Double Double Cauldron Babble

"Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

-- Shakespeare, Macbeth

The cauldron must be on par with the swastika as one of the most misinterpreted religious symbols in history. It is a most auspicious symbol even in Pagan traditions outside of Wicca, but contemporary culture has done so much to tarnish its significance that it is now rare to find a depiction of the cauldron without bones, tentacles, ooze and evil-looking green smoke coming out of it.

The cauldron of the Welsh goddess Kerridwen is the most revered artifact in Druidism, being the source of Awen or, roughly translated, poetic inspiration. In the West African religion of Ifa, the cauldron is associated with Oggun, the lord of iron and of work. As such it represents the creative force, from which all actions are rooted from. Even in the wisdom of the Far East, in the I Ching, one should be very happy when Ting (the cauldron) comes out of a reading, as it denotes supreme good fortune.

A makeshift cauldron, with the symbol of the Awen.

Taking advantage of the moon in Aries, I managed to gather some rain water during the full moon and used it to wash my iron cauldron with along with a bunch of oregano leaves from my mom's flower pot. True to its meaning I was immediately inspired to take some 'witchy' photos of the cauldron for an online magic shop - despite having not slept for 24 hours. I had to use eight candles and a flash light to get the perfect lighting, and took me about an hour to get the right shot. But with all the toil and trouble, I'm happy with what I managed to come up with.

May the cauldron of the Lady Kerridwen continually grant us divine inspiration, and may the Lord Oggun guide our hands at its working.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Personalizing a Wand Naturally

The wand is the most used among the four elemental tools, so I make sure that my wands have a personal touch.

The oak wand I bought from La Dea is already beautiful as it is. I love the grain of the oak, and I didn't want to hide its natural beauty by painting on it or attaching gemstones, feathers, metal wires, etc. as I did with my previous wands. So I decided to do no other embellishments on it other than burning my name on the wood.1

Pyrography is tougher than I expected. What I used to burn the wood was a 40-watt soldering iron (as was recommended by woodburning articles that I googled), but I wished I had a hotter one so that I could burn the wood with a single stroke. The texture of the wood makes it hard to 'write' on, and the handle of the soldering pen becomes hot after some minutes. Thankfully I managed to inscribe my name recognizably in Theban letters after some sweat and finger-burns.

Write the inscription in pencil then burn them away.  

To protect the wand, I had to treat it with a special wood finish - which is linseed oil mixed with a few drops of dragon's blood. Dragon's blood has been used by magicians for centuries to increase magic power, but here I also use it symbolically for the fire element, and to represent the blood that would 'awaken' this ritual object to life. Wood varnish would make it look too glossy and artifical. Linseed on the other hand is natural, and not so sticky so I can use my hands to apply it on.

Linseed oil and dragon's blood.

I didn't realize I would need only a few drops of wood finish to cover the entire wand, so I still had some left  for my newly-made pentacle.

Basbasan Nawa!




[1] I was about to inscribe it in Ogham, but opted to go Trad Wiccan than Druidic, so I chose Theban.
[2] Visit La Dea's website : http://ladea.moonfruit.com

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Fuego!

It has been a long time since I've been to the ile, so I was very glad to see my osha family again as we met together in an art exhibit held by our sister-in-osha at Penguin Cafe, Makati. The exhibit which consisted mainly of artful, Zen-style photographs of fire is apparently dedicated to her Baba Orisha, Shango. Baba Shango seemed to be very pleased, as later in the event a West African music ensemble came by to perform, drumming and dancing its way into the cafe, which pleasantly surprised most of us and left the artist almost tearfully happy for the rest of the night.

Fuego! Poster

Performing the Gahu of the Ewe people

UP Kekeli Drum and Dance Group, led by Royal Hartigan

The daughters of the Lord of drum and dance join in

So many people have come to the exhibit, so we took a chit-chat break outside. 

Maferefun Shango!

