Day: June 6, 2019
The Verse Charge
The Verse Charge
(1961)
I the Mother, darksome and divine, Say to thee, Oh children mine (All ye assembled at mine Shrine), Mine the scourge and mine the kiss The five-point star of love and bliss Here I charge ye in this sign. (Assume Goddess position.)
All ye assembled here tonight Bow before my spirit bright Aphrodite, Arianrhod, Lover of the Horned God, Mighty Queen of Witchery and night
Astarte, Hecate, Ashtaroth, Dione, (Morrigan, Etain, Nisene), Diana, Brigid, Melusine, Am I named of old by men, Artemis and Cerridwen, Hell’s dark mistress, Heaven’s Queen.
(Whene’er trouble comes anoon) All who would learn of me a Rune Or would ask of me a boon, Meet ye in some secret glade Dance my round in greenwood shade, by the light of the full moon.
(In a place wild and lone) With the comrades alone Dance about my altar stone. Work my holy Magistry,Ye who are fain of sorcery, I bring ye secrets yet unknown.
(Whate’er troubles come to thee), No more shall ye know slavery Who give due worship unto me, Who tread my round on Sabbat-night. Come ye all naked to the rite, In token ye be truly free.
I teach the mystery of rebirth, Keep ye my mysteries in mirth Heart joined to heart, and lip to lip, Five are the points of fellowship That bring ye ecstasy on Earth.
I ask no offerings, do but bow, No other law but love I know, By naught but love I may be known, All that liveth is mine own From me they come, to me they go.
The Universal Laws
The Universal Laws
There are 23 Universal Laws that balance out the chaos of the Divine. These are Superior laws of the Divine Universe created at the time of Creation. (You might take note of the significance of the number of laws. 23 and how that can be seen in other aspects of creation; or incarnation).
1. The Law of Absorption:
All matter in the universes, regardless of it’s manifested vibration, absorbs emanations from all other matter and the matter is influenced by this absorption. In other words, all things are connected, relate and affect one another.
2. The Law of Accountability:
(Also known as the Law of Return). You are accountable for what you create at the moment of creation. This accountability occurs on the physical, mental and spiritual levels and cannot be avoided.
3. The Law of Activity:
Action results from attention of thought and the nature of the action corresponds to the nature of the attention. In other words, the seeds you sow will grow the fruit you plant. What you sow, so shall ye reap.
4. The Law of Apperception:
Conscious of being flows within all units of the Universe. Throughout all eternity, everything has a consciousness and knows it’s own conscious being. Thought knows it is thought, energy knows it is energy, every single unit, from the Great Cosmos to the tiniest Atom, knows what the function of it’s unit is.
5. The Law of Association:
If two or more things have something in common, the ‘thing in common’ can be used to influence or control the other thing. The degree of control depends upon the size of the ‘thing in common’. The more in common the things have, the more control can be used to influence the things.
6. The Law of Attitude:
“Attitude” is the only weapon that can harm an individual. Nothing, absolutely nothing can harm a human being, but his or her own attitude. Each experience is put in its proper perspective and hopefully resolved in a favorable manner. How you react toward those experiences, your attitude about them, determines how the experience affects you.
7. The Law of Avoidance:Refusing to handle a highly emotional or unpleasant situation, to deny living up to one’s full potential or neglecting to do something that should be done, will affect an individuals physical body and mental mind. As well as lifestyle affairs through each incarnation, until that person correctly balances with the situation.
8. The Law of Balance:This is the Key To Life. Balance is the nature to maintaining order within the divine universe. Each entity makes choices to exist, when those choices are made in conjunction with the flow of the energy, entities and events balance is maintained.
9. The Law Of Manifestation(Also known as the Law of Beamed Energy):Thought is energy, focused on one central idea with one’s undivided attention can be created in the mind and then physically transferred from any point of the physical body (eyes, mind, hands, etc.) to any object, subject or ethereal realm for manifestation. The energy can be directed and controlled, with certain behavioral characteristics to accomplish a given result. Mostly commonly used method in healing.
10. The Law of Catastrophe:Also referred to in the human experience as the stage of drama/trauma. An absolute necessity for the evolutionary process, motivated by many laws of totality, when the seed cracks and growth is permitted to begin. This occurs in the human experience, and in nature.
11. The Law of Cause and Effect:For every happening in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction. (This is not to be confused with the Law of Accountability – also known as the Law of Return).
12. The Law of Center:A basic principle in nature, that everything has a center from which it obtains it’s source energy, intelligence and pattern which is continually self-renewing. Each center is connected to every other center and to the one center from which all life is vitalized.
13. The Law of Communication:Every unit, from the single atom to the galaxy system is “plugged into” a giant switchboard. Each unit as the ability to communicate with all other units through it’s own vibrational frequency. This communication system makes it possible for all beings to have psychic possibilities, and to communicate or share information with each other on a psychic level.
14. The Law of Change:The readiness of a situation to alter, modify, transform or convert is caused by a continual change of inner attitude. As one continues to experience situations in life, their attitude adjusts to process the experience and change occurs.
15. The Law of Consciousness:Totality is all Consciousness, All there is – is. This is the ‘conscious of being’ or ‘awareness of it’s existence’. In other words, what we know at a given moment is reality for us as a conscious individual. What one perceives in consciousness from moment to moment is our individual reality and therefore real for us.
16. The Law of Contact (also known as the Law of Contagion):Things, animate or inanimate, once in contact with each other will continue to act upon each other even at a distance, long after the physical contact has been made.
17. The Law of Continuity:Nothing in the Universe ever dies, is lost or destroyed, it just changes form. Everything becomes a part of forever. Matter and Energy are never destroyed only transformed or changed.
18. The Law of Correspondence:Each component within a system or thing retains its own characteristics and takes on the characteristics of the system or thing as a total sum of its parts. Each component then has two functions; to retrain its own characteristics and to function as the whole system or thing.
19. The Law of Cosmic Web:Every point in space regardless of vibrational frequency connects with every other point in space and interconnects with every point of time; past, present and future.
20. The Law of Cycles:A period of time divided into equal lengths and each length of time produces a certain definite effect upon the progressional path of each living organism, object or event. This effect repeats itself in the same order, and at the same intervals, making a circle of time for each system.
21. The Law of Duplication:If one person can do it, it can be done by others; perhaps to a lesser or higher degree, or equally, to equalize with the activity.
22. The Law of Dying:When a unit or entity has completed one stage or area of growth, it will gather all the knowledge from this area of growth and all the knowledge from the Group Soul of it’s element and withdraw this knowledge into itself, ready to expand into enlightenment.
23. The Law of Elements:Each unit has it’s own frequency, each element in that unit has its frequency of emanations connecting it to and compatible with the parent unit. When these elements are separated from the parent unit, they will still have the same emanations connecting them to the parent unit.
The Law Of Accountability
The Law Of Accountability
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11 Signs You’re A White Witch
11 Signs You’re A White Witch
Are you a witch? Witchcraft is real and is all around us but what does it mean to be a witch? How can you tell? What are the signs of a witch? Well, they may not have hooked noses, green faces and warts, not even the dark witches, but they do believe in magic! Tudorbeth shares 11 signs you’re a white witch…
White witches are good and are often mistaken for being earth angels. Although there is one crucial difference between them, witches have a deep connection to nature, whereas angels are beings of air. And while angels are mediators between heaven and Earth, witches are beings of Earth and are mediators between humans and elemental beings. However, both serve the greater good in everything they do. Read on to see the 11 signs of a white witch:
1 You often have prophetic dreams
Do you have dreams that come true? Are your dreams often apocalyptic or do you meet loved ones who have passed? You may also dream of shapes – in particular a five pointed star or a triangle. These shapes can appear in nature throughout our dreams such as five petals on a flower, or a triangle-shaped leaf. A circle is also a symbol of witchcraft for it means the wholeness of the world and eternity.
A circle is also symbolic of the moon and witches are often referred to as children of the moon because of the goddess Diana.
2 You can easily pick up on an atmosphere
Do you walk into a room of people and know immediately if there has been an argument? Can you sense if a room full of people are friends or foes? Further, can you feel if something is just not right? Many witches are highly clairsentient which means all feeling, all sensing. Witches are all feeling for we are earth and human. Therefore, we feel all the emotions that humans have.
3 You prefer to be outdoors
Do you want to be outdoors, whatever the weather? You might also like to be outdoors at different times of the day and night. In fact you might even feel you come alive at night. You will love the smell of grass after it has been cut or the smell of summer rain. You might even be able to smell the snow coming in winter, as witches are the children of nature.
4 You’re a sensitive soul
Can you feel another’s pain or discomfort? People may talk to you and want your advice or want to confide in you about their problems. People feel at ease with you because of your caring and sensitive nature. In the past many witches, especially white witches, acted as local counsellors. People sought our help for all manner of problems and concerns.
5 You feel a draw to a particular animal
Think back into your childhood, has there been an animal, bird or insect that is always with you or found you wherever you have been even on holiday? It could be anything from a spider to a cat or a crow. It could even that stray dogs seem to follow you. These animals seek you for they are what we call familiars, an animal, a bird, or an insect which is your companion. These familiars are your gifts from spirit to guard you and look after you.
6 You like making home remedies
Do you like spending time creating homemade herbal cures and remedies? Are you fascinated by homeopathy? Maybe you use lavender to help you sleep or peppermint tea to calm and cool your stomach. Witches were renowned healers and apothecaries. We were midwives and carers long before there were doctors.
7 Children and animals are naturally drawn to you
Do you find that children and animals just prefer to be around you instead of their own parents and others? The reason children and animals are attracted to you is they can sense the magic and wonder in you. You also make them feel safe and they know they can trust you.
8 You are interested in the Universe and solar system
You might like watching documentaries about the Universe and all the different planets. You might intrinsically know that there is more life out there in space but you also know that we are all connected. That all the paths and movements of the planets affect us here on planet earth. You might be interested in the zodiac and astrology.
9 You like arts and crafts
You like making things from candles to cookery to dressmaking. You love to create and feel at home either in the kitchen brewing up a recipe or making presents or cards for people.
10 You recycle
You care deeply for the earth and environment and try to protect the Earth whenever you can. You adore the seasons and the changes in nature they bring. You recycled long before everyone else did. You love the autumn, the winter frosts, the spring flowers and the bees buzzing in the summer parks.
11 You believe in the greater good
You do everything with goodness in your heart. You try your best at everything. You also believe in magic and all that it means including the possibility of fairies and other elementals of the earth. You may also believe in ghosts. Yet in all your beliefs and in all what you do you feel strongly there is a force of good and you are a part of it.
If you answered yes to eight or more of these questions…
chances are you are a witch and a white one at that. And the one thing to remember with witchcraft is that once born a witch always a witch. You have been here before and now witchcraft is finding you again, so embrace it. Witchcraft is not meant to be difficult or challenging; it can mould its way into your life with such simplicity that you will realise it was already a part of you.
About the author
Tudorbeth is a hereditary practioner of the Craft. She comes from several generations of practioners of Witchcraft and learnt the practical side of magic from her father and the esoteric side from her mother. The rules and gifts of herb lore, scrying, healing, tasseomancy, numerology and candle magic all feature in her books. Tudorbeth has written many books on witchcraft including the series Magic in the City.
Published on Soul & Spirit Magazine
8 Habits of a White Witch
8 Habits of a White Witch
Following our guide to white magic, we’ve written another outlining the habits which every white witch should cultivate. ‘White witchcraft’ is a term traditionally used to describe magic which is performed for good and unselfish purposes – people of any colour can be white witches, and even though we use the term “she” in this article, men can be white witches too!
1 – A White Witch Respects Nature Nature is an important source of inspiration and wisdom for witches, and most Wiccans recognise that the Divine is present all around them in nature. This is why everything that exists in nature – from plants to animals, to rocks and elements – is regarded as sacred and treated with respect.
But what does this mean for a modern White Witch who’s trying to find her way through the jungle of big city life? It means developing habits that protect the environment, such as recycling, buying fairtrade and eco-friendly produce, choosing to eat organic food that’s free from pesticides, and other activities that help to renew and restore nature.
2 – A White Witch Casts White Magic Spells The Wiccan Rede states “An it harm none, do what ye will.” The White Witch is aware of this when preparing her potions or casting magick spells. She makes it her best practice to observe this law. She sees her magic as a way to serve good and selfless purposes. For this, she knows that she needs to do some inner searching to find out what her true motivations are, so she can ensure that her magic truly is designed for selfless purposes.
She recognises that Black Magic aims to take energy away, that it’s designed to manipulate and hurt others. So before casting love spells, money spells or healing spells, she takes the time to ensure that no one will be manipulated or cheated by her spells.
Even if someone has wronged her, she tries to forgive them, seeing the act as a limitation of that individual’s perspective or an unresolved and deeply seated hurt that they are not aware of. She does not engage in revenge spells because she knows that all people are born of the Divine and therefore all are One. She knows that by hurting someone else, she’s actually hurting herself. Before casting a White Magic Spell, she asks the spell to serve the highest good for everyone involved.
3 – A White Witch Knows the Value of Silence We live in a culture that prides extraverted attributes – people who can perform public speaking, loudly state their ideas during work meetings and entertain others with casual chit-chat are regarded as successful. But silence has its own merit, and a White Witch knows the value of silence.
She does not feel guilty for giving up on social activities whenever she feels the need to retreat into the silence of her own room to meditate and do some inner searching. A White Witch might have a daily meditation practice (10 minutes will do) that allows her to tap into her inner wisdom and intuition, and use it for guidance in her daily life.
4 – A White Witch Clears Her Energy A White Witch knows that energies accumulate. Everything around her vibrates with a certain emotional or energetic signature and she picks up on these vibes like a radar, especially if she’s a particularly empathetic or sensitive individual.
In order to clear herself of the residue of everyday life, she uses white sage, daily rituals or meditation to cleanse herself of the imprints that have been left on her energy field. She knows that having boundaries is healthy (unless they start to feel isolating) and she’s careful not to sacrifice the ‘me-time’ for anyone else, a time that she needs for herself.
5 – A White Witch Recognises the Divine All Around Her Just as nature is to be honoured and respected, so is everything else. The Divine is present all around us, and it’s both male and female. Therefore the goddess is just as important in Wicca as the god is. A White Witch recognises that the Divine is present in all of us, too. And so, any spiritual practice dedicated to a god or goddess is not complete, unless it is extended to the daily dealings with the people around us.
What’s more, a White Witch knows that the magical powers that she develops are not unique to her – everyone is entitled to them, just as she is. Everyone can tap into magick and their inner wisdom, if they make an active choice to do so.
6 – A White Witch Acknowledges Personal Responsibility “Ever mind the rule of three: What ye send out comes back to thee.” That’s how the Rule of Three or The Law of Threefold Return goes. There are many interpretations of this law. Some believe that it is similar to karmic laws – if you do harm unto others, if you send negativity out into the Universe, then negativity will come back to haunt you threefold. And the same goes for good things – if you do good deeds, then good deeds will come back to you threefold.
Of course, in life it does not always feel like that, so it’s very important to recognise not only your actions, but also your intentions behind your actions, and things start to make more sense. For example, helping someone is generally a good thing, but if you help someone without them asking for your help first, the energy that you send out into the Universe is not helpful – it’s actually binding and controlling, and that’s the energy that you’ll receive back.
Although the Law of Threefold Return is interpreted in many ways, what’s important for a White Witch is to recognise that her actions will have repercussions, and they are likely to be physical, emotional and spiritual. So before you engage in an important action, examine your intentions first, and be aware of the potential consequences that your actions may have. When you do, be ready to own up to those consequences.
7 – A White Witch Respects the Beliefs of Others Although a White Witch has found her own Path, she is fully aware that this Path is unique to her alone. Therefore, she does not object when others share their personal spiritual beliefs. She doesn’t mind that other people may not share her beliefs – she knows that they come from different backgrounds, family settings, even cultures. She is simply grateful to have found her Path and shares her insights with those who ask her about them. She does not preach or try to convert anyone to her version of the truth – rather, she delights in learning about the different perspectives that others around her hold.
8 – A White Witch Knows That She’s Just Human While a White Witch is aware of the Threefold Law and that Divinity exists all around her, she knows that she is merely human. Humans are flawed by nature (if you believe that perfection even exists) and so she knows that she can’t possibly predict all of the consequences of her actions, that she has all kinds of feelings (sometimes negative) and that sometimes she needs to vent these to someone, or ask for help. She sees no shame in this because a White Witch does not strive to be perfect – she tries to be kind to herself and not to judge herself too harshly for her mistakes. When she practices self-love, she feels that she becomes kinder and more forgiving to those around her as well.
About the Author
Ieva Remmerte enjoys writing about philosophy, spirituality, ancient practices and general fiction, and holds holds an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. You can find her on her website: wholistically.me.
Published on Wiccan Spells
The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft
The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft
Torin Wathame
**Notice**
This document may be distributed freely so long as it is not altered, edited, or changed in any way from its original form. A copy of this document in its true original form may be gotten from our home page.
In order to live a full and successful life as a ‘White Witch’, one must first understand what the rules of the game are. The principles which are put forth below are intended to be a very simple, basic way to remember the way of the White Craft.
The total idea may be visualized as a four legged stool. Each of the Rules can be seen as a leg and The Law may be seen as the seat. The Rules without The Law are uncomfortable and nigh on to useless in their function. The Law without the Rules gives you a comfortable place to be, but it is rather impractical and again, nearly useless. However, when all of these are brought together they make a highly stable, functional, and enjoyable life.
The Four Rules
Live – Live each day as if it were your last, for one day you will be right.
Love – Love yourself first and foremost. For when you truly love yourself, loving those around you will come as easily as breathing – and we all must breathe.
Learn – Learn your life’s lessons – each as it comes – for that is the reason we are here.
Enjoy – Enjoy your life, because if you do not most likely someone else will enjoy it for you… and then your time here will have been wasted.
The Law: Harm None.
Explanations
Live
The first Rule put forth sounds pretty straight forward at first. Then you actually try to live it! 🙂 Living each day as if it were your last means maximizing your potential for every moment that you have been given.
If you are let go from your job… that is an opportunity to face truth and see what you can do to make yourself more marketable and go get a BETTER job. Or, if you are highly motivated, dedicated, and a risk taker you can take that chance to start your own company.
When I first began to follow these principles, my business was not very successful, my marriage was only tolerable, and I often felt depressed about my situation as a whole. Then I began to live each moment.’Carpe Diem’ (Seize the day) became my motto. I began to maximize every moment and live in the moment, not for the moment.
This does not mean that in order to be a good witch that you have to work like a rabid squirrel on ‘speed’… but it does mean that you have to be honest with yourself to see what your situation really is and to make the most of it. I believe that if I can go to bed at night and think to myself that I had done the very best I could that day with the information I had at each moment of opportunity, then the day was a success. But if I go to bed thinking that I had let an opportunity slip away I do not beat myself up over it. I simply say to myself, “Gee Torin, that was one you missed. I’ll get it the next time it comes along.”
Love
What is life without love? Honestly, I can’t imagine what that would be like. Yet many people live their lives without the most important form of love there is – the love of the self. If you truly understand yourself and are willing to take responsibility for your own actions you will suddenly find a great love for yourself.
In order to give free and unconditional love to another person you must first have that kind of feeling for yourself. This is all this means.
Learn
One of the cornerstones of The Craft is the belief that our souls are here on this plane of existence at this point in time to learn lessons. Your lessons are different from (although probably quite similar to) my own. Learn what life teaches you. It is no more difficult than this.
Enjoy
The life of the witch does not require you to live your life in suffering nor poverty. There are no mandates for pain, unhappiness, or unpleasantness. We do not see suffering as the ‘key’ to getting into Heaven (or the Summerlands as some of us call it). Indeed, we see such things as exactly what they are… unpleasant! This does not mean that we never have unpleasant things happen to us, nor that we walk around in a constant state of denial.
We see suffering as either the result of an action we took (i.e. going to jail for robbing a bank) or the way that The Unknown (see “The Deities of Witches” by Torin W.) has chosen to teach us a lesson which we need to learn but have not done anything consciously to bring about the circumstances (i.e. the totally unexpected death of a close friend).
Witch Craft allows you to reap all of the happiness and prosperity from your life that you can muster… so long as you stay within the accepted boundaries. For instance, if you work hard at an honest job you like to do then there is nothing which says you should feel badly for being more successful than others. But if you rob a bank, you may be happy with the things that the money can buy for a short period of time, but eventually you will suffer far greater than if you had simply worked for it. (I know this may sound somewhat like a contradiction to what I said earlier, but I do not believe in keeping a job which does not give me enough pleasure, satisfaction, and money to make up for the difficulties I endure.)
The Law: Harm None
I have been asked to explain this statement more than all of the previous ideas combined. I often describe ‘Harm None’ as “the Law which must remain unbroken, but cannot remain whole at all times.” Think about it, you can’t do it as a human being.
In order to actually harm none you would have to be in total and complete harmony with all things int he Universe at exactly the same time. Your immune system would not kill bacteria and other infections (because that would be harming them). Nor would you allow the bacteria to infect you because that would cause harm to yourself. You would not eat meat, nor vegetables because it would cause the destruction of either. Neither would you not eat because that would harm you. Do you see how this is simply an impossibility?
What I teach my students is to take great pains to Harm None and to think out the results of any act as far as possible ahead of time. I also stress that whenever magics are being worked that the free will of any individual or group should never be infringed.
I have been asked specifically about the use of various types of drugs in witchcraft and their relationship to the ‘Harm None’ principle. I believe that The Bright Ones gave us a sober state of mind for a reason. They also gave our brains some of the most potent chemicals known to man for achieving altered states of consciousness. Therefore i see no reason to alter the chemistry of the brain in order to ‘gain enlightenment’. Ask any recovering drug addict… he/she will tell you that the drugs lie to you.
Because of part of the training I give, I require that no illegal drugs are used while under my tutelage. In fact, if a student becomes sick during training and requires a prescription strength pain reliever, the training schedule is reworked to allow for the purging of the body before training resumes.
One of my students used to do a good deal of psychotropic drugs (i.e. LSD, mushrooms, etc.). Then he and I began to work together. After a few months of training, we worked a circle to allow him to develope his psychic senses (i.e. clairaudience, clairvoyance, etc.) When he left the circle he related to me a feeling such as none he had ever known. His words were, “It was a hundred thousand times better then the best acid trip I had ever taken.”
In short, I personally feel that drugs can be a great hinderance and only cause damage to your soul. But I also recognize the free will of the individual. I can only tell you that in my own perception, drugs do cause harm to you.
Merry Part and Blessed Be
Torin W.
Originally Published on Pagan Library
White Witches
White Witches
White magic is different from black magic because of its purposes. While the latter induces harm or pain from the other party, white magic is cast for the welfare or the good of the person who will benefit from it. Fortunately, a white witch has more power than a black witch. In this case, we can expect that the good will always win over the bad.
For what purpose do White witches use White Magic?
For its great deal of power, white magic is used to bring good or protect people from black magic curses or spells. A white witch also uses her power to destroy or break any types of black magic. White magic protects an individual from the harms caused by black magic.
There are certain spells and magic that white witches can do00. One of them is the love spell which is the most popular among other spells because we all deserved to feel love and to love. It is the most in-demand forms of white magic as it is to cast love spells on the apple of your eyes. Also, it is used to bring back lost love, to strengthen an existing bond, or to attract a new lover.
In addition, it also protects people in a relationship. For instance, couples can get the services of a white witch to protect their marriage and prevent them from getting separated or divorced. Aside from that, there are also specific cases you can be helped by white witches like lost love, soul mate, anti-lying spells, and lust, among others.
Aside from relationship spells, there are also things your white witch can do when it comes to money and finances. It is another in-demand branch of white magic that is commonly used- money spells.
If you want to become a successful businessman, it is one of the beat spells that you can have because it can take your business and financial status to the next level especially if you follow procedure instructed by your white witch. This type of white magic is one of the most commonly requested by people when it comes to their economic status.
This type of spell will drive money to you; thus, adding more fund onto your bank account. If you need some financial gain this year, hire an expert witch to perform this spell for you. Aside from helping you get more money, you will also have the chance to manage your business effectively.
Moreover, there is also the healing spell that your white witch can perform for you in order to get you rid off your sickness. It is also one of the most requested types of white spells that you can ask from your expert witch.
If you’re loved one is sick, you can also consult this witch to help him recover from his sickness, pain, or injury. This type of healing spell is used to help people who are affected by a certain disorder in their emotional, mental, or physical being.
These are three of the most prominent spells that your white witch can perform. To guarantee perfect and desired results, you have to make sure that you also have the pure intention.
Published on Awaken the Witch
The Power of White Witchcraft
The Power of White Witchcraft
‘Merlin, give me the strength to carry on.’
I found this prayer not in some medieval book or carved on the wall of an ancient castle but written in ballpoint pen on a page torn from a diary and left – along with scores of similar pleas – on an ancient pile of stones in the Forest of Broceliande in Brittany.
Archaeologists say that this is the grave of a Neolithic hunter, but local tradition says that in this forest dwelled Vivien, the Lady of the Lake of Arthurian legend, and that here, having seduced Merlin in order to learn his secrets, she ensnared him with his own spells. The stone pile is known as Merlin’s tomb, and each year hundreds visit the site to thank the wizard or to ask for his aid. When I visited the tomb, prayers – written on scraps of paper or card – were squeezed into gaps in the stones or pinned to the tree that shelters the tomb.
Whatever the origins of the tomb, it has been transformed into a source of power. For this badly signposted spot, a short walk up a muddy track from a cramped, rough car park, had a tranquil, spiritual air that you might expect at a great cathedral or far more impressive stone circles. Such spots unleash the magick inside us. But even if you never visit Brittany or Stonehenge at sunrise on Midsummer’s Day, you can still make use of your own magick.
White magick and witchcraft as sources of wisdom, healing and positivity. Like Native American spirituality, to which true witchcraft is akin (some say both were carried by the people of Atlantis), the practice of white magick is based on the belief that that all life is sacred and interconnected in an unbroken circle. For example, every fully grown birch tree – defined in magick as a tree of new beginnings and regeneration – breathes out enough oxygen for a family of four and absorbs the carbon dioxide that we exhale, transforming it again to life-giving oxygen. And this sacred spark of a common source of divinity is contained not only by trees, but also the stones, the animals, the people and everything else on the Earth and in the waters and the sky.
Our higher selves, our souls, are influenced by the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, the stars and the natural world on a deep spiritual level. We can draw down their energies into ourselves to amplify and replenish our own, like tapping into a cosmic energy supply rather than having to recharge our powers from our own, separate dynamos. Through them and through us courses the universal life force, known as ch’i to the Chinese, and prana in Hindu philosophy. It is a source upon which we can draw not only nor primarily for specific needs, but also for energy, harmony and connection with others, the world and the cosmos. It is an energy that can permeate every aspect of our being.
A Very Special Spirituality
Witchcraft and Wicca (one of the major forms of witchcraft) both derive their names from the Anglo-Saxon words for wisdom; ‘witch’ is from the old English word wita, meaning ‘wise’ and the Wicca were the wise ones. Witchcraft is said to be the oldest religion in the world. It is the indigenous shamanistic religion of Europe that has, in spite of ferocious persecution from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, survived in the folk tradition of many lands and through families who kept alive the old beliefs and worship of the Earth and the Moon Mother.
Not so many centuries ago, our ancestors burned yule logs at Christmas as a symbolic gesture to bring light and warmth back to the world on the mid-winter solstice at the darkest time. They danced around the maypole on May morning, the beginning of the old Celtic summer, to stir into life the Earth energies in a sacred spiral pattern. These rituals go back into the mists of time and appear in similar forms in many different cultures and ages. Today, however, too many modern societies have lost the sacred connection and scorn such gestures as superstition, treating the skies, the Earth and the seas merely as a larder, fuel store and garbage can. Once, things were very different, as Black Elk, the Sioux shaman, explained:
‘In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came from the sacred hoop of the nation and, so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living centre of the hoop and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The East gave peace and light, the South gave warmth; in the West, thunder beings gave rain and the North with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance.’
And so the Earth was respected as the sacred mother, giver of life and crops, to whose womb the dead returned. It is no accident that the Sioux Medicine Wheel and the Celtic Wheel of the Year are so similar in formation and purpose, linking all life to the cycles of nature. So if we are to use magick in a positive way, we must remember that it brings responsibility along with benefits.
Magick And Knowledge
White witchcraft is essentially the process of drawing on ancient wisdom and powers via the collective mind that we as individuals can spontaneously but unconsciously access in our dreams and visions. In magick, we can use rituals and altered states of consciousness to access this cosmic memory bank at will and in doing so, some believe, draw on the accumulated powers of many generations, especially in healing magick.
This cosmic consciousness – or Great Mind or akashic record, as theosophists call it – is perhaps what made it possible for pyramids to be built at almost the same time in lands as far apart as Egypt and South America, and for shamanism to follow similar patterns in unconnected continents. By accessing this source of power, we may create a ritual or use certain crystals without consciously knowing their significance, only to find out that our invented spell closely resembles one from another time or culture; we know how to heal without being taught.
Gaining such knowledge has been described as ‘inner-plane’ teaching and if you can trust your own deep intuitions, you need very little formal teaching about magick. If you scry at the full moon or during one of the ancient festivals, by looking into water and letting images form, this deep wisdom will offer solutions to seemingly impossible dilemmas.
The practice of witchcraft demands great responsibility, for you are handling very potent material when you deal with magick. The benefit is that by focusing and directing your own inner powers and natural energies you can give form to your thoughts and needs and desires and bring them into actuality. The more positive and altruistic these focuses are, the more abundance, joy and harmony will be reflected in your own world.
Magick And Giving
It is said that if you smile in London in the morning, the smile will have reached Tokyo by evening. This principle, which lies behind all white magick, has been named morphic resonance, and has been investigated for several years by the Cambridge biologist Dr Rupert Sheldrake, author of a number of excellent books based on his extensive research into psychic phenomena. Dr Sheldrake suggests that as animals of a given species learn a new pattern of behaviour, other similar animals will subsequently tend to learn the same thing more readily all over the world; the more that learn it, the easier it should become for others.
So if we carry out positive magick and spread goodwill, then we really can increase the benign energies of the Earth and cosmos. Even banishing or binding magick can have a creative focus, diverting or transforming redundant or negative energy, for example by burying a symbol of the negativity or casting herbs to the four winds.
Magick And Responsibility
True magick is not like a cake in which everybody must vie for a slice or be left with none: it is more akin to a never-emptying pot. Like the legendary Cauldron of Undry in Celtic myth, the more goodness that is put in, the more the mixture increases in richness and quantity. The Cauldron of Undry, one of the four main Celtic treasures, provided an endless supply of nourishment, had great healing powers and could restore the dead to life, in either their former existence or a new life form.
Located on the Isle of Arran, it could be accessed by magical means or through spiritual quests, and many scholars believe it was the inspiration for the Holy Grail. But when using magick, you should take only as much as you need and perhaps a little more; you should not demand riches, perfect love, eternal beauty, youth, a fabulous job and a lottery win or two.
So, magick does not provide a help-yourself time in the sweetshop. The results could be like eating three times more chocolate than you really want and then feeling very sick. You cannot give the gods nor goddesses your shopping list and then sit back and wait for Christmas: the divinity is within you to be kindled, and so you need to demand of yourself far higher standards than someone who believes in the forgiveness of sins.
If you do wrong, you cannot just say sorry to the godhead and carry on without putting right the mistakes or at least learning from them. Confession may be good for the soul, but magick demands more than that: you’ve got to live with the consequences of your deeds, words and thoughts because the power of a blessing or curse may be even greater on the sender than on the intended recipient. You must also ensure that you cannot harm anyone in the process of getting what you want. If you do spells for revenge, then the effects will rebound on you threefold.
Effort And Will-Power
Magick is not like the magic a conjuror uses to bring a rabbit out of a hat: that kind of magic is just a trick, which relies merely on the art of illusion. White magick is much more than that. It is intensely exciting because it means that we can extend the boundaries of possibility, recalling the psychic powers of childhood when we could span dimensions as easily as jumping across a puddle. We can increase our personal magnetism to attract love and luck and regenerate the innate healing abilities
both of the human body and the planet.
What magick does not do is provide quick fixes with a twinkling of Stardust. It does not produce a faerie godmother, who turns up with a shimmering frock and a platinum credit card to pay the taxi fare home if the handsome prince is short of money and the faerie coach has crumpled into a pumpkin.
After the candles and incense have burned through and we sit, exhausted but exhilarated after sending our wishes to the cosmos through dancing or chanting, we then have to use every effort, every talent at our disposal, to make those wishes come true on the earthly plane. The psychic kick-start provided by the magick must be used to translate the magical thoughts into actuality. So we must work overtime with new enthusiasm and inspiration to get that project finished, send off to the publisher that typescript that has been gathering dust, do whatever it takes to help ourselves to get the results we desire.
My late mother would always say if I asked for extra funds, ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’; and this holds true even in the magical world. Money, success and opportunities have to be generated and earned. We need to add our own will-power to the power we have drawn on.
What is more, under the cosmic profit-and-loss scheme, if we ask for a psychic overdraft, we must give back, if not immediately, then at a later date. So when your finances are better or your immediate troubles are passed, you should make a small donation or give time to a worthwhile cause connected with the area of the spell. This balances up the account whose cosmic energies you tapped into.
Many shamans or witches demand some sort of payment for services, and this is not from avarice, but because all too often if something is not paid for, it is not valued. So be sure that you pay the shaman – especially the cosmic one. This is grass roots magick, but it works.
Magick For Your Needs
‘Enough for my needs and a little more’ is another of the maxims of this incredibly moral craft, as I mentioned earlier. You would be amazed the number of times I am asked: ‘Okay, if you are a witch, how come you can’t predict the lottery numbers?’ The answer is that it all comes down to need: and do I need a million pounds? True, like any mother of five children I lurch from one financial crisis to the next and when things get really dire, perhaps I could magically bring forward an anticipated payment or attract an unexpected windfall from abroad. But I don’t really need a million pounds. And what about the negative effects? If I became incredibly rich, I would almost certainly lose the incentive to write. Credit card bills are a powerful focus for creativity. And, of course, my kids would never get out of their satin-sheeted beds.
Lotteries are generated by human hands primarily for the purpose of making money for their creators. They really are random affairs and so it often happens that it is the wealthy people who win even more money – although that does not necessarily bring happiness.
Casting your needs into the cosmos and trusting they will be met does work, but not if you areexpecting magick to compensate for an unnecessary shopping binge. Nor, after a period of overeating and no exercise, can you expect a miracle diet to work so that you shed a stone in two days while still eating chocolate. Spells tend to work best when there is a genuine need, generated by real emotion and linked to determination on a practical level.
The Rules Of Magick
Magick is not beyond or above life, but a natural though special part of your world. It is about not leaving fate, your fate, to any guru or deity, but shaping it with your own innate power, the power that emanates from some higher being, goddess or god, energy source, what you will – the divine spark within us all. There are no absolutes in magick, there is only what works for you and enhances your innate wisdom and spirituality. You should use this book as you would any other DIY guide and adapt its suggestions to suit what is right for you. Choose whatever you feel are the most appropriate herbs, crystals or even entire rituals for your specific purpose.
There are provisos, however. You must always remember that the form, the words and even ultimately the associations of particular oils, incenses and planetary hours are not what really matters. The truly important thing is that you should keep to the basic rules of witchcraft that are quite as strict and twice as hard as any conventional religion. These are rooted in wisdom, compassion, honesty, honour and common sense and are summed up in one short phrase:
‘An ye harm none, do what ye will’.
Put in modern-day language, this means, quite simply: ‘Do whatever you like as long as you don’t hurt anyone.’ Simple, did I say? It is in practice incredibly hard to harm none, especially if you are seeking promotion, fighting against an injustice or struggling to survive. But it may help you if you remember the other equally vital law of witchcraft, the Threefold Law. This states that everything you do to others, both good and bad, will be sent back to act on you with three times its intensity and strength. So, if you act always and only with positive intent to help and heal, you will automatically receive all manner of good things and you should become truly wise and happy.
According to the rules of magick, as I said earlier, you cannot be angry, mean or cruel and then expect to say sorry to a deity and have the slate wiped clean. Magick is about taking responsibility for your own actions all the time and that is incredibly onerous. But, on the positive side, the results are equally potent, and if you can learn to tap into the source of light and life and joy, you will amaze yourself and others by what is possible. Thus will your psychic powers also spontaneously unfold and guide you in your everyday world, increasing your spiritual power and wisdom.
The magick is within you, so let it flow and make the world a better place.
—-A Practical Guide to Witchcraft and Magic Spells
Cassandra Eason
The Origins and Practice of Witchcraft
The Origins and Practice of Witchcraft
A History Of Witchcraft
Witchcraft probably originated about 25,000 years ago in the Palaeolithic era. At that time, humankind and nature were seen as inextricably linked. People acknowledged every rock, tree and stream as deities in the life force, and the Earth as mother, offering both womb and tomb.
Prehistoric Witchcraft
Early man used sympathetic, or attracting, magick – in the form of dances, chants and cave paintings of animals – to attract the herds of animals that provided for the needs of the group, and to bring fertility to humans and animals alike. Hunters would re-enact the successful outcome of a hunt and would carry these energies into the everyday world. Offerings were made to the Mistress of the Herds and later to the Horned God, who was depicted wearing horns or antlers to display his sovereignty over the herds. Animal bones would be buried so that they, like humankind, would enjoy rebirth from the Earth Mother’s womb.
Where hunter-gatherers today continue the unbroken tradition that stretches back thousands of years – for example, among the Lapps in the far North of Scandinavia and the Inuits – these rites continue, led by a shaman, or magick man, who negotiates with the Mistress of the Herds or Fish in a trance for the release of the animals.
One of the earliest recorded examples of shamanism is the Dancing Sorcerer. Painted in black on the cave walls of Les Trois Freres in the French Pyrenees, this shamanic figure, which portrays a man in animal skins, dates from about 14000 BC and stands high above the animals that are depicted on the lower walls. Only his feet are human and he possesses the large, round eyes of an owl, the antlers and ears of a stag, the front paws of a lion or bear, the genitals of a wild cat and the tail of a horse or wolf.
By the Neolithic period, which began around 7500 BC and lasted until about 5500 BC, the hunter-gatherer culture had given way to the development of agriculture, and the god evolved into the son-consort of the Earth Mother. He was the god of vegetation, corn, winter and death, who offered himself as a sacrifice each year with the cutting down of the corn, and was reborn at the mid-winter solstice, as the Sun God.
The Neolithic period also saw the development of shrines to the Triple Goddess who became associated with the three phases of the Moon: waxing, full and waning. The Moon provided one of the earliest ways by which people calculated time. Since its cycles coincided with the female menstrual cycle, which ceased for nine moons if a women was pregnant, the Moon became linked with the mysteries first of birth, then of death as it waned, and finally with new life on the crescent. Because the Moon was reborn each month or, as it was thought, gave birth to her daughter each month, it was assumed that human existence followed the same pattern and that the full moon mirrored the mother with her womb full with child.
The full moon was also associated in later ages with romance and passion, originally because this coincided with peak female fertility. Moon magick for the increase of love and fertility is still practised under the auspices of the waxing moon. It was not until about 3,000 years ago that the male role in conception was fully understood in the West, and only then were the Sky Father deities able to usurp the mysteries of the Divine Mother.
A trinity of huge, carved stone goddesses, representing the three main cycles of the Moon, and dating from between 13000 and 11000 BC, was found in France in a cave at the Abri du Roc aux Sorciers at Angles-sur-l’Anglin. This motif continued right through to the Triple Goddess of the Celts, reflecting the lunar cycles as maiden, mother and crone, an image that also appeared throughout the classical world.
–PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS
Cassandra Eason
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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