Cronewyze

Being Sent a Blessing

2012-01-09T14:13:00.004+11:00

I just came across this bit of journalling, written 6th May 2011, and thought it worth sharing. It illustrates the power of the mind, the power of intention, and the power of love.

I got home a little after seven. I left Andrew in the Emergency Department, looking quite comfortable and tucking into pumpkin soup. I think he was relieved to be there, getting some proper medical attention at last.

When I finally got to bed after feeding the cats and me, doing the laundry, checking the emails, and catching a bit of TV, I finally faced the empty pillow beside me. ‘Dearest Andrew,’ I murmured. Then, as I put my head on my pillow, I felt a wave of love and peace enfold me. I would have been surprised, if I hadn’t felt so calmed.

I mentioned it to Andrew when I saw him this morning. ‘I sent you a blessing,’ he said. It appeared he had purposely done that, thinking of me going to bed on my own and missing him. I had fully expected to miss him and be sad, as I usually am when he goes to hospital, but not this time. It was almost like him putting his arms around me. I slept soundly until morning, my cat Freya sleeping soundly beside me.

How to Make a Treasure Map

2012-01-07T23:56:00.031+11:00

Sorry, not talking about pirate maps where X marks the spot and you go and dig up a fortune in gold and jewels. Though you COULD use it to get gold and jewels.

A Treasure Map is essentially the same thing that the producers of ‘The Secret’ call a Vision Board. Some people call it a Wish Collage. The idea has been around a long time, under various names. It’s a way of manifesting what you want to bring into your life, whether material objects, achievements, travels, personal qualities, whatever. I've been using them since the early nineties, when he who is now my husband introduced me to them.

They really do work. I don’t always get everything I specify within the time allotted, but I do get most of it, sometimes in surprising ways. There have also been times when things have come about, but have taken longer than the period of the Treasure Map.

You can make them for any period you like. I find that a year is good. This allows time for things to manifest. Some things, of necessity, take time — though others can come about very quickly. It’s not a wise idea to give them indefinite time to happen; you might be waiting decades!

If you want to research what other people say on the subject, don't Google 'treasure maps' or you'll get the pirate kind. 'Treasure mapping' is the term to use. Meanwhile, here is what works for me:

Procedure

1. Make a list of all the things you want

You might find it helpful to put them under headings for various categories: relationships, wealth, work, holidays....

This year our Treasure Map is strongly influenced by Robert Lee Brewer, who shares his ‘New Year tradition’ in Writing for Life, and calls his version a New Year’s Chart. (Full instructions here.)

His categories are:

Things I want to do.
Things I want to be.
Things I want to learn.
Things and people I want to see.
Places I want to go.
Adventures I want to have

We left out the words ‘I want’ from all of them, so as to bring it more into the present moment. and added another one: Things to have. We also extended the fourth item by adding ‘/ people to keep in touch with’ and making sub-categories: local friends, online friends, friends elsewhere, as well as more specific groups such as ‘children and grandchildren’.

2. Collect pictures that illustrate the things on your list

Magazines are a good source of pictures. Any that you bring into your home are suitable, as they will reflect your interests and priorities. A friend who loves travel recommends National Geographic. Some people cut out likely pictures all year, so when they come to make their next Treasure Map, they have a box full to choose from. You can also find printable images from those freely available online. (Best to save to your computer, paste to a Word document, and then adjust the size.) Or you could use your own photos if applicable.

If you can’t find realistic images, look for symbols, e.g. a heart for love, a dollar sign for wealth. You could draw these yourself with colored markers.

You can also use powerful words and phrases you come across, either instead of pictures or to label your pictures.

3. Get a BIG sheet of cardboard

Coloured is nice; something to make it special. Gold or silver is very special, but you can’t write or draw directly onto a shiny surface. (You could always write or draw on ordinary paper and then stick that on.)

4. Work out the basic design of your map

Instead of bunging things any old where, you might like to use some underlying ordering principle and arrange your pictures accordingly.

Many people use the feng shui baqua, which you can find by Googling. They feel it creates balance and encourages prosperity. I have sometimes used an underlying spiral or pentacle, to give powerful positive energy to my manifesting.

When I use the pentacle, I take note of what the points represent in terms of the elements. I also know what the elements stand for, e.g. earth = the material/physical level including money and the body, air = the mental realm, and also sound.

5. When it's done, put it up on the wall where you can see it every day.

(Check the dimensions of the proposed wall area first.)

Simple Variations

You can also create single item Treasure Maps for individual things you wish to manifest, e.g. a holiday in a particular place; a specific job you're after; the ideal relationship.

You can go into a lot more detail this way than on an all-purpose Treasure Map, e.g. with pictures of the desired holiday location. Or you could have one central image with a lot of arrows going from it, either to words or more images (or both).

A simple picture on the wall can act the same way.

He Who Is Now My Husband was once married to someone else. In that time he saw a picture spread in a magazine of a house he really liked the look of, cut it out and put it up on the kitchen wall. Weeks later his wife phoned him at work and said, 'You've got to come and look at this house for sale.' He did, they fell in love with it and bought it. It was only after they'd been living in it some time that it dawned on him it was the same as the house in the magazine!

Unfortunately the payments proved too costly and they ended up selling it again. This financial stress contributed to the breakdown of the marriage. Be careful what you wish for! But the point is, the picture on the wall did work as a manifestation tool.

Hints and Pitfalls

1. You need to be very specific

One year, wanting to lose weight, I found a ‘before and after’ picture: two images, one wide and the other slender, of a woman’s back view in just her white bra and panties. I didn’t noticeably lose weight that year, but my husband did buy me the most beautiful white underwear for Christmas.

Another time, I thought I’d love to have a trip to Paris. I found a picture from a travel ad: the Eiffel Tower, crossed with the words ‘Allo Paris!’ I imagined myself joyously greeting the city. I have not yet been to Paris, but that year my younger son unexpectedly went to live there for a time, and I received phone calls from Paris.

2. Use coloured pictures

There is a story of a couple who wanted to manifest a holiday, and used a whole lot of black-and-white photos they found of the place they wanted to visit. They did get the holiday, but they said it was disappointingly flat and boring — it lacked colour.

3. If you change your mind about something, remove the picture (and any words attached to it)

E.g. if at first you wanted to go to Queensland, then later decide on Tasmania this year instead; or if you cancel the idea of lessons in belly dancing, in favour of yoga lessons. In these cases, of course, you would put up new pictures.

But you could just have a change of heart without wanting a swap. You might decide that, after all, a puppy would be more trouble than it was worth; or that you are not yet ready to live in New Guinea.

Either way, you don’t want to risk bringing in something you no longer desire.

4. Be careful what you wish for. (You might get it.)

This stuff does work. Think things through before you go blithely ordering them from the Universe!

The Universe Moves in Mysterious Ways (or, Nice Surprises)

Can it be a surprise, if something manifests that was on your map? Isn’t that what it’s all about? Well, sometimes the way things manifest can take you by surprise.

There was the year we lived in a place with a really good view of the heavens. My darling was always wishing for a telescope, so we put a picture of one on our Treasure Map. Some months later we were invited to lunch at a friend’s, and the subject came up in conversation.

‘I’ve got one I can lend you!’ she said. It turned out she was minding one for her brother, who was in no hurry to get it back. We had that telescope for years and it got a lot of use. She did eventually contact us to say her brother would like it back now — just after we had moved to a place without that clear view of the night sky.

Even more far-fetched was the Mercedes. Himself always had a hankering for one. I would not have thought of it for myself, but once it was suggested I wasn’t averse to the idea. By the time we became Pensioners, it seemed highly unlikely, but one year he decided to put it on the Treasure Map anyway. Which he did, and then we promptly forgot all about it. (It was right in the centre of the map, but it was only a small picture, not eye-catching.)

In due course our car started giving trouble. We were going to have to leave it some days at the local garage, and would not have a vehicle. At the time we lived way out of town at the end of a dirt road with no public transport. We were even a good long way from the local village; much too far to walk. There were no car hire places handy either. We asked at the local store if they knew of anyone who might be able to lend us a car. They did — a guy we’d never heard of, with coincidentally the same surname as ours. It seemed he owned a few cars, and was willing to lend them. What kind of cars we didn’t know, but we’d be happy to take anything that worked. We phoned him and he agreed.

You guessed it. When we got there, he said, ‘I think I’ll let you have the Mercedes.’ All he wanted in return was that we fill up the tank when we gave it back. It was an old model, but it was a fair dinkum Mercedes, and very comfortable. It was a day or two later that I happened to be standing where I could see the centre of the Treasure map close up, and went, ‘Omigod, look at that!’ as I pointed out the picture of the Mercedes.

So my darling got his wish, and after two weeks of driving around in it, he wished for it no longer. An imported car, and a luxury car moreover, spare parts would be expensive. Our dirt road was hard on any car; we were always terrified of what it might do to the Mercedes. We realised that owning one would be far too stressful. We handed it back happily. We’re still amazed at the way it manifested, both the unexpectedness of the circumstances and the kindly way the Universe didn’t saddle us permanently with something we only thought we wanted.

Bad Behaviour

Of course you should never use your Treasure Map to manipulate people, much less interfere with other people's maps! But I did that once.

When I was dating He Who Is Now My Husband, it came about that I had occasion to spend time in his bedroom. I noticed the Treasure Map on his wall. It was a simple one with just one picture in the centre, of a couple dancing. The man was him, beaming with joy. The woman's face had been whited out. Arrows were drawn from the picture, each one culminating in a word or phrase. The two I remember now were, 'Likes sex' and 'Highly spiritual', both of which certainly applied to me.

As a joke, next time I visited I surreptitiously stuck a cut-out of my face, from a photo, over the blank face of the woman in the picture. I also added a few arrows leading to very specific items that identified me, e.g. 'Grew up in Tasmania'. I crossed out his specified age range and substituted my exact age at the time.

I didn't, of course, understand then how powerful Treasure Maps are. You will note, we ended up married. That's fine; it's lasted 18 years so far and our love has grown and deepened. But I was unwittingly playing with fire, and can only be thankful I was so lucky.

The funny thing is that he never noticed my alterations to his Treasure Map! By then, it had become part of the background for him, not consciously perceived. Which brings me to my next topic:

How do they work? (My theories.)

On the face of it, Treasure Mapping takes Creative Visualisation a step further. If consciously imagining good stuff happening to you is effective — and our champion athletes and successful business people can attest to the fact that it is — then surely having actual images to focus on physically is even better?

Yes, I think it does work that way for a while. But then, as related above, your map tends to fade into the background and you stop consciously noticing it any more. I believe that is even more effective, because it is still within sight and you will still be taking it in on some level, repeatedly, on a daily basis. I believe it then goes straight into your subconscious to work its magick. The subconscious cannot distinguish between what is imagined and whats real — which is how Creative Visualisation works in the first place. This just speeds up the process. Or so I think.

Anyway who cares, so long as they do work? LOL

What If You’ve Got Everything You Want?

Ha ha, who has? Well, me, surprisingly enough. OK, not EVERYTHING, but a heck of a lot.

‘How do you want to spend the rest of your life?’ my darling asked me last night. I didn’t have to think about it very long.

‘Just the way I’m already spending it.’

I am fortunate, at 72, to have done and experienced a lot. I have travelled extensively, within and outside my own country, and although I haven’t been to all the places I ever thought I’d like to see, I don’t have a wish to travel any more at my age. How blessed are we all, that TV has made armchair travelling so much more realistic and exciting! It is the same with many other things: I’ve either done them or have reached the point where they no longer entice — or a bit of both. Just as well I went camping in Kakadu when I was much younger; camping anywhere doesn’t seem like fun now. If the sex life isn’t as athletic as it once was, mellowness is nice too, and it’s not like I’ve missed out on much. And so on.

This made it very difficult to create a Treasure Map for the coming year, which is one reason for deciding on Robert Brewer’s list, particularly with removal of the phrase ‘I want’. Instead of going after a whole lot of new things, we’re opting to keep what we’ve got — the home we love, the friends whose company delights us, the car that feels perfect for us, etc.

There are a few things I’d like to learn, and a few things we’d like to have. They are included, as words or pictures or both.

The big goal at our age is health — in my case the maintenance of, in his case the improvement of. ‘Healthy’ is in our ‘to be’ category, with subheadings such as ‘Massages’ and pictures of heathy food and fit bodies. Our ‘to do’ category includes Walking’, and I drew a stick figure in the act of doing just that.

Well, you get the idea. Have fun!

Crystal Help

2011-12-28T00:27:00.005+11:00

Crystals make good Christmas presents, I think, when you can’t come up with any other ideas.

Yes, I do participate in Christmas. Society at large makes a big deal out of it, and I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. The grandchildren would be disappointed if we didn’t send presents; friends who invite us to Christmas dinner might feel unappreciated if we refused. In any case, we like giving — and receiving — presents, and we like sharing feasts! If we lived in the Northern Hemisphere, we might do these things at Yule, a few days earlier, or else celebrate Yule on the 25th (which is sort of what the early Church did, tying the celebration of Christ’s birth to a seasonal festival already widely celebrated) but Yule is Midwinter which, in the Southern Hemisphere, falls in June.

