Tá Dúile Agam: The Forgotten Elements of Indo-European Folk Magic

Preface

Elements act as vectors or abstractions of other things. I think you'll find that where Searls' Dúile article leaves off, this system of abstraction begins. As you'll soon see, what we're looking to do is to draw lines from 9 different sets of 9 things, and see where the center is. Wherever each of these unrelated sets touch each other, we have our abstractions, our 'elements'.

It's important to understand that all the dúile(elements), the things we correspond them to, and the contexts we're linking all exist in the ancient world. But it is a quality of pagan modernity that we link and associate them the way we currently do. So, consider this totally changeable, only if you're confident that you've found a better association.

Just to be clear, we have no delusions nor desires to believe that this system existed in the ancient world. On the contrary, it probably didn't and the ancients probably had less advantaged perspective from which to create things like this. If you think otherwise, give this a look see.

A fine example is the false etymology of the metrical Dindshenchas and Sanas Cormac, or Cormac's Glossary. The ancients loved to imagine, guess, and let their cleverness play on the etymology of words. It even worked itself into the lore... except one problem, its fairly wrong on many of the entries, though it is very creative . Brighid, for example, means Exalted One, instead of Fiery Arrow as the Glossary postulates.

Also, we don't wish we were raised in the Iron Age, nor have an Iron Aged personal frame of reference. Instead, we wish it had been able to continue to this day as a mainstream or at least a minority religion. Because that didn't happen, we're trying to envision it.

All we can do is look at things from our current frame of reference. We're already not exactly partaking in our ancestral customs as they were meant to be or ought to be practiced, but we are radically individualized and colonizalized beyond any ability to recreate an authentic Indo-European way of looking at things. We can only look at the pieces and make cross sections along different axis, play with the parts, see what they do, and in our hearts we can arrive at one conclusion. What new things we create and those things which work, as long as our heart and others' hearts recognize it as our kinda thing, as mirroring that which we love about Indo-European Paganisms and folk magic, then are left to do what we are able to do. This is that.

Introduction

I'm going to briefly describe Indo-European Cosmology and Cosmogony. You can see my ADF Cosmology I course submission for greater detail into the Indo-European comparative worldview. The reason for going over this is

1 Purusha hath a thousand arms, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.
On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.
2 He with three quarters rose to heaven here reappeared a fourth
of him.
Thence he strode forth on every side to all that eats not and that
eats.
3 So mighty is his grandeur, yea, greater than this is Purusha.
All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths what dieth
not in heaven. p. 214
4 Purusha is in truth this All, what hath been and what yet shall;
be
Lord, too, of immortality—and what hath grown with some-
what else.
5 When they divided Purusha how many portions did they make?
What was his mouth? what were his arms? what are the names
of thighs and feet?
6 The Brāhman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya
made.
His waist became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sūdra was
produced.
7 The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the
Sun had birth.
Indra and Agni from his mouth were born and Vāyu from his
breath.
8 Forth from his navel come mid-air; the sky was fashioned from
his head.
Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they
formed the worlds.
9 In the beginning rose Virāj: Purusha from Virāj was born.
As soon as he was born he spread westward and eastward o'er
the earth.
10 When Gods performed the sacrifice with Purusha as their
offering.
Spring was the butter, summer was the fuel, autumn was the
gift.
11 That sacrifice, first-born Purusha, they hallowed with the sprink-
led Rains.
The Deities, the Sādhyas, all the Vasus sacrificed with him.
12 From it were horses born, from it all creatures with two rows of
teeth.
From it were generated kine, from it were goats and sheep
produced.
13 From that great general sacrifice Richas and Sāma hymns were
born;
Therefrom the metres were produced: the Yajus had its birth
from it.
14 From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gathered up:
It formed the creatures fleet as wind, and animals both wild and
tame. p. 215
15 Seven fencing-logs had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were
prepared.
When, offering sacrifice, the Gods bound as their victim Purusha.
16 Forth from head of the high God seven-and-seventy bright
beams.
Sprang into being, of the King Soma produced from Purusha.

(From the Atharva Veda 19.6)

Indo-European Worldview

One Cosmos, Two Seasons, Three Realms, Four Festivals, Five Provinces

The three functions in Indo-European society were a form of meritocratic classism comprising of Priests and the Learned, Warriors and Kings, Producers and Farmers. We say it is a meritocracy, because if you had the the ability, you weren't limited to your inborn caste... you could 'transfer'. These are the three functions respectively. Indo-European societies were lead by those who carry out the Sovereign-Magico First & Second Functions, while they were fed and furnished by the Producers or Third function. Evidence of this is found in mythological accounts where Kingship over the gods often transitions back and forth between a Warrior Chief(Tyr, Nuada, Indra) and a Warrior Magician(Odin, Lugh, Aryaman). Ceiswr says that the Proto-Indo-European gods serving in these partnered sovereign-magico roles were, Xáryomēn and Dyḗus Ptḗr. Other cultural cognates include the "Oak God" aka the "Striker" god of the Second Function, and sometimes the First as well. Thor, Dagda, Parjanya and Kalasha Pērūne, Perkunos, and Indra dwell in the striker role mostly, as does Ju Piter(Jupiter), and Zeu Pater(Zeus) in Rome and Greece respectively, but they all dabble in magic. Thor resurects his goats for example by charms. Dagda's title, Eochaid Ollathair, means Great Father, while Zeus' and Jupiter's' etymology reside in "Day Father". These gods straddle the role of Sky Father, while Odin his held as the Sky Father in norse mythology, a role he took over from Tyr.

Raiding was also a legal pastime, and compassion for the poor was built into the religion. Everyone had ample outlets for relief from the ills of classism. Kings were often simple figure heads and military leaders while the wise members of the tribe recited the law. A quick look at the Brehon laws reveals an particularly envisioned compassion built into the system, in proportion to income. Those poor who were injured by a rich man got a high stipend, while if a poorer person injured a rich man's estate, their stipend they paid was low.

Quickly and Simply, the Norse have 9 realms, the Celts have Land, Sky and Sea, Vedic hymns exalt Land, Air, and Heavens. Greeks have the lands Terran, Hades, and Olympus.

Not only do the elements relate to self, there are three parts of the self in both pagan and neopagan beliefs. Body, Heart, and Mind are also reflected in the poem called The Cauldron of Poesy. Harpers of yore learned The Three Strains of Goitaí or Sorrow, Geantrai or Joy, and Suantrai or Sleep. The Strain of Joy is also referred to as The Strain of Laughter. Each of these Strains relates to an aspect of the cauldrons, incidentally or coincidentally. Sleep relates to a person's might, and therefore the Cauldron of Warming, Sorrow relates to a person's Heart, and therefore the Cauldron of Vocation in the chest. Joy caused by Laughter relates to humor and therefore intellect, and so it is connected to the cauldron of Wisdom in the head. You see the 3 functions reflected even in their training.

I envision Cosmic Water(Ice) and Fire run through these cauldrons. The cauldrons are also tilted. Their tilt measures both health and connectedness to divinity, and therefore objective reality through the subjectivity of the psyche. Through objectivity, getting outside oneself is at the heart of the mysticism I practice. When all three cauldrons are upright, they can catch celestial drops, the supernal dríoganna of Míd, the heavenly waters. When tapasian practices are applied to the magician, the magician becomes a mystic. This inspiration is cooked in a person and they become an outward flowing expression engine that makes art and culture by their being, and by their being outside of it.

This is what we seek to be as magician. We are the ubermensch of our people. We live outside culture so that we can cook it. Just as the Magico-Sovereign Priests slaughtered a Giant into the parts world, the first sacrifice was performed by primordials outside of the world they organized through the slaying of the sacrifice.

The 9 Elements?

1. Stone
2. Earth
3. Sea
4. Plant
5. Wind
6. Sun
7. Cloud
8. Moon
9. Heavens

Correspondences

This is part Searles' work, part mine. There's a lot going on here, but that's for another time.

These tables look like shit on mobile, turn sideways.

Primordial Force	Fire	Water	Water	Fire	Water	Fire	Fire	Water	Cosmos
Element	Stone	Earth	Sea	Plant	Sky/Wind	Sun	Moon	Cloud	Heavens
Self	Bone	Flesh	Blood	Hair	Breath	Face	Mind	Brain	Crown
Directions	North	Under	West	Outward	East	South	Inward	Through	Above
Virtues	Piety	Fertility	Moderation	Hospitality	Perseverance	Honor	Courage	Vision	Wisdom
Sense/Expression	Might*	Taste	Feel	Love*	Hear	See	Wisdom*	Smell	Second Sight
Time of Day	Night	Night	Day	Day	Day	Day	Night	Night	Sunrise and Sunset
Mystery	Security	Empathy	Temperance	Compassion	Breadth	Truth	Illusion	Labrys	Sovereignty
Wheel	Midwinter	Imbolc	Midspring	Bealtaine	Mid Harvest	Midsummer	Samhain	Lunasa	Eclipse
Color	Black	Brown	Blue	Green	Gold	Red	Silver	White	Speckled
Profession	Enchanter	Treb Mage	Conjurer	Healer	Poet	Sorcerer	Tuathai(Witch)	Seer	Priest
Tools	Hagstone	Fermentation	Cauldron	Wand	Song	Blade	Inspiration	Insense	Torc/Hood

A Poetic Origin

Ancient Tales

• Dismemberment of the Asvamedha
• Persian Sacrificed Bull Abudad
• Dismemberment of Ymir
• Dismemberment of Purusha
• Taliesin's Nature(7th Century)
• On the lookout for more

I was made from the ninefold elements -
From fruit trees,
From primroses and hill flowers
From paradisiacal fruit,
From the roots of the earth was I made,
From the blossoms of trees and bushes,
From the water of the ninth wave.
From the broom and the nettle,
Gwydion created me with his magic wand.
Math enchanted me before I was made immortal,
From Emrys and Euryon,
Made by the master in his highest ecstasy -
From Mabon and Modron,
From five fifties of magicians like Math was I made -
By the wisest druids was I made before the world began,
And I know the star-knowledge from the beginning of Time.

- Taliesin, Chief Bard of the Britons (circa 600 CE), translated by Caitlin Matthews

Tales from Modernity

It wouldn't be appropriate for me to delve into where the elements come from without demonstrating where they can go. And so I'm including a newer tale I wrote here. This is part of a living tradition. If you're an Irish pagan, take this tale, make it your own, vary it for your region.

Dismemberment of Bith

Things to Consider

Here we have 3 European and 1 Asiatic mention of tales of dismemberment, some of which contain the nine elements in the list above. The first two are horse and bull sacrifice tales from India and Persia. When referring to linguistic cognates, J.P. Mallory says at least 2 european and one asiatic occurrence of a word is cause of it to be Indo-European and not a local loan words. We have that with Ymir, Purusha, and Taliesin. Here we have that for the 9 elements, and we have more for the act of constructing the world, man, society, and the existence from an initial sacrifice. My favorite thing to do is to apply this steep requirement to my research which yields the greatest line upon which I can cut away Indo-European practice from non. What errors in the data remain after that are usually universal. But when determining what is Indo-European or not from Indo-European speaking peoples, we also use other measuring sticks.

For example, most societies were basically broken up into producer classes, warrior classes... often from which the chieftain was chosen, and the intelligentsia. The ancient societies of Sumer, for example, were divided similarly. But what make Indo-Europeans unique is the occurrence of these practices among people with three qualities: worship of these triplicities, worship of divisions of nature along the functions, fractal reflections of the functions within other things. On that last point, one could argue that Bards are of the lowest of the intelligentsia. They tell tales which are primarily consumed by the producers and laity. Similarly Seers and Healers serve the warrior classes the most. And the judges are the intelligentsia of the intelligentsia.

In conclusion we have an asiatic cognate and at least 2 European ones, so it passes J.P. Mallory's test, and therefore we can safely assume they are of proto-indo-european origin. But just to be sure, we also need these practices to occur a) near a burial mound reverent society, and for the three classes(producer, warrior, and intelligentsia), to be built deeply into worship patters, artistic patterns, mythological patterns, and magical patterns. And therefore we can be near certain the 9 elements are proto-indo-european in origin. In Anglo-Saxon leechdom, these functions are reflected even late in the Christian era: surgery/knife healing if of warriors, medicine/herb healing is of farmers, and magic/spell healing is of the charmers and priests.

How Can We Use These Elements?

In order to use them, you must first understand they are you, and they are cosmos. They represent a certain complexity reached that represents entropic measurements of life, language, and culture. A complexity which is created by The Procession of Chaos, a march toward thermodynamic equilibrium. This is the dance that Fire and Ice does to create the world. The process takes the universe from simple hydrogen, through the state of a star, and on into societies that can create and judge meaning. That's a fuckin' holy miracle!

Insofar as our perspective is concerned... The purpose in life is to make meaning, as much as the purpose of the center of a wheel is to allow the rim to spin.

We, my readers and I, use systems and mental tricks like the nine fold things to spur extemporaneous creativity when telling stories, determining if our works have enough layers of complexity to carry meaning for multiple people, and to contain useful bits of data. One example is when calling gods in public ritual. If you don't feel like you have enough, call gods of sky, moon, sun, so on and so forth.

If you checked out the correspondences list above, you can have fun with creating 9x9 tables choosing two of the rows or columns on the list. Combine two concepts and see what you come up with. For example, if I create a 9x9 grid, and along the top write out the 9 elements, and write out the 9 virtues along the left side, I can use each of the 81 cells as 'idea slots' to combine a concept from one nonad(a set of nine things) with that of another nonad. In this case that's the elements and virtues.

The element of Sea plus the virtue of Moderation might be combined to create 'temperance' as a magical concept. You can further that concept later and build a charm act involving a bucket and liquid, brought to a moderate temperature over low heat. You can sympathetically temper a situation by picking an plant that resembles the dilemma. Then you can perform a spoken charm over the process to direct the sympathy that is occurring in your magics. No channeling the elements, no alignment into a direction, no colored candles.

Magic and Charming

I might have gold leaf in my drawer for crafts. As a magician, I might find it hard to think of other things to use in combination with it, not for lack of finding things to use, but for being confident that my choices translate on a psychological level to the faculties they need to for my magic to be as effective as possible.

So, if I use gold in my magic, I might decide to relate it to the element of sun. That allows me, if using a system like the 12 airs or 9 elements as a framework, I then have 8 empty spaces to make associations with. You use these as frameworks similar to how tarot spreads are context frameworks for divination. So I might put the gold leaf in some hurricane water during the next major storm to add Sun to Wind & Sea. Sun represents one kind of order in our correspondences, and so we are adding a predictability and safety to the skies in charm acts.

Based on the anatomy of charm acts, we can use the elements build up meaning behind what we're doing, rather than just doing shit from old grimoires blindly. We can use this to influence the spoken and poetic component to the charm.

Ritual and Worship

We might theme lunar rites or even solar rites based on these associations when they are running scarce in our reconstructions. We can make magical liturgies based on the number 9 and use one of these nonads as corresponding powers. Wind's power through storms is at its peak during harvest, fears for the crops are high. Sun is highest during midwinter. I designed this specifically to work well and just fit. The only arbitrary portions are the lunar associations, everything else is organized naturally.

When we don't know what gods to call, it can help to remember to honor many gods, calling gods of stone, gods of the earth, gods of the sea, and so on and so forth. We would do well to remember to call the natural gods of these elements, and the human gods who process or hold power over these things. Nerthus is a Vanir type god of the earth, but a Plough god would also be of the Earth. You could then call the gods of each profession associated with the elements. Only having remembered the names of the elements can cause a fluency within your worship and magic that you don't already have.

Example Tables

In this table, we draw out of the void different intentions that can be associated with these elements. Patience, for instance, relates to calming the element of the Sea and remaining like Stone. So we have a direct and an indirect association with two elements, the indirect one through connected through a virtue. So when writing new spells that have the intent of creating more patience within yourself or another, you now have corresponding elements to work with. Sea is the emotional body to be calmed, and we want to sympathetically give the qualities of stone to the observer sitting in the emotional body like a pios rock, in worship of the Ocean. We always leave wisdom blank, to represent a space for mystery.

This doesn't represent all the intents one can have, you could further parse this list down, or come up with new ways to pull items out of the ether. But it is, a way to find a seam to dig at until inspiration strikes. However, if you google for neopagan correspondences and intents, you'll be hardpressed to find a list as long as this. So on the flip side, while doing this isn't perfect, it often outperforms.

These tables look like shit on mobile, turn sideways: 

Table of Magical Intention
	Stone	Earth	Sea
Piety	Steadfast	Work	Patience
Fertility	Survival	Increase Opportunity	Emotional literacy
Moderation	Fitness, atheletic intent	Incubation	Improve temperment
Hospitality	Breakdown barriers	Stregnthen Growth	Self esteem
Perseverance	Protection	Slow progress	Destroy Obsticles
Honor	Reputation	Fruitfulness, Actuation	Invasion
Courage	Gaining victory	maintain position	Questing
Vision	Gains in perspective	gain clairity	Planning
Wisdom	?	?	?
	Plants	Wind	Sun
Piety	Good relationships	Communication	Restore Order
Fertility	Success	Spreading	Abundance
Moderation	Immunity	Unfixing & Clearing	Moderate
Hospitality	Healing	Increase Stregnth	Create relationships
Perseverance	Ensure progress	Success	Exoneration
Honor	Mitigate drama (social rot)	Increase dicipline	Facing one's shadow
Courage	Acceptance	Fleeing & Flight	Facing fears
Vision	Seeing / Accurate Projection	Uncover unknowns	Reveal what's hidden in plain sight
Wisdom	?	?	?
	Moon	Cloud	Heavens
Piety	Psychic development	Increase Study	Crisis of Belief
Fertility	Increase Intuition	Increase Competence	Infertitlity
Moderation	Decrease Intuition	Increase	Fix Imbalance
Hospitality	gain insight	Increase Intellect	Restore Movement
Perseverance	Improve Psychic arts	Fight Lethargy	Fix Lethargy
Honor	Self integration	Reveal someone's Character	Restore Integrity
Courage	Dissecting oneself	Reveal ones own character	Resolve Cowardice
Vision	Reveal what's missing	gain unobstructed sight	Make the ilucid aware.
Wisdom	?	?	?

Amergin's Song & The First Sacrifice

While I want to focus on the low level things to bolster our folk magic, the high level sometimes deserves a nod.

The dismemberment of the primordial giant is not just a creation story. It's a codification of the Ancient Wise folks understanding of Order and Chaos, the Procession of Chaos, and the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics.

Not only are all things conserved, but you cannot reap without sowing. Dualities in our world exist, as plural as it is, and the highest level is that of new life from death. Everything you see around you is primordial giant, or a reflection of it. Folks get the sense we are all one? Yes we are all shards of Purusha's mind or Ymir's mind. We were all one, but are no longer, we are and we are many.

When Amergin tries to set foot on Ireland as a human to designs to do battle with the gods, he had to make a reclamation on his power. If you look at Amergin Glúingel's song itself, he's calling his power back into himself. He's calling a power from out in the world, from within the elements of the world:

I am Wind on Sea,
I am Ocean-wave,
I am Roar of Sea,
I am Stag of Seven Tines,
I am a Hawk on a Cliff,
I am shining tear of the Sun,
I am Fairest among Herbs,
I am Boar for Boldness,
I am Salmon in Pool,
I am a Lake on a Plain,
I am a Hill of Poetry,
I am a Word of Skill,
I am the Point of a Weapon (that pours forth
combat),
I am God who fashions Fire for a Head.
Who knows the secrets of the
Unhewn Dolmen?
Who (but I) announces the Ages of the Moon?
Who (but I) know the place where falleth
the Sunset?
Who calls the Cattle from the House of Tethra?
On whom do the cattle of Tethra smile?
Who is the troop, the god who fashions edges
in a fortress of gangrene?
(I am) a Song on a Spear,
an Enchantments of Wind.

Because you are Ymir and Purusha and Bith, the world is you, and we are all the light of sentience experiencing ourselves through these forms, complete fractal copies of the whole.

So when we do our magics, especially big magics, we often start with a similar reclamation of power.

Homework

Gander at the elements, get familiar with the correspondences, play with tables yourself.

But most importantly...

Write your own reclamation charm. Start from nothing, start using Amergin or Taliesin's poems above as scaffolding for what you can build. Here are some examples I wrote fairly quickly.

I was made from the ninefold elements -
From toadstool rings,
From illuminating drops,
From snails and puppy tails
From the fairness of horses and dogs,
From volcanic glass was I made,
From the ivy and the nettle,
From the water of the ninth wave.
Bríd enchanted me before I was made immortal,
The Dagda created me with Four Angled Music.
From Ernmas and Eremon,
From Aongus and Bóann,
From five fifties of verses by Bríd was I made -
Made by the master in her highest ecstasy -
By the wisest druids was I made before the world began,
And I know the star-knowledge from the beginning of Time.

- From the Cad Goddeu, translated by Caitlin Matthews, personalized by Chris Godwin

I am the pied puffer,
I am a kindler of three fires,
I am a squirrel leaping over seven branches,
I am a salted snakeskin curing,
I am a keeper of the nine sacred rites,
I am a chief of three tribes,
I am a songbird of many colors,
I soak my feet in the well of Segais,
I crown my head with fiery circles of Heaven,
I am a servant to the Servants,
I am served by Tribes of Gods,
I am a fool among fools.
Who kindles the Fire of Tara on a hill?
What is the forge with which a Tribe is wrought?
Who partitions the fifths of Texas?
Who knows the lofty origins to the Colorado river?
Who calls forth the Daoine Sidhe to walk among the Folk?
What person, what Druid
Breaks bread in a Rath,
In a Rath that nourishes gods,
Enchants the Waters, Blesses the folk,
Repels Giants, Divines the will of the Gentry?
A child of Macha.