A Witches Bible - Janet Farrar, Stewar Farrar 1981

Second Degree Initiation
Leaves From The Book of Shadows
Principles, Rituals and Beliefs of Modern Witchcraft

Second degree initiation promotes a first-degree witch to be a High Priestess or High Priest; not necessarily, of course, as the leader of her or his own coven. If our readers do not mind a military parallel, the distinction is the same as between ’a’ Colonel and ’the’ Colonel; the former implies that one is speaking of a holder of that particular rank, whatever his actual job; the latter means one is naming the commander of a particular unit.

A second-degree witch may initiate others — only, of course, of the opposite sex, and only to the first or second degree. (The two special exceptions to this rule have already been explained) We are speaking here about the normal Gardnerian or Alexandrian tradition. Self-initiation, and the founding of covens where no outside help is available, is another matter, and we shall discuss that fully in Section XXIII; but even then we suggest that, once such a self-created coven is properly established and functioning, it would be well advised to stick to the Gardnerian/Alexandrian rule (or to the equivalent in whatever tradition it has based itself on).

We need hardly emphasize that initiating anybody lays a responsibility on the initiator, both in deciding whether the postulant is suitable (or, if potentially suitable, ready) for it, and in making sure his or her training will continue. Initiation can have deep psychic and karmic repercussions, and if it is irresponsibly given, the results may become part of the initiator’s own karma. Coven leaders should remember this when they are deciding whether somebody is ready for his or her second degree, and ask themselves in particular whether the candidate is mature enough to be entrusted with the right to initiate others; if not, his or her mistakes may well rebound on their karma!

If a newly made second-degree witch has been properly instructed and wisely chosen, of course he or she will not be eager to rush off and initiate people just because the rules permit it. The practice in our coven (and, we are sure, in most others) has always been that second-or third-degree witches other than the High Priestess and High Priest do not normally conduct initiations except at the request, or with the agreement, of the High Priestess. Very often this will be done if the postulant is a friend introduced by the member concerned, or if they wish to become working partners. Or it may be done to give the member practice and self-confidence in the ritual.

Another implication of being a second-degree witch is that you may, with the agreement of your High Priestess, leave the coven and found your own with your working partner. In that case, you are still under the guidance of the parent coven until its leaders decide you are ready for complete independence; they will then give you your third-degree initiation, after which you are completely autonomous. (We followed this pattern ourselves; Alex and Maxine Sanders gave us our second degree on 17 October 1970; we remained in their coven for another couple of months, and then, with their agreement, took three of their students who had not yet been initiated, and founded our own coven on 22 December 1970, initiating the three ourselves. On 24 April 1971 the Sanders gave us our third degree, and we and our coven became independent. We have reason to believe that Alex, at least, later wished the umbilical cord had not been cut quite so soon. But it had, and — without malice — we are prepared to stand by the result.)

The tradition, in Gardnerian witchcraft at least, is that the new coven’s base or ’convenstead’ must be at least a league (three miles) from the old one, and that its members must sever all contact with the members of the old. Any necessary contact must only be between the High Priestesses and High Priests of the two covens. This practice is called ’voiding the coven’ and obviously has its roots in the persecution centuries. It would be very difficult to observe it to the letter these days, particularly in urban conditions; the league rule, for example, would be quite impracticable in places like London, New York, Sydney or Amsterdam. But there is still a lot to be said for ’voiding the coven’ in the sense of deliberately preventing any working overlap between the old coven and the new. If this is not done, the frontiers will be blurred, and the new group will be hampered in its necessary task of establishing its own identity and building up its own group mind. There may even be a tendency, among the weaker members of the new coven, to ’run to Mummy’ with criticisms of its leaders — which Mummy, if she is wise, will firmly discourage.

Maxine imposed the coven-voiding rule rigorously on our own infant group; and, in retrospect, we are glad that she did.

Two or more covens (including parent covens and their offspring) can always get together, by invitation or mutual agreement, for one of the seasonal Festival sabbats, and very enjoyable these combined sabbats can be; but they are celebratory rather than working occasions. Combined working esbats, on the other hand, are not generally such a good idea, except for special, and specific, purposes (the classic example perhaps being the famous wartime effort of witches in the South of England to frustrate Hitler’s invasion plans — though the ’specific purpose’ does not always have to be as momentous as that).

Second- and third-degree witches together form the ’elders’ of the coven. Just how, and how often, the elders are called upon as such, rests with the High Priestess. But for example, if a disciplinary issue arises which the High Priestess feels she should not deal with on her personal authority alone, the elders provide a natural ’magistrates’ bench’. The High Priestess should be the unquestioned leader of the coven — and within the Circle, absolutely; if anyone has honest doubts about her rulings, the question may be calmly raised after the Circle has been banished. But she should not be an autocratic tyrant. If she and her High Priest have had enough respect for, and confidence in, particular members of their coven to make them elders, they should be expected to value their advice on the running of the coven and the work to be done.

