Wicca for Beginners (12 page)

When you call the quarters using the following method, you will draw an invoking pentagram in the air in front of you in each quarter, using your fingers or an athame as you did to draw a circle in chapter 5. An invoking pentagram is used to summon or invite the energy of the quarter to the circle. Just as you did with the circle, you will visualize yourself pulling energy from the earth and inscribing the pentagram with the energy and your fingers or athame. Although a pentagram is a pentagram, it is drawn differently in each quarter. For example, to draw an invoking pentagram for earth, you begin at the top point and draw down and to the left, then up and to the right. For fire, you begin at the top point and draw down and to the right, then up and to the left, and so on.

Just to make things confusing, there is also one “banishing” pentagram for each quarter that you draw when you take down the circle. Banishing pentagrams are meant to “release” or “dismiss” the quarter energy. Personally, I don’t like the word banishing because it’s rude. After all, the quarters and elementals are helping you, and you’re not kicking them out of your circle or sending them to bed without supper when you’re through. But banishing is the commonly accepted term, so you should know it. You could call these the “hello” and “goodbye” pentagrams, but that sounds far cheesier and less mysterious. The following diagram illustrates how to draw the pentagrams.

One more thing before we get into the actual method: If you just can’t remember eight different pentagram-drawing methods, there is a way to “cheat.” Use the earth-invoking pentagram at each quarter when calling, and the earth-banishing pentagram at each when you’re taking down the circle. Several groups that I have worked with have done this, and it works just fine. The point is not whether or not you can remember eight different pentagrams. It is your will, visualization, and intent that are important.

There are many ways to call the quarters into a circle. Here is one easy method:

1. Cleanse your ritual space, ground, and draw your circle as you learned in chapter 5.

2. Stand in your circle, facing outward, in one of the quarters. Most Wiccans start either in the north or in the east, for reasons that I explained in chapter 5. For the sake of this example, I’m going to pretend you’re starting in the east.

3. Draw your air-invoking pentagram with your fingers or athame. Visualize the energy flowing from the earth, through your body, down your arm, and out your fingers or athame. Visualize the pentagram forming in the air as you draw it. You may wish to see the energy as a specific color. Many Wiccans use yellow for east, red for south, blue for west, and green for north. In my group, we use white for all four. Use whatever color(s) makes sense for you.

4. Although you are “calling” the quarter with your energy, you can call verbally too. This is not essential or required, and sometimes the best quarter calls are completely silent. Most Wiccans do say something out loud, however. You can say it as you are drawing the pentagram, or, if that’s too hard to do at the same time as the visualization, say it directly afterward. It can be as simple as “Welcome, powers of the east,” “Powers of air, join us this night,” or “I summon/call thee/you, powers of the east, to join/guard/protect our circle.” The quarter call can be, and frequently is, a short poem that contains imagery the Wiccan associates with the quarter he or she is calling. Sometimes rhyme is helpful because it has a pattern, and the cadence induces a light trance as the words evoke images in the speaker’s mind. However, I’ve heard a lot of poetry abuse done in the name of quarter calling, so if you think you can’t write something eloquent that won’t make you crack up in the middle of your call, stick with the simple stuff. There are examples of quarter calls in many Wiccan books, including works by Scott Cunningham and Starhawk, but I encourage you to write your own. They will mean more to you, and you will be able to imbue them with more energy.

5. When you are done drawing and speaking, spend a few moments visualizing the pentagram glowing brightly in front of you. If you can do it at the same time, try visualizing or feeling something you associate with the quarter/element at the same time, such as seeing an eagle or feeling the wind blowing on your face. It’s not easy to hold two visualizations at once, but if you take the time to figure it out, it will greatly enhance the energy of your call.

6. Continue to the south. Draw the south/fire-invoking pentagram and speak your invocation. Visualize it; make it real. Continue with the west/water and the north/earth.

When you have finished your ritual or magic, and before you take up the circle itself, you should “banish,” release, or say farewell to the quarters. To do this:

1. Begin in the quarter where you started.

2. Draw the banishing pentagram for the appropriate element, visualizing the energy dispersing.

3. Say something like “Powers of the east, thank you for attending, and farewell,” or make up your own statement. Try to say your farewell while you are drawing the banishing pentagram, but as with the call, if you can’t do that, say it immediately afterward.

4. Visualize the last of the pentagram disappearing.

5. Move on to the next quarter, and repeat. Here you have two choices. You can go clockwise, as you did during the calling, or you can move counterclockwise. As I mentioned previously, some Wiccans feel that moving counterclockwise in the circle “erases” the circle, but since you’re taking it down anyway, it may be appropriate here. Actually, some Wiccans insist on moving counterclockwise when they banish the quarters. Again, experiment with both ways, and do whichever feels right to you.

The Witches’ Pyramid

The Witches’ Pyramid is a magical principle or philosophy that is closely tied to the quarters. The Pyramid contains four statements that express what you need to do to work effective magic and be a true Wiccan or witch. Each statement is associated with a quarter, and each quarter is represented as a tier or level of the Pyramid. Many witches study and work through each of the four statements in an effort to master their craft. They progress from the bottom tier (east), which is considered by many to be the easiest, upward through the south, west, and finally to north, which is often the most difficult. I present a short discussion of the levels of the Witches’ Pyramid here because you are exploring the quarters. More information can be found in some of the books in the recommended reading list.

east—to know:
This is the base of the Pyramid. Air is linked to knowledge. To work magic, Wiccans must know their will, intent, resources, and heart. They must also know that their magic or ritual will work. Here is where you ask yourself if Wicca is right for you.

south—to dare:
This is the “scary” level of the Pyramid. Fire is linked to courage. To work magic and be a Wiccan, you have to dare. You have to dare to change, dare to be successful, dare to be different, dare to be strong. Here is where you ask yourself if you have the courage to walk your chosen path.

west—to will:
To work magic and be a Wiccan, you must know your will. Water is linked to inner knowing and the subconscious. This level is about gathering your power and making sure that your goal is aligned with your will or life purpose. Here you ask yourself if you have the focus, strength, and conviction to continue, and if continuing serves your higher purpose.

north—to keep silent:
Many people, Wiccans included, are gabby by nature, so this level of the Pyramid is often the hardest. Earth is linked to quiet and death. To keep silent means that you don’t discuss with others your magical work or the inner spiritual work that you do. It’s an old magical principle that talking about magic dissipates it. Certainly, to keep silent for a Wiccan is also about safety; you may want to scream about your religion from the rooftops, but until Wicca is fully accepted in our society, you risk losing your job, family, home, and much more. In Wicca, for both of these reasons, discretion is the better part of valor. Here is where you ask yourself if you can keep your magic to yourself, and if you can stand to walk a spiritual path that you may not be able to discuss with your family and friends for fear of repercussion.

Now that you have the basic tools such as grounding and shielding, and you know the bare bones of building a circle and calling the quarters, it’s time to meet the gods.

7

Getting to Know the Wiccan Gods

In Wicca, the divine
, or deity, is greater than creation, and yet it is creation. It is immanent in all things, but it is also distant and beyond our grasp. It is too vast for us to comprehend in its entirety, but we can begin to experience it through our relationship with the gods, who are facets of the divine. As I mentioned briefly in chapter 2, the two main aspects of deity that Wiccans work with are simply called the Goddess and the God. They are the female and male “halves” of the divine. In Wiccan thought, the union of the Goddess and God creates the universe. The relationship between the Goddess and God is symbiotic. Like darkness and light, each half needs the other to express itself fully. The God represents, among other things, power unmanifest; the spark of life. The Goddess gives this power form.

So are the gods real, sentient, independent entities? Are they masks that humans put on deity to understand it better, as Joseph Campbell suggests? Are they archetypes—symbols for universal themes that tend to pop up in the same way across cultures? Are they thoughtforms that have taken on energy as people have revered them over the years? Are they simply facets of our own psyches? Many Wiccans would tell you that the gods are all of those things—which are by no means mutually exclusive—and more.

The idea of a female and male polarity, which is what the Goddess and God are, is a bit abstract, but the Wiccan gods themselves—the faces Wicca puts on the two sides of the polarity—are not abstract at all to those who work with them. Wiccans have a deep love and respect for their gods, but they do not cower in front of them or beg favors. Wiccans work with their gods in a reciprocal partnership. Since in Wicca everyone is his or her own best priestess and no one comes between you and the gods, Wiccans have the responsibility and honor of forging bonds with the gods for themselves. A Wiccan’s relationship to the gods can be very intimate and familiar. This doesn’t mean that Wiccans will invite Thor and Freya to down a few brews while they watch the Super Bowl and eat Doritos, but it does mean that they talk directly to, work with, and get to know their gods at a level that is not nearly as easy to achieve in the framework of a large, mainstream religion.

So who are the Wiccan gods?

The Goddess

The Wiccan Goddess is the mother of all things. She is the earth, which births and sustains us and receives us again in death. She is the source of fertility and abundance. She is the great and nurturing mother, but, since all things must die, she also represents death, which is necessary for rebirth. The moon is the symbol of the Goddess. Like the moon, which has its waxing, full, waning, and new phases, the Goddess has many faces. She is energetic and full of potential like springtime, mature and fruitful like summer, aging and wise like autumn, and dark and silent like winter. Some Wiccans think of the Goddess as having three aspects—youthful maiden, fertile mother, and wise crone—and that she shows each of these faces in turn as the cycle of the year progresses. Others, like me, believe that she possesses and shows all of these attributes all of the time. She is the constant, eternal feminine principle. Some of her symbols are the moon, the cup or chalice, the cauldron, owls, cows, milk, silver, flowers, shells, and pearls.

The God

The God, sometimes called the Horned God, is the great hunter, the lord and steward of the animals and forests. He is often pictured with horns to show his affiliation with the earth’s creatures. He is fierce and feral, wise and gentle. The sun is the God’s symbol, and like the sun, without which the earth (and Goddess) would be barren, the God is the energetic principle. The God also represents sex and the urge to life. Many Wiccans link the God with the agricultural cycle: He is the spark of life that makes the seed sprout in the cold ground, the seedling that pushes its head from the earth, the ripened grain, and the harvest. He is also the lord of the underworld who tends souls from the time of death until they are ready for rebirth. Some of the symbols of the God are phalluses and phallic objects, such as spears, swords, arrows, and wands. Other God symbols are the color gold; horns or antlers and the stag, snakes, seeds and ripened grain, and the sickle.

The Goddess and God Together

The Goddess is the God’s mother and lover. In the mythos of most Wiccans, the Goddess gives birth to the God, he matures, they make love and she becomes pregnant, he dies, and he is reborn of her again. The God’s existence is cyclical, like the grains, animals, and humans he tends, and the Goddess’s existence is constant, like the earth beneath our feet. The two are forever entwined throughout the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth.

Introducing Yourself to
the God and Goddess

Communicating directly with the God and Goddess is one of the greatest joys and responsibilities of a Wiccan. You need not go to a church or sacred place to do this, as all places are sacred to them. The following is a simple ritual for introducing yourself to the Great Mother and the Horned God. You can include both of them in one ritual, or, if you’d like, you can hold separate rituals for each one. Just modify the instructions accordingly. You will need an athame if you have one, a white or silver candle, a red or gold candle, holders for both candles, matches or a lighter, flowers, and acorns or pine cones.

1. Clean and clear your ritual space.

2. Ground.

3. Cast a circle. Do not call the quarters; the focus should be on the gods.

4. Sit in the center of the circle on the floor, with the candles in their holders in front of you. Light the white or silver candle, place the flowers next to it, and say something like:

I light this for you, Great Goddess, Lady of the Moon, Mother of All Things. My name is _____, and I have come here to bring you this offering of flowers, know you better, and seek your wisdom.

Note that you are not calling the Goddess into the circle. You’ll do that later in the chapter. You are simply speaking to her.

5. Tell the Goddess something about yourself: why you are seeking her, what you might like to learn, why you are a Wiccan, etc.

6. When you have finished speaking, close your eyes and relax. Breathe deeply. Contemplate the Goddess and your relationship with her. Images may form in your mind’s eye. Pay special attention to them, because they are your message from the Goddess. If nothing happens, or if you didn’t “feel” the Goddess, don’t worry! By lighting the candle and stating your intent, you have made yourself known to her. You may receive a message later in your dreams or visions, but the important thing is that you have made yourself known to her. You may need to do this ritual more than once to feel as though you have made contact at the level you would like to. That’s okay. There are experienced Wiccans who do things like this to reconnect too, even though they may have been walking the path for decades. Be patient; remember that it’s not only the Christian god who works in mysterious ways. Oftentimes with the Wiccan gods, things happen when they are meant to, and that’s not necessarily on your predetermined schedule.

