Guide to Being a Modern Witch
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Guide to Being a Modern Witch Raylee Delaney with Iris Detenhoff & Kris McIntyre About the authors Raylee Delaney Raylee lives the top of the Great Dividing Range on the Northern Tablelands of Australia where she practices as a naturopath and an artist with a special interest in herbal medicine and botanical subject matter. She is a mother of three, grandmother of two and an animal lover, especially of horses. She’s also a modern witch. www.rdrescue.com.au Iris Detenhoff Iris is the author and publisher of ‘The Moontime Diary’ – a yearly almanac designed help us live, work and love in tune with the moon and stars. Born in Germany, Iris moved to Australia in 1987 and now lives in Mullumbimby – a little town in the Byron Bay Hinterland of Northern NSW. A trained nurse, Iris has also studied natural health, astrology, sustainable building and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. http://moontimediary.com.au Kris McIntyre Kris is a writer, editor and the publisher of Sacred Women’s Business – an online platform for exploring the Feminine through story, myth and spirituality. www.sacredwomensbusiness.com 2 Contents 4. Foreword 5. Introduction 7. What is a ‘Witch’? 9. The thirteen goals of the witch 11. Rules to guide your practice 13. Creating a circle 14. The wheel of the year 15. A basic circle ritual 16. Moon rituals for intention setting 18. Casting a spell 20. Incantations for basic circle rituals 26. Keeping a book of shadows 27. Recommended reading 3 Foreword ‘Witch, witchcraft, magic, priestess, pagan, been fortunate enough to learn a little about goddess, Wicca, spells and ritual’ … they are the ancient wisdom of ‘the Craft’ from Raylee all words that challenge, provoke and confront. and others over the years. Since the days when those proclaimed to be witches were burnt at the stake as she-devils At a time when the world is striving for balance the term ‘witch’ has become a loaded term that between out-dated patriarchal structures and sends a shiver along the spine of many and a an emerging consciousness about the tickle of intrigue in others. importance of caring for the planet and each other, there is a groundswell of women (and Like it or not, there are witches living amongst men) being drawn to the ways of Witchcraft us – and they may not be who or what you think (Wicca, Neo-Paganism, the ‘Craft’) as a they are! In my travels I’ve met modern witches alternative path to spirituality. and none of them have a pointy hat, a wart on their nose or a broomstick with a black cat In an interview for Sacred Women’s Business, perched on the end of it! Instead, they come Raylee shared some of the secrets of the Craft, as therapists, healers, lawyers, accountants, and explained how women coming together can midwives and more – all united by qualities of play an important role in how we can grow kindness, community-spiritedness and a deep- ourselves, our friendships and our community. seated passion for nature and animals, the Feminine, the Goddesses (and Gods), humanity If you are interested in the Craft, this e-book and planet earth. gives you some of the basics to set you on your path – but it’s a journey of self-discovery for you One such witch is naturopath, artist and modern to explore, either on your own or with a group witch, Raylee Delaney. I met Raylee through a of like-minded women. Blessed be. mutual acquaintance many years ago and have 4 Introduction Since ancient times, when we were more gone, women (who had held importance for connected to the night sky and natural their ability to bear children) were rendered environment, humans have marked the powerless. Segregated in church, obedient to seasons and assigned gods and goddesses men, not educated, women became mere (archetypical figures) to explain seasonal cycles, chattels. In the 12th Century, the Inquisition tore huge weather events and requested protection through towns and villages burning heretics for or fertility over the land. around 400 years. A purpose written book, the ‘Maleus Maleficarum’, guided the inquisitors on We now know that Neoliths buried dead with ways to determine a witch – a wart in the wrong gifts, weapons – indicating an awareness of the place, preparing herbal medicine – and individual spirit. Honouring forces beyond the provided cruel torture practices to elicit control of human beings were survival confession which then led to execution. Often strategies. This kindling of a pantheon land ownership was a factor as wealth or developed alongside experience – healing possessions reverted to the church after the plants, poisons, weather and celestial cycles, punishment. It was a no-win situation for animal movement, behaviour and resulting women and I think we are still recovering on totems. many levels. So we adapted and gathered information to So we can