An Abstract on Abstraction

The focus on the abstract and the symbolic in many modern traditions is a bit odd in my opinion.  Not that the abstract and symbolic don't have a place or value, of course.  As a born mystic, these things have always intrigued and interested me.  It's the amount of focus and the importance placed that I think is a harmful thing for really growing and practicing.

As a specific example, my main objection to the Classic elements in folk magic is the lack of practical application to the real work.  I can't hold elemental Fire or Water or Earth or Air in my hands, I can't mix them and make something out of them.  But I can take the soil of the land and mix it with water from creek or pond or river or lake, to make mud, and form it into a figure of someone or something or a tablet or a disc for an amulet, and can sit it out for the wind and sun to dry.

You won't hear a farmer use a blessing like, "may you have water and air and earth."  That is too abstract to be meaningful.  You would hear something closer to, "may you have rain or irrigation water to water the crops, may you have fresh air to breathe and wind to blow away harmful insects, may your land be fertile and rich and produce."  Or something more along those more practical lines.

This holds true in many areas.  What good does a symbol do if it isn't applicable in a material or at least methodical way?  The Work is about doing the work, not about symbols that can be meditated on but have no pragmatic purpose.

The toad bone was not obtained by some because it symbolized all the things it can be seen to symbolize.  These symbols aren't of no importance, nor are they not real, but they aren't the point.  The toad bone was obtained for very specific purposes, to control animals, to have power over people, and others.  Read Andrew Chumbley's The Leaper Between, and you will see the application is the major focus, not the symbolism, though that exists as well.

I come from simple people, even if I work in an industry far from that, and move at times in higher society.  My ancestors on both sides were mostly farms, and when not farmers, still working class people.  Salt of the earth, honest folk.  This is why my grandpa lost everything twice, as to him, a handshake was a deal.  This is why my father always felt more comfortable out with his drilling team in the forest pulling up rock core samples than in the office with those who were more concerned with politics than the work.  My father tastes dirt to know what it is made of.  My grandpa on my mother’s side worked the ground most of his life, as his father did, and his, all the way back to Germany and Prussia.  I come from simple, working class, people, not academics or philosophers, not politicians or old money.  And when you live that life, or come from that seed, or do that work, you do what needs to be done, rather than worrying what it means.

Both my father and my mother’s father were water witchers, and could find whatever they were looking for beneath the ground with their skill. It didn’t mater what the meaning of anything was, it mattered that it worked and they could find what they needed.  My father used that skill with the drilling team, and they always hit the vein they were trying for when he told them where to drill.  There was no symbolism, no hidden meaning, just a skill others couldn’t use that was accurate and got the job done.

Except among philosophers and theologians, symbols and meanings are secondary to what you can use the thing for.  The Classical elements are great for discussion and even as symbols in ritual, but, as Bearwalker would say, you can you grow corn in them?  The abstraction from the physical things that we interact with when we get our hands dirty to the philosophers’ symbols and metaphors is often a distraction from the work, work that only truly gets done when we get our hands dirty and do the work.

FFF,
~Muninn’s Kiss

Age of Aquarius

The words of a song echo, a song that came out of the New Age movement, a movement looking to a new age as the answer, as a Utopian time of peace and love.  The song is Age of Aquarius but 5th Dimension:

When the moon is in the seventh house

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age

Of a Aquarius, the age of Aquarius

Aquarius, Aquarius

Harmony and understanding

Sympathy and trust abounding

No more falsehoods or derisions

Golden living dreams of visions

Mystic crystal revelation

And the minds true liberation

Aquarius, Aquarius

When the moon is in the seventh house

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age

Of a Aquarius, the age of Aquarius

Aquarius, Aquarius

The Age of Aquarius is of course based on the progression of equinoxes, Plato's Great Year, which I've discussed before.  Twelve ages of 2200 years, give or take 100 years.  And one theory, based on Vedic astronomy subdivides each age into sub ages, about 180 years each, with the first subage being of similar nature to the current age, and last sub age in an age having similar nature to the next Age.  This would imply that the last subage in a given age is a taste of what the next will be.

The idea that the Age of Aquarius would be peace and harmony and everyone loving everyone is a misconception, as anyone born in Aquarius, or anyone who has known one can attest.  Aquarius likes to the be a peacemaker, but is more a leveler.  We're not talking peaceful cooperation and everyone getting along.  Aquarius disrupts and brings chaos and complication.  It is the destruction of hierarchy and differences, but doesn't present a solution or restructure.  If you are looking for that, that is Capricorn, the age after.  Aquarius isn't described by the verse "he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." (Revelations 21:4 RSV)  It is described by these verses:

Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
~Isaiah 40:4 RSV

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.
~Jeremiah 1:10 RSV

It's important to realise that the Age of Pisces isn't just defined by the Fish, but by the Virgin, Virgo, across the sky from Pisces.  The Fish is the Son of the Virgin, Pisces is the Son of Virgo.  When the sun is in Pisces, at midnight Virgo is at height, Pisces occulted and concealed, Virgo plain to see in the night sky.  Pisces has no boundaries, no firm borders, it runs over all it encounters, flowing like a flood over the ground.  Pisces is the Conqueror, conquering all.  "And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." (Revelations 6:2 RSV)  And while the age we've seen does reflect this, the building of empires through conquest, there is another aspect, the restriction, the restraint, the control.  This comes not from Pisces, who would move on to the next thing.  It comes instead from the Mother of Pisces, from Virgo, the Virgin.  The Water of Pisces brings change, but when the Flood is past, it is the Earth of Virgo that settles, with teh restraint only she can bring.  She marks the midpoint, half way through the Age.

Which brings us to Aquarius.  While Aquarius does want peace and harmony, it doesn't know how to bring it.  It uproots old orders, like the Fall of the Tower, it brings down the haughty and mighty, the mountains and hills, and raises up the humble and downtrodden, the valleys, but it doesn't know what to do next and looks for the next injustice or inequality to fix, not leaving a structure.  The result isn't peace but rebellion and disorder, people turning on each other.  "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." (Revelations 6:4 RSV)  We are in the subage of Aquarius, and it has had and will have a taste of peace and harmony, this isn't the main trait.  Watch how empires and nations have, are, and will crumble, how Super Powers fail, hierarchies fall, economies splinter.  This subage has not been one of piece, but of breakdown, breakdown that takes away peace.  This is a taste of the Age of Aquarius.

