Part 2 of a 3 part series on magical training at GSW.
Magickal Timing:
The concept of the timing of one's magick is a reflection of nature. Over time, practitioners of magick have observed the rhythms of the earth, stars, sun, and moon. We can observe for ourselves the changing of the seasons as well as night and day. Through experience we have learned the most favourable time to plant our crops as well as the best times to harvest them. Keeping these principles in mind, it is understandable for the magickal practitioner to reflect this model in other endeavours.
In the study of my own personal endeavours in practising magick, I am in need of increasing my income. A prosperity spell is chosen in order to fulfil my need to make more money at work. The ideal time for me to cast such a spell would during the morning before noon; when the moon is waxing, between the first and second quarters.
The ideal time of the year would be some time between the winter and summer solstice. This time of the year would further amplify the power of this spell by corresponding to the increasing light of the sun. To cast such as spell during the Tide of Planting would symbolise the work in which I would have to do in order to achieve that which I desire. According to the planetary aspects, Thursday would seem to best correspond with the intention of this spell.
If I was hoping to cast such a spell and the moon was waning to new, during the middle of a late summers night on a Friday; then I would have to be creative in the wording of my intentions for casting this spell. My view on magickal timing is that what is important is that the timing works. Timing must be practical as well; as one would not plant their crops in the middle of a winter freeze, unless that specific crop benefited by this action. Perhaps Horseradish would benefit from such treatment; as there are usually exceptions to the rule.
Magickal Talents:
One summer my wife and I had travelled to Colorado to stay on some land that we were looking to buy. On the second day we had met one of our neighbours who had introduced us to a Christian family where we ended up staying a few nights in exchange for work. While we were at their house, one of the members of the group was feeling ill and we all preceded to lay our hands upon her with the intention of curing her headache. Although she was annoyed by our actions; my wife and I both had remembered this practice when in an emergency, we had both responded to the aide of our injured dog who had just been struck by a car. When we approached the dog named Taffy, she was experiencing convulsions and appeared to be in shock and dying. We both instinctively put our hands on her and prayed. Taffy immediately stopped convulsing and got up on her feet as if nothing had happened. This moment truly was miraculous!
I have felt the powerful effects of the healing touch lift my spirits and infuse my personal energies with its positive benefits. I consider healing to be one of my major talents. Currently I am working towards establishing a magickal routine in the areas of Meditation and Core Energy Practice. I began this practice over six months ago. In the beginning I was extremely frustrated while attempting to meditate. During this time I had faced a mental block in which I had spent a few months re evaluating the commitment to my studies. Eventually, I had decided to finish the Core Energy Practice class and was thus further encouraged by the positive feedback in which I had received in the completion of the class.
I am now beginning to reap the benefits of improved mental control and increased visualisation ability after having committed myself to a meditation routine. Although I am experiencing improvement in the areas of visualisation, this is the hardest skill for me to practice. Visualisation abilities are some of the most difficult skills for me to master as they are reflections of all five physical senses as well as "other" senses. Experience is the only way to improve upon these skills. My goal is to continue the practices of visualisation and to further incorporate these skills within my magickal routine.
My plan of action for the establishment of visualisation within my magickal routine will be to include the practice in my daily meditation regime, in small increments; gradually increasing the duration and complexity of the practice.
Elemental Animals:
In the course of my research I had discovered some inconsistencies in the categorisation of the elemental correspondence of animals. My solution to this problem was to keep an open mind and try my best to think logically about how I would use the elemental correspondence. I was elated to find corresponding data from different sources.
The Stag has the elemental quality of both Earth and water, that can be considered symbolic of a deer. "According to the Elemental Correspondences of the Natural Magic Shop, the Raccoon and the Moose possess the qualities of the Earth, as does most four-legged animals; especially those that go by night". (2)
The Hare is close enough for me to consider it a rabbit, and thus I have classified it under the Fire sign of Aries. "According to the Elemental Correspondences of the Ancient Pathway, the Salamander, Newt, and Coyote correspond to the element of Fire as they possess the qualities of fertility and primordial action". (1)
"The Hawk, Quail, Hummingbird, and Dragonfly are classified under the element of Air as they are creatures of flight". (1)"The Cat and the Deer correspond to Monday and the element of Water". (Oberon pg138) I have placed the Alligator into this category as it is a creature which lives in the water. The Bear, Wolf, and Raven possess a combination of the Water, Earth, and Air qualities respectively. I had found the Bear listed in both Earth and Water correspondences. The Wolf is associated with Monday, and Scorpio; both signs signify a water connection and it is also found in association with the Earth according to the Elemental Correspondences of the Ancient Pathway. (1)
The Raven is the most complicated of all; having a connection to the Earth and Water because of its association with Saturn, as well as corresponding to the element of Air for being a bird of flight. I admire the qualities of the Raven as they are known to be intelligent and resourceful. I am particularly drawn to the Saturn connection in regards to the attributes of "discipline, harvest, long life, protection, stability, and safety". (Oberon pg138) If I was to focus my magickal efforts towards one direction, my concentration would be on the qualities in which the Raven represents.
