Read The Modern Guide to Witchcraft Online
Authors: Skye Alexander
Tags: #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Witchcraft, #Religion, #Wicca
Since ancient times, all cultures have created shrines to honor deities and to mark sacred space. Stonehenge, a giant, megalithic circle in Wiltshire, England, remains a mystery today, but anthropologists think it might have been a sacred site for rituals or perhaps a shrine to deities. The Sekhmet Sanctuary at Luxor, Egypt, is a stunning shrine to the lion-headed goddess. Other amazing shrines include the Hanging Gardens of Haifa in Israel, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the Grand Mosque in Mecca. (See Judy Hall’s book,
Crystals and Sacred Sites
to learn more.)
An element shrine is a place where you can connect with one element or all four. For example, if you build a water shrine, you can include a goblet of water, a small fountain, shells, river stones, or even just pictures of a waterfall or a calm lake. A fire shrine may be a collection of candles in reds and golds set on a crimson cloth, perhaps with a small brass figurine of a lion. The important thing is to think about what each element means to you and to gather a few items that represent your feelings and intentions regarding it.
Experiment with creating four separate shrines in four different places in your home. You can try building the earth shrine in the northern part of your house, the air shrine in the east, the fire shrine in the south, and the water shrine in the west. Make sure to have one shrine for each element so that your home remains balanced.
Does your home have a room where people tend to lose their tempers or energy runs too high? It may have an excess of fire energy that arises from its décor or as a result of how the energy flows through it. Try setting up an earth shrine or a water shrine in that room to ease tension and bring harmony. Choose a peaceful picture, a pretty blue or green stone, a shell, or a plant.
If an area of your home or workplace seems sluggish or heavy, consider building a fire shrine there. A photo of a sunny beach, a red stone, a vase of red or orange flowers—whatever feels right to you. You can do this in your office or workplace, too. Nobody has to know!
Around the world, people create shrines to honor people who have died in battles or other catastrophes. These memorials, such as Footprints Fountain at Ground Zero in New York, serve as focal points for love, respect, prayers, gratitude, and hope. Not only do memorials such as these remind us of the victims and circumstances, they also hold the intentions of the people who visit, and invoke peaceful energies to help neutralize the traumas that took place there. Some people put up shrines at roadsides where fatal auto accidents occurred. When you visit the grave of a beloved friend or relative, and perhaps lay flowers or mementos there, you are showing reverence at a shrine created to honor that person.
Now let’s put together some of the things you’ve learned in the previous chapters to do a more advanced form of circle casting. Many magickal traditions “call the quarters” as part of casting a circle. Not everyone uses the same words or gestures, however. Wiccans probably won’t perform this practice in exactly the same way as ceremonial magicians do.
Before you cast your circle, erect four altars, one at each of the compass points. Decorate them as described earlier, with objects and symbols that represent the elemental energies of each direction. Of course, you’ll want to cleanse, purify, and consecrate them first. Make sure you have everything in place before you actually cast the circle. Then once you and everyone else who will participate are inside it, you can light a candle at each altar and call in the quarters.
Some people invoke angels when calling the quarters. As we first discussed in
Chapter 4
, usually Raphael is associated with the east, Michael with the south, Gabriel with the west, and Uriel with the north. The deities are invoked in this order and released in the opposite order. Or, you might choose to invite gods, goddesses, animal totems, or other spirits to whom you feel a special connection or who have links to the purpose of your spell/ritual.
The following description is eclectic and generic, but nonetheless functional. As you call out to the four directions, visualize beams of pure white light stretching into the sky and connecting you at each of those directions to the powers of the universe. In time, you may wish to customize the ritual, adapting it to the season or your intention—you can even design your own entirely:
Once you’ve established your circle and feel the presence of the beings you’ve invited to join you in your sacred space, continue with your magick spell or ritual.
Releasing the sacred space is as important as erecting it. At the end of your workings, release the sphere you’ve created, thank the powers who’ve assisted you, ask them to keep guiding the energy you’ve raised. Bid them farewell until the next time:
Your invocation can be as simple or eloquent as you wish. Use your imagination. Here’s a simpler and quicker technique if you’re short on time. Stand in the center of the circle, facing east, while you say aloud:
Before me Raphael, guardian of the east.
