Wildfire: Necessity and Power

I've talked several times about the importance of fire in the lodgepole pine / pine beetle cycle, of how fire must come to kill of the beetles, and to open the cones to bring new life.

Here's a summary of that cycle for those unfamiliar.  The cycle begins with the rebirth of the forest after a fire.  Out of the cones, new lodgepole seedlings sprout.  There are very few pine beetles alive.  As the years pass, the trees grew and slowly a new forest forms.  The trees reach up toward the sky, underbrush growing below.  The animals live beneath.  Each year, the lodgepole drpp two types of cones, a normal cone that opens as it dries, and a cone that only opens in fire.  Slowly, the pine beetle population grows.  Each year they lay their eggs beneath the bark.  The eggs hatch, the larva grow, then become pupa, become adults, all the while feeding on the tree.  The adult beetles emerge and look for a new tree.  A female finds a tree and starts burrowing into the bark and begins giving off pheromones that attract other females and males which mass attack the tree and trees near it.  The beetles have a special structure on thier heads that carry blue stain fungus. At the beginning of the boring, this structure infects the tree, and the fungus prevents the tree from producing resin, the tree's natural defense against the beetle.  The males fertilize the eggs and the females lay them, beginning the cycle anew.  Between thr lavae and pupae eating thd wood and the fungus blocking the tree's ability to get water and nutrients to the wood, the tree dies.  And tree by tree, the lodgepole die as the beetles increase in numbers.  Dead lodgepole are very flamible, and as the number of dead trees increase, so does the chance of fire.  When it reaches a point, and fire starts, it races through the forest, destroying the dead trees, but killing the beetles within them, and opening the cones, allowing the rebirth of the forest and the completion of the cycle.

We have been nearing the end of that cycle in much of the Western US and Canada for a long time.  In at least Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Eastern Wasington, Eastern Oregon, North Eastern California, and Alberta, maybe other states, at least 65% of the pine are dead from the beetle.  Near Laramie, here in South East Wyoming where 60 MPH winds are common, about 80% are dead.  It's been since the fires of 1909 that many beetles have been killed.

So we come to this year.  Typically in this part of the country, fire season is late July to late September when the snow starts to put them out.  The fires started in late May this year.  Last major snow in Laramie is usually late May.  It was late June last year, but early March this year.  Typically the Laramie River crests second week of July.  It was last week of July last year, but second week of May this year.  Typically, Spring rains are from May to
early July.  Last year they were late June to early August.  This year, March to May.  Typical late June, early July temperatures are in the high 70s, and if it breaks 90 at all, it's in the second week of August.  Last year, it didn't break 80 until around then.  This year, we've have 90+ temperatures for the last two weeks.  It's a very very dry year, much hotter than normal, normal strong winds, no rain to speak of for most of the last month.  Perfect conditions for fire.

Fire.  The classic elements place earth as heaviest, then water, then air, then fire as lightest.  Earth and air are passive, water and fire active.  The order of heaviness is mirrored in the Kabbalah worlds.  The highest world, the World of Emminations, is the World of Fire, and Shin, the Mother of Fire.  Below that is the World of Creation, the World of Air, and Aleph, the Mother of Air.  Next is the World of Forms, the World of Water, and Mem, the Mother of Water.  The lowest is Malkuth, which contains Fire, Air, and Water, but is the only world containing Earth.  The three upper worlds is the first Breath.  Breath is made of heat, air, and moisture, all combined together.  But heat rises, up the the World of Fire, and moisture condenses and sinks as the temperature drops, sinking to the World of Water, leaving Air between.  You see a similar thing in the symbol for Aquarius.  You see two sawtooth waves, one above, one below.  The space between is Air, for Aquarius has always been connected to Air.  Traditionally, below the lower wave is Water, the oceans and lakes and rivers and streams of the earth.  Above is traditionally the water above, the water that falls from the sky, rain.  It's the Firmament separating the two waters to the Hebrews, though this is Greek, not Jewish, relating to the Greek Flood Myths.  But the upper wave can also be seen as the boundary between Air and Fire, the starlight and fire above the Air.  Rotating the Kabbalic Three Worlds and Three Mothers, you get Three Pillars.  It rotates to the right.  Fire, Shin, Emminations, becomes the Right Hand Pillar, Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Chesed, Pillar of Mercy.  Water, Mem, Forms, becomes the Left Hand Pillar, Pillar of Water, Pillar of Geburah, Pillar of Severity.  And between them, Air, Aleph, Creation, becomes the Middle Pillar, the balance between the two.

Fire.  What does Fire do?  It consumes, and converts matter to heat, matter to energy.  It is inherently distructive, yet that destruction produces heat and energy, which are necessary for life.  The Sun is Fire in it's most powerful form, consuming, destroying, and creating, and life on earth is impossible without the heat and energy it produces.  In the Chinese classic elements, Fire creates Earth, as, when it burns wood, it produces ash, Earth.  Wood creates Fire, as Fire burns out of wood.  Fire controls Metal, as it melts it and allows it to be worked.  Water controls Fire, because it extinguishes it.

