The Temple of High Witchcraft: Ceremonies, Spheres and The Witches' Qabalah

By Christopher Penczak

"This is foremost an engaging textbook designed for home schooling the advancing witch, and it is encyclopedic in its rituals, charts, and even homework assignments."—Publishers Weekly

Take your spiritual evolution to the next level by mastering the essentials of ceremonial magick. In this much-anticipated fourth volume in Christopher Penczak's award-winning series on witchcraft, he introduces the concepts of the Qabalah and the rituals of high magick, and explores the deeply interwoven relationship between these traditions and the Craft.

The teachings in this book correspond to the element of Air, guiding you into the realm of creative and critical thinking, communication, knowledge, and truth. Four preliminary chapters introduce the basic concepts, history, and skills you will need for your journey. Next, twelve formal lessons, in the witches' traditional year-and-a-day format, provide instruction in the fundamentals of ceremonial magic:

• The Qabalah
• The Tree of Life
• Symbol and sigil magick
• Elemental constructs
• Qabalistic Cross
• The four worlds and their correspondences
• Middle Pillar
• Pathworking
• The Ritual of the Rosy Cross
• Invoking and banishing rituals
• Fluid condensers
• Barbarous words of power, magickal constructs, and the Goetia

The book's thirteenth lesson culminates in a ritual initiation fusing the traditions of witchcraft and high magick—the creation of your own Reality Map. The cosmology you create will be based on your own spiritual experiences as well as the philosophies and practices of ceremonial magick.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Apr 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9780738717531

Christopher Penczak

Christopher Penczak is a Witch, teacher, writer, and healing practitioner. He is the founder of the world-renowned Temple of Witchcraft and the Temple Mystery School, and he is the creator of the bestselling Temple of Witchcraft books and audio CDs. Christopher is an ordained minister, serving the New Hampshire and Massachusetts Pagan and metaphysical communities through public rituals, private counsel, and teaching. He also travels extensively and teaches throughout the United States. Christopher lives in New Hampshire. Visit him at ChristopherPenczak.com.

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Copyright Information

The Temple of High Witchcraft: Ceremonies, Spheres and The Witches’ Qabalah Copyright © 2007, 2023 (Twentieth Anniversary Revised Edition) by Christopher Penczak.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the author’s copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

Photography is used for illustrative purposes only. The persons depicted may not endorse or represent the book’s subject.

First edition, expanded and revised

Fifteenth printing, 2023

First e-book edition © 2023

E-book ISBN: 9780738717531

Book design by Donna Burch-Brown

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Other interior art by the Llewellyn Art Department.

Tarot cards from the Universal Tarot by Roberto De Angelis © 2000 by Lo Scarabeo and reprinted with permission from Lo Scarabeo

For a complete list of credits, please see page 587.

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Penczak, Christopher.

The temple of high witchcraft : ceremonies, spheres, and the witches’ qabalah /

by Christopher Penczak.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1165-2

1. Witchcraft. 2. Magic. 3. Cabala. I. Title.

BF1566.P453 2007

133.4’3—dc22 2007020774

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Other Works by Christopher Penczak

The Temple Series

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation, and Psychic Development

(Updated 20th Anniversary Edition, Llewellyn, 2021;

1st Printing, Llewellyn, 2002)

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells, and Rituals

(Updated 20th Anniversary Edition, Llewellyn, 2022;

1st Printing, Llewellyn, 2004)

The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft: Shadows, Spirits, and the Healing Journey

(Updated 20th Anniversary Edition, Llewellyn, 2023;

1st Printing, Llewellyn, 2005)

The Temple of High Witchcraft: Ceremonies, Spheres, and the Witches’ Qabalah

(Llewellyn, 2007)

The Living Temple of Witchcraft, Volume One: The Descent of the Goddess

(Llewellyn, 2008)

The Living Temple of Witchcraft, Volume Two: The Journey of the God

(Llewellyn, 2009)

Temple Series Audio Recordings by Christopher Penczak

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2002)

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2004)

The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2005)

The Temple of High Witchcraft CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2007)

The Living Temple of Witchcraft, Volume One, CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2008)

The Living Temple of Witchcraft, Volume Two, CD Companion

(Llewellyn, 2009)

Other Books by Christopher Penczak

City Magick

(Samuel Weiser, 2001, 2012)

Spirit Allies

(Samuel Weiser, 2002)

Gay Witchcraft

(Samuel Weiser, 2003)

The Witch’s Shield (book with CD)

(Llewellyn, 2004)

Magick of Reiki

(Llewellyn, 2004)

Sons of the Goddess

(Llewellyn, 2005)

Instant Magick

(Llewellyn, 2006)

The Mystic Foundation

(Llewellyn, 2006)

Ascension Magick

(Llewellyn, 2007)

The Witch’s Coin

(Llewellyn, 2009)

The Three Rays of Witchcraft

(Copper Cauldron, 2010)

The Witch’s Heart

(Llewellyn, 2011)

The Plant Spirit Familiar

(Copper Cauldron, 2011)

The Gates of Witchcraft

(Copper Cauldron, 2012)

Buddha, Christ, and Merlin

(Copper Cauldron, 2012)

The Feast of the Morrighan

(Copper Cauldron, 2012)

The Mighty Dead

(Copper Cauldron, 2013)

City Witchcraft

(Copper Cauldron, 2013)

The Phosphorous Grove

(Copper Cauldron, 2013, 2017)

Foundations of the Temple

(Copper Cauldron, 2014)

The Casting of Spells

(Copper Cauldron, 2016)

The Witch’s Hut

(Copper Cauldron, 2021)

The Lighting of Candles

(Copper Cauldron, 2021)

The Magickal Botanical Oracle

(with Maxine Miller; Lo Scarabeo, 2022)

Books with Christopher Penczak

Laurie Cabot’s Book of Spells and Enchantments

(by Laurie Cabot, with Penny Cabot and Christopher Penczak;

Copper Cauldron, 2014)

Laurie Cabot’s Book of Shadows

(by Laurie Cabot, with Penny Cabot and Christopher Penczak;

Copper Cauldron, 2015)

Laurie Cabot’s Book of Visions

(by Laurie Cabot, with Penny Cabot and Christopher Penczak;

Copper Cauldron, 2019)

Anthologies Edited by Christopher Penczak

The Green Lovers

(Copper Cauldron, 2012)

Ancestors of the Craft

(Copper Cauldron, 2012)

The Waters and Fires of Avalon

(Copper Cauldron, 2013)

Disclaimer

In no way is this material a substitute for trained medical or psychological care. This book is intended to be used by stable, mature adults seeking personal awareness and transformation. Private and personal consultations with a psychological or spiritual counselor can be a great adjunct for those undertaking the coursework of this book. If you are not psychologically stable or do not have access to a qualified counselor, then do not undertake the exercises presented in this book.

All herbal formulas are given for historical understanding and references. No herbal formula should be consumed unless specifically stated. Herbs and herbal formulas that are potentially toxic are stated, and the author and publisher assume no responsibility for those who consume such preparations in any dose. People with allergies or sensitive skin should take caution when using herbal remedies. Do not take any herb or herbal preparation without direct consultation from a qualified health care provider. Both the author and the publisher assume no liability for any injuries caused to the reader that may result from the reader’s use of the content contained herein. All readers should use common sense when contemplating the practices described in the work.

Acknowledgments

To my husband, Steve, who sparked my interest in ceremonial magick and got me over my fear of delving into magickal realms I thought were beyond me, and most especially for climbing the sacred Tree by my side. Special thanks to Adam Sartwell for his inspiration, insight, and rituals and all of his innovations that have led to the Temple of Witchcraft tradition.

To the modern magicians who continue to deepen my knowledge, understanding, and experience of the Tree of Life: Donald Michael Kraig, Alan Moore, Jason Augustus Newcomb, Lon Milo DuQuette, John Michael Greer, and my sweet soul sister Kala Trobe.

To all the amazing people who have contributed to this work and my views on magick, including Winifred Tannetta Costello, Alixaendreia, Olivette Aviso, Jean Pando, S. Rune Emerson, Penney L. Robinson, Diane Gatchell, Ian Corrigan, and Laurie Cabot.

EVERY MAN AND EVERY WOMAN IS A STAR

—The Book of the Law

Contents

List of Exercises

List of Tables & Figures

Foreword to the New Edition by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

Introduction to the New Edition: The Occult Tradition

Introduction: What Is the Temple of High Witchcraft?

Chapter 1

The Magician and the Witch

Chapter 2

The Entwined Roots

Chapter 3

Reality Maps

Chapter 4

The Ceremonies of High Magick

Chapter 5

Lesson 1: Qabalah Basics

Chapter 6

Lesson 2: Malkuth

Chapter 7

Lesson 3: Yesod

Chapter 8

Lesson 4: Hod

Chapter 9

Lesson 5: Netzach . . . 279

Chapter 10

Lesson 6: Tiphereth

Chapter 11

Lesson 7: Geburah

Chapter 12

Lesson 8: Chesed

Chapter 13

Lesson 9: Da’ath

Chapter 14

Lesson 10: Binah

Chapter 15

Lesson 11: Chokmah

Chapter 16

Lesson 12: Kether

Chapter 17

Lesson 13: Initiation of High Witchcraft

Appendix I: Examples of Reality Maps

Appendix II: Variations of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Appendix III: Variations of the Middle Pillar

Appendix IV: Variations of the Four Adorations

Appendix V: Variations of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram

Appendix VI: Variations of the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram

Appendix VII: Variation of the Bornless Ritual

Bibliography

Credits

Exercises

Exercise 1: Inner Temple and Memory Tower

Exercise 2: Qabalistic Cross

Exercise 3: Intention Vow

Exercise 4: Rising on the Planes

Exercise 5: Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP)

Exercise 6: Making Holy Water

Exercise 7: Malkuth Pathworking

Exercise 8: Elemental Earth Journey Seeking the Stone of Sovereignty

Exercise 9: Middle Pillar

Exercise 10: Circulation of the Body of Light

Exercise 11: Magickal Storytelling

Exercise 12: Yesod Pathworking

Exercise 13: Elemental Water Journey Seeking the Cup of Compassion

Exercise 14: Four Adorations

Exercise 15: Hod Pathworking

Exercise 16: Elemental Air Journey Seeking the Sword of Truth

Exercise 17: Ritual of the Rose Cross

Exercise 18: Netzach Pathworking

Exercise 19: Elemental Fire Journey Seeking the Spear of Victory

Exercise 20: Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram (LBRH)

Exercise 21: Tiphereth Pathworking

Exercise 22: Greater Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram (GIRP)

Exercise 23: Geburah Pathworking

Exercise 24: Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram (GIRH)

Exercise 25: Chesed Pathworking

Exercise 26: Planetary Tinctures

Exercise 27: Binah Pathworking

Exercise 28: Mystic Repast

Exercise 29: Chokmah Pathworking

Exercise 30: Kether Pathworking

Exercise 31: Create Your Reality Map

Exercise 32: Bornless Ritual

Tables & Figures

Tables

Table 1: Initiation Levels of the Tree of Life

Table 2: Hebrew Alphabet Correspondences

Table 3: Four Worlds and Their Correspondences

Table 4: Planetary Condensers

Table 5: Alphanumeric Conversion

Table 6: Qlippothic Correspondences

Table 7: Stations on the Celtic Tree Ladder

Table 8: Elemental Vowels

Table 9: Middle Pillar Sounds

Table 10: Chakra Sounds

Figures

Figure 1: Magician Card

Figure 2: High Priestess Card

Figure 3: Alchemical Art—Engraving by Matthieu Merian (Matthäus Merian) for Johann Daniel Mylius’s Opus Medico-Chymicum, 1618

Figure 4: Mind Map

Figure 5: The Tree of Life

Figure 6: Worldview Circles

Figure 7: Sign of the Enterer

Figure 8: Sign of Silence

Figure 9: Sign of the Zelator Grade—Earth—Malkuth

Figure 10: Sign of the Practicus Grade (Traditionally, the Theoricus Grade)—Air—Hod

Figure 11: Sign of the Theoricus Grade (Traditionally, the Practicus Grade)—Water—Yesod

Figure 12: Sign of the Philosophus Grade—Fire—Netzach

Figure 13: Sign of Rending the Veil

Figure 14: Sign of Closing the Veil

Figure 15: Sign of the Mourning of Isis

Figure 16: Sign of Apophis and Typhon

Figure 17: Sign of Osiris Slain

Figure 18: Sign of Osiris Risen

Figure 19: Awen

Figure 20: Tree of Life with Hebrew Letters

Figure 21: Lightning Flash

Figure 22: Cube of Space

Figure 23: Triangles

Figure 24: The Three Pillars

Figure 25: Four Worlds of the Tree of Life

Figure 26: Jacob’s Ladder

Figure 27: Chakras and the Tree of Life

Figure 28: Tree of Life as the Solar System

Figure 29: Tarot on the Tree of Life

Figure 30: Upside-Down Tree

Figure 31: Emanations

Figure 32: Fractal Tree

Figure 33: Map of the Three Worlds of the Shaman and the Tree of Life

Figure 34: Tetraktys

Figure 35: Elemental and Planetary Decagrams

Figure 36: Banishing Pentagram

Figure 37: Golden Dawn Pentacle (Personal implement of Chic Cicero) and Traditional Witchcraft Pentacle

Figure 38: Traditional Enneagrams and the Enneagram of Personality

Figure 39: Theban Script

Figure 40: Octagrams

Figure 41: Athame Markings, Traditional

Figure 42: Athame Markings, Nontraditional

Figure 43: Septagram or Faery Star, Ceremonial Septagram, Athena’s Web

Figure 44: Venus Symbol and the Tree of Life

Figure 45: Circled Cross

Figure 46: Rose Cross Ritual Space

Figure 47: Flower of Life

Figure 48: Metatron’s Cube

Figure 49: Flower of Life with the Tree of Life

Figure 50: Hexagram with Planetary Attributes

Figure 51: Banishing Hexagram of Fire

Figure 52: Banishing Hexagram of Earth

Figure 53: Banishing Hexagram of Air

Figure 54: Banishing Hexagram of Water

Figure 55: Invoking Elemental Hexagrams

Figure 56: Degree Markings on the Scourge (First, Second, and Third Degrees)

Figure 57: Tree of Life with the Degree Markings

Figure 58: Pentagrams within Pentagrams

Figure 59: Pentagram Proportions

Figure 60: Fibonacci Spiral

Figure 61: Active and Passive Spirit Pentagrams

Figure 62: Decomposed Square

Figure 63: Planets on the Hexagram

Figure 64: Invoking and Banishing Planetary Hexagrams

Figure 65: Planetary Squares

Figure 66: Fionn’s Window and Sigil

Figure 67: Sigil on Mars Square

Figure 68: Sigil

Figure 69: Construct Vessel

Figure 70: Reverse of the Tree of Life

Figure 71: Mirror Image Tree

Figure 72: Circle and Triangle

Figure 73: Vassago Seal

Figure 74: Sheela-na-gig

Figure 75: Vesica Piscis and Sacred Geometry

Figure 76: Hieroglyphic Monad

Figure 77: Aleister Crowley’s Personal Sigil

Figure 78: Celtic Circles of Creation

Figure 79: Celtic Tree Ladder

Figure 80: Theosophical Spiritual Hierarchy

Figure 81: Ladder of Consciousness

Figure 82: Web Mandala

Figure 83: Tattoo

Figure 84: Risting Tradition Sigil

Figure 85: Starwell Map

Figure 86: The House

Figure 87: Pentagram with Vowel Sounds

Figure 88: Basic Invoking and Banishing Unicursal Hexagrams

Figure 89: Invoking and Banishing Elemental Unicursal Hexagrams

Figure 90: Invoking and Banishing Planetary Unicursal Hexagrams

Figure 91: Planetary Septagrams

Foreword to the New Edition

by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

I grew up in a Western world where anything to do with the occult was looked down on and treated with either fear and dread or scornful laughter. But there were a few members of my family who had links with the Old Ways and our Romany forebears, and my grandmother honoured them. She kept up the practices all her life.

On that June day she looked at her newly born granddaughter and told my father, She’s a Dukker Lengra(fortune-teller, psychic). Though my path since then has taken me into ceremonial magic, I have kept a link of love for the Old Ways of the Craft. That being so, it is with great delight I write this foreword.

Even more so because the author is a long-time friend and colleague. Chris and I share a mutual love of all things magical and mystical and are part of a much larger group that stretches the length and breadth of Turtle Island and includes both Craft and ceremonial magic.

Such a bond between a ceremonial magician and a master of High Craft may seem strange, but that is what this book seeks to achieve: to show the underlying closeness linking the two aspects. In a physical world intent on tearing itself apart, here we see laid bare the spiritual unity between what has often and wrongly been described as high and low magic. Magic is magic. What makes it high or low is the intent of those who use it. In this book, Christopher makes this very clear.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there has been a gradual acceptance of a belief system that honours what I believe to be the oldest religion in the world. It differs in its presentation and its symbology from area to area and country to country, but remains true to its origin in the worship of Nature. This despite the terrible cost of human life, mainly, though not always, female.

The gradual degradation of women, who, as the carriers of life, were the first to recognise and honour Nature, has taken a terrible toll. Yet through it all the Old Ways have been passed from woman to woman, and, let us not forget, men have also offered life itself in the fight to maintain it. The title of Witch holds true for both sexes.

Now the tide has begun to turn. For the first time in centuries, we can gather freely, pass the old traditions on to our sons and daughters. The old songs can be heard once more. The traditional dances can be taught. The link between human and animal, human and element, human and nature are being reestablished. All because of the courage of those who went before us. If you are reading this book, it is because the strength, the will, and the unshakable belief of thousands have made it available. You and I are able to stand with pride and say publicly, I am a Pagan, I am a Witch, I am a ceremonial magician, I believe in and practice the art of magic.

This book would never have made it into print a hundred years ago. The author would not have been able to be open about his beliefs. But here it is, in your hands. The result of years of study, practice, and determination. What you are holding is in effect a lifetime of effort, dedication, and an unshakable belief in the strength, truth, and beauty of the Craft seen, understood, and taught by one of the most intuitive masters of the ancient Craft.

If you bought this book because you are curious, it will answer your questions truthfully. If you bought it because you know a little but want to know more, it will train you slowly, fully, and without demanding more than you feel able to give. You may have bought it seeking to deride what it offers, in which case you may well change your mind.

You may follow another belief system and look for flaws, mistakes, you can object to. Flaws are there to be corrected. Mistakes are there to be learned from. Objections can be listened to and explained. What you will find here in this book is not, and never will never be, a fulmination against another faith.

That it not the way of the Craft. Faith is a personal thing, something to be held close, nurtured, and honoured. If you have such a faith, then recognise it in another form or belief system and honour it. If we know, love, and honour the Craft, how can we in all honesty denounce another human being’s belief system?

This book was written by one who knows and honours what it teaches. Who believes in it wholeheartedly. Who stands by what he has written. Many books have been written concerning religions of many different faiths. Some are written for gain, some to denigrate other faiths, and some simply to teach and offer an understanding. This is one of the latter. Some books are written with ink, some on a computer. A very few are written with the heart blood of the author. I have stood with this man, worked with him, spent time with him in discussion. He has my trust in what he does. You will find the reasons for my trust as you read his words.

You, the reader, carry within you the DNA of your ancestors from the dawn of human life. At some point in all that time, an ancestor or yours has praised, worshipped, and believed in a system very similar to what is put forth in this book. If you practice the Craft, even if in a different way to what lies before you, you are still a part of the incredible oneness that is Nature. What the author is offering you is a very precious gift: his knowledge, his discovery of something greater than himself, which he wants to share with you. In all of us is a desire to know, understand, seek out, use, and live by a truth. You may find, after reading this book, that this is not the way for you, and put it aside. But part of it will remain with you. You may find yourself going back to it. One thing is sure: you will have learned something from it that will stay with you from now on. Before we were entirely human, someone like you and me looked at the stars and wondered what they were. A question was asked, to which we still haven’t found the answer. In that moment, this book became possible.

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

Jersey Channel Isles

UK

[contents]

Introduction to the New Edition

The Occult Tradition

When I began my journey into Witchcraft, it was an era when all new seekers and initiates believed they were joining something ancient and holy. The mythos was one of modern Witchcraft being a remnant of some ancient fertility cult, and while we certainly knew that the words we were saying were not the same as those of our Stone Age ancestors, having undergone thousands of years of changes, we believed we had inherited and were continuing something with such roots. Even before I joined, there were the rumblings of academics and Witches themselves investigating our roots, our stories, our lore and traditions, and this has continued, rightly so, to this day. Those investigations revealed that what we thought was ancient wasn’t so ancient after all, and perhaps never was. The very notion of the Witch as a spiritual descendant of the ancient Pagan priesthoods, inheriting a form of the temple teachings and mystery traditions, was challenged as a modern invention. Most modern Witches learned that the roots of our teachings were part of the sacred orders that pre-dated Christian traditions, and at one time were a natural and accepted part of their society. Everyone reacted differently to the news. Some railed against it as an extension of the Christian patriarchy seeking once again to do us harm. Others embraced it and used it as an opportunity to shift some of the primal and, they would argue, archaic mechanics of our community and teachings into something new, a process that had begun long before these revelations.

What was really being presented to us was an initiatory opportunity for the community, though it was hard to see that at the time. On one hand, a fundamental mechanism in our initiation rituals, designed to align you with the wisdom of the ancient past, to our process was short-circuited. All religious and spiritual traditions have a mythos in which one operates, and the entering of the mythos, the suspension of disbelief and an entirely new framework to view the world and our place in it, creates a fundamental transformation necessary for initiation. The idea of our lineage being passed on over time made the work before us holy and spoke to our responsibility to the past. A favorite quote of mine from this time period, from the character Willow in the popular TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was nowadays, every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she’s a sister to the dark ones. ¹ While play is important, traditions fell away and cohesion broke down as Witchcraft became anything anyone wanted, with no regard to previous practices, traditions, or history. Much of what is considered gatekeeping today, or safety structures of the past, vanished. With the rise of eclectic and solitary forms of Wicca, important context in our traditions was lost, though thankfully a new generation seeking deeper mysteries has found deeper context again in new ways. With a longer perspective, you can see that this process repeats in each generation of the Craft as it grows popular and then wanes in popularity. I’m confident that those who are true seekers will continue to find the mysteries again, and those of the older generation, the keepers of the flame, will guide them. Ultimately, each turn of the cycle has brought regeneration and renewal.

Every magickal tradition, every mystical process, has it, this mythic context. Yet the Christian mythos was established and enshrined in a different era, and those traditions had a different strength to them before entering the modern age. One element of the Christian mythos is the belief that each Christian is a part of the body of Christ. Another aspect of the mythos is being a member of a chosen people. Due to these teachings being publicly accepted as fact and history by their practitioners, not myth or symbol, they could stand in their communities in a very visible way. When a mystery tradition based in oral teaching and shadowy myth is confronted with those same forces in the age of the internet, the process is quite different.

The charge that Wicca was not ancient could not be withstood, but it was no more ridiculous than the literal existence of a man known as Jesus of Nazareth performing miracles, Buddha and his awakening under a tree, the lineage of an ancient nation of Israel and its first temple, an angel dictating the Koran, and even the Garden of Eden as the birthplace of humanity. The tales of grandmothers initiating children into the Witch cult and secret grimoires being discovered in attics were actually more plausible than the commonly accepted teaching that the Buddha hid a scroll or relic out in nature as a treasure for future disciples to find. If these traditions had begun in the modern age and had been required to provide absolute proof of their validity to archeologists, historians, and the self-appointed researchers of internet academics without the biases of the last few thousand years, where they were accepted in so many parts of the worlds as history, then the basis for some of their core beliefs would have crumbled too. Today we are learning to parse the differences between historical truth, mythic truth, personal truth, and absolute truth.

As a magickal opportunity, the critique of Wicca’s ancient lineage presented a chance to become what we have invoked and reveal more clearly and consciously what we already are. While not often talked about today, modern Witchcraft, including all forms identified as Wicca, is a part of the perennial philosophy, also known as the prisca theologia, the perennial wisdom, the Western Mystery Tradition, the Western esoteric tradition, or simply the occult tradition or even the tradition. The occultist seeks what is hidden, unseen by the eye of the ordinary. The occultist is a seeker, but also a finder, and puts into practice what they discover, never discarding or rejecting wisdom, regardless of its source. The virtue of wisdom is an expression of the divine Goddess, along with truth and fate. The occultist seeks the magnum opus, the Great Work, which is both their own enlightenment through gnosis and the restoration of the Golden Age, even if it is by one individual at a time until a critical mass has been reached. We seek the summum bonum, the highest or greatest good, and all our efforts, from the simplest of candle spells to the deepest of vision quests, should be centered around that intention.

The occult tradition transcends time and space and is not reflective of any one culture, religion, or philosophy. It has been called the underlying religion. It expresses itself through art, philosophy, science, medicine, politics, society, and religion, for at humanity’s most ancient roots, those things were not separate. The occult tradition evades our linear understanding of history, for it is not one thing alone, but is like a seed that produces a similar plant with different characteristics in different soils and climates. And like a seed, it can go dormant and be hidden, only to spring up once again when the conditions are right. It is not just transmitted through art, poetry, and the writings of the ancients, but is regenerated directly through dreams, meditation, experimentation, and ritual. While our particular branch of the occult tradition is classified as the Western Mystery Tradition, the perennial wisdom is the source of all esoteric traditions, east and west, north and south.

While the perennial wisdom is often interwoven in the dominant society, including in its higher education, academics and scientists of the modern age seeking linear proof cannot find evidence of occultism as a truth, as they are working with a different set of baseline assumptions from the occultist’s regarding what truth is. Be it history, anthropology, or physics, practice long enough as an occultist and you’ll see trends rise and fall and circle back once again. What is considered absolute fact at one point (and anyone who disagrees is ridiculed) is eventually revised and abandoned for a new theory, embraced with the same fervor. Even in the magickal communities, a trend accepted in one decade is almost forgotten for something new, until much later, when it returns again. At one time, it was quite common to learn that tarot, astrology, and Qabalah were three perspectives on one eternal truth, all ultimately springing from one mystery. Today, many in the new generation of authors and teachers take great pains to emphasize that they are separate and unique systems that are truly unconnected. Yet the same teachers are experts in teaching two or three of them regardless. I am sure if we wait another ten or twenty years, the new trend will be in their rediscovery of how connected these systems really are, before they are separated again. The true practicing occultist, applying the perennial wisdom on all levels, grows comfortable with this ambiguity, for the knowledge we seek is direct gnosis beyond words. The initiates of the mystery traditions of Eleusis, those of the ancient goddesses Persephone and Demeter, had to walk the sacred road to Eleusis as part of their preparation, with people lined up on the road to mock and ridicule them. We learn to be immune to the ridicule and simply go about our quest for the mysteries undeterred.

Some object to the concept of a Western esoteric tradition if this wisdom is truly perennial, yet the root of what we practitioners have received moves along a specific arc, a specific current, to reach us, though its perspective embraces the west, east, as well as north and south, to extend to a global and even cosmic proportion. The arc starts in the ancient Stone Age and moves through the rise of civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, to Greece and then Rome. With contact in a wider Indo-European range of tribes and groups, it embraces the Celts and the Teutons. The connections of trade with Persia, India, and eventually Asia bring some symbols to us, particularly in the mixing of trade, language, and philosophies of ancient Alexandria. The Jewish diaspora and the rise of Christianity all become woven into the arc of the tradition as we receive it in Witchcraft. Later modern occultists of Europe, and particularly Britain, renew these Eastern contacts, and in the twentieth century, greater understanding of the traditions of Africa and the Americas continues to expand our understanding of a true global occult wisdom. Those Witchcraft occultists looked to anything labeled as heretical, Satanic, or Pagan by the mainstream church as a source of potential wisdom and learning. Many looked to the hidden traditions within Christianity itself. There is a clear link of transmission of symbols and ideas from the Middle Eastern temple traditions across Europe through alchemy and the grimoire traditions. When we dig into the current, we follow the path back to its founts, much like following a river to its sources.

We certainly see other rivers flowing from the same ancient sources, the fundamental concepts of being human upon planet Earth, creating other flows, other rivers, and through such ancient and modern connections we see where the tributaries of the rivers flow and touch each other and connect the great currents.

The problem, and the beauty, of the Western Mystery Tradition lies in some of our fundamental stories, with images crossing multiple traditions. We have embraced, for better and worse, themes like the Fall, fracturing, exile, wounded healers, kidnapping, wounded impotent kings, assaulted maidens, judgment, and apocalypse by flood or fire. To be fair, there is quite a bit of beauty and dignity in it as well. While the Eastern traditions have their share of destruction, their primary enlightened city archetypes, such as Shambhala, withdraw into the mountain mists or sink beneath the Earth. Ours are sunken continents or were destroyed by fire from the sky, haunting us about what was and inspiring us as to what could be again. The Western traditions are fractured. They are like a puzzle. The lost formula for healing is hidden in art and story and architecture.

There is a migration of symbols, as termed by Goblet d’Alviella in his 1891 book The Migration of Symbols. We see this manifest in the key symbols found in ancient prehistoric cave art all over the world. While this doesn’t imply the existence of one single global culture in the material world, it does imply a common collective consciousness operating through our basic human nature. Symbols migrate not just esoterically but also through observations of nature, cultural diffusion, mutation, sharing, and various forms of appropriation and misappropriation. Meanings remain intact, evolve, and change as the symbols themselves do. Today, symbols continue to migrate more profusely than before due to our modern methods of communication through written, auditory, and visual media. This is part of the puzzling, the fracturing, and the ultimate healing of the tradition.

Our call is not simply to follow a path laid out before us by a guru or leader, but to assemble the path for ourselves out of what we can discover. We are seeking that golden age as an archetype of what we can achieve We long for synthesis, bringing together the seemingly disparate parts of magick and wisdom into some whole. We seek to reunite all the parts of wisdom not just to return to a previous golden age, but also because we know that in the process of separation, each wisdom grew more beautiful and unique, and when they all return to the greater body of occultism, they enrich the whole. It is not unlike the idea that souls are part of the divine creator, experience life and grow wise, and return with that wisdom of experience upon enlightenment, consciously becoming part of the greater whole of the divine once again. We look to the past to forge a future, and rather than dissect the universe for knowledge alone, we seek to heal the parts that have been separated, including ourselves, to know the whole. Since the methods of the occultist include logic and reason (like the ancient philosophers and natural scientists) but are not limited to them, that can vex those in modern academia. The occultist is guided by dream and intuitive etymology, seeing patterns that are not necessarily historical, but cosmic, etched in the astral realms and originating in consciousness but not traced by lines on the map alone. Effectiveness becomes our first measure of truth: Does this idea, symbol, or practice have value to me on my quest for truth and understanding of the nature of reality? While academics provide valuable nuggets, catalysts, and pieces of the puzzle, working in that strict box doesn’t interest us. Many of us can fake it in order to operate in that world, as access to it can be quite helpful, realizing that when we are in one world, we are operating in one paradigm, with one set of operating instructions; but those devoted to the Great Work know that those methods are not the only ones available to us outside of that setting.

Our pursuit is not simply intellectual understanding, but knowing on all levels. It must engage the emotions, sensations, relationships, body and soul. Occultism is akin to the tantra of the East, literally a reference to the continuity of threads or the weaving of threads. We are called to join and weave together different threads within us and around us. While we have mentors, teachers, and traditions, our true guru is nature and the cosmos itself. Our body, our relationships, and the words are our laboratory, for nothing is separate from the experiment. All these things are also a part of our art, the creative play of our life, and all these things are elements in the divine ritual that our whole life ultimately is.

This doesn’t mean we reject empirical evidence or don’t value all that modern science has brought us. We do, but we also see the drawbacks of our industrial era and realize that the scientific method is one tool, with its own benefits and drawbacks. The more advanced science becomes, the more it bends around to become more philosophical. We need only look at the development of quantum physics to see mystical, philosophical ideas rising out of the science. We tend to have problems only when someone with an occultist intellectual view who generally lacks the experience of a mystical practice, of magickal initiation, and seeks to force the mythic truth as the scientific truth but cannot follow the standards of mainstream science. Failure to meet those standards results in conspiracy theories and paranoia. While an occultist may go through periods of paranoia for a time, the spiritual practice brings them through to the other side of their paranoia and releases their need to be right in the exoteric world.

Occultists seek to create new models of understanding to be tools to reach gnosis, knowing full well that absolute truth is beyond language or symbol. Our models help us point to something we cannot yet experience and express, but we continue to work toward it. No one has created the perfect map of reality, the perfect model, so each generation, and truly each magician, makes their own. I have never been one hundred percent satisfied with any tradition I’ve learned. They are all incomplete for me. That is part of the quest. We build upon the foundations of the past, either accepting and synthesizing them or even rejecting them in favor of another wisdom. Initiates must go against the current zeitgeist, unmooring themselves from cultural paradigms and expectations, at least internally, which can lead to the image of the crazy mystic or Witch. It is the Hanged Man initiation of reversal of perspective to see things differently, but the Hanged Man is not the end. We must then return and integrate. We add our own experiences and the paradigms and language of our age, which is why you see so many modern occultists drawing upon scientific terminology, much to the chagrin of many scientists. Yet we all know there is no one final form for everyone. The formulas change with each generation, and in truth, the greater formulas change with each aeon. And once we attain a level of gnosis, we see how all forms have merit and validity for their user. The world is a weird, wonderful place full of mystery and will never be completely known and understood all at once, but our path before us is to try. The quest itself is the goal. The search is the teacher.

I am an occultist and I am a Witch. Not only are these two identities not contradictory, but if you practice the science, art, and religion of Witchcraft, you really can’t be a Witch without being an occultist, and I would argue that all occultists, even if they don’t claim the name, are Witches. We have all been persecuted by dominant forces as Witches and diabolists for daring to seek our own way and claim rejected and forbidden knowledge. Witchcraft has always been, and will always be, occultism. At various stages, people will stress its religious practice or its art and craft, but it’s all these things.

I claim spiritual kinship with the ancient priestesses and priests of far-off lands, the temple keepers and those who gathered at the crossroads, the alchemists and masons, the farmers and midwives, the mystical rabbis, heretical priests, mystical nuns, card readers, and spiritualists. And when I look to my modern teachers and my ancient heroes, there has always been a tradition of sharing knowledge with those who know, of synthesis and growth. Despite the persecution of traditions, the perennial wisdom cannot be snuffed.

Today we live in a time where the interconnection of all things on the planet is stressed, while paradoxically the divide among cultures, traditions, and identities is emphasized. Through the lens of occultism’s rich history, we see that this divide is false, though the push to divide is part of the paradox of the age we live in. Occultists see our roots in an otherworldly reality of consciousness and divine light, and all things rise up from it, and return to it, regardless of time, place, or identity. Our interconnection is not just biological, chemical, or rooted in the laws of physics, but is rooted in divine consciousness.

The Tree of Life, with its roots in ancient occultism and its expression in various traditions of Qabalah, has become an integral part of the occult movement. There is a part of all teachings that is universal and touches upon every other part. It is a pattern that organizes and expresses the cosmos. Due to the Roman Empire, and then the rise of Christianity, the physical ancient Jewish, Egyptian, and Greek temple traditions declined and then ended, leading to a tradition of building inner temples within the mind and soul of individual practitioners and small groups. It was in these non-physical temples built by the intentions of the devoted that the hidden gods found a home once again. The perennial philosophy is a form of architectural knowledge of inner and outer consciousness, a technology to engineer ourselves. Just as ancient temples and stone circles followed patterns in nature, inner temples follow patterns from the ancient temple traditions and continue to this day.

The disruption of my supposed ancient pedigree in Wicca gave me the opportunity to more deeply explore and connect with the legacy I do have as an occultist reaching back to these temple traditions. While I cannot trace a direct lineage to my ancient ancestors, I know now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, of my connection to the ancient priesthood, to ancient magick, and how my work here today is a continuation of that illustrious tradition, and I know that those who come after me, directly and indirectly too, will safeguard and perpetuate the mysteries of the ancient wisdom. In this new, updated edition, I hope to better demonstrate the importance of this lineage, incorporating the feedback of the last twenty years from Witchcraft students who did not always understand why they were being asked to learn something seemingly non-Witchcraft and from those of Jewish descent taking the classes as Witches today. With the creation of the Temple of Witchcraft as a tradition, community, and religious organization, we regenerate and continue these ancient temple traditions of magickal priesthood, creating the temples within us, exploring the temples in the astral realm, and building physical sacred space in the material world as a community. Through this reconnection with the occult lineage, we return to the sense of the holy that I’ve always felt is inherent in the Witch. With what I share here in this text, I hope you can find your own place as a Witch in this occult tradition of perennial wisdom.

Christopher Penczak

Yule 2022

Salem, New Hampshire

[contents]

Introduction

What Is the Temple

of High Witchcraft?

Once I had delved into the more primal shamanic arts of the Witch and integrated them into my practice, I still felt a gap in my magickal education. My first teachers each had a vast magickal library, with both the popular, modern books and the classic magickal texts, the old grimoires of Solomon and the medieval books of occult philosophies. I thumbed through these old books and had to admit that, even though they were written in old-style English, they might as well have been written in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew, because I didn’t really understand them. These books contained various alphabets, codices of spirits to summon for a variety of purposes, and the consecration of ritual tools with bizarre and seemingly impractical ingredients. Most of them had a strong Christian slant. I didn’t know why my Witchcraft teachers had them or how they could be used. The whole topic of medieval magick seemed a little beyond me, yet it fascinated me. I was like a grammar school student picking up a college textbook, knowing there were important things in it but lacking the context to understand it. In Witchcraft training, we learned bits and pieces of information associated with the Qabalah, tarot, Rosicrucian breathing exercises, and Hermetic philosophy, but we didn’t understand the systems that wove them all together. I was told that they were high magick, and that perhaps someday I would take an interest in the subject. At the time, I didn’t think so. But eventually I did.

I got so interested in this form of high magick that I almost put my Witchcraft practice on the back burner. I sought out a lot of the classic magickal texts and puzzled over them. Soon I met an amazing man who had much more information and practical experience with high magick, who explained to me the rituals of high magick, also known as ceremonial magick, in terms of my more traditional Witchcraft. He introduced me to modern books that dissected the old texts and distilled their wisdom into a more digestible form. I soon noticed the similarities between the workings of the Witch and those of the ceremonial magician. The circle, the four watchtowers, the summoning of spirits and angels, and the use of elemental and planetary correspondences are common to both. I could see the influence of high magick on my own tradition of Witchcraft in the very structure and words of the rituals. I learned that some initiatory traditions of Witchcraft train their students extensively in the arts of high magick. I’d never had this training, so I sought it out on my own. As I researched, I learned that many of the modern Craft founders had some knowledge of or involvement in high magick, and that the histories of both Witchcraft and high magick were deeply interwoven. One might say that the modern forefathers of the Craft relied heavily on the knowledge preserved in the ceremonial manuscripts. It is only natural that one complements the other. Though seen as two separate traditions now, they most likely have a similar spiritual, if not historical, origin.

Older Witchcraft books written in the twentieth century—not by New Age practitioners writing for practitioners but by those authors collecting folk history, charms, and esoteric pictures—never fail to include information on alchemy, Qabalah, spirit summoning, tarot, and many notable ceremonial magicians, including Cornelius Agrippa, John Dee, Eliphas Levi, Aleister Crowley, and the members of the Golden Dawn, in their descriptions of the history and practice of Witchcraft. These books, not having practical instructions or modern spells, were less popular among new practitioners, but they point out a valuable part of our history that many modern Witches ignore.

With my tutor’s help, I began to integrate the practices of high magick into my own spiritual working. Knowledge of the Qabalah and the Tree of Life gave me a more detailed framework in which I could place my experiences, correspondences, and theology. This integral symbol of the Western magickal mysteries gave me a working model that detailed the universe with more depth than I had previously understood. It gave me a context for my own spiritual awakenings on the path. I found this new knowledge invaluable, and in the end, it only served to deepen my devotion to the Goddess and God and my practice of Witchcraft as a tradition of spiritual evolution.

Ceremonial magick gave me a range of knowledge and understanding that expanded my worldview. The use of many cultural associations, from the mysteries of the East to alchemy and the ancient mysteries of Egypt and Greece, opened me up to a worldview of magick. Even the Judeo-Christian associations helped heal my division from my birth religion and allowed me to recognize and honor the mystic traditions in both of those mainstream faiths, even if they were not for me in this lifetime.

As I eventually took on students of my own and began teaching my traditions to others, I struggled to present this material to my circle of modern eclectic Witches. The mysteries of ceremonial magick often frighten the Witch. They are seen as too male, too intellectual, too complicated, formal, and stuffy. People want freedom and creativity, and I do too, but I found in my study of music and art that when you seriously pursue something and want to know all about it, you have to learn the rules first in order to know how to break them and still be effective. In music training, you learn all the theory, how the classical composers did things, and the evolution of music. In the modern era, we have the freedom to compose anything we want, in any manner we want, but some of the best modern compositions come from those who have studied and integrated the classics. You have to know, as a tradition, where you have been, where your roots are, in order to know where you are going. Then you have the freedom and knowledge to adapt things, and do so effectively. A lot of people do rituals with no rules, no structure, no theory, and then wonder why their spells don’t work. Part of training in any art, if you hope to be a part of its present and future, is having enough respect for the tradition to know where it comes from and how it has evolved. I have studied art, music, and now magick, and have found this to be true of all three disciplines.

When I shared the books I was studying and working from with my peers, I got mostly blank stares or jokes. When I asked if they had read up on ceremonial magick, most had not. They didn’t know what they were missing out on, even if they would ultimately discover that it wasn’t for them. They didn’t seek out new horizons and challenge their perceptions and understanding of magick. There will come a point in your magickal training when you will want to know about all forms of magick, even if you don’t practice them. I wanted to be educated about magick. I wanted to know why my teachers had the medieval grimoires on their shelves. The wise Witches I knew had an understanding of this brand of magick, even if they didn’t practice ceremonial magick as their main tradition.

Many people would not consider ceremonial magick to be under the heading of Witchcraft, but the more I studied, the more I realized, using my wide definition of Witchcraft, that the ceremonial arts are one of the main branches of the Craft. We can see our ancestors in the ceremonial priestesses and priests of the ancient civilizations. In my own curriculum, I soon included high magick as the fourth branch of training and corresponded it to the element of air, the element of the magician, the Mercury archetype, for it’s all about our thoughts, perceptions, and communication.

The first level, outlined in the first book in this series, The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, corresponds to the fire element and the inner spark of psychic development. The second level of training, found in The Outer Temple of Witchcraft, is associated with the earth element, focusing on the natural cycles, the four elements, spellcraft, and the magick circle ritual. The third level of training, encompassed in The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft, covers the shamanic practices of the Witch and focuses on the element of water, reflections, shadow work, and crossing the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds. The book in your hands, the fourth in the series, can be used on its own as a study of high magick in the context of Witchcraft or as part of the continuing education in the Temple of Witchcraft series of books. There are some exercises in The Temple of High Witchcraft that require information from the previous texts or that refer to more information in those books for a deeper understanding and connection. These are abbreviated as ITOW, OTOW, and TOSW, respectively, with a chapter or exercise number listed.

The Temple of High Witchcraft is a distillation of my own experiences and explorations in ceremonial magick. It is a workbook for your own study, based on the course I offer my own students. It starts with four introductory chapters, to better understand the background of the lesson material. These four chapters are followed by twelve lessons, each with exercises, rituals, and homework, to be explored in a year and a day, as is traditional for Witchcraft training. The thirteenth lesson culminates in a ritual initiation fusing the traditions of Witchcraft and high magick through exploring your own views and understanding of the universe.

This fourth level is much like the graduate studies of Witchcraft for my students. It exposes them to a larger worldview than what is offered in most Witchcraft books, much like higher education exposes students to a diverse range of topics, cultures, and people. This course challenges students’ beliefs, perceptions, and symbolism in their own magick and in their own life. One of the keywords of the element of air is life, the breath of life, for it is through our air elemental energy that we perceive and seek to know the mysteries of life.

Each level of training presents a challenge. The Inner Temple’s challenge is to awaken, to realize that life is magickal and you carry the spark of flame within you. The Outer Temple’s challenge is to harmonize with the natural forces, usually through the cycles and seasons, to manifest the life you want. The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft’s challenge is emotional in nature, to find and face the shadow self and take responsibility for all that you have repressed. This fourth challenge is one of intellect, to stretch perceptions and step out of belief systems, and to discover which thoughts and beliefs serve your spiritual evolution and which ones must be discarded or transformed. Ultimately, you will see your beliefs and models as tools rather than absolute truth.

The sword, blade, or athame is the tool of air, and in tarot cards, the suit of swords presents the most challenges, at least upon only a casual observation. Most of the sword cards don’t look happy. They present challenges, conflicts, and miscommunications. In the outer world, they are perceived as challenges involving other people. In the inner world, they represent the conflict of the mind, of all aspects of the mind—our beliefs, thoughts, images, and preconceived notions that are in conflict with each other. The swords present the most problems because the mind is the inner tool, the gift that presents us with so many challenges. The body, heart, and soul all have their challenges, but the mind can be the most problematic. We learn to quiet the mind through meditation and ritual and to see things from a different perspective, but as human beings, we still get caught up in our beliefs, in the zones of comfort that our minds hold, and feel threatened and challenged by new ideas or points of view. The job of the sword is to cut to the truth. But your truth is not necessarily my truth. Your truth is only one aspect of universal truth.

It is the job of the guardians of the air element, the Mercurial archetypal beings who often manifest as trickster spirits, to trick us out of our mind and see things from a new point of view. We soon realize that a point of view is just that—one way of looking at things—and that there are many ways, all with merit, to look at the universe, magick, and spirituality. It’s no coincidence that many of these trickster deities are also magicians. They are sages, scribes, and tutors in the magickal arts, but they are not always easy on us or kind. In the realm of Mercury we find the Egyptian Thoth; the Sumerian Nabu; the Norse Odin and his more maligned counterpart Loki; the Greek Hermes and the Roman Mercury; Merlin, the wild man magician; the African Legba, keeper of the doorways; and the Native American Coyote and Raven. Each reveals the mysteries, showing us that things are not always as they appear. They are the gods of magick, for the foundation of magick is a change in perception.

One of my favorite folktales involves a trickster god. One version says this god is Odin, while others give credit to the Nigerian god Eshu. The god walks down the road that bisects the village wearing a special hat. The hat is colored red on one side and blue on the other. He turns his hat around and then walks back through the village. When people gather together and say, Did you see the god in the blue hat?, his neighbor responds with, No, no, he had a red hat on his head. Then they all argue and fight. When two of the men who are brawling are taken before the king for judgment for their crime, the trickster god appears before them all and says, It’s my fault. I did it, and I meant to do it. Spreading strife is my greatest joy.

These two different views of the god created two different paradigms, one based in blue and one in red. This is a metaphor for how many views we have of divinity. We each connect to the same source, the same power, yet come away with a different impression. Neither is completely correct. The trickster comes along and says, You’re both right. And you’re both wrong. You can never have the whole picture of divinity while you are in this life. Spiritual traditions are just a point of view, a perspective on the whole. Our religions, and even our magickal systems, are just like looking at the god in the hat. They are just a model, a point of view, and not the ultimate truth. We have problems when anyone who believes that their perspective is the perspective and the only way. We then get into dogma and fundamentalism. Even in Paganism, magick, and New Age traditions, we can find the same fundamentalism we see in the mainstream institutional religions. The trickster’s role is to challenge us to get beyond it. His strife causes us to grow, change, and expand our point of view to include both colors of the hat. In Witchcraft we have the model of the wheel of life, with forces rising and ascending, creating times of prosperity and peace and times of strife and blight, both of which are needed for the turning of the wheel. The wisdom is found in how we respond to the turning of the wheel.

If you are looking for a tradition to give you the way, then Witchcraft, or ceremonial magick, is probably not for you. In each, there are many permutations. We honor the trickster, and actively invite his revelations, even though they might come with strife, because it’s in that challenge—to move beyond our comfort zones—that we grow. As for this book, if you are looking for traditional guidance on ceremonial magick in the style of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, or any of the numerous modern lodges, you’ve picked up the wrong book. If you are looking for one book to tell you the way to do a particular ritual, you will be disappointed. If, however, you are looking to understand the rituals of ceremonial magick and their potential relationship to Witchcraft, and how you can integrate these practices into your life as a Witch, then you are on the right path.

The Temple of High Witchcraft takes a deconstructionist approach to ceremonial magick. In each lesson we will explore each level of the traditional Tree of Life through intellectual understanding of the correspondences, along with ritual and meditation. The traditional rituals of high magick will be explored in their more commonly accepted forms as practiced in the last century, but each ritual will be dissected, to understand each part and its purpose for the ritual. Then you will be given the option to learn the ritual in its original form, explore alternate versions of the ritual created by others, or reconstruct the ritual using symbolism, words, and images that work best for you. Many Witches choose to rework the part of the ritual that contains Abrahamic imagery. I know I did. Through understanding the rituals, you will develop the skills to look at any grimoire or manuscript and take it apart and understand its objectives and techniques.

The final challenge of The Temple of High Witchcraft will be to create your own reality map. Magickal systems, cosmologies, and