But once again, that isn't the whole story.  Look across the wheel.  Aquarius is the Son of Leo, the Son of Fire.  This is the key to understand the Age of Aquarius.

"Son of Fire"

Let he who has ears to hear hear, let she who has eyes to see see.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Toward a Binary Western Structure

I was re-reading part of The Web That Has No Weaver, and was reading a section on analysis that was essentially about a trigram, External/Internal, Excessive/Deficient, Hot/Cold, each a Yang/Yin pair, eight possible states from three binaries.  My mind wandered and I started thinking of Western magical systems, particularly the four elements.

What follows is an interesting (to me at least) investigation on whether the four elements can be described by two binary pairs.  As much of the following is about systems I seldom work with, Greek classical elements, alchemy, and Western astrology, please bear with me, as this is a bit of a tangent from my own practice and from much of what I post here.  It does, however, lay a groundwork to help others understand another post I've been working on but am not yet to a point to publish, my Chthonic Zodiac, and what happens when you turn the sky upside down, and the lore and myth that become obvious with that understanding.  That post will have direct application to my own practice, so this tangent has a use.

Consider for a moment the Western approach over all.  I'm simplified it, and generalizing, but there's a tendency to break everything down into either the four Classic Greek elements, fire, water, earth, and air, or down into the three alchemical principles, salt, sulfur, and quicksilver.  These two sets provide some unique patterns mathematically, and Western magic seems to always love things that can be expressed mathematically.  Four and three are helpful, because added together, they give seven, which is found so often, with the seven wandering bodies in the sky, the seven days in a week, the seven stars that make up Woden's Wain, the seven stars seen as the Seven Sisters, the various uses of seven years, and so on.  And multiplied together, they make twelve, another useful number, with twelve Zodiac signs, twelve months, twelve Olympians, twelve apostles and tribes, and so on.

Modern paganism has thrown a wrench in this, though I suspect few have seen it as such.  By combining various holy days in Northern Europe to make eight Sabbats, they have the interesting issue of mapping eight days onto twelve months.  Four works well, but eight is problematic.  This likely isn't a big issue, but the Northern European concepts don't map well onto the Southern European concepts.

Looking just at the elements first, we have a pattern that lends well to a binary system.  Earth and Water are considered passive, and Air and Fire active.  This works well for the first pair, very much a Yin = Earth/Water/Passive, Yang = Air/Fire/Active pairing.  So far so good.  But what of the other pair?  What separates Air from Fire and Earth from Water?  What is the same between Air and Earth, and opposite from what is the same between Fire and Water?  The answer isn't forth coming.  Innately people pair them in that way, considering Air opposite of Earth, not Water, and Fire opposite Water, not Air.  And they obviously are.  Air and Earth can be seen as Sky and Land, above and below.  Fire and Water tend to be universal opposites, as Fire changes Water into Air, and Water puts out Fire, in effect, bringing it to Earth.  But what quality defines these?

Lets look at the Zodiac a moment.  There are three attributes that define each sign, and an understanding of these can help in understanding of the signs.  These are the quality, the mode, and the element.  Qualities are one of three, cardinal, fixed, and mutable.  Modes are active and passive.  Elements are the four classic elements we are discussing.  The signs lay out as follows:

Aries		Cardinal		Active		Fire
Taurus		Fixed		Passive		Earth
Gemini		Mutable		Active		Air
Cancer		Cardinal		Passive		Water
Leo		Fixed		Active		Fire
Virgo		Mutable		Passive		Earth
Libra		Cardinal		Active		Air
Scorpio		Fixed		Passive		Water
Sagittarius		Mutable		Active		Fire
Capricorn		Cardinal		Passive		Earth
Aquarius		Fixed		Active		Air
Pisces		Mutable		Passive		Water

You'll notice three cycles, the qualities cycling regularly three the three states, the mode cycling regularly through the two states, and the element cycling regularly through the four states.

If you examine the table, you find mode isn't too useful for this discussion, as it lines up exactly with the passive/active states of the elements we already discussed.  Any give element is always the same mode.  So we will ignore mode for now.

Quality does lend something of interest, as it doesn't coincide with a specific element.  In fact, if you count, each quality has one sign of each element, and vice versa.  Every quality/element pairing is unique.  This of course makes sense with twelve signs total, because three states means four cycles, and four states means three cycles.

Lets look at the nature of the qualities for a moment.  What do they mean?  Cardinal is a sign that points, a sign that initiates something, starts something.  Fixed is a sign that tries to stay constant, to not change.  Mutable is a sign with a tendency to change and move.  Those that are familiar with alchemy but not with astrology (if you can be familiar with alchemy but not astrology) might find these of interest.  The description of fixed signs instantly brings to mind salt.  Salt is the process of crystallization, just as fixed signs crystallize into a set pattern, not wanting to change.  The other two are harder for me, not being an alchemist.  But reading descriptions, I see quicksilver, mercury, in the mutable signs.  Mercury is of course the messenger of the gods, carrying messages between them and man.  Quicksilver is constantly changing, constantly moving. This leaves sulfur for the cardinal signs.  Does this fit?  Sulfur is seen in alchemy as a seed, or, more graphically, the sperm that is forcibly implanted into the egg.  A seed, a beginning.  Quicksilver is the solution, salt dissolved in it, sulfur added as a seed to bring about change.  This is very much the same as the cardinal signs, so, yes, it does fit.

We have a new table:

Aries		Sulfur		Fire
Taurus		Salt		Earth
Gemini		Quicksilver		Air
Cancer		Sulfur		Water
Leo		Salt		Fire
Virgo		Quicksilver		Earth
Libra		Sulfur		Air
Scorpio		Salt		Water
Sagittarius		Quicksilver		Fire
Capricorn		Sulfur		Earth
Aquarius		Salt		Air
Pisces		Quicksilver		Water

Where this gets interesting is when we rearrange these to show what is across the year, or sky, from them:

Aries		Sulfur		Fire		Libra		Sulfur		Air
Taurus		Salt		Earth		Scorpio		Salt		Water
Gemini		Quicksilver		Air		Sagittarius		Quicksilver		Fire
Cancer		Sulfur		Water		Capricorn		Sulfur		Earth
Leo		Salt		Fire		Aquarius		Salt		Air
Virgo		Quicksilver		Earth		Pisces		Quicksilver		Water

The first thing we notice is that the qualities remain the same on the opposite end of the sky.  Every sign has the same quality as its opposite.  The next we see is that Fire and Air are always opposite, and Earth and Water are always opposite.  This relates back to our earlier question.  What separates Air from Fire and Earth from Water?