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Hallowed Hekatesia

I just had a truly wonderful time celebrating the feast of Hekate with some pagan friends. Honestly I know very little about the 'Lady of Three' nor Hellenic Paganism as a whole, but thankfully one of us was a Hellenistic reconstructionist and one's a Wiccan devotee of Hekate who both know very well about Her rituals and lore.

After some walking we found a lovely ritual spot among the groves of the UP campus in QC. It was damp, muddy and creepy, but it was perfect. There were classes still going on and people occassionaly passing by somewhere near, but the Lady kept us hidden in the mist and drowned our voices among the sounds of the creatures of the night. The sky was flashing with lightning, but I was hearing no sounds of thunder. The winds were strong enough to keep us cool, but light enough not to extinguish the candle flames. Some of us were creeped by the nature spirits watching by, but the feeling was to be replaced with the overwhelming presence of the Divine during the ceremony - in which we communed, invoked, danced and feasted. All in all it was a very magical evening.

The altar to Hekate. I particularly love the tsikuri with crow feathers.

Into the pharmakos we pass our worries.

Grains of rice, holy water, and incense smoke were used to purify the place.

The pharmakos is burnt, i.e. symbolically sacrificed.

A dark veil covers half of his face, in honor of 

Hekate Amphiprosopos - the double-faced Queen

Chicken hearts and a skull-shaped candle are among the implements of the altar.

Preparing for the feast.

Khaire Hekate!

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Better Than Farmville

Many thanks to Ish for inviting me to Haribon's tree planting event. It's one of the little things I could do to give back to nature which I so revere and love. The trip to the planting site at Cavinti, Laguna would have felt long and gruelling if not for the fresh provincial air, the beautiful countryside scenery we passed by, and the company of friends who also wish to make the world a better place to live in - one tree at a time.

Planting my first seedling

Volunteers Incorporated

Ate Bet was tired but was obviously having fun.

On the way to the planting site.

 We stopped by at the Caliraya water tower on the way home for some photo ops.

Basbasan Nawa!

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My Mini Magical Library

My six-foot bookshelf has arrived. I can finally clear my bed, shoe cabinet, underwear drawer, top of the fridge, window sill, and computer table of out-of-place books.

I can feel the ch'i flowing better now. Om...

Apparently even a six-foot bookshelf isn't enough to contain my books. But still I'm very glad to see some of my tomes finally prepped and organized.

Basbasan Nawa!

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The Macrocosmic Hexagram

(This a continuation of the study of the classical Western magical cosmology.)

"Astra inclinant non necessitant"
 (The stars incline they do not compel) by Ptolemy 
from his classical work Tetrabiblos. 

This has been the de facto quote of astrologers.1

The Macrocosmic Hexagram: As above, So below. As it is heaven so it is on Earth. The pentagram represents the below (the Earth) while the hexagram represents the above (the planets). This diagram shows how the seven planets are incorporated in the hexagram.

As with the previous diagram Sol occupies the center. The middle column actually contains the outermost(saturn), middle(sol) and innermost planets(luna).

Mars, Jupiter and Sol - the "primary color" planets - forms a triangle pointing downward, symbolic of emanation from the higher spheres (the fixed stars, saturn) into the lower spheres.

Mercury, Venus, Luna forms the second triangle pointing downward, symbolic of manifestation to the sphere of the Earth. Notice how their colors are derived from the colors of the first triad.

Tracing the lightning bolt reveals the order in which the planets appear in the previous diagram.

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[1] I didn't use the more often associated motto with the planets: Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem (VITRIOL) due to its associations with alchemy and hermeticism, which would be too tough of a subject for beginners I think.

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Deviant Moon

After seeing this hauntingly beautiful deck online a few weeks ago I immediately felt that I just got to have it, but my left brain - and my credit card statement - were telling me that I have too many tarot decks already, and getting another one might just be a waste. But so now I finally and unashamedly gave in to my desires and I'm not having a single ounce of regret for it.