So, as I was saying, when you don’t know what else to get, crystals can make good gifts.

I needed something for my Younger Stepson, who arrived on the 24th to visit us for a few days. And I needed something for the brother of the woman who claims us as her surrogate parents and always invites us to her Christmas dinners. This year the brother said he didn’t want lots of people, ‘just family‘ — which, it went without saying, included us!

Younger Stepson travelled interstate to visit us, and was going from us to an old family friend further north. Surrogate Daughter’s brother works overseas and only comes home to visit family at Christmas. Some kind of crystal that would be good for travellers, I thought, for both of them. So I went to see Ev.

Ev has a shop called Crystal Treasures. She also does psychic readings and healing treatments there, and sells esoteric books. I first met Ev a number of years ago, when I was doing psychic readings at George’s shop. George was a friend who had a vegetarian cafe in town. All the seats and tables for customers were outdoors, and so was my reading table. Ev came and had a reading from me. She told me she did readings too, but felt the need to consult someone else at that time. We had a wonderful conversation and I never quite forgot her.

Fast forward several years: I’m semi-retired and only do the occasional reading at home if someone tracks me down. Ev opens Crystal Treasures; I go in to check it out, and find her behind the counter. We’re delighted to reconnect, and we swap some readings for each other. From time to time I buy books or crystals from her shop.

Where else would I go to find my crystals for travellers? She recommended smoky quartz and hematite, both very grounding. I got some handsome tumbled stones of each kind for both the men, and on Christmas Day they were well received. While I was there, my eye was caught by a lump of raw emerald — not of precious gem quality, I hasten to add, but pale green, grey and black. It had a gentle look. I read the description of its qualities:

Known as the stone of successful love. It brings domestic bliss & loyalty. Enhances unity, unconditional love, & partnership & promotes balance. Emerald keeps a partnership in balance. It eliminates negativity & brings in positive actions.

That was enough for me! I had been very stressed, trying to deal with my husband’s symptoms of early Alzheimer’s. I wanted to be patient and understanding but often found that hard to maintain. I confided in Ev what was going on and she agreed the emerald would be perfect. She hugged me and said, ‘It’s your journey too, isn’t it?’ Her eyes widened at the thought of the adventure my husband and I were both embarking on. 'Stay in the moment,' she advised.

I bought a pouch for the emerald too. I have been wearing it around my neck every day since, and keeping it by the bed at night. We have undoubtedly been more loving, and I find itt easier to be patient with him. Is that because of the crystal, or is it acting as a placebo and working because I think it will? I don’t know or care — so long as it’s working, the how and why are beside the point.

The confusion he could get into troubled me for his sake too. I went back to Crystal Treasures. My old friend Priya works for Ev some days; it was one of her days in the shop. I told her the situation and asked what crystal would help his clarity of mind. Without hesitation, she said, ‘Fluorite!’ I found a thick point, like the end of a wand. She looked for a longer wand they had had, but couldn’t find it; meanwhile I was holding the short piece and it felt ‘right’. He is very thrilled with it and keeps it by the bed. (It’s a bit big for a pouch around the neck.) It certainly seems to be the right stone, judging by these qualities listed:

A stone of mental enhancement and clarity, improved decision making &memorization. Brings structure & focus to incoherent energies. Assists balancing the brain chemistry. Enhances concentration, study and learning. Quiets anxiety.

Yes, he does seem considerably less confused at present, his mind more stable. Mind you, he has also started taking tablets to stop the condition getting any worse. It may be that they are beginning to kick in. I’m certainly not saying it’s all down to the fluorite. I would have to have a lot more anecdotal evidence from a lot more people, to be able to argue for that. Meanwhile, though, every time he sees the stone, I think it must reinforce in him the idea of mental clarity.

Personally I think crystals do have a positive effect. But I don’t neglect the obvious. If I'm bleeding, I use a bandage; if I'm sneezing, I blow your nose; if I were to have a heart attack, I'd call an ambulance — and only then look for a suitable crystal.

While not substitutes for medical treatment, crystals could give extra help. If you don’t know the specific stone for your needs, remember that rose quartz is an all-purpose healing stone, and that clear quartz, as well as having its own qualities, can be substituted for any other crystal.

It's not enough to be kind

2011-12-18T11:55:00.000+11:00

One must also be thoughtful, not quite the same thing.

I respect spiders, even though some of them creep me out a bit as they do most people. They are such sentient creatures! I find them very responsive to telepathic contact. And when I first self-initiated as a witch, I was guided by both spontaneous mental imagery and sightings of actual, physical spiders to put myself under the protection of the Goddess in her form as Spider-Creator archetype; therefore I feel a moral obligation to treat spiders with respect.

So in my house no-one is allowed to kill them. I would make an exception in the case of a venomous spider that posed a potential threat to people and/or pets, but the Goddess knows that and keeps them away. I do, however, communicate with any spiders I see in the house, to tell them that the cats or any visiting humans might do them harm if they saw them. 'Keep out of sight for your own safety,' I tell them. And for the most part they do, or scurry to get hidden if they happen to be spotted.

So I did the usual when I saw a small Huntsman in the loo about a week ago. (No, not right IN it: on the wall near the mirror over the hand basin.) I didn't think to take a photo, but it was about half the size of the one pictured at the above link.

It had probably come inside to escape the rain; they do that. I suggested it stay behind the mirror as much as possible, and so it did, sometimes coming out just a little. I would greet it in a friendly way and then forget about it.

Once it was on the windowsill, and ran like mad to try and get out of sight, until I told it to calm down, it was only me; just not to let anyone else see it. It stopped running, and thereafterI didn't see it for a while — until the day I pulled on the end of the roll of toilet paper, to discover 'my' spider clinging to the paper further up. I did let out a small squeal at that — but bear in mind, it was a very small Huntsman, so thenI just shook it off as gently as possible.

Again it disapeared for a day or so. Then I noticed a spot of fluff or dust in a corner. An insect, perhaps? Oh no! Could it be ...? Yes it was, all dried and dead with its legs curled in. As I disposed of the body I realised that we live in a house fairly devoid of insects. We have flywire screens; I hav an arrangement with the local insects, along the lines of 'Stay outside or you're fair game'; and if any that count as pests do come in, I do indeed kill them.

My poor spider must have starved to death. What was the point of my making it welcome (albeit with provisos)? I'd have done better to put it right back outside again!

When Things Go Wrong

2011-11-26T15:23:00.001+11:00

It’s a bad internet day today. Wireless is the only kind of connection available where I live, and the network can get very overloaded. I was kicked off several times this morning for long periods, and I can’t get access at all this afternoon.

As I cannot change this circumstance, I have been working on changing my response. In a moment of rare intelligence, the first time I lost access this morning I asked myself, ‘What is the opportunity here?’ I decided it was an opportunity to go back to bed and read or doze. I did both. Spouse and cats joined me. Such luxury! I was surprised how soon it was lunch time.

This afternoon may encompass many things. First of all it is an opportunity to write this blog post!

Of course this is not just a light-hearted look at my internet problems. When I catch myself doing something intelligent, I really ought to share it. When things go wrong, it’s always useful to ask oneself: ‘What is the opportunity here?’ Trust me, you’ll find one — at least one.

(And now that I have shared the learning, behold, I have access again, if only long enough to post.)

Garden Witch: 1

2011-11-25T23:14:00.004+11:00

The Reluctant Gardener

I miss the smell of my freshly watered mint! I took such pleasure in it every morning, out there early with the hose before the day got too hot. But my mint is gone.

Now that we are settled in the home we expect to inhabit for the rest of our lives, I have at last been making some small progress in gardening. Witches should surely have that connection with the earth, I tell myself. But it doesn’t come naturally. When I was very young — maybe four — my Dad and my Grandma (his mother) thought to instill in me their own love of gardening. They selected a garden bed that could be mine, gave me a little trowel and watched encouragingly as I dug into the earth, turning it over in the way they showed me.

Out of that black dirt came a long, thick, moving thing, the length of my hand and half the width. Its huge, round, segmented body was a white so pale that it was almost transparent — like slime. It nosed about blindly as it encountered the light. I had never seen anything so repulsive. I shrieked, dropped the trowel and ran.‘It’s only a grub,’ they said, but I could not be persuaded back.

I didn’t try again until I was in my late fifties, in my third (and present) marriage. We moved from Melbourne to the Northern Rivers region of NSW, and eventually decided to try growing our own food. It wasn’t a great success. Our pumpkins proliferated, threatening to take over the planet. We simply couldn’t keep up with them, no matter how many we used and gave away. Our lettuces grew high stalks instead of bushy heads, with tiny, separate leaves like miniature branches. We were absolved from dealing with it all when the landlord decided he wanted to live in his house himself.

In our next house, I decided to grow some herbs and was quite proud of my efforts — until the landlady very soon dug them all up, thinking she was getting rid of weeds. After that, I grew geraniums. Nice, hardy, cheerful plants, they’ll grow pretty much anywhere and thrive even for me. But you can’t eat them.

In this present home, I discovered that the previous tenant had planted mint and cherry tomatoes, They both appeared suddenly, under the frangipanni tree out the front. I mulched the ground and built it up, to make a separate area from the lawn. I didn’t want my lawnmower man mowing my edible garden flat! The tomatoes grew in all seasons and we ate them for a year. Then they died.

The mint kept on, but some bug attacked it. It developed holes and brown spots. ‘Soapy water,’ said our handyman, so I put some in a spray and went to work. The holes and the discolouration stopped getting any worse. New mint grew up clean and whole.

The weeds grew up too, thick and strong. A ground cover with small, round leaves interspersed itself among the mint plants. Tough grasses pushed their way in under the tree. It all seemed far too much for me to tackle. Our friend up the end of the street had his 16-year-old grandson staying with him before going off to begin an apprenticeship as a gardener. I thought the lad might like to earn a few dollars, and asked if he would weed my mint bed for me. He would.

And so yesterday he did. I had already shown him the job, and he brought his own tools, so I left him to it. I told him to put all the weeds he dug up into the green bin, as there was a collection of garden refuse scheduled this morning. When he knocked on the door an hour later to say he’d finished, he looked endearingly proud of himself. I went to see. He’d taken everything — mint and all!

What could I do? I thanked him and paid him. Later I looked in the green bin, thinking to find some of the good sprigs of mint and replant them. They were buried deep, not visible. I gave up. The ground under the frangipanni can go back to lawn — which in many ways will be easier. Well, it’s the dark of the moon, a time for endings ... and a time for new beginnings.

Round the back I’ve got some herbs which are trying hard to survive the heat, and a single broccoli from the three seedlings I planted some months ago. The back yard might the place to plant new mint and tomatoes. I miss the smell of freshly watered mint!

Of energy balance, missing books, and finder gnomes.

2011-11-20T13:54:00.003+11:00

Energy balance

Magick takes many forms. I view it basically as moving energy, and there are many ways to do that.

Sometimes it’s about restoring balance. If someone owes you money and won’t pay, have a look and see if YOU have outstanding debts you’ve forgotten, and pay them. If your marital relationship is breaking down, by all means try and fix it, and also look at your other relationships (family, friends, work colleagues) and do whatever it takes to restore vitality to any of those which are flagging.

In other words, you shift the whole energy around relationships, or money, or whatever it may be. You treat the presenting problem as a symptom of imbalance in that aspect of life, and set about putting to rights whatever you can. Which is what I’m up to now, with regard to some particular treasures.

Missing books

Since we’ve been in this home, nearly two years now, every so often I find myself missing books — special books, books important to me, and interestingly enough quite large books physically. They didn’t get lost in the move; they have been here, and were put on the shelves in the right places. In some cases — not all — I have even found gaps on the shelves where they were.

This being a smaller unit than we had, with one less room, most of our bookshelves are in the garage. This garage will never house our car — as well as library, it is consulting room, classroom and temple. It is where I give psychic readings or Reiki treatments, or teach Reiki, and it’s where I do my more formal magickal rituals when, for some reason, the outdoors doesn’t work. In other words, I’m in there on my own, or with clients or students who are only there in my company.

Even if any of these students or clients would steal my books, which frankly beggars belief considering the kind of people they are, I don’t see how they could possibly manage it. It seems even more improbable that someone on this quiet street watches to see when we go out, checks in case we have left the garage unlocked, and then unerringly selects my favourite (and largest!) poetry anthologies or magickal tomes to make off with. Yet there aren’t many nooks or crannies in the unit where such large items could stay concealed.

Energy imbalance

A mystery. And, as I don’t want to lose any more books, time for action! It’s not hard to see where things are out of balance. I am very bad at returning books I’ve borrowed. I do, and I look after them meanwhile, but it can take ... years! This is not from malice or greed, just that I am a terrible procrastinator and don’t get around to it. I decided this week that if I want my books to turn up, I had better stop hanging onto others that don’t belong here.

I had been carrying two parcels of books around in my car, waiting for the opportune moment, but never bumped into the people, and passing their houses would have taken me out of my way. One is a lady whose energy I no longer like to be around, so I guess I was putting it off for that reason too. (Never mind that hanging onto her books might keep her energy present in my space — duh!) So, on the way home from the writers’ group on Friday, with for once a bit of time to spare, I took a slight detour and dropped her books off at last. Luckily for me she wasn’t even there, but had someone staying to whom I gave books and message.

