“What is witchcraft? Witchcraft is worshipping the Old Gods on a moonlit night on a high tor on Dartmoor. Witchcraft is tying nine knots in a red thread. Witchcraft is walking in the spirit world. Witchcraft is catching the moon in a mirror. Witchcraft is collecting rowan berries. Witchcraft is living with familiar spirits. Witchcraft is making a circle of holed stones. Witchcraft is dancing with the Horned God. Witchcraft is sitting on a deserted beach as the tides ebb and flow. Witchcraft is the oldest thing there is. Witchcraft is making magic. Witchcraft is all of these things and much more.” (Morgan, 2021, p.7)
Writing a novel about a woman accused of being a witch in 17th century England drew me into exploring what witchcraft meant to me.
One early step was to create an altar to represent the elements of air, fire, water and earth. On my altar (the top of a wooden chest of drawers) I placed a feather to the east, a candle to the south, a bowl of water to the west and a fir-cone to the north, to make the correct correspondences for the elements. Each element is also associated with a color; in western traditions yellow is for air, red for fire, blue for water, and green for earth.
Every day before writing, I light my candle and I create a visualization for each element as I turn to face in the four directions: simple natural scenes, such as the wind shaking aspen leaves in the east, a brilliant sunset over the ocean in the south, the Rattlesnake Creek close to my home in the west, and sturdy ponderosa pines in the north.
I take my time to allow these visualizations to reveal themselves to me before repeating an invocation for each quarter:
“Ye mighty powers of air (fire, water, earth)
I summon, stir and call you up,
To guard my circle and to witness my rite.”
As I complete my work, I use these words to banish my circle:
“Ye mighty powers of air (fire, water, earth)
I thank thee for attending my rite
And ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms
I bid thee Hail and Farewell.”
I blow out my candle and close the circle.
Witchcraft takes different forms depending on when and where it is practiced, but it is always the desire and ability to make magic and to work with those spirits, seen and unseen, that surround us. For me, this means calming the everyday mind through meditation and going deep inside myself until there is nothing but the great power of the universe to guide me.
I look forward to sharing more of what I have learned about witchcraft including the witch’s tools, casting a circle, moon rites, witch stones and many more.
Blessed Be!