Sound has been on my mind a lot lately. I’m teaching my students about the power of recitation, vibration, intonation, and resonation in magick through the use of the Qabalistic Cross, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Middle Pillar exercise. These ceremonial magick operations are part of our tradition’s spiritual heritage, and…
The Kingdom of Heaven is in this very moment, properly understood. I don’t remember now whether I heard that in a college religion course or at a sermon one Sunday as a child, but it has stuck with me for decades. I’ve interpreted it in various ways over the years, but I’ve come to understand…
For a long time, I thought a coven was a group of people who practiced magick together. It didn’t occur to me until embarrassingly late in my practice – in a coven, mind you! – that there was more to the coven than people getting together a couple of times a month for celebration and…
The Four Words of the Magus — to know, to dare, to will, to keep silence — were first written by Eliphas Levi, a 19th Century French occultist. Aleister Crowley added a fifth word later on — to go — and the basis of the Witches’ Pyramid was formed. The Witches’ Pyramid wasn’t referred to…
The ritual of Cakes and Wine (also called Cakes and Ale or the Simple Feast) seems like it was ripped directly from the Christian Eucharist. And to a certain extent, it was. The early practitioners of Wicca were brought up in the Church of England, where weekly Communion is a hallmark of the faith. But…