וְהִנֵּה פָּרַח מַטֵּה-אַהֲרֹן, לְבֵית לֵוִי; וַיֹּצֵא פֶרַח וַיָּצֵץ צִיץ, וַיִּגְמֹל שְׁקֵדִים
and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds ... Bamidbar 17:23
The Magical Staff - the Essence Witchcraft, the Old Religion
The almond is native to the Mediterranean region as far eastward as the Indus Valley, the very cradle of human civilization. Inhabited since 470,000 BCE, through the Indus Valley came the essence of Witchcraft, the Old Religion.
The Flower of Korach
In the Old Religion of the Indus Valley civilization of Sind, as in ancient and modern Witchcraft, there was no centralized ordained clergy (page 23). Each person was her or his own priestess or priest. Each home had its own shrine. There were group gatherings and festivals for the Sun, Moon and seasonal celebrations. The people revered the mother Goddess.
The Bud of Celtic Witchcraft
Interestingly, down through the golden threads of sacred time, the ancient figure of Celtic Cernunnos (first photo) bears a striking resemblance to the figure (second photo) of Indus Siva (from which Hindu Shiva derives) found on an ancient seal dated c.2500-1500 BCE excavated at Mohenjo-Daro.
Giving birth to Celtic culture, the sacred mother Danube river was named for the Celtic mother Goddess Danu. Danu is also the name of an early Hindu mother Goddess of primeval waters. The descendants of the Goddess Danu, in both Celtic and Hindu culture, are called Children of Danu.
Mounting evidence, both religious and archeological, clearly links the origin of ancient Celtic culture with the ancient Dravidian culture of the Indus Valley. Evidence also suggests that the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia, including biblical Ur, the mother city of the Semitic peoples, were themselves colonial outposts of a mother civilization from the Indus Valley.
The Ripe Almonds - People of the Book
As Jews are people of the Torah, as Christians are people of the Bible, and as Muslims are people of the Koran, so too are Witches people of the Book. In a witch's Book of Shadows, Goddess continues to write and weave Her magic down through golden threads of time. Unlike the newer patriarchal religions, the Mother's Old Religion still to this day, unencumbered by caste or rank or political power, bestows priestesshood and priesthood upon each individual who practices it in her or his own dwelling, before her or his own Earthy shrine to the Divinity of which we are all made.
The Argument of Korach and the Magical Staff of Aharon
Importantly, taking all this together, we can see that within the history and modern reality of Witchcraft, both the argument of Korach (containing an element of the idea that everyone among the congregation is a priest/priestess) and the magical staff of Aharon (which flowered, budded and bore ripe almonds to demonstrate chosenness for priesthood - and priestesshood) are One.
So mote it be. אמן
