Magic 1 for Priests is an abridgement of the Magic 1 course from GSP 1, and deals primarily with the practical world of working with your own relationships with the Powers, self-examination, magic in ritual, and demonstrating your competency with magical skills.

The primary goal of this course is for students to establish, evaluate and enhance their skills to create and maintain an effective magical practice.

Course Objectives

1. Students will demonstrate increased knowledge of the use of magic within an ADF context to include: ritual, working with the Powers and serving the community.
2. Students will demonstrate a working knowledge of and application for magic within their personal practice, and employ self-introspection as a tool for personal magical growth.

Survey

1.    Discuss the importance and actions of the magico-religious function as it is seen within the context of general Indo-European culture. (minimum 100 words)

Dumezil’s theory of tripartition splits society into three classes: priests, warriors, and herder-cultivators (Mallory 131). Within that framework, priests provide the “first” function, which embraces sovereignty, and “is marked by a priestly stratum of society which maintains both magico-religious and legal order” (Dumezil, in Mallory 132). This magico-religious function often conferred sovereignty upon kings and war leaders, provided magical and religious assistance, coordinated sacrifices and the practice of public religion, as well as dealing with matters often assigned to the intelligentsia – legal matters and other social services. The gods of this first function were sometimes paired to present both roles, such as Odin (the warrior priest) and Tyr (the god of justice). In their main element, the job of the first function was to maintain and preserve and recreate the cosmic order through sacrifice, ritual, and the more mundane legal and peacekeeping practices.

2.    Identify the terms used within one Indo-European language to identify ‘magic’ and ‘magician’ examining what these terms indicate about the position of the magician in that society and the practice of his or her art. (minimum 100 words)

Magic is the art of the magus, as attested in Greek as early as the classical era. This word comes from the religious world of the Persions, in which the magos is a priest or a specialist in religion (Graf 20). These magoi form a secret Persian society and are responsible for royal sacrifices, funeral rites, and for the divination and interpretation of dreams – all things that place them as well within the bounds of what we would today consider to be religious service. This loan from Persian into Greek shows how highly priests were seen in Persian society, and, to some degree, how they were seen in the earliest records in Greek society. However, as time went on, this religious service gained a negative connotation as well, and by the fifth century B.C.E., the Greeks associate with magos with the “false” religious as well as with the faithful to various ecstatic cults. Over time the position of the magos went from one of being a religious specialist and one who was valued in the culture as an expert in all things dealing with the gods to being in the same category as “itinerant experts of private cults, men on the fringe of society, ridiculed by some and secretly feared by others” (Graf 21-22).

3.    Discuss the existence and relative function of trance-journey magic within at least one Indo-European culture. (minimum 100 words)

There’s a documented form of trance-like seership called seidhr. In Leif Eiriksson’s Saga (ch. 4) a seeress (a volva) named Thorbjorg is featured who is highly honored by the farm she visits. She is brought there during a difficult time for the farm, and she spends a night there, honored by the various guests and given special food (milk porridge and animal hearts). After some reluctance (ostensibly due to being Christian) the women of the farm come and form a circle around her, and sing the ward songs, and she is visited by the spirits, who tell her that the hardship will last no longer. As well, she sees great reward for the woman who sang the ward songs. This type of trance working is also seen in the Voluspa, and is perhaps the most formal and ritualistic type of seership among the Germanic and Norse cultures.

The purpose of seidhr was to get answers, specifically about the health and well-being of the town and the success or failure of the crops in the coming year, from the spirits that the volva encounters in her trance. Though some modern workers describe traveling to a different place to obtain their answers (Paxson), Thorbjorg describes the process more as singing to invite the spirits to herself to give her the answers she seeks.

4.    Discuss the place of alphabetic symbolism as part of the symbolism of magical practice within one Indo-European culture. (minimum 150 words)

One of the best known forms of alphabet symbolism as part of a culture’s magical practice comes from the Northern Germanic and Scandinavian culture, whose runic alphabet formed a basis of several types of magic. Thorsson states that the runes have been in use, in some form or fashion, since as early as 200 BCE (5). From a mythological standpoint, the Havamal (from The Poetic Edda) is said to contain the words of Odin – the warrior/shaman/priest god of madness, wisdom, and battle-frenzy. Within that set of poems, it is described how he hung for nine nights on the great world tree, Yggdrassil, as a sacrifice of himself in order to gain the magic of the runes. These he gifted to humans as both an alphabet and as a magical system, where they were used as carvings in talisman pieces, horns, and any tool used in magical working and spellwork. They are also “called forth” through a practice of runic incantations called ruangaldrar (Thorsson 13), where the magician sings or chants the names of the runes for various magical purposes. Each symbol in the runes has its own particular meaning and magical purpose, and then combining them together could create new symbols with new and stronger meanings and purposes as well.

5.    Discuss three key magical techniques or symbols from one Indo-European culture. (minimum 100 words each)

Binding Spells – Binding Spells, or Defixiones, are found scattered across the Mediterranean cultures in the ancient world. As written texts, in Greece they were primarily written onto lead tablets, the completion of which would bind the subject to the magician’s will. Graf identifies five different types of spells: judicial, erotic, agnostic, anti-theft, and economic. As with most magical relics where we have only the magical item that survives, we don’t know always the actual ritual that is done to activate the tablet, only that the text itself indicates who is to be ensnared with the spell, and what the magician is to do with the tablet once it is complete (usually bury it or otherwise permanently discarding it). Central to these binding spells is the repeated verb “I bind down” – which is what gives these texts their name. (Graf 119-35)

Figurines – Like the binding tablets, figurines were used as methods of cursing, and for at least some of these the ritual for preparing one is written out. A wax or clay figurine is made, and it is somehow tied to the essence of the person it represents by their “magical essence,” which consists of elements that have been in contact with the person being cursed – “fingernails, hair, fabric from [their] clothing” (Graf 140). This essence does not identify the sorcerer but serves to establish “a symbolic relationship between two points” – one being the person, and one being the figurine (140). From there a fairly standard list of curses similar to those used in Voodoo dolls is listed, including the driving of pins or nails into the figurine.

Amulets – Amulets were one way of countering the above types of binding spells, as well as ways to procure physical beauty, sexual attractiveness, or victory (Graf 158). However, the type of victory is not always specified in the texts. Magically charged and generally worn or carried, they could be made of many types of materials or combinations, including containers that housed written bits of protective charms, much as modern pagan amulets and protection bags are used. Wearing the amulet would thus protect the wearer from a curse or binding, or otherwise ensure some sort of positive outcome (like victory or sexual prowess) based on the materials used and their magical properties.

6.    Discuss the relative place and methodologies of magic within your personal religious/spiritual practice. (minimum 100 words)

Outside of the context of ADF ritual practice, I don’t often work a lot of magical techniques. Within ritual, however, I utilize divination and trance work fairly extensively, preferring to lead ritual from within a state of light trance, and preferring to do my divination work as part of the stream of energy that is flowing in the ritual, allowing me to go deeper into the trance state.

In other contexts, such as for healing, protection, and other types of magic, I frequently work with a much more folk-magic/low-magic style of working that is not dissimilar to the types of magic used by the Greeks. While I don’t often do binding rituals, using written spells that are then ritually discarded (usually burned in my case), poppets to direct healing to certain body parts or types of healing, and the creation of protective charms and amulets are all well within the range of magical work I might do. By far the most common form of magical work that I do – again outside of an ADF ritual context – is the dressing and setting of lights, which I have done for many years, since well before I had any inclinations to ADF and Indo-European practice. This does include trancework and divination magic, but primarily focuses on “charging” a candle with runes, magically in-tune items and components, and other foci, which then are activated by the burning of the candle or candles.

As I have continued my studies in ADF, however, I have done less of this “folk-magic” style of magical working and focused much more strongly on the magic of ritual and the magic that can be done within a ritual, to the point now where I frequently combine the two if I need something particularly urgently. I will write and focus an ADF style ritual and then use the “working” portion of the ritual setup to charge and begin the setting of lights to burn down.

Practicum

7.    Healing Work – Provide and explain one example of healing magic from an Indo-European culture, and write an ADF-style healing working based on that example. (min. 150 words for example explanation)

One example of healing magic that was worked in ancient times is the Well of Dian Cecht. Called Slane or Slaine, it could heal the wounds of any warrior who was bathed in it and over whom the incantations were spoken, unless that warrior was beheaded or had his spinal cord broken. These warriors would then get up and return to the battlefield and fight again, though they could not speak. (Cross and Slover 42)

For this ADF rite, I am creating from the sacred well a “well of Dian Cecht” that can be used to bathe away illness and speed up the healing of a person who is unwell. I call upon not only Dian Cecht as the healer, but also on his children Miach and Airmid, who heal through use of magic and also herbs – in their honor, healing herbs are scattered on the “well”, that the waters may be pure and that healing may be swift and complete.

To do this working, perform an ADF COoR rite where the statement of purpose is for healing of a person of a particular ailment (ideally not a spinal cord injury), and the beings of the occasion are Dian Cecht and his children Miach and Airmid, as the physicians and healers of the Gods. Once a positive omen is drawn (if only negative omens are drawn, do not continue with the working), bless and consume the waters of life, and then bring forth a large bowl or cauldron full of water. Some of the waters of life should be poured into this “well”, in order to fully hallow it with the positive omens. An additional round of offerings is made to the waters of this well, calling it Slane, and providing it with both silver and cleansing herbs like lavender, hyssop, and sage.

Then the person to be healed is brought forward, and the following incantation is spoken while they “bathe” in the water (or the water is otherwise poured or sponged over them), concentrating on the parts of the body most in need of healing:

Holy well of healing, where Dian Cecht revives his warriors, where we have placed silver and cleansing herbs, work your magic on <Name> that her <wound/illness> may be healed.

A repeated chant of “Healing Well, Whole <Name>” can also be used at this time, to pour additional energy from the blessings into the person being healed.

8.    Warding Work – Provide and explain one example of warding or protection magic from an Indo-European culture, and write an ADF-style warding working based on that example. (min. 150 words for example explanation)

The Old Norse “Helm of Awe” or Ægishjálmr is a powerful protective charm of warding that uses runes and other symbols to create a bindrune – a larger symbol to be used in magical rituals. In this case, the helm of awe is said to be protecting a central point by “going on the offensive against any and all hostile forces that surround it” (McCoy). This type of overpowering magic is found in the Poetic Edda in the Fáfnismál, where the dragon Fafnir attributes his apparent invincibility to his use of the helm of awe upon his forehead. Like most ancient symbols, the form of the visual representation of the helm of awe is far from being fully fixed, and in various grimoires and spellbooks may have anywhere from four to eight arms, and may include perpendicular lines that cross the arms or not, depending on the source. (McCoy)

This style of warding, using a bindrune, is something that can directly be co-opted into modern rituals for protection. According to McCoy, this bindrune can be created in a piece of iron, and then pressed into the forehead of anyone who needs protection, with a charm spoken for each person, thus encircling them with the force of the helm of awe and protecting them from all harm.

For use in a modern ADF ritual, prepare a helm of awe that has been carved into a sheet of metal so that one side is raised. It should be small enough that the entire token can fit onto the forehead of an average adult. Perform a Core Order ritual where the statement of purpose is for protection and warding against all evils and dangers, and where the being of the occasion is either Odin (as the master of runes) or Thor (as the protector of humanity and Midgard).

Once a favorable omen has been achieved (if only ill omens are drawn, do not proceed), consume the blessings in the waters of life and then proceed with the following working.

The Helm of Awe token is taken and blessed in the Waters of Life, hallowing it and preparing it for use. Each adult person then presses it into their foreheads – firmly (but not painfully!) so that it leaves an “indentation” (don’t actually dent anyone’s head) on their forehead of the symbol. As they do so, they should say:

I bear the helm of awe
Between my brows!
Thus may I be protected
And ensured of all victory!

Alternatively, should only one person need to be protected, the helm of awe can be drawn directly on their skin with oil or with the waters of life, for “invisible protection” against all types of foes and dangers.

9.    Purification Work – Provide and explain one example of purification magic from an Indo-European culture, and write an ADF-style purification working based on that example. (min. 150 words for example explanation)

The Anglo-Saxons had, for pretty much everything, a charm or working that should be done. Most of these involve a combination of spoken spellwork and herbs. What is most interesting about some of the herbs in Leechbook 1, sec 64 and Leechbook III, Sec 62 is that in these charms the healer is advised to “prepare herbs in a rather specific way and then burn it in the environment where the patient is in order to ‘smoke out’ the elf/illness” (Helrune).

Take a handful of each, bind all of the herbs in a cloth, dip into hallowed spring water three times. After this, against that (illness), lay these herbs under an altar and let them be sung over. (Helrune)

All of these steps are important to the charm, and are both simple and repeated often throughout the Anglo Saxon books of leechcraft and charm working. This is simple purification magic – gather the proper herbs, bless them in holy water, place them under an altar and sing a charm over them, and then burn them where the patient is in order to purify them from the elf-sickness.

For use in an ADF ritual, I would use the Core Order only as part of the actual working. Prior to the ritual itself, the herbs should be gathered and blessed – ideally herbs that are good for cleansing as per the hearth culture of the person who needs to be purified. For generic use, I’d almost always go with mugwort (for mugwort drives out). Then bless the dried herbs, lightly, with holy water from a running spring or from a ritual source, followed by laying them under an altar.

Then the first COOR should be done, this time with the intent of purifying the herbs and consecrating them for purification of <Target>. Ritual offerings should be made to Thunor as a deity of warding and to the spirits of the herbs themselves. Once the ritual is complete, and presuming there were good omens in the ritual (if the omens were bad, do not proceed), the targeted person should be brought in and thoroughly cleansed in the smoldering smoke from the burning herbs, whether bound as a burn-stick or loose on charcoal.

In this sense, the COOR is part of the ritual to prepare the purifying herbs themselves, not as the working of purification, but I find it a very satisfying step in creating a way to drive out ill intent, negative energy, or any other “elf-sickness” that might crop up in a person, including periods of bad luck.

10.Introspection – Having done the above work, provide detail of your understanding of why self-knowledge and introspection are critical for working with magic and how you intend to pursue your own course of self-understanding. (min. 350 words)

Self-knowledge and introspection are critical to any kind of focused work that seeks to attain beneficial outcomes. Fuzzy intentions yield fuzzy results, and with magical practices, having a strong focus, a strong sense of self and of the desired outcome, and a strong understanding of both how and why you are undertaking a magical endeavor are all critical to achieving your desired successful results.

As I began this course, I was pretty familiar with the types of folk-magic that I have been doing for the better part of the last fifteen years. I know how to get the results I want, and I know the kinds of “strawberry-jam” stickiness to expect from that kind of magic. Working magic in a ritual context, however, combines this practice with the ritual magic that is most common in ADF, and has been an interesting exercise. I am looking forward to completing this course again for the Initiate’s Path, as I believe a hands-on style practical course will be very interesting to the type of magic I practice and may even convince me to add more Core Order “workings” to my every day, and weekly rituals.

That said, I still don’t practice outcome-based magic as intensively as I probably would have thought when I began my first steps as a pagan, when magic and magical practices were emphasized as just something that everyone did all the time. Now the majority of my magic is concentrated on ritual, on opening the gates, purification, on divination and hallowing the blessings for distribution to the folk. Realizing that the Core Order contains as much magic as it does wasn’t surprising – ritual has always been full of magic for me – but I’m not always as self-aware about doing those types of magic as I probably should be. Having led a study group/protogrove/grove for the last four years, I’ve done a lot of public ritual, and sometimes I forget just how much magic is involved in making a ritual happen in a way that facilitates powerful spiritual experiences for the ritual participants.

I am interested in seeing where my practices of combining what I would typically associate as “spellwork” – the kinds of magic often practiced by the ancients with runes, amulets, poppets, and spells – with the practices of ADF’s core order and group ritual. (Or private ritual.) These two things don’t, on the surface, seem like they’d combine well, but having written up the workings for this course I can see them being extremely effective if the group was able to be focused and single-minded on the desired outcomes.

Works Consulted

Albertsson, Alaric. Travels through Middle Earth. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2009. Print.

Cross, Tom Peete, and Clark Harris, Slover. Ancient Irish Tales. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1996. Print.

Graf, Fritz. Magic in the Ancient World. Trans. Franklin Philip. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Print.

Griffiths, Bill. Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic. Little Downham, Ely, Cambridgeshire; Anglo-Saxon Books, 2012. Print.

Helrune, Seo. “Maran, Nightwalkers, and Elves; Part 2.” SeoHelrune.com. Web. 25 February 2015.
< https://seohelrune.com/2017/09/12/maran-nightwalkers-elves-oh-part-two/&gt;.

Lecoteaux, Claude. The Tradition of Household Spirits. Trans. Jon E. Graham. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 2013. Print.

Mallory, J. P. In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1989. Print.

McCoy, Daniel. “The Helm of Awe.” Norse-Mythology.org. 2018. Web. 25 February 2018.
< https://norse-mythology.org/symbols/helm-of-awe/&gt;.

Paxson, Diana. The Return of the Völva: Recovering the Practice of Seiðr. 1993. web. 25 February 2018. <http://seidh.org/articles/seidh/&gt;.

The Poetic Edda. Trans. Carolyne Larrington. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print.

The Poetic Edda. Trans. Lee M Hollander. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1990. Print.

The Sagas of the Icelanders. Ed. Ornolfur Thorsson. New York: Leifur Eiriksson Publishing Ltd., 1997. Print.

Thorsson, Edred. Futhark, a Handbook of Rune Magic. York Beach, Me.: S. Weiser, 1984. Print.

Wodening, Swain. “Anglo Saxon Hallowing Charm.” Odin’s Gift. 2013. Web. 25 February 2018.
< http://www.odins-gift.com/poth/A/anglosaxonhallowingcharm.htm&gt;.