Fire.  There are two professions that depend on Fire more than any other, that intrinsically depend on it.  And both are some of the oldest professions, and necessary for human survival.  The first is cooking, for you can't cook without Fire, whether wood fire, gas fire, or electricity.  The other is smithing, the working with metal.  Without smithing, there are no tools to farm, no nails to build, no weapons to hunt.  Well, primitive ones of each, but smithing is what allowed expansion and progress, the ability to do more than just survive.  And without fire to melt or soften the metal, there is no smithing.  The Smithcraft is very closely tied to many Witchcraft traditions.  As makes sense.  Smithery is magic.  You take one thing and change it to another, and only initiates, only those knowing the secrets of the craft can do so.  The secrets were passed master to apprentice, father to son.  Many traditions are connected to Tubal Cain, the first worker of metal, the first Smith, in the Biblical record and in many parallel traditions.  Some are connected to Wayland, the legendary Smith in Northern tradition.  Some are connected to Hephaestus of the Greeks, Vulcan to the Romans, the Smith of the gods who crafted Zeus' lightning bolts and was kicked out of Olympus by his mother Hera for being weak.  Smiths are very much connected to the craft.

Fire is very real here in the Western United States at the moment.  The trees that have been awaiting fire are burning in many places.  There are two fires near to home, one about thirty miles to the west, very near my working site, making it off limits, and one to the north that is much larger but without as much potential for a bigger disaster.  The one the the west is just over 10,000 acres but borders many hundreds of thousands of dead trees.  As of the moment, it is 95% contained, which is good news.  The one to the north is almost 100,000 acres, and 65% contained.  The whole valley has been covered with smoke for a long time, first from the Colorado fires, and lately by the local fires to a much larger extent.  Fire is real, and Fire is dangerous.

Though the trees need to burn, to kill the beetles, to renew the forests, large fires burning the whole west are dangerous to the people living here, to the ranches and houses, to the people I know as my people.  It is necessary for the fires that are inevitable to burn for a bit and be put out, instead of burning and burning and burning.  Both Let-It-Burn policies and putting out every fire are bad options, but sometimes all the technology of man can't control a fire.  Only nature can put it out, can control it, can direct it.  So sometimes the approach isn't technology.


Wildfire

Note:  This is a Grimr spell with Feri and 1734 influence.  It is keyed to me and shouldn't be used as is by anyone else.  Please feel free, however, to draw from it or adapt it for your own purposes.  If you do so and would like to share your creation with me and/or the results, please email spellsandrituals at grimr.org.


IN A DARK ROOM, FACE THE DIRECTION OF THE FIRE.  LIGHT A CANDLE IN FRONT OF YOU.  CLOSE YOUR EYES AND TAKE BREATHES, PULLING IN POWER AND ENERGY FROM WHAT IS AROUND YOU.  WHEN YOU'RE READY, OPEN YOUR EYES AND STARE INTO THE FLAME.  LET YOUR EYES UNFOCUS.  THE CANDLE FLAME REPRESENTS THE WILDFIRE, IS THE WILDFIRE.  REACH OUT THROUGH THE FLAMES OF THE CANDLE INTO THE WILDFIRE.  VISUALIZE TWO DOORS DECORATED IN BURNING TREES.  THESE DOORS ARE THE GATE BETWEEN YOUR CANDLE FLAME AND THE FLAME OF THE WILDFIRE.  THIS IS MORE THAN VISUALIZATION, THE VISUALIZATION IS MERELY A TOOL TO HELP YOU SEE THE DOORS THAT ARE ALREADY THERE.  OPEN THE DOOR.  REACH THROUGH AND LET YOUR CONCENTRATION AND INTENT FOCUS ON THE FLAMES THROUGH THE FLAMES.  NOW BEGIN.

Beginnings, Creation, Ingress (REPEAT THREE TIMES):

By fire burning,
Both wild and free,
I call your names,
I call to thee,
Boreas and Notus,
Zephyrus and Eurus,
Tettens and Carenos,
Lucet and Node,
Nordi and Sudri,
Austri and Vestri,
Hapi and Imsety.
Duamutef and Qebehsenuef,
Black Mother and Shining Flame,
Star Finder and Water Maker.
Four bright stars,
That are as one,
Four winds blowing,
Come to me,
Four stones resting,
On the edge,
By water and soil,
All are one,
This valley is mine,
By right and deed,
In Nimue's bosom,
We start this thing,
As fire started,
By human hand,
We start the process,
To end again,
Bring the wind,
To turn about,
To move away,
From beetle blight,
Bring the rain,
To put it out,
Pour down moisture,
To cool the drought,
Soil from which,
The trees did spring,
Draw back the ashes,
Bring new life,
Fire, destroyer,
And bringer of life,
Pull back your hand,
In morning's light,
Four bight stars,
That are as one,
Four winds blowing,
Come to me,
By fire burning,
Both wild and free,
I call your names,
I call to thee,
Exitium in initio,
Ponebatur.

