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The Meaning of the Crooked Path"There
was a crooked man
Those who readily claim the title of Witch find as they make their way
round the crooked path of Witchdom that it is a path often wrought with
loneliness as the late Robert Cochrane, an astute observer and
practitioner himself, commented upon during his correspondence with Joseph
Wilson. In that lonely battle of the self as Robert called it, wisdom is
only to be found by those who have the ability to weather the internal and
the external battles that will enable one to achieve that deeper victory
of the spirit.
Before we delve too deeply into the theme of this essay let's first
differentiate between the loneliness that Robert wrote of and the simple
act of being alone. The definition of being alone is to be without the
benefit of companionship, whether that company is found in only one or one
hundred others. Being alone is akin to being a distinct and solitary
component of a greater whole, one that is separated and made independent
from others. This sort of being alone can be voluntary or presented as an
involuntary circumstance due to geographical and other types of barriers
and this state does not necessarily denote a state of unhappiness. Even
though a person may be physically alone he is still afforded the same sort
of joy in his court that would be found possible amid a throng of
companions.
Loneliness on the other hand, is a state that can occur even when in close
proximity to many or just a few others. Loneliness isn't defined by simple
distance between the physical locations of additional companions but by a
sense of isolation of the spirit. While at first glance both states,
aloneness and loneliness, do have similar characterizations, loneliness
has a particular effect of bringing a unique sense of despondency and
dejection in the recognition and awareness of this sort of truly solitary
state. And while this awareness of being alone may also create a state of
loneliness, one may also feel this sort of suffering when surrounded by
many people in a variety of social situations.
We humans are extremely social creatures, in that throughout history we
have sought to express ourselves and reap the many benefits from the
design of the following societal constructs. We gather in clans, tribes,
septs and even covens and are bound together by certain cultural divisions
shown by the outward appearance of such personal and collective
differences as are found in our ethnicity, our politics and most
importantly, our familial units. Being part of a larger family, whether
that family is brought together by a physical bond of blood or instead by
a bond of the heart affords many applications to ease a variety of baneful
circumstances found throughout life. Protection from injury and attack is
amplified by the strength of many standing strong instead of just one.
Reduction in the work efforts needed to sustain an acceptable standard of
living are also to be found, many hands make light the work.
This social hierarchy is prominently shown in the natural world by the
wide variety of the names we have given groups of animals that can be
noted by the distinctive terms of venery that we use. These terms that
originated in medieval hunting lodges and that describe such congregations
as a gaggle of geese, murder of crows, or exaltation of larks are
indicative of the ability of those creatures to band together and utilize
the deeper sense of well being that is to be promoted from such collective
actions. Humans seem to be the only ones that still feel that disparaging
sense of loneliness even when grouped with those of the same or similar
affinities.
The question that begs answering here is why? What is it that we still
seek even when surrounded by others who are held to be in a correlative
type of conjunction with us and from where does that seeking arise?
Additionally, are there any benefits or dangers to be found from such a
spiritual solace? Initial indications are that in error we seek and search
to find the other parts of the self, of the soul that we have determined
to be missing. Although we are temporarily blinded while in this mortal
form by the mundane idea of a type of duality that exists in nature and we
incorrectly deem this duality inherent in ourselves and the world around
us, this blindness keeps us from a certain aletheia or truth in regards to
this matter. This then is one of the primary reasons we continually feel
so disconnected and cut off from the spiritual grace available to us as we
look for answers to this question in a nature found around us when we
should look to a nature within us instead.
It isn't enough to simply be intellectually aware of the falsity of this
division, this concept deserves long consideration and mediation to
receive the full benefit of its exploration. This fundamental truth is
certainly susceptible to progressive levels of interpretation by which
rational thought is eventually transcended and a type of noetic exegesis
is arrived at and the Witch thereby overcomes fate in some sense. It is
in the approach to this innermost esoteric truth that hidden dangers lie
in wait. To be sure, there is ample proof shown by many cultures in a
myriad of ways that this loneliness does afford certain spiritual and
physical restorations for the clan or tribe along the way by being a
common foundational trait by which many spiritual experts are called forth to their
work.
This loneliness is a factor that has strongly influenced the birth and
creation of healers and shamans of all cultures and this definition
includes the Witch who walks the Crooked Path. Those who find they are
spiritually shunned, those who seem dance to the tune of a piper that only
they can hear, those who are found to reside outside the traditional
expectations of people bound by those societal constructs spoken of
earlier, these are the people for whom this loneliness is a double edged
sword, bringing both a certain joy and a certain sorrow in the
undertakings to be able to effectively heal the people and kinsfolk of
their clan or family.
Certain subtle psychological states are a natural outgrowth and expression
of this loneliness and it is through a great sense of personal suffering
and illness both physical and metaphysical that spiritual experts eventually inherit
their abilities. And this loneliness even stimulates the finding of the
helping spirits that endeavor to aid them in the work they do. These
mental states leave one vulnerable to the auspices of many spirits who do
not always have such beneficial applications at heart or mind in their
initial approach and folklore abounds with descriptions of these spirits
who lure those lonely individuals to a path or praxis that is found to be
destructive or detrimental to the lonely one.
Those who have not yet overcome the boundaries of the ego may be taken in
by the false but sweet words of such malevolent beings as the Irish Ganconer
or Gacanagh alternately known as the Love-Talker.
This creature preys upon young girls in the form of a handsome young man
and after whispering deadly sweet nothings in their lonely ears and loving
them in the most traditional of manners, the young girls are found to
habitually pine and waste away with their eventual death the sad
conclusion to such events. The ministrations of this type of otherworldly
lover do not seem to include the same sort of benefits found in the
pursuit of the more holy and sacrosanct Fetch-Mate. Somerset folklore gives us the following verse about these types of faery/demon lovers.
In the highlands of Scotland, that same sort of destructive figure is
known as the Water Horse, this dangerous young man may be detected by the
sand and the seashells that reside in his hair. His practices include
carrying his newly found sweethearts directly into the river and devouring
them, forgoing the wasting period found in the previous description.
In France, there was known to be a man in black, a devil by the name of
Pensee de Femme. This devilish figure, who by his very name embodied the
secret and unknown thoughts of women preyed upon his victims again by
virtue of that extreme sense of loneliness that infected them. This
profound and deep sense of loneliness provides the means and conditions
for a welcome entry by such beings who use it to their advantage.
One common theme among these types of interactions is that of physical
contact between the lonely women and their pursuers who find them easy
prey. In today's technologically advanced world we often pursue this new
type of convenient electronic contact via our computers in the forums and
message boards we frequent. This type of portal then is one of the fastest
and the easiest ways for those who would suffer such dramatic pangs of
loneliness to try and assuage those feelings. But those same sorts of
devils are alive and well in this century, though the medium may have
changed, the message remains the same.
If you continue in a state of spiritual loneliness matched at times by
additional physical isolation you well run the risk of being contacted by
a spirit whose falsely pleasant exterior hides a flawed and perverted
interior and one that will take and drain you at times to the very death.
To remain immersed and intoxicated by the spirits of a specific and
non-material world is to desist in the perpetual search for that aletheia,
that truth. The bittersweet fruits extracted from such a sojourn into the
lonely landscape of the self may possibly destroy one along the way if you
present such a weak and soft countenance by your passivity when such
situations present themselves. But if you are able to hold fast and strong and to resist such attempts at such manipulation you find that a great, deep and primitive inner realization and awareness comes to you and that realization eventually helps the Witch to continue walking that Crooked Path presented before them. With the acquisition of the hard wisdom gained from such internal and external trials and tribulations comes a newfound sense of purpose and of freedom that cannot be found elsewhere except on that path that spirals there and back again. Sources: The Robert
Cochrane Letters, Robert Cochrane
© An Arteful Anonymous Witch
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