In today's society the naming of a child does not have the ritualistic overtones that it once did. Parents pick a name they like, or name a child after a grandparent and that's about as far as it goes. But we are of the Pagan Community, having found our way "home", often feel the need to give ourselves a new name, to signify the new person we feel we are, or the person that we have never been able to show others.
Many people do not care for, or even hate, the name they are given at birth. So it is especially delightful for Craft initiates to be able to choose a name they feel comfortable with. Well, then, how does one go about choosing a name that signifies all that we feel we have learned and the emotional joy of becoming ourselves? There are many, many ways as we will see.
The simplest way of renaming oneself, of course, is to pick the name of a deity, crystal, plant, animal, etc., that you identify with. The name Lilith originally came from a Dungeons and Dragons character I played many years ago (she was, of course, a magick user). But while doing research when trying to pick a Craft name I found that Lilith's legend of being Adam's first wife and not subjecting herself to him by refusing to lay under him during sex touched something within me. I do like a woman who knows her own mind.
There is much more to Lilith's story, eventually going back to the Goddess Kali. The more I researched the more I attuned to the name. You must research the name you are thinking about picking, not only will it tell you more about the name but it will tell you more about yourself. You may really like the name Holly, but are your energies too scattered at this time in your life to be able to live up its' potential? Salamander may sound really nifty in a name, but are you comfortable with the element of fire to bring it into your life that
intimately? Much consideration must go into the choosing of a name that you may reveal more about you than you know. There are also more complex ways of picking a magickal name. One can learn the mystical and magickal meaning of the vowels and consonants and gather them together in a name that resonates in a way that compliments the direction you want your life to take.
You can also use divination tools to pick a name, such as Tarot cards, Runes, and even a pendulum. With the Tarot cards and the Runes, first pick one card or stone to determine the number of letters in the name, then pick that number of cards or stones. Each Tarot card has a numerical value and you may use that to correspond to a letter of the alphabet. The Runes each have a phonetic correspondence to a letter of the alphabet and so there are the letters for your name. With a pendulum, you can open a mythology book to the index of names and dowse with the pendulum, paying close attention to how the pendulum acts with certain names and picking your name from those it reacts strongly to.
Even if you have long known your magickal name and have used it for many years, there may come a time in your life when you want top change it or add to it. In the past year I began to get the feeling that there should be an addition to my name. I knew that it had something to do with Silver, but there was even more to it than that. I began listing names with silver in them; Silvermoon, Silverraven, Silverwolf, Silversong...nothing felt right. Then I notice that the silver I was searching for was not outside my body but on it, in my hair! And it clicked. At thirty-four The Crone is by no means standing on my threshold, but She is certainly closer than she was when I took the name Lilith. So I have added Silverhair to prepare for that time when I hand the title of Mother to my daughter and look the Crone in the eye with love and trust.
You can add to your magickal name during transitional periods in your life, as you spiral upward in levels of initiation, or simply if you feel the name you carry now no longer describes who you are. It is recommended that you do not change your magickal name too often to keep from scattering your energies too thin. Year cycles of three, seven, or nine can be appropriate times, if you are a solitary practitioner, to consider whether your name still fits you. You should never force a name change on yourself, or choose a magickal name simply "because." Names, of course, carry power, and the energies of an inappropriate name could draw that into your life which may not necessarily be beneficial to you.
The naming of names, the naming of ourselves, is another way in which we as pagans and witches assert our individuality and yet still align ourselves as a community with that which makes us strong. So, whether we call ourselves Bill or Sue, Willow or Raven, each time a name is spoken it reminds us and others of our connection to each other and the Goddess, She who has many names and yet is One.
by Lilith Silverhair
Sources:
"The Magical Name" Ted Andrews, Llewellyn Publication 1993
"Rites of Passage, the Pagan Wheel of Life" Pauline Campanelli, Llewellyn Publications, 1994
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