WHY DO MAGICK?

Magick encompasses many things — science and art,

philosophy and metaphysics, psychology and comparative

religion. Magick is an adventure at the borderlands of the

unknown. It can fit the pieces of the puzzel of life into a

meaningful whole.

_Magick is fun_ and interesting. Use magick to help

raise consciousness without drugs. Gain new experiences.

Fantacy can come alive through magick. Psychic phenomena can

be controlled and be fun and helpful.

_Magick is beneficial_. It can help you to have

excellent health, and bring you good luck. With magick life

runs smoothly; life is good. Also use magick for personality

improvement, to control bad habits and to develop new

motivations.

_Magick is powerful_. Never underestimate the

tremendous power of magick. Use magick to alter events and to

achieve your goals. Exert an influence over people and

phenomena. But power for its own sake is self defeating. The

power which magick can give you should not be your primary

reason for studying it.

WHY MAGICK

The ability to think seems to set us apart from

other creatures. And although we are concerned with

living in the physical world, we are mental beings. The

fact is we are thinking all the time. We plan, we brood,

we get depressed or elated — all of it is thought. But

the universe is mental too, and if we could control our

thinking we would see magnificent results in the everyday

world.

Many systems have been developed over the ages to

help us control our thoughts. A great amound of dogma too

has been kicked around in an attempt to make us into better

people. Magick (the occult kind, spelled with a ‘k’) is one

of the oldest and most general of these systems. Magick is

the study and application of psychic forces. It uses mental

training, concentration, and a system of symbols to program

the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the

environment according to the will.

Most of the magick we see today comes to us from

ancient Egypt and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans

developed their own unique types of magick. Western magick

was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years

and then supressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not

until medieval Europe that magical knowledge was rediscovered

by the alchemists and Cabalists. Only during the past hundred

years or so has western culture been open minded enough to

permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since

the start of the twentieth century has science shown much

interest in it al all.

The Magick is in the Witch…Not the Bitch

The Magick is in the Witch…Not the Bitch

Author: Phoenix Forestsong

I recently placed myself in a position where I had to “explain myself” to a non-magickal person. Surprisingly, this situation planted a very interesting seed into the fertile soil of my mind. Ultimately that seed has culminated in this essay, minus the offensive title. Without getting into irrelevant details, the conversation essentially boiled down to “I don’t care what you say, Magick doesn’t work because I refuse to believe in it.”

Yup. That statement is one hundred percent factually true. Magick only works if you open yourself to it first, even if you don’t believe but still accept the possibility, then Magick can move in your life. A non-magickal person or, to upset those witches that take themselves way too seriously, a Muggle who “does not believe”, but “refuses to believe” will not be knowingly influenced by Magick. The key here is in the word knowingly. Magick is life and Magick is energy, thus all that lives is filled with the energy of Life; whether it knows, believes, or denies the possibility of Magick, the human spirit is still affected by Magick.

The problem that most non-magickal people have with Magick, aside from centuries of brainwashing by Christianity, is the concept of a binary world. The concept of a binary world is anathema to traditional stratified religions where there is Earth, Heaven, Hell, and only The Creator and The Destroyer can manipulate “Magick” to make things happen. Even then, it is only good and “Holy” when that power comes from God or Jesus, and “evil”, “unnatural”, or “Satanic” when it comes from any other source, for as we all know, that which is not exclusively from the domain of God, comes from the Devil’s own hand.

To Wiccans and pagans there are two worlds that make up our lives. There is the physical and material world that simultaneously and conterminously coexists with the spiritual world, which is the world of energy, the world of magick. When we see the forest, we see the physical world with trees, rocks, leaves, streams, and forest creatures; however, we also see the energies that these seemingly simple physical things are made of. It is natural to see this world and to live in this world; in fact, from the moment of birth we are completely opened up to the True World. As we gradually learn more about the “Real World”, the exclusive world of the physical, we do so ignorant of the natural abilities that we were born with. Thus, the situation creates a disconnect within us where “something” is missing, but we’re not quite sure what.

The Witch

The Witch, The Wise, A Wise One, or whatever name we are known by, changes neither the responsibilities nor dedication that it takes to become a Witch. When you first began to follow your path, there was a tremendous amount of information that had to be learned, a lot of books to read, and a ton of thinking, meditating, and writing that needed to be completed before you really had even the slightest clue of just what you were doing. However, setting aside your confusion you pressed on, slowly coming to master the basic talents required by the Craft. You can now raise power, know your correspondences for candles, herbs, and gemstones. More than likely you have delved into divination with the Tarot, a pendulum, or Runes.

In any event, you are a Witch and it took a lot of thought and effort to, not only learn and master your skills, but to acquire the right philosophy and spirit to actually put them to use. It is the same as a computer technician who spends long hours in class working for a Bachelor’s degree. Though some of what will be learned may seem pointless at the time, overall it has taken at least four years to learn enough of the basics of Computer Science to be proficient at your chosen field. While you may not be an expert in every area of computer technology, you are pretty damn good when it comes to identifying, troubleshooting, and repairing a computer whenever it fails…it’s all fundamentals to you now.

For the IT Professional, the medium that is best used to faithfully execute their duties is the Internet. Obviously I use this profession for the example because, well, write what you know. I have the B.S. Degree, I’ve had several technical positions, including a management position and a consulting business, and so I have witnessed and experienced the IT field from several different angles. I would regularly run into computer programs that I’ve never even heard about prior to accepting the client. So I would research.

I would hit the Internet, learn more about this new technology, and I would test it out prior to taking any drastic action. I taught myself how to operate that computer program, usually better than the employees who had to use it on a daily basis. The point is that I didn’t know it before, I recognized the fact, did the research, got the hands on experience, and incorporated new, albeit somewhat situational, knowledge into my life. I had to make an effort to grow, to learn, to develop something within myself in order to learn this new skill.

How does this have any relationship to Wicca? Imagine that your sister is in a relationship with one real bad dude. When you do see her, which rarely ever happens, she always wears clothing and makeup that conceal the abuse. When you say something about it she gets worried, not angry, and begs you to stay out of her life. Just this past Thanksgiving she missed the traditional family meal, so you decided to stop by her house and check everything out. She answers the door in tears, blood streaming from her broken nose. She tells you, panic blazing from her eyes that she broke her nose falling down the stairs and that everything is all right. Don’t worry; just go home she’ll be fine.

Sure. What do you do? Right off the top of your head the best solution is to call the police. If they can’t (or won’t) do anything, then call the YWCA, even a local church with a women’s outreach group, someone who is trained to handle domestic violence. So, once you’ve called the cops, and no one presses charges, and the beatings continue, and you see your sister less and less often, in greater agony at each and every meeting. What do you do?

You are a Witch, you know the basics inside and out, you have the Rede, and you have a very desperate need. Using the Rede as your guide, you begin to peruse the Internet and your own Magickal library to research how to safely and permanently get rid of this guy. You find the best way is through a spell of binding placed on him (‘An it harm none…’An he IS harming someone) so that he will be unable to harm your sister in any way followed by a spell of protection placed on your sister. The research completed, you hit up your local craft shop or Wally World and get what you need for the ritual. You create the necessary components required for your ritual, prepare the ritual, work the ritual, raise power, empower the spell with your most desperate need, and fire it off into the Aether, knowing with all certainty that it has already worked.

When a computer guy fixes a computer, he or she knows that it is fixed because there is a very noticeable and measurable change in the machine. Mainly, that change is that the computer now works, however, in more complicated computers, such as Internet Servers, the change may not be drastically noticeable as the computer is not running just one or two applications like your PC, it is executing thousands at a time. An adjustment here and a tweak there will create noticeable results; however, it takes patience and experience to notice those changes.

When a Witch fixes a situation, he or she knows that it is fixed because there is a very noticeable, yet subtle change in the situation. As our “Fundamentals” are not well-documented scientific skills but rather are naturally-born abilities that, once trained, unlock greater levels of perception in the Witch, we notice the change in energy before the event actually moves in that direction. Two very important rules to remember are: “Magick always follows the path of least resistance” and “Energy always occurs before motion.”

Energy occurs before motion is an accepted scientific law. Simply look to the famous Sir Isaac Newton and his three marvelous and Magickal laws of motion. The First Law of Motion, which is the only one we’re interested in, states that an object in motion will stay in constant uniform motion and an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by some external force, with force being kinetic energy.

To simplify even further, things tend to do what they were already doing unless some outside force influences it. Thus, the ball just sits there and does nothing until you kick it, which is the application of kinetic energy. Thus the bastard will remain abusive (an A-hole in motion) until some outside force (emotion, Magick, POLICE) pushes him (and his energy) onto another constant, uniform course, which hopefully leads straight to a jail cell and a karmic reward.

Now, I know all you eggheads out there are just drooling about the big flaw in my argument. I can hear it right now, it goes something like this…Dude, that only applies to an object with constant mass, not to something that can grow or shrink, thus changing its mass and, potentially, its momentum and direction! That is what is so cool about the flaw; the first law only ALWAYS works on things, static things, things that don’t change and people their situations are dynamic.

In the world of spirit, we’re not simply bundles of energy floating around without thought, without direction. Hell no! People are driven, motivated, self-directed, and above all else, highly intelligent and sentient individuals. We steer ourselves through life; our Spirit hops into the driver’s seat, takes the wheel, puts the pedal to the metal, slams on the break, grinds the transmission, and tries to go where it wants to go. Magick, like a sudden gust of wind upon the interstate or two tons of rolling steel smacking fatally into you, still affects your motion. The difference between a gust of wind pushing your car and the horror of a traffic fatality is force, which is energy.

In Magick, it is a disciplined and focused Will that sets the direction of the spell, and it emotion and desire that give our spells force, “kinetic energy”, the kick. Correspondences naturally add additional power to the magick, thus increasing the force of the spell. The energy is raised, the desire for change churns at the heart of the spell, waiting to be let loose, the spell is directed, it’s energy changing to comply with the Will of the Witch, transforming into what it needs to become to do its job. The spell is let loose, it’s aim is true and the force behind the spell is mind-shatteringly intense. You ground, center, thank your Deities, and close out your circle, cleaning up along the way. You listen for the phone.

