Charms and Sorcerers

As is known, the word “sorcery“, often applied to all of Magic and regarded as its synonym, derives from the word “chara”, i.e., the ritual chalice. What did they do with these chalices that became firmly fixed in consciousness?

The words “chara” (chalice) and “chary” (sorcery) are not merely homonymous; they are historically connected. Chara is a deverbal noun from kēra (to do, to practice sorcery), and the vessel was later called that, probably as a result of its corresponding use. The word is of the same root as Old Icelandic hverna “pot”, Greek kernos “libation bowl”, and others.

Even ancient Greek hydromancy rites used crystal cups into which diviners cast gems bearing images of deities and read their will from the water.

According to academician B. A. Rybakov, among the ancient Slavs divination using cups — chara — was also widespread.

But sorcery did not have only divinatory aims.

As mentioned, the use of vessels in Magic was ubiquitous, and unsurprisingly the Chalice is one of the four sacred Symbols of Power that a Magus must master to gain mastery over himself and the world. The Chalice not only grants power over the principle Water, it opens authority over the emotional sphere, and therefore over the World of feelings (which in recent times, for some reason, people have begun to call by the obscure word “astral“).

Manipulations with the Chalice give access to the underside of the universe; they allow not only extracting information from it (as is also done with mirrors and crystal spheres), but also altering reality.

Mastery of sorcery imparts fluidity, allows one to use the principle of Water for movement through the world and between worlds, and also permits control over the passive currents of feelings.

We have already encountered a similar influence when examining Sejt, but there it was achieved by different means.

Moreover, as mentioned, the ancient Celts associated cups (cauldrons) not only with fertility and abundance, but also with the resurrection of the dead. In this aspect, sorcery relies on manipulations of Productive Passivity (Worldly femininity, Immanent Face), in which the entire universe is contained in unmanifest form. As a Symbol of Power, the Chalice is associated with the West as a direction, and with the Otherworld, from which the stream of being flows. Therefore, sorcery allows one to bring objects from potential being into actuality — to “give them birth”. However, such use of the Chalice also requires considerable active effort.

Thus, the magical application of the Chalice (Chara) is much broader than commonly thought. Mastery of this Symbol of Power (as, indeed, of the others) allows one to penetrate the deep layers of reality and draw power and new manifestations from them.