For this you will need a
cord, or cingulum as it is sometimes
called, that is nine feet long (three
times
three;
the perennial magick number) and
is the colour appropriate to the
magickal working.
It is best to
make
your own by taking three lengths of red
silk (or wool, nylon, whatever you
prefer - though natural materials are
preferred) and yourself plaiting them
into one.
As you plait, concentrate
on
putting yourself - your energies into it
so that it becomes another part of you.
Like your Athame, no one else should ever use your cord but you.
Tie a knot in each end to keep it from
unraveling.
Make sure it is nine feet long.
Consecrate the cord, when done. Some
traditions use their cords tied about
their robes and wear them all the time
at Circles.
I would suggest you keep yours for strictly magickal use, keep it wrapped in a piece of clean white linen or silk.
One magickal use of the cord is as a "storage cell" for the power. Rather than dancing around and working as a group, the coven will work as individuals, sitting and chanting, holding the cord in hand (the same is obviously done by the Solitary).
As the power starts to build, each covener will taking his/her own time and ignoring, or mentally separating him/herself from the others - pause from time to time to tie a knot in his/her cord.
The first knot is tied at one end, with the words "By knot of one, the spell's begun."
S/He will then go back to chanting - oftimes swaying from side to side, or back and forth - until s/he feels it is time to tie another knot.
This is
tied in the opposite end with the words:
"By knot of two, it cometh true".
Then back to the chanting. As
s/he chants, s/he also pictures what
s/he wants...s/he "takes aim".
So it goes on; chanting
and picturing, then tying a knot.
As the power builds, more knots are tied
until there are nine knots in the cord.
They are tied in a particular pattern and with appropriate words. The first knot, as I have said, is tied at one end; the second at the other end. The third is tied in the middle. The forth is halfway between the first and third; the fifth halfway between the second and third.
Here is the pattern of tying,
together with the appropriate words:
By knot of ONE, the spell's begun
*--------
By knot of TWO, it cometh true
*-------*
By knot of THREE, so mote it be
*---*---*
By knot of FOUR, this power I store
*-*-*---*
By knot of FIVE, the spell's alive
*-*-*-*-*
By knot of SIX, this spell I fix
***-*-*-*
By knot of SEVEN, events I'll leaven
***-*-***
By knot of EIGHT, it will be Fate
*****-***
By knot of NINE, what's done is mine
*********
At the tying of the last (ninth)
knot, all the energy is directed into
the cord and its knots, with a final
visualization of the object of the work.
The power has been raised and is now
"stored" in these knots in the cord.
Why would you want to store a spell?
For some magick, the time for it to
happen is important.
Suppose, for example, that you want
something constructive to happen but the
most propitious time for it to do so
happens to be close to the
New Moon.
Do you do your constructive magick
during the Waxing Moon? No.You
do it early on, at the Full Moon, using
a cord.
Now the power is there,
properly
raised, but stored for use. You have
nine knots.
Although they are all tied
in one ritual, these must be released
one at a time - one a day - for nine
consecutive days.
Release them in
the
same order in which they were tied, NOT
the reverse order. In other words, on
the first day untie the knot that was
first tied (to know which end you
started with, when making the cord,
braid in a small wooden bead at one end
and always start with this end); on the
second day, the second knot tied; and so
on.
In this fashion, the last knot untied, on the ninth day, is the ninth knot that was tied at the climax of the tying ritual - the time of greatest power.
Each day, before you actually
untie, do your concentration on what is
to happen, rocking and again building
power.
Then, as you release the
knot,
release the power also with a shout
Book of Shadows
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