Lesson 2 - Ancient Mythology

On the face of it, it may seem that the myths of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt etc
have very little to do with us today. After all these are stories that had meaning
over 2000 years ago so why should we bother with them today. Well these
stories still have meaning and resonance for humanity today and for the witch
they can be especially helpful in a variety of ways.

Where ever I am talking about myths (which will be quite a bit) you can
substitute legends if you like. The definitions of myths and legends are so
similar; the difference between the two won’t really affect us. In fact the only
time it should effect you is if you are creating a body of scholarly work!

What constitutes a myth?

According to the Collins English dictionary a myth is defined as...

• A story about superhuman beings of an earlier age taken by preliterate

society to be a true account, usually of how natural phenomena, social
customs, etc., came into existence
• Another word for mythology
• A person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven
• (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (in modern literature) a theme or
character type embodying an idea Hemingway's myth of the male hero
• (Philosophy) Philosophy (esp in the writings of Plato) an allegory or parable

The word is traditionally thought to come from the Greek muthos, later
translated into the Latin mythus or mythos and down to us as myth. In Greek it
means speech, thought or story. So if we take its original meaning and the
English dictionary definition we can reasonably assume that a myth is a story,
usually spoken or passed orally to each other, about a person or event that
cannot reasonably be explained by everyday people. Sounds like the results of
most magic to me.

So when it comes time to look at myths more closely on your own you can use
any ancient mythology you wish, any ancient legends you wish and to be
completely honest you should also include urban legends. Urban legends are a
new form of oral story that are quickly becoming myths. They follow the rules
for myths though so they should be included.

What do myths tell us about the gods?

Mythology is not history. It may show us glimpses of acts that occurred but at
the end of the day it is not an accurate recording of historical facts. Mythological
stories are great indicators of how people thought at the time about their gods
and goddesses. This is important for us witches for several reasons. The most
important reason being the more we know about a deity the better we can
understand that deity and work with them.

Take the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the roman mythologies.

Envious and jealous of the beauty of a mortal girl named Psyche, Venus asks her
son Cupid (known to the Greeks as Eros) to use his golden arrows while Psyche
sleeps, so that when she awakes, Venus (Aphrodite to the Greeks) would have
already placed a vile creature for her to fall in love with. Cupid finally agrees to
her commands after a long (and losing) debate. As he flies to Psyche's room at
night, he turns himself invisible so no one can see him fly in through her window.
He takes pity on her, for she was born too beautiful for her own safety. As he
slowly approaches, careful not to make a sound, he readies one of his golden
arrows. He leans over Psyche while she is asleep and before he can scratch her
shoulder with the arrow, she awakens, startling him, for she looks right into his
eyes, despite his invisibility. This causes him to scratch himself with his arrow,
falling deeply in love with her. He cannot continue his mission, for every passing
second he finds her more appealing. He reports back to Venus shortly after and
the news enrages her. Venus places a curse on Psyche that keeps her from
meeting a suitable husband, or any husband at that. As she does this, it upsets
Cupid greatly, and he decides as long as the curse stays on Psyche, he will no
longer shoot arrows, which will cause Venus' temple to fall.

After months of no one — man or animal — falling in love, marrying, or mating,

the Earth starts to grow old, which causes concern to Venus, for nobody praises
her for Cupid's actions. Finally, she agrees to listen to Cupid's demands,
according him one thing to have his own way. Cupid desires Psyche. Venus,
upset, agrees to his demands only if he begins work immediately. He accepts the
offer and takes off, shooting his golden arrows as fast as he can, restoring
everything to the way it should be. People again fall in love and marry, animals
far and wide mate, and the Earth begins to look young once more.

When all continue to admire and praise Psyche's beauty, but none desire her as
a wife, Psyche's parents consult an oracle, which tells them to leave Psyche on
the nearest mountain, for her beauty is so great that she is not meant for
(mortal) man. Terrified, they have no choice but to follow the oracle's
instructions. But then Zephyrus, the west wind, carries Psyche away, to a fair
valley and a magnificent palace where she is attended by invisible servants until
nightfall, and in the darkness of night the promised bridegroom arrives and the
marriage is consummated. Cupid visits her every night to sleep with her, but
demands that she never light any lamps, since he does not want her to know
who he is until the time is right.

Cupid allows Zephyrus to take Psyche back to her sisters and bring all three
down to the palace during the day, but warns that Psyche should not listen to
any argument that she should try to discover his true form. The two jealous
sisters tell Psyche, by then pregnant with Cupid's child, that rumor is that she
had married a great and terrible serpent who would devour her and her unborn
child when the time came for it to be fed. They urge Psyche to conceal a knife
and oil lamp in the bedchamber, to wait till her husband is asleep, and then to
light the lamp and slay him at once if it is as they said. Psyche sadly follows their
advice. In the light of the lamp Psyche recognizes the fair form on the bed as the
god Cupid himself. However, she accidentally pricks herself with one of his
arrows, and is consumed with desire for her husband. She begins to kiss him, but
as she does, a drop of oil falls from her lamp onto Cupid's shoulder and wakes
him. He flies away, and she falls from the window to the ground, sick at heart.

Psyche then finds herself in the city where one of her jealous elder sisters live.
She tells her what had happened, then tricks her sister into believing that Cupid
has chosen her as a wife on the mountaintop. Psyche later meets her other sister
and deceives her likewise. Each sister goes to the top of the peak and jumps
down eagerly, but Zephyrus does not bear them and they fall to their deaths at
the base of the mountain.

Psyche searches far and wide for her lover, finally stumbling into a temple where
everything is in slovenly disarray. As Psyche is sorting and clearing the mess,
Ceres (Demeter to the Greeks) appears, but refuses any help beyond advising
Psyche that she must call directly on Venus, who caused all the problems in the
first place. Psyche next calls on Juno in her temple, but Juno gives her the same
advice. So Psyche finds a temple to Venus and enters it. Venus then orders
Psyche to separate all the grains in a large basket of mixed kinds before
nightfall. An ant takes pity on Psyche, and with its ant companions, separates the
grains for her.

Venus is outraged at her success and tells her to go to a field where golden
sheep graze and to retrieve some golden wool. A river-god tells Psyche that the
sheep are vicious and strong and will kill her, but if she waits until noontime, the
sheep will go to the shade on the other side of the field and sleep; she can then
pick the wool that sticks to the branches and bark of the trees. Venus next asks
for water flowing from a cleft that is impossible for a mortal to attain and is also
guarded by great serpents. This time an eagle performs the task for Psyche.

Venus, furious at Psyche's survival, claims that the stress of caring for her son,
made depressed and ill as a result of Psyche's lack of faith, has caused her to
lose some of her beauty. Psyche is to go to the Underworld and ask the queen of
the Underworld, Proserpina (Persephone to the Greeks), to place a bit of her
beauty in a box that Venus had given to Psyche. Psyche decides that the
quickest way to the Underworld is to throw herself off some high place and die,
and so she climbs to the top of a tower. But the tower itself speaks to Psyche and
tells her the route that will allow her to enter the Underworld alive and return
again, as well as telling her how to get past Cerberus (by giving the three-
headed dog a small cake); how to avoid other dangers on the way there and
back; and most importantly, to eat nothing but coarse bread in the underworld,
as eating anything else would trap her there forever. Psyche follows the orders
precisely, rejecting all but bread while beneath the Earth.

However, once Psyche has left the Underworld, she decides to open the box and
take a little bit of the beauty for herself. Inside, she can see no beauty; instead
an infernal sleep arises from the box and overcomes her. Cupid (Eros), who had
forgiven Psyche, flies to her, wipes the sleep from her face, puts it back in the
box, and sends her back on her way. Then Cupid flies to Mount Olympus and
begs Jupiter (Zeus) to aid them. Jupiter calls a full and formal council of the gods
and declares that it is his will that Cupid marry Psyche. Jupiter then has Psyche
fetched to Mount Olympus, and gives her a drink made from ambrosia, granting
her immortality. Begrudgingly, Venus and Psyche forgive each other.

What can this particular myth tell us about the ancient Romans and more
importantly for witches, the deities involved? Well let’s have a look at my
interpretation of this myth. Looking at Venus we have a jealous and insecure
goddess who would need a lot of attention. We can say this because she wants a
curse put on a beautiful girl for no other reason than her beauty. When her will
is not carried out she curses the girl herself showing us that she is a vengeful
goddess at times. The fact that she only let cupid have psyche when months
had passed and no one was praising her shows us that she is again looking for
attention. Later in the myth we see that Venus can set us impossible tasks
(separating grains before nightfall) and can become angry if her will is not done.
In fact this myth shows us a side of love that we all have known at times.

Cupid on the other hand shows us either strength or stubbornness depending on

your point of view when he refuses to shoot his arrows until psyche is healed of
the curse. Although he also shows us that he has ability to compromise when
given what he wants. When psyche ignores his advice and attempts to see him,
he falls sick and depressed showing us that he perhaps has an unbalanced
emotional side but ultimately forgives her and goes to the mightiest of gods for
help on her behalf. This story shows us that cupid is perhaps that first flame of
love, that burns strong and fierce and which gives us the strength to stand up
and defend our loves.

Psyche doesn’t actually come out of this tale nicely. For a start she ignores the
wishes of cupid and deceives him so that she can see him. When he is revealed
and flown from the bed she then kills her sisters by duplicity and lies. When
given a task she doesn’t manage to do it without help and when she finally
escapes the underworld she decides to steal a little more beauty for herself only
to be saved by cupid. This character more than any other, tells us about roman
culture. I will leave it up to you to decide on just what it tells you.

Basically myths give us witches a window into how particular deities work, how
they exist in relation to other deities and just what they may need for us to
approach them. All deities have relationships with other deities; they all have
loves, hates, desires and needs. It’s up to us to search these things out by
getting familiar with the myths and legends that surround them and with a little
meditation and a lot of dedication we can come to some understanding of the
deities. This in turn makes our work as witches easier.

Exercise 1

Take a particular god or goddess that you feel particularly attracted to or like the
look of and spend some time finding out about them. I want you to discover the
following facts about them if you can. Who their parents where or how they
came into being. What emotion they display the most or what they seem to
affect the most. What their sacred animal or object is and how they come across
to you. Take notes at the moment to be used a little later.

What do myths tell us about ourselves?

A big question and one that most witches won’t ever consider. After all when we
are learning about how to cast spells and potentially controlling outside forces
why should we worry about ourselves, our inner lives? Well the answer to that is
quite simple and it comes appropriately enough from a myth about an emerald
tablet.

Put simply the emerald tablet is a series of writing that supposedly came from
Hermes Trismegistus. This figure was thought to be a mix of the Greek Hermes
and the Egyptian Thoth and he was more commonly called Hermes the Thrice-
Greatest. The oldest documentable source for the text is the Kitab Sirr al-Asrar, a
compendium of advice for rulers in Arabic which purports to be a letter from
Aristotle to Alexander the Great. This work was translated into Latin as Secretum
Secretorum (The Secret of Secrets) by Johannes "Hispalensis" or Hispaniensis
(John of Seville) ca. 1140 and by Philip of Tripoli c. 1243.

It is a tablet bearing 14 lines which purport to include the whole truth about
magic. it has been taken to heart by the alchemists and the hermetic tradition
of magic especially but for our purposes we should look at line 2 of the tablet
which proclaims,

What is above is like what is below, and what is below is like that which is above.
To make the miracle of the one thing

This is the Latin translation. There are many other translations but they all
proclaim that “what is above is like what is below, and what is below is like that
which is above”. But just what exactly does this mean to witches learning about
mythology? Well for a start many people, me included, have taken this line to
mean that the divine and humanity share certain things.

The gods are separate from us yet we both have a progenitor or something or
someone that came before us. We both exhibit feelings, we both desire things to
make our life better. We both love, hate, feud, war, desire, make mistakes and
ultimately are forgiven for them.

So in answer to our original question, if we share similarities with the divine and
can come to a better understanding about the divine through the study of myth,
can we not then come to a better understanding of ourselves through those
same myths? Yes because if the myth of cupid and psyche shows us how Venus
the goddess of love acts when roused, we can then understand how love can
make us act when aroused in us.

More fundamentally though, if we like a particular myth we can then study that
myth, think about what we like and through this gain a better understanding of
ourselves. In lesson 1 I said I liked the myth of Cassandra the mad prophetess of
troy. It isn’t a particularly nice tale, she does get beaten, raped, killed and had
an ability that no one believed. So why do I like it so much?

I like it because it shows a figure who even though no one believes her, she still
tries to use the gift she has for a purpose rather than throwing it away. I like it
because even though she gets beaten, degraded and eventually killed she
doesn’t give in to despair. She keeps fighting, showing a spirit that is admirable.
In essence she is a strong woman, even though it may not seem like it at the
time. By understanding that I like strong female characters I can then use that
knowledge when crafting rituals, only using strong female goddess’s that my
subconscious can focus on so I then have a better chance of doing what I need to
do with the ritual.

Exercise 2

Take a myth that you like and dissect it. Try and discover just why you like it so
much and which character you like.

Do myths show us if gods are individual or part of the whole

This is a big argument in today’s magical world. If the gods exist are they
different and separate from each other or are they just reflections of the whole?
That is a purely personal choice and the following is just the arguments on both
sides so you can make up your own mind. Either belief works Just as well when it
comes time to perform ritual or cast spells.

Belief in a majority of gods is called polytheism. For information sake, the belief
that the gods are real and separate is called hard polytheism and the belief that
all the gods are just emanations or reflections of divine presence is called soft
polytheism. The first argument we will look at is hard polytheism.

The first argument for this point of view is based on motivations. There are a lot
of myths that show the gods as having the desire and the means to mate.
Indeed Zeus was well known for it, albeit in various forms that you would have
thought precluded mating. This gave form to a race of demi-gods or children of
the gods. The urge to produce children is partly to make sure your DNA is
passed down so your line survives. If you are a reflection of something you
would not have this urge or need.

The second argument is the other side of the child argument. If you look at the
myths from ancient cultures, the gods, goddesses and creatures will always have
parents or someone who made them. If the gods have creators, then they must
be separate from those creators. And if you look at the majority of the myth
cycles you will find that quite often you will have children fighting with parents,
both humans and gods alike. This ability to fight with your progenitor shows an
ability to disagree with which you would not get if you were just part of a whole.

The argument for soft polytheism is old. It was first introduced in the Latin novel
The Golden Ass of Apuleius and is considered the first novel ever written. Its
date of publishing is unknown but it is thought to be around 155-170 AD. So soft
polytheism as a philosophical idea first came about during polytheistic times.

The first argument we will look at is the argument of evolution. This argument
states that rather than new gods and goddesses being born or created, the old
ones rather just evolved into what was needed at the time through the spread of
its host culture. you can see this clearly with a little research but as an example
you can use Isis (Egyptian mother goddess, daughter of Geb the earth god and
Nut the sky goddess and sister wife to Osiris) is sometimes seen to have become
Rhea (Greek mother goddess, daughter of Uranus the sky and Gaia the earth and
sister wife to Cronus) who in turn becomes Cybele. If the gods are separate
beings surely you would expect a little more variation.

Another argument put forward for soft polytheism is that everything in the
universe is connected. You, me, plants, the world, spirits, gods, demons are all
connected to something bigger, something more than we are. Magically this is
true, as what affects one thing will have repercussions on other things close to it,
ala the ripple effect (throw a rock in a pond and the ripple effects stuff not
touched by the rock). So if this is true magically, then could it not be true for our
faith. If we are all connected to the divine are we not reflections of that divine
presence? Again there is some occult truth to this argument.

Another argument put forward on many forums is the star argument. This
simply says that you can look at a star through 100 different telescopes and see
100 different images, but in essence it is still the same star. That is an argument
that you cannot deny because it is in essence true, no matter how many ways
you look at a thing it will always be that thing. Whether you can let it build part
of your belief is up to you.

Those are just a couple of arguments on both sides. As with any philosophical
idea the only way you will come to any decision is to think about it seriously and
then make your mind up. Good luck!
Spotting myths in our world today
Myths exist all around us and even today new ones are being created as I write
this. A new breed of myth abounds and it is called an urban myth. Urban myths
are usually stories that are told by a “friend of a friend” and they are told for the
same reasons that the older myths are told. Unlike the older myths these will
not tell us any information about the gods involved, since let’s face it, there
won’t be any. Instead we can use these modern myths to teach us about the
state of the world we live in and will be practising in.

As an example take a look at this well known urban myth.

An English woman on holiday in Ibiza met the man of her dreams in a happening
nightclub. He was handsome, charming, funny and fantastic in bed. When it
came to the end of her holiday and a blissful week with her dream man, the
woman reluctantly made her way to the airport. She was delighted when the
man caught her just before she was about to go through the passport control.
The man gave her a gift-wrapped box and told her not to open it until she was on
the plane and that it was something to remember him by. With tears in her eyes,
the woman took her seat on the plane and immediately opened her present.
Inside, was a big box of condoms and a scribbled note that simply read,
"Welcome to the world of AIDS".

This thoroughly horrible tale warns us of what we could possibly expect if we go

on holiday and then act against society’s structures. In this case it was having
unprotected sex with a virtually unknown partner. This is the point of all myths
to some degree. Following the same sort of pattern and warn against “bad”
behaviour by showing the consequences of that behaviour.

The typical urban myth pattern will be similar to any other story. It will start with
a particular character, usually a normal everyday person. That person will then
do something that breaks society’s taboos in some way. This could be sleeping
with someone unknown (promiscuity), loosing track of a baby for a moment (lack
of vigilance) or even picking up a hitchhiker (hitchhikers usually being “trampy”
and “trouble”). Then there will be a plot twist and the ending will be revealed.
The ending will of course be troublesome or horrific in some way to punish the
character for breaking a taboo.

How can this help the modern day witch? Well for a start the more we can
understand the society we live in, the more we can begin to see our place in it.
This is not an easy thing to do. Just what is a witches place in society? Most
people see us as kooky or strange. The old wise woman or cunning man role is
no longer needed so we need to carve a new place out for ourselves. Everyone
needs a sense of belonging and understanding our place in the world can help us
find that sense.
Also if we understand the world around us then we can also use this knowledge
when casting a spell or a ritual. If we know that people tend to think a certain
way or act a certain way then we can tailor what we need to do and make our
own life easier.

Using myths in magical practise

I’m sure that you probably have some books at home that supposedly will teach
you how to do magic. In these books they usually have a list of correspondences
that include huge swathes of gods, goddess’s and mythical creatures that you
can invoke at will. In my view this is criminal and those authors should be
ashamed.

The trouble is they give you this information and don’t tell you how to use it, or
indeed whether you should use it. The divine powers of yesteryear are not gone,
not quiet and not dead in any way. And yet you should call upon them without
any idea of what they are like or what reception you are likely to get upon calling
them.

I will tell you now, that if you continue to work and become one of those few who
can participate in astral travel, as soon as you leave this plane and enter another
one you will meet these powers and they will know of what you have been doing.
They don’t punish but they are not above ignoring you or indeed even slapping
you with a little added vigour if needed. So treat them with respect always.

Now with that warning out of the way mythology and gods in general are used in
so many different magical practises that it is just not funny that they are rarely
mentioned in 95% of the books out there. As a rough guide consider the
following,

• Many tarot packs use mythology as part of their symbolism. I personally

use a pack that uses Greek mythology as its area of symbolism.
• Many pathworkings (a type of guided inner mind meditation) often use
myths or deities as sign posts.
• Nearly all rituals will call upon some sort of divine presence for help or
protection.
• Nearly all spells will call upon some sort of divine presence for help.
• Many messages from the inner planes to us (they usually come in dreams)
are coded using figures or symbols from myths and legends of our past.
• Many of the practises used in celebrations (feasts, passing round drinks,
pressies etc) have often come from older myths and legends.

There’s more that you could add to that list. The fact is magic is ancient, as we
have seen in lesson 1, and because of this mythology and the ancient deities still
have a bearing upon what we do today. So to begin with let’s have a look at
tarot packs and how mythology impacts on those.
The tarot pack is made up of two parts, the major arcana and the minor arcana.
The major arcane consists of 22 cards with various symbols that represent major
events. The minor arcane is made up of 4 suits of 14 cards that represent cups,
wands, swords and pentacles or water. These can also represent the four
elements, the four archangels or whatever your own imagination likes. A
complete pack of tarot cards comes to 78 cards and from these we can do a lot
of stuff!

It is with the major arcana that mythology most impacts us. Consider the
following, the great mythological tales, the likes of the Iliad, the odyssey,
Beowulf etc all follow the same rules. These rules where first lain down by
Joseph Campbell and is called a monomyth or the hero’s journey. There are
many stages to the hero’s journey and different people have categorised them
differently. However to my mind I would say the following are what I would use
as a hero’s journey.

• Call to adventure where the hero starts his or her journey.

• Supernatural aid is where something out of the ordinary helps the hero
showing them that they are special.
• Crossing of a threshold is where the hero must abandon what they are
used to and venture into the unknown.
• Initiation is where the hero meets some special criteria and begins to
understand their role in life.
• Meeting with the divine is where the hero finally meets the presence that
has been directing their life.
• Being tempted is where the hero is found by opposing forces and tempted
from their path.
• Failure and atonement is where the hero inevitably fails because no one is
perfect, realising this they atone and strive to master their negative
qualities.
• Success is where the hero succeeds at their quest, destiny or adventure
and finally sees why they were important.
• Giving of boons is where the hero has the power to help those that helped
them.
• Freedom to live as you like is where the hero, once the adventure has
finished can settle down and follow their heart rather than the divines will.

If you look at the major arcana you will notice that the cards follow the hero’s
journey. The first card, the fool is the quintessential birth of a journey. card 12,
the hanged man is quite often seen as being representative of initiation, hanging
on a tree or cross is quite often seen as an initiatory ritual, for example Christ on
the cross or Odin on the tree. Card 15, the devil is a representation of
temptation and our battling of it.

So if you know mythology and are reading the tarot you can use this to your
advantage. If you see a card and no inspiration strikes, no messages come
through see whereabouts that card comes in the hero’s journey and think about
that stage. Chances are you will get some idea of what it could mean to the
person you are reading for.

Another thing mythology is used for in today’s magical work is in pathworkings.

Pathworkings are a type of inner guided meditation that follows a script in an
effort to help you make decisions or gain insights or information that you didn’t
believe you had. For example for following is a basic pathworking.

“Take a deep breath and relax. Feel all your anxiety, stress and tension fade
away as you exhale. As you breathe in, you are filled with calm. As you breathe
out, you let go of any tension... Breathe in calm... Breath out ... Breath in ...
Breath out... Breathe in... Breath out ... Breath in...

Close your eyes. Picture a path that leads away from where you are standing.
You follow that path, walking along it. It makes some twists and turns, so you
cannot see where it is leading. However, you feel comfortable on that path and
you enjoy your walk.

Then, after what was probably the fifth turn, you walk through a kind of doorway
and you feel immediately at home. The place you enter can be a forest clearing,
or a beach, a mountaintop or a secluded place beside a waterfall, a cottage or a
cave. What is it? Look around yourself. Where are you? The important part is that
there is no one else here, only you, and that you feel completely safe, as if you
had just come home.

Look around yourself. What do you see? Explore! Or simply be in that safe place
and enjoy the feeling of safety and the relaxation you experience there. (If you
record the text, leave time for exploration).

Now it is time for you to return to everyday reality. Take a last look around, and
then go towards the doorway where you have come in. If the doorway closed or
vanished after you crossed it, it now reappears and opens. Go through the
doorway, and follow the path that leads you there. With every step that you
make, every turn you are taking, you leave that world behind and come back
more and more into your physical body... The path and its surroundings slowly
vanish, as you become more and more aware of your body. Feel where you are
in touch with the ground or the chair. Experimentally move your fingers, your
toes. Finally, open your eyes. Welcome back.”

The above is just for illustrative purposes. It does show though the sort of script
that is followed in a pathworking. To practise it you should lie or sit in a slight
meditative state and follow the path that the script takes you in your mind.
Anything that shows up that do not appear in the script is therefore meaningful
and should be seen as such. You can then sit down and either meditate on these
unscripted things or you can research them to see what they symbolise and to
what they could possibly mean to you.
The most obvious way ancient mythology impacts on magical practises today is
when we cast a spell or practise a ritual. For example have a look at the
following spell.

“I call upon Zeus, chief ruler of immortals and mortals alike, most powerful of all
the gods, who was known as the omnipotent Father Zeus, and to the Romans as
Jupiter, and who punishes those who lie and break.

Around I bind you three times three

No more bad things you'll think of me
Around I bind you three times three
No more bad things you'll say of me
Around I bind you three times three
No more bad things you'll do to me
Around I bind you three times three
And if these things continue to be
Then back upon you three times three
'Til totally vanquished you will be
By the powers of three times three
By Earth and Fire, Air and Sea
I fix this spell, then set it free
'Twill give no harm to mine or me
As I so will, So Mote It Be!”

It calls upon Zeus to punish those who lie and break. This of course is
completely the wrong divine power to be calling upon. Zeus wasn’t above lying
and breaking his word when needed and he very rarely punished those who did
unless the results of their lies impacted on him. A better power to call upon
would be Dike, the bringer of divine justice. But by calling upon the wrong sort
of divine power the caster would have reduced the chances that the spell would
work.

The same applies in ritual settings. Rituals, when properly written can have
much more powerful effects and using the wrong divinity for the ritual will dilute
what you are trying to do. When writing your own spells or rituals you should
always be aware of what you are calling upon and what you are attempting to do
and make sure the two are in sync to give yourself the best chance of success.

Choosing a pantheon to work with

Many witches do not need to choose a particular pantheon of gods to work with.
In fact there are very few advantages to spending time working exclusively with
one. The information here is written just for completeness sake.

To begin with the advantages to working exclusively within one pantheon are the
same as concentrating exclusively on any subject. You gain a deeper
understanding and a closer bond with the powers you work with. This can lead
to a greater understanding of the pantheons culture or magical practises. I once
asked one of my teachers if it was worth specialising in an area of study only to
be told that “a specialist is just someone who knows more and more about less
and less”. I guess this is something you will have to make your own mind up
about.

Many people will feel pulled towards one pantheon rather than any other and
prefer using these gods over any others. This can be for a number of reasons.
It’s true that sometimes the gods choose certain people for certain tasks and for
those people they will feel pulled towards that pantheon for obvious reasons.
These people are very few and far between though.

More likely, you may feel pulled because you either have been there in another
life and you can still feel the pull of the familiar or because you have had access
to the tales of a particular culture so can more readily identify with the gods of
that culture while learning. Both reasons are fine and the feelings of being
pulled are the same so you can’t really tell which is which.

There will be times as well that you will feel an instinctual dislike to a pantheon
for some reason or another. The reasons behind feelings of dislike are harder to
pin down so they should be held as being a more obvious sign of the direction
you are supposed to be going. Either way, if you have a strong feeling in any
direction, love or hate, then you should definitely take note and follow the advice
of those feelings.

If you just wish to concentrate on a particular pantheon or culture’s gods for any
reason then the first thing you should do is read up on the tales and mythology
of that culture. Many cultures will have epic tales that you should definitely read
up on as these epic tales will show the gods as humans saw them at that time.
This can be different to the established ideas that abound about them.

Once you have read up on the divinities of your chosen culture then the next
step will be to meditate on the god’s one at a time. For most pantheons, if you
take one god per meditation session you will be looking at the work of several
months and any knowledge that comes to you should be noted down so it can
also take several notebooks to complete this exercise!

Choosing a patron to work with

When it comes to patrons there are two ways you can go. The first is to choose
one that fits you. This is a completely legitimate way of taking a patron and
many witches have done just this. In essence it is the same as choosing a
pantheon to work with. You may feel pulled to one particular god or goddess in
particular and if this is the case then choosing them as a patron deity is a
common thing to do.
You may choose a patron simply from the path you have chosen to walk. For
example if you learnt from a coven who used Aphrodite as the goddess then you
would probably build up some sort or relationship with the goddess and would
quite possibly call her your patron. This is a simple way of taking a patron that
fits you.

The second way is for the deity in question to choose you. This is more common
than you would think. You may find the same mythic figure turning up in dreams
or guided meditations again and again. You may have a sudden vision of the
particular deity during the day, like a dream but your awake. You may even find
creatures sacred to the particular deity turning up more often or completely out
of the blue.

When a deity does choose you to work with and wants to become your patron
you will often have the invitation extended during a dream or meditation.
Normally unless you practise lucid dreaming words spoken during a dream tend
to be very fuzzy and easily forgotten. However when a deity appears in a dream
and calls for you, expect to remember the words of that dream for the rest of
your life.

Many witches would argue that you do not need a patron, and to be honest this
is completely true. You can work with whatever deities you want at any time and
the chances are, if you know what you are doing then the magical act you are
creating will work just fine.

However if you work with a patron you will find many benefits. Using the same
goddess for all your rituals will increase the bond between you both and increase
the chance of your spells and rituals working. You may also find your
understanding of matters that relate to your patron increase as well. Of course
nothing comes without cost and if you choose a patron you can rest assured that
if you do something they do not like they will let you know.

Exercise 3

Take the notes you made from exercise 1 and re-read them. Then for the next
month see how many times something happens to you that dissects with your
choice of god or goddess. For example If the deity has a crow as a sacred animal
maybe take note if you see a flock of 3 or more following you. If it is a deity of a
particular thing, e.g. love, see if anything happens out of the ordinary that is
connected to that thing. See how many you can come up with at the end of the
month.

Overview of lesson 2

• Ancient myths are a good indicator of how people and the deities think at
that time. They are like a snapshot of a culture’s and persons
subconscious.
• Mythology has a big part to play in any magical life and as witches we
should be aware of this.
• Polytheism even if hidden in a monotheistic religion has existed since the
beginning of time.
• Even today myths and legends are being born around us if we take the
time to look for them.