Amber K - True Magick: A Beginners Guide

Studio 2000Scottsdale, AZ

About the Author

Amber K was born in Bronxville, New York, on July 9, 1947. She was not trained in the Craft at her grandmothers knee and does not come from a long line of hereditary Witches.

In 1978, she joined the Temple of the Pagan Way in Chicago. She has worked with Circle, New Earth Circle, and the Pool of Bast, and she helped found the Coven of Our Lady of the Woods (OLW) and the Ladywood Tradition of Wicca. She has served as Publications Officer and National First Officer of the Covenant of the Goddess, and taught in the Cella (priestess) training program of RCG, a national Dianic network.

Amber is the author of Coven Craft: Witchcraft for Three or More and Pagan Kids Activity Book . With Azrael Arynn K, she has written RitualCraft: Creating Rites for Transformation and Celebration ; Candlemas: Feast of Flames; and Heart of Tarot . She is also the Executive Director of Ardantane and serves on its faculty as the acting Dean of the School of Pagan Leadership.

She is handfasted to Azrael Arynn K and has a son, Starfire. Ambers interests include mountains and forests, dolphins, travel, science fiction, collecting large antique keys, art, reading, and all things magickal. Her role models include Doreen Valiente, Lao Tse, Xena the Warrior Princess, and Snoopy.

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

True Magick: A Beginners Guide 2006 by Amber K.

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First e-book edition 2010

E-book ISBN: 9780738717074

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Cover foliage images PhotoDisc and Brand X Pictures

Editing and book design by Rebecca Zins

Illustrations by the Llewellyn Art Department

Tarot cards from The Robin Wood Tarot Robin Wood

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ontents

Appendices

ave you ever wondered about magick?

Not stage magic; not clever illusions with doves and rabbits and colored scarves; not lissome blondes in sequins disappearing from locked cabinets, but magick , the ancient skills and powers of the adepts who sought to transform themselves and their world. Magick chanted under the full moon by circling Witches, or performed by solemn robed wizards in candlelit ceremonies, or conjured by a skinclad shaman deep in a virgin rain forest....

For magick, true magick, can change your life. With magicks aid, you can have vibrant health, prosperity, a new career. You can enhance your relationships and bring new ones into your life. With magick, you can reach deep inside yourself to find what you despaired of ever havingconfidence, courage, tranquillity, faith, compassion, understanding, humor. Its not a miracle, and its not easy, but magick works. And it can work for you.

If youre curious, you will find answers in this book. I am a high priestess of the Wiccan religion and an experienced practitioner of magick, and in this book I explain not only the history and lore of magick, but also its major varieties in the world todayfrom the Brujos of Mexico and the United States, to the temples of the Order of the Golden Dawn, to the sacred groves of Wiccan covens.

And if you want to practice magick to grow, to change, to heal with tools of the mind and heart and spiritthen this book will start you on the path. I will explain how to prepare yourself, how to find or create your ritual tools, how to establish a temple in your home, how to plan a ritual and cast a spelland how to do it ethically and safely. No demons, no black masses, no hexes. Simply divine power flowing through you, intelligently applied for beneficial purposes.

Whether you are just curious, or whether you are already an aspiring magick workerread on.

A Note about Terminology

First, I have capitalized Pagan, Witch, and Wicca. Proper nouns relating to other religions are capitalized, and Paganism deserves the same respect as any other religion.

Second, throughout this book I have used God/dess, Goddess, or God to refer to the Ultimate Divine Source, and god/dess, goddess, or god to refer to certain facets or aspects of the Divine, such as Athena, Odin, or Cerridwen.

And third, I do not believe in the generic masculine (the sexist notion that he refers to people of both sexes) and have tried to avoid it. Unfortunately, it is awkward to include both genders in every sentence, such as He or she is fortunate if he or she can design an excellent ritual for every magickal purpose. Instead, I have often used they and their to indicate the indeterminate singular as well as the plural. For example, If a magician wants to learn magick, they had better be prepared to practice often and be willing to take risks, sometimes be disappointed, take responsibility for their mistakes, and then learn from those mistakes. I know perfectly well that this is ungrammatical by conservative standards, but it is becoming increasingly common in actual usageand its not sexist.

wish to thank all those who made this book possible. They include:

My mother and father, Maxine and Bill, who believed in my writing abilities and in every persons right to choose their own spiritual path;

Ginny and Dave, high priestess and high priest of the Temple of the Pagan Way, who first taught me magick. The memory of their generosity, care, and humor still warms my heart;

Catelaine, who encouraged me during the writing of the original core of this book, then published as Beginning True Magick ;

My coven sisters and brothers of Our Lady of the Woods, who help keep me growing;

And all the priestesses and priests of the Craft who used Beginning True Magick in their teaching and took the time to tell me how valuable it was.