The Witches Pyramid & Sentinel Dragons

A few years ago I started studying the Wyrd Path lessons which, once completed, would have allowed me to become part of the  Draig Sidhe Path Tradition. However ‘life’ got in the way and I never found the time to complete my studies.

I’ve decided to occasionally share my answers to some of the study questions I did complete as part of the course, in new posts on this site, though I will not be sharing the actual course material, apart from a few brief quotations from the book, “Sea, Land, Sky…” to provide some context. To find out more about the Draig Sidhe Path you can buy the new and updated edition of Parker J. Torrence’s book Sea, Land, Sky: a Dragon Magick Grimoire [Revised Edition]: Setting Forth on the Draig Sidhe Path, and you can check out the Draig Sidhe Facebook pages and groups (see links in the footer under this page).

The first exercise I completed was on the topic of the Witches Pyramid and Dragon Sentinels. First of all, here is some general information about the Witches Pyramid, also known as the Four Powers of the Sphinx, The Four Powers of the Magus or the Four Pillars…

The Witches Pyramid

The Four Powers of the Sphinx, also known as The Four Pillars or The Witches Pyramid…

To Know
To Dare
To Will
To Keep Silent

…are an important element of occult symbolism and instruction. (1) The Witches’ Pyramid is a magickal philosophy that predates Modern Witchcraft.

Our first introduction to the Four Powers of the Sphinx comes from French occultist Eliphas Lévi’s (1810-1875) most popular work, Transcendental Magic: “To attain the SANCTUM REGNUM, in other words, the knowledge and power of the Magi, there are four indispensable conditions –- an intelligence illuminated by study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will which cannot be broken, and a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate. TO KNOW, TO DARE, TO WILL, TO KEEP SILENCE –- such are the four words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbolical forms of the sphinx.” Levi here offers the Four Powers as the words of the Magus and casually links them with the Sphinx. He goes on in the same chapter to link the Four Powers of the Sphinx with the four Elements and the four Kerubic Signs of the zodiac: (1)

Power	Kerub	Sign	Element
Dare	Lion	Leo	Fire
Keep Silent	Eagle	Scorpio	Water
Know	Man	Aquarius	Air
Will	Bull	Taurus	Earth

Levi was a tremendously influential magician and thinker, and his four powers were picked up by the Golden Dawn as well as Aleister Crowley (an initiate of the Golden Dawn), who incorporated them into his practice of Thelema. (5)

Aleister Crowley developed the Powers of the Sphinx as a part of his own Thelemic paradigm, even incorporating them into the instruction of both the A.’.A.’. and the OTO. The Four Elements are the “Forces of Nature, each in its Balanced Strength” represented by the four Kerubic beasts that compose the Sphinx. Like Lèvi, Crowley identifies the Sphinx with the Adept or Magus, who employs the Four Powers to become “whole, Himself, containing all Things in true Proportion.” Crowley identified two beasts with the Kerubic Eagle: the Serpent and the Dragon. This symbolism has its roots in the Golden Dawn tradition, which divided Scorpio into three forms to represent various aspects of the sign: “The Scorpion is the emblem of ruthless destruction; the Snake is the mixed and deceptive nature, serving alike for good and evil; the Eagle is the higher and Divine Nature, yet to be found herein, the Alchemical Eagle of distillation, the Renewer of life.” The Dragon is a winged Serpent, a combination of the two highest aspects of Scorpio. (2)

Crowley also added a Fifth Power of the Sphinx, which is to Go, corresponding with the Element of Spirit. The astrological counterpart of the power to Go is the Sun, that which links the Kerubic Signs in the same manner as Spirit binds the Four Elements. (2)

Sign	Symbol	Element	Virtue	Latin	Emanation
[Sun]	Ankh	Spirit	Go	Ire	Law
Aquarius	Man	Air	Know	Scire	Liberty
Leo	Lion	Fire	Will	Velle	Light
Scorpio	Eagle / Dragon	Water	Dare	Audire	Love
Taurus	Bull	Earth	Keep Silence	Tacere	Life

Crowley’s addition would eventually make it into some later Witchcraft traditions, though not that of the Draig Sidhe, nor my own practice.

Image from (6)

The Four Sentinels of the Draig Sidhe

The Draig Sidhe Path uses the following associations when casting a circle and working with the Dragons:

These are the key words you should associate with the Dragons.

Dragon of Sea …. Guardian of the Summerland …. Keeper of Forgotten Knowledge.
Dragon of Land …. Guardian of the Earth …. Keeper of Wisdom.
Dragon of Sky …. Guardian of the Ayres …. Keeper of the Wyrd.

Dragon of the East …. Sentinel of Knowledge …. To Know
Dragon of the South/North (Equator point) …. Sentinel of Boldness …. To Dare
Dragon of the West …. Sentinel of Valor …. To Will
Dragon of the North/South (Polar point) …. Sentinel of Silence ….. To Keep Silent

Think of the Sentinel Dragons as being related to the cardinal Winds, and not fixed by elemental associations. When calling the Dragons of the cardinal points, we refer to them as Sentinels. In a way it conveys the idea of the guardians in their watch towers, but we are not asking them to just watch us, we are asking them to control the security at the border of our circle. (3)

One of the requirements of the Wyrd Path Lessons was to practice the Draig Sidhe Tradition’s method of casting a Dragon Circle a few times to get the feel of how it flowed, and then to write a short essay to share my impressions about using that circle and to express my thoughts on “To Know, To Dare, To Will and To Keep Silent” and how it related to creating a Dragon Circle. My answer was as follows and is my own personal interpretation of the material presented above (so don’t quote me, lol).

My Personal Interpretation…

The Draig Sidhe Dragon Circle ritual is different to how I usually do things as, in addition to the Dragons of the four quarters, I usually also call in Dragons of Light (above), Dragons of Darkness (below), Dragons of Chaos (all around) and Dragon of Spirit (within). When doing the circle exactly as written in the Draig Sidhe notes I kinda felt bad for leaving out some of the Dragons I usually call in, lol, but it was good to try something different. 🙂 However, in my personal version of the Dragon Circle I think I  will continue to call in the whole gang (they each have names they’ve shared with me) as well as the Dragons of Sea, Land & Sky to add the multidimensional aspect. 😀

In Lesson one it says, “Think of the Sentinel Dragons as being related to the cardinal Winds, and not fixed by elemental associations” but I found it rather difficult not to relate the Sentinel Dragons with elemental associations. When previously casting a circle I have always called in Dragons associated with or willing to work with the elemental designation of a particular cardinal direction and in my mind, the key words associated with each Sentinel Dragon and the four corners of the Witch’s Pyramid as used by the Draig Sidhe Tradition seemed to fit reasonably well with the attributes of the elements I have in each of the directions. This helped me to remember which Sentinels were in each cardinal direction. 🙂

To Know is to have information in your mind or to understand something. When creating a Dragon Circle you must have a clear intention and know what you want to accomplish before you can make it happen. “To Know” also includes self-knowledge — an understanding of oneself or one’s own motives or true will. You need to know if what you want to accomplish is in your best interest and also the best method to achieve your desired outcome without any undesired and unforeseen consequences.

I cast circle with the element of Air in the East so having the Sentinel of Knowledge (To Know) as Dragon of the East fits perfectly with the attributes of Air: knowledge, the intellect, inspiration, ideas, learning etc.

To Dare is to commit an act of boldness and courage; to do something you perhaps have not done before that may take you out of our comfort zone, and also to willingly accept responsibility for your actions. When creating a Dragon Circle you dare to actually do magic and follow it up with action and have faith that it will manifest and the belief that it is possible.

I cast circle with the element of Fire in the north so having the Sentinel of Boldness (To Dare) as Dragon of the North works well with the attributes of Fire which are: courage, passion, vitality, enthusiasm, mastery.

To Will is to put your intention out into the universe with conviction and perseverance and to be decisive and determined about exactly what it is that you want to come to fruition — i.e., you have the strength of will along with a certain amount of emotional calmness or stability to manifest your clear intention. Without proper will, magic cannot work.

I cast circle with the element of Water in the West so having the Sentinel of Valour (To Will) as the Dragon of the West fits in well with the properties of Water which are: movement, depth, vision, intuition, emotional control, peacefulness, relentless force or change.

To Keep Silent is to not talk about your magick. Once you have dared to will something into action you should keep it private as talking about it can bring unwanted attention which could be detrimental to your cause and detract from your energy. To keep silent is also the ability to know what knowledge should be shared and what should not. It requires strength to keep silent rather than indiscriminately blurt something out that should never have been shared.

I cast circle with the element of Earth in the South so having the Sentinel of Silence (To Keep Silent) as the Dragon of the South works well with the properties of Earth which are:  silence, darkness and secrecy, strength, stability.

As can be seen in the table below the elemental associations for each ‘corner’ of the Witches Pyramid can vary. The Draig Sidhe course material says to “think of the Sentinel Dragons as being related to the cardinal Winds, and not fixed by elemental associations”. When casting circle Draig Sidhe style the Dragons are usually called in as Dragons of the Eastern/Northern/Western/Southern Winds, as appropriate for each Quarter. You should assign the Elements to the directions you feel work best for you in your location.

Four Pillars	E. Lévi	A. Crowley	My Circle
To Know	Air	Air	Air (East)
To Dare	Fire	Water	Fire (North)
To Will	Earth	Fire	Water (West)
To Keep Silent	Water	Earth	Earth (South)

Simply put, the concept of the Witches Pyramid applies to proper use of magick. The steps of the pyramid are the components necessary to achieve effective magick; however, the same concepts can be applied to much of life aside from magick as well. Thus, the Witches’ Pyramid is not only a vital magickal concept but also a useful spiritual tool in navigating life. (4)

References:

(1) On the Powers of the Sphinx, Part 1: Eliphas Levi by Michael Osiris Snuffin
(2) On the Powers of the Sphinx, Part 2: Aleister Crowley by Michael Osiris Snuffin
(3) Sea, Land, Sky: a Dragon Magick Grimoire [Revised Edition]: Setting Forth on the Draig Sidhe Path, by Parker J. Torrence
(4) The Witches’ Pyramid by Evylyn Rose
(5) The Witches’ Pyramid by Jason Mankey
(6) The Witches Pyramid by Stormloverwolf

 

 

 

 

 

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