An hour passes, you near nothing. Two hours pass, still nothing. After four hours you have to sleep, the ritual was too much of a draining process to keep sleep over the horizon for much longer. One day goes by, nothing, two, three, five, still nothing. You stop by her house but she won’t open the door, she keeps the chain latched and hides her face in the safety of shadows. You know. You’re not upset; you’re pissed. “’An it harm none…” as your first thought is to personally explain Newton’s Laws of Motion using the example of his face as the object with your fist as the application of kinetic energy, which would technically violate that whole “harm none” thing. As Plan A won’t really work out, you fall back to Plan B and call the Police who rush out to arrest the guy who, surprisingly, actually gets charged, convicted, and sees the inside of the Pokey for a while.

The Bitch

Oh! I see. You spent all that time worrying and worshiping the Devil, and all you had to do was call the Cops. See! Magick doesn’t work! Tee-hee! Tee-hee! Sure, the Police were called and it was the Police who dragged the human filth out of the house and into a cruiser, but they had already been called before without any result. Now, there is a noticeable result. Notice that the spell took time to work; it could have taken months even! Why?

The Jerk is self-motivated, self-directed, and self-centered, thus instead of a ball of rock floating idly in space, he is a jerk behind the wheel of car and he’s going wherever he wants to God Dammed go! Your Sister, for her own reasons, was attracted to him which drew her closer to him, the distance between them lessened and he began to influence her. The proximity of their paths and the momentum of his desire and his will to be abusive does not simply stop and cease to be because one wishes for it too. It stops because some outside force, some outside energy, slammed full-force into him and pushed him in another direction. The spell of protection cast upon your sister, it too slammed into her life, pushing her away from his abuse.

Now, neither the Jerk nor your Sister were ever aware of your spell, so to their knowledge nothing abnormal ever occurred. However, Magick always follows the path of least resistance. The Jerk, being a physical guy, liked his drink and he liked women, but when he got drunk he would get violent. It was his nature and he followed his nature. Your sister, after having a half-remembered dream about watching some show on TV last week about fidelity and abuse, was growing more resentful and angry the more she thought about things. It took a few days but when you stopped by the house the tension that had been mounting over the past few days, the stress fractures of two lives being pushed away from each other, were the trigger.

Directly, did you Physically do anything to anyone in that scenario? No. What did you do? You gave a situation, two lives, a necessary push and nature took care of the rest, because Magick follows the path of least resistance. This is a completely fictional story, but one designed to show the mechanics of Magick. While situations for your spells will be different, never doubt its power. Even science has proven that Energy comes before Motion, therefore the mechanics of Magick, the First Law of Magical Motion, is a logical and “provable” concept.

In Land of the Blind…

I walk down the street at noon, a gentle breeze ruffles my hair, trees shimmy and shake their leaves, making a cacophony of sound like hundreds of sheets of paper being torn to shreds. The bright golden sun assaults my eyes as it glares angrily from dingy storefront windows and the hot windshields of boiling parked cars. A sea of people flows around me, or I flow amongst them, I don’t really know and It doesn’t really matter, I’m a part of something.

I come abruptly upon the strangest sight, a plaza full of men, women, and children with blindfolds painfully tight upon their heads, dirty thick padding covers their ears, a cloth gag obstructs their mouths, while filthy rags consist of their clothing. Each and every soul in the plaza sits in silence, suffering etched deep into their faces while one lone man cries loudly above the noise of the city. You strain to hear him over the sounds of construction, but eventually his message is heard.

“Fear! Fear my God! For he has declared this world to be an illusion and all upon to be evil and ill. Repent of your sins, surrender your body, mind, and soul unto me, blind yourself unto the evil illusion of this world and you will be rewarded in your next life.”

Out of a morbid sense of curiosity I wandered into the plaza; I had to know what was going on. Ignoring the absolute stench of the place, I located the preaching man and moved swiftly to him. His blind eyes passed me over, seeing nothing. Questions flooded my mind, yet I remained in control and simply spoke to the man. “What are you doing Sir?” I ask him, “What are all of you doing here?” His answer surprised me, shocking me into an absolute funk.

“My God, My God, My most powerful and omnipotent Lord. He has told me that this world is nothing more than a great illusion, a false reality, and the evil of this place is too great and My God demands judgment. Fire and Death shall rein down from the heavens, the earth will crack and the seas shall heave. The blood of the unsaved shall run like a river of crimson Justice! Join me and blind your eyes, deafen your ears, silence your tongue, and feel the full suffering of the flesh. For only through suffering can we purify our souls in order to gain Paradise! Give your Illusionary life to me and My God, and you will receive wealth and wisdom beyond measure after death.”

It just sounded too good to be true! Blind my eyes, block my ears, silence my tongue, suffer in the flesh, but at least I wouldn’t be dead from fire, death, cracking, or heaving. I was confused.

“Sir, how do you know this to be true? Have you any proof?” His grimy hands rummaged through a tattered burlap sack, quickly withdrawing a badly damaged cassette tape player. “God himself recorded his message for me on this holy artifact. Unfortunately even the most enlightened individuals cannot bear to hear the true voice of God without its perfection causing immediate and violent death. For the mysteries of God are Deadly to the wicked and can only be revealed through suffering in darkness and silence. Join Me! Else you will be punished for your lack of faith for all eternity, for my God is a wrathful God!”

…The One-Eyed Man Will Be King

After that exciting excursion into the world of Sir Isaac Newton and his wonderful First Law of Motion, and a quick escapade to an obviously allegorical plaza filled with walk-ons left over from the filming of Tommy, what was the whole point? There is a morbidly humorous saying: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man will be king. When we are born, all of us, are born with two eyes, we see both worlds, the world of the physical and the world of energy.

As our world really is a binary world, we are literally being asked to blind one eye in order to become a part of society. Our society is one that is based upon science and Judeo-Christian values. Magick, and any other current scientifically improvable concept, is not “real” because it cannot be measured and it goes against those long-standing values that are so important to our national identity. Although, just because something is not scientifically proven beyond a shadow of a doubt does not mean that it is wrong.

I work magick, you work magick, and millions of people the world over work some kind of Magick. We believe in it because we can feel it, it may not be quantifiable, yet it exists. We believe in Magick because it works, and it works every time we try it. The situation may not be completely resolved, but it will begin to move, slowly at first, but soon it will be defused in no time at all because you gave it a little nudge to knock it out of the way.

The sun still shines its light of love and heat of hope upon the Earth oblivious to the fact that Jim in Accounting absolutely refuses to believe in the Sun’s existence. It still doesn’t change the fact that the Sun is a star and that Jim in Accounting probably could use a long vacation somewhere with sun, sand, and surf. Of course Jim won’t burn on his vacation because he doesn’t believe in the Sun.

When Jim finally returns from his long vacation, he is as red as a steamed lobster. He begins to explain to you how he contracted this strange skin disease at the beach and how it was strange to be at the beach without the Sun. As a Witch, and since Jim is nuttier than a fruitcake by now, you promise to work some magick on his…rare condition. Jim doesn’t believe in Magick and is violently opposed to it. You decide to work a spell on him to alleviate the pain from his sunburn without telling him. He feels better the next day after discovering an exotic cure for his illness…aloe.

Show Me Da Magick!

This essay has been a bit juvenile in its examples, yet the point was not to provide the very best example of a situation, it was to provide the best example of the mechanics of Magick. If you begin to study your own spellcraft, watch where the energy that you send out ends up by feeling for it. You will begin to learn and eventually understand just how Magick, and Life, flows and brings change where it’s needed most. The one fatal mistake that any Witch can make is to give away their power in the face of a challenge. The idea that “I can’t help with that! It’s too tough!” Well, you’re right; you can’t do anything because you have decided that you do not have the power to…so now you don’t.

But, just like the blind man who ignored the visible world, and the overzealous Christian who demands suffering and pain as a sign of submission, their refusal to accept the real world around them doesn’t change the nature of the world around them. It only changes their reactions to that outside stimulus that they detest. A closed-minded individual who refuses to believe in magick can still be swayed by magick, just as the boy who believes himself to invincible can be knocked over by powerful wave. Their refusal to accept does not change the fact that Magick exists, has always existed, and will always exist. The blindness in their eyes does not change the fact that there are Two Worlds, not one, two. Just because a person refuses to see a painting does not mean that it was never painted, it exists in all its intricate beauty, that person simply refuses to appreciate it.

As Witches we walk the world with all our senses developed and alert, this allows us a greater depth of understanding and perception concerning people and situations. We do not walk our Path with our eyes blinded, nor do we walk our Path with one eye closed. We walk our paths with both eyes open; both worlds, the physical and the spiritual are real and readily available to us, each just as real as the other. We have to remember that WE hold the power to create change in the world, it is not something that can ever be delegated to another, it is our power, our will, and our destiny to develop into the individual who we want to be.

Magick, a natural part of life, will always be an influence even on skeptics, for just as matter moves, so does energy. Regardless of denials, misunderstandings, and flat-out lies, one can no more banish Magick than one could Banish the oceans, it is a natural part Life, just like the rising and setting of the sun and the migration of birds in the Winter. It’s natural, it exists, and nothing and no one can ever change that.

Blessed Be,
-Phoenix Forestsong

BLACK OPAL CHARM

Ingredients

The black opal is widely known as the “Witches Stone” and is prized for its magick enhancing properties. To increase your magickal power, charge the stone with the following chant and place it on your altar.
“Opal black, of burning fire
Add the power that’s required
To make my magick hit its mark,
By light of day, or night so dark.”

Scrying

Scrying

Scrying is the ancient act of divination for the purpose of clairvoyance. It is usually achieved by concentrating on or staring at an object having a shiny surface until a vision appears. Magicians and witches have practiced scrying throughout the ages. The typical stereotype of a person scrying is a Gypsy fortune teller looking into her crystal ball.

Scrying comes from the English word “descry” which means “to make out dimly” or “to reveal.” There have been and are many purposes for the activity; to see into the future, to find lost objects or persons, and track criminals, among others. In the Middle Ages a wise woman or a wise man, perhaps also called a witch, with a natural gift of second sight was called upon for scrying purposes.

Although the object used for scrying usually has a shiny surface, innumerable objects have been used for the practice over the centuries. The Egyptians used ink, blood and other dark liquids. The Romans used shiny objects and stones. Water has been used for gazing into. Mirrors are often used.

There is an example of the interior of a cauldron being painted black, then filled with water at night, a silver coin was dropped into the water so to reflect moonlight. Such means have been employed to see visions and read mystical signs.

Many witches scry in a magic circle to prevent outside influences from distorting their visions. Also, this is why most scrying is done at night in order to receive better psychic vibrations. As a general rule most diviners work at night in order to avoid the excessive psychic vibrations that are generated in the day due to the confusion of everyday living. The methods of scrying differ but after a period of concentration on the speculum visions, mental images, or impressions appear. Frequently the visions are symbolic and the scryer must be trained and skillful in interpreting their meanings.

BASIC PREPARATION FOR SCRYING

BASIC PREPARATION FOR SCRYING

It is always best to scry at night, because this method of divination is closely related to the Moon and all other Lunar correspondences. If you are indoors, you should extinguish all of the lights except for one candle. The candle should be out of your line of sight when you are looking at your scrying tool. Above and behind you is a good placement. Some people prefer that the candle flame flickers, others like the flame to remain still. Experiment and see what you like.
The room should be as quiet as you can make it. If you live in an apartment or with someone else, some quiet instrumental music can be used to drown out any unwanted sounds. Don’t use music with lyrics, because at the least, the lyrics might influence your visions. At the most, they might prevent you from concentrating enough to see anything.
Make sure that you will not be disturbed, and figure out a comfortable way to sit either holding your scrying tool or with it resting before you on the floor or a table.
If you are scrying on a particular subject, you might get better results if you schedule your scrying time for when the Moon is aspected favorably to the corresponding planet. Visions are always stronger around the time of the full Moon.

Black Bowel Scrying

Black Bowls

Simple tools like the black bowl or cauldron are very effective for

scrying. Simply pour water in a black bowl or cauldron and scry the

surface of the water.

Moon Phase: 3rd quarter

Items needed:

Dried herbs — rose petals, sea salt, jasmine, and

hyssop.

A large clear bottle or jar.

In a separate bowl, mix together the herbs.

Add one part herb mixture to four parts water.

Stir in 3 teaspoons of sea salt.

Pour mixture into the jar, cover, and place in a sunny spot.

Leave undisturbed until the last night of the 4th quarter of the waning

moon so both moon and sun energy will blend with herbs and water.

Watch it throughout its distillation. If the water level drops, you can

add another one-half to three-quarters cup of water.

Strain herbs and store water in a lidded container until use.

The water will look like tea.

Shell Scrying

Shell Scrying

This is a modern method of scrying and is becoming more popular. Most people are familiar with the sound of when a shell is placed over the ear.

It sort of sounds like the ocean. But in fact it is the sounds of blood flowing through the vessels in your ear.

If however you listen to this sound you will eventually by able to pick up fragments of conversation. At first you may be able to only make out a few words, but in time you will come to understand whole segments of conversations.

The subject of this talk will be usually meaningless, but if you can mentally break into this communication you may find the voices may choose to respond.

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR SCRYING

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR SCRYING

A short meditation session before you begin to scry often helps to get you into the mood and release some of your tension. You must be feeling as relaxed and receptive as possible. Make sure that you are sitting as comfortably as possible. It is quite frustrating to be on the verge of perceiving something when a leg or arm falling asleep breaks your concentration.

When you look into your scrying tool, try to look past the surface and into the center of it.Try to keep your eyes fixed on one spot, but don’t prevent yourself from blinking. Since you are in a dark room, the need to blink might lessen as your body relaxed, but don’t try to force yourself not to. That will only cause discomfort and distraction.

Limit your sessions to a set period of time. Don’t be discouraged if you can not remain focused during the entire session or if you feel the need to stop before the session is over. If you are not used to meditating, try to start out with a 15 minute session. You will be surprised to experience how long 15 minutes will see as you try to keep your mind from wandering. Ultimately, scrying sessions should last up to an hour in length. Don’t set a timer or try to keep track of time. This will create a distraction and you don’t want to be in the middle of a particularly vivid image when the timer goes off!

Keep in mind that though the words “vision” and “scry” almost always call to mind information that is perceived with the eyes, that this is not necessarily the case. While scrying, information can come to you via all five of the senses and also as intuitive flashes. When reviewing the information that you have perceived, take all you senses into account.

Start a scrying journal if you intend to scry on a regular basis. Date each entry, and make sure that it is close by during each scrying session. Note down all your perceptions after your session, sleep on them, and then work on interpreting them the next day. Though it is true that some visions come through so clearly that they need little interpretation, most of the time you need to meditate on your visions for a while to absorb their true meanings.

If you are familiar with another method of divination (Ruins, Tarot, Pendulum, etc.) you can use their help with interpreting the information you get from scrying. Simple one card/one ruin spreads are the best to give you an overview of your vision’s meaning. Or if you are familiar with a dream interpretation spread, you can use that to help you figure it out.

Often at the beginning of a scrying session, you will start to see clouds of colors in your scrying tool. Some scryers never get past this stage. If you find this to be the case, you can interpret the colors using traditional color symbolism.

Introduction To Scrying – The Magick Mirror

Introduction To ScryingIntroduction To Scrying

The Magick Mirror

The next method is very close to a “classical” scrying method, save that the appurtenances are astral rather than physical. The method is capable of endless variations, of which only a few will be described.

Pick a convenient location within your magickal space. If you intend to scry in conjunction with invocations of magickal forces, a temple or magickal workroom would be the best place; otherwise, any place where you feel most comfortable and secure.

In that place, imagine a frame, as for a large mirror. This should be at least your own height, and of a width such that all of it can be in your field of vision at the same time. Now imagine that this frame contains a sheet of glass. But rather than being a silvered mirror the glass appears to contain a deep, transparent blackness; as if behind the glass were a void of indefinite extent.

You can get an idea of the correct appearance — and construct a physical magick mirror at the same time — by taking a piece of half-silvered or quarter-silvered glass (from a scientific supply house) and laying it on a piece of good-quality black velvet. Look into this under very low illumination and it will seem to have an indefinite depth; that is, it will seem to have depth, but you will be unable to tell exactly how deep it is.

You should at the same time imagine, and _feel_ a total confidence, that the answer to anything you look for will appear to you in this mirror. Don’t get bogged down in _how_ the mirror does this, simply generate an emotional confidence that it works.

The basic use of this mirror is fairly simple. You hold the thought of what you want to know about in your mind, and then you imagine that the mirror is “tuning in” to that thought, using the thought to make a connection to some place where the answer can be found. Once you feel that the mirror is tuned, release the thought and wait in mental silence for images to arise out of the darkness of the mirror. And as with the “mystery tour” technique, the images will be accompanied by meanings that you will be able to “hear” or sense in your mind.

There are several variations on the basic method for different purposes. Once you get accustomed to the basic method, you can make use of those described or invent your own. As you come to be familiar with the method, your own intuition will become a better guide to its use than any “official” technique; do not be afraid to experiment.

For psychometry, hold an object in your (physical) hand, and imagine that there is a link between it and the mirror. Then look to the mirror to reflect the “impressions” contained in the object. If it is an object that is connected by use to some person, you must specify that it is impressions of the person that you want, not impressions of the object itself; otherwise you may get some odd results. For example, I once tried to psychometrize a flint knife-blade, and got a geological history of the stratum from which the flint had come. It’s connections to its rocky origins were stronger than its connections to the persons who had made and used it, and these came across most intensely.

You can also “psychometrize” a person — give them a “life reading” or answer specific questions — by holding their hands and looking to your magickal mirror to reflect impressions you get from their spirit. This is more difficult, takes more practice, and works best when you have no personal relationship with the person in question. It should _never_ be done with people with whom you have an emotional entanglement of any sort.

To get basic ideas and meanings related to visual symbols, imagine the symbol drawn on the face of the mirror in glowing lines. Then imagine that you are pushing the symbol into the mirror, so that it recedes in the distance and eventually vanishes from sight. Sending the symbol into the mirror “tunes it in”; wait in mental silence for images to arise, and these will bear in some way on the symbol.

Magickal invocations can be used to enhance the power of the mirror. As an example, you might want to explore the nature of the element of Fire. You could begin by performing the Lesser Pentagram ritual to banish extraneous influences, directing that the banishing include the mirror. Then you could use the Greater Pentagram ritual to invoke the element of Fire. When you have a strong sense of the element’s force being present, direct that force into the mirror, simultaneously imagining that the force is not only tuning the mirror to the element, but is also charging it up and clearing the channels so that the mirror works with its best effect. Or alternately, you could request that the archangel or angel of the element appear to you in the mirror and answer your questions.

With any of these methods, the images you get will at first be vague and static. But with practice the images will sharpen, expand and become active, presenting whole landscapes and long storylines that dramatically present the answers you are seeking. The mirror will seem to become a window opening on the part of the astral plane that relates to your search.

Once you achieve this, the mirror can be used as a “gate”, an opening through which you can travel directly to the plane being viewed, to experience events there first-hand. From the standpoint of initiatory magick, this is the preferred mode of operation, since it immerses your consciousness in the power you are exploring. Immersion increases the potential for real and lasting changes in awareness and enhances your power to achieve insights and realizations from the power.

To convert the mirror to a gate, imagine that the image in the mirror becomes three-dimensional, as if you were actually looking through a window at a real place instead of just seeing a picture of it. Then imagine that the glass of the mirror dissolves and vanishes while the image in the mirror remains in place. Or if it is easier for your mind, imagine that the glass is in fact a hinged window in a frame, and open the window.

You will usually find that unless your being is totally in tune with the force you have invoked, you will have some difficulty passing through the frame and into the world on the other side. The Golden Dawn’s “Sign of the Enterer” will help to overcome the resistance. Stand just short of arm’s length from the gate; raise your arms directly above your head, and then bring them down and forward with the fingers straight, while at the same time taking a step forward. Alternately, pull your hands back so that they are close to your body at shoulder level, and then extend your arms sharply forward while taking the step. Imagine that these gestures are punching a hole in whatever is resisting your entry, and that the momentum of your forward movement is carrying you through the gate and into the world beyond. If you still feel resistance once you are through the gate, repeat the gestures again.

Once you are though the gate, look around and make note of everything you see. Start with the major features of the landscape, then focus in on the details. If you have invoked the power correctly, you should see objects and events that reflect parts of the power’s nature.

It is good practice to test the world you enter, and any beings you encounter, to ensure that they are in fact related to the power you invoked, and are of a good nature. The means of testing will be discussed in detail in the next installment of this series.

If you find that you have difficulty turning the mirror into a gate, or that the mirror won’t give you images of complete landscapes and storylines, a variation on the magickal practice of “pathworking” will help. The practice as described below is halfway between scrying a simple symbol and doing a freeform exploration of an invoked force, and will thus assist in the transition between them.

Introduction To Scrying – Testing your visions

Introduction To Scrying

Testing your visions

It is usually a good idea to apply tests to the images you get in scrying, and to the various beings you might encounter. The ultimate test is, of course, a critical appraisal of the quality, consistency, and value of the results you get from your work; but that test can only be applied after the work is done. Other methods allow you to get some sense of whether there is something wrong at an early point in the session. You can then take appropriate efforts to correct the problem, or if necessary end the session and save your energy for another time.

The most reliable testing method makes use of the symbols in the Golden Dawn’s Greater Pentagram and Greater Hexagram rituals. But the effectiveness of the method requires that you have some experience in performing those rituals, and in getting a good response from them. If you are not already experienced in their use, you should practice using them in your magickal space for a while before implementing this testing procedure.

A limitation of this method is that it only works where the powers being scryed are among the traditional, conventional powers used in magick. That is, the powers are elemental, planetary, or zodiacal in nature. Where the nature of a power is unknown, or it is of an inherently mixed nature, other methods must be applied.

After attaining a steady image of some magickal region in your mirror, you draw the invoking pentagram or hexagram appropriate to the power you invoked, using white lines in the air in front of you. Vibrate the god-names of the power a couple of times, then cast the symbol into the mirror. If the mirror is correctly “tuned” to the power, the pentagram or hexagram will be absorbed and will either have no effect, or will cause the image to become sharper and brighter. If the image becomes darker, becomes distorted, or breaks up entirely, then you know that something is wrong; you should banish and start over.

Similarly, if you have used the mirror as a gate and entered into some region, you should cast the appropriate symbol against any object that appears prominent in the area, and always against any being who appears to serve as your guide. In either of these cases, the being or object should show no effect, or should grow brighter, larger, or more solid as a result of the contact. A false or deceptive being will shrink, or its appearance will become distorted, or it will disappear.

No magickal being worth speaking to will ever object to being tested in this way. There is no reason that it should, since by doing the test you are, effectively, blessing and feeding it; few beings will pass up a free lunch. If a being attempts to convince you to not do the tests, that in itself is a sign that something is wrong.

Note that you should always use the _invoking_ pentagram or hexagram for tests, never the banishing versions. Using a banishing figure is the same as commanding the forces you invoked to disperse again, nullifying your efforts.

Two secondary types of testing seem to depend in some way on the magician having an _intent_ that they will work correctly; there is no obvious reason why they should work, but they usually do, just the same. The first of these is the use of the G.D. grade signs; the second is the use of the Hebrew letters of the planets.

The idea behind the use of the Grade Signs in scrying is the same as their use in Masonic rituals and greetings. By displaying a sign to a spirit you encounter, you claim a right to the “secrets” of that grade and its corresponding element. The spirit should answer back by repeating the sign, thus showing that it is also qualified to deal with the secrets of that grade. (Illustrations of the Grade Signs can be found in most published versions of Crowley’s Liber O, and in Regardie’s The Golden Dawn.)

If a spirit can perform the appropriate sign for the invoked element, this indicates that your vision is on-track. If the spirit cannot perform it, performs it improperly, or its form becomes distorted, this is an indication that something is wrong. However, it is not necessarily proof that you are dealing with a deceiving spirit, particularly if the same spirit has already passed the pentagram/hexagram test. Rather, it is more likely that there is insufficient magickal power present for your communication to be clear. The best course is to vibrate the divine names for the power you are invoking several times, and then repeat the signs again. Only if the spirit is still unable to perform the signs correctly should you end the session.

The exchanging of signs also contains an implicit agreement between you and the spirit being tested. That is, by doing this you are agreeing to deal with the spirit on a basis of equality and brotherhood, neither dominating that spirit nor being subject to it. You are also acknowledging that both of you are “members of the same fraternity”, operating within the general community of workers seeking to align themselves with “god” (or with divinity in whatever form you conceive of it). You should never try to exchange signs with a being you know is not within that community, or with which you must maintain a position of dominance — e.g., a demon or a true “elemental”. Conversely, you should never try to dominate a spirit with whom you have exchanged signs; assume instead that it will assist you willingly and without coercion, and treat it with the same respect that you would wish it to give you.

It sometimes happens that in answering your sign, the spirit will add other signs after repeating the one you used. This is an indication that the spirit is of a mixed elemental nature, or is intrinsically of a higher “grade” than that at which you are working. As an example of the first case, if you were invoking an angel from one of the Lesser Angles of the Enochian Tablet of Earth, you would perform the sign of Set. The angel would be expected to respond with the same sign, but if it were an angel of the Lesser Angle of Fire, it might add the sign of Fire (the goddess Thoum-aesch-Neith) as well. As an example of the latter case, a Senior from the Earth Tablet might add the LVX signs after the sign of Set.

The LVX signs are a special case. Their use indicates that the spirit is aligned with the divinity, is of a “good” character; but does not test for any particular elemental or planetary nature. They should be used in conjunction with the appropriate hexagrams for testing spirits related to the planets or zodiac, or in any case where the benevolence of the spirit is in doubt. All of the Enochian angels will be able to perform these signs, as will any Hebrew-system archangel.

There are no Grade Signs specifically associated with the planets in the Golden Dawn system; one must make do with the LVX signs, and these are usually sufficient. However, those who wish to assemble a set of elegant and effective planetary gestures for testing spirits should consult Planetary Magick by Melitta Denning and Osborn Phillips.

The final form of testing is, in my opinion, the least reliable. I do not use it myself, preferring to trust my own judgment. But I note it for those who might wish to experiment with it.

The Golden Dawn adepts acknowledged that in this sort of work there is always a danger that the visions one sees will not be a true reflection of the forces invoked, but may rather be constructions or projections of the seer’s own mind and emotions. They classified these projections according to an association with the planets:

Type	Planet	Hebrew letter	Tarot Trump
Memory	Saturn (as Time)	Tav	The World
Construction	Jupiter	Kaph	Wheel of Fortune
Anger	Mars	Peh	Tower
Vanity or ego	Sun	Resh	The Sun
Pleasure	Venus	Daleth	The Empress
Imagination	Mercury	Beth	The Magician
Wandering thoughts	Luna	Gimel	The Priestess

The theory is that if you suspect that one of these factors may be influencing your vision, you can project an image of the corresponding Hebrew letter or Tarot Trump into the scene. It will cause the scene to darken, diminish, or disappear if the scene is in fact the sort of projection you suspect it to be.

My personal feeling is that introducing extraneous powers into a vision in this way will cause more problems than they will solve. As well, it seems to me that invocation of a force related to a type of projection would tend to enhance the projection rather than eliminating it. However, this may not be the case for you; try it if you wish and see if it works.

Introduction To Scrying – Scrying with the Enochian Magick

Introduction To Scrying

Scrying with the Enochian Magick

There are several considerations for Enochian magick work that do not apply to scrying using other systems.

The first of these is the unquestionable power of the Calls and the divine and angelic names. As Crowley once said, other systems require effort; Enochian magick requires caution. While the power built up in any one session is almost never of an unmanageable level, some effects of the magick tend to accumulate across sessions; it is easy for an overeager beginner to get in deeper than he expects. Added to this, the powers invoked through the Calls seem to enter into the magician’s field of awareness along some spiritual dimension that is outside those we consider “normal”; it seems to operate through some sort of meta-space with qualities different from those that compose the magickal worlds to which we are accustomed.

The consequence of these factors is that any work with the magick places a certain amount of stress on the magician’s mind and body, and over-use can lead to various stress-related forms of illness. Anyone working regularly with the magick should keep an eye out for signs of this stress in himself. The typical symptoms are similar to those that come from abusing methedrine or “speed”: nervous exhaustion, severely lowered immune response, inability to concentrate, hypersensitivity, hyper-reactivity, reduced judgment, flights of ideas, and paranoia.

One time in my own career, the stress of overusing this magick combined with an equally stressful mundane occupation to give me the worst of both the physical and mental consequences. On the physical side, I contracted mononucleosis, effectively stopping all my magickal work for six months or so. On the mental side, the changed viewpoint and loss of judgment caused me to make seditious remarks to a class of Federal employees I was training, resulting in the loss of my livelihood.

So caution is well-justified. But with a few easy, obvious precautions, these problems can be avoided.