Work Cited:
(1)Elemental Correspondences of Ancient Pathway
http://www.ancientpathway.com/correspondence/elemental.html
(2)The Natural Magick Shop
http://naturalmagickshop.com/articles/correspondences.html
Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon 2004
Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard
Elemental Scavenger Hunt:
During the course of this project I have created four elemental Mojo bags that I have placed in there corresponding space upon my alter. Representing the element of fire, I used colors and objects that correspond to Mars. For the fire Mojo, I filled a small bottle with red pepper flakes and corked it with a bit of aluminum foil. It looks great! I placed the bottle into a red satchel along with a clove of garlic, a piece of Dragons blood resin and some petrified wood. I chose the petrified wood as I can imagine all of the suns rays being absorbed into the stone.
The elemental air mojo was the most difficult bag to make simply because I lacked the necessary components. I found an old yellow shirt of mine and derided to cut out a round piece of cloth for the construction of a reticule. I placed an old aluminum coin along with some cinnamon, oak shavings and a piece of clover. The components for the air Mojo where chosen for their correspondence to both Mercury and Jupiter respectively.
While I was creating the Earth Mojo, I felt compelled to include the turquoise rosary in which I had made for the Meditation 101: class. I chose the turquoise stones for their correspondence to Capricorn and Saturn and I used a black bag to strengthen this connection. I placed four small obsidian stones inside the black bag and anointed everything with cinnamon oil. I chose the number four to correspond with the Muladhara, Earth, and Saturn.
For the water Mojo I chose a blue bag and placed a genuine silver mercury dime inside. In addition to the dime I added a clear quarts stone, a green ring, and a bit of Aloe that I trimmed from a neglected plant. I could see reflected in the water Mojo the qualities of element therein.
The conclusion of this project has taught me an appreciation and an awareness for the qualities of the elements in our daily lives. I can feel each elemental vibration in the bags and I am beginning to realize their magickal impact in not only my life, but in all life.
Elemental Survival
Our lives are intertwined and dependent upon the all of the elements within the universe. Beyond the mundane necessities of our physical survival; it is sometimes easy to overlook the creature comforts in which the elements provide us. It is through their direct effect upon our lives that our spirits are lifted, the mind is restored, and our bodies become healed.
The foods that we eat and the building materials in which our civilization depends upon are obvious uses of the Earth. From the human perspective, the element of Earth is the fundamental ground upon which everything else can exist. In the absence of the Earth and the gravity that it generates, no other element would have cohesion to manifest as reality for the benefit of our perspective.
The air we breath is deeply satisfying and serves to remind us that we can continually repeat a living ritual, like the beating of our heart, and never tire from it. On the contrary, we can receive the greatest delight in the simple act of breathing; as it is through this process that our life is sustained. It is through the process of breathing where we can learn a great lesson from nature. The lesson is that we do have some "will" to breath, but not much. For the most part breathing is automatic and beyond our control especially when it comes to effecting any critical system in maintaining our lives. Breathing therefore is analogous to the amount of "will" and control that we have in our own lives.
The element of fire is that which keeps us warm and provides the energy that our civilization needs in order to be productive. The way that we use fire is analogous to the ways in which our body uses it. The same can be said of water. The water that we drink and bath in serves as an agent to cool and purify our bodies. Water is the Universal Solvent; and thus this unique element has properties which allow it to break chemical bonds in both body and industry alike.
Spirit represents the Divine in which we perceived in others; and hints that we are all apart of something greater than ourselves. The qualification of Spirit as an element is in its action of unifying and connecting us to the Universe. All five elements share in the function of unifying us to the Universe. The elements are analogous to the colors of a rainbow where each color has a define effect upon the observer and each individual color is unified in the color spectrum.
The ritual use of the elements allows the magickal practitioner to become further connected to the universe and every one in it. The interplay between the elements serves to raise our spiritual energy, connect the individual to the collective Universe and remind each and every one us that we are all divine
Sleep Meditation:
Since I have begun centring myself before I go to sleep, I have noticed that I seem to be dreaming more; or that I am remembering more of my dreams. As a result of the dreams, I am beginning to see how my life impacts the others around me. I am reminded that I tend to be somewhat oblivious to the motives of others. I need to pay attention to the signs and consider the possibilities that their are people in my life who are working against me. I also recognise that I must maintain balance in my perspectives and not fall into paranoia. I acknowledge that my motivations for acting as a responsible individual are rooted in self preservation and fear of punishment; for both myself and others.
There are complications to this method of meditation. I have a problem meditating before I go to sleep because I sleep at different times depending on my work schedule. It has been difficult for me to judge when I should meditate. If I start to early, then it seems like I am not following the sleep method. If I wait too long then I am to tired to meditate.
Over all I prefer to meditate during the night so this would seem to be the most preferable choice for me. I just need to recognise that at times I tend to be overly rigid in my adherence to prescribed themes such as "The Sleep" meditation verses a nightly meditation. I believe that the suction for me in this case is to just loosen up a bit and go with the flow.
Active Meditation:
During this week I have been walking as a form of active meditation. I really enjoy walking and I have found that this is not only a great form of exercise, but a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing form of meditation. While I am out and about, I feel thoroughly immersed in nature through all of my senses and engaged in the experience. The weather has been cold, crisp, and fabulously sunny. The green color of the pine trees contrast beautifully with the barren oaks of the woods in which I walk. I actively seek out ground that's hilly and at most times uneven; as I feel most connected to the Earth when I walk among these unbeaten paths.
In the past in my home town of San Diego, I would walk for very long distances; sometimes up to 24 miles a day two days a week. During this time I had been studying and practising Yoga and it is though these experiences where I had first learned the joy's of walking as a form of prayer and meditation. As a result of this practice, I had lost 100 pounds in about three months. My rapid and mostly sustained weight loss was due to a combination of eating a low calorie diet, living in a low humidity environment, and lots of exercise. It was really exciting to be caught up in the momentum of losing so much weight, so rapidly. I remember feeling as if I had more energy then I knew what to do with.
Walking as a form of active meditation will remain a critical part of my lifestyle and magickal routine. This weeks assignment has reminded me of reminded of the benefit's of walking and as a result I have reaffirmed this critical part of my lifestyle.
Mantra Meditation:
This week was full of many events in my life which left me feeling exhausted. The beginning of my practice with the Mantra form of meditation was confusing as I wanted to maintain a long session and couldn't muster up the physical energy to chant for twenty minutes. I ended up compromising; I would begin the session chanting a few verses, aligning myself to the God and Goddess. Then I would enter the no-mind state and repeat the process.
After a few days of meditation, I began to realize some of the benefits of this form such as: the feeling of raising energy, sharpening mental focus, as well as becoming caught up in the rhythm of the moment and entering the no-mind state. As a result of this experience, I am becoming increasingly aware of the level of commitment involved in maintaining a meditative routine.
Once again I have reaffirmed my commitment to these practices. I am willing to focus my mind and make the necessary sacrifices in order to establish and maintain a meditation routine. I have found the Mantra style to be beneficial to my practice and I will definitely be incorporating this method into my practice.
No Mind Meditation
My experiences during the first week of formal meditation have revealed to me some of the many obstacles in which an apprentice faces while learning to meditate. During this time I have chosen to practice the "no mind meditation" technique. Each day I have written an entry into my magickal journal as I am incorporating this practice into my daily magickal routine.
One of my first concerns was how I would go about measuring time; as I know all to well that my attention span tends to be on the short side. First I thought of burning a stick of incense. The problem with this is that the sticks can burn up to an hour and I was looking for something that could mark a quarter hour. Naturally I could cut the sticks into quarters. In the end I ended up using a simple timer. The idea was that I would sit there for as long as I felt some what comfortable and when I would begin to feel uncomfortable I would get up and look at the clock. Usually my attention span is around ten minuets. If I was too short then I would simply go sit back down and check it again later. On day two I was able to comfortable reach the fifteen minutes goal in one sitting.
During this time I began to feel awkwardly aware of my body, particularly my hands as I didn't know where to comfortably place them. At times I felt like I was fading in and out of focus. I was for the most part full of emotion, some what tired, and definitely out of my comfort zone.
I noticed that I average about one thought per breath. I try to take my time and breath deeply from the core ; I have a tendency to want to rush in things as if I have smoothing important to do and some where to be. I noticed a general pattern through out the experiences where I would struggle to not think about anything in the beginning of the meditation and as time would go on, I would get into the experience and actually not be thinking about anything. Later towards the end I would begin to feel the residual energy of my bound thoughts building towards a climax; leading to the end of my attention span.
As the week had progressed I did notice some improvement in the reduction of stray thoughts and this has made the experience much more enjoyable. Naturally, just as I was making progress I ended up having a few off days where I found it nearly imposable to meditate at all. I did so purely out of the need to establish this part of my daily magickal practice. I am particularly sensitive to the effects of eating unhealthy foods and the consequences of doing so are reflected in the quality of my meditative experience.
After having taken one day off from meditation during this week as a result of having company spend the night. I have since gotten back on track. I recorded that I was able to meditate longer this night. Further more, I can now see the limitations of my body during meditation; emphasizing the need for me to reestablish my former Yoga practice. My over all experiences have been positive if not challenging. I am beginning to realize the reciprocity between magick and meditation.
