T Thorn Coyle Evolutionary Witchcraft (pdf) Read online

  I do this as a magical act to effect change in the world?

  This process is more satisfYing to me than the simple raising up and

  tearing down we so often engage in. When I do this exercise in regards to

  people or situations outside of myself, I drink half of the mixture, to internalize the change, and then pour the other half out upon the ground as an offering to aid and bless the situation.

  The guardian of

  the west-water Maker

  The Guardian of the West is named Water Maker. Vater Maker can help

  us with all the work of the heart, lending us depth and compassion. Wa-

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  ,

  ter Maker can appear to you in any form or gender. Let us go on a journey

  to meet this Guardian, the bearer of the chalice and the powers of water.

  Take a deep breath and center yourself. Cast the blue sphere around you. Light a candle

  on your altar, pale blue or sea green. Turn toward the mst; open yourself to the power of

  the Guardian there, as you breathe deeply within yourself. Begin to softly whisper, "�ter

  Maker. �ter Maker." Feel a touch upon your heart. Open to the Guardian of the mst.

  Chant the name, over and over. "�ter Maker. �ter Maker." Begin to feel the presence coming closer to you. What does this Guardian feel like? "�ter Maker." Speak the name, over and over, whisper it, sing it, or shout it out. "�ter Maker, �ter Maker, �ter Maker. Rise

  from the depths and join this rite." Can you catch a glimpse? The Guardian of �ter. The

  bearer of the shimmering cup that holds the depths of your heart and intuition. Here flow

  the secrets of gloaming and in-between spaces, opener, reflector of dreams. Here breathes the

  mist of twilight. Feel the presence. Introduce yourself.

  �ter Maker, �ter Maker, �ter Maker,

  You who swim in twilight spaces,

  Rise from the depths and join our rites.

  Fill our dreams with fluid grace.

  Let us flow, together.

  Let us flow.

  Touch our hearts, our spit, our blood.

  May we speak your name.

  May we speak our hearts.

  May we walk in compassion.

  �ter Maker, �ter Maker, �ter Maker,

  mlcome.

  Take a deep breath. Feel the presence guarding the western quadrant, huge and beautiful. How

  does this Guardian manifest to you? Draw or write whatever iriformation you receive. When

  you arr done for this meeti11�, say:

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  Wtzter Maker

  Thank you for your presence

  Thank you for the gifts of water.

  May I taste life and plumb my heart.

  Go if you must, stay if you will.

  Hail and farewell.

  CoNSECRATING You R ABILITY TO HoLD

  Your cup represents your ability to hold emotions, to love yourself, and to

  drink in what you need. Consecrate it much as you have your wand or

  athame. It is a sacred tool of the heart.

  Set up the sacred sphere and call upon Wtzter Maker to bless your cup. You may wish to

  dedicate it to your ability to hold greater quantities with fluid grace, or you may wish to consecrate it to compassion, or the ability to drink life deeply. Send your cup a kiss of life's love and your passion.

  ENGAGING THE HEART

  Water Maker holds the cup of depth and compassion. Things can get

  murky in those depths, yet by bringing compassion into situations with

  strong and hidden currents, we can plumb what is truly there, rather than

  cover it up with more rubble or allow it to sweep us out to sea. Compassion is the ability to listen below the surface. This deep listening allows for right action that varies according to the situation. It does not always mean

  acting in a way that feels good to all, but it is acting in the way that is most

  helpful.

  I first began to encounter this concept in a deep way while working ti.11l

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  time at a soup kitchen. Sometimes people needed a listening ear and other

  times people needed to have their actions questioned. Sometimes I had to

  break up fights and escort people out the door. Was this lack of compassion? No, it was a sign of respect. If I respect another being, I treat them as though they have the ability to care for themselves and their world in

  some capacity. Now, I have to gauge this capacity, for it is not the same for

  us all. I do expect more from those who are able to give it, but to expect

  nothing from others is a sign that you don't feel they are capable of anything at all. That is not compassion, that is pity and can devalue their life.

  As Buddhist priest Issan Dorsey said: "Many Buddhist teachers have

  described compassion as the ability to react freely and accurately in any situation. Being nice or feeling sorry for someone may be called for, but so may being fierce or unyielding. When sweetness is applied indiscriminately,

  it is seen as 'idiot compassion: " 3

  Here is an exercise to engage, cleanse, and strengthen our hearts.

  HEART BREATH

  This exercise is not intended to keep us from being angry or sad, but

  rather to keep us from lashing out in hurtful and unproductive ways.4 Recently, I was having a strong argument via e-mail with someone in my community. She said some things that I found really hurtful. So I shut down my computer, lit a candle, said some prayers, and took a shower. Then I

  did the heart breath exercise below and called her, only to find that she also

  had just grounded and showered. We were both acting as priestesses to

  keep the problem from escalating. Now, we could have done this a bit

  3From David Schneider, Street Zen (Marlowe and Co., 2000).

