Everything Under the Moon

ShadowCat wrote:The replies are interesting. I have some concerns about decisions made based on "supposed" to. "Supposed to" seems to belong in the realm of organized religion and all the bondage that goes with it.

One reason you're not supposed to share your magical name outside your coven is because it's part of the pact of secrecy you all make when forming it. It could be historically argued that this was a form of anonymity, as covens got together in hooded robes and didn't want to endanger their brothers and sisters by knowing who they were; but there's little to no evidence suggesting that this was ever true for Wiccans, especially given that Witchcraft Today was published three years after the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was repealed.

Besides, Gardner preferred Sky-clad rituals.

For me, the reason I don't share my craft name is because it's part of the change in consciousness from the mundane to the magical. Things like using a different language or dialect in ritual is part of this, as is how you dress or the music you listen to, and your magical name is part of that. It's a trigger to let your mind know that you're no longer Jim, Steve, Megan or Karen, and that you're now presenting yourself before the Gods.

Imperious wrote:

ShadowCat wrote:The replies are interesting. I have some concerns about decisions made based on "supposed" to. "Supposed to" seems to belong in the realm of organized religion and all the bondage that goes with it.

One reason you're not supposed to share your magical name outside your coven is because it's part of the pact of secrecy you all make when forming it. It could be historically argued that this was a form of anonymity, as covens got together in hooded robes and didn't want to endanger their brothers and sisters by knowing who they were; but there's little to no evidence suggesting that this was ever true for Wiccans, especially given that Witchcraft Today was published three years after the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was repealed.

Besides, Gardner preferred Sky-clad rituals.

For me, the reason I don't share my craft name is because it's part of the change in consciousness from the mundane to the magical. Things like using a different language or dialect in ritual is part of this, as is how you dress or the music you listen to, and your magical name is part of that. It's a trigger to let your mind know that you're no longer Jim, Steve, Megan or Karen, and that you're now presenting yourself before the Gods.

People often incorporate all their magical things into their perpetual lifestyle. Because Wicca is a religion, not an alter ego. The name no longer serves quite the same purpose it did and I personally don't put much stalk in Gardner because he wrote that only men could be in priesthood. Nor is he the authority on Wicca because its an eclectic individualist religion. I use my magical name as a formal thing. But prefer just Lily. We are always present before the gods.

Azure Lily wrote:People often incorporate all their magical things into their perpetual lifestyle. Because Wicca is a religion, not an alter ego.

Our approach is clearly dissimilar; and that's okay!

The "real world", as our senses perceive it, is one aspect of reality. It's where I'm forced to do mundane things like eat, pay my bills, feed my familiars, go to work and pay my mortgage. I don't regret any of these things as there's joy to be found in the mundane world, but it's exactly that; the mundane world. It's that daytime section of my life where my more critical and analytical mind predominates.

Night time... Well, that's different.

Night time is when my imagination takes over, one of the key ingredients in magic. It's less about being an alter ego, and more about letting the right part of yourself take over at the right time. Daytime rituals work for many witches and warlocks, but they don't work for me because I'm simply not attuned that way. Too much psychic hubbub from other people, and too many normalized happenings; that stuff just gets in my way, and I've always been more inspired by the moon and the stars.

That's what I mean by a shift in consciousness. One side of myself lets my senses make judgements, while the other side lets my imagination do so. This is why my real name is the one I use during the day, and my craft name is the one I use privately or with a coven.

But this is me. I didn't mean to suggest that everyone should do the same; we're all different.

Azure Lily wrote:Nor is he the authority on Wicca because its an eclectic individualist religion. I use my magical name as a formal thing. But prefer just Lily. We are always present before the gods.

I'm not Wiccan at all, much less Gardnerian - but we have to accept that Wicca, as a formalized religion, didn't exist prior to his writing, certainly not the way we understand it today. The religion has grown and evolved, becoming as diverse as its subscribers, but Gerald Gardner was the "father" of modern Wicca in the same way Doreen Valiente was its "mother".

In any event, the reason I brought it up was specifically to do with the Witchcraft Act of 1735 being repealed in 1951, and the timing of Witchcraft Today coming out right after it. Assuming anyone had to hide prior to that date, they no longer had to when Wicca first became publicly known and, therefore, it's nigh impossible to prove that they ever did.

