The Spiral Dance Part 9

The hierarchy is dissolved; the heavenly chain of command is broken; the divinely revealed texts are seen as poetry, not truth. Instead, a man must connect with the G.o.ddess, who is immanent in the world, in nature, in woman, in his own feelings-in all that childhood religions taught him needed to be overcome, transcended, conquered, in order to be loved by G.o.d.

But the very aspects of Witchcraft that seem threatening also hold out to men a new and vibrant spiritual possibility: that of wholeness, connection, and freedom. Men of courage find relations.h.i.+ps with strong, powerful women exhilarating. They welcome the chance to know the Female within, to grow beyond their culturally imposed limitations and become whole.

Attempts to live out the model of G.o.d-father isolate men in emotionally frozen life situations. Many men welcome release from the eternal son-father conflict of patriarchy. They delight in a model of male power that is nonhierarchical, that is neither slave nor master. While individuals may not escape external authority in their own lives, they see it for what it is: an arbitrary set of rules to a complex game. They may play or withdraw, but their ident.i.ties and self-esteem no longer depend on their place in the power pyramid.

In the Craft, the split between mind and body, flesh and spirit, is healed. Men are free to be spiritual without being uns.e.xed, because G.o.d and G.o.ddess embody the deeply moving force of pa.s.sionately felt s.e.xuality. They can connect with their own true feelings, their needs, their weaknesses as well as strengths. Rituals are active, physical, energetic, and cathartic. Ecstasy and wild, untamed energy are given a spiritual value, not relegated to the football field or the corner bar.

It is uncomfortable to be one's own authority, but it is the only condition under which true personal power can develop. Men and women are no longer content to be tame dogs or whipping boys: to place life-and-death decisions in the hands of a "fearless leader," a Pope, or a Jim Jones. Personal authority demands integrity and responsibility, but without it we cannot be free.

Within covens, men can experience group support and the affection of other men, as well as women. They can interact in situations that are not compet.i.tive or antagonistic. Men in covens can become friends with other men.

Finally, Witchcraft is fun. It offers men a chance to play, to act silly, to let the inner child come out. There are no fronts to uphold, no masculine dignity that must remain unbreached. Out of foolishness and play, creativity is born.

The G.o.d is within and without. Like the G.o.ddess, He is invoked in many ways: singing, chanting, drumming, dancing, a whispered poem, a wild shout. However we call Him, He awakens within us: REPEATING CHANTS (TO THE G.o.d) SEED Sower GRAIN Reborn HORNED ONE COME!

BRIGHT Sun DARK Death Lord Of the Winds COME HAR HAR HOU HOU.

DANCE Ici DANCE La!

JOUE Ici JOUE La!

HAR HAR HOU HOU!.

DANCE Here DANCE There!

PLAY Here PLAY There!

The SUN Child The Winter-Born KING [or] The SUN Child The Summer-Crowned KING IO! EVOHEIO! EVOHE!.

[p.r.o.nounced Yoh! Ay-VOH-hay!]

Evohe is one of the names of the G.o.d, derived from an ancient name of Dionysus, and cited as a Witches' cry in accounts of the Burning Times.

REPEATING CYCLE.

Sun s.h.i.+ne Day/s.h.i.+ne Day Forever/Day Forever Night/ Forever Night Sky/Night Sky Star/Sky Star Light/ Star Light Sun/Light Sun s.h.i.+ne/ EQUINOX INVOCATION OF THE MALE ASPECT.

by Alan Acacia horned G.o.d, tamed by love, fierce with pa.s.sion join us now gentle one, sharer, one without possessions be here now lover to men as well as women, little child, old man join us now strong in struggle, proud of earth from which you spring, and to which you fall be here now loyal son, caring father, loving brother, rape fighter join us now rebel, seed sower, sissy, one who gives support to us, we need your energy, we call for your presence be here now INVOCATION TO THE G.o.d OF SUMMER.

Lord of the colors of day Untamed Awakener of Hearts Comforter of sorrows The namer Clear-sighted dancer Morning's son Vine-ripened Seed Many-jeweled one Hunter Wild beast Guide Come to us!

You are dry Drink of us!

We are the dew-filled flowers That open To your golden shaft INVOCATION TO THE G.o.dDESS AND G.o.d.

by Valerie Kouros seedsower, Kore underground Leaflight, bloodroot, grain reborn Turning the Wheel we keep you in mind, Lovelight, sperms.h.i.+ne, flower & thorn.

Spinning the web we call you forth, Turning the Wheel with ageless love.

Earth Her body, Air Her breath, Fire Her spirit, Water Her flow, Transformed in the halls of Death, Life on life we come and go.

Spinning the Web we call you forth, Turning the Wheel with ageless love.

Kouros Horned One, Kore above, Starlight, heart's joy, ancient mirth, Spinning the Web we call you forth, Turning the Wheel with ageless love.

INVOCATION TO THE GROUND OF BEING.

Nameless One Eternal Who is found nowhere Beyond Timeless Unknowable mystery Lord of the dance, Be radiant within us, of many names and ever-changing One but appears everywhere and within all.

circle of the seasons, known by all.

Mother of all life, Engulf us with your love, See with our eyes, Hear with our ears, Breathe with our nostrils, Touch with our hands, Kiss with our lips, Open our hearts!

That we may live free at last Joyful in the single song Of all that is, was, or ever shall be!

SONG TO PAN.

by Mark Simos Should the raven catch your hair And sear a king of scarlet Upon the heart's steep stair Then, oh, the sights will you see there - A breaking of the crystal Under a dark green glare Upon the heart's steep stair Then, oh, the sights will you see there Under a dark green glare.

A dark green glare, from eyes on fire, From pools of deepest amber - Circle your castle round with briar, Still Pan will find your chamber.

Fill it to burn, don't say when, Drink your fill and drink again, Hear the ocean roaring.

Fill it to the brim, don't say when, It's Pan that keeps on pouring.

Walnut hands, the eyes of a bear - He who seeks his sorrows out May find the lion's share.

With self-same breath He tempts and warns - The fire that keeps the chill at bay Is the very flame that burns.

The flame that burns, the song that slays, When you hear what it is saying - Let Pan chase us through the maze, But Pan is only playing.

Fill it to the brim, don't say when, Drink your fill and drink again, Hear the ocean roaring.

Fill it to the brim, don't say when, It's Pan that keeps on pouring.

Dark watcher with tangled brows Puts his finger to his lips, let's hear no more of vows, Of promises we'll never keep, Nor of the secret dream That slips away as we rise from sleep.

As we rise from sleep, As we rub our eyes, To set the salt tears falling, You can cover your ears to drawn his cries - Yet Pan just keeps on calling.

CHAPTER 7. Magical Symbols.

Between the Worlds.

WORDPLAY.

i/mage mag/ic magician imagination mage mag/net imagic imagnetic imagenetic imagenesis Imagic-the image is the heart of magic which is made by imagination-what we see in the mind's eye makes magic-makes us magic-the mage-who costs the net-the magenet-magic magnet-net of subtle power dipping into the life-stream-glowing in the dark-a web that surrounds the earth Her body-magnetic field-imagnetic- how we are attracted to magic-it draws us in-we are fish caught in a magic net- imagenetic-because our genes remember, our cells remember, the source, the origin, the beginning-imagenesis-creation out of image-creation of the image--from the image all is bom-all is magic-imagnosis-this, through what we imagine, we know.

Smooth stone with a hole in the center I candles of blue, green, gold/musk/silver/a round mirror/myrrh/seven-pointed star/silk cord/eight-spoked wheel/the number of increase/the red cord/silk/gold/lead/the planetary symbols/drums/the shapes of letters/the shapes of eyes/the shape of a heart/the shape of a sound/the shape of magic.

"Do you know the old language?

- I do not know the old language.

- Do you know the language of the old belief?"

(Robert Duncan) "Do you believe in an invisible reality behind appearances?" (Dion Fortune) "No ideas, but in things." (William Carlos Williams ) "White magic is poetry, black magic is anything that actually works." (Victor Anderson (Priest of the Faery tradition) "Black is beautiful." (Aphorism of the Black Power Movement) "It's our limitations that keep us sane." Dr. Bertha Simos (Starhawk's mother) Magic is the craft of Witchcraft, and few things are at once so appealing, so frightening, and so misunderstood.

To work magic is to weave the unseen forces into form; to soar beyond sight; to explore the uncharted dream realm of the hidden reality; to infuse life with color, motion, and strange scents that intoxicate; to leap beyond imagination into that s.p.a.ce between the worlds where fantasy becomes real; to be at once animal and G.o.d. Magic is the craft of shaping, the craft of the wise, exhilarating, dangerous-the ultimate adventure.

The power of magic should not be underestimated. It works, often in ways that are unexpected and difficult to control. But neither should the power of magic be overestimated. It does not work simply, or effortlessly; it does not confer omnipotence. "The art of changing consciousness at will" is a demanding one, requiring a long and disciplined apprentices.h.i.+p. Merely waving a wand, lighting a candle, and crooning a rhymed incantation do nothing in and of themselves. But when the force of a trained awareness is behind them, they are far more than empty gestures.

Learning to work magic is a process of neurological repatterning, of changing the way we use our brains. So, for that matter, is learning to play the piano-both processes involve the development of new pathways for neurons to follow, both require practice and take time, and both, when mastered, can be emotional and spiritual channels for great beauty. Magic requires first the development and then the integration of right-hemisphere, spatial, intuitive, holistic, patterning awareness. It opens the gates between the unconscious and the conscious minds, between the starlight and flashlight vision. In so doing, it deeply influences an individual's growth, creativity, and personality.

The language of the old belief, the language of magic, is expressed in symbols and images. Images bridge the gap between the verbal and nonverbal modes of awareness; they allow the two sides of the brain to communicate, arousing the emotions as well as the intellect. Poetry, itself a form of magic, is imagic speech.

Spells and charms worked by Witches are truly concrete poetry.

A spell is a symbolic act done in an altered state of consciousness, in order to cause a desired change. To cast a spell is to project energy through a symbol. But the symbols are too often mistaken for the spell. "Burn a green candle to attract money," we are told. The candle itself, however, does nothing-it is merely a lens, an object of focus, a mnemonic device, the "thing" that embodies our idea. Props may be useful, but it is the mind that works magic.

Particular objects, shapes, colors, scents, and images do work better than others to embody particular ideas.

Correspondences between colors, planets, metals, numbers, plants, and minerals make up a great body of magical lore. I have included some sets of correspondences beginning on page 283. But the most powerful spells are often improvised, out of materials that feel right or that simply happen to come to hand.

Spells are an important aspect of magical training. They require the combined faculties of relaxation, visualization, concentration, and projection (see the exercises in Chapter Three), and so they provide practice in coordinating these skills and developing them further.

Spell casting also forces us to come to terms with the material world. Many people who are attracted to the spiritual path of Witchcraft find themselves uneasy with the idea of using magic for practical ends or toward material goals. Somehow it seems wrong to work for oneself, to want things and to get things. But this att.i.tude is a holdover of the world view that sees spirit and matter as separate and that identifies matter with evil and corruption. In Witchcraft, the flesh and the material world are not sundered from the G.o.ddess; they are the manifestation of the divine. Union with the G.o.ddess comes through embracing the material world. In Witchcraft, we do not fight self-interest; we follow it, but with an awareness that trans.m.u.tes it into something sacred.

"Work for yourself, and soon you will see that Self is everywhere," is a saying of the Faery tradition. The paradox is that in spell casting we may start with the personal self, but in order to work the magic we are forced to expand and recognize the Self that moves through all beings. Magic involves a deliberate self-identification with other objects and people. To do a healing, we must become the healer, the one who is healed, and the energy of healing. To attract love, we must become love.

Spell casting is the lesser, not the greater, magic; but the greater magic builds on the less. Spells are extremely sophisticated psychological tools that have subtle but important effects on a person's inner growth.

A spell may highlight otherwise hidden complexes. A person who has conflicts about success, for example, will find great difficulty in concentrating on a money spell. Practical results may be far less important than psychological insights that arise during the magical working. Discovering our inner blocks and fears is the first step in overcoming them.

Spells also go one step further than most forms of psychotherapy. They allow us not only to listen to and interpret the unconscious but also to speak to it, in the language it understands. Symbols, images, and objects used in spells communicate directly with Younger Self, who is the seat of our emotions and who is barely touched by the intellect. We often understand our feelings and behavior but find ourselves unable to change them. Through spells, we can attain the most important power-the power to change ourselves.

The practice of magic also demands the development of what is called the magical will. Will is very much akin to what Victorian schoolmasters called "character": honesty, self-discipline, commitment, and conviction.

Those who would practice magic must be scrupulously honest in their personal lives. In one sense, magic works on the principle that "it is so because I say it is so." A bag of herbs acquires the power to heal because I say it does. For my word to take on such force, I must be deeply and completely convinced that it is identified with truth as I know it. If I habitually lie to my lovers, steal from my boss, pilfer from supermarkets, or simply renege on my promises, I cannot have that conviction.

Unless I have enough personal power to keep commitments in my daily life, I will be unable to wield magical power. To work magic, I need a basic belief in my ability to do things and cause things to happen. That belief is generated and sustained by my daily actions. If I say I will finish a report by Thursday and I do so, I have strengthened my knowledge that I am a person who can do what I say I will do. If I let the report go until a week from next Monday, I have undermined that belief. Of course, life is full of mistakes and miscalculations. But to a person who practices honesty and keeps commitments, "As I will, so mote it be" is not just a pretty phrase; it is a statement of fact.

Spells work in two basic ways. The first, which even the most confirmed skeptics will have no trouble accepting, is through suggestion. Symbols and images implant certain ideas in Younger Self, in the unconscious mind. We are then influenced to actualize those ideas. Obviously, psychological spells and many healing spells work on this principle. It functions in other spells, too. For example, a woman casts a spell to get a job. Afterward, she is filled with new self-confidence, approaches her interviewer with a.s.surance, and creates such a good impression that she is hired.

However, spells can also influence the external world. Perhaps the job hunter "just happens" to walk into the right office at the right time. The cancer patient, without knowing that a healing spell was cast, has a spontaneous remission. This aspect of magic is more difficult to accept. The theoretical model that Witches use to explain the workings of magic is a clear one and coincides in many ways with the "new" physics. But I do not offer it as "proof that magic works-nor do I wish to convince anyone to drop their doubts. (Skeptics make better magicians.) It is simply an elaborate-but extremely useful-metaphor.

That metaphor is based on the world view that sees things not as fixed objects, but as swirls of energy. The physical world is formed by that energy as stalact.i.tes are formed by dropping water. If we cause a change in the energy patterns, they in turn will cause a change in the physical world-just as, if we change the course of an underground river, new series of stalagt.i.tes will be formed in new veins of rock.

When our own energy is concentrated and channeled, it can move the broader energy currents. The images and objects used in spells are the channels, the vessels through which our power is poured and by which it is shaped.

When energy is directed into the images we visualize, it gradually manifests physical form and takes shape in the material world.

Directing energy is not a matter of simply emoting. It is fas.h.i.+onable in some occult circles to proclaim piously that "thoughts are things, and therefore we should think only positive thoughts, because the negative things we think will come to pa.s.s." It is hard to imagine a philosophy that could more swiftly produce extreme paranoia.

Were it true, the death rate would rise phenomenally. Overpopulation would be the least of our worries-and no elected politicians would survive long enough to be inaugurated. If thoughts and emotions alone could cause things to happen, thousands of my contemporaries would have married the Beatles in 1964- And I would not be writing at this desk-I would be sunning myself in Tahiti, where the crowds would undoubtedly be fierce.

Emotion is a strobe light; directed energy is a laser beam.* No matter how much hate, envy, and rage we direct at tailgaters, business compet.i.tors, ex-lovers, and close relations, we will not esoterically affect either their physical or their mental health-although we may affect our own.

Even concentrated power is a small stream compared with the vast surges of energy that surround us. The most adept Witch cannot be successful in all her spells; the opposing currents are often too strong. As John C. Lilly says, "It is all too easy to preach 'go with the flow.' The main problem is identifying what the flow is, here and now." Witchcraft teaches us first to identify the flow and then to decide whether or not it is going where we want to go. If not, we can try to deflect it, or we may have to change our course.

To twist our metaphor slightly, casting a spell is like sailing a boat. We must take into account the currents-which are our own unconscious motivations, our desires and emotions, our patterns of actions, and the c.u.mulative results of all our past actions. The currents are also the broader social, economic, and political forces that surround us. The winds that fill our sails are the forces of time and climate and season; the tides of the planets, the moon, and the sun. Sometimes all the forces are with us; we simply open our sail and run before the wind. At other times, the wind may run against the current, or both run counter to our direction, and we may be forced to tack back and forth, or furl the sail and wait.

Sensing the energy climate is a matter of intuition and experience. Some Witches make a detailed study of astrology in an effort to plan their magical workings at the optimum times. Personally, I prefer simply to work when I feel the time is right. Of all the planets, the moon's influence on subtle energies is the strongest.** Subtle power increases as the moon waxes, so the time of the waxing moon is best for spells involving growth or increase, such as money spells. The power peaks when the moon is full, and that is the best time for workings of culmination and love. During the waning moon, power subsides and turns inward: the waning period is used for banis.h.i.+ng, binding, and discovering hidden secrets.

Spells can be adjusted to fit the time. For example, if you are obsessed with the need to do a money spell on the waning moon, focus on banis.h.i.+ng poverty. A friend of mine whose business had been limping along for two years did precisely that and realized soon afterward that most of his problems stemmed from his partner's miscalculations and lack of management. At the same time, his partner decided to quit. The waning moon had done its work. By the next full moon, the business had begun to turn around.

Energy pursues the path of least resistance. Material results are more easily achieved through physical actions than through magical workings. It is simpler to lock your door than to protect your house with psychic seals. No magic spell is going to bring results unless channels are open in the material world. A job spell is useless unless you also go out and look for a job. A healing spell is no subst.i.tute for medical care.

The visualization we create in a spell should be that of the desired end - not necessarily the means by which it will come about. We picture the accident victim running on the beach-not the bones knitting. We keep our focus on our destination, without attempting to chart every movement we will make on the way. Spells usually work in unexpected ways. In order to a.s.sure that the power does not inadvertently cause harm, we bind the spell.

We "set" the form we have created, so that the energy becomes fixed in the pattern we desire.

EXERCISE 43: BINDING A SPELL.

When you have finished casting a spell, visualize yourself tying a knot in a cord wrapped around the symbol or image on which you have focused. Tell yourself you are setting the form of the spell, as a clay pot is set when it is fired. Say, By all the power Of three times three, This spell bound around Shall be.

To cause no harm, Nor return on me.

As I do will, So mote it be!

Spells that influence another person depend on a psychic link. Power pours through you toward another-but in order for the connection to be made you must be at least partly identified with that other person. You become the other, as well as becoming the energy you send. For this reason, "What you send returns on you, three times over." The energy you project to another affects you even more strongly than the other person-because you have generated it, you have become it, and you have become its object. If you send out healing energy, you are healed in turn. If you hex or curse, you yourself are cursed.

Witches, therefore, are extremely reluctant to hex anybody.4 Some traditions expressly forbid hexing, cursing, or even healing another without their consent. Other Witches feel strongly that "a Witch who cannot hex, cannot heal." By that they mean that to use magic for destruction is not synonymous with using it for evil. Cancer must be destroyed for healing to take place. A person who threatens the safety of others must be stopped. This is most safely done with a binding spell, focused on the image of preventing him or her from doing harm. The returning energy, then, will be basically protective. If you bind a rapist, you may find yourself prevented from committing rape, but if that interferes with your daily activities you have no business practicing Witchcraft anyway. The spell may work itself out in many different ways: The rapist may be caught and convicted, or he could become impotent or even undergo a religious conversion. How it works is not your concern, as long as it accomplishes your goal.

Even binding spells should never be undertaken lightly. It is best to discuss them thoroughly in the coven, and proceed only when everyone is in agreement. Never hex someone just because they annoy you, because you dislike them or they cause you inconvenience, or in order to profit at their expense.

Such misuses of magic are demeaning, dangerous, and self-defeating. They will do far more harm to you than to anybody else.

Magic should not be used to gain power over others-it should be seen as part of the discipline of developing "power-from-within." Spells that attempt to control another person should be avoided. This particularly applies to love spells focused on a specific person. More than any other form of spells, these work far more strongly on the person who casts them than they do on the intended object. They inevitably backfire, complicating one's life beyond belief. Of course, if you feel you have grown too emotionally complacent, and need to be thoroughly shaken up ... go ahead. Look on it as a "learning experience."

General spells to attract love create fewer problems, although they tend to be more effective for attracting s.e.x than love per se. Love itself is a discipline, requiring an internal readiness. Unless you yourself are open to love, no spell will bring it into your life. It may, however, bring you a lot of amus.e.m.e.nt.

People often worry about being attacked magically. Actually, psychic attacks occur extremely rarely and are even more rarely effective. Paranoia is a far more pressing danger than psychic warfare. However, people can be attacked in many subtle ways. Envy and hostility need not be focused in a spell to create an uncomfortable emotional climate. Protective meditations and spells can be helpful in many mundane situations (see Chapter Four). The following meditation is effective whenever negative energy is being directed at you: EXERCISE 44: PROTECTIVE FILTER Ground and center. Visualize yourself surrounded by a net of glowing white light. See it as a semiporous energy field. Any force that hits this barrier is trans.m.u.ted into pure creative energy. Whatever anger or hostility is sent to you, it only feeds your own power. Take in that power; absorb it; glow with it. Maintain the filter around yourself as you go through the day.