Damam, Stillness, Part 8...
There is a concept in Feri Witchcraft called the Black Heart of Innocence.
What is the F(a)eri(e) Tradition?:When listening to the stories of others I find certain ideas that are commonly used to describe personal experiences of the tradition. Of the tradition itself, it is often referred to as a "Chaos" tradition, referring in part perhaps to our particular relationship to the Star Goddess, the raging cosmos pregnant with possibility. Being a "left hand path" we embrace the fullest spectrum of possibility; we bask in the sunlight of the body, and revel in the darkness of the soul. The natural state of the soul unfettered by conditioning and restraint is sometimes referred to as "The Black Heart of Innocence", and is a phrase that poetically evokes the raw-ness of pure experience, forming the basis of what may be called the Feri perspective. Far from being a mental construct, this is a personal relationship to the universe, a relationship which does not seek to contain or even necessarily to define our experience with it. At it's core it is simple. We open, and the power flows through us, taking what form it will. It is a form of shamanism in the truest sense of the word.
This state, which is so central to Feri, can't exist if we look at the world through "normal" eyes. The world around us is an illusion, an idea common in both Feri and Kabbalah, a construct of our minds to help us accept what is around us. It is a survival technique. Additionally, we keep moving and keep in motion because to do otherwise might require us to look at the illusion and see it for what it really is. But, deep inside each of us, there is a Black Heart, unhindered by the illusion. Only by finding it can we step out of the illusion and into reality. What is Black Heart? I think it can be said it is the same place as Damam. Feri uses ecstasy (not the drug with the same sound) to enter this place. They use dance and drums, movement and sound, to reach a place where all blurs and there is no sound, is no movement. Only the Black Heart remains. Only Damam remains.
The Black Heart within us is the Reversed Cauldron. When we find it, we turn it inside out. Our reality becomes the Black Heart, and everything else goes in the Cauldron. the Black Heart, which is the Star Goddess within us, becomes the Cauldron.
~Muninn's Kiss
Edit: Forgot to discuss the Cauldron...
What is the F(a)eri(e) Tradition?:When listening to the stories of others I find certain ideas that are commonly used to describe personal experiences of the tradition. Of the tradition itself, it is often referred to as a "Chaos" tradition, referring in part perhaps to our particular relationship to the Star Goddess, the raging cosmos pregnant with possibility. Being a "left hand path" we embrace the fullest spectrum of possibility; we bask in the sunlight of the body, and revel in the darkness of the soul. The natural state of the soul unfettered by conditioning and restraint is sometimes referred to as "The Black Heart of Innocence", and is a phrase that poetically evokes the raw-ness of pure experience, forming the basis of what may be called the Feri perspective. Far from being a mental construct, this is a personal relationship to the universe, a relationship which does not seek to contain or even necessarily to define our experience with it. At it's core it is simple. We open, and the power flows through us, taking what form it will. It is a form of shamanism in the truest sense of the word.
This state, which is so central to Feri, can't exist if we look at the world through "normal" eyes. The world around us is an illusion, an idea common in both Feri and Kabbalah, a construct of our minds to help us accept what is around us. It is a survival technique. Additionally, we keep moving and keep in motion because to do otherwise might require us to look at the illusion and see it for what it really is. But, deep inside each of us, there is a Black Heart, unhindered by the illusion. Only by finding it can we step out of the illusion and into reality. What is Black Heart? I think it can be said it is the same place as Damam. Feri uses ecstasy (not the drug with the same sound) to enter this place. They use dance and drums, movement and sound, to reach a place where all blurs and there is no sound, is no movement. Only the Black Heart remains. Only Damam remains.
The Black Heart within us is the Reversed Cauldron. When we find it, we turn it inside out. Our reality becomes the Black Heart, and everything else goes in the Cauldron. the Black Heart, which is the Star Goddess within us, becomes the Cauldron.
~Muninn's Kiss
Edit: Forgot to discuss the Cauldron...