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 working. Sable Aradia, in her book The Witch’s Eight Paths of Power, expands on each of these methods without judgment, offering exercises and techniques to help witches access each path effectively. I won’t attempt to recreate her work here, only briefly outline the eight paths and their nature.
There are light paths and dark paths to power. These aren’t moral judgments but rather an expression of cost — light paths draw on personal power or ambient energy, which can be recharged, and dark paths draw on the life-force of the practitioner, which is not so easily rejuvenated. For most spells, like those for prosperity, protection, and healing, the light paths are appropriate. There are other magickal operations, however, such as shamanic journeywork, which require the use of the dark paths.
Meditation or Concentration
This is the most basic path to power. If you will something to be, then it is manifest. The power comes from your personal power, your creative drive, and your will to triumph over adversity.
Trance States and Astral Projection
This path to power involves either letting some other entity from the spirit world use your body through trance or by you leaving your body and entering the spirit world. The power comes again from your personal power. This path, when used, can often leave the practitioner feeling drained and needing to spiritually and physically recharge after the working.
Drugs, Wine, and Incense
Intoxication through wine, cannabis, psilocybin, amanita, or refined drugs, as well as burning intoxicating substances such as bay leaves, changes the state of consciousness and can be a source of magickal power if harnessed through will. The key here is to focus on the work at hand while intoxicated and to focus your will on that work. The power here comes from an expanded access to the spirit world and its energetic resources. It’s considered a ‘dark’ path to power because the intoxicating substance affects the life-force.
Dance and Ritual
Dance and ritual are based in movement. Dancing raises energy through personal power and creates an atmosphere of energy that can be drawn upon. Ritual (moving in circle a certain way, performing certain acts, using the same tools and garments) raises energy through the power of repetition; the acts themselves have magickal power that can be drawn upon. This is why tai chi practitioners move energy effortlessly through movement — the repetition of movements makes the magickal act almost automatic.
Chants and Spells
Chants and spells are based in words, and words themselves have power. Gardner recommended that the spell should be spoken in rhyme, with a particular rhythm to guide the speech. This aids in memorization but also builds power through the sound and rhythm of the words. Chants and spells are effective methods of raising power in most cases. The rhythm and rhyme create an energy pattern that can be focused into magick; the meaning of the words reinforces that energy pattern.
Blood and Breath Control
Blood and breath control, in Gardner’s practice, involved using the cords to restrict the limbs and create a numb or tingling sensation or to restrict the breath to produce a heady, dizzy sensation. Either way, this path to power draws on the life-force of the person using it, which makes it a powerful and dangerous path to use. Because it draws upon life-force rather than personal power or ambient energy, it’s considered a ‘dark’ path to power.
Scourging
Scourging involves rhythmic sensation that sensitizes parts of the body, usually the shoulders and back. This sensation can range from a thuddy massage-like sensation to stinging pain depending on the thickness of the falls on the scourge, whether or not the scourge is knotted, and how hard it is being wielded. The point here is to harness personal power by entering an altered state of consciousness as a result of the scourging. This is why flogging is so popular in BDSM. Because it can involve pain, which activates the life-force of the practitioner, it’s also considered a ‘dark’ path to power.
The Great Rite and Sex Magick
The Great Rite draws upon cosmic power of Deity as well as the life-force of the practitioner to generate energy through the union of self and Deity. This can be done through a sex act with another person, but it can also be done alone, with or without any sexual contact. Sex magick, by contrast, draws from the personal power and intermingled life-force of the practitioner’s sexual energy as it is raised. Either way, these are powerful means of raising energy. It’s considered a ‘dark’ path to power because it taps into the life-force of the practitioners.