Motifs of Traditional Paganism and Witchcraft

The Glyphs of an Elder Lore


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An Exposition of Certain Symbols and Motifs of the Ancient Belief-Systems of Northwestern Europe, Culled from Folklore, Mythology, and Balladry, and Described as they Relate to the Hollow Hill Recension of the Old Craft


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Now I shall set down an essential list of folkloric and mythological symbols, and a short commentary on their subtle meanings for the consideration of practitioners of Traditional Paganism and Witchcraft. In this essay, I shall describe the symbols pertaining to Fate, the Underworld, Second Sight, and Sacrificial Topics.

Symbolism is the language of the unseen world, as it relates to the hidden reaches of the human mind.

The symbols themselves are human created, or imbued with a particular meaning understood by humans, but these same primal symbols are also 'glyphs' which act as bridges between the depths of the hidden mind and the daytime of the conscious mind- as well as bridges between the World of Man and the Unseen Worlds.

Thus a deeper, timelessly ancient, trans-relative meaning is embodied in the symbols, related to them in some strange way. This more mysterious meaning cannot be described nor explained; it is only sensed and understood in an extra-rational way, in the silence of the mind and soul.

The Crafter or Mystic will follow the suggestions I make at the end of each entry in this short list as to how to better utilize these symbols for both the expansion of the awareness and consciousness, as well as the unlocking of insight and hints to wisdom's tracks. But the true reason for any such list as this is for a more broad-reaching understanding of the meanings in seemingly ordinary things, and for understanding how the hidden language of the Old Ways is buried not only in the deep mind, but in the world and countryside all around.



The Key to the Internal Usage of the Symbols


Before you attempt to utilize any of the symbols, you must begin by inducing the proper state to create a stronger impact on the subtle weaving that connects all things, including the weird region between the waking self and the hidden self.

You should find a place of quiet privacy, preferentially outdoors or in a place where trees and the sky can be seen, and as close to the ground as you can be. Begin by either closing or half-closing the eyes, relaxing the face and eyes, and breathing easily.

Then, visualize the entire world, all of the contents of the entire world, including your own body, as being hollow- see everything as having its appearance as you normally know it, but also as being hollow, and comprised of three overlapping internal "layers"- the outermost layer of appearance, an inner hollow layer of a strange, slow-moving and ghost-like reality which is similar to its outer form, and a final inner hollow which is nothing but silent and still emptiness.

Realize that you yourself have an outward appearance, an inner, misty aspect, and finally, ultimately, a central core of voidness, or just silence and stillness.

The silence and stillness is at the core of the entire world, of anything in the world, as well as yourself. Let yourself concentrate easily (with no strain) in the fact that silence and stillness are the ultimate realities of all things.

Rest in this knowing. Realize that by being silent and still in your own mind and body, and by "being in" the silence and stillness which is your ultimate core, you are also experiencing the ultimate reality of all things.

In this way, you become the center of all things, because you share the center of all things. Your mind now touches all. The earth below you has a still, silent core as well, but it's core is the ultimate source of all things- the dark source in the underworld which is the womb from whence all worlds, beings, and powers come.

Again, you are one with this source, by allowing yourself to effortlessly "be" within silence and stillness. You touch all places; your mindstream is the White Tree, the Center of All, the Holy Witchfire.

Even things which you do not consider "objects", such as knowledge, thoughts, dreams, symbols, and concepts, are all ultimately phenomenon that are silent and still at their heart. You are one with them as well. You must relax in this condition, until you feel a strong sense of "otherness" and connectedness.

Once you are ready, you must visualize everything in the world, all things and realities, and yourself, becoming swallowed by a great whiteness, which is a manifestation of silence and stillness, or the Witchfire. In that whiteness, this blankness (which is also a great fullness, the totality of all potentiality, within all things) allow your symbol to arise slowly. Let the whiteness, the canvas of potential, to gradually become the symbol, and from your mental perspective, the symbol should be the only thing which exists.

If you are visualizing a hill or a hedge, allow the whiteness to become a green meadow, extending in all directions endlessly, with the hill or hedge in its center.

For all the rest of the symbols, allow the whiteness to become a suitable environment, or just a dark background, containing the symbol.

At that point, fix all of your concentration on the symbol, but always do it easily- never strain yourself. Let yourself just fall into it, ease into it, and let the symbol be all that you know. Allow it to fill your whole being, and then, allow your being to fill it. Let it fill you gradually, and let it go at its own pace- then "mix yourself" with it.

At this point, let go and allow what will be to be. You should feel a connection to the symbol, but at this point, you go passive, and allow whatever will happen to happen. Take a very detached, passive notice of whatever you feel, or see. Things may appear in your mind's eye; arcane knowings may arise, emotions, thoughts, what have you. Just take note of them but do not hold on to them.

Continue the exercise until it ends on its own, in Fate's time. Usually, you feel a great ecstasy, a sense of completion or fullness, when you are at the end of the experience- and in this empowered state, which is a sign that hidden doors have opened between your waking self and the unseen, you should continue with your work, in accordance with the nature of the symbol, or just end the exercise, and record your results.

Much wisdom can be gained in this way, for these primal symbols act as linking powers to greater powers beyond and within.

Beings may speak to you through certain of the symbols- such as the Sacrificed Man (representing the sacrificed Sacred King or God) or the Pale Woman lying below the Land. If they do speak, their voices will sound like thoughts in your head, as your experience deepens. IF this should happen, respond to these thoughts with actual spoken words, and then listen for the responding thoughts that arise. Continue this dialogue until it ends, and take careful note of what you "heard".




The First Series of Symbols and their Particulars




I. The Three Spinners

Symbol: Three Old Women, or just Three Women, usually with hoods, holding the implements of Spinning- distaffs, shuttles, or spindles. Oftentimes these three women have deformities of some kind, which will be described below, and they often have "staring eyes" or "empty eyes".


The Three Spinners, or even a single old spinner, is the most common folkloric symbol for OLD FATE herself, the Supreme power of all things, and supreme being of the Old Craft. Oftentimes she appears as a faery mother or grandmother who is a spinster or a weaver- these are shadows of once-great pagan goddesses, who themselves were shadows of the older and more primal figure of the Spinning Fate or Fates.

Like all human religious icons and symbols, Old Fate, or Fate in her form of a Trinity of sisters or old women appears in completely human terms- as old women, with old robes or tattered clothing, who spin, and who have the implements of spinning. Of course, the distaff and the spindle, and even the spinning wheel, are all symbols of the power of the Feminine, and of Fate- who spun all reality and all events from her wheel or with her distaff.

Women in the past who were spinsters all their lives usually had deformities, as we see in the ancient tale of HABETROT- Habetrot being the Scottish Border Folklore appearance of OLD FATE herself, in the form of an old faery-mother and spinster with a deformed lower lip. Habetrot's chief assistant was a similar spinning goddess or Faery woman named SCANTLIE MAB.

The insightful crafter or mystic will discover that both of these names are powerful for use in rites of communion with the Fate-powers, and especially effective in the border regions of England and Scotland. Habetrot, Mab, and all the other spinning Faery/Goddesses inhabited the UNDERWORLD, or the CAVERN OF THE SPINNERS, which we will discuss below, and were seen in their supernatural realm by a young woman in the tale when she fell asleep on a HOLED STONE or a SELF-BORED STONE, which temporarily gave her supernatural sight.

The lower lip was often deformed in women who spun all their lives, because the old process of spinning require that the thread be passed across the lower lip during spinning, resulting in a long-term deformity. There were two other body parts that could be negatively affected, the thumb, for drawing thread, and the foot, for operating the spinning wheel constantly. These three deformities, but most especially the lip deformity, are common to folkloric appearances of the old Fate Goddess/Goddesses/Fae Mothers, both in England and in Germany.

In the stories of these supernatural weaving women faeries, they appear to help young girls in distress, and in repayment, only ask that she accept them as friends and treat them as family, without shame in front of other people- and she must prove this by inviting them to her wedding and allowing them to sit (with all their strangeness and deformities) at her table in the feast. Interestingly enough, the insistence that the young woman "accept them" without shame seems to be an echo of a pagan devotion- after the coming of Christianity, heathen peoples in the north were subjected to much scorn and derision for holding on to ways that must have seemed outdated and silly and superstitious- to "accept" the Old Mothers without shame in front of others seems to be a sign of the young girl having a kind of re-conversion or at least a coexisting re-acceptance of the spirit of the old ways, and the true source of all life and power, in the form of the older Mother of All.

In Celtic countries in Roman times, the local Land Goddess or even Ancestor spirits often appeared as the MATRONAE, or Three Goddesses, hooded, with blank or hollow eyes, and sometimes holding domestic items. The blank or hollow stare is important, as it is another feature of many godly depictions from pagan times- it symbolizes a sight that sees beyond this world, into the other worlds- a kind of supernatural sight, marking the one who has the staring eyes as a seer or a supernatural being of some type.


Internal Usage of this Symbol: This is one of the most potent of all symbols, and is used (like the spindle and distaff described below) chiefly for divinatory purposes- to aid in divination, as the Three Spinners, Three Mothers, or 'Old Fate' is the source of the secret synchronicity behind all events, which make divination effective. But furthermore, this symbol is time and again shown in the folklore to be tied to people getting out of bad situations- in much the same way Christians cry out to their god in bad situations "please god, get me out of this one and I swear I will______", pagans can also invoke the supreme force of Mother Fate with this symbol and make similar contracts with her- the power of your need, seriousness, and emotional state will be the key to whether or not Old Fate will soften her heart; in many cases, she may not, for her will is beyond question and some things must come to pass for a variety of hidden reasons.

However, there are times, even in my own life, when She has seemingly spun a happier Fate for me seemingly at my request- but be warned, if you believe that you are blessed in such a manner, you will quickly find that your involvement with the new situation that springs up from the twisted threads of Fate may be anything but pleasant- be cautious what you wish for- the real curse, as they say, can be getting what you wish for. A deeper kind of wisdom suggests that even your request for a different Fate was itself part of Fate- think carefully on this.

And if you make a pact, a deal, a vow, or an oath to her in exchange for Fate's threads being spun in a slightly different manner, don't even think of reneging on the deal. It will be the worse for you if you do.

This symbol is also good for making blessings or curses on people, blessing newborn infants with a positive Fate for their lives (an operation that should be done while twisting a red, black, and white cord together and tying it off on both ends and leaving it with the child) and for achieving supernatural sight- in which case the symbol should include the hollow or staring eyed women.




II. The Cavern of the Spinners, or the Cavern of Elfhame

Symbol: An immense, dark cavern underground, usually containing female faeries or supernatural female beings engaged in the act of spinning (see the THREE SPINNERS above) or containing pale, diminutive hooded people engaged in all manner of activities. Sometimes, beasts such as horned cows or horned bulls (called "Elf-Bulls" or Faery Cows) are there, making terrible bellowing noises.


The realm of the Underworld is experienced as a cavernous realm inside the "hollow earth"- deep underground, though it is not always a cavern. In the reports of witches in Scotland and the Border country, however, a cavern is the form this world takes in initiations or visits to this Land. The Cavern is a useful symbol, as it is the most obvious example of an underground location.

The Underworld is traditionally the "source world" of all things- the place from which all forms arise, and to which all things return- linking it to the Spinning Fate Goddesses and to Old Fate. As the source of all the waters of the world, all rivers and lakes, and all life, it is also the source of all wisdom and knowledge- but this eldritch wisdom is only won by the brave who can brave the perils and the fears of the descent into this primal world. The Underworld represents the womb of "Unformed Nature", or primal Chaos, which exists symbolically within "Formed Nature", such as the Landscape.

As a manifestation of the Primal Chaos and Root-Source of All, the most Ancient of beings (some of them quite terrible) remain in ghostly essence in the Underworld, as well as the collective power of all of the World's dead, who go to rest there in a mysterious, non-linear and distinctly non-human existence, appearing as the Sidhe, the "Pale People", the Feeorin, or the 'Goblin Dead'. They are also the source of many faery legends, and the collectivity below can influence the mortal world at special "inbetween times" and places during the year, especially Beltane or May Day, Samhain or Hollantide, Martinmass, or Hallow's Eve.

As the place where the essence of all who have lived and died, (human or non-human) and all events that have occurred is collected and stored in a timeless manner, the Underworld is the realm of omniscience; those who drink from the proper wells in the Underworld partake of the essence of all experience and can gain Omniscience and Mastery. Be warned that there are Guardians and Terrors that will stop anyone who attempts this, except for the most brave, clever, and honest.


Internal Usage of this Symbol: Use this symbol to commune with the ancestral dead or the beings/powers who inhabit the interior, unseen reality of a particular location. This symbol has initiatory use as well, for any who merge with it deeply will feel the "waters of the Moon" well up inside him or herself, and undergo a spontaneous "inner baptism" or "white baptism", which carries with it many internal changes, and many intuitive knowings. Utilizing this symbol before you lie down to sleep can cause you to "go oot and aboot" into the Underworld itself, but be cautious- the descent into the depths of the roots of the world, which is simultaneously a descent into the deepest parts of yourself, is genuinely dangerous to those who have a strong sense of pride or ego, who have strongly defined and narrow belief systems, who are afraid of facing the naked Truth about themselves (and all things besides), or who are not at peace with themselves.

If your way is blocked by any sort of guardian or being who presents you with a challenge or a riddle, your only hope for progress or success is to be as honest as possible at any moment- completely honest with how you feel at any given moment- and to express perfectly, without thinking about it or altering it, what you are thinking or feeling. Think it sounds easy? Try it. Any challenge in the Underworld is a test to see how Truthful you are, deep inside. The beings who guard the way below will know any deception, so Truth (even if the truth is painful or embarrassing to you) is your only safety, and the only "password" you need.



III. The Holed Stone or the Self-Bored Stone

Symbol: A small, hand-sized pale stone, with a natural hole worn through it, or a large, three or four foot-in-diameter stone also with a natural hole worn through it, lying on the ground.


Any natural stone that has a hole bored through it by the action of water, over thousands of years, is a very special and sacred stone to the Old Ways, as well as to Folklore- anyone who finds one finds a Treasure indeed!

These stones were believed to grant the ability of supernatural sight on people- ostensibly by looking through the hole, one could "see faeries" or other unseen creatures. In the story of HABETROT, Habetrot herself first appears from the Underworld next to a Holed Stone, and the young lady in the story falls asleep on the same large Holed Stone, and awakens to the sound of voices and singing coming from below her, and peering through the large holed stone that was lying on the ground, she was able to see into the CAVERN OF THE SPINNERS or into the Underworld.

Bearing in mind the connection of the Pagan Source-Mother Goddess, (both as the dark and mysterious Old Fate, and her more visible, outward manifestation as the Green Earth Mother) with the Underworld, the Holed Stone's yonic symbolism is quite fitting; it represents a natural symbol of the entrance to a woman's womb, as well as an entrance to the Underworld.


Internal Usage of this Symbol: As the legends and lore confirm, this symbol is a means of awakening supernatural Sight, "second sight", or "The Two Sights"- the ability to perceive extra-sensory reality, and the ability to see or sense otherworldly beings, and the activities in the Underworld. The Holed Stone can also be seen as a symbol of the powers of motherly fertility and generation.



IV. A Lake, A Spring, or a River Source

Symbol: A natural body of water, surrounded by green hills and trees, a spring, or a River Source- any trickle or flow of water emerging directly from under the Earth.


Any natural body of water that stands still, such as a lake, is a symbolic entrance into the Underworld, as well as a portal by which the Mother Goddess or the Goddess of the Land may manifest- normally as a Pale Woman below the Water. Other land powers may likewise manifest through a lake, and in the manner of a woman, a Crooked Woman or terrible initatrix like Cerridwen under Llyn Tegid, or a serpentine creature; but in folklore and mythology the motif of the "Lady of the Lake" is a common fixture. Not everyone lives near burial mounds or caves, so lakes and springs often provide local pagans with good centers of working with the powers below their land.

Springs and River Sources, mythologically speaking, represent the urination-trickle of the Goddess of All, the Earth Mother or Source-Mother; in Irish Mythology, Cetlinn or Morrigan (the "Great Queen") was urinating a very famous river in Sligo when the Dagda came to mate with her. Sometimes the flows of water from below the earth represent breastmilk, by which all who drink (animal or human) are nourished by the Mother who birthed them, whose body is the earth itself. All rivers in general are seen as "flowing back" to the mystery of the Great Earth Mother or Heathen Faery-Queen or Source-Goddess of Life and Death.


Internal Usage of these Symbols: The image of a Lake may be used as a means of entering the Underworld, Annwn or Elphame; see Symbol II above for more information on using it in this manner. Springs and River Sources can be used in the very same way, for underworld entrances, or for communing with the Great One who sends forth life in abundance from her body- a way of "Going back into her", which is another sort of "Underworld regression". It is also a means of achieving a kind of internal spiritual nourishment or regeneration, for those who need it in these spiritually cold times. The waters from sacred springs were often thought to have healing powers; and this symbol can be used for just that.



V. Eyes of Wood

Symbol: A dead human man, naked, with his natural eyes torn out, and replaced by orbs of wood, or bunches of twigs, smeared with blood.


The Traditional Ballad of Tam Lin is one of the most important and symbolically deep ballads of the entire Border Country tradition. In it, we are treated to the remnants of authentic British Isles pagan afterlife beliefs as well as native notions of Rebirth into a new human life from the Underworld, through the agency of a mother's womb. The ballad also details the Faery Rade, that is, the supernatural intrusion of the inhabitants of Faery Land or the Unseen world, as well as the host of the dead, as they "rade" or ride through the world of humans on Hallows Eve- a potent symbol of the hidden interactions between this world and the other.

In the ballad, which is a treasure trove of mystical insights and symbolism, Tam Lin, a former human inhabitant of our world, was killed long ago in a horse riding accident, but where he fell was "sacred ground" to the Faeries or the old Powers of the Land, and their Queen, the Queen of Elfhame or Elfland.

Thus, his death on this hallowed stretch of ground results in him being taken by the Queen herself, and Tam Lin becomes her lover. He also becomes a sort of prisoner in the Unseen World, for the "Elfland" he inhabits is not the usual land of the Dead, but a special realm, kept and overseen by the Queen herself, where the inhabitants live in a "halfway state" somewhere between this world and the underworld; however, to maintain their seemingly immortal half-state, every seven years, they must "pay a tithe to hell", or a "fine" to hell, which means they must give up one of their number to the deeper underworld, where that person is given forever into the dark mystery beyond, given up to the powers of dissolution and rebirth.

The fact that Tam Lin "fell on holy ground" from a horse in what we are led to believe was an accident, may in fact be a memory of a sacrificial ritual in which he, representing the sacred king, was killed on a holy site- the Horse was an ancient symbol of both kingship, as well as the Land-Goddess herself, whom the King was wed to in a sacred union, and to whom he had to return in a periodical sacrifice- in some places, every seven years! Thus, the "tithe to hell" of those in Tam Lin's Faery Realm is significant. Also, Tam Lin's appearance as a guardian of a plot of Land in the Ballad suggests that he was sacrificed to become a fixed land Guardian of a sacred place- or that he simply was killed in an accident and became a land Guardian through the mysterious whims of Fate.

What is also significant, as Katherine Briggs has pointed out, is the hint of ritual cannibalism, perhaps practiced by the Natives of the British Isles, that is mentioned in the ballad itself- When Tam Lin tells his fears about the "Seven Year Tithe to Hell" to his lover, he mentions that he is afraid that he will be the next sacrifice to Hell- for he, according to his own description, is "So fair and full of flesh." The cults of the Sacred Kings in Ireland and doubtless other parts of the British Isles practiced a form of ritual cannibalism, in which the parts of the king's body was consumed by the tribe or gathering (certainly in Scotland, where quaint folk festival customs up to the last century still contain blatant symbolic references to the "game of chance" random human sacrifice of one unlucky attendee) . Tam Lin fears that he is being maintained in his strange post-mortem state, because he is intended to be the next sacrifice to the powers of the Underworld, so that the faery realm he is trapped in can be maintained free of dissolution.

Tam Lin desires to escape, and to live again, as a human- and through the agency of his human lover, Janet, who symbolizes not only the transformative power of love, as well as the necessary feminine other half of his whole being, a harmony and union with whom is required to do true "magic"- he manages to do this.

As a mortal woman, Janet is one half of the magical relationship, with Tam Lin representing the "Otherworldly" half, as well as the masculine- a symbolic marriage of the Fetch-husband with human wife, through which a child is conceived- a "virgin birth", truly- a child of an otherworldly father, who is in fact will be Tam Lin reborn. But it is Love which is the secret key force here, allowing for the necessary bravery to win this soul-prize from the Otherworld, as well as the devotion to overcome the illusions of the Faery folk, who fiercely attempt to stop Tam Lin's escape.

But when he escapes into a human re-birth, at the end of the Ballad, the enraged Queen of Elfhame shows her darker face, and curses Tam Lin- The Queen, angered at the loss of her Lover, angry also at the possible loss of a seven year sacrifice, but mostly angry at the fact that Tam Lin circumvented her authority as the ultimate arbiter of death and rebirth, tells Tam Lin (who is, for a time, safely out of her reaches) that:


"If I had known of this, Tam Lin
That some lady borrowed thee
I'd have plucked out thine eyes of flesh
And put in eyes from a tree!


If I'd have known of this, Tam Lin
Before we came from home
I'd have plucked out thine heart of flesh
And put in a heart of stone!"



We will discuss the heart of stone next; first, the "Eyes from a Tree" or the Eyes of Wood. RJ Stewart believes that the "Eyes of Wood" reference refers to a mode of perception that Tam Lin has, which the Faery Queen wishes she could deny him- Now that Tam Lin has been saved directly from the Underworld, to return to this world with his memories and experiences of that place intact (unlike most rebirths from the underworld, where memories of that place, and the things discovered there, are all lost to time and forgetfulness) Tam Lin will have the power of the "Staring Eyes" or Second Sight- he will be able to see both this world and the Otherworld.

Stewart believes that the Queen would not desire this for Tam Lin, and even though Stewart does not go into detail explaining why, there is a very good reason why: beings from the Otherworld are not allowed to return to this one once they have experienced the sights, sounds, and life of the Otherworld- this is why eating food or drinking the wines of the Otherworld traps a person there forever.

Reference this to the story of Persephone in Greek Mythology who was permanently bound to the Underworld because she ate the food of the Underworld- and recall Thomas the Rhymer, who was prohibited from ever speaking or asking a question of any being in the Underworld, lest he be forced to stay forever.

The long and short of it is this: The underworld contains secrets and powers that are not meant for the living. In mythology, All of the great shamanic heroes who journey to the Underworld or the Realms of the Gods, and bring back important items or information for mankind, always do it against the will of the Gods- and often in mortal danger! Taliesin gained the supreme poetic insight from the Underworld, only to have the Queen of the Underworld, Cerridwen, try to kill him before he could escape with it. Prometheus was likewise tortured and penalized terribly for stealing the fire of the Gods for the use of humans- who were never intended to have it.

The gifts and powers of the Otherworlds are things that belong to the Gods, to the unseen powers, and not to man. They are dangerous in the hands of man- even the biblical story presents Adam and Eve as stealing forbidden knowledge through sin, and being penalized terribly for it. God never intended for them to have "all knowledge"- and even God, in his anger after Adam eats the forbidden fruit which endows him with the forbidden knowledge, exclaims "Now man has become like us; now he knows everything."

Adam, who represents mankind, steals a dangerous and unintended gift that day- the gift of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and the world plunges into suffering, because when humans get their hands on Godly power, suffering is an inevitability, because man's nature is no longer naturally held in balance. Good humans will use these powers for good, but greed and anger and pride will cause other humans to despoil the world and hurt others, and so does it stand. Some godly gifts are withheld by the Gods for a reason.

Tam Lin has knowledge that no mortal is intended to- when he was dead, and in Elfland, he was "safe" to have and experience his condition. But he was never intended to go back to a human condition with these knowledges intact- the living are not meant to know what Tam Lin knows, and he is not meant to be among the living with the knowledge and perception of one dead!

Like many other mystics from mythology, Tam Lin will live as a wise person, a seer, with forbidden power stolen and tricked out of the Underworld or the Land of the Gods. The motif of humans tricking gods or stealing power is actually not an uncommon one in mythology, and makes quite an interesting statement about what the ancients thought about the true abilities of man!

The Queen is telling Tam Lin that she would have stripped his eyes away, which is actually another way of saying that she would have killed him herself if she had known of his escape plan- because the "eyes of wood" are another way of referring to the eyes of a dead person; fixed, lifeless eyes that have no animation.

But as was mentioned in Symbol I, up above, "fixed staring eyes" are ALSO as symbol of second sight- eyes that see past this world into another.

The key to understanding the paradox is to realize that Tam Lin, before his escape back into the human realm, is a part of the spirit world- and to have "wooden eyes" as a spirit means the opposite of what it means here. For a human, to lose eyes and gain new "hollow" or "staring" ones is a way of saying that the human gained second sight, or even a spiritual form of awakening.

For a spirit who already HAS "second sight", (which all spirits do; they have a totally different mode of perception from us) to have his eyes plucked out is another way of saying that he loses this special sight.

But there is one more point that has to be made- an old saying goes that "the eyes are the windows of the soul"- and this is important. The soul is the basis for the "awareness" in each being, the "basic experience point" of a being, so the eyes, as the chief awareness organ in the human, are symbols of the deeper reality that allows a human to have a basis of perception- the primordial mind, or the soul. By plucking out Tam Lin's eyes, she would have been carrying out that sacrifice to Hell that Tam Lin feared; she would have been giving up his soul to the powers of dissolution and rebirth.

As a final note, sacrificing one's eyes to gain a new perception, a spiritual perception, is an old motif which has a precedent in Germanic paganism- Woden tears out one of his eyes so that he can gain second sight. That same legend, which is no doubt based on shamanic ritual realities among the early Germanic peoples, implies something that modern pagans often forget- you don't gain anything without danger, pain, and sacrifice. The Queen of Elfhame, the Queen of Faery or the Underworld, is shown in the Ballad to be pretty far from the "loving warm and fuzzy mother goddess" of modern day "neo paganism"- She is not only unwilling to allow one of her lovers to have second sight, but she is more than willing to destroy him before he escapes with it. Wiccans and other neo-pagan goddess worshippers should carefully consider this.


The implications of the ballad are simple- it is easier for a living person, through sacrifice, to gain things from the Otherworlds, than it is for those who are absorbed into the Otherworlds to escape with what they have. Either way, the Otherworld resists people who attempt to take its powers for their own; one has to prove themselves worthy of it, often through bravery and cunning.

The Otherworld, far from being a "pagan heaven" of pink cotton-candy peace full of tinsel-winged fairies, is a place of restriction and Fate- and while Tam Lin's world is also described as a beautiful, magical realm of wonder, where he is even a lover to the Queen of Faery herself, remember- every seven years, someone was being sacrificed to the darkness below to keep it that way- and Tam Lin was probably going to be next.

In other words, even the happy afterlives of the Traditional Pagan religions didn't last forever; the greater cycle of life, death, and rebirth continued on for everyone, eventually, even if they found a place of rest and happiness for a while. Only those rare beings who had attained the supreme Truth or Wisdom seem to have escaped the necessity that bound beings to these hard realities. This is not to make the Otherworld seem a dark or bad place for the dead; far from it- it is full of many wonders and joys; but we must never forget about the 'other' realities of this place.


Internal Use of this Symbol: Like the "Holed Stone" (Symbol III) the Eyes of Wood is a symbol that can be used to awaken second sight, but also to remind us that the Otherworld is not always a friendly or safe reality to deal with on a deep mental level- be ready to make sacrifices if you wish to gain anything from within or from beyond. This is Fate's will, and so it must be. This symbol can also be utilized to work with the concept of the sacrificed king, or to metaphysically "blind" someone to some vision, idea or fact.



VI. Heart of Stone

Symbol: A dead human man, naked, with his chest cut open and heart missing, replaced by a blood-smeared stone.


As we discussed in great detail above, in Symbol V: Eyes of Wood, Tam Lin escaped from his imprisonment in Elfland or the Land of Faery chiefly through the power of Love- the love that was shared between him and his human lover Janet. Tam Lin's escape, his transition between worlds, happened through Janet- through her mind and body, and it is through her body and womb that Tam Lin returns, naked to this world, symbolically as a man pulled up from a well by Janet and wrapped in a green cloth, but literally as a newborn babe, pulled out of the well of a woman's womb and birth canal, and wrapped in swaddling cloth. This babe will have all of Tam Lin's memories, as well as second sight, for he escaped the Underworld with these things before they could be stripped from him by the natural powers of dissolution in the deepest underworld.

The Queen of the Dead or the Queen of Elfland is furious that Tam Lin has escaped, and as a two-part curse, she tells him that if she had known of his escape intentions, she would have plucked out his heart and replaced it with a heart of stone- which is clear in one meaning, but not so clear in another.

On the most direct level, it's quite simple- without his heart, the traditional seat of love and emotions, he never could have had the shared love with Janet that saved him. His magical, transformative escape never would have worked, for it was fueled by the sheer power of Love- and that Same love is what allowed Janet to resist the powerful illusions and painful spells cast at Tam Lin, which were affecting her as well, through him, but which she needed to resist to save him.

Janet herself cannot be harmed or even seen by the Faeries, because she is protected by her Love for Tam Lin- and not even the power of the Underworld seems able to overcome a Love this true- a unique lesson for modern pagans and people who doubt the existence of love, or the power of the same.

But aside from robbing him of his ability to love, "plucking out the Heart" also refers to something else- just as plucking out the eyes was a metaphor for destroying the Soul, or giving it up to dissolution and rebirth in the Underworld, the Heart, as the warm, vital pump of the body's fiery living essence in the blood, and the seat of emotions, is a symbol of the Spirit- and when a being is going to be reborn, they must first face the powers of dissolution in the Underworld, wherein the Soul is dissolved and re-shaped anew, minus the memories of the previous life, and what remains within the dead person of the immortal spirit (much, but not all of which flees at death) is finally fully liberated to move on to new forms.

It is again, another way of the Queen of Elfland to tell Tam Lin that had she known of his plot, she would have destroyed him, rather than let him escape. Some may wonder at how the Queen of the Underworld, who represents the force of Fate itself, could not know about Tam Lin's plot- and the answer is not easy; RJ Stewart has mentioned one explanation, that she appears in two forms in many ballads- as a goddess-type individual being, and as the representation of an impersonal force. In the Ballad of Tam Lin, she seems to be representing the Impersonal Force of Life, Death, and Rebirth- thus her anger is just a poetic way of Nature itself rebelling against the aberration of Tam Lin's magical rite whereby he violates nature's flow- but there are two other explanations that are more enlightening for us.

One is that the Queen allowed him to escape because She herself is fulfilling a Fate she created; she decided beforehand that she would not know, and then be angry about his escape, and the need for his escape was for the good of mankind- death and the mysteries of Death are hard things for most poor humans to deal with, and every now and then, at least one person has to go against the flow, to give hope to mankind that death is not greater than life. But there is another, and even better explanation- that Love is just that powerful- that True Love (itself born of Fate) can even contradict Fate. Such a thing would be a statement that mystics or magically active people should pay close attention to!

If the Ballad of Tam Lin tells us anything, it's never to stop loving our dead friends and relatives- but more than that- Love can and will save you from the darkest of Fates. A heart of stone is not a good thing, for anyone.


Internal Use of this Symbol: This symbol can be utilized to curse the relationships of other people; to fracture love that is already weakened- but True Love will be beyond the reach of almost any power. It can also be used to "cool down" your own feelings for someone, if you don't desire to have them, or if it is detrimental to yourself that you do. This symbol can cool down or moderate emotions of any kind, especially the kind of emotions that make your daily existence difficult. Pay close attention to the Ballad- when you are manipulating Love, you are playing with extreme fire.



VII. The Seven Year Tithe to Hell

Symbol: This is not a physical symbol, but an important concept.


The Seven Year Tithe to Hell is explained in detail up above in Symbol V: Eyes of Wood- refer to that section before continuing to read this short write-up.

The concept of Seven and a waiting period of "Seven Years" is relatively common in Traditional Lore- as common as the "year and a day" waiting period or testing period for admission into occult mysteries.

Most often, in the lore of Old Europe, we hear of Sacred Kings who must be subjected to sacrifice every seven years, for the fertility of the Land or the good of his people- though as it happens, sometimes proxy kings or substitutes can die in his place, winning him seven more years. In the Ballad of Tam Lin, we see that seven years is the fixed period that the inhabitants of Elfland have to wait between making a "fine" or a "tithe" to Hell, or sacrificing a member of their world to the deeper forces of reality, to continue their idyllic existence.

There seems to be a deeper metaphysic operating here- the number seven is not arbitrary; it seems to be a reflection of a deeper principle tied into death and regeneration. In ancient Greece, it was a number sacred to Apollo- an important god of occult mysteries with deep ties to the British Isles. Apollo was the god who gave purification from the taint of miasma or ritual impurity, and washing or repeating actions seven times seems to have invoked his purifying power. Insofar as purification is a symbolic "death" from one state to another, a regeneration, there is an overlap to be seen there.

But in the British Isles native tradition, "seven years" seems to be the number of years that people who are staying in Faery Land or in the Underworld have to stay, before they leave to return to this world, with the knowledge won from that place. When they re-emerge, they are "coated in green" or dressed in green (Tam Lin is likewise wrapped in a green mantle at his escape) showing that they have merged with mystery of the Land itself, and now speak on its behalf.

In many ballads, Seven Years is mentioned as the time that a person will have to stay in the Underworld or the Otherworld, or in some condition before they can change to another- in the Ballad of the Cruel Mother, for instance, she will have to undergo shape changes for seven years each, before she does her final seven years in Hell itself.

Seven years seems to be an Otherworld "standard measure" of time, which represents an entire lifetime. To us, in serial time, it seems to be seven years as we know them, but to the inhabitants of the Otherworld, who do not experience "time" as we do, it is perhaps a lifetime, or the time it takes for a "complete otherworldly cycle" to pass, which to the inhabitants of the Otherworld, may be an "eternity" or an entire age or era. The paradox is that it's still seven years to us, and perhaps to them, simultaneously alongside its seeming eternity.

There are seven planets, representing the seven archetypal powers of the chief Gods of the Pagan world; seven stars in the heavenly Wain, seven days in a week, seven "chakras" or power centers in the body according to Indian lore, 'seven deadly sins', 'seven cardinal virtues', 'seven sisters' appear in many ballads, 'Seven Whistlers', and the concept of seven makes may other appearances in human mythical lore.

In the pre-christian Isles, and perhaps other parts of Europe, oaths and trial marriages seem to often have been arranged for seven years- and all of this suggests that there was an otherworldly reality to the concept of seven that made it important. The fact that human sacred kings were sacrificed in some places every seven years shows that humanity sensed the need to be "in time" with the Otherworld as well, or to honor the concept of a series of seven measures of time as being in harmony with an otherworldly cycle of total regeneration, which the death of the king was tied to.

In some traditional witches' covens, the Magister or male leader has to step down every seven years, and pay some sort of penalty before re-assuming his office. In older days, he may have had to die or step down permanently.

This is in keeping with the same logic of the sacred king's sacrifice; every seven years, or every seven measures of time is symbolic of a total era; time itself is "regenerated" at the end of a cycle of seven- for those who do not believe in linear time (which most pre-christian societies didn't and animistic societies even today don't) every day, every season, every year is the same as the one that has gone before it, just regenerated; the years are not seen as unique, but regenerations of the old one, regenerated to begin again after it ended. Every Seven Years, the King must change; must die, be regenerated into a new form suitable to the new spiritual era, for he is a king in the Otherworld as much as this one, as befitting his title of "sacred king".


Internal Use of this Symbol: be aware of the concept of Seven- when you make vows or oaths, work in this concept- if you vow a change in your life to "pay" for otherworldly favors, make that change for seven days, seven months, or seven years, depending on the magnitude of the favor- or if you wish to make a life change, doing it for seven units of measurement will make it more powerful, because in the Otherworldly sense, if you have done it for seven days, months, or years, you have done it for an entire era. In much the same way the concept of Three is tied to Fate and to the structure of Reality, (and thus, making oaths Three times, or making magical commands three times is a way of giving them much power) making oaths or magical pronouncements seven times is a way of endowing them with great force in the Otherworld. If you live in your own home, every seven years, you should have a very large purification of your home and property, and have a "fresh start" living there; act as though you just moved in again on the night of the renewal, and repeat any rites you did to open or consecrate your home at your arrival.



VIII. The Sacrificed Man or the Sacrificed King

Symbol: A naked man hanging from a tree, pierced by a spear and dead; or, a sacrificed man tied to a tree. He will be dismembered and his body parts buried in fields, or burned, and his ashes sown in fields. In some places, parts of his flesh will be consumed by the tribe, or his blood will be mixed with some drink for all who witness the sacrifice to partake of.


The Sacrificed King or Man is a symbol of all humankind, and his death and regeneration is a symbol of the death and regeneration of all of mankind, as well as the death and regeneration of the entire world- and the creation of a new, regenerated world or world-order.

In all primal mythologies, the death of the first being or man heralds the creation of the world, or the beginning of a pristine new era, after the death of an old one. In primal Vedic lore, PURUSHA or MANNAZ (meaning "Person" or "Man") is killed as the first sacrifice, and from his body parts, the entire world is created. This is reflected in the Indo-European pagan stories of YAMA and BITH to the Norse and Celts, and in many other mythologies where the first sacrifice of a primal being creates the new world.

The Sacrificial King represents all the human members of his tribe, as well as the Land itself- the whole world. His periodical death represents the renewal not only of the people, but of the Land itself; the world is destroyed with him and regenerated through his sacrifice. "MAN" or Mannaz, or the primal person or being, is of course, the "God" of the Old Religion- The first sacrifice is always of a divine being, who is the symbol of man and all life.

The death of a divine or sacred king heralding the beginning of a new era is a well known concept; even in Christianity, the death of their sacred king Jesus (who dies to "save" all humans as well as the world) heralds the beginning of a new world-age- the age of Christ, the age of grace, and the era of Christianity as a religion that will shape the world to its own vision, as opposed to the older pagan era or 'sinful world' which was seen to pass away at the death of Christ.

Of course, all of that is a particularly Christian way of looking at the concept of the sacred king; the older, primal pre-christian model is still active, and far more important to modern pagans who wish to partake of this important and universal spiritual reality, which was co-opted by Christianity and revised to be in line with their strange worldview and morality.

Read carefully the concept of the "Seven year tithe to Hell" which is described in Symbol VII, for more insight into the timing of the Sacred King's sacrifice.

Even the inhabitants of the Otherworld, in the Ballad of Tam Lin, were operating through the logic of the sacrifice of a Seven Year King; they were keyed into the concept of seven and the death of a sacrifice as a regenerating metaphysical reality.

All people benefit from the Sacred King's sacrifice; for in his death, all die, and in his regeneration, all are reborn, and the Land is regenerated as well. Primal human societies were expressing an otherworldly mystery-reality by carrying out this practise- but after a long time, animals took the place of the sacred king, and finally, crops, effigies, or totally symbolic sacrifices were done, after the practise of human sacrifice was abandoned. But the symbolic force was still the same, and still effective.

As an inner, symbolic reality, however, the sacrificed king is still potent, and all humans must face death and symbolic "dismemberment" one day, at the time of their own deaths and "dissolution" in the Underworld. By merging with the symbol of the Sacrificed King in life, one can spiritually overcome or avoid their own dissolution- for having "died" through the Sacred King, and partaken of his sacrifice on a psychic level, you have "died before your death" and "been regenerated to a new life" and thus spared yourself that trauma.


Internal Usage of this Symbol: The Sacrificed King is the divine force that shaped the world, and which became incarnate in what he shaped, (and embodied in a human king) and suffered death and rebirth alongside the beings of his world- to show the universal pattern of life, death, and regeneration, and to mediate the regeneration to all. The sacrificed king becomes the presence of the old pagan Earth Gods embedded in human form, the old Horned Gods and Crop-Gods, so that humans may benefit from their sacrifice and miracle. This symbol is used when you must regenerate yourself on any level- physical, mental, or spiritual- to put old ways behind you and be born into a new "you", unlimited and unbound by the old "you", who will have passed away, along with the old world or worldview that the old "you" once lived in. Every seven years, you should spend a good deal of time engaging this symbol, because everyone needs to regenerate their outlook and their spirit during life, for change and growth. Nothing ever stays the same, and change and regeneration is a Fated reality.






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