Let's look at the pairings.  Aries/Libra, Taurus/Scorpio, Gemini/Sagittarius, Cancer/Capricorn, Leo/Aquarius, Virgo/Pisces.  In what way are these opposites different?  It isn't the quality, for each pair shares it.  It isn't the mode, for each pair is either both passive or both active.  What, then?  Let's look at some attributes of each one, first the Fire/Air pairs, then the Water/Earth pairs.

Aries and Libra.  Cardinal.  Aries is the Ram lowering its head and charging, beginning without thinking things through, starting is the goal, Aries doesn't worry about what comes next.  Libra is the scale weighing the options, trying to find balance, only beginning when all outcomes are considered and weighed, Libra won't act until it knows where the action will lead, and then, and only then, will it begin.  Both cardinal, sulfur.  Both active.  Fire acts immediately, concerned with getting started, Air analyses and acts when the outcome is known.

Gemini and Sagittarius.  Mutable.  Sagittarius is the arrow pointing toward the goal, killing anything that gets in its way.  The end justifies the means, the collateral isn't important.  Gemini is the twins, identical but opposite, accepting two opposite truths as both true, moving between them, considering them.  Both mutable, quicksilver.  Both active.  Fire is driven toward the goal, concerned with reaching it, not what might be in the way, Air analyzes and cares more about the means than the end, weighing the truth of each side.

Leo and Aquarius.  Fixed.  Leo is a lion, unstoppable, proud, a leader and ruler, what is has, it holds no matter what the damage to others.  Aquarius is the water bearer, pouring out the water of Pisces to allow it to be replaced with air, controlling the flow, controlling the change, maintaining a balance between what was and what is to come, holding to that balance while avoiding upsetting or hurting others.  Both fixed, salt.  Both active.  Fire holds what it has, concerned with keeping it, air controls change, concerned with the balance and peace between parties.

Fire, in all three states, has a specific goal, be it starting, reaching, or holding.  Air, in all three states, weighs and tries for balance, be it starting, negotiating, or holding.

Cancer and Capricorn.  Cardinal.  Cancer is the crab, using its claws to protect what it creates or gives birth to, giving birth with intention to protect what is born immediately upon birthing, going from loving and nurturing to angry and protective at the first sign of danger, willing to hurt anything that seems a threat to the new thing.  Capricorn is the sea-goat, half fish, half goat, the fish half would be fast in the sea without the goat, the goat part would be fast on the land without the fish part, each part slowing the other down, requiring careful planning to get to the goal, so start what is needed, planning and starting early, but knowing how long it will take and what steps are necessary.  Both cardinal, sulfur.  Both passive.  Water begins with the intention to protect, focused on how to protect, not the process, Earth planning and preparing and knowing the whole process before hand.

Virgo and Pisces.  Mutable.  Pisces is two fish, chasing each other's tails through the water, two emotions, cycling back and forth, it doesn't analyze the emotions, it accepts them and moves to the next.  Virgo is the Virgin, waiting for the very best before having sex, planning with patience, waiting for the right desire, right moment, not letting emotions get ahead of her, only letting emotions take over when they are needed and not until then.  Both mutable, quicksilver.  Both passive.  Water lets the emotions cycle, doesn't worry about if they are right or wrong, just lets them come, Earth planning for the moment to let them have control, changing but only when analysis indicates it's time.

Taurus and Scorpio.  Fixed.  Scorpio is the scorpion with a venomous stinger and snapping claws, and a hard shell to protect the soft, easy to hurt interior, assuming everyone is trying to hurt it, or will given the chance, so ready for a fight, without analyzing who is friend or foe.  Taurus is the bull, standing its ground, not to be moved, and if necessary, will charge and pierce with its horns, but only if it needs to, watching, analyzing.  Both fixed, salt.  Both passive.  Water presumes and fight and strikes, earth watches and observes, and only fights when pressed or it is needed.

Water, in all three states, reacts without analysis, be it protecting the beginning, cycling emotions, or protecting what it holds.  Earth, in all three states, analyzes and decides, be it planning before hand, deciding when best to change, or protecting what it holds.

The three states, cardinal/sulfur, mutable/quicksilver, fixed/salt, give us three views of each of the element pairs and show a common trend.  Both Fire and Water are reactive, responding, not planning.  Both Air and Earth are proactive, planning and analyzing before acting.

So we can define the four elements with two binaries, active/passive and responsive/analytic.  Active and responsive are Yang type qualities.  Passive and analytic are Yin type qualities.

Fire		Active-Responsive		Yang-Yang
Air		Active-Analytic		Yang-Yin
Water		Passive-Responsive		Yin-Yang
Earth		Passive-Analytic		Yin-Yin

And so we come to a defined binary description of the four elements.  It is interesting to look at these again in the Zodiac cycle, where we have Fire-Earth-Air-Water as the order.  This gives us Yang-Yang/Yin-Yin/Yang-Yin/Yin-Yang.  The first part has a Yang/Yin/Yang/Yin cycling.  The second part as a Yang/Yin/Yin/Yang cycling.  This means the first pair cycles every sign, and the second every two signs, so twelve one month groupings for the first, and six two month groupings for the second.

This provides a new way to look at the Zodiac, as we now see Pisces/Aries as a grouping, Taurus/Gemini, Cancer/Leo, Virgo/Libra, Scorpio/Sagittarius, and Capricorn/Aquarius.  Interesting thoughts and ideas form as you look at those pairings not in the terms we have above, but in the pictures representing them and the similarities within each pair, and where the division between groups lies.

