The Ancient West Blesses the Young East
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The Kwakʼwala Speaking Tribes
Ever since the white people first came to our lands, we have been known as the Kwakkewlths by Indian Affairs or as the Kwakiutl by anthropologists. In fact we are the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, people who speak Kwakʼwala, but who live in different places and have different names for our separate groups.
Each group of people on earth has its own story of how it came to be.
Kwaguʼł
Tsax̱is (Fort Rupert)
Edward Dossetter, 1881, American Museum of Natural HistoryKwaguʼłThe Kwaguʼł Chiefs were discussing the creation of their ancestors while waiting for the second course at a feast given by one of the Chiefs at Tsax̱is. At first no one spoke for a while. Then Ma̱lid spoke, saying, "It is the Sun, our Chief, who created our ancestors of all the tribes." And when the others asked him how this was possible, for the Sun never made even one man, the Chief was silent. Others said, "It is Mink, Tłisa̱lagʼlakw, who made our first ancestors. Then spoke the Great-Inviter, saying, "Listen Kwaguʼł and let me speak a really true word. I see it altogether mistaken what the others say, for it was the Seagull who first became man by taking off his mask and turning into a man. This was the beginning of one of the groups of our tribe. And the others were caused when the Sun and Grizzly Bear and Thunderbird also took off their masks. That is the reason that we Kwaguʼł are many groups, for each group had its own original ancestor."
A Chief visiting from the Nawitti disagreed, and the Kwaguʼł of all four groups became angry. For the Nawitti believe that the Transformer (Creator) went about creating the first ancestors of all the tribes from people who already existed. But the Chiefs of the Kwaguʼł scoffed at this, saying, "Do not say that the Transformer was the Creator of all tribes. Indeed, he just came and did misChief to men, when he made them into raccoon, and land otter, and deer, for he only transformed them into animals. We of the Kwaguʼł know that our ancestors were the Seagull, Sun, Grizzly Bear and Thunderbird."
Adopted from a discussion recorded by George Hunt, 1906
I am Thunderbird tribe. From the Kwak'wala. That is wehre the magic I wish to bridge come from. I am also Grizzley Bear from California. Ursa Major. A different system within a system. Thanks for posting this and allowing me to share.
Love is the law, love under will
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I wish I had your Resh adaption recently. I've been pretty diligent with it for the last year. I went to Alert Bay for our family potlatch. This place is another world altogether. You get off the ferry and are in totem pole land. Serious towers with thunderbirds and grizzley bears, massive cedars and eagles abound. Its cold, grey and the bighouses everywhere: www.flickr.com/photos/93029747@N00/86618964 - that's ours, hold 2000 people. So just for an understanding of proportion...
It was really hard to adore Egyptian gods amongst the others. I was essentially forbade. I was attempting a noon Resh when the eagles started squabbling over a caught salmon midair. Talons and squaks had me go back into the cabin until the coast was clear (literally), other events happened at dusk also. I was keen on this fact and started testing the gods (as it were) and sure enough, place and space won. When I expressed this to an elder, in simple terms, that I have a practice I'd like to maintain, he said that it would be impossible to bring those gods here because ours anchor the northern gates and on the particular island we were on, this practice has gone unbroken for thousands of years. He appreciated my devotion and said our magic was powerful and to just pay attention to that as it would be a unique and rare occasion. A lot was revealed to me which actually brings me to these conversations on here. Inside the big house more magical elements revealed themselves to me as it's all occult magic. The house itself is a body, from the picture i posted you can see its face, the internal organs represent the body and the universe. The qabalistic attributes were easy to access and the eye contact with certain elders sent chills when they spoke of magic. I ended up sitting next to a cousin I had just met who was also into the occult. That was by chance and since I've been able to turn him on of which he is an amazing northwest coast artist (which is our claim to fame, it's the art). Thanks for listening, I'm gonna anchor some of this stuff down now, lol.
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93,
That's a fine-looking front to the building.
Adapting Thelemic practices to non-Eurocentric situations is tricky. In my limited experience, there needs to be a respect or reverence for what's already around, rather an imposition of new ideas on old places and presences. I think the key lies in realizing that a rigid, reconstructed-Egyptian interpretation of something like Resh doesn't help.
What if you tried it without the God-names? "Hail unto thee who art the Rising/Setting Sun," or something like that? The worst that could happen is you'd get a fresh perspective on Resh. You could even try putting the name of a Wisdom God and a Warrior God in, instead of Tahuti and Ra-Hoor.
93 93/93,
Edward
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On a similar note, in his Confessions, Crowley talks about doing a ceremony dedicated to a (Egyptian?) goddess, while in India. The Indian equivalent appeared to him.
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@Edward Mason said
"93,
That's a fine-looking front to the building.
Adapting Thelemic practices to non-Eurocentric situations is tricky. In my limited experience, there needs to be a respect or reverence for what's already around, rather an imposition of new ideas on old places and presences. I think the key lies in realizing that a rigid, reconstructed-Egyptian interpretation of something like Resh doesn't help.
What if you tried it without the God-names? "Hail unto thee who art the Rising/Setting Sun," or something like that? The worst that could happen is you'd get a fresh perspective on Resh. You could even try putting the name of a Wisdom God and a Warrior God in, instead of Tahuti and Ra-Hoor.
93 93/93,
Edward"
Kinda ironic since too since Egypt isn't Euro! Neither is yoga as far as I know! In any case, I wouldn't have understood it to the degree unless I tried it. It didn't work and I was limited on time to try. I am seeking the correspondences for our particular deities, my own application to my great work. Something I can work on now that I've been there/done that! The other gods have their places and I respect that. Mixing magick/medicine can be not only bad alchemy, but just not do-able exactly. We have our own reverences to the sun (As all cultures seem to) and thats a good foundation. Since Thelema is an all inclusive system, and the motto "the method of science, the aim of religion" fortifies the end goal, I am pretty geared to get 'er done, lol.
Thanks Edward, 93's
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93,
"Kinda ironic since too since Egypt isn't Euro! Neither is yoga as far as I know!"
True. But Thelema as Crowley, Jones and their circle conceived it emerges out of a Eurocentric perspective on all of that. Even the pronunciations and spelling of the Egyptian deities were provide by a French-speaking Belgian.
As the global levers of mundane power shift towards Asia, it's going to be interesting to see how Thelema develops in response to the change. Maybe native American traditions might offer something toward establishing a bridge there.93 93/93,
Edward