with Christopher Penczak
The Mysterious Craft series is an exploration of advanced topics and experimental materials in the mythos of the Temple of Witchcraft. Born from the Dark Moon Ministerial Gatherings for High Priests and High Priestesses in the Temple, each lesson contained a shorter lecture/discussion introducing the material, and then a ritual vision-working to experience the material directly. The concepts explored are rooted deeply in the work of the Temple Tradition, and seek out the mysteries of the soul, deeper spirit contact and metaphysical evolution and consciousness expansion.
Successful Completion of Witchcraft V is required, or special permission from the Lead Minister of Sagittarius Ministry. If you are not a graduate but feel you qualify for this course, please state your reasons in the application.
Unlike Witchcraft I through V, there is no homework due, or discussion list required. The entire course is given as a whole and students can follow it at their own pace. There is no specific start or end date. Students in the course receive materials when their application is processed and approved. The Temple of Witchcraft Ministerial List is a supplemental place to share experience and questions. Instructor Christopher Penczak is also available for direct, private questions.
Cost: $125
Lecture Descriptions
The following are the fifteen lectures you receive as part of the class, including audio file recording and class notes.
The First Sacrifice of Creation
Sacrifice means to make sacred. Indo-European cosmology often starts with the sacrifice of a divine being to start creation. The divine one is divided into many parts, and the cosmos is thus created from the parts. The first sacrifice is echoed in our all sacrificial myths, including the cosmic sacrifices of Ymir, Tiamat, and Ouranous, to the more terrestrial Osiris, Tammuz, Dionysus to the more human tale of Cain’s brother Abel and the sacrificial king mythos. Seek a deeper understanding of divine sacrifice by exploring the cosmos through this myth.
The Nine Waves of Creation
The Nine Waves of Creation is a reference to Irish Celtic myth, and the nine waves was the distance the invading Milasians were asked to wait out to sea by the Tuatha de Dannan. In the Temple of Witchcraft, it refers to waves of creative energy, and what each successive wave of energy brought about in the universe. The first three waves brought about the gods: the gods of the Upper World, Underworld and Middle World. The next three waves brought the discarnate entities of the three worlds, known as the Angels, Faeries and Spirits Between. The last three waves brought about the incarnate evolutions of beings, including the Stone People, Plant People and the Animal People. We’ll look at this mythos and compare it to the historic timeline found in the work of the C.J. Callerman’s Nine Waves & Mayan Calender book, giving us an intersection between matter and spirit.
The Titians of Witchcraft
Explore the first times, before the gods and stories we are most familiar with, and go back to the primordial. Learn about the non-human entities embodying creation, the first generation of elder gods, what many consider the gods of Witchcraft. We will look at the elder gods from the Sumerian, Egyptian, Celtic, Norse and in particular the Greek Titians. Through this exploration we’ll offer a modern Witches understanding of the titanic, non-human forces at work in our Universe and how to approach them.
The Temples of the Body
Come learn to find the inner realms of your body and the gods of your organs. Through a comparison of correspondences found in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic, and Traditional Greek Medicine, we create a modern modality aligning the organs with the planets and humors, suggesting classic images of landscapes and entities such as the King, Queen, Twins, Warrior and Magician. Commune with the indwelling intelligence of the organs in your body to co-create health and well-being, and get to the spiritual root of imbalance and illness.
The Witch Tree
A common image in Witchcraft and Shamanism is the World Tree. Considered the Axis Mundi, the Pillar of the World, it has parallels with the heavenly ladder of Jacob, world mountain Meru, and the Egyptian Djed Pillar, or Spine of the Sacrificed God. Its most famous images is of the Norse Yggdrasil. The axis is a sign of stability upon which creation revolves. Go deeper into relationship with the Tree, learning the mysteries of feeding the tree and being fed by the tree. Understand how the spirit wells of each realm feed it. Read the sacred letters upon its leaves. Explore its relationship with the Serpent-Dragon of the World. Experience the Nine Waves of Creation that emanate from it throughout the cosmos. Know its various incarnations in the past ages. Understand the dangers to the tree, and how you can bring continuity to the turning universe.
The Divine Twins
The Polarity of Goddess and God, of Mother and Father, is often resolved by the Child of Promise or Child of Light. Often depicted as male, truly the child is all potential, neither and both male and female, and various stories tell of twin brothers, sisters, siblings, lovers and enemies. It is the seeker and the seeking, the beloved and the beloved, through the interplay of light, dark and all the possibilities in between. Explore the mystery of the divine twins through the myths from Egypt, Greece, India, Mesopotamia, the British Isles, Christianity and modern Witchcraft. Understand what it can mean cosmically, and what it means to us personally on the path of magick.
The Guardian of the Sphinx
The Sphinx is a mythic figure popularized in Egyptian and Greek lore. Magician’s look at the Sphinx as the guardian of the Powers of the Magus and keeper of the Witch’s Pyramid of the four fold principles To Know, To Will, To Dare, and To Be Silent. Learn to work with the Sphinx as guardian and teacher in the occult traditions, and the many permutations of the four fold way. Also learn more about the Temple of Witchcraft’s particular history and unusual teachings on the Witch’s Pyramid.
The Pyramids of the World
A ritual drawn out of the work of the Mighty Dead, specifically the four holy orders of the Kings, Queens, Priestesses and Priests, anchoring energy, matter, space and time. By aligning with the four “corners” of the globe, we work with the inner plane adepts to align the world with the cosmos, and receive the clear flow of celestial blessing. We shall look at the history and speculation of the pyramid traditions found across the globe, and their own alignment with the stars and land.
The Four Hearts of the Earth
The center is everywhere and the center is no where, but in our journey to the underworlds, we might encounter four specific zones, four sides to the underworld pyramid, or four chambers of the deep heart of the world. There is the heart of minerals, the heart of plants, the heart of animals, and the heart of mystery. They keep the dream of the world and the sustain the heart of the anima mundi, the soul of the world.
The Temple of the Black Flame
In times of trouble in our homes, community, nation and world, we often seek to blame the “other” for all ills of the world, a story with which Witches are intimately familiar. Yet if all are things are thoughts within the Divine Mind, all is within Divine Order and there can be no true “other.” Still we fear and blame. We seeks this mystery of paradox through the Ebony Temple of the Desert and seek the flame that radiates iridescent and ultraviolet light to see what is invisible and other in the world and in ourselves.
Vision of the Four Aeonic Orders
Beyond the Orders of Kings, Queens, Priestesses and Priests, we seek the adepts of the cosmos, who turn the Mill of Time upon which the Aeons spins. Through visionary journey, we witness and seek to understand the turning of the adepts of Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Scorpio. Through their work, we see the Great Year and the Yuga Cycle, and better understand our current place, time and magickal work.
The Secret Fire
Traditions tell us there is a secret fire, a hidden flame of starlight within all things. Those on the path of mystery seeks to release and refine the spark to illuminate the world. The alchemical vitriol releases the the true potential of the prima materia to become the elixir of life. This light is important to the Witch, who is empowered by a particular holy flame that rises from the blood. The witchfire is the light that burns in the Phosphorous Grove of the Mighty Dead, the lantern of the wandering hermit, and the mysterious fire the flows and water that burns within the grail. It is the secret fire under many names that we serve.