Witch's Brew: Ramblings of a Witch: Magickal Names

Ramblings of a Witch: Magickal Names
By: Lady Morgan Moonstone
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What does your Magickal Name mean?

What is a Magickal Name? Why have a Magickal Name? There are several reasons for having a magickal name when you come into the Craft. A lot of Witches/Pagans feel they go through a huge transformation and by changing their name to something that more suits them, they get closer to the Self and Perfect Balance. Some Pagans/Witches have more than one magickal name; one for public use and a private one that is only used in Ritual with the Goddess and God. Two names are not necessary though, only a choice of the individual.

According to Raymond Buckland, It used to be that, to know someone's name was to have a power over them - for if you knew the name of your enemy you could conjure with it. Names are important and you may not like the name you were given by your parents either. However, you can use your birth name if you are happy with it. There is no rule that says you HAVE to change it.

There's also the birth number. Everyone has a birth number. You add the birth date together until you come up with a single digit. (For more info on this, see BoS: Magickal Names. Here I explain how to figure your birth number and magickal name. There is also a program that helps you to calculate the name value.) Your name should equal the value of your birth number and should have meaning to you and your journey. By choosing a name that aligns with your birth number (which is unchanging), you are then aligning yourself with that same vibration; the vibration of the moment you chose to be born.

My name was given to me during my self-initiation ritual into the Craft. Let me explain how my name worked out perfectly for me...

Morgan

The name Morgan is confusing to some Witches/Pagans. They confuse Morgan le Fay with the Morrigan. Morgan le Fay was King Arthur's sister (or half-sister, history isn't clear on this) and some even say she was the mistress to Merlin the Magician. Various myths surround her, one being that she seduced and then abandoned lovers and said to have had a very healthy sexual appetite.

She is also associated with Faeries in various aspects, from mermaids to lake faeries, to even evil faeries that inhabited a castle she was said to have lived in. It is also said that she lived in Avalon and learned her Craft in a nunnery.

Then, there is the Morrigan. Known as the Queen of the Faeries, The Morrigan is associated with the Tuatha de Danaan and the faeries of Ireland. She is also said to have appeared on the battlefield as a Crow or Raven, healing with her magick. The Morrigan is seen as the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone. She is associated with night, magick, prophecy and shape shifting.

With all this information about the name Morgan, I can see that I am associated with most of the aspects of each of these Goddesses.

See:

Morgan for more Goddess information.

Crystal

The name Crystal is to remind me that we are all like a crystal, each one of us unique and different from one another. Therefore, we all have different likes and dislikes and should all be respected for being who we are.

Crystals were also said to have been the "power" of the Atlanteans, the inhabitants of the lost continent of Atlantis. They were said to have empowered crystals with magickal intent to bring about change. I have a strong kinship with Atlantis as well, I feel that I may have even lived a life there.

If you want more reading information, there are lots of books on crystals by many authors available at the Witch's Brew Bookstore

Moonstone

Moonstone promotes love, compassion and sympathy both in yourself and in others. This is something I have had to learn along my path. According to Patricia Telesco in her book Folkways, she says the name of the moonstone might have come from an old legend which claims that the white line of this crystal waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon. It is believed to also inspire passion and aid in foreknowledge if held in the mouth when the moon is full.

Moonstones are also used to attract faeries and the Goddess Morgan (in both aspects I described above) are also known as the Queen of Faeries. I am also a Moon-Child born under the sign of Cancer/Leo Cusp so the names just all fit together perfectly for me and my journey.

So that's how my name came to be. I hope you have enjoyed this article. Listed below are related links within this website, a suggested reading list and source list for more information and outside links. Would you like to share how you came to your name? Go to Witch's Brew Asks: Craft Names and submit your story of how you found your name, or how it found you. Read others stories as well.