Description
The Mysterious Craft series is an exploration of advanced topics and experimental materials in the mythos of the Temple of Witchcraft. Each lesson consists of an audio .mp3 lecture and guided working from High Priest and Founder Christopher Penczak, along with written notes as a .pdf. 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. The entire course is given as a whole and students can take it at their own pace.
Lecture Descriptions
The following are the lectures you receive as part of the class, including audio file recording and class notes.
The Bornless Rite of the Witch: Made popular by Aleister Crowley and the traditions of Thelema, the Bornless Rite is also known as Knowledge and Conversation of your Holy Guardian Angel or the Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage. It is the task of communing with and ultimately embodying your Higher Self, your Watcher Soul, in every thought, word and deed. In the Temple of Witchcraft’s adaptation of the rite, we use the Baghai Rune of Witchcraft to raise energy as our barbarous words, and invoke the Watcher to gain greater mastery over the self in all three worlds and all four directions.
The Rites of the Green Devil: Though most pagans do not subscribe to the concept of sin, we live in a society that does. To fully embrace a magickal life, we must heal ourselves of this first wound. Join us in a ritual journey to evoke the Green Devil, the dark side of nature and the shadow of the Green Man to return to the Garden of the Gods. As master of the plant spirits, experience the gnosis and healing of our green allies as we experience the seven keys to hell and become free from their “deadly” sins. Through the use of herbs through anointing, ingestion and inhalation, traverse the underworld and find the emerald heart of the Earth. Renounce original sin and find redemption in the Green God’s embrace. Reading the Green Devil Ritual in The Plant Spirit Familiar will help you gain all the necessary tools.
The Weaver of the Web of Three Wheels: The Goddess as the Weaver creates the world upon three looms – the Loom of Wyrd, or Fate, is the one associated with magick and witchcraft in most cultures. It is the Wheel of Fortune turning up and down with the tides of the Moon. The second is the Wheel of Ma’at, of Justice, working with the cosmic forces of balance. Lastly is the Wheel of the Way, of the Tao or Judgment, flowing with the strands of divinity directly from the Goddess and God. Explore how to walk upon all three wheels, how to stand in the center and weave your own fate with the Goddess’ guiding hand, like a spider spinning its own web.
The Enochian Aethyrs: Explore the concept of the Enochian Aethyrs pioneered by John Dee and expanded by Aleister Crowley. A system of dividing in the universe into thirty dimensions, or aethyrs. Each is accessed by a specific “call” in the Enochain language, whereby one can receive a “vision” or understanding of it and a “voice” or message. Scrying the Aethyrs can be a test to understand your own level of spiritual initiation upon the Tree of Life.
Awareness, Empathy & the Void: Deepening The Three Rays: Deepen your understanding and experience of Power, Love and Wisdom through specific techniques designed to expand and evolve your awareness. As consciousness must be crafted, these methods help us develop our awareness to ourselves, others and the universe. The Red Ray focuses on the awareness of body, sensation and thought and the ability to split awareness while maintaining focus. The Blue Ray focuses on empathy for another, and understanding their perspective. The Yellow Ray focuses upon No-Thing and Non-Being, through an exploration of the Void.
The Court of Aroxana: Aroxana is the Faery Queen and Matron of the Temple from our Elphame allies. Invite her into your life and magickal practice by entering the courts of the Fey and dancing with her and her brethren. Faery allies are known to give blessings of healing, luck, poetry, music and magickal skill to those they favor. Make offerings and give thanks. Strengthen your relationship with the Arch-Fey of the Deep and work your magick together for the evolution of the world and the restoration of the Garden of the Gods.
The Singer and the Song: As the Lady is both the Weaver and the Web, the Lord is the Signer and the Song that reverberates upon the Web of Creation. He is the logos, the first word of creation. He directs the Oran Mor, the Song of Life within which we each have a part. We each seek to utter our own Word of the Magus in harmony with the Word of the Aeon. Lay the groundwork to understand that powerful experience. Work within the Song and make an ally of the Great Singer.
Webs of Power and Meditating Energy Unconditionally: Advance your ritual technique by learning how to weave webs of power from the sacred directions to the center. Connect the four elements and three worlds not just through evocation and visualization, but through strands of power. Learn to mediate this energy unconditionally, for a higher good that is often unknown to us consciously, and infuse objects of power to be agents of change within the world.
The Eight-Fold Lord: A special exploration of the male aspect of divinity. In the Temple of Witchcraft we usually divide the God into two aspects, bright and dark, holding open the gateway. In the turning of the Wheel of the Year, we also have four Horned Gods (Ram, Bull, Stag and Goat) and four Agricultural Gods (Jack of Frost, Green, Corn and Lantern). Meet with the eightfold god who turns the Wheel.
The Phosphorous Grove and the Lady of Flames: Enter into the Phosphorous Grove of the Mighty Dead. Known by many names – Witchdom, the City of Pyramids, The Assembly, Shamballa – and explore the mysteries of Those Who Promised. Ruled by the Lady of Flame who voice is the mystery in the heart of lightning. Learn secret connections and gain valuable information from the light of the fire.
The Lord of Three Faces: An initiatory vision working drawn from Christopher’s Book The Mighty Dead. In this working, meet with the Master of Witches, the Lord of Three Faces at the Eternal Sabbat within the Phosphorous Grove. Seek his ways and deepen your connection to the nation of Witchdom and those who dwell in it.
Demons of the New Aeon: Goetia is the grimoire tradition of summoning and binding the seventy-two spirits of King Solomon, putting them to good use and thereby preventing their mischief. Goetia can be considered an aspect of shadow work, dissecting the shadow into its component parts. Learn a new and complimentary system goetia for modern practitioners living in the modern world, based upon the number of chaos, twenty-three, and the hidden paths of the Tree of Life.
The Assembly of Archangels and Watchers: Work with both the Archangels of the Heavens and the “fallen” angels known as the Watchers or Grigori. Understand their complimentary relationship of spirit and matter through the Tree of Life and the myths linking the Watcher Angels to those who practice the ways of Witchcraft. Call upon both orders of Angels for lessons and guidance.
Triple Soul of the Planets: Just as each of us has a tri-part self – the Namer, the Shaper and the Watcher – also known as the Middle Self, Lower Self and Higher Self, every conscious being is triple in nature, including the planets. When unified, they create the complete “divine self.” Learn the lore associated with the planets from the Pagan and Grimoire Traditions unconsciously divides these entities. Topics will include the planetary spirits, angels, demons and the deities they conjointly create.
Soul Crafting: (No audio available, just class notes for this lecture.) Ancient traditions believe that human beings possess not one soul, but multiple souls, each embodying a different part of consciousness. Belief in soul anatomy can be found in the writings on the Celts, Saxons, Egyptians, Hebrews, Voudouns, Siberians and Hawaiians. Healing and empowerment involved the balance and harmony of all the souls. Part of the work of the mystic is to forge the Soul Body, unifying the parts into the magickal vessel of consciousness that transcends death. Explore the soul crafting found in the traditions of the Witch, including the development of the Fetch, the Faery Lover, and Alchemical Marriage, Overshadowing and the Soul Gate.
