Ward and Wane

Ward and Wane

Forging the Trust-Bond with the Unseen Powers in the Land

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You arrive at the hill, the field, or the wood, and so this is called The Rite of Arriving, the Rite of the Ward. You travel to your working place...leaving behind what is familiar to you. This rite is for communing with the Genius Loci, the Spirit of a place.

Each of us is ultimately a mystery, an immortal power rooted in and inseparable from the Dark source Herself. Each individual is deriving its sense and basis of true “self” from Her, and even the will to be...and places are no different. Here is the mystery within the body of the Green Gown: beyond the Land-Mother is the mysterious Queen of Fate. This is the ‘mystery in the green’.

Every “place” is also a reflection of her, a part of the Green Gown’s mantle. And every place is also drenched with her awareness and life. Thus, it has worked out, from the distant beginning, the truth of Animism, first uttered from the lips of the first wise- those primal shamans and seers...all things are “alive”; all places and things have a “spirit”. This we can see and experience. The secret is in the nature of your essential being’s involvement with Nature and with every hill and ford. You cannot separate the human awareness, mind, and being from the chain of forces that give rise to that which is. After centuries of contact with men and animals, and local flora, the spirit of the place builds a character, its own being becomes involved with men, becomes influenced by the minds and dreams and events that saturate it, just as people’s personalities, feelings, and thoughts are affected on a deep level by the spiritual climate and powers that fill the places where they dwell.

This “power of the place” often appears in mythology as a woman, (the White Lady) or the warding Clan or village Goddess that co-inhabits the land that she appears on... these are manifestations of the mystery in the Land itself; the Guardian of that place. Sometimes, there is more than one. Other times, the guardian is the presence of a very massive stretch of land.

Sometimes this guardian can seem to be male, but this is a matter of the seeing person’s own intuition. One I have known called itself “spirit of this earth”, and it seemed to cover nearly all of a Parish, and the lands our river drained. It was powerful, patient and inquisitive. In truth, I’ve never ‘spoken’ to a more curious spirit in regards to who I was and what I was doing. I saw it make a very Old oak tree totally collapse and destroy two telephone poles, within an hour after I asked it for some visible sign of its presence, to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming up my contact with it, so be careful in your dealings.

The spirits of the Land are called the Hidden people, the Strangers, or the Huldafolk. The powers in the Land were the first Gods that men adored, when ancient people were closer to the potencies of Nature, and had awe and true respect for them. They lived by their blessings of corn, health, and game. The heart and soul of the Old Craft is about the sacramental relationship of man to Nature, which is a divine reality itself. The white powers still exist in the Land, and they exist all about us. They can be dangerous to men, sometimes for seemingly no reasons; others can harm by causing accidents in a place, or nightmares, or drive away intruders with unexplainable feelings of dread.

Truly wicked or malicious Strangers are sometimes called the “Red Men”; they are the giants of old lore, the chaotic powers that strain against the worldorder. The lesson is plain: not all places want people. The Feeorin, or those hidden folk who dwell below the land, (the post-mortem and pre-birth powers of men and beasts) can emerge in natural places, and often do, but do not confuse them with pure Land Spirits. Sometimes, the overlap between them is enormous, enough to make them seem one and the same. In many ways, the Feeorin are such a part of the inner reality of the Land that they are seen as Land spirits. Sometimes a place is even warded by Feeorin. But the manifest activity of the Feeorin in natural locations is almost always tied to temporal cycles; the spirits of a place are the non-human powers that manifest there always. In the end, there are no real clear-cut rules for the spiritual forces in the body of Nature; the boundaries between the Land powers and the Feeorin are always vague.

The following ritual is designed to help establish contact with the Guardians of Places. If they are there with any great awareness, and undisturbed, they usually are all knowing and nearly all-powerful when it comes to their areas, and tend to be very protective. If you have ever been alone in the woods somewhere, and for no reason experienced a feeling of dread that made you leave, or want to leave, you may have just been ‘kicked out’ of the area by a guardian or the local powers.

In our practice, we will not do rituals of any kind in an area without first going to a large Tree (preferably oak or thorn: The tree acts as an interface between the above-land world and the unseen dimension below and within the land) in that area, with a wooden bowl of milk, and offering the milk, as well as making a watch fire (described in the Witching Way of the Hollow Hill).

We say to the Guardian(s):

“To the Hidden Ones (or hidden powers) of this Land, Who watch from Below:
To the Ward of this place, We make this offering and give you honor and good faith;
From you we make bidding to join in the adoration Of the Old Ways of our blood herein.
You know us by our oaths, and what we love- let us seek wisdom here.”

The Red Meal can be used, utilizing just the milk, for this purpose. For the next while, we wait and watch for any sign of the Guardian’s acceptance/refusal. Watch animals carefully, for local animals, especially birds, are often linked with the Wanes, and act as outgrowths of their power.

Listen for winds, listen for any sudden noises or strange sights. No sign is a good sign, in case you see nothing. But your chances of seeing “nothing” in a natural area is not good; all places are full of motion and life. More than anything, you must feel the presence in the place. ‘Feeling’ the place will speak volumes, but you must have no expectations one way or the other as to what you will experience. Go open and free. Sometimes, people will like to do a Compass Round and take the Left-way road at a place, to meet the powers therein; that is a more complex way, but just as powerful, if not more so.

Be aware that Guardians are not always just the spirit of the natural place: The departed powers of people can become guardians, if they choose or are compelled to merge with a location, as can animals, who in the past were sometimes ritually killed or buried for the purpose (this is especially true for houses and villages) Other spirits and powers can become guardians for many reasons. I suggest you look into Stewart’s “Underworld Initiation” for the best insights into the concept of Guardianship.

A Note on Guardians

Why are they “guarding” a place? “Guardianship” doesn’t mean that a spirit or power is standing there like a sentinel. “Guardianship” indicates a state of being in which a being, either living or dead, whether it be a human, animal, or deity, is “merged” with the inner reality of that place, becoming a innerworldy mediator, ensuring that the proper transfer of power is maintained in an area (the transfer of power from life to death, from form to form, from world to world) and that nothing wrongly or radically disrupts it. They also are ensuring that the form of the area only changes naturally, or in accordance with respect, and that the environment and those who are dependent on the environment stay intact as well.

Finally, there is a duty of guardianship that ensures that defacement of the area and irreverent behavior or occurrences do not take place within. The guardians or Wards, as they are called, can cause “accidents” to occur, can cause fires, or saturate places with feelings of dread; these are their usual tools of defense. Also, those who disrupt the unified power of areas with maliciousness can find themselves trapped in a sequence of events leading to their own misfortune- a self-created sequence of powers that compels them to be merged with the disrupted forces before and after their own bodily deaths; they could find themselves transformed into a power or spirit, bound to ward a place till the power flows harmoniously again.

All of life is a great cause-and-effect participation, a weave of many types of power exchange, countless changes and interlinked events. Never forget that the existence before, within, and beyond what we call “life” is exactly the same, though expressed on other levels of awareness. Consequence, in the greatest sense, is something that must always be considered by the wise.

There were times in the distant past, when certain people or families were appointed guardians of special locations or holy places. We in the present day can still join in this tradition by adopting places and making sure that they remain undefiled and clean, and treating them with reverence.

With time, and with the acceptance of that place’s guardians, they can become powerful locations for the practices of the old faith. But be warned: this is not an undertaking to go into lightly. When you devote yourself to an area, it isn’t supposed to be just for a couple of months or even years. Try to make it a lifetime commitment, or even an after-life commitment, because the powers you involve yourself with may require that. At that point, you will begin to grasp at the seriousness of guardianship.

The Rite of Arriving

Just making some pesky little offering and pledging to respect the work-site is not quite enough. It is required that working group members (particularly the leadership or people gifted at consciously experiencing with extra-sensory reality) Spend time getting to know the Guardians or Ward of their area. Once, when I had to live in a city, I started this process from my front yard, and finally made strong contact at a city Park, so living in a city is no excuse not to try. The Wane spirit here happens to have a city on its ‘back’, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not there. Remember, cities are natural places, too.

How do you spend time “getting to know” them? Let me warn you: in many cases, we are not on our ancestor’s ground. Be respectful. If you are in the US, and you are of non-native American descent, then you are probably standing on ground that your ancestors took by force, or other less honorable methods. The local spirits may reject you outright, or if you are polite, they may accept you. It may take weeks or months to get into good rapport with them. One thing is for certain: Your effectiveness in ritual and rite will be driven down low if the local guardians or land spirits resist you. So get on their good side, if possible. If you plan on working near ancient Native American holy sites, be especially careful. I’d suggest that you didn’t.

The Rite of Arriving can be done however you like, so long as you have the following “ingredients”:

1.) A Libation of Milk or Ale, to be poured on the ground or at the location.

2.) A watch fire. This can be a small built fire, or even a candle. But, when you light it, you must light it with will and intent...you must have the intention to light it, as a sign that “I’m here, ready to talk, let this flame illuminate me, make me visible, guide you to me, keep us warm”. Lighting a fire with will and temperance ‘feeds the Wanes and raises the Feeorin’. This signal-fire, when lit with intent, is the key to communing with the powers of a land. When you light any ritual fire, you have to do it with expectation of power; you have to reverently light it, knowing that by doing so you ARE creating a space and a beacon to which powers can and will be attracted. You have to feel that you are creating and coming into a mystical place. Without this knowledge and acceptance, you can consecrate no fire or anything else.

3.) An emotional link to the place and the guardian. You have to desire the communion, desire to learn about the place, to get otherworldly insight into the place. You need the Desire to be accepted at that place. The powers there act as mediators, and you must desire to know the inner nature of the place, and to experience it, and to demonstrate it, which is what “ritual” at a natural location, (particularly a sacred place) really is.

4.) Symbolic Nakedness. You must learn to become symbolically “naked”, in other words, to have the trust, simplicity, openness, and willingness to be receptive and learn that a youthful child possesses. Your self-assured, “educated” adult self cannot do this. Become the ‘naked’ child again, confronting the mystery of the wide world, and really listen.

5.) The Words of Power. These words are “Here I am; grow forth, Hidden ones, and witness my art. Come to the watchfire. I pray you teach me.” End your invocations to the Guardians with those words, introduce yourself by name, and your mother’s name. Again, you can use the Left-way road to make contact; this was the older way, and is still just as appropriate. Never forget that the key to authentic, genuine experiences when communing with these powers is to have a good passivity in regards to what you will “see”; harbor no expectations and stay clear and open to what is there.

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As far as the Rite of Arriving, That’s it. Other than that, just make sure this rite is done alone, and at night. Go to them. They won’t generally come to youuntil they know you, that is. And, one more piece of advice: All Land Spirits/ Guardians around the world have one thing in common, and we happen to share this commonality… We have the same mother and Queen. The true Queen below and within, The Veiled one- She is Queen of the Land powers as well as humans. If you love Her, follow Her, respect Her, They will know it, and probably react better to you. Also, The Guardians/Land Spirits will all respond to her Name, and the Name of Old Fate, and react to your using it. They know what the real power is; they exist in it. It is hard to separate the two from each other.

She is essentially “the supreme being” to them, as She is to all things. One can easily see how closely related “Land spirits” and the “Earth Mother” concept would have to be. Many Land Powers are direct manifestations of Her, especially the ones that appear as dark, stately women, or women clad in white, or on horses.

Site last updated: November 2, 2005