Book Preview

K"Q

Dear Friends,

What follows is a preview from my up-coming book. The direction this second book has taken is rather different from that which was originally intended. I have written, thrown away, re-written and chopped, mutilated, and chomped. What is now to come out of the pages is a far more focused view. This book will specifically examine Sacred Space, why we use it, what we use it for, the directions, various methods of creating Sacred Space, and the like. It is only a portion of what the original book was supposed to be, but a portion that is being expanded on to form a more thorough study of the concept. I hope you enjoy this little tidbit.

Why . . .

. . . do we create Sacred Space, when we stand on the body of the Great Earth Mother, who is Sacred to begin with? The answers to this question are many. In our own day and age where people pollute the land and the sky with not only their trash and allowing their chemicals to leak into the waters that run back to the Well of Wyrd, but also with their disrespect in general. Bottles, packets, cans, are not the only forms of disrespect to our Earth, but how we senselessly and arrogantly feel we can take from Her, and construct monstrosities upon her. When a new building is erected, does the architect consider how it will affect the Earth and the environment? Does the architect even attempt to appease the beauty of the land by adding to it in a way in which it is aesthetically related to the land? Are alternative means of power and heating ever thought through? Or do we just feel we need a home or an office to live or work in and deposit a whole load of bricks onto the land, creating block after block, seas of town houses spreading across the valleys where once stood flowing waves of tall grass, constantly stripping the land of more and more raw materials to generate door frames, walls, roofs, piping, glass, and electricity.

Being an architect myself, I battle with these concepts each and every day. How can I help to make the Land sacred once more? I can attempt to add as many natural ways in which to heat and power the home, find alternative materials that do not strip the Land of its resources. Unfortunately there is a limit to how much can be done in this regard, but every little bit helps to return the Land to what it once was. Green living and design is a very necessary thing. I’m not a fanatic Tree-Hugger, but I do love the Earth that I tread on every day. We do need fuels, we do need metals to create tools that have become necessary for us to live. We do need security and we do need commerce. What we also need is moderation. As a people we have lost sight of the Land and what we are doing to it. As a people we have become ignorant of the beauty around us. As a people, we are failing. As a people, we need to remember, to re-establish, to re-gain respect for not only the Land, but for ourselves. We need to stop stripping and taking, and start giving back. Solar energy has been around for many, many years, but how many people have even considered using solar energy to provide all of the power within their house and take themselves off the grid that pumps electricity into our many appliances? How many of us have considered doing the same with wind energy? Sure these things take raw materials in order to be created, but once manufactured, they are using what is naturally given to us in order that we may live our comfortable lives in our nicely heated and snug homes.

Making Sacred Space for ritual is not just about entering a Magical Circle to perform Spellwork, Pathworkings, or any other form of Magical practice, and then leaving it behind. That Sacred Space, which is a Temple, is not the only space, whether it be a spot in your garden or a room in your house, that should be sacred. If you are living a magical life, sacredness of space should extend beyond that single ritual spot. It should extend into your entire home, your entire garden. Your whole stand or plot, is your sacred space, your very own sacred space, and within that space is your Temple, where you meet with the Powers and step through the Looking Glass. From there, you could then start pushing the boundaries beyond the perimeter of your own space, into the land beyond.

However, this is one of the reasons that we create Sacred Space. The Land itself has become polluted and so if we wish to connect to the Land and journey into the Womb of the Mother, we find ourselves in need of a Gateway. We therefore take a piece of that Land and cut it out of this reality, blessing it, purifying it and making is sacred through our own saining, as a dedication to the Powers that run within it, making a stepping stone for us to venture beyond the cruelty of our mundane, careless cousin.

But this is not the only reason. A space where you are functioning as a Creatrix is another. When the Magician steps into the site that has been allocated as the Temple, he or she is stepping into a mini-cosmos. The space becomes an extension of the microcosmic body that they themselves are, swirling energy forming a sphere, with them in the Centre. It is an extension of the Divine Energy of God, that energy which flows in and through all things, connecting all things, and creating an equilibrium that continues to flow upon its proper course. As an extension of the God within, the Magician then creates, moulds, forms, shifts, connects. Certain Powers and energies are conjured up in order to enhance the Sacredness of the Working Space, to add benefit to the Operations that take place.

