Tag: Meditation

Meditation as a Way Through Addiction

Meditation as a Way Through Addiction

  • Deepak Chopra

Alcohol, cigarettes and drugs cause untold damage, but their users derive some kind of pleasure from them, or at least relief from the massive stress that they would otherwise feel. But by exposing their minds to a greater source of satisfaction, the natural tendency would be to head away from the addiction, because the greater satisfaction is more appealing. Support for this new view has existed for almost 20 years.

Going back to the early 1970s, studies in the United States and Europe have repeatedly shown that when addicted people are taught to meditate, their level of anxiety decreases, pulling down with it their use of alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs.

If the addiction is caught at an early stage, a large proportion of subjects will stop abusing substances altogether. This is a very important point, because the early stage is where most cures are possible.

By removing the distractions of stress, meditation renews the nervous system’s memory of balance. Repeated meditation, day after day, jogs the memory again and again, until in time the cells return to a normal state, exchanging their abnormal receptors for a more normal pattern. Once the pathways of intelligence are repaired, the cells will automatically select the body’s healthy signals, as once they automatically accepted the distorted ones. The circle broken by addiction has been repaired.

Adapted from Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide, by Deepak Chopra, M.D. (Harmony Books, 1990).

Transcendence Through Meditation

Transcendence Through Meditation

  • Deepak Chopra

One way to develop a physiology that embodies the qualities of the unified field is to have direct experience of it.

Meditation allows the mind to experience more and more abstract levels of the thinking process and, ultimately, to transcend to that most abstract level of awareness, transcendental consciousness, which is the unified field itself. This is the state of pure awareness, pure consciousness.

Meditation has been part of the spiritual tradition of almost every culture. There are a number of scientific studies that show the beneficial effects of mediation. Blood pressure comes down. Stress is alleviated. Basal metabolic rate goes down. Insomnia, anxiety, and a number of psychosomatic disorders are relieved and disappear. Moreover, there is increased brain wave coherence, which also improves attention span, creativity, learning ability, and memory retrieval.

Also, the effects of mediation last into our daily activity, and soon our activity becomes saturated and influenced by the qualities of the unified field. This is because by experientially knowing something we become it. Once we become it, we begin to embody all its properties.

Therefore, transcending becomes a very practical procedure–to not only experientially know and understand the qualities of the unified field, but to have their values expressed in our daily life, in all our daily activities.

Adapted from Creating Affluence, by Deepak Chopra (New World Library, 1993).

Affirmation on Meditation

Affirmation on Meditation

  • Deepak Chopra

The true self contains the light that no darkness can attack. Daily affirmations are steps out of pain toward a higher reality. We can become living memorials to tragedy by restoring the power of life. You are that life, you are that power. Let us see if we can find the spark that will make the spiritual flame spring up.

Meditation is the practice of going inward to access awareness that is deeper than thought. Meditation isn’t just a time for peace and quiet, although both are needed. You are returning to your source. Make it your habit to find time alone, preferably once in the morning and once in the evening, in which you can close your eyes and go inside.

There are many forms of meditation. A simple but effective one is meditation on the heart. Sit quietly for a moment, placing your attention on your heart, at the center of your chest under the breastbone. When you are settled, repeat the word “peace” silently, and see its influence radiating out from your body in all directions. Do this three times, and then say the word “happiness” the same way. Repeat three times, then go on to “harmony,” “laughter” and “love.”

For longer meditations, you can use these words for as long as you like. Start with five minutes a session and work up to half an hour. Sit quietly for a few minutes after each session with eyes closed and simply appreciate the simplicity of quiet awareness.

Adapted from The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2001).

Support Your Spirit

Support Your Spirit

  • Deepak Chopra

Make this today’s promise to yourself, to look inside for guidance. Everyone needs support, and generally we look outside ourselves–to family, friends, coworkers, and like-minded people–for validation. This kind of support makes you feel that you are right. The ego gets assurance that you are not alone.

But spirit wants to develop uniquely. It sends support to the inner person. Instead of making you feel that you are right, spiritual support adds to your sense of being free, at peace, loving, and aware. Be open to those feelings, because openness is the first step to transformation.

When you feel moments of being uncertain and alone, tell yourself that you have the same worth as your soul. In situations where you feel the urge to assert, disagree, or resist, don’t follow that impulse. Find your own peace; accept the situation, and then watch.

