to the power of power.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Descend, my lady, and speak with us, thy children.
I am she who watches over thee, mother of you all.
Know that I rejoice that you do not forget me.
Know that with my good Lord I weave the skein of life
for each and every one of you.
I am love and I am life.
Find me and rejoice, for love is my music and laughter is my song.
Witchcraft.
The very word in the minds of some people
conjures up thoughts of Satan worship,
of wild rides through the air astride broomsticks,
of figures huddled around bubbling cauldrons.
Few people realize the truth that Witchcraft is in fact a religion,
a valid federally recognized alternate religion
with ancient roots that not only expressly forbids its followers
from harming others, but does not even believe in Satan.
Hello. My name is Raymond Buckland,
and I would like to take you on an historical journey,
a journey starting back in Paleolithic times
and coming forward through to the present day.
I'd like to show you the beginnings of religion and of magic.
One form of religion was to develop into what today has become Wicca.
With this development, you will see how so many misconceptions
regarding Witchcraft came about.
We start our journey 25,000 years ago,
at a time when humankind had a belief in animism.
It was then thought that a god controlled the gusting wind,
a god lived in the raging river, a god controlled the sky.
But most importantly, so far as day-to-day existence was concerned,
that there was a god of hunting and a goddess of fertility.
Since most of the animals hunted were horned animals,
so it was thought the god of hunting was a horned god.
And since it was the woman who was visibly connected with birth,
so it was logical that it'd be a goddess rather than a god of fertility.
These two, the god of hunting and the goddess of fertility,
were the two most important deities for early human existence.
Along with these early steps of religion, we find the beginnings of magic,
magic of the sympathetic variety, in other words,
the belief that like attracts like.
Let's look first at hunting.
The early tribe would act out a hunt before ever starting off on the real thing.
They would make a life-size clay model of a bison or bear
or whatever they planned to hunt.
One of their number would then play the part of the god,
dressed in skins and wearing horns or antlers if necessary,
and he would direct the others.
They would attack the clay model with spears and javelins.
When they felt they had successfully killed the animal,
they would leave on the real hunt, confident that they would there be equally successful.
The same type of magic was done for fertility.
Clay models were made of animals copulating,
and the tribe would also join together in an accompanying ritual.
This, they felt, would ensure a plentiful supply of food and continuation of the tribe.
It's interesting that this same type of magic has continued right through virtually to the present day.
American Indians, until relatively recent times,
performed these self-same hunting rituals to bring themselves success.
The Penobscotts and the Mandans are excellent examples of this.
With the later development of agriculture and the resultant storing of grown food for the winter,
the hunting god became less important.
But the goddess's role was still valid, if not more so,
since she now ruled over the fertility of the fields as well as that of humans and animals.
In early figures of the goddess,
original emphasis was placed on the feminine attributes,
almost to the exclusion of face, arms and legs.
There were heavy, pendulous breasts, a swollen stomach as they were pregnant,
and enlarged genitalia.
But gradually, this changed.
Realism slowly came into play.
In similar fashion, representations of the god changed.
With the decline of the importance of the hunt,
he became more a god of nature generally.
As such, he was shown with a face made up of leaves, of foliage.
Such figures are consequently known by the general term foliate masks,
though also often referred to as Jack of the Green or Robin of the Woods.
With the development of different rituals for hunting, for fertility, for seasonal needs,
there also developed a priesthood,
a group of men and women made up of those who seemed especially effective
when playing the part of the god or goddess.
As man and woman developed and spread across Asia and Europe,
these early ideas of the deities were carried along.
In different geographical areas, different names would be given to them,
but they all stemmed from these same two original concepts of deity.
The priesthood too developed differently in different areas.
It is in Western Europe specifically that we later find the origins
of what was to become what we know today as witchcraft.
In early England, the ritual leaders were known as the wicker or witter,
an Anglo-Saxon term for the wise ones.
In fact, by the time of the Anglo-Saxon kings in England,
the king would never think of acting on any important matter
without first consulting the witten, the council of wise ones.
And these community leaders did have to be wise.
They were not only the priests to the people,
they were also the local doctors, the lawyers, magicians and leaders in all things.
With the coming of Christianity, there was not the immediate mass conversion
that is sometimes suggested.
The new religion came in fairly slowly.
It was in a sense a man-made religion and had not evolved slowly and gradually
over thousands of years as had the old religion.
Up until about 1000 AD, England and most of Europe
were still pretty much half and half Christian and pagan.
Christianity came in at the top as it were.
The sovereigns and rulers were converted before ever the common people were.
Cities and towns became at least nominally Christian before ever the smaller towns and villages did.
The general populace was pagan then.
The word pagan comes from the Latin pagani, meaning one who dwells in the country.
Similarly, heathen simply means a dweller on the heath.
This then was when the appellation of pagan or heathen came to be applied to non-Christians,
originally with no connotations of evil or even anti-Christianity.
To say that someone was a pagan was simply to say that they lived out of town, out in the country,
and it was therefore to imply that they were non-Christian.
But after trying for so long to convert the people to the new religion,
saturation point was finally reached.
No more seemed willing to give up the old gods for the new.
So then pressure started to be applied by the church.
The pagan practices were distorted to make them look unsavoury.
Traditions were twisted. False accusations were made.
For example, there was a time when the tall pointed hat was popular, was the height of fashion.
But as with all styles of dress, it eventually went out of fashion.
In those days it took some considerable time for fads and fashions to seep down from the cities and towns to the outer villages.
So many years after the tall hat was de mode in court circles,
it was still being worn quite happily by the country people.
At this time then, the pagan was depicted wearing a tall pointed hat,
as much as to say, see, the old religion is out of fashion, it's behind the times.
But most jabs were far more savage than this.
At certain times of the year, the villagers would all go down to the fields
carrying with them pitchforks, long poles and broomsticks.
There they would stand astride their poles, like a child on a hobby horse,
and dance around the fields with them.
As they danced, they would jump high in the air.
They believed that in so doing they were showing the crops how high to grow.
It was simply a form of agricultural magic.
The church, in trying to rid the people of their old rights, distorted this.
They said, first of all, that the people were doing the ritual to blight the harvest,
a ridiculous charge when you consider, because the people had to live off the crops themselves.
They further said that they were not only riding their poles around the fields,
but were also riding them through the air, which must obviously be the work of the devil.
Therefore, you mustn't do it.
The cauldron got into the picture about this time.
It was purely a household cooking utensil,
and the typical church charge against witches was that they used it for boiling up babies to obtain their fat.
Along with these children were boiled all sorts of evil sounding ingredients,
such as snakes' tongues, cat's eyes, rabbit's feet, wolves' claws, a negro's head, and flesh and blood.
Of course, there were no babies boiled.
One wonders where they would have all come from anyway, and why no one missed them.
As for the awesome sounding ingredients, they were simply herbs and plants.
Today, all plants have a Latin name, known and used universally,
but in the old days, they were only known by somewhat picturesque local ones,
names often given according to the look of the plant.
Tongue of a snake was Adda's tongue, or the dog-toothed violet.
Cat's eye was star scabious.
Rabbit's foot was fueled clover.
Wolf's claw, Lysopodium, Negro head, vegetable ivory, and flesh and blood, tormentil.
There were literally hundreds of these herbs with such colorful local names.
Cow's tail, Jews ear, devil's milk, and similar ones.
So things continued for many years,
with Christianity trying gradually but surely to ease out the old religion.
But the old religion was tenacious.
It was ingrained from generation after generation, going back thousands of years.
Even some of the new religion's ministers retained much of their old pagan background.
Many are the records of priests happily mixing both the old and the new,
until admonished by their superiors.
Finally, however, the church grew impatient.
It wanted wicked dead, and it wanted Christianity to be the only religion.
Pope Gregory the Great made tremendous strides by ordering the destruction of ancient temples
and the smashing of so-called idols.
New churches were built on the old sites,
so that the church could cash in on the local populace's habit of going to them.
Happily, most of the stonemasons and wood carvers available for building the new churches were themselves pagans.
So in the decorations, they incorporated figures of their own old gods.
In this way, the people, although forced to attend the churches of the new religion,
could still worship the gods of the old.
But now the church had declared war on paganism.
Anything non-Christian, no matter how morally and ethically good and worthwhile,
was immediately labeled anti-Christian, and therefore to be stamped out.
The god of the old religion had horns, so apparently had the Christian devil,
so the two were equated by the church.
As it happens, wiccans, like virtually all pre-Christians, do not even believe in the devil.
The devil, Satan, as an all-evil entity, is a purely Christian invention.
There's no mention of him as such in the Bible, before the New Testament.
The original Old Testament Hebrew, Hasatan, and the New Testament Greek, Diablos,
simply meant opponent or adversary.
The idea of one all-good god, and therefore the necessary opposite, all-evil entity,
was first developed by Zoroaster in Persia in the 7th century BCE.
It was later picked up in Mithraism and then in Christianity.
But this was a new concept, unknown to the older religions, including Wicca.
As a religion in itself, albeit a perverted one,
Satanism came into being in the early Middle Ages,
and it came about as a protest against the harshness of the church at that time.
The ordinary Christian men and women were exhorted to pray to God,
yet they found they got nothing in return.
The surf slot was hard, and they had virtually nothing to call their own.
The church governed everything they could do.
