Spirited (18 page)

An intuiting Witch will often go through a series of meditative exercises to familiarise themselves with the space they are working in and to also feel for the elements. The Witch generally focuses on a particular element and rotates on the spot, feeling for the direction in which the energy is felt most strongly.

This system is most applicable when there is no way of knowing, astronomically or otherwise, which direction is which. Without this knowledge, both the symbolical and traditional systems are nonapplicable. If you have no compass or knowledge of the constellations and the stars, this system will prove a great ally on those rare occasions when you find yourself lost in the middle of the woods.

Quick Circle:
For the Witch on the Run!

For those who have very little time and who still wish to cast a circle or simply attune to their surroundings, the following quick, easy alternative will serve well:

You will need:

Yourself

Rock salt or another purifying substance, e.g., rosemary sprigs

Kneel, sit, or stand and hold the rock salt in your power hand. Now visualise white light surrounding your power hand and the salt, and imbue it with energy. Sprinkle a portion of the salt deosil in a small circle in front of you, and say:

As the microcosm …

Now quickly hurl the remaining salt in an outward and deosil direction all around you while saying:

… is to the macrocosm, so my circle is bound and blessed. So mote it be!

Visualise the energy held within the small circle suddenly expanding and surrounding your entire being. The circle is cast.

To open the circle, visualise the circle's energy condensing back to the small circle, and then slowly pick up the grains of salt in a widdershins manner, imagining that the energy is becoming dimmer, until on the final grain it completely disappears. You may either reuse the salt or bury it (away from any garden beds or lush grass).

This is a simple exercise that will allow you to experience the wonder and movement of energy when your time is restricted or you may be in danger. If it is the latter, you need to be realistic and understand that the circle will not protect you from your offender if you have openly performed the casting in front of them. If they did not see you cast the circle, though, chances are that they will never find you, as the protection function works to deter attention and cloak you in shadow.

Note for the Wayward

I am very much aware that the ritualistic casting of the circle may not provide you with the sustenance that other rites (according to your practice) may do. For example, to purify my working space before a ritual or devotion, I use a reconstructed version of an ancient Greek ritual, as it suits my spirituality and honours my pantheon. In fact, not all traditions of Magick believe that a circle is necessary to achieve success in a working.

It is not within my experience or knowledge to provide a space-cleanse or personal preparation that will deal with all Pagan traditions. It is essentially up to you to gather the information from reputable sources and to engage in exercises and ceremonies that will help to centre the mind and connect you with your personal deities. See the appendix for some literary aid.

Ritual Guidelines for the Practical Pagan

There are some Pagans who just can't fit enough into their circle and there are others who cringe at the thought of burdening their ritual space with unnecessary paraphernalia. The former is the obsessive, twenty-four-degrees-right-of-Capricorn Pagan and the latter, the practical Pagan.

If I had to choose to identify with either group, I would side with the latter, as I just can't get my head around some of the correspondences some people come up with nowadays! It is ludicrous to focus solely on the trappings of ritual, as this negates the very reason for ritual itself.

Ritual opens channels of communication within the self and with the divine. How are the gods going to be able to fit into your circle (figuratively speaking) when your tools have taken all the space? We need to return to our roots, reconnect with Mother Earth, and celebrate life. All you need is yourself and your gods.

Below, you will find guidelines and insight into the stages of ritual. This requires no materials except for the bare minimum.

Purification of the Self

Sometimes it's not possible to take luxurious baths or fast for days on end; however, to fully experience ritual, you will need to be prepared in some way.

To begin with, give yourself a few minutes to focus inward. Deep breathing and corresponding visualisations (such as coloured breathing
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) should draw your senses to a pinpoint of cohesion that becomes the void. Exist wholly within that void, and all thoughts will soon evaporate. Embrace the totality and nothingness of the void, and dissolve all boundaries and limitations.

Other than the above, you may wish to simply wash your face with warm water while surrendering the stress and exertion of the day to the intoxication of spiritual enlightenment.

Honouring the Spirits of the Land

As discussed previously, respect is a fundamental aspect of Paganism, and having respect for the land and its ancestral ties is a given. Whether you are indigenous yourself, a recent migrant to a country, or descended from the latter, you dwell upon a land that has a history and a people who have become, over time, inextricably linked to it.

In Australia, we have a history of racial dispute over land “ownership.” Before the First Fleet arrived on the shores of Botany Bay in 1788, people were already living in Australia—and had been for at least 60,000 years. They were and are the Australian Aborigines.

When the British arrived in Australia, heated skirmishes
broke out
between them and the Aboriginal people. The Aborigines were understandably disoriented by the sudden appearance of a white-skinned race.
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Over time, the Aboriginal people were subdued, and a very high percentage were decimated in an effort to be rid of what was considered to be a distraction to settlement. Later on, various governmental policies were introduced in order to “protect” the Aborigines from being brutalised in the white colonies, and so they were provided with base domestic housing and rations on reserves. “Half-caste” children were forcibly taken from their families and given to white homes in an effort to assimilate them into British society. This has left the land severely traumatised.

In an effort to reconcile the land with its current inhabitants, it is essential that we care for it and honour it as our provider and our nurturer. NeoPagan ritual is inspired predominantly by European traditions, and the connection with the invading British is an obvious one that may make the sensitive practitioner uncomfortable. However, our traditions do not demand the desecration of another's holy place or indigenous culture. There is now a tendency to acknowledge the land's ancestral spirits before we invoke our own deities.

