How to Become a Witch by Amber K. (large ebook reader txt) 📗

like? What men do you know who are strong and inspiring? Do you connect with the masculine divine as an individual god (Zeus, Pan, Cernunnos, Odin) or as the all-pervasive God? Imagine a bold, strong youth leading you into a forest to share the secrets that he has learned through his wanderings. Then imagine a young warrior showing you how to use a bow and arrow, like magick, to hit your target. Imagine a kind father who speaks of the joy of fatherhood and family. And finally, imagine a wise old sage who answers your most important question about magick. Write their gifts in your Book of Shadows.

Living as a Witch in the World: Where and when do you feel most in touch with spirit? When do you feel awe, peace, connection, belonging, and joy? If it’s a place you can go to in person, go there at least once a month to renew your spirit. If you can’t go there in person, take the trip in your imagination. Feel whatever feelings come up, and take the opportunity to ask your intuition for guidance. Always write your thoughts in your Book of Shadows.

Elemental Symbols And Your Personal Altar

Almost every Witch has an altar. It can be elaborate or simple, but it will probably become the focal point of your daily practice, as explained later in chapter 6. Choose a place for your altar: in the center of a room, along one wall (traditionally either the east or north), in a closet or drawer, or on a shelf. Find a quiet span of time to set up your altar. You may choose to use just one altar cloth all the time or change it with the seasons. A basic Witch’s altar usually includes the following items:

Symbols of Goddess and God or a statue or picture of one’s patron deity

Two candlesticks with candles, called “lamps of art”

An air symbol, usually in the east (such as an incense burner or a feather)

A fire symbol, usually in the south (such as a red candle)

A water symbol, usually in the west (such as a seashell or bit of driftwood)

An earth symbol, usually in the north (such as a stone or crystal)

Small dishes or bowls holding salt and water

A fire-making tool (wooden matches will do)

Your ritual tools: pentacle, wand, chalice, and athame (see chapter 4)

Working tools such as tarot cards, runes, essential oils, herbs, etc., that you may need for a particular magickal working (we’ll get to these later in the book)

And, in our tradition, a coyote (see chapter 8)

As you gather objects to represent the elements on your altar, pass each one through incense smoke and sprinkle it with saltwater to cleanse it before placing it on the altar with reverence. The objects on your altar may be changed whenever you like; your altar should be a living thing, used often and reflecting your growth as a Witch.

Once your altar is set up, sit before it and do the following exercise:

Five Elements Breath: Breathing rhythmically and slowly, visualize white clouds in a vast, sunlit blue sky, and inhale the refreshing power of air. Exhale all tension and any negative thoughts.

Now visualize the shimmering heat and white sands of a hot desert, and inhale the exhilarating power of fire. Exhale all tension and tiredness.

Next, visualize the rolling green waves of a wide sea, and inhale the rejuvenating power of water. Exhale all tension and any emotions you don’t need.

Now visualize great, rocky snow-capped mountains mantled with green forests, and inhale the solid power of earth. Exhale all tension and weakness.

Then visualize your favorite goddess or god, shining, beautiful, and smiling, embracing you; inhale the exquisite power of spirit. Exhale all that is not perfect.

Finally, visualize a glowing pentagram radiating all the colors of the rainbow, and inhale the power of life—balanced, whole, and well. Exhale and give thanks.

The elements of the pentagram are the building materials of the universe. All that we experience can be understood as being of earth, air, fire, water, or spirit, or some blend of these.

A personal altar

There is a model from India, the Tattvic system, that expands upon the basic five elements. They speak of permutations such as earth of air, air of air, fire of air, water of air, spirit of air, and so on for each of the elements. Each of these also represents a metaphysical portal where one can enter and explore these deeper mysteries of the elements in combination. This is fascinating work that you can look forward to doing as you advance in your learning.

You, too, are a blend of earth and air, fire and water, filled and guided by spirit. May you be a living, shining example of the elemental balance that we see in the pentagram.

Chapter 4

Bell, Book, and Candle

Equipping the New Witch

Based on knowledge, filled with love,

Touching magick, wielding power,

As below, so above,

I am a Witch at every hour.

Did you think this chapter was going to start off with “Buy a pointy hat, a broom, a cauldron, and a black cat”? No? Good—because that’s window dressing, and sadly stereotypical. Neither will we start with a wand like Harry Potter’s, although a wand is a part of the modern Witch’s toolbox, so it is a part of this chapter. A Witch’s tools are aids to the mind and imagination when doing magick, but the tool doesn’t make the Witch. There is a saying that an adept has the use of everything but is dependent on nothing. We would amend this to say that the Witch is dependent on nothing outside him- or herself—but what is inside the Witch is vital.

So what are these internal qualities? They are those attributes of self that define the Witch. Let’s start with the Witches’ Pyramid, a neat encapsulation of what it means to be a Witch and to do magick, captured in the following rhyme:

Knowledge as a base of stone,

Will to call the thing my