The Legacy of Cain & Modern Saints

Cain - First born of Eve with Samael, beloved by Eve’s midwife Lilith

Cain - First Sorcerer and the beginning and end of all corruption by motion.

Cain - Mysterious child of Azazel, -spawned by Lilith and then given to Eve.  

Cain - Son of Lilith begotten through the light and seed of Adam, nursed and raised by Eve. Cain - Accursed son of Even begotten by the seed of Shemyaza

Cain - Nursed by Lilith, his mother and wife.

Cain - Ancestor of cymbals and tong who made the anvil and coals his throne

Cain - Man of Nod and Exile, forger of weapons and jewelry

Great Father of Beauty and Seduction

Are you not Legion and One?

Cain - Father of my Blood - my accursed ecstasy you are!

My Hand, Eye, Heritage and Land you are! Amen!

Cain and his pivotal role in the first murder and sacrifice are crucial and integral to the mystery of the worlds. In the apocryphical text The Penitence of Adam we read that the consummation of the fruit that gave knowledge of good and evil led to a rupture in the worlds and a crack in the cosmic fabric.  The consequence for mankind was the illusion of dualism caused by the rupture that fragmented our perception of the worlds and being. This was the beginning of seeing the poles of mutual support as counter to each other and not as complementary. This was the beginning of the need fire represented by Cain and how he by the fire of need gave his brother’s blood to the Mothers of the Earth. A sacrifice to the gods before mortal men…

From this primordial act so demonized and hated – and then again repeated by Jesus the Christ and Judas Iskariotes – vilified and demonized in same manner – we find the mystery of being and return bound into one. We find the mystery of betrayal and need flowing through the world like the axis that binds John of the Gospel and John the Baptist together in the apocalypse of the third John – of the Dragon - because the blood of the Dragon is at the heart of the mystery.

The Night of Otherness

“Define me – and I shall escape it…”

                                 - Liber Combusta

No matter how much we try to define what ‘witchcraft’ is it will still preserve its mystery – and I believe this is how we recognize the presence of the traditional pedigree that constitutes the witches’ arts and crafts.

At the core of what defines a witch we find the mark and the blood. No matter what continent we turn to we find that the icon of the witch is steeped in otherness. She or He is that which escapes definition and by this linguistic poverty the western tendency is to paint the witch with diabolic strokes and the ink of forgotten nights – and indeed; the witch is a child of night – because it is in the night – under the rule and breath of the Moon – that the ancient blood is quickened.

The idea of the witch or sorcerer being someone not of this world, something unruly, untamed and potentially destructive is found from Norway to Africa. We can exemplify this by the practice of the seidr, being an art practiced by the Volva – and commonly understood to be a knowledge possessed by the vanir Freya. Actually this is not true, Freya was taught these sorcerous arts by Hyrrokin or Heid who initiated her into these arts – and by this quickened Freya’s sorcerous blood. The blood in question here is the blood of Ymir, the first giant that was slaughtered and made into creation. The ‘witch’ or fjølkynnig was born from his sweat and blood - a pre titanic race from before the gods of mortal men. Likewise in Japan, China as well as Russia and Eastern Europe the witch and wizard is constantly linked with Dragons and falling stars – something other and outside the solar order. In the same fashion we find ‘witches’ in West Africa described in the corpus of Ifá to have entered the world by deception and trickery – but goes on to define their function in the world – which is one of night, calamity, mystery and birds of night...

In all these cultures the night-flight is a common theme, it be to rescue or damage crops, it be to heal or harm society. The night flight is possible because of the particular pedigree of the witch – it is a heritage and legacy many ascribe to Lord Cain and the fallen angelic host which sets the witch apart from the civic order. Because of this the ‘witch’ will always perceive the world differently, because witchcraft is a living dynamic interaction with the spirit denizens of the world, for good and for ill. This defies the solar order and it defies any profane attempt of making the volatile fixed. The Witches’ art rebels in face of the static, such as disconnected rehearsals of folklore and reenactment of pagan customs. Witchcraft in the traditional sense is a volatile dragon flying through the silver night. It is that other which is seen in the corner of your eye and the nocturnal embrace of that all otherness which calls the blood to quicken.  


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Cain and the Fire of the Pole Star

“… And his father’s fire was quickened in him & he became god and seed for the accursed race. The fire running like blood in the silence of night and time…”

- The Red Gospel

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Cain’s greatness and importance is not to be found in the lies of his heritage but in the divine blessing given on his brow, which can be equated with a particular form for instant awakening.  Cain’s awakening was the realization of his role in the world, a great task given to him as he realized who he was, whose blood pounded with purpose in his soul. 

In Cain a particular blood was found and this blood is popularly referred to as ‘witch blood’. The blood and the realization of one’s Fate mirror each other and for Cain his Fate was to be absence manifested. He had to be to one who marked the other and the one who moved and transformed the stillness of beginning so the world could have motion. By the first sacrifice, by blood flooding the earth the divine plan could be exacted. It is written that upon the first murder/sacrifice Cain was marked by god in a way that recalls how we mark stars in matter to be carried as talismans and amulets. 

Within the Flesh of Pomba Gira

Pomba Gira is more than just a coquettish spirit with a southern temperament, so much more than a Latin cousin of Lilith – she is the embodiment of all complex possibility we find in mortal woman. It is here in the field of flesh and soul merging with land and motion she finds herself in a constant flash of the spirit and inspires mankind by revealing the kingdoms of passion and blood as map for the route of self.

Her question is always; who are you - and she reads your answers in the ways you judge the world and yourself. She is the precaution in our wishes and desires, the danger of dreams becoming reality…

Like the Holy Spirit she is an intoxication that invites dreams and prophecy, like the legions of Venus under the embrace of Mercury himself she can provoke mastery of life or slavery to the passions that drive you mad and frantic with life.

How you see her is often how she sees you and from this a relationship is build on the premises you come to her temple with. I mean, if you perceive her as a slut made to serve your needs – it is a fair chance she will treat you as a slut for her needs. This is a factor quite important in the dealings with her and a point discussed quite sparingly in the meager literature about her since the early 70s. Perhaps this is caused by us, modern men and women of the triumphant west, approach the world as masters in the making with the god given power to subdue any spirit. We do wise in reflecting on why a spirit that can tear lives apart should respect you and yield to your call and murmur – or even listen to you if you do not feel the devotion burning in your heart, seeking congress.

Star Crossed Witches in the Garden of Circe

An interview with Shani Oates, Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain.

In the Isle of Albion midlands, in the shires around Derby that gave birth to D.H. Lawrence the landscape and taverns throbs in memories and history. As we walk the countryside Roman and Saxon remains abound everywhere as we walk the limestone caves at Cresswell Craggs where mound and hill is covered with archangels who drapes the landscape in celestial breath with their golden petals. Here we also find numerous burial mounds from the Bronze Age and quite a few stone circles. It is a magical land, vibrant with blood and memory. Derbyshire is also where the botanical genius Erasmus Darwin (yes, Charles’s grandfather) was born and founded here the Lunar Society and gave the world books like ‘The Botanic Garden’ and ‘The Temple of Nature’ – books many have unfortunately forgotten. This is also the haven of Shani Oates, the Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain – and it is here in the comfort of her own enchanted garden that we find some time to speak of her, art, visions and forthcoming books. 

Q: So far, you have published the acclaimed books, Tubelo’s Green Fire (this book will be published in Portuguese 2012) and The Arcane Veil on Mandrake of Oxford. Both books have been and continue to be praised as important contributions in the literature that discusses traditional witchcraft. Your new book, The Star Crossed Serpent, is quite different from your two earlier books as it is composed of articles both by you and Evan John Jones, could you tell me a bit about the background for this book and also tell me the reason for the book’s title?

Love in the Age of Ruins

“Unappreciated ability becomes devitalized, breeds a self-indulgent sickness—a self pity that suffers alone.” – Austin O. Spare

We live in a world where man’s dissatisfaction appears to be a chronic condition. Like wounded crows and tigers we ramble around in jungles of stainless steel and fear. In search of our voice and mind, in search of kindred of spirit and lost lovers we roam the nights and tunnels of this world in search for what affirms our beauty, grace and purpose.

A man or woman void of appreciation and purpose will eventually create a purpose; it be bound in lies or the knotted cords of Fate. If the purpose is being created from the ‘unappreciated ability’, the disease and suffering it breeds will of course be that most unfitting attribute of any sorcerer or sage, namely self-importance of the most boring kind. This way ward self importance often comes with a boastful and venomous tongue that tries to contaminate the world with its devitalizing venom.

FATHER SATURN, MOTHER MOON

On Robert Cochrane and the encounter with Fate

The bane that Cochrane chose for himself, and the ally he went away with can speak to us about the influence of Saturn and Moon in Cochranes life. He chose to go away tempered by Saturn and use the road of the Moon in the ally Belladonna. Maybe in the choice of ally to take him away to the Hidden Company we can understand more about Cochranes approach to the heart of the matter. The Circle of Tubal Cain and thus understand the magical polarities in his pellar craft, that he demonstrated in ways that seem to be odd as far as his ritual suicide is concerned. The polarities I have in mind are those between Chance or Fate and Wisdom (both in its female octave as well as its demanding form of the Horned Lord) as can be seen in the mysteries held within the realms of Tubal Cain and Lady Fortuna. 

There is a sixteenth-century French engraving that is striking in the case of Cochranes understanding of Fate as Goddess. In this engraving, depicted in Paul Husons book, we see Lady Fortuna sitting across Lady Wisdom (MOT: 37). Lady Fortuna is blindfolded, holding the wheel of humanity in her left hand. Lady Wisdom on the other hand carefully monitors the cosmos and make sure that her image is reflected within creation. Here symbolized by the proper symbol, the mirror, which she hold in her right hand. The Wheel of Fortune is under the dominion of Lady Fortuna and it need to be mirrored by wisdom, since Fate is conceived of as blind – or should one say, that her blindness forces humanity to open their eyes to the influence of Fate? It is my belief that Cochrane realized some profound teachings during the time of difficulty with Jane, which was used by Lady Fortuna and Lady Wisdom to tamper his soul and aspiration, to rejuvenate his soul if you will into a greater level of perfection and humbleness. This, I believe is how one should better view misfortune, as the lesson who tampers our soul into a better condition. One can get the impression that he simply gave up in the face of misfortune (or Miss Fortuna if you will) and searched for a way out with dignity. By searching in Cochranes own words there is perhaps possible to find a clue to this riddle and also extract a lesson.