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Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 914 | bide.
26. Or who its members be, save only the Priest and Priestess and the
Messenger.
27 And there shall be no communication between them, save only by the
Messenger of the Gods, or the Summoner.
28. And only if it be safe may the Covens meet in some safe place for
the Great Festivals.
29. And while there, none shall say whence they come, nor give their
true names.
30. To this end, that if any be tortured, in their agony, they may not
tell if they do not know.
31. So be it ardane, that no one shall tell anyone, not of the Craft,
who be of the Wicca, or give any names, or where any abide, or in any
way tell anything which can betray any of us to our faces.
32. Nor may he tell where the Covendom be.
33. Or the Covenstead.
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34. Or where the meetings be.
35. And if any break these Laws, even under torture, the Curse of the
Goddess shall be upon them, so they may never be reborn on earth, and
may they remainm where they belone, in the Hell of the Christians.
36. Let each High Priestess govern Her Coven with justice and love,
with the help and advice of the High Priest and the Elders, always
heeding the advice of the Messenger of the Gods if He comes.
37. She will heed all complaints of all Brothers and strive to settle
all differences among them.
38. But it must be recognized that there will always be people who
will ever strive to force others to do as they will.
39. These are not necessarily evil.
40. And they oft have good ideas, and such ideas should be talked over
in council.
41. But, if they will not agree with their Brothers or if they say:
42. "I will not work under this High Priestess."
43. It hath ever been the Old Law, to be convenient for the Brethren,
and to avoid disputes.
44. Any of the third may claim to found a new Coven, because they live
over a league from the Covenstead or are about to do so.
45. Anyone living within the Covendom and wishing to form a new Coven
shall tell the Elders of their intentions and on the instand avoid
their dwelling and remove to a new Covendom. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 915 | 46. Members of the old Coven may join the new one when it is formed,
but if they do they must utterly avoid the old Coven.
47. The Elders of the old and new Covens should meet in peace and
brotherly love to decide the new boundaries.
48. Those of the Craft who live outside both Covens may join either
indifferent, but not both.
49. Though all may, if the Elders agree, meet for the Great Festivals,
if it be truly in peace and brotherly love.
50. But splitting the Coven oft means strife, so for this reason these
Laws were made of old, and may the Curse of the Goddess be on any who
disregard them!
SO BE IT ARDANE.
51. If you would keep a book (your Black Book) let it be in your own
hand of write, let Brothers and Sisters copy what they will, but never
let the book out of your hands and never keep the writings of another.
52. For if it be in their hand of write, they may be taken and en-
gained.
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53. Le each guard his own writings, and destroy them whenever danger
threatens.
54. Learn as much as you may by heart, and when danger is past,
rewrite your book when it be safe.
55. For this reason, if any die, destroy their book, an they have not
been able to.
56. For, an it be found, 'tis clear proof against them.
57. And our oppressors know well: "Ye may not be a Witch alone."
58. So all their kin and friend be in danger of torture.
59. So destroy everything not necessary.
60. If your book be found on you, 'tis clear proof against you alone.
You may be engained.
61. Keep all thoughts of the Craft from your mind.
62. If the torture be too great to bear, say: "I will confess. I
cannot bear this torture. What do you want me to say?"
63. If they try to make you talk of the Brotherhood, do not.
64. But if they try to make you speak of impossibilities such as
flying through the air, consorting with the Christian Devil, or
sacrificing children or eating men's flesh,
65. To obtain relief from the torture, say, "I hold an evil dream, I
was beside myself, I was crazed.:
66. Not all the magistrates are bad; if there be any excuse, they may
show mercy. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 916 | 67. If you have confessed ought, deny it afterwards. Say you babbled
under the torture, say you do not know what you said.
68. If you are condemned, fear not.
69. Fear not, the Brotherhood is powerful, they will help you to
escape if you stand steadfast.
70. But if you betray ought, there is no hope for you in this life or
that to come.
71. Be sure, if steadfast you go to the pyre, drugs will reach you,
you will feel naught. You but go to death and what lies beyond.
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The Ecstasy of the Goddess
72. To avoid discovery, let the working tools be as ordinary things
that any may have in their houses.
73. Let the Pentacles be of wax so that they may be broken at once or
melted.
74. Have no sword, unless your rank allows you one.
75. Have no names or signs on anything.
76. Write the names or signs on them in ink immediately before con-
secrating them, and wash it off immediately afterwards.
77. Do not engrave them lest they cause discovery.
78. Let the color of the hilts tell which is which.
79. Ever remember, ye are the "Hidden Children of the Goddess," so
never do anything to disgrace them or her.
80. Never boast, never threaten, never say you would wish ill of
anyone.
81. If any person, not in the magic circle, speak of the Craft say,
"Speak not to me of such, it frightens me. 'Tis eveil luck to speak of
it."
82. For this reason: the Christians have their spied everywhere. These
speak as if they were well affected to us, as if they would come to
our meetings saying, "My mother used to go worship the Old Ones. I
would I could go myself."
83. To such as these, ever deny all knowledge.
84. But to others, ever say, "'Tis foolish talk of Witches flying
through the air. To do so they must be light as thistledown. And men
say that Witches all be so bleary-eyed, old crones, so what pleasure
can there be at a Witch meeting such as folks talk on?"
85. And say "Many wise men now say there be no such creatures."
86. Ever make it a jest and in some future time, perhaps, the persec-
ution may die and we may worship our Gods in safety again.
87. Let us all pray for that happy day. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 917 | 88. May the blessings of the Goddess and God be on all who keep these
Laws which are ardane.
89. If the Craft have any Appenage, let all guard it, and help to keep
it clear and good for the Craft.
90. And let all justly guard all monies of the Craft.
91. But if any brother truly wrought it, 'tis right they have their
pay, and it be just. And this be not taking money for the Art, but for
good and honest work.
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92. And ever the Christians say, "The laborer is worthy of his hire"
but if any brother work willingly for the good of the Craft without
pay, 'tis to their greatest honor.
SO BE IT ARDANE
93. If there be any quarrels or disputes among the brethren the High
Priestess shall straightly convene the Elders and inquire into the
matter and they shall hear both sides, first alone, then together.
94. And they shall decide justly, not favoring the one side or the
other.
95. Ever recognizing there be people who can never agree to work under
others.
96. But at the same time, there be some people who cannot rule justly.
97. To those who ever must be chief, there is one answer.
98. Void the Coven, or seek another one or make a Coven of your own,
taking with you those who will go.
99. To those who cannot rule justly the answer be, "Those who cannot
bear your rule will leave you."
100. For none may come to meetings with those with whom they are at
variance.
101. So, an either cannot agree, "Get hence, for the Craft must ever
survive."
SO BE IT ARDANE
102. In the olden days, when we had power, we could use the Art
against any who ill-treated the Brotherhood. But in these evil days,
we must not do so! For our enemies have devised a burning pit of
everlasting fire, into which they say their God casteth all the people
who worship Him, except it be the very few who are released by their
priest's spells and masses. And this be chiefly by giving monies and
rich gifts to receive His favor, for their God is ever in need of
money.
103. But as our Gods need our aid to make fertility for man and crops,
so it is the God of the Christians ever is in need of man's help to
search out and destroy us. Their priests ever tell them that any who
get our help are damned to this Hell forever, so men be mad with the
terror of it. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 918 | 104. But they make men believe that they may escape this Hell if they
give Witches to the tormentors. So for this reason, all be forever
spying, thinking, "An I catch but one of the Wicca, I will escape this
fiery pit."
105. So for this reason we have our hidels, and men searching long and
not finding say, "There be none, or if there be, they be in a far
country."
106. But when one of our oppressors dies, or even be sick, ever is the
cry, "This be Witches' malice," and the hunt is up again and though
1169
they slay ten of their own to one of ours, still they care not. They
have countless thousands.
107. While we are few indeed.
SO BE IT ARDANE
108. That none shall use the Art in any way to do ill to any.
109. However much they injure us, HARM NONE and now times many believe
we exist not.
SO BE IT ARDANE
110. That this Law shall ever continue to help us in our plight. No
one, however great an injury or injustice they receive, may use the
Art in any way to do ill or harm any. But they may, after great
consultations with all, use the Art to restrain Christians from
harming us or tax others, but only to let or constrain them.
111. To this end, men will say: "Such a one is a mighty searcher out
and a persecutor of old women whom they deemeth to be Witches, and
none hath done him skith, so they be proof they cannot, or more truly
where be none."
112. For all know full well, that so many folk have died because
someone had a grudge against them, or were persecuted because they had
money or goods to seize, or because they had none to bribe the sear-
chers. And many have died because they were scolding old women. So
much that men now say that "only old women are Witches."
113. And this be to our advantage, and turns suspicions away from us.
114. In England and Scotland, 'tis now many a year since a Witch hath
died the death. But the misuse of the power might raise the persec-
ution again.
115. So never break this Law, however much you are tempted, and never
consent to it being broken in the least.
116. If you know it is being broken, you must work strongly against
it.
117. And any High Priestess who consents to its breach must immedia-
tely be deposed. "For 'tis the blood of the Brethren they endanger."
118. Do good, an it be safe and only if it be safe. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 919 | 119. And strictly keep to the old Law.
120. Never accept money for the use of the Art. For money ever smear-
eth the taker. "'Tis sorcerers and conjurers and priests of the
Christians who ever accept money for the use of their Arts. And they
sell dwale, and evil loves spells and pardons, so let men escape from
their sins."
121. Be not as these. If you accept no money, you will be free from
temptation to use the Art for evil courses.
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122. All may use the Art for their own advantage, or for the advantage
of the Craft, only if you are sure you harm none.
123. But ever let the Coven debate this at length. Only if all be
satisfied and none be harmed may the Art be used.
124. If it is not possible to achieve your ends one way, perchance the
aim may be achieved by acting in a different way, so as to harm none.
May the Curse of the Goddess be on any who breaketh this Law.
1171
SO BE IT ARDANE.
125. 'Tis judged lawful if any of the Craft need a house or land and
none will sell, to incline the owner's mind so as to be willing to
sell, providing it harmeth it not in anyway and the full price is
paid, without haggling.
126. Never bargain or cheapen anything whilst you live by the Art.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
127. 'Tis the old Law and the most important of all Laws that no one
may do anything which will endanger any of the Craft, or bring them
into contact with the law of the land, or any of our persecutors.
128. In any disputes between the brethren, no one may invoke any Laws
but those of the Craft.
129. Or any tribunal but that of the Priestess, Priest and Elders. And
may the Curse of the Goddess be on any who do so.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
130. It is not forbidden to say as Christians do: "There be Witchcraft
in the land," because our opressors of old make it heresy not to
believe in Witchcraft, and so a crime to deny it, which thereby puts
you under suspicion.
131. But ever say "I know not of it here, perchance there may be, but
afar off - I know not where."
132. But ever speak of those as old crones, consorting with the Devil
and riding through the air.
133. But ever say: "But how many men may ride through the air an they
be not light as thistledown?" |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 920 | 134. But the Curse of the Goddess be on any who cast any suspicion on
any of the Brotherhood.
135. Or who speaks of any real meeting place where any abide.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
136. Let the Craft keep books with the names of all herbs which are
good for men, and all cures, so all may learn.
137. But keep another book with all the Bales and Apies and let only
the Elders and other trustworthy people have this knowledge.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
138. Remember the Art is the secret of the Gods and only may be used
in earnest and never for show or pride, or vainglory.
139. Magicians and Christians may taunt us saying, "You have no power.
Do magic before our eyes. Then only will we believe." Seeking to cause
us to betray our Art before them.
1172
140. Heed them not. For the Art is holy, and may only be used in need.
And the Curse of the Gods be on any who break this Law.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
141. It ever be the way with women, and with men also that they ever
seek new love..
142. Nor should we reprove them for this.
143. But it may be found to the disadvantage of the Craft.
144. As, so many a time it has happened that a High Priest or High
Priestess impelled by love, hath departed with their love, that is,
they have left the Coven.
145. Now if a High Priestess wishes to resign, they may do so in full
Coven.
146. And this resignation is valid.
147. But if they should run off without resigning, who may know if
they may not return within a few months.
148. So the Law is: If a High Priestess leaves her Coven, but returns
within rthe space of a year and a day, then she shall be taken back
and all shall be as before.
149. Meanwhile, if she has a deputy, that deputy shall act as High
Priestess for as long as the High Priestess is away.
150. If she returns not at the end of a year and a day, then shall the
Coven elect a new High Priestess.
151. Unless there be a good reason to the contrary, the person who has
done the work should reap the benefit of the reward.
152. If somebody else is elected, the deputy is made maiden and deputy |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 921 | of the High Priestess.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
153. It hath been found that practicing the Art doth cause a fondness
between aspirant and tutor, and it is the cause of better results if
this be so.
154. But if for any reason this be undesirable, it can easily be
avoided by both persons from the outset firmly resolving in their
minds that if any such ensure, it shall be that of brother and sister,
or parent and child.
155. And it is for this reason that a man may be taught by a woman and
a woman by a man and that woman and woman and man and man should never
attempt these practices together.
156. And may all the Curses of the Mighty Ones be on any who make such
an attempt.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
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157. Order and discipline must be kept.
158. A High Priestess or a High Priest may and should punish all
faults.
159. To this end: all the Craft must receive their correction willin-
gly.
160. All, properly prepared, the culprit kneeling, should be told his
fault, and his sentence pronounced.
161. Punishment should be the $ followed by something amusing such as
several S S S S, or something of this nature.
162. The bulprit must acknowledge the justice of the punishment by
kissing the hand of the Priestess and by kissing the $ on receiving
sentence; and again thanking for punishment received.
SO BE IT ARDANE.
1174
THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW
[sources: The Book of The Law, The Old Laws for the Old Religion, The
Great Book of the Law, The Dragon Law]
Preface: In my years of teaching and running a group, I have always
had a dissatisfaction with the popular "Book of the Law" available to
most Seekers. I felt it to be too archaic in its wording and perspec-
tive -- and while it was valuable in the Burning Times, it simply does
not deal with the concerns and needs of "modern-day" Witches. Over
the years I became familiar with several other sets of Laws. Each of
these had many good points, yet they also had their disadvantages as
well.
Recently, I decided to do something daring -- I took the four dif-
ferent versions of the Laws which I had, and combined and reworked
them. I deleted what was no longer pertinent or meaningful, rewording |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 922 | others to make them clearer and more understandable, as well as
throwing in a few new ones which I felt had been lacking.
I believe that what has evolved out of this work is a set of Laws
which
are readable, usable, and most importantly, pertinent to the needs of
today's Witches and Neo-Pagans. It is with these thoughts and hopes
that I would like to share them with you. If you should find merit or
worth in them, then I will feel as though I have accomplished some-
thing. The material in this booklet has not been copyrighted, so you
may reproduce the Laws for students or friends, or reprint them in
your publication. It is my sincere hope that the New Book of the Law
will be of use to the Craft Community.
Blessed Be, Lady Galadriel
PART ONE
1. The Laws were created to give our lives form and order, that all
might be balanced throughout all of the planes. In truth there are
two sets of laws which govern us -- one sets forth the ways of the
Wiccan, and the other the ways of the Universe. Both are important,
both should be observed with respect and treated with honor. The
Laws were shaped and molded to teach us, to advise us, and to counsel
us in our time of mortal life on earth.
2. Honor the Gods, for They are the channels and the manifestation of
the Source. Honor yourself, for this force also lies within you.
Love the Gods as They love you, and by loving yourself and your
brothers and sisters, so the Gods shall honor you. As the love and
joy of a man and a woman [or "lover and beloved" -- LAH] flowers and
grows when nurtured with respect, and cultivated with understanding
and honor, so should you love the Gods.
3. The Goddess is the Great Mother, and the God is the Great Father,
and we are Their children; and we shall worship Them, for They are
the rulers of the Universe, and all that is therein. Therefore, O
Children of the Gods, try Them not, nor attempt to test Them, for
They shall show you that he Ways of the Craft are not to be belittled
or mocked.
1175
4. Let the Power of the Craft flow from you only in love -- or not at
all. For it has always been known that the energy webs which we
weave and maintain shall eventually return to encircle their creator.
Thus our works become either the net which entagles and binds us, or
the web of light by which we find the Gods.
5. Let the Rites of the Wicca be a way for the children of the Gods to
be as One -- for Power only flows when unified. Always should you
revere the Earth, and heal and tend Her, for She is our life, our
Mothership, on which we navigate the dark currents of space.
6. When you reap the harvests of your lands, then you shall not reap
one corner of the field, nor glean the herb gardens, or the fallen
fruits of the orchards. These you shall offer to the Earth Mother,
in direct return, or through offerings made to your Circle, or to
sustain its Priests and Priestesses.
7. Always be proud to be of the Wicca, but do not allow your pride to |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 923 | become vanity -- for those who are conceited are a stubling block at
the door of the Temple, and they shall be cast adrift, to swim within
their own vanity.
8. Observe and listen, reserving your judgement, for until all the
silver is weighed, who can know the worth thereof?
9. As like breeds like, even more so does good beget love and joy.
Your life will be full of love and joy if you are joyful and happy.
10. Your teachers are the servants of the Gods, and they shall plant
the seeds of knowledge within the minds of their students, and they
shall use their power for the good of the Wicca. Yet it is each
individual's duty to tend the seeds which are planted, and to make
the final harvest. Those who misuse the power and the trust of the
teacher's position shall have to answer to the Lords of Karma, and
adjust the balance accordingly.
11. The Temples of the Gods, which are Their abode on Earth, shall
belong to all Their children, and each Circle shall be as a special
family. Do naught against any Temple or any family of the Wicca, lest
you do that thing unto the Gods, and against yourself.
12. You must not be a teller of tales amongst the children of the
Goddess, and you must hold no malice or evil thoughts towards others
of the Wicca.
13. You should not lie, nor give false testimony before your Elders,
or those who are of the Wicca -- for liars are fools, and a menace
unto themselves, and to the Wicca. Be truthful in all your works and
deeds, especially within the Circle, for what you say within the
presence of the Gods becomes manifest.
14. You must not put stumbling blocks in the way of those who do not
follow the Path of the Wicca. You must make no unrighteous judge-
ments of their ways, and you should aid them with an attitude of love
when it is asked for. Yet ever should you keep the Counsel of the
Elders, and reveal naught to others of where our Circles may be, nor
may you reveal our ways without the consent of the Priestess.
1176
15. When you make a vow to the Lord or the Lady, or you swear an oath
to another of the Wicca, then you must do all that has come forth from
your mouth, for a covenant with the Gods, or with the Wicca, is your
Honor, and woe to those who care not for the fetters they attach to
their souls by not keeping their word.
16. The Great Mother and Father would not have their children suffer
the indignities of oppressors for their sake, for what is within the
hearts of Their children is dear and true to Them. The Ancient and
Mighty Ones shall cause the balance to be made for those who desecrate
the Lord and Lady, Their temples, or Their creations.
17. Never shall you use Magick, nor the Craft, to cause harm, for this
is misuse of the Power, and it is not to be condoned. To cause the
death of another through the Craft is to require the death of the Self
in sacrifice.
18. Never betray any of the brethren, nor the lore of our people, for |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 924 | you are all servants of the Gods, and must live by the virtues of
love, honor and wisdom. Let truth, loyalty and honor be your creed.
Let them be your guides, tempered by love and wisdom.
19. The Order of the Gods shall you keep, and within Their Circles
shall you walk. You should not say "I believe" when you doubt, nor
claim to obey the Lord and Lady's word when you never enter into the
Temple. You must not profess with your lips that which is not in your
heart.
20. Do not use the names of the Gods in negative or evil ways, for
They love and cherish Their children above all others. All others
They love, even those who know them not. Yet those who hate and curse
in Their name shall have the Mighty Ones take the measure of their
worth.
21. In any disputes between the children of the Goddess, no one may
invoke any laws but those of the Craft, or any tribunal but that of
Priestess, Priest, and Elders.
22. No one of the Wicca may do anything which will endagner the Craft,
nor bring any of the Wicca into conflict with the Law of the Land, or
with any of our persecutors.
23. Your magickal tools are channels to that which is most precious
and pure within you. Do not cheapen them by haggling their price
when you acquire them.
24. Never accept money for the use of the Power. It is sorcerors and
charlatans who accept money for their spells and prayers. If you
accept no money, you will be free from the temptation to use the Craft
for evil or unworthy causes.
25. You shall never take unduly from any human, animal or elemental
that which is not yours to take -- for if you steal from another, in
the end you will have to sacrifice something dearer to you in order
to attain the balance.
26. Show honor to all people, that they may look up to you, and
respect you, and their eyes shall become a mirror for your soul.
1177
27. Those who are of the Wicca shall not own slaves, for one person
may not own the spirit of another, for only the Great Mother and
Father own our souls. Nor shall you take as a pledge any person's
life, for to do so is to take upon yourself both a mill and a mill-
stone.
28. If a stranger sojourns with you, you shall do them no wrong; they
shall be as one of the Circle, born amongst ye, and you shall deal
with them as you would yourself.
29. Just weights and just balances shall be given by you, and just
value shall you give, and thereby receive threefold.
30. Your altars shall be kept clean, pure and holy, and all that is
brought into the Temple or the Circle shall be cleansed and blessed,
for the joy of the Gods, and of the Wicca.
31. A clean mind should have a clean body. You should keep your body,
your clothes, and your house clean, in honor of the Mother, who gives |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 925 | these things to you.
32. Let none die without honor, without love, without respect, unless
their actions have decreed otherwise.
33. You should not couple together if it shall cause pain, jealousy or
deprivation to another by doing so. Union for malice or evil reasons
such as these upsets the balance, and the Lords of the Universe shall
make adjustments accordingly.
34. Let those who would love, and would be as one, and bear child, be
handfasted. For the sharing of love in this manner is beauteous, and
love's union in the energy of the Gods, and the heritage of the child.
It is important for children to know and to identify with those who
brought them here.
35. The Law of the Goddess is that none of the Wicca shall take and
wed someone who they do not love, whether it is to harm another, or
for some form of material gain.
36. Remember that your children are Goddess-spawned, and are free
spirits. You do not own nor control them. They are your brethren,
come to visit for a while, that they may share in the vision of your
love and wisdom. Let each parent realize that although they may teach
and guide with love, the child shall also teach the parent, and aid
them in their growth and lesson
37. The etheric web and energy vortexes of the earth are in constant
flux and motion to adjust to the needs of the planet. The sacred
trust of the Wicca is to create and to maintain centers of light and
knowledge, using the magick of the divine spark within us to focus and
channel the forces of the Universal fire. And these are the channels
established between the worlds of the stars and the realms of the
earth, bringing in and regulating the spirit flames which energize and
activate all life forms. Thus we tend and guard the threads of
creation, and we weave the patterns of life and manifestation in an
ever-evolving tapestry.
1178
38. Never use your heritage or position for self-glorification or
gain. Respect your magick and our ways. We must always recognize that
while others may look to us to lead them, they too are our guides.
1179
39. Keep yor body strong, your mind keen, and your purpose pure, for
within your being you shall channel the Power, and it needs to be
strong and pure. And these are the keys to the path of Oneness, and to
communication with the Gods. Yet first you must learn to speak to
Them in such a manner as They can comprehend you. For the children of
the Wicca must aid the Gods, and work with Them, otherwise the Gods
cannot aid and work with you. Ever remember that the Priest and
Priestess are the living representatives of the God and Goddess
Forces, and likewise that all humans carry these forces within them,
though they may lie dormant and unawakened.
40. As the Great Mother and Father come unto one another and create
with the pure vibration of Love-Wisdom, so should you strive to make
your Temple pure in vibration, and thus a fitting place wherein you |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 926 | may invite the Gods. Thus, your Circle should always be duly purified
and cast, and likewise, those who would use the gateways and travel
the Circle between the earth and other realms should also be duly
prepared and purified.
41. The Goddess hath said, "I shall not carry thee, yet neither shall
I hinder thee, nor keep thee from having the same opportunities as all
of my children. Thou art free, yet thou shalt not be coddled like
babes in the storm. If thou hast true devotion within thee, then all
obstacles may be overcome."
42. The laggard is but half a person -- and though half is better than
none, the whole is twice as good as the half. Those who do not work,
or who lack the will and desire to learn the ways of the Gods, unto
them is said, "The Ancient and Mighty Ones shall not keep thee within
their house, if ye learneth not."
43. A sanctuary you shall make unto the Gods, that They may dwell
amongst you. And you shall fashion it to the best of your ability,
according to all tha your Elders shall show you, and pure energy shall
you place therein.
44. An altar shall you make to unto the Lady, and you shall make due
reverence unto Her, for every place where She is exalted, She will
come
to you and bless you. And you shall fashion your altar out of wood or
stone, and burn incense and candles thereon, at the proper times, in
observance of her ways.
45. You should set aside at least one day during each moon unto the
Goddess, and on these days you shall do Her work; and on those days
She shall renew Her children and bless them.
46. Learn to build your own Temple, and to craft your own sacred
Circle, and all the tools that are used therein -- for to be a person
of the Craft is to be a person of consequence.
47. Let each of you inscribe your own record of our ways and teach-
ings. For the course of each Wiccan should be charted, that the
patterns of their life-web may be made known and utilized. Let each
Wiccan start their Book of Light with the teachings and lore of their
tradition, yet let it also contain the rites and ways of each in-
dividual, which are the harvest of each child of the Wicca, to use the
wisdom of their heritage as the seeds of their own wisdom. Thus shall
our lore and knowledge continue to grow and unfold, like a beautiful
flower.
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48. It is right to study and to understand the sigils, statues and
stories of the Gods, for they shall guide your thoughts to Them, and
They shall hear them. Yet you must ever remember that you worship not
the sign nor the statue, but the Gods which inspired them.
49. If your Circle owns any land, let all guard it, and help to keep
it clean. Let all justly guard all monies of the Circle, as well as
the rights and property of all members of the Circle.
50. If any Wiccan truly labors, then it is right that they should have
their just pay. This is not considered the taking of money for the
Art, but good and honest work. Yet if any Wiccan works willingly for
the good of the Craft, or for their brothers and sisters without pay, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 927 | then it is to their greatest honor.
51. If any Wiccan should deny themselves some pleasure or material
indulgence in order to do service in the Circle, this person shall be
blessed and remembered. For those who give for the greater good of
all shall have their spirit uplifted.
52. Know also that if you gift the Lady's Priests and Priestesses, or
Her Circles, this is an offering made unto the Mother Herself, for a
true Priest or Priestess strives always to do Her work, and to be of
service to Her children, so to honor and respect them is to honor and
respect the Queen of All.
53. And the offerings which are considered the most pleasing to the
Gods are these: the fruits of the orchards the scents of the trees and
herbs the metals of the earth the waters of the earth the flowers of
the meadows and the milk of all mothers. Yet offerings of labor or
money are honest too, and these will also be accepted -- moreso if you
work with love in your heart, for always there is work to be done for
the Gods, and service to be given to the children of the Wicca.
54. If your offerings are made to restore the balance, it must by of a
nature that it not offensive to the Gods. It must be of value, yet
given with a free heart. Thus shall the harmony be restored. If your
offerings are given with a heart filled with love and devotion, or are
of service to the Gods, or to the Craft, then shall you receive
blessings manifold.
55. And when you make an offering unto the Gods, you should offer it
thru the most proper medium, at the proper times, and in such a manner
as to make it acceptable. Any and all remains of the rituals shall be
consumed in the fire, or buried within the Earth, as a way of retur-
ning to the Source all that we use in the observance of our ways, thus
ensuring the continuity of the cycle.
56. All may use the Craft to help and aid them, or for the advantage
of their Circle, or the Craft -- yet only if you are sure that you
harm none. Let each Wiccan and Circle always debate these matters at
length. Only if all be satisfied that none be harmed in any way, may
the Art then be used. If it is not possible to achieve your ends one
way, then perhaps the goal may be achieved by actng in a different
way, so as to harm none.