Avoid using the magick at times when other parts of your life are unusually stressful. Try to arrange your affairs so as to reduce the social and economic pressures to the minimum level compatible with your needs.
Get regular exercise; a healthy body handles stress better.
Don’t use recreational drugs while working with the magick. Aside from being illegal (jail is a poor place for magickal work), all of them add to the stress on your body. Most stimulants and sedatives also reduce your magickal sensitivity and ability to focus in your magickal space. Hallucinogens make you _too_ sensitive, and reduce your level of control.
Learn to pace yourself. When first starting out, allow a day or two between Enochian invocations to absorb the results and “cool off”. Later, when you get to the point where you need to accumulate power over several day’s worth of invocations, allow at least as many days off after the series as you spent in doing the work. Take longer vacations from the work every few months to keep yourself grounded.

The importance of pacing yourself cannot be overemphasized. When you begin getting significant results from your Enochian work, it is very tempting to keep going; the anticipation of even more amazing results drives you on. But the extra-dimensional or meta-dimensional character of these forces allows them to influence all levels of your being simultaneously, including many levels of which you are not consciously aware. The cumulative effects of this influence can cascade into a dangerous level of stress before you become aware of it. Regular intervals of rest and relaxation, and of immersion in the everyday world, are the only sure way to avoid the problems.

Another difficulty, which bears more directly on scrying, is that the Calls allow you to invoke a force without having any knowledge of its nature. In normal methods of invocation, one begins with a symbol or set of symbols, and seeks by their use to bring about the manifestation of the corresponding powers. The symbols you use define the power to be invoked. In contrast, the Calls produce a manifestation of power regardless of whether you comprehend their symbolic content.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that, from a perspective accustomed to the traditional magickal powers (i.e., the elements, planets, and zodiac) the nature of the invoked powers seems to change depending on the depth of one’s penetration into their realms. Or from another angle, the Calls and Names open up different realms, depending on the level of existence at which you are operating. On the most superficial level, they appear to be more or less “elemental” in nature, with an overlay related to the functions of the angels’ specific offices; but at “deeper” or “higher” levels, this elemental aspect fades, to be replaced by a succession of increasingly complex and inclusive expressions that may bear little or no relation to the most superficial appearance.

Unless the magician supplies an explicit set of symbols to which the invoked powers can be anchored, the powers will tend to remain in an indeterminate state; a sort of “fuzzy cloud” of energy which contains all the power’s potential expressions, but which manifests none of them explicitly. A visual symbol used as an anchor causes this indeterminacy to “collapse” into that aspect of the power which is most nearly similar to the symbol’s innate associations. The congruency between the symbol and the invoked power does not have to be very great. It is sufficient that some small aspect of the symbol’s associations be similar to the power’s; the major associations of the symbol can be entirely inappropriate, and this collapse will still occur.

So the symbol the scryer uses will determine, in part, the initial manifestation of an invoked Enochian power; the scryer’s expectations or preconceptions of the power’s nature will also be partially determining. This accounts for the documented fact that different magicians have produced widely varying — sometimes even contradictory — results using the system. However, it is my observation that with repeated invocations and scryings, the true nature of the invoked power will break through these initial, superficial expressions. The longer you work with a particular Enochian power, the more closely your results will accord with that nature, and the deeper you will penetrate into the realms to which the power connects.

Since penetration past the sometimes-deceiving surface manifestations takes time, orderly, methodical work habits are necessary to get the most value of your Enochian work. The fact that invocations have a cumulative effect can be used to advantage if you plan out your course ahead of time, and stick to it. The following suggestions will all enhance the effectiveness of your Enochian scryings:

For every angel or other power that you invoke, do several scrying sessions. Allow time for a connection to be built up between you and the angel, and for your mind to become accustomed to its power.
Work for an extended period solely with powers from a single Tablet. Or if you are working with the Aethyrs or the 91 Parts of the Earth, pick a set of contiguous Aethyrs or Parts and do them sequentially.
If you are invoking single squares of some angelic or divine name, plan to do all the squares of that name in sequence.
Plan out a series of invocations to investigate all the angels of a given rank within one of the Tablets, in some logical sequence. Complete the series before working with any other rank or Tablet. Alternately, plan out a series to investigate all the powers within a given Lesser Angle, in order of rank.

Introduction To Scrying – Putting your magickal space to work

Introduction To Scrying

Putting your magickal space to work

By the time you have worked the exercises in the previous sections for a few months, you will have established a solid foundation for all your future magickal work. Practically every magickal and meditation technique you will ever encounter is a variation or extension of the skills you have learned in building your magickal space.

Every person will have a different level of “peak performance” with these techniques. Only a rare few are able to enter wholly into the magickal space, and become entirely unconscious of their physical body; for these people, the end result of this work is indistinguishable from the classical descriptions of astral projection. Most people will find that a certain portion of their awareness remains “outside”, and that the intensity of the sensations they have never attains the brightness and clarity of normal perception. I fall at the low end of this latter category myself; in my visions, colors are more implied than they are perceived directly, and most of the time I need to focus intently to perceive fine details.

Being able to put all of your awareness into the magickal space is not necessarily an advantage. What matters more is that you make the best use of the level of skill you do have. It is the meaning you can extract from your experiences, the insights you gain into yourself and the world, and the uses to which you can put them, that count the most. Bright and glorious visions are nothing, if they have no useful content or if your awareness and understanding are not (gradually but permanently) expanded thereby.

Having established the basics, in the following sections we are going to look at various exercises, all of which are forms of “scrying”. Before going into the details, we need to consider — in a general way — the nature of the things a person experiences while scrying.

Dreams, it is often said, are the realm of symbols; the same is true of scrying. But while the symbols of dreams are usually expressions of processes happening below the conscious level of awareness, the symbols seen in scrying are often (in an ideal world, always) the expression of processes and events occurring _above_ the level at which consciousness resides. They are the lowest and most readily apprehended aspect of processes that the consciousness can not yet completely encompass. In a sense, the symbols you see are no more than anchor points; a convenient means by which your awareness is given a connection to something coming from outside its current scope.

The form of the symbol does not necessarily bear any direct relation to the nature of that to which you are being connected. Some symbols — such as the Greek gods or the cabalist’s Tree of Life — have forms that directly reflect some aspect of the inner reality. Others have connections that are largely a matter of convention; they relate to particular aspects of the inner reality only because we habitually use them in such a way. The cabalistic color attributes are in this category. And others yet are seized upon to serve the needs of the moment, and have no particular meaning outside the context of the vision in which they occur.

But in all these cases, when a symbol is seen in a vision it has a direct connection to some magickal power, archetype, thought-form or entity. In order to get the greatest benefit out of your scrying, you must continually attempt to sense _beyond_ the symbol, to extend your awareness along the path it provides and apprehend that which it embodies.

Accomplishing this is a delicate task. The relaxation exercises described previously again become important, this time the portion of them dealing with quieting the mind. This is important in two ways: first, because the mind’s internal chatter will tend to overshadow and conceal that which is being communicated through the symbol, and second, because active parts of the mind will attempt to twist the meaning of the symbol to fit with their own preconceptions.

This is especially the case where the practitioner has personal desires that relate to the information being conveyed, or where the person’s self-image feels threatened. If your conception of yourself is dependent on a particular world-view and the information does not accord with that view, it will be almost impossible for you to see it clearly.

To reduce the possibility of this happening, you should also work consciously to develop a mental state of unattachment towards the content of your visions, a deliberate disregard for any personal significance they contain, and a deliberate refusal to evaluate the contents for truth or falsity. Critical evaluation of the results of a scrying session is definitely necessary, but the time for that evaluation is _after_ the session is completed. While the work is proceeding, you should seek to be in a perfect state of suspended judgment; neither believing nor disbelieving anything that you see or sense, simply seeking to receive the symbols and their attached meanings precisely as they present themselves.

When using scrying techniques in magickal work, you are always trying to penetrate unknown “territory”. Any work that can result in a spiritual advance will be, by definition, at least partly outside the scope of your current perspective and understanding. Like anything truly new, it takes the mind a while to adjust and be able to see it clearly. Further, the meanings behind any symbol can have many different levels; it may take a long time for these to “soak in” to your awareness, and the final significance may be very different from the first, superficial appearances. In my own work, it has sometimes taken up to a year and a half, with repeated exposures, before I fully comprehended what I was being shown. Thus, no evaluation you make should ever be so definite that you cannot change it; all meanings should be tentative until they have been repeatedly reinforced by additional experiences.

I cannot give any assurance as to the manner in which the meanings attached to a symbol will appear to a particular person. I do not have enough information from other people to characterize any particular way as “typical”. In my own case, they come in two or three ways, depending on the amount of power I have managed to invoke and how high above my normal level of consciousness I have managed to raise my awareness.

Usually, they appear as groups of thoughts or associations that appear simultaneously in my mind with the words spoken by some entity, providing a detailed context for the words; it is as if the thoughts out of which the entity produced the words were being transmitted along with the words. If I am looking at a visual symbol rather than hearing words, then they appear as sudden detailed “realizations” of what the symbol is intended to represent, which appear instantly in my awareness.

Less frequently, the hidden meaning of symbols appears as an entire storyline, a long series of events that appear in the mind as if some part of myself had been taken away, taken on a long tour through magickal spaces, and was then returned to the exact moment in time from which it had left. The complete tour is instantly “remembered” as it happened, even though for my conscious awareness, no time at all has passed.

In the rarest case, the meaning appears to my awareness as a tightly-bound packet of mystical energy, which sits in my mind and gradually “unravels” itself into words, images, and meanings over a period ranging from minutes to weeks. These “packets” seem to be some magickal equivalent of books. Their content usually does not seem to be directed at the particular person receiving them, but rather at some general audience; and the content is often radically different from the perspectives and ideas the seer would normally be interested in.

You should not take these as being the only ways in which the meanings behind symbols can present themselves to you; you may find that some other means is more typical for you. But if you do happen to receive information in any of these ways, you can feel confident that you have had some success in this matter.

The Magick of Life

The Magick of Life

Author: Crick

Have you ever taken a moment to notice the magick of life?

While walking along a country road, the reeds off to the side begin to waver to and fro. Is there a Sylph at play? Or is it Father Time heaving a sigh as he passes through?

Have you ever had the pleasure of listening to an old bullfrog bellowing out the blues? A grand old song of love lost and of love yet to be realized. An adage of life presented by way of the lyrics of nature in a symphonic way.

Have you watched as a caterpillar goes wafting along a rough barked tree? She is a beautiful metamorphous in motion, a budding mystery waiting to transform into a colorful and majestic form. From earth to sky, a wonderful delight forever touching our souls. The magick of life in a brief expanse of titillating color.

Have you ever noticed mother spider silently gazing over her web of silken strands. A superb artisan as she quietly guards the doorway to a special realm. Hers is an ancient lesson in patience. Sitting off to the side as a master shaman stealthily traverses from this realm to that using the glistening web as a mystic gateway into orbs of awareness floating about just beyond our senses.

Have you listened to the crescendo of a community of crickets as they sing in unison? First softly then loudly, then softly again, never missing a beat. An exercise in harmony, an everlasting bond of harmony. An awareness of their surroundings woven into the tapestry of their opera.

Such is the magick of life.

Have you ever noticed tiny dewdrops glistening like little diamonds clinging to the tall green blades of grass? An Undine child in the making perhaps as Father Sun draws them up into his warm embrace. Or perhaps a treasure forever in the making and yet never to be harvested.

Have you ever watched as a solitary leaf floats lazily out of the sky? Going this way and that and yet with a sure purpose. Directed by the currents of the breeze, much like life that is influenced by the changing winds of society. And yet a steady yet unseen goal looms before it.

Have you ever watched as a mother bird feeds her young? A bond of love stronger then steel and yet undetected by the human eye. The continuation of life, a magick ever so strong. For love can lead to birth as well as to death.

And so the wheel turns.

Have you ever watched as a black snake silently slithers across a path? A symbol of evil to some and yet seldom seen. Misunderstandings leading to fear, spiraling about in the darkness of ignorance. And yet knowledge will bring you back to the depths of understanding. And such awareness leads to tranquility and peace.

For such is the magick of life.

Have you ever watched a busy colony of ants? Oh the magick that resides within. A common purpose and involvement by all. No obstacle too great. No task too small. Surely lessons here to be learned by those who seek out such mysteries.

For the magick of life offers lessons not to be seen nor heard but to be felt and absorbed when we open up our hearts. Some teach that humans tower above nature. But as pagans it’s our way to be as one with life. For nature is life and the magick that she offers transcends all such misguided beliefs.

Have you noticed?

Deep within the forest, mother bruin lies within the embrace of hibernation, new life forming within her womb. An ancient ritual practiced through the ages. Have you ever wondered about her dreams as she sleeps through the frigid months of winter?
Now that is the magick of life.

Have you ever stood at the waters edge and watched as a mighty fish comes bursting through the surface of its watery domain? Perhaps it is carrying a message of truth and wisdom from He who resides in the murky depths.

Awaken witch, to the wonders of this realm. Listen to all that your ancestors knew to be true. Perhaps it is telling you to shake off the detritus of the mind and to feel with your heart that which is your destiny to experience as a pagan.

Far too long such knowledge has been suppressed by man; let nature be your ears and eyes.

Have you ever listened to the lone cry of a coyote during the moon lit night? A primal reaction to an awareness that has always been and will always be. Shaman quietly smiles in acknowledgement as his brother bids him welcome.

Such, my friend, is the magick of life.

Have you ever come upon the empty shell of a cicada clinging silently to a tree?

It would appear that death in place of life is in evidence; however a metamorphism onto a greater reality is the result of such an event. For death is the balance that creates life, one without the other is an energy, which has not come full circle, a partial reaction to what must be in order to be complete.

Have you ever sat amidst a field on the edge of dusk as an owl goes gliding quietly by? Some would say a witch in flight. Striking fear into its potential prey as it wings by on its deadly mission. And yet even fear has its place in the magick of life.

As pagans of whatever path, we too have something to contribute to the cacophony of magick that swirls all about us like a silent mist contained within the fog of reason.

Freeing our minds from the shackles of fears and insecurities that such knowledge brings to those who are not of pure heart is a step forwards towards such a contribution.

Acknowledging that such wisdom is within our ability to accept is a gift of awareness and acceptance that has been sorely lacking by so many of our species.

Throw off the blinders of prejudice and ignorance and allow yourself to be a student of life.

For the path of the pagan is truly the magick of life.

Russian Witches’ Flying Ointment

1. Rub autumn gentian into the armpits and backs of knees to be enabled to fly.

2. The most potent autumn gentian is picked on Saint John’s Eve at Bald Mountain.

Don’t run out and get autumn gentian. That may not be the exact plant used. Russian magick placed greater emphasis on the process of gathering herbs (“during the seventh minute of the fourteenth hour, under a dark moon, in the thirteenth field, wearing a red dress, pick the twelfth flower on the right”) than on precise identification of the herb itself. This isn’t meant to be completely sarcastic. Different traditions place emphasis on different aspects of magick.

Sorcery: The Practical Application of Ancient Wisdom

Sorcery: The Practical Application of Ancient Wisdom

Author: Frabato
I strongly dislike the word “magick”, especially used with the ‘k’ at the end. I prefer sorcery albeit it’s negative connotation. Having said that, I still use magick on occasions. Magic and the occult have seen a grand revival, a rebirth of popularity. It is thought to be safe, as nobody will burn witches and wizards anymore.

But is it REALLY safe?

As a practitioner of the Ancient Wisdom Arts, you must know a lot. To fully appreciate the Ancient Wisdom, we all must become Wizards of sorts…

Sorcery implies that we take control or our own destiny and help in fulfilling our natural spiritual evolution. Sorcery (the right hand path) can help you.

Practical use of the Ancient Wisdom will help you realize your true destiny and return to your source. Even if you are not a student at a moment you are destined in this or some future lifetime is a participant to the studying of the Ancient Wisdom or some derivative branch of it available at that time.

The name or labels might be slightly different as it was with the kabala; Rosicrucian’s, Masons etc but they all were following the same path. This is a key to your awakening and source of much magic and miraculous things.

The ancient wisdom is a self contained existence that aspirant can practice and follow. If you choose the right hand path you will be on the right path. It is not mandatory however but it is suggested. Magick, wikka, all other pagan branches are somehow connected to this age-old quest, this “holy grail”. They of course deny this, some of them, but in the reality it is all the same thing. The concepts are the same but the devil is in the detail.

There are some secrets I must share with you. You do not need to be awakened or be an ascended master to be protected and cared for. Your needs will be met. As soon as you start walking this path, magic will be an everyday occurrence. The reality is that details will mislead us and lead us ashtray. I have tried to capsulate the important key points to the Ancient Wisdom but it is not all-inclusive.

My mission, teaching and life’s purpose is as follows:

1) To demonstrate the power and commonplace acceptance of the left hand path.

2) To show you how beneficial even the right hand path can help the average person to alleviate stress, improve everyday life in work, personal and financial relationships.

3) Offer a clear understanding between the right hand path and its opposite without fear-mongering or passing judgment on the alternative. Choosing a path must be a choice. Sadly, often people are steered and misdirected into “teachings” under a false pretext.

Important facts helpful to know about Magic[k] or Sorcery are as follows:

1) Your higher-self is the natural source of right-hand magick and miracles. This is not the only source but IMHO the best source.

2) Ceremonies, while allowed are not necessary. If you have the time and the inclination have a ball, but it is just a smokescreen in my opinion.

3) The key ingredient of magick is the mojo, prana, life force (psychic energy) , chi that we all have to a certain extent but we can lose and replenish it subsequently.

4) Midfullness…the reason and inclination to why we strive to do magick is essential. Contemplate it. Ask yourself honestly IS it because you want power and money? Do you wish to use the Force for your selfish needs and ego? Do you wish to impress girls? (Or boys?)

If answer is yes to any of this, you are no longer on the right hand path.

What do Feng Shui and Star Wars have in Common?

The Chinese culture is ancient and it had preceded the west in many scientific discoveries, and philosophical advances in many aspects. Contemporary men often look at the Chinese as superstitious and weird in their outlook of life and the way they perceive the world.
It behooves us to study and try to understand this ancient civilization better and try to see similarities rather than pointing out the obvious differences. The biggest obstacle in understanding the Chinese is the spoken and written language.

There is a basic concept in the Chinese thinking is the dual energies the Yin and Yang.
The Yin and Yang as we refer to this in the West is used to describe how seemingly opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn. The concept of polarity lies at the heart of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine, and a central principle of different forms of Chinese martial arts and exercise, such as Tai Chi.

Tai Chi as the name implies works with the life force of the human body called Chi (or Qi) .
This unseen force that keeps humans and all living forms alive actually exists in inanimate objects as well, albeit in a lower quantity.

What is the relationship of the Yin and Yang to this mystical life force? The answer is simple. They are interconnected.

If you look at the symbolism, of the yin and yang it is obvious that the polarity exist in oneness, hence it is seemingly a paradox. The oneness of dark and light is an occult secret, hard to understand but the underlying principle that propels everything in this Universe is the Qi (or Chi) . This is the Life Force, the prana as the Hindus refer to it, used by BOTH – Dark or Light. This word is in Sanskrit and it has the same translation as Qi in Chinese (meaning “breath”) .

To understand the relationship of Yin and Yang to Qi we have to take you back in time a little and use popular culture in America. Star Wars was viewed by millions of people worldwide. If you remember the Force that Yoda was using and teaching to young Luke Skywalker, then you’d remember the dual existence of the Force the Dark side and the light side. Actually the movie never explicitly said “white”, “Right hand” or “Light”.

It was left to the viewer to decide. It was the opposite of the ominous of “Dark side”.

This energy (Qi) was renamed “Psychic energy” by my former teacher. I do not mean to confuse the reader by all this terminology. The reason I mention this is to illustrate the multiplicity of this concept. It exists in virtually all religions and cultures. The name is just another name referring to an age-old concept but it is strangely appropriate.

Most if not all phenomena, true psychic work, magic and healing is performed using this force.
This energy can self heal, preserve youthfulness, and create miracles. Jesus raised the dead using Psychic Energy; he could walk on water according to the Bible.

The question probably arises from the reader, if we all are born with this psychic energy how come that we end up aging and ultimately dying? The answer is simple. This energy can dissipate and rise according to our lifestyle, thinking and to some external factors such as diet, habits and company we keep.

It is important to point out that this energy is in flux and remains in the body and can be transferred from one body to another and it can leave the body if the host remains uninhabitable.

The biggest factor in keeping our level of psychic energy is our thinking and beliefs. For example if a person refuses to believe in the very existence of psychic energy for whatever reason, this will pose a serious obstacle long term. On the other hand, the idea of realizing something and adopting it into our fabric of being will enhance that concept and strengthen it. When we are born, the slate is clean in our consciousness, we are innocent and no worldly ideas, dogmas and false teachings exist in our subconscious. This state is beneficial to our level of psychic energy.

Factors that enhance psychic energy:
1. Meditation (raising our consciousness)
2. Exercise
3. Fresh Clean Air (right breathing at high elevation)
4. Vegetarianism
5. Purification of the body (fasting)
6. Love towards all

Factors that inhibit psychic energy:
1. Stress
2. Pollution
3. Alcohol
4. Meat
5. Drugs (both legal and illegal)
6. Sex

Certain things we can do to enhance psychic energy are as follows:
1.Wearing proper talismans or amulets, amber jewelry
2. Pine needle and pine (even cut and processed into lumber)
3.Tibetan Musk
4. A healer (in extreme cases) .

I hope this essay is beneficial to you in your understanding of the basics of the supernatural and magical. The importance of this is that having this power is not easily obtainable, as Mother Nature jealously guards her secrets, but the end result is entirely up to you.

It is all obtainable and you do not need a priest or a rabbi, or in fact you do not need any intercessor to get there. It is your birthright.

“There are two forces, each having seven streams, and they again seven times seven, and so on downward unto an infinity of numbers.

They are right and left, hand positive and negative, light and darkness, good and evil. Each has many names and many attributes,

and in the ultimate the two are one; though not yet, nor for many eons, is their oneness manifested, and until then they are opposites.

Their oneness is an occult secret, difficult to understand, and it is madness for the choosers of the left hand force to meditate their treacheries when the star of the right hand force is in the ascendant.” — fragment from THE DIARY OF OLYMPUS – Queen Cleopatra by Talbot Mundy

Footnotes:
“Talk Does Not Cook the Rice” vol I and II by Guru RHH

Lady A’s Spell of the Day for 6/29: Bloodroot Cleansing Spell

Bloodroot Cleansing Spell

1. Powder bloodroot with a mortar and pestle.

2. Burn some of the powder for seven consecutive nights at midnight.

3. Conclude the ritual by sprinkling the ashes in an unbroken circle around your home to prevent the approach of evil spirits and malevolent magick

A Walk on the Wild Side: A Lifetime Finding Magick in Nature

A Walk on the Wild Side: A Lifetime Finding Magick in Nature

by L. Lisa Lawrence

When I sit back and try to identify my first significant spiritual experiences, I can’t come up with just one but rather a series of experiences that share a common bond of nature and wilderness. These experiences span my entire lifetime and began when I was too young to understand them.

I was blessed to grow up on the coast. Some of my earliest memories involve running along the waterline dodging the incoming waves picking up seashells, building sand castles and watching the Pacific Ocean crash onto the rocks and cliffs sending its salty spray skyward. I remember the sun setting over the Channel Islands painting the sky orange, pink and purple. I was never as happy anywhere as I was where I could experience the sand, wind, water and blazing sun.

As a small child, barely 3 years old, my heart stopped beating as a result of respiratory arrest induced by an asthma attack while running on my beloved beach. I can’t recall any “white light,” dead relatives or even the paramedics restarting my heart with an intracardiac epinephrine injection, but I did know that my life ended and began again at the edge of the sea. From that day on, I would always be tied to the water. I was literally reborn to it.

Later, farther north on the coast, as an adolescent drawn to the beach and water, I defied my parents and climbed down a treacherous trail from cliffs to the beach below, only to be trapped in a cave by the incoming tide for several hours. I was not afraid but was at peace, knowing that the never-ending cycle of the moon and sea would let me go home when the time was right. I explored the labyrinth of caves and discovered bats, otters and sea lions that were more than willing to share their space with me and didn’t seem the least bit disturbed by my presence. Time stood still while I was in those caves. When I emerged, I was shocked to see the sun setting, and I made my ascent back up the cliff. I returned to those caves many times when I needed a place to just be — although after getting in trouble for worrying my parents, I learned to check the tide tables first.

When I got older and began to expand my geographic horizons, I discovered the foothills, forests and mountains. As a teenager, I rode the bus from my small costal town up into the foothills to work at a fancy inn’s riding stable on weekends and vacations, shoveling horse poop and guiding trail rides for a mere $15 a day, unlike my friends who were working at McDonald’s or in a fashion store in the mall. My reward for all the sore muscles, sunburn, saddle sores and blisters was being able to escape into the hills on my horse, alone. The pressures of a challenging academic program, teen angst and a dysfunctional family disappeared as my chocolate brown gelding and I ascended the steep hills and galloped across meadows with the wind blowing through our hair. Almost every evening, I watched the setting sun turn the Topa Topa Bluffs a bright pink and listened to crickets and coyotes sing a welcoming song to the twilight. I was at peace. I was at home. Only reluctantly would I come down out of the hills, walk two miles to the bus stop and take the hour long ride back down the hill to “real life.”

On the outside, I appeared quite “normal”; I was popular, excelled at sports, held elected office, did well in my classes and was involved in community theater, a church youth group and journalism. But I knew that I was different and often needed to escape to nature, which was the only place that I truly felt at peace. At that point in my life, I didn’t know anyone else that was like me, so being a typical teenager, I just did my best to fit in. I would soon discover that denying your true nature doesn’t work.

If I hadn’t already figured out on my own that I was “different,” it was brought home to me in junior high school when our Methodist Youth Fellowship youth group took a religion test. We were presented with a series of statements and were asked if we agreed or disagreed and on a scale of one to five how strongly we felt about it. Our answers resulted in a numerical score that correlated to a specific religion. Out of the 14 that took the test, 13 scored “First United Methodist,” and I scored “Unitarian.” I’m certain that “pagan,” “witch” and “tree-hugging dirt worshiper” were not included on the test, and that I had, in fact, received the lowest score possible. In our small costal town, the Unitarians were “those pagans on the hill who drink wine and have naked hot tub parties” and were not thought highly of by other churches.

After graduating from high school with honors as part of a group of friends who composed a Who’s Who of well-adjusted overachievers, then graduating from college with a degree in accounting, I spent a year and a half trying to do what was expected of me by taking a stable government job. I tried to force myself to work in a concrete and glass climate-controlled building, and in true overachiever fashion I became the youngest-ever deputy treasurer for the County of Ventura. It wasn’t me. I just couldn’t take it. At the tender young age of 21, I ran off to go fight fires for the Forest Service.

It was there that I found others who also loved nature and needed to be in it as much as possible. Every morning, I would take long hikes in the mountains, encountering bears, mountain lions and eagles that did not react to me as if I was an intruder, but rather as if I belonged there. It was there that I began to have visions of the spirits of the land and to understand my connection to the earth and the meaning of my dreams. I was finally free to be myself and even had others with whom I could openly discuss these things.

Soon, I became a liaison between the federal land management agencies and the local Native American tribes. Tribe members invited me to sacred ceremonies, and elders taught me because they recognized my connection to and dedication to the land. During my time and travels with the Forest Service and Park Service, I was accepted by several tribes.

But I knew that I didn’t belong. I became confused and discouraged that it was okay for the earth to be your religion if you were Native American, but not if you were white. It was as if I was trapped between worlds, not fitting in either. I knew I could never go back to the church I was raised in, and I felt that I would spend my entire life wandering in the wilderness alone, without those of like mind.

As I questioned and explored more, I discovered that my mostly Celtic ancestors also had a tribal culture that honored the earth and that was quite compatible with what I had been taught by Native Americans. I did as much research as I could, found bookstores, covens and teaching circles when they were available in towns near where I was stationed, and I had many mentors and pen pals (this was in the days before the Internet). I finally learned who the woman was who stood at the foot of my bed when someone died or when there was danger. I had inherited my line’s banshee, who skipped a generation from my grandmother to me. I even finally found my way to a few of those “pagan” Unitarian churches.

My formal training enhanced but never took the place of actually being in and connecting to nature. I stood on mountaintops in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains talking to and honoring the spirits of the land. I sat in sweat lodges in the very womb of the Mother in the Black Hills of South Dakota and had visions that I can’t share here that told me to remain close to the earth. I’ve seen the ancestors in the pueblos of the Southwest and heard the music of the desert.

Each new sacred place in nature taught me a new lesson or introduced me to a new guide; many of them appeared in physical form and would do whatever was necessary to get my attention. High above the Colorado River, a golden eagle buzzed me numerous times and almost knocked me off a 2,000-foot cliff, appearing incensed that I didn’t recognize that it had graced me with its presence and was trying to give me a message. That eagle taught me that there is a message in every encounter and that it is our job to recognize and learn from those messages. It also taught me that the messengers don’t take kindly to being ignored.

I realize that I have come full circle back to the waters of the Pacific. I am blessed to live close to the water and to be able to walk down to it whenever the mood suits me. I often play my fiddle on the water’s edge and find myself in the company of harbor seals, bald eagles and great blue herons. I feel the sun on my face, the wind in my hair and the magick that is all around me. Just as when I was a small child, the water brings me comfort. I experience the elements as sand, wind, sun and salt water, only now I understand what they mean and my connection to them. I am also surrounded by great people who understand as well.

I have met many people over the last 20 years who can be described as “natural witches.” They draw their energy directly from nature, work with herbs and stones for healing and are attuned to the cycles of the earth. Their mysteries come to them directly from nature, and their magick has an organic feel to it. They may or may not have had formal training, but no matter what their experiences, there is something special about them.

My grandmother, a Scorpio, was such a woman, although I don’t think she would have taken kindly to being called a witch; then again, I could be wrong. We never talked about it. She was by all accounts the original “wild woman” and certainly looked the part, with long raven hair cascading around her face and shoulders, reflecting red in the sunlight as she stood in the desert greeting the rising sun. Well into her 60s, she would wander the desert alone in search of stones, herbs and adventure. She lived on her own terms, not giving a rat’s butt what anyone else thought about her, and preferred the company of the earth and its creatures to that of most people. When she did choose the company of others, they were always artists, writers, musicians and other Bohemian types. My mother, in bouts of exasperation with the wild and difficult child I was, often said, “You’re just like your grandmother.” Writer Earl Stanley Gardener wrote a piece about her entitled “The Desert Nightingale.” He knew she was special.

I wish I had been able to recognize and appreciate the magick in her. By the time I grew into an adult and began to understand, she was gone. But her spirit remains in the mountains, desert and ocean, and in me.

How does a woman with a legacy of wildness, whose spirituality is explicitly tied to nature, survive living in an apartment in town? It has been challenging, but it has expanded me.

Six years ago, when I moved to the Pacific Northwest and attended my first indoor circles, I was shocked to find that many groups here held rituals indoors. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could connect with the elements or the gods in a building.

I got over it after experiencing my first winter here. It’s all very well and good to be outdoors, but if your fellow participants are getting pelted with freezing rain, with soaking wet feet in the dark of night, they’re going to be distracted. I work alone and in small circles outside whenever I get the chance, even in crappy weather, but for larger, public events it’s easier to be indoors.

It’s much simpler than I thought to connect to the elements while standing inside a building. Going on a simple guided meditation can connect me to the earth, feeling its coolness, inhaling its heady scent of decomposing leaves and pine needles and reveling in the feeling of fertility. With a little work, something as insubstantial as a few two-by-fours and some shingles isn’t a barrier. If I’m in the proper state of consciousness, it doesn’t even seem to exist.

Even living in a city, wilderness is all around. Wilderness exists at the edge of the water, in a local park or even under a tree in a backyard. I have seen the fey dancing in a hanging basket of flowers on a patio in an apartment complex. The Cascade and Olympic Mountains are a short drive, in a car or on the bus. In a little over two hours, I can be standing on the beach looking out at the vast wilderness that is the Pacific Ocean or across the mountains harvesting sage in the desert.

I have experienced and learned much in the last 20 years from many different sources, but the times in my life spent in direct connection to nature, to the gods, to all this is, without religious structure or human-imposed limitations, have been the most powerful times in my life.

Every place in nature, and in pockets of nature in the city, is sacred. Each place has its own energy, song and spirit guides. Go on… take a walk on the wild side and see where that journey takes you.

Creating A Magickal Tree

You can create your own, albeit more modest but nevertheless magickal, world tree in your garden.

Although you might have a small garden, you can still create a magickal tree in the centre of it, it can be used to circle round for spells and rituals and as a focus of power. It changes it energies according to the seasons and you can sit close to it in Sun, Moon and Starlight to absorb their different powers.

You can use any tree or a large bush as long as it has plenty of branches. Indoors, you can use a large ornamental tree or bush. Alternatively, use large, stripped wood branches indoors or set them in soil. Wherever it is located, your magickal tree acts as a protective force to repel harm from your property.

You can start the tree with just one or two items. You will need some of the following:

A witch ball or coloured glass fishing float that reflects the garden and shines in sunlight. These are both protective and empowering. Witch Balls resemble huge Christmas baubles and come from the American folk tradition. You can make one by painting a glass sphere with metallic paint or buy one from a New Age shop or website. You can also find them sold as disco balls in gift stores.
Fishing floats made of transparent glass are on sale in antique stores or garage sales, but increasingly in gift shops and housewares stores. Hang two or three of these from the tree. You can have a rope with three fishing floats, each of different coloured glass on your tree, better yet use your imagination, it’s your tree be creative.
Mirrors. These need only be small to reflect the flow of life force round the garden and repel all harm. You can use ordinary round mirrors or Chinese lucky Bagua mirrors that display the old Chinese symbols for eight natural forces that together energies the universe and our lives. Convex one that curve outwards are especially protective.
Outdoors, nets of seeds and nuts or fat ball bring wild birds to the tree. This is especially important if the tree itself is not living.
Symbols of fertility and prosperity. Fill small raffia baskets with long handles with coins, sparkling crystals like yellow citrine and clear crystal quartz or dried herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme that bring abundance to the garden and your home. You can often buy ornamental baskets set with wooden or ceramic fruits and flowers.
Small metal birds (you can sometimes buy them made of recycled metal). They will gleam in the light and encourage the circulation of positivity.
Feathers on cords to encourage positive change and the free-flowing life force.
Seasonal flowers, again especially important if the tree itself is not living. These can be weaved into circlets or used as garlands secured with twine. Keep these fresh and replace regularly.
Sun catchers, crystals or polished glass stones on chains.
Ribbons tied on the tree for different wishes. Secure the ribbon with three knots or to the tree and make your wish. Use ribbons that are not synthetic.
Use the following list when choosing the colours of items to put on to your magickal tree:

Blue: Justice, career, travel and house moves.

Brown: Animals, property, finances and officialdom

Green: Love and fidelity, for gradual increase in health, alternative healing, prosperity and to heal the planet

Orange: Creativity and fertility

Pink: Children, new or first love, peace, peaceful dreams and reconciliation

Purple: Psychic awareness, peace, alternative healing and for protection

Red: Passion and change

Yellow: Learning and anything that needs to happen first or temporarily in your life: also for conventional healing.

The Truth Is In The Experience.

The Truth Is In The Experience.

Author: Snowdragon

My religion, if it can be called a religion (it’s more a way of life for me), is full and fluid and like the ocean. It never stays in one place, it is ever changing and evolving like spring to summer and summer to fall. And I grow and change with it, adapting new ideas, establishing a greater sense of myself with every footstep.I send my roots down into the fertile soil and drink of the un-ending knowledge that this earth holds before me. And like the gardener whose careful hands tend the living, breathing earth I propagate my own experiences with grace and determination. There is no formula for magick, it is not an exact science, nor is it an ancient unbending truth; it is an experience. It is the wisdom that is established from this experience that helps us to define the meaning of the word ‘magick’. I have a very long and deeply embedded ancestral link to Israel but as a child this link was not made evident to me and it wasn’t until I reached adult hood that I could better understand the connection to my Jewish roots.

Israel is a profoundly spiritual place, rich in history and ceremony. And it seems that every little mundane chore such as the making of the first meal of the day, washing of the hands and face and the general tidiness of one’s home is ripe with spiritual significance. It is the pervasive conception that god is in the details that allows the Jewish people to maintain a consistent and unwavering connection to the spiritual realm in daily life. Perhaps it is this practice of acknowledging the spiritual when engaging the practical that will help us to truly experience magick.

It is my purpose to try to establish a greater connection to the spiritual within my mundane life so that the question isn’t whether or not I should practice magick and how I practice magick but more importantly, why?

I feel that life is a magickal journey and that it is the in-between moments where our attentions are diverted to material matters such as clothing, shelter and food that cause us to lose our sense of who we are as spiritual beings. Bread may be bread and hunger may be the driving force in its creation but it is the ceremony in its preparation, the transformation of cooking it, and ultimately the sharing of it in a social setting that makes the whole process a physical representation of a greater spiritual experience. This is the essence of magick and thus where our truest spell work can be done. Just as we would study for a test or exam one must first conceptualize of the desired outcome, establish a methodology for creating said outcome and then set out with the appropriate tools to materialize the goals we wish to achieve. In doing so, we open ourselves to our greatest potential, increasing our connection to our higher selves. It is here that we define who we are, recognize our strength’s and weakness and determine whether or not we are willing to overcome them. For, we are always able. We have the very tools we need in our hands the trick is learning how to use them effectively and with true purpose and intention.

In effect spell-work is the physical act and magick the driving force. So there can never be a lack of magick in one’s life if one is willing to acknowledge the spirit that whispers underneath. The simple act of “stopping to smell the roses” is an expression of connecting to the spiritual self, the desire to know god, to touch with the hands of creation and to be an infinite part of it. But like all good things there is danger of obtaining too much or over indulging in the material benefits. I find this particularly true when it comes to religion. We often find ourselves becoming fanatical about our approach to spiritual matters, and instead of obtaining a greater understanding of our spiritual selves and having the foresight to trust its existence we become greedy and disenfranchised with the spiritual truth of those around us. We cling to our ceremony as though without it our very souls would cease to be instead of allowing it to grow, evolve and breath like the very earth in which we live. In fact I find no greater representation for the spiritual realm then the earth beneath my feet and the sky above my head and it is in this world where I have discovered some of my greatest spiritual explorations. With the people that I meet, the challenge of a new relationship and within the dynamics of those that already exist.

If we wish to continue to deepen our connection to the spiritual we must be willing to let go of it. If we cling too tightly we damage the fragile nature that makes the quest for spiritual truth so imperative. Like a clear crystal stone, if we hold it to the light we can see the internal structure that makes up its formation but if we set it down in the shadows we can not acknowledge its beauty then the very purpose of its creation is lost and its existence irrelevant. The search for spiritual relevance is what separates and defines us as human beings. We have our very basic nature still intact, eating, sleeping and procreating but it is the unseen internal struggle for knowledge that makes us the truly remarkable beings that we are. For there is no right answer, life isn’t a test or quiz and unlike our academic quests we are our own best teachers. Each of us retains the right to a spiritual truth, whether it is through Paganism, Christianity, Buddhism or all of the above the journey is yours to experience. Embrace your spiritual self with the ceremony that fulfills you the most and magick will never be too far behind you.

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