Thorn Mooney - Traditional Wicca: A Seekers Guide

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Traditional Wicca: A Seekers Guide 2018 by Thorn Mooney.

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First e-book edition 2018

E-book ISBN: 9780738755205

Book design by Donna Burch-Brown

Cover illustration by Jennifer Hewitson

Cover design by Shira Atakpu

Interior art by Jennifer Hewitson

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Pending)

ISBN: 978-0-7387-5359-1

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Acknowledgments

A book is sort of like a snapshot. Its just one image, plucked from a whole life. And just like how a photograph can only really show you that one moment, a book can usually only leave us with conjectures about what was behind itthe events and people that impacted its creation. A lot happened to me while I was writing this, and a lot of people helped me write it, even if they didnt know thats what they were doing.

To Gwynn. You asked me what youd done to deserve my dedication. You answered the phone late at night and grounded me with your humor, giving me someplace to go when I felt completely unmoored. You loved me anyway. I would not have been able to do any of this without you.

To Lady Epona, Autumn Moon, Foxfire, and the Coven de la Unicorn family. Thank you for this ridiculously magical life.

To Corvus and Lore. Thank you for putting up with me while I was writing this book and for being the real magic behind Foxfire Coven. We wouldnt be a thing without you two. Extra special thanks to your mom.

To Lukaos, because you jumped ship with me and somehow neither one of us has drowned yet.

To the rowdy pack of coyotes that keeps showing up to my living room for circle. Thank you for the laughter, for the honesty, and for keeping me from running too far into the woods.

To my sword family, for inviting me in (and then letting me stay), for keeping me grounded, challenging me, and making sure that theres always a glass of wine within reach. I dont have words for how much I love you, which is probably the real reason I hit too hard.

Finally, to Jason Mankey, for making me feel like maybe I could be a writer. You guys should all go read his books and buy him cider and whiskey everywhere he goes for being so awesome.

Wherever we all are once this moment has passed, and whatever snapshots we leave behind, you have my love.

For Gwynn

Contents

: MEETING THE WIcA

: A Different Sort of Wicca

: DEFINING TRADITIONAL WICCA

: The Coven

: Initiation

: Lineage

: Hierarchy

: Experience

: SEEKING TRADITIONAL WICCA

: Finding a Coven

: Becoming a Student

: Succeeding in an Outer Court

: Some Guidance for the New Initiate

: May the Gods Preserve the Craft

INTRODUCTION

I ts finally sunset.

Candles flicker in their holders, nestled amongst the damp leaves strewn at the edges of the circle. Up the lip of the embankment, through the poplars and oaks, you can still hear the city. Motors and sirens hum distantly, melding into a single tone, counterpoint to the chirruping insects and the fluttering bats, awakened with the darkness. This is only a wooded cluster, set between the asphalt and streetlamps and brick buildings of human industry. It is easy for the careless to overlook, despite its central location. Of the city, yet not. Betwixt and between.

A good place for magic.

The leaves have been carefully swept, revealing dark earth and twisted roots. There is a low, round altar positioned at the circles center, and twin candles cast shadows across mysterious objects. Coils of slender rope, like snakes. The glint of steel, like twinkling eyes. The reflective surface of a dish filled with water. Shadowy icons fashioned in clay that seem to swell with the flickering light, evoking a sense of timelessness. This is something both new and ancient. Alluring and frightening. Surprising and yet completely familiar and welcoming.

Robed figures move amongst the trees and then into the light of the circle, surrounding the altar. Several moments of silence pass between them as they feel the weight of this place and settle into its rhythms. Suddenly, with only a shared look, they allow the fabric to unfold and drop from their bodies. Glittering firelight trails across bare skin, warm despite the night chill. They begin to move in sync, and a low chant erupts, calling to the powers of this place. The sound vibrates an invocation to the gods of the Wica, reaching back in time across generations, a thread of shared power passed from circle to circle.

Were finally home.

Me, Foxfire, and the Witch Cult

A lot can happen in twenty years. The Wicca I practice today isnt the same Wicca I was studying when I picked up my first book, surfed to my first America Online chat room, or created my first profile on the Witches Voice. I was a young teenager, caught up in something that felt magical and true. It felt like something that could change my life, and it did, though that change was gradual and intermingled with all the other profound changes that go along with becoming an adult. At sixteenhaving gorged myself on every book by Silver RavenWolf and Scott CunninghamI felt like I knew everything about the Craft there was to know. I did what a lot of young people do and set myself up as a guide for others. I lectured other teenagers in online forums. I insisted that I must be an old soul. I handed out advice freely, whether it was solicited or not. Yeah, I was pretty arrogant (imagine a less reflective, more self-righteous first-year Hermione Granger). I even started writing a book, typing furiously on my dads old laptop. It was to be an introductory book on Wiccamy own self-important response to Silver RavenWolfs Teen Witch , written by a teen. I worked hard and I wrote more than 20,000 words before college got in the way.