Yet another reason is the need and functionality of a Gateway, where the Magician will move between the Worlds. The Sacred Space then acts as a compass with various Mystical Landscapes mapped out around it, moving from one bubble of Intent to an alternate or non-ordinary reality.

Depending on the need of the Magician and the type of work they are planning, the use of Sacred Space can alter. Apart from those mentioned above, the Magician may also be working with Spirits that they feel need to remain outside the mini-cosmos they have created, protected from the influx of unwanted energies, and contain that Spirit’s force or essence within a specifically defined space.

One must remember though, that not all Circles need to be constructed with protective forces. In the instance of someone going to meet with a familiar entity, god or goddess within the Mystical Lands, it would not be entirely correct to go along with an army of bodyguards. This in itself could be construed by the entity you are wishing to meet with, as mistrust of them. Think about it, if a friend of yours came knocking on your front door and upon opened it you were faced with a handful of body-guards before you were allowed to speak to your friend, would you not question the trust that friend had in you? Would you not just close the door and tell them to go away and stop wasting your time? Tell them to come back when they feel they can have a normal relationship and friendship with you? Well I would, and so do the Gods.

We must then define what is protective and what is not. I personally feel that if I call the Archangels at the cardinal points, I am not always asking for a protective element. Such Forces are not there just to protect the Doorways, they also bring aspects of Power with them, aspects of the elements, and of qualities that are necessary for the forming of the Sacred Space that will enclose you in a sphere that is then placed between. They add to the necessity of shifting realities. Aligning with them, the essence and the energies they provide, aligns you with the Cosmos as a whole. And so we require a better understanding of these Forces and Powers that evoke, and we need to define the Intent behind our calling.

What . . .

. . . is a Sacred Space or Circle? We could also ask, what is the Compass Round? What is the Squared Circle? What is the Mill? The formation of Sacred Space can vary a great deal from Tradition to Tradition.

Interestingly enough, William G. Gray said in his book, An Outlook on Our Inner Western Way

(now being published by The Sangreal Sodality Press, 2008), that, “We can trace those same symbols yet—attached to the typical image of a Western cowboy… Another type of rope was woven purely from horsehair and had an extremely useful purpose. It was laid in a circle round men sleeping on the open ground where snakes were likely to be moving at night. No snake would crawl across a horsehair rope because the stiff hairs stuck between their scales and hurt them. Thus we get a symbolic picture of a man in his magic circle, safe against the intrusions of evil.”

The Circle itself is also squared, in that although we form a circle, we move from cardinal point to cardinal point, four in all, which forms a square within the circle. However, we can also consider it to be octagonal if we then take the cross-quartered positions of north-east, north-west, etc. The reason it is considered squared is because the main functionality of the Circle comes from the main cardinal points, the cross-quarter points act as minor Gateways with specific Intent. Unless Working a Chaos Magick Circle, you would not be pulling in and pushing out energy through the cross-quarter positions. In Chaos Magick constructions, we would be working with Light and Dark Energy which comes in and out of the Circle through alternating positions, four being the main cardinal points, and four being the cross-quarter points. However, this does not mean that only the Chaote recognizes these in between points on the compass, in fact many, if not all, recognize them, but with a different intent. If one celebrates the Fire Festivals together with the Solstices and Equinoxes (Lesser and Greater Sabbats), then all eight points have a recognition within the Circle or Wheel. In other cases, there may be an assignment of certain Gods to the eight points. It is very dependant on the Tradition one is working with.

Defining the space that we work in is often done via walking or treading the perimeter together with a chant. This circumambulation can be found in all Circle constructions and all Traditions, again in varying forms. In Wiccan Circles we may have the simple walking of the Circle with the various elements, building up a perimeter. In other Traditions, we get a physical treading or stomping that creates a flow of energy in a circular pattern, and this, in many cases, is considered to be a Mill Treading, whether it is called that or not, it can be found in similar patterning throughout. In Traditional British Witchcraft it is literally called Treading the Mill whereby the attendees within the Circle or Compass Round, tread the perimeter as if pushing the wheel of the Mill itself. The Cosmos is considered to be the Mill, which as Roy Bowers noted when referring to Old Dame Fate and the Cauldron Mystery, “spins without motion”. The whole of the Cosmos spins around a Centre, the further you are from the Centre, the more motion you will encounter and experience. The closer you get to the Centre, the lesser that flow of motion, and yet always spinning. It is very similar to the mention of the pendulum swing mentioned in The Kybalion by “Three Initiates”, which states that the closer you get to the fulcrum of the pendulum, the lesser are the effects of the swing.