Our final Zodiac table looks like so:

Aries		Sulfur		Active		Responsive
Taurus		Salt		Passive		Analytic
Gemini		Quicksilver		Active		Analytic
Cancer		Sulfur		Passive		Responsive
Leo		Salt		Active		Responsive
Virgo		Quicksilver		Passive		Analytic
Libra		Sulfur		Active		Analytic
Scorpio		Salt		Passive		Responsive
Sagittarius		Quicksilver		Active		Responsive
Capricorn		Sulfur		Passive		Analytic
Aquarius		Salt		Active		Analytic
Pisces		Quicksilver		Passive		Responsive

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Hammer and Anvil: The Smith and the Craft

I've been thinking of Witch as Smith.  He (using male pronouns here but "she" is equally true and brings us to Brigid or Athena rather than Weyland or Hephaestus) is truly the master of all four classical elements (ignoring Spirit or Ether here, but if included, this would be the Smith himself).  Earth is the hammer and anvil, and the metal he works, but more elementally, earth is used in the annealing process to cool slowly verses water's fast cooling.  Air is the bellows, heating the fire hotter.  Fire is the heat, the shaper and temperer.  Water is the cooler and quencher, causing hardening.

The process of smithing shows a lot of things about the Smith and about the weapons and tools he makes.  It's interesting to see Witch as the Warrior (Hercules) that uses the weapons (Kornephoros, the Club Bearer) the Smith forges, the Hunter (Orion) using the weapons (ensis, the Sword, consisting of Theta Orionis C, Hatsya, and the Great Orion Nebula, and the Club, consisting on Betelgeuse [Orion's hand], Nu Orionis, Xi Orionis, Chi1 Orionis, and Chi2 Orionis) to hunt, and also the Ploughman (Bootes) using the plough (Ursa Major, the Big Bear, also called the Big Dipper, but in this context, the Plough pushed by Bootes).  Orion is significant to me this time around, because of an encounter during my recent bone rite, which I won't discuss here.  Bootes, the Ploughman, is significant, as several British traditions see him as Cain, who holds much significance in their mythos.  And Hercules is significant since a large portion of the constellations we have today are based on the myths relating to him.

So, what is a smith?  The English word smith comes from the Old English smið, meaning, not surprisingly, "one who works in metal".  This comes from the reconstructed Proto Germanic *smithaz, "skilled worker", from the reconstructed Proto Indo European *smei-, "to carve, cut".  So we could say a smith is one who carves or cuts to make something.  A stonemason could be called a stonesmith.  One who works with the Threads of Fate could be called a wyrdsmith or weirdsmith or fatesmith.  This is Witch.  Tin is white metal, so a tinsmith is a whitesmith.  Iron is black metal, so a ironsmith or steelsmith is a blacksmith.

Looking primarily with iron and steel smithing, blacksmithing, though much applies to other metals, here's a basic discussion of the stops.  A bit simplified, and written by myself who has never done any smithing, so don't use it as a guide.  This summary is for discussion sake.

First you take the iron or steel and heat it in fire and coals, using the bellows (Air) to raise the heat until the metal glows bright red.  Then you hammer the metal into the needed shape with the hammer on the anvil, heating it again periodically when it cools.  This is forging.

Next you anneal it, a process that decreases ductility, the compression of the metal under stress, and increase hardness, by aligning the metal.  This is done by burying the hot item in soil, in earth, until it cools slowly and naturally to a temperature that's cool to the touch.  This is repeated several times, heating the metal in a lower temperature fire than the forging process.

Third, you sharpen it if needed (some weapons and tools need sharpening, some don't), on a whetstone or file, or some other controlled grinding tool.

Once sharpening is done, it's time to demagnetize the item.  This keeps the filings from sharpening from sticking to the item, allowing the unneeded pieces to fall away instead of staying part of the item.  This is done by repeatedly heating the metal to an orange colour, then slowly heating it above red until a magnet won't stick to it.

The fifth part is quenching.  This is in water, oil, or brine, all Water for out purposes.  The item is quickly doused into the Water, cooling it rapidly.  It is left in the Water until it completely cools, resulting in through-hardening.

Next is tempering.  This is done by heating the item from the spine (the part away from the edge, the thickest part) until the spine glows yellow (so not as hot as the orange and a long way from the red).  This makes the item more flexible, so less brittle and less chance of it breaking.

Next you mount it if you need a handle or other wooden control piece.  This is typically done by heating the tang, the part the handle fits on, and using it to burn the hole needed into the wood.

The final step is polishing.  While this might seem needed for, say, a ploughhead, the purpose isn't purely ascetics.  This is the process of working out the imperfections and textures of the metal.  A rough plough will have more resistance in the soil and be harder to clean.  Basically, this is just sanding off the roughness, starting with course sandpaper or stone and working to finer and finer to make it as smooth as possible.

Let's look specifically at several of the Smith's tools.  Of note are the hammer and anvil, the forge and bellows, the whetstone and tongs, and the quencher and mound.  There are a number of other tools, and some of these are more representative than actual.  But they help in the current discussion.

And hammer and anvil tend to be the symbol most used for smithing.  Who doesn't think of them when they think of a smith?  The large man standing with a hammer in his hand, the metal on the anvil, striking it over and over.  The words of the English folksong, "Blacksmith", call out in the voice of Steeleye Span:

A blacksmith courted me
Nine months and better
He fairly won my heart
Wrote me a letter.
With his hammer in his hand
He looked so clever
And if I was with my love
I would live forever.

In practice, while that image does hold, it's simplistic.  First off, it was common to have a striker, who was an assistant, often an apprentice, who swung the sledge hammer when it was needed.  The smith, the master, would hold the metal in the tongs and direct the striker where it hit.  In addition to the sledge hammer, there were smaller hammers, which is where the image described above comes from.  There were often several for different jobs, and these were used along with many punches, used to create holes, chisels, used to chip at the metal, and other tools called swages, used to shape the metal.  There is also a hammer called a fuller or a creaser, a rounded hammer used to create grooves and to spread the metal.

An anvil is basically just a large, hard block of iron, tempered to handle the force of the shaping done against it.  It was primarily used during the forging process, when the metal is very hot and the force against it is hard.  Once the shaping began, the swage block was used instead.  A swage block is perforated and used for more fine work and finishing work.

Next we have the forge and the bellows, Fire and Air.  These are the heating part of the process.  The forge heats the metal, the bellows heat the fire, or more accurately, the bellows provide more oxygen to feed the fire of the forge, causing it to burn richer, and therefore hotter.  The forge is the heart of the smithy, and the bellows are it's lungs.  Without the forge, you can't smith.  Without the bellows, the forge can't be raised to the temperatures necessary for ironwork.  Another related craft to smithing is casting.  His also uses a forge, but requires much hotter temperatures, because instead of softening the iron or steel (or other metal), you need to completely melt it to pour it into a cast, giving its shape through fluid pouring then cooling instead of my solid pressure from the hammer.

The whetstone and the tongs aren't related in the way the hammer and anvil, and forge and bellows are, but they are two tools that are distinct from the others.

The tongs, obviously, are used to hold the hot metal.  You can't reach into the forge and pull out the metal with your hands, nor can you hold it in place when it's being hammered and worked while hot with your hands.  The tongs serve as an extension of your hand, fireproof and stable.

I use whetstone here to represent several different types of tools.  Not all smithies contain the same assortment, and different types of work require different assortments.  All are used for grinding and sharpening.  They are course, to different degrees, and all are used to remove, not to shape.  Shaping implies changing of what's there into a different form.  These tools remove excess to give a new form.  Chisels could be placed here as well by that description, but there's another characteristic of these tools: friction.  They are used to remove through rubbing, not chipping.  These tools include the literal whetstone, which is a piece of actual stone that's harder than iron and rough in texture, files, which are rough metal tools for grinding, sandpaper, which is paper with some type of grit on it to wear off the metal, and grinding machines, basically a stone wheel turned by a mechanism similar to a mill stone, which the metal is held against to grind.

Finally, the mound and the quencher, Earth and Water.  As the forge and bellows heat, the mound and quencher cool.

Mound I'm using symbolically; there isn't a mound of earth in most smithies.  I'm referring to process of burying the item to slow cool it in the anneal process.  Sometimes the heating during the anneal process is done in a separate fire outside the forge, then the whole fire buried in earth, other times, the forge or a secondary forge is used to heat it without using the bellows to raise the temperature, then the item is buried in a pit, or sometimes an actual mound.

The quencher is a barrel or trough or similar container filled with the oil or brine or water, used for, obviously, quenching.  The difference in fluid is due to the boiling points needed to effectively cool the metal quickly.  If the boiling point is too high, the metal will cool too quickly and likely crack.  Water has the lowest boiling point, so cools faster as the heat vaporizes it.  It is sometimes used for iron, but sometimes cools too fast.  When it does, brine is often used.  Brine is in effect salt water.  Adding the salt raises the boiling point.  Steel requires slower cooling than iron, so often requires oil, which has a much higher boiling point than water or brine.  For "oil" this varies from vegetable or animal fat oil to petroleum based fluids like transmission fluid or petroleum oil.  Of course, in the days before wide spread petroleum availability, plant or animal oils were primarily used.

Now that we've looked at the tools, let's look at the process from an esoteric viewpoint.  Here's the steps outlined above:

1) Forging
2) Annealing
3) Sharpening
4) Demagnetizing
5) Quenching
6) Tempering
7) Mounting
8) Polishing

Forging, as discussed, is the process of softening the metal and shaping it with tools.  It is fire of the forge, air of the bellows, and earth of the hammers, tongs, anvils, and related tools.  Fire, air, and earth.  Softening and shaping.  Think about these in your life.  What heats things up?  How does it soften you, making you malleable so you can be shaped?  What shapes you?  In what ways?  In the military, this is Basic Training, the initial training that shapes you into a soldier.  Looking deeper, think of the mysteries.  What stage is this?  This is the teaching phase, the prep work, the daily practice, the period of observation and learning.  It is the time of the student and teacher, the period where you get a taste of the tradition and that taste changes you.  This is Gwion stirring the Cauldron of Ceridwen and finally getting a drop in his mouth.  It is a time of hard work, of sweat and tears.

Annealing, that which makes the metal ductible, and hence unable (or as close as possible) to break under pressure.  This is the process after it is the right shape to avoid it losing that shape.  The setting of it in that shape.  This is, as stated, the process of burying to cool, heating, cooling, and so on.  Earth to cool, fire to heat.  Earth and fire.  Making ductible.  Think about this in your life.  The process of shaping you creates rapidity, afterward, you have to be made to handle pressure or you will crack.  You see this in the military, where the initial training hardens you and sets you in a certain shape.  Following that, the soldier responds by muscle memory and reflex, which is often necessary, but makes it harder to make a decision outside the training when needed.  The period afterwards requires adapting that training to an active process, if the soldier is to become an officer or any type of leader.  Otherwise, you will crack under pressure, because once you reach the end of what you were trained for, you have nothing left.  Looking deeper, think of the mysteries.  What stage is this?  Often the later period of training is different from the first, a period of testing where the teacher analyzes if the student is ready.  During this time, you are made to be able to handle the pressure that will come later.  In the tale of Taliesin, this is the period after Gwion drinks the drop.  Ceridwen is chasing him, trying to kill him.  He must change and adapt or die.  This is shown in the shapeshifting contest, Gwion changing into forms to get away, and Ceridwen changing into forms to catch him.

Sharpening, the grinding stone, where anything not needed is stripped away.  This is earth and only earth.  Forging starts with fire, air, and earth, air is removed for annealing, now fire is removed.  Earth.  Removing.  Think about this in your life.  Once you are able to handle pressure, unneeded things can be stripped away.  Before, the lose of them might break you.  In the military, this is your first battle or series of battles.  Once in the fight, your shape (training) and ductibility (ability to adapt) are tested and anything unneeded is stripped away.  At this point, either the the training and ability to adapt serve you well, or you die.  Looking deeper, think of the mysteries.  What stage is this?  This is initiation, in whatever form it takes.  In a very real way, that which isn't needed is stripped away in death, and what is needed emerges from the other side.  In the tale of Taliesin, this is Gwion becoming a grain, and Ceridwen into a hen and eating him.

Demagnetising, the reforming and realigning of the metal so it won't hold onto what was removed in sharpening.  This is done with fire and only fire.  The metal is heated, let to cool some, heated, let to cool some, and so on.  Fire.  Letting go of what was removed.  Think about this in your life.  After the unnecessary things are removed, how hard is it to really let go of them?  What has to happen to really move on?  I'll leave the soldier analogy behind at this point, as, never having been a soldier, I'm not sure how these steps apply at this point onward.  Digging deeper, think about the mysteries.  What stage is this?  After initiation, in the period following, many people feel lost, because they haven't let go of what was removed, but haven't come to terms with the changes that occurred.  It's a transitory time, a birthing you could say, with initiation being the time of conception.  And this parallels Taliesin's tale.  Ceridwen is pregnant after eating the grain, and gives birth to Taliesin nine months later, Gwion reborn.

