“and I am that which is attained at the end of desire”

This is the last in a series of blogs I am have decided to do, providing textual analysis for the ritual prose known as The Charge of the Goddess.  Each quotes a section of material which I presented, with my co-author David Rankine, in the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings.  For your convenience, all posts on this subject has been tagged with “charge analysis” here on my blog, and I ask that comments and other remarks be posted directly onto the original blog http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=1000 — keep comments to the lines discussed in this blog only please (there are separate blog entries for the rest!)

The following lines from “Let my worship be within … ” through to “end of desire” at the end of the Charge are prime examples of material taken from the work of Aleister Crowley into the Charge.  It clearly shows how Doreen Valiente’s claims to have taken as much of the Crowley material out of the earlier version of the Charge (known as “Lift up the Veil”) is flawed.  As we put it politely in Wicca Magickal Beginnings:

“The Lift Up the Veil charge was clearly pre-Valiente, as she was not initiated until 1952/3.  Valiente claimed that she rewrote the Lift Up the Veil charge to produce the Charge of the Goddess, removing Crowley’s influence, as she put it, “cutting out the Crowleyanity as much as I could”[1] However, as you will discover this is simply not true, as most of the material used in the Charge of the Goddess draws from material published in The Aradia, Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland and from a variety of original works by Aleister Crowley – with a few additions from the Golden Dawn and Christian liturgy.”

[1] The Rebirth of Witchcraft, Valiente, 1987

This then casts some serious doubts on Valiente’s claim to authorship – because, if she was being honest she seems to not be aware of the fact that there is so much NEW material of Crowley in this Charge of the Goddess, or if she was the “author” of the piece, she is clearly trying to cover up for the fact that she was plagiarising so much of it from Crowley – and as illustrated by the origins of so much of Wiccan liturgy attributed to Valiente, it seems to more often be the case that she was confused about who wrote the material she claimed for herself, as most of the key pieces can be seen to derive directly from key texts by Aleister Crowley, from Christian texts and even from a couple of texts from literary Satanism!

What follows is an extract from Wicca Magickal Beginnings showing the origins of this last part of the Charge:

“Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth, for behold:”

The line “heart that rejoiceth” could be taken from Crowley’s Vision and the Voice, though it is not a unique phrase so this may be coincidence.

“all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals; “

More from the Law of Liberty, here emphasising the sexual and sensual components of magickal ceremony in a very Crowleyan manner, “Remember that all acts of love and pleasure are rituals”

“and therefore let there be Beauty and Strength,

Power and Compassion,

Honour and Humility, Mirth and reverence within you.”

The reference to “beauty and strength” could be from Liber Al (AL II.20) or may be coincidence.  The rest all seems to be original, though it may have been inspired by “let there be Harmony and Beauty in your mystic loves, that in us may be health and wealth and strength and divine pleasure according to the Law of Liberty”; words spoken by the Deacon during the Gnostic Mass, another of Crowley’s works.

“And thou who thinkest to seek me, know that thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou know the mystery,

that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee,

thou wilt never find it without thee, for behold;

I have been with thee from the beginning,

and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

The inspiration here comes from Crowley’s Liber LXV, lines 59-60, “But I have called unto Thee, and I have journeyed unto Thee, and it availed me not. I waited patiently, and Thou wast with me from the beginning.”

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, all rights reserved.

Comments welcomed at http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=1000

Order a signed copy of Wicca Magickal Beginnings for £14.99 (with free P&P worldwide)

Interview on WITCHTALK

For those of you with an interest in the Seven Deathless Powers, that is the Seven Classical Planets which have governed the magic and myth of so many cultures throughout the generations all around the world, I will be speaking to KARAGAN at WITCHTALK Radio this evening about The Seven Wandering Stars & Magic.  More information can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchtalk

If you join the interview live this evening you can join in the discussion in the chatroom and ask questions live whilst the interview is happening… I hope you will be joining us this evening, when I will be speaking from under the beautiful starlit sky here in Wales …

Here’s the Blurb:~
“The influence of the seven Wandering Stars, or Deathless Powers of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn has shaped the development of magick for many thousands of years. Their influence can be seen permeating many of the modern Western Esoteric Traditions, who are the inheritors of the wisdom and knowledge passed down through the aged. From Ancient Sumeria, to the Greeks, The Romans, the early Qabalists, the medieval and Renaiisance Grimoire Magickians through to the Victorian Occult Socities, through to Wicca and many of the other modern pagan revivalist traditions.  Sorita d’Este is the author of 15 books related to western occultism, mythology and magick, with subjects spanning the Western Esoteric Traditions, including British Folklore, European Mythology, Qabalah, the Wiccan Tradition and Graeco-Egyptian Magic. She is however, above all passionate about the Seven Wandering Stars, or Seven Classical Planets, and their influence on magic and the development of mythology – and believes that it is an essential factor in successful magical practice.”

