Sex Magick
Western sex magick is rooted in the teachings of Sufis, adherents of a mystical branch of Islam, who supposedly shared their knowledge with the Knights Templar during the Crusades in the Middle East. The Templars brought these practices back to Europe, where they were incorporated into other mystical and occult philosophies. Magick’s notorious bad boy, Aleister Crowley, did much to promote and influence the course sex magick has taken in the West. Crowley learned sex magick while traveling in India and Africa, and he emphasized its practice through the organization he headed, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).
Sex magick can be great fun, but that’s not its purpose. In simple terms, it’s a way to supercharge your magickal work and generate results faster. According to sex magick’s tenets, this creative force, which is responsible for all human and animal life, can be directed to create abundance, success, healing, spiritual growth, and so on—like other types of magick. It taps the powerful creative energy inherent in sexual activity for specific purposes other than human reproduction. Some witches engage in sex magick, others don’t. It can be added to any other form of witchcraft, magick, or spiritual practice, and can be done by anyone. (For more information, see my book
Sex Magic for Beginners
.)
VOUDON OR VOODOO
When people hear the word
voodoo
, they often envision dolls stuck with pins, zombies, and hideous rituals carried out secretly in darkness. But voudon (or voodoo) is simply a belief system. First brought to Haiti by African slaves sometime during the sixteenth century, it emerged in Louisiana 200 years later.
Voudon involves the interaction of humans with spirits. Numerous deities and spirits play parts in voudon’s elaborate rituals and spells. In a traditional voudon ceremony, worshippers work themselves into a frenzy through music, chanting, and dancing, sometimes accompanied by various forms of drugs and alcohol. During an altered state of consciousness, they become possessed by one of the spirits and collapse to the ground, writhing and speaking unintelligibly. Once possessed, a worshipper is believed to be able to bring about a cure, good fortune, or some other desire. In some instances, animal sacrifices might be offered to the spirits to win their favor.
The dark side of voudon, however, has captured the public’s imagination. Some practitioners, it’s said, turn the dead into zombies—reanimated corpses who are slaves without wills of their own. The extremes of voudon’s black magick can include all the stuff of horror movies, including control over others, ritual murders, and cannibalism.
SANTERíA
Often referred to as a Cuban mystery religion, the word
santería
literally means “the worship of saints.” A blend of Catholicism and Nigerian Paganism that evolved centuries ago, when Yoruba slaves were taken from Nigeria to Cuba, santería consists of a pantheon of
orishas
who are a combination of Catholic saints and Yoruba gods and goddesses. If you were raised Catholic you might find this colorful tradition intriguing, a way to incorporate witchcraft into the religious training and experience you already have.
When a man joins the religion and becomes a
santero
(or
santera,
if she’s female), he agrees to “worship the saints, to observe their feasts, obey their commands, and conduct their rituals,” writes Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, author of
The Santería Experience
. “In exchange for this absolute submission, he gains supernatural powers, protection against evil, and the ability to foresee the future and even to shape the future according to his will.”
Casting spells and practicing witchcraft are part of a
santero
’s work. A
santero
often keeps icons or statues of the
orishas
and other saints on his altar, along with flowers, a bowl of water, and a bottle of Florida water (a type of cheap cologne used in many of the spells). The darker side of santería, known
Western sex magick is rooted in the teachings of Sufis, adherents of a mystical branch of Islam, who supposedly shared their knowledge with the Knights Templar during the Crusades in the Middle East. The Templars brought these practices back to Europe, where they were incorporated into other mystical and occult philosophies. Magick’s notorious bad boy, Aleister Crowley, did much to promote and influence the course sex magick has taken in the West. Crowley learned sex magick while traveling in India and Africa, and he emphasized its practice through the organization he headed, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).
Sex magick can be great fun, but that’s not its purpose. In simple terms, it’s a way to supercharge your magickal work and generate results faster. According to sex magick’s tenets, this creative force, which is responsible for all human and animal life, can be directed to create abundance, success, healing, spiritual growth, and so on—like other types of magick. It taps the powerful creative energy inherent in sexual activity for specific purposes other than human reproduction. Some witches engage in sex magick, others don’t. It can be added to any other form of witchcraft, magick, or spiritual practice, and can be done by anyone. (For more information, see my book
Sex Magic for Beginners
.)
VOUDON OR VOODOO
When people hear the word
voodoo
, they often envision dolls stuck with pins, zombies, and hideous rituals carried out secretly in darkness. But voudon (or voodoo) is simply a belief system. First brought to Haiti by African slaves sometime during the sixteenth century, it emerged in Louisiana 200 years later.
Voudon involves the interaction of humans with spirits. Numerous deities and spirits play parts in voudon’s elaborate rituals and spells. In a traditional voudon ceremony, worshippers work themselves into a frenzy through music, chanting, and dancing, sometimes accompanied by various forms of drugs and alcohol. During an altered state of consciousness, they become possessed by one of the spirits and collapse to the ground, writhing and speaking unintelligibly. Once possessed, a worshipper is believed to be able to bring about a cure, good fortune, or some other desire. In some instances, animal sacrifices might be offered to the spirits to win their favor.
The dark side of voudon, however, has captured the public’s imagination. Some practitioners, it’s said, turn the dead into zombies—reanimated corpses who are slaves without wills of their own. The extremes of voudon’s black magick can include all the stuff of horror movies, including control over others, ritual murders, and cannibalism.
SANTERíA
Often referred to as a Cuban mystery religion, the word
santería
literally means “the worship of saints.” A blend of Catholicism and Nigerian Paganism that evolved centuries ago, when Yoruba slaves were taken from Nigeria to Cuba, santería consists of a pantheon of
orishas
who are a combination of Catholic saints and Yoruba gods and goddesses. If you were raised Catholic you might find this colorful tradition intriguing, a way to incorporate witchcraft into the religious training and experience you already have.
When a man joins the religion and becomes a
santero
(or
santera,
if she’s female), he agrees to “worship the saints, to observe their feasts, obey their commands, and conduct their rituals,” writes Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, author of
The Santería Experience
. “In exchange for this absolute submission, he gains supernatural powers, protection against evil, and the ability to foresee the future and even to shape the future according to his will.”
Casting spells and practicing witchcraft are part of a
santero
’s work. A
santero
often keeps icons or statues of the
orishas
and other saints on his altar, along with flowers, a bowl of water, and a bottle of Florida water (a type of cheap cologne used in many of the spells). The darker side of santería, known
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