Fire Fire Burning Bright
Fire casts a shadowed light
Take the torch and light the way
Carry it til Dawn each day
For I cannot abide those who will not carry the light given to them
It is not a gift given lightly and never to one who cannot bear the weight of fire.
(recieved 20:15-20:37 16th December 2009)
Ive been pondering a lot recently the concept of initiation, initiatory rites and and the transmission of Magickal currents, so I was trawling through some stuff I wrote a few years back regarding the subject, I thought I would share if I may:
Ive been thinking about initiation, not so much about the great wiccan/Wiccan debate and the validity of self initiation, but more the implications of such actions. But I suppose, loathe as I am to do it, we need to look at the purpose of initiation.
Talking to hardliners, they will tell you that you cannot access the mysteries unless you have been initiated into what ever the Trad is that you are claiming to be. Now I tend to think they are both very right and horrifically wrong. These so called “initiations into the mysteries” in my opinion is just the vehicle with which a particular group accesses a magical current.
I’ve been struggling with the term “magical current” and how to explain it. As a priestess of my chosen path, I can feel it and use it, but it is harder to convey in mere words, but I think I have come up with a good analogy.
If we consider magic to be much like the entirety of the light spectrum, some wavelengths are accessible by everybody and are there to be used, we could liken this to the visible spectrum of light. But further, with careful training and appropriate “filters” put in place it might be possbile to access the invisible spectrums, ultraviolet, infrared, microwave etc. Different groups will tap different parts of these unseen spectrums and this is thier current and “transmission” of the way to access these spectrums are formalised in the initiation ritual.
Now it is perfectly possible as a solitaire to also access these currents; in fact there is some basis for the argument that by being a solitaire this allows a freedom not enjoyed by others who maybe either through ignorance or deliberate choice are limited to a singular current and nothing else.
The problem arises as to what current the solitaire is actually accessing though; for example: Solitaire A decides to self initiate, and either through luck or hard work successfully accesses a part of (or even the entirety of) one or more magical currents, but what she has accessed is Luciferian rather than Wiccan (which is what they are after), what should they call themselves? They will know they are accessing something, they may even believe it is Wiccan, but without anybody to share the experience with they will have no clue as to what they have.
It then gets more complicated, what if Solitaire A actually accesses the current they are after, then finds a suitable Coven of the lineage they are hankering after. Should thier existing link to the current then entitle them to a “fast track” scenario, especially if it is also obvious that they have put in the prerequisite practical and academic work in?
Lets say this happens and Solitaire A quickly makes it through their neophyte grade as a result of partial access, but they also have partial access as a result of thier self initiation to an other current. How will that affect the coven they are working with, this stuff is pretty viral you know, so then all of a sudden does the Coven have the right to claim thier name as associated with that current? Or should that part of the neophyte be “purged” for the sake of lineage and purity?
Tricky isn’t it? I do not profess to know the answer to any of it, my knee jerk feeling is that self initiation is perfectly possible and totally valid, as long as you do not claim to be of a named current (after all you will not really know if the current is the right one). If you feel like you need a name, call it yours, give it, it’s own name. After all that is what most of the big names in times gone by did.
I am not in a position to run a group, but the time is drawing nearer and nearer, and I suppose at some point I am going to have to discuss this with those older and wiser than me, but as for embracing or exterminating access to other currents brought in by self initiated neophytes; my gut says that as long as it isn’t at the complete other end of the spectrum or destructive, it should be integrated in a manner that benefits all. That’s how witches/magicians grow and progress, rather than becoming stale and dogmatic.
But of course all this is just my personal opinion and your mileage may vary.
I have a new toy, Ive been playing with Google Analytics for a while and one of the nice things you can do is actually see how people came across your site or blog; one that has come up a number of times recently is “How to Call on Hekate”.
