It has been a while since I performed a magical ordeal, and in fact, it has been quite a while. Recently, I created a time line to examine when I had undergone my most intense and powerful ordeals, and based on my calculations, the last major workings that I had performed were on the Summer Solstice of 2017. That’s almost seven years ago this coming summer. Since that time, however, I have written and published seven books, and each book was not an easy task to complete, especially the one dedicated to talismanic magic. So, it would seem that I have not been complacent and that my efforts have been focused on getting my ideas and practices into print for the sake of my Witchcraft and Pagan community and my readers of all stripes.
However, I have not been working magic during that interval, and so I would label the last seven years as a period of magical dormancy, or what Taylor Elwood has called “Wintering.” My Wintering period is more like a long period of hibernation that was coupled with a relocation and diminished resources. Whereas before May 2018, I had a large house with a permanent temple and an outdoor grove on three acres of land, I now have a smaller house with a very small backyard. The kind of magic that I work really requires a permanent temple, and I don’t have room for such an area in my current home. It is also the first time that I have not had a temple to work my magic since I lived with my parents. That was a long time ago. In fact I have lived by myself for probably around 17 years, and I have had a partner for another 17 years. This the first time that I am without a temple, and I not sure how long that will last.
Still, I have practiced magic regularly for decades before the wintering, and concluded many ordeals and major workings. I have started and built up four covens, helped to establish a regional pagan festival that is still occurring (Heartland Pagan Festival), and assisted in founding a magical order, all during that time. I have been quite busy with magical work, sharing and teaching others for many years until recently. It is also true that today I am an elder and sometimes elders retire from their work, although I have no plans to go that route. There is still much that I have to do and want to accomplish from a magical perspective, but only at present do I lack a place to perform this work. I have space to meditate, and it is possible that with so much experience I could actually perform magic while in a meditative trance, and I may seek that out as a possibility when time becomes a little more convenient for me.
When I look at what I accomplished over the preceding decades, the fact that I am not working magic regularly at this time becomes less critical or important. This is a temporary situation, because when the need arises, I am certain that a place to work my art will become available to me in some fashion. When one door closes, another opens, and that has been my experience in all areas of the my life over time.
Here is a time-line of what I have accomplished over the decades from the 1990's to the present. You will notice that starting in 2018, I no longer was working any substantive ordeals or major magical workings. That was beginning of my wintering phase.
Work during the 1990's - Continuous Magical Development and Ordeal Performance
There was a lot of magical work going on during this decade. The entire corpus of magical workings from the third degree and higher being developed for use by my brothers and sisters in the Order of the Gnostic Star. Some of this work had started in the 1970's and the 1980's, but it was finalized during the decade of the 1990's. This was a very busy time for me.
Enochian Ordeals - evocation of the Nephilim chiefs and seven of the 49 Bonarum
Archaeomancy of the 40 Qabalistic Worlds and the 18 Qabalistic Dimensions
Tessarenoi - Four Temple workings
Seven-Rayed Stellar Gnosis workings
Wrote the book Pyramid of Powers in 1992 - 1996
Work during the 2000's - this was also a busy period up to 2017.
Rediscovery of Witchcraft Roots and Old Craft Traditional Witchcraft
Continued working with the 18 Qabalistic Dimensions
Founded two new covens
Developed Grove Witchcraft
Published “Disciple’s Guide to Ritual Magick” in 2007
Published MARM in three volumes, then in one volume - 2008 - 2009, 2013
Abramelin Lunar ordeal - 2009 to 2011
Portae Lucis ordeal and building seven talismanic magical machine - 2012
Published Beginner’s Guide to the Magical Qabalah - 2013
Handing fasting in grove - 2014
Published Spirit Conjuring for Witches - 2016
Performed Portae Lucis 5-year anniversary, developed and performed Talismanic Septagramic Vortex Gate Ritual using the talismanic magical machine, developed and performed Egyptian Underworld Ascension rite (uncrossing). Focused workings on selling house and relocating to Richmond. Spring 2017. These workings were very successful and helped to make my relocation smoother than it might have been.
Hiatus from working magical ordeals due to the increasing demands of my work and relocation to a home without a temple. This is the beginning of my wintering period - 2017 through 2019. My father died in the autumn of that year (2019).
Covid19 Pandemic - 2020 - 2022. Work from home and sequestration. Wintering intensified.
Published Elemental Powers for Witches - 2021
Published Talismanic Magic for Witches - 2022
Wrote Sacramental Theurgy for Witches and Transformative Initiation for Witches in 2022
Attended Paganicon in March 2023 - first time to meet and greet in public.
Wrote Mastering the Art of Witchcraft, Liber Nephilim and Abramelin Lunar Ordeal in 2023
Published Sacramental Theurgy for Witches - 2024
What you can see is that I had switched over from working a lot of rituals and ordeals to writing up and publishing my revised and refined ritual technology in seven books. While one might consider that the writing of a book is something of an ordeal, and indeed it is, it does not help me to devise, develop and experiment with new ritual technologies and methodologies. It also doesn’t help me to retain a certain ritual fitness that is required to perform rituals and practices for protracted periods of time. I would spend as much as four to five hours solidly working a series of rituals in a single evening to complete a part of an ordeal for that period. I wonder if I even have the stamina to do that kind of focused work now that I am many years older than when I performed this kind of ritual work.
I do not know what the future holds, although I have done Tarot card readings and used other forms of divination to peek at the future potentials. What I see as the possible future for me is that the greatest work lies ahead of me. I have established a good foundation of lore that is mature and consistent, and I am sharing that lore with the magical and occult community, this will give a certain longevity. There are a number of areas where further development might add considerably to this lore, and I would like to pursue those directions in the future. However, I will need a temple to do that, although I can develop the lore and save it for when I can perform it in a temple environment. I will explore these other areas where I would like to develop new ordeals and ritual workings and methodologies in my blog over the coming year.
The one factor that could interfere with my plans is my health. I am no longer young, and after dealing with a bout of pneumonia, I realize that I need to do something to build up my strength, stamina and over-all health. The time for being sedentary due to a pandemic is past, and I need to get more active and physically engaged with life if I am to live through my seventies in good health. I look to the year of 2024 for a new beginning and to see what opportunities might fall my way.
Frater Barrabbas
