Annual narratives relating legend, myth, and folk history, are dramatized still, in which unfold the themes of creation, existence, and evolution in sync with the motion of the stars and the seasons. They are living myths, in remembrance of our heritage and lineage as created beings and are in accord with ancient tradition, preserving and continuing our role in the evolution of that legacy. Myth preserves the magic of creation, of life and the mystery of death. Magic has been man's greatest tool because it employs the greatest force—that of man's own Will! When this force is combined with gnosis we are able to transcend the spirals of existence and achieve our true purpose.
This is the greatest gift of all, and many have sought it and not prevailed. Over time the Craft has been the natural repository of myth, knowledge, and magical practice as these things have declined from use within society, either through suppression, ignorance, or ambivalence. Sadly, much of it only exists in fragmentary forms, such as folklore or superstitions. Other more archaic knowledge has been preserved in discernable forms within certain branches of the traditional Craft. Mythopoesis is that process of poetic envisioning, a magical process of engagement with myth on its own terms inducing understanding through direct apprehension of its core truths.
What do you foresee for the future of Paganism and Witchcraft?
Tradition is not then the rigor of the status quo; it lives and breathes, it is the vital heart and soul of all culture, and like any living organism it should adapt itself with each generation. To perform the same rites as our revered forebears and ancestors without alteration to form does indeed honor them, but serves no point of contact that breaches their world with our own. The context shifts like sand with the passage of time.
In extension of this, Mystery Schools are more concerned with particular initiates, drawn from miscellaneous sources, of re-incarnated souls seeking advancement and ultimately, enlightenment. Each will be initiates of differing levels, yet all sharing the same focus, bound by the same spiritual heritage, bestowed by angelic forces that designated this sacred gnosis to mankind aeons ago. It is opined that the keys to understanding the truth lay with the guardians of a Tradition, the discarnate ancestors and deific forms who benefit the next generation of spiritual heirs. So in reality, there exists a huge span of practice ranging from simple folk magic at one end of this spectrum, to quite sophisticated ceremonial magics, involving complex liturgies and angelic magics in the revelation of the divine mysteries, of life and initiatory death, involving communion, sacred sexuality and ascension.
Magic then, is best understood as a methodology of practice, religion as one of expression. Together they exemplify the true nature of beliefs and practices valued in both the ancient and modern worlds. If the Craft is to survive, it must re-align its praxes to avoid devolution into superstitions that are contrary to the principles of science in harmony with gnosis. As we evolve, we must do so from a point of Truth. There should be no guilt to tarnish the mantle of our inheritance. What we amend, we do to evolve in spirit, moving ever forward away from primitivisms, away from fear and superstition.
We must embrace the purpose, the meaning, and the essence of the force upon which the form rests, intrinsically, inherently, and energetically. Remember, we only borrow our legacy; it is loaned to us for a short period of time within the greater span of eternity. In that all too brief moment it is ours and we must make it so. We must re-unite the qualities of magic and religion, of spirituality and gnosis. This is how I believe the Craft will survive in the next century. It must draw nourishment from its roots, from all the magical traditions of mankind. It must embrace holism.
My answers have been drawn from Tubelo's Green Fire and my next book, The Arcane Veil, in which all these concepts are discussed at length.
Thank you again for agreeing to this interview, Shani. I'm sure that this has brought a new awareness of Clan Tubal Cain and Traditional Witchcraft to our readers.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In