Centre, Sustaining, Congress (REPEAT SIX TIMES):

Cool breeze and rainfall,
The temperatures drop,
Moisture and rain clouds,
The wind brings relief,
We all know the fire,
Is destined to come,
Needful and necessary,
A bringer of life,
Beetle killed lodgepole,
For thousands of miles,
Only the burning,
Can bring an end,
But houses and ranches,
People and beasts,
I stand for protection,
I stand for their lives,
As this burning candle,
Is controlled and contained,
I declare limits and boundaries,
Control of the flame,
By Mari's sweet presence,
The boundaries stand,
This far and no further,
And turn it around,
Rain will fall gentle,
And limit the flame,
Wind will blow it back,
A binding hand came,
Earth will fall silent,
Asleep in the rain,
And fire will turn back,
Moving inward again,
Cool breeze and rainfall,
The temperatures drop,
Moisture and rain clouds,
The wind brings relief,
I stand for protection,
I stand for their lives,
Exitium in initio,
Ponebatur.

Endings, Destruction, Egress (REPEAT NINE TIMES):

All things that start,
Must come to an end,
The candle that's lit,
Must soon be put out,
A fire contained,
With no place to go,
Shall eat up its fuel,
And burn itself out,
By four names we bind,
By four names we loose,
The fire that started,
Must soon be no more,
Boreas and Notus,
Zephyrus and Eurus,
Tettens and Carenos,
Lucet and Node,
Nordi and Sudri,
Austri and Vestri,
Hapi and Imsety.
Duamutef and Qebehsenuef,
Black Mother and Shining Flame,
Star Finder and Water Maker.
Four stones the border,
Four stones the edge,
What's started and limited,
Must reach and end,
Lodgepole that's burned,
Is lost in the wind,
Fire that's extinguished,
Makes room for new life,
Cones that open,
In the destruction of death,
Grow to new life,
A snake eating its tail,
Beetles are gone,
And with them the trees,
Sacrificed on altars,
Under sweet Ana's knife,
New life comes slowly,
And sprout from the seed,
Beginnings from endings,
New life it brings,
By four names we bind,
By four names we loose,
The fire that started,
Must soon be no more,
All things that start,
Must come to an end,
The candle that's lit,
Must soon be put out,
A fire contained,
With no place to go,
Shall eat up its fuel,
And burn itself out,
Exitium in initio,
Ponebatur.

STILL FOCUSING ON THE FIRE THROUGH THE FLAME, EITHER BLOW OUT THE CANDLE OR SNUFF IT OUT BETWEEN WET FINGERS.  SIT IN SILENCE AND DARKNESS UNTIL YOU FEEL RELEASED BY THE SPIRITS.




FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Of Blooms, Moons, Solstices, and Seasons

I've been composing this post for a fortnight, but keep getting distracted and not getting it down in writing.  As such, it keeps growing and growing, being stirred in all three Cauldrons.  It was intended to be an account of my observations around the middle of the moon following the Willow Moon, around the last full moon.  But time slithers on, twisting and turning in the coils of Fate, and Change comes as it always does here in the Cauldron.  The full moon came and went, as did the new moon and the Solstice, and though I acknowledged their passing, nothing was put down in words except a poem for the Solstice that I have yet to share.

Change.  That is the central experience of life in this world.  And of course it must be.  For the Cauldron is Her Womb, and a Womb has no purpose without change.  A Womb is always in flux, at least until menopause, the lining growing thicker and thicker, then being shed off in blood, only to grow thicker again.  The Egg passing into the Womb in hopes of finding the Seed, then shed out with the lining, only to be replaced by the next Egg.  Or it will find the Seed, but still there is no stillness, no changelessness.  Instead of shedding, the lining stays, changes, protects.  But the biggest change is the Egg, which is no longer an Egg but has changed, the Seed which is no longer the Seed but has changed, a new SEED, not like the Seed of a man no longer, but the SEED of a plant, a Tree, a SEED from which comes life, from which new life springs.  And Hers is no different.  A Womb of Darkness, a Womb of Night, an Egg, a Seed, a SEED, not from another but from Herself.  The Yod floating in the Darkness of Space, a Darkness that can be felt.  A SEED that is the SEED of the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the World Tree, the Centre of the World.  And that SEED has two nuclei, Twins, two Bright Spirits, the Divine Twins.  Herself is the Stillness outside the Cauldron, though the Cauldron is her.  "Be Still."  But the Twins are the movement, the dynamic, Change, pure Change.  They are the SEED and the fruit of the SEED.  They are the fruit of Her Womb.  They are Her Egg and Her Seed.  The SEED.  Change.  And the SEED sprouts, the Tree of the World.  Three Cowled figures, Three Mothers, Three Fathers, Time and Fate curling and moving, constant movemement, movement that moves time on, moves the Sun and Moon and Stars, moves the Years and Seasons and Months and Days and Hours and Minutes and Seconds ad infinium.  Constant Change, but Constant, set, predictable at least to a point.  Motion out of Stillness.  Change.  And Seven Builders, the Pillars.  Stable, set, but stellar, changing, moving.  Stillness out of Motion.  Change.  Here in the Cauldron, everything Changes, nothing stays the same, nothing is Still.

Change.  Many have heard of the Taoist I Ching, Yijing, the Book of Change.  Yi, Change, is two characters combined, as are many Chinese characters.  易  The upper character is 日 meaning Sun or Day or Japan (where the sun rises, and hence Dawn).  The lower character is no longer is use, so the meaning is obscure.  Some believe it meant Moon and implied an offering the the Moon.  Others that it meant dark or night, hence an offering given in the dark.  Yi also means Give, and implies an offering to the Sun, or an offering given during the light.  Regardless, Yi, Change, is either the Sun and Moon (constantly moving, constant Change), or Day and Night, Dawn and Dusk, also change, transition, liminality.