As an example, sexual intercourse was frowned upon even between married couples.
There should be no joy from the act, and it was banned on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
It was also banned from 40 days before Christmas and a similar time before Easter,
for three days before receiving communion,
and from the time of conception to 40 days after patrician.
In other words, there was a grand total of only two months in the year
when a man and wife could have sexual relations, and even then solely for procreation.
From such oppression as this, they eventually broke out a rebellion.
Finding that they were getting nothing from praying to the so-called good God,
some discontents decided to try the other side and pray to the devil instead.
So, Satanism came into being as a revolt against the church.
Its adherents actually found that they got nothing from Satan either,
but at least they had the satisfaction of knowing that they were going against the establishment.
Satanism and witchcraft then were lumped together indiscriminately by the church.
King James I of England was one of the primary offenders against Wicker at this time.
He suffered a paranoia brought on by the Earl of Bothwell's plot against him,
in which Bothwell had called on the help of the Beric witches.
Such was James' paranoia that he allowed it to influence his translation of the Bible.
One place where this is particularly evident is in the substitution of the word maleficer,
witch, for the word veneficer, poisoner.
Nowhere in the actual text is the word witch used.
The verses simply speak of the woman of Endor, and of a woman who hath a familiar spirit.
It would seem to apply just as much to a spiritualist medium as to a Wiccan.
The text doesn't even say if the woman is young or old, yet thanks to King James' paranoia,
generations of Christians have had a fixed notion of King Saul and an ugly old hag of a witch.
In the fervour to destroy all non-Christians, hysteria broke out.
Whole villages were destroyed when it was thought that one or two pagans might be living there.
The cry of the bishops was, destroy them all, the Lord will know him.
The Lord will know his own.
The so-called witchcraft outbreak in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692
is an excellent example of the type of hysteria that swept the whole of Europe.
On the words of a group of children, a veritable reign of terror swept through a small community,
ending with 20 people being sent to their death.
Almost all the accused were in actuality very devout Christians,
the prime example being old Rebecca Nurse, a bedridden lady in her 70s,
whose downfall turned out to be the fact that she was deaf
and therefore was unable to hear the questions put to her.
Her silence was taken as an acknowledgement of guilt.
During the course of the persecutions throughout Europe,
it has been estimated that as many as nine million people, men, women and children,
were put to death on a charge of witchcraft.
Not nine million witches put to death, simply nine million people put to death on a charge of witchcraft.
In fact, the vast majority of those executed were very devout Christians.
Such is the harvest of religious hysteria.
Certainly for many this proved an advantageous time,
for many accusations were politically motivated.
If you had an enemy, you could just mutter the word witch in the right place,
and your enemy will be taken away and dealt with for you.
Obviously with this sort of oppression, the old religion could not continue openly.
If it was to continue, then it had to go into hiding.
Wiccan groups, covens, had to meet secretly,
perhaps in an isolated clearing in the woods or in a cottage far from the rest of the village.
Outwardly, witchcraft had finally died,
beaten to death by the earthly representatives of the God of Love and the Prince of Peace.
Yet, covertly, the old religion did continue.
Here and there, a sprinkling of pagan practices managed to survive,
more or less openly, or occasionally disguised as Christianity.
Old festivals, which refused to lie down, were frequently taken into the Christian church,
perhaps with a new name.
Many pagan gods suddenly became Christian saints.
The church took over many of the old holy days, such as at Yule, Easter, Hallows Eve.
It wasn't until as recently as 1951 that in England,
the last laws against witchcraft were finally repealed.
At last, in the mid-20th century, if there were any witches left,
they could once more come out into the open.
They were free to stand up and give their side of the story.
Needless to say, none pushed forward.
Printing had been invented during the persecutions,
so the very first books published on the subject of witchcraft
were written by the opposing church.
Not unnaturally, these opinions were more than a little biased.
Later books could only refer back to this earlier propaganda.
So, for hundreds of years, anything published on the subject of the old religion
has been from its enemy's point of view.
Is it any wonder, then, that so many people hold the misconceptions that they do today?
In 1921, in a book called The Witch Cult in Western Europe,
a well-known and respected anthropologist named Dr. Margaret Murray
put forward the theory that witchcraft had actually been a religion in its own right,
with pre-Christian origins.
She expanded upon and gave scholarship to ideas tentatively advanced by Charles Leyland,
who was one of the first to attempt to draw a connection
between the witchcraft of the Middle Ages and the origins of religio-magic,
as we have seen them here.
Many of Murray's theories later proved somewhat far-fetched, or seem to be so,
and much of what she said has since been discredited,
yet much has also been accepted and confirmed.
In 1954, a book appeared titled Witchcraft Today.
It was written by a Dr. Gerald Brousseau Gardner.
