The Grande Grimoire of Lady Auriellia

As a Wiccan, your sense of Duty must and will be strong. When you take your first initiation and affiliation to the Goddess and God, you make very solemn and strong vows that you may never break. These vows are the foundation of your life, conduct, and duty.

In these vows, you promise ‘your mind to bring the knowledge and wisdom of the Goddess to all who seek Her; your heart to give love and compassion to any in need; your hands to heal and help all those that you can and to lead all those who seek the Goddess to Her; and your feet to walk the path of the Wicca and to help others to find it.

You can see how duty is born into the life of a Wiccan, and the duties are awesome indeed. But, awesome or not, they are the duties that you have as a Wiccan. And once you have learned to live your life by the Ways of the Wicca and the Wiccan Rede, the duties will be as easy as falling off of a log. It was done without having to think.

But there is an important fact that you must remember. We can help no one in any fashion unless we are asked first. It is strictly forbidden to do anything to or for anyone against their free will.

I’ll give you an example of this, a man that I once knew claimed to be a healer of one of the Far East techniques. He felt that it was his duty to go forth and do his healing on everyone that he came in contact with.

He would wave his hands around people, give people a stone that he felt a kinship with and force his energy into their bodies without permission, and when he had a woman on his ‘table’ he would take it as an opportunity to grope her breasts and other private areas-in the name of ‘healing’.

This man was living proof of the violation of free will. His actions were contrary to the very concepts that we of the Wicca live by. And, oh yes, he claimed to be a Wiccan. It is proof that it takes years to become one, and minutes to look like one.

Conduct is defined by that which is the Wiccan Way of Life. Conduct, by definition, is the manner by which a person presents themselves to others.

It doesn’t matter if you are still inside or out of the ‘broom closet’. Your conduct is directly related to your religion. Also, as a physical representative of the Goddess and God, your conduct is a reflection of them.

But the most wonderful thing that I have found in all of the hundreds of students that I have had over my lifetime is one overwhelming commonality, a student who follows and lives by the Wiccan Rede conveys exemplary conduct. To understand the laws, not to read into them anything other than what they say, is to have a lifestyle pure and content.

One item of conduct, for the neophyte, that is most difficult to undo is in the matter of telling an untruth, a lie. To tell a lie, even to save the feelings of a friend is wrong. We do not have any such creature as the ‘white lie’. For to tell an untruth is to harm one’s self as well as another. Besides, the truth is much easier to remember!

Another facet of conduct is in regard to stealing, we do not steal from anyone. Not even a major corporation, although we know that they will never miss it. You’re not hurting the corporation, you’re hurting yourself. Besides, if you were caught, it would be known that you didn’t have the ambition to find the means to acquire that which you stole. And the world would know that you, as a Wiccan, are untrustworthy.

To steal takes from us the dignity that we prize and quantitatively diminishes the power of our lives and totally nullifies the effectiveness of what we stole.

Lets take an example, this time not a true story but I’m sure it happens all too often, of a young Wiccan just beginning her life on the Path…

One day, Suzi, was talking to her friend who had introduced her to the ways of the Wicca. Well, Suzi’s friend wasn’t all that knowledgeable herself and told Suzi that without the basic tools, she couldn’t go any farther in her learning. Needless to say, Suzi was in a state of panic.

The next day Suzi went to a Flea Market and saw a beautiful double edged knife, and remembering what her friend had said, waited until the shopkeeper wasn’t looking, and took the knife. When Suzi got home and took the knife to her altar, the knife got very cold and felt negative. It didn’t belong there. Why? When Suzi stole the knife, with the intention of it being used as a tool in her worship of the Goddess and God, the knife itself took on a negative aura, or energy. It could never be used for the purpose that she had intended, ever.

What about the shopkeeper? Consider that he had put a price of fifteen dollars on the knife. Now consider that his daughter was very sick and he needed only another fifteen dollars to buy the medicine to make her well. When Suzi stole the knife, it deprived the shopkeeper of the sale that would have saved the life of his daughter. In essence, Suzi killed the little girl.
This was very dramatic, but illustrates the chain of events when you do something that you know that you are not supposed to. Unlike the psychics of Hollywood fame, we are unable to know the consequences of our actions. So our conduct must reflect the purity of our thoughts and intentions.

