With a notebook and pen, explore the area immediately outside of your home. Look for liminal spaces. Are there any borders or boundaries that are fuzzy and ill-defined, or that contain an unusually large variety of plants? Are there any spaces that are not-quite-this and not-quite that, or that serve as thresholds between one type of space and another? If you’re in a city, look between two buildings, between a building and a wall, within vacant lots, and other unused or forgotten spaces. If you’re in a more rural environment, pay attention to the transition zones where two ecosystems overlap--for example, the edge of a pond or the timberline of a forest.

Next, explore liminal times. Go outside during dawn or dusk and see if you can perceive the moment when you truly can’t tell if it’s night or day.

Whenever you find a liminal space or time, take a moment to give it your entire awareness. The observation and attention skills you’re developing in your nature journal, herbal work, and mindfulness meditation will serve you well here. What do you perceive with your physical senses? What do you feel? Do you sense anything otherworldly--a flicker in the corner of your eye, a strange sound, a feeling that you’re not alone?

If you sense any friendly spirits around you, feel free to give them a short greeting, prayer, or song. You can also put together a found item altar. If you sense any unfriendly spirits around you--that is, if you feel overcome with an urge to leave that place immediately--then do so! A cleansing bath or rinse of salt water, lemon, and bay leaves can remove any unwanted influences that may have stuck to you.

Afterwards, write down your impressions. What did you notice in these liminal spaces? What did you learn? What did you find transformative?

The word “trance” has a bad reputation in Western culture, where it’s often understood to be a synonym for unconsciousness or mind control. To the witch, a trance is a state of focused attention in which the Otherworld can be perceived and power can be more easily channeled and directed. One can enter a trance state through controlled breathing, drumming, chanting, using a wind roarer, or by using various other tools.

For this assignment, you have the option of first making a witch’s ladder. Witch’s ladders can be very simple or very complex, so feel free to get creative. To create a very simple witch’s ladder, take a length of thick yarn or cord. Tie 9 overhand knots in the cord, as evenly spaced as possible. If there’s a certain virtue you want to infuse into the knots, you can pass them through wind or incense smoke before tightening them, or drench the cord in an herbal infusion and letting it dry before knotting it. You can also tie talismans to the top and bottom of the ladder, if you like; my ladder has legs on the bottom and a skull on top, to symbolize going from earth to sky in spirit flight.

With or without a witch’s ladder, go to the place where you set up your found item altar in week 1. If your altar is no longer there, set up another. If it is there, then refresh it by dusting or tidying it as necessary. One lovely practice to refresh an altar is to pour or flick a little fresh water on it. Sit or stand before your altar, take a few relaxed breaths, and set aside any worries or distractions you’re carrying with you. Touch the first knot on your ladder, or hold up one finger to keep count.

Slowly chant these vowel sounds (A, E, I, O, and U), or the major vowel sounds in your native language if it’s not English:

Aaaaa
Ehhhh
Eeeee
Ohhhh
Ooooh

The compass is a practice found in British Traditional Witchcraft, and it serves several purposes. First, the creation of the compass helps the witch achieve a mental state conducive to magic and ritual. Second, the compass keeps out malefic influences and invites in spirit allies. Third, and most importantly, the compass acts as a symbolic “world between the worlds,” a place outside of normal space and time in which you can redirect your reality into infinite possibilities. While not inherently connected to nature, it’s a powerful tool in the green witch’s toolkit, especially if you need to create liminal space indoors.

This assignment is more involved and less directly connected to nature than most, so consider it optional. If you choose to try it, please read the entire assignment and make sure you understand it before beginning. Nothing kills a meditative state like fumbling for your notes! Also, you’ll be working with forces and concepts in this assignment that we haven’t yet discussed in class. This is by design. If you don’t know what something is or what it means, pay extra attention to your impressions of it during ritual, and know that the cleansing you’ll perform beforehand (see below) will protect you against any unwanted influences.

First, find a working space. If the spot where you built your found item altar is available, then use it; if not, your living room or bedroom will do. Build or refresh your altar.

Next, with your full awareness and focused attention, cleanse the space and yourself of any negative influences by burning a cleansing herb like rosemary, wiping down the space with a lemon, anise, or bay leaf infusion, or simply sweeping the area with a broom. If you’re working outside, cleanse very lightly and never use salt--you don’t want to drive away helpful spirits along with harmful ones! If you’re burning incense outside, be mindful of any fire danger. As you’re cleansing, visualize negative influences dissolving or flying away.

Once you’ve cleansed, stand facing north and hold out the arm you write with, with your index finger extended. Draw an imaginary line from the horizon to your feet, visualizing a road opening along that line. Call to the spirits of the north and invite them to join your working. Pause as you let them join you. Can you feel them arrive? What do they feel like?

Turn around and repeat the action, facing south. Call to the spirits of the south and invite them to join your working. Pause as you let them join you. Can you feel them arrive? What do they feel like?

Turn to the east and repeat the action. Call to the spirits of the east and invite them to join your working. Pause as you let them join you. Can you feel them arrive? What do they feel like?

Turn around and repeat the action, facing west. Call to the spirits of the west and invite them to join your working. Pause as you let them join you. Can you feel them arrive? What do they feel like?

Next, use your finger to draw an imaginary circle clockwise around your working area. 

Stand in the center of the crossroads you’ve created, your altar before you. Invite any deities, ancestors, or spirit guides you work with. Most importantly, greet the spirits of the land on which you’re working. Your body forms the final direction of the crossroads--above and below--for a total of a 6-way crossroads.

You’ve created your first compass! This rite can serve as the foundation for any major ritual, devotional, or magical work you do. It’s not necessary for every magical or ritual act you perform, but the liminal space of the crossroads, combined with the container of the circle and the presence of friendly spirits, can greatly increase your work’s potency. Try meditating, chanting, or even working a simple spell within your compass. How does it feel? What are the effects?

When you’re finished, thank the spirits and allies who joined you. If you’re outdoors, you can pour them some fresh water, or even spit on the ground or leave some hair as an offering. If you’re inside, you can set out a bowl of brightly-colored sweets or a cup of wine or other good drink. Many traditional witches leave their compasses to dissipate naturally, but if you feel it’s necessary to take your compass down, you can sweep or smoke-cleanse the area again.

Finally, if, despite your cleansing, you suspect that an unwanted influence may have joined you, use the cleansing bath or rinse in Assignment 1. (One sign that something stuck to you is if you feel sluggish or unwell afterwards, or if you suddenly have a run of bad luck or strange mishaps.)

Be sure to write down all your observations and questions after the rite is concluded.