Marian Green - A Witch Alone - Thirteen Moons To Master Natural Magic

Fungi are collected, for food and healing, and invoking dreams and visions in those whose sight was awakened by long training. St Michael, whose festival is on 29th September, is another Christianised form of the Sun God, and many of his churches are on high, pagan hilltops. He balances the Dark Force, especially now, just after the Autumn Equinox, as summer balances winter, neither overcoming the other, in an eternal interchanging dance.

The Celtic Year draws to an end at Samhain, ‘Summer’s End’, time of the Great Gathering, when all come home. It is a time of celebration and of remembering those who have parted from their earthly forms. The ghosts that enter the open doors and manifest in the sacred bonfire’s smoke are kindly ones, old friends, grandparents, kindred from many ages, all thronging round with their wisdom, their accrued knowledge of the community and its needs. Now is the time of oracles, to see what will happen in the year to come.

It is a time to bid farewell to those who have died, and welcome the new babies, and even the spirits

of children scarcely conceived, or as yet unborn. All the Family come in and share the feasting, of the best and fattest of the beasts, the whitest bread, the sweetest honey and the lushest fruits at this short season of plenty, before the cruel winter’s dearth.

Here the Goddess is both pregnant and the Old One, the Wise Hag, in this dark time when the Veil between the Worlds is thinnest, and knowledge and spiritual powers of magic can pass back and forth. She is always a changeable deity, paradoxical in her appearance, able to shape-shift in human and animal form, yet always being herself, in whichever guise best suits her purpose. She is the Ruler of the Otherworld, wherein her God/Lover rests, between his evolving incarnations. She is Persephone, Queen of the Dead and the Unborn, Bringer through the Veil of Life those to be born, carrying across the dark, still waters of the River of Night those who have passed from the world of flesh. She is All-Knowing, All-Seeing and All-Revealing to those who dare to ask her the right questions.

Like the Mystery Plays, based on the stories of the Old Testament, the story of the Goddess and her Son/Lover/Sacrificed God was acted out by members of the community, in fields or barns, in small cottages and the squire’s hall, as mimed or mumming plays, some of which endure. Parts were cast by drawing a lot, or finding a bean in a cake, so that the Old Ones made their own choices for their changing forms. Without set words, each actor was allowed to be inspired directly from the Goddess/God they were playing. Actions, songs, music, mime or words told each year a new version of the eternal story. Little of this was recorded in writing, but it is written on the waters, patterned in the branches of trees, and sung by the birds in the dawn chorus.

If you decide to set out upon the Old Road you will come to understand something of the simplicity of the traditional festivals for, whoever you are, you will discover the deities within you. They are your magical ancestors, their feasts are part of your own unfolding pattern. In winter you may rest, reviewing your last cycle of work and achievement, failure and loss.

In, you will sleep the child of your evolving self, born in the darkest night at Yule ��� soul-son of the Sun of Life. Cleansed and refreshed, when the first flowers show in your garden, go forth, Goddess renewed, or as her Champion, initiated into the New Year. Set forth your own list of the Twelve Tasks to be performed from March to March. Seek out your partner; within, as the secret other half of your own being, true Soul-Mate, or examine your relationships with those around you. How does your beloved benefit from your relationship?

By midsummer you should have a greater understanding of what you are going to achieve, and the ‘crops’ that you have sown, at home or at work, in dreams or in creativity will be flourishing in whichever field of life they are planted. As Lammas arrives, old Saxon Loaf-mass when the new flour was ground, you might be able to take a breather. Look at your opposite God/Goddess within. How has that Great Being strengthened you, brought you light or courage, love or understanding? What will you be able to lay before the altar of offering when the harvest is examined in the autumn days?

As winter approaches you will need to look within. What part of you has died, or been cast off? What part of you has an understanding of the Otherworld, gained through regular meditation or long, quiet chats with the God or Goddess in Nature? Learn to listen, to be still and hear with that inner ear the voices of the Old Ones. Watch your dreams for wisdom, and your intuition for awoken senses. Begin

a new year with a new vision, realistically aimed at what you can achieve. Feel the ebbs and flows of the yearly tides, which bring forth and which sweep away certain aspects of your life, and learn to flow with them.

Exercises

After two moons of considering the Old Ways you ought to be seeing changes in your world view and your attitudes to things. If you have been able to spend a few minutes every day thinking about or meditating on the pagan gods or the old feasts, or the meaning of the religious life, you may be discovering new depths to your character.

Here are a few more matters to consider during the third moon.

Look at ancient sacred sites, on the ground if you can, or in books, and consider what mighty motives encouraged the ancient peoples to construct such enormous circles of stones, causeways or hillforts. How much effort, time and meditation are you willing to give over to your own rediscovery of the Old Ways and making contact with the First Parents? Are you actually doing anything, researching into local customs building up lists of God and Goddess attributes, the kinds of trees in your area? Or are you still just thinking about it?

Consider the times of the old feasts, add these to your Calendar Circle, as well as the Green and White Harvests of each. What colour is the Harvest of Twelfth Night, do you imagine? Why do you think most modern witches ignore this date? Decide what symbols, like an Easter egg, you could have on open display in your home for each of the festivals, and draw these into your Calendar Circle.

What did Rites of Passage celebrate? Have you gone through any? What do you think the pagan ones are, and when would they happen? How do mumming plays fit into the ongoing record of the Old Ones?

Go out and look at the moon, watch her face among the clouds and see how you feel. Draw her light into your awareness and feel it waking up your psychic powers. See how the patterns of your dreams reflect the phases of the moon. Record what you find in your Book.

Discover some seasonal songs, folk tales or local myths.

Where do you think you could make friends who have interests in folklore, the Old Ways or pagan religion? Have you tried to get in touch with other people? You could leave messages in library books as bookmarks so that other readers of the same subjects could contact you. At least such folk would be nearby and perhaps on the same quest.

Here are some more books to sample:

Joseph Campbell, Hero With A Thousand Faces (Princeton University Press) Vivianne Crowley, Wicca; The Old Religion in the New Age (Aquarian) George Ewart Evans, The Horse, Power and Magic (Faber)

Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough (Century)

Dr Anne Ross, Life and Death of a Druid Prince (Century)

4 - A Circle Between the Worlds

Wind comes from the spring star in the East, Fire from the summer star in the South, Water from the autumn star in the West,

Wisdom, silence and death from the star in the North

(Fiona Macleod The Divine Adventure)

A circle is perhaps the oldest pattern set out by people, recognised by artists, acknowledged by tiny children. It is a symbol of eternity, of equality, of permanence and of change. The face of the rising sun is round, the repeating plosh as raindrops splash into puddles forms recurring circles, the patch of light born of a single flame or a mighty bonfire sheds warmth and illumination in a circle. From huddles of playing children to the greatest gatherings of learned people, the shape they make is often a circle, where all can be heard, all can offer advice, all can equally participate in whatever is being arranged. So it is with magic.