Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft, Part 2

Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft, Part 2: The Altar and the Circle

Ian Elliott    September 19, 2013

 

The Altar

Now that the cardinal directions are marked out in the living room or some other room in your house (perhaps your basement if you have one), and the central spot between them marked, we can turn our attention to the altar.

For an altar I use a low black-lacquered Chinese table, perfectly square, and set it over the central spot with the four sides squared to the cardinal directions.  The altar arrangement I am going to describe is different from most accounts of a modern witchcraft altar, but it is simpler and works well for a solitary, I think.

In the center of the altar is a thick candle, or sometimes two thick candles.  The number, and their colors, depends on the time of year, on the changing character of the solar cycle or ‘wheel of the year.’  The colors for the Lady are white for the Maiden, Red for the Mother, and black for the Crone.  The colors for the Lad or Lord (Cernunnos) are red for the Oak King and green for the Holly King. 

The four cardinal directions correspond to the four lesser or physical Sabbats: east is for Ostara, the spring equinox; south is for Litha, the summer solstice; west is for Mabon, the autumn equinox; and north is for Yule, the winter solstice.  The intercardinal or ordinal directions, northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest, correspond to the four major or spiritual Sabbats: Imbolc for northeast, Beltane for southeast, Lammas or Lughnasadh for southwest, and Samhain for northeast.  The major Sabbats lie on the cusps of the four quarters of the wheel of the year and thus mark important points of transition between the elements and their powers.  These are air for the eastern quarter, fire for the southern, water for the western, and earth for the northern quarter.

The characters of the eight Sabbats and the elements and their powers must be studied elsewhere; here we are only concerned with the setup on the altar.  From Imbolc to Beltane the Maiden rules nature, accompanied by the young Oak King.  Thus, from February 1^st (some traditions celebrate Imbolc on the 2^nd February) to midnight on April 30^th, the center of the altar will hold two candles, side by side as one faces east: the white candle of the Maiden on the left and the red candle of the Oak King on the right. 

From May 1^st to midnight on the eve of the summer solstice (often June 21^st, though it varies from year to year), there will either be two red candles in the center, or these can coalesce as one red candle (which can be seen as two when the eyes are crossed).

From the summer solstice to midnight of July 31^st, the red candle of the Mother will be on the left, and the green candle of the Holly King on the right.

From August 1^st to midnight of October 31^st, the black candle of the Crone will be on the left, with the green candle of the Holly King on the right.  At the end of Samhain (the morning of November 1^st), the Crone goes down to the Summerland and the Holly King reigns alone from that point on the wheel of the year to midnight of the winter solstice, so there is only one green candle; however, it is not centered but is kept in the same place as before, to the right of the center of the altar, leaving a space of commemoration on its left for the departed Crone. 

The morning after the winter solstice, the Oak King is reborn and his red candle replaces the green candle of the Holly King, still placed in the off-center position.  This is the arrangement until the following Imbolc.

At the center of the eastern side of the altar, right along its edge, the incense burner is placed, as the tool of air.  Similarly placed along the southern, western and northern edges of the altar are the fire element candle (a red cup candle), the chalice, and the pentacle.  A flat circular or oval stone can be substituted for the pentacle.  The pentacle is flat and circular; it may be made of wood or some other material, and is painted or engraved with special symbols, as illustrated, for instance, in Doreen Valiente’s Witchcraft for the Future. 

Between the central candle or candles and the incense burner the wand is laid, with its head towards the north.  In a similar position between the central candle or candles and the fire element candle in the south is placed the athame, with its point towards the east.  The chalice and pentacle (or stone) are their own magical weapons. 

Other supplies for the circle ritual can be placed on a tray under the altar table.  A small bowl of salt can be placed at the northwest corner of the altar, and a hand bell, for signaling the beginning and ending of sacred time, can be placed at the southwest corner.  This is handy for the solitary, whose station is on the west of the altar looking east.

Tapers fixed in disk-shaped holders (for catching the melting wax) are placed at the edge of the circle towards the four cardinal directions, and cup candles at the intercardinal or ordinal directions.  The cup candles are only lit between Yule eve and Imbolc, for providing extra light. 

Enough space for circling round the altar should be provided for when setting out the candles on the circumference of the circle.  It is not necessary to make the circle exactly nine feet in diameter, especially as the solitary will generally be celebrating alone. 