My apologies if the earlier post was unclear. I'm not always as lucid as I'd like to be.

Imperious wrote:

Azure Lily wrote:People often incorporate all their magical things into their perpetual lifestyle. Because Wicca is a religion, not an alter ego.

Our approach is clearly dissimilar; and that's okay!

The "real world", as our senses perceive it, is one aspect of reality. It's where I'm forced to do mundane things like eat, pay my bills, feed my familiars, go to work and pay my mortgage. I don't regret any of these things as there's joy to be found in the mundane world, but it's exactly that; the mundane world. It's that daytime section of my life where my more critical and analytical mind predominates.

Night time... Well, that's different.

Night time is when my imagination takes over, one of the key ingredients in magic. It's less about being an alter ego, and more about letting the right part of yourself take over at the right time. Daytime rituals work for many witches and warlocks, but they don't work for me because I'm simply not attuned that way. Too much psychic hubbub from other people, and too many normalized happenings; that stuff just gets in my way, and I've always been more inspired by the moon and the stars.

That's what I mean by a shift in consciousness. One side of myself lets my senses make judgements, while the other side lets my imagination do so. This is why my real name is the one I use during the day, and my craft name is the one I use privately or with a coven.

But this is me. I didn't mean to suggest that everyone should do the same; we're all different.

Azure Lily wrote:Nor is he the authority on Wicca because its an eclectic individualist religion. I use my magical name as a formal thing. But prefer just Lily. We are always present before the gods.

I'm not Wiccan at all, much less Gardnerian - but we have to accept that Wicca, as a formalized religion, didn't exist prior to his writing, certainly not the way we understand it today. The religion has grown and evolved, becoming as diverse as its subscribers, but Gerald Gardner was the "father" of modern Wicca in the same way Doreen Valiente was its "mother".

In any event, the reason I brought it up was specifically to do with the Witchcraft Act of 1735 being repealed in 1951, and the timing of Witchcraft Today coming out right after it. Assuming anyone had to hide prior to that date, they no longer had to when Wicca first became publicly known and, therefore, it's nigh impossible to prove that they ever did.

My apologies if the earlier post was unclear. I'm not always as lucid as I'd like to be.

I was reading my post and apologize if I came off as rude before. The fact that Gardener formalized Wicca is fact. But I feel that Wicca is less a religion and more a doctrine, like atheism and agnosticism, because Wicca can be applied to any other religion.

I've also found that the whole point in Wicca and/or witchcraft is the dissimilarities between practitioners. Also, it would be advised that you post an intro. The mods like that. Welcome to the forum by the way!

What's the witch name exactly? :O I'm sorry if it's a silly question, but I haven't been here long...

Suhrt wrote:What's the witch name exactly? :O I'm sorry if it's a silly question, but I haven't been here long...

No question is silly ;3 We were all newbies once. (Some of us *cough*me*cough* still feel like newbies some days.)

Many Witches use a magickal/spiritual/Witch name (whatever you care to call it), often to help them connect to the Divine, to the elements, and/or to their own "magickal personality," as it were. The magickal name is sometimes seen as a key to the owner's Witchy self, the frame of mind we put ourselves in to do magick. It is part of an inner part of our personality and our selves, so many Witches (though not all) keep it a secret, known only to themselves and to the God/Goddess/whatever Divine they choose. For me, my magickal name is a way to access the still, calm part of my mind and quiet the chaos that is my thought process, a way to instantly settle myself into at least a half-ritual, half-meditational state, where it is far easier for me to sink myself into whatever I happen to be doing magickally and to access the energy of the world around me.

I would write more, but I have to go XD

My bologna has a first name...it's the one my mamma gave me.
My bologna has a second name it's the one I gave myself.

I use them both in night and day and if you ask me why I'll say! Both those names are easy ways so people can talk to me today.


For serious reals though. When I dedicated myself as a witch, I chose to take a new name that is my "practicing" name. My Witch name. It's HopefulChild.
How I came to that is literally directly from the "witchcraft for dummies" book. I did a numerical evaluation of my name and it primed 7/11, focus 1. I had a dream where someone called me a "poor pitiful hopeful child". When I remembered that I did the numerical evaluation of HopefulChild and it primed 7/11 with focus 3. Since the focus 3 was supposed to represent my "living dream" state I figured that was a pretty good indication that the match up was less random than it was fortuitous.
My Given name is what is on all of the documentation that accompanies my life of course.

And there is my "craft name"...I do not tell anyone that. That name is the one I use when I am in silent contemplation or attempting to petition my ancestors and so on.
No one needs that name but me anyway. It's not something cool or mysterious or anything. It is how I refer to myself in the sense of my core attributes so it's not like I'm going to have one group of friends call me Fred, while one group calls me HopefulChild and another group calls me Unitard the mangler...know what I mean.

It's not the same as picking an avatar name...My avatar names have always been... Spank-Ula, Squishynoise, or Butterbone. Those are the names I use in games and forums and "online"...

This forum is different. This forum is like a mild electric church for me. So I use my practicing name here.

I think Imperious brought up a good point about magical names in covens. I don't know personally, having always been Solitary. If I remember correctly, the Cherokee Nation had a tradition of secret names. There are various reasons for having a name you don't share with others. Sometimes it's a part of your personal connection to something, and sometimes it's just nice to have something that's only yours.

Snow

So basically what we're saying is that it means different things to different people.

Oh I think I sort of get it now a little bit. Thank you for the explanation. Although what I don't get how is it useful.

Azure Lily wrote:But I feel that Wicca is less a religion and more a doctrine, like atheism and agnosticism, because Wicca can be applied to any other religion.

No, it can't.

Wicca is a stylized religion all on its own, not a pot of chilli you stick a spoon into and put on another plate. Individuality comes in the many denominations (for want of a better word) rather than simply mixing one religion up with another and hoping for the best.

If you're describing Witchcraft then, yes, many Neopagan religions use it and it's not exclusive to Wicca. It's often used synonymously thanks to modern culture not bothering to properly distinguish between the two in its presentation.

Suhrt wrote:Oh I think I sort of get it now a little bit. Thank you for the explanation. Although what I don't get how is it useful.

My post above from July 28th (10.47pm) explains it.

Suhrt wrote:Oh I think I sort of get it now a little bit. Thank you for the explanation. Although what I don't get how is it useful.

Suhrt, do you draw?

Or Sing?

Or play a musical instrument?

Any creative endeavor, from sewing, to macrame, to decorating a cake, and so on require a frame of mind to be achieved known as "respective spacial dominance".

Essentially the LEFT side of our brain handles language and memory, motor coordination, and reasoning, and is constantly shooting words to the front of our brain in both hemispheres, right and left.

The RIGHT side of your brain covers calculations, spacial recognition, rythm and imagination.

in most art schools they require you to buy a book called, Drawing on the Right side of your brain...This doesn't mean drawing on the CORRECT side of your brain... It literally refers to doing some form of repetitive exercise that requires the focus of your right brain and kind of quiets down the Left side of your brain.

If you keep thinking about a boat, while trying to draw a boat, your left brain is using WORDS to describe all the things it knows about boats. You will be getting information from cartoons, and history, and anything you've ever learned about boats. Your right brain will literally waste time trying to validate all the "words" that are being sent to it, with spatial reasoning and the results are always less than accurate. Essentially what is being attempted is to draw, ALL the boats, EVER. And it doesn't work...for anyone...ever. lol

You can over time if you choose, use your craft name like an exercise to activate your "magic mode"...

In magical theory there is a long history of practitioners reaching a special mental state where they incorporate autonomic thought, with creative thought, and their will. This state has names from every era but the important thing to understand is that it usually requires a long interval of ritual and repetition to reach this state where your brain is balanced enough to handle a continuous stream of imagination, and fact, and will all happening at the same time.

Having a craft name can help you get into that special head space. As you practice your rituals over and over and get a good rythm and "groove"...you can activate that space with less time because the associations you have practiced and built up have created a path inside your mind and simply turning on switches in order helps you find your way to that path faster.

There are also multiple theories associated with communing with spirits and entities associated with magic. If you think of yourself only in terms of "My name is Beth Cooper" and you interact with a spirit and tell it your name is "Beth Cooper", then in theory that spirit now has been given permission by you, to know your true essence and from the spirit world they don't need a road map, or a cell phone to then find you. They know your true essence as given by you.

In my case I use 3 different names. I can tell a random spirit my "given name" and they won't be any closer to my essence than any random stranger I meet on the street.
I can give a spirit my practicing name, as an act of trust and faith in their intentions, but that won't give them a direct line to "my essence"...

In order to give my craft name to anyone...well....I'd have to trust them more than my own wife...because she doesn't even know my craft name. But I'll tell it to her before I die if I can. So that it's easier for her to look for me on the other side.

Does that help?

HopefulChild wrote:In order to give my craft name to anyone...well....I'd have to trust them more than my own wife...because she doesn't even know my craft name.

I like you more and more.

My fiancee does know my magical name, but only because I initiated her.

Imperious wrote: My post above from July 28th (10.47pm) explains it.

I read the entire thread, so I made the question because I still didn't get it.

HopefulChild wrote:

Suhrt wrote:Oh I think I sort of get it now a little bit. Thank you for the explanation. Although what I don't get how is it useful.

Suhrt, do you draw?

Or Sing?

Or play a musical instrument?

Any creative endeavor, from sewing, to macrame, to decorating a cake, and so on require a frame of mind to be achieved known as "respective spacial dominance".

Essentially the LEFT side of our brain handles language and memory, motor coordination, and reasoning, and is constantly shooting words to the front of our brain in both hemispheres, right and left.

The RIGHT side of your brain covers calculations, spacial recognition, rythm and imagination.

in most art schools they require you to buy a book called, Drawing on the Right side of your brain...This doesn't mean drawing on the CORRECT side of your brain... It literally refers to doing some form of repetitive exercise that requires the focus of your right brain and kind of quiets down the Left side of your brain.

If you keep thinking about a boat, while trying to draw a boat, your left brain is using WORDS to describe all the things it knows about boats. You will be getting information from cartoons, and history, and anything you've ever learned about boats. Your right brain will literally waste time trying to validate all the "words" that are being sent to it, with spatial reasoning and the results are always less than accurate. Essentially what is being attempted is to draw, ALL the boats, EVER. And it doesn't work...for anyone...ever. lol

You can over time if you choose, use your craft name like an exercise to activate your "magic mode"...

In magical theory there is a long history of practitioners reaching a special mental state where they incorporate autonomic thought, with creative thought, and their will. This state has names from every era but the important thing to understand is that it usually requires a long interval of ritual and repetition to reach this state where your brain is balanced enough to handle a continuous stream of imagination, and fact, and will all happening at the same time.

Having a craft name can help you get into that special head space. As you practice your rituals over and over and get a good rythm and "groove"...you can activate that space with less time because the associations you have practiced and built up have created a path inside your mind and simply turning on switches in order helps you find your way to that path faster.

There are also multiple theories associated with communing with spirits and entities associated with magic. If you think of yourself only in terms of "My name is Beth Cooper" and you interact with a spirit and tell it your name is "Beth Cooper", then in theory that spirit now has been given permission by you, to know your true essence and from the spirit world they don't need a road map, or a cell phone to then find you. They know your true essence as given by you.

In my case I use 3 different names. I can tell a random spirit my "given name" and they won't be any closer to my essence than any random stranger I meet on the street.
I can give a spirit my practicing name, as an act of trust and faith in their intentions, but that won't give them a direct line to "my essence"...

In order to give my craft name to anyone...well....I'd have to trust them more than my own wife...because she doesn't even know my craft name. But I'll tell it to her before I die if I can. So that it's easier for her to look for me on the other side.

Does that help?

Wow that was perfect. Thank you. I think I'll need to figure out one then lol.

Suhrt wrote:I read the entire thread, so I made the question because I still didn't get it.

Fair enough, bud. I often write in the abstract without including obvious conclusions, which can make me think I'm being a lot clearer than I really am. I'm glad HC's post made more sense to you and, honestly, his is a voice worth listening to.