The Trial of the Craft is rarely spoken of in modern witchcraft circles. Most witches, when they hear the word Trials, think of the Salem Witch Trials, or something similar.
Why, I don't know. There has always been a Trial, it's well documented, and shows up in stories and lore in the strangest places. And you'd think that it would be something everyone would need to know.
It's one of the few constants in the Craft, like the thirteen powers, or the Consort's seduction(both of which aren't mentioned often either).
The Trial is simple: once a witch is reborn as a witch, once a witch swears her first witches' oath to be a witch, the Trial begins.
The Trial is a test, which forces your powers to awaken. It is a series of events which come down upon the witch all at once, and push her to her limit. This is intended to force her to use her gifts, and awaken the budding strength within her, fanning the flames of her Craft into a bonfire.
See, each witch generally starts out with one or two of the thirteen powers. Sometimes they come as a fluke, but most of the time they run in the family line. The powers, although weird, often don't even strike the witch-to-be as being odd, probably because the use of such a gift is perfectly normal to them.
The Thirteen Powers of the witch are as follows:
This is what the Craft is about. Witchcraft comes with bennies most witches don't even know are their birthright. Many witches start out with gifts before they even learn about the Craft, and are occasionally guided or even dragged into the Craft by these gifts.
My first gifts were divination and weather magic. They're in my family, going back at least three generations; we don't have great records before that.
Eventually, however, witches are able to use all thirteen powers, adeptly. The Trial is the way the universe makes that happen.
1. It starts out by making you really work hard and break out of your comfort zone just to learn about the Craft. It makes you do what we call "kissing the Devil's ass." It makes you deal with weird people and read strange texts and go to odd and uncomfortable places just to learn. It teaches you not to just think, but to Know. Nice training, although it can be really rough, and if you don't know what's happening, it really sucks.
2. The second thing the Trial does is test your convictions. It makes you really work to become stronger. It will mess up your car, just before you need to drive to a ritual. It will make your skittish parents or your bigoted little brother visit, just in time for one of the Sabbats.
This is to help you build your Will. Most people, even most witches, sort of like to coast through life. Witches don't really have that option. The Trial never stops, until you can use what you've learned to fight it off.
It isn't evil, but you can't ever let down your guard. When your Will starts to get saggy and soft, the Trial rears its ugly head to make you firm it up. The Craft doesn't protect fools or cowards, or those with weak wills.
3. The third thing it does is make you break your taboos. All your foibles and personal idiosyncracies go right out the window: nudity, blood, darkness, belief, niceness... all gone. You'll have to sacrifice them all. Even the old traditions had things like this, to force the choice on you. The most recent traditions, like Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, make you do your rites nude with the members of your coven. Some traditions require you to sleep with your teacher, some make you sacrifice animals or eat human flesh or drink blood. These are symbolic acts, to test your resolve again, but this time, it's a test of courage. It forces you to Dare any danger, any discomfort, and forgo your squeamishness. It's not for the faint of heart.
4. The final test is the witches' Mark; you're marked forever by your power. This one is a permanent thing; it doesn't go away. If you think about it for a moment, it makes sense. Once you've been through this kind of ordeal, there's really no way to look at the world like a timid little sheep anymore, is there?
Other people will recognize this. Witches who have been through this Trial will know you from first sight. Some people will fear you without cause. Others will lust after what you possess. One way or the other, the Mark will change your life forever, and continue to make you deal with these sorts of challenges. The Mark teaches you to value Silence. It teaches you to keep your secrets, to respect yourself, and not feel the need to defend yourself or offer full disclosure all the time.
This is a very valuable lesson. The power we have comes from that silent place within us. By speaking words while dwelling in that place, the world is shaped and changed. Things are created and destroyed by those words. By learning the power of Silence, we learn to keep silent when necessary, and to never speak lies or speak unwisely.
The Trials, or the Ordeal as we call it in the Risting, is a constant for all witches, no matter what tradition they follow. All witches experience this. Honestly, I think anyone who serves a higher calling, from jeweler to priest, goes through a version of this, but witches get it in the keister.
Don't believe me? Watch carefully, observe new witchcraft students as they start learning their Craft. Almost indubitably, their lives will start to go to hell, and they either won't be able to make it to classes, or they won't be able to practice their homework, or they won't make it to ritual, or something like this.
It's the most bizarre thing, and pretty scary if you don't know it's going to happen. Just relax, and do your relaxation and meditation work. All witches are taught the Grounding and Centering process for a VERY good reason; without it, we go mad. Our powers Unfold rather rapidly when we first start out; if it doesn't seem like your strength is growing consciously, you're probably using your gifts subconsciously. That's bad. The Powers act according to your deep self. The Ordeal teaches you how to use your power correctly, through the only means that teaches everyone universally: pain.
This is the birthright of witches. This is our fate, our wyrd. This is what we are all born to. The Craft is older than time, and always has been. Regardless of what form you practice, if you keep to the old laws of power, and you look in secret places, and you follow the guidence of the powers around you, then you are a witch. Remember that. Once sworn, the oath is permanent. Nothing can take your power from you.
Blessed be.
Let Othala, the Vessel of Lineage, guide you...