Intolerance: A Curable Disease

Intolerance: A Curable Disease

Author: Kestryl Angell

For some years now, I have been in solitary practice and have purposely placed myself in a position that allows me to observe the growth of the modern Pagan movement in the United States. One very significant thing has come to bother me through those observations. One that leaves me, to say the least, perturbed with my fellow human beings of every belief system, but assuredly of some that call themselves Pagan, as well.

Now, I realize that everyone on this planet is here for his or her own reasons, as well as for cosmic ones. I also realize that everyone grows, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually at his/her own individual pace. But some things, to my mind, are basic points of human respect and are sadly and sorely missing from a society that is supposed to be “the most advanced society history has ever known, ” as some would phrase it.

Though there are many points of human weakness that are causing overall weakening ripples throughout the newer generations when it comes to ethics, I feel that there are a few that are particularly problematic and need to be addressed at every opportunity. I hope to write about several of these in the coming weeks, as I feel that discourse is where all solutions may be found. With that in mind, I’d like to begin with a personal favorite.

Let’s begin with intolerance.

What, really, is the point of going through a life-changing, spiritual awakening, a “rebirth” as many coming to their Paganism as adults from other more mainstream backgrounds often state they go through, if all they come to be is not Pagan at all, but really could be better characterized as “anti-Christian?”

Coming to a new spiritual path does not automatically make the one you came from innately “wrong.” It simply makes it wrong for you.

Perhaps you did have experiences with the darker side of human nature packaged as harmful behavior, selfishness, egotistical preaching, the use of fear as a control and all the bad things that are written about in the news every day. That does not automatically make every single person that practices that belief system wrong, evil, awful, stupid or deluded.

Therefore, it is just as wrong to condemn others in a blanket fashion as it was for them to condemn the various Pagan paths throughout the course of history. In other words, coming to Paganism just so you can feel justified in Christian- (or other belief systems including alternate paths of Paganism from your own) -bashing is as hypocritical as the day is long! Get real and lose the excuses!

Allowing something to exist and realizing it is different from yourself doesn’t give you the right to pass judgment on it’s correctness for another soul’s growth or it’s validity in the Universal scheme of things! You are not their Creator/Creatrix. You are not here to live their path. In fact, you have no idea what is going on in their karmic path, in their personal development that might be assisting them to be learning lessons you don’t even have the strength to recognize, much less deal with yourself.

If you consider those who follow “younger” faiths than your own to be “deluded, ” it is you that does not understand the growth of the soul. It is you that is still struggling with the idea that the Universe has bigger plans than your little human eyes and mind can fully comprehend and it is you that is making a fool of yourself by stomping your proverbial feet and saying you KNOW better!

For yourself, yes – you may know that what you left behind isn’t what you need. For others? That is theirs to choose and theirs to choose free from your judgment and condemnation of that choice – just as your choice to become Pagan was your own and was equally as worthy of not being judged negatively by their fears or ignorance.

Just because you yourself happen to be in “spiritual middle school” doesn’t mean you have the right to pick on the “spiritual kindergartners.”

Furthermore, spiritual middle-schoolers don’t have anything on the spiritual college students and PhD s, but nearly every single time you will see them shining loudly in their personal struggle with their own ego by the way they attempt to play children’s one-upsmanship-games with their Elders, while showing glaring examples of their own ignorance by their complete lack of basic respect for the efforts, knowledge base and wisdom of the Elders they’ve been honored to come to know and learn from.

They would rather argue entomology of a specific word of a specific dialect than seek out the fullness of all meanings of the given word to more fully explore its meanings before making a decision as it applies to their own cause.

They would rather see other’s ignorance as “proof” of their own self-proclaimed greatness while never realizing that those things greatest in this world don’t need human declarations to make them great.

It was said by the writer, John G. Neihardt, “Humility is bowing before Truth. Humiliation is bowing before people.” Humility, Tolerance and Compassion are the internal partnership that should come to a truly spiritually awakened being – not their old set of personal and world grievances packaged in a new dogmatic format.

There are those under the Pagan umbrella who will say, “Well, I don’t believe in karma like that.” or “Respect is earned, not just given willy-nilly.” or “Well, in my belief system the world runs on the eye for an eye principle so if someone screws me over or makes me feel stupid, I can do whatever it takes to level that playing field.”

You don’t have to believe in karma to understand that what goes around comes around.

Universal principles exist and show themselves, with or without your belief in them or your petty arguments on terminology for said events. The seasons, the life/death cycle, “acts of God” weather and other Universal events will soon show you differently if you truly feel you’re the one in control of the entire world’s development!

The only thing that glaringly, embarrassingly shows, like a run in your brand new stockings, is your own overblown ego if you refuse to understand there are forces larger than yourself at work in the Universe as a whole.

Respect should indeed be earned within specific arenas such as professions and education, to name but a few. However, there should also be a basic, human respect of one living being to another, without the need to prove anything other than that they too are a person living on this planet with the same basic needs and desires as every other human being on the planet – good, nutritional food, clean water, community, family and the like. Even if their needs and desires don’t immediately meet or match your own doesn’t make yours or theirs any more or less vital or valid than the other.

As for the “eye for an eye” folks, all that happens when you take out the eye of another based on that principle is that you end up going blind, in one way or another, yourself.

I am not saying forgiveness is always the answer or that “turn the other cheek” is the answer in all situations either. But more often than not, when a human being thinks his or her own bruised ego, knee-jerk, forceful, violent ways are the answer; it is the opposite answer that is usually the one that would actually solve the problem for good.

Differences in personal dogma have been call and cause for the culling of our world populations for centuries, since the beginning of known, current history. Do we really need to continue to prove to ourselves that human beings can find constantly new and more awful ways to be horrendous to one another?

Furthermore, why are we still actually entertained by such violence or allow something as petty as big business concerns to be the reason our fellow human beings proudly go off to die by the hundreds of thousands in service to their country – with a very few that make it home alive only to find that they have no home to come back to?

This is not to say that I am all the “Light, Love and Happiness, Rainbows and Pretty Unicorns All Day Every Day!” kind of dreamer. I simply feel that the Universe itself already has chaos and death and violence in its own makeup without human beings adding to the mix out of basic ignorance, ego, selfishness and intolerance.

Mother Nature has that whole destruction thing down pat, people! She doesn’t need our scum covered little human toddler hands muddling up the works by trying to “help!”

Like kids in the playground sandbox, we’re still caught up, after all these centuries in basic Intolerance-based border skirmishes! Pagan communities are just as guilty of this issue as many Christian organizations and many of the “problems” that I hear bantered about in mainstream organizations are just as rampant in Pagan ones because we still aren’t addressing Intolerance actively as individuals, much less as a community! You cannot claim to be better than the thing you abhor and left behind if you’re guilty of the same crimes against humanity after you change sides.

Border skirmishes based on differences of dogma were a good portion of the basis of the Middle Eastern conflict since long before the US ever became interested enough in the business aspects that finally rooted our entry into the wars in the Middle East.

Border skirmishes based on intolerance, racial differences, religious differences are at the root basis of much of the gang violence rampant in Los Angeles and many other parts of the US and have even gone so far as to spawn their own subculture out of the necessities of their living circumstances rather than strengthening as a community to truly fight the issues that took them to that point of de-evolution that effects gang neighborhoods.

Border skirmishes based on Intolerance, lies and violence were what displaced every Native American in this country when the English, French, Spanish and others all came to a land the Natives had already figured out how to live harmoniously upon.

Did those people who were new here listen to those that had lived there for generations?

Oh no, they were seen as “ignorant savages” who knew nothing of community elderly and child care, community health care, balanced inter-tribal politics and trade or even the simplest necessities for making it through the winter alive.

Yet, here we are still stuck in wars where body counts, gun counts, missile counts and cash numbers, advertising and fear tactics, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction threaten the supposedly “enlightened” peoples of this day and age? Seriously?

Can’t we just get out of the sand box, stop fighting over who brought the coolest toys or who can do the most damage and have some dang milk and cookies like good little spiritual brothers and sisters here?

Intolerance should have no place in the modern human mind.

Look to the simpler, tribal times of our ancient ancestors and to those who are still living in those harmonious ways in many places in the world today that we spoiled Americans call “third world, undeveloped” countries. Perhaps they don’t have our amenities in their homes, our advertising and fast and un-nutritious foods on every corner of their city streets or even have motorized vehicles.

But when women group together to gather the water for entire streets and neighborhoods while singing, serving more than just their own family’s needs every single day, it is we who could learn something from their joyful song and service.

When villages in South America that have disagreed for generations can work together to build pipelines for water for both villages’ benefit, we have something to learn from those “savages.”

When doctors and shamans in Tibet still ride donkeys or walk, sometimes for days, to treat the ill in body, mind and spirit and the community comes together to see to the needs of that doctor if the patient cannot pay for services themselves, it is our “modern physicians” and spiritual healers that could learn something about true caring compassionate healing for a patient and our community’s selfishly spoiled upper crust could learn what it means to make sure that all are cared for instead of arguing over whether or not our individual choices can remain as cushy as we’re selfishly accustomed to as we begin to explore a National Health care system in the US.

Get a clue, people! In the United States, our biggest sign of malnutrition is the over 65% of our citizens suffering from obesity! There are currently over 154, 000 US veterans – those that fought for our right to be this freely spoiled rotten – living on the streets, homeless!

Our ignorance, gluttony and selfishness is written all over us in our own fat flesh and high blood pressure ratings while these other “uncivilized” peoples starve from lack of food and clean water, but have us completely beaten on how to treat each other as human beings!

How can that be acceptable to educated, aware, community members? ANY community, much less ones who supposedly WORSHIP Nature’s balance and bounty?

Let’s also be keeping in mind that most of the other major countries of the world have already gotten some of these questions, such as National Health care, answered successfully decades ago and it is the US that is catching up and griping all the way about rises in taxes to help the overall common good of all Americans, top to bottom of the food chain.

Canadians are thrilled to only be paying 10% taxes right now, down from the 18-20% its been in the past to help pay for their health care system and other social amenities currently underdeveloped and desperately needed in the US.

Those in the UK have paid the English equivalent of anywhere from $10-20 per gallon for gasoline for years and yet Americans were having fits over gas hitting $4 per gallon within the last year? Who is it really that needs to get real, learn some Tolerance for people and for change and learn to attune as citizens of the world’s needs instead of for their own selfish, individualized gains and stunted, silent caste systems of bigoted intolerance so obviously still active in many places in our country?

How can it not be seen that intolerance is at the root of all of these issues…and that it is a curable state of being that, if taken on by the whole of a community, doesn’t really weigh all that hard on the individual?

As a student of the Universe, I do not look for a time when all people will “believe as one.” I do not believe that Harmony requires everything be alike, as that in itself would also be an imbalance. Diversity is a necessity of life. If sameness were the truth of how things should be, music wouldn’t have different notes that make up the chords that sing the songs of the Universe through orchestrations. Harmony is created when notes co-exist on different lines for their own sake and in their own timing to a rhythm that is greater than each individual note.

Therefore, what I look forward to is the day when individuals can learn from and about other’s beliefs without their own being threatened in any way, without fear or disgust. I look forward to the day when those that do not believe the same way can simply agree to disagree and still work for the common good of all living beings on the planet. I look forward to the time when tolerance and compassion is as common a pair of qualities in human beings as ego, laziness, selfishness and desire.

I look forward to the awakening of human beings to the idea that tolerance is not acceptance nor is it automatically an admission of support of the differing idea or practice presented. I look forward to the day humans sing in beautiful, diversified harmony, the song of the planet’s common good.

Tolerance is simply the ability to allow all things to exist, as the Universe would have them, not as you would have them. Tolerance means allowing even those things that you do not agree with personally to exist for those who do believe in them.

Tolerance is difficult, however, as it requires a type of fearful and fearless faith in the patterns of the Universe to be “correct, ” whether we human beings see that correctness, the fullness of the pattern or not. This is not a concept that many human beings find easy to comprehend, much less practice inside themselves or in their daily lives. However, if goals such as this were easy, there would be no need for the inner battles that make each of us better people.

I believe Tolerance is a worthy and attainable goal for every individual that can have the bettering ripple effect of creating a harmony as yet unseen by modern history.

Care to join the experiment?

The Ordains – On the Witch’s personal standards and spirituality

The Ordains

On the Witch’s personal standards and spirituality

1. An ye harm none, do as ye will.

2. If you know the Rede is being broken, you must work strongly against it.

3. Watch, listen, and withhold judgment; in debate let your silences be long, your thoughts clear, and your words carefully chosen.

4. Never boast, or threaten, or speak evil of anyone.

5. Be truthful always, save when speaking would lead to a great harm.

6. Keep clean your body, your clothes, and your house.

7. Should you take a task upon yourself, work hard and well to accomplish it properly and in good time. Always do the best you can.

8. Do not haggle over the price of your ritual tools.

9. Witches know that there no absolute truths.

10. Witches understand that the Universe consists of perfect balance; therefore, everything has an opposite.

11. Witches realise that for every action there is a reaction. (The Law of Three)

12. Witches know that we are all one; we are all connected.

13. Never lie to yourself, for this is the ultimate act of deceit.

14. Witches understand that the ultimate act of spirituality is the act of positive creation through love.

15. Witches realise that the energy created through worship and rituals manifests as a circular stream of positive energy.

16. Witches should never close their minds to knowledge.

17. Never practice a magickal system that you don’t fully understand.

18. Do not set a price on your magickal work.

19. A Witch uses the magickal circle as a physical and non-physical representation of a temple on the earth plane.

20. Witches use the energies around them to assist in raising power.

21. Witches use common sense and do not share their mysteries with fools.

22. A Witch who knowingly breaks the Law (Ordains) will not be permitted to incarnate on Earth again.

Mechanics of Spellcasting

Spellcasting is the lesser, not the greater magic; but the greater

magic builds on the lesser. The paradox is that in spellcasting we

may start out working with the personal self, but in order to work

the magic we are forced to expand and recognize the Self that moves

through all beings.

Magic involves the deliberate self-identification with other objects

and people. For example, to do a healing, we must become the healer,

the one who is healed, and the energy that is to do the healing. To

attract love, we must be able to love ourselves and to become love

its self.

Spells work in two basic ways. The first is through suggestion;

symbols and images implant certain ideas in Younger Self, or the

subconscious mind, and we are then influenced to actualize those

ideas. Spells can also influence the external world.

The theoretical model that witches use to explain the workings of

magic is a clear one and coincides in many ways with the “new”

physics. It is simply an elaborate but extremely useful metaphor. The

metaphor is based on a world view that sees things not as fixed

objects, but as vortexes of energy. The physical world is formed by

the vortexes of energy, and if we cause a change in the energy

patterns they, in turn, cause a change in the physical world. When

our own energy is concentrated and channeled, it can move the broader

energy currents. The images and objects used in spells are the

channels. They are the vessels through which our power is poured, and

by which it is shaped.

As energy is directed into the images we visualize, it gradually

manifests physical form and takes shape in the material world.

Directing energy is not a matter of simply emoting. Emotion can be

likened to a strobe light which provides a very inconstant light,

while directed energy is more like a laser beam. Even concentrated

power is a small stream compared with the vast surges of energy that

surround us. The most adept witch cannot be successful in all her

spells, for the opposing currents are often too strong.

