Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.
Catherynne M. Valente, In the Night Garden
Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly ‘s done, when the battle ‘s lost and won.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Nobody knows what the future is except for wizards.
Gillian Jacobs
The vampire is an outsider. He’s the perfect metaphor for those things. He’s someone who looks human and sounds human, but is not human, so he’s always on the margins.
Anne Rice
There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and nobly proportioned. On it was but one word, DRACULA.
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Whether in cave paintings or the latest uses of the Internet, human beings have always told their histories and truths through parable and fable. We are inveterate storytellers.
Beeban Kidron
Modern storytellers are the descendants of an immense and ancient community of holy people, troubadours, bards, griots, cantadoras, cantors, traveling poets, bums, hags, and crazy people.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
There was another time, one not recorded in the history books, a time before time was created by the sapien. It appears in bits and pieces, like the first eleven chapters of the great Book of Moses, or in uninterpreted marks and symbols found on rocks and cave walls. Time, as in hours or days, was created by the sapien because they had a need for it, others did not need such a thing. Time, in the dimensions outside this one, is a river of sand water and air that just flows, flows through the dimensions from the past to the past and present, unmeasured and unrecorded by any living creature. The lion cares not what time to hunt, they just do so when hungry, as does any of the predators. For the herbivores it has even less meaning, as they just graze when come upon something to eat, both sleep when tired and only mark time’s passing by the rising and setting of the sun. Only the creature that stands and has a vison of eternity, the sentient one, who has an irresistible desire to look deeply into the meanings of things, and not just live by instinct. It is the creatures who sense that there is more to the world than what one sees with the eye, hear the ear or smells or feels. This vison of eternity is granted to creatures who rise above the instinctual living of other creatures. They are the ones who have been placed in a high status in the heavens. These are the ones who think and reason, those who see more than just the rising and setting sun. The one who believes there is more to life than the instincts of one’s biology. On Earth, and eleven other planets, it was the sapien, that small creature who although maybe one of the weakest of the omnivorous creatures, would dominate the world. In the Great Rift Valley, near the expansive Serengeti Palins this small creature with the big brain began a journey that would take it from total insignificance to become the dominate creature of the planet, one who would one day be able to leave the planet and join the great civilizations of the galaxy.
The sapiens emerged as creatures of the day, also called the children of the day, (it is why sun gods were so prevalent in the ancient times) those who operated mainly the the sun ruled the plain. The night creatures, also called the children of the night, operated when the moon and stars ruled the plain, it is here there was another world operating as well. It was the world of the spirits, who mainly operated under the moon and stars so were soon known as the children of the night. The sapiens knew the spirits and could communicate with them just as they did with the animals and each other. This would last until the sapien became civilized and lived in cities and farmed and in that process lost this ability to connect with the other creatures of the world. He Who Is knew this would happen and understood it was what must be. In the beginning of the time before time, some of the sapiens were more in touch with the spirit world that others were, and thus new groups of sapiens emerged from the great tribes of sapiens. Some had a deeper connection to the animals, from this came the shapeshifters as some were able to become the animal they were connected to, and those connected more to the world of spirits became the shamans, or a messager between the worlds. Later in that early time, three other groups emerged from those who connected with the spirit world. They were the witch, the wizard and the storyteller. The witch came from those who had a tight connection to the ground, or the Earth. The wizard came from those who were connected to the air, and those who could tell the tales of the world, became the storytellers. Here is the story of how they came to be and how some followed He Who Is and others followed the angle of light.
These transformations occurred in the backdrop of the massive War of Heaven that occurred deep in the time before time. Here He Who Is called on all to bow to those he had chosen to stand up and gain a vison of eternity. He had chosen four creatures, (I will use the equivalent names of those on Earth) the lizard, it was called Meguchirella watchtleri, the dog, Hesperocyon, the dolphin, Pakiecetus, the cat, Felissilvestris lybrcu, and finally combined the essence of a raptor and troodindon to make the Hominidae, the sapien. The creatures of the air, the spirits of the spirit world were accepting of the first four creatures, but a great argument came over the Hominidae, a particularly nasty and vicious creature. The first four were predators and seen as low creatures but noble, much as later Europeans had fashioned the myth of the noble savage, a pristine and innocent, almost like a child, but still of a lower form of life. But the Hominidae was seen as so low that many, one third of all Heaven, refused to bow to it. Led by the one who once He Who Is did favor, and was called the angle of light, Lucifer Iblis Satan. She proclaimed that as a creature of the air, she could not bow to one, especially one who was so viscous and nasty, of the ground. She lead her forces against those of Heaven, led by the great Archangel Michael, in a war that ripped the heavens part and ended in a dimension that became Hell. This place became the kingdom of Satan and she plotted and planned actions to convince He Who Is that this tiny creature was not worthy of any honor. To bring the world back into balance, He Who Is created the sorcerers to balance the angels.
On Earth, to balance the world of the air and ground, the first creature created was the witch, as the spirit of Earth, Gaia, or as some called her, Terra, came to the Serengeti, near Mara Grumeti along the Mbalageti River to a portal near Ngorongoro and there three sapiens called, Diana, Hecate, and Persephone, who had been drawn here by Gaia to become the first witches. Here Gaia and fellow spirit Wicca, who some called Mother Earth, who gave the three the secrets of the Earth. They learned to cast spells with the potions of the earth, using the elements of the ground to make magic and forecast events. They were also taught how to do magic, the ability to create and influence. They learned to transport themselves to the Magic Realm and and were taught the rules and regulations of the place. Diana learned to communicate with animals and how to become animals if needed, also to use the animals to perform magic. Hectate learned to use the crossroads to forecast events and became a champion of the crossroad and was often linked with the spirits of the moon. Persephone became the expert of the underworld and the many spirits of the night, she was also famous for prophesize, and in the Hebrew Bible is called the Witch of Endor. Her closeness with Saul led to Hebrews to condemn her and all of her kind. Gaia first began her instruction of the Samhain, as it was the time the portals of Earth were easiest to cross. The aura of Gia and Wicca was yellow, the color of the halo that circled their heads. Thus the witches’ auras, as all are descended from these three, became yellow as well. All witches are descend from a family of witches and training in their craft when they were usually around twelve. They formed groups called covens, mainly to defend themselves from the invitations of Satan, who promised them the power of the dark forces and black magic, a temptation that could overwhelm one and condemn them to eternal punishment.
Witches tend to hold antiestablishment beliefs and do love to create challenges and chaos. To them the time of the Samhain is a holy time and they gather to connect with those on the other sides of the portals. They can communicate with the dead and have a limited ability to transvers the heavens. They can go to the Magic Realm or Sorcerers City, but are unable to go to Heaven or Hell, that ability is reserved for the angels, shamans, and sorcerers. In the time before civilization they would dance at the full moon around poles, pitchforks, and brooms in celebration of the lunar spirits and the night. They used the broom later to fly to other places to meet their brothers and sisters in celebrations of those lands and cultures. The tend to wear loose hood like clothes, as their rural ancestors did, and since they celebrated the night, they colored their clothes black to celebrate the night and the children of that time. Pointed hats became a fashion in honor of Duns Scotus, whose knowledge was celebrated by witches, for reasons unknown. For Samhain, they would paint their faces and bodies green, in recognition of the Earth, which it seen as their home and birth mother. Because of their use of magic, they have had a long and troubled history with many religions, many see them as children of the devil. The Malleus Maleficarun in 1487, written by German Heinrich Herman and also called the Hammer of Witches, and the writings of James I of Britain are examples of the anti-witch feelings of many in Europe.
This misunderstanding came from the witches habit of doing things such as wassailing, the pouring of cider on apple trees for insuring fertility, and other pre-Catholic practices which honored many of the spirits of the land and the Catholics mistook for idolatry. Like the Hebrew, who saw the Witch of Endore as an ally of Saul, the Europeans set upon a crusade against the witches, a move the devil applauded, and many were killed in the many various and often cruel trials and executions, such as the Salem Witch Trails, over the centuries. To protect themselves the witches, like the other night creatures, went into hiding and conducted all their ceremonies in secret. This move many times only made things worse and their secrecy was used against them, as many have found before. Today things are much better, but many still keep their stuff private, just to be safe.
Both groups were severely repressed during the Middle ages and early Modern period which caused both to go underground. This was for safety, but many times only increased the oppression, as their secrecy was seen as an admission of guilt. Like the witch, the wizards wear a pointed hat, in honor of the old intellectual, Duns Scotus. Why this is done is unknown, but legends say the old teacher was either a witch or a wizard and was the reason that many of his opponents used his trademark hat as the modal for the “dunce cap.” While the old Scot philosopher, who is placed along with Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, and Bonaventure as the most influential medieval churchman, he did have some powerful enemies, who made many attempts to discredit him. Also his connection to Scotland and the land of the Celts and Druids as well where the famous Ninth Legion disappeared made the occult’s claims look as if they could be true. In reality, however, the honoring by both witches an wizards is a mystery. Both groups moved all over the worlds, and adopted many different cultures and ways as they moved into the different tribes of the world. Two portals are central to each group, for witches it is the Goat’s Hole on Paviland, Gower Peninsula where the lichen creates the yellow aura of the witch. For the wizard it is St Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall, a place that looks like a fairy garden. Both are located in Britain, the place of the Druids last stand, and where legend has the first group of witches and wizards were affirmed in their new position in the sapien pantheon.
At the same time the witches came to be, the spirit of the air, Lelantos, one who had the ability to escape unnoticed and had the vigilance of the unseen hunter, created the creature of the air, the wizard. His aura was blue, the blue of the sky, as well as Lelantos’ halo, and thus the wizard obtained the blue aura as well. Often confused with the sorcerers, but much less powerful, they have been called magicians in many ages. Lelantos, the spirit of the air enlisted the spirit of magic and fate, Freya, who practiced the seidr, the magic of the north. And enlisted the Greek spirit Hectate, who knew the magic of the South, together they brought this knowledge to the Carians, who lived in the mountains of Greece and the two northern tribes, the Aesir and the Vanir, who later are called gods. From these ancient tribes all wizards of today are descended, and their families train the young wizards in the arts of magic from the age of nine. In the beginning Lelantos and Hectate taught them the art of magic and casting spells, they also learned the art of potions and used the earth to make magic. The wizard primarily uses magic, but can do potions, the opposite of the witch, who primarily uses potions, but can do magic. Wizards are famous for not getting along, so much so that their name of a coven, is an argument, as it is said to have an argument all one needs is two wizards. The first three tribes of wizards are the best example of this as they warred with each other for centuries, until the coming of the Catholic Church and the same oppression as the witches suffered. Even today one can sense an undercurrent of tension when those of the three tribes are together, that can result in open battle. Especially the two northern tribes, who still harbor many of the old wounds of their centuries of battle. They also many times are mistaken for sorcerers, one great example is Merlin, the powerful sorcerer is often described as a wizard. It is a mistake that sorcerers find amusing, which wizards are glad they do, as they know the sorcerer is much more powerful. Both witches and wizards are famous for trying to court the favor of the sorcerers for their own ends.
What the sapien does not understand they often call a monster, a word descended from the Latin, monere, which means to remind, warn , or advise, and monstrum, which is a divine omen or entity evoking fear or wonder. It is the base of monstrare (from which we get the word demonstrate) which was represented by a creature with either a bull’s or fifty heads. Monster is seen as something strange, out of the ordinary, or contrary to the usual course of nature. It is attached to that which is seen as against God’s nature and a strange, unnatural, hideous person, animal, or thing, or any monstrous or unusual thing, circumstance, or adventure. What one culture calls a monster, another may see as a wonder, in this the word becomes a weapon to be used against anything that is not seen as the normal and ordinary ways of a culture or society. They may be made by the sapiens or in many cases are seen as coming from the other realm, a supernatural creature sent to punish those who violate the norms of a society. To gain access to the other world one must transgress the paths that lie between the mortal world and the immortal one. There are two ways to enter the other realm, one is called a portal, these are large openings in a rift between the worlds. These openings can be accessed in every season, but for the witches and wizards there is limited places they can go, only the sorcerers and their equivalent angels can access all the realms of the otherworld. Examples of this is the Everglades in Florida and the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. These openings are guarded by a spirit creature, Pay-a-okee guards the one in Florida and Biajini is the Romanian one. These spirits are female and protect the land and creatures from the intrusions of sapien civilization. In retreat, with the exception of Pah-a-okee, these spirits have been moving away from sapien settlements, but one day will return and claim their possessions. One can see the great Stairway to Heaven and the Portal to Hell within all of these openings. The other is called a sith, a smaller opening guarded by a male spirit, and can be accessed only on the Samhain, Beltaine, Imbolc, and Lughnasa, and only on the Samhain and Beltaine can the dead access the mortal realm through these portals. It was at one of these Siths the devil unleased a new night creature to torment the mortal world and try to show the sapiens was not worthy of their high status in the heavens. The night creature was the vampire and the Sith was the Boabhan Sith, located near Loch Ness.
It was here that Satan conferred with Karau, the demon of death, Kasdeu, the demon of poison and deceit, Asmondeus, the demon of destruction, and Baal, the demon of lust and power. She wanted to create a predator of the sapien, one she controlled. Baal came up with the idea of an undead creature that thirsted for blood and would rise from the grave at night to hunt the sapien. They did have a blueprint, the spirit creature Sekhmet, the Egyptian spirit of vengeance and wrath, she tempted the powerful to avenge any wrong committed by another against them. This was to show that the sapien was petty and full of vengeance and thus unworthy of any deference. The lion headed spirit had nothing but anger and evil in her eyes and had a great taste for the blood of the sapien, or any creature that crossed her path. She also gathered the virus and bacteria of the sapien planets and imposed them on the sapien causing much suffering and death on the creature. Deep in the Qattara Depression in the Sahara Desert laid the Sith called Quattara, here Sekhmet watched the sapiens and planed her plagues upon them. She is often referred to as the first Egyptian vampire. Together she and the others fashioned the creature from the dead bodies of a Celt, Wusun, Hadza, and Noongar, which they breathed life into and gave the man insatiable thirst for the blood of the sapien. They gave them powers, to shapeshift into the animals of the night, the wolf, the raven, the cat, the bat, and the other nocturnal creatures that moved out when the sun disappeared from the sky. They could turn themselves into the mist of the night to move undetected through the land, and the ability to crawl up a wall like a spider and command these night creatures to protect themselves or take vengeance on any creature that challenged or threated them. But their power had limits, it was reduced by a third in the sunlight, and they could not come into a place unless invited. Because of their limited power during the day, the creature would sleep in their burial place when the sun ruled the sky, and could restore their body to what it looked like in life, and removed the wounds and marks of death. From their fingers they pocessed claws, two to five, depending on the culture of the creature, as one bitten would become a vampire, but if the vampire used their claws, they would not. The devil also denied them free will, as that was only for the living and as a measure to control the beast.
The vampires were all ruled by a master vampire, or king, or in the case of the first, a queen. She was the Egyptian who Sekhmet found when they first made the vampires. Her name was Maat, but she, like all vampires remembered much of her old life as a noble in an ancient tribe, and wished to rule with no entity above her. In the year 41 AD, she tried to unseat the devil herself, and failed miserably. She and those who allied with her were thrown into the deepest place in Hell, by Satan herself, and suffer there to this day. Satan placed the newest vampire, the Roman Emperor Caligula, as the new ruler. But he was to use to ruling as a god, which was why he was killed by the Romans, and tried to unseat the devil as well. To replace Caligula, Satan chose the newly, as she did not trust the old ones, vampires, Vlad Dracula. Dracula, (who at times was called Strigoi, the name of the first Balkan vampire) had became a vampires when his youngest son, Alexis, was mortally by the local churchmen as he had become a Protestant while he was in England visiting the court of Edward VI. Dracula was fine with ruling the vampire world from his castle in Transylvania, while his son, Alexis, became Lord of North America.
Vampires of the world took different names for many reasons, named by each culture and region. They were called the Mananaggal in the Philippines, Penanggalan in most of Asia, Soucoyart in the Caribbean, and the Jiongshi in China, each coming from many tales and stories about them. The best example is the Celtic vampire, the first was a Celt woman whose body was found near Loch Ness, her name was Aife, she was a warrior in a local tribe. After her transformation she re-entered the mortal world through the Boabhan Sith and thus the Celtic vampire took their name from that place. There were differences in all of them, as to how to kill them or how many claws they had on their hands. The European, for example, called the Nosferatu, has two, coming from the first two fingers, while the Boabhan Sith have five coming from all five fingers. To kill the Nosferatu, one used a wooden stake, to also nail the creature into their coffin, while the Boabhan Sith one needs an iron stake. This is a small example of the many differences between the vampires, but all are ruled by Dracula, as they have no choice, free will is only for the living. The devil had hoped these creatures, and her recruiting some of the shapeshifters (who had arisen deep in the time before time and their origin is lost to history) would be the key to bring the downfall of the sapien, but it did not work. These creatures live their lives and adapt to the places they live, much as the wizards and witches have.
The vampire is a creature created during the War of Heaven, when Satan objected to the placing of the sapien above those of the air. Before that war many of the other children of the night, as they are called, like the witches and wizards, came to be, deep in the period called The Time Before Time. Many legends and tales tell of how these creatures came to be, the werewolves claim to be descended from King Lycaon who was said to have eaten human flesh and was condemned to run as a wolf. Werewolves are created by one of two ways, one is to be born in a family of werewolves, many are said to have been descended from Benjamin, who in the Book of Moses is described as like a wolf. The other is to be bitten or attacked by a werewolf and survive. The truth is that deep in the Time Before Time, sapiens who had a spiritual connection to wolves gain the ability to transform themselves into a wolf, usually on the night of a full moon, a night when the spirits are the strongest. They are called shapeshifters, as they change their shape from sapien to an animal. It is said they are connected to several spirits, Cernunnos, Ardana, Fitan, Drantia, and Elaine, all spirits of the forest who had connections to many creatures and the sapiens. Which came first, or who were the first, is lost in the mist of time, but it is known that the shapeshifters have walked with the sapiens since their days on the Serengeti. Like the witches and wizards, these creatures too suffered much oppressions as the sapiens seldom, if ever, tried to understand these fellow travelers in this zone.
