Well a Wizard is much more then just a skilled magic(k) user,
and to tell the truth about no more the 1% out there even others who claim they know what a wizard is only get a few things right.
and to tell the truth about no more the 1% out there even others who claim they know what a wizard is only get a few things right.
When
it comes to how we as wizards are and our magic(k) they have no clue,
heck I searched the www and references, even the smartest universities
and they have few if any info... We like it that way less hassle, OK
well
Shall we give you abit of a peek?
1. Wizards abide by the laws of the universe and inoverse.
(meaning we share in the same laws as most magic(k) however in a diffrent way do we use the gifts of our training and skills.)
2. We have a mental and oral history, much like witchcraft but they come to us for answers..(as any who care to go outside to get an inner viewpoint, we tend to do that often.)
3. Only a Wizard can know the power of another Wizard
(We wizard's are connected by the same string of energy if it hasn't been blocked or displaced, because it can be.)
4. Witch/Wicca, and other magic(k) can't even begin to effect us
(we share apart of out soul with the universe, so that can at times bind us to higher gifts and is grand protection. The Old sayings "The more you know...."
5. We tend to quite be there when you least expect it...(it's our curse and gift.)
6. At times a witch can be abit more powerful or wiser then us...
Why? because even though we work with nature, we aren't bound to it as the witches powers are....
Well, that's all I will say, but LeLand/Mather/Craig/Crowley/Buckland and their like,
are merely, Adept mages with info, Wizards truthfully have much more to them then what these mages bring to the table......(druid indeed, but we teach them our ways in time, or they discover them in the end.)
(I'm honored to be counted among the wizarding kind) because the legacy of Wizardryl "Schooling of wisdom/secrets of a wizard, with rule" is quite an adventure......
(bow) honored
Shall we give you abit of a peek?
1. Wizards abide by the laws of the universe and inoverse.
(meaning we share in the same laws as most magic(k) however in a diffrent way do we use the gifts of our training and skills.)
2. We have a mental and oral history, much like witchcraft but they come to us for answers..(as any who care to go outside to get an inner viewpoint, we tend to do that often.)
3. Only a Wizard can know the power of another Wizard
(We wizard's are connected by the same string of energy if it hasn't been blocked or displaced, because it can be.)
4. Witch/Wicca, and other magic(k) can't even begin to effect us
(we share apart of out soul with the universe, so that can at times bind us to higher gifts and is grand protection. The Old sayings "The more you know...."
5. We tend to quite be there when you least expect it...(it's our curse and gift.)
6. At times a witch can be abit more powerful or wiser then us...
Why? because even though we work with nature, we aren't bound to it as the witches powers are....
Well, that's all I will say, but LeLand/Mather/Craig/Crowley/Buckland and their like,
are merely, Adept mages with info, Wizards truthfully have much more to them then what these mages bring to the table......(druid indeed, but we teach them our ways in time, or they discover them in the end.)
(I'm honored to be counted among the wizarding kind) because the legacy of Wizardryl "Schooling of wisdom/secrets of a wizard, with rule" is quite an adventure......
(bow) honored
 | why the world of knowledge is small... | by Luxas for everyone |
When we are children fear, fantasy and magic are all around us.
The
Wizard of Oz, Merlin, Witches and Wizards with amazing
powers....carrying wands, and wearing robes and pointy hats, casting
spells and causing great sparks of light and showers of frogs.
Transforming into animals, flying, foretelling the future and travelling
to other worlds.
Where do we get these images of these secret creatures and their magic?
The
image of the fictional Wizard with his cauldron, wand, broomstick and
spells is not just the stuff of fairytales, it is rooted in figures like
the Shaman, The Druids, Witchdoctors and Wisemen throughout history.
The word "Wizard" is an old English word, and literally means
"Wise man".
To find the origin of the Wizard we must travel far back in time,
and through many cultures.
The
population in Stoneage Britain was just a few thousand, all of them
hunters in the forest. This was the only way to stay alive. This was a
time before organized religions,
and the word Wizard had never been heard of.
This
is where archaeologists have found the first evidence of magical
belief. The forests were a vast place of fear and mystery, in a time
where humans and animals lived together in a harmony more close than
today. Stoneage men knew the forest as the place where the Spirits live.
All
over England, evidence of ritual and magical belief has been found by
archaeologists. A skull of a deer more than 9000 years old was found in
a forest in Yorkshire. This deer skull is thought to have been used as
part of a hunting ritual to persuade the spirit of the animal to come
to them. The mask would have been worn by the hunter, in order to
transform themselves into the deer, to bring the human spirit and the
spirit of the deer together as one.
Shaman is an ancient word, it means "a person with special knowledge".
There
are still practicing Shamans in the world today, doing things like
finding stolen items, curing certain diseases, and performing rituals
for fertility and harvest. The Shamans job is to serve the community.
Shamans
can enhance their vision, sometimes with rhythmical drums, trance, or
hallucinogenic drugs. They believe they can leave their body and travel
to the spirit world, where they can merge with the spirits of animals,
negotiate with the spirits of the dead, and cure illnesses back on
earth.
The
spells performed by the ancient Shaman is magic, but not the kind of
magic as the modern world perceives it - "where is the rabbit"? "I don't
know it vanished, it is magic!". But an old magic of the earth, the
dead, the soul, the heart and the mind.
In
history, Wizards and Witches have been seen carrying a wand, a staff or
a stick, believed to have magical powers, and the ability to produce
and effect by tapping, positioning or waving it. The wand itself holds
no magick, but is used as a directional tool, to ensure that the magick
can be aimed correctly at the desired target. Very much like the custom
of pointing with a finger, when saying "YOU, yes YOU". The pointing
gesture itself adding power to the desired outcome, in the same way as
the wand
The
power of the Witch/Wizard, is concentrated into the wand. The direct
human will! The wand is charged with the power and aimed at the desired
target.
But where in history did the wand first come about?
For
the first evidence of the wand being used as a magical tool we must
travel back to the time of the Druids. The Iron Age, known in modern
day as 500bc to 500ad.
In the time of the Druid, magical believes were at their peak in Britain.
Druid, meaning "man with the wisdom of the wood."
In
the time of the Druids, the ancient Shamanic belief of the natural
became an organized religion. With sacred objects, mysterious rituals,
and holy sites. The Druids were highly secretive people, but even so,
they did leave their mark, and archaeologists are still finding evidence
of their religious beliefs today.
The
Druids were believed to have a magical mist to prevent armies from
fighting. They were believed to be able to call up this mist during war
times to hinder the vision of attacking armies.
The
Druids believed their was a root into another world full of spirits,
and that water was a portal into this world. Bogs were used to offer
gifts to the Gods, and luckily for modern day historians, bog water
preserves objects through time, so numerous objects have been found and
given insight to the life of the ancient Druids.
In the 6th Century when Christianity arrived the Church attempted to
stamp out Pagan magic. Men and women found guilty of performing magic
were put to death. The Church found ways to justify this persecution by
creating myths to discredit the Witches and Wizards. Saying that they
were doing the devils work, stealing unborn babies from mothers wombs,
..
.but the greatest myth of them all, was that they could fly.
Early herbal potions from 15th century recipe books all seem to have a vital common ingredient. The Mandrake.
The
Mandrake comes from the potato family, and was used in historical times
for various medical purposes. Mandrake is often associated with magic,
and has many legends attached to it.
One legend is that if
you dug the Mandrake from the ground, it would scream loud enough to
bring on death. Another being that the Mandrake was found to be
growing mysteriously under the gallows where someone had been put for
death for sorcery.
The botanical
name for the Mandrake is "Mandragora officnarum", is a native of the
Mediterranean region. Its name means "mandragon". The
Mandrake comes in male and female varieties, and very often to resemble
the body of a male and female. Many Witchcraft records have stated that
Mandrakes can be used to foretell the future. The Mandrake is believed
to hake it's head "yes" or "no" to the question asked of it.
Certain
alkaloids have been isolated from the root of the Mandrake and tested,
results have shown that by rubbing a paste containing these alkaloids
into parts of the body it can produce a high, and an hallucinary
effect. From this, may have come the illusion of flight.
The
paste would be applied to the skin where there are alot of sweat
glands, and to increase the effect, the Witch or Wizard would lay near
the fire for warmth.
And as always, the eternal circle of life proves to be the way again.
Modern
medicine is returning to the old ways, looking for herbal remedies
rather than chemical cures. People are losing faith in
strict unforgiving religions, and returning to Pagan paths, where the earth, the sun, the moon and stars are central in worship.
Pagan
Gods are becoming more accepted, those that worship freely are now
somewhat protected from the horrific tortures that were once forced upon
them. The burning times are over, and Witches are free to reclaim
what was taken, and return to the old way, the circle is complete.
