The Witches of Arkansas

Witch of Tin Mountain

By Paulette Kennedy

 Going back through generations this story has two settings. Basically  Tim Mountain is a small town in Arkansas. The earlier era focuses on Deirdre and the second era is in 1931.

In 1881 Deirdre learns about her matrilineal family history. She is descended from a witch called Annilese she was seduced by a preacher named Nathaniel Walker. Nathaniel comes to town preaching and offer ring all sorts of cures through faith healing. Annilese is a witch and a midwife. She had a grimoire filled with Magic and remedies. She gave it to her son before she was burned alive 

around 50 years later another preacher returns offering the same thing. He tries to seduce Deirdre just like what was done to her mother Annilese. Her father had a clear memory of what transpired. To ditch this preacher, Deirdre is sent to Charleston where she attend a finishing school for women . Eventually she is called back. Seduced and impregnated by the preacher.

The preacher is not really a preacher but rather an incubus who seduced witches so he can give birth to a campion. Once the campion is born he can take over its body.

In 1931 Gracelyn is living in the small town. A midwife and a witch she is shunned by all until they need her services. Another so called preacher arrives and he wants Gracelyn’s body. He tries to turn the town against her. But she had one trick to banish the demon back to Hell.

A Dedication to Dionysus

 

The Orgia Khrinicles

 

By Sir John Philip Auletta

 

This book is a dedication to the God Dionysus.  The first part of the book is dedicated to quotes both by the author and others inspired by the god Dionysus. The second part of the book is poetry inspired by the deity. Last part is prayers dedicated to the god. 

 

This is a book for someone who wants to dedicate themselves to this god. What you find useful will be up to you. There is no prescribed intimidation or elaborate rituals here. Nothing but a heartfelt connection to the god.

 

Along the way you will learn a bit about the god and about the author. Dionysus is a honed god.He is the god of many things. He is the god of intoxication, theater, frenzied ecstasy and the vine to name his various attributes . Getting intoxicated on booze or anything else in his name is one way to honor him.

 

Dionysus was the son of Zeus  and a human princess named Semele. She may have been worshipped as a goddess at one point. Hera, zeus’s wife was always jealous of Zeus’s lovers and so she set out to have him destroyed and the Titans were in on it. To keep him alive Dionysus was raised on Mount Nysa and cared for by maenads or rather female devoted to the god. Eventually the titans found him and killed him. Zeus in his anger fried them all with electric bolts. From the ashes of the titans and Dionysus humanity was formed. Hence we are part titan and part Dionysus. From Dionysus remaining heart he was reconstituted. His worshippers went into the forest to worship him. Their activities were orgiastic and fueled by wine. His maenads were his female followers while the satyrs were his priests or male followers.

 

John Philip Auletta can claim descent from the Ptolemies. They were dedicated to Dionysus and may have descended from the god. Auletta Comes from a Greek cognate pertaining to Dionysus. He was also a Gang member serving life sentences for a murder spree by his gang. The incarceration has forced him to go inside himself. In the prison he misses being able to go out into the wood an Commune with his god Along with certain refreshments. He is a strong believer in the goddess. He is also part of a few pagan organizations .

 

What follows now is a sample of his quotes. These bits of wisdom are given over along with the inspiration .

 

48. The Way Of The Satyr is a wild and simple Path that celebrates the chaotic joys and beauties of Nature and of being half animal/half human. It’s about the wonderful experiences of Dionysus in all His forms. Praising the Mask itself... (Inspired By: Komos) **Komos—Satyr of festive banquets and the cup-bearer of Dionysus. However, there is no single right way to celebrate this path, all have value and all can inspire some new ways of experience.

 

Now comes an example of some poetry.

 

“Liber Dionysus” (Idolotry) It feels like my lifeline is seduced into a trance, while worshipping your figure polished in the highlights of your stance. As I make a grandstand, there is this pressure throbbing in my head, As if I'm juggling with my thoughts where the frenzy seems to dance. (So I bow before you) An artistical work of liberal stone art you are, sure that the framework of your wild side was much harder to carve, but on any given Anthesteria, your idol beauty bringeth smiles that twinkle like stars. The same delicate beauty that brings madness to an ever so beating heart. (I light the candles) This is not a love story of Beauty and the Beast, it's more like a suitable attraction with features of you and me. Envisioning a chaotic future with us as one beautiful piece, the symbol of enraptured love connected by a force that refuses to ease. (I burn the incense) The very sight of you is enticing in many ways, an astonishing exhibit that glosses under any shade. A shrine of its own no one can duplicate nor imitate, The art of your creation has relations to night and day... (I sip the wine) Bios Dionusou ** This poem was inspired by how jealous my ex-girl was over the bond I had with my Dionysus idol. She became so mad one day, she told all of her friends that I was a stupid idol worshipper. The mistake she made was even trying to compare herself to Dionysus.

