Oath Stone

There are several types of stones that are important to Cunning Folk. With Tubal Cain being such a central figure within the lines of the Craft that have influenced this Tradition, however, it is no surprise that the Oath Stone upon which we take our vows and form our sacred blood bonds is his anvil.

I feel that it is most honest here to point out that this point of symbolism comes less from specific lore or myth as handed down from others, and more from mythopoesis -- that poetic sense of symbolic elements fitting together and clicking into place.

This is a piece of American Folkloric Witchcraft that came first from the Clan of the Laughing Dragon, the coven I (Laurelei) was trained in as a young Witch. There, the anvil wasn’t the Oath Stone. We had no such stone. Our oaths were taken upon a Sword (and all vows, including coven bonds, were still made in blood). But the anvil was used in every single ritual that we performed as a way to call upon Tubal Cain, the Forge Master. We struck the hammer to the anvil three times, each time pausing to call his name. It was powerful. It still gives me chills when I call to him this way.

When my son was about 5-years-old, I was away from home and the anvil was sitting at its place (when not in ritual use) at our family’s hearth. He picked up the hammer and started striking, which brought his father running from the other room. He stopped the boy and asked him what he thought he was doing, intending to scold him for disrespecting this sacred tool. My son, not missing a beat, looked his father in the eyes and said in a voice filled with reverence, “Daddy, this is how we talk to God.”

This IS how we talk to God. Through our blood. Through Tubal Cain’s blood. Through the heartbeat that is pounded out in the rhythm of the hammer strokes.

The symbolism of the forge is powerful, alchemical, mystical. The anvil is the foundation of Stone. The forge is the transformational Flame. The bellows are the Breath. The quench is the Sea (both womb and tomb).

Ours is a path of the Mysteries of Life and Death and all that lies Between. It is Creation and Destruction. Destroying in order to Create. Mixing Fire and Water to temper the steel and make it stronger. Knowing how and when to do that in the right proportion.

And the anvil is the rock, the hard place on which this great work happens. It is the altar on which we are pounded and shaped (at our own request!) into something useful, something beautiful, something dangerous.

The earliest anvil’s were actual stones, of course, and a great many cultures have had ceremonies involving oathing and coronation stones. The Lia Fail (Stone of Destiny) and Jacob’s Pillow are two well-known coronation stones upon which dynasties of monarchs took vows to serve God and country. Furthermore, the custom has long-existed in Celtic countries for couples to make their wedding vows upon an oathing stone.

Within this Tradition, the Anvil as the Oath Stone sits at the base of the Stang when the Compass is drawn, along with the Cauldron. 

The Shelg

Beads and awl

I went to the flea market the other day and found some fun pretties to turn into tools.  First was a strand of white quartz and onyx beads which I'll be re-stringing into a witch's ladder.  The other tool I found was a rusty awl.

I've transformed the awl into a nice little shelg.  I've been getting questions lately on what a shelg is, and I thought this would be a nice time to clear that up, in addition to showing off my new tool.

The shelg is the (secret!) red handled knife of the witches. Just as the black handled knife, or athame, is used to cut and direct energy, and the white handled knife is used for cutting and carving in a material sense, so the red handled knife has its own particular uses. The shelg is used for blood magic and sacrifice. It may be used to open a small wound in the flesh in order to produce blood for oath-taking or binding links. It is also used during the housle to activate the Red Meal as a true sacrifice.

The shelg is a tool of the third realm and relates to the Red God of the Forge, Tubal Qayin.  Although sterile lancets are often used in place of the Shelg for safe bloodletting in small amounts, the shelg is still symbolically passed over the wound to seal the link to Qayin.

So, the shelg is a kind of bloodletting knife or, in this case, burin.  The word "shelg" comes from an old Manx word for a hunting knife.

I got the idea for using an awl rather than a blade from this amazing example at the Witch of Forest Grove's blog.  She refers to her tool as a "Thumb Pricker" from the famous witches from Macbeth:

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes… 

Here are some photos of my shelg in progress.

Sanded and sharpened. Look, ma, no rust!

Pyrography of an owl and the stang rune, or witch's foot.

Stained with red ochre oil paint and ready to taste blood!

Links and Link Cutting

Magical links are threads of energy fed through the astral that connect each of us and affect us in diverse ways. Links can be formed through repetitive action, great emotion, or an act of Will or magic.

While we were in the womb the first link, the umbilical cord, was formed. At birth that first cord is cut, and we become an independent life. As children we have other links, such as those to our parents and our parents to us. As we develop the links are broken or cut and new links form. As we grow into adults our links with our parents evolve into a basic heart link. As we form relationships new links form, and if they are heart links they are almost always healthy. Heart links make us more caring and give us a feeling of connection.

Some kinds of links are not as healthy. In most people there is often a tangled mess of links weighing them down,  hindering them from life. Links to our hands and feet prevent us from acting of our free will. Links to the back, knees elbows, and navel are some of the links that remain from over protective or manipulative parents. There are links from lovers past and present, If these are heart links they are good but most are there to control or manipulate us. We can and do form links to the people we fear or dislike most either by accident or in misplaced efforts to control them. Remember that all links go both ways. Negative links are draining on us and can hold us back from our potential. Link cutting is a powerful and transformational ritual in which we dispose of all negative or unnecessary links.

Every time we do spell craft or send a thought form we are connected to the work by a link. It is through this link that magical returns travel, be they good or ill. These links can be formed purposefully to weave fate.

A blood link is permanent and cannot be cut. Blood links cannot be created without your knowledge and consent. They are used for some handfasting rites and for initiation into the lineage of certain traditions of the Craft. The blood link, or red thread, connects a witch to the ancestors, gods, and mighty dead of the tradition.

The Rite of Link Cutting

You will need: The black handled knife, salt and water, a besom.  You must be skyclad.  It is best to do this ritual with a partner, who can assist you with hard-to-reach links, and act as a second set of eyes for any lingering links.

To begin cast a lay the compass and cast a circle.  Sit quietly and breathe deeply.  Sense your etheric body.  Feel and/or see the links in your energy field.  Some links may be heavy cables, others may be as fine as spider webbing.

When you are open to sensing the links, you may begin by taking up the athame and dragging it like a razor just over the surface of your skin.  Imagine you are shaving away the links.  When the athame gets too full of psychic sludge, simply shake it off and rinse it in the salt water.

You may find that certain links are too thick to cut through cleanly.  These will require you to pull them out by the root, just as you would pull a stubborn garden weed.  If after pulling a deep link you feel a psychic tear in your energy field, simply cleanse the area with salt water. This will patch up any holes in your aura left by links.

Link cutting can be stressful and emotional work.  Remember, each of these links is there for a reason!  Some of them may have been draining you for years.  You may feel a great catharsis after cutting a particularly deep link.  This is another reason it is best to perform this ritual with a trusted partner. They may be able to help you through your potential emotional upheaval.

The final link to be cut is the one leading out of the mouth and down into the digestive tract.  This link is kept for last as it is a very painful and exhausting link to remove.  Gagging and nausea are common side effects.

After you have completed the business of link cutting you will notice that the circle you are in is filled with psychic sludge that you have cast off.  Take up the broom and sweep up the sludge.  You will notice that, remarkably, the sludge does not adhere to the besom. Sweep it right through the boundaries of the circle and though your home out the back door.  Toss the salt water after it.  Return to the ritual area and take the circle down.  Rest.  The ritual is complete.

Note: After this ritual you will want to do immediate blade care on your athame, as the salt water can damage the blade.