The Reversed Road or Obtaining a Witching
The Shimmering and the Sealing of Pantacles

Mrs. Fielding was aroused one night by a light that shone from the hill above her house, and while she stood watching
it from her window, she saw it ascend the hill to a small heap of rocks, where it blazed up
high and then subsided. Then it moved to another rock and blazed up high again, subsiding
as before in a few moments, She had reason to be certain that no one was in the pasture,
and the next morning, she found no evidence of burning about the rocks. The thing was repeated
a number of times and she considered herself to have been visited by spirits."

-William S. Simmons

* * *

When the visitor has arrived- the second omen- the time has come to take the Reversed Road, the walk which will take the Witch across the hedge in his or her subtle form, just as the initial walk took them across it in their physical or coarse form. This second journey will bring the sorcerer or sorceress together with the Witching or Hexing they need to fulfill their work.

When the walk to make the petition was taken, the Witch walked "left-ways", and memorized four markers- two along the way, and two back. Now, those markers will be used to facilitate the journey as a subtle body or a wraith. This is the "witch flight" or shimmering through the astral that will move the mind of the Witch into a condition where the Other can be met directly and the Witch can receive from it the Hexing.

After the visitor has arrived, the Witch will either be forced to go very quickly- if the visitor was night or lust- or will have time to choose when to take the Reversed Road, through the meeting of any of the other visitors. If the Witch has the luxury of choosing, they should choose to go on the night sacred to the operation (Thursday night for Jupiterian workings, etc.) But any night truly will suffice, and the closer to All Hallows or Walpugis, the better.

At any rate, the procedure is the same: the Witch will retire to a private place with no possibility of disturbance, and lie down. Whispering the backwards prayer, or the salute to Old Hobb, followed by a private address to the Other for aid, they will close their eyes and let their body rest and become relaxed. Sliding down a bit into a state where they begin to feel sleep coming on, they will apply their wits and will halt the "downward slide", and stop in a state that is somewhere between sleep and wake. To go all the way to the unconsciousness of sleep would thwart the Spell being woven.

From that "between" state- the state called Twilight Rest- they will visualize themselves standing up and walking out of their door, and taking the walk again to the Hedge. To aid in this, they use the memorized markers. Visualize yourself walking up to the first marker, and see it in good detail, which will instantaneously "bring" you there. Then go to the next. The next stop, logically, is the Hedge itself.

When you arrive there, cross over, and just a ways beyond, luminous in the dark, will be the Other, in the Masquerade form it took through the Game of Masks. Walk to it, and then release yourself to it- go passive and let your mind become like a mirror which does nothing but reflect the image of whatever the Other says or does. The Other will, through actions or deeds, lead you somewhere or do something that will impart the Witching to you. There is no way to know what it will do, but it will accomplish its task in due time. In such states as this, intensely subjective visions and oneirogogic images will occur without the ability to predict them- which is true to the nature of the Unseen world. One must remain calm and collected.

Sometimes, the Witching may be an object or force that the Other gives to you; seize it and absorb it into your chest, and then walk away, over the Hedge again, and to your third marker, then to your fourth, then back home, to your body in torpor.

John Screecham lies down and moves in Shimmering to the Hedge, using the markers he memorized on his physical walk. Across the Hedge, Dahuc is waiting by a stand of trees. Dahuc takes his antlered cudgel and strikes a tree, forcing it to open, and within, a luminous ball of what seem to be bird's wings and bones and thick, rich soil is waiting, Dahuc takes it and hands it to him. He pulls this strange charm of Witching into his chest and leaves, returning to his slumbering physical body.

* * *

After you have returned, open your eyes and stand. The Witching is now in you- the power to accomplish the goal that the sigil declared. Something of order- your mind and subtle body- plunged into the unformed world, and was changed by it; you have removed something of the unformed world and carried it into the world of order, so it is changed as well- but there are dangers for those empowered with Witching. Certain symbols and substances in this world will destroy the Witching, causing that which you intend to fail.

Crosses- the symbols not only of the church and the light of order, but of the "fourness"- the four corners of the earth and sky or the directions of the world (all signs of order) will destroy the Witching, discharging it and driving it back to formlessness, if you pass too close to one, or pass under a door over which a cross hangs. A five-angled star, a Pentagram, with one point "up" and the other four "downward" will also banish the Witching if you pass too close to one, touch one, or pass under a door or wall upon which one is hung. A hexagram or hex-sign, a six-angled or pointed figure, will do the same. Touching salt or flour will also banish the Witching in you, or water in which salt has been dissolved. Church-yards, ground that has been consecrated to the Christ, will also banish it.

These signs- the cross, the pentagram, or the hex-sign- are traditional warding symbols, intended to keep things of the "Otherness" away. Alone they have power- but they become a thousand times more powerful if a Witch or sorcerer (or some magically potent person) finds a way to use Witching on them, to empower them with a working that specifically drives away witches, sorcery, or wicked spirits.

Yes- witching can be used on them to empower, even though they are symbols of order- but that "witching" power, and the process used to attain it, is different from the witching way described here. These days, you will not have to worry about finding "empowered" crosses or hex-signs, at least not much; at most, people traditional enough to have hex-signs on their barns or crosses over their doors simply hang them for their old associations. But they still have power, and should be avoided. Small crosses worn around the necks of people as mere fashion-statements will not affect you, but a cross of quality hung around the neck of a fiercely faithful person of order, will, so avoid them. It goes without say that, for no reason whatsoever, should you wear a cross yourself, nor an upright pentagram on a necklace or a ring, nor a hex-sign; they will prevent the Witching from entering you.

Also, avoid touching or passing near cold iron, which can sap away power from Witching. The sound of bells- especially church bells- will shake and scatter the Witching power, so try to stay as far from those as you can, though hearing one distantly will not thwart you- or only a little, if it does affect you. The Witching will remain in you until you discharge it or it is disrupted or discharged by some other force.

Go as quickly as you can to a private outdoors place, or a very private, quiet chamber, and better it be a chamber under the earth, if you can manage it- like a cellar or basement. In this place (and it is almost always better outside, and better near a Hedge-place, or a place with the "halo of otherness"), use ashes or a stick to draw a circle in the ground around you, counterclockwise. As you draw it, say, three times:

NONA : DECIMA : MORTA


Then light a candle- or, better- a fire- in the center. Take a parchment or paper and a pen- not a cheap, ball-point pen, but a calligraphy-style pen with excellent ink- and draw a big circle. Do not worry about the perfection of the circle or anything you draw; it must be done by your hand with the Witching influencing you. It does not have to be artistic or even aesthetically pleasing in some particular way. Simply draw the circle on the paper- counterclockwise again- and in the center of that circle, draw the sigil of your will (the same one you placed on the petition.)

Around it, place the sign three times of the planetary ruler of the work. And between those three signs, in the three spaces made, write the name that the Other masqueraded under for this work. This is called the "Sigil-Pantacle."

John, in a circle of ash, near a blazing fire, creates his sigil-pantacle by drawing his sigil in a circle, and placing two Jupiter-seals and one Saturn-seal around it- he is a farmer, and will make his wealth through his land and his farm, which are both parts of the realm of Saturn. Had he been working to protect his home from evil or disasters, he would have done the same- the realm of Saturn deals with the home, just as Jupiter's realm deals with protection from evil powers. John writes DAHUC around the outside, as well, and his sigil-pantacle is done.





In lieu of writing the name of the Other around the pantacle, you may place the sigils of its name around the pantacle.





Once the sigil-pantacle is done, it is time to imbue it with the Witching. Hold it in front of you, close to your face, and gaze into it. The Witching in you must be "spoken" into it. State, with force, the Sevenfold Hexing Charm:

The Word I speak, shaping with the witching in me aye
Lordly in might, the word of the most high:
Firstly divided was darkness from light, night from day,
Secondly divided the waters above from the waters below,
Thirdly divided the earth from the bitter brine,
Fourthly raised were the two great lights of the heavenly vault,
And established the procession of night and day, the wheel of season and year,
Fifth, a plenteous life called from sea, and called into sky:
Sixth, the beasts and reptiles called forth from the land,
And this work of my hand, mine own holy image, receiver of my life and will,
I give now shape and entity.
I charge thee Pantacle, ___; rest not until ____; know my law and thy purpose.
Seventh, now I rest, my words spoken, my Will satisfied,
And this work I do sanctify. So Mote it Be. Amen.



As you say this, you open a "tunnel" through your mouth and throat for the Witching to leave your chest and body and go "into" the Pantacle. In the third to last line, you give the pantacle its purpose, concisely. You need not use both of the statements ("I charge thee" and "rest not until") unless you need to. John Screecham's line was "I charge thee Pantacle, bestow wealth upon me, an excess of money- rest not until I am content; know my law and thy purpose." He leaves the circle of ash by saying "Fiat, fiat, fiat" and walking clockwise around the inside of the circle once and walking away.


The Treatment of the Pantacle

When you are done with the Charm, what happens next depends on the purpose of the Pantacle.

Normally, the Pantacle is rolled up, folded up, and bound shut with a black, white, or red thread or cord, and stuffed into a small bag, to be worn as a charm or carried on the person. It can also be framed and hung in the home, or kept in a box in the home. If the Pantacle was intended to affect the life or mind of another, it must be delivered to them- they must touch it, or it must be placed somewhere near them, whether or not they know about it- hidden in their home or on their property.

To truly "work" on someone else, you must gather something of theirs- they should voluntarily give you something like hair, nail clippings, or a small article of clothing that has been worn often- if they ask you to work on them. If your working is a hostile one against them, you will need to gain something "of them" to wrap in the sigil-pantacle when it is done. The sigil would also have to incorporate their full name.

For instance "MARY SMITH FREE OF ANXIETY" made into a sigil is a good example- with Ms. Smith granting you a small lock of her hair to help in the charm. If you can't get a material link in this way, you can still try the working, but it will be more difficult and of less power. And you would still need to get the pantacle as close to them as possible. Of course, by the time you create a pantacle for "MARY SMITH DEAD OF FEVER", you can be certain that she won't be helping you, so you may have to be crafty- assuming you are big enough of a bastard to do such a thing. Using mommets or poppets is also useful for affecting yourself or others- out of all-natural materials, incorporating parts of yourself or the target person, make a small doll, and sew the empowered Pantacle into the doll, near its heart. Then, deliver it as usual.

Pantacles do not have to be drawn onto paper or parchment- they can be carved into wood or onto objects, especially if they are intended to give that object some power. Once carved into an object or onto wood, and the Sevenfold Charm said over them, the Witching in them is sealed in and safe, just as it is sealed in and safe once it is bound by thread or cord into a parchment-scroll or folded up parcel. The only way to discharge the pantacle or object after that is to destroy it in fire, or cast it into swift running water and leave it there for more than a few minutes- for the running water will carry away the Witching.

Rain, however, will not affect a Pantacle, unless it is a paper pantacle and the sigil is soaked and destroyed by it. The grooves in wood or metal from a carving cannot be washed away by rain- but a swift stream or river will still destroy even a carved pantacle that is immersed in it. Letting a pantacle rot in the earth will also, over time, undo the Witching.

We will discuss, in the final section of this work, that of Wortcunning, how you can burn herbs and plants sacred to the ruling planetary power and allow the smoke of it to cascade over the Pantacle during and after drawing or carving to add more force- and if you are rolling up a parchment pantacle, you can capture fresh herbs of the proper alignment in it, and bind them in, to add to the force of it.

If John Screecham had wanted, he could have carved his sigil-pantacle on a flat, round piece of wood, and colored it in with a mixture of linseed oil and red ochre, or some lamp-black, egg yolk, honey, and gum arabic, making a thick black ink or paint. Hanging that Witched pantacle above the door of his barn, facing his fields, would be ideal. His farm- and his financial fortunes- will likely be turning around very soon.

The simple phrase "PROTECTED FROM EVIL SPIRITS" is fine for a personal pantacle of protection- note how it is phrased in the present tense. Of course, evil spirits or powers are not the only threats one may desire protection from- accidents, hostile spells, and disease are all good things to gain protection from. One thing is for certain: the ancient charm of the Witch Bottle is a good thing for every man, woman, or child to have- and they are easy to make, and work almost indefinitely, so long as they are not discovered or broken. I suggest that all who engage in Witchery of any kind make one- or several- and hide them about.

Take a jar or bottle- it must be glass- that you can close well, and fill it half-way up with broken glass, nails (preferably rusty, old ones), needles, pins, and other sharp things. Then, fill it up the rest of the way with your own urine. Cap it tightly and wax it shut, and bury it somewhere secretly. It creates a mystical "double" of you- your essence in it will attract some or all of hostile sorcery hurled at you, and that Witching will be destroyed by the nails and sharp items in the bottle, and discharged into the earth.


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All Text, aside from given citations, is Copyright © 2009 by Robin Artisson
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