Many people read books, articles and blogs on Wicca, Paganism and Esotericism, having them as an insane habit of understanding everything they read, is part of a great single system; without being able to distinguish that each author and that each path is different from one another, with its own nuances and experiences that cannot be compared or modified for mere convenience.
Thus, a great majority of people who read one or another book, even by the same author, are not able to distinguish what the author has explained, as is the case with many readers of the works of Raymond Buckland.
Raymond Buckland wrote a series of books to explain Modern Witchcraft, Spirit Communication, Candle Magic, Color Magic, Alchemy Cards, Gypsy, Scottish, Saxon Witchcraft, etc .; These books clearly explain in the “Introduction” the reasons why he edited or wrote the book, making it clear that it is something different from other publications or recommending reading other of his books to complement it. But as always, a great majority of people skip the Introduction and begin to mix everything up as if everything they wrote was the same, beginning to declare that they follow something called “Bucklandian Wicca” or in the worst of the defects, consider that by practicing the exercises of the Blue Book (Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft) can already be called “Seax-Wiccan” and in a strange way, devotes with “rites” of the Blue Book to Cernnunos and Cerridwen, introducing Egyptian elements and Greeks, he carries the ANK and the pentagram, continuing to recognize himself as a “Seax-Wiccan”.
Given this, I ask them: Have you read the book: The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft ?, to which they answer: “No”. Then, we were already clear that the subject in question has NOT developed the activities and performed the rites of the “Seax-Wica”, therefore, he could not be recognized as one of “us” among the Initiates of the Seax-Wica .
Consequently, after this introduction let’s get down to business:
What is Seax-Wica?
In summary, from my experience I define it as an initiatory, immanent-rational system, that practices religio-magic, worshiping the Gods of the pantheon of the Saxon Germanic tribe, through the archetypes of Creative Destruction and Rebirth represented by the God – Woden and the Goddess – Frig/Freya; founded by Raymond Buckland based on his experience, reforming the wicca proposal and the criteria taught to him by Gerald Gardner.
In this way, the Seax-Wica is the result of a reform of the structural proposal of the Gardnerian tradition, bringing it most freedom possible to their Initiates and eliminating all feature that corrupt it as the power-play and the ego-trip.
What is Religio-Magic?
It is the communion with the divine through the creed, cult and codes of religion, to connect through a mystical process with that unimaginable, unknown and infinite force that we can call “Creative Force” from which magic emanates or as some Initiates of the Seax tradition call it: “Odic Force” (coined by the German Baron Karl von Reichenbach in the mid-19th century)
The one who practices religio-magic is -Priest and Shaman- at the same time, on the one hand he officiates the ceremonies and highlights the virtues of the Gods, in parallel these practices help him to develop his mystical process, making him live a juxtaposed reality seeing, feeling and understanding things above the subtle plane, that is, living under a numinous atmosphere.
Let’s detail this topic in a more extensive way …
In order for a person to join the proposed Seax-Wica system, they must first follow under orthopraxis what is established in the book: The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft. When we talk about orthopraxis, we are referring to executing the practice without alteration of any kind, or mixing with elements external to this system, since the purpose of a correct practice is to experience and explore the -practice- of the Seax tradition, exclusively for a reasonable time (usually 01 year and 01 day).
The “initiatory” experience can come from the hand of a more experienced Initiate to guide you or it can be through the development of self-discovery, in both cases the mystical process is exercised, which tends to coincide with the same experiences and revelations of the path.
The differences in the initiatory process between the Gerald Gardner System and the Seax-Wica, lies in addition to the rites and the honored gods, in that the Gerald Gardner System prevails in addition to the initiation the lineage that links it; while in Seax-Wica, the lineage is not essential because it allows Self-Dedication (Self Initiation) when there is no coven in the locality. Likewise, having the Gardnerians’ Book of Shadows and practicing it does not connect to an initiatory genealogical tree, it does not reveal oral tradition associated with their system; while in Seax-Wica, not only is it enough to have “The Tree” (“Book of Shadows” from the Seax tradition) but it must be practiced correctly to tune in with other Initiates.
It should be noted that the word “Wica” is adopted from the way Gerald Gardner wrote it, the same one that is written in the Chamber’s Dictionary of Scot-English, where its meaning is “Wise”, a connotation that is specified in Saxon Witchcraft.
Thus, these introductory steps, as well as the initiation, have a single purpose: The Oath.
What do we swear?
a) Worship and Protect the Gods of Seax Wica.
b) To be a Lover of life in everything / To love and honor your sisters and brothers of the Seax Wica, to help them in difficulties, take care of them in sickness, protect them and defend them from their enemies, as much as possible.
c) Live under the commitment that Love is all Law, Love is the Link.
What do we swear for?
To be able to practice the rites contained in “The Tree”, to honor the Gods and thereby protect them, through knowledge, experience, understanding, communication and experience. Reflecting all the virtues that the Gods and tradition instill in us through “Love / Agape”, which makes us aware of our interdependence with the environment, so that our treatment-respect will be reflected in our life.
What is the exercise of the oath?
In this sense, the communion of such commitment encourages us to officiate at each ceremony and deepen the symbolism of tradition, that is, to carry out priestly activities. As we begin to have a greater connection with what each act, word and event that we focus our attention means, the Gods become more present each year in our minds and hearts.
Consequently, the practice of Seax-Wica is to train and be “priests” of the Gods and represent religion.
Inherently in ritual practice, there is immersion in the immanent of the divine, for which a new sense develops in our being, making us capable of projecting such a creative force that we call “magic”, with experiences similar to those of a Shaman. .
Aleister Crowley, in Book 4 defines Magic (k) as:
“The Science and Art of causing changes in accordance with the will.”
The Will is known in the Greek as “Thelema”, whose numerical value is 93, the same value has the Greek word “Agape”, known as Love. For this reason, Raymond Buckland tells us on more than one occasion that the “Wicca” or in this case “Seax-Wica” is a religion-magic based on Love, which is the engine that can do everything.
Then…
The initiatory character of the Seax-Wica is formal and complete, having nothing to envy to other manifestations of “Wicca”. The same that depends on oneself and not on other people. Being the reason why a person approaches the Seax-Wica is, by affinity to the Gods of the pantheon of the Germanic tribes of the Saxon people, which is not only to believe in them but to work with them, constantly, continuously and public. In other words: teach, communicate and inform about the Gods and tradition; without this being a proselytizing act.
However, the person who starts in Seax-Wica is the same as another Initiate of the tradition, but to be recognized as a “kind” (an Initiate), it will depend on their actions and the level of attunement (in relation to to the mystical process lived) that you have found in another practitioner. In this way, in the future you can form a “Coven”.
Being a Priestly-Shamanic practice, one cannot be “Seax-Wica” if one only considers or remains in a “believer” phase, in other words, not exercising the priesthood. When we translate the word “Seax-Wica”, we are saying “Saxon Wise / Saxon Wisdom”, even though “Wicca” is “Witchcraft” in its modern translation, etymologically due to its origin, it means “Wisdom”. For this reason, by the context it is understood that a person who practices “Wicca” is because he is “Wise”, which is an aptitude achieved between understanding and experience, which result in “Intellect” and therefore ” The wisdom”. “Witchcraft” should be understood as “The Craft” of surviving pagan knowledge through folklore, superstitions and syncretism, which are practiced by those who access it, but condemned by radical Christians.
For those people who are related to the Saxon Gods, but do not wish to have the weight of priestly activity, they can choose to be a Seax-Treów or Believer within the Seax / Saxon Tradition, not being able to be considered a Seax-Wica, since It is reserved for those who wish to exercise the priesthood of the cult.
I hope this essay guides you in relation to tradition.
Blessings in Love and Light
Seax Gesith Rasgael Hraefenwulf
High Priest
Meomerswiell Seax Coven