This treading can also be found in the Giraffe Dance of the San Bushmen, mentioned in Jan Fries’ book, Seidways, which speaks of the attendees taking small steps around the central fire in order to raise !Num up the spine into the head where they explode into the Cosmos as it become Kia. Again, in Practical or Shamanic Kabbalistic practices, we find that the space is defined by stomping the circle seven times and chanting as we stomp.

And so we have certain patterns that are familiar. Defining the Space with physical movement and chanting, the four main cardinal points, and the evocation of certain Powers or Forces.

What we do need to take heed of is the fact that the Sacred Space is not just a formation of a circle on the ground we find our feet upon. The “Circle” is actually a sphere. From the line we create on the ground or in the air before us, we also need to extend energy up and down, cutting through the earth, to form a bubble. If we do not, we are merely spinning in a two dimensional state, whereas we need to spin in all directions possible. We also need to consider what is taking place within the Sacred Space and its formation in regards to energy. Too many people make the mistake of standing in the various and required positions and saying the particular words that they have been instructed to say in order to evoke that point or position. Why is this a mistake? Because all they are doing is saying words. Are they considering the movement of the energies? Are they pushing out energy into that direction and allowing the Forces to flow back along those lines? Are they turning the Mill, which takes an Intent to move the energy around the circle, or are they just stomping and chanting words happily and haphazardly? In many cases, they are not even considering the flow of energy, but just going about the motions in a reverent manner and looking impressive to anyone watching. If you really want to demonstrate your magical prowess, it is far more impressive to not do anything physical and allow them to feel the touch of the energy, than it is to merely look pretty and say all the right words. Sure, the by-standers and audience will probably say, “Wow, he must really know what he is doing because he looked so good and impressive”, but when they encounter someone who can actually touch them deep down inside, they will realize their previous misconception, and the phrase from their lips will alter from that mentioned above, into, “Wow, he really does know what he is doing”, but oftentimes will in fact leave them speechless with tears running down their cheeks.

The Singing of IO PAN

The mention of singing IO PAN in Crowley's Star Ruby Banishing Ritual, could leave people a little baffled as to what they should be doing. Singing the formulae is not exactly what we would really imagine, as the immediate response would literally be trying to find a catchy tune.

The first thing to bear in mind is the formulae of IAO which you may recall was mentioned in my first book, The Reality of Things. The second thing is that the vowels are assigned to energy centres on the body. “I” is assigned to the brow, “E” to the throat, “A” to the heart, “O” to the will centre or navel, and “U” to the root or genitals. The formulae of IAO can therefore be seen as a formulae that focuses on the three main energy centres, the three Cauldrons, being “I” in the Brow, the Cauldron of Wisdom; “A” in the Heart, the Cauldron of Motion; and “O” in the Will Centre, the Cauldron of Warming. Therefore we find another mystical connection.

We can also relate this to Kabbalah in terms of the houses or parts of the body where the three parts of the soul reside. The Neshamah, or Higher Self, resides in the head, the Ru’ach, being the Middle Self, in the heart, and the Nefesh or Lower/Instinctual Self, in the solar plexus. With the singing of IO PAN, we will therefore be uniting all three parts, first the Higher, followed by the Lower, and then uniting in the Middle Self, which is the thinking and rational part of the soul.

We can also refer back to the chapter on the Hexagram found in The Reality of Things, in that the two triangles of the hexagram relate to the feminine and masculine, the Water and Fire elements. If we place a dot in the centre of the hexagram, we then find the third element of the formulae, the uniting or bridging element, Air.

Further, we can also look at the vowels in relation to other aspects. IAO relates to the three letters in the Ineffable Name of God, YOD, HEH and VAU, respectively. And again in the three mother letters SHIN (Fire), ALEF (Air) and MEM (Water), which appear in the centre of the Rose on the Rose-Cross glyph of the Golden Dawn (this rose was originally the Yetziratic Invocation Wheel of the Hebrews).
The singing of the vowels is actually a form of vibrating the vowels in the respective areas. “A” which is sounded AH. This is sung in the heart, the house of the Ru’ach, and is the expression we sound when we are satisfied, we put our hands on our heart and say, “Ahhhh”.

“O” is sung in the solar plexus and is sounded OH, the house of the Nefesh, and we get the sound when we have stomach cramps or someone hits us in the gut, “OHHH”. However the way OH is sung can be a little difficult. The method is known in Kabbalah as “swallowing”, and as you say OH you need to bring the sound to the back of your throat and down as if you were swallowing it. It is easier to demonstrate than to explain, but written form will have to do here.

“I” is sounded as an EE and just like OH, there is a specific technique for singing it. EE is the sound that birds make, very nasal creatures that sing from the nasal cavities of their beaks. When singing the vowel you need to sound the EE in the sinuses and allow it to vibrate in the front of the face and forehead. This can be accomplished by raising the pitch of the sound and smiling with the mouth as the sound of the EE comes through, almost as if you were screeching, but sing it, don’t screech.

So when singing IO PAN, take in a deep breath and then sing EE in the head, followed by OH in the solar plexus, ending with AH in the heart. You are invoking the totality of Self, starting in the head with the Higher Self (Neshamah), followed by the Lower Self in the solar plexus (Nefesh) and ending with the unity of all three in the heart with the Middle Self (Ru’ach) which is the conscious thinking self. The entire singing should be done on one exhalation, then pause between breaths and repeat. Pausing between breaths does not mean holding it, it means to exhale, and then rest or pause, and then inhale again when you require it.

To end, it should be mentioned that there are no vowels in the Hebrew language. The alphabet is made up entirely of consonants, so how then can we derive vowels when speaking in terms of Kabbalah? The letters YOD, HEH and VAU are considered to be the Divine letters. When placed in a certain position in a word, although being consonants, are considered to be vowels in that particular position. It is because of this that YHVH is the Ineffable Name of God, being I-A-O-E, the final HEH taking on the aspect of Earth and therefore taking on the sound EH. The fifth vowel, “U” which is pronounced OO is the Centre, Ether and it doubles up with OH, whereas AH doubles up with EH, and so we have Fire in the head region as the letter YOD (“I” or EE), Air in the region of the throat and chest as the letter HEH (“E” in the throat or EH, and “A” in the heart or AH), Water in the region of the gut from the solar plexus to the lower stomach as the letter VAU (“O” or OH), and finally Earth in the region of the buttocks down to the feet as the letter HEH (final) (“U” or OO in the region of the genitals). This forms the Middle Pillar of the Etz Chayim or Tree of Life, Kether/Yod/Fire; Tifareth/Heh/Air; Yesod/Vau/Water; and Malkuth/Heh/Earth.

Identification with Skull

I just performed Identification with my Roebuck skull that sits on my altar and learned something I wasn't prepared for. Jack (the name I gave him) is not a happy chappy. He is trapped in the skull and needs release. He has asked me to bury him.

Jilli, I hope you don't mind.

This has brought up a rather disturbing point for me. All of the people that have animal skulls and bones on their altar or on their stangs, wherever they may be, for the purpose of connecting to the spirit of that animal....have we considered that the energy of the animal itself may still be trapped in the bone and needs release? Something to ponder.

Frith,
Lee

Pathways Issue 1 now available

“Pathways” is now a reality. Issue 1 has been released and is available free for download. If you would like the paperback version, then you can purchase it for R72.50. It is a 7x10” format with a glossy UV varnish cover.

I would like to thank all of the wonderful people who contributed to this issue and made this a reality.

To get your free download or purchase the paperback, go to http://rpp.comuv.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=67

The paperback will also be available on the Lulu Storefront in the near future. Unfortunately I encountered a problem with size and formatting when attempting to upload.

Following is a list of the content that can be found inside:

Cover photo by Nathalie Rose (photographer and model)

Five Points by Lee ‘Red Oak’ Johnson

Runeskandt by Michelle Du Plessis

Being Pagan by Christa Martin

Nemotona, She of the Sacred Grove by Helen Schuck

Pagan Child (poetry) by Carina Venter

Fantasy Photography by Michelle Du Plessis

She Watches (artwork) by Christa Heysen

There Really is a Monster Under the Bed by Dan Graham

Alban Arthuan: The Midwinter Fires by Damon Leff

The Stang and Roebuck by Lee ‘Red Oak’ Johnson

Island Healing (poetry) by Carina Venter

Pagan Freedom Day, 2009 by Christa Martin

Your Horoscope by Anastacia Sampson

Die Eeerste Fabel by Michelle Du Plessis

Witchcraft: A Study in Bias, Prejudice and Discrimination in South Africa by Damon Leff

Review - The Book of Self Creation by Jacobus Swart

Review: The Book of Self Creation
Author: Jacobus Swart
Publisher: The Sangreal Sodality Press
ISBN: 978-0-620-42884-2

When we pick up a book that relates to the topic of Kabbalah, what do we expect to find? I am sure that most people would answer, “The Tree of Life”, and this would be true in a majority of cases. But the question is, how important is the Tree of Life glyph to Kabbalah? Is the Tree of Life the bee-all-and-end-all of Kabbalah? The answer is no, the Tree glyph is relatively new and there is a great deal more than just the Tree. When considering Practical Kabbalah and the roots that it arose from, we begin to venture into a world that is shamanic and pagan in nature. Yes, you read correctly, Judaism was once very much Pagan.

In his book, The Book of Self Creation, Jacobus Swart discusses many of these topics. He begins by outlining the history of the Jewish people and their Rabbinical beliefs. He then takes a brief look at the sephirah on the Tree of Life, and then goes full throttle into the actual nature of Practical Kabbalah, outlining a hoard of discussions, exercises and practices that can be worked through the gain a better understanding of the Mysticism that is held in Kabbalah and how we function in the Cosmos. It allows you to develop your psychic energy and to bring you into alignment with the bodies that make up your being as well as Divinity.

If you think you know Kabbalah, you have to get this book. I think you will find that what you knew was only a pin prick on a gigantic iceberg. What is also extremely refreshing is the manner in which Jacobus writes. Instead of a continuous droning of information that leaves you wondering what you read half an hour into the book, he brings this information to life in a conversational manner as thought you were sitting with him. Having met Jacobus and listened to him talk, I can tell you that he is captivating and fun. To give you an example (purely to demonstrate how wonderfully down to earth this man is), when describing exorcism, he says the following:

“In other words, what needed to be “exorcised” were their own thoughts and feelings, and the only way in which the exorcist ascertained whether the “exorcism” was effective, was when it was accompanied by some sort of cathartic action in which the “obsessed/possessed” individuals forcefully rid themselves of the obsession/possession with an evacuation of physical waste from their bodies—a nice way of saying that the catharsis involves patients crapping themselves, or vomiting all over the show.”

Now if you don’t get a chuckle out of that, right in the midst of finding yourself engrossed in powerful information, then you need to go and see a doctor.

The book can be ordered at Red Path Publications (South African customers) or at his own Lulu Storefront – The Sangreal Sodality Press.

The Etymology of the word Witch

I am taking various sources for this examination, whether they are correct or not, we will consider in a discussion, and then you can make up your own mind. What I would like to do is first take what can be found on the Online Etymological Dictionary ( http://www.etymonline.com ). This site has been compiled from various sources of which a full list can be found here http://www.etymonline.com/sources.php , however it does include Weekley's "An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English," Klein's "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language," "Oxford English Dictionary" (second edition), "Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology," Holthauzen's "Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Englischen Sprache," and Ayto's "20th Century Words.".

Then I am going to examine and compare certain Old English words referred to using two main sources that are considered to be scholarly. The first source is the online “Angelseaxisce Ealdriht Asatru and Heathen Pages” which can now be found at http://www.englatheod.org/ (I still have the original pages) and The Troth which used to be online but has subsequently been removed to form the book Our Troth.