This is the time for the Rising of the Witch.
| angels was also reguarded as stars.... | by Luxas for everyone |
Lucifer
From the Latin meaning 'light-bearer' or
'light-giver', the name was first applied
logically to Jesus (as 'day star', 2 Peter 1, 19)
as well as to Venus, the morning star. In
demonology Lucifer is the celestial being wrongly
equated with Satan, probably due to a misreading
of Isaiah, 14, 12 (applied to Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, who in his pomp and glory
aspired to exalt himself to the level of God):
"How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning."
St. Jerome also applies the name Lucifer to Satan
when writing his comments about Luke, 10, 18:
"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven."
The general view, adopted in the literary tradition,
is that Satan was called Lucifer before the Fall
from Heaven. According to the legends of the
rebellion, Lucifer was the chief in the hierarchy
of Heaven, and as preeminent among all created
beings in beauty, power, and wisdom. To him God
allotted dominion and power over the earth; and
even after his fall from grace, he seemed to
still retain, if not all, some of this power and
status. Lucifer's sin was pride, an act of pure
egoism and malice; he loved himself, above
anything else and to the exclusion of everything,
without the excuse of ignorance. As governor of
Heaven, he was seated next to the Lord; but as
soon as God left His seat, Lucifer, swelling
with pride, would sit himself on the heavenly
throne. A indignant Michael (the archangel)
battles with him, and after a angelical war,
succeeds in banishing Lucifer and his followers
from Heaven, casting all down to the infernal
dwelling reserved for them for all eternity.
The one once called Lucifer in Heaven, was now
named Satan on earth; the angels that joined
with him became the demons, of whom he was lord.
John Milton, in 'Paradise Lost', applies the
name Lucifer to the demon of sinful pride; in
Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' and in the play
'Doctor Faustus' (Christopher Marlowe), Lucifer
is depicted as the king of Hell.
At all events, the name Lucifer has been adopted
in esoteric circles to represent the modern
equivalent of the being of the Sun (originally
named Ormuzd in the Zoroastrian dualism) opposed
by the darkness, the Prince of Lies, who was
called Angra Mainyu, in occultism called Ahriman.
Lucifer is also one of the demonic sins.
Further info:
The Lucifer Principle.http://www.bookworld.com/lucifer/
In Praise of the Devil.http://www.lucifer.com/lucifer.html
Satan
The chief of the rebel angels. The anthropomorphic
personification of evil, the Devil.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Satan, from the
Hebrew word for 'adversary' (connoting the idea
of opposition), is the personification of evil
and all that is hostile to God and his will.
In the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew
Bible) the translation of 'satan' is given as
'diabolos' meaning 'Devil'. Both terms are usually
employed synonymously. In the Old Testament Satan
is presented as a distinct personality of darkness
and accusation, a type of heavenly prosecutor. He
is in charge of testing humans' integrity, by any
means possible, but God has the authority to set
limits to his power to do evil.
In the New Testament, he is pictured as a dragon
or a serpent, described as the one who has the
power of death, ruling with lies and deception,
accusing humankind before God, and opposing the
purpose of God in the world. Still, while his
power is acknowledged, he is under God's rule;
conceived as only part of creation, he could not
overwhelm the Lord.
In later Christian tradition Satan was described
as the tempter, the accuser, the punisher, the
leader of the fallen angels; and Christianity has
always regarded Hell, the region of fiery torment
below the earth, as Satan's realm. In the advent
of God's kingdom, he and his demons will be
ultimately defeated.
Many other cultures outside the Hebrew tradition
have a concept of a leader of the powers of
darkness. The Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Persians
believed in a dualism between the forces of darkness
and light. Ahriman, in Zoroastrianism, and Seth, the
god of evil in Egyptian mythology, and 'Mara' in
Buddhism manifest characteristics similar to Satan's.
Names for Satan include not only the usual demonic
ones, but several popular ones, such as 'Prince of
Darkness', 'Old Dragon', 'Old Horney', 'Old Nick',
'Old Scratch', 'Lusty Dick', 'Black Bogey', 'Old
Gentleman', 'Angel of Rome', and 'Old Lad Himself',
amongst others.
Related books:
A History of the Devil.
God of the Witches.
He Came to Set the Captives Free.
Lucifer : The Devil in the Middle Ages.
Mephistopheles : The Devil in the Modern World.
Powers of Evil : A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons.
Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth.
Satan's High Priest.
Satan Speaks!
The Bondage Breaker.
The Devil :
A Visual Guide to the Demonic, Evil, Scurrilous, and Bad.
The Devil :
Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity.
The Devil's Mischief :
In Which His Own Story Is Told in Word and Pictures.
The Devil's Notebook.
The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil.
The Old Enemy : Satan and the Combat Myth.
The Origin of Satan.
Click here for more related books.
Further info:
In Praise of the Devil.http://www.lucifer.com/lucifer.html
LaVey, Anton Szandor.http://www.laveypage.com/
The Devil and the Religious Controversies of
Sixteenth-Century France.http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/EH/
Satanism
The worship of Satan, using rites which travesty
Christian rites. If involves black magic, sorcery,
and the invocation of demons and the forces of
darkness, who are propitiated by blood sacrifices
and similar rites.
In Christian cultures these ceremonies include the
black mass, a mockery of the Christian rite.
Medieval Christian writers tended to label any
dualist sect (such as the Bogomils and Albigensians)
as Satanist. From the later Middle Ages, Satanism
and Witchcraft were considered synonymous.
There was a Satanist revival in the late nineteenth
century, and evidence exists that the cult persists.
Satanists, or Luciferians, believe that Satan is
the power behind the processes of nature. What is
natural is acceptable. Sin is only what is unpleasant.
Unlike the Christian God — stern and moralistic,
repressive and chastening — Satan is the leader of
a liberated people who are free and actually
encouraged to indulge in the good things of life,
including uninhibited sexual activity.
See Wicca, magic and Devil.
Related books:
Dark Secrets of the New Age;
Satan's Plan for a One World Religion.
In the Name of Satan.
Satan: The Early Christian Tradition.
Satanic Bible.
Satanic Ritual Abuse: Principles of Treatment.
Satanism (Zondervan Guide to Cults & Religious Movements).
Satans Underground:
The Extraordinary Story of One Woman's Escape.
Secret Life of a Satanist:
The Authorized Biography of Anton Lavey.
Strategy of Satan:
How to Detect and Defeat Him.
The Church of Satan:
A History of the World's Most Notorious Religion.
The Complete Book of the Devil's Disciples.
The Devil: A Biography.
The Prince of Darkness:
Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History.
The Satanic Rituals.
The Satanic Witch.
The Serpent of Paradise:
The Incredible Story of How Satan's Rebellion
Serves God's Purposes.
Further info:
Altar of Unholy Blasphemy.http://www.anus.com/altar/index.html
Inner Circle Coven of the Laiad.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1953/
actually it was both a goldendawn and le vay, then crowley fall out...
From the Latin meaning 'light-bearer' or
'light-giver', the name was first applied
logically to Jesus (as 'day star', 2 Peter 1, 19)
as well as to Venus, the morning star. In
demonology Lucifer is the celestial being wrongly
equated with Satan, probably due to a misreading
of Isaiah, 14, 12 (applied to Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, who in his pomp and glory
aspired to exalt himself to the level of God):
"How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning."
St. Jerome also applies the name Lucifer to Satan
when writing his comments about Luke, 10, 18:
"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven."
The general view, adopted in the literary tradition,
is that Satan was called Lucifer before the Fall
from Heaven. According to the legends of the
rebellion, Lucifer was the chief in the hierarchy
of Heaven, and as preeminent among all created
beings in beauty, power, and wisdom. To him God
allotted dominion and power over the earth; and
even after his fall from grace, he seemed to
still retain, if not all, some of this power and
status. Lucifer's sin was pride, an act of pure
egoism and malice; he loved himself, above
anything else and to the exclusion of everything,
without the excuse of ignorance. As governor of
Heaven, he was seated next to the Lord; but as
soon as God left His seat, Lucifer, swelling
with pride, would sit himself on the heavenly
throne. A indignant Michael (the archangel)
battles with him, and after a angelical war,
succeeds in banishing Lucifer and his followers
from Heaven, casting all down to the infernal
dwelling reserved for them for all eternity.
The one once called Lucifer in Heaven, was now
named Satan on earth; the angels that joined
with him became the demons, of whom he was lord.
John Milton, in 'Paradise Lost', applies the
name Lucifer to the demon of sinful pride; in
Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' and in the play
'Doctor Faustus' (Christopher Marlowe), Lucifer
is depicted as the king of Hell.
At all events, the name Lucifer has been adopted
in esoteric circles to represent the modern
equivalent of the being of the Sun (originally
named Ormuzd in the Zoroastrian dualism) opposed
by the darkness, the Prince of Lies, who was
called Angra Mainyu, in occultism called Ahriman.
Lucifer is also one of the demonic sins.
Further info:
The Lucifer Principle.http://www.bookworld.com/lucifer/
In Praise of the Devil.http://www.lucifer.com/lucifer.html
Satan
The chief of the rebel angels. The anthropomorphic
personification of evil, the Devil.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Satan, from the
Hebrew word for 'adversary' (connoting the idea
of opposition), is the personification of evil
and all that is hostile to God and his will.
In the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew
Bible) the translation of 'satan' is given as
'diabolos' meaning 'Devil'. Both terms are usually
employed synonymously. In the Old Testament Satan
is presented as a distinct personality of darkness
and accusation, a type of heavenly prosecutor. He
is in charge of testing humans' integrity, by any
means possible, but God has the authority to set
limits to his power to do evil.
In the New Testament, he is pictured as a dragon
or a serpent, described as the one who has the
power of death, ruling with lies and deception,
accusing humankind before God, and opposing the
purpose of God in the world. Still, while his
power is acknowledged, he is under God's rule;
conceived as only part of creation, he could not
overwhelm the Lord.
In later Christian tradition Satan was described
as the tempter, the accuser, the punisher, the
leader of the fallen angels; and Christianity has
always regarded Hell, the region of fiery torment
below the earth, as Satan's realm. In the advent
of God's kingdom, he and his demons will be
ultimately defeated.
Many other cultures outside the Hebrew tradition
have a concept of a leader of the powers of
darkness. The Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Persians
believed in a dualism between the forces of darkness
and light. Ahriman, in Zoroastrianism, and Seth, the
god of evil in Egyptian mythology, and 'Mara' in
Buddhism manifest characteristics similar to Satan's.
Names for Satan include not only the usual demonic
ones, but several popular ones, such as 'Prince of
Darkness', 'Old Dragon', 'Old Horney', 'Old Nick',
'Old Scratch', 'Lusty Dick', 'Black Bogey', 'Old
Gentleman', 'Angel of Rome', and 'Old Lad Himself',
amongst others.
Related books:
A History of the Devil.
God of the Witches.
He Came to Set the Captives Free.
Lucifer : The Devil in the Middle Ages.
Mephistopheles : The Devil in the Modern World.
Powers of Evil : A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons.
Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth.
Satan's High Priest.
Satan Speaks!
The Bondage Breaker.
The Devil :
A Visual Guide to the Demonic, Evil, Scurrilous, and Bad.
The Devil :
Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity.
The Devil's Mischief :
In Which His Own Story Is Told in Word and Pictures.
The Devil's Notebook.
The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil.
The Old Enemy : Satan and the Combat Myth.
The Origin of Satan.
Click here for more related books.
Further info:
In Praise of the Devil.http://www.lucifer.com/lucifer.html
LaVey, Anton Szandor.http://www.laveypage.com/
The Devil and the Religious Controversies of
Sixteenth-Century France.http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/EH/
Satanism
The worship of Satan, using rites which travesty
Christian rites. If involves black magic, sorcery,
and the invocation of demons and the forces of
darkness, who are propitiated by blood sacrifices
and similar rites.
In Christian cultures these ceremonies include the
black mass, a mockery of the Christian rite.
Medieval Christian writers tended to label any
dualist sect (such as the Bogomils and Albigensians)
as Satanist. From the later Middle Ages, Satanism
and Witchcraft were considered synonymous.
There was a Satanist revival in the late nineteenth
century, and evidence exists that the cult persists.
Satanists, or Luciferians, believe that Satan is
the power behind the processes of nature. What is
natural is acceptable. Sin is only what is unpleasant.
Unlike the Christian God — stern and moralistic,
repressive and chastening — Satan is the leader of
a liberated people who are free and actually
encouraged to indulge in the good things of life,
including uninhibited sexual activity.
See Wicca, magic and Devil.
Related books:
Dark Secrets of the New Age;
Satan's Plan for a One World Religion.
In the Name of Satan.
Satan: The Early Christian Tradition.
Satanic Bible.
Satanic Ritual Abuse: Principles of Treatment.
Satanism (Zondervan Guide to Cults & Religious Movements).
Satans Underground:
The Extraordinary Story of One Woman's Escape.
Secret Life of a Satanist:
The Authorized Biography of Anton Lavey.
Strategy of Satan:
How to Detect and Defeat Him.
The Church of Satan:
A History of the World's Most Notorious Religion.
The Complete Book of the Devil's Disciples.
The Devil: A Biography.
The Prince of Darkness:
Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History.
The Satanic Rituals.
The Satanic Witch.
The Serpent of Paradise:
The Incredible Story of How Satan's Rebellion
Serves God's Purposes.
Further info:
Altar of Unholy Blasphemy.http://www.anus.com/altar/index.html
Inner Circle Coven of the Laiad.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1953/
actually it was both a goldendawn and le vay, then crowley fall out...
the
mixure was based on the idea of 'freedom from the idea that one holds
fate over the other by just beginning "of religion born into"
rebellion.......
| wizard speaking on wizarding works | by Luxas for everyone |
I read all the 5 books and they are nice, I wasn't going to touch them, but i was asked my opinion of it...
the books got the wizard mentality quite correct, not the ways of power though..... wizards and witches didn't go to any school
they was trained to be wizard or witch by those that was like themselves before... its an endless circle....
Fair: i agree with the factless mumbo that it represent
Wzdryl: mages and academies, came from the occult teachings, and the idea of educational openess
Wzdryl: wizards don't use wands, only beginner witches did
Fair: like i did
Wzdryl: and as for witches it is only a level, then you need it no more...
the books got the wizard mentality quite correct, not the ways of power though..... wizards and witches didn't go to any school
they was trained to be wizard or witch by those that was like themselves before... its an endless circle....
Fair: i agree with the factless mumbo that it represent
Wzdryl: mages and academies, came from the occult teachings, and the idea of educational openess
Wzdryl: wizards don't use wands, only beginner witches did
Fair: like i did
Wzdryl: and as for witches it is only a level, then you need it no more...
unless you bond your energy to it....or another tool
The mythology of anim-ios, "the books" get right
so
i feel we have nothing to fear from those that chose to mimic this
understanding.....[i liked it even though it has this while in it....]
Owner
| expressive aura "tantrik" magic(k)/massage | by Luxas for everyone |
One day the Buddha was walking with Ananda, his favorite disciple. He
was deeply engrossed in answering a question. A fly landed on
Buddha's forehead and he vigorously shooed it away. At that moment he
stopped what he was doing and repeated the act. Ananda asked
him, "Why are you shooing the fly away again, when it has gone?"
Buddha replied, "I was so engrossed in your question that I was
unconscious of what I had done. I am doing it again, to know it
consciously."
This is the essence of Western Tantra: "to know it consciously".
Tantra and Love
The Tantrik act is a giving and a receiving. There is no taking. When
giving and receiving reach their highest level of intensity then No-
One is left. There is simply Love.
It is easier to discuss Love in the negative sense since being
immersed in Love is beyond the subject/object duality and beyond time
and space. Time and space are the ultimate signposts for logic,
languages, definitions, and philosophical systems. However, they are
useless when we try to define Love.
Returning to the Source
Love is not rational, nor is it the yearning for some person. Love is
the core element of the Universe. Those individuals who frequently
talk of love know little of it. More often they are feeling the
compelling need to give or to receive the impossible. More often they
are speaking of control, guilt, loneliness, or sex. Love is more; it
is the compelling need to Merge -- to Melt -- to return to the
Source. As the source is One, so must the Tantric couple finally
disappear. What is left is simply Love itself.
The formula is simple. First there is Wholeness, then there is
Division, then there is Wholeness. The second Wholeness is different
from the first in that the major portion of it has to be earned. The
remainder is added as a gift.
Ordinary life doesn't give us this opportunity and neither do our
religions. We are too steeped in our needs and our ego. We are
fighting off feelings of vulnerability, ineffectualness, loneliness,
and death. To return to the Source is an experience out of the space-
time continuum. It is without Thing/ness. Unlike other experiences,
however, when it reaches sufficient depth a crystallization occurs
which changes our whole orientation toward life. We realize at once
that we are nearing Home.
Divided We Fall
Although we are born with this sense, we lose it in the natural
process of becoming adults. To become an adult we must learn
division. We are taught that the other is not us, that she/he is a
potential enemy. We are taught to hold on to ourselves, never to rest
or to let go. We are taught to identify with the things for which we
strive. We are taught to believe that language is reality.
Our relationships are frequently empty and hollow. More often then
not, they reflect our need for status, for power and escape. We
demand the impossible from ourselves and everyone else. We are
asleep, sound asleep, being lived by our instincts and learned habits
of behavior, yet all the time believing that we are awake, conscious,
and in charge.
Much of the misery in the world is the result of the frustrated
desire to return, to melt, to merge, to be one. This does not mean
that you have to give up living your ordinary life. It does require a
few hours of work each week. At some point real change will begin to
happen. You will crystallize into the being you have always been but
have forgotten. You will merge back into the whole, this time not as
an ignorant infant, but as an innocent person. Once this
transformation has taken place you will no longer have to ask any
questions. You will be the answer.
was deeply engrossed in answering a question. A fly landed on
Buddha's forehead and he vigorously shooed it away. At that moment he
stopped what he was doing and repeated the act. Ananda asked
him, "Why are you shooing the fly away again, when it has gone?"
Buddha replied, "I was so engrossed in your question that I was
unconscious of what I had done. I am doing it again, to know it
consciously."
This is the essence of Western Tantra: "to know it consciously".
Tantra and Love
The Tantrik act is a giving and a receiving. There is no taking. When
giving and receiving reach their highest level of intensity then No-
One is left. There is simply Love.
It is easier to discuss Love in the negative sense since being
immersed in Love is beyond the subject/object duality and beyond time
and space. Time and space are the ultimate signposts for logic,
languages, definitions, and philosophical systems. However, they are
useless when we try to define Love.
Returning to the Source
Love is not rational, nor is it the yearning for some person. Love is
the core element of the Universe. Those individuals who frequently
talk of love know little of it. More often they are feeling the
compelling need to give or to receive the impossible. More often they
are speaking of control, guilt, loneliness, or sex. Love is more; it
is the compelling need to Merge -- to Melt -- to return to the
Source. As the source is One, so must the Tantric couple finally
disappear. What is left is simply Love itself.
The formula is simple. First there is Wholeness, then there is
Division, then there is Wholeness. The second Wholeness is different
from the first in that the major portion of it has to be earned. The
remainder is added as a gift.
Ordinary life doesn't give us this opportunity and neither do our
religions. We are too steeped in our needs and our ego. We are
fighting off feelings of vulnerability, ineffectualness, loneliness,
and death. To return to the Source is an experience out of the space-
time continuum. It is without Thing/ness. Unlike other experiences,
however, when it reaches sufficient depth a crystallization occurs
which changes our whole orientation toward life. We realize at once
that we are nearing Home.
Divided We Fall
Although we are born with this sense, we lose it in the natural
process of becoming adults. To become an adult we must learn
division. We are taught that the other is not us, that she/he is a
potential enemy. We are taught to hold on to ourselves, never to rest
or to let go. We are taught to identify with the things for which we
strive. We are taught to believe that language is reality.
Our relationships are frequently empty and hollow. More often then
not, they reflect our need for status, for power and escape. We
demand the impossible from ourselves and everyone else. We are
asleep, sound asleep, being lived by our instincts and learned habits
of behavior, yet all the time believing that we are awake, conscious,
and in charge.
Much of the misery in the world is the result of the frustrated
desire to return, to melt, to merge, to be one. This does not mean
that you have to give up living your ordinary life. It does require a
few hours of work each week. At some point real change will begin to
happen. You will crystallize into the being you have always been but
have forgotten. You will merge back into the whole, this time not as
an ignorant infant, but as an innocent person. Once this
transformation has taken place you will no longer have to ask any
questions. You will be the answer.
(this
is true, the energy and heart of the soul channel nothing but the
flowing of the innerself instead of the mental carried blockage that one
designs as 'id or ego' because its forfilling and sharing nature is
designed to be balancing as in the way above......) thanks....
shahnaaz
| mythos and truth..... | by Luxas for everyone |
Many mythos was designed to serve the fear and mixed understanding of diffrent cultures.......time for a bit of ancient truth...
witch:
it was believed that if you was marked as the mystress of darkness or
brides of demons created by a linking to the world on a certain day and
time.....you became a witch....
actually there are 3 ancient ways of gaining this direction.......
by
a potion created by another witch spilled or drank gives the needed
genetic changes by transformation that being one way..... The next is
transformation of energy given by proforming a direct ritual devoted to
the exchange of the "electrokenetic walls" of the one directing the
ritual typically an adept or magiester..... the final is an old way of
gaining the secrets of witch, as you learn magic(k) from any form of
magic(k) your perception of living energy and voices awaken and soon all
these seperate voices combine to be only one voice and that voice tells
you the secret to enter her company "she" truthful you might think your
going nuts but you aren't and others hear and see her as well and your
told messages that evolve you as a person of witch..... (the old as i
have learned give way to the new)
Vampires :
Ancient bloodsucking fiends of both male and female that hunt the night
and feed on the week and lost to increase their numbers, lol
(got film) Carpathian/Romanian/Russian/Goth lol
Now
for the truth.....As an ancient curse, vampire has 3 classes and does
have to do with blood mixure but not the direct drinking of thats a
fetish and a junky dream.....no offense but to earn the ranks of the
shadow... you have to bind your soul to the eternal death angel....no
not satan..lol,
and you have to be of noble blood to do this,
hense the rarity of the host...vampire.....otherwise live the image but
gain not the labor or fruits...
as my vampire colleage
said......a king or prince is the only one that can make a
vampire......(king) an ancient occult bind (prince) one in bining by a
king.....(the Vlad) story is both mythos and truth...... and those that
think Ann rice books and characters are real need to be watching the
darkness, lol.....
Werewolf: A beast of both
human and wolf that was born by a genetic problem and lives by night and
moon of full, lol and to be bit by them is to change you... lol (now
the secret) One they are genetic inhanced....that is true, but it was
punnishment made by ancient shamans to those that didn't respect the
woods and land, like the witch, the werewolf was created by a potion
that was spilled on the person or forced to drink and then the
transformation was keyed in by the new moon, and then after it was
virtually controllable... however it only lasted until the deed of the
person was un-done....ancient secret.....and curse... but if the one
that was more wolf then man/woman they will forever be this until they
reach the limit of their humanity then they would become fully wolf and
lose all genetic traits of man/woman as human, except the eye color...
a cure that was more death then life......happy hunting....
Zombie:
An ancient curse, that makes the living return by the spellwork of
voodoo or necrology controllable by a talisman or object that the person
has... lol, saddly most of that is true...however the magic is coma not
death, and well decaded flesh.....uh, it was when the body was freshly
dead the one who wanted the zombie, had to spinkle this power on the
corpse and it had to be before the next day..otherwise they die......
it
binds the soul to the body...(orginally used by most cultures as a way
of binding the dead to the grave) sorry...you dabblers have to wait...
Well the rest is much as it is stated here........happy hunting
| the topic of the day... | by Luxas for everyone |
i have no restriction on the topics uttered in this message board,
ask or type or add what you will....
just be advised that if it is negative to the group or myself, then it better have a reason, otherwise your baned......
I wish my group to serve as a free place to add or take away ideal and info exchange... the reason any are learning anything....
just be truthful as you care to be.....otherwise i might reply...lol
(i love a good challenge in wisdom, care to tempt me...
or other....)
| Response to "who is out there" | by whitemyst for everyone |
I
am also new to this group..but I am awaiting for a specific reply fron
the teacher "Luxas". I would like to start a topic......is there any
one that can transform energy from simple objects into
light?..............
WhiteMyst
| Re: Whare is everyone | by whitemyst for everyone |
>From: "R R"
>Reply-To: "Dawn of the Master Adepts"
>
>To: Dawnofthemasteradepts@groups.msn.com
>Subject: Re: Whare is everyone
>Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 20:44:51 -0700
>
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
| Whare is everyone | by £ö®ð ð®ågöñ m姆€® for everyone |
I
am new to this group and i have noticed that no one has sent a msaage
to the group for quite awhile. Where is everyone. I am very interested
in what this group has to say but no messages. I am also a member of
the sacred circle of witches, innana's place, and celtic sky. I get
lots of messages from the but non from you, why......
| noteck to noetic | by Luxas for everyone |
the dynamics of
| the Labels or titles.... | by Luxas for everyone |
witch, druid, wizarding, occult mage, and shamanist, vodoun, sage,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First
witchcraft has no general nature as in a tradition, this was more to
make it a formalized design called "wicca" and with this it falls into
the ceremonial adept design then the reality of witchcraft, however here
i am to reveal "Witchcraft" as it was and is known in the world of
magic.....
The Circle, is composed of 3 forms, begining, middle, and final
the begining : this is the starter to reform the energy of the land with the harmony of the witch, nothing more.......
the middle :
protection, and design of symbols as in summoning the key to the inner
witches abulity to attract the powers, as in energy and gifts...
the final :
this is when the witch has advanced to the greater design of making,
learning from those thing about her, but more it is when the magic(k)
world gives way to her and becomes apart of her(the witches design)
the
tools ; many a book is set on the witches tools, well lets clear this
up, the witch only uses 4 general tools, and these are chosen as the
witch gains her energy and design, as in "labeling" full,high priestess,
priestess, dark, arch, or other....
then the
grimore(BOS) : for many of witch kind it is a gift given at the
completion of the 3rd circle because then the observation of outer power
as in the writing, sygils and keys of others magic as well as the idea
of record keeping, however the simple book of magic(k) idea was not
witch design, but sage and mage had.......
the rest is just more about the ways it is tunable as in design.......
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Druid
: not witch in any scope of the word or of a pagan nature, heck even
the desin og druid is more monkish, however its past is quite womanly as
well, their nature is to tap into the design of time and life as in the
layland energy, to tell you more is quite a grand secret because even
the oldest of druid kind, like to keep it a mystery.....
(druism, the new) only does what wicca has done try to reform its nature as in the idea of an ecletic designs)
Ritual
designed to foster nature and connect with the ancient forces of
design, primarly the dragon, however many of the past rituals was
devoted to the design of the living tree and nature of warrior self as
in honorable of the passages of blood and wine, then reversed by the
churches to follow a more christian self design, but that was the past
for any who ventured to know creationism of the time....
they had 5 basic rituals and only one daily
it was about self design as most ceremonial magics was design in the begining, then evolved by the use of occult design.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wizarding,
Sorry wizard's of old wasn't taught by an academy, you getting us
confused with mages and adepts of 14th century occult, our design comes
from the placement of magic(k) and this is often a one on one path,
teacher to student or wizard to apprentice, and that is how it has
always been and will continue to be, up to the year 4000 then it might
change, (Wizards path, is quite a difficult one, because your lead to
where you need and then you do what is asked....the rest you will just
have to see for yourself......) Academy learning is an Mage or monkish
design, not wizarding.......but it is growing a following to become,
that by the teachers of the un-known, but most are just philosophies and
dynamics of shaman nature and that is its full skill.......but who
knows...
wizards use staffs, never wands
wands are for the adept and mage and the design of the illusionism
magican, and we know where that stands, wands are for more beginning
adepts because they need the way of charge, wizards don't, being a
wizard your staff acts as a magnetic rod that connects you to the
geo-kenetic energy, its more then this but well you will see as your
invited in...(oh, and on a side note, the energy of a type of wood, lol
wizards don't have ranking wood staffs, that more of fashion, and not
magic(k) what works, and is summoned is the wizards nature....nothing
more........ever....
cup: the
crystal/wood/stone/lead/or other desin is like the wood only image, not a
differnting of magic as in Wizarding magic, the cup is our circle, bond
and way of connecting to the un-seen universe it is both a mirror as
well as a doorway, sorry but my oath keeps me from saying more, but i
can say 'the dragon will rest on your heart and lips.......
the
tools: sorry, no copycats allowed, private knowing, only being a wizard
or taught by one will you see these secrets, why/ well they are cheap
toys in the wizard's book and pocket, that give what you give, and
well......the true test of wisdom is to know only a little but see it
all, or lots......lol
-------------------------------------------
Occult mage/Shamanism, to sides of the same coin,
they share the same tools and information, just diffrent channels to gain their gifts/curses or powers......
tools:
they use the basic tools of tarot,water,rune,blood,paper, and glass
bottles, the images of these toys can give one great power as in great
danger, and those that practice they will find others kinda like others
know you as they know themselfs, and sense 400 years of info is out
there it is well just a drop in the bucket to see a bit of wisdom
here....
--------------------------------
Voudon and sage : The Way of the Saints or demons, lol
it
is more that the secrets and skins of the earth and heaven give way to
your design and desires if you have an advocate, however in the way of
sage it is in the later of its study as you record more info then you
use,
or perhaps will ever know, but like mage, magi and adept are merely bridges to the way in......
Voudon
: Voodoo as in art, is the way to the 9 powers and is more into the
design of the worlds that interfear with the world seen, and the user of
its design, too long to mention here, but is devided between the desin
of lifes energy and deaths truths..........
Paganism
is just a titile for what others of the time called primal, or
diffrent.... and now is a gateway title to the way one claims magic(k)
in a way of naturalism, green man, lol
wicca : look at witch, and then say what the heck, j/k
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| magic(k) what you learn? | by Luxas for everyone |
Magic(k)
is one of the oldest of ways of using the basic energy of the body and
the universe, however like most things it is a divided subject based in 3
catagories...... Philosophy, Metaphysics, and religious sciences....
sad to say but these 3 govern the tip of magical arts and the patterns
the soul carry in its natural/birth right nature...
The Patterns and methology......
Elemental sciences
(physical, intunement) mental conditioning
dynamics of Mythologies
psychic (as in) Empathic study and a versoin of dream writing
and
if you manage to get that far, then your now into the dynamics of the
atomic and universe.......(Why so much study?) truthful this is just a
drop in the bucket and if you master this your adept nature will grow,
and learning will be much easier........
but that is all i will say for now.............
i
will reveal here the secrets of the workings of magic(k) as in the
levels or known "labels" or titles..........witch, druid, wizarding,
occult mage, and shamanist, vodoun, sage, the rest are just ceremonial
practicing adepts
------
the rest is up to the dabbler, so beware......
| mentational interconvergance "tuning | by Luxas for everyone |
i only teach it to my advanced students,
because in the wrong hands it can be quite well
powerful....
because in the wrong hands it can be quite well
powerful....
i don't like meditation directly, i use instead a focal tuning skills, taught to those of great mind
kinda like mentalism
kinda like mentalism
if you was to study these, you would become overtly kenetic, and psionic
the kenetics you would be able to shock, start and stop hearts or mind cells,and almost control blood flow, so you can see the danger.....
the kenetics you would be able to shock, start and stop hearts or mind cells,and almost control blood flow, so you can see the danger.....
and the psionic, well you can litterly explore elctronic, magnetic, and kenetic waves,
in any of the frames of hynotics and
even put people to sleep or at rest or dead,
so i am careful with it as well.....
in any of the frames of hynotics and
even put people to sleep or at rest or dead,
so i am careful with it as well.....
mediation is ok, if you want to find what you want to solve, but it does nothing more,
i know i tried most of them, lol
i know i tried most of them, lol
Wizardluxas
I perfer the helpful powers of our living machine....
| messages from the walls... | by Luxas for everyone |
Ancient Mysteries - from the collected works of Lady Wilde
IRELAND, from its remote position and immunity from Roman conquest, remained longer in the possession of the Druidic mysteries than any other nation of Europe. Besides, the early missionaries adopted no intolerant measures against the ancient creed; no persecutions are recorded. The sacred trees were not cut down, nor time sacrificial stones destroyed; but the holy wells and the antique monuments were sanctified by association with a saint's name and history, and from being objects of pagan idolatry became shrines of prayer and centres of holy worship, where enlightened men preached the new gospel of light, purity, and love to an awe-struck, wondering multitude.
To this tolerant policy, as Mr. Windell, the learned antiquary, remarks, may be attributed the strong endurance of Druidic superstitions and usages in Ireland. Much also is due to the peculiar and truly Oriental tenacity with which the Irish at all times have clung to the customs and traditions of their forefathers. The belief in a fairy race ever present amongst them and around them, is one of these ineffaceable superstitions which the people still hold with a faith as fervent as those of the first Aryan tribes who wandered westward from the mystic East, where all creeds, symbols, and myths had their origin.
Many other broken fragments of the early ritual of the world can also still be traced in the popular superstitions and usages of the people. Time sun and moon with the mysterious powers of nature were the first gods of humanity. Astarte, Ashtaroth, and Isis were all the same moon-goddess under different names, and all were represented by time symbol of the horned cow. The Egyptians typified the sun and moon, Osiris and Isis, as the ox and the cow : and these symbols were still used at the Irish wake ceremonial until very recently: for the Druids also worshipped the sun and moon and time winds, and venerated trees, fountains, rivers, and pillar stones, like their Persian ancestry. But the Irish considered the east wind demoniacal, the Druidic wind of accursed power. They called it "The Red Wind," "A wind that blasts the trees and withers men is that Bed Wind," according to. a bard.
The Hindus had their triad of Brahm채, Vishnu, and Siva, representing the sun at. morning, noon, and evening; so the Irish Druids had their triad of Baal, Budh, and Grian, and they called time May festival La Budha na Baal tinne (the day of Buddha of the Baal fires). Chrishna was another Hindu name for the sun, and the Irish had Crias, a name for the sun likewise.
The Hindus had their cattle, or cow festival in spring, when they walked round time animals with great ceremony, always going westward, while they flung garlands on their horns. So in Ireland there was also a procession, when the cows were decorated with vervain and time rowan, and were sprinkled with the Sgaith-an-Tobar (t.he purity of the well), that is, the first water drawn from a sacred well after midnight on May Eve. This was considered an effective antidote to witchcraft, and whoever succeeded in being first at the well, cast into it a tuft of grass, called Cuisheaq grass, to show t.hiat the Sgaith-an-Tobar had been abstracted. So also the Hindus esteem time Cusha qrass as sacred, and cast it into their wells for a like purpose. The ceremonial of wreathing the horns of the cows was in honour of the moon, time wife of the Sun-god, whose emblem, as we know, all through the East, as in Ireland, was the horned cow.
Many and strange, indeed, are the analogies between time practices of the Egyptians, Hindus, Persians, and the Irish; and the legend may, after all, have some truth in it which brings the first Colonists of Ireland from Egypt, and makes the first Queen of Erin a daughter of Pharaoh. The ancient war-cry of the Irish clans was Pharrah ! a word that has no significance in the Irish language,but which is supposed by some antiquarians to be the Same as Phi-Ra, the sun - the regal title of time Egyptian kings, by which they were invoked by the warriors as they rushed into battle.
The ancient funeral ceremonies of Egypt can be still seen and studied at the wake of an Irish peasant; especially in that singular symbol, when a man and a woman appeared, one bearing the head of an ox, the other that of a cow at the funeral games; a custom which has now lost all its meaning, but which originally, no doubt., represented Isis and Osiris waiting to receive time soul of the dead.
The Persians held that, fire and water were time most sacred of all things and so did the Irish; hence their reverence for the waters of purification at the holy wells. And as the heathen passed their children and cattle through the fire to Moloch, so the Irish performed the same rite at the Baal festival, when the young men leaped through the flames, and time cattle were driven through the hot embers. Fire was held to be the visible symbol of time invisible God, endowed with mystic cleansing powers, and the ascending flame was thought to be a divine spirit dwelling in the substance ignited. For this reason the Irish made a circle of fire round their children and their cattle to guard them from evil, holding the belief that no evil spirit could pass this special emblem of divinity.
But even in matters less divine there was a similarity between time Persian amid Irish usages. The Persian Magi made a considerable revenue from the sacred fire; for each devotee paid a silver coin for the ember carried away from time holy temple, to light time home fire on the day of the Sun-festival. And fire was also a source of wealth to time Druid priests; each person being obliged to buy it from them on the great day of Baal. Therefore it was a sin to give away fire on that day; and time habit of borrowing it to light the home fire was denounced as fatal and unlucky. The true reason being that to borrow the sacred element was to injure the priestly revenue. Yet this ancient ordinance is still religiously observed in Ireland; and even to this day no peasant would venture to give away fire or milk on May Day, for fear of the worst consequences to time giver; while any one who came to borrow a lighted brand would be looked on as an emissary of Satan.
The sacred fire of Tara (Tamhair-na-Riyh, Tara of the Kings) was only lit every three years, and then with great ceremony. The sun's rays were concentrated by means of a brazen lens, on some pieces of dried wood, and from this alone were all the sacred fires in Ireland kindled in the holy places.
At the present time, if a peasant has to light a fire in the house on May morning, which does not often happen, as the custom is to keep the fire burning all night, a lighted sod taken from the priest's house is esteemed of great virtue and sacredness, just as in old time a lighted brand from the altar of Baa! was used to light the domestic fire.
The sacred fire was also obtained from time friction of wood, or the striking of stones; and it was supposed that the spirits of fire dwelt in these objects, and when the priest invoked them to appear, I they brought good luck to the household for time coming year; but if invoked by other hands on that special day their influence was malific.
The migration of races can be clearly traced by their superstitions. The oldest seem to have come from Persia and Egypt; while mutilated, though still authentic portions of the old-world ritual can still be found all along time Mediterranean, marking the westward progress of time primitive nations, till time last wave found a resting-place on our own far-distant shores, washed by time waters of time Atlantic.
Assyria was the teacher of Egypt; Egypt of Greece; and Greece of Europe; and little seems to have been lost during time progress of sixty centuries. The old myths still remain at time base of all thought and all creeds; broken fragments of the primal faith; shadowy traditions of some great human life that once was real and actual, or of some great event that changed the destiny of nations, and the echo of which still vibrates through the legends, the songs, the poetry, and the usages of every people on the face of the earth.
Persia, Egypt, india, time Teuton, and the Celt, have all the same primal ideas in their mythology, and the same instincts of superstition; and the signs to which past ages have given a mystic meaning still come to us laden with a fateful significance, even in this advanced era of culture and time triumph of reason.
We still cannot help believing that. prophecies come in the night, for the mystical and prophetic nature of dreams is confirmed by the personal experience of almost every human being; and few are found brave enough, even amongst the educated classes, lightly to break through a traditional usage on which all the ages have set the seal of good or ill luck.
Superstition, or the belief in unseen, mysterious, spiritual influences, is an instinct of human nature. A vague, shadowy, formless belief, certainly, yet ineradicable. 'We feel that our dual humanity, time material as well as time psychical, holds some strange and mystic relation with an unseen spiritual world, though we cannot define the limits, nor bring it under a law.
Before the written word existed, the people strove to express their creed and history in symbols. Divine nations, like the Greeks, made the symbols beautiful, and these the uncultured tribes may afterwards have distorted into grotesque and rude imitations; but the same idea can be traced through all forms by which humanity has tried to represent history, nature, and God.
And the old Pagan customs of the early world seem to have an enduring vitality, and to have become fixed, even in the usages of time enlightened nineteenth century. The Persian Magi and the Druid priest exacted a tribute of the firstlings of the flock as a burnt-offering to the Sun-god on the day of his festival; so in modern times, we sacrifice a lamb at Easter and an ox at Christmas, retaining the pagan rite while we honour the Christian legend. The Christmas-tree is still lighted to guide the Sun-god back to life; and the spotted cake, anciently made in his honour, of corn and fruit, still finds its place on our tables, as the plum pudding of civilization, even as its primitive prototype was laid on the sacred altars of the Persians as an offering of gratitude to the Lord of Light and Life.
The widespread range of the same traditional customs and superstitions amongst all peoples and through every age is a most interesting study, as showing the primitive unity of the human race and the subsequent divergence of the nations, even as recorded in the Biblical narrative; but it would be endless to follow the lines of affinity that run through all the creeds, legends, usages and superstitions of the world. Thus the Algonquil Indians, according to Mr. Leland, held the ash-tree and the elm as sacred and mystical, because these trees were made human. Of the ash was made man, of the elm, woman.
So in the Edda, we read of the mighty ash-tree whose summit reaches to heaven, and whose roots go down to hell. Two fountains sprang from beneath it - one the knowledge of all that is; the other of all that shall be. And out of the wood man was created.
The Irish also hold the ash-tree as all-powerful against witch-craft; therefore branches of it were wreathed rounds the horns of the cattle, and round the child's cradle to keep off evil influence; while in all their weird tales of the fairy dances with the dead, the mortals drawn into their company are infallibly safe if they get possession of a branch of the ash-tree, and hold it safely till out of reach of the evil spell.
The alder is another of the mystical trees of Ireland, held sacred, as in Persia, on account of its possessing strange mysterious properties and powers to avert evil; and the hawthorn likewise was sacred to the Irish fairies, therefore a libation of milk was poured over the roots on May Day, as the Hindus poured milk on the earth round the sacred tree as an offering to the manes of the dead.
In the Transylvanian legends and superstitions, of. which Madame Gerard has recently given an interesting record, many will be found identical with the Irish; such as these - Friday is the most unlucky day of all the week; evil spirits are strongest between sunset and midnight; it is ill-luck to have your path crossed by a hare; on entering a strange house sit down a moment, or a death will happen; spitting is at all times most efficacious against the influence of the devil; an infant's nails should be bitten, not cut; never rock an empty cradle; the robin and the swallow bring luck; never kill a spider; the crow and a black hen are ominous of evil. The dead are only in a trance: they hear everything but can make no sign. The Irish also believe that the dead are allowed at certain times to visit their living kindred. A whirlwind denotes that a devil is dancing with a witch; so the Irish believe that the fairies are rushing by in the whirlwind intent on carrying off some mortal victim to the fairy mansions; and the only help is to fling clay at the passing wind, when the fairies will be obliged to drop the mortal child, or the beautiful young girl they have abducted.
But the Roumanians are a mixed race - Greek, Slav, Teuton, Gypsey - and many of their superstitions are dark and gloomy, especially those relating to vampires, wolves, and terrible demons, evil spirits, and fearful witches. The Irish legends rarely deal with anything terrible or revolting. They circle, in general, round the mythus of the fairy, a bright and beautiful creation, only living for pleasure, music, and the dance, and rarely malignant or ill-natured, except when their dancing grounds are interfered with, or when they are not treated with proper generous consideration in the matter of wine.
The strange dance practised at Midsummer in Ireland round the Baal fires can clearly be traced from the East to Erin; and in its origin was evidently a religious symbol and rite. The Greeks practised it from the most ancient times. It was called the Pyrrhic dance - from pur fire - and simulated the windings of a serpent.
The Syrtos, the great national dance of the Aegean Islands, so well described by Mr. Bent in his interesting book on the Cyclades, also resembles the winding of a serpent. The dancers hold hands and circle round in tortuous curves precisely as in Ireland, where the line of dancers with joined hands, always moving from east to west, extends sometimes for a mile in length. It was probably a mystic dance symbolic of the path of the sun, though the esoteric meaning has now been entirely lost; part of the primal range, of ideas out of which man first formed a religion and ritual of worship.
Many other practices and superstitions of the Greek islanders strongly resemble the Irish. The Nereids of the Aegean play the part of the Irish fairies, and are as capricious though often more malignant. If a child grows warm and weak the Nereids have struck it; and it is laid naked for a night on the altar steps to test the truth of the suspicion. If the poor child dies under the trial, then it certainly was bewitched by the evil spirits, and the parents are well content to be rid of the unholy thing.
The funeral wail over the dead also closely resembles the Irish, when the hired mourning women sit round the corpse, tear their hair, beat their breast and rock to and fro, intoning in a monotone chant the praises of the deceased, the cries at times rising to a scream, in a frenzy of grief and despair.
The islanders likewise use many charms and incantations like the Irish, while the old women amongst them display wonderful knowledge of the mystic nature and power of herbs, and are most expert in the cure of disease. it is indeed remarkable that, amongst all primitive tribes and nations, women 'have always shown the highest skill in the treatment of disease, and have been rightly accounted the best doctors, and the most learned in mystic medicinal lore.
The Marquis of Lorne, in his graphic and instructive "Canadian Pictures," speaks of the wonderful skill of the Indian women, and the remarkable cures effected by the squaws through their knowledge of the varied properties of herbs. The Indians also have a sweating bath for the sick, such as was used by the ancient Irish. A bath is made by stones covered over with branches; hot water is then poured on the stones, and the patient crouches over the heated vapour evolved until a violent perspiration is produced, which carries off the disease, or the pains in the members, without fail. The sweating bath of the Irish was made quite on the same principles, and is the most effective cure known for pains in the bones and feverish disorders. it is still used in the Western Islands. "The Sweating House," as it is called, is made of rough stones with a narrow entrance, through which the patient creeps on all-fours; when inside, however, he can stand up. A peat fire is kindled, and divesting himself of all clothing, he undergoes the process of sweating in a profuse perspiration as he lies on the stone floor. The place is heated like a baker's oven, but there is sufficient ventilation kept up by means of chinks and apertures through the stone work of the walls.
The cures effected by this process are marvellous. As the people say of it themselves, "Any disease that has a hold on the bones can't stand before it no time at all, at all."
but the cool stuff is what each culture or society keeps to themselves...
IRELAND, from its remote position and immunity from Roman conquest, remained longer in the possession of the Druidic mysteries than any other nation of Europe. Besides, the early missionaries adopted no intolerant measures against the ancient creed; no persecutions are recorded. The sacred trees were not cut down, nor time sacrificial stones destroyed; but the holy wells and the antique monuments were sanctified by association with a saint's name and history, and from being objects of pagan idolatry became shrines of prayer and centres of holy worship, where enlightened men preached the new gospel of light, purity, and love to an awe-struck, wondering multitude.
To this tolerant policy, as Mr. Windell, the learned antiquary, remarks, may be attributed the strong endurance of Druidic superstitions and usages in Ireland. Much also is due to the peculiar and truly Oriental tenacity with which the Irish at all times have clung to the customs and traditions of their forefathers. The belief in a fairy race ever present amongst them and around them, is one of these ineffaceable superstitions which the people still hold with a faith as fervent as those of the first Aryan tribes who wandered westward from the mystic East, where all creeds, symbols, and myths had their origin.
Many other broken fragments of the early ritual of the world can also still be traced in the popular superstitions and usages of the people. Time sun and moon with the mysterious powers of nature were the first gods of humanity. Astarte, Ashtaroth, and Isis were all the same moon-goddess under different names, and all were represented by time symbol of the horned cow. The Egyptians typified the sun and moon, Osiris and Isis, as the ox and the cow : and these symbols were still used at the Irish wake ceremonial until very recently: for the Druids also worshipped the sun and moon and time winds, and venerated trees, fountains, rivers, and pillar stones, like their Persian ancestry. But the Irish considered the east wind demoniacal, the Druidic wind of accursed power. They called it "The Red Wind," "A wind that blasts the trees and withers men is that Bed Wind," according to. a bard.
The Hindus had their triad of Brahm채, Vishnu, and Siva, representing the sun at. morning, noon, and evening; so the Irish Druids had their triad of Baal, Budh, and Grian, and they called time May festival La Budha na Baal tinne (the day of Buddha of the Baal fires). Chrishna was another Hindu name for the sun, and the Irish had Crias, a name for the sun likewise.
The Hindus had their cattle, or cow festival in spring, when they walked round time animals with great ceremony, always going westward, while they flung garlands on their horns. So in Ireland there was also a procession, when the cows were decorated with vervain and time rowan, and were sprinkled with the Sgaith-an-Tobar (t.he purity of the well), that is, the first water drawn from a sacred well after midnight on May Eve. This was considered an effective antidote to witchcraft, and whoever succeeded in being first at the well, cast into it a tuft of grass, called Cuisheaq grass, to show t.hiat the Sgaith-an-Tobar had been abstracted. So also the Hindus esteem time Cusha qrass as sacred, and cast it into their wells for a like purpose. The ceremonial of wreathing the horns of the cows was in honour of the moon, time wife of the Sun-god, whose emblem, as we know, all through the East, as in Ireland, was the horned cow.
Many and strange, indeed, are the analogies between time practices of the Egyptians, Hindus, Persians, and the Irish; and the legend may, after all, have some truth in it which brings the first Colonists of Ireland from Egypt, and makes the first Queen of Erin a daughter of Pharaoh. The ancient war-cry of the Irish clans was Pharrah ! a word that has no significance in the Irish language,but which is supposed by some antiquarians to be the Same as Phi-Ra, the sun - the regal title of time Egyptian kings, by which they were invoked by the warriors as they rushed into battle.
The ancient funeral ceremonies of Egypt can be still seen and studied at the wake of an Irish peasant; especially in that singular symbol, when a man and a woman appeared, one bearing the head of an ox, the other that of a cow at the funeral games; a custom which has now lost all its meaning, but which originally, no doubt., represented Isis and Osiris waiting to receive time soul of the dead.
The Persians held that, fire and water were time most sacred of all things and so did the Irish; hence their reverence for the waters of purification at the holy wells. And as the heathen passed their children and cattle through the fire to Moloch, so the Irish performed the same rite at the Baal festival, when the young men leaped through the flames, and time cattle were driven through the hot embers. Fire was held to be the visible symbol of time invisible God, endowed with mystic cleansing powers, and the ascending flame was thought to be a divine spirit dwelling in the substance ignited. For this reason the Irish made a circle of fire round their children and their cattle to guard them from evil, holding the belief that no evil spirit could pass this special emblem of divinity.
But even in matters less divine there was a similarity between time Persian amid Irish usages. The Persian Magi made a considerable revenue from the sacred fire; for each devotee paid a silver coin for the ember carried away from time holy temple, to light time home fire on the day of the Sun-festival. And fire was also a source of wealth to time Druid priests; each person being obliged to buy it from them on the great day of Baal. Therefore it was a sin to give away fire on that day; and time habit of borrowing it to light the home fire was denounced as fatal and unlucky. The true reason being that to borrow the sacred element was to injure the priestly revenue. Yet this ancient ordinance is still religiously observed in Ireland; and even to this day no peasant would venture to give away fire or milk on May Day, for fear of the worst consequences to time giver; while any one who came to borrow a lighted brand would be looked on as an emissary of Satan.
The sacred fire of Tara (Tamhair-na-Riyh, Tara of the Kings) was only lit every three years, and then with great ceremony. The sun's rays were concentrated by means of a brazen lens, on some pieces of dried wood, and from this alone were all the sacred fires in Ireland kindled in the holy places.
