Archive for School of eclectic witchcraft

Goddess’s of death and rebirth

darkmoon darkmoon

Death is one of the most feared aspects of human existence and also inevitable. Every religious belief will have an aspect of rebirth or at least a sort of life after death. Whether that is a simple, your go to heaven or hell, the Elysian Fields; or Tartarus or more in-depth beliefs such as Karma and reincarnated, these are personal viewpoints and all are valid and part of your own mythologies reinforced by your beliefs and understandings. When we look at the Goddess (and gods) of death or those connected to it the fall into several basic roles, The Ruler or the judge of the dead such as Hel (Norse), The guides Hecate (Greek) and those that return the dead to back to life such as Meng Po (Chinese). The goddess’s of death are often depicted as crones or demons (Christian iconology) and are feared by many. Those that dedicate their lives to these goddess’s will often refer to their goddess as the Dark Mother. The dark mother is seen as a high honour as this is the mother who shows her love in a firm handed way, the disciplinarian, the one that see your potential and will not let you slip. But at the same time she offers such rewards and secretes of deeper magicks. The dark mothers are difficult to petition due to the fact that they do not appear to those that they consider to be unworthy or whose offerings are considered not good enough. For those they considered worthy they will

Eclectic Spiritual ethics

School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics

Spiritual ethics are basically a set of rules which help you connect spiritually to the god(s) / dess(s) the higher self , the creative intelligent, ancestor spirits, elements, higher begins etc which for this section will be referred to as “Spirit” Now from a formal standpoint spiritual relates to the “spirit!” Now how you personally see “Spirit” will depend upon your path or religious up bringing. For some spirit will mean the “soul” others the “divine” and for others it could be a mix between the two or something in between. So when we look at spiritual ethics we are not looking at the “spirit” or trying to define what “spirit” is as the definition of “spirit” is a personal one. We are looking at the way we interact and relate to “spirit”. Again our path and upbringing will influence how we interact with “spirit” for some it may be in silence others in loud parties and dance two extremes, which archives the same goal, a connection with “spirit”. Now a group that connects through silence will never be able understand the techniques required to connect using loud parties and vice versa as each group with have a different viewpoint. Now as a person you have a set of ethics when it comes to connecting with “spirit” these ethics are handed down from “a spiritual leader” i.e. Jesus, Buddha, Gardener etc who have instructed you how to connect with “spirit”. Now as eclectic witches we often have a mix of spiritual ideals from many spiritual

History of the goddess – lesson 3

MotherGoddessEarth MotherGoddessEarth

When we look at the history of the “Goddess” our evidence come from several sources, “the sciences” history and sociology “verbal traditions” mythologies and fantasy and our own beliefs! The first questions you need to ask yourself is, did the universe create the “Divine” or did the “Divine” create the Universe, as this is the core of your belief. My personal stand on this is I do not know what is true but I can accept the possibility of both. Now “the sciences” will use the term “goddess culture” to refer to societies that worshiped the goddess. The best know and earliest forms of the Goddess or at least female form in sculpture is the Venus of Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE but science can only guess at it use some say goddess whilst other say it had another use. Now we know from sociologist and psychiatrists that we are designed to believe in a higher power and that we create our own divinity and when logic is applied it can be assumed that our earliest ancestors looked around and drew inspiration in the things he and she saw. The greatest of all miracles to earliest man must have been childbirth. The act of giving birth would of became a microcosm for the goddess culture which then was mirrored in external objects “the moon” from nothing growing in size then reducing in size but also the timing of this process 28 days (and a bit) the

The Goddess Lesson Three

Lesson three goddess school of eclectic witchcraft Lesson three goddess school of eclectic witchcraft

In lesson three we are going to cover the Goddess. If we can all agree on one basic statement during this section it will help in our understanding of the Goddess. Statement:- The Goddess is the female aspect, energy of the “Divine” in manifest or archetypal form in which we find understanding. The goddess is equal to the male aspect whether as opponent, reflection or opposite and no matter how we envisage the goddess “She” does exist. During this lesson I am not looking to change your view it’s designed to give you a broader view of the goddess. Throughout history the role of the Goddess has changed from the Great mother to a consult, betrayer and even demon. She has been portrayed in single form, triple form and part of pantheons. She has been given roles from creator to the great destroyer. The Goddess has many archetypal forms and just as many names. Now certain paths and religions either pay more attention to the goddess reducing the god aspect or pay more attention to the god aspect reducing the goddess role. Christianity (old and new testaments) has reduced the goddess in its belief structure to the lowest form of woman the betrayer, the slut, the murder, the demon with the highest accolades be the virgin mother (a title reduced from the original God barer which was thought to be wrong as this would make a woman the creator of gods) or a Saint Martyred for her beliefs. Wicca on the other hand has place

Creating coven ethics

School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics

Starting any coven can be a difficult thing for any pagan but for the true eclectic it can be very difficult. The reason for this is an eclectic understands that things that should not work together do! Having mixed mythologies and practices are personal so it can be difficult to explain to others the significance, this is one of the main reasons the eclectic remains solitary. Although over the years I have run eclectic covens, which are more like working groups and moots which developed. I have found that when these groups meet and connect and share information the group dynamic changes from a coven that meets for worship or feasting to a group where practices merge and learning is shared in an inclusive enviroment. These covens does not work like a Wiccan coven there is no high priestess or priest no elder keeping things in check it works more as a council where the leader for next meeting is chosen leaders would be chosen in rota new members being added to the list. Whoever is in charge for that meeting chooses the topic of discussion they will either give a talk or write a ritual that includes everyone. For the main Sabbats (and not all paths follow the Wiccan wheel of the year so some groups have other main rites added to the wheel.) meeting are normally a few days before or after the event to allow member to have their own personal rites. These Sabbat meetings would normally follow a simple outline a

The Malleus Maleficarum

Malleus Maleficarum Malleus Maleficarum

The Malleus Maleficarum is in three parts, the first of which treats ‘the three necessary concomitants of Witchcraft are the Devil, a Witch, and the permission of Almighty God’. Here the reader is first admonished that to not believe in Witchcraft is heresy. Points are then covered on whether children can he generated by Incubi and Succubi; Witches’ copulation with the Devil; whether Witches can sway the minds of men to love or hatred; whether Witches can hebetate the powers of generation or obstruct the venereal act; whether Witches may work some prestidigitatory illusion so that the male organ appears to be entirely removed and separate from the body; various ways that the Witches may kill the child conceived in the womb, etc., etc.. The second part, Treating of the methods by which works of Witchcraft are wrought and directed, and how they may be successfully annulled and dissolved;’ deals with ‘the several methods by which devils through Witches entice and allure the innocent to the increase of that horrid craft and company; the way whereby a formal pact with evil is made; how they transport from place to place; how Witches impede and prevent the power of procreation; have as it were they deprive man of his virile member; how Witch midwives commit horrid crimes when they either kill children or offer them to devils in most accursed wise; how Witches—injure cattle, raise and stir up hailstorms and tempests and cause lightning to blast both men and beasts’. Then follow remedies for the above.

The History Of Witchcraft For Cave Man To Modern Day

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Before really getting into what Witchcraft is, perhaps we should take a look back at what it was—the history of it. Witches should be aware of their roots; aware of how and why the persecutions came about, for instance, and where and when the re-emergence took place. There is a great deal to be learned from the past. It’s true that much of history can seem dry and boring to many of us, but that is far from so with the history of Witchcraft. It is very much alive and filled with excitement. There have been many books written on the history of Witchcraft. The vast majority have suffered from bias—as will be explained shortly— but a few of the more recently published ones have told the story accurately… or as accurately as we can determine. The late Dr. Margaret Murray traced back and saw Witchcraft’s origins in Paleolithic times; 25,000 years ago. She saw it as a more or less unbroken line through to the present, and as a fully organized religion throughout Western Europe for centuries before Christianity. Recently scholars have disputed much of what Murray said. She did, however, present some tangible evidence and much thought-provoking material. As a probable development of religious-magick (rather than Witchcraft, per se), her theories are still respected. Twenty-five thousand years ago Paleolithic Wo/Man depended upon hunting to survive. Only by success in the hunt could there be food to eat, skins for warmth and shelter, bones to fashion into tools and weapons. In those days Wo/Man

