The Way of the Witch
...le begins again. The moon is a great representation of the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. The God is her opposite and in so he is her completion. An example of the importance of opposites is that you cannot have light without dark. One cannot understand pleasure without pain. He is a symbol of regeneration and rebirth. He is the healing force and the sacrifice. He sacrifices himself every year along with all that must die so that the land may rest, rejuvenate, and be reborn again. He is called many names in different cultures, as is the Goddess. His symbol is the mighty sun. Wiccans celebrate the changing of the seasons by the “life” of the God. He is born in the winter, grows in the spring, becomes a man in the summer, and withers away in the fall. His death is at the time of last harvest, which is Samhain (or some call it Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, etc.). As the God brings death, the Goddess (the force behind all nourishment and fertility), brings life anew through the phenomenon of reincarnation. This happens at the time of Yule (Dec. 21) or more appropriately called the Winter Solstice. This is the time when the sun grows stronger again and light begins to return to the world, and in so it is “reborn”. Let me know if I’ve lost you on this J Basically, the Goddess and the God are the twin divine beings, the balanced, equal expressions of the ultimate source of all. We DO NOT worship the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, or whatever you want to call it. In fact the creation of those labels is thanks to the Christian/Judaica movement. They took the Pagan Gods that were worshipped and decided to demonize them in order to get pagans to join their path. A great many of their practices and beliefs were borrowed from pagans faiths and construed into theirs (i.e. rituals, the Trinity, the Mother Mary, reincarnation of Jesus, the multiple vastly different Saints). I’m not knocking those religions but the coincidences and written facts of when those religions were ‘created’ are phenomenal. One of the representations of the God is that of the Horned God. Usually he is drawn/seen as wearing a headdress of antlers. This is because he was most associated with masculine animals/creatures especially the stag or male deer. In short this representation was taken and demonized into something negative. Obviously it worked for a while and people were either too scared to practice their own religion or learn about it. Yet, there are the wonderful few that stuck to their beliefs and met secretly until they were able to expose themselves again in the 1800’s. Magick As I’ve already tried to state above, the earth/universe is filled with powers/energies/forces. Magick is used to shape these forces into positive influences. Magick is pro-life, pro-love, and pro-healing. It is an interactive process of spiritual growth and psychological transformation. The spiritual plane rests upon the material plane. So one has to learn and experience this interconnections on a daily basis. It is this interconnection that allows the spiritual to influence the material or vice versa. Hence the term “magick” is created. A wise spiritual leader, Mr. Scott Cunningham, put it best: “The Body is alive, and all Life is an expression of the Divine. There is a spiritual, Magickal power in the Body and in the Earth, just as there is in Mind and Spirit. With Love and Will, we use the Mind to link these aspects of Divinity together to bring about change. We add to the beauty of all—for to work Magick we must work in concert with the Laws of Nature and of the Psyche. Magick is the flowering of our Human Potential. Practical Magick is concerned with the Craft of living well, in harmony with the cycles of Nature and the seasons of the earth. We increase the flow of Divinity in our lives, and in the world around us, through the things we make with hand and mind. All our acts of Will and desire are magickal acts.” Have you ever leaned against a tree and was comforted from it? Have you ever watched a flower bud and feel the life trying to break free? The act of birth, be it animal or human, is the most amazing example of this. Have you ever held a rock and found it pulsing? Do you ever watch the wind blow: it can blow softly and caress, or it can get angry and destroy. Have you ever just taken your hand and dig them deeply in soil only to find a sudden rejuvenance? Now think how many people love mud bathsJ These are just little things and I could keep going but I’m just trying to show that there is magick and life energy all around. Take a walk outside and feel the life and energy surrounding you. Let it flow in and touch your soul. One just has to embrace it for what it is. The Three-Fold Theory This is really simple. Karma is return of energy put forth. If one puts forth positive energy, then it will return to them three-fold. The three aspect comes from the cycle of three (rebirth, life, death), the three aspects of the moon (waxing, full, waning), the female aspect (maiden, mother, crone) and so on. Sometimes the Goddess is seen in a triple form. The symbolism of the number three is very special. You know that old saying ‘Everything comes in threes’. Ever question the meaning behind it? So, if one puts forth negative energy it will then return to them three-fold. Ever hear the term ‘bad karma’? Well that means the person is feeling the negative impact of a negative thought or action. The Four Elements The Goddess and the God are the two balanced sides of the ‘All’, or ‘life force’. What springs from them are forces comprised of both physical and spiritual elements which are fundamental to the creation process and support of life. Understanding and identifying them helps one to understand the universe and energies. The symbolic representations of these forces are Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. By identifying each objects force/energy we can gather a better understanding of it. This can be used to better our own reality and environment. Air is the element of intellect, instinct, and intuition. It is the realm of thought and creation. Air is the clear, uncluttered, pure visualization which is a powerful tool for change. Air is masculine because of it expanse and active style. It rules over learning, instruction, freedom, obtaining knowledge, etc. Air rules the East because it is the direction of the greatest light, the light of wisdom and consciousness. Fire is the powerful element of change, will, and passion. It is a frightening, primal element because of its quickness and power. It rules over energy, authority, sex, healing, destruction of negativity or illness, purification, etc. Its direction is the South, the place of greatest heat. Water is the element of purification, subconscious mind, love, dreams, and emotion. This is the element that I am most drawn to. Water is fluid and in constant change as are we. Our emotions are in a constant state of flux. It absorbs, germinates, and permeates. It rules over pleasure, friendship, marriage, fertility, happiness, pain, healing, sleep, dreaming, the psyche, and purification. It is a feminine element that directs from the West. And last but not least, Earth inhabits the Northern direction. This not only represents the physical earth, but all that is stable, solid, and dependable. It is the foundation of the elements. It is the realm of abundance, prosperity, and wealth (not just material, but spiritual). Earth is a feminine element because it is nurturing, moist, and fruitful. Perhaps that is why we see the Mother Goddess represented by the Earth, the fertile creatress of nature. Do you know why we feed a cold, and starve a fever? Because everything is a combination of two qualities of the four elements: Fire is warm and dry; air is warm and moist; water is cold and moist; earth is cold and dry. When the body is in a normal state it is slightly warm and moist. The illness changes it. A fever makes the body much warmer and may make it more moist due to the perspiration. A cold without fever feels cold and moist. According to most studies, the process of digesting food increases the warmth of the body. Eating thus tends to help counter cold illnesses, but worsens hot ones. So…feed a cold, starve a fever. Every individual has a particular balance of elemental qualities, and they can prevent some illnesses yet foster others. So you counter the imbalance with its opposite. Make sense? Cayenne pepper is a hot, dry herb and so...