Course Six: Spectrum, Part 2
Class I. Beast Mastery (Brown Magick)
- Introduction: Living with Animals
EAST MASTERY CONCERNS EVERYTHING
TO do with animals of all kinds—es-
pecially animal communication.
Beast masters include “horse
whisperers,” good animal trainers,
pet psychics, and all people who
seem to have an uncanny ability to
communicate and work with animals. Such people of-
ten work in pet stores, animal hospitals, shelters, or
zoos, or become park rangers or wildlife rescuers. And
always they are surrounded by crit-
ters—whether pets, farm animals,
wild creatures, or other animal com-
panions. Animals that are particu-
larly bonded to Witches and Wiz-
ards are called their familiars.
Beast mastery includes
knowledge of zoology and
the lore of totems. Beast
masters seek to know the
names of all animals, as well
as how they evolved, what
they eat, their behaviors,
lifestyles, mating rituals,
and languages. Medieval
bestiaries were compiled
to contain the same kinds
of animal lore and attribu-
tions as herbals did for plants.
These include not only natu-
ral animals, but legendary and
mythical creatures as well. In-
deed, the study of cryptozo-ology
(“word of hidden animals”) ex-
plores mysterious creatures—
such as Bigfoot and the Loch
Ness Monster—whose very ex-
istence still remains elusive.
Just like T.H. White’s Merlyn, I
have always had quite an assortment
of wild animals living with me. I have
shared my home with wild piglets,
possums, ferrets, bunnies, budgies,
owls, snakes (both small and huge!),
iguanas, caymans (South American alli-
gators), newts, frogs, dogs, toads, turtles,
tegus (big lizards), tarantulas, praying
mantises, fish, finches, herons, bats, rats,cats, Guinea pigs, goats, deer, and
unicorns. I have also kept both fresh-
and salt-water aquariums. For many
years, Morning Glory and I were members of a local
wildlife rescue and rehabilitation agency called Critter
Care. When animals were injured in car accidents, or
baby birds fell out of their nests, they were brought to
us to care for, rehabilitate, and eventually release. Did
you guess that my first color of Wizardry was brown?Lesson 2. Totems
Totems are animal species that you strongly identify
with. That is, if you were an animal yourself, what kind
would you be? Many tribal peoples
consider that their own family and
clan is directly related to a particular
species of animal—often claimed
to be their ancestor. So they
may be of the Clan of the Wolf,
the Bear, the Coyote, or the
Eagle. That animal is the totem of
the clan. But an individual
may have their own per-
sonal totem as well. As
you explore the path of
Brown Magick, perhaps
you too will discover a par-
ticular identification with
some species of animal. Per-
haps it may be strong enough
that you will adopt that creature’s
name for your own, such as Wolf
or Bear. And if your friends take
to calling you by that name
also, you will know that you
have a totem!
Some people, in fact, find
that they acquire more than one
totem. Sometimes in different pe-
riods of their life (My totems have
been Serpent, Otter, Owl, and Raven
successively over the years), and
sometimes simultaneously, depend-
ing on circumstances (Morning Glory is
both Possum and Tiger together—in fact, her
truest totem is Thylacine, the marsupial “Tasma-
nian Tiger”). Totem animals bring you strength,
healing, and protection on the spiritual level
and can help you deal with a difficult world.Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 37 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM