Day: August 29, 2012

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

 

You can easily add tools and elements to this process. Here’s a few examples.

You can use a white candle to help you focus the creation of light within your being. Imagine your spiritual essence, lighting a flame in your solar plexus. This is your divine light, the spirit within you that will provide the energy to the wick of your candle and the work ahead. When you take in the first deep breath, imagine the white light coming from the flame and collecting at your solar plexus.

If you’re conducting this exercise specifically to perform a clearing and cleansing of energies, you might want to add a step that specifically focuses on the negative energies you’re trying to get rid of. You’ll need pen, paper and a fire bowl (a bowl that you can place the paper in and burn).

Take a piece of paper and write down the issues you’re trying to release or push out. Make an itemized list giving it as much detail as you feel you need to or have time for.

Conduct the above process for clearing, cleansing and setting protection.

Open your eyes and take the paper with your written items. Fold the paper and imagine these things having no affect or impact on you ever again. Set the paper on fire and put it in the fire bowl. Make sure you’re taking precautions so that the paper is the only thing that’s going to burn. Safety first! You might keep a glass of water handy just in case an accident occurs.

As the smoke rises from the paper, see the issues you wrote down losing all energy and all importance as it floats out into the universe. Never able to do harm to you again.

You can also place your ritual into a talisman that you want to wear for protection. For this, pick the item you want to use as a talisman or amulet. Hold it in your right hands as you go through each step. See the item as being part of you and your being. It’s going through every step of this process with you. This is a quick and easy way to program the item to hold this entire process. When you’ve completed setting the protection say an additional little prayer to the GreatSpirits stating the purpose of the talisman. Something as simple as saying, this talisman now holds my the ability to clear and cleansing my mind/body/spirit from harmful energies and quickly set a shield of protection whenever called upon. Then imagine a shield of gold being set around the talisman as well. As if you’re locking the entire process inside it. When ever you feel you need some help for protection or to fight against someone who might be yelling at you for instance, just hold your talisman and call upon it’s energies to help you. You might even add a command to activate the item, something like “protect me now” is simple and to the point. But if you do this, remember you have to also program that into your steps before you lock the item.

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection (Part 1)

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

 

The following is a step-by-step process for pushing the negative energies out of your body and calling upon the Divine forces to lift your “spirit” and aid in your protection. It doesn’t take long to perform this mini-ritual. But you can certainly add to this with candles or other tools to enhance the process. I’ll give some examples after this step-by-step process.

Sit in a comfortable position, to help you alleviate the stress within your body.

Close your eyes and take in a deep cleansing breath. Fill your lungs to their fullest capacity. Then release the breath through your mouth and push all the air out of your body. Take in 3 deep breaths through the nose, imagine the white light from the universe coming into your lungs and collecting at your solar plexus. (the solar plexus is located in the center of your abdomen, right where you ribs connect at the bottom).

With all 3 exhales, image all the stress, anxiety and negativity you have leaving your body carried out to the universe on a gray smoke where it can be dissipated and no longer do harm to anyone.

With each inhale, imagine the light collecting at your solar plexus beginning to enlarge. Each in take of white light, increases the size of the white bubble of light. See this white light moving up and down the inside of your body from this point. Imagine the warmth of the white divine energy as it passes through your muscles and organs. Feel the tingling sensations as the light moves down to your toes and simultaneously up your body to the top of your head. Imagine your entire body filled by this white divine light, from the inside out.

As the light of divine energy grows imagine any left over negative stresses, anxieties and unwanted energies being forced out of your body. See this as a cloud of gray smoke being pushed out of your being by the growing divine white light.

As you breath in the energy from the divine, image the light is growing so much that it pushes through the confines of your body. Imagine the light growing to encompass your physical body about 2 feet in diameter. See the last aspects of the unwanted energy floating out into the universe where it too can be dissipated and no longer do harm to anyone.

Say a prayer asking your guides and teachers to come to you and to help with the purpose of this protection. State your intention clearly and ask The GreatSpirits to help you with your purpose. Don’t forget to thank them up front for their efforts.

You can add a little step here for putting an exclamation on setting divine protection if you’d like. Take one more very deep breath and see a strong gold divine light, shimmering down into your body to your solar plexus. See this light quickly grow and pass through the white light you have established as your shield. The two light sources do not mix, they should remain clearly separate. Think and see the gold light as the GreatSpirits hand passing through the shield you created and within seconds and forming it’s own shield around yours. Seeing clearly the outer rim of gold, protecting the inner white shield. Think of this as a hard shield of Gold from the GreatSpirits own hand, setting a hard outer shell to protect the white energy shield you created. Make sure you add a special thanks to the GreatSpirits for their addition to your energy.

Clearing and Cleansing

Clearing and Cleansing

There are many methods to clearing and cleansing, and you may want to make up your own based on your personal beliefs. Here is a step by step example from beginning to end that works on spaces, objects or even people. Before you begin, prepare a small altar to hold the objects you’ll need for the cleansing and clearing. Gather together:

A white candle.

Sage and cedar smudge if you can find it. If not sandlewood incense will suffice.

A large feather.

A clear quartz crystal.

A lighter or book of matches.

If this cleansing is for a person, you might need or want to use a proxy. A proxy is an object that acts as a “stand-in”. It holds the essence of the person, or even an animal and allows you to focus your energies on the proxy for the cleansing. This is a common method used to conduct long-distance healing rituals.

Creating Your Sacred Space

Creating Your Sacred Space

 

Preparing Your Space

Before you begin any ritual or ceremony, you should Clear and Cleanse the area where the work is to be done. This is especially true when you’re first consecrating your sacred space. You should re-cleanse this area each time you begin a ritual or use of this space, but these later efforts will all be affected by how you first set the intent and use of energy in this space for the first time.

 

Selecting A Space

Designate an area in your home or outside where your sacred space will be. This should be a place that is undisturbed by other members of your household. If you don’t have the space in your home to designate a room as your spiritual area, then set aside a corner or portion of a room. You can use curtains, an attractive room divider or just a special arrangement of furniture.

If you decide to create a space outside, the same considerations apply. You want this area to be undisturbed by other people. A place where your ritual objects will be safe if you leave them outside.

Setting Up Your Space

Before any spiritual event can occur, you should create or designate a place that can act as your “Sacred Space”. Your personal area where only spiritual work and interaction will be conducted. Once you have designated an area, inside or outside, you will need to cleanse the area, energize it and create a “gateway” for spiritual communication and work.

 

Decorating Your Space

Decorations add to the “essence” of your spiritual space, but they also server as symbolic reminders and tools for your work. If you have a close affinity to the energy of a particular animal, then add a statue or picture of that animal in your area. If you have a particular connection to a pentacle or medicine wheel, then give that object a prominent location in your space.

Some people like to set all natural materials in their space. A solid wood table and chair(s) with natural fiber coverings and so on. These additional practical items are entirely up to you. But if you feel that natural objects help you connect with the natural forces around you, then add these specific items to your space.

Some things you may want to consider putting in your space are:

Table and at least 1 chair.

A small table for a permanent altar.

Candles of varying color.

Crystals and stones for future rituals.

Incense for cleansing and clearing.

Don’t forget the matches.

Any other Magikal Tools you may wish to use.

Casting A Circle

Casting A Circle

The first thing you must do is find and create your sacred space. A secluded spot outdoors is preferable. If you must do your ritual indoors, have enough space to set up your altar and to be able to comfortably walk around without bumping into anything. An indoor area should also be cleansed of any negative energy. I physically clean the area by sweeping or vacuuming, and then smudge the entire space with white sage. I usually set up my altar facing North. What you place on your altar depends on what type of ritual you are doing. Here are the basics:

North – Earth ~ a dish of dirt

East – Air ~ dish of salt, censer, bell, feather

South – Fire ~ a red candle

West – Water ~ a dish of water, chalice

On the left side of the Altar, place a white candle or Goddess symbol. On the right side place a white candle or God symbol. The candles do not have to be white. I prefer to place my wand, athame, cauldron and spell tools in the middle of the altar. I place candles in each of the four Elemental quarters just at the edge of the circle I am about to cast. Green for Earth, yellow for Air, Red for Fire and Blue for Water. Once you have these items set up, it is time to “Raise Energy”. I usually play Celtic music to get in the spirit of things; dancing, drumming, chanting and clapping are all appropriate ways to raise energy. Next, stand and face the Altar and recite a general Blessing or Invocation chant. This is the one I use:

“I call upon the eternal Power of the One, source of all that is;
I call upon the Goddess, glorious Lady of the Moon;
I call upon the God, glorious Lord of the Sun
Mother and Father of all living creatures.
I call upon the Spirits of Earth, Air, Fire and Water
Join me now and bless this sacred space and all that dwells within.”

Next I call the quarters:
You can light each candle as you call the the Elements, or have them already lit. You can also use your wand or hand in creating the circle.

Go to the North and say:

“Spirit of the North, Ancient one of Earth
I call upon you to attend this circle.
Thru your roots, bring your powers of
fertility,endurance and stability
to bless and protect this sacred space.”

Go to the East and say:

“Spirit of the East, Ancient one of Air
I call upon you to attend this circle.”
Thru your breeze, bring your powers of
intelligence, optimism and joy
to bless and protect this sacred space.”

Go to the South and say:

“Spirit of the South, Ancient one of Fire
I call upon you to attend this circle.
Thru your light, bring your powers of
strength, courage and willpower
to bless and protect this sacred space.”

Go to the West and say:

“Spirit of the West, Ancient one of Water
I call upon you to attend this circle.
Thru your flowing stream, bring your powers of
purification, peace and love
to bless and protect this sacred space.”

Stand before the altar and call the Goddess:

“O Gracious Goddess, Lady of the Silvery Moon
I call upon you to attend this circle
Bless and protect this sacred space
with your wisdom, guidance and love”

Call the God:

“Oh Gracious God, Lord of the Fiery Sun
I call upon you to attend this circle.
Bless and protect this sacred space
with your wisdom, guidance and love.”

“The Sacred Circle is cast,
May only positive energy dwell within;
May only positive energy emerge from within
So Mote It Be!”

You are now ready to perform your ritual or Esbat, magical workings, etc. When you have finished, celebrate the Simple Feast.

Hold up a cup of juice, wine, beer (your beverage of choice) and say:

“Gracious Goddess of the Earth and Sky,
Bless this wine with your love.
In the presence of the Mother Goddess and the Father God
This wine is blessed.”

Hold up a plate of cakes (bread, cookies, etc.) and say:

“Gracious God of the Sun and Wilderness,
Bless this bread with your love.
In the presence of the Mother Goddes and the Father God
This bread is blessed.”

(For more elaborate rituals, all of the food may be blessed at one time in a similar manner.)

Release the circle.

Go to each of the Elemental quarters and say:

“I bid farewell to the Spirit of the North, (East, West, South)
Thank you for your presence in this Sacred Circle.
Go now with bright blessings and spread your power.”

Thank the Goddess and the God in a similar manner.

Then say:

“The Circle is open, but not unbroken.
Merry Meet and Merry Part
Until we meet again
Blessed Be!!!”

Please remember that ritual tools are just props. And there will be occasions when you will want to cast an impromptu circle and you don’t have any tools with you. While they can help put you in the right frame of mind for creating rituals, your *magic* is within you. You have the ability to manifest wonderful energy, whether you have a magic wand or not. This is the basic circle casting that I use. Words and altar setups change depending on the type of circle you are casting and the ritual you are performing. Read books and practice writing your own rituals often and discover the spiritual soul that resides within.

Preparing and Casting the Circle

Preparing and Casting the Circle

Though it sounds simple, preparing the circle for a ritual can be a long, laborious process with little thanks given by the people that come to the circle. The witch in charge of setting up the space for a circle must decide what they think is necessary and make adjustments on the fly for missing things. They must listen to the discussion on what will be done at that circle and find what is needed, often digging up scraps from here and there to get everything. The leaders of the circle in particular, will generally bring any special items that will be required, but the things that are more common fall to whomever is doing the ritual preparation.

If a witch works as a solitary, then she is responsible for everything. This, of course, is made simpler by the fact that she disturbs no one if she forgets something and has to go get it. Preparation for circle includes such things as vacuuming the carpet if the floor is carpeted and sweeping it if it is not, setting up the altar and cleaning out any items that were not cleaned out after the last circle, setting up the charcoal for the incense and lighting it just before circle so that it is hot when needed. She needs to check that there is a pitcher of juice or wine available if a feast is being done, that there is good ventilation and sufficient heat in the room, and that everyone is ready to go before the circle starts.

There should be enough time before a ritual starts for people to sit together in silence to attune to one another, allowing the mundane world to slip away and adjust to a sacred way of thinking. Shirking on this is shirking on the preparation of a ritual, as it is very important that a group work together as a coherent whole.

Once the preparations and meditations are done, it is time to cast the circle. This can be done in many different ways. Several are presented below to give the student a choice and different ways to do this. The actual techniques do not matter so much as the intent and desire. It is a way to trigger the mind into working in a different manner than it is accustomed to working. As a student becomes more practiced and able to cast stronger and better circles, they will notice the way their minds shift focus from mundane to the sacred as they create their space. They will also begin to experiment with different ways of casting a circle. When this happens, they have learned a critical step to becoming a witch.

Lighten Up – A Real New Age Mouthful

A Real New Age Mouthful

I was having an out of body experience one day so I grounded myself and got centered with the help of my spirit guides and almost astral traveled anyway, but the phone rang. I sensed the negative vibrations so I threw the I-Ching and checked my numerology chart and nearly had a primal, but my energy was too blocked, so I did some bioenergetics and self parenting, took some flower essence and ate an organic oat bran ginseng muffin, but my inner child wasn’t feeling nurtured yet so I had a Rice Dream Frozen Pie too, but that made me hyper so I did the relaxation response while listening to my subliminal tapes, but I was feeling depersonalized so I did some polarity work, foot reflexology and past life regression, then rebirthed myself and called Moon Beam, the bodyworker, to make an appointment for a Shiatsu, Reike, Rolfing, Feldenkreis, Swedish, Japanese deep tissue massage, but she flaked out and never returned my call, so I decided to energize my crystals and do some positive imagery because all my visualization techniques and affirmations made my space feel invaded, so to get empowered, I got a psychic reading from Mother HeartLove around the issue of my assertiveness so I could feel my radiance and have some energy for my psycho-calisthenics and inversion swing before my harmonic brain-wave synergy session, which made me more focused for my actualization seminar, holistic healing class and dreamworkshop, so I’d be more clear for my Gestalt behavioral cognitive transpersonal Rechian Jungian Freudian Ericksonian session at the hot springs but my aura was weak for my trance-channeling group so I fasted until noon to recharge my chakras and I sensed my intuition was high and my cycle was focused, so I turned on my ion generator to open up for my neural-linguistic programming session, but I needed to have my pyramid recharged before my guided synchronicity meditation, so I got some cranio-sacral therapy, which aligned me for the fire walk, which was between my tarot card reading and my sensory deprivation tank appointment, but after all that I felt what I truly needed was a meaningful relationship to mirror myself so I went to my personal shaman, and then to my guru, but they were no help, so instead I went to the Intensive Whole Life Earth Rebirth Cosmic Expo Symposium Workshop to find someone who really knew what was going on, but that didn’t work either, so I locked himself in a calcium coated Orgone Box and went to sleep so I could “get it” in the dream state.

Author unknown, or just too blissed to mention their name …

Your Charm for August 29: The Arrowhead

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:

The arrowhead pointing down means a storm is brewing within this aspect. Trouble is coming your way from a source very close to you. Be prepared to have an important discussion that could change your life.

General Description:    

These Neolithic flint Arrow heads were supposed in olden times to have been made by the fairies, and were held in high esteem for their supposed magical powers. The Arrow heads were called Elf shots. The amulet was worn on a necklace to protect the wearer from all kinds of bodily illness, and was a potent charm for averting the evil eye. When the arrow head was dipped in water it was thought that the water had the power of curing almost all diseases, and this superstition still exists in some countries, even at the present time.

Your Animal Spirit forAugust 29: The Black Swan

Your Animal Spirit for Today
August 29, 2012

Black Swan

Wherever the Black Swan appears in your reading you can expect unexpected and unpredictable events to majorly impact your life in that aspect.  Beyond noting that the influences Black Swan indicates will be extraordinarily large in scope, it may be difficult to tell if the fortune it foretells will be good or bad.  Black Swan affected events may begin so subtly that they are very difficult to identify.  When trying to discover what the Black Swan portends for you, look for events that do not occur in your life regularly or at all.

Your Deck of Ancient Symbols Card for Aug. 29: The Beacon

Your Deck of Ancient Symbols Card for Today

 

The Beacon

The Beacon symbolizes both guidance to safe harbors and a warning of dangerous waters. The Beacon is represented by a lighthouse atop jagged rocks with its powerful light cutting a path that leads to an adjacent entrance to a calm harbor on a stormy night. The Beacon suggest that if you look for it, there is a general path for you to follow to reach a place of peace and harmony. However,  The Beacon itself sets upon rough ground, so you must still step carefully as you follow it to quiet waters.

As a daily card, The Beacon provides guidance away from conflict. It implies that the path to resolving differences is marked and visible to any who look for it. The Beacon also warns that while there is a way to quell strife, you still must move carefully towards a solution

 

Daily Feng Shui Tip for August 29: ‘More Herbs, Less Salt Day’

On ‘More Herbs, Less Salt Day’ I want to wax poetic about one particular herb that is considered a ‘super food’ for very good reasons. Cilantro, an herb traditionally used in Mediterranean, Mexican and Spanish cuisines, has many known health benefits. Cilantro (or coriander) is believed to protect against the salmonella bacteria while also acting as an all-natural chelation agent. It’s great for a healthy heart, is known to aid digestion, and it acts as an anti-inflammatory that can alleviate arthritic symptoms. It can also help lower blood sugar, bad cholesterol and blood pressure. Rich in antioxidants and dietary fiber, it’s an excellent source of potassium, calcium, iron and magnesium. So the next time you reach for the saltshaker, shred some of this spicy herb instead and pepper your whole life with happiness and health. Now that wasn’t too hard to swallow, was it?

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com