For the purposes here, Sun and Moon and Light and Dark are interesting meanings, as the New Moon, the Dark of the Moon, landed almost on the Summer Solstice, the Longest Day, close enough to connect the Darkness of the Dark of the Moon with the Light of the Longest Day.  Sun at its most active strength, its most Yang, Moon at its most passive, most Yin.  The middle high point of the Solar Year lining up with the end/beginning low point of the Lunar Month.  A very liminal time.  A time of Change, a time of Yi.  This is a time of Change, but, then, all times are.

I watched as the catkins formed on the aspens, declaring the moon following the Equinox and Passover as the Aspen Moon.  As the catkins fell and leaves replaced them, I watched the pussies form on the willows, declaring the next moon, the moon containing Beltaine, as the Willow Moon.  But what of the next moon, the moon ending right in from of the Summer Solstice?  Despite my argument that Spring starts on Candlemas and ends on Roodmas/Beltaine, Spring seldom comes to these elevations as early as February.  Often, it doesn't come until after Beltaine and doesn't end until July.  The seasons follow changes in the world around us, not set static divisions of the year.

The Aspen and Willow Moons aren't defined by when they happen, but by what is occurring.  Spring here starts when the first aspen catkins start to bud, not on a certain date.  And natural cycles like the budding of catkins and pussies tend to follow fairly closely on lunar cycles.  Whenever it occurs, the Aspen Moon lasts from new moon to new moon and is marked by the aspen catkins, and the first plants starting to sprout up leaves.  By the Willow Moon, the pussywillows are very evident, and many plants have put on at least some leaves, the land is half awake, half asleep.

Following the Willow Moon is the third and last moon of Spring.  By the end, of that third moon, everything is awake. In this third moon, there is so many things awakening, so many things changing, that naming it proved much harder than the previous two.

My first experience of it was the Russian hawthorn we planted in our yard.  When we first planted it, near the beginning of the moon, there were a few buds, but very soon after, it was blooming like crazy.  At the height of the blooming, it was more white than green, gorgeous, and with a flagrance that could be detected thirty feet away.  Which is notable since the tree is less than six feet tall and maybe two and a half across, not a big tree at all.  My first thought was to call it the Hawthorn Moon.  Which would have been a good name in Europe where Hawthorns are native and much more common, but they aren't native, and are very rare here, so I needed a name reflecting the Landscape I live in, not that of transplants (not just including non-native plants, but also humans).

I made several trips up into the mountains to observe the changes since the Willow Moon, observing all that changed.  I visited the Laramie Range up above Happy Jack, then up near Lake Owen in the Southeastern Snowy Range, then up above Centennial and up to the foot of Medicine Bow Peak in the Northern section of the Snowys.  Everywhere I went and everywhere I looked, there was change and new life, plants flourishing in the moisture of Spring.  In addition to general observation, I was looking for a specific plant to name the moon for, like aspen and willow.  I landed on wild chive, as I found them green and and in bloom everywhere I went.  Chive Moon sounded good, and was descriptive, but the more I thought about it, the more I released too much had changed to focus on one small plant.  It was an important indicator of the moon, but by itself didn't define it the way the aspen and willow had.

I began thinking about not just the blooming chives, but the wild orchids, the buttercups that were still blooming after starting in the Aspen Moon, the blooming clover, and all the other flowers.  Flowers were glowing everywhere in the mountains, and even out on the High Plains in the valley, the lupine was glowing like purple fire.   Flowers everywhere.  And the Aspen Moon wasn't marked by the leaves, but by the catkins, the bloom of the aspens, and the Willow Moon wasn't marked by the leaves, which actually forming under the Aspen Moon, but by the pussywillows, their flower.  Spring is a time of new leaves, but also of blooms, and that blooming reaches its peak during the third moon, ebbing off after that moon ends.  So I decided, the best name for the third moon is the Flower Moon.  And a fitting name it is.

The Flower Moon was beautiful time in this area, but time marches on, cycles change, moon phases pass.  The Flower Moon ended on June 19th, the day before the official Summer Solstice.  As with the Winter Solstice, though, the length doesn't change much between the day of the Summer Solstice and the day before and day after.  The Solstice is effectively three days, not one, placing the new moon and the end of the Flower Moon on the first day of the Solstice.  So Spring this year began right around Passover and ended right at the Summer Solstice.

We've now moved into Summer, and with it, the cool weather and the moisture is gone.  The river peaked around the full moon at the midpoint of the Flower Moon and has been dropping ever since.  It looks like late August levels, and it isn't even July yet.  We've had little rain in the last few weeks, though some yesterday.  The temperature has risen.  And there are major fires in Colorado in the beetle killed lodgepole pine.  There's one fire in Wyoming, but not near here, but it's prime conditions for huge fires across the Western United States and Canada in general, and in this area in particular.  The three moons of Spring are characterized by earth and water, but we've moved into Summer, into air and fire.  Wind and Sun.  But physical fire pushed by wind as well.  We'll see what the rest of the moon holds.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom

Off and on over the last few years, I've posted book reviews and book related posts on various blogs.  They have always been mixed in with my other posts, just as my poetry often was.  A little over a year ago, I moved my poetry posting to Muninn's Laughter, to have it all in one place.  I've now done so with my esoteric book related posts as well.  I have imported the posts I have of that nature from both Blogger and LiveJournal, and plan to post more reviews and book related posts in the future.  The new blog is Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom.