In the book, Gardner said, in effect, what Margaret Murray suggested is true.
Witchcraft was a religion, and in fact it still is.
I know because I'm a witch.
Finally, a practising witcher come forward to give their side of the story,
to start the long, hard job of restoring the balance.
Gardner, after a lifetime of studying religio-magic around the world,
finally retired and settled back in his native England.
There, in the 1930s, he came into contact with what seemed to be
one of the last surviving covens of the old religion.
He was excited and delighted enough with what he found
to want to run out and tell everyone how wrong they had been about witches.
But he had to wait until the 1950s before he could do so.
Gardner believed that the coven to which he belonged was one of the last remaining.
He felt that the craft, witchcraft, really was on the edge of extinction.
He was surprised and delighted when, on the publication of his book,
he started to hear from many other covens across Europe,
each of them in turn believing themselves to be the last alive.
Gardner took over a museum of witchcraft and magic,
started by Cecil Williamson on the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea.
It was housed in an old mill, itself for centuries
associated with the local Arbery witches.
This became his headquarters, and from there he put out a second book,
complementing the first, entitled The Meaning of Witchcraft.
Until his death on February 12, 1964,
Gardner was rightfully regarded as the grand old man of witchcraft,
being solely responsible for igniting the flame of Wiccan revival.
All present-day Wiccans owe Gardner a deep debt of gratitude,
for without his pioneering work in straightening misconceptions,
it's doubtful the old religion will be back where it is today.
With the revelation that Wicca was not only an organised religion,
but a benevolent one at that, championing love and joy,
many people came to see its tenets as refreshing and eminently sensible,
and very much preferable when compared to the doom and gloom
of modern-day Western religions.
The return of the old religion had begun.
I was myself responsible for introducing Wicca,
Gardner's branch of it, to the United States,
having been initiated by his high priestess only the year before he died.
This was a time when there was no modern witchcraft visible in this country.
Initially, Gardnerian, the name given to his modified form of Celtic Wicca,
was the only form of the religion available.
It took many years for others to gain courage from Gardner and from his example
and to stand up and be recognised.
But soon it became apparent not only that the craft was alive and well,
but also, as with Christianity, that there were many different forms
of the old religion being practised and therefore available to the seeker.
In recent years there has been some dispute as to whether today's Wicca
is truly a direct descendant of the old religion of pre-Christianity,
or whether it is a much newer, 20th century-born variety, merely claiming lineage.
This is a dispute that will probably continue for generations.
I think it's unimportant which it is.
The main thing is that present-day witchcraft is now a full-blooded, thriving religion,
filling the spiritual needs of tens of thousands of people around the world.
We live in an age of reason, when people are encouraged to think and choose for themselves.
This is also, supposedly, an age of religious tolerance.
Hopefully we can confirm that by seeing Wicca finally become accepted for what it is,
just another religious path that leads to the same centre.
And what of the future of Wicca?
It still has a very long way to go to be generally accepted for what it is.
Let's not forget that we have centuries of propaganda to overcome.
Yet overcome it we shall, of that I'm certain.
It will continue to be a long uphill climb, with plenty of temporary setbacks.
But so long as there are Wiccans willing to work at educating cowans, non-witches,
and willing to keep straightening out the misconceptions,
then one day, I'm sure, we'll finally win back our religious freedom.
There are already strong steps in that direction.
The federal government recognises Wicca as an alternate religion,
it being included in Department of the Army pamphlet number 165-13,
religious requirements and practices of certain selected groups, a handbook for chaplains.
In many states there are legally established Wiccan churches,
accepted by the IRS as non-profit religious organisations.
In various state penitentiaries, prisons, and prison camps,
and in various state penitentiaries, prisoners are allowed to practice Wiccan rites,
and to be visited by Wiccan clergy.
So what are the Wiccan rites?
Just what is involved in this religious practice?
Let's look now at the mechanics of the old religion.
What does a coven, a group of witches, do?
How does a solitary witch practice?
It must first be understood that Wicca is very free-flowing,
without the stiff, unbending rules found in many other traditional religions.
It gives far more opportunity for individual expression.
There are a number of well-established traditions,
such as Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Saxon, Celtic, and so on.
There are also many non-traditional groups that label themselves eclectic,
borrowing bits and pieces from here and there.
But whatever the name, there are certain basics that have to be observed
if the group or individual is to be truly Wiccan,
rather than just falling under the general heading of pagan.
These basics include the preparation and use of the meeting place,
the form of service, celebration of festivals, belief in deity,
reincarnation and retribution, and adherence to the Wiccan read.
Let's start our study of all this by looking first at dress.
In a survey of contemporary paintings and illustrations of medieval witches,
it was found that some practiced clothed, while an equal number practiced naked.
