Practical Witchery!, John Stormm [ap literature book list txt] 📗

Rituals: Why the work and why they fail…

Rituals are very common in ALL cultures and religions. Like spells, the real purpose of using them is lost in the superficial attention to doing them, “because that’s what we always do at this time of year”, and that is the sufficient answer to that. In a witch clan such as ours, some of us are just witches, some of us aren't witches at all, and some of us are born “adepts”. The definition of “adept” may be different from place to place, so I need to explain what this means to us, and how that relates to rituals in this chapter.

In our clan it has been our common history, that an adept witch is born every three generations. In my life time, this pattern has changed quite a bit, and such talents are becoming more common among our members. An adept witch, for us, is a witch with such a propensity of natural talents in the craft, that we can effect changes in our environments, without much more than the fact that we are focused on it. A single adept is capable of spell work, that a coven of witches might have to meet and perform an elaborate ritual to bring off. It’s been said: “Some witches PRACTICE magick, and some witches ARE magick!” The adept witches would be the latter, BUT I have to correct this thinking a little, while I have my pulpit here. ALL of you: Witches or not, adept or not, ARE “magick” or you would never have been born.

Seriously. It’s just that some of us are more aware of that than you are. But the sooner you really get a handle on that fact, the sooner you’ll find that everything has changed for you. It’s a lot like Jesus telling everybody, that they too could be the sons and daughters of God. He was fully aware of that. The disciples had to grow into that over a period of time. So do you. You may or may not be inclined to possess certain genetic talents, but that’s not entirely the issue here. You can be quite effective and powerful, in those things that your hearts are more fully inclined to, than others may be. Now, you can ask me: How does all this relate to rituals? I’m glad you asked!

Rituals are a portion of spellcraft where you draw upon the language of all the symbolisms involved in them, to help you acquire the proper frame of mind and spirit, to better connect with the appropriate powers, to create the influences needed, to meet a desired goal. As I have also said earlier in this book: EVERYBODY USES SPELLCRAFT. It’s just that this warlock paradigm has managed to separate you all so thoroughly from aspects of your common roots, that MOST of you are completely unaware of what you are doing, even when you are doing it. This was a means to take away your personal power, and put it in the hands of a “leader”, to direct that power as he wills it. However, as in my earlier illustration in Spellcraft 101, of handling that special night with your “significant other”:  Some of you are already aware, that you can be quite the miracle worker when you are properly inspired to it.

Have you ever wondered how a “magick circle” works? Or how one fails? A circle of salt, a pure white natural preservative that fights rot or corruption. It’s formed into a circle or sigil, with a pentagram and maybe even the name or names of God are written into it. A spirit, usually a demon is called or invoked into the room, and the essence of this holy sigil, that they are standing inside of, is fused in with the magician’s own aura. What the spirit sees when they enter the room, is a mage's whose aura is infused with the greater Spirit’s personal signature. So, when the magician speaks, it is with the combined authority of themselves and “God’s”. In the strictest sense of the Commandment: This is what’s known as using God’s name in vain, or misrepresenting one’s authority by such. Of course, the practice of this spiritual “slight of hand”, is to use a banishing ritual when closing the deal, to send the spirit away BEFORE the magician steps OUT of that circle. BECAUSE, if that spirit saw that magician’s aura WITHOUT the influence of the invoked sigil of the circle, they would know beyond a doubt, that the magician was only “namedropping” and does NOT carry all of said authority. That mage would be what’s commonly known among the rest of us as “LUNCH” a.k.a. “demon fodder”. There are reasons WHY things work, and reasons why they will fail under specific circumstances.  It's important to note here, that certain adepts will NOT require a "magic circle" to protect them.  The very nature of their personal relationship with Deity, will carry the signature of their influence and authority, quite naturally (or supernaturally) upon their auras.

Let’s examine one of the more common uses of ritual in spellcraft in your average American Christian parish: The parish community in our example here, has become a crime ridden community. This gets brought up to the pastor, via the deacons, and in the more common prayer requests of the congregation. The pastor recognizes the patterns in this and sees the problems and the potential resolutions. I hate giving pastors such credit for having good spellcraft, but that’s just me. The point here is: The sheep feel powerless before the local crime wave, and are in need of enough confidence and inspiration, to make them all a bit more confrontational about it. You thought I was going to say something else. Didn’t you? I tend to see things a little bit differently in this venue.