Quenching, the hardening process, by which the metal is made to be strong enough to hold off any impact (or as close as possible).  This is a water only process, if you view water, brine, and oil all as water, which they have the characteristics of.  Water.  Hardening.  Think about this in your own life.  The point following the final letting go of the things you've lost tends to be an emotionally null time, a quenching of your emotions, a hardening of your spirit.  This is necessary to hold onto what is needed after losing what is not.  "What  have, I hold!" as Cochrane would say.  Which leads us into the mysteries.  What phase is this?  After we've come to terms with the changes, we have to apply them.  This requires determination and persistence, and force of will.  A quenching of our desire, so we can do what's necessary.  Not a period that lasts forever, but a necessary period.  In the tale of Taliesin, this is Ceridwen, who had intended to kill him when he was born, tying him in a bag and setting him adrift in the sea.  his period, floating on the sea, was a time of hardening, and directly visible as being quenched in water, since he was put in the sea.

Tempering, heating the blade once more to make it flexible.  This once again is fire only, but a lighter, milder fire, not heating as hot.  Fire.  Flexibility.  How does this apply to your life?  Hardening after loss tends to lead to rigidity, and while necessary for a time, this is bad in the long term.  Once that phase has passed, you need to regain flexibility so you can weather any future trouble.  Your heart has cooled in hardness, now it's time to warm it back up, not to the point of forging, but from where it is.  Looking deeper, how does this apply to the mysteries?  What phase is this?  That initial digging in and hardening must be followed by a more flexible time.  Hardening applies what you learn, growing flexible makes it yours, adapts it to you.  It's a period of renewed growth.  Growth doesn't end with initiation.  In Taliesin's tale, this is the period following him being found among the salmon as a child, during which he grew up.

Following tempering, is mounting, the putting of a handle or hilt on the metal.  This is often done, once more, with fire alone.  Fire.  Mounting.  How does this apply to your life?  A tool can't be used without a way to hold it or attach it.  The same is true of our lives.  There is always a bit more pain before we are ready for what is to come.  This is preparation.  Digging a bit deeper, how does this apply to the mysteries?  What phase does this represent?  In the Eleusinian Mysteries, this is the Greater Mysteries.  The initiate, after passing through the Lesser Mysteries which were initiation, then can enter the Greater Mysteries, a second initiation in some way, yet different from the first.  This is preparation for the real work, the first initiation and the period between the preparation for this.  This holds true for other types of initiation as well.  Initiation prepares you for the rest of the process, but there comes a time of change that prepares you for the actual work.  In the tale of Taliesin, this is his exploits in court, where he has to outsmart the others involved to save what is dear to him.

The final phase is polishing.  The metal at this point is perfectly formed, shaped, ductible, flexible, and strong, but it's rough.  The imperfections are removed by polishing it, giving it's final look.  This is a process of only earth, and is fine and careful work, persistence without a heavy hand.  How does this apply to your life?  The only thing left after you are prepared for what will follow a time of loss to to smooth out the rough edges so you don't get stuck on things that might hold you back.  The same is true in the mysteries.  The last stage is the years of polishing all your imperfections out, so you don't get caught up on things that might hold you back from the great work.  For Taliesin, this is his travels as a bard after the tale is done.  He's doing the work everything before has prepared him for, polishing his skills as he goes.

And so it goes, as with the Smith, so with the Witch, as with the craft, so with the Craft.  For, the Craft is the Craft of all Crafts.

FFF,

~Muninn's Kiss

The True Meaning of Celebrations...

The issue with any calendar, the reason it will have issues, is because nature isn't exactly set patterns that can be predicted and set down in a mathematically defined calendar.  So we keep refining the calendar to try to better reflect nature, but never get there.  So we have many ancient calendars that were lunar based, 13 28 day months, so 364 days a year, and others that are solar based, but 12 30 day months, so 360 days, and some have an extra 5 days outside to get it closer.  Both of those  wander slowly over the decades.  So the Julian tried to fix this by having 365 days with a leap day every four years, but even that wandered by three days every four centuries, and got ahead, so the Gregorian tried to correct this by first resetting it to where it had wandered from, then taking out some leap days to avoid the wander.  And later we added a leap second, but it still doesn't exactly work.

Because the solar year is tied to the rotation around the sun, not the daily rotation of the earth.  The two aren't connected at all.  Just as the moon's monthly cycle isn't tied to either.  You can't define a solar year, a lunar month, or an earth day by each other.  So no calendar will ever work 100% the way intended.

All the calculator does is convert between the different calendars, not define exactly when the solstice or equinox or cross-quarter really occurs.

But the feast days were defined by the Julian calendar, not by the true dates of the event that earlier existed.  In the two examples you listed, more than likely, that was when the Solstice was thought to be at, because that was probably when the Solstice was when the Julian calendar was first created, so we kept that date, ie, December 25, even though we adjusted the calendar, so the Solstice lands on December 21 or 22 depending on the year, yet Christmas is three to four days off.  The Solstice hasn't moved, just the calendar day it lands on.

If we want to go by the calendar, we won't stay accurate to the astronomical event, and if we go by the astronomical event, we won't be consistent to the calendar.  But is it the calendar that truly matters?  And is it the astronomical event that really matters?

We say that the Autumn Equinox is the beginning of Autumn, the Winter Solstice is the beginning of Winter, the Spring Equinox is the beginning of Spring, and the Summer Solstice is the beginning of Summer.  But where is this true?  And when?

In Argos, there were two Horae, who represented Summer and Winter, but in Greece, there were three, basically bloom, growth, and harvest, Spring, Summer, and Autumn.  Later, the became four, from which our seasons come, before they became the hours, of which there were nine or ten, and later 12, which became our 24, 12 of night, 12 of day, at the Solstices.

