The Blood

There have been many statements made on this subject and some shall undoubtably be reproduced here but we have one thing that perhaps is not the case in the works of others; we call this "The Blood" or "The Burning".

These two terms refer to the fact that one who is truly akin to us will know, deep within, that they are not as others. They may spend their entire lives searching for "what it is they are" and trying different things but, the ones who are like us do not find their place in these other orders, traditions etc. For all that, when they see the way we are they feel it in their "gut", "heart", "bones"; in their very "blood" that we are what they are and find themselves inexorably drawn to us.

There is, of course, more to it than has been described. Those of "the Blood" tend to recognise eachother on sight. It is a feeling of recognition (indeed we do seem to look awfully alike in a lot of cases) and this feeling does carry on to other things such as innate abilities that mark us as different to the norm. Our senses are very important to us we can know truth from lie even in second hand work, we see the future possabilities and seems to also have the "knack" for being "in precisely the right place at the right time" ... or the "wrong place" as the case may be.

In our way this "Blood" is necessary; as necassary as the air we breathe; for we have found that only those of the same blood can see the truth of our way and apply it to effect - all others seem to either reject or fail.

Over the years, we have gone by many prosaic and rather melodramatic (as befits our taste) names but one fact remains - we are of every kind and yet still no matter who we are born to or find ourselves part of - we are still not a part of it. We are capable of utilising the ways of the "Sun Tribes" and "The Tribes of the Moon" to our benefit if we so choose for no matter where we find ourselves in that scheme of things we know teh differences to be illusiory and only for convenience.

Just to explain a bit better suffice it to say that the "Right Hand Path" tends to be comprised mainly of "Sun Tribes" while the Left Hand Path" is better suited toward the "Tribes of the Moon". We, in this schematic, lie everywhere, tending to one side or the other as duty, need and taste dictates.

Most of "our kind" whom we term as "Those of our Blood" or "Those from Within" (depending on how well they understand these precepts - "Those from Within" denoting a practicioner and/or Initiate) tend to "feel" these ideals and take them for granted. It is often quite a joyous occasion when the individual in question finally realises these things (what we call as "The First Awakening") and finds at least a modicum of peace in the maelstrom which was their inner being.

Note here that it is unimportant to our minds as to whether or not the individual is aware of what this understanding means; or exactly what triggers this awakening. To us, "awakening" by the words of a Master of our Art is no more, or less real, than the "awakening" that may occur due to watching a popular movie, hearing the words of a song or "turning their eye inwards" (our term for self contemplation) and hence, self realising.

In truth, there are several other things that separate us from other traditions; but they are also the sort of things that it is useless to attempt to explain in words.

Divine Work - Ours not to reason why ..

There are some things that are true across the board.
These are often the hardest to explain to anyone.

Sometimes then we must make use of paradigms.
These we use as other forms to pour our meaning into.

That way you may comprehend more easily what we mean when we say:
"I have spoken - so drink!"

I was told that ALL of the many faceted elements of ritual design and practice may be covered by one of three basic ideas. "Divine Thought, Divine Word and Divine Deed - be it that each are enacted properly and in it's proper time and place - ye need fear not any." Understand that the term "Divine" is used in a very mutable form here; the general morality is not used - it simply means "The Will of the Gods" - in our case typified by the "Great Wheel".

Divine Thought comes first and it involves:

Proper assessment of all the factors and permutations of every aspect of the "situation" and it's "inhabitants" that are the subject of the work. This was explained by the admonition "The reason most witches can't turn men to toads is that they don't know what it is to be truly either. If the first premise is unknown how can you change it into anything?"

Decision on proper method of rectification. Will it suffice to act upon the Flesh/Mind/Spirit/Fourth world or will a combination of methods be required? How will time and space affect this situation and the work done on it? Will a complex series of rites be needed or a simple word in someone's ear? In either case - what tools will be required to successfully enact the change? After all these and many more questions are answered satisfactorily THEN and ONLY THEN will the operative assess all of the information and collate it to a meaningful coherence.

Utilising the senses and skills at the command of the operator. This is a time of re assessment where the information gathered is then put down and the "magical skills" of the operator are put to use in order to gather information that is not seen or heard any other way. In this way a great deal of additional "hidden" information may be garnered and then added to the first plan.

At this point the position of the operator is something that we call "Motionless Action". This is the actual stage whereby the operator gas all the information that they could get on the situation and is mentally running through the ritual that they have selected, (much like a magical "in flight movie"). This is allowed to play over and over within their mind until circumstance demands concrete action or the pressure build up to the point where it may no longer be maintained. The most advanced find that eventually the very act of doing this is sufficient in most cases to enact the changes that they require.

Divine Word

Divine Word does not just mean the usual cavalcade of exorcisms, bene/maledictions, abjurations, conjurations, calls, chants, songs or similar ejaculations. In this case it remains very simple and straight forward. The more "matter of factly" it can be done the better.

Central to successful work is the notion of "Affirmation". The affirmation has also come to be called as the "Introduction" to set it apart from the popular hi-jacked version of the 'New Age'. The 'New Age' movement has diluted this tool and rendered it all but impotent. The "Affirmations" of the 'New Age' are, by and large worse than useless. Begging methods that are given to those of insufficient 'where withal' to be heard anyway in such a manner to falsely veneer their failing sense of self worth in fake gold point; is as degrading as it is pointless. That this is the case is borne out by the fact that most who use affirmation to any real advantage or effect were "they who would have succeeded anyway". In short; those people who just needed to be reminded of what they already had.

The "Traditional form" of "Affirmation" adheres more closely to the terms that will be familiar to linguists. It is a statement of fact which is apparent and therefore, not open to debate. The style that is generally used by our tradition is that which will be familiar to any who have studied etiquette, (especially "formal introductions"). Take for example this version that was penned by 'Simon' in his (in)famous version of the Necronomicon years back. Irrelevant of teh authenticity of it as a docum,ent of Sumerian magic, the text shows in places that "he knew his stuff!" Those of you who are familiar with the actual history of Druidry or the Keltoi peoples will also remember this style being used as identification of champions, Bards and the like.

It is this format that is the rule used when speaking any words. This is simply for the reason that the more "facts" one has; the more solid the basis for the work. The same goes for petitions as they should be stated forcefully to show that indeed, that IS what the operator requires of the situation. As it was put to me as a student: " … the Great Wheel does not ask questions - there is no need. To be at one with the Great Wheel is to know that all is. Nothing is questionable as it is all the Will of the Great Wheel and as such, known to the Great Wheel. The Will of the Great Wheel is not "Good" or "Evil" - it is the inevitability of what simply "IS"."

Likewise the witch or warlock who is truly at one with their work is a "Servant of the Great Wheel", (Old Form) and they can do nothing save that it conform to the function of their position on the Great Wheel and it's turning. As such, there is no question - there is only what is; it's past and what has yet to be.

The forms that Divine Word, (sometimes referred to as the "Will of the Wheel" - as is Divine Action) may take are endless. Some chant, master other obscure tongues, sing, speak plainly or deliver impassioned speeches while some forgo articulation altogether and return to the hisses, gutturals and ululations that were our first "Mother Tongue".

DIVINE ACTION

The exaction of the "Will of the Wheel", (Old Form) that is also used to refer to Divine Word – (especially if the message is uttered while "carrying the spirit") is the point whereby the line between "ritual" and "everything else" blurs to virtual non-existence. There are infinite ways to enact the Divine Action and none - save the operator in question may know the proper form for it to take.

This; perhaps more than any other reason is why the majority of "rituals" for "work" (Old Form - "Workings") are done alone. As each of us is presided over and guided by the intercession of our Patron who has, (as do we all) their own position upon and without the Great Wheel; so then is each individual operator given "gifts" that they are to exercise. It is these "gifts" that will dictate by and large, the form of the exaction. Each will manifest their personal "Turning of the Wheel", (Old Form used to denote direct action in response to guidance) in their own way according to need, inspiration/guidance and direction.

It is the overall "Will" and "Turning" manifest in us that dictates our dharma and therefore our caste.

"Some are destined to rule, to organise and oversee, to advise and teach. Some are destined to safeguard the spirit of our people and their subtle well being. Some are destined to create and make. Some are destined to protect our people and shatter the opposition who would harm and weal." Is a statement that the modern "magical/pagan/occult community" would do well to take to heart as it explains and shows how to fix many of the problem causing issues that manifest within and between people, peoples, groups and traditions - both on a micro and macro level.
Each, in the way that best befits their station and guidance do that which they can to enact the Will of the Great Wheel. For each the way may be hard but if they listen they will hear and see the way they are to tread. The path of the Magical Caste, (if you will) is somewhat more complex however as they may also be from any of the other castes as well.

The magical caste, (with which we are most concerned in this document) envelops and permeates all other castes. For example it is no more difficult to believe that an operative is skilled in a specific area of the social hierarchy - indeed in our tradition it is required! For this reason, the operator is sometimes forced to choose between different allegiances - take for example an operator that is also a member of the warrior caste. The Warrior Caste has always been mainly concerned with physical battle; of striking the enemies of a people and beating them by following direct orders delivered from their superiors. This could possibly prove difficult if the operative realises a problem with the orders received that could mean their defeat. Does the operative blindly follow the orders or question them. The operative will consult the Will of the Wheel, if it is the Will of the Wheel that their side loses - then lose they will. In that case the operative will adhere to the orders, knowing that all struggle is futile.

Divine Action, (as has been stated) has an infinite number of manifestations. Some of these include forms that appear to be contradictory at first glance and yet work when combined with different forms of the Divine Will and Word. For example, both the creation of a fine pottery vase and the smashing of the same are both manifestations of the Divine Action. There is a great satisfaction to be gained in both creation and destruction - and it is truths such as these that reveal the Great Wheel in all it's glory. Every action, from the most subtle movement of the fingers to the movements of peoples as a whole are all equally valid forms of the enactment of Divine Action - each dictated to the operator by the Will of the Great Wheel.

But what of everyday action you may ask. Looking about us we see many injustices that we may comfortably label as "evil" - but is this really so? We are all familiar which the moral riddles that most of us heard in our youth such as "Would you kill a child that would become Adolf Hitler and cause widespread suffering?". The answer of many is "Without question" whereupon the first person says "Congratulations - you have just annihilated the nation state of Israel and condemned thousands of Germans to starve to death as a result of their economic collapse." My answer has always been the same: "If it was my destined job to do so."


We believe that the Wheel turns and that is it. There are certain things that we can label as "Good" or "Evil" but we must never forget that this is nothing more than a comfortable "buffer zone" created by us to render the universe easier for us to understand. History proves that neither of these two ideas, ("Good" and "Evil") are in fact absolutes. They are communicative illusions that we have defined in order to make sense of those experiences we do and do not like - nothing more or less.

For example if we term the killing of forty people in a shopping mall by a crazed gunman a "senseless evil massacre" then what terms may we use to describe those who starve to death as a result of over population or the thousands killed in ancient battles? Are we to fall prey of invention and just make up bigger words to satisfy our need to feel justified? Are these the "Mega/Super/Ultra senseless evil slaughters"? At what point do such things become unimaginable to us as a species?

History shows that it does not take much. So much for the idea of “Absolutes”.

The Servants of the Wheel believe that each person has a place on the Great Wheel and that which is the position opposite them is what they generally consider to be "Evil", (as few people define themselves as "Evil"). The position that each occupies on the Wheel dictates what sort of person they are and what they are likely to become and so on. This wheel constantly turns so that each has their time at the "top", "bottom" and all points "in between" (so to speak).
While most cultures have this idea in one form or another, few actually also ascribe in any "real" way to the fact that even that which they consider as "evil" is totally necessary and just as valid as they are. What we term as a "Servant of the Wheel" is one who has walked right round the Great Wheel as many times as they can until they know as much of "all other stations" as they can. In this way they can "listen" to the wheel and know where they must be in order to do what must be done. When they assume this position they do so for as long as is necessary to get whatever job they have been assigned done. These duties, (whatever they are) are then done without heed for personal taste.

"I am a Servant of the Wheel. The works of the Great Wheel are wondrous and awesome to behold - blessed am I to do what must be done. The Great Wheel does not require me to enjoy what I am doing - it only asks that I DO what MUST BE DONE …." This is a common sentiment in our way of life, that "it does not require me to enjoy my work - it only requires me to DO it - and do it well". While many traditions over the years that I have spoken with have said "Oh yes - us too", I have found that nine times out of ten, (being generous) it is a sham based on the idea that they really don't understand what is meant by these words.

These same people who are so quick "to be 'in' with us" are always the first to blanche away from certain aspects of the work because it "conflicts with their morals". In turn we are always relieved that it is so - for it means that they are not "getting in the way". Take a personal example for instance:

I was instructed to aid a certain conference of pagans. My orders were clear "Make it happen". So I hooked up with them and aided them from the start. I had already had some experience in the area of inter tradition communications etc so I advised those putting it together what to do, when and how to do it. Very few of these ideas were heeded but we struggled on anyway and it eventually got done. At the end of it we saw that not only were we being used as a scape goat for all of the things that went wrong BUT also for the fact that the "appointed front man" was decieving people in a variety of ways and totally unsuited to the position! As such when we were contacted to "help out" with the next one we replied resoundingly in the negative and gave our reasons why.

Many people read the information - it was handed around like some sort of obscene pass the parcel game. Everyone agreed that they had been decieved but no one wanted to be the one to support our statements. The outcome of that was that the person in question attempted to launch a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar lawsuit against us. Suddenly we had no friends; out of the hundreds we had aided only two people of that number stood forward to help us - we were the bad guys after all so if we were trodden down "it was good" and if we won it was still good for them. Needless to say it failed - indeed it never even went to court.

The point here was that we were doing something that we did not really want to do but did it anyway. We did not enjoy it but did it anyway. We stood our ground on the Wheel and did what was ordained to us to do. We were vilified for it but knew that if we continued that we would prosper and our opponents would fail - and so they did. There were no "victory celebrations" - no great venting of righteous indignance … just a job and when it was done - we moved on.

Many people did not understand this and still puzzle over it today but as we said: "We were only supposed to make it happen and now we have other duties to perform - it is not our place to question "WHY?" we were told to do so … we did the will of the Wheel and so succeeded where our opponents who were doing only their own will failed …" For as it was said to me as a student: "He who does the will of the Great Wheel shall have all they desire and be protected while they who stand against the Wheel will be crushed under it's weight". Having been so crushed once or twice I can vouch for it's efficiency and my own, (at those times) foolishness.

In the past some have pointed to this and others like it.
They have said that this means we are modern and new.
All because different ways are included within us.

This is the folly of the one who cannot understand.
Only a fool would cast aside truth simply due to it's age.
Or the cup the truth came in.

I have no need to be thought of coherantly Traditional.
Or in any way others may think of as Proveable.
That way lies folly.

Drink.

An old Talk Pt 3 - The Compendium

Having had a look at one of the texts of the witches to ascertain what their powers and indeed, their demeanour was; let us now turn our attention toward those who have had the most to say about witches since the time of their popularisation.

In this section I shall be examining the book Compendium Maleficarum by Fra Francesco Maria Guazzo. Everyone knows of the "other" book, (The Malleus Malleficarum) but few have read it and fewer still read the Compendium, which is a dreadful shame as it is, really the more useful of the two. To be sure, the Malleus is perhaps the most illustrative in terms of displaying the hysteria that abounded at this time however as it is information and not wild hysteria that we are after - The Compendium is by far the better text in this case.

The Compendium is a rational, (if not entirely accurate) discussion about the powers of "Witches" and stories that illustrate the same. The text has three books, the first is a general exposition; the second deals in slightly more detail with different types of witchery and "certain other matters that should be known" and the last is to do with the remedy for the preceding. In this text we need only progress as far as the table of contents to see the first hints of the same sort of things that we observed in the Aradia gospel. In order to best exemplify and expose such, I shall go through this text chapter by chapter.

Chapter one opens with a debate on the "power of the imagination" and discusses what we would now refer to as the "power of the placebo" or "psychosomatic" situations. This handling is interesting as it also addresses the "fuzzy" provincial borders of this "realm" by citing instances that are arguable in terms of psychosomatics. The argument is that the power of the imagination can stand alone or may be influenced even at a distance removed by other effects both natural and what would now be termed as "supernatural".

This is an interesting inclusion as it has long been known to witches everywhere that many curses begin and end in the mind of the victim. Many people over the years have harped on this as being "proof that it is all in the mind" and therefore not "REAL". This has always been laughed off by witches who are more than aware of the fact that it is by the use of the mind that the world is experienced. If our brain tells us that our skin is being burned then this sensation is most certainly as real to the one experiencing it as actually being burned. In fact, it is often so real that the skin will actually oblige by evidencing scars of the burn that was "all in the mind".

So where does the "REAL" world begin and end? Scientists can't tell you, doctors can't tell you and a wise witch WON'T tell you. Considering that this is the case, it is only a natural conclusion to say that entities can be influenced by a practiced witch even over great distances.

Chapter two attempts to classify magic as belonging to one of two kinds. In difference to the widespread opinion the categories are "Natural and Unnatural". It is stated here that Natural magic is that which may be observed within nature as it should occur under the jurisdiction appointed by God. This includes: the effects of the stars in their courses, sympathy and antipathy and the natural effects of natural things due to their "virtues". These and many more are to be found at length in the works of Agrippa & etc. The "Unnatural" or "artificial" magics are those magics which are effected by human skill and are stated as being of two further types - Mathematical, (Geometrical, Arithmetical or Astronomic) or Prestidigital (illusory). The natural or Thaumaturgic magics are stated as being entirely lawful, (unless being used for "evil", "scandalous" {ie that it pretends to be the work of supra normal entities} or dangerous purposes) while the other is implied to not be as it was originally the province of the Nefilim who taught it to men.