At the present time, if a peasant has to light a fire in the house on May morning, which does not often happen, as the custom is to keep the fire burning all night, a lighted sod taken from the priest's house is esteemed of great virtue and sacredness, just as in old time a lighted brand from the altar of Baa! was used to light the domestic fire.
The sacred fire was also obtained from time friction of wood, or the striking of stones; and it was supposed that the spirits of fire dwelt in these objects, and when the priest invoked them to appear, I they brought good luck to the household for time coming year; but if invoked by other hands on that special day their influence was malific.
The migration of races can be clearly traced by their superstitions. The oldest seem to have come from Persia and Egypt; while mutilated, though still authentic portions of the old-world ritual can still be found all along time Mediterranean, marking the westward progress of time primitive nations, till time last wave found a resting-place on our own far-distant shores, washed by time waters of time Atlantic.
Assyria was the teacher of Egypt; Egypt of Greece; and Greece of Europe; and little seems to have been lost during time progress of sixty centuries. The old myths still remain at time base of all thought and all creeds; broken fragments of the primal faith; shadowy traditions of some great human life that once was real and actual, or of some great event that changed the destiny of nations, and the echo of which still vibrates through the legends, the songs, the poetry, and the usages of every people on the face of the earth.
Persia, Egypt, india, time Teuton, and the Celt, have all the same primal ideas in their mythology, and the same instincts of superstition; and the signs to which past ages have given a mystic meaning still come to us laden with a fateful significance, even in this advanced era of culture and time triumph of reason.
We still cannot help believing that. prophecies come in the night, for the mystical and prophetic nature of dreams is confirmed by the personal experience of almost every human being; and few are found brave enough, even amongst the educated classes, lightly to break through a traditional usage on which all the ages have set the seal of good or ill luck.
Superstition, or the belief in unseen, mysterious, spiritual influences, is an instinct of human nature. A vague, shadowy, formless belief, certainly, yet ineradicable. 'We feel that our dual humanity, time material as well as time psychical, holds some strange and mystic relation with an unseen spiritual world, though we cannot define the limits, nor bring it under a law.
Before the written word existed, the people strove to express their creed and history in symbols. Divine nations, like the Greeks, made the symbols beautiful, and these the uncultured tribes may afterwards have distorted into grotesque and rude imitations; but the same idea can be traced through all forms by which humanity has tried to represent history, nature, and God.
And the old Pagan customs of the early world seem to have an enduring vitality, and to have become fixed, even in the usages of time enlightened nineteenth century. The Persian Magi and the Druid priest exacted a tribute of the firstlings of the flock as a burnt-offering to the Sun-god on the day of his festival; so in modern times, we sacrifice a lamb at Easter and an ox at Christmas, retaining the pagan rite while we honour the Christian legend. The Christmas-tree is still lighted to guide the Sun-god back to life; and the spotted cake, anciently made in his honour, of corn and fruit, still finds its place on our tables, as the plum pudding of civilization, even as its primitive prototype was laid on the sacred altars of the Persians as an offering of gratitude to the Lord of Light and Life.
The widespread range of the same traditional customs and superstitions amongst all peoples and through every age is a most interesting study, as showing the primitive unity of the human race and the subsequent divergence of the nations, even as recorded in the Biblical narrative; but it would be endless to follow the lines of affinity that run through all the creeds, legends, usages and superstitions of the world. Thus the Algonquil Indians, according to Mr. Leland, held the ash-tree and the elm as sacred and mystical, because these trees were made human. Of the ash was made man, of the elm, woman.
So in the Edda, we read of the mighty ash-tree whose summit reaches to heaven, and whose roots go down to hell. Two fountains sprang from beneath it - one the knowledge of all that is; the other of all that shall be. And out of the wood man was created.
The Irish also hold the ash-tree as all-powerful against witch-craft; therefore branches of it were wreathed rounds the horns of the cattle, and round the child's cradle to keep off evil influence; while in all their weird tales of the fairy dances with the dead, the mortals drawn into their company are infallibly safe if they get possession of a branch of the ash-tree, and hold it safely till out of reach of the evil spell.
The alder is another of the mystical trees of Ireland, held sacred, as in Persia, on account of its possessing strange mysterious properties and powers to avert evil; and the hawthorn likewise was sacred to the Irish fairies, therefore a libation of milk was poured over the roots on May Day, as the Hindus poured milk on the earth round the sacred tree as an offering to the manes of the dead.
In the Transylvanian legends and superstitions, of. which Madame Gerard has recently given an interesting record, many will be found identical with the Irish; such as these - Friday is the most unlucky day of all the week; evil spirits are strongest between sunset and midnight; it is ill-luck to have your path crossed by a hare; on entering a strange house sit down a moment, or a death will happen; spitting is at all times most efficacious against the influence of the devil; an infant's nails should be bitten, not cut; never rock an empty cradle; the robin and the swallow bring luck; never kill a spider; the crow and a black hen are ominous of evil. The dead are only in a trance: they hear everything but can make no sign. The Irish also believe that the dead are allowed at certain times to visit their living kindred. A whirlwind denotes that a devil is dancing with a witch; so the Irish believe that the fairies are rushing by in the whirlwind intent on carrying off some mortal victim to the fairy mansions; and the only help is to fling clay at the passing wind, when the fairies will be obliged to drop the mortal child, or the beautiful young girl they have abducted.
But the Roumanians are a mixed race - Greek, Slav, Teuton, Gypsey - and many of their superstitions are dark and gloomy, especially those relating to vampires, wolves, and terrible demons, evil spirits, and fearful witches. The Irish legends rarely deal with anything terrible or revolting. They circle, in general, round the mythus of the fairy, a bright and beautiful creation, only living for pleasure, music, and the dance, and rarely malignant or ill-natured, except when their dancing grounds are interfered with, or when they are not treated with proper generous consideration in the matter of wine.
The strange dance practised at Midsummer in Ireland round the Baal fires can clearly be traced from the East to Erin; and in its origin was evidently a religious symbol and rite. The Greeks practised it from the most ancient times. It was called the Pyrrhic dance - from pur fire - and simulated the windings of a serpent.
The Syrtos, the great national dance of the Aegean Islands, so well described by Mr. Bent in his interesting book on the Cyclades, also resembles the winding of a serpent. The dancers hold hands and circle round in tortuous curves precisely as in Ireland, where the line of dancers with joined hands, always moving from east to west, extends sometimes for a mile in length. It was probably a mystic dance symbolic of the path of the sun, though the esoteric meaning has now been entirely lost; part of the primal range, of ideas out of which man first formed a religion and ritual of worship.
Many other practices and superstitions of the Greek islanders strongly resemble the Irish. The Nereids of the Aegean play the part of the Irish fairies, and are as capricious though often more malignant. If a child grows warm and weak the Nereids have struck it; and it is laid naked for a night on the altar steps to test the truth of the suspicion. If the poor child dies under the trial, then it certainly was bewitched by the evil spirits, and the parents are well content to be rid of the unholy thing.
The funeral wail over the dead also closely resembles the Irish, when the hired mourning women sit round the corpse, tear their hair, beat their breast and rock to and fro, intoning in a monotone chant the praises of the deceased, the cries at times rising to a scream, in a frenzy of grief and despair.
The islanders likewise use many charms and incantations like the Irish, while the old women amongst them display wonderful knowledge of the mystic nature and power of herbs, and are most expert in the cure of disease. it is indeed remarkable that, amongst all primitive tribes and nations, women 'have always shown the highest skill in the treatment of disease, and have been rightly accounted the best doctors, and the most learned in mystic medicinal lore.
The Marquis of Lorne, in his graphic and instructive "Canadian Pictures," speaks of the wonderful skill of the Indian women, and the remarkable cures effected by the squaws through their knowledge of the varied properties of herbs. The Indians also have a sweating bath for the sick, such as was used by the ancient Irish. A bath is made by stones covered over with branches; hot water is then poured on the stones, and the patient crouches over the heated vapour evolved until a violent perspiration is produced, which carries off the disease, or the pains in the members, without fail. The sweating bath of the Irish was made quite on the same principles, and is the most effective cure known for pains in the bones and feverish disorders. it is still used in the Western Islands. "The Sweating House," as it is called, is made of rough stones with a narrow entrance, through which the patient creeps on all-fours; when inside, however, he can stand up. A peat fire is kindled, and divesting himself of all clothing, he undergoes the process of sweating in a profuse perspiration as he lies on the stone floor. The place is heated like a baker's oven, but there is sufficient ventilation kept up by means of chinks and apertures through the stone work of the walls.
The cures effected by this process are marvellous. As the people say of it themselves, "Any disease that has a hold on the bones can't stand before it no time at all, at all."
but the cool stuff is what each culture or society keeps to themselves...
(called the inner circle) magic(k) is one power that finds this
message..... (Luxas)
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