Ancient Wisdom for Modern Needs: Discovering Taoist Wicca

By Suzy Peltier

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Needs: Discovering Taoist Wicca is a unique seasonal self-coaching and ritual system, time-tested by real people—with real results! This book takes you on a cross-cultural journey, through a calendar year, to discover a spiritual approach to stress management, self-healing, and personal growth. Taoist Wicca combines Taoist principles, Chakra wisdom, and applied introspection with the ancient hypnotic power of ritual. This system is a practical guide to exploring the seasons as thematic and energetic connections between the body, mind, and spirit: the Unseen, ourselves, and our planet.

Endorsements

As a psychotherapist who has been in practice for over three decades, who is also Wiccan, I am profoundly excited by Suzy Peltier’s work. She manages to speak to the heart while also being intellectually challenging. I look forward to being able to give her book to colleagues and clients alike. She has taken different systems of healing and integrated them into something not only new but incredibly powerful and potent. This book is an important contribution to the healing arts, addressing the healing of mind, body, and spirit.

—Deborah Oak Cooper, MFT

In this unique exploration, Suzy Peltier expertly applies the wisdom of Taoism and Wicca to modern-day struggles. Deeply insightful, this book seamlessly interweaves the complementary themes of Wicca, Taoism, Chinese medicine, the Hindu Chakra system, and Western science to provide a beneficial guide to restoring balance and vitality as we navigate our lives in the twenty-first century.

—Dr. Daniel Geren, DAOM, L.Ac.

Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental medicine

The magick works—if you work it! I have practiced Taoist Wicca since 2005. I have realized my dreams of a second-degree priestess initiation and a successful career with continual growth. I have co-written and published a children’s book, and am now married to the love of my life. All this, I created through practicing Taoist Wicca and the love and kinship of the Circle.

—Lady Pele of the Phoenix,

author, realtor, and

second-degree Taoist Wiccan high priestess,

and practitioner since 2005

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781646287840

Book preview

Chapter 1

Who Is This Book for and Why Did I Write It?

Some of you may already have a spiritual practice such as Christianity or Buddhism. There is no need to convert or change what is working for you. This book is for seekers. While it deals with topics of interest to Pagans and Wiccans, it is not exclusively for those who consider themselves as such. I am not seeking to make converts, but to encourage spiritual exploration and community building.

Beginners and intermediates can learn about Wholism, Wicca, Taoism, the Hindu Chakras, some exciting science regarding stress management, working with energy, and ritual simultaneously in reading this book and applying the system presented in it. If you are already familiar with one or more of these individual systems, you are bound to be curious about how they look when integrated and applied to your life.

In addition to self-improvement, spirituality, and social relevance, this book will appeal to those who are interested in wholistic healing; medical anthropology; history; sociology; community building; working with energy; the use of ritual, theology, and philosophy; as well as Taoism, the Hindu Chakras, and Wicca. It is also for the intermediate and advanced students or practitioners seeking new insights or integrating ritual or deeper introspection into their current spiritual vision and practice. It can also be useful in a therapeutic setting for psychologists and life coaches seeking intriguing ideas to explore and exciting ways to enhance their practice.

This book is written for all-gender groups of five to thirteen people. You can pare the rituals down for your solitary practice or use them with a smaller group. Some people simply read the rites in a contemplative state of mind as poetry or meditations. If you enjoy doing spells and moon rites, you’ll find several ideas that can be adapted from each sabbat ritual. I focused on developing a sabbat practice because I often work evenings and doing moon rites every two weeks was just too hectic for my schedule. Whatever your situation, run the experiment, and don’t let your fears of doing it wrong stop you from giving it a try.

Often people who are sensitive to energy feel isolated. So, I chose to present sample rituals geared toward groups to encourage people to build a community with other sensitives. Ritual is a powerful community builder, and being around other sensitives can provide a much-needed support system. Whether you gather online or in person, group rituals can provide a positive sounding board for the unique experiences and perceptions of those who are psychically sensitive and are blazing their own spiritual path.

Taoism, the Hindu Chakras, and Wicca—are ancient and time-tested wholistic, chi-based systems in their own right. Each is a wholistic model, as well as a study of energy and an honoring of Nature. Therefore, learning one or more than one system is simpler than you may think because of their inherent similarities.