Behind me Gabriel, guardian of the west.
To my right Michael, guardian of the south.
To my left Uriel, guardian of the north.
Be here now.
At the end of the spell or ritual, remember to release the energies you’ve called in and thank them for assisting you.
Working with the quarters and the spirits is a lot like being in an evolving relationship with someone you respect and admire. If you treat these entities accordingly, you will rarely be disappointed.
If you were building a house you’d use a saw, hammer, carpenter’s square, drill, and many other tools. Witches use special tools in their work, too. You’ve heard of magick wands, of course, but you might not be familiar with some of the other items in the witch’s tool kit. And some objects you think you recognize may have magickal purposes that you wouldn’t have guessed.
In many cases a tool’s symbolism is an important part of its magickal value and determines its function in casting spells. Its shape and/or the material from which it’s made could be factors as well. The pentagram, the tool most often associated with witchcraft, is a good example. The five points of the star symbolize the five “points” of the human body: the head, arms, and legs. The circle surrounding the star represents wholeness, union, and boundaries, which is why magicians cast circles around themselves when doing spells. Thus, the pentagram’s symbolism suggests one of its most popular uses: protection.
Remember the pen-and-ink drawing artist Leonardo da Vinci did in 1490, called
Vitruvian
Man
? Although the Renaissance master intended it as a diagram showing the ideal human proportions, it you look at it from a witch’s perspective you’ll notice it also depicts a pentagram.
Masculine and feminine symbolism appear in many magick tools. Don’t think “man” or “woman” here; we’re talking about energy forces. The wand, athame (ritual dagger), and sword are obviously phallic in shape. The shape of the chalice, cauldron, and bell represent the womb. Masculine tools activate, direct, and project energy; feminine tools hold, nurture, and give form to energy. Both forces are necessary in life and in magick.
The four primary magick tools—the wand, chalice, athame, and pentagram—also symbolize the four elements we’ve talked about in earlier chapters—fire, water, air, and earth, respectively. Each functions in accordance with its element’s nature and brings its elemental force into play during a spell or ritual. For example, if your objective is to stabilize your finances, you might use the pentagram (symbol of earth) in your spellworking. If you want to fan the flames in a romantic relationship, the wand (symbol of fire) could have a role in your spell.
Witches and other magicians will tell you that tools are good helpmates to magick, but they are not necessary to the success of any spell or ritual. A tool is only something to help you focus your mind. Without your will and directed energy, the potential in any tool will remain dormant. A witch might talk about quartz crystals possessing energy-enhancing power, but until a crystal is charged and activated, that ability “sleeps” within. You awaken it. A focused will is all that any effective witch needs for magick. Everything else just makes the job easier.
The best known of all magic tools is the wand, which gained even greater recognition through the Harry Potter stories. Although the scene in which Harry receives his wand is amusing, it’s not accurate—the magician selects the wand, not the other way around. Until you fill your wand with power, it’s just an ordinary rod.
The idea of using a magick wand to turn your boss into a toad or to make your rival vanish may be tempting, but that’s not how it works. A wand’s main purpose is to direct energy. If you want to send energy to a person, place, or thing, just aim your magick wand in that direction and
presto
—there it goes! You can also attract energy with a wand—point it at the sky to draw down power from the heavens, or at the ground to draw up the energy of Mother Earth. Magicians often cast protective circles around a designated space by using a wand to direct energy.
According to tradition, a wand should be at least 6" long, but only as big as is comfortable for you to handle. Early wands were wooden, cut from the branch of a tree the magician considered sacred (favorites included yew, rowan, and willow). Today, however, you can find wands made of metal, glass, and other materials as well—modern witches and wizards often prefer something with a little bling. Some magicians like to adorn their wands with gemstones and crystals, symbols, ribbons, beadwork, feathers, or painted images. Others opt for simplicity. If you decide to work with a magick wand, the decorations you choose should be ones that you find meaningful and that help you to focus your mind.