With such a broad definition, it’s helpful to be clear about what animism isn’t.
The Occult Traditions
Occult traditions like Kaballah, the Masons and the Western mystery schools are not animism. Instead, they are often magical systems close to more well known religions.
They have organised structures and a fixed approach that is
consistent between practitioners. They also tend to have a series of
tools and methods which students progress through.
However, the occult traditions do use (and often keep alive) tools
that are grounded in animism such as spirit communication and spiritual
healing through prayer. They often work with symbolism and sacred space,
like animism, but in a more structured, less individual, approach.
Mysticism
Mysticism is often very close to animism, and sometimes the only distinction I can find is a more inward looking, less practical, approach.
THERE ARE TWO FORMS OF SATANISM, THEIST SATANISM, THE ACTUAL BELIEVE IN SATAN AS A BEING (THEIST SATANISTS CAN’T BE ANIMISTS.) AND LAVEYAN SATANISM, IN WHICH SATAN IS SEEN MERELY AS A SYMBOL OF OPPOSITION TO CHRISITAN AND OTHER THEIST BELIEVES AND DOGMA. LAVEYAN SATANISM IS STRICTLY ATHEITST. THEREFORE A SUPPORTER OF ANTON LAVEY’S PHILOSOPHY CAN BE AN ANIMIST TOO. THIS IS THE MORE TRADITIONAL FORM OF SATANISM, AS PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH OF SATAN. (THAT MIGHT BE THE REFERENCE OF ‘‘SOME FORMS OF SATANISM, THAT PROMOTE PERSONAL RESONSIBILITY ETC’‘, WRITTEN ABOUT IN THE TEXT.)
OLD NICKY939393 (WHO LOVES NATURE, IT’S SPIRITS AND MAGICK (ART) MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.)
According
to Luisa Muraro [1], the oldest term to indicate the gathering of witches, i.e.
the Sabbath, is “Game” or “Game of the Good Society” (“Ludus”
or “Ludus Bonae Societatis” in Latin), to the point that there are also characters
at the head of the witches who keep this name, such as the “Lady of Good Game”
(“Donna del Buon Gioco” or “Signora del Buon Gioco” in Italian, and “Dòna del Zöch”
in norther Italian dialect) or “Domina Ludi”.
In her book
we read that the set of witches, the totality of all the witches, was referred
to as the “Society” or the “Good Society”, and that what in
Scotland are called Covens, in Italy (the Muraro witness it for the North while
Henningsen reports it for Sicily) were called “Companies”.
.:: The
dates of the Sabbath ::.
When did
the Ludus take place? It was not – unlike what we think nowdays – of unique dates throughout Europe or throughout single Countries, but they changed depending
on the area and the region. The days of the Sabbath are not the same of the
seasonal celebrations of the country or village festivals (although these may
have a pre-Christian origin), which instead took place in the general community in
broad daylight and had a more social function, while the Sabbaths were more
private meetings.
Normally, the dates are remembered in popular memory, are found in the declarations
of the accused in trials, and in legends about the “nights of
witches” (or “the nights of the Wild Hunt” or even “of the Procession
of the Dead”), sometimes accompanied by rites or spells carried out by the extended population to remove the “evil effects” (from a Christian perspective) of these days.
In Italy the most used dates are: the Thursday of the Four Ember Days, st. John’s
night, the night of the Dead, the 12 nights from Christmas to Epiphany, and
Full Moons. In some regions instead, like Sicily, the meetings (in this case of
the Women from Outside, the Sicilian witches/fairies) took place on a weekly
basis.
So, how to
discover the dates in our region? Let’s take a book of folklore of our region. By reading it, let’s ask ourselves: when, in folklore and legends of the area in which we live, witches or fairies
gather together?When, if there are any, legends say the Procession of the Dead
or of the Fairies will pass? And so on.
If we find these legends, usually we’ll also find the days in which these
phenomenons happen, according to the legend. We can take these as days for celebrating the Sabbath.
.:: Who was worshipped in the Sabbath? ::.
Although
the witch had various spiritual allies (various “Familiar Spirits”,
such as the Spirit of the House, Fairies, Ancestors, Plant Allies, the Animal
Familiar, and so on), only the Major Spirit, i.e. the Domina Nocturna (the
female spirit that led the Witches’ Procession, the Wild Hunt or the Procession
of the Dead) and/or his male counterpart was worshiped in the Sabbath.
In short,
therefore, there was a sort of henotheism/exclusiveness towards the Major
Spirit to whom the witch was bound: the Ludus was not aimed at a pantheon but
to the Entity to which the Company was bound (which normally changed from
Country to Country and from region to region, for example the French witches
went with Abonde/Abundia/Satia, the German witches with Holda or Perchta, in
Northern Italy we find the Lady of the Good Game, in Scotland the Queenand the King of Elphame, in Sicily the Queen and the King of the Fairies, in Rieti –
reports Bellezza Orsini in her trial – Befania, on the Sibillini Mountains the
Apennine Sibyl, the Redodesa in the Veneto, Herodias in Rome, Sa Rejusta, Araja or Arada in
Sardinia, etc.).
Let us now
analyze the formation of the concept of physical Sabbath. One of the first
references to the procession of witches is certainly the Canon Episcopi (dated 906 CE). I quote from it:
“This
also is not to be omitted, that certain wicked women, turned back toward Satan,
seduced by demonic illusions and phantasms, believe of themselves and profess
to ride upon certain beasts in the nighttime hours, with Diana, the Goddess of
the Pagans, (or with Herodias) and an innumerable multitude of women, and to
traverse great spaces of earth in the silence of the dead of night, and to be
subject to her laws as of a Lady, and on fixed nights be called to her
service.”
But here we
are still talking about a non-corporeal encounter, it is a gathering in the spiritual
realm. So let’s go forward and see how this spiritual gathering is gradually
going to “stabilize” and “becoming physical”.
In Roman de la Rose (1237) we find the following verses to testify to the belief that
the procession of witches went from house to house:
“As a
result, many people, in their folly,
think themselves sorcerers by night,
wandering with Lady Abonde.
And they say that in the whole world
every third child born is
of such disposition that
three times a week he goes
just as destiny leads him;
that such people push into all houses;
that they fear neither keys nor bars,
but enter by cracks,
cat-hatches, and crevices;
that their souls leave their bodies
and go with good ladies
into strange places and through houses;
and they prove it with such reasoning:
the different things seen
have not come in their beds,
but through their souls, which labor
and go running about thus through the world;
and they make people believe that,
as long as they are on such a journey,
their souls could never enter their bodies
if anyone had overturned them.
But this idea is a horrible folly
and something not possible,
for the human body is a dead thing
as soon as it does not carry its soul;
thus it is certain
that those who follow this sort of journey
three times a week
die three times and revive three
times in the same week.
And if it is as we have said,
then the disciples of such a convent
come back to life very often.”
In the same
period William of Auvergne reports the belief that the Dominae Nocturnae, in
this case Abundia/Satia and her witches, would visit the houses to dance and
eat food and drink present on the spot. In the absence of these, they would
abandon the houses, disdained. According to this belief, people
hastened to
open the barrels and open the cellars, if not to provide ready food in their
home’s table [2].
The Malleus Maleficarum (an inquisitorial treaty following the Canon Episcopi, and dated 1487), will then demonize these characters (a tendency that will have
more and more until the eighteenth century, with the disappearance of pagan
remains and the complete equation between Satanism and witchcraft):
“There was
an erroneous belief that when devils came in the night (or the Good People as
old women call them, though they are witches, or devils in their forms) they
must eat up everything, that afterwards they may bring greater abundance of
stores. Some people give colour to the story, and call them Screech Owls; but
this is against the opinion of the Doctors, who say that there are no rational
creatures except men and Angels; therefore they can only be devils.”
Yet, even
the Malleus does not provide a description of the Sabbath as we know it today.
For it we’ll have to wait the 1580 with Jean Bodin and his “De la
démonomanie des sorciers”.
According to Bodin’s description, when the witch was preparing to go to the
Sabbath, she would anoint herself with the ointment, ride a broom, recite a charm, fly and land
on the spot of the gathering. Upon arrival, the newcomers were introduced to
the Devil, who was greeted with a kiss on the buttocks, then Satan took note of the evil
done by witches since the previous meeting and witches were reprimanded or
praised according to their merit. At this point the practitioners gave
offerings to the Devil (sometimes a sheep, sometimes a bird, other times a lock of
the witch’s hair or some other object), then they trampled the cross and
blasphemed the saints. So the devil had sex with the new witch, placed his mark
on her skin and gave her a Familiar Spirit to her command. Then followed a large
banquet and a wild dance that then flowed into an orgy. The meeting ended in
time to allow the witches to reach home before the cock crowed [3].
According to Henningsen, the satanic aspects of the Sabbath shown by Bodin are
actually demonizations of a more ancient and authentic complex:
“In
Sicily […], the belief in the ‘evil and wicked witches’ has never existed;
and therefore there is no clear dividing line between fairies and witches: both
‘could exercise both good and evil’. However, on the fairies side, there are the donni di fora, and with fairies they participate in forms of sabbath marked
by elegance, by beautiful music, by joyful dance, by happy banquets: a ‘white
fairies’ sabbath’, in contrast to the ‘black witches’ sabbath’. The fairies’
sabbath […] in fact represents a ‘pure model’, compared to the witches’
sabbath: the latter having to be considered rather a secondary form of it as
the result of a subsequent process of demonization by the Church […] a
variant of an extensive and therefore presumably ancient and deeply rooted
complex of Mediterranean and European shamanistic beliefs.”
According
to his vision, therefore, the blasphemies would have been added posthumously,
while the osculum infame (the kiss on the devil’s buttocks) would actually be
the corruption of the initial bow (also witnessed by the Milan trial of 1390
against Sibilla Zanni and Pierina de’ Bugatis, worshipers of Madonna Horiente)
that was carried out in front of the Witches’ Queen.
This Witches’ Queen,
again according to the witnesses reported by Henningsen of the last Women from
Outside and of those who encountered them, was chosen at random from time to time
among the Women from Outside/witches. One can therefore think that the Witches’ Queen represented the
Domina Nocturna on Earth for the length of the Sabbath [4].
As we can
see, the procedure of the reconstructed Ludus Corporaliter(physical Sabbath)
was:
To bow in front of the Domina Nocturna or the Patron Major Spirit, temporarily
incarnated by the Witches’ Queen chosen randomly between the witches;
Discussions and advices about the spells performed;
The structure is the same of the corporaliter’s, but it happens in a
dimension that allows the absence of a Temporary King or a Queen of the Witches
(i.e., a human representative of the Domina or Major Spirit), in whom we can
feel the presence of the Entities directly and with no intermediaries.
Many witches of the past used this way of access to the Ludus, for example Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish woman who went on trial in 1662, who had a real Coven with
whom she met in an oneiric way [5].
Although it can be said to be a very complex procedure that I will not
elaborate here, it – as it’s logical to expect – consists of two steps:
1) to be
able to meet in a dream with the other members of the Company,
2) to be able
to modify the dream so that you can celebrate a Sabbath in this altered state of
consciousness (advanced state of lucid dreaming).
To reach
this point, various attempts and a long training period will be necessary, but
if the effort is successful, the experience will not be described in human
words because of its greatness.
.:: Sources ::.
[1] Luisa Muraro. La Signora del Gioco. La caccia alle
streghe interpretata dalle sue vittime. La Tartaruga Edizioni, 2006.
[2] Claudia Manciocco, Luigi Manciocco. L’incanto e
l’arcano: per una antropologia della Befana. Armando Editore, 2006.
[3] Thomas
Wright. The Worship of the Generative Powers during the Middle Ages of Western
Europe. London, J. C. Hotten, 1865, pp. 159-162.
[4] Gustav
Henningsen. “The Ladies from Outside”: An Archaic Pattern of the Witches’
Sabbath. In: B. Ankarloo and G. Henningsen (eds.). Early Modern European
Witchcraft. Oxford University Press, 1993.
[5] Emma
Wilby. The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft and Dark Shamanism in
Seventeenth-Century Scotland. Sussex Academic Press, 2010.
“I had taken the name Baphomet as my motto in the O.T.O. For six years and more I had tried to discover the proper way to spell this name. I knew that it must have eight letters, and also that the numerical and literal correspondences must be such as to express the meaning of the name in such a ways as to confirm what scholarship had found out about it, and also to clear up those problems which archaeologists had so far failed to solve … One theory of the name is that it represents the words βαφὴ μήτεος, the baptism of wisdom; another, that it is a corruption of a title meaning “Father Mithras”. Needless to say, the suffix R supported the latter theory. I added up the word as spelt by the Wizard. It totalled 729. This number had never appeared in my Cabbalistic working and therefore meant nothing to me. It however justified itself as being the cube of nine. The word κηφας, the mystic title given by Christ to Peter as the cornerstone of the Church, has this same value. So far, the Wizard had shown great qualities! He had cleared up the etymological problem and shown why the Templars should have given the name Baphomet to their so-called idol. Baphomet was Father Mithras, the cubical stone which was the corner of the Temple.”
The 13 Moon, 28-day calendar is a new standard of time for all people
everywhere who desire a genuinely new world. If the calendar and time
we follow is irregular, artificial and mechanized, so becomes our mind.
As is our mind, so our world becomes, as is our world today: Irregular,
artificial and mechanized. But if the calendar we follow is harmonic and
in tune with natural cycles, so also will our mind become, and so we
may return to a way of life more spiritual and in harmony with nature.
The 13 Moon calendar synchronizes solar and galactic cycles on July 26
correlating with the star Sirius. Each of the 13 moons has a power,
action, and quality which define an annual program to synchronize our
consciousness with the galactic cycles.
As a perfect measure of cosmic time, this calendar is actually a synchronometer,
an instrument for measuring synchronicity. Followed daily, it gives us a
new lens in which to perceive events. In the New Time, synchronicity is
the norm.
The 13 Moon 28-day synchronometer is a harmonic timespace
matrix. It takes the moon 28 days to orbit the Earth; it makes this
orbit 13 times each year. The standard of measure is the 28-day cycle,
called a moon, because it is the median between the 29.5-day synodic
cycle of the moon (new moon to new moon) and the 27.1-day sidereal cycle
of the moon. Hence, it is a measure of Earth’s solar orbit using the
28-day lunar standard. This creates a perfect orbital measure of 13
moons of 28 days, totaling 364 days, or 52 perfect weeks of 7 days each.
Because the 365th day is no day of the moon or week at all, it is known as the “day out of time” – a day to celebrate peace through culture and time is art!
“The Thirteen Moon calendar is an evolutionary tool to assist
humanity in the unprecedented act of uniting itself on one issue
central to its complete well-being: time. The harmonic convergence of
humanity on this one issue, combined with the inescapable order,
perfection and simplicity of following the 13 Moon calendar will lift
the species as a simultaneous whole into the galactic timing frequency
of 13:20.”
José Argüelles/Valum Votan, The Call of Pacal Votan
The coming new era on our planet has everything to do with a change
of timing frequency. The 13 Moon-28-day calendar is a simple tool that
helps us to raise our frequency and gives us a new lens to view both our
day-to-day and planetary events.
Because both the Gregorian and 13 Moon calendars operate with 52
seven-day weeks annually (364 days), the 13 Moon calendar provides a
perfect daily transition tool for hooking back up with the
higher-dimensional order! It is simple to follow day-to-day as it is
marked with the dates of the Gregorian calendar.
The 13 Moon calendar is comprised of elegantly simple cycles.
Namely: The 7-day week and 28-day moon. Unlike the Gregorian calendar,
the days of the moon (month) and the days of the week line up perfectly,
week-to-week and moon-to-moon. This makes the 13 Moon/28-day calendar a
perpetual calendar.
So, today we’re going to talk about a slightly more obscure tool: the witch’s ladder. There’s some debate as to whether or not this was a commonly used tool in older European traditions of witchcraft. In the late 1870’s a witch’s ladder, along with a collection of brooms, was found in the attic of a recently deceased woman in Somerset, sparking suspicions of witchcraft. Unfortunately, it’s not actually known whether or not this object was really used in witchcraft or how widespread the use may have been if it was. More on the history of these tools can be found here.
Now, what is a witch’s ladder? It’s a type of knot talisman made by inserting small objects into a length of cord, traditionally rooster feathers and sometimes small bones were used but you can use locks of hair, teeth, beads, sticks, leaves, seashells or pretty much anything that works for your practice.
Originally, it’s thought that they were used to curse but their uses in modern practices are endless. I’ll be making one to protect my house and create easier communication with the Other Realms.
How to Make a Witches Ladder
Ok, to start us off we need a few supplies. There are three main things that I’m using.
First is the cord, feel free to use whatever material you like. When I’m doing work like this I prefer to use regular old kitchen twine. It’s sturdy and not overly processed. You could use yarn, thread, rope, sinew or ribbon as well though.
The second thing that I’ll be using is a couple of small bones, I’m using six because I like working with multiples of three.
