Lombards, Burgundians, and Franks, hailing from the area we now know as Scandinavia. Gothic spirituality was informed by a mythology best described by the Roman historian Tacitus: “In their ancient songs, they celebrated an earth-god Tuisco, and his son Mannus, as the origin of race, as their founders.” Powerful female elders, or “seeresses,” passed down this pagan mythology through an oral tradition, and the runes were their only writing, a symbolic system used for signs and omens. Goths made quite a name for themselves as they moved across Europe, spreading destruction and even ransacking Rome. Their violent antics earned them the name “barbarian,” which was later replaced by the much more colorful term goth, meaning “uncivilized.”
What is Dark Moon magic? It is the modern art of magic deeply rooted in the old ways, a personal path that honors the ancient while harnessing the power of the past to enhance today’s daily living. It is a singular craft that heralds and encourages individualism while retaining an all-important connection to a spiritual tribe.
Dark Moon Magic is your all-inclusive guide to the art of magic for this new “dark age” in which we live, with both the history and how-to. Dark Moon Magic is the next step beyond Wicca for beginners. If you are a spiritual adventurer who likes to look at the other side and the hidden, strange, and mysterious, to discover a marvelous and unexpected world of enchantment, then Dark Moon Magic is for you. This volume will help you gain a fuller understanding of what makes Dark Moon magic unique and provides you with a stepping-off point for self-exploration and the creation of your own personalized spells and tribal rituals. Each chapter contains rituals, charms, and spells from simple “quickie” spells to more complex enchantments that mark very special rites of passage and engender the deepest personal transformation. Reader-friendly and eminently helpful, Dark Moon Magic is an instruction book for leading an utterly enchanted and empowered life.
Who are these Dark Moon witches anyway? To a “mundane” (the uninitiated non-witch), today’s Dark Moon witches are weirdos—extremely pale black-clad creatures who are overly interested in the world of the shadows and don’t seem to come out during the day If your idea of a good time is to dress as though you are in mourning, pack a lunch, and head off to the local cemetery for a picnic, you could be a Dark Moon witch!
Take a closer look, however, and you will find a rich tapestry of ideas and practices beyond the stereotypes. For example, Amber Rae, a witch in San Francisco, grows rare flora from the nineteenth century and uses them in her magical tinctures and essences. Similarly, Miss Kat, a ceremonial magician and Thelemite, studies Egyptian mythology and creates ritual music and art. You will also find that Dark Moon magicians are highly literate, spiritual, colorful, and creative people from all walks of life—doctors, attorneys, musicians, teachers, writers, and more. Yes, they all do wear a lot of black, but despite their rather gloomy appearance, they are probably having an awful lot of fun and pursuing the ancient adages of “Know thyself” and “To thine own self be true.”
For those who walk their own path and express their inner nature while honoring nature and living harmoniously with the earth, Wicca is increasingly their religion of choice. In May 2005, the New York Times noted that Wicca is the fastest growing religion in North America, and it has not stopped since. Whether they consider themselves “white witches” or “dark Wiccans,” something is calling to people on a profound level, something that spiritually feeds them in a way nothing else does. Perhaps it is that Wicca does not preach a prescribed path and rules. Hey—it does not preach at all! There is only a bond of honesty and the golden rule of Wicca that holds true for all Wiccans. In our lifetimes, we have seen suppressed traditions such as Wicca and other traditions of witchcraft enter into the mainstream. Wicca has a wonderfully straightforward approach with a strong ethical code based on moral and personal responsibility.
The Three Principles of Wicca
“An ye harm none, do as ye will.”
—Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft
THE WICCAN REDE
This tenet of witchcraft encourages the individual’s freedom to do as she or he sees fit as long as it does not affect anyone negatively. So, while you pursue your own interests, think of how your actions affect others. This applies to all aspects, especially ritual and spell work, because you are working with energies that have wide-ranging powers to affect everyone and everything. This rede, or wise teaching, requires real attention and a high degree of consciousness in terms of assessing the impact of any action in regard to all the possible physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological consequences that result from all ritual work.
THE THREEFOLD LAW
“What you do comes back to you threefold” is much like the Buddhist principle of karma. The Threefold Law is a directive to always think of the consequences of personal actions, including rites, ceremonies, and spells. Negativity comes back to you three times over, so attention to attitudes and thoughts is absolutely essential. The flip side of this law is that the positive comes back to you threefold as well. Kindness, love, and generosity are all magnified. This is a great guideline for all of life. This is also a reason to do ritual work for long-distance healing and for global issues such as peace, the environment, and world hunger. Send good works and helpful intentions out to others and you yourself will benefit.
THE GOLDEN RULE
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” People may find it amazing that both Christians and many pagans share this same basic rule of morality. It places personal responsibility at the highest level. In other words, the “right action” is up to you and is of ultimate importance. The few simple guidelines are universal in nature and can apply to any walk of life and spiritual practice. It is also vital to respect the diversity of religions. Do not judge, in the same way that you do not wish to be judged. In their ability to have an impact on others, creating ritual and working magic are very serious. If you guard your thoughts, intentions, and actions with regard to others, you should be a happy, highly accountable ritualist.
One website worth checking out early and often is that created by someone who calls himself “Dark Wyccan,” who has been serving a community of what he calls “Dark Pagans” since 1994. John Coughlin’s website at www.waningmoon.com is a marvelous resource for anyone looking to learn more about this philosophy and wanting to join in with a likeminded community. Waningmoon.com beautifully defines dark Wicca and explains why it is so appealing to those whose spiritual hunger falls outside the margins of our rigid society. “Wicca is a nature-based mystery religion. As a mystery religion, it is not something one can learn in books or even from teachers—its mysteries must be learned through experience. Typically deity is perceived as a male and female (God and Goddess) that are anthropomorphic manifestations of the forces of nature. As with other aspects of the Craft, one does not ‘believe’ in deity, one KNOWS them, from experience.”
Lunaria—That Which Is Under the Power of the Moon
The origins of Dark Moon magic include some ancient and quite historic philosophies. My favorite delineation of “darkling” and night-ruled beings comes from H.C. Agrippa, who wrote the following in the early 1500s:
Amongst plants and trees, these are Lunary, as the selenotropian, which turns toward the Moon as doth the heliotropian toward the Sun; and the palm-tree, which sends forth a bough at every rising of the new Moon. Hyssop, also, and rosemary, agnus castus, and the olive-tree, are Lunary. Also her herb chinosta, which increaseth and decreaseth with the Moon, viz, in substance and number of leaves, not only in sap but in virtue—which, indeed, is in some sort common to all plants, except onions. Lunary animals are such as delight to be in man’s company, and such as do naturally excel in love or hatred, as in all kinds of dogs. The chameleon also is Lunary, which always assumes a color according to the variety of the color of the objects—as the