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“Be ye therefore as wise as serpents”.4 Jesus Christ
Now you have celebrated the sabats and waited your year and a day. You have chosen to become a Wiccan and a Priest/ess. Yes, upon their year and a day, all Wiccans are Priests and Priestesses. Lets talk for a moment what it means to be of the Wiccan Priesthood.
"But we will certainly do whatever thing goeth forth from our own mouth, to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven... and poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her... without our men," Priestesses in Jeremiah 44:17;19. "For her service is perfect freedom," the High Priest of Corinth from The Golden Ass.
A Priestess is one in whom is the spirit of God/dess, often called the Lady. No other religion on earth provides the Lady with the power, responsibility, position, and prestige as found in Wicca. In our Priestesshood, not only are you given equality with men, but also superiority over men!
History of the Priestesshood: The Priestess of the Celts were military commanders, warriors like Fidelma with eyes of triple irises, lawyers, judges, doctors, political leaders, queens like Medb that dominated even their kings, there was no limit to your power! In Greece, women had no political power, in Rome she had a bit more power. The Celtic Priestess had it well indeed. The Priestess by the thousands served in ancient temples of Greece, Rome, Egypt, Sumer, Europe, and many other lands. There was Media the Priestess of Hecate (Crone Goddess) that helped Jason gain the golden fleece. Camma was a Druidess and Priestess of Briget. All Egyptian queens were Priestesses. Mary Magdalene, who was often kissed by Jesus was a High Priestess of the Temple of Ishtar.7 The ancient medicine woman and wise woman of the prehistoric world were Priestesses of vast importance. The bible book of Esther is a story of a Priestess of Ishtar. Esther is a form of Ishter and the duties described in her book are that of a representative of the Goddess and describes her sacred marrage to the king. Shakespeare refers to the Priestess Rosalind in As You Like It - as a moonish youth. The moon is the symbol of Goddess and Priestesshood. Who can forget Bradamante a Warrior Priestess of Merlin (Father God) from, The Legends of Charlemagne. The Priestesses from Asia Minor, the Sibyls were believed to live 900 to 1,000 years. According to the legends, some could interpret dreams and others could make their voices heard after death.
Today the new religions deny the Lady her Priestesshood, but the bible says, "She (the Goddess Wisdom) hath sent forth her maidens (Priestesses)," Proverbs 9:3. No where in the bible has the Goddess Wisdom ended her Priestess order, so it must still be active. The Priestess may have been ran underground in the primitive Europe, but she has always existed in Asia, Africa, and the America’s even to this day.
Please note that King Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs after his conversion to the God Baal (Hunter God) and Asherah (Queen of Heaven). Asherah had some very powerful Priestesses. The term Lord in Proverbs means Baal. Yes, Proverbs is a Pagan book!
Some folks will dispute Proverbs as a Pagan book claiming Solomon only late in his life converted to Paganism, I Kings 11:5. However, Solomon early in his reign performed Pagan rites, "he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places," (I Kings 3:3) definitely a Pagan practice. Many "good" kings of Israel destroyed the high places because of their Pagan connection.
A Priestess order is mentioned in the bible as the Daughters of Jerusalem or Zion, Jesus mentions them. It just so happens that the Apostle Paul refers to Jerusalem as "the Mother (Goddess) of us all." These Priestesses worn headbands with moon symbols. Celtic Priestesses also wore these lunar crescent headbands.
Prophetesses, really Priestesses are mentioned in Exodus 15:20, Isaiah 8:3, 2 Kings 22:14, Luke 2:36-37, Acts 21:9, a judge in Judges 4:4, and a female disciple in Acts 9:36. So much for the new testament forbidding women power over men.
Priestesses in several ancient religions were often called maidens. In Wicca, we have an office called the maiden of the coven. Joan of Arc was one such maiden as she was often called the Maid. The maiden assists the High Priestess and is a Priestess in her own right.
The Everlasting Priestesshood: "As the Hyperborean race (Celts) exists, I shall have my Priestess among them," the Goddess Diana."1 Remember King Brutis (the first British king) whom promised Diana he and his generations would worship her down the ages. If Diana's worship is through the ages who will lead her worship? Her Priestesses of course.
