Tag Archives: information

The Nature of the Powers

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“Do you view the Powers of Waincraft as distinct beings, or simply as “ideas” or archetypes. For example, is the Lord of the Green literally a god sovereign over growing things, or is he just the personification of growings things?”

Short answer is both.

Literally, the Lord of the Green is the Power of life in all its forms, but most particularly cyclical life, of which vegetation is the most abundant. Symbolically, he personifies the cycle of life that grows and falls and rises again.

The Powers of Waincraft are fully immanent and integrated with the physical realm. Thus they are both spiritual beings that control and direct natural and cultural forces, and the impetus behind and manifestation of those very natural and cultural forces. Orthopsychy applies to all of existence, the Powers included.

A true archetype can exist in its own distinction as well as echo itself in other distinct beings. There is nothing simple about either an idea or an archetype – they are both powerful, complex, and utterly fascinating creatures.

Is a Mother not a distinct being from all other Mothers, while still sharing an essential commonality that differs only in its particulars? A Teacher can teach history or common sense or magic, and the style of that teaching can and will differ depending on subject and personality, but they are still a Teacher.

It is a poor tribute to Jung that one of his finest achievements has been so twisted by pop psychology as to completely change its meaning.

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Local Orthopsychy and Manifestation of the Powers

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In the summer of 2013 I blogged some about Waincraft as I understood it and one thing I wrote about was bioregion and orthopsychy in relation to the Powers. For example, in the desert, The Lord of the Green might be seen as a little more harsh than in New England. The Lady of the Forest would possibly be the Lady of the Desert. Would this be a proper assumption to make?”

Yes, exactly. Some of the Powers are unlikely to be vastly different across different bioregions (such as Night, which is pretty equal across the board), but ones tied to forces that specifically differ between biomes will definitely manifest differently.

The Lord of the Green in the desert would likely be a harsh, dry-witted, prickly, eminently practical and thrifty personality (though given to occasional exuberant displays of fierce joy and wonder), whereas a rainforest Lord of the Green would be lush and potentially overwhelming in his exuberance and largesse. A wood and fields-land Lord of the Green would likely be very similar to most European manifestations of him, regardless of what continent his worshipers inhabit.

I would probably say that there would be no Maiden of the Woods in a desert, savannah or similarly low-tree or treeless biome. Likely, another predatory and protecting Power (such as your Lady of the Desert) would make itself known, perhaps in the form of a lioness as an example (such as in Egypt, which has few trees and without forests, and gave us several protecting lionesses – Bast, Sekhmet, Mehit and Pakhet).

Altars and Shrines in a Waincraft style

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“How important are altars/shrines to you and your practice of Waincraft? Also, what’s a good example of what could be on a general Waincraft altar/shrine? I know the general answer will probably be that it depends on one’s orthopsychy, but I’m more curious about YOUR opinion.”

Personally, altars and shrines don’t hold a lot of importance in my practice. I have them, but they’re not the main focus, as I am not devotionally-bent, and believe the best altar and shrine is the world around us.

The majority of the items on my altars/shrines are for magical purposes, and most don’t really have anything to do specifically with Waincraft. I do have a statue of Night and the Divine Twins (re-purposed from my CR days) with a circle of stones in front, a space for photos of my family dead, and a space for imagery (including a raven plushie that speaks :3) as remembrance of my membership and initiation into the Raven Tribe, but that is the extent of any specific Waincraft elements to altars and shrines for me.

I think part of it is that altars and shrines, at least as they are commonly used in paganism, are seen as way to commune with and focus worship on beings that are mostly considered purely spirit with little to no presence in the world as it is, or only a partial presence*, whereas Waincraft holds the position that all divinity and spirit is immanent within multiple realms, and thus to commune with and worship Night or Sky or Ocean or Life, all you need to do is be in it, look at it, spend time with it. The Relations are just as divine as gods and humans, and you don’t need to have an altar to Salamander to commune with it – go play by the creek, and Salamander will be there with you. So, in a sense, altars and shrines separate from the world around us is somewhat superfluous.

However, that does not mean that standalone or separate altars and shrines have no place in Waincraft. For example, if one does magical workings with various of the Beings, it can be useful to set up an altar or shrine to concentrate energy, sacralise space, and provide a focal point for will and connection. Or, one could set up a shrine as memory for times when going outside or spending time in the world around are not available options for whatever reason, or a small portable shrine for when you travel outside the limits of your personal bioregion to serve as connection and grounding support.

For instances like that, I would probably suggest some or all of the following: some imagery, perhaps with strong emotional symbolism, of a few of the Powers you most connect with (I would say any altar should include at least Night, since she is the beginning of everything, anything else is personal preference); some imagery or symbols of a Tribe if you have been contacted by/come in contact with one to represent and memorialize that relationship; a place for house-bound Fair Folk with a corresponding place outside for wild ones; a space for the Dead, to remember and commune with if you cannot visit them personally (as is often the case in the US with our culture of mobility); and maybe some figurines or images of Relations and Spirits that you have connected with in your locale, not as sole communion or focal points of worship, but as memory – similar to sharing a photo with family or friends. You should still strive to connect and commune with them where they actually are (and barring pets, that will not be inside)

Of course, all of that is for inside altars. Outside altars would be a bit more practical, at least with regards to those Beings that do not have tactile forms (the Fair Folk, the Dead, the Tribes, some of the Powers), but not everyone has the space to set up on personal land, and public land tends to frown on overt religious displays. That is when you should go to the Beings where they are – stand in the sunlight and receive Zir healing; wander through dark Night’s embrace; share an intimate moment with the creek, touching and being touched; sing with each individual raindrop and shout with each flash of lightning; hold a philosophical debate with the robins, and attend the owl parliament; meditate in the stillness of the mountain’s shadow, melding your quick thoughts with their slower ones and feeling the passage of eons as a single lifetime.

I hope that begins to answer your question?

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*For an example, a Pagan prominent in the blogosphere opines that there is no point in worshiping nature, only the spirit within or behind it without allowing for the possibility that the spirit is not separate from the physical in natural persons and phenomena any more than your spirit and soul are “separate” from your body. There are some beings in the Waincraft cosmology that are considered to be mostly non-physical (the Tribes and Fair Folk, to be exact) in that they cannot be sensed with the physical senses, but they still have natural and physical associations and attachments.

Getting to Know the Powers: Winter

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© 2007 dark777fairy

A basic introduction of the deity
Winter is the first and oldest of the Weird Sisters, born of a union between Night and Wildness, and as such is as wild and fierce and dark and terrifying as her father, but with the power and beauty and deep love of her mother. She is as ancient as the past, for it is the Past that she rules over in the trinity of Fate. She is cold and dark, bitterly beautiful and hideously ugly. She is the Power of winter, weaving, the past, memory, the underworld, and snow. She spins the thread that her sisters weave into the tapestry of the Pattern that comprises all of existence. She manifests most often as a wizened crone, solitary and hidden in far-off places, full of magic, mystery and impassivity, though she can help those who have earned her respect, and with a soft spot for children, particularly orphans and those dead before their time. But she is also the achingly beautiful, ageless, and hardened queen of ice who rules the land during the winter months with an iron fist.

Symbols and icons of this deity
Textiles and fabrics, sugar skulls, household tools, witch figurines, wagons, skulls, brooms, gingerbread cottages, spinning wheels or distaffs, torches, goose feathers, snowflakes, wells/fountains

A favorite myth or myths of this deity
The Weird Sisters
The story has been told of how the world was created – of Night’s love, and her twin consorts, and the four elemental twin-pairs. But the world ran wild, without purpose or pattern, in exuberance and fecundity overreaching the limits of possibility. And the Mother saw this in her Knowing, and realized that something would need to be done to reign in the excesses of creation, and to guide her children along the path. And so, she took a hair from her head, and twisted it into thread, so long that only she, in her vastness and Knowing, could see both the beginning and end of it.
And she took the thread, and wove it about herself, and lay with the Wild One, looking back towards the beginning of all things, and in time, bore a daughter, child of darkness and cold and magic, and this daughter picked up the beginning of the thread, and began to spin all the stories of the past into a spool. And this was the Keeper of the Past, who looks into the well of the Underworld and gathers all the memory of the dead.
The Mother took up the thread again, and wove the middle section about herself, and faced the present moment. And this time, she took to herself both twins, the Light and the Dark, Wildness and Abundance, and bore a daughter of both their seed, child of dark and light mixed. And this daughter saw all that lay around, and how it played into the greater pattern, and picked up the spool that her sister had spun, and began ply the yarn and set the warp. And this is the Keeper of the Present, who looks at the middle world and sets the pattern on what is and has been, keeper of the golden sands of time.
And yet a third, and final time, the Mother took up the thread again, and wove the end about herself, and lay with the Keeper of Time, looking forward to the unknown. And she bore of him a third daughter, bright and fair and with far-seeing eyes. And this daughter looked to the sky, and saw the unfolding of the pattern in the clouds, and took up the plied thread, and with shuttle in hand, began to weave the weft of what she had seen. And this shall be the Keeper of the Future, who looks beyond-the-horizon, and dreams what the pattern may yet be.
And so the limits of time were set, and the pattern made manifest, and the Sisters spin and weave the lives and places of all.

Members of the family – genealogical connections
Mother – Night
Father – Wildness
Siblings – Divine Twins (5 pairs), Blood, Rain, Earth, Sky, Water
Consorts – Wildness, Abundance
Children – Shadow, Fire, Ocean, Protection, Forest

Other related deities and entities associated with this deity
Blood
Rain
Earth
Death
Passion
Renewal
The Dead

Names and epithets
Witch-Queen, Forest-Witch, Lady of Winter, Old Hag, Grandmother Ill-Luck, Mother of Waters, Lady of the Crossroads, Speaker of Fate, Lady Luck, Grandmother Winter, Snow-Queen, Mother of Snow, Mother of Flax, Spinner, Storm-Hag, Hidden Lady, Mother of Orphans, Mistress of the Underworld, Mother of Souls, Grandmother Death, Lady of the Caves, Night-Rider, Phantom-Queen, Night-Terror, Kind Lady, Lady of Darkness, Keeper of the Pattern, White as Swans, Weaver of Death
Frau Holda/Hölle, Huld, Baba Yaga, Cailleach Bheur/Beira, Anu/Anann (of the Morrígna), Danu/Dôn, Laima, Hekátē, Urðr, and Hlaðguð Svanhvit are all Euro-American deities and spirits that can potentially work in this slot, for those pursuing specific cultures and mythologies.
A Euro-American (Finnish) deity that works but should probably not be used due to oppression/appropriation issues is Louhi
A Euro-American (Sami) deity that works but should not be used due to oppression/appropriation issues is Jambe-Akka.

Variations on this deity (aspects, regional forms, etc.)
Winter has three main aspects, as well as her combined role as Fate with her sisters: The White Queen, the Hag, and the Wise Grandmother.
The White Queen is the ruler of winter, cold and bright, ageless and dressed all in white. Here, she is one of the models of death in Waincraft – Death as Taker, the merciless, inhuman, impartial being that comes to all, regardless of station or wealth or love or loss, the cruel cold winds of winter that snatch away grandmothers and children alike without hesitation or compunction. She is ice, sharp and jagged and as beautiful as she is deadly.
The Hag is the witch who lives in a solitary cottage in the deep woods – the eater, the curser, the bone collector, the power of darkness and destruction and magic. She can be cruel and capricious, but is capable of being moved by fearlessness and strength of will, and will help those she deems worthy. She is a powerful, powerful witch and an excellent teacher in all the standard techniques of witchcraft and other “low” magic (and, if you get on her good side, she has a few more tricks up her sleeve that she might share with you)
The Wise Grandmother is the other side of the coin to both the Hag and the White Queen. Here, she is the magic of age and love, and the nourishing and covering snows of winter. She is kindly (to a point), and loves children and taking care of them, and is matriarch of the home and all its work – a stern taskmaster if you slack in your duties, but diligent, hardworking and down-to-earth. She cares for all of her children, divine and non-divine, and will assist those in need, provided they do not take advantage of her kindness.
The fourth major aspect of Winter is her role as Spinner of the Weird Sisters. She is the spinner of the threads, the keeper of the well, always and forever looking backwards and keeping remembrance of what was. She is Past, and her realm lies in the Underworld, among the dead and all the memories they carry. She is the portion of Fate that deals with past actions and influences, both from your own lifetime, and the lifetimes and choices of those who have gone before you.
In all her forms, she appears to me with white hair and pale blue eyes, though the color of her skin varies: snow white, bone white, the blue/black/grey of frostbite, weathered and tan, and as dark as rich, composted earth.

Common mistakes about this deity
Winter is not the Power of Death in Waincraft, though she does represent one of the “types” or faces of death, and has many similarities with Death herself (both old and young, feared, associated with the Underworld/Dead, and the colors white and black).
She is also not only an old woman, but can also take the form of a younger, beautiful one.

Festivals, days, and times sacred to this deity
Festival of Winter
Feast of the Dead
Night of Mysteries
Nighttime/Midnight

Any mundane practices that are associated with this deity?
Spinning thread
Knitting/Crochet
Housework
Ice sculpture
Playing in the snow
Wishing in a well

How does this deity relate to other gods and other pantheons?
Mother/Teacher/Spinner of fate

How does this deity stand in terms of gender and sexuality?
Winter is female, the embodiment of primal and ancient femininity – the old wise woman who is both terrifying and comforting, the crone, the hag, the grandmother, the ancient queen.
All of the Powers of Waincraft fall along a multisexual spectrum, and Winter is no exception. Though her major mythic relationships are with “male” Powers, and thus nominally heterosexual, she is also intimate with her sisters, and some mysteries hint at a continuous line of intimate sexuality among all the female-oriented Powers.

What quality or qualities of this god do you most admire? What quality or qualities of them do you find the most troubling?
I admire her care for the lost and lonely, such as orphans and the spirits of dead children, and I honor her dedication to the memory of what has been.
She’s extremely terrifying, even to those who find her favor. Fear is her bread and butter, and most of her lessons involve facing those fears.

Art that reminds you of this deity












Music that makes you think of this deity
Villvinter, Annbjørg Lien
Baba Jaga, Annbjørg Lien
Winter, Brian Crain
Snow, Brian Crain
Amid the Falling Snow, Enya
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, “L’inverno”, Antonio Vivaldi
Waltz of the Snowflakes, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Winter, Daargard
Winter Variation, Meredith Monk
Queen of the Winter Night, Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Hella Roots, Mother Destruction
Hagazussa, Mother Destruction
Urd – That Which Was, Hagalaz’ Runedance
Snow Geese, Douglas Spotted Eagle
Midnight Queen, Inkubus Sukkubus
The White Queen, Nox Arcana
Ice Queen, Within Temptation
The White Witch, Harry Gregson-Williams
Nocturnal Hekate, Daemonia Nymphe
Hagall, Wardruna
Snow, Loreena McKennitt
And the albums:
Popplewell: The Snow Queen, Symphonika
Grimm Tales, Nox Arcana

A quote, a poem, or piece of writing that you think this deity resonates strongly with
Winter is coming. – George R. R. Martin

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again. – Lewis Carroll

Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance – Yoko Ono

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome – Anne Bradstreet

I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future – the timelessness of the rocks and the hills – all the people who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show. – Andrew Wyeth

The elk that you glimpse in the summer, those at the forest edge, are survivors of winter, only the strongest. You see one just before dusk that summer, standing at the perimeter of the meadow so it can step back to the forest and vanish. You can’t help imagining the still, frozen nights behind it, so cold that the slightest motion is monumental. I have found their bodies, half drifted over in snow, no sign of animal attack or injury. Just toppled over one night with ice working into their lungs. You wouldn’t want to stand outside for more than a few minutes in that kind of weather. If you lived through only one of those winters the way this elk has, you would write books about it. You would become a shaman. You would be forever changed. That elk from the winter stands there on the summer evening, watching from beside the forest. It keeps its story to itself. – Craig Childs

Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness. – Mary Oliver

In reality, Little Ones, there are two winters. One made for kids; the other for adults. The one made for adults is always too cold and always too long. The one made for kids is always perfect. A kid winter is an endless and wild snow carnival where all the rides are free – Carew Papritz

Any suggestions for others just starting to learn about this deity?
Keep your home clean, cook good food, practice fiber arts, walk in the snow, make an ancestor altar, help an orphan, practice witchcraft, make peace with aging, cultivate courage and strength of character, recognize the impact your past and your heritage has had on your current actions, thoughts, and circumstances.

Getting to Know the Powers: Abundance

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Sourced from: http://www.zastavki.com/. Unknown copyright

A basic introduction of the deity
Abundance, also known as Time, is the Third God, and completes the trinity of the primal Powers. He is the mirror twin of Wildness, and serves as the second pole of duality. He is the force of abundance, fecundity, benevolence, horticulture, civilization, order, time – the tame, the domesticated, the controlled. As such, he is also a power of rulership, ascendance, of alchemy and wizardry. Where his brother is instinct and intuition, he is law and social order.
The Lord of Plenty takes the forms of humanity far more easily than his brother, and much of what we tend to value lies in his domain – safety, security, unity. Where the Wild Father calls us down into the past, into our roots, into our wildness, the Lord of Plenty calls us upward and forward to nobility, sacrality and vision – a conflicting pull echoed in the King of the Waters and the Lord of the Mountain. Across ancient Europe, he was the Bear-King, ruler of the most noble, sacred and mysterious creature in the cultural imagination of the time. He is the protecting and preserving force that ameliorates the harshness of his brother’s realm. But we must never forget that he is not entirely separate from his brother, and while his presence mutes the wildness of his twin, he is also made wild in turn.

Symbols and icons of this deity
Scales, hourglasses and other timepieces, fruit trees, wands, cornucopias, bears, tree branches, moss and lichen, bear figurines, wizard figurines, horticultural landscapes, bees.

A favorite myth or myths of this deity
Creation of humanity
At the beginning time, the worlds were created by the Divine Twins, the powers of earth and air and fire and water and spirit, and filled with all manner of life. And in the joining and unjoining of their strengths and powers, a figure was formed, of earth and fire, of water and air, living, but thoughtless and without spirit. The Spirit Twins, Dark and Light, Order and Chaos, came upon this figure, and wondered at it. Then, the Mother told them of its purpose, and showed them a vision, and the holy brothers fell in love with it. When they returned to the figure, they laid their hands upon it, and blessed it, and made love together and anointed it with their conjoined seed, and breathed a portion of their own spirit into it. And the figure shook, and the fire rose in her cheeks, and the water flowed through her limbs, and the air wove in and out between her lips, and the earth itself knitted her bones, and she Was, because she was filled with spirit. And they named her a child of the Mother, and of the Twins, and in turn, she herself gave birth to the children of the Twins, who arose and spread across the face of the earth.
And thus was humanity born – ever torn between light and darkness, unity and diversity, order and chaos, wild and tamed, for we carry each of us the power of the Dark Twin and the Light Twin.

Members of the family – genealogical connections
Mother – Night
Twin/Brother – Wild Father
Children – Air Twins and Water Twins (per SPG, progenitors of Abrahamic/Semitic and Hindu gods and spirits respectively); Wother, Ocean, Maker, Maiden of the Woods; Lord of the Mountains, King of the Waters, Holy Earth (adopted); Wandering Moon, Warming Sun; humanity (with the Lord of Plenty and Night)
Consort – Night, Witcher, Holy Earth, Lord of Plenty

Other related deities and entities associated with this deity
Night
Lord of Plenty
The Weird Sisters
Holy Earth
Lord of the Mountains
King of the Waters
Wandering Moon
Warming Sun

Names and epithets
Lord of Peace, Lord of Time, God of the Orchard, Bear-King, Peace-Giver, Bountiful Giver, Wise Sage, Lord of Light, God of the Woods, Master of Magic, Grandfather Wisdom, Lord of Life, Master of Turning
Frodi, Math ap Mathonwy, Mathgen, Matunos, Voltumna/Vertumnus, Khronos/Chronus, Saturn, Mundilfari, Belobog, Porewit, Kerpyčius, Merlin, and the Blue Dove (one of Feri’s Divine Twins) are all extant Euro-American deities that can potentially work in this slot, for those pursuing specific cultures and mythologies.
A European (Finnish) deity that fits the slot, but should probably not be used due to appropriation/oppression issues, is Tapio.

Variations on this deity (aspects, regional forms, etc.)
There are three major aspects to this deity – the Giver of Abundance, the Wise Priest-King, and the Keeper of Time.
The Giver of Abundance is the jovial person who delights in giving, in the smiles and laughter of those cared about, and works to ensure that everyone has their needs met.
The Wise Priest-King is the embodiment of sacral kingship, the wise ruler who links the physical and spiritual in one person, and whose primary relationship is with the land and the people as a whole. He is a powerful magician, but his magic is controlled and directed by Will, focused on providing safety and security, peace and prosperity, as well as unity with the greater pattern.
The Keeper of Time is the face of order, of law and stricture, of measures and scales. This is the Civilizing God, and he tends to manifest in this aspect as a man of great age and insight, stern and high-minded, expecting nothing less than our best and most noble selves.

Common mistakes about this deity
I am unaware of any at this time.

Festivals, days, and times sacred to this deity
All feasts and festival times
Feast of the Fathers
Feast of Yule/High Winter
Feast of Peace
Feast of the New Year
Festival of Reciprocity
Saturdays
Dawn to dusk

Any mundane practices that are associated with this deity?
Bee-keeping and other horticultural skills
Making calendars
Spending time with and among the elderly
Learning new things
Practicing organizational skills
Giving to others/charity

How does this deity relate to other gods and other pantheons?
Father/ancestor/ruler.

How does this deity stand in terms of gender and sexuality?
He is the abundant and fierce compassion of masculinity, and the male gender descends through his union with his brother. He and his twin are multisexual, as they ritually join in union with each other, and with their Mother, as well as with other Powers. And as they represent polarity, they actually contain within themselves all genders, and can present as male/male, male/female, female/female, male/other, female/other, or other/other.

What quality or qualities of this god do you most admire? What quality or qualities of them do you find the most troubling?
I admire Abundance’s generosity, deep compassion, and desire to bring joy and pleasure to those in need. I also admire, though find it hard to practice at times, the commitment to idealism and being the absolute best one can be, as well as the great wisdom and courage that comes with it.

Art that reminds you of this deity

http://www.janleighton.com/images/1280/Father-Time2.jpg

http://www.worldsofimagination.co.uk/6974246917_e049dda257.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mekllvuTZw1r39k3oo1_1280.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Arcimboldovertemnus.jpeg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Polidoro_da_Caravaggio_-_Saturnus-thumb.jpg

http://naopushke.narod.ru/slovar/belobog.gif

http://umythology.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/belobog_001.jpg

http://stat18.privet.ru/lr/0a1de207893c35f33a00e0a85923c1c4

http://epika.org/epika/slavic/belobog/crnobog-belobog.jpg

http://www.rebellesociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Chronos_oeuvre_grand1.jpg

http://annoyzview.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/merlin.jpg

Music that makes you think of this deity
Folk songs, particularly those concerning planting and harvesting
Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book, Dead Can Dance
Only Time, Enya
Wisdom Work, Byron Metcalf
King of the Sacred Grove, Adiemus
Math Was a Wizard, Adiemus
Good King Joy, Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Druids in the Glen, Dagda
The Primal Gods, Dagda
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, Gustav Holst

A quote, a poem, or piece of writing that you think this deity resonates strongly with
Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live. – Pete Seeger

Even after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with
A love like that.
It lights the whole sky. – Hafiz

I am not and never will be perfect. I am not always as honest, respectful, responsible, fair or as kind as I should be. All I can do is what I should do: strive every day, with every decision to be the best person I can be. I don’t expect to be perfect but I know I can be better. – Michael Josephson

I tell you the truth, a man may not make himself king; only the blessing of him who holds the kingship can elevate a man to that high place. For sovereignty is a sacred trust that may not be bartered or sold; still less may it be stolen or taken by force. – Stephen Lawhead

Never say that you can’t do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can’t be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.
Master yourself, and become king of the world around you. Let no odds, chastisement, exile, doubt, fear, or ANY mental virii prevent you from accomplishing your dreams. Never be a victim of life; be it’s conqueror. – Mike Norton

The people of today have no nobility. They do not even know what it means to be noble of heart. There is no strength of character; there is only emotion. We live in a worldwide society of emotion-based actions, emotion-based thinking, emotion-based words. People do things because they feel like it, they think things ruled by their emotions to think it and they say things because in that moment it’s what they are feeling. Character does, thinks and says from a place of core identity and truth. “This is my truth, thus I will do it, think it, speak it.” Nobility means strength of character, a word of honor, immovability and mind over matter. The feelings and emotions of a noble person do not merely come and go with the tides; they are there in the first place because they wouldn’t have been there if it were not already decided upon. That is nobility. – C. Joybell C.

Any suggestions for others just starting to learn about this deity?
Plant trees, brew mead, bake bread, do something kind for one’s elders, keep honeybees, learn a magical discipline, grow a garden, tell a story, listen to a story told by an elderly person, be mindful of how you use your time, seek the higher self.

Getting to Know the Powers: Wildness

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Photo © 2010 by fuzzyzombielove

A basic introduction of the deity
Wildness is the Second God, slightly older than his twin brother, Time, firstborn children of Night. He is the force of wildness, wilderness, desolation, ferity, madness, chaos, and everything that is ambivalent or hostile to humanity. At the same time, he is the power of and behind witchcraft, initiation, ecstasy and wild, uninhibited sex and sexuality. In a sense, he is the power of transgression, breaking boundaries and expectations, and ultimate and true authenticity in the face of conformity.
The Wild Father is often clothed in the skins and forms of animals, and is one of the least anthropomorphic of the Powers, more animal than human – and yet he is, also, the First Ancestor of humanity. He and his realm are what birthed us, and though we now fall under the influence of his twin, he is always calling us back to him. He is the White Stag leading us into Reality, which often has a strange resemblance to the Otherworld.