This brings me to another facet of conduct. That which is obvious to everyone that we come in contact with, that which makes us so obvious to each other. This is the altruistic passivity that veritably glows from the Wiccan. But still, The Wiccan seems to be like any other person, it is a paradox that I truly enjoy and call it the ‘confusing of the straights!’ It is the prime example of what my grand mother told me when I was very young. She said, “Sylvia, if one perceives one’s self as powerful, then others will concede to one’s power.” You may remember the eyes of the witches and wizards in the movies, how they seemed to glow with menacing stares? Well it’s not like that! It’s more like a confidence that comes from within and looks at the world as if to say: “ I’m great and powerful!”, but all the time as gentle as a lamb. Suffice it to say that it is our conduct and attitude that makes us what we are, and sets forth the image that we wish to project.

“It takes years to become one,
And minutes to look like one!”

‘And It Harm None, Do What Thou Wilt!’ Eight little words, very insignificant to the majority of the people of the world, but to a Wiccan, they are the most important words ever spoken. The very life of a Wiccan revolves around them, every word spoken, every thing that they do, and every thought that they may have is determined by those eight little words that are known as the ‘Wiccan Rede’.
As the phrase at the beginning of this chapter said, ‘It takes years to become one, and minutes to look like one’, are truer than you could ever imagine. Now, I’m not saying that it will take you years to learn what is in these pages, I’m saying that it will take you years to perfect the knowledge within your own life, and to live it properly.

I mentioned that the Rede controls our words, deeds, and thoughts. It truly does, and the reason is that a true Wiccan, one who has affiliated themselves with the Goddess and nature are no longer a mere mortal. They are transformed into a ‘magickal being’. And this is where the BIG difference lies. For an ordinary mortal, a thought is a personal thing. No one else knows what it is, and it could never hurt another thing. The thoughts of the ordinary mortal are as harmful as the petals of a rose. But the thoughts of a true Wiccan can be as dangerous as the thorns on an African Thorn Bush! You see, when you are transformed, you utilize the energies of the universe within your body and mind. Your mind focuses that energy and directs it toward a particular purpose, intended or not. This is the reason that the thoughts of a Wiccan must not harm anything.

This makes learning and living by the Wiccan Rede the most difficult lesson to learn because most, if not all, life patterns must be unlearned and then relearned. The manner of living for the Neophyte, or first initiate, is truly difficult at first. The ethics of their old life keep cropping up and interfering with their new life. It used to be all right to get angry at someone or something and to vent that anger openly. Now, that anger needs to be controlled and rationalized before it can be directed anywhere. This is why the Wicca live by a stricter code of Ethics and Honor than even the most devout Christian ever thought of or even had nightmares of! Why?

First of all, Wicca is a religion of Self Redemption. The members of the common religion can pretty well do what they want, to whom ever they want, and know that they will be forgiven for their ‘Sins’ on Sunday. This is very comforting for them, but not us.

To be Self Redeeming, means to bear the full responsibility for everything that we say or do. If we were to harm another person, there is not a person, place, or thing that we can go to for forgiveness. Even the Goddess herself! Fortunately, as a Neophyte, the little mistakes that you make along the way in your learning have little or no consequences by the simple fact of the level of power that you posses. And will be little or no threat to you or anyone else. Which is a good thing, but, the big mistakes like an intentional attempt to harm another can and does have an affect. This is why you must begin to be cognizant of attitude, emotion, and thoughts. Learn to train yourself to be peaceful in mind and action.

When you have taken your first initiation, you will begin to ’sense’ others of the Craft. You will know them, without knowing them. This is one of the ‘Secrets Which Cannot Be Told’, you experience it. Study the way that they act, their mannerisms, their attitudes. Very seldom will you ever find a Wiccan that acts like a nun or monk, but you will find that they act very differently than others. That is if they are truly Wiccan, but if they weren’t, you wouldn’t feel them would you?

When you ’sense’ a true Wiccan, first look for identifying jewelry and/or tattoos. Make a complimentary remark about them. This will ‘break the ice’. We of the Wicca make friends very quickly, because we are of like minds. You will soon find yourself among the rest of the Wiccan community, one that you didn’t even know to exist. Learn from them, as well as this book. As you learn, you will find the transition to the ways of the Wicca very easy.

The second law of the Wicca is probably the most important one to remember, it is known as ‘The Rule of Three’ or the ‘Rule of Rebound’. It exemplifies the embodiment of Self Redemption.

As you grow within the Craft, the level of power that you posses within you will increase as well. As you begin to cause things to happen by use of this power, you will begin to feel the effects of the ‘Rule of Three’. When you do a good thing, like healing with your energy or with herbs, you will notice that positive energy will almost immediately return to you in any number of ways. But when you do something that you know is bad, it also returns to you on one of many ways. Most of the time, while you are learning, the Goddess, Herself, will ’slap’ your hand and remind you never to do that again. Don’t laugh, it really does happen. Just ask your new friends!

There is a very ancient warning, “Curse nor Hex not be made by thee, for what thou send comes back times three!” I’ll cover this in greater detail in another chapter, but suffice it to say that what you do is revisited, sometimes dramatically.

Let’s take an example of these two aspects of the Rule of Three. First the positive…

Consider, once you have learned the ways of using herbs to heal, you have gathered and purchased the herbs that you need to solve a health problem that causes you a great deal of pain and discomfort. Then a friend of yours is telling you of a problem that she has that is identical to your own and asks you for help with it. With the altruistic nature of a Wiccan, you would consider the health of your friend before your own. You give the herbs to her without question or hesitation, knowing that you will continue to suffer because you don’t have the means to get the herbs again.

By the mere action of compassion that you performed, the means by regaining the herbs to heal your self will come to you. With the Rule of Three, good actions result in whatever you need, will come to you. We have a saying, ‘ The Goddess provides what you need, when you need it. Not a moment before or a moment after.’

Next we will examine an example of the negative aspect of the Rule of Three. This is a true story, and because of this I want to impress upon you the importance of the lesson you are about to learn.
A Wiccan priest that I knew, about fifteen years ago, was by nature a rather hostile driver. He was the kind that would be better off on a road in another country. Anyway, one day he was driving along when an older gentleman cut him off abruptly. This made the priest very angry, and he caused the other driver to veer off of the road and crash into a ditch. The old driver was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the priest was taken to jail.

The older driver lost the use of his legs for the next year and a half. The priest lost his freedom, also for a year and a half. The older driver regained use of his legs and went on with his life, but when the priest was released from jail, the first time he got behind the wheel of his car, he ran off the road and crashed. Unfortunately, he lost the use of his legs, for life.

Because of the anger and emotion that the priest placed into the act, the causation was revisited on him three fold. This is why I can never impress upon you enough the Laws of the Wicca.

Finally, there is one law which is known as the ‘Law of the Goddess’. It states that ‘Love is the Law, and Love is the Bond!’ In Her infinite wisdom, the meaning is as clear as her finest crystal. We show love and compassion toward every living being, and sometimes the dead. We never hate or discriminate. All are equal in our eyes. Black, white, yellow, red, brown, green, gay, lesbian, straight, curved, fat, thin, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, or even a nail biter from Alpha Centauri! As long as their path is true and clear, Blessed Be!

Of all the teachings about the Wicca that I have given to the hundreds of students that I have had, the teachings of the most ancient mysteries have held the most fascination in every student. For it is these mysteries which answer many of the questions that not even modern science can answer. Our beginning is far older than even the primordial swamps of the farthest distant past.

In a time before time, in a place before there was a place, there existed countless races of beings seeking to learn, grow, and evolve the same as we do. These beings live on another plane of existence; a place not much unlike that on which we live, but different, none the less.

But as these beings evolved and reached theirenlightenment and purity, they had no place to evolve to. It was decided by the Elder Gods that a new plane of existence must be created: One of a physical nature so that the beings could be tested and allowed to grow in body as well as in essence.

So the thought was formed into a word. When it was spoken, a glorious explosion occurred, sending forth vast amounts of matter and energy to form our universe, our plane of existence. Science today calls this explosion the ‘Big Bang’ or ‘Event One’. But, regardless what the scientists call it, it still is the Creation by the Elder Gods.

As there must be order in any universe, two of the Elder Gods were chosen to rule this plane of existence. Their names are countless, suffice to know them as the Goddess and God. (In the Celtic they are known as Dana or Diana and Cernennos.) But, the dominion of the Goddess and God was not to go unchallenged.

As light cannot exist without darkness; positive cannot exist without the negative. So it is with the ethereal realm as well. In the ethereal plane existed the primal force of the negative, ones known as the Dark Brothers, a race that’s very existence would make the Christian devil seem like a Sunday school teacher! The Dark Brothers challenged the decision for dominionon our plane of existence, forcing the Goddess to face four trials, or challenges.

She had to pass through four gates, and answer four questions. Each gate and each question and challenge more difficult than the last.

As She passed through the first gate, She was stripped of Her Crown, the symbol of Her Honor and deity. She was asked if She could rule without Honor and position of deity, for without Honor a Goddess is no longer a Goddess. She answered that the Crown is but a symbol, and that Honor is a part of Her essence and could never be taken away. She is a Goddess regardless of the symbol that She may wear. Thus She passed the first trial.

Then as She passed through the second gate, much darker than the first, she was stripped of Her Jewels, which are the stars of Her realm and the lights of the Essences who live there. She was asked how She could rule a realm of darkness, without light. For without light there is only dark, and only light can bring forth life! She answered that there can never be total darkness. If life is hope, then hope brings light. My Jewels are the stars of the universe, indeed, but are also the lights of the lives that dwell there. And life brings light that can never be taken away by you! Thus She passed the second trial.

WhenShe passed through the third gate, very dark with the smell of death, She was stripped of Her Gowns. The Gown carried the lights of the Essences of the beings who had not found her. She was then forced to stand before her inquisitor naked. She was asked,if you must rule eternally naked before your realm, how could you do so without being ashamed and hiding your face? How could those who seek you, accept you as you are? She held her head high and answered, Those who seek me know me by my love. If I must go naked without my Gowns, then those who worship me shall go into a secret place. And in their nakedness, worship me unashamed. Thus She passed the third trial.

Finally, She passed through the fourth and final gate. She beheld a place of horror and death. She was grasped and bound to a pole. The flesh was stripped from her bones. All that She was lay on the ground at her feet. She was asked, how can you rule now? You are naught but bones, as is the dead. All you are fit to rule is the realm of the dead, not the living! She replied that Flesh is transient here in this place. It is that which I am that matters. That which lives shall be reborn! There is nothing that you can do to make me unworthy to rule! With these words, She broke Her bonds and gathered her flesh upon Her. As She passed back through the gates, She regained her Gowns, her Jewels, and her Crown. She faced the Dark Brothers and spoke, ‘Thus I have passed your trials and have proven myself worthy. It is you who have been proven unworthy and must be banished.’

As light cannot exist without darkness, the Dark Brothers could not be destroyed for their acts against the Goddess. So it was decided that they would be fragmented so small as to never cause such concern again. The fragments of the DarkBrothers were placed into the beings whose essence had evolved onto this material plane. The purpose was to further tempt and test the essence of each being. Today, we call our fragment our conscience, or the nagging little voice that tempts us to do what we know not to do. And indeed it does!

I have spoken about the Awakening, and you may or may not have an idea of what it is or might be. To understand this event and its nature, you must first realize that what you know as myth and legend is, for the most part, true. All myths and legends have their basis in fact, not fiction. The legends of the Unicorns, Dragons, Griffins, Rocs, and countless other creatures come to our plane of existence during an Awakening. How?

Every 2,000 years occurs what is known to astronomers as a Grand Conjunction, an alignment of all nine planets with the sun. With the known nine planets, one which is not known of the Arris Star, or dark planet, joins into the conjunction. The Arris Star is the planetary body that was discovered several years ago, keeping an opposite orbit of the sun than our own. It was named, planet X. Anyway, the first and most obvious effect that the conjunction will have on our planet will be physical. Due to the massive gravitational effects, there will be massive tectonic activity, or earthquakes. These reshape our planet and cause massive destruction. Because of the size of the Arris Star, there shall be three days of darkness, due to an eclipse as it moves in front of the earth, blocking out the sun.

But the most dramatic event will be the rifting of the veil. The veil is the barrier between our material plane and that of the ethereal planes, with the exception of the lowest seven. Each time an Awakening occurs, the Elder Gods, the Ancient Ones, and the creatures from the other planes of existence enter this plane.

In the time of the Awakening, the Elder Gods rule our plane of existence. It is the time of spiritual judgment. Most unlike that of the Christians and their Book of Revelations where the deadeat the flesh of the living and everyone who is not a Christian goes straight to hell! Aren’t you glad that they are wrong? No, it is the time of judgment and a celebration of spiritual purity. It is those who have honored nature and its powers who are strongest in the eyes of the Elder Gods. But it is those who have strove to destroy both nature and the races through deceit, dishonor, and greed who will not survive. It is those who must begin again through reincarnation and learning. To harm nature is todo harm to the Goddess.

We have records today which speak of the last Awakening. Even the Christian bible tells of a star in the sky, brighter than any other. This was the light reflecting off of the nine planets from the sun. Cities were engulfed by theseas, rivers leapt from their beds, fertile jungles turned into deserts. The evidence is continuing. Suffice it to say that the Awakening is a time of great turmoil. The only thing that is certain is that as many Wiccans as possible must be made ready for the Awakening. It is the purity of our way that has made the Wicca the oldest living religion on the face of the planet.

One of the greatest mysteries of the Wicca is the same today as it was a millennia ago, it is of the Secrets Which Cannot Be Told!This is what makes us truly Wiccan. The Wicca are not mere mortals, we are aligned with the Goddess and the very forces of the universe. It is through these forces that we receive our abilities to heal, to divine, and to know the unknown, and to see the unseen. It is said that we are those who walk between the worlds, this is true by the energies that we utilize and the powers that we posses.

Once a seeker has undertaken an initiation, either by themselves or into a coven situation, and the affiliation tothe Goddess, (a personal binding), they are no longer the same person. Their body is physically transformed to be able to channel the energies of nature. And they are made ready so that, with training, their very thoughts can become reality. But once a seeker steps upon the path, that seeker is subject to rules that do not apply to mere mortals. The seeker is subject to the very laws of the universe and of magick, and they no longer have the luxury that ordinary mortals have of changing their mind and going to another religion. For once they have made their affiliation, it can never be undone by anyone. It is for life and beyond!

As the Awakenings are the time of the birth and death of religions and cultures, a new religion was born revolving about the birth of a demi-God known as Jesus Christ. Note: a demi God is the product of an unwanted sexual union between a human female and an ethereal entity, in short, a rape.

The original teachings of this being were the same as that of the Elder Gods, one of perfect peace, perfect love, and perfect harmony with nature. But slowly the teachings of this being were changed and altered to fit the needs of certain individuals andgroups. And a new God was being created, one of vengeance and jealousy.

The basic precept of this new religion being Patriarchal, or male oriented, had spread into the entire Mediterranean basin where male dominance had been popular due to the influenceof the leaders known as the Caesars.

The next six centuries passed with the world in relatively co-existing harmony. Most of all of the ancient cultures had vanished, the new religion was creating themselves together with their new God, the Buddahs teachings were gaining popularity in the far east, and the Wicca were content within themselves with only an occasional raid and conquest by the Normans from France. But as peace is a fleeting thing, so was this peace to be broken. In the late 7th century, 683 c.e., the Catholics held a meeting of their religious hierarchy and representatives of the physicians of the time, the meeting was known as the ‘Council of Nicea. It was determined that the members of the matriarchal religions of the world, and any others who didn’t believe in their God, must be controlled and converted for their own good. And that the only ones who were qualified to be physicians were men. An interesting fact because their healing at the time was done with leaches and blood letting! And that the men were the only ones with the intelligence to know what was right for the world and that a woman’s place was to be subservient to the males.

A plan of conversion was quickly instituted and was fueled to furor by the simple changing of one of the lines of their Bible from “Thou shall not allow a poisoner to practice her art” to “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live”! This is Exodus 22:18!

In the meantime, the conversion plan had begun on a world wide basis, the entire Incan civilization, over 3 million people men, women, and children were murdered at the advice of the Catholic priests by Cortez. Two Catholic priests in Germanywrote the Mallus Mallificarum, or Witch Hammer; a book detailing the methods for discovering a ‘witch’, for forcing herconfession, and torturing her until she confessed and converted. Just before she was burned to death! The Holy Crusades left a path of death and destruction across Europeand the Mid-East killing anyone who would not convert immediately. Actually, the ‘Christian Soldiers’ were really hired mercenaries.

In Britton and Ireland, the conversion had to be handled in a different way than in the rest of the world. The reason for this was that the people couldn’t understand why they should give up a religion and way of life that had worked for thousands of years with obvious results for one that had no basis in fact and that they were told that they could only believe, not see. Needless to say, they didn’t convert.

So the Catholic Church began a campaign directedin two ways, first they concentrated on the ‘royalty’, the wealthy leaders of the towns and villages, as well as the kings and queens. As the new religion was popular now with the royalty of Europe, to convert them was easy. Now with this kind of influence, the Catholic Church was able to force the people to convert by order of their rulers and the pain of death. But even still, there were more who refused to convert to the new religion. To convert them, the church began to adopt many of the pagan holidaysfor their own, changing them a little, so conversion would be easy. Besides, if they didn’t convert they were executed as a ‘witch’. With this, began the systematic destruction of temples where the churches of the new religion were built so that some of the old energy could be recognized, the groves and other sacred sites were also destroyed, nearly destroying the Wicca.

But it was when the killings by fire, hanging, drowning, and mutilation that the core of the Wicca went underground. All written recordswere buried or destroyed. All items that could be identified with the Wicca were destroyed, and tools of the craft were made into simple items that were easily disguised and hidden. Very few of the bravest Wiccans continued to practice as healers, for ifthey were caught healing with herbs they were certain to be murdered for being a witch and having sex with Satan, an entity that even today we do not recognize as to exist. So, nearly extinct, a few strong families remained. They became secretive, passingon the ancient knowledge only among themselves, keeping it alive for generations to come when it would be safe again. No longer were they the leaders, healers, or counselors. They were merely very devout families living in mortal fear.

For nearly 1,300 years the persecution and prosecution continued. The murders officially stopped by the beginning of the 18th century, but still continued sporadically after that until 1951 when the last of the Anti-Witchcraft laws were repealed. Finally, we could practice our faith without the fear of prosecution; unfortunately, the reality and threat of persecution remained. But still there began an attempt to resurrect the Craft of the Wise, but far too much time had passed. The Ancient Knowledge, for all intents and purposes, had disappeared. Most of the old families had died off or had been converted by marriage.

This was until scholars such as Gardner, Crowley, and Linder began to search throughout the world for references to the old religion. Through their searching, they found old family grimoires that contained some rituals, recipes, and spells, but never enough to piece together the whole truth. But the search continued. Seekers began to search for the few hereditary families that still remained. But when they foundthem, they were turned away because the old fears still remained. I recall when I was little, my grandmother chasing off one of these seekers. She told me that even though he may have deserved it, she couldn’t give him the knowledge that he wanted. I didn’t agree. But my mother told me that I had to be careful not to speak too openly about my beliefs because as my grandmother said, “the smell of burning flesh is still strong in the nose of the churches”! And she was right. To this day, there are those of the Wicca who are shot at during their rituals, fired from their jobs, and even losing their homes because of religious persecution. I know because I lost a home due to the goodness of a ‘good Christian’. But, how can we expect those of the ‘common religion’ not to be confused and fearful of us, when we are confused about our own beliefs?

And in retrospect to the ‘Burning Times’, we cannot use the past as a weapon for the present. The Jewish use the Holocaust and the genocide of their people for public opinion and to try to erase hate in the world. The African Americans use the 200 year old issue of slavery for public outrage, why I don’t know because it only creates the hatred and the prejudice that they are trying to eliminate.

In the same vane, we cannotuse our past to affect our future. Nothing can be changed, and only further resentment and division can be the result. Crying fire will not bring back my ancestor, Ann Fremont who was burned; and it will not bring back 3,000,000 Incans. The past is the past. It is your future that concerns me.

In the Realm of the Gods, no greater power exists than the Human Spirit.

In the prehistory of humanity, our ancestors crawled out of caves and began to live in huts of their own design. Animals were domesticated for food and labor, the beginnings of agriculture had started by the gathering of wild seeds to be planted near to the village for convenience. Knowledge of nature began to emerge. But an interesting thing had also begun. The fears of the forces of nature began to be replaced with a primeval respect. Something that everyone in the village shared and this was the first spark of what is called today, ‘religion’.

As they began to understand the ways of the land and the fertility cycles of the animals, they placed a mystique to every aspect of nature. They began to look about themselves with wonder and awe, realizing that something or someone greater than themselves, must exist.

The forces of nature around them, was fairly simple. For they had knowledge to change the ways that they planted, or in the way that they bred their animals, but, when they looked upwards into the sky, they no longer had any answers, other than the mystique. So, to the Earth and Her sister the Moon, they gave a feminine aspect.For it is from the Earth that all life arises, and the moon must have some control over the growing. Her grand, glowing, ever changing face held the greatest mystery of all; so unto the moon was given the position of ruling feminine deity, or Goddess. And it was She who ruled over nature.

High in the sky, a grand golden orb rose to greet them each morning, warmed them through the day, and slowly sank in the evening as if to say ‘I am also tired, the time has come to rest’. To the glowing orb was given the masculine, for they knew that without the warmth and light, life would not survive. To the sun was given the deity form of God.

This was the time when our mythology began, approximately 10,000 years ago. You may say that a form of religion existed long before that, and you would be right, it did. But, what existed was not a religion, per se’. It was more of a fear manifestation. The humans of 25,000 years ago knew that the flashes of light from the sky could kill them, so they feared it and worshipped itit to keep the light from striking them down. It was fear and not deity that they worshipped. It wasn’t until 10,000 years ago that the concept of true ruling deities began to unfold. Strange and unknown knowledge began to emerge to the early humans. Knowledge of Goddess’ and Gods, knowledge of agriculture and metals; but they didn’t know where it came from, except from the Gods themselves, which is indeed, where it came from.

As these early humans evolved in their capacity for knowledge, the Elder Gods made their presence known to them. The knowledge of these Elder Gods was imparted to the ones who were best suited to wisely use the knowledge. They became the tribal leaders, healers, and teachers. These humans were known as the ‘Wise Ones’ and their ways were known as their ‘Craft’. Much the same as the ways of metal working were the craft of the Smith. So the leaders, healers, and teachers were known, by their art, as the ‘Craft of the Wise’ or in the ancient Ogham as the Wicca.

The males of the Wicca were known as the ‘Witta’, the females as the ‘Wicce’. As the feminine forces of nature were known to be the driving force and the source of fertility, it was the Wicce who were the predominant leadership. The Witta were the hunters, farmers, and balancing force within the village. It was the Wicce and the Witta who were the beginning of what we know today as the Wicca, or the ‘Craft of the Wise’.

From the earliest time that the Elder Gods made their presence known to the Wicca, and taught them their knowledge,the bond was made between the humans and the Elder Gods that a time would come at certain intervals that the Elder Gods and the ones who stood with them, the ‘Ancient Ones’, would return to this earth to teach and judge the purity of the users of the knowledge. The name that was given to this returning is that of the ‘Awakening’. The Awakenings occur every 2,000 years.

In this dim past arose cultures known as the Erse and braiding, known today as the Irish and British. Combined they were known as the Celts. As the Celtic culture grew, they began to build wondrous temples and worship sights to the Elder Gods. Very few of them remain today, but the most famous is Stonehenge in Salisbury England. Each of these temples had several things in common. First they were set as a kind of calendar. Stonehenge as an example clearly is set so that the sun appears between a particular Trigolith at the time of a ‘Sabbat’ at dawn. Second, each temple was a sacred burial site for the Celtic leaders. The ‘Kings and Queens’ were buried facing the east, the direction that the moon and sun arose. Third, they were a place of permanent power and energy. Within these temples, the Elder Gods and Ancient Ones were called for knowledge and protection. It was a place where the very forces of nature were called upon for many uses, (the same as the Circle that we use today). Finally, the temples were the place of worship to the Goddess and God.

As the population of the Celtic culture increased, many of them began to spread through the world, as it was then. Some went into Europe and Northern Europe, others into the Mediterranean Basin, the Mid-East, and North Africa. The ancient knowledge of the Elder Gods and the Way of the Wicca were taught to the cultures that existed at the time. Translating the knowledge, these cultures took the images of the Goddess and God and gave them their own identity that fit their own particular cultural ideals, while maintaining the original knowledge. Just a few of these cultures were the Norse, Roman (which partially remains today in the form of the ‘Strega’), Greek, Catherian, Chaldean, Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and many more. Of course all this was done between 8,000 and 4,000 BCE, and continued beyond. These cultures molded and shaped the knowledge knowledge so as to be best understood by the people of the culture. But as human nature is, some of it was changed so as to be corrupted for the personal gain of a few. Some changed it as to attempt to control the Elder Gods themselves. Some only utilized the dark side of the ancient knowledge. For a time, these cultures prospered and other cultures were born out of them; each creating their own form of religion from the ancient knowledge. But with each Awakening, these cultures ceased to exist. Only the original Wicca continued to survive, unchanged.

By the time of the Awakening at 0 c.e., (c.e. stands for ‘common era’), very few of the ancient cultures remained intact. Mostly fragmented and scattered, the survivors of these cultures wandered among the civilizations of the time. The most notable, of which, was the survivors of the Catherian civilization. The Catherian and Sumerian cultures were quite similar in their religious philosophies, in that the knowledge was utilized in a more scientific manner. The Sumerian culture had vanished without any trace except minor ruins, except the Catherian began a rebirth of their culture, this time to be known as the Hebrews.

At this time, there were ‘tribes’ and villages of the remnants of the ancestors of the Celtic Wicca who had migrated into the region. These were known at the time as the ‘Other People’. They were mostly shunned at the time because of the fear that the destructions from the Awakenings had left, even though they had nothing to do with it. As the Hebrew culture had very few members, they were forced to intermarry with the ‘other people’ in order to survive. And this is how their rebirth succeeded. (It must be noted that this actually took place about 2,800, b.c.e.)

Since the earliest dawning of humanity, humans have known, in one form or another, religion. From the earliest systematic and symbolic religions who left their legends painted on the walls of caves, to the organized religions of the world today.

Most of the religions in the world today utilize the energies of the universe and nature to realize the completion of their worship and the work that they are trying to perform within that worship. Energies that carry the name of Magick!

But who do these people worship that they are able to utilize such forces and energies? They worship a Goddess and a God. Sure they have different names wherever you may go in the world, but one thing is constant, the Ethereal forces.

Of all of the religions that have been born over the last 25,000 years, only one has lived and remained the same as it was for at least 10,000 years. That is of the Wicca. Certainly, there has been a lack of interest for the last 1,300 years or so, but that has been due to the attempted genocide of the religion.

Now, how is it that anyone would try to exterminate an entire religion? I’m sure that the Jewish peoples and the descendants of the Incan civilization are asking themselves the same question. As well as I do when I remember some of the stories that were told to me by my grand mother, especially when she told me of the burning of one of my ancestors, Ann Fremont, in 1693 on April 12th!

The answer is prejudice, unremitting hatred for anyone that doesn’t believe the same as another. It caused the deaths of over 9,000,000 men, women, and children over a period of 1,000 years! And that is very frightening since the average size of a large city at the time was about 5,000 residents! And it was all done inthe name of a new religion, not the ravings of a madman as in the case of Adolph Hitler. This had the blessings of an entire religion! There was even an instruction book written by a pair of Monks in Germany, the ‘Mallus Malificarum’, which gave directions on how to discover a ‘witch’, how to use the best methods of torture to gain a confession, how to make her convert to their religion, and which method of death would be best utilized for public opinion. Now, the leader of the new religion hadn’t given an official blessing for this ‘manual of death’, but the monks had forged the proper names and made it the most deadly ‘how-to’ book ever written.

Time has passed and the past is all but forgotten. With the final laws against the practice of ‘Witchcraft’ finally repealed in 1951, the followers of the Wicca were able to practice their religion in the open. Years before this, several scholars had tried to piece together as much knowledge of the ancient old religion as they could. Alas, very little remained forthem to find, as the ones from 1,300 years before destroyed most of the written records to avoid prosecution and death.

Many books have been written on the subject of the Wicca, from the pieces that were gleaned. But none had all of the knowledge, until now. From generations of mother to daughter and father to son lives the true ancient knowledge of the Wicca. It is very different than what you are accustomed to, and will make you rethink many things.

Know this well dear reader, light can never exist without darkness. And to know only half of a knowledge, is to know no knowledge. I give to you the ‘Grand Grimoire’.

Blessed Be!

My child; and yes, you are my child. I am your teacher. I am your Spirit Mother. And I am your High Priestess within the pages of this book.

It will be through my words that you will learn and grow into the Wiccan that you always wanted to be, and were meant to be. My only regret is that I will not be there with you with each success that you have, and the wonderful feelings that will overwhelm you at your first affiliation with the Goddess.

Even though I have taught at a University, and given Seminars across the country, I am not accustomed to teaching large groups. I always do my best teaching one on one. So as you traverse the pages of this book, know that I am speaking to you and you alone. Consider yourself my only student.

Now, the chances are that you have read many books on the subject of Wicca in your search. And one or two have told you that you have gone as far as you could when you finished the book, I’m sorry to say that you have only just begun. But don’t worry, I’ll take your hand and lead you through it.

My child, even though we have never met, I love you and will protect you each step along the way. So step boldly upon the path without fear or concern, with free will, and with perfect love, and perfect trust.

Lady Auriellia
High Priestess
Sacred Circle Coven