As I stated earlier, you can also breathe up problems, anxiety, pain, or
anger to your Sacred Dove, asking, "Can you help me with this?" I find
that turning such things over to my inner divinity calms me and often gives
me insight.
Some people believe that a person must go through convoluted means
to ensure that their energy is not depleted by magical or healing work. In
actuality, replenishing our energy is as simple as conscious breathing. Just
remember, every time we breathe, we are breathing in life force.
Victor taught me a poem that is central to our tradition, and I like to
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Evolutionanl witchcraft
say it when I'm fully aligned: "Who is this flower above me, and what is
the work of this God? I would know myself, in all my parts:' If a spiritual
practice is truly helpful, it always leads to knowing oneself better.
As I write this, I have candles burning on my altar. I offer a breath of
life force to keep my tools charged and to feed whatever spirits hover there,
helping my work. I aligned myself this morning, and now have energy to
spare, and as Cora said, I know how to ask for what I need. Ordered myself, I can help to bring order to the world. I can assuage wounds and smell the flowers. I can love justice and roll down grassy hills. I am divine and the
world I walk through is sacred.
May the light dawning as we turn to the East illuminate us. So may
it be.
3
Bust: openin� the senses
Step into the East, place of beginnings. Feel the fresh air blowing across
your face. This is the place of vision, the morning star. See it glowing in
the sky. Turn to greet the dawn. Feel your mind quicken with new
thoughts. Feel your breath as it fills your lungs. What is your wish? It can
be granted here, in the place of starting over. Our tool here is the wand,
the branch with the ability to bud and sprout new leaves. The branch
that dances in the wind. This wand is tipped with a crystal, shining like
the morning star. It holds the power of self and knowledge.
fter the Star Goddess is acknowledged, the sphere cast, and our own
is present within us, we turn toward the directions of the
compass. The directions have traditional associations, but depending upon
where you live, please alter them to suit your physical reality. I am a Californian and was taught a tradition based in this landscape: water in the West, dry heat further South. Luckily, some things remain consistent no
matter where you are: the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
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c:uolutionufy witchccuft
Let us turn toward the East. In Feri Tradition, the tool here is the wand,
representing the power of growth, air, speech, and new beginnings. 1 The
wand can be seen as the scepter of knowledge. As the awakening of knowledge is an important place to begin any search, the wand becomes the key for beginning our work in magic. This chapter will explore many of the
powers of air: vision, breath, thought, and the beauty of birdsong at dawn.
We will learn about listening and speaking, about the calling in and asking that is prayer, and about studying our thought forms and perceptions.
We will open our awareness and cleanse our senses, opening to the Gods
and the world around us in ways that are as fresh as a morning breeze.
The world expands and contracts, just as our lungs do, inhaling and exhaling. Breath is the source of life. Air is a beginning, rising from the East.
As the Persian mystic Rumi wrote long ago: "The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep:'2
A Mu<sicul worlduiew
We don't have to apologize for our reality. -VIcTOR ANDERSON
In this section, we will begin to examine the conceptions we hold both about
the world around us and about ourselves. As I stated earlier, self-exploration
is occult activity. By searching out the seldom-plumbed depths of soul and
psyche, we shine our consciousness on what has been obscured. We are
that shape us, the power that guides us, our soft and vulnerable spaces.
Until we can walk into the deep spaces, we cannot soar into the heights.
1 This association might confuse those of you familiar with the Tarot, which is derived from ceremonial magic. Howrvrr, most Witchcraft traditions use this association.
, 2l 'rom Col<·man Barks and John Moym·, Opm Srrrrt: Variatio11s 011 Rumi (Threshold Books, ! 984).
Bust: openin'S the senses
7 7
Balance is the key. Not a static balance, but a shifting balance, with a fulcrum that, through practice, can become both strong and supple. This is part of the dance of our evolution as human beings.3
As for our conceptions about the world, for people of the twenty-first
century, religious belief often comes second to scepticism and the religion
of science. But as we discovered in our work with the Triple Soul, intellect
is not all and reason is not ruler. We humans are also dancers, poets,
singers, lovers, gardeners, and people who feel, psychic people and people
in touch with our bodies. Using all of the faculties available to us, we can
make space for belief even in the midst of disbelief. The Gods are real
forces and the practices in this book do work within us. Do they only
work by means that we would term psychological? Perhaps, and I don't
discount the strength of mind and emotion, but I also see that there are
more subtle processes at work than we may know at first. A serious practitioner can develop emotional connections with her Gods, intellectual rigor and honesty, and physical and psychic discipline, with no one thing canceling out another.
