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The Deep Heart of Witchcraft

Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

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CHAPTER 1

Air

And forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. - Kahlil Gibran Practicing movement

Air brings the gifts of movement and change. Made manifest by the forces of the eastern winds, air makes itself known in every breath we take whether we're conscious of it or not. Air isn't concerned about the things we think we need to make us feel comfortable and safe. If it had its way, air would blow everything away from us, just to show us that it can. That's the playful faerie aspect of the air elementals, who glide seamlessly on the hems of our thoughts, touching our ideas and gifting us with subtle insights.

When we are present with air, we gain wings. We know that the entire world is there for us to explore. Air expands our sense of self in the mind and is the first way that we tap into the egregore. The kiss of the wind knows which caverns to swirl through to make a whistle.

With air, we can create music and place ourselves in harmony with the things we need to take each step on our path. The wand is the tool of air, directing our spirit allies in the orchestra of our spells. The wand is a tool of intellect, helping us to extend our reaches to the heavens above. Truly a unique gift to the magick worker. When we raise our wands to the sky, we're announcing that movement within and around us is about to begin. When working with the power of air and movement, we're doing mercurial work, or workings that relate to the realm of Mercury, god and planet of travel and communication. The wand is a tool that Mercury uses to gain passage to the destination of his choosing. For Mercury is the only deity in the Greek pantheon who is allowed to travel to all places, known and unknown by human or god. Working with the mercurial energies allows us to open to gates of possibility. The wand is the "key" we use to open doors previously closed to us. When we open the gates of possibility, we realize that our true potential is limitless.

Exercise – Dedicating your wand

If you don't already have a wand, it's very easy to make one.

Simply take a fallen branch of your choosing and cut off a length that extends from your elbow to your middle finger. I don't feel the type of wood you choose matters so much as how the wood chooses you, but feel free to use any of the traditional power woods associated with the wand such as willow, oak, ash, maple or birch. If you already own a wand, then you're good to go for the next part of the activity.

Take the wand to some wild place in nature (preferably) or to the sacred space in your home. Create your personal ritual setting and enter a meditative state. The only tool you need for this is the wand itself, but you can add any oils, candles or scents to this working that you like. Remember though that our focus for this work is connecting with your wand and the mercurial air associated with it.

Once in a meditative state, grip the wand lightly with both hands with your eyes closed. Take a series of deep in and out breaths, being particularly aware of how your breath circulates and moves through your body as it passes in and out. Notice the expanding and contracting of your chest and belly. Feel the breath as pure wind moving through your being. With continued mindful breathing, contemplate the symbols that the wand and its airy ruler present you with. Perhaps you come to a vision of a tall hilltop with puffy clouds passing overhead. Maybe you imagine yourself in a race with Mercury himself, the wand in your hand giving you a magickal boost of speed to race through the sky and across the land. Open yourself to creativity, another gift of air. In addition to any visions, notice any feelings or words that come to mind. Language and speech is probably one of the most useful air tools that the human race has. What words connect you with this energy? What types of sentences or messages are these words creating for you as you do this work? Is nothing coming to mind at all? That's perfectly fine too. It could be that the mind is telling you that the most useful thing you can do in that moment is to just sit with yourself in silent nothingness.

When you feel you're done, thank the air elementals for any visions you may have received and wrap up the wand for future use. Some believe that it's fine for the wand to be exposed as long as it doesn't touch the ground. Some believe its fine for it to touch the ground as long as it's not exposed. In the end, do what feels right for your own wand. It is now an extension of you and only you can know what's right for it.

Showing up for practice

When we want to touch the deep heart of Witchcraft, the first thing we need to do is commit ourselves to showing up for our magickal work. This is the work of deepening our connection with our souls and the divine so it's important that we actually take the time to do it and do it with some consistency. As you begin deep daily work, there's no need to over extend yourself. Five to ten minutes a day for a while is enough. It's like joining a new gym. If I haven't worked out for a long time, it means my muscles are cold and unused. They need to warm up a bit before they get to the heavy stuff. Some light cardio, maybe some cycling and running each morning but nothing big. When my body is used to it, I can start adding strength training, heavier cardio, and more advanced stretching to my workout routine. Eventually, my body will become a lean mean machine capable of the greatest athletic feats (hey, a guy can dream can't he?). That's what we want to do with our spirits. We can't dive right into the full current of the egregore and expect to keep to the surface. We need to test the waters of where we are first.

Making a statement about showing up for practice is the first step into making your work a reality. Some people like to consider it a "personal contract" that they make with their Higher Selves or gods. I don't think it always needs to be that formal but if that's what helps you stick with it, then by all means draft up a contract. If you go that route, then I recommend you ritualize it to add a bit of magickal oomph. Create and sign the contract during a ritual and "put your money where your mouth is." When I make statements like this to my gods, its touches the deepest parts of me and changes it from something that I feel like I have to do, into something that I feel like I need to do. We're employing our will here and the gods and our higher selves will listen. When we proclaim "I'm here and I am going to do this work!" the universe will respond with support and strength. The gods want us to succeed in this work, so don't be afraid to communicate with them about the work of the practice itself.

For now, let's commit to ten minutes a day while we work with the element of air. Ten minutes may not seem anything to some people, but have you ever tried getting a busy businessman to sit still for ten minutes without falling asleep? It's no easy task let me tell you. So as we work on our exercises, we add them to our daily practice schedule. When you continue your work around the pentacle, you may want to add some things or drop some things once you develop a sense of what is making you feel more connected with your work. Our schedules are meant to change, just like our lives do.

Prayer work – your highest communication

Some Pagans have a funny way of looking at prayer. I know I did when I first started practicing the Craft. Prayer to me felt like something "those Christians do" and I wasn't interested in having any part of that. I felt like prayer was something that people did to thank God when things went their way, and then to complain to God when things didn't. Oh how wrong I was. I fought formal prayer work for years until I started incorporating it more into my practice and gained a better understanding of what it truly is. Prayer is the language we're speaking when we're talking to the Gods. Whether it's a 2,000 year old prayer in Hindi or a modern chat with the Goddess that you make up on the fly, prayer to the divine gets translated into its own special language by the higher self. Once we learn this language, we come into better communication with our gods and in turn, the Gods communicate back. I believe this is one of the core needs that all religions seek to fulfill. They seek Divine Communication.

But how is it done? Everyone seems to have their own opinion on the "right way" to pray, as if it were some exact science that only certain people are privileged enough to learn. Many religious organizations in the past and present have been very insistent on having human intermediaries to pray with. They profess that some people either need to have their prayers spoken for them, or they need to learn the "right way" to pray through them first. In most forms of Paganism and in particular Witchcraft, we believe that such ideas are preposterous. We need no intermediaries. As a pantheistic faith, we believe that God rests within all things, including ourselves. And if God resides within us, then there is no need for an intermediary because every expression we perform is connected to the Divine Mind. And this is also how prayer works. When we are in true communication with the Divine Mind, the way you pray doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you do it, and you do it often. I don't want to tell you that this is a "use it or lose it" scenario but it is the type of thing that gets more comfortable with time and more clear with frequency.

If you're a stranger to prayer work or you just don't do it enough, you can feel like you're talking to a wall. While if you go through periods of intense prayer and then stop for a while, this "wall feeling" can feel like it goes right back up. To be in communication with the Divine Mind and our Divine Selves, we must make sure that our communication is sincere, constant and with intention. The Witch knows that he can pray anywhere and at any time within any range of situations. I do believe that there are some atmospheres that are more conducive to prayer when you'd like to get some type of answer back. This brings us to the differences between devotional prayer and interactive prayer.

Devotional prayer is the prayer of worship, gratitude, and prayer for the sake of prayer. It's often considered "one way" prayer where you're practicing your divine speech and religious expression. The Hindu mantras performed over mala beads at worship services could be considered devotional prayers. Though I believe this type of prayer is important, there is more that can be done when we open up to the idea of the Gods talking back to us. Interactive prayer does this. When I say "Gods talking back to us" I don't mean that you should expect some disembodied head to appear in your circle to impart sacred prophecy before your eyes. What I mean is simply being open to messages or signs, for the time that you pray and later on. Sometimes just the act of asking for reciprocal communication is the purest form of interactive prayer that we can do. When I'm praying for a sign or a message, I try to not be very attached to the outcome. I dedicate my prayer work to the goal of being open enough to express myself to Goddess and God, while being open to experience the expressions that they'll send back to me.

Sometimes this manifests itself in what we call clairsentience or "clear knowing" in the psychic vocabulary. You're sitting in class or at your work desk then out of nowhere the answer or a thought leading to an answer just pops up in your brain. This can be an extremely effective form of communication with the divine if you're open enough to your intuition, and emotionally detached enough from the response that you think you want. Easier said than done, right? When we approach our communication with perfect love and perfect trust, this isn't a problem. Perfect love means that no matter what you're asking for, all messages will be sent and received in the name of love. Love for your Gods and love for your own divine nature. Loving yourself and your work in the world is truly the best way to remain in correct communication with God. Perfect trust means that not just receiving an answer is enough. You have to trust that the answer or message you get back is true and correct and is only in service to your True Will, whether it's a message you want to hear or not. Have you ever seen someone get a tarot reading that they weren't happy with so they ask the reader to do it over? This is a lack of trust in the answer and is the biggest thing to overcome if we want our prayer work to be as effective as possible.

Exercise – Opening to intuition for prayer work

If you don't feel like you're in a very intuitive place in your life right now, this exercise can help. Even if you're a psychic-wiz and trust your intuition fully, renewing our commitment to being open to this power helps keep us sharp, focused, and open to giving and receiving the best speech possible with the divine.

First, develop a deep meditative state in whatever way is most effective for you. Do the breath work from exercise one but take it a step further by extending the time of inhales, holds and exhales consciously. Try breathing in by the count of seven, holding by the count of seven, exhaling by the count of seven, holding by the count of seven and then repeating. Try this seven times and you should find it pretty easy to form a deep trancelike state. In the Temple of Witchcraft tradition, they call this the "little death breath." When we calm the mind to its slowest possible state before trance, we're opening up our senses to the highest guidance possible.

After the little death breath, regulate your breathing to a soft yet still elongated pace. Next imagine a swirling ball of light shining brightly above you, about two feet from the top of your head. I like to imagine the light as violet which is a very psychic color for me, but you can also imagine it as a clear and sort of prism-like crystalline light. I avoid visualizing opaque white light as it can block out too many energies, whether harmful or helpful. Next, imagine the swirling ball of light slowly dripping down in a single strand of shimmering light towards the top of your head. Feel it touch the top of your head forming a new yet smaller swirling ball of light on your crown. This is the area where we're open to clairsentience. We're inviting those messages to pop into our heads as I mentioned before. It can be helpful to pick up your wand and physically tap the top of your head with it to confirm the presence of the light. You can also anoint it with a special oil or holy water. Now see the ball on your crown drip yet again down to the area between your two eyes - the area of your third eye chakra, forming another smaller ball of light there. This is the area where you're opening up to receiving visions to both your material eyes, and your mind's eye. Like before, tap this area with your wand or anoint it. Lastly, see the swirling ball on your third eye drip down again forming a third small ball of light in your solar plexus, the area just above your belly. This is the area where we're open to our most primal manifestation of intuition; the "gut feeling." Once again tap your wand or anoint this area. Sit with this for a moment and allow yourself to take note of any feelings that may arise. You very well may receive a message right there already. When you're done, you can imagine the smaller balls of light slowly fading into you, entering your bloodstream and dispersing into the cells of your body. The large ball of light two feet above your head ascends back into the higher planes with the knowledge that you can call upon it any time you need it. Be sure to ground and center yourself, releasing any excess energy from your person. Be sure to record your experiences in your magickal journal.

Now that all three of our centers of intuition are open, we're truly ready to engage in the work of interactive prayer. We're no longer just running our mouths but instead, we're opening ourselves up to listen. The Gods will take notice of this action. I believe that when we open to listening in this way, we're making a statement of respect and gratitude for the things that the divine want to express to us.
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Deep Heart of Witchcraft by David Salisbury. Copyright © 2012 by David Salisbury. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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