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57. Throughout the world it has been many a year since Wiccans have
been burned. Yet misuse of the Power might raise the persecutions
once again. So never break the Laws, however much you might be temp-
ted, and never consent to their being broken. And if you know they
are being broken, then you must work strongly against it.
58. In days of old it was decided by the Mighty Ones who came before
us that the Art might be used to restrain others from harming the
Craft or its children, yet only after great consultation with all
members of the Circle, and only then to deflect or to constrain them.
59. And such were the ways of the Lady that She brought us forth in
joy, and such were the Ways of the Lord that His reign gave all life
pleasure. Offer love in your worship and all shall be joyous in
beauty.
60. In the dimly remembered dawn of ages past, the Wicca were truly
free. Then, in Atlantis came the Age of the Misuse of Power, followed |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 928 | by the Ages of Persecution and Suffering. Thus the people of the
Wicca hid themselves and cloaked their knowlege, and wove veils of
secrecy and silence. And this is how the Ways of the Wicca have been
preserved through the time of darkness. Yet much of the ways of our
people were lost to the ignorance of others.
61. Yet the cycle spirals ever on -- and the Age of the Earth Mother
once again draws nigh. We must be strong -- one with our birthright,
and one with our Gods, if we are to bring forth the balance. Those
who would harm us, or attempt to enslave us, we must overcome -- yet
only through light and love, and never through violence or the evil of
chaos. And through our efforts the time of our people will come into
being once more. In the times which lie ahead, there lies much work
to be done, so that once more the cycles of life are drawn to the path
of light, and the balance acheived through the power of love.
62. In order to bring the ways of Light and Love and Life to the
peoples of the Earth, our secrets are slowly becoming secrets no more,
and it is good that this is so -- for the age of shadow and secrecy is
passing. Yet the sharing of our ways needs always to be guided by
wisdom and by love. Let our rites and our mysteries be kept sacred.
Let no one defile our worship or our heritage. For the defilement of
our ways is an honor loss to self, and for the Craft.
63. Let each High Priestess govern her Circle with justice and Love,
and with the help and advice of the Elders and the High Priest, always
heeding the messages of the Gods when they come.
64. Ever remember that although the Priest is the force with which the
Circle is built, the Priestess is the ruler therein -- for it is
through
her that the Goddess created the world, and all things therein.
65. The High Priestess will heed all complaints of all Pagans and
Wiccans, and strive to settle any differences between them with reason
and with justice.
66. Let each Circle of Light decide how it shall be known -- whether
by earthly name or magickal one. For each child of the Wicca knows
best the safety or dangers of their homeland.
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67. Let each Circle or Temple maintain and dedicate unto the Goddess
and the God all the things that are required for Their rituals, for
what is blessed in the name of the Gods rightly belongs to Them, and
the Priest and Priestess shall be the caretakers thereof.
68. Anyone of the circle who is of sufficient rank, and wishes to form
a new Circle, shall tell the High Priestess and the Elders of their
intentions. Members of the old Circle may join the new Circle when it
is formed, but if they do so they must leave the other Circle, unless
otherwise instructed. For it is the Old Law that each Wiccan may join
the Circle of their choice, yet their energy should not be divided
between two or more Temples.
69. The Elders of the old and new Circles shall meet in peace and with
respect, to decide the level of interaction and connection between the
Circles. Yet it is known that the splitting of a Circle often means
strife. So only if it is truly in a spirit of peace and harmony should
the Circles meet for the celebration of the Great Festivals.
70. None shall enter the Circle that have a sickness or an ailment |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 929 | which may be passed on to the Lady's other children -- for to do so
causes harm to yourself, as well as to the others of the Circle.
Rather should the Healers go unto the sick one, that through the love
of the Gods they shall be made well and whole once more.
71. It has been judged lawful that if any of the Craft need a house,
or land, and none will sell, to incline someone's mind so as to be
willing to sell, providing it harms none and the full price is paid
without haggling.
72. In the matter of quarrels or disputes between the members of the
Circle, the High Priestess shall convene the Council, and inquire into
the matter. The Council shall hear each person privately, and then
both together. And they shall decide justly, not favoring one side
nor the other.
73. If an agreeable resolution cannot be reached, then that Wiccan
must leave the Circle, for a Circle of Light cannot be properly formed
where there is disagreement and discord. And when a Circle is not
properly formed, the energy within is either dissipated, or turns
ugly, festering like a hidden sore. So let them leave, but only with
love in their hearts and yours, for even though your paths may div-
erge, you are still all children of the Wicca, and there must be no
violence between us. Bear no grudges, hold no thoughts of vengeance,
for this will rot away the foundation of your power.
74. It has ever been recognized that there are some people who can
never agree to work under any others. At the same time there are also
people who cannot rule justly. To those who must ever be chief there
is but one answer: "Void this Circle, and seek another one, or if ye
be of sufficient rank, then form a Circle of your own." To those who
cannot rule justly, the answer shall be "Those who cannot bear your
rule will leave you." For none may come to Circle with those with
whom they are at variance, for to do so angers the Gods, and hinders
the Craft.
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75. Those that do wrong without knowlege shall be held innocent; those
that do wrong through carelessness shall be judged lacking in wisdom,
and dealt with according to the nature of the transgression. Those
who do wrong with deliberation and forethought shall be thrice punish-
ed, and the Lords of Karma shall lay low their pride.
76. Each person must make a balance for their words and actions, and
the judgements of the Elders should incline to try to make good come
from the injustice or wrong-doing. Many are the ways to restore the
balance, so let the judgements of the Elders and the Priestess be in
keeping with this.
77. Do not turn aside those who seek the ways of the Wicca for the
want of an offering or the lack of a robe. You are the servants of
the Gods, and the servants of Their people, and those that seek for
the Gods you must aid in their quest.
78. Of those who would inquire as to the ways of the Goddess, or who
wish to become of the Wicca, ye shall search their hearts, and even
into their spirits you shall look, as you are able. For the Wicca do
not look to acquire mere numbers. Let none be turned away if their
hearts are true, and their desire earnest. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 930 | 79. The hidden children are like the strings of a harp: each one may
give a clear note, and when gathered together in sympathy and accord,
they shall give rise to a beautiful symphony. Yet when struck without
reason or thought, these notes may cause discord or disharmony.
Therefore the Gods decree to Their Teachers and Priests that all must
be taught to master their harp, and to pluck their strings with care,
that they cause no discord or imbalance.
80. Choose the Priests and Teachers of the Wicca with diligence and
with care. The qualities that you should search for within them are
Faith, Belief, Knowledge, Ability, Patience, Leadership, Humility, and
a loving nature -- for they must lead and teach the children of the
Goddess, and will thereby have the power to do great good, or to cause
great imbalance.
81. In practice it should be that the greatest of the Priests and
Priestesses should guide the rituals within each of the Temples of the
Old Gods, and truly you should be content with the advice and guidance
given by them. Yet ever it should be given so that it is clear and
understandable, for within the Temple each of the Wicca is free, and
thus they should be able to recognize and to understand our ways and
their implications. And those who cannot explain the inner workings,
or give just cause and reason for their decisions, may be questioned,
or the wisdom of the advice weighed.
82. Let the Priestess and Priest lead as long as they are able, and
their leadership be wise and strong, and to the benefit of the Wicca.
Yet if their health is ill-favored, or if the next generation needs to
try their hand, then let them have the vision and the wisdom to step
away from their position, and pass the duties of the Circle t o
another. Let them not become overly attached to the office, nor too
fond of the power.
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83. If a Priestess or a Priest should tire of their duties and char-
ges, then they may step down, but only after having trained and
acknowledged a successor. If a Priest or Priestess deserts their
Circle, then they have lost the right to ever lead again within this
life, so great a trust they have broken. If they should return to the
Circle within one turn of the Wheel, and are judged to have true
atonement in their hearts, new insight and growth, then they may be
forgiven, and allowed to return to the Circle, yet they shall worship
only, and hold no office or title. Leadership is a sacred commitment
and an honor, and they have shown that they cannot be trusted with
such responsibility.
84. Any Priestess, Priest, or Elder who consents to a breach of the
Laws regarding the use of the Craft to cause harm to others must
immediately be relieved of their office, for it is the lives of the
children of the Goddess which they endanger, as well as the honor of
the Craft.
85. The High Priestess may take a Sabbatical from her Circle, if her
personal life and duties require it, for up to a year and a day.
During that time, the Maiden shall act as High Priestess. If the High
Priestess does not return at the end of a year and a day, then the
Initiates of the Circle shall name a new Priestess. Unless there is
good reason to the contrary, the person who has done the work of the
Priestess should reap the reward. If someone else is named, then the
Maiden should continue in that office. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 931 | 86. Each Priestess and Priest shall choose their own consorts, yet let
them be wise in the learning of our people, and thus others shall
abide by the wisdom of their choice. Yet if the Circle feels the
decision is ill-advised, or that they cannot abide and work in honor
and trust with that consort, then they may request a gathering of all
concernted to meet and to talk, and to resolve the balance with love
and honor. For only those who are pure and strong, keen and wise,
patient and loving, can effectively and properly carry out the duties
of a Keeper of the Circle.
87. Those of the Priesthood shall not neglect their mates, or their
children, or their house, nor anything which is in their possession;
nor shall the sick and the needy be neglected for the sake of the
Circle. Therefore let them adjust the one thing against the other,
that neither should suffer, and that which is given by the Gods is
treated with love and respect.
88. Long ago, at the time of Creation, it was deemed that the female
should hold the power of life-giving. And such was the male force
drawn to the love and beauty of the Creation of life, that he sur-
renders unto her keeping the force of his powers in the furtherance of
life. Yet the Priestess must always remember that the fuel of the
flames which light the fires within her Temple comes from the Priest.
Thus she must use the force wisely, and only with love, and she must
honor and respect he who is the activator of the Life Force.
HERE ENDS THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW.
Published by: The Grove of the Unicorn PO Box 13384 Atlanta, GA 30324
Ordering Information: Send Legal size SASE A small contribution
towards
printing/handling costs will be appreciated.
1185
THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW
Commentary by J. Random Folksinger
I have to preface this by stating that I was first drawn to
this work by Leigh Ann Hussey, and reacted very negatively to it.
This will be my second time through these Laws, with comments that
are SOLELY MY OWN OPINION. I know that Lady Galadriel put a lot of
work (translate: sweat blood) into these Laws, and I am not attac-
king her or her work. Making my points without sounding negative
would have been nice, but I have not been very successful at this;
since several people have been asking me to put down *WHY* I didn't
like them, I felt that getting the project over with would be better
than struggling with a novel-length exercise in not offending anyone.
To Lady Galadriel: I, too, have sweat blood over a reconstruction
project similar to this (and I got lots of negative feedback, too).
My finished copy, which includes the old "Burning Times" laws as a
historical source or what to do when things *really* get bad, can be
had from Leigh Ann, Judy Harrow, or downloaded from WeirdBase in St.
Louis as "JRFLAWS.TXT". My heart goes out to you, but I am commenting
on your Laws from my head only.
Notes:
On the Preface:The Book of the Law, orLiber Al, which Lady G.
refers to as a primary source, is not the same as Craft law in most
traditions as it was written by Aleister Crowley; it is, therefore,
hardly a wonder why it was not found to be very pertinent by Lady G. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 932 | If, indeed, Lady G.'s Book of the Law was *not* Liber Al, it is hard
to understand where many of these Laws originated.
The Laws:
1. Form and Order? Ask a Discordianor Shamanic Craft type. The
Laws were created for guidance, as the latter part of this Law at-
tests.
2. Channels, and manifestation of the Source? This sounds more
like New Age Xtianity than Wicca. I should stop talking about the
flowers in the language, although they are disconcerting and very
distracting from the original goal of "readable, usable, and per-
tinent to the needs ..." I suppose I can just use the term "flowers"
as my way of saying that the language is unnecessarily complicated
when it really bothers me -- and most of these laws do fall in this
category.
3. Oh,no. Not the Xtian "Ye are as children"routine again. The
Gods, in my training, wish us to grow, not perpetually remain
children. To not test what they say is the same as channelling some
unknown spirit and believing everything he/she says. We are growing,
making the Gods proud, not belittling or mocking them.
4. This law isover-judgemental (something I am accusedof being
at times), and ignores the need for working with our shadow-side; I
suppose naivete is the worst I can say about this Law. I can easily
find better in Marion Weinstein's POSITIVE MAGIC...
1186
5. The "Mothership"routine smacks of CloseEncounters, butother
than the children routine and some language problems, this one isn't
too bad -- but isn't there something in an initiation ritual about
us and the Gods being the same "but for a difference of power"? I
would think Brothers and Sisters of the Gods would be better ter-
minology -- feminists are welcome to reverse the wording.
6. Hmmm. Sounds liketithing to me. While it is certainlya good
idea, we give back to the Gods all the time -- this would be making
the meaningful ritual a mechanical one. Sustain its Priests and
Priestesses? Paid (or fed) clergy? Shades of Paul! This part would
still work in my tradition, since we are all priests and pries-
tesses, but I know some that are different...
7. I can't see the purpose of this Law, and know of no cor-
responding Law in the Laws I have come across. It sounds like the God
of the Xtians again, making people the way they are and then judging
them for being that way.
8.A direct statement wouldbe better. Who do you know in these
times that goes around weighing silver? Is this a modern metaphor?
I don't think so.
9. Does not parse. Sounds good, though...
10. This soundslike it's setting up theteacher as infallible--
shut up and listen. Also, while I hear Karma used frequently in
Craft discussions, it is because it is a useful concept for us;
however, this is the first time I have seen the Lords of Karma
enthroned in Craft Law. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 933 | 11. I could have taken the Golden Rule in one of its permuta-
tions, but this is much more akin to the concept of "Sin" than that of
Karma.
12. "You must not be a teller of tales..."? What, we areto
have no Bards in the Craft? If this law means that gossipping is
not a good thing, why doesn't it say so? And "must hold no malice"
indicates that we are not allowed to be human again -- true, it is
better for the Craft that we all be as a loving family, but there
are otheR ways to deal with the problems caused by personality
conflicts than to outlaw legitimate feelings.
13. Flowers. Old Law. (Meaning that, other than difference in
wording, this is the same as the "Old Laws", i.e., Lady Sheba and
others.)
14. Oh, boy! Priestess Knows Best (and will be happy to be
responsible for *you*). If someone asks me a question, give them
the straightest answer I can, and without phoning up my Priestess for
permission to do so. I am a trained, adult Witch, and am capable both
of making my own decisions *and* taking the consequences for making
a wrong decision. The "You must not put stumbling blocks..." sounds
like the old parental admonishment, "Don't put beans in your ears."
The Xtians have enough stumbling blocks of their own; I don't
think ours would even be noticed, and so are unnecessary.
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15. The key words are in the Preface: readable, usable, and
pertinent. "Fetters" and "woe" are not very meaninful words in this
half of the 20th century. Not sure about the use of "souls",
either, since that seems to be mostly a xtian concern. Remember,
Lady G. said that she reworded some of these laws "to make them
clearer and more understandable". I think she missed here.
16. Sounds like"Trust in God; Hewill provide." Where is the
Craft basis for this Law?
17. Ifyou killsomeone magickally,accidentally orotherwise,
you should be sacrificed to atone for it? My Goddess demands nothing
in sacrifice. It would be far better to get into therapy and see how
you could forgive yourself and help others to forgive you (I'm using
"forgive" as a psychological, not religious, term). No problem with
the first sentence.
18. Could be said more clearly.
19.The source for this, especially the final sentence, seems
to be Jesus in Revelation. "Many say, Lord, Lord, but I know them
not..." etc.
20. Sounds like, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord,thy
God in vain". Either that is what this law is saying, or it needs to
be clearer.
21. Old Law. I would have worded it, "In any disputes among
the Wicca..."
22. Old Law. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 934 | 23. To me, mymagickal tools are channels between whatis within
me and what is outside of me (on the magickal planes, which
frequently intersect with the planes of reality). Still, Do Not Haggle
is Old Law.
24. Old Law, except for the semantical substitution of
"Power" for "Art" and the use of the judgmental terms "evil" and
"unworthy".
25. "Thou shalt notsteal"? Hinted-at consequences are unneces-
sary.
26. I don't understand "Show honor" as a phrase, and the last
phrase is not comprehensible to me.
27. "Those whoare of the Wiccashall not own slaves,"-- good
idea, although I have never seen it included in Craft Law. The rest
of this sentence is again unclear and/or unnecessary justification.
"Nor shall you take as a pledge any person's life,"; well, the Laws
of Karma (if you accept them, which these Laws purport to) demand
otherwise from time to time, and again, this has not been found
necessary in any other set of Craft Laws I have seen.
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28. Thisis the second time the Golden Rulehas been quoted in a
faulty permutation. "If a stranger sojourns with you...they shall be
as one of the Circle..." What, we're going to invite total strang-
ers into our rites just because this Law says so? There are
enough Laws that contradict this already. This doesn't sound right.
29. This came straight out of Leviticus, and also exists in
Baha'i law in a slightly clearer form. It's nice that We're getting
ecumenical, but what is the need for this in Craft Law? The Threefold
Law applies, and is easier to understand.
30. The Good Wiccan Houskeeping Seal is required for Circle?
31. Not a Wiccan Law. "Cleanliness is next to god/dessliness"
would be a shorter way of phrasing this. Although the old customs
(NOT laws) require bathing prior to a ritual, even that has been
used to "find" Witches with in some areas (they're clean and smell
nice -- they must be seducing our men for Satan!).
32. Not Law, but a start; Ibelieve none should die without
someone having cared for them; and that death with dignity is the
hoped-for ideal. Many of you already know that I'm initiating action
toward Pagan hospice, funeral, and cemetery care. The judgement
about "their actions" is for the Dark Lord to make.
33. ThreefoldLaw is all youneed here. Anythingelseis moral
judgement.
34. Amendedversion: "Let those who desire union asa couple (or
other forms as might be desirable, such as a triad or a group relati-
onship) be handfasted, sharing their love in a manner they and the
Gods find pleasing." Children are not necessary for shared love
(and often separate the parents from their mutual desires), and
there is no need to deny handfasting to couples not wanting childr-
en. I also am not certain that this needs to be a Law.
35. "The Law of the Goddess isthat none of the Wicca shalltake |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 935 | and wed someone who they do not love." Period.
36. Not Law. Also uses "brethren", another male term. (Anyone
who has read my revision of Gardnerian Craft Law should have noticed
the near-total lack of gender terminology.)
37. The first sentenceis incomprehensible, immaterial, orboth.
This law is very flowery, and I would love to know what Lady G.
extracted it from.
38. Old Law:"Never boast,never threaten..." seemsto be theroot
here - and is much clearer in that form.
39. The concept of magickal purity is one of ritual magick,
not the Craft. This Law is, in letter and spirit, one of ritual
magick. While some traditions of the Craft do get into ritual magick,
that still does not make this "proper" as Craft Law.
40. Old Law was both clearer and less "new-agey".
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41. WHERE hath the Goddess said these things? Nowhere in my
tradition, and they sound more like things She may have
said in circle -- certainly no need to canonize them.
42. Back to Leviticus. This is far too judgemental for any
tradition I am familiar with. There also seems to be confusion between
"work" as in make money and "work" as in learning and teaching the
things of the Craft.
43. A sacred trust? This explainswhy Grove of the Unicorn
built a sanctuary in Georgia, but I have never seen this
expressed as a requirement. Most traditions are not getting over
being hidden; this Law requires total openness. I think it's danger-
ous to do this in most areas, and having the Goddess decree (here)
that we should do something that could harm Her Witches (something
She expressly forbids us to do in the Old Laws) doesn't feel right.
What is the source of this one? It appears to be the inner feelings of
some Witch or Witches, which is not good enough to pass off as Craft
Law.
44. While Ihave been taught this, it wasunder "What We Do"
rather than "The Law". The style of presentation sounds too much
like what YHWH would have written as a law rather than the
Goddess I know...
45.Am I readingthis wrong, oris this saying "Honor the Sabbath
and keep it holy"? We need to set aside a whole day(s)? I don't
think that's realistic in these times, although it might have
been in paleolithic times.
46. Not necessary. Any teacher will give you this information.
47. Definitely flowers. Let each Witch keep a book (she even
dropped the "in their own hand" part). What else is necessary?
48. Clumsy, with toomany "they"s in spots;How about, "Studythe
signs of the Gods in all their forms; these shall guide your thoughts
to the Gods and the Gods will take notice of you. Turn your thoughts
and worship to the Gods, not the signs and statues of them." |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 936 | 49. Theoriginal here says"If *any* inthe Craft ownsany land..-
.guard all monies of the Craft..." thus widening the circle of love
beyond just the Circle you are a part of.
50. Old Law. I feel this could be done a bit more clearly.
51. Extremely Crowleyian in content, where the content
can be determined. It sounds like it is favoring asceticism "for
the good of the Craft...". Unclear rules like this have led to
excesses in other religions they have appeared in.
52. NOT CRAFT LAW. Paul wouldhave loved to have this kind of
law as stated by Christ, but it wasn't true then and it isn't true
now. IF WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TAKE MONEY FOR THE ART, HOW COME WE CAN
BE ALLOWED TO TAKE GIFTS?????
1190
53.Taken as an extension of#52, this law repulses me; however,
having deleted #52, and deleting "offerings of ... money", it could be
OK. But it is totally unnecessary unless you're trying to set your-
self up as the First Church of Wicca, N.A., complete with Xtian
abuses of power. In any loving circle, poeple will bring the
incense, or the cakes and/or wine, or work together on building a new
altar. This is already covered in the laws above, though.
54. Harmony will be restored by working toward harmony, not by
donating to your favorite non-profit Temple. Again, the emphasis on
giving makes me think of televangelists ("I need to make the
payment on my Inspirational Cadillac"). I don't know what problems
Grove of the Unicorn has been having in keeping up their payments on
the land or whatever, but their problems should not be used as a
lever to change Craft Law (if indeed this is the object of these
laws).
55. Once more, this law either comes out of ritualmagic or
televangelism (or both). Every Witch should know (or know how to look
up) the proper times for a ritual, and should be able to offer it
up themselves ("thru the most proper medium" could mean "Pay the
Priestess" or it could mean "use the right tools" -- if it is *not*
intended to mean the latter, then this law has no basis in the Craft).
56. Old Law, and one of the most important Craft Laws.
57. Separating this Law from the previous one causes a minor
problem -- it now becomes "Never break the Laws" (and there are some
dillies in this set) instead of "Never break *this* Law".
58. The "Mighty Ones" decided for us "in days of old" that we
cannot use the Art against anyone? A shirking of responsibility is
again evident. While the same precept occurs in my set of the Laws,
it is obviously a decision made in the light of persecutions, not
something decreed from on high.
59.Sentence fragments. (sic)This is asubject that isnot in the
Laws (but is in the Charge of the Goddess, without the God's side of
things).
60. Why do we need "thedimly remembered dawn of ages past" and
Atlantis to make this point? This is the only version I've seen that |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 937 | goes beyond remembered history.
61. Should be combined with #60, and have more of the
excessive verbiage dropped. Oh, no! Not another cry of "the evil of
chaos" again! How can these people even *talk* to Discordians?Any set
of Laws that is intended to be Craft-inclusive must not include
value judgements, especially using the words "good", "evil", and
"chaos". This law seems to be wishing for the time when we were in
power; every set of Laws I've seen prior to this one would settle
for a time in which we are tolerated or accepted.
1191
62. I don't understand what this is trying to say -- it seems
to fluctuate between "No more secrets", "Only a few secrets", and
"Don't tell anybody anything". Since all three of these have been
expressed above, I'm not sure this law is needed; it hardly even adds
to the confusion.
63. The change from "always heeding the Messenger" to "always
heeding the messages" is a little dangerous, but otherwise, this is
Old Law.
64. This law sounds pretty Gardnerian in tone, but it does not
agree with Gardnerian myths -- i.e., while Goddess created everyth-
ing, she did not create Death itself. Life without Death offers no
regeneration, as Life could not continue on its own; the God was
outside of Her creation, and so He had things to teach Her about
Death. (Those of you who prefer Starhawk's version of this myth are
TOTALLY ignored in this law.)
65. I thought anHPs was only concerned mainlywith what happens
in Her Circle -- this Law seems to state that She is concerned with
an unstated, but large-sounding, community. Other than that, this is
Old Law.
66. I don'tthink this needs to be in the Laws, but it's a good
idea for each Circle to consider.
67. This seems to be based upon the Old Laws' "If any in the
Craft has any land...", but it does take that additional step into
demi-deified clergy. I wish I knew whether Grove of the Unicorn was an
authoritarian structure or not, but these Laws go a long way toward
making its sound like one. (I'm not sure this group could "pass"
Isaac Bonewits' Cult Danger Evaluation Frame after having read this
many of their Laws.)
68. Aha! Almost OldLaw, and a"Burning Times" law!This is still
a good Law, but it was formulated to keep anyone from knowing more
than one group to "give away" if they cracked under pressure of
Inquisition.
69. Old Law; probably should be included in #68.
70. Are wetalking about pneumonia, herpes, ora cold here? You
can do a lot better healing work *in* Circle (in my experience) than
outside of it in many cases, and any Witch can decide for her/him-
self whether they are too sick to be in Circle and ask (or not ask)
for healing. I suppose I find this law too judgemental, or too gen-
eral. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 938 | 71. Old Law.
72.There is nodefinition of Council given (the "Old Law" says
"the Elders"), and the "Old Law" states that either the High Priest
or the High Priestess can convene the Elders (useful if the HPs is out
of town...) Otherwise, Old Law.
73. Generally, Old Law.Some of therestatements aredifficult or
unwieldy, but no real problems.
1192
74. Old Law.(Actually, a bit of another Old Law is grafted
in for clarification, but it doesn't hurt anything.)
75. In conflict with English(/American) Law, "Ignorance is no
excuse," includes threefold law (which is NOT included in the Old
Laws), and throws in the Lords of Karma again; rephrased, this could
be an excellent law or rule, but I do not recognize a single source
for this one. Some ritual magic, a little Hinduism, no Craft per se.
76. Nice thought; sounds like a personal addition.
77. As above, the "want of an offering" is not an issue in Old
Law; the "lack of a robe" has never been discussed, since most groups
I am familiar with generally work skyclad or negotiate the issue.
Personal addition?
78. Nice thought; sounds like a personal addition.
1193
79. So many flowers that (I feel) most would miss the point. I'm
afraid I did, and I'm a musician.
80. Sounds likethe Apostle Paul. The qualitiesI was taught to
look for in a High Priestess were caring, leadership, patience,
ability, and knowing when to ask for help. This cuts out faith (some-
thing Goddess says in Her Charge is not asked for) and belief (some-
thing she wouldn't be in Circle without). More flames on the topic of
children.
81. Source? Sounds clergy-like to me...
82.Old Law states that arequirement of being High Priestess is
youth; while this is not easily practiced in all covens, going to the
opposite extreme is probably not much better. My personal experiences
have been in covens where everyone takes their hand at practicing HP
and HPs, with the HPs acting more like organizer and running coven
meetings.
83. Ouch.Based upon Old Law,this Law removes theaspect of Love
as an excuse (or Glands, if you like the Wombat Wicca version) -- and
demands both judgement *and* atonement for a HPs who has left and
come back -- even uses the judgemental term, "deserts", in dealing
with the issue. The Old Law may have its drawbacks, but is a much
better guide (I feel) than getting nasty about it. Oooh, they don't
even get to hold office again! Many things are sacred, and certainly |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 939 | being High Priestess is one of them, but in my teaching, Love is a
higher ideal, and the Craft has always allowed for it.
84. Old Law, with flamesas above. "It isthe lives of all ofthe
Craft they endanger." Honor is still undefined in this context.
85. The useof the word,"Sabbatical" is cutein this context,but
this should be a part of #83 rather than separating them out.
Also, the phrase, "the Maiden should continue in that office" confuses
the reader as to which office -- the law has already stated that she
should reap the reward; does election of another person invalidate the
election? It should read, "...the Maiden shall be the Maiden for the
new HPs."
86. This is a new idea, and probably a good one:the Priestess
and the Priest need not be the consort of the other, but are select-
ed each by the coven or circle and are free to choose their own
consorts. The one possible negative I can think of concerns the few
times when Great Rite is held, and the feelings of their consorts on
this matter. But then it lets the coven decide whether the choice
was right nor not! If we're dealing with private lives, let them
remain private. Based on Old Law, except that in Old Law the
Priestess is chosen and She selects the Priest. This law again
contains too many value judgements -- if you need a perfect person
to run your circle, you will never meet.
87. Adapted from the Letters of Paul the Apostle, not the Old
Laws. It is nice to state that we should be responsible for oursel-
ves, but that is a part of being a Witch (oops, by these Laws,
Witches are only children, so I suppose making "those of the Pries-
thood" adults is what this law is about). This also seems to state
(per Xtianity) that their mates, children, and house are all posses-
sions; hardly a feminist or Craft perspective.
1194
88. Reverse Xtian. Extremely sexist, andno more or less bad
than making the Man ruler of the world.
THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW is published by:
The Grove of the Unicorn PO Box 13384 Atlanta, GA 30324
To order, send a legal size SASE. A small contribution
towards printing/handling costs will be appreciated.
These comments have been made by Gerald L. Bliss, who is also
known as J. Random Folksinger.
1195
Aporrheton 5
The Craft Laws
(Marked 4/73 by Judy Harrow; author not noted)
ManytraditionsabouttheCraft arescatteredthroughoutrecent
books; a sizable bunch is the 161 "Craft Laws" you can find in Lady
Sheba or in June Johns. Many of these traditions are merely defini-
tions of what the Craft is, and so of the context within which the
other traditions should be understood; they are "true" merely because
(and insofar as) they are internally consistent. In contrast, some of
the other traditions seem to be shrewd, hard-won observations about |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 940 | how psychic energy (as dealt with in the Craft) seems to work, and
THESE are the important ones.
The psychicreality that these traditionsconcern has been
called by many names: spiritualists call it "the upper astral plane";
Jungians, the "superconscious"; the Bhagavad Gita, "the True Self";
many mystics, the "godhead"; Isaac Bonewits, the "Switchboard"; and
very much so on. Any such name is an attempt to map (part of) a
psychic reality that seems all too willing to accomodate itself to any
map you use, and you will get nowhere in trying to understand that
reality if you don't keep its Plasticity firmly in mind. In the Craft
we conceive that reality as the Goddess (as #11 below states); She is
both very real and a metaphor. She is real because human energy goes
into making Her real; She exists as a "thought form on the astral
plane," yet She can manifest physically whenever She wants to. She
does not exist independently of mankind, but She is most thoroughly
independent of any one person or group. (And precisely the same is
true of any concept of divinity that people put energy into maintain-
ing.) She is a metaphor because, great though She may be, She is
finite, like any other human concept, whereas reality is infinite. And
why do we need the Goddess, or any divinity at all? Because the human
mind seems unable to grasp an undifferentiated infinity. By creating
our own divinities, we create mental steps for ourselves, up which we
can mount, toward relizing ourselves as divine.
TheCraft Laws,then, arenot "13Commandments" fromon high;
they are merely unproved hypotheses about how SOME psychic reality
seems to work. They should be treated like any other hypotheses:
respected as being the best guesses going, but continually tested to
find out how valid they are and to generate better guesses. Naturally,
you cannot test them by breaking them, any more than you can test the
law of gravity by jumping off a ten-story building. Instead, you draw
conclusions from them, or base predictions on them, and try workings
to see if the latter hold up. The 13 below are ones that have held up
so far under such testing; some we had in an earlier set of 13 did
not. In compiling this set, I culled through all the traditions I
could find, picking out especially (or thinking up) the most general
statements, which would include many of the other traditions as
special cases; you should be able to spot examples of this by careful-
ly comparing Aporrheton 10 with this one. Certain of the laws here
(the ones typed in all caps) seem necessary and reliable to us, and we
will not tolerate any bending (let alone breaking) of them, for the
reasons discussed under #12 below. Many of the rest are here, not
because we understand them, but because we don't.
1196
I always approach traditional occult systems (astrology, the
Tarot, the Craft, etc.) on the assumption that they consist of a
terse, ultileveled coding of hard-earned information about something
real and important. It is almost as silly to think you've discovered
everything such a system might mean as it is to think it meaningless.
The only way to find out what such a system means is to get in there
and work with it until you speak its language fluently. Then you will
likely find (at least, this has been my experience) that the system
gives you a map of reality, but of many places, not just one place,
that it gives you a way to work with classes of realtionships that
hold for many different kinds of people, things, and situations. That
is, these traditional systems are very much like nonquantitative
algebras or calculi; a symbol in one of them is not going to have an
invariant and simple meaning, or even the same meaning in two dif-
ferent contextx, anymore than X is going to have the same numerical
value in two different algebra problems. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 941 | It therefore seems safest to keep these Craft laws whose
meanings are not obvious in mind, and hope that further "experiment-
ation" will shed some light on them. Of course, to get any results at
all in dealing with psychic phenomena, you have to be optimistic and
openminded. If you already hold a firm belief that you know what the
Craft Laws mean, or that they are "Absolutely True," or the opposite,
then your mind is closed, and you can't learn anything new. That is,
you're not supposed to "believe" in the Craft Laws, or memorize them;
you're supposed to UNDERSTAND them, else you've missed the whole point
of why we have them.
1. YOU CANNOT USE THE ARTS OF THE CRAFT TO CREATE OR INCREASE BAD
KARMA, EXCEPT FOR YOURSELF.
2. YOUMAY NOT USETHE ARTS OF THECRAFT TO AFFECTANOTHER PERSON
IN ANY WAY, UNLESS YOU HAVE THAT PERSON'S EXPLICIT PERMISSION.
These two are best discussed together, since they replace the
inadequate statement one often finds that "You may not use the arts of
the Craft to work malevolent magic." Notice that the first one says
"cannot," being an observation of fact, wherease the second says "may
not," being a statement of ethics.
Thefirst lawstates that,INTHE LONGRUN, youcan harmno one
but yourself. You cannot benefit from trying to harm another, because
you are part of the fabric of reality, not separate from it. You get
whatever you give, because getting and giving are the same, just as
the trough and the crest are the same wave./ If you set up a pattern
of nasty, callous selfishness around yourself, that is what you have
projected onto the world, and that is all you will experience. If you
act out of genuine affection and concern for others, you receive their
affection and concern as well. The psychic (or life) field seems to
have a single polarity: to create positive effects for yourself, you
must create positive effects for others. And this observation applies
not just to the arts of the Craft, nor to all the psychic arts, but to
life in general.
1197
Now, whatthe second law pointsout is that itis the OTHER
person's opinion that determines whether the effects of what you do
are positive or not. This law is the equivalent of the Craft's version
of the "Golden Rule": "Do unto others not as YOU wish to be done
under, but as THEY wish to be done unto--for their tastes may damned
well differ from yours." (Thus this law, most usefully, eliminates any
arguments over how one defines "good" or "evil.") It follows that you
may not do something for what YOU think is someone else's "own good";
you have no right to make that decision. You may not even work a
healing unless you have permission from the person to be healed; it is
unethical to hit an unprepared person with a jolt of energy. You may
work without prior permission for someone whose karma you are already
PERSONALLY involved with (as a mother for her child, a man for his
wife, etc.), but you may not accept anyone's opinion that another
would give permission if asked; no matter how close two people might
be, they neither own one another nor carry each other's karma, and so
cannot give such permission to another.
3. You cannot usethe arts of theCraft to win fame, fortune,
power, or any other sort of material or social advantage.
Thisagainis anobservation ofhow allthe psychicarts work, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 942 | not just those of the Craft. WHY they work thus is another question---
THAT they do work thus is well-known. Perhaps the simplest explanation
is that if your major motive for working is (or becomes) a desire for
fame, fortune, etc., you soon get into a headspace where psychic
abilities simply cannot function; many erstwhile psychics throughout
history have lost their abilities and become charlatans, because they
did not know this rule. You can (as many people do) make your living
by a psychic art, as long as you charge only enough to live comfortab-
ly by your society's standards; it is only going on a "power trip"
that would endanger your abilities. Similarly, doing trips on people
without their knowledge (or the magician's favorite project,
raising "demons" in order to control them) is another sort of power
trip, and will have exactly the same effect on your abilities. A more
traditionals Craft statement of this rule would be, "The arts of the
Craft are the gift of the Goddess; if you misuse them, She will take
them back."
4.You cannot usethe arts ofthe Craft forshow, in pretence, but
only in earnest, and only in need.
If youwork aritual, itwill haveeffects, whetheryou think
you want it to or not. Therefore you cannot "pretend" to throw a hex,
for example; the Lady does not recognize pretence. On the other hand,
you cannot work the arts successfully just because you WANT to, as a
head trip; the Lady won't cooperate. You have to need the energy or
the information for some real purpose, else you can't tap into it. (At
least, this is what meaning I have seen in this law so far.)
1198
5. The arts ofthe Craft can onlybe worked in acircle with at
least one other person of the opposite sex.
This "law" is actually just a set of definitions, though
important ones, as follows. (a) The arts of the Craft are defined as
those that will work only under these conditions; psychic arts that
work under other conditions are thus not necessarily part of the
Craft. (b) A coven consists of at least one man and one woman; it
cannot consist of all men or all women. (c) If you're working by
yourself, you are working as a magician, not as a witch--but you are
still obliged by your oaths to the Lady to observe the other Craft
Laws. (For more on this last point, see #12.)
6.A man must learn the arts of the Craft from a woman, a woman
from a man, except between parent and child.
Since#5 definesthe artsof theCraft asthose thatonly work
in the circle, obviously they can only be learned in the circle. If
you're working with just one other person, that person must be of the
opposite sex, else the arts won't work, and nothing can be learned.
Thus it seems logical that this tradition applies only to a one-to-one
teacher-apprentice relationship. If you're not in the circle, and/or
are teaching a mixed group of men and women, obviously there's no
problem. (This tradition MAY imply that the arts WILL work for two
women if they are mother and daughter, or for father and some, since
part of the key to the working, and the learning, seems to be the
emotional closeness between the two; consider section IV, last para,
in Aporrheton 10.)
7. You mustalways pay whateverprice is asked,without haggling
or complaining, when you buy something to be used for the
Craft. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 943 | TheGardnerian Craft Laws (sectionIV, para 4,of Apor. 10)
allow the arts of the Craft to be used to persuade someone to sell
something, as long as his asking price is met, but this would violate
our Law #2. In contrast, this law here is a safeguard against using
your psychic talents not-quite-consciously to take unfair advantage of
someone.
8. You cannot belong to more than one coven at a time.
Any two covens willlikely have rather different symbolic
systems for their workings, different understandings of the Craft
Laws, and so on. Trying to work with both would then tend to confuse
you, snarl up your communication lines to the Lade, and reduce the
efficiency of your learning and working. Of course, if two covens do
have identical systems (which could only happen if they shared a
common ancestry), they could be considered the same cove, for the
purposes under discussion here.
1199
Inits originalcontext (seesection III,Apor. 10),this law
seems merely an observation of fact: even if you're working with two
or more covens, you will only BELONG to one of them; your loyalty will
be with that one, and if there were a parting of the ways, you would
stick with it. Obviously, in time of persecution, divided loyalties
and disagreements could be a source of great danger, and would have to
be forbidden. Also, in a Craft structure where the High Priestess has
final authority within each coven, she would not much like having a
Witch she is trying to train be influenced by another Priestess. True,
these considerations don't apply to us, but they are valid as reasons
for the tradition.
9. None can coven with others they cannot agree with.
Statedthis way,this lawbecomes anetymological tautology,
for "coven" means "to agree" (or "to come together"). The more those
in a coven can agree on the interpretation of the Craft Laws, on the
symbolic system used for workings, on the purposes of the workings,
the greater the coven's effectiveness will be. Naturally, minor
disagreements will crop up regularly in a group of individualists;
they are not what this law concers. Rather, it applies to disagree-
ments (or bad interpersonal feelings) that are strong enough that they
are amplified by the group field, make the meeting unpleasant, and so
make it impossible for the coven to work. For this reason--not, one
may hope, out of mere in-group exclusiveness or arbitrariness--acoven
must select its members carefully for compatibility. Also, since a
coven is necessarily a "small group," many normal small-group proc-
esses will operate in it. These can be powerful, and emotionally very
heavy, but there's nothing mysterious about them. Don't mistake them
for something occult; that would lead you up a blind alley.
10. You must not betray the secrets that cannot be told.
Thesecrets in question hereare Her secrets,the ones dis-
cussed in the Caution to the Novices. Insofar as these Craft Laws are
simply observations of how psychic reality works (and it is for that,
really, that we should value them) then they are "self-enforcing" like
any other statement of fact. So what this law means is: (a) Don't
commit suicide; (b) Don't violate your own sense of your self-integ-
rity; (c) Don't "sell your soul to the devil"; (d) If you stick your
finger in a flame, you'll get burned. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 944 | 1200
11. ALL POWER IN THE CRAFT COMES FROM THE GODDESS.
This lawis anotherobservation about howpsychic reality
works. The energy that is raised in the circle comes not from any one
person, nor from all the persons in the coven as individuals, but from
somewhere else: from the Goddess, or from some source ever further
beyond. Such energy, like all psychic energy, comes THROUGH you, not
from you; it is not your personal property, for you are merely a
channel for it, a custodian of it. You do "own" your body and your
individual personality, and you are entitled to the fruits of your
labors, but the energy is not yours to exploit for your own benefit,
for any human being could (potentially) learn to do anything you can
do. Therefore, although you have a right to earn a living, the Craft
is free to all, being a gift of the Goddess: you may not charge anyone
even a penny to be initiated into the Craft or to learn its arts. Of
course, you should insist on having your actual expenses covered; the
Craft Laws do not require you to operate at a loss or to coddle
freeloaders. But you may not make money from practicing the Craft as a
religion, and if you try, you will lose all access to the power. This
law also means that the only genuine initiations in the Craft are
those worked (though not necessarily directly) by the Goddess Herself.
That is, if you have the power from the Goddess, credentials from
other people are unnecessary, and if you don't have any power from
the Goddess, credentials from other people are useless. Hence there
can be no authority in the Craft outside each coven.
Thislaw alsoprovides anotherdefinition: anypowerthat comes
from the Goddess could be part of the Craft; so any poet who has
experienced the reality of the Muse is, to that extent, a Witch.
Conversely, any energy that cannot be conceptualized as coming from
the Goddess (and apparently there ARE such forms of the energy) is
definitely not part of the Craft. (The tradition that the Priestess is
supreme within the circle also appears to be a special case of this
law, insofar as only the Priestess can incarnate the Goddess.)
12. IFSOMEONE INTENDS TO HARMYOU, YOU MAY USETHE ARTS OF THE
CRAFTTO RESTRAINHIM FROM DOINGSO, BUT ONLYIF ALL INTHE
COVEN AGREE THAT HE WILL IN NO WAY BE HARMED BY THE WORKING.
No matterwhat the provocation,trying to harmanother will
only create bad karma for yourself. So, although you have an absolute
right to protect yourself, you must not retaliate. As is said in K'ung
Fu, "Solve the problem, no less, no more." The reason why the coven
must discuss the situation and agree on the workings is twofold: (1)
to allow cooler minds to prevail, for it is when one acts on impulse,
out of anger, that one is most likely to overstep the line between
self-defense and aggression; and (2) because those in the coven,
having taken an oath to help one another, and being linked by the
generation of the group psychic field, will all share to some extent
in any bad karma generated by any member's misuse of the arts. If you
are one who can only learn the hard way, say, by sticking your finger
into a flame, you are of course free to burn your own fingers--but NOT
if you are holding someone else's hand, which is exactly the situation
if you belong to a coven. For its own self-preservation, a coven must
therefore retain the right, as a last resort, to expel (and cut loose
from the karma of) any member who persists in interfering in other
people's lives without their permission or, of course, who attempts
even blacker workings. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 945 | 1201
13. Always rememberthat allmankind and allcreatures areequally
childrenof theGoddess;therefore neverboastor threaten,or
do anything that mightdisgrace Her oryour brothers and
sisters in the Craft.
Toblatherthoughtlesslyaboutthe Craft,especiallytopersons
who have no business knowing about your coven's affairs, not only
drains your own energy and that of your coven, but also is a form of
boasting, of using the Craft for self-aggrandizement, that will get
you into the bad headspace law #3 warns about. More obviously, threat-
ening to "hex" someone, even though you THINK you have no intention of
doing so, violates the intent of laws 1 through 4, because you are
playing games with the Lady, who just might decide to act on the
threat, and because you are using the Craft (especially if you are
known to be a Witch) to influence another against his will and to get
your own way; furthermore, making such a threat reinforces the false
impression most people have of the Craft, and so disgraces the God-
dess. Again, since anyone could learn to do anything you can do, being
a Witch doesn't make you any better than anyone else; put on airs, and
the Lady will deflate you. Perhaps a good rule of thumb about discus-
sing the Craft with outsiders is this: once you are convinced that
someone's interest is sincere, then answer questions, fully and
freely; but don't just volunteer information that has in no way been
asked for, else you risk burdening that person with more information
than he or she is able to cope with.
1202
THE ABBREVIATED LAWS
'Tis the Old Law, and the most important of all Laws, that no one
may do anything which will endanger the Craft, or bring us into
contact with the law of the land or any of our persecutors.
*Be it ardane that noneshall use the Art (magick)in any way to
do ll to any. 8 words the Wiccan Rede fulfil: An it harm none, do
what ye will.
* Respect the privacy of other Coveners. You may reveal the
involvement of no person save yourself. In case of trouble, the Coven
will be disbanded. Should this happen, all Coveners are to avoid one
another for the safety and well-being of all. Should this happen,
refer to the Old Laws.
*Never accept moneyfor the useof the Art, formoney ever smears
the taker (and clouds ethical judgement). For all things magickal, pay
the full price asked without haggling. If it is unaffordable, it is
probably inappropriate in some hidden way.
* In case of dispute, the High Priestess is the final arbiter.
Within the Craft, no law save Craft Law may be invoked. Any who will
not agree, or who will not work under this HPs, may and shall remove
themselves from the Coven. Any of the third (L.T. Initiates OK) may
form a new Coven.
* The traditional way to hear complaints is this: Before the High
Priestess and any other Elders shall come first one, then the other,
then both together to be heard. The decision may be rendered immedia-
tely, one lunar month later, or whenever the time of waiting is
filled. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 946 | * The year-and-a-day rules pertains to: The minimum time between
Progressions; The final time of all Leavings; The closings of all
cycles.
THE TEMPLE LAWS
* Inorder of precedence, you areaccountable to: The Gods, your
Self, your High Priestess, your Teacher. Initiates are also account-
able to the Craft as a whole.
* "Pagan Standard Time" gives you 15 minutes leeway for an an-
nounced class or ritual. If you'll be any later or won't make it,
CALL!
* Questions are expected, desired, and anticipated.. The only
"dumb question" is the one the student doesn't ask.
* Commoncourtesy in all things. Whenin doubt, it is preferable
to err on the side of caution and silence.
* Ultimately, you are responsible for your own development.
Independent thought and research are strongly encouraged.
1203
Comments on The Abbreviated Laws
by J. Random Folksinger
The Wiccan Rede, while it has been taught widely, is not a
part of the Laws, although it may be considered derivative of them.
There is nothing in the Laws that says that "in case of trouble, the
Coven will be disbanded". There are, in fact, quite a few possible
solutions to specific instances, not just for "trouble".
There is nothing in the Laws about unaffordability equalling
inappropriateness in the purchase of a magickal tool. What the heck
are "L.T. Initiates"? Long Term? Why is is OK for them to form a Coven
when it is plain that you have to be of the Third Degree?
The traditional way to hear complaints, at least in my set of the
Old Laws, is for the High Priest or High Priestess to convene the
Elders. It says nothing about whether the HP or HPs are included in
this group, but it is assumed that BOTH, not just the HPs, are so
included. There is also nothing in the Old Laws about a "time of
waiting" for a decision.
In the Old Laws, the only thing the year-and-a-day rule pertains
to is the leaving of a High Priestess.
Everything in the "Temple Laws" falls in the good-to-very-good
category of advice; NONE of it is in the Old Laws. And I have known a
good many pagans to take PST to mean anytime during the calendar DAY.
There are a number of teachers in my experience to whom you NEVER ask
a question, at penalty of being kicked out of the class; still, a
teacher who can accept this rule is probably a good teacher.
In general, this sheet appears to be a worksheet handed to new
students and gone over with them for a quick rundown of the Craft in
order to go on to other things; in my opinion, giving them this sheet
and NOT reviewing the entire set of the Old Laws (in whatever form) is |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 947 | doing the students a disservice; having this sheet around for later
reference, on the other hand, is probably a Good Thing.
1204
THE LAW
The Law was made and ardane about a week from last Wednesday.
The Law was made for the Wiccca, in order that they should develop a
nice longhand style from copying it.
TheWicccashouldgive dueworshiptotheGodz, presumingthey
believe the Godz exist and aren't just metaphors; and obey Their Will,
which the HPS of the Coven will make up as she goes along, for it was
made for the purpose of ego-tripping and wild parties. The worship
of the Wiccca is good for the owners of Occult Supply Stores, for the
owners of Occult Supply Stores love the money of the Wiccca.
Asa manlovetha womanusingthe missionaryposition, sothe
Wiccca should shaft their fellows and other total strangers frequent-
ly. And it is necessary that the Magick Circle which is the prin-
cipal difference between a Wicccan rite and a frat party be cast and
all Wiccca properly purified to enter it so they can drink five
gallons of Ripple each and not throw up.
TheHPSshallr/u/i/n/ rulehercovenasthe localrepresenta-
tive of the Goddess, and choose whomever she is sleeping with this
week to be her HP...or her Maiden.
Andremember that the Wiccca would have it that The God
Himself kissed her feet and gave up the position of Ringmaster to her
because of her arbitrariness and autocracy, her spite and unreason,
her mysteriousness and ignorance: so the HP is expected to go as far
away as possible and not even show up for Sabbats.
It is the greatest virtue of a HPS that she turn as many of her
Covenors into closet Xtians as possible, for the true HPS realizes
that anyone with the sense Goddess gave a goose is not going to stick
around without having a death wish.
* * * * *
In the Olden Days when Wiccca extended far, we were free and had
reservations in all the best restaurants. But these days, we eat at
McDonald's.
SO BE IT ARDANE, that nonebut the Wiccca shall ever be
invited to dinner, for people who ignore us are many, and if they
ever found out what we are really up to, they would giggle.
SO BE ITARDANE, that no Coven shall knowwhere the next Coven
bide, nor who its member be, save anybody who looks in Circle Newslet-
ter and the hit team we send out to sanction them.
SOBEITARDANE, thatnoone shalltellanyoneanything, least
of all thy fellows in the Craft, for fear one of you will learn
something; because as it is truly writ: Gerald wrote it, I believe it,
that settles it.
Andif anybreakthese Laws,theywill havetostart theirown
Tradition and make up their own Grandmother.
Leteach HPSgovernherCoven asshedamn'well please,riding
rough-shod over the Covenors as long as they will stand for it. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 948 | 1205
Butitmust berecognized thatsooner orlater theywill get
mad and stop bringing the Ripple to Coven meetings. When this hap-
pens, it hath ever been the Old Law that the HPS will Elevate them to
the Third Degree and kick them out, and promise them the rest of the
Book...someday.
Anyone ofanydegree ornonemay founda Coven,providedthey
think they can get away with it and can create a convincing Grand-
mother.
They mayraidother Covensformembers aslongas nooneknows
where to find them.
But splitting the Covenoft means new opportunities for
evading the consequences of your actions, so the wise HPS will think
of it first.
* * * * *
If you should keep a Black Book, let it be in your own hand of write,
except for the parts you xerox out of Lady Sheba. Or better yet, tell
everybody they're not of a high enough degree to see it.
ProclaimyourWicccahoodloudly, andoften;youmaybe ableto
do a brisk trade in spells, psychic fairs, and talk shows. If nobody
believs you, try holding a public skyclad circle. If all else fails,
hire a press agent and advertise in the National Inquirer. If they
try to make you talk of the Brotherhood, lay it on with a trowel.
Ancient Atlantis is always good for a five-minute spot on the six o'
clock news. Not all interviewers are bad; some may even flash your
business address on the screen for a few seconds.
* * * * *
To avoid discovery, let your working tools be ordinary stuff such as
any may have around the house: AR-15's, Patton Tanks, Howitzers (let's
see how far we can stretch that First Amendment, gang!). Have no
names or signs on anuything, and remove the ones they came with, as
otherwise this can lead to a charge of receiving stolen property.
LetthePentacles bemadeof waxunlesssomethingelse ismore
convenient.
Haveno sword, unlessyou are inthe SCA ora collector of
WWII memorabilia.
Writethe namesand signson agummed labelsothat itcan be
peeled off immediately afterwards; remember that not guilty by reason
of insanity is not a valid defense in cases of this kind.
Everrememberthatyou aretheHiddenChildrenof theGoddess;
when you can take time out from Karma Dumping Runs, Psychic Vendettas,
Banishing each other from the Coven and discussing how much fun it
would be to persecute the Xtians, remember never to do anything to
disgrace Her. Or Them, if that's possible.
1206
* * * * * |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 949 | In the Olden Days, when we had Power, we could use the Art against any
who ill-treated us; but these days a whispering campaign works better.
Remember always that there are a lot of flaky people out there, and
for this reason it is best to give a fake name and a Post Office Box
address. Someone is always going to blame you for something.
SO BEIT ARDANE: HARMNONE, or atleast have agood alibi.
Never break this law, or people who get burned along with you will
come after you with baseball bats, and you will never be able to score
any decent hash again.
AnyHPSwho doessomethingyou don'tlikeyou canwalkout on,
but be sure to clout the Coven Book on the way to the door and set up
in business for yourself (Learn Witchcraft From The Experts!).
Alwaysaccept moneyfor useofthe Art,butkeep aneye onthe
Gypsy Laws. In some states, Barter works better. All may use the Art
for their own advantage; remember, quick and dirty works best, and you
can lay off Karma on the Coven. If that doesn't work, try dead cats
in the mailbox.
* * * * *
'Tis the Old Law and most important of all the Laws that no one may do
anything that will endanger any of the Craft. Unless there's money in
it, or it's to someone you think deserves it, and anyway, "endanger"
is in the eye of the beholder.
In anydispute betweenthe Wiccca,no onemayinvoke anyLaw
but that of the Craft. However, you can break into your opponent's
home and mess up his stuff.. after all, it says right here they can't
go to the Police.
Neverbargain orhaggle whenyou buybythe Art;most Occult
Store owners will just throw you out and everyone else will think
you're a nut.
* * * * *
It is ever the way with men and with women that they are ruled by
their glands. At any moment your HPS may run off and become a Rosi-
crucian. And the way of Resignation is this: if she doesn't answer
her phone for two weeks and is never home when you drive by, you can
declare her outcast from the Coven and take it over yourself, with as
many as will have you. But if she comes back she will probably take
of the Coven again, or start another one in the same building and
declare you Invalid, and there's not much you can do about it. Learn
to live with anxiety. Get everything in writing.
* * * * *
It hath been found that two people sitting around with a bottle of
Chianti discussing Atlantean Grandmothers will become fond of each
other, if only because of the Stockholm Syndrome. Therefore, let it
be resolved that a human being shall be taught in the Craft only by
another human being, and screw the middle-class morality of the
nineteen-fifties.