In Wyoming, Winter begins some time between September and December, depending on the year, but always well before the Solstice, usually closer to the cross-quarter, Samhane or whatever name.  Spring usually doesn't come until May or June, so later than the Equinox, closer to the cross-quarter, Beltaine or whatever name.  Summer doesn't usually start until well into July, after the Summer Solstice, and Autumn starts early August to late September, depending on the year, usually well before the Equinox.  So the feasts, the Solstices, the equinoxes, the cross-quarters, Don't match too well.  And it varies from year to year.  Two years ago, Winter came mid September and snow fell and stayed until mid June, Spring was a month, then Summer lasted until late September.  Last year, Autumn went from late September until mid November, and Winter from then until a week after May Day.  But that was in the valley.  In the mountains, a half hour from town, all the roads were closed under twelve feet of snow until mid July this year.  And Autumn started around Labor Day, which was September 5 this year.  Snow came last Saturday, about a foot, but it's definitely still Autumn now.  It was back up to the 60s F the last two days.

So you can't match the seasons to a calendar, nor to astronomical events.

What are we actually celebrating at the Solstices?  The Equinoxes?  The Cross-Quarters?  The Feast Days?  The Saint Days?  Any other day?  That's what we really need to decide.  That's what will tell us when they should occur.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Nine Acts of Witchcraft Become the Three Grimr, Part 1, Nourishment...

In 2009 and 2010, I wrote a series of ten posts on the first nine acts of witchcraft.  These posts were an analysis of the nine acts, the nine changes, G-d did at the beginning of Genesis which brought about the creation of the world.  I looked at them in sequential order as they occurred over the seven days in the myth.  I'd like to take another look at these acts by looking at them in a different way.

The nine acts are:

1. Let there be light.  (link)
2. Let there be a firmament.  (link)
3. Let the waters under heaven be gathered.  (link)
4. Let the earth put forth.  (link)
5. Let there be lights in the firmament.  (link)
6. Let the waters swarm and let fowl fly.  (link)
7. Let the earth bring forth the living creature.  (part 1) (part 2)
8. Let us make man in our image.  (link)
9. And he rested.  (link)

People usually focus on there being seven days, but few ever mention that there are nine acts.  The number nine doesn't occur often in Hebrew texts and thoughts compared to other numbers, but is is very common in Norse and Germanic myth.  Among many other occurances of the number, there are nine worlds, Odin hung on the Tree, a sacrifice by himself to himself, for nine days, and nine of the gods survive Ragnarok.  Also, in Greek myth, there are nine muses.  In Robert Cochrane's letters, you circle the alter three time three (9) times for the Maid, three times six (18 which is 9 time 2) times for the Mother, and three times nine (36) times for the Hag.  Also, he indicates nine Rites or Knots of the year during which the male and female clans would come together.

But nine is always related to three in myth, as is six.  Six is three sets of twins, and nine three sets of three.  When you look at the nine acts as groups of three chronologically, not much emerges.  In the first trinity, we see separation, separation, coming together.  In the second, we see three things coming forth.  In the third, we coming forth, making, resting.  While these sets are interesting and shouldn't be ignored, they don't form any patterns that are common for all three sets.  But if we group them by taking each one in the chronological grouping and put them with each in the next set and so far, some interesting details emerge.

Let there be light.  Let the earth put forth.  Let the earth bring forth living creatures.

Working backwards, we see the the earth bringing the living creature, and the earth putting forth plants.  The connection here between the two is easy to see.  The earth brings forth both.  The interesting thing is there are two words here.  Let the earth put forth uses dasha (דָּשָׁא), but when the earth obeys, it brings forth, yatsa' (יָצָא).  Dasha is to sprout, to grow green.  Yatsa' is to put forth, to depart or cause to depart.  So it sprouts, then grows up, out, away from the ground.  But G-d tells the land to bring forth, yatsa', the living creature.  And all the living things of the earth (not of the water or the air) are brought forth, pushed out of the ground.  And then, it says, G-d makes, 'asah (עָשָׂה), fashions all of them.  So they come forth, then are formed.

But back to the first triune, the first of the Grimr.  The first two are easily connected, the earth bringing forth.  Out of the earth they come.  But how does that connect to the first?  Let there be light.  To see the connection, we must understand nature and cycles.  Let's start with the creatures.  To begin with, they only eat plants.  Only later do some eat other creatures.  Plants.  So animals, the third part, eat plants, the second part.  So what do plants live on?  If animals get their energy from plants, where do plants get their energy?  Light.  Ah ha, light!  The first part.  So light feeds the plants and plants feed the animals.  Now this triune starts to make sense and come together.

But there's another element here.  The plants and animals come out of the earth, but where does the light come out of?  Let's look back a bit:

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
3 And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light. 

And afterwards:

3 And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

So, before light, there was the earth, darkness, waters, and the spirit of G-d (The four elements.  Earth and water.  The spirit is wind, air.  The darkness is black fire, see The earth was (tohu va-vohu), chaos and void...)  And it's the darkness that the light is intermingled with, not the rest.  So it would seem that the light came out of the darkness, just as the plants and animals came out of the earth.  There is a verse somewhere in the Zohar that says that light is brightest that comes out of the darkness.  The black fire of inspiration brings forth light, illumination, Truth.

So the darkness, the fire, brings forth light, and the earth brings forth plants, then animals.  The light nourishes the plants.  The plants nourish the animals.  The three are a cycle, the three become one.  On the first day.  On the third day.  On the sixth day.  The first act.  The fourth act.  The seventh act.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Gnomeo and Juliet: From Fiction to Feri Tales

Gnomeo and Juliet.
Image from top10movie.net.

Having just seen the funny, cute, crazy movie, Gnomeo and Juliet, I was looking up the the history of garden gnomes.

Gnome from
the books.
Image from
Tolkien Gallery.

When I was a kid, we went to a huge used bookstore in Eugene, OR very often as we lived forty miles from Eugene.  In the Smith Family Bookstore, I stumbled upon some old books about gnomes.  The art fascinated me, and the books talked about the ecology and habits of gnomes.  Pure fantasy, of course, but ever since, when the word gnome is mentioned (or Nome, Alaska for that matter), those pictures are what I thought of, even when playing role playing games, where the gnomes are much different.  The books were Gnomes, Secrets of the Gnomes, The Secret Book of Gnomes and/or related books.  There were several there I looked at and I know Gnomes was one of them, but I'm unsure which other ones.  There was a cartoon series based on them as well, but I don't think I actually say it, just saw clips.  When I saw the ads for the movie, I thought it was based off these books because the gnomes looked so much like the ones in the book.  I have never seen an actual garden gnome, in person or in a picture, just cartoon ones like the Travelocity "travelling gnome".  But in the movie, they were definitely ceramic garden gnomes, not the living, breathing humanoids in the books.