Next came a sudden opportune moment. Dear Spouse landed up in hospital yesterday after some worrying symptoms, and is being kept in for observation. I’m glad to say he doesn’t seem too sick, and is in excellent spirits. When I was visiting yesterday, he was being nursed by the wife of the man whose book I still had in my car. I raced down to the car park, got it, wrote a note for her husband, and gave her the package.

Now I have one more to attend to. The owner has moved around over the years and no longer lives within coo-ee, but I can still reach him by email. Every so often I request his latest postal address, which he gives me, then I do nothing more. The reason is that it’s a huge tome which will be expensive to post, and I always run out of money before I get it away. But at the moment I have enough to cover it, and it WILL go tomorrow (Monday).

Finder gnomes

Perhaps that will shift the energy enough to allow my books to turn up. But I do have another little witchy trick up my sleeve. These are our finder gnomes (standing in front of a postcard of the Mt Warning Caldera):

Whenever we lose something, we ask the gnomes to find it for us. It always turns up promptly, and we show our gratitude by giving the gnomes another stone to enjoy, which we pile in front of them in a big abalone shell. (Gnomes like stones. So do I, so it’s no trouble to find wonderful stones to give them.) With the books, I felt I must re-balance the energy before asking the gnomes.

Aha! You see — I have been feeling guilty about these books which I borrowed and hung onto so long. Guilt is a severe energy drain. Best to clear it. Also we have a tendency to start subconsciously punishing ourselves for our guilt — an attempt to restore the balance, but not a useful or healthy one. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that I have misplaced my own books. We shall see.

Does the psychological interpretation invalidate the magickal one? I don’t think so. It’s all energy.

Storm Busting

2011-10-15T23:40:00.004+11:00

As I write we are having a huge thunderstorm straight overhead, and rain is pouring down fit to flood. Only we are too high to flood — but places nearby could well be getting water over the roads.

I have unplugged the phones and switched off the internet, even though we have surge protectors. They are guaranteed against failure, but we don’t need replacement machines; we need the nice, relatively new ones we’ve got.

The other thing I have done is put protection over the house. My Beloved Spouse suggested earlier that we should go around telling everyone how to do it — ‘But they’d probably think we were nuts,’ he said. I agreed that they probably would. The readers of this blog, though, might be in different category.

So here’s how you do it. You put a dome of blue light over your house — or any other building or area you wish to protect from storm damage. You visualise and intend very hard! And you have it be there as long as needed — that is, for the duration of the storm. (Make a new one for the next storm that comes along.)

This was devised by an energy worker called Penny Chesney, who lives not far from me. She is on a high hill overlooking the ocean, vulnerable to wild weather. There have been occasions when fierce storms have damaged places around her, but not her property. I know; I’ve seen the evidence afterwards.

You can do this from afar too, if you’re away and hear that storms are threatening your home. It follows that you can also do it for other people’s places. I’ve done it for friends who were away, and their houses have remained intact. So, of course, have other houses in the area; this is yet another unprovable technique. (Yes, the salt keeps away elephants. You don’t see any elephants here, do you?)

I do it anyway, and it makes me feel more secure. Which in itself puts out good energy around my pace; maybe that’s the answer and not the blue light? Maybe. But you should know that blue light has many magical and healing uses. Be game to try it, set your intention and enjoy the results ... and no, don’t go around telling all and sundry. They’d probably think you were nuts.

Message from Gaia

2011-09-21T10:05:00.003+10:00

This is not one that came through me, but it is one I think well worth sharing. The following is an email just received from a close friend whom I know to be very 'tuned in'. I think we must heed it, friends!

was woken at 1.30 in the night with the half moon striking my face, it showed me the grandcross of the knights templar equally across its brightness and also a moonbow (rainbow of light with the 7 colours) surrounding it.

was directed to go to the beach early, an hour walk there and back....

a huge starfish exquisite in its death was lying directly in front of the spot where I access the beach. I have never seen such a big star, so beautiful in colouring, it had 7 legs...and the message came that the next 7 days are critical for gaia.

we of the lightforce must focus on joy and love to release the duality of pain and distortion from this planet...for me this means just to focus on being me and to not get involved with this incessant need to heal everybody....must release that.

Your Relationship with the Moon

2011-08-29T23:17:00.001+10:00

What is it, I wonder?

I wonder about my own, too — and this lunar month, starting now, I have the opportunity to find out. On facebook a woman has started a group for people to journal their relationship with the moon daily (or nightly!) during this period.

To tell the truth, my relationship with the moon has lapsed considerably, so this exercise actually gives me an opportunity to renew it. Naturally, being me, I am doing my journalling in verse. You'll find it over at my Passionate Crone blog.

Healing Miracles or Medical Mysteries?

2011-07-23T22:02:00.015+10:00

My Beloved has had severe leg pains for days; can barely move sometimes. When things I tried gave only temporary relief, I invited a spiritual healer friend to come and give him a session. By the time of her appointment yesterday, he was also wandering in his mind and his blood sugar was up a bit high — so I booked a doctor’s visit for him later the same day. As he was in such pain that he wasn’t sure he could even get to the doctor’s, I didn’t cancel the healer.

She gave him a lot of time. ‘They [the spirits] were working a lot on his lower back,’ she told me afterwards. He didn’t immediately notice great improvement, but by the time we saw the doctor, his pain was greatly reduced — so much so that the doctor said, ‘How often can your friend come and do this for you? It’s better than any medication I could give you!’ (He is on so much medication for his diabetes and artificial heart valve that what else he can safely be prescribed is limited to things which would have undesirable side-effects anyway.)

I had assumed his pain was caused by peripheral neuropathy, a painful condition of the nerve ends which is a side effect of diabetes, but the doctor explained that that affects feet and ankles, whereas this pain was in the thighs and calves. He thought it might be from the severe arthritis in the lower back. I thought so too, considering what the healer had said. But the high blood sugar could also suggest an infection. As there were no signs of chest infection, it could be urinary. ‘If he’s not better tomorrow, take a sample and bring it to the clinic.’

Today is Saturday. Only one doctor is on duty Saturday mornings, so it’s first come first served. His pain had returned, his blood sugar was high; he got the sample and we fronted up as early as we could manage. She found some signs of infection, prescribed an antibiotic and sent the urine to the lab for further tests. She also expressed the opinion that the burning pain in his legs is caused by another side effect of diabetes — with such a long and unfamiliar Latin name that I don’t remember it. We go back to our own doctor on Monday.

So in this case the miracle was not a cure. However, some relief is better than none, and it encourages me to continue with my own energy healing methods too.

Some weeks ago I started experiencing extreme shortness of breath after very little exertion. I had some chest pain too. The doctor originally thought it might be either pleurisy or emphysema. I’d recently had (mild) pneumonia; pleurisy could be a lingering after-effect. Also I smoked for 32 years, and even though I’ve been stopped for 23 years, emphysema can take that long to show up! A couple of my psychic friends got the impression it was pleurisy, and my chiropractor said it couldn’t be emphysema or he’d have picked it up long ago. (Whew!)

An x-ray suggested a hernia instead: part of the abdomen pushing up into the left lung. The doctor ordered ‘a more sensitive scan’ to make quite sure of the diagnosis. In the interim I used both Reiki and Genome Healing. The breathlessness reduced to almost nothing, and the pain stopped completely. For good measure, the chiropractor attempted to push the hernia back down into the abdominal cavity.

So a week later I had the next scan, which showed no hernia. The doctor explained that we all have a fatty shield around the heart, and that mine must have been casting a shadow on the lung in the first x-ray.

I told him I’d done some Reiki, and described the Genome Healing as ‘a guided process of talking to my organs.’ He didn’t scoff — he’s fairly open-minded — but he didn’t comment.

‘So what was causing the shortness of breath?’ I asked.

‘I can’t explain,’ he said.

I asked, ‘Could it have been partly stress-related?’ I had noticed that, although it followed physical exertion, stress seemed to exacerbate it.

He became animated. ‘Yes that’s possible. And that might be why you’ve been feeling better. Talking to the organs is a form of relaxation exercise. It’s like the progressive relaxation technique of going through each organ in turn.’

He was obviously happy to have found a way to explain it to himself, so I didn’t say what I was thinking: ‘Hey mate, remember it wasn't only breathlessness, there was also pain. That’s a hell of a powerful relaxation exercise if it does the trick for a week and more!’

The jury’s still out on this one, too. Was it a mild pleurisy that gradually got better? Did a hernia reverse itself? Watch this space.

Just Put Pagan

2011-07-13T18:47:00.000+10:00

OK, I've decided! (On my dilemma in previous post.) This census I'm not going to put 'Pagan - Wiccan' but just 'Pagan'.

This [edited] comment on facebook, from Linda Ward, at the group 'Pagan and the Australian Census 2011', is what decided me:

'On speaking (yes, actual conversation) with the chief statistician we were told that after the data is put in ASCRG code the raw data is destroyed and there is no way to tell if Pagan- was the precursor of the entry. [A particular faith] would not be counted as Pagan if it came after the dash. The most efficient way of getting true Pagan numbers is to Just Put Pagan. This is straight from the census horse's mouth. Why not get the basic Pagan numbers first, and then have the solid data to argue effectively with ABS for changes to the next census? Also from the ABS website they are very clear that they will not negotiate with one association on any changes - only a concerted multi-organisational process will have any chance of bringing about changes. It should also be noted that Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus do NOT seek to fracture their numbers into various schools but keep to the unified umbrella term for their faiths to maximise their census figures - and they have a greater population than we do. My advice to all (and this coming from one who was part of the original Pagan dash campaign committee) is Just Put Pagan.'

Pagan or what? Australian census.

2011-07-11T23:51:00.010+10:00

The census will be taken in August. On the question of religion, members of the Pagan community are trying to figure out what to put that will accurately convey how many of us there are. The trouble is that on the census form we are listed under Nature Religions, as follows (an excerpt from a letter to a friend from the Australian Bureau of Statistics):

Thank you for your enquiry concerning the religion question in the 2011 Census.

Paganism is included in the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG), as a separate output category in the Classification Counts produced for Religious Affiliation from the 2006 Census. It forms part of the broader Nature Religions group.

The classification structure of this group is:

613 Nature Religions

6130 Nature Religions, nfd (not further defined)

6131 Animism

6132 Druidism

6133 Paganism

6134 Pantheism

6135 Wiccan/Witchcraft

6139 Nature Religions, nec (not elsewhere classified)

If a response of Pagan is qualified with additional information such as Druid or Wiccan, this additional information will be used in classifying the response. For example, Pagan Wiccan would be classified as 6135 and Pagan Celtic would be 6133. Pagan alone would be classified as 6133.

Obviously this is wrong in a number of ways. For instance most Wiccans, Druids and others see ourselves as coming under the broader umbrella of Paganism and regard it as synonymous with Nature Religions, not a subordinate category. There are also various strands of Paganism not listed.

For some years there has been a big push for Wiccans, Druids, Ceremonial Magicians, Voodoun practitioners and so on and others to list themselves as ‘Pagan dash’ i.e. ‘Pagan — Wiccan’, ‘Pagan — Druid’, etc. in the hope that this would swell the official numbers of Pagans and give us some weight as a body of people to be taken seriously by Governments. In the light of the last paragraph of the letter above, that is obviously not the case. Now we are being asked, instead, to put just ‘Pagan’ on the census form so as to have the desired effect. The idea is that once we have got that message across, then we can work towards further educating the statisticians. We see the various kinds of Paganism as being not unlike the various denominations of Christianity, and we’d like the census form to reflect this.

Others in the Pagan community think we should continue to use ‘Pagan dash’, so that we don’t rob the various sub-groups of Paganism of their true numbers. Apparently, if the numbers get big enough, they may rate upgrading to a primary category. (Come to think of it, there are various ‘denominations’ of both Wicca and Druidry too.) These people also argue that after the census we might be able to analyse the data and make a case for changes to the listing — but that won’t work if we don’t stick to our specific designations.

Some, like me, are still in confusion. I’ll probably end up putting ‘Pagan’ without further qualification. After all, my background and practices are highly eclectic. I could truthfully claim to be a Wiccan, a Druid, a ceremonial magician and a shaman. Just to complicate matters, I am sometimes invited to speak at the local Spiritualist Church, and I have no problem accepting. (Nor do they have any problem with me as a Goddess worshipper.) But the truth is I identify as a witch, albeit one who has been influenced by other paths. I tend to call myself a ‘contemporary eclectic Wiccan’. I’d like to at least put Wiccan. If I were to put ‘Pagan — Wiccan’ that’s where I’d be placed, so why not be direct about it? On the other hand, if ‘Pagan dash’ achieves nothing, it might be worth opting for ‘Pagan’ alone this time.

In the end we’ll all make up our own minds. Pagans are much inclined to think for themselves! In any case, I thought it would be remiss of me not to address the question in this blog. The least I can do is lay out the issues before you, so that you may come to your own conclusions.

