Rethinking The Watchtowers
RE-THINKING THE WATCHTOWERS
or
13 Reasons Air should be in the North
INTRODUCTION
It all started 20 years ago. I was 16 years old then, and a recent
initiate to the religion of Wicca. Like most neophytes, I was eager to
begin work on my Book of Shadows, the traditional manuscript liturgical
book kept by most practicing Witches. I copied down rituals, spells,
recipes, poems, and tables of correspondences from every source I could lay
hands on. Those generally fell into two broad catagories: published works,
such as the many books available on Witchcraft and magic; and unpublished
works, mainly other Witches' Books of Shadows.
Twenty years ago, most of us were "traditonal" ...
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rubrics and do the
rituals as prescribed.
But something brought me to an abrupt halt in my copying frenzy. I
had dutifully copied rituals from different sources, and suddenly realized
they contained conflicting elements. I found myself comparing the two
versions, wondering which one was "right", "correct", "authentic",
"original", "older", etc. This gave rise to the more general questions
about where a ritual came from in the first place. Who created it? Was it
created by one person or many? Was it ever altered in transmission? If so,
was it by accident or intent? Do we know? Is there ever any way to find
out? How did a particular ritual get into a Coven's Book of Shadows? From
another, older, Book of Shadows? Or from a published source? If so, where
did the author of the published work get it?
I had barely scratched the surface, and yet I could already see that
the questions being raised were very complex. (Now, all these years later,
I am more convinced ...
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South = Fire, West = Water.
Then where the heck did I get the idea that Air belonged in the North?
After much thought, I remembered having copied my own elemental/directional
associations from another Witch's Book of Shadows, her Book representing
(so she claimed) an old Welsh tradition. Perhaps I'd copied it down wrong?
A quick long-distance phone call put my mind at ease on that score. (When I
asked her where she'd gotten it, she said she THOUGHT it was from an even
older Book of Shadows, but she wasn't certain.)
By now, I felt miffed that my own traditon seemed to be at variance
with most published sources. Still, my own rituals didn't seem to be
adversely affected. ...
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Rethinking The Watchtowers. (2008, December 15). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rethinking-The-Watchtowers/94674
"Rethinking The Watchtowers." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 15 Dec. 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rethinking-The-Watchtowers/94674>
"Rethinking The Watchtowers." Essayworld.com. December 15, 2008. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rethinking-The-Watchtowers/94674.
"Rethinking The Watchtowers." Essayworld.com. December 15, 2008. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rethinking-The-Watchtowers/94674.
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