The Learned Arts of Witches & Wizards: History and Traditions of White Magic

168 Pages·2001·26.86 MB·English

by  Anton Adams

The learned arts of
History and traditions of
white magic

The learned arts 0f
WI J(G: HES
Wl2zlRDS

The learned arts of
Wl ~\bf ES
WllilRDS
@
History and traditions
of white magic
~nton & Mina ~dams
BARNES
&.NOBLE
8 0 0 K S
NEW YOR K
Contents
Introduction 6
CHAPTER 1
Witchcraft - Its Passage through Time
Son'<.' I y in Ancient TinH'.\ 8 C,·ltil· and Anglo-Saxon Witl hnaft 12
Traditionnl So,·icti<.·~ 16 Early EmoiH'an and Amct·ican Witdwraft 22
Medieval and Mod,•rn Magicians 26
Rl'l1l''-'"l of lntere.>t in th,• Ninl'l<.'<.'ntlt and Twentictlt C,•nttHi,•., .~:.t
Famou.l Witl·h,., of tlw Tw,·nti,•tlt C,·ntun ;:;6
'
CHAPTER 2
Places of Magic
Eartlt Magic-Tapping into tltc Earth'~ Enetgy 4o
Prominent S:wn·d Plan•, 44 Cin:lc Magi<.· 48
CHAPTER 3
Speller aft
What An: SpelL, ami Ho" Dn Thn Work? :>2 Vi\ltali:atillll .l(;
M,,k,ng <ltHI U~ing Your Magictl Tool, 58 Spell.> h2 Chant' Ct:l
U;ing Cord Magi,· (,4 Candle Magic(,()
Manif~.-.,ting Magi<.·al Power b8
Recording Yotll Magi<al Exp<.•ri<.'tK<.'' 72
CHAPTER 4
The Witch's World
Kit<·lwn Witch or Pagan GodcL,'? 7-f Popular Pagan Godd,·"''' 7·5
lmoking th<.> Godd. . ,, So Kitelll·n W itchn,Jt ~h
HouM~ Bl. ....., ing' 8(, T lw Magic of N atun• 88
Divination {Reading Tl·a Ll'iiYl'-'• Cry;tal Scrying) 1)2
CHAPTER 5
The Wizard's World
C,·n·nwnial M agician or S .. tanl\t? 9-1 Popular Pagan G,,d, 9l1
TI I\ uhtng dw God roo M aJ,. M \ ,t,•m•., 102 .Anci<.>nt M Y\kri,•, wh
D ivination (A,twlo,gy. N um~:rology. Tarot) 110
CHAPTER 6
The Path of Magic
Ritual O bsen·ance of Nallm· 116 O h,en·ing the s,. .. ,Oil\ liS
Under-tanding tlw Furn•, of Nature
1:10
Muun Ritual, and Pr.wtin·, 1:12 s,.a,unal R itu,J, ami Pra•·tin·, 124
Daily O b,en·ann•, t5(, firt.,.d,ing ExetTi>e.\ 1i>S
W itchnaft Ethin 01ml Advice
140
GLOSSARY OF SYMBOLS r44
GLOSSARY OF TERMS 148
READING LIST 1.:l:t
PICTURE CREDITS r54
INDEX 1.1&
INTRODUCTION
~
Invisible forces sl1ape our wot·ld, whether it be dJ.c change in the
seasons, the moon's effect on the eartb' s seas or a particulat·
chemistry behV"een people in love.
To wot-k magic is to understand these fot·ces or energies, from
tl1e rage of a summer storm to the sexual tension felt benV"een hV'O
people. Witches and wizards know how to use these cnet;gies and
understand tl1at magic is a very powerful tool - a big bite of the
apple from the biblical Tree of Wisdom. Is it sinful or is it
essential for the health of ourselves and the earth?
The tenus "witcb" or \"izard" l1ave traditionally meant, respectively,
a female or male worker of magic. In this book, we have linked the
traditional tem1 of witd1 to magic derived from tl,c cartl1, such as
d1e use of het·bs and the pt·actice of divination using natut·al objects.
We l1ave linked the tmditional term of wizard to tl1e magic of the
sd1olar, of literate intellectuals of whom modern scientists are direct
descendants. It is a world wbere the arts of mathematics, astrology,
alchemy and ritual masnc are all interhV'ined.
Historically, a wizard's aims might be to convet·se with a11gels
or the ghosts of long~dead philosophers, to conjme spit·its, to
discern the f~te of nations ot· to transmute base metal to gold. A
witch's aims deal with conjuring a plentiful harvest, b1·inging
fwitfulness to the village, brewing love potions and being an
intermediary ben"een tl1e will of nature and that of the villagers.
In modern times, tlte term "witcl/' covers both sexes, and what
witches believe is extremely varied. Witdlcraft has now been
rebom as "Wicca" -a term derived from an Old English wo1·d
simply meaning "wot-ker of sorcery". Each witch freely develops
his or her own belief system. Widt the increase of information
G