This is a debate that has raged for centuries. What is the "Supernatural"? By examining the word we see that it is anything that is "above and beyond the realms of nature". As this is the case then we may as well say that all magical effects, (indeed all effects of any kind) are in fact, natural effects because they occur. For something to exist or occur at all it must be inherently "natural" to some extent or other. That some things are regarded as "Supernatural" is a case of confusing text and context. Merely because I cannot explain something I do not call it "Supernatural" simply because it isn't. Is the athlete "unnatural because they can do things that the ordinary human cannot? Of course not - and this is entirely the case with magic. Simply because one person can achieve magical affects and another may not this is NOT proof of it's "Supernature" - it simply means that the operative has been trained to do certain things that the other has not. It is important to remember that here the divisions are made for purely political reasons to make classification easier.

It has always been the way of things that the "Government Approved" operatives will be recorded in history as priests and that those NOT approved of will be termed "Witches, Warlocks" or any other such term that carries a derogatory meaning. It is interesting to note here that this is demonstrably the case by the inclusion of the mention of the Nefilim who were the very first "Unapproved" magical teachers of the Judeo-Christian paradigm.

Chapter three begins with a railing against sceptics of both persuasions, (ie that magic is entirely real or not) saying that any who ally themselves with either absolute belief would "rather be a radish than a man". It is herein that we see the first glimmers of the argument that we seek. Here, Guazzo states that "the Devil" causes illusions to sway the belief of men but that it is not always the case that changes effected by the same are illusory. Here, mention is made of "Dionysius of Athens" who wrote, (in De Diuinis Nominibus IV) "the Devil did not, in sinning, lose his natural gifts, so that he has the greatest natural strength together with age long and unlimited experience to enable him to produce a true effect when he desired." The argument here changes quickly however, when it is stated that the works of witches are illusory.

The reasoning for this becomes obvious in Chapter Four wherein the Author discusses that which is stated in it's title: "That Witches Effect their Marvels with the Help of the Devil" In the opening of this chapter the subject of metamorphosis is explained as being the super fast changing of one item or entity for another and this is used to explain the "metamorphoses of the heathen". To reconcile the argument so far, it is stated that marvels are therefore, of two kinds: Glamour and Prestidigital Contrivance. The first, it is claimed is due to the devil deceiving the senses while the second is due to human skill as it is to be found in illusionists. The interesting point here is that both of these are stated as being able to be contributed to the devil (Glamour especially) OR to human skill. This is shown by the inclusion of the argument that when the bodily humours of men are by some means agitated it can also deceive the senses.

It is here that we see the first statements of "What the Witches actually DO" in this text. Far from the cries of the New Age, this text tends to agree with the Aradian Gospel in that it implies that the pastime of the witch, involves the deception of humankind for purposes unknown by the aid of spirits. It is further argued that these effects may be of an actual, purely illusory or of a nature that partakes of both. This is important as it makes clear the fact that there really is no way of telling in many cases which is which and that it is clearly dependant on skill and motive.

There are no witches that would disagree with that appraisal. Here we have mention of glamour, illusion, spirit contact and poisoning of various degrees.

It is in Chapter five that we see some of the first real descriptions of the powers of witches. Here it is reported that a certain "John of Salisbury" that witches can: "With the help of demons, shake the elements together and alter the true appearance of things.... foretell much of the future .... confuse the minds of men with dreams; and merely by the potency of their charms can cause death and etc." Here also is reported of giants and sorcerers of the north practicing glamours to hide their features and the true features of others, replacing themselves with others made to look like them, the taming and training of certain animals, production of food and the harnessing of the elements.

Here we see again, the agreement between the two texts. Here we see mention made of the manipulation of the elements and weather work, foretelling the future and working magic to confuse, confound and kill. There is furthermore mention made of taming and training animals. It is interesting to see that with the piety and bias stripped away, this text reads pretty much as the opening sections of Aradia does with regard to the powers of witch.

Chapter six gives the famous, (infamous?) narration of the acceptance of the witch into the devil's number under eleven sections:

• Denial and repudiation of the Christian Faith
• Baptism by the Devil
• Foreswearing of their old name to receive a new one
• Denial of Godfathers and mothers in order to be assigned new ones
• Giving over of themselves to the Devil by blood, progeny and possessions
• Swearing of allegiance to the Devil within a circle
• Praying to be stricken from the Book of Life and to be entered into the Book of Death
• Promises of sacrifice to the Devil
• Promising to make a gift each year to the demons
• "Branding" or marking by the Devil those who it might be felt were liable prove inconstant. (On men upon the eyelids, arm pit, lips, shoulder or posterior while for women it was on breasts or private parts.)
• Final vows of fealty such as: denial of the Eucharist, to revile the Virgin and the Saints, abstention from using the sign of the cross and all things sacred, abstention from confession, silence regarding the pacts and conditions thereof, recruitment of others and attendance at the Sabbat in return for protection, aid, the answering of prayers addressed to him and happiness after death.

Another interesting point raised here in this text is that: "when a witch attempts to do evil and fails, the evil rebounds upon herself" (Guazzo, 1988, p19). Interestingly enough, this is mentioned here and in no other place and the reason is given by the text in context. This is the section dealing with pacts that, (we are to believe) must be honoured. The example given is of several witches who had promised to bewitch some cattle who, (when thwarted) drew lots for the punishment of failure that was sure to come. The woman who drew the short straw then poisoned her son as payment because" ... the demon, ... never forgoes one tittle of his bargain" (Guazzo, 1988, p19).

This section has two things that agree with the Aradian Gospel. The Witch as described there is encouraged to foreswear the Church based religion as it is the religion of oppressors. The Aradian Gospel ALSO makes mention of making offerings to entities in order to ensure their aid and "good graces". One notable place that it DOES diverge in the notion of what occurs when the witch fails in their tasks.

Wiccans everywhere today assure us of the reality of their "Threefold Law" and how anyone who does an evil deed shall surely be punished three times as hard. Funnily enough; the Aradian Gospel makes no mention of such a thing and nor does any other text except for those of a Judeo-Christian bent such as the Compendium and of course, their books. It is amusing to note that as much as the Wiccan movement plays the "Righteous Indignant" as far as the Church is concerned, one never needs to wait very long before we hear some Church worthy statement uttered by them, (indeed in the past year, certain unnamed individuals of a certain unnamed British "Pagan" group attempted to open talks with the Church! Needless to say it fell apart before it could even get underway). It is for situations such as this that many Wiccans have been accused of worshipping a "Jesus with Tits".

The facts stand, the "Witch" has never really had any problem with harming ANYONE that they felt "needed" or "Asked for it". It is important to remember that all of this occurs without any real fear of supernatural punishment, (indeed in the Aradian Gospel it is encouraged that "the Priests" be harmed double the amount of any inconvenience that may be suffered at their hands and that it should be done in the name of the Goddess!!!

Chapter seven continues in the exposition of the powers of the witch with the words: "that witches can control not only the rain and the hail and the wind, but even the lightning" (Guazzo, 1988, p19). It is also claimed that they can "evoke darkness" about them, cease and divert the courses of rivers and cause wells to dry up. These are further expanded in Chapter Eight wherein it is claimed that each witch must relate their latest feats or be punished for laziness.

Some of the powers that were taught at these meetings were suchlike: infesting crops with vermin or wasting diseases, (or having them removed to other places) bewitching or poisoning cattle or people to death, transferring the elements so as to cause harm, conjuring food and drink and causing the release of captives, prisoners and so on.

This is an intriguing implication when the nature of what is referred to as the "Saracen Craft" is taken into account. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this term, it refers to the fact of certain groups that claim to have been led by the "Black Man". When one considers the time that these texts were recorded, it does not take much to link certain "guerilla tac tics" employed during the crusades and certain "covert incursions" by Moorish peoples and operatives of Islamic persuasion into "Christendom". If this was the case, then it does not take much to extrapolate that certain culturally dispossessed peoples may very well have suddenly found that they had at least ONE thing in common with such peoples - hatred of the Church.

This would certainly make sense of harsh punishments for students who were trained to injure the Church's societal structure and failed. Either way it really does not make much difference to our argument however as it is the statement of text that interests us the most. It is stated here that crops were ruined or stolen, chattel and people were poisoned and that enemies of the Church were released if possible and that it was considered that it was a part of their "duty" as a "Witch".

Chapter Nine deals with the notion of the discovery of treasure. Here Guazzo states that by the virtue of the allowance of God, the Devil may indeed enrich his subjects but that God never bids it of the Devil and rarely permits it. It is furthermore stated that the manifold stories relating to monies that "appear to be so but are not" under scrutiny, (being rather some from of dirt or excrement etc) are the result of the avarice of the demons being the spur for illusions that they create. Generation is the subject of Chapters Ten and Eleven. The argument is whether or not, witches can by themselves create creatures of various kinds. This Guazzo refutes stating that this can only be achieved by the conveyance of demons. Guazzo asserts that this is the case in situations such as the spontaneous appearance of animals or creatures whether it be by the supposed command of witches or by monstrous births. That monstrous births occur, it is reasoned, is due to the germ of the semen being kept alive by the warmness of a demon's body, (such as an incubus) and then being injected into the body of animal by the same.

