The Red Meal: The Housle

It is a common part of many religious traditions to partake in a small, sacrificial meal at the end of the rite or ceremony. We, too, participate in a Eucharistic tradition of imbibing en-spirited wine and consuming en-spirited grain as representations of sacrifice needed for the magic we have performed. In many witchcraft traditions, this…

The LBRP for AFW Witches

Our variation of the LBRP is influenced by Aleister Crowley's Star Ruby ritual (itself an adaptation of the LBRP).  It uses forms of the Red God (the Witchfather) and the Black and White Goddesses in place of the traditional Hebrew names of God.  It also replaces the Archangel guardians with the four Watchtowers or Castles…

Liber Qayin — complete text

In the summer of 2013, as we headed into Lammas, Natalie and Laurelei received this work. It is a channeled gospel given to us freely. Though we have made available printed versions of this text, we feel strongly that it needs to be publicly available to those who need it. (c) 2013 Asteria Books The…

The Watchers

The Watchers, or Grigori, are ancient angelic beings associated with stellar lore that watch over witches. They are sometimes envisioned as the Watchtowers of the witch’s circle. In the stellar cults of Mesopotamia there were fourstars known as Lords or Watchers. Each of these stars “ruled” over a cardinal point of the compass, circa 3000…

The Line of Cain

Are Cain, Tubal Cain, and Azazel the same entity?  Yes!   And no... Cain, Son of Eve Cain/Qayin is the son of Eve through the serpent, Ha-satan. In Genesis when Eve says "I have begotten a man with the Lord" she is referring to Lord Satan-Lucifer.  His brother Abel was the son of Adam and…

The Alraun

We have discussed the calling and uses of familiars -- both corporeal and incorporeal -- before, but there is another kind of familiar that bridges the gap between the two forms.  This is the ancient magical talisman known as the alraun. Alraun by Paul Huson The alraun is a root that has formed in a…

Widdershins, Sunwise, and Calling the Circle

Because we have set out to make this a family tradition, sometimes our daughter comes to us with questions that we have taken for granted.  Earlier this week she asked us about what widdershins means and what it is used for. Widdershins (sometimes withershins, widershins or widderschynnes) means to take a course opposite the apparent…

Familiars and Familiar Spirits

Woodcut depicting witches giving the names of their familiars. Witchcraft, as we have said before, is a kind of survival or revival of ancient European shamanism.  Just as shamans work with totemic spirits and spirit guides, so do we work with our familiars and familiar spirits. A familiar is a creature that regularly helps a…

Treading the Mill

Once you have the compass laid, it is time to begin the magical work. But how does one act when in the circle?  In Wicca movement is always clockwise 'round the circle, but in Traditional Craft movement can be deosil or widdershins, depending on the rite.  Also there is a particular form of movement by…

Witch Marks, Witch Blood, and the Kuthun

Witch Marks Some witches are born with a special mark upon them that singles then out as a person gifted with power.  Some traditional variations on this mark include: a specially shaped birthmark, a supernumerary nipple, polydactylism, red hair, extra teeth, and being born with a caul (a portion of the birth sac over the…

The Triple Soul

In our tradition, as in many world shamanic traditions, we recognize that all living beings are born into this world with three souls. These three souls correspond to the triple colors of witchcraft. The first soul is the Black Soul, or spirit.  It is our astral body, and is capable of traveling beyond this world…

The Ancestors

The most important link that a witch makes is the one that links her to the ancestors of the tradition.  This link is the Red Thread.  Once made it cannot be severed except by the will of the witch alone.  It is this link that creates a witch in our tradition.  It is the link…

Who the Hel is Robert Cochrane?

Robert Cochrane [26 January 1931 - 3 July 1966] was the pseudonym of a British Traditional witch named Roy Bowers who worked his Craft around the same time as Gerald Gardner was promoting and developing Wicca. Cochrane created a stir of controversy when he denounced what he called "Gardnerian" Witchcraft as a false or watered-down…

Meet the Magister

For some time now, members of the coven have been suggesting that we should introduce ourselves, so folks can get to know us, our interests, and areas of study. I'll leap in and hopefully others will follow. I'm relatively new to traditional witchcraft, but I've been studying and practicing esoteric subjects since the early 1980s.…

Indy Pagan Pride Day

  On Saturday, September 29, 2018 Crossroads Coven participated in the 21st Annual Indy Pagan Pride Day!  We had an info booth, did some workshops, and held a public ritual in honor of The Season of the Witch!  The weather was perfect, and we had a great time!  If you missed it or are unfamiliar…

Spider Messages

Consider the future you are weaving. Does it include your biggest dreams? -Spider While Spider is not one of the monthly totems of the AFW Tradition, it still has much to teach us about life. Spider Traits Patience Receptivity Fate Creation/Creativity Engineering/Construction Connections Language/Alphabets Choices   Spiders are to be found all over the world,…

Luciferian Heresy

You may have read that our Tradition practices the Luciferian heresy and wondered "What is that?" The Luciferian heresy is, in a nutshell, the idea that Lucifer and other fallen angels are the helpmates of humankind rather than "tempters" or "punishers". The apocryphal Book of Enoch details how certain angels chose to fall to earth…

Traditional Coven Officers

There were several "old traditional" offices of a coven. Here are the ones that I am familiar with. Witch Queen: Headline of many covens. Has raised successful practicing Dames and/or Magisters. Marked by a crown. Witch King: Headline of many covens. Has raised successful practicing Dames and/or Magisters. Marked by The Grand Array. Dame: female…