I thought I would share how I come up with experiments. I tend to have a very curious approach to life and I like discovering what's missing or how something could be taken further.
What I'm currently working on in my magical practice
Thought I would share what I'm currently working on in my magical practice for this week's video.
The Role of Lineage in your System of Magic
Note: An advance copy of this article was shared on my Patreon.
As I've been working on my latest book, Pop Culture Magic Systems, one of the frequent topics on my mind is the role of a person's spiritual lineage or history in relationship to creating a system of magic. A system of magic is created as a result of different influences and the spiritual lineage a person has access to is one of those influences. Let me share with you an example, namely my own spiritual lineage.
My spiritual lineage isn't the types of magic I've practiced, but rather specific influences that I consistently integrate into my practice. Those influences can be specific people or specific books or something else. Whatever they are, they continue to exert an influence on my spiritual practice and on the experiments I come up with. When I look at my magical work, the influences, the lineage I see is of specific people: Franz Bardon, Antero Alli, William G. Gray, William S. Burroughs, R. J. Stewart, B. K. Frantzis, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, A.R. Heaver and Edward Schiappa. I haven't met most of these people in person, but they nonetheless have exerted a significant influence on my spiritual practices, and while there have been other sources of inspiration they haven't had the same level of influence of lasting power that these aforementioned people have.
I see the mark of these people in my work, in how I think about magic, how I practice it, and how I experiment with it. They are a lineage of sorts that I draw on. Now your lineage likely won't be the same as mine, but you have one. You have people who are significant to you and your spiritual practice, that influence how you think about and practice magic, and when you recognize that significance, it causes you to look at all of your work in a different way. You don't see it as a singular work, but rather as part of a continuum of work.
Your system of magic is shaped by that continuum. Your lineage is alive and speaks through your system to you, and to anyone else using your approach to magic. When you look at your system, take a moment to recognize who shows up in it. When you see who shows up, what it reveals to you is not just your own ideas and thoughts but also how you have taken the thoughts and idea and practices of others and integrated them into your own work. The importance of that recognition is that it teaches us how to make our lineage live on, and also helps us realize that magic cannot be static. It builds on what came before and changes what came before into what is (in the moment).
When we recognize the role of the past in the work of today, we also sow the seeds of the future.
Genuine magical experimentation doesn't occur in a void. It happens in context to whatever else is significant in your life and work. When you look at who came before you and how they influenced your work and then you see it in your experiments, in your personalized systems of magic, you also discover how to take the past and push it into the future, to evolve the work that's been done into the work that can be discovered and revealed.
My experimentation only started a couple years after I began practicing magic, but those first couple years were important for providing the experiences and foundation I needed to be able to experiment. And so its continued to be the case throughout my own practice. I learn from others and bring what I learn into my experimentation, in order to see how I can take what I've learned to the next level.
What is your lineage? How does that lineage show up in your magical work?
August 2016 Magical Experiments Podcast and Book Reviews
Magical Experiments: Jail Breaking the Goddess with LaSara Firefox Allen
Magical Experiments: Pop Culture Magic Systems with Terra Akhert
Magical Experiments: Mental Illness and Magic pt 1 with Annwyn Avalon, Gigi and Chach M. Heart
Book Review: Quabalistic Concepts by William G. Gray
On the surface this book is about the Quabala and how to to learn and work with the Quabala. A deeper reading reveals that this book is really about how to develop a viable system of magic. The Quabala is used as an example, but the principles and practices that Gray shares in this book can be used for other models of magic. This is one of the best books I've read about magic, because it takes a technical look at what's involved in creating a system of magic as well as how you develop the necessary connections and work around the system. Whether you're looking to understand Quabala better or want to develop your own system of magic, this is a must read book. Note: The author does have some biases that will offend some people reading the book. Just recognize he was a product of his time and culture.
Book Review: Allies and Enemies: How the World Depends on Bacteria by Anne Maczulak
This was a fascinating book about bacteria, in the world, in the bodies of humans and animal,s and just in general. What I like about the book is that the author does a lot to explain how the world relies on bacteria. When you read the book you learn about how bacteria can be harmful, but also how it can be helpful and also how we set up some of the problems we experience with bacteria. If you want to learn more about bacteria, the author also includes some additional resources. I found this book very helpful for my own studies and research around how to work with bacteria and would recommend it to anyone who is curious to learn more about the role of bacteria in our lives.
How protection magic is integrated into my daily work
In this video, I share how I integrate protection magic into my daily works, as well as my overall approach to practical magic, which involves stacking magical workings on to activities already being done to achieve the optimal use of one's efforts.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Stillness Month 22: Keep on Keeping on
7-24-16 There are some days when I meditate where I don't have really deep experiences, where it can even be a struggle to hit the meditative state. I had one of those days today. When it happens I end up focusing on the struggle and that becomes its own meditative experience. What it reveals are the tensions within that need to be resolved, worked through and unfolded. The struggle may not lead you to a deeper state, but what it will lead you to work through whatever is holding you back.
7-29-16 Sometimes stillness is drifting on the current of possibilities without taking any action. You can feel the possibilities around you and you can explore them without doing anything. Just being, crystallized, aware and drifting. It's quite peaceable to be still and just feel what could be without necessarily doing anything to make it happen.
7-31-16 What I enjoy most about writing is the challenge of writing. Each book, each article, is its own challenge and the challenge is really what you discover about the topic, yourself, etc., in relationship to the actual writing. When I write, I'm not just putting words on a page. I'm actively discovering the subject, my identity, and so much else. Reality opens when I write. I coax it to reveal secrets that I might liberate them and share them with everyone else. And in return I give something of myself.
8-4-16 I'm in South Dakota visiting my dad. It's interesting to visit a place where my ancestors have lived, to learn more about them, and also to be in this place that hosted some of my family. I feel a connection to this land. It's not a connection that says I need to life here, but it is a connection that says please acknowledge me and acknowledge this place which helped shape your ancestors and had some role in your life as well. I felt a similar connection to the New England area where my mom's side of the family originate from. I didn't realize it back then, but I see it now.
8-5-16 A person is never shaped in a void. The behaviors, the choices, and the actions are the responsibility of the person, but they are also contextually shaped by the experiences they've had, by the people who've acted on them, by the history of family and community. I see this in relationship to my dad. I've asked him questions about his life, seen places that are meaningful to him, presently and in the past, and in his stories have learned about not just him, but my aunt (who I never met) and my grandparents and great grandparents. I'll never know the entire story, because I wasn't there, but even in what is not said, one can learn a lot if one pays attention. I feel sad I never met my aunt, and feel a deeper sense of compassion for my dad and his experiences, as I weigh them in relationship to my own childhood and experiences thereafter. I see my own choices and actions in a different light. Context changes so much and should never be ignored, for what it reveals can help you situate what you've experienced, can help you understand and can open you to feeling compassion for the people in your life.
8-7-16 I'm back from South Dakota. It was a good trip. I learned a lot about my ancestors on my dad's side of the family and got some stuff figured out as a result that helped me with some internal work I've been doing around family. Life is too short to hold on to blockages, but sometimes the only way to work through those blockages involves discovering the context around them. In some ways this trip was very much about that for me.
8-11-16 The hardest thing about sitting with shame is the being present with the emotion. You want to run away. You want to hide. Because when you feel shame you are really being called on your issues and the challenge is what will you do with what you feel? Will you bury it? Will you pretend its not there? Will you beat yourself up with it? Or will you simply hold space with it, feel it, and let it open you up to the deeper truths that you're really scared of? The hardest thing to do of all the options and yet paradoxically the easiest is to just sit with it and feel it and allow what you feel to liberate you with the insights you get from it. The reason its the hardest thing to do is because you actually have to feel your shame...really feel it. The reason its the easiest is because once you feel it and get to the underlying narrative, you are no longer the captive of your shame. Of course, this also depends on what actions you take to to deal with the source of your shame.
I've done a lot of work around shame this year, but sometimes I still struggle to sit with it. It is an emotion that really forces you to see yourself up close and personal, beyond any deceits you tell yourself. To see yourself so rawly, to see your weaknesses and flaws and feel them so intimately is hard work, yet it is also necessary work. You can't change yourself without being willing to dig in and discover who you are and come to a better relationship with all of yourself. And really to make any change to yourself, you need to actually accept who you are and discover why you are the way you are...then those changes can be made.
My recent trip to South Dakota and hearing about my family history gave me a lot to consider and recognize about myself. I could see how who I am has been shaped by my family, even in cases where I never met the person. And that then changes my relationship with shame as well because I am able to see that narrative from another angle.
I'm still sitting with my shame and I'm still struggling with it sometimes and I'm ok with that.
8-13-16 I did a meditation today where I accessed my ancestors, used the genetics and my time awareness to touch on their lives, to touch on them. It's interesting how much the trip to South Dakota has prompted me to explore my past. The experience was kind of like Jean Auel's description of how the one group of humans used their memories to go back to their past and relive the lives of their ancestors. It gives me some ideas for further exploration in regards to space/time magic, but also provides some more context to shape and work in relationship the past and future of this embodiment of life I am.
8-21-16 I've decided to extend my work with the element of stillness for another year, which will make it the longest amount of time in which I've worked with an element. Why another year? I recognize the temptation to stay still forever, though if anything in the time I've worked with stillness so much has changed internally and externally in my life. I've come face to face with a lot of internal work I needed to do, and also experienced the richness of stillness and yet I know I there is more to experience and work with. There are certain states of experience I've just touched on in the last month or so, and I want to work with them deeper, yet I feel it would be a distraction if I shifted to another element. So I'm sticking with Stillness for another year. There is a lot to discover in it that will have direct bearing on other work I am either doing or planning to do over the next ten years.
How to work with spiritual ancestors
We all have spiritual ancestors. They are people who have moved us, motivated us, and been an inspiration to what we do. In this video learn why you might want to work with a spiritual ancestor and how to do it with respect.
Ancestry and internal work
On a trip to South Dakota I learned more about my ancestors and I've been using what I learned to do deeper internal work in my own life. In this video I share how learning about your family, genetic or adopted, can help you with your internal work and the pattern recognition of your life.
Grimoire Ulani is now available
Ten years ago, Storm Constantine published Grimoire Kaimana, a book that described the pop culture system of magic Dehara, based on her Wraeththu series. Grimoire Kaimana describes the basic concepts of the Dehara system and it helped create an active system of pop culture magic that is practiced by fans of the series. I was one of the people Storm collaborated with when putting together Grimoire Kaimana and I continued to do my own work in the Dehara system.
Earlier this year, Storm asked me if I'd helped her develop the sequel to Kaimana. It had been ten years since it came out and we both had continued working in the system. We decided to put together our notes as well as collaborate together once again to put the sequel together: Grimoire Ulani.
Grimoire Ulani is available in Paperback and in a limited edition hardback.
Grimoire Dehara: Ulani is the second volume concerning the pop culture magic system based on the mythos of Storm Constantine’s popular fantasy novels, the Wraeththu series. The focus of the system is the Dehara, androgynous deities that represent the alchemical rebis, the conjunction of male and female, spirit and matter.
Following on from Grimoire Dehara: Kaimana, this book explores Ulani, the second tier of the system, incorporating the levels Acantha, Pyralis and Algoma. The practitioner now accesses deeper realms of magical knowledge, utilising their creativity and imagination as a vehicle to study the self.
The book is fully illustrated by artist Ruby, with additional illustrations by Storm Constantine.
Grimoire Dehara: Ulani includes:
Working within etheric realms
Sikaara – the deharan version of the energy system of the body and the study of its centres
Xephelax – the deharan Underworld
The dehara of alchemy and alchemical transformation
The Constellati – beings of the cosmos
Divozenky – the mind of the earth
Creating a Spiritual Pearl
This book is an essential addition to the library of any experimental practitioners of magic interested in new systems, as well as fans of Storm’s work, who want to know more about the magic described in the novels.
How charging and firing digital media for magical purposes works
Recently I was asked how doing digital magic would work. Do you need to cast a circle before you use an emoji or digital art for magical purposes? I thought I would with a video describing my process for working with online magic, which can be applied to different digital media.
4 ways Walt Disney shaped pop culture magic
On one of the days I was at Disney, I had the chance to see a parade go by. People were lined up by the sides of the street and the various parade floats were themed around specific Disney movies. You had characters on the floats and you also had people dressed up in outfits, like the green army men from Toy Story, or ants from A Bugs Life. What fascinated me the most about the experience was the combination of music, the floats, and people watching the parade, getting into the experience. I felt a ripple flow through me and I knew in that moment that I was watching magic happen. The magic of belief, the magic of people in that moment playing a role in a ritual that was unfolding before us in the parade.
And make no mistake...it was a ritual. It may not have been a magical ritual in the usual sense of the word, but nonetheless what was unfolding before my eyes was an experience of altered consciousness, a warping of space and time, similar to how a ritual feels. All the people, whether they were cast members or people watching the parade were brought into this ritual that was an exultation of Disney and the characters and movies that were in the parade.
At first fascinated by the parade ritual, I ended up becoming part of it, snapping pictures, but also caught up in the emotion of the moment. I felt excited, thrilled, and energized by what I saw and heard.
Afterwards, as I reflected on the ritual of the parade I began thinking about Walt Disney and my experience of Disneyland and how all of this could be part of pop culture magic. I've never been a huge Disney fan, but its fair to say that Disney has some influence on pop culture magic and how we might approach pop culture magic. I thought I would share below 4 ways Disney has influenced pop culture magic.
1. Disney took existing stories and modernized them through media to capture the imagination. Disney understood the power of stories. He also understood the power of using different media to tell those stories. His cartoons and movies took older stories and made them into something new, something to be experienced. And as a result he captured the imagination of the people who watched those movies. Part of what makes pop culture magic effective is how the imagination of people in general are captured by the pop culture. Their attention and imagination, on some level, is locked into Disney. In general, with pop culture, what our imagination is locked into is what makes the pop culture relevant and the significance to that in pop culture magic is that we can draw on what is significant in the imagination and make it into viable magical work.
2. Disney recognized that people want to experience magic, and made it a pivotal part of most of his work. Magic has been a significant element in Disney's work. Whether you agree or disagree with how magic is portrayed in Disney, it's fair to say that one of the reasons magic shows up in pop culture in general is because of Disney and the inclusion of magic. Disney understood the power of magic and how people secretly longed for it. He made that longing visible and allowed people to enjoy the possibility of magic being in their lives (even if only in pop culture).
3. Disney's pop culture sets up characters around specific values and themes that people can relate to. If you look at the various Disney media you see certain themes in play such as good versus evil or the triumph of romantic love. While Disney certainly wasn't the first person to come up with these themes, they nonetheless play an integral role in the work he produced, and also promote the values he believed in. The characters are framed in context to those themes, which makes it easier to work with them on a spiritual level. Disney understood the power of stories and myths and so he's created his own mythology around his characters and the themes that are relevant to those themes.
In Disneyland there's a case (pictured above) with statues. You have the spirit of innovation, the spirit of imagination, the spirit of achievement etc.. These statues embody the themes that Disney wanted integrated into any media produced by his company. As a result the characters can also be matched to those themes. And I think you see those themes come alive in a lot of what Disney media produces even now.
With pop culture magic such themes can be worked with and explored through the characters a person chooses to work with. What's striking about the themes is that you don't necessarily see them show up in just any pop culture media, but in the case of Disney they do show up and that can be useful in developing correspondences and a system of magic around them.
4. Disney recognized the power of belief and how it could shape the experience people have. Throughout my time in Disneyland, it became very clear to me how much Disney recognized and accounted for the power of belief. He wanted people entering the theme park to suspend their disbelief, get in touch with their inner child, and while they were in Disneyland believe in a different reality. I felt like Disneyland was a pocket universe that people would enter into, and for a time, become like children again. This happened because they suspended their disbelief, and embraced a belief in the reality of Disneyland, the reality of experience they were having.
The ability to believe in the experience and allow it to become part of your reality is an important part of magical work in general, but in pop culture magic it is particularly important because it allows you to develop viable magical workings using pop culture. The pop culture becomes something more than just what you've seen on T.V. or played in a game. It becomes a mythology that you take part in and make part of your life. Disney, while he never practiced magic, understood the power of taking stories and making them into something people could identify with and make part of their lives. My visit to Disneyland really helped me appreciate the nuances of pop culture magic and recognize that pop culture will continue to be something we bring into all areas of our lives, including our spiritual journey.
If you're interested in developing your own pop culture systems of magic, check out my upcoming class Pop Culture Magic Foundations, starting on August 9th.
Magical Experiments July 2016 podcast episodes
Magical Experiments Podcast: The Magic of Holidays With Robert Scott and S. Rune Emerson
Magical Experiments Podcast: The Magic of Writing with Leni Hester and Felix Warren
Magical Experiments Podcast: Defense Against the Dark Arts with Tallah Hovisdottir
Book Review: Ensouling Language by Stephen Buhner
If you're a writer of nonfiction or fiction, Ensouling Language is an essential must read book on the art of writing. While the author's focus is on non-fiction, the insights he shares can be applied to fiction. As I read this book and tried the exercises, it really helped me look at my writing from a different, deeper perspective. I started focusing on the spirit of the writing, the rhythm of the words and punctuation of the writing, and the intangible experience that could occur in writing if one is willing to trust the writing and let it happen. I can't recommend this book enough to my fellow writers or anyone interested in language and how to work with it.
The pop culture magic of Disney
I went to Disneyland last week and it was amazing experience. I'm still processing what I saw and experienced, but I thought I'd share some of my initial impressions in this video.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Stillness Month 21: Giving and Receiving
6-26-16 Sometimes I like to let my mind wander. I'll lay down for a bit and just let my thoughts go and see what comes up. It's a good way of setting your creativity free. It's not the same as meditation for the purpose of clearing your mind, yet it can be a form of stillness on its own, because in letting your thoughts go free, you also allow yourself to become still. Your thoughts wander every which way and you just observe them. It frees up the creative juices and ignites the inspiration.
Doing this exercise has been helpful for me for when I'm feeling writer's block. When I write I can see the big picture, but sometimes putting the pieces together is hard. So afterwards this exercise helps to loosen the mind up. It helps you get back into the writing space, open to new discoveries.
6-29-16 Felix gave me a copy of the Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. I started reading it that night and her story really hit me on a deep level, especially around the struggle people have with asking. I know that struggle so well, because I've always had that struggle around asking. Opening up that intimately, being that vulnerable...I've learned it slowly in the last few years. I'm still learning it, but I can see that I'm learning it and feel really good about it. I don't need to put myself behind walls of self-sufficiency. I can actually rely on people if I choose to let them in. I couldn't have that six years ago.
7-3-16 I gave myself permission today to slow down on a project and do some additional research. I've occasionally just dove in without really considering the ramifications of my choice. In this case I was putting pressure on myself to have this project underway by a certain date and I realized the pressure really wasn't worth it. So I evaluated the project and recognized that I need to do some research and then do some digestion to figure out what I really want to do with it. If executed properly this project will be very helpful, but if it isn't, it could take up valuable time and effort.
You know for all that this year has been about stillness, this has been one of the busiest years of my life, with so much change happening. The stillness has come in handy for actually keeping me steady and focused while managing all the change. And I think it'll continue to help me down the line because there will undoubtedly be more changes like this.
In the Art of Asking, an interesting point is made that if you love people enough, they'll give you everything. I struggle with that sentiment. Then again I struggle with sharing in general. Despite the fact that I'm a writer and actually share a lot, there are moments where it can be a real struggle. A lot of that struggle has more to do with me and my issues than anything else. And I think in this case it's a struggle to receive, when you've decided to share. I can share, but to receive in return? It can be painful, because when I receive I'm letting people in, letting them see me. Really see me.
7-4-16 It hit me today...a combination of reading the Art of Asking and seeing someone else I admire make some changes in her groups. When you give something, what you are really doing is deepening the relationship. You're inviting people in and you're trusting them and you're also building trust. I never really got that before. I'd cringe at the idea of giving something away for free, but that was because I didn't really understand what was happening. And now...I do...I get it. It's like a light clicked on. I need to map it out, but now my understanding is changed. It feels vulnerable, but also empowering. Letting go of control in order to see what happens.
7-7-16 I met with Antero Alli yesterday. I've decided to take his Zero lab for Paratheatre and part of the process involved the interview. I'm glad it did because it gave both of us a chance to feel each other out. In the very rare occasions where I've chosen a mentor, it's always occurred via in an in-person meeting, where we've got a sense of each other physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. There's a kind of spiritual transmission that occurs in such a meeting. It's not quite the same as a full on spiritual transmission. It's more of an introduction, yet it is significant because it is how you determine if the person you might work with is in fact someone you should work with.
On a different note my experience with stillness has shifted somewhat. I've recently begun to recognize how stillness can be a gravity well, where you are still, but what you need is brought toward you by the gravity aspect of stillness.
7-10-16 First day at Disney. I let my inner child out. I had more fun than I've had in a long time. There were some interesting moments of stillness experienced, particularly in just letting go and having fun, having the experience, and just being in the experience. I'm glad I get to share this experience with my family.
7-11-16 Today I went on a 3 hour tour of Disney land, learning the history and some of the marketing behind Disney Land. What I found most fascinating was how this one person had a vision and stuck with it. He also believed in the imagination and wanted to engage the imagination of people the world over. I'd say he's succeeded. I admire that kind of drive and dedication to one's vision.
7-12-16 Tonight we attended The World of Color presentation. All these people were at it and it was amazing and I could feel this energy going through the crowd, responding to the presentation. It wasn't attention. It was belief. The myopic perspectives that many magicians have about pop culture magic occur because they have little in the way of imagination or capacity to consider that just because something isn't traditional, doesn't mean it can't have power or real impact on people. The experiences I've had over the last few days confirm all over again the validity of pop culture magic. I'll write more about in a separate post, but more than ever I'm quite pleased with how pop culture magic has become more relevant, more prevalent...its not going away, no matter how much some people wish it would would.
7-14-16 Today I started crying...not sad crying, but rather crying because I felt these walls in my heart melt. I felt such love for Kat, such a recognition of how dear she is to me, how much I love her, how much she means to me, how deeply she has touched my life. I've never cried like that for anyone other than when I had to leave my mom when I was young, and its not like I'm leaving Kat, but its rather that I just realize how much I love her, how important she is and how glad I am that we found each other.
7-18-16 Back from Disneyland. It feels surreal. I entered into this alternate dimension for 5 days and now I'm back, but I've been changed by the experience. I'd never been there before, but allowing myself to really get into the experience brought up so many memories from my childhood. For that matter my inner child got to thoroughly come out and enjoy just being a kid again. That's really how I felt, while there. I could just be a kid. It was a life changing experience. I'm still processing it, but I'm so glad I went.
7-21-16 Over the last week I've noticed that my stillness meditation has changed a bit. The experience of Stillness has become like a field of gravity, where I am still, and events, people, etc., are pulled toward me. It's quite fascinating and I'm going to experiment with it further. I know this experience can happen because I've read about it, but until recently it didn't happen with me. And it wasn't something I was looking for so much as it just started to happen on its own.
3 reasons to sign up for Pop Culture Magic Foundations
Pop Culture Magic Foundations starts on August 9th. I thought I would share with you 3 reasons why you might want to invest in this course. Watch the video to learn more about pop culture magic foundations and what we'll be learning in the class. Oh and I mention the buddy system I'll be using in this class.
Why you are the best teacher for your path
You are the best teacher for your spiritual path. Other people can be guides and facilitators...they can teach you something, but you must be the ultimate authority of your life and take on the responsibility of your path and the experiences you have as a result.
Pop Culture Magic Foundations Starts on August 9th
Are you ready to level up your pop culture magic? On August 9th, the first round of pop culture magic foundations goes live, and this class will be different from my other classes. We'll be doing it as a webinar, which means you'll get to ask me questions, live, among other things.
Want to learn more about pop culture magic foundations? Watch the video below:
In pop culture magic foundations, I will show you how you can:
- Develop deeper relationships with pop culture spirits
- Create your own pop culture magic system
- Put together magical techniques based off pop culture.
- and much more.
If you want to learn more and sign up for the class, visit here.
My system for invoking and evoking spirits
In my most recent post I shared how to keep your relationships with your spirits top of mind. In today's video I share how I invoke and evoke spirits and why responsibility and respect play such an important roles in the relationships I have with them.
How to keep your relationships with your spirits top of mind
Sometimes its really easy to let your relationships with your spirits fall away. You get busy with living your life, working your work, and whatever else and despite your best intentions, the relationship you have with the spiritual part of your life falls to the wayside. Recently I was having a conversation with my friend Felix and he was telling me how our mutual spiritual daemon Eligos had been showing up and I thought to myself, "I haven't had a conversation with him in a while."
As I shared in a recent Facebook Live video, Eligos and I did have a conversation shortly after and we both agreed that I'd been so busy writing (which ironically is his domain) that I needed to take a break from it and my break should be dedicated to him. Then my other spiritual entities chimed in and said they also wanted the break dedicated to them...so end result they're all getting a dedication on the first day of my retreat, coming up in a couple weeks (and I'll likely do a live video of that).
Over the years my relationship with my spirits has changed. At the beginning I believed in them as objective beings, then somewhere along the way I thought of them as psychological constructs...Now I've gone back the other way and I suspect I'll stay that way. I've had too many experiences occur that have convinced me it's NOT all in my head. But keeping your relationship with your spirits is its own commitment.
I do a daily prayer, but there's something to be said for having a relationship where you walk with your spirits. What I mean by that is that your interaction with them isn't so formal and set up that you always need a ritual in order to connect with them. In my case, I can feel Eligos when I write. And I can feel him when I'm reading or watching or really drawing inspiration from any source of creativity. Now some people will tell you not to take this kind of approach to working with spirits, but honestly I've never been one to go with conventional wisdom. It's sooo...boring. More to the point I've always wanted a different kind of relationship with my spirits.
So often the relationship people have with their spirits is either one where the spirit is called up and asked to do some tasks or the spirit is communed with, worshiped. I've done both in my time, but in choosing to walk with my spirits, what I've really looked for is a more intimate relationship with the spirits who are part of my life. I'm not talking a romantic relationship or a sexual one (They aren't really interested in either, unless its as a way to connect). The intimacy is found in what is shared voluntarily, and so much can be shared without bring romance or sex into the equation. In fact, when I see people talking about having a romantic connection with a spirit or the spirit sex they want to have, what it really tells me is how much they aren't in touch with themselves, because what they've fallen for (to be honest what all of us have fallen for at one time or another) is the misguided notion that romance and sex is the only way to be intimate. Romance and sex are just a couple of ways to be intimate and there isn't always intimacy even then. Real intimacy takes work and you won't find that truth shared in romance novels or porn films.
Intimacy is found in sharing and sharing can take many different forms.
To be intimate with your spirits is to invite them into your life, to walk beside you. It is to make an offering of experience, to share the moment across the boundaries of flesh and spirit. When I eat food and one of the spirits is along for the ride to taste what I eat, that is intimacy. Or when I go on a walk and I open my senses to the spirits so that feel something of what I'm experiencing that is intimacy. And sometimes the intimacy is found in doing the art or the writing and just letting yourself be open to experiencing the divine inspiration.
It's a conversation, but rarely with words and when the words are expressed its just another form of sharing, sound reaching out to connect with the internal reality of the spirit, evoking it forth so it is here, right here, with you in this moment. But they're always there to some degree or another, if you let them. It's a lot less complicated than most people portray it because once you have the connection it's always there to some degree...it's just a matter of choice...do you want to let these spirits in that you've worked with or do you only want to bring them in on special occasions. I opt to let them in on a regular basis.
Most magicians will tell you not to do that, by the way.
My first real intimate experience with the spirits happened when I was eighteen. I'd been reading these books on elemental hermeticism and I decided I wanted to connect with the elemental faeries, really connect with them. I didn't want to just do a ritual. I could do those and they worked, but I knew there was something more, something deeper to be had. So I did a ritual working, but this time in the ritual I did something different.
I gave them something.
I know offerings have become a fairly popular topic, but at the time I was doing the ritual there wasn't any writing out there on why you needed to make offerings to spirits, or if there was, it wasn't in any book I was reading. And the offer I made was a bit different. It wasn't food, it wasn't drink. It was part of my life essence, in the form of blood. Pretty damn intimate.
Most magicians will tell you not to do that, by the way.
I gave them blood. And I asked them, in return, for some of their life essence. I wanted to connect with them in the most intimate way possible by making them and I part of each other. They agreed. We exchanged life force and from that experience what I learned was something significant.
What you are willing to give and what you are willing to take on is exactly what determines your relationship with the spirits.
I've applied that realization to every relationship I've had with the spirits (and to a number of relationships with people) and its worked for me. So when my relationships with the spirits isn't top of mind what I recognize really is I'm giving less and taking on less and its up to me to change that, with an occasional nudge on the part on one spirit or another.
I couldn't imagine taking the standard approach to working with spirits that I see so many people take. And the inevitable questions I get about my own practice usually focus on why I have such a different relationship with the spirits I work with. My standard answer is I treat them with respect. I figure that answer is what they really need to learn first. Are they even respecting the spirits they work with? Are they trying to form a collaborative relationship? Usually they aren't because they've fallen for the stereotypical approach of call a spirit up, threaten it to get it to work for you formula...So really they need to learn a different way, one that's focused on respect.
To this day I've never had any negative experiences with the spirits I've worked with. I've heard stories of other people having negative experiences with some of the same spirits I work with and what I see missing is the respect...and what I wrote above about what you give and what you take on.
It comes down to respect and responsibility...and intimacy.
June 2016 Magical Experiments Podcast
Did you miss an episode of the Magical Experiments podcast in June? Click the links below to listen to the episodes! Magical Experiments Podcast: Art and Magic panel with Felix Warren, Colleen Chitty and Cate Anevski.
Magical Experiments Podcast: Experimentation in Magic with Bill Duvendack.
Magical Experiments Podcast: The Magic in Marketing, Color, and Influence with Dubious Monk
Magical Experiments Podcast: The Magic of Math with Benjamin Gitchel
New paranormal interview with me: Interview about pop culture magic on the new paranormal.
Book Review: Time The Ultimate Energy by Murry Hope
I was introduced to this book by a friend who thought I might find it fascinating. He was right. this is a lost book of space/time magic. A lot of the concepts are dated and its fair to say this book is more theory than practice. In fact I wish the author had included exercises. Nonetheless if you're interested in space/time magic this book is worth picking up and reading. If nothing else it illustrates that there is more work out there to be discovered, both in term of magical work, and also in terms people who've contributed to magic as an evolving discipline.