Order of Paladins
Lesson : 15
The Wand and the Spear
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Warrior’s Admonition
Your body is your temple: Care for it!
Do not engage in useless activity.
Listen to the Goddess.
Help thyself.
You create your own reality.
The Warrior’s path is creativity.
A serene path to enlightenment.
Know thyself.
Master thyself.
Create your own reality.
Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters.
Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
Learn from your mistakes.
Teach thyself.
Create your own reality.
Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters
Grace and guilt do not exist:
Strive for responsibility.
Honor thyself.
Create your own reality.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
13 Precepts:
1. Know thyself.
2. Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters.
3. You create your own reality.
4. Develop a sense of Right Action.
5. Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters.
6. Your body is your temple: Care for it!
7. Minimal appearance, maximum content.
8. Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
9. Power with.
10. Who dares wins.
11. The Gods cannot help those who will not help themselves.
12. Be creative!
13. Do not engage in useless activity.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Code of Chivalry:
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All members of the Order of Paladins must live according to the principles of
chivalry, which include:
Sincerity.
Courtesy.
Compassion.
Perseverance.
Industriousness.
Justice.
Loyalty.
Courage.
Self-Discipline.
Humility.
Largesse.
Truth.
Honor
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Hint:
 Refer to the
notes pages in
this Power Point
presentation for
more in-depth
information on
the subject of
each slide.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand and Spear
"What ever you can do or dream you
can do, begin it... boldness has
power, magic and genius in it.“
Goethe
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Wand and Staff
 Knights of the wand and staff:
 Shine their light. Their creativity lights the
way for the other brothers and sisters of the
order as well as the rest of the world.
 Use the transformative power of fire. Fire
can destroy, but when used properly can
burn away the unnecessary to allow new
growth and/or, to reveal the true nature of
what is.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Staff
 Knights on
this path are
masters of
fire energy:
Creativity
and
imagination.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Spear
 The Spear is one of the earliest
weapons known to man. It was
originally just a sharpened stick.
The Sumerians utilized massed
ranks of spearmen in their army as
early as 3000 BCE. A variation is
the arrow, which was used as a
military weapon from Egyptian
times to the Middle Ages in Europe
and even longer in the orient.
These projectile weapons were an
early form of “artillery”. Bowmen
and spear throwers were able to
project their spears and arrows
great distances. Eventually the
invention of cannons brought the
element of fire fully into the picture.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand and the Spear
 In some traditions the Wand or Staff are associated
with the element of air, while the Sword and the
Athame are assigned to the element of fire. The
reasoning usually advanced to support this is that fire
is used to shape and temper the metal blade. I have
even heard people argue that the shape of the double
edged blade resembles a flame. Yet it is wood that
produces the flame that tempers the metal. Thus I
classify the Wand and the Staff or Spear as Weapons
of Fire.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand
 The character
Circe in Homer’s
Odyssey had a
magick wand.
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The Wand
 Many ancient cave drawings depict
people bearing wands.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand
 Ancient Egyptian
artwork depicts the
Gods bearing wands or
rods as a symbol of their
office. Egyptian tombs
contained wands and
magick texts to help the
soul journey to the
afterlife.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand
 In Greek and Roman
mythology the God
Hermes or Mercury
carried a special
wand called the
caduceus.
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The Wand
 Biblical mythology holds that Moses had
a hazel wand (Genesis 30:37).
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The Wand
 The mace, sceptre
and wand of office
are all symbols of
ecclesiastical and
formal government
authority which trace
back to these
ancient symbols.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand
 The magick Wand is one
of the most common
symbols of magick in
popular western culture.
The Wand is a phallic
symbol: Like the phallus,
it projects life energy.
The idea that the magick
actually comes out of the
magick Wand (a Lesser
Weapon) is what gives
lay people the
impression that magick
requires magick Wands.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Wand
 Many traditions hold that the length of the wand should
be the distance from the tips of the fingers to the elbow
(one cubit). They may be quite plain or painted and/or
inscribed with symbols. The Great Book of Saint
Cyprian (aka Ciprianillo), published in 1849, gives stepby-step instructions on how to make a magic wand.
The Golden Dawn associated the wand with fire and
referred to it as the "Fire Wand". This wand was made
of wood, no longer than 18 inches in length, with one
end cone shaped and with a magnetized steel rod
running inside its length, painted red and divided into
three sections with yellow bands.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Spear and Staff
 The Greater Weapon of Fire is
the Spear or Staff. This is
traditionally made of woods like
birch, willow or hazel which
form long straight branches.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Stang
 The traditional Stang is a Staff
with a fork at the top which
resemble the horns or antlers of
the male animal. Like the Wand,
the Staff may be plain or
decorated. Kerr’s Stang is a
forked birch branch with a spiral
pattern of leaves carved around
the shaft.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Pen
What’s this, you say? The pen…? The
pen a weapon?
Careful… things aren’t always what they
seem…
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Pen
Baron Lyton (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1803
– 1873) once said:
“Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the
pen is mightier than the sword.”
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Pen
And it is… many of you were first attracted to our
order by the power of the words that I used in
my books, in my blogs, on our web site, from
messages that I’d written or from words that I
spoke. You must also admit that this fits
perfectly into the spirit of the element of fire
that the wand represents: Imagination and
creativity. The pen is just another wand, and
like the wand, can be a weapon
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Focusing
 I would rather you thought
of the Wand, Spear and
Staff as focusing tools or a
projectors of energy than
sources of magickal power.
The Weapons of Fire are
Magickal Tools that you
can focus through. They
act as a conduit or a
channel through which you
can connect to the universe
around you.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Never Mind the Wand: Use the Whole Tree
 Select a tree, take a moment to connect with its living
energy. Give it an offering: some water is always
welcome. Ask it to help you.
 Stand with your back to it. Raise the energy that you
want to send.
 Send the energy through the tree towards your
objective. You can imagine this either as:
 Energy streaming up the trunk and out the branches towards
your objective;
 Energy streaming down through the roots and the ground
towards your objective; or
 Both at once.
 Remember to thank the tree afterwards
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Lifting the Sky
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There are a number of ways to use the Wand to send out magickal
energy. I have found that one of the most effective is a variation of a Chi
Kung exercise called “Lifting the Sky.” To do this, start in Entering
Tranquility posture, arms at your sides, holding the Wand in one hand.
Bring your hands together in front of you, grasping the Wand with both
hands. Keep your arms and elbows straight. Move your arms forwards
and then upwards in a continuous arc. As you do this, breathe in. Follow
the Wand with your eyes. Imagine the cosmic energy flowing into you.
As your arms point straight up, you will find yourself looking up. Pause a
moment, holding your breath. Then push the Wand up slightly as if
poking the ceiling or the sky. Imagine the energy flowing through you and
out of the end of the Wand towards your magickal objective. Once you
have done this, separate your hands, taking the Wand in one of them.
Lower your arms to your sides in a continuous arc while exhaling. Stand
in Entering Tranquility posture for a moment to let your energy come back
into balance.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Grounding
 The Greater Weapons of Fire can be used as
“lightning rods” to ground out surplus energy.
The Staff, Stang or Spear is preferred for this
purpose as you can do it standing or sitting:
You simply hold the Staff upright on the ground
in front of you with both hands and let the
surplus energy flow into the ground through the
Staff. You can use a Wand to do this too, but
you’ll have to squat down to do it, so the
Greater Weapons are more comfortable for this
technique.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Infirmary, Forge and Chashitsu
 In Caer Paladin in the south there are
some smaller structures
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Infirmary
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
The Infirmary
 The Infirmary is a place where the water
energies and fire energies merge.
 This is a good place to go if you need
healing
 It is also a good place to go if you want to
explore your healing skills.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Forge
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Forge
 Another
building
between the Air
and Fire
Temples
 This is where
you can forge
your dreams
into reality, if
you’ve a mind
to
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Chashitsu
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Chashitsu
 Japanese for
“Tea House”
 In Caer Paladin,
this is where you
can meet other
members
formally and
spend time
together
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Chashitsu
 Preparing for an Order of Paladins ritual is very
much like preparing for a Japanese cha no yu
(“tea ceremony”). You want to make sure that
everything is clean and tidy to honor your
fellow Knights and guests. You greet them at
the entrance as equals. You lead everyone
through a specific ritual to make sure that
everyone involved is moved by the ceremony
in some way.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Reiki
 One of the healing techniques that we
teach in the Order of Paladins is Reiki
 The word Reiki is made of two Japanese
words - Rei which means "God's Wisdom
or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life
force energy". So Reiki is actually
"spiritually guided life force energy."
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Reiki
 Reiki was created by
Dr. Mikao Usui. Usui
recommended that one
practice certain simple
ethical, natural, ideals
to promote peace and
harmony, which are
nearly universal across
all cultures.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Reiki
 Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and
relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered
by "laying on hands". It is a technique for transferring
the chi or life energy that we learned about in the first
cycle of training to those requiring healing. An
amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use
Reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred
to the student during a Reiki class. This ability is
passed on during an "attunement" given by a Reiki
master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited
supply of chi to improve one's health and enhance the
quality of life.
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Lesson 15 Assignment:
 Go to the Infirmary to discover what your
healing skills might be
 Go to the Forge to work on your resolutions
 Go to the Chashitsu to meditate and interact
with another member of our Order
 Study Reiki
 Report back to us with your findings
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain
Order of Paladins
Be Glorious!
copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain