Monday, August 27, 2012

Another Witch's Chant

Some time ago I blogged about Doreen Valiente's classic "Witches' Rune," and the difference between the version that I was taught in my BTW days and that used by my friends of the American Folkloric Witchcraft tradition. There's another version of it given in the book Charge of the Goddess, a compendium of Doreen's poetry; it lacks the references to certain of the BTW "eight tools" and is shorter and simpler. I reproduce it here as it appears in the book:

          Darksome night and shining moon,
          Hell's dark mistress, Heaven's queen,
          Hearken to the witch's rune,
          Diana, Lilith, Melusine!
          Queen of witchdom and of night,
          Work my will by magic rite.

          Earth and water, air and fire,
          Conjured by the witch's blade,
          Move ye unto my desire,
          Aid me as the charm is made!
          Queen of witchdom and of night,
          Work my will by magic rite.

          In the earth and air and sea,
          By the light of moon or sun,
          As I pray, so mote it be.
          Chant the spell and be it done.
          Queen of witchdom and of night,
          Work my will by magic rite.

For my personal usage, I'll alter the fourth line in the first verse to reflect the names and titles of my particular tutelary witch-goddess, but leave it otherwise unchanged. I think Doreen would understand.

2 comments:

  1. I just adore this. I am putting it into use immediately!

    ReplyDelete