In Kildare, Ireland, the Goddess Brigit had an eternal flame that is attended by her Priestesses. This eternal flame still exists! The Priestess tends it inside the magick circle today. Remember, time doesn't exist within the magick circle - so the flame is eternal.
The Goddess Wisdom in Proverbs 8:23 says, "I was setup from everlasting." If she is everlasting should not her Priestesshood also be eternal. Won't she need Priestesses for her worship?
Many in the new religions are howling about now. They are demanding that Wisdom is Jesus Christ. There are several problems with this assertion. Wisdom is identified as a female noun in the bible. Additionally, Wisdom says, "I was daily his (God's) delight," and "my delights were with the sons of men," in Proverbs 8:30-31. Delight in the Hebrew is a sexual reference. The Goddess Wisdom is speaking of the great rite. So if the new religions want to call Wisdom, Jesus - they need to accept homosexuality!
The Priestess of Wicca is related to the Priestess of the ancient times. The Oracle of Delphi, maidens of Diana, and others are your sisters. In your blood runs the ancient Everlasting Priestesshood of the Goddess. A man doesn't make a Priestess. The Goddess makes you a Priestess.
The first named Briton was Abaris (570 B.C.), he was a Priest of Apollo (Warrior God). There are many examples of Pagan Priests in history. To prove a point, lets talk about the oldest mention of a Pagan High Priest, Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-19.
Mel calls his God in Hebrew El Elyon translated as the Most High God. El from the Ras Shamra Epic is a God of the Canaanites and evolved into the Phoenician Baal.
El's title mentioned by Mel is "the possessor of heaven and earth." This same title is applied to Baal in the bible and other texts. There is no doubt that Baal and El are the same God.
Baal is of course our Horned God. From the Ras Shamra ritual texts we learn he is a nature God. He is described as holding a club and wearing horns. His rites were accompanied with a great deal of sex (much like the Celts Cern). In his seasonal battle (near Beltane) he dies. Later his sister returns him to life. He is mentioned several times in the bible. The stones around the magick circle and maypole are his phallic symbols. Wiccan Priests like Mel are priests of the Horned Hunter God (Cern or Baal).
AntiWitches argue that El is their God and not a Pagan God?
Baal worship was very popular in Salem at this time (about 1913 B.C.) and it would be highly unlikely that their king and high priest would worship a God differing from the citizens popular religion. The religion of Judaism was not established at this time, thus the Christian God was not established either. Mel was a gentile (non-Jew). Since neither Judaism or Christianity were established, by definition El must be a Pagan God.
Additionally, when Israel conquered Canaan (c.1451 B.C.) they found the same priest/king in Salem. In Joshua 10:1-3 it mentions Adonizedec, an obvious descendant of Melchizedek. Joshua ordered his execution in Joshua 10:23-26. If Christ is right in saying that a house can't stand against itself - then the Most High God of the Zedec's can't be the same God of the Israelites.
The monotheistic God did not exist either. Abraham names several Gods: Adoni (Lord God) known mainly as the Greeks' Adonis in Genesis 15:2, El Shaddai (Almighty God) in Genesis 17:1, and El Olam (Everlasting God) in Genesis 21:33. If there were only one God why does he have so many names. If fact, the bible names many different Pagan Gods and they are just translated as God or Lord as the examples above show. Even St. Paul says, "there are Lords many and Gods many." Additionally, the priest Daniel, the bible's master of magicians had "the spirit of the holy Gods"2 in him! Now that we have proven the Most High God as a Pagan God let's move on to why this is important to the Wiccan Priesthood.
"Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," Hebrews 5:6 and Psalms 110:4. Yes, the bible declares our Pagan Priesthood of the Horned God is everlasting! You, the Wiccan Priest share this priesthood with Mel, Solomon, Daniel, and even Merlin.3
WHAT NOW? After becoming a Priest/ess, the next step in the Old English Wicca tradition is to advance to an order. An order is specializing in an area of study. To achieve an order will require another year and a day 5 of study. From the sacred lore Lugh (the Sun God) stated many skills (orders) he had when he sought entry into King Nuadha's castle. Druids studied for 20 years before starting their job. Priestesses in the Goddess Cybele's temples were required to learn music, dance, rites, and medicine. The Kama Sutra (a book of Asiatic Wicca) says, a young Priestess should learn the sixty-four arts. The sixty-four arts included dance, magic, flower bouquets, lace making to name a few.
