Posts Tagged ‘tresum’


Tresum 101

In Dante’s Cove there is a magical tradition at the root of the story. Tresum, the form of witchcraft practiced by the witches of the cove is a mystical belief system comprised of houses where the Moon House is the feminine and the Sun House is masculine. When Sun and Moon are joined together, they form the Sky House. That is where the simplicity of the craft ends and can be further explored in The Explanation of Tresum from the official Dante’s Cove site.

Just as with Christianity and Wicca, Tresum has different versions and is interpreted differently from one house of practice to another. Tresum as practiced in the town of Dante’s Cove is considered a rouge form of the craft and not generally accepted in the rest of the world where Tresum practice is overseen by a council of masters.

When the Sun House and Moon House are joined together they form a third house, the Sky House. While in Dante’s Cove Tresum followers are ruled by either the Sun or Moon houses, they do not generally accept that the houses should be united and share information freely, thus the separation of the Book of Tresum into two volumes: The Moon Book and The Sun Book. Outside of Dante’s Cove it is another story, however it is not clear whether all practitioners or only members of the Tresum council can wield both Sun and Moon power as Griffin does in what is hypothesized to be the Sky House.

Yet another house of Tresum has been revealed, the House of Shadows. This house is not ruled by neither Sun nor Moon, but by chaos and destruction. Evil for evil’s sake. It was subdued and imprisoned in a time before the Sun and Moon houses were segregated presumably by Sky House practitioners. Over centuries this house became a thing of legend and myth rather than reality until it was unintentionally released while trying to restore balance to the craft in the cove.

What is common between the Sun, Moon and Sky houses is that initiates (aspirants) are mentored in a particular form of witchcraft by an avatar (a high priest/priestess of the craft) and as the initiate grows in power, more of the mysteries of Tresum are revealed to them. All practitioners of Tresum observe the solstices as important times when powers run strong and change can occur. Another commonality between all houses that is potentially dangerous is the ability to draw or give personal energy/power from one person to another.

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All About Tresum

All About Tresum

To read the official explanation of Tresum gives the illusion of the craft being a bona fide system of magical practice which lends itself to making it believable in the storyline and whetting viewers’ appetites to learn more of the mysteries. But, to be sure, it is an invented form of witchcraft that draws its inspiration from many sources including modern pagan beliefs such as Wicca, folklore and Hollywood’s classic interpretation of witches and witchcraft.

If you are looking to learn how to practice Tresum, look elsewhere. As depicted in the storyline the craft harnesses tremendous powers for spells, curses and other forms of control that rob a person of their free will. In the real world this form of magic cannot be practiced without dire consequences, but makes for great television viewing. But what is true in both realms is that it is how an individual wields the power that matters.

Aside from curses, spells, control over others, being immortal and dematerializing at will, there are similarities between Tresum and Wicca. So much so that an uniformed individual may wonder if Tresum is real or not. Adding to the realism was Grace’s initial snobbish reaction to Van. More prevalent in the past but still found today is this attitude in Wicca where certain paths tend to look down on self-initiated individuals who work as solitary witches rather than being born into it or initiated into a coven.

Modern witches also observe solstices (equinoxes and four other festivals), harness the power of herbs, work with the elements (earth, air, fire, water) and see the Sun as god and the Moon as goddess. Whereas Tresum appears, as it has thus far been revealed to us, to be solely concerned with amassing power and control, modern witchcraft practice is intent on harnessing the power within yourself to effect positive change.

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Tresum 101