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The
Witches' Creed
Hear now
the words of the witches,
The secrets
we hid in the night,
When dark
was our destiny's pathway,
That now
we bring forth into light.
Mysterious
water and fire,
The earth
and wide-ranging air,
By hidden
quintessence we know them,
And will
and keep silent and dare.
The birth
and rebirth of all nature,
The passing
of winter and spring,
We share
with the life universal,
Rejoice
in the magical ring.
Four times
in the year the Great Sabbat
Returns
and the witches are seen
At Lammas
and Candlemas dancing,
On May
Eve and old Hallowe'en.
When day-time
and night-time are equal,
When sun
is at greatest and least,
The four
Lesser Sabbats are summoned,
And Witches
gather in feast.
Thirteen
silver moons in a year are
Thirteen
is the coven's array.
Thirteen
times at Esbat make merry,
For each
golden year and a day.
The power
that was passed down the age,
Each time
between woman and man,
Each century
unto the other,
Ere time
and the ages began.
When drawn
is the magical circle,
By sword
or athame of power,
Its compass
between two worlds lies,
In land
of the shades for that hour.
This world
has no right then to know it
And world
of beyond will tell naught,
The oldest
of Gods are invoked there,
The Great
Work of magic is wrought.
For the
two are mystical pillars,
That stand
at the gate of the shrine,
And two
are the powers of nature,
The forms
and the forces divine.
The dark
and the light in succession
The opposites
each unto each,
Shown
forth as a God and a Goddess
Of this
our ancestors teach.
By night
he's the wild wind's rider,
The Horn'd
One, the Lord of the Shades.
By day
he's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller
in green forest glades.
She is
youthful or old as she pleases,
She sails
the torn clouds in her barque,
The bright
silver lady of midnight,
The crone
who weaves spells in the dark.
The master
and mistress of magic,
That dwell
in the deeps of the mind,
Immortal
and ever-renewing,
With power
to free or to bind.
So drink
the good wine to the Old Gods,
And dance
and make love in their praise,
Till Elphame's
fair land shall receive us,
In peace
at the end of our days.
And Do
What You Will be the challenge,
So be
it Love that harms none,
For this
is the only commandment
By Magic
of old, be it done!
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