understand how the old practices form spiritual beliefs and found ways of paying went underground, kept very secret. But today homage to and attributing power to particular there is a huge revival of the ancient ways – parts of our environment with stories about a Wicca and neo paganism. You’ve just got to look mountain, the spirit of a river, the gift of rain, in the bookshops! the nourishment of the hunt or plants. And in this long story evolved the advocate, the There are many means of undertaking, shaman and the ‘cunning-folk’. The archetypal expressing and honouring the old ways and our gods and goddesses sat at the very heart of life. planet with its myriad species. The Craft is a It would seem that witchcraft came from that living thing – not so much a religion but a way of place of understanding and responsibility in embedding oneself into the mysteries and dealing with the mysterious. miracles of Mother Earth. Then with the rise of The Abrahamic Religions Modern practice has been largely guided by the the old deities were cast or forced aside. The writing of Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner old ways became heretical and God represented who gathered ancient knowledge on old magic the masculine principle. The goddesses were practices and put it into set ceremonies/tools. 5 This form of witchcraft is generally called Wicca and it can be a little and hierarchical. Instead simple but still deeply meaningful – either alone as a solitary or within a group circle. Certain guidelines help define the boundaries of the Craft as I hope to outline in these pages. contemporary practice can be personal and flexible taking into account one’s sensibilities. It can be simple but still deeply meaningful – either alone as a solitary or within a group circle. Certain guidelines help define the boundaries of the Craft as I hope to outline in these pages. 6 What is a ‘Witch’? The term ‘witch’ is very broad but originally 1. Both the masculine and the feminine are came from ‘wise-woman’ (usually a herbalist or recognised as divine. There is an emphasis a seer). Early medieval reference is also made on the concept of ‘the Goddess’ (in her to the ‘cunning-folk’. A cunning-woman might three aspects of maiden, mother and crone) have been a very good midwife or a cunning- as a powerful symbol of feminine strength man skilled with livestock, health and cures. (in both men and women) and creativity; These witches had an understanding of the 2. The earth and nature are revered with subtle forces of nature and provided healing, festivals and rituals held according to knowledge, wisdom, advice and counselling to seasons, solstices and moon cycles … There their village or clan. This role in village life was is a recognition that all life is connected to often passed down from mother to daughter or the earth and humans are considered ‘one’ young woman with promise for this work. These with the earth; women were a repository of knowledge and an interface between the mundane and subtle 3. Magic, used in rituals and other actions, is realms as life progressed through the Wheel of seen as a technique involving will and the Year (see page x) – the seasonal changes imagination that is used to make changes in which controlled so much of village life. individual consciousness and the world at Celebrations and ceremonies undertaken to large; mark these could be taken up by a whole culture, a community or individuals and certain 4. There is no supreme deity with power over places were considered sacred – for example any person. The concept of the Goddess is the old forest groves (often oak) and sacred not seen as parallel to that of the Judeo- springs. Witches were often the guardians of Christian God in that the Goddess does not these sites. rule the world but rather is the world, manifest in each individual; and Today the word ‘witch’ is mostly associated with Wicca, nature worship and Neo-paganism – a 5. There is a stress on not harming others as all connection with those invisible natural forces things are considered interdependent and that one can learn to understand and work with interrelated and herefore any act that harms in daily life. ‘Although witchcraft today is a any individual actually harms everyone.’ 1 kaleidoscope of diverse traditions, rituals, theologies and structures, the major principles of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft are characterised by: 1 ‘Flights of Subjectivity and the Imagination: The Neopagan Witchcraft Discourse’, Laurel Cohn’s thesis 7 There are two common misconceptions about modern Witchcraft that need to be clarified: neo-pagan Witchcraft is not Satanism, despite allusions to this in the popular media; and modern Witchcraft does not involve ‘black magic’ which is popularly understood to be maleficent, as opposed to ‘white magic’ which is seen to be used for healing or unharmful purposes.