T Thorn Coyle Evolutionary Witchcraft (pdf) Read online

  After all of this seeking, I had fallen back upon myself, having found

  "perfection" nowhere. I hadn't yet realized that perfection is wholeness,

  not the eradication of perceived flaw, but I did listen to the line in Doreen

  Valiente's Charge if the Goddess that said: "If that which you seek, you find

  not within yourself, you will never find it without:' I took a big breath and

  began to look at what I already had. What I had gathered from my meandering course was all rooted in Feri. I knew I needed to engage my core tradition as fully as possible. As a Muslim friend told me, I needed to dig one deep well, not twenty shallow ones. Only then would there be a possibility

  of finding clean water.

  I began to study with Victor again. He had not transformed into the

  unflawed teacher, but by this time, I no longer needed that, and I was mature enough to suspect that such a thing did not exist. In the spirit of Feri diversity, I took all the techniques of awareness and practice I learned with

  the Sufi dervishes and from Gurdjieff's teachings, and the compassion

  from the radical Catholics, and applied them to Victor's teaching.

  My work took on a depth and resonance it had never attained before.

  I was connecting to spirit, building a foundation, and my teacher was

  within. My teacher was daily practice and self-examination. My teacher

  was in my encounters with other humans: on the bus, at work, at home.

  My teacher rapidly became all the tools of Feri, applied with diligence.

  The Feri Guardians and Gods taught me. Other Feri kin were also my

  teachers, the initiates that I began to work, play, and dance with. I was

  taught by music and movement, fire and ocean, and the deep, abiding nature of my breath. Five years after my Feri initiation, and after many years of having taught in Reclaiming, I felt ready to begin teaching Feri. I finally

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  Evolutionary witchcraft

  had something of substance that I could share. My Feri initiation had

  taken root and was flourishing.

  This whole process took more than twenty years, and this book is the

  result of all of those years and spiritual streams converging, and the inspiration and results from what Victor gave to me through the Feri Tradition.

  I have hit deep water, and it is a gift I treasure.

  what IS Bvolutionurg witchcfuft?

  I say that I teach Evolutionary Witchcraft, or Witchcraft as a path toward

  expanded humanity and divinity. But what does it mean to be a Witch?

  What does the word mean to men and women in the beginning of the

  twenty-first century? Contemporary Witchcraft owes much to ancient

  polytheism, medieval alchemy, Freemasonry, and Enlightenment-age scepticism of heavily organized, dogmatic creeds. Yet, unlike many inheritors of the Enlightenment, Witches and other Pagans insist on the sanctity of

  the earth in the face of mechanization. Feri Witches use magic to pray, to

  shift consciousness, and to connect with the earth.

  What is magic? Magic is the art of evolution. It uses intention, breath,

  will, and ritual to transform both the individual and her relationship with

  the world. Magic shifts the balance of power between the worlds seen and

  unseen, and can affect change individually, socially, and politically.

  If I believe in magic, why am I not a Magician? A Witch begins with intuition and the Magician with intellect, so though both practice the art and science of magic, the Witch relies more heavily upon the art, and the

  Magician upon the science. I believe that the Witch could use a little more

  science and the discipline that goes with it, and the Magician a little more art

  and spontaneity. My practice in Feri tries to bring the Witch and the Magician a bit closer together.

  Though Frri Tradition is an initiatory path, I have a strong belief that

  The Roots of Evolutionurv witchcruft

 
  any individual who is willing to do the work of facing herself may make

  good use of its practices and teachings and use them to transform her life.

  This is why I teach and why I asked Cora for her blessing on this book. If

  one is a serious spiritual seeker, one can apply the practices held in these

  pages at your job, in your apartment, in the woods, on the beach, alone, or

  with others. The work is dangerous, for it transforms us. But if one is willing to work diligently, there is no need to turn away.

  Ten chapters follow this one, creating the great magic sphere. I recommend that you read this book through once and then spend one to two months working through the teaching in each chapter, building your own

  foundation and exploring your soul. In these chapters, we will uncover the

  possibility of our own divinity and will awaken to the sacred elements. We

  will journey into ourselves-shadow and light, frailty and strength. We will

  reach for the stars, dance with the Gods, and make love to the beauty of

  the earth. We will expand our capacity to be human and learn what it

  means to be fey magic workers-bringing the edges into the center and

  opening up new worlds in the process.

  Chapter I will show us how to access the power and paradox of the blue

  Feri fire. We will cast our sacred sphere and step into nonordinary con-

  scwusness.

  Chapter 2 will teach us to access our own divine natures and to align

  our sacred, tripartite souls.

  In Chapter 3 we will turn toward the East and explore the powers of air:

  our breath, our speech, the tool of the magic wand, and the great Eastern

  Guardian.

