Shay Skepevski is a 28-year-old witch residing in Sydney who’s about to
release his first publication: Lunatik
Witchcraft: Illuminating Your Underworld as a proud priest of Hekate. Every now and again I will read about people
who have explored Wicca but choose to take on a new path of magick which is one
of my many reasons for wanting to interview Shay. Shay’s
path is primarily solitary and he also acts as a facilitator for the global
coven Covenant of Hekate or CoH as that role of ‘torch-bearer’ is
passed from member to member. As a
man who likes to quote William Blake with “The
path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom” I happily introduce you to the
very unique path of Shay...
Elspeth: What was the first book you read on the
Craft?
Shay: I was a proud
owner of various books on the "supernatural" as a young child. I held
an interest in the history of Witchcraft and the Salem Witch Trials. I read
books on Palmistry, Crystals, Ghosts and the afterlife, as well as my favourite
illustrated stories from Classical Greek mythology. It wasn’t until I was a
young teenager that I had read my very first book on Witchcraft that was
written by someone from inside the community and living the ways. I discovered
the work of Silver RavenWolf, specifically her book 'To Ride a Silver
Broomstick". Although my practice today has moved much away from
traditional Wiccan teaching, I still believe that book, and much of Ravenwolfs
books I read at the time, have given me a strong spiritual foundation to build
up and grow upon.
E: How and why did you move away from
traditional Wiccan teaching?
S: I guess in a big way I feel like I have not so much left Wicca, but
rather transcended it. Wicca, for me, became a brilliant formula or map
of sorts which I could neatly place my unique beliefs and spiritual views upon.
As time went on, as I further explored numerous other pagan and occult paths,
from the Hellenic Eleusinian Mysteries and Dionysian Shamanism, to Mysticism, Theurgy
and even Psychology - my view on the world and of myself transformed greatly. I
speak further about this in the introduction to my book. I used Wicca as a tool
to my becoming, but it is no longer all that I am, and if I were to identify, I
would be an Hekatean Priest, Mystic and Witch walking an ecstatic path,
as opposed to one of fertility.
E: How did you form your relationship with Hekate?
When I initiated my relationship with The Goddess at the age of 14, like
many, I began working with a variety of deities from numerous pantheons, moving
around from goddess to goddess in accordance to my desire at the time. As I
continued along my spiritual journey, gradually I began to notice if I were
ever in danger; in times of desperation, crisis and great sadness... more and
more I would instinctively and intuitively call out to Hekate and Hekate
alone... She became an authority and a mother figure for me. In my eyes, She
conferred upon me all these great blessings. I would start having visions,
signs, and inspiring dreams initiated by the goddess. It was a gradual thing
for me, and then at the age of 18 I had finally accepted Her into being what it
was that She wanted to be for me...and I guess, looking at it now, She is
exactly where I want to go as a Witch. The aspects of magick and the universe
that She is intimately associated with, I want to go towards those places...
She has become my spiritual ideal... a divine consciousness to attain. It is
Hekate alone who holds my deepest devotions and quenches my spiritual thirst.
E: Tell us about your book
S: Ultimately it is a book sharing my personal journey and practices as
a Witch, hoping to inspire other Seekers to see their world in a whole new way.
I wrote it with the grand notion that within us we hold the infinite universe,
and all the powers, worlds, and light within it. Dedicated to the Hekatean
Devotee, 'Lunatik Witchcraft' has become not so much a book honouring the
goddess Hekate, but rather a practice on becoming Hekate. I share ways we can
use the unique mystery embodied by the triple torch-bearing goddess of the
crossroads as a way to view our own soul and our power. The book includes
practices held uniquely under Her guidance, such as rites of necromancy, blood
magick, Theurgy, visionary work and prophecy, and the use of herbs and poisons
in both magick and medicine.
E: How fascinating! How have you
found the path of the male witch?
S: I have grown to believe that our physical gender doesn’t necessarily
mean anything at all, at least, not on a spiritual level. The focus upon male
and female I think has gotten a bit out of hand, if not to the point of sexism.
