I share how I apply self-love as a magical practice and explain the practical benefits of self love but also share why there needs to be a practical application of self love in order to benefit from the practice.
Deep Cleaning as a form of Release and Healing
Photo by Riya Kumari: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photograph-of-person-sweeping-the-floor-1433350/
Just this past weekend I decided to do a deep cleanse of my house. My roommate was moving out so I was going to need to clean anyway, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to do a physical deep clean of all the rooms of the house and in the process also do a deep clean on the emotional/mental and spiritual levels of the house and myself. I had previously done a deep clean in the fall and this process helped me realize that this should likely be a twice a year event.
I do a lot to keep my house clean normally, but a deep clean is different. With a deep clean what I'm doing is getting everything cleaned on every level. I'm also getting a work around as I move furniture around and so this process becomes a purification on the body level as well.
I also treat a deep clean as a cleansing of emotional and energetic residue that needs to be released. For me, this deep clean was about releasing the residue from 2022 that had been acquired through various experiences I had. Before I started cleaning I called to the spirit of the house and land and asked their blessing for the cleaning. Then I called on patron deities and asked their blessing because I'm cleaning this space as a devotional activity for them as well. Once the blessing is received, the cleaning becomes a work of service to the house and deities, as well as to inhabitants of the house.
Sensory over stimulation and scrying
Image courtesy of Taylor Ellwood 2023
I've been continuing to experiment with scrying using a combination of tools for the purposes of overstimulation. For this particular process I've been working with Andras and Haures, two of the daemons from the Goetia. The initial process has involved setting the sigil for the given daemon up so its between a candle and the black mirror I have set up. I evoke the daemon using the enn for it and then stare at the at the mirror through the candle flame...but set up an optical illusion so that it seems like the candle is doubled in appearance.
I also have been filming these sessions live on instagram and I have the camera propped up so its directed at the flame. The camera creates a halo effect with the flame which can also be used for scrying purposes. I use it as an additional layer of sensory overstimulation. I'm chanting the enn, looking at the candle and mirror and then sometimes scrying via the instagram live video.
Further Scrying Experiments
I took a little break from my scrying experiments because of a weekend trip I took where I did a lot of intense shadow work. I knew I needed to make time to integrate that work back into myself and that doing scrying work on top of that work wasn't a good idea.
But on Saturday night I decided I as ready to start the scrying experiments up again. This time I chose to work with Goetic Daemon Andras, around helping me release and let go of some fear I'd been feeling and to help me also get to the core of that fear.
I chose to evoke Andras via a candle and the black mirror. I also recorded a video of the scrying via Instagram, in part to set up the phone recording as another version of the scrying. What I've noticed is that when I record the scrying, it actually creates an intriguing effect with the candle, where the light of the candle creates a sphere of light in the recording that can also be used for scrying.
How to build energy and intention over time
I discuss how to build intention and energy up over time and what the benefits of doing this can be for magical work as well as other endeavors in your life and why we don't always do this.
How to Integrate Initiatory Experiences in your everyday life
This previous weekend I went away for a weekend retreat where I went through an initiation process. I can't really share any details about what happened there, as its part of a mystery tradition, but what I can share is that I came into the event as one person and came out of the event as a changed and more grounded person.
That is part of the purpose of initiation. We go into an experience, not knowing what will happen and we are changed by that experience in fundamental ways that we may not even fully understand but that nonetheless become part of our rooted being.
Over the years I've had the fortune to attend other events where I've experienced an initiatory change from who I was, wherein I felt a shift in my state of being. This happens any time you remove yourself from mainstream society and immerse yourself in a different environment physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Some experiences may be more intense and driven than others, but all experiences that take us out of the comfort zone will inevitably bring about change.
The question arises though: How do we integrate that change back into our everyday lives?
The nature of attachments and how to liberate yourself from them
image courtesy of unsplash
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work around attachments, and my relationship with myself and those attachments. I’ve come to recognize something fundamental about attachments: They operate from a place of fear and scarcity and possession. You think you have something or someone (you don’t) or you want to have something or someone (you won’t) and all this comes from a place of fear that leads to attachment. Attachments operate from a place of control, a desire to make the world around you conform to your will, but they ultimately weigh you down.
Understanding the nature of an attachment can help you liberate yourself from it. An attachment is ultimately informed by a sense of scarcity, but also a limiting belief that if you don’t have something or someone in your life you won’t be happy. Ironically you give away the very control you seek when you are attachment, because you are basing your sense of happiness and well being on something or someone external to yourself. Even if you temporarily attain what you are attached to, it doesn’t provide happiness. You might feel a sense of pleasure, but pleasure is fleeting and immaterial and if you don’t attain the attachment it becomes a perceived source of unhappiness because you are holding on to a limiting belief that the desired object, event, person etc., has the key to your happiness, when in fact the opposite is true. If anything the struggle around attachment keeps you from truly appreciating and enjoying whatever experience you have as well as whoever you are with. Most importantly it keeps you from enjoying yourself.
So what do you to liberate yourself from an attachment?
First you need to recognize that the attachment won’t bring you happiness. Your attachment is to a sense of happiness originating from an external source. When you recognize that happiness comes from within and that no one or nothing else has that happiness then you can let go of trying to find that happiness somewhere else. You’re looking in the wrong places when you look for happiness from someone or something else.
How to connect with the spiral of time
I discuss how to attune yourself to the spiral of time so you can connect with events in the past and future and bring them into the present in order to shape and manifest your life.
Sound baths and audio magic scrying experiments
image copyright Taylor Ellwood
I have been continuing to experiment with scrying, and I recently decided to switch from candles and mirrors to using modern technology.
My initial experiment was inspired by a Gong ceremony I attended. The Gong ceremony put me into a deep state of altered awareness and I ended up experiencing a sensation of time dilation. It was a deeply fascinating experience and it prompted me to consider how I could attempt to replicate the conditions of a sound bath, while using my black mirror and a candle for scrying.
What I did was set up a cd player with two speakers so that one speaker was to the left of me and the other was to the right. I then picked out music that would be helpful for stimulating the mind via biaurnal beats and soundscapes. I used music from Coil, Rapoon and The Anti Group Collective. I played the music and then lit the candle and proceeded to do my usual scrying, but with the music creating a sound batch effect for the purposes of deeper states of altered consciousness.
What I found is that with the right music I definitely achieved a deeper state of altered awareness which led to more visions and experiences via scrying, both for behavior alteration and spirit work. I then decided to move on to another experiment...
How to setup your magical space
I discuss how to setup a magical space and what considerations to keep in mind in order to make that space effective for your magical work.
How to work with a memory box
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
I was recently asked a question about the memory box tool, which I’ve shared in my book Magical Identity, and how it’s created and can be worked with. This prompted me to follow through on a decision I had made a while back: Namely to offer the Memory Box as a magical Tool for sale. To get a memory box from me, click the button below. I’m also going to describe how it can be worked with below.
I created the memory box to be a physical representation and aide for working with the web of space and time. The web of space and time is an intersection of nodal space points and trajectories of time which bring possibilities through those nodal space points. The memory box serves as an interface for accessing the web of space and time, but it also has a few other functions that may be of interest to someone who wants to work space/time magic with it.
To access the web of space and time, place your hands on the sides of the box, with the thumbs touching the interior of the box. The lid needs to be open. You can stare at the web glyph I’ve created on the lid or in the box itself and use it as a visual guide to access the web. You may also wish to call on whatever spirits you work with that are space/time spirits to help you navigate the web of space and time. I can also provide a list of said spirits when I send you the box.
Nodal space points are people, places, things, events…nouns. The trajectories of time are the lines of time that go through the nodal space points. When you work with the web you occupy a given nodal space point and if you want to change your identity or move to another nodal space point you use the lines of time to move you to a different nodal point.
I’ve used the web of space and time to help me shift my identity from one point of identity to another identity. This has been a helpful practice at different moments of my life, where I really wanted to shift to a new point of space and time and leave the one that was no longer working for me behind. For example I used the web of space/time to help me with the process of moving to a new city. More recently, in conjunction with my self-love practice I’ve been using the web of space and time to help me manifest opportunities that move me toward creating the life I truly want to live. This is helping me making changes in my career, life, relationships, etc.
One of the other ways I use the memory box is to store physical items to saturate them with chronal energy. I place the items in the memory box and allow it to take in the energies of the web of space and time. These items could be photographs, or small jewelry or whatever else and you can then use them in your space/time magic workings.
I also have stored memories in the box, like in Harry Potter, the Pensieve, using the memory box as a battery for those memories, but also as a way to clear out whatever I don’t need or to store raw information away for when I want to draw on it. In one sense the memory box can become a physical representation of your mansion of memory.
I’ve also used the memory box to cultivate closer relationships with spirits by storing their sigils in the box. You can use the memory box for a variety of different purposes. It’s only limitation is your imagination and what purpose you apply it for. If you’re interested in getting one for yourself, click the button below.
How to identify hangups and blockages in your mundane and magical actions
I discuss how to recognize when you are getting in your own way with your mundane and magical work and why its important to identify the hangups and blockages so that you can change the patterns in your life that are getting in the way of manifesting the results you want.
What makes a spirit a spirit?
Image courtesy of pexels
I've been thinking about the question, "What makes a spirit, a spirit?"