Both of these arguments are of a political nature; one being aimed at those who would counterfeit the "coin of the realm" and the other aimed at the midwives.

Chapter Twelve examines in no small detail the phenomena of the witch's Sabbat. Herein it is explained that sometimes the witch is truly conveyed, (whether by self or beast or demon) to a Sabbat and sometimes they are deluded, (by illusion or intoxication) into believing that they had been. That this is hard to guess at, (it is claimed) is made more difficult because of the fact that a body that is prone in bed may be in and of itself; an illusion.

The text continues to discuss the Sabbat as it has been reported. It is said:

1. To begin just after midnight and end just before the cock crow on various days in different places.
2. That an ointment is applied to the body so as to enable the witch to be transported there.
3. That at the place is a large fire and the Devil presides from a throne in many different forms.
4. That each who arrive must approach and adore him in some way - whether it be by genuflection, the osculum infame, by dance or gifts of diverse form.
5. That there were varying numbers in attendance; sometimes few, sometimes a great many but always more women than men.
6. That they sit at tables and eat food and drink that is foul or otherwise unsatisfying.
7. That said meals are conducted sometimes in segregation and sometimes with demons.
8. That an unholy blasphemy is conducted in the stead of grace.
9. That at the end of the meal the demons instruct the witches and conduct rites that involve much frenzied dancing in circles.
10. That their dances are most laboursome and conducted always to the left with none being allowed to shirk this duty.
11. That after the preceding they continue to dance and sing bawdy songs before copulating with eachother and the demons to the delight of all.

Even though this is some ways outside the nature of our present inquiry, it still does bear a certain amount of resemblance to what we know of what witches did at that time and before. It does NOT however, bear much resemblance to what goes on in Wiccan circles these days. We know that those "Saracen" groups would NEED to be done late at night to ensure that they were unlikely to be discovered, that they were largely run by males and attracted more females than men, that their religious practices were considered "blasphemous", that their rites involved dancing as a means of raising power, that they blew upon the "root chakra" in order to raise the kundalini (easily mistaken as kissing someone on the buttocks!), that they were given gifts and by this they lived and that, there was a great deal of bawdiness that would occur after they were taught the ways of evil (i.e. how to bring the church down).

We also know that the general form of this rite, (arrival, adorations, feasting, dancing, teaching and then copulation) agrees with that which is presented in the Aradian Gospel.

Chapters Thirteen through Sixteen, (Whether witches have the powers of Transmutation, Having the Power to make beasts talk, Insensibility to torture, Interchanging of the sexes) really are refinements of earlier postulation and are not in or of themselves of much interest in our investigation, rather it is in Chapter seventeen that we again find that which we are looking for. Chapter Seventeen inquires as to whether or not the spirits of the departed can appear before men. In this case, the answer is given as a resounding yes; BUT that this should not lend credence to the stories of witches, is borne out as the fact that it is in the intention that the difference between the miracles of the divine and the illusions of the restless wicked is found.

This is further enlarged in Chapter Eighteen which elucidates as to the nature of spirits and whether or no they may appear before humankind. Spirits are here divided into six sub categories:

1. Firey - who dwell high in the upper air and have no dealings with men before the Day of Judgement
2. Aerial - who dwell in the air all about and who may appear by varying degrees by densities of air
3. Terrestrial - who dwell upon the earth amongst men and lay snares for them and inhabit the dark places such as forests and etc.
4. Water - who dwell within the waters of rivers, lakes and streams. These are full of wrath and passions that can be violent. Those of humid places are generally seen as women and those of drier climate are seen as men.
5. Subterranean - who cause all disruption of mines and the land in general. Are of malicious disposition and loathe humankind.
6. Lucifugous - who are of a nature beyond understanding. They detest all forms of light and cannot assume any form where there is the same. In the darkness however they will always attempt to kill those who are waylaid by them.

It is furthermore noted that demons may assume any shape other than those forbidden by God such as the dove which He sends his messages in the form of. This idea of the "will of demons" is further stated in Chapter Nineteen wherein it is stated that all demons only pretend submission to any witch, (if indeed they do at all) and that all assurances to the contrary are but snares to further entangle men and women.

All of this may be reduced to the statement that the witches can contact and converse with spirits.

Powers of the Witch as described by the Compendium Maleficarum

In conclusion of Book One of the Compendium Maleficarum then, we see the following powers being attributed to witches:

1. Glamours and illusions
2. Assorted "Natural" effects using the natural virtues of things
3. Spirit contact
4. Poisoning
5. Manipulation of the elements and weather work
6. Foretelling the future
7. Working magic to confuse, confound and kill
8. Taming and training of animals
9. Ruining and/or stealing, chattels and peoples
10. Releasing enemies of the Church

CAN WE SEE SOME SIMILARITIES YET!?!??!?!

So what does this tell us? It tells us that the texts of the time wherein Witches were lurking and skanking about agree on what they did.

Neither of these texts agree with what the Wiccans and New Agers say they did.

If you wanted to know what was involved in being a priest of the Catholic Church - would you ask one of them? Or someone not of that religion?

These days it is de-rigeur to point out that this could (tenuously really) actually prove that it was ALL made up and that witches did not exist and therefore did not do these things. It is liekwise fashionable in other circles to point to the likenesses as proof of conspiracy or of the invalidity of one or both texts.

Neith or these argumenst really work very well.

They certainly don't work very well out side of the theoretical world of the university, the largely neo feminist wiccan world of modern anthropology and the atheists who feel compelled to comment on another's belief.

At the end of the day these are outsiders telling us what we are like. If this were not the case then they would not be doing their jobs properly, which by definition require objective distance!

Why is it then that so many refuse to see let alone follow this simple logic?

Quote: "It is ironic that the same people who are reluctant to accept a Disney-fied view of Witches are SO WILLING to accept the Disney-fied view of History."

- Pol Ruadh, February, 2000.

An old Talk Pt 2 - Aradia

So what did the Witches actually do? Well let us first begin with how the witch was trained. In the past there have been many notions put forward on this topic - ranging from the absurd to the absurdly commonsensical. Let us start with the Aradian Gospel.

Many in the modern times reject the Aradian Gospel under vairous reasons largely based on personal peccadillo. The use that I make of it here renders authenticity questions pointless. The parts I discuss stress certain abilities that all witches irrelevant of path would consier to BE powers of a witch so it renders many of teh refutations about on this subject - fairly irrelevant.

According to this text:

"And it came to pass that Diana, after her daughter had accomplished her mission or spent her time on earth among the living (mortals), recalled her, and gave her the power that when she had been invoked ... having done some good deed ... she gave her the power to gratify those who had conjured her by granting her or him:

Success in love To bless or curse with power friends or enemies (to do good or evil). To converse with spirits. To find hidden treasures in ancient ruins. To conjure the spirits of priests who died leaving treasures. To understand the voice of the wind. To change water into wine. To divine with cards. To know the secrets of the hand (palmistry) To cure diseases. To make those who are ugly beautiful. To tame wild beasts. And whatever thing should be asked from the spirit of Aradia, that should be granted unto those who merited her favour."

This is generally all that is remembered by those who study this book and that is an awful shame. I say it is an awful shame because it means that these people are not reading closely enough. It says:

"And it came to pass that Diana, after her daughter had accomplished her mission or spent her time on earth among the living (mortals), recalled her"

and this raises the question of what that mission was. If we look closely at an earlier part of this text it is made clear:

"Diana said one day to her daughter Aradia:
'Tis true indeed that thou a spirit art, But thou wert born but to become again A mortal; thou must go to earth below To be a teacher unto women and men Who fain would study witchcraft in thy school .....

And thou shalt be the first of witches known; And thou shalt be the first of all I' the world; And thou shalt teach the art of poisoning, Of poisoning those who are great lords of all; Yea, thou shalt make them die in their palaces; And thou shalt bind the oppressor's soul (with power); And when ye find a peasant who is rich, Then ye shall teach the witch, your pupil, how To ruin all his crops with tempests dire, With lightning and with thunder (terrible), And with the hail and wind...

And when a priest shall do you injury By his benedictions, ye shall do to him Double the harm, and do it in the name of me, Diana, Queen of witches all! And when the priests or the nobility shall say to you that you should put your faith In the Father, Son, and Mary, then reply: "Your God, the Father, and Maria are Three devils..."

"For the true God the Father is not yours; For I have come to sweep away the bad The men of evil, all will I destroy!"

"Ye who are poor suffer with hunger keen, And toil in wretchedness, and suffer too Full oft imprisonment; yet with it all Ye have a soul, and for your sufferings Ye shall be happy in the other world, But ill the fate of all who do ye wrong!"

From looking closely at this text we see that the primary work of the witch was: the art of poisoning, killing by magic, binding the soul of opponents, ruining crops with storms, lightning, thunder, hail and wind and (naturally) the destruction of the Christian power when possible.