All this may seem to be wandering a little from the subject of second-degree initiation into more general topics; but it is highly relevant to the question of deciding who is, and who is not, ready for the second degree.

As to the initiation ritual itself: Texts B and C of Gardner’s Book of Shadows are identical. The first part of it follows a similar pattern to that of the first-degree rite (though with appropriate differences): the binding, the presenting to the Watchtowers, the ritual scourging, the consecration with oil, wine and lips, the unbinding, the presentation of the working tools (but this time to be ritually used by the Initiate immediately) and the second presenting to the Watchtowers.

Three elements enter into the second-degree rite which are not part of the first degree.

First, the Initiate is given a witch name, which she or he has chosen beforehand. The choice is entirely personal. It may be a God-name or Goddess-name expressing a quality to which the Initiate aspires, such as Vulcan, Thetis, Thoth, Poseidon or Ma’at. (The very highest names of a particular pantheon, such as Isis or Zeus, should, we suggest, be avoided; they might be interpreted as implying arrogance in the Initiate.) Or it may be the name of a legendary or even historical figure, again implying a particular aspect, such as Amergin the bard, Morgana the sorceress, Orpheus the musician, or Pythia the oracle. It may even be a synthetic name made up of the initial letters of aspects which create a balance desirable to the Initiate (a process drawn from a certain kind of ritual magic). But whatever the choice, it should not be a casual or hurried one; thoughtful consideration before the choice is in itself a magical act.

Second, after the oath the Initiator ritually wills all her or his power into the Initiate. This, too, is not mere ceremony, but an act of deliberate magical concentration, in which the Initiator puts everything possible into maintaining and handing on the continuity of psychic power within the Craft.

And third, the ritual using of the cords and the scourge is the occasion for dramatizing a lesson about what is often called ’the boomerang effect’; namely, that any magical effort, whether beneficent or malicious, is liable to rebound threefold on the person who makes it. The Initiate uses the cords to bind the Initiator in the same way as the Initiate herself or himself was bound earlier, and then delivers to the Initiator a ritual scourging of three times the number of strokes which the Initiator used. As well as being a lesson, this is a test — to see whether the Initiate is mature enough to react to other people’s actions with the necessary controlled restraint. A subtler aspect of the lesson is that, although the Initiator is in command, that command is not fixed and eternal but is a trust — the kind of trust which is now being bestowed on the Initiate too; for both Initiator and Initiate have ultimately equal stature in the cosmic plan, and both are channels for the power being invoked, not its source.

The second part of the ritual is the reading, or enactment, of the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess. We have given that in full detail, together with the movements for enacting it, in Section XIV of Eight Sabbats for Witches; so all we will do here is to give the text itself, as it appears in Texts B and C of the Book of Shadows. Doreen Valiente comments that our text in Eight Sabbats for Witches is a bit fuller than this (and incidentally points out that the word ’Controller’ of the first printing should be ’Consoler’). Gardner gives a slightly different version in Chapter III of Witchcraft Today¹; but here we have kept to the Text C wording (with two small exceptions — notes 10 and 11).

Doreen tells us that in Gardner’s coven, ’this Legend was read after the Initiation to the Second Degree, when all were sitting quietly in the Circle. If there were sufficient people present, it might also be presented as a dramatic mime, the players performing the actions while one person read the Legend aloud.’

In our coven we always act out the Legend while a narrator reads it — and if possible we have the actors saying their own lines. We find the enacted Legend, with the Initiate playing the Lord of the Underworld if he is a man, or the Goddess if she is a woman, a much more effective climax to the ritual than a mere reading. It is a matter of choice; but those who share our preference for an enactment are referred to Eight Sabbats for Witches.

In the ritual below, since the Initiate is already a witch, we refer to ’the Initiate’ throughout; and again to the Initiator as ’she’, the Initiate as ’he’, and the Partner as ’he’, for simplicity — although as before, it may be the other way round.

We would point out that American witches now universally use the upright pentagram — i.e. with a single point uppermost — as the Second Degree sigil, because the inverted pentagram is associated in the American mind with Satanism. European witches, however, still use the traditional inverted pentagram, with two points uppermost, but without any sinister implications. The European symbolism is that although the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water are now in balance, they still dominate the fifth, Spirit. The crowned upright pentagram of the Third Degree symbolizes that Spirit now rules the others. Because of the difference between European and American usage, we give two alternative anointing procedures in the ritual which follows.

The Preparation

Everything is set up as for a normal Circle, with the following additional items also in readiness:

· a blindfold

· three lengths of red cord: one of nine feet, two of four feet six

· annointing oil

· a new white unlit candle

· a small handbell

· items of jewellery

And if the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess is to be enacted and not merely read:

· a necklace on the altar

· a veil

· a crown

The items of jewellery are for the woman enacting the Goddess; so if the ritual is skyclad, they should obviously be such things as bracelets, rings and earrings, and not pin brooches! The crown is for the man enacting the Lord of the Underworld and can be as simple as a circlet of wire if nothing better is available.

The blindfold should be of some opaque material, as for the first degree; but the veil should be gauzy and becoming, and preferably in one of the Goddess colours — blue, green or silver.

The Ritual

The opening ritual proceeds as usual, up to the end of the ’Great God Cernunnos’ invocation, with the Initiate taking his normal place in the coven. At the end of the Cernunnos invocation, the Initiate stands in the centre of the Circle and is bound and blindfolded by witches of the opposite sex, exactly as for the first-degree initiation.

The Initiator leads the Initiate to the cardinal points in turn and says:

’Hear, ye Mighty Ones of the East [South, West, North], — [ordinary name], a duly consecrated Priest[ess] and Witch, is now properly prepared to be made a High Priest and Magus [High Priestess and Witch Queen]’²

She leads him back to the centre of the Circle and faces him towards the altar. She and the coven now link hands and circle round him three times.³

The witches who bound the Initiate now complete the binding by unwinding the loose ends of his knee and ankle cords and tying his knees together and his ankles together. They then help him to kneel facing the altar.

The Initiator says:

’To attain to this sublime degree, it is necessary to suffer and be purified. Art thou willing to suffer to learn?’

The Initiate says:

’I am.’

The Initiator says:

’I purify thee to take this great Oath rightly.’

The Initiator fetches the scourge from the altar, while her Partner rings the bell three times and says: ’Three.’

The Initiator gives the Initiate three light strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Seven.’ (He does not ring the bell again.)

The Initiator gives the Initiate seven strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Nine’.

The Initiator gives the Initiate nine light strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Twenty-one.’

The Initiator gives the Initiate twenty-one light strokes with the scourge. She then hands the scourge to her Partner (who returns it and the bell to the altar) and she says:

’I now give thee a new name, — [his chosen witch name]. What is thy name?’ She gives him a light smack as she asks it.⁴

The Initiate replies:

’My name is — .’ (Repeating his new witch name.)

Each member of the coven in turn then gives the Initiate a light smack or push, asking ’What is thy name?’ and the Initiate replies each time ’My name is — .’ When the Initiator decides this has continued long enough, she signals the coven to stop, and they resume their places.

The Initiator then says (phrase by phrase):

’Repeat thy new name after me, saying: “I, — , swear upon my mother’s womb, and by mine honour among men and my Brothers and Sisters of the Art, that I will never reveal, to any at all, any of the secrets of the Art, except it be to a worthy person, properly prepared, in the centre of a Magic Circle such as I am now in. This I swear by my hopes of salvation, my past lives, and my hopes of future ones to come; and I devote myself and my measure to utter destruction if I break this my solemn oath.”’ The Initiate repeats each phrase after her.

The Initiator kneels beside the Initiate and places her left hand under his knee and her right hand on his head, to form the Magic Link. She says:

’I will all my power into thee.’

Keeping her hands in the Magic Link position, she concentrates for as long as she feels necessary on willing all her power into the Initiate.⁵ After this, she stands.

The witches who bound the Initiate come forward and untie his knees and ankles and help him to rise. The Partner brings forward the chalice of wine and the anointing oil.

The Initiator moistens her fingertip with the oil and says:

’I consecrate thee with oil.’

She touches the Initiate with the oil just above the pubic hair, on his right breast, on his left hip, on his right hip, on his left breast and just above the pubic hair again, completing the inverted pentagram of the Second Degree.⁶

(In the American usage: throat, right hip, left breast, right breast, left hip, and throat again.)

She moistens her fingertip with wine, says ’I anoint thee with wine’, and touches him in the same places with the wine.

She then says ’I consecrate thee with my lips’, kisses him in the same places and continues: ’High Priest and Magus [High Priestess and Witch Queen]’.

The witches who bound the Initiate now come forward and remove the blindfold and the remaining cord. The ritual is interrupted for each member of the coven to congratulate the Initiate, kissing him or shaking hands as appropriate. When this is done, the ritual continues with the presentation and using of the working tools. As each tool is named, the Initiator takes it from the altar and hands it to the Initiate with a kiss. Another witch of the same sex as the Initiator stands by, and as each tool is finished with, she takes it from the Initiate with a kiss and replaces it on the altar.

To begin, the Initiator says:

’You will now use the Working Tools in turn. First, the Magic Sword.’

The Initiate takes the sword and re-casts the Circle, but without speaking.

The Initiator says: ’Second, the Athame.’

The Initiate takes the athame and again re-casts the Circle without speaking.

The Initiator says: ’Third, the White-hilted Knife.’

The Initiate takes the white-hilted knife and picks up the new white, unlit candle from the altar. He then uses the knife to inscribe a pentagram on the candle, which he replaces on the altar.⁷

The Initiator says: ’Fourth, the Wand.’

The Initiate takes the wand and waves it to the four cardinal points in turn.⁸

The Initiator says: ’Fifth, the Cup.’

Initiate and Initiator together consecrate wine in the cup.⁹

The Initiator says: ’Sixth, the Pentacle.’

The Initiate takes the pentacle and shows it to the four cardinal points in turn.

The Initiator says: ’Seventh, the Censer of Incense.’

The Initiate takes the censer and carries it round the perimeter of the Circle.

The Initiator says: ’Eighth, the Cords.’

The Initiate takes the cords and, with the help of the Partner, binds the Initiator in the same way as he himself was bound. Initiate and Partner then help the Initiator to kneel facing the altar.

The Initiator says:

’Ninth, the Scourge. For learn, in Witchcraft you must ever give as you receive, but ever triple. So where I gave thee three, return nine; where I gave seven, return twenty-one; where I gave nine, return twenty-seven; where I gave twenty-one, return sixty-three.’

The witch who is standing by hands the scourge to the Initiate with a kiss.

The Partner says: ’Nine.’

The Initiate gives the Initiator nine light strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Twenty-one.’

The Initiate gives the Initiator twenty-one light strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Twenty-seven.’

The Initiate gives the Initiator twenty-seven light strokes with the scourge.

The Partner says: ’Sixty-three.’

The Initiate gives the Initiator sixty-three light strokes with the scourge.

The Initiator says:

’Thou hast obeyed the Law. But mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art thou bound to return good threefold.’

The Initiate, with the help of the Partner, assists the Initiator to rise and unbinds her.

The Initiator now leads the Initiate to each of the cardinal points in turn, saying: ’Hear, ye Mighty Ones of the East [South, West, North]: — [witch name] has been duly consecrated High Priest and Magus [High Priestess and Witch Queen].’

The coven now prepares for the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess. The Initiator names a Narrator to read the Legend, if she is not going to read it herself. If the Legend is also going to be enacted, she will name actors for the Goddess, the Lord of the Underworld, and the Guardian of the Portals. It is usual for the Initiate to act at the Goddess or the Lord of the Underworld, according to sex, and for either the Initiator or the Initiate’s working partner (if there is one) to act as the other. In strict mythological tradition, the Guardian should be male, but this is not essential. (In the Gardner texts, ’Guardians’ is plural, but this seems to conflict with the mythology.)

The Legend of the Descent of the Goddess¹⁰

Now our Lady the Goddess had never loved, but she would solve all the Mysteries, even the mystery of Death; and so she journeyed to the Underworld.¹¹

The Guardians of the Portals challenged her: ’Strip off thy garments, lay aside thy jewels; for naught mayest thou bring with thee into this our land.’

So she laid down her garments and her jewels, and was bound, as are all who enter the Realms of Death, the Mighty One.¹²

Such was her beauty, that Death himself knelt and kissed her feet, saying: ’Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways. Abide with me; but let me place my cold hand on thy heart.’

She replied: ’I love thee not. Why dost thou cause all things that I love and take delight in to fade and die?’

’Lady,’ replied Death, “tis age and fate, against which I am helpless. Age causes all things to wither; but when men die at the end of time, I give them rest and peace, and strength so that they may return. But thou! Thou art lovely. Return not; abide with me!’

But she answered: ’I love thee not.’

Then said Death: ’An thou receivest not my hand on thy heart, thou must receive Death’s scourge.’

’It is fate — better so,’ she said. And she knelt, and Death scourged her tenderly. And she cried, ’I feel the pangs of love.’

And Death said, ’Blessed be!’ and gave her the Fivefold Kiss, saying: ’Thus only mayest thou attain to joy and knowledge.’ And he taught her all the Mysteries, and they loved and were one, and he taught her all the Magics.

For there are three great events in the life of man: Love, Death, and Resurrection in the new body; and Magic controls them all. For to fulfil love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be reborn you must die and be ready for a new body; and to die you must be born; and without love you may not be born; and this is all the Magics.