In Crane Tradition there are three Shields we develop and work with. The make-up for the Shields are the same: One shield is our Death Deities, the second our Life Deities, and the third are the Temple Guardians. Who those Deities are for each of us looks different though, because that make-up is dependent on our personal paths, what we need as far as personal transformations, what our outer world/ life work looks like, which ones we personally connect to, and so forth.
So what does that look like in practice? What does it do for us?
The Death Shield
Death Deities are focused on the soul, the internal world and unseen worlds. Three main areas of focus could be seen as transformation, transmutation, and healing/advancing the soul.
We start with the transformations within ourselves. Deconstruction of outer conditionings to discover our true foundations and our authentic self. It is in this deconstruction that we tear everything down to bone, finding the roots – the whys – of our actions, our wounds, so we can truly understand and heal them.
The Death Deities teach us about perspective, dualities, the Web everything sits upon and is connected through. They teach us about the Unseen worlds, the layers of worlds that our physical senses do not perceive here yet our soul sense do. They teach us about the soul, the ancestral soul, and how to communicate with souls and the Unseen.
They teach us about sovereignty, battle, guardianship, compromise, and creating peace. How to stand firm in the foundations we have built. To build healthy boundaries and the understanding that boundaries are not just to protect us, but to also protect those around us.
Death Deities are often portrayed in the mainstream as just guardians of the dead or dark Deities in a more battle format, but their real reach is so much deeper. Even here I will only be hitting on some highlights of each of these Deity roles because the depth of them would take much longer than I can do here.
The Life Shield
Life Deities are ones that are more focused on the physical world and our movements within it. Heavily focused on the creations we are bringing into the physical world, our family life, and community life.
In Crane tradition there is a flow of how the shields are formed, starting inward – Death Deities, and working outward – Life Deities. The Death side gives us the “whys” while the Life side teaches us the “how’s.”
Life Deity lessons are more centered around the physical body, nature, community, Justice – the ecosystems we share with others and live our life within. They are the guides of inspiration, creation, and weaving the energy to manifest in the physical world.
They deal in Justice – not the legal illusions but the deep meaning of Justice for all sides, not just your side. In Death we learned the why’s of sovereignty, guardianship, boundaries, and the reasons behind why we should battle to create peace – in Life it is putting into practice, living within those foundations, and using them in the right way that considers all sides involved – seen and unseen – nature and human, and forming true Justice. It’s a deep and complicated lesson because our social idea of Justice is very distorted.
Life Deities teach us how to bring our creations from idea to reality. To heal our physical body with the energy and nature around us – everything we need is here, it is about knowing how to use it. To create change within our society, our communities, our world, and our own lives.
They can also be viewed as Fates. Our Death Deities teach us about the Web, the interconnections and make-up of it – but life Deities can show us how to weave that through our thoughts, actions, and voice. In the end though I personally see Fates as ones who straddle both sides.
The Guardians Shield
The Temple Guardians are something unique to Crane Tradition. They are four guardians: the Great Phoenix, the Great Elephant, the Great Dragon, and the Great Crane. Each one is associated with an element, bringing in the elements of nature and a bridge to elementals.
They are guardians in the sense of holding sacred space/ working space and a bridge, but their main powers resides in amplifying and adding to what we are creating. Each one has special roles within a magical work space and specific additions they bring to the work. They help in not only amplifying our own power, but also add their own energy and powers to the work. When the spell or ritual is completed, they add extra alignments and focuses to ensure the directness as it is released.
These Guardians have their own runes, spoken spells, magic, lessons, and roles. They can be called upon individually for help in their areas, to connect with certain attributes, or to go deeper into the lessons of their elements. They can help us connect deeper into nature, to discover and expand upon the knowledge of it, and uncover secrets held within it.
In spell casting though, rituals, or holding sacred space, They will only work as one cohesive unit.
The 3 Shields Work as 1
As a person travels their own path, different Deities come forward for them. Some just come in for a brief time, but some become what I call core Deities, others may call them Patron Deities. It is these core ones that create our shield. They become our personal pantheon, our main Guides – teachers – protectors – and helpers.
This is where we see differences in Crane devotees. We all are working the three shields, but who makes them up can be very different. The Shields are the framework, the foundation we are all sharing, but the Deities who show for each of us can be vastly different because our paths/ personal work is different. It is one of the things I love about Crane Tradition, the focus is the personal path, personal growth and transformation, because we all need and connect differently. The frameworks help us to get there, and a place for all of us to stand together/ work together as a group.
The 3 shields combined create one shield, one representation of our inner self, outer self, and the Guardians that help to amplify and stabilize our work, whatever that may be, and our life as a whole. When we create sacred space – and when we live our life within all of them, we are living within the whole of ourselves and our authentic self, all sides in harmonious alignment – for all work, creations, growth, transformations, and living life, requires all sides.
The Shields are a reminder of what we have built, created along our journey. In the beginning they help us stay organized in our mind as to who to go to for what. They are a representation of our own core pantheon and help us to align all of our work with all three sides – Inner self, Outer self, and the Nature we reside within.
Ending Notes
If you are interested in learning more or exploring Crane Tradition, I welcome you to join our Crane Community in our private discord server. Where we go into a variety of different tools and concepts like this one, hold weekly chat sessions, and monthly workshops – building community together.
If you want to do more exploration on your own, you can start with the Grimoire of the Crane. It is a book that leads you through some of the foundations and starting points of Crane Tradition. If you join the Crane Community though, note you will get the pdf version of this book for free so you may not want to spend your money on it.
For those who want to work more on their Death shield, death/ transformation side of their practice, the next Spirit Walking course starts April 5th. This course takes you through not just deeper understandings, but also the frameworks, skill building, and creation of personal tools for soul and spirit work. This includes Deity connections, communication with spirit/ unseen, developing your soul senses (psychic sense), spirit walking and more. To learn more, go here
If you are curious as to my own journey with Deities, from the beginning stages to now, what it looked like, what I did to build the bonds, and how it has changed over the years – I recently posted a video talking about that. You can find it here.
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