Your Ego Is Holy

In Witchcraft, the soul is viewed as three parts of the self. The Middle Self is the part of you that is reading this right now. In psychology, they would associate this aspect of your consciousness with the ego, the part of the person that has a sense of identity. In modern spiritual teachings, the ego is viewed as a negative thing and in abusive cults there’s an emphasis on abandoning the ego altogether, thus making someone easier to control when they lack self-identity. That is not the case in either psychology nor in most witchcraft traditions.

There is absolutely no part of your consciousness or your soul that is purely “positive” nor “negative”, as the witch tends to not view things in such extremely polarized aspects. Without the ego, there would be neither a sense of self, personality, individuality, nor an outlet for personal expression. The real problem occurs when the ego is out of balance with either an over-glorified sense of self or a lack of self-worth.

The Middle Self allows us to experience linear time in a way that the other souls do not. It can reminisce about the past and plan for the future, processing information with logic, language, and reason. We communicate with others either verbally through words or through the written word via our Middle Selves to other people as the Middle Self is the emissary of the Middle World, the three-dimensional physical reality of our day-to-day lives symbolized on the Witch’s Tree as the Trunk. This is the part of the soul that processes and translates information, including psychic information that is received from the other two soul selves. The Middle Self allows us to write and speak spells, mantras, pray, deliver barbarous words, and incantations. Blue Rose Faery Witchcraft refers to this soul as “The Talker”.

Talker’s function is to cultivate awareness through perception. Talker gathers information— in the form of various types of energy through the senses: light through vision, vibration through hearing, sensation through touch, etc. Talker takes this sensory input and assembles this chaotic cacophony of light and sound into a discernible perception from which to base an observation. Talker is constantly taking in these energies from the immediate environment and then making judgment calls based on logic, but also through the memories and relationships of the fetch, another soul in our trinity. The term talker reveals something of this soul’s nature, and also of its inherent challenge. A large part of our work is to learn how to silence our talker. This is not because of some innate flaw or moral judgment, but instead because when talker is silenced its power becomes much more focused. When talker is silent, it becomes the listener. Only when we have listened to all possibilities can we make an informed decision.

– Storm Faerywolf
Betwixt and Between: Exploring the Faery Tradition of Witchcraft

The parts of the aura connected with the Middle Self are the Astral, Emotional and Mental fields. The Middle Self is related to the throat chakra of communication and personal truth, the heart chakra of love for self, and others and the solar plexus chakra of identity and willpower. Just like the heart chakra, which is often viewed as the bridge between the higher and lower chakras, the Middle Self is what unites, translates, understands, and expresses the Higher and Lower Self. It weaves them together into a singular tapestry.

It is related to Zhōng, the Middle Dantian located in the heart area, which is considered the seat of energy as well as the refinery of the elixir of energy from the lower dantian. Similarly, in the Sacred Fires Tradition of Witchcraft, the Middle Self is called “The Weaver” and is symbolized and visualized as a spider consciously weaving together the threads of the Higher and Lower Selves.

“Spider has for many cultures been a creature of interest, sometimes loved, but often feared. Spider is a powerful ally to have on your side, especially during the time when you will be working with and developing your relationship to the nature of your ego. Spider teaches us that over time we can consciously create the web instead of allowing chaos to create it for us.”

– Devin Hunter
The Witch’s Book of Power

The Celtic Cauldron connected to the Middle Self is the “Cauldron of Motion” also located at the heart. It is said that this cauldron is laying on its side in most people but that extreme emotions can cause it to turn right side up or upside down. Life-affirming and gratifying emotions such as love, joy, and motivational drive tip the cauldron right side up. Restrictive and painful emotions such as fear, anger, grief, and hatred tip the cauldron to be upside down.

I relate the Middle Self with the Voodoo concept of the Ti-Bon-Ange or “Little Good Angel”. In Voodoo this is the part of the self that contains our character traits and personality, very much like the Middle Self. To my understanding, during rituals, the Ti-Bon-Ange can leave the body so that a Loa can possess or “ride” the person for the duration of the ritual and can also leave the body during dreams and visions.

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