Safety

Mark Hepworth of PAN (Pagan Awareness Network) points out that some people have in the past been afraid to admit to any of the Pagan faiths for fear of repercussions. It’s sad but true that marriages, jobs and friendships can be lost because of our spiritual paths — but not via the census. The information is highly confidential and very well guarded. So, Aussie Pagans, put something truthful!

Clairvoyance and Cold Calling

2011-07-04T08:00:00.004+10:00

Sometimes the local Spiritualist Church invites me to be a guest speaker, on any topic I’m guided by Spirit to address. They are Christian, but open-minded enough to understand and respect my focus on Deity as Goddess and to pray, themselves, to ‘Father and Mother’, knowing that God is either or both (as well as beyond all categories). Afterwards I usually do some quick, public psychic readings for individuals in the congregation. I don’t normally attend the church on other occasions, but yesterday Spouse and I went along because Joan, a locally famous clairvoyant, was going to be there giving brief messages for people. A psychic medium myself, I seldom have the opportunity to be on the receiving end.

Due to time constraints, the messages were indeed brief and not for every person present, so I was thrilled when she stopped in front of me and asked, ‘Who’s Florence?’ I told her, ‘That’s my Nana.’ Then she asked, ‘Who was it who learned piano?’ and I said, ‘That’s Mum.’

‘They’re both here,’ she said, ‘Sending you lots of love.’ She asked who loved fishing, and who was a member of a Masonic Lodge (she could see him dressed up in the costume). They were my stepfather and my Dad, respectively. She then said she was getting the name ‘Keith or Kath’. I hesitantly suggested my Aunty Kathleen, but added that she never called herself Kath, in fact hated that abbreviation of her name. It was much later that I realised it was more likely a close family friend called Keith, who boarded with us for years when I was a schoolgirl and died shortly before my Mum did.

The spirits told her that I love reading, that I read lots and lots of books, and mentioned the word ‘library’. I was always a bookworm, and I was a librarian for 18 years.

She mentioned someone called Bill. Spouse and I both knew it had to be my previous husband, who died in 1995. ‘What’s he got to say for himself?’ I asked. She said, ‘He’s saying he likes your new curtains.’ Yes, we have recently got new curtains. I laughed, ‘That’d be Bill.’ I recognised it as his way of making a little joke to confirm that he’s the one who pops in now and again when I feel a presence. He’s not the only one who does that, but there are times when I get a strong feeling it’s him. Now I know for sure. I could just hear him saying something like that, with a cheeky chuckle.

She didn’t get so much for Spouse, but did ask if he had a daughter. (Yes, he has.) She said, ‘I’m seeing a woman who’s connected to your daughter. I can see her holding the little girl’s hand. Again, both Spouse and I knew this must be his first wife, who died last year. ‘She is sending lots of love to you and your daughter,’ Joan told him.

None of this was particularly dramatic. Mostly it was simply a message that these people who have passed on were sending their love. Yet it was exciting in a way to be told so, and certainly warming. With hindsight I notice that in each case she was given either a name or some very specific information that would identify the person exactly. For instance, his love of fly-fishing was one of the defining things about my stepfather, the thing that would of course be included if anyone told you about him.

She knew nothing about me or my circumstances, and the messages were delivered very quickly; she wasn’t probing or anything — yet she was correct about the new curtains, the love of reading, and the library connection, all very specific things that you wouldn’t get if you were faking.

Not that I suspected her of faking. Her reputation is excellent. But a few months ago one of my writers’ group said she has trouble believing in psychics because she has read how easy it is to do ‘cold calling’, a technique for faking the ability by being sufficiently vague to start with and watching the client’s body language. She tried it on me in front of the group for a few minutes to demonstrate, and was jubilant when my facial expression confirmed one of her guesses.

The rest of the group wanted to get on with writing, so I cut short the experiment there. Afterwards, as at least one other person there had had a reading from me, I wished I‘d said, ‘Tell her how I do it‘ — because I use Tarot cards and a crystal ball, and when I use the crystal ball I don’t scry, I touch it and close my eyes. In other words, I’m not watching the client’s body language at all. When I use the cards, they are pre-shuffled and spread in an untidy heap from which clients are invited to let themselves be drawn to the right ones. That is, they themselves select the cards. And, although the cards have room for interpretation, they do have particular meanings which can’t be too far departed from.

The sceptical writer did assure me she wasn’t alleging that I did cold calling; she was just saying it made it hard for her to trust psychics. It hurt a little all the same. It was very, very close to saying she thought I might be doing that (or else that I must be fooling myself). Hard to justify what I do, though, when I’m the one doing it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, i.e. it’s the clients who can verify my ability — or not. That’s why it was good to notice that Joan could not have been faking. She didn’t fish around, she jumped straight in with details that weren’t a bit vague and couldn’t have been guessed. They were accurate for the people she was talking to, in very specific ways. And, like me, she had her eyes shut a lot of the time whilst tuning in.

Yes, there are fakes out there. Don’t let that blind you to the fact that some of us are genuine.

Healing Course: a Personal Perspective

2011-05-04T13:36:00.008+10:00

My certificate says, Soul, Mind and Consciousness Technologies for the New Age.

This course derives from Russia. It consists of amazing methods and is full of useful information. Our teacher, having learnt some parts of it from here (Australia), went to Russia with a group of her friends/colleagues, to train more fully with its originators.

I didn’t know these specific techniques before. I did, however, know others somewhat like them. They are basically visualisation and intention exercises, in very specific and thorough detail. What is startling is that in Russia these techniques are developed by scientists! In the West we are more used to scientists pooh-poohing such notions.

It was three long days.

The Beloved Spouse was the one who was mad keen to do this course; he’d heard about its many wonderful, documented results and Carol, our teacher, had shown him some of the methods already. It was she who urged me to do it with him. We’ve done a lot of work with her over the years, and she said it wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t there. Fine with me; I was interested to learn, and had time to get the money together.

Spouse didn’t last past the first day! He is 82, has severe arthritis in his legs, habitually uses a wheely walker, and takes a couple of longish naps every day. Being ready at 8am to be picked up to drive to Coolangatta, participating all day in energy work that finished at 5.30, then the long trip home ... I was surprised he managed it at all. He had help from some lovely ladies from Adelaide, spiritual/energetic healers, who asked during the lunch break if they could give him some hands-on. That must be what kept him going through the afternoon — that and the techniques we were practising. He was very tired, mentally and physically, by the time we got home.

Next morning it was clear he wouldn’t be coming.

‘I’ll do it for both of us,’ I said, leaving him happily in bed reading the morning paper.

I phoned him at lunch time. He took a while to answer, but I’m used to him moving slowly. He said he’d been having a shower. He sounded well, and delighted to hear from me.

Fall

When I came home that night, I saw one of our dining chairs lying on its side, and just beyond that a wet towel on my desk chair near the phone. I could picture him grabbing the back of the dining chair in haste to get to the phone, and it giving way under him.

‘Did you fall over today?’ I asked. He said he had, when he was running to answer the phone. He hadn’t been going to tell me, and asked how I knew.

I was upset with him. ‘Don’t run!’ I told him. He has become somewhat prone to falls. He assured me he wasn’t hurt. I know his bone density is excellent, and obviously nothing was broken, but I examined him for new bruises. None. OK.

Next day, the final one of the course, I decided not to phone! When I came home he was showered and dressed, waiting at the open door for me all smiles.

The TV was on, and it looked as if crowds of people were having a street party.

‘What’s all this?’ I asked. He told me about the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden. At lunch time he had come out to watch the news, and because it was that particular news he hadn’t stopped watching all day. He confessed he’d had no lunch. Well, I had a good dinner planned.

Lump

After dinner, he noticed a lump on the back of his head, undoubtedly the result of his fall the previous day. I felt it too. Pretty big! I got upset again. But it was after dark: too late to see the doctor. He was due to get a blood test next day and see the doctor a couple of days later.

Should I take him to hospital? We don’t have a car just now; it would mean taxi or ambulance. He said his head didn’t hurt, and seemed otherwise fine. I gave him some Reiki and also used one of the techniques I’d just learned.

Today the lump is much smaller. He hasn’t had a temperature. He is quite vague, but that’s nothing new.

Legs

On the second afternoon of the course, not knowing about his fall, I focused on his arthritis when we learned a technique for getting rid of pain. We were working on ourselves but, because he and I have such a strong energetic link, I was able to include him. As we were going to bed that night, I asked about his legs.

‘There’s no pain,’ he said. This was the first time for months that he had been without pain in his legs! (If only I had known about his fall, and the lump on his head, as soon as it happened! Well, what’s done is done and at least I’ve been working on it since.)

Resurrection

One thing the course taught was a technique which can even bring back those who have died. (It needs to be fairly soon after death, while the soul is still with the body.) The ladies from Adelaide said they too had an absent healing technique which could do that, and with Carol’s permission — she was only too thrilled — taught it to the rest of us. They told us details of two cases where they’d used it successfully, and because the cases were well documented, they knew from the time of the revivals that it was their work that made the difference.

There is also plenty of documentation by the Russian scientists for their methods.

Cancer

There was a technique which was presented as particularly suitable for cancers. One woman who accompanied Carol to Russia told us that, just before she went, she developed symptoms that suggested bowel cancer. Her doctor wanted to get her into hospital for an exploratory. But she was off to Russsia almost immediately, so she figured she’d have to do something herself. When she learned this particular technique, she applied it assiduously, and within the week her symptoms ceased and have not returned. I can only say she looked radiantly healthy, and a lot younger than she did last time I saw her, a couple of years ago!

Why was I there? / What did I get out of it?

I made a strong connection with one of the Adelaide ladies, Mary. She is very psychic, and was spontaneously given an important message for me.

It seemed ironic that Spouse was the one who’d wanted to do the course, while I was lukewarm, yet I ended up being the one to complete it while he dropped out. Perhaps that was so I could meet Mary, I thought. Or perhaps because the Universe knew my Beloved wouldn’t last the distance and arranged that I would be in a position to teach him at a more leisurely pace. Or both.

I certainly met some lovely people I was glad to connect with. On the first day I had to face my judgmental attitudes towards some who irritated me in various ways. (Luckily I didn’t have to reveal this publicly; it was just a thing I noticed.) By the end of the third day I had shifted a lot.

If the methods I learned were variations on things I’d already come across, still it is good to be reminded of ways of working which I had let slide, and to find out some new approaches within those ways.

My understanding of the mind-body-spirit connection was deepened.

On the other hand ...

I have some regrets, too. If I had stayed at home the second and third days, there wouldn’t have been a fall or a lump! I had already received my message from Mary, so that would have made no difference. I already had all the course notes, and could have taught myself.

Spouse had some recurrence of pain in his legs for a short time, but I’ve been doing some of the new techniques with him, and it’s not there now. His legs are very weak though, and he has trouble standing unsupported. He is childlike in some of his thoughts and reactions, but that comes and goes. He has little appetite, which is unusual for him, but he’s not getting much exercise to work up an appetite. I don’t know if the knock on the head has done serious damage. He was already deteriorating in some of these ways in recent weeks. By the time I found out about his lump, it was a bit late anyhow — but I’ll be glad to see our doctor tomorrow. I’ll also be very interested to see how my Beloved is in a few more weeks or months.

Meanwhile

There are things I learned which I am using to help my own energy levels, and they’re working amazingly well. I had been feeing so tired and burdened; now I’m not at all. Yet my circumstances haven’t changed.

P.S. The doctor’s receptionist has just phoned to say he wants to see us this afternoon, which pleases me enormously. Energy works in mysterious ways! (Spouse’s blood sugar’s high, which could explain a thing or two.)

Spirit Timing

2011-04-18T19:54:00.007+10:00

My husband came across some automatic writing I did in 1995 (a form of channelling I explored for a while). We were asking our guides questions, and the answers came in the writing.

One practical question my husband asked was: 'Should I start a vegetable garden and where should I put it?' He received a practical answer:

'You need it near the house, not too far away. Yes you should start it. A good aspect will be below the clothesline, where there is sun, and moisture in the earth. It will be bigger than you think. You should make it a long plot, not a square one. You will have help.'

We did have help. A neighbour who knew a lot about gardening came and chose the place for us — on the opposite side of the house from the clothesline — and dug the earth. We grew cos lettuces that looked like small trees with long, straight stems, and pumpkins that proliferated so fast that we thought they were about to take over the earth!

We've had a number of moves since then, and gave up trying to grow veggies. Finally we have arrived in our permanent home. Due to the recent floods, produce has risen high in price — a good time and place to think of growing our own again.

I found a convenient garden bed in a good location for sunlight and water. We're a bit old for digging now, so I asked our wonderful, all-purpose handyman. He dug it over, put down mulch, made sure some vents low in the wall woud not get blocked by dirt, and advised that starter kits would be easier than seedlings.

Then this piece of automatic writing turned up. It's eleven years old — and it describes exactly what has happened here and now. Our new vegetable garden is below the clothesline, near the house, where there is sun, and moisture in the earth. It's a long plot, not a square one. We had help. At this moment it's not bigger than we thought; we'll have to wait and see about that bit. There is room for it to extend; that's all I can say. But everything else fits.

It seems that our guides might have been referring to our present situation!

Eleven years ... an infinitesimal period for Spirit.

Can You Heal Without Reiki?

2011-04-01T21:12:00.000+11:00

Actually we all have healing hands. Some people have them noticeably and naturally; others can feel this immediately when those hands touch them. But if you weren't born with this obvious gift, and you never did a Reiki course either, you can still do hands-on healing. We all have healing energy within us, and the hands are the natural tool with which to use it. You just have to dig a bit deeper to find it.

The thing to do is to rub your hands together to bring the healing energy up into them. When they're warm or tingling, place them on whoever needs the healing, yourself or another person. Trust that it will work, and let your intuition tell you where to put them and how long to leave them there.

Be careful not to deplete your energy. This will happen if you do too many healings in a short space of time. You might have to experiment to find out how many you can comfortably handle in a day. If you're not setting up as a practitioner, you probably won't get that many anyway.

Depletion is not a problem with Reiki, because we're not using our own electro-magnetic energy fields; we tap into the Universal energy, which never runs out. The smart answer to the question is, if you've never learned Reiki, learn it! But you might have your own rasons for not wanting to, or for not wanting to yet. Don't let that stop you in a case of emergency, if you can't get medical help or while waiting for it to arrive. There IS something you can do to help.

Also, of course, there are many other good modalities around, and one of them might suit you better. Again, many of them don't tap into the Universal energy, so you would have to use commonsense in looking after yourself as well as your clients. But you could always add Reiki later, which would enhance whatever else you might do. And if not — they are still good modalities.

Reiki etcetera

2011-03-30T22:49:00.018+11:00

I started a blog with that name a few months ago.

But I've got so many blogs it's ridiculous. I've decided to incorporate that one here.

Reiki, and other forms of healing which I do, are all about energy really; so is the practice of magick. I have even been known to express the opinion that Reiki is an Order of Magick — though I expect few if any other Reiki Masters would agree. Depends on your definition of magick, perhaps. Mine is: Magick is just science for which we haven't yet found the scientific explanation. Also, Reiki traditionally has three Degrees. Certainly it can seem magickal in its effects!

Anyway, look for the 'Reiki' and 'HEALING' labels for posts on those subjects. Some of them will show up on dates earlier than this, when they were first written, so you may have to hunt for them. Just click on the appropriate label. ('HEALING' is a broader category than 'Reiki', hence the capitals.)

Esbat and Sabbat

2011-03-22T17:49:00.011+11:00

For those who don’t know, Esbats are our full moon celebrations, and Sabbats are the eight seasonal festivals on the Wheel of the Year.

The night of the Supermoon on the 19^th was wet and overcast here; there was never a chance of seeing that full moon, which was so unusually close to the earth. Yet the rain was timely, as that night had been designated worldwide, by an environmentally conscious online group, as a time to honour water and perform rituals to bless the world’s water. We were advised to go and fill bottles with water from a river or lake, then put the full bottles on our altars to receive blessings ongoingly.

I’m too old to go traipsing around the countryside looking for the nearest accessible body of water! Instead I stood out in the rain, cast circle, spoke a blessing, and held out a small blue glass bottle for the rain to fall into it.

It was very fine rain that night, so the bottle didn’t fill up. I stood it upright in the garden against the wooden boundary of a herb bed, resting securely in a little hollow in the soil. We have had several sharp showers since then, but they have been brief; the bottle is only about one-sixteenth full — and it’s a tiny bottle. This is going to take time. Never mind; I can bless it where it stands. The herb garden, private and enclosed, protected by the neighbours’ trees, has become my favourite place for ritual. That corner of it can be a special altar to water for the time being.

The night of the full moon was closely followed by Mabon (we being in the Southern Hemisphere). The loosely-knit group of Pagans we’ve been celebrating Sabbats with this last year has gone into temporary hiatus, as we and others have found ourselves dealing with pressing personal matters all at the same time. We think of each other at such times, and send greetings, but for those without easy access to other gatherings, our celebrations at present are solitary or in couples.

LightStar and I kept things simple. It being Mabon, a harvest festival, we each made a list of the things we were glad to have harvested in the last little while. Most but not all of them were intangibles. We have arrived at much enjoyment of life on a day-to-day basis.

Mabon takes place at the Autumn Equinox, when the light and dark are evenly balanced. After that, the lengthening of the darkness into Winter begins. Darkness is a time for spells of banishment, so it was also appropriate to list the things we wanted to release and be rid of.

Then we went out into the herb garden, again in very fine rain, cast circle, and declared to the elements our thanks for our harvest and our intention to release the unwanted items. My cast iron cauldron, which lives outside, had a little water in the bottom even though it had been under shelter. I tried to burn the harvest lists; it was difficult as they got wet. So I made a virtue of necessity, thanking the fire and water which had already touched the paper, then crumpling what was left of it into a tight ball and throwing it into the air, finally burying it in the earth, thanking air and earth too.

My cauldron is an old Dutch oven with a lid. The lid was dry, so I inverted it and burnt on it the lists of items to be released. I wanted just fire for that, to release them without delay. Fire is the quickest energy. They burnt right down to ash. Two tiny bits of paper took more time to burn after the rest had gone. I looked, and saw that they were the single items from each list which the person concerned had most trouble letting go of! But burn they did, all the way, taking only a little longer than the rest.

LightStar thought of another thing to release, so he shouted it confidently into the air, arms outstretched in the appropriate gesture.

Then we opened the circle, came inside and made love. No, it wasn’t Beltane, but lovemaking is always an appropriate conclusion to magickal work. ‘All acts of love and pleasure,’ says the Goddess, ‘are My rituals.’

Just now I brought the cauldron inside, scrubbed it, coated it inside and out with olive oil, and put it in a slow oven to re-season. It shall live indoors in future, when it’s not in use.

Are We Helpless in the Face of Disasters

2011-03-14T14:44:00.000+11:00

Not entirely.

Once the flood, fire, earthquake or tsunami has happened, we can't undo it. But it's always useful to send Love energy to such situations, and to the people in them and the places where they occur. If you're a Reiki practitioner, Reiki is one of the easiest ways to do that. Beam it at the TV screen when you're watching the news footage — either to the general scene or to individuals who are shown, or both. When you see those scenes in your head later, as you're bound to, again visualise and intend to 'zap' them with that energy or surround them in it.

This is a huge act of faith, as you will never know if it did any good. It is a time to recall the many instances when you have been able to get feedback and to know that Reiki helped a person or situation. Knowing that, trust that it will help in the large-scale disasters also, and remember that some Reiki is better than none.

Sometimes weather magick can prevent threatened disasters. Witches would probably just light a candle. In his book Urban Shaman, Serge Kahili King recounts instances of shamans banding together to successfully turn away destructive weather from population areas. Group energy is very powerful; for that reason it is also effective to take part in such events as world-wide meditations at specific times.

For people who aren't shamans or witches and don't know how to use Reiki, heartfelt prayer is also powerful. So are 'Love projections' where you get into a semi-meditative state and focus Love towards the person / place / situation. You can visualise it as white light if that makes it easier — or rainbow light, or pink light, or green, or gold — so long as you hold the understanding that this light is an expression of Love energy.

Humanity has been told by many teachers over the centuries that Love is the essential for making our lives work, having ourselves and our planet be healthy. It's a very difficult thing to do, to stay always in that state. Most of us have to catch ourselves —eventually! — when we fall out of it, pick ourselves up and start again. It is worth persevering. There is nothing that is so much worth doing.

I am now in my 'senior' years, with a great deal of life experience behind me. It becomes more and more apparent to me that Love is indeed the only thing that really matters. It's vital.

Drama and Discord; Entities and Groups

2011-03-01T10:59:00.004+11:00

What if there were energies which fed off human emotion? What if they were particularly nourished by drama, discord, fear, self-doubt and denial? What if , therefore, they sought to destabilise human societies, and also small groups and individuals?

What if a group of friendly Pagans of different backgrounds were to come together regularly to share fellowship and ideas? Wouldn’t this group be an obvious magnet for the destabilising energies? All the more so because such a group of Pagans would have the potential to be a force for peace and harmony in the world — which any destabilising entities would have a vested interest in preventing.

There are such entities, as many healers, psychics and energy clearers can attest. Whether you think they are conscious, sentient beings or some kind of unthinking force; whether you believe they come from ‘out there’ or are products of our own psyches — the effect is what counts, and that can be devastating. As humans, we need eternal vigilance to stay in our strength as beings of radiant energy, and not be undermined. It’s all too easy to get lax and not notice. In fact, the majority of human beings don’t even realise there is any such danger.

For those of us who do, it’s important to maintain whatever practices keep our own energy clear — meditation, the Middle Pillar exercise, Reiki or whatever. (These are not mutually exclusive, by the way.)

Then there is the energy space we inhabit and move around in. It’s easy to get into blame and self-justification in our interactions with people. I do it too — don’t we all! But what if the real problem is something in the space between us? For instance, at times when my husband and I get testy with each other, if we remember to have a look at what’s between us instead of just getting caught up in the emotions, we always find some extraneous energy needing to be cleared. This is not a function of the subject of dissension. (It’s possible to disagree calmly, even about cherished principles.) When things get heated, it’s worth being aware of the possibility that something else is stirring up the violent emotions.

If you can’t see or sense energy, and if you don’t have a clearing technique, you can simply ask the angels to clear whatever there may be in your space that is promoting doubt, denial or discord. They will respond and help!

I don't mean to excuse bad behaviour; I do mean to say it's important to minimise it.

It would be inhuman to go through life with no anger, worry, doubt, etc. It’s useless to try and be saintly by suppressing such things. But it’s also harmful to give vent to them in a way that draws to us the very entities that escalate them. It is true that, if we have a genuine grievance with another person, the best thing to do is to talk it out with them (rather than bitch about them to others). However it would be good to clear one’s own energy first and not be speaking from the agitated emotions.

Sad things recently happened in a group I belong to, where tensions and misunderstandings escalated until some permanent divisions resulted. I’m remiss, in that I too got caught up in the ‘he said, she said’ even while trying to promote peace.

It starts with me. I too easily let my practices slip. Time to re-institute them on a daily basis. If I slip again, as humans can, I’ll hope to catch myself fast and resume. (Maybe a post-it note on the bathroom mirror would save me from forgetting!)

And I do think, for everyone involved in a group, it’s important to use whatever techniques we have to keep the group energy clear. If you have no special techniques, it’s effective to send love to the group as whole (visualised as white light if you find that helps) or to pray for its collective peace and wellbeing.

The facilitator of one online healing group I belong to sends out regular reminders for each of us to send healing to the whole group and to the extended families of all members. This is a lovely habit, which takes only a few minutes and would be good for any group.

Let’s not forget our interactions on the practical, everyday level, including those in group contexts. How good it would be if in all circumstances we could give the highest priority to taking tender care of each other.

P.S. My friend Ursula posted a comment in another forum, making a very important point which is something I wish I'd also said in this post — so I am quoting her here:

It's true, I believe they do exist AND still, the drama, discord, fear, self-doubt and denial must be in us first for them to find food for their energies.....still we must be responsible for what we put out there and who and what it attracts......which by its presence tells us what's inside us........if we were all love they'd never find us!!!

Harvest

2011-02-02T23:11:00.004+11:00

Lughnasadh yesterday (in the Southern Hemisphere): a harvest festival, a time to be grateful for what we have reaped.

What, we asked ourselves, was sown six months ago, of which we now reap the harvest?

Then we remembered — six months ago he was in hospital with an infection that galloped out of control. It was a very distressing time for both of us. ‘If you weren’t knocking on the Pearly Gates,’ said our doctor afterwards, ‘You were at least standing in line.’

By now that’s far behind him.

His life — that’s a harvest we’re both grateful for!

Car Spells

2011-01-31T23:10:00.006+11:00

Several witchy friends have had car trouble lately. Maybe it's because we all drive old cars, lol. One of the group put out a request for car spells, and another promptly replied saying that she always carries a piece of turquoise in her car as it is a stone for travel protection. She's sure it has helped stave off imminent breakdown!

I had never thought of doing spells for that purpose. I suppose that's because I, and others who can, tend to use Reiki. But not everyone is qualified to do that. Why not spells?

I do use both magick and Reiki for safety when driving — thinking more of accidents than mechanical disfunction.

I like quick and easy magick that doesn't need physical ingredients; in other words, I use my mind — my intention and visualisation. I wash both my vehicle and myself through with light: the white light that is the energy of the Universe, the rainbow colours of the Universe, and gold for Universal protection. Then I put around both car and me an egg-shaped cocoon of blue-white light as a shield.

(It's not enough just to 'white-light' your car. I remember a girl who did that once when she was illegally parked, hoping to protect it from the eyes of parking inspectors. She got a heavy fine! If you don't specify what the light is for, it can act as a beacon, making your car more noticeable to either cops or robbers. You need to be precise in your intention.

In any case, I think it's a very grey area to be using magick to help you get away with breaking the law, when your reason for breaking it is mere selfishness or laziness. Perhaps it's not surprising that didn't work for her.)

Does anyone out there have any good car spells they're willing to share?

New Year Exercise

2010-12-29T10:31:00.004+11:00

A friend of mine posted this on facebook. I think it's a beautiful and practical ritual for the time of year — akin to things witches do at some Sabbats, and very appropriate for this time in the calendar year also. I'll be doing it!

