You've learned the elements of ritual. You now have a complete personal

guide to

creating any ritual, from a simple rite to the most complex ceremony

imaginable, at your

fingertips. You have developed the ability to visualize and connect to

specific types of

energy, regardless of whether it's from the sun, the moon, a memory, or

an elemental

concept. You can create altars, both to represent your growth on this

path as well as for

use in your rituals. And you have recorded every step along your way.

Witches often keep a book, half magickal journal, half reference manual,

which is

commonly referred to as a Book of Shadows. You may hear it referred to as

a Grimoire in

some circles and I refer to my personal version as a Book of Lore. As you

begin looking

around the Pagan community, you'll find that most are filled with things

copied from

other sources; a poem here, a table of correspondences there. What you

have done, by

recording each step along your way, is begin the process of writing your

own. By the

end of this guide, you will have an in-depth book that covers each and

every topic you

will approach in the normal course of your practice. This is something

that you can

continue to add to, that will continue to grow as you do. When you begin

to work with

students of your own, you will find this reference invaluable as you seek

to relive the

steps you took along your own path. Your notes may take a little

reorganizing to put

them in the format you want, but all of the information will be there.

This leaves us with one final step, one final component to add before we

move into

more advanced applications. We have all the tools we need at this point

to create a

personal practice. We understand ritual and symbolism and we understand

how to

apply it. The only thing we require now is a physical location to use as

sacred space.

It is absolutely necessary that you apply portions of this guide

outdoors. It doesn't

have to be deep in the wilderness as I have done. It can be on a favorite

stretch of

beach, in a park near your home, in a field you played in as a child, in

your backyard, or

in your garden. At the very least, you should develop an indoor location

around a

window you can open and fill the surrounding area with plants, a portion

of which have

a natural lifecycle that sees them die yearly in your environment. But

even if you are

forced to stay indoors (for instance, if you live in an unsafe, urban

environment), I

would encourage you to travel somewhere extremely rural at least every

Nature can be found anywhere. I lived in downtown Baltimore, Maryland for

almost three

years, surrounded by paved streets and tall buildings, not trees and open

spaces. The

cycles of nature and the seasons are present even in the heart of an

urban center. But you

will be limited without an outdoor area to work with and you will have to

skip over certain

areas of this guide which will become obvious to you.

Exercise Seven: Discovering Sacred Space

The most powerful aspect of the path I teach is adopting and working

with

an outdoor sacred site. A sacred site is an area where natural

energy is

attracted, where it pools into a deep reservoir that you can draw

from. To

work with such an area requires that you think of it, not as a tool

you can

use, but as holy ground, similar to how a Christian would perceive a

cathedral or other holy site.

Before you begin to seek out such a place, begin to think of the

things you

need from the location. It must be semi-private as you will be using

it both

for meditation as well as for the rituals you create. It must be

somewhere

that you feel comfortable; a park known for its high crime rate is

Once you have a potential area, it's actually a simple matter to

find a site.

There are a thousand clues that point out pooling natural energy.

For

instance, it can be a place that animals are attracted to. In the

wild, you can

look for a location where numerous deer or elk trails intersect; in

an urban

area, like your backyard, look for a place that cats, birds, and

other urban

animals seem to be attracted to. It can be a place where plant life

is

unusually lush and long-lived. A place where children are naturally

drawn

to run and play. Or you can use the most difficult method to locate

the site.

You can trust your own instincts.

Go to the place and wander. Let your feet simply carry you. See if

you are

led in a certain direction and follow that subtle urging. When you

stop,

look around. Are you in a place where you would be comfortable

working?

Does it appeal to you? Does it present what you feel you need? Or do

you

feel drawn a little farther? If you seem to be drawn on, make note

of the

original place you've stopped. Sometimes our sense of adventure can

pull

us onward once we let it out and give it the chance to explore and

you may

find yourself needing to backtrack to the original site. When you've

arrived

in the correct location, you'll know. It might be a corner of your

garden or

the top of a mountain. Wherever it is, it will be uniquely suited to

Once you've found the place you're drawn to, it's appropriate to ask

that

you be allowed to use the site for your work.