Welcome to the Circle of Ashtoreth.

Wicca. The Craft of the Wise. Ancient Wisdom. Magic! These are the mysteries of the earth, Life and Death and Rebirth. Called by many names, the Old Religion is also the newest and freshest of all religions, continually reforming itself and re-emerging as the emblem of all that is best from our ancestral memories and joining with the discoveries and fresh insights of our time.

Each Circle of Witches (or group or coven) has contributions to make to the Craft as a whole. In the spirit of sharing with our brothers and sisters in the Craft, we of the Circle of Ashtoreth are now prepared to openly declare our reformed, re-visioned insights and rituals for those who may have found something lacking in any other available texts.

Now, you may well ask what our Circle has to offer that is unique and worthwhile to seekers after knowledge of the Craft. Good question! While we began as a traditional Gardnerian-Alexandrian circle, we have, over a period of many years, evolved into our own unique entity, performing our own rituals, and teaching those who approach us in our vision of the Craft. In the last ten years, we have developed a system of celebration of the major Wiccan festivals (or sabbats) and a 'thealogy' which underlies these sabbats.

Unique to the Circle of Ashtoreth is a conception and belief in a balanced dualism which has given rise, for us, to a triple-formed God as well as the triple-formed Goddess -- ensuring that the rights of Male and Female are balanced in the heart of the mysteries. Certain times of the year are, of course, dominated by certain aspects of the God or Goddess, but the fundamental balance is maintained. Our Wheel of the Year allows for each of the six forms (or aspects) to manifest as the dominant guiding spirit for certain times of the year.

Recognition and invocation of The Divine is an essential part of any religion. In Castillian practice, we venerate that Divine as the three-fold goddess and a three-fold God. As such, the act of invoking the benediction of the Goddess and the God is an indispensable part of acknowledging the power and significance of each aspect of the Divinity in our lives. Although Castillian practice emphasises a balanced male-female approach, this should not be seen as advocating a particular sexual orientation, rather as an recognition of the exsistance of the exsistance of both sides in all of us.

Aspects are invoked as the Goddess and her Consort as a recognition of the ascendancy of the female aspect. During the Wheel of the Year, the God forms "rule" only for brief periods, during the transition between Goddess aspects, in one form or another, reigns the rest of the time. During rituals, each aspect is recognized as a distinct entity to assist both in the clarity of the rites, and to enhance the awareness of the celebrants. It is only through such a division that the total deity can be understood. Each aspect possesses the power of it's dominant period, but even at the height of that power, the other forms are present. And it is only when seen in this light that understanding of the total deity can be approached. The Goddess and the God in their primal state transcend the aspect that each wears from time to time. As our rituals proceed through the year, each aspect is seen in its' triumph and transition, and we are reminded by the presence of the other two that it is never enough to appreciate only the aspect who's time has come, and that the whole is more subtle and far greater, and can but be glimpsed in the invocation that follows.

In the case of the female aspects, the progression in forms is clear. From Maiden, to Mother, to Crone. From youth to old age. Not so clear is the transition for the male aspects, though as this is written, the term "Male Menopause" is appearing more and more frequently. The transition is not completely physical, representing a growth in maturity and wisdom as well as the passing of the years.

Underlying all of this, however, it cannot be stressed too much that the Goddess (or Great Mother) is and remains the central figure at the heart of the essence of Wicca. "For without her we would not be..."

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