The package from Amazon arrived aptly on the day of the Full Moon. After getting over my "opening the box" moment I took it for a test drive and slapped down a Celtic cross, and the meanings and images just flowed smoothly like melting butter from my subconscious. I realized I needed this deck more than I thought: my other tarot decks (namely Rider-Waite, Enochian, and Thoth) are so profusely infused with occult symbolism that they tend to lend themselves more to meditative and magical practices than divination. This deck is comparatively so much simpler and easier to read. The problem is I find it really pretty that I really don't wanna touch them with my filthy, sweaty hands.

Bathala Nawa!

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Studying the Classical Western Magical Cosmology

To work magic, we must first see the world in the eyes of the magician. That's why the first entries in my books of shadows are all about cosmology. In the classical Western magical view, Earth and Man are at the center of the universe, as illustrated in the diagram below. I designed this diagram to more clearly explain why the planetary spheres are assigned a particular number and color. Knowing this would be useful later on in working with Western systems of magic. 

Aleister Crowley defined magick as an art, so I don't see why I should settle for boring correspondence tables:

Latin text copied from St. Isidore's "Origines" (circa 560 C.E.), discussing the assignment of names by the Romans to the days of the week based on the seven ancient planets. For decorative purposes only.

This is simply a more elaborate version of the Heaven-Earth cosmological model which can be found in many beliefs - the Langit-Lupa of the Tagalogs, Shiva-Shakti of Tantra, Asgard-Midgard of the Norse,  the Above and Below of classical magic. In this diagram, heaven is divided into many parts, and each part is governed by one of the planetary spheres, the zodiacal sphere, or the divine sphere (the highest).

The magician stands on Earth, which is the 10th and last sphere, in the center of the Universe (also called Axis Mundi). Above and around him moves the seven classical planets. On the background are the fixed stars also known as the zodiac. And beyond the infinite number of stars is "Primum Mobile", sphere number 1, the first mover, the primal cause of everything, whose nickname is "God".

If life is a theater: the magician is the audience, the planets are the actors moving around him, the fixed stars are the backdrop, and "God" is the director sitting behind the stage. The magician's aim is to be able to tell "God" what kind of show to put on.

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The planets are ordered from the fastest moving (luna) to the slowest moving heavenly body. Note that Sol is at the center of the order.

The Primum Mobile should be colored White, as a symbol of its purity and perfection. The fixed stars are colored grey, since in this model they are depicted as the 'neutral' background of the moving planets. Saturn, being the outermost border of the planets, is colored black (also because of its association with death).

Jupiter, Mars and Sol - the "high" planets - are assigned the primary colors Blue, Red and Yellow.

Venus, Mercury and Luna - the "lower" planets - are assigned the secondary colors Green, Orange and Violet. Since these colors are derived from the combination of primary colors, this is symbolic of their emanation from the higher planets.

Gaia (whose symbol is a circle divided into four parts) is assigned the tertiary colors[1] symbolic of the culmination and manifestation of the planetary energies on Earth, and also black as a symbol of materiality (as opposed to primum mobile's white). 

My hermetic pentacle, a symbol for the sphere of Earth, whose design is based on specifications for the Zelator grade of the Golden Dawn. It is divided into four sections colored in all the tertiary 
colors (citrine, olive, russet) and black - representing the culmination and manifestation of etheric heavenly energies into the material plane.

Basbasan Nawa!

[1]  olive, russet and citrine

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The Pagan Cats

The Jellicles is a Pagan tribe of the genus Felis and specie Domestica. It is that time of the year again when the High Priest chooses among the community the One who shall be sent into the upperworld called the "Heavyside Layer" in order to be reborn and live life anew. This time however, none of the candidate tribe members who were presented one-by-one were chosen by the clan leader, but the award went instead to an outcast - Grizabella, who was able to charm High Priest Deuteronomy into choosing her with a tear-jerking rendition of "Memory". The tribe Martha Stewart, Jennyanydots, who was an audience favorite, must be sulking by the water pipe now.

Me and  friends, at the gala opening of CATS in the PICC, July 27

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