  Chapter 4 will turn us South to the potency of fire and will, blade and

  action, of making choices and standing firm as we greet the Southern

  Guardian. Here we will activate the Iron Pentacle and reclaim sex, pride,

  self, power, and passion.

  We will swim the depths of emotion and open our hearts as we turn to

  the West in Chapter 5, holding the sacred chalice as we greet the Western

  zo

  Evolutionunl witchcraft

  Guardian and evoke the Pearl Pentacle, chanting love, law, kncwledge, liberty, and wisdom.

  Facing North brings us to the strength of our bodies, of stillness and

  silence, the structure of the green cube and the movement of the pentacle.

  Here, in Chapter 6, in the presence of the Northern Guardian, we birth

  ourselves and our relationship to all the things of the world.

  Chapter 7 finds us reaching up to the Powers Above, as we call upon

  our dreams, our desires, and our ability to expand beyond ourselves. We

  will work with the Guardian Above, the black mirror of space, the Peacock

  God, and the Star Goddess.

  Facing the Powers Below, in Chapter 8, we call up our core fires and

  reach to the center of the earth. The cauldron bubbles and steams here,

  burning away fear, tempering our purpose, and showing us things that

  were heretofore hidden from us. The strength of the warrior and the

  Guardian Below helps us in this work.

  Chapter 9: standing tall, we invoke Center, the circumference of all.

  Here lies the beating Black Heart of Innocence, our wild, honest natures.

  Calling upon ourselves, we will open the center gates and dance with our

  Shadow Lovers.

  Finally, in Chapter IO, we will prepare to close the great sphere and

  walk into our lives, carrying our true names, and ready to live our true

  work in the world.

  As mentioned in the chapter descri
ptions, Victor provided teachings

  not found in any other Craft tradition: the Iron and Pearl Pentacles; the

  alignment of our Triple Soul; finding our Black Heart of Innocence; blue

  Feri fire; the warrior ethic; the knowledge that we do not need to look outside of ourselves for polarity and balance, that all is found within. He and Cora taught us that we can have direct contact with Nature and that the

  Gods can speak through us. We have divinity and the possibility to become

  cwn more divine. We arc human, and fey, and beloved by Goddess, whom

  Virlor and Cora call God Herself. We share in her immanent love and

  The Roots of Bvolutionury witchccuft

  11

  transcendent possibility. She beats in our blood and every act of creation

  we engage in carries the spark of her love and the sanctity of life force.

  Though some written sources exist, Feri has largely been an oral tradition, passed from the teacher's mouth to the student's heart. Each teacher uses her own methods, and flavors the work with her own flashes of poetry

  and insight. Thus does the tradition ever change, with no inviolate "book

  of shadows" to determine authenticity. We are always engaged and always

  creating. The authenticity is passed in the "Feri current;' which is the

  power of wild magic, the current of connection to the Gods. It is passed

  in the distinctive exercises and tools of Feri. It is passed in the language of

  the trees, into our skin, our breath, and our fey hearts.

  The main Feri current is passed in formal initiation after many years of

  intensive study with a trained priest or priestess of the tradition. However,

  I feel that the Feri tools provide such powerful help that even those who

  never receive initiation can benefit from the work of this tradition. This is

  why I have compiled my own method of teaching, Evolutionary Witchcraft, in which one can study and grow, in a group or on one's own, whether or not initiation is part of one's path. Should one desire further

  work, a teacher will appear.

  This being an inspired tradition, Victor passed different information

  to each of his students, depending on their needs and the time at which

  they studied with him (for you see, his own work evolved over time).

  Those students have then gone on to form the work in their own ways.

  This book is my way. It is not the be-ali and end-all of Feri Tradition.

  Rather, it gives insight into what I find important, which is primarily using work on self as a way to evolve further into our own Godhood. If we do this, we will treat each other and the earth better and enter into right

  relationship with all beings, seen and unseen. We will evolve.

  The Oracle of Delphi enjoined each seeker to "Know thyself' This

  dictum is also embedded in the Feri tenets. Some teachers transmit theory

  or lore, while I transmit practice, because practice changes my molecules

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  Bvolutionurv witchuuft

  and helps my relationships and work. Some of the exercises and concepts

  I present here do not come directly from Feri, or Victor, but I use them as

  a way to work more deeply within the tradition and, more importantly, to

  become more self-aware and better able to handle the influx of power and

  energy that Feri work brings. We can expand to hold that enormous power

  with grace and compassion.

  Feri has largely been an elusive tradition, secretive and small. Yet people

  have assiduously sought it out since its inception and there has been an

  explosion of interest in recent years. Feri fills a real need in the spiritual

  landscape: the need to uncover the divinity of our own souls and to walk

  connected with the natural world and the realms seen and unseen. Feri

  Tradition encourages us to embrace the whole of ourselves and see what

  emerges, new, from that crucible of contradictions.

  This surge of interest coupled with the tangible changes in my life and

  the lives of my students as a result of our work with Evolutionary Witchcraft compelled me to begin teaching ever more widely and convinced me to write this book. The earth requires our evolution, and many are stepping forth to help fill that need.

  I am confident that ways will be found to spread evolutionary spirituality and to help us through these times that are desperate for vision, practice, and true change. I hope that those who are deeply interested in this work will seek out further teaching. This book is an entry into your deeper

  self: may your senses open, your hearts fill, your spines straighten, and your

  work take on luster and joy.

  I offer this book as a tool to those who want more than the basics, to

  those who are looking for deeper training, and those who don't want just

  another book of spells. Cast yourself. You are the spell.

  Holy Mother, in whom we live, move, and have our being, from you

  all things emerge and unto you all things return . . .

  Open our hearts this blessed day. Touch our bodies and our minds.

  Walk with us through the gates of power, in shadow and starlight, in fire

  meeting earth, in wind on the ocean and the sweet kiss of life.

  Blessed be our journey.

  I

  The sucred sphere:

  custin� with .feri Fire

  openin� the Teuchin�s

  D o not become that which you resist. -VIcToR ANDERSON

  The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. -AuoRE LoRoE1

  he Audre Lord quote above is graffito in the Kopi Cafe in Chicago,

  a place full of travel books and hippie clothing. Her words remind

  me to ask what I am teaching in this city far from home, and why I am

  writing this book today. I am teaching and writing because the tools I've

  been given through the Feri Tradition continue to change my life. These

  are not tools of dominance that enslave people, instead, Feri Tradition

  tools are tools of liberation. If we all achieve mastery, none will be master

  over another.

  These are tools to slay demons and release your heart. They are tools

  1Scc Audrc Lorde, Sister Outsider (Crossing Press, 1984).

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  Evolutionary witchcraft

  of revolution and, more importantly to me, tools of evolution. My work

  is to challenge myself to become more human: to struggle against dehumanizing beliefs and inhumane practices. I want to cease being at war and instead become a peacefUl warrior, an activist of heart and body.

  The question becomes, How can we not merely survive, but thrive? The

  tools in this book are part of the answer. These, along with compassion

  and courage, may just save us. At least, that is my prayer. I also believe these

  tools can do even more-they can help us awaken our divine natures. To

  use these tools well, we need preparation, and that is what we will do in

  this chapter-take the steps necessary to prepare for the work of unfolding our souls.

  usincs the Tools

  Anything worthwhile is dangerous. -VIcToR ANDERSON

  The tools and concepts in this book are our birthrights, yet have often

  been twisted beyond recognition in our culture. Reclaiming them is both

  difficult and dangerous because using them goes against cultural precepts

  and because these tools can change us in significant ways. In turn, this

  changes all of our relationships, how we work, our ethical systems, how we

  treat ourselves and others, and how we let others treat us.

  Changing cultural precepts
is a revolutionary undertaking and the most

  powerfUl place to start a revolution is within ourselves. Wiccan author

  Doreen Valiente said, "Evolution, like charity, begins at home:' External

  activity cannot be divorced from what is happening inside and inner work

  must be balanced by concern for the world outside.

  The concepts in this book are potent and can cause earthquakes both

  inside and out. They uncover taboos and buried fears, opening up energies

  tl)at cannot easily be shoved back into a jar. The Feri tools give us greater

  The sucred sphere: custin
  1 7

  access to life force, to pure power. Power is a good thing, hut once this energy is raised, if we ignore the tools that raised it, power can twist back upon us, or we can blast others with untrained energy. Fallen into disuse,

  these techniques can create people who no longer have the disciplined control that is needed to wield their power well. This can cause great difficulties in covens and larger communities, leading to the spread of malicious gossip, high-handedness, or grandiosity. Malice is not inevitable if we learn

  to do our work, fully engaged, and to treat each other with respect. To do

  this, we must engage in occult activity. Occult study plumbs that which is

  mysterious and secret. We can apply this definition to the process of looking at our hidden selves.

  Fucin'5 the Mirror

  When you begin to engage these tools, please make a concerted effort to

  be kind to yourself and those around you. When you start running Feri

  energy it might feel slightly uncomfortable because it is so powerful. Feri energy is the energy of pure life force, which can feel overwhelming until we become skilled at handling it. We typically create physical and emotional

  blockages to keep our life force in check and to keep it from running freely

  and fully through us. You can listen to your posture and the tensions in

  your body that twist or strangle the energy and gently begin to loosen that

  which binds you.

  Running life force in a new way may cause you to be irritable with those

  close to you, or may make you wish to blurt out things that you would

  otherwise keep silent. Honesty is a good thing, but needn't burn everything

  in its wake. Also, the changes you feel within may make you uncomfortable