Garden gnomes.
Image from The Artistic Garden.

Garden gnomes originally came from Germany, but spread from there.  They were very popular in the 19th century but went out of favour.  They made a comeback at the end of World War II and have been popular ever since, though the looks of them have changed.  In the 60s and 70s, they changed to be modeled more like the seven dwarfs in the Disney movie, but ended up modelling them after the books I remember.  No wonder they looked like those pictures to me.

Wikipedia describes the origins of "gnome" thus:

Paracelsus.
Image from Inky Fool blog.

The word comes from Renaissance Latin gnomus, which first appears in the works of 16th Century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. He is perhaps deriving the term from Latin gēnomos (itself representing a Greek γη-νομος, literally "earth-dweller"). In this case, the omission of the ē is, as the OED calls it, a blunder. Alternatively, the term may be an original invention of Paracelsus.

Paracelsus uses Gnomi as a synonym of Pygmæi, and classifies them as earth elementals. He describes them as two spans high, very reluctant to interact with humans, and able to move through solid earth as easily as humans move through air.

The chthonic spirit has precedents in numerous ancient and medieval mythologies, often guarding mines and precious underground treasures, notably in the Germanic dwarves and the Greek Chalybes, Telchines or Dactyls.

The description of them moving through earth as if through air brought to mind what Cora Anderson said about gnomes in Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition moving through earth like fish in water:

The realm of Fairy (Feri) exists in what we call the etheric region. The name Fairy applies here to certain well-defined classes of nature spirits. These include the Gnomes who live in the soil and within the body of the Earth. There are several races of these charming little people. I will describe one kind of Gnome here. They look like tiny brown human-shaped creatures with blunt pointed caps. These are not caps but the way their little heads are shaped. They are bisexual, but their sexuality is more like that of young boys with some female overtones. They are sexually very active with each other as they release life force into the soil. They seem never to fly about in the air as freely as the Sylphs and Peris, both of which are spirits of the air and look like a child's idea of miniature angels. Gnomes do move about freely in the earth in all three dimensions like fish in water. The Gnome's average life span is one hundred and sixty-two years. At the end of this time they shed their very earthy etheric bodies and enter into other Gnomes to be born or change into one of the kinds of water spirits. The Gnome's body is very close to dense matter. They reproduce by fission and do not become pregnant through sex, which exists among them for its own sake and to vitalize the soil. This type of Gnome is about five inches tall, but there are other spirits. Gnomes take part in decay and recycling of organic matter, including the dead bodies of animals and even ourselves.

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

I doubt Cora took her description from Wil Huygen's books I saw as a kid, nor from garden gnome designs.  The impression I got reading the book was that she had actually seen them.  The passage below from her book Childhood Memories reinforces this.  The pointed head is the part that makes me wonder on the source of the garden gnomes and Gnome books.  The Greek descriptions of the Pygmæi don't seem to say anything about the shape of their head.  Cora's description is much shorter than the Greek description and the description in the Gnome books, though.  Maybe the other descriptions are on of the other types of gnomes she mentions.

A True Fairy Tale by Cora Anderson (excerpt from Childhood Memories copyright 2007 Cora Anderson and Victor E. Anderson)

For most of my childhood, I lived on a small farm in Alabama. My father worked in the coal mines, and we grew corn and vegetables to help make a living. We were very poor and seldom saw any money. Everyday on my way to school, I talked to the flowers, watched the birds build their nests, and played leapfrog over the stones in the small streams. I became so close to nature that I could see the elemental spirits. The fairies and gnomes were my favorites.

We had long conversations. One of my favorite questions was, “Where do you live?” The answer was always the same, “Out of the air, into the air and everywhere.” I played games with them, too. They told me to look for a special stone or flower. Most of the time I found them, but once in a while I heard a thin sweet laugh and the words “April fool”.

At school, I returned to reality and the cold world about me. The children teased me. The teachers ignored me because I had no books or school supplies. Lunchtime was the hardest to bear. Most of the children brought a good lunch. If I had any, it would be cold biscuits without butter or jam. I wished that I had a good lunch. Some of the children had candy they had bought at the general store. The candy looked so delicious—peppermint sticks, all-day suckers, and jawbreakers—all were bright colored and made my mouth water with envy. Once I asked for a bite, and all the children teased me. One girl asked me why my mother didn’t buy me some. This really hurt.

One day when everything went wrong at school, I was especially sad. All the way home from school, I wished for a nickel so I could buy some candy.

That night I had a very strange experience. I lay on my bed, half-awake and half-asleep. I glanced toward the window and saw a most delightful sight—there was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Before me was a real fairy. She was about a foot tall and very slender. She looked like a tiny golden girl with blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. I asked her where her wand was, and it appeared in her hand. She spoke in a clear high voice, “Tonight I am your special fairy. Listen carefully to what I say. On your way to school tomorrow, look under the big rock bluff. There you will find a nickel. Take it, buy some candy, and enjoy it.” She smiled and was gone before I could say a word.

The next morning, I remembered the fairy visit. I hurried to the rock bluff. I looked and sure enough, there was the nickel. I felt the presence of my fairy and knew she was smiling. I blew her a kiss and said, “Thank you with all the love a little girl can give.”

An artist's interpretation
of the four worlds
of Kabbalah and the elements.
Image from Ann Skea's website.

I find it interesting that Cora talks about how at the end of gnomes' lifespans, they are reborn as water spirits. She goes on to mention the "order of the elements" and lists them as earth, water, air, and fire.  The order makes sense, since each one is less "physical" than the last.  Also I find it interesting that in Kabbalah, earth is only found in our world, the World of Action, in combination with the other three, but as you go to the upper worlds, the World of Forms is water, the World of Creation is air, and the World of Emanations is fire.  The same order.  Anyway, the mention of the earth spirits (gnomes) being reborn into water spirits right before the mention of the order of the elements made me wonder if it's a progression or a cycle, though I'm leaning towards progression because she says gnomes reproduce asexually.  So we have gnomes coming from fission from other gnomes, then water spirits being gnomes reborn.  But there's no mention of where air spirits or fire spirits come from.  I wonder if water spirits are reborn as air spirits and air spirits as fire spirits?

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss