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Secrets of the Circle Casting: Creating Effective Sacred Space
Ivo Dominguez Jr. wrote in his book Casting Sacred Space: The Core of All Magickal Work that if we lost everything about our religion except the way to cast the magick circle and its symbolism then the religion could be renewed from that single seed. Far from a perfunctory act, to cast the circle is…
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The Sacred Fire: Kindling Life in the Circle
n my tradition, we have two different types of fire represented in the Circle: Elemental Fire, which dwells in the South, and Sacred Fire, which dwells in the Center. Elemental Fire is meant to represent the transformative quality of the element. Sacred Fire, on the other hand, is a conjoining of all the Elements: Earth…
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The Fivefold Kiss: Understanding the Controversial Blessing
The Fivefold Kiss is a blessing ritual first seen in the Gardnerian First Degree Initiation. It involves the priestess or priest (of the opposite gender polarity of the initiate) to kneel and kiss five points on the initiate’s body: the feet, the knees, the groin, the breast, and the lips. He then kneels at her…
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The Three Great Mysteries: Uncovering the Secrets of Magick
The Second Degree Initiation ritual in the Gardnerian Book of Shadows contains a priestly monologue in which the initiate is instructed about the Mysteries of Life: “For there be three great mysteries in the life of man — love, death, and resurrection in a new body — and magic controls them all. To fulfill love…
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The Eightfold Path: Raising Power for Magick
Gerald Gardner wrote about the Eightfold Way, also known as the Eight Paths to Power, in 1953 and again in 1957. He said essentially the same thing in both drafts, namely that combining the eight paths in certain combinations added more power to the rite and that intention and proper preparation were essential to the…
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Meeting Your Ancestors: Beginning Ancestor Veneration at Samhain
Ancestor veneration can be a tricky subject for the newcomer. Whether you’re new to the Craft or just new to the concept of incorporating ancestors into your practice, it can be a challenge. First of all, not everyone knows their biological ancestors. And not everyone has nice ancestors. In fact, most people have some assholes…
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Embracing Queerness as a Witch: Subverting Norms and Gaining Power
One of the great Mysteries of the Craft is that each of us is a perfect, amazing, flamboyant, paradoxical reflection of the Divine. Of course, this Mystery looks cheap on paper. Until its full power is realized through direct experience, it seems obvious, cliché, tawdry. The experience of the Mysteries is what makes them powerful…
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The Circle
The ritual circle at Taz and Alex’s house was the main feature of their verdant back yard. It was eighteen feet in diameter with twelve stones — limestone, marble, quartz, granite, and others — marking the circumference. Wild strawberry plants surrounded the southern half of the circle, and the northern half was marked by three…
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Dechristianizing Yourself: Criticizing the Institutional Church
While Wicca as a religion is now old enough to have grandchildren — children raised in the faith by parents who were raised in the faith by parents who converted to the Craft — there are still plenty of practitioners who come to Wicca and other traditions in Paganism from Christianity. And many of them…
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Mental Health and the Craft: Finding the Balance Between Magical Thinking and Magickal Thinking
Mental health is a subject near and dear to my heart because I struggle with several major conditions. I have Bipolar I Disorder, and I have experienced visual and auditory hallucinations while in manic and depressive states. I have Autism and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. I have been frankly suicidal on more than one occasion. And…