Bone Collecting and Carving

Yesternight I went into the forest in search of a new staff. I found this. A beautiful birch branch with a perfect fork on the end. Birch is one of the world trees. Sorcerers would climb the fungus “steps” to reach the heavens. I felt it was the perfect staff. However, later in the walk I came across, randomly, a full deer skeleton. 

I said a prayer for the doe’s spirit to go to the underworld in peace, and left it there to return later. And return I did. 

As of this writing I have just returned with my friend Heather. Recently she has been having some bone collecting dreams so I thought it was fitting to have her tag along. We walked in the moonlight most of the way, which was very nice. 

Eventually we came upon the skeleton, as I had taken the same path. I lit a candle and laid down sacred space to give us some privacy as we tended to the dead. We uttered a prayer over its body, and set to the task of taking what was given to us. 

We left offerings of ale and blood, and finished our work, returning to the path. In the stream we washed our hands, and stood in quiet mourning for our new friend. As we walked back to find the main trail, I sang the “Wassail Song”, as I am wont to do when returning from an offering. 

I could feel as we walked a spirit with us. Heather said that she could feel it as well. It’s always nice to have confirmation so you don’t feel Woo-Woo. 

As of this writing, we are letting the bones soak in some hot water. We sang over them, and burned some Rosemary. In a moment we will be burying them to let some Land energy sink into them, and further purge them of any potentially negative energies. 

As for my carving, my wand is coming along nicely. I added three nodes, as it traditional. The wand has a nice spiral that I fleshed out. I found it with some ivy wrapped around it. I will be soaking this to loosen it a bit, and then rewrap it, covering it with leather to keep it in place. In the butt of the wand I’ll be hiding some blood and hair, and capping it with some crystal. It will be my first hand-carved wand, and I’m very excited. 

The natural spiral is indicative of the serpentine energies of the Land. The Rowan wood is a traditional wand wood, and will also protect the holder from baneful faery influence. According to the Witch of Forest Grove, it can also be used to open doors in the Otherworld. 

I’ve been also crafting up a storm in terms of incense and powders. I’m selling them at the local occult shop, which is a lot of fun. I have a feeling that some of my more nefarious…. items will not sell well. There are a lot of more “light side” pagans in the valley, if you will. So, I do not expect my Crow Smoke to sell well, for example. Not a lot of necromancers around here, I suspect, hehe.  

An Autumn Ritual

Tonight I took the Wild Irish Woman and two non-witches that have an interest in witchcraft into the forest. We went to the Ash Mound where many a ritual has been held. We lay down the compass and strongly called the spirits to us. We anointed ourselves with the spirit of Mandrake and then set to work on the main ritual.

While the Wild Irish Woman played a sweet song, I began to craft the Sacrificial King. His body was that of a potato, and twigs were his limbs. I cut out a space for his heart. His head was an apple slice, and he had corn wisps for hair. I gave him a huge phallus, the base of the ear of corn. I gave him Ale for blood, a spark from the fire for his spirit, and my own breath to Liven Him. He presided over our festivities at the base of the stang.

We sang, and danced, and traversed deeper In Between. We chanted to bring ourselves down deep. Spirits moved with us, and jumped through our ritual space. Our feet pounded upon the soft earth, and we all got a little dirty. There was much toasting and drinking. Trance overtook us all. We were in a lovely balance with the world.

The Wild Irish Woman led us in a beautiful, on the fly meditation after we chanted about ourselves being of Nature, even if we do not appear physically to be so.

Earth my body, water my blood. 
Air my breath and fire my spirit. 
We are a circle, a mighty circle.
We have our brothers, we have our sisters.

The meditation was about focusing on our inner flame and fanning this flame higher. The Cunning Flame of Wisdom, gifted to us by the Master.

Then it was time for His sacrifice by my hand. While the Wild Irish Woman drummed a slow funeral dirge I dug holes in the ground to be His grave. I prayed over the body of the King that was soon to be slain by the hand that made him. The drumming quickened, and so did the tears that fell from my eyes. My hands shook as I lifted the blade. I cried out and stabbed once, twice, three times. In this neck, his heart, his phallus.

Breathing heavily I buried my King.

The King is dead; Long live the King!

We solemnly drank to his Sacrifice, and hoped for his speedy return to the Land. We feasted, and laughed, and chatted for a while, and then it was time to return. We chanted

Rentum Tormentum, in the Horned One’s name!

dancing all the while around so that we flew back to the surface like a cork rising in water. We thanked the spirits for their power and I closed the circle, sending the energies back into the Land.

And that was that. We played a few more tunes, and drummed merrily, before returning to the roads, and the buildings, and the streetlamps.

Fluid Gender

Gender is such a concrete thing in our modern society. You are either male or female, there is no in between (at least not to those that are so conservative to think in this way). Those that can see beyond the veil of societal norm know differently. Gender can be fluid, can be shifting, can be concrete or abstract. This is especially important, I feel, in solitary witchcraft.

