Gerald Gardner: Book of Shadows

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Wiccan phrase “book of shadows” can be ambiguous. Some traditional Wiccans keep two “books of shadows,” one containing core Wiccan practices and rituals and that is shared with initiates and the second a book for a coven that differs from coven to coven. This second “book of shadows” may contain all manner of material, including herbal lore, astrological predictions, and the like. Sometimes covens trade these books. Additionally, some Wiccans keep a personal book in the form of a journal that is also often referred to as a “book of shadows.” Meanwhile, Gardner’s Book of Shadows has evolved continually over the years. Certain core elements remain, however, and the following excerpts, which represent some of the ideology and practices of Wicca, are from one of the earliest forms of the book.

To Help the Sick

“To Help the Sick” is an excerpt from the Book of Shadows that gives instructions on how to live as a witch and how to engage in the psychology of healing others, a preoccupation of Gardner’s witches. Gardner’s emphasis on the power and importance of the Goddess in Wicca is repeated throughout the Book of Shadows, along with the reminder that she is a goddess of love and joy. Although some Wiccans pay tribute to a specific goddess, “Goddess” here represents an all-encompassing feminine principle. Wiccans are instructed here to always remember the powerful joyous emotions of their rites, and their love for those they have met through Wicca, and to use this as a form of positive thinking that will improve their own health. A “mind over matter” approach can be used to nullify pain.

The methods described here are psychological rather than magical, although they would be used in conjunction with practical magic. Along with positive thinking, techniques to help a patient include distraction from pain, using sedatives, and practicing hypnosis. The reputation of the witch as someone wielding magical power is also drawn upon in this psychological healing methodology; the text recommends that patients should be encouraged to believe that the witch has the power to heal them magically—thus making use of the placebo effect, whereby patients can sometimes cure themselves if they believe strongly enough that a harmless but nonactive substance is a potent cure. The text notes that these techniques require subtlety and conviction, as well as knowledge of when and how to administer medicines in conjunction with the psychological technique. Hence Wicca has come to be known as “white witchcraft,” the art of using magic and persuasion to perform helpful acts.

Gardner continues with instructions on the use of hypnosis. He describes where and how to look at patients and how to talk to them. He also instructs the healer to infuse the medicines with the feelings of ecstasy that are felt in the witches’ rites. Gardner discusses how it is easier to heal people who can be trusted with the fact that the healer is a witch. Otherwise, one must attempt the healing without revealing too much of one’s Wiccan identity and by working with the unconscious rather than the conscious mind of the person being healed.

Gardner emphasizes the need for secrecy and discretion, reminding the reader of the persecutions of the witch hunts. Although no evidence exists that the people persecuted in the witch hunts actually practiced magic—rather, they seem to have been victims of neighborhood feuds and hysteria—the foundation myth of Wicca was built on this premise. Further, not all victims of the witch hunts were burned at the stake, nor is there any proof that they were Goddess worshippers, but this section further underlines the strong mythos that Gardner built up in his writings, which pervaded literature on the revival of paganism until the 1970s.

The final paragraph of this section refers to the prayer “The Amalthean Horn,” an adaption of a poem published by Aleister Crowley in 1907. In classical mythology, Amalthea, whose name means “tender goddess,” was a foster mother of the Greek god Zeus. She is typically depicted with a “horn,” that is, a cornucopia overflowing with grains and fruits.

The Warning

“The Warning” further illustrates the early Gardnerian belief that witches were the persecuted priesthood of the Old Religion. It urges witches to hide their ritual tools and tells them how to avoid capture or confession, and it emphasizes the secrecy in which the Book of Shadows should be held and its personal nature. The fact that the book is not published but rather is meant to be copied by hand reflects Wicca’s foundation in the grimoire tradition of magical texts, which were individually copied by hand before the invention of photocopying and electronic data transfer. Reference is made to a pentacle, which is a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle. The pentacle has long been a prominent religious symbol not only among Wiccans but, historically, among Christians, Jews, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Egyptians, and others. While the symbolic significance of the pentacle can vary from tradition to tradition, generally it has connotations of evoking some kind of life force, energy, or spirit. In this particular passage, Gardner is referring to a round disc engraved with a five-pointed star and symbols of the God and the Goddess and initiation. This has various ritual uses, including symbolizing earth and “grounding” magic. Since this passage is about avoiding capture as a witch, Gardner advises that the pentacle should be made of wax, that is, easily disposable and easily remade. This may have a precedence in the Elizabethan magic of John Dee, which uses several complex wax pentacles, including the Sigillum Dei Aemeth, also known as “the seal of God’s truth.”

The Eightfold Way

This is a specific training document—that is, it comprises the notes of a teaching session within the oral tradition of Wicca. Most Wiccans use dance, chanting, spells, and visualization, accompanied by incense and wine, as aids in the practice of making magic. The Book of Shadows does not contain many specific examples of chants and spells, however, for these would be memorized from practice.

Many of the items or actions briefly referred to in “The Eightfold Way” are self-explanatory, but a few bear comment. For instance, the second “way” is given as “trance, projection of the Astral.” Astral, a word that has been used in numerous philosophical traditions, can be understood as the “astral body” or the intermediate realm between the physical body and the mind. Astral projection or astral journey is an out-of-body experience. Among Wiccans, “projection of the Astral” is essentially a form of meditation.

Cautious drug use is mentioned as a valid method of consciousness expansion, along with use of wine and incense. In Gardner’s time, all Wiccans were initiated adults who viewed themselves as pioneers of a new consciousness; they were indeed forebears of the New Age movement. Other ways of raising consciousness and achieving trance states include dancing or control of breath and blood flow, which could include carrying out such techniques as binding of the wrists, holding a yoga position, or undergoing light scourging of the back (all done carefully to avoid harm). The “Great Rite” refers to ritual sex. Sometimes the sex is literal, undertaken in private by the high priest and priestess, but generally it is symbolic and consists of the high priestess plunging a ritual knife, which is a male symbol, into a chalice filled with wine, a female symbol, which is held by the high priest as he kneels before her. The rite symbolizes a union between the Mother Goddess and the male principle and is essentially a fertility rite.

The short notes in this section thus indicate the variety of techniques that can be used to concentrate the mind and aid creative visualization, trance induction, and alternative states of consciousness. These techniques are used within the consecrated circle, so the practitioner is immersed completely in the magical mind-set of Wicca before starting to direct his or her consciousness toward the outcome.

The Working Tools

This section tells new witches how to start their craft with little equipment, although an athame (the black-handled dagger that the Book of Shadows elsewhere calls the weapon of the true witch) is essential. The importance of preparing and consecrating tools for use in “magical operations” is emphasized, along with the the importance of keying up mental energy for such undertakings and the importance of using natural or handmade materials. The text explains that because there is a transmission of charisma within the witch’s tools, a ritual weapon gains or loses value according to how it has been made and consecrated.

A Revision of the Casting Procedure

Wiccan rites are always conducted within the circle, a sacred space that is consecrated anew each time, even in a permanently dedicated temple. Considerable preparation by the participants may include ritual bathing and wearing a special robe. This version of the words spoken to effect the circle-casting procedure, revised from the text available only to priestesses, retains the earlier titles “magus” and “high priestess,” although “magus” (that is, “magician” or “sorcerer”) is not normally used. The consecrations are drawn from The Key of Solomon the King, a medieval grimoire on magic attributed to the biblical King Solomon. Only when the consecration is done may the rite proceed. The procedure begins by invoking two figures: Aradia, who was the daughter of Lucifer and the goddess Diana, sent to earth to teach oppressed Italian peasants how to use witchcraft against the upper classes; and Cerunnos, known as “the Horned One,” a Celtic god of fertility as well as of life, animals, and the underworld. It calls for use of an aspergillum, which is a perforated container or a brush used to sprinkle holy water.

Following the casting of the circle, the four elements are summoned, and then “The Witches’ Rune” is chanted while the witches dance to raise energy. At this point the circle is fully opened, and the gods are invoked into those who will represent them as living embodiments of the divine. “The Charge of the Goddess,” which is often spoken at full moon Esbat rites and at initiations, may then be undertaken. While the poetic version of the charge is presented here, the prose version is one of the most loved and used pieces of Wiccan ritual text, encapsulating the longing for union with the Goddess, the Wiccan understanding of the Goddess, and some of the philosophy behind Wiccan spirituality. The charge makes reference to a number of ancient goddesses, including Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and sexuality; Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt; and Cerridwen (the goddess of dark prophetic powers and also the keeper of the Cauldron of the Underworld, where inspiration and knowledge are brewed). Artemis was the Greek goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals, and fertility; Brigid was the Celtic goddess of poetry, healing, and craft; and Melusine was a feminine spirit of freshwater in sacred springs and rivers in European folklore. Gardner says that by invoking these and other goddesses, “thine inmost divine self shall be enfolded in the raptures of the infinite.”

Cakes and Wine

The “Cakes and Wine” act concludes the serious part of the rite, before participants relax and feast. Here, the high priestess, embodying the Goddess, is seated on the altar, while the magus, or high priest, kneels; together they consecrate the food and drink and partake. During this simple act, the high priestess releases the energy of the Goddess, and the force is believed to “charge” the food and wine. The consecration itself is a symbolic sex act in which the woman is enthroned and holding the “positive” sexual symbol of the athame (knife), while the man kneels before her holding the “negative” sexual symbol of the grail (a chalice or cup). This interplay of male and female energy and empowerment is described by Wiccans as “polarity magic.” Polarity magic is the theme of Dion Fortune’s influential novels The Sea Priestess (1938) and Moon Magic (1956), both of which have been drawn upon in later versions of the Book of Shadows.

The Sabbat Rituals

The Sabbats are seasonal festivals that celebrate the “wheel of the year.” They incorporate ideas and customs drawn from folklore with ritual drama used in a religious context. This dramatized enactment of the turning of the seasons is believed to bring the celebrants closer to the cycle of nature and allow them to contemplate the mysteries of birth, life, death, and rebirth as the wheel turns.

These celebrations fulfill the universal desire for marking and celebrating the passage of time with ceremony, a desire that is seen in all religions, and are modern interpretations of ancient pagan rites. The festivals printed in this section of Gardner’s Book of Shadows celebrate the main solstices and equinoxes, fulcrum points in the solar calendar, but Wiccans also celebrate the “cross-quarter days,” fire festivals that fall between the solstices and equinoxes and mark the high point of each astronomical season. Their names hark back to pre-Christian Celtic festivals: Imbolc celebrates the first light after the darkness, on February 2; Beltane celebrates the beginning of summer, on May 1; Lammas, or Lughnasadh, celebrates the time of the corn harvest, on August 1; and Samhain acknowledges the darkness of winter’s beginning and is a time for remembering the dead, on October 31.

The Sabbat festivals form the backbone of the modern pagan ritual year, and they are celebrated in many ways: from a simple walk in the countryside to complex, richly decorated rites with hundreds of participants. The Sabbats are also seen as a time of celebration and partying, with invited guests and shared feasts. This contrasts with the Esbats, or full moon rites, where a coven meets with just its members to train in the art of magic and to work healing rites. The solstices are both times of great celebration. The turning of the year wheel at the equinoxes is believed to be a potent time for spellcraft and working for change, as it is seen as a time when the tides of the universe are in flux and thus a great time for magic.

The solar festivals discussed here track the annual journey of the sun (relative to the earth) and reflect that journey in the human life cycle. The spring equinox is a celebration of new life and light, as the wheel of life has turned toward summer, and the Book of Shadows calls for observing this date with fire, dancing, and games. The summer solstice celebrates the peak of the sun’s power, with the sun’s intensified rays symbolized by a spear wielded by the high priest. The arrival of the sun in its zenith at midsummer happens on the cusp of the astrological sign of Cancer, referred to here as “the sign of the waters of life.” The passage on the autumn equinox expresses the idea of the solar force departing from the land but journeying on to the realms of darkness, to continue transformed. The fruits of the autumn are on the altar, including corn, which symbolizes the secret seeds of life that germinate in the winter and burgeon into new life in due course. For the winter solstice the altar is decorated with evergreens, which defy the frosts of winter, and candles symbolize the light of hope in the darkest time of the year. The witches move in a circle holding candles, lighting them one at a time, so the light grows as the dance goes on. Eventually a fire is kindled, while a chant to the Great Mother is sung, as she brings forth the new light and hope. All jump the flaming cauldron in festive spirit as the birth of light of a new sun is celebrated.

The Witches’ Chant or Rune

The poem-song called “The Witches’ Rune” was written by Doreen Valiente and incorporated by Gardner into the Book of Shadows. A “rune” is a character from ancient Germanic alphabets, of significance to Wiccans because runes were thought to have magical powers; indeed, the word rune comes from the word runa, meaning “secret” or “mystery.” The witches dance rhythmically round the circle chanting this rune, or rhyme, to “raise the cone of power” in the final stage of casting the circle. Sometimes the rune is used as a spell: The members of the coven visualize their goal, and at the right moment their energy is sent to a sick person in a form of distant healing. The rhythmic rhyme used here is a good example of spell writing, where the words occupy the conscious mind, as the chant occupies the body, and the witch can then concentrate entirely on the goal of the spell.

Consecrating Tools

As noted earlier, Wiccans believe that it is essential to prepare, purify, and consecrate every tool before it can be used. The text here notes that it is preferable to consecrate a new item with one that is already consecrated. This transfer of magical energy is reinforced by activating the tool through the elements—for instance, burying it in the earth for a time, leaving it in a river, or “charging” it up by the light of a full moon—and then dedicating it to the gods. The tool’s personal nature is reinforced by the owner’s sleeping with it or holding it each night for at least six months, until it becomes truly the person’s own. The tools that are used to cast the circle, the sword and athame, are given a slightly different consecration from that of the other tools, since they are being consecrated as weapons of protection rather than for magical operation. While Wiccans may not make all their own tools anymore, many compromise by cutting and whittling their own wands, etching their own pentacles, and personalizing their athames, then ritually consecrating them. This is one way contemporary practitioners are finding to walk between the worlds of late capitalist consumerism and the authenticity they seek in living as a witch.