1207
* * * * *
And the Curses of the Mighty Ones be on all who try to take this |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 950 | seriously, or the Craft seriously, or the Wiccca seriously. Caveat
Lector, and May The Force Be With You!
1208
Karma, The Three Fold Law, & Grace
"As you sew, so shall ye reap". "What goes around, comes around".
"Whatever you send out returns three times". These are all sayings
very familiar to all of us, all of them examples of a supposedly
Universal Law of cause and effect, action and reaction. Of course
many of the religious systems try to furnish us with some sort of
"escape clause" that will allow man to either alleviate suffering fo
past misdeeds, or to escape responsibility totally. Let us take a
little closer look at these three ideas and ther inter-reationship.
It seems that, on one level, we do live ina mechanistic uni-
verse, one pretty much ruled by cause-and-efect. This Newtonian
universe seems to react in a very mechanical fashion, i.e. every
action "produces an equal and opposite reaction". A good analogy for
this is the example of one billiard ball striking another. The energy
from the striking billiard ball is transfered to the one struck and is
used to push against the first, imparting motion in the same direc-
tion. This brings the second law into play, i.e. an object in motion
tends to stay in motion untill acted upon by an outside force.
The principle of Karma basically says the same thing; i.e. any
negative or positive action or thought remains that way, until it
expends its energy by acting upon the originator. Of course this also
makes implicit the idea that thoughts or mental energy have a reality
of their own, one that interacts with the physical universe. If this
idea is accepted, it then implies the existence of at least one more
"world" or order of the universe, one with a non physical "reality",
and one where the basic fundamental rules of physics (as we know them)
may not truly apply.
The magician can bedescribed as one who "walksbetween" these
two worlds. "Walking between two worlds" implies that an individal is
connected with both and can move between them at will. The purpose of
magic is to manipulate one world for the benefit of the other, i.e. to
manipulate the unseen world for the express purpose of influencing
events in the physical. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a
"free ride" anywhere in the universe, and when an individual acquires
the power to do this, they also aquire a great deal of responsibility!
By accepting the power to exert "leverage" in the unseen world,
an individual seems to also accept a multiplied succeptibility to
influences initiated in that world. This is why negative workings are
so dangerous! This may also be the reasoning behind the "law of three
fold return".
Now comesthe hard part! Ifall of this causeand effect stuff
is absolute, how can any individual ever hope to "pay off" the debts
for all of the "stupid" things they have done not only in this life-
time, but in many others? Must we "pay off" all past transgressions
on a one for one basis? Is there no ecape clause in this "contract"
we seem to have for living in the universe?
This "escape clause" is called Grace by the Christians and by
other names in other systems, but it does exist in all. Basically,
the idea is this: "Once a lesson is completely learned and one grows
beyond a need for this lesson, it need not be repeated, even if the
'books' are not balanced". This is the "Enlightenment" sought by the
Buddhist that allows the "breaking" of the wheel. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 951 | EXEGESIS ON THE WICCAN REDE
1209
by Judy Harrow
originally published in HARVEST - Volume 5, Number 3 (Oimelc, 1985)
second publication: THE HIDDEN PATH - Volume X, Number 2 Beltane,
1987)
All religions began with somebody's sudden flashing insight,
enlightenment, a shining vision. Some mystic found the way and the
words to share the vision, and, sharing it, attracted followers. The
followers may
repeat those precise and poetic words about the vision until they
congeal into set phrases, fused language, repeated by rote and without
understanding.
Cliches begin as great wisdom - that's why they spread so fast -
and end as ritual phrases, heard but not understood. Living spiritual-
ity so easily hardens to boring religious routine, maintained through
guilt and fear, or habit and social opportunism - any reason but joy.
We cometo the Craftwith a firstgeneration's joy ofdiscovery,
and a first generation's memory of bored hours of routine worship in
our childhood. Because we have known the difference, it is our
particular challenge to find or make ways to keep the Craft a living,
real experience for our grandchildren and for the students of our
students.
Ithink the best of these safeguardsis already built into the
Craft as we know it, put there by our own good teachers. On our Path,
the mystic experience itself is shared, not just the fruits of mys-
ticism. We give all our students the techniques, and the protective/-
supportive environment that enable almost every one of them to Draw
the Moon and/or Invoke the God. This is an incredibly radical change
from older religions, even older Pagan religions, in which the only
permissible source of inspiration has been to endlessly reinterpret
and reapply the vision of the Founder (the Bible, the Book of the Law,
the Koran, ... ). The practice of Drawing the Moon is the brilliant
crown of the Craft.
But notice how often, in the old myths, every treasure has its
pitfalls? I think I'm beginning to see one of ours. Between the normal
process of original visions clotting into cliche, and our perpetual
flow of new inspiration, we are in danger of losing the special wisdom
of those who founded the modern Craft. I do not think we should
assiduously preserve every precious word. My love for my own Gardner-
ian tradition does not blind me to our sexist and heterosexist roots.
And yet, I want us to remain identifiably Witches and not meld into
some homogeneous "New Age" sludge. For this, I think we need some sort
of anchoring in tradition to give us a sense of identity. Some of the
old sayings really do crystallize great wisdom as well, life-affirming
Pagan wisdom that our culture needs to hear.
1210
So I think it's time for a little creative borrowing from our
neighbors. Christians do something they call "exegesis;" Jews have a
somewhat similar process called "midrash." What it is is something
between interpretation and meditation, a very concentrated examination |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 952 | of a particular text. The assumption often is that every single word
has meaning (cabalists even look at the individual letters). Out of
this inspired combination of scholarship and daydream comes the
vitality of those paths whose canon is closed. The contemporary
example, of course, is Christian Liberation Theology, based on a
re-visioning of Jesus that would utterly shock John Calvin.
Although our canonis not closed- and theday it isis the dayI
quit -I'm suggesting that we can use a similar process to renew the
life of the older parts of our own still-young heritage.
So, I'dlike totry doingsome exegesison an essentialstatement
of the Craft way of life. Every religion has some sort of ethic, some
guideline for what it means to live in accordance with this particular
mythos, this worldview. Ours, called the Wiccan Rede, is one of the
most elegant statements I've heard of the principle of situational
ethics. Rather than placing the power and duty to decide about be-
havior with teachers or rulebooks, the Rede places it exactly where it
belongs, with the actor.
eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
AN IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT YOU WILL.
I'd like to start with the second phrase first, and to take it almost
word by word.
do what YOU will. This is the challenge to self-direction, to figure
out what we want, and not what somebody else wants for us or from us.
All of us are subject to tremendous role expectations and pressures,
coming from our families, our employers, our friends, society in
general. It's easy to just be molded, deceptively easy to become
acompulsive rebel and reflexively do the opposite of whatever "they"
seem to want. Living by the Rede means accepting the responsibility to
assess the results of our actions and to choose when we will obey,
confront or evade the rules.
Do what you WILL. This is the challenge to introspection, to know
what we really want beyond the whim of the moment. The classic example
is that of the student who chooses to study for an exam rather than go
to a party, because what she really wants is to be a doctor. Again,
balance is needed. Always going to the library rather than the movies
is the road to burnout, not the road to a Nobel. What's more, there
are others values in life, such as sensuality, intimacy, spirituality,
that get ignored in a compulsively long-term orientation. So, our
responsibility is not to mechanically follow some rule like "always
choose to defer gratification in your own long-term self interest,"
but to really listen within, and to really choose, each time.
1211
DO what you will. This is the challenge to action. Don't wait for
Prince Charming or the revolution. Don't blame your mother or the
system. Make a realistic plan that includes all your assets. Be sure
to include magic, both the deeper insights and wisdoms of divination
and the focusing of will and energy that comes from active workings.
Then take the first steps right now. But, beware of thoughtless
action, which is equally dangerous. For example, daydreaming is
needed, to envision a goal, to project the results of actions, to
check progress against goals, sometimes to revise goals. Thinking and
planning are necessary parts of personal progress. Action and thought
are complementary; neither can replace the other. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 953 | When youreally look atit, wordby word, itsounds likea subtle
and profound guide for life, does it not? Is it complete? Shall "do
what you will" in fact be "the whole of the law" for us? I think not.
The second phrase of the Rede discusses the individual out of context.
Taken by itself, DO WHAT YOU WILL" would produce a nastily competitive
society, a "war of each against all" more bitter than what we now
endure. That is, it would if it were possible. Happily, it's just
plain not.
Pagan myth andmodern biology alike teach us thatour Earth is
one interconnected living sphere, a whole system in which the actions
of each affect all (and this is emphatically not limited to humankind)
through intrinsic, organic feedback paths. As our technology amplifies
the effects of our individual actions, it becomes increasingly crit-
ical to understand that these actions have consequences beyond the
individual; consequences that, by the very nature of things, come back
to the individual as well. Cooperation, once "merely" an ethical
ideal, has become a survival imperative. Life is relational, contex-
tual. Exclusive focus on the individual Will is a lie and a deathtrap.
The qualifying "AN IT HARM NONE," draws a Circle around the
individual Will and places each of us firmly within the dual contexts
of the human community and the complex life-form that is Mother Gaia.
The first phrase of the Rede directs us to be aware of results of our
actions projected not only in time, as long-term personal outcomes,
but in space - to consider how actions may effect our families,
co-workers, community, and the life of the Earth as a whole, and to
take those projections into account in our
decisions.
But, like the rest of the Rede, "an it harm none" cannot be
followed unthinkingly. It is simply impossible for creatures who eat
to harm none. Any refusal to decide or act for fear of harming someone
is also a decision and an action, and will create results of some
kind. When you consider that "none" also includes ourselves, it
becomes clear that what we have here is a goal and an ideal, not a
rule.
The Craft, assumingethical adulthood, offersus no roterules.
We will always be working on incomplete knowledge. We will sometimes
just plain make mistakes. Life itself, and life-affirming religion,
still demands that we learn, decide, act, and accept the results.
Judy Harrow
1212
JOAN on the Witch Laws 8/22/81
Note: These are the comments of one of the early members of
Proteus Coven on what we gave her to read about ethics and laws. All
the material she had is still here, although a good deal has been
added since then, so I thought her comments would also be interesting.
Judy Harrow
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Reaction to "Traditional" - i.e. essentially Gardnerian - format
In many respects, as constricting as Catholocism without the
administrative experience, intellectual prowess, or verbal expertise
of Catholicism. If current researchers are correct, what we have is |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 954 | one man's fantasy (with jumbled and skewed sources) made everyone's
obligation.
Maybedealtwith mosteffectively-especiallyas regardsthe
reality of current practice and expectation - by juxtaposition with
Lady Ikandkhop's masterful irony.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Reaction to Aporrheton 5 - [generally very good thinking, but
still more traditional than my preference]
ParagraphTwo: Good thinkingon nature ofGoddess -or any divini-
ty. My agreement is reserved, uncertain, withheld.
Paragraph Three: Claims to have arrived at FIRMLY ("no bending")
UNDISPROVEN hypotheses. This arouses natural suspicion in me. I
disagree with some of his perceptions of FACTS.
Idisagree violently withLaws 5 +6. Heterosexuality isa streng-
th, but not an essential. POLARITY OPERATES OUTSIDE [or INSIDE]
BOUNDARIES OF ANATOMICAL EQUIPMENT AND HORMONES. AND THE CHARACTER -
THE SACRED CHARACTER - OF THE WITCH IS WITHIN THE AT ONCE TRANSCENDANT
AND DISCIPLINED SELF.
Law #7 is unnecessary. A silly bow to a misunderstood "Trad" law.
Law #8 islargely true, but makes no allowancefor valid, honest
(fair to all), and necessary transitional states many must pass
through. Also sticks on "authority" peg, which has some necessity/-
validity but can easily get out of hand. I find HONESTY + COURTESY
better yardsticks.
Law #9. True.But much of interpersonaltension (inevitable) can
be worked out of God/dess' love and coven support-with-discipline
prevail.
1213
Law #10. TheGreat Mysteries mustbe livedout. And, withoutusing
Craft parlance, if another needs to hear them, they MUST BE VERB-
ALIZED. TO DO LESS IS HARM. i.e., it is to allow another to drown
when you're on shore and have a rope.
But no missionary zeal!
No proseletyzing!!!
That for which others are unready is foolishness for them and
foolishness for the Witch. (It may also be subconscious power
tripping. See agreement in Law #13.)
Law #11 - I agree with paragraphs one and two.
Paragraph3:saying thatonlythe HPsincarnatesthe Goddess
is inappropriate and - in my firm opinion - NOT FACTUAL. (note from
Judy - as I interpret what he says there, it's that only WOMEN incar-
nate the Goddess. I also disagree with that, but it's less bad than
Joan's reading that he limits it to the HPs only.) The Goddess is not
bound by ceremonial elevations. She incarnates where and when She Damn
Well Pleases!
Re:"all initiations..."- etc.-Ritual iscrystallization
of preexistent, potential, incipient reality and this actualization is
not trivial. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 955 | Law #12 - Goodcaution on limits (ill defined whereemotion runs
high) or self-defense. But assumption rules out solo magic (his
previous premise is that it isn't Wiccan) by corollary of group
responsibility / group danger to all action. "Return to sender" is
generally agreed as rule-of-thumb for defense. Practice has not
disproven. This is a difficult area to define. Probably group consen-
sus on this would help.
Does"impossibility factor" negatedanger? How about the
verbal escape clause sometimes used?
Obviously,I'mless sureofboundarieson thisonethan onany
other.
Law #13 - Good idea. Rather an ideal than a norm.
OMISSION: APORRHETON does not mention Balance or Polarity concept
except in male/female context. But these are valuable and central
concepts.
I got the feeling this person is still ruled by fragments of
left-over fear.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Starhawk is GREAT. But many people will need more codification
than she offers.
1214
From: L.A. HUSSEY
To: J_RANDOM FOLKSINGER
Subj: THE LAWS
I am disturbed and disappointed. "The Christians are our enemies."
"They will torture you to make you talk about the Craft." "Lie about
the Craft." "Covens splitting up makes for bad feelings."
What depressing garbage. This is the 20th century, and this is
America, this is not Inquisition days. The more we keep secret, the
more the ignorant will assume that we have horrible secrets to keep.
The true secrets of the Gods cannot be given away, because they cannot
be spoken -- they are beyond all language. And as for bad feelings
when covens break up, maybe that is how it is where you are, but
around here, there is rejoicing when one coven becomes two. Seems to
me like my best possible response to your "Laws" is the following
song:
BURNING TIMES
The songs are sung to rouse our anger of martyred Witches gone to the
fires,
But what is served by righteous singing, if all we do is stew in our
ire?
Nine million dead in four hundred years;
More in that time simply died of disease.
Why do we dwell on long past dead
When we are alive in times like these?
(cho)
Rise up, Witches, throw off your masks
And cease crying guilt for ancient crimes.
Earth and all Her children need us
For ALL face now the Burning Times.
In the face of that hostile power, how did the old knowledge stay
alive?
How have we still a Craft to practise? Our ancestors knew how to |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 956 | fight and survive!
How do we honour our blessed dead?
Slavery threatens us all but few.
We must teach their cunning ways --
EVERYONE needs the skills they knew!
(cho2)
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all Her children need us
For ALL face now the Burning Times.
I will not cast off Science's works -- Witches all forces to Will can
bend;
I'll not accuse for war and waste some patriarchy of faceless men.
Men do not cast the only votes;
Women alone do not demonstrate.
Rather than shut out half the race,
Who if not we will change that state?
(cho2)
1215
I will not blame a Father's Church -- blame and guilt are their tools,
not mine,
And even in the shuls and churches, allies there will I seek, and
find!
I will not answer hate with fear,
Nor with a smug, cheek-turning love.
I will not answer hate with rage;
By strength alone will I not be moved!
(cho2)
I will not hide in my sacred grove -- the fact'ries and cities yet
ring me about;
I will not climb my ivory tower -- the real world exists tho' I shut
it out.
I will not work for Church nor State
Who serve themselves while they serve us lies,
Nor only for my Witchen kin,
But for the family of all alive!
(cho2)
So if rebellion means to fight a State lost sight of why it was built,
If heresy's to reject a Church that rules with force or fear or guilt,
Then let us all be rebels proud,
And shameless heretics by creed --
A tyrant's hand subjects the Earth,
More heretic rebels are what She needs!
(cho2)
Did it ever occur to the writers of your antique laws that the Craft
might actually be WELCOMED by a great number of people? That there
might actually be more of us than of those who wish us ill? That the
only reason those who fear us are so active nowadays is because they
see us becoming more and more welcomed by more people? As I say in
another song, "When folk in sorrow turn away/ From paths that lead to
misery/ And seek new ways for wholeness' sake/ Then waiting, ready
shall we be."
All I can say is, I'm Goddess-glad I'm not in your tradition.
B*B
Leigh Ann |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 957 | To this I would add only one more admonishment, based on my own
experience: It is as important not to take oneself, one's power, and
one's Craft too seriously as it is not to take them too lightly.
Moderation in all things, including moderation. And remember that all
acts of love and pleasure are the rites of
the Goddess, and this includes HAVING FUN.
B*B Leigh Ann
1216
A RESPONSE TO "CRAFT ETHICS OF THE COVENANT OF THE DOVES"
It has always been my view that the Earth Traditions, both in the
Wiccan (European Shamanic) and Neo-Native Shamanic senses, are seeing
their rebirth out of a true need to heal this wounded Mother of ours,
and to stay Her hand, for Her anger is growing. It is quite possible
that without this renewed spirit of reverence and worship of Earth and
Sky and the True Source of All that Is, humanity as a species would be
made as extinct as the Passenger Pigeon and the Dodo Bird.
Therefore,as a Pagan and asa follower of theWays of the Chiri-
cahua Teneh Nation, I cringe whenever I see restrictions and require-
ments that are, for all intents and purposes, useless today, and only
hamper the mission we have of encouraging others to walk in a more
sacred way on the Body of Our Mother. I see the power trips, the "I'm
the High Priest(ess), that's why" crap and the games driving more and
more Pagans solitary, when we should be uniting. And I was extremely
angered when I read the published "ethics" of one organization, the
Covenant of the Doves, now known as the United Wiccan Church.
I have listed the salient points that disturb me the most, and
will respond to them one by one.
> No woman shall be a Maiden who has not been in her courses.
MK-H: I guess that's fair enough. But whether or not a woman is
currently menstruating is none of the Coven's business.
> No woman shall be ordained unless she has passed her 17th year,
> nor shall she have her ordination recognized until that time.
MK-H: No coven has any business ordaining a person, woman or man,
before the legal Age of Consent, unless the minor is legally eman-
cipated, and can produce their emancipation papers. To do otherwise
is a wonderful excuse for prosecution if the persecution that File 18
and other Fundie hate articles I have been compiling in my XIANHATE
series of files seem to augur comes to pass.
> No womanshall have herordination recognized unless sheis in
> her courses, has ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, two ears, a
> nose. Her generative organs andbreasts must becomplete. The
> honorable loss of limbs or the effects of torture following
> ordination shall not invalidate the ordination.
MK-H: So you would deny ordination to a woman who is handicapped, or
blind, or deaf, or has suffered the effects of cancer and may have had
a hysterectomy, a mastectomy or even the less-invasive "lumpectomy"
done on her to save her life? That is bigoted and totally without
reason in this day and age. And what if she is past Menopause? Would
you deny ordination to a woman who may be past her fertile years?
That's wholly disrespectful to the Elders who hold so much wisdom that
could be an asset to a Circle. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 958 | > No woman shall be a Nymph who has not coupled.
MK-H: Again, this is none of the Coven's business whether or not a
woman has had sex.
1217
> No woman shall be a Crone who has not given birth.
MK-H: Some have chosen NOT to bear children, out of either financial
necessity, or conviction that this society is not the place to raise
kids in. And some have recognized that they simply do not have the
temperment for child-rearing (myself included in that category.)
Some are infertile, through no fault of their own. And some, through
either psychological or physical drives, prefer other women. There
are a great deal of Lesbians in the Wiccan movement. Would you write
them off as nonexistant?
> No man shall be a Magician who has not healed.
MK-H: Healing is not necessarily the only talent the God and Goddess
give to people. Therefore, if a person does not have that talent,
that does not mean that they aren't useful to the Circle in other
capacities. And why is this criterion only applied to MALE postul-
ants? Some of the best healers I know are female.
> Noman shall beordained unless he haspassed his 33rdyear, nor
> shall he have his ordination recognized until that time.
MK-H: Why a double standard on when a man should be ordained? 18 is
just fine for an eligability date.
> No man shall have his ordination recognized unless he is the
> father ofa living child, has ten fingers andten toes, two
> eyes, two ears and a nose and generative organs complete. The
> honorable loss of limbs or the effects of torture following
> ordination shall not invalidate the ordination.
MK-H: Again I voice my objections about the anti-Physically Chall-
enged bias that this requirement implies. And I suspect that the re-
quirement of being "the father of a living child" is there for only
one reason--that it is a legally permissable way of stating "No Poo-
ftahs". Just as the childbearing requirement is discriminatory to
Lesbians, the fatherhood requirement is discriminatory to Gays.
So what would I myself ask of postulants wishing initiation? In my
theoretical Circle, I would ask them to attest, under pain of dis-
fellowship, that they are not law enforcement officers joining the
Circle for espionage purposes, nor are they there for sabotage or in-
filtration purposes under religious grounds. Furthermore, they should
affirm their allegience to The Earth Mother, The Sky Father, and Their
Ultimate Source, forswearing allegiance to other deities. (primarily
to weed out Christian or "satanist" infiltrators) They should have
completed their Vision Quest, and have contacted their Lower Self in
the form of their Power Animal(s), and their Higher Self in the form
of the Shaman or Teacher Within. They also should not show outward or
inward signs of being mentally unbalanced (something that would
require a lot of trusting one's gut, although a psychologically-based
questionnaire might be a good way of confirming it) or overly con-
cerned with "finding power". They must also, for legal reasons, be
either over 18 or legally Emancipated.
Furthermore, there will be only ONE degree in my Circle--that of
Kin. Anyone who is initiated is theoretically ready to act as cerem-
onial facilitator, and that duty will be rotated to them as the
rotation goes around the Circle. Decisions should be made by consen- |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 959 | sus, with one person having only one vote.
1218
I ask you, James...does notthe Mother and the Father decreethat we
should all be free and equal to one another? Is that not why you opt
to have your Coven be naked in their rite? (Due to the fact that the
Chiricahua Teneh never performed ceremonials in the nude, I would
myself opt for robed work, even to the point of people working in
comfortable street clothes.) So why all this bloody RESTRICTION? Why
all these trivial, and sometimes even discriminatory rules and regul-
ations? Your ancestor Aleister once said "The word for Sin is Rest-
riction." It's a good rule of thumb.
Respectfully,
Michelle Chihacou White Puma Klein-Hass
1219
SPELL TO EASE A BROKEN HEART*
John Shaman
You will need the following ingredients (be sure to charge them all
before you begin):
strawberry tea (one bag) Small wand or stick from a willow tree
sea salt 2 pink candles
a mirror one pink drawstring bag
one quartz crystal a copper penny
a bowl made of china or crystal that is special to you
1 teaspoon dried jasmine 1 teaspoon orris-root powder
1 tsp. strawberry leaves 1 teaspoon yarrow
10 plus drops apple-blossom oil or peach oil
10 plus drops strawberry oil
On a Friday morning or evening (the day sacred to Venus) take a bath
in sea salt in the light of a pink candle. As you dry off and dress,
sip the strawberry tea. Use a dab of strawberry oil as perfume or
cologne. Apply makeup or groom yourself to look your best. Cast a
circle with the willow wand around a table the the other ingredients.
Light the second pink candle. Mix all oils and herbs in the bowl.
While you stir look at yourself in the mirror and say aloud: "Oh,
Great Mother Goddess, enclose me in your loving arms and nurture and
bring forth the Goddess within me." Gaze deeply into the mirror after
you have finished mixing the ingredients and say aloud, "I represent
the Great Goddess, Mother of all things. I shine in the light of the
Golden Wings of Isis. All that is great and loving only belongs to
me." Then put half the mixture in the pink bag and add the penny and
crystal. Carry it with you always [or until you find another love].
Leave the other half of the potion in the bowl, out in a room where
you will smell the fragrance. Repeat this ritual every Friday if
necessary.
*From Laurie Cabot's "Power of the Witch"
Brackets mine.
Needless to say, you should replace the goddess name with one that you
attune
to. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 960 | 1220
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS--LIFEWAY SHAMANIC FELLOWSHIP
By Usen's grace, Ho-dah....
1.) PURPOSES:
This is an era of decision. Do we allow ourselves to cut the
throat of the Mother Who has nourished us as a species since
we "came down from the trees"? Or do we work to walk in
Beauty and Harmony with Her, and cherish Her, and work to
see Her healed? The resurgence of Shamanism, the primal
Earth Religion of practically all of the Earth's
pre-Agrarian cultures, is an important thing, foretold by
the Paiute prophet Wovoka and in the Hopi Prophecies. It
was said that both the Red Man would return to the Ways of
the Old Ones and that the non-Native would also embrace the
Lifeway. There are non-Natives who respectfully have chosen
these Ways, and are carrying them on in a reverent way. If
the Lifeway was only given for the Native peoples, it would
die out within our lifetime. There are simply not enough
traditional Elders left.
It has been shown to some of us that Our Mother The Earth is
not willing to die quietly. She has demonstrated this by
the increase in natural disasters of the past decade, which
continue day by day. The Hopi prophecies state that, when
the "bowl full of ashes" (most interpret this as the
Thermonuclear Bomb) is overturned, that Our Mother shall
rise up in Her righteous anger and destroy humanity. This
prophecy is coming true, although it may yet be reversable.
Perhaps it is we who reverence the Ways and walk in harmony
with Our Mother that may stay Her hand.
The Lifeway Fellowship is here for those who wish to honor
Our Mother and Our Father, Earth and Sky, and to honor The
Giver Of Life, from whence all things flow in the Universe.
Our world-view is primarily allied with that of the
Navajo/Dineh, Apache/Teneh, and Hopi peoples. However we do
not represent ourselves as the keepers of those ways. The
secrets of those Nations are for them alone, unless Usen'
wishes to reveal them to us. Our mission is to help heal
Our Mother, The Earth, and to help each other walk in closer
harmony with Her. We also exist to provide a way for urban
and sub-urban people to learn and practice the root Shamanic
techniques that aid us in finding our True Vision and True
Way of Power, and following that Vision and that Way.
We identify ourselves as Pagan (Webster's New World
Dictionary "1. b)...a person who is not a Christian, Moslem,
or Jew (by faith); heathen. Pagan specifically refers to one
of the ancient polytheistic (or pantheistic) peoples.") and
as unashamed Pantheists and Polytheists. The Lifeway
is truly a religious commitment. No-one can make a commitment
to the Lifeway and to the worship of Life Giver, The Earth
Mother and The Sky Father and remain a worshiper of other
Paradigms of the Deity, much as one cannot be a Christian
and worship the Greco-Roman pantheon. However this does not
imply the condemnation of other Paradigms, nor impel a duty to
"convert" others.
1221 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 961 | We stand by other Pagans who do not share our paradigms, IE.
Wiccans, Asatruans, Hellenists, and other Shamanic traditions,
(African and neo-African(Santeria & Voudoun), Australian,
Siberian, Traditional Native American, and Polynesian, to name
a few) and even though we may disagree with some or all of
their practices and beliefs, they are Brothers, Sisters and
Cousins, and in times of persecution as well as times of
goodwill we must defend them. We may even share in their open
rituals and allow them to share in our open ceremonials. But
that which is ours must remain ours, just as that which is
theirs must remain theirs.
2.) THE(A)OLOGY:
As our Fellowship is inherently religious, we must declare a
The(a)ology. (The strange spelling refers to the fact that
we acknowledge a Goddess as well as a God)
This is summed up very easily. There are three main powers
we worship, Usen' the Life Giver, The Earth Mother, and The
Sky Father. The latter Two are emanations of the First, as
all, including the God and the Goddess, are emanations from
Usen', which is the primaeval First Cause.
Usen': One cannot look upon The Life Giver as either Male or
Female, for The Life Giver is beyond those distinctions.
Usen', and The Life Giver, are names for this First Cause,
this Force that pervades all and caused all to come into
being. From Usen', the God, Sky Father, and the Goddess,
Earth Mother, emanate, as the lesser Deities emanate from
Them.
The Earth Mother: We live and walk and are sustained from
The Earth Mother, which is our Earth. She is alive, and we
all exist within Her as part of Her structure. Science,
through the Gaea Hypothesis, has finally acknowledged Her
existence, and some even have learnt the lesson that our
duty in this life is to care for and honor Her. This is a
lesson that all must learn, for as long as we despoil Her,
we risk Her wrath. She is expressed through the faces of
White Painted Woman, Who is The Woman Warrior, through Corn
Mother, Who is The Nourishing Mother, and through Spider
Woman, Who is The Wise Woman, The Ancient One, The Custodian
of Wisdom. Women are acknowledged as being human represent-
atives of The Earth Mother.
The Sky Father: Just as among we Humans, there is both Man
and Woman, so there is no Earth Mother without Sky Father.
Sky Father is the air we breathe, the flame that gives us
warmth and cooks our food, and brings forth the rain that
fertilizes Our Mother and allows Her to provide us with
the crops and animals that sustain us. Sky Father is also
expressed as The Hunter, The Warrior, and First Shaman, and
is also expressed in Killer Of Enemies and The Child Of
Water. He is also present and acknowledged as being present
in every Man.
1222
There are other spirits that exist in the Universe, some
beneficient, some maleficient. But most important is Usen',
Earth Mother, and Sky Father. By walking in harmony with the
God(esse)s, one can tell the Good from the Evil, welcoming |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 962 | in Good, and protecting each other from Evil.
3.) ETHICS:
We have our code of Ethics. It is neither lengthy nor
overly restrictive. We do not include ancient taboos in
this list, such as Mother-In-Law avoidance or the taboo
against Fish, because they may not apply nowadays. If you
wish to not eat fish or to avoid your Mother-In-Law for
religious reasons, it is your perogative. But it is not a
requirement.
1.) If the action does not harm yourself, other people or
intelligent beings, or Our Mother The Earth, you are free to
do as you wish.
2.) To charge for healings, sweats or ceremonials is totally
wrong and extremely offensive. Also, to charge excessively
for teaching is equally offensive, but a modest fee
over expenses is allowable. Your conscience is the best
guide, that and the Will of the Deities.
3.) Magick should be limited only to protection of Self and
Loved Ones, and to healing and helping those in need,
provided that permission is given by the patient and that
help other than healing does not interfere with the Will of
others. Magick that is used in a coercive (IE. Love spells)
or destructive (harming or killing magick) way is patently
wrong and is considered Black Magick.
4.) Contact of spirits by any means other than Shamanic
journeying or the Vision Quest is very risky, and Possession
is a real possibility. The practice of mediumship, or
"channeling" has no place in the Lifeway, and exposes not
only Self but others to danger.
5.) Permission must always be asked of the spirits of plants
and/or animals before taking them for either sustenance or
for medicine.
6.) One's visions and one's personal ceremonies are one's
own. Personal visions should not be spoken of, but shared
visions are for all of the group.
7.) It is wrong to criticise another within the group or
outside the group. Racism, sexism, xenophobia or general
disrespect of others has no place in the Fellowship.
Individual decisions about lifestyle and other ethical
issues not covered here are an individual's own affair.
1223
4.):GROUP STRUCTURE AND INITIATION PRACTICES
There is only one Initiation, which is the Initiation that
makes one Kin within the group and in the sight of The
Deities. It is given after one has taken their first Vision
Quest, has found their Power Animal(s) and has met the
Shaman Within. It can only be denied to those who have met
these requirements, is younger than the legal Age Of Consent
(in most places, 18 years) is not of sound mind, and/or is
under suspicion of being a Law Enforcement Officer or other |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 963 | person antipathetic to Pagan and/or Shamanic belief
who requests initiation for fraudulent purposes (usually to
infilitrate to either sabotage or publically discredit the
Fellowship) Initiation must not be denied on account of
physical disabilities, blindness, deafness, or sterility,
nor on account of sex, race, nationality, political belief,
or sexual preference.
There are no set offices within the Fellowship. Ideally,
leadership should be by consensus, with true leaders being
temporary and purpose-oriented. Facilitation of rituals may
be done by any Initiate of the Fellowship. ANYONE WHO
REPRESENTS THEMSELVES AS A HIGH PRIEST/ESS OF THE LIFEWAY
SHAMANIC FELLOWSHIP IS A FRAUD, AND IS DOING SO CONTRARY TO
THIS STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS.
Support of the Fellowship is done on a purely voluntary and
mutual basis. No tithe or dues should be assessed unless
they have been agreed upon by all members, initiates and
non-initiates alike.
Membership is extended to all. But initiation is reserved
for those who meet the criteria mentioned above.
Non-initiates can participate in open ceremonials and in
basic workshops, but may be denied participation in certain
ceremonials and advanced workshops.
1224
5.) THE QUESTION OF RECOGNIZING SHAMANS
In traditional societies, the title Shaman was not just an
honorific, or recognition of talents. Nor was it the
highest initiatory level in a Shamanic society. The Shaman
was, in most cases, above the Chief in decision-making power
and was judge, doctor, father-confessor, and intercessor
with the Deities for the tribe. Some Shamanic societies are
now providing their membership with "Shaman training
seminars" and "Shaman apprenticeships" that can be had for
an exorbitant price. This implies that the cost of being a
Shaman can be paid in money and in a set amount of time.
This is not the case. Many tribes believe that the office
of Shaman is not one that is earned, but one that one is
born into. Certainly, the skills are never something one is
born with, and this is not merely hereditary. Rather, when
a child is born, the current Shaman would recognize that the
child had the POTENTIAL of being the next one, and the
child's training would begin when they were considered ready
by the Shaman. At adulthood, they would be tested. If they
passed the test, they would become the next Shaman. If they
failed, usually the test was such that they would either die
outright, or they would go insane. Many "heroic quest"
tales, and most notably the Arthurian legends have echoes of
this practice within the ancient Shamanic traditions of
Europe.
But the point that is being made here is that we should not
go back to that sort of way of doing things, because in this
society it is nigh on impossible. The stand I am offering
here is that recognition as a Shaman can be conferred only
through shared vision, and signs from the Deities. It is
not my place to say what the signs are...it will be obvious |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 964 | to the Fellowship. I am not Shaman myself, and will not
brook anyone calling me that. This is something I place in
the lap of the Deities to decide. I cannot do anything
more. It is a mockery of those people that can truly be
called Shamans, who are respected, powerful people of
traditional tribes, to do anything less. In any event, to
claim such a title is definately not enough, and is
punishable by withdrawing Fellowship from the one who claims
to be Shaman falsely.
6.) FESTIVALS AND WORSHIP DAYS
The festivals are reckoned as they have been for centuries
by most Southwestern tribes, by both the Sun and the Moon.
The seasons begin on the first full moon after a Solstice or
an Equinox. The Solstices and Equinoxes themselves are
times of celebration as well, and perhaps the period between
the two (which usually works out to be no more than a week
or so) could be considered a time of Holiday. Lesser
ceremonials are held on New Moons and Full Moons between the
first Full Moons of the seasons. Optionally certain Pagan
festivals could be celebrated in conjunction with other
groups, but they are not to be adopted as official Lifeway
Fellowship ceremonial days.
1225
There are other ceremonials that are personal in nature, and
can be held at any time, although synchronizing them with
the Festivals and the New and Full Moons is advisable. They
are Naming, where a newborn child is named in the presence
of the group and their Life-beads given; Coming Of Age,
where the child's physical maturity is acknowledged, and
where, for a short time, they become Child of the Water (if
a boy) or White Painted Woman (if a girl); Initiation, where
a person becomes a full-fledged member of the group, given
after a person becomes a legal adult; Joining, where a man
and a woman consent to be married; Unjoining, where a man
and woman who are married consent to have the bond
dissolved, which is to be done only after four reconcili-
ation attempts fail or after evidence of marital infidelity
or abuse is given before the group; the Moonlodge, which is
a special sweat for women in their Moon-time; and Release,
where a ceremony for a dead member of the Fellowship is done
to guide their soul Back Home. Other ceremonials that are
dreamed or envisioned by a person or group are also
encouraged.
7.) SUMMING UP
A few quick ones: One can be either clothed or unclothed at
ceremonies, but it should be known that none of the
Southwestern tribes did ceremonies in the nude. However,
one should disrobe for the sweat lodge, as clothes are not
only uncomfortable within the sweat lodge, but interfere
with the cleansing process of the lodge.
This Statement can be accepted or rejected by individual
groups that federate themselves with Lifeway Fellowship. But
federation can be denied to those groups who stray too far
from some of the basic guidelines, or do anything that would
sully the reputation of the Fellowship in general. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 965 | Hi-dicho...this is finished.
May these proceeds please Life Giver Usen', and the Mother
and the Father.
ENJU!
Chihacou White-Puma, 1988.
1226
THE LAST DRAGON
by
Gerald del Campo
In the land of Oz lived a great Wizard named Albert Creemshaw.
He was loved by everyone, and became quite popular when he
destroyed the Last Dragon in a great battle between the forces of
oppression and the powers of Freedom.
When the villagers heard that the monster had been killed they
rushed the mountain side where the Dragon had its nest and
proceeded to break the eggs; thereby insuring the destruction of
the creatures forever.
What they did not know, was that Albert had snuck one of the eggs
out before the villagers got there. He cared for it in his Castle
and through his great magical ability he was able to genetically
alter the dragon fetus so that it would soon be the watcher of
the people; a symbol of freedom and great strength. But he kept
this a secret from the people because they were not ready yet for
the trial which awaited them; they would just have ganged up and
tried to kill the Little Dragon. He became a Hermit and loved
the little creature.
One day the Wizard received a message from his God that he would
have to move on, and release his body the way that a butterfly
sheds its cocoon. So Albert called for the Council of The Sword
and Shield, a ruling body of his most trusted students, and told
them about the little dragon. At first they were repulsed by the
idea of bringing up the offspring of the object of their misery;
but the Magician persuaded them by telling them that the little
dragon would soon be the symbol of freedom and strength: they
swore by the Warrior Gods they would care for it.
The following evening, while the Full Moon shined on the peaceful
waters of Oz, Albert and his God left forever.
Upon finding their Master dead, the Council released the
information about the Little Dragon to the people of Oz. The
people of Oz loved Albert as much as he loved them, and after
they saw how fragile this poor orphaned creature was they decided
amongst themselves that they would honor those raising the little
dragon, for the dragon would represent all of the things Albert
himself stood for.
1227
Things went well, for a while. The favoritism displayed by the
people of Oz towards the Priests and Priestesses that cared for
the Dragon created turmoil: all of the sudden there were power
struggles within the Council, its members were fighting over who
would supervise the education of the Little Dragon, who would
feed it, who would educate it. They set up rules specifically |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 966 | designed to make it impossible for others to reach the grades
appropiate to caring for the Dragon so that only a few on top
could reap the benefits associated with caring for the Little
Dragon.
One would say: "I have risked my life and given all so that the
little dragon could have food", and his ego was pleased. The
other would say: "While you first despised the dragon I stood
fast in my duty to care for it, for I have kept my word", and her
ego was satisfied.
The people were so impressed by the "devotion and selflessness"
of The Council that certain members were given gifts of silver,
gold, spices, and women. Treated as Gods for their sense of
duty.
Everyone at The Council became so preoccupied with the power
struggle, and with keeping their peers in lower positions that
they forgot about the little, fragile Dragon. When they finally
gained their senses, and returned to the Castle where it was
guarded they found it dead, starved from attention and
sustenance. They then realized that empty, lost feeling Albert
himself would have felt, if HE had killed the Last Dragon.
1228
Circle casting Dragon style
Cameron Mandrake
I just thought I'd drop a note on the traditional Dragon Tradition
Circle casting. The circle is cast with the Blade, the Cup and the
Censor. The Priest starts with the Blade in the north and draws the
boundry of the circle. As he does he recites "I tread this Path for
the Elements, that which comprises all that we see."
The HPS takes to sprinkling the boundries with the Cup filled with
salted water. She recites "I tread this Path for Self, a reflection
of the Divine."
The HP then takes the censor and carries the smoketo the boundries
of the circle in a deosil direction. He recites "I tread this Path
for Spirit, that which unites all things."
The HP or HPS then state the charge of our Circle. It is as follows.
"Our Circle is a place where hearts and minds can meet and share in
the wonder and empowerment of a living and loving Goddess. We are a
coven of friends, but above all things we are Family. Our Love and
our Magick binds us together and our Circle keeps us and nurtures us.
We are blessed. Blessed Be!"
The Dragon Guardians are then invoked.
EAST
Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the East. Your tongue is
a sharp sword, cutting with the knowledge of the arcane. Your spirit
flows as graceful as a swift in flight. Purify us with truth.
Blessed Be.
SOUTH
Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the South, your breath is
aflame with the fires of inspiration and passion. Your spirit is |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 967 | searing
and fervent. Purify us with Love. Blessed Be.
WEST
Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the West, your coils are the
cleansing healing waves that nurture the soul. Your spirit lunges,
leaps and splashes like a Talbot at play. Purify us with pulsing
tides. Blessed Be.
NORTH
Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the North, your talons run
like roots into the earth, giving you infinite strength. Your spirit
is substantial, hard and pure like a clear crystal. Purify us with
persistant wisdom. Blessed Be.
Each of these Dragons has a secret name that they are also invoked
with. A suggestion is that anyone using these invocations meditate to
find an appropriate name for each Guardian and use it along with or
instead of the words "Mighty Dragon".
1229
I find that the Circle charge sets the mood for the Circle and I
change it to suit the situation. If anyone has ideas for a Circle
charge, I'd like to hear them. I have a number of Circle charges that
I use but fresh ones always are nice.
Blessed Be.
Cameron Mandrake
... Copyright 1992 - DragonHart Coven - All Rights Reserved
1230
ON THE NUMBER 451
(The true nature of the A.`. A.'.)
Publication in Class B
ORDO ARGENTUM ASTRUM
Anthra Andromda
The number is a very interesting one indeed. Originally suggested by
David Cherubim, in connection with the "true" meaning of the initials
A.`. A.'.. At first glance there doesn't seem to be much there...BUT!
451 = 4 + 5 + 1 = 10 = 1.
A glyph of the cycle. The monad starting its trek through experience
in the infinite body of Nuith and returning to this supreme Unity.
451 = ATh HADM. The essence of Man. Also Ath ADMH (a Temurah), The
essence of the attained Man.
ADMH also means "Red Earth" in the traditional sense. However, there
is a rather 'new' qabalistic operation at work here, that of fusing or
synthesis.That of two words joining to make a new one (or an old one)
with a new meaning. Here we have 'ADM' and 'MH'. Both words add to 45,
which may be a key to the way things are working here. ADM, Man and
MH, Yetzirah. In this case we have man identified with Yetzirah to |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 968 | which he aspires. Crowley says of this number, "Thus 45 baffles the
accuser, but only by affirmation of progress. It cannot help that
progress."
Quite true, it baffles! ADMH is 50, and is "red earth". This would
seem to have little to do with the foregoing. However, consider this;
in the word ADMH we have the 'H' appended. This would place the number
five behind the Man, and would have the effect of giving him motion in
a forward direction (indicating progressive motion).
When the number 451 is divided by the number 51 (451/51) the result is
8.02. Perhaps not much here, but! The number 802 is twice that of 401
(essences) and is defined in 'Sepher Sephiroth' as; "401 X 2 = The
Reflection of 401, which is the (Th a), alpha and omega". It also
refers to the three grades of A.`. A.'. above the abyss. As to the
number 8.02; the number 8 is that of Ch = Chith = 418. And the 2
represents the 'extended' monad proceeding from the infinitely small
and un-extended point. Thus it is representative of the 'human' Star,
the true essences of Man that aspires to the higher, or in Enochian
terms; That Star (monad) that aspires, and is driven, to a higher
place in the hierarchy of the Universe. This is accomplished by the
motion imparted to it by the 'H' which gives the Star motion so that
it may gain in experience.
Now, 401 = 5 = Motion. And, 50 = 5 = Motion, and is also the 14th
letter of the Hebrew alphabet; Nun. The mystic number of 'Nun' is 300,
which is the number of the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet 'Sh'
Shin. Shin refers Yetziratically to fire, and is symbolic of the 'Holy
Spirit' and therefore is the letter and number of 'Spirit'. Spirit is
unmanifested energy, and matter is manifested energy (another pos-
sibility for the 2 of 8.02) which is, in a sense, the whole nature of
Man. This duality of man is shown in dual nature of his motion. The
401 which is the essences of his motion (the higher) and the 50 which
is the manifestation of this motion.
1231
CROWLEY'S ESSAY on MAN.
"The Mind of the Father riding on the subtle guiders which glitter
with the inflexible tracings of relentless fire." ZOROASTER.
MAN.
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?"
Man being the subject of these Essays, it is first proper to explain
what will be meant therein by the word.
Man is a microcosm: that is, an image (concentrated around the point
of consciousness) of the macrocosm, or Universe. This Theorem is
guaranteed by the hylo-idealistic demonstration that the perceptible
Universe is an extension, or phantasm, of the nervous system.
It follows that all phenomena, internal and external, may be
classified for the purpose of discussing their observed relations, in
any manner which experience may show to be the most convenient.
(Examples: the elaborate classifications of science, chemical, phys-
ical, etc., etc. There is no essential truth in any of these aids to
thinking: convenience is the sole measure.) Now for the purposes of
analysing the spiritual nature of man, of recording and measuring his
experiences in this kind, of planning his progress to loftier heights
of attainment, several systems have been devised. That of the Abhid- |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 969 | hamma is on the surface alike the most practical, the most
scientific, and the most real; but for European students it is cer-
tainly far too unwieldly, to say nothing of other lines of criticism.
Therefore, despite the danger of vagueness involved in the use of a
system whose terms are largely symbolic, I have, for many reasons,
preferred to present to the world as an international basis for
classification, the classico-mathematical system which is vulgarly and
erroneously (though conveniently) called the Qabalah.
The Qabalah, that is, the Jewish Tradition concerning the initiated
interpretation of their Scriptures, is mostly either unintelligible or
nonsense. But it contains as it ground-plan the most precious jewel of
human thought, that geometrical arrangement of names and numbers which
is called the Tree of Life. I call it the most precious, because I
have found it the most convenient method hitherto discovered of
classifying the phenomena of the Universe, and recording their relat-
ions. Whereof the proof is the amazing fertility of thought which has
followed my adoption of this scheme.
Since all phenomena soever may be referred to the Tree of Life (which
may be multiplied or subdivided at will for convenience' sake) it is
evidently useless to attempt any complete account of it. The cor-
respondences of each unit -- the Ten Sephiroth and the Two-and-Twenty
Paths -- are infinite. The art of using it consists principally in
referring all our ideas to it, discovering thus the common nature of
certain things and the essential differences between others, so that
ultimately one obtains a simple view of the incalculably vast com-
plexity of the Universe.
1232
The whole subject must be studied in the Book 777, and the main
attributions committed to memory: then when by constant use the system
is at last understood -- as opposed to being merely memorized -- the
student will find fresh light break in on him at every turn as he
continues to measure every item of new knowledge that he attains by
this Standard. For to him the Universe will then begin to appear as a
coherent and a necessary Whole.
For the purpose of studying these Little Essays, it will be sufficient
if a bare outline of the Cosmic Theory which they imply be given: but
it may be added that, the fuller the comprehension of the Tree of Life
which the reader brings to them, the clearer will their thought
appear, and the more cogent their conclusions.
(1) Jechidah
This is the quintessential principle of the Soul, that which makes man
at the same time identical with every other spark of Godhead, and
different (as regards his point-of-view, and the Universe of which it
is the centre) from all others. It is a Point, possessing only posit-
ion; and that position is only definable by reference to co-ordinate
axes, to secondary principles, which only pertain to it per accidents,
and must be postulated as our conception grows.
(2) Chiah.
This is the Creative Impulse or Will of Jechidah, the energy which
demands the formulation of the co-ordinate axes aforesaid, so that
Jechidah may obtain self-realization, a formal understanding of what
is implicit in its nature, of its possible qualities. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 970 | (3) Neschamah.
This is the faculty of understanding the Word of Chiah. It is the
intelligence or intuition of what Jechidah wishes to discover about
itself.
These three principles constitute a Trinity; they are one, because
they represent the being, and apparatus which will make the manifest-
ation possible, of a God, in manhood. But they are only, so to speak,
the mathematical structure of man's nature. One might compare them
with the laws of physics as they are before they are discovered. There
are as yet no data by whose examination they may be discerned.
A conscious man, according, cannot possibly know anything of these
three principles, although they constitute his essence. It is the work
of Initiation to journey inwards to them. See, in the Oath of a
Probationer of A.`. A.'. "I pledge myself to discover the nature and
powers of my own Being."
This triune principle being wholly spiritual, all that can be said
about it is really negative. And it is complete in itself. Beyond it
stretches what is called The Abyss. This doctrine is extremely dif-
ficult to explain; but it corresponds more or less to the gap in
thought between the Real, which is ideal, and the Unreal, which is
actual. In the Abyss all things exist, indeed, at least in posse, but
are without any possible meaning; for they lack the substratum of
spiritual Reality. They are appearances without Law. They are thus
Insane Delusions.
1233
Now the Abyss being thus the great storehouse of Phenomena, it is the
source of all impressions. And the Triune Principle has intended a
machine for investigating the Universe; and this machine is the fourth
Principle of Man.
(4) Ruach
This may be translated Mind, Spirit, or Intellect: none of these is
satisfactory, the connotation varying with every writer. The Ruach is
a closely-knitted group of Five Moral and Intellectual principles,
concentrated on their core, Tiphareth, the Principle of Harmony, the
Human Consciousness and Will of which the four other Sephiroth are (so
to speak) the feelers. And these five principles culminate in a sixth,
Da(acu)ath, Knowledge. But this is not really a principle; it contains
in itself the germ of self-contradiction and so of self-destruction.
It is a false principle: for. as soon as Knowledge is analysed, it
breaks up into the irrational dust of the Abyss.
Man's aspiration to Knowledge is thus simply a false road: it is to
spin ropes of sand.
We cannot here enter into the doctrine of the "Fall of Adam," invented
to explain in parable how it is that the Universe is so unfortunately
constituted. We are concerned only with the observed facts.
All these mental and moral faculties of the Ruach, while not purely
spiritual like the Supernal Triad, are still, as it were, "in the
air." To be of use, they need a basis through which to receive impres-
sions, much as a machine requires fuel and fodder before it can
manufacture the article which it is designed to produce.
(5) Nephesch. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 971 | This is usually translated the "Animal Soul." It is the vehicle of the
Ruach, the instrument by which the Mind is brought into contact with
the dust of Matter in the Abyss, that it may feel it, judge it, and
react to it. This is itself a principle still spiritual, in a sense;
the actual body of man as composed of the dust of Matter, temporarily
held together by the Principles which inform it, for their own pur-
poses, and ultimately for the supreme purposes of self-realization of
Jechidah.
But Nephesch, devised as it is with no other object that the direct
traffic with Matter, tends to partake of its incoherence. Its facul-
ties of perceiving pain and pleasure lure it into paying undue atten-
tion to one set of phenomena, into shunning another. Hence, for the
Nephesch to do its work as it should, it requires to be dominated by
the severest discipline. Nor is the Ruach itself to be trusted in this
matter. It has its own tendencies to weakness and injustice. It tries
every trick -- and it is diabolically clever -- to arrange its busi-
ness with Matter in the sense most convenient to its inertia, without
the smallest consideration of its duty to the Supernal Triad,
cut off as that is from its comprehension; indeed, unsuspecting as it
normally is of its existence.
1234
What then determines Tiphareth, the Human Will, to aspire to
comprehend Neschamah, to submit itself to the divine Will of Chiah?
Nothing but the realization, born sooner or later of agonizing ex-
perience, that its whole relation through Ruach and Nephesch with
Matter, i.e.,with the Universe, is, and must be, only painful. The
senselessness of the whole procedure sickens it. It begins to seek for
some menstruum in which the Universe may become intelligible, useful
and enjoyable. In Qabalistic language, it aspires to Neschamah.
This is what we mean in saying that the Trance of Sorrow is the motive
of the Great Work.
This "Trance of Sorrow" (which must be well-distinguished from any
petty personal despair, and "conviction of sin," or other black
magical imitations) being cosmic in scope, comprehending all phenomena
actual or potential, is then already an Opening of the Sphere of
Neschamah. The awareness of one's misfortune is itself an indication
of the remedy. It sets the seeker on the right road, and as he devel-
ops his Neschamah he soon attains other Experiences of this high
order. Her learns the meaning of his own true Will, to pronounce his
own Word, to identify himself with Chiah.
Finally, realizing Chiah as the dynamic aspect of Jechidah, he becomes
that pure Being, at once universal and individual, equally nothing,
One, and All.
It is of the essence of the Ideas of the Supernal Triad that the Laws
of Reason which apply to intellectual functions are no longer oper-
ative. Hence it is impossible to convey the nature of these Experien-
ces in rational language. Further, their scope is infinite in every
direction, so that it would be futile to attempt to enumerate or to
describe them in detail. All that one can do is to note the common
types in very general language, and to indicate what experience has
shown to be the most useful main lines of research.
The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the
Philosophers -- by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work --
is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 972 | possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys
without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is
it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of
the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and
Eternity, whose name is MAN?
In Enochian Physics Man is known as 'the monad', we shall discuss the
nature of the monad or 'Star' from the Enochian view.
MONAD MODEL.
In conjunctionwith theCosmic Planes andElements Model,
Enochian Physics proposes the Enochian Monad Model. These two models
are not meant to be independent, rather they are inclusive and are
only separated for convience.
1235
A monad isdefined asan indivisible unit(Hadit), but,is
used in the sense that a monad is the infinitely small conscious point
of every entity. The only difference between monads is experience.
Giordano Bruno taught that the monad was the ultimate spiritual
particle and that all entities had a monad at their center, the core
of their being. Every monad is monastic above the first Aethyr (LIL),
and is dualistic below. This duality takes many forms as the monad
manifests itself downward. Basically, it consists of a subjective
self in the center of an objective world. Figure 2 shows a pictorial
representation of this model.
000000000
0 0 INDIVISIBLE MONAD
0 monadic 0
0 essence 0
000000000
|
+-----------------------+
| ring-pass-not |
+-----------------------+
| LIL - first Aethyr
000000000
0 0 DUALIST Watchtowers
0 I 0 MONAD (Life-atom) |
0 0 |
000000000 <-- NOT-I (world) TIME
SPACE
FORM
FIG. 2
ENOCHIAN AXIOMS.
1. Man, and every entity (thing) in existence, is in his (its)
essence a monad. This monadic essence expresses itself as a
subjective 'I' and an objective 'NOT-I'.
2. A monad's geometric equivalent is the sphere. The center is
the 'I'. The surface of the sphere is the 'NOT-I'.
3. The 'I' is conscious individuality. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 973 | 4. The 'NOT-I' is the world in which the 'I' finds itself at
any given point in time and space.
5. Everygeometric pointinspace isan 'I-NOT-I'monad in
some stage of self-expression.