On one piece of paper I write all that I'm glad for, that came with the year that is passing. I add it to my altar or under a seven-day candle, flowers or any other reverent, symbolic item in my home or where I'm staying.

On another piece of paper I write all that I'm glad to be rid of. I get a metal bowl or if I have a fire place or fire pit, I go there, light the paper that contains all I'm rid of and burn it to ash; then let the ashes go.

On a third piece of paper, I write what I'm keeping, allowing to grow and inviting into my life in the new year. I sign the document and tape it to my door.

Saying Goodbye

2010-12-07T14:15:00.000+11:00

Once we were very close, for a long time. Then some things happened which had us end the friendship. We moved to different parts of the country. Seven years passed. I heard she was very ill. I got in touch via her daughter; did absent healing and got others doing it too; sent her a crystal which was supposed to be good for her condition....

All the time, I felt that she was in the process of leaving. I had an impulse to phone but it turned out she was already in hospital with 'not long now'. I kept picking up that she had come to terms with it and was very peaceful. Others got the same impression. Tapping into that, I have been strangely peaceful myself.

Yesterday afternoon I sat down and communicated via Reiki II, which allows for a detailed conversation. I said the things I needed to, and heard what she had to say. I felt a very strong heart connection the whole time. I asked if she wanted me to light a candle for her after she was gone and say the Prayer for the Dead. Yes, she did.

Last thing last night I sat down and wrote my verse for Tanka on Tuesday:

non-stop rain here
the weeks of her dying there
too far away
I say my goodbyes in thought
listening to the rain fall

This morning a friend emailed that D had just passed, at 10.36 am. About an hour later I had myself and the temple ready, and my Spouse sat with me as I lit the candle and recited the prayer:

I light this candle for D. May her spirit pass through the portal betwixt this world and the next and find rest and peace. May her time spent in the land of light be profitable that she may learn the lessons necessary for the next stage of her journey towards God. May D be at peace and at rest. Peace be with you.

I spoke it aloud. He said it with me silently, in his mind, and added — he told me afterwards — some farewell words of his own.

We left the candle burning. It's a flat tealight candle, sitting in a big oven-proof dish with high sides, for safety. Unattended, yes, but I look in now and then. There is no wind in there, and nothing positioned to catch alight. It is burning quietly and steadily. When it is all burned down, the ritual will be complete.

The Power of Thought

2010-10-31T14:00:00.002+11:00

It was a gathering of 'wise women' run by my friend Dinah. She spoke of the power of thought, and how important it is to take care of what we think. Then she demonstrated by kinesiology, i.e. muscle testing.

A volunteer, Charm, left the room. Dinah whispered to the rest of us that during the testing we were to think of Charm's arm as a piece of limp seaweed. Sure enough, when she came back and Dinah conducted the test, the poor woman couldn't hold her arm firm no matter what. Then Dinah took her out of the room again, and we heard her saying,

'You were under psychic attack just then.'

We didn't hear what else she said, but when she returned she whispered to us to think of the arm this time as a gold bar. During the second test Charm's arm stayed absolutely firm. Then Dinah told us that during the first test Charm had no instruction about her thinking, but the second time she too was told to think of her arm as a gold bar. So that time we not only had a powerful thought in itself, also we were all aligned on it.

'Imagine what it's like for people in the public eye,' said Dinah. She mentioned a well-known Australian who became a fugitive from justice after his actions caused hardship to many people, and who appeared to have got away to a life of luxury.

'He had so many people wishing him ill,' she said, 'And he got cancer and died.'

I thought of others to whom this applied: corrupt politicians, other fugitive criminals, those awaiting trial…. It happens frequently, when there is a lot of publicity surrounding such cases, that the people become seriously ill and die before the law catches up with them, or soon afterwards. Often it is cancer that kills them.

Next, Dinah asked a volunteer to stand in the centre of the circle, focus her thoughts above her head, and think:

'I'm really stupid'.

Then Dinah pushed her very gently on the shoulder with one fingertip, and the woman fell backwards. Luckily Dinah had positioned someone behind her to catch her!

Then she asked the same woman to focus her thoughts into her dan tien or hara (an inch and a half below the navel) and if necessary sink roots deep into Mother Gaia as well, and to think a strong, empowering thought. After that, she pushed the woman's shoulder again, much harder than before, but this time the woman stood firm without the slightest effort. Then we all tried that one on each other, with the same results every time. Sometimes, with the strong thoughts, the person's shoulder gave way just a little before firming up. People shared their strong thoughts afterwards. They included,

'I am very strong,' 'I'm smart,' 'I'm a powerful witch' and so on.

One woman stood particularly firm and strong, not the slightest wobble. What was her thought, we asked.

'I am the Goddess!'

We cheered.

The Feast of Beltane

2010-10-30T22:48:00.006+11:00

Sunset ritual: Beltane fire
tonight on a hilltop
ringed by mountains.

We walked up the path
two by two, singing.

One of us carried incense,
another a lit candle
to start the blaze.

And it blazed!
It crackled with heat.

As dusk deepened
we called the Archangels,
gave and received gifts.

We fed the fire with symbols.
Orbs of light danced with us.

We came back down
towards dark,
to strawberries and cream.

We drank lotus tea
spiced with mint.

Effective prayer

2010-10-24T10:34:00.001+11:00

... probably needs to be heartfelt.

A friend just shared this on facebook:

Anne Lamott (Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith) ~
"Here are the two best prayers I know:
'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'"

A Nose for Healing

2010-10-22T00:00:00.006+11:00

I can be slow on the uptake! Our cat Freya has been rather clingy of late. In particular she likes to get on the bed when we retire for the night and come up close to be stroked. She stays there a long time, purring under our hands. This is a new development.

I noticed recently that she was looking a bit off colour and took her to the vet. Early kidney disease! (She is 12 years old.) She is now being treated to prevent it getting any worse and seems to be responding well.

Finally the penny dropped about her bedtime behaviour — she is ensuring that she gets her regular Reiki treatments!

I should have realised. Cats, like other animals, love Reiki.

Freya, as explained in another blog, is a reincarnation of a previous cat, Sam, who had feline leukemia but lasted many years becase of Reiki. He had a nose for healing hands and would leap into the arms of any newcomer to the house who happened to be a healer. In this incarnation too, living with two Reiki Masters, Freya knows where to come to look after her health!

A Spell for Healthy and Abundant Water: a Blog Action Day post

2010-10-16T15:02:00.003+11:00

Although I had some difficulty registering my blogs with Blog Action Day this year, and didn't in the end, water is an important topic. Without sufficient clean water, we're in trouble!

Masaru Emoto, who discovered the effects on water of language and emotions, requests that when we use water — perhaps when having a shower, perhaps when drinking it — we say, 'Thank you water, bless you water, I love you water.' His advice is that this will help clear water pollution and help it to flow more abundantly. I believe him.

I suggest that, in witchy thinking, this little formula will function as a spell. Just imagine the energy we can generate if we all do it, and keep doing it!

Crystal Surprise

2010-09-28T07:46:00.007+10:00

I am, among other things, a crystal healer, so I ought to have known ... but we are all human, prone to forgetting the wonderful tools and techniques we learn along the way.

I've had a painful leg as a result of some heavy lifting. Arthritic, I suspect. At times I've had to walk with a stick. Various ways of trying to relieve it didn't work all that well. Moving around helped a bit. It was always worse if I'd been sitting awhile, and worst of all first thing in the morning, after lying in bed all night.

On impulse, two mornings ago, I picked up and put around my neck a clear quartz crystal on a cord, which I usually use as a pendulum. I have learned to follow my strong impulses, but didn't connect this with my leg in any way — until I realised, that evening, that I had been pain free all day. So I kept it on while I slept, and woke up still pain free. I haven't taken it off since!

I do get a slight twinge if I move the wrong way; the underlying condition is obviously still there, and I am taking steps to address it. (Getting a scan, booking in for physio...) But I can function normally and I don't need to walk with a stick.

It's just a tumbled crystal in a metal coil, but boy is it powerful!

Clear quartz is of course the all-purpose healer in the crystal world.

Wear a Big Pentacle Day

2010-09-23T11:09:00.007+10:00

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?drafts&id=681418588#!/event.php?eid=110031952376384&ref=mf

As the link explains, this event was created in solidarity with an American schoolgirl who was denied this right, although her Christian schoolmates were free to wear their crosses. There is some question about whether the report is strictly accurate — but I have certainly known an Australian schoolgirl to whom the same thing happened!

In the Southern Hemisphere, this event took place yesterday.

I tried to draw a pentacle on my forehead with eyebrow pencil, then with lipstick. But I am not good at drawing, and both attempts looked ugly — which was NOT the idea, so I cleaned them off.

My Celtic knot pentacle, which I wear all the time, is not all that big, and is ambiguous.

My plain, unequivocal silver pentacle is even smaller.

My Mother-of-Pearl star on a piece of coconut shell is big, but is not obviously a pentacle, and I'm sure was not really intended to be; it's just that I choose to use it that way.

So, none being entirely satisfactory for this purpose, I decided to wear all three so as to make a big enough statement. I draped them artistically at different heights on my chest, from smallest at my throat to largest over my diaphragm.

It was a bit of a non-event. I live on a quiet cul-de-sac in a very small town, don't go out to work 9-5, don't socialise a lot, didn't have any shopping to do.... The only place we had to go was a visit to the doctor at 11.30 am, where my three pentacles were not remarked upon and probably passed entirely unnoticed.

We were hardly home when a workman arrived to repair a cupboard. He was a friendly chap who did the job quickly and paid no attention to anything we were wearing, including my tiers of pentacles.

I decided, 'This is silly.' I had on a black top, and realised that the plain silver pentacle would be sufficiently striking against it, and perhaps even more noticeable on its own. So I left it on and took the others off.

After an afternoon spent only in the company of my husband and cats, I needed to do a small errand that involved walking up to the end of the street to visit our Seventh Day Adventist neighbour. 'This is it,' I thought, squaring my shoulders. He's a lovely man, respectful and tolerant of other denominations. We have spiritual discussions in which we find many points of agreement. He knows we don't attend church. However, I have avoided mention of the words 'witch' and even 'pagan' until he got to know us. He's often seen me wearing the Celtic knot pentacle, but that is not so obviously a pentacle. If he knows what it is, he's never let on. We're good pals now, so I decided to face up to it. He could not fail to recognise the plain pentacle, I thought.

It was dusk. He was sitting in dim light watching TV. We had a nice chat, fairly brief. It was still daylight when we went out to his garden so that I could pick some flowers he'd offered me. I imagined that he spotted the pentacle and looked a trifle pained for a moment — but that could have been imagination only. He said nothing about it, and I found no pretext for opening that discussion. I'll have to wait until the next time religion comes up in conversation.

I miss the big pentacle I used to have, which I ended up giving away some years ago. It was a whopper: plain, heavy nickel. It had a flaw, though; it wasn't quite circular. One section of the circle, between points of the pentacle, was straight, not curved — if it had been a drawing, you'd have thought the artist's hand had wobbled just there. It was hardly noticeable, however. A Pagan acquaintance loved this pentacle so much that, when I felt like a change, I gave it to him. Now I'd like to find another as bold and solid as that!

Put On the Spot

2010-09-10T22:53:00.005+10:00

I was speaking to one of my new neighbours.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing at my chest. I thought she meant the crystal pendant I was wearing and began to tell her about it, but she interrupted. ‘No, the other one.’

Oh — the pentacle.

‘It’s a Celtic knot,’ I said.

‘What does that mean?’

I held it up to show her. ‘It’s endless, so it symbolises eternal love. If you look closely, you can see a star in it, and also a stylised rose.’

Her expression softened. ‘Oh, it’s lovely.’

Wasn’t that cowardly? All true, but by no means the whole truth. I didn’t want to risk it with someone I’m going to be living near for the rest of my life. I don’t think they burn witches in this street, but some might have funny ideas about us as many people do. I’d like them to get to know me before giving them any cause for alarm.

What do you think? Should I have been upfront?

Say Her Name

2010-09-05T17:19:00.009+10:00

I heard her calling from folds of dreamt

stones

cupped for solstices and fossilized stars

saw

the cairns of her nubile breasts

erect

and the flece of her mound welcoming

curlews

I heard her roar rivers and hurricanes

lilt

soft saplings and pebbled beaches

teacher of dancing heresies

guardian of dark bestiaries

where she-wolf and seal mate

with the sins of men

witch of wrens and frosted sloes

sassy whore giving herself

to the impotent and the poor

nurturer of bog blackened bodies

feel her rip

feel her burn

feel her veins

poisoned

her flesh

her blood

dark harvests

and say her name

like you mean it

Mother

Dealing with the Common Cold

2010-09-04T14:31:00.002+10:00

Even Reiki Masters can get sick. We're all human, handling our lives and circumstances as best we can, and sometimes manifesting illness or injury in the course of doing so. Spouse and I have had head colds the last little while: very sneezy and a bit of a cough in the throat, nothing on the chest.

Along with my Usui Reiki, I learned about the metaphysics of illness. It's not, strictly speaking, a necessary aspect of Reiki; but a knowledge of what thoughts or emotions might be involved in the condition can help with any kind of healing.