I was told recently by a psychic that my soul is able to shift between the genders. This is not surprising to me in the slightest. I have always been comfortable within both feminine and masculine, and even neither energies. Even as a small child I did not realise that, at least according to society, if you were a man you should act like one, and vice versa. It did not seem to matter to me very much. I liked dressing up in dresses, and I liked wearing pants in equal terms. Not that clothing has any bearing on one’s gender, but when I was a child that was how I separated it.

The psychic told me that I am able to flow smoothly between many things. Life and Death, Shadow and Light, Male and Female. These archetypes play powerful roles in the witchcraft that I practice. It was a lovely thing to hear my discoveries about my personal self being confirmed by this lovely woman.

In witchcraft I am alone here in Montana, for the most part. I do not practice with any of the covens unless they invite me to one of their sabbat meetings (which is often). When I am alone I represent both, and all, of the gender energies. When I am between, I mean that I am between. I felt this was greatly recognized when I was in Canada. I was able to drum with the men to raise up masculine energy, but I was also able to dance with the women folk to raise up the feminine energy. Strangely this reflects often in my every day life!

I can sing either female or male parts. I can dress as a woman (in a dress and elegant clothing) or I can dress as a man (in a suit and trousers) and I am comfortable in both. It is like an act of shapeshifting. I am not afraid to be one or the other, I am not afraid to be a woman if I need to be, or am called to. This freaks out a lot of my male friends who are adamant that I should only realise my masculine side.

But that is the way of things in society. We are taught if you are a man you should be a man and only a man. If you are a woman you should be a woman and only a woman. It’s disgusting and deplorable. In practicing witchcraft I have to realise that a lot of societal taboos do not apply in the Otherworld (and why should they?). Here it is topsy-turvey. Madness and delight surround us and by giving in we take control. One of those strange paradoxes that make up aspects of witchcraft.

Gender is fluid. It always has been. In the between one is both and neither, and we should not fear it.

Concerning the Compass and Sacred Land

I have written often of the compass (or circle of art, whatever you want to call it) but I don’t think I have written of -why- one can make use of it. There are many different circles in magic and witchcraft and many different ways to use them.

In neo-pagan eclectic witchcraft a circle is used to hold in energies until they are released out into the world to bring about the results of the spell/ritual contained therein. This type of circle can also be used to trap entities in evocation. When this happens the circle is usually outside of another, bigger circle in order to protect the magician from harmful energies as the spirit manifests. It is rather Solomonic in this regard.

There are also circles of protection, which one might draw about an object, a house or building, or themselves to create a protective field against spirits, people, or what have you. Most circles have an element of protection within them as a foundation.

In the circle casting that I utilize I try to go “between” the space to reach the sacred landscape of the spirits and the gods. I do not physically go there, of course, but the actions and words I use take my mind there, and indeed my spirit. The word for this type of casting has been popularised as “compass” by many modern crafters. I call it that simply because it makes sense to call it that. To paraphrase another it “orients the witch on his or her path.” And this is perfectly true, much like a compass orients one when travelling on foot.

In laying down the compass I create a microcosm to the macrocosm of the universe. Lately I have been using an augmented invocation of the compass inspired by Gemma Gary in her book Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways. The line states:

“I conjure thee, O Compass Round.”

As if the witch is conjuring up a named compass. And indeed this is true. When I conjure the compass I know that I am conjuring the Circles of Circles, the Universe in Miniature, the Great Compass of the World which connects me to the Land and to the Spirits. It is as though I am plugging in to a separate reality, but that is always there. With the Stang/World Tree as the center I can go anywhere, and call upon any spirit that would like to assist me.

It focuses and empowers my calls and workings. It makes it easier to connect to spirits and communicate with them. The Land is sacred, but the compass, at least for me, acts as a megaphone to the Otherworlds. When I am within a compass I stand upon Sacred Land that is the Sacred Land of the All. I am within the Upperworld, the Middle World, and the Underworld all at once. I am between.

It is important to experience this, I think. I can almost physically feel the expansion of my mind when I am in a compass. It is thrilling and terrifying.

And is that not the point of being a witch? To be in many places, yet in one place. To walk between the worlds the way that others can not? To be Living and Dead, Beast and Man, Light and Shadow at once?

How do I know it’s working, I ask myself sometimes. Well, I do have one confirmation that at least one circle casting was very effective. I was out in the woods with some friends for a Lunar rite or some such and I had a cast a circle. After a while some woman came wandering by outside of the circle looking for someone. She was calling out a name (David or something). We had a fire, so we all thought she would come over here sooner or later. Which she did. She came within six feet of us and asked “Who’s there?” as though she could not see us.

I was staring right at her and my face was clearly illuminated, we all were! Yet she could only see the fire, seemingly, and would not get any closer.

One of the group finally spoke and the woman suddenly was able to see us.

It was truly fascinating and was an “oh, shit this works” moment.

To be within a properly cast circle is to be Between, where the Spirits lie. Which is the entire point of witchcraft.

The Rite of Her Sacred Fires

It’s that time of year again to honor the Triple Faced goddess who is One and Three. For more information please click the link! This is the third anniversary of this rite, so let’s keep the Fire burning bright!