“And as in the
morning the rose opens, receiving the dew from heaven and the sun, so
Mary’s soul did open and receive Christ in the heavenly dew”
[i]
Examples of knotted cord used in bewitchment were
discovered in the 19th Century and are frequently called
‘Witch’s Ladders’, a term of unknown origin, or ‘garters’. In March 1965,
the magazine Pentagram published an article in response to a reader enquiry
with regards cord magic. The response came from hereditary witch and master
of a traditional cuveen, Robert Cochrane, giving a small insight into the
‘Witch’s Ladder’, a traditional spell-working and devotional tool employed
as a meditational device and arranged in a similar fashion to the Catholic
Rosary.
In his seminal and sometimes controversial work, Mastering Witchcraft
[ii]
,
Paul Huson describes the cingulum,
a witch’s cord or garter, used in measuring out the compass and as a
“ritual rosary
[iii]
”
in spellwork where repetition assists in binding the spell with
incantations counted upon knots. Like Cochrane, who once stated in a letter
to the American Joe Wilson, founder of the 1734 Witchcraft Tradition, Huson
cites seven knots tied in the cord at intervals. However, both Robert
Cochrane and his successor Evan John Jones make a separate mention of five
and three knots tied upon the cord, which should be looped at one end and
worn about the neck, symbolising the noose and subjugation to Hekate and
Her will. This cord has more far reaching meaning and depth than simple
folk magic, as we shall attempt to demonstrate. However, the reader is
invited to experience the cord and rosary for what they are, a practical
and devotional device in the attainment of gnosis and all phenomena that
entails. The cord of five and three knots described by Cochrane and Jones
leads us deep into the otherworld and the banks across the great river
where the rose-garden and the Goddess await. This journey will, hopefully,
indulge some meaning and praxis behind this meditational device, feminine
tool of Wyrd, and ultimately lead us into an heretical transpose of the
Catholic Rosary and the Hail Mary prayer often associated with it.
When writing the small article for the Pentagram
magazine in the nineteen-sixties, Robert Cochrane was Magister of a cuveen
in which he kept a traditional and mystical form of witchcraft alive. One
of the more devotional aspects of the Clan of Tubal Cain, as Cochrane’s
cuveen was and is still known, was the concept of the Rose Castle, the
otherworld domain of past Clan members awaiting rebirth from the Cauldron
until such time as the perfected soul achieves a higher plane of existence.
This concept is not so unusual and the Rose Chapel has held a place in myth
and religion, not least of which is Catholicism and Christian esoteric
symbolism. The everlasting image of the distant castle upon a hill,
approached by a winding road surrounded by red and white roses, has endured
the ages and is found in artwork, as commented by Cochrane, including old
Romany caravans, canal barges, as well as heraldry. In most depictions, the
castle is usually reached by crossing water where fishes may be leaping, or
sometimes a serpent. But what is the relevance of this to the witch’s cord?
In his article, Cochrane identifies the cord as being
that of Fate, classically identified as three women playing individual
roles in the forming of a great tapestry that depicts the unfolding
universe. One Fate measures the threads, while another is responsible for
weaving or knotting them together, the last holding the shears that will
ultimately sever them. In Northern mythology, these sisters are today
called Wyrd and are seen at the
foot of the world tree Yggdrasil attending the well waters that feed the
tree, despite the four harts that gnaw at the bark. These triune Ladies are
responsible for keeping the cosmos in motion, spinning and weaving the
threads of each soul, lacing them through the tapestry, knotting it with
problems, interacting with others, until finally returning back to await
another life. “In Christian mythology it is Mary… who weaves out of herself
the struggling and suffering incarnation of the numinous principle.”
[iv]
The cord, then, is the perfect symbol of the thread
of one’s life, replete with fives knots denoting, as Cochrane and Jones
tell us, the Round of Life and the three that are the triune lunar
Goddesses and the three worlds. At one end, knotted into a noose, the cord
symbolises both the umbilical that connects us to the magna mater as originator, while the other end becomes the
instrument that will squeeze our last breath from our mortal body. The cord
then has the feminine power of life and death, as the double-edged knife is
to the male. Cochrane’s article makes reference to the game of snakes and
ladders, suggesting that the snake, the Destroyer, marks our descent while
the ladder denotes the means of ascent. Of course, all depends upon the
roll of the die and the hands of chance. In this paragraph, though,
Cochrane suggests something more powerful than a simple tool for petty
magic. The implication is something of a higher, more mystic, gnosis.
The witch is not alone in using knots upon a length
of cord for meditational purposes and prayer beads have a long history
originating, at best estimations, in India and among traditions that
include Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim belief and practice. In Hinduism, for
example, the prayer beads, Japa Mala,
are held in the right hand between the middle finger and thumb and used
while chanting mantra. The index finger is not used as it represents the
ego. Early prayer beads were most frequently associated with the ancient
cult of Shiva, whose first depictions almost always have him holding a
rosary
[v]
.
The word Rosary originates from the Latin Rosarium, translating as
rose-garden. Its earliest and most prominent association in Christianity is
with Mary as virgin and mother of the divine child. In Christian belief, as
in witch tradition, prayer beads maintain a feminine character, being associated
most prominently with Grace; this suggests Mary assumes that role cognate
with the Shekhina, the earliest Hebrew Bride of God and Holy Spirit (ruach hakodesh). One Marian title is
‘Rose-Garden’ and Christian esotericism often appoints Jesus as the tender
gardener and fruit of the Lady of the Rose, indicative of Mary’s status as
consort and mother of an old/young God paradigm. Indeed, within the Marian
cult, Mary is found in triplicity as virgin, bride and mother of God. In
her seminal book, The Rose-Garden Game, Eithne Wilkinson suggests that
“…the term Rosarium,
‘Rose-Garden’ was gaining currency by at least the beginning of the
fourteenth-century… the symbolism of the rose-garden and rose-chaplet,
however was much older
[vi]
.”
As the rose-garden, though, Mary is symbolically aligned with the inner
sanctum itself.
Jewish scholar, Raphael Patai, describes Shekhina as
being an independent aspect or attribute of Godhead that is purely feminine
in nature, meaning literally “in-dwelling”. According to Patai, there was
in Rabbinic writings “… a pronounced tendency to personify the Shekhina and
to conceive of her as a manifestation of the deity in a lower form, capable
of being perceived by the human senses. The Shekhina was the direct heir of
the Biblical Cloud of Glory…
[vii]
”.
Patai also demonstrates that the term Shekhina and Holy Spirit came to be
used synonymously in the Talmudic period.
In Her later capacity, Shekhina had the power to intercede on man’s
behalf, admonishing God “…not to practice retribution and to refrain from
punishing Israel”
[viii]
.
This function would later develop in the Christian tradition in respect of
Mary, mentioned within the Ave Maria (Hail
Mary), the premier Marian prayer, in which she is beseeched to represent us
at the moment of death
[ix]
.
The prayer most commonly associated with the Rosary
is the Hail Mary. Outside the doctrine of Catholicism, this prayer shows
examples Mary assuming parallels with Kabbalistic Matronit-Shekhina
[x]
,
Grace or charis and Baraka
[xi]
(Hebrew Berakah), elevating Mary from being the human virgin-mother to the
very indwelling spiritus, the
Goddess Herself identifiable with Gnostic Sophia and the Holy Spirit. The association between Wisdom, Sophia, and Mary resonate throughout
Gnosticism and Western Alchemy, where Mary becomes a symbol of the
perfected soul. Indeed, sixteenth-century alchemists knew the rose as flos sapientum, “the flower of those
who have ‘the Wisdom’”
[xii]
and the Virgin Mary is taken not only as the Holy Spirit but also as the
soul of an initiate who has ‘attained the rose’. Within the symbol of the Rosary, Mary
embodies the notion of ascendancy toward the rose-garden, Wisdom and unity
with Godhead, the sacred marriage between heaven and earth, Hieros Gamos. “The Greeks called
sexual union ‘golden Aphrodite’, and the Lady of the Rose is always the
Bride as well as the Virgin and bears the love-child. As the type of the
perfected soul she is the mother of whom the mystics say: Mary could not
have borne Christ in the flesh if she had not first conceived him in the
spirit.”
[xiii]
The opening lines of the Hail Mary are taken directly
from the Gospels where the Archangel Gabriel presents the Annunciation,
preparing Mary for the Holy Spirit to dwell within her, causing God to
manifest through her as the Christ child.
In AD 1572, Pope Pius V officially gave papal
recognition to the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. These once totalled 150,
being three times 50, but were later reduced to three times five.
Correlation can be seen with the three worlds and the five senses and the
pentagram of the elements, with spiritus
at its head. The modern Rosary has four ‘decades’ of ten beads with the
addition of a fourth mystery in the early twentieth century. It is
interesting for our purpose to note, however, the Rosary acknowledged by
Pius V as having fifteen mysteries via three lots of five beads or knots to
create the chaplet.
In Cochrane’s Craft, the cord described in the Rite
of the Castle of the Four Winds consists of five and three knots.
Interestingly, this numbers eight, but, employing the principle of the 16th
century Rosary, it could as easily be three times eight – 24+1 (plus one
more), the number of winds one might find in a Cochranian Rose Compass
[xiv]
.
Perhaps of interest to students of Cochrane’s Craft legacy is to note the
importance with which both past Magisters of the Clan of Tubal Cain write
that it is not eight knots upon the cord, but five and three. This, then,
on the Rosary, becomes fifteen and nine knots when applied to the
principles of ingress, congress and egress and all that entails. Indeed,
further exploration into these three realms would produce insight into the
use of the cord as a Rosary, utilising it as a devotional ladder in order
to achieve the Three Rites.
In a so-called ‘lesson plan’ attributed to Robert
Cochrane, the ring, wheel or compass is explained. In it, the ring is described
as corresponding to the “Garter, or Ladder of Devotion”
[xv]
.
The old name for a compass of the winds used for navigation long before
modern techniques is ‘Rose Compass’ due to the floral pattern made by the
points. So the Rosary, from the Latin for rosarium, can be identified as having practical use within the
witch tradition of Robert Cochrane.
As part of what is today called ‘Last Rites’, a
Catholic on their deathbed may receive certain rites from approved priests
to assist them on their way to the afterlife. One of the most common was
‘Extreme Unction’, whereby the patient was anointed in order to invoke the
Holy Spirit in those about to pass on and renew the hope of life after
death through salvation. It bestows Grace and delivers forgiveness for sins,
or transgression from the path. In addition, a vigil of the Rosary may also
be employed whereby Ave Marias
are recited over the patient. As previously stated, Mary achieved the
divine position as matron,
enabling her to intercede on man’s behalf; this made last minute appeals to
her the most direct and favourable root to Divinity in Catholicism.
In Her name, the Rosary, Her symbol of life, death and
resurrection, is a tool through which we can produce actual results. Whilst
the witch may utilise whichever spell, prayer or incantation they please,
there is one that historically would raise no suspicion and fulfil a
purpose entirely. The Hail Mary, in conjunction with the Rosary, is a
direct appeal to the supreme Goddess as Daughter (Virgin), Bride and Mother
of God; communion with the forces of Fate represented in the knots of
birth, youth, maturity, old age and death - five in number.
In the first part of the prayer, the Lady of the Rose
is described as being completely imbued with Grace - in classical form the Charites that are three Ladies who
attend Hekate and Aphrodite. The Greek Charites,
more frequently depicted accompanying Aphrodite, signify those
qualities such as charisma, divine presence, Beauty and charm; it is divine
empowering presence or virtue. The Rose, as a pre-Christian symbol, long
represented certain divine qualities to the ancient mystery schools, among
them beauty, love, which are names of Charites,
in addition to Wisdom, the highest name of the Goddess. The five petalled
rose was an ancient symbol of Aphrodite, later Roman Venus and symbolised
Grace, later becoming a sign and epithet of the Mary who was mother to the christos in Christian liturgy. Such
titles given to Mary include Rose of Sharon and Rose without Thorns, as
well as Lady of the Rose and Rose-Garden. The association between Aphrodite
and Mary is profound within the symbolism of the rose, often associated
with Eros and agape.
In the ‘Annunciation’, the Archangel Gabriel descends
upon Mary, in her capacity as virgin, to proclaim that she is to become the
vessel of God’s manifestation in the material world. The Coptic Greek word
used here is Theotokos, which
literally translates as ‘God-bearer’ or ‘one who Gave birth to the Person
who was man and God’, suggesting association with Matronit-Shekhina. The
Archangel Gabriel commonly has water and moon associations and, in the
Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, Jesus
informs his disciples that he, as Holy Spirit, sent an emanation of Himself
in the form of Gabriel to visit Mary. We could possibly draw a conclusion
that Gabriel is in fact the form of God that visits Mary, as the vessel,
and fills her with the Grace of God, Shekhina descending upon Mary that she
may conceive of the God-man, Adam
Kadamon.
The first line of the Ave Maria concludes with
“the Lord is with thee” (dóminus
técum), suggesting, in the context of the prayer
[xvi]
,
the sacred marriage of God with Mary as Bride, the Heiros Gamos which is symbolised by the number five, the number
of petals found upon the rose. This is confirmed, perhaps, in the following
line that praises the “fruit of thy womb, Jesus” where we see Mary as
Mother.
In the second line of the prayer, Mary and Jesus are
both described as “blessed”, which in Hebrew is rendered as Berakhah. In Kabbalist lore,
specifically those tracts which relate to Merkavah
[xvii]
and associated mystical practices, Berakhah
denotes the presence of God’s essence; a blessing
[xviii]
.
In Sufism, Baraka is akin to charisma as divine presence and the
flow of Grace from Godhead. In the final part of the prayer, the supplicant
appeals directly to Mary to bestow favour upon them when they die, implying
she has both foreknowledge and control over the event and the ability to
purify the soul and gather it up to the Rose-Garden.
In Anglo-Saxon England, the cult of the virgin
possessed the minds of the population and prayer books of the period
contain a number of prayers to the Virgin. In her role as virginal maid (kore) and mother (demeter), we can see remnants of an
older Goddess mystery shining through. In terms of the Craft, one of Mary’s
major roles and powers in early Christian practice is intercession. In this
capacity, Mary is prayed to in order to mediate between heaven and earth.
Christianity in early Britain enjoyed a period of inclusion with its
indigenous beliefs and it was not uncommon for pagan imagery to appear
side-by-side with Christ or Mary upon private altars. Indeed, early
Catholicism, like new religions before it, was keen to demonstrate the
efficacy of its own magical approach over those used by those indigenous
practices. “…the Apostles of the early Church attracted followers by
working miracles and performing supernatural cures…missionaries [in the
Anglo-Saxon Church] did not fail to stress the superiority of Christian
prayers to heathen chants”
[xix]
.
So important was supernatural favour for a person or
endeavour that it produced a dedicated sect amongst those taking a
religious vocation. Called ‘bedes-folk’, ‘bedesmen’, or ‘bedeswomen’, these
people typically were expected to pray for their benefactor’s soul –
countering the sins they readily committed. The word bede has an Old English meaning to denote prayer and a
‘bedesman’ was literally a ‘prayer-man’. Often, these were almsmen,
responsible for distributing to the poor, who received the favour of a
benefactor or monarch in exchange for prayer on their behalf for good
fortune. In Scotland, they were nicknamed ‘Blue Gowns’ in deference to
their attire, accompanied as it was with a pewter badge upon the right arm
[xx]
.
These people clearly held a position comparable to an enchanter, uttering
their prayer or incantation to higher powers to intercede with Fate for
some good purpose. It is tempting to believe that a blue dye, usually
obtained from indigo, might fade to a vibrant green, or that there may be
some other reason they might also come to be called ‘Green Gowns’, as
Cochrane refers to his people in history, but this is speculation. The
image of a bedesman can be found at Norbury, Derbyshire, at the feet of Sir
Ralph Fitzherbert, (d. 1483), along with a beast often described as a lion.
Whilst some bedesman may have wandered the countryside up until the 19th
Century, most were to be found in alms-houses and hospitals, where they
commonly numbered thirteen.
As we have seen here and elsewhere, the symbol of the
Rose has ancient provenance, but it is nearly always associated with those
qualities exemplified by the charites
and best called Grace, as well as with death and resurrection, making it
the perfect symbol in Christian mythology to retain the Goddess as ‘Mother
of God’ (mater dei, theotokos). In Imperial Rome, the Rosalia was adapted from the Greek Anthesteria, both titles being
literally “Rose Festival”
[xxi]
.
In the course of the three-day festival of Dionysus, a ‘King’ was appointed
whose consort was offered to the god in sacred marriage. The festival took
place around or during the full moon between January and February, roughly
coinciding with the feast of Candlemas in our modern calendar. The Rose
Festival of the Classical world was also a feast of the dead, paralleling
in Candlemas the rite of Hallowmas as referred to in the writings of Evan
John Jones
[xxii]
.
The third and final day of the celebration was dedicated to Hermes
Chthonios, perhaps comparable to the witch God as psychopomp, who assists
in the departure of all souls. In the Christian calendar, of course, the
festival was known significantly as the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
Robert Cochrane’s Candlemas ritual as described in a letter to occultist
William G. Gray
[xxiii]
begins with the confession, expiation and purification
[xxiv]
.
It is to be expected at this point that some readers
will be suspicious of such mention of Christian practices and regard the
use of the Hail Mary or Rosary as unlikely in historical witchcraft. However,
confessing to the Inquisition, one 16th Century French witch,
Jeanne Hervillier, admitted to using the Gospel of John, Pater Noster and
Hail Mary, three times each, to summon Lucifer
[xxv]
.
The witch appealed her sentence, which was transformed from maleficium, causing death by
bewitchment, to plain heresy. She was summarily burnt at the stake in 1582.
Of course, employing the Rosary and the Madonna to summon Lucifer, the
light-bringer, would still be regarded as blasphemous in the eyes of the
Church. However, consider that “…the Lady in Christianity is always a guide
towards her Son, a light increasing in luminosity as the devotee approaches
the True Sun, Sol Justitiae…”
[xxvi]
Of course, Christianity holds no exclusivity over
prayer beads and indeed the Rosary appears to have been around a lot longer
in Christian practice than the legend of its origin with Saint Dominic
attest
[xxvii]
.
The use of knotted or beaded cord for repetitive devotional prayer or
mantra is found far back in history; the earliest, found in India, are most
commonly associated with Shiva as creator and destroyer. Indeed, it is
curious that the prayer bead entered Christianity at all as repetitive
prayer or incantation is regarded in the Bible as that practice given to
‘heathens’ and not to be mimicked. Matthew 6:7: “but when ye pray, use not
vain repetitions as the heathen do.” The Rosary, however, functions on
precisely this principle. The history of prayer beads incorporates a great
deal of lore and mythology rendering it futile to attempt a discourse on it
all here. However, it is interesting to note the materials used throughout
history, from the earliest knotted wool, to bone (human skull-bone among
certain Tibetan Buddhists), miniature skulls of bone or ivory, even
supposedly dead men’s teeth among the Shaktas in India. Snake bones are
common and reunite the prayer beads with serpent, even as unicorn horn held
a special place within Christian esotericism!
Repetition of the curse or prayer was employed in the
manufacture of the ‘Witch’s Ladder’ along with animal bones and feathers at
certain points or knots. Most frequently, the number of knots equalled
nine, or three times three, paralleling the charms used in the confessions
of Jeanne Hervillier. Magister of the Clan of Tubal Cain, Robert Cochrane,
once wrote of the ‘Witch’s Ladder’ “…when worked up properly, they should
contain many different parts – herbs, feathers and impedimenta of the
particular charm.”
[xxviii]
The earliest apparent find identified as a ‘Witch’s Ladder’ was in
Wellington, Somerset and was first published in the Folklore Journal 1887
[xxix]
.
Curiously, the item found does resemble the cord often described in
traditional witch practices, i.e. made of three strands and looped at one
end. Another distinguishing fact was the male goose feathers knotted into
the cord at manufacture. Of the Rosary, we can draw some comparison in that
many strange artefacts have been historically employed in prayer beads,
supposedly as counters. “Most curious for use as counters are feathers,
fish-bones, roots and bezoars (animal’s gallstones).”
[xxx]
The Catholic Rosary, as has been seen, was used for
administering to the sick and dying, having an overt emphasis upon healing,
particularly atonement. As healing and cursing are twin aspects of the same
coin, it is not inconceivable that prayer beads could be utilised for
either purpose. Indeed, the triad of mysteries suggests the triplicity
inherent in the aforementioned aspects of creation, preservation and
destruction. Whilst many an amateur scholar would dismiss the account of
Jeanne Hervillier’s confessions as being submitted under extreme duress,
there is nevertheless a certain ring of truth in the form given. It was
not, perhaps, quite so unusual for witches of past centuries to utilise
Christian prayers in their rituals as modern neo-pagans might imagine.
Furthermore, the three prayers mentioned in the confession suggest the Trinity,
while it is stated that they were recited three times each. If the Hail
Mary is the hymn of the Mother, the Pater Noster is most assuredly that of
the Father. The opening part of the Gospel of John talks of the coming of
Jesus and the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Shekinha) is complete
and comparable to the myth of Osiris, Horus and Isis. As Eithne Wilkinson
notes, a distinction between the religious and magical is unclear “…and
therefore rosaries are everywhere liable to be used also for magical
purposes, either as a means of warding off evil or as a means of casting or
removing spells.”
[xxxi]
In conclusion, the rose-garden and the witch’s cord
possess powerful symbolism, which become more apparent when activated from
a mystic perspective. The cord is the thread of Fate, each knot
representing our own ‘passions,’ reflecting our inner nature as christos and the promise of
resurrection via the rose-garden. The Lady of the Rose presides over an
alchemical process that elevates us to a gnosis, guiding us to the True Sun,
Sol Justitiae, and ultimately
back to the rose-Garden, that universal symbol itself.
ENDNOTES --
i Sermones XXI super
Confraternitate de Rosacceo, Cornelius van Sneek, Paris 1514
ii Mastering Witchcraft, Paul
Huson, Perigee First Edition 1980
iii ibid.
iv
The
Rose-Garden Game, Eithne Wilkinson, The Camelot
Press Ltd, 1969
v ibid
vi ibid.
viiThe Hebrew Goddess, Raphael Patai, Avon Books 1978
viii ibid
viiii “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”
x Fourth in the Kabbalistic Tetrad representing the Daughter, the
matron, the essential link
between Above and Below “… and the occurrences through which human fate… is
propelled forward” – The Hebrew
Goddess.
xi “blessing” in Arabic and Hebrew denotes more than simple
benediction, as we shall explore.
xii The Rose Garden Game, Eithne Wilkinson, The Camelot Press Ltd, 1969
xiii ibid
xiv See The Roebuck in the
Ticket, Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones (Ed. Mike Howard), Capall Bann
& The Robert Cochrane Letters,
Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones, (Ed. Mike Howard), Capall Bann.
xvSeekers will discover this material themselves.
xvi The opening lines of the prayer refer directly to the in-dwelling
spirit filling Mary in the mystical sense (gratia plena) and thereby preparing her to conceive of the
Christ child. Christian esotericism is, incidentally, full of explicit
erotic symbolism leaving no room for ambiguity. Unfortunately, later sanitisation
has removed many such depictions.
xviiA specific tradition of mysticism relating to the chariot as
found in Ezekiel, for example.
xviiiThe Bahir, Aryeh Kaplan, Weiser 1988
xviiiiReligion and the
Decline of Magic, Keith Thomas, Penguin 1991
xx Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedesman
xxi See Wikipedia entry
xxii The Roebuck in the
Thicket, Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones, (Ed. Mike Howard), Capall
Bann
xxiiiThe Robert Cochrane
Letters, Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones, (Ed.
Mike Howard), Capall Bann
xxiv See Sin-Eating and its
Relevance to the Craft, by Shani Oates, White Dragon No. 60 Lughnasa
2009
xxvWitchcraft in the
Middle Ages, Jeffrey Burton Russell, Cornell
University Press 1984
xxviThe Rose-Garden Game, Eithne Wilkinson, The Camelot Press Ltd, 1969
xxvii Again, earliest descriptions of Mary’s appearance to St.
Dominic describe an erotic scene whereby the Saint suckles the breast of
the mater dei! Such imagery was
abhorrent to later Christianity.
xxviii Pentagram magazine,
Robert Cochrane, March 1965
xxviiii Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch's_ladder
xxx The Rose-Garden Game,
Eithne Wilkinson, The Camelot Press Ltd, 1969
xxxi ibid.
|