Finally, the feathers. These are brown mourning dove feathers; I’m using these as opposed to another type of feather because they’re good for communicating with Spirit and for fostering awareness.
I would like to mention here that while handy in the craft, collecting bones and feathers that you find can be illegal.Most birds are protected species and regardless of whether you found the feathers or ripped them off of the bird yourself, possessing them is illegal. Be sure to check the laws in your area. This problem can usually be solved by writing a letter to the appropriate wildlife officials asking for permission to pick up specific types of bird feathers for a collection. Once written permission is obtained it only has to be kept with the feathers to avoid any ramifications. Of course, if you’re not going to be waving about rare bird feathers in the town square this is probably unnecessary.
As I said, you can replace bones or feathers with whatever you like. Use Barbie arms if that’s what floats your boat. I usually use nine items in mine and the traditional number would be thirteen but feel free to adjust this to fit your needs.
Another optional material would be a metal ring, you can tie the ladder to this and use that to hang it from a hook on the ceiling or something if you like. I’ll just be using a thumbtack.
As always prep yourself and your workspace however you prefer. Cast a circle, take a ritual bath, light some incense, maybe put on some music. Consecrate your supplies and get to work.
The creation of a witch’s ladder is surprisingly simple and quick. Take your cord and cut three equal lengths. How long you make it is up to you, for example, I like each length to be from the fingertips of my left hand to my heart in length. Tie the ends together, if you are using a metal ring, tie it to the ring; otherwise just an overhand knot on the end does the trick.
Start braiding, for this one I used your typical three-strand braid but you could add and subtract cords and use rope braids, fishtail braids or five strand braids as well. As you braid begin adding in your objects. I don’t do anything special, I just keep braiding as usual while adding my feathers and stuff in between two strands. Here’s a close-up of my ladder partially finished.
I spread mine out semi-evenly along the length of the cord, if you’re a stickler about getting things even then make sure you remember that you’ll lose about a third of the cord length in the process of braiding.
As you add each item to the ladder spend a few moments to state your intention or meditate on the purpose of your spell. I kind of just spend the entire time I’m making the ladder talking to it and telling it what I would like of it. You could also use the traditional nine knot spell if incantations are your thing. I find them too constricting for my practice but for those of you who prefer more ritualized working here it is
“By knot of one, the spell is begun
By knot of two, it cometh true
By knot of three, so mote it be
By knot of four, the open door
By knot of five, it comes alive
By knot of six, the spell is fixed
By knot of seven, it has the power of heaven
By knot of eight, the open gate
By knot of nine, it is mine”
After all of your items are in place you need to finish your cord. You can just tie a knot in it and either trim the excess cord or let it hang there, or you can add something to the end as a sort of weight, bells are a common choice. Feel free to let it charge in the light of the moon or sun if you like.
Once it’s completely done take it and hang it somewhere, I like to have them on my porch but hanging it in your room or kitchen works as well. If the spell is more malicious I’d suggest hiding it away somewhere close to your target instead of hanging it.
Here’s my finished ladder, hanging out on my porch.
A few ideas for uses of these lovely tools:
Warding magic – Use to create a “Do Not Enter” sign for unfriendly energies. The ladder conveys the meaning that those who would harm are unwelcome.
Attraction magic – Use it to attract people, familiars, ideas, mindsets, jobs, circumstances, luck, etc. into your life
Binding the thirteen moons of the year – This is a method used to harness the power of the thirteen full moons of the year, allowing you to perform weather magic and nature magic more easily and opening the doorway to the Other Realms.
Traveling – Ladders can be used as a gate into the Other Realms. An actual “ladder” for your spirit to climb up into various planes
Natural magic – You can use items related to the branch of nature that you work with. For me it’s trees but perhaps you work with the ocean, mountains, forests, animals, insects, and so on.
Wish magic – You can use rolled up slips of paper or pressed leaves and make a ladder with them, writing your wish on each one. As the ladder is slowly destroyed by the elements, your wish comes true.
Divination – I’ll need to make a full post about this if anyone is interested, it’s a tad complicated
Worship – You could use a witches ladder as an offering to a deity, perhaps as a nine day devotional where you tie in an offering every day and ending with hanging it on the last day
Curses – and of course, witches ladders can be used to curse.
As usual, if anyone has any questions or would like me to make a follow up post on anything I’ve mentioned here, let me know!
Occult Aspects 