From the Online Etymological Dictionary:

O.E. wicce "female magician, sorceress," in later use esp. "a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts," fem. of O.E. wicca "sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic," from verb wiccian "to practice witchcraft" (cf. Low Ger. wikken, wicken "to use witchcraft," wikker, wicker "soothsayer"). OED says of uncertain origin. Klein suggests connection with O.E. wigle "divination," and wig, wih "idol." Watkins says the nouns represent a P.Gmc. *wikkjaz "necromancer" (one who wakes the dead), from PIE *weg-yo-, from *weg- "to be strong, be lively." That wicce once had a more specific sense than the later general one of "female magician, sorceress" perhaps is suggested by the presence of other words in O.E. describing more specific kinds of magical craft. In the Laws of Ælfred (c.890), witchcraft was specifically singled out as a woman's craft, whose practitioners were not to be suffered to live among the W. Saxons:

"Ða fæmnan þe gewuniað onfon gealdorcræftigan & scinlæcan & wiccan, ne læt þu ða libban."

The other two words combined with it here are gealdricge, a woman who practices "incantations," and scinlæce "female wizard, woman magician," from a root meaning "phantom, evil spirit." Another word that appears in the Anglo-Saxon laws is lyblæca "wizard, sorcerer," but with suggestions of skill in the use of drugs, since the root of the word is lybb "drug, poison, charm." Lybbestre was a fem. word meaning "sorceress," and lybcorn was the name of a certain medicinal seed (perhaps wild saffron). Weekly notes possible connection to Gothic weihs "holy" and Ger. weihan "consecrate," and writes, "the priests of a suppressed religion naturally become magicians to its successors or opponents." In Anglo-Saxon glossaries, wicca renders L. augur (c.1100), and wicce stands for "pythoness, divinatricem." In the "Three Kings of Cologne" (c.1400) wicca translates Magi:

"Þe paynyms ... cleped þe iij kyngis Magos, þat is to seye wicchis."

The glossary translates L. necromantia ("demonum invocatio") with galdre, wiccecræft. The Anglo-Saxon poem called "Men's Crafts" has wiccræft, which appears to be the same word, and by its context means "skill with horses." In a c.1250 translation of "Exodus," witches is used of the Egyptian midwives who save the newborn sons of the Hebrews: "Ðe wicches hidden hem for-ðan, Biforen pharaun nolden he ben." Witch in ref. to a man survived in dialect into 20c., but the fem. form was so dominant by 1601 that men-witches or he-witch began to be used. Extended sense of "young woman or girl of bewitching aspect or manners" is first recorded 1740. Witch doctor is from 1718; applied to African magicians from 1836.

"At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch,' or 'she is a wise woman.' " [Reginald Scot, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," 1584]

Firstly we should look at the Old English word wicce and wicca. In OE a double C, i.e. “cc” is pronounced “ch”, therefore the actual pronunciation of these OE words are “wich” and “wicha” which derived into the Modern English “witch”. The word wicce indicated a female magician and wicca a male magician, however, because there were various terms in the Teutonic languages to describe the tasks of different magic users, we need to find out what kind of magicians the wicce or wicca were. This is not an easy task however as there is no earlier references to the wicce and wicca as there may be with spæ, seidhr or galdre. It doesn‘t however refer to “wise one“ as this was witega in the OE language, the cognate of vitki from the Old Norse (however now more commonly translated as “magician”). The closest we can get and to which scholars have found, the word wicce “…either derive(s) from an Indo-European *wik- meaning "to bend," or another Indo-European root, *weg- related to words for "lively, watchful." “ To bend in terms of magic is to bend the Will in accordance with one’s surroundings, be it Nature or your own circumstances or that of another. Therefore, the wicce was someone who used magic to alter that which is around them, but was also aware (lively,watchful). To be aware is to be awake, and in the spiritual world, this can refer to someone who traverses the Worlds, i.e. a similar reference can be made to the Tungus word shaman.

However, does this mean that a wicce is a “female magician, sorceress”? In broad terms, yes it does, but does it mean, “a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts”? This is, as noted, from later sources, when certain practices were already being abolished. It smacks of the more recently discovered poorly researched work of Margaret A. Murray.

Let’s move on to the associated words mentioned. Firstly gealdricge, which is said to mean “a woman who practices "incantations"”.

From various Gealdres and Bedes, the word gealdor refers to spell, glamour, charm, used in the form of singing, such as the line in the Acer-Bot metrical charm:

“þæt ic mote þis gealdor mid gife drihtnes”

“That by grace of God I might this glamour”

(although this is possibly translated by the Christians to refer to God, as most of these charms were. The word drihten means lord and was often used in reference to Odin).

Also from the metrical charm to deal with Water-Elf Disease:

“…ofgeot mid fealaþ, do hæligwæter to, sing þis gealdor ofer þriwa”

“…mix with ale, add holy water to it, then sing this charm three times”

And finally from the Nine Worts Galdor or Nine Herbs Charm:

“…ond singe þon men in þone muð and in þa earan buta and on ða wunde þæt ilce gealdor, ær he þa sealfe on do.”

“…and sing it in the mouth and both ears of the man and the same spell on the wound, before he applies the salve.”

Therefore we can correctly deduce that a gealdricge is in fact a woman who practices "incantations”, i.e. sings her charms or spells.

We then start to move a little left field with the mention of “scinlæce "female wizard, woman magician," from a root meaning "phantom, evil spirit."”

A scinnlæce is in fact a shape shifter. In Teutonic terms this is a person who travels with, or as, their Fetch, Filje or Fecce. The Fecce is part of the Soul. The Anglo-Saxons believed that the Soul was broken down into eleven parts, the Fecce is thought to be “…one's guardian spirit and is said to appear as an animal resembling one's disposition or as a member of the opposite sex” of which it is further mentioned “…the fetch…usually controls the allocation of one's mægen in accordance with one's wyrd. The fetch also records one's actions in one's wyrd. Fetch’s are said to flee the wicked in the Eddas.”

The OE word scinn translates to phantom, but not to evil-spirit. The phantom referred to here is what we may call the Shadow Skin, and so it the shadow of the person, the animal spirit or fetch that the wicce goes forth in to travel to distant places or to the Inner Worlds. In Kabbalistic terms this could in fact refer to the Tzelem ha-Nefesh or the “shadow body of the Lower Self” or possibly the Nefesh Behamit or the “lower bestial”.

We then move on to the mention of “lyblæca "wizard, sorcerer," but with suggestions of skill in the use of drugs, since the root of the word is lybb "drug, poison, charm."”. As we see throughout there is no proper definition between the skills, all forms being noted as witch, wizard, magician or sorcerer, but as has been noted, there was a specific job or skill for each magic worker. A lyblæca was actually a herbalist, nothing more to it. They used herbs to perform their magic, either directly on the body of the person or indirectly through Sympathetic Magic – “Also perhaps held to be seperate from witchcraft was the use of herbs or lybbcraeft.”

Further from the Etymological Dictionary - “The glossary translates L. necromantia ("demonum invocatio") with galdre, wiccecræft.”

Maybe I am misunderstanding the meaning here, but I am not quite sure how necromancy is associated with the galdrecræft. Galdre, or Galdor has been noted as a Man‘s Craft in that it belonged to the God Odin, who taught it to the Goddess Freya in exchange for her teaching the Craft of Seidhr to him, which is noted to be a Woman‘s Craft. Galdre is mostly the use of runes in magic, wheras Seidhr and Spæ are the act of moving to the Inner Worlds to read a person‘s Wyrd or to commune with the Gods and the Dead. In the case of Speaking with the Dead, it is in line with Ancestral Worship, which in broad terms could be refered to as Necromancy, however, if we are speaking in terms of Necromancy being the act of raising the dead to divine events, then it is nothing of the like.

“The Anglo-Saxon poem called "Men's Crafts" has wiccræft, which appears to be the same word, and by its context means "skill with horses." “

Now this is interesting (just to note, I could not find the poem referred to in order to do any cross-referencing). Firstly wiccræft, which is more commonly spelt wiccecræft would in fact originally have referred to the Craft of the Wicce, being female, but here we find the “ce” dropped, and I can’t find any reference to the word or prefix wic in the Teutonic languages to explain this. However, to have a “skill with horses” was the realm of the old horse-whisperers, the Toad-Bone Men, which in later years became greatly connected with the Masons. Andrew Chumbley speaks of this subject quite extensively in his essay The Leaper Between in section III.II. The bone as a horse-controlling charm.

