3101 Study of the Planetary Hours System ----------------------------------- by Andrew Kettle. 1994 Introduction. Neo-pagan witchcraft has no central leaders, so one of the questions that echos across the valleys of the traditions is; "Are there to many cooks spoiling the broth?" As most witches are fervent independants, and self-assertively so, each will have a differnt approach and opinion to such a simple observation. Underneath the whole landscape of debate however, are truths and basic historical facts being forgotten or distorted? In certain instances it would be deemed unavoidable in the present atmosphere of information scavenging, where medium communications reveal past lives and the knowledge from them to broaden the bookshelves of the many esoteric book shops. Be that as it may, studying the large expanse of existing wisdom, at times similiar to looking through water-glass, will relinquish many difficulties and contradictions. To some this would increase the mysticism, however when it is a matter of legitimacy where do we stand? Sample Text: from "What witches do", Stewart Farrar,1989, Phoenix Pub.,Wash. p.174. " Appendix 3. Planetary Hours. These are the traditionally accepted hours for operating spells which have planetary correspondences. Each day has a ruling planet; our days of the week in English are mostly named after the Teutonic forms of the planet-gods concerned. They are: Sunday, the Sun; Monday, the Moon; Tuesday, Mars (Tiw); Wednesday, Mercury (Woden); Thursday, Jupiter (Thor); Friday, Venus (Freya); Saturday, Saturn. The First hour after sunrise is ruled by the day's own planet, after which each hour is ruled by one of the other planets in the order Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and so on in rotation. Thus Monday's second daylight hour is ruled by Saturn, Tuesda's second by the Sun, etc. At sunset a new sequence starts with the fifth down the list from the day's planet: thus Monday's first hour from sunset is ruled by Venus, etc. The full list is as follows: " Disclaimer: I have it as a strong intention, to point out that this acticle is not to be taken as a personal attack of the above author or the publisher, or any other connecting party. I have used Stewart Farrar's text only as a example of the commonly published, and accepted, planetary hour concept. Example: Winter Solstice Timetable of Planetary Arrival and Departures for ================================================================= 3102 Eastern Australia (Brisbane area only) on the 22nd of June, 1994. ================================================================= Wednesday Time Planet Statis Planetary Hours ---- ------ ------ --------- ----- 2.30am Jupiter Set. Mars 3.40am Mars Rise. Sun 3.50am Pluto Set. Sun 4.54am Moon Set. Venus 5.14am Twilight start 6.37am Sun Rise. 6.55am Mercury Rise. 8.14am Neptune Set. Moon 8.25am Uranus Set. Moon 9.12am Venus Rise. Saturn 11.06am Saturn Set. Mars 1.32pm Jupiter Rise. Venus 2.29pm Mars Set. Mercury 3.21pm Pluto Rise. Moon 3.53pm Moon Rise. Moon 5.02pm Sun Set. 5.31pm Mercury Set. Jupiter 6.25pm Twilight End 6.35pm Neptune Rise. Sun 6.46pm Uranus Rise. Sun 7.44pm Venus Set. Venus 10.23pm Saturn Rise. Saturn Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that the 'Planetary Hours' concept is a timetable, based primarily on simplicity, that was developed in a age when astronomic technology was largely unavailable, so resulting in such a system; that in our modern technological society, as a result of astronomic calculations being easily accessable, that a new system of 'Planetary hours' should be constructed upon 'Hours of Right Ascension/ Planets on the Meridian' where applicable or the highest point of ascension, when the planet is not true to the horizon. Conflict: As it can be deduced from the above table, certain planetary hours occur when the planet in question is not within the horizon. For example, the sun's planetary hours of 3am and 6pm are outside of 'daytime'; Mar's 2am is outside of 'Marstime'; the moon's 8am is external to 'Moontime'. As a principle, I would remark that it would be of assistance in rituals that the planet is in appearance and that the optimum time would be when the planet is directly above, the hour of Right Ascension/ Planet on the Meridan, or highest point of path through the hemispheres. If the 'worshipper' was to have a difficulty with the domineering effect of the planet being above them / on top of them, then a principle of welcoming the planet at rise and farewelling the planet at set are equally as valid. Continuing, this would establish only one planetary hour in each day, raising the question of practicality, though a rather 3103 erroneous matter, giving the examples hours of: Mars (9.04am) 9am planetary hour, Sun (11.49am) 11am planetary hour, Mercury (12.13pm) 12pm planetary hour, Venus (2.26pm) 2pm planetary hour, etc. To this end, computer programs and/or annual publications would easily create the availablity of the timetable, a future project for any publishing house or any number of the pagan/ witchcraft magazine to have as a regular cloumn, thus giving the practitioner the simplicity, not resorting to ill-advised system as an alternative. However, at this point it should be mentioned that, in accordance with general perception, the physical planet plays a symbolic role, that the planet is not the vehicle of magical properties, but a icon, much as the moon is not Aradia in person, but a mirror of her essence. Furthermore, it is an accepted belief that the full-moon is the time of 'Esbat', though in comparison the remaining planets are given an inaccurate timetable; a perplexing situation. Toward, the modernising approach in witchcraft it should be important to establish 'correct' instruction to ritual, upon the understanding that it would be a great disservice to entertain anything else but actuality; as the turmoil of the word 'wicca' has caused in the movement, now accepted by most as a redefined word, though all the same established upon false impressions, an unfortunate situation historically speaking. An accurate approach to the craft, that is slowly being supported as our cultures' resources and developing knowledge widely spreading with discussions and publications, will result in a detailed sweep and clean of the old misconceptions in the traditions and a polish to reflect the light of modern education. Conclusion: As with the modern approach of Planetary Hours, it should be every members directions in tune with open-minded, clear thinking not to accept a practice that is incorrect and to strive establishing a strengthed tradition on the foundations of accurate discovery of the originals of comprehension. Such an approach would wash out the '14th century mass illiterate' influence that customs have continued. Though it must be seen that without this assistance there would possible be no present existance of witchcraft, but a rectification of this knowledge is by no means an attack. Furthermore, it is suggested that a choice should always be based on truth and not mislead by mistaken presuption. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3104 By: Alex Rigel Source: "An ABC of Witchcraft", Doreen Valiente, 1973, Phoenix publishing inc., Wash. pp.203-4. "Initiations. When witchcraft became an underground organisation, the Craft of the Wise, it shared a characteristic common to all secret societies. Admission to it was by initiation. Such initiation required the newly admitted member to swear a solemn oath of loyalty. When witchcraft was punishable by torture and death, such an oath was a serious metter. Today, when witchcraft has become like Freemasonry, not a secret society but a society with secrets, the idea of initiationj still remains. Initiations into witch circles nowadays take varying forms, as they probably always did. However, the old idea that initiation must pass from the male to the female, and from the female to the male, still persists. A male with must be initiated by a woman, and a female witch by a man. This belief may be found in other forms, in traditional folklore. For instance, the words of healing charms are often required to be passed on from a man to a woman, or from a woman to a man. Otherwise, the charm will have no potency. There is also an old and deep-seated belief, both in Britian and in Italy, that witches cannot die until they have passed on thier power to someone else. This belief in itself shows that witchcraft has been for centuries an initiatory organisation, in which a tradition was handed on from one person to another. The exception to the rule that a person must be initiated by one of the opposite sex, occurs in the case of a witch's own children. A mother may initiate her daughter, or a father his son. In general, for their own protection, covens have made a rule that they will not accept anyone as a member under the age of 21. Witches' children are presented as babies to the Old Gods, and then not admitted to coven membership until they have reached their majority. This rule became general in the terms of persecution. Secrecy upon which people's lives depended was too great a burden for children's shoulders to bear. It is evident, from the stories of witch persecutions, that witch-hunters realised how witchcraft was handed down in families. Any blood relative of a convicted witch was suspect. The witch-hunting friar, Francesco-Maria Guazzo, in his 'Compendium Maleficarum' (Milan, 1608, 1626; English translation edited Montague Summers, London, 1929), tells us that "it is one among many sure and certain indications against those accused of witchcraft, if one of their parents were founded guilty of this crime". When the infamous Matthew Hopkins started his career as Witch-Finder General, the first victim he seized upon was an old woman whose mother had been hanged as a witch. There are a number of fragmentary accounts of old-time witch initiations, and from these a composite picture can be built up. The whole-hearted acceptance of the witch religion, and the oath of loyalty, were the main features. There was also the giving of a new name, or nick-name, by which the novice was henceforth to be known in the novice was given a certain amount of instruction, and, if the initiation took place at a Sabbat, as it often did, they were permitted to join in the feast and dancing that followed. In some cases, in the days of really fierce persecuation, a candidate was also required to make a formal renunciation of the official faith of the Christian Church, and to fortify this by some ritual act, such as trampling on a cross. This was to ensure that the postulant was no hypocritical spy; because such a one would not dare to 3105 commit an act which he or she would believe to be a mortal sin. Once the postulant had formally done such an act, they had in the eyes of the Church damned themselves, and abandoned themselves to hellfire; so it was a real test of sincerity, and an effective deterrent to those who wanted to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. Such acts are not, however, to my knowledge, required of witches today. One of the ritual acts recorded as being part of a witch initiation is that described by Sir George Mackenzie, writing in 1699 about witchcraft in Scotland, in his book 'Laws and Customs of Scotland" (Edinburgh, 1699): "The Slemnity confest by our Witches, is the putting one hand to the crown of the Head, and another to the sole of the Foot, renouncing thier Baptism in that posture." Joseph Glanvill's book 'Sadducismus Triumphatus' (London, 1726), had a frontispiece of pictures illustrating various stories of mysterious happenings, and one of these old woodcuts shows a witch in the act of doing this. Her initiation is taking place out of doors, in some lonely spot between two big trees. With her are three other women, one of whom seems to be presenting her to the devil, who appears as the conventional figure of a horned and winged demon. In practice, however, the devil of the coven was a man dressed in black, who was sometimes called the Man in Black, for this reason. The "grand array" of the horned mask, etc, was only assumed upon special occasions. A variant of this ritual was for the Man in Black to lay his hand upon the new witch's head, and bid her to "give over all to him that was under his hand". This, too, is recorded from Scotland, in 1661. Information about the initiation of men into witchcraft is much less than that referring to women. However, here is an account from the record of the trial of William Barton at Edinburgh, about 1655, evidently partly in his words and partly in those of his accusers, which tells how a young woman witch took a fancy to him, and initiated him: One day, says he, going from my own house in Kirkliston, to the Queens Ferry, I overtook in Dalmeny Muire, a young Gentlewoman, as to appearance beautiful and comely. I drew near to her, but she shunned my company, and when I insisted, she became angry and very nyce. Said I, we are both going one way, be pleased to accept of a convoy. At last after much entreaty she grew better natured, and at length came to that Familiarity, that she suffered me to embrace her, and to do that which Christian ears ought not to hear of. At this time I parted with her very joyful. The next night, she appeared to him in that very same place, and after that which should not be named, he became sensible, that it was the devil. Here he renounced his baptism, and gave up himself to her service, and she called him her beloved and gave him this new name of John Baptist, and recieved the Mark. The Devil's amke was made much of by professional witch-hunters, being supposed to be an indelible make given by the devil in person to each witch, upon his or her initiation. However, it would surely have been very foolish of the devil to have marked his followers in this way, and thus indicated a means by which they mightalways be known. From the confused descriptions given at various times and places, it seems evident that the witch-hunters knew there was some ceremony of marking, but did not know what it was. In witchcraft ceremonies today, the new initiate is marked with oil, wine, or some pigment, such as charcoil. However, as Margaret Murray has pointed out, there is a possibility, judging by the many old 3106 accounts of small red or blue markings being given, the infliction of which was painful but healed after a while, that this may have been a tattoo mark. Ritual tattooing is a very old practice; and some relics of this survive today, in the fact that people have themselves tattooed with various designs 'for luck'. However, when persecution became very severe, it would have been unwise to continue this form of marking. The most up-to-date instance I have heard, of the marking of new initiates, is the practice of a certain coven in Britian today, which uses eyeshadow for this purpose; because it is available in pleasing colours, is easily washed off, and does no harm to the skin. One wonders what old-time witches would think of it! 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3107 By: Alex Rigel Source: "Lid Off The Cauldron. A wicca Handbook", Patrica Crowther, 1992, Samuel Weiser inc., Maine. pp.34- Initiation. To become a witch you must have a natural inclination to worship the Old Gods. It must be a feeling which springs from the heart and carries you on towards your goal, in exactly the same way it happened to the first witches thousands of years ago. The approach must be in this manner. Any other attitude, such as vulgar curiosity, a desire for power over others, or the selfish intention of using magic to gain material ends, will only end in failure and disillusion. The Old Gods are ancient archetypal images of the divine powers behind all Nature. They are the oldest gods known to man. Pictures of them are painted all over Europe and show the great influence they had, even at the Dawn of Time. Just because they are so old, is no reason to believe they are in any way 'out of date'. Our ancesstors were no fools: their way of life and their culture is gaining more and more respect as the years go by. Continuous discoveries about their skills and beliefs growing admiration and amazement. Their deities were a Mother Goddess and a Horned God, representing the twin forces of life: male and female, light and dark, positive and negative, Sun and Moon, etc. These complimentary aspects in nature are 'fact' and cannot be disputed. And, because the Gods are true representations of the divine powers behind all manifestation, they have endured through millennia, and will always endure. Unlike many other religions, where contact with divinity is sought through prayer and meditation, witchcraft teaches development of the soul through the Eight Paths of the Witches' Wheel. These ways are part of the Western Mystery Tradition. The West and the East are two very different places. Eastern religions teach their followers to look 'within' for enlightenment, and although the West uses this method in meditation, it is only 'one' of the Eight Paths. The Western mind looks 'outward' and seeks spiritual grace by helping others. Thus, the witches use their powers to help those in sickness or trouble. The Awakening can begin as an urge which rises from the depths of the soul. A state of boredom or despiration, which every human being comes to at some point of incarnation, can become as a beacon to the spirit. It is born to the struggling soul and to the complacent alike. Many lives may be endured before it is realized that the true self must take the initiative and begin to fight its own way out of the Cycles of Incarnation, which, without the control of the Higher Self, may continue indefinitely. Once the realization is born, and the quest begun, the soul is on its way from manhood to godhood. Regarding the Craft, it is wise to seek initiation from a 'genuine' coven. This is not as easy as it sounds, as genuine adherents do not seek converts, and therefore do not advertise for members. they believe that if a person is sincere and determined enough in their desire to belong to the Craft, they will, sooner or later, make contact. There are, however, various ways of speeding things up a little, such as contributing to one of the privately printed occult magazines, which are usually run by people 'in the know'. Or even placing a small advert in one of these papers. You can also write to the author of a book on the subject, and send the letter via the publishers. It might then be forwarded to a coven in your area, although I must add here that even if 3108 this happens, and you are invited to meet someone from a coven, it would not be indicative of entry. There are certain conditions which have to be fulfilled, such as blending in with the personalities of the members, having read widely on the subject, a willingness to submit to a waiting period, usually a year and a day, among others. Yet these conditions are valid ones; you cannot expect to be accepted quickly, but you will know that the witches you meet have undergone similar obstacles themselves. The ways of the witches are those of caution, especially where strangers are concerned. After all, who would admit a stranger to their home without an introduction, let alone to a temple of the Mysteries. Care must be taken, too, in finding a coven which is in close 'rapport' with your own life-style, culture and character. But, once contact is made, there is hope in finding a group where conditions, on both sides, can be fulfilled. Although some covens wear robes, the traditional way of working in the Circle, is to be sky-clad, or naked. When you are brought into the Craft, yoou enter as you were born, without clothes or ties of any kind. The first initiation is virtually an introduction to a new way of life. You are made a 'Child of the Goddess'; you are shown the tools of the Craft; told the ways of working magic, and made to swear an oath to keep the secrets of the Art. This is called the First Degree. The Second Degree is the initiation proper. Thsis involves the concept of symbolic death and symbolic resurrection, when you are re-born with the new magical personality. A new name (of your own choice) is given to you which represents the transformation, and by which, henceforth, you will be known when in the Circle. The drama of this mystery play implants its ideas firmly in the subconscious mind of the adherent, and the mystery, which is enacted on the material plane, sets the seal on the future. It is not to be supposed that by initiation and teaching you will automatically be 're-born'. A way will be shown, and knowledge imparted, yet the journey is always 'alone' and the true 'will' tested to the very brink of breaking point. In a sense, when initiation takes place it is very much like daring Fate to do its worst. One has taken a stand: "I announce to all creation that I will endure to progress." In witchcraft the soul develops a deeper understanding of 'being'. This entails practice, which is why the Craft has grades of advancement. The highest grade is the consummation of the mysteries, where ritual yields to what is termed, 'The Secret of the Silver Wheel'. There is also the imparting of certain 'secret' words, which, in themselves, convey very little, but their secret intention 'is' important and gently 'nudges' the aspirant onward. 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3109 ASC's And Ritual This article by Anna appeared in Web of Wyrd, issue number 7. ***begins Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) are an integral part of ritual. They can be defined as any mental state recognised by the individual as different from his or her normal waking consciousness. As such, the act of separating yourself from the mundane world, having a ritual bath or shower and preparing the ritual space, is enough to induce some sort of ASC in most people. Taking on a magical persona involves an ASC, as does invocation of godhead, dancing or chanting to raise power, meditation, scrying, and going through a guided visualisation or pathworking. The use of ASCs in magic and ritual has many benefits. By means of a guided visualisation or pathworking you can have experiences that would harm you or be impossible in the mundane world. For example, in a visualisation relating to fire you can stand in the midst of a roaring fire or become the flame itself; experiences which might deepen your understanding of the element fire. Another experience reached through ASCs is that of the god or goddess being called down upon you, something that enriches and enlivens your magical life. Entering an ASC is normally part of the process of stepping onto the astral plane, reaching the Otherworld, tapping racial memory or the collective unconscious, contacting inner guides or obtaining information from your own unconscious. To raise power, many enter an ASC by dancing, chanting or using breathing techniques. It's then much easier to focus your concentration, draw on energy, and let it flow through you and into the object of the spell. Simple ASCs shouldn't be forgotten. Being able to relax the first time you cast a circle in front of everyone might help you remember the words, and will certainly help you focus the power you need. Meditation is another fundamental skill in magical arts, one that is used at all stages. Some ASCs can help you find out more about yourself. By doing so, you can understand and remove the beliefs and blocks that prevent you from developing, from using your magical abilities to their full extent. These blocks are erected as part of the process of growing up. As an example, if you're told often enough as a child that the fairies that you see at the bottom of the garden don't exist, eventually you come to believe it. Understanding and getting rid of this belief twenty years later so that you can see the fairies again can be a long process, one which can be speeded up by techniques using certain ASCs. Like many things, ASCs are tools, often valuable, but also dangerous. One danger is not coming out properly at the end of a ritual. Being in an ASC can feel wonderful and it can be tempting to stay there. You see it happening at some of the New Age workshops, where people get a nice emotional spaced-out high from a session, and hang on to that feeling as long as they can - "workshop junkie". The problem is that in an ASC you do not always have full access to those parts of yourself needed to perform mundane tasks like driving a car, or doing your job satisfac- torily. Remaining in an ASC can be quite destructive if you need to function in the "normal" world. 3110 Occasionally an ASC can trigger what is known as an abreaction in someone. Entering the ASC removes the barrier the person has put between their conscious mind and a traumatic experience they've had. As a result the person suddenly goes through the experience again, bursting into tears, yelling with anger, shivering with fear, and so on. This sort of reaction needs to be dealt with therapeutically; telling the person to forget it only makes the experience and any problems it has caused, worse for them. Not only does the person controlling a group ASC experience need to be able to handle such abreactions, but he or she also needs to be able, when putting a new group into ASCs, to recognise individuals with borderline psychoses. The reason is that putting such people into an ASC, especially trance states, can push them over into a full-blown psychosis. For example, putting an epileptic into trance can trigger epileptic seizures. Control is an important aspect of ASCs. In a ritual, at least one person should remain in control, able to take over and bring the group out if anything goes wrong. That person makes sure that no-one is taken over by an entity which remains after the circle, and that no inappropriate suggestions are made. (In ASCs, especially trance states, you are much more suggestible, and might inadvertently pick up someone else's comment as a suggestion - after all, this is the principle upon which TV advertising is based.) They also make sure that everyone comes out and grounds properly at the end of the ritual. Another area where control is important is where an ASC is entered from another ASC. Pathworking, visualisation and scrying is often more intense, more meaningful, if done in circle. This is because when you start to do the pathworking or whatever from a mild ASC instead of your own normal waking state, you tend to go further or deeper, and thus gain more from the exercise. However, using drugs to enter an ASC before performing ritual is a completely different matter. Drugs leave you with no control over the first ASC you enter, so the outcome of entering a second one can be quite different from what you expected. The harder the drug, the bigger the problem is likely to be. A drug might, on a rare occasion, have a place in ritual, but only when the effect of the drug on the person taking it is known, there is a very good reason for its use, and someone else is available to deal with any problems that might arise. Drugs also sap the magical will and discipline by preventing you from learning how to achieve the results you desire by yourself, and encouraging you to be lazy. In the end your ritual work suffers. ASCs are a fundamental part of magical ritual. The basic arts - meditation, concentration and visualisation - all involve ASCs in some form. It is easy to get caught up with the glamour of something different, something that feels good, that is outside our normal experience and upbringing, and forget that, like most things, there is a negative side to ASCs. They are a tool; useful once you master them, but dangerous if misused. For many, ASCs have become the basis of their path to spiritual development. ***ends B*B Julia 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3111 The Betty Crocker Cult For the edification and entertainment of all, I am letting you all see one of the rarest pieces of modern ritual literature today. it is copyrighted 1993, M. Perrin, Jersey City, NJ. What Do Betty Crocker Cultists Believe? For all intents and purposes, Betty crocker Cultists believe whatever I, the Grand High Ladle, tell them to believe. The B.C.C. is a cult in the truest sense of the word, with one infallible leader, me. For indeed it was I, Badger Girl, who received the word of Betty, when I least expected it, right in the middle of an episode of the French Chef. Thrust as I was, right in the middle of pagan controversies of all stripes, it was clear to me that there was something missing in our community as a whole. That thing was the Kitchen. Not just food, you see, but the Kitchen, with all of its wondrous utensils, appliances and storage capacities. I knew this to be the answer to many of today's modern pagan problems. Betty told me so. "Go forth to the stove" said Betty, and go forth I did, taking most of the women (henceforth to be known as "Ladies") of Green Man Grove with me, as I hate to eat alone. And lo! Many splendid things did befall us as we cavorted amidst the Tupperware. Betty spoke to me as we did, and she sai, "Now you're cookin', kid!", and of course, She was right. Soon we all tired and Betty took advantage of the situation (as is Her way) to tell us of her many colleagues in the world of the "Other Kitchen." She spoke of Oscar Meyer, patron of fathers in the Kitchen, also She spoke of Lttle Debbie, Goddess of cellophane wrapped snack foods. the tale of the Pillsbury Doughboy (Poppin' Fresh, to the initiated), the God of phallic foods that go "Fuff" was revealed to us, as well as the story of Mrs. Paul, Queen of the Frozen Seas. Betty then bespoke of the twin deities of the most sacred barbecue flame, Lee & Perrin, and also of Aunt Jemima, keeper of the Holy Syrup (and it was good!). Finally Betty told us of that most well preserved of holy mean, Earl Tupper and we were silently awed by the miracle of the Burp Seal. Surely did Betty talk a blue streak that fateful day! Then Betty told me that She had chosen me to be Her Grand High Ladle on this earthly plane, and to gather around me all the minions I couls strongarm into the Cult. "You and your initiated minions shall be know to the world as "The Dash Board"!" said Betty. Betty then explained the hierarchy to be adhered to within the Cult. The lowest initiates being the "Cups" and all higher initiates gradually getting smaller and smaller until acheiving "pinchdom" if not actual "dashery." And so, I said unto Betty, "Sounds good to me!" and she seemed well pleased. This is how I became the Grand High Ladle. I am chosen by Betty to lead you to the Kitchen and getyou all cookin'. If you choose to follow, it will be by my say so and the approval of the Dash Board. The initiation will be grueling and with any luck, really intimidating. You seeker, may have finally come to the right place, then again, maybe not, only i can be the judge ofthat. Badger Girl, Grand High Ladle, BCC 3112 The Berserkir This letter appeared in Web of Wyrd number 7: With reference to the ongoing discussion of the berserkir or "bear shirts" Viking warrior clan. P G Foote and D M Wilson state in their book, "The Viking Achievement" (Sidgwick & Jackson UK 1970) that the berserkers worked themselves up into a frenzy which gave them super- normal strength and made them indifferent to blows. It was generally believed that they had magical powers, although they were regarded as inferior to the great heroes of the Viking sagas. The berserkir howled savagely as they went into battle, and Foote and Wilson speculate that these battle frenzies were the result of excessive alcoholic intake. According to Icelandic Law (Christian version) anyone who fell into a berserk frenzy was considered highly dangerous and could be classed as an outlaw from society. The following verse from the epic poem "Atlamal" circa 11th century CE is believed to contain a reference to the berserkir and their method of fighting, as well as to another warrior clan who wore wolf skins, and may be connected with lycanthropy! Full they were of fighters and flashing bucklers, western war lances and wound-blades Frankish; cried then the bear-pelted, carnage they had thoughts of, wailed then the wolf-coated and weapons brandished. It would seem the berserkir wore tunics of bearskin because the animal was their totem and they believed they could magically attain its strength. Their unorthodox fighting methods - akin to the "battle spasm" of Celtic warriors possessed by the god/desses of war - and the modern meaning of the term "to go berserk" suggest they were less than self-controlled but in fact fought, quite literally, like men possessed. Mike Howard 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3113 QUANTUM MECHANICS AND SOME SURPRISES OF CREATION Cross posted from I_UFO, by Glenda Stocks, again By Bill Moore Scanned from the CONTACT, June 14,1994, with permission. SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION [...] ... we will define this writing as simply an interesting look into quantum-statistical methods of simulating energy-informational processes. ... Boris Iskakov who was born in Magnitogorsk on November 14, 1934. He is a graduate of the Institute of Physical Engineering in Moscow. ... In this work he endeavors to synthesize elements of science and religion. Dr. Iskakov has recently been interrogated and we would share the interview with you. ... The interview comes from Russian documents so we will meander through the translations as best we can and at least you will be introduced to such as "leptons", etc. [...] [QUOTING] MATHEMATICAL TRANSFORMATIONS The equations of Schrodinger and Dirac, well known in quantum physics, describe the laws of the conservation of probability for fluxes of matter at the level of elementary particles of the microworld. By means of certain mathematical transformations I (Dr. Iskakov) obtained equivalent equations of a much broader applicability. They describe the laws of the conservation of probability for fluxes of matter, energy, and information. The equations have a deep philasophical meaning, which extends far beyond the interpretation of the Schrodinger and Dirac equations. An appropriate name for them is, in my view, suggested by a doctrine of Oriental philosophy--karma. In a narrow sense, it claims that every deed or thought, good or bad, receives due reward or retribution. In a broader sense, it denotes the principle of unity, integrity, and inter-conditionality and causality in the Universe. That is how I construe the term "equations of karma", which describe any cause-and-effect relationship. WHAT IS THE "EQUATION OF KARMA"? The study of psychic phenomena dictated the need to define the concept of the information-energy field. Its material medium, according to contemporary notions, may be a global lepton gas, consisting of extremely light particles, microleptons, with a mass of 10^-40 - 10^-30 g. Microleptons are much lighter than electrons and are capable af freely penetrating any body in the Universe. The gaps between atomic nuclei are for them just as spacious as are the holes in a fishing net for molecules of air. 3114 The idea of a microlepton gas appears to echo the 19th-century notion of the universal ether, but is scientifically much more complex and profound. What we are talking about in this case is no longer an ideal space-pervading fluid, but a quantum-granular structure of the space-time continuum, filled with whirling streams of polarized microleptons (including some virtually vacuum-born). Such an approach enables us to use the mathematical apparatus of quantum mechanics to describe the information-energy field. Moreover, relationships of a higher level of generalization are derived than the classical equations of Schrodinger. The new equations describe not only the movements of matter, but also the development of the totality of interconnections, signals, events, and processes. The special term introduced for such relationships is "equations of karma". As for karma, it is understood to mean a broad philosophical category of universal inter-conditionality, causality, and dependence in combination with the principle of the unity and integrity of the Universe. There are two equations of karma--the direct and the complex-conjugated: GS> (NOTE: I have substituted regular letters for the Dr.'s GS> symbols) AY=0; A'Y'=0; where the operators have the form A=2h^2V + i2h o/o t-9; A'=2h^2V - i2h o/o t-9. Here Y denotes the probability density wave (the wave function); V, the Laplace operator; 9, the potential energy density, and h, Planck's constant. These equations may be solved in the form of karma waves and anti-waves with quantization of probability waves. Connected with them are perturbations of the information-energy field, i.e., wave signals. In principle, such signals may propagate faster than light. The equations of karma make it possible to draw certain philosophical conclusions of fundamental significance. It follows from them that diffraction takes place not only in space but also in time. Any event is, so to speak, split in space-time. The propagation of a solitary signal is preceded by a series of pre- signals and followed by post-signals, both fading with distance. Perceptive analysts are able to use the first intimations of pre-signals to give a precise picture of a coming event. This is called scientific foresight. But there is also intuitive prevision. Centuries ago clairvoyants described events that are happening in our time. Pre-signals provide an explanation of relative proscopy--when a sensitive person learns about an event before others do. Such a person detects faint pre-signals that most people do not perceive. For instance, an explosion on the Sun may produce solar prominences extending for millions of kilometers. Two or three days later the "solar wind" reaches the Earth, causing powerful geomagnetic 3115 storms that affect everything living. During such periods, disease and mortality rates increase in all countries. This dependence of everything living upon solar catastrophes was proved several decades ago by Alexander Chizhevsky. Can we learn of the approaching "solar winds" in advance? It appears that we can. The solar wind has presignals: swift streams of solar photons an neutrinos, which reach the Earth in eight minutes. By detecting them it is possible to warn the medical services of all countries of an imminent geomagnetic storm two or three days in advance, ample time to take the necessary measures. From the theoretical standpoint the works of the eminent Russian researcher Anatoly Okhatrin are of definite interest. They confirm the idea of an ether or universal lepton gas, which contains full information about the material world. Clusters of the lightest par- ticles--microleptons--carry people's thoughts and feelings; these microleptons are capable of travelling in space and time at tremendous speeds. The speed of light is a limiting factor only for a continuous stream of speeds, the so-called continuum. However, greater speed levels, in excess of the speed of light, are possible for extremely weak signals. Okhatrin's experiments and calculations show that people's thoughts are carried by the lightest microleptons. And the equations of karma prove that they can travel much faster than light. This justifies the conclusion that humanity's potential in getting to understarnd the Universe is practically boundless. Up to now it was considered that our potential in the conquest of outer space is limited by what is known as the pessimistic radius of Poincare-Einstein. If we multiply the speed of light by the human life span, we arrive at the limit that even the most sophis- ticated spaceships cannot surpass. No generation of spacemen can explore the Universe beyond that radius [it says]. But from the equations of karma it follows that at the level of extremely weak signals we can reach out far beyond the Poincare- Einstein sphere. Material thought can travel to distant regions of the Universe at a speed greater than that of light. Man can obtain information about what is happening at any distance from him. This is a fundamental philosophical conclusion that allows humanity to look to the future with optimism. I arrived at this conclusion by considering the equations of karma. But then, many scientists before me have reflected on the synthesis of science and religion, among them the founders of quantum physics. What are termed the conjugated equations of Schrodinger and Dirac point to the possibility of the existence of anti-particles. Similarly, the conjugated equation of karma suggests that there can be anti-signals as well as anti-particles. More- over, this equation makes it possible to describe the spectrum of properties that these anti-signals possess. While ordinary signals travel along the river of time from the past via the present into the future, anti-signals travel in the opposite direction. They originate in the future and pass through the present into the past. 3116 This property of anti-signals stuns our imagination: certain particularly sensitive people and instruments can, it turns out, receive signals from the future. Previsions, predictions, and prophesies come under the scientific heading of absolute proscopy, which implies the acquisition of information about events that have not yet taken place. They have yet to occur, but sensitives already know about them. The problem is merely one of the threshold of sensitivity and the balance of signals and noise. Anti-signals come from the future at a faint and very faint level. Very few people can detect them. There is no violation here of the principle of causality. Rather, its interpretation becomes more sophisticated and more refined dialectically. According to the equations of karma, time in the microworld can reverse its direction, turning, as it were, into "anti time". From a single point it is possible to see both the past and the future of microparticles at the same time. We can receive information about the future only at the probability level. Only the strategic parameters of a human fate are pre-determined. But freedom of choice too is preserved: a person is free to take any decisions and bears full responsibility for them. A person shapes his or her destiny and pays for the consequences of those decisions. Thus, there is a predetermined part of the future, which a person cannot change, and there is a probable or variable part, for which he is responsible. Solving stationary equations can yield curious results. Waves emitted and absorbed by hundreds of biologically active points are superimposed on one another and form a series of standing waves, which surround the human body. The body turns out to be nothing more than a dense nucleus shrouded on all sides by a number of energy-information holograms. The shape of the first hologram follows that of the human body, but is enlarged and rounded, remotely resembling a spacesuit. Actually, this hologram contains all the information about the body and is carried by microleptons orbiting along the quantum shell, the boundary of the first hologram. The second hologram and its shell are larger and carry weakened information, which is more difficult to decipher. The same may be said of the third and subsequent shells. The more remote shells are more rounded in shape, changing from a spacesuit to an egg and then to a sphere. Our atomic-molecular body is "clad" in microlepton holograms, each of which carries complete but weakened information about the person, including his or her innermost thoughts and feelings, his or her mind and conscience. It may be said that the sum-total of these holograms is nothing short of a person's lepton soul. Ordinarily, people do not see the energy-information shells that surround them. But in certain conditions it is possible to make the first hologram glow, especially the part of it surrounding a person's head. The fact is that upper chakras, the most power-intensive, operate at the highest frequencies. Some people have a first quantum shell that can become visible. Estimates show that the energy of the first shell amounts to 3117 fractions of an electron-volt. This is quite enough for a faint glow in the optical range of the spectrum. But for the glow to become a reality a great deal of energy has to be pumped into the upper chakras. This means a person has to adopt a definite mode of life: overcome base passions, and make his or her thoughts, feelings, and deeds pure, lofty and inspired. It is in that case that the energy of the upper chakras causes the excitation of the first shell by fractions of an electron-volt, and a halo visible to other people appears around the head of such a person (for example, a saint). In Christian art, only part of the hologram around the head is usually portrayed as glowing. But in Buddhist temples, there are pictures showing the whole spacesuit-shaped hologram aglow. The most ancient Buddhist manuscripts speak of a person's seven bodies: one dense and six subtle. The first hologram is called the ethereal body; the second, the astral body; the third, the mental body, and so forth. The lepton hypothesis allows a larger number of holograms. Judging from the equations of karma, we humans are infinitely "larger" and our lives are infinitely longer than we are accustomed to think. This means that each person is a factor of Cosmic significance. Moreover, analysis reveals that inanimate objects as well as Homo Sapiens and other living beings have holograms of this kind. Consider the implications of this. If each body is present, at the information level, throughout the Cosmos, then in every small region of space-time there must be, if only super-weak, information about the entire Universe. Gautama Buddha's famous dictum states "everything is in everything" and, hence, "everything is in the small." In an expanded form this may be taken to mean that every point of space-time "knows" everything about all the other points. But if every zone of space "knows" everything, it is a most complete encyclopaedia, in infinite storage of knowledge about the Universe . All that is needed is to learn how to plug into this source of information, which can tell a person about anything and everything in the world. It follows from the lepton hypothesis that the soul is real and material. A human being, in the customary sense of the term, is nothing but a dense nucleus around which streams of leptons circulate. The totality of lepton shells is a cold bioplasma, which contains complete information about the nucleus. Thus, it can be termed a person's lepton soul. This notion has a quite precise materialistic content. According to the lepton concept, thoughts and feelings are material. They are carried by superweak pulses of electromagnetic and microlepton fields. Visual, audible, and other images, and all thoughts and feelings, exist in the form of clusters of superlight elementary particles. This brings to mind Plato's inspired guess that all eidoses, i.e., ideas or thoughts, exist autonomously, 3118 "float in the air" and recognize no boundaries. Plato intuitively arrived at that conclusion over two thousand years ago. Today we can put this into the language of mathematical formulae. We can measure the mass of a single human thought. Its weight varies from 10^-30 to 10^-40 g. To be sure, the opinion of sensitives and Okhatrin's experiments cannot serve as proof. Similar investigations have to be carried out at other laboratories. This will furnish the statistical data for reliable conclusions. If they confirm Okhatrin's findings, he will become the author of the greatest discovery of the latter half of the 20th century. Thoughts and feelings generated by human beings begin their independent existence in space and time. Both theory and experi- ments show that these eidoses are capable of exchanging information. What is most important of all is that one person's thoughts can occur to other people. Eidoses are like small living beings, but at the lepton level of matter. Thoughts and feelings are our offspring, who communicate with one another and with us in a language of super-weak signals. Estimates show that during a lifetime a person generates millions and even billions of eidoses. This makes it clear that we bear an enormous responsibility before the whole of humankind and before ourselves for what our offspring, i.e., our thoughts and feelings, will be like. When our offspring are noble eidoses of kindness, love, mercy, mutual assistance, truth, beauty, and harmony, we contribute to the health of humanity's leptonosphere. But when we beget malformed eidoses, i.e., evil, envious, cowardly, vain, and arrogant thoughts and feelings, we thereby pollute the leptonosphere we inhabit. Should the negative eidoses exceed a certain critical mass, humankind will be doomed. At present our survival depends to a great extent on the ecology of the spirit. Here we also come up against a legal problem. Mere criminal intent is not yet a crime at the atomic-molecular level, but when a person conceives, say, a murder, he or she spawns criminal eidoses, which contaminate humankind's leptonosphere. That is why when someone steers a nation or country onto a road leading to disaster, that person commits the gravest offence above all against the whole of humanity. Although economic and political catastrophe is still many years off, it has already taken place at the lepton level, in the public mind. The collapse of a vast State can contaminate humanity's leptonosphere to such a degree that humanity's very existence becomes threatened. And no clan, no state, nor coalition that conceived such a crime against other nations can survive. The lepton hypothesis can provide a scientific explanation of the essence of God. When congregations gather in their temples, they create eidoses of prayer, which assemble into a collective egregor-eidos of a deity. When millions of people worship it, the material deity eidos acquires tremendous energy at the lepton level of matter. There arises feedback: a believer not only supplies the deity with energy, but receives genuine assistance from it upon 3119 supplication. There exist eidoses of Christ, Buddha, and Allah, and they actually interact with their Worshippers when the latter tune into the proper frequencies. This is something like a deposit in a savings bank--it helps the client at at a time of need. The microlepton "savings bank" is not responsible for other banks' clients: there is no resonance correspondence between them. Alien gods hold no power over a flock--only their own God has such powers. Gods, thus, actually exist at the lepton level of matter. In fact, the world religions describe different aspects of one and the same Supreme Rational Being. All the people of the Earth worship a single God, but in His multiple manifestations. After the death of a person's atomic-molecular nucleus, his or her lepton holograms may take different courses. Some of them may likewise disintegrate. But this happens only to the holograms that are made up of the heavier microleptons. Estimates show that the relatively heavy holograms have a natural half-life of seven to nine days; their ninety-nine percent decay takes about forty days. Thus, the meaning of the funeral repast on the 9th and the 40th day (in accordarnce with the Orthodox faith) is that the living emit eidoses that recharge the dead person's soul with energy and information to help it undergo the necessary changes in the lepton world. Thanks to these rites, relatively heavy lepton holograms can survive much longer. A reliable supply of living people's thoughts and feelings can extend the life span of the heavy fractions of a dead person's soul from forty days to several millennia. As long as a person is remembered and his or her days of birth and death are observed, that person's soul is preserved almost intact, just as it was when the person was alive. One can communicate with it by means of special techniques known to mystics. The soul also has medium and light fractions. We cannot yet verify this experimentally, but there is reason to think that their half-lives and total decay periods are much longer than those of the heavy fractions. It is even quite possible that the lightest fractions live eternally--the soul is immortal according to all the world religions. So far science cannot confirm or deny this in strict terms. This problem remains unsolved and requires an experimental solution. [END OF QUOTING] (Hatonn's comments) The next most logical question might well be , "Isn't there any way to measure this lepton energy or aura?" Yes indeed and again the only ALLOWED presentation comes silently from Russia. There are two scientists--the engineer and inventor Uri Kravchenko and the physician Nikolai Kalashchenko--who have developed an original instrument: the phase aurometer. This is a highly sensitive instru- ment for the remote measurement of the electromagnetic radiation of any object, biological included. The instrument and the method are protected by a Certificate of Authorship issued in 1990. This is an easy-to-prove concept and because of this implication I will not introduce much about it other than generalities about which 3120 much has been shared. This is something which Dr. Young has already devised though he doesn't recognize it as this and I would think would remind our own "tinkerers" that this is nothing more than a measuring device or a production device for electro-magnetic fields MEASURED IN HERTZ. The particular phase aurometer in point is only for measurement or recordimhg a "patient's" own radiation by a contact-free method and has no impact whatever on the environment. BUT, LISTEN UP: THE APPLICATIONS OF THE PHASE AUROMETER CAN BE CONSIDERABLY EXPANDED FURTHER INTO, FOR EXAMPLE, DOWSING, TESTING FOLK HEALERS AND SENSITIVES AND SUCH SEEMINGLY DISTANT FIELDS AS AGRICULTURAL SELECTION OR CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE SUPERVISION. I am not going to publish this information in general format as above. However, I do ask that several of the attached "tinkerers" be supplied with the documentation. We need to introduce frequency upgrading into seed for crops, etc. This is easily done but someone has to do it and I cannot spend time educating those at random distance. So, please make sure that Dr. Young, Dr. Hoffman, Dr. James and Dr. Trelle are made privy to the document in point. Thank you. It will seem quite primitive to you ones--but sometimes simplicity is where we must RE-begin in order to conceptually change directions. I salute you for your patience. Origin: CRYSTAL CAVE "DAS MAGICAL TREFTPUNKT" 719-391-1092 (93:9900/0) 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3121 This article appeared in Web of Wyrd number 7 THE KNOTS OF DEATH by Alby Stone A number of Viking monuments feature a curious design known as the valknut, the "knot of the slain" or, more loosely, "the knot of death". On an 8th century CE picture stone from Hammers in Larbro, Gotland, it consists of three interlocking triangles. This stone, now in Stockholm's National Historical Museum, is divided into several panels; one of the central panels, in which the valknut occurs, depicts several motifs that suggest some sort of connection with the cult of Odin - an eagle, a flying figure - possibly a valkyrie - holding a ring, a man being hanged from a tree and a group of three warriors - with shields and upraised swords - led by a fourth man who seems to be holding a large bird of some kind. The valknut is adjacent to the eagle and below it are two men, one with a spear, who appear to be engaged in placing a corpse inside what looks like a burial mound. Between them and the hanged man is what appears to be another, smaller, valknut of the same design. This type can also be seen on a rather splendid golden ring discovered near Peterborough, Cambs, and currently on display at the British Museum in a cabinet labelled as containing Anglo-Saxon "secular" metalwork. Another picture stone from Gotland (Tangelgarda also in Larbro) has a panel showing a rider being welcomed by a woman holding a drinking horn with four men who are holding rings. The woman may be a valkyrie, a "chooser of the slain", one of whose functions was to serve ale to the Warriors in Valhalla, another pointer to the cult of Odin. The rider has a valknut behind his head and there are two more among his horse's legs. On this stone, which can also be seen at the Swedish Museum, the valknut is made up of a single line, interlaced to make three triangles. Similar to the Tangelgarda design, but slightly more rounded, is that carved onto one of several "hogback" monuments at Brompton, Yorkshire, and probably dating from the 10th century CE. The end-beasts of this particular hogback - these monuments are based on Viking Age houses (although to this eye they have more than a passing resemblance to long barrows) and the end-beasts are situated at what would be the gable ends - are easily identifiable as bears, again suggesting the cult of Odin, who was patron of the Warriors known as berserkr or "bear-shirts". The purpose of the hogbacks is uncertain; no graves have been found with them so they were certainly not tombstones. Hogbacks with undecorated ends at Lythe in Yorkshire exactly match the shafts of crosses found at the same site, indicating that the hogback formed a composite monument with a cross at each end. In this case the hogback is certainly a religious monument and it seems fair to suppose that the Brompton hogback and its fellows, and similarly ended hogbacks elsewhere, are also religious structures, albeit of a different faith. The Brompton hogback has five valknuts in a row. The Brompton style valknut also occurs on each of the four arms of the Gosworth Cross (Cumbria), on both faces. The shaft of the cross strangely enough has scenes from heathen myth, and the only remotely Christian looking scene, which has been rather desperately identified as the Crucifixion, seems to owe more to the rune-winning ordeal of Odin described in the heathen poem "Havamal" than it does to the New Testament. The same type of valknut appears on the shafts of crosses at Sockburn (Co Durham), Lastingham, Hawsker and Brompton (all North Yorks). On the last, three 3122 of these valknuts are arranged in a triangular pattern. A fourth type of valknut, rather different from those described so far, occurs on a stone cross from Andreas on the Isle of Man and is now in the Manx Museum, Douglas. This version is basically a simple knot "tied" in such a way as to retain the basic tripartite structure of the versions mentioned above. Unlike the others it is not a closed structure but its identity as a valknut, while mildly contentious, is not really in doubt. The scene in which it appears shows a man, evidently Odin, holding a spear pointing downward as he is devoured by a great wolf. An eagle perches on the man's shoulder and the valknut is at his side. The same design appears elsewhere, on a stone discovered in 1822 at Gosforth and now incorporated into the structure of the local church. It is between the back legs of a horse. On a picture stone from Alskog, in Gotland, it occurs twice among the eight legs of Odin's horse, Sleipnir. Despite this seeming wealth of examples and the diversity of styles the valknut itself has remained enigmatic. It seems to be associated with horses, particularly with the steed of Odin, and the cult of Odin in general. Motifs associated with the symbol include the hanged man, valkyries, bears, and the scene from Ragnarok on the Manx Cross, all indicating some connection with Odin. According to HR Ellis Davidson, the valknut also appears on the funeral ship excavated at Oseberg, Norway in 1904, and on the tapestry found in that vessel, indicating some sort of funerary association. The origin and meaning of the symbol are extremely difficult to discern, as is its association with Odin. Obviously it has a decorative value as distinct from its symbolic meaning. The valknut has been used as a motif by Scandinavian weavers since the Viking Age. Indeed, it is recognised as a traditional design in that part of the world quite apart from its alleged occurrence on the Oseberg tapestry. Davidson opines that it is related to the Celtic triskele, the three-legged symbol most familiar as the emblem of the Isle of Man and linked with the Irish God of the sea, Manannan. The triskele is essentially a variety of the swastika, a common enough cosmological symbol, but neither can be said to possess the characteristic interweaving of the valknut. While it may be unwise to dismiss a possible relationship between triskele and valknut, it must be said that any resemblance is purely superficial, lying solely in their tripartite structures. Structurally the valknut has more in common with the Celtic triple spiral motif which is also found on Old English and Pictish artifacts and much older objects. Unfortunately there is a dearth of hard evidence for the mythological or religious significance of the triple spiral, which tends to occur within wholly abstract or symbolic designs, but it occurs within funerary contexts and has been linked with the female principle by various scholars. The various types of valknut, their contexts aside, share two important characteristics: they are tripartite and they are constructed by interweaving or interlinking. Davidson also postulates a link with the bindings that occur in Norse tradition. The best known examples of this are probably the binding of Loki following his betrayal of Baldr; the binding of Baldr himself, a theme that found itself into Scandinavian and Old English interpre- tations of the Crucifixion; the binding of the wolf Fenrir; the ritual binding of sacrificial victims, as partly confirmed by the discovery of bound corpses in the peat bogs of northern Europe; and the Herjoturr or "war fetter", a kind of paralysis that Odin and the valkyries were said to be able to inflict upon unfavoured warriors in the heat of battle. To 3123 these we might add the hangman's noose characteristic of the double sacrifice - simultaneous hanging and stabbing - known to have been used in the cult of Odin and a method of ritual killing that accords with the condition of a number of bog corpses. One bog discovery, the severed head of a man discovered at Osterby in Denmark, is very interesting; the hair on the right side of the head is gathered into an elaborate knot that looks very much like a valknut. Tacitus, writing at about the time the Osterby man is believed to have met his end, about the 1st century CE, tells us that the warriors of the Suebi (a generic name for the Germanic tribes inhabiting the region now occupied roughly by north western Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands) tied their hair in such a knot, and a number of Roman monuments depict Germanic warriors with the same hairstyle. It would be reasonable to suppose that this hair-knot marked a warrior as a follower of an early form of Odin in his role of war god. (See the author's article on "Heretical Hairdos" in Talking Stick magazine Spring 1992 for a further discussion of pagan hairstyles and the symbolic significance.) The noose found around the neck of the Lindow Man unearthed from a peat bog in Cheshire a few years ago consists of a sliding knot in a cord knotted at each end, making a triple knot. A similar noose was found on a body in a peat bog at Borremose, Denmark but the noose found on another Danish corpse, from Tollund, is much simpler. Dr Anne Ross and Dr Don Robins, along with the Danish archaeologist Professor P V Glob, believe that these nooses are related to the Celtic torc, and note that a number of torcs seem to be designed to look like garrottes. They suggest that the corpses from Tollund and Borremose were sacrifices to Nerthus, a goddess mentioned by Tacitus, and that the torc was an attribute of that goddess. Tacitus also tells us that certain warriors of the Chatti wore iron collars that would not be removed until they had killed their first enemy, although many chose to wear them until they died. In their case the collar probably indicated they were dedicated to a god of war as opposed to a goddess of peace and plenty like Nerthus. It would be rash to state unequivocally that the collar and torc represent stylised versions of the noose or garrotte - but it is an attractive proposition. However, torcs and collars are not valknuts, and only the nooses found on Lindow Man and his Danish counterpart can possibly be construed as being such. It seems fairly certain that the valknut has a cultic or religious significance and a particular association with death, as it name alone indicates. The Andreas Cross shows the death of Odin, himself the Lord of the Dead Warriors of Valhalla, and on the Alskog stone the valknut appears by the feet of Sleipnir, the steed on which Odin, and also Heimdall, rode to the land of Hel. It is seen by the hanged man and in the funerary scene on the stone from Hammars and on the Tangalgarda stone the rider seems to be receiving a welcome to the realm of the dead. The scenes often include female figures who appear to be valkyries or maybe even the death goddess Hel herself. The presence of the valknut on Viking Age crosses in England and on the Brompton hogback hints at a retention of this element of heathen iconography among the adherents of the new cult. The valknut is certainly part of the iconography associated with Odin but that fact alone brings us no nearer to its meaning. Representations of Odin and scenes from myths pertaining to him are common enough and their components are usually readily identifiable. If the valknut does 3124 stem from the cult or mythology of Odin, then it must represent something that cannot be given a pictorial rendering, either because of a taboo or simply because it just cannot be pictured in anything but an abstract form. The form is tripartite and interwoven; the context is mortuary, Odinic and Otherworldly and it has both equine and feminine associations. This set of conditions is peculiar to the mythology of the World Tree and can be related to certain beings associated with it. The World Tree is Yggdrasill or "The Steed of the Fearful One", which makes it a doublet of Sleipnir. It has three roots which link the worlds together. According to Snorri Sturlson, each root leads to a well or spring; Hvergemir in Niflheim; Mimisbrunnr "in the direction of the frost ogres", and Urdabrunnr "in the sky", the Well at which the three Nornir gather to decide the fates of humans and gods alike. Now it is clear from a number of references that these three wells are in fact only one under three different names. A consideration of their locations clinches the argument. Hvergelmir is the primordial well, situated in the north, according to Snorri's account of the creation of the cosmos. The nature of the "frost ogres" means that they can also be located in the cold north, and the central point of the revolving sky is also in the north, at the Pole Star. The Nornir derive their collective name from an archaic word meaning "north" which also denotes "that which is below" (compare English nether, be-neath). The name of the goddess Nerthus (a goddess of the earth) reported by Tacitus may also be so derived. While the Nornir each have individual names in England, they go by the name allocated to the eldest in Norse Tradition. The elder of the three is called Urdr by the Norse, which is cognate with the Old English "wyrd", hence the three "weird sisters" of Shakespeare. Thus they are a three-in-one being in the same way as the Irish war goddesses known as the Morrigna. Like the other, inevitably triadic, Indo European fates, the Nornir spin and weave destinies. One of them is also named as a valkyrie. This brings us back to Odin, himself a shaper of destinies. In the "Gylfaginnning" section of Snorri's "Edda" he appears in a triadic guise and is credited with having taken a drink from the well at the centre of the world, one source of his wisdom. Odin acquired the wisdom of the runes while hanging on the World Tree and could obtain information from the dead. The latter - apart from those worthy fighters chosen to carouse in Valhalla until Ragnarok (the Twilight of the Gods) and those who ended up in the paradisal Odainsakr, or abode of the righteous dead, the hall Gimle - resided with the dread goddess Hel in the underground realm variously known as Niflhel, Niflheim or simply as Hel located in the far north. This goddess of the dead was said to be Loki's offspring, conceived and born while he was in the form of a mare following a dangerously mischievous escapade. Actually she can be traced back to proto-Indo-European times and her original name has been reconstructed as Kolyo, "the coverer". As Bruce Lincoln puts it in his book, "Death, War and Sacrifice" (1991), "Her domain is underground and she physically conveys her victims thence by fixing a snare or noose on their bodies and dragging them down. Her bonds regularly fall upon the foot or neck of the victim, the same places where domestic animals are fettered. The deceased are thus led 3125 away like animals by Death, in whose bonds they may struggle, but which they cannot escape, caught in her snares and dragged under." Lincoln presents an impressive body of evidence to support this summary, from Ancient Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, India and Iran. The theme has altered from place