Power of the Witch

So this was an edit of some old notes on achieving power as a witch. I came across it while trying to compile my book of shadows so my students of 5 years can have the whole copying of the Book of Shadows experience.

Anyway, apologies if this is out of date or different in style from most of my writing, but here you go…

A Witch draws power from a variety of sources and of the most obvious is their ability to manipulate subtle energy. Often a witch develops the ability to manipulate vast amounts of subtle energy which provides a space where spirit is able to manipulate reality. This spirit can be the witch’s own spirit or an ally they have made from another world or another type of existence.

The amount of energy can have a direct correlation with the ability of the witch to exercise their power. This is often achieved by drawing from multiple sources of energy. The energy of Gaia directly beneath our feet, generic heavily energy drawn down from the sky, elemental energy drawn from tattwa symbols, energy draw from divine and infernal gates, astral energy, celestial energy, archetypal energy drawn from archetypes and divine energy directly from ontological deities and transcendent forces such as the god, goddess and the Dao.

Another aspect also relating to energy is its density. When energy is concentrated enough it will react with itself and form a denser energy that is more capable of manifesting change in physical reality.

Finally energy’s activity level. Often directly in opposition to its density is the activity level of energy. This is the speed it flows how vibrant it is. Often as energy is made denser and denser it becomes harder and harder to achieve speed which is where the mental muscles to shift energy become important. Some of the most dense energies is the earth itself which goes very smoothly through its cycles by tying a witch’s densest energy to the movement of the earth through sabbats a witch can cause a powerful flow of their dense energy in their body, which can be used for thaumaturgy.

While energy is often the basis for the manipulation of the physical world using spiritual means, it is not the only one and consideration should be given to other aspects such as connections/links. Connections with an appropriate spirit that can allow the spirit to manipulate energy more efficiently for the desired purpose can make a huge difference. Often, the most powerful spirits can be the least useful in the same way a sledgehammer isn’t the best tool for stapling paper together. Frequently, less powerful spirits that are well-known for their skills in certain areas can be much more useful. When there is overlap with the desired purpose, an ally can prove extremely useful.

When the desired outcome is more theurgical than thaumaturgic connections can have a deeper impact than energy. Remember that sometimes a connection can be to a plane of reality, rather than a specific spirit. Also some planes of reality are more a state of mind than a different place.

Links to a target are crucial. Often the desired outcome will be a person or situation that we want changed. This can be represented by a doll in the shape of the target, a photo or something emotionally connected with the situation. Often things emotionally connected with the target have a more useful connection. The best connection is often something that was part of the person who was a target such as a tooth, nail, hair, semen or blood. Remember that the object should be associated with the desired change. For example when someone is sick, a hospital bracelet is unacceptable as a link because it reminds us of the sickness we would hopefully wish to eradicate and we might conjure more sickness.

Intention is also an important aspect of power. The desired result should be a focus throughout the exercise of Witches power. Some people, myself included, find it easier to imagine the process of change, but a greater consensus view suggests that focusing on the desired change having already taken place is more successful. For example, they say don’t visualise your friend getting healthier, but instead being already healthy.

Often the intention needs to be passed into the deep mind without the psychic censor or aspects of the mind which prevent magic stopping it. This can be achieved in a number of ways.

One is the obfuscation of intention. This is where the intention is disguised often by making it into a sigil or ritual action, where the result of the sigil or ritual action is lost to all, but the subconscious allowing it to be passed into the deep mind where it is reunited with meaning from the subconscious on the other side of the censor. The intention can still be the focus of the exercise however the conscious mind does not know what it is focused on.

Some techniques focus instead on the temporary suspension of the psychic censor. This can be when in a state of mystic ecstasy, such as that caused extreme rates of energy flow in the subtle body (something to build up to over time). Also states of near-death experiences such as the spiralling caused by vertigo. Death cannot be mentioned without “le petit mort”, or orgasm, which also temporarily disrupts the censor. Finally, some altered states put aside both the understanding of the intention without disrupting focus on it and can in extreme cases disrupt the psychic censor allowing the intention to penetrate the deep mind where its seeds can take root and germinate alterations of reality.

Summary

This section is missing a summary in my original notes so I add here that the witch is empowered through many methods including:

1. The witch’s ability to manipulate energy which can create a field for manifestation
2. The quantity of energy in that space.
3. The vibrancy and quality of energy in that space.
4. The witches sources of energy
5. The witches use of allies and their appropriateness to the intention of the ritual
6. The witches connects to other planes of reality where useful energy might be sought.
7. The rituals connection to the target.
8. The symbolic representation of the intention and the obfuscation of the intention and not including anything that might lead the mind to consider the opposite of the ritual intention.
9. The use of states of trance or the death stare.

The Moral Question

I had rid my notes of much of the moral ramblings that I had when I was trying to re-form my latent Christianity as a new magical religion. I wrote them to create a new religion in the form of the others that already existed, but eventually I realised that content simply bound me to false code that had no enforcement. I trust myself to act morality and need no mystical reason to act with morals. I can trust myself to act as a good person simply because of my pride which is based in my morality. But the seeking of power does raise a dilemma and questions.

The witch has many means to achieve power and its the combination of all these techniques that allows them to achieve power. Is power evil? Nope. Is seeking it evil nope? Is it’s use evil? Nope. Its misuse is evil, and the fact that many people take many immoral actions to achieve power is evil, but the power itself and it exercise is not evil innately. By using power to take care of yourself and your needs, without negatively impacting other people, you are often able to make yourself available to be generous to others rather than being a burden to them. Your power can also be used to further the freedom of other human beings.