The Devil's Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One

The operations of magic and witchcraft deal with the hidden worlds of spirit and the powers innate within the natural world; within plant, stone and magical loci. The 'Old One', who in folk tradition is often named 'The Devil' embodies both the 'rend in the veil' and the spanning bridge between the worlds of the material and spiritual, the revealed and the hidden. It is through union with this entity that witches and folk magicians gained access to the powers that reside within the hidden realms and the natural world, and could awaken the potent fire within. In traditional folk belief, the Devil existed also as an embodiment of the chaotic forces of nature; a belief quite distinct and separate from that of the Church with its 'Satan' figure. To the witch, he might also represent the 'darker' aspects of the divine; the keeper and the revealer of the divine light, the psychopomp guide of souls, and the sentinel at the threshold unto the mysteries of death and the Otherworld. Something, it would seem, of the 'elder divinity' and the old 'spirit of the wild' has lingered through to the present; permeating regional faery lore, the calendar of ritualistic seasonal folk-customs, and traditions attached to ancient landscape features. The themes of untamed, wild nature; its freedom, its spirits, its power and its magic, so repugnant and threatening to the Church, were grafted onto the diabolical; affording yet greater preservation of the Old One for those who sought to stray from the path of limitation and conformity, and tread instead the hidden ways of the witch and magician. Historical witch-lore records varied rites of initiatory contact, via which the worker of magic and witchcraft entered into a close, working relationship and union with the Old One and the spirit world. Via such union, would the ways unto curing ailments, exorcising ill influence, the attainment of desires, and the destruction of the oppressive be known, and the old artes of the circle, the spirits, the knotted cord, the pierced candle, the witch-bottle, the magical image and the spoken, inscribed and herbal charms be mastered. From this wellspring of inspiration 'The Devil's Dozen'; a modern 'gramarye', or 'black book' of thirteen Craft rites of the Old One has been created and is offered by a present day initiate of the 'Old Craft' Within its pages there are to be found thirteen rites - for both the 'lone' practitioner and the assembled companie - of vision, sacred compact, dedication, initiation, consecration, empowerment, protection, illumination, union, transformation and devotion. 'They are my own creations all; given in hope that they may provide usefulness or inspiration, and each a personal offering of devotion unto the starlit and smoking altar of the Old One' (from the introduction).

About the Author :
Gemma Gary; writer and devoted practitioner of the Arte Magical. Gemma lives and works in the far west of Cornwall; a land rich in ancient sites, folklore, seasonal customs and magical tradition. Gemma possesses a longstanding interest in the operative 'old style' witchcraft, folk magic and 'cunning' traditions of her home landscape and beyond. She pursues a personal, animistic path, deriving her Craft from the presences, virtues and the lore of place, and is active in the revival and reification of the ways of the working witch and 'pellar', both in her writing and her magical practice. An initiate of British 'Old Craft' lineage, Gemma serves as the founder of the Craft Order 'Kord Bucca', and 'The Sodality of the Light Betwixt', and has served as 'Dyawles' of the covine 'Ros an Bucca' in Cornwall for many years. Gemma is also active within her local 'guize' customs, is a longstanding supporter of Cornwall's world famous Museum of Witchcraft & Magic and currently serves as a trustee of its 'Friends' organisation. Jane Cox is a photographer, amateur folk musician and publisher living and working in the west of Cornwall. Her work explores subjects surrounding occultism, folklore and folk-magic. Jane is an active participant in the Cornish seasonal festivities where she appears as a musician and traditional 'guise' performer.