The Fumigation from Storax.

Etherial father, mighty Titan, hear, great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu’d with various council, pure and strong, to whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die, by thee restor’d, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains, strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine, O mighty Saturn [Kronos], various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies, husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root, from which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose, diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind, propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;
The sacred rites benevolent attend, and grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

[Orphic Hymn to Saturn, Thomas Taylor Translation]

II

Whenever before thou has hearkened to me–
To my voice calling to thee in the distance,
And heeding, thou hast come, leaving thy father’s
Golden dominions,

III

With chariot yoked to thy fleet-winged coursers,
Fluttering swift pinions over earth’s darkness,
And bringing thee through the infinite, gliding
Downwards from heaven,

IV

Then, soon they arrived and thou, blessed goddess,
With divine contenance smiling, didst ask me
What new woe had befallen me now and why,
Thus I had called thee.

V

What in my mad heart was my greatest desire,
Who was it now that must feel my allurements,
Who was the fair one that must be persuaded,
Who wronged thee Sappho?

VI

For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow
And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them
Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it
Even reluctant.

VII

Come then, I pray, grant me surcease from sorrow,
Drive away care, I beseech thee, O goddess
Fulfil for me what I yearn to accomplish,
Be thou my ally.

[The Poems of Sappho, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/usappho/index.htm ]

Those who are interested can read more about the Perseids at http://meteorwatch.org/2010/08/09/fun-facts-about-the-perseids/

So why do I link the Goddess Hekate to this meteor shower?  Well, firstly there is a modern festival which seems to have taken root in the last few years (based on an interpretation of when a modern festival with some tentative links to Hekate, may have taken place) on the 13th of August each year.  This falls in the middle of the Perseids each year, often around the time that it peaks in this part of the world. So that may, or may not be a coincidence.

Whilst Hekate is not specifically referred to as a “Stellar” goddess in the ancient world, she is described as having dominion over the “Earth, Sea and Sky” in the oldest known text which mentions her.  Whilst the “sky” may be interpreted as many things, the most likely is that it is a reference to the stars.  In this same text, that is the Theogony of Hesiod (circa 8th century CE, though some claim it is a bit later) we also find that Hekate is the daughter of the Goddess Asteria.

“Again, Phoibe came to the desired embrace of Koios. Then the goddess through the love of the god conceived and brought forth dark-gowned Leto.   Also she bare Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be called his dear wife.  And she conceived and bare Hekate.”  (theoi.com)

Interestingly, the name Asteria can be translated as both stellar or as a falling-star!  Asteria was specifically linked to divination by stars (Astrology) and there are clear links between some of the associations given to Hekate in regards to divination in later times, and the attributes ascribed to her mother, Asteria.

John Canard in his essay “From Heaven to Earth” in Hekate Her Sacred Fires gives numerous further reasons for the connection, which he links to the cycles of life, death and rebirth – a thought I share with him, just as much as we share our love for meteorites – stones which have fallen to earth from the stars.

I wonder how many of you who celebrate the mysteries of the Goddess Hekate around this time of the year, for whichever reason, also link it to nature’s own fireworks display?

May you all dance in Her Sacred Fires, if that is your path,

Sorita d’Este

Around 70 articles, including extracts from books authored by David and I on subjects related to the Wiccan tradition is now available (free) at the Wiccan Temple Archives.  We hope to be adding further content in the coming months and welcome suggestions and comments on what is already available there.

Go and see for yourself – http://wicca.avalonia.co.uk

The following lines from “Let my worship be within … ” through to “end of desire” at the end of the Charge are prime examples of material taken from the work of Aleister Crowley into the Charge.  It clearly shows how Doreen Valiente’s claims to have taken as much of the Crowley material out of the earlier version of the Charge (known as “Lift up the Veil”) is flawed.  As we put it politely in Wicca Magickal Beginnings:

“The Lift Up the Veil charge was clearly pre-Valiente, as she was not initiated until 1952/3.  Valiente claimed that she rewrote the Lift Up the Veil charge to produce the Charge of the Goddess, removing Crowley’s influence, as she put it, “cutting out the Crowleyanity as much as I could”[1] However, as you will discover this is simply not true, as most of the material used in the Charge of the Goddess draws from material published in The Aradia, Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland and from a variety of original works by Aleister Crowley – with a few additions from the Golden Dawn and Christian liturgy.”

[1] The Rebirth of Witchcraft, Valiente, 1987

This then casts some serious doubts on Valiente’s claim to authorship – because, if she was being honest she seems to not be aware of the fact that there is so much NEW material of Crowley in this Charge of the Goddess, or if she was the “author” of the piece, she is clearly trying to cover up for the fact that she was plagiarising so much of it from Crowley – and as illustrated by the origins of so much of Wiccan liturgy attributed to Valiente, it seems to more often be the case that she was confused about who wrote the material she claimed for herself, as most of the key pieces can be seen to derive directly from key texts by Aleister Crowley, from Christian texts and even from a couple of texts from literary Satanism!

What follows is an extract from Wicca Magickal Beginnings showing the origins of this last part of the Charge:

“Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth, for behold:”

The line “heart that rejoiceth” could be taken from Crowley’s Vision and the Voice, though it is not a unique phrase so this may be coincidence.

“all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals; “

More from the Law of Liberty, here emphasising the sexual and sensual components of magickal ceremony in a very Crowleyan manner, “Remember that all acts of love and pleasure are rituals”

“and therefore let there be Beauty and Strength,

Power and Compassion,

Honour and Humility, Mirth and reverence within you.”

The reference to “beauty and strength” could be from Liber Al (AL II.20) or may be coincidence.  The rest all seems to be original, though it may have been inspired by “let there be Harmony and Beauty in your mystic loves, that in us may be health and wealth and strength and divine pleasure according to the Law of Liberty”; words spoken by the Deacon during the Gnostic Mass, another of Crowley’s works.

“And thou who thinkest to seek me, know that thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou know the mystery,

that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee,

thou wilt never find it without thee, for behold;

I have been with thee from the beginning,

and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

The inspiration here comes from Crowley’s Liber LXV, lines 59-60, “But I have called unto Thee, and I have journeyed unto Thee, and it availed me not. I waited patiently, and Thou wast with me from the beginning.”

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, all rights reserved.

Comments welcomed at http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=1000

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The following two lines firstly describes the Goddess of Wicca as being “The Beloved of Gods and men” which as you will see are titles associated with the Goddess Aphrodite, but also with Baldur, the son of the God Odin in the Norse mythologies.  And then seems to hint at what happens to those who find themselves before this Goddess.  Though absolutely evocative and beautiful, we again see the influence of Aleister Crowley’s Law of Liberty in this text.

“and before my face, Beloved of the Gods and men,”

This is again probably original material.  Although almost certainly just coincidental, we thought it amusing to mention that this line is also found in a novel published in 1908 which has a character called Doreen in![1]

In Norse myths, Baldur, the son of Odin is often referred to as “beloved of Gods and men” which might have provided some inspiration for the use of the term; however this seems strange and unlikely considering he is male.  With these being words of the goddess this would be an inappropriate usage.  However, the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, was also sometimes referred to by the same title, and it is hopefully more likely that the author(s) of the Charge, may have taken their inspiration from this goddess rather than using the title of a male god.

“let thine inmost divine self shall be enfolded in the raptures of the infinite.”

Again this seems to be derived from two more quotes merged from the Law of Liberty: “He is then your inmost divine self” and “in the constant rapture of the embraces of Infinite Beauty”.  These quotes are in reference to words spoken by Hadit, the masculine divine in the cosmology of Thelema.  Thus it is being used completely inappropriately as words spoken by the Goddess, as in fact it originates in relation to the God.  This may indicate that the person compiling this version of the Charge was not familiar with Crowley’s work or philosophy, but thought of the words themselves as mere poetry to be used, as it would seem from this that the material used to compile the Charge was used regardless of its original context and symbolism, instead being purely utilised for its poetic and emotive effects.  This recalls Valiente’s remark in An ABC of Witchcraft that Gardner told her he “had supplied words which seemed to him to convey the right atmosphere, to strike the right chords in one’s mind.” If this is the case, then it could also support the idea that Gardner was the author, or one of the authors, of the original, as it seems to have been rewritten from the Lift Up the Veil charge.

---

[1] Mary Ware: The Little Colonel’s Chum, Johnston, 1908

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, all rights reserved.

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The Golden Dawn, a magical order which was founded in the late 19th century is often cited as being one of the key influences on the development and emergence of the Wiccan tradition.  In our research we found that though they may have been an inspiration and of course provided one of the key parts of the revived interest in the occult and the practice of magic, not all that much was actually directly derived from them – not in comparison to the amount of material taken from say, for example Crowley or indeed the high percentage of material from grimoires which did not pass directly through the Golden Dawn, but instead seems to have its origins instead in something parallel and a lot more private.  The following line in the Charge of the Goddess represents one of the borrowings from the Golden Dawn which did become part of Wiccan liturgy.  It continues the strong pantheist suggestion in the previous lines and the emphasis here is more specifically again on the Earth itself, or more specifically the divinity of Nature as the Goddess.

It would be interesting to explore the percentage of Wiccans who are pantheist in their beliefs, but that is a matter for another day and another study!  Anyone out there who have looked at this in recent years?  Would love to hear about it!

“For I am the Soul of nature who giveth life to the Universe;

From me all things proceed; and unto me, all things must return.”

Uniquely this part of the Charge appears to come from the Ritual for Transformation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, in which we find “O Soul of Nature giving life and energy to the Universe. From thee all things do proceed. Unto Thee all must return.” Alternatively it is possible that the author of the Charge took the line, “From me all things proceed; and unto me, all things must return”, directly from Milton’s Paradise Lost, which was the probable source of inspiration for the Golden Dawn.

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

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The lines included in this part of the analysis of the Charge of the Goddess I am posting here seems to emphasise a Lunar, Stellar, Water and Earthly component to the Goddess.  Interestingly, there are very few historical Goddesses who have all these attributes.  The Goddess Diana or indeed, her messianic daughter “Aradia” who is cited often as being the Goddess of the Wiccan tradition (both by initiates of traditions derived from Gerald Gardner, and by those who take their inspiration from The Aradia Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland – which was of course influential as we have already seen in the compilation of this Charge) does not have all these attributes in a historical context.  However, the Goddess Hekate – who is popular amongst modern Pagan Witches – but who herself is not usually cited as “The” goddess of the Wicca, does have all these attributes in a clearly defined manner.  This opens up a whole host of additional questions and debates on the subject – which is not the subject of this entry.  From a spiritual perspective, the concepts described, could also of course, be taken to indicate strong pantheistic leanings.

“HPS: I who am the beauty of the green earth;

and the White Moon amongst the Stars; and the mystery of the Waters;  and the desire of the heart of man,”

This is largely original material, though it is possible the line “desire of the heart of man,” may have been inspired by Crowley’s book The Vision and the Voice (1909) where we find “I am the blind ache within the heart of man”.  We may note however that the phrase “beauty of the green earth” used in conjunction with stellar references was a common occurrence in Christian writings of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, so this is a well documented analogy.  Illustrating this point with two examples, in The British Preacher (1831) we read “How good must that light be which reveals to us the grandeur of the starry heavens, and the beauty of the green earth,” and in Evangelical Christendom (1893) we see, “if the glories of the starry heavens, if the beauty of the green earth never taught man of God”.

“call unto thy soul: arise and come unto me. “

This line is clearly again derived from Crowley’s work, as “arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me!” is found in both the Law of Liberty and its inspiration Liber AL I.61.

If you would like to add your comments, opinions or additional ideas to this article please do so on my website, where it will be available for others to read in future:  http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=993

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

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The next line “Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess” is usually, within an esoteric coven context, spoken by the High Priest, standing next to – or kneeling before the High Priestess who is deemed at this point to be the embodiment of the Wiccan Goddess.  The High Priestess continues with the Charge following this starting with “She in the dust …”   Both the lines discussed in this blog originate with the writings of Aleister Crowley.

This part of the Charge is of particular interest in this context as Doreen Valiente, a lady who worked with Gerald Gardner for a short period during the 1950′s and who left declaring her dissatisfaction (as she she subsequently did in other traditions too) and to whom this version of the “charge” is commonly attributed, claimed that she “removed” the Crowley from the Charge.  We have already seen in the lines I have posted to date that this is not the case at all as clearly quite a bit of the material which does not originate with the writings of Charles Leland’s The Aradia – Gospel of the Witches does show clear influence from Crowley.  In the earlier version of the Charge, sometimes referred to as Lift Up the Veil, the second part of the Charge consists nearly completely of a section of Crowley’s ritual prose used in his very well known Gnostic Mass and often referred to as “The Nuit Speech”.  So what is true, is that if it was Doreen who compiled (and lets be clear, she did not write it!) this version of the Charge of the Goddess, she did remove Crowley as she claimed – but only to replace it with more Crowley!   It is one of the most common mis-perceptions which are being perpetuated amongsts Pagans and Wiccans alike that Doreen “wrote” the Charge, and one of the many hindrances to the spiritual, mystical and magical growth of the tradition which should be about “wisdom” .  After all, wisdom is about truth – and truth means stripping away the illusions created by others around us, so that we can face it for what it is.

“HP: Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess,“

Once again the text returns to Crowley’s Law of Liberty, “We have heard the voice of the Star Goddess”, emphasising the Egyptian stellar goddess Nuit, who represents the entire universe in the cosmology of Thelema.

“She in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of Heaven, whose body encircleth the universe.”

This line appears to be more original material which is most likely a continuation of the reference to Nuit, who in Egyptian mythology is perceived as encircling the universe.  The phrase “Hosts of Heaven” is very widely used, but it is worth noting here that it may refer to the company of Angels in heaven in popular Christian use as it occurs several times in the Bible, or indeed to the Moon and Stars in the Occidental traditions, which again supports the idea that this line refers to the goddess Nuit.

If you want to read more, see the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings (ISBN  978-1-905297-15-3)  by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine.  See   http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/titles/wicca_mb.htm for more information.

If you would like to add your comments, opinions or additional ideas to this article please do so on my website, where it will be available for others to read in future:  http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=895

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

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The following section of the Charge of the Goddess is another rare example of where the source (seems to be) neither Aleister Crowley nor Charles G Leland, but instead indicate either a deep (and for a change!) appropriate knowledge and usage of Qabalastic phraseology.  See the previous and next posts for how  this line is used as a bridge between lines adapted from Aleister Crowley’s Law of Liberty.

————

“…for behold, I am the Mother of all things,

and my love is poured out upon the earth.”

In The Golden Ass, Isis says of herself, “I am she that is the natural mother of all things,” giving a likely source for the use of this phrase.  In this context it could also possibly be derived from the Qabalistic title of the Sephira of Malkuth, “Mother of all living things”. Other than this these lines seem to be the original writings of the person(s) who compiled the Charge. The phrase “Mother of all things” is also found in Milton’s Paradise Lost, in Book XI where he wrote, “Eve rightly called, mother of all mankind, mother of all things living, since by thee Man is to live.” This may be significant as a subsequent line in the Charge also seems to originate with this same work by Milton.

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If you want to read more, see the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings (ISBN  978-1-905297-15-3)  by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine.  See   http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/titles/wicca_mb.htm for more information.

If you would like to add your comments, opinions or additional ideas to this article please do so on my website, where it will be available for others to read in future:  http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=895

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

Order a signed copy of Wicca Magickal Beginnings for £14.99 (with free P&P worldwide)

For your convenience, all posts on this subject has been tagged with “charge analysis” here on my blog, and I ask that comments and other remarks be posted directly onto the original blog http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=970 — keep comments to the lines discussed in this blog only please (there are separate blog entries for the rest!)

I am making this research available online in order to help raise awareness of the true origins of Wiccan ritual, for too long untruths have been perpetuated without question, even by leading experts in the field.  The truth about the origins of the practices found in the tradition is far far far more interesting than any of the people who made it famous!  Wicca is a distilled system of magical practice with roots going back many decades, sometimes hundreds and in some instances thousands of years before its public unveiling in the 1950′s – they say truth is stranger than fiction, and this is a clear example of exactly that!

