 |
|
| Home Wicca
101/FAQ Glossary About
the Author Email
the Author Blog
/ Question of the Day Email
List |
The Witches' Rune
by Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner
This is almost identical to another piece attributed to the same authors, known as The Ancient Call. According to Leaf McGowan, Azarak and Zomilarak are brother and sister angels representing fire and water. Cernunnos is a Celtic horned god here representing earth and Aradia represents the air and moon. "Eko" translates as something like "Hail!" or "Hail and come forth".1 Ronald Hutton, however, describes the Azarak and Zomilarak lines as mysterious or meaningless. They appear to have come from a 1926 article by J.F.C. Fuller which described them as "a sorcerer's cry in the Middle Ages." No source was cited nor has one ever been found.2
Darksome night and shining moon
Hearken to the Witches Rune.
East then South , West then North
Hear! Come! I call thee forth!
By all the powers of land and sea
Be obedient unto me.
Wand, pentacle, and the sword
Hearken ye unto my word.
Cords and censor, scourge and knife
Waken all ye into life.
Powers of the witches blade
Come ye as the charge is made.
Queen of heaven, queen of hell
Send your aid into the spell.
Horned Hunter of the night
Work my will by magick right.
By the powers of land and sea
As I do say, "So mote it be!"
By all the might of moon and sun
As I do will, it shall be done!
Eko Eko, Azarak
Eko Eko, Zomilarak
Eko Eko, Cernunnos
Eko Eko, Aradia.
1Leaf McGowan, forums at http://www.treeleaves.com. (no longer online)
2 Ronald Hutton, Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 232.
| © Catherine Noble Beyer, 2002 - 2011 * Awards |