Colds, I learned, can be an expression of grief. Just think of the symptoms — runny nose, streaming eyes, gasping, spluttering, choking; very similar to an outburst of hearty crying. If that's the case, best deal with the grief consciously and express it directly. It might be time to 'have a good cry' for real, not in a disguised fashion. It could also be helpful to write it all out. (You don't have to show anyone afterwards, if you don't want to.) You'll probably be well aware of what's causing you grief. If it's elusive, look instead for something external that upsets you (domestic violence, floods in Pakistan) or some past source of sorrow, and feel into that in order to release the tears.

Or a cold may be an excuse to take some time out, to 'have a bludge' as we say in Australia. If we're supposed to be at school or at a 9 to 5 job, we may well need a legitimate excuse — unfortunately. How much better if we could just give ourselves permission. If you need time out, you'd better take it if you can, hopefully without having to make yourself sick first.

If we know all this, how come we still got these colds? First of all, we're still human and fallible enough to forget what we know, or not to take enough notice of our needs in the first place. I'm far too inclined to push myself to get things done instead of taking life a bit slower and easier. Then, sometimes we want a break from things we're stuck with.

My Spouse is 81 and I'm now his official carer too. Doctors and friends tell us he's 'amazing for 81' and indeed he is — but he doesn't have the strength, stamina or concentration of a younger man. I now do a lot of things that he used to handle, from putting out the garbage to balancing the budget. And I'm 70 myself; one gets slower. At times I resent the fact that there's less time for what I call 'my own life': reading, blogging, movies, meditation.... He'd probably like a bit more of that kind of thing too, but he needs his daytime nap these days. We shouldn't complain, and we're not; many people younger than us have lesser quality of life. However, as I keep saying, we're human — there are times we'd like out of all this. I don't mean dying; we don't feel the least bit ready for that yet. But it would be nice if someone else would take over the hard work.

The trouble is, no-one's going to. We're not actually ready for the nursing home, either. We very much like our autonomy, thanks. And our children all live interstate or overseas. So here we are, wanting a bludge and not able to get it. What are we to do?

Have one, that's what! During the course of this cold, we have been having days in bed. Mostly in bed, that is. One does have to get up and get a meal now and then, but we've made them easy meals, like opening a can of baked beans. When I was kid, comfort food was tinned tomato soup with brown bread broken into it; we've been having that too. It feels like mothering myself. We've brought the laptop to bed and watched movies, while ignoring our email. We've caught up on our reading.

My domestic mentor (and thousands of other people's) FlyLady has been reminding me for years that 'you can do anything for 15 minutes' (not IN 15 minutes, please note) — after which you are supposed to spend the next 15 doing something for you, such as putting your feet up and having a cuppa. If only I would do what she says, I would be taking my time out every 15 minutes! (I must set my timer, I must set my timer, I must....)

FlyLady also teaches that 'housework done imperfectly still blesses your family', giving permission for the proverbial 'lick and a promise' when that's all there's time or energy to do. So why have I been feeling stressed for lack of time? Why am I resentful at not having enough time for 'my own life'? I've been being a martyr, that's why. Pushing myself beyond my limits, being perfectionist about things that don't warrant it, failing to get to bed at a decent hour (another of her precepts) and so on. FLY Lady is about Finally Loving Yourself. Time to put that into practice!

If you have a cold, perhaps it's time to take a vacation, or maybe you could drop some of your responsibilities for a little while. Maybe your parner could walk the dog; maybe the kids could water the plants. Perhaps it might be as simple as getting to bed a little earlier. That's when our bodies do their healing and repairing, when we rest.

What about Reiki? Metaphysics is a big part of the story, and you can speed up healing by addressing the metaphysics, but let's not neglect actual physical treatment of your ailment. Of course go to the doctor if you feel the need. What you think is a cold might be the precusor to something more serious; it's useful to get a diagnosis. If your doctor gives you advice, take it. It won't conflict with Reiki; they will enhance each other.

The place to Reiki yourself for the common cold, or anything infectious, is the thymus. Place a hand on your upper chest, with your thumb touching the collarbone; that will more than cover the right area. It's a very good idea to make a habit of Reiki-ing your thymus even if you aren't sick; prevention is so much better than cure!

If you listen to what your symptoms are telling you, and take care of the metaphysics, and consult your doctor, and give yourself Reiki — who says the common cold is incurable? If you just do the Reiki and nothing else, that will certainly help — Reiki is powerful stuff — but the full works shoud clear it even faster.

We've had our echinacea and zinc tablets which the doctor recommended. Spouse has just gone to lie down and have a rest. I'm going to get comfortable and do a bit of reading, holding one hand over my thymus while I read.

The Appurtenances

2010-08-17T00:33:00.003+10:00

It’s true that we don’t really need an altar; we can create sacred space anywhere, at a moment’s notice. It’s true we don’t actually need magickal tools; our hands and fingers are sufficient. All the same, both my Beloved and I were starting to feel that something vital was missing. We’re elderly, we’re slow, we’re busy, he got sick for a while ... it has taken us many weeks since moving house to finish unpacking the books and the magickal supplies, and set up the garage as library / consulting room / temple.

We’re still not quite there, but nearly. The pictures are on the walls, almost all the books have been put right way up and in their right order on the shelves, and some of the ornaments have permanent homes. The Reiki table and the little table for psychic readings are in place and have even been used.

Yesterday I finally created a makeshift altar on a couple of tea chests turned on their sides on top of each other like huge drawers. I set out the symbols of the elements, the big black cat statue that represents Bast, and the gnome through which I acknowledge the nature spirits. I stored wands and athames inside one of the ‘drawers’ and began to assemble the components of my crystal healing grid.

Sometimes, if you 'show willing', the Universe steps in. Unexpectedly, in a couple of days we are getting a real chest of drawers from friends who need to downsize. That will become the repository for magickal supplies, and the top will serve as our altar.

Meanwhile, it feels SO much better to have things set up, even in a temporary way. It changes the atmosphere.

Merry Meet and Merry Part — Isaac Bonewits

2010-08-14T08:00:00.001+10:00

I am remembering magickal author Isaac Bonewits, who died peacefully in his sleep on August 12th, with his family around him, from cancer. I never met him in person but valued him as an author and teacher who made great contributions to the Pagan community.

You can read his obituary here.

Experiencing the Divine

2010-08-13T10:02:00.004+10:00

Pagan Magic asked:

The town that I live in has quite a few churches, as I suppose many towns do - and each of them have posters which change weekly, asking questions such as 'Find God through Jesus', 'Have you found God?' - as a pagan I've always felt in touch with the divine spark - but these posters make me question the experience of Christians - do they connect to God like we do to ours? and then that got me to thinking, what experiences have other pagans had with God/Goddess/Creator.

Very much a musing question this week, but I hope that you'll get involved as I do enjoy reading the comments each week.

I said:

Well, I suppose Christians must answer for themselves, and that it would depend on the individual Christian. I see those posters as advertisements addressed to unbelievers, part of the evangelical impulse of the Christian churches. It also seems to have to do with the Christian concept of being 'saved', of finding God in that sense, involving a renunciation of 'sin'. These are all concepts which feel very foreign to me.

As for me, in childhood I was unquestioningly aware of the divine spark in all things. It was just there, part of what is. It was a surprise when I realised others didn’t always share that awareness. I learned not to speak of it but never became unaware. That, I think, would have been impossible.

I was always aware, also, of spirit beings of various kinds. Only I didn’t think of them in that way; they were just people who were around. Some of them were maybe a bit different, but the main difference was that, again, other people weren’t aware of them. There was one who seemed particularly protective, though not in any way that curtailed my freedom. He was humorous and wise (still is). It was many years later that a magician friend described his Patron Deity, Thoth, and I recognized that he was talking about the dude who’d been around me forever. That was pretty exciting as Thoth is, among other things, patron of poets. But mainly he’s a friend.

I have since met others on a personal level, usually — though not always — when 'journeying' (including Jesus, btw; he’s been around a long time too, as a friend, and in later years as my 'Master of Healing'). But the question was about God/Goddess/Creator, the Source of all, whom I sometimes refer to as Great Spirit or The Universe, and like to address as 'Mother'. I can’t think of a time when that energy hasn’t been present in my life. There has never been any need to 'find God'; God’s never been missing.

How Important Are Words?

2010-08-11T18:49:00.001+10:00

Pagan Magic asked:

We've all heard the phrase 'The pen is mightier than the sword' - have you found this to be true yourself, and how important is it to use the correct words in magical rites?

Aleister Crowley frequently relied on the etymology or origins of words to interpret their real meaning (Source: Goetia pxx Editors Foreword) - nowadays a lot of words have different meanings to their original ones - how does this affect magical workings.

I said:

As a poet, of course I think words matter enormously, in both sound and meaning. The sound vibration (the music of the words) is important, so is the message the words are intended to convey and we'd best use the most accurate words we can find. (Which can be quite tricky in languages like English, with many nuances and shades of meaning, many ways of saying the same thing a little differently!) Hopefully sound and meaning work well together.

In energy work, intention is indeed paramount and it's true that a wordless burst of emotion will communicate powerfully to the Universe and bring about the desired outcome. Energy is always the first thing that communicates. In an emergency, a forceful yell of "Help!" directed to the Deity or to one's personal guardians, either aloud or mentally, is as powerful a spell of protection as anything more elaborate. However, we do use words for communication, and even the yell of "Help!" does that. It makes sense that the words should accurately reflect the intention.

If you're doing a working in your own language and have clarity and certainty about your intent, I think there is room to improvise your own words, whilst attempting to make them as clear as possible. If you're working with traditional words from another language, best try to get the pronunciation and if need be the spelling correct, or you'd risk sending the wrong mnessage.

I added:

On the other hand, a small mistake probably won't spoil the working. E.g. I guess everyone glossed over my typo above and read "message". (No, I didn't do it on purpoise, but it IS a good example!)

and:

Oh no!

So is "purpoise".

My Magickal Self

2010-07-04T11:34:00.007+10:00

This originated as a meme on facebook. If anyone wants to know more about my background, this includes the little details one tends to forget in a more formal account.

Some of you may like to pick it up as a meme yourselves. If so, please let me know where you post it so I can have a read! (The comments hereunder could be one possibility.)

Do you have a magickal name?
Yes, I have a public magickal name, DragonStar Rose, and another known only to me and the Goddess. Both were bestowed by Her.

Does it have a special meaning?
Yes. The public one refers to the fact that I am friendly with a tribe of dragons from their own planet. The Rose is added because there are many people with the magickal name DragonStar. The private name is also meaningful.

How did you find Wicca/Paganism?
Delicious, thank you. (Yes, smart-arse answer. But read on.)

How long have you been practicing?
All my life, but I didn't always know that's what it was called.

Solitary or group practitioner?
Both, but most often solitary. I was part of a coven for a few years: very special people and although we are scattered now we have never lost that bond.

What is your path?
Contemporary Eclectic.

Are you out of the broom closet?
Yes. I neither hide it nor flaunt it, and if asked I am truthful.

Gods/Goddess
Goddess & Gods

Who are your patron Gods.
Thoth is specifically my patron; I am also treated kindly by a number of others: Pan, Cernunnos, Lord Narasimhadeva, Ra, and of course the various alter egos of Thoth (Hermes, Odin, etc.)

Who are your patron Goddesses?
I am under the specific patronage and protection of Arachne. And I am also watched over by Ariadne, Sekhmet, Maat, Tauret, and Ishtar/Inanna. Hestia blesses my home.

Do you fear dark aspects of the Gods/Goddess, or rather, respect them?
Not fear but respect - as i do all their aspects.

Do you worship the Christian God?
No, but I love and revere Jesus as an ascended master and my friend.

Do you ever worship animals? Or plants?
No. I honour nature though.

Do you regularly commune with nature?
Not regularly so much as frequently.

Ever walked barefoot in the woods?
Seldom, but sometimes.

Taken a camping trip just to talk to nature?
Not mad on camping. But communicating with nature is one benefit. However, there are other ways.

Describe the moment you felt closest to Mother Earth?
There are many.

What is/are your power animal(s)?
I think I'll keep that to myself.

Do you have a familiar?
One of my cats is my familiar. (The other is my protector.) I have had a number of familiars (one at a time), always cats.

Have you ever called upon the powers of an animal in ritual? Or a plant?
Yes.

Do you hug trees?
Sometimes.

Give them gifts?
Occasionally.

What is your favorite flower to work with?
I don't generally work with them.

What is your favorite tree to work with?
I relate to individual trees rather than species.

What are your favorite holidays?
Samhain

What is your least favorite holiday?
There isn't one.

Have you ever held a ritual on a holiday?
Yes whenever possible.

Ever taken a day off work to celebrate a pagan holiday?
It's always been possible to celebrate it without needing to do that.

Do you celebrate Yule on the 21st rather than the 25th?
I celebrate it on whichever day it falls in June.

Have you ever felt the Veil thin?
Absolutely.

Ever danced the Maypole?
Yes. Not often.

Know what the Maypole symbolizes?
Don't we all?!

Ever made love on Beltane?
Oh yes!

How do you usually celebrate the pagan holidays?
Home, alone, with a simple ritual generally.