to place and from one age to another but the essence has remained. He also notes that the Middle High German term for a noose was "helsing", which he translates as "Hel's Sling". He argues that German sacrifice by hanging, generally related to Odin or Woden, was actually a ritual enactment of the seizing of the victim by the goddess of death. Given the mutual concerns of Odin, Hel and the Nornir, it seems to make little difference either way. In Old English texts the term "wyrd" is, despite its other connotations, frequently used to denote death rather than a structured and unfolding future that is suggested by the functions of the Nornir and their Greek and Roman counterparts. There is of course an intimate relationship between the two concepts and death is after all the fate of every being. Scandinavian myth makes it clear that there are only two things which the gods cannot avert; fate and death. In Norse myth the name of the senior Norn is Urdr, a word in Old Icelandic that can also denote a burial mound or cairn. "Beowulf" and other texts characterise wyrd as a weaving of webs but the word usually means nothing less than the moment of death, or at least the events leading up to death. The "Beowulf" motif is revealing, however; it has already been noted that the fates tend to be spinners or weavers and in this instance there is also the idea of a snare, which can refer back to the Indo-European goddess of death as described by Lincoln. Like Hel, the Nornir reside in the far north, at or near the celestial axis and like her they reside "below ground", where the World Tree has its roots. The Nornir determine life, span and the time of death, while Hel takes the dead to her cold bosom. All these characteristics are shared to some extent with Odin, as is their femininity, apparently adopted by Odin in order to engage in seidr - the natural magic of womankind. At the very least, Hel and the Nornir are closely related, perhaps even deriving from the same proto Indo-European goddess, and Odin has acquired some of their characteristics by virtue of his association with the cosmic centre, the structure of which reflects their own nature. If the valknut symbolises anything then, it is probably either wyrd, death, or perhaps even the Nornir themselves, who are more or less the same as wyrd anyway. Exactly when the valknut would have come to represent these is difficult to estimate. Certainly the examples here all date from the Viking Age and appear to range in time from about the 7th to the 10th centuries CE. I am not aware of any valknuts of a significantly earlier date. It is interesting that in England the use of the valknut seems to have died out with the establishment of Christianity and the consequent decline of heathenism. The Nornir are not represented pictorially anywhere in the Germanic world, which is rather surprising. A panel of the Franks Casket shows three hooded figures who might be intended as a likeness of that fateful trinity, but it is by no means certain. Until any conclusive artifacts come to light the truth of the matter must remain as uncertain as the workings of the Fates themselves. 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3126 Memorial Day Ritual This is a copy of the script written for a Memorial Day and Warrior's Honor Ceremony performed at the Heartland Pagan Festival in 1992. It was written during the festival by She-Wolf and Gary Stanfield, and is the latest of a few editions. This ceremony was intended for participation by any persons who can accept the Wiccan ceremonial format and who have been or are likely to become touched deeply by war. Realistic acceptance, loving reconciliation, and emotional catharsis are the major themes. Fears, regrets, sympathies, feelings of caring, and grievings are dealt with intensely. Adventure, patriotism, the joy of battle, etc. are ignored. The setting is outdoors in mid-morning light in a clearing among trees. There is a fire in the center of the temple space and an altar at the northernmost point of the circle. MARTIAL HONOR CEREMONY 1. Defining of the Temple Space and Time. All participants form into a circle as a drum beats slowly and steadily (about one beat per second). When the time comes to start, the HPS breaks from the circle and begins to define its outer limits with a sword. After she has just begun, the priest raises an old, rust-marked sword into the air -- this cues the first speakers. Alternating male and female voices call out (one from each quarter as the HPS passes): "Thermopylae!" "Gettysburg!" "Desert Storm!" "Uncounted thousands of battles! Uncounted thousands of wars! Over uncounted thousands of years!" Then the HP puts down his sword as the HPS rejoins the circle. 2. Calling of the Quarters. The priestess, taking one step forward from her position next to the altar says: "Guardians of the East, Spirits of Air Breath of life, lost to those who have died attend our rite and protect this circle." "Guardians of the South, spirits of fire Heat of battle, warmth of living flesh attend out rite and protect our circle." "Guardians of the West, spirits of water Sweat of our bodies, blood that was spilled Attend our rite and protect our circle." 3127 "Guardians of the North, spirits of Earth Symbolized by salt, once the soldier's pay Earth to which we all return Attend our rite and protect our circle." HPS then asks attendees to sign themselves, sealing their auras. [This can be done with a pentagram, hammer sign, or other sigil]. She returns to her place by the altar. 3. Interdenominational Invocation of a War Deity. HP takes one step forward from his position next to the altar and says: "As we must accept the parts of our psyches associated with our pasts in war, we must honor deities of war in our pantheons. We honor you -- Athena, Indra, Woden, Mars, Morrigu, and many others. Please come to us now." Someone costumed and equipped to portray a war deity emerges from the circle to near the center of the temple space and says: "Now also honor those humans who were honorably involved in warfare: Those who were your enemies and those who were your friends; Those who volunteered and those who were pushed by circumstances; Those who were heroes and those who were just in it; Those who fought and those who only stood ready; Those who survived war and those who did not; Those uncounted millions of your times and of times past -- They have no need to be ashamed." "Do not admire mindless rape, plunder, nor terrorizing. Do not admire raids upon the defenseless -- although in war some predation is necessary." "And since there is no shame in being a victim of a mighty tide, you shall extend compassion to refugees and other civilian and military victims." "Raise your right fists into the air to salute honorable warriors and to civilian heroes and heroines." (War deity raises his/her right fist as this order is given. After the deity drops the salute, the others drop it also). "Give the salute of embrace to signify compassion for refugees and other victims." (War deity crosses his/her arms over his/her chest to signal the start of the salute of embrace and everyone else does as the war deity does. The war deity signals the end of the salute by dropping it). War deity returns to circle. 3128 5. Closing. HP: "We thank the war deities for their attendance." HPS: "Let us be mindful that sometimes the warrior is the victim also." "Spirits of air, we thank you for your attendance. Receive in peace the spirits of those who were raised on funeral platforms. We bid you hail and farewell." "Spirits of fire, we thank you for your attendance. Receive in peace those whose funeral pyres burned brightly. We bid you hail and farewell." "Spirits of water, we thank you for your attendance, Receive in peace those lost or buried at sea. We bid you hail and farewell." "Spirits of Earth, we thank you for your attendance. Receive in peace those buried in the earth. Mother earth, return to us again in new forms, if it be their will, the spirits of those who have fallen." "For those who have fallen!" (She pours wine on the fire in the center of the temple space). "And the bread of compassion for the victims of war." (She crumbles bread and drops it onto the ground). HP: "By this ceremony may each of us be strengthened -- deity, spirit, and living human alike." "Nor this circle is open, but not broken." "Please ground, and you may hug." 様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様 3129 CELTIC WORKSHOP (Internet) This is an Upload of the first Celtic Workshop on Druids, Oghams and Divination. Each student was supposed to have already downloaded the Library 16 files Oghamd.txt (A table of Ogham correspondences), Fionnw.GIF ( A symbollic representation of Oghams in Circles.) and Ogham.GIF (A picture showing exactly how each tree Ogham symbol looked.) In additional to these files, messages were posted in the Section 15 message board for Ogham correspondence tables by Nigel Pennick, D.J. Conway, John Matthews, Murray Hope, Douglas Monroe and Edric Thorsson. A lot of information is contained in these files and messages and is essential for fully understanding the workshop and discussion. I recommend reading "The Celts" by Nora Chadwick for historical background on the Celts as a people. I recommend John Matthews book "Celtic Shamanism" and also Nigel Pennick's book "Magical Alphabets". More complete discussions of many of these topics are found in those works. Due to time constraints, All the prepared material did not get presented during the Workshop. I have included it here in it's entireity at the request of the participants and in the interest of completeness. Before starting the Workshop, we engaged in informal conversation with the first topic being the book "Life of a Druid Prince". Jehana asked if I had read this book. O'Dubh : Never read the book Jehana : It's basically an archeological/anthropological study of... one of those sacrificed humans they pulled out of a peat bog. SUZAN : hello Jehana! Jehana : with some interesting speculations as well. Hello suzan. Hail! O'Dubh : I saw an article on it with pictures in Scientific American I think. Merry Meet Again Maiden! Jehana : yes, i think they covered it there, too. O'Dubh : looks like UFOs are the talk of the town tonight. Jehana : And The Crone greets the Maiden! SUZAN : there was a great TLC special on an archeological find like that Jehana : suzan is still here. suzan? SUZAN : geesh! there are 27 people in that room! O'Dubh : yes it's a mad house over there SUZAN : oh just lurking around a bit sorry :) O'Dubh : I didn't get any advertising here. Jehana : too busy to stay there. O'Dubh : had to do it all myself. Jehana : rilla mentioned it to me when i logged in tonight. O'Dubh : everytime I log on here I'm bombarded with announcements but no Celtic Workshop!:( Hi Susan W!! Jehana : hey, celtic workshop!! Susan W.: Hi, just nosey, what's going on? Jehana : hello susan... odubh is about to do a celtic ../. druidic workshop. 