The Cauldron of Annwfn

The following is Preiddeu Annwyn, the Raid of Annwyn, the Raid of the Otherworld, part XXX (30) of the Book of Taliesin, as related by William F. Skene in 1868 in his The Four Ancient Books of Wales.  In it is related the Caer Sidi, Caer Pedrycan, Caer Vedwyd, Caer Rigor, Caer Wydyr, Caer Golud, Caer Vandwy, and Caer Ochren, familiar to readers of the White Goddess by Robert Graves, and the Cauldron of Annwyn, referenced by Robert Cochrane when we asked Taliesin’s question, what two words are not spoken from the Cauldron.

Note that it is nine maidens whose breath it was warmed by.  Those who know Norse myth might get a parallel.  Those who know Greek myth might get another.  Not the question, “what is its intention”.  Those that know Arthurian legend, specifically of the Graal, might get a parallel.  Also note the Cauldron is lined with Pearl.  Some might get where I’m leading there.

FFF,
~Lorekeeper, Muninn’s Kiss


I WILL praise the sovereign, supreme king of the land,
Who hath extended his dominion over the shore of the world.
Complete was the prison of Gweir in Caer Sidi,
Through the spite of Pwyll and Pryderi.
No one before him went into it.
The heavy blue chain held the faithful youth,
And before the spoils of Annwvn woefully he sings,
And till doom shall continue a bard of prayer.
Thrice enough to fill Prydwen, we went into it;
Except seven, none returned from Caer Sidi

Am I not a candidate for fame, if a song is heard?
In Caer Pedryvan, four its revolutions;
In the first word from the cauldron when spoken,
From the breath of nine maidens it was gently warmed.
Is it not the cauldron of the chief of Annwvn? What is its intention?
A ridge about its edge and pearls.
It will not boil the food of a coward, that has not been sworn,
A sword bright gleaming to him was raised,
And in the hand of Lleminawg it was left.
And before the door of the gate of Uffern [hell] the lamp was burning.
And when we went with Arthur; a splendid labour,
Except seven, none returned from Caer Vedwyd.

Am I not a candidate for fame with the listened song
In Caer Pedryvan, in the isle of the strong door?
The twilight and pitchy darkness were mixed together.
Bright wine their liquor before their retinue.
Thrice enough to fill Prydwen we went on the sea,
Except seven, none returned from Caer Rigor.

I shall not deserve much from the ruler of literature,
Beyond Caer Wydyr they saw not the prowess of Arthur.
Three score Canhwr stood on the wall,
Difficult was a conversation with its sentinel.
Thrice enough to fill Prydwen there went with Arthur,
Except seven, none returned from Caer Golud.

I shall not deserve much from those with long shields.
They know not what day, who the causer,
What hour in the serene day Cwy was born.
Who caused that he should not go to the dales of Devwy.
They know not the brindled ox, thick his head-band.
Seven score knobs in his collar.
And when we went with Arthur of anxious memory,
Except seven, none returned from Caer Vandwy.

I shall not deserve much from those of loose bias,
They know not what day the chief was caused.
What hour in the serene day the owner was born.
What animal they keep, silver its head.
When we went with Arthur of anxious contention,
Except seven, none returned from Caer Ochren.

Monks congregate like dogs in a kennel,
From contact with their superiors they acquire knowledge,
Is one the course of the wind, is one the water of the sea?
Is one the spark of the fire, of unrestrainable tumult?
Monks congregate like wolves,
From contact with their superiors they acquire knowledge.
They know not when the deep night and dawn divide.
Nor what is the course of the wind, or who agitates it,
In what place it dies away, on what land it roars.
The grave of the saint is vanishing from the altar-tomb.
I will pray to the Lord, the great supreme,
That I be not wretched. Christ be my portion.

On Initiation, Fate, and Law

The following is adapted from an answer I gave to a post on a list.  I've edited it to only include my one words and ideas and for clarity now that the context is removed, and to remove things that shouldn't be said publicly.  I'm going to ramble a bit, touching on a large number of subjects.  Just remember, I don't know anything, just like everyone else.  ;-)  So take it with a grain of salt and your mileage may vary.

Sir Galahad as conceived
by George Frederick
Watts (1817–1904).

So, first, Initiation.  Though Feri initiation is unique to Feri, as Victor developed some key parts of it after his own initiation, at its core, it's the same as Initiation found the world over, from the shamans of Northern Asia to the Greek Mystery Religions to the native tribes of Australia, North America, and South America.  And everywhere in between.  It's the Welsh vigil on a hill in the dark of night in a storm alone with the spirits.  It's the spirit journey to find yourself in the smoke in the forests of the Amazon.  It's the Christian baptism.  It's Odin cutting out his eye for wisdom, or him hanging upside down from the world tree for nine days, a spear in his side, a sacrifice of himself to himself.  It's the ordeal of the Graal Knight, alone seeking the Castle Perilous, having to answer the question, "What is the secret of the Graal (or what is the meaning of these things), and whom does it serve?", which is the same question as, "Who is this flower above me?  What is the work of this god?  I would know myself in all my parts."1  Ultimately, in whatever form, Initiation is two things that are really one.  First, it is death and rebirth, torn apart by the spirits and put back together, the same person but changed, never to return.  Second, marriage to the gods and spirits, the becoming a Priest/ess.  As Cora says in Fifty Years:

"Initiation does not make you a full-blown highly trained Witch. In initiation you literally marry the Goddess, her dual consort and the Gods, whether you are male or female. In speaking to her priest the Goddess says, "I love you with the same love with which a mortal woman loves you, but raised to the power of divinity." To her priestess she says, "I love you with the love with which a man or woman loves you, but raised to the power of divinity." Always remember that in the deepest sense the man you love as life companion or in passing is your son, brother and lover and should be treated with love and respect as yourself and other half."2

This, of course, begs the question of what is a Priest/ess.  Rather than make this too long, here's my post about the subject, my own experience and ideas, of course, not "Orthodox Feri", and almost a year ago now, so my thoughts may have changed some:

http://muninnskiss.grimr.org/2011/06/on-priests-priestesses-bridges-and.html 

Back to my list above, the idea of Initiation as the ordeal of the Graal Knight leads me to the next discussion, Karma.

