Proposal for a

Witch Camp,
Sydney in 2008

“WITCH MOON~WITCH CAMP”

WITH TIM HARTRIDGE & TORI COLLINS

2008 © Witch Camp Organisation

 OVERVIEW OF THE
“WITCH MOON~WITCH CAMP”

GENERAL AIMS, PURPOSE & ORGANISATION

THIS PROPOSAL for the Witch Moon-Witch Camp is designed

to achieve several objectives. First, it will mobilize our goal to
creating worthwhile and valuable events in the Pagan community.
Second, it will begin the process of placing our face on the Pagan
community radar. Thirdly, it will enable us to begin to define and
utilise our skills as event organisers.

PERSONAL STATEMENT:
Tim Hartridge

I am a workshop facilitator of many years experience. I bring to the Witch

Camp project over 30 years of practical and down-to-earth Taurean ‘know-
how’, with creative insight to working with groups. As the instigator of the
Witch Camp project for Sydney I am committed to seeing it manifest.

There have been a number of challenges for our fledgling organisation, which
ironically have mostly come after our rehearsed event. I believe that while
there are certainly important lessons to be learned from these challenges, we
should respond by simply stepping-up to these challenges and learning from
them; more importantly we should not let them divert us from our goals of
running Witch Camps.
PAGE 2 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation

PAGE 3 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation
I want us to ‘live the dream’ of our goals. I would describe this simply as a
desire to present transformative and worthwhile Pagan events. I want to share
my passion for Witchcraft and Magickal practices and provide these to new
audiences. If we can do this we will develop an interested and loyal audience,
and the Witch Camp project will be guaranteed to have a long future.
1. AIM AND PURPOSE
THIS EVENT is a practical and experiential workshop run for the purpose
of introducing students to Witchcraft and magickal practices. The workshop
will be run as a weekend retreat and will require some basic reading and prep-
aration before the event (materials to be provided by the Facilitators). Over
the course of the weekend – Friday evening to Sunday afternoon participants
will explore a number of magickal practices drawn from the practicum of
Nuit’s Veil Coven.
The Witch Moon–Witch Camp is a retreat to be run by Tim Hartridge and
Tori Collins with the help of a dedicated Cauldron group made up of mem-
bers drawn from the current Witch Camp Core group. Ideally workshop
Witch Camps should hold enough interest for the local Pagan Community
to support the proposed event. In this case, the “Witch Moon-Witch Camp”
is anticipated to hold a great deal of interest to a broad-based community,
enough to make the Camp viable.
The theme of the workshop is inspired from the Moon card, Atu XVIII of the
Tarot. The images found in the Moon card depict fundamental Witchcraft
practices such shape shifting, encountering spirit guides, and communion
with the ancestral spirits of Witches. It provides a type of ‘occult key’ to the
instinctual world, our so-called sixth sense and our intuitive powers. The
Moon card will be explored in the workshop retreat as a magickal formula to
inner work that assists the Witch to open gateways to the forgotten powers
of Self.

PAGE 4 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation
2. GENERAL STRUCTURE
THE WITCH MOON-Witch Camp will provide introductory material,
able to be understood by the newcomer; it will also offer more challenging
and exploratory work of interest to those more experienced in magickal work.
With this awareness it is understood that those likely to be involved will fall
into one of the following three groups:
1. They are a member of the Witch Camp Core group;
2. They are part of the Cauldron group running the event; or
3. They are new ‘students’ signing up to participate in the event.
Everyone who would like to attend will need to be listed with the two princi-
ple Facilitators of the retreat for the purpose networking, forwarding relevant
information, coordination of roles and implementing a buddy-system.
The Facilitators for this particular Witch Camp event are Tim Hartridge
and Tori Collins. The Witch Moon Witch Camp workshop is envisaged as a
one-off event, held over a weekend, but could potentially be repeated for the
purpose of more in-depth practices.
Tim, as principle facilitator, would like to invite contribution, activities and
practices from other Core Group members. He would ask that they read
through the details of the event practices and goals to see if the material they
wish to offer is relevant. Tim wishes to encourage the development of student
teacher roles within the Witch Camp group. This will help provide practical
experience in preparing and presenting workshop material and assisting the
development of the Witch Camp group as a whole.
Because of the limited time available, anyone who feels they have appropriate
and contextual material to present will need to liaise with the Tim and Tori.
Initially, it would be best to gain a good idea of the Witch Moon–Witch
Camp content and purpose and then discuss any ideas with the Facilitators.
Potential student teachers will then need to discuss a plan to integrate the
 material at an appropriate point in the workshop or ritual. They will then
need to write and prepare a detailed outline of their material to give to the
Facilitator(s).

REFERENCE FOR THE WITCH MOON WITCH CAMP

KEY – MOON TAROT CARD, ATU XVIII

Meandering Correspondences – dreams, reflection, witch and witchcraft,

night, the forgotten powers, instinctual senses, psyche, intuition, connect-
ing through body movement, rhythmic (tidal) movement, dance and soulful
experiences, animal familiar spirit powers, dark knowledge.

