Lesson 1: Reading 4: Wiccan Warrior Ch. 6

The Energized Warrior

While this chapter is meant to address energy work, I found it focused on spiritual development. "Spirit first, technique second," as the quote goes. We are introduced to the concept of chi or breath-energy. Breathing exercises are among the first I like to start with when I work with students and teach energy work.

The first part of this chapter then addresses preparing to raise energy. It looks at:

• proper diet
• regular exercise
• adequate rest
• flexible habits & routines
• and eliminating obstacles

I am reminded of the lessons I learned about how the body is a temple and you must start with the body before you work with the mind and spirit. If we look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, we know that the physical needs of the body have to be met before one can address anything else. If you are busy "surviving" then you are not free to "live." Survival mode takes up too much personal energy.

A proper diet with nourish body, mind, and soul. It will give the body needed fuel for your energy working. Observing the effects of diet is important to understand your energy. For example, I know that coffee will only make me lethargic or nauseous. This helps not at all for energy work (despite what people say to me about how coffee is a booster. I am like part of that small maybe 3% of the population where coffee has the opposite effect). I know I need bread and cheese in my diet. If I go more than a couple days without bread of some sort, I become this "monster" that is not me. I am snarly and moody and very not me at all. I am not sure what is in bread that balances me, but something is there and my body needs it to function normally.

Regular exercise. The bodies we have were meant to be used, meant to be in motion. By exercising, you tone the body and move the natural energies within the body. And you find that as your body grows accustomed to it, you increase your capacity to handle and manipulate energy. Exercise energizes you! In Martial Arts, exercise helps hone and tone the body, as well as discipline the mind.

All living things need adequate rest. Rest helps sort the knots out and helps you recuperate energy. It is increasingly more difficult to do effective magic when you are tired.

While it is often said that a warrior has no routines, that routine is a danger, I disagree. Adults need routines as much as children do for a sense of security. The adult, however, needs to have a flexible routine, needs to be able to roll with the changes of life or create them to stir energy.

Eliminating obstacles is key to moving forward along the path. "If your house, your business, or your everyday activities are disorganized, then it is a pretty safe bet that your magick will be too."

It is at this point that the chapter moves to actual energy working techniques, basic ones. Breathing is the first energy work I recommend. This chapter then describes resonating sounds, which by extension can lead to the use of song and chant and music for raising energy. Also, mantras, like chants, have been used to induce a state of consciousness, raise an energy vibration, and/or connect with Divine. One cannot think of music and leave out such things as Drumming and then even dancing! Mudras, and katas can fall into this category of energy work.

The last part of energy work mentioned in this chapter is grounding. I would have made it the first part as I feel one must first be anchored before raising energy. But I do see the purpose here as it is referred to as a technique of regaining balance post energy work. It is for this reason that we eat after rituals.

Lesson 1: Diety Project

Choose a pantheon that speaks to you and aspects of divinity that relate to your needs.

I relate to three groups of deities. The first is a gnostic monist concept where I am strongly drawn to the Moon, Wisdom, Light... often named Sophia. I am also strongly drawn to any deity within the feline family or connected in some way to cats: Bast & Sekhmet, Freya, Toltec Jaguar God, Great Cougar, Jungle Panther, and literally any others from any culture. I work often with Bast & Sekhmet, as well as Cougar and Panther, and the Asian Tiger and Snowy Leopard. I am also drawn and work with Wolf, Raven, and Stag. I suppose this sounds very much like I am animistic or totemic.

As pantheons go, I have stayed with my Celtic roots and adhere to Celtic (mostly Irish) deities. Herne, Cernunnos, Cerridwen, Brighid, Lugh, Morrigan, Scathach. I have a strong relationship with these aspects.

Identify an area in your life for which you feel you'd like divine assistance. Without referring to existing texts or lists, invent a deity to deal with that situation and give that deity a name.

First of all, with 20 years of religion and cultural studies under my academic belt, not referring to something in existence is REALLY hard.

An area of my life that I feel I need divine assistance.......
Peaceful and Proper Rest. Financial Clarity and Success. Business Management with Grace. Creative Writing. "It's ok to be Good Enough". Commitment to Body Health (weight control, better eating, exercise).

There are lots of areas I could address. Since this is 6, let me take out a D6 for this exercise and roll the die to see what the Spirit feels I should focus on. Oops, could not find my gaming dice. So I asked the husband (Mark) to pick a number from 1-6 without knowing the why. The number was 5.

"It's ok to be Good Enough."
Deity of Self-Acceptance, Understanding, Encouragement, and Comfort.
NAME: Glacadh (Irish Gaelic for the word 'acceptance')

I could have chosen any word to translate into Irish Gaelic, but I felt this was best for the quote because it implies acceptance of both self and other. Perfection is both impossible and unnecessary. "It's ok to be good enough" can also refer to self and other.

Hmmm... I think I have a new affirmation to work on.

Lesson 1 Assignments 1-16

1- In what year was the Order started? Who was the founder?

A- November 2007 by Kerr Cuhulain

2- The Order takes its name from which Celtic heroine? Why would she be chosen as the patroness of our Order? What type of facility did she run on the Isle of Skye? With which Celtic warrior is she most closely associates?

A- The Celtic heroine is Scathach because she ran an academy for the finest warriors on the Isle of Skye, among which Cuchulain was one.

3- Order of Scathach (OS) members are expected to honor the Wiccan Rede. What is it and what does it mean?

A- 'An it harm none, do what you will.' This is the Wiccan Rede in its most basic form. There are many versions of the Rede both short and long. An earlier version is by Crowley, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, Love is the Law, Love under Will." Later adopted by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente in their new Wiccan religion with the addition of "An it harm none" prefaced at the beginning. I take the meaning to be that you have the freedom of spirit to be and do whatever you choose in life with the understanding that you will try to do no harm to other people or other things, including yourself. It implies a sense of forethought and responsibility. I prefer a longer version, author anonymous:

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill

An ye harm none, do what ye will

Lest in thy self defense it be

Ever mind the Rule of Three

Follow this with mind and heart

And merry ye meet and merry ye part

This brings in the Rule of Three which refers to the Law of Return, what you send out returns threefold. This also adds a layer of forethought and a sense of responsibility. This longer Rede carries more of a sense of the warrior in it as it refers to self-defense. However, I find it too lacks slightly for one aspect of a Wiccan Warrior that I also hold dear to me and make part of my ethic is that not only must I defend myself, but also those around me who cannot defend themselves. That I also have a role to play in helping others be self-reliant and able to stand their own ground.

4- OS members are also expected to strive for the 13 warrior precepts. Which of these precepts most closely reflects your strength as a warrior? Which represents an area of improvement?

A- I have lived by most of these all my life and apply them in all aspects of my life. So it is hard to choose just two being my strength or my weakness. Perhaps the strongest precepts that represent me are: "Power With," "Know Thyself," "and "Right Action." As I run or organize many things for the community, it is hard to have "Minimal Appearance." I don't think that is area I need improvement though. The one I think I need to work on is one I have been struggling to commit to for a long while, "Be Creative." I suppose I am creative in many ways in the how I manage a shop or run a school of magic & paganism, how I try to do a great deal of fanfiction novel writing or writing the workbooks and training materials for the school or my coven. But to sit down and plainly do something fun and creative like I used to... has been very difficult. Fanfiction writing used to be that, but I am having a hard time to commit to that too these days. I suppose this goes hand-in-hand with taking care of myself as I rarely give time for just me to be just me and to do things for just me.

5- OS also upholds a Chivalric Code. What does the word "chivalry" mean to you?

A- The dictionary defines the word "chivalry" as the sum of ideal qualification of a knight, their rules and customs. I carry this meaning and add the notions of Bushido virtue to the definition. It is a code of conduct for a proper person. Much of this is common sense, or at least I feel it should be. Those listed by the order seem to be a blend of the Norse Nine Noble Virtues and the Seven Bushido Virtues.

6- What are the four training phases and their associated belt colors? What do they represent?

A- Novice (white), squire (green), knight (brown), and master (black). They are adapted from Karate and Bushido for the belts and colors symbols. The names come out of Medieval ranks of the orders of knighthood from the Age of Chivalry.

7- What is the name of the OS ritual that marks a Squire's advancement to Knight?

A- Arming Ceremony. The Novice to Squire is an Armoring Ceremony and the Knight to Master is a Mastering Ceremony.

8- OS students are expected to keep a BOS. What is the purpose of keeping one?

A- A BOS can be many things from a record of your magical workings, to a collection of references, to the detailed outlines of rites and rituals, to a magical diary. I keep pone for our coven with our general knowledge and lore and one for our rites and rituals. For OS, I keep this digital blog as well as several notebooks on my personal research as journals of thoughts on various books I read about the role of warrior in other cultures (namely East Asian).

9- OS is considered a "dry" tradition. What does this mean? What is the Order's stance on drug use?

A- Dry means alcohol free, and by extension drug free. That is the firm stance as I understand it. Neither have a place in ritual as altered state are perfectly achievable without these substances and one need not pollute their body or be under the influence as it has ill effects to both magical and natural life and work. This however does not include drugs that are a necessity for functioning in life, such as insulin or other required medical prescriptions.

10- What is our policy on children's involvement?

A- Children are an integral part of the Order as they are our future.

11- How do members dress for public ritual? Why did the order choose this form of dress for public occasions?

A- A black gi uniform top with the Order's logo on the back and your designated belt.This seems to be for rituals that the OS lead or represent themselves at. Otherwise, members dress to suit the occasion. No explanation seems to have been given for this, but it seems common sense that if you represent a group, you should wear the uniform to help outsiders recognize you.

12- How does OS define the term warrior? In what way is this similar or different than how you define the term warrior?

A- OS defines warrior as "a person who makes a fearless and objective inventory of their personal characteristics and then uses this information to take control of their life." This is very much in line with my own understanding of a warrior, though being a warrior implies that there is an aspect of fighting that may at some point happen that the warrior must be ready for. That battle might simply be within as we ever strive for self-improvement and face ourselves. Sometimes, though, it is standing up for what is right and acting when necessary, despite our fears.

13- Define monism.

A- OS defines this as divine being part of everything and everyone, inseparable from the everyday world. Dictionaries and religious/philosophical texts define it as a belief in a single governing principle in the world. Why don't we call it The Force for all those who understand Star Wars? Everything is connected. Everything is divine. All is one.

14- What is the difference between "drawing down" and "drawing out"? Why does OS emphasize "drawing out"?

A- Drawing down is the act of invoking a diving principle, calling something outside one's self into one's self to be represented in ritual or to be aspected. Whereas drawing out is the act of evoking something from within. As OS adheres to monist thinking, then of couse we are all divine. The divine is already within us and needs only be "drawn out" to be aspected, not "drawn down" as it is immanent and not transcendent.

15- Wicca is not considered a "revealed" or "book" religion. What do we mean when we say we are an "immanent" spiritual path?

A- This means that we are a mystery religion where our spiritual path is discovered through our unique experiences and that no one and no book can tell us the "Truth" about our spirituality. The divine is immanent, with us, therefore to communicate with the divine, we need only calm ourselves and listen within.

16- We have a symbiotic relationship with Deity. What does this mean?

A- If deity is within, then we are always connected to it, thus we have a symbiotic relationship with it. We are born of divinity, grow with divinity. We create each other.

Lesson 1: Reading 3: Magickal Self Defense Ch 9 & 10

Chapter 9 focused on HEALTH. Healthy bodies endure longer and those who endure longest often win out in the end. Health is very multi-layered. He main point is that the body needs to be clean, well-fed (not full of junk), illness-free, and well-rested. People who are sick or tired, have a harder time enduring, defending, or even doing magic. So, eat healthy foods regularly, drink lots of water, and get adequate rest. "Your body is a temple. Care for it!"

This also means stress. People who are over stressed become very drained or can end up very ill. Health mean in body, in mind, and in spirit. Meditation and connecting with the gods (by whatever name you call them) help develop and maintain a healthy spirit.

Avoid such things as alcohol, drugs, and sedatives. They upset the balance in the body.

Maintaining a healthy body also means keeping in limber. The body was built to be in motion, so get it moving! Do some form of exercise. This helps with the flow of the blood and the chi as well.

I try to eat healthier and to get some sleep. But my job is sometimes very stressful. It is hard to turn off my brain at night to get to sleep. I have always been that way. It helps when I center and ground and do a short meditation before bed. I used to be in professional and competitive dance but took some serious injuries in an accident that has greatly interfered with my love of being active. So I do light yoga, some walking and some cycling. It was suggested that I get into Tai Chi, but I have yet to find a teacher I feel good about training under. Come September, I will do a tour of all the Tai Chi places of training and see if I can find a teacher. In the meantime, one of my coveners and I are getting into swimming 2-3 times a week. I am excited and nervous. I haven't done swimming in like 20 years and I wasn't very good back then. I suppose doggy-paddling is still exercise in the water!

Chapter 10 focused on GROUNDING. This is a chapter that was nothing new to me as I teach most of these techniques to my students and coveners. My favorite is touching the ground and sinking hands into soft rich black soil. Or, simply walking barefoot on the soft grass.

I found that the techniques in this chapter all referred to getting rid of excess or negative energy and totally neglected to address the other aspect of grounding. Grounding can also be used to establish physical balance. It is a two-way conduit, like the roots of a tree. Just as we can and do send down into the earth, so to can we draw up from it. We can pull cleansed energy up through us from the earth to help us recharge ourselves and to help us achieve an inner balance that is akin to the feel of the earth below.

Lesson 1: Reading 2: Full Contact Magick Ch. 1

Monism
This is a philosophical concept that has cropped up a few times in the readings, most explicitly in Wiccan Warrior and less explicitly in Full Contact Magick. According to the dictionary, these are the following definitions:

• the attempt to explain anything in terms of one principle only
•  (in metaphysics) any of various theories holding that there is only one basic substance or principle as the ground of reality, or that reality consists of a single element.
• the conception that there is one causal factor in history; the notion of a single element as primary determinant of behavior, social action, or institutional relations.
• the reduction of all processes, structures, concepts, etc., to a single governing principle; the theoretical explanation of everything in terms of one principle

Cuhulain describes this in the view of deity as all gods are one god and all goddesses are one goddess and these two are but a duality of a single whole. People worship aspects of this whole in their dualistic worship or in the worship of trinities. And yet, he firmly deviates from the term worship when he defines it as paying reverence to something outside oneself. On this aspect, I would have to disagree with him that worship is the simple act of honoring someone or something whether immanent or transcendent. It is the act of honoring and connecting with the divine.

Another strong concept raised in this chapter is the balanced duality of all things, including the divine. Male / female. Light / dark. It relates back to the ever flowing balance of Yin & Yang. We are reminded that with every spiritual entity comes a light and a dark side. We must never forget that.

The final concept raised that I will speak on is the first one mentioned in this chapter.

"Spirit First, Technique Second." This is the fifth rule of 20 precepts.
http://www.shotokankarate.ca/The%2020%20Precepts.htm

1. Karate-do begins with courtesy and ends with rei.

2. There is no first strike in karate.

3. Karate is an aid to justice.

4. First know yourself before attempting to know others.

5. Spirit first, technique second.

6. Always be ready to release your mind.

7. Accidents arise from negligence.

8. Do not think that karate training is only in the dojo.

9. It will take your entire life to learn karate, there is no limit.

10. Put your everyday living into karate and you will find "Myo" (subtle secrets).

11. Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool.

12. Do not think that you have to win, think rather that you do not have to lose.

13. Victory depends on your ability to distinguish vulnerable points from invulnerable ones.

14. The out come of the battle depends on how you handle weakness and strength.

15. Think of your opponents hands and feet as swords.

16. When you leave home, think that you have numerous opponents waiting for you.

17. Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.

18. Practicing a kata exactly is one thing, engaging in a real fight is another.

19. Do not forget to correctly apply: strength and weakness of power, stretching and contraction of

the body, and slowness and speed of techniques.

20. Always think and devise ways to live the precepts of karate-do every day.
Ginchin Funikoshi also stated this:

Hitotsu. Jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto
Hitotsu. Makoto no michi wo mamoru koto
Hitotsu. Doryoku no Seishin wo yashinau koto
Hitotsu. Reigi wo omonzuru koto
Hitotsu. Kekki no yu wo imashimuru koto

First. Seek perfection of character
First. Protect the way of the truth
First. Foster the spirit of effort
First. Respect the principles of etiquette and respect others
First. Guard against impetuous courage and refrain from violent behavior.
(http://www.gichinfunakoshi.com/dojokun.htm)

Being a warrior is first in spirit. Warriors of technique alone are just fighters and lack the moral grounding that make them great warriors. That is a personal opinion.

On Latin Translation

I took 2 years of Classical Latin in High School and 3 years of it in University with a mind to teach it. I graduated university with my degree only to see the subject removed from the private school curriculum and deemed a worthless subject and more emphasis put upon modern languages of Spanish and Italian. Seems they forgot that both those languages have their roots in Latin and that Latin has touched so many other branches in the language tree that to know it is to find greater understanding of many languages... and is also why I am able to gain a general understanding of more languages that I have been formally training it.

On that mildly ranting note, I came across Latin in the Order of Scathach Lesson 1 14th draft that was improperly translated.

Ego-Video Liber Deorum is translated as "Gods: a Spotters Guide"

It is actually bad syntax as in Latin the verb comes last with no pronouns and the conjugation of a verb pre-defines the pronoun and to state a pronoun is redundant.

Ego = "I"
Video = verb "to see" conjugated in present tense as "I see/observe/understand"
Liber = an adjective declined in the nominative case to denote that is the subject of the verb. The adjective means "free". As a noun also declined in the nominative case means "book".
Deorum = "god" declined in the genitive case denoting possession "of god"

If I translate the phrase directly, it ends up as this, I would have to make a broad assumption that Liber is actually a noun and the object not the subject of the verb.

Ego-video liber deorum = I (myself) see the book of God.

Proper Classical Latin for "Gods: a Spotters Guide" would be (if I assume that the guide is a book and not a person): Di (or) Dei: Liber Videndi (translated as = Gods: a Book of sighting or seeing).

Thus ends my Latin Lesson. This was fun to dive back into Latin for a brief moment.

Lesson 1: Reading 1: Wiccan Warrior Ch. 3

"The Balanced Warrior"

This chapter begins with a quote about the meaning of the word religion, its roots in Latin. However it only looks at half the word's definition. Religion comes from the Latin Re-Ligare where re means again and ligare means to bind or connect and carried the overtones of duty and obligation. However defining the word religion is very difficult, even elusive. I could write a whole thesis paper on just this very subject. But I won't. It is important only to know that the word carries a sense of obligation to reconnect with the sacred and serve it as one holds to a duty of some sort. It is one aspect of the balanced warrior.

A warrior is thus in body, mind, and spirit. He hones his body with healthy care, exercise, and martial training. He hones his mind with learning and meditation. Religion helps him hone his spirit. And if we are to hold to the Latin origins, then we are to re-connect with that which is sacred.

"Everything is sacred." When you consider everything sacred, important, divine, then you afford it your respect and your love, you attention and your care. You realize that the divine cannot be separated from any thing or act, external or internal. And with that comes a sense of duty and responsibility. Balance within and without. When there is balance, then little energy needs to be expended because very little is wasted. This holds true whether it is martial arts (as Bruce Lee exemplified) or whether it is magic.

It is important to note the fact that no one, not even a Wiccan warrior is immune to failure or error. The important thing is to learn from it. That is a lesson I was taught by my mother. Everything is a lesson. And if you view failings as such, they become a means to grow. An interesting quote that is along the same lines, though I know longer know its origin: "Obstacles are merely opportunities in disguise." Fear and guilt can stop us in our tracks and must be recognized as emotional experiences and not as obstacles. Knowing ourselves will help with this. Know thyself, know your strengths and weaknesses, your assets and liabilities. Replace guilt with responsibility. "If I screw up, I fix it." We are ultimately responsible for our own actions. What goes around, comes around. Three-fold Law. Karma. Call it what you will. These are the lessons of responsibility and respect of self and other.

Leaving the notion of lessons and duty, there is an important aspect of being a Wiccan warrior that also relates to balance. That is the issue of power. There should never be power over when being a Wiccan warrior. There is power with and power within. Some traditions view the sharing of mysteries and training and power is a way to lose that power. I disagree. To share power is to grow stronger as a group and thus as an individual because you have that group who has your back.

Knowing the self means applying the mind before the body. Learn to use your head before your hand. And before both of those... your heart. "The Wiccan Warrior practices honesty and openness." There is no reason to hide knowledge or to keep secrets. We are no longer living in such dangerous times as our forefathers. And besides, if we keep hoarding the knowledge like a great secret, then how are we to teach the next generation? How are people of the public to come to trust us? If we hide things they will think we have something that needs hiding. People are afraid of what they do not know or understand... so let us teach them as we teach ourselves and each other.

Such have been the words and lessons gleaned from Chapter 3: The Balanced Warrior of the book Wiccan Warrior by Kerr Cuhulain.