This is the sort of thing that is rallied against by the modern neo pagan movement BUT to the witch or warlock this really only makes for good common sense! Afterall, if you can't "take care of yourself" then how can you help anyone else? In that era the witch or warlock was under constant threat of exposure and the very real physical danger that posed. It is not surprising therefore, that a witch or warlock's primary goal was the removal, once and for all of those who would stand in the way.

This also raises another modern folly: that of the "White Witch". The "White Witch" is a fallacy because the competent witch knows how to harm AND to heal. By "harm" I DON'T mean "mirror spells" and "asking the Goddess for help" - I mean how to HARM PEOPLE. This is straightforward offensive magic and does not mean "protection only", "an allegory" or "something that is no longer required in the modern enlightened age".

So, having learnt how to kill people the next step mentioned is that of "binding souls". By this is meant how to restrict another by making use of their very essence. In the neo pagan movement this is about as close as they will, (openly) admit to getting to offensive magic. That this comes second is an interesting idea because it means that "subtle" arts took a "back seat" to practical "hands on" styles of repelling those who would harm or otherwise hinder.

After this somewhat more subtle way of dealing with your opponents came another job that was even more subtle although arguably a bit more tricky - weather work. The next box on the worklist was the destruction of property and this was to be done by means of harnessing the forces of nature such as the weather. Today this may seem a bit of a roundabout way of going about things BUT in a world that depends on the "good harvest" so that the people of the area can survive, it becomes apparent as to why this should be a vital "angle to cover".

Lastly here is mentioned "dealing with the avowed enemy" - that is the Church. This seems a little odd at first, afterall the whole notion is to get the opponents out of the way as soon as possible and so the notion requires a little thought. The Church dispatched their priests and etc to a certain area and when one was killed they generally sent another - this means that there are ready reinforcements. This makes the Church a formidable opponent with plenty of backup. When one adds to this the existence of the Heresy and Witch trials, (beginning in the 1200's with the Cathari Crusade) and the later witch hunters and inquisitors and the like, it becomes clear that the Church was not only well manned but well stocked and provisioned. This is why this section is last - because dealing with peasants in the area is one thing; but taking on a priest, (and thereby the whole Church) - that is another.

Now let's return to the Aradian Gospel text and see what comes next. The quote made before says:

"And it came to pass that Diana, after her daughter had accomplished her mission or spent her time on earth among the living (mortals), recalled her, and gave her the power that when she had been invoked ... having done some good deed ... she gave her the power to gratify those who had conjured her by granting her or him:

Success in love To bless or curse with power friends or enemies (to do good or evil). To converse with spirits. To find hidden treasures in ancient ruins. To conjure the spirits of priests who died leaving treasures. To understand the voice of the wind. To change water into wine. To divine with cards. To know the secrets of the hand (palmistry) To cure diseases. To make those who are ugly beautiful. To tame wild beasts. And whatever thing should be asked from the spirit of Aradia, that should be granted unto those who merited her favour."

In other words we shall have to add these to the list of powers made apparent by the earlier text analysis. This in itself is an interesting thing as it makes clear the old witch adage that was told to me as a student:

"Good deeds in the daytime - real work at night"

Before moving on though, let us first examine what this work might have been in this case. We have investigated the primary works and now let us do the same for the gifts that were reputed to be granted by Aradia.

Success in love is the first on the list and rightfully so to my mind. Fascination in the context of the witch times means "to draw the eye". Today many people forget that it was NOT just old women who got dragged off and were put to the question - it was also any young female who was in any way more attractive than the norm. Let us not forget what we now call "Glamour" was once one of the witches stock and trade and named instead "Glamarye". This gave the ability to bewitch the senses of another and bind them to one's will. The witch who can command the gaze of another can also dominate the thoughts and reminiscences of another. In this way does fascination occur. This combined with the use of spells and philtres etc ensured that the witch could succeed in love where others would fail. There is a vast history in love magic and this will be addressed elsewhere not only here but by others in other places.

To bless or curse with power friends or enemies, (to do good or evil) is a great power and it speaks not only of the gift of knowledge but also that of free will. This is very different from all modern notions of bastardised "Karma", redes and threefold laws. It is a fact to say that witches, (generally) really don't hold any special love OR hate for the human race as a whole, but the meaning of this gift does not end here.

Most people in the western world will be aware, (however cursorily) of the story of the expulsion of Adam, ("And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul") and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The modern interpretation is that the "Devil" transformed himself into the serpent NSChCh, (which incidentally has the same gematric value as the name "Messiah") and exhorted Eve, ("And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man") to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in defiance of God's edict, ("And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die"). This is directly one of the things that is exhorted in this gift. It is NOT just the ability to bless and curse but rather the ability to know good and bad.

This may seem somewhat apocryphal but it really isn't. The "Soothsayer" is one who speaks the truth of things and this was a part of the witch's modus opperandi. In the modern era we refer to this as "Truthsight". This is the ability to "know" in ones "gut" whether someone is telling the truth or not. Form this naturally follows the ability to see that which is hidden in any situation or individual. If a person hides something then it shall surely be winnowed out by the competent witch.

To converse with spirits is a great power of the witch. This particular gift originates in the dim past of humankind. In the modern argot, "Necromancy" means the raising of the dead to accomplish certain tasks and is therefore, irrevocably linked in the modern mind with the notions of Voudoun and Zombification. This is a modern idea.

The witch "knows things" and one of them is that words are used in the modern era as they aught not to be. Necromancy originally referred to the ability to talk to those who were not of this world. This generally meant one's ancestors or those who one had known would be of aid but was now dead. This practice was known before the "days of Abraham", and is generally thought to be a consequence of magic's huge debt to the Paleolithic and, (to a lesser extent) Neolithic shamans. If there is any doubt as to the fact that the ancient humans saw nothing particularly "evil", (in the modern sense of the word) in such practices one should study the historical names for temple attendants in the Ancient Levantine area. In this time it was considered to be de rigeur and no temple could really afford to be without the services of "chDozin" and "adadin" (seers and revealers). Not that this should come as any real surprise - anyone with any understanding of the modern church knows that it is supposed to be the "instrument of God's will on earth". How else could such a thing be known? The Old Testament is riddled with such stories!

To find hidden treasures in ancient ruins is one of the gifts that really is no mystery when one thinks about the context. All witches shared a common bond and that is keeping silence. Who better than one who is privy to the secrets of the past to find things in ancient ruins? There is a story in Leo Martello's book Witchcraft - The Old Religion, (p 101) regarding an article in National Geographic, (Aug. 1940) which concerned a number of children and their teachers who went missing during a cave expedition in Malta. No trace of these people was ever found and the story says that Italian and Maltese witches avow that there are yet a race of people living down in the caves and that it was they who had taken them to join their numbers. As witches are reputed to not only be privy to such secrets as those of the past, but also be able to "look back down the corridors of time" - either by personal skill or conversations with the dead; then it is not so surprising that by such knowledges many things that may escape the searching of modern humans may be discovered by them alone.

"To conjure the spirits of priests who died leaving treasures" is not just a reference to what has just been said, it also refers to the treasures of knowledge. There are many skills that the witch will accrue by conversing with the spirits of those who have died and this statement is the reminder to the witch that not only is the literal meaning possible but also other meanings which may be, by far, more useful.

"To understand the voice of the wind" is also a reminder to the witch that even their primary lessons still hold more truths than they know. We have already seen how one of the primary jobs of the witch was the harnessing of the natural elements as sources of power and this exhorts that the witches return to these beginnings and learn more of each of these elements. The witch believes that each of the natural elements, (in addition to being that which comprises everything on earth) are also alive and therefore are capable of retaining and transmitting knowledge. Many people have scoffed at this over the millennia but the witch is finally being recognised as somewhat correct in such assumptions by modern quantum physicists, who are just now discovering that every quantity of matter actually retains a form of memory that enables it to appear to do the things that it does without outside guidance.

The changing of water into wine has, (at least) two possible manners in which it can be taken. The first is simply that the witch has the ability to make the best use of everything that nature has to offer. The second involves the use of illusion. During the life of Aleister Crowley he proposed the use of a different spelling of the word "Magic" to denote it as being different to "illusion". While ceremonial magicians who had not bothered to learn their basic terminologies applauded the notion the witches just wondered what the hell he was talking about. The use of prestidigitation has ALWAYS been a part of magic to anyone who knows what they are talking about. Glamours are illusions! Hypnosis, mesmerism, magnetism, sympathy and contagion ALL contain elements of illusion! When all of this has been digested as fact then the ability to turn water into liquid that tastes and looks like wine is simply understood. Let them who have eyes and ears to see and hear do so. Another way that this can be taken is akin to the Alchemical formulae and their mysteries which most witches are even MORE loathe to reveal to the masses at large.

To divine with cards is only one of many forms of divination that have been known to witches since time immemorial. This is a very useful skill as it allows the witch to not only "turn their eye inward" to see themselves and learn the secrets of the past but also to "turn their eye outward" or "cast their eye forward" and thereby ensure their successes by avoiding those things that will not succeed. This has been used in this fashion forever. It is not just a "claiming of things that worked" but the simple and judicious use of probability sciences to calculate future trends, evaluate their uses and then embark on those that are most beneficial. The real witch does not generally embark on plans that they will not benefit from.

To know the secrets of the hand (palmistry) is not just another form of divination to be practiced on the self and others, it is also a manner of making their other endeavours easier. The hands will tell the astute witch things about a person that others might miss. The noble disguised as a peasant will be given away by their soft and smooth hands. Their occupations will shape them so that they will be signposts that speak volumes if you know what to look for. The reading of another's palm also allows one to get "up close and personal" with someone and ensure that they are distracted at the same time. The benefits of this should be obvious.

To cure diseases is a necessity for the witch. Many things may occur to the witch that they will be unlikely to consult a doctor about. Not only is personal choice a part of it but also the fact remains that if the witch is far from doctors then they may heal themselves or another and thereby live another day or gain the gratitude of another. The methods of this are many and varied from a sound knowledge of anatomy, massage and herbs many "miracles" simply become a matter of being prepared for such an instance.

To make those who are ugly beautiful is a simple thing for a witch. Not only is the competent witch capable of healing the body, they are also well equipped by various means of beautifying it. Whether it be by glamours or by the judicious use of cosmetics in accordance with their knowledge of fascination is neither "here nor there". The witch who cannot make use of their ability to command the gaze upon another to ensure the same is a poor witch indeed.

To tame wild beasts one requires a bit more than just "having a knack". Many of the witches of old were accused of harbouring demons that took the forms of animals. The witch does many things well and one of their foremost weapons is the ability to observe. When one observes any animal long enough, then their language becomes second nature. The ability to utilise the body language etc. of an animal makes such practices as taming and training animals all the easier. It is true that there are ways and means by which the competent witch may share the thoughts of animals to a certain extent but this is really something that is not suited to this medium of communication. It is also certainly something that witches are disinclined to discuss openly.

And whatever thing should be asked from the spirit of Aradia, that should be granted unto those who merited her favour. Here we see the use of the notion of the patron, that is to say one who will aid the endeavours of a magical worker. Aradia is one of many spirits/god/desses that may aid the cause of the witch. Many of these spirits are of pagan background and are traditionally viewed as being specific in any number of ways (such as geographically and racially). This has changed somewhat over time as one of the first questions of the witch is not "Is it traditionally correct" but rather "Will it work?" This is why in the modern era there are witches who make use of spirits and entities that may be only found in fantasies, cities and the modern era right alongside names from pagan antiquity.

Powers so far ...

The art of poisoning, killing by magic, binding the soul of opponents, ruining crops with storms, lightning, thunder, hail and wind and (naturally) the destruction of the Christian power when possible. Success in love, To bless or curse with power friends or enemies (to do good or evil), To converse with spirits, To find hidden treasures in ancient ruins, To conjure the spirits of priests who died leaving treasures, To understand the voice of the wind, To change water into wine, To divine with cards, To know the secrets of the hand (palmistry), To cure diseases, To make those who are ugly beautiful, To tame wild beasts and whatever other thing should be asked from the spirit of Aradia, by those who merited her favour.

An old Talk Pt 1

Powers and Operations

In most texts this is a subject that is at best glossed over due to it's "sticky" nature. The powers all manifest in different ways for each person but there are some constants and these are generally ignored because no one wants "to be the first to get it wrong". No one wants to be ridiculed which is kind of silly when you think about it - afterall this is a page on witchcraft! It reminds me of a quote from the second Warlock movie:

"Ted you are wasting your time; .... that spell is just an old wives tale"

"Yeah ... but so are we ...... and just imagine if it DID work ....."

In this section we shall examine what has been said of "what witches can do" over the years. We shall examine what outsiders have said, (again, oddly enough this "mob" have had more to say than the witches themselves) and what those from within have said and examine each to see how generally valid these opinions are.

In the modern era two main arguments are almost always put forward to the general public by "Witchcraft" public relations people. One is that they have been vilified by the Church as having done terrible things that they could not possibly ever do because of the "three fold law". The second is that they are just like everyone else and just want to live in peace in today's world.

These two have some real historical problems.

One problem is that most of the PR people are NOT witches at all but are in fact, wiccans. Witches do not believe in the "Threefold Law". This seems a simple thing but it does have far reaching effects as we shall see later. This fundamental difference colours all else - as the base is the strength of the pillar. The second problem is that of the Church propaganda.

Virtually all witches would accept the maxim that states that "every myth has a kernel of truth" and this is especially applied to folklore. The only people of that time that wrote folklore down extensively was the church. If we are to accept this little maxim and make use of it to speak about our own folklore, then we must also admit that it is probably true "across the board" - irrelevant of religion, culture or geo-racial specificity. Therefore, that which was written by the Church although undoubtably folklore turned propaganda MUST have a kernel of truth. Ain't logic dreadful? Well only if you fight it!

This is vehemently rejected by the Neo-Pagan community and is explained in the first instance as "The Church's fanatical hatred of them" and the "pre-emptive toward the 'Witchcraft Trials.'" If neither of these "fit the bill" and cease the debate, then the onus is generally placed back at the feet of the church. This argument is simple and clear cut, (as most wrong theories are) and runs something like:

"If those terrible things did occur, (read as - and I don't really believe they did) then it must have been "Satanists" that did them. As we all "know" that "Satan" is an invention of the Church we must also accept that "Satanists" are ALSO an invention of the Church. In this light then, the Church did all of these things to themselves by creating their own enemy. This enemy did terrible things and we were blamed and hunted almost to extinction for it."

This is kind of odd considering that in the same breath, most of these neo pagans will also dismiss the "Church", "Satan" and "Satanists" as being "irrelevant when considering the subject of Witchcraft because "Witchcraft is PRE Christian!" Well, Witchcraft IS but NEO PAGANISM and WICCA AREN'T! This notion is again, problematic because most Neo-Pagans will say that the Church "stole" their "Horned God" and turned him into "Satan"! What needs to be said to these people is this:

"Get it RIGHT! Wicca is NOT Witchcraft! Either you accept that legend is based in fact or you don't! You can't just smugly say that yours IS - but theirs ISN'T! You either HAVE to admit that the Church has power and relevance or NOT - you can't just decide when and where YOU want it to have relevance and expect ANYONE to take you seriously! This is NOT how history works - either confine yourself to unsupported fantasy or conduct yourselves in a manner conducive to REAL historical inquiry. You can't have it BOTH WAYS!"

Let's now dispel some myths.

1. Church propaganda DID have a basis in truth - it WASN'T ALL propaganda
   The oppression of peoples from the 1200's through to the present WAS NOT specifically aimed at "Witches" but rather began as a political house cleaning manoeuvre to rid themselves of the Heretical sects within their own set up. This netted far more Jews, (for example) than witches!
2. The "Terrible things" were NOT ALL done by "Satanists" - they were also done by WITCHES!
3. The Church DID create themselves an enemy but these merely swelled the ranks of those already in existence (i.e. the WITCHES and surviving PAGANS)
4. The "Church", "Satan" and "Satanists" are NOT irrelevant topics when considering the history of Witchcraft - all of the above had their effects and these cannot be ignored if one wishes to be honest and/or accurate
5. The "Church" DID steal the "Horned God" but they really didn't have to change him much for him to be viewed as their "Satan", NOR did the Church have to try very hard to make the "WITCHES" fit their cardboard cut out of a "Satanist"
6. NONE of these things occurred to "Wiccans"
7. Wiccans were and ARE not "PREChristian" - "Witches" are ... "Wiccans" are not.

All of these topics will be covered in the text that follows. Also covered by context will be the vast difference between "Wicca" and "Witchcraft" in practice, history, outlook and belief. This information will NOT present the same material that has been already covered by apologists who try to reconcile the two or try to reconcile witches and the public at large. Witchcraft is and always has been, apart from the masses and I know of NO real witch who would dispute this or try to alter it. Hopefully this text will make clear by manner of comparison the fact that "Witches" are NOT "Wiccans" , have NO love for the Church and no especial desire to be "accepted" by the modern world.

Some useful thoughts about Ritual

Ritual is rarely needed but it can be very useful.

These notes that follow were useful too.

Some people didn't like the ground they were seeded in.

They tasted fine to me.

Ritual Steps

Herein I am going to discuss a few parts of ritual in a simple and straightforward manner. These are not theories put forward by a scholar. This is what I have found to be true - by trying it out. Below a number of topics will be discussed - these are by no means all there is to magic - but hell I gotta start this somewhere - and so do you.

Ritual Preparation

Need vs want

One thing to be bourne in mind always is that semantics are important. It is one of my favourite statements of the moment to quote Babylon 5 and say "It is my experience that if you cannot say what you mean - then you cannot mean what you say . In my line of work the details are everything."

And so first I shall adress a matter that I feel is much misunderstood - the ideals of "Need" and "Want".

So often I hear people saying "I need .....". Often I correct them and say "No. You WANT ....... . The real question is 'How BADLY do you want it?"

This highlights a very real issue. There is NO "free lunch" . Literally any damn thing may be achieved but it must really be wanted.

This is where the idea of "Need" comes in.. The Human animal really needs very little. Need has no regard for comfort or desire. You would be quite surprised at exactly how little a human animal requires to sustain life and even a modicum of satisfaction. We are exquisitely adaptable creatures and it does take as little as three weeks to ingraine a habitual response.

As such, when contemplating magic one needs (yes needs!) to be precise. Is it a need or a want? Once this has been objectively decided then the next issue is how much does one need/want the object aimed for?

This is where many would be magi fail. If one really wants/needs something then the obsession is already present and as such focussing this should be easy. Inordinate desire is the key - the obsession. The "how to" is the lock or puzzle to be solved. I shall utilise an anlaogy that is oversimplified but never the less makes clear the situation.

Take for example, a young warlock. Most young warlocks begin with simple (?) desires and they generally run something like this: I want Money, Power, Fame and as many Women as my body can cope with! Ok - well let us begin with the gaining of a woman. Say the warlock does a ritual to gain a lover. If they are really serious then they will have quite a few! Why? Well because the young warlock will take whatever comes his way. He cannot afford to be picky with his outcome if he will not be specific with his request.

If he was specific then he must be satisfied with the inevitable waiting game.

The next factor is to decide how to achieve this. This is the stage at which one of the biggest fallacies regarding magic of any real sort comes in. Real magic is not a shortcut to anything - except perhaps frustration. It is not an "easy way". It constantly stuns me hoe many people approach me "that I may use my arcane powers to aid them"..... only to discover that what they really want could be achieved a great deal easier without magic!!

The amount of males (and females!!) that have come to ask if I can get them a lover with unwashed and groomed hair, ratty clothing and terrible manners is astounding! Then they generally have the gall to be indignant when I suggest that a shower, shave and some dress/language coaching might be a good start!

The simple fact is that the rise of the New Age has done a lot of damage to people. The example here is "positive thought". The only people (and I stress the ONLY part of this equation!!) for which I have seen this "postive thought" process work properly and well are people who were already quite competant magicians in their own way. Every other person that I have seen "positively think" for something have ended up getting nothing (or something that they then convince themselves was the object of their desires all along!).

No indeed, as Anton La Vey stated "Positive thought coupled with positive action gets results!" Quite often, human desires may easily be achieved through what we term as "Social Manipulation". This is exactly what it sounds like; the only mystery involved in this process is the refinement of interactive and strategic faculties. In other words "tricks of the trade".

Another part of the puzzle to be adressed is, (assuming one is still assured that magic is really the way that they wish to achieve their goals) exactly what format the magic will take - there are various forms of ritual and the one that will be most useful must be selected carefully.

The first step is to ensure that the format of ritual selected is indeed compatible with the desired end. From a vampiric point of view; any system of magic may be utilised as long as the forms and rules are obeyed. So what kind of work is it? What kind are there?

Well the simplest of ones are the best. It has long been a joke to say "If I can't eat it, kill it or have sex with it - I don't care about it!" but this is not really far from the truth. All desires can be levelled down to these and one other - sympathy.

So Eating, Destruction, Sex and Sympathy are all it boils down to. Now is the point to think. Would one use a Satanic Might Ritual for sympathy? Of course not. This seems all very coomonsense I know, but the fact is that this is a very often overlooked part of successful magical ritual.

So, having decided what the ritual is for - that magic IS the "way to go" and exactly what form of ritual it will be the next step is timing. When to do all this? You must take into account whether or not you have everything you will need for the work (if not you will have to allow time for the things to be gathered together/ made ect.), when you will have time to obsess well without being disturbed, when you will have time to work the ritual without disruption, how long it will take, what the time of most efficacy will be and then, lastly - how long the ritual is expected to take to work effect (all factors being taken into account).

Remember what I said about magic not being a short cut?? Well by now you should be beginning to see why - but never fear, with just a huge amount of practice this will all be automatically taken into account.

The next factor that I will discuss is the target. Now, by this stage it should be obvious that the target of the ritual work will affect ALL of the above factors. But nevertheless the target must be taken into account - you do not want to connect too harshly (or too softly).

Basically, the first question should be do I have the correct target? Never forget that often it is more efficient to target someone who will affect the aim of your desires to effect change. Secondly, never forget to take into account everything you know about the targets - all of their strengths, all of their weaknesses, all must be taken into account and utilised.

Having done all of this there is one thing left to consider before beginning work on the "ritual proper" and that is balance and power.

Balance and Power

Balance refers to the ability to guage your capabilities well. This rather naturally refers us to the subject of power.

It is a fact - there is noone who can succeed in everything. A wonderful truism to remember is this: "There are those than can do more than I can and better too; but NO ONE can do what I do better than I can."

At first this seems paradoxical but it is not for the true magician. For the true magician, what they do is personal and an extension of what they are. No one can be a better "you" than you can. In magic one must always remember that one is it's master. One must always remember that one is responsible for every part of the magic used. You gave it form ; you gave it life and therefore YOU are it's creator. As such it will obey your commands if all precautions are taken.

As you can see, this eads directly into the subject of personal power. In magic one must know who they are and what they are and aren't capable of. This must be objectively explored and then accepted as fact. Once this is done, the magician will be able to face all and every problem understanding exactly what "tools" they have to work with.

The trick to it is to recognise what you are good at, to discover those things that are your strengths and then work with these in the ritual. This will give you a very good idea of the probability of sucess - this is the balance returning.

If one is a less than average looking person and they desire a mate that is beautiful then they must use their charisma to overcome the distance between the relative personal images. Put simply, if they are beautiful and you are not then you must make yourself appear beautiful. This is the essence of "glamour". Glamour is the projection of one's strengths to cover one's defects. This is then focussed by the will in order to be more powerful than the perceptions of others. Much useful information on this is to be found within the pages of La Vey's Satanic Witch.

Some More Exercises

These were written from a particular perspective and although they can be simply deengineered they will give better results if they are taken on board whole cloth, internalised and then adapted.

I realise that again. this means that the number of people who will get the maximum use of it will be smaller than usual but frankly - so the number should be.

Some Further Establishing Exercises ...

On the subject of "Your Place"

The statement: " The operator may well feel an overwhelming need to rearrange their quarters into a well defined differentiation between "space to entertain in" and "space that is theirs alone" is often made and it is here that we shall examine this subject in a bit more detail.

What you will need to do is separate your bed from the rest of your room. For some, it may be enough at first to merely set up a partition much akin to a mosquito net over the bed or some such. Myself I have found that I am by far most happy with the arrangement that my own bedroom has at present. I have a large area that has a cupboard, dresser and a couch in it. It is a large and open room that has the size of a master bedroom. This room has three doors: one which leads to the interior of the house, one which leads out onto a balcony and one that leads to my bedchamber.

The bedchamber is a small room - just barely large enough to accommodate a queen sized bed over which hangs a mosquito net. It has windows along two walls and two doors - one of which is the entry and the other which leads back into the interior of the house. I have blinds on the windows so that it can be as dark or as light as I please.

This is the arrangement that I, (and others of like persuasion) have found most pleasing. There is an open area that contains all of the requisites for daily life and entertaining and then there is the much smaller room in which to sleep. This was the result of having the room and natural shift. I did not plan it to turn out that way at all - I had two rooms and found that I felt happiest when my bed was removed from "public" space. I have found that the smaller and more "closed" off from everything else my actual sleeping area is - the happier I am.

While such an arrangement may be out of reach for some, it is something to aim for and (as I have said) something that the effect of can be reached quite simply and easily by way of a simple material partition after the manner of a "four poster bed".

Once this has been achieved, it will then be your next step to arrange the land about you. Now, again I am perhaps luckier than most in that I already have a fair sized yard and that a sizeable part of that has been set aside for outside practice. In my case, therefore I was able to make whatever changes I wished to furnish my own happiness - but even if you share a house or rent a condo apartment there are still some things that you can do in order to "claim" the area around you.

This may seem a little weird at first but you WILL find that you start regarding the area around the place in which you live as your "Territory" and you WILL want to "mark it as your own". I will provide a couple of traditional ways so that, whether you live on a block of land or in an apartment on the eleventh floor you will be able to satisfy this urge.

If you own your Land and / or House

I will begin here by saying that this is the MOST advantageous situation to be in because it will leave you with no doubt that not only is the area about you under your influence BUT it actually also BELONGS to you and you can do whatever it is that you want to it.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in this position, then this what you do. First of all you must traverse every part of it, (preferably in bare feet) so that you get a true sense of every part of it do this once in every day and night for the three days just prior to the Full Moon. Then on the third night, do this with either a pendulum or dowsing rods. Take special notice of where the energy lines of the land you are on point, where they intersect and so on. Make a rough map of these and familiarise yourself with it.

