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(Number 254)
Answer to question regarding Athame/fire - wand/air
Greetings everyone..
and a Very Happy Bealtaine (pronounced B'yol-tinnuh in Irish Gaelic),
and the Scottish would say Bealtuinn (pronounced b'yal-ten). The
anglicized name appears as Beltane. The original meaning is Bel-
fire - the fire of the Celtic or pro-Celtic God variously known as
Bel, Beli, Balar, Balor or the Latinized Belenus, with even name
somewhat similar and traceable back to the Middle Eastern Baal, which
simply means Lord. Bel - the Bright One, God of Light and Fire. I
know back on my Isle of Man last night many fires were burning on the
hill tops according to my daughter and I would imagine all over parts
of England and Ireland too. It's truly a sight to behold and if you
ever see it from Glastonbury Tor, you may be lucky enough to see a
line of fires (they say following the Ley Lines) all the way into the
distance. It's truly incredible to see.
Anyway, Armon was curious to when and why they changed the
correspondence of Athame/Fire to Athame/Air and inversely, the same
with the Wand? He continued that he knew that Doreen did it because
she preferred the Golden Dawn system. Well, that's exactly where it
came from. It was a deliberate blind (so says Janet Farrer)
perpetrated by the early Golden Dawn, which (blind) has unfortunately
not yet died out and in fact, in many circumstances has grown once
again.
It seems, as I said the other day, to be contrary to the obvious
nature of the tools concerned. The authority of this statement being
as a deliberate blind was from "Techniques of High Magic" (and I
have a very old browned copy which I bought in 1977). Written by
Francis King and Stephen Skinner who were conscientious occult
historians. On page 60, they write that this incorporates a blind,
and in fact if these attributions are considered in depth, it will be
seen that for some reason the two active weapons, the dagger and the
wand, have been interchanged.
Armon is right in saying that Doreen Valiente uses the altered way
and Doreen herself even cited historical evidence to support her
views, that the earliest Golden Dawn documents which have been
published, those owned by R. G. Torrens, dated 1899, give the
sword/Air, wand/Fire attributions, and in 1899, "these documents were
given out to initiates under the seal of the utmost secrecy." The
very existence of the Order was not permitted to be publicly known.
So if there was a blind, at whom was it directed? Doreen also points
out that the booklet Yeats, The Tarot and Golden Dawn, by Kathleen
Raine contains photographs of W. B. Yeats' ritual tools which he made
himself and which followed the same attributions; and Yeats joined
the Order in 1890.
Alex Sanders, (who never could get into a Gardnerian Coven and
therefore started his own system which was based on the same
Gardnerian Book of Shadows, which he somehow managed to get a hold
of), and absolutely loved rich ceremonial rituals and subsequently
switched much to more of the High Magic Ritual stylized forms and
thus it perpetrated itself into Witchcraft through the Alexandrian
form. I remember his rituals were full of pomp and ceremony when I
used to meet him.
However, that does not alter the fact that it came from the Golden
Dawn. Where did they get it from? There were so many offshoots and
new Order in those days that equaled today's renewed proliferance.
However, in Druid ceremonies and from historical documents of the old
Goddess Aradia, (daughter of Dianna), and the ancient rituals of the
Holy Strega and the legend of the historical and living Aradia of the
14th century, the use of the sword and dagger were to fire and wand
and staff was to air.
I have a copy of one of the ritual setups, which states that the
ritual wand or staff is set upon the Alter, next to the Air elemental
bowl. The Spirit Blade (Athame) is placed to the South by the votive
candle, and the Chalice to the West by the bowl of water. However,
in the more ancient times, not many tools were used so openly and
many hand gestures were used instead, (similar to Mudras of India)
and physical postures similar to other forms of Traditional
Witchcraft surviving today, like the OAM, (Ordo Anno Mundi).
I have never marked my tools, but there are many suggestions on what
to write on the hilt of the Athame and which I see comes directly
from, The Key of Solomon, (which is now in print, but not fully mind
you – much was not copied to the printed version, as one can see by a
trip to the British Museum and gaining permission to see the original
book, if you can nowadays).
It was even restricted in the early days when I was attempting to
study it in 1966. Therefore, many such ideas were copied by Gerald
Gardner and fortified later on, such as the scripting on the Athame,
(which remains optional by the way). Much of the occult was of
limited source actually and that's why it always comes back to the
Key of Solomon or other such books. Original workings only had a
staff, bowl and perhaps a dagger at the very most and only at a later
time.
Actually, as Armon so rightly points out, about the forging of the
dagger itself, or when making an Athame, (it comes and goes through
all the elementents), as the steel comes from the earth and is
purified by fire, and represents fire and is finally tempered by it,
such as reheating the blade to a dull red. Again, plunging it, point
downwards, into tepid water or oil, moving it up and down in the
liquid and the ritualistic union meaning behind it. Cleaning it with
wet and dry paper, then heating it again. The blade will go to a
bright, light, straw color, then to a medium straw color.
Immediately plunging the blade into the water and letting it cool
off. At the first sign of "blueing" the point is plunged into the
water. Once the blade is cold, it is taken outside and the whole
blade should be plunged it into the ground a couple of times. You
hold it up and fro that moment on, form a bond with it. Now you have
Got the steel from the EARTH
Purified and made by FIRE
Moved the blade through the AIR,
Heated and tempered it with FIRE,
Plunged it into WATER
and Showed it and returned it to the EARTH
And finally Spirit is introduced through all the various unions and
the final one with your own connection with it.
Its very nature screams out FIRE. As does the wand to AIR, in its
natural state gently swaying with the breeze, opening itself to the
elements of the Air and Mother Earth from below, (and if you notice
all things are born of Mother Earth, after appropriate fertilization
as if it were). Nothing is done to the wand. It is cut and offered
to the Air again and perhaps Earth.
It is not burnt, as we wish it to last as our Wand, but incense is
also made from woody items from the Earth and also represents Air,
with a connection to Fire. All these elements interconnect and move
through each other, perhaps constantly, such as we can also say we
are CHILDREN OF THE STARS, for when we go back far enough, we most
certainly are. Matter does not go away, maybe changes somewhat, but
remains for eternity within the universe we find ourselves in, in one
form or another.
For all those out there who are wondering where this conversation is
going; let me change gears for a minute or two. The difference
between High Magick and Witchcraft can be identified in their own
from of magick and although there are some similarities, they are
inherently different and use and call different powers to their
Circles.
In Witchcraft for example, Witches spiritually categorise the
universe into five key elements as we well know. These are the four
physical elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water which are all linked
together and ruled over by the spiritual element known usually as
either Aether (pronounced Ether) or Akasha, otherwise known as Spirit.
The upright Pentagram used in Witchcraft represents the connection of
all the elements of the universe ruled over by the uppermost point of
Spirit/Aether. As I have expressed elsewhere in our site, our
magick is grounded in nature and `Works Because Of Natural Law'.
The power of the Witch comes from his/her own mind, the divine within
and around and the powers of nature. For this reason, when we cast
circle prior to magick we will call in the powers of the four
physical elements and then the fifth element of Spirit by invoking
divine aid in the form of a Goddess or God and usually both.
High magick is empowered by forces and elements and evokes great
powers and/or forces/spirits/otherwordly beings that Witches do not
normaly do. Chaos magick then comes into the picture and doesn't
give a damn about any of that and we should just look at it a minute
or two. Trying to define Chaos magick is not an easy task. Its very
nature is unstructured that to define it would take way its very
essence.
Simply put, Chaos Magick is a magickal system where the truth is
meaningless. No belief system can be drawn from. In theory one
could make something up and still find it just as effective as an
ancient rite of a secret society.
This may seem very similar to eclectic magic. Both the Chaotioc
Magickian and the eclectic magickician would draw upon various, often
unrelated, sources to perform magick or personalize a belief system.
The ecletic however, attempts to build some sort of structure or
system around these beliefs, whereas the chaotic magickician is more
concerned about using these beliefs as tools.
There is also a difference in attitude between the two. The eclectic
attempts to find the truth behind the various sources and combine
them to form a viable system. It is believed that these personalized
systems, as well as the various systems from which these beliefs were
drawn; share a common, intrinsic, or absolute truth that reaches
beyond any given system.
The chaotic magickician couldn't care less about such truths because
it is believed there is no absolute truth: anything can be true just
as it can be false. It is the magician who gives these beliefs their
power, not the beliefs themselves. So while the beliefs of any given
chaotic magickician may be considered eclectic, the approach is quite
different.
Why did I bring this up? Actually to show how things/beliefs/rituals
and anything else can get twisted and turned by each and every one of
us following someone else in anything. We have our own
beliefs/agenda/understandings and so another religion/ritualistic
magick Order is born anew, with all the new trappings that go with
it. Ad infinitum I guess, although we have exhausted most options by
now.
