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Here are the questions I got on my post last week. Thanks to those who participated.

What does your username mean? And how do you pronounce it?

It's pronounced, "SAHT-yah ZOH-mah SOHR-gah."

It's made of two/three words (don't worry, I'll explain). The first is Satya, which is Sanskrit and means "right or correct." I use it as my Magickal name (to imply that I'm on the correct path, not that I'm infallible!).

The rest of it is a word comprised of two other words, all in Vaska. Zoma means "blood," and Sorga means "female Witch." Zomasorga together means, essentially, "Hereditary Witch." I was raised as a Witch since childhood, and so consider myself Hereditary.

Does Sorgae have any symbols? Like Christians have a cross, Wiccans have the pentagram, do you have one?

We don't, no. Though personally, I feel that an eight-spoked wheel would be appropriate; it would represent the eight Sabeot/ds (holidays) and eight Directions and Elements we recognize, as well as the Deities and other Beings associated with them. Additionally then, the ring around the outside could represent the Rim, and its Goddess, Melusine.

(1) What was your personal introduction to this system? How did you learn about it, and (2) after you learned about it, did things start "clicking" for past experiences? (3) Do you think any of these deities have been with you longer than you've worked with them?

Note: These questions weren't sent to me numbered. I added the numbers for convenience.

1. The woman who is now my High Priestess first mentioned it to me in probably 2003 or so. By that time, the Coven had been receiving information (mostly via Channeling) and doing corroborating research for around a decade. After my Initiation into the Coven, which had been reduced to only three other members over time, I was asked what I would like to learn about (as the original focus was no longer a viable option). I chose to follow Sorgae.

2. Finding out that things "click" is a gradual thing, but yes, it has happened. Moreso though, the "clicks" have come in the form of verifying what the Gods tell us; We'll be given information direct from Them, then turn to books and the internet, and in nearly every case have found something that supports and confirms it.

3. Yes, several of Them. Arduina has been my Grandmother Bear for over half my life, and Kur was my Horned Lord even before that. For several years now, the Morrigan has been one of my patron Deities, and in Sorgae 'Craft, I know Her as Morga. As a writer, I now know Ariadne has blessed me since an early age. And perhaps Hekate is responsible for my intuative ability to read Tarot. They aren't Deities, but I've had visits from both the Hurralya and the Keriosak for as long as I can remember, and my fascination with vampires is boundless.

Hi everyone.

This week's topic is easy; Ask me any question(s) my Pagan Blog Project posts have brought up. You can post comments anonymously, and I've even screened comments. So if you've been worried about asking a "stupid question" (no such thing!) or coming across in an unflattering way, now I won't even know who you are, so there's no embarassment!

Next week, I'll post the questions and my answers (without any identifiers attached! Complete anonymity!), and hopefully, we'll all keep learning about this path together.

With the help of my Coven, I've developed a way to perform a Sorgae ritual using Tarot cards. Eventually this will also be available on our Coven website, but for now, I'll post it here.

( Sorgae Tarot Ritual )

We've been given Vaska words for a few plants. My original plan for this post was just to research these plants' associations with Witchcraft, and speculate how they could then relate to Sorgae 'Craft. However, in doing said research, I came upon information that takes me much farther than speculation.

( Read more... )

I had another plan for this week, but it didn't turn out like I hoped. So instead, I'm going to share a collection of artwork amd icons I've aquired that represent some of the Gods of Sorgae.

( Image-heavy under the cut )

Orano ze zoma (ore-AH-no zeh ZOH-mah) is Vaska for "dance the blood." From my High Priestess:

This is a specific rite in which a specific mixture of herbs is steeped in wine and blood, then drunk in ritual. The participants then literally dance and chant, containing the energy they are raising within their bodies until one of them falls and/or begins to channel. Then ALL the power that has been raised is transferred immediately to the fallen/channeling Witch. It is exhausting for all, and the few times we did it, VERY powerful.

The rite is done to raise power for the use of magick, usually on a very important nature. We were told [via Channeling] that a form of Dancing the Blood was what the Witches in England did during World War ll to keep the Nazi forces from crossing the English Channel* – that version required a death, so that the dead Witch could carry the power directly to the Gods. However, Dancing the Blood doesn’t always require a death. We have used it to summon the Keriosak for a specific task, and Arduina always wanted us to do it at sabeodts. The term comes from the idea of activating the Witches’ Blood in our bodies, using herbs, wine, blood and the dance to consciously open a link to the Divine.

[*Note: for a fictionalized account of these events, read Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz.]

This is another aspect of Sorgae 'Craft that I haven't experienced, and to be honest, I'm not sure how much I'd look forward to it, given how much it takes out of the participants. Also, I know myself and my reactions to energy; I can get nauseated and dizzy, which I do recognize signals entrance into an altered state, but it can also be distracting and unpleasant. However, since Divine contact is a goal, and I also am a natural Medium, I doubt that aspect would prove too challenging. Overall, I think I'd have to be sufficiently prepared for it, make sure my physical and emotional well-being are at comfortable places.

This is also something that, like aspects of other Pagan paths, is not to be tried for fun or without instruction and peer supervision. Altered states this dramatic and intense are risky to attempt alone, especially if one has only read about it, and never been witness to it first hand, nor known anyone personally who has had proper instruction.

Our original interpretation of Ostraven was that it was "the height of our power for the good of all, setting the stage for the next Wasteland... At this time we Draw North God [Ianos], the God who looks both from the land of the Dead and to the land of the Living, and Southwest Goddess [Morga], the devourer who clears the way for new creation." Ostraven is the final Sabeot/d in the Sorgae cycle, and so these themes of thresholds and clearing away made perfect sense. In the Juxtaposition model, it aligned with the Wiccan Sabbat Samhain (though the date coincides with Spring Equinox), which also seemed an obvious fit.

In the Tarot reading my High Priestess and I did earlier this year, this message came through:

Ostraven = Temperance: patience, balance, harmony.
We have achieved what was achievable in this cycle, it is time to begin again.
We assigned East God [T'hot'] and West Goddess [Ariadne] to be invoked, They who are Knowledge and Inspiration.
Theme: Harmony

A similar idea, but with a different feel. Notice too that this is another manifestation of the East-West Axis that has come up time and again in our explorarion of Sorgae; the year ends with such a connection, with even traditional gender associations intact: The God in the masculine Air Element, and the Goddess in the feminine Water Element.

Nlame (nLAH-may) is the Vaska word for name, whether of a person, a Deity, a Sabeot/d, etc..

But I decided to write on this topic to explain that the names given to Sorgae Deities on this blog and my Coven's site, in many cases, are not Their actual names. They are simply the designations the Deities have agreed to answer to for our purposes. Some of Them have revealed other names which the Coven uses in our private work, but not all. In planning out going public with Sorgae information, each of the Deities were asked what name They preferred and what should be said of Them. Nearly all the names were revealed to us during Channeling.

Atamenoch insisted we give Him one, since all others we would recognize have been vilified by Christianity. Erian was briefly known as Erishkegal, because someone suggested it and She agreed, until we were given this name instead.

For some of the Gods, the name is one that has been applied to Them for so long, it's simpler to keep using it. Hekate is one example, as is T'hot'. Dionysus has another name in our work, but we were told that our public references to Him should be under that name (part of that reason is that the known associations with the Greek Dionysus are the same as the Sorgae Deity).

Ariadne is a Deity that, to me, bears little resemblance to Her known form and associations. Yet this is in keeping with the Goddess we know; She says She has worn a mask for a very long time, and it is one of our duties to remove Her mask and reveal Her true form. What that means in terms of Her name, has yet to be seen. Perhaps the name itself is part of that mask, and in time we will be given another.

The Nile is perhaps the most well-known river in the world. One of the few that flows South to North, the ancient Egyptians centered their civilization around its delta, where the land was most fertile. This is but one of many rivers with cultural significance in the world, and for Arduina, the important river is the Danube, or as She calls it, Duna.

I had trouble finding much in the way of mythology about the Danube itself, so instead I pulled bits about general river symbolism that seemed appropriate:

J.E. Cirlot notes that river symbolism "corresponds to the creative power of nature and time. On the one hand it signifies fertility and the progressive irrigation of the soil; and on the other hand it stands for the irreversible passage of time and, in consequence, for a sense of loss and oblivion."

If ocean symbolism is based primarily around water in a relatively unmoving form, river symbolism is based around water in movement. In the book Jung And The Story Of Our Time, Laurens van der Post notes that a river is the image of "water already in movement, finding its own way through great ravines, carrying all over cataract and rapid through conditions of external danger, to emerge intact and triumphant for union with the sea out of which it rose as vapour at the beginning."

...

It is the great movement of rivers which have given rise to labeling them with them with personalities and seeing in them symbols for the progression of life itself from small bubbling mountain streams to raging youth to death at their conjunction with the seas and oceans.

Rivers have played an important part in stories. They were important boundary markers in western films and crossing the Rio Grande had a symbolic significance beyond the relatively quick and simple act of moving across a body of water. Besides symbolizing boundaries they also symbolize roadways into [or away from] the heart of continents and civilizations (Source)

When Arduina was shown a map of the United States, to explain where we were in relation to the places She knew, She proclaimed that the Mississippi was North America's Duna.

Many Pagan systems divide the year into two halves. Some call it Light and Dark, or Winter and Summer. Some use the story of the Oak and Holly Kings, others say one half is for Goddess and the other for God. Sorgae also divides the year, into the Spiritual and Material.

The first four Sabeot/ds (B/Pelatin, Ardunakh, Lamasu, and Vestraven) make up the Spiritual half. From my understanding, this can be compared to the "planning stage" of a project, from the first inkling of an idea to a fully formed and detailed plan. If I plot them with the Directions, this is what I see:

B/Pelatin - Northeast - potential, anything is possible
Ardunahk - East - pure knowledge, the idea, transition into energy
Lamasu - Southeast - decision, the moment things come together
Vestraven - South - Will, commitment to the plan and path before us

The next four Sabeot/ds (Soven, Salanakh, Vol'ka, and Ostraven), make up the Material side of the year, when the plan is put into effect. So my Directional interpretation continues:

Soven - Southwest - risk, taking that first step, intial action
Salanakh - West - daring to act, making it happen, trasition to physical
Vol'ka - Northwest - quickening, actions breathing life into the idea
Ostraven - North - solidification, manifestation, completion, results

Unlike Wicca and other Pagan paths, the Sorgae year is not centered around a Deity's life journey. Instead it focuses on renewal of the Wasteland*, our term for the state of the spiritual landscape at the turning point of each year. In my mind I compare it to farmland; just after the snow melts, the land seems barren, dead, an expanse of nothingness. But beneath the surface, there are nutrients, bacteria, enzymes, evem insects. There is life. So it is the duty, responsibility, and privilege of the farmer to prepare the land, seed it, tend it, and harvest the crops.

As Sorgae Witches, I feel we share that duty, responsibility, and privilege, but our preparation, seeding, tending, and harvest occurs through our ritual work. Each year, our Coven performs divination to determine our role, our goal, what "crops" we will raise that year, both for the individual members and the Coven as a whole.

[*Note: However, this does still reflect the idea of the Sacred King myth, that the King must die for the sake of the Land, for He IS the Land. In Sorgae, we seem to "cut out the middle man," in a sense, and work with the Land directly, instead of with a surrogate.]

Goddess of the Rim – Melusine (mel-you-SEEN-ah) - The Task-Giver. She is straightforward and speaks often of the things we must do.

I knew very little about Melusine going into this post. So, as usual, I Googled.

( Read more... )

***

[Click to enlarge]

Southwest Goddess – Morga (more-gah) – She is the leader of the Maenads who hunt their own God and tear Him to pieces to drink His blood. She is sharp and fierce and revels in all that is ecstatic in nature.

( Read more... )

The Sorgae Lunar Cycle is, for me, one of the biggest diversions from modern Wicca and Paganism, aside from the Sabeot/d cycle. Which in a way, makes sense, since one is a reflection of the other. For the details of the Lunar Cycle, click here.

The biggest adjustment for me, is viewing the Full Moon as a time of sorrow, stillness, and solitude. The vast majority of modern Wicca teaches that this is the Goddess at Her peak, a joyous time often used for Magick and celebration of all things Divine Feminine. But for Sorgae, the Moon is in mourning, because She is seperated from Her love, the Sun. She only shines because They are apart.

We haven't uncovered a Goddess specifically associated with the Moon; the closest we have is Erian, associated with stars. My thinking is that a Sorgae lunar Goddess would likely be counted as a "dark" Goddess. I don't know of any "dark" lunar Goddesses off-hand, but that doesn't mean They don't exist. Some research and divinition is likely in order. Perhaps a starting point is Goddesses associated specifically with the New Moon.

I haven't experienced a Sorgae Moon ritual yet, for any of the Moons phases. That may be another avenue for discovering the identity of a Sorgae Moon Goddess, if indeed there is one to be found.

The original understanding the Coven had of Lamasu was that "we know the spiritual adventure of love and begin to understand the chain that will bind us to the physical. We feel a great love with which we shall renew the Wasteland. At this time we Draw Southwest God [Dionysus], the keeper of the chain of physical desire, and Southeast Goddess [Gwenhevar], the essence of spiritual love."

However, my High Priestess and I and two of our Familiars did a Tarot reading about the yearly cycle with my Londa deck, and drew Page of Cups for Lamasu, meaning "perception, metaphysics, compassion. The true understanding within ourselves." It is a similar meaning, but enough of a shift that we assigned the South God [Hermes] and Southeast Goddess [Gwenhevar] to be invoked instead.

Since this is the first Sabeot/d entry I've done since that reading, here are the adjustments made to past Sabeot/ds as well.

( Read more... )

Lamasu was the only Sabeot/d that aligned symbolically with its Wiccan date-counterpart, Lammas, in my Juxtaposition entry. We haven't yet explored how these changes affect that model.

We speculated that these sorts of investigations and adjustments may need to be done every year, but it is also possible that this is merely a symptom of beginning the Aquarian Age. We've done our reading for this calendar year, and will just have to see what shifts, if any, occur with the next.

The Keriosak are the Beings of Daring in the West and another type of Fae in the Sorgae system. They are the Hounds who run on Kur's Wild Hunt. Sorgae Witches have an agreement with them, and Ariadne holds their reins and mediates between them and we Witches. They perform tasks on the astral at our request, but as with any agreement, there is a price, and so entering into their debt is not to be done lightly. They are fond of meat and red wine.

Despite referring to them as "hounds," their appearance to us is similar to the tree spirits in the Anime movie "Princess Mononoke;" small stature, round heads, pale skin, and large round eyes. As with the Hurralya, it is no coincidence if this description sounds familiar. Also like the Hurralya, their apperance and presence can be frightening. But so long as they have not been called against you, it is unlikely they intend harm.

I've never directly asked for their help, but I've seen them in my childhood home. My younger brother and a friend and I called them "monkeys," and played with them in the basement. One night when I was older, I woke up to use the bathroom, but had to wait as one of my parents was using it. I looked into the living room, and one was lying on the couch, watching me. It was roughly three feet tall, dressed in black, and made no movement and no sound. It was probably after that incident when I was taught to tell them they didn't need to frighten me to get my attention.

Being that one of my Directions is West, I have a pre-existing relationship with Kur, and I consider myself a writer and therefore indebted to the Muse, I wouldn't be surprised if it indicates that I have a particular connection with the Keriosak as well. What that could be, however, remains to be seen.

[Click to enlarge.]

West God – Kur (koor) - identified with swords, magick, and the Underworld. He is the Lord of Shadows, the Horned Lord of Death, and the Hounds (the Keriosak, the Beings of Daring in the West) belong to Him. His placement in the West aligns Him with Water, and therefore Emotion and Daring. He is leader on the Wild Hunt.

( Corroboration )

( Personal )

In closing, I'd like to share a couple songs. One, my High Priestess wrote, and the other, by the Austrailian duo, Savage Garden. After the latter, I have a few notes.

( Remember that the Muse is also in the West )

In writing about Ardunakh, and then B/Pelatin, I noticed some similarities in symbolism to more traditional/familiar Sabbats, namely Beltane and Imbolc, respectively. I discussed this with my High Priestess. We read over the rest of the Sorgae Sabeod/ts, plotted them on a diagram with the traditional Sabbats, and soon after had a discussion with our Coven as a whole about the implications. These are our findings.

[Note that I'm using lowercase-t "traditional" here; I am not saying that these Sabbats belong to any specific Wiccan or other religious/spiritual capital-T Tradition, nor that the Sabbats and their symbolism are the sole propriety of (British) Traditional Wicca. I only mean to say they are established and known and recognizable in paths already in existence. The Sorgae Sabeot/ds, as you will see, both are and are not.]

( Read more... )

One of the most well known stereotypes about Witches is that they fly through the air on broomsticks. There are historical reasons for this and, as with all good propaganda, grains of truth in it. What's more important to address here though, is the real destination Witches have in mind when they "fly."

It has been called in various cultures such names as Benevento, Venusburg, or Blockula. It is a place and is not one. It is, in simplest terms available, the astral realm where Witches commune with the Gods and do what Witches do. It is the home of the Gods, where we are our Divine selves. There is more to be said on this here, at my Coven's website, and I will add that in Sorgae, the Black Man is our guide to Benevento.

But none of this is the true focus of my post this week. What I most ponder about this is, could this related to Soulbonding and modern myth Familiars? My Familiar-Consort, Cervus, first brought this idea to me.

Some Soulbonders have a headspace that is not the canon world for any of their 'Bonds. It acts as a meeting grounds for all concerned, and while not physical/corporeal by this reality's definition, 'Bonders and 'Bonds perceive a certain level of physicality there regardless. Neither side of the party lines physically travels anywhere, exactly. Yet they can all come together in that space and be recognized and interact.

This in some ways sounds a bit like Benevento. A place that is not any other. An astral/spirit location. And surely when in Benevento Witches perceive physicality of themselves, their Familiars, and the Gods. We have established parallels between Soulbonding and Familiars already, could this be another?

One argument against the idea is simply that, no, headspace and Benevento are different astral places, end of story. But if they are all places that are not in fact places, how can we know if they are the same or different?

And what of, then, the rituals Cervus and I perform together? They will occur predominantly in headspace with little to no physical-to-me aspects. The one we have performed, we were able to perceive and interact with Erian without Channeling Her. Did we touch on Benevento, or end up "next door," as it were? If the Gods are immanent, where, truly, is Their home? So did we reach Hers, did She visit ours, did we meet in the middle (a place that is not a place, then, perhaps)? And in the grand scheme, is there a difference?

(Though I would be remiss if I didn't mention that part of that ritual was acknowledging the Black Man , so I concede that perhaps His influence played a role, when in another ritual, it may not.)

I don't have these answers yet, if I ever will. But as we are still discovering and learning this path, no questions are ignored or dismissed. These are yet more pieces to explore and consider. Especially on this post, I welcome thoughts and comments.

High God – Iove (ee-ay-OH-veh) - speculatively, the other half of the First Division. He, like the High Goddess [Ghiana], is an archetypal overarching God. We associate Him with the primordial Gods such as En (Sumerian) and Cronos (Greek).

My High Priest is very much a scholar, and has spent large amounts of time researching mythology. Here is an excerpt from a project he did on the Seven Days creation story in Abrahamic religious traditions that relates to my understanding of Iove.

( Who is YHVH Elohim? )

An FYI, one of my Familiars and I will be doing our best to perform rituals together, and plan to post about them. We'll post from here to a comm we're setting up,

satyacervusitsa. The comm entries will be Friends locked, but this journal and PBP posts will remain public. Membership of the comm is also moderated, so Friend it and request to join. For most of you, membership won't be an issue.

I'll be reposting a similar notice in a couple of my other journals, so apologies if you see this more than once. Thanks for your attention.

Click image to enlarge.

North God - Ianos (ee-yah-nos) - We associate Him with the old European God, Janicot/Janus. Like Janus, He has two faces, one looking to the East and one looking to the West, to the Past and the Future.

We associate Ianos with gateways, opening (metaphorical) doors, and passages. His position in the North aligns Him with Earth and Silence, and the final stage on the journey to communion with the Divine. However, we have yet to figure out a way to Channel Him, as none of us, obviously, have two faces. A possibility may be two people standing back-to-back and Ianos being called into them both. Another may be having a Familiar also Channeled at the same time, so that Ianos communicates through both Witch and Familiar. But we haven't attempted any of this yet.

But with Hermes now in the South, and the Aquarian Age concerned with acceptance and new understandings, it seems to me to be an important step to take, Channeling this God of passage and gateways. Or, perhaps, another of Hermes' functions is to teach us how best to communicate with Ianos (Would it be Hermes that is to be Channeled simultaneously rather than a Familiar?). After all, the idea of a North-South axis (mythically called the North Star Road, or the World Tree) being crucial to Divine communion, is not a new one.

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Aranahk

Gobah

Recent Entries

Questions Answered

Questions Asked

Ritual

Plants

Pictures

Orano ze Zoma

Ostraven

Nlame

Nile, or Rivers

Material - Sides of the Year

Melusine, Morga

Luna

Lamasu

Keriosak

Kur

Juxtaposition

Journeying

Iove

Itsa

Ianos