Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard V

sist doing the work, the study, the homework. But with

the Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, all that is

changed! You will find yourself eagerly looking for-

ward to the next step, and the one after that, and the

one after that! Study will become a joy. You won’t

want to stop. Imagine learning such things as Foun-

dations of Magick, Magickal Skills, The Soul of Na-

ture, Tools of Magick, Wizardly Regalia, Spellcraft,

Conjury, Magickal Bestiary, and so on and so on. What

wonderful titles! What wonderful subjects!

Wortcunning; Mathemagicks; Skrying. New words

and ancient teachings. This is not just a book about

Wizardry; it’s a book of Wizardry!

Let this book take you on a journey. It opens on

Wizardry—concerning Wizards, becoming a Wizard,

foundations of magick, magickal skills, etc. It intro-

duces you to ideas and concepts, then leads you along

the secret path that wends its way through the some-

times fearsome appearing trees of the forest of an-

cient knowledge. Along the way you learn that all is

not as it seems. What many people take as frighten-

ing, or scary, you will learn to be safe, inspiring, and

power-enabling. The path through the woods goes on

and on, but the deeper it goes, the more interesting

you will find it. This is a little like venturing into the

Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts. That is a place where

“secrets are kept and mysteries can be unraveled.”^1

There will be temptations along the way, yes. There

will appear to be some short-cuts. But where do they

really lead? The safest route is with your guides, with

the Grey Council. You will not be led astray. Stay on

the path and do what they suggest. Remember, Hagrid

was not afraid of the forest, because he knew it and

knew of its inhabitants. So with the Grey Council.

We know the safest routes and will guide you safely.

In all the many wonderful and powerful instruc-

tions given in this course of Wizardry, there are two

things that I would urge you to always bear in mind.

The first is to always consider the results of your ac-

tions. The second is to accept the responsibility for

those actions.

By considering the results of your actions I mean

that you should always look ahead to see how what

you do might affect other people. You’ve heard of the

“domino effect,” I’m sure. If you stand up a long line

of dominoes, whether in a straight line or a long, curv-

ing pattern, when you knock down the first one it will

hit against the second which will then fall. In falling,

that second one will hit the third, and knock it against

the fourth, and so on, until the whole line—no matter

how long it is—has been knocked over as a result of

your pushing against that first one. This works not

only with dominoes but with just about everything. It

works with magick too. When you do magick that

affects one person, that action may then, in turn, af-

fect a whole number of other people. It might not be

obvious, at first, just how this reaction will progress.

But that is where the outstanding Wizard shows his

superiority. He will have thought through his actions

and will ensure that what is designed to work on one

person will not adversely affect another. You won’t

be doing negative magick—no Wizard worth his

pointed hat does negative magick—so there should

be little chance of you accidentally harming others.

But it always behooves you to think things through.

As to taking responsibility for your actions, that

should really be unnecessary to say. We should all,

always, take responsibility for what we do. Never try

to blame someone else for your mistakes. So if some-

thing goes wrong—especially magically—own up to

it being your fault and immediately do all that you

can to correct it. That is the Wizard’s way.

How powerful can you become? Forget that word

“power” if you can. Let’s instead ask, how effective

can you become? The answer is very effective indeed.

Let me give you an example. Back in the middle of

the twentieth century (yes, this is a little bit of his-

tory—but very interesting) Europe was in the throes

of a war that was to develop into a world war. It was

the second of its kind and would destroy many lives

and disrupt most of the world for many generations.

In Great Britain, a small band of Witches and Wiz-

ards saw the threat of the enemy poised to launch it-

self across the narrow English Channel and to attack

England. A powerful woman magician, whose name

was Dion Fortune, organized a magickal program

bringing together Britain’s most powerful Witches and

Wizards. This program was designed to turn back the

advancing tide of the enemy. The group was com-

prised of the most powerful of a wide variety of types

of magickal people. There were Witches, Wizards,

magicians, adepts (highly skilled experts) of differ-

ent traditions. But they all faced a common enemy.

They worked together to build a great magickal wall

that would not only stop the enemy invasion but would

actually turn them away and make them simply stop

trying. The magick was performed on a number of

occasions, working up to a major effort at one of the

most powerful times of the year. The result was that

the enemy stopped, turned around, and went away!

The war was not over, but the immediate threat of

invasion was removed. This was a mighty work of

magic. It is to be hoped that you will never have to

face such a menace. But know that the magick you

are to be taught in this book not only works, but can

work powerfully enough to change history!

Welcome to this unique course of magick, and

know that you are setting your foot on the first step

along the path that will take you out of the ordinary

and into the special world of Wizardry.

—Raymond Buckland

Nov. 11, 2003

____________________

(^1) The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, David Colbert
(Lumina Press, Wrightsville Beach, 2001)
Intro pages PM.p65 5 1/14/2004, 3:19 PM