Upcoming Events for July

 

The following events are coming up in July. I hope to see you at one or more of these events!

The Alchemy of Life Weekend Intensive is happening on July 19th and 20th. The early bird price is still available, but only until July 5th!

I'll be offering two classes, Magical Identity and Manifesting Wealth, at Pathway Books in St. Louis Missouri on July 21st and 22nd.

I'll be offering two classes, Alchemy of Breath and Manifesting Wealth, at Spiritual Gardens on July 23rd and July 24th.

The 2nd International Left Hand Path Conference is happening from July 25th through the 27th. It has a great line up of presenters, music and artist, including myself. They are still offering tickets at discount prices for this week, but there are only 50 tickets left.

Spirit Cord work with the Quabala

One of the techniques that R. J. Stewart shares in The Spirit Cord is how the cord work can be used in relationship to Quabala. He provides an exercise where you work with the Ashim, which are the lunar angels of Yesod and from that work with the archangel Gabriel. I did the exercises and found them to be quite help for attuning myself to the lunar energy as well as to the Angelic order associated with that energy (I shared some of this work in my monthly posts about movement).

I'm reading William Gray's book The Ladder of Lights, which covers the Sephiroth in detail. I've decided that as I read each chapter, I'll explore reach Sephiroth and the associated planet and angelic order using the spirit cord as part of the working. So far I've done the work with Malkuth and the Angelic order of the Kerubim and the Archangel Sandalphon and started to work with Hod, which I'll detail at a later time.

What I noticed with the work I did with Malkuth was that the spirit cord technique worked just as well with that sphere as it had with the Ashim. I actually noticed that part of the spirit cord work focused in on the temple of dedication, which Stewart writes about in The Spirit Cord, so in one sense it felt like I'd already partially attuned myself to that energy and was just approaching it from a different angle. Nonetheless it helped immensely in turning the conceptual information provided by Gray into experiences that integrated the concept of Malkuth into the work I'm doing. What I noticed when working with each layer of Malkuth was an integration of those layers into my consciousness in such a way that helped me interface with the respective beings I encountered during the work.

I plan on applying the spirit cord technique to each Sephiroth and then possibly extending the work further. What I find useful about this work is that it draws on the understanding of the cord as a tool of remembrance, a spiritual library of sorts that can be used to integrate specific concepts into practices that become part of the spiritual essence of the practitioner. The spirit cord aligns the practitioner with the forces s/he seeks to work with and creates a spiritual DNA which can be used to recall those forces and make it easier to work with them because of how they are integrated into the cord.

During my spirit cord work with Hod, I experienced a faster frequency and I was told that one of the benefits of the spirit cord work is that it could help the practitioner handle the changes in frequency of energy by helping the practitioner sync their energy with the higher frequency energy, while acting as a buffer for the practitioner. It's a useful insight into the cord that I'll definitely employ as I continue this work.

Book Review: The Spirit Cord by R. J. Stewart

An excellent book which explores cord traditions of magic and shows you how to create a spirit cord and work with it in your own magical work. There are a number of exercises shared, which are helpful for learning how to work with the spirit cord. The book provides enough guidance and information that a practitioner will get a lot from it, but the key to truly working with the spirit cord is to make it your own. I also suggest taking your time and working with each exercise until you feel you've gotten the essence of what's being worked with. For the ritual magician, this is a definite must have book that will add a valuable tool and technique to your ongoing work.

Elemental Balancing Ritual Movement Month 20: Regret

5-26-14: As I navigate the Pluto cycle of my chart and the dark night of the soul it brings with it, I find that what matters most is how I approach the challenge I'm facing and that what movement teaches me isn't just how to move around a situation or through it, but how to move with it, and through that movement find resolution. This last weekend I made a mistake. I had the best of intentions, but how I approached the situation created some discomfort for other people. What it made me aware of is how I can sometimes get so fixated in what's in front of me that I lose the big picture perspective. I move with that realization and I make it part of the movement of my life so that I can learn from the mistake and apply it proactively to my life and interactions as well.

5-28-14 The latest Dresden Files book, Skin Game, just came out and I'm eagerly reading it now. It's one of my favorite fantasy series, in part because  love the whole occult detective angle the author explores. If I ever get back to writing fiction I'd want to write an occult detective series myself, though I don't know if I could do quite so good as Butcher does. I'm also reading a book on magic that I'm not sure I'll review. I find myself fundamentally disagreeing with pretty much everything the author shares and I feel that there's a lot of distorted information being shared. On the other hand I also consider that ultimately the person is sharing their perspective and I don't have to agree with it. It's just rare for me to disagree so much with what someone shares.

5-30-14 I finished the book I disagreed and decided not to read any of the other books by the author. I'm not going to name the person, but I definitely will not read any further as it would be a waste of my time. I think this is the first time I've come across material where its clear to me the material is distorted and that whatever the person is connected to is something I shouldn't have anything else to do with. I've read books by people I personally don't like and still found value in the books they wrote, but this is something else altogether. It's rare for me to feel this way about something I've encountered, but there it is.

5-31-14 Yesterday I had a fairly deep, intense meditation where I was present with the stress in my body and I saw that a lot of it was brought about by regret and I could feel those regrets pressing on my mind, creating tension, holding me back. I promised myself I wouldn't have regrets and yet I have them. It's hard to really sit with that and yet also liberating. I've decided that I need to focus more on my dissolving work and spend some time digging into those regrets. I don't expect it to be easy, but I think it will be rewarding once I've been able to let go of them.

6-1-14 In a conversation with Kat, we discussed my feelings of regret. I realize that what I regret is that 9 years ago I made a lot of decisions based on reaction and on someone else's schedule. I made those choices, so I'm responsible for them, but I regret I made them because I didn't honor myself at all in doing so. I made decisions that changed the direction of my life and I did it for the wrong reasons. That's no one else's fault or responsibility. It's my responsibility, but what I take from that is just how important it is to never let someone else's schedule dictate my choices and also how important it is to make decisions by design instead of reaction. I've made the majority of my decisions in this life by reaction. I know that by looking at the history of my life. I suspect most people live in the same way, but over the last few years I've learned to apply design awareness to my choices. I've started asking myself what really informs that decision. And so Id like to think that I'm learning how to make decisions from a place of awareness that examines the consequences of the decision and allows me to map out what I could or should do before I make that decision. As for the regret...I'm allowing myself to fully acknowledge it, be present with it and recognize it for what it is. I haven't done that before now...I don't think I was ready to. Now I am and that will help a lot as I meditate on it.

I took a trip down memory lane today reading old issues of Razor Smile and Konton Magazines. I remember writing articles for both magazines in the mid 2000's. It's sad to me that the magazines have been replaced for the most part by blogs. I like blogging, but writing for those magazines and getting the magazines in the mail was an experience. I feel some nostalgia for those times. It was a period of time where lots of people were writing and sharing ideas, then after 2006 it all feel to the wayside.

6-5-14 Today when I meditated on regret, I ended up meditating about my earliest romantic experiences with women. I allowed myself to feel the regret, but also really paid attention to it and realized that all of my regret is about the relationships in my life with women. I don't have regrets about anything else other then the ph.d program. Everything is around those relationships and so I just sat with that and meditated on it, recognizing underneath the regret were feelings of emptiness, of trying to get filled, of trying to be accepted, of looking for something in the wrong place. How much have I defined my life by my relationships? A lot. More than I'm comfortable with. So much of my sense of self has come from trying to connect with women in my life, in part I think, because of how I've tried to resolve in my mind and heart, my earliest experiences with my step mom. I feel that much of my focus on connecting with women has really been about trying to heal a wound no one else can heal, to find acceptance only I can.

6-7-14 I find it relevant that the yesallwomen conversation is occurring now as I do my work around regret. It helps me to situate that work within the cultural aspects of the movement, highlighting to me how much my own feelings are conditioned in part by how men have treated women. I know I've sometimes been guilty of behavior that's been disrespectful to women and reading the accounts in yesallwomen calls that into account and provides me a chance to recognize that behavior and put it into context with the regret work I've been doing. Today Kat and I discussed that work. She asked me if I felt regret about being with her or about the choices we've made as a couple in respect to our relationship. A reasonable question to ask. I told her I don't felt regret about being with her or our choices, but instead feel that what I'm working through with the regrets I'm working with is another layer of conditioning, reactions, and feelings about women in my life and my life choices that have lead to me live a reactive life, for the majority of my life. I don't want to live such a life, and yet I find the only way to change it necessarily involves working with those reactions and emotions I haven't fully acknowledged or accepted in myself.

6-10-14 I've been watching West Wing on Netflix. In one episode a character discusses his addiction issues. He acknowledges that although he hasn't had a drink or taken pills in 6 years, he's still an addict and admits he doesn't thinking of taking one drink, he thinks of taking ten drinks. It was an interesting statement about the nature of addiction and it made me think about how addiction takes away the enjoyment of something: the enjoyment of a drink, the enjoyment of sex, the enjoyment of anything else. Addiction is something else, trying to forget something, to fill something up, to numb the pain. It eats as you because no matter what you do, its temporary at best. And even if you do nothing, its still there. The only way you can deal with it is to do the work and face whatever it is you are using the addiction to mask.

6-15-14 In Born for Love the author discusses chameleons. Chameleons in this case refers to people who are trying to belong and as such change themselves to fit whoever they are around. When I read that, it reminded me a lot of myself. I've been a chameleon at times. Around the time I was reading that chapter, I was meditating on regret and I had a really deep, long meditation and in that meditation I was told, "Stop trying to be everything for everyone." Then I was shown a bunch of different moments in my life when I had tried to be what other people had wanted. From my step mom to my mom, to friendships and romantic relationships, I've always tried to fit myself into what the other person wanted, often making myself miserable as a result. I've learning, in my marriage with Kat, how not to do that so much, how to assert myself more, but I see how this ties into regret, specifically because in trying to fit myself into what I thought other people wanted, I gave away my sense of authenticity, my awareness of what I wanted, submerging it in the interests of trying to be something else.

6-16-14 In how The Mighty Fall, the author makes a point that I think is significant to dealing with regret. He notes we aren't imprisoned by our circumstances, or our setbacks, or our history, or our mistakes. Instead we are freed by our choices, and what brings us freedom is the ability to learn from our mistakes, to make a choice where we come back from our setbacks. Never give up on yourself, never give up on the ability to prevail, the belief in yourself, and never give up on your core values. I feel this is relevant to regret, because I think that regret can sabotage your belief in yourself. When I meditated today on regret, I felt that same place in body where the tension is, and I went deep once again and I dissolved some of it, coming away with a realization of how regret is still an attempt to fill something up. Reading what I did today helped me recognize the strength that my core values have brought me over the years, especially in how I have not given up on achieving what it is important to me. Whatever regrets have come up, I have not allowed them to drag me down.

6-19-14 I'm visiting the ocean right now. Seems appropriate to do so when doing dissolving work. Today's meditation continued focusing on regret. I feel that the area in my torso where the emotion of regret is found is becoming less tense as I do this work. It doesn't feel as blocked and I feel as well that I'm able to let go of what I've been holding onto for so long. It seems to me that part of dealing with regret boils down to taking responsibility for what you regret. And what I mean by that is that feeling regret doesn't necessarily involve taking responsibility. Taking responsibility means you acknowledge why you feel the regret and why you are letting it move you. In my case, regret has moved me a lot in life and I recognize that in a way I previously hadn't. This dissolving work is just the first step in my work with regret, the first step toward taking responsibility for it so it doesn't move my life in the way it has in the past.

Silence, Sound, and Magic

I'm reading Music Power Harmony by R.J. Stewart. He has some interesting insights to share about silence and sound and their relationship to magic. He notes the following, "Before music begins there is silence; but that silence itself is full of sounds. When the music commences, it generates patterns through the (non-) silence that preceded it, but each fragment of the music holds countless moments of resonance, interaction, silence, and sound." There is no silence. We live in a world of sound. That sound is all around us. Turn off your T. V., music, or whatever you are listening to and just listen. There will still be noises. The hum of your electronics, or just the sound in the background. Still yourself and listen and you will hear sounds you normally block out. Yet allowing yourself to hear them will provide an experience that shapes your consciousness by opening you up to what is around you all the time.

Stewart also notes that actual silence is found within, which is true to some extent, but only in the ability of the magician to be able to still the monkey mind. The chattering of the monkey mind brings its own sound that echoes through the mind, distracting the magician from the focus of the magical work. The monkey mind is stilled when the magician learns to cultivate silence by recognizing that there is no need to comment on everything. The stillness of the mind leads to an experience of silence that allows the magician to be receptive to whatever it that s/he is working with.

What I find most relevant however is what he says about musical empowerment, which is that it enables us to be transformed, to open ourselves to being transformed. I find this to be true with music and to some extent with other forms of media as well. Some of that transformation is the impressions left on the monkey mind, which is why you find yourself thinking of that annoying song or commercial tune you recently heard. However, when used for ritual purposes, media transforms the consciousness by conditioning it toward achieving states of altered awareness that in turn is used for magical purposes. And whether you are making the music or listening to it, you become part of this sonic experience that imprints your mind with the path to achieving that altered state.

In my own work sound and silence form a rhythm,which is used to create that altered state of consciousness. Each moment of sound is interspersed with moments of silence, with sound and silence leading into each other and supporting each other in order to help the person immerse themselves into a state of consciousness conducive for magical work. Vocalization is also used to help tune the working to the spiritual realms that will be called upon when doing the working. Silence and sound are powerful and both should be used with each other to help emphasize the working.

For example, take a bell and ring it. Let the sound fade until there is silence, then ring the bell again, letting the sound fade to silence, then ring it again. Observe the effect on your consciousness as you do this activity. The sound of the bell cuts through everything else in the background, but the silence brings awareness of the background to the forefront. The alternation of sound and silence takes you out of your usual state of mind, creating that altered state of consciousness that is useful for ritual work.

This can also be applied to the human voice. Chant a word or a syllable. Vocalize it as you say it and then let that vocalization fade into silence, then chant again, silence, and repeat. Note how the sound and silence sync up and work together to create the state of mind which is receptive to what the chant embodies. The patterns of sound and silence are used to create resonance with the magician and the forces s/he is calling upon or connecting with. That resonance is built up as the rhythm is established and through that build up the connection is established and strengthened until the magician is ready to bring it to head and commence to the next stage of the working.

I'm finding sound and silence more relevant than ever to my won work, both in terms of ritual magic, and solitary work. Sound entrains us while silence stills us. Both have their place in magical work and when used together they can be a potent tool for creating deeper connections or for putting you in the right state of mind.

Magic isn't always Safe

This last weekend I gave a talk on the 7 Faces of Alchemy ritual at the Northwest Alchemy conference. At one point, one of the people attending the talk asked what the statement of intent for the ritual was and if I'd had a specific result in mind. I explained that my intention, at the time of the working was that it would function as a purposeful catalyst for change in my life, but that I didn't have specific results in mind because I felt that defining the result too much would have taken away from the efficacy of the working. I wanted to have an experience and I recognized then as I do now that when you have an experience, you necessarily give up some control to have it. You can't have an experience if you aren't open to it showing up in your life in ways you don't expect, that nonetheless brings change to your life.

My answer to that question also prompted me to note something else about that ritual: I didn't want to define the result too much because to do so would have sanitized the working, made it safe in a way that didn't allow for genuine change to occur. Life isn't safe (despite what illusions we provide ourselves to that effect) and I don't think magic should be either. Now I'll admit I've stated that it is useful to define the result and that when you develop a process of magic, it can actually be very useful to define the desired result so you can work backwards. In practical magic, defining the result is very useful because it provides a measurable outcome to shoot for. But there's always exceptions to the rules...

Sometimes you want to do magic to change your life, but you recognize that you need to be open for the change show up in ways you can't anticipate. You recognize that you need to be pushed in order to grow and if you try to control that process you'll just keep yourself stuck in a rut. Sometimes you need magic not to be safe and defined, because when its safe and defined it keeps you where you are...predictable. Sometimes you need to let go of control and be open to the experience, to letting it change and push you in ways you didn't expect could happen.

Magic isn't always safe. It shouldn't always be safe. When I did the 7 Faces of Alchemy work, it wasn't safe magic. It changed my life in ways I couldn't anticipate and pushed me to change and grow. I had a lot of illusions about myself stripped away and I had to come face to face with my decisions and look at what my life really was as opposed to what I thought it should be. It was hard work that humbled me and helped me change in a way that ultimately benefited me. It wasn't safe work though because if it had been safe I wouldn't have faced those issues or been humbled in that way. It was dangerous work that challenged me as a magician and person. By opening myself to the experience and allowing that experience to become part of me, I allowed myself to give up control and accept whatever came my way, with the understanding that it would change in me in ways I didn't expect.

Whenever I do magical work with an eye toward creating major changes in my life, I do so with the understanding that I won't be safe. My life will change and that change will necessarily require some sacrifice on my part that will likely be hard to give at the time I make it. Yet I also know that surrendering to change will bring with it opportunities and if I am open to those opportunities I will end up where I need to be. It may be uncomfortable and painful, yet what I learn as a result will challenge me to grow.

The Cultural Value of Pop Culture Magic

Among other books I'm reading, I'm reading a lot of pop culture studies books as research for Pop Culture Magic 2.0. In several of the books the authors make some relevant points about how the concept of pop culture is treated. Pop culture is considered to be low culture, culture of the masses, something which is frowned upon as being not relevant or serious to our times, as compared to older works that are considered high culture. Shakespeare, for example is considered high culture, even though when he wrote the plays they were considered pop culture. The point to consider here is this: What makes one cultural artifact valid or another invalid as more to do with social agendas than the actual artifact. This is relevant to pop culture magic in the sense that the dismissal of pop culture magic is at least partially derived from cultural standards used to judge pop culture as not relevant because pop culture doesn't fit the agenda of the people deciding what is or isn't culturally valuable.

I admittedly have my own agenda. I find pop culture to be relevant and insightful in regards to the times we live in, and in the magical and spiritual work people do. I think that integrating pop culture into magical work makes a lot of sense because of how pop culture informs our awareness and experiences of the world. When I see the occasional negative reaction to pop culture magic, what I really see is a reactive reinforcement of cultural standards, usually done without being consciously aware of that reinforcement. And in cases where it is done with a consciousness awareness of that reinforcement, what strikes me most is what I perceive as fear on the part of the person. The fear that pop culture will overshadow and replace what they find to be culturally valuable.

What keeps culture alive and relevant is how people interact with it and make it a part of their lives. This is true for older cultural artifacts as well as contemporary cultural artifacts. Thus it can seem that pop culture is in competition with older cultures, and thus the response is to decry it, make it less valid and valuable. However I think that pop culture doesn't have to be in competition with older cultures and can actually inspire people to learn more about older cultures. For example, while Marvel's Thor is not the Thor of Norse mythology, he is derived from that Thor. People who enjoy the modern day presentation of Thor may become curious to learn more about the Norse version of Thor as a result. The same could be argued for Greek myths. The Zeus of Percy Jackson isn't the same as the Zeus of Greek Myths, but how many people have been exposed to Greek mythology as a result of Percy Jackson?

Another concern is that people might take cultural concepts from older cultures and corrupt them by applying them to contemporary culture. There is some validity to this argument. A cultural concept from an older culture will have contextual meanings and associations specific to that culture which may not carry over or apply to contemporary culture, let alone pop culture depictions of contemporary culture. On the other hand, something worth considering is if applying a classic cultural concept to contemporary culture might allow people to learn more about those values who might not otherwise be exposed to them. There aren't easy answers to this particular conundrum, but I'll admit that part of what I think pop culture can be is influenced by the cultures of the past and acknowledging and consciously bringing that influence to bear could be good for all of us.

I think it's useful to examine our own biases and recognize what informs them. The education system is slanted toward presenting "high" culture and valuing that culture over contemporary culture. How then does that effect our own biases and opinions when it comes to pop culture? If we value a certain type of culture over another, what are the standards and values informing that decision and how have we come to that decision? I'll admit that in my case I've always been fascinated by pop culture and its various expressions. I see value in it and through it discover new ideas for my magical work. That other people feel this way as well tells me that pop culture magic has more lasting value and can bring something to magical work and indeed spirituality that could be useful to explore. Knowing our biases as we go into that exploration is important, just as it is important to understand the biases that inform other people's perspectives and opinions about pop culture and its place in magical work.

The continued evolution of my non-anthropomorphic magical work

I recently came across a blog post on pagan square which explored two meanings of anthropomorphism. The author argued that anthropomorphism wasn't necessarily an error and argued that classifying it as such negated the benefit of being able to relate to deities in a manner that was representative of the emotions and attributes that people could relate to. She went on to note that it was possible to derive two meanings in anthropomorphism. One meaning would argue that divinity has human form and physical characteristics of humans, which she felt would be an anthropomorphic error. The other meaning is that a deity, entity, etc., has human like consciousness and she felt that making this assumption was not an error. I disagree, because I find that when you attribute human consciousness, feelings, motives, etc., what is really happening is that you are seeking to control the relationship with whatever you are connecting with.

It makes sense in a way. If I ascribe certain types of behaviors to an entity, in order to work with it, it makes the experience feel safer. The problem is that assuming you understand the consciousness of a non-human by ascribing human values to it really misses out on actually connecting with the entity. In a lot of my recent work I've moved away from an anthropocentric model because I've come to recognize how limiting and problematic such a model is. At the same time, what I have found interesting is how some of the previous work I've done nonetheless set the stage to connect with entities I'm working with in a non-anthropomorphic manner. For example, I've been revisiting my work with neurotransmitters.

When I initially did the work with neurotransmitters I sought an anthropomorphic connection. In other words, I wanted them to appear before me in a shape I could recognize and communicate with me in a way that was humancentric. In those workings I'd ask for a symbol I could use to evoke the neurotransmitters. In my recent work I've gone back and approached the work in a manner that is focused on experiencing the neurotransmitter as it works instead of trying to sanitize it by making it seem human. While the neurotransmitter exists in my body, it doesn't mean it shares the same consciousness, values, feelings etc. When I've done the recent non-anthropomorphic work with the neurotransmitters, what I've discovered is that the symbols I'd previously been given actually are actually the experiences I'm having. In other words, the neurotransmitters provided the experience of them as symbols. In the current work, I'm experiencing them and yet finding that the experience mirrors the symbol. It's quite fascinating, but even in this case I don't assume an anthropomorphic consciousness at work, but rather a sharing of the experience in a way that would make sense to my anthropomorphic consciousness.

All of my other magical work has also been around a non-anthropomorphic approach, which focuses on being open to the experience without interpreting the connection from a human perspective. I can acknowledge, as a human, that my experience will occur through my senses and awareness of those senses, but I do my best not to place human values on what I'm connecting with. Instead by being open to the experience as it occurs I can connect in a way that is genuine and allows for mediation of the entity being connected with. I'm not blocking the connection with my human biases and interpretation. This mediation of the entity is stronger as a result, allowing the magician to establish a deeper relationship based on the authentic experience instead of the biases of the magician.

For example, the recent spirit cord work I shared about the lunar work I did involved working with the Ashim, which are the angels of the lunar realm. I didn't assume the angels would appear to me with wings or harps. In fact, I didn't assume they would appear to me at all, and in fact they didn't. My experience of them involved feeling them as they transported me to the lunar realm. By not going in to the working with anthropomorphic assumptions and biases, I was able to connect with them and be aware of them as they worked with me, without assigning values and consciousness to them that didn't necessarily fit them.

I see anthropomorphism as an extension of the tendency to apply psychology to magic as a way of explaining. Anthropomorphism makes magic seem safe and easy to handle, because it's all in your head. The problem with that approach is that takes the magic out of magic. It's just a head game then, easily explainable in terms of behavior, but lacking real depth. Anthropomorphism conveniently applies human behavior to experiences to make those experiences more palatable, but it stops us from really allowing ourselves to be moved by the magic we are working or the entities we are connecting with.

Book Review: The Sacred Cross: A Transformational Spiritual Tool for Life by Anastacia Nutt

This book teaches a stillness technique called the Sacred Cross. The author does an excellent job of balancing the conceptual aspects of the technique with practical exercises used to integrate the technique into your spiritual practices. She also provides some excellent suggestions for how the technique can be used in concern with other spiritual practices you are doing. I've found the book helpful as I've worked with the sacred cross technique and have adapted the technique into my ongoing spiritual work on a daily basis. If you are wanting to learn a useful stillness technique, this one will resonate with you and be very helpful.

The Value of Cursing

I spent my high school years in York, PA. One of the rare, interesting places in the area is Rehmeyer's hollow. In the early 20th century, Rehmeyer, who was a hex magician, was killed by another magician, Blymire, who claimed that Rehmeyer had cursed him. Killing Rehmeyer didn't seem to do Blymire much good, given that he ended up in jail for his efforts, but if you visit Rehmeyer's Hollow you can tell that whatever happened there left a permanent mark on the land, because it's a pretty spooky place. I remember driving there late at night, and doing a lot of my early formative ritual work in the hollow. It was and still is a place that I have fond memories of and on the exceedingly rare occasions I happen to be in York, I make a point to visit the hollow.

When I was an angst ridden teenager, I did the occasional curse, really as a way to feel empowered in situations where I didn't feel I had much power otherwise. However in more recent years I haven't performed a curse and I find it interesting to encounter the occasional occult book, which discusses curses in a manner where it's clear that the writer is pretty serious about actually using them. My own response to reading this has also been enlightening, because I consider the idea of doing a curse to be a waste of time and effort. This is in part because something I've come to realize about people in general, myself included, is that we are our own worst enemies. The way I figure it, someone I genuinely dislike is someone who is already cursed by just being them and having to deal with their own issues (or not deal with them as the case may be). I realize that this attitude is also reflective of a lot of the internal work I've done, especially around the dissolving practice, which has allowed me to strip away a lot of the dysfunction and consequently also makes me re-evaluate where I want to put my energy and time.

A couple of years ago, I decided to do a banishing ritual that involved some people from my past. Even though I hadn't been in touch with any of those people for a while, they brought up such feelings of anger and hurt and I realized they likely would've been thrilled to know they'd continued to push my buttons. And I knew that if I did a curse, it would really just be feeding the anger and hurt. I'd be cursing myself as much as them and I just didn't see the point. So I did this banishing working, where I vomited up those feelings and released what I was feeling. Since then I've felt much happier and focused on what really matters, which is doing my own work and experiments and also helping people out, which is something I find a lot more empowering.

I look at cursing and what I see is an ego game. I'm pissed off at so and so for saying or doing something I didn't like, so I'm going to mess that person up. That's what it boils down to. And all that said I've been the occasional recipient of a curse as well, and what I've taken away in those cases is that I have more power over that person than anything they could do to me, because I've gotten them so worked up that they feel the need to try and do something to me...and by doing they are really giving me their sense of power. Actually that's true in any situation where a person gets worked up enough to try and do something. Of course you take appropriate pre-cautions. I do my daily work each day and part of doing that daily work is making sure I've got my bases covered, but even so in that situation where they are trying to do something to me, who really has the power? The person who is throwing the curse might feel like they've got the power, but they're giving it all away instead of taking a moment to really examine their own perspectives and roles and why they are so invested in a situation that they let it get to them like that. As for me, I'd rather just walk away and focus on doing what's important. I'd rather focus my time and energy on what calls to me then wasting it on someone else.

Lunar and Sacred Cross Workings

My current magical work has focused on continuing to work with the Spirit Cord, specifically in relationship to some space/time magic and Lunar workings with the Ashim, as well as integrating a new daily meditation, the Sacred Cross, which I've been using as a stillness exercise. I've been finding that stillness work in general is creating a deeper foundation for my space/time magic work, which makes sense because what it does is create a very specific state of mind that allows a person to experience space and time differently. The work in the Sacred Cross technique involves directing your consciousness both inward and outward, inward to yourself and the Earth and outward to the cosmos, and then bringing all of that into yourself and creating stillness from it that connects you to the rhythm of the universe.

Part of what I like about the Sacred Cross work is that you are initially using the beating of your heart to move yourself into that altered space of consciousness. When you can draw on your own rhythms to help you move into a specific state of mind, it really teaches you to be aware and appreciative of what your body can share with you, as well a how your body can open you up to experiences with the world at large. Since I've started doing this working regularly, it's enabled me to hit deeper states of consciousness, as well as enhancing the other stillness work I'm doing.

With the spirit cord work I've been doing an exercise where you walk the silver and gold stairs of the sublunar realm to connect with the Ashim, which are the Lunar angels. The gold and silver stairs are part of the journey a soul takes when it dies and when it reincarnates, but you can also consciously work with the Ashim. The work I've been doing with the spirit cord has involved bonding the lunar energy to the cord for purposes of connecting with the Ashim, but doing this work has also taken me into some interesting directions. Each time I've done the working I've connected with a being which has instructed me about the journey of souls, both as it relates to this planet, but other places as well. I've also been given access to a library of sorts, where I've encountered my higher self, or guardian angel, who has shown me a book, which is about my lives, specifically parallel timelines, where I don't experience those lives directly, so much as I learn about them and the choices that were made to create those time variants of this life. What's interested me most in this aspect of the working is how I might integrate the contents of the book into the spirit cord, or if the spirit cord could be considered analogous to the book.

I also did a lunar working where I connected to the archangel Gabriel. We discussed the spirit cord work, space/time work as it relates to the spirit cord and then he reached out and touched my brow. I felt him attune me and then he told me I should do the spirit cord wrk in relationship to the other planetary and archangelic energies as I continue the work I'm doing at this time.

I still have some lunar workings from the Spirit Cord to do, but I'm doing the work slow and steady. I'm not in any rush to be anywhere...it's more about understanding and mastering what you're working with, instead of trying to get somewhere fast. Nonetheless doing this work is quite fascinating and I find myself enjoying getting back to my roots as it were by doing some of this work and considering as well how I can integrate it into other projects I'm working on.

Book Review: Making Comics by Scott McCloud

If you want to write comics or create art for comics or do both this book is essential. And if you're a writer of prose, I still recommend this book because it'll help you appreciate writing from a different angle. If you enjoy reading comics books and want to know what happens on the creation end of them, then this book is a must read. There are some excellent ideas, and McCloud does a great job of providing readers a chance to peak behind the curtain and understand what happens when you make comics. This is also an inspirational book...it will get you to think differently. I've been inspired by it not merely in terms of writing or art, but also in other areas of my life, including my spiritual practice because of how the concepts in the book get you to look at the world differently.

Book Review: Missing Microbes by Martin Blaser

In this book the author explores the ramifications of the overuse of antibiotics in both the the health and food industry and how this overuse is effecting the microbial systems within our bodies. It's a fascinating book that will open your eyes and get you to think carefully about your food and medical choices, as well as how you choose to give birth, and other such decisions. The author also shares the various studies he's been engaged in and provides solid information on how the changes in our microbial systems are contributing to the rise of super bacteria as well as new diseases. If you're interested in understanding the biology of your body, this book will be eye-opening.

Book Review: Divorcing a Real Witch by Diana Rajchel

In this book, Diana explores the topic of divorce and what t do when you are a Pagan (or married to one) and are about to go through the process of divorce. She walks readers through that process as well as exploring how people come to that decision. What I like in particular about the book are the rituals she shares and ideas she has for how to make a clean break of it, and make the divorce as easy as it possibly can be. I wish I'd had this book when I had my divorce. Reading this book will help you make sense of your divorce, find empowerment, and move on from the relationship you are leaving. And it can also be a good book for couples to read, to help them have some conversations that may need to occur, especially if you are in a rocky phase of your relationship.

Elemental Balancing Ritual Month 19: Ebb and Flow

4-24-14 I decided to pick up the biography on Steve Jobs at the library. I was there to meet a business connection (who no showed) and while I was waiting I started reading it. Initial thoughts on reading it: It's sad how many people have felt abandoned in life, yet in his case he clearly had adoptive parents who game him the world. Nonetheless I see certain patterns in the character of his personality that are similar to what I discovered in Born to Love. It's a fascinating read. I admit that I occasionally do get fascinated with a particular person and learn about that person...usually someone who's really intelligent, who's gone their own way, and who's had some struggles. Not all that different from my life and I like seeing what other people, in their respective circumstances, did to get wherever they are/were. Usually the lessons I've learned boil down to a combination of going their own way, persevering in believing in their vision of the world (as opposed to buying into someone's else vision), and not being afraid to admit mistakes or change course as needed. Good lessons to remind myself of.

4-26-14 The more I read the biography about Jobs, the more fascinating I find him to be. He was clearly a driven person, but also a bit of a tyrant. He had a vision for the world and he wouldn't let anyone stop him, but he didn't know how to work well with most people. That seems to be true for most of the innovators of the world. Reading the biography does make me reflect on some of my personality traits. I'm not easy to work with either. I can be temperamental and I have very particular ideas about what I want to do and how to do it. That said, I wouldn't change any of it. To do something different calls for a different person who is willing to push the limits for the sake of the vision s/he has. Settling for less lessens a person who knows there can be better than what's already out there.

4-29-14 I finished reading the biography of Steve Jobs today. A fascinating book about someone who changed this world. A bit of irony here: I have never used Apple computers or products. There was always something about them I didn't like and reading the biography allowed me to figure out that it's that the computers feel very controlled. Jobs was a control freak and it showed in the computers and other products he developed. I suppose the relevance of this book as it relates to my spiritual work is that it makes me appreciate two things: How a person can move the world around him/her with a particular understanding of his/her focus and calling. And also the importance of continually being aware of how the shadow aspects of yourself can show up, as well as what do about them.

5-2-14 It's a tough day today. I've made some choices and those choices have had effects I didn't expect. It's not the end of the world, but it changes you...when you see yourself in a different way because of the consequences of your choices. The way you think of yourself also changes. What you thought you were, you no longer are and what you've become isn't what you wanted to be. I've referred, a few times, to the fact this is the dark night of the soul cycle in my astrological chart and this definitely fits that experience. The shadow side of that Plutonic energy showing up and presenting itself as a specter that effects your life. Yet somehow I'll continue on, because this doesn't really change that much for me...it just makes it more apparent and life continues on. I'm still here...can still do what I want to do, and knowing that I'll allow myself to feel this moment and everything it brings up and then use it to fuel my fire and continue on my journey.

5-3-14 You either move forward when you deal with a crisis event or you give up. So I'm moving forward with an eye toward how to solve the problem I'm dealing with. I've done some research and the silver lining in all of this is that it provides me an opportunity to work on some experiments. An experiment works better based on need than on curiosity, though both are useful enough.

5-8-14 The last few days I've re-examined my schedule and changed it around to make sure I'm exercising and meditating each day. I meditate almost every day, but occasionally I let my business schedule get in the way. Exercise has been more sporadic the last few months and I'm not happy about that. So I looked at my schedule and what I realized is that I just need to go in to each week with the understanding that no matter how much I have to do, self-care has to come first. So if I don't get to everything I was hoping to do, it's more important I exercise and meditate. I'm going to hold myself to that, and have done so for the last few days, which has helped immensely.

5-10-14 As part of my work with movement, I've decided to change my daily work a bit. I'm focusing more on the Taoist breathing techniques, but also doing daily cord work and have just added some work with the Sacred Heart technique. Each of these different techniques incorporates movement to one degree or another, even it if it is just awareness of the rhythm of a type of movement...and yet each of them also leads into stillness, and the profound awareness of stillness that I find lies hidden within movement. As I do each exercise I'm mindful of the movement, but also the stillness at the heart of the movement, and how both feed into each other, creating this awareness of the universe if we are willing to just be aware.

5-11-14 So much of how I felt in my life has involved a feeling of profound emptiness, painful emptiness, which I have tried to fill up a variety of ways, none of which ever worked. Eventually I learned to sit with my emptiness, to be present with it, to accept it as a part of my life instead of treating it as an enemy. I came to recognize nothing could ever fill it up, no person, no deity or god, nothing...and that there was no need to fill it up...instead I could simply be with it and come to a place of peace with it by accepting it as a natural part of being me. It's a part of my journey in this life.

Mother's day today. Mother's day is mixed for me. I have a mixed relationship with my mom. I have no relationship with my ex-step-mom and no wish for one. My experiences with mothers has been less then ideal really. Actually that's true of my experience with my parents period. In some ways we have a good relationships, but sometimes what I remember is how neglected and unloved and unwanted and unaccepted I felt.

5-15-14 In one of the meditations I've been doing, I've been interacting with what might be considered my Angel or higher self. I always encounter this being in a library, around a book stand which contains the book of my life. This being is filling out details of that book. We've been discussing this life and the possible variations of it and something he said today struck me profoundly. "No matter what you change about this life, what variation of it you explore, there will always be some part of you that is unsatisfied because until you learn how to accept what you have, there will always be a sense that something is missing" I've encountered variations of this before, but I'm a slow learner sometimes and I know there is truth to this, just as I also know that so much of what I've struggled with in my life has really involved that sense of emptiness and thinking that something else could feel it up. It's taking me a while to realize a simple truth: There is no variation, no ideal version, no change that will be perfect. That no matter what life you live there will be struggles and challenges and something missing and the question is do you focus on what's missing or do you focus on what you have. Now it can be useful to focus on what's missing as it can drive you to do some great things, but it can also drive you to do terrible things. Focusing on what you have, learning to accept it and be at peace with yourself is a hard struggle at times. What I heard today is a simple truth but getting that simple truth has taken and is taking a lot of work on my part.

5-16-14 Earlier this week Kat and I caught a cat that had come wandering around. It was surprisingly friendly and we planned on getting it fixed, until a friend pointed out it was pregnant. Then we started looking into no kill shelters, but it felt like a time bomb on our hands because it was pretty clear that the Cat was close to birthing. Today I finally found one and I took the cat in...While I was driving the cat started giving birth. Quite an experience and fortunately the shelter was still willing to take the cat and kittens in, but what a day. And while its seemingly not relevant to my magical journey, I found it awe inspiring to take part in this journey of life that as occurring.

5-20-14 A lot of the magical work I'm doing lately is transitional work from movement to stillness. Although it's only May and I won't switch until October, I'm nonetheless finding this theme of transition in play, which I think actually makes sense. It's really an exploration of the relationship movement and stillness have with each other. what's intriguing is how stillness generates movement, for I find when I do stillness work that it nonetheless creates movement and following that movement may not be very stilling, but it does lead to some interesting discoveries. And with movement itself, I'm also recognizing how it comes to an end at some time and then you transition to something else. Part of this work has been around the lunar and sublunar realm as well and coming to understand how the movement of life into death into life.

Something else I've been thinking about is the worst decision I've made in my life. Why have I been thinking about it? Because I recognize how much that decision changed me life, in ways I couldn't even begin to know until after it was made and how even though its been some time since I made that decision it's a decision that played a role in other decisions I made since. It makes me glad I'm less impulsive now, more focused on making decisions by design than out of reaction. It also makes me realize how careful I need to be when I make big decisions in my life, because of how things can play out. I know my life would be very different if I'd made a different decision 9 years ago. And you might wonder why I'm thinking about that decision? The truth is that I'm thinking about it so much because I'm finally processing it and the effect its had on me. It's taken me a long time, in part because so much has happened and because I'd been doing a lot of other internal work, but at some point you catch up and start to see things closer to where you are now. I look at that decision and I see how it's played a role in other decisions I've made in the last nine years and its kind of staggering. I don't want to dwell on this decision forever, but I need to make peace with the fact that I made it and also make peace with the consequences of it. And with all that said I need to learn from it, which I've done in some ways and in other ways I'm still learning.

5-21-14 Ebb and flow is the rhythm of movement. When you recognize ebb and flow in your life, in your business, etc., you learn not to take it so personally or worry about it. You become self-assured because you recognize it for what it is. You look at what you need to change, what actions to take, but you don't freak about it either because you know that the ebb and flow you're dealing with is something you can handle. You've handled it all your life. I'm recognizing the ebb and flow in my life, in the rhythms of movement, events, activities, and everything else along those lines and this makes it easier to plan for and to work with. I recognize my ebb and flow and accept it as part of the nature of my life, and as a result I'm working what I've got at any given time and making it matter where it counts most.

Life Skills and Magic

Recently John Beckett posted about poor magicians being poor magicians because of the chaos in their lives. Some of the responses to what he wrote ranged from agreement to arguing that he was making statements from a place of class and privilege. Shortly after John wrote that post, I found another post by Frater Barrabbas, which may or may not have been a response to John's post, but which I like because of the some points he makes about wealth and success as it relates to the practice of magic. Jason Miller weighed in on John's post and makes the point that a magician can be good at magic and still be bad at handling life skills. John Beckett wrote another post in response to Jason's, where he essentially agrees with Jason's take on the discussion. All of it makes for fascinating reading, in relationship to a few topics: Wealth Magic and its efficacy and place in the magician's life, the definition of success and what that really looks like, and finally defining the relationship between magic and living a "good life". So here's my take on this conversation...

Being good at magic and being good at life are not necessarily one and the same. They can be linked together, but they don't automatically go together. I have known many magicians in my life who are good at magic, but nonetheless live chaotic lives. In fact, I'd argue that sometimes their very skill at magic actually contributes to the chaos in their lives. Why? Because so much of practical magic is reactive magic, done as a response to situations and problems that occur in the life of the magician. I used to be one of those magicians. A problem would come along and what would I do? Look to magic to solve the problem. I'd do a magical working and the problem would be resolved, for that moment. Eventually the problem would show up again in a different guise, but nonetheless similar enough that if I knew what to look for I could recognize it for what it was. It took me years to realize something significant about the problems and chaos I was dealing with in my life: I contributed to and helped create the problems I was dealing with. I lived my life by reaction and consequently practiced my magic by reaction. And there are many magicians who do approach magic in just that way. It works great for the short term, but has little long term value.

The secret to wealth magic is that you figure out what you really want and make that the drive of your life. But what you really want needs to be greater than just meeting materialistic needs. It needs to speak something deeper within you, something that connects you to other people and to the world at large. It's that drive which will fuel your actions, bring you success, and help you design your life. Without that drive, you'll be like so many other people, caught in the minutiae of life, being ground away because some deep part of you is unsatisfied. So what is it you really feel called to do? What is it that brings you deep satisfaction? What is it that allows you to contribute not just to the well-being of your own life, but also to other people and to the world at large? Take the time to explore what you feel called to do and make that the focus of your life's work. Just remember one thing: If you choose to pursue what you feel called to do, don't assume it'll be an easy road to travel. It can and does take a lot of work, but if it's worth doing, you'll do the work because you know doing it will be fulfilling for you.

In my other business, I'm a business coach and what I teach my clients to do is run their business by design instead of by reaction. This same practice applies to living your life. When you plan by design, what you are doing is determining what you want for your life and what you will need to do in order to achieve what you want. Seems simple enough, but its a lot harder to execute than you'd think because so much of what people think they want is short term desires, material desires, etc., and curiously enough its actually harder to stay motivated and focused on achieving short term desires, because of how transitory they are. What I really teach my clients is how to reach past the short term desires and get in touch with what they are called to do, get in touch really with their core values and ideology. If you aren't in touch with your core values and ideology its hard to plan your life (or business) by design because you don't really know why you are doing what you are doing.

However it's not enough to define what you feel called to do. If you really want to pursue your calling, then be proactive and plan for it by design. Look at what actions you will need to take in 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, a year, etc., to get to what you want. Define each area of your life that will need to change and develop action for each of those areas. If this sounds systematic, it is, because when you apply a systematic approach to your life, you start to prioritize what's really important and cut out what isn't important.

Planning by design also means you take a critical look at your life (or business) and examine who and what is in your life as well as analyzing your own behavior and actions. Are you happy with your life? Are you happy with your relationships? Are you happy with what you are doing? All of these are good questions to ask, but you have to be honest with yourself in regards to the answers. Most of you have to recognize how you contribute to the state of your life. If you aren't happy with where your life is you do need to acknowledge and own your part of it. You can't control everything around you, but you can control your reactions and responses to situations. In fact one book I'd recommend reading is The Magic of Thinking Big, because it teaches you how to look at any situation you are in and find a way to make the situation better or make it work to your benefit. It's one of the best books on wealth magic, that isn't overtly about wealth magic. It teaches you the real power of positive thinking, which isn't the law of attraction schlock that's out there, but instead is focused on acknowledging the environment and circumstances you are in and looking for the available opportunities that will help you achieve your goals.

Planning by design also means you look at the material aspects of your life and determine what you need to support your calling. It doesn't mean you have to make a 7 figure salary to be wealthy, or even that money or material wealth should be your primary focus. It does mean you define what you need and you make sure you can get it, and you also learn the necessary skills to keep it and sustain it. A lot of people mistakenly assume that wealth magic is about money and how much you have, but that's short term thinking once again rearing its head. Unless you know what you'll use the money for and how you'll use it, it doesn't matter. Defining how you'll use money and what you'll use money for is far more important because then you understand money is a means to an end and as such your focus is on achieving the end and using money for that purpose instead of simply trying to acquire money.

Along with planning your life by design, I recommend also doing some internal work. Internal work isn't just getting clear on your core values or what you feel called to do. Internal work also involves working through your internal chaos and dysfunction. We all have it, to one degree or another. Internal work teaches you how to diffuse your reactions, work through your triggers and as a result control your responses. It takes a lot of work, but it is worth doing because of the clarity it brings to your life. Don't be surprised though if in doing this you change the relationships you have in your life. In the decade I've been doing internal work, a lot of my associations changed. As I worked through my internal chaos, it caused me to look at the circumstances of my life and the people I associated and make changes to both, based on what I felt would be healthy and supportive for me accomplished what I feel called to do.

Magic by design is good magic. Part of planning my life by design is utilizing practical magic in a proactive role. Instead of simply reacting to problems with magic, why not look at how you can integrate magic into your life design? For example, my work with the goetic Daimon Bune has involved getting his advice and suggestions on what resources I need to develop a successful business. In the years I've been working with him my businesses have improved quite a it thanks to his advice. Another example of proactive magic has involved learning to work with my body and the microbial life within in it to optimize my health. Practical magic doesn't have to be reactive, and when used from a design perspective, it makes it easier to navigate around potential problems instead of having to react to them. When you use magic from a design perspective, you are actively shaping your life around your life purpose, around what you feel called to do. That's how you mix life skills and magic in order to come out ahead.

Since we're on the topic of wealth magic, check out the latest podcast interview with yours truly by Occult Sentinel where we discuss wealth magic, identity, and other concepts relevant to the post above.

The Name of the Spider Queen

When I started doing research for Magical Identity, specifically for the space/time magical work, and I read Oryelle's book, a Brief Hirstory of Time, I encountered the Spider as an aspect of time magic, and considered the entity to be the spider queen of time. I never really asked her for a name and she seemed pretty content not to share one, but recently I felt an urge to ask her if there was a name I could use. I feel that this sudden urge was an indicator that the relationship was ready to progress further, so I decided to follow through on that urge and see what would happen.

One thing I wanted to be aware of as I decided to follow through on this urge was making sure that I was receptive to the name. I didn't want the mythologies around spiders to confuse the issue and have me think the name was something it might not be. This was a challenge for me because I am aware of several mythologies and for that matter fantasy books, where there are spider entities with names. That awareness created its own challenge, in that I knew I needed to be really present with the spider queen, while also being aware of preconceptions I could bring into the encounter.

When I did the meditation, I used the painting included in this post as the focus. The painting was inspired by my contact with the spider queen and so I knew it would help me in being present with her. I first did some stillness work, to clear my mind, still my emotions and center myself. Then I focused on the painting and called to her, asking her if I could have an audience. She responded and agreed I could.

I asked her if there was a name I could call her. "Isn't the Spider Queen of Time sufficient?" she asked. I explained the urge I'd felt and a recognition as well that if I was going to be teaching classes that involved her, it might make it easier for the people to have a name. She mulled this over and and asked, "What do you think my name is?" Immediately I started thinking of the names of the mythological beings, but they didn't feel right. She wasn't those beings and as she felt my thought she added her own 2 cents and told me that those names didn't feel right to her either. So instead of thinking of names, I meditated on her and on the web of space and time and what came to me through the vibrations of the web was a sense of Tempo, of pacing, which made sense, because she creates the web and sets the pace, but Tempo wasn't quite right either, so as I listened further what I heard was Tempora.

It felt right. She responded to it, liked it...said that fits me, describes me, is me. Naming is power. Naming is magic, and so she let me name her Tempora. The Spider Queen of time is Tempora. And now I call her that in my daily devotions and there is a deeper sense of connection as a result. Tempora.

The Process of Magic Round 9 starts in one Week!

Magic is a process that changes you and your relationship with the world, if you understand how the process works.

In this 24 lesson class, we will explore what the process of magic is and how it applies to you and your magical work. If you’re looking for a different perspective on magic that explores the underlying principles of how magic works, instead of focusing on the tools, ceremonies, and other optional features, this class is for you. Here is a testimonial from one of the people currently taking the class:

I have been reading and experimenting with magic and the occult for over five years and it seemed like I was going off in too many directions, without a map to guide me. I felt like I was spinning my wheels. This course helped me focus, without tying me into any particular Religion or belief system. If you are looking for a course that builds a foundation for your understanding and practice of Magic, this is the one! - G. Marlett

And here is a series of blog posts that another student has written as she engages in the work we are doing in the class:

Entry 1

Entry 2

Entry 3

The process of magic teaches the fundamentals of magic, by taking apart various practices of magic and exploring how those practices work and then teaching you how to personalize such practices. To learn more and to RSVP go here.

Work with instead of swimming against

Shauna Aura Knight recently posted a series of blog posts about her definition of magic. She'd written the posts because she's currently taking the process of magic course and one of the exercises involves students defining what their definition of magic is. I think her responses are very thoughtful and demonstrate the kind of engagement that's really important in understanding magic.  Here is her first entry, second entry, and third entry. A little while back I wrote something about magic, which is integral to this blog post, but also to my own definition of magic and how I think magic works, when it comes to practical applications of it: "The genuine experience of magic is something which changes you and your relationship to the universe. It’s not a result. It’s an ongoing relationship that informs how you experience the world and your place in it, as well as how you change it."

In her second post, Shauna makes several interesting points abut magic and why people do magic:

Some of our ancestors certainly spent a lot of effort making offerings (including the occasional human sacrifice) to appease the gods and shift the weather, or end a war. Do I think it works like that? Not really. I think that everyone stays a lot calmer when we feel like we’re doing something. We humans just don’t cope with the idea that the earth could shrug and we’re wiped out and we have no control over that. So I think in some cases, magic becomes an illusion of control.

and:

Magic works really well for changing myself. It works well for changing the consciousness of myself and others where I have that influence. But the more specific external physical results I want, the more I’m swimming upstream against the nature of physics. Or, the more physical work I’m going to need to do to take it beyond just my intention and my will.

and in part 3 she noted:

I think that, with magic, we want proof. We want flash. We want miracles.  And when we don’t get those, we wonder what magic is. When we see how magic works, it doesn’t seem very flashy…or, we realize how unimportant the flash really is.

All of these points she makes are good ones and again I'd suggest reading her entries in their entirety because it'll give you some food for thought about magic. I agree with Shauna that for so many people, what they want is proof that magic is real. They want Hollywood magic, but what they don't realize is that magic is a process and that it is subtle. The majority of magical work I've done has usually involved a build-up of actions and energy toward manifesting a possibility into reality. Rarely is it instantaneous, but the results happen when I need them to, because I've planned that into the working. And as I mentioned in a recent post on high magic, sometimes what we want is to feel connected and to also feel like we made a difference, even if how we're trying to make that difference is a symbolic gesture as opposed to real actions.

I do believe magic can generate physical results. However I think the way those physical results are generated has more to do with turning possibility into reality than anything else. When you think about it, turning possibility into reality is what practical seems to be about. Magic is stacking the deck in your favor, but for that to happen involves working with what's possible and selecting the possibility you want to manifest into reality. Some possibilities are easier than others to manifest. As Shauna notes, the more external physical results you want to generate, the more you swim upstream against the nature of physics (as we know it anyway). For example, if you want to throw a fireball, you're going to have change the laws of physics (or create some technology). If you want to telekinetically move an item, you've come got to come up with the energy to make it happen. And that energy isn't just changing the physical environment but also accessing the possibility of tossing a fireball or moving an item with your mind.

I prefer not to swim against the stream. I prefer to work with what's around me. Part of working with something involves learning about it. For example, if I'm going to work on the microbial level of my body, I'd better do some research into what that looks like, so that I at least have an idea of what I'm working with and how factor that into the magical work I'm doing. If I want to do a weather magic working, I'm going to research the weather system I'm in, so I understand the possibilities available.

I look at practical magic in terms of possibilities. What are the available possibilities? What are the variables that effect those possibilities? What can I work with to make the possibility to turn into reality? Viewed in this way magic isn't full of flash or glamour, but it works really well in terms of turning possibilities into reality. I work with what's around me, instead of swimming against it. I don't need to swim against anything to get what I want and I'm always in favor of creating the path of least resistance toward achieving my goals.

On a different note Lilith Dorsey interviewed me on her blog about divination.

Manifesting Wealth Updates

With Manifesting Wealth, one of the things I've decided to do is offer updates. If you've bought a copy of the book and you go to the resource page listed in the book, you'll be able to access updates for the book, which will eventually go into a revised version of the book. The updates are comprised of my continued workings in wealth magic, as well as other resources that you can use to help you with your own wealth magic work.

On the wealth magic front, I've been working my plan and processes and what I'm seeing as a result is a consistent increase in business, as well as achieving certain personal financial and health goals that I've been working toward. I've gotten more clients, developed more classes, and the finances are being whipped into shape. I'm pretty pleased with my own plan is being achieved, with the right touch of magic and help from spiritual allies such as Bune, as well as my own efforts. Wealth magic is a process of design. It's not something you stumble into, but something you plan.

How Pop Culture spreads Magic

In Spirit Speak by Ivo Dominguez Jr, the author shares an interesting cosmology of the different levels of Deity forms in a diagram, which also shows the context of where humans fit into the picture. At the top you have a unitary being, which you might think of as the universe. It encompasses everything. Then you have mediators of that being which include such beings as deities, angels etc, all of which perform specific functions and channel specific aspects of the unitary being into the universe in a manner that is more comprehensible to us. Then you have ancestors, dis incarnates, etc., and finally the humans at the bottom. It's a pretty fascinating cosmology and you see some of it in other models of esoteric practices, but what I really found fascinating is that I've seen the same model presented in Raymond Feist's Riftwar series.

The Riftwar series is a fantasy series written by Feist over the last 2 or 3 decades. He doesn't really get into the cosmology of it until the Serpent War Saga, but in that saga the characters discuss the nature of magic, the universe and deities and what's presented is fascinated because it discusses how the deities are mediators of the universe, while also being shaped to some degree by their interactions with mortals, and specifically by how the mortals mediate or comprehend them, which brings up an interesting point to consider about mediation. Mediation is a two way street. While we our opening ourselves up to mediate a force, we nonetheless are also bringing to bear our own perspectives about that mediation. In that sense mediation is an interpretation of the force being worked with.

In any case, as you read Feist's series more of the cosmology is revealed. The universe is treated as an entity in and of itself that learns from everything that exists within it, while the various deities are representative of forces and concepts mortals deal with. Some deities are further removed than others and as a result the mortals interact with the lesser deities in order to connect with the greater deities. All of this is similar to the cosmology that Ivo describes in his book. With that said, there is one distinct difference and it's this: Feist's work is a work of fiction, while what Ivo is describing is his actual system of spirituality. Nonetheless, there is a sharing of esoteric concepts in the fiction, and it is doen in a manner that plants seeds in the reader and helps them understand the concepts if they later encounter them in esoteric non-fiction. Certainly as  read Ivo's description of his cosmology, it made more sense to me because I saw certain elements of it expressed in what I'd read in Feist's fiction that were similar to what Ivo described.

Pop culture can be used to convey esoteric knowledge and secrets in a manner that may not be fully accurate, but nonetheless presents enough information for people to get something out of it. In Paranormal Media, Annette Hill notes that paranormal media such as books, shows, etc., is becomingly increasingly popular in mainstream culture, and certainly if you look at the profusion of television shows, paranormal books, and other types of esoteric themed media, what you see is an increasing interest in occult topics. Frankly, I think this a good thing, as it enables esoteric techniques and concepts to be shared with people who may not identify as occultists now, but may be open to exploring magic in their lives. And of course what you read in pop culture can also inspire magical experimentation, as it has in my case.

Pop culture is a viable medium for sharing esoteric concepts and secrets with people who aren't necessarily practicing magic at this time. That such information is becoming increasingly prevalent speaks to the fact that it fulfills a need for our society at large that likely can't be met through mainstream religious practices, which are less about empowering individuals and more about presenting a top down approach to spirituality that expects people to lessen themselves for the deity they worship.

Book Review: Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits, and Magic in Popular Culture by Annette Hill

In this book, the author discusses the growing interest in the paranormal and how the media has cultivated and fed this interest. She also examines the role of the audience in paranormal media and how that audience simultaneously provides skepticism and belief to paranormal media. It's a fascinating book which explores how contemporary culture is increasingly exploring the paranormal, magic, and other topics as a way of understanding the mysteries of the universe. If you're interested in paranormal studies or want to understand why the paranormal is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream culture, this book will provide some answers and also show how contemporary audiences are engaging with the paranormal.

The Need High Magic Fulfills

I've been thinking a lot about "high" magic lately, magic done for the purposes of connecting with the divine, for communion, and in some traditions as a way of mediating spiritual forces into the world at large. Specifically I've been thinking about the need high magic fulfills for the person/people practicing it. Part of what's prompted this thinking has been the consideration of my own experiences with high magic. The conclusion I've come to is that high magic, ritual magic, or whatever you want to call it fulfills a deep need: the need to connect with something deeper and larger than ourselves. Call it a deity, call it nature, call it what you want, what we get from such a connection is a deep need met that speaks to a desire to connect with the universe.

This need isn't written about or pointed to in magical texts and I'm sure that some people would argue with me about that need I'm suggesting is fulfilled, but in my experience, I find that people in general choose to take action based on what something will do for them. This isn't to say they don't want to take action for more altruistic reasons, because that certainly can be an element for why they are doing a magical working, but I've never encountered a person yet who hasn't done something without at least some type of gain for themselves. The gain may not be material, but its still there. And when I think about high magic and the purposes of doing magic, what I see is this deep need for connection being met.

We do this high magic ritual to connect with a spiritual being, to get information, or whatever else, but also to establish we are not alone. Or we do a ritual to respond to a crisis, to save the planet or a person or whatever else, but in part we're doing it because as people, as a community we need to find some way to feel connected to each other, to who or what we're doing the ritual for, and to feel a sense of control even if there may not be any control to be had. It's a deep need which goes unstated, but its worth stating it, if only to recognize that it is there, and to develop an informed awareness that allows to knowingly integrate and use that need in our magical workings.

I think that if we were to openly acknowledge that need it would also allow us to critically examine magical workings we do and ask ourselves why we're really doing them. For example, doing a magical ritual to stop oil pumping from a broken line into the ocean is not really an effective form of practical magic, but if we examine the underlying need for it, what we find is a desire to connect with the Earth, to somehow feel we can do something for the Earth. All well and good, though I'd suggest taking more practical mundane action to help out, such as looking at lifestyle choices or cleaning up litter or changing your carbon imprint, would be a better way to serve the Earth. And if you still feel the need to connect to the Earth via ritual magic, then do that magic with the recognition that you want the connection, because that will in and of itself change the working, and you might just get an experience that provides further direction for what you can actually do to help.

When we examine our magical practice and get real about why we are doing what we are doing it lets us have a deeper experience with magic. We aren't fooling ourselves and saying we're doing this working strictly for this reason, but acknowledging that there is something we need from the working ourselves that allows us to process an event or feel a sense of control where perhaps there isn't any. And then we can look and actually determine what we can do about the situation and take action accordingly.

Build the foundation to Build your Practice

 

I'm reading The Sacred Cross by Anastacia Nutt. She makes an interesting point about beginner techniques. A practitioner can be in a real hurry to "learn" a beginning technique and move past it to the more glamorous practices without developing the necessary repetition of practice that informs the use of any technique. The result is that the person over extends and finds that their foundational knowledge and practice are lacking, which can cause problems for the person, as well as bringing him/her back to the necessity of starting over again. It's something I've seen happen before with other magicians and it is a trap that weeds out people who aren't doing the necessary foundational work to build their practice into something reliable.

In my own practice, I'm always looking for ways to improve my foundational knowledge. I figure that even if something seems basic, it probably isn't, because even with the most basic exercise you can uncover layers of experience if you are willing to work it on a daily basis. Daily practice brings with it a way to get to the heart of a technique and make it into an experience that moves you and establishes patterns that allow you to work with your internal energy and with the energy of the cosmos and underworld in a manner that reveals a way to foundationally connect yourself to the universe. Think about a daily practice you do. How long have you done it? How has that practice changed over time? How have you changed as a result of doing the practice? How has your experience of the world changed as a result of doing the practice?

A broad foundation supports the more advanced practices you do and allows you to go in deeper with them because of the discipline you've learned by doing the basic practices. When I first started practicing magic I spent a couple years just practicing the core essential skills of daily practice. The daily work allowed me to explore how magic applied to my life, how it fit with everything I did. It taught me to live magic, as opposed to just doing it for a holiday or to solve a problem. With a strong foundation of practice you live magic because it is part of your everyday life. You are doing it to deepen your connection to the world, to the inner contacts, to the universe, and everything else between.

Living magic is the point of doing the foundational practices. It's not reactive magic. It's intentional, focused...an exploration that leads to more mysteries. All of my experimental work has come out of doing the daily work, because of the insights I've gained in doing that work. It's fair to say that a lot of the experimental work happens during the daily work, because I understand how to take the daily work and turn it into an opportunity for experimentation. The daily work also leads to doing more involved work which may not happen everyday, but when it does happen requires that base level of experience be up to snuff in order to effectively do the more advanced working.

Your daily work builds up your magical muscles as it were. If you don't do the daily work it's not as easy to advanced work and there can be consequences if you aren't ready to do the work, because the daily work isn't even just about building your magical muscles, so much as its about teaching you how to prepare yourself to do the deeper work. A lot of the daily exercises that seem repetitive and boring come in handy when you need to use them in the course of doing more advanced work. For example, my stillness practice has been very helpful for helping me reach deeper states of altered consciousness as well as clearing my mind of distractions. It's a simple practice, but the benefit of the practice is that those abilities are on hand for situations where I need them, both magically and mundanely. Look at your own work. Do you have the foundation in place to support the deeper work you'd like to do? Does that foundation help you in your everyday experiences? If so then you know you're applying that daily work in ways that are paying off and helping you build a strong practice in your life.

Two perspectives on Mediation

Until a couple years ago I never came across the word mediation in context to occultism. However in some of my more recent readings, I have come across the term and it was interesting to note how the term is used and what it means in the esoteric sense of the word. I thought I might share the perspectives I came across on this blog, and then share my own thoughts on the topic.

In Spirit Speak by Ivo Dominguez Jr, Mediation is defined as the following: "In mediation, communication takes place through what appears to be a blending of consciousness between the mediator and the Spirit. In truth it is better described as communication by the use of resonance and mutual induction that results in the replication of pieces of each other's consciousness. One of the components of mediation is the highest form of clairsentience where there is no visible seam between sensing and knowing."

In Living Magical Arts by R. J. Stewart, Mediation is defined as the following, "Mediation is the function of a priest or priestess; a mediator is one who intercedes or acts as an interface between Divinity and humanity... In magic, however, mediation has more precise meaning, based upon the important truth that we all contain Divinity or the original Being within us, just as we are all contained within the Being of the universe. In true mediation, any individual may reach deeply into the states of consciousness where transhuman entities are met... In mediation, a human acts as a focus or gateway for the consciousness of such transhuman being."

If we look at both definitions we see some similarities. Mediation involves a connection with an inner contact or spirit being, where information is exchanged, but also where the spiritual force of the being is transmitted through the person to the world. you are simultaneously invoking the spiritual contact and evoking it by transmitting it to the sacred space you are working in.

One key aspect to understand about mediation is that it going inward to establish contact with the inner contacts. What this means is that we understand that to make a connection we have to find the connection within. William Gray, in Magical Ritual Methods, discusses this in context to using ritual sounds in magic. He explains that while we are making sounds, we aren't just transmitting those sounds to the environment around us, but also to our consciousness, and helping our consciousness become receptive to connecting with the Inner Contacts. The sound is used to condition us, to put us into a space of altered consciousness where we can interact with the spiritual forces we want to connect with. Mediation is an extension of this idea, fully describing what occurs when we mesh our consciousness with the inner contacts we have access to.

For that matter, symbols perform a similar function, providing a focus for the magician that allows him/her to connect with what the symbol represents. One of the reasons I paint is to create personalized symbols that represent the mediated connection between myself and the spiritual entities I work with. The paintings are representative of the meeting and mediation of my consciousness with the consciousness of the spirit being I'm working with.

In thinking about mediation, one conclusion I've come to is that mediation can extend past connecting with an Inner Contact. Mediation can actually involve a connection with the universe...and that when we perform a magical working where we want to manifest tangible results to change the world around us we necessarily need to bring that change to the universe and mediate it. For example, in chaos magic, a magician uses a sigil to represent a specific desired outcome. The sigil is seeded into his/her subconscious with the goal being that it'll gradually maturate into our consciousness and in that process of embodiment bring about the realization of the desired result...however we could take it a step further and not only note that it's seeded in our subconsciousness, but also seeded in the universe and mediated by the act of gnosis the chaos magician achieves when charging and firing the sigil. The sigil is brought to the universe, and the magician mediates a changed universe where the possibility of the sigil exists as a reality. This changed universe is then embodied by the magician and brought back into everyday consciousness where it becomes manifested as the new reality. This has been my experience with practical magic work in general and it shows how the principle of mediation can be usefully applied to achieve more efficacious results in the workings of the magician.

Book Review: Spirit Speak by Ivo Dominguez Jr

This is a book you should read more than once, because with each reading you will uncover something new. This book is written with a variety of audiences and experiences in mind and what you uncover in one reading will change as a result of the experiences you have with the material and with your spiritual life. Certainly this book will be one of the books I keep in my library as a must read text that guides my own spiritual development. Ivo simultaneously imparts complex ideas in a manner that is approachable for all, while also insuring that the reader gets the right level of information for his/her level of experience. This is not something most writers could do, but Ivo does it admirably. If you're only looking to buy one book on magic this year, this should be the book.

Call for Papers: Finding the Masculine in Goddess' Spiral: Men in Ritual, Community and Service to the Goddess

Megalithica Books, an imprint of Immanion Press (Stafford, U.K./Portland, OR, U.S.A) is seeking submissions for Finding the Masculine in Goddess' Spiral: Men in Ritual, Community and Service to the Goddess.

E-MAIL FOR INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSIONS: Erick DuPree:  please put “Finding the Masculine in the Goddess Anthology” in your subject line.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:JULY 30, 2014. There is a movement among pagan identified men to step out on their own creating dialogues about their masculinity as men of the Goddess.  Men reclaiming their right to a sacred form of masculine, and are wondering, "what type of man am I supposed to be?"  How do Pagan men reclaim the overarching word’s expectation of what masculinity should be, in alignment with a Goddess centered faith?

This anthology will explore men and their relationship with the Goddess and the overarching Pagan community. We’re looking for essays and articles that detail personal experiences with the Goddess, How as men we come to know the Goddess, and ways you have worked through challenges and obstacles being a man within the Pagan movement. We’d like to see a combination of hands-on how-to, personally-inspired, and academic pieces that will offer readers the tools they can use in understanding the evolving role go masculinity in the Goddess movement.

We are looking for works from men, including the transgender community.

Essays and articles should be 1500-4,000 words.

We’re also looking for brief (500-1000 words) personal stories of how you reframe patriarchy, address feminism, and come into Goddess community.

HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTED TOPICS TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE FOCUS OF THIS ANTHOLOGY:

• Personal work and self-transformation while working with the Goddess
• The role patriarchy plays in coming to terms with worshiping the Goddess as a man.
• How to foster relationships with other men while still honoring women.
• What is the difference between sacred masculine and male?
• Does Paganism make assumptions about men and create stereotypes?
• Stories of inequality and/or discrimination when working in circles
• Rituals, practices, and experiences with or for the Goddess.

Submission Deadline is July 30, 2014. Articles should be 1500-4000 words, although if your work falls outside those limits, do submit it – we can discuss this during the editing process. Personal experience essays should be 300-2,000 words. Drop us an email if you are unsure whether your idea fits into the content. The sooner you start the communication process the better, as after the deadline we won’t be considering additional ideas.

Do write in your voice! If you’re academically inclined or trained, feel free to be as intelligent and technical as you like, and writing in the first person is fine as well. These drafts will be edited in a back-and-forth process with the editor. If your essay is not accepted for the anthology, we will tell you after the first round of edits.

ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:

Citations for all quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise unoriginal material Bibliography of works cited Prefer the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla Send the file in RTF format

COMPENSATION:

Accepted contributors will receive a free copy of the anthology when it is published and additional copies sold at 40% off the cover price to contributors. All contributors will be provided with a contract upon final acceptance of their essays.

RIGHTS:

This anthology will take nonexclusive first world rights for 6 months.

Editor: The anthology will be edited by Erick DuPree, an Immanion Anthology contributor, and author of the popular blog Alone In Her Presence.

Immanion Press is a small independent press based in the United Kingdom. Founded by author Storm Constantine, it expanded into occult nonfiction in 2004 with the publication of Taylor Ellwood’s Pop Culture Magick. Today, Immanion’s nonfiction line, under the Megalithica Books imprint, has a growing reputation for edgy, experimental texts on primarily intermediate and advanced pagan and occult topics. Find out more at Immanion Press today!