On Saturday
21st of May, I performed a rite for which I was preparing for
months. The reason behind such lengthy
preparation was that the Nomen Rite was as important as my dedication to Hekate
and, in some ways, even more binding and serious for me. It was a long,
intricate ritual, lasting a bit more than 2 hours, making it one of the
lengthiest rituals I have ever performed in 11+ years of practice. It was also
rather taxing and demanding in terms of invocations, maintenance and work.
Truly, it ought to have been a group ritual, with at least two more people to
help but, alas, the Triskelion is a solitary path (for now?).
The Nomen
Rite, as the name suggests to those familiar with Latin, was my naming
ceremony. In this ritual, I took a special name – a “magical name” for the
first time in my entire Pagan life – that was revealed to me by Hekate and the
Wildwood Spirits, and one I had to take if I was to commit fully and truly to
the Triskelion and open up all channels and gates for the road ahead. At first,
I was only aware of one name I had to take but during the preparatory period, I
was “told” that it had a supplementary name-title indicating “where my heart
was born”.
I’ve
mentioned this before here, and now I can finally talk more about it.
Specifically, divination and spirit communion explained that I can, now, reveal
the Great Spirit that has been aiding me in this work as well as a good deal of
the Rite itself and a part of my name: the supplementary name-title. I am under
oath not to reveal my “core name”, sadly. I also cannot share details of the
Nomen Rite such as the invocations used or my Naming Oath (although I can tell
you roughly what I swore). The Spirit that has been aiding me is the Heron and
my new name is Chelydoreus, taken after the name of the village where I’ve
spent nearly every summer of my life, the place where my maternal grandmother was
born and raised, the place I consider my true home: the village of Chelydori, between
Mt. Evrostini and Mt. Chelydorea, where Hermes found the tortoise he used to
fashion the lyre, according to myth.
The Rite
itself was deeply potent. Here’s the outline of the ritual:
1. Preparation:
·
Self purification
·
Space purification
·
Gathering necessary tools, offerings, etc.
2. Casting the Magic Circle.
3. Invocation of Hekate:
·
Hekataion Hymn, Orphic Hymn
4. Invocation of the Wildwood
Court:
·
Invocation of the Four Guardian Spirits
·
Invocation of the Heron
·
Invocation of the Horned One and His Lady of the Moon and Forest
5. Rite of Manifestation of
Hekate's Seal
6. Main Working:
·
Declaration of the ritual's intent
·
Naming Oath (Όρκος Ονομαστικός, Sacramentum Nominis)
7. Offerings, libations, hymns
and prayers of praise
8. Red Meal*
9. Closing.
*Red Meal: Yes, this is indeed like the Traditional Witchcraft practice. The name and way to perform it were revealed to me by the Wildwood Spirits and after researching it out of curiousity I was shocked to find that it is an already existing and established rite - I thought it was a unique request from the Spirits!
One of the
peculiarities of the ritual was that, even though the presences of the Gods and
Spirits invoked were stronger than usual, I got very little in terms of
communication and practically nothing in terms of epiphanies or revealed gnosis,
despite my continuous requests to be shown what comes after this and what I
should do from now on. After a lot of effort and communion, Hekate finally had
a message for me: “You know what it is that must be done following this and We
have nothing more to impart at this time.” In other words, we’re not going to
spoon-feed you everything, you’re way past that stage. Do your own dirty work.
Duly noted!
The
offerings were nothing spectacular, sadly, but both divination and my intuition
pointed towards them being very well-received, which made me very glad.
Feelings of insecurity and inadequacy are some of my biggest personal “demons” and
being told that even the small things – the only things – I am able to offer
are happily accepted is a much needed reassurance.
This whole
Rite and the naming itself primarily served as a dedication, of sorts, to the
Triskelion. I committed myself fully and formally to this path and system and
to the Gods and Spirits that come along with it. No more excuses, no more
feeling bad about “dry spells” or periods of inactivity, no more arm-chair
occultism. Moreover, the days after the Rite I found myself more open and
sensitive to the Otherworld and receiving a lot more revealed gnosis that
before – or, at the very least, more detailed and complete gnosis as opposed to
the bits and pieces I was getting before. Indeed, other workings and divination
confirmed that many spiritual “gates” within me and in my path had been opened
and certain aspects of my work are finally accessible to me. In many ways, the
Nomen Rite was a kind of spiritual initiation akin to what I experienced during
my dedication to Hekate and felt very much as the – somewhat overdue – next step
from the dedication.
That was the
Nomen Rite or, perhaps more accurately, the Nomen Experience. I have a lot of
things to still share here, beyond this; my account of the Three Days of Hekate
is still not complete. I also have many other writings and work to finish and
post. Until next time:
I am
CHELYDOREUS, devotee of Hekate, practitioner of the Triskelion, Polytheist,
Witch, Pagan, a student of the Mysteries indulging in the Great Work.