During a somewhat impromptu session of spirit-work in early April, I was taught by the Mushroom Lady (a witch spirit I am familiar with – named after her appearance and affinity to fungi) how to perform a necromantic conjuration meant to call forth the shades of deceased witches. The night of April 30th, May’s Eve, was the best time to do so. The Mushroom Lady also instructed me to fashion a clay fetish which would be consecrated during that time and – with further empowerment – would function as a mouthpiece and vessel for the witching shades. I had never worked with clay in any serious capacity before and I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to create the fetish properly; its specific form and shape were strikingly clear in my mind’s eye before I even had a chance to think of a design. Despite my worries, the Mushroom Lady assured me that it didn’t have to be an artistic masterpiece, so long as it had all the necessary elements and was functional. It was supposed to be a simplistic representation of a nigh stereotypical Greek witch: an old woman wearing black and holding a distaff and spindle for spinning yarn. In addition, the fetish should have some kind of clay dish attached to it which would function as a mini censer since incense is essential for these workings. According to these spirits, incense “grants [them] breath”.

Making the clay fetish itself wasn’t as hard as I had feared though my inexperience with the medium didn’t make the process easy either. It’s a fairly crude icon, to be sure, but I find its atavistic simplicity has a numinous quality that makes it ideal for a spirit fetish.

Once it had dried thoroughly, I painted it and completed the spindle and distaff, including using thread to imitate the wool and yarn of the real thing. Fun fact, the thread connecting the two implements ended up burning and snapping during the ritual, and despite my momentary worry, I was told it had to happen to seal the rite and complete the consecration.

The rite itself was also rather simple and fairly easy. I had only been given an opening phrase to begin the conjuration and I had been encouraged to improvise the rest according to intuition and inspiration. Most of the complexities of the ritual went into the materials used to strengthen the conjuration. According to the instructions from the Mushroom Lady, I only needed to have the fetish, appropriate incense, three candles, and offerings of water and wheat to “satiate the thirst and hunger of the dead”. After consulting Hekate and my other spirits, I added red wine to “quicken their blood” and a mullein candle to “rouse them from their slumber”. Furthermore, I employed my iynx wheel, which has become a staple conjuration tool for me, to draw the shades alongside the invocation, as well as two other tools from my Triskelion practice: the Crossroads Key, to help the shades cross over, and the Hanged Man’s Rope, which strongly calls and manifests the dead. I also wore two pieces made by my friend, Corypheon: a Witch’s Toad signet ring and an Ancestral Chorus pendant.

With all my tools and materia collected, I dusted my hands with cinnamon (a practice I picked up from Jack Grayle’s Hekataeon) and began the rite. I had barely finished the opening phrase when the witching shades arrived. Their numbers were almost overwhelming, although they were extremely gentle and orderly in their behavior. The more the incense smoke billowed, the clearer their voices and messages became. I inquired for ways to improve my senses and our communication channels and was immediately given a fairly straightforward spell involving “sleepless” seawater and St. John’s wort, meant to be performed on the summer solstice (extremely intriguing given the local customs with St. John, on that day). I was also told that the fetish wouldn’t be as effective until the process of its empowerment was completed upon its second consecration on the new moon, a week from this first rite. During this week, I will be imbuing the fetish with the virtues of necrosophic materia to prepare and strengthen it. Once that’s done, the fetish – called “She Who Weaves the Dead” and “Mouthpiece of the Nameless Witches” by the conjured shades – will be ready to be used in any and all sorts of relevant workings. I am very much looking forward to more interactions with these witching shades!

First Consecration of She Who Weaves the Dead

Surprisingly, part of my instructions for this fetish included the writing and sharing of the rites with no omissions. In the words of the Mushroom Lady: “If you truly desire the re-emergence of Greek witchcraft, then you need to write about this and give others the means to meet us”. Divination confirmed that this is indeed appropriate so without further ado, here is the rite for the first consecration of the fetish, meant to be performed on the night of April 30th towards May 1st – the night of May’s Eve.

Materials:

  • A bowl of wheat
  • A glass of water
  • Three candles
  • Incense (myrrh, styrax, wormwood or other chthonic or necromantic incense)
  • The clay statuette

Optional: any additional offerings, materials, and tools of your choice that might improve the conditions of the working

Procedure:

Place the clay fetish in the middle of the working surface with the candles and offerings arranged around it. The incense should be placed on a charcoal in the fetish’s own clay dish. Light everything and begin the conjuration. The opening phrase must be this:

“Of all knowledge initiates and helpers, oh witches, guardians and secret teachers, rise and meet me before She Who Weaves the Dead, the Mouthpiece of the Nameless Witches!”

Continue the invocation with whatever words of calling feel most appropriate to you. Improvising or drawing on past experiences is ideal though preparing an invocation ahead of time can also work – still, these witches value cunning and the ability to adapt on the spot, so consider sticking to improvisation.

Once the shades have made their presence known, you are free to ask questions and make requests. The primary purpose of the fetish is to enable easy and direct communication with those who came before us so as to enrich the corpus of witching knowledge today. Allowing them to teach you is making full use of this artifact.

After the teaching session draws to a close, speak to the fetish directly and address it with its two names again. Tell the shades to come quickly and dwell within it when called. Thank them for their presence and knowledge and end the rite in the manner you prefer. The fetish must undergo a second consecration on the new moon, whenever that may occur after this first rite. Until the new moon, you must empower the fetish with necrosophic materia of your choice every night.