Durriken is an Initiate and Clan Member of the Mound and one of the founders of the StoneBeacon Coven, with a rich heritage of familial folk-magic practices, and more than 30 years of magical experience.
What inspired you to start the StoneBeacon Coven and how has it evolved over the years?
Inspiration is actually a great way to describe where StoneBeacon Coven comes from! While studying with another traditional witchcraft group, I started receiving information through the gnostic process that, while related to the group with which I studied, didn’t match up completely.
Following some research and speaking with the leaders of that other group, I started out on the path of discovery using the gnostic process, which then led me to the foundations of the Mound Tradition, and the formation of Stone Beacon.
Over the years, we’ve changed quite a bit, thanks to the evolutionary nature of the Mound Tradition, and the information we mediate from it. As more information becomes available through both gnostic process and practice, the coven evolves and grows.
We started out with just the founders of the coven, and have since grown and shrunk, and grown again.
How do you approach teaching and passing on magical knowledge to new practitioners?
I approach teaching and passing on magical knowledge as an apprenticeship. While there are occasional magical theories passed along, and many Q&A sessions, Witchcraft is a practice and it requires “getting your hands dirty.”
What are some of the core principles or philosophies that guide your approach to witchcraft?
First and foremost, I approach Witchcraft as a Craft—it’s more of a verb than it is a noun or adjective. It’s a process of doing rather than theory. This has a tendency of setting me at odds with those practitioners who believe intention is all it takes to make magic happen. While intention is an important key to magic, it isn’t the only one. I like to say, “You can intend to stop at the red light, but you’ll still get a ticket if you don’t put your foot on the brake.”
Next is the principle of Allyship: it’s better to work with Spirits and Entities than it is to attempt battle with them, or to command and compel them. That’s not to say there are times when certain energies have to be expelled or bound, but that’s always a last resort. Since the rise of materialism in our modern world, we as a species have neglected the relationship we once shared so deeply with the magical world and the spirits who inhabit it. Our ancestors understood the importance of, for instance, making offerings to the Household spirits (see The Elves and the Shoemaker as an example) to gain their assistance and what happens when we neglect or over-burden them.
Thirdly—but not lastly—is something I once heard referred to as Intentional Schizophrenia (perhaps not the best term, but an apt one). In order for a witch to function magically, they must be able to adjust their perception of reality away from consensus, allowing one thing to be another thing. I like using the moon as an example: we know that it’s a giant hunk of rock about 238,900 miles away orbiting earth, but by shifting our perception of reality for magical work, we can also know it is the God Khonsu.
These aren’t the only three principles or philosophies I work with, but they are important tools that help guide my magical practices and my life.
How do you think the practice of witchcraft can positively impact individuals and communities?
Personal responsibility and self-empowerment are the biggest two positive impacts practicing witchcraft has on individuals and communities. The idea that we aren’t victims of circumstance but willing participants, with the ability and responsibility to alter those situations we find intolerable, is a powerful approach life.
What are some of the challenges or misconceptions you’ve faced as a practicing witch?
Minorities, subcultures, and countercultures will always face discrimination. Whether being accused of devil worship, sexual deviancy, accusations of cursing people, challenges to “prove it” and more, in addition to those I face as a gay man, there are almost too many to list.
Throughout it all, I’ve learned there’s a major difference between simple, rectifiable ignorance and willful, bad-faith conversations. If someone won’t choose acceptance, then arguing isn’t worth my time and it isn’t my job to attempt dissuading them of their bigotry. It is my duty, as a practitioner and member of the community, to stand up and be an advocate when necessary.