What a very valid question and one that I hadn’t ever considered writing about. I suppose firstly because my normal knee jerk ornery response would be, well how long is a peice of string? In fact I think that actually was my first thought when I read those keywords, but on contemplation, I remember being absolutely flummoxed back in the day, I had read the Pagan/Witch/Magick 101 primers and moved on, to, well the likes of Crowley and the Haute Magick crew. I remember crying hot tears of anger and frustration because I wanted to work with a deity but really it isn’t that obvious “how” it actually happens, and there is sufficent enough material out there with conflicting views that there seemed to be no definitive answer, all I wanted was somebody to show me, just once, in practise how they did it.
And then there was the whole evokation and invocation malarky, I didn’t really want to invoke anything but when you read the Wicca-esque 101 primers it is invoke this and invoke that, evokation it seems doesn’t get a look in. But I did know that I didn’t want a possession, I wanted a conversation. Firstly I was lucky to happen across a copy of Franz Bardons “The Practise of Magical Evocation”, which I thoroughly recommend, especially if your into bells, smells, pomp and circumstance and then I eventually found somebody who showed me the whys and the wherefores and was very careful to make sure that I didn’t take thier (or anybody elses) way as some form of dogmatic scripture. And from then I was encouraged to develop my own practise.
Obviously I cannot “show” you how with the written word, as I came to realise after the fact, this is why so many traditions are called mystery traditions, because it can’t be written down only experienced, but also my cynical side sometimes wonders if some self professed initiates of these traditions haven’t got a clue either, its as much a mystery to them as it is to everybody else. In truth when calling Hekate, the only thing you really need is an open mind and an open heart, but I know that statement in its own right is of no help to anybody who is reading this post with interest. So I would suggest you start simply, use something that has been tried and tested, after all, why re-invent the wheel, if your like me, you will be happy to admit that flowery words are not your strong point and best left to mystics and poets.
So I would suggest you find yourself a quiet place, a circle if you feel you need it, although who are you protecting yourself from? A special place, a three way crossroad, a deserted beach, hell the bottom of your garden, as long as it is somewhere where you aren’t going to be disturbed. Don’t listen to this anywhere your going to be “comfortable” clap trap I keep hearing cited though, it doesn’t matter where you choose, it could be your most favourite “happy” place in the world but the first time you do this you are going to be far from “comfortable”, your heart is going to be in your throat, pounding, possibly sweating and shaking, your tummy giving it large like a scene from a bad alien movie.
So there you are knees knocking, possibly slightly crouching at the bottom of your garden so the neighbours can’t see you over the fence, you can guarantee your garden will have suddenly become infested with midges, or slugs, or the latest “in place” for the neighbourhood cats, or as I discovered the first time I did a specific operation with a new entity, of intense interest to the Police Helicopter, no seriously there is nothing so off putting as a big bugger off flood light suddenly lighting up your nocturnal doings. Anyway, so there you are, hopefully by this point youve actually giggled at the ridiculousness of the whole situation and some of the discomfort has passed as a result.
If it hasn’t then you really do need to lighten up just a wee bit. So what do you say, well how about using the Prayer for Selene for any spell from the Greek Magical Papyri:
“Come to me, O Beloved Mistress, Three-faced
Selene; kindly hear my Sacred Chants;
Night’s Ornament, young, bringing Light to Mortals,
O Child of Morn who ride upon the Fierce Bulls,
O Queen who drive Your Car on Equal Course
With Helios, who with the Triple Forms
Of Triple Graces dance in Revel with
The Stars. You’re Justice and the Moira’s Threads:
Klotho and Lachesis and Atropos
Three-headed, You’re Persephone, Megaira,
Allekto, Many-Formed, who arm Your Hands
With Dreaded, Murky Lamps, who shake Your Locks
Of fearful Serpents on Your Brow, who sound
The Roar of Bulls out from Your Mouths, whose Womb
Is decked out with the Scales of Creeping Things,
With Pois’nous Rows of Serpents down the Back,
Bound down Your Backs with Horrifying Chains
Night-Crier, Bull-faced, loving Solitude,
Bull-headed, You have Eyes of Bulls, the Voice
Of Dogs; You hide Your Forms in Shanks of Lions,
Your Ankle is Wolf-shaped, Fierce Dogs are dear
To You, wherefore they call You Hekate,
Many-named, Mene, cleaving Air just like
Dart-shooter Artemis, Persephone,
Shooter of Deer, night shining, triple-sounding,
Triple-headed, triple-voiced Selene
Triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked,
And Goddess of the Triple Ways, who hold
Untiring Flaming Fire in Triple Baskets,
And You who oft frequent the Triple Way
And rule the Triple Decades, unto me
Who’m calling You be gracious and with Kindness
Give Heed, You who protect the Spacious World
At night, before whom Daimons quake in Fear
And Gods Immortal tremble, Goddess who
Exalt Men, You of Many Names, who bear
Fair Offspring, Bull-eyed, Horned, Mother of Gods
And Men, and Nature, Mother of All Things,
For You frequent Olympos, and the broad
And boundless Chasm You traverse. Beginning
And End are You, and You Alone rule All.
For All Things are from You, and in You do
All Things, Eternal One, come to their End.
As Everlasting Band around Your Temples
You wear Great Kronos’ Chains, unbreakable
And unremovable, and You hold in
Your Hands a Golden Scepter. Letters ’round
Your Scepter Kronos wrote Himself and gave
To You to wear that All Things stay steadfast:
Subduer and subdued, Mankind’s Subduer,
And Force-subduer; Chaos, too, You rule.
Hail, Goddess, and attend Your Epithets,
I burn for You this Spice, O Child of Zeus,
Dart-shooter, Heav’nly One, Goddess of Harbors,
Who roam the Mountains, Goddess of Crossroads,
O Nether and Nocturnal, and Infernal,
Goddess of Dark, Quiet and Frightful One,
O You who have Your Meal amid the Graves,
Night, Darkness, Broad Chaos: Necessity
Hard to escape are You; You’re Moira and
Erinys, Torment, Justice and Destroyer,
And You keep Kerberos in Chains, with Scales
Of Serpents are You dark, O You with Hair
Of Serpents, Serpent-girded, who drink Blood,
Who bring Death and Destruction, and who feast
On Hearts, Flesh Eater, who devour Those Dead
Untimely, and You who make Grief resound
And spread Madness, come to my Sacrifices,
And now for me do You fulfill this Matter.”
~Online Source
And the rest, well perhaps you can write to me and share your experiences of what comes next because honestly it can be as simple as that, enjoy.
Disclaimer: Any persons attempting to perform the operation described below, do so at thier own risk; the author of this site does not and will not accept any responsibility for the outcome of this operation. You’re bigs boys and girls folks, I shouldn’t have to post this up, you wouldn’t jump off a cliff if I told you to, now would you?
Not living in Greece and never having had the priviledge of visiting (although I am hoping to rectify that in the very near future), my primary concern with ancient sites has been pretty much academic, what statuary was found there, what steles or archeological artifacts have been found in the environs, that may or may not support the work that I do with Hekate, that might enrich my personal practises. I will be honest it had never occured to me to consider the possible astronomical orientation of the major temples. But I came across this interesting article online this morning and I thought it was worth linking to it especially as the Temple of Hekate in Sicily gets a specific mention.
Dr Salt found that 40 of 41 temples that he analysed in Sicily were oriented towards the eastern horizon. A statistical analysis all but eliminated the possibility that this was due to chance. The sole exception was the Temple of Hekate, which he suggests may have been built to honour a Moon goddess.
~Times Online
You can find the full article Here
Two posts in one day, gosh I hear you say this blog is like the bus service nothing for ages and then two come along at once, well sort of. I wrote this back in early 2007 for an earlier incarnation of my blogging life, I’d actually forgotten about it, but somebody I know and respect brought up today the concept of beauty from a magickal perspective, and I was reminded of this. So I thought I would trot it out for a 2nd run around the block, I hope it is of interest.