7. When the images are gone or you feel you are ready, open your eyes and say something like:

Thank you, Great Goddess, for your gift of
wisdom.

8. Light the gold or red candle, place the acorns or pine cones next to it, and say something like:

I light this for you, Great God, Lord of the Sun, Lord of the Forest. My name is ________, and
I have come here to bring you this offering of acorns/pine cones, know you better, and seek your wisdom.

9. Note that as with the Goddess, you are not calling the God into the circle. You’ll do that later in the chapter. You are simply speaking to him.

10. Tell the God something about yourself: why you are seeking him, what you might like to learn, why you are a Wiccan, etc.

11. Again, close your eyes and relax. Breathe deeply. Contemplate the God and your relationship with him. Images may form in your mind’s eye. Pay special attention to them, because they are your message from the God. As with the Goddess, if nothing happens, don’t worry! The important thing is that you have made yourself known to the God. You may receive a delayed-reaction message or small sign later as you go about your daily routine. Note that you may also have an easier time contacting the God than the Goddess, or vice versa. This can be for any number of reasons, including that you identify most with deity of one gender or the other or that the symbol set for one of them resonates with you more clearly.

12. When the images are gone or you feel like you are done, say something like:

Thank you, Great God, for your gift of wisdom.

13. Stand, take down your circle, and ground. If possible, take the lit candles, flowers, and acorns or pine cones and put them in a special place or on your altar (see chapter 8). If you can, allow the flames to burn for a while. Otherwise, snuff the candles. To deepen or expand on the experience, you can try the ritual again later with the same candles and add other elements.

The “Other” Gods

Think, for a moment, of a tree with a thick trunk that splits into two large branches. In turn, smaller branches grow from the large ones, and still smaller branches from the small ones, and so on. Deity is the trunk of the tree, and the God and Goddess are the two main branches. The smaller branches that fork off of the two big ones are the world’s gods and goddesses; facets of the male or female half of deity. Note that there are some deities that are androgynous and don’t fit easily into either gender category, but the majority are male or female, at least some of the time.

In addition to working with the God and Goddess, most Wiccans also work with one or more of these facets or faces of the masculine or feminine divine. For example, a Wiccan may ask the Greek goddess Aphrodite for help with a ritual designed to attract love or call the Egyptian goddess Bast to a ritual to find a lost cat. Both Aphrodite and Bast are faces of the Great Goddess, albeit very different faces, from different cultures and times.

If you are new to Wicca, you probably will want to work only with the Wiccan God and Goddess in ritual for a while. That way, you will get to know the specific Wiccan gods, get some practice with your ritual skills, and get an idea of what a Wiccan ritual “feels” like before you try to call a different god or goddess. Some Wiccans never call on other gods and just stick to the Great Goddess and God. Later in this chapter, there are some ideas for how to familiarize yourself with the gods and call them in a ritual circle.

Your Personal Deities

Many Wiccans have personal patron deities—in addition to the God and Goddess—that they work with frequently. They may call these patrons (or matrons) to every ritual they do or set up shrines to the patrons in their homes. Other Wiccans, as in my previous example, will call on gods or goddesses with particular attributes once in a while to help with certain rituals.

The choice of the gods that you work with in circle is very personal. No one else can tell you which ones you will resonate with and have the easiest time getting to know. The Celtic, Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian gods are probably the most popular amongst Wiccans, but your deities may not belong to any of these cultures.

One of the best ways to find your gods or goddesses is to read mythology. Lots of mythology. There are some mythology book suggestions in the recommended reading list in the back of this book. As you read, which themes or stories stick with you? Which deities have traits that you’d like to attract into your life? Which deities, in their stories, dealt with a problem similar to one you are dealing with, or had experiences similar to yours? Which deities “call your name” as you read? Instead of picking one god, you may choose to work with a pantheon. A pantheon is the entire group of gods associated with a culture, for example, the Greek gods.