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchtalk

A Fool in Haiti

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog will know that I don’t usually promote causes, unless I feel a particular affinity or passion for it.  When it comes to natural disasters, of which there are plenty, the magical and pagan communities usually issue (like all religious communities) a request for prayers and healing for the victims, but few people actually get up and do something about it which would inconvenience them or take up much of their time.

A Fool in Haiti is one of the rare exceptions.  Seani Fool, a facebook friend of mine, has decided to put his money, time and energy where his passion is and go and physically help with the work which is necessary to rebuilt a school in Haiti.   You can find out more about this project by visiting http://www.afoolinhaiti.me.uk/  – please make a small donation if you can, and even if you can’t afford to you can help by helping to raise awareness of his work by passing on the link to your friends, on your own blog or other social networking.

Interview with Karagan

For those who missed my chat with Karagan at WitchTalk @ BlogTalkRadio last night (8 November 2009) you can download it as a mpeg from the website, or listen to it at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchtalk/2009/11/08/Dancing-at-the-Crossroads

We ended up chatting about Hekate, Magic, Paganism and Wicca, Drawing Down the Moon and the Pythia … as well as various philosophies and ideas….

Wiccan Rede reviews PPS!

I woke up this morning to sunshine and beautiful blue skies here in the Welsh borders, and to a postal delivery (does this mean the strikes are over?) which included a parcel from the Netherlands containing copies of WICCAN REDE magazine.  This bilingual (Netherlands & English) magazine is published four times a year by “Silver Circle”  and more information can be found at www.silvercircle.org for those interested in subscribing, or in further information.  Producing this book was one of the most amazing experiences for me as a Priestess, and the end result is something I am very proud of – I hope that copies of this book will continue to find their way to women (&men) who will benefit from the experience of the women who contributed so much of themselves to this project and highly recommend it to anyone embarking on a journey of Priesthood into the mysteries, as well as those already there…

The magazine WICCAN REDE (English / Nederlands quarterly, bi lingual and published in the Netherlands) includes the following review of Priestesses Pythonesses and Sibyls in their latest magazine (Samhain 2009):

“This is not the first book Sorita has edited, and she describes this book as follows:

‘Priestesses Pythonesses Sibyls lifts a veils to reveal the mystery of trance as exerpienced by female magickal practitioners today. Through happiness and sorrow, myth and legend, art and poetry, through ritual and dance each woman expresses her own unique and personal transformative experiences of trance. Whether through trance possession, mediumship, Drawing Down the Moon, oracular or mantic states, dance, dreams or formal ceremony the experiences and knowledge gained during trance states can bring dramatic changes to one’s life. The practices represented in this volume are drawn from the experiences and research of more than twenty women from around the world, each providing a unique vision of their own experiences of the Divine.’

In a time when many of us are looking at ways in which we can experience the mysteries first hand this is an invaluable anthology. Beginning with three essays describing historical figures such as the ‘The Pythia of Apollo in Delphi’ (Caroline Tully) the second part is devoted to recollections of personal experience.

From different traditions the essayists let us peek into their ‘kitchens’. From Katie Gerrard writing from the Seidh tradition, to Marielle Holman writing as a dancer, to Naomi Ozaniec as a Priestess of Isis.

Each has describe their own highlights and sometimes lowlights.

Naomi in fact raises the question of the reason for sharing experiences.

“I now find myself wondering which personal stories to share and what purpose might be gained in their telling. The magical injunction: “to be silent” holds much wisdom since intense personal experience is often too intimate to carry a general significance”

Yes it is a dilemma of our times. When to keep silent? I think that the art is to describe something of an experience, which can serve to inspire others. I certainly found this book inspiring and encouraging at the same time.

———-

For more information on this anthology see Priestesses Pythonesses and Sibyls or visit  the Avalonia website at http://www.avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/titles/priestesses.htm for order information etc. (free P&P worldwide on all Avalonia titles!)

Witchvox Article – Italy, Clavicules & Witchcraft

For those of you who found my previous blog about Italy and Witchcraft interesting, my article ITALY CLAVICULES & WITCHCRAFT is now live on Witchvox.com – see:  http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ukgb7&c=words&id=13573

Feedback and opinions would be most welcome!