Pathwalkers herb gardens - Gypsey Website

Weekly PathWalkers.Net e-Newsletter #113 :: PathWalkers.Net Interactive :: Helping you along your path
to the Mother. If you feel the need to ground at any time you can do it by holding the pentacle in your
hands, touching it to your forehead, then lowering it to the ground, saying:
"Now let the power pass from me
To end where it was begun
As I do will, so mote it be,
Chant the spell, and be it done!"
This is a good all-purpose way of ending any Magickal work.
Blessed Be!
Consecrations, V: The Mortar and Pestle
Two of the symbols of the Center point are the Cauldron and the Mortar & Pestle. The difference
between them is one of form rather than function; if you think about it, you will see that both objects
are symbols of transformation. And the Center is the direction of Transformation; in the case of the
cauldron, the transformation which happens in the womb of the Mother, in the cooking pot (because the
cauldron IS a cooking pot), the kind of transformation which uses all four elements to produce a fifth,
the quinta essentia of the alchemists. Earth produces the meat and vegetables, Water moistens them,
Fire heats them, and the Air carries the savor to our noses, arousing hunger. We eat, and transform both
the food and ourselves. The food travels through our bodies, to eventually fertilize the earth, and the
cycle of transformation goes on.
In the case of the Mortar & Pestle, the imagery is more sexual. Quite overtly so, in fact; as the act of
grinding herbs in a mortar with a pestle is a perfect type of the male-female sexual act and the
production of something new from it, it stands as a symbol of the relationship between Above and
Below, of Goddess and God, of that which gives and that which receives--in short, of the two aspects of
our personalities. The Center is the spot at which each of us stands, to judge the Universe and be judged
by it. It is all directions and none. It where all the elements meet, in each of us. It is well, therefore, to
think of one's cauldron or mortar & pestle as a ritual object which can never really be cleaned,
spiritually speaking. Any Magick we do, anything we cook up in the Cauldron of the soul, leaves its
traces; and it behooves each to make sure that no poison corrupts it. If you do evil, you will keep evil
with you, in the inmost center; and it will slowly poison whatever attempts you make at doing good or
preserving yourself. This is the basis of Craften ethics: not so much that "whatever you do will come
back to you three times", as the legend goes, but that if you want good soup you must use good
ingredients. And you don't use the same pot for soup and for poison, in your own interests. Throwing
curses is like pissing into the wind.
How to consecrate the Cauldron/Mortar & Pestle:
You will need: Salt water, incense, your athame, your chalice, wine, an edible oil such as olive, peanut
or safflower, and herbs (one each for the seven planets according to the following list):
SUN: angelica, bay laurel, camomile, cinnamon, clove, rosemary, rue, saffron
MOON: bay laurel, ginseng, nutmeg, wintergreen
MARS: basil, cayenne, coriander, garlic, mustard
MERCURY: cinnamon, dill, fennel, fenugreek, mace, marjoram, parsley
JUPITER: anise seed, cloves, mace, mint, nutmeg, sage
VENUS: angelica, cardamom, marjoram, mint, pennyroyal, saffron, tarragon, thyme
SATURN: comfrey, hemp, rue, tarragon, thyme, wintergreen
(Note: these are all edible herbs, but by no means a complete list.)
Procedure: Cast the Circle and invoke as usual. Purify with salt water and charge with incense as usual.
Pour a little wine into the Cauldron or Mortar and anoint, saying:
"Blessed be thou, creature of art. By art made, by art consecrated. With the wine of life I charge thee.
Blessed Be."
Pour the wine from the Cauldron into the Chalice, to be used later. If you are using non-edible oils,
anoint only the outside of the Cauldron/Mortar; if using cooking oil, anoint the inside as well, saying:
"Blessed be thou, creature of art. By art made, by art consecrated. With the oil of pleasure I charge thee.
http://www.pathwalkers.net/interactive/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=457 (5 of 18) [12/25/2005 12:11:37 AM]