Symbols and icons of this deity
Skulls, hides and fur, antlers, trees, mushrooms, horned figures, bones, wilderness landscapes, zoomorphic figures, deer, snakes, phalluses.

A favorite myth or myths of this deity
Creation of humanity

At the beginning time, the worlds were created by the Divine Twins, the powers of earth and air and fire and water and spirit, and filled with all manner of life. And in the joining and unjoining of their strengths and powers, a figure was formed, of earth and fire, of water and air, living, but thoughtless and without spirit. The Spirit Twins, Dark and Light, Order and Chaos, came upon this figure, and wondered at it. Then, the Mother told them of its purpose, and showed them a vision, and the holy brothers fell in love with it. When they returned to the figure, they laid their hands upon it, and blessed it, and made love together and anointed it with their conjoined seed, and breathed a portion of their own spirit into it. And the figure shook, and the fire rose in her cheeks, and the water flowed through her limbs, and the air wove in and out between her lips, and the earth itself knitted her bones, and she Was, because she was filled with spirit. And they named her a child of the Mother, and of the Twins, and in turn, she herself gave birth to the children of the Twins, who arose and spread across the face of the earth.
And thus was humanity born – ever torn between light and darkness, unity and diversity, order and chaos, wild and tamed, for we carry each of us the power of the Dark Twin and the Light Twin.

Members of the family – genealogical connections
Mother – Night
Twin/Brother – Lord of Plenty
Children – Earth Twins and Fire Twins (progenitors of the Vanir, Jotnar, Tuatha Dé Danann, Fir Bolg, Formorii, and elemental giants; as well as the Tribes and the Fair Folk within the Waincraft cosmology); Witcher and Watcher; humanity (with the Lord of Plenty and Night)
Consort – Night, Witcher, Lord of Plenty

Other related deities and entities associated with this deity
Night
Lord of Plenty
Witcher
Lord of the Green
Guardian
Fairy Queen
Lady of Shadows
Deer (Tribe)
Serpent (Tribe)

Names and epithets
Wild God, Green God, Black God, Lord of Animals, Old Horny, Horned Hunter, White Stag, Stag of the Otherworld, Father God, God of Riches, God of the Between Places, Lord of the Forest, Great Serpent, Sorcerer, Deer-King, Lord of Death, Lord of Darkness, Witchfather, He Who Calls From the Wild
Cernunnos, Herne the Hunter, Woden, Odin, Gwydion, Pan, Faunus/Inuus, Csodaszarvas, Czernobog, and the Black or Red Serpent (one of Feri’s Divine Twins) are all extant Euro-American deities that can potentially work in this slot, for those pursuing specific cultures and mythologies.
A European (Sámi) deity that fits the slot, but should not be used due to appropriation/oppression issues, is Lieaibolmmai.

Variations on this deity (aspects, regional forms, etc.)
There are three major aspects to this deity – the Lord of Animals, the Witchfather, and the Liminal God
The Lord of Animals is the horned god, who rules over the wilderness, taking the form and nature of the White Stag. This face is the power of sex, of wildness, and instinct and intuition, and is the least anthropomorphic of the three.
The Witchfather or Sorceror is the great magician who uses all the power of darkness, nature, animals, plants and stones in his magic, as well as the magic of sex, trance, and any other form of magic that requires letting go of rules, expectations, and inhibitions. This face is the most anthropomorphic of the three, however if you look closely, the eyes are slitted, the teeth a bit too long and sharp, the hands claw-like, and just a hint of hooves. He wields and is the source of “low”/folk magic and witchcraft.
The Liminal God rides between the other two, both guarding and breaking the boundaries. He is the Initiator, the original Trickster, the god of madness, fury, ferity, and everything that doesn’t fit into neat boxes. He is the Untamer, the Wild-Maker, the one who rides the whirlwind and leaves nothing but destruction and desolation behind. But this is necessary, for we cannot become who we are meant to be as long as we cling to what we were before.

Common mistakes about this deity
The Wild Father is not the same as the NeoWiccan Horned God, though they share many similarities in symbolism. He is similar enough to the traditional witchcraft Witchfather/God that they might be the same essence.

Festivals, days, and times sacred to this deity
Un-times: eclipses, intercalary days, all occasions that lie outside the progress of standard time.
Feast of the Dead
Feast of the Fathers
Feast of Transition
Dusk to dawn, particularly midnight

Any mundane practices that are associated with this deity?
Hunting
Dancing
Sex
Entheogens
Wilderness-walking
Nature immersion
Ancestry research
Soul-centered practices

How does this deity relate to other gods and other pantheons?
Father/ancestor.

How does this deity stand in terms of gender and sexuality?
He is the wild potency of masculinity, and the male gender descends through his union with his brother. He and his twin are multisexual, as they ritually join in union with each other, and with their Mother, as well as with other Powers. And as they represent polarity, they actually contain within themselves all genders, and can present as male/male, male/female, female/female, male/other, female/other, or other/other.

What quality or qualities of this god do you most admire? What quality or qualities of them do you find the most troubling?
I admire his fierce authenticity, his overwhelming call, his rootedness in Reality. But these are the very same qualities that, if not balanced by those of his brother, can lead to madness, utter dissolution, and inability to function in society.

Art that reminds you of this deity

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Pintura_Trois_Freres.jpg

http://image.hotdog.hu/user/goagirl1/magazin/csodaszarvas_1.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ecQct8XzD94/TT9Kppy5K4I/AAAAAAAAADQ/3Jsh7P1LzTQ/s400/Kernunos%255B2%255D.jpg

http://pctrs.network.hu/picture/1/1/9/3/_/csodaszarvas_1193751_6840.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/242/c/4/chernobog_by_soleibee-d5cz246.jpg

http://www.druides.fr/altitona/images/kernunos.jpg

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lquql84CVJ1qap2xr.jpg

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/031/6/c/zbrush_concept___cernunnos_by_orientalisdraco-d38hj7f.jpg

http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/23/CERNUNNOS-port.jpg

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs40/i/2009/046/1/4/Cernunnos_by_axelAmnon.jpg

http://d2tq98mqfjyz2l.cloudfront.net/image_cache/1335222298819461.jpg

and pretty much everything in the “wilderness” search on Google Images

Music that makes you think of this deity
Hymn to Herne, SJ Tucker
Wild, Inkubus Sukkubus
Old Hornie, Inkubus Sukkubus
Song to Pan, Inkubus Sukkubus
Wild Hunt, Inkubus Sukkubus
Serpent Trance, Mother Destruction
Summoning Pan, Daemonia Nymphe
All ecstatic trance drumming, dance music, etc.
Indigenous music (e.g., yoik, Tuvan throat singing, Native American chant and instrumentals, etc.)

A quote, a poem, or piece of writing that you think this deity resonates strongly with
[…]Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

“Sweet Darkness” – David Whyte

You are not surprised at the force of the storm—
you have seen it growing.
The trees flee. Their flight
sets the boulevards streaming. And you know:
he whom they flee is the one
you move toward. All your senses
sing him, as you stand at the window.

The weeks stood still in summer.
The trees’ blood rose. Now you feel
it wants to sink back
into the source of everything. You thought
you could trust that power
when you plucked the fruit;
now it becomes a riddle again,
and you again a stranger.

Summer was like your house: you knew
where each thing stood.
Now you must go out into your heart
as onto a vast plain. Now
the immense loneliness begins.

The days go numb, the wind
sucks the world from your senses like withered
leaves.

Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have.
Be earth now, and evensong.
Be the ground lying under that sky.
Be modest now, like a thing

ripened until it is real,
so that he who began it all
can feel you when he reaches for you.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Any interesting or unusual UPG to share?
Same as Night

Any suggestions for others just starting to learn about this deity?
Adopt a wild place and take care of it, be yourself free of expectations, nurture the wildness/innocence within, hunt an animal you would use for food, perform an animal dance, learn the local ecosystem (particularly arboreal ones), explore the wilderness, learn wild-harvesting or other forms of foraging, honor your ancestors, practice traditional folk magic or witchcraft.

Waincraft Training Program

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How can I join the Waincraft Training Program?

The Waincraft Training Program is a 3-year (can be longer if people want to extend it), 3-phase curriculum designed to do a couple of things:

1. Immerse participants in their bioregion through intensive study, experientials, and contemplation
2. Assist participants in discovering and manifesting their orthopsychy, which is their unique ideal role in the great pattern of existence, typified by a metaphorical “picture” or identity. Frex, mine is the Twilight Spinner, someone who spins tales and songs and paths in the changing time.
3. Educate and enable participants in assisting others with the above two points, as well as providing “clergy” services such as counseling, divination, and support; potentially some magical services as well.

Phase 1 is a minimum yearlong intensive focusing on bioregional orientation, introspection, writings on the Waincraft model including theology and cosmology, establishment of regular practice in meditation, cleansing and warding, and forming relationships with several of the Cosmological Beings categories.

Phase 2 is a time-indefinite journey through shadow work, healing, death/ancestor/Underworld work, intensive work with one of the Tribes and learning their mysteries and practices, and practicing wholeness and integrity.

Phase 3 is roughly equivalent to clergy training in other traditions, including unique-to-Waincraft practices that I’ve developed such as the Council of All Beings oracle, manifestation of their orthopsychy, initiation and counseling training, as well as creation and practice of more advanced magical and ritual and the imparting of certain mysteries.

At this time, the program consists solely of Phase 1 participants working in solitude with myself as the mentor. Should there be an influx of students before we have some complete all three phases, I may set up a forum or similar setting to keep things all together.

Some more, though currently limited, information can be found on the Hall of Ravens website: Waincraft Training Program

What is Waincraft?

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Could you explain Waincraft, please? Like, what is it?

Well the short version is that Waincraft is a New Religious Movement (NRM) derived from the melding between neopaganism, animism, bioregionalism and depth psychology, focusing on a portable, adaptable cosmology that still carries meaning and relevance across multiple landscapes and biomes, as well as helping create an ecocentric worldview (à la Plotkin) for the future by encouraging people to find and manifest their unique gifts and deepest calling – the power, identity and actions that make their soul sing, which I have termed orthopsychy as a counter to the typical religious foci on orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

The cosmology features 6 distinct-ish (there’s a great deal of overlap in practice) categories of other-than-human beings that inhabit existence with us – the Powers, the Tribes, the Fair Folk, the Relations, the Elemental or Nature Spirits, and the Dead.