Witches, spiritual seekers, or priestesses need to be able to hold many
realities as possibilities at the same time. This is a skill requiring an open mind
and heart and the will to think both flexibly and firmly. As a student of religions, I was once sitting in a class where we discussed a theory positing that the Torah was written by many authors, often with conflicting viewpoints, over many years' time.4 In class, we were reading about the famous Golden Calf story, which, beneath its religious meaning, was also a political piece written by the southern tribes in Israel, against the northern
.1Doreen Valiente wrote: "By developing their powers, the magician and the witch develop themselves. They aid their own evolution, their growth as a human being: and in so far as they truly do this, they aid the evolution of the human race" (An ABC of Witchmift [Bookpeople, I 989]).
4Srr Richard Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?" (HarperSanFrancisco, 1 997) on the Hebrew Bible
and S<'r "Awkward Rcvrrena" by Paul Q. Beeching (Continuum, 1 997) on the Christian scriptures.
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Evolutionary witchccuft
tribes living in Judah. The more pious Jewish and Christian students were
really struggling with this; they had been taught that the Torah was revealed to Moses, not a string of authors with axes to grind.
My professor took a risk that day, and his words have stayed with me.
He said, "I usually don't bring my personal life into class, but I feel you
ought to know: I am not an atheist." He was trying to explain to us that he
held two realities at once. The Hebrew Bible, including the Torah, was an
important religious text for him, a practicing Jew, yet he was a twenty-firstcentury academic who had to look at other facts, too. His faith was not canceled out by his
torical evidence, but was informed by it. 5
As a Witch, I need to do the same. I may feel awkward describing my
experiences of the Gods, feeling that these experiences are irrational, yet
that does not mean that they are less real. I have felt the Gods surrounding
me and moving through me, yet I often cannot explain this experience satisfactorily to someone who does not share my language. I can only try to explain that reason is only one way to access information. The Gods can
be real to my body or emotions and unreal to my rational intellect. I've
learned to live with the paradox and to grow through the pressure of
dissonance.
openincs to seekef's Mind
We have the ability to function on multiple levels simultaneously. When
done consciously, this is known as "priestess mind:'6 For example, if I am
leading a trance journey (what some Craft traditions call "path workings"), I need to remain aware of what is happening with the participants, make certain I'm speaking loudly and slowly enough, and keep a loose
51 thank Dr. Fred Astren for sharing his experiences with me over many conversations.
61 hrlirvr this term was coined by Reclaiming priestess Pomegranate Doyle.
t:a.st: openin� the senses
79
track of time, all while experiencing the trance myself and doing my personal work, albeit on a more shallow level than those being led thmugh t iH'
journey. If I am completely out of the trance, I cannot accuratt·ly g;uJgt·
where the journey is going or what the pacing needs to be. If I am t oo
deeply involved in my personal work, I will get lost and be unable to monitor how people are reacting emotionally, whether they are breathing l't•gularly, and are generally all right. Exercising priestess mind uses the sanw muscles required to hold alternate realities or reconcile intellectual knowing with physical or emotional experiences.
It is healthy to be a believer and a sceptic at the same time. That interplay keeps me questioning and seeking, yet not cynical. It makes it possible for me to begin to think in thealogical or polytheaological terms, yet not get stuck in dogmatic belief? I call this state "seeker's mind:' On a personal level, this helps deepen my religious sense both experientially and intellectually. Seeker's mind also helps me share this deepening sense with my community, so we can explore and deepen as a tradition. Together, we
can learn to discuss, argue, put forth different viewpoints, and take them
all into account, building a magical worldview that is holistic rather than
fragmentary.
All of that said, you don't have to believe in any thing or have faith in any
concept. Believe enough in yourself to risk opening to a new awareness of
the world.
The quufdiuns
As we move through each chapter, we will meet and ask the help of tlw
Guardian of that direction. Once again, this is a unique facet of Fcri Tra-
7Thralogy, an unusual spelling, includes Goddess, whereas thrology generally dol's nne. Many 1'.1�.111
scholars US<' this term. I sometimes also use po�ythralogy.
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Evolutionary witchcraft
clition. Whereas a magician might call on archangels in each of the four
directions, and another Witch might invoke a generic Guardian of the
Watchtowers or simply invoke the qualities of the element she is calling in,
a Feri Witch has specific Guardians that she works with. The Guardians we
relate to in Feri have their own names and energy signatures. 8 If you do not
wish to work with them, you do not need to. Should you decide to invite
them into your sacred work, you may find them to be a great help, as they
are very powerful forces.
There are many ways in which the Guardians help my work. For example, I can call on the Western Guardian for the energy to help with emotional work. This is not a matter of the Guardians being personally interested in our love lives. Rather, when we are internally and externally
aligned, we can tap into the particular energies that they hold and use them
to great effect.