6. Any'I'can communicatewith anyother 'I'onlyin sofar
as their 'NOT-I's' intersect.
7. A world is defined as a set of intersections of a host of
'NOT-I's' at any given point in time and space.
8. Subsets of 'I's' are mutually exclusive.
9. Subsets of 'NOT-I's' may be either exclusive or inclusive.
1236
10. The monadic essence of each monad allows multitudinous
expression, but no 'I' can ever separate itself from or
exist independently of its 'NOT-I'.
THEOREMS OF ENOCHIAN PHYSICS.
1. Every person is an 'I-NOT-I' monad.
2. Every point in space is a consciousness center.
3. Energy flows from one cosmic plane or sub-plane to an
adjacent cosmic plane or sub-plane through Laya centers,
dimensionless points of space which serve as channels for
the flow of energies and forces.
4.Spirit isunmanifested energy.Matter ismanifested
energy.
5. Every manifestation within space and time is dualistic.
6. Space, time, and consciousness come into existance
simultaneously.
7. Every energy field and every force in our universe is
directed by the True Will.
THE FORCES OF MAGICK.
There aresix Magickal forcesthat aremanifested inexis-
tance. These six forces, by necessity, manifest in dual triads, the
upper, and the lower.
THE UPPER TRIAD;
1.Divine Force. This is said to be the "Supreme Force"
relative to our universe. This so-called 'Supreme Force' is known as
'The TRUE WILL'. It is the 'Divine' driving force of Hadit.
2.CreativeForce.TheKundaliniofEasternthought,manifest- |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 974 | ing, below the Abyss, as electromagnetic energy.
3.Thought Force.This isthe occultforce thatoften takes
the form of projection, and continually projects fundamental subjec-
tive ideas of the 'I' outward into the 'NOT-I'.
1237
THE LOWER TRIAD;
1.MindForce.Thisforceshouldproperlybecalled 'Intellec-
tual', and would be attributed to Mercury. This is the reasoning and
logical powers of the intelligent entity. This force also includes all
of the senses.
2.Will Force.Thisis thelowermanifestation ofthe'Divine
Force'. This force is what drives us in a physical sense, it is our
outer needs and desires. It is what most 'men' perceive as their
'will', however it is frequently the opposite side of the 'Will
Duality'.
3.Word Force.Wordsand Letters,speechand physicalaction
make up this aspect of the magickal forces. It is the power of sound,
which has long been known in the west. God is said to create by
uttering His Word. Consider this; some politicians are virtual masters
of this magickal force.
As can beseen thereis little realdifference betweenthe
Enochian view of man and that of the Thelemic Magician, with the main
differences being that of nomenclature. It can also be seen that the
six 'magical forces' generally correspond to the five divisions of man
as set forth by Crowley, with the exception of the sixth 'force'. This
extra point is comprised of the actions performed by the first five.
If we think of man as a hexagram, instead of a pentagram, we have the
four elements, spirit, and motion.
The elementsand spiritmakeup theessential man,but heis
still static. With the addition of the sixth, he becomes dynamic,
capable of experience. It is then this 'man' that has the 'essences of
man', for until he becomes dynamic by virtue of his motion, and gains
in experience, he is incapable of attainment.
As wasstatedabove, Man'saspirationis toahigher placein
the hierarchy of the universe. Here then are the Laws of Hierarchies,
they will show, though perhaps not directly, how this ascension
(attainment) is made possible.
HIERARCHIES
LawofHierarchies. Fromthe highestrealmsof spiritto the
lowest levels of matter, everything in between is composed of a host
of gods, monads or life atoms arranged in a myriad of hierarchies.
The following rules apply:
1.All aggregatesare composedof hierarchies.All things,
save Hadit, are aggregates. We see in our world complete structures,
which are composed of molecules, atoms, and sub-atomic particles in
one direction. And planets, solar systems, and galaxies in another.
Thus science has enabled us to see, on a mundane level, that our
physical universe is composed of some basic hierarchies. Though from
rules 3 and 4 we see that these hierarchies continue unto infinity. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 975 | 1238
2.Foreveryhierarchy thereisagoverningruler orhierarch.
On our personal level we have that which is referred to as our Holy
Guardian Angel. Aswe descend to the atomic level, we have the >nuc-
leus< of the atom. Each component of that atom has, in turn, its own
hierarch. In our worldly governments we see examples of these hier-
archs; mayors, governors, presidents, etc. And we can begin to see our
place in the physical manifestation of these hierarchies. We are also
members of hierarchies on less physical, or spiritual levels, though
little is known of these.
3.Hierarchiesdescendinfinitelyintomatter.Again,fromour
'middle world, we see the manifestation of yet smaller structures or
hierarchies, which descend to the smallest particles which science is
able to see or theorize.
4.Hierarchiesascendinfinitelyinto spirit.Ontheselevels
little is known, science has or can not enter into the realm of
spirit. We do know, however, that our own personal hierarch is our
H.G.A., and that logically we are but a component part of some yet
higher structure or hierarchy.
5.The universehas ahierarchicalstructure, interlinking
groups of entities living and working together. If we look sky-ward we
can begin to see something of this structure on a physical level. Out
stellar universe is made up of planets, solar systems, stellar clust-
ers, galaxies, and on and on. While earth is not yet working with
other groups of entities on a stellar level (as
far as we are allowed to know), it is clear that we must share the
same stellar environment with others. We can, however, observe this
'working together' here on planet earth. We can see the governments of
cities, counties, states, and countries working toward what is per-
ceived as the common good (at least in most cases).
6.Hierarchies areborn,evolve, anddie.The bestexampleof
this, I think, is ourselves. We are born into this world, grow and
experience (evolve) over some period of time then die, this is all a
part of what we call 'life'. Other examples of this rule may be seen
in various extinct forms of animal life, which came into existance,
evolved over time, then died out. We can also see examples on the
stellar level, stars which are born from collections of gases, grow
and evolve into fiery furnaces, then die out.
7.Worlds arecreatedby hierarchiesof cosmicbuilders and
architects acting together.
8. Everyworld containshierarchies of recorderswho con-
stitute the forces of karmic history.
9. Thecosmic elementsand planesarecomposed ofcountless
hosts of evolving hierarchies.
Theselast tworules are forthe mostpart redundant(see 3
and 4 above); they serve to stress the fact that hierarchies do, in
fact, extend infinitely in all directions.
10. Every hierarchyis composedof a hostof smallerhier-
archies.
11. Every hierarchy is a component part of a larger hierarchy. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 976 | 1239
Thuswehave theEnochianview onthe nature,place,and path
of Man. To better understand this mystery of the true meaning of A.`.
A.'. and this nature of man we may now look at some of the Temurahs of
the number 451.
These are;451, 415,541, 514,145, and154. Weshall start
with the least of these.
The number 145; InSepher Sephiroth it is definedas the
numerical value of the 13 paths of the Beard of Microprosopus.
Thenumber 154;Againfrom SepherSephiroth;it is'Elohimof
Loves', and we are referred to the number 149. The reference in 149 is
to 'The living GODS'.
Inthese two numbers we have references to Man and this
'Starry' nature. Though in the number 149 it is perhaps more direct.
'The living GODS', indeed, the most tangible link between man and GOD
is this 'Starry' essence. Both Man and ANY GOD that one cares to think
of are at the core one and the same, that is to say, that we are all
made of the same stuff, we are all MONADS at some level of evolution.
But, on we go.
Thenumber415;Still againfromSepherSephiroth. Thenumber
is that of the Voice of the Chief Seer and also 'The Holy One'.
Stillagainsubtle referencestothis 'Star'naturewhich we
have already examined.
The number 514and 541. Hereare references thatare abit
more obscure. 514 gives reference to 'KABBALA DENUDATA', a reference
that unfortunately I will have to pass on due to a mis-fortune beyond
my control. The number 541 refers to 'Israel', which at first may
seem strange, but, historically Israel is/are 'Gods' chosen people. We
may take this to mean 'Free Man' in the Thelemic sense. The number is
thus indicating Man, or rather those Men that have risen above the
slavery of the old aeon and have begun to ascend/aspire to Yetzirah.
Those Men who have realized some small part of their true essence.
So then! Just what he hell is the true meaning of the initials
A.`. A.'. and the number 451? It is no more and surely no less than
the MONAD! Though others may use different words and different systems
to explain this, their meaning will of necessity be the same.
1240
CHAOS vs THELEMA ?
Alistair Livingstone
Inspired, no doubt foolishly, by a new moon and the
Cramps`"Psychedelic Jungle", I have decided to enter the
Thelema vs Chaos debate. This is of course an impossible task, which
is no doubt why it appeals to me.
Firstly, what is it that distinguishes Thelma from Chaos? In
Starfire, Mick Staley attempts to distinguish Thelema from
Crowleyanity. Thelema he suggested pre-existed Crowley`s formulation
of it. This immediately causes problems, since for the majority of
magicians, Crowley = Thelema. But if it can be accepted that there
is a something which exists independently of Crowley`s writings, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 977 | then it must be this something (Thelema) which is to be contrasted
with Chaos Magick. The core of this something, I suggest, is the
Will. Is this idea of the Will in any way opposed to Chaos?
What is Chaos then?
For the purposes of this argument I will interpret Chaos as follows:
that the familiar world of everyday experience has its roots in
Chaos. So that any attempt to understand the world via reason
reaches a boundary, on the other side of which lies Chaos, a state
of existence/non-existence which cannot be understood by the
rational ego. However, through the techniques of ritual, that state
can be manifest in the everyday world, suspending the accepted
"laws" of common sense and allowing magick to occur. Furthermore,
perhaps as a result of the practice Chaos magick, the idea of Chaos
is slowly entering the popular imagination via science. This refutes
classical science, which is based on the belief that if the
structure of the physical world could be sufficiently precisely
modelled in a mathematical form, it would be possible to predict the
future state of various systems (wheather, for example) which make
up the physical world.
However, it is now grudgingly admitted that this would require a
precision of measurement which it is impossible to achieve.
Engineers have long since had to accept this uncertainty - that all
measurement is limited by the accuracy of the measuring device.
Absolute precision is an impossible goal. There is always a degree
of uncertainty, an instability, and by focusing the Will upon this
either/or region, the magician can exert an influence upon the world
at this level, which when it occurs, can produce the Willed outcome.
To the extent that Chaos is a form of magick, ie. it seeks to exert
an influence upon the world of erveryday consciousness, it must
involve the Will. Otherwise it would be closer to a form of
mysticism, that is the attempt to "go with the flow" of the
experienced world without seeking to influence the direction of that
flow. In this form, Chaos is closer to a "higher form of order",
that is that the apparent random or chance events of one`s
experience of existence are in fact the result of some greater
existence than that of the individual. And that by disengaging the
desires of the ego-self, one can experience this greater existence,
interpreting the obstacles and blows of everyday existence as a
stimulus to the development of a "Stoic" consciousness, which will
enable the self to eventually swimm freely as a fish in the river of
the Tao, or Chaos.
1241
The idea which this is based on tends to be that of the hermit, the
forest sage of Hinduism, the solitary adept of High Magick. No doubt
if it was possible in this present age, one could experience such an
existence if one could remove the self from the rest of human
existence. But such a model is no longer valid, since the growth of
human consciousness is such that there is no virgin wilderness left
in which to undertake such a quest. We are forced to contend with
the results of the human desire for knowledge, power, control and
security.
This is perhaps the crucial difference between Chaos magick and
Thelema. Thelema, as developed by Crowley into a form suitable for
the 20th century, contains a whole heritage of experience and
practice which reaches back through the Golden Dawn through
hermeticism to Egypt and Sumeria, which in turn drew on the beliefs |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 978 | of our nameless ancestors who struggled to create models of the
world, cosmologies and creation myths within which to make sense of
their being in the world.
Crowley`s task, as had been of Mathers and Eliphas Levi before him,
was to synthesize this vast body of conscious/unconscious knowledge
and represent it in a way understandable by at least a few of his
contemporaries. Partly it is a question of language. Unfortunately
the language of magick was limited by the dominance of
Judeao-Christianity on the one hand and Reason on the other. Our
everyday language derives from our perception of a world made up of
distinguishable objects, and on the faculty of sight primarily. But
as soon as we move into the more subjective sphere of magick,
problems arise. To what extent do we share the same magickal reality
and use words such as "the Will" in the same way? The problem is not
confined to magick. For a time I worked in quality control at London
Rubber. Periodically I had to compare my work with others to make
sure we were all applying the same so that I was not rejecting
condoms that another person was passing. In science the theory is
that one person`s work is critically examined by their peer group.
The difficulty is that as soon as creativity enters the picture, it
will tend to disrupt this process. The test of any form of magick
should be "does it work?". But how can that be judged, since the
results of a ritual may not become apparent for some time. In the
early eighties, much work was done to halt the expansion of nuclear
weaponry. But it is only now, as profound changes occur in Eastern
Europe, that this can be judged a success. And the changes may yet
be lost by a failure of imagination and the difficulty of
challenging the parasitic military-industrial complexes of both East
and West.
Thelema may be saddled with the archaic terminology inherited via
Crowley from the Golden Dawn, but at its heart lies a crucial
bullshit detector. I have found that the question "what is your
Will?" directed at any group or individual who claims to be desiring
change is a very effective challenge. What is unsettling, however,
is the discovery that in most cases it evokes only silence, or at
best a string of evasions.
1242
This I feel is the most damaging criticism of Thelema, that it has
failed to cross over from magick into the diverse pool of
"alternative" beliefs which seek to reshape society. This is hardly
a question of mere academic interest, as Green issues emerge and
look set to dominate the next decade, the "spiritual", that is
neo-pagan, belief structures which infest Green consciousness are
also going to exert a growing influence. We may yet discover that
the future, as the Dead Kennedy predicted, will be "California šber
Alles".
Can Chaos magick then succeed where Thelema has not (yet)? I doubt
it, since the reaction to both by the average alternative type (let
alone Joe Normal) is that it is "too dark". The very word "Chaos"
tends to get tagged with "anarchy" and evoke nightmare visions of
mad-axemen running wild in the street. Of course, for some this may
be its very appeal, anything so bad must be good...
No, somehow we have to achieve the Sysphean task of applying the
notion of Will like Occam`s razor to the fast mulitiplying dualistic
entities of New Age (un)awareness. In practical terms I understand
this to mean directing our Wills at and with the growing Green |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 979 | movement, so that rather than disappearing into a fog of "good
intentions", it becomes a real and willed critique of consumer
culture. Just as Marxism failed to achieve its desires, since the
working class had already been "mobilizised" by the capitalists, so
magick fails since the energies of the mass unconscious have already
been tapped by advertising, via the mass media.
The energy tending towards change of consciousness (evolution) has
been subverted by consumer culture into the desire to possess an
unending stream of glass beads and cheap cottons, or in our case,
microwave ovens and mink belly-button brushes. The whole thrust of
advertising is to bypass our logic circuits and touch directly our
desire for status and security. We don`t just buy the product, we
buy the dream, maya the illusion of success. It is, however much we
may protest, a form of magick. I may be an impoverished squatter in
a third world shanty town, but if I can buy a bottle of Coke, I
believe I possess the whole dream of the richest American
millionaire. I may be a Trabant owning East German, but by crossing
the (former) abyss of the Wall I become a potential Porsche
possessor.
But if you look at those already possess such dreams, what do you
find? That it is, as in California, these same people who turn to
the most ridiculous New Age bullshit in order to satisfy their
craving for something more, for something to fill up the endless
aching void they feel scratching and gnawing like some Charles
Manson nightmare outside the walls of their Beverly Hills mansions.
But of course, the last thing they want to hear is "the truth".
Better to create a multi-billion dollar New Age industry than accept
that within the richest mansions lies the reality of Chaos, of that
Void which spins around itself the veils of maya, the dance of
illusion, in which one is equally a starving beggar and a voluptuous
moviestar. "What is your Will?".
1243
Of course I am somewhat prejudiced for all I used to sing along with
Bowie on Ziggy Stardust (I could make it all worthwhile as a rock n
roll star) I chose magick as a path. Through experiences both
beautiful and terrifying I have come to understand the human
condition as but one aspect of a continuum of consciousness. For me,
the whole universe is a living entity which I interact with in the
fleeting streams of energies which inspire my awareness. Both
rationally and poetically I perceive my brain, my body as part of
the very substance of the universe and not distinguishable from it
(ie NUIT). For me, the human condition is part tragedy, part farce.
We are semi-intelligent apes who have been driven by fleeting
glimpses of what might be, to create this world, our reality. But in
our ignorance, we mistake the glimpse for the whole, the ego for the
self. We strive for "order" and create a chaos, and then recognize
in chaos a "higher form of order".
"Knowledge is power, power is control, control is security". Oh
yeah? But knowledge is also pleasure, a pleasure more intense than
any created by security. Security is sterility, sterility is death.
We pay lip service to evolution, but cannot accept that evolution
implies change, and change denise security. What do we will?
If our will is security, stability, then that we shall have, as so
many fossils. To embrace Chaos (Thelema) is to renounce such false
gods and accept that our actions as magicians will change not only |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 980 | ourselves, but our world. Insofar as both Chaos and Thelema are
valid paths, thus far will they change us. To cling to an
identity, however pleasing or fulfilling, is a denial of magick.
Magick is about change, the only constant factor in the unfolding of
the implicate order/chaos of the universe.
Along with Thelema and Chaos, I also practise the magick of Maat. To
the Egyptians Maat was the "right order of the universe". The
contrast is between the familiar Hindu concept of "karma", which
deals with our human existence and the less familiar concept of
"rta" which deals with our aspects as forms of (universal)
consciousness.
Magick diverged from science some 300 years ago. Science sought to
discover "the hand of god" in the natural world; magick sought to
become the equal of the gods. Now we witness the overlapping of
these paths. We are no longer the creations of some distant god, but
the natural products of the universe. We have "evolved" out of a
handful of organic chemicals. Now we have the ability, through the
replication of DNA to evolve ourselves. We have, literally, the
powers of a god. What we lack, and what magick must seek to provide,
is the intelligence to use (or refuse) such power. The way to
achieve this is to ask the question: "what is our will?" Are our
genes our motivating force, or is there something else which I call
"consciousness"? This consciousness I hold to be implicit in the
structure of the universe, and has been revealed as such by quantum
physics, however difficult such a realisation may be for us. It may
be unprovable/undeniable, and therefore unscientific, but I suggest
that our so-called consciousness is a quantum phenomena.
1244
This is what Crowley experienced as the interplay of Nuit and Hadit
in the Book of the Law. It is also the root of Chaos. So that
Thelema and Chaos are but different aspects of a single (multiple)
experience, expressed in languages appropriate to their different
times and ambiences.
Alone I cannot fully express the complexity of these possibilities,
and yet we must each try to do so. Only by placing them at the heart
of our experience of being in the world, can we hope to create a
society which will survive rather than perish under its unconscious
contradictions. As yet we are but "naked apes", but we are apes with
sufficiently complex brains to at least glimpse the possibility of
being more than we are and become "homo veritas", that is truly
human at last.
As we are, we cannot fully know this to be true, only with our
imagination can we glimpse the potential implied. It is my Will to
bring this about, this is why I write these words, that they have
touch and stimulate whoever may read them. So mote it be.
On rereading the above, I feel the need to expand the argument
somewhat. Having bashed my way through an anthropological essay on
nationality and the state, it struck me that recent events in
Eastern Eurpe have many consequences. The whole point of the "iron
curtain", was to allow East to develop its alternative economic
system, as spelt out by Marx. What is happening now is the
incorporation of that economic system into a global economy, which
implies the failure of Marxism. This failure leaves a power vacuum.
The majority of critiques of the Western power structure have come
from Marxism. But if it is now seen to have failed, the possibility |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 981 | exists for a more powerful critique to arise.
Where will we find this critique - in magick. Of course this
requires magicians to adopt a more rigorous intellectual approach to
their beliefs, but surely that is what Chaos/Thelema argument is
about, with each side arguing that the other is deceiving itself as
regards the "true" form of magick. What I am suggesting is that
magicians start to take magic seriously as "energy directed (willed)
towards change". Rather than as an escapist belief system parasitic
upon the economic success of capitalism. To practise magick we must
surely believe that we inhabit a magical, rather than a strictly
economic universe. How much more effective would our magick be then
if we could replace the belief system of economic society with that
of a society rooted in a magickal conception of reality.
Such is the apple with which I tempt you - do you dare taste the
forbidden fruit ?
Alistair Livingston
----
I do know him personally and am glad to meet him again in summer.
A. Livingstone is a pseudonym of Ramsey Dukes (which is a pseudonym
too :-)). He is member of the OTO and made a lot of Chaos working &
theory. He wrote some very genuine books about magic (Liber SGDSMEE,
Thunderqueak), is now concerned with KI (Words Made Flesh).
You can contact him via:
T.M.T.S., Wharf Mill, Winchester, Hants, SO23 9NJ, England
With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann *
1245
Notes on the role of the historical Egregore in modern Magic
by Fra.: U.D.
It is quite easy to poke fun at the historical claims of most
magical and mystical orders, especially when they purport to have derived
from "very ancient", possible even "Atlantean" or, to top it all, "pre-
Atlantean" brotherhoods for whose existence even the most sypathetic
historical scholar worth his name would be very hard pressed to find any
significant proof. Actually, it is rather a cheap joke to cite, for
example, AMORC`s claims that even good old Socrates or Ramses II (of all
people!) were "Rosicrucians". However, the trouble only starts when adepts
mistake these contentions for _literal_ truths. "Literal", of course,
derives from literacy and the letters of the alphabet. And, as Marshall
MacLuhan has justly in his "Understanding Media" and perhaps even more so
in "The Gutenberg Galaxy", western civilisation has a very strong tendency
towards _linear_ thinking, very probably due to - at least in part - the
linear or non-pictographic nature of our alphabet. The very structure of
this alphabet informs us at quite a tender age to think in terms of linear
logics such as cause and effect, or, more intersetingly in our context,
PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE. This is not at all a "natural necessity" as most
people are wont to think, for the ideographic or pictographic "alphabets"
as used for example in ancient Egypt or even modern China and Japan tend to
bias the correspondingly acculturalised mind towards what MacLuhan terms
"iconic thinking" - a perception of holistic factors rather than the
systematisation into seperate (preferably indivisible) single units.
Western thought has formulated this problem as the dichtonomy of the
_analytic_ and the _synthetic_ approach. But it is perhaps no coincidence
that our contemporary culture tends to associate "synthetic" with "artif-
icial" , vide modern chemistry.
Now magical and mystical thinking is quite different; in fact it is not |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 982 | half as interested in causality as is linear thought. Rather, it strives to
give us an overalll, holistic view of processes within our perceived
space-time continuum; an overall view which includes the psychology of the
observer to a far stronger degree than even modern physics seems to have
achieved in spite of Heisenberg`s uncertainity principle and Einstein`s
earlier theory of relativity. In other words, mythological thinking is not
so much about literal ("alphabetic"?) truth but rather about the "feel" of
things. For example, a shaman may claim that the current rain is due to the
rain goddess weeping because of some sad event. He might predict that her
phase of mourning will be over in two days` time and that the deluge will
then end. A Western meteorologist might possibly come to similar prognoses,
but he will of course indignantly deny using any of "this mystic stuff" in
the process. His rain godess takes the form of barometric pressure, wind
velocity and direction, air humidity and the like - but who is to say which
view is the "truer" one, as long as abstract and mystic predictions prove
to be accurate? From an unbiased standpoint, the modern demons "barometric
pressure", "wind velocity" and factors of a similar like are just as
abstract and mythic as the shaman`s hypothetical rain goddess - especially
so for us laymen who religiously follow the daily indoctrination via the TV
weather forecasts and satellite photograph divination: all we can do is
_believe_ in what the expert tells us is the truth. The non-shaman in a
shamanic society shares a very similar fate when he has to believe simply
that the rain goddess wants to be comforted say, by a substantial donation
of meat or tobacco in the course of a fully fledged tribal ritual.
1246
There _is_ an important difference however. If we accept the model (stron-
gly propagated by A.O. Spare, who was, of course, in his very special
manner, quite an orthodox Freudian) of magic primarily taking place within
the subconscious (Freud) or, less ambiguous, the unconscious (Jung); and if
we furthermore agree that said unconscious is not only the source of per-
sonal magical energy (mana, or, as I prefer to term it, _magis_) but tends
to think and act in symbols and images, we might come to the conclusion
that our shaman`s explanation may perhaps not be scientiffical more
satisfying in Western terms, but it is surely more in accord with the way
our unconscious tends to perceive reality. In that sense it is not only
more "natural" but, one suspects, even downright _healthier_ for psychic
hygiene. It is, so to speak, more "ecological and holistic" in terms of
psychic structure.
As an aside I might mention that it is the better explanation for practical
magical reasons as well. For at least rain goddesses can be cajoled into
happiness by magical technique, ritual trance and the like until they stop
weeping, a task a meteorologist will hardly be able to imitate. (Actually I
have preferred the magic of rain prevention to the more classical example
of rain making because it is far more relevant to our own geography and
experience).
In recent years Rupert Sheldrake`s theory of morphogentic fields has raised
quite a hue and cry, not only within the confines of the scientific
community but strangely enough among occultists too. I find this latter
reaction quite astonishing, because a lot of what Mr. Sheldrake basically
claims is nothing more than the old, not to say ancient, tenet of philoso-
phical idealism: namely that there is what in both German and English is
called "Zeitgeist", a form of unique time-cum-thought quality, leading to
surprisingly similar albeit completely independent models of thought,
technical inventions, political truths and so on. One would rather expect
the people to be profoundly intrigued to be among materialist/positivist
biologists or physicist rather that occultists who have traded in the
Zeitgeist principle ever since occult thought proper as we understand it
arose in the Renaissance. From a pragmatic point of view Mr. Sheldrake is |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 983 | behaving very much like our meteorologist, replacing mythic explanations
with crypto-mythic "scientific" factors. Unfortunately, most scientific
scholars tend to fear a devaluation of scientific termini tecnici; once
they are mentioned in the wrong "context" (almost invariably meaning: by
"wrong" people) they are readily labelled as "non-" or "pseudo-" scientific
- which is, after all, precisely what happened to poor Mr. Sheldrake
amongst his peers in spite of all his academic qualifications. This example
goes to show how very much estranged occultists can be from their oown
sources even when working with them daily.
Reality too is always the reality of its description: we are marking our
pasts, presents and futures as we go along - and we are doing it all the
time, whether we are conscious of the fact or not, whether we like it or
not, we are constantly reinventing our personal and collective space-time
continuum.
1247
Space seems rather solid and unbudging; even magic can do very little it
seems to overcome its buttresses of solidity and apparent inertia, oc-
casional exceptions included. (May it be noted that I include matter in
this space paradigm, because solid matter is usually defined by the very
same factors as is space - namely width, length and height.) Time, on the
other hand, is much more volatile and abstract, so much so in fact that it
is widely considered to be basically an illusion, even among non-occultist
laymen. And indeed in his famous novel "1984" George Orwell has beauti-
fully, albeit perhaps unwillingly, illustrated that history is very little
more than purely the _description of history_. (Which is why it has to be
rewritten so often. It seems that mankind is not very happy with an
"objective past" and prefers to dabble in "correcting" it over and again.
This is quite an important point I shall refer to again later on.) History
is, after all, the defining of our past own roots and our _present_
position within our linear space-time continuum in relation to past and
future. Very often, unfortunately, the description and interpretation of
history seem little more pathetic endeavour to obtain at least a minimum of
objectivity in a basically chaotic universe. The expression "ordo ab chao"
is more or less a summary of Western thought and Weltanschauung, of the
issues straining and stressing the Western mind since ancient Greece. Chaos
is considered "evil", order on the other hand is "good" - then the polit-
ical philosophy, if you care to dignify it by this terms, of "law and
order", appeals to people`s deeply rooted fears of loss of stability and
calculability. ("Anarchy" is another widely misunderstood case in point.)
