Jason Mankey, Greek Gods, and Rock and Roll – Ep. 3

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Jason Mankey is a Gardnerian High Priest, a witch, and an author. He’s written tons of books (which he says is “only nine”) on various topics such as athames, Greek mythology, and horned gods, but we’ll talk on that later! Outside of writing, he runs two covens and is a frequent speaker/lecturer at pagan events. In this interview, Jason discusses how he first met the horned god, his favorite Greek myths, occult influences in rock and roll, and more.

I’ve been reading Jason’s books for several years, but my first interaction with him was when I purchased a print of one of his book covers (drawn by Laura Tempest Zakroff) and he sent me a handwritten card. He wrote that I deserved a prize for getting the last two copies.

Meeting the Horned God

The Horned God of the Witches is my favorite book by Jason Mankey. Selene and I have actually made it a part of our coven’s required reading list. It is quite hard still to find quality reading material that focuses purely on the god aspect of witchcraft, and Jason’s writing helps to fill this gap.

In the book, you’ll find in-depth history, myths, and rituals surrounding gods like Cernunnos, Pan, and the Greenman.

Greek Myth

Jason also shared a couple of his favorite Greek myths with me… and I shared mine. Honestly, I won’t spoil it. You can listen to the interview to hear it in his own words!

One of my favorite parts was the personal experiences. For just about every god or goddess listed, you’ll find a collection of personal encounters written from several different perspectives — all from real people. I find first-hand knowledge like this to be one of the most valuable resources. It’s one thing to read an ancient myth about a human encountering Zeus, but it’s quite another to hear an experience from a peer.

Eclectic and Traditional

Jason runs two covens — one is Eclectic, mostly using material that he has written, and one is Gardnerian. He comments on how it is good to have different approaches for handling ritual. And I’d have to agree with him. Every piece of information Selene and I have gained from other traditions have really just made us better practitioners as a whole.

I also asked him how seekers are handled in both covens. “Very gingerly,” he says. There’s a vetting process because there has to be. We ask questions because we need to know who we’re letting into our sacred space. One person’s energy can throw off the vibe of the entire coven, especially during sacred rites like Drawing Down the Moon.

Drawing Down Tips

At Summer Magick Fest 2023, I attended one of Jason’s workshops on Drawing Down the Moon. It was filled with the history of the practice as well as his own personal experiences.

Drawing Down a deity is a pretty significant hurdle to overcome. Inviting a god or goddess to inhabit your body is no small step. I asked Jason if he would give some tips for people who are just starting out. He gave me two points, which I think are exceptionally helpful:

1. Know Who You’re Calling – You need to form a personal relationship with the deity before you try invoking them. This could mean reading about them, meditation with them, praying to them, or leaving offerings. You wouldn’t just pick up your phone and call a random person, so don’t try to do that with a deity either. Once you have an established relationship, they’re much more likely respond to your call.
2. Make Yourself Small – This is a meditative practice where you reduce the voice of the ego in order to allow the voice of deity to come through. We always tell our students that meditation is the foundation of magickal practice, and this is one of the areas where a lack of meditation will be absolutely evident.

Do you like getting calls in the middle of the night from people you don’t know? Of course not. Do you like it when someone asks for your time, but then doesn’t let you speak? Of course not.

In short, if you’re calling down Pan, you’ll want to have established a relationship with Pan first — oh, I’ve got some ideas for that over here. And when you do decide to call, make sure you can box your ego enough to let him speak.

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Preserving our History

“We do a terrible job at preserving our history — an absolute disgrace of a job,” says Jason.

Yep, it’s sad but true. Much of the history of the craft will be lost forever… unless we find a way to look to the elders, ask them their stories, and record them. As you can guess, there’s obviously a clock ticking down on this one. Can we collectively answer this call?

Aside from the personal stories, there are libraries and universities with significant collections of pagan periodicals on microfilm. I’ve also encountered people who have incredible personal archives of magazines, message boards, various books of shadows, and more. I’ve often wondered what will become of those archives in 100 years. Will they be accessible for future pagans? Or will they be lost to time?

One thing you can do is listen. Next time you’re at a pagan festival, go find a bonfire and sit near the elders. Listen to the stories they tell. And remember them.

You know what? Here is my current dilemma. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few elders of the craft that I personally know. I could probably even convince them to have some of their experiences recorded. What I do have is podcasting software, a YouTube channel, and a website. What I do not have, at the moment, is enough equipment… not to mention extra time. I’m wondering if anyone would help me spearhead some sort of project like this. Seriously, if that sounds like something you want to contribute to, you know how to contact me.

Occult Influences

The occult has been a prevalent influence on music pretty much forever, but it gets especially interesting during the era of classic rock. If you’d like some excellent examples of this, you can either read one of my older blog posts or listen to Jason talk in this interview.

Either way, it’s a great lead-in to the M3 signature question.

Music in Ritual

Jason says music is one of the best ways to create a vibe. Putting on Led Zeppelin’s Battle of Evermore instantly transports him into ritual space. Beyond that, music helps connect us to the wheel of the year. It adds to the atmosphere of ritual and opens people up to additional spiritual experiences.

But you know what? You should really hear him describe it in his own words… so for this part, I’ll point you to watch the video.

Other Books by Jason Mankey

I’ve talked about my favorites, but here’s a list of other books written by Jason Mankey.

And more…

• The Witch’s Athame
• The Witch’s Book of Spellcraft
• Llewelyn’s Little Book of Yule
• The Witch’s Book of Shadows
• The Witch’s Altar

How to find jason Mankey

Are you looking for Jason Mankey? Did you try Google? Haha, no, but seriously, he’s not a hard guy to find.

Social profiles:

• Instagram @ the_silicon_valley_witch
• Twitter @panmankey
• TikTok @panmankey
• Facebook
• Llewelyn’s Author Page
• Personal Website
• Raise the Horns

Upcoming Projects

Jason is currently working on a biography of Raymond Buckland. We can hopefully expect that out sometime in the next year. Uncle Bucky’s Big Blue Book (as we lovingly refer to Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft), although I personally don’t agree with some of the information within, is still a pretty classic read. It’ll be interesting to read his biography once it’s finished!

He also mentioned a few upcoming events. If you’re looking to catch him at a festival this year, you can check out:

• Oct 2023: Festival of Souls in Memphis, TN
• Nov 2023: Pagan Pride in Las Vegas, NV

For 2024, you can also look for him at: Sacred Space, ConVocation, Paganicon, Phoenix Rising, Pagan Unity Festival (PUF) and more!

Conclusions

After speaking to Jason Mankey, I can’t help but feel like we’ve got a lot in common. We’re both Gardnerian High Priests. We both like rock and roll. And we’re both very much in love with the women we married. And sometimes we even make similar hand gestures.

I really especially enjoyed hearing Jason’s insights on drawing down and his explanation of using music in ritual to create different seasonal vibes. I’m looking forward to his upcoming biography on Raymond Buckland and also hope we’ll be able to catch him at another festival soon!

Do you know someone that has interesting things to say about using music in ritual? Maybe they should be a guest on M3. If so, feel free to contact me.

Also, have you subscribed to M3 on YouTube? If you go do that right now, it’ll make me seriously happy.

Wait a second, you’re still reading? Even after I asked you to subscribe to something? Well, props to you because you’ve found the fine print. I use Amazon referral links in this article. If you use one of those links to make a purchase, the Amazon Associates program pays me a small commission. Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost you anything extra. And it’s seriously small. You’d probably have to buy like 1000 books before I could even use that money to take my wife out for dinner or something. But I’m not complaining. Thus endeth the fine print.