Apple mythology and folklore abounds, it is found in ancient irish, greek, welsh, norse and english liturature. From Adam and Eve, through to Merlin and Vivianne it’s symbolism appears over and over again. After a visit from the apple lady a month or so back I took it upon myself to understand more about this fruit and what it means from a mythological and magical perspective.
That the Apple Lady chose to visit me came as no surprise, I grew up on a very large fruit farm, where apples were the primary crop. There is something very eery about an apple orchard at dusk, there is a presence as old as time, that will manifest under just the right conditions. It effects man and beast alike, I have seen domestic cats momentarily turn ferile, attacking anything in thier path and dogs shiver and yelp in fear at something that to the eye is not there.
Perhaps this occurance of the veil thinning in such a manner is a reflection of the long history man has had with this fruit, creation myths aside. Apples have been cultivated for millenia, although in the British Isles not in the format we most commonly think of, in all likelyhood most of the earlier apple tales would have referred to the “crab” apple, rather than a Granny Smith. But none the less this long relationship has ensured that it has a prominent place in our conciousness and subsequently our mythology.
Irish Mythology
Aillinn
The Ogham stave “Quirt” is most commonly taken to mean apple and more specifically the crab apple (although there is some contention about this amongst scholars), in an Irish myth Aillinn, the granddaughter of the king of Leinster, in true Romeo and Juliet style fell in love with Baile the heir to the throne of Ulster, these two kingdoms were sworn enemy’s and in true romantic tradgedy style the pair died, it was said that from Baile’s grave grew a Yew tree and from Aillinn’s an apple. These tree’s were purported to have been cut down by the Filidh (Irish poets) and the tradgedy was written upon them in Ogham. They were eventually gifted to Art son of Conn, but upon his reading them, they drew shut never to be opened again.
~ Theme, death and rebirth, knowledge and withheld knowledge.
Conle
A mysterious and beautiful woman appears one day to Conle, she throws an apple at him and then promptly disappears. Conle then exists on nothing but the flesh of this apple for an entire month, an becomes consumed by the thought of this woman. When she appears again to him, he follows her to the other world never to be see again.
~ Temptation, Journey to the otherworld, inability to return to this world.
Bran Mac Febal
After hearing a beautiful woman sing, he falls asleep and upon waking discovers he is holding the “silver bough” of Emain. This was a beautiful branch containing golden apples purported to have come from the apple tree in the centre of an Otherworldly Isle (the Irish version of Avalon). After many adventures he makes it Emain, where he stays for a long period of time, and for everyday that passed in Emain many more years passed in Erin (Ireland), home sickness eventually over takes him and his comrades and the resolve to return home, only to discover the pasing of time and the inability to return home. They too sail away never to be seen again.
~ Temptation, Journey to the Otherworld, inability to return to this world.
Cormac
One day a mysterious stranger appears to Cormac, carrying an apple branch containing golden apples, besotted with this treasure he agrees to trade his wife and children for this wondrous item. Eventually the thrall of the branches magic starts to wear off and realising his loss, he resolves to venture into the otherworld to find them. Upon arriving he is greeted by Mananan, who declares the branch was a lure. Discussion passes between them and Cormac enquires about the meaning of a sight he witnessed upon his journey. Mananan lies to Cormac and Cormac catches him out, but Mananan refuses to give him the answer. Later they fall asleep and wake in thier own beds in this world.
~ Temptation, Journey to the Otherworld, Knowledge and withheld Knowledge.
Cu Roi
His otherworldly wife betrays him for the love of Cu Chulain and he is slain. In some recensions of the story he hides his soul in an apple that resided in the stomach of a Salmon that would only surface every seven years.
~ Temptation, Death, Knowledge.
Welsh Mythology
Culwch and Olwen
Culwch journey’s to the otherworld to gain the hand of Yspadden, the giant’s daughter, Olwen; To win Olwen’s hand he has to complete many impossible tasks. He petitions Arthur his cousin to help him in these tasks, his aparell during his appearance in Arthur’s court, it that of a four cornered cloth of purple which has golden apples of great value on each corner.
~ Journey to the Otherworld, Epic Challenges, Giants.
