The Witches' Book of the Dead (6 page)

In a sense, you do sell your soul, but you sell it to yourself! From the moment you were born, others have been exerting control over you. As a Witch, you claim your own power to do what you choose, serving no master but your own will. In fully embracing the source emanating from within you, the spirits will recognize you as one of their own: a being of supernatural might and intelligence. It is only when they see you as a master of the magical arts that they will deign to consider working with you.

The dead sometimes long for the pleasures of the material world and fear being forgotten. Spirits become lost souls when no one takes time to remember them. A lost soul is a spirit whose life and legacy have been forgotten. Often adrift in obscurity, buried beneath the dust of time, the souls of the dead call out to be remembered. When a Witch summons forth a denizen of the spirit world, he shares with that soul the spark of life once lived, often making offerings of food, drink, and other indulgences of the physical plane. In turn, the spirit serves the Witch.

Ritual: Making the Pact

Gather together the following items:

• A page of parchment paper.
  
• Two black candles.
  
• A black table covering.
  
• An iron pot or cauldron.
  
• A ceramic tile to place the pot on.
  
• A garnet ring.
  
• A black pen.
  
• A medical lancet.
  
• Photographs and mementos of deceased loved ones, friends, and those you admire.
  

Set a small table with the black table covering. Place the candles in candlesticks on either end of the table. Lay the ceramic tile in the center of the table (to protect from heat) and place the iron pot on the tile. Assemble the photos and mementos around the pot on the table. Place the parchment, pen, garnet ring, and lancet on the table in front of you.

Enter into the visionary state (see above). Light the candles. Upon the parchment, write the conditions of the pact:

“I, [your name], son (or daughter) of [father's name] and [mother's name], renounce all religious dogma, guilt, shame, and all thoughts and feelings that would limit my powers. On this night, I reclaim my soul that I may embrace the full and unlimited might and cunning of the Witch. Both the worlds of the living and the dead will now hear my commands and work with me as an equal among them! I offer my blood as a living sacrifice and a symbol of my ancestry to seal this pact. My breath and my free will are the only things to which I am subject by seal of my holy offering. Through this sacrifice of blood and fire, I receive my Witches' mark and consecrate my life anew as a creature of magic!”

Sign your name at the bottom of the parchment, realizing that once you make this decision, there is no turning back. Now, prick the forefinger of your left hand with the lancet. Take your blood and seal the
pact with a red “X” smeared across your signature. Take another three deep breaths, inhaling the forces of spirit that are present in the photos and mementos. Hold the parchment before you and read it aloud in a strong, determined voice, giving life to your words.

Once you have spoken the spell, hold the parchment to each candle flame to light it; then, holding it above the pot, allow the flames to envelop the parchment and drop it in, thus fixing the pact. Once the spell burns down, take the forefinger you pricked and dip it into the ashes. Take that finger and make the sign of an “X” on your forehead. You have baptized yourself with the Witches' mark and now walk in a world of magic. Take the garnet ring and mix it into the ashes of the spell. Leave it there for three days and three nights so it may be infused with all the power of your will. Wear it as a reminder of your pact and to summon extra courage and skill when needed.

• • •

3
The Altar of the Dead

If you walk into HEX, my Witchcraft shop in Salem, Massachusetts, one of the first things you'll see is the large altar looming imposingly against the wall and completely bedecked with all manner of curious bric-a-brac. This is our altar of the dead. Every square inch is covered with photos, statues, candles, jars of strange powders, and dozens of scribbled notes on parchment. Featured most prominently is Robert, an actual human skull leering out at our customers, most of whom are wondering why there's a skull in the middle of a shop at all. Few of the Witch shops in Salem even have an altar, and those that do eschew the dead in favor of standard images of the Wiccan god and goddess; even by Salem standards, the altar at HEX is considered quite unusual!

For all of us who work at HEX, the altar of the dead is the heart of the shop. It is where we build a powerful relationship with the spirits who bless us with prosperity, love, healing, and protection. It is also where visitors to Salem from all over the globe leave written notes, photographs, and
other mementos in honor of their beloved dead. By October's end, we have thousands of notes and dozens of mementos left by those who sought to remember loved ones who had passed over during the year.

On November 16th, Hecate's night, the Witches of HEX gather before a fireplace in my home—fireplaces were considered places to communicate with spirits in the Old World—to read the notes and burn them in honor of all those who have touched our lives and those of our shop's many guests. While a retail consultant might insist that we rid ourselves of the altar in favor of more product, I could never imagine taking it away because it would diminish the very soul of the shop and the reason I opened the store at all—to help people come back to knowing those spirits who have helped to shape who we are.

I once gave a class in Witchcraft and Necromancy at which a student came up to me after the class and asked why she was having such a hard time communicating with a particular spirit that had been visiting her home. She was an accomplished medium and accustomed to speaking with the dead, but this particular spirit just didn't want to make conversation. I asked her if she had left the spirit offerings or had an altar of the dead in her home. She said no.

For any of you who are trying to establish a psychic connection with your loved ones who have passed on, an altar of the dead is one of the most powerful ways to do so. The altars at my home and shop are filled with symbols of the dead from around the world, powders, candles, dried flowers, and, as mentioned, even a human skull, used as one of the most ancient, sacred, and powerful methods of connecting to the world of spirit.

Yours doesn't have to be so complex. It can be as simple as an end table with some pictures of your loved ones, a vase of flowers, and a candle or two. Every so often, you might leave a small plate of your mother's favorite food, your grandma's favorite tobacco, your best friend's favorite rum, or the occasional lottery ticket your uncle loved to play. Doing these things shows respect for our dead, and if you respect the dead, they will respect you and will be more likely to aid you in your pursuits.

Finding an Altar

If you're hoping to build an ongoing relationship with the spirits, the most important place to begin is by creating an altar of the dead. This is where most of the spiritual work you do to connect with the dead happens. It's mission control for the spirit world. As we at HEX often tell our visitors, this doesn't have to be anything weird that makes your oh-so-normal neighbors think you've gone crazy when they visit your home. As mentioned, it can be as simple as a photo of your grandmother on your bedroom dresser with a bowl of her favorite candy and a bottle of her favorite perfume as offerings—a place where you go each day to spend a moment to remember and honor her.

But this book is about taking it to the next level and building a serious working partnership with the dead, and so I recommend going all out—bringing those you want to remember into a true place of honor in your home!

The first step is to find the right piece of furniture for your altar. Those old, tall sideboards with the multitiered shelves and mirrors at the top are the type that I use at HEX because they give various spirit images their proper and unique places. You may consider obtaining a nice sheet of glass to cover your altar so that the wax from the many candles you're going to burn here does not damage the wood. Flea markets, antique stores, thrift shops, and auctions are among the best places to find the perfect old piece to set the mood—and remember, mood is paramount to the shift in consciousness required for magic. Sure, a particleboard table from Walmart will work in a pinch, but it definitely doesn't carry the same power as something that has been once owned by others, especially those now in spirit. If you can get the heirloom piece of an honored relative who has passed on, that's even better! The altar at HEX once belonged to the late Shawn Poirier, my dear friend and a well-known Warlock of Salem.

Where to Put the Altar

Once you have an actual altar, you've got to find a place in your home to put it. The spirits of the dead are known to enter from the “west gate” so most altars to the dead are placed in the west. This likely originated because the sun sets in the west each night, which is why the Egyptians preferred to place tombs along the west bank of the river Nile; why the Greeks saw Elysium in the west; and the Irish believed their Blessed Isles of the dead to be west across the ocean. The Norse believed the souls of heroes passed west beyond the sea. J.R.R. Tolkien drew on these myths for his concept of the Blessed Lands of the West for his popular trilogy,
The Lord of the Rings
, and this same theme was carried into the 2003 adaptation of the third novel in the trilogy,
Return of the King
, with the Academy Award-winning song “Into the West” sung by Annie Lennox. Evidence of the west as the land of the dead can also be seen in the Pre-Columbian Americas, in the beliefs of cultures as far apart as the Aztecs of Mexico and the Yosemite Indians of California.

An altar of the dead must be handled with the utmost respect and so it should not be accessible to just anyone who enters your home. Perhaps you'll keep yours in a hidden closet or dark corner of the basement. We've been lucky with the altar at HEX because most visitors read the signage not to touch unless they're writing a note for their dead, and the staff quickly stops those who ignore the warning. My home altar is kept from prying eyes in a private temple space. Remember, a truly developed altar is going to attract attention, and you won't want it desecrated by those who do not have the utmost respect for the arts.

Ritual: Blessing the Altar

Before you put anything on the altar, it's important to cleanse it. The best way to do this is with a mixture of spring water and kosher salt; if it's wood, add a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil. All three of these ingredients are sacred to the dead. It's important not to use sea salt for this process. Kosher salt comes from the Earth where the dead are buried, and it is sanctified, so it is very important to use that instead. Rub the altar down with the liquid counterclockwise—the direction of the dead—as you repeat the charm,

Beloved spirits, hear my call

Bless this altar that it be

A crossroads between the living and dead

From now until eternity!

It is important to note that this is the
only
time that salt of any kind should ever be on your altar of the dead or used in any rituals regarding the spirits. While salt is often used in magical rituals, it is anathema to many spirits and shouldn't be used when working with them.

• • •

Personalizing Your Altar

Now that your altar is in place and ready to be adorned, you must choose the spirits with whom you wish to make a connection. This can be done with photos, mementos, and possessions of the dead, funerary prayer cards, and even their ashes, arranged upon the altar in ways that honor and respect
each of them. These choices should not be made lightly. While some advocate placing every departed soul you ever knew on an altar, there may be some you don't want to make connections with. The uncle that tried to swindle your father out of his house or the great aunt who poisoned her husband may not be the energies you want to partake in on a daily basis. Since dealing with the dead will become an important part of your daily spiritual practices, it is crucial that you choose those that you actually can connect to. Once you create these bonds, you must nurture them. While the dead can be benevolent advocates for your causes, they can also get quite angry when you ignore them. The ancient Romans believed this so strongly that they feared that any mistake in honoring the dead would incur their wrath. The Babylonians believed that their eldest child must honor them in death in order to prevent them from becoming wrathful towards the living, and so they adopted a child if they didn't already have one! Ponder this before you choose whose faces you want to adorn that altar.