The ontological fact that everything is transitory has never been par-
ticular well-received in Western philosophy and theology.
Now before you get the impression that I am only trying to impose a typical
exercise in heavyhanded Teutonic style philosophical rambling upon your
overbusy reading mind, let me hasten to point out that if past, present and
future are, at least in principle, totally subjective, we as magicians are
locally perfectly free to do what we like with them. For the magician is a)
the supreme creator of his own universe and b) the master of Illusion (ref.
the Tarot card "The Magician/Juggler"). This freedom of historical choice,
however, is seldom realised let alone actively applied by the average
magician. Maybe one of the reasons for this has to do with the somewhat
pathetic fact that most of us tend to live our lives in a more or less
manner, being mild eccentrics at best, distinctly avoiding becoming too
much over the top. There are a number of possible explanations for this,
ranging from "every magician is just another guy/gal like me" to "preven-
tion of insanity". As we deal all the time with insanity - i.e. extremely
unorthodox states of consciousness by bourgeois standarts, we magicians
prefer some stability in our everyday lives and makeups, but this is not
really our topic. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 984 | Rather than delve into social normality of the average magician I should
like to investigate the many bogus claims to antiquity as put forward by a
multiple of magical and mystical orders from this point of view. Such
orders range from Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Theosophy to such
venerable institutions as the O.T.O., the Golden Dawn and many others.
Their historical claims are usually quite stereotyped: the spectrum covered
includes Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu, Solomon, Moses, Dr. Faustus, St. Germain,
the Gnostics, the Knight Templar,the Cathars, the Illuminati, the Holy
Grail myth, prehistoric witchcraft, matriarchy, shamanism etc.
1248
Now it is quite common for shamans, to cite one example, to claim that in
the good old days (usually, of course, dating back to a non-calibrated,
non-defined time immemorial) things used to be much, much better. One of
the more profane reasons for this contention may be the fact that most of
these shamans have already achieved quite a venerable age in their trade;
and don`t we all know the typical attitude of old crones towards modernity
? It may not sound particular spiritual or holy but maybe all we are seeing
here is the primitive`s parallel to the "Now when I was in Poona with Royal
Indian Army, young lad..." reported occasionally to be heard in some of
today`s pubs.
But there is more to it, I think. By calling up "bogus" ancestors from
Moses via Solomon to Dr. Faustus and St. Germain, the magician not only
reinvents his own history, he also is summoning up the egregore of these
"entities" (along with all their powers and inhibitions of course) - or, to
put into Mr. Sheldrake`s terminology, their morphic fields. By violating
all the painstakeing endeavours of the meticulous historian, by simply
ignoring a number of tedious and possibly contradictory facts and questions
(such as whether Moses and Solomon have ever _really_ been sorcerers of
some standing in their own time) the magician becomes God in the fullest
sense of the expression: not only does he choose his relatives in spirit
quite arbitrarily, he even claims the right to do what not even the
judaeo-christian god of the old testament is ever described as doing,
namely changing "objective past" at will.
This type of creative historicism appeals, so it seems, very strongly to
the unconscious mind, supplying it with a great deal of ideological back-up
information, thus reducing its conscious-mind-imposed limits of "objec-
tivity" to at least some modicum of superficial probability. It is only
when the occultist mixes up the different planes of reference, when he
purports to speak of "objective linear truth", instead of mythic or
symbological, decidedly non-linear truth, that serious problems arise.This
should be avoided at all costs in order not to strain our psychic set-up by
contradictory evidence, which can easily result in an unwilled-for neutral-
isation of all magic powers.
But this, of course, is the same problem as with occult scientism. "Rays"
are quite a convincing hypothesis to base telepathic experiments on, as
long as you don`t try to overdefine said rays by epitheta such as "electro-
magnetic" or the like. For if you do, you become the victim of scien-
tists`zealous inquisition boards. Or, as Oscar Wilde might have put it, it
is not truth which liberates man`s mind but lying. (Which, again, is one of
the reasons why Aleister Crowley entitled his magnum opus "The Book of
Lies" in the first place...)
1249 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 985 | Let us then resort to _creative historicism_ whenever we find it useful.
Let us not have "historical objectivity" dictated to us by the powers that
be. Let us accept our fuzziness of expression which is, after all, little
more than a honest acknowledgement of the fact that symbols and images are
always more than just a little ambiguous, as our dreams well prove every
night. As in divination, it does not pay to become overprecise in magic:
the more you try to define a spell, the higher probability of failure. It
is quite easy to charge a working talisman quite generally "for wealth"; it
is quite another to charge it to "obtain the sum of $347.67 on March 13th
at 4.06 p.m. in 93, Jermyn Street, 3rd floor" and still expect success.
While the latter may strangely enough succeed occasionally, this is usually
only the freak exception of the rule. However, by systematically rewriting
our past in fuzzy terms, possibly eventing past lives and biographies for
ourselves consciously or arbitrarily, we are fulfilling the final demand of
Granddaddy Lucifer`s "non serviam". Let nobody impose his or her time and
history parameters on you!
And for practical exercise, allow your clock occasionally to be well in
advance of your contemporaries`; let it sometimes lay behind for a few
hours _and_ minutes (do not just change the hour hand as this would make it
easy to recalculate into demiurge`s "real" space-time continuum, making you
yet again its slave!) Do this to learn about your former ill-advised
humility towards the current time paradigm - and about the illusory
character of time and its measurement in general. Rewrite your personal and
family history daily, invent your own kin and ancestors. "Problems with Mom
and Dad? Pick a new couple!" Experiment with retroactive spells, try to
heal your friend`s flu before he even contracted it. But do this in a
playful spirit lest your censor should whack you for your constant viola-
tions of the rules of this game by again confusing the frames of reference.
Jump from one parallel universe to the next one, never permit yourself to
stand still and become enmeshed by Maya`s veil (you are supposed to be the
_Master_ of illusion, remember?). And don`t panic: for nothing is true,
everything is permitted.
1250
The Nemesis Conjuration
In this ritual the Greek Goddess Nemesis, a deity of fate and
vengeance, is seen in the role of being the complementary opposite of ones
ego referring to the inner self as the centre of both personalitties.
Habits and actions taken against ones real desires create the opposite to
the same degree and thereby form an anti-personality of ones ego, which in
this case is identified with the principle of Nemesis.
Disturbances on the plane of reality due to actions against ones subcon-
scious desires can be eliminated by ritual union with this personal
demon-sister/brother and enable one to reach ones inner self, which is
defined as the mean value of both the personalities.
The effect of this ritual, if performed correctly, would by
definition be fatal. Therefore the operation is strictly limited to the
part of the psyche which the magician wishes to explore.
A sigil representing this portion of the psyche is forcibly
activated during the ritual in order that the magician may
seek answers to his problems within the chosen area in the
personality. No specific wishes or desires can be used for this
purpose, only general ones. This is a necessary restriction to
avoid being overwhelmed by any unpleasant effects. The magician
should be aware of this when constructing the sigil.
Nemesis Conjuration:
1.Banishing. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 986 | 2.The ritual is performed sitting on the ground in the posture
of the Rune PERDRO. The head may rest on the lower part of the
arms, and the face should be covered by the cowl of the robe.
3.Statementof intent: IT IS MY WILL TO TAKE A STEP TOWARDS THE
CENTRE OF MY SELF BY UNION WITH MY OPPOSITE THROUGH THIS SIGIL!
4.The incantation is given while visualising a winged figure of
opposite sex who approaches the magician. The figure wears the
chosen sigil on his/her breast and is both beautiful and
terrifying at the same time.
5.Incantation:
Come to me oh Nemesis, mighty, terrifying and beloved sister.
Come to me oh Nemesis, you, who are the goddess of my god,
you, who are the demon of my demon.
Come to me oh Nemesis, you, who are the demon of my god,
you, who are the goddess of my demon.
Come to me oh Nemesis, you, who are part of me which I am not,
you, who are the counterbalance on the
scales of my fate.
Come to me oh Nemesis, you, whose wings carry us to our
mutual central Kia.
Come to me oh Nemesis, you, who are my ultimate fear,
you, who are my ultimate desire.
you, with whom to unite is the sigh of
ecstacy and the silence of death.
Come to me oh Nemesis, for you are my path and I am our aim
I call upon you to meet me in this sigil.
Come to me oh Nemesis and guide me through this sigil to our
mutual central Kia !
1251
Start hyperventilation during the reading out of the incantation.
The visualised figure with the sigil coming closer and closer to
finally melt into your own body. When this point is reached
shout out:
ZodACAM VaPAAHe ANANAEL ZoDA Ah!
(I move the wings of the secret wisdom within me!)
6.Banishing and/or laughter.
With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann *
1252
IDEOLOGY
0
The human mind seeks to create order out of Chaos
It is in the nature of humanity to attempt to formulate laws from ex-
perience as a guide to future action. Acting as a feedback-response
mechanism, the mind considers the results of previous behaviour and
creates laws of action in an attempt to repeat past good results and
avoid bad results. In the individual this is known as personality, in
the communal world it is known as science.
1
All scientific laws are false
Science attempts to map the universe as a result of previous collec-
tive experience. Since this is limited to what has actually been
experienced so far, it is always inadequate, and since it is not what |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 987 | has been experienced it is always human-centred. It cannot be objec-
tive because the object does not experience, only the subject, human-
ity, experiences. Two approaches have been used to tackle this prob-
lem. The philosophy of the western world posits that an external,
objective world interacts with us through scientific experiment, thus
science creates objectively true laws. Other European philosophy
holds, correctly in my view, that talk of an objective reality is
beyond experience and is thus meaningless babble. Moreover, scientific
experiment is no more objective than a childs attempt to walk. To Know
is not a high ideal, it is an instinct born of our particular way of
survival, and is thus survival-centred. Science is our Elephant Trunk,
our Giraffe Neck, and since it is inherently inadequate, it is a
belief system, a set of interconnected ideas-about-things. In terms of
European, Post-Hegelian philosophy, it is an ideology.
2
All idealogies are subject to chaotic dissolution
Every idealogy, whether science, Christianity or whatever, seeks to
and succeeds in creating a coherent view of reality that satisfies its
believers. The problem is that there is inevitably a gulf between the
idealogy and reality. Ideologies are fixed; reality is fluid. Thus all
ideologies are subject to readjustment when a new discovery challenges
the existing view. The rediscovery of the Greek text of the New
Testament and the discovery of the non-existence of the Ether each
corroded the existing ideologies of their day.
The Christian world responded with Reformation and Counter-Reformat-
ion. (Historical note: Counter-Reformation was the Reformation of the
Catholic Church rather than an attack on the Protestant Reformation.)
Science responded with Einsteinian relativity. These new elements are
Chaotic. The extent to which the ideology can reform depends on how
deep the Chaotic element bites into the ideological structure. Every
ideology has central tenets upon which the rest depend: so the dis-
covery that Jesus was actually stoned to death rather than crucified
would cause major rumblings; the discovery that he was a woman would
cause deeper rumblings; but the discovery that he was a spaceman
carrying out a standard sociological experiment would bring down the
ideology entire. Several ideologies have completely collapsed in the
past, such as Ptolomaic astronomy, and it can happen again. Moreover,
the spread of a unified ideology over the whole globe, Western Democ-
racy, leaves the way open to a bigger collapse than ever before.
1253
3
There is no such thing as innate value
All present Western ideologies depend upon a concept of innate
worth, whereby certain things are automatically "better" than
others. The White Race, Men, Adults, all have had their "innate"
value knocked for six. Even the Animal Kingdom is no longer seen as
of higher worth than the Vegetable as the spread of the Gaia
hypothesis shows. This is the Chaotic element that can bring down a
whole pack of cards. There is no ethical reference point, no
beginning from which to derive an end to aim for, to praise, to work
towards. As it says in Liber Al: "let there be no difference made
between one thing and another". The result is a confusion of belief
as people scramble to find a new ideology. Fundamentalists choose
deliberate blindness and perverse stupidity. Thelemites choose "pure
will, unassuaged of purpose". Chaoists worship the confusion itself
as the only "true thing" left. Pagans begin to construct a new
ideology based on the absence of heirarchy and turn to cyclical and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 988 | egalitarian beliefs. That a new ideology, or many, will arise is
inevitable; even the truth of Chaos is only true to us, in our
experience. But so what. All things considered, I think that things
are going pretty well.
Further readings:
Knowledge and Human Interest, J.Habermas, 1967
Differance, translated as Language and Difference, Derrida, 1959
Anything by Sir Karl Popper for the view from the opposition
With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann *
1254
Thunder, Perfect Mind
or
How did all these people get into my room?
Tony Iannotti
Thetext called _Thunder, PerfectMind_ is a composite document,
composed of three distinct types of writing. These types of writing
can be compared to the Isis aretalogies, Hebrew wisdom literature, and
Platonic dialogue.{FN:1} The composite nature of the text is clearer
when the three strands are separated and reconstructed, each by
themselves. The three resultant texts can be found below.{FN:2}
If the document isto be considered agnostic document, adefini-
tion of gnostic must be tendered first. For now, the definition of
Theodotus will be used, that "what liberates us is the knowledge of
who we were, what we became; where we were, whereunto we have been
thrown; whereunto we speed, wherefrom we are redeemed; what birth is,
and what rebirth."{FN:3} The Thunder, Perfect Mind_ answers some of
these questions, but not others.
The questions dealingwith self-knowledge aredealt with veryfully
in the text. The tradition of Isis aretalogies is one of self-definit-
ion, aretalogies being strings of "I am" statements. The part of the
text like an Isis aretalogy describes the speaker in paradoxical but
full detail. The very first section of the aretalogy text answers the
questions of where the speaker comes from, where she has come to, and
where she might be found. There is a slight deviation, in that she
has actively come to "those who reflect" upon her, rather than "being
thrown" to them, but the idea of being removed from one's original
habitation is there. In the sixth section of this part she says that
she is an alien, as well as a citizen.
This bringsup the question ofwhat the point ofthe dichotomies in
the aretalogy section is. They range from philosophical, political and
social opposites to sexual and familial polarities. In each opposition
of polarity, the speaker maintains that she encompasses both poles, or
roles. She is "the whore and the holy one."{FN:4} She is "the barren
one, and she whose sons are many."{FN:5} She is "Knowledge and
ignorance."{FN:6} And she is "the one whom they call Law, and you
have called Lawlessness."{FN:7}
In the last dichotomy, the difference may be ascribed to the
people who call her either Law or Lawlessness, either "they" or "you."
Similar distinctions are made in other seemingly paradoxical state-
ments in terms of temporal placement. The tenses change, for instance,
in the fifth section in many statements, such as "I am the one who is |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 989 | hated everywhere, and who has been loved everywhere.", "I am the one
whom you have despised, and you reflect upon me." and "I am the one
whom you have hidden from, and you appear to me." These distinctions,
either temporal or nominal, are subservient to the larger message that
the speaker is a very diverse personality. They are also only possible
to discern in a small percentage of the proffered paradoxes{FN:8} The
main attempt is to define herself, not to set up distinctions in time
or peoples. There is almost no cosmology or anthropology in this text,
and this is a clue to the nature of the message of the text. The
emphasis is on the person, not the cosmos; on the self, and not the
environment.
1255
In thisaretalogy third ofthe text, therean attemptto transcend
the intellect through intellectual paradox. By setting up identities
between polar opposites the mind is set in circles, as it is by the
Zen _koans_, until it is driven into the brick wall of impossibility.
In the introduction to his translation of this text, MacRae states
that "...the particular significance of the self-proclamations of
_Thunder, Perfect Mind_ may be found in their antithetical charac-
ter."{FN:9} One might rather say that the significance _must_ be
found in their antithetical character. There is no other common
denominator.
The second type of writing seen in this text is comparable to
Hebrew wisdom literature. The excerpted and reconnected text is a
series of hortatory instructions for those who would be _gnostikoi_,
in the form of very short injunctions to "Look upon me"{FN:10} , "Hear
me"{FN:11} , "Do not be arrogant to me"{FN:12} , etc. The speaker
exhorts the reader to be on his guard twice, and not to be ignorant of
her twice. This emphasis on care and awareness augments the intellec-
tual exercises of the aretalogy section. One could easily skim over
the polarities and not stop to reflect on them or their import, in
which case their efficacy of liberation would be severely
diminished. All three parts of this text work together.
The exhortationsgo on to impressupon the reader thathe must be
aware that the speaker encompasses all things, great and small, as
well as left and right, male and female, royal and base, rich and
poor. There is an element of the union of opposites here as well, the
speaker saying she is compassionate and cruel, and obedient and
self-controlled.{FN:13}
In the thirdsection of this part of the text, the instructions
are to "come forward to me, you who know me ... and establish the
great ones among the small first creatures." Here is some evidence of
an organised attempt to proselytise, or establish a group of those who
know the speaker. The fourth section also calls to "you, who know me."
They are told to learn the speaker's words, while those "hearers" are
told simply to hear. This suggests some form of hierarchy among the
"hearers" and the "knowers". The first step would seem to be that one
must hear the voice, and then come to know it.
This could be a sign of the initiatory path, along which one
must pass to come to _gnosis_ As noted above, the simple act of
hearing the message intellectually would not be enough. One must pay
special care to the paradoxes presented, and reflect upon them until
illumination comes. The process can again be compared to the effect of
_koans_, where one perceives them first as outright nonsense, "the
sound of one hand clapping,"_ etc._, until one comes to the crux of
where they attempt to fix the mind.{FN:14} |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 990 | Where the _Thunder, Perfect Mind_ would fix the mind is on a
realisation of the transcendence of the speaker, and eventually on the
identification of the speaker with the hearer when that hearer becomes
a knower. As it says in the sixth section of the aretalogy part, "I am
the knowledge of my inquiry, and the finding of those who seek after
me, ... and of the spirits of every who exists with me, and of the
women who dwell within me." The path to _gnosis_ and the traveler on
that path are both played here by the character of the speaker.
1256
Another point madeby this partof thetext like wisdomliterature
is that manifestation implies duality, and that to perceive in the
world implies discrimination. The nature of the speaker comprehends
all things, but to appear in the world she must choose one of the two
halves of all those things through which to appear. As a complete
being she would be both invisible and insensible in any way, since to
contain both poles of being, such as 1 and -1, would be to equal 0.
This has a parallel in the way of the Tao, in which one of the aims is
to do everything by doing nothing. One might hear the speaker saying
"I am she who does everything, and nothing." The idea is to incor-
porate in oneself a balance between action and non-action, yin and
yang, and by doing such one gets beyond having to struggle with the
world. There will be no antagonism between the person and then en-
vironment, once that person becomes one with the environment. (Or a
reflection of it, by incorporating or epitomising all its elements.)
This shows the less ascetic nature of the text _Thunder, Perfect
Mind_. The world is not actively evil, but rather simply distracting
due to its incomplete nature. When one gets beyond this, then one has
improved, but there is no shame in being merely a "hearer," and not a
"knower." The only desiderata are to hear and then to know, to balance
oneself according to what one comes to know, and despise nothing along
the way, for every thing is part of the transcendent whole. Here one
could draw Deist parallels, intensifying the impression that the
writers of this text did not see the world as inherently evil.
It is ourperception of theworld that causesthe apparent evilof
the world. To perceive something is to discriminate between it and its
context.
It is this separation or making of differences that allows us to
operate in the world, but also that enslaves us to it by monopolising
our attention.
_Thunder, Perfect Mind_ insists that only by seeing the larger
picture of unions of all opposites can we escape this servitude to the
world. In other words, what liberates us is the knowledge of into what
we have been thrown, or have come.
The last section, the fifth of this part of the text, is a final
exhortation to the reader to "look," "give heed" and be aware of who
speaks and what that means, that by encompassing all things she is
"the one who alone exists," comprising all, "and ... no one who will
judge" her exists outside her. This extreme recognition of the unity
of oneself with the cosmos, of subject with object, and of positive
and negative, leads to an extension of the self to the limits of
perception. Sometimes this continues to the point that manifestation
requires a relimitation by definition of person. As the speaker has
done this, the extension and then the relimitation in order to com-
municate, she also implies that it is an achievement attainable by
all, if one will just "hear" and "know." |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 991 | The third part of the text represents Greece, as the first two
reflect the Egyptian and Judaic strands of the Hellenistic world.{FN:-
15} It consists of questions and answers, not always on philosophical
subjects, but always leading to philosophical points. It is similar in
many ways to the prototypical Platonic dialogue in which the inter-
locutor is led to the truth
of the matter by way of dialectic. Another parallel would be the
dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna in that chariot.
1257
There are six sections to this partof the text, as it has been
cut up and fitted to the other two parts, and the first five display
an elegant ring composition. Section one is a question and amplifica-
tion of the question, while section five is the answer to it. Section
two is another question and amplification, answered by section four.
Section three is the center point, pointing out the union of the two
questions and their respective answers. Section six is a conclusion
of sorts, resuming that which the dialogue has attempted to draw.
The first question is why the reader, and people in general,
display contradictory behavior. This is not a psychological type of
inquiry, into the roots of irrationality, but rather another attempt
to unveil the nature of the speaker. The contradictory behavior
referred to deals with the reader's reaction to the speaker, and the
nature of complete being in general.{FN:16} If complete being entails
all things, then it elicits all responses, each of which will have an
opposite reaction that will be elicited simultaneously (or there-
abouts). Love and hate, truth and lie, knowledge and ignorance are all
part of man's reactions to the world.
The answer to this problem is contained in section five. The
incompleteness of things, inside and outside, judge and judged,
condemning and acquitting; these distinctions elicit opposite respon-
ses to each of their halves, yet both halves are only that: halves of
a whole, which elicits both love and hate, fear and confidence, and
obedience and self-control. The way out of the world of appearances is
again to realise the unity of opposites. that what is seen inside is
what is outside also.
The second question is directed toward the question of the ig-
norance of these unions of opposites. "Why have you hated me," asks
the unity, "Because I am a barbarian among barbarians?"{FN:17}
Because I don't speak the language of any specific nation, not even
those who don't speak you language? Because I speak of universals?
The answer is that "those who are without association with me are
ignorant of me, and those who are in my substance are the ones who
know me."{FN:18} Those who know, know; those who don't don't. One
cannot understand the nature of the speaker or the world until one
becomes a part of it, and all the parts of it. The antithetical and
polarised nature continues to be shown, "On the day when I am close
to you, you are far away from me, and on the day when I am far away
from you, I am close to you."{FN:19}
Thethird section unitesthese two questionsof the manifestation
of opposites, and the difficulty of perception of perfection. (not to
mention perfection of perception!) Both problems stem from human
nature in the world of manifestation. The separation of opposites,
needed for perception of manifested things, is necessary to operate in
the world as humans with human limitations, as these limitations are
usually counted. But the speaker here says the real need ideally is
not to separate, and thus to come to a realisation of the unity. This |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 992 | is similar to the idea of _samadhi_, where the subject and object of
contemplation are united in a flash of illumination.
1258
Section six concludes, saying that the worldly forms are pleas-
ant, but numerous, disgraceful, and fleeting. When men "become sober
and go up to their resting place.... they will find me there, and they
will live, and they will not die again." This implies the possibility
of a permanent state of comprehension of the unity of opposites.
Nowwe can seewhere Theodotus' definitionof gnosticismis and is
not exemplified by _Thunder, Perfect Mind_. The writers of this text
were concerned with most of Theodotus' questions, but not all. They
provide answers for where we have come from, and whereunto we have
been thrown. They address the question of who we were, what we have
become, but not really what birth is, and what rebirth. Nor do they
proffer answers to whereunto we speed, or wherefrom we are redeemed,
beyond the answers to the first questions of where we were and where
we are. The answers that are offered deal with personal rather than
cosmological questions (if there is a difference). The issue is
primarily one of self-liberation, rather thanredemption, unless the
reception of the "good news" of unity is to be considered redemption.
This difference of degree of activity and passivity between
Theodotus and the speaker of _Thunder, Perfect Mind_ is revealed in
the answers to whereunto we have been thrown, and wherefrom we are
redeemed.{FN:20} In _Thunder, Perfect_ _Mind's_ view we came our-
selves to this world, and liberate ourselves through Hearing and
Knowing. What liberates us is still the knowledge, but the knowledge
of slightly different things. The lack of
cosmology or theology in the text, compared to other texts in the Nag
Hammadi library, suggests the comparison rather to the more psycholog-
ical sect of Buddhism in contrast to the majority of Mahayana that has
absorbed local religious or theological superstructure.
The path suggested by the text towards illumination is a strictly
intellectual path to the transcendence of intellect. Through the
mortification of the mind rather than of the flesh one may achieve
_gnosis_. There is therefore no need for a theology on which to hang
precepts of asceticism. The authors of the text say simply that when
one understands the facts, one gives up the preoccupation of the world
as incomplete.
The gnosticism exemplified by this text then, is transcendental,
syncretic, and hortatory. It is transcendent in that it looks at the
world and insists that there is a larger reality beyond what we see as
separate, discrete things. It is syncretic in that it uses three
distinct literary styles to get across its point. These three texts
may have been actual texts on their own before incorporation into this
text, or they may not. They fit so smoothly into each other in terms
of subject continuity that were they originally distinct texts, they
must have been revised for the purpose. The authors are hortatory as
opposed to imperative in that they say that if you come to their idea
of unity, then you will be less confused by the complexity of the
world. If you do not, then you will stick to all those pleasant forms
of passions and fleeting pleasures, and simply not achieve peace. They
do not threaten any punishment for ignorance, only a perpetuation of a
potentially temporary confusion.
1259 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 993 | The comparisons ofthe threestyles of writingsis profitableonly
in so far as it serves to conveniently categorise the material. Too
strict ananalog y to the three styles would be blinding as well. The
content is radically different in message from the usual content of
any of the borrowed forms. Again, what must be looked at to explain
the meaning of the text is the antithetical nature of the "I am"
statements, and their commentary in the other two styles of text. The
medium (in this case) is not the message. The function of the text
must be considered to be not philosophical speculation, theological or
moral exhortation or religious definition, as the borrowed types were,
but rather psychological revelation, buttressed by practical exhor-
tation and logical proof.
What really qualifies the author or authors of this text for
consideration as excellent and true gnostics is their appropriation of
existing forms, whether myths, ritual speeches, or philosophical
methods, and turning them to their own ends.
_The text like an Isis Aretalogy_
1) I was sent forth from the power, and I have come to those who
reflect upon me, and I have been found among those who seek after me.
2) For I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the
scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the
virgin. I am the mother and the daughter. I am the members of my
mother. I am the barren one and many are her sons. I am she whose
wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband. I am the midwife
and she who does not bear. I am the solace of my labour pains. I am
the bride and the bridegroom, and it is my husband who begot me. I am
the mother of my father and the sister of my husband, and he is my
offspring. I am the slave of him who prepared me. I am the ruler of my
offspring. But he is the one who begot me before a time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in due time and my power is from him. I am the
staff of his power in his youth, and he is the rod of my old age. And
whatever he wills happens to me. I am the voice whose sound is man-
ifold and the word whose appearance is multiple. I am the utterance of
my name.
3) For I am knowledge and ignorance. I am shame and boldness. I am
shameless, I am ashamed. I am strength and I am fear. I am war and
peace. Give heed to me. I am the one who is disgraced and the great
one.
4) But I am she who exists in all fears and strength in trembling. I
am she who is weak, and I am well in a pleasant place. I am senseless
and I am wise.