A large number of present-day Wiccans opt for being naked in their rites.
Indeed, some traditions hold it as one of their tenets.
Once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full,
ye shall gather in some secret place, and adore me, who am queen of all witchery.
And as a sign that ye be free, ye should be naked in your rites.
Other Wiccans prefer to be clothed, usually wearing loose robes,
though naked beneath those robes.
Incidentally, rather than the word naked, most Wiccans prefer the picturesque term sky-clad,
clad only by the sky.
If you are working alone, you can choose whichever you feel more comfortable with.
If you are starting from scratch with a new group, then let it be a unanimous decision,
be it for sky-clad or robed.
Do not mix the two, and as in all things in the craft, let no one be coerced into anything.
So far as jewellery goes, my personal feeling is that moderation should be the watchword.
Within the circle, some traditions use jewellery to distinguish rank.
This is with the degrees systems, usually.
For example, in Gardnerian, all female Wiccans wear a necklace, which symbolises the circle of rebirth.
The priest and priestess each wear individual bracelets of a certain design
to show that they are who they are.
And a witch queen, or queen of the sabbath, in Gardnerian,
this is a priestess who has had other covens break off from hers.
She will wear a silver crescent moon crown and a green garter,
the garter bearing a silver buckle for each coven over which she rules.
There is only one tool used and owned by every Wiccan, that is the athame.
This is your personal tool, and it is a tool, not a weapon.
It is not used for any physical cutting, there are certainly no blood sacrifices in Wicca.
Some traditions have very definite specifications for the athame.
Generally, it should have a straight, double-edged blade and a dark handle.
The need for the double-edged blade I will show you later.
The dark handle is so that it will the more easily absorb your vibrations,
for the athame is both a storer, like a capacitor or battery, and a projector.
It is used for storing power and for directing that power.
The ideal is to make your own athame, this would certainly be the most powerful.
Failing that, buy a suitable knife from a store, but then do some work on it yourself.
Let's look now at the meeting place, the temple of the Wicca.
In the old days, especially in large covens, it was common to meet out in a field or in a clearing in the woods.
Many Wiccans are still able to do this, though not all by any means.
You certainly need to consider such factors as availability, accessibility, privacy, security,
and even such a seemingly mundane factor as weather.
The size of the circle is determined by the number of people who will be using it.
A popular size, though by no means mandatory, is nine feet in diameter.
For a solitary, a six-foot circle is far more comfortable.
If you have a large group, don't try to squeeze them all into a small circle.
Have the group take hands and stand with arms outstretched.
Then a circle that will enclose them all is just the right size.
In the centre of the circle is the altar.
No special dimensions, can be square or rectangular, though why not a better balanced round one?
On the altar sit the coven tools, and again these will vary depending upon the particular tradition you follow.
The four basics are candle, censer, water and salt.
There should also be incense.
An ancient belief is that the smoke of the incense carries your prayers up to the gods.
It also, of course, helps create the right atmosphere for the rituals.
And thirdly, it represents the element of air.
There should be a dish of salt on the altar together with a dish of water.
Salt is a universal symbol for life and as such is important in cleansing and consecration rituals.
You can use any sort of dishes to hold these.
Another possible coven tool is the sword.
It's not essential, the ethami can be used instead of it, but it is popular and suitable,
particularly for the actual ritual casting of the circle, which I will deal with shortly.
Some covens also use a wand.
This is one of the tools which has come into the craft, as have a number of things, from ceremonial magic.
It is not necessary since, again, the ethami can be used for anything that one would use a wand for.
Other items used by various groups for differing reasons include a pentacle, white-handled knife and bell.
As I said before, whatever you decide to use, have a good reason for using it.
A group of wiccans, as I have mentioned, is called a coven.
From among these a leader or leaders are chosen, the priest and or priestess.
In some traditions degree systems operate, periods of training with recognized points of advancement.
It is usually necessary to reach a certain stage before it's permissible to lead the coven.
In other traditions, however, the priest and or priestess are chosen from among the members and lead it for a set period.
Lead is the key word here.
It is said that in a coven all are like the spokes of a wheel.
No one is either first nor last. That is how it should be.
The priesthood lead the rituals. They do not rule the group.
The priest represents the god of wicca and the priestess represents the goddess.
The beginning is the whole opening ritual, setting up and consecrating the temple for the meeting.
The area has been designated, the circle on the ground.
The altar is set up. The coven members stand within the circle.
Now the priest or priestess takes the sword from the altar, or a thammy if no sword is available, and goes to the east candle.
All circumambulations start and finish in the east.
Generally all movement is sun-wise or deer-sill, seldom earth-wise or widowshins, though again this is not a hard and fast rule for all traditions.
Pointing the tip of the sword blade at the line of the circle, he or she walks slowly around till arriving back at the east starting point.
As she walks, the priestess should concentrate directing her power down through her arms, through the sword blade and into the ground.
The power originates from deity.
It sometimes helps to imagine a beam of light coming down from the gods and entering the top of the head or the position of the third eye.
Feel it filling the body, driving out all impurities, then feel it surging down the arms and the sword and into the circle.
Don't rush this part. This is the singular most important action in casting the circle and erecting the temple.
This is laying the foundation from which a cone of power may be built.
It is constructing a haven between the worlds, for it's said that the consecrated circle is neither in this world nor in the next.
After the circle of power comes the sprinkling and sensing to finalise the consecration.
Returning to the altar, some of the salt is mixed in with the water.
Salted water is in effect holy water. It is for example the water of Christian baptism.
As salt is life, let it purify us in all ways that we may use it.
Let it cleanse our bodies and spirits as we dedicate ourselves in these rites to the glory of the God and of the Goddess.
Let the sacred salt drive out any impurities in this water that we may use it throughout these rites. So would it be.
Again going to the east, the priest or priestess once again follows the line of the circle,
a spurging or sprinkling the salted water along that line.
A third circumambulation is then done, passing the censer along the line to fumigate.
Now that the circle has been consecrated, you must do likewise with the worshippers.
I consecrate thee in the names of the God and of the Goddess and welcome you to this there temple.
This is on the order of a marking of the body with the salted water, pentagram or Celtic cross for example.
Light the four quarter candles.
Here I bring light and air in at the east to illuminate our temple and bring it the breath of life.
Here do I bring light and fire in at the south to illuminate our temple and bring it warmth.
Here do I bring light and water in at the west to illuminate our temple and wash it clean.
Here do I bring light and earth in at the north to illuminate our temple and bring it strength.
At this point many traditions, though certainly not all, acknowledge the four quarters,
oft times referred to as the watchtowers of those quarters.
All hail to the element of air, watchtower of the east.
May it stand in strength ever watching over our circle.
From here the one remaining act of the opening ceremony is the invitation to the gods.
All hail the four quarters and all hail the gods.
We bid the Lord and Lady welcome as they witness our rites that we hold in their honor.
So may it be.
So may it be.
All hail.
All hail.
Please note that in the craft the gods are invited to attend and witness the rites.
They are not commanded or ordered to appear.
At this inviting wine or fruit juice, if you prefer, is drunk to the gods,
a libation always being poured first.
The ending or closing, sometimes called clearing the temple,
is usually very short but equally important.
It consists of thanking the gods for their attendance and dismissing the worshippers.
We came together in love and trust and friendship.
Let us part the same way.
Let us spread the love we have known in this circle outward to all,
sharing it with those we meet.
Lord and Lady, we thank you for your presence here,
for guiding and guarding over all of us and all that we do.
Love is the law and love is the bond.
Married did we meet, married did we part, and married may we meet again.
The temple is cleared.
There is no need for any sort of ritually breaking the consecrated circle.
The very fact of everyone moving out of it is sufficient to break it.
Now I have spoken of the beginning and the end of the Wiccan ritual,
the two slices of bread in the sandwich.
But what of the meat in the middle?
This middle section is indeed the meat.
It is the whole purpose of the gathering.
Every meeting or circle must have a purpose.
Wiccans don't just meet for the sake of getting together.
Their purpose is primarily worship, since Wicca is a religion
and is usually tied into seasonal change.
Let me go back a moment to the history of the religion.
In the early days it was possible to grow food during the summer,
but in the winter it was necessary to hunt animals for food.
So originally the year was pretty much broken down into two halves.
That division fell on Beltane, May Eve, and Samhain, November Eve,
the light half of the year and the dark half, the summer and the winter.
Later these halves were split again, coinciding with the breeding seasons of animals.
Divisions at Lunasad, August Eve, and Imbok, February Eve.
These four dividing points became times of celebration for the old religion,
significant moments in the turning of the great wheel of the year.
They are referred to as the greater sabbaths.
There are also four lesser sabbaths, the spring and autumn equinox,
and the summer and winter solstice.
Here then are eight definite purposes for circles, for religious gatherings,
times to ask for plentiful crops or to thank for bountiful harvests,
different focuses for different times of the year.
These celebrations may include singing and dancing,
enactment of symbolic plays, along with prayers and litany.
The meetings held between the sabbaths are called esbats.
There is always one at the full moon and usually one at the new moon.
The old religion operates on both a solar and a lunar calendar.
Whether sabbath or esbat, there is always a point in the ceremony
for thanking the gods for what we have and asking them for what we need.
Specific wording will vary from tradition to tradition.
