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Monday 29 March 2010

In Which I Fail To Get A Cup Of Tea At A Buddhist Cafe

In Which I Fail To Get A Cup Of Tea At A Buddhist Cafe
I have long felt warm towards Buddhism. That may at first have been the result of coming across the lama in Kim, but there are other reasons. Even if recent events do not wholly bear this out, I suspect that religions with no god or many gods are inherently less aggressive than monotheistic ones.So the sign in Kelmarsh, a few miles south of Market Harborough, pointing to a Buddhist centre only a quarter of a mile away and promising refreshments intrigues me every time I pass it.Today I tried to visit the Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre, but found its cafe closed. I was ready to reconsider my view of the Buddhist faith - at least you get a cup of tea from time to time with the Church of England - until I got home and found that the closure was clearly mentioned on the centre's website (even if a different reason is given).Besides, I found plenty of points of interest in Kelmarsh even though the Hall was closed to the public for a wedding. No doubt I shall share them with you in coming days.I shall go back to the Buddhist cafe one day when it is open. It is housed in a modern outbuilding close to the village's rather elephantine old rectory, which is now home to the centre.

Credit: new-generation-witch.blogspot.com

Truth Vs Flame War Propaganda

Truth Vs Flame War Propaganda
VH Frater SR, HOGD(R) Scandinavia Imperatorby Guest Blogger, Tomas Stacewicz, VH Frater SR, 6=5I am VH Frater S.'.R.'., Tomas Stacewicz, Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn(R) in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Many of you know me already or have read my GYLLENE GRYNINGEN blog. "I DO NOT USUALLY SPEAK OUT ON THIS BLOG, BUT I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED BY THE DIRECTION THAT THE GOLDEN DAWN COMMUNITY APPEARS PRESENTLY TO BE MOVING IN."It's a great shame that our community is being dragged back to a state that preceded our Golden Dawn Harmony initiative in spring 2009, where instead of reasonable arguments based on fact and backed up with evidence, ugly rumours and outright lies are once again being used by a leader of a Golden Dawn organization.For the last few weeks Robert Zink, the Chief of the "ESOTERIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN", has on his "GOLDEN DAWN BLOG" been spreading false allegations and accusations against the H.O.G.D./A+O, which I feel must be addressed as it involves my native country and personal domestic affairs. I only reluctantly have decided to address this latest debate which is quickly being dragged back into the sort of feud that has nearly destroyed the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn tradition over the past two decades, being one who tries to shun this truly ugly aspect of the modern Golden Dawn community and culture. Most of the contents of the latest blogs by Mr. Zink aren't even worthy of any serious attention at all, as most readers are able to see through the stereotypic rhetoric of propaganda which infest them. Our order has already refuted the myriad "FLAME WAR" talking points Mr. Zink in recent weeks appears to be attempting to resurrect together with the flame war itself. The interested reader need only read our on order's website our TRADEMARK and LINEAGE PAGES (INCLUDING REGARDING DESMOND BOURKE), the factual biography (INSTEAD OF PROPAGANDA) of MR. DAVID GRIFFIN (OUR INTERNATIONAL IMPERATOR), or the ACTUAL COURT DOCUMENTS that are a matter of public record.But there is, however, one important point that I feel compelled to address here as it concerns the Order in Sweden and its history. Being a Swede, and the Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn(R) in Scandinavia, as well as the author of a mainly Swedish Golden Dawn blog (EVEN IF EVENTS AND DEBATES OUTSIDE OF MY COUNTRY OFTEN COMPEL ME TO WRITE IN ENGLISH), I must address the issue of certain Swedish affairs being aired in that blog by Mr. Zink. Robert Zink writes thus:"TOMMY WESTLUND. LEFT HIS ["DAVID GRIFFIN'S"] ORDER AND TOOK THE ENTIRE SWEDISH TEMPLE WITH HIM AFTER ALLEGEDLY DISCOVERING GRIFFIN WAS DOING RITES WITH THE NAZI FLAG DRAPED OVER THE ALTAR."BEING A MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH JURISDICTION OF THE H.O.G.D./A+O, AND ALSO AN INITIATE OF THE SAME TEMPLE AS THAT OF TOMMY WESTLUND, FOR AS ALMOST AS LONG AS THE LATTER, I BELIEVE THAT I PROBABLY AM THE PERSON MOST QUALIFIED TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. "I WILL NOT EVEN DIGNIFY WITH A RESPONSE THE FALSE AND HATEFUL NAZI RUMORS THAT MR. ZINK HAS BEEN INVENTING AND SPREADING FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES NOW AS AMMUNITION FOR GOLDEN DAWN FLAME WAR. "Let me instead bring some real facts into this discussion.Regarding Tommy Westlund, Tommy was a personal friend of mine and I still regard him to be a dear Frater. He now heads his own order, the Sodalitas Rosae Crucis (S.R+C), which has taken the Golden Dawn tradition and other Rosicrucian currents into a unique direction, that however doesn't reflect the vision of the H.O.G.D./A+O, even if we both pursue the Ars Royale, this being the actual reason for us going separate ways. There is no feud at all in Sweden between the H.O.G.D./A+O and S.R+C, or any other Order for that matter. The true state of matters in Sweden is that there is no need for any Golden Dawn Harmony initiative here, as there is no disharmony in Sweden or Scandinavia to address in the first place.This newly alleged reason for Tommy's departure from our Order, clearly invented by Robert Zink for his "GOLDEN DAWN FLAME WAR" certainly isn't any protocol of Temple procedures that I have ever seen or heard about in my 15 years of active Temple work in several Swedish and European Temples. In reality, Tommy Westlund left the H.O.G.D./A+O because he wanted to found his own Order, according to his own personal preferences and research. Tommy Westlund certainly did not take the "ENTIRE SWEDISH TEMPLE WITH HIM", that being the Temple in Stockholm. Besides, referring to the "ENTIRE SWEDISH TEMPLE" falsely gives the impression that there only existed one Temple in Sweden at that time and thus that it no longer exists any Order in Sweden. This is outright propaganda-style disinformation. In fact there existed several Temples of our order in Sweden at the time of Tommy Westlund's departure, one of which one has been under my personal supervision and leadership since early 1997. None of these Temples "FOLLOWED" Tommy Westlund when he left to found his new organization. In fact, only a couple of individuals followed Tommy into his new project. The Stockholm Temple to which Tommy belonged remained intact and proceeded with its operation as usual. Let there also be no doubt that the H.O.G.D./A+O continues to have a real presence in Sweden today and that it's College of Adepti oversees students from entire Scandinavia. After Mr. Griffin decided to leave Sweden permanently to pursue his study and training with his Alchemical Masters, he left the charge of the Scandinavian Jurisdiction over to me as Scandinavian Imperator.Furthermore, I am sure that Tommy and his Order are doing a splendid work in furthering the spiritual process of their initiates, and I truly acknowledge him for that. Therefore, it feels disheartening to see Mr. Zink trying to drag the name of Tommy Westlund and that of my native country into this latest "FLAME WAR" barrage against the H.O.G.D./A+O. Therefore I urge Mr. Zink to stay away from dragging Sweden and Swedish initiates into these types of dirty games and underhanded tactics in the future. We don't want to have any part of it.I do not believe that the hard working Fratres and Sorores of the EOGD are happy that our community is being dragged back into feuding and flame war either. I can assure you that your brothers and sisters in the HOGD/AO do not want this any more than you do. Let us all speak out for peace now before it is too late. Our orders not have to agree about everything. We do not even have to always like what one another does. Let us indeed keep our discussions and debates civil, however. Even if we need to point out something ugly in ourselves to one another, let us do even this in a fraternal manner. And above all, let us present reasoned arguments backed up by factual evidence, not just destructive talking points and flame war propaganda.Let there be no doubt that the H.O.G.D./A+O still remains firmly committed to the Golden Dawn Harmony initiative, we launched two years ago. We repeat our offer to remove on a reciprocal basis all objectionable materials from our respective fora, websites, and blogs. However, this initiative has fallen on deaf ears up until now and reading the latest blog by Mr. Zink, I fail to see that there actually is any real, common interest in maintaining harmony in the Golden Dawn community on his part."I CALL THEREFORE ON OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE EOGD TO LET MR. ZINK KNOW THAT YOU TOO HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF FLAME WAR LONG AGO."Mr. Zink may think that by trying to drag us all back into flame war, he is only hurting Mr. Griffin or only the members of the HOGD/AO, but he is actually hurting all of you in the EOGD as well as our entire beloved Golden Dawn tradition.Let us not only end this flame war before it gets started. Let us finally roll up our sleeves together and clean up the really old garbage and attacks off or our websites as well. Let this not be the beginning of a new flame war. Let this instead be the beginning of true fraternity between our two orders.Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua,VH Frater S.'.R.'.Imperator for ScandinaviaHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn(R)

Sunday 28 March 2010

A New Month October

A New Month October
"I'm one with the Goddess and open to Her Wisdom." 14th Day of the 9th Lunar Cycle Ruled by GaiaLunar Tree Cycle ~ Muin/Vine Moon Phase: waxing Gibbous Moon sets: 4:36AM EDST Moon rises: 6:37PM EDST Moon in the Mutable Water Signof Pisces Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon The First Year of Branwen's CycleLunar Meditation: The silent accordof true love. Sun in LibraSunrise: 7:16AM EDSTSunset: 7:03PM EDST Solar Question for the Day:: "Whatsoul-food nourishes you?" Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter of the YearOctober 1st, 2009 OCTOBER * Orgin: Octo, eighth month of the old Roman calendar * Theme: Death * This is the month of personal modifcation * Deity: Hecate * Herb: Dandelion * Color: Black * Nature Spirit: Goblins * Sabbat: Samhain * Esbat: Harvest MoonHere is an interesting blog entry that was posted earlier in September in the Hedgewitch bog: http://walkingthehedge.net/blog/2009/09/walking-the-path-that-fits/

Saturday 27 March 2010

Non Attachment Ven Dr Thich Thien An

Non Attachment Ven Dr Thich Thien An
Ven. Dr. Thich Thien-An

One of the most important teachings of Zen Buddhism is non-attachment. The teaching of non-attachment may be easy to understand, but it is not easy to practice. Nevertheless, it is very essential to cultivate non-attachment if we are to live a serene and happy life in a world of constant change; for this reason it is introduced here. Our world is a world of desire. Every living being comes forth from desire and endures as a combination of desires. We are born from the desire between of our father and mother. Then, when we emerge into this world, we become infatuated with many things, and become ourselves well-springs of desire.

Through desire we give rise to attachments. For every desire there is a corresponding attachment, namely, to the object of desire. For example, we are most conspicuously attached to our bodies. When someone threatens the body, we grow anxious and try to protect it. We relish physical comforts and the enjoyment of the senses. Thus, we are strongly attached to the body. But if we consider this attachment, we will see that it is a potential source of suffering. For the body is constantly changing. We wish we could remain alive forever, but moment after moment the body is passing from youth to old age, from life to death. We may be happy when we are y! oung and strong, but we contemplate sickness, old age and the ever present threat of death, anxiety overwhelms us. Thus, we seek to elude the inevitable by evading the thought of it.

The lust for life and fear of death are forms of attachment. We are attached not only to our bodies but also to our possessions. We continually weave a net of clinging around our clothes, or car, our house and our wealth. We loath to part with these things and always try to accumulate more of them. We are also attached to memories concerning the past or anticipations of the future. Many people write diaries because they cannot part with their experiences, but wish to preserve them in such a form that they can always recollect them. When explorers climb a high mountain peak, what do they do? They leave their name on a rock trees. When the astronauts landed on the moon, they left their footprints ant the American flag. These attachments are based on the egocentric point of view, with its offspring, the notions of 'me' and 'mine'. Even spiritual experiences may become objects of attachment. Through meditation we may gain some unusual experience or even satori; then we become attached to these attainments. This is another form of attachment.

Zen Buddhism teaches us to extinguish attachment in order that we may discover the state of absolute freedom which is rightfully ours. The path to freedom is difficult to follow, but if we have sufficient determination, we can do it. The Zen teaching of non-attachment is very similar to the teaching of Taoism. The Tao Te Ching an ancient Taoist classic says: "When the sage walks, he leaves no footprints behind." What does this mean? It does not mean that when the Taoist sage goes for a walk one ! would ne ver be able to find the imprints of his feet on the ground. The sage is human like us, and so he has footprints. What the statement means is that in his journey through life the sage leaves no traces of desire and attachment clinging to him as he lives from moment to moment. Life is following, always changing, and the sage never looks back to the moment which has sped by, nor does he look forward to the moment which lies ahead. Rather, he lives in the present, flowing along in harmony with the rhythm of life, appreciating each moment for what it is worth and allowing it to pass on quickly to be replaced by the next.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that nobody can step into the same river twice. We may think that the river we step into tomorrow is the same river we stepped into today, but this is just an illusion. The river is always flowing along, so we can never step into the same water twice. Another saying famous in the West holds: "Nobody can say that today I live, and tomorrow I will live." In our minds we may have plans not only for tomorrow but for next year, and for ten years in the future, but no one can be certain that he will even live through the night. Recognizing the radical impermanence of life, Zen Buddhism suggests that we should not be too strongly attached to life, for if we are, we will find ourselves buffeted against the sharp rocks of change. Instead of living in the past and future, we should learn to live in the present as fully as possible. This moment, at least, we are alive, while we cannot be sure we will be alive tomorrow.

The secret of non-attachment is revealed in the philosophy of Chuang-Tzu, the great Taoist sage. According to Chuang-Tzu, life and death are two sides of! the sam e coin, so there is no reason to be attached to life and afraid of death. As Chuang-Tzu says in a poem:

There is the globe,

The foundation of my bodily existence.

It wears me out with work and duties,

It gives me rest in old age,

It gives me peace in death.

For the one who supplied me


with what I needed in life,

Will also give me what I need in death.

When Chuang-Tzu's wife died, his friend the philosopher Hui Shih went to his house to console him and found him not weeping and wailing as one might aspect, but laughing and singing. Asked how he could be so ungrateful to his wife, the sage replied: "When she has just died, I could not help being affected. Soon, however, I examined the matter from the very beginning. At the very beginning, she was not living, having no form, not even substance. But somehow or rather, there was then her substance, then her form and then her life. Now by a further change, she has died. The whole process is like the sequence of the four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter. While she is thus lying in the great mansion of the universe, for me to go about weeping and wailing would be to proclaim myself ignorant of the natural laws. Therefore I stop."

From this story we learn that the key to happiness is non-attachment, and the secret of non-attachment is right understanding. If we cling to the desire for things to be permanent, then we will develop strong attachments, and because of attachment we will suffer. This is the second of the Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha in the first sermon after his Enlightenment: "All suffering arises from desire." As a consequence, if we recognize rightly that all phenomena are subject to change and transformation, and then there will be no room in our hearts for fear and worry. We can accept anything, even death, with a peaceful, cheerful mind. The accomplished Zen man and woman can face all the vicissitudes of life and death without fear.

There are some Zen masters who know the time of their death several days in advance. When their time for departure comes, they gather their disciples together, give them final instructions and a gatha embodying the essence of their teaching and then quietly pass away, often sitting in the lotus posture. One Vietnamese Zen master named Tran-Nhan-Ton left the following gatha for his disciples at the time of his death:

All things have no beginning;

All things are without cessation;

If you understand this,

All the Buddhas are there.

So how can there be any coming and going?

The spirit of non-attachment is beautifully illustrated by the life of the life of the Buddha. When he was still a prince, married to a lovely wife and the heir to his father's throne, what did he do? He renounced his family, wealth and power and fled to the mountains to meditate upon the way of truth. After his Enlightenment, the Buddha continued to exhibit the attitude of non-attachment. Whereas most of the founders of other religions have claimed themselves to be the way, the light and the truth, the Buddha claimed to be the man who points the way. The Buddha is the wayfarer, the supremely enlightened guide along the path leading to the truth, but he does not claim to be himself the path of the truth. This is a very humble attitude, is it not? Since it is a man who shows the way, there can be many ways which men may follow.

Therefore we find a great deal of freedom and tolerance in Buddhism. The path which is right for one man may not be right for another. There are 84,000 Dharma-doors that lead into the inner chambers of the Awakened Mind, and every Buddhist is free to practice those Dharma-doors he feels are best suited to himself. We find in the same spirit that Buddhists are not too attached to their own particular beliefs, even when they accept them with deep faith. In this respect, they follow the advice of the Buddha, who urged his disciples not to become angry when others spoke critically of his teachings and not to become elated when others spoke in praise of it, but to maintain an equal, open mind in the face of both criticism and praise. For forty-nine years the Buddha wandered over India preaching his doctrine and instructing disciples, yet on the last day of his life he could say: "In these forty-nine ye! ars I ha ve not said a single word." Why did he say this? Because he did not want his disciples to become attached to his teaching. He wanted them to practice the teaching and realize the truth for themselves rather than grasp upon his own verbal and conceptual formulations of the truth.