Two children of the night have been with the sapiens from the beginning of their time, from the moment they stood up and gained a vison of eternity. First is the creature that exist in all creatures, the spirits of the dead, those who have finished their time in the mortal world and have passed on to the other realm. Sometimes these are stuck in the mortal world, for many reasons, haunting a place or person, or looking some some closure, others use the time of the Samhain to return to the mortal world for many reason, known only to those who cross. They to have many names, but are usually are called ghost. The other is one who can transgress the dimensions and speak with spirits on all levels of the other realms. They can even travel to the high parts of heaven and the lowest parts of Hell, yet compared to others, thy have little powers. They are connected to the spirits Saga, Hanuman, and Haehuecoyotl, and were instrumental in the invention of the greatest of all sapiens inventions, writing. These are the storytellers, those who tell the tales, legends, myths, histories, and stories of the sapien world.
They tell tales in cycles, with mythic heroes and vile villains, or in an episodic, epic, or inspirational manner to tell stories of times gone past or urging all to achieve higher goals. They can also be instructive, telling how to or not do something. They once were called Wyrdwriteres, as they told the destinies of all sapiens or their tribes, later because of the love of the Greeks, historians. They drew close to Clio, who gave one access to the great River of Time, and of many other spirits who knew the tales of old and new. At first they learned the tales from their elders and told them in great oral traditions, (such as seen in the first eleven chapters of the first Book of Moses) speaking of the generations of stories, and of ancestors and gods. They told the tales of how things came to be, and why things were as they were. One could hear the story of one’s family, going back for generations in their stories, and could hear the stories of the heroes and villains of a tribe or family. They were honored as they gave each tribe and family their identity and place in the world, all the stories of a people. Families of storytellers grew and became leading members of tribes as they told the stories of all the people land gave the tribe its identity and history. They told the stories of how tribes came to be and what they believed, but if one died, it could be a disaster, as so much could be lost. Before civilization they storytellers used cave paintings and other pictures to assist them in telling their stories. These transformed into what is called proto-writing, the use of symbols to transmit a limited amount of information. One of these were those who kept track of what belong to who in the prehistoric world, from this over time, in many places, writing developed. Storytellers, in many places, became scribes, those who wrote down what was once passed own by word of mouth. Stone tablets became scrolls and later became books, as writing exploded wit the invention of the printing press, and became the method of choice to record the history of the world.
But it was not always histories or accounting information that was recorded, more than ceremonial instructions and religious books, another thing developed overtime as the storytellers drove deep into their imaginations. At first the storyteller was required to tell real events, but as time moved on myths and tales were added and in this they also did another thing, they invented fiction. Stories were told to make a point, give a moral tale, expand on an event, or just to entertain. As writing grew, the storyteller group expanded, not all were part of families anymore. Families were essential when it was oral and one needed to learn all the tales, but with writing, any could read these tales and learn things through books. They could also write them. In dreams and inspirations, the spirits would wander through the minds of sapiens and plant ideas for stories and tales, and the author came to be. Families of storytellers still exist and practice their craft, but they are joined by names like Mark Twain and his tales of American life, Charles Dickins and his stories of England industrializing, Walt Disney brought the stories to film, and so many others. They too suffer oppressions, but their is usually by political powers who do not like the tales they tell, or maybe the lessons they teach.
So here is the origins of some of the children of the night, and the music they make. They exist even in this day, but you may not recognize them, as by civilizing themselves the sapiens lost their connections to the natural world. The sapien no longer connects with animals or spirits and sees only the cold hard science as a path of explanation, and wonders why his or her world seems so empty at times. Empty and cold, and they wonder why depression and suicide is becoming more common. The sapien created a consumer culture and wonders why everything seems to have a price, even art and writing has became a commodity. Why is depression and loneliness seem to dominate society, and why profit seems to be the king and more than that, a god. The reason is that the sapien has disconnected themselves for the world around them and now suffer the consequences. The world is bigger than we think, Shakespeare expresses it best in Hamlet, the great storyteller proclaimed, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
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