Do you see signs that what you want out of the situation can happen without resistance or assertiveness? When you value the support spirit is giving, the grip of ego is loosened immediately. You are capable of seeing any situation as spirit sees it, not just as ego does. If you value that capacity, it will grow.

Go about your routine, keeping faith with what you honor. By honoring stillness, you are touching one piece of the soul’s treasure.

Adapted from The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2001).

An Exercise Instead of Meditation

An Exercise Instead of Meditation

  • Deepak Chopra

The past is layered in to us in many intricate layers. Your inner world is full of complex relationship, for it contains the past not only as it occurred but all the ways in which you would like to revise it.

All the things that should have turned out differently do turn out differently in that place where you escape into fantasy, revenge, yearning, sorrow, self-reproach, and guilt. To get rid of these distractions, you need to realize that there is a deeper place where everything is alright.

In Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse writes, “Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” This sanctuary is a simple awareness of comfort, which can’t be violated by the turmoil of events. This place feels no trauma and stores no hurt. It is the mental space that one seeks to find in meditation, which I believe is one of the most important pursuits anyone can follow.

However, if you do not meditate, you can approach this place of calm with the following exercise: Write down this affirmation:

I am perfect as I am. Everything in my life is working toward my ultimate good. I am loved and I am love.

Do not pause to analyze the statement, just write it down. When you come to the end, shut your eyes and let any response surface that comes to mind, then write down the first words that come to you (write this response directly under the affirmation).

Your first thought is likely to contain a lot of resistance, even anger, because no one’s life is perfect and it is hard to believe that everything is working out as it should.

Now, without pausing, write the affirmation again, shut your eyes, and once more write down the first words that come to mind. Do not stop to analyze or dwell on your reaction. Continue the exercise until you have repeated the affirmation and your response twelve times. This exercise allows you to eavesdrop on the innermost levels of your awareness.

Adapted from Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1998).

On Creating Magick

On Creating Magick

Author: Lady Wolfwind

I have been blessed with another bright and beautiful day. I’m not sure what I will do with it. It is like a gift to me. I think for a while I will just lay in my chair outside under the tree. It’s my favorite place to be when I choose to seek peace. For a while today, I think I will try a visualization meditation. I find that I can travel anywhere and see anything I choose to. When I come back to a waking state I feel refreshed, more alive. The mind is a wonderful tool if we learn how to use it.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I feel the breeze blowing and lifting the ends of my hair. I feel the touch of the sun on my skin. I concentrate on my breathing. In, out, in, out. I let all the stress leave my body. I feel it slowly melt out of my fingers and toes. In my mind, I open my eyes. I have been transported. Today, I float on a raft in the middle of a lake far, far away. It is not where I live now, but my native state of New York.

I continue to breathe. I am alone. All around me are the trees of autumn. It is a warm fall day. The maples and the poplars are decked out in all their glory, the orange, the gold and the browns that make this time of year special to me. It’s funny; when I left, it was August. At this place and time, it is October, my favorite time of the year. I take a deep breath and I can smell the water all around me. I can smell the crisp scent of the leaves and the subtle scent of my mother, the Earth. I open all of my senses. I can feel the breeze on my skin and also the warmness of the sun. There is promise of winter in the air. A sense of someone whispering and telling me to enjoy this day, this gift. Soon the snow will be flying and the earth will rest for the winter.

As I listen I hear the quiet swirl of a fish that has come to the surface to snatch a bug. I hear the singing of the frogs on the nearby shore. It’s as if they are singing a song just for me. I hear the leaves rustling and I realize that this is the music of the Earth. I just lie on my back and look at the puffy white clouds in the sky. I remember when I was a child and I could lie for hours and pick out shapes and animals. Today, I spend some time doing the same. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to just stare into the sky without a worry in the world.

After some time, I grow bored with the clouds and I flip onto my stomach, lay my chin on my arms, and stare at the reflection of myself in the water. I smile. I am so at peace. I know that this feeling will follow me for weeks to come. I also know that I can travel this way whenever I need to. I focus deeper and see small minnows swimming just beneath the surface. I also see small bits of moss suspended in the water floating by. I let my one arm free and feel the refreshing coolness of the water. Part of me would like to take off my clothes and dive right in. At this moment I am too lazy to move. I close my eyes and drift in and out of sleep. I know that here I am safe. In travels there is nothing that can hurt me.

I lay here for a few hours, dreaming of my life at home and of the people I know. The rustle on the bank interrupts my thoughts. It is a family of rabbits stopping by to take a drink. The mother rabbit eyes me nervously, but we communicate on a different level, without words. I sense that she understands that I mean her no harm and they continue to take a drink of the cool water. There are birds flying overhead, gliding on the current. I am sometimes envious of their ability to do this. At times I visualize that I am a bird in flight. I can hear the wind rushing past my ears and I feel the quietness that surrounds me. I look at the earth below and feel the freedom. Today, I just watch in amazement as this great creature glides over my head.

I am in no hurry. I know that I have left my body behind in a semi conscious state. I have nothing to fear there either. I continue to drift. After a time, I hear the cry of the loons. I’ve always thought it was such a haunting sound. I wonder what it would be like to lay on this raft at night. I’ll have to try it sometime. I wonder what sounds I will hear. Instead of looking at the clouds I can look for the constellations and contemplate how it must have been to live so long ago and have to chart courses using only the stars.

There are many places to go. I will wait for another day. After some time, I reluctantly let myself return to my body. I slowly open my eyes. I’ve been gone for quite awhile. The sun has changed position and it is cooler. I feel so at peace, I have a hard time describing this feeling of quietness within me. I sit in my chair for a while longer and allow my spirit to settle into my body completely. I laugh at the thought of someone asking me what I did today. “Well, ” I’ll tell them, “I traveled to another time and place and drifted on a raft, celebrating life.” Won’t they look at me funny?

Sometimes when I’m having trouble sleeping I will slip off somewhere and lie under the stars and look up at the moon. Before you know it, it’s morning and time to start my day. When life gets to be too much for me to handle, I escape somewhere else where life is more peaceful. Sometimes I may spend the day with my mother or father, lost long ago. We don’t usually talk, but we sit, quietly enjoying each other’s company for a few hours. If this is not a gift from the Goddess, then I don’t know what is. I have been blessed with this ability and I’m happy that I’ve shared it with you all here.

It didn’t just happen overnight. I’ve spent years developing my meditation techniques. I’ve spent years developing my imagination and my insights. It’s like anything else, it’s something you have to work at, but oh, so worth every moment spent. I get so lost in these places I visit, and the people who spend time with me there that I’ve often wondered what is real and what is imagined. At times, it feels as if I could reach out and hug my parents. Maybe one day I’ll try. I may scare myself though.

Once I had a dream. It has always haunted me. I dreamed that I was in a wolf’s body. It was a cold night. I was standing on the edge of a stream with my front feet in the water. There was a fallen tree beside me and I could smell the decaying of the wood. I could feel the coldness of the water on my feet. I turned my head and looked at my mate behind me. I looked right into her eyes. I woke up with a start. I expected to feel that my hands were wet. I have never had a dream so vivid before or since. I’m not sure of its significance. This is the way it feels when I visually meditate, except I am in control. I make up the sequence of events. This dream was spontaneous and very odd.

So, today, I share with you a little piece of me. I think that, maybe, we all have this ability, to let go of all the stress and slip away, if only for a few short moments. I’d like to think that we could all find a peaceful place in the middle of chaos, where we can breathe, where we can think, where we can focus on what matters, just living.

We all speak of the Goddess. What gifts has she given to you? Are you afraid to develop them, to use them? You may be surprised. I’d like to challenge you to step outside your comfort zone and test the waters of some of your abilities. She gave them to you for a reason. There is no reason to be afraid. We all have unique abilities. It’s part of your magic; it’s how you create magic.

Some ask how do you create spells or how do you create magic. I believe that it is all around you. The problem I see is that we don’t truly believe deep down inside. Ever since we were children we were told that such things were myths and did not exist. As a child, you know they did. We were bashed and brainwashed to conform and to not talk about such things. Look, deep inside of yourself. Find that magic and that belief again. You know it’s there, sleeping, waiting, wanting to come to the surface again. You would be surprised what magic you can create if you discover the gifts that were given to you.

Meditation Technique to Clean and Heal the Eyes

Goddess Comments & Graphics

 

Meditation Technique to Clean and Heal the Eyes

By Natalya Podgorny, Yoga+

If you’ve ever been transfixed by a candle flame and felt your mind clear, you may have been tapping into a yogic focusing practice called trataka. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines trataka as “looking intently with an unwavering gaze at a small point until tears are shed.” This simple technique has a purifying, invigorating effect on the mind and improves concentration, paving the way for a deeper meditation practice. Because it is one of the shat kriyas, or six cleansing actions, trataka also cleans and heals the eyes.

Though many objects can be used to focus your gaze during trataka, the most common is the flame of a candle. Assume a comfortable meditative posture with your head, neck, and trunk aligned. Set a candle two feet in front of you, with the flame positioned at eye level. Make sure the room is dark and draft-free.

STEADY YOUR GAZE

Begin with your eyes closed, surveying the body and watching the breath until it becomes calm, regular, and even. Then open your eyes and rest your gaze on the middle part of the flame, right above the tip of the wick. Keep your eyelids slightly more open than usual, and maintain your gaze without blinking or blurring your vision for as long as possible. Observe any thoughts that arise, watching them come and go without becoming engaged.

Close your eyes only when they begin to strain and water, and you can no longer sustain the gaze. (You can cup your palms and place them gently over the eyes to ease the strain, but do not rub the eyes; because the tears you have shed are carrying away impurities, wipe them gently with a tissue.) Then find the afterimage of the flame in your mind’s eye, resting your awareness at the ajna chakra, or eyebrow center. If the image moves up and down or side to side, stabilize it by bringing it back to the center, and continue to fix your gaze until the impression disappears. To delve deeper into the mind, you can follow this practice with meditation.

HEALTHY GLOW

According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Trataka eradicates all eye diseases, fatigue, and sloth, and closes the doorway creating these problems. In addition to improving concentration and memory, trataka cleanses both the eyes and the cerebral cortex, balances the nervous system, and relieves depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Another yogic text, the Gheranda Samhita, states that the practice cultivates clairvoyance and inner vision.

Because sight, mental discrimination, and the fire at the manipura chakra are intricately interwoven, trataka also nourishes the subtle flame at the navel center, promoting vitality and inner health. In its more advanced form, as the Himalayan master Swami Rama said, “The practice of trataka eventually merges into surya sadhana, meditation on the solar energy.”

STARING AT THE SUN

Under the guidance of a teacher, you can learn how to use a variety of auspicious objects or symbols as the focus of your gaze during trataka, such as a yantra (a symbolic geometric representation of aspects of Divinity), the symbol Om, the form of a deity, lightning, the moon, your own shadow, or the glowing orange orb of the rising or setting sun. So steady your gaze, and follow the light all the way to your inner self.

Natalya Podgorny is the editor of Yoga + Joyful Living

Meditation on Thinking and Believing

Meditation on Thinking and Believing

In a world as fast paced and technological as this, it is sometimes hard to come face to face with something that we do not understand. Even this book is a modern miracle. It was created on a PC, typeset on a different PC, send off to the publisher where it was loaded onto still other machinery, and copied at an incredible rate of speed. Someone created the cover picture and loaded it into a form that computerized machinery could use, and it was printed off nearly as fast.

Finally, the cover and the book were bound on still more machinery and the books were packed and placed onto a truck for delivery to your local bookstore. We exist outside of natural time. Instead of rising with the dawn and working until it is dark, we set our alarms to wake us, dash off to work, come home, and continue to work long into the night under the glaring false light of technology.

We can see tiny cells that are far to small to see with the naked eye, and fall victim to high tech crime and other problems. Every day brings new discoveries of still smaller and smaller particles and creations. We analyze everything until we understand it in the smallest detail possible. Why? So that we can think we understand it. We fool ourselves into believing that everything can be rationally explained.

But what about the things that we can’t explain? What about the things we can explain but that words just do not describe well? The birth of a child is a miracle in action. Through our research, we can describe what is physically happening throughout the entire development from fertilized egg to human. Yet, those same words cannot hope to ever express the miracle of two single cells coming together to create the marvelously complex beings that we call people. It cannot describe what a soul is or how it comes to be there. It cannot describe the bond that exists between mother and child, or the wonder in the eyes of that child as it learns about its new world.

Thinking and believing have a place in the world. We could not get along without it. However, it is far from sufficient to strive to explain everything there is through this process. Some things should be left as what they are. Miracles. Faith. Mysteries.

(Meditate on these ideas for several days in succession)

Copyright © 2000, Jet Blackthorn

Meditate on the Waxing Moon

Meditate on the Waxing Moon

 
According to Celtic tradition, the waxing of the moon (when it passes from new to full) is a time of inner transformation that gives us a heightened awareness of the voice of the soul. At some point during this period, spend five minutes meditating on the moon. At the start of the meditation, imagine Olwen, the lady of the moon, assisting you in allowing your soul to speak.