With any personal prayers, however, it's emphasized that your own words
are of primary importance.
Speak from your heart, no matter how inadequate you may feel these words to be.
The religious rites, again whether sabbath or esbat,
always include a segment known variously as the cakes and wine or cakes and ale.
It is an ages-old rite around the theme of thanking the gods
for the necessities of life.
Now is the time for us to give thanks to the gods, for that which sustains us.
So be it. Will we ever be aware of all that we owe to gods?
In light fashion, may male join with female, for the happiness of both.
Let the fruits of union promote life.
Let wealth and fruitfulness be spread throughout all lands.
This food is the blessing of the gods to our bodies.
May we use it well.
Let us partake of it freely, and as we share,
let us remember that aught that we have, we share with those who have nothing.
As we enjoy these gifts of the gods, let us ever remember
that without the gods we would have nothing.
Eat, drink, be happy, so might it be.
So might it be.
And here let me give you and stress the Wiccan Read,
the one law for all Wiccans.
No Ten Commandments, no Catechism, just one law which says it all.
And it harm none, do what thou wilt.
It doesn't matter what you do, just so long as you don't harm anyone.
In working magic, Wiccans take the extra step of not harming anyone,
but of helping people.
So let me move on by coming around full circle back to the start.
Now that we know all that Wiccans do, how does one become a witch?
Wicca is a religion of priesthood.
Every witch can be his or her own priest.
This is how it's possible for solitary witches to operate.
Wiccans are not born, they are made.
They are made through an initiation ceremony,
or in the case of a solitary, a self-dedication rite.
Let's look at the dedication first.
This is not something to be taken lightly.
Hopefully you have read as many books as you can lay your hands on about Wicca.
The good ones and the bad ones.
You have researched the broad spectrum of religion
to find what seems most likely to fulfill your personal needs,
and you have settled on Wicca.
The self-dedication will be just that.
Dedicating yourself to the old gods.
An affirmation that henceforth this will be your way of life.
The ritual should be performed during the waxing of the moon,
as close to the full moon as possible.
The circle need only be about six feet in diameter,
just room enough for you and the altar.
At this stage you need have no ritual tools,
just a candle, incense, salt and water,
and a small dish of anointing oil and a goblet of wine on the altar.
You should be naked for this rite, wearing no jewellery or make-up.
Sit or kneel before the altar with your eyes closed,
and concentrate on seeing a pure cleansing ball of white light
coming down from the gods and filling your body with energy.
Feel it driving out any negativity and completely cleansing you.
Feel this light filling your body,
then expanding to fill the whole circle.
Now stand and move to the east.
Construct the circle as normal,
except that without sword or a thammy,
you will direct the power into the circle from your pointing finger.
Follow through with the sprinkling and sensing.
At that part of the circle construction,
where you yourself will be consecrated,
dip your finger into the salted water
and draw a Celtic cross within the circle on your forehead
and a pentagram over your heart.
I invite the gods to witness this rite I hold in their honor.
God and goddess, lord and lady, father and mother of all life,
protect me and guide me within this circle and without it,
in all things, so might it be.
Once the temple erected, I shall not leave it,
but with good reason, so be it.
Now meditate on the god and goddess,
on the craft and what the old religion means to you.
Then stand again.
Lord and lady, hear me now.
I am here, a simple pagan holding thee in honor.
How far have I journeyed and long have I searched,
seeking that which I desire above all things.
I am of the trees and of the fields,
I am of the woods and of the springs,
the streams and the hills.
I am of thee and thee of me.
Grant me that which I desire.
Permit me to worship the gods and all that the gods represent.
Make me a lover of life in all things.
Well do I know the creed,
that if I do not have that spark of love within me,
ever will I find it without me.
Love is the law and love is the bond, so be it.
My lord and lady, I stand before you,
naked and unadorned, to dedicate myself to thine honor.
Ever will I protect you and that which is yours.
Let none speak ill of you, forever will I defend you.
You are my life and I am yours from this day forward.
I accept and will ever abide by the wicked read,
and it harm none, do what thou wilt, so be it.
As the wine pours from the goblet,
so let me never do aught to harm the gods,
or those in kinship with their love, so mow it thee.
Dip your finger in the oil, and again draw the Celtic cross
within the circle on your forehead
and the pentagram over your heart.
Then touch your genitals, right breast, left breast,
and genitals again, forming the sacred triangle.
As the sign of my rebirth, I take unto myself a new name.
Henceforth I shall be known as Rowena,
for my life within the craft, so mow it thee.
Sit comfortably, and with eyes closed,
meditate on what the craft means to you.
It may well be that at this time you will receive
some indication that you are in touch with the gods.
I thank the gods for their attendance.
As I came here in love of them,
I now go my way.