Peredur
Hidden from the concept of war by his mother, a chance meeting with a group of knights; set him on the path of becoming a great warrior. One of the knights he encountered was Owain, who is described as the one “who kept track of the knight who had divided the apples in Arthur’s court”.
~ Epic Challenges, Knowledge and withheld Knowledge.
Afallach
Purported to be the father of Modron (Father of the Mother), his name possibly derives from the welsh word “afall” meaning apple.
Greek Mythology
Eris/Discord
Eris is snubbed when is not invited to a wedding, she turns up anyway and throws a golden apple (possibly from the garden of hersperides) inscribed with the word Kallisti, into the proceedings. Kallisti means to the fairest, the goddesses assembled argue over who this gift is intended for. This argument in a round about way sparked the Trojan war.
~ Temptation, Death
Hera
Gaia gifts Hera enchanted apples trees upon her marriage to Zeus. She plants them in the grove of immortality, also known as the Garden of Hesperides.
~ Otherworld, Immortality
Atlanta
After rejecting many suitors, Hippomenes asked Aphrodite to aid him in persuing his suit of Atlanta. Atlanta declares she will only marry a man who can beat her in a foot race, knowing full well that she cannot be beaten. Aphrodite gift’s Hippomene’s apples from Hesperides, and instructs him to drop them along the route as he run’s. Atlanta cannot help but pause to scoop up these treasures and thus looses the race.
~ Temptation, Epic Challenges
Herakles
Charged with pergorming twelve seemingly impossible tasks to atone for commiting infanticide. His 11th task was to gain the golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides. Later as a gift for achieving these tasks, he is given the gift of immortality.
~Epic Challenges, Immortality
Norse Mythology
Idunn
The keeper of the apples of immortality in Asguard, she is stolen and taken to the giant Pazi in Jotenheim. Without her apples, the gods start aging and a battle ensues between the gods and the giants, the gods eventually win and Idunn is restored to Asguard.
~Immortality
English / Arthurian Mythology
Morgana/Morgraine/Morgan Le Fey
Half sister to Arthur, she plots his downfall, yet at the brink of his death when he is mortally wounded; accepts him into Avalon (The Island of Apples) to heal him and keep him safe until the hour of Britains greatest need.
~ Immortaility, Death/Healing
Merlin
Having been driven mad after the loss of his men in battle, he retires to the forests of Cumbria, he laments his loss. “Nineteen were the apples trees which once stood here with thier fruit: they stand no longer. Who has stolen them from me, where have they gone so suddenly. Now I see them now not. So fate both supports and opposes me, letting me see and preventing me from seeing”.
~ Otherworld, Death/Healing, Knowledge and withheld knowledge.
Apples and the Tree of Life
I encountered my Apple Lady whilst scrying, specifically I was in Tipareth of Geburah (the beauty of severity), she entered via Nun the 24th path of the Tree of life, which joins Netzach (victory) with Tipareth (beauty), which corresponds to the 13th Tarot Trump – Death. This is the path of “The pain of the obligation”; Regardie describes it as “the path of hidden energies that, when aroused, leads to increasing levels of illumination”. He futher explains, “Outmoded ideas of the ’self’ evaproate as new self-images and ’similitudes’ form to replace them. The task of the student on this path is to let go of the old and yield to that which is unfamiliar”.
Many of these stories have common themes, death and resurrection, knowledge and hidden knowledge, temptation often by a beautiful woman, percieved impossible challenges. So what does the apple teach, who is the “Apple Lady”. She has a role in just about every pantheon and every mythology group, her role is that of transformation, of progression, challenges that elicit spiritual and magical growth often through a purification through death, death of apects of the practitioner that bind them or cause conflict within thier ego that prevents them from reaching thier potential, from discovering thier true will.
The Apple Lady offers you the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but to accept that fruit requires that step your feet along a path from which you cannot return, no matter how much you would wish it. And to eat that fruit will ensure that you will never be the same again. Possibly better, more complete, but undeniably different.