Hello, Kate, Pitch, Sabina and Chas.

I think we might do well to see it as a historical development. None of the traditions we have been discussing used this term in its earliest forms. That said, aesthetically, when a group of people find it meaningful to appeal to Anglo-Saxon sources such as Gardner's (or his predecessors') use of "Wica", then we might expect that the Anglo-Saxon term for the "High God of Heaven" would appeal to its adherents.

Kate is completely correct regarding the development of the term in Old English. It parallels the similar development of the Old Norse Dróttinn (masc. Lord) and its root, drótt (fem. retinue, retainers). The geminate "t" is preaspirated in ON, just as is reflected in the AS orthography "ht," "ght," etc. Thus, AS Dryhten is exactly the same as ON Dróttinn. So much for etymology. Its use is in Old Norse primarily martial, while in AS often ecclesiastical, meaning "The Lord" implied "of all." This is not as often a usage in ON, where martial terminology had a longer relevance.

If we are to believe Valiente's own account, we have the term in a longer blessing prayer that was written out in block letters on a slip of paper and put into a book in Gardner's library. In 1961, Valiente, after making peace with Gardner after a longish period of tension, was perusing said library, and found the scrap of paper, asked if she could have it, and proceeded to either edit, rewrite or compose based upon this item. Another priestess of Gardner's, Eleanor Bone, did not have this item of liturgy until 1964, Mrs. Crowther somewhat later. Monique Wilson never did.

While Bone lineaged Gardnerians generally have this piece, it is not considered to be part of the "oathbound" part of the tradition. The item was shared by DCS from Chicago, among a tall pile of papers, with Lady Theos and Phoenix, the leaders of the "American Mother coven" at that time in New York. Thus, it enters American Gardnerian usage and practice. That meeting between DCS and Theos and Phoenix occurred in Chicago in November 1974 (personal communication with Phoenix). It was not a part of any American specifically Gardnerian text before that time. Whether anyone actually knew of its masculine connotations is uncertain, since usage of foreign languages in the New York Coven was usually ineptly implemented.

There is the story that this Dryghton Prayer was a part of the Central Valley Wicca groups as early as the early 1960s, though at this point, there is no corroberating evidence. If it was obtained from a Gardnerian prior to Crowther's publication of Witchblood in 1974, there is no text which dates it to that time period. If afterward, there is no evidence whether it came from a Gardnerian, or from Crowther's published work.

As I am a Feri initiate as well, this topic was discussed among a list consisting of initiates, and one of the two people responsible for its adoption into Feri liturgy admitted that it was taken from Crowther's published work and then slightly rewritten. Prior to this, a prominent member of a CVW tradition had claimed that he had shared it with Gabriel Carillo (aka Caradoc ap Cador) and it was from CVW that Feri adopted it. I'm more apt to believe the former as a reliable source. Regardless of source, however, the Dryghton prayer doesn't come into Feri until 1975 at the absolute earliest, in the form Pitch quoted it.

Regarding its propriety in being used to refer to what most non-initiates call simply "The Star Goddess," we might also look at Victor's common title for this Divine Source: God Herself. I believe that the attempt here is to suggest that this Source inhered *both* God and Goddess, and was thus able to fertilize her own womb and give birth to "all the dozen gods who walk the starry way," as it is phrased in a poem by Gwydion Pendderwen, one of Feri's most influential liturgical bards. So, if we are using terms that include *both* God *and* Herself, then the use of a term that was being used to indicate "Lord of All" might not be too far-fetched (Seo Dryhten?).

For what it is worth, there are some in the tradition who have gone to great lengths to teach themselves Welsh (in imitating Gwydion) and have claimed that "Drychtyn" (note the variant spelling) has a completely different meaning in Middle Welsh. Since I am no Celtic scholar, I cannot evaluate this argument, and given the source, might believe it to be another case of poetic folk etymology, but I cannot ultimately say.

So, Sabina, if the Dryghton prayer is now oathbound in US Gardnerian practice, it has been so only since 1974 at the earliest.

In conclusion, as a Feri initiate, I would only mention that I personally don't use the term or the prayer, finding there to be many other liturgical items to be more poetically resonant for me. This is at least partly because of the obvious AS roots of the word, and its historically ecclesiastical usage.

Many blessings,
Tom Johnson
UW, Seattle


On Mon, 12 Nov 2007, Sabina Magliocco wrote:
> It's interesting to hear that the Feri have now borrowed this concept and changed its gender associations, because it belongs among the California Gardnerians' oathbound material. although, of course, they could also easily have borrowed it from Crowther's published version.
>
> BB,
> Sabina
> Sabina Magliocco
> Professor
> Department of Anthropology
> California State University - Northridge

> Felicia,
>
> It sounds as though the Feri trad people have borrowed
> that term from some California Gardnerians -- the
> Central Valley Wicca people.
>
> It's my understanding that the latter use "drychten" to mean
> something like "Godhead."
>
> The usage seems to be peculiar to them among American Wiccans.
>
> Chas