The Circle of Semargl: The Hunt in the Depths of the Mind
Two sentinels guard the Gates of Power. The first – Veles – prevents anyone from crossing the Gates; the second – Semargl – allows energy to flow through them. One can pass through these Gates with either.
And if the Circle of Veles has been successfully completed and the Gates of Power opened, the Magus encounters the Second Sentinel – Semargl – the God of the Open Gates. Likewise, passing the Circle of Semargl brings the Magus face-to-face with the Great Gatekeeper of the Threshold – Veles. Thus these two Keepers are binary reflections of one another in their eternal opposition and infinite unity.
The power of Semargl is invaluable in freeing one from inner predators, and as Wolf Shepherd, he embodies this power.
The same idea is contained in the myth of Semargl’s victory over the Black Serpent.
Graphically the Circle of Semargl may be represented by two symbols associated with this god – the Flag of Semargl itself:
And the symbol of the «Wolf Hook» (Wolfsangel):
We will not dwell on interpreting the symbols; we will speak of them only as expressions of the Circle of the Wolf Hunt – the Circle of Semargl.
Each of Semargl’s runic symbols expresses the same idea, though from different angles: the Flag evokes the Rune Odal, and in this sense reflects the god’s protective function; the Wolfsangel can be viewed as two Uruz – one upright and one inverted – which reflects the convergence of currents in his power of ascending and descending currents, and their meeting in Midgard.
Unlike the Circle of Veles, the Circle of Semargl has not four key points but nine, and accordingly is traversed not in three but in eight steps.
Moreover, each of the elements is traversed twice, and Air appears three times, a fact reflected in Semargl’s winged image.
Regardless of the depiction one considers, the steps are the same:
1) fire; 2) water; 3) air; 4) earth; 5) air; 6) fire; 7) air; 8) water; 9) earth.
They can also be considered as the superposition of two quaternaries, adopted in different schemes – “Ezekiel” and “John” – which essentially express the same idea as the combination of two Uruz: first there is the «descent» of the mind into the depths of the Psychocosmos, the ‘beast’s lair’, the search there for the predator, and then – luring the predator to the surface and, ideally, expelling it.
Regarding the processes that occur during the Circle’s passage, each of the elements contributes to the hunt that is the essence of the ritual.
Formally, these stages are as follows: 1) Search: the mind probes its depths, during which it forms 2) Encirclement: it isolates a suspicious sector where not all is well and the presence of a predator (or a destructor) is suspected. Having singled out such an area, the mind moves to the next stage: 3) Movement – the mind thins the sector’s elements, and 4) sets an ambush – observing each element separately, and 5) makes strikes at each element. As a result of this, the predator, located in one of these elements, is put into motion – begins to flee, and the mind moves to 6) the Drive – it traces the predator element’s connections with the other elements of the Psychocosmos and severs them. Finally 7) the Pursuit begins – the mind faces the predator and asserts its claim on the Psychocosmos, and if asserted with sufficient confidence, then the predator 8) is driven out, for it can only operate by remaining unnoticed – it is an invader, a marauder, without any rights to Power. If the expulsion is successful, the mind proceeds to 9) the Return – restoring connections broken during the hunt and restoring currents of Power to proper channels.
The result of a successfully completed Circle of Semargl is liberation from predators’ dominion, and by repeating the circle the Magus gradually reclaims the Psychocosmos.
Well… I always thought of it as just “cleanup,” and it turns out it’s “Hunt”:)))
“Cleanup” involves the removed entity not resisting—when you clean up trash, it doesn’t fight back, doesn’t bite, and doesn’t cling with all its might to its place. But when you expel predators—even the smallest ones—they don’t just give up, as they have nothing left to lose, and they resist desperately.
Looks solid 🙂 Does it have to be a long ritual of a strictly defined form, or can it be performed whenever questions arise in a ‘free moment’?
Any Circle is a unified process that must be carried out with a ‘unified push.’ The very form of the Ritual can vary depending on the specific operator; it is important that the scheme is observed.
Of course they resist…., but I know WHO is the master in the house 🙂 I simply took your term ‘Hunting’ to describe certain actions in the Outer World to gain Power. That is, in hunting, Power is taken precisely from those we hunted. Figuratively speaking – I tracked and killed a deer, drank its blood, and thus obtained the Power that was in the deer. During ‘internal cleaning’ – I drive a pack of wolves away from the deer carcass I obtained (while the wolves are snapping at me and may attack). I do not drink the blood of the ‘internal wolf’ I killed – it’s not very tasty 🙂 so as a result of ‘cleaning’, I do not receive Power directly from those I killed/driven away, although, of course, by driving away parasites from my food, I will eventually receive an extra ration 🙂 Therefore, I call ‘internal Hunting’ – ‘cleaning’.
Hunting is a general description of active struggle for Power. Either – for the addition of Power, or – for reclaiming one’s Power.
And if we talk generally about the magical ritual. Are there specific principles for its execution, or is it enough just to adhere to its conceptual scheme? That is, formally it can resemble psychological self-counseling, or does the form also matter? Or does it depend on the myth and Path of the operator?
If the operator is able to conduct the Ritual exclusively on an internal level – then this is possible. In principle, the specific ‘body’ of the Ritual depends on the personal myth of the operator and can manifest differently, but the ‘spirit’ of the Ritual, just like its Scheme, must be observed.
The Symbol of the Flag of Semargl – have you encountered a similar, but inverted symbol?
What, more specifically, is meant by ‘scheme’? Standing in certain places or looking in a certain direction, blowing? Bathing Ivan in three cauldrons – is that also a scheme?
The scheme is the order of interaction with various forces. And the form of interaction – standing or sitting, blowing or spitting – is the ‘body’ of the Ritual.
The problem is that when an area with a predator is identified and attempts to address it begin, the predator triggers a cascade of emotional reactions. The feelings can be so uncomfortable and overwhelming that the ability to move forward simply shuts down. How can one cope with (work through) this overwhelming flow of emotions and sensations? How can the process be shifted to a level of logical (rational) analysis? Or should one transition to the realm of metaphors (for instance, transform into one’s Animal of Power…)?
In such cases, music helps me. Pure, lofty, colorful. It itself arranges all the accumulated cascade of emotions into their places.
Music (non-specialized) rather forms various ASC (altered states of consciousness), which is not always acceptable, especially “during the hunt”. But I found a truly powerful tool in the article https://en.enmerkar.com/magic/napravlenie-potokov: The Method of “Inquiry”…
I am not arguing, the tool is powerful. I was only talking about myself. Sometimes you start searching and find the same thing but in different areas. The main thing, after all, is the result.
Moreover, Maxim, I was just talking about help, not a tool. About the streams, thank you, I know and knew. It just seemed a bit wild to me when someone starts their path without such elementary knowledge as streams. For me, such concepts are self-evident. I probably expressed my thought poorly.
Thank you as well, Alira, for the answer. I was just trying to supplement it. The thing is, music can be different. There is, for example, special (keys) for initiating immersion rituals used in exploring “the depths of consciousness.”
Does the Circle of the Shepherd of Wolves occur in other cultures? Or does it have some other significance?
What does the inverted Wolfsangel mean??
I call it catching cockroaches, I anchor each cockroach positively, and it disappears on its own, the process is very quick, days, for some weeks.
Answer. Does the movement along the sign in canonical form go from left to right or from right to left? Or does it depend on the goal (to transform the potential into the actual or vice versa)?
The movement goes from left to right, but includes a reverse turn – in this lies the maneuver to draw out destructive elements.
Such a question, can this ritual be used to hunt the inner predators of another person?
Theoretically, yes, but it’s much better for everyone to handle their own inner predators. All we can do to help someone else in this is to support them in this struggle without replacing their efforts with our own.
Thank you for your answer
Very interesting!