3130 O'Dubh : We're gonna be talking about Celts, Druids and the like Jehana : is it workshop or discussion or both? Susan W.: Maybe I'll listen in for awhile, already been on over anhour. O'Dubh : I know how expen$ive it is! Jehana : same here. O'Dubh : Well I guess I'm gonna start Susan W.: What can I learn here? O'Dubh : You can learn Magick, Shamanism, Oghams, Divination But it won't happen overnight. Also Druid type stuff. There's a lot to cover. Jehana : (But it doesn't all require connect time) O'Dubh : that's right A lot of the files are in the library or message boards any way Maybe I should start. Jehana : ga O'Dubh : I'm going to upload the announcement first so you can see what we'll cover. Susan W.: great O'Dubh : Dia dhuit, a Kheltoi is ni Kheltoi! (Hello to all Celts and Non-Celts!) We are going to be having on-going Work Shops regarding Celtic Topics of Interest here in the NewAge Forum. I hope to draw you Celts and NonCelts alike out of the Groves and into the CO's! Time to share some of that Knowledge we've been hiding! I plan to touch on the following topics of interest: CLASS #1 Druids, Oghams, Divinations CLASS #2 Deities, Shamanism, Magick CLASS #3 History, Warriors, Geneologies (maybe your family name!) CLASS #4 Languages (Gaeilge, Gaelic, Welsh, Manx,Breton), Poetry, Prose I will basically upload files to the library, prior to the class, to provide a focal point for the discussions and a framework for building a Celtic Book of Shadows. We will flesh these frameworks out through discussions online. I, by no means, have all the answers on matters Celtic. But I truly believe that ALL of us, working together, can approach advance our knowledge and rediscover the True Celtic Way. Druids are especially welcome to attend so that our Celtic Knowledge may be "Illuminated"! I also hope that The Welsh Bards will grace us with the Songs of Taliesin. Other topics will be included based upon the desires and direction of the students and other participants. I see the way that the workshops will be conducted as: Susan W.: ? 3131 O'Dubh : Opening Remarks by Me. Presentation by a Speaker (not necessarily me). Questions and Answers. Group Open Discussion and Discovery. Summation and Assignments. The classes start this Monday night in Work Shop 1 of the NewAge Forum at 10 PM EST! See you there! Beannacht leat, (Blessed be) O'Dubh Susan W> ga Susan W.: Oh, sorry, thought my screen was stuck there. GA O'Dubh : OK That was the announcement and sorry if it was wrapping on your screens! Jehana : sorry, i do have to go; i will put this workshop on next monday's calendar. O'Dubh : I'll continue with the presentation Ce'ad Mi'le Failte! (100,000 Welcomes) Welcome to the Celtic Workshop! We will be investigating and sharing our knowledge of matters Celtic here. It is my hope that the researches and references I have will add to or compliment your own. I am, by no means, the final authority on these matters. Discussion and interaction, coupled with a shamanistic journey or two should fill in the gaps and illuminate us all. all Dean : hello O'Dubh : Tonight I hope to lay down a firm framework for our knowledge of Druids through a discussion of their Magickal writing, called Ogham, after Ogma - Sun Face, and through a discussion of their divination techniques. It is commonly thought that the Druids left no written records of their work. I disagree. Many references exist that contain the poems of Druids, stories about their Magicks, tales of their strategies, their secret lore, their Oghams, their invocations, their victories and their defeats. The major problems with using this information is that it is the product of a long (tho reliable) oral tradition that was finally written down by their antecedents the Culdean Monks of the Celtic Church. (Probably Druids in hiding). Some of the Irish manuscripts used as references on Druids are: The Book of Armaugh The Book of Ballymote (A primary source for Oghams) The Tain Bo Cuailgne 3132 The Book of the Dun Cow The Book of Invasions The Book of Leinster Many references to what Druids did are contained within the above books. Much of what Celts wrote was symbollic of deeper meanings. Each work can be interpreted on many levels. In modern times, Druidry is being studied by several major groups, ADF and OBVD to name just two. If we have any Druids present tonight, Please come forth and identify yourselves now. (well, since only us chickens are here!) Susan W.: . O'Dubh : I'll identify myself as a student of Wicca, Druids and Celts Susan W>Whatis your interest or area? Susan W.: I have no knowledge in this area . . I have been told a little bit by a friend. The extent . . . is that I understand this Wicca, Druid beliefs, are very old and are based on the powers of the earth? ga O'Dubh : yes the knowledge of Druids/Wiccans is based upon the Earth and it's power. The knowledge of the Oghams is tree knowledge applied as symbols in the use of Magick and Divination. I'll upload some info on each symbol or group of 5 symbols and show what their meanings are. The Druids were the shamans of the Celtic Clans. They carried the history, the culture and the geneologies of the Clan in their memories. To aid in remembering this information, Oghams were used, each Ogham being associated by its beginning sounds with the item to be remembered. This is similar to alliteration in today's writings.This led to an entire series of different types of Oghams. Tonight we will discuss tree oghams and Fionn's Wheel. Ogham BTW is pronounced "O Wam". It's one of those strange Gaelic things! I have listed the Oghams for those of you that haven't downloaded the Ogham GIF's or the Ogham Divination files in Library 16 yet. Each Ogham is listed by its ancient Gaelic name, then its modern Irish name and then its Welsh counterpart. The first group of 5 is from the North on Fionn's Wheel. (it is from the Book of Ballymote) 7th century Irish manuscript. 3133 Susan W.: . O'Dubh : Beth Beith Bedw Birch - The White Tree of Purification Protection against harm, physical and spiritual. Deal with/clear away the bad things of life. A new begining. Peasant. 24 December-20 January. White. Luis Caorthann Criafol Rowan - Tree of Life Protection against psychic attack. Develop powers of protection and foretelling. Used in Metal dowsing. Planted around stone circles. Peasant 21 January-17 February. Liath (grey). (also luisne or "red glare"). Fearn Fearno'g Gwernen Alder - "The Red Man" (pranksters, also help one escape the Otherworld) Used in fires to make swords. Frees the Earth from water. Used in Building Foundations because of this fire aspect. Protection in conflicts. Freedom from binding Magicks. 18 March-14April. Crimson or blood red. Saille Saileach Helgen White Willow or Sally Tree - The growth of lunar power and water. Linking and harmonizing. It's power is greatest at night unless the Moon is visable during the day. Susan W.: ? O'D O'Dubh : Tied to the Moon phases. Protection against diseases. Peasant. 15 April-12 May. Sodaith (Bright or fine). Nuin Fuinnseog Onnen The Black Ash - The Tree of Rebirth Links the World of Spirit to the physical. The passage way between the inner world and the outer realms. The keys to the future but only in time. First Chieftan Tree. 18 February-17 March Necht or clear in color. Yes Susan W? (I actually heard Susan W and responded at this point but have included the other uploaded information here for completeness). Huath Sceach gheal Ysbyddaden - The Hawthorn or Whitethorn The May Tree. The name means "Terrible" referring to the Destroyer aspect of the Goddess. Unlucky (especially to cut it except in May). (Bringing the blossoms in the house is also unlucky). Rags are tied to its branches as offerings. Protection against all ills Magickally. Peasant. 13 May-9 June. Purple (For the Hag/Underworld). Duir Dair Derwen Oak - The King of Trees The Oak King. Magickal strength. The doorway to inner knowledge. The ability to see the invisible or be invisible. 3134 The ability to bar or open the ways. 10 JUne-7 July. Black. Chieftan. Planted in Sacred Groves by the Druids. Tinne Cuileann Celyn Holly - "Fire" The Holly King. Balanced Strength and Power. Unification, Fatherhood, Rebirth. Fire, strength, boldness. Peasant. Temen (grey-green). Coll Coll Collen Hazel - "By the Power of Three Times Three" Discovery, Druidic Herald wands "Word Wisdom". Used as A Magick Shield in warfare (Fionn's Shield). Water Witching forked rods. Nut-Brown. Quert Aball Afall Crab Apple - Tree of Eternal Life Isle of Avalon. Five seeds/blossom petals. Apple-green or Mouse-Brown. Muin Muine Vine - "The Vernal Equinox" "The First Harvest". Chieftain, 2 September- 29 September. Mbracht (variegated). The Magickal ability to roam widely and to gather. Assimilation leading to inner development. Gort Eadhne'an Eiddew Ivy - "The Second Harvest" 30 September - 27 October. Gorm (blue). scarcity in unfavorable situations. Changes necessary for growth. All things are tied to the Earth. Transformation by being rooted in the Earth. Ngetal Giolcach Cawnen Reed - "The Tree of Scribes" Used to make pens and Welsh plagawd (paper). 28 October - 24 November. Thatching, mats, baskets. Insulation, Enclosure, Covering. Preserver of Knowledge, Maintainer of Order. Nglas (glass green or yellowish-green). Straif Drai'on Draenenwen Blackthorn - "Tree of Punishment and Strife" Peasant. Staves of Magickal Power. Draoi (Wizard), Drai' (Druid). Power in Visible and Invisible Worlds. Use to overcome resistance to One's will. Sorcha (bright colored) or purple-black. Ruis Trom Ysgaw Elder - "Tree of the Cailleach (Hag)" ru'isce (a violent attack, a blow, a throw). Irish Witches rode Elder sticks instead of brooms. Three fold aspects of Time, Existence, Goddess. Ogham of Timelessness or unity of all time. Balance in threes. Rocnat (roebuck red). 3135 Susan W.: How would you use this information, for example . . . the Native Americans use prayers for certain rituals, such as blessing your surroundings. How would you use that infor.? Ga O'Dubh : The information would be used in divinations and in casting spells. It would also be used to mark pathways for Spiritual journeys into the Celtic Otherworld. The first use of Oghams was on Birch, for instance, and it was interpreted by the Irish God Lugh to mean that a Magickal attack was going to be made upon his wife. Freepowder: hi all O'Dubh : He took precautions. Hi Freepowder !! we are underway with our workshop. Freepowder: I didn;t miss it? O'Dubh : I'm just telling Susan how Ogham information was used. It's happening right now. Anything missed will be in the library. Freepowder: out standing, but I can't stay long O'Dubh : Susan>Does that answer your question? Freepowder: GA Susan W.: So, he called upon the spirit of the Birch tree to protect him??? O'Dubh : He used the Magick of the Birch symbol to protect him and his wife. Birch was used to surround them and protect them from Magickal attack. Lugh's wife was in danger of being spirited away to the Underworld. Freepowder: (sorry) who are we talking about? Susan W.: Gottcha. :) Difference in interpretation. GA O'Dubh : The Celts were also shamanistic just like the Native Americans Ok Susan W.: ? O'Dubh : FP>We are talking about the use and meaning of Oghams and symbols of Magick. FP>GA Freepowder: in general? O'Dubh : Well I'm presenting the meaning for each Ogham as based upon the information handed down by the Irish Druidic Bards. Misty : Can you tell us a little about the shamanistic part of the Celts? Freepowder: ah! O'Dubh : Misty>I will cover that more fully next week but.... the Celts lived close to nature as did most peoples O'Dubh : in the past. They observed that they had to interact with it on a more personal basis than we do today. I am introducing symbols and diagrams to be O'Dubh : used in Magickal journeying. Misty : Ok, sounds good!! Freepowder: O'd> the Celts focused mainly on Trees & shrubs, while the NAIndians, Freepowder: focused more on animals , right? O'Dubh : FP>The Celts tied Oghams to everything... Birds, animals, shields, flowers you name it! Freepowder: ! O'Dubh : They even had a secret Hand Language! GA 3136 Misty : I've heard of that...how was that used? Freepowder: