Demeter (Greek)

Demeter (Greek)

Demeter is one of the best known goddesses of the harvest. When her daughter Persephone was kidnapped and seduced by Hades, Demeter went straight to the bowels of the Underworld to rescue her lost child. Their legend has persisted for millennia as a way of explaining the changing of the seasons and the death of the earth each fall.

Demeter, the middle daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was the Ancient Greek goddess of grain and agriculture, one of the original Twelve Olympians. Her grief over her daughter Persephone – who has to spend one-third of the year with her husband Hades in the Underworld – is the reason why there is winter; her joy when she gets her back coincides with the fertile spring and summer months. Demeter and Persephonewere the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most famous secret religious festival in Ancient Greece.

Demeter’s Role

Name

Demeter’s name consists of two parts, the second of which (-meter) is almost invariably linked with the meaning “mother,” which conveniently fits with Demeter’s role as a mother-goddess. However, there are still debates over the meaning of the first part (De-), which most scholars associate with “Ge,” i.e., Gaea (making Demeter “Mother Earth”); others, however, prefer to link it with “Deo,” which is a surviving epithet of Demeter and may have been, in an earlier form, the name of one of few grains.

Portrayal and Symbolism

Demeter is usually portrayed as a fully-clothed and matronly-looking woman, either enthroned and regally seated or proudly standing with an extended hand. Sometimes she is depicted riding a chariot containing her daughter Persephone, who is almost always in her vicinity. The goddesses – as they were endearingly called – even share the same attributes and symbols: scepter, cornucopia, ears of corn, a sheaf of wheat, torch, and occasionally, a crown of flowers.

Epithets

Demeter was known mostly as the Giver of Food and Grain, or “She of the Grain,” for short (Sito). However, since she presided over something as vital as the cycles of plants and seasons, the Ancient Greeks also referred to her as Tesmophoros, or “The Bringer of Laws,” and organized a women-only festival called Tesmophoria to celebrate her as such. Other epithets include: “Green,” “The Giver of Gifts,” “The Bearer of Food,” and “Great Mother.”

Demeter’s Family

Demeter was one of the six children of Cronus and Rhea, their middle daughter, and their second child overall – born after Hestia, but before Heraand her brothers: Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Just like all of her siblings, she was swallowed and later, following an intervention by Zeus, regurgitated by her father.

Demeter’s Consorts: Iasion, Poseidon, and Zeus

Demeter didn’t have many partners and was rarely portrayed with a male consort. The mortal Iasion and her brothers Poseidon and Zeus are the most noteworthy – if not the only – exceptions.

Iasion

Early in her life, Demeter fell in love with a mortal named Iasion. She seduced him at the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia and lay with him in a thrice-plowed field. Zeus didn’t think appropriate for such a respected goddess to have a relationship with a mortal, so he struck Iasion with a thunderbolt. But, by then, Demeter was already pregnant with twins: Ploutos and Philomelus, the former the god of wealth, and the latter, the patron of plowing.

Poseidon

Next, Demeter’s brother Poseidon forced himself upon her (once transformed into a stallion), and the goddess, once again, became pregnant with two children: Despoena, a nymph, and Arion, a talking horse.

Zeus

Finally, Demeter became Zeus’ fourth wife. From their union, Demeter’s most well-known child was born, Persephone.

Demeter and Persephone

The most important myth involving Demeter concerns her daughter Persephone’s abduction by Hades and Demeter’s subsequent wanderings.

The Abduction of Persephone

Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, fell in love with Demeter’s virgin-daughter and decided to take her into marriage. So, one day, as she was gathering flowers with her girlfriends, he lured her aside using a fragrant and inexpressibly beautiful narcissus, and then snatched her up with his chariot, suddenly darting out of a chasm under her feet.

Demeter Finds Out

Inconsolable, Demeter walked the earth far and wide for nine days to find her daughter – but to no avail. And then, on the tenth day, Hecate told her what she had seen and Helios, the All-Seeing God of the Sun, confirmed her story. Demeter wasn’t just brokenhearted anymore. She was now angry as well. And with everybody! Especially with Zeus who, the rumors claimed so, had approved the whole operation and even aided Hades throughout.

The Institution of the Eleusinian Mysteries · Iambe, Demophon, and Metanira

So, Demeter left Mount Olympus and went to grieve her daughter among the mortals, disguised as an old woman. She ended up at the court of King Celeus of Eleusis, where his wife Metanira hired her to be the nurse to her baby son, Demophon. Iambe, the old servant woman of the house, cheered her with her jokes, and Demeter laughed for the first time in many weeks. In gratitude for the kindness, Demeter devised a plan to make Demophon immortal, so she started bathing him in fire each night, thus, burning away his mortality.

However, one day, Metanira witnessed the ritual and, not realizing what was happening, started screaming in panic and alarm. This disturbed Demeter’s strategy, so she revealed herself at once and told Metanira that the only way that the Eleusinians will ever win her kindness back is by building a temple and establishing a festival in her glory.

The Return of Persephone and the Establishment of the Cycles

King Celeus did just that, and Demeter spent a whole year living in her newly built temple, grieving, and, in her grief, neglecting all her duties as a goddess of fertility and agriculture. As a consequence, the earth turned barren, and people started dying out of hunger. After unsuccessfully sending all the gods, one by one, to Demeter with gifts and pleas, Zeus realized that he would have to bring Persephone back to her mother if he didn’t want to see humanity wiped out from the planet.

So, he sent Hermes to Hades, and the divine messenger fetched back Persephone to her mother. However, the gods soon realized that Demeter’s daughter had already eaten one seed of pomegranate in the Underworld, which obliged her to remain in the Underworld. Knowing that Demeterwouldn’t allow such thing to happen, Zeus proposed a compromise: Persephone would spend one-third of the year with Hades and the other two-thirds with Demeter.

The former, the period during which Demeter is grieving, corresponds to the winter months of the year when the earth is infertile and bare; the latter, when she rejoices, overlaps with the abundant months of our springs and summers. The myth likewise explains the growth cycle of the plants. The grain, just like Persephone, must die and be buried under the earth in order to bear much fruit above it.

Sources

The best sources for the principal myth of Demeter are the “Second Homeric Hymn,” and the fifth book of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” where, naturally, the names of the main protagonists are changed to their Roman counterparts: Ceres, Pluto, and Proserpine.

Published on Greek Mythology

Frigga (Norse)

Frigga (Norse)

Frigga was the wife of the all-powerful Odin, and was considered a goddess of fertility and marriage within the Norse pantheon. Like many mothers, she is a peacemaker and mediator in times of strife.

 

Strangely for a goddess of her high position, the surviving primary sources on Norse mythology give only sparse and casual accounts of anything related to her personality, deeds, or other attributes. The specifics they do discuss, however, are not unique to Frigg, but are instead shared by both her and Freya, a goddess who belongs to both the Aesir and the Vanir tribes of deities. From these similarities, combined with the two goddesses’ mutual evolution from the earlier Germanic goddess Frija, we can see that Frigg and Freya were only nominally distinct figures by the late Viking Age, when our sources were recorded, and that these two figures, who had formerly been the same deity, were still practically the same personage in everything but name.Frigg (pronounced “FRIG;” Old Norse Frigg, “Beloved”[1]), sometimes Anglicized as “Frigga,” is the highest-ranking of the Aesirgoddesses. She’s the wife of Odin, the leader of the gods, and the mother of Baldur.

Frigg and Freya

Like Freya, Frigg is depicted as a völva, a Viking Age practitioner of the form of Norse magic known as seidr. Seidr involved discerning the course of fate and working within its structure to bring about change, often by symbolically weaving new events into being.[2] This power could potentially be put to any use imaginable, and examples that cover virtually the entire range of the human condition can be found in Old Norse literature. In the Old Norse poem Lokasenna, after Loki slanders Frigg, Freya warns him that Frigg knows the fate of all beings, an intimation of her ability to perform seidr.[3] Frigg’s weaving activities are likely an allusion to this role as well. Freya owns falcon plumes that she and the other Aesir use for shapeshifting into that bird, and Frigg possesses her own set of falcon feathers that are used for the same purpose.[4]

In the Viking Age, the völva was an itinerant seeress and sorceress who traveled from town to town performing commissioned acts of seidr in exchange for lodging, food, and often other forms of compensation as well. Like other northern Eurasian shamans, her social status was highly ambiguous – she was by turns exalted, feared, longed for, propitiated, celebrated, and scorned.[5]

During the so-called Völkerwanderung or “Migration Period” – roughly 400-800 CE, and thus the period that immediately preceded the Viking Age – the figure who would later become the völva held a much more institutionally necessary and universally acclaimed role among the Germanic tribes. One of the core societal institutions of the period was the warband, a tightly organized military society presided over by a chieftain and his wife. The wife of the warband’s leader, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, held the title of veleda, and her role in the warband was to foretell the outcome of a suggested plan of action by means of divination and to influence that outcome by means of more active magic, as well as to serve a special cup of liquor that was a powerful symbol of both temporal and spiritual power in the warband’s periodic ritual feasts.[6][7]

One literary portrait of such a woman comes to us from the medieval Old English epic poem Beowulf, which recounts the deeds of King Hroðgar and his warband in the land that we today know as Denmark. The name of Hroðgar’s queen, Wealhþeow, is almost certainly the Old English equivalent of the Proto-Germanic title that Tacitus latinised as “veleda.”[8] Wealhþeow’s “domestic” actions in the poem – which are, properly understood, enactments of the liquor ritual described above – are indispensable for the upkeep of the unity of the warband and its power structures. The poem, despite its Christian veneer, “hint[s] at the queen’s oracular powers… The Hrothgar/Wealhtheow association as presented in the poem is an echo of an earlier more robust and vigorous politico-theological conception.”[9]

This “politico-theological conception” was based on the mythological model provided by the divine pair Frija and Woðanaz, deities who later evolved into, respectively, Freya/Frigg and Odin. Woðanaz is the warband’s chieftain, and Frija is its veleda.

Thus, in the Migration Period, the goddess who later became Freya (and Frigg) was the wife of the god who later became Odin. While somewhat veiled, this is ultimately still the case in Old Norse literature. Freya’s husband is named Óðr, a name which is virtually identical to that of Óðinn (the Old Norse form of “Odin”). Óðr means “ecstasy, inspiration, furor.” Óðinn is simply the word óðr with the masculine definite article (-inn) added onto the end. The two names come from the same word and have the same meaning. Óðr is an obscure and seldom-mentioned character in Old Norse literature. The one passage that tells us anything about his personality or deeds – anything beyond merely listing his name in connection with Freya – comes from the Prose Edda, which states that Óðr is often away on long journeys, and that Freya can often be found weeping tears of red gold over his absence.[10] Many of the surviving tales involving Odin have him traveling far and wide throughout the Nine Worlds, to the point that he’s probably more often away from Asgard than within it. Many of Odin’s numerous bynames allude to his wanderings or are names he assumed to disguise his identity while abroad. Thus, it’s hard to see Freya’s husband as anything but an only nominally distinct extension of Odin.

Freyja and Frigg are similarly accused of infidelity to their (apparently common) husband. Alongside the several mentions of Freya’s loose sexual practices can be placed the words of the medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, who relates that Frigg slept with a slave on at least one occasion.[11] In Lokasenna and the Ynglinga Saga, Odin was once exiled from Asgard, leaving his brothers Vili and Ve in command. In addition to presiding over the realm, they also regularly slept with Frigg until Odin’s return.[12][13] Many scholars have tried to differentiate between Freya and Frigg by asserting that the former is more promiscuous and less steadfast than the latter,[14] but these tales suggest otherwise.

The word for “Friday” in Germanic languages (including English) is named after Frija,[15] the Proto-Germanic goddess who is the foremother of Freya and Frigg. None of the other Germanic peoples seem to have spoken of Frija as if she were two goddesses; this approach is unique to the Norse sources. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that in the Norse sources we find a confusion as to which goddess this day should have as its namesake. Both Freyjudagr (from Freyja) and Frjádagr (from Frigg) are used.

The names of the two goddesses are also particularly interesting in this regard. Freyja, “Lady,” is a title rather than a true name. It’s a cognate of the modern German word Frau, which is used in much the same way as the English title “Mrs.” In the Viking Age, Scandinavian and Icelandic aristocratic women were sometimes called freyjur, the plural of freyja.[16]“Frigg,” meanwhile, comes from an ancient root that means “beloved.”[17] Frigg’s name therefore links her to love and desire, precisely the areas of life over which Freya presides. Here again we can discern the ultimate reducibility of both goddesses to one another: one’s name is identical to the other’s attributes, and the other name is a generic title rather than a unique name.

Clearly, then, the two are ultimately the same goddess. Why, then, are they presented as nominally distinct in the late Old Norse sources? Unfortunately, no one really knows.

 

References:

[1] Orel, Vladimir. 2003. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. p. 114.

[2] Heide, Eldar. 2006. Spinning Seiðr. In Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes and Interactions. Edited by Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere. p. 166.

[3] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, verse 29.

[4] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Skáldskaparmál 18-19.

[5] Price, Neil S. 2002. The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. p. 279-328.

[6] Tacitus, Cornelius. Germania 8.

[7] Enright, Michael J. 1996. Lady with a Mead Cup: Ritual, Prophecy and Lordship in the European Warband from La Tène to the Viking Age.

[8] Ibid. p. 192.

[9] Ibid. p. 66.

[10] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 35.

[11] Saxo Grammaticus. The History of the Danes.

[12] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, verse 26.

[13] Snorri Sturluson. Ynglinga Saga 3. In Heimskringla: eða Sögur Noregs Konunga.

[14] See, for example: Grimm, Jacob. 1882. Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1. Translated by James Steven Stallybrass. p. 302.

[15] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 111.

[16] Grimm, Jacob. 1882. Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1. Translated by James Steven Stallybrass. p. 300.

[17] Orel, Vladimir. 2003. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. p. 114.

 

Published on Norse Mythology for Smart People

Gaia (Greek)

Gaia (Greek)

Gaia was known as the life force from which all other beings sprang, including the earth, the sea and the mountains. A prominent figure in Greek mythology, Gaia is also honored by many Wiccans and Pagans today as the earth mother herself.

In Greek mythology, Gaea (or Gaia), the primordial earth or mother goddess was one of the deities who governed the universe before THE TITANS existed.

In the creation myth, CHAOS came before everything else. He was made of Void, Mass and Darkness in confusion; and then earth in the form of Gaea came into existence. From “Mother Earth” sprang the starry heavens, in the shape of the sky God Uranus, and from Gaea also came the mountains, plains, seas and rivers that make up the Earth we know today.

Gaea first appears as a character of divine being in the Homeric poems, in the Illiad, black sheep were sacrificed to her, and people were declaring oaths to invoke her.

The Greek Historian Hesiod wrote that the union of Gaea and Chaos created Uranus. From there Gaea and Uranus gave birth to the Giants, the Titans, Oceanus and the whole world. Uranus decided to stop Gaea from creating anything else and sent his children inside her, imprisoning them in her womb, therefore infuriating Gaea and causing her allegiance to her Titan son Cronus, and together they overthrew Uranus.

CRONUS, using a great iron sickle created by his mother attacked Uranus, castrating him, the drops of blood fell from him and onto Gaea, the earth, and became the seeds of the Erinyes (the spirits of punishments), the Gigantes and the Melian nymphs. Another myth is that Cronus threw Uranus organs into the ocean and the mixing of the blood and sea foam birthed Aphrodite.

Gaea’s allegiance switched to ZEUS due to the cruelty of Cronus, who had imprisoned the same sons and had an insatiable endless determination for domination. Gaea foretold a prophecy that one of Cronus’s sons would dethrone him, due to his distrust; Cronus swallowed each of his children whole to prevent a coup. Zeus was successfully hidden, and when he was older, he returned to his father, forced him to throw up his siblings and together they overthrew him.

Zeus’s toppling of Cronus marked the end of the age of the Titans. Gaea would not be without conflict with Zeus; she was angered by his binding of her Titan sons in Tartarus, so she birthed the tribe of Giants and later the monster Typhoeus (a storm giant) to overthrow Zeus though both were unsuccessful. Her final attempt to dethrone Zeus was by telling him that his next son, birthed to him by Metis would depose him, so he swallowed her causing ATHENA to spring from his head.

Other versions show Gaea was the great mother of all creation; the heavenly gods were descended from her union with Uranus (the Sky), the sea-gods from her union with Pontos (the Sea), the Giants from her mating with Tartarus (the Pit) and mortal creatures born from her earthly flesh. In ancient Greek cosmology, the earth was believed to be a flat disk, encircled by the River and encompassed by the heaven on one side and Tartarus on the other. In a Greek vase painting Gaea was portrayed as a buxom, motherly figure rising from the earth but inseparable from her element. In some mosaic artworks, Gaea is a full figured woman, reclining on the land, clothed in green and surrounded by fruits and the Seasons.

Gaea was the source from which arose the vapours producing divine inspiration and was regarded as an oracular divinity and was said to have had the oracle of Delphi in her possession first.

Gaea was seen was the all-producing and all- nourishing mother; her worship universal amongst the Ancient Greeks.

She had temples at Athens, Sparta, Delphi, Olympia, Bura, Tegea and Phlyus to name a few. Due to her mother like presence she presided over marriages, oaths and was honoured as a prophetess.

Other Interesting Facts About Gaea

• Gaea may have formerly been worshipped in Greece as a mother goddess before the Hellenes introduced the cult of Zeus
• Gaea was described as the giver of dreams and the nourisher of plants and young children
• Gaea was renamed by the Romans as Terra
• In modern times, Earth scientist use the term Gaea to describe the earth as a complex living organism

 

Published on Greek Gods and Goddesses</

The Verse Charge

The Verse Charge

(1961)

I the Mother, darksome and divine, Say to thee, Oh children mine (All ye assembled at mine Shrine), Mine the scourge and mine the kiss The five-point star of love and bliss Here I charge ye in this sign. (Assume Goddess position.)

All ye assembled here tonight Bow before my spirit bright Aphrodite, Arianrhod, Lover of the Horned God, Mighty Queen of Witchery and night

Astarte, Hecate, Ashtaroth, Dione, (Morrigan, Etain, Nisene), Diana, Brigid, Melusine, Am I named of old by men, Artemis and Cerridwen, Hell’s dark mistress, Heaven’s Queen.

(Whene’er trouble comes anoon) All who would learn of me a Rune Or would ask of me a boon, Meet ye in some secret glade Dance my round in greenwood shade, by the light of the full moon.

(In a place wild and lone) With the comrades alone Dance about my altar stone. Work my holy Magistry,Ye who are fain of sorcery, I bring ye secrets yet unknown.

(Whate’er troubles come to thee), No more shall ye know slavery Who give due worship unto me, Who tread my round on Sabbat-night. Come ye all naked to the rite, In token ye be truly free.

I teach the mystery of rebirth, Keep ye my mysteries in mirth Heart joined to heart, and lip to lip, Five are the points of fellowship That bring ye ecstasy on Earth.

I ask no offerings, do but bow, No other law but love I know, By naught but love I may be known, All that liveth is mine own From me they come, to me they go.

The Universal Laws

The Universal Laws

 

There are 23 Universal Laws that balance out the chaos of the Divine. These are Superior laws of the Divine Universe created at the time of Creation. (You might take note of the significance of the number of laws. 23 and how that can be seen in other aspects of creation; or incarnation).

 

1. The Law of Absorption:
All matter in the universes, regardless of it’s manifested vibration, absorbs emanations from all other matter and the matter is influenced by this absorption. In other words, all things are connected, relate and affect one another.

 

2. The Law of Accountability:
(Also known as the Law of Return). You are accountable for what you create at the moment of creation. This accountability occurs on the physical, mental and spiritual levels and cannot be avoided.

 

3. The Law of Activity:
Action results from attention of thought and the nature of the action corresponds to the nature of the attention. In other words, the seeds you sow will grow the fruit you plant. What you sow, so shall ye reap.

 

4. The Law of Apperception:
Conscious of being flows within all units of the Universe. Throughout all eternity, everything has a consciousness and knows it’s own conscious being. Thought knows it is thought, energy knows it is energy, every single unit, from the Great Cosmos to the tiniest Atom, knows what the function of it’s unit is.

 

5. The Law of Association:
If two or more things have something in common, the ‘thing in common’ can be used to influence or control the other thing. The degree of control depends upon the size of the ‘thing in common’. The more in common the things have, the more control can be used to influence the things.

 

6. The Law of Attitude:
“Attitude” is the only weapon that can harm an individual. Nothing, absolutely nothing can harm a human being, but his or her own attitude. Each experience is put in its proper perspective and hopefully resolved in a favorable manner. How you react toward those experiences, your attitude about them, determines how the experience affects you.

 

7. The Law of Avoidance:Refusing to handle a highly emotional or unpleasant situation, to deny living up to one’s full potential or neglecting to do something that should be done, will affect an individuals physical body and mental mind. As well as lifestyle affairs through each incarnation, until that person correctly balances with the situation.

 

8. The Law of Balance:This is the Key To Life. Balance is the nature to maintaining order within the divine universe. Each entity makes choices to exist, when those choices are made in conjunction with the flow of the energy, entities and events balance is maintained.

 

9. The Law Of Manifestation(Also known as the Law of Beamed Energy):Thought is energy, focused on one central idea with one’s undivided attention can be created in the mind and then physically transferred from any point of the physical body (eyes, mind, hands, etc.) to any object, subject or ethereal realm for manifestation. The energy can be directed and controlled, with certain behavioral characteristics to accomplish a given result. Mostly commonly used method in healing.

 

10. The Law of Catastrophe:Also referred to in the human experience as the stage of drama/trauma. An absolute necessity for the evolutionary process, motivated by many laws of totality, when the seed cracks and growth is permitted to begin. This occurs in the human experience, and in nature.

 

11. The Law of Cause and Effect:For every happening in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction. (This is not to be confused with the Law of Accountability – also known as the Law of Return).

 

12. The Law of Center:A basic principle in nature, that everything has a center from which it obtains it’s source energy, intelligence and pattern which is continually self-renewing. Each center is connected to every other center and to the one center from which all life is vitalized.

 

13. The Law of Communication:Every unit, from the single atom to the galaxy system is “plugged into” a giant switchboard. Each unit as the ability to communicate with all other units through it’s own vibrational frequency. This communication system makes it possible for all beings to have psychic possibilities, and to communicate or share information with each other on a psychic level.

 

14. The Law of Change:The readiness of a situation to alter, modify, transform or convert is caused by a continual change of inner attitude. As one continues to experience situations in life, their attitude adjusts to process the experience and change occurs.

 

15. The Law of Consciousness:Totality is all Consciousness, All there is – is. This is the ‘conscious of being’ or ‘awareness of it’s existence’. In other words, what we know at a given moment is reality for us as a conscious individual. What one perceives in consciousness from moment to moment is our individual reality and therefore real for us.

 

16. The Law of Contact (also known as the Law of Contagion):Things, animate or inanimate, once in contact with each other will continue to act upon each other even at a distance, long after the physical contact has been made.

 

17. The Law of Continuity:Nothing in the Universe ever dies, is lost or destroyed, it just changes form. Everything becomes a part of forever. Matter and Energy are never destroyed only transformed or changed.

 

18. The Law of Correspondence:Each component within a system or thing retains its own characteristics and takes on the characteristics of the system or thing as a total sum of its parts. Each component then has two functions; to retrain its own characteristics and to function as the whole system or thing.

 

19. The Law of Cosmic Web:Every point in space regardless of vibrational frequency connects with every other point in space and interconnects with every point of time; past, present and future.

 

20. The Law of Cycles:A period of time divided into equal lengths and each length of time produces a certain definite effect upon the progressional path of each living organism, object or event. This effect repeats itself in the same order, and at the same intervals, making a circle of time for each system.

 

21. The Law of Duplication:If one person can do it, it can be done by others; perhaps to a lesser or higher degree, or equally, to equalize with the activity.

 

22. The Law of Dying:When a unit or entity has completed one stage or area of growth, it will gather all the knowledge from this area of growth and all the knowledge from the Group Soul of it’s element and withdraw this knowledge into itself, ready to expand into enlightenment.

 

23. The Law of Elements:Each unit has it’s own frequency, each element in that unit has its frequency of emanations connecting it to and compatible with the parent unit. When these elements are separated from the parent unit, they will still have the same emanations connecting them to the parent unit.

The Law Of Accountability

The Law Of Accountability

 

 The Basics Of Karma
Simply put, karma is the result of an act or deed, either in the present, recent past or in past lives. Many people for some reason, think there is only ‘bad’ karma. But think about it, if you owe karma to someone, then someone is in a position to receive a karmic repayment. So there is both positive and negative aspects of karma.
Karma however is not the same thing as what has become known as the law of return, or the 3fold law. In actuality, these are not laws of “return”, but rather accountability. To further confuse the issue, not all traditions of Witchcraft follow the 3fold law, or a law of return. Some adhere to a 9fold or even a 10fold law.
The best way to think of this is:
Karma is the result of an action. 3fold, 9fold, 10fold is the action and your accountability to it.
If you still need more information, you might want to review or Metaphysical posting on Karma.
 What Is The Law Of Accountability?
The Law of Accountability is also known as the Law of Attraction (what we put out we get back, what we express we receive). How we think each morning starts the process of creation. Thought is energy that we put into motion on the ethereal plane. It moves around us, through us and walks the path we walk until it manifests in physical form. Once in physical form, the event created by our thought will generate a reaction from us. Again, creating a thought that creates a pattern of energy that we put into motion. It’s a cycle of energy that we establish around ourselves each moment of our lives. In other words, this is the Law of Accountability in action. What you put out, you get back. That law is not just for spells or rituals. It’s for how you live your life and conduct yourself through out your life.
A belief that any energy put out into the divine universe will return to the sender three times. Ancient beliefs state the senders mind, body and spirit, (thus the threefold concept) is accountable for all actions. In actuality, this isn’t really a law of return as much as it is a law of accountability. You are responsible for all your actions not just the results of those actions. So theoretically you are accountable at the time the action is created.
The 9-Fold law (also called the 3x3x3 law | where x=by) concept is the same, however, the return is a little different. In these traditions, the essence of the mind holds within itself the energy of mind, body and spirit. The essence of the body holds within itself the energy of it’s own mind body and spirit. And so for the essence of the spirit.
To better understand this, equating the essences with your “parts” might help. When an action occurs, the accountability resides in the:

  • Mind’s
    • Mind – the emotions
    • Body – the physical brains
    • Spirit – the subconscious or higher consciousness
  • Body’s
    • Mind – the life lines, your nervous system/blood system
    • Body – the physical body
    • Spirit – the chakra centers
  • Spirit’s
    • Mind – the seat of spiritual consciousness/memories
    • Body – the physical energy body
    • Spirit – the soul
The 10fold law is exactly the same as 9fold; you just add one for the Divine. The 10fold theory suggests not only are you responsible based within your own mind, body and spirit, but also to the Divine, or your place within it.

11 Signs You’re A White Witch

11 Signs You’re A White Witch

Are you a witch? Witchcraft is real and is all around us but what does it mean to be a witch? How can you tell? What are the signs of a witch? Well, they may not have hooked noses, green faces and warts, not even the dark witches, but they do believe in magic! Tudorbeth shares 11 signs you’re a white witch…

White witches are good and are often mistaken for being earth angels. Although there is one crucial difference between them, witches have a deep connection to nature, whereas angels are beings of air. And while angels are mediators between heaven and Earth, witches are beings of Earth and are mediators between humans and elemental beings. However, both serve the greater good in everything they do. Read on to see the 11 signs of a white witch:

1 You often have prophetic dreams
Do you have dreams that come true? Are your dreams often apocalyptic or do you meet loved ones who have passed? You may also dream of shapes – in particular a five pointed star or a triangle. These shapes can appear in nature throughout our dreams such as five petals on a flower, or a triangle-shaped leaf. A circle is also a symbol of witchcraft for it means the wholeness of the world and eternity.

A circle is also symbolic of the moon and witches are often referred to as children of the moon because of the goddess Diana.

2 You can easily pick up on an atmosphere
Do you walk into a room of people and know immediately if there has been an argument? Can you sense if a room full of people are friends or foes? Further, can you feel if something is just not right? Many witches are highly clairsentient which means all feeling, all sensing. Witches are all feeling for we are earth and human. Therefore, we feel all the emotions that humans have.

3 You prefer to be outdoors
Do you want to be outdoors, whatever the weather? You might also like to be outdoors at different times of the day and night. In fact you might even feel you come alive at night. You will love the smell of grass after it has been cut or the smell of summer rain. You might even be able to smell the snow coming in winter, as witches are the children of nature.

4 You’re a sensitive soul
Can you feel another’s pain or discomfort? People may talk to you and want your advice or want to confide in you about their problems. People feel at ease with you because of your caring and sensitive nature. In the past many witches, especially white witches, acted as local counsellors. People sought our help for all manner of problems and concerns.

5 You feel a draw to a particular animal
Think back into your childhood, has there been an animal, bird or insect that is always with you or found you wherever you have been even on holiday? It could be anything from a spider to a cat or a crow. It could even that stray dogs seem to follow you. These animals seek you for they are what we call familiars, an animal, a bird, or an insect which is your companion. These familiars are your gifts from spirit to guard you and look after you.

6 You like making home remedies
Do you like spending time creating homemade herbal cures and remedies? Are you fascinated by homeopathy? Maybe you use lavender to help you sleep or peppermint tea to calm and cool your stomach. Witches were renowned healers and apothecaries. We were midwives and carers long before there were doctors.

7 Children and animals are naturally drawn to you
Do you find that children and animals just prefer to be around you instead of their own parents and others? The reason children and animals are attracted to you is they can sense the magic and wonder in you. You also make them feel safe and they know they can trust you.

8 You are interested in the Universe and solar system
You might like watching documentaries about the Universe and all the different planets. You might intrinsically know that there is more life out there in space but you also know that we are all connected. That all the paths and movements of the planets affect us here on planet earth. You might be interested in the zodiac and astrology.

9 You like arts and crafts
You like making things from candles to cookery to dressmaking. You love to create and feel at home either in the kitchen brewing up a recipe or making presents or cards for people.

10 You recycle
You care deeply for the earth and environment and try to protect the Earth whenever you can. You adore the seasons and the changes in nature they bring. You recycled long before everyone else did. You love the autumn, the winter frosts, the spring flowers and the bees buzzing in the summer parks.

11 You believe in the greater good
You do everything with goodness in your heart. You try your best at everything. You also believe in magic and all that it means including the possibility of fairies and other elementals of the earth. You may also believe in ghosts. Yet in all your beliefs and in all what you do you feel strongly there is a force of good and you are a part of it.

If you answered yes to eight or more of these questions…
chances are you are a witch and a white one at that. And the one thing to remember with witchcraft is that once born a witch always a witch. You have been here before and now witchcraft is finding you again, so embrace it. Witchcraft is not meant to be difficult or challenging; it can mould its way into your life with such simplicity that you will realise it was already a part of you.

 

About the author

Tudorbeth is a hereditary practioner of the Craft. She comes from several generations of practioners of Witchcraft and learnt the practical side of magic from her father and the esoteric side from her mother. The rules and gifts of herb lore, scrying, healing, tasseomancy, numerology and candle magic all feature in her books. Tudorbeth has written many books on witchcraft including the series Magic in the City.

Published on Soul & Spirit Magazine

8 Habits of a White Witch

8 Habits of a White Witch

 

Following our guide to white magic, we’ve written another outlining the habits which every white witch should cultivate. ‘White witchcraft’ is a term traditionally used to describe magic which is performed for good and unselfish purposes – people of any colour can be white witches, and even though we use the term “she” in this article, men can be white witches too!

 

1 – A White Witch Respects Nature Nature is an important source of inspiration and wisdom for witches, and most Wiccans recognise that the Divine is present all around them in nature. This is why everything that exists in nature – from plants to animals, to rocks and elements – is regarded as sacred and treated with respect.

But what does this mean for a modern White Witch who’s trying to find her way through the jungle of big city life? It means developing habits that protect the environment, such as recycling, buying fairtrade and eco-friendly produce, choosing to eat organic food that’s free from pesticides, and other activities that help to renew and restore nature.

 

2 – A White Witch Casts White Magic Spells The Wiccan Rede states “An it harm none, do what ye will.” The White Witch is aware of this when preparing her potions or casting magick spells. She makes it her best practice to observe this law. She sees her magic as a way to serve good and selfless purposes. For this, she knows that she needs to do some inner searching to find out what her true motivations are, so she can ensure that her magic truly is designed for selfless purposes.

 

She recognises that Black Magic aims to take energy away, that it’s designed to manipulate and hurt others. So before casting love spells, money spells or healing spells, she takes the time to ensure that no one will be manipulated or cheated by her spells.

 

Even if someone has wronged her, she tries to forgive them, seeing the act as a limitation of that individual’s perspective or an unresolved and deeply seated hurt that they are not aware of. She does not engage in revenge spells because she knows that all people are born of the Divine and therefore all are One. She knows that by hurting someone else, she’s actually hurting herself. Before casting a White Magic Spell, she asks the spell to serve the highest good for everyone involved.

 

3 – A White Witch Knows the Value of Silence We live in a culture that prides extraverted attributes – people who can perform public speaking, loudly state their ideas during work meetings and entertain others with casual chit-chat are regarded as successful. But silence has its own merit, and a White Witch knows the value of silence.

 

She does not feel guilty for giving up on social activities whenever she feels the need to retreat into the silence of her own room to meditate and do some inner searching. A White Witch might have a daily meditation practice (10 minutes will do) that allows her to tap into her inner wisdom and intuition, and use it for guidance in her daily life.

 

4 – A White Witch Clears Her Energy A White Witch knows that energies accumulate. Everything around her vibrates with a certain emotional or energetic signature and she picks up on these vibes like a radar, especially if she’s a particularly empathetic or sensitive individual.

In order to clear herself of the residue of everyday life, she uses white sage, daily rituals or meditation to cleanse herself of the imprints that have been left on her energy field. She knows that having boundaries is healthy (unless they start to feel isolating) and she’s careful not to sacrifice the ‘me-time’ for anyone else, a time that she needs for herself.

 

5 – A White Witch Recognises the Divine All Around Her Just as nature is to be honoured and respected, so is everything else. The Divine is present all around us, and it’s both male and female. Therefore the goddess is just as important in Wicca as the god is. A White Witch recognises that the Divine is present in all of us, too. And so, any spiritual practice dedicated to a god or goddess is not complete, unless it is extended to the daily dealings with the people around us.

 

What’s more, a White Witch knows that the magical powers that she develops are not unique to her – everyone is entitled to them, just as she is. Everyone can tap into magick and their inner wisdom, if they make an active choice to do so.

6 – A White Witch Acknowledges Personal Responsibility “Ever mind the rule of three: What ye send out comes back to thee.” That’s how the Rule of Three or The Law of Threefold Return goes. There are many interpretations of this law. Some believe that it is similar to karmic laws – if you do harm unto others, if you send negativity out into the Universe, then negativity will come back to haunt you threefold. And the same goes for good things – if you do good deeds, then good deeds will come back to you threefold.

Of course, in life it does not always feel like that, so it’s very important to recognise not only your actions, but also your intentions behind your actions, and things start to make more sense. For example, helping someone is generally a good thing, but if you help someone without them asking for your help first, the energy that you send out into the Universe is not helpful – it’s actually binding and controlling, and that’s the energy that you’ll receive back.

 

Although the Law of Threefold Return is interpreted in many ways, what’s important for a White Witch is to recognise that her actions will have repercussions, and they are likely to be physical, emotional and spiritual. So before you engage in an important action, examine your intentions first, and be aware of the potential consequences that your actions may have. When you do, be ready to own up to those consequences.

 

7 – A White Witch Respects the Beliefs of Others Although a White Witch has found her own Path, she is fully aware that this Path is unique to her alone. Therefore, she does not object when others share their personal spiritual beliefs. She doesn’t mind that other people may not share her beliefs – she knows that they come from different backgrounds, family settings, even cultures. She is simply grateful to have found her Path and shares her insights with those who ask her about them. She does not preach or try to convert anyone to her version of the truth – rather, she delights in learning about the different perspectives that others around her hold.

 

8 – A White Witch Knows That She’s Just Human While a White Witch is aware of the Threefold Law and that Divinity exists all around her, she knows that she is merely human. Humans are flawed by nature (if you believe that perfection even exists) and so she knows that she can’t possibly predict all of the consequences of her actions, that she has all kinds of feelings (sometimes negative) and that sometimes she needs to vent these to someone, or ask for help. She sees no shame in this because a White Witch does not strive to be perfect – she tries to be kind to herself and not to judge herself too harshly for her mistakes. When she practices self-love, she feels that she becomes kinder and more forgiving to those around her as well.

 

About the Author

Ieva Remmerte enjoys writing about philosophy, spirituality, ancient practices and general fiction, and holds holds an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. You can find her on her website: wholistically.me.

Published on Wiccan Spells

The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft

The Four Rules and The Law of White Witchcraft

Torin Wathame

**Notice**
This document may be distributed freely so long as it is not altered, edited, or changed in any way from its original form. A copy of this document in its true original form may be gotten from our home page.

In order to live a full and successful life as a ‘White Witch’, one must first understand what the rules of the game are. The principles which are put forth below are intended to be a very simple, basic way to remember the way of the White Craft.

The total idea may be visualized as a four legged stool. Each of the Rules can be seen as a leg and The Law may be seen as the seat. The Rules without The Law are uncomfortable and nigh on to useless in their function. The Law without the Rules gives you a comfortable place to be, but it is rather impractical and again, nearly useless. However, when all of these are brought together they make a highly stable, functional, and enjoyable life.

The Four Rules
Live – Live each day as if it were your last, for one day you will be right.
Love – Love yourself first and foremost. For when you truly love yourself, loving those around you will come as easily as breathing – and we all must breathe.
Learn – Learn your life’s lessons – each as it comes – for that is the reason we are here.
Enjoy – Enjoy your life, because if you do not most likely someone else will enjoy it for you… and then your time here will have been wasted.
The Law: Harm None.

Explanations

Live
The first Rule put forth sounds pretty straight forward at first. Then you actually try to live it! 🙂 Living each day as if it were your last means maximizing your potential for every moment that you have been given.

If you are let go from your job… that is an opportunity to face truth and see what you can do to make yourself more marketable and go get a BETTER job. Or, if you are highly motivated, dedicated, and a risk taker you can take that chance to start your own company.

When I first began to follow these principles, my business was not very successful, my marriage was only tolerable, and I often felt depressed about my situation as a whole. Then I began to live each moment.’Carpe Diem’ (Seize the day) became my motto. I began to maximize every moment and live in the moment, not for the moment.

This does not mean that in order to be a good witch that you have to work like a rabid squirrel on ‘speed’… but it does mean that you have to be honest with yourself to see what your situation really is and to make the most of it. I believe that if I can go to bed at night and think to myself that I had done the very best I could that day with the information I had at each moment of opportunity, then the day was a success. But if I go to bed thinking that I had let an opportunity slip away I do not beat myself up over it. I simply say to myself, “Gee Torin, that was one you missed. I’ll get it the next time it comes along.”

Love
What is life without love? Honestly, I can’t imagine what that would be like. Yet many people live their lives without the most important form of love there is – the love of the self. If you truly understand yourself and are willing to take responsibility for your own actions you will suddenly find a great love for yourself.

In order to give free and unconditional love to another person you must first have that kind of feeling for yourself. This is all this means.

Learn
One of the cornerstones of The Craft is the belief that our souls are here on this plane of existence at this point in time to learn lessons. Your lessons are different from (although probably quite similar to) my own. Learn what life teaches you. It is no more difficult than this.

Enjoy
The life of the witch does not require you to live your life in suffering nor poverty. There are no mandates for pain, unhappiness, or unpleasantness. We do not see suffering as the ‘key’ to getting into Heaven (or the Summerlands as some of us call it). Indeed, we see such things as exactly what they are… unpleasant! This does not mean that we never have unpleasant things happen to us, nor that we walk around in a constant state of denial.

We see suffering as either the result of an action we took (i.e. going to jail for robbing a bank) or the way that The Unknown (see “The Deities of Witches” by Torin W.) has chosen to teach us a lesson which we need to learn but have not done anything consciously to bring about the circumstances (i.e. the totally unexpected death of a close friend).

Witch Craft allows you to reap all of the happiness and prosperity from your life that you can muster… so long as you stay within the accepted boundaries. For instance, if you work hard at an honest job you like to do then there is nothing which says you should feel badly for being more successful than others. But if you rob a bank, you may be happy with the things that the money can buy for a short period of time, but eventually you will suffer far greater than if you had simply worked for it. (I know this may sound somewhat like a contradiction to what I said earlier, but I do not believe in keeping a job which does not give me enough pleasure, satisfaction, and money to make up for the difficulties I endure.)

The Law: Harm None
I have been asked to explain this statement more than all of the previous ideas combined. I often describe ‘Harm None’ as “the Law which must remain unbroken, but cannot remain whole at all times.” Think about it, you can’t do it as a human being.

In order to actually harm none you would have to be in total and complete harmony with all things int he Universe at exactly the same time. Your immune system would not kill bacteria and other infections (because that would be harming them). Nor would you allow the bacteria to infect you because that would cause harm to yourself. You would not eat meat, nor vegetables because it would cause the destruction of either. Neither would you not eat because that would harm you. Do you see how this is simply an impossibility?

What I teach my students is to take great pains to Harm None and to think out the results of any act as far as possible ahead of time. I also stress that whenever magics are being worked that the free will of any individual or group should never be infringed.

I have been asked specifically about the use of various types of drugs in witchcraft and their relationship to the ‘Harm None’ principle. I believe that The Bright Ones gave us a sober state of mind for a reason. They also gave our brains some of the most potent chemicals known to man for achieving altered states of consciousness. Therefore i see no reason to alter the chemistry of the brain in order to ‘gain enlightenment’. Ask any recovering drug addict… he/she will tell you that the drugs lie to you.

Because of part of the training I give, I require that no illegal drugs are used while under my tutelage. In fact, if a student becomes sick during training and requires a prescription strength pain reliever, the training schedule is reworked to allow for the purging of the body before training resumes.

One of my students used to do a good deal of psychotropic drugs (i.e. LSD, mushrooms, etc.). Then he and I began to work together. After a few months of training, we worked a circle to allow him to develope his psychic senses (i.e. clairaudience, clairvoyance, etc.) When he left the circle he related to me a feeling such as none he had ever known. His words were, “It was a hundred thousand times better then the best acid trip I had ever taken.”

In short, I personally feel that drugs can be a great hinderance and only cause damage to your soul. But I also recognize the free will of the individual. I can only tell you that in my own perception, drugs do cause harm to you.

Merry Part and Blessed Be
Torin W.

 

Originally Published on Pagan Library