If there were one thing I would say that needs to be given the most attention in one’s magical practice is the Art of Becoming.
When we cast our Circle and invite the Elements, in truth, they are already there. It is within ourselves that we must become those Elements to feel their presence in our Circle.
Because of this, we need to spend time studying them.
My students are required to study one Element at a time – for one season – Fire in the Summer, Water in the Fall, Earth in the Winter, and Air in the Spring.
They identify Elements by sight, by sound, by taste, in hearing them and in feeling them, and then they embody them.
They sit with plants. The sit under trees and ask the trees to share their stories. They hold stones. They burn herbs to learn how those herbs affect them.
They journey with them to learn what they are willing to share.
And they record all of this in the journals.
Once this is done, they then learn to project these energies out to others.
It is the same when you are aspecting a Goddess or a God – you must become Them.
The only way to do that is to first know Them, not just from books and other references, but from your own personal experience as you embody Them.
In my own healing method, which I call Annym Billagh (the spirit of trees), one learns the healing energies of trees by becoming those trees, by feeling their energy and projecting it for healing.
When a member of a Native American tribe dances an animal, he is not just imitating that animal he is becoming the animal in the dance.
When a dancer wishes to portray an image in her dance, she must become that image.
When an artist paints, he first learns what it is he wishes to paint.
He learns so well that what he wants to paint becomes a part of him and then it is moved onto the paper.
When an actor portrays a character on the stage or on film, she must first become that character.
So it is in a magical practice.
When we have a desire, when we wish something to be in our lives, we must feel it, we must see it we must be in that state to manifest it in the world of form. We must become our desire.
Let’s look briefly at Frigga.
If you are familiar with the Goddess Frigga, you know that She sits within Her hall and spins thread for the Norns to weave into the great tapestry of life. She never reveals what is in the thread She spins, but if you have come to know Her, you can tell Her of your dreams and ask Her to spin them into the thread of our life, if She will.
Frigga’s thread is the substance of becoming. You can ask for Her thread and once you have it, you can take it and shape it, and manifest what is to come in your life.
The same is true of Verdandi, one of the Norns, whose name means “being–in–becoming.”
If you are familiar with the stories of how the Gaels settled Ireland, you will have heard of Amergin, Amergin, son of Mile, the great Druid of the Milesians. One of the ways that Druids worked their Magic was by “becoming”, or by actually changing reality. A classic example of this ability is found within “The Song of Amergin”, by the Druid who led the Gaels in defeating the Tuatha de Danann.
Hear now his song, called The Mystery,
I am a stag of seven tines,
I am a wide flood on a plain,
I am a wind on the deep waters,
I am a shining tear of the sun,
I am a hawk on a cliff,
I am fair among the flowers,
I am a god who sets the head afire with smoke,
I am a battle-waging spear,
I am a salmon in the pool,
I am a hill of poetry,
I am a ruthless boar,
I am a threatening noise of the sea,
I am a wave of the sea,
Who but I know the secrets of the unhewn dolmen?
I am the womb of every holt,
I am the blaze on every hill,
I am the queen of every hive,
I am the shield for every head,
I am the tomb of every hope.
Amergin was not just speaking of these experiences. He knew what they were for he had “become” each of them. He had embodied them. By having embodied them, he could harness the powers of the land of Ireland, and claim it for the Gaels.
Here is some more mythology that we can learn from.
Let me quote……
“I am Manannan, son of Ler, King of the Land of Promise; and to see the Land of Promise was the reason I brought thee hither …
The fountain which thou sawest, with the five streams out of it, is the Fountain of Knowledge, and the streams are the five senses through which knowledge is obtained.
And no one will have knowledge who drinketh not a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams.”
“The Salmon of Knowledge is also the Salmon of Wisdom whose home is the Well of Segais. (Shigish)
The Well of Segais is the Otherworld source of the Boyne. (Boy-na)
It is a deep pool, surrounded by the Nine Hazels of Inspiration.
The Hazel nuts ripen and fall into the pool where the Salmon eats them.
She cracks their shells, which stain the waters of the well purple.
The empty shells float off, down the five streams that flow from the Well of Segais. (Shi-Gish)
The five streams are the five senses through which we perceive the world.
It is said that one may never be wise until one has drunk from the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish) and from each of the five streams.”
So, from this, I know that I must experience through all of who I am, through all my senses which must be open.
These are the Five Senses …
Seeing
Hearing
Touching
Feeling
Smelling
There is another pool called the Well of Conla. It is much like the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish) except that seven streams flow from the Well of Conla.
Celtic traditions sometimes speak of humans as having seven senses:
seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, speaking, and thinking.
As with the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish), none may become wise until one has drunk deeply from the Well of Conla and the seven streams.
These words became from Amergin’s “imbas” as he stepped upon the shores of Ireland after the Gaels had overcome the winds raised by the De Danann.
They mark the beginnings of the battle for the sovereignty of the Land. Amergin has claimed the elements of Ireland for himself and his people. It is an example of the way a Druid would work. It smacks of Otherworldly wisdom and power over the elements, in much the same way that a Shaman would work.
Amergin is “becoming” … these elements. As a Druid poet, he is one with the elements. He is synchronizing himself with the spirit that controls these items. It is a series of symbols. It can be viewed metaphorically. But the fact is, it got results!
The wind died and the Gaels landed on Ireland to claim its sovereignty. The lesson in all of this and my message to you, is this…
While it is important to read, study and to learn all you can, it is also vitally important that you spend as much time as you can be learning how to “be” those things that are around you.
You can do magic, you can do ritual all day long and unless you “become” those things you wish to invite in your Circle, or those things you wish to manifest in your magic, or those gods and goddesses you wish to work with, you must first, become them.