Pagan spirituality is rooted in the earth and is comprised of indigenous traditions. There are many who do not agree that we should have to acknowledge the spirits of the local indigenous people, as Pagans already honour the Great Spirit and Mother Earth in our rites. However, I suggest researching the history of your country and familiarising yourself with the native culture/s. Come to terms with the possibly violent relationships harboured between the invading foreigners and the local people, and seek to bring back the balance.

You may use the following as a guideline in writing your own statement of honour:

Stand before your altar, and quietly concentrate on the natural vibration of the land around you. Silently acknowledge the ancestral spirits, and recite the following:

I stand, a Pagan of the Path, before my altar adorned in the symbols of my spirit and my gods. In this, I acknowledge my right to practice what is meaningful to me in this place and time. I honour and offer my services to the land upon which I walk, and thus do I decree to the spirits of the native realm that I do so in truth and in respect of you. Great Ones of the land whose soil I now call my own, may you be with me and rejoice in my celebration of the earth. So be it forever. Blessed are my words and my charge. Hail!

Casting the Circle/Creating Sacred Space

Not all Pagans cast circles and neither do all Witches. In fact, for a while I rarely ever did so unless I was celebrating a sabbat or esbat. Nowadays, casting the circle is very important to me.

When blessing my space, I begin with cleansing my altar, myself, and the space by invoking the primal fire and calling upon its light and transformation. I then asperge with holy water to send away negativity and to invite in purity. I then trace a circle in the air with my stang and become the world tree. After this, I light incense and circle deosil, calling upon the lines of my ancestry and upon the spirits and gods that know me through blood. At the culmination, I cast the circle, thrice declaring that I am between the worlds. I then invoke the elements and the guardians, deities, and totems I associate with each direction.

Like me, you may not identify as Wiccan (in fact, you may not identify as a Witch), and perhaps it is not within your interests to follow what has become the generic preclude to many NeoPagan workings. For instance, if you are drawn to the reconstructionist ideals, you may wish to resurrect ancient cleansing rituals.

Many ancient Pagan practices draw upon their cosmologies to acknowledge sacred space. The old trinity of land, sky, and sea in the Celtic traditions is seen as encompassing all, and each realm is home to its own special kind of Magick. After calling upon my bloodlines and my ancestral gods, I finish by saying, “By the land, by the sky, by the sea—by the ancient trinity, so mote it be.”

Statement of Purpose

Stating the purpose of your ritual and clarifying your intentions sets the scene for the rest of the play.

The statement of purpose can be performed in a number of ways. For instance, during a sabbat I usually like to write an introduction including the seasonal symbolism, history, and traditional lore and customs of the particular festival. It's a way to familiarise yourself and those around you by giving meaning to your intent. Below is the statement of purpose I wrote for Mabon in 2004:

Here, between the worlds, where the dark and light are lovers and time and space are but fickle memories, we are free and beautiful. It is here that we honour Mabon and his day. Today, the gods of wine and death shall be revered, for such is their importance in the eternal circle. Without death there may not be life, and without life there may not be
pleasure
.

An ancient mystery is here between us; we Nature-folk know of this day as honouring Mabon, the great son. Others may know this day as the Autumn Equinox, when night and day are in balance, yet from here onward the darkness will wax and the god will remove his mantle of summer and move into the Underworld to meet with his dark self, the Lord of the Dead. It is also the second of three harvest festivals in the Pagan Wheel of the Year, the final completion of summer harvest and the beginning of autumn's.

In the ancient Welsh myth, it is said that at three nights of age, Mabon was abducted from his mother, Modron, the Great Mother. Distraught, she wept for him, not knowing the secret that Mabon was safe, peaceful, and alive, renewed in the form of the promised light within her own womb. Then, the five ancient beings stirred to restore Mabon to the glory of life: the majestic eagle, the silent owl, the keen blackbird, the gracious stag, and the wise salmon.

This day, we look within ourselves—as you have, Mabon. This day, we reflect on all that is beautiful and all that is harrowing in our lives. May our celebration bring resolve and balance, for this day is for the great son and the second harvest.

Poetry is another appropriate method of stating the purpose. Set aside a moment of reflection, and write down any words that come to mind when you focus on the celebration. Whether or not they are relevant does not matter, as they may come in handy when you least expect it. After this activity, begin to form the basic structure of your poem. Make use of the words and images you recorded to flesh out the poem.

You should now be well aware of what you want to achieve through the ritual and what it means to you. Speak your statement of purpose with vigour and confidence.

Invocation

Invocation has two working definitions. The first describes the act of calling to a deity in order to attract their presence and/or to petition a specific need or desire. The second has been called
aspecting
by some, but perhaps
possession
is the more appropriate term.

For both kinds of invocation, you will need to be well prepared. Before invoking any being, you will need to have done a good amount of research. Familiarise yourself with the history, rites, lore, and qualities of the deity or being. If you wanted, you could meditate on the deity for a few minutes each day before the ritual. Aspecting is a serious act that requires a great degree of responsibility on your part. The first time I consciously invited another being to enter my body during ritual was a truly amazing experience. Despite all the Hollywood portrayals of possession and invocation, there is something much more subtle and yet overwhelmingly intense about having the living energy of a spiritual being merge with your own essence.

When you invoke, make sure your words are clear and concentrated, but if you do trip up, know that the gods will not consider it a fatal error. Smile and laugh it off—humour is divine!