Alone, awesome, complete in Herself, the Goddess, She whose name cannot be spoken, floated in the outer darkness, before the beginning of all things. As She looked into the curved mirror of black space, She saw by Her own light Her radiant reflection, and fell in love with It. She drew It forth by the power that was in Her and made love to Herself, and called Her "Miria, the Wonderful." Their ecstasy burst forth in the single song of all that is, was, or ever shall be, and with the song came motion, waves that poured outward and became all the spheres and circles of the worlds. The Goddess became filled with love, swollen with love, and She gave birth to a rain of bright spirits, that filled the worlds and became all beings.

But in that great movement, Miria was swept away, and as She moved out from the Goddess, She became more masculine. First She became the Blue God, the gentle, laughing God of love. The She became the Green one, vine-covered, rooted in the earth, the spirit of all growing things. At last She became the Horned God, the Hunter whose face is the ruddy sun, and yet dark as Death. But always desire draws Him back toward the Goddess, so that He circles Her eternally, seeking to return in love.

All began in love; all seeks to return in love. Love is the law, the teacher of wisdom, and the great revealer of the mysteries.

In love, the Horned God, changing form and changing face, ever seeks the Goddess. In this world, the searching and the seeking appear in the Wheel of the Year.

She is the Great Mother, Who gives birth to Him as the Divine Child Sun at the Winter Solstice. In spring, He is the Sower and the Seed who grows with the growing light, green as the new shoots. She is the Initiatrix, Who teaches Him the Mysteries. He is the Young Bull; She is the Nymph, seductress. In summer, when light is longest, They meet in union, and the strength of Their passion sustains the world. But the Gods' face darkens as the sun grows weaker, until at last, when the grain is cut for harvest, He also sacrifices Himself to Self, that all may be nourished. She is the Reaper, the grave of earth to which all must return. Thoughout the long nights and darkening days, He sleeps in Her Womb. In dreams, He is the Lord of Death, who rules the Land of Youth beyond the Gates of Night and Day. His dark tomb becomes the Womb of Rebirth, for at Midwinter She again gives birth to Him. The cycle ends and begins again, and the Wheel of the Year turns on and on.

The pentacle is the primary Earth symbol. Its gender, like that of the wand, is not usually emphasized, but as the symbol of the Earth Mother, it may be taken as being feminine. It is the centerpiece of the altar, on which objects are consecrated; the water and salt bowls, too, are placed on it for blessing - some covens do not use a salt bowl but place the salt directly on the pentacle from which, after blessing, it is tipped into the water.

In persecution days, the pentacle used to be inscribed on wax for each Circle, so that it could be destroyed afterwards as a dangerous piece of evidence. Today it is usually a disc of metal, mainly in copper, and it is normally 5-6 inches in diameter.

The five-pointed star or pentagram is one of the oldest signs in the world. It represents, among other meaning, magic itself, the dominion of the spirit over the four elements of the material creation.

The Circle which encloses it, being without beginning or ending, represents infinity and eternity. Another meaning of the pentagram is that it bears a rough resemblance to a human figure, as if standing upright with the arms and legs outstretched. Hence the pentagram in a circle is a symbol of the human being in relationship to the Infinite.

THE BOOK OF DAYS
W. J. Bethancourt III (unpublished ms.)

CHRONICLE OF THE WORLD
Jerome Burne; Ecam, 1990

A NATURAL HISTORY OF UNNATURAL THINGS
Daniel Cohen; McCall, 1971

NEVER ON A BROOMSTICK
Frank Donovan; Bell, 1971

A HISTORY OF SECRET SOCIETIES
Arkhon Daraul; Citadel, 1962

THE WEAKER VESSEL
Antonia Fraser, Borzoi, 1984

EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS AND THE MADNESS OF CROWDS
Charles MacKay; L.C.Page, 1932 (orig. pub. 1841)

THE HISTORY OF MAGIC AND THE OCCULT
Kurt Seligmann; Harmony Books, 1975

THE GEOGRAPHY OF WITCHCRAFT
Montague Summers, University Books, 1965

TREASURY OF WITCHCRAFT
Harry E. Wedeck; Philosophical Library, 1961

SOUNDINGS IN SATANISM
pp 46-54. ISBN 0 264 64627 4

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