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…on how to conjure the mystery

It begins slowly

with a coaxing, gentle movements, poisonous perfumes, quiet siren songs, lavish adornments, nakedness.

Intoxicating plant potions

Honey drips from our sweat

The scent of the erotic moves closer

Our sumptuous mouths open to expose our primal sound

Hidden beneath the polished veneer of the ages

But our body remembers

Our skin knows the taste of this divine ecstasy

Dance deeper into the labyrinths of pleasure

cry out for what has been lost

unjustly bound to discordant rhythms of time’s passing

Set free the rapturous longing of the soul

Merging radically with the spirit

Trembling terror and awe

Pulsating shudders of euphoria

Transported but never gone

Set upon the wild bliss of becoming, being, all at once, liberated, desire, creator and created, shape-shifting, kaleidoscopic empathy, birth and rebirth, continuous, eternal, orgasmic, death

What is Ecstatic Witchcraft?

Broadly speaking ecstatic witchcraft is a way of courting the divine mystery through altered states of being. It is non-linear and utilizes altered states that put us in touch with sensuous enchantment. Notable ecstatic traditions in the Neo-Pagan movement are the Reclaiming and Feri traditions.

Common ecstatic practices are dancing, chanting, singing, ritual work, drumming, magical postures, breath work, and other repetitive movements or actions. This creates the altered states that open our senses to the Otherworld, spirits can move in, and merge with us so we can work magic.

Some signs we are in an ecstatic state are if the thinking mind is quieted and the ineffable mystery has taken over. Space will feel as if it has shifted and time will morph into the eternal. Memories are harder to cement and tracking the steps of a ritual, for example, can become more challenging. A feeling of loss of a distinct self can be present along with an acute mystical awareness of our being as interconnected with everything around us.

Often these practices activate body sensations such as chills, goosebumps, intense pleasure, tears, and other forms of release and enhanced sensory experiences, synesthesia, or experiences that can be likened to taking an entheogen.

How to Work This Power

From these states witchcraft can be performed, visionary or prophetic journeys can be undergone, and other transformational experiences with the spirit realm can ensue. Power can be channeled through these practices putting us in touch with the magic of the Earth, the divine, the dead, plants, and more. We can use the energy raised to enhance artwork, music, or other crafts, projects, dreams, plant medicines, worship, land tending, healing, spell-work, and more.

While there can be a longing to stay in the blissful embrace of the mysteries, there is also a knowing that while we are in our human bodies these states are temporary and we will come down from them eventually. Everything in balance.

Witches who have honed their craft can slip into these states at will and can have easier access to the intense feelings of pleasure, awe, wonder, empathy, and communion with the natural world, spirits, and the divine. Hard to convey with the intellect, ecstatic, erotic, and mystical inspiration, and experiences from the Otherworld are often depicted in art, poetry, music, and myth.

Ecstatic witchcraft encourages witches to tap into our Venusian impulse to follow our desire, and the longings of our bodies, and seek joyful union with spirits, deities, and nature. This work can release energy which we can then channel into our service as witches, healers, nature worshipers, teachers, and spirit workers. Let’s activate our ability to be bewitched and awaken our potential for mystical sensory experiences.