For reference, here are my blogs and webpages:

Across the Abyss (General):
http://muninnskiss.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://muninnskiss.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)
http://muninnskiss.livejournal.com (LiveJournal - Try to post everything here)
http://muninnskiss.tumblr.com (Tumblr - Miscellaneous)
http://tradwitch.com/component/option,com_myblog/blogger,muninnskiss/Itemid,38/ (Blog on The Traditionalist Witches Companion)

Muninns's Laughter ( Esoteric Poetry):
http://muninnslaughter.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://muninnslaughter.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)
http://muninnslaughter.tumblr.com (Tumblr - Mirror of Blogger)
http://hellopoetry.com/-muninns-kiss/ (Hello Poetry - Mirror of Blogger)

Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom (Esoteric Books):
http://tomesoflore.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://grimoiresofwisdom.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)

Social:
http://www.facebook.com/muninnskiss (Facebook)
http://twitter.com/muninnskiss (Twitter)

Grimr:
http://www.grimr.org (Homepage)
http://www.facebook.com/Grimr.org (Facebook)
http://www.despoena.org (Home of Arcadian Mysteries)

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

The Willow Moon: Another Look at the Tide of Beltane

The year turns.  The tides come in, the tides go out.  The tides of the oceans, so far from where I sit, the tides in the Earth's core, but also the tides of the seasons, the tides of the year.  It's the nature of tides to ebb and flow, to come in and go out.  The tide must go out so that it can come back in.  Low tide must come so that high tide can come.  So, too, Winter must come to Spring can return.  Spring must come to bring in Summer.  Summer must come before Autumn can come.  Autumn must come to make way for Winter.  And so it goes.

The tide of Samhaine comes in as the Serpent dies, then goes out.  The tide of Widwinter comes in as the Serpent sleeps in the deepest depths, then goes out.  The tide of Candlemas comes in as the Bride calls and the Serpent wakes and begins his journey, then goes out.  The tide of Easter comes in as he emerges, then goes out.  And the tide of Beltane at last comes in, at his wedding to the Bride.

Aspen with leaves,
May 2, 2012

We come once again to this point in the year.  Around me, new young leaves cover the trees.  The grass is beginning to grow, a light green tint to the fields and yards and plains.  Snow is gone from the valley, from the High Plains, though plentiful still on the mountains around.  Rain falls instead of snow.  The river begins to swell.  Bees and butterflies move around now, finding the early blooms.  The land is full of life, fully reborn, but still very young.

I've talked before about different ways to divide the year, Samhain as new year, Beltane as new year, Winter Solstice as new year, Summer Solstice as new year.  But the year turns, with no beginning or end, like great Ouroboros or Jörmungandr eating their own tails.  The tides turn, but each rolls into the next with no beginning and no end, not even fixed durations.  In and out, in and out, the tide comes.  For it is one tide with many names, one moon with many phases, one year with many names.  Every beginning includes its end.  Every creation includes its destruction.  Exitium in initio ponebatur.  And vice versa.  Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed.  Everything that is born dies.  Everything that dies is reborn.  Though the Old Serpent, the King of the Old Year, dies at Samhain as Sacrifice, he always awakes at Candlemas and begins his journey, always emerges around the Equinox, around Easter, as the New Serpent, the King of the New Year, and always is married to Herself at Beltane, at May Day, at Roodmas.  Destined to die again, the Eternal Mortal King.

The Land Awakened,
May 1, 2012

And at this time, God Herself stands by him, or him by her, the Golden Serpent and the the Spotless Bride, the Peacock Lord and the Corn Maiden.  Pride and Innocence, Lust and Sex.  A time of fertility and abandon.  For that is what Spring is, and the Corn Maiden as Bride is the very soul of Spring, and the bringer of Spring, making way for Summer.  For this Beltane Tide flows in from Spring and out to Summer.  Though the high tide might land at different places different years, it is the true beginning of Summer.

Here is a Hopi myth, of the Blue Corn Maiden and the Coming of Winter:

Blue Corn Maiden And The Coming Of Winter - Hopi

It is a myth explaining the seasons, and puts the Corn Maiden in good perspective.

