Names in Witchcraft
by Ian Elliott 07/08/2014
On Modranacht, which is variously celebrated on
December 24th or, in northern tradition, a bit earlier, the Three
Maternae or Mothers name the newborn Oak King, the Child of Promise. Giving him a name involves divining his
destiny for the next half-year, for the waxing year is the time of his reign.
This illustrates the connection in traditional
cultures between names and destiny. In
our modern cowan culture (‘cowan’
means a non-witch in traditional witchcraft, but can be expanded to mean ‘one
who does not follow, or seek, a spiritual path’), we receive names that are
little more than noises, but which might reflect sentiment on the part of our
parents. Often a favorite aunt or
uncle’s name is reproduced in the first or middle name of the newborn child. But the name as used in mainstream society is
little more than a legal placeholder, something to fill in the blanks on tax
forms and other documents. The bearer of
the name almost never feels any responsibility to carry the meaning of the name
forward into his or her life. The
heathen Udmurts of central Russia ran into
conflict with the authorities because their culture dictates a change
from the milk-name to the mature name of a growing child. The schools, having already registered the
milk-name, insisted on keeping it for the young Udmurts, in effect declaring that
they remain toddlers all their lives
.
Most of us enter the Craft from mainstream society,
and bear cowan names, but the pagan-friendly and pagan-curious often adopt a
nickname whose meaning could be described as a personal variation on one who
seeks, characterizing in some way the nature of one’s search for meaning in
life, or at least how one feels about such a search. My father, by contrast,
once said “When I was a young man, I was very concerned to discover some sort
of truth; but after a while you just make a living.” If he had been given to reflecting on this
decision, his name thereafter might have been “Just makes a living.” But as he opted for living unreflectively, he
did not reflect on his name as it pertained to his life path.
In my own case, my pagan-curious nickname is
Quicksilver. When I was a child, I
remember we broke a thermometer and I watched in fascination all the little
silver bubbles of mercury hopping around on the carpet. Like mercury or quicksilver (to avoid using
the God’s name), I hop around a lot. I
subsequently heard a lot about that in school and later in jobs. “Too many outside interests.” “Needs to focus more,” etc. Well, that is just how I am. But once I dedicated to the Craft, I acquired
a focus of sorts, though I still hop around an awful lot.
The cowan name, then, belongs outside the circles of
the Craft, and accompanies a radically different path in life from that taken
by a seeker of meaning. The Tarot card
of The Fool, depicting a jester about to step off a cliff, can be taken as the
image of the culmination of a cowan’s life path.
Having found the Craft and having decided to study it
in depth, a student enters on a radically different path from that on which the
people of mainstream society wander all their lives. The student may elect to dedicate to the
Craft, and choose a name representing his or her dedication, and the nature of
the commitment being made.
Dedication is a particular span of time during which
the dedicant studies the lore and practices of the elementary Craft more
intensely than before. Traditionally the
period is for ‘a year and a day,’ though this originally meant a solar year,
i.e. a lunar year of 364 days plus the Nameless Day added to bring it even with
the solar year. In our busy 21st-century
lives, however, the period of dedication may be shortened, particularly if the
dedicant feels ready for a full lifetime commitment to the Craft. In that case, he or she will request
initiation.
When one is initiated, he or she joins an inner circle
of mutually-supporting witches working with certain helping spirits whose
identity is kept secret from non-initiates.
The initiate may retain his or her name of dedication, or else receive
or choose a new name, by which he or she is known only to the initiatic
circle. This name is used at Esbats within
that circle, but never outside it. Its
meaning should reflect where the initiate feels he or she is presently, as well
as where he or she is going in the Craft, again for the duration of the current
incarnation.
Witches believe in reincarnation, and like others who
do, it is assumed that a new name will be borne in a future life. But from life to life the witch progresses,
as his or her root-soul in the Summerland (also called Tir-na n’og and other
names, depending on the tradition followed) grows with the lessons learned in
each life. This larger cycle is
traversed by a group of souls known variously as a ‘soul-cluster’ or a ‘witch
family’. Members of the same witch
family may reincarnate together, or some may stay on the Other Side to help
guide those who are currently reborn.
When we meet someone with whom we feel an instant rapport, and whom we
seem to have known for untold ages, it is a sign that we have come into contact
with another member of our witch family or soul cluster. Sometimes two people will mistake this for
having met their ‘soul mate’, and if the romantic nature of their relation
eventually plays out, they may find they are still best friends. On the other hand, members of one’s genetic
family may or may not also belong to one’s soul cluster. We may regret not being able to get as close
to a brother or sister as we would wish, even though we love them dearly.
When a witch has descended the inner pillar to the
marches of the Summerland and received an intimation of his or her root-soul,
and perhaps other members of his or her witch family, a sense of where the
root-soul stands in relation to its development and eventual transmutation may
lead to the choice of an inner name.
This inner name is only tentative until the witch is on the Other Side,
but it may turn out to be accurate enough.
If I receive such an intimation, I may come back to Middle-Earth with a
name which reflects where I stand in my career from life to life as a witch. This name is deeper than the initiatic one
and must never be shared except with the Gods in prayer, or with helping
spirits from the Other Side.
There are cycles enclosing cycles, and once a
root-soul has fully matured, the witch will go to the Sun and there receive a
body of light. [1]
Thereafter he or she may materialize
temporarily in Middle-Earth for specific purposes, but regular reincarnation
will no longer be necessary. The witch
will have become an elemental or minor demigod, balanced in all four elemental
powers of knowledge, will, daring and stillness, and will assist the Gods in
their labors. And then, I suppose, we
get a new name.
Bibliography
GRIMASSI, Raven, Italian
Witchcraft; The Old Religion of Southern Europe, St. Paul,
MN,
Llewellyn Publications, 2000.
NIKHILANANDA, Swami,
translator, The Upanishads; a New Translation, in four
volumes, New York,
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1952.
