Why wear robes?

Clothes are reflective of our personality; we wear different clothes for different activities. Meditation is no different.  Meditation robes provide a much higher degree of physical comfort than regular clothing when meditating. Regular clothing often becomes uncomfortable and feels tight and binding when sitting in meditation positions.  So the keyword while practicing any form of meditation is comfort; be it posture, place or clothing. During meditation it is vital that the body be totally relaxed. Can you imagine practicing meditation in a pair of jeans? Not difficult, but not too comfortable either.

Meditation clothes are a little different in their style as they are designed after taking into account the degree of comfort and relaxation that is conducive to a successful meditation session. Early practitioners of meditation understood the importance of wearing clothes that would not hamper with the meditation process. That is the reason why the Tibetan and Buddhist monks wore loose fitting robes. Wearing meditation clothes especially designed for meditation enhances the experience.

But not just for meditation, Wizards and Witches also wear robes.

This tradition goes back to Odin, who loved to wander the world in the guise of an old man in robes. The robes were traveler’s garb, serving to keep you warm in the cold, and cool in warm weather. They could serve as a blanket, tent, lean-to, or sturdy towel without which one ought not venture out. Robes shield from the sun, and dry fast after a rain. Robes, like the turtle’s shell, denote that no matter where he may wander, the wizard is at home.

Why is all this so important? Because the wizard’s lot is to walk between worlds. Much of his work is on what humans call the other side, where answers and unique power may be found and used. In other terms, the wizard moves up and down the World Tree, sometimes in Middle-Earth, sometimes in the upper branches, and sometimes among the sturdy roots in the lower world. The robes simply speak to his fitness to boldly go where few others can as a living man.  So his (or her) robes are associated as well with occultism.

Occultism is any nonmainstream Western system of spirituality that uses magick, the definition of magick being the movement of energy to effect needed change; the way in which internal thoughts are used to effect changes in the outside world. Occultists, such as northern European Pagans (e.g., Wiccans, Druids, and witches) and ceremonial magicians (Cabalists, hermetics, and the like) practice magic as part of their religions. Occult dress is used when participating in magic rites, rituals, or ceremonies. Western occult dress has three primary functions: (1) to psychologically place the wearer in an extraordinary sense of reality; (2) to identify the status of the wearer within a social group; and (3) to indicate the beliefs of the wearer.

Some occult groups don garments symbolically colored according to a ceremony or rite. For example, a Northern European Pagan coven may don white clothes to celebrate Yule rites and green clothes to celebrate Beltane festivals. Ceremonial magic groups, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, have an extensive magical color symbolism, and thus certain colored clothing is worn for a specific ritual. This is done in order to mentally link the practitioner to the rites being performed, raising awareness and effectiveness of the spiritual ritual.

Whatever your requirements, The Emporium of the Enchanted Forest can supply your robes; the White Cotton / Linen blend modelled by Olga is currently in stock, but any colour and material (and design) can be obtained

The Robes