How I "found" the Elven Path (and how I got my Elvish Name)!
I really ought to say the Elven Path found ME!! Here is a modification of what I previously posted on my myspace blog - enjoy! Calantirniel
________________
How I got my Magickal AND Elvish Names and
How I "found" Elven Spirituality
©2005-2008 – including in whole or in part all texts, images, backgrounds, and attached pages, by Calantirniel. All rights reserved!
AarTiana is actually a combination of my two children's names. Nine years ago, when I named my crochet business with it, people started calling me that - so I then decided to use it magically. Upon having an Indian henna artist ask me the meaning, I really wasn't sure - she then told me Aarti means Holder of Light (or a lamp) in Sanskrit. That got me investigating the other part, Ana. My research revealed it could be derived from Hannah, meaning Grace or Gift, or from Dana/Danu, the Mother of the Tuatha de Danaan. Both of these I liked!
Last year, after delving more deeply into elven spirituality through Tolkien's Legendarium, I wanted a name that connected with this energy. When investigating the Quenya and Sindarin versions for Lisa, they didn't feel right. I then decided to use AarTiana and had an internet friend of mine, an Elvish language geek, figure out Calantirniel for me - meaning "Guardian of the Gift of Light/Starlight" and I like using both of those meanings as they mean a whole lot to me personally!
________________
It still seems very surreal to me when I explain this to others, as it wasn't just one event, but a series of events that brought my attention to this path. I had been involved in pursuing a spiritual path since my Saturn Return in 1993, when I had some unusual experiences that led me to learning astrology amongst other metaphysical talents - and those led me to exploring my spirituality, or connection to Spirit. Paganism as a whole seemed to have a missing ingredient - not just contact with Spirit but also ancestral contact. I resonated with many pagan mythologies and pantheons, from Celtic/Druidic and Teutonic/Norse to Egyptian, Hindu/Eastern Indian and even Native American. I never mixed these experiences but instead wish to immerse myself in one at a time to really "feel" that mythology and that pantheon. However, I never knew what was to come.
I had earlier experiences with Tolkien in my life (particularly with The Hobbit) and liked it, but my interest at the time told me they were just stories. My interest in Tolkien was put on the back burner until the Lord of the Rings movies came out. I absolutely loved the portrayals of the Elves, but CRAP WHO DIDN'T? :-) I then re-met my now husband who is a complete Tolkien Geek (a good thing!) and told me that if I liked the Elves that much, I should really read The Silmarillion, since it is the back-story to the Hobbit and LOTR and much of it was from the Elven point of view. We got married, moved from CA to MT and just "lived" for awhile, again pushing Tolkien to the back burner.
In August 2004, a friend (Fern) who identifies himself as an otherkin druid who resonates with ent and gnome energy (amongst other things) straight out asked me if I knew I was an Elf! I laughed SO HARD - as at the time I thought he was just messing with me. Then, I started thinking about why he would say that to me - and that led to wondering if he was right.
The final straw was when my husband found his copy of The Silmarillion for me to read in Spring 2005. NOTHING was to prepare me for what I experienced - I just KNEW at the deepest recesses of my heart, even down to a DNA level that these stories were utterly REAL!! And I mean "real" in a mythic mode, the way that some people feel about the Bible, and others feel about their respective mythologies and pantheistic connections with their ancestors (or past lives, or both). My head was telling me I was crazy and that these were just stories, but my heart and collective intuition would not rest. But then I had a new dilemma - how to find ANYONE who also felt this way!
Well, I was lucky enough to find him! It took me 8 days and very diligent internet effort, believe me! In fact, Dave/Aikanar had been searching for like-minded people in this endeavor for well over a decade without success. Here is the deal: Most people "role-play" the Elves in the story and only believe it to be a story - and this is their way of pretending or playing. Many other explorers of elven energies did not involve the Tolkien type, or the Quendi - in fact, many of these are of galactic origin, be they from galaxies in the direction of the Big Dipper (i.e. Elenari) to the Orion and Pleidaen systems. Of the non-roleplaying Tolkien Elves found, their emphasis is different than what we were looking for. There are also wiccans who used odd pairings of Middle-Earth characters in their practice, and this didn't feel right either. So this is our beginnings!
**There is an interview of Dave/Aikanar and I (Lisa/Calantirniel) at the Eclectic Pagans Podcast in August 2007, posted in September 2007. Click on Episode #26 "The Elven Path," and if you wish to "skip" the tunes and other stuff, we start interviewing around 12 minutes into the podcast:
http://eclecticpagan.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2007&post_m...
______________
Much has happened since then of course! In fact, to date, our group, Tië eldaliéva the Elven Path, had a "breakaway" in late November 2007 with one of the original co-founders (Dave/Aikanar) founding a different expression of spiritual interest, along with other co-founders that wanted to explore the same areas he did. It is called Ilsaluntë Valion, the Silver Ship of the Valar, and resonates with the silver lunar energies as well. Their emphasis is based on the Numenorean viewpoint, rather than the Elven viewpoint, and is practicing decidedly deeper (and different) research, as well as being more experiential "shamanically." The Elven Path has decided that along with research, our emphasis would be more educational and outreach-oriented, and thereby concentrating on the basics of which other groups can choose to use as a foundation and later modify if needed for their purposes. Our respective groups have a good working relationship and we see now that the split was beneficial to both!
Here are useful links!
Tië eldaliéva the Elven Path (the group I am in) www.elvenspirituality.com
Dave/Aikanar's group,Ilsaluntë Valion www.westofwest.org
Other links are available on my personal MySpace Page
Thanks for reading (and listening)! :-)
Calantirniel, of the Elven Path
(My Elven Name - Elvish-Sindarin for Lady Guardian of the Gift of Light)
Envinyanis Lotelenolë
(My Particular "Path" - Elvish-Quenya for Female Healer who accesses the Deep Wisdom of the Stars and Flowers)
________________
How I got my Magickal AND Elvish Names and
How I "found" Elven Spirituality
©2005-2008 – including in whole or in part all texts, images, backgrounds, and attached pages, by Calantirniel. All rights reserved!
AarTiana is actually a combination of my two children's names. Nine years ago, when I named my crochet business with it, people started calling me that - so I then decided to use it magically. Upon having an Indian henna artist ask me the meaning, I really wasn't sure - she then told me Aarti means Holder of Light (or a lamp) in Sanskrit. That got me investigating the other part, Ana. My research revealed it could be derived from Hannah, meaning Grace or Gift, or from Dana/Danu, the Mother of the Tuatha de Danaan. Both of these I liked!
Last year, after delving more deeply into elven spirituality through Tolkien's Legendarium, I wanted a name that connected with this energy. When investigating the Quenya and Sindarin versions for Lisa, they didn't feel right. I then decided to use AarTiana and had an internet friend of mine, an Elvish language geek, figure out Calantirniel for me - meaning "Guardian of the Gift of Light/Starlight" and I like using both of those meanings as they mean a whole lot to me personally!
________________
It still seems very surreal to me when I explain this to others, as it wasn't just one event, but a series of events that brought my attention to this path. I had been involved in pursuing a spiritual path since my Saturn Return in 1993, when I had some unusual experiences that led me to learning astrology amongst other metaphysical talents - and those led me to exploring my spirituality, or connection to Spirit. Paganism as a whole seemed to have a missing ingredient - not just contact with Spirit but also ancestral contact. I resonated with many pagan mythologies and pantheons, from Celtic/Druidic and Teutonic/Norse to Egyptian, Hindu/Eastern Indian and even Native American. I never mixed these experiences but instead wish to immerse myself in one at a time to really "feel" that mythology and that pantheon. However, I never knew what was to come.
I had earlier experiences with Tolkien in my life (particularly with The Hobbit) and liked it, but my interest at the time told me they were just stories. My interest in Tolkien was put on the back burner until the Lord of the Rings movies came out. I absolutely loved the portrayals of the Elves, but CRAP WHO DIDN'T? :-) I then re-met my now husband who is a complete Tolkien Geek (a good thing!) and told me that if I liked the Elves that much, I should really read The Silmarillion, since it is the back-story to the Hobbit and LOTR and much of it was from the Elven point of view. We got married, moved from CA to MT and just "lived" for awhile, again pushing Tolkien to the back burner.
In August 2004, a friend (Fern) who identifies himself as an otherkin druid who resonates with ent and gnome energy (amongst other things) straight out asked me if I knew I was an Elf! I laughed SO HARD - as at the time I thought he was just messing with me. Then, I started thinking about why he would say that to me - and that led to wondering if he was right.
The final straw was when my husband found his copy of The Silmarillion for me to read in Spring 2005. NOTHING was to prepare me for what I experienced - I just KNEW at the deepest recesses of my heart, even down to a DNA level that these stories were utterly REAL!! And I mean "real" in a mythic mode, the way that some people feel about the Bible, and others feel about their respective mythologies and pantheistic connections with their ancestors (or past lives, or both). My head was telling me I was crazy and that these were just stories, but my heart and collective intuition would not rest. But then I had a new dilemma - how to find ANYONE who also felt this way!
Well, I was lucky enough to find him! It took me 8 days and very diligent internet effort, believe me! In fact, Dave/Aikanar had been searching for like-minded people in this endeavor for well over a decade without success. Here is the deal: Most people "role-play" the Elves in the story and only believe it to be a story - and this is their way of pretending or playing. Many other explorers of elven energies did not involve the Tolkien type, or the Quendi - in fact, many of these are of galactic origin, be they from galaxies in the direction of the Big Dipper (i.e. Elenari) to the Orion and Pleidaen systems. Of the non-roleplaying Tolkien Elves found, their emphasis is different than what we were looking for. There are also wiccans who used odd pairings of Middle-Earth characters in their practice, and this didn't feel right either. So this is our beginnings!
**There is an interview of Dave/Aikanar and I (Lisa/Calantirniel) at the Eclectic Pagans Podcast in August 2007, posted in September 2007. Click on Episode #26 "The Elven Path," and if you wish to "skip" the tunes and other stuff, we start interviewing around 12 minutes into the podcast:
http://eclecticpagan.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2007&post_m...
______________
Much has happened since then of course! In fact, to date, our group, Tië eldaliéva the Elven Path, had a "breakaway" in late November 2007 with one of the original co-founders (Dave/Aikanar) founding a different expression of spiritual interest, along with other co-founders that wanted to explore the same areas he did. It is called Ilsaluntë Valion, the Silver Ship of the Valar, and resonates with the silver lunar energies as well. Their emphasis is based on the Numenorean viewpoint, rather than the Elven viewpoint, and is practicing decidedly deeper (and different) research, as well as being more experiential "shamanically." The Elven Path has decided that along with research, our emphasis would be more educational and outreach-oriented, and thereby concentrating on the basics of which other groups can choose to use as a foundation and later modify if needed for their purposes. Our respective groups have a good working relationship and we see now that the split was beneficial to both!
Here are useful links!
Tië eldaliéva the Elven Path (the group I am in) www.elvenspirituality.com
Dave/Aikanar's group,Ilsaluntë Valion www.westofwest.org
Other links are available on my personal MySpace Page
Thanks for reading (and listening)! :-)
Calantirniel, of the Elven Path
(My Elven Name - Elvish-Sindarin for Lady Guardian of the Gift of Light)
Envinyanis Lotelenolë
(My Particular "Path" - Elvish-Quenya for Female Healer who accesses the Deep Wisdom of the Stars and Flowers)
Comments are closed for this blog post
-
Comment by Davin Raincloud on August 15, 2009 at 5:38am
-
Nice to know the origins.
Thanks for sharing!
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