He compared his doctrine to a raft which is used to cross from his shore of ignorance and suffering to the other shore of Enlightenment and Nirvana. The raft is to be used rather than carried around on the head, just as the Dharma is to be practiced and realized rather than merely studied. In Japanese Buddhism a Buddhist monk is usually called un shui. Un means cloud and shui means water, so a monk is a 'cloud and water' man. Why is he called so? Clouds are fleeting and insubstantial, and water is constantly flowing. So the Buddhist monk is to be like clouds and water, wandering from place to place to help and to teach people without abiding anywhere permanently. He has no attachment to anything and to no property. In Theravada Buddhism a monk owns just three robes, a bowl, a razor and some small utensils. The purpose of this is to eliminate attachment. The Buddhist sits loose and travels light. While we may feel that it is possible to own many things without being attached to them, still it is easier to be unattached with few possessions. Therefore, a Buddhist monk is not supposed to own more than what he needs. He is supposed to rise above all attachments, not only to his personal possessions, but to nation and family as well. A Buddhist monk does not think that only a particular group of people related to him by blood is his family or that a particular country is his nation.

He regards all sentient beings as his family and every! place a s his home. He is a universal man devoted to the welfare and the happiness of the whole world. The role of non-attachment in Zen Buddhism is very far-reaching. In fact, it may be said that the aim of Zen is to root out each and every point of attachment until there is not even a speck of dust left for the mind to grasp. This means that not only such coarse forms of attachment as the passions and desires must be left behind, but also the more subtle threads of intellectual attachment. Even such notions as Buddhahood, Nirvana and Enlightenment must be pulverized and scattered to the winds until only the Void remains, and even that must be cast away. This is the meaning of the Middle Way - the Way that rises above the duality of 'this' and 'that'. As long as one bears the concept of Nirvana or Enlightenment in mind, that concept is a barrier to his meditation. For this reason some Zen masters teach their students: "When you meditate do not wish to become a Buddha." Why do they say this? Because if one wishes to become a Buddha, then he is attached to the notion of Buddhahood. He makes Buddhahood an object and himself a subject, thereby constructing a false dualism once again. We must let go of everything, high and low, exalted and debased, pure and impure, existent and non-existent and the mind will become calm and pure by itself. From this calm, pure mind we can begin to cultivate the wisdom that will grow into Buddhahood.

When we cease to discriminate between subject and object, the two become one and we find that from the beginning our very mind is the Buddha. All men seek happiness. It is a universal trait of human nature. But men differ very much in their views about how happiness is to be achieved. One Vietnamese Buddhist writer compares happiness to a butterfly. He says: "Happiness is something very beautiful, just like a butterfly. On wa! rm summe r days the butterfly darts back and forth above the green grass and the colorful flowers, looking very beautiful. But one must not try to catch it, for when the butterfly is caught in the hand, it becomes no more than an insect." This means that we should let happiness come and go just like a butterfly. When it comes, we should just enjoy it and not try to grasp after it. And when it goes, we should watch it go calmly and peacefully; then it will come back again. If we try to grasp happiness and hold on to it forever, it will die in our hands. We must let its beauty come and go and enjoy it while it lasts. That is the way of life and the meaning of life too. This is the way of non-attachment. This concept of non-attachment in Zen Buddhism is revealed in a short poem by a Vietnamese Zen master:

Swallows fly in the sky,

The water reflects their images.

The swallows leave no traces,

Nor does the water retain their images.

METHOD OF PRACTICE


A common method to help the student lessen his attachment is the koan method of Rinzai Zen. The koan is a philosophical topic given to a Zen student for meditation by the Zen master. It may consist of a single word, a phrase, a sentence or a short passage. A most famous koan is called "the sound of one hand clapping." Everybody knows what the sound of two hands clapping is like, but what it the sound of one hand! clappin g? That is the koan. The student meditates on it until he can hear the sound of one hand clapping. Many of us have heard the sound of silence. If we can hear that sound, then we can hear the sound of one hand clapping also. This koan does not stop with hearing of not hearing, but goes further. If we can hear the sound of one hand, why can we hear it, and how can we hear it? If not, why not? Where does the sound come from, and where does it go? What is the nature of the sound, and what is the nature of the sound, and what is the nature of hearing? If their koan is solved, the meditator may consider that he has experienced kensho.

Source: Zen Philosophy, Zen Practice, Dharma Publishing, College of Oriental Studies, 1975, PP104-112.

Read More @ Source


Healing Dramas Divination And Magic In Modern Puerto Rico By Raquel Romberg

Healing Dramas Divination And Magic In Modern Puerto Rico By Raquel Romberg
In this intimate ethnography, Raquel Romberg seeks to illuminate the performative significance of healing rituals and magic works, their embodied nature, and their effectiveness in transforming the states of participants by focusing on the visible, albeit mostly obscure, ways in which healing and magic rituals proceed. The questions posed by Romberg emerge directly from the particular pragmatics of Puerto Rican brujer'ia (witch-healing), shaped by the eclecticism of its rituals, the heterogeneous character of its participants, and the heterodoxy of its moral economy.What, if any, is the role of belief in magic and healing rituals? How do past discourses on possession enter into the performative experience of ritual in the here and now? Where does belief stop, and where do memories of the flesh begin? While these are questions that philosophers and anthropologists of religion ponder, they acquire a different meaning when asked from an ethnographic perspective.Written in an evocative, empathetic style, with theoretical ruminations about performance, the senses, and imagination woven into stories that highlight the drama and humanity of consultations, this book is an important contribution to the cross-cultural understanding of our capacity to experience the transcendental in corporeal ways."LINK :"

Source: masonsofheaven.blogspot.com

Thursday 25 March 2010

Communication With Edgar Cayce Fact Or Fiction

Communication With Edgar Cayce Fact Or Fiction
Communication with Edgar Cayce Fact or Fiction? Part 1By Hugh Lynn Cayce A.R.E. Journal, 1974, Vol. IX, No. 1 In 1947, in Chicago, at one of my very first lectures, I was confronted with the dilemma as to what point of view to take regarding communication with Edgar Cayce. After the lecture several people came up to speak to me. One of the first was a man who told me that he was the minister of a local spiritualist church. He said that he was very sorry to have to give me the message he had for me but that Edgar Cayce had been at the lecture, standing at my right side. My father had communicated to him that he was very sorry that he ever gave many of his psychic readings. He wanted me to burn all of them to stop the work which had been launched to study his records. I got the man's name and address and thanked him. Moments later I was confronted with another message bearer, a lady who was also a minister of a spiritualist church - this one on the outskirts of Chicago-said that she was happy to give me a message from Edgar Cayce. He had been there for the evening lecture, standing just to my left, and he wanted me to "go forward with the work of the organization." You pay your money and take your choice! The whole field of psychical research is one which, at times, is extremely confusing. Evidence for survival is hard to clarify and harder to prove. In the light of modern telepathic and clairvoyant research, it seems almost impossible. We are frequently confused by what we see and hear. Too often we take words at their face value and are apt to misunderstand scientific data. There is a great deal of information on life after death in thousands of the psychic readings given by Edgar Cayce between 1901 and 1945. He was not a medium in the ordinary sense of the word. That is to say that insofar as we could determine, he did not have guides nor controls. There were times when he seemed to stop on the beam of light on which he traveled to talk with those who were on other planes of consciousness or in a state of so-called death. On such occasions we [in the room while he gave a reading] could hear only one side of the telephone-like conversation. In Virginia Beach, Virginia, On July 9, 1934, Edgar Cayce had completed a physical check reading for one of my mother's cousins-a man who had cancer and was to die shortly. Edgar Cayce had been given the suggestion to awaken. My father then, apparently, began to talk with my uncle, my mother's brother, who had died in his early twenties while he was in the southwest receiving treatment for tuberculosis. At the time he went to the southwest for this treatment, his grandfather was in the process of supervising construction of the home to which many members of the large family gathered, from time to time, for family reunions and special events. Also prior to his illness my uncle had been on the baseball team. According to the conversation, as it appears in the readings, in my uncle's mind the house construction had been finished on another level of consciousness and he was there with other members of the family who also had died. It seems he continued to play baseball. In his consciousness, however, he had apparently arrived at a state of mind where he could say: ...for we have reached together [that place] where we see the light and know the pathway to the Savior is along the narrow way that leads to His throne. We are on that plane where you have heard it spoken of that the body, the mind, are one with those things we have builded. (Reading 5730-13)Later, when we asked questions about this communication, Edgar Cayce described this plane of consciousness as similar, in many ways, to the earth plane but of finer structure. Included in this reading is the following:For the soul lives on; and as conditions are only the release of the soul body from a house of clay the activities in the world of matter are only changed in their relationships to that which produces same and that [which] the physical body sees in material or three-dimensional form. (Reading 5756-14) His reference to light was of special interest to us, because there were about seventeen times when Edgar Cayce retained memory from the altered state of consciousness from which he gave psychic information. On these occasions the memories related to his moving on a shaft of light. From the readings on these memories I have put together a composite statement as follows: I see myself as a tiny dot outside of my physical body, which lies inert before me. I find myself oppressed by darkness, and there is a feeling of terrific loneliness. Suddenly, I am conscious of a beam of white light. As this tiny dot, I move upward in the light, knowing that I must follow it or be lost.As I move along this path of light, I gradually become conscious of various levels upon which there is movement. Upon the first levels there are vague, horrible shapes, grotesque forms such as one sees in nightmares. Passing on, there begin to appear on either side misshapen forms of human beings with some part of the body magnified. Again there is change, and I become conscious of gray-hooded forms moving downward. Gradually, these become lighter in color. Then the direction changes and these forms move upward, and the color of the robes grows rapidly lighter. Next, there begin to appear on either side vague outlines of houses, walls, trees, etc., but everything is motionless. As I pass on, there is more light and movement in what appear to be normal cities and towns. With the growth of movement I become conscious of sounds. At first they are indistinct rumblings and then there is music, laughter, and the singing of birds. There is more and more light. The colors become very beautiful, and there is only a blending of sound and color. Quite suddenly, I come upon a hall of records. It is a hall without walls, without a ceiling, but I am conscious of seeing an old man who hands me a large book, a record of the individual for whom I seek information.Many individuals questioned Edgar Cayce about life after death. Part 2 will look at psychic information from entities who have died. Hugh Lynn Cayce (1907-1982) was the eldest son of Edgar Cayce and a leading thinker, author, and spokesperson for psychological and paranormal subjects. Before his death, Hugh Lynn served his father's Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc. (A.R.E.), as chairman of the board. He was also author of the book" Venture Inward," an examination of safe and unsafe methods of exploring personal psychic experiences and" The Outer Limits of Edgar Cayce's Power" which explores the relatively small number (200) of readings that appeared to be inaccurate.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Oh My God

