The Branks

“Death – Begetting” : symbolic physical death, to enter the Silence; the negation of banality, of everyday language, of non-stop talking; certain “words” of power that guide us to the Silence… A brank, according to Aleister Crowley, is an old Scottish device, designed for holding closed the mouth of a woman – the woman (seen in Tarot, shutting a lion’s mouth) who signifies Strength. Thus it implies the Silence is more powerful than the (physical) Strength.