Archive for the ‘Meditation and Visualization’ Category

I had this wonderful post ready for today and then this morning I woke up at 5 so that I could be out of the house by a quarter till 6 to go for my bike ride.  It is far too hot to do this later in the day here in South Florida, so up early I am.  One of the best things about being up this early is the absolute quiet in the world around me.  By the time I am rolling in at home (6:45a) the rest of the world is starting to wake up and get on with their days.

Today I rode a much longer route than normal and really enjoyed the environment of the urban area in which I live.  It’s quiet and the sun started to rise bringing on a wash of beautiful oranges, yellow and pinks.  As I made my trek I paid attention to the natural spots (yards, empty lots, a water fountain & pond business, local yard center).  I love my early morning rides and I always get something out of them.  This was no different except in the richness of the messages I received.

First spotting were the morning doves, they are abundant and beautiful.  A little while later a trio of racoons, a crow greeting the morning and a peacock.  A rich morning indeed.  All within the 8.5 mile, roundtrip, ride this morning.

Thinking it would be a lovely day to showcase animal magick which can be found abundantly even in urban areas.

Let’s look at each of the messages I received today individually and see if we can make a full message.

Dove: The dove is the embodiment of motherly instincts. The dove will connect you to the Earth and her energies of creation. This is the toem of between times showing us the times of day where the veils between physical and spiritual are at the thinnest (dawn and twilight).

Raccoon: The raccoon holds it’s magic and message in it’s mask. Through the employment of a mask you can achieve altered states. The raccoon can teach you how to wear masks, should you need to use them. It can also teach you how to transform yourself from what you are into what you want to be.

Crow: Keepers of the Sacred Law, these magnificent animals teach you to speak your truth and to stay in line with your life’s mission. They can be seen as an omen of Change. What you have been working towards will come to pass when Crow appears.

Peacock: Peacock has been associated with the phoenix, reminding us that through change and transformation we can emerge complete and beautiful on the otherside of challenge. The call of the peacock is loud and sounds a lot like the laughter of a child, helping us to laugh at life and be like a child at heart.

An interesting message overall that seems to be occuring here a message about coming change, something I’ve been working towards coming to pass with a lot of self transformation taking place throughout. I think I will have to really meditate on these individual messages to complete the voice.

What types of messages might you receive if you take a moment to listen to the voice of nature?

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Today we celebrate the birthday of W.B. Yeats (1865-1939), Nobel-prize winning Irish poet and member of the Golden Dawn. In his poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, he speaks nostalgically of a cabin on the lake, where he will find his peace.

For our magickal working today, we will create our own “cabin on Innisfree,” ie. a place where we can go to find peace even while we “stand on the roadway.” You will imagine a place of total peace, a place that even while in the midst of the stress of mundane life, you can escape to, if only for a moment to regain balance and find peace. Construct your happy place…will it be on a lake, beach, mountain? Will it be a cabin or a temple? It is yours and yours alone, make it whatever you like. When you have created this place in your imagination, and filled it with the things you want, bless your astral creation by saying:

“I make this my place of peace, for love and light reside here. In my place of peace, I find balance, focus, and joy. So mote it be.”

Return here at least once a day, more often if necessary, to “hear lake water lapping…in the deep heart’s core.”

Monday is ruled by the Moon and it is in the sign of Pisces today. Pisces is the sign of psychic power, creativity and is considered the sign of “old souls.” The Moon rules the dream world. Today we will allow ourselves time to rest.

Traditionally, witches do not work spells during the 4th quarter or Dark Moon. We will draw on this tradition today, to allow our souls time to rest and receive psychic messages from the dream world. We will not focus on the types of messages we would like to receive but simply allow the messages to come to us.

I am setting my altar now and will be performing this before bed tonight with the following items:

Silver Spell Candle
Two Moonstones & One Quartz
Moonstone Ritual Gemscent Oil
Natural colored sizzling spell paper (or any available paper/parchment)
Pen/Quill

On the Color Magick Sizzling Spell Paper I will write:
“Tonight I rest so that I will be at my best”

Again simply rest tonight. Do not focus on receiving messages, do not focus on what you did not get done, what you need to do. Simply be and rest.

In preparation for doing this I will turn off my computer at my desk altar and begin the process of relaxation by lighting a stick of one of my favorite incenses (Lotus Moon) and will release all my stresses through a simple visualization of opening a flow or cord to the universe to allow it to come into me through my crown down through my body and as it fills me I will release stresses down through my body and feet into the earth. This takes but a couple of minutes and is very relaxing. When I feel relaxed I will anoint my candle and light it. Taking the spell paper in my right hand I will fold it up into a small ‘football’ shape and then light it with the flame of the candle.

All the while I will be continuing to relax and simply be. After a few moments at the candle and altar I will extinguish my candle and then head to bed.

How much better will you be on every level, when you get the rest you need?

Get outside this Tuesday and witness one of the most marvelous, magickal astronomical events of your lifetime!

