Exploring Occult Practices: Ceremonial Magic, Wicca & Druidism

1. The “Occult” A Crash Course Charles Ennis

2. Topics: • Ceremonial Magic • Neo Pagan Religion • Wicca • Druidism • Ásatrú • Afro Diasporan Religion • Vodoun • Santeria • “Vampires” Charles Ennis

3. Ceremonial Magic Charles Ennis

4. Charles Ennis

5. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Charles Ennis

6. Evocation From “evocare” (“to call out”) Threatening Invocation From “invocatus” (“to call in”) Asking or pleading Occidental Ceremonial Magick’s2 Methods: Charles Ennis

7. Invocation/Evocation Invocation Evocation Charles Ennis

8. Grimoires Grimoire of Armadel Charles Ennis

9. Grimoires are… • a collection of magical customs • “recipe books” of magical spells • directories of names and ranks of various spirit entities that the magician may call, along with the signatures or "sigils" of these entities Charles Ennis

10. Magic Circle Sigil From the Greater Keys of Solomon Magic circle Sigil Charles Ennis

11. OrdoTempliOrientis Charles Ennis

12. Aleister Crowley Charles Ennis

13. Liber al velLegis Charles Ennis

14. Gnostic Mass Charles Ennis

15. Witches Charles Ennis

16. Witches Charles Ennis

17. “Witch” • ~6000 BCE: weik (proto Indo-European): “to shape” or “to bend” • 890 CE: wicca/wicce (Old English) • 11th Century: wiche • 17th Century: witch Charles Ennis

18. Wicca The Indigenous Shamanism of Northern Europe Charles Ennis

19. Modern Wicca dates back to the 1940s: But originated with the Romantic Movement of the late 1800’s Charles Ennis

20. Stereotypes Charles Ennis

21. Wiccans Charles Ennis

22. Wiccan Statistics (2003): • Between 250,000 and 1 million Wiccans in North America • COG survey, October 2000: 768,400 • Every US state and Canadian province has Wiccan clergy • Accepted within US military since 1987 (choice on dog-tags since 2001) • Wiccan prison chaplains in most states and provinces Charles Ennis

23. C.O.G. Survey: • 11% of Wiccans under 17 • 37% under 25 Charles Ennis

24. Wiccan Organizations: • Military Pagan Network • Officers of Avalon • Pagan Alliance of Nurses Charles Ennis

25. Spirit Pentagram air water Represents the 5 elements in the Celtic World earth fire Charles Ennis

26. Magickal Names Charles Ennis Follows ancient Celtic practice of having childhood names replaced with adult names

27. Esbat Circle Charles Ennis

28. Wiccan Altar Charles Ennis

29. Wiccan Circle Earth N altar Water Air spirit Fire Widdershins Deosil (sunwise) Charles Ennis

30. Wiccan Magick • Monistic: Divine inseparable from the mundane • Energy directed with will- similar to Reiki or Chi Gong • Magician is the flood gate or the valve for universal energy Charles Ennis

31. The Sabbats:The Wheel of the Year Charles Ennis

32. Beltaine Charles Ennis

33. Handfasting Charles Ennis

34. Jumping the Besom Charles Ennis

35. Druids Charles Ennis

36. Etymology of “Druid” • “Druid” may derive from the old Celtic words “Dru”, meaning “very” or “assuredly” and “Wid”, meaning “wise” or “all knowing” (from the Indo European root “wid”, meaning “to know”). Thus the name Druid likely means “very wise”. • Latin “Druidae” • Gaulish (mainland Celtic) term “Druides” • In Old Irish Gaelic the word for wizard is “drui” (plural: “druid”). Charles Ennis

37. Memory vs Books • The Celts had no written records, so they had people to remember things. The Druids were sub divided into: • Bards (keepers of stories and geneologies, satirists); • Ovates (healers, seers); and • Druids (clergy, counselors, judges). Charles Ennis

38. Modern Druids • Interest in the Celts was rekindled in the 1600s by the British Antiquarian movement. In 1659 John Aubrey, the proto-archeologist, attributed the building of Stonehenge to the Druids. Stonehenge was actually constructed by Neolithic peoples between 3,000 and 1,500 BCE, long before the Celts existed in Britain. • In 1717, the antiquarian scholars John Toland and William Stukeley founded a Druidic group called the Universal Druid Bond in a London pub, the Apple Tree Tavern. The modern Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids grew out of this organization. Charles Ennis

39. Druid Handfasting Charles Ennis

40. Grove, Nemeton, or Nyfed • a pole representing the world tree, erected within the Nemeton, often in the midst of the central altar. This is called the Bile (pronounced 'bee-lah'). • The Bile is similar to the Irminsul used in Ásatrú. Charles Ennis

41. Druid Groves Charles Ennis

42. Henge of Keltria Altar Charles Ennis

43. Awen: The Holy Spirit of Druidry • From “aw” (‘a fluid, a flowing’), and “en” (‘a living principle, a being, a spirit, essential’), so awen may be translated as ‘a fluid essence’, or ‘flowing spirit’. • Variously translated as ‘inspiration’, ‘muse’, ‘genius’, or even ‘poetic frenzy’. Charles Ennis

44. Ásatrú Charles Ennis

45. Ásatrú • “Ásatrú” means “true to the Aesir” or “belief in the gods” in Old Norse. • Followers of Ásatrú are known as Ásatrúar, but often refer to themselves as “Heathens” Charles Ennis

46. Mjolnir or Thor’s Hammer Charles Ennis Principal symbol of Ásatrú. In Norse Mythology Thor, son of the God Odin, was the God of the sky and thunder. Thursday is named after him. It was believed that lightning was the sparks created when Thor struck his anvil with his hammer Mjolnir. Ásatrúar wear it as a symbol of their faith.

47. Organization: Charles Ennis • Kindreds • Steadings: an old term from Scotland and Northern England (1425-75) for a farm and its buildings • Freeholds • Hofs • Hearths • Garths: from the Old Norse/Middle English (1300-1350 C.E.) “Garthr” (“farm”, “farmyard”, “courtyard”)

48. Priests/Priestesses Charles Ennis The Gothar are the collective priesthood of the Ásatrú Community. A priest is known as a “gothi” A priestess is know as a “gythia.” Heathens do not believe that they require the Gothar as a means to communicate with divinity: They all have direct access. The Gothar lead rituals, though individual Heathens may lead their own.

49. Icelandic Althing 1988 Charles Ennis

50. Hammer Casting Charles Ennis