Hear now the words of the witches, |
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And it harm none |
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The secrets we hid in the night, |
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do what you will |
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When dark was our destiny's pathway, |
That now we bring forth into light. |
Mysterious water and fire, |
The earth and the wide-ranging air. |
By hidden quintessence we know them, |
And will and keep silent and dare. |
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The birth and rebirth of all nature, |
The passing of winter and spring, |
We share with the life universal, |
Rejoice in the magickal ring. |
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Four times in the year the Great Sabbat returns |
And witches are seen, |
At Lammas and Candlemas dancing, |
On May Eve and old Hallowe'en. |
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When day-time and night-time are equal, |
When sun is at greatest and least, |
The four Lesser Sabbats are summoned, |
Again witches gather in feast. |
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Thirteen silver moons in a year are, |
Thirteen is the coven's array, |
Thirteen times at esbat make merry, |
For each golden year and a day. |
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The power was passed down the ages |
Each time between woman and man, |
Each century unto the other, |
Ere time and the ages began. |
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When drawn is the magickal circle, |
By sword or athame of power, |
It's compass between the two worlds lies, |
In Land of the Shades for that hour. |
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This world has no right then to know it, |
And world of beyond will tell naught, |
The oldest of Gods are invoked there, |
The Great Work of magick is wrought. |
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For two are the mystical pillars, |
That shine at the gate of the shrine, |
And two are the powers of nature, |
The forms and the forces divine. |
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The dark and the light in succession, |
The opposites each unto each, |
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess, |
Of this did our ancestors teach. |
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By night he's the wild wind's rider, |
The Horned One, the Lord of the Shades, |
By day he's the King of the Woodland, |
The dweller in green forest glades. |
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She is youthful and old as she pleases, |
She sails the torn clouds in her barque, |
The bright silver Lady of midnight, |
The crone who weaves spells in the dark. |
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The master and mistress of magick, |
They dwell in the deeps of the mind, |
Immortal and ever-renewing, |
With power to free or to bind. |
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So drink the good wine to the old Gods, |
And dance and make love in their praise, |
Till Elphame's fair land shall receive us, |
In peace at the end of our days. |
And Do What You Will be the challenge, |
So be it in love that harms none, |
For this is the only commandment, |
By magick of old be it done! |
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