 

Finally an example of prayer.  

 

Dionusou Anax, I drink of You today, grateful that You will place the mighty Thyrus in my hands, gracing me in fawn skin. I crave to dwell in Your presence-wild and untamed. I want to know Your pleasures in every way They can be known. Destroy and rebuild me in Your image so that I come to please You better. Crown me in Your Ivy and choke me with Your vine in ways that I know both pleasure and pain, for You are the uniter of opposites. I seek the very truth of who You are, because I know that You embody the very truth of who I am..... Io Euoi !!!

 

Remember that when you don the mask of the god the god dons a mask of you.

 

 

Invoking Lilith the Dark Goddess

 

This little book is dedicated to the dark goddess Lilith. The most valuable parts of the book are the prayers themselves. While this book has merit it also has it’s areas of weakness.

If one wants to start dedicating themselves to Lilith this book has some valuable prayers, incantations etc. the weakness in the book is some of the facts which impact the prayers . The first fact the author got wrong is the difference between theurgic  and thaumaturgic magic. Theurgic is not just praying to the gods in hope that you will get something while thaumaturgic magic is asking for the same thing but using your own resources.

Theurgic magic is magic thst has us summon higher powers but it is for spiritual enlightenment or to commune with the gods. Thaumaturgic magic is love and money spells .

Next the author conflated Lilith with other deities like Ishtar, Alilat, Al Uzza etc. the ancients Babylonians never say 

Ilith or Ishtar as one. Alilat and Uzza are from the Arabian peninsula and have nothing to Do with Lilith.

The author is right when he addresses prayer. Praying to deities does not get us anything . We have to work for it. Prayer helps us focus our mind and energies on what we want and the gods do help out a little bit.

Lilith has a long history going all the way back into Sumeria which precedes the biblical Israel. Lilith started off as Lamashtu, a demon who killed babies in their crib and seduced men in their dreams. Later she morphed into Lilitu.  In the Bible Ilith was the first woman but she would not submit to Adam.

The author does get it right on left hand path philosophy. Dark deities want us to have our independence and they taught us about the stars, science and technology .

The main weakness of this book is the leaving out of history and incorrect facts. In case the reader is interested Inshall include so,e of the prayers and rituals.

Steps of prayer to Lilith

1. Go before the altar, Light the candle that is in front of the image of Lilith. 2. Bow your head. 3. Take a couple of minutes to contemplate what you are going to say. Imagine Lilith’s magnificent presence in front of you. 4. Say what comes from your heart. 5. At the end of your prayer say, "Nema." 6, Snuff out the candle.

Getting rid of negativity 

Before the ritual, write down all of the negative things you want to expel from your life. It could be a stressful job, a bad relationship, a bad habit, a negative thinking pattern, etc.. Invoke Lilith and Take 1 black candle and write all of these things onto the surface of the candle along with Lilith’s sigil.  Anoint the candle with Oleum of your choice or none at all. Within the ritual circle, charge the candie with all the anger, sadness, jealousy, etc... you feel regarding these situations, people, or things. Light the candle and imagine yourself being filled with a white light through the energies of Lilith so that none of these things can affect you. Burn the piece of paper. Close the rite and thank mother Lilith, but let the candle continue to burn down to nothing.

Wielding the Magic Sword of Moses

 

This Jewish spell book is one of the oldest spell books around. It was written in the Northern area of Israel around the second temple periods. Another old book is the Sefer Raziel. Both books are Jewish magic but in ways they are different. Sefer Raziel has the order of angels and you get to call on them but you can do it out of order and not call on all of them at once. With the Sword of Moses you go up in ascending order.  Sefer Raziel also uses more Greek magical ideas than does the Sword of Moses. Raziel has the practitioner get fancy implements and uses some bizarre animal parts. Raziel also has spells for wealth, love, money and power, along with revenge , binding spells and curses. Sord of Moses has spells for increasing Torah knowledge, increasing wisdom, cursing and binding foes and healing. Sword of Moses is more Jewish then Sefer Raziel

Jewish magic in comparison to modern magic or Wiccan practices is rather different.  Take a look at the three fold law. It says what you put out comes back at you three fold. So if you curse someone you too will be cursed. Do what thou wilt but harm none. Once again no negative magic against anyone. This work has no such compunction. If someone is wronging you and you need magic then by all means use it. Another difference is the use of special tool. In modern magical systems you have daggers, wands, chalices etc. All ritually cleansed and charged. In Jewish Magic the practitioner is the tool. You just read the spell and use your word. Occasionally a spell will call for the use of a bay leaf or an iron implement but nothing super fancy. The Practitioner did not have to be religious.

The Rabbis of old never really condemned magic outright. Maybe certain practices like necromancy and handling the dead.  But not hear. To use this book is simple. First step you need to do is fast for three days having only water during the day and bread and water at night, preferable baked by you. You need these three days in order to purify your soul. The angels can be quite dangerous to work with. After that then you can cast spells. The Sword in question is the divine names of God. Those names power everything. The magical has lots to do with Hekhalot Jewish mysticism.

Lots of the spells involve writing verses on parchment or lead plate inclusive of the petitioners name and their mother’s name. Sometimes the practitioner will bless some herbs for medicinal purposes. The petitioner will carry the inscriptions on their body or wear it.

There is no circle casting. In order to get that sacred space the practitioner would pull the tallit over their head and block out the rest of the world. Jewish magic pays no significance to moon phases, nor does it pay much attention to planetary times and days.

 

If you are looking for simple non complicated magic to do this one is it. Not everyone likes all the complicated stuff of modern magical practice. You don’t have to be Jewish to use this book.

 

Treading the Path of the Traditional Witch

 

The Crooked Path

By Kelden

 

Great book for those wanting to practice Traditional Witchcraft. This is seriously one of the best. It makes entrance into the craft easy and comprehensible. You still have to do the work though. The first part of the book covers history and compare the traditional craft to wicca.  Many witches have been introduced into both traditions so there might not be too much difference between the two. Yet on many level’s there are. Both Wicca and Traditional Craft borrowed from grimoires and folk magic. While both have rituals, Wicca tends to be more celebratory where as the traditional craft is more about low magic or sorcery using magic to manifest things in your life . In Wicca they primarily work with the gods while in traditional craft they honor the witch father and mother. Which is the goddess and the God and the god is still the horned god of old with symbolism and all. In the Traditional Craft also work with familiars, ancestors and the fetch. They may work with it in Wicca but not as much in the traditional craft.

 

In Wicca you cast a circle whereas in traditional craft they call it laying the compass. It involves the use of the stang, representation of the Horned God and laying the altar at its feet or having one set up. In traditional craft they charge tools and consecrate them for nothing else. In traditional craft your tools are used everyday cause back in the day ceremonial tools were too expensive and regular tools could be charged and used for ritual and mundane purposes. Wicca is more of a religion whereas Traditional Craft is not but still a form of spirituality.

After discussing history and development of the craft the author gets into the meet of the book. There are chapters on spell craft and rituals. Traditional Craft is more about working with spirits and working in the other world. The Other World is the world outside of our physical world. This could be the underworld where the dead reside and maybe our ancestors. The Mid World has a spiritual side that we could explore and then there is the upperworld where the deities dwell. There are mediations in the book that tell one how to cross the hedge and access the axis mundi to access the other world.

Traditional Craft has the practitioner call on other spirits besides the deities. Once could call on one’s ancestors. Ancestors can be blood or family ancestors, or they could be craft ancestors who were the leaders of the given tradition. A third set of ancestors are the people who lived and died on the land before we did and their spirits are still connected to the place.

Traditional Craft is about being connected to the land. Kelden talks about asking the spirit of a plant, tree , rock or Genius Loci (Guardian of the area) for permission and making sure to receive it before taking things out of nature and using them. One has to make a thank you offering for what they were allowed to take.

The book has a slew of exercises that has the reader do rituals , make tools, craft spells  and everything you need to get started.  Meaty book and easy to read and digest the material.

 

Witch Power

 Witch mother Laurie Cabot lives in Salem, Massachusetts, a place infamous for its witch trials where in 19 innocent people were hung or pressed to death. Most of the victims were women. A town rid of it’s witches now has people walking around in witch garb. Some accept it while others cannot get used to it.

Her life echoes that of witchcraft in general. As a youth she realized that she was different and that she was drawn to witchy things. She would have premonitions or be drawn to nature and it’s plethora of spirits. As children our minds are more open to the magical. While she does advocate being open about the craft and spreading th word she does realize that it is not always safe for people to come out of the broom closet.

Witches are not a bad thing in fact they are positive. Most of their work was for healing, abundance and prosperity. All things positive. The midwives of old had knowledge,of herbs and Star and all sorts of healing lore. The common folk being pagan had a sister of beliefs and practices. When Christianity took root the old deities were turned to devils and the church usurped many holidays and practices. This included medicinal lore.

When men opened the universities they took this medicinal knowledge with them and banned women from their universities. This put the power of medicinal stuff in the hands of men. When women were tortured and killed for witchcraft who were the ones who most benefited?

Laurie Cabot gives the reader a strong Wiccan view of history. She is honest  in how Wicca was given birth to by Gerald Gardner. Her view posits that before patriarchal times women we’re in control and things were a lot better. I do not know if thst part is true. But women had larger roles and more importance back in old times and that is for sure.

The book explains many tenets of Wicca, including the sabbath on the wheel of the year and that lunar phases. She explains the metaphysical underpinning behind the use of magic. The book has instructions on circle casting, calling quarters and spell casting. Great stuff!

What I found most useful was the crystal countdown for going to a beta mine state to an alpha mind state. I also found that I liked the 7 Hermetic principles. Take note this is the principle of magic.

1. Mentalism : the whole universe is constructed of thought.
2. Correspondence: As above so below. Meaning that what effects the smaller microcosm affects the macrocosm.
3. Principle of Vibration: every single thing gives off a vibration at certain frequencies. Nothing stands still.
4. Polarity : everything contains within itself it’s polar opposite. Hate contains love, fire contains water.
5. Principle of Rhythm: every thing has its ebb and flow.
6. Law of Cause and Effect :   Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to law; chance is but a name for law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the la
7. Law of gender : everything has masculine and feminine characteristics.

Another quite useful thing I got from the book was the Crystal Countdown. This get’s you into the alpha state where magic , dreams and astral travel happen. This is something one should learn to use. Enjoy the book it is awesome!

Asherah the Queen of Heaven and Mother of the Gods

 

Asherah The Queen of Heaven

By Baal Kadmon

Reading the bible on reads how the Canaanites were a constant thorn in the side of the Israelites, both in terms of war and theologically.  The Canaanites were constantly fighting with the Israelites and the Israelites were constantly slipping into idolatry. Among the deities they worshipped were Baal and Asherah.

Asherah was the Queen of Heaven, mother of all and consort to the Canaanite God, El. El means god in semitic religions.  Her worship consisted of erecting trees or poles on hilltops. In some reading of the bible one wonders if Asherah was a class of fertility goddesses. Not only was her worship widespread in Canaan but she was also worshipped in Egypt, Ugarit, Mesopotamia and Arabia.

In the standard mythology she was wife to El but often times she sided with Baal the storm god of fertility. She has been known to advocate for Baal after he defeated the sea god Yam. Eventually though as Baal increased in popularity he eventually shoved El off the throne and took Ashera for himself. Baal was immensely popular.

Asherah was also wife to Yahweh , she was his consort outside of Deutronomist circles. There is an inscription in the Sinai desert of her and Yahweh together. The Israelites used to call their God El and the El was used in many of his epithets . Like El Elyon or El Shaddai. Around the same time that Baal supplanted El the name Yahweh superseded the use of El. Kind of similar but let us not forget that Israelites were former Canaanites and that proto Hebrew is in fact a dialect of Canaanite speech.

Another nation that worshipped her were the Phoenicians. They were essentially Canaanites who had city states in Lebanon and due to their famed ability with ships they had colonies all over the Mediterranean. In Carthage she was called Taanit and she was paired with Baal Haman. There were human sacrifices made to these two in Carthage. In Ugarit she was called Athirat. and in Mesopotamia she was called Ashirta and was paired with Amurru and was known as the lady of the steps. In all cases she was usually paired with a bull god.

The First part of the book dealt with history, the second part deals with 4 rituals. One of the things I liked about the rituals is that they were short and simple leaving room for variation. The offering that Ashira likes are cakes (Pound of baked) wine or water and incense. The Four rituals are “Destruction of an Enemy”, “To Attain Love” “Gain Seductive power” and “Abundance” For the rituals you will need an image or a pole just something to represent the Goddess. The book says use an incense you love as any old will not do. For Middle Deities I prefer Frankincense.

 

The structure of the spells or rituals is simple. Place an image of the Goddess in the center of the alter. On one side is your candles and on the other is your incense. In front of the image you will place the cake and the drink offering. After that you say your prayer and focus on your goal and let the essence of Asherah permeate your being. Then you lift the cake in front of her and say her name three times. Finally you thank her in your own words. Should your spell be successful then you should publicly thank her.

Black candle are used for cursing and can be used in the seduction Ritual. Red is used in the seduction ritual as it is in attaining love. Gold is the color for abundance.

 

Overall not a bad little book. Problem is that it is to short and the author could have easily included more information on the Goddess.  While her worship was not as world wide as Isis still there is plenty of information out there that could have been put in the bibliography.