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What is men's magic?

Men's magic is magic specific to men, i.e. magic grounded in maleness both physical and psychological.

Is there a women's magic as well?

Trustworthy sources assure me that there is.

Is men's magic different from women's magic?

Yes, by definition.

Are there, then, shared magics as well?

Of course.

What is warlockry?

Warlocky is the magic specific to the men of the Tribe of Witches.

Where does warlockry come from?

The Horned our god, the Great Warlock himself, taught it to his sons long ago in ages of ages.

What is the basis of warlockry?

While it would be a vast oversimplification to say that warlock magic is dick magic, it certainly begins there.

Can a woman be a warlock?

So long as she has a functioning penis and testicles, yes.

Can a trans-man be a warlock?

This, to date, remains largely unexplored territory.

To speak for myself, I remain open to the possibility.

What is an example of warlock magic?

“What a minute,” says my friend. “I thought you were cut.”

We're taking a break between sauna sessions.

“In fact,” he continues, looking more closely, “I know you were cut.”

“That's right,” I say.

We've been sauna buddies for years. For two guys who have never been lovers, we know one another's bodies pretty well.

“But...you're not,” he says, puzzled.

“Not any more,” I say.

He's silent for a while. Finally, he shakes his head.

Screw the athames and quarter calls.

Let me tell you something about Warlock Magic. It's gritty, primal, old: some of the oldest magic that we have, its prime locus the male body.

I'll give you an example.

Some friends of mine are buying a new place. I passed along a bit of old warlock magic to the man: Go around the outside of the house, and pee on each of its five corners.

Like other predators, warlocks mark out our territory. Scent-marking: it doesn't get more primal than that.

Warlock magic is body-magic, men's magic. It's not for the over-civilized or the fastidious. It's magic with a boner, magic with juice.

Let the dried-up old wizards keep their grimoires and athanors, their tower rooms and chalk circles.

A murder of crows.

A pride of lions.

A coven of witches.

Having originated in hunting terminology, such nomina collectivitatis are known technically as “venereal terms.”

So what's the venereal term for a group of warlocks?

The Warlocks of the Driftless have bruited a number of possibilities.

Dark: a clot of warlocks. (Warlock-magic not infrequently involves blood.)

Eerie: a quantum of warlocks.

Erotic: a tumescence of warlocks. (Warlockry being quintessentially men's magic.)

Gods: how did I get so lucky?

I was talking last night with a dear friend of many years when, unsurprisingly, one of us happened to bring up the Black Book of the Yezidis, a book bound—it is said—in deerskin. (Some say, written in fire on deerskin.)

Not only did the subject need no introduction, but each of us had a favorite verse from the Black Book of the Yezidis: verses, we agreed, that sound just like the Him that we know.

If that's not enough, we could each recite our favorite verse from memory.

His: I am present immediately for those that confide in me, and invoke me in time of need.

Mine: I guide without need of scripture, for my words are written on the hearts of my people.

We laughed in mutual appreciation, two old warlocks. How often in a life is one so privileged, to have such a conversation?

So, I'm going to take a little time to brag on my brother warlocks. In traditional language, this is known as a vaunt.

I'm just now back from a weekend with the warlocks at Sweetwood sanctuary, among the incomparable autumn vistas of the hills and misty hollows of Witch Country's Driftless area.

The weather was miserable, cold and damp. It rained torrentially most of the time.

I haven't had so much fun in months.

In Iceland, they call it the Black School. (But blá can also mean “blue.”)

There go all the aspiring young warlocks to learn from the Horned his secret and magical arts.

Exactly where the School may be is hard to say. (Some say Paris.) It's one of those places that seems always to be somewhere else.

It's called the Black School because it's always black as night there. (It sounds like some sort of cave.) For five (or nine, or seven) years, they live there together, underground, in the dark.

There they study from the Horned's ancient tomes, which, being written in letters of fire, can thus be read in the dark.

Each day they receive for their sustenance a trencher and horn from the hand of the Horned himself, although they do not see him.

And of the Black School there is also this to say: that at the end of their study, when they step out into sunlight for the first time in five (or nine, or seven) years, each warlock must leave behind his shadow there with the Horned, and so casts no shadow for all the rest of his days.