In the Circle: Crafting the Witches' Path

196 Pages·2001·30.596 MB·English

by  Elen Hawke

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I
Tree and Bird, Stone and Star
The spirituality of witchcraft is experienced through the
world around us, through nature, and through the bodies in
which we live. The sense of the divine is not remote from
the world, but is part of one's own being.
To be a witch means living in harmony with the ebb and
flow of the seasonal tides and the cycles of sun, 1noon, and
weather; to have a love of everything that lives, a respect for
and sympathy with tree and bird, stone and star, and our fel,
low hu,nans.
This is expressed through aligning oneself with the
unfolding patterns of the ritual year, and the monthly wax,
ing and waning of the moon. Witches believe that working
in harmony with these cycles will nourish the spirit of the
land while aligning their own spiritual develop1nent with
the soul of nature.
About the Author
Elen Hawke is a British witch who live<; 1n Oxford, Engl,1nJ, with her
hushand and a house full of animab. She has one gniwn Jaugh1cr and
son. Elen is a photographer, illustrator, and has been a profc!>~tonal
astrologer for twenty-seven years and a tarot reader for ten. These
days, she divides her time between healing, teaching witchcraft, med
itation, and chakra work, and celebrating the moon~ and fesnval5
with the rest of the coven to which she belongs.
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Elen Hawke
% Llewellyn Worldwide
P.O. Box 64383, Dept. l-56718-444-8
St. Paul, MN 55164-0383, U.S.A.
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CRAFTING THE WITCHES' PATH
ELENHAWKE
2001
Llewellyn Publications
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0383, U.S.A.
In ihe Circle: Crafting cite \'(/itches' Pach r9 2000 by Elen I L1wkc. All
right!) reserved. No pan of Lht) book m;iy he u~ed or rcprod11cccl 1n
any rnanner whatsoever, including internet u~age, wnhout wrirrcn
permission from Llewellyn Publrcation5 cxc.crt 1n the c,1,e of hricf
quotations emhodie<l 1n crrtical articles and reviews.
FIRST EDITION
First Printing, 2000
Book design and editing by Karin Simoneau
Cover design by William Merlin Cannon
Interior art by Carrie Westfall
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
1-lawke, Elen, 1947-
In the circle: crafting the witches' path/ Elen Hawke.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-56718-444-8
1. Witchcraft. I. Title.
BF1566 .H377 2001
133.4'3-dc21 00-062353
Llewellyn Worl<lwi<le does not participate in, endorse, or have any
authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions
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Llewellyn Puhlications
A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
P.O. Box 64383, Dept. 1-56718-444-8
St. Paul, MN 55164-0383, U.S.A.
www.llewellyn.com
(l
Printed on recycled paper in the United States of America
For my daughter, my sisters, my mother, Stephen,
Kate, Mike, and Tereza; for Children of Artemis
and all my dear friends at witchcraft_uk;
for
for my brothers and sisters in the Craft; and Louise,
who encouraged me to walk the path.
,,
I
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012
'
http://archive.org/details/incirclecraftingOOhawk
Contents
Introduction
lX
Chapter One: Winter Solstice
1
Chapter Two: Goddess and God
7
Chapter Three: lmbolc
25
Chapter Four: Building a Shrine
31
Chapter Five: New Moon
37
Chapter Six: Oestara
41
Chapter Seven: Magical Equipment
45
Chapter Eight: Beltane
67
Chapter Nine: The Sacred Land
73
Chapter Ten: Fu II Moon
87
Chapter Eleven: Su1n 1ner Solstice
95
VIII
Chapter Twelve: The Circle
99
C
0
Chapter Thirteen: Latnmas
N
T
125
E
N
Chapter Fourteen: Magic
T
s 131
Chapter Fifteen: Autumn Equinox
145
Chapter Sixteen: The Quarter Moons
151
Chapter Seventeen: Waning/ Dark Moon
155
Chapter Eighteen: Sarnhain
159
Chapter Nineteen: Initiation
165
Glossary
173