© 2011 Chistine Baussain
© 2011 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
What representation of women has never undergone such a terrible transformation as that of the witch? From the initiate to ancient wisdom, intimate with the secrets of healing and divinatory practices, from the wise woman to the priestess of times before the dictatorship of the male, all that remains in the collective imagination is the hideous and wicked slut who frightens little children.
The Church has been there. Throughout the world, institutional religions have eradicated, with violent obstinacy, the natural ancestral practices by which Man connected himself to the powers above. A little more and they would have won… But times are changing, the Churches are running out of steam, and deep in hearts memories from the depths of the ages are awakening, and aspirations that speak of harmony between Man and nature, between man and woman, of harmony with oneself. Everywhere the “new pagans”, Wiccans, shamans, pranics, are discreetly leaving the systems to give life to more individual spiritual alternatives, all of which put the Eternal Feminine at the center of her rediscovered glory.
This is not a step backwards. Matriarchy has lived as long as patriarchy will soon. And Science has also been there. It is impossible to ignore what centuries of experiences and discoveries have taught us. The “old religion”, as it is called, which is being reborn from its ashes around its central figure, the priestess, is not sparing in this. Freed from superstitions, purified, it is in fact only a vast community of enlightened researchers, guided by their personal experience of the divine. Potion recipes are exchanged on the Internet, and immemorial texts, extracted from their hiding places, are translated, duplicated and disseminated almost at the speed of light.
One of the best known of these is the famous Charge of the Goddess. The word “charge” here means “proclamation”, “speech”. It is with this text that the priestess (the witch) opens the full moon rituals and the sabbaths. Through her mouth, it is the Goddess who speaks. Let us listen to her, everything is said:
“Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who, in ancient times, was called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athena, Diana, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Bride and by many other names._”
"When you have need of anything, once a month, especially when the moon is full, you will assemble in some secret place and worship my spirit, I who am the Queen of all Witches. At these assemblies, you who desire to learn all witchcraft, but have not yet reached its deepest secrets, to you I will teach the things that are still unknown. And you will be freed from slavery; and as a sign of your real freedom, you will be naked in your rites; and you will dance, play music, and make love, all to do me homage. For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love for all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive to tend always towards it; let nothing stop you or turn you away from it. Mine is the secret door that opens into the Land of Youth, and mine is the wine cup of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who offers to all the hearts of men the gift of joy. On earth, I give the knowledge of the eternal spirit; and beyond death, I give peace and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before you. I ask no sacrifice; for know that I am the Mother of all that lives, and my love is poured out upon the earth. »
“Listen to the words of the Star Goddess; she whose body encircles the universe and the dust of whose feet shelters the celestial hosts.”
“I am the beauty of the green earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man. I call to you in your soul. Arise and come to me. For I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things come, and to me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and men, let your inmost divine self be enveloped in the ecstasy of the infinite. Let my worship be in the heart that rejoices; for know that all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And for this reason, let there be in you beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, cheerfulness and reverence. And you who think to seek me, know that your search and your ardent desire will not profit you unless you know the mystery, for if what you seek you do not find it within you, you will never find it outside of you. For know that I have been with you from the beginning; and I am that which is attained when desire is ended._ »
It was about time. Welcome at last, divine witch.
Christine Baussain