We live with death everyday, but we don’t always recognize it. In this video I discuss not just the obvious examples of death, but the subtle nuances as well. I also share some of my previous near death experiences and how they have lead to different rebirth experiences.
Memory Resonance technique
I recently saw the movie The Green Knight. It was a fascinating movie to see because of how it evoked specific experiences during the watching of the movie. Whether this was intentional or simply a byproduct of my own spiritual sensitivity, I couldn't tell you. But what I can tell you is that any such experience can be stored away and used as a way to help you sync up with related experiences.
I call this the memory resonance technique and the way it works is that you use the experiences you are having to connect with the memory of other experiences, and in turn you use those memories to enhance the current experience and open you further to liminal reality.
Falling apart and coming back together again
The last couple of months have been really intense for me. I’ve had experiences where things seemed to come together and then they would fall apart. Some of that, a lot of it, was my own doing. My life has felt like a jigsaw puzzle and every time I thought I had the right pieces, I’d realize something was wrong and I would take the puzzle apart again.
What I discovered in the last couple months is that I really needed to allow myself to break down, and come back together again. Then break down and come back together again. It’s not an easy or fun process and many people will try to avoid it, but we really can’t avoid such work, especially when we need to do it, because what we are breaking down are the patterns of our lives that no longer work. We try to put them together again, in some new variation and maybe some of it works and maybe some of it doesn’t.
The Mysteries of Death and Rebirth part 1
Death and rebirth are integral part of our life cycle. I discuss the mysteries of death and rebirth in relationship to the movie The Green Knight and share an experience I had with Cronus, as a result of watching that movie.
The current reality vs the desired result
In practical magic, one of the interesting issues that can arise around results is determining whether or not the current reality has been factored into the magical working. What I mean by current reality is the reality that we’re dealing with, which we want to change. It may seem rather obvious that a person would factor the current reality of a situation into the magical working being done to address that situation. However that may not always be the case.
It is rather easy to get fixated on the desired result, because that desired result is something we want. It moves us away from the reality we’re dealing with and brings us to a reality we want to deal with. Yet there is a benefit to the current reality that we need to consider: The current reality grounds us in what is, and also informs us of the gap between what is and what we to manifest.
How to accept and work through uncomfortable emotions
We all have feelings and emotions that can be intense. Some are enjoyable, but some such as misery and unhappiness and fear can be emotions we try to avoid. I explain why you can’t avoid them, how they can sabotage you and what you can do to be more accepting of them, and actually find peace with them.
A generative approach to results
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the process of magic and specifically how to develop an awareness of the organic nature of magical work. If tis sounds odd to you, its perhaps because for the most part, magic is not considered to be an organic process, so much as a designed process that in both a practical and spiritual sense is used to achieve specific outcome or results.
“So why Taylor, are you taking a different angle to magical work? What do you even mean when you talk about the organic nature of magical work?”
Occult Poetics is now available!
This is volume 1 of a collection of magical poems that Taylor Ellwood has written in 2020 and 2021. In this book, Taylor shares the collection with you. It may inspire magical work on your part, or you might simply enjoy the verses written. It is a book of poems where Taylor intimately presents the experiences of his life, both the sadness and joy, mistakes and successes, in the form of poem. It is also where he shares some of his magical work with the spirits he works with. Occult Poetics is a glimpse of the weaving word magic that can be wrought with poetry, when we open ourselves to the mysteries of the universe.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Connection and Truth Month 9
6-22-2021 I find it dryly ironic that as I switch over to Chesed today I recognize in full how much my situation has changed on the material front. When you live with someone else, you don’t always fully recognize how much that can shape your perception of the cost of living. Then if you become single or go out on your own you start to realize how much your situation has changed and how you have to plan accordingly. Today it really hit me how much my situation has changed and how this is one of the consequences of choosing to leave. It’s not a fun feeling to sit with, but I need to do it and accept the consequences of my choices. This is part of that path of finding my connection and truth and the cost that comes with it.
6-24-2021 Yesterday I got the divorce papers. It kind of brings home that we’re done, although I’ve been having that realization in other ways as I wrote above. In one sense I question whether I’ll really be able to figure out what’s next. My mom told me this kind of stuff is hard and I believe it, especially when you’re having to pick up all the pieces of your life and sort them out as best you can. I am trying my best and that’s all I’ve got…
Dealing with Burnout part 2
I share why it’s important to stop doing activities that create or sustain your burnout and share why sometimes this may mean you need to go back to the drawing board with whatever you are doing. I share a couple of examples from my own life.
The Saturnic power of weaving and unweaving reality
Recently I created a magical painting dedicated to Saturn. when I created it I worked with the wet and dry alchemical essences of lead. It was a powerful magical working, but what happened as a result of that working was even more intriguing and powerful in its own right. I was given the opportunity to take a peek behind the curtains and I got a very different perspective of the interweaving of reality and possibility.
When many people think of Saturn as a planetary energy to work with they think of it in terms of limitations and specifically how obstacles, boundaries, and limitations can get in the way of a person’s journey to achieving specific results. Or perhaps they consider the artful application of limitations and how those limitations can actually be used to create a refined and focused magical work that gets specific results. Certainly these aspects of Saturnic work are true and the planetary energy of Saturn can be worked with in that way.
Dealing with Burnout part 1
Do you know when you’ve hit bottom? Do you know how to recognize burnout in your life? I share some thoughts on burnout and how it shows up on all levels of our life as well as how you can recognize it. I also share what you can do about it.
Book Reviews July 2021
Book Review: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday (Affiliate link)
This book explores how to turn the obstacles in your life into opportunities by learning how to work through them and define them instead of being defined by them. The historical tales the author shares are helpful for understanding the concepts and practices he shares. I found this book helpful in my approach to working through obstacles because it helped me see how I could turn those obstacles into a path, instead of letting them stop me.
Book Review: The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin (affiliate link)
The Sedona Method walks you through how to release emotions and experiences around areas of your life where you are having challenges. What I like about this book is that they focus on releasing around both positive and negative experiences for a wide variety of situations. I’ve found that applying the practices has been helpful in situations that would otherwise be upsetting.
Book Review: Sacred Geography by Marko Pogacnik (affiliate link)
This is a fascinating book which explores geomancy and how to apply it to your spiritual practice. While I don’t agree with all the author’s perspectives, I think this a valuable book that will help you connect with the spirits of the land, and with the land itself. The exercises are very useful provided you apply them.
Book Review: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk (Affiliate link)
I found this to be a very helpful book, because it gave me a different lens to understand my own traumas and triggers and provided some ideas on things I can do to address those traumas and triggers. It’s a book I would recommend anyone read who has gone through trauma, but fair warning the author is candid about the trauma that may be triggering. I still recommend reading it for the insights it may provide you.
Book Review: Why Time Flies by Alan Burdick (Affiliate Link)
Why Time Flies is an interesting book that explores our relationship with time. The author shares some of the scientific research about time and shares some personal perspectives about it. I also found the bibliography fascinating. It’s a well written book and if you’re interested in time, you’ll enjoy it.
Book Review: Wintering by Katherine May (Affiliate Link)
This is a powerful and much needed book which explores our relationship with sorrow. The author mostly speaks to this through her own journeys and experiences of wintering. I found this book to be really needed during the winter I find myself in. It is good to know you aren’t alone and to also carry some compassion moving forward.
Book Review: Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday (Affiliate link)
Stillness is the key is an excellent book which explores the topic of stillness and how to bring it into your life in a crazy world. We live in chaotic times, but who hasn’t done that? The author draws on historic examples to illustrate how stillness works and how it has benefitted people, nations and the world itself when people have taken a moment to be still. If you’re seeking some stillness in your life, this book can point you in some fruitful directions.
Book Review: Polysecure by Heather Fern (affiliate link)
I found this to be a very helpful book to read as I start exploring polyamory again, after a long hiatus. It helped me “catch up” on the changes, but more importantly it allowed me to examine my my past relationships with other people as well as the relationship I have with myself. I found the realizations helpful in allowing me to heal from some recent changes in my life, and it also provided me a direction to move my emotional health. I’d recommend this book to anyone, whether you’re poly or monogamous, because I think it actually unearth’s some deep issues in relationship structures that often go unaddressed. I feel like using the tools in this book are also helping me become more secure in myself so that when I am ready to date again, I’ll do it from a place of confidence and security.
The Pop Culture Magic of Lupin
I recently binge watched the first and second seasons of Lupin on Netflix and as always when I watch a TV show, I get fascinated by the history behind that show. I won’t spoil Lupin for you, if you haven’t seen it, but to sum it up, it’s about a gentleman thief, set in modern day Paris, but the store is based on the character of Arsene Lupin. Maurice LeBlanc wrote the stories about the gentleman thief. I haven’t read them yet, but I found the show fascinating enough that I’m going to do some exploration of the original pop culture.
In the show the main character uses the original stories as his inspiration for his own feats of thievery, and at the same time he lives by the code of the original character. This is important because it ties the show back to the original pop culture, even as the show promotes that original pop culture. What’s also fascinating is that the show establishes that the original pop culture has a thriving fan community. A few of the different characters, beyond the main character, really enjoy the original pop culture and in some form or another don’t just read it, but end up making it part of their lives.
What Stoicism is teaching me
I’ve recently begun reading the collected works of Seneca. Before that I was reading the books of the modern day Stoic Ryan Holiday. I’m fascinated by what I’m reading, particularly because its providing another lens in which to view my actions, both magical and mundane. I think what I find most fascinating about Stoicism is that there is a profound recognition of the need to achieve a balance within ourselves where we acknowledge our emotions and feelings, but find balance by weighing them against rational perspectives and considerations.
I don’t always agree with the Stoic perspectives. For example, I read something by Seneca where he cautioned against reading on a wide variety of topics at the same time. I definitely could not take that advice because I like to entertain a multiplicity of perspectives and actually find it to be essential to my creative approach to life. Yet if I did not consider perspectives I disagreed with, I couldn’t appreciate why I approach my life the way I do, so even in reading Seneca it caused me to chuckle, disagree, and yet appreciate the perspective gifted to me.
How I'm using Tarot to curb my impulsiveness
One of my faults and flaws is that I tend to be an impulsive person. I sometimes make decisions on the fly, in the heat of the moment, without fully considering the ramifications of those decisions. I feel my emotions deeply, and this can be both a good and bad thing. It can be good because of the depth of emotion and the richness that depth brings with it. It can be bad, when those deep emotions take over every other consideration.
Of late, I’ve been feeling my emotions very keenly because of the life transitions I’ve been going through. Trying to find balance with those emotions has been tough, because of how deeply I’m feeling them and I’ve taken this into account by starting a new practice that I’m going to continue for the rest of my life.
Rediscovering my Identity part 4
Rediscovering your identity can be a process of trying things and discovering what works and what doesn’t work, as well as being open to the opportunities that present themselves to you. As I also share in this video, it is important to be in touch with what brings you meaning and satisfaction.
Rediscovering my Identity Part 3
I share how to be present with your identity shifts and why you need to slow down sometimes and go still in order to fully assimilate what comes with those identity shifts.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Connection and Truth Month 8
5-22-2021 I posted a cartoon on Facebook that essentially had this person find this oracle, which told him that some of his problems were of his own causing and I wrote that the one thing all your problems have in common is you. My friend Colleen pointed something out that I felt was rather appropriate since I’m working with martian energy this month. She pointed out that all your problems having you in common is actually a form of abusive self-dialogue because sometimes other people are the cause of your problems and you aren’t the reason the problem is happening. Her response really got me thinking about how far too often I’ve blamed myself for problems that have happened and taken too much responsibility on when perhaps it really was someone else’s responsibility. It’s definitely something I am going to work with further this month.
I did some more of the wood element workshop. The main focus was on working with the ligaments and it was quite intense work. Naturally some internal stuff came up and I worked through it, releasing grief with each release of the ligaments. It did make me reflect on some realizations I’ve been having around my life and the way people have shown up in the past. Afterwards I meditated with the alchemical substances for Mars and Geburah and worked on releasing judgment of myself and others. Working with Geburah in that way is interesting, because typical it is a rather severe energy to work with, yet, I think sometimes people ignore the more subtle ways to work with a given Sephiroth. In this case, learning how to release judgments of yourself and other can be just as relevant as any other work you might do in that sephiroth.
Rediscovering my Identity Part 2
Rediscovering your identity sometimes means reclaiming your identity. I share my own reclamation process and also reflect on Father’s day and how my identity has changed around fatherhood. I also share some ideas for how you can reclaim your own identity as part of rediscovering who you are.