In this ritual, we have all the influences and symbolism, inherent in your average “house of God”. This is what generations of them have been led to believe, in spite of the fact that they are supposed to understand that the aspect of the Creator of the universe, cannot be so contained in such a small, steepled, stained glass box. But we have all the effects that we need in working our craft for us here. The iconic stained glass images shining down upon them, the candles arranged in a numeric pattern, the central crucifix, the well dressed, immaculate looking altar, portraying the purity of purpose to them. The appropriate cotta, robe and colored stole draped over the pastor’s neck, addresses the particular season that they are bringing their request before God (Lent, Epiphany, Advent, etc.), the music and structured service are all chosen and cued to get the entire congregation into the proper mindset. Then the congregation comes together in prayer, in one accord, and calls upon the Holy Spirit to help give them the strength of will, to bless them and empower them in their current struggles, and bring it all to a proper and holy resolution.

The result of all of this as a spell, a specific period of time where all of these influences are brought to bear, is that all of these people now feel, that all the appropriate measures have been taken, in the house or presence of God, forgetting entirely that God has been present in their neighborhood with them the whole time, to have praised and stoked His holy ego, with songs, supplications, and offerings in the collection plate, to get Him to bless, and empower them to make a difference in their community. People will find enough courage from this, to be emboldened to call the police more often, and take more action when activities are suspicious. Hey! We've got God invoked here, and He’s on OUR side now! When they start seeing the results, and changes in their situation, the offering plate tends to get just a little bit fuller too!

This is simply a matter of “religious” spellcraft. It would be deeper and more far reaching in its effects, had they actually cultivated their own relationship with this Deity, rather than merely “going through the motions” by dressing up on Sunday and pretending piety. I often wonder at, how petty and foolish people often treat the Almighty in their religious observances, and how pissed off He might be at this structured slighting of Him. This folly is also true of many small minded pagans, and others as well. It’s a typical human foolishness. But I want to say, this doesn’t negate the efficacious use of good ritual where we need it. But you have to think like a proper priest, and not the simple sheep… er, congregants.  What the symbols themselves mean, are more important ONLY in how the people relate, in how they are using them.  Such is evidently true among the warlock factions, where different levels or degrees, bring newer meanings to the symbols.  Even among the various witch factions this can be true to another extent:  One faction of Dianic or Lunar witches will use the Full Moon, as their time to cast a spell involving something "light" or beneficial, and use the darkness of the New Moon, for darker magick; for spells to obscure something from someone.  But yet another faction will use that same New Moon, to cast a spell that will increase, grow, or wax with the new cycle of the moon.  Or they will cast a particular spell, during a Full Moon to make a disease, or other bad situation, wane as the moon grows steadily smaller in its cycle.  To be dogmatic on a symbol, is to cut your power.  It's power is in how it connects between yourself and how it is used.  This is much in the same way as we use our WORDS in different contexts to communicate very specific ideas.

The idea of a priesthood, from even the earliest times, is that they are dedicated to the deities they choose to serve, and cultivate their own relationship with them. We become “closer to God” or goddess, or the likes and more, in personal communion with them, in order to better serve our communities. But if you’ve ever tried to maintain such a relationship for any length of time for yourself; you’ll understand that you don’t always feel within their “perfect will” 24 hours a day, everyday. In my own spiritual walk, I’ve noticed that in those times that I least feel like praying, are the times I most need prayer. Remember that prayer is TALKING, meditation is LISTENING. A healthy combination of these two aspects is what keeps us in communion, a two way communication. So, how do we use rituals to improve upon this and help us get where we need to be?

I want you first to note, that I’m avoiding laying out generic spells, and rituals of any sort that I’ve used in this book. I wouldn’t be helping you properly if I just wrote out generic spells and rituals. It would be cutting into your power, to make the changes that you’ll be needing to make in your environment. What I hope to do here, is relate to you how important it is, that you PERSONALLY connect, with the Spirit AND the souls of those about you: to truly make an effectual difference in the circle of society, that you have some influence in. When I said in the beginning about having an unbreakable Will and Word giving you power:  The symbolism used as "Witch's Honor", signifies that ALL powers and