Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
Walk-Around
Here's one of those rare universals in human religion: you honor something sacred by walking around it.
In technical language, this is known as circumambulation, from the Latin circum, "around" + ambulatio, "a walking" (cp. amble) < ambulare, "to walk." In plain old English, the Sacred Language of the Witches, we could call it a "walk-around."
Probably the most famous walk-around in contemporary religion is the sevenfold circumambulation of the Ka'aba in Mecca during the annual hajj. But this is just Islam's version of something that pretty much everyone, everywhere, does.
A standing stone. A sacred tree. A sacred spring. A statue. A temple. You honor them by walking around them.
There don't seem to be many particulars in this observance. In Western traditions, generally it's done with the right hand toward whatever Hallow it is that you're circumambulating, i.e. deosil. It's best to go around some sacred number of times: three, nine, thirteen.
Needless to say, you don't just walk. There's inner work here to be done while you're doing your walking: prayer, meditation, the singing of a hymn.
Of course, this isn't just something that humans do: it's much larger than that. The Moon circumambulates Earth, Earth walks-around Sun. The Sun circles the Galactic Center. Circles within circles within circles.
I tend to think of ritual as "articulate action." With the walk-around, you say: I take you as my Center.
Which, when you think about it, is really a pretty profound thing to say.
We wheel. The world wheels. All things wheel.
Comments
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Saturday, 04 April 2020
An added dimension to casting circles.
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Friday, 03 April 2020I have the mental image of a cat turning and turning around their chosen napping place. We know cats take sleeping seriously.
The Moon, the Earth, the Sun, and cats. -
Saturday, 04 April 2020
And dogs....
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For some time now, when I visit my spiritual home, it's been my habit to walk around the perimeter of the ritual circle three times and then strike the bell three times in honor of my visit.