The craft teaches to first identify the flow of energy and then to

decide whether or not it is going where we want it to go. If it is

not, then we can try to deflect it, or we may have to change our own

course. Sensing the energy climate is a matter of intuition and

experience. Some witches make a study of Astrology in an effort to

plan their magical workings at the optimal times, while others prefer

to work when they feel the time is right.

Of all the planets, the Moon’s influence on subtle energies is the

strongest. Subtle power increases as the Moon waxes, so the time of

the waxing Moon is best for spells involving growth or increase, such

as money spells. The power peaks when the Moon is full and that is

the best time for workings of culmination and love. During the waning

Moon, power subsides and turns inward. The waning Moon’s period is

used for banishings, bindings, and discovering hidden secrets. The

practical witch soon learns to adjust her spells to fit the time of

the Moon. If, for example, she needs to do a money spell during the

waning Moon, she would put a little ‘English’ on it and make it a

poverty banishing spell.

Energy pursues the path of least resistance. Material results are

more easily achieved on this plane of existence through physical

actions than through magical workings. For example, it is simpler to

lock your door than suffer the constant drain from maintaining

psychic seals on your doors and windows while you are away from home.

Of course, once you have locked your door, you might feel more

reassured by placing seals on it.

No magic spell is going to bring results unless channels are opened

into the material world. For example, a job spell is useless if you

are not willing to go out and interview for jobs or at least let

potential employers know that you are in the market for one. In the

same vein, a healing spell is no substitute for medical care.

Most medicine today can be broken down into two broad categories,

emergency medicine and that which is not needed for immediate life-

threatening situations. Emergency medicine has excelled at

stabilizing the body’s condition so that it can repair itself at its

own pace. Most other forms of medicine consist of treatment through

surgery or chemotherapy or a combination of both. The procedures

noted above work on the physical body and do not take the other

levels into consideration. Psychic healing works at healing the

higher levels of the person so that the physical heals itself or

allows the person to let go of their physical body if it cannot be

repaired. In either case, the choice rests with the person who is

being healed and not the healer.

Visualization used in creating a spell should focus on the desired

result, not the individual steps leading up to the result. We give

the spell free rein in how it goes about achieving the results with

the understanding that it is not to bring harm to anyone or any

being. For this reason, spells have a habit of working in very

unexpected ways.

To assure that the power we have unleashed does not inadvertently

cause harm, we bind the spell. This serves to ‘set’ the form we have

created so that the energy becomes fixed in the pattern we desire.

The energy we project to others affects us even more strongly than

the other person. This is because we have generated the energy, and

thus we have become the object at which the energy is directed. If

healing energy is sent out, then the health of the person casting the

spell is enhanced. By the same token, any hex or curse that is sent

out ALWAYS affects the person who sends it no matter whether it

affected the person it was sent at or not.

Reference:

Witches Of The Craft at Yuku.com

Stones Associated With The Third Chakra

Third Chakra (navel and solar plexus area)

This is the chakra of physical and material power, with an emphasis on mastery in the physical realm, especially the ability to manifest one’s hopes and dreams. It relates to expressing one’s unique individuality in the physical world.

When it is unblocked people feel self-confident, have a clear sense of purpose, and pursue dreams which others would consider impossible. Imbalances appear as lack of self-confidence, insecurity about money or other physical things, and may also express itself in terms of being aggressive or using one’s power to dominate others. Physical symptoms are usually digestive.

Stones associated with the third chakra:

Aragonite has a calming and stabilizing effect, especially on emotions such as anger and stress.

Citrine is the stone most related to manifesting abundance and to the balanced use of will.

Golden calcite helps to integrate new energies and beliefs areas related to personal empowerment, such as relationships and business.

Malachite releases congestion in the solar plexus, and aids creativity.

Rhodochrosite assists in deep breathing, thus helping to relieve anxiety and tension.

Rutilated quartz helps to add enhanced creating energy to our dreams.

Pyrite helps us to come up with creative ideas which can help bring abundance in our lives.

Tiger’s eye helps to teach us good timing in terms of when to act on a dream.

Unakite Unakite helps us to understand the mental and emotional sources for it. It is also believed to help release conditions which have been inhibiting personal growth.

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection (Part 1)

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily OM for August 23 – Disapproving Faces

Disapproving Faces

Not Everybody Will Like You

by Madisyn Taylor

Not everybody we meet will like us and it is ok to move into acceptance rather than trying to make somebody like you.

It is not necessarily a pleasant experience, but there will be times in our lives when we come across people who do not like us. As we know, like attracts like, so usually when they don’t like us it is because they are not like us. Rather than taking it personally, we can let them be who they are, accepting that each of us is allowed to have different perspectives and opinions. When we give others that freedom, we claim it for ourselves as well, releasing ourselves from the need for their approval so we can devote our energy toward more rewarding pursuits.

While approval from others is a nice feeling, when we come to depend on it we may lose our way on our own path. There are those who will not like us no matter what we do, but that doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with us. Each of us has our own filters built from our experiences over time. They may see in us something that is merely a projection of their understanding, but we have no control over the interpretations of others. The best we can do is to hope that the role we play in the script of their lives is helpful to them, and follow our own inner guidance with integrity.

As we reap the benefits of walking our perfect paths, we grow to appreciate the feeling of fully being ourselves. The need to have everyone like us will be replaced by the exhilaration of discovering that we are attracting like-minded individuals into our lives—people who like us because they understand and appreciate the truth of who we are. We free ourselves from trying to twist into shapes that will fit the spaces provided by others’ limited understanding and gain a new sense of freedom, allowing us to expand into becoming exactly who we’re meant to be. And in doing what we know to be right for us, we show others that they can do it too. Cocreating our lives with the universe and its energy of pure potential, we transcend limitations and empower ourselves to shine our unique light, fully and freely.

Living As The Witch – Sanctifying the Temple of the Body

Sanctifying the Temple of the Body

Of all the spaces that surround us, of all the blessings we send out into the world, of all the things we honor and consider sacred, it is often our own bodies that are most in need of honor and celebration. Considered by many to be the behicle through which our soul experiences the physical world, our bodies are indeed worthy of recognition as the spiritual temples they are. Too frequently we focus on our perceived physical imperfections, forget the miracle of the body’s ability to heal itself when we are ailing, or take for granted the fragile balance our bodies need to sustain us, instead choosing to abuse ourselves with excess, deprive ourselves of adequate sleep or nourishing food, and engage in other physically and psychologically damaging behaviors.

For women especially how we carry ourselves and think about our body is incredibly emotionally charged. We are constantly being bombarded with messages telling us how we are supposed to look and what we are supposed to wear. Women’s bodies have been objectified by a culture that has also programmed us to believe they are objects of sin and shame. Reclaiming the sacred nature of our physical form is a service both to our selves and to our sisters – it is a rejection of the old paradigm and a reframing of how women think about themselves on their own terms.

There is a Hermetic Axiom that states: “As above, so below. As within, so without.” Our treatment and reverence for our body both reflects upon, and is a reflection of, the spirit that dwells within. How can you bring a sense of the sacred to your physical self? Perhaps you can incorporate a daily routine of self-anointing with oils you have blessed for this purpose and choose to consciously eat wholesome foods to power your body-temple. Indulge in sacred spa days and pamper yourself with a luxurious bath scented with herbs and flowers that stimulate the essence of the Divine within. Wear colors and styles that reflect your personality and make you feel beautiful, rather than feeling like a slave to the trends of fashion. Adorn yourself with stones and symbolic jewelry that serve as reminders of your holy nature. And perhaps most importantly, support other women in cultivating a sense of the self as sacred: discourage self-deprecating remarks, do not engage in disempowering body behaviors, and praise your sisters and brothers as the beautiful and perfect beings they are.

While it is useful and beneficial to create a physical sacred space, such as a hearth or garden, creating sacred space within yourself may be the best thing you can do for your spirit.

Excerpt from:

Making Space Sacred

Jhenah Telyndru

Llewellyn’s 2012 Witches’ Companion

Daily OM for August 21 – We Are Beings of Light

We Are Beings of Light

Beyond the Physical

by Madisyn Taylor

It is through our connection to our light that we know things beyond what the visible world can tell us.

We are all beings of light. Put another way, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. As children, most of us know this, but other human beings who have forgotten what they really are and who cannot help us to know ourselves train us to forget. As a result, we are led to believe that magic is not real, that our invisible playmates do not really exist, and that we are limited beings with only one earthly life to live. There is enormous pressure to conform to this concept of ourselves and so we lose touch with our full potential, forgetting that we are beings of light.

At this time, many of us are reawakening to the truth of who we are, because we are living amidst such large-scale changes in the world. We need to access this light in order to not only survive but thrive as we shift into a new order of consciousness. As the changes around us proceed in rapid progression, we will want to be able to trust our own ability to sense what is happening and how we can best respond. We are no longer living in a predictable world in which we can trust external authority figures and prior ideas about reality to guide us. We need to be able to access the information that will help us navigate these uncertain waters, and the ultimate authority resides in our awareness of ourselves as beings of light.

It is through our connection to this light that we know things beyond what the visible world can tell us, and we see things beyond what the physical world reveals. In order to access this wisdom, we can simply allow ourselves to remember that we are not limited, as we have been taught. In fact, we are filled with divine grace and power that is ours for the asking. A daily practice of tuning into this vast potential, conversing with it, and offering ourselves up to it opens the door through which we can reclaim our true identity, taking ownership of the calling that the time has come to create bliss on earth.

The Fifth Rede – The Summerland

THE FIFTH REDE – THE SUMMERLAND

Upon Earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond
death, I give peace and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone
before.
Moondaughter taught that the polarity of Inner Self and Outer Self was also
manifest in the universe as a whole. The Outer Self of the universe is the world
known to materialistic science; its Inner Self is the world we touch through
meditation and ritual. For Moondaughter, however, the Inner World was not just
“in our heads”; it was an objective reality. Incarnate human beings, she taught,
exist simultaneously in both worlds.

Microcosm and Macrocosm

According to Moondaughter, each incarnate human being is a microcosm of the
universe. That part of us which exists in the Outer World dances the cycle of
birth and death, and ultimately returns to the earth — and in this it shares
the basic nature of the Outer World. The spirit, however, shares the nature of
the Inner World, and does not die, but continues to exist in that world.

Moondaughter taught that each of these Inner (spiritual) and Outer (materical)
parts of us itself consists of both an invisible Inner Self and a visible Outer
Self, and in later years I have come to associate what she called the Inner Self
of the material world with the what occultists call the etheric shell, and the
Outer Self of the spirit with the “astral body.” Thus, the mind/body polarity
exists in both worlds, and just as our physical bodies have senses which
perceive the Outer World, so also do our spiritual bodies have senses which
perceive the Inner World.

The Spirit Eternal

Because incarnate humans have these inner senses, we are capable of forming
relationships with disincarnate spirits. Indeed, Moondaughter taught that each
man and woman is constantly in relationship with many such spirits, but that
most human beings are so distracted by the material world that they never notice
the other half of their existence.

Even when unnoticed, however, these relationships affect us. My own experience
of meditation and ritual has confirmed for me that incarnate humans do indeed
interact with disincarnate spirits, and that we can become aware of these
relationships if we make the effort.

The Threefold Law

Moondaughter taught us that during physical life, the Inner Self and Outer Self
exchange elements. The character of our Inner Selves sets its mark upon our
bodies, and the flow of energy from the Inner Self can heal and energize the
physical body. At the same time, the character of our actions sets its mark upon
our Inner Selves, and the flow of energy from our Outer Selves shapes and
nourishes the growth of the spirit.

This I understand to be one of the ways in which the Threefold Law operates: the
character of our actions — helpful or harmful — sends a flow of energy to our
spirits which changes us. Thus any harmful act directly harms the self, in
addition to harming the victim and the universe as a whole.

The Flowering of the Spirit

It is this growth of the spirit, Moondaughter taught us, that determines our
experience of the Summerland. Human beings know joy when they relate to each
other, and to the Lord and Lady, as lover and beloved. Such relationships,
however, are not automatic; we, like the other fruits of the earth, grow to
ripeness.

A human spirit which has grown to be capable of mature love relationships
experiences the universe as a place of joy, but a human spirit which has
cultivated selfishness and exploitation of others lives a joyless, barren
existence.

During physical life, one can hide from this joylessness by glutting oneself
with bodily sensations, but not so in the Summerland. According to Moondaughter,
the malleable nature of the Inner World is such that one’s environment changes
in response to one’s thoughts and emotions, so one cannot hide from the
barrenness of one’s own character.

For those who have cultivated in themselves the loving nature of the Lord and
Lady, life in the Summerland is filled with joy. There we are reunited with
those we have loved on earth; there we can live constantly in the presence of
the Lord and Lady; there we can embrace those disincarnate friends who supported
us during our physical lives, and give our support in turn to those who follow
us in the dance of birth and death.

The Second REDE – The Web of Life

THE SECOND REDE – THE WEB OF LIFE

There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet
have not won its deepest secrets; to these shall I teach things that
are as yet unknown.

Moondaughter taught us that the act of creation did not end when the Lady gave birth to the universe. Energy continuously generated by the loving union of the
Lord and Lady still radiates to every being, linking all things together in a
vast web.
According to Moondaughter, however, individual beings do not receive this energy
in isolation; it is through the web of relationships between beings that all
share in the energy of life. These relationships determine the character of
every being, and so by changing these relationships, we can change reality.

Magical Relationships

Changing relationships was the kind of magic Moondaughter most often recommended
to her students, especially in the early months of training when the focus was
upon changing the self. She urged her students to take conscious control of
their relationships with thoughtforms, and to make a magical act of their
interaction with others.

Thus she might advise a student troubled by self-doubt to cut off interaction
with doubts and thus deprive such thoughts of their energy. Or she might advise
a student to overcome dislike of a fellow student by making a magical ritual of
treating the other as a friend.

The psychological effects of such techniques are obvious — and not without
their dangers. But the effects of Moondaughter’s techniques were magical as well
as psychological, and under Moondaughter’s gentle guidance, students kept both
their magic and their psychology in balance.

For Moondaughter, the magic of psychological and interpersonal relationships was
just one example of a set of principles which equally applied to the
interdependence of the ecosystem and the invisible energies that we call magic.
In every case influencing the relevant relationships can cause change.

The Dangers of Magic

Moondaughter taught, however, that to exercise such influence one must oneself
enter into relationship with that which one would change. Since every
relationship alters for good or ill each being who is a party to it, every
spell, for better or worse, is a spell of self-transformation.

We were taught that in order to enter into a relationship with an other, we must
have certain elements in common with the other, and those common elements become
the initial basis of the relationship. I know of no magical system which does
not include operations which have the purpose of creating within the operator
herself those elements possessed by that force which she wishes to call upon, in
order that the resulting relationship will be strong enough to produce a
manifestation on the physical plane.

Since all beings are children of the same Parents, there is no other with whom
one has absolutely nothing in common, but the character of the relationship will
be influenced by the particular commonalties which exist. During the
relationship the two beings share elements, and so that commonalty which is the
basis of the relationship tends to expand.

Obviously this makes intercourse with demonic entities prohibitively costly, but
Moondaughter taught that the same principle is at work in physical world
relationships as well. Relationships, esoteric or mundane, change us.

Magical Correspondences

Moondaughter’s tradition, rooted as it was in rural life, made little use of the
more complex props and associations of ceremonial magic. Nevertheless, it seems
to me that her teachings on relationships explain well why ceremonialists should
make use of such associations.

