Where Are The PAGAN Grimoires?

Google "Grimoires" and you get the usual results that invariably include the Key of Solomon, The Arbatel of Magick, The Lemegeton and many others after that style.  Have you noticed that they almost always use Christian and Jewish symbolism and iconography?  Even when you add the word 'pagan' to your search, you will be hard pressed to find an ancient Grimoire that is not stuffed full of prayers and supplications to Jesus, Adonay, Elohim, Arch angels and more heavenly hosts than you ever knew existed!  I'm sorry but these texts just don't say 'pagan' to me at all.  I understand that the further back in time you go the scarcer people capable of authoring Grimoires or books of shadows become but, surely there must be SOME purely pagan texts available!  I wonder if the scarcity of ancient and exclusively pagan texts is the reason so many people gravitate toward Egyptian magick, for example.  The Egyptians left much writing about their mystical traditions.


There is much talk of the witch's Book of Shadows, the burning times and how these individuals kept their book secret but, where are these texts?  Were they destroyed by relatives after the witch's death or buried with them?  Why are there so few surviving records?  To listen to neo-pagans you would think a BOS was standard equipment for any self-respecting witch, wizard or magician.  To the contrary, its beginning to look like witches writing a BOS was not a common practice at all.  Honestly, I would be delighted to be proven wrong on this point.  How lovely it would be to know that we today are following in the foot steps of the witchy folk of days gone by!  Be that as it may, I suppose the proliferation of modern books of shadows and Grimoires will be the legacy, the 'ancient texts'  of centuries to come.

Does anyone know of ancient Grimoires, magickal texts and tomes that are NOT steeped in the mythology of Christianity and Judaism?  Let me know! 

Dawn of the 'OLDE AGE'

The brighter the light of the so-called "New Age" gets, the clearer it becomes that we are at the re-birth of the 'Olde ways.' I couldn't be happier! Let the world return to the days of magick, sorcery, wizards, witches, cunning-folk, dragons, beastly familiars and the olde gods.

These days the average enchanter bears little resemblance to her counterpart of ancient times. Technological advances have transformed the world in fantastical ways. I embrace the very new as easily as the very olde. And why not? There is a sort of 'magick' happening every time we use our cell phones. Let us use ALL technologies at hand to sculpt our lives into the masterpiece of our choice.

You would think that the lords of science would have vanquished the olde ways long before this 21st century ever saw the light of day. But, look! The magickal, mystical aspects of life have more adherents today than ever before! As far as I am concerned, THAT is as good a "Good News" as anything the Christians can offer. On that score, as a former devout Christian leader, I can say without equivocation that a Pagan or Gnostic path is best for me.  My path does not generate an irrational guilt that must then be forgiven and atoned for. Secondly, my relationship with SPIRIT (insert whatever word for the Supreme Being you prefer) is intimate and direct. It does not require an intercessor. The olde ways, adjusted for the modern mind, suit me just fine!

The MAGICK Life!

Life is magick. It isn't simply 'magickal.' It literally IS magick. It cannot be quantified or measured by any scientific instruments of the day. In fact, the only way we know life even exists is by drawing obvious conclusions based on empirical evidence. It is a truly mysterious force whose existence cannot be denied and yet, paradoxically, neither can we point to hard evidence that it exists at all!

Humanity is ever delving into the mysteries of the cosmos. This is our nature as human beings. While trying to peek under nature's skirts, why not also honor and celebrate the unknown? I, for one, am grateful that there are still mysteries that lend themselves to wonder and exploration. While still unexplained, we can appreciate the magickal nature of life. We can be one with it and play its delightful games of hide-and-go-seek. We wizards, witches, sorcerers, cunningmen and suchlike ones take it a step further and try to guide and manipulate those mysterious forces, seek discourse with spirit beings and peer beyond the vale of material illusion.

Each of us can live a magickal life, even amidst the frenetic buzz of today's activity. We do this by taking moments to stay connected to the wider spiritual reality- our truest reality. This can be done with brief rituals. A ritual or prayer to greet or farewell the day. Give blessings over food, friends, love and life. Seek guidance using any method that feels good to you. Tarot cards, casting lots, reading tea leaves, pendulum work, prayer. There are many options. Mark the earth's natural cycles with Sabbats, esbats or some other commemoration of your choice. Develop your own spiritual senses and skills. If you haven't done so already, explore and discover your own spiritual gifts and then make use of them daily.

You are a wondrous being, an unexplored country, a world unto yourself. Glory in the adventure ahead of you! Make it a DAILY practice to see the reality just beneath and beyond what appears to your eyes, ears and nose. All life is magickal but not all lives are truly lived. For me there is only one choice; I will take each day of life and LIVE it the magick way!

Embracing Darkness

People often think in terms of light as being symbolic of goodness and righteousness, while darkness is generally seen to represent evil and sin. We can't really blame society, at least in the western world, from thinking along those lines since some of our great religious books tend to relate light and dark, good and evil in that way. And besides, who can argue with John Wayne and those great old western films? The good guy always wore the white hat and the bad guys invariably wore black!

I won't even try to undo generations of religious and societal programing (aka, propaganda) that casts light/white as good and dark/black as bad. I will, however, point out that appearances can deceive. The bad guys sometimes where white and vice versa. In nature we see that night falls and it gets dark. Is this an evil thing? If you are a Christian you might ask yourself, when God said "Let there be light" does that mean he was existing in a dark, evil place before? Having been a Christian for many years myself, I can tell you what I would have answered. No. God dwells in spiritual light. He was creating physical light (and by so doing also created darkness.) By his own declaration he then pronounced the day AND night as - and I quote - "all good." (Genesis 1:3 and also Genesis 1:31)

It is only natural that some people will prefer to conduct their spiritual and magickal activities at night and dress in dark attire. After all, it is during the night that the hustle and bustle of daily life quiets (for humans anyhow) and bodies heal and rest. In my experience it is also easier to concentrate and hear myself think at night or before dawn. On a side note, those who I call "Bible thumpers' would do well to remember that in the Bible and for the Jews, the day began with the NIGHT and progressed toward the day, exactly opposite to how Christians live.

I prefer to practice at night, that creative and rejuvenating part of the the cycle of life. Of course, no amount of words and even scriptural quotations will convince people that I'm not practicing evil magick all dressed in my spooky robes and candle light! More on this later!

Working With POWER

As a veteran of many coven rituals, workings, sabbats, esbats, etc., my main issue with them as magickal workings was that most times we were just going through the motions. Yeah, this one calls the corners, that one invokes the God/Goddess and so on. For people who are sensitive to subtle energies and who want to intensify the power playing at their rituals, your garden variety Sabbat observance can be pretty disappointing. They are often lackluster events - for me anyway. I like to feel the power move, surge, peak and ebb.
These days I work exclusively solo but let me make a few suggestions for anyone doing group rituals.

1. TAKE YOUR TIME!  Practitioners tend to run through their ritual script, each one reading their parts, and there is seldom sufficient time allowed for really FEELING the inner workings of the rite. If you invoke the God  take TIME to FEEL his presence, to SEE him appear in your mind's eye. Use your inner senses to feel what's going on energetically, viscerally. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting you shouldn't use notes or read passages from paper - that's fine, but what I am saying is that you will get so much more out of your rituals if you allow lots of time to sense, feel direct and absorb the energies swirling around this event. Don't rush it!
2. Typically, there is a range of skill and experience levels participating in your workings. That sort of diverse 'family style' activity is perfectly fine but even spiritually younger ones should be made aware that any sort of witchcraft will only be effective to the degree that you are directing, sensing, flowing ENERGY, aka POWER. In my opinion any age, skill or experience level can contribute something to the group energetically.

My advice to young witches and wizards everywhere is this: remember that its all about ENERGY. Wands and robes and other accoutrements can be wonderful tools if . . . IF . . . they are empowered and directed my the magick worker accordingly. Never lose sight of the whole unseen, invisible action going on in your workings. It really is worth every effort you put in to it!