Wait until the next full moon has risen to it's highest point and then go outside and make contact with these lines/currents etc and observe them. Repeat this exercise each night until the moon is full again. This need not be an exhaustive work - it is merely so that you can see the changes in your land for a moon cycle; to familiarise you with it and it with you.

Once this is all done, return to your map and mark points on it at each of the cardinal directions that do NOT cut the lines of the land. I cannot stress that NOT enough - because the next step is to get some thin wooden poles and drive them into the ground at these points. As such these should not be put through the lines, eddies etc of your land - if you do then you will effectively "cut it off" from the power inherent in the land about it.

When you have these wooden pegs to hammer in, first make a small hole where you intend to drive them in. Before you place the peg in the hole you must first place three drops of spit, three drops of blood and three drops of sweat into the hole. Then you may hammer the peg in so that no part of it is above ground level. Do this at all four points. This will claim the entire area between the pegs as yours alone.

If you share a house with other people you can still do these things (even though you may have to engage in a bit of "cloak and dagger" so as not to upset housemates/neighbours etc). If you live in an apartment of a large building then your best bet is to get four medium sized potted plants and place them at the cardinal points of your apartment. If this means placing them in different rooms this is not a problem.

As your position is quite different you may think that this alters the process but it truly needn’t. Lines of power in naked land are inherent, lines of power in the city are, generally speaking, man made. This does not alter what they are - indeed it just makes it that bit more interesting as you will probably have to rely on your innate senses to find the "power nodes" about the city. Inside your apartment is a different story - check out your apartments furnishings in the same way with the rods or pendulum so that you can get an idea of how the energies flow through the spaces of your living space and make changes where you feel it necessary.

However, to return to your apartment as a specifically marked space, (apart from all else) what you will need to do is cross the threshold of your door with iron filings (to cut it off from the rest of the building) and then repeat the same process as described above in the pots of your plants. In this way your apartment is separated from the building (thereby avoiding the nagging annoyance of people constantly crossing your territory) and claiming your apartment as your own point in space in the same way that you would were you on open land.

YOUR WORK SPACE

Most of the new age books these days would have you believe that you must do everything in a circle. This is typical of the sort of misinformation due to ignorance that has become the norm today. The circle is very useful in terms of visualisation if you are doing work on yourself, (such as glamours etc) or for protection due to the virtue of it's geometricity BUT if the work you require is that which needs change the world around you – or within on a deeper level, then the set-up you will need will obviously be different to the sort of religous circles most know of. In this case I will urge you to consider using a SPIRAL. It is true that some of the recent books have cottoned on to this but they are generally so full of garbage that the virtue is buried under mounds of sanctimonious falsehood.

THE SPIRAL

There are two formats for the spiral to take - inward or outward. These are used for precisely the reasons that logic dictates - the inward spiral is used for all works pertaining to the self while the outward is for all works pertaining to the outside world or other people.

For the positioning of your spiral you should consider the paths of energy within your domain carefully. What you want, (preferably) is a "Node", the nexus point where the majority of the lines come as close as possible to crossing. If none of your lines intersect then select the place where the most of them are close together and you will find that the spiral will pull them together on it's own. If you are lucky enough to have a node then you should place the spiral directly on top of it.

To do this you will need a fair number of stones (for some specific works later you may wish to use certain stones but for the now plain old river stones will do fine). They do not necessarily need to be large at all BUT there should be at lest one that is the size of a moderately sized book that is flat. This flat stone should be placed right on top of the centre of the nexus area as your central stone.

In both of these cases there are no "special secret words" or "hidden incantations" that need to be said although you may use these if you wish, and can find one that suits you. (I have used "The Wyrm goes in, The Wyrm comes out; He [I am a male] goes in thin and comes out stout" on occasion with great success!) The main thing that you must do when laying the stones is to be aware of the "leys" that you are placing down for the energy to flow in and encourage it to do so in the best way you can. If this requires some call to a visualised entity/thoughtform etc then do so, but be aware that this spiral is YOURS it is NOT in "dedication" to any other or for any other but yourself. This is an important point to remember -

IT IS YOUR LAND - IT IS YOUR SPIRAL TO USE AS YOU WISH

Do keep this in mind at all times. These days we are wrapped in societal and spurious programming that is a result of the christian "Ten Commandments", or it's later more lax companion of the "New Age" - the "Wiccan Rede". It is important to remember that you are working in a different paradigm now - this is NOT Christianity and it is NOT Wicca - this is Magic and as such it works in accordance with actual principles. You are taking your place in teh scheme of things here - not begging for someone to acknowlege you in a fantasy sense.

First and foremost in this case therefore; the above statement is by FAR more important than any "Human Moral Codes" and YES, this INCLUDES human morality that masquerades as "Divine"! Here, on YOUR land, in YOUR Spiral you are the equal of the powers you will be dealing with. In reality, being meek, (the whole "Cap in Hand" scenario of begging for favours) will get you ignored just as surely as spuriously demanding things. Here in your place, you are the master of your realm and it is therefore unthinkable in dragon philosophy that you should "beg favours" of your peers. You EARN rights and show that you are worthy of them by efficiently and accurately living up to your responsibilities. This is taking one's place as who they truly are.

To be "less than you are" is unnacceptible - as is to pretend that you are "more than you are" - you are what you are, no more or less and must show that you are worthy of holding such a position.

Once this is done, you should leave it set up for as long as is practicable - thus allowing the streams of energy in that area the time to get used to the new path you have set for it. You should also monitor the streams to see that it is working well. If it is still unstable after a full day you may wish to consider resetting the spiral after reconsidering the area in which you work.

SPIRAL WORK

By now you should be ready to do some actual work. Read through the following instructions a couple of times carefully until you "have it all straight" before following them. Also, follow them in order as there is a specific reason for this placement as you will soon see.

THE INWARD SPIRAL

The Inward Spiral is the first spiral to experience. The inward spiral and the act of traversing it is symbolic of "Turning the Eye Inward" and as such should come first. Today, many would like to "jump right into" magic and start working before even comprehending what they are doing. This is NOT the way. First you should experience yourself. You need to turn your eye inward and know yourself truly before you interract with others in this fashion.

THE FIRST DAY

On the sunset of the first day after the full moon, stand on the perimeter, (in the west) of the space that you have to work with and place a stone down. Take one pace inward toward the centre, (or three if you have a large space to work with) of the area. Turn to your left, walk nine paces around the perimeter and place a stone. Do this again until you are back beside the spot where you took your first step in. Turn toward the centre of the space and take another step in and place a stone. Turn left and walk eight paces around the circumference anti-clockwise and place a stone. Repeat this process as you did before around the circle, (only placing stones every EIGHT paces, then SEVEN on the next, then SIX and etc until you are at the point where you are at one.) right into the centre. When you are right beside the "centre" of the space place the flat large stone in the centre. You should now have a line that spirals in nine times and ends in the centre with a flat stone.

This will probably take a bit of practice, the first few times you may need to correct your placements once or twice to get it right. When you do this, be sure to spiral out to the problem and fix it upon arrival, (as opposed to just stepping over the lines). This may seem all quite difficult at first but after a couple of trials you will get it right. Once you have, go back out of the spiral and have a shower.

When you are out of the shower and dried off, re-enter the spiral and draw the lines of energy in with you. Every time you pass a stone on your way through the nine levels, draw the energy into your hands and touch the stone to anchor the new lines of flow. When you reach the centre, sit down (or lie if you have the space) and spend some time observing the new flow of power. Get used to being in the centre of the maelstrom.

FROM THE SECOND DAY ONWARDS

Stand at the outer entryway. Take a razor blade and cut yourself on the left hand side of your breast. Each time you approach a stone as you go in, dip your right hand forefinger into the blood and mark the stone. When you reach the centre, sit down and become aware of the marking that you have just done. Reach out with your senses and sense all of the spots of blood. Send your mind to the outer stone and draw the energy from without of the spiral to it.

When you feel that you can "hold" no more, draw it in, stone by stone after the same manner until it reaches the point where you are. When it reaches you, channel it upwards at the sky. Repeat this until it becomes easy and natural to do so - so that you can draw energy from outside in through and around the spiral to you and project it up and out as a steady stream. Do this a couple of times each day for three days. By this, the spiral should have settled and you should be master of it.

THE OUTWARD SPIRAL

Stand in the centre of the workspace on the dawning of the first day after the new moon.
Place the central flat stone down in the centre of the workspace. From here you will walk one pace forward to the east, (if you are outdoors or have a large area in which to walk try three paces) place a stone here and turn to the right. Take another step forward and place another stone. Continue this around the centre stone in THE CLOCKWISE DIRECTION until you get back to the point that is just beyond where you were in the first instance. Continue the circumnabulation but this time place a stone down at every TWO paces. One the third time round place one every THREE paces, every FOURTH on the fourth time round and so on until you end up on the ninth spiral which you should end at the point on this line in line with your first step out from the centre. This will give you nine lines to work with, (each approximately one - three paces apart) that begins in the centre and ends in the east. This is the outward spiral.

Who will learn?