Don't delude yourself. The minute you set foot upon the path of witchcraft, a call rings out in the
unseen world announcing the fact of your arrival. And sooner or later you are going to have to
confront the problem of protecting your friends and yourself from the magical bolts that will
undoubtedly be slung at you by less friendly practitioners. Supernaturally induced bad luck, whether
occasioned by the casual glance of someone's evil eye or a more potently organized attack, is always
the result of an unconscious blind spot in the victim's deep mind, either created by or played upon by
the attacker. The mischief this works is technically known in the craft as binding the victim's soul or
deep mind, thus rendering him considerably more accident-prone than he generally is.
This is so unless, of course, the magical shaft is one specifically directed at achieving a specified
result, such as gnawing stomach pains or instant loss of hair, in which case the attack is definitely
something more than a mere casual overlooking, and should not be treated as such.
Magical "overlooking" of the general type, ill-wishing, let us call it, can be guarded against with a
special overall field of witch power, which acts rather on the analogy of a blanket insurance policy.
This is accomplished by fortifying yourself and your home with charged protective power objects
known as amulets. These are similar to the power objects encountered on a previous page save for the
fact that they are charged solely with the intention of inducing a state of harmony, generosity,
expansiveness, security, and optimism in the deep minds of those in their vicinity. That frame of mind
most likely to lead to lucky breaks occurring in fact.
Most novice witches carry luck amulets of this sort as a matter of course, and usually hang a good
selection of them around the house for good measure. They can be constructed from any number of
substances - animal, vegetable, or mineral. The ones mentioned in this section are all of a mineral or
vegetable basis and rely mainly on contact with that third witch power you are about to be introduced
to: the earth itself.
To the witch, the Earth archetype represents the source of all sustenance, healing, and fertility. The
magical symbolism of the Earth is similar to that surrounding those classical deities concerned with
domestic and agrarian affairs, especially the female ones, such as Ceres, Vesta, Egeria, Ops, Cybele,
and Rhea; the great Earth mothers, in fact. Many witches refer to the Earth power as Hulda, Erda, or
Hertha. Our words "Earth" and "hearth" are derived from the last two names.
Hertha is so closely related to Habondia that these two goddesses are often related to one another in
magical legend as mother and daughter, thus tying in superficially with the old Greek myth of
Demeter and Persephone. However, many modern witches consider Habondia and Hertha to be but
different aspects of the same power, which they refer to simply as the Goddess.
It was Mother Hertha that you invoked as the third power in the Planetary Spell of the last chapter.
As a beginner witch who intends to pursue the path, it is essential that you place yourself and your
home under some sort of protective spell from the outset. There are a good many amuletic spells for
doing this. Here are two of them. The first is suitable only if you happen to live in a house as opposed
to an apartment.
On the day of the new moon, purchase a fresh hen's egg. The fresher the egg, the better - a fertile one
is best of all. That midnight, observing your usual discreet precautions, kindle a Tellurian Incense in
your thurible (see end of chapter) and place salt and water in your cup, clearly pronouncing these
actions to be "in Hertha's name."
Now, holding your Athame in your right hand, the egg in the other, tread a path three times deosil
(clockwise) round the outer perimeter of your house or property, concentrating hard on Hertha's image
and strongly invoking her either by simply chanting her name to yourself or by using the following
incantation:
Hertha, Great One, Mother of all life,
who gives birth to all
and renews her Lord the Sun each day
who bestows himself on all men equally;
Guardian of sky and sea, all powers and potencies,
through your might alone all nature falls silent
then sinks into sleep.
You bring back the light to dispel the darkness
only once more to cover us most safely with your shadows.
You in whose hand rests everlasting chaos,
even wind, rain, and storm,
at whose word oceans roar;
who chases away the light and stirs up the tempest
and at whose whim sends forth joyous day again;
Ever faithful Sustainer of all life,
when our souls depart, they fly to your keeping
thence to return yet again.
Rightly you are called Great Mother of All,
for you conquer by your name alone.
Source of strength for all men and gods
without you naught is born nor perfected;
I call upon you, ruler of creation;
I call upon you as divine,
I call upon your holy name,
Hertha, be pleased to grant that which I ask,
protect this house and home
and all who live therein,
so shall I always thank you with due faith.
Hertha herself may be visualized as a dark, statuesque woman of mature age, robed in russet and
green and bearing in her arms a sheaf of golden corn dotted with scarlet poppies. About her ankles
and forearms twine green serpents, and her full dark breasts are exposed in the manner of the queens
of ancient Egypt. Her lambent eyes are of dark gold; above her high coif of iron-dark hair she wears a
square crenellated crown, like four towers bound together. These are the four castles or Watchtowers
of witchcraft that stand at the four quarters of the world. Beneath her feet lush vegetation springs.
Behind her, in the mountainside, a giant cavern yawns. Great masses of creeper trail over it in places
like a curtain. The autumn air is heavy with the scent of new-mown hay, and bees drone lazily in the
distance.
With each step of your ritual, see, in your mind's eye, your feet leaving blue, glowing footprints of
witch power on the ground behind you. You are surrounding your house with a giant protective circle
of light!
When you have finished your circumambulations (hopefully without encountering mishap such as
arrest by the local police for loitering), you should seal the egg into a previously prepared and
exorcised black box cushioned within by some dark fabric - a piece of your discarded clothing is
ideal. This box you must now bury deeply and permanently, either as nearly under the threshold of the
house as you can manage or beneath your hearth, if you have one. You will probably have to pry up a
loose floorboard for this. Failing these things, simply wall the box up in the house somewhere, in the
attic or preferably the cellar. The important thing to remember here is that the egg must be
incorporated into the basic fabric of the house, if not the foundations.
Wherever you decide upon, you should first exorcise the spot with your Earth incense and salt and
water. Then place the box in the space provided, calling upon Hertha three times to protect your house
from all misadventure and to bless all those within it with harmony and good fortune. Having done
this, spit thrice into the hole, and then proceed to fill it in solidly and permanently.
By performing this ritual, you will have placed your house within Hertha's care. It is in fact the vestige
of an ancient sacrificial earth ritual, and can be considered most effective in matters of blessing the
home, and protection generally. In the past, ritual witches would use this process to bless pastures and
ploughed fields as well as individual homesteads.
Similar in effect, but considerably different in approach is the Square of Saturn Spell. This is a
talisman as opposed to an amulet. It makes use of a Cabalistic magic square similar in kind to your
square of Mercury, but entirely different in composition. Actually, the powers of Saturn and Mercury
are radically opposed in nature, Mercury being the airy sky principle of intellectual matters, Saturn,
the earthy and chthonic principle of material things. The method of making your square of Saturn is
thus: Choose a Saturday on or just after the new moon, and at either 8 A.M., 3 P.M., or 10 P.M.,
kindle a Tellurian Incense in your thurible, and place salt water in your chalice. Exorcise a piece of
talisman paper by fire and water, and with your pen and ink of art, divide the paper up into nine
compartments.
Now, slowly and deliberately fill in the squares with the appropriate numbers, beginning with number
i and ending at 9. With each number, as in your square of Mercury variety.
The Square of Saturn
4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
Concentrate on Hertha's image and chant a phrase which suggests the Earth power to you. This can,
again, be composed of a list of the goddesses' names such as "Rhea, Ceres, Hulda, Vesta" or simply
"Hertha, bless this house and all who live in it," or even a stanza from a poem which evokes the
feeling of safety, protection, or prosperity, such as the Hertha invocation already mentioned or any
other verse you care to choose. It need not be directly connected with the home. If it is, so much the
better.
When you have completed square 9, turn the paper over and draw a very simple plan or sketch of your
house, surrounding it with three concentric circles, drawn clockwise and beginning with the
outermost. Repeat your jingle with each circle. This pictorially represents the magical security of your
home. Cense and seal with the triple cross and "So mote it be!" and fold the paper into a packet, tying
it firmly with red ribbon, knotted thrice. As with your egg, conceal it immediately in a consecrated
place in Hertha's name, making it part of the structure of your home.
These two devices, the egg and square of Saturn, should suffice to cover any everyday contingencies
such as occasional bursts of hostile vibrations set up by the family rows over the dinner table, or those
set humming by casual "overlooking" of the envious next-door neighbour or visiting friends (probably
totally unconsciously on their part).
However, being great magpies and pickers-up of unconsidered trifles, many witches like to reinforce
the protective earth currents by hanging other devices such as holystones and sachets of protective
magical herbs at strategic points around the house: the hearth, threshold, over windows and doors, in
attics, cellars, and, of course, over the beds. Witch balls, horseshoes, keys, and other iron objects are
also looked on with great favour; iron implements such as the latter are, however, stronger stuff,
partaking more of the nature of items of defence rather than beneficence. Similarly, the irreplaceable
pentacle, used as a door symbol, also comes under this defence heading. But more of these later.
The English holystone itself bears ample witness to its country of origin's preoccupation with the art
of pun making, even at an early age. The amulets themselves are in fact simply stones with holes in
them. But (and this is the important part), in order to be effective amulets, they must first have been
formed by natural process, that is, the erosion of wind and water; and second, they should also be
found by the user rather than bought. Certain flints are often best for this; these are quite common in
some types of terrain, and can often be sought for on ploughed fields or pebbly beaches. On
discovering a holystone, you must pick it up, declaring as you do, that your action is being performed
"in Hertha's name." The stones should be hung or placed as near your hearth as possible. Failing that,
if you live in an apartment and neither possess a hearth nor, in spite of your burgeoning witchly
image, feel inclined to have one installed, simply hang them in the room you happen to spend most of
your time in - den, kitchen, maybe even bedroom.
As in the case of the egg, don't pass the holystone through fire and water; no purification or charging
is necessary. It is an amulet, not a talisman, and is used au naturel, straight out of the Earth.
Magical herbs of beneficence will be dealt with at the end of this chapter, so I will now move on to
discuss the witch ball. This amulet can take two forms. The more fanciful, and less traditional, is that
of a hollow glass globe about the size of a medicine ball, silvered on the inside and resembling
nothing more than a giant Christmas tree ornament. The rationale behind its use is similar to that of a
fascination gem. It is generally hung centrally from the ceiling of the room in which you spend most
time or, alternatively, in the front hall, "guarding" the main entrance to your home. You can often find
such witch balls in antique shops, as at one time they became very popular among wealthy
nonwitches, providing as they do handsome ornaments with which to replace the inevitable
chandelier.
However, the second variety of witch ball is the truly traditional one. This is simply a fisherman's
hollow glass net-float. As this is again an amulet, not a talisman, it should be the real thing. It receives
its "consecration," or magical charge, during its actual use in fishing. These floats are usually made of
green bottle-glass, and again, may sometimes be discovered in junk or antique shops if you are
persistent in your search. They should also be hung up "in Hertha's name."
Before leaving this general magical protection section, I should mention briefly a few of the more
popular portable amulets which may be worn by the budding practitioner. Most witches usually
collect a formidable arsenal of these over the years, wearing them singly or in various combinations as
the mood strikes them. The witch pendant and ring will generally serve as your main protective
devices, talismanic in this case, but you may combine their effects with those of the following amulets
if you so wish. Personally I feel it unwise to pile amulet on amulet indiscriminately as many do,
certainly without trying them singly first. That imposing figure of a witch hardly able to manoeuvre
under the weight of a hundred different amulets, witch jewels, and symbolic knick-knacks is
nowadays, an all too common sight in occult circles, I'm afraid. At the best it seems to betoken a
certain lack of faith in one's own sustaining witch power, somewhat giving the game away to those
that have eyes to see!
Even as a beginner, you should try to restrict yourself to carrying not more than one amulet at a time
(excluding your witch jewel). This will allow you to experiment with its effectiveness. As your
powers develop, you should learn to rely less and less on portable "batteries" of this sort, however.
Finally, you will be able to discard all such artificial aids, relying completely on your aura of witch
power to ward off any bad vibration or hostile current.
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