It is Secret to keep it Sacred

Keep it Secret to keep it sacred

Like most magical traditions, witchcraft possesses names of power. They are not kept secret because they are dangerous. They are kept secret because they are sacred.

The names themselves are simple. That is entirely intentional. Simplicity allows them to pass beyond the analytical mind and take root within the subconscious, where their real power develops. Over years of ritual use, they become charged with intention, experience, and reverence. Their strength comes not from complexity, but from continuity.

Then, of course, there is the human ego.

The ego is quite incapable of leaving a masterpiece alone. It always wants to sign the bottom corner.

There seems to be an unwritten law that every generation produces at least one magician who believes the Gods have been waiting patiently for their editorial corrections. One can almost imagine the Gods exchanging amused glances and saying, “Thank goodness. We wondered how long it would take before somebody corrected us.”

That temptation occasionally finds its way into the Craft. One example is the latest addition of ODNA (Our Divine Noble Ancestors) to the traditional sacred names. The intention may well have been sincere, but sincerity alone does not make an alteration an improvement.

Magic is not strengthened simply by adding more syllables. A violin is not made sweeter because someone bolts on another string. The addition of ODNA strikes me as rather like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa. It certainly leaves a personal mark, but whether it improves the original is another matter entirely.

Every living tradition evolves, but genuine evolution grows from deeper understanding, not from the desire to leave one’s fingerprints on something that was already complete.

The greatest magical names have survived because generations of practitioners resisted the temptation to improve them. Sometimes the highest act of wisdom is not to add anything at all.

The ego longs to be remembered.

The soul longs to understand.

Maxine Sanders