Lady Justice

First off, before I explain that, I'll say this, personally, I don't believe in Karma, the Western broken version or the Eastern version.  The Western version is really an attempt to take the modern Christian idea of justice verses grace, or more accurately, the Medieval ideas of Lady Justice and Lady Liberty which forms much of the modern Western mythology of Government (Lady Fate got lost somewhere, as un-Christian), and make it less "Christian" by rebaptising it as Karma.  It is personified as that which spanks us if he do bad and rewards us when we do good, basically the way many modern people view the Christian god.  Though even the Medieval concept was different from that.  Lady Justice is blind.  She weighs the deeds but has no personal stake in it, no personal connection to the individual or their actions.  This is much closer to the Eastern (original) version of Karma, which is impersonal and very much a cause and effect, just on a level that's both physical (Yin) and spiritual (Yang).  Remember, Yin and Yang in China are not two opposing forces but are two side of the same thing, connected, impossible to separate, and the Yin side can be further divided in Yin and Yang, and likewise the Yang side, a continuum, rather than duality.  Same thing in Karma, which originated in the Indian Subcontinent.  Science sees physical cause and effect.  Karma includes those, but allows for spiritual and non-linear effects.  But Karma is a principle in the world, not a god or spirit or entity like Western Karma tends to be seen.  Karma is more like Fate, but doesn't really fully describe the way I see Fate.  Which brings me back to the Graal.

Robert Cochrane said:

Some groups seek fulfillment in mystic experience - this is correct if one does not forget the duty of 'involvement' - the prime duty of the wise. It is not enough to see The Lady, it is better to serve Her and Her will by being involved in humanity, and the process of Fate (The single name of all God's is 'Fate'). In fate, and the overcoming of fate is the true Graal, for from this inspiration comes, and death is defeated. There is no fate so terrible that it cannot be overcome - whether by a literal victory gained by action and in time, or the deeper victory of spirit in the lonely battle of the self, Fate is the trial, the Castle Perilous in which we all meet to win or to die - Therefore, the People are concerned with Fate --for humanity is greater than the Gods', although not as great as the Goddess. When Man triumphs, fate stops and the Gods are defeated - so you understand the meaning of magic now. Magic and religion are aids to overcome Fate, and Fate is a cradle that rocks the infant spirit.

Now you know what 'witches' are.3

To me, this is the heart of witchcraft, of magic, of Feri (though it's from a different stream).  "In fate, and the overcoming of fate is the true Graal, for from this inspiration comes, and death is defeated."  How is death defeated?  In surviving it.  That's what initiation is.  But, on to Fate.  What is Fate?  "The single name of all Gods".  Elsewhere, Cochrane talks about cords and their use in witchcraft (which I'll get back to).  There, he says, "They appear to have originated from the woven strands of Old Fate, the major deity of all true witches."4  "The major deity of all true witches."  This is important I think.

I don't see Fate much in Feri writing or teaching, but She's there, both as the Star Goddess, and as the Three Mothers (the term used in Clan of Tubal Cain, a British witchcraft tradition), the Three Hooded Ones.  I've only seen Feri references to the Hooded ones (often called the Cowled Ones in British traditions) in two Feri poems, so I won't dwell heavily on the Feri lore, but I will look at some other places.

There's a Greek creation with that tells of Chronos and Ananke, serpentine with three heads each (Chronos', Time's, heads are obviously the past, the present, and the future; Ananke's are Fate, Destiny, and Necessity) curled around an egg.  Their movement around each other broke open the egg and Eros was born, along with the mud that solidified into Gaia, and the water that became Oceanus.  From Eros came Nyx and Erubus, Night and Darkness, who gave birth to Day and Light.  Chronos and Ananke came from Chaos, but those three seem to always have been there.  The movement of Chronos and Ananke's coils keep the heavens and earth turning, the stars and planets (including moon and sun) moving, the seasons changing, the tides turning, the lives of gods and men moving forward.  Time and Fate are the two moving forces of the universe that even the gods are subject to.

The Moirae

But closer to the topic, with Zeus, Ananke had three daughters (or Chronos with Nyx, depending on the story), the Moirae, the Fates.  Clotho spins the thread of our life, setting the initial path. Lachesis measures the thread, determines what will happen during the lifetime.  Atropos cuts the thread, determines the death of the person.  Even the gods are subject to these three (except Zeus in some versions, as their father).  But man can overcome their Fate, hence why the demigods like Perseus and Hercules are so important, with the power and strength of the gods but the ability to overcome Fate like men.  (The Three Mothers are also seen in the Furies and the Graces.)

The Norns

In Norse belief, we find the Norns (there are many norns, but there are three main ones), very similar to the Fates of Greece, three daughters of giant-kin who control the Threads of Wyrd, with power over gods and men.

They appear many other places in Indo-European myth, from Ireland to India, and other places as well.  Even in Jewish Kabbalah with the Three Mothers, Shin, Alpha, and Mem, Fire, Air, and Water.  You even find them in Taoism if you know where to look.

But where I was going with this is Wyrd.  In my belief, Wyrd is the Threads of Fate that bind us together and determine each of our paths, and the paths of the universe.  It is the Chinese web that has no weaver, it is Buddhist and Hindu Karma, it is Greek Fate, it is the Soul Spark of Kabbalah.  Imagine a huge web, stretching forever in all directions in space and time.  There are an infinite number of threads, an infinite number of paths, an infinite number of possibilities.  But there are knots tied in this web, in these threads.  These knots limit the options, direct where things can go, control the past and the future.  Withing each of our Godselfs, there is a bundle of Threads at the middle.  These are our Wyrd, our Fate.  These Threads connect to the rest of the web.  These Threads determine our options, our choices, our future.  We received them from our (physical and spiritual) ancestors, and they came tied in knots to other threads, limiting us.  But each action we take, each world spoken, each choice we make, binds new knots or looses old knots, limits or expands our options.  Cause and effect.

I talked more on Wyrd and webs in this blog post, if you're interested:

http://muninnskiss.grimr.org/2011/10/on-centres-actions-webs-and-spiders.html

Getting back to "In fate, and the overcoming of fate is the true Graal, for from this inspiration comes, and death is defeated."  Most people go through life on autopilot, essentially.  They let Fate dictate to them their choices.  They think they are deciding, but they're really just following the Threads, letting the existing knots determine the outcome.  Eastern Enlightenment, Western Gnosis, is the realization of those Threads and our ability to change them.  To step back from the web and look at it and consciously change it, to untie a knot here, tie a knot there, and change the course of history.  To write your own Fate.  This is truly what witchcraft is, the binding and loosing of the Threads of Fate.  Once you move past letting Fate dictate, you enter the realms of Destiny and Necessity.  Destiny is what Crowley was talking about when he talked about True Will.  "Love is the Law, Love under Will."5  It's what we can truly be if we take the reigns of our life instead of submitting them to Fate.  As the Feri Maxim goes, "never submit your life force to another."  Necessity is what Cochrane talks about when he says in his witch 'Law', "Do not do what you desire - do what is necessary."6  Once we can see the web and know we can make the decisions, that we can create Change, we can see clearly what is necessary to accomplish what needs to be done.  This is fully integrated, of course.  It takes Fetch, Talker, and Godself to truly see the web, and see the Necessity.

And, the mention of Love being the whole Law brings me to the next subject.  Love and Law are of course both part of the Pearl Pentacle in Feri.  But they can't exist without Knowledge, Wisdom, and Liberty/Power, either.  To just act without thought means there is no Knowledge involved.  No Point can be left out, or you are out of balance and can't act rightly.

Sophia

Going back to the discussion of Lady Liberty and Lady Justice, ultimately Dame Justice in Medieval thought is Law in the Pearl.  Dame Liberty is Liberty/Power, of course.  But Dame Wisdom, Sophia of the Greeks and Gnostics, got lost along the way.  The White Goddess of Robert Graves fame has become an integral part of modern paganism and witchcraft (both trad craft and Wicca), but the Black Goddess, Sophia, the deeper mysteries, has been ignored by most.  The White Goddess really stands as Fate and the Three Mothers, modernly seen as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, though this misses a lot.  But I'm on a tangent that I can't pull back, so I'll leave this one for now.

Law, Dame Justice, as relating to Dharma, the Laws that define how the universe work, is not really separate from Fate.  It is the workings of Chronos and Ananke, of Time and Fate/Destiny/Necessity that govern the things of the universe.  None of the Points function in isolation, they are really one and the same, just as they are in the Iron Pentacle.  Fate, Karma, is the movement, the Yin.  Law, Dharma, is the stillness, Yang.  Both come from the Tao but aren't the Tao, they are part of the Te of the Tao, the virtue, the properties if you will.

The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.7

The Tao and the One, are God Herself, the Star Goddess, the Uncreated, the Fountain of All, the Nagara.

The Two of course, are Yin and Yang, the Divine Twins, the Tvennr, their constant Dance as Lovers and Fighters being the constant change in the world, Chaos, from which Chronos and Ananke proceed.

The Three are the Three Mothers, the Three Cowled Ones that proceeded the gods, the Grimr.  They are seen are the three heads of Chronos and the three heads of Ananke.  They brought Order to the Chaos, though not stability, for they are always in movement.  In Kabbalah, the Three Fathers come from the Three Mothers, though they are really the same.

The Ten Thousand Things is the Chinese poetic description of all that is.

Of these Ten Thousand Things, we find seven, the Guardians, the Watchers, the Seven Stars in the Sky, the Vordr.  They are stillness and the foundation.  The static forces that hold the universe together if you will.  The ultimate teachers.  If the Three Mothers are Fate and Karma, the Guardians are Law and Darma.

To the next subject.  As I said above, to act in a deliberate way, a way that creates Change rather than lets Fate determine the course, requires all parts of us ("I would know myself in all my parts").  There tends to be an emphasis in Feri to steer away from Talker, seeing Talker as bad, but this is mostly reactionary to a culture where Talker rules.  Talker has a purpose and is necessary.  Fetch cannot plan, as Fetch has no concept of Time.  Fetch only wants what she wants and wants it now, has no ability to abstain or say no to desires.  Talker is needed for these.  But Talker isn't always right, either.  There is a time to plan and a time to act without thought or planning.  There is a time to abstain and a time to feed your desires.  Both are necessary and shouldn't be ignored.  And Godself understands the big picture of the universe, but has little ability to understand the little things that make up life.  Godself without Fetch can't meet the needs of the body and souls.  Godself without Talker can't make the little discussions that can get us to the ultimate Goal, the Graal.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.8

Hmmm, I said I'd come back to Cochrane's discussion on cords.

He starts out with:

Mrs. Basford has raised an interesting point about the real purpose of cords, harvest twine, string dolls, etc. They appear to have originated from the woven strands of Old Fate, the major deity of all true witches. They are, of course, the origin of such descriptive terms as "spellbinders." When worked up properly they should contain many different parts--herbs, feathers and impedimenta of the particular charm. They are generally referred to in the trade as "ladders," or in some cases as "garlands," and have much the same meaning as the three crosses. That is they can contain three blessings, three curses, or three wishes. A witch also possesses a devotional ladder, by which she may climb to meditational heights, knotted to similar pattern as the Catholic rosary.

I began a blog post on the subject of roots that included a discussion of blessings and curses, binding and loosing, but it expanded into an article I'm going to submit to a magazine so was never posted, so I'll include an excerpt here:

There are basically two ways to do magic.  You can bind or you can loose.  You can curse or you can bless.  Both ways can be used to do the same thing, if you're clever and cunning.  In healing, you can either bless (improve the patient's ability to fight off the infection or to heal the damage) and loose (release the patient from the illness), or you can curse (kill the infection) and bind (hold back the infection or attacker to give room to heal).  It is hard to bless and loose from darkness, and hard to heal and bind from light.  But we both have both in us, as do all things, the Twins in the Great Dance, Shining Bright One and Shadowy Darkling.  We can use our darkness, our impurities, our demons to heal, just as much as we can use our light, our purity, our innocence, our angels.  While plants and woods like aspen or apple might be used in the loosing and blessing way, blackthorn, and the poisons I listed above, usually comes from the other side, killing the infection, removing the cause.

The wording Cochrane uses is important here, I think.  "They appear to have originated from the woven strands of Old Fate, the major deity of all true witches."  The web of the Threads of Fate isn't just pathways, it is Herself.  The web isn't just a metaphor, it is the Truth behind what we see, the Brahma behind Maya.  When a witch takes objects and ties them into a cord, s/he is taking the physical "reality" and binding the Threads of Fate, the "stuff" of God Herself, around that reality, forcing a change.

Cochrane says later:

Basically the cords of binding, as used today, are worked upon with mistaken enthusiasm. Originally they were cords of Fate, woven and bound into a charm for a defined purpose. Sometimes shaped into a semblance of the object or person to be influenced, they were also hung on a gatepost or nailed near to the object or person, preferably in a public place, as an indication of intent. In an Italian spell, the ladder is actually placed in the bed of the person to be enchanted. A beautiful witch ladder, incidentally, was once found in a church belfry: presumably one of the Old Craft could not sleep late on Sunday mornings because of the racket of the bells!

Charms made this way have interesting ramification in understanding Wyrd and Fate.  You can read the whole article (originally published in 1965 in Pentagram)  here:

http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/cords.html

Anyway, I've rambled enough.  Hopefully you find some kernels of grain among these tares.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

1 Flower Prayer found in Feri, originally from KaHuna
2 Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition by Cora Anderson, available from Harpy Books at http://www.harpybooks.com/Catalog/Fifty-Years-in-the-Feri-Tradition.shtml or Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006RMANM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grimr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006RMANM
3 From Robert Cochrane's second letter to Joe Wilson, written in 1966, found here: http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/lettertwo.html
4 From On Cords by Robert Cochrane, originally published in 1965 in Pentagram, available here: http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/cords.html
5 From Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law, by Aleister Crowley, found here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm
6 From Robert Cochrane's sixth letter to Joe Wilson, written in 1966, found here: http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/lettersix.html
7 From section 42 of the Tao Te Ching, originally written by Lao Tzu.  This translation is by Jonathan Star.  A copy with his translation can be found at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585426180/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grimr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1585426180
8 Ecclesiates 3:1-8, King James Version of the Bible, formatting mine.  In context, see http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+3&version=KJV

The Seething Cauldron

I just finished reading the article "Seidr and Modern Paganism" by Jan Fries in The Cauldron No. 139 (February 2011).  It raised some good points, about our understanding of ancient Seidr, about modern neopagan/neoheathen Seidr, and about magic, ritual, tradition, and religion in general.  The article is an edited extract of his book, Seidways: Shaking, Swaying and Serpent Mysteries, from Mandrake Press of Oxford.  The article makes me want to read the book in its entirety.

