Posts Tagged ‘meditation’

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?

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.

Monday’s are all about home, family, love, health, magick and dreams. These last two, the association is hard to ignore with the ruler of Monday being the Moon. The colors today are silver and white.

With this in mind today’s magick is going to be postponed to be called tonight’s magick
and one that I will be doing before I lay down to bed tonight.

The moon for today is in Taurus making it a fantastic time to work with inner peace, love,
creativity. These are the spells that take the longest to manifest but the results are
stable and long lasting.

My primary altar is on my desk, I use this altar every day. I do have a secondary altar
on my nightstand next to the bed that houses gemstones and a spot for a candle should I want one and an incense burner with either a small stone offering bowl or a stone goddess in the center.

Materials for tonight’s magick:
White Votive Candle (I am using a Sacred White Sage Votive)
Incense with Sandalwood or Jasmine (I am using Hari – Amber/Sandalwood)
Moonstone gem (if you have one)

Set your altar or bedside table (if safe) with the votive, incense burner and gemstone.
If you have an oil you use before sleep please anoint your votive with it. I will be
anointing mine with what some may believe to be an odd choice, nevertheless; I will be
using the Ostara Creamy Petals – Spellbound Potion on my candle. The scent relaxes and
opens my mind to the possibilities before me.

Sit before your altar, light your candle and focus on a challenge in your life right now.
Something you need to find resolution to, something that blocks your way, something that needs divine inspiration to help you find a creative solution through. Be very specific
in your thoughts. For me personally, I will be working on resolving challenges presented
before me in an effort to relocate with the ability to maintain my bills and life while
simultaneously improving it for the better.

I am looking for inspiration and creativity to help me find the direction, by using the
dream-state to lay the groundwork needed.

You may enter a meditative state while thinking about your challenge, this is perfectly
fine and normal as you will begin to receive visions of symbols by letting your conscious
mind go and allowing your inner-self take over to give you ideas and directions.
When you are ready, dab a little of the anointing oil on your temples and third eye then
lay down for sleep.

You may find your dreamstate to be more active. Before your feet hit the ground in the
morning, write down the symbols you are able to recall from your dreaming. These will
help you find your way through your challenge and bring your goals to fruition.

Life is a journey. And it is important that in life, we take journeys; that we experience the world actively rather than passively. That we connect with the energies of places near and far in order to draw them in and make them part of our own.

Whether you call it a journey, a pilgrimage, or a quest, it need not be long or perilous: it need only be fulfilling and leave you with a sense of accomplishment.  Set out to see the sights of the world and you will see them: you just need to get out there.  Go take a walk around the block or through a city park. Go to the nearest beach, river, or meadow. Chances are the spirits of these places have been imbued with power or worshiped in the past, and if they have not, then your active energies may just perk up the local nature gods and bring them to your aid. One of the biggest rewards of these jaunts is to commune with nature, to connect with the positive energy of the landscape and incorporate it into yourself.

The focus of this first edition of Sacred Pilgrimages is something I like to call ‘water communion’.  Flowing water, like a river, any river, be it a big famous one, or your local meandering creek, is a great philosophical symbol for the life journey you are traveling. The river meanders, it grows, it takes unexpected twists and turns and faces rock-hard obstacles before finally freeing itself into a wider source of water ~ symbolic of us finding a wider understanding of the universe in life and death. Rivers, streams, and creeks are also active purifiers which can help you wash away negative energies.  Your assignment: Go visit a local water spot. Revel in its beauty and bring home part of its spirit.

I recently found myself on one of the oldest popular pilgrimages to water known to modern man:  I visited the River Jordan and Dead Sea in the Middle East. For millennia it has been a site of worship and devotion, pagan and monotheistic alike: all mankind has recognized the power of this lively river flowing through the desert landscape. Revered from its spring (most notably by the cult of Pan at Baniyas), downstream (think John the Baptist or the later Crusaders), to its endpoint in the Dead Sea, the Jordan River is a potent symbol of life which flows through the dead landscape into the underworld. For me, it was a personal family quest: one of my ancestral names is Giordano ~ Italian for ‘Of the Jordan River’ ~ a name taken by Italian Crusaders who had been baptized in the river during their misguided quests in the Middle Ages. And while living in the Middle East it seemed most fitting to take a day and revel in the ancient landscape.

My journey to the river was two-fold. First I went above the river, to Mount Nebo in Jordan, (incidentally another sacred site of Christendom) to view the river from the heights and witness its endpoint in the sea. Then I went down the mountain and went swimming in the Dead Sea. And my-oh-my, what a bizarre otherworldly experience! The buoyancy from the high salt content defies common sense and you can literally walk on water for a bit.  The salt leaves everything a bit sticky when you come out but at the same time I felt entirely purified and highly recommend the benefits of Dead Sea Salt in your baths at home. And if, on your own local journeys, you can swim in your local river or at your local beach  ~do so. Or at least put your feet in the water or let it flow through your hands. But whatever you do, be aware that while beautiful, nature is also dangerous, and mind the local safety rules and regulations.

I did a bit of meditation in the Dead Sea, with the sun setting and the crescent moon rising. I left an accidental offering to the spirits of the place: the bone necklace I had purchased at the local gift shop fell off and into the water while I was floating. I bought a new one from the same shoppe, but consider that first one a toll paid to the water gods for the offering I rightly should have made them during my visit.  And I collected a sample of the water to take home with me. A keepsake yes; but more importantly, a powerful ingredient to be used later in rituals or simply placed on my household altar as an amplifying focus. I used a plastic water bottle to fill up and tote it through customs and back to the states, but have since transferred it into a series of much more dignified potion bottles.

Pilgrimages, journeys, quests, water communion, whatever you like to call your experience,  it need not be as extreme as this distant trip of mine. Just as interesting as it is to see faraway places,  it is even more important to be familiar with, and be a part of, your local landscape. There is much beauty and glamor all around you if you choose to see it. So go.

Go this weekend, go on your next day off. Find a quiet little space near the local creek or along the lake shore, a spot on the river beach or by a pool and take a few moments and really breathe. Look. Experience. Touch it if you can. And bring a little bit of it back home with you.