witches acient 22:09 Mar 27 2013
Times Read: 332
The Goddess' only law is "Love unto all beings."
But the love we value is not the airy flower power of the hippies or the formless, abstracted agape of the early Christians.
It is passionate, sensual, personal love, eros, falling in love, mother-child love, the love of one unique human being for other individuals, with all their personal traits and idiosyncrasies.
Love is not something that can be radiated out in solitary meditation-it manifests itself in relationships and interractions with other people. It is often said "You cannot be a witch alone"-because to be a witch is to be a lover, a lover of the Goddess, and a lover of other human beings.
The coven is still the basic structure of the craft, and generally covens meet at the times of full moons and the major festivals, although some meet also on new moons and a few meet once a week. A coven is a small group, at most of thirteen members-for the thirteen full moons of the year. Its small size is important. Within the coven, a union, a merging of selves in a close bond of love and trust, takes place. A coven becomes an energy pool each member can draw on. But, because the group remains small, there is never the loss of identity and individuality that can happen in a mass. In a coven, each person's individuality is extremely important. Each personality colors and helps create the group identity, and each member's energy is vital to the working of the group.
Covens are separate and autonomous, and no one outside the coven has any authority over its functioning. Some covens may be linked in the same tradition-meaning they share the same rituals and symbology-but there is no hierarchy of rule. Elder witches can and do give advice, but,only those within the coven may actually make decisions.
Covens are extremely diverse. There are covens of hereditary witches who have practiced rites unchanged for hundreds of years, and covens who prefer to make up their own rituals and may never do the same thing twice.
There are covens of "perfect couples"-an even number of women and men permanently paired, and covens of lesbian feminists or of women who simply prefer to explore women's spirituality in a space removed from men. There are covens of gay men and covens that ust don't worry about sexual polarities. A few covens are authoritarian-with a high priestess or high priest who makes most of the decisions. (Coveners, of course, always have the option of leaving.)
Most are democratic, if not anarchic, but usually older or more experienced members-"elders"-assume leadership and responsibility. Actual roles in rituals are often rotated among qualified coveners.
Rituals also vary widely. A craft ritual might involve wild shouting and frenzied dancing, or silent meditation, or both.
A carefully rehearsed drama might be enacted, or a spontaneous poetic chant carried on for an hour. Everyone may enter a deep trance and scry in a crystal ball-or
they may pass around a bottle of wine and laugh uproariously at awful puns. The best rituals combine moments of intense ecstasy and spiritual union, with moments of raucous humor and occasional silliness.
The craft is serious without being dry or solemn. Whether formal or informal, every craft ritual takes place within a circle-a space considered to be "between the worlds," the human world and the realm of the Goddess.
A circle can be cast, or created, in any physical space, from a moonlit hillside to the living room of a modern apartment. It may be outlined in stones, drawn in chalk or paint, or drawn invisibly with the point of a sword or ceremonial wand. It may be consecrated with incense, salt water, and a formal invocation to each of the four quarters of the universe, or created simply by having everyone join hands.
The casting of the circle begins the ritual and serves as a transition into an expanded state of consciousness.
The power raised by the ritual is contained within the circle so that it can reach a higher peak instead of dissipating.
The Goddess, and if desired, the Horned God (not all traditions of the craft relate to the male force) can be invoked once the circle is cast. An invocation may be set beforehand, written out and memorized, but in our coven we find the most effective invocations are those that come to us spontaneously, out of the inspiration of the season, the phase of the moon, and the particular mood and energy of the moment.
Often we invoke the Goddess by chanting together a line or phrase repeated over and over: "Moon mother bright light of all earth sky, we call you" is an example.
As we chant, we find rhythms, notes, melodies, and words seem to flow through us and burst out in complex and beautiful patterns. Chanting, dancing, breathing,
and concentrated will, all contribute to the raising of power, which is the essential part of a craft ritual. Witches conceive of psychic energy as having form and substance that can be perceived and directed by those with a trained awareness.
The power generated within the circle is built into a cone form, and at its peak is released-to the Goddess, to reenergize the members of the coven, or to do a specific work such as a healing. When the cone is released, any scattered energy that is left is grounded, put back into the earth, by falling to the ground, breathing deeply, and relaxing.
High-energy states cannot be maintained indefinitely without becoming a physical and emotional drain-any more than you could stay high on methedrine forever without destroying your body.
After the peak of the cone, it is vital to let go of the power and return to a calm, relaxed state. Silent meditation, trance, or psychic work are often done in this part of the ritual. (Our Note: To see how this has been adopted in neo-paganism Click Here.)
Energy is also shared in tangible form-wine, cakes, fruit, cheesecake, brownies, or whatever people enjoy eating. The Goddess is invited to share with everyone, and a libation is poured to her first. This part of the ritual is relaxed and informally social, devoted to laughing, talking, sharing of news and any business that must be done. At the end, the Goddess is thanked and bid farewell, and the circle is formally opened.
Ending serves as a transition back into ordinary space and time. Rituals finish with a kiss and a greeting of "Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again." (See more on the Zoe Group and the Ceremonial Circle and the "Look to the Hills" use of New Age techniques)
Click here to see the appeal of Zoroastrianism as the "mother" of Christianity?
See Fred Peatross defining the emerging church at the end of the Christendom era.
The underlying forms of craft rituals evolved out of thousands of years of experience and understanding of human needs and the potentials of human consciousness. That understanding, which is part of women's lost heritage, is invaluable, not just in the context of rituals and spiritual growth, but also for those working toward political and social change, because human needs and human energies behave the same in any context. Witches understand that energy, whether it is psychic, emotional, or physical, always flows in cycles. It rises and falls, peaks and drops, and neither end of the cycle can be sustained indefinitely, any more than you could run forever without stopping. Intense levels of energy must be released and then brought down and grounded; otherwise the energy dissipates or even turns destructive.
If, in a ritual, you tried to maintain a peak of frenzy for hours and hours, you would find that after a while the energy loses its joyful quality,
and instead of feeling union and ecstasy, you begin to feel irritated and exhausted. Political groups that try to maintain an unremitting level of anger-a high-energy state also run out of steam in precisely the same way. Releasing the energy and grounding out allows the power itself to work freely.
It clears channels and allows you to rest and recharge and become ready for the next swing into an up cycle.
Releasing energy does not mean losing momentum; rather, real movement, real change, happens in a rhythmic pattern of many beats, not in one unbroken blast of static. Craft rituals also add an element of drama and fantasy to one's life.
They allow us to act out myths and directly experience archetypes of symbolic transformation.
They allow us, as adults, to recapture the joy of childhood make-believe, of dressing up, of pretending, of play. Magic, by Dion Fortune's definition, "the art of changing consciousness at will," is not so far removed from the creative fantasy states we enter so easily as children, when our dolls become alive, our bicycles become wild horses, ourselves arctic explorers or queens. Allowing ourselves, as adults, to play and fantasize with others, puts us in touch with the creative child within, with a deep and rich source of inspiration.
The craft also helps us open our intuitive and psychic abilities. Although witchcraft is commonly associated with magic and the use of extrasensory powers, not all covens put a great deal of stress on psychic training. Worship is more often the main focus of activity. However, any craft ritual involves some level of psychic awareness just in sensing the energy that is raised. Ordinarily, the way into the craft is through initiation into an already established coven. However, because covens are limited in size and depend on some degree of harmony between personalities, it is often difficult to find one that is open to new members and that fits your preferences.
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