Know well the rules of our art
		On a late summers windless afternoon old Joan and I sat on the bank of Tamar Lake, a few miles west of Bradworthy. As usual I spent much of the morning pestering her to tell me more about  "how to do things",  like most teenagers I was impatient and had fantasies about casting grand spells. Old Joan did her best to calm me down and explain again that the most important thing to do before working a spell or any act of magick was to think, could it be done and if it could would I really want the results. As the day wore on the heat of the sun and the sound of nature all around me finally brought a calm. I led on my back with my eyes closed and fell in to a daydream, I  could feel the great serpent moving beneath me under the earth and the many spirits buzzing around in the hot summer still air. Suddenly I heard the tinkle of  a metal object on stone and so I opened my eyes and looked around to see what it was. Joan had taken out her knife and was holding it lightly by the very extremity of its hilt between the tips of her thumb and index finger. She lowered it slowly until just the tip of its blade was in the water of the lake and started to move it around and around. On the perfectly still waters the movement of the knifes blade tip made ripples which slowly moved out wards in what seemed to be a spiral, after only a few moments the tiny ripples had expanded to cover six or more square feet of the waters surface. She turned to me and said ";see how even a small thing such as the tip of this knife, used in the right way, can have such influence". I sat up, clearing the sleep from my eyes and turned around so that I was facing her. She put away her knife back into her basket and said, " the world is like chess" (We both liked to play chess). " When you first look at the game it seems to have very few rules, but then after a while you start to understand that it has many far more subtle rules. The better you understand these rules the more likely it is you will win and those who have mastered the subtle rules of chess know better what move to make next. If you know and understand the more subtle rules of the world then you will not only be able to make changes in it by working magick, but also know better what affect these works will have and know the best way in which these acts can be done."
		Earth spirits can't endure the Sea, nor anything that comes there from, and, above all they abhor salt; so brine or sea-water. Everything has life/spirit (sprowl). The foolish believe without question, the wise observe. Like influences like. Will controls action. The stronger will controls will the weaker. A symbolic act is a real act. Repetition brings strength. The breath can convey power. Not all that is, is seen, not all that is seen is real. Everything has a name, know that name and you have power over it. Mirrors are gateways to other realms. Distance hinders neither our will or vision. Suggestion has force. Never forget to clean up after yourself and not just physically. The parts equal the whole. The eye has the power to change what it sees. Resonance, words and rhythm carry will. Some boundaries protect others imprison. Some beings will do your bidding. Most can be made to! You see different things with different eyes. All movement in nature is a message. The dead live and play their part in this world and theirs. Enter the Maze and return transformed. The bones of this land are not speechless. Knowest thou what thou art, In the hour of sleep, A mere body, a mere spirit, Or a secret retreat of light. Seek equipoise, tranquil between the holly thorns both black and white,   Be as courageous as the Oak, As wise as the Hazel, And as resilient as the Elder, But always with the silence of the willow, For these are the ways of the witch. Surrender the things of youth without sorrow, for age shall bring deeper wisdom and greater understanding.