Archive: May 2005
Why did you decide to write your latest book Sons of the Goddess and gear it specifically towards male practitioners?
I like to keep in touch with people who read my books and take an interest in my work, and I found myself chatting with a lot of other practitioners, usually online. I found that quite a few of them were young guys, ranging from thirteen or so, to late twenties. The more I talked to them, the more I realized that there wasn't a lot written to that audience, and that in many ways, I'm a part of that audience and would have liked to have had something similar when I was starting in the Craft. I know a lot of guys don't get involved in the Craft, but look to Hermetic Magick or Native American Shamanism, because they fell unwelcome in witchcraft, and erroneously believe its just for women, since many books, particularly teen books, are pitched that way. So I wanted to address the situation. My online and in person conversations gave me a lot of ideas of what people wanted to see, and I wanted to do something different from the typical 101 book. Though there is 101 information for the beginner, I think a lot of the mythology hits upon issues, particularly family issues, that aren't usually addressed in most Wicca books.
You mentioned practicing Wicca with your mother. What impact has it had on your craft and mother/son relationship?
It has brought us tremendously close. We were always close, but sharing magick and witchcraft together has deepened our bond in this lifetime, and we feel we've had many magickal lifetimes together. When people hear I practiced with my mother, they assume I came from a long lineage of family tradition witches, but I didn't. I'm a fairly modern witch. We both started out as Catholics, attending Catholic school. She sent me to Catholic education from kindergarten to twelfth grade, because she felt it was better education that public schools in our area, and it probably was. As I came to terms with my sexuality in that environment, I had difficulty with the Church, it's teachings and questioned its authority often in class. I wasn't well liked by my religion teachers. I later found out my mother did much the same in school.
When I first got interested in witchcraft, she feared I was joining a cult, but was wise enough to know that if she forbid me to get involved, I'd want to do it all the more, so she feigned interest and tagged along to rituals and workshops. Soon she learned enough to be comfortable with it, yet enjoyed our time together so she continued to study. Eventually she realized that Catholicism wasn't for her, or for me, and she became a witch full time and gave up Catholicism. She was always a strange Catholic. She enjoyed the mass, but didn't believe in the authority of the priests. She prayed to God, Jesus and Mary, but didn't necessarily believe in the codes, rules and morals of the Church. Now she found a religion she could actively participate in and find her own authority and sovereignty, while still progressing spiritually. She's very psychic and found an outlet for her feelings and intuitions that helps her and other people. Our first coven was the two of us, plus a friend whom we considered family, my witch sister Laura. We practiced many years together and eventually as our lives changed, and our practices changed.We joined other groups separately and experienced other paths, but we still come together every so often, just the three of us, and sometimes just my mom and me.
Why is mediation and psychic self-defense so important to ones well being?
Both are important because they are key mystical teachings, regardless of the path or tradition you follow. I found meditation to be pivotal in my own spirituality because it gave me a measure of control over my emotions and thoughts, to remain steady and calm in a crazy world. It allowed me to tune into my body, my consciousness, my guidance, and effect change and ask for help. I don't know how I would live my life now if I didn't have the tools of meditation. I use simple meditative magick, what I call instant magick, for healing, to relax, and to flow more smoothly with my day. I think meditation teaches you to listen and it's best to learn to listen to yourself and the universe before you go around asking for things through spell craft. Sometimes the solution to your problems is much easier than you think.
Psychic Self Defense is a foundation stone to personal power. People study martial arts not to attack other people, but to learn how to defend. Protection magick gives you the strength and confidence not to be buffered by the storms of life, or by other people's energy and intentions, so you can clearly manifest your own will, your own purpose in the world. I think of psychic defense and protection magick as a form of spiritual exercise. We should exercise our body to keep it strong and healthy in a regular schedule, we should also exercise our energy, and keep it strong and vital, so we will be in touch with our power whenever we might need it
"Men must fine the most balanced ways to support our sisters in the Craft, partner with them, but also take time to reclaim, explore, and create anew our own mysteries and rituals."
- Christopher Penczak (Sons of the Goddess page 10)
What was the best piece of advice you received in regard to your path? Who offered the advice and why was it so significant?
Do magick everyday. Laurie Cabot taught that and it is tremendously important if you want to live a magickal life. Making magick a part of your day, every day, from "zapping" for a parking space, to simply giving gratitude and thanks to the gods for the blessings in your life, is really important. The more you use and recognize your connection with the work, the more you notice the magick of everything in your life and open up to the spirituality of magick. Magick shouldn't just be something you do in an emergency, but a skill, a way of life, that you integrate into your life all the time. I was a musician before I was a writer, and most good musicians have music as a part of their day ever day. I was a singer, and sang everyday. Sometimes it was formal lessons and practicing scales. Sometimes it was warm up and a performance. Other times it was singing in the car, or when I was gardening, but I sang every day. I try to put that same approach to magick. Do magick everyday.
Do you have any suggestions for male practitioners on initiating communication with the Goddess and God? What is the best way to start?
Meditation was the starting path for me. Through meditation you learn the psychic skills, and build the psychic muscle to perform deeper path workings. I think a combination of visionary meditation and ritual is very important. This ritual will work for male or female practitioners. Male practitioners wanting to work with a specific goddess might want to look at both the Goddess, and if she has a son in her myth, look also to the stories of the son figure to relate to that Goddess.
