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    Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

    Something that has been bothering me is the insistence that practitioners of the craft take on a magic/witch name. I don't understand this at all. Is it a rebranding of yourself? Is it to hide your beliefs from outsiders? Is it traditional and so unexplained?

    I re-named myself years ago because I just didn't like my name (the reason I had my birth name was petty and cruel), but the name I chose for myself was short and practical and does not make me think of bad romance novels. The idea of picking yet another name for myself that I may or may not answer to is dizzying, not to mention the fact that the names that have been suggested to me make me giggle because they seem so disingenuous.

    Do you have a magic/witch name? How did you choose it and why? If you don't have a magic/witch name, what made you abstain?

    #2
    Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

    I never got the magical name thing either. The closest I got to picking one out was Aunt Tearoses. Because I grew tearoses. And I often advise people in the manner of 'Auntie Red says . . .' but I was told it was too silly. I decided that if SilverRaven DarkMoon MoonMoonSilver was 'serious' I didn't want to play.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

      Witches choose magickal names for a few different reasons. Some of them being:
      -After dedication or initiation, witches will choose a magickal name for themselves as a sign of rebirth and new beginnings.
      - They choose a name that they will use to communicate and present themselves to deities.
      - They want a magickal name to help remove themselves from the mundane world.

      But of course, it is not essential for any witch to use or have a magickal name. Rather, this is individual to the witch.

      I have a witch name; Mother West. It came about from something that was a big part of my childhood and I hold a fond memory of. I use it, as merely an alias for acquaintances and clients to address me by.
      "By yarrow and rue, and my redcap too."

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        #4
        Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

        I want a magical name now....how about this..."TheOne that must not be bothered,on pain of revealing your true future"(Some futures are better left unknown)
        MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

        all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
        NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
        don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




        sigpic

        my new page here,let me know what you think.


        nothing but the shadow of what was

        witchvox
        http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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          #5
          Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

          Originally posted by ashemonster View Post
          Something that has been bothering me is the insistence that practitioners of the craft take on a magic/witch name. I don't understand this at all. Is it a rebranding of yourself? Is it to hide your beliefs from outsiders? Is it traditional and so unexplained?
          Yes. The answer can be all of those. Really, it depends on the person.

          I don't have one. Or, if I do, its more of an internet nom de plume that has organically become a sort of an occasional alter ego.

          I can say this though...if I were going to do a craft name, I'd find a different language to put it in. Like, if I decided to be Silver Fire (I dunno, its the first think I thought of), I could go with Argento Fajro (Esperanto) or Gray Wolf--> Lupo Grigio (Italian) or Two Moons--> Meji Osu (Yoruba), or something. Because I've run into some awful names.


          (Actually, I use Google Translate Latin (as opposed to actual for-sure Latin) a lot in my own practice just to avoid the "these words do not mean what you want them to mean because there is no way to describe them in English" phenomenon...I don't do it publically, because no one know what I'm talking about...but it makes things easier on some level. Plus, the advantage of Latin is that there's no one to appropriate it from, its not an actively used language and it pretty much belongs to everyone because its the daddy language and cousin (in some cases, a couple times removed) language of pretty much all Indo-European languages.)
          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
          sigpic

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            #6
            Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

            Thal,if and when I decide to get a pagan Name,I am coming straight to you,cause you do them so COOL!!!

            Was just thinking..You should sell your ability to name pagans online..(See B. De.'s post recently posted)

            http://www.paganforum.com/showthread...-witches-Oh-my
            MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

            all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
            NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
            don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




            sigpic

            my new page here,let me know what you think.


            nothing but the shadow of what was

            witchvox
            http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

              For some names were used to denote transition from child to adult and how they would be known. Sometimes simply for completion of certain rites of passage and recognition within a given group.
              I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                I'm so glad I'm not alone in this. I can't deal with the Moonmoon thing. If there's a another name that's meant for me, I'm sure it'll be something I can take seriously.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                  Originally posted by monsno_leedra View Post
                  For some names were used to denote transition from child to adult and how they would be known. Sometimes simply for completion of certain rites of passage and recognition within a given group.
                  I was raised Roman Catholic, so I have a whole string of names I got at specific transitional events - like my Confirmation Name, for example .
                  Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                    In many traditions is the idea that to know the true name of a person or thing gives one power over it. Perhaps that comes into play.

                    "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                      It depends on the person. Some people choose their name and others are given. My name was given by my personal god, Anubis, eg...Anubisa. You don't have to have a magickal name. I've found that when I use my magickal name it switches my thought process from regular to spiritual. If that makes sense. However, like I said, you don't have to have a magickal name.
                      Anubisa

                      Dedicated and devoted to Lord Anubis and Lady Bast. A follower of the path of Egyptian Wicca.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                        Originally posted by ashemonster View Post
                        Do you have a magic/witch name? How did you choose it and why? If you don't have a magic/witch name, what made you abstain?
                        No, I don't. It's taken me years to like my birth name simply because I hated myself for so long. I changed my surname and have now changed it back because I've come to terms with a lot of things. I see absolutely no reason for me to have a magical name.

                        However, if I practiced in a place where, for safety reasons, it would be sensible to go by another name...that makes sense to me.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                          Originally posted by ashemonster View Post
                          Something that has been bothering me is the insistence that practitioners of the craft take on a magic/witch name. I don't understand this at all. Is it a rebranding of yourself? Is it to hide your beliefs from outsiders? Is it traditional and so unexplained?

                          I re-named myself years ago because I just didn't like my name (the reason I had my birth name was petty and cruel), but the name I chose for myself was short and practical and does not make me think of bad romance novels. The idea of picking yet another name for myself that I may or may not answer to is dizzying, not to mention the fact that the names that have been suggested to me make me giggle because they seem so disingenuous.

                          Do you have a magic/witch name? How did you choose it and why? If you don't have a magic/witch name, what made you abstain?
                          I'm actually debating whether I should start using a witch name. For me, it would represent my spiritual/magic-practicing self and help me get in the right mindset for prayer, meditation, magical workings, and so forth. I'm not too fond of my birth name, either, and since it's also a Biblical name it doesn't really help me get into a pagan mindset.

                          The problem for me is actually choosing an appropriate name. I feel the same way you do about the ~Moonshadow Riverdancer~ type names, so I've been trying to invent a totally made-up name that suits me. Easier said than done. :/

                          I use "sea-salt" on forums because I feel connected to both water and earth, and I love sea salt so much that I will literally eat the raw crystals if given the chance. I've thought about using Sea Salt as a witch name, but something about being named after a seasoning doesn't quite work for me. It's not quite like naming yourself after a gemstone or plant that really resonates with you. ...then again, I eat raw salt crystals for funsies, so maybe it's an appropriate name after all. /shrug

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                            Originally posted by sea-salt View Post
                            I'm actually debating whether I should start using a witch name. For me, it would represent my spiritual/magic-practicing self and help me get in the right mindset for prayer, meditation, magical workings, and so forth. I'm not too fond of my birth name, either, and since it's also a Biblical name it doesn't really help me get into a pagan mindset.

                            The problem for me is actually choosing an appropriate name. I feel the same way you do about the ~Moonshadow Riverdancer~ type names, so I've been trying to invent a totally made-up name that suits me. Easier said than done. :/

                            I use "sea-salt" on forums because I feel connected to both water and earth, and I love sea salt so much that I will literally eat the raw crystals if given the chance. I've thought about using Sea Salt as a witch name, but something about being named after a seasoning doesn't quite work for me. It's not quite like naming yourself after a gemstone or plant that really resonates with you. ...then again, I eat raw salt crystals for funsies, so maybe it's an appropriate name after all. /shrug
                            Just my own thoughts but if your doing it, selecting a magical name that is, to represent the spiritual / magical side of your life then your not embracing your whole life but making it something you do on the side. About like a Christian who is a Christian on Sunday go to church only and the other 6 days well it doesn't matter.

                            That aspect has always intrigued me regarding paganism. It'd be like me saying.."Hey Hekate it's so and so" and thinking she doesn't look at me and say or ask who I think I am the rest of the time?" Or worse assume that she doesn't know all the faces I wear and is only aware of the face I turn towards her.

                            If your magical / spiritual isn't fully part of all your life then who is lying to whom?
                            I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Magical Names (I Don't Get It)

                              Don't use one, not intending to change that atm.

                              To take up any form of mystic name, either

                              1) I'm actively and agressively concealing my normal identity AND still interacting with occultists in a way that justifies giving them a name to call me. Outside of a web forum, this is profoundly unlikely.

                              2) A Power that I have reason to acknowledge some form of authority from gives me one. Hasn't happened yet but who knows what the future holds.

                              3) I'm not so much adopting a name as a title. This is probably the most likely but it hasn't occurred yet.
                              life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

                              Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

                              "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

                              John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

                              "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

                              Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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