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moonvoiceThe Ethics of Weather Magic
A Traditional Perspective
A harmonious relationship with weather gods can only be achieved through consistent, respectful and long-term practice. It involves meditation, journeying, and learning the sacred ways and rituals that allow us to commune with gods and energies that are far more vast than we are. It involves understanding that we will only ever know the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, that we are small and insignificant to the near-eternal weather cycles that have been here since before cellular 'life' began.
A relationship with the weather gods is one of respect and deference, fear and love. The weather gods are not there to be commanded at our convenience, and indeed many simply will not defer to any human, or humans, no matter how much we appeal. To believe that we can simply force the weather to do our will is inane, and to believe that we have done so, ignorant.
There are hundreds of different weather and sky gods, each requires time and patience to learn and understand. It is a journey of letting go of the destructive aspects of our ego and allowing the wisdom of the sky-spirits to overtake us. Working with weather gods is a dedicated undertaking, so much so that throughout Russia and Asia there were spiritual elders and energy-workers who devoted their entire lives to sky gods.
In contemporary times, many Australian pagans have expressed interest in wanting to 'call' rain to break the ongoing drought. They have not spent years in communion with the land and weather systems to understand this drought, and do not seek to understand if it has its rightful place. Instead, it seems that 'those trees are dying, the cost of meat has gone up, I'd better call millions of tons of rain over because I'll feel good about it and my garden will grow…' Yet the changes this earth undertakes are far more complex than we can hope to understand. Weather gods have loyalty first to the earth, and then to the 'shamans' and spiritual people who entreat them through years of communion. If we do not understand the earth itself and geological change, then how can we seek to understand the motivations of the weather gods (or the weather) and our relationship to them/it?
A would-be holistic worker petulantly looks at the land around them and sees it changing in ways that he or she interprets as negative. They are like a child who wants a lolly, they look up to the sky and hold out their hands and go, 'please Mom! I want a lolly!' Like a child, they rarely try to understand why they haven't been given a lolly, and they certainly don't often respect the 'Mom' in the process of just want, want, wanting. If Australia, or America, or Africa is in a death cycle climatically, then we should not treat the symptom (the weather), but rather address our creator gods and our ancestors, and ask how we may better cope with this at a community and personal level. Turning to gods that we haven't treated with respect and asking them to baby us is a grave insult, and one that rarely works.
It is my opinion that most pagans today who claim that they work with the weather, or that they do 'rain spells', do them out of ignorance. They trust the ego over the spirit, and lack respect for the sky, often objectifying their ecosystem in the process. This isn't holistic to me, and it is not insightful. These are the people who would also philosophically treat illness by addressing only the symptoms, who treat drought by simply drenching the land if their 'power' permits it (usually followed by post-ritual bragging to the nearest coven/forum/e-community etc.)
So what can most of those who deem themselves worthy to do 'weather magic' be called today, if not weather-dancers or weather-workers? Weather abusers, or users, or manipulators. Those who choose to manipulate forces billions of years older than our own physical existence ignorantly, with only the cursory respect given before and after each ritual, are not those who are treating the weather or their ecosystem with respect.
A Traditional Perspective
A harmonious relationship with weather gods can only be achieved through consistent, respectful and long-term practice. It involves meditation, journeying, and learning the sacred ways and rituals that allow us to commune with gods and energies that are far more vast than we are. It involves understanding that we will only ever know the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, that we are small and insignificant to the near-eternal weather cycles that have been here since before cellular 'life' began.
A relationship with the weather gods is one of respect and deference, fear and love. The weather gods are not there to be commanded at our convenience, and indeed many simply will not defer to any human, or humans, no matter how much we appeal. To believe that we can simply force the weather to do our will is inane, and to believe that we have done so, ignorant.
There are hundreds of different weather and sky gods, each requires time and patience to learn and understand. It is a journey of letting go of the destructive aspects of our ego and allowing the wisdom of the sky-spirits to overtake us. Working with weather gods is a dedicated undertaking, so much so that throughout Russia and Asia there were spiritual elders and energy-workers who devoted their entire lives to sky gods.
In contemporary times, many Australian pagans have expressed interest in wanting to 'call' rain to break the ongoing drought. They have not spent years in communion with the land and weather systems to understand this drought, and do not seek to understand if it has its rightful place. Instead, it seems that 'those trees are dying, the cost of meat has gone up, I'd better call millions of tons of rain over because I'll feel good about it and my garden will grow…' Yet the changes this earth undertakes are far more complex than we can hope to understand. Weather gods have loyalty first to the earth, and then to the 'shamans' and spiritual people who entreat them through years of communion. If we do not understand the earth itself and geological change, then how can we seek to understand the motivations of the weather gods (or the weather) and our relationship to them/it?
A would-be holistic worker petulantly looks at the land around them and sees it changing in ways that he or she interprets as negative. They are like a child who wants a lolly, they look up to the sky and hold out their hands and go, 'please Mom! I want a lolly!' Like a child, they rarely try to understand why they haven't been given a lolly, and they certainly don't often respect the 'Mom' in the process of just want, want, wanting. If Australia, or America, or Africa is in a death cycle climatically, then we should not treat the symptom (the weather), but rather address our creator gods and our ancestors, and ask how we may better cope with this at a community and personal level. Turning to gods that we haven't treated with respect and asking them to baby us is a grave insult, and one that rarely works.
It is my opinion that most pagans today who claim that they work with the weather, or that they do 'rain spells', do them out of ignorance. They trust the ego over the spirit, and lack respect for the sky, often objectifying their ecosystem in the process. This isn't holistic to me, and it is not insightful. These are the people who would also philosophically treat illness by addressing only the symptoms, who treat drought by simply drenching the land if their 'power' permits it (usually followed by post-ritual bragging to the nearest coven/forum/e-community etc.)
So what can most of those who deem themselves worthy to do 'weather magic' be called today, if not weather-dancers or weather-workers? Weather abusers, or users, or manipulators. Those who choose to manipulate forces billions of years older than our own physical existence ignorantly, with only the cursory respect given before and after each ritual, are not those who are treating the weather or their ecosystem with respect.