The Powers is a pantheon of variably 24 personified natural and/or conceptual phenomena (variable because some biomes do not contain certain elements/forces, others may need more or different than the “standard” 24) that, by and large, can also be found in most or all European/IE mythologies and occasionally in neighboring non-IE ones (Finno-Ugric, Magyar, Basque, Kartvelian, frex), mostly because they’re common across the world (i.e., the sun shines everywhere, night comes everywhere, etc., not counting the polar extremes during the solstices).

The Tribes are denizens of the Otherworld that represent and embody specific mysteries of life and development – e.g., Birth, Memory, Initiation, Magic, etc. Waincraft works with 23 of these Tribes, each associated with a particular animal or animal type. (For those interested, yes, these are the same Tribes as those of the Vanir/Eshnahai as elicudated here.*). Their main focus as far as the [Waincraft Training Program] goes, to which I’ve gotten agreements for, is “adopting” participants during phase 2 to help them with finding and embodying their orthopsychy; however, for general practitioners, they are still approachable and well worth the time of cultivating a relationship with even outside of the program.

The Fair Folk are the fairies, pixies, tomte/nissen, brownies, domovoi, elves, dwarves, daoine sidhe, dusii, leszi, vilas, nymphs, satyrs, etc. – those non-corporeal beings that primarily or exclusively reside in the “physical” world but aren’t the spirits of animals, plants, or elemental forces. This category is one of the blurriest, as some of the fair folk are actually Tribes-people, others are larger elementals, and some are active Dead.

The Relations are the bodies and spirits of all the animals, plants, fungi, protozoans, etc., that inhabit or have inhabited the physical world. Basically, if it’s on the Eukaryote family tree, it’s a Relation.

The Elemental or Nature spirits are the personification of actual individual elemental/non-“living” objects – raindrops and swamps and oceans, flames and lightning and volcanoes, breezes and winds and tornadoes, stones and metals and mountains, etc.

The Dead are, of course, those in the Homo family tree that are no longer corporeal, from H. habilis to the approximately 14k who died today and every day.

There is a cosmological orientation of 14 – 7 physical directions and their corresponding mirrors in the Otherworld. Above, Below, North, South, East, West and Center. Each of the cosmological beings is associated with one of the directions – Above is the sky, clouds and mountains, while the Upperworld is associated with the Powers, who represent and embody knowledge, archetype and unities; East is the closest to Above, and is the realm of the Elemental Spirits; South follows the descending spiral and is the realm of the Relations; Below is under the ground, caves, tunnels, all existence that cannot be seen from the surface, and the Underworld is the realm of the Dead; West is the closest to Below, and is the realm of the Tribes, who represent and embody mysteries, wisdom and diversity; North continues the ascent as a double helix, and is the realm of the Fair Folk, intermediaries between Spirit and Soul. And Center, between and touching all, is humanity, because this is a model and cosmology created by humans for humans and human development.

There are only two “worlds” to speak of, this world and the Otherworld. Both are divided into three realms of Under, Upper, Middle or Sea, Sky, and Soil Land (see what I did there? :P)

Religious observances will vary based on both the needs of the practitioner and the cycle of the local bioregion, but the basic solar and lunar events are encouraged (solstices, equinoctes, and dark and full moons). Following common myths, Waincraft typically places the year-shift at the winter solstice, but it could equally be at the vernal or autumnal equinox, summer solstice, or one of the cross-quarter days should those be included (Feast of the Dead is a good candidate). The book included all of the “standard” Wheel of the Year observances with non-culture-specific names, as well as a twelve-day observance for the winter solstice, a Feast of the Dead mirror on May Eve/Walpurgisnacht, and an observance for the Fair Folk which can take place at any point throughout the year (the book places it in late autumn based off the Heathen Álfablót)

The primary focus in regular practice should be on integrating physical and spiritual realities, re-enchanting and re-animating the world. Learn the name and personality of your local mountain, forest, rivers, desert, cliffs, etc. Leave out offerings for the spirits who take the form of ants. Know the signs of the seasons. Be able to converse with the tree in your backyard. Pay reverence to the sun as zie goes through the dance of the year. Do the same for the moon in zir dance. Make new myths about the rain and the sun and the mountains and the birds and the rabbits, based on how they actually act in your bioregion. Praise the light of dawn and embrace the comfort of night. The passage of time is a god, the same god who dances with the bears and has an overflowing cornucopia – time is wealth and abundance. Learn where your food comes from, your water, your air. From what direction the storm? What stars dance solemnly above, and what is the pattern of their dance? How is Hare’s mystery of Renewal echoed in the rabbits in springtime? How is Serpent’s wisdom and magic echoed in a garter snake, or a cobra, or an iguana? How is the Otherworld mirrored in the one that surrounds you, and how does it mirror in turn? What role do you have to play in the dance that goes on around you? Everything is connected, but how have you removed yourself or been removed from the wider pattern?

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*Note: Waincraft is not associated or affiliated with Vanatru or Heathenry, but it does share this particular group of spirits with certain strains of Vanatru and Vanic practice.