Saying goodbye
to my friend…
July 28th 2023 @ Home
Saying goodbye
I’ve been with many tribes in my life. Some I only visited for a while, and some are truly mine. People, friends, lovers, colleagues, family, they all come and go; some stick with you, others take a different path. Yet on that path, for 13 years, you were always by my side. We’ve lived in many different houses, worked in numerous studios. You were the only constant in a constantly shapeshifting life.
Honestly, I can’t imagine life without you. You were my safety, my comfort, my conversation piece, my troublemaker and my teacher.
Since a few years, you couldn’t keep up with my busy life anymore. Running next to the bike transformed into being chauffeured like a little prince. Working at home during the pandemic suited you just fine.
Today you found your final resting place. You were tired and hurting. And even though you would have walked another million miles for me, because that is what dogs do, you can rest now.
I thank you for all those years you have given me: I am proud of what we’ve been through, the good and the bad, the responsible and the crazy times. They were all filled with earth, water, fire, and wind…and you.
* I wrote this text July 9th, because we were going to put him down on Thursday the 13th. But because he was feeling a lot better after switching back to his old meds, we cancelled that appointment. Not long after, I had to make it again. Wicc passed away last week, Thursday July 20th.
Wicc ♥
a.k.a. Herr von Wiccenstein, Wicky the Viking, the Fluffyball, and so on
± 01/01/2010 – 20/07/2023 †
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For those interested in why I named my dog Wicc, here’s some linguistics to nerd over:
When I was considering the idea of getting a dog, there was a gorgeous white female Podenco mix that caught my eye. I reminisced about calling her ‘Wicce’, as in the female form of ‘Wicca’, referring to witches.
By the time I was ready to actually get a dog, I fell in love with the sweetest Podenco boy. Because he was male and I didn’t want to come across as a crazy person, shouting “WICCA! WICCA!” at my dog hehe, I decided to call him Wicc ♥
wiċċe
/ˈwit.t͡ʃe/
noun
to turn, twist or bend.
Equivalent to wiċċa (“witch”) + -e suffix denoting females -a denoting males. Most scholars will identify the term “wicca” as an Old English term that refers to a “wizard” or “soothsayer” or “sorcerer”. Other possible derivations are from “wic” meaning “to bend” or “wit” meaning “wisdom.”
Old English, Old Norse, Old Irish, Old Dutch, Latin and a few other tongues, are all members of the Western branch of the Indo-European languages. These in turn are all outgrowths of an original mother tongue, by linguists referred to as “Proto-Indo-European”(PIE). By comparing variations of a word, not just within a given language, but among and between its sister tonques as well, it is often possible to trace back its linguistic development from an original PIE root.
It appears that the absolute original root of “witch” in early PIE was *wy-, “to bend, twist” (an asterisk is used by linguists to indicate reconstructed words or word fragments). Within PIE, this root developed in at least two directions having to do with trees: *wyg-, meaning “elm” and *wyt, meaning “willow.” In both cases the words seem to have referred not only to the culturally and economically important trees themselves, but also to the artifacts woven or twisted out of them (cords, ropes, mats, thatched roofs, baskets etc.), and the very concepts of weaving, twisting, binding and bending.
The development of primary interest for the origin of “witch” was that of the Anglo-Saxon wic-, meaning “to turn, twist or bend.” This root also later grew into “weak,” “wicker” and “wicked,” all based on the idea of something bendable or twisted. In Old English the meaning of wicca/wicce was then extended in a specifically magical direction.
The sort of magic involved may be surmised from a comparison with simultaneous developments in the sister tongues. In Old Norse, the root vik- became the Icelandic/Norwegian vikja, meaning “to turn aside, conjure away.” Proto-Germanic wik- became the Low German wikken, “to foretell,” and the Middle Dutch wicker, “a soothsayer.” Various other words referring to sorcery, divination, special knowledge, and so forth, developed out of the PIE *wyg- and *wyt-, via the roots wic-, wik-, wig-, wit-, etc.
The fact that several of the words referred to knowledge led some to claim a link between all of these roots and the PIE *wys-, meaning “wise.” They declared that it was very plausible that the original meaning of wicce/wicca was therefore “Wise one….”
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Wicc, living up to his name!
