Curott - Witch Crafting

Contents

For all of those who have come before,
those who will follow after,
and all who build the
magical bridge between them

Acknowledgments

Witch Crafting could not have been written without the gifts and assistance of many special people to whom I extend my heartfelt appreciation. First and foremost, I want to thank all of my patient, wise, and endlessly enthusiastic students who have taught me how, what, and why to teach.

My editor at Broadway Books, Lauren Marino, has once again been my champion. Her insight and savvy, commitment and verve have made all the difference in bringing this book to the widest audience possible. And of course, all the outstanding efforts of the great team at Broadway Books have helped this book to reach a growing and global audience: Steve Rubin, Catherine Pollock, Cate Tynan, Betsy Areddy, Lee Fukui, Alana Watkins, Brian Jones, and all the folks in marketing, sales, publicity, and design. Michael Windsor has created the most elegantly beautiful cover for any book on Wicca thats ever been published. I also want to thank Louise McNamara of HarperCollins U.K., and all my other absolutely wonderful foreign publishers, many of whom made my last book, Book of Shadows, a bestseller abroad, and who are helping the world to discover the spiritual gifts of Wicca.

This book could not have been written without the invaluable gifts of Nancy Peskemore than an editor, she has become a dear and valued friend whose talents and perspective have helped me to bridge the worlds of the magical and the mainstream. It is a service that only history can reward sufficiently, but she has my deepest respect and gratitude.

My agent, Joanna Pulcini, has once again brought her skills and enthusiasm and most of all her enormous heart to the manifestation of this vision. She shines with a light that brings radiance to all of her efforts. Im also very grateful to everyone else at the Linda Chester Literary Agency: Linda Chester, Gary Jaffe, and Kelly Smith.

My dear friend and publicist, the very magical Arielle Ford, was and continues to be a gift of the Goddess in bringing this message of empowerment and reenchantment to a world in need.

I was very fortunate to have the insight of a fine group of readers and practitioners whose valuable feedback and generously shared stories have helped to shape this book. They have also nourished me, and this effort, with love and support: the members of my coven, the Circle of AraCharles Boyce, Jefferson Courtney, Gene Dratva, Bruce Fields, Tracy Grandstaff, Anna Hill, and Linda Magionico; the members of the Toronto CovenAnne Gallagher, Kris Murdock, Barrie-Leah Gordon, Elizabeth Preiss, I.M., V.A., J.B., and the others; and Kirsten Rostedt, Allyson Edelhertz, George Darrow, Rhey Cedron, and Dr. David Oringderf.

Precious support and encouragement has also come from Ara High Priestesses Mikaela Pearson, Marilee Hartely, and Judy Landon and their hive covens Artemesia and SilverStar, all the members of the Ara Grove, and from Patricia Kennealy Morrison, Fiona Horne, Margot Adler, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Janet Farrar, Patricia Telesco, Macha Nightmare, Selena Fox and the Circle Sanctuary Community, Lorenza Mengoni, David Hennessy, Deepak Chopra, Roseanne Barr, Bruce Springsteen for supplying the soundtrack, Michael Gross Esq, Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, Shona Martin, Ornella Robbiati, Belinda Alexandra, Katherine Kellmeyer, Suzanne Colon and Jane Magazine, Ken Dashow, Buck Wolf, Art Bell, Whitley Streiber, Cynthia Wetzler, Randi Rhodes, Marlena Smith, Jeffrey Lyons, Koula Bouloukas, Kirsten Roy, Sirona Knight, Tara Lynda Guber, the Bodhi Tree, Women of Wisdom, the National Womens Music Festival, David Sirska and the Learning Annex Toronto, Paul Adamo and the Seminar Center, Justin Hilton and the Whole Life Expo, Janet Barres and the International Tarot Society, Doug Wilson and the Rowe Conference Center, Jeff Rosenbaum and Ace, BBMDC, Ed Hubbard and Telepathic Media, Diane and Wade Berlin and the Phoeniz Fire family, Roger and the Florida Pagan Gathering, the OurFreedom e-list, the Religious Liberties Lawyers Network, Lisa Cady, Professor Robert Mathiesen, Professor Duncan Smith, Lorenzo Ostuni, Francesca Marino, Manuela Pompas, Rudy Stauder, Emilio Sioli, Morgana, Jan De Zutter, Circe and the Seattle Coven Seafire, Sally-Jo OBrien, Debby Horton, Dan Gruber, Cory Rochester, Bruce Smith, Doug Sundling, Dr. Eleanor Rae, Rev. Darrell Berger, Leon Reed, Nymue, Gail Lamb Roddy, Angela Pope and Martin Isba, the fabulous Weber sisters, Jerrie Hildebrand, Lowell McFarland, Andrah Wyndfire, Jacque Zaleski, Joani Spadaro, Edith Deutsch and the Deutsch-Gross clan, Betty Jensen, Vera and Irv Schiller, Henry Jaglom, Zee Shakur, Grove Harris, Lorri Leighton, Victor Marsh, Tracy Baer, Rodger Parsons, Gloria Carol, Elspeth and Nibor, Angela Pope and Marin Isba, Deirdre Schweisow, Tempest, Laura Rodriguez and the Sarah Doyle Womens Center of Brown University, The Gay and Lesbian Center of New York City, Wisteria, Barnet Bains of Metafilmics, and my terrific lecture agent, Beth Elaine Carlson. I am also deeply grateful to the thousands and thousands of readers of Book of Shadows all over the world who have written to share their magic with me and to ask for more. No words can express how much your words have meant to me.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Bruce Fields for his support. And of course, Webster, the sine qua non who will have steak for dinner.

Introduction

W ITCHCRAFT this was once a word that conjured images of green-faced hags flying on brooms and worshiping the devil. But today, mainstream Americans can pick up a newspaper or book, turn on the radio or television, talk to their teenagers, or take a course to learn the reality of Witchcraft. Wicca (both a specific tradition of Witchcraft and a popular synonym for Witchcraft; I use the terms interchangeably in this book) is a beautiful, powerful spirituality that has much in common with Native American and other indigenous religions, and its the fastest-growing religion in America.

As a Wiccan priestess for more than twenty years, and as an attorney, activist, and author, Ive been very publicly devoted to transforming the negative stereotypes that burden this vibrant and authentic religion. With the publication of my first bookmy memoir entitled Book of Shadows, in which I explained how I became a WitchI sought to open a door to the hidden world of Witchcraft, to share its wisdom and power with a world in great need.

Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic was inspired by my adventures following the publication of my memoir. It was such a magical, joyful, transformative experience writing Book of Shadows that I was really looking forward to starting the sequel. But as I traveled all over the United States and much of Europe and Australia on my book and lecture tour, I increasingly felt that first I had to respond to what I was hearing from our community. Many readers who were enchanted by my descriptions of what it feels like to live a magical life asked me how they could bring magic into their own lives. And both new practitioners and old told me they were looking for a guidebook that goes beyond the usual approach of stand here, say this, and here are the altar tools you need, and be sure to have a supply of red roses and iron filings for spellwork. People are longing for something richer than just another recipe book; they are seeking a deeper exploration of our spirituality.