Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft - Rae Beth 2014
Letter 25
Part Two
Ladywell
Hillsbury
5th May 1988
Dear Tessa,
My last letter brings me to a point of ethics. How far can you go in trance over matters that concern the lives of others?
This is an area that calls for absolute honesty, and the utmost care. Having said this serious and implication-laden thing, I will add that there is a funny side to trance involving other incarnate beings. For instance, when our dog barks at night because she can hear a cat, Cole often psychically projects himself downstairs and gives her a telling-off. He simply visualizes that he is standing in front of her bed and shouting, ’SHUT UP, HAPPY!’, and it works. She shuts up every time. This causes us a great deal of amusement, as we imagine how bewildered she must be at Cole’s very rapid appearance. Dogs are very psychic, and she would probably be able to see Cole, and can obviously sense him.
However, the same device could be used, or misused, on people. Messages of love, comfort or support, or requests to be contacted, are all possibilities, and all beneficial. A strong statement of a point of view for the purpose of communication is also all right. So is a frank expression of your feelings under duress, for example ’Leave me alone!’ But what about implanting thoughts or issuing commands because you have decided this is for the person’s own good? Or because you believe you could benefit by controlling their actions? To put it bluntly, this is comparable to black magic. The implanting of a suggestion in someone else’s mind, a suggestion or thought which you intend them to perceive as their own, is the psychic equivalent of subliminal advertising. The visualization of a person taking actions or making changes which are beneficial to you, but which you have never discussed with them in life, nor been given any reason to believe that they want, is the psychic equivalent of coercion.
I must add, on this subject, that I have talked to a variety of people over the years about psychism. And believe me, ’subliminal’ and coercive techniques are used quite often, in all kinds of situations. None of the people who told me they used them was, in fact, a witch, or occultist of any kind. That is one reason why I believe psychic skills should be more openly discussed. For, at present, a witch or any other person with real psychic knowledge and experience will know how much harm such a practice can cause (and how it may rebound on him or herself), but an ordinary person will not know this. Also, they will not usually sense when it has been done to them. A witch, on the other hand, will sense this, and will be able to throw it off. I believe that much suffering could be avoided if such things were demystified, identified — if our knowledge could be shared. For nothing more is needed than the awareness that such things can happen, as easily as put-downs and manipulations happen verbally. And exactly the same response is appropriate in both cases, a challenge and a repudiation. I do not think such awareness has to give rise to psychic over-defensiveness or paranoia, any more than these emotions are produced in ordinary social relations through the knowledge that some people can’t be trusted. They can’t. And that is cold fact. However, you are all right if you keep your wits about you. And the same thing goes for the constant and ongoing psychic inter-relatedness between people.
If there are rules, then one of them might be, Never project a thought to anyone at all without identifying yourself psychically. (You can appear before them in trance, or you can project a message in thought, such as, ’It is Tessa who says this.’) Then their own psyche can identify you as the source of psychic input. Another rule of thumb is that you should never say or do anything in trance that you wouldn’t be prepared to say or do physically. So why not just pick up the telephone or call round? In most cases, that is what you should do. But there are exceptions and you will certainly find them. For example, the other person may be ill; out of the reach of a telephone; unconvinced by your manifest words; or in special need of support on both the manifest and psychic levels.
Do not forget psychic safety codes if you send messages. Surround yourself with the blue sphere, place yourself under the Guardian Spirits’ protection and project yourself towards the other person, or call them towards you. And then say your piece. Return and thank the Guardian Spirits. Then draw in the blue light edged with gold around your body.
As you may have guessed, this technique of psychic suggestion is quite commonly used in seduction, and by people who know nothing (consciously) about magic. If you ever suspect that it is being done to you, and by someone in whom you are not interested, you can tell the person firmly, in trance, that you don’t want to know. And if they are still persistent, you can cut all psychic cords between you. Point your athame, and demand that the threads linking you to the other person (which may be of social obligation, intimidation, pity, confusion or something to do with finance, to name but a few) now become visible. Then, using your athame, cut straight through them. This will often end all physical contact, in time, as well as psychic relations. But it is rarely necessary to take such extreme measures.
I am talking here about the deliberate willing of another person’s compliance, using psychic manipulation to achieve this end. I am not talking about the spontaneous picturing of the beloved, or even the spontaneous projection of feeling towards them. Such things are a natural part of being in love. But it is one thing psychically to declare love and desire. It is another thing to pressurize or to intrude deliberately upon an existing relationship. I suppose you could say that a great deal of this comes down to whether or not a person has good psychic manners. These are really quite similar to good manners in life. (The more experienced you become as a witch, the more you will become aware of who around you does possess them — and who does not.)
Well, I don’t know if anyone’s in love with you right now, Tessa; but I know that you are not in love, and would like to be. You have asked for a love trance, in order that you may improve your chances of meeting someone with whom you could be happy. Here is one way of doing it.
After the usual entry into trance, call upon your familiar, and then ask to be taken to see the Crone. You will go down through the cave and the passage, and then walk to the place on the beach where you last met her.
Ask, What can I do to find my right partner, the one I can truly love and who will love me, to the enhancement of both our lives?
The Crone may remove from you certain links and cords that have been binding you to an outworn relationship, any ties which are obstructing the possibility of a new love. She may ask you to change things in your life, suggesting that you give up an old pattern.
You think it is strange to ask the Old Wisewoman about love? But who has the most experience? And who most enjoys match-making? Listen carefully to anything else that she has to say, any positive advice about places to go to, or new commitments.
By and by, she will direct you to the Maid, who will no doubt question you about what you want from a relationship. What suits you? What are your real needs? And what can you give? The Crone is a grandmother figure. She has seen it all. But the Maid is like a wise and sympathetic young friend or sister. She will ask some astute questions, for she wants to protect your integrity, to be sure that the relationship will not threaten your basic individual freedom to be yourself. Only if this requirement is met will she give it her blessing.
Then the Mother will ask another kind of question. To what do you pledge the creative force, the life force, of your love? Do you want your union to produce a child, or shared work or a joint commitment to nature magic? A joint spiritual work? You must answer this question honestly, as you did all the others. Then a moment will come when your certainty about what you want peaks, and you will know just what it is that you need and are prepared to give. The Mother will offer you some sign or symbol. Check it out with your athame, making sure that it represents the kind of relationship you have asked for. If you accept it, you are committed. The Goddess will ensure that your path converges with the right partner, that is, the one with whom you can achieve the most happiness possible for both of you, in terms of your destiny. This may not be your true ’soul-partner’, for he may not now be incarnate. Perhaps his circumstances, or yours, may mean that in this life you can’t ever meet.
You can ask about this. You may not get a clear answer, for it is a very loaded question. But if it is the case, you will then be asked if you will accept a loving union with someone else (for this life). Such partnerships are, in fact, the most usual. Life partnership with one’s soul-mate is quite rare. But that does not make all other relationships second-best. They can show things that could not be learned with the true soul-partner. This is a little like travelling, as opposed to staying at home all your life.
Did I say some of this before, in the letter I sent you about witches’ weddings? Never mind. I think it does bear repeating.
Sometimes, the trance may indicate that a ritual should follow. This could be informal, for example a pilgrimage, or the wearing of certain colours associated with love. Or it could be a formal, full-scale ritual, in the circle, specially designed and tailor-made for this specific purpose. I will explain how rituals are created for this or any other specific purpose in a future letter.
Good luck with the love trance.
Blessed be,
Rae