What actually have we got left? Does it work? Well, for me
personally; it does. Most emphatically! Why? I don't know? I also
follow various paths and it appears to be from within me that I can
get a communion with Otherworldly beings/spirits and/or Powers and in
fact, it is often them that find me, to my shock sometimes. Other
times, I can use gentle forces from around, as in Witchcraft, while
at others the pure maniacal force I can build using Choas magick
always has its outcomes work out to my general wishes. Don't forget
that Witchcraft then take that a little further as a religion and
True Spiritualism is the main goal.
To practice Witchcraft though, you have to be in touch with your own
mind, your inner divinity and hence, in touch with the powers of
nature. An important part of a Witch's training is to meditate upon
the elements and become attuned to their powers and what they
represent and how their energy can be harnessed to transform our
lives.
Some may tell you that the categorisation of the universe into the
elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit is a Greek thing.
Well, yes, this concept was certainly used by the Greeks, but Pagans
of other traditions, which are unrelated to Wicca, also use this same
system and it is also used in the East where the symbols are referred
to as Tattvas, or from Asia having being passed down over thousands
of years.
So how does the Witch become attuned with the elements? Firstly, the
most important and simplest method is direct contact. For those
readers who want to know; get out there and experience their full-on
power. Walk on the earth, touch herbs and flowers, trees and
stones. Feel the wind rush through your hair and gaze at the clouds
and birds flying. Experience the power of the sun beating on your
back, the heat of a fire, either from a bonfire or candlelight. Swim
in water, paddle, walk on beaches, by ponds and lakes and dance in
the rain.
Other important ways to get in touch with the elements are to
meditate upon them. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and visualise
the element you are working with. Note any thoughts, feelings and
impressions you get from them. Some Witches recommend dedicating a
day for each element as a means of feeling more aware and connected
to them. For example, on a water day, you could take a bath in the
morning, maybe go to the beach or a swimming pool later on and drink
plenty of water throughout the day (and then spend all evening in the
bathroom!?)
Because the elements have been used in magick for a long time, a lot
of symbolism and lore has built up on each element. Most Wiccan
elemental symbolism actually comes from the experiences and practices
of that infamous occult order the Golden Dawn as we have discussed
earlier. Medieval and Renaissance magickal practices demonstrate a
knowledge of the elements, both the Tarot and Astrology work with
this Greek concept of the Four physical elements also.
Some generally accepted associations of the elements which most
Wiccans and other Witches and Pagans hold with are listed on our
site. Always remember, however, that we are all individuals and are
thus bound to vary slightly in the way we personally perceive each
element.
When I began studying and practicing Witchcraft, I never sat down and
memorised correspondence tables parrot fashion. Such a method does
not grant knowledge... only memorised facts, not wisdom. It is
through living as a Witch and through regular practice and attunement
to the forces of nature that we come to understand and know
instinctively the qualities of the elements and merge with the
Spirit.
For a true witch though, I believe what my Nanna told me, that you
don't need any tools to do any magick. All she walked along with was
an old gnarled walking staff, with a forked antler bone top, (which I
have just retrieved from my mother and brought back after my recent
visit to the UK).
So why then bother with tools at all? Some people don't. Some
people have excellent powers of concentration, focus, and will power
and have trained themselves to perform complete rituals in their
mind. You can train yourself to do this with some effort.
In the meantime, the tools help you to concentrate, focus, and learn
about yourself and your own strengths and weaknesses. Tools let you
know that you are now in ritual space; that it's time to ground and
let go of the mundane world, and prepare ourselves to commune with
the Lord and Lady. In High Magick, the tools hold power and are a
key to forces beyond our normal want.
So, in all, it comes down to whatever feels right for you out there.
These are guidelines, but I will admit many have come from the
ancient times and have appeared to have worked through eons of time
and I can vouch that they still do.
If you hold a key, you just have to know which lock it unlocks and
use it from then on. Don't mix up the keys and you will have success
always. I would love to know how some of the High Magick people out
there have faired over the time. There's quite a few and it would be
interesting if they ever wanted to get together to carry out a ritual
together.
The Witches out there should get together more often too and do,
instead of talking about it. As in anything deeply mystical or
magickal, the meaning cannot be simply communicated intellectually;
it has to work through an analogous process within the individual; a
stream of symbols, images and experiences, rather than a mere
explanation.
We are all learning the ancient and arcane mysteries, (whichever one
we choose), otherwise we wouldn't be logged on here, whereby we can
achieve symbiosis with, and utilize, the wonderful forces of Nature,
Spirits perhaps and travel to Otherworlds and begin to merge and
harness the truly great timeless Great Powers of the universe by
being a "doer" and not just a "talker".
BB
Azaz
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With Thanks