The sequence of setting up the temple is as follows: (1) central candle or candles; (2) elemental tools, beginning with the incense burner in the east;    (3) magical weapons, beginning with the wand; (4) accessory items on the altar, beginning with the hand bell and finishing with the salt bowl; (5) items on the tray under the altar, such as cakes and wine, or bread and ale, plus a water ewer; (6) the tapers are set on the cardinal points, beginning in the east; (7) the cup candles are set on the intercardinal or ordinal points, beginning with the southeast. 

The altar and circle are now arranged.  At the conclusion of the rite, all articles are removed in reverse sequence.

Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft

Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft, Part 1

by Ian Elliott   August 28th, 2013

 

I used to be an active participating member of a coven, but now that I have moved very far away (Norway), I find I have to establish and maintain my own solitary practice.  This is the first of several short articles in which I describe how I have gone about it.

 

1: Establishing the Directions:

The first step is to find one’s spot, the place in the house or apartment where one feels most centered and at ease.  This easily equates to one’s easy chair in the living room.  Then, sitting in the chair and holding a magnetic compass, one determines where, along the periphery of the room (on the wall or on furniture near the wall), due north lies.  This can be marked with a ribbon or a length of yarn, preferably black if that is your tradition’s color for north.  In the same way, mark out the eastern, southern and western points in the room. 

Each morning, face each of the four directions and ask the elementals and Watcher of that direction to aid you in the cultivation of that direction’s elemental power.  Thus, if you begin in the east, ask the sylphs and the Watcher of the east (air) to aid your understanding in the course of the day’s learning.  A witch is a knower and must try to learn something new every day, preferably something that can be put into practice.  In the south, ask the salamanders and Watcher of the south (fire) to nourish your will so you can apply what you know to better your life.  The Craft is something that is done.  In the west, ask the undines and Watcher of the west (water) to grant you the daring to reach out for new life and include adventure in your day.  This includes exploring new forms of awareness.  Finally (or firstly) ask the gnomes and Watcher of the north to grant you inner and outer stillness, physical vigor, and steadfastness of spirit.  This facilitates inner journeying.

Finish by sealing to the quarter in which you started, saluting the elementals and Watcher of that direction.

 

2: Upon Awakening, Before Retiring:

Keep a journal by your bed.  When you first wake up in the morning, record some brief impressions of your night’s dreams and date the journal entry.  Upon arising, consult your lunar calendar as to the current phase of the Moon, and note that in your journal. 

Perform your rite to the four directions.  Now you are ready to start your day.

At the end of the day, finish your journal entry for the day by noting what you have attempted in the day’s Craft, and the results of your attempt.  Read over the impressions of last night’s dreams.  Then lie down to sleep, suggesting whatever hint you are using currently in your dreams to dream lucidly, knowing you are asleep.

 

Comments:  We cannot describe witchcraft in general without bringing in aspects of our own personal practice.  Even before I became a solitary, I was an interior witch involved in inner practices, such as dreamcraft.  I am a witch endeavoring to do lucid dreaming, which is very difficult for me.  One clue to the fact that one is dreaming when that is taking place is recalling happenings from previous dreams.  This is a sort of dream memory.  For years I dreamt I was attending some college class, but not showing up there regularly.  In such dreams I remembered other schools I had attended, with equal unsuccess.  At first the memories seem to be simply of my past, but at some point in my dream, at times, I realized they were of other dreams I had had on other occasions.  People who have recurring dreams will understand this.  Once I reached that point, I was close to realizing that this, too, was a dream.  Often, though, one wakes up right after that. The practice of reviewing the phrases jotted down in the morning after awakening by reading them in one’s bedside journal just before going to sleep is meant to encourage the sort of continuity in dreams exhibited by dream memory.

I have reached the point where I can suggest dream content and it appears reliably every time, yet in such a way as to avoid tipping me off that I am dreaming.  Thus, if I suggest to myself to look at my hands in my dreams (as Castaneda reportedly did), I will dream I am typing on a computer keyboard or playing the piano.  I played piano most of my life, and had two bad habits: over-use of the soft pedal, and a tendency to look at my hands as I played.  I am experimenting with changing what I look for in my dreams, and so far my dreams manage to keep up with me and fool me every time, but I have noticed an increase of dream memory, so perhaps I am making progress.

The ritual of establishing directions in one’s home is preliminary to setting up the circle, which I will describe in part 2.

Hi folks,

The new Yahoo Groups format is inconvenient, impersonal, and full of bugs.  I am blogging from now on.  I will contact those who showed an interest with the address of this blog.  Meanwhile, if you can get through to Yahoo about the drawbacks of the neo format, please do so!

Under the gods,
Iain Quicksilver