  Every eighty or so years, the orbits of the earth, the sun, and the planet Venus line up so that those of us here can view Venus sailing across the fiery depths of our central star. It happens as a paired event, so eight years ago you had a chance to watch the first half and over the 5th and 6th of June this week(depending on your location) you have a chance to watch this second, final half. Sadly, given the length of time between the sets, it is unlikely that the majority of the current world population alive to see the event today will live to see the next one in 2117 CE.

  But why is this magickally significant? As a major, visible alignment of some very unlikely celestial orbits: transits are remarkable for the beauty of their phenomena and for the implications of the movement of their solar dance, both culturally and astrologically. And in this case, where it is a confluence between the sun, Venus, and the earth, there are a plethora of positive magickal symbolisms which can be extracted from their opportune meeting. And in 2012, the so-called year of the apocalypse: the more positive meanings that can be extruded to counterbalance the negative, the better!

‘Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus.’

  Popularized as a book title in the late twentieth century, this phrase already explicitly explained something most people inherently recognized about Venus: its femininity. From time immemorial, man and womankind has looked up at the planet Venus, burning brightly as the morning ‘star’ and associated it with womanhood and with love. The ancient Mesopotamians associated it with Inanna and Ishtar, their queenly goddesses of fertility and feminine wiles. The Greeks and Romans associated it with their goddesses Aphrodite and Venus, the latter of whom it gets its name directly of. The planet Venus is, indeed, the only feminine planet in our solar system ~ the rest of the planets are named after male mythological figures. Other than the singular stunning exception of Venus, only the moons of our planets reference female figures. Later associations between the morning ‘star’, a.k.a Venus rising and the association with dark forces like the Christian devil, were later attempts to villanize the sanctity of the brightly lit planet for earlier pagan cultures.

 

  As a representative of feminine ideas of fertility and growth, its transit across the sun, as viewable from earth, has widespread implications of abundance and innovation for those on earth. Indeed, many of the previous known transits of Venus have occurred at peak times during the late Renaissance and Enlightenment. The last series of transits occurred just around the time various marvelous things were being invented, like the telephone. Unfortunately, the phenomena has only been seriously noted for its last four transits (i.e. since the invention of the telescope), though it has been passing us by all along and would have been potentially noticeable under certain circumstances. Any earlier mentions of it have yet to be reconciled with the historic event. However a lack of a historic record does not mean that the superstition and mythical meaning of the event went unremarked upon. It merely means that the modern world has not been able to hold on to this information.

  It may also signal a high point in lovability. And may represent the need for mankind to focus in on preserving the own environment and womb of our friendly mother earth.

  Whether you watch to support its myriad of magickal messages, or merely just to witness this most astounding of natural events (carefully though! Don’t ever look directly at the sun!): do try to catch a glimpse of this rare celestial phenomena!

  For more general information, as well as where and when to try to catch the transit, and how best to watch it, check out the Transit of Venus website devoted to the event.

  For more information on the astrological meaning of the transit and its historical confluences, check astrologist Alison Chester-Lambert’s excellent blog out on the topic.

  For more information on the science of the transit, including an explanation of the orbits which results in its rarity, check out the BBC’s video on the topic and look forward to the eventual digital premiere of their documentary Horizon: The Transit of Venus.

Caption for top photo: Botticelli’s 1486 painting The Birth of Venus depicts Venus rising fully grown from the sea, just as the morning star, the planet Venus, rises from the sea at the distant horizon.

  This week I am presenting an archaeological paper at the Digital Heritage conference at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (excitingness!). And as I am in the birthplace of one of my favorite poets, Emily Dickinson, it seemed apropos to share one of my favorite works with you: one which emphasizes the notion of utilizing one’s imagination and finding fantasy and magick in the mundane elements of life.

  Dickinson’s A Murmur in the Trees subtly emphasizes the idea of seeing beyond the regular world into what I have always interpreted as a sort of faerie realm or different dimension which coexists with our own. It advocates for seeing the world as brightly techno-colored as we can, and holding that close to ourselves comfortably, without insisting that others must see it as well. Though it is not overtly a magickal bit of literature, it hints at the otherworlds magickal practices attempt to reach and at a calm understanding of the unity between those worlds and our own. I do hope you enjoy it (and wish me luck at the conference!):

A MURMUR in the trees to note,
Not loud enough for wind;
A star not far enough to seek,
Nor near enough to find;

A long, long yellow on the lawn,
A hubbub as of feet;
Not audible, as ours to us,
But dapperer, more sweet;

A hurrying home of little men
To houses unperceived, –
All this, and more, if I should tell,
Would never be believed.

Of robins in the trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose nightgowns could not hide the wings,
Although I heard them try!

But then I promised ne’er to tell;
How could I break my word?
So go your way and I’ll go mine, –
No fear you’ll miss the road.

Our week of empowerment blogged about earlier is coming to a close.

This morning I recorded the working for the final day as posted here.  I wanted to work on this empowerment to help build myself up for the pending Mercury Retrograde to help me weather the storm that usually knocks the socks right off me!

You can do these exercises anytime at all to give yourself a boost.