And in conclusion, we find another interesting reference. After so many derivative manners in which the word witch has come to be used by the Christian Church, we find something positive in the Bible – “In a c.1250 translation of "Exodus," witches is used of the Egyptian midwives who save the newborn sons of the Hebrews: "Ðe wicches hidden hem for-ðan, Biforen pharaun nolden he ben." – but of course considering the general manner in which some Christian folk view the Judaic people, it is no surprise that they would consider even this reference to be of an evil nature.

Nefesh and things that go bump in the night

In Kabbalistic terms the “Soul” consists of many aspects, the three main aspects beings the Nefesh or Instinctual/Lower Self, the Ru’ach or Awake/Middle Self and the Neshamah or Divine/Higher Self. The Nefesh is that which is intimately enmeshed with the physical body and during the period the fetus is in the womb, the Ru’ach enters the body. Ru’ach is therefore the consciousness, the You, the aspect that lives in the NOW, and so does not retain memory, but is rational, whereas the Nefesh retains all memory and has access to all knowledge, but is not rational in the same terms.

Although there is no direct connection between the Ru’ach and the Nefesh, you as the Ru’ach can gain control over the Nefesh by befriending it, after all it is the part of you that really should become your own best friend. By becoming friends with your Nefesh, which in many respects can be viewed as a separate part of yourself (but bear in mind still part of the You), you can gain control over memory (and there is a huge storehouse to go through) and how you as a person interact with every day life through the five senses. This very important relationship can also lead to healing of your physical self:

“It is said that you, the “Awake Self” or Ru’ach, have no direct part in the Nefesh, no direct connection with it, yet you are able to control it if you manage to establish a good relationship with it. If not, its control over you could result in all sorts of psychological problems like schizophrenia, manic depressiveness, or what is now termed “bi-polar disorders.” It has been indicated that the majority of humans over the age of three years, have a poor relationship with their “Instinctual Selves.” This appears to be true when you study people, and discover that very few of them are friendly with, or even like, their own “Vital Selves.” “
~excerpt from The Book of Creation by Jacobus Swart

Now, for many years I have formulated my own impression and ideology of how parts of the Being interact with each other during life and what happens to them upon death. My ideology goes something like this. There are three main parts, the Body, Ego and Soul. The Body is created, the Soul enters the Body and the Ego glues the two together during life. Upon death, the Body breaks down, the Soul moves on and the Ego remains behind for some time as an energetic parcel. There is a bit of a discussion on this in my own book, The Reality of Things:

“The Phantasm I speak of is often seen as the “ghost”. The “Body” of a person can be broken down into three essential parts, the Shell (physical body), the Ego, and the Soul. It is the Ego that acts as the glue and keeps the Shell and Soul together. Upon death the Shell ceases to operate and the energy that makes up the physical body starts to disperse. The Soul moves on over the Bridge and the Ego is left as an energetic form. It is this energetic form of the person which contains the person’s memories and the physical appearance that people usually see or experience as a ghost. If you were to hold a coin in your hand for a while it would take on the temperature of your body. When you release the coin onto a cold surface the temperature of the coin does not change immediately, it takes time to become cold and attune to the temperature of the cold surface. The energy of the heat it contained is released slowly. The same happens here. When the body dies, the Ego moves out as an energetic form and over time it will disintegrate. However, in some cases, the intent of people, and the more people the better, can keep the energetic form fed, very much like the Servitor or Egregore. Therefore, the form of the person that was, remains in this existence for as long as people think of that person and interact with them, but remember that it is only a signature of the person that was.”

If we then relate all of this back to the Kabbalistic outlook, then the Ru’ach is the Soul, the Nefesh the Ego, and the Body is of course still the Body. The Ru’ach/Soul is the aspect that is in the NOW, and the Nefesh/Ego experiences through the five senses. Therefore, when the body dies, the Nefesh continues for some time, and can be kept alive by people who feed it more and more energy. The Nefesh holds all the memory of the person, the ego of the person, and so a “ghost” will retain all of the aspects of the person as they were in life.