I’ll also discuss how the strides in science have begun to validate many ancient assumptions and practices. Rather than the old reductionist adversary, science is contributing new ways of understanding and speaking about chi-based systems, which I will explore as the book progresses.

Your challenge is to personalize the practice. This way, the system can fit your individual needs or the unique needs of your group. If you are a thinker, you will enjoy this book for its rare, cross-cultural perspective. If you are a doer, you will like the hands-on approach of doing a ritual. I encourage you to do the opposite. In other words, thinkers need to perform rituals and spells while doers need to take some time and chew on the concepts because we create balance by adding just enough of the opposite energy.

In short, this system is for anyone ready to transform their life. Transformation is accomplished by combining new thoughts and perspectives with will and action. Learning to work with energy is an active process, not an armchair pursuit. The full benefit comes by developing a practice and integrating the concepts into your life, far more than merely by understanding the theories. Transformation is achieved through a combination of thought, word, and deed­—of the body, mind, and spirit.

Why I Wrote This Book

The media shows us a cracked cultural mirror reflecting a skewed value system and a distorted self-image of what we should be but can never quite fulfill. Stare too long in this fragmented cultural mirror, and even the most beautiful and talented people will come to believe they are hopelessly flawed. Our insecurities are fed by rampant consumerism that is based on creating a sense of dissatisfaction. Always wanting more or needing the latest version, we have replaced contentment with a constant striving. Living in our modern culture has become a fast and furious gauntlet run, a frenzied scramble for an unattainable brass ring on a merry-go-round ride. This endless pursuit leaves most people desperate for a sense of self-worth, even when they are at the pinnacle of success.

It is time to inspect this cultural mirror more closely because a damaged mirror can never give a true reflection. The lies that distort this mirror are what I call the illusions of separation. These illusions tell us that we are separated from Source, and not only divided but at odds with one another and within ourselves. The mirror and its illusions would have us looking everywhere else for our power but within.

I began to wonder if our cultural mirror has become so focused upon secular life that routine has become an empty substitute for ritual. There must certainly be an absence of ritual if people use the two words interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. They don’t. Routine makes things rote. Ritual makes things sacred.

In addition to arbitrary social divisions, advances in technology appear to have further isolated us from one another and insulated us from Nature. We are social animals, and some studies have shown that 75 to 90 percent of our communication is through body language. Yet we spend a lot of time alone, performing solitary tasks in front of the computer, in our cars, and cubicles—even doing ritual alone, as the number of books addressing solitary witches attests. Is there a link between stress and isolation?

Indeed, large numbers of people are in desperate need of healing. Drug use is pandemic, involving illegal narcotics, doctor-prescribed painkillers, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals. In the wholistic model, even biochemical illnesses have energetic, emotional, and spiritual components. Could some of our physical and mental illnesses actually be the result of the distorted reflections and demands of the cracked cultural mirror?

By using drugs, could people be trying to numb out the need for profound personal and social change? Might they unconsciously be seeking ecstatic mystical experiences to satisfy a deeper spiritual longing? Could extreme college hazing practices and violent gang initiations be attempts at creating ritual rites of passage?

I believe these issues are symptoms of a skewed cultural value system. In this society, the burden of healing is placed solely upon the individual. This begs the question: If the cultural pool is polluted, how do we heal as individuals? We, as Westerners, have stopped holding ourselves collectively responsible for taking care of one another. We have enshrined the Protestant work ethic to the point of exhaustion and emphasized the importance of rugged individualism at the cost of community and our humanity. This skewing comes at a high price; we are losing a sense of balance, along with our ability to communicate and work together collectively. I submit that these factors have led to the loss of a healthy society’s three key components: balance, belonging, and empowerment. If these needs aren’t met, the people suffer, and society will eventually collapse.

As I observed my bodywork clients, I saw a consistent theme of low self-esteem underlying many stress patterns and illnesses. I suspected that working in a group might help address these issues since others usually see us better than we see ourselves. Could ritual in a group relieve the sense of isolation that so often accompanies stress-related issues? I gathered a few friends who would humor me, and I asked them to help me run the experiment.

This book is the result of that experiment. I originally developed the concepts and techniques presented here for my clients as self-awareness and empowerment tools to address stress-management issues. I have worked with actual ritual circles for twenty-six years to test my theories and refine these concepts, exercises, and rituals for groups.

Chapter 2

How to Use This Book

I developed this practice to help you notice patterns in yourself and the seasons. I’ve written this book in subsections that allow you to read a bit at a time. Consider each subsection as a mosaic piece that contributes to a big picture vision.

In part I, you’ll find general information on Wicca, Taoism, the Chakras, and Shamanism, followed by the Taoist Wicca in a Nutshell chapter, which details my hypotheses, supporting evidence, and an explanation of the Taoist Wiccan system. Part II explains ritual basics, ethics, and the roles used in the practice of Taoist Wicca. Part III is the actual practice of Taoist Wicca, including the invitations, which contain the self-coaching material and preparations plus the actual ritual scripts we have used successfully for years.

Before going on to part III, check your calendar! While Yule is presented first, go directly to the sabbat discussion in part III nearest to the actual date you are reading this book! For example, if you are reading this book in early June, go directly to the chapter discussing Summer Solstice (Litha, June 21–22) in part III. When December rolls around, you can read about the Winter Solstice (Yule, December 21–22).

By starting with the sabbat nearest the actual date you are reading this book, you can begin noticing how the current sabbat themes are playing out in your life right now! In this way, the book is always timely, and you can start working the Wheel at any point in the year.

Inside the invitations, you’ll find the self-coaching homework assignments in preparation for each ritual. These will encourage your practice of introspection. The sample rites will show you how to translate your concerns and goals into a ritual process to activate the subconscious. By doing so, you’ll be able to make the desired changes more quickly and easily.

In the appendix, you’ll find additional materials I’ve developed over the years to help the coven run more smoothly, such as the Sample Guest Letter, Coven Dedication, and Bylaws, a Suggested Reading List, plus a Sample Ritual Format to create your own rites. For these and other useful materials, you can check out the download section on www.taoistwicca.com. When guided introspection is combined with performing the rituals, working with the yearly Wheel can lead to a day-by-day spiritual practice that works!

What’s Unique?

You’ll find a couple of concepts and practices unique to Taoist Wicca. For example, we work with an idea I developed and call the Zero Chakra, which I explain in the Chakra chapter. In part II, I’ll present my concept of psychic sovereignty, which I’ll discuss along with ethics in chapter 13. In part III, I’ve included an additional moon rite that has become an integral part of our practice. It’s performed on the dark moon or waning moon cycle preceding Samhain. It’s dedicated to honoring our dead and begins the process of clearing our attachments to the past. We added the Ancestor Rite to the practice of Taoist Wicca because Samhain can be overwhelming. By adding this rite, we can begin the process of emotional clearing in preparation for Samhain.

While Taoist Wicca is presented as a yearlong transformational process, it can also be used year after year, as a spiral (continuum), with or without modification. This system can also be referenced according to your needs at the moment, without regard to the calendar. For example, a friend’s death in April might prompt a review of the Samhain chapter, which deals with death and is usually read in October.

The rituals presented in this book are the actual rituals we have consistently used for years in our coven. However, one size does not fit all. I offer these rituals as examples. Taoist Wicca evolved by incorporating the favorite deities, chants, and other ritual practices brought to us by the coven members along the way. You can use the rituals, either verbatim or modified. You can work with the deities you resonate with or utilize the reading to spur intriguing discussions. You can also compose your own rituals using the Sample Ritual Format found in the appendix.

Wicca is a recognized religion. However, if Wicca or performing rituals is new to you, I encourage you to practice the rituals and play with the ideas as a multimedia art form or stress-management tool rather than a religion. This attitude allows you to learn the wholistic model and see if the practice works for you without undue pressure. Keep an open mind. Let your experiences and your own observations inform your practice. Wicca and ritual work perfectly well with myth, metaphor, and symbolism. Nothing in Wicca needs to be taken literally, nor is anything written considered gospel simply because it is in black and white.

View the Wheel of the Year as a mandala or mythic map of the psyche. In psychologist Carl Jung’s terms, the yearly Wheel describes the process of what he called individuation, which leads to the discovery of the self. In other words, the Wheel of the Year is an archetypal hero’s quest to recover our personal and collective wholeness, authenticity, divinity, and humanity. As the year progresses, each sabbat explores personal power themes such as intention, commitment, balance, self-love, accountability, and the ability to manifest, and make peace with death and change. In this way, each sabbat carries both symbolic and practical wisdom to help you with everyday challenges.

No Faith Required

No prior faith is required. You need not believe in it. Instead, I invite you to suspend disbelief and to make-believe in the same way you conjured your games as a kid.

Science places very little validity upon subjective experiences, whereas Wicca is a spiritual practice defined and interpreted by the individual. It assumes that each of us is responsible for our perspective and focus. Our choices of perspective and focus ultimately shape our interpretations and experiences. In Wicca, we assume that each person has a direct connection to the Divine that is innate and can also be cultivated.

Wicca is based on developing a subtle awareness of vital life force energy. The Chinese word for this energy is chi or qi. The Japanese call it ki. Hindus call it prana. Whatever you call it, this life force energy is a palpable phenomenon that only requires the cultivation of awareness to perceive it for yourself. Ultimately, this is a practice of awareness that will build trust in your own perceptions and experiences. However, trusting in one’s impressions of chi is no small feat. Consider for a moment that our language has no word for the concept of vital energy, let alone a name for the experience of it! Those who are sensitive to energy have been ostracized as crazy, treated as schizophrenics, or burned for heresy.

Wicca is purely experiential. We don’t need to prove a phenomenon; we only need to experience it and trust it.

Chapter 3

A Healer’s Journey

I didn’t set out to be a witch, let alone create a new Wiccan tradition. I was a healer in search of a healing tool. As a certified massage therapist, hypnotherapist, and Reiki master teacher, I have studied chi and the links between stress and cultural perspectives for nearly thirty years.

Turning forty was a wake-up call for me. I suddenly saw the many glaring media lies that I have come to call the illusions of separation. The consumer media tells us that we "need" a product to be in—or simply be okay! These illusions combine to show us a cracked cultural mirror reflecting a skewed value system and a distorted self-image, to which no one is immune!

In short, turning forty sucked! Everywhere I looked, I saw air-brushed models no older than twenty-five pushing antiaging products. Whether they were—potions, lotions, creams, pills, exercises, diets, fat-freezing gadgets, anti-wrinkle gizmos, and plastic surgery—they all promised a drink from the fountain of youth, and all for a price! There is nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy and to look your best. However, this is not the real message of these ads. Consumerism conveys a cruel and impossible standard of perfection, along with the assumption that youth equals beauty. Looks are everything and beauty is power—especially for women. The underlying message is that aging is bad, and it is to be feared and fought with every ounce of strength and every dollar in one’s savings. Even worse were the inferences that I needed fixing! These fix me messages pricked all the I’m not okay tapes I had been fighting since childhood.

I saw the foundation of self-worth I had worked so hard to build, slipping away as a sandcastle succumbs to a high tide. In those dark days preceding my birthday, the old voices of self-loathing overwhelmed me. I felt old, ugly, powerless, and desperate. I would have sold my husband for a full-body nip-and-tuck. And I wasn’t alone! I had several girlfriends, also turning forty, who were all experiencing similar feelings. It was clearly time for radical action, but what?

As we commiserated, I wondered if there was a way to send a different set of messages to the subconscious. Let’s create a ritual! For a long time, this theory about ritual as a healing tool had haunted me. It seemed like the perfect time to try it. I consulted a beautiful book by Z. Budapest, The Grandmother of Time: A Woman’s Book of Celebrations, Spells, and Sacred Objects for Every Month of the Year. I discovered a ritual she created for a friend who had just received a promotion called a Crowning Ritual for Middle Age" (Budapest 1989, 190–191). Budapest outlined a simple rite in which the woman being celebrated was presented with a crown. Then one by one, each of her friends bestowed their blessings upon her.

That’s it! A Coronation Rite! Why not explore the concept of women’s power as a queen’s dominion to transform the messages of middle age from powerless into powerful? My fortieth birthday became a queen’s coronation. Those of us turning forty made a crown, a scepter, and composed an intention statement for this new phase. It was time to acknowledge that each of us is a force to be reckoned with—not to be dismissed or ignored.

Exposing skewed values is essential, but offering viable alternative values and practices is absolutely critical to creating positive personal and social change. When it comes to aging, it is clear that we discount valuable experience by not respecting this process and ultimately disenfranchise ourselves in the not-so-distant future.

Nearly a year later, one of the participants in that first crowning ceremony asked me to plan another ritual. We set the intention to empower the projects we were working on in our lives. We set a date for August 1. Again, I consulted Z. Budapest, and I discovered that this was the same date as two first harvest festivals! The Celtic holiday of Lammas coincided with the Native American Green Corn Festival (Budapest 1989, 160). Although these different cultures existed an ocean apart, they developed celebrations with the same themes and dates! I had subconsciously tapped into this knowledge, perception, or need; I was hooked! This was my first brush with what Carl Jung called the collective unconscious. It was beguiling to consider the potential for learning to tap into this wisdom and to use it to address our modern needs.

As we enjoyed Lammas, we discussed meeting regularly for rituals. These wonderful women were willing to humor me in my experiment with one condition: I needed to tell them what to say and why they were saying it. This book is the result.

Winter Solstice was the official birth of our women’s coven. This was twenty-six years ago, and after seven years of regular gatherings, the coven died of a negativity virus. Less than six weeks later, our current all-gender coven was born. Since then, we’ve been meeting regularly, continuing my ongoing commitment to balance, belonging, and empowerment.

Reiki: Healing Between Dimensions

As a nontraditional Reiki master, I add Reiki to every circle I cast for enhanced protection and healing for all the participants and ensure the cleanest possible magick. Reiki also provides a form of insulation in handling and clearing other energies. It is safe, honors free will, and will turn itself off should anyone seek to misuse it. Most of the people in our coven have Reiki. Since it can synergize energy, I believe that Reiki boosts our magick tremendously. For these reasons, I require Reiki I and II training for any candidate wishing to be initiated into this tradition as a priest or priestess.

The name Reiki translates from Japanese to Universal life force energy. Reiki operates on a principle of give a healing, get a healing, helping the giver and receiver alike. Reiki I is trained as a laying on of hands technique for self and others. At the advanced level of Reiki II, one learns to use symbols. One symbol strengthens the flow of energy. Another one focuses on balancing emotions, and a third symbol allows us to collapse time and space! This distance key enables Reiki to be sent to anyone or any situation regardless of location. We often hear of psychics saying, All time is now. With the distance key, we can collapse time and space, access the astral space between the worlds of energy and form, with the living and the dead, the past, present, and future! In this way, Reiki is perfect for use in magick as well as healing.

For every circle I cast, I add the Reiki II symbols to the pool of energy and spin the vortex containing the Reiki II symbols by seeing them in my mind’s eye. I spin the Reiki symbols for manifestation magick to create a sunwise, deosil, or clockwise vortex. When I am releasing blockages, old forms, and beliefs, I move the symbols moonwise, widdershins, or counterclockwise. In this way, every circle is an opportunity for enhanced healing as well as for spiritual work! I never do any ritual, spell, or healing work without it.

I find it interesting that Reiki began as a shamanic tradition, although it’s seldom discussed as such. Dr. Usui, the founder of Reiki, discovered symbols in the Tibetan sutras, which he suspected had healing power. Unable to decipher their uses, he fasted and lived in a cave on a mountain in Japan for three weeks. Suddenly, blinded by a ray of light, he understood how these symbols were to be used!

There are two major forms of Reiki. Traditional Reiki is usually taught as a secretive, scholarly approach with a rote protocol of hand positions without much training in chi perception. Nontraditional Reiki is a more intuitive approach. I won’t go into the other differences here except to suggest that you research both approaches if you want to study Reiki. This way, you can choose which is best for you.

Kids as young as seven can be trained in Reiki to develop compassion and self-confidence. Reiki is also excellent for casual and career caregivers. Use it for yourself and those in your family and community, including pets. Reiki will also enhance your magick and can be used to send energy to heal Mother Earth.

In short, Reiki makes every circle a healing circle. I highly recommend Reiki training for all who are exploring Wicca because it will provide a profound healing tool as well as an experience of energy, literally in the palms of your hands.

Chapter 4

Ritual: The Underutilized Healing Tool

Our ancestors developed trance methods, including ritual, to access the subtle forms of consciousness and focus the mind on practical survival skills. Today, we face an epidemic of stress and stress-related illnesses, everything from heart disease and depression to auto-immune disorders and diabetes. It is essential to recognize that ritual is a tool with physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual benefits. Culturally, ceremonies help galvanize communities and reinforce the values of inclusion and cooperation needed for survival.

Scientifically, we know that trance states can help control pain in everything from dentistry to childbirth. It would have been an essential skill in a time before anesthesia and modern painkillers. It is easy to see how the ancients would have linked spirituality with healing. In this way, trance and ritual were bridges between spiritual and practical needs.

Like any expert, shamans developed highly refined senses and skills to meet the challenges of being human and surviving in their particular environments. Even if we set aside the validity of one’s beliefs, the research is clear that numerous forms of prayer, including ritual, quiet the mind and encourage relaxation. With stress at epidemic proportions, it makes sense to look again at the practicality of spirituality. Specifically, the act of ritual can provide a much-needed antidote for stress-related issues plus a problem-solving tool and a means of creative expression.

We see this happen naturally in cases of grief or emergencies. For example, there was a worldwide outpouring for the events of 9/11 that galvanized whole communities. Shock and grief brought people together spontaneously. People of all faiths and no faith, in particular, gathered in homes, parks, plazas, and city halls. They lit candles, cried, hugged perfect strangers, and left changed: comforted, calmer, and somehow fortified.

What happened there was a spontaneous ritual. It comforted individuals and transcended the usual artificial separations of class, race, religion, age, education, gender, sexual preferences, and politics. For a brief moment, people paid more attention to what they had in common than their differences.

In the months after 9/11, many people returned to the religion of their youth, seeking a renewal of their faith. For some, the events of that terrible day enhanced their enthusiasm for their chosen religion and deepened their spiritual practices. While some continued to be fulfilled, others fell away disenchanted. They felt that too many religions had come to emphasize doctrine over spiritual experience. The familiar religions have focused their attention on mundane social, political, and moral issues rather than creating ecstatic experiences or giving people the tools to experience transcendence independently. In my experience, many people seek a spirituality that is relevant and leaves room for their own creativity. They crave direct mystical experiences but are not sure how to create them.

Chapter 5

Three Perspectives, Same Elephant

Examining Wicca, the Hindu Chakras, and Taoism reminds me of the famous Indian fable of The Six Blind Men and the Elephant. This parable tells the story of six blind men encountering and describing an elephant from their unique perspectives. The closer I looked, the more these systems complemented one another! I think of Wicca, Taoism, and the Chakra system in terms of the similar to sign (≅) used in mathematics. They don’t have to equate to one another on all points. Simply because something is different doesn’t make it difficult. They are clearly looking at the same elephant, and each perspective brings something unique to the discussion.

Taoist Wicca merges the experiential and oral traditions used in Wicca with the writings of Taoist and Hindu texts dating back five thousand years. The ancient wisdom found in books such as the Tao Te Ching, the I Ching, and the Upanishads provides the guidance of time-honored texts for study, meditation, and contemplation. They also complement the ecstatic practices used in Wicca to alter states of consciousness.

For those who are uncomfortable with the terms of Goddess or God, Taoism gives us the words Yin and Yang, which represent qualities such as receptive/active, destructive/creative, and a myriad of opposites as complements instead of foes. Taoist meditations add a dimension of contemplation to the mystical practice of ritual and spellcraft used in Wicca.

The Hindu Chakra system looks at the locations of pain, especially for chronic pain or recurring illnesses. From these physical locations, we can interpret the language of the unconscious as it speaks through our bodies. For example, frequent sore throats can indicate infected tonsils and blocked truth, either to the self or to others in the Fifth or Throat Chakra. Each system helps us understand ourselves and personalize the work we do in ritual. By combining these systems with the seasons, we can observe our personal cycles, begin to align with the seasonal energies, and use them to our advantage.

When I first started, I was confounded by the vast number of visions, myths, and sabbat interpretations—not to mention the numerous traditions and calendar variations. For years I asked myself, Which one is right? Before I developed any theories, I meditated and turned to what I already knew about energy from my massage, hypnosis, and Reiki background. Over time, I noticed that many clients would come in with physical and emotional issues related to the Chakras that aligned with the themes of the upcoming or recently passed Wiccan sabbat—even those clients who knew nothing about Wicca!

Through close observation, I noted that consistent physical and emotional themes appeared with a higher frequency at certain times of the year. These were the themes, patterns, and sabbat concepts that evolved into the system of Taoist Wicca. I came to see the seasons as energetic influences on us, whether we are conscious of them or not.

Historically speaking, Wicca grew out of the tattered remains of pre-Christian, indigenous, European cultures’ beliefs and practices. With so little information left by Europe’s shamanic tribes, modern Wiccans have turned to the remaining indigenous shamanic cultures for inspiration. Therefore, modern Wicca (in its neo-Pagan manifestations) is a patchwork quilt of various ideas woven into a brilliant tapestry of ancient myths blended with the creativity of new visions and practices that support our modern needs. This is only possible because there are fundamental similarities in shamanic methods and worldviews, making the myths and deities archetypal and universal.

The ideas expressed in myths and practices are ancient road maps into other states of consciousness that can help us see ourselves as heroes and call forth our courage, nobility, and divinity. In a way, it doesn’t matter how the ancients practiced; a Bronze-Age wheel wouldn’t fit our modern cars! We can only learn from those indigenous cultures whose myths and practices have survived and incorporate our own creativity and insight into the mix. Taoist Wicca is simply part of that necessary evolution.

What Do These Systems Have in Common?

Taoism, Wicca, and the Chakras are usually discussed as stand-alone systems. However, when seen as wholistic studies of Nature, one can see there are numerous fundamental assumptions in agreement:

There is no such thing as the devil in any of these systems.

All assume a worldview of unity and complementary duality.

All agree that Balance is the prime directive.

All assume an essential consciousness within all life.

All are studies of Nature.

All are energy or chi-based systems.

All assume that healing is a function of rebalancing energy.

All assume body, mind, and spirit are aspects of the whole person.

All honor paradox and do not consider it a punishment.

All assume that we create, define, and interpret our own reality.

All assume that a relationship exists between all living things and theMystery, or the Eternal Tao.

All assume that we are part of an energetic web of connection.

All assume that disharmony begins as stuck energy and eventually hardens into a disease.

All assume that we are spiritual works in progress.

All three arose from agrarian cultures whose lives depended upon natural cycles.

All three share concepts of creation and destruction cycles.

All three share similar ethical guidelines regarding how we treat others.

For now, suffice it to say that each of these systems is a study of Nature and life force energy. Taoism, Wicca, and the Chakra system all assume that we can see Nature’s patterns within ourselves and observe them in our outer world. The intention is to live in harmony within this living web, neither outside nor superior to it.

The devil represents the archetype of the enemy. As such, the devil is a symbol of adversarial duality. None of these systems hold an antagonistic worldview. I’ll go into the reasons for this prevalent misconception in the next chapter. Suffice it to say that all three systems hold a worldview of complementary duality and uphold the values of harmony and balance. Each one has guiding ethical principles similar to the Christian golden rule and the idea that you reap what you sow. I’ll discuss this more in the Psychic Sovereignty and Magickal Ethics section of part II.

Wicca, Taoism, and the Chakras assume that all life is connected by vital life force energy (chi, or prana). Furthermore, all three systems understand that each of us is capable of communing with a Greater Force, to which we are infinitely connected. This infinite connection can be experienced as the Mystery of the Cauldron-Womb in Wicca, as Vajra, or indestructible diamond consciousness, piercing the Maya (Illusion) in the Hindu system, or as the Eternal Tao, which cannot be named, in Taoism.

Am I Psychic?

I am often asked, How do I develop psychic awareness? The answer is simple: practice your ability to pay attention! Open each of your five senses and observe the details coming through each sense. The open five senses, touch, smell, hearing, taste, and sight, will synergize to take you into the sixth sense. This synergy will take you from thought into a state of hyperawareness, which is often experienced as a knowing.

Chi is perceived in many ways, all of which are valid. Some people are visual and see auras, images, or colors. Others are kinesthetic and feel vibrations, tingles, cold spots, heat, or function as empaths, who feel what others feel. Some people are conceptual and work well with the guidance of established chi systems like the Chakras or Asian medicine. Due to the differences between how people perceive chi, psychics sometimes have difficulty comparing notes.

Keep in mind that each sense can offer its own extrasensory perception. For example, I will get an image, a feeling, or have a word begin to repeat in my mind until I take action. What we call street smarts is a form of energy perception. Indeed, if you talk to your plants or your pets, you are speaking through a language of chi. The beauty of chi is that it is perceptible, albeit in different ways with different people. The key is to figure out how you perceive it and practice trusting that perception. Once you get one psychic door open, the rest will follow.

Is It Consciousness or Divinity?

Some people who practice Wicca apply it as a metaphor; others experience their practice more literally. Experiences can be quite compelling, but the interpretation is still your own. If you prefer to work with a concept of consciousness instead of divinity, that’s fine. Working with myth, symbolism, and metaphor is perfectly valid and meaningful. Ultimately, your own experiences will inform your practice, deepen your understanding, and broaden your perspective. Interestingly, the more you work with energy and ritual, the more real the experiences become.

Wicca has many deities that can be understood in many ways. They can be inspiring for their qualities or virtues; their stories can be viewed as archetypal, experienced as visions, or felt as physical sensations or vibrations. How you perceive and relate to them is fine. I experience the deities as vibrations or instruments in an orchestra. Each instrument is lovely by itself, and when playing a symphony, they play together in harmony. Or you can think of the deities as facets of a crystal, each offering a slightly different perspective of a unified Divine Force.

Creation and Destruction: A Common Thread

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Taoism, Wicca, and the Chakra system share ideas of creation and destruction cycles. In Taoism, the light half of the Tao is the Yang, or active principle, which rules the creation cycle. Yang energy moves outward to shape ideas into tangible forms. The Tao’s dark half is the Yin, or receptive principle, which rules the destruction cycle. Yin energy moves inward to nourish, release, and regenerate. The easiest way to think of it is to remember that we must compost to make fertile soil for new beginnings. Composting isn’t flashy. It’s mostly an unseen process but essential nonetheless.

Wicca uses these same Taoist cycles for moon magick. The time between the new moon and the full moon is used for creation magick because the energy is waxing or growing. The creation or Yang, half of the moon’s cycle, is used to shape energy directly toward manifestation. The destruction, or Yin cycle, utilizes the waning energy, from the full moon through the dark moon. This cycle is used to shift energy by removing blockages and obstacles, both internal and external.

In Asian medicine, we see a concept of energy freeways called meridians that traverse the body and connect the organs. The Hindu medical model, Ayurveda, has a similar idea of meridians, called nadis, with similar functions.

While there are numerous nadis in Ayurveda, for this book, I will focus upon two major nadis, which run vertically in opposite directions as simultaneous dual paths of energy. The Ida, or Goddess energy, moves downward through the Path of Manifestation, which is the equivalent of the creation cycle. This journey downward shapes an idea from the Seventh Chakra into a tangible form in the First Chakra. The God energy, or Pingala, is the Path of Liberation, which is the equivalent of the destruction cycle moving upward to recycle a form back into energy.

In Wicca, we often think of the Goddess as the Creatrix. The God is that which is created and destroyed. In this way, the God is always moving into and out of form. The Goddess evolves from maiden into mother, and crone as the year progresses but remains everpresent.

Before we get too confused by energy moving inward and outward in Taoism or upward and downward in the Chakras, the real point here is that Wicca, Taoism, and the Hindu Chakra system agree upon creation and destruction cycles as necessary companion processes. Though depicted differently, these systems are studies of energy. Each holds a vision of consorts as complements, and balance achieved through cooperation and complementary duality, which brings things into and out of material form.

Duality, Paradox, and Beyond

In Christianity and Islam, duality is assumed to be adversarial: good versus evil. From this perspective, humans are pawns caught in the middle of warring factions.

The devil is a foreign concept to Wicca, the Chakras, and Taoism. Though there are statements like evil chi in Asian medicine, it only means that the stagnation, or stuck chi, is causing harm. In Hinduism, there is no idea of absolute