A WITCH’S PERSONAL MANIFESTO

The following personal manifesto was presented by Paul V. Beyerl to the 1987 Harvest Moon Celebration in Woodland Hills, California. It was in no way written to represent a set of laws to govern the behavior of others, but only as an open discussion of personal ethics to provoke thought and communication.

A WITCH’S PERSONAL MANIFESTO

I demand these things as a Witch:

– I must pursue my Highest Ideals

– I must strive to elevate my ethics

– I must be as good as my word

– I must demand integrity of myself

– I must be willing to suffer for my religion

– I must willingly embrace discipline

– I must develop financial responsibility and independence

– I must be able to pay my bills

– I must pay attention to my diet & intake of food

– I must LIVE the Hermetic Principle

– I must respect the astral

– I must approach ritual with great care

– I must see ritual work as a disciplined art form

– I must consider seriously the ramifications of reincarnation

– I must conserve fuels

– I must recycle whenever possible

– I must not litter, not even a cigarette butt

– I must avoid negative energy, even within my own thoughts

– I must avoid placing blame for any of the events in my life

– I must take responsibility for my ill health

– I must take myself seriously

– I must have humor

– I must live with my eyes open and my feet grounded

I demand these things of myself as a member of the Wiccan Community:

– I must support the work of making Wicca a respected religion

– I must expect financial accountability from those groups to which I donate monies

– I must stop the mockery of other religions (including anti-Christian sentiment sometimes found in modern Paganism)

– I must not support religious plagiarism (such as the teaching of shamanism by those who have never experienced the wilderness nor studied from a real shaman).

– I must be respectful of all other’s ritual forms

– I must separate myths and reality in our history and in our future

– I must work to contribute towards a reputable public image of Wicca

– I must protest against pagans who use shock tactics in dealing with the public

– I must upgrade standards of Wiccan education

– I must support serious research of our religious heritage

– I must demand quality in pagan literature, newsletters and books

– I must support the assembling of libraries

– I must not be a religious isolationist and I must work to remove pagan ghetto mentalities from our communities

– I must demand provocative, challenging workshops over entertainment

– I must share my knowledge and skills

– I must make Initiations increasingly difficult, challenging and rewarding

– I must consider the amount of education other religions expect of their clergy when planning Wiccan training

– I must be willing to network

– I must remain in contact with pagans in other places

I demand these things of myself as a Priest/ess:

– I must prepare for the deaths and burials of our peoples

– I must provide for the future of my consecrated tools beyond my physical death

– I must work towards the establishment of legal ministries

– I must provide for children and their education

– I must provide for the survival of my Tradition

I demand these things of myself as a Wiccan citizen:

– I must promote community service, being of help to all peoples regardless of their beliefs

– I must be willing to be political

– I must be a knowledgeable, active voter

– I must respect and utilize the system

– I must find value in the political system in which I live or work actively to promote change

– I must be aware of the world perspective

– I must extend myself to world poverty and hunger

The Crone

The Crone is a being of age-old wisdom. She is shrew and counsels well. She
cares for the Maiden and the Mother as well as the off-spring thereof. She is
logical and can be terrible in her vengeance. She stands at the door to the
dimension of death. In human years, she is approximately 45 or older. The Crone is the Most difficult of the three to place in human age. The Crone’s
traditional colors are black, gray, purple, brown or midnight blue.

Rituals using the Crone

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* Ending relationships, jobs, friendships
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* Menopause, or coming to terms with aging.
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* Divorce.
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* A regrouping of energies needed at the end of a cycle of activity or problem.
—————————————————————————-
* Rest and calmness before making new goals and plans.
—————————————————————————-
* When the garden or plants are ready for winter.
—————————————————————————-
* Harassment of any kind.
—————————————————————————-
* Retribution on rapists, murderers, abusers.
—————————————————————————-
* On the death of a person or pet; of any animal or human. Contemplation at the end of your own life cycle.
—————————————————————————-
* When moving from a dwelling or job.
—————————————————————————-
* When strong protection is needed for attacks on the physical or psychic
levels, or even annoyance by spirits.
—————————————————————————-
* To understand the deepest of mysteries.
—————————————————————————-
* Developing trance or communication with the guides or other spirits.

Eleven Things Every Witch Should Know

1. Magic is what happens when you open yourself to the Divine. All real magic is
a manifestation of the Divine – it is how you co-create reality with deity.

2. The Divine is within you and is everywhere present in the natural world. And
everything is interconnected by this sacred energy.

3. Wicca is not about information — it’s about transformation, so practice,
practice, practice — and do it as much as possible in Nature! Witchcraft
enables you to commune with divinity and to manifest your destiny, your desires
and your highest and sacred self.

4. The real ethics of how Witches live and practice magic are simple: Witches
live in a sacred manner because we live in a sacred world. We therefore treat
all of life with reverence and respect.

5. Because all magic flows from our connection to the Sacred, our lives and our
magic, must be guided by the sacred nature of the energy with which we work.

6. The energy Witches work with is not neutral — it is divine love.

7. Magic often works in unexpected way because it is not a mechanical process,
and the Universe is not a machine. You are living and making magic within a
divine, organic, living reality.

8. Witches don’t command and control — they commune and co-create.

9. The real secret of successful spellcasting, as with all of magic, is your
connection to the Divine power that dwells within you, and surrounds you. And
spells do work so be careful what you ask for!

10. Nature makes the Divine tangible. By working, living, and practicing your
magic in harmony with Nature, you are in harmony with the Divine.

11. The ultimate teacher is the God/Goddess inside you and in the world of
Nature all around you.

Author unknown

“Pagans Worship The Ground You Walk On”

Author: Forest

This was the bumper sticker that I read on an old station wagon earlier today on my way to work which got me to smiling (and at 6 in the morning, that can be awfully hard to accomplish).

The car was sitting quietly in its spot beside my place of work, and I went to take a closer look at the sticker, smiling as I read what it said. I loved that bumper sticker; it brightened my day.

What surprised me though, wasn’t the fact that it could put a smile on my face at 6 in the morning, but the sheer horror as to the fact that someone had keyed “Witch Bit**” into the side of the car.

I mean come on, what is wrong with people nowadays? Are they so against our faith that they must do that in order to make themselves feel better? It’s ludicrous is what I think, but you can never be too sure.

I thought about it for a moment and I realized that almost every movie with witches in it has the phrase “Witch Bit**”. The whole thing must’ve started out with a movie like “The Witches of East Wick”, or “Practical Magic” or something along the lines of this. The phrase can be heard almost anytime someone wants to make a rude remark to a pagan person.

Honestly, the word has come to be a household name for people who are not of the old way.

I felt like crap as I walked into work, and saw who it was who must’ve owned the car. You see, apparently, she couldn’t get the car out of the theater parking lot because someone had slashed her tires and keyed that obscene remark on the side of her car. So, instead of feeling an ounce of sympathy, my boss told her that since she had the entire night to move her car and didn’t, that her car was being impounded.

The woman looked really strong; she must’ve seen a lot in her life, and she looked to be about 60 years old. Though, through all of this, you could tell that she was on the verge of crying.

I asked for a leave of absence so that I could take the woman home, and luckily, I got it. Her car was about to be towed, and/or impounded, and I didn’t think that she would be able to handle the fact that my boss was about to make her pay money for something that wasn’t her fault.

People aren’t very surprising. A lot of us have the same kind of arrogant personality going around and making people feel like fools.

You’ve seen some of those people, witches included, who say some stuff like, “Psh, I’ll make acid rain come down over his head while he’s sleeping, I have the power.”

I mean, we can be arrogant just like anyone else. When you go around parading something that some people really don’t care for, you’re begging for something bad to happen to you.

The same thing happens to those boys and girls who flaunt about how they’re homosexual. I mean, I understand about being open about it, but to hit on every guy or girl and dress like a girl/guy, that’s just pushing it, I mean, I’m bi, but I couldn’t really understand why some of them did it until recently.

Yea, the world’s screwed up, and these people know this, yet they flaunt themselves around like they’re a lamb on the spit. I’m sorry, but when they say that they’re victims, they’re absolutely right.

But they knew that it would eventually happen, so that’s what made me start pondering about the world.

Humans are a proud race. I mean, some of us are ill-willed and weak-minded, but in the end, we all pretty much stand up for what we believe in. We all have the power to delve into our memories and conjure up something that can fuel our onward path. All you have to do is believe ,right?

I love people when I think that these people chose to flaunt their religion, while knowing that by doing so, they might get in a little bit of trouble along the way. These people are truly my heroes. They stand up for their beliefs, they stand up for our religion, and these people are healing the earth in doing so.

Some of us are (using the melancholy term) “In the Broom Closet”. Well, it’s time to come out, because the world isn’t as terrible as you think it is. Sure, there are rough spots on the way, but then again, you have fellow pagans all around you who will help you along the way.

We all need to take a stand. We need to hear the voices of the people who were shamed because we were to weak to stand up for them when we were hiding in the shadows.

We all have it in us. I mean, we’re pagan, we’ve been here longer than anybody. Our souls have prospered the Earth. It’s time that we needed a batch of good karma, so why not make it ourselves?

I mean, we are witches, right?

I’m just putting this article out here for something for you to ponder on. You don’t need to respond, but hopefully some people can understand what it’s like to be these people, the ones who are ashamed, the ones who get beat up, broken down, and downright miserable.

We all need help once in awhile, so lets give some right now, just think about it ok?

If you understand what it feels like, then why let it happen to other people? We all need to understand that when you’re broken down and crying in the dirt, you’re not just at rock bottom; you’re rock bottom under 8 feet of mud and concrete, and you can’t get out without some help.

Just think about it.

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Tag: Witchcraft

A WITCH’S PERSONAL MANIFESTO

The Crone

Eleven Things Every Witch Should Know

The Witch Hunts of Old Hit Home

Life As The Witch ~ Three-Fold Law of Return

Three-Fold Law of Return

“Pagans Worship The Ground you Walk On”.

The Do’s And Don’ts of Witches

Reclaiming: The Etiquette of Witchcraft

Reclaiming: The Etiquette of Witchcraft

The Etiquette of Witchcraft

This article by M. Macha NightMare appeared in the Summer 1996 issue of the Reclaiming Newsletter.

The Etiquette of Witchcraft, Reclaiming Style

4. Since traditional lore teaches that consecrated object easily absorbs
energy (becomes “charged”), tools, such as wand, chalice, athame, jewelry, drum and other ritual regalia, should not be touched by someone other than the owner without the owner’s express permission.

The above guidelines are freely adapted from archival material graciously
provided by Valerie Voigt.

Many thanks for reading and observing these few, simple, common-sense, but
essential, guidelines.

Best Time To Carry Out Spells And Rituals

Best Time To Carry Out Spells and Rituals

The Wicca Book of Days for July 11 – The Kronia

The Wicca Book of Days for July 11

The Kronia

Concentrated Courage

Three-Fold Law of Return

Reclaiming: The Etiquette of Witchcraft

The Etiquette of Witchcraft

This article by M. Macha NightMare appeared in the Summer 1996 issue of the Reclaiming Newsletter.

The Etiquette of Witchcraft, Reclaiming Style

4. Since traditional lore teaches that consecrated object easily absorbs energy (becomes “charged”), tools, such as wand, chalice, athame, jewelry, drum and other ritual regalia, should not be touched by someone other than the owner without the owner’s express permission.

The above guidelines are freely adapted from archival material graciously provided by Valerie Voigt.

Many thanks for reading and observing these few, simple, common-sense, but essential, guidelines.

Best Time To Carry Out Spells and Rituals

The Wicca Book of Days for July 11

The Kronia

Concentrated Courage

4. Since traditional lore teaches that consecrated object easily absorbs
energy (becomes “charged”), tools, such as wand, chalice, athame, jewelry, drum and other ritual regalia, should not be touched by someone other than the owner without the owner’s express permission.

The above guidelines are freely adapted from archival material graciously
provided by Valerie Voigt.

Many thanks for reading and observing these few, simple, common-sense, but
essential, guidelines.