The following orders are not just book learning, but should include practical experience. There are an unlimited number of orders that a Wiccan can pursue. The coven or the solitary Wiccan can establish their own study criteria for any order. The study criteria can be simple or complex. Here are some suggestions: music, playing an instrument, dance, carving wands and staffs, chess, acting, ritual design, poetry, story telling, general arts, history, magick studies, healing, spells, divination, past life regression, astral projection, familiars, the study of science, medicine, magick of herbs, incenses, oils, stones, God/dess studies, metal working swords or daggers, and anything. You can add any number of orders to this list.
In my English coven, the curriculum for a bard was to learn to play an instrument, and perform at circles. A story telling bard learned, interpreted, and told several myths at the circles. A Wiccan who chose magick studied several books and performed several spells. The person studying herbs; grew them and use herbs in spells. The person studying divination told fortunes for charity at a small town fair. Like all things - practice makes perfect.
After completing training in the order for a year and a day; the next step is to become a High Priest/ess. This again will require another year and a day.6
The High Priest/ess candidate within a coven should study group dynamics, human behavior, leadership roles, counseling, personality types, planning, directing, speech, and organizing. College level books on introduction to management, introduction to psychology, introduction to sociology, and The Psychology of C.G. Jung adequately cover these subjects. This Wiccan will begin to lead the coven in rituals, assist the acting High Priest/ess, and perform the charge of the God/dess.
American covens normally have only one High Priest/ess. However, in Old English Wicca it is not unusual for a single coven to have several High Priests and High Priestesses.
The solitary Wiccan who wants to become a High Priest/ess should learn an order, continues to celebrate the rites and rituals for another year and a day, perform the charge of the God/dess, and at the end of the year and a day ask the God/dess to make you a High Priest/ess.
Lugh in the Celtic myth had much more than one order, so the learning process in Wicca doesn't end. You should learn as many orders as you are able. A number of covens have made symbols that represent an order. After the order is achieved the symbol can be placed on your robe as a decoration.
Recommended Duties of the Priest/ess: Live according to the Wiccan Rede. Worship the Gods by performing the rituals and celebrating the holy days. Call upon the Gods when in need. Thank the Gods when blessed. Teach others about the truth of Wicca and oppose the AntiWitch bigotry. Don't seek converts. If called, serve as a Priest/ess. Use magick to heal and to benefit others in need. Don't charge money for magick. Be an environmentalist. Do not gossip. Treat all folks (human and non-human) with kindness, compassion, and fairness. "Truth against the world" stand up for you feel is right; even if the whole world says otherwise. Keep your word, "At this Jove... (said) See, I incline my head that you believe me. This is the most solemn that I can give to any god. I never recall my word, or deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head." The Illiad.
1. I can't independently verify this quote. It was quoted from legend by a Muslim tour guide when I visited Diana's temple in Turkey. He was quoting Diana to disprove her. Unknown to him was the Wiccan Priestess of the Goddess.
2. Daniel 4:9
3. Daniel also worshipped the Most High God.
4. The early Christians called us serpents. The ancient Hebrew word for Sorcery (nachash) is almost the same as snake in Hebrew. St Patrick is credited with driving all the snakes (Wiccans/Druids) from Ireland.
5. The term a year and a day appears in the British Magna Carta, 1215 AD, article 32.
6. Daniel the "Master of Magicians" required an interim of three years (each a year and a day) before he assumed his duties as a High Priest in Daniel 1:5. The similarity of Daniel and Wiccan Priests are striking! Apuleius in The Golden Ass (150 AD) also receved three initiations before assuming a Priest's duties.
7. Wood, David, Genesis, Baton Press, Tunbridge Wells, 1985.
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