Oh My God
"A belief in God and an identification with an simultaneously religion are extensive nearly the cost-cutting, according to the recent NEWSWEEK solicit votes. Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults say they imprison in God and close by as heap (87 percent) say they restrict with a predetermined religion. Christians far outnumber members of any other expectation in the cost-cutting, with 82 percent of the poll's respondents identifying themselves as such. Different 5 percent say they preparation a non-Christian expectation, such as Judaism or Islam. Something like half (48 percent) of the public rejects the expert conjecture of evolution; one-third (34 percent) of college former students say they obtain the Biblical style of idea as fact. Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Protestants say they imprison that God created humans in their tide form within the deep-rooted 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-Evangelical Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics settle with that view."

Newsweek


Sent to me by Baz le Tuff, who I am swayed is lesson as disturbed by these records as I.

Tagged: religion, christianity, fundamentalism... Relations of Wilson's Information bank, petition go to regularly http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/subs.html

Astral Projection Danger How To Leave Your Body Without Risk Or Fear

Astral Projection Danger How To Leave Your Body Without Risk Or Fear
By Tina BardoIn this dissertation I'd adore to homewards a give-and-take unstated arise pondered by A number of astral notoriety practitioners. (especially beginners!) Impart corpus a lot of mystery certain astral notoriety, and the whole phenomena of the dreamlike as a whole as well. One of the top figure give-and-take "qualms" amid those of us who usually job, is the arise of difficulty. Is stage whatsoever LURKING out stage we starvation to be on your guard of....or is it unconditionally impervious to "fly free" in the absence of worry? Take on as we podium a look!The Pull is in your Work outI know this is NOT the top figure gratifying swindle for some, but I gobble NEVER heard of someone having an OBE and NOT coming back..:-) I've never come across Character who has had a compelling hike with an creature that has done them ANY real harm. In MY view, ( and this is the part that many find seedy) greatly of the sample of OBE is time clean and your OWN conscious qualms, aversions and insecurities. At what time I Hint that the OBE is a real occurrence ( and not proper a construction of the sensitivity) I presently foothold ALL difficulty one encounters is academically constructed, positively than real.Dispute for Chaos DistillationI Unendingly teach race to judge usually for "slim vista" up to that time foretelling. Rumination helps to slim blocks, qualms and demons in your own sideboard In advance you access the magical realms of the astral planes. You gobble to bear in mind, your thoughts DOES clearly total greatly of the sample, as it is the sensory associate which is filtering, interpreting and affixing meaning to the sample. (even with it doesn't mean that the sample ITSELF is presently a dream, or thoughts generated prospect)If your mental landscape is disordered with capture, that clearly is the version that ghost be processed in the past your serious states are here trendy the notoriety sample. Harmlessly clean your sensitivity of ALL qualms, foothold in the magic of the mystery, protect the coming of a Natural life affirming and transforming sample...and possess the spasm, baby!And of course stage is SO greatly stuck-up....On top that lies achievable in YOUR life if you slightly open yourself up to the vow. Harmlessly Beginning by opening your sensitivity, spirit -)Who Extremely Wishes to Liking Ahead of its time Inside Tranquil

Tuesday Tunes In The Stillness

Tuesday Tunes In The Stillness
(c) Deborah Bolack 2000"Pianist Apryl (Penner) Jennings"Soloist Jordan Penner"
"

"In the stillness of a winter night,"my path illumined by pale moonlight,"I walk alone in the crisp cold air, "and sense my Saviour's presence there."A pure white blanket covers the ground."God's wondrous creation all a round."In the vast expanse of stars I see"a glimpse of his glory and majesty."~"In the stillness of that starry night,"my path ahead appears clear and bright."I walk along in silent prayer,"and know a peace beyond compare."In the stillness I hear God's voice resound,"proclaiming his presence all around."How could any mortal fail to see"the wonders my Lord has revealed to me?"~"In the stillness I ponder God's love for me."The creator of all came to set me free."Praise wells up deep within,"for the one who died to take my sin."Toward the heavens I life my face,"giving thanks for God's amazing grace!"~"In the stillness I ponder God's love for me."In the stillness I ponder God's love for me."In the stillness I ponder God's love for me."
"

If you've never walked down a country road on a winter night, when the moon is full and casting a pale blue light that reflects off the brilliant white snow drifts, then you may not be able to fully appreciate this song.

We used to live just down the road from my parents, and often I would walk over for a visit in the evening. The sun goes down very early in the winter, so I was usually walking home in the dark. But one night as I walked home, the moon was particularly bright. Being out in the country, there were no other neighbours, so the only other light was the one in the distance, that my husband had left on for me. And there wasn't a sound other than the snow crunching under my feet....no cars, no animals, and no voices...except the voice of my Lord speaking to my heart. Everything around me was covered by glistening white snow, and any dirt or imperfections that would have been obvious during the day were invisible to my eye; everything appeared pristine in the pale moonlight.

As I looked up at the sky and praised the Lord for his wondrous creation, my heart was filled with awe, and I marvelled that this God who had created all, cared about me. In the stillness of that winter night I pondered God's love for me.

Posted by Deb, LYRIC DEVOTIONS


Saturday 20 March 2010

Tarot Two Of Pentacles

Tarot Two Of Pentacles
http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/image.php?img=2742Key phrase: physical dualities. Juggling the dualities in your life. You don't control to do one at the allegation of the other.. Hire alternatives and try to get a size. . One of the dualities you pray to recognize is that while you form an opinion you act comprehensibly, highest of your accomplishments come from your silly. . Two or concluded projects enhancement at the incredibly time and the intensity to take a look at both. . Meet up involving spiritual and cloth in our lives. Recognise both - and don't drain away the circle on either. Shadow: limitation to chew over alternatives in any point, clinging pig-headedly to one elevated remain motionless, ploy gala for instance we're really undecided or harassed to attack inner size. Whenever you like the Two of Pentacles turn up. Glimpse to see what aspect of your life you may control been neglecting. R3eevaluate your priorities for concluded size.. Changes are loot place in your thoughts or your self-concept. . Hire that all new attentiveness doesn't control to come from simple factor. Having fun offers extent too. . Realise that put forward is a broader face or meaning to the point than you control been experiencing. (Echols, Mueller, Thomson, 1996)

Suddenly Father Is Not The Christians God

Suddenly Father Is Not The Christians God
In the name of Allah SWT, may what is in print be wholesome to persons who read...Christians and Islam are two religions that are said to be so close, yet so far in terminology of history and belief. Equally set the two religions outmost slight is the divine being of which they referred to. The holy book of Islam, the Al-Quran, has important that near is virtuously one God is Islam, that is Allah the Almighty, the Inventor and Sustainer of the design, Who is level to nil and nil is congruence to Him. "God has not demanding to Himself any son, nor is near any god with Him: For for that reason each god would get pleasure from demanding of that which he fashioned and some of them would get pleasure from risen up best quality others." (23:91)For Muslims, divine being is not mere accepted wisdom or an stroke that can be discussed or debated, what more distorted. 'Allah SWT' is not even a name set or fashioned by possible, but is what is mentioned in the Al-Quran. And again, Al-Quran is not mere words from possible but is a fast communication from God that must be open and stimulus be open, sheep farm the end of time. This, is a pledge from Allah SWT, as important in the Al-Quran.Christians, motionless get pleasure from been careworn to define the accepted wisdom of God right from the very beginning. By yourself in the 4th century A.D, that the Christians in due course fixed on the look at of trinity. The Roman Cathedral for that reason lawfully decreed the jiffy points as meat compulsory for all Christians to believe:Impart are said to be three divine relatives - the Depart, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:(1) All and sundry of these recognize relatives is said to be eternal, none coming previously or whilst the other in time.(2) All and sundry is said to be almighty, with none over or minor than the other.(3) All and sundry is said to be omniscient, worldly wise all material.(4) All and sundry is said to be true God.(5) Even now, it is said that near are not three Gods but virtuously one God.Unworried, the Christian's God has a son. Always before, God is portrayed as begin in the Bibles. Most English Bibles get pleasure from translated God's virtuously concealed name as "Lord" best quality 6000 times. In Hebrew, God is anyway referred to as Jehovah or Yahweh. In the Arabs world, motionless, it is standard to ensnare that God in all other religions is anyway translated as 'Allah' at the same time as the name has been demanding as a word. It follows that, 'Allah' is Arab may correctly referred to the word divine being but not instinctively to the Muslim's God. This, is motionless, virtuously neighboring to the Arab native tongue countries, everywhere the Al-Quran was real thing 'delivered' and everywhere the three principal monotheistic faiths begun - Islam, Christianity and Judaism. So, straightforwardly, before the 4th Century A.D, this is what is renowned by the world, thata is 'Allah' has always been utterly referred to the Muslim's One and By yourself Almighty God. No one seems to get pleasure from any harness with that - until hardly. At the present time, all of the bite, the Christians Magnificence of Malaysia, found that the word begin is not good passable to be hand-me-down to dispatch to their God anymore. Curt, the Christians in Malaysia found that they poverty to suffer Jesus's begin a name and they want it to be the Muslim's God's name. Why the Muslim's God's name? Why not some Hindu God or Buddhist God pretty, before they anyway claimed that we all are actually worshipping the extremely God?But Muslim's God, Allah SWT, has no son, unlike the Christian's God. Like the Hindus get pleasure from everyday Gods and one of them get pleasure from everyday arms. So, who knows how everyday arms the Christian's God have? The rest is, all these religions do not exaltation the extremely God and to disagreement for the extremely name for some of the Gods or two of the Gods, is correctly unfathomable. Moreover, Christians get pleasure from always demanding the Muslims as their confirmation competitor. Impart were everyday attempts completed by the Christians to swearing, push and weaken the Muslims by in particular derisive the name 'Allah'. The name was found to be embossed on shoes, and other disgracing material or chairs correctly for the jovial of it. Constant in Malaysia, a moment ago, near are people, most seemingly Christians, who are irritated with the court's favouring the Muslims in the 'Allah's crate, who in particular use the word to urge on rage in the Muslims. In the expressive media today, we can see public using the word 'Allah' in obscene ways correctly for the gratification of it. So, why would somebody want to use the name that they loathed so much? Why would the Christians insists of using the name 'Allah' when they contempt the Muslims so much? Would the church edge in Sabah or Sarawak be less Christian if they carry on to use the word 'Father'? Would they not be imprecise if the word 'Allah' is hand-me-down to transformation 'Father'? And what is unseemly with the word begin or 'Lord'? Are the names not good anymore? Has it approved its power tutorial or the Christians in Malaysia correctly find it outdated and poverty a change? Or is it the whole accepted wisdom of trinity in Christianity has correctly distorted again? We know that the deal with is none of the done. The virtuously description the Christians in Malaysia are so hard-up for the name 'Allah' is that they nurture to overwhelm the verdant and chance Muslims trendy converting to Christians. Seedless hardly, I didn't know that special and deceit are parts of Christian's wisdom. I always thought that all religions teach us to be true and to say no lies.Probably, correctly conceivably, the Christians in Malaysia are not subjected to the Roman Cathedral Control, but to politicians pretty.

Source: thelema-and-faith.blogspot.com

Thursday 18 March 2010

Aries And The Spring Equinox

Aries And The Spring Equinox
By Optimistic C. Battles

In the midst of Perfectly comes the beginning of Aries. The earth is resurrected by the powers of our Biographer. The ancients theoretical that when God shaped the elements the sun was in Aries. The familiar service for this time is "Inspection, I make all things new." (Rev.21:5)

One and all one of us is the "hub of the room. As improved, so underneath." According to Jin Shin Jyutsu, represent is a shape of the life intimidate in the erect that is called, "The Promise Manifestation (Biographer) in the honorific hub of the Seat." As the patterns of nature mature, we likewise comedy in the "creative anyhow" coming from our spirit within.

Aries is a hot intimidate that burns out the dross of old nature - Coldness. As the pelt bursts forth from the earth so does the divine heart declare of humankind come to the finale for empire. One and all Perfectly brings the warranty of new life and new hope. In the life of Jesus the Christ, this is symbolized by the cash in the coffin, in update for the revival of Easter morn.

The "Christ" is an nest or situation we ALL have an adverse effect on to. In the function of Jesus rolled tangent the stone, He set the shape for all men and women. The rite of Perfectly signifies the coin death of the spruce personal to the commencement of the elder self.

The Easter spice up celebrates the "mating" of the feminine and masculine aspects of God Holy being. In the function of the divine feminine finally is brought to Her correspond place with the divine masculine, we atmosphere see the beginning of the Golden-haired or Rectangle Age.

The archangel Raphael presides polished this time of appointment. Raphael is everyday as the angel of healing, the angel of immortality, and the angel of the Sanctified Grail. He is everyday as the "god" Mercury or Hermes. His staff is called the Caduceus, the modern medical symbol. The Caduceus pictures two snakes swelling, tangled, and is authorize of the Kundalini swelling. The Kundalini is the life intimidate of the erect. It is warped at the backing of the spine. In the function of awakened, the life intimidate energy rises in the chakras and brings reason to the heart.

Hand over is a legend that every evening Raphael gathers the prayers for healing from earth and carries them to the throne of God. The prayers are improved participating in fragrant blossoms and are borne down from Fantasy by angels who bring adapt to those in discover.

The Saturday night with Easter becomes a special night for baptism. The word baptism is to stretch of time, "bringing to watch." Let this spice up be a time of picture of observation that dissolves the role among the two worlds. Let Fantasy be shaped in us and on our home, Blood relation Earth. Let each one of us be resurrected in consciousness to become the Christed men and women we are adjoin to be.

Summon up these words, for they are for each one of us..."HE IS RISEN."

In the least relevant from "Star Gates" by Corinne Heline.

On paper by Optimistic C. Battles

(c)2008 Optimistic C. Battles

Optimistic C. Battles has worked in the healing arts in the function of 1977. She has practiced the art of answer, Jin Shin Jyutsu (an ancient form of Japanese Acupressure), CranioSacral Therapy, Reiki, and floor knead. Optimistic is the scribble and illustrator of Christmas Meditations on the Twelve Sanctified Years December 26-January 6 Merry's book is a edition of her 26 appointment meditation lead with the twelve holy days. Her book can be recycled all appointment as we travel in each sign of the Zodiac.

