for the first you have to calm yourself and rid yourself of all emotions then simply follow your inner urges and be guided from within, for the second you can use the pendulum either working on a yes/no basis or with sketch maps of the various rooms the key might have been left in
ճ. the body of a person is actually composed of seven distinct elements, the first three solid, liquid and gas form the physical body, the fourth element is the etheric body and interpenetrates the physical extending beyond it by about an inch, next is the astral body that extends several inches beyond the etheric, then the mental and spiritual bodies
the energy patterns that the nonphysical bodies emanate can be seen by the adept and they're what is known as aura, the colors detected are usually indicative of the person's state of being, reading auras can be different for everyone because individual sensitivities are differ for everyone and you could be more sensitive to certain vibrations that others
from Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
How to Read the Aura; How to Develop Psychometry; How to Develop Clairvoyance by W. E. Butler
Color Magick by Raymond Buckland
The Principles and Practice of Radiesthesia by Abbé Mermet
Amazing Secrets of Psychic World by Raymond Buckland & Hereward Carrington
about covens and degrees, hierarchy and priesthood, covensteads and covendoms, the book of rituals, consecration of tools, rituals -erecting a temple, clearing a temple, Esbat rite, Full Moon rite, New Moon rite, Cakes and Ale
յ. the majority of witches work in groups known as covens, traditionally of thirteen people but that number can be lower or higher, the important thing is that all the people can fit in the circle comfortably
the people of your coven should be compatible with you not only on a religious level, you should feel completely comfortable and at ease with one another, also among them two priests should be elected to represent the goddess and the god during rituals
շ. the book in which witches started to wrote down their basic rites when the persecutions begun is called Book of Shadows because they had to meet in secret, “in the shadows”, to perform those rituals, and it was kept solely by the priests
in recent years it has become common for all witches to have one, you can buy a plain blank-paged book, the cover color depends on the tradition and if it's not indicated it's completely up to you, some even made the whole book from scratch
just keep in mind that the book is made to be used and to read the rituals in the circle, so write them clearly
Յ. the regular meetings of witches are called Esbats, there should be a circle at least once a month at every full moon, many covens also celebrates the new moon, aside of that the frequency of every meeting has no rule
կ. the rituals you should do during a full moon Esbat are in order: first Erecting the Temple, then the normal Esbat Rite followed by the Full Moon Rite (or the New Moon Rite), after that goes Cakes and Ales and end by Clearing the Temple
Տ. in addition to Esbats there are the festivals known as Sabats (from the french meaning “to revel” or “frolic”) there are eight in a year: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh are the Greater Sabbats, while the equinox and solstice Mabon, Yule, Ostara and Litha are the Lesser Sabbats, Samhain and Beltane are the two most important and coincide with the breeding seasons of animals
pagan festivals were later exploited by Christian Church, for example Imbolc became Candlemas
on each Sabbat a different ceremony is performed and in case it's occurring on a full moon night the Esbat normally done that day gives way to the Sabbat
ճ. usually after Cakes and Ale if magick is not to be done it time for general conversation with music and dance if you wish until the Cleaning of the Temple
Դ. the Cake and Ale rite is a thanking of the gods for the necessities of life, during which the lowering of the athame into the wine goblet symbolizes the joining of male and female
from Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, the Big Blue Book
recommended supplementary reading:
The Meaning of Witchcraft by Gerald Gardner
Aradia, Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland
