On War

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Andred isn’t just war. She isn’t just armed conflict or any kind of battle. She can be found in the rest that comes in the middle of the war, or after it, whether her “side” is victorious or not (I suspect she doesn’t just change sides willy-nilly, but instead protects and supports her people). And she hasn’t gone away when we stopped using spears and shields. Guns. Spies. Drones. She changes slightly based on the means of war, but war itself has not changed.

She is steadfast, principled. War has it’s place, but out of place it is a wild destructive force, like an out of control wildfire. This is not her domain. She seems to prefer war in its place, and all other times let there be peace. Rest. Heal your wounds. Think on what just happened. Negotiate the fallout. Establish treaties if necessary. Rearrange as needed. That, too, is necessary. There is no purpose to endless conflict. There is no need to continue when all arms should be laid down.

Look, I know I sound like some anti-war protester here, but this shit just came through me this morning and I think she wants it known. Alright?

Look for Her…

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Look for Andred in hot cider. In February when it’s starting to be light (if not warm). In rest. In the night. In the courage to say “Yeah, I failed today, but tomorrow I’m gonna try again.” In waxing crescent and hare and forest. In pushing through and not giving in. In meeting your obligations despite everything (and I do mean everything). She is there.

Symbols

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Andred first revealed herself to me in the waxing crescent moon that led me home after work (as it was setting), coupled with, interestingly enough, a country song. Now, I listen to a lot of country, but something about this particular song just added to the moment, and made everything feel right. That’s been key for me, the idea that everything feels right in a given moment, and that’s how I discern, in part, a god’s presence or my connection with nature.

As I said previously, it took me quite a long while to determine the nature of the divine being contacting me, and while I describe it in fairly brief terms it really took months, perhaps a year at least, from the first sign to the true understanding of Her nature. Since then, I have come to understand Her symbols, and I still learn them to this day. They are:

  • the perfect crescent of the newly waxing moon
  • the hare
  • the pentacle
  • Three of Swords and Six of Pentacles from the Welcome to Night Vale deck (those two exactly specific cards)
  • blue sandstone
  • rainbow moonstone
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Let us, therefore, go against [the Romans], trusting boldly to good fortune. Let us show them that they are hares and foxes trying to rule over dogs and wolves.” When she [Boudica] had finished speaking, she employed a species of divination, letting a hare escape from the fold of her dress; and since it ran on what they considered the auspicious side, the whole multitude shouted with pleasure, and Boudica, raising her hand toward heaven, said: “I thank you, Andraste, and call upon you as woman speaking to woman … I beg you for victory and preservation of liberty.

When in Rome…

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I began this journey essentially clueless. I didn’t know any other gods but the major ones, and none of them were speaking to me in the way this previously unnamed goddess was. Was she Luna? Well, that was an OK place to start. For a long time I hovered around Scàthatch, but that didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, either (and before I continue I don’t want to say that I had her confused for the way she appeared in young adult novels like the Nicolas Flamel series). I still kept searching, and gravitated back toward this figure as a sign that I was on the right track, but I still had no idea where I was supposed to be going.

And then, because I was on an unrelated never-ending quest to learn about magic (and, in fact, I still am), I found the answer. I found everything I had been looking for on page 213 of a little book called Mastering Witchcraft, by Paul Huson. (For reasons other than the fact that it helped me find Andred, I absolutely recommend this book to everyone who encounters this, and me online generally.)

I found this:

Photo on 11-23-16 at 12.24 PM

The Theban writing (in this case right to left) spells ‘Andred’, and this image matched everything I was looking for, and had seen and gathered over the course of time.

I searched the internet for references to her, and I found (among a number of different little tidbits whose validity is questionable), this account from Dio Cassius:

Let us, therefore, go against [the Romans], trusting boldly to good fortune. Let us show them that they are hares and foxes trying to rule over dogs and wolves.” When she [Boudica] had finished speaking, she employed a species of divination, letting a hare escape from the fold of her dress; and since it ran on what they considered the auspicious side, the whole multitude shouted with pleasure, and Boudica, raising her hand toward heaven, said: “I thank you, Andraste, and call upon you as woman speaking to woman … I beg you for victory and preservation of liberty.

From this we gather much of the basics of who Andred is: a goddess of victory whose name means “the unvanquished”, with associations with the hare and women, as well as the fight for oneself, for liberty or survival or both. In this way She stands with the underdogs, and does not always govern direct battle. If the battle is staying alive one day at a time, She will stand with you. If the battle is trying to escape, She will stand with you.

All other associations (and arguably the last of the ones listed above) are Unverified Personal Gnosis, and so I provide that disclaimer in the opening post of this blog. As I post my thoughts on Her (some previously posted on Tumblr), that must be borne in mind. The primary purpose is to be a source of (some) knowledge, as well as an e-Shrine to Andred, and maybe whomever happens upon this blog will make the same connection I did.