                        An Introduction to Teutonic Magick

Teutonic magick is one of world's the oldest religions.  First used by the 
early Germanic people, it has now influenced many of the magickal religions 
existing today.

The word "Teutonic" was first used to describe a specific German tribe but
now encompasses a heritage as large and diverse as Northern Europe.  The 
Germans are considered Teutonic but so are the decendants of the Vikings, the 
Anglo-Saxons, and even the Normans.  If you have any ancestors from Northern 
Europe, then you are also probably heir to this rich, full, religion.  If you
are interested in finding your true roots and practicing the religion that 
your ancestors practiced, then there are important first steps you are to  
take: only by matching wisdom, knowlege, and practice can the desired and 
worthy goal be achieved.  But to work the magick in the correct way, then you
must first learn about the minds from which it came and the world that gave 
birth to it.  

                      Thought and Culture: An Introduction

To understand the way the Teutonic culture works, you must first know of how 
they thought.  The largest difference lies in the bilief of "sacred" and 
"profane".  The terms themselves come from the Latin root, rooted in 
Anglo-Saxon, the words become "holy" and "unholy".  The word "holy" comes from 
a root that means "healthy, whole", showing that the Germanic peoples did not 
view something that was "holy" as cut off from the material world, but as a 
strong and proper balance between the physical world and the soul which are 
woven into it.  Something that is "unholy" was not viewed by the Germans 
simply as mundane or "not spiritual" but as sick, or flawed.  To hallow a 
place or item is not to set it apart from the world- it is not taboo in the 
sense of the Judeo-Kristjan (Norse spelling of Chirstian) "sacred"- rather, 
it is filled with a power of holiness that is to ward off from any 
unholy--warped or woe-working--forces.

Throughout the life of the person who lives by the ways of the Teutonic people,
you should not consider anything mundane or ordinary unholy, at no time should
you shut yourself off from an awareness of the workings of your soul simply 
because the act that you are in the process of doing is not openly holy or has 
a religious goal.  You should rather be aware of the presece of the gods in 
everything.  When you weed the garden or plant a tree in your yard, think of
the body of Nerthus, Mother Earth, in which you are digging;  when you eat a 
hamburger, remember and give thanks to Freyr and Freyja for their help to 
fatten the cattle and ripen the grain for your bun.  The more you know how 
the gods gave you items to aid you and everyone in their lives, the closer 
you will be to them as you encounter these gifts.  The same holds true for 
meditating on the runes: as you think on the workings of their powers in 
every aspect of your life, you will become much more adept at not only 
reading the staves but using them also to shape the world you see around you 
to your desire.

Closely related to the duality of holy/unholy is the question of good and 
evil.  The West has taken many of it's views from the Middle East, in which 
it is a frequent practice to separate being absoute good and absolute evil.  
The problem with this is that when absolute concepts are applied to the 
relative world, they are generally applied according to the local prejudices.
The effect of this can be seen in the incredible phychological impact on the 
western world by the declaration: " Sexulity is evil; absence of sexuality is
good".  

Rather than than view good and evil in the western world's absolutist view,
the Teutonic people view right as being the justice and correctness that 
maintains the society, while wrong is injustice, incorrectness, or anything 
that opposes the fairness and laws set by the society.  This Tuetonic belief 
in  right as justice and fairness is one of the most outstanding contributions to
civilization as a whole, especially when you see it put to use as the basis 
of all western law: "no one is above the law", showing that neither private
people nor the government has the right to exclude themselves from the laws 
set by society.  Even a king - or a president - can be brought before a court 
if due cause exists. 

Related to the question of right and wrong is the dichotmy of weal-working
and woe-working.  In cases of magickal action, lawful justice is much harder
to determine.  There are some aspects that must be considered.  In the  
simplest terms, weal is something that works toward the your welfare and the
welfare of others; woe is that which harms yourself and/or others.  From this
standpoint, there is no excuse for crusading down the street with a banner 
reading: "my enemy is evil and I am good"; instead, you must honestly be able
to say: "she/he is causing harm to others and must be stopped; I am willingly
taking woeful action against that person in hopes that a greater woe will be
averted, and I am aware that I may be working toward my own doom at the same
time."  If you do further reading on this subject, you will notice that there 
is not creature inherently evil in the German legends, only creatures that 
cuase harm and must be stopped by slaying or banishing.  However the giant 
kindreds are capable of doing weal and well as woe; and that the gods are just 
as capable of doing woe in their effort to do weal; and you will see in the 
legends that the most innocent actions taken without any forethought can lead
to either result.



If you enjoy this reading and want more on the subject or want me to cover a 
different subject in the future, then drop me some E-mail.   
                                                        Phantom