Traditionally, these names were passed orally, but in this age of the Internet, the names are so widely available I have decided to present them here with some working instructions and introductions. So, although the
names I will give you are not secret, they also should not be used in open,
public circles because not everyone there will have established a relationship with them. This is a caution about respect. If you choose to work with the Guardians, please establish a relationship with these ancient
forces. The work we do in each chapter will introduce your to their energy.
The relationship after that is up to you.
The Guardians are beyond gender and name, shifting and changing.
They are forces larger than we know, to name them or give them image,
form, or gender are ways we can touch and try to comprehend them. I provide some associations that come from my own experiences and from within x Also called the Watchers, these arc not Faery beings, but closer to the Enoch ian Vatchrrs or biblical Ncphilim. They guard the "outa dark," tht· edges of space.
Bust: openin<s the senses
s z
Feri Tradition, but you must develop your own sense of the Guardians;
they may come to you in different forms than they do to me.
We have worked with the powers of speech and naming. The Guardian names are doors to their energy signatures. Repeat the names as many times as necessary until you begin to feel them, to sense them, or to
see them. We will work in depth with one Guardian for each following
chapter.
The guu1diun of the
EUSt-StU1 Finde1
Now it is time to meet the Guardian of the East, the bearer of the wand
of air. This Guardian helps with all the powers of East. It brings the fresh
energy of birth into the sacred sphere and gives new insight and knowledge into your work.
Align your Tripi£ Soul. Center yourself and cast the blue sphere around you. Light a
candk on your altar, pal£ yellow or lavender. Turn toward the East, open yourself to the
power of the Guardian there. Begin to softly whisper, "Star Finder, Star Finder." Feel a
breath upon your forehead. Open to the Guardian of the East. Chant the name, over and
over. "Star Finder, Star Finder." Begin to feel the presence coming closer to you. What does
this Guardian feel like? Can you get a glimpse? "Star Finder, Star Finder, Star Finder.
Ride the winds and join this rite." Speak the name, over and over, whisper it, sing it, or shout
it out if you are abk. Star Finder. The Guardian of Air, the holder of the budding wand of
Knowkdge, tipped with a crystal that touches the morning star, new beginnings, selj,focuser
of memory and intelkct.
Star Finder breathes the cool breath of dawn. Say the name, over and over. Feel the presence. Introduce yourself
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�::volutionurv witchcraft
Star Finder, Star Finder, Star Finder.
You who are the first breath that kisses dawn,
Ride the winds and join our rites.
Fill us with the breath if life.
Let us begin, together.
Let us begin.
Touch our eyes, our ears, our lips.
May we speak your name.
May we know the truth.
May we know ourselves.
Star Finder. Star Finder. Star Finder.
Welcome.
How does this Guardian manifest to you? Write or draw whatever iriformation you
are given.
Take a deep breath. Feel the presence, guarding the Eastern quadran
t, huge and beautiful. Stay in their presence for a while-feeling, sensing, gazing. You may wish to write what you sense. There may be a key to this presence. Listen for it. When you are done for this meeting, say:
Star Finder
Thank you for your presence
May I listen, mtry I discern, may I grow.
Go if you must, stay if you will.
Hail and farewell.
The invocations are my own examples. Use them freely, write your own,
or simply speak with inspiration in the moment. The last is usually my
choice. All poetry is inspired and is sacred to Feri. Open yourself to sound
and word.
Bast: openincs the senses
83
The wund
In Feri Tradition, the tool of the East is the wand. This may confusr
people who are familiar with the Tarot, or any other magical system influenced by ceremonial magic. The Witch's wand is in the East and associatrd with air because it is the budding branch of new beginnings. It bends in
the breeze, the wind whispers through it, and fire would consume it. Even
in the depths of winter, a branch holds potential, and the wand is that
branch.
Traditionally, the wand has a crystal tip, like the morning star called by
the Guardian of the East. All you really need, however, is a branch. My
name being Thorn, mine comes from a rosebush. You will find the wand
that calls to you. Some people get their wands as gifts, from fallen
branches. If you cut any living plant or tree for your wand, make sure to
leave an offering. You may ask a gardener the best time to prune wherever
you live.
Those of you who are advanced practitioners likely have a wand already. If this is the case, and you have used your wand as a tool of fire, you may want to pick a new wand or reconsecrate your current wand to represent air. My wand is banded in silver and replete with thorns!
If you are only familiar with using a blade to draw a boundary, you may
be interested to work with the softer boundary of the wand.9 It is a less
brittle demarcation and can be a bit more welcoming. Experiment with
this and feel the difference. I especially do this when inviting in the powers of creativity, or when I want the circle to be more open, public.
If you are still having trouble imagining a wand as a boundary maker,