Love is the law, and love is the bond.
So be it, the temple is now closed.
You are now a Wiccan, as much as any other person,
whether initiated into a coven or not.
Although we don't know the exact format used by the witches of old,
it's certain that centuries ago many of them,
living far from any village or coven,
followed the same sort of procedure in dedicating themselves
to the gods in whom they believed.
Universally, whether we're talking about initiation
into the ancient Greek mysteries, the modern Wicca,
Australian Aboriginal puberty rites, African rites,
Haitian Voodoo initiation, Amerindian rites of passage,
Egyptian mysteries, or whatever, they all follow the same pattern.
There is first of all a separation of the initiate
from the ordinary people.
This is followed by a cleansing or catharsis,
and then a symbolical death.
From there, new knowledge is gained, leading to the rebirth.
Wiccan initiation follows the same pattern.
For some, the entry into the circle can be frightening.
Are you certain you want to continue?
This may well be the very first time he has been there
for an actual ritual.
Standing there on the threshold with a very stern-faced young lady
pointing a sword at him and asking if he really does want
to go through with it.
He may well then and there change his mind.
But after all the study, and if his heart is true,
it's doubtful that he will.
He's therefore bound and blindfolded and led into the circle.
The blindfolding and binding are symbolic of the darkness
and restriction of the womb prior to birth,
and this again is found universally.
In some traditions, the symbolic death takes the form
of a ritual scourging or similar,
though this is not so in all Wiccan traditions.
Also, some traditions demand an oath of secrecy.
The so-called secrets usually being the names used for the deities
and the methods of working magic.
Once this has been taken, the blindfold can be removed
and the initiate is instructed in the use of the working tools.
This is the new knowledge.
He receives his new name, the name by which he will from then on
be known within the circle.
If you are starting a coven from scratch,
I would suggest that those delegated as priest and priestess
each do the rite of self-dedication
and then perform the initiation ritual
for each of the other coven members.
Once again, here we find the male to female,
female to male insistence.
Generally speaking, the priest will initiate the women
and the priestess the men.
There is little more to cover in the basics of Wicca.
One thing I have not dwelt upon is the Book of Shadows.
This is the book containing the Wiccan rituals.
I have seen some really beautifully made books
with elaborate calligraphy used for the rituals.
A word of caution though.
Don't make the writing so elaborate
that no one can read it in the circle.
The tools you use, a thammy, sword, wand if you want one,
must be consecrated after you've made them
and before you use them.
This consecration need only be done once
and does not apply to such things as candles,
censer, goblets.
It is just for the working tools.
It is simply a basic sprinkling with the salted water
and sensing.
In my book, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft,
I include rituals for all possible occasions,
including the sabbats, esbats, new and full moons,
marriage, hand fasting, birth and death.
If you decide to write some rituals of your own,
and I do encourage you to do so,
then write them to include words and actions
for as many Coven members as possible.
A Coven is a close family type group.
Wicca is a religion of participation,
so let everyone participate.
Do cast the circle. Do consecrate it.
Do invite the gods to join you.
I have spoken of the belief in a god and a goddess.
I might add that most Wiccans include representations
of these deities in their altar arrangements,
and also have them as religious figures in their homes.
Some symbolize the deities with perhaps a seashell
for the lady and an antler for the lord.
But however you view them,
all Wiccans feel very strongly towards their god and goddess,
and enjoy a closeness with them known only
by the very devout of other religions.
Along with this belief in the duality of deity
is a belief in reincarnation.
This is an ancient belief, not exclusive to Wicca, of course.
In fact, it was a tenet of Christianity
up until the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 AD.
I have spoken about the one Wiccan law,
and it harmed none, do what thou wilt.
There is a corollary to this,
and it is a belief in retribution in this life.
Rather than waiting till we die
to get our rewards and punishments,
being able to put them off,
we are right here in this life, according to how we live it.
And it's a threefold retribution.
Do good, and you get back three times to good.
But do harm, and that too will return threefold.
So within the Wiccan belief, there is no inducement to do harm.
I hope I have been able to give you
a clearer picture of Wicca through this treatment.
Due to time limitations,
I have only been able to touch briefly on the basics.
This, of course, far more to the old religion.
I encourage you to read and to investigate.
Wiccans do not proselytize,
but we do want to straighten the long-held misconceptions.
I hope I have managed to do a little of that here.
I am Raymond Buckland. Blessed be.
Round and round and circle,
Bound and evil, room of light,
Sound and collect the booty corn
Maybe all they think they're afraid
Ifoss of 들,
Fo' stand and
And sound your prodding horn,
As they do rest the wall
To you, Michelle, they must
Circle round
Unto the earth, for bound
The hardest time is nigh.