| Know. | Will. | Dare. | Be Silent. |
We are The Silver Spiral, an experimental and progressive, yet traditionally-formatted and lineaged pagan grove and witchcraft (Wicca-based) coven in Memphis, TN. We have built this site to give you a bit more information about the Craft of the Wise, and our group's approach. Our small-group format provides an environment in which each quester can grow personally and spiritually and develop tools and methods to live life more deeply. The questers of this path are serious and devoted to becoming the best that they can be, and are not afraid to work hard to achieve that. You can not get the Craft of the Wise from reading a website or a book. You have to step forward and grasp it, not because you want it but because it is who you are.
The goal of the Craft is to affect changes that are in harmony with one's individual path through the universe. The goal of the Craft is not to be just a witch or priestess, but to be busy being awesome, living life with vitality and using your magic to shine like the star you are. The Craft is a set of tools which help open those doors on the path to your dreams. You are not your Craft; you are what you do with it.
Naya Ærodiode: The High Priestess
Naya has been practicing the magical arts since 1994, and describes herself as an "occult geek of many stripes." She calls the Craft of the Wise her home, and is a coven-trained third degree high priestess. She has hived off from her original coven in Louisville, KY and now, with her consort, Onix, runs the Silver Spiral, a coven and training grove in Memphis, TN.
Naya is also a longtime practitioner of her own carefully constructed amalgam of mathematical mysticism and chaos magic. She explores and uses the techniques and ideas championed by the likes of Pythagoras, A.O. Spare, Richard Dawkins, Aleister Crowley, Robert Anton Wilson, Hakim Bey, Lewis Carroll and Peter Carroll (to name just a very few) to great effect in her practice.
Naya views magic as a living memeplex for the modern world, and is constantly evolving her paradigm to make the best use of the changing times and technologies as she impatiently awaits the upcoming singularity.
Onix Ærodiode: The Magus
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Our name, Silver Spiral, comes from the mathematical patterns of Fibonacci, the Golden Mean, and the Golden Spiral, which are representations of the pattern of growth in all life - keys in the blueprint of the universe.
We feel that the symbol of the spiral is a simple, yet elegant representation of one of our core philosophies:
"You are made of the same stuff as the stars. Grow to your greatest potential and let your light shine brilliantly."
Our practice reflects that. We work within the frameworks passed along through our lineage. We celebrate the turning of the year, the cycles of the moon and the ebb and flow of our lives. We celebrate ourselves by celebrating the gods.
The curling smoke of the incense intoxicates the senses. The thumping drumbeat stirs the heart. The witches dance around the bonfire, cradled in the grove amidst the trees, bathed in the shining light of the moon, their whirling bodies like stars spinning about in galaxies.
We are a training grove for those wishing to learn and deepen their practice, and to truly work towards awakening one's own magick in deep and profound ways. Our focus is on magick and learning the arts and sciences of witchcraft. What better praise to the gods is there than to make the best of our own lives and abilities?
This path of the Craft requires dedication, hard work, courage, intelligence, inspiration and open-mindedness. For the quester who wishes to learn the ways of the witch, we offer training and guidance towards initiation into the mysteries.
We are a lineaged coven and grove that honors and respects the teachings of those upline from us, and seek to train those who understand the importance of being rooted in the wisdom and power of a long line of amazing witches. Our approach is a traditional one - we keep our circles small so that each person can get individual attention. We believe that nothing can replace the value of personal, hands-on training when it comes to learning the Craft, nor can anything replace the power and mystery of initiation. We believe in the power of the spoken word, and the power of the secret kept.
Though our approach is traditional, our mindset is progressive. We understand that the Craft must evolve to survive. The world we live in today is much different than the world of Gerald Gardner, of the New Forest witches, and those who came before them in our line. The structure that has been passed along to us from our HP and HPS is one that works, but will only continue to work if we evolve and adapt it to fit our ever changing world. Stasis is the antithesis of life, and we strive to ensure that our Craft never falls into the rut of "but this is how we've always done it."
In fact, we insist upon experimentation, exploration, and development of new ideas and new ways to work magick. Those who seek our path must not be just satisfied with doing it the way its always been done - they must forge new pathways. Heresy is to be cherished.
We are proud free-thinkers in our circle. We enforce no dogma when it comes to belief. We encourage all we work with to find their own connections to the universe and the Gods and their own understanding of magick. The greatest sin in our eyes is to blindly accept knowledge based on a following of authority, rather than based on one's own experimentation and experience. We help those we work with to open their eyes to truly understand the ways of magick. Those we work with learn how to work the Craft to the greatest effect in their own lives so that they may shine brightly, like the shining stars they are.
This path is not for everyone, and to ensure that we have only those whose ideals and goals fit ours, we carefully select our members after an in-person meeting.
The ideal candidate will be one who is self-motivated, who prefers to learn and do rather than be a passive congregant to be led by others. S/he will be intelligent and dedicated to his/her own personal growth, and be ready to take responsibility for developing his/her skills as a Witch. S/he will be over the age of 21 (we do not accept questers who are younger than that) , and will have a life that is balanced and grounded. S/he will understand and honor the divine balance of male and female, life and death, stillness and motion, logic and emotion, and will seek to walk in balance among these. S/he will be unafraid to seek the depths of his/her heart, mind, and spirit, and to wield his/her personal power with honor and a self-sought carefully-understood morality. S/he will be unafraid to question, unafraid to challenge authority, unafraid to be corrected and unafraid to point out an error. S/he will be respectful of history while not being stuck there; s/he will be adaptable to the future without losing a sense of his/her roots. S/he will have a strong sense of logic, reason, and apply those with compassion and wisdom.
If you feel that this path is calling you, please contact us to learn more.