Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft

Setting Up Solitary Witchcraft, Part 1

by Ian Elliott   August 28th, 2013

 

I used to be an active participating member of a coven, but now that I have moved very far away (Norway), I find I have to establish and maintain my own solitary practice.  This is the first of several short articles in which I describe how I have gone about it.

 

1: Establishing the Directions:

The first step is to find one’s spot, the place in the house or apartment where one feels most centered and at ease.  This easily equates to one’s easy chair in the living room.  Then, sitting in the chair and holding a magnetic compass, one determines where, along the periphery of the room (on the wall or on furniture near the wall), due north lies.  This can be marked with a ribbon or a length of yarn, preferably black if that is your tradition’s color for north.  In the same way, mark out the eastern, southern and western points in the room. 

Each morning, face each of the four directions and ask the elementals and Watcher of that direction to aid you in the cultivation of that direction’s elemental power.  Thus, if you begin in the east, ask the sylphs and the Watcher of the east (air) to aid your understanding in the course of the day’s learning.  A witch is a knower and must try to learn something new every day, preferably something that can be put into practice.  In the south, ask the salamanders and Watcher of the south (fire) to nourish your will so you can apply what you know to better your life.  The Craft is something that is done.  In the west, ask the undines and Watcher of the west (water) to grant you the daring to reach out for new life and include adventure in your day.  This includes exploring new forms of awareness.  Finally (or firstly) ask the gnomes and Watcher of the north to grant you inner and outer stillness, physical vigor, and steadfastness of spirit.  This facilitates inner journeying.

Finish by sealing to the quarter in which you started, saluting the elementals and Watcher of that direction.

 

2: Upon Awakening, Before Retiring:

Keep a journal by your bed.  When you first wake up in the morning, record some brief impressions of your night’s dreams and date the journal entry.  Upon arising, consult your lunar calendar as to the current phase of the Moon, and note that in your journal. 

Perform your rite to the four directions.  Now you are ready to start your day.

At the end of the day, finish your journal entry for the day by noting what you have attempted in the day’s Craft, and the results of your attempt.  Read over the impressions of last night’s dreams.  Then lie down to sleep, suggesting whatever hint you are using currently in your dreams to dream lucidly, knowing you are asleep.

 

Comments:  We cannot describe witchcraft in general without bringing in aspects of our own personal practice.  Even before I became a solitary, I was an interior witch involved in inner practices, such as dreamcraft.  I am a witch endeavoring to do lucid dreaming, which is very difficult for me.  One clue to the fact that one is dreaming when that is taking place is recalling happenings from previous dreams.  This is a sort of dream memory.  For years I dreamt I was attending some college class, but not showing up there regularly.  In such dreams I remembered other schools I had attended, with equal unsuccess.  At first the memories seem to be simply of my past, but at some point in my dream, at times, I realized they were of other dreams I had had on other occasions.  People who have recurring dreams will understand this.  Once I reached that point, I was close to realizing that this, too, was a dream.  Often, though, one wakes up right after that. The practice of reviewing the phrases jotted down in the morning after awakening by reading them in one’s bedside journal just before going to sleep is meant to encourage the sort of continuity in dreams exhibited by dream memory.

I have reached the point where I can suggest dream content and it appears reliably every time, yet in such a way as to avoid tipping me off that I am dreaming.  Thus, if I suggest to myself to look at my hands in my dreams (as Castaneda reportedly did), I will dream I am typing on a computer keyboard or playing the piano.  I played piano most of my life, and had two bad habits: over-use of the soft pedal, and a tendency to look at my hands as I played.  I am experimenting with changing what I look for in my dreams, and so far my dreams manage to keep up with me and fool me every time, but I have noticed an increase of dream memory, so perhaps I am making progress.

The ritual of establishing directions in one’s home is preliminary to setting up the circle, which I will describe in part 2.