Whether or not we are able to keep our magical practice out in the open or not, sometimes we may not want to have things where we will see them every day. One practice that is pretty common in Chaos workings is to charge a symbol and then forget it, placing it someplace unseen and essentially walking away. This is also seen in some types of protection spells, where the bottle or bundle is buried and left alone.
The mind is a powerful thing, but it also tends to wander. I am a 'what if' person. Since childhood, I've played the what if game: what would I do if (insert random occurrence or disaster here)? While normally I quite embrace this (and it is a wonderful technique for facing things like job interviews, because you go into it already ready for the wacky questions they might ask you!), it isn't the best thing for reinforcing a spell because your mind is bringing up all the negative things that could happen or even idly wondering if your spell is working, which can weaken the energy you put into it at the creation.
One thing I like to do with symbols or other written pieces of workings that need to be placed about the house is put them behind things like pictures. Most picture frames can be opened up and something slipped inside so that even if you need to move the picture, it's not visible. You can pick spells to go behind pictures so they work together, a spell for harmony behind your family portrait, one for peaceful days behind a lovely landscape. I also love the potential of mirrors, being that they are natural portals, so they make a great place to reflect your energy out into the room by hanging something behind them.
I have a protection spell in a small compact that has one side set with a mirror and the other was for a picture. When closed my sigil will reflect in the mirror. This one is never opened (as you aren't supposed to look at the sigil directly). You could do something similar in a locket. (A locket also provides an easy way to incorporate spellwork tailored to each day, you just tuck in your slip of paper with your daily wishes written on it, and you can even tuck in other things depending on the locket)
I read of a neat way to add an extra layer of protection to your windows, by drawing symbols on them with blessed or herbed water. This reminds me of writing in the fog on a mirror, which I believe has a lot of magical potential as well.
As I was writing about the paint strips the other week, I was thinking about these small strips of colored paper and other things you could do with them. Some were just about the width of a door frame. If you paired up two pieces, the same width as your door, and drew or wrote your working across the both of them (so when they touch it is complete), you could then fix one half to the door and the other to the frame, so that it was 'whole' when the door was shut.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Dahlia's Story, and an Invitation to Share Your Story
This was sent to me by Dahlia-
Where do our attachments to certain divine entities come from? When each of us move on this path we start somewhere and different Gods and Goddesses find us, call us, or make themselves infinitely present. It may be as simple as earth mother and father sky, or it can be as specific as a pantheon or grouping that hits in the gut, stirs the belly, and lays roots. Here is the story of where I started. Every persons is completely different and beautiful, and I would love to read them all! Please feel free to comment and tell your story. . .
A little girl was walking hand in hand with her mother through an average suburban neighborhood. The streets were quiet and the night was clear and cool. A breeze blew through the trees in it's musical way allowing the leaves to dance and create their own song. The shadows from the street lights were long and caressed the sidewalk with their form. "Mommy I see the moon and he sees me". I said as I looked up walking hazardly with her keeping a strong grip on my hand. She gently squeezed and said "that man in the moon is a silly husbands tale, the real story is much more magickal." As we rambled down the street ,lights shadowing our path with sleeping houses she told me, " The moon is ours, she is connected to women,. Our bodies are mystically linked in her knowledge and our cycles are hers.”
It was one of those moments that reach in a grasp your breath, one that makes you remember your alive and that there is more to your world around you. That little girl knew there was a God that protected her, that she could talk to when she needed. When she was sad or angry, wanting and searching, hurt or felt pure joy, she laid in bed in front of her window talking to that moon. In that moment God and the moon made sense. They merged and she felt the shimmer of it run down her skin. God wasn’t always the man with all the answers but the moon was the mother the could pass on her comfort and knowledge. When she talked to the moon, asked her for help, she wasn’t looking to the embodiment of a Christian God, but talking to the Great Mother, to protect and give strength, teach and to learn from..
My mother, at the time would have considered herself a Christian, a Presbyterian, a modern feminist, wanting to teach her child to be a capable self-sufficient woman. But that little girl who loves dresses and makeup, who could care less about her gi joe and picked up Barbie and She-ra, who couldn’t wait to wear a bra and shave, left the traditional American feminism behind and found comfort and home in the woman in the moon.
She could be strong and important while wearing a dress. She could cook a meal, fight and epic battle, love deeply, and help to find harmony in the world around her. She was woman and she was whole.
Where do our attachments to certain divine entities come from? When each of us move on this path we start somewhere and different Gods and Goddesses find us, call us, or make themselves infinitely present. It may be as simple as earth mother and father sky, or it can be as specific as a pantheon or grouping that hits in the gut, stirs the belly, and lays roots. Here is the story of where I started. Every persons is completely different and beautiful, and I would love to read them all! Please feel free to comment and tell your story. . .
A little girl was walking hand in hand with her mother through an average suburban neighborhood. The streets were quiet and the night was clear and cool. A breeze blew through the trees in it's musical way allowing the leaves to dance and create their own song. The shadows from the street lights were long and caressed the sidewalk with their form. "Mommy I see the moon and he sees me". I said as I looked up walking hazardly with her keeping a strong grip on my hand. She gently squeezed and said "that man in the moon is a silly husbands tale, the real story is much more magickal." As we rambled down the street ,lights shadowing our path with sleeping houses she told me, " The moon is ours, she is connected to women,. Our bodies are mystically linked in her knowledge and our cycles are hers.”
It was one of those moments that reach in a grasp your breath, one that makes you remember your alive and that there is more to your world around you. That little girl knew there was a God that protected her, that she could talk to when she needed. When she was sad or angry, wanting and searching, hurt or felt pure joy, she laid in bed in front of her window talking to that moon. In that moment God and the moon made sense. They merged and she felt the shimmer of it run down her skin. God wasn’t always the man with all the answers but the moon was the mother the could pass on her comfort and knowledge. When she talked to the moon, asked her for help, she wasn’t looking to the embodiment of a Christian God, but talking to the Great Mother, to protect and give strength, teach and to learn from..
My mother, at the time would have considered herself a Christian, a Presbyterian, a modern feminist, wanting to teach her child to be a capable self-sufficient woman. But that little girl who loves dresses and makeup, who could care less about her gi joe and picked up Barbie and She-ra, who couldn’t wait to wear a bra and shave, left the traditional American feminism behind and found comfort and home in the woman in the moon.
She could be strong and important while wearing a dress. She could cook a meal, fight and epic battle, love deeply, and help to find harmony in the world around her. She was woman and she was whole.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Phantom of the Theatre
Ever since I was young, I was involved in theatre in some fashion, mostly acting but technician work as well. Every theatre I worked in had some sort of specter, wraith, ghost or phantom. These spirits are usually guardians of the theatre, but also trickster spirits who are like Macavity from T. S. Elliot’s Book of Practical Cats : “Macavity, Macavity, there's no on like Macavity,He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,And when you reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there!”You would hear a crash in the lighting booth or your props would end up missing from their spot and you would find them on stage, but when you went to investigate the scene there would be nothing there. You may say it was a coincidence, or Murphy’s Law, but all actors will tell you it is the ghost of the theatre. The Elizabeth Playhouse in Elizabeth, NJ had the Victorian Girl, and The Sunday School Teacher, Murray State University’s Theatre Department, in Murray, KY has Vincent, The Star City Playhouse in Roanoke, Va had the presence of a little girl, and in my theatre in Glasgow we had a spirit in the Bunche Center named Mable. People would see the spirits on the stage fixing curtains, arranging the make-up room, and walking into closed tech shops. Theatres even place out ghost lights and stage managers wish the ghost good night before they lock up the theatre. Also most actors will tell you when they ask how you learned your lines they will say “I don’t know?” Most actors will say they “got into character”, I believe it maybe a little more. Once you step on stage you are no longer are yourself, you become a person in another place. It is a light form of possession, when you remove the make-up you remove the spirit of the character. I wondered why Theatres gathered so much spirit energy; Dorian and I were discussing this at a Consortium meeting in the back of a theatre actually. Dorian and I concluded that theatre is areas of intense emotion were unintentional invocation and evocation. By doing this it creates a bright beacon of light that pierces the veil and allows supernatural spirits to enter.I have never run into a malevolent spirit like in Phantom of the Opera, these are more friendly spirits who have found a home of energy and excitement. I personally thank all the spirits that have come to me in my years at the Theatre; and hope to watch you perform and trick on the stage.
Hello Happy Readers and Conversationalists!!
We appreciate, nay, Greatly Desire, your thoughts, comments on our posts, or even stop by and leave us a link where we can read your side of the conversation and your thoughts! Lovely post this weekend by Kylara, and how to clean mortar and pestle from resin grinding. I love when people especially post the magick down to the practical. I was curious about that very thing, Kylara was posting as my mortar and pestle is grubby and neglected. Mine is ceramic and was unused overstock from a Chemistry lab from an undisclosed location.
I am going to post my opinion-thought here. In my world, machines are my friends and helpful servants. I have a dedicated coffee grinder that does that sort of work for me while I envision, chant and empower. I also don't hand sew, but that is just me. I got my "machines for magick" theory from Dorothy Morrison's book "Everyday Magick".
I also use Google and the internet as a divination tool. You decide how many pages of links and how many down from the top of the link page will be your answer, type your question into the search box, and let the macrocosm internet tell you what you need to know, like bibliomancy.
Up next is a post sent me by Papa Oloyade.
Mortar and Pestle
Recently, several Consortium members and I were working on a project to make chalk for magical usage. In addition to grinding salt, herbs and eggshells, I used my mortar and pestle to grind some resin, which left it in a bit of a mess.
I have a marble mortar and pestle that I got years ago, from a kitchen supply store. I've seen them for sale at specialty occult stores, but mine serves me just fine (and was a good sight less expensive). It is a pretty decent size, being about four inches diameter, so still easily held in a hand for grinding, but big enough to give me room to work with a decent sized batch.
I'm very much a kitchen witch when it comes to my mortar. It gets used for everything that needs grinding, from spices for dinner to magical supplies. Normally, I just grind a bit of salt in it, and that cleans it right up. This time, even after several batches of salt, I had some resin still clinging to it.
After a bit of reading online, I tried using rubbing alcohol to clean that last bit of resin out. I poured enough in the bowl to cover the bottom grinding part, and set the pestle in it to soak as well. A few minutes later I swished it around, rubbed it a bit with my fingers, and rinsed it well in hot water, and it worked brilliantly!
I have a marble mortar and pestle that I got years ago, from a kitchen supply store. I've seen them for sale at specialty occult stores, but mine serves me just fine (and was a good sight less expensive). It is a pretty decent size, being about four inches diameter, so still easily held in a hand for grinding, but big enough to give me room to work with a decent sized batch.
I'm very much a kitchen witch when it comes to my mortar. It gets used for everything that needs grinding, from spices for dinner to magical supplies. Normally, I just grind a bit of salt in it, and that cleans it right up. This time, even after several batches of salt, I had some resin still clinging to it.
After a bit of reading online, I tried using rubbing alcohol to clean that last bit of resin out. I poured enough in the bowl to cover the bottom grinding part, and set the pestle in it to soak as well. A few minutes later I swished it around, rubbed it a bit with my fingers, and rinsed it well in hot water, and it worked brilliantly!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Janesresearchnotebook New post!
New post up in my personal musings blog, which I am rather proud of, so I'd like to invite you over there
.http://janesresearchnotebook.blogspot.com/
Will also be another new post up here, Monday, by Papa Oloyade for sure, possibly more by others of our FABULOUS blog writers, as the weekend spirit moves them.. As always, we appreciate your interest in us, and greatly desire your comments and opinions!
Thanks again!
Patty :)
.http://janesresearchnotebook.blogspot.com/
Will also be another new post up here, Monday, by Papa Oloyade for sure, possibly more by others of our FABULOUS blog writers, as the weekend spirit moves them.. As always, we appreciate your interest in us, and greatly desire your comments and opinions!
Thanks again!
Patty :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nickel and Dime magic: colored paper
I am a big fan of symbols and language based magic. I collect nifty looking alphabets, and love exploring new symbols and sigils and even making my own. I also think that color is an easy way to add another layer to things.
You can go to most stores and buy paper in different colors. In stationary stores, you can find paper of all shapes, sizes, textures and even paper made with flowers or other nifty things worked into it. You can make your own as well, which can be a fun (if messy) project.
But if you just want small pieces of brightly colored paper, why not use pain sample strips? You can get them at pretty much anywhere that sells paint (so your local all purpose store or hardware store). There are almost always tons of color options. They are mostly printed on card stock of some kind, so it is a nice stiff paper if you want to use it for something that could stand on it's own (by folding it like a card in half or looping it into a cylinder).
If you cut it into an appropriate shape, they can be used as decorative candle bases. Consider making a larger cylinder and cutting shapes into it and you have a shadow maker (like the old tea light votives that you don't see any more made out of paper bags). Cut smaller shapes of different colors and make a magical collage that can be hung on your wall for prosperity or blessing!
**Note** I also love mixing colored paper and colored pens. Especially useful when you want to incorporate multiple energies into a single working!
You can go to most stores and buy paper in different colors. In stationary stores, you can find paper of all shapes, sizes, textures and even paper made with flowers or other nifty things worked into it. You can make your own as well, which can be a fun (if messy) project.
But if you just want small pieces of brightly colored paper, why not use pain sample strips? You can get them at pretty much anywhere that sells paint (so your local all purpose store or hardware store). There are almost always tons of color options. They are mostly printed on card stock of some kind, so it is a nice stiff paper if you want to use it for something that could stand on it's own (by folding it like a card in half or looping it into a cylinder).
If you cut it into an appropriate shape, they can be used as decorative candle bases. Consider making a larger cylinder and cutting shapes into it and you have a shadow maker (like the old tea light votives that you don't see any more made out of paper bags). Cut smaller shapes of different colors and make a magical collage that can be hung on your wall for prosperity or blessing!
**Note** I also love mixing colored paper and colored pens. Especially useful when you want to incorporate multiple energies into a single working!
Using Tarot to Listen to your Psychic Voice-by Dahlia Raine
"Do you want to learn to read tarot cards, but find yourself getting bogged down reading and memorizing books? Are you feeling frustrated with the way one book is in complete opposition to the next? Are you having a hard time connecting meanings from one card to the next in a reading, or even getting stuck when you get to certain card positions in particular spread? If so I can tell you that you aren't alone. I know when I started to try to read cards I thought I needed to learn every mystical aspect, all of the symbols and ancient meanings. I poured over books taking notes, I would study one card and research everything I could on it and then reverse it and go through the information again. Then I would try to read myself, I would try and read friends, I would even try to read strangers, but no matter what I did I felt like I couldn't make all of the information connect. The readings wouldn't flow and I would inevitable pick that book back up and read those divinatory meanings.
Then one day I met the right person at the right time and she told me I didn't need those books, I just need to trust and let go. She reminded me that everyone one is psychic some maybe more connected, or listen to it, or even gave their skill a workout to strengthen it, some may call it a hunch, a gut feeling, intuition, vibes . . . but it doesn't matter that sixth sense is a part of each of us and just like all of our other senses it can be strengthened, studied, and practiced. So I put down those books, I packed them away to look back at later, they had been read so I had understanding of the basics, but it was time to put down my crutch and build my own muscles.
I challenge anyone out there trying to read cards, that has poured over books and fought with memorizing meanings to put away your books for a little while. Instead take out your favorite deck, the one that you can look at the cards and get feelings from or that makes your mind move in a direction. Start to look at the cards you may only want to look at one or two a day, and see yourself in that card and create your story from that picture. Who are you, what is going on around you, how are you involved, what lead up to this, how are you moving forward or staying stagnant or even moving backward?
Let this be a time of psychic play, don't worry about right and wrong, just play. After you create your story write down themes, take a look if you have symbolism you have taken from the imagery of your card. For instance in your story of the card lets say you took an independent stand for something you believe in and in the card you see a cat and realize you've always thought of them as independent creatures. Or in your story of the card you were taking a lazy day to relax and give yourself a break and when looking at the card after you see a person in a garden and realize gardening for you is relaxing. Look at your card whatever deck it may be and notice the images, notice the colors, notice plants, and animals, and stones, notice the sky, if there seems to be movement. . . Look at the number what do you associate with it? What suit is it (if your deck has suits) and what do you associate with it. These symbols were used because they spoke to people, but what an ancient symbol meant to someone of that time may not resonate with your own associations, and your psychic self can't flow when you don't allow it's meanings to come through and try to force someone else's. Someone else might look at that cat and think of its moody temperament, or see that person in the garden and think of hard work and sacrifice. I think symbols often carry ancestral meaning but that doesn't mean that each individual connects with every symbol in that way.
When you feel like playing with your cards begins to flowing a little easier start practicing reading. Figure on a way you can make it fun and not a test of if your right or wrong. Pull a couple of cards in the morning and look at them what kind of feel does the day have ahead? Look at the cards together does a story start to come out of the combination of them or do they feel like separate instances? Is there a particular symbol, number, color, etc that pops out more then others? What do you associate with it. Take some notes on it and put it away. Go through your normal day and before you go to bed look at what you wrote. Did it fit with things that happened in your day? Did you possibly avoid something that was in the cards because you saw it before hand and didn't like the direction? Make sure to give yourself a pat on the back whenever you find that you have picked up on something, and don't worry if something doesn't seem to fit. Remember that we are creatures that have freewill, the decisions we make and the way we deal with the world aren't set in stone so often times when some interpretation appears wrong it might be that it hasn't happened yet or that you changed a course of action and then therefore severed away from the path that you saw earlier. You could have just listened to your psychic voice say "not that way".
Next, start reading for other people. Find friends and family that can take it as fun and that don't make you feel like you are being judged. Remember to play! The first reading I gave after I put away the books I told the person that I had never done it this way before and that I just wanted to try it out. I took the pressure off. I didn't worry that I was going to tell them something wrong or that I was going to sit there blocked and not know what to say, I just told them the story from the images I saw. I let go of ego. The reading felt more intense to me and flowed better then it ever did with the books. And you know what, the person I read for said that it made sense. Over time of doing this it will flow more easily, that psychic voice wants to come out but sometimes we block it for various reasons. Sometimes the first step can be the hardest, and there can be times like working on any skill where you feel you move forward by leaps and bounds and times where you feel stagnant waiting for that skill to improve.
The cards are just a conduit to allow your own psychic voice to come out they aren't the voice itself. In that respect don't get frustrated if your psychic voice doesn't sing with tarot cards. Maybe you need a different deck, or maybe your voice needs other mediums of divination like Runes, Ogham, Scrying, Augury, Pendulums, Crystals, or maybe yours doesn't like the tools and just wants you to quiet the mental chatter and listen. So give your inner judge a lunch break, let the mental chatter take a little vacation, and tell the ego to pipe down for a little while and listen what is your intuition is saying to you.
Authors note: I have been reading cards for over twenty years. I started like most people wanting the mystical cards to tell me the future, but through my journey I found my psychic voice. I still find the more I practice and the more I let go of ego and fear the more I can hear that voice. If you enjoyed this entry and would like to discuss more aspects of the tarot or giving your sixth sense a workout to increase your psychic ability please comment on what area you are interested in looking at. Some areas I have been thinking about writing on are: To reverse the cards or to not reverse the cards, tarot spreads how to create one that works for you, Psychic play, numbers and their symbolism, Creating a symbol diary, and are you an empath? If any of those areas or something else in the are of psychic awareness interests you please let me know. Thanks for reading!"
Then one day I met the right person at the right time and she told me I didn't need those books, I just need to trust and let go. She reminded me that everyone one is psychic some maybe more connected, or listen to it, or even gave their skill a workout to strengthen it, some may call it a hunch, a gut feeling, intuition, vibes . . . but it doesn't matter that sixth sense is a part of each of us and just like all of our other senses it can be strengthened, studied, and practiced. So I put down those books, I packed them away to look back at later, they had been read so I had understanding of the basics, but it was time to put down my crutch and build my own muscles.
I challenge anyone out there trying to read cards, that has poured over books and fought with memorizing meanings to put away your books for a little while. Instead take out your favorite deck, the one that you can look at the cards and get feelings from or that makes your mind move in a direction. Start to look at the cards you may only want to look at one or two a day, and see yourself in that card and create your story from that picture. Who are you, what is going on around you, how are you involved, what lead up to this, how are you moving forward or staying stagnant or even moving backward?
Let this be a time of psychic play, don't worry about right and wrong, just play. After you create your story write down themes, take a look if you have symbolism you have taken from the imagery of your card. For instance in your story of the card lets say you took an independent stand for something you believe in and in the card you see a cat and realize you've always thought of them as independent creatures. Or in your story of the card you were taking a lazy day to relax and give yourself a break and when looking at the card after you see a person in a garden and realize gardening for you is relaxing. Look at your card whatever deck it may be and notice the images, notice the colors, notice plants, and animals, and stones, notice the sky, if there seems to be movement. . . Look at the number what do you associate with it? What suit is it (if your deck has suits) and what do you associate with it. These symbols were used because they spoke to people, but what an ancient symbol meant to someone of that time may not resonate with your own associations, and your psychic self can't flow when you don't allow it's meanings to come through and try to force someone else's. Someone else might look at that cat and think of its moody temperament, or see that person in the garden and think of hard work and sacrifice. I think symbols often carry ancestral meaning but that doesn't mean that each individual connects with every symbol in that way.
When you feel like playing with your cards begins to flowing a little easier start practicing reading. Figure on a way you can make it fun and not a test of if your right or wrong. Pull a couple of cards in the morning and look at them what kind of feel does the day have ahead? Look at the cards together does a story start to come out of the combination of them or do they feel like separate instances? Is there a particular symbol, number, color, etc that pops out more then others? What do you associate with it. Take some notes on it and put it away. Go through your normal day and before you go to bed look at what you wrote. Did it fit with things that happened in your day? Did you possibly avoid something that was in the cards because you saw it before hand and didn't like the direction? Make sure to give yourself a pat on the back whenever you find that you have picked up on something, and don't worry if something doesn't seem to fit. Remember that we are creatures that have freewill, the decisions we make and the way we deal with the world aren't set in stone so often times when some interpretation appears wrong it might be that it hasn't happened yet or that you changed a course of action and then therefore severed away from the path that you saw earlier. You could have just listened to your psychic voice say "not that way".
Next, start reading for other people. Find friends and family that can take it as fun and that don't make you feel like you are being judged. Remember to play! The first reading I gave after I put away the books I told the person that I had never done it this way before and that I just wanted to try it out. I took the pressure off. I didn't worry that I was going to tell them something wrong or that I was going to sit there blocked and not know what to say, I just told them the story from the images I saw. I let go of ego. The reading felt more intense to me and flowed better then it ever did with the books. And you know what, the person I read for said that it made sense. Over time of doing this it will flow more easily, that psychic voice wants to come out but sometimes we block it for various reasons. Sometimes the first step can be the hardest, and there can be times like working on any skill where you feel you move forward by leaps and bounds and times where you feel stagnant waiting for that skill to improve.
The cards are just a conduit to allow your own psychic voice to come out they aren't the voice itself. In that respect don't get frustrated if your psychic voice doesn't sing with tarot cards. Maybe you need a different deck, or maybe your voice needs other mediums of divination like Runes, Ogham, Scrying, Augury, Pendulums, Crystals, or maybe yours doesn't like the tools and just wants you to quiet the mental chatter and listen. So give your inner judge a lunch break, let the mental chatter take a little vacation, and tell the ego to pipe down for a little while and listen what is your intuition is saying to you.
Authors note: I have been reading cards for over twenty years. I started like most people wanting the mystical cards to tell me the future, but through my journey I found my psychic voice. I still find the more I practice and the more I let go of ego and fear the more I can hear that voice. If you enjoyed this entry and would like to discuss more aspects of the tarot or giving your sixth sense a workout to increase your psychic ability please comment on what area you are interested in looking at. Some areas I have been thinking about writing on are: To reverse the cards or to not reverse the cards, tarot spreads how to create one that works for you, Psychic play, numbers and their symbolism, Creating a symbol diary, and are you an empath? If any of those areas or something else in the are of psychic awareness interests you please let me know. Thanks for reading!"
Monday, May 16, 2011
How to Keep Excess Personal Energy from Frying Electronics
REposted from BG Witches Meetup
Question for people who do more with energy, reading it, projecting it. I have since childhood, always had trouble with personal electronics, and watches. My history, as I'm sure some of yours also, include dead watches, Dead Walkmen, (I think the count in college for me was somewhere near 10, could buy cheap ones, or expensive ones, it didn't matter) Dead Mp3 players (i'm on #3 now) Dead phones....Any thoughts?
TK.-You need something like a copper band or some other conductive metal or stone to soak up all that extra energy, which is what is frying your techie stuff, I had the same problem with watches and smartphones until I started wearing hematite bracelets and a copper band. Phone still goes a bit wonky after a couple of hours though, damn touch screens. you could always knit it a case and work in some quartz crystals and other soaker up stones into the design. I'd use some sort of actual "hair" type yarn though, because fur protects critters against the elements and you want to protect your net book from the elements, and just work that baby up with intent.Gotta love yarn spell crafting, haha yarncrafting...should be its own type of magick. Also why don't you do something with all that extra oomph that you have? Its like a dog it needs to do something constructive or it starts chewing up everything in sight and digging up the yard. Feed to your shields! Or charge something for sort of work! Jet works too but I tend to over power it and then it shatters to little bits.
Shai Fuston-I wear a hematite ring, you can get them at great escape records. Try doing some tai chi, or some energy manipulation exercises.
T M-When you use your laptop, try putting hematite and copper between it and you to absorb the excess energy..I saw something about this in one of my books and will research and get back with you!
M B-must be why it was so important that I get my hematite necklaces made and wear them all the time. -I've created "bubbles" or "pockets" within to store extra energy. some for me, some for others. That way, when someone needs some, or I start feeling low, I have reserves.... I started doing this when a storm was blowing in one day and I felt a LOT of good energy from it.......felt like I was going to need extra later in the week for something, and started storing it. It's been great!! Especially when, like most things, "when it rains, it pours" (it seems like a lot of friends need energy all at the same time). similar to creating my bubble shield......... I imagine bubbles forming around the energy, or creating balls of energy--then forming "shields" or bubbles around them. filling balloons up with energy (yes, 3 different ways of saying the same thing--trying to explain it different ways). anyways, I take these bubbles and push them down inside--basically, put them in pockets to pull out when I need them. It's something new that was a partial thought, and until I typed that earlier, didn't even realize I had taken it to the level it is now.
R S- Whether it's an mp3 player or light bulbs that say they'll last years popping the first time I walk by when I'm really pissed off - I've found NOTHING that keeps this stuff from happening. I've tried crochet 'socks' for electronics, copper, silver, black sachets, etc...I do my best to stay away from my expensive stuff when I'm moody, buy cheap light bulbs and haven't worn a watch in years...lol. I know, not very optimistic, but I guess I've done the whole - accept the things I cannot change thing.
Maggie- When I feel alot of energy or spirit energy.....for me it feels almost like a short of breath, anxiety feeling. Heavy chest. And the "caffeine" type effect last for sometimes 24 hours!
E W- doing grounding exercises Helps a LOT. It's become a habit of mine to regularly touch metal objects, it's almost to the point of OCD that I do it without noticing.
S B- metal bracelet will help, touching some thing in metall before you touch your electronics. some times washing your hands ,soap and luke warm water , to remove stuck on, or some else energy will help too.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Ebo Boats
The essence of neotribalism is the fusion and incorporation of other esoteric ideas and concepts with traditional practices. Instead of revivalists and Reconstructionists, it is taking the esoteric ideas and concepts of ancient traditions and using the globalization and modern technologies given to us by the 21st century. To simplify it the Yoruban Diasporas of Voodoo, Hoodoo, and Santeria during their evolutionary period kept the concepts of the base Yoruban tradition, but evolved the techniques to suit their needs; creating a dynamic and evolving ancestral faith based culture
One day at a Consortium meeting, Kylara and I were contemplating the use of the Afro-Caribbean belief of ebo (ritual sacrifice) and the 17th century Shinto tradition of Origami. While performing ebo to Ochun, Orisha of the River, I was watching my sweet fruit offerings float down the river; and I thought of Kylara’s work with origami. I so love Kylara’s origami pieces they sit on all my altars and shrines to the Orisha. So Kylara and I thought about creating ebo prayer boats, which are stylized origami boats for Oshun and Yemaya (Orisha of the Ocean) that would carry a small bag of offerings along with a small coiled prayer sheet. These boats would be able to carry your ebo off further into the magical waters, and offer the magical essence of both Shinto and Yoruban cultures.
I felt that these boats could offer a symbolic journey for your prayer’s to the divine, as the boats would takes them away from the mundane to the divine. Being a neotribalist, I was also very concerned with items chosen for the boats, the prayer bags, and the coils. I wanted to be as eco-conscious as I can due to the fact that the earth is our mother and temple and not to damage or desecrate her beauty. So all paper and ornamentation on the boats would be of natural products that would not hurt the eco system; the small offering bags would be made from cotton material, which would easily breakdown; the prayer coils and ornamentations would also be from natural lead free metals. We wanted these boats to make the greatest impact spiritually, but the least impact ecologically.
Both the Shinto and the Yoruban Diaspora faiths have created ritual boats for specific spiritual needs. The fusion of the two ancestral faiths brings a new colorful life to Santeria and Vodun practices. It opens up a gateway of new types of ancestral sacrifice, and has the opportunity to open up new pathways to the Orishas, rejuvenating the Ase or life force in all of us, and returning new blessings upon us from the divine.
One day at a Consortium meeting, Kylara and I were contemplating the use of the Afro-Caribbean belief of ebo (ritual sacrifice) and the 17th century Shinto tradition of Origami. While performing ebo to Ochun, Orisha of the River, I was watching my sweet fruit offerings float down the river; and I thought of Kylara’s work with origami. I so love Kylara’s origami pieces they sit on all my altars and shrines to the Orisha. So Kylara and I thought about creating ebo prayer boats, which are stylized origami boats for Oshun and Yemaya (Orisha of the Ocean) that would carry a small bag of offerings along with a small coiled prayer sheet. These boats would be able to carry your ebo off further into the magical waters, and offer the magical essence of both Shinto and Yoruban cultures.
I felt that these boats could offer a symbolic journey for your prayer’s to the divine, as the boats would takes them away from the mundane to the divine. Being a neotribalist, I was also very concerned with items chosen for the boats, the prayer bags, and the coils. I wanted to be as eco-conscious as I can due to the fact that the earth is our mother and temple and not to damage or desecrate her beauty. So all paper and ornamentation on the boats would be of natural products that would not hurt the eco system; the small offering bags would be made from cotton material, which would easily breakdown; the prayer coils and ornamentations would also be from natural lead free metals. We wanted these boats to make the greatest impact spiritually, but the least impact ecologically.
Both the Shinto and the Yoruban Diaspora faiths have created ritual boats for specific spiritual needs. The fusion of the two ancestral faiths brings a new colorful life to Santeria and Vodun practices. It opens up a gateway of new types of ancestral sacrifice, and has the opportunity to open up new pathways to the Orishas, rejuvenating the Ase or life force in all of us, and returning new blessings upon us from the divine.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Why witch am I?
By no means am I a skilled "witch". But I have a friend that knows just how weird I am and how well connected to people I can be. He wants to do a spell to relieve his broken heart. To banish the one he used to love & make her feel all the pain he has felt because of her. NOW.....when it comes to spells...again I'm not a pro....but I research & then come up with my own plan taking bits I like here, and parts I like there....till I have something that feels "right". I did explain the risks & laws as i know then involved in spells & karma. I have tried also to pawn this friend off on more experienced and "pro" witches, warlocks & the like....but he just keeps asking ME! Lol. So help him I will. It just seems funny to me that "I" am giving Witchy advice!!! **giggle**. I hope I don't screw him up!!! :-P
New Posts to look forward to!
Check back on Tuesday for a New Post from Papa Oloyade about offerings!
Ecology-magick-recycling items-Goodwill , Part Two
You all probably know, from the Green Living movement, and your own alertness, the general advantages to buying second hand- less packaging to clog up landfills, less resources used for making a new thing, more of your own resources conserved (some of my trouble is then that since it is cheaper, I just buy more things, especially books, always books..). Some of my own thoughts also center on the fact that I think this can be/is the way a friendly, gracious, abundant Universe (insert the God or Gods of your choice here), answers some of our needs and wants, even some of the ‘frivolous’ ones.
Part of my personal abundance practice centers on thrift store shopping. I do gratitude work at night, along with prayers, and energy for people who have requested it (usually also with candle lighting). I got it from “the Secret”, and find it pleasant and soothing to do. I thank the Universe for everything I’m grateful for, people, things, situations, and then move on to things that were especially good on a particular day. I like to do it in the manner of only praising what was good, and kind of ignoring the not so good parts ( kind of like if a beloved aunt had bought you a beautiful sweater; you would gush on about the style, and the beautiful colors, Not how it was a bit scratchy). I believe this is a way of telling the Universe what you especially like in the work it has done for you, essentially requesting more things in the same theme as the things you praise. When I gather up things to go to Goodwill, I also think what was good about the thing. When I get to Goodwill, I envision it as an exchange of energy, and silently think of things I am hoping to find (cause you can’t go to a thrift store without going in, that’s just crazy). I keep a vague running list. I believe it makes things you are interested in show up more often, by actually just asking for them, instead of hoping for the best, and then getting frustrated from not finding them, and giving up the plan (Thrift shopping can be VERY successful, but you have to play the Long Game, and plan ahead of a need). So, I give an offering to the Universe, and it gives me one back. Like in other forms of friendship exchange, the exchange is not always equal at each particular time, but is more than equal overall. I find the return time on most of my requests is the same as for other forms of magick, between a week to a month, on average.
I get a lot of my knick-knacks, candleholders, altar tools, and magickal tools the second-hand way also. Anything that can be physically cleaned can, in my opinion, be spiritually cleaned. It can be made shiny-clean, good as new, using common magickal household products, stating my intention aloud to clean the item, and sending its past away. I mix salt with the laundry for the laundrable and also visualize spiritual dirt being washed clean and spun down the drain. I wash other physical things in the sink, with vinegar or salt, Dr. Bronners, and/or lavender oil. Paper goods, such as cards, I gently wipe with a small amount of vinegar, (be Careful, this can go awry), and then sprinkle them with salt, or sit them in a window sill with sunlight, or put crystals on them, or wave them through incense or sage (sandalwood is my personal multi-use favorite). Other things that people do are set things in moonlight, bury them in earth, run energy through them, pray over them.
I can buy things for full price, from box stores, and have bags, hangars, tags, wrappers, plastic, that it is now my ethical responsibility to do something with. My new things come with a bigger price than just the price. I can buy things 2nd hand, and all I have is the item itself, if I tell the seller to keep the bag. The only thing I have to do is clean it. With the money I save buying 2nd hand, I can buy things made by artisans, or donate money to causes I believe in, or probably, because it’s me, I can buy more books. Clothes could be slightly out of fashion, but that’s never been really much of a threat for me. That’s really only the downside I can see.
Older things that survive into 2nd hand hood are guaranteed to be a little sturdier. They won’t look brand-new, which I consider a bonus. Clothes are charmingly broken in all ready, so no scratchy collars, stiff jeans, and rough parts inside shoes. If you buy behind the cutting edge of technology, the tools still work, but the price drops EXPONENTIALLY.
So there you have it. This is My theory on Magick, the Universe and Everything. So go forth, give stuff away, ask for what you want, buy stuff 2nd Hand, and be not afraid!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I statements
One of the things I see a lot is discussions about magical topics devolving into two or more people who feel absolutely that their way is right, based on their own personal experiences, and refusing to accept another view because it doesn't fit with what they do or know or see.
I think that in our quest to explore the unknown and find answers to those tough questions in life, we forget that it is okay to be wrong, to be unsure, to NOT have an answer to every question out there. But more than that, there isn't JUST one single answer to many of these questions. My way can lead me to different answers than your way. My experiences may be completely contrary to yours. We can BOTH be right.
It is easy to forget, when trying to express one's self, that there is a difference between saying "that isn't what I see" and "this is how it is!". I see a lot of occult thought that revolves around divorcing one's self from the ego, removing the word 'I' from one's vocabulary, or removing the individual perspective by focusing solely on the bigger picture.
But I think it is important to keep a strong hold on the self sometimes. What I see is important, and stating clearly that my point is based on what I have seen or experienced makes it less confrontational. Most people aren't trying to say that you didn't see what you saw, but merely trying to say they saw something different.
I statements (I saw, I think, I feel, I believe), these are tools that help us express ourselves in ways that help other people to listen without feeling judged. They don't make other people feel inadequate, or incompetent. We aren't in competition with each other! One person's success doesn't hold us back in any way. If someone does something differently, more power to them, and more power to you for doing what works for you! Strive to push yourself further than you have gone and forget trying to catch up to anyone else.
I think that in our quest to explore the unknown and find answers to those tough questions in life, we forget that it is okay to be wrong, to be unsure, to NOT have an answer to every question out there. But more than that, there isn't JUST one single answer to many of these questions. My way can lead me to different answers than your way. My experiences may be completely contrary to yours. We can BOTH be right.
It is easy to forget, when trying to express one's self, that there is a difference between saying "that isn't what I see" and "this is how it is!". I see a lot of occult thought that revolves around divorcing one's self from the ego, removing the word 'I' from one's vocabulary, or removing the individual perspective by focusing solely on the bigger picture.
But I think it is important to keep a strong hold on the self sometimes. What I see is important, and stating clearly that my point is based on what I have seen or experienced makes it less confrontational. Most people aren't trying to say that you didn't see what you saw, but merely trying to say they saw something different.
I statements (I saw, I think, I feel, I believe), these are tools that help us express ourselves in ways that help other people to listen without feeling judged. They don't make other people feel inadequate, or incompetent. We aren't in competition with each other! One person's success doesn't hold us back in any way. If someone does something differently, more power to them, and more power to you for doing what works for you! Strive to push yourself further than you have gone and forget trying to catch up to anyone else.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Question I have, in need of the opinions of others.
If famulous and guardians are bound to us, to do favors for us, and to guard us, do they have things they want for us to do for them? If not, why do they help us?
I give mine offerings, and have been curious, but mine haven't said. Anyone got an opinion?
I give mine offerings, and have been curious, but mine haven't said. Anyone got an opinion?
Ecology-magick-recycling items-Goodwill
Part One
I’d like to talk for a bit about a few topics that are interrelated in my mind, and important to me and my view of the Universe- Magick, Recycling items, and acquiring as much as possible of my needs, for both magickal and mundane purposes, 2nd hand.
When I first read about magick, reading the books available to me at the time, (70’s) at the library, (A.E.Waite’s “Book of Black Magic”, De Givry’s “Illustrated Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy”, and “the Modern Witch’s Spellbook” by Sarah Lyddon Morrison) I was lead to believe that magick was complicated, dangerous, expensive, gruesome, loud, noisy, and probably smelly. This Magick was filled with activities such as killing a kid goat at a specific hour of the day, to make your own parchment for talismans, or having jewelers make you rings of a particular metal set with particular stones to affect various circumstances. Most of the activity also centered on summoning something way bigger than your head, which was probably cranky about being summoned, for purposes that they probably didn’t want to do anyway, such as finding buried treasure. Kind of sad and pathetic activities, I’m sure for Dukes and Princes of Hell, who probably would much rather be out corrupting entire countries, or something. Since I was on a $10.00 a week allowance, and living upstairs of my parents at the time, I thought better of most of it, and scaled back most of my experiments at the time. So much had to be acquired New, Unused and Unhaggled for, in the way of supplies, and actually done not through your own power, your own skills, but through the attempted forcing of another being to work for you.
I then got to college, found religion in the form of Witchcraft, and found also the earlier folk magicks. This other paradigm of thought revealed a value and reliance in me, learnable skills, and cooperative, not coercive relationships with the rest of the Universe. Both Kitchen witchery and Hoodoo stress the fact that one set of tools can be used for both ‘magickal’ and ‘mundane’ ends. A broom sweeping your floor clean can also be used next to dispense a floor wash to spiritually cleanse a room. Your knife cuts vegetables for dinner, and also cuts the circle between the worlds. The mundane, your everyday life, is as sacred and as close to the Gods as being inside the circle. This beauty and specialness is everywhere! Handmade art with ‘flaws’ (variations) is More sacred and alive with energy than the machine identical ‘flawless’ pieces of goods sold at Wal-Mart, inert, plastic-inexpensive, but at a high price.
When I was younger, society in general taught that desired things were new and shiny. I fell for it. The only good presents were the ones that came in a layer of wrapping paper (ripped off, flung, and then thrown away) covering up the cardboard and plastic packaging, sometimes in multiple layers. Things people gave you that came to you without the protective stuff carapace was obviously covered with cooties from strangers, un-clean, and USED. People who loved you bought you new stuff, the more the better, as proof of their love. I had partially challenged that thought myself, with my greed for books. Used Bookstores helped me get my fix of more books, as did the Library (guess I thought these venues sterilized the books when they got them in or something). Meeting John pretty much smashed the rest of those thoughts flat. He introduced me to whole new worlds of inexpensive-stuff 2nd hand possibilities- Flea Markets, Swap Meets, Goodwill, Dumpster Diving, Trash picking (especially good at the end of a semester on campus) trading stuff with friends…Yes, some stuff was grimy when acquired, but almost Anything can be cleaned. Vinegar, or Lysol, or Rubbing alcohol, or a good trip through the washer will cure most funk. And if it can’t be cured, THEN you throw it away. You didn’t spend much, if anything on it, so no risk, really. Books can be a little trickier, as some sad books get mold, just look at them a little closer before committing to giving them a home.
Look for Part Two on Sunday!