  4Th is is a variation on an exercise taught by Reclaiming priestess Madrone and other teachers who

  wor� with the Indian chakra system as it translates into Western practice.

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  sooner and perhaps been less hurt by each other, but still, we acted as soon

  as we could and our communication was much clearer from that point on.

  When you are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or angry, center yourself with the grounding exercise, becoming present and embodied, in Chapter I. Feel your feet beneath you. You are present in your body, not spinning out in your head or pulled under by your emotions.

  Your body serves as a balance for both. As you breathe, imagine your exhalation moving

  through your heart. Feel a slight tingling along your breastbone as the breath moves through.

  Let your heart soften and open, just a little. Let yourself relax as breath washes through you,

  filling your body on the inhalation and exiting through your heart. lj you wish, now, you

  may askfor forgiveness, patience, and compassion. Feel those enter on each breath, a gift. Feel

  your heart grow luminous, radiant. Bring the breath all the way up from your feet and out

  through your heart. You are calm, grounded, and present. You are ready to face whatever

  challenges you need to, with an open heart.

  The pearl pentacle

  . . . there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and

  refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence. -JoHN STEINBECK

  I place this pentacle here, in the chapter on water, because it carries the image of the oyster, deep within the sea, coating a grain of sand until a pearl rests, glowing, within the hard shell. This pearl also reflects the moon,

  which pulls the oceanic tides and tugs on t
he waters of our bodies. This

  pentacle shows the fruits of our labors with the Iron Pentacle. Irritation

  and pain have been strengthened and become beautiful.

  Working with the energies of love, law, knowledge, liberty, and wisdom, the Pentacle of Pearl holds the vision of a new society. It is a tool of hope, providing a way to shift the balance of power into a more liberating,

  joyous, sane, communitarian one. The Pearl Pentacle appears when the Iron

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  Pentacle is fully present. If sex energy is not running clearly within me, I

  do not have full access to love. Without balanced power, there can be no

  liberty.

  The energies of Pearl vibrate up one octave from Iron, they sing together, the same notes on a different pitch. When I am attuned to them, I vibrate as well, out into all the worlds. One of my early teachers, Pandora,

  said that Iron Pentacle is the work of a lifetime, and the Pearl the work of

  many lifetimes. Over time I have come to understand this statement to

  mean that while Iron is my personal work, Pearl is work I can only do in

  connection with others. In this case, "many lifetimes" means the lifetimes

  of many people, all doing their personal work and working with one

  another.

  The Iron pentacle is about building our psyches, our emotional

  makeup, and how we face the world on a personal level. The Pearl Pentacle

  is how we interact, how we exist in relationships and the larger systems of

  community, governments, or enclaves.

  These pentacles are not separate; they are inextricably linked and

  strongly affect all the worlds. I have run the Pearl Pentacle through my own

  body and energy field and I have drawn this pentacle around the Pentagon

  in Washington, D.C., which is the heart of a pentacle. I have chanted these

  points in groups and alone. My friend Reya, priestess and shaman, visits

  buildings and sites around her city that represent the Pearl Pentacle to her.

  She brings water from point to point, leaves birdseed, or rings Tibetan

  singing bowls at each. In this way, her internal balance helps to balance the

  place where she lives.

  We begin this balancing task by shifting the Pearl energies within ourselves, first working up from Iron. For example, if we are confident enough to cease buying into systems of domination and control, we become better able to support and create more sustainable and compassionate systems.

  We create the culture that is formed by and in turn forms love, law,

  knowledge, liberty, and wisdom. If I understand law inside myself, I can

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  - - - · - -

  -

  love

  liberty

  PEARL PENTACLE

  better aid the creation of law in the world. If I have liberty within me, I

  can work for liberty for all. As within, so without.

  CALLING UP THE PEARL

  The energies of these points cannot be twisted as those of the Iron Pentacle can, yet our mental or emotional conceptions of them might need restructuring. If I am having trouble with wisdom in my life, I work on it by going back to passion and seeing what is out of balance or absent there. If

  love is a problem, I revisit sex and my relationship to life force, which can

  affect all of my survival issues: home, work, and money. This holds true

  for all of the points on the Pearl Pentacle.

  In the following exercise, we call up and reclaim love, law, knowledge,

  liberty, and wisdom. These points shine out from the Pearl Pentacle and

  live within us, helping us to create societies anew. All of the work we do to

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  reclaim the points of the Iron Pentacle bring the points of the Pearl Pentacle forth. Like the oyster coating its irritation, it is only in acknowledging my pain and taking steps to transform it that I can come to the beauty of Pearl. Again, you can have a friend lead you through this meditation, or

  tape it and play it back for yoursel£

  Breathe in. Feel your feet on the ground. Breathe down, then up again. Begin to run the

  Iron Pentacle through your body,jeeling it etched within your form. Let the red Iron energy

  lighten and lift, shifting into Pearl, luminescent and glowing. Breathe into that opakscence.

  Let it form into a point in your head, and feel the life force of sex moving into love. Call

  love back to you. Love. Call it backfrom every love song you've ever heard. From every time

  it was whispered to you. Call it back from every time you've felt unloved or unloving. Feel

  yourself filling with love. Feel your God Soul, so in love with you. What does it feel like to

  be full of love?

  Let the Pearl energy run through your body, connecting to your right foot. Law. Feel that

  point. Feel the connection between law and love. Is it quick or slow moving? Just notice. Begin to call law back to yourself. Call it back from governing institutions. Call it back from every meeting you've sat through. Call the energy back. Call law back from the police, the

  courts. Call it into yourself. Let yourself be full of law. Call up the natural balance of

  things. This is the power of the sword, scything through illusion like the fire scythes through

  the forest, enabling new growth to happen. Natural law. This is law built upon pride, not

  arrogance. This is law connected to love and sex, to life force. Fill with it.

  Let the pearlescent energy run up through your body, connecting your right foot with

  your left hand, connecting law with knowledge. Feel it shining in your hand. Sense the connection between law and knowledge. How does that feel? Does it shine, or is it barely moving? Feel too, the tripod supporting you, the tripkt of love, feeding law, feeding knowledge.

  Breathe in. Feel the glow of knowledge. Begin to call knowledge back to you. Call it back

  from every teacher, every book. Call it back from all the times you've felt disconnected from

  your knowledge. Call it back. Touch the knowledge of yourself linked to the universe, to the

  Gods. Call it in. This is your self, reaching for the morning star. Let yourself fill with

  , knowledge. Breathe. How does knowledge shape you?

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  Let that energy begin to flow across your heart, into your right hand. Flowing from

  knowledge to liberty. Feel the line shimmering between them. As law feeds knowledge, so does

  knowledge feed liberty, the three support each other. Feel it. Breathe. Call liberty to you. Call

  liberty up from the exhilarating rush of life's joy. Call liberty back from all the times you

  have not felt free. Call it back from fear or enry. Call up freedom. Feel it coursing through

  your body, your soul. Liberating your being. Liberating the world. Thou art Goddess.

  Breathe. Feel the forces of power that enable your liberation. Call it to you, feel it feeding

  you. What is the taste of liberty? How does it feel? Is your spirit expanding?

  Feel the quicksilver of liberty running down through your body and into your left foot.

  This is the point of wisdom. From liberty, everything has changed, everything you knew, all

  your formulations are riformed, clearer. Feel the line between liberty and wisdom. How does

  it run? Feel the triplet of knowledge, liberty, and wisdom, balancing and feeding one another.

  Feel yourself, becoming Pearl. Call wisdom to you. Call it back from spiritual teachers and

  holy books. Call up the flow of compassionate generosity. Call wi
sdom back from the mistrust of your passions. Call up your own deep knowing. Let this wisdom vibrate from your passion. Drink deeply of the passion that forms your wisdom. Let that which excites you

  make you wise. This is the wisdom that will reconstruct the world into a new way of being.

  Breathe in wisdom. Feel that triangle-knowledge, flowing through liberty and forming

  wisdom. Let yourself drink in surety. What does wisdom feel like? 1j you let it change you,

  the worlds will change.

  The energy of shining Pearl runs back up through your body to your head, connecting

  wisdom back to love. Love spills out,Jeeding earth below and sky above. Feel that line and

  sense the connection. What does it look like,jeel like, taste like? Feel it in your body. Vibrating. Now feel the triangle connecting liberty to wisdom to love. See how they feed into one another, are dependent on one another. Breathe. Now turn your mind� eye to the tripod of

  wisdom, love, and law. Love is the law,jed by wisdom. Breathe. Feel the whole Pentacle of

  Pearl running through your body. Say the points as the energy runs. Love. Law. Knowledge.

  Liberty. Wisdom. Love. Run this energy until you shine, a star in the heavens. God Herself

  invokes you. And now, let the circle be drawn around you, containing and setting the energies, turning the wheel sunwise, the way of energies growing and gathering. Love, knowledge, wisdom, law, liberty, and love. Breathe.

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  Feel the energy of Iron supporting Pearl. The earth's mantle is made of star-sttiff, a nebular cloud called home by gravity's pull. Let your heart be the pull that draws your life into fullness. If there is any excess energy, breathe it up to feed your Sacred Dove.

  Though the points of Pearl need Iron to be fully realized, we can get a

  taste of them even if our Iron points are imbalanced. The following exercises give us a glimpse of what life could be if Iron and Pearl were manifested fully within us. They help us to split the oyster's shell and see the beauty held within.

  Love

  I fall in love, every five minutes. Every five minutes, someone starts to move me.

  I swear I fall in love every five minutes. Every five minutes. Must be something

  in the water. -DANNY PEcK5

  What is love in the context of the Pearl Pentacle? It is not romantic love or