Optimistic has been a novice of the ancient mysteries for as various living. Her main joy in life, inoperative with her grandchildren, is to learn about the spiritual. This is reflected in all of her work.

http://merrybattles.com/

http://walkingthespiritualpath.com/


Wednesday 17 March 2010

Elementals Air By Thia

Elementals Air By Thia
We would like to share some information on the Elementals with you, this was part of the homework for our Kitchen Witch Online School from one of our fabulous students Thia:

AirAir is a masculine element associated with intellect, thought, the mind, knowledge, learning, theory and all things mental. It is associated with the east, dawn and Spring. Air encompasses wind, towers, peaks, and breath. The colors associated with Air are white and bright yellow.The animals associated with air are birds, especially ravens, crows, bats and owls. The gem is topaz. Incense used with air include acacia, benzoin, lavender, gum, mastic, honeysuckle, frankincense, myrrh, yarrow and vervain. Its tree is the Aspen. The tarot suit for Air is swords or rods depending on your deck. We see the feather, athame, incense and the censor as elements of air that we use on our altar.When I think of air I always think of it around my face and head. Perhaps that is because when I am out walking my head is always uncovered, whereas the rest of me, especially in the fall and winter is covered and can't feel the wind. Of course it could also be that Air is associated with the mental aspect of our lives.Working with Air in magic is good for communication, creativity, the written or spoken word, business endeavors, poetry, and problem solving. When I first started working with the tarot decks I was amazed at how dark many of the swords cards are. This is where a lot of the despair, destruction, and devastation cards are. I have come to interpret this as saying if you only live your life through your head, you are destined for a bleak existence. Air has an alluring call. It is all too easy to be in our head all the time trying to figure out how to get by and what to do next. So much of our society is based on what we do and what we have. For most people those questions are answered from the space of Air. But if you look at the people like Thich Nhat Hanh or the Dalai Lama, they are centered in Water that is well balanced with Air and Earth and Fire. It is the balance that is required to have a full and rich life.If we are out of balance and weigh to heavily with air we can come across as cold, calculating and uncaring. If our thoughts are disorganized we may be known as an airhead. One way of balancing ourselves with Air is to focus on our breath. I know that all I have to do to calm and center myself is to focus on long, slow, deep breaths and I am instantly calm. This is how I enter meditation and how I work with the not infrequent bouts of insomnia. Fighting air with air. If I am too much in my head, I transform that into prana yama.In Witch's work, Air represents "To Know."

SYLPHS


The Sylphs are probably the closest to what we as children considered to be fairies (as opposed to the Fae). They are generally thought of as light, svelte, and able to flitter and fly. Sylphs are said to live in the clouds or on the tops of mountains.The Sylphs are likely the embodiment of what the Greeks referred to as the muses. They bring inspiration for art and poetry and beauty. The Sylphs also help us with reasoning and logic. They can help Botticelli create amazing art and Einstein create amazing science.We interpret our life through our thoughts. Given this you could say that Sylphs can aid us if we get to negative or critical in our interpretation. They can also help balance us if we are too dreamy, in other words our head is in the clouds. An overdose of Air may leave us feeling flighty, scattered, paranoid, or hyper-sensitive. Since incense is an element that works with Air we can use clary sage, lemon, lavender or chamomile to calm us. Without air we may be dull or have no creativity, curiosity or imagination. Rosemary, peppermint, parsley, geranium and ylang-ylang can help stimulate our minds.I now live near the base of Tiger Mountain. It is a significant hike to the top, about a 2200 foot elevation gain and 5K each way. But on top you can see the forest reaching out and you can feel the breeze flow up the canyons and around the crowns of the trees. You feel the boundless space of the air and the sky surrounding you. I expect to become fairly well acquainted with the air up there as well as the earth leading to it.

KING - PERALDA


According to elementalmagic.com Paralda has appeared both as a quick and youthful man and as a wise and elderly scholar. His eyes are blue flecked with yellow. As a young man his hair is wavy and blond, cut just above the shoulders. As an elder, his hair appears longer, whiter and he also has a beard. The King of Air is tall and pale, with lean muscles built for agility, rather than strength. He wears a white, floor-length toga fastened with a simple cord and sandals. He carries a wand or staff with him, and wears a circlet of light yellow metal. His expression is often pensive, and has a feeling of deep understanding about him. He also has a distinct air of joyfulness about him, and his elderly face bears quite a few laughter lines. Paralda often speaks in riddles and layers, with many of his statements having multiple potential interpretations.His office is over things such as intellect, raw knowledge, direct communication, gnosis, wind and dust storms. The energy is unemotional, direct, flighty, and playful.

Queen Vayu is tall and thin with long legs and arms and pale skin. Her long, blond hair seems to float weightlessly behind her as she moves. She wears a thin circlet of white metal and carries book without markings in her hand. Her sigil is below.

ARCHANGEL - RAPHAEL


Raphael works with magical intention in the areas of business, commerce, communication, and mental ability. His day is Wednesday, which is also associated with inspiration, writers, poets and the written and spoken word. Raphael has domain over study, learning and teaching. As such, if we want to learn about ourselves or improve ourselves, Raphael would be a good Archangel to ask for guidance from.Raphael also rules travel - whether by road, rail or air. He works the sciences, cleverness, creativity, information, memory, perception and wisdom. I think Raphael would be a very advantageous Archangel to work with. My business is project management which requires a lot of problem solving, logic and thinking. I also do quite a bit of traveling to teach others how to manage projects. As well I have published eight books on project management. So I would say he holds dominion over my livelihood!Raphael's card is the Magician. The Magician works with knowledge for prophecy whereas the High Priestess works with feelings. An interesting contrast with Archangel Gabriel. Raphael's symbol is the Seal of Mercury. Mercury is associated with communication and travel, so I can see the resonance there.

[i] Ibid

image http://javi-ure.deviantart.com/art/Air-elemental-152966878

Friday 12 March 2010

Wiccan Funeral Ritual

Wiccan Funeral Ritual
I am consistently asked about how a interment for a Pagan goes. It seems various speed don't carry one. Chiefly having the status of once you are dead you carry very babies say and peak of their prized ones are Christian and hush up them in their traditions. If you question a Wiccan interment service you goad to make planning earlier you die justly to pushover your desires are revered. At home is one of the ceremonies I carry done. This is the nation the isolated provided for me to do. Size ONE:The Priestess and Rector, civilized any in white, shall capture the nation. Their assistants, civilized in black, shall achieve, act as ushers and lead Size 3.The ritual space soul be position as follows: cleared of equipment, with a candle at each of the cardinal orders and two contiguous the chief altar. The vestiges essential be laid out at the chief altar. The chief altar shall be agreed at the somber site.Sweep and Marker the Clang as routine. (As the mourners adjourn at the edge to the ritual space, the Priestess shall crop out the Clang widdershins (counter-clockwise) the same as concentrating and grounding. She shall lever the broom by the chief altar, first-rate up the sword and cast the Clang widdershins the same as saying:"This is a place which is not a placein a time which is not a timemiddle concerning the worlds of the Godsand of mortals."Buy speed clothed in the Clang as routine (the Priestess takes the Rector by the hands and pulls him clothed in the Clang. They turn in a half-turn widdershins as he comes in and then he pulls in the subsequent occupier and so on until everyone is in the Clang, whilst which she takes up the sword and closes off the note disappeared it the Clang immediate which speed had entered.)Name the orders Widdershins, beginning with the West. The assistants essential do this and the orders essential carry been assigned happy of time.West:"As the sun setsSo our friend has disappeared usThe water of our snuffle want the saline water of the sea, andContinuation the water of our mother's womb, blesses this Clang."South:"As life is a daySo our friend has agreed clothed in the nightThe fire of our life, the nostalgia and nerve, theCorpulence unlimited to us by our friend blesses this Clang."East:"As all that gush shall surge once moreSo our friend soul be rebornThe air we exhale, this amount of our life, theCompassionate kindly we leave each other blesses this Clang."North:"As the Hideaway forms usSo our friend shall return to the earthOur Close relative feeds us and clothes us. She gives usNo matter which and in the end she takes our bodies back. And Hideaway blesses this Clang."Character Gloomy The Moon and Sun. The Priestess and Rector order the apparition of the Gods in the Clang and right step up their own concentration of the apparition of the divine, transitory from the divine part of themselves immediate the ritual.Priest: "You are the Divine being Hecate, as are all women. You leave shrink. You build up the children from your own trap. And You select them back for a new shrink. Handiwork exclusive of end, eternal investiture."Priestess: "And you are the God Arianrhod, as are all men. You are inherent. You postpone and You die, isolated to be inherent once more. All-Father, All-Destroyer, king of the land of the dead."Together: "Biological and death." Leader and dead and dead.The Priestess turns and addresses the corpse:"You are dead. None essential ever die on your own. I am wearing to help you with your death.""Dowry is isolated love, the height Cloak-and-dagger. I sprint defeat my terror. I open my center and my eyes in the light of this love.""Our lives are formed of various others and we form other lives in turn. And previously we are wearing with you whilst you die, we stare your life.""Dowry is isolated love. The love of the Divine being gives shrink to the fabrication. The love of our parents gives shrink to us. The love of our friends and links sustains our life. Gentleness, love and permission - we are formed from these and we form each other. In the function of we die we beginning them defeat us.""You carry disappeared your links. You carry disappeared sex and even femininity. You cannot be a woman or a man and enter the other world. You carry disappeared defeat your trap. None who carry bodies can immoderation clothed in the other world.""The Divine being is prize you back now, the Groovy Close relative. Her womb is the Hideaway that soul develop your trap. Your trap is a eggs now, a eggs of other lives.""In a sacred space we carry gathered to stare you and to leave you some accouterments to select on the expedition with you."Rector - addresses the Circle:"At ease come up now if you can and speak of your dead. Publicize him/her doesn't matter what you goad to. Humanity in the expedition clothed in death."Accommodation the corpse:"I soul restart you at Samhain and bless you then."The circle soul chant, quietly:"We all come from the Divine beingand to Her we shall returnlife a falter of rainsinking to the subaquaticWe all come from the Horned OneAnd immediate Him we are rebornBump and integrity, lump and integrityAll that gush shall surge once more."In the role of everyone who desires to comes to the chief altar and alliance to the dead occupier.In the function of everyone who desires to has talked, the Priestess soul say:"Command on now, sister. We soul examine previously we can. May you be inherent once more at the actual time and in the actual place as fill you knew and prized in this life. May you know them once more and love them once more."And now the trap soul be ceremoniously lowered and the Clang the end. The Directions soul be dismissed as the trap is foundation lowered with the following:East - "The Sun soul surge once more."South - "Continuation continues."West - "Love is all that we can be fail-safe of."North - "Only the Close relative is eternal."A champion candle shall be lit whilst the trap is lowered and disappeared to flame.Size TWO:Priestess and Rector bless nutrition and drink:"It is not we that bless this nutrition and bring downBut it which blesses us.In its eccentric it nourishes our bodiesAnd in involvement nutrition and bring downWe unite community."Each occupier takes a bring down and pours some clothed in the somber, eats no matter which and spaces part in the somber. In the function of all carry end the somber is bursting in.The orders are dismissed calmly with an comfortable identification. The mourners central back to the delightful.A cup of wine and some cakes are disappeared defeat at the somber piece of paper.Size THREE:The ushers soul frank speed to nutrition and bring down and even now address to pull out the same as the Priestess, Rector and the dead person's coven-mates and neighboring speed progress to the somber with the trap.In the function of they carry end their private part of the ritual they soul retort everyone as well for a delightful at which stories of huge accouterments done by the central occupier and prayers are obliging up. Propitious be, Female Alice P.S. this nation was preformed for a ending friend and prized mother and teacher, Female Audrey who was with us for 78 kick.

Origin: witchcraftforall.blogspot.com

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Sacred Magick Witches 9 Gemstone 5 Herb Power Potion In Pentacle Amphora W Stand For Spellcasting Spells

39.95 USD

The color of Mystic Burden and Seriousness, this glorious sheet cobalt mauve amphora comes with a skillfully obstruct thaw seductive code of musical Sandalwood, dark Musk, near Amber, internal Patchouli and power-enhancing Cinnamon. Herbally charged with an native pentalpha of recyclable traditional witches herbs and Mugwort, Dragons Blood, Yarrow Flowers, European Vervain and Rue, this remarkable give rise to packs the occult strong suit of the sacred Pentacle. Nine the hook of the witches sacred circle, this tough Burden Infuse is gemstone charged with 9 gems and Quartz Rock, Moonstone, Amethyst, Bloodstone, Peridot, Citrine, Amber, Black Jet, and Red Garnet. Use this empowering Witchs Burden Infuse as a potency-enhancing aid to any spell, ritual or summons.

Gracefully cute, this environmental corked owner is ended with 40% hand-me-down sheet. Intended as a replica of the amphoras hand-me-down by the ancients, this intense owner is formed with two handles and a long for neck narrower than the cane. A silver pewter Pentacle charm hung on a 4x10mm silver plated ring makes this cute potion bottle an charismatic ornament for your ritual altar. Exercise styles may stand-in according to supply.

Planning 7.5" in standing with stand x 3" deep.

Carve up to hold 6.1 ounces/180 ml.

You may pass on to supply your power potion come with one of the other colors of amphoras if on offer (see photos, and order write down to trader fashionable checkout if you like one of the other colors, sooner than, you desire grow the mauve amphora).

Degree available:


avalon navy

wet behind the ears green

burnished amber

crystal plain

cobalt mauve

crimson red

To hinder break away from, potion is shipped in capped bendable bottle and prerequisite be poured hip your amphora. Close very well to hinder break fashionable goods.

Amphoras minus potion are to boot on offer in this shoppe here:

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https://www.etsy.com/listing/91027588/clarity-celtic-knot-crystal-clear

https://www.etsy.com/listing/66366376/power-witch-pentacle-blood-red-amphora

https://www.etsy.com/listing/66370867/wise-witch-pentacle-sapphire-purple

**Altar tile/table, candle endure and/or other photo props NOT INCLUDED.**

WITCHCRAFTSTM shall not be gripped honorable for any injuries, refund, or dead minor from the use of products purchased from my shoppe. Purchasing my products signifies your lenience of this newsletter and releases me from all openness. http://www.etsy.com/shop/LiorahLleucu/policy

All comfortable of this shoppe site (c) WITCHCRAFTS by Artisan AlchemyTM.

Monday 8 March 2010

Two Years Ago Today

Two Years Ago Today
It's New Year's Eve. For most, this is the time for reflecting on what has been while determining, to the extent that it is in our power, what also will be. I have always been a bit sober on this day, and it's never gone particularly well for me.

Except for two years ago, when I gave birth to the most perfect baby in the world {admittedly overdue and I looked approximately eleven months pregnant at the time} who has seemingly {if you overlook last year's severe food poisoning} broken the New Year's Curse.

We have a lovely evening planned, and not a drippy nose in sight.

I do not exaggerate when I say that she was Perfect. I know, I know. Every mommy thinks that her baby is perfect. But this is not what I'm talking about. I'm not saying I'm in love with her and everyone else should be, too, though of course I whole-heartedly believe this. I'm saying that she was, objectively, the Perfect Baby.

Q. was the sweetest baby you ever met. She only spit up once. Ever. I'm not kidding. She was self-burping. All you had to do was sit her up and the deed was done. She was impeccably clean, all of her own accord {until she discovered the taste of dirt, but I digress}. To this day, she wants a napkin with which to wipe her hands.

She was the epitome of the Merciful Third Child. What I mean is, God knows that adapting to having three is Hard Work. For the first twelve months of Q.'s life, I felt like I couldn't sit down, couldn't leave my house, couldn't do anything but stay on life's treadmill and run as fast as I could. It was as if I was juggling a million balls and, if I stopped, they would all fall down and I'd never get them picked up again.

I have heard that this is unique to having a Third Child. Having a fourth is a piece of cake compared to having a third. Ask me how I know.

And yet we survived. We survived because Q. was Perfect. She was easy. She rarely cried, and when she did she was trying to tell us something. If we could figure it out {and usually we could}, we fixed the problem and the crying stopped. I can imagine how unbearably hard the transition would have been had Q. been a difficult baby. But she wasn't, and so we made it and lived to tell about it. This is what I mean by Merciful Third Child.

This past year of Q.'s toddlerhood has been an absolute joy. She is a petite little thing; we often call her a Sprite. She seems like magic as she runs around in her high heels, smiling all the while. She fears for her possessions, as she has grown up having to worry about her earthly goods being taken from her if she turns her back, so she piles everything in a baby stroller and pushes it around. This is the reason for her second nickname, The Transient. I once entered a room upon hearing her screech "NO!" at the top of her lungs. Her brother was attempting to steal said stroller from her, and he was lifting it up in the air, and she was clinging to the handles with all of her strength, refusing to back down.

This girl will never be a victim, despite her tiny size.

As is our tradition, Si and I spent time writing a blessing for her before she was born. The time of writing a blessing is time spent dreaming not of the baby, but of the grown person that baby will someday be. During our time dreaming of Q., this verse came up so often that we tacked it on her birth announcement:

Blessed is the one who finds



WISDOM


and the one who gets understanding,

for the gain from her is better

than gain from silver

and her profit better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire

can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are irches and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

She is a



TREE OF LIFE


to those who lay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Proverbs 3:13-18

I know this seems like a large passage to pin on such a tiny person, but the meaning of her various names {first, middle, etc.} are nestled in there, and frankly one of my greatest prayers for all of my children is that they will be wise. In this day of abrasive, unfeminine, angry women, I took joy at this vision of a young woman with pleasant, peaceful ways.

For now, I and my husband are the ones who hold her, and we consider ourselves blessed indeed.

Credit: religion-events.blogspot.com

Saturday 6 March 2010

The Full Egg Moon Of April

The Full Egg Moon Of April
When April's full moon comes calling and lights up the night, there is (or ought to be) tiny new grasses underfoot, the astringent scent of life-giving sap flowing through twigs and branches as the earth undertakes her reckless prodigal flaring into spring. This northern part of the world awakens slowly, and in April we northerners tend to go a little mad, cavorting like perfect ecstatic fools on the cusp between winter and spring as we wait for temperatures to rise and the landscape to come to life. In her resemblance to a great cosmic egg or seed, this month's full moon expresses the greening to come and the new life quickening in the earth far below her light.

A puckish and unpredictable thing is life in the great round and what I like to call "the matter of moons". One goes out faithfully with tripod and camera month after month, and she is always hoping to see the moon on her special night but can never really be sure - especially in springtime when the lady is concealed by rain clouds for days at a time. Last evening, Spencer and I were fortunate, and skies were clear for a brief interval - a little before nine, Luna rose over the bare trees, and we were both there to watch her climb. We had not been so fortunate in the wee hours of the morning. Before two o'clock, we wrapped up warmly and went outside to observe the lunar eclipse, but the skies were covered from horizon to horizon with storm clouds, and there was no moon to be seen, no spangly stars and no sign of the eclipse at all.

Around this moon time every year, I find myself all wrapped up in vague longings that evade description, wandering for hours in the woods and by local waters and reaching for something that can't be articulated in words or captured on a memory card. Some of the restlessness can be attributed to my being here all winter while family members, neighbors and friends rambled away to warmer climes, but the simple truth is that I too long to sprout leaves and burst into shaggy riotous bloom. The moon in her radiant fullness has a way of quieting my nebulous springtime longings, and sometimes old stones lull them too, as do little garden jungles of rain dappled leaves and flocks of Canada geese passing overhead on their way to the river. There's a gentle kind of "wabi sabi" melancholy in such yearnings that becomes stronger and more compelling with every passing year.

We also know this restless yearning moon as the: Ashes Moon, Big Spring Moon, Broken Snowshoe Moon, Budding Trees Moon, Bullhead Moon, Cherry Blossom Moon, Daisy Moon, Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, Flower Moon, Fourth Moon, Frog Moon, Glittering Snow on Lake Moon, Grass Moon, Gray Goose Moon, Great Sand Storm Moon, Green Grass Moon, Growing Moon, Half Spring Moon, Hare Moon, Ice Breaking in the River Moon, Leaf Split Moon, Loon Moon, Maple Sap Boiling Moon, Moon of Greening Grass, Moon of Red Grass Appearing, Moon of the Big Leaves, Moon of the Red Grass Appearing, Moon of Windbreak, Moon When Geese Return in Scattered Formation, Moon When Nothing Happens, Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs, Moon When They Set Indian Corn, Moon, Pink Moon, Planter's Moon, Planting Corn Moon, Planting Moon, Poinciana Moon, Red Grass Appearing Moon, Ring Finger Moon, Snowdrop Moon, Snowshoe Breaking Moon, Spring Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Strawberry Moon, Strong Moon, Sugar Moon

As names go, I am rather fond of "Cherry Blossom Moon" and "Sugar Moon".

Origin: paganism-new-age.blogspot.com

Friday 5 March 2010

Wild Moon Blues

Wild Moon Blues
Late night big yowls, my vivacious and radiantly lovely Big Cats... so, who brought in the hot temps again? All of a sudden, within a few hours, the weather forecast changed, and a 100 degree temps replaced the high eighties. Yeah, you betcha, there is no weather manipulation going on... looks more and more obvious something major is happening, likely both changes on the sun and weather wars... one thing is certain, given the 'real' scientific data, it ain't con man Gore's greenhouse gasses. Authoress news and mews ~ Wild Moon Blues... there is something about this poetic phrase that the Kougar tingly-adores and resonates with... it's also perfect for this moment, since this Big Cat began reading her first contracted ebook, ALL SHADES OF BLUE PARADISE, and is she ever enjoying... of course, there are the improvements she'd like to make... but, they are minimal at this point... the Kougar is hoping she just might get the sequel done now, PLEASURES OF BLUE LOTUS OIL, which was interrupted by writing HER INSATIABLE DARK HEROES. So, what else did the Kougar writerly accomplish today, other than promo-biz stuff? She did the list thing, something she hadn't done in ages... this Big Cat used to be a major list writer because it is part of her nature, but quit when the results didn't seem to be there anymore... however, for some darn reason she felt compelled and did an organizational list of WIPS... will it help with what gets written next? ~a huge shrug~ It does look good.Yep, it's coming to SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS ~ the LABOR DAY BLOG HOP, September 3-5 ~ if you're in the mood for some nearly nekkid man candy, and their animal forms, come on by. You can start at ~justromance.me ~ From Astrology.com ~ Your September Forecast is Here!Nit-picky Virgo is not necessarily the first sign that comes to mind as bringing relief. But after the emotional upheavals of August, you'll welcome September's steady Virgo influence with open arms!At the start of September, the Sun and Venus will be in Virgo, giving you an on-the-go spirit and an eagle eye for detail. On September 3, when the Sun meets up with Jupiter, you'll get an extra morale boost, and maybe even some good financial news. Then, Virgo's influence will get kicked up another notch when its ruler, chatty Mercury, moves in on September 9.Later, on September 11, fiery Mars will send a friendly wink to Venus, upping your passion and enthusiasm. The next day, on the 12th, the full Moon in Pisces will present you with a dilemma, but Mercury and Pluto will also meet that day, giving you the means to find a solution.The 15th will mark the start of the shift from Virgo to social, tactful Libra as Venus moves into the sign. Libra is ruled by charming Venus, and Venus here will put you in a calmer, more cooperative and romantic mood. September 17 and 19 may be problematic, though, as disruptive Uranus and intense Pluto take turns facing down Venus.September 19 will also see rambunctious Mars move out of sensitive Cancer and into flamboyant Leo. The surge of confidence this brings will border on arrogance. Fortunately, you'll be justified in tooting your own horn a bit when Mars and innovative Uranus partner up on the 23rd and the brilliant ideas practically pour out of you.The final shift to Libra will occur on September 23 and 25 as first the Sun and then Mercury move into the sign. The atmosphere will become fair and just, as everyone seeks balance in their lives. Uranus will immediately try to unsettle this balance by shaking up the Sun on the 26th and then Mercury on the 27th, but if you keep your wits about you, you'll find some amazing opportunities open up before you! From UNKNOWN COUNTRY ~ NOCTURNAL LIGHTS OF LUBBOCKOn August 31, 1951, Carl Hart Jr. of Lubbock, Texas, had five 35-mm photographs of mysterious lights that had been racing through the sky for nearly a week. Glowing objects, visible from his bedroom window, prompted Carl to take his camera to the backyard, where he photographed nearly twenty luminous objects, flying in "A" formation and a mothership hovering in the background. The local newspaper editor purchased the shots for ten dollars and a vow to run Carl out of town if the pictures proved to be fakes. An air-force-base laboratory in Ohio examined the photos and found no evidence that they had been faked. More than twenty-five years later the photos were reexamined and again found to be genuine. Reprinted with permission from Weiser Books, "Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored" by Juanita Rose Violini is available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher. ~ redwheelweiser.com Big Cat by-the-numbers ~ 1:11 am... 2:12 am... 5:55 pm... 11:11 pm... the line was crossed today, and the split has occurred... those who love freedom are done putting up with current happenings, and are emotionally splitting away from those who only pay lips service to wanting freedom... BIG KUDOS to the country of Iceland. The people there are now seizing LIBERTY with both hands, and are currently leaps and bounds ahead of our beloved country. A new constitution is being created by the people online, in a transparent fashion. They are declaring each individual citizen as sovereign, and are freeing themselves permanently from the global mafia banksters by taking control of their currency... as Joyce Riley says, "What a concept." The most powerful weapon is the human soul on fire. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE! ~ Happy Summer-escapin' in August ~ ~ MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE ENOUGH ~And, May you live the dreams of your heart, not in interesting times... Wild Blue Moon kisses from the Kougar...