5-Minute Meditation: Light-Song

5-Minute Meditation: Light-Song – By Avalon De Witt

Sit quietly in a comfortable place with your eyes closed. Take a few deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Listening to the rhythm of your breath, feel your body relaxing from the top of your head, all the way down to the tips of your toes…

Begin to form a vivid picture in your mind. See before you a large golden chalice, spilling over with a pale green light. The soft glow of this light is calming to look at and seems to emanate a sound like a thousand angels singing…

Let this light-born music become clearer and more vibrant. Notice how the light-song harmonizes with your heart beat. You can sense a healing power in the lilting melody that is already making you feel lighter…

Visualize yourself reaching out with your hands cupped together and dipping into the green light as though it were a pool of cool water…

Now ease your hands toward your your heart center and let the green light gently penetrate you there. Allow this gentle green light to expand in your heart and throughout your body filling you with immense joy, bringing a smile to your face…

Feel the song of this light dancing within you, moving through your bloodstream, washing away all your stresses and worries. Observe the way your body responds to the comforting, harmonious music freeing your mind, balancing you…

Spend as long as you like reveling in the relaxation of this tender light-song. Hear it flowing through you, cleansing you completely. Enjoy the feelings of peace and contentment, and remember that you can take in this beautiful light song any time you wish…

Gradually deepen your breath and return to the moment. Bring your attention back to the room. Gently move your fingers and toes and slowly open your eyes. This is a wonderful way to release anxiety and lift your spirits any time of day.

Daily Zen Meditation for November 23

New Age Comments & Graphics
Meditation Hall

Clear the land, thatch the rush for roof,
All around cherish the empty, the pure.
Mountain blossoms fall by a secluded door,
Within, one who has forgotten the world’s schemings.
Concern with existence needs no possession,
Comprehending the void does not wait upon reason.
All things are of conditions born,
Profound is the silence in the midst of clamor.
A person’s mind is very much the same;
A bird in flight, leaving no tracks behind.

– Liu Tsung-yuan (773-819)

 
~Magickal Graphics~

Attuning to Power Objects

Attuning to Power Objects

 
 
Attuning to an object creates a resonance between the two of you. In a way, it sets up short cuts or a speed-dial relationship between you, allowing you to use this power more quickly and easily while increasing the ease with which your spirit allies can communicate with you. Before doing the actual attunement, it is a good idea to release any unwanted energies from the object. A crystal may be a true gift from the gods, but it is unlikely that you want or need residual energies from previous owners or other people that may have handled it. So purify this object by smudging with sacred herbs, holding it under running water while visualizing unwanted energies breaking up and being washed away, burying it in soil for seven day, or leaving it our under the Sun
and Moon for a full day and night.
 
To begin the attunement ritual, create sacred space in your usual manner. Smudge the area, cast a circle, light your candles, or chant your power song. Invite in your spirit guides and guardians and ask for their blessings.
 
Take some time to center your energy. Breathe deeply into your muscles–particularly into any areas of tension–and feel them relax. Count yourself down from ten to one, consciously relaxing more with each descending number. Relax the focus of your eyes and become aware of your connection to all things. Now call upon your spirit allies or patron deities, whether you know them or not. Let them know that you are here to open yourself to them and that you seek communion with them.
 
Pick up your power object and hold it in both hands. Visualize pure white energy filling this object, breaking up and releasing any remaining unwanted energies. Then sit with it for a moment and allow your energies to begin to mesh. Feel how this object feels. Feel how it makes you feel.
 
Now imagine that this object before you is as big as a house. Walk around and take a good look at it from all sides. What do you notice?
 
Visualize a door on one side. Place an offering at the door and introduce yourself. State your reason for coming and ask permission to enter. If you feel that permission is not given, try again later or ask if you need to do something else before entering.
 
When permission is granted, enter through the doorway. Take note of the colors, light temperature and anything that you see inside the object. If someone meets you at any point, greet that being with respect and be open to any messages he, she, or it might have for you. Express your reasons for exploring this object and ask for guidance into a deeper attunement with the power this object holds for you. Then wander through the object, going where you feel led and stopping at any place you find attracive in some way.
 
When you feel you have gained all that you can in this meditation, or when you feel it is time to leave, return to the doorway. Give thanks to the object your spirit allies, and any beings you encountered here. If you wish, ask for continued guidance in how best to work with this object.
 
Count yourself back up from one to ten into ordinary consciousness. If specific guidance was given or requests were made for housing or use of this object, be sure to follow through on those in a respectful manner.
 
Keep in mind that this meditation can do more than simply attune you to this object. Repeated use of the meditation can introduce you to previously unknown spirit allies that may be associated with this object. It can also allow you access to your own lost powers and provide a forum for you to regain some of it. Although quite simple, this little attunement exercise can be surprisingly powerful.
 
Kristen Madden
Llewellyn’s 2007 Magical Almanac

Meditation Thought of the Day for November 15th

Witchy Comments
Tuesday 15 November

Once you know meditation, you don’t have to follow anybody.
You have your own eyes open,
and you have your light just ahead of you showing the path,
and all that is right and all that is good happens choicelessly.

Osho

Meditation Tip of the Day

~Magickal Graphics~

The Anatomy of Magical Power

The Anatomy of Magical Power

Author: Iritar

 

In my teaching, there are some key basic elements to each and every pagan’s spiritual path that emphasize the power of each practitioner. Whether you are just starting your path or have been on your journey for many years, it is important to return to these basics in order to grow past hurdles when you feel that every corner is filled with roadblocks that impede your growth.

Visualization

I cannot stress this enough. Practicing and maintaining good visualization exercises helps to construct energies within yourself and from the divine source (s) you follow. Without being able to see that energy, you are not capable of casting circles, putting up spiritual defenses or see your magic being sent out.

Meditation

This goes hand in hand with visualization. By following one of two meditation techniques (and swapping between them as you feel led) you can let your higher self and the powers that be guide you around the roadblocks. Using proper meditation techniques such as getting comfortable, setting the atmosphere with incense, candles and music will allow you to get better results.

With Focused Meditation, you are looking to direct your energy for a purpose whether that is health, peace, love, etc. This is where you retain an image within your mind, whether moving like a movie or still like a photo. Focused Meditation is also a good place to instill commands to yourself that will accelerate specific tasks to “snap you into it”.

For Christians, Psalms 23 and the Lord’s Prayer are two distinct ways for them to immediately focus on peace, spiritual defense and assurance. By reciting these passages, it allows them to take a predetermined “emotion” and resurrect that emotion instantaneously without a lot of prop and circumstance.

Pagans can do the same. I use a reinforcement phrase in my meditation that will allow me to instantly surround myself with spiritual defense. I use the phrase, “Shields Up”. Although I’m not a Trekkie, I use the visualization of the defense shield from the series as a way of protection. As I performed the visualizations of those shields in my meditation for self-protection, I reinforced this with the phrase. This allows me to quickly throw up my spiritual defenses without much focus in everyday life.

Another form of meditation is Intuitive Meditation. This is a free form style meditation where you don’t focus at all like intentionally daydreaming. You should protect yourself before you begin by putting up your defenses and then clear your mind briefly. I usually visualize a white sheet of paper with no lines for the canvas of my meditation, holding it in my mind for a few minutes. Allow your eyes to unfocused and relax. As the images come in, allow them to flow and pay attention to everything you see. Usually these images will show you what you should work towards, reveal the mysteries in your life and even allow you to see what’s ahead of you.

After your meditation is done, document them in your journal and you can plan Focused Meditation sessions to examine what you need to more closely.

Emotional and Spiritual Balance for Protection

Building off the visualization exercises and meditation, you need to protect yourself from negative energies and spiritual attacks. Not all attacks are within the physical or from a being you know. Some negative forces are drawn to your spiritual light like beetles to lights in the darkness.

Follow the codes of Harm None and understand the Law of Three. All indoctrinations have variations of these principles. The easy explanation is what you send out will come back with a punch. Do what you will, avoid imposing against someone’s will even with good intent.

I usually ask permission from people when doing spell work from them. If I chose not to disclose my spiritual beliefs to someone, I ask them if I can pray for their need in my own way to request that permission.

Avoid the negativity; you don’t need it in your life.

Rites and Ritual

Follow the codes of your coven if you are in one, but also establish your own practices. Do what feels right from you when communing spiritually one on one with your deities. Some people need detailed ritual work to enter that communion where the magic flows; others can instantly open themselves up by simply asking their deities to stop by for a visit.

If you are a solitary practitioner, establish your own journals and Book of Shadows. Read and study, but if you feel restraint in following a ritual like not being able to remember the exact words of someone else’s ritual you read, make your own.

The issue at hand is that if it feels like work and you cannot break through, then it is work. I associate this much fun to doing my taxes. Ritual should never be a burden.

Spells

If you are just beginning your life path, it is good to look at samples of other people’s spells. This can help you find your own structure and what you need to be successful in your practice. I strongly encourage creating your own spells as simple or as complex as you need. You can chose to incorporate what elements are right for you such as what kind of incense to use, if any, calling the elements, herbs and recitals.

If you are in a group or coven, ask them for guidance and learn group spells and rites. This will instill harmony in group spell works and communion.

Resist Pride and Envy

No one has all the answers or they wouldn’t be here. No matter how powerful you feel that you have become or how close your walk is with your deities, understand that you still have something to learn. Avoid competing with other practitioners and don’t measure yourself against them.

Each of us is on a personal journey. We should never look down upon another because what they need to know will be revealed to them when they are ready. You can offer a general word of assurance and aid if needed, but do not feel that you have to tell them what they need to do unless you perceive they are asking for your help.

Be open to share with others, but if you encounter opposition to the knowledge you share, know where to end it peacefully. Avoid challenges by weighing those challenges against your beliefs and avoid debates. If the emotions start feeling tense during a conversation where questions are arising, you are going to far. Stop, center yourself and listen willingly to the other part. If they are wrong, they will discover this themselves even if it means the hard way. That is their path.

Fear that someone is trying to take control of your group (even if they are) will become self-defeating. Use your protection guards and wards. Speak truth and do not seek to tear others down. This is a good way to weed out the deceit and negativity from the group. Those remaining will become more enlightened and grow by leaps and bounds.

Conclusion

Que Se, Que Se. What will be will be. Don’t lose focus on your spiritual path and start will the basics if you are feeling stagnant. Avoid negativity and realize it when you are the source of it. Discharge it and get rid of it.

Avoid feelings of guilt, betrayal and loss. If you are having problems with these, address them with meditations and reinforce their removal through spells and rites that are of your construction.

Meditation for November 11th – A Reflection Of Your Soul

Autumn Comments & Graphics
One way to gain a deeper sense of yourself is to meditate on the character of your living environment, which provides a reflection of your soul. Close your eyes and visualize the exterior of your home. Look at it as if you were a stranger, seeing it for the very first time. Hold each detail in mind, allowing the deeper significances to emerge. What is your overriding impression? Repeat this process for each room inside. Try to move beyond the surfaces to a deeper sense of the spirit of the home.

  
~Magickal Graphics~

Meditative Thought of the Day for November 9th

Book & Candle Comments This will give you a higher viewpoint on a difficult situation.  Imagine that your arms have transformed into a pair of wings. You flap your wings and take off, soaring into the air. Looking down at your problem, you see it in a whole new light. Set against a vast panorama, it appears far smaller and less significant than before. You can also see other aspects of the problem that you were previously blind to – other people’s roles, different viewpoints, the causes of the situation, even solutions. With the benefit of these new insights, you return to Earth, ready to face your problem afresh.

~Magickal Graphics~

Meditation Thought for Saturday, October 29

Be A Rock Meditation

Sit quietly with closed eyes. Bring to mind a life form or other aspects of nature, such as a bird, tree, waterfall or rock. Become this thing in your imagination. Feel its presence, sense what its like to be in its body, to live its life. How is it being treated by humans? What does it require to thrive? What wisdom –and warning — does it have for us? Jot down the answers for reflection later on.

Meditation 101: An Overview

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

What is meditation?:

For folks in the Western hemisphere, meditation is often seen as some sort of “new-age hippie” fad, something that you do right before you eat granola and hug a spotted owl. However, Eastern civilizations have known about the power of meditation and used it to control the mind and expand the consciousness.

Today, Western thinking is finally catching up, and there is an increasing awareness of what meditation is and what it can be used for. The benefits of meditation are mentioned not only by Wiccans and Pagans but by health practitioners and other everyday people.

How does meditation work?:

The mind is made up of many facets, many of which we have not even begun to tap into. The conscious mind consists of all the things you’re aware of on a daily basis: can I pay my bills? Does my lover still love me? Will my parents get sick? Did I forget to clean the cat box? There is also the subconscious mind – all the things you know, but don’t know that you know. This is where things like memory and involuntary body functions come from. Finally, there is the part called the super consciousness, which is the higher self, the center of spiritual growth and well-being.

What happens in a meditation session?:

Meditation allows you to focus on the subconscious and the super conscious minds. During a meditative session, you may find yourself meeting various archetypes, or encountering things that seem symbolic. This is your mind’s way of telling you what’s going on, and all you have to do is figure out how to interpret the message.

Guided meditations:

There are different meditation techniques, one of which is called guided meditation. In this technique, a guide – either in person or via a recording – leads the meditation, telling you where to go and what you see. They may include things such as, “You are walking down a path in the woods,” or “There is a person coming towards you who holds something in her hand.” For beginners, a guided meditation is excellent, because it provides a good idea of what meditation actually is, and allows you to center your focus. You can buy commercially produced guided meditation CDs, or you can create your own with a tape recorder.

Freeform meditation:

Freeform meditation is one where there is no guide, and you simply let your mind wander. To do this, sit comfortably and allow yourself to relax as much as possible. Some people like to lie down when meditating, but others find that they fall asleep when they do so. Choose whichever method is best for you.

Where should I meditate?:

Find a place where you can be relatively undisturbed. Turn off the phone and the television, put the kids to bed, and close the windows if there’s traffic outside. In some traditions, meditation is only performed inside a sacred space, so feel free to cleanse and consecrate the area as you see fit. Remove any possible distractions, and wear clothing that’s comfortable. In fact, you can meditate skyclad (nude) if you choose.

When is a good time to meditate?:

As to when you meditate, the best time is whenever you can get some quiet time. If that’s in the morning before everyone else gets up, great. If it’s at night when your family has gone to bed, that’s fine too. Many people like to meditate at night so they can go outside and meditate under the moon and stars. Whatever time you decide to practice, try to do it at the same time every day. This will allow you for more consistency, and get you into good meditation habits.

Meditation of the Day for Thursday, October 27th

Witchy Comments

Claiming Your Birthright

Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Think about who you are, and what you are made of, and know that everything within you is the sum of all your ancestors. From thousands of years ago, generations of people have come together over the centuries to create the person you are now. Think about your own strengths — and weaknesses — and remember that they came from somewhere. This is a time to honor the ancestors who formed you.

Recite your genealogy — aloud if you like — as far back as you can go. As you say each name, describe the person and their life. An example might go something like this:

I am the daughter of James, who fought in Vietnam
and returned to tell the tale.
James was the son of Eldon and Maggie,
who met on the battlefields of France,
as she nursed him back to health.
Eldon was the son of Alice, who sailed
aboard Titanic and survived.
Alice was the daughter of Patrick and Molly,
who farmed the soil of Ireland, who
raised horses and tatted lace to feed the children…

and so forth. Go back as far as you like, elaborating in as much detail as you choose. Once you can go back no further, end with “those whose blood runs in me, whose names I do not yet know”.

If you happened to meet a certain ancestor, or their archetype, during your meditation, take a moment to thank them for stopping by. Take note of any information they may have given you — even if it doesn’t make sense just now, it may later on when you give it some more thought. Think about all the people you come from, whose genes are part of you. Some were great people — some, not so much, but the point is, they all belong to you. They all have helped shape and create you. Appreciate them for what they were, with no expecations or apologies, and know that they are watching over you.

~Magickal Graphics~

Today’s Meditation for October 26th – Autumn candle meditation

New Age Comments & Graphics 

Autumn candle meditation

 

The season I like best is autumn. When the weather is fine, I like to go outside, enjoying the last warm rays of a sun that is quickly loosing its strength, and watching the changing colours and the winds that carry away the leaves from the trees. When the weather is rainy, however, I like to do an autumn candle meditation.
For this meditation, you need: a rainy day, at least half an hour of time when you will not be disturbed and a comfortable chair that faces a window with a good view. I like to do this in the attic where the rain is drumming on the roof light, or in a place where I can look out into the garden. You also need a cup of hot tea, maybe a blanket and of course a candle.

Prepare your tea, and make yourself comfortable, facing the window. Start the meditation by lighting the candle. Be calm and relaxed. If you want to, focus on your breath for a few minutes in order to relax. Then, allow yourself to watch the autumn rain. Enjoy the warmth of your tea. Let everything else go. No hurry, no planning, no reflection – just let everything else go. Whenever your mind wanders back to something that happened yesterday, just bring it back to the moment. Whenever you start thinking about something you will have to do tomorrow, just come back to the present moment. Be present. Whenever you feel anger, fear, stress, let it go and come back to the present moment. Just be.
End the meditation by blowing out the candle

 Daily Meditation

~Magickal Graphics~