I guess there's a lot of controversy from the neopagan/neoheathen community about his association of Seidr with the shaking of other shamanistic cultures in Europe.  It doesn't match what the modern community has come to associate with the name Seidr, based on their reading of the lore and their experiences.  The article is basically his response to their objections, in summary form.

Enough with reviewing the article.  I want to discuss one specific paragraph here.  I'll leave out the last two sentences as they aren't related to what I want to discuss, but relates the rest of the paragraph to the flow of his argument.  I recommend reading the article in its entirety to get the context.

But seething was also part of sacrifice.  The Vikings never offered raw or burned meat to their deities.  To prepare a proper sacrifice, you suspended a cauldron on a chain from the temple roof and seethed the flesh until it was tender,  The scent arising from the sacrifice were an essential part of the sacrifice.  In Gothic the participants of the sacrifice were suthnautar, the 'seething companions'.  So whatever else the word may have implied, there was something sacred to seething.

I want to address several things here.  These are the Cauldron, the tenderness of the meat, the aroma, and the "seething companions".

Buddhism and Witchcraft, Part 1, Suffering and Desire

“The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible. The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have...Now what is the basis of Buddhism? If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.”
~Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Gautama Buddha.
Image from History Simplified.

Two days ago is the date celebrated in much of Asia as the birthday of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, believed to be the latest of many, many Buddhas, called the Thousand Buddhas, but specifically the 28th of the Buddhas whose names are “known”.  (Some areas celebrate his death and enlightenment on that day as well, and some areas celebrate it on other dates.  For more information, see here.)  By tradition, he was born 2555 years ago.  Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the world today.  (Fifth or sixth, depending on how you do the counting.  See this page for details.)

The general story of his life is that he was born a prince.  His father wanted him to be a great king and isolated him from suffering and aging.  One day, he saw something, probably an old man, and realized that the sheltered life of privilege and wealth he had lived wasn’t all there was. After seeing some other things, he snuck out and went to find an end to suffering.

He lived as an ascetic, trying to completely deny the body, thinking that was the way.  He withered away to almost nothing.  At the lowest, he was bathing and collapsed in the river and almost drowned.  He reconsidered and decided deprivation wasn’t the answer either.

Recalling a memory of watching his father as a child, he decided to try contemplation.  This was the Middle Way, not privilege and wealth, and not asceticism and deprivation, but a way between them.  He went and sat below a tree by a river in contemplation.  After 49 days, he obtained Enlightenment.

He debated whether he should teach others the way to Enlightenment or not.  He finally decided to teach and spent the rest of his life teaching.

Innocence: the King and the Land are one!

"How beautiful is the black, lascivious purity of small children and wild animals." ~An African proverb as told by Victor Anderson

"The Black Heart
of Feri"
by Storm
Faerwolf from
his website.

The other day, I came upon a couple blog posts about the Black Heart of Innocence in Feri.  Just wanted to add my thoughts to the mix.

http://heartssdesire.livejournal.com/168563.html
http://miniver.blogspot.com/2006/08/blackest-hearts-in-all-of-christendom.html

In her post, heartssdesire says the following:

Rather, I began to think, the Black Heart is the state of awakening fully to one's authentic self - it means one steps up to take the helm of one's own ship. It means being ruled by no one other than one's authentic self, being self-mastered. It means throwing off the masks and shackles of coercion, manipulation, or deceit so that one can by guided by the deep wisdom of innocence.

This makes me think of a Feri proverb that I'm told comes from Victor Anderson:

“Never submit your life force to anything or anyone for any reason.”

This very much is taking the helm of our own ship, being "self-mastered".

It's what T. Thorn Coyle calls being "self-possessed".

"I am the queen: of every hive"

"Holy Mother, in Whom we live, move and have our being, from You all things emerge and unto You all things return." ~Victor Anderson

Mary the Virgin Mother of God.
Image from Cyberbrethren blog.

Though Mother's Day is a "greeting card holiday" invented by the greeting card companies and flower companies to sell their goods (*NOTE: Not accurate. See comments), motherhood is holy and important to life.  I have big issues with people who say women's only worth is in being a mother.  You should have that choice, and there is power is the non-maternal feminine as well as the maternal feminine.  But there is something special about motherhood, for life ceases without birth, and there's not birth without the mother.  And obviously no birth without the feminine.  There's power in the masculine, but life comes from the feminine (Unless you're Krana, "He who creates for himself").

Death: We are the stars...

"The god of death, the wind, the underworld, the ever-burning entrance to hell, the knife-edge, poison, serpent, and fire - women are all of these in one." ~The Ramayana

The Throne of Hell
in the Superman comics.
Image from  ComicVine.

Death is very important in many cultures.  Gods and goddesses of Death, and ones of the Underworld, are quite common around the world.  In our modern culture's drive to avoid Death, we tend to demonize any god of death or the Underworld.  They become Satan to us.  It's interesting that Satan became the ruler of Hell in Christian mythology, since in the Bible, he isn't thrown into Hell until the end of the world, and he definitely doesn't rule there.  It is Hades ruling the Underworld that became Satan ruling Hell.

In Mesoamerica, Death was, and still is, especially important, and most of the cultures in that area had more death deities than any other type.  And most death deities and images were also those of fertility.  This connection is found in Europe as well, the seed dies and from it comes life.

One set of deities, Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl, ruled the lowest, northern part of the Underworld, Mictlan, in Aztec mythology.  The story goes that the bones of the gods of the previous world, the fourth sun, were kept in Mictlan.  After Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca created this current world, Quetzalcoatl and his twin, Xolotl, went to Mictlan to get the bones.  Mictlantecuhtli agreed to give them, but didn't want to give them up to tried to stop them from leaving Mictlan.  Quetzalcoatl dropped the bones and some of them broke, but he gathered them up and made it out.  He gave the bones to Cihuacoatl, who grinds them up, then the gods add their blood and the humans of our world are formed.

Mictlantecuhtli sculpture at
the museum of the Great
Temple in Mexico City.
Image from Wikipedia.

Mictlantecuhtli's head is usually portrayed as a skull with eyes intact.  Sometimes he has a human body and sometimes a blood splattered skeleton.  Sometimes he has a head dress of owl feathers and sometimes of knives (representing the wind of knives).  Sometimes he has a necklace of human eyeballs, or clothes made of paper.  The plugs in his ears were made of human bones.  The Aztecs sacrificed humans to Mictlantecuhtli, and sometimes worshiped him by eating human flesh.  He is described both horrible, tormenting souls, and benevolent, giving life.

Mictecacihuatl.
Image from Aztec
Gods blog.

It was Mictecacihuatl's job to guard the bones of the dead.  As a result, she presided over Aztec festivals.   I can't find much more details about her.  Many believe she evolved into Santa Muerte.

Third of the stars falling.
Image from Catholic Caveman blog.

Both of them are described as having their jaw wide, to swallow the stars during the day when they enter the Underworld.  The idea of them swallowing the stars brings to my mind the third of the stars falling from the sky into the sea in the Book of Revelations in the Bible (which some relate to the fall of Satan and his angels after waring against God and the angels led by Michael, and then being kicked out; this is where the idea of a third of the angels following Satan came from) and of all the stars falling from the sky into the sea in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.  It brings to mind the death of stars and the end of the universe.

Black Mother #1 by
Storm Faerywolf.
Image from his website.

I picture the Anna and the Arddhu standing at the Gates of Death, the stars falling from the sky.  I also think of Storm's description and invocation of Black Mother, the Feri Guardian of the North in some lines.

Close-up view of a
Santa Muerte south of
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
Image from Wikipedia.

Santa Muerte (Saint Death) was underground and hidden in Mexico.  Only recently has she become more public, and she is condemned and not accepted by the Mexican Catholic Church.  She is depicted as a skeleton, and is usually robed.  Ofter she is holding a scythe and a globe, the scythe representing both the harvest and death, and the globe for Death's dominion over the earth.  She is the Lady of the Shadows, the White Lady, the Black Lady, the Holy Girl, and the Skinny One.  She is thought to preside over the Day of the Dead in early November, much like Mictecacihuatl presiding over Aztec festivals.

I'd like to look at a few mentions of Death in Robert Cochrane's writings.

Fire, as such is the province of Alder, the God of Fire, of Craft, of lower magic and of fertility and death. ~Third letter to Joe Wilson

Here we see the tie between death and fertility that's so prevalent in Mesoamerica.

The Thorn is Death or the process of Fate and as such the first principle, of the Broom. ~Fourth letter to Joe Wilson

 So Death is the process of Fate.

The Wizard is Merridwen, the Sky re-creating Life out of Death ~Fourth letter to Joe Wilson

This is what we see of the stars being eaten during each day but reborn the next evening.

 Even death is movement, one disintegrates and is recreated. The past moves in the future, since past shapes the future to come - this is Fate. ~Fourth letter to Joe Wilson

Here we bring together the two.  Death becomes life reborn, we are the stars, eaten each morning but reborn each evening.  This is Fate.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Odin: The True God of All Witches

“You’re walking on gallows ground, and there’s a rope around your neck and a raven-bird on each shoulder waiting for your eyes, and the gallows tree has deep roots, for it stretches from heaven to hell, and our world is only the branch from which the rope is swinging.”
~American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Viking stone, 600's AD,
from Gotland, Sweden.
Image from  History for Kids.

I've noticed that modern followers seem to sanitize Odin.  They make him into a benevolent loving god.  They make him fluffy and safe.  But Odin was Hangi (Hanged One), Hangaguð (God of the Hanged), and Hagvirkr (Lord of the Hanged) not just because he hung from the Tree for nine days, but also because the sacrifice to him was to hang someone on a tree.  This wasn't the mystical experience people seem to like today of going out and hanging yourself upside down to commune with Odin.  They would tie the unwilling sacrifice to a tree, stab them in the side so the bled out, and leave them for the ravens and crows to eat.  To gain favour from Odin.

Odin wasn't a loving god, though he did usually take care of his own.  He was generally more concerned with preparing for Ragnarök than the welfare of the common person.  He was a god of warriors at war, out fighting, while Thor was a god of farmers, fighting to defend their land and their home.  You prayed to Thor for your crops, for food, for provision, never to Odin.  And even the warrior had to worry about Odin.  If you were a good warrior and Odin thought you would be good in Ragnarök, he would take you in the middle of battle, even if it meant your people, who also prayed to Odin for victory, might lose.  Odin wasn't much easier to trust than his blood brother, and in many ways Twin, Loki.  But in battle, you prayed to Odin.  Before battle or for thanks for surviving, you sacrificed to Odin.  You had no choice.

Muninn and Huginn.
The eye represents Odin
sitting in  Hlidskjalf on
his throne where he can
see all that passes in
the world.
Image from Alpha Stamps.

Odin is a god of wisdom and knowledge, but also of war and death.  He is a dark god, not the benevelent old man many portray him as today.  There's a reason he's accompanied by wolves and ravens, both of which feed on the dead after battles.  The dead are his, well, half of them.

In many Germanic and Scandinavian areas, Odin/Woden was seen as the Lord of the Wild Hunt, or as it was sometimes called, Odin's Hunt.  The Wild Hunt is a common element in much of Europe and even in the Americas.  The Huntsman comes riding on the Winter Solstice, the Longest Night, the Darkest Night, for Odin truly is the Winter King.  If you hear the horn, you either join the Hunt (forever or the night, depending on the story, often depending on if you cursed the Hunt or joined it willingly) or you are hunted down by it and torn limb for limb.  In much of the British Isles, you find the Wild Hunt associated with the Fey.  In the Old West in the United States, there was the story of the ghost riders, forever condemned to chance the devil's herd across the skies, immortalized in the song Ghost Riders in the Sky.  There's a similar story in India of Shiva, King of Ghosts astride a bull with a host of ghosts accompanying him.  Regardless of the story, the Wild Hunt was greatly feared, and the Huntsman especially.  Odin as Huntsman is terrifying indeed.

Odin leads the Wild Hunt.
Image from Orkneyjar.

In his Basic Structure of the Craft, Robert Cochrane identifies Woden with Tettens, the Wind God who is Lucet's Twin:

In the North lies the Castle of Weeping, the ruler thereof is named Tettens, our Hermes or Woden. He is the second twin, the waning sun, Lord over mysticism, magic, power and death, the Baleful destroyer. The God of War, of Justice, King of Kings, since all pay their homage to Him. Ruler of the Winds, the Windyat. Cain imprisoned in the Moon, ever desiring Earth. He is visualized as a tall dark man, shadowy, cold and deadly. Unpredictable, yet capable of great nobility, since he represents Truth. He is the God of magicians and witches, who knows all sorcery. Lord of the North, dark, unpredictable, the true God of all witches and magicians if they are working at any decent level at all. A cold wind surrounds Him, age and time so ancient that it is beyond belief flows from Him. Dark is His shadow, and he bears a branch of the sorrowing alder, and walks with the aid of a blackthorn stick. Sorrow is printed upon His face, yet also joy. He guards, as a rider upon an eight-legged horse, the approaches to the Castle of Night. He is also the Champion of the glass bridge after the Silver Forest. Cold is tho air as he passes by. Some say tall and dark, I say small and dark, speaking in a faint voice which is as clear as ice. ~Robert Cochrane's third letter to Norman Gills

Storm's version of Arddhu
entitled The Royal Darkness.
Image from  Faerywolf.

He is the "true god of all witches" and the last face you see at the Gates of Death (Arddhu?).  Are you willing to face him?  He is terrible, he is to be feared, he is unpredictable, but all come before him and "every knee shall bow."

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Three Figures Stand in Silence

Image by FroweMinahild
on DeviantArt

Three Figures Stand in Silence
By Muninn’s Kiss

Three figures stand in silence,
Looking out to space.
Their hoods hide them from me,
But I’m naked before their eyes.

The Moirae in their white robes,
Cold and uncaring.
They stand and speak the future,
And I am bound by them.

Erinyes draped in serpents,
Blood dripping from their eyes.
Their fury flows out toward me,
I bow before their wrath.

The three Laimas stand before me,
My life is in their hands.
They speak what will happen,
And I listen to their will.

The Norns draw forth water,
And pour it on the roots.
They weave the weird around me,
They pull me where I go.

Fate she stands before me,
She holds me in her hands,
I move to overcome her,
And find the one true Graal.

Snows of Winter, Heat of Summer

Image from SodaHead

Snows of Winter, Heat of Summer
By Muninn’s Kiss

Snows of Winter, heat of Summer,
Two times, two worlds.
The Twins, they dance.

Winter King, in darkness reigns,
Death and darkness, ice and cold.
A crown of thorns upon his head,
Clothed in shadows, hidden light.
Magic dark and waning sun.
Tettens, Woden, Hermes stalks,
From the Castle of Weeping comes.

Summer King in brightness reigns,
Life, rebirth, light, and heat.
Winged crown, light rebounds,
Clothed in fire, born in light.
The sun it rises, warms the land.
A Child is born to warm our hearts.
Lucet, Lucifer, Morning Star,
Riding forth on wings of the morning.

The Twins, they dance,
The passing year.
Light, then dark, then light again.
Two Kings reign, both to die,
Two grooms for oh blessed Night.
Life and Death, Light and Dark,
Ever changing, ever the same.
Snows of Winter melt and thaw.
Heat of Summer takes their place.
Out of darkness shines the brightest light.

The Fallen: Wisdom and Death, Arddhu and Anna

What can popular media tell us about spiritual things?

The Fallen
By Seether

She's wearin' dresses on the borderline
(lookin good)
Or making senses that were lost in time
(make amends)
This liberation is the one they'll love for ages (hey man I see them comin' again)
Just cut those dresses make you look so fine (you're a ten)
Put on that shirt and you'll look so divine
(i'm impressed)
This generation won't forgive those signs of aging (hey man I see them comin' again)
I got my ticket for the next makeover
I got my ticket for a stolen ride

I believe, I believe
I believe in the fallen
I believe, I believe
I believe in the callin'

They got injections for those facial lines (make amends)
Break out the scalpel keep the nose defined
(look again)
A crucifixion of the love we've known for ages (hey man i see them comin' again)
You're much too pretty you don't need your mind (just pretend)
Just bat them eyelids get your heart's desires
A resurrection of the shallow and the vapid
(hey man I see them comin')

I got my ticket for the next makeover
I lost my taste for this I'll keep my pride
I believe, I believe
I believe in the fallen
I believe, I believe
I believe in the callin'

Reject

I got my ticket for the next makeover
I lost my taste for this, I'll keep my pride
I believe, I believe
I believe in the fallen
I believe, I believe
I believe in the callin'
I believe in the callin'

Image from My Jewelry Blog

In my Good Friday post, I talked about how our society doesn't like death and avoids the subject.  It isn't just talking and thinking about it that we, as a society, avoid.  We also do everything we can to eliminate those things that remind us of death.  We use plastic surgery, as this song talks about, to avoid looking like we're aging, because aging reminds us of death, that we will die some day.  But avoiding death makes life shallow, because death is very much a part of life.  Life loses its meaning without death.

Another way we avoid death is to take people as they get older and put them in old folks homes, and then we don't visit them, because their age reminds us of our own mortality.  We put them away, out off sight, out of mind.  If we can't see them, they aren't there.  If they aren't there, there is no aging, there is no death.  Hiding them is our immortality.  Or so we hope.

Cora Anderson, Grandmaster of Feri
Image from Harpy Books
Taken by Valerie Walker

There was a time when the elderly were venerated.  They are wisdom.  They are the ones who would teach the young, imparting their wisdom and experience, at least what the young were willing to listen to.  They might have been too old to do the heavy work required for the community, but they still had a purpose.  They were still valuable, and valued by the community.  By putting our elderly out of sight, we don't just deny them a purpose to live for, we deny ourselves the wisdom they can impart.  With the loss of their experience, our society is getting dumber and more foolish.  "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

Death and Wisdom are very closely connected.  Robert Cochrane described the feminine Mysteries as the pentagram as Life/Birth, Love, Maternity, Wisdom, Death/Resurrection.  Wisdom is the stage that proceeds Death.  It grows out of Maternity and heads toward Death and hence Resurrection.  In avoiding Death, we avoid Wisdom.

When I think of Wisdom and Death, I think of the Anna and the Arddhu, the Feri gods returning to God Herself.  One isn't Wisdom and the other Death, for both are both Wisdom and Death.  In this situation, they are the Divine Twins.  They are separate, yet they are the same.  They are both near Death, and both long to impart the Wisdom they have to those they care.  They are both dangerous, as Death always is, but their Wisdom is worth it.

Image from
Star of Nuit blog

It is significant that the Anna stands as priestess of the Star Goddess, not young Nimue or nurturing Mari.  It is Wisdom, standing closest to Death, which is also Rebirth, that is closest to God Herself, who can stand as the Bridge between Herself and us.  The marriage of the gods is in Death and Rebirth, an end and a new beginning, like all initiations.  The Anna stands at the Altar of the ineffable, her red veil covering her face, waiting for us to draw near.

The Arddhu stands at the Gates of Death.  But the Gates of Death are also the Gates of Life, another set of Divine Twins.  Everyone comes at the end of their life in from of Arddhu, and all pass him coming into the world.  It's the same Gates, yet we see them differently depending on which direction we pass.  Storm says Arddhu is Guardian of the Crossroads.  Crossroads are transition points, liminal points, the passages between worlds.  As are the Gates of Life and Death.  What is Witch without the crossing between worlds?  And how do you cross without Arddhu?  All must come to him, but Witch comes early.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

*And, as my About This Journal page states, this entry, like all my entries, express my opinions, my experiences, my ideas.  Though they are influenced by others and I quote others, don't take what I say as dogma or doctrine for any tradition or religion.

In Response to Rethinking the Watchtowers...

This and the previous post were replies to an email on a list, though I've removed the parts that are relevant only to the message I was replying to.  I liked how I said what I said and figured I'd share it with anyone who wants to read it.


This is in regards the the article Rethinking the Watchtowers by Mike Nichols.  It is from a Wicca perspective.  The email discussion about it was in a Feri context.  The original site is no longer up, but it can be read here:

http://witchnest.blogspot.com/2009/07/rethinking-watchtowers-or-13-reasons.html

Some of what he says I agree with and some I don't.  I like Air in the North, but I like Fire and Earth differently than his arrangement.  When I've called on the Feri Guardians, I've used the associations V gives, but they aren't the arrangement I'm most comfortable with.  I prefer the arrangement that is "traditional" in the traditions that draw from Robert Cochrane's letters and practices, like 1734 and the Clan of Tubal Cain.  The explanation below is mostly my own understanding, based on what I've read, what I've experienced, conversations with others, and my own musings, nothing official.  So this isn't all my original thoughts, nor is it all what I was taught from a specific authoritative source.  I'll explain why I put "traditional" in quotes, at the end.

http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/gillsthree.html

The associations I'm talking about are drawn from RC's Basic Structure of the Craft, which is essentially a creation myth, but sets up a mythos used in rituals and rites.  It describes Night having seven sons who created seven worlds.  Four of these are the Wind Gods, which are the Four Winds from the four directions.  Tettens is in the North, the North Wind, and is Woden, amongst other things.  He is described as Air.  In the East is Lucet, the King of Light, who is Fire.  These two are the Divine Twins, "Lucet and Tettens are the Twins, the Children of Night and the Serpent, brothers and some say one and the same person. Fire and Air, growth and decay. One looks forward, the other backward. One creates, the other destroys, Castor and Pollox."  In the South is Carenos, who is fertility, Earth.  In the West is Node, Sleep and Wisdom, the God of the Sea, Water.

So Air is in the North, and is the colour black.  This is the cold North Wind, which brought all the winter storms to the British Isles.  For North is also Winter and Midnight, which matches what was said in the article, for Winter is dark, and the further north you go, the darker and the longer the nights, until there is only night, only Midnight.  Hence the colour black.

Fire is in the East, and is the colour red.  The sun, which is Fire, and the masculine principle in the world (though the sun is pulled by a female in Norse belief and the moon my a male; there's a lot of secrets in that), rises in the East (as does the moon, but that isn't important), and many ancient cultures believed his home was in the East.  Cochrane equated the Masculine Mysteries with the sun and Feminine Mysteries with the moon, which are East and West.  Lucet, the King of Light, brings the sun, which brings light.  Life was said to come from the East and from the sun.  Fire is red of course.

Earth is in the South, and is the colour white.  Earth is feritility, as Carenos is fertility.  The further south you go in Britain, the more fertile, in general.  Wessux is definitely more fertile than the Scottish Highlands.  The soil in the southern part of Britain are chalk, which is white of course.  The use of chalk in the Craft is very important.  Also, white is light, and noon is the brightest part of the day.  I'll get to that in a bit.

Water is in the West, and the colour is grey.  The moon, as we mentioned, is Water and feminine.  The moon sets in the West (as the does the sun, but that isn't important), and many ancient cultures believed she had her home there.  The house of the moon, the Gates of the West, are the Gates of Death, the way to the Underworld.  The dead were said to travel across the great western sea, the Atlantic Ocean, when they died, traveling with the moon.  Water is in the West not because you couldn't see land from the West coast of Britain or could from the East coast, but because it was "known" that past Ireland, there was only water and the land of the dead, which was under water.  Grey is for twilight, between day and night.  I;ll get to that in a second.

North, East, South, and West are not just Air, Fire, Earth, and Water.  In fact the four elements are one of the least important associations with the Wind Gods and directions, just as the Feri Guardians are so much more than elemental forces.  1734 doesn't work in a Circle in the way Wicca and Ceremonial Magic does.  1734 works a compass (notice, "works a" not "works in a").  The compass isn't related to protection or controlling anything like circles in Ceremonial Magic.  What does a compass do?  It points the way.  But compass comes from a different meaning, to surround.  The four directions surround, so became called the compass, and the device that points was named for it.  Thorn likes to use the phrase for God Herself, and also for Witch, "the centre which is the circumference of all."  This is the compass.  When you stand in the middle, you are Witch, you are the centre, but you are also the world, the circumference.  But, anyway, I digress.  The compass places in in time and space, orientates you.  The directions are also times and dates.  North is Midnight, and Winter Solstice.  East is Sunrise, Dawn, and Spring Equinox.  South is Noon and Summer Solstice.  West is Sunset, Dusk, Twilight, and Autumn Equinox.  And of course, there isn't only four directions.  Northeast is Candlemas, Imbolc, and the point between Midnight and Dawn.  Southeast is Roodmas, Beltane, and mid-morning.  Southwest is Lughnassadh and mid-afternoon.  And Northwest is Samhane and mid-evening.  And you can put other points on the compass.  But the compass doesn't stand still.  It can be rotated.  It spins.  Like a castle spinning without moving.  Time and space move.  They aren't static.  Where are you and when are you when you're in the compass?  That is a very good question.

Which brings me to my last point.  I say it's the "traditional" arrangement, because it doesn't stand still.  You can place any direction, any element, any hour, any date at North and it changes everything.  Regardless which order you use or which placement, experiment.  North determines the feel of the compass.  Each element has specific associations.  Maybe why I like Air in the North is because I have always had an affinity to Air and Wind.  I worshiped a wind goddess when I was younger and would call up a strong wind at will.  And Air is inspiration and intellect, and I tend to live in my intellect much of the time, as you can probably tell from these two posts.  In a dream back in February, I was made a priestess and they painted yellow tribal patterns on my skin and white clothes.  Yellow is ofter associated with Air and Intellect.  But I digress again.  What to place at North depends on the work you are doing.  Some workings work well with Air at North and Earth at North is just wrong for that working.  But others Earth is best.  So the best thing is to think throw the correspondences and associations, experiment, and get a feel for it.  Magic and witchcraft are Art.  The intellectual thoughts, the techniques, the traditions, the teachings, all the knowledge in the world, can help you plan and give you ideas, but practice and a feel for it are ultimately what matters.  Listen to Fetch and Godself, don't depend only on Talker, like I tend to.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Romulus and Remus: Establishment and Witch

Back a while, I had a dream that I wrote about where there were four groups, two large, two small, and the two big groups were led by Romulus and Remus.  Later dream, we (the group I was in, one of the small ones) met Romulus and a small group of his people.  I don't remember them, but I remember a sense of his people (the small group of them, not all of them) behind him and our people (once again, not all of them) behind me and the leader of our group.  I was a priestess in the dream, and the leader was also female.  I think we were on a couch or something similar, and it seems like the encounter took place in a parking lot.  Our leader was sitting on the right hand side of the couch and I was sitting on her left, pretty close to her.  Romulus was standing, bent over her trying to sexually assault or maybe rape her.  She had her knee up trying to push him away and I was grabbing at his arm, trying to stop him.  He was dressed all in tight black leather that covered everything but his hands and head.  I woke up in the middle of the struggle.

It had been a very long time since I did any reading on Romulus and Remus, so earlier this week, I read up on them to refresh my memory.  The following are my thoughts on the story, some of the themes, how it relates to the craft, and some thoughts about the meaning of the part of my dream I expanded on above.

Before I get into the details of the legend, I'd like to talk about twins.  Romulus and Remus are of course twins, and this is very important.  Twins are very common in legends, myths, and folk lore.  There's something about twins that people find magical, unusual, mystical, or frightening.  Twins hold a special place in our psyches, and in the secrets of the universe.  What is a twin?  Our other half?  Our reflection?  Our doppleganger?  Some cultures see twins are evil, bad omens, demons.  Others see twins as a sign of favour from the gods.  In some cultures, twins, or the second twin, are killed, in others, revered.  A twin that dies can haunt their sibling or be a guide or protector.  But regardless of the cultural views, twins capture our imaginations, because they reflect spiritual truths and we know, whether we "know" or not, that these are important.

To look at a few sets of twins, I'll start with Cain and Abel, the first two children of Adam and Eve in the Torah.  Though I don't see anything in the Hebrew to show whether they were twins or not, traditionally, they have been seen as such, and I think the parallels with Romulus and Remus are important.  Everyone's heard the story.  Cain raised grain and Abel raised livestock.  Abel makes an offering to G-d or the first born of his stock and G-d accepts it (probably with fire from heaven).  Cain makes an offering of the first of of his crops and G-d doesn't accept it.  There's a lot of debate on why G-d doesn't accept it, but that doesn't matter for this post.  Cain gets upset and kills his brother.  Abel's blood from the land cries out to G-d, and G-d comes and asks Cain where Abel was.  Cain says he's not his brothers' keeper.  G-d makes him a wanderer.  Cain says everyone will try to kill him, so G-d puts a mark on him to protect him.  Many witches claim descendence from Cain, but I'd like to look at this a little differently.  You can parallel Cain with Romulus and Abel with Remus.  Depending on the version of the legend, Romulus killed Remus like Cain killed Abel.  I will talk later about Romulus being the Establishment, the Orthodox, those in control, and Remus being Witch, the source of change in the world.  Remus is a challenge to Romulus' control.  Likewise, Abel being accepted by G-d was a challenge to Cain.  And, of course, Abel's blood in the earth crying out has echoes in spirits of the land and of the call of the ancestors, of the Mighty Dead.

Another set of twins were Castor and Pollox.  I don't know a lot about them, so I can't say much.  They were the children of Leda.  According to some versions of the story, even though they were born as twins, Castor was the son of Tyndareus and Pollox the son of Zeus (in swan form).  Pollox was immortal and Castor mortal.  They were raised by Tyndareus in Sparta.  There's no story of a twin killing a twin here.  Castor dies in a cattle raid and Pollox goes to Zeus to intercede for him.  There are a lot of things that could be explored in this story, but not really anything I can relate to this post.

I'm not going to go into much detail here, but the Divine Twins are very important in Feri.  I've made a lot of posts about them in the past.  They appear in many different guises, but they can be seen as the two sides of the same thing:  the Summer and Winter King, life and death, creation and destruction, past and future.  The big thing related to this post is the interconnectedness.  Romulus and Remus, Cain and Abel, Castor and Pollox, you can't have one without the other.  The story is about the twins, not about on or the other.  It's the interaction of the two that makes the story.  Witch moves in relation to the world around her, not just the natural world but the social world.  Sometimes he works against the world, sometimes with it, but change needs something to interact with or it isn't change.  The stillness interacts with the movement of the Cauldron.

Robert Cochrane calls two of the Wind Gods, Lucet and Tettens twins:

(Lucet and Tettens are the Twins, the Children of Night and the Serpent, brothers and some say one and the same person. Fire and Air, growth and decay. One looks forward, the other backward. One creates, the other destroys, Castor and Pollox.)

Lucet is the King of Light and the Child.  He is the day, the sun.  Tettens is the god of witches, the winter, the night.

In Voudou, you find the Marassa, the twins.  There's a secret here, because the two become three.  the Marassa are mischievous and can be dangerous.  There's a lot that can be said about the Marassa, but I'll move on for now.

To be continued...

FFF,

~Muninn's Kiss

Across the Abyss...

Muninn was one of Odin's ravens. The other was Huginn. Muninn is memory, which is Chokmah, Wisdom, and the past; Huginn is thought, which is Binah, Understanding, and the future. Where we need to live is in Da'at, the Knowing, the present, the moment, the balance between Muninn and Huginn, between Chokmah and Binah, between Wisdom and Understanding, between Kether and Malkhuth, between the Crown and the World. That is what this journal is about. It is a mystic journey to find our way across the Abyss to truly know the ineffable, unknowable God.

This journal will take many paths. The primary subjects I'm currently looking at are Feri Witchcraft, Kabbalah, and 1734 Witchcraft. I diverge off these topics a lot and intermix them. Sometimes I post personal posts about myself but not often. I started on much of these musings as a result of a visit to Seattle a few years ago. I heard about Feri while I was there. I started researching Feri and heard mention of Kabbalah through it. From there, I found the letters of Robert Cochrane (Roy Bower), and started reading about 1734.

In this journal, I will explain some things that I'm basing my discussion on, but not everything. There will be a certain amount of foundation assumed. If anyone ever reads this, and if you have questions, feel free to ask and I will explain anything I am able to explain.

Just a warning, since I was thinking about it. I haven't been studying any of these subjects very long. Before that, I had bits and pieces of various religions, occult ideas, and mythologies that I had picked up here and there. I've never had formal training or participated in any ritual that involved more people than just me, and am not an initiate in any tradition. Everything I post is a combination of the bits of knowledge I've picked up, things I've read, things I've discussed with people online, and my own musing. As such, take everything I write with a grain of salt. This journal is primarily me working through things, and there are a lot of holes in my knowledge and experience, so I will probably miss things and get things wrong. If you see something I got wrong or you disagree with, please tell me. And your own study will help you discern whether I'm looking in the right direction or following the Lapwing far from the Roebuck.


FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss