Aranahk

One thing that has been a puzzlement to me, is Arduina talking about Mama Erta, a Mother-Earth Goddess She says She worshipped and served "when She was a Priestess." It always made me wonder what She meant. How was She once a Priestess, but now a Goddess? A possible answer has come from two places.

One, is something I've mentioned before the similarities between the words "Sorgitsak" in Vaska as the Gods have taught it to us, and "Sorginak" in modern Basque. As was stated then, "...it is deemed unclear by scholars whether 'Sorginak' refers to actual, physical Witches, or mythological beings. This is significant, because Sorgitsak, Witches who practice Sorgae 'Craft, are considered a race of Fae. So Sorgitsak are both physical, practicing Witches, and 'fabled beings.' We are the Fae of Will, in that we are the vehicles of Divine Will on this plane of existence." I doubt it is a point of any contention that Arduina was/is a Sorginak/Sorga. So from there stems the conflation between Priestess and Goddess; She is both human and so-called "mythological being" Who served an Earth Goddess.

However, that still begs the question of how this is at all possible. Aside from the assertion of Sorgae 'Craft that Witches are also Fae, I'll let a quote from the novel Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny address that issue:

Godhood is more than a name. It is a condition of being. One does not achieve it merely by being immortal, for even the lowliest laborer in the fields may achieve continuity of existence. […] Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing your name spoken. […] Being a god is being able to recognize within one’s self these things that are important, and then strike the single note that brings them into alignment with everything else that exists. Then, beyond morals or logic or esthetics, one is wind or fire, the sea, the mountains, the rain, the sun or the stars, the flight of an arrow, the end of a day, the clasp of love. One rules through one’s ruling passions. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, ‘He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love.’ […] they do not call themselves gods. Everyone else does, though, everyone who beholds them.

Arduina is a Goddess because we (and presumably someone, somewhere, before us), recognized Her as one. Just as Deity names being agreed upon by consensus between Witches and Gods, so too is the very condition of Her Godhood. She is a Goddess, because we name Her as such, and She does not object.

This post serves as a basic go-to for the various Elemental Beings and Fae we've thus far learned of in our Sorgae explorations. The title is but one of them. We'll start though, in the East.

I've already written about the Hurralya, the Beings of Air. Also in the East are the Hostarak, the Beings of Knowledge.

In the South are the Seiralya, Beings of Fire, and Sorgitzak, Beings of Will.

The West is home to the Keriosak, Being of Daring, and the Uartalya, Beings of Water.

Finally, in the North, the Itlasak are the Beings of Silence, and the Ertalya arez the Beings of Earth.

Many other systems have Elemental Beings as well, such as Sylphs, Salamanders, Undines, and Gnomes. A book series I've read had Djinn, Dragons, Selkies, and Gargoyles.

We don't yet know much about most of the Sorgae Elemental Beings, but thus far the Hurralya, Keriosak, and Sorgitzak have been most important.

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.

"Most Pagan systems acknowledge the importance of the cardinal directions, North, East, South and West. The Sorgae system adds the midpoints between the directions; Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest."

The above is quoted from a piece my High Priestess wrote about the Directions, and their associated Elements and Powers in Sorgae 'Craft. I plan to include that in next week's post dedicated to the Elements, as it is a very cohesive thing. So instead of editing and abridging the piece, I'm going to talk about "assigned" Directions.

Just as Sorgae Deities are associated with specific Directions, so are Sorgae Witches. Thus far, this has happened in ritual via Channeling. That is, Deity has informed us of our Directional associations.

All Sorgae Witches are automatically associated with the South, as it is the Direction of Will, and we are the vehicles for the Gods' Will on this plane. Each Witch is also associated with the Direction that corresponds to their Western Astrological Sun sign. In my case, that puts me West, since I am a Scorpio, which is a Water sign, and Water is in the West (again, more on the Elements next week).

However, I have also been told that I am "of the West and North," which indicates the arc from West itoi North, and therefore includes Northwest. So, to sum up, I am South, double West, North, and Northwest. Some Witches, however, are only given one Direction from Deity, not three as I was.

So when I say that a God or Goddess is "mine," I mean that They are associated with one of those three Directions (for reference, They are Kur and Ariadne in the West, Goh'len and Hekate in the Northwest, and Ianos and Arduina in the North). Though perhaps it is more accurate to say I am Theirs, as I do feel very much Owned by and Devoted to Them.

Otherwise, I am not entirely clear on what function these "assignments" serve yet. Perhaps it will mean I am most adept at Channeling those Goddesses, and understanding the messages of those Gods. Or that the Powers of those Directions are best made manifest through me.

As a fun sort of joke, my High Priestess recently bought me this shirt, part of the product line for the upcoming movie, "Oz, the Great and Powerful."

( Click the image for full view )

A final thought; I felt a personal pang of disappointment when I was not assigned Southeast, as I felt (and still feel) a deep connection with Atamenoch in that Direction. However, His Priestess (the South Goddess, Salonshai) asked me directly to keep a place for Him in my heart, and I've since realized that my placement in Northwest sets me up to look towards Him across the Circle. And I plan to, with all the love and adoration I can muster.

Appropriately, my first PBP post is about the Goddess who first made contact. Here is the "official" blurb for Her:

"North Goddess – Arduina (ard-WEEN-a) - identified with pentacles and the Altar and the now-extinct cave bear, Ursus Spelaeus. She claims to be from Old Europe, from the Ardennes, whose center is “Duna” - the Danube River. She speaks using the pre-Roman names for various areas and countries, in a language She calls Vaska."

Arduina is one of "my" Goddesses, as I was told I was associated with West, Northwest, and North (more on that in another post). But even before this, before I knew anything about Sorgae, for years I had an enormous She-Bear visit me in meditations. I called Her "Grandmother." Now I realize that it was likely Arduina.

I've met Arduina (via Channeling) a few times in ritual. She is warm and welcoming, and always glad to visit with we Witches. Though She always wants more infa, more babies. One of Her symbols is a pentacle, and rivers to Her are very important. Being the North Goddess, Her Element is Earth.

( Art )
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My Coven is gradually building a website about Sorgae 'Craft, which can be found at Aranakh.org. As it is a revealed system, are far from knowing everything about this 'Craft and its Gods, and so what I write here will be my own personal impressions and experiences.