Dark Mirror: the inner work of witchcraft

By Yvonne Aburrow

Update 1 August 2020: The second, revised and expanded edition of Dark Mirror: the Inner Work of Witchcraft is now available from the Doreen Valiente Foundation shop.

Inner work is a name commonly given to the inner processes that happen in ritual. It can also mean the transformation of the psyche that comes about through engaging in religious ritual. However, the best kind of inner work also has an effect outside the individual and outside the circle. When rituals are focused only on self-development, they tend to be a bit too introspective. Ritual is about creating and maintaining relationships and connections – between body, mind, and spirit; with the Earth, Nature, the land, the spirit world, the community, and friends. It is about making meaning, weaving a web of symbolism, story, mythology, meaning, community, and love. Creating a community that welcomes and celebrates diversity. Creating strong and authentic identity to resist the pressures of consumerism and commercialism and capitalism. Weaving relationship with other beings: humans, animals, birds, spirits, deities.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Inner Work

Part 1: Coming to the Circle

1. The Pagan Worldview
2. Creating Sacred Space
3. Raising Energy – Synergy, Resonance and Polarity
4. Magical Names
5. Archetypes and the Inner Work
6. The Mysteries
7. Evocation and Invocation
8. Symbolism in Ritual
9. Spell Work
10. Magical Tools
11. The Moon

Part 2: Embodied Spirituality

12. Relationships
13. “Ye shall be naked in your rites”
14. The Erotic and Spirituality
15. Inner Aspects of the Festivals
16. Grounding and Centering
17. Making an Altar
18. The Hearth
19. Food in Ritual
20. Labyrinths; Meditative Walking; Pilgrimage
21. Gardening
22. Spirits of the Land
23. Meditation, Visualisation, Contemplation
24. Poetry, Storytelling, and Reading
25. Cultivating the Virtues
26. Rites of Passage
27. Inclusive Wicca

Conclusion