I’m against anything which separates us. I have personally found that being a
male Witch has neither been a help nor a hindrance to my path… Having said
that, I have found it rather freeing as a gay man particularly. As a Witch, I
not only honour myself as a man, but also as everything else. On the deepest
level, we are the whole Universe. I am at once, male, female, neither, both,
water, moon, fire and star… Witchcraft has taught me that my body, although
sacred, does not necessarily have to entrap or limit my view of my soul, or my
ability to venerate and assume the goddess, but rather, it initiates only the
beginning of who I am and how I can view myself.
I honour my physical body and am proud of this vessel carrying me in
this world, but I also am aware that my spirit, and my psyche (beyond the
ego-face) is androgynous, omnipotent, both this and that and yet neither at the
same time, both light and dark, strong and vulnerable… An ecstatic union of all things…
E: What
criticisms may you have about the Craft right now within the general new age
scene & how do you think your book challenges that?
S: As
a book focused on the mysteries of the goddess Hekate, much of my approach is liminal,
including and beyond the notion of polarity or “balance.” The so-called notion
of “balance”, I feel, gets casually thrown around a lot without anyone really
expressing any further as to what this really means. There seems to be a shame
applied to someone who venerates only the goddess, or only the god or any other
side of duality, as though they have somehow become sick and incomplete. My
book teaches that we do not need any other to complete us, that within us is
all things, and that our spiritual and psychic balance has nothing to do with
being energetically neutral in our practice or opening up to all powers of
polarity at every moment equally. Witchcraft Spirituality is about recognizing
the things in this world that we find beauty and healing in. Things we can take
power from. I have come to believe that to be balanced within yourself is to
find the "powers" in this world that uniquely resonate with you and
your individual spirit.
E: I really
like that you’re emphasising that witches out there find their own
individuality amongst the Craft and you’re really making me think more about my
path aswell. Added to this: if you were able to give some really strong
advice - particularly to those just starting out - what might that be?
S: Challenge everything! Never be content with yourself, keep pushing
your mind and your spirit. In the end, everything you think you know is both
truth and a lie. It’s how you decide to receive the wisdom that makes it
your own. Don’t simply accept a so called “law” or belief blindly. Find the
laws, beliefs, ethics and creeds that you inherently possess. You are your own
truth. Spirituality isn’t about changing yourself to fit into a belief system
or way of being, but rather, revealing and becoming aware of what is naturally
within you, and then applying that knowledge towards self-empowerment.
E: What is exciting you about the Craft at the moment?
S: It would be impossible to not have noticed the rise in Witches
reclaiming Darkness again. It’s beautiful to see people unafraid to explore the
things of the Universe, of nature, and of themselves which much of society
would consider “scary” or forbidden. There is a courageous return to exploring
the dark divine archetype, the chthonic Underworld and the mysteries of death
and rebirth. The Shadows have become Sacred again, and with this, I feel, will
come a greater awareness of our truth and our unique humanity.
In my book I hope to show an empowering link between Witchcraft
spirituality and Psychology, as we explore both the chthonic Underworld of
ancient Greece, and our own personal underworld: our unconscious. We will be
confronting our Shadow Self for psychic evolution and initiating the awareness
of a deeper immanent power, as opposed to a higher power. With a focus on
Ecstatic rites to induce an altered trance-state of consciousness in order to
facilitate this communication with our Unconscious, the exercises I offer are
designed to be expressive, emotionally evocative, influential and
psychologically transforming. On the deepest level, ‘Lunatik Witchcraft’
teaches reconnection, becoming the liminal bridge between self and
divinity, between psyche and nature, devotee and deity. A rendering of the
boundary between polarities and remembering again our unity and kinship with
all things.
Lunatik Witchcraft: Illuminating Your Underworld is expected to be out on
the shelves later this year so watch this space for updates!
Blessed Be,
)O( Elspeth.
