Finding My Magickal Name

My magickal name started very differently. It began when an unusual plant haunted my dreams; upon researching it I discovered it was called an Acanthus and was a plant of the moon and as I was born under a full moon, this seemed appropriate. For a time I was happy to be just Acanthus but as I moved from just studying the craft into practising it the element of fire became dominant in my workings – I was very taken with candle magick. From this, my name grew to Acanthus Sienna, I consider the colour, sienna, to be a burned variation of red and so it fitted nicely into my craft at the time. My first dedication was under this name and it still holds significance to me when I work with the masculine energies of deity.

In time, I grew to find it too masculine; as I grew from a girl into a woman, I wished my magickal name to express that transition although I still desired the sound of Acanth… and as I have always enjoyed beginnings and at the time I was very drawn to the energies of Athena, I contracted the name to Acantha; I was losing my obsession with candle magick too and branching into other areas of study and practice which made dropping the ‘Sienna’ a natural move. It still was not quite right at so I postponed my rededication until it felt more suitable.

The more suitable time took almost 3 years to reach me; by this point in my exploration of spiritual and magickal endeavours I was very involved in water magick and working a great deal with undine energy and so I chose Rayne as the perfect accompaniment to my Acantha persona. I chose this spelling because I naturally avoid tradition as a matter of principle and when I wrote it down I preferred the look of ‘AcanthaRayne’ to ‘AcanthaRain’. I rededicated myself under the name AcanthaRayne and stayed that way until December 2013.

I was studying the Celtic Calendar and discovered I was born under the Oak Moon; this I found to be and incredible addition to my magickal repertoire.  I have always loved Oak trees I was very moved when I became aware that it was the Celtic month in which I was born – it strengthened my belief in myself and my magick. It then got adopted into my magickal name because as I mentioned before I was born on the day of the Oak Moon, 1981.