Spiritual Media Sharing

Wicca 102 - BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE CRAFT

2007-12-03T01:07:00.001-06:00

The Craft (Witchcraft - NOT to be confused with Satanism. A true Witch has
nothing to do with this, even though there are some Satanists who (unright-
fully) call themselves "Witch".) contains a large number of groups with bonds
to each other, for the most part, which are looser than those you will find
between Christian churches. Each has it's own traditions, it's own beliefs,
it's own panthion, etc. So just WHAT is it that, overall, a Witch believes in?
The American Council of Witches was formed to determine what it was that all
Witches have in common, belief-wise. In the early 1970's, a paper was released
with their findings, and gives a good overall picture of it. The following is
the text of that paper.

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_BASIC_PRINCIPLES_OF_THE_CRAFT_

1. The first principle is that of love, and it is expressed in the ethic,
"DO AS YOU WILL, SO LONG AS YOU HARM NONE"
a) love is not emotional in it's essence, but is an attribute of the
individual as expressed in relation to other beings;
b) harming others can be by thought, word, or deed;
c> it is to be understood the "none" includes oneself;
d) the harm which is to be regarded as unethical is gratuitous harm; war,
in general, is gratuitous harm, although it is ethical to defend
oneself and one's liberty when threatened by real and present danger,
such as defense against invasion.

2. The Witch must recognize and harmonize with the forces of the universe, in
accord with the Law of Polarity: everything is dual; everything has two
poles; everything has it's opposite; for every action there is a reaction;
all can be categorized as either active or reactive in relation to other
things.
a) Godhead is one unique and transcendant wholeness, beyond any
limitations or expressions; thus, it is beyond our human capacity to
understand and identify with this principle of Cosmic Oneness, except
as It is revealed to us in terms of It's attributes and operation.
b) The most basic and meaningful attribute of the One that we, as humans,
can relate to and understand, is that of polarity, of action and reac-
tion; therefore Witches recognize the Oneness of the Divinity, but
worship and relate to the Divine as the archetypal polarity of God and
Goddess, the All-Father and the Great Mother of the universe. The
Beings are as near as we can approach to the One within our human
limitations of understanding and expression, though it is possible to
experience the divine Oneness through the practices of the Mysteries.
c) Harmony does not consist of the pretty and the nice, but the balanced,
dynamic, poised co-operation and co-relation.

3. The Witch must recognize, and operate within the framework of the Law of
Cause and Effect; every action has it's reaction, and every effect has
it's cause. All things occur according to this law; nothing in the
universe can occur outside this law, though we may not always appreciate
the relation between a given effect and it's cause. Subsidiary to this is
the Law of Three, which states that whatever goes forth must return
threefold, whether of good or ill; for our actions affect more than people
generally realize, and the resulting reactions are also part of the
harvest.

4. As Above, So Below. That which exists in the Macrocosm exists, on a
smaller scale and to a lesser degree, in the Microcosm. The powers of the
universe exist also in the human, though in general instance they lie
dormant. The powers and abilities can be awakened and used if the proper
techniques are practiced, and this is why initiates of the Mysteries are
sworn to guard the secrets from the unworthy: Much harm can be done by
those who have power without responsibility, both to others and to
themselves according to the Laws of Cause and Effect and of Threefold
Return.
a) Since our philosophy teaches that the universe is the physical
manifestation of the Divine, there can be nothing in the universe which
does not partake of the nature of the Divine; hence, the powers and
attributes of the Divine exist also in the manifest, though to much
smaller degree.
b) These powers can be awakened through the various techniques of the
Mysteries, and, although they are only capable of small effects in and
of themselves, it is possible to use them in order to draw upon the
forces of the universe. Thus humanity can be the wielders of the power
of the Gods, a channel for Godhead to act within It's own
manifestation. This, then, is further reason for the oath of secrecy.
c) Since the universe is the body of the One, possessing the same
attributes as the One, it's Laws must be the principles through and by
which the One operates. By reasoning from the known to the unknown,
one can learn of the Divine, and thus of oneself. Thus the Craft is a
natural religion, seeing in Nature the expression and revelation of
Divinity.

5. We know that everything in the universe is in movement or vibration and is
a function of that vibration. Everything vibrates; all things rise and
fall in a tidal system that reflects the motion inherent in the universe
and also in the atom. Matter and energy are but two poles of one
continuous phenomenon. Therefore the Witch celebrates, harmonizes with,
and makes use of the tides of the universe and of life as expressed
through the cycle of the seasons and the motion of the solar system.
These ritual observances are the eight great Festivals of the Year,
referred to as the Wheel of the Year. Further, the Witch works with the
forces and tides of the Moon, for this body is the mediator of much energy
to our planet Earth and thus to ourselves.

6. Nothing is dead matter in the universe. All things exist, therefore all
things live, though perhaps in a different manner from that which we are
used to calling life. In view of this, the Witch knows that there is no
true death, only change from one condition to another. The universe is
the body of Godhead, and therefore possesses one transcendant
consciousness; all things partake of the consciousness, in varying levels
of trance/awareness.
a) Because of this principle, all things are sacred to the Witch, for all
partake of the one Life.
b) Therefore the Witch is a natural ecologist, for Nature is part of us as
we are a part of Nature.

7. Astrology can be useful in marking and interpreting the flow and ebb of
the tides of our solar system, and thus of making use of those tides;
astrology should not be debased into mere fortune-telling.

8. Throughout the development of the human race, civilizations have seen and
worshipped many and various attributes of the Divine. These universal
forces have been clothed in forms which were expressive to the worshipper
of the attribute of the Godhead which they expressed. Use of these
symbolic representations of the natural and divine forces of the universe,
or godforms, is a potent method for contacting and utilizing the forces
they represent. Thus the Gods are both natural and truely divine, and
man-made in that the forms with which they are clothed are products of
humanity's striving to know the Godhead.
a) In keeping with the Law of Polarity, these god-forms are brought into
harmony by the one great Law which states: All Gods are one God. All
Goddesses are one Goddess. There is one Initiator. This law is an
expression of our understanding that all of the forces of the universe,
by whatever ethnic god-form is chosen to clothe and relate to whichever
force, can be resolved into the fundamental polarity of the Godhead,
the Great Mother and the All-Father.
b) It is the use of differing godforms, of differing ethnic sources or
periods, which is the basis of many of the differences between the
various Traditions of the Craft. Each Tradition uses the forms, and
thus the names, which to that Tradition best express and awaken an
understanding of the force represented, according to the areas of
emphasis of the Tradition.
c) Because we know that differing names or representations are but
expressions of the same divine principles and forces, we require our
members to swear that they will never mock the names by which another
honors the Divine, even though those names be different from and
seemingly less expressive than the names and godforms used by our
Tradition (for to the members of another Tradition, using it's names,
ours may easily seem equally less expressive).

9. A Witch refuses to allow her/himself to be corrupted by the great guilt
neuroses which have been foisted on humanity in the name of the Divine,
thus freeing the self of the slavery of the mind. The Witch expresses
responsibility for her/his actions, and accepts the consequences of them;
guilt is rejected as inhibiting to one's self-actualization, and replaced
by the efforts of the Witch to obey the teachings of harmlessness,
responsibility for the consequences of one's actions, and the goal of
actualizing the full powers of the individual.
a) We refuse to believe that a human being is born innately sinful, and
recognize the the concepts of sin and guilt are tremendously inhibiting
to the human potential; the consequences of the Law of Cause and
Effect, called karma by some, are not punishment, but the recurrences
of situations and their effects because the individual as not gained
the Wisdom needed to handle or avoid such situations.
b) There is no heaven except that which we ourselves make of our life on
Earth, and likewise there is no hell except the effects of our unwise
actions. Death is not followed by punishment or reward, but by life
and the continuing evolution of the human potential.
c) One cannot damn the divine in oneself; one can, however, cut oneself
off from it through the rejection of wisdom and a refusal to strive for
self-realization. This cutting off does not lead to personal suffering
in "hell", for there is no Self to suffer if the tie to one's own
divinity has been severed; what remains is merely an empty shell, a
"personality" or thought-form devoid of it's ensouling Spark of the
Divine Fire.

10. We know of the existence of the life-force which ensouls all living
things, that is, all that exists. We know that a spark of this Divine
Fire is within each and every thing that exists, and that it does not
die; only the form of it's existence changes. We know that this spark of
the life-force returns to manifestation again and again in order to fully
realize and actualize it's potential, evolving finally to the peak and
essence of existence which is pure be-ing. In this process of
reincarnation each form returns in the same type of form, though it's
ever-increasing actualization may lead to higher levels of existence of
that form. Man returns as man, cat as feline, mineral as mineral, each
class of form evolving as the individual forms of that class evolve.

11. This process of evolution through successive incarnations in manifest form
works through the utilizations of wisdom gained, the essence of the
life-experience. This essence of experience, or Wisdom, is an attribute
of the spark of life itself, one and inseparable (see 9a).

12. We must care for the body, for it is the vehicle of the spark of life, the
form by which we attain. Thus we must heal the body of it's ills and keep
it a tuned and perfected tool; so must we heal others (both physicaly and
psychologically) as far as it is within our power to do so. However, we
cannot interfere with the life of another, even to heal, except at their
request or with their express permission; unless such non-interference
would be inhibiting to our own, ethical existence and development -- and
even then the responsibilities and consequences must be understood and
accepted. This, then, is one of the important reasons for the communal
life the Witches under the guidance of the Priesthood: That the group may
be guided by wisdom and experience, with the aid and support of one's
peers; and that one's actions may be guided by the influence of the
ethical life of the group as a whole.

13. Harmony with, and utilization of, the great natural forces of the universe
is called magick. By magick we speak, not of the supernatural, but of the
superbly natural, but whose laws and applications are not as yet
recognized by the scientific establishment. The Witch must strive to
recognize these forces, learn their laws, attune her/himself to them, and
make use of them. The Witch must also be aware that power corrupts when
used _only_ for the gains of the self, and therefore must strive to serve
humanity: Either through the service in the Priesthood, or by example and
effects of his/her life on others. The choice must be made in accord with
the true nature of the Witch.

Wicca 102 - A M I D S U M M E R CELEBRATION

2007-12-03T00:51:00.001-06:00

by Mike Nichols (a.k.a. Gwydion)

In addition to the four great
festivals of the Pagan Celtic year,
there are four lesser holidays as
well: the two solstices, and the two
equinoxes. In folklore, these are
referred to as the four 'quarter-days'
of the year, and modern Witches call
them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the
four 'Low Holidays'. The Summer
Solstice is one of them.

Technically, a solstice is an
astronomical point and, due to the
procession to the equinox, the date
may vary by a few days depending on
the year. The summer solstice occurs
when the sun reaches the Tropic of
Cancer, and we experience the longest
day and the shortest night of the
year. Astrologers know this as the
date on which the sun enters the sign
of Cancer. This year it will occur at
10:57 pm CDT on June 21st.

However, since most European
peasants were not accomplished at
reading an ephemeris or did not live
close enough to Salisbury Plain to
trot over to Stonehenge and sight down
it's main avenue, they celebrated the
event on a fixed calendar date, June
24th. The slight forward displacement
of the traditional date is the result
of multitudinous calendrical changes
down through the ages. It is
analogous to the winter solstice
celebration, which is astronomically
on or about December 21st, but is
celebrated on the traditional date of
December 25th, Yule, later adopted by
the Christians.

Again, it must be remembered that
the Celts reckoned their days from
sundown to sundown, so the June 24th
festivities actually begin on the
previous sundown (our June 23rd).
This was Shakespeare's Midsummer
Night's Eve. Which brings up another
point: our modern calendars are quite
misguided in suggesting that 'summer
begins' on the solstice. According to
the old folk calendar, summer BEGINS
on May Day and ends on Lammas (August
1st), with the summer solstice, midway
between the two, marking MID-summer.
This makes more logical sense than
suggesting that summer begins on the
day when the sun's power begins to
wane and the days grow shorter.

Although our Pagan ancestors
probably preferred June 24th (and
indeed most European folk festivals
today use this date), the sensibility
of modern Witches seems to prefer the
actual solstice point, beginning the
celebration at sunset. Again, it
gives modern Pagans a range of dates
to choose from with, hopefully, a
weekend embedded in it. (And this
year, the moon is waxing throughout.)

As the Pagan mid-winter
celebration of Yule was adopted by
Christians as Christmas (December
25th), so too the Pagan mid-summer
celebration was adopted by them as the
feast of John the Baptist (June 24th).
Occurring 180 degrees apart on the
wheel of the year, the mid-winter
celebration commemorates the birth of
Jesus, while the mid-summer
celebration commemorates the birth of
John, the prophet who was born six
months before Jesus in order to
announce his arrival.

This last tidbit is extremely
conspicuous, in that John is the ONLY
saint in the entire Catholic
hagiography whose feast day is a
commemoration of his birth, rather
than his death. A generation ago,
Catholic nuns were fond of explaining
that a saint is commemorated on the
anniversary of his or her death
because it was really a 'birth' into
the Kingdom of Heaven. But John the
Baptist, the sole exception, is
emphatically commemorated on the
anniversary of his birth into THIS
world. Although this makes no sense
viewed from a Christian perspective,
it makes perfect poetic sense from the
viewpoint of Pagan symbolism.

In most Pagan cultures, the sun
god is seen as split between two rival
personalities: the god of light and
his twin, his 'weird', his 'other
self', the god of darkness. They are
Gawain and the Green Knight, Gwyn and
Gwythyr, Llew and Goronwy, Lugh and
Balor, Balan and Balin, the Holly King
and the Oak King, etc. Often they are
depicted as fighting seasonal battles
for the favor of their goddess/lover,
such as Creiddylad or Blodeuwedd, who
represents Nature.

The god of light is always born at
the winter solstice, and his strength
waxes with the lengthening days, until
the moment of his greatest power, the
summer solstice, the longest day.
And, like a look in a mirror, his
'shadow self', the lord of darkness,
is born at the summer solstice, and
his strength waxes with the
lengthening nights until the moment of
his greatest power, the winter
solstice, the longest night.

Indirect evidence supporting this
mirror-birth pattern is strongest in
the Christianized form of the Pagan
myth. Many writers, from Robert
Graves to Stewart Farrar, have
repeatedly pointed out that Jesus was
identified with the Holly King, while
John the Baptist was the Oak King.
That is why, 'of all the trees that
are in the wood, the Holly tree bears
the crown.' If the birth of Jesus,
the 'light of the world', is
celebrated at mid-winter, Christian
folk tradition insists that John the
Oak King was born (rather than died)
at mid-summer.

It is at this point that I must
diverge from the opinion of Robert
Graves and other writers who have
followed him. Graves believes that at
midsummer, the Sun King is slain by
his rival, the God of Darkness; just
as the God of Darkness is, in turn,
slain by the God of Light at
midwinter. And yet, in Christian folk
tradition (derived from the older
Pagan strain), it is births, not
deaths, that are associated with the
solstices. For the feast of John the
Baptist, this is all the more
conspicuous, as it breaks the rules
regarding all other saints.

So if births are associated with
the solstices, when do the symbolic
deaths occur? When does Goronwy slay
Llew and when does Llew, in his turn,
slay Goronwy? When does darkness
conquer light or light conquer
darkness? Obviously (to me, at
least), it must be at the two
equinoxes. At the autumnal equinox,
the hours of light in the day are
eclipsed by the hours of darkness. At
the vernal equinox, the process is
reversed. Also, the autumnal equinox,
called 'Harvest Home', is already
associated with sacrifice, principally
that of the spirit of grain or
vegetation. In this case, the god of
light would be identical.

In Welsh mythology in particular,
there is a startling vindication of
the seasonal placement of the sun
god's death, the significance of which
occurred to me in a recent dream, and
which I haven't seen elsewhere. Llew
is the Welsh god of light, and his
name means 'lion'. (The lion is often
the symbol of a sun god.) He is
betrayed by his 'virgin' wife
Blodeuwedd, into standing with one
foot on the rim of a cauldron and the
other on the back of a goat. It is
only in this way that Llew can be
killed, and Blodeuwedd's lover,
Goronwy, Llew's dark self, is hiding
nearby with a spear at the ready. But
as Llew is struck with it, he is not
killed. He is instead transformed
into an eagle.

Putting this in the form of a
Bardic riddle, it would go something
like this: Who can tell in what
season the Lion (Llew), betrayed by
the Virgin (Blodeuwedd), poised on the
Balance, is transformed into an Eagle?
My readers who are astrologers are
probably already gasping in
recognition. The sequence is
astrological and in proper order: Leo
(lion), Virgo (virgin), Libra
(balance), and Scorpio (for which the
eagle is a well-known alternative
symbol). Also, the remaining icons,
cauldron and goat, could arguably
symbolize Cancer and Capricorn,
representing summer and winter, the
signs beginning with the two solstice
points. So Llew is balanced between
cauldron and goat, between summer and
winter, on the balance (Libra) point
of the autumnal equinox.

This, of course, is the answer to
a related Bardic riddle. Repeatedly,
the 'Mabinogion' tells us that Llew
must be standing with one foot on the
cauldron and one foot on the goat's
back in order to be killed. But
nowhere does it tell us why. Why is
this particular situation the ONLY one
in which Llew can be overcome?
Because it represents the equinox
point. And the equinox is the only
time of the entire year when light
(Llew) can be overcome by darkness
(Goronwy).

It should now come as no surprise
that, when it is time for Llew to kill
Goronwy in his turn, Llew insists that
Goronwy stands where he once stood
while he (Llew) casts the spear. This
is no mere vindictiveness on Llew's
part. For, although the 'Mabinogion'
does not say so, it should by now be
obvious that this is the only time
when Goronwy can be overcome. Light
can overcome darkness only at the
equinox -- this time the vernal
equinox.

So Midsummer (to me, at least) is
a celebration of the sun god at his
zenith, a crowned king on his throne.
He is at the height of his strength
and still 1/4 of a year away from his
ritual death at the hands of his
rival. The spear and the cauldron
have often been used as symbols for
this holiday and it should now be easy
to see why. Sun gods are virtually
always associated with spears (even
Jesus is pierced by one), and the
midsummer cauldron of Cancer is a
symbol of the Goddess in her fullness.
It is an especially beautiful time of
the year for an outdoor celebration.
May yours be magical!

WHEN MAGIC DOESN'T WORK

2007-12-03T00:30:00.001-06:00

by Van Ault

1 Every magician has occasions in which the magic he is
directing does not seem to work. The desired result, whether
internal or external, does not come into manifestation.
These occasions are opportunities for greater development in
the magical arts, and by working through the disappointment
and discouragement, he can reach greater self-knowledge and
technical expertise in the art.

2 I believe that magic always works. Magic is a tool, a
reality shaper. Like any tool, however, its ability is
limited to the operator's knowledge and skill. For an
illustration, let's use the bow and arrow. Your intention is
the arrow and your magical technique for directing that
intention is the bow. You use the bow/technique to poise,
balance and guide the intention/arrow with the strength of
your arms and hands/ determination and will.

3 What happens when this all works together optimally?
The will firmly grasps the clear intention, balances it upon
the technique, you gather your emotional and mental force,
and then fire the intention into the invisible world to be
made manifest. In its own time and way, your wish
materializes.

4 Conversely, if you haven't got the skill to bring all
of these efforts together, things can go askew. Your arrow
can veer and stray, or it may travel a few feet before losing
power. Your bow can break, or not be strong enough to propel
the arrow. Or, you may find that you've got your bow and
arrow ready to use, but you haven't got sufficient strength
to manipulate it.

5 I offer the following meditation process for those
times when it seems that your magic doesn't work. When
you've tried all the techniques, when you've gotten no
results, when you're wondering if any of this matters at all,
the process in this meditation can produce miracles and
create a sense of completion. You can read the script into a
tape, or have a friend lead you through it.

RIVER OF LIFE MEDITATION

Find a comfortable place where you can relax and be
completely quiet...relax...allow your thought snow to just
come and go...come and go...and take a deep breath in and hold
it...(pause)...now gather up the tension in your body, and
release it as you exhale...take another deep breath, and as
you exhale, let go of anybody else's energy or thoughts you
may be carrying....and breathe in new energy...breathe in new
possibilities...and allow your body to fill with
lightness...feel it becoming lighter and lighter as you relax
more and more...relaxing deeply...going deeper...feeling very
light now...so light you could almost float away..........

And as you relax, imagine a beautiful colored mist is
swirling up around you, billowing up around you into a
cushiony, soft, cloud of energy...and you are resting
completely upon this cloud...and you are safe...as you breathe
in and out, let your thoughts just come and go...relaxing more
and more...and the cloud of energy now lifts you up into the
air and carries your down into your own inner world...down
between the boundaries of time and space...to a place of
timeless beauty and infinite possibilites...floating down now,
going deeper and deeper,leaving the outer world and its
concerns far behind, as you drift and float on this beautiful
cloud....going further and further...down below you is a rock,
a giant rock...and the cloud gently and effortlessly lands
upon the rock and you step off it, as the cloud swirls back
into a mist and disappears for now...

Stand upon this rock now, and feel the strength of it
under your feet...and as you turn around, you look out upon a
great river...flowing as far as you can see...seeming to come
from some infinite place...and disappearing into an infinite
place,,,a flowing,endless river of energy...this is the river
of all life waters...all of life draws upon the lifeforce that
moves through its steaming currents...look closely at the
water...what color is it? it may look like liquid light to
you...look deeply into it, and sense the power and depth of
the river...what sound does it make as it courses through its
channels?...as you stand securely upon your rock, notice and
fragrance...and bend down and cup your hands in the living
water,and splash some of it on your face...feel the life
giving force on your skin...take a sip of the water...allow
the river of life to nourish you....

Now relax a moment upon the rock...and bring into your
mind the magical intention that never seemed to go
anywhere...what were you trying to accomplish?...what was the
basic intention you had?...what was the emotion behind the
intention?...feel the energy of that emotion moving onto the
palms of your hands now...feel the energy
glowing...pulsating...breathe and allow your intention that
you're still clinging to externalize...the energy of it is now
shimmering,glowing...swirling into a sphere...allow all of
your desire to flow into this sphere...and allow this sphere
to appear to you however it appears...and just observe what
you see...you may see pictures or symbols emerging within the
sphere...whatever you see is fine...

When your sphere is completely filled with the last of
your desire,emotion,and intention, hold it aloft...feel the
power of it in you hands,a globe of power that you can now
release...and look out into the river of life...watch as its
currents of possibility flow for ever and ever,as far as you
can see...and whenever you're ready,with as much and as little
force as you need, throw the pulsating sphere into the
river...and give this intention to the life force of this
great river...watch as the sphere touches the water...and
gradually disappears into the current...

Take a deep breath... as the sphere disappears the last of
your intention and emotion and desire merges with the source
of all life, from which it originally came...and leaves
you...

Now complete any business here that you need to
finish...take a few moments to enjoy the flowing river of
life,and know that the possibilities it nourishes can bring
miracles into you life too...

Take another deep breath, and notice that colored mist is
once again swirling around you...billowing up underneath you
to form a beautiful cloud of cushiony energy, which is lifted
up into the air, with you upon it...relaxing into the cloud
you are returning the way you came...lifting up up through
time and space, coming back from the inner world...coming
up... further and further...floating and drifting
back...coming back...bringing you all the way back into your
body now, into this room...brining your attention completely
back into this time and place...take a deep breath and begin
to re-orient yourself to the outer world...and when you're
ready, count to three..., and on the count of three open your
eyes,and return feeling relaxed,alert and at peace.

* * *
As always, change any of the wording or images in this
meditation if it suits your purpose better. The
important part is just to finally and completely let go
of your intention, so that the energy can be recycled in
whatever form the creative force and your own
consciousness will allow. Out of this release, new
lives, new opportunities, and new magical opportunities
are born!

http://astore.amazon.com/rama-20

WHEN MAGIC DOESN'T WORK

2007-12-03T00:28:00.000-06:00

by Van Ault

RIVER OF LIFE MEDITATION

Take a deep breath... as the sphere disappears the last of
your intention and emotion and desire merges with the source
of all life, from which it originally came...and leaves
you...

Now complete any business here that you need to
finish...take a few moments to enjoy the flowing river of
life,and know that the possibilities it nourishes can bring
miracles into you life too...

GREEK FIRE INITIATION

2007-12-03T00:26:00.001-06:00

Cast of Characters

Tiresias:____________

Hephaestus:____________

Artemis:____________

Apollo:____________

Hestia:____________

Prometheus:____________

Seeker:____________

In casting the circle, when calling the Quarters you are free to use
your own words but we ask that you use Greek styling and personify with
the names of the four Greek winds:

North: Boreus
East: Eurus
South: Notus
West: Zephyrus

Tiresias seated north of altar rises, goes around to face altar, and
invokes God and Goddess in a Greek style using these two triumverates:

GOD
Zeus: Strength
Hades: Knowledge
Poseidon: Emotion

GODDESS
Hera: Power
Athena: Wisdom
Aphrodite: Love

He then step back and says: "We have been called forth from the edges of
Time and Space by one who seeks entry to the Halls of Olympus. I am
Tiresias, Prophet of Thebes, who, though blind, shall be his guide.
Seeker, come forth!"

Seeker approaches circle at north-east point of Circle.

Tiresias: "Who seeks entry to Olympus?"
Seeker: "I, __________.
Tiresias: "Before you enter, gaze upon one who sought what was not
rightfully his. Do you still desire entry?"
Seeker replies.
Tiresias: (If no, he leaves and circle is closed. If yes): "Then
enter and ask passage of the Guardians of the Gods."
Seeker enters and they travel 1 1/8 to North.

Tiresias: "Hail, Mighty Hephaestus, Craftsman of the Gods. With me is
one who seeks entry to Olympus."
Hephaestus: "How are you known, Seeker?"
Seeker: "I am called __________."
Hephaestus: "By what right seek you passage through the North?"
Seeker: "I have endured a year of the path of Earth and learned of my
own mortality."
Hephaestus: "Pass with the Blessings of the Earth."
They travel around 1 1/4 to East.

Tiresias: "Hail, Vigilant Artemis, Virgin Goddess. With me is one who
seeks entry to Olympus."
Artemis: "How are you known, Seeker?"
Seeker: "I am called __________."
Artemis: "By what right seek you passage through the East?"
Seeker: "I have endured a year of the path of Air and have learned the
need for focus of will."
Artemis: "Pass with the Blessings of the Air."
They travel around 1 1/4 to South.

Tiresias: "Hail, Bright Apollo, Lord of the Sun. With me is one who
seeks entry to Olympus."
Apollo: "How are you known, Seeker?"
Seeker: "I am called __________."
Apollo: "By what right seek you passage through the South?"
Seeker has no answer.
Apollo: "You have not yet earned the right to pass through the South.
To win this right, you must seek Fire from he who first gave
it to Mankind, Prometheus. Tiresias, guard him upon his path
of Fire that he learn what he needs to face the Titan."
They travel around 1 1/2 to North.

Tiresias: "I come with __________, who now seeks Prometheus that he may
gain the right to Fire. What can you teach him that will
ease his path?"
Hephaestus: "Know that I am Hephaestus, Craftsman and Smith of the Gods.
In my labors, I use Fire as a purifying agent, seperating
the metal from the stone, and for the actual forging of my
Art. But remember that creativity requires forethought.
Daedalus was a Master of my Craft, yet rarely considered
the implications of his creations. He created the
Labyrinth of Minos, who then imprisoned him within its
intricasies. He crafted wing that he and his son might
escape, yet in their flight Icarus died. Always consider
the consequences of the which you create."
They travel 1 1/4 around to East.

Tiresias: "I come with __________, who now seeks Prometheus that he may
gain the right to Fire. What can you teach him that will
ease his path?"
Artemis: "Know that I am Artemis, Virgin Huntress. Through my will, no
man has ever known me. Yet will must be tempered by
intellegence. Remember Otus and Ephialtes, twin giants who
were arrogant enough to think themselves better than the Gods.
They continued their ill-wrought plans, even after Poseidon
warned them. Through supposed desire, they chose to pursue
me. They seperated in pursuit of what they saw as a white
hind, and, with simultaneous throws, slew each other. Thus
blind will caused the death of all they truly loved."
They travel 1 1/4 around to the South

Tiresias: "I come with __________, who now seeks Prometheus that he may
gain the right to Fire. What can you teach him that will
ease his path?"
Apollo: "Know that I am Apollo, God of the Sun and Keeper of Knowledge.
Knowledge of Fire has allowed Man to forge a civilization. But
seeking to advance without can lead to catastrophe. Witness
Phaethon, who attempted to drive the Sun Chariot without proper
knowledge, nearly causing the incineration of the Earth.
Action without knowledge will often lead to ruin."
They travel around 1 1/4 to the West.

Tiresias: "I come with __________, who now seeks Prometheus that he may
gain the right to Fire. What can you teach him that will
ease his path?"
Hestia: "Know that I am Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home. The warm
glow of emotion in balance is vital for proper growth and life.
But when emotions are allowed to rule above all else, tragedy
is soon to follow. Consider Paris, who upon seeing Helen,
bowed to an all-consuming desire for her, kidnapping her
without thought of the consequences. Thus began the Trojan
War. Do not bury your emotions, but neither should you elevate
them to the level of Ruler.
They travel 1 3/4 around to the South. Tiresias alone goes to altar and
faces Seeker.

Tiresias: "Seeker, are you prepared to face Prometheus himself with your
request?"
Seeker: "I am."
Tiresias: "Then come forward and call him forth."
Seeker goes to altar facing North.

Seeker: "From the depths of Time, I call you forth. Arise Prometheus,
Lightbringer."
From within the members in the Circle, Prometheus rises and goes to north
side of altar.

Prometheus: "I am Prometheus. Who summons me here?"
Seeker: "I am __________."
Prometheus: "Why have you brought me here from the depths of Time?"
Seeker: "I seek the Gift of Fire."
Prometheus: "And by what right do you ask it?
Seeker: "By the right of perfect love and perfect trust."
Prometheus: "Then know that you are well met. I will grant you Fire and
its path for a year and a day that you might learn its
lessons. The most important lesson it can teach you is the
need for thought before action of any kind. You must
always consider the consequences of all that you do or say.
At the end of your time on this path, you will be judged on
your fitness to continue your search."
Prometheus gives Seeker a token of Fire.
Prometheus: "With my service done, I bid you farewell."
Prometheus leaves, blending into Circle.
Tiresias: "Well done, most noble Seeker.Please join us for the remainder
of our revels."
Seeker is given seat in Circle. Tiresias faces front of altar and
dismisses Deities using Greek styling and the following names:

GOD
Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon

GODDESS
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

Each Quarter dismisses its element in a Greek style and dismisses the
appropriate Wind:

NORTH: Boreas
EAST: Eurus
SOUTH: Notus
WEST: Zephyrus

Tiresias: "Our work is completed for now. Let us rejoice and enjoy this
company, remembering that though we may go our seperate ways, we are
alway united as one. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!"

Cast of Characters

Tiresias:____________

Hephaestus:____________

Artemis:____________

Apollo:____________

Hestia:____________

Prometheus:____________

Seeker:____________

In casting the circle, when calling the Quarters you are free to use
your own words but we ask that you use Greek styling and personify with
the names of the four Greek winds:

North: Boreus
East: Eurus
South: Notus
West: Zephyrus

Tiresias seated north of altar rises, goes around to face altar, and
invokes God and Goddess in a Greek style using these two triumverates:

GOD
Zeus: Strength
Hades: Knowledge
Poseidon: Emotion

GODDESS
Hera: Power
Athena: Wisdom
Aphrodite: Love

Seeker approaches circle at north-east point of Circle.

Tiresias: "Seeker, are you prepared to face Prometheus himself with your
request?"
Seeker: "I am."
Tiresias: "Then come forward and call him forth."
Seeker goes to altar facing North.

Seeker: "From the depths of Time, I call you forth. Arise Prometheus,
Lightbringer."
From within the members in the Circle, Prometheus rises and goes to north
side of altar.

GOD
Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon

GODDESS
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

Each Quarter dismisses its element in a Greek style and dismisses the
appropriate Wind:

NORTH: Boreas
EAST: Eurus
SOUTH: Notus
WEST: Zephyrus

GREEK FIRE INITIATION

Seeker's Copy

Seeker approaches circle at north-east point of Circle when summoned.

Seeker: "I, __________.

Seeker replies to question.

Seeker enters and they travel 1 1/8 to North.

Seeker: "I am called __________."

Seeker: "I have endured a year of the path of Earth and learned of my
own mortality."

They travel around 1 1/4 to East.

Seeker: "I am called __________."

Seeker: "I have endured a year of the path of Air and have learned the
need for focus of will."

They travel around 1 1/4 to South.

Seeker: "I am called __________."

Seeker has no answer.

They travel around 1 1/2 to North.

They travel 1 1/4 around to East.

They travel 1 1/4 around to the South

They travel around 1 1/4 to the West.

They travel 1 3/4 around to the South. Tiresias alone goes to altar and
faces Seeker.

Seeker: "I am."

Seeker goes to altar facing North.

Seeker: "From the depths of Time, I call you forth. Arise Prometheus,
Lightbringer."

Seeker: "I am __________."

Seeker: "I seek the Gift of Fire."

Seeker: "By the right of perfect love and perfect trust."

Seeker is given seat in Circle.

THE ELEMENTS

2007-12-03T00:21:00.001-06:00

The Elements have been a part of man's ancient and arcane lore since its
inseption in pre-historic times. Different traditions associate them with
various things. The following list of correspondences comes from Starhawk's
"The Spiral Dance."

AIR: Direction: East.
Rules: The mind, all mental, intuitive and psychic work, knowledge,
abstract learning, theory, windswept hills, plains, windy
beaches, high mountain peaks, high towers, wind and breath.
Time: Dawn.
Season: Spring.
Colors: White, bright yellow, crimson, blue-white.
Signs of the Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.
Tools: Athame, sword, censer.
Spirits: Sylphs, ruled by King Paralda.
Angel: Michael.
Name of the East Wind: Eurus.
Sense: Smell.
Jewel: Topaz.
Incense: Galbanum.
Plants: Frankencense, myrrh, pansy, primrose, vervain, violet,
yarrow.
Tree: Aspen.
Animals: Birds.
Goddesses: Aradia, Arianrhod, Cardea, Nuit, Urania.
Gods: Enlil, Khephera, Mercury, Shu, Thoth.

FIRE: Direction: South.
Rules: Energy, spirit, heat, flame, blood, sap, life, will,
healing and destroying, purification, bonfires, hearth
fires, candle flames, sun, deserts, volcanoes, eruptions,
explosions.
Time: Noon.
Season: Summer.
Colors: Red, gold, crimson, orange, white (the sun's noon light).
Signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Leo, Saggitarius.
Tools: Censer, wand.
Spirits: Salamanders, ruled by King Djin.
Angel: Ariel.
Name of the South Wind: Notus.
Sense: Sight.
Jewel: Fire Opal.
Incense: Olibanum.
Plants: Garlic, hibiscus, mustard, nettle, onion, red peppers, red
poppies.
Tree: Almond, in flower.
Animals: Fire-breathing dragons, lions, horses (when their hooves
strike sparks).
Goddesses: Brigit, Hestia, Pele, Vesta.
Gods: Agni, Hephaestus, Horus, Vulcan.

WATER: Direction: West.
Rules: Emotions, feelings, love, courage, daring, sorrow, the
ocean, the tides, lakes, pools, streams, and rivers, springs
and wells, intuition, the unconscious mind, the womb,
generation, fertility.
Time: Twilight.
Season: Autumn.
Colors: Blue, blue-green, green, gray, indigo, black.
Signs of the Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
Tools: Cup.
Spirits: Undines, ruled by King Niksa.
Angel: Raphael.
Name of the West Wind: Zephyrus.
Sense: Taste.
Jewel: Aquamarine.
Incense: Myrrh.
Plants: Ferns, lotus, mosses, rushes, seaweed, water lillies, and
all water plants.
Tree: Willow.
Animals: Dragons (as serpents), dolphins and porpoises, fish, seals
and sea mammals, water-dwelling snakes, all water
creatures and sea birds.
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Isis, Mariamne, Mari, Tiamat.
Gods: Dylan, Ea, Llyr, Manannan, Osiris, Neptune, Poseidon.

EARTH: Direction: North.
Rules: The body, growth, nature, sustenance, material gain, money,
creativity, birth, death, silence, chasms, caves, caverns,
groves, fields, rocks, standing stones, mountains, crystal,
jewels, metal.
Time: Midnight.
Season: Winter.
Colors: Black, brown, green, white.
Signs of the Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn.
Tools: Pentacle.
Spirits: Gnomes, ruled by King Ghob.
Angel: Gabriel.
Name of the North Wind: Boreas, Ophion.
Sense: Touch.
Jewel: Rock crystal, salt.
Incense: Storax.
Plants: Comfrey, ivy, grains: barley, oats, corn, rice, rye, wheat.
Tree: Oak.
Animals: Cow or bull, bison, snakes (earth-dwelling), stag.
Goddesses: Ceres, Demeter, Geae, Mah, Nephthys, Persephone,
Prithivi, Rhea, Rhiannon.
Gods: Adonis, Athos, Arawn, Cernunnos, Dionysus, Marduk, Pan,
Tammuz.

SPIRIT
/ETHER: Direction: Center and circumference, throughout and about.
Rules: Transcendence, tranformation, change, everywhere and
nowhere, within and without, the void, immanence.
Time: Beyond time, all time is one.
Season: The turning wheel.
Colors: Clear, white, black.
Tools: Cauldron.
Sense: Hearing.
Plant: Mistletoe.
Tree: The flowering almond.
Animal: Sphinx.
Goddesses: Isis, the Secret Name of the Goddess, Shekinah.
Gods: Akasha, IAO, JHVH.

L A M M A S: The First Harvest

2007-12-03T00:18:00.001-06:00

by Mike Nichols

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once upon a Lammas Night
When corn rigs are bonny,
Beneath the Moon's unclouded light,
I held awhile to Annie...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Although in the heat of a Mid-western summer it might be difficult to
discern, the festival of Lammas (Aug 1st) marks the end of summer and the
beginning of fall. The days now grow visibly shorter and by the time we've
reached autumn's end (Oct 31st), we will have run the gammut of temperature
from the heat of August to the cold and (sometimes) snow of November. And in
the midst of it, a perfect Mid-western autumn.

The history of Lammas is as convoluted as all the rest of the old folk
holidays. It is of course a cross-quarter day, one of the four High Holidays
or Greater Sabbats of Witchcraft, occuring 1/4 of a year after Beltane. It's
true astrological point is 15 degrees Leo, which occurs at 1:18 am CDT, Aug
6th this year (1988), but tradition has set August 1st as the day Lammas is
typically celebrated. The celebration proper would begin on sundown of the
previous evening, our July 31st, since the Celts reckon their days from
sundown to sundown.

However, British Witches often refer to the astrological date of Aug 6th
as Old Lammas, and folklorists call it Lammas O.S. ('Old Style'). This date
has long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by
the Lion, one of the 'tetramorph' figures found on the Tarot cards, the World
and the Wheel of Fortune (the other three figures being the Bull, the Eagle,
and the Spirit). Astrologers know these four figures as the symbols of the
four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac, and these naturally allign with the four
Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same iconography to
represent the four gospel-writers.

'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means
'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the
first grain ha vest and laid on the church altars as offerings. It was a day
representative of 'first fruits' and early harvest.

In Irish Gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'Lugnasadh', a feast to
commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god Lugh. However, there is
some confusion on this point. Although at first glance, it may seem that we
are celebrating the death of the Lugh, the god of light does not really die
(mythically) until the autumnal equinox. And indeed, if we read the Irish
myths closer, we discover that it is not Lugh's death that is being
celebrated, but the funeral games which Lugh hosted to commemorate the death
of his foster-mother, Taillte. That is why the Lugnasadh celebrations in
Ireland are often called the 'Tailltean Games'.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The time went by with careless heed
Between the late and early,
With small persuasion she agreed
To see me through the barley...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

One common feature of the Games were the 'Tailltean marriages', a rather
informal marriage that lasted for only 'a year and a day' or until next
Lammas. At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if
it pleased them, or to stand back to back and walk away from one another, thus
bringing the Tailltean marriage to a formal close. Such trial marriages
(obviously related to the Wiccan 'Handfasting') were quite common even into
the 1500's, although it was something one 'didn't bother the parish priest
about'. Indeed, such ceremonies were usually solemnized by a poet, bard, or
shanachie (or, it may be guessed, by a priest or priestess of the Old
Religion).

Lammastide was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The
medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating
their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades,
and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced
onlookers. The atmosphere must have been quite similar to our modern-day
Renaissance Festivals, such as the one celebrated in near-by Bonner Springs,
Kansas, each fall.

A ceremonial highlight of such festivals was the 'Catherine wheel'.
Although the Roman Church moved St. Catherine's feast day all around the
calender with bewildering frequency, it's most popular date was Lammas. (They
also kept trying to expel this much-loved saint from the ranks of the blessed
because she was mythical rather than historical, and because her worship gave
rise to the heretical sect known as the Cathari.) At any rate, a large wagon
wheel was taken to the top of a near-by hill, covered with tar, set aflame,
and ceremoniously rolled down the hill. Some mythologists see in this ritual
the remnants of a Pagan rite symbolizing the end of summer, the flaming disk
representing the sun-god in his decline. And just as the sun king has now
reached the autumn of his years, his rival or dark self has just reached
puberty.

Many comentators have bewailed the fact that traditional Gardnerian and
Alexandrian Books of Shadows say very little about the holiday of Lammas,
stating only that poles should be ridden and a circle dance performed. This
seems strange, for Lammas is a holiday of rich mythic and cultural
associations, providing endless resources for liturgical celebration.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Corn rigs and barley rigs,
Corn rigs are bonny!
I'll not forget that happy night
Among the rigs with Annie!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Verse quotations by Robert Burns, as handed down through several Books of
Shadows.]

Wicca 102 - Affirmation for PERFECT JOB - A Unity Magic?

2007-12-03T00:16:00.001-06:00

adapted from Marion Weinstein's book POSITIVE MAGIC

There is one Presence and Power in the Universe
that manifests to me (us) as Goddess and God
and which is abundance, fulfillment and security
and I (NAME) am a perfect manifestation of this power for
I am a perfect incarnation of God/dess (Use God for a male, Goddess
for a female)
and a perfect Priest/ess of the God/dess (Use Priest of the Goddess for a male
and Priestess of the God for a female)
So I hereby draw to me fulfillment, abundance and security in my life
SPECIFICALLY AS THE PERFECT JOB FOR ME
I ask this for the good of all
and according to the free will of all
to take place with ease and joy
and so mote it be

Wicca 102 - second degree initiation

2007-12-03T00:10:00.001-06:00

by ...Gary Dumbauld

This is a ceremony we have used a couple of times (with variations to
suit the candidate) for the second degree initiation. You will note
that it borrows from many sources: Masonic, Gardnerian, Celtic, and
Flight of Fancy. We've done it robed, sky clad, and some interesting
combinations. Seems to work ok either way. If the candidate has done
the work, the initiation ceremony is more of a public "rite of
passage" or recognition of that fact... the real "initiation" is
between the Gods and the candidate, and therefore cannot really be
"conferred".

A ceremony to recognise completion
of the 2nd degree
course of study

The Circle is cast as usual. All are properly prepared and purified.
High Priestess and High Priest perform the Ceremony in concert. The
candidate is brought into the circle by a friend and circled 3 times
deosil, ending north of the altar, facing the Priest, who is standing
south of the altar (where else?).

PRIEST:

"This is the time of Full Moon, a time for rekindling of light. The
struggle for higher light is: That we may see it, and seeing it, work
and live by it. We are about to embark upon a solemn ceremony to
rekindle the light of Knowledge, the light of Will, the light of
Compassion, the light of Steadfastness; we will combine these lights,
and rekindle the light of Dedication in our Sister here before us.
_____ _________ , here have you been taught the ways of the Wise, that
you might count yourself among those who serve the Gods, among the
brothers and sisters of the Wicca, those who are called the shapers of
the universe."

PRIEST:

"I now direct your attention to the two lights upon our altar, the one
representing the Sun, the God, and the High Priest; the other
representing the Moon, the Goddess, and the High Priestess. The High
Priest and Priestess, presiding over the coven, may be thought of as
`One light to rule the day, one light to rule the night'. Since these
lights are both beneficent, each having honor in its place, the Craft
of the Wise does not set day against night, God against Goddess,
Priest against Priestess. In the Craft, we do not define evil as a
negative power, rather as the lack of light; where there is the light
of Sun or Moon, God or Goddess, there can be no lack of light. Choose
one, or both; place light within yourself, and nurture it."

"In times past, the Circle of Initiation was called a `Hermetic
Circle', after Hermes, the ancient name for the planet Mercury."

In astrology, the house of the Sun is in the zodiacal sign of the
lion, which is the fifth house; the house of the Moon is in Cancer,
the crab, and is in the fourth house; and the day house of the planet
Mercury is in the Gemini, the Twins, and is the third house. These
numbers, three, four and five, were sacred to many ancient peoples, as
the dimensions of the Pythagorean Triangle, in which the square of
five, twenty five, is equal to the sum of the squares of four and
three, or sixteen and nine. Knowledge of this triangle was essential
to builders; you are also a builder-you are building your character."

PRIESTESS:

"I now direct your attention to the several lights surrounding us, in
the East, South, West, and North. Let us now examine these lights,
and see what we can discern within them of human character."

"In the building of character, the Eastern light is denoted the Lamp
of Beauty, and stands for accomplishments; for learning, skill in art,
poetry, in song and instrumental music, in painting and sculpture. It
exemplifies the art of making one's self attractive to those about
one. It is an old saying that `Beauty is as Beauty does.' It causes
great distress to see these noble graces of character prostituted to
ignoble ends. Remember well the lesson of the Lamp of Beauty, and
accept the blessing of the East."

Initiate is censed with incense from the censer which has been
previously placed in the East.

PRIEST:

"The light in the South is denoted the Lamp of Life, and stands for
individuality, and for energy; for fervency, for zeal and vitality.
It exemplifies passions, desires and appetites. It means loves and
hates, sympathies and abhorrences, and what is more than all the rest
of these, it means heart and joy in the work of life. Remember well
the lesson of the Lamp of Life, and accept the blessing of the South."

Initiate is circled three times with the brazier, previously placed in
the South.

PRIESTESS:

"Look now to the West, and observe the Lamp of Compassion, which
stands for `fellow-feeling'. Every work in life demands a price.
Labor, tears, self-denial, self-recrimination, the very blood of life
is sometimes the price of a truly great work. Look to your fellow
travellers on the road; note with care what sacrifice they have made
in their progress toward the truth; allow them their faults,
commiserate with them in their failures, and rejoice with them when
they succeed. Remember well the lesson of the Lamp of Compassion, and
accept the blessing of the West."

Initiate is circled three times with water, and his/her hands washed
in a laving bowl, previously placed in the West.

PRIEST:

"Look now to the North, and observe the lamp of obedience. The laws
of the Gods are inevitable, and the more we, as children of the Gods,
understand and work in accordance with them, the greater is the sum of
our happiness. Obedience in character means order, the subjection to
one's principles, the fear to do wrong, and the desire to learn and do
right. Many would rather give charity than do justice. They swell
with emotion, weep with sentiment, howl with the mob, so long as their
own particular little tyranny or injustice is not touched. The Lamp
of Obedience exemplifies firm will and determination of character, in
spite of difficulties, dangers and losses. So also the Lamp of
Obedience stands for self-control, for perseverance, and for prudence.
In time of peace, prepare for war; when shines the sun, expect the
cloud; and in darkness wait patiently for the coming light. `When all
the sky is draped in black and beaten by tempestuous gales, and the
shuddering ship seems all awreck, calmly trim once more the tattered
sail, repair the broken rudder, and set again for the old determined
course.' Remember well the lesson of the Lamp of Obedience, and
accept now the blessing of the North."

Initiate's hands are marked with damp earth from a bowl in the North.
Initiate is then led back south of the altar.

PRIESTESS:

"Of the character thus illuminated and thus guided by the lights here
on the altar, and by the Lamps of Beauty, Life, Compassion and
Obedience, it may be said, `Though the world perish and fall away,
he/she remains.'

Initiate then takes the Oath/Obligation, kneeling.

`In the names of Arianhrod and Bran; Diana and Appolyon; Heartha and
Cernunnos; and by the powers of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, I,
__________________ , pledge to love, worship and honor the Goddess in
her many aspects; and her Consort, the Horned One, Lord of Death and
Ruler of Chaos; to always be true to the Art and its secrets; to never
abuse the Art or my own powers; and to keep this pledge always in my
heart, in my mind, in my body and in my spirit. This I pledge, by the
Circle of Life, by Cerridwen's Sacred Cauldron, and by my own hopes of
a future life.'

Initiate stands. High Priestess places a necklace over Initiate's
head.

PRIESTESS:

"The Circle is a place between the worlds and outside time. The
Circle is also the Symbol of Life, Death, and Rebirth. We wear the
necklace as a token of the Sacred Circle and as a sign that we are
part of all it symbolizes." High Priest strikes the bell three
times.

PRIEST:

"Hear ye, Lady of Life and Lord of Death! Hear ye, Ancient Guardians
of the Powers of Air, Fire, Water and Earth! In this place, by our
hands and will, _____ ______________ , known to us as _______________,
has been duly pledged and anointed a Priest/ess of the Second Degree!"

CAKES AND WINE TO FOLLOW

Wicca 102 - Wedding/Hand Fasting Ceremony

2007-12-03T00:06:00.001-06:00

by Ryan Hunter

[The following wedding ceremony was written to provide for Pagans
who must of necessity be wed in the presence of the uninitiated
who are not pagan and are perhaps unaware that the bride and
groom are pagan. Replace the words Bride and Groom below with the
names of the happy couple. This ceremony was used by both my wife
and myself and by my sister and her husband. They modified the
text at the point below where it says "loving each other wholly
and completely" to add the phrase "forsaking all others" as they
are into monogamy. Either version works beautifully, I recommend
the participants rewrite where necessary to form a legal contract
that they can and will keep. It is easy to avoid being an
oathbreaker if you only swear to that that you will keep and
avoid swearing to something just because the other party wants it
or because it might be "expected" by the family. Notice: parts of
this ritual were cribbed from the writings of others. I apologise
in advance for failure to reference sources but after the
fifteenth rewrite we had forgotten where we got the text and what
was and what was not original to us. I doubt if there are quotes
from other sources longer than paragraph length and thus should
not be a copyright problem. If you see something that is yours,
please send me mail and I will reference you in the future. Our
thanks to those who paved the way. --Ryan Hunter]

[PRIEST] We have come together here in celebration of the joining
together of ____bride______ and ____groom______. There are many
things to say about marriage. Much wisdom concerning the joining
together of two souls,has come our way through all paths of
belief, and from many cultures. With each union, more knowledge
is gained and more wisdom gathered. Though we are unable to give
all this knowledge to these two, who stand before us, we can hope
to leave with them the knowledge of love and its strengths and
the anticipation of the wisdom that comes with time.   The law of
life is love unto all beings.    Without love, life is nothing,
without love, death has no redemtion. Love is anterior to Life,
posterior to Death,   initial of Creation and the exponent of
Earth.   If we learn no more in life, let it be this.

Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable
thought and reflection. As with any aspect of life, it has its
cycles, its ups and its downs, its trials and its triumphs. With
full understanding of this, Groom and Bride have come here today
to be joined as one in marriage.

Others would ask, at this time, who gives the bride in marriage,
but, as a woman is not property to be bought and sold, given and
taken, I ask simply if she comes of her own will and if she has
her family's blessing.

Bride,   is   it true that you come of your own free will   and
accord?

[BRIDE] Yes, it is true.

[PRIEST] With whom do you come and whose blessings accompany you.

[FATHER] She comes with me, her father, and is accompanied by all
of her family's blessings.

[PRIEST] Please join hands with your betrothed and listen to that
which I am about to say.

Above you are the stars, below you are the stones, as time doth
pass, remember...

Like a stone should your love be firm like a star should your
love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect
guide you in your marriage, let the strength of your wills bind
you together, let the power of love and desire make you happy,
and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Be
close,   but not too close.    Possess one another, yet be
understanding.   Have patience with one another, for storms will
come, but they will pass quickly.

Be free in giving affection and warmth. Have no fear and let not
the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for God is with
you always.

Groom, I have not the right to bind thee to Bride, only you have
this right.   If it be your wish, say so at this time and place
your ring in her hand.

[GROOM] It is my wish.

[PRIEST] Bride,   if it be your wish for Groom to be bound   to
you, place the ring on his finger. (places ring on Groom's left
ring finger)

Bride I have not the right to bind thee to Groom only you have
this right.   If it be your wish, say so at this time and place
your ring in his hand.

[BRIDE] It is my wish.

[PRIEST] Groom, if it be your wish for Bride to be bound to you,
place   the   ring on her finger.(places ring on   Bride's   left
ring finger)

(to Groom) Repeat after me:

I,   (grooms full name),   in the name of the spirit of God that
resides within us all, by the life that courses within my blood
and the love that resides within my heart,   take thee (bride's
full name) to my hand,   my heart,   and my spirit,   to be   my
chosen one. To desire thee and be desired by thee, to possess
thee, and be possessed by thee, without sin or shame, for naught
can exist in the purity of my love for thee.   I promise to love
thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in
health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where we
shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change
thee in any way.   I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people,
and thy ways as I respect myself.

(to Bride)
I (bride's full name),   in the name of the spirit of God that
resides within us all,   by the life that courses within   my
blood, and the love that resides within my heart, take thee,
(Groom's full name) to my hand,   my heart,   and my spirit to be
my chosen one.   To desire and be desired by thee, to possess
thee, and be possessed by thee, without sin or shame, for naught
can exist in the purity of my love for thee.   I promise to love
thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in
health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where we
shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change
thee in any way.   I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people,
and thy ways as I respect myself.

[PRIEST]
(hands chalice to the groom, saying:) May you drink your fill
from the cup of love.

(Groom holds chalice to bride while she sips then bride takes
chalice and holds it to groom while he sips. The chalice is then
handed back to the Priest who sets it on the table.   Next the
Priest takes the plate of bread, giving it to the groom.   Same
procedure repeated with bread, groom feeding bride and bride
feeding groom.)

By the power vested in me by God and the State of Alabama, I now
pronounce you husband and wife. May your love so endure that its
flame remains a guiding light unto you.

Wicca 102 - FIRESTAR BELTAINE

2007-11-18T00:59:00.001-06:00

BARD:(harp accompaniment)

This is the air, oh people; these are the creatures:
Far-flying Goose; far-seeing Hawk;
Owl who knows; Raven who talks;
Crane who dances; Thrush who sings;
Quail the humble; Wren the king;
Lark who revels; Loon who weeps;
Jay who scatters; Buzzard reaps.
This is the air I conjure, and this is the birth of the world.

This is the fire, oh people; these are the creatures:
Drake who hoards; Kirin who gives;
Angel heals; Chimera reaves;
Coal the slow; lightning the quick;
Salamander, power's wick;
Soul who praises; Gryphon scorns;
Phoenix dies and is reborn.
This is the fire I conjure, and this is the birth of the world.

This is the sea, oh people; these are the creatures:
Whale who chants; Dolphin who speaks;
Clam content; Salmon who seeks;
Pike who rages; Shark who mourns;
Walrus steadies; Carp transforms;
Seal who gathers; Crab the lone;
Otter wave-borne; Eel in stone;
This is the sea I conjure, and this is the birth of the world.

This is the earth, oh people; these are the creatures:
Deer who worries; Boar who schemes;
Cat who conjures; Sheep who dreams;
Hare the playful; Brock the stern;
Mouse who teaches; Horse who learns;
Wolf who wanders; Bear who stays;
Stag who guards; Puma who preys.
This is the earth I conjure, and this is the birth of the world.

Now is the darkness. Now is the pain. Now is the fear.
Now is the danger. Now is the hate. Now are the tears.
Call on our mother! She is the one! Hers is the way!
She will bring comfort. She will bring life. She will bring day.

PRIEST:

Earth Mother, Birth Mother, Birch Mother,
Sea Mother, Stone Mother, Star Mother!
Queen of night and death and birth,
Womb of deep and fertile earth,
Dame of heaven's silver wheel,
Lady of the greening field,
Keeper of the apple grove,
Mistress of the arts of love,
Shine out in the fearsome dark --
Teach us how to strike the spark.
People, we can feel Her near!
She is coming! She is here!

GODDESS:(emerging from hiding -- should be in green, with amber & copper)

Now the veils of worlds are thin;
To move out you must move in.
Let the Balefires now be made,
Mine the spark within them laid.
This My gift: that people meet
In peace and plenty made complete.
This I give: the Sacred Way,
The strength, the soul, the sight, the say.
Move beyond the fiery screen
Between the seen and the unseen;
Shed your anger and your fear,
Live anew in a new year!

FIREMAKER:(at each tree name, holds up twig, then binds all together
into a torch)

The Nine I sing, the Nine blessed trees
Which were empowered of old:
Oak, thou druid's door, open the way for us.
Apple, thou knowledge-giver, break our circle of blindness.
Ash, thou world-supporter, drive away ill powers.
Birch, thou tree-mother, help in our healing.
Hawthorn, thou branch of May, give us light and hope.
Willow, thou soul-leader, grant us safe passage.
Holly, thou forest king, be our safe refuge.
Hazel, thou wise-one's branch, give us true vision.
Alder, thou river's love, let us flow outward.
In peace let us flow outward; in power let us flow outward; in beauty
let us flow outward.

(The Goddess lights the torch, the Firemaker lights the two fires,
which have been saturated with some flammable material, ie charcoal
starter. White Sage and Cedar chips may be thrown thereon.)

FIRE-PASSING CHANT:(drum)

Dark to light, night to day,
Through the fires lies the way;
Old to new, death to birth,
Between the worlds to our rebirth.

(Once all have passed between the fires)
PRIESTESS:

Sky's Father, Wise Father, Wine Father,
Sun Father, Sap Father, Song Father!
Lord of forest, field and beast,
Lord of harvest, hunt and feast,
King of heaven's golden fire,
Dancer of the soul's desire,
Master of the drum and flute,
Keeper of the vineyard's fruit,
Shine on us and warm our souls --
Teach us how to make us whole!
People, we can feel Him near!
He is coming! He is here!

GOD:(emerging from hiding, dressed in green, with leaves & horns)

Let the light of living blaze!
Dance within the spiral maze;
Cry of pipe and thump of drum;
Out you go and in you come!
Mine the living pole of May --
Outside loving starts today!
This My gift: that lovers join
Touching at the lip and loin.
This I give: the Joyous Dance,
Music, song, the vine, the chance!
Now do fear and anger cease:
Dance the healing and release!

(A fairly simple triple spiral should be traced on the ground in lime
or flour, to give the people guidelines for dancing. The dance should
go on until satiation or until the circle forms again; there is no one
human focal point -- the intent should be for peace, understanding,
tolerance, etc.)

SPIRAL-DANCING CHANT:(drum)

Joy, health and peace be in the world
That spins into the May-o,
For summer is a-comin' in
And winter's gone away-o.

BLESSING THE FOOD:

God: Mine is the ripening sun.
Goddess: Mine is the nurturing soil.
God: Mine is the fruit of the vine.
Goddess: Mine is the chalice of life.
Both: We are the blessing of wine! And the wine blesses us.

God: Mine is the planted seed.
Goddess: Mine is the fertile earth.
God: Mine is the mower's blade.
Goddess: Mine is the oven of making.
Both: We are the blessing of bread! And the bread blesses us.

Feasting, dancing, singing, party, etc. Some kind of grounding afterwards.

EXERCISES FOR ELEMENTAL ABSORPTION, & PROJECTION

2007-11-17T11:40:00.001-06:00

by Koren

This exercise is very important to the art of magickal influences. It is
through the absorption and projection of the elements that certain metaphysical
forces are drawn towards manifestation.

        1) Absorbing Fire:
        Sit comfortably and imagine yourself in the center of a sphere of fire
        ( nothing exists but you and the sphere). Inhale, imagining that this
fire is drawn into your body.. Imagine that you are hollow and being filled
with fire Keep count of how many breaths (with a string of beads) it takes you
to become filled with fire.

        While you are inhaling an element imagine the desired characteristic
which corresponds to it. Mentally fix it and emotionally fix it. Once
you have completed this stage, visualize yourself (inside & out) glowing red.
Now you are ready to project the element. Exhale upon the object, glowing with
it. With each act of exhaling count again with the beads. You must exhale
exactly as many times as you inhaled.

        2) Absorbing Air:
        This is doen the same as with Fire except you will inhale air and see
yourself as expanding with the Air. You will have the sensation of
growing lighter. There will be no temperature change/

        3) Absorbing Water:
        Same above method. Imagine the sensation of coldness filling you.
Become heavy but fluid, feeling the weight of movement.

        4) Absorbing Earth:
        Same manner as the others, Imagine the sensation of weight, feel loose
soil pouring in like sand in an hour glass. Do not imagine clay earth as this
has water in it. Do not imagine temperature change.

Enjoy the Magick!

DISCOVERING THE MAIDEN GODDESS

2007-11-16T14:45:00.001-06:00

                   by Shekhinah Mountainwater

   A group of sisters in Oregon put on a Goddess gathering one summer,
featuring the topic "Is there a fourth aspect to the Goddess?". Hearing
about this got me thinking that the answer might be yes, the Dark Maiden.
   I first learned about this Goddess from a lover, who used to call me
her "dark maiden," and point out the waning crescent in the late night sky.
She would explain that there are two crescents and two maidens. The Bright
Maiden corresponds to the waxing crescent, curving towards the right. The
Dark Maiden corresponds to the waning crescent, curving towards the left.
Over the years, I have discovered the beauty of this symbol system and its
potential to give healing and enpowerment to women.
   We all know about the great triad : Maiden, Mother and Crone. This three
fold archetype resonates deeply in our psyches as Begining, Middle and End
of all things, and is likely to be with us always. Yet a fourth aspect
might appear within the triad -- as well as a fifth or sixth. "When the
myths come alive for us they change," says Starhawk. Truly, there are no
limits to the Goddess, and all things are possible.
   But why the special attention to the Bright and Dark Maiidens? For one
thing, they make a marvelous all-female alternative to the male-opposite-
female symbolism of patriarchy. The Bright Maiden who waxes, moves towards
the Light and the Sun. She is the young Goddess who is growing, the Amazon,
the woman who takes her powers of freedom, action, strength and
independence. She is the risk-taker, the woman who dares. in other words, she is all things our society tells us should be considered "male." Because
of our loss of Her image in our psyches, women find themselves accused of
becoming "like a man," when they express Her qualities. Known to us as
Diana, Artemis, Boudicea, the Amazon Warrior Woman... the Bright Maiden is
more familiar to us than the Dark.
   The Dark Maiden who wanes, moves towards the Underworld, The Crone. She
is associated with aging, descent, introspection and magic. The Dark
Maiden is teh enchantress, She Who Pulls. In her positive attributes, She
represents some of the lost powers of woman. She surrenders to the flow
and pulls, like the pull of the moon, the suction of the undertow. This is
the magnetism of magic, our power to draw to us all that we require. Images
of the Dark Maiden appear to us as Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, the
Mermaid, Sirens, Sorceress.
   In patriarchy the Bright and Dark Maidens tend to appear in negative
expression, and because of this, our impression of them can become
destorted. Patriarchs love to keep our Dark Maidens weak and dependent upon
them, and if we decide to act out of our Bright Maiden selves, they insist
we do so "like a man." These are some of the reasons why it is so important
for us to find woman-identified symbols for these parts of ourselves;
Goddesses that are soft and strong, magickal and free -- female expressions
of these qualities.

   DARK MAIDEN :   AFFLICTED                LIBERATED
                    ---------                ---------
                    Weak                     Surrendering
                    Flaky                    Spontaneous
                    Passive                  Pulling
                    Victim                   Supporting
                    Self-Sacrificing         Compassionate
                    "Loser"                  Gentle
                    Myopic                   Subjective
                    Over-reacting            Intuitive
                    Deluded                  Imaginative

   BRIGHT MAIDEN : AFFLICTED                LIBERATED
                    ---------                ---------
                    Hard Boiled              Strong
                    Superficial              In control
                    Hyper-rational           Organized
                    Militant                 Disciplined
                    Aloof                    Independent
                    Unemotional              Objective
                    Mechanical               Scientific
                    Power-over               Power-from-within
                    Careless                 Playful

   The main thing to remember about the Dark Maiden is that She has the
power to Respond. She is the receptive and sensative part of us, which
we need for successful magic as well as personal wholeness. She is tender
and vulnerable, and it is important to keep our Bright Maiden qualities
so we can protect Her. Too many women with Dark Maiden qualities become
victims in our society, subject to the will of others. And too many Bright
Maidens become cold and hard. Feminist spirituality teaches us that we
have been programmed to act out these qualities in ways that men have
devised. Liberation lies not in discarding them, but in learning to reclaim
them in their older, female expressions.
   Inevitably, this process will lead us back to the Three-fold and Five
fold expressions of the Goddess, because they offer flow and continium.
They teach us that any one quality when isolated at the expense of the
others becomes destructive and limiting. WHile the Bright and Dark Maidens
do pair off and become partners, companions and lovers...they can be seen
within the larger contexts of Maiden, Mother and Crone, or Fire, Water,
Air, Earth and Spirit. Sometimes I picture the two Maidens as Warrior and
Priestess within a cycle that includes Mother, Grandmother, and Lover.
Sometimes I see them as the Fall and Spring Equinoxes, known to the ancient
Greeks as the Anados (Goddess arising) and Kathados (Goddess Descending).
Thus we can integrate the duality of our Bright and Dark Maidens into the
three-fold, five-fold and eight-fold (the eight holy days of the year)
cycles of Life and Being.
   This article is but a glimpse into the possibilities. I invite you to
search within yourself, in myths and amoung symbols that you know, for
signs of the Bright and Dark Maidens.

Wicca 102 - TABLE OF MAGICKAL CORRESPONDENCES

2007-11-16T14:38:00.001-06:00

by Koren

DAYS OF THE WEEK
----------------

Monday - ruled by the Moon
Tuesday - ruled by Mars
Wednsday - ruled by Mercury
Thrusday - ruled by Jupitor
Friday - ruled by Venus
Saturday - ruled by Saturn
Sunday - ruled by the Sun

PLANETARY SYMBOLS & INFLUENCES
------------------------------

Sun - Friendship, new enterprises, success
Moon - Visions, dreams, magic, divination, love
Jupitor - Strength, Will, Inspiration
Mars - Conflicts, power, courage, victory
Mercury - Intellect, communication, arts and science, business
Venus - Friendship, love, marriage
Saturn - Death, restriction, inhibitions

LUNAR INFLUENCES
----------------

New Moon - This phase marks the beginning or ritual works which are positive
in nature. This also marks the beginning of growth

Full Moon - This phase marks the peak of power. All things are focused and
concentrated.

Waning Moon - This phase marks negative and destructive energies

Aries,Leo,Sagittarius - The moon in these signs accents rituals of love or
friendship.

Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn - The moon in these signs accents rituals of astral
dealing and spirit workings.

consciousness; mental workings.

Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces - The moonin these signs accents rituals which involve
subconscious workings and psychic attack.

INCENSE
-------
Sun - cinammon, laurel, olibanum, helitrope
Moon - Lotus, sandalwood, jasmine, almond, camphor
Mars - dragons blood, aloes, tobacco
Mercury - cinquefoil, fennel, anise
Venus - rose, honeysuckle, ambergris, myrtle
Jupitor - pine, nutmeg, juniper
Saturn - frankincense & myrrh
Pluto - unknown as of yet.

Wicca 102 - Chalice

2007-11-16T14:34:00.001-06:00

by Matrika

The use of the Chalice in Magick is as a feminine symbol. It holds the juice,
wine, spring water or ale. IT is usually purchased but I have seen some
hand-made ones that are gorgeous. Pewter, Silver, silver plate, and pottery
are the most common materials they are made of. I knew a woman with a
pottery chalice that had various Goddesses from all 5 races of the world
painted around it, nude, with arms linked together. This was her own work.
It was NOT a great artist's work, but it reminded one of the primitive
cave-paintings upon which our Craft revival draws for much of it's history and
so was very beautiful in it's own right. It was one of the most unique
chalices I have ever seen.

Another witch I knew, who was ethnically Jewish, used a chalice that had a
great deal of meaning for her. It was her GRANDMOTHER'S Silver Kiddush cup
used to greet the SABBATH BRIDE and draw the Shekinah Presence - also female
according to Jewish tradition - into the home after the lighting of the
Shabbat candles. As this connected this particular Witch to her lineage and
to her grandmother's spirit, it was expecially appropriate for her to use it -
especially since she was an initiate of one of the offshoots of Gardnerian and
Alexandrian tradition that draws heavily on the Kabbalah; which she emphasized
more even than other H.Priestesses of those lineages due to her desire to
remain connected to her background.

In some traditions a drinking horn is used instead of a chalice. It is mostly
used by those drawing from the Norse or Germanic legends in recreating their
ritual structure, but really such a horn could be used by anyone. You can
make your OWN drinking horn far easier than making a chalice. Get a cow's
horn - usually available from farmers or from your local Tandy Leather store -
and make a stand for it with heavy copper or silver wire that you wrap around
it and form into a stand. You can GENTLY engrave (DO NOT USE ACID FOR THIS)
the horn or you can solder small gems and crystals to the wire stand or
whatever else strikes you as being appropriate symbolism.

But having a chalice or horn that IS YOU is important in your work, perhaps
more so than any other article in Wicca which is so Goddess oriented.

Wicca 102 - Cauldrons

2007-11-16T00:18:00.001-06:00

Elemental Cauldrons

   Using a cauldron, symbol of inspiration and rebirth, has brought new dimensions to both group and solitary work. A cauldron decorates the centre of the Circle during Lesser Sabbats. An air cauldron at a spring rite creates a misty, magical quality for the ceremony. In summer, the cauldron will flash and spark. A blue flame burns mysteriously within the Water cauldron during the autumn festival. Throughout Yule, the Earth cauldron burns steadfast and constant. During moon rites, when magick is done, we write the purpose of our working on flash papers and toss them into the burning cauldron while chanting.
   A working cauldron should be of cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid, three sturdy legs, and a strong handle. Season your cauldron before using it for the first time. Pour in generous helping of salt and lighter fluid, slosh it up to the rim and wipe dry. For indoor use it MUST have a fireproof base or your workings will summon up yellow-coated salamander spirits from the fire department.

EARTH Cauldron

   Layer salt, wax shavings, three powered or ground herbs, fighter fluid and ivy leaves in the cauldron while focus and chanting. Use a candle to light it. When the smoke starts to roll, extinguish the cauldron by putting the lid on.

AIR Cauldron

   Using tongs, put a chunk of dry ice is a small glass or ceramic bowl and place the bowl on a cloth in the bottom of the cauldron. Allow the cauldron to smoke as long as the ice lasts. The mists create excellent images for scrying.

FIRE Cauldron

   Cover the inside bottom with dirt or sand to dissipate heat. Light incense charcoal and add either salt petter for flame and spark or flash powder for a different but spectacular effect. To assist in releasing or firing off peak energy, try using flash "bombs". Make a small pocket in a piece of flash paper, fill with flash powder and tie with thread. The "bomb" should be about the size of your smallest fingernail. The results are spectacularly bright, so use the powder sparingly. Don't look directly at the flash as you drop the "bomb" in the cauldron.

WATER Cauldron.

   At least seven days before the ritual, place equal quantities of three appropriate herbs in a pint glass jar. Fill the rest of the jar with Everclear (200 proof alcohol), cap tightly, and shake gently while concentrating on the purpose of the ritual. Add a chant if its feels right. Let the jar rest in a dark, warm spot and shake twice daily, charging with purpose. Before the ritual, place a fireproof ceramic or glass bowl in the cauldron. Pour in the herb mixture, being careful none spills into the cauldron. Light with a candle to produce a beautiful blue flame.

   The cauldron, as the fifth elemental spirit, symbolizes inspiration, rebirth, illumination and rejuvenation. Use a Fire cauldron with salt petter to cast a Circle. Use the mists of an Air cauldron for an initiation. Burn away hate, prejudice and negative self-images, with a Water cauldron. The Earth cauldron is ideal for indoor Beltane rites.
   Remember to place a burning cauldron on a fireproof surface. Practice safety when using any voltaile materials and you will enjoy your cauldron for many rites.

Wicca 102 - self-defense and banes

2007-11-15T23:59:00.001-06:00

by Judy Harrow

Re:   banes
I surely agree that we have every right to protect ourselves and our
"own folk" from attack. But I do believe that shield and mirror workings
are more efficient, effective and elegant at accomplishing the gocal of
self-protection. Consider this - a mirror working is perfect justice. If
I am mistaken, either that psychic attact is being done at all or about
the perpetrator, a bane will jeapordize me karmically and (if psychic
attact truly is being done by somebody other than the one I suspect)
fail to protect me. A mirror sits there passively, ignores any mistaken
paranoia that I may occasionally get, does nothing at all until and
unless an attack happens, and then sends the bad energy directly back to
the exactly deserving person or group in exactly the proper amount and
kind. A mirror is perfect justice.
    A grounding shield is perfect mercy, taking bad energy and
dissipating it harmlessly. I think I already said this but I recently
talked one of my students into using a grounding shield where she would
have been perfectly entitled to use a mirror. The situation is an
ongoing battle between my student's lover and his former wife. While the
ex-wife did an entirely unjustifiable attack, and would fully deserve to
have it returned full force, all this would really accomplish would be
to perpetuate the craziness, hostility and tension in the situation -
and both the couple's innocent children and my student are being hurt.
Better for all concerned to ignore justice and drain as much of the
tension as possible, to make room for the healing that all of them need.
A grounding shield is perfect mercy.
    But banes and bindings, while they may give short term protection,
risk your own karma, are susceptible to mistake, and may, if
misdirected, even fail of their well-intended purpose. Sure you're
entitled to self-protection. This is just a lousy way to go about it. I
guess my kind of Warrior is Athena, the wise defender.

by Hugh Read

You have a gentle way. For myself, I love Minerva who I feel is a Being unto
Herself. The concept of the Grounding Shield is clear to me...would you care
to share the practice with me. Justice has little interest for me. That
takes care of itself in the process of time. We are all amply repayed for our
varies deeds simply by wearing this body of ours. Healing is far more to the
point. The word Justice makes me cringe a bit, though long ago I came to
peace with Justice. One of my more angry prayers is May he/she have perfect
Jusice, NOW! Instant karma, NOW...and I always add, and so may it be with me.
I remember telling this to a New Age teacher a few years ago. He turned pale
and promised me auto accidents, fire, theft and robbery if I did that. Well,
I am still bopping along with my share in the chancier aspects of life
affirming perfect Justice for my self and every now and then in those very
rare (!) moments of anger instant Karma for me and whoever. I love the idea
of a shield that will ground and disperse any nasties send grovelling in my
direction. Let Healing Be the Way!!! Tender bliss and explosive ecstacy be
yours as the days pass softly!

by Judy Harrow

It's visualization either way. For the grounding shield, it is velvety,
absorbtive black (Oops, I should say that MINE is - you may alter this to
whatever will convince your Younger Self). Every so often along it's length,
for me every 2-3 yards, there is a post somewhat like a fince post that
extends deep into the ground and is conductive like a lightening rod. Trust
mother Earth to filter any kind of energy back into simple, pure,
undifferentiated energy and recycle it to wherever it is most needed. So the
shield catches incoming energy and channels it down through the purifying
rocks. I don't know exactly how to describe physically how the shield can be
semi-permeable, allowing in the well-wishes of your friends, but, as semi
permeable membranes exist in Nature, helping each cell maintain its water/salt
balance, so can this shield. Can you conceive of a substance both velvet and
mesh? That's how it is with me.
    On the justice end of the spectrum, my own Younger Self is a bit of a
literalist. A flat mirror will not work for me, since the angle of incidence
is complementary to the angle of reflection, which means that bad energy is
actually diverted from the sender and bounced onto innocent parties. My mirror
looks like a waffle, and is optically designed to send stuff back exactly
where it came from. It's also semi-permeable, and that is even harder to
explain. I guess Younger Self is not altogether consistent.
    On the issue of choosing between the two modes. Justice is a tautology. It
will do no better - and no worse - than getting you back to where you began.
It protects and maintains, but does not allow for growth. Perhaps you've read
Diana Paxon's wonderful book "Red Mare, White Stallion." At the beginning, the
women of the tribe have a ritual opportunity to make a wish for the coming
year. But the heroine does something even better. When her turn comes, she
tells the Goddess "Mother, You choose." Had she chosen, she could not possibly
have received anything more than she was capable of imagining. Taking the risk
of not choosing was opening herself to surprise and transformation.
    Reading that was a mind-blow for me. Since then, I have tried to take
Diana's dare as much as possible, and not limit myself to tautology. I don't
do it all the time, but I stretch toward it. The mirror/shield question
resonates with that for me.
    Minerva/Athena wears a shield and helmet, and carries a spear. My Sister
is a Warrior, but always in defense of the community and always for justice.
Never for greed or domination. It is worthy to protect what you have, and
worthy to reach beyond.

Athame

2007-11-15T23:52:00.001-06:00

by Matrika

An athame is traditionally a double-bladed knife with a black handle. Very
few people make their own, although it is possible to do so. Most people
obtain one and personalize it in some way. This is most commonly done by
inscribing symbols or runes on it. In some traditions specific symbols are
required and have been handed down through their lineage. In others and among
ecclectic Wicca groups, these can be personal.

How do you do this? You cover the blade with Parrafin. (WAX) Then you let it
cool. Next you take a LONG sharp NAIL and inscribe the symbols in the wax.
Then you use dilute Hydrochloric acid - careful, this stuff is dangerous, and
drop by drop place on the blade where it shows through due to your
inscriptions. When the acid has worked - usually fairly quickly - you rinse
the blade under running water THOROUGHLY and then you use VERY hot water and a
lot of elbow grease to remove the wax.

If ANY ACID FALLS ON THE SKIN RINSE THOROUGHLY UNDER COLD WATER IMMEDIATELY
and if there is a burn of any type, seek immediate medical help. IF it gets
in the eyes, again rinse immediately and completely and CALL THE EMT/PARAMEDIC
UNITS. It is best when doing this if you wear either some type of glasses or
goggles and rubber gloves.

DO NOT INGEST THE ACID OR LEAVE IT WHERE IT COULD BE INGESTED BY A CHILD OR
ANIMAL. Also be careful of how you dispose of the rest of it - do so in an
environmentally SAFE way.

This sounded like a little too much for me, so I tried another method. Koren
made a beautiful athame for me and I personalized it by putting herbs of my
choice in the handle and sealing this with a favorite crystal of mine - again
with his help.

Oh, if you absolutely can't get a double-bladed knife - in Massechusetts, for
example, possesion of such a weapon is a CRIME - get a single-bladed knife and
grind down the other edge as much as you can.

As I said, the Athame is USUALLY black-handled, but there are exceptions - I
saw one Lady use a knife with a deer's hoof for the handle. She was oriented
toward her Native American heritage as much as her Craft, so it had deep
significance for her. I also saw - in fact a friend of mine was selling it -
a BEAUTIFUL homemade athame with copper tubing forming a cross hilt and
crystals in each of the three tips for the handle. (this was almost a small
sword) AS ALWAYS USE WHAT SPEAKS TO YOUR OWN SOUL!!!!!

The athame is usully NOT used in circle for anything other than ritual and
ceremonial purposed. If you need to inscribe a candle for Magick or slice the
bread for the cakes and wine part of the rite, you usually use a BOLINE or
white - handled knife, often a small dagger or even a pen-knife, set aside for
these purposes.

The athame is used in Magick, as I use it, to represent the element of fire
and the direction of the south. In the circle the athame is used to cast the
circle and to charge the contents of the chalice in the central rite of all
Wicca, the SYMBOLIC joining of the Lord and the Lady in LOVE. It is also used
to banish any imbalanced, excess positive or negative energies that are
harmful to us - in whatever form these may take. IT IS NOT USED FOR MUNDANE
TASKS such as inscribing candles or slicing the "cake" for cakes and wine. A
simple, white-handled knife is kept for that usage.

The athame is usually replaced, as soon as possible, by a sword for coven
work. This sword should be worked on by the group in the same way that the
athame is by the individual, as it is a channel of the group's energy. The
sword should, therefore, be taken special care of. Swords are expensive and
someone NOT connected with Wicca might be tempted to purloin it and try to
resell it. If the coven has a sword, it is put in the care of the High
Priestess and High Priest and they would be wise to keep it in a locked
closet, if at all possible. It symbolizes the energies of the group psyche
that has been formed or is being formed, as well as the group's magickal
power.

If the Coven should seperate, it has been traditionally left to the Highest
ranking individual in the Coven, which should be the High Priest and/or High
Priestess. Even though the coven has paid for it and worked on it, the High
Priesthood retains it as a symbol of the circle's GRATITUDE for the teaching
they have recieved from them. It can be cleansed by the Leaders and used in
further covens they may sponsor in their travels - and often each new group
chooses some symbol or something they can add to it.

Wicca 102 - Herbal Invocation

2007-11-15T23:39:00.001-06:00

INVOCATION

'Earth, divine Goddess, Mother Nature who generates all things
and brings forth anew the sun which you have given to the nations;
Guardian of sky and sea and of all gods and powers....through your
power all nature falls silent and then sinks in sleep. And again
you bring back the light and chase away night and yet again you
cover us most securely with your shades. You do contain chaos
infinite, yea and winds and showers and storms; you send them out
when you will and cause the seas to roar; you chase away the sun
and rouse the storm. Again when you will you send forth the joyous
day and give the nourishment of life with your eternal surety; and
when the soul departs to you we return. You are indeed duly called
Great Mother of the Gods; you conquer by your divine name. You are
the source of strength of nations and of gods, without you nothing
can be brought to perfection or be born; you are Great Queen of the
Gods. Goddess! I adore thee as divine; I call upon your name; be
pleased the grant that which I ask of you, so shall I give thanks
to thee, Goddess, with due faith.
Hear, I beseech you, and be favorable to my prayer. Whatsoever
herb your power does produce, give, I pray, with goodwill to all
nations to save them and grant me this my medicine. Come to me with
your powers, and howsoever I may use them, may they have good
success to whosoever I may give them. Whatever you grant, may it
prosper. To you all things return. Those who rightly receive these
herbs from me, please make them whole. Goddess, I beseech you, I
pray as a suppliant that by your majesty you grant this to me.
Now I make intercession to you all your powers and herbs and to
your majesty, you whom Earth parent of all has produced and given
as a medicine of health to all nations and has put majesty upon
you, I pray you, the greatest help to the human race. This I pray
and beseech from you, be present here with your virtues, for She
who created you has Herself promised that I may gather you into
the goodwill of him on whom the art of medicine was bestowed, and
grant for health's sake good medicine by grace of your powers. I
pray grant me through your virtues that whatsoever is wrought by
me through you may in all it's powers have good and speedy effect
and good success and that I may always be permitted with the favor
of your majesty to gather you into my hands and to glean your
fruits. So shall I give thanks to you in the name of the majesty
which ordained your birth.'

Are you a Left-Brain Reader or a Right-Brain Reader?

2007-11-15T23:35:00.001-06:00

from "The Speed Reading Course" (PDF)

Recently researches were carried out in the United States to determine the
difference between a left-brain reader and a right-brain reader. A special
apparatus was constructed, consisting of a television screen to present the
reading material, with a cursor that the subject had to fixate upon. Eye-
movements were monitored electronically, so the cursor would move when the
subject moved his eyes. The equipment could be set up in two modes. In the
first mode, material to the left of the cursor would blank out on the screen, if
the subject attempted to move his fixation point to the right of the cursor. In
the second mode, material to the right of the cursor would blank out, if the
subject attempted to move his fixation point to the left of the cursor.
In the first (left-brain) mode, when words to the left of the cursor blanked out,
preventing the subject from regressing or back-skipping, this duplicated the
habitual pattern of a left-brain reader, who always reads one or more words
ahead of a particular fixation point. In the second (right-brain) mode, when
words to the right of the cursor blanked out, preventing the subject from
anticipating by reading one or two words ahead of the fixation point, this
duplicated the habitual pattern of a right-brain reader, who tends to re-read the
words leading up to a particular fixation point.

This equipment was tested on a group of 30 subjects. When the equipment was
set- up in the left-brain mode, the maximum observed average reading speed of
the group was 1600 w.p.m., and when the equipment was set-up in the right-
brain mode, the maximum observed average reading speed of the group was 95
w.p.m.; a difference of 17:1. Note: with material presented in the left-brain
mode the average reading speed of the group was raised from 500 w.p.m. to
1600 w.p.m.; it was more than trebled.

Without the specialised equipment described above, this test is somewhat
subjective, although it should give you a good indication. The steps are as
follows:

1.    Take a novel and read this silently whilst running your finger along the
      line of print as you read it.
2.    Note carefully: How far are you reading ahead of your fixation point?
      The fixation point is determined by your finger position.
3.    Do you find that it is difficult to read ahead of the fixation point? Do
      you find that you are holding on to the two or three words you have just
      read?

If the answer to 2. is yes, and you are reading ahead of the fixation point, you
are a left-brain reader. If the answer to 3. is yes, and attention is drawn back to
the words that you have already read, then you are a right-brain reader.

Guidance in Esoteric Training

2007-11-14T04:59:00.001-06:00

By Rudolf Steiner

Contents:

Prefatory Note

1 - The Task Of Spiritual Science
2 - General Demands ...
3 - For The Days Of The Week
4 - Main Exercise
5 - Explanation Of The Foregoing Main Exercise

Prefatory Note

The contents of this book are selected from the matter of Rudolf Steiner's Esoteric School. The School remained in existence for ten years from 1904 to 1914, when the outbreak of the First World War prevented its continuance. During that period Rudolf Steiner was still within the Theosophical Society, and he used the words 'theosophy' and 'theosophical', though always (as he tells us in his Autobiography) in the direction in which his anthroposophical spiritual science had from the first been pointing.

After the lapse of a further ten years, when he went on to found the General Anthroposophical Society and himself became its President, his esoteric guidance of those members who sought it was continued on a somewhat different footing, in closer association with the organization and direction of the Society.

The institution of the Esoteric School in 1904 had been quickly followed by publishing descriptions of the path which pupils should follow, in the book Theosophy, in the series of Essays, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. How is it achieved? (first published in book form in 1909), and also in Occult Science: an Outline, which appeared early in 1910.

A description of the basic conditions for inner development, particularly of the 'subsidiary exercises', is also to be found in these books, and after their publication Rudolf Steiner sometimes alluded to such exercises by reference to them. In Chapter V of Occult Science: an Outline ('Knowledge of Higher Worlds. Concerning Initiation') he lays down as follows the necessary precondition for all the exercises.

We can however understand from this how necessary it is that man should not demand entry into the spiritual world until he has learned and understood certain essential truths of that world by the simple exercise of his everyday intelligence, developed in the physical world. If spiritual development follows the right and normal path, then before he aspires to enter the supersensible world the pupil will already have mastered with his ordinary intelligence the whole of the earlier contents of this book.

In 1947, thirty-three years after the First World War had interrupted the Esoteric School and two years after the end of the Second, Marie Steiner, in response to requests from members of the Anthroposophical Society, set about publishing the most important of the Contents of the Esoteric School. Numerous works on oriental training methods (Yoga etc.) were making their appearance, and it was her object to set against these something from the European discipline of Rudolf Steiner. 'By making available', she wrote in a letter, 'examples of Rudolf Steiner's careful, personally-delivered advice, I wished to ensure that something could come forth from that Rosicrucian stream which is more in tune with the present age than decadent Indian and Tibetan methods.'

Three separate series of selections in English translation, entitled From the Contents of the Esoteric School, have previously appeared in 1948, 1949 and 1954. The following includes a revised translation of all that they contain together with some additional material not previously published in English.

O.B.

1 - The Task Of Spiritual Science

Notes of a lecture given in Berlin in 1903 or 1904:

There is a beautiful saying by Hegel: The most profound thought is bound up with the historical, external Figure of Christ. And the greatness of the Christian religion is that it is there for every stage of development. It is within the grasp of the most naive consciousness and at the same time it is a challenge to the deepest wisdom.

That the Christian religion is comprehensible to every stage of consciousness is shown by the very history of its development. Properly understood, it must be the task of Theosophy, or of Spiritual Science in general, to show that the Christian religion calls for penetration into the deepest Wisdom-teachings.

Theosophy is not a religion, but an instrument for understanding the religions. Its relation to the religious documents is rather like the relation of mathematics itself to the writings in which it was originally taught. A man can understand mathematics through his own spiritual faculties and comprehend the laws of space without having to refer to any such early text. But if he has really absorbed the truths of geometry, he will value all the more highly the original texts through which these laws were first presented.

So it is with Theosophy. Its sources are not in ancient documents, nor do they rest upon tradition; they lie in the reality of the spiritual worlds. It is there that they must be found and grasped by the development of a man's own spiritual powers, just as he grasps mathematics by endeavouring to develop the faculties of his intellect.

Our intellect, by means of which we are enabled to comprehend the laws of the world of sense, is supported by an organ, the brain. Similarly, in order to grasp the laws of spiritual worlds, we need appropriate organs.

How have our physical organs developed? Because forces from outside have worked upon them: the forces of the Sun, the forces of sound. Thus did eyes and ears come into being - out of neutral, sluggish organs into which, at first, the sense-world could not penetrate, and which opened only by degrees. If our spiritual organs are worked upon by the right forces, they too will open.

What then are the forces which surge in upon our still inert spiritual organs? During the daytime, the astral body of modern man is assailed by forces that work against his development, and even destroy such organs as he formerly possessed before the dawn of his clear day-consciousness. In earlier times, man received direct astral impressions.

The surrounding world spoke to him through pictures, through the form in which the astral world comes to expression. Living, inwardly organic pictures and colours hovered freely in surrounding space as expressions of pleasure and repugnance, sympathy and antipathy. Then these colours wrapped themselves, as it were, round the surface of things, and objects acquired fixed outlines. This was when the physical body of man was steadily gaining in solidity and becoming more highly organized.

When his eyes opened fully to the physical light, when the veil of Maya spread itself over the spiritual world, his astral body received impressions of the surrounding world by way of the physical and etheric bodies. The astral body itself transmitted these impressions to the 'I' and from the 'I' they passed into his consciousness. Thus he was personally involved and continuously active. But the forces working upon him were no longer plastic, weaving forces akin to the nature of his own being; they were forces that fed upon him, destroyed him, in order to awaken the I-consciousness.

Only in the night, when he sank down into the rhythmic-spiritual world homogeneous with him, did he acquire new strength and become able once more to feed forces into his physical and etheric bodies. Out of this conflict of impressions, out of the deadening of the astral organs formerly working unconsciously in man, the life of the individual 'I', the I-consciousness, arose. Out of life-death; out of death-life. The ring of the serpent was complete. And now from this wakened I-consciousness there had to arise forces that would kindle life again in the defunct vestiges of earlier astral organs, shaping and moulding them.

Mankind is moving towards this goal, guided by its Teachers and Leaders, the great Initiates, of whom the serpent is also the symbol. It is an education towards freedom, hence a slow and difficult education. The great Initiates could have made the task easier, for themselves and for man, if they had worked upon his astral body during the night, when it is free, in such a way as to impress the astral organs into it from outside. But such an act would have operated in man's dream-consciousness; it would have trespassed on his sphere of freedom. The highest principle in man, the Will, would never have unfolded.

Man is led onward stage by stage. There has been an Initiation in Wisdom, an Initiation in Feeling, an Initiation in Will. True Christianity is the summation of all stages of Initiation. The Initiation of antiquity was the prophetic announcement, the preparation. Slowly and gradually the man of later times emancipated himself from his Initiator, his Guru. Initiation, to begin with, proceeded in deep trance-consciousness, but was equipped to imprint in the physical body a remembrance of what had transpired outside the body. Hence the necessity of releasing the ether-body, the bearer of memory, as well as the astral body.

Astral body and ether-body sank together into the Ocean of Wisdom, into Mahadeva, into the Light of Osiris. This Initiation proceeded in deepest secrecy, in absolute seclusion. No breath from the outer world might intrude. The man was as if he had died to outer life, and the tender seeds were nurtured away from the blinding light of day.

Then Initiation came forth from the darkness enshrouding the Mysteries into the clearest light of day. In a great and mighty Personality, the Bearer of the highest unifying Principle, of the Word - of Him who is the expression and manifestation of the hidden Father, and who taking on human form became the Son of Man and thereby the Representative of all mankind, the Bond uniting all I's - in Christos, the Life-Spirit, the Eternal Unifier, the Initiation of mankind as a whole was accomplished, as historical fact and at the same time as symbol, on the plane of feeling.

So potent was this Event that in every individual who modelled his life on it, its power could continue to work - right into the physical, expressing itself even in the appearance of the stigmata and in the most piercing pains. Feelings were shaken to their innermost depths. An intensity of emotion, the like of which has never surged through the world before or since, arose in mighty waves.

In the Initiation on the Cross of Divine Love the sacrifice of the 'I' for All had taken place. The blood, the physical expression of the 'I' had flowed in love for mankind, and the effect was such that thousands pressed forward to this Initiation, to this Death, letting their blood flow in love and devotion for mankind. That blood untold was poured out in this way has never been sufficiently emphasized; the thought no longer enters the consciousness of men, not even in theosophical circles.

Yet the waves of ardour which in this streaming blood flowed down, and then ascended, have fulfilled their task. They have become the wellsprings of powerful impulses. They have made mankind ripe for the Initiation of the Will.

And this is the legacy of Christ.

2 - General Demands ...

General Demands Which Every Aspirant For Occult Development Must Put To Himself

(Subsidiary Exercises)

In what follows, the conditions which must be the basis of any occult development are set forth. Let no one imagine that he can make progress by any measures applied to the outer or the inner life unless he fulfils these conditions. All exercises in meditation, concentration, or exercises of other kinds, are valueless, indeed in a certain respect actually harmful, if life is not regulated in accordance with these conditions.

No forces can actually be imparted to a human being; all that can be done is to bring to development the forces already within him. They do not develop of their own accord because outer and inner hindrances obstruct them. The outer hindrances are lessened by means of the following rules of life; the inner hindrances by the special instructions concerning meditation, concentration, and the like.

The first condition is the cultivation of absolutely clear thinking. For this purpose a man must rid himself of the will-o'-the-wisps of thought, even if only for a very short time during the day - about five minutes (the longer, the better). He must become the ruler in his world of thought. He is not the ruler if external circumstances, occupation, some tradition or other, social relationships, even membership of a particular race, the daily round of life, certain activities and so forth, determine a thought and how he works it out.

Therefore during this brief time, acting entirely out of his own free will, he must empty the soul of the ordinary, everyday course of thoughts and by his own initiative place one single thought at the centre of his soul. The thought need not be a particularly striking or interesting one. Indeed it will be all the better for what has to be attained in an occult respect if a thoroughly uninteresting and insignificant thought is chosen. Thinking is then impelled to act out of its own energy the essential thing here, whereas an interesting thought carries the thinking along with it. It is better if this exercise in thought-control is undertaken with a pin rather than with Napoleon.

The pupil says to himself: Now I start from this thought, and through my own inner initiative I associate with it everything that is pertinent to it. At the end of the period the thought should be just as colourful and living as it was at the beginning. This exercise is repeated day by day for at least a month; a new thought may be taken every day, or the same thought may be adhered to for several days. At the end of the exercise an endeavour is made to become fully conscious of that inner feeling of firmness and security which will soon be noticed by paying subtler attention to one's own soul; the exercise is then brought to a conclusion by focusing the thinking upon the head and the middle of the spine (brain and spinal cord), as if the feeling of security were being poured into this part of the body.

When this exercise has been practised for, say, one month, a second requirement should be added. We try to think of some action which in the ordinary course of life we should certainly not have performed. Then we make it a duty to perform this action every day. It will therefore be good to choose an action which can be performed every day and will occupy as long a period of time as possible. Again it is better to begin with some insignificant action which we have to force ourselves to perform; for example, to water at a fixed time every day a flower we have bought.

After a certain time a second, similar act should be added to the first; later, a third, and so on ... as many as are compatible with the carrying out of all other duties. This exercise, also, should last for one month. But as far as possible during this second month, too, the first exercise should continue, although it is a less paramount duty than in the first month. Nevertheless it must not be left unheeded, for otherwise it will quickly be noticed that the fruits of the first month are lost and the slovenliness of uncontrolled thinking begins again.

Care must be taken that once these fruits have been won, they are never again lost. If, through the second exercise, this initiative of action has been achieved, then, with subtle attentiveness, we become conscious of the feeling of an inner impulse of activity in the soul; we pour this feeling into the body, letting it stream down from the head to a point just above the heart.

In the third month, life should be centered on a new exercise - the development of a certain equanimity towards the fluctuations of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain; 'heights of jubilation' and 'depths of despair' should quite consciously be replaced by an equable mood. Care is taken that no pleasure shall carry us away, no sorrow plunge us into the depths, no experience lead to immoderate anger or vexation no expectation give rise to anxiety or fear, no situation disconcert us, and so on.

There need be no fear that such an exercise will make life arid and unproductive; far rather will it quickly be noticed that the experiences to which this exercise is applied are replaced by purer qualities of soul. Above all, if subtle attentiveness is maintained, an inner tranquillity in the body will one day become noticeable; as in the two cases above, we pour this feeling into the body, letting it stream from the heart, towards the hands, the feet and, finally, the head.

This naturally cannot be done after each exercise, for here it is not a matter of one single exercise but of sustained attentiveness to the inner life of the soul. Once every day, at least, this inner tranquillity should be called up before the soul and then the exercise of pouring it out from the heart should proceed. A connection with the exercises of the first and second months is maintained, as in the second month with the exercise of the first month.

In the fourth month, as a new exercise, what is sometimes called a 'positive attitude' to life should be cultivated. It consists in seeking always for the good, the praiseworthy the beautiful and the like, in all beings, all experiences, all things. This quality of soul is best characterized by a Persian legend concerning Christ Jesus. One day, as He was walking with His disciples, they saw a dead dog lying by the roadside in a state of advanced decomposition.

All the disciples turned away from the disgusting sight; Christ Jesus alone did not move but looked thoughtfully at the corpse and said: 'What beautiful teeth the animal has!' Where the others had seen only the repulsive, the unpleasant, He looked for the beautiful. So must the esoteric pupil strive to seek for the positive in every phenomenon and in every being. He will soon notice that under the veil of something repugnant there is a hidden beauty, that even under the outer guise of a criminal there is a hidden good, that under the mask of a lunatic the divine soul is somehow concealed.

In a certain respect this exercise is connected with what is called 'abstention from criticism'. This is not to be understood in the sense of calling black white and white black. There is, however, a difference between a judgment which, proceeding merely from one's own personality, is coloured with the element of personal sympathy or antipathy, and an attitude which enters lovingly into the alien phenomenon or being, always asking: How has it come to be like this or to act like this? Such an attitude will by its very nature be more set upon helping what is imperfect than upon simply finding fault and criticizing.

The objection that the very circumstances of their lives oblige many people to find fault and condemn is not valid here. For in such cases the circumstances are such that the person in question cannot go through a genuine occult training. There are indeed many circumstances in life which make occult schooling impossible, beyond a certain point. In such a case the person should not impatiently desire, in spite of everything, to make progress which is possible only under some conditions.

He who consciously turns his mind, for one month, to the positive aspect of all his experiences will gradually notice a feeling creeping into him as if his skin were becoming porous on all sides, and as if his soul were opening wide to all kinds of secret and delicate processes in his environment which hitherto entirely escaped his notice. The important point is to combat a very prevalent lack of attentiveness to these subtle things.

If it has once been noticed that the feeling described expresses itself in the soul as a kind of bliss, endeavours should be made in thought to guide this feeling to the heart and from there to let it stream into the eyes, and thence out into the space in front of and around oneself. It will be noticed that an intimate relationship to this surrounding space is thereby acquired. A man grows out of and beyond himself, as it were.

He learns to regard a part of his environment as something that belongs to him. A great deal of concentration is necessary for this exercise, and, above all, recognition of the fact that all tumultuous feelings, all passions, all over-exuberant emotions have an absolutely destructive effect upon the mood indicated. The exercises of the first months are repeated, as with the earlier months.

In the fifth month, efforts should be made to develop the feeling of confronting every new experience with complete open-mindedness. The esoteric pupil must break entirely with the attitude which, in the face of something just heard or seen, exclaims: 'I never heard that, or I never saw that, before; I don't believe it - it's an illusion.' At every moment he must be ready to encounter and accept absolutely new experiences.

What he has hitherto recognized as being in accordance with natural law, or what he has regarded as possible, should present no obstacle to the acceptance of a new truth. Although radically expressed, it is absolutely correct that if anyone were to come to the esoteric pupil and say, 'Since last night the steeple of such and such a church has been tilted right over', the esotericist should leave a loophole open for the contingency of his becoming convinced that his previous knowledge of natural law could somehow be augmented by such an apparently unprecedented fact.

If he turns his attention, in the fifth month, to developing this attitude of mind, he will notice creeping into his soul a feeling as if something were becoming alive, astir, in the space referred to in connection with the exercise for the fourth month. This feeling is exceedingly delicate and subtle. Efforts must be made to be attentive to this delicate vibration in the environment and to let it stream, as it were, through all the five senses, especially through the eyes, the ears and through the skin, in so far as the latter contains the sense of warmth.

At this stage of esoteric development, less attention is paid to the impressions made by these stimuli on the other senses of taste, snell and touch. At this stage it is still not possible to distinguish the numerous bad influences which intermingle with the good influences in this sphere; the pupil therefore leaves this for a later stage.

In the sixth month, endeavours should be made to repeat all the five exercises again, systematically and in regular alternation. In this way a beautiful equilibrium of soul will gradually develop. It will be noticed, especially, that previous dissatisfactions with certain phenomena and beings in the world completely disappear. A mood reconciling all experiences takes possession of the soul, a mood that is by no means one of indifference but, on the contrary, enables one for the first time to work in the world for its genuine progress and improvement.

One comes to a tranquil understanding of things which were formerly quite closed to the soul. The very movements and gestures of a person change under the influence of such exercises, and if, one day, he can actually observe that the character of his handwriting has altered, then he may say to himself that he is just about to reach a first rung on the upward path. Once again, two things must be stressed:

First, the six exercises described paralyse the harmful influence other occult exercises can have, so that only what is beneficial remains. Secondly, these exercises alone ensure that efforts in meditation and concentration will have a positive result. The esotericist must not rest content with fulfilling, however conscientiously, the demands of conventional morality, for that kind of morality can be extremely egotistical, if a man says: I will be good in order that I may be thought good.

The esotericist does not do what is good because he wants to be thought good, but because little by little he recognizes that the good alone brings evolution forward, and that evil, stupidity and ugliness place hindrances along its path.

3 - For The Days Of The Week

The pupil must pay careful attention to certain activities in the life of soul which in the ordinary way are carried on carelessly and inattentively. There are eight such activities.

It is naturally best to undertake only one exercise at a time, throughout a week or a fortnight, for example, then the second, and so on, then beginning over again. Meanwhile it is best for the eighth exercise to be carried out every day. True self-knowledge is then gradually achieved and any progress made is perceived.

Then later on - beginning with Saturday - one exercise lasting for about five minutes may perhaps be added daily to the eighth so that the relevant exercise will occasionally fall on the same day. Thus: Saturday - Thoughts; Sunday - Resolves; Monday - Talking; Tuesday - Actions; Wednesday - Behaviour, and so on.

Saturday

To pay attention to one's ideas.

To think only significant thoughts. To learn little by little to separate in one's thoughts the essential from the nonessential, the eternal from the transitory, truth from mere opinion.

In listening to the talk of one's fellow-men, to try and become quite still inwardly, foregoing all assent, and still more all unfavourable judgments (criticism, rejection), even in one's thoughts and feelings.

This may be called: 'Right Opinion'.

Sunday

To determine on even the most insignificant matter only after fully reasoned deliberation. All unthinking behaviour, all meaningless actions, should be kept far away from the soul. One should always have well-weighed reasons for everything. And one should definitely abstain from doing anything for which there is no significant reason.

Once one is convinced of the rightness of a decision, one must hold fast to it, with inner steadfastness.

This may be called: 'Right Judgment'.

having been formed independently of sympathies and antipathies.

Monday

Talking. Only what has sense and meaning should come from the lips of one striving for higher development. All talking for the sake of talking -to kill time - is in this sense harmful.

The usual kind of conversation, a disjointed medley of remarks, should be avoided. This does not mean shutting oneself off from intercourse with one's fellows; it is precisely then that talk should gradually be led to significance. One adopts a thoughtful attitude to every speech and answer taking all aspects into account. Never talk without cause - be gladly silent. One tries not to talk too much or too little. First listen quietly; then reflect on what has been said.

This exercise may be called: 'Right Word'.

Tuesday

External actions. These should not be disturbing for our fellow-men. Where an occasion calls for action out of one's inner being, deliberate carefully how one can best meet the occasion - for the good of the whole, the lasting happiness of man, the eternal.

Where one does things of one's own accord, out of one's own initiative: consider most thoroughly beforehand the effect of one's actions.

This is called: 'Right Deed'.

Wednesday

The ordering of life. To live in accordance with Nature and Spirit. Not to be swamped by the external trivialities of life. To avoid all that brings unrest and haste into life. To hurry over nothing, but also not to be indolent. To look on life as a means for working towards higher development and to behave accordingly.

One speaks in this connection of: 'Right Standpoint'.

Thursday

Human Endeavour. One should take care to do nothing that lies beyond one's powers - but also to leave nothing undone which lies within them.

To look beyond the everyday, the momentary, and to set oneself aims and ideals connected with the highest duties of a human being. For instance, in the sense of the prescribed exercises, to try to develop oneself so that afterwards one may be able all the more to help and advise one's fellow-men - though perhaps not in the immediate future.

This can be summed up as: 'To Let All The Foregoing Exercises Become A Habit'.

Friday

The endeavour to learn as much as possible from life.

Nothing goes by us without giving us a chance to gain experiences that are useful for life. If one has done something wrongly or imperfectly, that becomes a motive for doing it rightly or more perfectly, later on.

If one sees others doing something, one observes them with the like end in view (yet not coldly or heartlessly). And one does nothing without looking back to past experiences which can be of assistance in one's decisions and achievements.

One can learn from everyone - even from children if one is attentive.

This exercise is called: 'Right Memory'. (Remembering what has been learnt from experiences).

Summary

To turn one's gaze inwards from time to time, even if only for five minutes daily at the same time. In so doing one should sink down into oneself, carefully take counsel with oneself, test and form one's principles of life, run through in thought one's knowledge - or lack of it -weigh up one's duties, think over the contents and true purpose of life, feel genuinely pained by one's own errors and imperfections. In a word: labour to discover the essential, the enduring, and earnestly aim at goals in accord with it: for instance, virtues to be acquired. (Not to fall into the mistake of thinking that one has done something well, but to strive ever further towards the highest standards.)

This exercise is called: 'Right Examination'.

4 - Main Exercise

In the early morning, immediately after waking, before any other impressions have passed through the soul, the pupil gives himself up to his meditation. He strives for complete inner stillness, which means that all attention is withdrawn from impressions coming from outside and from all memories of everyday life. He also endeavours to free the soul from all cares and anxieties, which are apt to oppress it particularly at this time.

Then the meditation begins. In order to facilitate this inner stillness, the consciousness is first of all directed to a single idea, perhaps that of 'Rest', and then this idea is allowed to disappear from consciousness so that no image whatsoever remains in the soul; the content of the following seven lines is then allowed to live in the soul, to the exclusion of everything else. These seven lines must be held in the consciousness for five minutes. If other images intrude, the pupil keeps returning again to these seven lines, in profound contemplation:

In purest outpoured Light Shimmers the Godhead of the world. In purest Love toward all that lives Outpours the god-hood of my soul. I rest within the Godhead of the world; There shall I find myself, Within the Godhead of the world.

In den reinen Strahlen des Lichtes Erglanzt die Gottheit der Welt. In der reinen Liebe zu allen Wesen Erstrahlt die Gottlichkeit meiner Seele. Ich ruhe in der Gottheit der Welt; Ich werde mich selbst finden In der Gottheit der Welt.

After this has been practised for five minutes, the pupil goes on to the following:

He takes a calm, strong breath; after the in-breathing he breathes out, just as calmly and strongly, so that there is no pause between the in-breathing and the out-breathing. Then he abstains from breathing for a brief period, endeavouring however to let the breath remain wholly outside the body. The following are the approximate periods to be observed.

The time taken by the in-breathing is optional, to be adjusted in accordance with one's capacities. The out-breathing should take twice as long as the in-breathing, and the abstention from breathing three times as long as the in-breathing. If, for example, two seconds are needed for in-breathing, then four seconds are taken for the out-breathing, and six seconds for the abstention from breathing.

This in-breathing, out-breathing, abstention from breathing is repeated four times. During the in-breathing and the out-breathing the mind is emptied of thought and the whole consciousness directed to the breathing; but during the first abstention from breathing the pupil concentrates on the point lying between and a little behind the eyebrows, at the root of the nose, inside the forepart of the brain, while he fills his consciousness exclusively with the words:

I am.

During the second abstention from breathing he concentrates on a point inside the larynx, while he fills his consciousness exclusively with the image:

It thinks.

During the third abstention from breathing he concentrates on the two arms and hands. The hands are either held folded, or the right is laid over the left. At the same time he fills his consciousness exclusively with the image:

She feels.

During the fourth abstention from breathing he concentrates on the whole surface of the body; that is, he pictures his bodily self with the utmost possible clarity and fills his consciousness with the image:

He wills.

If these exercises in concentration are continued strenuously for several weeks, something will be felt at those points upon which the consciousness has been focused: at the root of the nose, in the larynx, a stream in the hands and arms and on the whole outer surface of the body.

During concentration upon the arms and hands the pupil will feel as if a force were driving the hands apart; he lets them go apart, following the line of the force, but he does not suggest this to himself. The feeling must come quite of itself.

In 'It thinks', the 'It' signifies the universal Cosmic Thinking which should live as impersonal power in our words. In 'She feels', the 'She' signifies the Cosmic Soul - it means that we should feel, not personally but impersonally, in the sense that the Cosmic Soul is impersonal. In 'He wills', the 'He' signifies God, within whose Will we instate our whole being.

When the pupil has carried through these four breathing exercises, he fills his consciousness for a while with one single image in which he is entirely absorbed, so that during this time nothing else whatever is present in the soul. This image is: 'My Power' or 'I in me' or 'I will'.

Then we pass on to complete absorption, for five minutes, in our own Divine Ideal. This exercise must be enacted with the utmost devotion and reverence.

The whole meditation need not last longer than fifteen minutes. In all the periods specified above, we do not go by the clock but by our feeling. Care is taken to adopt such a position of the body that the body itself cannot (because of fatigue, for instance) be a cause of distraction.

The previous Mantram in a rather more individualized form:

In purest outpoured Light Shimmers the Godhead of the world. In purest Ether fire Outpours the lofty Power that is 'I'. I rest within the Spirit of the world, There shall I find myself for ever, In the Eternal Spirit of the world.

In den reinen Strahlen des Lichtes Erglanzt die Gottheit der Welt. In dem reinen Feuer des Aethers Erstrahlt der Ichheit hohe Kraft. Ich ruhe im Geiste der Welt, Ich werde mich immer finden Im ewigen Geiste der Welt.

5 - Explanation Of The Foregoing Main Exercise

Whoever strives for esoteric development must above all be clear that certain extremely simple formulae conceal a force which takes effect if these formulae or sentences are made alive in the soul. He does not rightly grasp what this implies if he tries to understand such sentences merely with the intellect.

That way they say very little to him, to begin with. He must for a certain time fill his whole inner being with such a sentence, pouring himself into it with all the powers of his soul. Such a sentence is: 'I am'.

The whole secret of present-day human existence really lies in this sentence. Only a being possessed of an external form similar to that of earthly man today is able to think, feel and imbue these words with will. The form of such a being must have developed in such a way that the goal of all the forces working in the body was the frontward shape of the vaulted brow. This vaulted brow and the 'I am' belong together.

Earlier in the evolution of the human form there was a stage when it had not yet pressed forward into such a brow. At that time the 'I am' could be neither inwardly thought, nor willed, nor felt. Now it would be quite wrong to believe that the form of the body, as described above, could itself bring forth the 'I am'.

This 'I am' was already in existence, only it could not yet express itself in an appropriate form. Just as it now expresses itself in the bodily form of man, so, in an earlier time, it expressed itself in a world of soul. And it is this very power of the 'I am' which, having united in the far-distant past with a human body lacking the present brow-formation, impelled the forehead to assume its present shape.

Hence it is that a man, by sinking deeply into the 'I am', can feel within himself the force which has moulded him in his present form. And this force is higher than the forces which, in his ordinary life, are active within him today. For it is the creative force of soul which forms the bodily nature out of the soul.

Anyone, therefore, who is aiming at esotericism must, for a short period, live entirely in the 'I am'. He must think this 'I am', while at the same time he experiences within himself something like: 'I rejoice that I, as an independent being, can participate in the work of shaping the world'. And he must also experience something like: 'I will my own existence; I resolve to place myself in the whole context of the world'.

If a man concentrates all this into a single, inner act of consciousness, and at the same time shifts the whole force of his consciousness upwards into the region of the brow and the inner members of the brain beneath it, then he actually transfers himself into a higher world out of which his brow-formation has been brought into being.

Let him not think, however, that he can attain these higher worlds tomorrow morning. He must have the patience to undertake this meditation day by day, over and over again, for a long time. If he has this patience, then, after some time, he will notice a thought arising within him - no longer a mere concept but a thought teeming with life and force. He will be able to say to himself: 'The force contained in the seed of a plant, impelling it to form the organs of the plant, must be inwardly alive, just like this thought of mine'. And soon this thought will reveal itself to him as if it were radiating light.

In this inner radiation of light he feels happy, full of the joy of existence. A feeling permeates him which can only be described as joyful love in creative existence'. And a force imparts itself to the will as if the thought were radiating warmth through the will, energizing the will. All this can be drawn from sinking himself in the right way into the 'I am'. He will gradually realize that the highest intellectual, psychical and moral power comes to birth in him in this way, and that he thereby brings himself into a more and more conscious relationship to a higher world.

A second such sentence is: 'It thinks'. This 'It thinks' represents - in a way that corresponds to the account given of the 'I am' - the force through which the form of the human speech-organs has been developed from the higher worlds. When thinking was still functioning in a higher world of soul, and not yet within a human body, it worked from that higher world in such a way that organs of speech not yet existing in the human form were incorporated into it.

If, therefore, the esoteric pupil sends his thinking, feeling and willing into the depths of the 'It thinks', at the same time concentrating his consciousness on the region of the larynx, there will arise in him an experience of the creative force of soul which, from the higher worlds, manifested in the creation of the organs of speech.

If again he has the patience described above, he will experience how from the 'It thinks' rays go forth which are like the opening harmonies of spiritual music; they fill him with a feeling of reverent devotion, and at the same time with a force which tells him: 'What I will, as man, will gradually increase in wisdom.' An inkling will come to him of that force which as divine-spiritual force pours itself through the Cosmos, ordering all things according to measure, number and weight.

A third sentence is 'She feels'. In still earlier times, the force of this sentence, too, was not yet present within man but dwelt in a higher world of soul. Working down from that higher world, it re-cast the form of the human body. Until then there had been no difference between hands and feet; they were identically shaped organs of movement.

Hence man had not yet attained his upright posture. It was a great step forward in human evolution when his anterior organs of movement were transformed into organs for manual work. He was then able to assume his upright posture and so to overcome his lower nature, inasmuch as his gaze was now directed out and upwards towards the heavenly worlds of Spirit. Thereby, too, he first became capable of fashioning karma. For it is only when a being possesses this particular form that his deeds come within his own, individual responsibility.

Thus it was that Spiritual Beings transformed man as the force of the 'She feels', which had previously reposed in them alone, streamed into the human body. If therefore the esoteric pupil sinks himself into the 'She feels', again in the way described above, he raises himself to the corresponding Creative Powers of the higher worlds. But together with the 'She feels' he must concentrate the whole of his consciousness on his arms and hands.

Out of the thought 'She feels' an experience of indescribably blissful life will then stream to him. This feeling can be described as that of 'love in active existence'. Thereby he attains consciousness of how the Creative Love flows through cosmic space, and by its deed pours into all things the breath of life.

A fourth sentence is 'He wills'. It was by the force of this sentence that in a primeval past the human body, as a whole, was for the first time separated out as an independent being from its environment.

Before this force worked upon it from higher worlds, the human body was not shut off on all sides by an outer skin. Streams of substance flowed into the body from all sides and out of it again. It had no independent life but was entirely immersed in the life of its environment.

In that epoch, of course, the environment was quite different from that of our own time. If the esoteric pupil now again sinks all his thinking, feeling and willing into the 'He wills', concentrating his consciousness on the whole surface of the outer skin, he transfers himself gradually into the sublime creative forces of the 'He wills'.

These are the forces of the supersensible world whereby the things of the world of sense are given their form and shape. If he has sufficient endurance, the human being will feel, in the deeply inward experience of this thought, as if he were raised above all sensible-corporeal existence and were looking down upon the field of sense-creation in order to work upon it in conformity with the Divine Thoughts attained in the spiritual world.

The force proceeding from this thought is that of being joyously transported into pure spirituality, and the attainment of a consciousness that out of higher regions one can bring to the world of sense that of which it stands in need.

As he engrosses himself deeply in these thoughts that are forces, the esotericist will simultaneously have to focus attention on his breathing-process and, for a short time, transform it from an unconscious process into a consciously regulated act.

For while the forces working from higher worlds upon the human form were achieving the transformation indicated, these same forces produced, within this form, the present breathing-system - the system necessary for a being whose body has an independent existence, the work of whose hands is his own responsibility, whose organs of speech can translate experiences in the life of soul into externally audible sounds. The ascent into the higher regions of world-creation is furthered by directing the attention in this way to the breathing process.

If the esoteric pupil learns by degrees thus to experience consciously the higher cosmic forces, which indeed are always slumbering within him but of which he has hitherto been unaware, then what he should already have assimilated through study becomes alive in him, begins to glimmer into perceptible reality. He should already have acquired the knowledge that man, together with the evolution of the Earth as a whole, passed through different stages of transformation before the present Earth came into being.

These stages of transformation are called: the Saturn condition, the Sun condition, the Moon condition. The esotericist has also to acquire the knowledge that in later epochs there is a certain recapitulation of earlier conditions. Thus the Saturn, Sun and Moon conditions were recapitulated during the Earth-evolution, and in such a way that the Saturn repetition corresponds to the creative work of the 'He wills' on the outer sheath of the human being. The Sun recapitulation corresponds to the creative work of the 'She feels' on the arms and hands, and the Moon recapitulation to the creative work of the 'It thinks' on the organs of speech.

The idea of the human body as a mere product of the sense-world is abandoned, and the esotericist finds his way to vision of those higher worlds whence come the forces that work creatively upon man. So, too, the bare concepts which have been acquired of such matters as Saturn, Sun and Moon become actual perceptions and experiences. And so indeed it must be if the way is to be found more and more from the exoteric to the esoteric.

The exercises given here must of course be regarded only as a beginning. The pupil must, however, work strenuously through them, and then he will reach the point where he can receive the further exercises through which still higher forces that slumber within him are awakened. The aim is to gain an inkling of the spiritual facts which underline the words, 'I am', 'I think', 'She feels', 'I will', and to feel their connection with the members of the human body, whose form has arisen from out of the spiritual world.

It should be added, for information, that in the above Words of Power, the three forms

IT-SHE-HE

are well founded in the nature of the higher worlds.

'It' is the Word of Power for the Cosmic Thinking: that is, for those Beings in the higher world to whom creative thinking belongs in just the same measure as sense-perception belongs to the human beings below them.

'She' is the Word of Power for the Cosmic Soul which originates the Feeling that streams out from it, whereas human feeling streams in, being stimulated from outside. This Feeling of the World Soul is the Creative Cosmic Love which brings all things into existence.

'He' is the Word of Power for the Cosmic Will, the Cosmic Spirit whose Will acts from out of Himself, whereas the human will is brought into action through the outer world. This 'He' is the Creative, Archetypal Power of the World.

The Science of Eternity

2007-11-14T04:44:00.000-06:00

William Blake - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

2007-11-13T23:03:00.000-06:00

The Argument

Engraved circa 1790

Rintrah roars, and shakes his fires in the burden'd air;
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

Once meek, and in a perilous path,
The just man kept his course along
The vale of death.
Roses are planted where thorns grow,
And on the barren heath

Sing the honey bees.

Then the perilous path was planted,
And a river and a spring
On every cliff and tomb,
And on the bleachèd bones
Red clay brought forth;

Till the villain left the paths of ease,
To walk in perilous paths, and drive
The just man into barren climes.

Now the sneaking serpent walks
In mild humility,
And the just man rages in the wilds
Where lions roam.

Rintrah roars, and shakes his fires in the burden'd air;
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years since its
advent, the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is the Angel
sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up. Now
is the dominion of Edom, and the return of Adam into Paradise. See
Isaiah xxxi v and xxxv chap.

Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason
and Energy, Love and Hate, are
necessary to Human existence.

From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil.
Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is
the active springing from Energy.

Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.

All Bibles or sacred codes have been the causes of the following Errors:-
That Man has two real existing principles, viz. a Body and a Soul.

That Energy, call'd Evil, is alone from the Body; and that Reason,
call'd Good, is alone from the Soul.

That God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Energies. But
the following Contraries to these are True:-

Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a
portion of Soul discern'd by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul
in this age.

Energy is the only life, and is from the Body; and Reason is the bound
or outward circumference of Energy.

Energy is Eternal Delight.

Those who restrain Desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be
restrained; and the restrainer or Reason Usurps its place and governs
the unwilling.And being restrained, it by degrees becomes passive,
till it is only the shadow of Desire.The history of this is written in
Paradise Lost, and the Governor or Reason is call'd Messiah.And the
original Archangel, or possessor of the command of the Heavenly Host,
is call'd the Devil or Satan, and

his children are call'd Sin and Death.But in the Book of Job, Milton's
Messiah is called Satan.For this history has been adopted by both
parties.It indeed appear'd to Reason as if Desire was cast out; but
theDevil's account is, that the Messiah fell, and formed a Heaven of
what he stole from the Abyss.This is shown in the Gospel, where he
prays to the Father to send the Comforter, or Desire, that Reason may

have Ideas to build on; the Jehovah of the Bible being no other than
he who dwells in flaming fire.
Know that after Christ's death, he became Jehovah.
But in Milton, the Father is Destiny, the Son a Ratio of the five
senses, and the Holy-ghost Vacuum!

Note. The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels and
God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true
Poet, and of the Devil's party without knowing it.

As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the
enjoyments of Genius, which to Angels look like torment and insanity,
I collected some of their Proverbs; thinking that as the sayings used
in a nation mark its character, so the Proverbs of Hell show the
nature of Infernal wisdom better than any description of buildings or
garments.

When I came home, on the abyss of the five senses, where a flatsided
steep frowns over the present world, I saw a mighty Devil, folded in
black clouds, hovering on the sides of the rock; with corroding fires
he wrote the following sentence now perceived by the minds of men, and
read by them on earth:-

How do you know but ev'ry Bird that cuts the airy way,
Is an immense World of Delight, clos'd by your senses five?

Proverbs of Hell

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.Drive your cart
and your plough over the bones of the dead.The road of excess leads to
the palace of wisdom.Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by
Incapacity.He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.The cut worm
forgives the plough.Dip him in the river who loves water.A fool sees
not the same tree that a wise man sees.He whose face gives no light,
shall never become a star.Eternity is in love with the productions of
time.The busy bee has no time for sorrow.The hours of folly are
measur'd by the clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure.All
wholesome food is caught without a net or a trap.Bring out number,
weight, and measure in a year of dearth.No bird soars too high, if he
soars with his own wings.A dead body revenges not injuries.The most
sublime act is to set another before you.If the fool would persist in
its folly he would become wise.Folly is the cloak of knavery.Shame is
Pride's cloak .Prisons are built with stones of law, brothels with
bricks of Religion.The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.The
lust of the goat is the bounty of God.The wrath of the lion is the
wisdom of God.The nakedness of woman is the work of God.Excess of
sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps.The roaring of lions, the howling
of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword are
portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.The fox condemns the
trap, not himself.Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.Let man wear
the fell of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep.The bird a nest,
the spider a web, man friendship.The selfish, smiling fool, and the
sullen, frowning fool shall be both thought wise, that they may be a
rod.What is now proved was once only imagin'd.

The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit watch the roots; the lion, the
tiger, the horse, the elephant watch the fruits.The cistern contains:
the fountain overflows.One thought fills immensity.Always be ready to
speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.Everything possible to
be believ'd is an image of truth.The eagle never lost so much time as
when he submitted to learn of the crow.The fox provides for himself;
but God provides for the lion.Think in the morning. Act in the noon.
Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.He who has suffer'd you to
impose on him, knows you.As the plough follows words, so God rewards
prayers.The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of
instruction.Expect poison from the standing water.You never know what
is enough unless you know what is more than enough.Listen to the fools
reproach! it is a kingly title!The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air,
the mouth of water, the beard of earth.The weak in courage is strong
in cunning.The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow; nor
the lion, the horse, how he shall take his prey.The thankful receiver
bears a plentiful harvest.If others had not been foolish, we should be
so.The soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd.When thou seest an
eagle, thou seest a portion of Genius; lift up thy head!As the
caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the
priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.To create a little flower is
the labour of ages.Damn braces. Bless relaxes.The best wine is the
oldest, the best water the newest.Prayers plough not! Praises reap
not!Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not!The head Sublime, the heart
Pathos, the genitals Beauty, the hands and feet Proportion.As the air
to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.

The crow wish'd everything was black, the owl that everything was white.
Exuberance is Beauty.
If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning.
Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without
improvement are roads of Genius.

Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.
Where man's not, nature is barren.
Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.
Enough! or Too much.

The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses,
calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of
woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their
enlarged and numerous senses could perceive.

And particularly they studied the Genius of each city and country,
placing it under its Mental Deity;

Till a System was formed, which some took advantage of, and enslav'd
the vulgar by attempting to realise or abstract the Mental Deities
from their objects--thus began Priesthood;

Choosing forms of worship from poetic tables .

And at length they pronounc'd that the Gods had order'd such things.
Thus men forgot that All Deities reside in the Human breast.

The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how
they dared so roundly to assert that God spoke to them; and whether
they did not think at the time that they would be misunderstood, and
so be the cause of imposition.

Isaiah answer'd: `I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical
perception; but my senses discover'd the infinite in everything, and
as I was then persuaded, and remain confirm'd, that the voice of
honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences,
but wrote.'

Then I asked: `Does a firm persuasion that a thing is so, make it so?'

He replied: `All Poets believe that it does, and in ages of
imagination this firm persuasion removed mountains; but many are not
capable of a firm persuasion of anything.'

Then Ezekiel said: `The philosophy of the East taught the first
principles of human perception. Some nations held one principle for
the origin, and some another: we of Israel taught that the Poetic
Genius (as you now call it) was the first principle and all the others
merely derivative, which was the cause of our despising the Priests
and Philosophers of other countries, and prophesying that all Gods
would at last be proved to originate in ours and to be the tributaries
of the Poetic Genius. It was this that our great poet, King David,
desired so fervently and invokes so pathetically, saying by this he
conquers enemies and governs kingdoms; and we so loved our God, that
we cursed in his name all the Deities of surrounding nations, and
asserted that they had rebelled. From these opinions the vulgar came
to think that all nations would at last be subject to the Jews.'

`This,' said he, `like all firm persuasions, is come to pass; for all
nations believe the Jews' code and worship the Jews' god, and what
greater subjection can be?'

I heard this with some wonder, and must confess my own conviction.
After dinner I ask'd Isaiah to favour the world with his lost works;
he said none of equal value was lost. Ezekiel said the same of his.

I also asked Isaiah what made him go naked and barefoot three years.
He answer'd: `The same that made our friend Diogenes, the Grecian.'

I then asked Ezekiel why he ate dung, and lay so long on his right and
left side. He answer'd, `The desire of raising other men into a
perception of the infinite: this the North American tribes practise,
and is he honest who resists his genius or conscience only for the
sake of present ease or gratification?'

The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the
end of six thousand years is true, as I have heard from Hell.

For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his
guard at tree of life; and when he does, the whole creation will be
consumed and appear infinite and holy, whereas it now appears finite
and corrupt.

This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment.

But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to
be expunged; this I shall do by printing in the infernal method, by
corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent
surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to
man as it is, infinite.

For man has closed himself up till he sees all things thro' narrow
chinks of his cavern.

I was in a Printing-house in Hell, and saw the method in which
knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.

In the first chamber was a Dragon-Man, clearing away the rubbish from
a cave's mouth; within, a number of Dragons were hollowing the cave.

In the second chamber was a Viper folding round the rock and the cave,
and others adorning it with gold, silver, and precious stones.

In the third chamber was an Eagle with wings and feathers of air: he
caused the inside of the cave to be infinite. Around were numbers of
Eagle-like men who built palaces in the immense cliffs.

In the fourth chamber were Lions of flaming fire, raging around and
melting the metals into living fluids.

In the fifth chamber were Unnamed forms, which cast the metals into
the expanse.

There they were received by Men who occupied the sixth chamber, and
took the forms of books and were arranged in libraries.

The Giants who formed this world into its sensual existence, and now
seem to live in it in chains, are in truth the causes of its life and
the sources of all activity; but the chains are the cunning of weak
and tame minds which have power to resist energy. According to the
proverb, the weak in courage is strong in cunning.

Thus one portion of being is the Prolific, the other the Devouring. To
the Devourer it seems as if the producer was in his chains; but it is
not so, he only takes portions of existence and fancies that the
whole.

But the Prolific would cease to be Prolific unless the Devourer, as a
sea, received the existence of his delights.

Some will say: `Is not God alone the Prolific?' I answer: `God only
Acts and Is, in existing beings or Men.'

These two classes of men are always upon earth, and they should be
enemies: whoever tries to reconcile them seeks to destroy existence.

Religion is an endeavour to reconcile the two.

Note. Jesus Christ did not wish to unite, but to separate them, as in
the Parable of sheep and goats! And He says: `I came not to send
Peace, but a Sword.'

Messiah or Satan or Tempter was formerly thought to be one of the
Antediluvians who are our Energies .

An Angel came to me and said: `O pitiable, foolish young man! O
horrible! O dreadful state! Consider the hot, burning dungeon thou art
preparing for thyself to all Eternity, to which thou art going in such
career.'

I said, `Perhaps you will be willing to show me my eternal lot, and we
will contemplate together upon it, and see whether your lot or mine is
most desirable.'

So he took me thro' a stable, and thro' a church, and down into the
church vault, at the end of which was a mill. Thro' the mill we went,
and came to a cave. Down the winding cavern we groped our tedious way,
till a void boundless as a nether sky appear'd beneath us, and we held
by the roots of trees, and hung over this immensity. But I said: `If
you please, we will commit ourselves to this void, and see whether
Providence is here also. If you will not, I will.' But he answer'd:
`Do not presume, O young man, but as we here remain, behold thy lot
which will soon appear when the darkness passes away.'

So I remain'd with him, sitting in the twisted root of an oak. He was
suspended in a fungus, which hung with the head downward into the
deep.

By degrees we beheld the infinite Abyss, fiery as the smoke of a
burning city; beneath us, at an immense distance, was the sun, black
but shining; but round it were fiery tracks on which revol'd vast
spiders, crawling after their prey, which flew, or rather swum, in the
infinite deep, in the most terrific shapes of animals sprung from
corruption; and the air was full of them, and seem'd composed of them
--these are Devils, and are called Powers of the Air. I now asked my
companion which was my eternal lot? He said: `Between the black and
white spiders.'

But now, from between the black and white spiders, a cloud and fire
burst and rolled thro' the deep, blackening all beneath; so that the
nether deep grew black as a sea, and rolled with a terrible noise.
Beneath us was nothing now to be seen but a black tempest, till
looking East between the clouds and the waves we saw a cataract of
blood mixed with fire, and not many stones' throw from us appear'd and
sunk again the scaly fold of a monstrous serpent. At last, to the
East, distant about three degrees, appear'd a fiery crest above the
waves. Slowly it reared like a ridge of golden rocks, till we
discover'd two globes of crimson fire, from which the sea fled away in
clouds of smoke; and now we saw it was the head of Leviathan. His
forehead was divided into streaks of green and purple like those on a
tiger's forehead. Soon we saw his mouth and red gills hang just above
the raging foam, tinging the black deep with beams of blood, advancing
toward us with all the fury of a Spiritual Existence.

My friend the Angel climb'd up from his station into the mill: I
remain'd alone, and then this appearance was no more; but I found
myself sitting on a pleasant bank beside a river, by moonlight,
hearing a harper, who sung to the harp; and his theme was: `The man
who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds
reptiles of the mind.'

But I arose and sought for the mill, and there I found my Angel, who,
surprised, asked me how I escaped.

I answer'd: `All that we saw was owing to your metaphysics; for when
you ran away, I found myself on a bank by moonlight hearing a harper.
But now we have seen my eternal lot, shall I show you yours?' He
laugh'd at my proposal; but I, by force, suddenly caught him in my
arms, and flew westerly thro' the night, till we were elevated above
the earth's shadow; then I flung myself with him directly into the
body of the sun. Here I clothed myself in white, and taking in my hand
Swedenborg's volumes, sunk from the glorious clime, and passed all the
planets till we came to Saturn. Here I stay'd to rest, and then leap'd
into the void between Saturn and the fixed stars.

`Here,' said I, `is your lot, in this space--if space it may be
call'd.' Soon we saw the stable and the church, and I took him to the
altar and open'd the Bible, and lo! it was a deep pit, into which I
descended, driving the Angel before me. Soon we saw seven houses of
brick. One we enter'd; in it were a number of monkeys, baboons, and
all of that species, chain'd by the middle, grinning and snatching at
one another, but withheld by the shortness of their chains. However, I
saw that they sometimes grew numerous, and then the weak were caught
by the strong, and with a grinning aspect, first coupled with, and
then devour'd, by plucking off first one limb and then another, till
the body was left a helpless trunk. This, after grinning and kissing
it with seeming fondness, they devour'd too; and here and there I saw
one savourily picking the flesh off of his own tail. As the stench
terribly annoy'd us both, we went into the mill, and I in my hand
brought the skeleton of a body, which in the mill was Aristotle's
Analytics.

So the Angel said: `Thy phantasy has imposed upon me, and thou oughest
to be ashamed.'

I answer'd: `We impose on one another, and it is but lost time to
converse with you whose works are only Analytics.'

Thus Swedenborg boasts that what he writes is new; tho' it is only the
Contents or Index of already publish'd books.

A man carried a monkey about for a show, and because he was a little
wiser than the monkey, grew vain, and conceiv'd himself as much wiser
than seven men. It is so with Swedenborg: he shows the folly of
churches, and exposes hypocrites, till he imagines that all are
religious, and himself the single one on earth that ever broke a net.

Now hear a plain fact: Swedenborg has not written one new truth. Now
hear another: he has written all the old falsehoods.

And now hear the reason. He conversed with Angels who are all
religious, and conversed not with Devils who all hate religion, for he
was incapable thro' his conceited notions.

Thus Swedenborg's writings are a recapitulation of all superficial
opinions, and an analysis of the more s ublime-but no further.

Have now another plain fact. Any man of mechanical talents may, from
the writings of Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand
volumes of equal value with Swedenborg's, and from those of Dante or
Shakespear an infinite number.

But when he has done this, let him not say that he knows better than
his master, for he only holds a candle in sunshine.

Once I saw a Devil in a flame of fire, who arose before an Angel that
sat on a cloud, and the Devil utter'd these words:-

`The worship of God is: Honouring his gifts in other men, each
according to his genius, and loving the greatest men best: those who
envy or calumniate great men hate God; for there is no other God.'

The Angel hearing this became almost blue; but mastering himself he
grew yellow, and at last white, pink, and smiling, and then replied:-

`Thou Idolater! is not God One? and is not he visible in Jesus Christ?
and has not Jesus Christ given his sanction to the law of ten
commandments? and are not all other men fools, sinners, and nothings?'

The Devil answer'd: `Bray a fool in a mortar with wheat, yet shall not
his folly be beaten out of him. If Jesus Christ is the greatest man,
you ought to love Him in the greatest degree. Now hear how He has
given His sanction to the law of ten commandments. Did He not mock at
the sabbath, and so mock the sabbath's God; murder those who were
murder'd because of Him; turn away the law from the woman taken in
adultery; steal the labour of others to support Him; bear false
witness when he omitted making a defence before Pilate; covet when he
pray'd for his disciples, and when He bid them shake off the dust of
their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no
virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments. Jesus was
all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.'

When he had so spoken, I beheld the Angel, who stretched out his arms,
embracing the flame of fire, and he was consumed, and arose as Elijah.

Note.-- This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular
friend. We often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical
s ense, which the world shall have if they behave well.

I have also the Bible of Hell, which the world shall have whether they
will or no.

One Law for the Lion and Ox is Oppression. In seed time learn, in
harvest teach, in winter enjoy.Drive your cart and your plough over
the bones of the dead.The road of excess leads to the palace of
wisdom.Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.He who
desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.The cut worm forgives the
plough.Dip him in the river who loves water.A fool sees not the same
tree that a wise man sees.He whose face gives no light, shall never
become a star.Eternity is in love with the productions of time.The
busy bee has no time for sorrow.The hours of folly are measur'd by the
clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure.All wholesome food is
caught without a net or a trap.Bring out number, weight, and measure
in a year of dearth.No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own
wings.A dead body revenges not injuries.The most sublime act is to set
another before you.If the fool would persist in its folly he would
become wise.Folly is the cloak of knavery.Shame is Pride's cloak
.Prisons are built with stones of law, brothels with bricks of
Religion.The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.The lust of the
goat is the bounty of God.The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of
God.The nakedness of woman is the work of God.Excess of sorrow laughs.
Excess of joy weeps.The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the
raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword are portions of
eternity too great for the eye of man.The fox condemns the trap, not
himself.Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.Let man wear the fell of
the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep.The bird a nest, the spider a
web, man friendship.The selfish, smiling fool, and the sullen,
frowning fool shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod.What
is now proved was once only imagin'd.