The path of the Moon, the untamed and the tamed, submerged primitive
life, waters, pool, womb, dew, washing, albedo, whitening, ash. Virgin new
moon, Sexual full moon, Wisdom dark moon. Moon, month, moth, menses,
measure.

A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF USING THE

TAROT:
Tim combines traditional divinatory and qaballistic teachings as a founda-
tion to understanding the cards. He has used them extensively as building
blocks in a unique magickal practice known as the Dark Tarot. The Dark
Tarot technique moves the practitioner from conventional Tarot knowledge
into some highly unconventional psychic experiences and the creation of
individual ritual styles.

PAGE 5 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation

 3. WHO IS THIS WITCH CAMP FOR?

THE INITIAL purpose of this particular Witch Camp workshop is to intro-

duce the beginner into group work that is typically experienced in the Moon
rituals of Nuit’s Veil Coven.

In effect, this Witch Camp will magickally coalesce under the symbol of the
Moon, which will act to combine our energies and give a persona to the spirit
of Witch Camp. We will be seen to be teaching and providing transformative
magickal work in the pagan community.

In more practical terms for those attending the Witch Camp this workshop
will provide them with new techniques and practices for them to work on
their dreams, experience visionary trances and several ritual practices. As a
group our Witch Moon Witch Camp theme draws upon potent symbols
of the Witch. We will explore the Tarot’s inner language to reveal common
Witchcraft practices such as shape shifting, out-of-body experiences, dance,
trance and techniques of ecstasy.

This Witch Camp will be run as a workshop-style retreat and will be guided
by a principle facilitator (Tim) with a secondary facilitator (Tori) acting as
a buddy. This camp will also allow for contributions from members of the
Core Group.

The work undertaken at the Witch Moon Witch Camp retreat is designed to
introduce ritual practices that move us from individual experience into group
work and back into personal experience for personal integration. Operating
from the premise that the Camp is primarily for the purpose of transforming
theory into practice, we will provide many practical experiences. These will be
in the form of ritual methods and trance practices that will help in personal
ongoing inner work beyond the camp.

PAGE 6 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation

 4. WHAT WE HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH

SHARED RITUAL, dance and trance will help create cohesion and the syn-
ergy to take everyone to new levels of group experience. The practices help to
develop trust and bonding as a support of each other’s experience. The use of
the buddy system means that everyone will be able to check-in about personal
feelings and experiences outside of the larger and sometimes more confront-
ing group. As confidence in the group grows so does the individual’s ritual
skills and the sense of the individual’s place in the group – we can achieve
great things when we have the support of a circle of peers.

As a part of the weekend retreat we will introduce both practical and psychic
techniques for engaging us in shape shifting, scrying, vision questing and
group ritual. Those new to using the Tarot in magickal work will be offered a
path-working method and symbol immersion techniques for use in develop-
ing a personal magickal working.

Overall we are attempting to bring together those interested in exploring

witchcraft and magical practices, while lifting all participants to new levels
of practice and confidence in group work. From my experience in group
processes, weekend retreats can help to trigger the inner experiences neces-
sary for psychic development. Group ritual, when properly carried out, can
be a powerful and supportive encounter, enabling each person in his or her
experience of the Witch-within.

It may be possible at the conclusion of this retreat that some participants may
wish to continue their involvement in the work and we might help develop
further retreats for a smaller, more experienced group.

PAGE 7 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation

 5. WHEN AND WHERE

TO BE HELD over a weekend from Friday evening to mid-afternoon Sunday.

The actual date and camp-site would need to be at a time when the maximum
number of members that form the Witch Moon Cauldron planning group
can attend and lend their support. There are a number of suggested venues.
The details such as venue costs are still being collected.

Further Information & Role Reference over page.

PAGE 8 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation
 FURTHER INFORMATION TO COME:

1. The complete Schedule and Timetable for this Witch Camp is under
review.
2. Details of Budgeting and Costs are yet to be fully worked out. Such
things as venue and accommodation will greatly influence this and
is yet to be determined.
3. Event Cauldron or Roles to be undertaken are still being defined
around the project. If you have any suggestions to the role you
might play, please make a submission to either Tim or Tori. My
modelling of the roles likely to be included and associated basic
duties are:

Workshop Facilitator: This is the overall decision-making role that will

work in tandem with the Camp Cauldron. There are currently two
fascilitators – Tim & Tori.
Participants: Anyone who attends the camp.
Venue Locator: Research and communication with venue host. Handle
booking financials and supervise final clean-up.
Networker: Communication of promotional info via public online
community. Develop a database of contacts. Keeping track of indi-
vidual applicants and distributing workshop information.
Food Caterer: Food, menu and cooking arrangements.
Surpervisor: Key ‘buddy-system’ organiser. Develop methodology for
the Buddy roles.
OH&S: Ideally someone with First Aid experience who can put in place
an emergency response plan.
Student Teachers: Preparation of presentation material in a context to
the event.

PAGE 9 – 2008 © Witch Camp Organisation