I'm currently writing Walking with Nature Spirits, and in the writing of this book I've been thinking about this question because of how I approach the work with nature spirits, but also because of the stereotypical imagery associated with nature spirits, which usually has them set up with imagery of gnomes, undines, slyphs, etc., basically humancentric shapes and appearances. The benefit of the humancentric shapes is that it makes easy for us to identify with those spirits. The downside however is that we all too often get stuck filtering our experience of a given spirit on the basis of the human oriented shape we associate with it. This isn't limited to nature or elemental spirits either.
We see this same tendency to humanize the appearance and experience of spirits with Daemonic spirits, angelic spirits, and any other type of spirit out there. This tendency brings with it a kind of entitlement as well: Namely the entitlement that the spirits are really here to serve or work for us. It's a naïve belief that isn't fully accurate and can create potential problems when we adhere too strongly to notions of what we think spirits are or are not.
One of my main purposes for writing the Walking with Spirits series is to present an alternate perspective to spirit work that is rooted in building a collaborative relationship with the spirits, but also recognizes that to experience the spirits we must be willing to experience them on their terms as much as possible.
What does that look like?
How to start listening to your soul
Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels
When I look back at my life what I see is someone who has not been successful in the conventional sense of the word. I have not stuck with a career for an extended period of time nor have I struck it rich with a business or even multiple businesses. I've had some successes in writing books and I've accomplished some activities I've set myself to do, but I've also spent a lot of time wandering, trying to find my purpose.
Is my purpose just to write books on magic and the occult? I think that's one part of it along with other writings I've done or want to do but I've realized for a while that there's something else calling to me as well. I haven't always known what it was and sometimes like I've gone in multiple directions exploring different interests and coming away with richer experiences and more insights.
I know I'm also not alone in this journey. I've been reading a book called Soulsshaping by Jeff Brown (affiliate link) which has described his own journey toward discovering his purpose. Reading Choose Yourself by James Altucher (affiliate link) has provided a similar perspective. Reading both books and some others has helped me recognize how much societal, cultural, and familial pressure often has us buying into ideas of success that aren't always accurate or realistic and may not apply. Certainly they haven't applied to me.
How to identify themes and use them
I discuss how to identify themes that are occurring in your life and then apply them proactively to enhance the experience you are having as well as open doors in your life for whatever is next. I also share why its important to notice these themes and work with them instead of resisting them.
How to Rewrite and Re-wire memories
Recently I went to a restaurant and took myself on a dinner date. I don't normally eat out alone, but I wanted to re-write and re-wire a memory and I've found that sometimes the best way to do that is to revisit a site and make a new memory that overwrites the old memory.
But what if we can't do that? What if we're too far away or if the memory is simply too triggering?
We may still want to change the memory, but we may need to take a magical approach to doing that work that liberates us from the trauma and tyranny of the past, while also enabling us to transform our present and presence.
Saturn as Liberator
When most people think of Saturn from an astrological perspective, they treat Saturn as a malefic force, in part of because the classic mythology associated with Saturn and in part because of Saturn being treated as a limiting and binding force.
And while it is true that Saturn represents boundaries and limitations and also embodies fear and what happens when we react from fear, I've also discovered that Saturn can be a liberating force, if worked with properly.
Saturn as a planetary influence invites us to examine our relationship with our own limits and boundaries as well as our relationship with fear.
Scrying for changing behavior
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
Sometimes the reason you want to scry is because you want to change a specific behavior.
For example, you become aware of a behavior you do that sabotages your interactions with other people. You aren't sure how to change it.
Scrying may be just the right tool you could use for the purpose of behavior alteration.
Why?
The act of scrying opens us to the experience of using fascination to draw us into the underlying narrative that informs the behavior and it provides us a ways of changing that behavior, because we use scrying to change the narrative.
The key though is to create the experience of fascination via the scrying tools you are working with. And there's a hidden component to this as well.
Scrying for spirit Communication
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
One of the ways I like to work with scrying is with spirit communication.
I already have a strong connection to spirits, having always had a natural proclivity toward communicating with them, but what I'm finding with scrying is that this proclivity is further enhanced when working with the right tools.
In my case, the right tools are a combination of candles and black mirror, along with sometimes using additional tools including a pendulum, Tarot, or cowrie shells for divinatory purposes.
I'll also work with specific spirits around specific themes or areas of interest. In the picture above I have a sigil for the goetic spirit Camio that I'm working with for the purposes of enhancing my skills with candle magic and scrying through flame work.
How to create and activate collage sigils
For new years I decided to revive an old art magical practice that I haven't done for a few years. I decided to create a collage sigil.
First I needed to decide on the theme. I chose the theme of YES, specifically saying yes to myself.
The theme is what ties a given collage together. It informs what images you use, what words you'll be drawn to, and what it is that you're ultimately calling into your life.
It's not all that different from any other themed work I've done in my life, and what I find with themed magical work in general is that the theme WILL show up in your life, but often in ways you don't expect. This is because when you utilize magic to call a theme into your life, you are calling in that theme but in a way that is needed.