Enhancing a working with the proper color, the proper incense, the proper day
and time, and a hundred other such correspondences increases the common elements
which form the basis of the worker’s link to the object of the ritual, and
greatly increases the worker’s link to the egregore of whichever tradition which
has handed down those particular associations. Likewise, Moondaughter’s
understanding of relationships would explain why clippings of hair or
fingernails, photographs, or objects closely associated with a person or place
could add power to a working.

Moondaughter’s tradition, however, made almost no use of such things. I believe
that, if I had been wise enough to question her about this, she would have said
that the Web of Life already connects us to every other being, and that the most
important common elements in any magical working are wholly within oneself.

Practicing With Dark Energies

Practicing With Dark Energies

Author: Meph

There’s too much confusion and misinformation out there regarding Dark energy workings, not helped by media portrayals from The Craft to Harry Potter’s “Protection from the Dark Arts” teachers. “Dark” does not automatically mean evil, bad, or nasty. It can just mean “Dark.” “Light” and “Dark” are just two of many dualities in the Universe – e.g., Ying/Yang, Birth/Death, Female/Male. Together, they form a natural balance – without one, the other could not exist. Learning to responsibly work with both is required by many traditions and recommended to make you a better Witch.

Energy is Energy

We believe energy is energy. There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” energy; it just is, much like electricity is neither good nor bad. What matters is the intent of the person or persons casting the spell.

Energy can be used for both creative and destructive purposes; however, “destructive” does not have to automatically mean “bad” or “evil”. As the Universe is balanced, and there must be both death and life, so both creative and destructive energies have their place.

Our standard example is healing. How would you possibly use Dark, destructive energy for healing? A friend has cancer and asks for your help; you have full consent and the person will be present in the Circles. You perform two Circles with them. During the first, at Full Moon, you raise constructive White Light energy and direct it to their entire body (less the site of the cancer). This raises their energy level, helps them overcome the side effects of the medical cancer treatments they are taking, and keeps them from developing secondary problems. Then, fourteen days later on New Moon, you have them in a New Moon Circle. This time you deliberately raise Dark energy — killing energy — and very carefully direct it at the cancer itself. An effective use of Dark energy for healing, and an excellent example of using both sides of the duality.

Another use is to remove obstacles or blocks. During Full Moon circles we’ll use each of the four elements’ positive properties to help us achieve a goal. During New Moon we’ll use each element’s destructive properties to remove or destroy what stands in our way or blocks us.

Care and Ethics

Keep in mind using Dark energy is not something to be taken lightly. It requires patience, experience, and, most of all, control and ethics.

In the above cancer example, what would happen if your control was off just a bit and your guidance in directing the killing energy was off by a few inches? Unless you can create, manipulate and direct energy very, very precisely (and know your anatomy), take great care. Otherwise you can end up doing far more harm than good. If you’re going to use magic for healing, take close note of the old medical ethics statement “Primum non nocere” – “First, do no harm”. You wouldn’t hand a scalpel to a child and tell them to operate. So don’t hand Dark workings to anyone not trained and prepared to work them.

Likewise, ethically, always differentiate between removing an obstacle or block and tromping on someone else’s will and freedom of choice. If you’re having a problem getting that cute boy to notice you, target Dark energy to destroy your shyness, not to destroy your competition.

Balance

All of life is a balancing act. Nature is full of balances; never exact but swinging back and forth. The length of day and night, equal at the Equinoxes and most out of balance at the Solstices. The Moon – going from Full to New and back again. The circle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. All of these are balances of dualities. Likewise, Light and Dark energies are merely balances of two sides of the coin of energy.

As you start to work with both Light and Dark energies (or, more precisely, constructive and destructive intents), keep in mind the balance. This doesn’t mean an exact balancing between the two all of the time, but if you find yourself getting too far one way or the other, stop and reflect and see if the rest of your life isn’t getting out of balance as well.

Practicing Light and Dark

The easiest way we’ve found to teach Light and Dark energy work is to start by doing Moon workings. Practice these on the days of the Full and New Moon. I used to have to find a Moon calendar once a year and then remember where I put it; now I just keep the U.S. Naval Observatory’s “Phases of the Moon” page bookmarked ( http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html#y2006) . Working on the actual day of is best, but we’ll go one to two days either way if necessary.

To practice, perform a Circle. After Casting, invoke each quarter and invoke the appropriate aspect of the element. For example, during Full you might call upon Water and visualize a soothing bath, or cool breezes for Air. During Dark you might call on earthslides (or mudslides, if in California) for Earth or a raging inferno for Fire (be careful of your candles if you do this latter one). Then raise a cone of energy – appropriately colored – and release it to accomplish your intent. But be very careful in your intent. It should be both specific and ethical.

Another practice takes the form of meditations.

As a Dark meditation, we teach an anger meditation. Sit in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Center and ground, and then visualize your anger. Take your anger to each of the four quarters and use the destructive aspects of each element to destroy your anger – burn it, bury it, drown it, blow it away. If all your anger isn’t gone, run through it again. At the end, take a long time to ground very thoroughly.

As a Light meditation, we teach an encouragement meditation. Like the Dark meditation, do the same, but visualize something in your life – part of you, your kindness, getting good grades, or the ability to succeed at your job. Likewise, take what you visualized to each of the four elements, but this time use the constructive aspects of each element to help, encourage and grow what you’re trying to increase or improve.

Balanced Practicing

As you learn and continue to work both Dark and Light, hopefully your life will improve and be more balanced itself. Working with both gives you one more set of magical tools to help you in your life. It’s up to you to use them wisely.

Create a Supportive Life Story

Empowered Storytelling

by Madisyn Taylor

We all have a story to tell, but sometimes we get stuck in that story and become our story.

We all have our own life story. It is filled with relationships and events that help shape who we are and what we believe to be true about the world. Depending on our perspective and willingness to grow, our experiences can become fodder for negativity and patterns of playing the victim, or they can fuel a life of empowerment and continued self-development. It is the story we tell ourselves about what happens that makes all the difference.

Take a moment to look at the life story you create for yourself on an ongoing basis. If you generally feel peaceful about the past and trust in your ability to handle whatever comes your way, then you are framing circumstances in a manner that serves you well. On the other hand, if you retain a lot of guilt or resentment and often feel weighed down by life, you may want to start telling yourself a new version of past and present events. No matter who the characters are in your story or what they have done, you are the only one who can give their actions the meaning they will have for you. You are the only one who can define what role you will play in your own life. By taking responsibility for your story, you are able to learn and grow, forgive and find compassion, and most importantly, move on into a brighter future.

From now on, you can choose a life story that supports you. Let it be proof of your own resilience and creativity. Be kind with the roles you give yourself and generous with how many chances you get to learn what you need to know. When you remember that you are the author of your own story, you are free to create a masterpiece

Daily OM for July 12 – Universal Timing

Universal Timing

Life’s Natural Rhythm

by Madisyn Taylor

Slowing down and listening to your own natural rhythm can quickly connect you to the Universe.

Nature’s natural rhythms orchestrate when day turns to night, when flowers must bloom, and provides the cue for when it is time for red and brown leaves to fall from trees. As human beings, our own inner rhythm is attuned to this universal sense of timing. Guided by the rising and setting of the sun, changes in temperature, and our own internal rhythm, we know when it is time to sleep, eat, or be active. While our minds and spirits are free to focus on other pursuits, our breath and our heartbeat are always there to remind us of life’s pulsing rhythm that moves within and around us.

Moving to this rhythm, we know when it is time to stop working and when to rest. Pushing our bodies to work beyond their natural rhythm diminishes our ability to renew and recharge. A feeling much like jet lag lets us know when we’ve overridden our own natural rhythm. When we feel the frantic calls of all we want to accomplish impelling us to move faster than is natural for us, we may want to breathe deeply instead and look at nature moving to its own organic timing: birds flying south, leaves shedding, or snow falling. A walk in nature can also let us re-attune is to her organic rhythm, while allowing us to move back in time with our own. When we move to our natural rhythm, we can achieve all we need to do with less effort.

We may even notice that our soul moves to its own internal, natural rhythm – especially when it comes to our personal evolution. Comparing ourselves to others is unnecessary. Our best guide is to move to our own internal timing, while keeping time with the rhythm of nature.

Lilith, Queen of Our Hearts

Author: Zanaffar

Lilith is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic beings who, in one way or another, put her imprint on the human race. Most spiritual beings that we perceive as gods and goddesses have very distinct roles, and their relationship with humans is merely a supportive one. Since they all belong to a certain sphere, or represent a certain force of the Universe — some even in our planet’s nature — they offer their support to each human who performs an activity, or studies and works within their sphere or the force they represent. This support comes in form of energy and never, or extremely rarely, takes the form of an intervention or personal implication. This is perfectly understandable, because they are not human. Their knowledge and experience seems limitless compared to ours and so they know better than to interfere with human matters.

Many practitioners may say that a specific god or goddess offered them direct help, but this is only how we look at things. By drawing a certain power to themselves and combining that energy with their personal desires and will the result may seem like a divine grace or intervention. Power and energy is free for all to possess. Since you are free to do what you think is best (supporting the consequences of karma of course) with it… in this sense, a specific representative of a force may seem to have helped you. But Lilith is an entity who proceeds very differently.

We can find the story of Lilith in Jewish mythology, according to which she was the first wife of Adam. She refused to submit to a male’s will and chose a different path for herself. Her image is also associated with Ishtar, Astarte, and many other goddess images. Thanks to these legends, the Christian currents made her one of the most feared and dangerous of female demons, and this continual spiritual ‘gossip’, so to speak, nowadays creates a very false image of what she really is.

The following information is based purely on my personal spiritual research and cannot be found in any book. So here comes my version of Lilith’s story based on my experiences and research:

The origins of Lilith, where she came from, in what form she came, the nature of her spiritual essence is unknown. It’s certain that her true origins are alien from the spheres we know, and the structure of our world. What is certain that she is a female entity, she has a very well defined and strong personality and she has human characteristics … and because of these attributes, she probably is close to humans, our world, and our plane of existence.

Many say that her native element is fire. My opinion is that it is all of them, especially their combination that we might call the psychic plane. It is for certain that Lilith was in contact with humans and eventually those entities that are dominant in the Jewish mythology, and it is also certain that she rejected all for of dominance from others. From her first contact with the entities native to our world (even before humans) she underwent an intense and rapid process of evolution, thanks to which she mastered the energies of our natural spheres just like other entities. From the legends, we can understand that she learned from both demonic and angelic forces, embracing all the aspects of the Universe and placing herself in the middle… surprisingly similar to what humans do.

Some legends say that she had “sexual intercourses” with certain angels and demonic beings all suggesting an energy transfer, a process of learning. (We all can understand that a sexual intercourse from a spiritual point of view is something very different than we perceive from a physical point of view) . This energetic transfer, which the legends speak about, is a totally different phenomenon that clearly underlines her unique nature since neither angelic nor demonic beings are known to manifest in this way. (They are in permanent contact with each other, and in order to keep the sacred balance of our world, there are numerous phenomena of energy transfers, but nothing of this nature.) This manifestation… is highly unusual.

Thanks to her unique evolution, this female entity earned herself a very distinct position in our world. Unlike other beings, even goddesses who represent love, attraction, fertility, birth, reproduction, Lilith represents attraction in every form, both human, physical, psychic, spiritual energetic… you name it.

To many, this nature and role of hers is against the rules of nature, against the balance of our world. It can be seen as a spiritual and energetic perversion. This might be true, but it can also be seen in a very different way. By sacrificing her purity, in the sense that she might interfere in the delicate rules of our world, by releasing patterns of unusual, and unlikely attraction she catalyzes, encourages and helps evolution.

This act of hers can be considered as a huge, unspeakably valuable boost to all evolution in our world. And this doesn’t just affect humans; it affects every spirit who by its nature is susceptible to attraction. Only if two different, separate elements that resonate on an energetic level meet each other, can a third one, totally new and unique, be born. Without her attraction, this “mutation” so to speak, would take place in very, very slow paces.

Her power makes sure that if two elements are formally incompatible, this difference of manifestation can turn into attraction, reciprocal exploration and atone point unity, a change of experiences, a change of energies, fortifying both, offering something new and unique to both and, in some cases, even result in the birth of something new.

Thanks to this role of hers, she is a goddess, an entity of true love, because only love is that special force which attracts energies, matter, particles, spirits. Excluding another element because it’s different or formally incompatible is NOT unconditional love anymore, and this is what she is all about.

As I told you before, she doesn’t submit to any rule or regulation and this is what makes her relationship with humans so different. She is a guardian of women and believes in the superiority of the female element and she does encourage its perseverance in an active fashion. In other words, she sticks her nose into other beings’ businesses and this gesture of hers could be considered extremely outrageous spiritually. Very few entities present in our sphere do this; but all who do, in one way or another, consider themselves free from all rules and obligations and follow their own personal paths.

Lilith may be a harlot, temptress, seductress, goddess of prostitutes, source of the primordial sin, but her attraction and the forces she mastered make her the true queen of love and devoted defender of women.

For her free spirit, her incredible activity, and for her sense of justice and for her unequaled talent and power, I respect her and thank for what she is offering our world.

Daily OM for May 26th – The Benefits of Singing

The Benefits of Singing
Harmonizing with the Universe

by Madisyn Taylor

The act of singing is one of the easiest ways of raising the vibration of your body as you harmonize with the universe.

Singing is an act of vibration. It takes music from the realm of the unformed– whether that is in your mind or from that magical space of inspiration–and moves it from within to without. From the first breath singing moves the energy in a circular way inside your body. As the breath fills your lungs, it brushes against the second and third chakras—the centers of creation and honoring self and others. Instead of merely exhaling, pushing the air past the fourth and fifth chakras where heart charka and the center of will and intention reside, singing engages both the heart and mind. Sound vibrations from vocal chords resonate in the sinus cavities, filling the head with motion and sound while the brain lights up with the processing of the mathematics of music. This marriage of activities brings the third eye into play and opens the door for inspiration from the crown chakra before sending the sound out into the world.

Once the vibration begins, it is sustained with each note, moving throughout your body and the space around you. This can help you to harmonize your frequency with the world and with the divine. The use of the voice can bring about catharsis, a cleansing from the expression of emotion, which is why we feel better after singing certain types of songs. All of this occurs even if we are not conscious of what we are singing, but when we really connect with an intention, the power of the voice and music together are powerful tools in creation.

Even if you are not a singer by nature or talent, you are not left out. If you have a voice, it is your birthright to celebrate life with song. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel you have a nice voice. Chanting or humming, singing solo or with others, your voice is yours to enjoy. Whether you sing along to the radio or use vocalization as part of your meditation time, singing and harmonizing are healing activities that bring your body’s vibrations into alignment with the universe.

Ten Ways We Hinder The Law Of Attraction

Ten Ways We Hinder The Law Of Attraction

by Wendy Betterini

“Why isn’t the Law of Attraction working for me?” This cry of frustration is uttered often by people who are learning to consciously create better lives using the Law of Attraction. After spending weeks trying to raise their vibration, focus their minds and bring forth a better reality, they can’t understand why they’re not seeing results.

Does this describe you? Have you raised your eyes to the heavens and demanded to know why the Law of Attraction isn’t working for you? Or perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to one of these deadly beliefs:

“It seems to work for other people, but I just can’t get it right.”

“I must be doomed to failure.”

“I knew it wouldn’t work, but at least I tried.”

“I’m such an idiot; why do I keep getting sucked into these ridiculous schemes?”

“God must really hate me.”

Well, wipe those destructive thoughts right out of your mind! Seriously, they won’t serve you a bit, though I can understand why you’re tempted to believe them – I’ve been there too!

Here’s the good news: the Law of Attraction IS working for you. It works all the time, every time, without exception. If you’re not seeing the results you want, the time has come to ask yourself what you’re putting out there that is attracting similar energy back into your life.

Before you get angry at me for telling you you’re “doing it wrong,” please understand that you’re probably NOT doing it wrong – but there may be one or two things you’re doing that are creating resistance, which slows down your results.

Skim down this list of the most common ways we hinder the Law of Attraction from delivering what we want, and compare them carefully with your own habitual thoughts and feelings:

INDECISION

Do you have a clear vision of exactly what you want? Perhaps you aren’t picky, you just want things to be “better” than they are now, whatever that ends up looking like. However, the Universe doesn’t want you to settle for “something good,” but instead attract EXACTLY what you desire!

What do you desire? Take some time to think about the facets of your life. Think about your job, financial status, relationships, health, body size, vehicle, residence, and more. Are all of these things an accurate reflection of what you would create if you could start over? Make a detailed list of EXACTLY what you want to create for yourself. Write down every tiny aspect you can think of. Then read this list frequently to keep your vision sharp and clear in your mind.

UNWORTHINESS

Do you REALLY believe you deserve the things on your list? What makes you so special that you deserve abundant health, wealth and happiness? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m really asking, what makes you so special? Don’t have an answer? How about this: you exist. Someone breathed you into existence and infused you with all these desires, and for what? Why would your desires exist if you weren’t meant to experience them?

Until you can understand just how special and unique you truly are, you might resist the abundance and joy the Universe is offering you. Embrace your true worth as a human being and let it be a shining example for all to see. Empower others (and yourself) with the knowledge that they too can create better lives.

DISTRUST

Some of us have a skewed view of the Universe (or God, if that term resonates with you). From an early age, we’re taught that we have to comply with certain guidelines and behavioral rules – or else. We see the Universe as some angry force that will deliver a wrath of misery upon us if we do something wrong. It’s no surprise that most of us end up feeling like we’re walking on eggshells. We actually EXPECT bad things to happen because we’ve developed such a negative view of the powers that be. We’re afraid to ask for what we really want because we might be viewed as greedy, ungrateful or selfish. We’re afraid to hope for something better because we might get a lightning bolt up the wazoo.

How about turning this belief around? We can just as easily believe in a loving Universe, one that wants us to do well, be happy, and feel abundant. Rather than approaching the Universe with the mind-set of a scolded child, why not step forward confidently and joyfully and claim ownership of what is already yours? Believe me, the Universe will applaud you for doing so, and reward you beyond your wildest dreams.

DOUBT

Even if you WANT to believe that the Law of Attraction really works, you might be holding back somewhat to protect yourself from disappointment. If you don’t give it your “all,” you think it won’t hurt so badly when it doesn’t work out. However, doubt is like a big old rubber doorstop that prevents the gateway of prosperity from opening. You affirm, you visualize, you get clear, and the gate begins to swing inward, creating a crack through which shimmering golden light shines forth. You begin to step forward into your glorious new reality, when “bump!,” — oops, never mind, there’s a doorstop there and the gap isn’t big enough to let you through. Oh well, better luck next time.

Think of FAITH as the oil that keeps the hinges on the gates of prosperity operating smoothly. If you keep the hinges lubricated and the gates free of any obstructions (doubts) – they will swing right open and you’ll be dazzled by what you see on the other side.

DISBELIEF

No matter how badly you want something, if you don’t believe it’s possible, you will resist it. Perhaps you’ve set some lofty goals for yourself, things that almost seem too good to be true. Perhaps you want to be a millionaire, but you’re currently earning $15,000 per year. Or you want to meet your soulmate, but you long ago convinced yourself that he or she doesn’t exist. Turning these negative beliefs around is CRUCIAL to attracting your desires!

For every limiting belief you hold, I want you to take a blank sheet of paper and come up with ten reasons why your desires are POSSIBLE. It’s important to make the reasons believable and logical. For example, “It’s possible for me to become a millionaire because other people have done it, and some of them started with less than what I have now!” Or, “It’s possible that my soulmate exists because I simply haven’t met every person on the planet yet. He or she might be searching for me even as I search for him/her!”

Keep repeating these reasons to yourself, until you are absolutely CONVINCED that your desires are indeed possible.

DUALITY

Do your day-to-day thoughts, feelings, and actions paint a very different picture than the affirmations and visualizations you project? Are you affirming your financial prosperity while at the same time worrying about your bills? Both realities CANNOT co-exist in your life. Either you’re prosperous, or you’re not. Either you’re successful, or you’re not. Either you’re healthy, or you’re besieged by aches and pains.

At every possible moment, you need to let go of your old reality – even if it means pretending that the symptoms of lack, struggle, and illness do not exist. At the very beginning, it will be a challenge to do this fully, but if you keep at it day after day, repeatedly turning your attention to thoughts of wellness, abundance, and joy, and focusing less on lack, struggle, and illness, you begin to shift your reality to what you focus on the most.

FEAR

Perhaps you’re claiming to want something better, but you also fear it on a deeper level. If you want to be a best-selling author but you fear publicity and fame, guess what happens? You resist the formation of such a reality in your life because it makes you uncomfortable. If you want to be financially abundant but you worry about what others would think of you, resistance is woven throughout your desire for more money. In effect, you’re asking for something but also pushing it away at the same time.

One good way to overcome these fears is by facing them on paper. Ask yourself how you would handle people who thought poorly of you for being wealthy. “I’d tell them to mind their own business,” might be one response, or “Their opinions of me don’t affect my life one way or the other” would work nicely also. If you get clear about your fears, you’ll realize that most of them are irrational or irrelevant. Even the ones that hold merit, however, can be worked through and your resistance will dissolve in the light of clarity and purpose.

FORCE

You watched the movie, “The Secret,” or read a great book about the Law of Attraction, and now you’re all fired up! You’re SO DETERMINED to change your life that you proceed full steam ahead. You begin religiously reciting affirmations and performing meditations and visualizations and feeling good at every possible opportunity. After a week or two nothing has happened, so you increase the intensity of your efforts. You start meditating not just for 15 minutes a day, but for two hours a day. Your affirmations become a litany of desperation to make something happen. Still no results, so you work harder, and harder, and HARDER at it – until finally you scream in frustration, utterly exhausted from trying so hard.

Lighten up! I know, that’s easier said than done when you’re not happy with your current reality. But seriously, the harder you “try,” the worse it’s going to get. Back off, relax, and just let it happen when it’s going to happen. The more relaxed and joyful you can be about the process, the more quickly your desires will come forth.

FRUSTRATION

Speaking of frustration – it’s yet another way we hinder the Law of Attraction. When we feel frustrated, we emit an unmistakable signal to the Universe that acts as a beacon to attract more situations to be frustrated about!

Remember the importance of FEELING GOOD! Why is it so important? Because of the signal it puts out to the Universe. The more you feel good, the more you attract situations and experiences that will help you to feel good. I know it’s challenging to feel good when things aren’t going the way you want, but it’s so important to do so anyway! FIND things that make you feel good, and do them as often as possible. It is so, so, SO important! If you have a few moments of frustration here and there, don’t sweat it too much, just do what you can to have MORE moments of feeling good than you do of feeling frustration. It will make an incredible difference.

And finally, the Number One way we hinder the Law of Attraction:

IMPATIENCE

Most of the people I hear uttering the weary cry above (Why isn’t the Law of Attraction working for me?) haven’t been working at it for long. Perhaps a few weeks, maybe even a few months. Believe me, I know the feeling of desperation to get things moving in a more positive direction, but it takes time!

Remember that we’re constantly experiencing a RESIDUAL effect of our PAST thoughts, feelings and beliefs. It’s unrealistic (though understandable) to want to change it all overnight. But it’s not going to happen that quickly most of the time.

Simply do what you can to stay positive and keep up with the activities that will attract something better in the future. Be gentle with yourself, and know that this too shall pass. And in the very near future, when you really begin to see this force shifting the circumstances of your reality before your eyes, WOW – you’ll be so glad you stuck with it through the tough spots!

The journey is worth it in the end, believe that.

The Law Of Attraction

By: Robin Retallick

The Law Of Attraction turns out to be the big one. It’s the basis of everything. Simply put the law is – “We attract into our experience that, and only that, which we think about – whether wanted or unwanted”. This means that whatever we give our energy, attention or focus, will inevitably be drawn to us.

The corollary is the Law Of No Assertion – “Nobody and nothing can assert anything into our experience which is not a match to our vibration”. This means that nobody or nothing, (including “God”, fate, friends, family, governments, strangers, tsunamis, star signs etc. etc.) can cause us to experience something that does not resonate with what we are thinking.

Another way of stating this law (putting it in terms more closely aligned with the language of modern physics) is the Law Of Alternate Realities – “We choose which reality to step into by the things we give our energy, focus and attention”. This last version appeals to me – but pick whichever version suits you – they all mean the same thing – we create our own reality.

Now let’s think a little more on that “whether wanted or unwanted” piece from the Law Of Attraction above.

We all have an Emotional Scale. To simplify, we either feel good or we feel bad. If we’re not feeling good, then what we’re including in our thoughts is what we don’t want. The Emotional Scale runs from Depression-Grief-Fear-Anger-Frustration-Annoyance-Boredom Where we’re thinking about what we DON’t want through to Contentment-Interest-Happiness-Excitement-Passion-Ecstasy where we’re thinking about what we DO want.

To put it another way – the Universe hears no negatives. So if we are fearful that something might happen, we are attracting it. Nothing – nada – zilch – is more important than feeling good. Our “work” therefore is to get ourselves to the place where we focus on what we want – to move ourselves up the scale from:

Worry -> Hope -> Optimism -> Confidence -> Certainty.

The more we can move >>> to the right hand end of the scale, the faster we can manifest what we really want.

So what we’re spending our time thinking about is all-important. And so is how we’re thinking about it. For every subject, we have a resonant point of attraction. If you want to know where you are on any subject, look around. What you’re experiencing is where you’re resonating.

For a minute, pick a topic on which you’d like some change in your life. For example – say money. Is your first reaction “not enough”? Every time something you’d like-to-have flashes into your awareness, is the like-to-have immediately drowned out by can’t-afford-it? Or do you get into a feeling of delicious anticipation?

So where does action – doing things – fit into all of this? Well first we need to understand what I call the BE-DO-HAVE™ principle.

In the world I was raised in, action was all important. It didn’t matter whether I wanted to do it, or felt like doing it – I needed the self-discipline to do it anyway. With a combination of hard work and being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, maybe things would turn out OK. Well according to the Law Of Attraction, that’s all hooey. There’s no such thing as “luck”, and there are no “accidents”. Our actions in themselves cannot get us what we want.

But – the Universe is a powerful orchestrator. It always responds to our thoughts and always has us in the right place at the right time. To take advantage of this, we have to reverse the process – to Be-Do-Have.

If we can see/feel/imagine ourselves where we want to BE, then we’ll be inspired to DO the things that will allow us to HAVE all that we want (more on BE-DO-HAVE later).

So – if we look at the way successful people order their lives, we see that many directly acknowledge this Law Of Attraction. Others, as you begin to see the principles they live by, inherently take advantage of it. That is they clearly order their lives according to its principles. Also, there are legions of books on this subject – either directly acknowledging the Law Of Attraction, or giving principles and procedures that are in line with it. In summary, what they all say is – spend time visualizing what you want, and it will appear.

A few quotes:

“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility.” – Albert Schweitzer

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” – William James

“Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without.” – James Allen

“Whatever your mind can conceive and can believe, it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill

“Follow your bliss, and doors will open for you that you never knew existed” Joseph Campbell

Daily OM for April 14th – Ready for Change

Ready for Change
Declaring Our Intentions

If you are feeling stuck in your life and are ready for change, take time to declare to the Universe that you are ready.

There comes a point in most of our lives when we feel ready to experience a change we’ve had trouble carrying out. Maybe we’ve been stuck in a home, a relationship, job, or a town that hasn’t felt right for a long time, but we’ve been unable to shift our circumstances in the direction we want to go. At times like this, it can help to declare to the universe that we are ready for a change. Think of it as informing a helpful friend that you need her assistance to move to the next level in your life. If the time is right, the universe will respond with opportunities and offers designed to help you create the change you wish to see.

You can begin the process of making your declaration by getting clear within yourself about what exactly you want to change. Whenever we ask anyone for help, they can assist us that much better if we are specific. The universe also appreciates our clarity and has an easier time answering a direct communication than a vague yearning. When you are clear on what you want, write your declaration on a piece of paper and place it on your altar, if you have one. If you don’t, you can also place it under your pillow or in a box on your nightstand. Set aside a period of time every day to be silent with your wishes for change, repeating your declaration like a mantra. This lets the universe know that you are ready to change and will be receptive to its efforts.

Feel free to continue to refine and redefine your declaration, and remember to be open to the many different ways in which the change you seek might come to be. Remember also to be active in your own efforts, taking opportunities that come your way, watching for signs, and always taking responsibility for your intentions. If things don’t happen quickly, try not to be discouraged; it might take time to free up energy that has been blocked and possibly serving a purpose beyond what we can understand. If you continue your conversation with the universe, declaring yourself clearly and openly, you cannot help but experience the magic of changing and being changed.

You Are In Two Places at Once

Deepak Chopra

Because we are both physical and quantum, human beings live multidimensional lives. At this moment you are in two places at once. One is the visible, sensual world, where your body is subject to all the forces of nature “out there.” The wind chaps your skin and the sun burns it; you will freeze to death in winter without shelter; and the assault of germs and viruses makes your cells sick.

But you also occupy the quantum world, where all these things change. If you get into the bathtub, your consciousness doesn’t get wet. The limitations of physical life count for much less in the quantum world, and often for nothing. The cold of winter doesn’t freeze your memories; the heat of a July night doesn’t make you sweat in your dreams.

Put together all the quantum events in your cells and the sum total is your quantum mechanical body, which operates according to its own unseen physiology. Your quantum mechanical body is awareness in motion and is part of the eternal field of awareness that exists at the source of creation.

The intelligence inside us radiates like light, crossing the border between the quantum world and the physical world, unifying the two in a constant subatomic dialogue. Your physical body and your quantum mechanical body can both be called home – they are like parallel universes that you travel between without even thinking about it.

Physical Body: A frozen anatomical sculpture – “I” sees itself as made of cells, tissues, and organs; confined in time and space; driven by biochemical processes (eating, breathing, digestion, etc.)

Quantum Mechanical Body: A river of intelligence constantly renewing itself – “I” sees itself as made of invisible impulses of intelligence; unbounded in time and space; driven by thoughts, feelings, wishes, memories, etc.

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

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On the Witch’s personal standards and spirituality

Mechanics of Spellcasting

Third Chakra (navel and solar plexus area)

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

Clearing, Cleansing & Setting Protection

Disapproving Faces

Sanctifying the Temple of the Body

We Are Beings of Light

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We all have a story to tell, but sometimes we get stuck in that story and become our story.

Universal Timing

Ten Ways We Hinder The Law Of Attraction by Wendy Betterini

The Law Of Attraction

You Are In Two Places at Once

Ten Ways We Hinder The Law Of Attraction

by Wendy Betterini