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Special Tools With Special Names by MidnightBlue Many people have an appreciation of mythology, be it Greek, Native American, Norse or one of many others. These myths sometimes educate, inspire, teach and entertain us. Many of us even have a particular myth that we associate with some aspect of our lives, some even base their spiritual/religious traditions on mythology. People have been known, not infrequently, to use names from various myths as their own, sometimes as a nickname, sometimes in an e-mail address, sometimes as their secret, magickal, or ritual name. Within some cultures and mythologies it is thought that to know the true name of a person or a thing, is to have power over that person or thing, or to have the named become a part of yourself, and you a part of it. Now within various mythologies it is not unusual to find objects, special mystical or magickal objects which have their own name. For example Thors hammer, known as Mjollnir, or King Arthurs sword Excalibur. It seems to me that the naming of objects, special objects, objects of great power or importance, lends them an even more special quality, almost a personality, and makes our relationship to those objects more personal, powerful and magickal. So with these ideas in mind of why objects are sometimes given special individual names, I find myself wondering why we as readers of mythology, occultists, magicians, Pagans etc. don`t, as far as I am aware, name our magickal tools. Why don`t we give our ritual space or altar a special name? Why don`t our magickal diaries and books of shadows have their own names? I believe that it would be a simple matter to "borrow" the name of a mythological tool or object and use it for our own personal tool. If you own a sword, why not call it Excalibur? If you have a representation of Thors hammer, why not call it Mjollnir? Or perhaps, for those willing to take the time and put forth the effort, make up your own name for your athame or cauldron using all the symbolism and description that you can squeeze into a name. Lets face it Sanctum Cæruleus Altaria sounds like a very special place (Yes I`m just guessing at the grammar for these examples), and Iso Sininen Kuppi sounds like a heck of a chalice. I wonder why the naming of magickal tools, sacred spaces etc. isn`t, or at least doesn`t seem to be, a common practice. Would it not add layers of understanding, symbolism and personalization to those places and tools that we so dearly cherish? |