Create a sacred space with the intention of communing with the gods. If you want to work with specific deities, build an altar to honor them, or add appropriate items that correspond with the deities to your main altar. In the sacred space, speak to them. State your intention to know that god or goddess.
Once your sacred space is cast, sit in the circle and envision a great tree, what shamanic practitioners call the world tree. If the deity resonates with the sky realms, imagine climbing the tree, and search for the deity. If the god resonates with the lower underworld, imagine finding a tunnel in the root system, that leads down into a deep realm. At some point, the imaginatin gives way to a visionary experience, where you are not longer creating or visualizing, but interfacing with a new world, and through it, a divinity. When you are done meeting with your chosen Goddess or God, assuming that the divine one agrees to meet with you and its appropriate for you at this time, follow the path back from where you came. Return and ground yourself. Release your sacred space and write down your impressions in a magickal journal.
Sometimes you are not ready for it. I have a friend who went to the underworld, with little knowledge and understanding of magick or shamanism, and found Cernunnos, and he told him to "go back" and learn more if he was to be ready.
Can you give some insight into your writing schedule? What setting do you prefer to work in? Do you set daily goals?
I don't really have a set writing schedule. I have more of a set teaching schedule, and I fit my writing in between workshops and travels. Usually I try to work on my writing at least two days a week, and when I do, I often do so at home. On those days I will try to write most of the morning or afternoon, but I am not one of those writers who can sit for eight hours straight and write. My partner is also a writer, so he gets the home office, and I often work on the laptop in my bedroom. If I'm on the road I sometimes take the laptop with me, but honestly don't get much work done on the road. I'm just an email addict and need to get my fix when I'm on the road.
When I need to be in a separate space, I have an office where I see clients and teach classes, and I will go there to get some focus at times. Sometimes you just need a different environment, and sometimes I need to sit at a desk, instead of the laptop in my bedroom. I often work really intensely on one or two projects for a few weeks, and then take a little break, though I usually do try to write something every day, be it an article, a web site update or part of a book. As a musician, I was a composition major for a very short time, but had a great music theory teacher who said put notes on paper every day, even if its just a few. I take that attitude. I think that carried over as a part of my "do magick everyday" advice too.
I often have a "work" book, something I'm contracted to do, with more of a deadline in mind, and another "fun" book without a contract, that I just work on in my spare time. I don't have any set word count for the day. I usually play it by ear. When I have a deadline, I make it early, because I don't like the pressure of looming deadlines. I don't like to write because i have to, I like to write things because i want to. I have a few books that were never finished because I lost interest. I might go back to them when I have more time, but at the moment they are just hanging on the vine.
In Sons of the Goddess you offer a bunch of personal stories, do you feel opening yourself up to others makes your writing more effective? How do you define the boundary line between open and personal?
I'm pretty open in my teachings, and I see my books as an extension of my teachings. I know my favorite parts of my own training were not academic and scholarly dissertations, but the personal stories of living a magickal life and being a witch. I like to see how people apply magickal theory and ritual to everyday life. I don't really have a conscious line between what i share and what I don't share. It's a case by case situation. If something comes up in a class, or in the course of writing a book, I will share it if I think it gets the teachings across and helps people understand and relate to the material.
There are very few things that I keep completely private. One is my true magickal name. I keep that private and only my mother and husband know it. Spells and rituals that involve other people, when I don't have their permission to discuss them, are kept private. And there are some workings I've done on a personal nature that I'm not inclined to share, but for the most part, I'm pretty open.
What would you like your writing legacy to be like twenty years from now?
I hope my legacy is to write books that are a bit different than what's come before. By the nature of what we do, there will often be overlap, and explaining the basics, because you never know if your book will be the first metaphysical book someone picks up, but in general I'd like to cover some different territory. My temple of witchcraft series of books is a training regime looking at all the elements, and I have a different approach to teaching than many others. The last three books in the series will look at shamanism and witchcraft, ceremonial magick and witchcraft and learning to be a minister in the community and live a magickal life. I hope my writing can bridge the gap between different communities. I wanted to create bridges between the pagan and the gay community with Gay Witchcraft. I try to bridge the gaps between alternative health and new age communities with the pagan and magickal communities with Magick of Reiki. I have a few other books that are about the synthesis of modern and more traditional systems of healing and magick.
Can you tell us what your next book(s) will be about and when we can expect to see them on book shelves?
The next release is the third in the temple series, The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft: Shadows, Spirits and the Healing Journey. It should be out in July. It's my level three training course, and deals with shamanic healing and learning to face the shadow. In Feb 2006, I have a book out called Instant Magick, which will be a spell book without any tools. It creates a system of meditative magick, to create change by working with subtle energy that is all around us. Sometime later in 2006 will be the Temple of High Witchcraft. I'm currently working on a book comparing new age theosophy, light work and ascension lore with witchcraft, ceremonial magick and shamanism. I don't have a release date set for that. I'm not even sure who will be publishing it yet. It's my current "fun" book I'm doing in my spare time. Other plans include a tarot deck based on the temple books and a book on gay sex magick.
Visit Christopher Penczak's website for information on this book and others!
www.christopherpenczak.com
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