Matron Who Brings Peace

י"א באלול תשס"ז

Although most of my maternal Celtic-European ancestry is English-British-Welsh (as well as Jewish), I also have some Celtic-Irish and Celtic-Germanic ancestries (as well as Native American) on my father's side. Consequently, as a witch with some Germanic heritage woven into the tapestry of who I am, it is quite legitimate for me to claim the Ertha archetype as one of my own, and I do hereby claim it.

Ertha is the "matron of witches and peace envoys". She also governs "fertility, the hearth, the home, domestic life, and the Wild Hunt." She is the Bringer of Peace and is "hostile to iron". Given Ertha's role as Peace-Bringer, it is not surprising that She is considered hostile to iron, a metal typically used to make war and shorten life. Iron's typical use as a metal of war-making is one reason why a witch doesn't typically put anything made of iron (other than her athame which never cuts anything physical or shortens life) on her altar. Ertha, the matron of witches and peace, is not "hostile" toward the iron of a witch's athame nor toward any other iron which prolongs life and brings peace.

Thus, not only is Ertha the matron of witches and peace, she is also the litmus test by which (internal and external) kavanah is judged as peaceful or warful. No warful intent gets past Ertha and into Sacred Spacetime. Only warful intent is ever cut and transformed by the iron of a witch's athame.