101: Moon Magic

Your spells will be given a powerful boost by timing them with the four phases, or quarters, of the Moon. You can choose to use this method alone or in conjunction with other spell-boosters, but whatever you do, it is best to at least time your magickal workings with the Moon phases, as they can either make or break your spell.

Waxing Moon

The Moon is said to be "waxing" during the period of increase from the New to the Full Moon. The Waxing Moon is a time for bringing your desires to you. The first quarter after the New Moon is the strongest period for attraction, as the Sun and Moon are working together to pull in the same direction, however you should wait until at least 12 hours after the start of the New Moon to do any spell work. The second quarter begins about seven days into the lunar cycle and, as the Moon is still in the waxing phase, is a good time for workings to add to something you already have in your life.

Waning Moon

The period of decrease from the Full back to the New or "Dark" Moon, as it is sometimes called, is referred to as the Waning Moon and lasts through the third and fourth quarters of the lunar cycle. Spells are done at this time to remove, repel, or banish unwanted, negative things. Spells for getting rid of bad habits, breaking addictions, and losing weight are all appropriate for this phase of the Moon.

Full Moon

The Full Moon occurs when the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth, causing the Moon to appear as a full and complete bright sphere, marking maturity and fruition. Spells that were put in motion at the New Moon begin to manifest now. The three days leading up to the Full Moon, the actual day of, and the three days immediately following the Full Moon is a time of great energy and power and is therefore often used for particularly difficult or complex workings. Spells of any kind will be given extra "umph" when performed during this time--just remember that the energy you put out will come back to you with extra force, so be ever-mindful that your intentions are good and that they harm absolutely no one.

New Moon

Also known as the "Dark" Moon, the New Moon is a good time for spell work to begin new things. Just remember to wait until the initial 12 hours of the New Moon have passed.

101: Some good chants

We are the Flow

We are the flow and we are the ebb;

We are the weavers of the web!

We are the weavers of the web!

We are the spiders, we are the thread!

We are the spiders, we are the thread!

We are the chosen come back from the dead!

We are the chosen come back from the dead!

We are the flow, and we are the ebb!

Power Rising

We are the power of bane and boon

We are the dance of the sun and the moon

We are the hope that never died

We are the turning of the tide!

Back, Back, Back----Reincarnation chant

Back, Back, Back

Through the tunnel of my birth

Back, back, back

Thhrough the middle of the hourglass

Back, back, back

Rooted deep within the Earth

I will dream in the darkness

I will dream in the light

Remembering what once was

Recalling each and every life.

Casting the Circle

I cast the circle round and round-

Shadow of moon upon the ground

I cast the circle round about

A world within, a world without

Immanent Elements

As Air which fills our lungs with breath

And life's the birds in flight

By fire which flames within our souls

And floods our mind with light

By water flowing in our blood

From ocean's silver bright

By earth of which our flesh is formed

From which we fight the sight!

Invocation of the Elements

Soaring eagle on the wing, from your lair new visions bring

Life our voices as we sing, enter us powers of the east

Might lion of the sun, burn our heart and will as one

Glaming strength and passion, enter us powers of the south

Ancient Serpent of the deep, let us weap

Wave your myesteries here to sleep, enter us, powers of the west

Dark Bull of the Mother Earth, winter cave that gives us birth

Feed our knowledge of your worth Enter us powers of the North

Hear us, Spirit!

Tool Consecrations:

Wands:

I consecrate thee, Rod of Skill

To focalize my truest will.

May my power flow through tee;

As I do will, so mote it be.

Chalice:

By water to be purified

No adverse will within thee hide

Be clear in service unto me;

As I do will, so mote it be!

Pentacle:

An Earthy star before me rests

A vessel strong to manifest

All things that I would conjure here

Or banish forth the things I fear

As I do will, so be it be.

Athame:

Blade of settel I conjure thee

Attract such things as named by me

Draw tight the circle and round the tree

As I do will, so mote it be

Triple Goddess

Smiling Goddess, virgin cresent

Working fullness luminescent

Silver sickle, reaper of bone

Maiden, Mother, and Crone, wah-ha

Maiden, Mother, and Crone

Ancient Goddess, Daugher of Moonlight

Ancient Goddess, Mother of Stone

Ancient Godeess, Keeper of Midnight

Maiden, Mother, and Crone, wah-ha

Maiden, Mother, and Crone

Invocation of Lady and Lord

Lady of the Earth, the oceans, the winds

Mother of fire that burns within

Lord of the Dance, bringer of Light

Untamed god, Give us the sight!

Scrying:

Divine Goddess, Goddess Divine

Show me a way, Show me a sign

By the darksome night and shining day

Show me a sign, show me a way

To the Moon & Sun

Holy Maiden, Huntress, Artemis, Artemis

New moon come to us!

Silver shinning wheel of radiance

Full moon come to us!

Ancient one of wisdom, Apollo, Apollo

Bring us light!

GOlden shining sun of radiance, radiance,

Father come to us!

Transformation of Energy

Equal dark, equal light

Flowing from day to night

We call upon the deepest sight

Blessed be, blessed be

The transformation of energy!

So it flows, out it goes

Treefold back it shall be

Blessed be, Blessed be

The Earth, the Air, the Fire, the Water

Return, return, return, return

The Earth, the Air, the Fire, the Water

Return, return, return, return

Oh-ay oh-ay oh-ay oh-ay

ay-o, ay-o, ay-o, ay-o

Oh-ay, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay

ay-o, ay-o, ay-o, ay-o

101: Grounding and Centering

A Centering Meditation and a Grounding Technique

A Centering Meditation:

Sit any way that you feel comfy, so long as your spine is straight.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Take very long deep breaths

through your nose.

Each time you breathe in, hold it for two or three seconds and the slowly exhale.

Continue this breathing until you feel very calm and peaceful. This usually takes 3-

5 minutes (for some).

Take as long as you need. It is different for everyone. Just go at your own pace.

You can also use sound to center yourself. Just sit and ring a small bell or

chimes. Focus on the soft sound and breathe deeply. Keep making the noise until you

feel centered.*

A Grounding Technique:

*This works great for those times at school or work when you just cant seem to

keep still or relax.*

Place your feet flat on the floor and breath in deeply. On the exhale, picture any

excess energy flowing out of your feet and into the Earth.

Keep doing this until you feel calm. After doing this your feet may feel heavy.

Grounding and Centering 2

• Ground and center before all magickal working to avoid depleting

personal energy levels.

• Begin by being still, gathering all static, chaotic, internal energies and

releasing them, through the feet (and palms if needed) in the ground.

• Now feel the inner calmness, centered around the heart, and draw up

through the feet strong Earth energy (through the floors if indoors),

feeling the power and energy rising up and intertwining with your own

energies starting from the feet going up to the top of the head, where it

turns and travels back down and back up again until all portions of the

body are in balance.

• Once this power is felt and is in balance, then Circle casting, ritual,

divination, and spell work may begin.

• Grounding after all magickal working will help avoid overload of

personal energy levels (the energy called during ritual that has not been

depleted).

• Touch the Earth/floor with palms after magickal work and feel the excess

drain out, leaving a balance of personal energy , augmented only by that

amount of Earth (energy) necessary for healthy functioning of the body.

• Too much retained energy will result in headache, depression, or

irritability.

• Too little will result in fatigue, depression, or faintness. You must find

the inner balance, and adjust accordingly to how you feel.

101: Most important Exercises

Ex One: Divinity

This exercize is an excelent way to get in touch with your higher power, and have a better concept of feminine and masculine divinity in the universe
The Goddess is Form. THe God is Force.
Without form and force together, nothing would exist. Picture the Goddess as a raindrop. Still in form, hanging from a rooftop. When the raindrop falls, the energy and movement within the form is the Force, the god. Try and see this in all things. Divine energy and form exist in all things. This will bring you closer to the nature of the spirit. Now, write a list of examples, and for the next week, try to look for the divinty in all the things you do.



Ex Two: Sensing Group Energy
The energy we talk about is very real. A subtle force that we can all precieve.
Do this exercise with two or more people. Sit in a circle and one person should lead the group

"be aware of the energy level in the group. Do you feel alert? aware? excited? calm? anxious? tense? releaved?" (Pause)

"Energy travels up and down your spine. Now sit up, as erect as you can without straining. (Pause) Good. Notice how energy levels have changed. Do you feel more alert? More aware?

Your breath moves energy in and out your body. it wakens your body's centers of power. So take a deep breath (all simotaneously). Breath deep. Brethe all the way down. Breath from your diaphram...from your belly or womb. Your stomach should push in and out as your breathing. Relax your shoulders. Now again, notice how the energy in the group has just changed.


Ex Three: Group Breath
Someone needs to lead this, and have atleast 2 people sitting across from each other or in a circle.

"Lets take hands around the circle and sit (or stand) up straight. Now, cose your eyes, lets breathe together. Breathing the deep breath of the belly, of the womb. Inhale through the nose, and out the mouth. Inhale...........(slowly).......exhale................inhale..................exhale......
Feel yourself relax as you breathe. Feel yourself become strong, with each breath.
Become refreshed, with each breath, feel your worries floating away...with each breath, feel yourself become revitalized....as we breathe with each breath, together we breathe.........inhale...........exhale....
And we feel our breath as it meets the center of the circle....as we breathe as one, breathe one breath..........inhale..............exhale...............breathing one circle,........breathing one living organism......with each breath....become one circle..........with each breath............becomeing One".

Ex Four-Tree of Life
This is one of the most important meditations, Individual or group.

Sit in a circle and one should lead
This should also be done after Exercise 2 and 3



"As we breathe remember to sit erect. And as your spine straightens feel the energy rising. (Pause) Now imagine that your spine is the trunk of a tree...and form it's base roots extend deep into the Earth....into the center of the Earth Herself. (pause)

As you draw up power from the Earth with each breath, feel the energy rise, like sap rising through the trunk of a tree. And feel the power rise up your spine. Become more alive with each breath. Feel the energy rise. And from the crown of your head, you have the branches that sweep up and back down to touch the Earth, and feel the power burst from the crown of your head....and feel it sweep through the branches until it touches the Earth again, making a circle, a circuit, returning to the source, the roots.

And now breathing deeply, feel how our branches are all intertwined and the power weave through them, and dances among them, like the wind, feel it moving."

(long pause)

101: Magic

Defining Magic is tough - so we went to the experts.

Unfortunately, there is no single, correct answer to this question. You will find answers as varied as the belief systems which incorporate magical elements and the people who practice within each system.

In seeking a definition of the term, perhaps we should look no further than the most mundane of sources:

It is the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of various techniques as incantations that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature - Webster English Dictionary

Or we can defer to old philosophers and alleged magicians for meaning:

Aleister Crowly defined magick as:

the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

In The Lemegeton (Lesser Book of Solomon, the King), we find:

Magick is the highest, most Absolute, most Divine Knowledge of natural Philosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult (hidden) virtue of things; so that true agents being applied to proper patients, strange and admirable effects will hereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle.

Or one of these might well do:

"It is a Divine Science" -Henry Cornelius Agrippa

"Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of nature which has been transmitted to us by our ancestors of the priesthood of the Magi" -Eliphas Levi.

"Magic is the application of human Will (originating in the Soul) to the fast evolution of the Living forces of nature" -Gerard Encausse.

"The art of White magic is the art of using so-called Spiritual or invisible forces, to obtain visible results" -Franz Hartmann

For a contemporary definition, the best place to look might be the group alt.magick on Usenet. Here we we will find the term "magick" defined and accepted by the general consensus of those participating in discussion during 2000. (Seeing as these people spend the majority of their days discussing magic(k) , it is only logical they should know what it is, right?)

Some see magic as a kind of energy which pervades the cosmos. Others see it as a psychic tool by which we may influence the material world using symbols and ritual. Many see it as a means of coming to unite with the divine, some consider it to be the exercise of will or Will, or the manipulation of reality.

In other words, only the individual can determine what magick is or isn't for themselves. Magic is exactly what you believe it to be, for it requires your belief to be anything at all. As one wise and unknown Sage put it: "Magick is Within You!"

101: The three parts of self

The Three Parts of Self

Middle Self:

The Self-conscious intellect is that part of our self where rational thought

and much of the personality reside. It can be referred to as normal waking

consciousness, the middle self, the very descriptive talking-head self, or just

Talking self, and it's power is an important part of what makes us human. It is the

man in the lovers card of the tarot.

Middle self thinks, decides, and judges. It is strong in the elements of Air

and Fire, Mind and Will. It controls conscious movement, but has little to do with

the moment-by-moment operation of the physical body: breathing, circulation,

nervous system, etc. It recognizes emotions sometimes, but it is not the source of

our deepest feelings.

Unfortunately, most people act as though the Middle Self is all we are, and

that is far from the truth.

Younger Self:

It is variously called the subconscious, the lower self, or the younger self.

This level is generally ignored by the conscious level, Middle self.

The younger self is a valuable ally to the conscious mind. It is in charge of

the physical body, emotion, memory, and sensation. All that you feel, remember, or

experience in your body comes from this deeper part of you; and if you think that's

not power, just recollect the last time you were in love or sexually aroused, and

just how little your brain was involved at that moment.

Younger Self is a powerful generator and channel of psychic energy, but it

often requires the guidance of the conscious self in order to use this energy

constructively. It is the bridge between middle self and higher self; it is the woman

on the lovers card of the tarot.

In many respects it is childlike, though in the Hawaiian Huna tradition it is

represented as an animal spirit, with a mammal's deep instincts, intuition, and

immediate awareness of the sensate world. In this model, the animal soul has

evolved to the point where it is ready to become part of the self of a sentient

creature-you-but It could not function in a complex human society without Middle

Self's think ability.

Higher Self:

There is yet a third aspect to the self, which Starhawk in The Spiral Dance

characterizes as:

“the higher self or God self, which does not easily correspond to any

psychological concept. The Higher Self is the Divine within, the ultimate and

original essence, the spirit that exists beyond time, space, and matter. It is our

deepest level of wisdom and compassion and is conceived of as both male and

female, two motes of consciousness united as one.”

“Two motes” because in Faery Wicca and Hawaiian Huna, the Higher Self

is thought of as a pair of spirits who guide and protect us, as well as taking raw

magickal energy and shaping it into manifested results. They speak to us through

the still, small voice within, our intuition and sense of right and wrong.

This is the part that many religions represent as an angel or deity “out

there”, rather than within-and-without. They might also depict it as the soul,

which is understood to be immortal but essentially passive. In our model, however,

it is the part of self that is our connection to divinity, and that can channel

immense power into creation and transformation when approached correctly.

101: Basic Spell Construction

Basic Spell Construction

Because of the very nature of Magick, each working should be highly individualized and personal. Even if following a traditional spell, it should be tailored to your specific needs to be most effective for you. Understanding the basics of Spell Construction will enable you to formulate your own specific, effective spells for any purpose you desire.

Preliminary planning is necessary. The very first step is to decide precisely what your desired end result is to be. Before you can start, you must decide where you are going. You must be very explicit.

It is important, also, that you choose your time carefully. You should take into consideration all Astrological implications, energy currents and Moon phases.

The Moon is the astronomical body closest to us and, therefore, has a profound influence upon us, it is very important to choose a time when the Moon is in an astrological sign which is appropriate for your working. For example: Aries/Action -- Enthusiasm, Taurus/Renewal -- Sensuality, Gemini/Communication -- Curiosity, Cancer/Emotion -- Nurturing, Leo/Vitality -- Determined, Virgo/Organizing -- Studious, Libra/Balance -- Cooperation, Scorpio/Sexual -- Philosophical, Capricorn/Authority -- Ambitious, Aquarius/Innovation -- Social, Pisces/Sensitivity -- Idealistic.

Bear in mind that magickal workings for gain, increase or bringing things to you, should be initiated when the Moon is Waxing (from Dark to Full); when the Moon is Waning (from Full to Dark), it is time for magickal workings of decrease or sending away.

The highest energy occurs at the Full Moon and, therefore, this is the most powerful time for magickal workings. The New Moon is the next most powerful time for Magick.

Whenever possible, follow Nature's own energy flows. There is a natural time for starting things (a planting time), for maturing things (a growing time), for reaping things (a harvest time) and, of course, a time for rest and planning.

Flowing with these currents will make your magickal work much easier.

Remember to plan your project for a time of uninterrupted privacy. It is important that you have no distractions. Generally speaking, it is best to work as late at night as possible. A time when there is less frantic energy is most appropriate. You might consider Midnight or later.

In choosing a place to do your magickal working pay particular attention to your needs, for you must be comfortable. Your place should be private, quiet and secure. If at all possible, set aside a special place for this purpose only. An unused room, a special corner of your bedroom, a quiet, secluded spot in your garden. A place that is yours. A place that you can come to whenever need arises and that is as free from intrusion of others as possible.

Prior to the night of your magickal working, gather together the things that you will need. All of the things used are tools. They have no inherent magick. They are to help you create a mood. If correctly made and used, they will trigger primitive responses from deep within you. They should be chosen with care. Consider the purpose of your ritual and choose your tools accordingly. If your magick is to be sexual, your candles, oils, incenses and so forth should bring forth a sexual response. If the desired result of your Magick is tranquility, then the tools should make you feel calm, peaceful and serene. Any candles you might use should not have commercially added fragrances as these may not be appropriate for your working.

Prior to your ritual, prepare yourself and your equipment by any means necessary to clean and purify. Historically, people have fasted, followed meticulous and detailed bathing practices, practiced chastity and used many other methods.

Most often a ritual bath is the preferred method. A bath frequently utilizing candlelight, fragrant herbs, bath salts or sensuous oils. A sumptuous hot bath, special bathing preparations and appropriate lighting, combined, can create the soothing effect which will help in the very important step of relaxing and clearing the mind completely of all mundane thoughts and experiences of the day. Your ritual bath should, also, begin to set the specific vibrations conducive to your purpose into motion. You must not only cleanse and purify but must also begin to create the type of energy necessary. Once your purification process has been accomplished, you are now ready to begin. Proceed to the special place you have previously chosen in which to perform your magick. If at all possible, you should make use of the primitive responses set into motion by a well chosen piece of music. Your music should start slowly and build to a rousing climax.

As you use your oils, light your candle or incense (or utilize any other tool you have chosen), you should begin to further intensify the energy that you have set into motion around you. A high degree of intensity is vitally important.

The Altered State of Consciousness that you must reach is not a meditative state. Anything that interferes with your ability to concentrate upon, reach and control the high energy state necessary to perform magick should be avoided, such as screaming children, a sink full of dirty dishes, use of alcohol or drugs, etc.

Do not scatter your energy by attempting to do more than one magickal working at a time.

Remember that Magick is the manipulation of energy, a thought is a form of energy and a visualization is an even stronger form of energy. Your visualization can be a method used to intensify further and direct your will. Your visualization can be the method by which you control the magickal energy you have produced. You must know what you want. You must see it. You must feel the high energy flow. You must direct it.

One of the most important elements in the practice of any form of Magick is the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. This means that whatever you do (or don't do) you cause something to happen.

The most important consideration is the Universal Law of Retribution. This means that no matter what you do, it comes back to you in like kind.

It is the nature of things that as you send something out it gains momentum, so that, by the time it comes back to you, it is three times stronger. If you do something nice for someone, someone will do something nicer for you.

"As you weave and

spin your spell,

Three fold return

the tale will tell."