1260
5) For I am the wisdom of the Greeks and the knowledge of the bar-
barians. I am the judgment of the Greeks and the barbarians. I am the
one whose image is great in Egypt and the one who as no image among
the barbarians. I am the one who is hated everywhere and who has been
loved everywhere. I am the one whom they call Law, and you have called
Lawlessness. I am the one whom they call Life, and you have called
Death. I am the one whom you have pursued, and I am the one whom you
have seized. I am the one you have scattered and you have
gathered me together. I am the one before whom you have been ashamed,
and you have been shameless to me. I am she who does not keep fes-
tival, and I am she whose festivals are many. I, I am godless, and I
am one whose God is great. I am the one whom you have reflected upon,
and you have scorned me. I am unlearned, and they learn from me. I am |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 994 | the one whom you have despised, and you reflect upon me. I am the one
whom you have hidden from, and you appear to me. But whenever you hide
yourselves, I myself will appear.
6) But I am the mind of ... and the rest of .... I am the knowledge
of my inquiry, and the finding of those who seek after, and the
command of those who ask of me, and the power of the powers in my
knowledge of the angels, who have been sent at my word, and of the
gods in their seasons by my counsel, and of the spirits of every man
who exists with me, and of the women who dwell within me. I am the one
who is honored, and who is praised, and who is despised scornfully. I
am peace, and war has come because of me. I am an alien and a citizen.
I am the substance and the one who has no substance.
7) I am ... within. I am ...of the natures. I am ... of the creation
of the spirits. ... request of souls. I am control and the uncontrol-
lable. I am the union and the dissolution. I am the abiding and the
dissolving. I am the one below, and they come up to me. I am the
judgment and the acquittal. I, I and sinless, and the root of sin
derives from me. I am lust in outward appearance, and interior self-
-control exists within me. I am the hearing that is attainable to
everyone, and the speech that cannot be grasped. I am a mute who does
not speak, and great is the multitude of my words. Hear me in gentle-
ness, and learn of me in roughness. I am she who cries out, and I am
cast out on the face of the earth. I prepare the bread and my mind
within. I am the knowledge of my name. I am one who cries out, and I
listen. I appear and ... walk in ... seal of my ... I am ... the
defense ... I am the one who is called Truth, and iniquity ....
8) I am the hearing that is attainable toeverything; I am the speech
that can not be grasped. I am the name of the sound, and the sound of
the name. I am the sign of the letter and the designation of the
division. And I .... ... light .... ... hearers ... to you ... the
great power. And ... will not move the name. ... to the one who
created me. And I will speak his name.
1261
_The text like a Hebrew Wisdom Text._
1) Look upon me and reflect upon me, and you hearers. hear me. You
who are waiting for me, take to yourselves. And do not banish me from
your sight. And do not make your voices hate me, nor your hearing. Do
not be ignorant of me any where or any time. Be on your guard! Do not
be ignorant of me.
2) Give heed to my poverty and my wealth. Do not be arrogant to me
when I am cast out upon the earth, and you will find me in those who
are to come. And do not look upon me on the dung heap nor go and leave
me cast out, and you will find me in the kingdoms. And do not look
upon me when I am cast out among those who are disgraced and in the
least places, nor laugh at me. And do not cast me out among those who
are slain in violence. But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel. Be on
your guard! Do not hate my obedience, and do not love my self-control.
In my weakness do not forsake me, and do not be afraid of my power.
For why do you despise my fear and curse my pride?
3) Those who have ... to it ... senselessly.... Take me ... under-
standing from grief, and take me to yourselves from understanding and
grief. And take me to yourselves from places that are ugly and in
ruin, and rob from those which are good, even though in ugliness. Out
of shame, take me to yourselves shamelessly; and out of shamelessness
and shame, upbraid my members in yourselves. And come forward to me, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 995 | you who know me and who know my members, and establish the great ones
among the first small creatures. Come forward to childhood, and do not
despise it because it is small and it is little. And do not turn away
greatnesses in some parts from the smallnesses, for the smallnesses
are known from the greatnesses.
4) Hear me you hearers. and learn of my words, you who know me.
5) Look then at his words and all the writings which have been
completed. Give heed then you hearers and you also the angels and
those who have been sent, and you spirits who have arisen from the
dead. For I am the one who alone exists, and I have no one who will
judge me.
1262
_The text like a Platonic Dialogue._
1) Why, you who hate me, do you love me, and you hate those who love
me? You who deny me, confess me, and you who confess me deny me. You
who tell the truth about me lie about me, and you who have lied about
me tell the truth about me. You who know me, be ignorant of me, and
those who have not known me, let them know me.
2) Why have you hated me in your counsels? For I shall be silent
among those who are silent, and I shall appear and speak. Why then
have you hated me, you Greeks? Because I am a barbarian among the
barbarians?
3) Why do you curse me and honor me? You have wounded and you have
had mercy. Do not separate me from the first ones whom you have
known. And do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone away ... turn you
away and ... know him not ... him. What is mine.... I know the first
one and those after know me.
4) Those who are without association with me are ignorant of me, and
those who are in my substance are the ones who know me. Those who are
close to me have been ignorant of me, and those who are far away from
me are the ones who have known me. On the day when I am close to you,
you are far away from me, and on the day when I am far away from you,
I am close to you.
5) You honor me ... and you whisper against me. ... victorious over
them. Judge then before they give judgment against you, because the
judge and the partiality exist within you. If you are condemned by
this one, who will acquit you? Or if you are acquitted by him who will
be able to detain you. For what is in side of you is what is outside
of you, and the one who fashions you on the outside of you is the one
who shaped the inside of you. And what you see inside of you, you see
outside of you; it is visible and it is your garment.
6) For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins, and
incontinencies, and disgraceful passions, and fleeting pleasures,
which men embrace until they become sober and go up to their resting
place. And they will find me there, and they will live, and they will
not die again.
1263
1) For examples of aretalogies see Grant, F.C.; _Hellenistic Relig-
ions: The Age__of Syncretism._ |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 996 | 2) The text _Thunder, Perfect Mind_ is CG VI, 2.
The aretalogy-like material's sections are;
1. 13,1-13,6
2. 13,16-14,15
3. 14,25-15,1
4. 15,25-15,30
5. 16,5-17,1
6. 18,10-18,30
7. 19,5-20,10
8. 20,29-21,12
The wisdom literature styled section are;
1. 13,6-13,15
2. 15,1-15,25
3. 17,1-17,32
4. 20,26-20,28
5. 21,12-21,20
The dialogue material comes from;
1. 14,15-14,25
2. 15,30-16,5
3. 17,32-18,10
4. 18,30-19,5
5. 20,10-20,25
6. 21,20-21,32
3) This definition of Theodotus is cited in Clemens Alexandrinus,_
Excerpta ex__Theodoto_ 78.2.
4) IA 2(Sections will be referred to by their section number prefixed
by IA for aretalogy sections, WT for wisdom sections, and PD for
the dialogue sections.)
5) IA 2
6) IA 2
7) IA 5
8) Only in 9 out of 68 complete paradox statements does there occur
temporal or nominal changes along with alteration of description.
(Interestingly, all occur in sections IA 2 & IA 5, two sections of
8)
9) Robinson, James M., ed.; _The Nag Hamadi Library in English_,
(Harper &
Row: San Fransisco) 1977/81, p. 271
10) WT 1
11) WT 1
12) WT 2
13) WT 2. In the sentence regarding obedience and self-control, the
point is also to have no reactive emotions to these things, as the
emotions form attachment to objects. This advice towards detachment,
reminiscent of Eastern philosophies more often than Western, shows up
in the dialogue sections more obviously.
14) _i.e.,_ where the subject of the knowledge they are designed to
impart lies.
1264
15) The Macedonian, Seleucid, and Ptolomaic Kingdoms made up the
Hellenistic world, _per se_, though external contact with Europe,
Asia, and Africa was constant. Of course, all three nations were also
assimilating parts of each other's cultures, creating the internat-
ional and cosmopolitan atmosphere necessary for the creation of our
text, and the sources are named after the originating national culture
for convenience only.
16) "Complete being" refers to the unified speaker and world.
(1)+(-1)=(0). |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 997 | 17) PD 2
18) PD 4
19) PD 4
20) These two questions presuppose a passive role on our part, which
may or may not refer to the Gnostic Redeemer as well as us regular
joes, the recipiants of the redeeming message. In this text, however,
there is no strong distinction between the speakers and the hearers on
the basis of origin; only on the level of knowledge. We may be assumed
to have the same genesis as she, and she states that she had an active
role in coming into the world. This only difference is that she knows
this, and presumably we do not.
1265
Treatise on Mind
From: The Tigress
Fromthe moment that 2cells form a zygote, wesee the interaction
of informational process - recognition, communication, interaction,
integration, re-stabilization and reproduction and or re-structuriz-
ation. This cycle of life can be see from the barest combinations of
any two elemental components beginning at the lowest atomic desig-
nations of energy and throughout the continuum of increasing com-
plexity - perhaps far beyond our capabilities
to understand. *** If consciousness can be defined as an awareness
of integrity through this process of self recognition; then conscious-
ness can be easily applied to that which is non-human.***
From the most basicinteractions of chemistry, wefind that evenon
an atomic level there is to be found this type of consciousness. We
have become aware of the atom's necessary maintenance of it's own
structure through the evidence of necessary balancing of protons,
neutrons and electrons; the importance of electron shell valences is
also a reminder of this type of integrity. Even on an atomic level,
there is a form of awareness of self-integrity in order to maintain
structure and identity.
This process ofawareness is alsoa geniusof discrimination. A
form of identification of self & non self on an energetic level.
There is a borrowing, and sometimes a sharing energetically, yet when |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 998 | this process of self recognition begins to fail we see the destruction
of the matter it involves Therefore we
might look at this process of self-recognition and maintenance and
examine it's nature in order to find its function and capabilities.
1266
When we lookat different typesof matter, wefind that themore
simple the atomic structure of the mass, the less complex its process
of "consciousness" needs to be. Things which are comprised of only
one atomic component do not need complex processes of communication
between those components. Thus the level of consciousness is rather
low on an evolutionary scale of creativity, yet we also see that these
types of things are far more stable in regards to their integrity -
far less vulnerable to destruction. In example, it takes an enorm-
ously concentrated force of heat to break the integrity of an atom...-
yet a mere 2000 degree flame will not only destroy the integrity of
human consciousness, but also destroy the integrity of the individual
component molecules which form the material mass of a human to their
lowest forms as individual atoms.
1267
Whenwe look at theforces involved incommunication of energy,
we see a flowing medium of different frequencies within a single
spectrum of energetic potential. Elemental energies and forces
differentiate and vary in intensity and frequency yet are very alike
in that they are all means of transferring energy as a form of com-
munication which can be informative/stabilizing or disinformative/des-
tructive, depending on the structure of the "consciousness" they
encounter. It may be perceived that the more complex the structure,
the lower the frequency of the integrity of that structure and the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 999 | more vulnerable that structure is to disinformation.
The more diverse the components are that are included within a
thing, and the more efficient the means of communication within the
structure of that thing; the lower the common denomination of freq-
uency of integrity must be in order that the informational frequency
will not be destructive to any of the component parts. To analyze
this statement we must look at other analogies within our environment.
Firstly I would like to examine the nature of sound.
1268
Sound waves come in varying frequencies and modulations, and as
humans we assign different notes to those steps within the frequency
spectrum which we can differentiate and perceive. If we play several
notes simultaneously, we find that in order to maintain a balance
harmonically, we must play notes that match each others modulation.
You can play a "C" note at any octave and in fact play all "C" notes
simultaneously and you will find that within the frequency range
these notes will compliment each other, in fact they will contribute/-
share energy with each other. WE find similar matching if we look at
musical chording. If you play the notes "F" and "C" , the sharing of
energy vibrationally between those two ranges of frequency will in
fact create the note of "A" in the range in which the two notes
frequencies overlap. In this way communication is informative and in
fact the "whole is greater" than the sum of its parts. Similarly,
playing two notes which lie in the same modulation frequencies simul-
taneously will increase the duration of the vibration compared to the
duration if each note were played alone.
When we examine the sharing of electrical information at an
atomic level, we see that through the temporary sharing of electrons |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,000 | in a phase path also indicates something that we might consider as
investing a thing with more than the sum of its parts. Simil-
arly in using electric frequencies in a series, we store information
on silicon chips which invest them with more than they would be if one
simply looked at the electrical and silicon components alone. This
transference of energy is also a transference of information in
frequencies which in many ways we are still attempting to understand.
1269
Simple, one component things, can sustain far higher frequencies
of energetic transmission than can complex components of things.
Frequencies which pass freely through atoms ultimately destroy complex
things such as humans when they are subject to them. It appears that
the more complex the union of the components, the slower and more
tediously complex the transformation of data must be. The more
complex a thing is, the lower the vibrational capability it sustains
in order to maintain the integrity of its own structure.
Energetic communication exists infinitely throughout the univ-
erse. The transference of information through radio waves and light
waves continues back in time to the occasion of what was known as the
Big Bang. It may be that in the future we will find that in the same
way gravity and electromagnetism are also continuums of information
from times long past. Scientifically we study these energetic con-
tinuums and yet we doubt and deny the holistic communicative nature of
the universe. We search for causes and effects within the realms of
our limited perceptions and are amazed when we can find no causal
effects to explain change.
1270 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,001 | When we examine biological life, we find that each evolutionary
adaptation seems to be an extension of the process of self/non self
awareness and maintenance of integrity. Not only do we see inten-
sification of sensory perceptual abilities, but also we note that the
integrational and responsive/reactive components of the process also
have to evolve and adapt in order to stay integrated with the rest of
the "consciousness". Amoebas are "simple" life forms, and yet we can
examine them and see that each organic component within that life form
serves as an informational and communicative component within the
process of maintaining the integrity of the whole. When this
communication process or any part of it ceases, the organization of
the organism begins to deteriorate and eventually ceases and dies. In
biological life, we find that though we have maintained the use of
electronic communication on some neural levels, we have sunk to the
depths of transferring actual molecular compounds in most of our
organic processes. Even the human brain,
supposed highest achievement of organic life forms, requires base
molecular salts in order to process electrical information. Our
complexity denies us the speed of light, radio,
and other faster and higher frequency modes of communication except
from outside of ourselves.
1271
The human consciousness is a genius of discrimination. We use
the abilities of discrimination to identify those stimuli which come
from outside of our biological forms in order to protect and maintain
our integrity to gather and interpret pure energetic communications
such as the
radiated energy of sunlight and we are so inefficient at interpreting
that data that we can only sense light and heat and it destroys those
sensors that gather that information through blindness and sunburn if
we continue too long in our attempts. Yet, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,002 | conversely , we need the information from sunlight which stimulates
our organic forms into producing vitamin D . Is this a remnant of
photosynthetic capabilities from lessor
complex integrations, or merely a new attempt at further increasing
our potential?
1272
As organic forms of consciousness, we are sorely limited in our
perceptions of the universe. Limited in exploring the possibly
limitless ranges of energetic exchange simply due to the limits placed
upon communication due to the complexity of our component structure.
Yet rather than admit to our limitations, we seek further exploration
through the development of tools made from things less complex than
ourselves. In the laboratory, we use light waves and shaped silicon
to create microscopes to increase our sense of visual acuity within
the spectrum of visible radiation imaging. In the studio, we use
simple cones flattened vegetable matter and electronic amplification
to create tools to compensate for our limited aural perception. We
have created many tools out of simpler and less complex components in
order to reach those higher frequencies of information which are
either so far removed from us as to be imperceptible, or so destruc-
tive to us that we dare not experience them ourselves.
The human zygote from the moment of conception is a discriminat-
ing consciousness which is involved in the differentialization of its
components in order to
develop finer levels of complexity. This fetus is also even before
birth learning to interpret communicative energies from the outer
world in order to begin definition of itself, its integrity and its
maintenance of self apart from the influence of "other". Cells,
joining together in communication to form co-operative systems each
with separate responsibilities to the whole. Organs with specific |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,003 | functions supporting the organism in its fight to maintain its integ-
rity. Consciousness of Mind, determining the difference between self
and non self, regulating the integrity of the whole. This harmony of
components within a symphony of orchestration, this is the matter of
being alive.
1273
Despite our complexities, despite recognition of our vulnerabil-
ities and limitations; we as humans are beings of arrogant mind. We
claim supremacy over all biological organisms and claim the sole right
to conscious thought We deny our insecurities and lay claims to
great understandings concerning the universe, when we in fact do not
even understand the actual workings of our own process of integration
and communication within our own biological forms.
We claim ownership of consciousness, yet we do not even pretend to
truly evaluate the process of consciousness nor its beginnings.
Despite our inadequacies, we assume to know the nature of the
beginnings of all life. We claim to know the "mind" of "God" and
we claim title to superiority
in emulation of this "God" - above and beyond all other forms of life
or integrity. An egotistic lot are we, who strive to seek security in
the midst of our fear, our inadequacies, our vulnerabilities; by
developing a system of belief which guarantees our security in a place
beyond our perception. We seek safety and foundation at the same time
that we reach outward to claim flight amongst the stars.
This is the paradox on humanity, of mind. Complexity found in
simplicity... using simplicity to explore a universe beyond the range
of our complex integrity. Our complex integrity vulnerable to all but
the simplest energies, while we lay grasp to use complex energies
which would destroy us in order to prove our strength. What it is we
look for, we eventually find at the expense of closing our senses to
see what really is. Perhaps it is true that the most foolish are
those who lay claim to knowledge for they have closed their minds |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,004 | to further learning, and that the most wise are those who claim
knowledge of no thing, that they may learn all.
1274
Copyright (c) 1988 by Phil Hansford. This article is
is licenced for free non-commercial distribution only.
----------------------------------------------------------
** MAGICK 1 -- WHY MAGICK **
Theability tothink seems toset usapart fromother crea-
tures. And although we are concerned with living in the physical
world, we are mental beings. The fact is we are thinking all the time.
We plan, we brood, we get depressed or elated -- all of it is thought.
But the universe is mental too, and if we could control our thinking
we would see magnificent results in the everyday world.
Manysystems have been developedover the agesto help us
control our thoughts. A great amount of dogma too has been kicked
around in an attempt to make us into better people. Magick (the occult
kind, spelled with a 'k') is one of the oldest and most general of
these systems. Magick is the study and application of psychic forces.
It uses mental training, concentration, and a system of symbols to
program the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the
environment according to the will.
Mostofthe magickwesee todaycomesto usfromancient Egypt
and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans developed their own
unique types of magick. Western magick was locked up by the Egyptian |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,005 | priests for thousands of years and then supressed by the rise of
Christianity. It was not until medieval Europe that magical knowledge
was rediscovered by the alchemists and Cabalists. Only during the past
hundred years or so has western culture been open minded enough to
permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since the start
of the twentieth century has science shown much interest in it al all.
PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
Through parapsychology, weare gaining insightsinto the
hidden nature of man. Parapsychology is a branch of psychology which
studies psychic phenomena. It remains something of a frontier, even
today. Perhaps one reason for this is that psychic phenomena are
somewhat inconsistent.
Nevertheless, there is strong evidence from numerous cases and exp-
eriments in support of psychic phenomena. Somehow, under the right
conditions, the mind can directly affect the environment.
Wemaytheorize thatthehumanmind andbodybroadcasts akind
of psychic energy or force, much like a radio station. Kirlian photog-
raphy, temperature effects, cloud chamber tests, and other experiments
tend to support this theory. Although the exact nature of this psychic
force
is subtle and unknown, it is undoubtedly the energy behind all psychic
phenomena and magick. However, it is *not* a radio wave, since it
behaves somewhat differently. The psychic force is too weak to be
1275
measured directly (at least so far as we know). Everyone has some
psychic ability. There
are numerous types of psychic phenomena. Parapsychology separates them
into two groups: ESP and PK... |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,006 | EXAMPLES OF ESP
ESP,theabreviation forextrasensoryperception, meansthe
reception of information through paranormal means (ie. not regular
physical senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste). In theory,
this is accomplished by receiving psychic force from outside the body.
Here are some examples of ESP:
1)Clairvoyance,orRemote Viewing--the abilitytosense or
'see' (non-physically) distant objects, places, and people. Individ-
uals who see ghosts and spirits are probably clairvoyant.
2) Clairaudience, or remote hearing -- the 'hearing'
of paranormal information.
3)AstralProjection(OOBE)or TravelingClairvoyance--Full
experience at a remote location while the physical body sleeps.
4) Psychometry -- the reading of information by the
touch of physical objects.
5) Telepathicreceiver --the ability todirectly receive
thought (communication) at a distance, with no physical connection to
the sender. There are many everyday examples of this, in which we
1276
think something just as another person is about to say it. This is an
easy one to test for through experiment. Very dramatic cases of
telepathy have been recorded; there is often an emotional element in
such cases.
6) A 'channel'or medium, asin a seance,who is indirect
communication with a 'spirit' or entity.
7) Experiencewith a Ouija board,pendulum, or automatic
writing.
8) Precognition--to forseethefuture. Again,highlyemot-
ional events are the ones most likely to be 'tuned in'. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,007 | 9) Retrocognition-- knowledgeof the past,by paranormal
means.
EXAMPLES OF PK
PK, the abreviation forpsychokinesis, is the active or
sending side of psychic phenomena. The theory here is that psychic
force is sent out from the individual. Examples of PK include:
1)Telepathicsender --thetransmitterin thetelepathyjust
discussed.
2)Psychokinesis (ortelekinesis) proper-- theability to
move objects by means of psychic force.
3)Somewhatalong thesamelinesarepoltergeist(noisyghost)
phenomena in which objects move of their own accord or noises are
1277
heard. There is always a human agent involved -- frequently a teenage
girl -- who appears to be the source of psychic energy.
4)Psychic healing-- theability toheal variousillnesses
and infirmities. There are many documented cases of this. Usually it
involves a healer and a subject, although there are recent cases
invloving cancer patients learning to heal themselves.
5)Teleportation, apportation,andlevitation. Someoccul-
tists feel a magician producing PK effects is simply a channel for
universal energy. Others think the force originates some way directly
within the magician.
THE SUBCONSCIOUS
Postulated byFreud andothers, theconcept of thesubcon-
scious mind is an important one. Basicly, this is the idea that part
of the mind normally operates below or outside of ordinary conscious- |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,008 | ness and awareness. Dreams and hypnosis are examples of this. Also
subconscious are the many
automatic functions of the physical body such as respiration and
digestion.
1278
WHY DO MAGICK?
Magickencompassesmanythings-- scienceandart,philosophy
and metaphysics, psychology and comparative religion. Magick is an
adventure at the borderlands of the unknown. It can fit the pieces of
the puzzel of life into a meaningful whole.
*Magick is fun*and interesting. Usemagick to helpraise
consciousness without drugs. Gain new experiences. Fantacy can come
alive through magick. Psychic phenomena can be controlled and be fun
and helpful.
*Magick isbeneficial*. It canhelp you tohave excellent
health, and bring you good luck. With magick life runs smoothly; life
is good. Also use magick for personality improvement, to control bad
habits and to develop new motivations.
*Magickis
powerful*.Neverunderestimatethetremendouspower
of magick. Use magick to alter events and to achieve your goals. Exert
an influence over people and phenomena. But power for its own sake is
self defeating. The power which magick can give you should not be your
primary
reason for studying it. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,009 | MAGICK AND WITCHCRAFT
1279
A numberof other occult disciplinesare prevalent today
besides magick. There are many cults and sects which profess their own
views, but there are really few differences between them. One popular
area in the occult today is witchcraft. This is far removed from the
cliche of devil
worship. Real witchcraft is a nature religion (pagan). Witchcraft has
much in common with magick.
Alchemy alsohas muchin common withmagick. It'sheritage
comes from the middle ages. Alchemy fathered chemistry and the phys-
ical sciences. But the avowed purpose of alchemy, turning lead into
gold, is too limiting to be called magick. Sometimes the goal of
alchemy is interpreted in another way, as the transformation of man
into a spiritual being.
Thentherearethe numerousmodernday seersor'pychics', as
they like to be called, who operate within their own somewhat unique
systems. Although many of these people are deluded frauds, some are
very powerful occultists indeed.
1280 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,010 | Of course,everything Ihavesaid hereis ageneralization.
Magick, witchcraft, alchemy, or any occult field are complex subjects.
Suffice it to say that magick includes them all (it is eclectic). For
magick is undoubtedly a philosophy which has, as the late Aleister
Crowley wrote,
"The method of science -- the aim of religion."
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1) Define magick.
2) Define ESP and PK. Give examples.
3) What is the subconsicous?
BOOK LIST
Hal N. Banks, An Introduction to Psychic Studies.
Annie Besant, Thought Power.
Michael H. Brown, PK, A Report on the Power of Psychokinesis.
Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts.
Alexandira David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet.
Raynor C. Johnson, The Imprisoned Splendour.
Janet Lee Mitchell, "Is Anything Out There?", Fate magazine,
May 1988.
1281
Ostrander and Shroeder, Psychic Discoveries Behind the
Iron Curtan.
========
Phil Hansford, 4/88
Mysteria |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,011 | (818) 353-8891 (modem)
P.O. Box 83
Tujunga, CA 91042
1282
Copyright (c) 1988 by Phil Hansford. This article is
is licenced for free non-commercial distribution only.
----------------------------------------------------------
** MAGICK 2 -- THE SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPERIENCE -- **
' The universe is a projection of ourselves;
an image as unreal as that of our faces in a
mirror....We cannot affirm any quality in an
object as being independent of our sensorium, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,012 | or as being in itself that which it seems to
us. Nor can we assume that what we cognize is
more than a partial phantom of its cause.'
( --Aleister Crowley, Magick, p. 110)
Yourawarenessofthe physicalworldand ofyourplace within
it is mostly based upon the physical senses(hearing, sight, smell,
touch, taste). These five senses continually send information to the
mind, and it is up to
the mind to select and interpret them. If you could not do so, your
senses would overwhelm you and be meaningless. Selection and inter-
pretation of your sensory inputs is essentially an automatic, mostly
1283
subconscious function of the mind. The program or map which the
subconscious follows
as its reference point is called a 'model'. The model is a subcon-
scious mental photograph of how you believe the world looks (ie.
worldview, mindset, egregore, or belief system). It was built up from
an early age by your religious and cultural background through inter-
action with family and
others. It contains your experiences, attitudes, and habits. And
whether you realize it or not, most of your behavior, thoughts,
feelings, and habits are based upon and conditioned by that model;
even personality. The model is one of the mind's master programs.
Change in behavior generally requires a change in the model. These
limitations built into our way of thinking cause our perceptions to be
subjective. That is why Hindu philosophy looks upon the world as
illusory (maya); the world itself (object) is not an illusion, however
from our viewpoint through perception
(subject) it is. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 1,013 | Thus weare allconditioned byexperience. Exceptthat our
perceptions, hence our experiences, are first conditioned and limited
by the model. Our perceptions and experiences tend to conform to what
we expect. We tend to misinterpret or ignore things which do not match
our
preconcieved notions about them. This is automatic.
1284
THE TRUE WILL
The forgoingdemonstrates how itis thatthere are somany
different versions of 'truth'. One's particular view is almost arbit-
rary. Although numerous religions, philosophies, and occult systems
abound, they do not contradict one and other as much as it might
appear. Rather, they describe the same (universal) reality taken from
different perspectives. For there can be no ultimate truth in the
physical world. We can only base our actions upon assumptions and
agreements. All experience is subjective. I like to think of the
universe as something indescribable, perhaps a 4-dimentional 'thing'.
As soon as we attempt to put it into our 3-dimentional knowledge-base,
something changes and we only see an aspect of the big picture. Just
as a photograph can only show us a flat *representation* of a greater
thing, so it is with any attempt to describe *spiritual reality* in
physical terms.
Yet,there isa separatereality withineach of uswhich is
often ignored unless we seek it. This inner self is in magick called
the 'true will'. The true will is the center of consciousness and
identity. It is the 'real you'. Everything else is an interface or
link to it from the outer (illusory) world. Since that interface is
based upon our model, it is conditoned and may sometimes produce false
information. 'Do what thou wilt' (Crowley) is an axiom of magick; for |
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