Contents Introduction: The Transformative Power of Witchcraft 1 Part One: The Origins of Modern Witchcraft Chapter One: Gerald Gardner and the New Forest Witches . 9 The Elements of Modern Wiccan-Witchcraft 13 The Most Interesting Elements (Gardner''s Initiators) 17 The Other Witches 21 Chapter Two: Theories and Other Witchcrafts . 27 A Gerald Gardner Timeline 31 Other Witchcrafts: Looking Beyond Gerald Gardner 34 Chapter Three: Rituals and the Literary Influence . 41 The 1899 Ritual and Charles Leland''s Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches 41 The Story of the 1899 Ritual 43 The 1899 Ritual 45 A Ritual From Margaret Murray and the Witch-Cult 62 Part Two : The Cone of Power Chapter Four: Energy and the Magick Circle . 73 Just What Is Magickal Energy and Where Does It Come From? 74 Setting Up a Magickal Space 82 Cleansing the Self 85 The Magick Circle 86 Casting the Circle 90 Circle Etiquette 96 What Energy Can and Can''t Do (and How to Take Advantage of It) 97 Chapter Five: Raising the Cone of Power . 101 Dancing Around the Circle 102 Chanting 105 Toning 107 The Pulse 108 Treading the Witches'' Mill 109 Letting the Energy Go (and What to Do with Anything Left Over) 111 Energy Add-Ons 114 The Solo Cone of Power 115 The Inverse Cone of Power 117 Chapter Six: Operation Cone of Power . 121 Part Three: Dedications, Initiations, and Elevations Chapter Seven: Initiations, Today and Yesterday . 129 What Are Dedications, Initiations, and Elevations? 131 The Greek Mysteries: Initiation in the Ancient World 132 Masons and Other Fraternal Orders 137 The Horseman''s Word 141 The Golden Dawn 144 Chapter Eight: Dedications and Degree Systems .

149 Common Degree Systems in Modern Witchcraft 151 Lineage and Family 153 Dedications 154 Dedication Ritual: "I Am a Witch" 156 Dedication Ritual with a Group: Knot and Cord Magick 160 Chapter Nine: Creating Initiation and Elevation Rituals . 167 Unveiling a Mystery 169 The Challenge 183 The Physical Challenge 184 The Challenge of Knowing 186 The Giving of Gifts 189 The Oath 193 Disorientation 194 Dedications 154 Chapter Ten: Rituals for the First, Second, and Third Degrees . 197 Knowing When Someone Is Ready for the First Degree 199 First-Degree Initiation Ritual 201 What a Second Degree Should Know, and Knowing When Someone Is Ready for the Second Degree 205 Second-Degree Ritual: Ascending the Witches'' Pyramid 207 What a Third Degree Should Know, and Knowing When Someone Is Ready for the Third Degree 214 Third-Degree Ritual 216 Adapting the Third-Degree Ritual for Two People and Other Notes 220 Part Four: Drawing Down the Moon Chapter Eleven: Drawing Down Deity . 225 What Exactly Is Drawing Down the Moon? 228 What Happens to Us When We Draw Down Deity? 230 Interacting with Deity 231 Chapter Twelve: Possession In History and Literature . 237 Ancient Greece and the Origins of Drawing Down the Moon 237 Possession in Other Religious Traditions 241 Voodoo and the Loa 244 Godform Assumption: The Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley 247 Crowley''s Ritual of Godform Assumption (Adapted from Liber O) 249 The Priest as the Divine Incarnate: Margaret Murray 252 Dion Fortune and The Sea Priestess 254 Chapter Thirteen: The Ritual of Drawing Down the Moon . 259 How Does One Draw Down the Moon? 259 The Ritual of Drawing Down the Moon 264 Ending a Drawing Down 273 Personal Boundaries with Drawing Down the Moon 276 Chapter Fourteen: Alternative Drawing Down Rituals . 279 Drawing Down Aphrodite 280 Drawing Down the Corn Mother 281 Drawing Down the Sun Rituals 283 Drawing Down the Horned God 284 Drawing Down the Lord of the Sun 286 When Drawing Down Just Doesn''t Work 288 Part Five: The Great Rite Chapter Fifteen: The Great Rite, Present and Past . 293 What Is the Great Rite? 294 Sacred Sex in History and the More Modern Origins of the Great Rite 297 Chapter Sixteen: The Great Rite in Token .

303 Cakes and Ale 306 Traditional Witch Cakes 307 Libations 311 Symbolic Great Rite Rituals 312 Chapter Seventeen: The Great Rite in Truth . 317 The Great Rite in Truth: When and Where 322 The Great Rite Without Sex? 325 The Ritual of the Great Rite 327 There Is No How-To When It Comes to the Great Rite 331 Appendix One: The Charge of the Goddess 335 Appendix Two: The Charge of the God 339 Acknowledgments and a Final Note 343 Glossary 347 Bibliography 353 Index 365.