A Stance on Stangs

I have always thought a stang to be just a representation of the Lord of Beasts. Yes, of course, there is the concept of travelling between worlds when one does that properly though trances, but as a point for 'jumping' into another realm that I find interesting as this article The World Tree In Your Backyard: Building a Stang puts it. The stang on that site bears little resemble to the one on Nigel Jackson's book yet it has all the semblances of the real reason of its use. With that, I can concur that simplistically put, the stang not only represents the Godhead, but also the House of the Twisted Lord. As such, it becomes the emblem of His majesty, hence the tribute that all crafters pay to it. Kind of like the way people would go visit a shrine, for it is basically a portal to the gods.

In fact, the site itself is interesting, with a plethora of insights, practices and even minor revelations, where the Anglo-Saxon Àsatrù has been borrowed into the Trad. Craft. To me the Craft is more of a shamanistic experience than some Wiccans would want it to be, though lifting by drumming is something that I find very difficult to pick up. But I like the writer of the site's distinguishing explanation of the two types of shamanism, core and classic.

If this is not the way to find my way to the driveway of the Grand Magister then perhaps I should put away my 'stang' and give thoughts to other things like CSS!

13/05/05, 07:35

* * *

As an update, here's another article I found on stangs... heh. C'est interessant...