A Speculation Theory on the Growth of Spirit Powers within Wiccans: By Jasper
Greythane

The Speculation
***

‘As the Coven gathered around the trunk of the Master Ravenwood Tree - the
leader brought forth her cauldron and placed it within the Coven centre. She
glanced upon the cauldron which spewed forth shadows that silently swept across
the ground, swirling in an entrancing dance. The witch bowed her head in
reverence as she whispered words of power - concentrating with sharply focused
willpower. The shadows which graced the ground instantly shifted and shaped,
culling themselves around her figure forming a robe of flowing darkness about
her. As she continued, more shadows appeared from the crevices of the glade
where the Master Ravenwood stood and shot up like spiraling spires into the air
as if commanded to do such. Once finished with her spell, the witch made a quick
gesture with her hands and the shadows dispersed in haste - returning to the
cauldron and their resting places until called upon again.'

Upon gaining entry into one of the Covens within the Basin of Life, a newly
initiated witch undertakes the arts of nature and the spirits to gain spiritual
enlightenment. Through doing this the witch will gain the ability to manipulate
the power which is given to them by their particular Totem Spirit. This control
of their power - and the power itself - grows as a witch learns more of the arts
which the Spirit has given to them, along with their personal experience which
evolves the soul.

My definition of spirit power is the manifestation of internal willpower and
the essence which is imparted from a Nature Spirit to a witch. This is not,
however, the true definition of what spirit power is - simply what I believe it
is through my experience and what I have learned. Manipulating spirit power is
learned in varying ways, for it may come innate to some people and for others
it may need to be taught; either by a teacher more advanced than oneself or
self taught through rigorous trial and error. Now, I will not be writing
techniques on how to manipulate spirit power, more so I will write on how
spirit power is strengthened through study and training and the varying degrees
of it.

Before I go any further on what my views are, I would like to express a couple
things. How I go on about what spirit power is may not be correct, again, I say
this is what my own personal experiences are with what it is and can easily be
denied by any Elder God or Goddess if they wish it so. Secondly, I would like
to point out how each Coven has their unique way of manifestation. What I mean
is that when a Night witch uses his will to manifest spirit power it will be
entirely different as a Moon witch doing the same. From being in both the Coven
of Moon and now Night, the expression of the manifestation what I have see is
this - for the Moon Coven they manipulate moonlight and silver brilliance, for
the Night Coven they manipulate and control shadows, and one would speculate
that the Coven of Ackleberry would have some control over water as their Nature
Spirit being Sister Lake. With that being said, let me continue on with the next
part of my theory: Strengthening through Study.

Strengthening through Study
***

‘The candles within the grimy study were staring at her as they flickered on,
bringing small amount of light into the little room. She perused through many
ancient texts which detailed the many rites of Night: the torturous spell of
scourge, the horrific rite of choke, and the calling of the terror of Mother
Night. As her knowledge within the art of Night elevated to newer heights, she
felt the darkness and the shadows become more easily called upon - and their
power radiating with new strength.'

One can easily believe that by understanding the selective magic of a Totem
Spirit would greatly increase one's expertise of spirit power. My reasoning for
this is drawn from the facts that it takes considerable will to invoke the
powers of a Nature Spirit - Moon, Night, or Lake - and even greater will to
focus it to manifest into a vaguely tangible force. One can easily see how the
strength and control of an inept practitioner of Night and a witch who has
transcended the knowledge of Night differ - because the inept has less
knowledge and intimacy with the shadows than the transcendent one, and this can
also be true about those who practice the magic of Moon. While the learning of
the sacred arts of a Spirit is important to the strengthening of one's spirit
powers - there is another facet which must be explained: Strengthening through
Experience.

Strengthening though Experience
***

‘Through continual practice within the meditation chambers of the Halls, the
young witch ordered the shadows to do her bidding. As her soul grew through
training and practice, swelling as it broke a new level of mortal life, she
found that her control of the shadows altered greatly. Elevated to heights
which she has never reached before, she found herself at a point in her life
where her personal experiences influenced her spirit power.'

The last major factor which I believe corresponds to one's spirit power is
their hardships through personal experiences. As one knows, the soul is evolve
as it passes through a sequence of rounds call ‘Circles of Experience' which
represents how powerful the divine splinter is which resides in each mortal
being. I believe that the strength of one's soul and splinter corresponds to
the control they have over their spirit power, for it represents the greater
amount of will that they harness inside them. Now, I have noticed that some
people - while of reasonable Circle of Experience - do not possess a great
amount of will, mainly for example those of the Dynamic. So I have categorized
those of a certain Circle into a set of five levels which I believe represent
the varying strengths of a wiccan. Please note that these levels are set as if
the wiccan in question was transcendent in their particular art.

A Newborn soul to a Daring soul: A witch who falls under the first tier are
those who are at or under the twentieth Circle of Experience. The control of
the spirit powers is difficult; it takes great will to focus which is many a
time not inherent in such a wiccan at this point. During ritual, one would
assume that a wiccan of this strength will burn out quickly - that they will
use all their spirit power, particularly all in one go. I would say that those
who use their spirit power at this state of experience are rather dangerous,
either injuring themselves or others - more so themselves.

A Vibrant soul to a Grand soul: The second tier of wiccan spirit power, a witch
who falls under this are vaguely much better at controlling than those of the
lesser experience. Total control is only gained by a will and sheer
concentration. Unlike the will drawn upon by those of the first tier, those of
the second can exert less amount of their concentration to draw upon the spirit
power. It takes a longer time to burn out such a witch of this level, enabling
them to consider and plan out their use of spirit power. However, like those of
the first tier, they many a time relinquish it all in one go rather than using
it sparingly.

A Salient soul to a Glorious soul: The third tier, and the one which I
currently am placed within. A witch of the third tier has greatly better
control than the previous two. Such a witch can easily call upon spirit power
effortlessly, taking lesser strain to perform their witchcraft. During lengthy
rites can they continue to stay attuned to their Nature Spirit - focusing on
the task at hand. This is the most common tier which most wiccans fall into -
however, some continue on unto greater things.

An Impregnable soul to a Supramortal: The fourth tier is one of contemplation
for me currently for I have yet to reach such a state. However, I can speculate
the varying degree of powers of the three lesser tiers. I would assume that one
of this state can simply will it be and it is done - requiring little
concentration on the matter at hand. Somatic and verbal techniques are probably
unnecessary as well, while forgetting to mention in the previous tiers such acts
are commonly used to draw forth spirit power. Anyways, this fourth tier would
easily be able to draw forth mass manifestation of the spirit power - moonlight
so brilliant to dispel shadows lurking, shadows which cover the place in hazy
darkness, and water of spiraling life and sheen.

A soul of the 5th Circle of Celestial Power to a Titan soul: The fifth tier,
once again speculation for me. Much like the fourth tier I would assume that
the spirit power will simply needed to be tapped upon. Meaning, they need not
concentrate, need not focus, simply think of manifesting the power and it will
happen. Such easy manifesting of spirit power can also cause recklessness and
wanton use of it - one would believe that those who have elevated to this stage
of their life would have keen sense of control. If not, we all would be in a
grand mess of trouble.

A Demi-god's spirit power: While not necessarily a tier like the rest, I
decided to cover the idea of what a demi-god would be like. I can safely assume
that the idea of thinking to manifest is out the window and believe that without
even thinking their power radiates. Since their soul has been magnified and
raised to a state of divinity, I would believe that they would not burn out
themselves when invoking spirit power. There are no wiccans who have ascended
to the divinity of demi-godhood yet, thankfully, and I would hopefully like to
see one - and gain a deeper understanding of spirit power magnified by divine
might.

Conclusion
***

I have told you all my thoughts of the idea of spirit power, and the varying
degrees and components which it has. I would like to have all remember that
this is simply a theory proposed by my continual studies in the arts of
ritualism and mysticism, and hopefully I will be able to write a second theory
and so on to discuss spirit power.

With blessings of Gloomtide,
Prince of Shadows,
Jasper Greythane.