The Western Gate

The Witches Oracle.|
The Sword.

Foreword: Example of Interpretation to a random card of personal “Witchcraft Oracle” deck (as introduced here. )

The last of my examples of a personal ‘Oracle’ deck, because, I could go on to describe and reason all 52 cards, plus the one joker for a day, but what for? It’s not a commercial enterprise, nor am I footing plans to pen a book, and if I did it would be for non-profit and the proliferation of knowledge rather than hiding it or releasing it with copyright and licence, which is akin to the difference to Crowley’s vision and the current secretive and appalling OTO we see now operating from across the pond.
The exercise has made me think and as always question the value of sharing and expounding knowledge being as my path is solitary and personal gnosis.
One of my most profound experiences was a vivid ‘dream’, I say dream though it was more than a lucid dream experience and would probably be described as an astral experience, that is, occurring as a witness to the landscape in what was an out of body experience.
Priests stood each upon a line of columns and sang to each other in response to my question, “What is the purpose?” the first priest replied , “carry the message on.”
He then made a gesture as if passing something with his hand to the next priest, who then repeated the phrase, and so on. The whole chorus was like an echo. ¹
However, since this dreamscape it seemed more that I was not to be some sort of teacher, and I would be the worst because I digress too much, a bit like the teacher at school who you could ask about his football team and he’d go off on a tangent and before you know it the lunch time bell rings and you’ve managed to do fuck all. Intentionally.
The symbology of the ‘Carry the message on’ seemed to be, building bridges, building on the foundation, brick by same brick but building a temple from the levelled floor. My own personal journey, carrying each message on until the first principle returns but is joined by synchronous blocks. Experience. Knowledge.
The idea behind publishing this ‘idea of’ my own Oracle, therefore is not to parrot fashion nod and borrow, but to implement and from the blank card create your own, be it 52 cards or 72 or 42 or 78 etc.
No doubt there have been frowns and crooked wagging fingers at some of my descriptions. The Seven Receptacles of Stillness~ (What’s the silly old fucker going on about ? ) My philosophy, my symbology and my own personal understanding is simply that, the way I have travelled.

And with that said, The Sword represents, One of the Seven so called ‘active’ tools. ‘;- The Seven blades of Artifice’ ~ ~If I were to be pretentious, although of course these ‘tools’ are anything but means to show off.
The Seven are thus;- The Sword, The Boline, The Scourge, The Spear, the Sickle, the Scythe and the Bow and Arrow(or else the catapault).

The Sword is double edged for it has a double meaning. The Wiccans declare to an initiate, “better to rush upon this blade than enter with fear in your heart”, this is plagiarised from the Masonic~ ““It were better that you should rush upon this naked sword than to enter this Lodge with fear in your heart or hypocrisy upon your lips.””
However let me present this;- the initiate kneels, blindfold and a sword is raised above their head.
” This sword is to behead, or to knight, it is Severity and Mercy, Power and Grace.”
The Sword is the ‘heart of the matter’ It would take a lot of words and a lot of reading to fully give it (ahem) Justice. So I can be but brief.
Think of the Sword in the Stone. This is the ‘Sword’ in Earth. But, the Sword was delivered from the Lake, from water, Forged by Fire and associated with Air? Yes air, for fire is only hot enough by the application of air, birth is only given by breathe. But this is twaddle. As all doctrine goes, ambiguity, shoehorned references.

The Sword represents balance, it is why it is held aloft in the scales of Justice (Justitia). It is both severity and mercy. The decision to forgive or curse, pity or scorn. These decisions are made by the heart- the stone, it cannot be questioned. How the sword is used is governed by Wisdom. The holder of the sword acts in wisdoms sake. We are given the facts of our austerity, the pros and cons, the blocks and open doors and thus we understand our situation, but it is wisdom to guide us.
The polarisation of Understanding and Wisdom is our own engine, that of Logical splendid processed thought, and also our creative artistic inspiration. Creative thought and Logical process are the children of Wisdom and Understanding.
One, logical, without the other, creative, is to either be a robotic functioning ‘Vulcan’ ~ Like Spock (even though technically he’s not true logical but a hybrid of human/vulcan) ~ or a ‘dreamer’, and here we merge the two ideals, for that heart, that stone is mounted upon these foundations. The Witch is both logical and also creative. Neither/Nor. Both in harmony.
This is the philosophers of the renaissance who mixed art with science, who studied all religions to find the underlying theme, to explore without restriction. The occultist. The witch.

e.g. Dismissing the shape of the dragon in the clouds, a real dragon isn’t going to come, but if turmoil and danger materialise, logically, if every time the seer beholds a dragon in the clouds what are we to reckon if indeed turmoil follows the vison? some numbers give rise to the same occurrence, 555, and news of a death will follow. Some say, and so it follows. The creative and wayward mind must always be balanced by careful and methodical footing. The numbers I see being, say, portents of doom may be different to yours, but the idea of seeing, beholding and knowing is the same.
The sword is crafted of the Pommel~ the crown, The HAndle ~ the middle pillar, and two opposing crescents as the guard, these are, the crescent pointing upwards~ Severity and Mercy, and those downwards as Logic and Creative principles. They represent the phases of the moon, both waxing and waning.
The blade itself , double edged and straight, not curved this way or that, but direct.
In my previous interpretations, Wand, Staff, Stang I have given interpretations should the card appear in a basic ‘cross’ spread.
I’m not going to here, to continually give rules and directions is to enable the moron to not think for themselves, and in terms of the principle of the sword, that is contrary to its design.
Every card, every image is seen, creatively, and also logically. Meditate without thinking on the image. Process. Judge it by its placing.
My dream discourse with a fellow called ‘Rumi’ stated, ” Is murder carried out by someone who is rich and powerful the same as murder carried out by someone who has nothing and desperate.”
The end result is still murder, but is it?
To hold the sword, is not to hold power, but responsibility, to administer wisdom. This does not belong to any kingdom, nor to any Crown, and in itself, here is wisdom ~ “The crown falls down to wisdom, The king bows before the wise or the kingdom shall not stand.”

The next card, would be The Boline of Circe, that hand tool of the harvest that cuts the ears of Corn. Thus, I sever the ears from this discourse of the Oracle of witches, go find it yourself. We will differ, we have to differ because we are free but like echoes of continuing stream of wisdom they will merge to be one form.

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1/ I used this example in the story Brief encounter at MAbon