A Web of Aspen Leaves,
April 27, 2012

The moving of the tides is interesting to watch and to feel, for it varies with place and varies day to day.  Last year, it wasn't until Beltane that the land began to wake here, or a couple days after, but this year, it started almost almost a month ago, near Easter, just after the Equinox.  Last year, it didn't get to this point, to this high tide, for another month or two, closer to Pentecost (which was late last year because of a late Easter) than to Beltane.  It makes one wonder, for Easter, and hence Pentecost, vary year to year, because of the fall of the lunar phases in relation to the solar Equinox.  But the Equinox and Beltane are fixed.  Last year, Easter fell at real close to Beltane, both in the Easter and Western calendar, putting Pentecost almost to the Summer Solstice.  This year, Easter fell about half way between the Equinox and Beltane, a bit earlier in the Western calendar and a bit later in the Eastern, and Pentecost much closer to the midpoint between Beltane and the Solstice, once again a bit earier in the Western calendar and a bit later in the Eastern.  Makes me wonder if the lateness or earliness of Winter is lunarly related to the solar year.  Last year, Winter started late and ended late, November until May, July in the mountains.  This year, it started at least a month earlier and ended about the same.  Both years, Spring began around Easter.  Last year, it moved into summer around Pentecost and is on schedule to do so this year as well.  Or, more precisely, both years, Spring began around the first full moon after the equinox, and last year ended about 50 days later, or close to the third waning crescent moon after the equinox.

Aspen Grove,
April 27, 2012

Many people celebrate this high tide in different ways, the most well known being the MayPole.  A pole or tree is placed in the ground, with ribbons tied or fastened to the top.  The young girls and young boys circle the pole every other, so a girl then a boy then a girl and so one.  They each grab a ribbon.  The boys go one direction and the girls the other, dancing around the pole, weaving among each other.  The ribbons braid around the pole making delightful patterns, and pulling the dancers inward until they meet at the pole.  There is a lot of symbolism that has been described to the Maypole, from it being the Axis Mundi or World Tree, to phallic and sexual analogies, to the ribbons representing the leaves returning to the trees.  Regardless of the original meaning, it's a beautiful portrayal of the tide.  In my second grade class, we had a Maypole put up in the classroom and danced it.

Newborn Leaves,
April 26, 2012

There is also, of course, the tradition quite common where I grew up, of children picking flowers on May Day in a basket and placing it on a porch (or hung on a doorknob).  Where I lived, you rang the doorbell or knocked, then ran off, hoping not to get caught.  Much like ding dong ditch, but much nicer.  Reading about this tradition, it seems there are another piece we didn't hear of, that if you got caught, you rewarded the catcher with a kiss.  We have two obvious elements here.  The flowers are very much a sign of Spring, the time when flowers grow.  And the kiss brings in a sexual and fertility element, also a Spring theme.  But the placing of flowers at a door, a threshold, a liminal place, seems significant to me, and I'm wondering if it once began as a blessing the home or the residents.

Willowy Pools,
April 22, 2012

Beltane isn't just a time of celebration.  It is also a powerful time for workings.  As I discussed last year (Beltaine: Snows of Winter, Heat of Summer), Beltane is a time when the Veil is thin between worlds, a liminal time.  This makes it a powerful time for both crossing between worlds and for workings.  Specifically, this is a time to start things, for workings involving beginnings and births and creation, of new bindings.  Just as the waxing and waning of the moon have an effect and can dictate times that are better for certain workings, so too the waxing and waning of the year.  The tide is a point of waxing, whether you measure the yearly cycle from the Solstice or from Beltane, and hence a time for workings for growth and creation and new endeavors.  In addition, the moon is in fact waxing as well, toward a full moon on Saturday.

The May full moon is known by several names, including Milk Moon, Flower Moon, and Corn Moon.

The name Corn Moon is because this is the moon corn is planted under, for best results.  This ties back, or course, the the Corn Maiden and Spring.

It is called the Flower Moon, because flowers often start blooming in abundance around this moon, once again, a feature of Spring, as we noted with the May baskets.

The Milk Moon comes from the increase in rich, good milk at this time of year due to the abundance of fresh green food for animals to eat.  The Old English name for May was þrimilce, meaning three milks or three milkings, because it was a time when you could milk a cow three times a day instead of two.

In the Middle Ages in England, May's full moon was the Hare Moon.  The hare, of course, is prolific in reproduction, a sure sign of fertility, a hallmark of this point in the year.  The hare is often seen as connected to the Dawn, and, of course, as Dawn brings in the day, Spring brings in the Summer.  Hares reach sexual maturity in the very early Spring, beginning the breeding season.  In most areas, they give birth around this time of year, hence the name Hare Moon.

To the Chinese, May's moon is the Dragon Moon.  This is significant this year, the Year of the Water Dragon.  The Chinese lunar months begin at the new moon, with the midpoint at the full moon.  The Chinese Month for the Hare ended on April 20 in the Western calender, with the Month of the Dragon beginning on the 21st.  The Dragon is proud, direct, and decisive, arrogant, tyrannical, and dogmatic.  The Dragon Moon is a moon for action, as is fitting for the waxing Spring, and doubly so in the Year of the Dragon.

Willows and Fences,
April 22, 2012

Each of these names are based on observation of this time of year in different places.  Those Native American tribes that plants corn learned this was the best time of year to do so, so called this moon the Corn Moon.  The English observed that cows produced milk more and richer around this time and called it Three Milkings, the Milk Moon, and also noticed the abundance of new born hares and called it the Hare Month.    Many cultures observed the many flowers blooming and called it the Flower Moon.  The Chinese observed the tenaciousness and purposefulness that the plants renewed their growth and the animals produced their young, the very earth waking up, and the Spring plum rains of Eastern China and called the Moon the Dragon Moon.  Observation led to these names, and the names became aids to know when to plant and when to harvest.

