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| ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology |
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| Signs, Cures, and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore |
The persecution of Old World German Protestants and Anabaptists in the seventeenth century-following debilitating wars, the Reformation, and the Inquisition-brought about significant immigration to America. Many of the immigrants, and their progeny, settled in the Appalachian frontier. Here they established a particularly old set of religious beliefs and traditions based on a strong sense of folk spirituality. They practiced astrology, numerology, and other aspects of esoteric thinking and left a legacy that may still be found in Appalachian folklore today.
Based in part on the author's extensive collection of oral histories from the remote highlands of West Virginia, Signs, Cures, and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore describes these various occult practices, symbols, and beliefs; how they evolved within New World religious contexts; how they arrived on the Appalachian frontier; and the prospects of those beliefs continuing in the contemporary world.
By concentrating on these inheritances, Gerald C. Milnes draws a larger picture of the German influence on Appalachia. Much has been written about the Anglo-Celtic, Scots-Irish, and English folkways of the Appalachian people, but few studies have addressed their German cultural attributes and sensibilities. Signs, Cures, and Witchery sheds startling light on folk influences from Germany, making it a volume of tremendous value to Appalachian scholars, folklorists, and readers with an interest in Appalachian folklife and German American studies.
The connection between Frey and Kingship is clearest in Sweden [my top autosomal genetic match for deep ancestral origins] where Frey was the ancestor of the royal Yngling dynasty ... The Yngling royal house that descended from Frey took its name from the god, who is frequently called Yngvi-Frey, Ingunar Frey, and the like in Norse literature.
To summarize, Frey, and Kings whose stories suggest that they are identified with or assimilated to the god, are associated with reigns noted for their prosperity and peace. Frey is the divine ancestor whose blessings are brought forth again and again by his worthy successors; he is the benevolent god.
י"א אייר תשס"ט
Annwn 12
Introducing the newest addition to my library - Between The Worlds, Witchcraft and the Tree of Life by Stuart Myers.
From back cover - "Witches can now reclaim the Qabalah as a powerful system of magick that readily fits into the practice of Wicca. Drawing upon the fragments of Pagan Qabalah and inspired by the early Hebrew peoples who guided their lives by the cycles of the Moon and Sun, Between The Worlds returns the Qabalah of the Queen of Heaven to the world from out of the shadows of the patriarchy."
See my next post on Divine Feminine Iahu (יאהו), the Sumerian origin of YHVH (יהוה)!
כ"ט אב התשס"ח
Belz 1
Sidhe Moon of Shabbat Belz Machar Chodesh
Black Fire Atop White Fire
one of my Walking On Fire avatars at LiveJournal
I came home yesterday from work to find that I had finally received the new book in the mail that I had ordered a few weeks ago - The Sidhe, Wisdom From The Celtic Otherworld. I had been waiting for the book on aes sídhe (pronounced 'ess shee') to arrive for an unusually extended period of time and had been considering contacting the bookseller soon to inquire as to the possibility that my book order or the shipment had been lost. That would not be necessary now, for The Sidhe arrived just in time for shabbat of the Sidhe Moon.
A Sidhe Moon, also called the Other Moon, is the uncommon phenomenon of two Black Moons occurring in one solar month. The second Black Moon in such a month is called the Sidhe or Fairy Moon. This rare lunar event occurs today, in the year of 2008/5768, on shabbat (weekly Jewish sabbath) of the Torah portion Re'eh (meaning 'see'), on the first day of the Witch's month of Belz (Days of Fire), and on the penultimate day of the Hebrew month of Av (Days of the Young Shoot/bud).
Torah Of The Sidhe - Black Fire Atop White Fire
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is aleph (א). The penultimate letter of the Hebrew alphabet is shin (ש). Together, the letters aleph-shin spell the Hebrew word esh (אש) meaning 'fire'. The period of time corresponding to the Witch's month of Belz is, as written above, called 'Days of Fire'.
White Fire corresponds to the two Hebrew letters of the word esh, meaning 'fire', symbolizing the mutable Light of Awareness. Black Fire corresponds to the dark Sidhe Moon of the month of Belz, the Days of Fire, and to the immutable note of a Dark Essence Ancient of Days brought forth through the Old Forest Craft of this shamanic Jewitch. Interestingly, the Sidhe teach of the unique note each creature and species contribute to the exquisite song of All Being within the pages of the book I received yesterday afternoon.
The Sidhe Moon is an element from the Teaching of Green Witchcraft. Interwoven with this teaching of Green Witchcraft is a teaching of Torah.
Torah is also a Teaching Tradition (like Green Witchcraft) which describes the Blueprint of Creation and is itself described in the Midrash (Jewish mythology) as “black fire atop white fire” (Sifrei, on Deuteronomy 33:3).
Integrating all these ideas simply and wholly, we can see that not only is there Wisdom among the Sidhe, we can see that there is Torah among the Sidhe as well. Equally important, just as tzaddikim may have Da'at Torah (integral knowledge of mystical-magical Law-Teaching), so too may witches have Da'at Torah.
And so begins my relationship this shabbat with the Sidhe, with black fire atop white fire.
ח' אב התשס"ח
Lughnasadh 9
In follow-up to my earlier entry discussing my shabbat dream (Endless Legion From The Elementary Sea), connected to the dream's reality is the fact that last night I went to sleep after reading the chapter Creation, What Every Pagan Should Know About Evolution from Starhawk's book The Earth Path, Grounding Your Spirit In The Rhythms Of Nature.
In this chapter, Starhawk discusses the concept of Gaian evolution. After reading the chapter last night, as I lay in bed contemplating my own Gaian connections, the reality of those connections emerged. Reaching far back into premanifest consciousness, evolving up through the elements into single and multicellular organisms and into beyond the human animal, ever-existent within the ever-evolving yet timelessly unchanging tapestry of Nature, my Eternal 'Ancestral' Matrix made its Eternal Presence known. It is very good and beautiful.
כ'ו בחשון תשס"ח
Small excerpts from an interesting new book I recently acquired - Secret Signs, Symbols & Sigils by Nigel Pennick:
Writing and symbols, art and architechture, technology and warfare are all structured according to the human body.
The fourfold division of the world, and its further subdivision into eight directions known as airts is derived directly from the structure of the human body and its interaction [emphasis mine] with the physical structure and processes of the planet upon which we evolved and upon which we live. At the centre of this fourfold division is the individual person, the source, fount and origin, the naval, the relic of the point from which each of us developed as an embryo within our mother.
Naval points in the landscape [of feminine malchut, for example - my addition] are known in geomantic terminology by its Greek name omphalos. This terminology, calling the central point a naval, reiterates the slain giant motif of the primal creation of the world, where each part of the human being is reflected in its corresponding structure in the world.
In human beings, the naval is the vestige of the umbilical cord which once connected the unborn baby to the placenta in the mother's womb. Through the omphalos, the material world is linked by a cosmic axis "upwards" to the creative, generative upperworld and downward to its complimentary opposite, the degenerative or destructive underworld.
This pattern of a centre in this world linked by an axis to the upper world above and the netherworld below is the basis for traditional sacred cosmology. It exists throughout the world in different cultural contexts.
It is the stable structure of society without which there is disorder and disintegration.
The determination of such a powerful cosmic centre [the teli - my addition], so vitally important in psychological as well as social terms, was one of the major tasks of the augur or locator - many folk tales recall these arduous quests.
Such is the mystery of the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm, "as above, so below". The central naval of the earth, symbolically represents the fixed point at which other states of consciousness and spiritual evolution may be attained by those attuned to such things by dint of personal effort or divine designation.
The discovery of such a place of symbolic power, its definition and the geomantic act is enshrined in the mythos of dragonslaying in the stories of such luminaries as the Pagan heroes Cadmus, Siegfried and Beowulf, and in the Christian mythology, saints such as Beatus, George, Leonard, Martha and Michael and knights like Lord Lambton [and in Judaic stories such as David and Goliath - my addition].
In each of these legends, the dragon, wyrm or serpent that is killed is often taken to symbolise the earth energies which, sensitive people assert, roam, bewilderingly and dangerously free in the soil and the underlying rock formations beneath our feet.
In traditional society, the determination of the most powerful and appropriate location for the fixation of these geomantic energies was the task of the locator. After long and meticulous scrutiny of the site, [the locator] would decide upon the correct time to undertake the geomantic act.
According to geomantic symbolism, at the designated instant, when the forces were at their most malleable, and when the energies could best be tamed, the locator would drive a peg or staff, or perhaps a lance or sword into the earth as the culmination of the foundation ceremony.
All would be applied with the greatest care to ensure the efficacy of the geomantic act.
Piercing the ground at the optimal location appears to fix these wandering energies permanently in an accessible place ... commonly called a place of power.
Many depictions of the geomantic act show the hero or heroine [emphasis mine] transfixing the dragon with a stave, sword or spear, which frequently runs through the head to pin it to the ground below [like Yael of "a mother in Yisrael" fame in Torah - my addition].
This mystical concept is found in many places, most notably in the epithet of King Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, high king of Britain. In Northern Tradition spiritual symbolic kingship, the strength and health of the monarch, as head of the nation, is indistinguishable from that of the land. When he or she is strong and worthy, the land flourishes in unity, peace, fruitfulness and prosperity. When he or she is weak or unworthy, the land distintegrates in crime, factionalism, greed and poverty. Also, once these magical aspects of kingship are no longer recognised, distintegration occurs. [My addition - once these magical aspects of kingship are again recognised, reintegration occurs.]
Symbolically, King Arthur's withdrawal of the sword from the stone to assert his right of kingship of Britain, is a reversal of the geomantic act. In removing the sword, Arthur frees the dragon power which, as Pendragon himself, the king can control. It appears to be of no coincidence that Arthur's military successes against the Saxon invader, were [like a wandering Jew - my addition] in mobile calvary warfare, not in static and centered defense.
כ"ט בתמוז תשס"ז
My youngest son, who is in his early twenties, is interested in learning about wicca/witchcraft and druidry. While I know what books I like from a female witch's perspective, I would appreciate any suggestions as to what books are out there which might be more targeted to masculine spirituality. I want the first introductory books he reads on these subjects to make him think "wow!". He currently is curious and seeking to investigate both wicca/witchcraft and druidry. He asked me for something which "summarizes" the paths so that he can get an idea if witchcraft or druidry might be for him. Most of the books I have are written by women and/or in a style "I" like, as a woman. Thus, my dilemma ... any suggestions to wow! my son?
כ"ח בתמוז תשס"ז
New Additions To My Bookshelf
Magical Alphabets
Nigel Pennick
"Using the premise that languages and the alphabets that comprise them are metaphorical microcosms of our world, Nigel Pennick demonstrates how various alphabets function as a metaphysical description of reality. Magical alphabets actually enable seekers to experience a transformative process. This inner transformation is one of the main objectives of all esoteric traditions, and it can be accomplished by using any of the alphabet systems described in this book."
Write Your Own Magic, The Hidden Power In Your Words
Richard Webster
"Write Your Own Magic shows you how to use the incredible magical power of words to make your dreams into a reality. This guidebook presents the three magic steps essential to manifesting exactly what you want, for dreams both big and small."
Ogam, The Celtic Oracle Of The Trees
Paul Rhys Mountfort
"The ancient ogam (alternatively, ogham) alphabet is a magical and mysterious script, the Celtic equivalent of the runes (and Hebrew letters), that can teach us about our fate and future. Named after the woodland trees, Ogam's twenty tree-letters all have unique wisdom to impart that is linked to figures and themes from Celtic mythology."
Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary
Hayim Baltsan
"This is a dictionary that differs, both in structure and scope, from any other Hebrew dictionary. It has been conceived and designed with one specific purpose: to render Hebrew - a language reputed to be "Greek" to anyone who has not invested years of study in it - accessible to all. In other words, to make it possible for everyone - even for absolute beginners not acquainted with the Hebrew alphabet - to ascertain the meaning, pronunciation, spelling or usage of any Hebrew word, name or expression in current use as easily as one would if it were Spanish, Italian, German or Swedish. A breakthrough work of linguistic scholarship."
Green Witchcraft II, Balancing Light & Shadow
Ann Moura (Aoumiel)
"Green Witches are deeply connected to the Earth and the cosmic balance of light and dark. They welcome the wisdom of the light and the shadow sides of nature, the self, and the Divine to grow more whole in magic and spirit."
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