The following section of the Charge of the Goddess is taken directly from Aleister Crowley’s Law of Liberty, and is possibly one of my own favourite passages in the Charge:

————

“I am the Gracious Goddess who gives the gift of

Joy unto the heart of Man.

Upon Earth I give the knowledge of the Spirit Eternal,

and beyond death I give peace and freedom,

and reunion with those who have gone before.

Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice, “

This is another extract from the Law of Liberty, derived from Liber AL 1.58 adapted and expanded on from Crowley’s original: “For hear, how gracious is the Goddess; “I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.”

Source: The Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley

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If you want to read more, see the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings (ISBN  978-1-905297-15-3)  by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine.  See   http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/titles/wicca_mb.htm for more information.

If you would like to add your comments, opinions or additional ideas to this article please do so on my website, where it will be available for others to read in future:  http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=895

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

Order a signed copy of Wicca Magickal Beginnings for £14.99 (with free P&P worldwide)

For your convenience, all posts on this subject has been tagged with “charge analysis” here on my blog, and I ask that comments and other remarks be posted directly onto the original blog http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=965 — keep comments to the lines discussed in this blog only please (there are separate blog entries for the rest!)

I am making this research available online in order to help raise awareness of the true origins of Wiccan ritual, for too long untruths have been perpetuated without question, even by leading experts in the field.  The truth about the origins of the practices found in the tradition is far far far more interesting than any of the people who made it famous!  Wicca is a distilled system of magical practice with roots going back many decades, sometimes hundreds and in some instances thousands of years before its public unveiling in the 1950′s – they say truth is stranger than fiction, and this is a clear example of exactly that!

The Rosicrucians and their rituals have become one of the modern trendy origins for the Wiccan rituals.  There is of course usually a fire when there is smoke, and this is true for the Rosicrucian connection – as it is for many others – but in this case its a minority source, which could have filtered its way in Wicca through a number of indirect sources.  The following line in the Charge is a possible Christian / Rosicrucian reference, but if it is, its less direct than the connection which exists for the majority of the Charge of the Goddess and the writings of Aleister Crowley and Charles Leland.

————

“and the Cauldron of Ceridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality.”

This seems to be original material.  The reference to the “Cauldron of Ceridwen” brings in another of the goddesses mentioned at the start of the charge.  The equation of the cauldron to the Holy Grail, a very Christian symbol, is somewhat puzzling and inappropriate, but it has a nice poetic ring and flows on naturally from the previous line which as we have shown was likely borrowed from Christian liturgy.  It is of course also a popular theme in the Arthurian and Grail Mysteries, which might have influenced the person(s)who compiled this piece, due to its inherently ’Celtic’ overtones.

Years later, in An ABC of Witchcraft (originally published in 1973), Valiente quoted from Hargrave Jennings’ The Rosicrucians, Their Rites and Mysteries in her entry for the Cauldron. In this, if indeed she was the author of these lines, she may have revealed her inspiration for their inclusion, but this is purely speculation on our part, and certainly is not an adaptation of words / phrases as found throughout the Charge. “We claim the cauldron of the witches as, in the original, the vase or urn of fiery transmigration, in which all things of the world change”[1]

The idea of immortality is raised in relation to the incarnation of the Goddess on Earth in Law of Liberty, as we have seen in regards to the inclusion of Melusine earlier with the phrase “Elixir of Immortality”

[1] An ABC of Witchcraft, Doreen Valiente, 1984

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If you want to read more, see the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings (ISBN  978-1-905297-15-3)  by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine.  See   http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalogue/titles/wicca_mb.htm for more information.

If you would like to add your comments, opinions or additional ideas to this article please do so on my website, where it will be available for others to read in future:  http://www.sorita.co.uk/?p=895

(c) 2010 Sorita d’Este.  This blog was written by Sorita d’Este for www.sorita.co.uk, allrights reserved.

Order a signed copy of Wicca Magickal Beginnings for £14.99 (with free P&P worldwide)