Landscape of Wyoming,
April 22, 2012

Many people trying to resurrect older cultures, to become more "earth-based", to determine when to do workings, take these old names that were given in a specific location and culture and translate them from a moon to a modern month, and try to apply it in their local setting without ever making the observations themselves.  This might work, and it might not, but if you want to be close to the land and to Nature, you need to experience it, you need to observe it, you need to smell it, you need to taste it, you need to listen to it, you need to feel it, both physically and spiritually.  It's not the global landscape you need to consider, but your local landscape.  What does the moon or the tide mean where you are at?  What blooms when?  What sprouts when?  What puts on leaves when?  What mates when?  What gives birth when?  What goes to seed when?  What changes colours when?  What loses leaves when?  When does it rain and when does it snow?  When is it hot and when is it cold?  When is it wet and when is it dry?  All the signs are around you, just observe.

Willows, Aspens, and Pines,
April 22, 2012

For me, the new moon very much feels like the beginning and the end, with the full moon at the high point.  So we are approaching the middle of the Moon.  Which Moon is this?  This Moon started the same weekend as Easter, the old Moon ending on about Friday, April 20th (Good Friday), and this one starting on Saturday, April 21st.

That places the previous Moon as March 22 (two days after the equinox) to April 20th.  Basically the Equinox until Easter.  That Moon can be described in my Easter post (On Easter and the Fertility of Aspens).  I would call it the Catkin Moon or Aspen Moon, for though there was some growth in other species, that was the most profound and noticeable.  Naming it for flowers, I would call it the Buttercup Moon, for buttercups were the only naturally growing flower I saw during that Moon.

Pussywillows in Bloom,
April 22, 2012

So where does that leave this Moon?  I've observed less than half of it, but this Moon has brought green leaves and green grass, butterflies and bees, and rain.  I could call it for anyone of those.  One part of the world does in fact call it the Grass Moon.  I could choose that, or Leaf Moon, or Green Moon, or Butterfly Moon, or Bee Moon, or Rain (or Rainy) Moon.  But the thing that really has stricken me so far this month isn't any of those.  It's the pussywillows that were large in the willow thickets when I visited them the weekend after Easter.  As the Moon before was characterized by the flowering of the aspens in the form of catkins, this Moon is characterized by the flowering of the willows in the form of pussywillows.  So, for now, not knowing what I'll see in the second half of the Moon, I shall call this Moon the Pussywillow Moon, or Willow Moon.

The Risen Lord and Laughing Queen
By Muninn's Kiss


The wakened sleeper clothed in gold,
Warmed with Spring and rising sun,
Drapped in green and newborn leaf,
Who once had died but rose again.


Golden scales and raven hair,
Skin of blue and feathers fair,
Who began a journey by candler's flame,
And rose in glory in first leaf's show.


In comes his Bride the fair Corn Maid,
Whose blackened veil now glowing white,
Grass stains on her small bare feet,
And bloodied sword upon her back.


The dancers dance and singers sing,
Risen lord and laughing queen,
The snow has melted and green grows strong,
Winter then Spring give way to sun.


Veil of white over golden hair,
A cotton dress with playful tears,
Small feet dance as if on air,
She laughs in joy at his peacock flair.


Round they spin just like the year,
Celebrating life and new found love,
Love reborn from past the grave,
Youth and Maiden, lust and joy.


The time has come to start again,
A marriage feast and strong bond hands,
New life, new love, all is born,
Eternal love, past Death's cold hand.


Around the pole the ribbons fly,
Dancing round in lustful fun,
In honor to the fair Corn Maid,
And Peacock Lord reborn again.

FFF,
~Muninns' Kiss

Awakening: Wyoming in Early Spring

On Tuesday, April 10, I drove up toward the mountains to look at the trees and how they and the plants around them were progressing with spring.  I left town about 6:30 and returned about 8:00.  It was a beautiful and enlightening trip.  I took a few pictures, which I'll share with you all.  Click on the pictures to see them full size.

On Easter and the Fertility of Aspens

Ostara by Johannes
Gehrts, 1884 

Most people know (or should know) that modern Easter is a celebration of fertility and spring in Europe, joined with the death and protection of Pesakh (Passover) of the Jews, and the resurrection of Jesus of the Christians.  There's some common threads there, if you look carefully.  Death and Rebirth.

The Resurrection of Christ
by Carl Bloch, 1890

The Christian calendar shows Good Friday, which was last Friday, as the day Jesus was crucified.  He was dead before sundown, as they removed the bodies before the Sabboth, with begins at Dusk.  So Good Friday is the day of Death, and Easter, Sunday, is the day of Life, or Rebirth, when Jesus returns from the grave.

A depiction of the blood
on the door posts.
Artist unknown.

The Jewish Passover, of course, recounts when G-d came to kill all the first born of Egypt.  To be safe, the Jews had to put blood on their door posts, and G-d would pass by.  This is in a way a story of rebirth as well, though different.  And a story of magic.  Death is coming around, and blood is placed on the door post to fend it off, to turn it aside.  It is a sacrifice.  A lamb was prepared and taken care of until the time, then killed, their blood put on the door post to ward off Death.  It is a ritual, a Rite.  The meat had to be roasted.  Everything had to be eaten before morning, or burnt.  You were to eat it with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand.  There is the practical aspect that they were to leave immediately afterwards, so needed to be ready, but there is the symbolic aspect of the Rite.  You are prepared to leave, because you will be able to leave.  Blood for Death to pass by (pass over), a meal to consecrate the action, dressed to leave to show that the magic would work.  A Rite both of protection from Death, and to be allowed to live Egypt.  Overcoming Death, receiving a new Life.  In this way, it is a Rite of Initiation.

From a Witch point of view, these symbols and connections are important.  If we look back, we have the Sacrifice of the God on Samhain, the Old Year, the Darkling Twin, he passes through the Gates of Death into the Underworld, the Otherworld.  His journey ends at the Winter Solstice, he settles in.  The old year is dead with him, Autumn gives way to Winter, as his coils curl up around it and he sleeps.  The sun is reborn, a premonition of his return.

At Imbolc, his Bride calls for him and he awakens, uncoils, and prepares for a new journey, swimming up across the Veil through the Well of Worlds, seeking Her, who he died for and will now be reborn for, the New Year, the Bright Twin.

On Imbolc, Spring begins, though it's slow in awaken in Wyoming, often not realized until May or June.  By the calendar, Summer will begin on the first of May, but these are tides, not calendars, and May 1 is a convenient date, but the tide falls where it will.  The Spring Equinox marks the approximate middle of the Spring Tide.  Passover begins on the 15th day of Nisan.  As I've discussed before, the Hebrew calendar is Lunar.  Each month begins when the moon becomes dark.  The 15th of each month lands on the full moon, or close to it, the mid point of the month.  The 15th of Nisan is always the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, so it's a lunar event timed to the solar mid point of Spring.  We're in the middle of Passover at the moment, so the Christian Easter landed on its old determination this year.  Essentially, Passover (which originally determined Easter, Good Friday being the first Friday after the beginning of Passover, until changes in calendars messed it all up) is point of importance between Imbolc and Beltaine.

Cernunnos (La Tène) / 'ernunno
on the Gundestrup Cauldron

Around Passover and Easter is the resurrection of the God.  Jesus, of course, is a type of the Sacrifice God, so it's no surprise that his ressurrection would fall around this time.  Since Imbolc, the God, the Bright Twin, has been swimming upward, and now he emerges, the First Fruits, the rebirth of Spring.  New Life comes from the Death of Samhain.  Now he prepares for his wedding to the Bride, the May Queen, God Herself.  The Serpent warms himself in the sun, and prepares for what is to come.

Spring, be it Imbolc and Candlemas, be it the Spring Equinox and Passover and Easter, be it May Day and Beltaine, is a time of rebirth.  It's Himself reborn, the Sacrificial Mortal God, but also the rebirth of the earth, of the land.

Over the last few weeks, I've been watching the aspen trees wake up.  I work during the week and have an aspen right out side my window.

Aspen tree beginning
to bud, April 2, 2012

On Friday, March 30, it still looked asleep.  No sign of buds.  The next Monday, April 2, there were small buds.  I presumed they were leaf buds, that I would see leaves soon.  It had been in the low 70s F that weekend, but had dropped below freezing that day.  I could see a hard coat around the buds and figured that was to protect the new leaves from the cold that could still come for a few more months.

The same aspen tree
with larger buds, April 5, 2012

By Thursday (April 5), the buds had grown quite large.  I still thought they were leaf buds, but they were getting big enough, over an inch long, that I thought I'd see leaves in the next few days.

The same aspen tree,
now with male catkins,
April 9, 2012

Today, however, I discovered I was wrong.  They had indeed opened, but it wasn't leaves inside.  They were flowering.  In the trees where the buds had been, there were almost two inch long catkins hanging, dangling in the wind.  Very neat to see.

I've never really had a chance to observe the cycles of aspen before this, I haven't looked closely at them over an extended period. But with a tree just outside my window at work, I get to see it, with all its changes, every work day. Very interesting to observe. I'd love to figure out a way to observe the willows and lodge pole pines in the same manner.

From what I read, male catkins droop, and female catkins are erect (make what metaphors you want with that).  The male ones produce pollen, and if fertilized, the female ones produce tiny seeds.  But reproducing that way is actually fairly rare.  Each tree is either male of female, and most groves are basically one tree, reproducing via runners that form an exact natural clone, so essentially, each grove is either male or female.  Logically, this means that a male grove with always remain male only unless it grows far enough to combine with a female grove, whereas if the catkins in a female grove get fertalized, potentially it could contain both male and female aspens.  I really wish the mountain roads were open this time of year, so I could go up and look as several groves and find out which ones were male and which were female and find out if there was a different "feel", a different "energy".  But you can only determine the sex when the trees are in bloom, which is around this time, and the roads don't typically open until Memorial Day, which is May 28th this year (last year, they couldn't get the roads clear for Memorial Day for the first time in like 30 years, because the snow was eight feet deep and kept blowing back full every night, so they couldn't make progress; the roads opened in July).

Which brings us back to fertility and rebirth.  The Aspens awake first, not with leaves to harness the sunlight, but with flowers, the catkins, to reproduce.  They awake in fertility, in Sex, the essence of Creation.  As should we all.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

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