History of Witchcraft

School of eclectic witchcraft School of eclectic witchcraft

As I am trying to put this all together, I hope to bring about an understanding that Witchcraft, like any religion, has undergone it’s changes throughout the centuries. It is my personal feeling, however, that the religion of Witchcraft has undergone far fewer changes than any other in history. As the song sung by Neil Diamond starts: “Where it began, I can’t begin to knowin…” Witchcraft, sorcery, magic, whatever can only begin to find its roots when we go back as far as Mesopotamia. With their deities for all types of disasters, such as Utug – the Dweller of the Desert waiting to take you away if you wandered to far, and Telal – the Bull Demon, Alal – the destroyer, Namtar – Pestilence, Idpa – fever, and Maskim – the snaresetter; the days of superstition were well underway. It was believed that the pharaohs, kings, etc. all imbued some power of the gods, and even the slightest movement they made would cause an action to occur. It was believed that a picture, or statue also carried the spirit of the person. This is one of the reasons that they were carried from place to place, and also explains why you see so many pictures and statues of these persons with their hands straight to their sides. In the Bible, we find reference to “The Tower of Babel” or The Ziggurat in Genesis 11. “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar

Getting Specific about Magical Ethics

School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics

THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC: Getting Specific about Magical Ethics Sometimes a cliché just wears out. It loses meaning or, worse, begins to say things we never meant. I think it’s time to retire the phrase “black magic.” Saying” black” when we mean “evil” is nasty nonsense. In the first place, it reinforces the racist stereotypes that corrupt our society. And that’s not all. Whenever we say “black” instead of “bad,” we repeat again the big lie that darkness is wrong. It isn’t, as people who profess to love Nature should know. Darkness can mean the inside of the womb, and the seed germinating within the Earth, and the chaos that gives rise to all truly new beginnings. In our myths, the one who goes down to the underworld returns with the treasure? Even death, to the Wiccan understanding, is well-earned rest and comfort, and a preparation for new birth. Using “black” to mean” bad” is a blasphemy against the Crone. But even if we no longer speak of magic as “black” or “white,” we still need to think and speak about the ethics of magic. Although black is not evil, some actions are evil. It simply is not true that anything a person is strong enough or skilled enough to do is OK, nor should doing what we will ever be the whole of the law for us. We need a clear and specific vocabulary that enables us to choose wisely what we will do. We need to replace the word “black,” not simply to

Group Ethics

School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics School of Eclectic witchcraft Lesson 2 ethics

Over the last few weeks their seems to me some tension within the facebook Pagan community(s) which needs defusing I am not sure of how to do a mass internet group(s) healing but have been watching what has been going on which has delayed the ethics lessons because although I have seen this behaviour in off line groups and moots which have been resolved through healing and chatting over issues in an adult format with the online communities you don’t get the one to one. The main reason for this is that many people including myself have an online personality (ok mine closer to real self than most) but some use their online personality as ego trip “I know best” mentality while other just wish to share and learn like a child with innocence. When starting a group online or off you need to set a basic set of core ethics what you wish to grow. The best way to start this off is a mission statement a statement that contains your goals and aspirations. This mission statement should be available for all to see and read and by agreeing to the principles of the mission people can sign up / join your group. I have found that a mission statement is just as effective if not more so than a list of do and don’ts. My personal bug bear is that many online groups no matter how well meaning become very cliquey or are self promoting, all pagans wish to share we are good