Do you use Tarot?
Yes. I'm a professional Tarot reader and teacher, and used to be feature writer for The Magician, newsletter of the Tarot Guild of Australia.

Do you use runes?
Yes, I'm fond of the runes for my own use.

Do you use a pendulum?
Yes, and have taught its use and written a manual. Also have made many.

Do you use dowsing rods?
Sometimes. The pendulum is usually more convenient.

Do you use astrology?
No. I have a smattering, which can augment a Tarot reading, but I'm no astrologer.

Any other form of divination?
Pretty much all of them; also have created a number of oracles.

What was the first spell you did?
Goodness, I don't recall.

What was the latest?
Never you mind.

Ever done a love spell?
No, I think that's manipulative. I've done self-love spells, though.

A job spell?
Yes. For friends. (Haven't needed any for me.)

A healing spell?
Yes. Often!

What was the most powerful spell you've ever performed?
A banishing spell which had my friend's tormentor suddenly migrate to England.

Do you believe in Vampires? Werewolves? Shape shifters? Elves? Faeries? Dragons? Nymphs? Sprites? Mermaids? Sirens? Satyrs?
Yes - and the rest.

Ghosts/Spirits?
Yes.

Ever "seen" any of the above?
Yes.

Ever talked to any of the above?
Yes.

Ever called on any of the above in magick?
Yes.

Do you have one of them as a personal guardian?
Not just one.

Do you see a rabbit, a man or a woman in the moon?
None of the above. But when I see the moon, I understand that I am seeing the Goddess.

Own a cat?
Two. (Though I'd have to agree with others who point out that one does not exactly 'own' a cat; more the other way about.)

When you meditate what does your sacred/safe place look like?
That's private.

Do you work with Chakras?
Yes.

Do you believe in soul mates?
Yes, but not in the romantic version of only one forever.

Ever met one?
Yes. Several.

Do you have a Spirit guide?
Yes.

Is it always love and light?
Love and light are good. So are darkness and passion.

A Problem-Solving Technique: the Golden Key

2010-06-14T13:50:00.004+10:00

This might be considered more New Age than Pagan, more 'spiritual' than 'witchy'. No matter— magick is magick, and works regardless of systems and labels.

It is an astonishingly effective technique for ridding yourself of those problems which appear insuperable. I've used it a number of times, and can attest to that. My title is perhaps a bit misleading; it is not so much that the problems get solved, although they do — it's more that the problematic situations simply vanish from your life!

It originated with the great spiritual thinker and writer, Emmett Fox.

Here is a link to the complete text of The Golden Key.

And here, for good measure, is another article which explains it well.

What's a Witch, These Days?

2010-06-05T13:35:00.009+10:00

I read my last SnakyPoet blog post, about Wendy Rule’s recent concert, to the writers’ group.

‘What do you mean by the word ”witch” in a contemporary context?’ asked one. She wasn’t being smart; she genuinely wanted to know.

(I forget how little awareness of Paganism there is in the general community. When I mentioned to a friend — one who identifies with witchcraft, moreover — that I was going to a ‘Pagans in the Pub’ meeting, she hooted with laughter at the name, as if this were a clever joke that I had just invented instead of a well known way of getting together which goes on all over the country. But I dare say it’s not so well known if you've never subscribed to any publication listing the regular meetings.)

It was quite hard to explain contemporary witchcraft to someone for whom concepts that I take for granted were new. She wasn’t septical and had no axe to grind; evidently she had just been unaware of Neo-Paganism, even as a word. That was the first word I tossed off, thinking to give a quick answer, but it led to more questions. I found myself getting into the whole thing about witch versus Wiccan: how one can be a witch without being Wiccan, but not the other way about; that Wicca is the religion of witchcraft, but not every witch subscribes to it — for instance, there are Christian witches. (I didn’t mention it at the time, but I happen to know both Buddhist and Hare Krishna witches; I dare say the same applies in other religions.)

We got into magick and what that is, after I answered a question as to what I mean when I say specifically that I’m a witch: why that particular term? I answered that I cast spells and participate in magickal rituals. I explained magick as shifting energy to bring about a result in the everyday world. (I don’t think I expressed it as clearly as that, but it’s where we got to after I floundered around a bit.)

My questioner had spent time in Aboriginal communities and was aware of skills those people had which the white population, for the most part, lost long ago — telepathy, for instance. She wanted to know whether that was the sort of thing I meant. Was it the same as being psychic? And, having heard of the group spell casting at Wendy’s concert, she asked, ‘So does casting a spell mean getting together in a group and allowing the music to put you in a certain frame of mind?’ (Or words to that effect; I didn’t take notes.) She spoke of the way music can change one’s mood; was that what I meant by magick? If I didn’t mean these kinds of things, then how did I differentiate?

I ended up asserting that, whereas telepathy etc. are gifts which some people have more than others, witchcraft is something you DO. And it can be done either in circle or solitary. ‘Spells,’ I said, ‘Are active prayers. It’s like the way a Christian might pray alone at home, or might go to church and join in prayer with other people.’ That was understood.

I explained that there are all kinds of Pagans, as there are different denominations of Christians. (There are different kinds of Wiccans, for that matter, but the conversation didn’t get that far.) The question of Satan was left rather inconclusive. I trotted out the usual Wiccan line, ‘The devil is an invention of Christians’ but one of the group pointed out that there are Satanists who call themselves Pagans. I know this is so, but know little about them. I have the impression, however, that modern Satanism is about self-determination rather than evil deeds, and suspect that its adherents don’t worship the Christian devil — but I’m only guessing. (A quick google reveals various, very different ways of being Satanist.)

And then I told my story, in outline:

That I was a psychic child who was told it was her vivid imagination, and got the message that it wasn’t true and you’d better not think so or you must be mad. So I shut down hard for many years.

That eventually things happened which I couldn’t explain away. I struggled with them a long time, trying to find the rational explanation and eventually gave up and accepted the ‘irrational’, i.e. that these experiences were real. Upon which the floodgates opened.

That in the course of time I explored Druidry, Shamanism, Ceremonial Magick, but had a resistance to witchcraft — until one day I realised that of course I was a witch, had always been one (a recognition based on things I did as a child). It was a homecoming.

That nevertheless I think scepticism is healthy. There’s a lot of bunkum out there. After my floodgates opened, I used to joke, ‘Now I believe anything‘ — but I didn’t really. One of the writers asked, ‘How do you decide what to believe?’ I answered that I believe what I personally experience, and which I can’t explain away by ‘rational’ means. I told them my personal slogan of which I’m rather proud: ‘Magic is science for which we haven’t yet found the scientific explanation.’

For my story in more detail, click on the 'About this crone' tab above. I’ll flesh out those details further in coming months.

Should Practitioners Charge for their Gifts?

2010-06-04T08:51:00.002+10:00

Pagan Magic asked:

This is a question that I see a lot, and I would like to know the opinion of the people here.

Should a spell caster charge for their gifts - is it right to make money from the Craft, or should it be freely given?

I said:

I have a double standard. I charge for doing psychic readings and mediumistic work, and for any form of hands-on healing – except for very close friends and family with whom there is a lot of give-and-take and no-one could possibly keep track of who owes what to whom. For absent healings I don't usually charge; it becomes too complicated. In return I feel free to call upon other absent healers to help with any work I need for myself or others. Again there is that give-and-take operating amongst us. And so far I haven't charged for doing spellwork either, for similar reasons.

I do however like the point that others have raised, that when a spell is requested one has the right to ask for an energy exchange. I might do that if it were a member of the public asking rather than someone close to me. Mostly, however, clients ask in the context of readings or healings I'm doing for them. If possible I instruct them in how to do their own spells for their particular purposes, and incorporate that instruction into the time for which they're paying. If it's complex, though, I just tell them I'll 'do something' later. If they offer me a gift, or extra money, I accept; if not, no matter.

I have a friend who is able to 'see' people's energetic origins before their life in this place and time. She herself is what she calls a 'feathered angel', whose joy and purpose is to serve; so she never charges for the psychic information she is occasionally impelled to give someone. The first time I met her, she walked past my market stall while I was doing a reading, and caught my eye. She came back later to tell me – as others have done – that when I read I am plugged into Source. She added, 'You are a human being. You have chosen to do this work. Never let anyone tell you that you shouldn't charge for it. I never charge for what I do, because I'm an angel and it's my duty to serve. But you have chosen it freely and you have a right to be recompensed.'

I like what I recently heard a healer say (after working on my husband for free): 'I do some work for love and some for money. This one's for love. Aren't I lucky that I can choose to work for love or money?' I guess that's how it is for me too; and if the choice is sometimes arbitrary, well that's my right and privilege.

PS A young woman did once take me to task in the market for charging for spiritual work. She cited the case of 'a wonderful man named Edgar Cayce who never asked for money for the wisdom and healing he gave the world.' I was a bit flabbergasted and just reiterated that I was comfortable with what I was doing. I didn't think until afterwards to ask whether Edgar Cayce had a day job or people who supported him! (Of course I have some books about him, but they focus on his spiritual, not mundane life.) Personally I'm on the Age Pension, which is a frugal living, and the readings etc. merely supplement it within the allowable limits.

Later:

Re-reading [other answers, some weeks later] I think it rather depends on whether one treats it as the career / profession, or as something extra, outside one's everyday work.

If you're working as a shop assistant, accountant, hairdresser, plumber, you-name-it, then some form of donation or other energy exchange when you do magickal work for others might well be sufficient. It's fine to refrain from charging for the work if you are provided for by some other means.

But some of us choose to make this our actual occupation and source of income, and that's a valid choice too. Then it becomes like any other form of self-employment: a means to eat and pay the bills. It's just that we choose to work at something that is both our passion and our service. (Not unlike those who have a vocation for nursing, teaching, etc.)

In my case I used it to supplement the Age Pension within the limits legally allowed, as the Pension alone was impossible to live on when I was in private rental. Now that I have recently moved into Housing Department accommodation at lower rent, I've retired from my regular work as a psychic medium and energy healer, but will continue to help some people privately — for love, barter or money, as appropriate. I have been given gifts; I also spent much time, energy and even money developing them, and I'm good at what I do, so I don't have any qualms about being recompensed financially.

The Silent Prayer

2010-06-02T14:44:00.000+10:00

Found on the Wild Women page on facebook and reposted with permission:

In my heart, I accept my perfect Being.
I accept that the joy that I have intended is already in my life.
I accept that love I have prayed for is already within me.
I accept that the peace I have asked for is already my reality.
I accept that the abundance I have sought already fills my life...

In my truth, I accept my perfect Being.
I take responsibility for my own creations,
And all things that are within my life.
I acknowledge the power of Spirit that is within me,
And know that all things are as they should be.

In my wisdom, I accept my perfect Being.
My lessons have been carefully chosen by my Self,
And now I walk through them in full experience.
My path takes me on a sacred journey with divine purpose.
My experiences become part of All That Is.

In my knowingness, I accept my perfect Being.
In this moment, I sit in my golden chair
And know that I Am an angel of light.
I look upon the golden tray - the gift of Spirit -
And know that all of my desires already have been fufilled.

In love for my Self, I accept my perfect Being.
I cast no judgment or burdens upon my Self.
I accept that everything in my past was given in love.
I accept that everything in this moment comes from love.
I accept that everything in my future will result in greater love.

In my Being, I accept my perfection.
And so it is.

In or Out of the Broom Closet?

2010-05-31T14:51:00.001+10:00

Pagan Magic said:
Whilst Paganism and Earth based religions are more socially accepted today, there are still many people who remain in the broom closet through fear of persecution, social stigma and bullying. Are you In or Out of the broomcloset? Was it easy for you to announce your path, do you object to people announcing their religion? Have you suffered at the hands of intolerant people. Looking to hear from all sides - your experiences both good and bad, what advice would you give - what support do you need?

I said:

I'm out, and I neither hide nor flaunt it. I don't usually raise the subject, but if people ask, I tell them.

I'm completely open about it online, and must say I have made some wonderful Christian friends who are broadminded and understanding, and can see me for who I am, not as a label — which is how I see them too.

In my offline life, for a few years I wore a very large pentacle. Eventually I gave it to someone, and replaced it with a much smaller one, but still clearly a pentacle. Then one of my customers for a psychic reading looked at it, and asked what it was. I told her, and she said, 'I don't think I'll have a reading after all,' and left. That was the only occasion in many years; still my husband was worried that wearing the pentacle might lose me customers, so for his peace of mind I now wear one which is a Celtic knot and looks like a heraldic rose as well as a star. Any Pagan recognises it at once for what it is, but others seldom do.

In fact I've always copped a lot more flak for being a professional psychic and healer. The narrow-minded consider those occupations, too, to be the work of their Devil. The repercussion, though, have been no more troublesome than being accosted verbally with arguments not of my seeking – which I bring to a halt as quickly as possible.

My close friends and family know I'm both witch and Wiccan. I don't think they are bothered by it; some may regard it as another of my eccentricities. You know – like being a performance poet, dying my hair purple, running meditation classes, and marrying three times. Many of my friends are of course witches and/or Pagans themselves. A number are healers, and quite a few are psychic.

In my mother's family there was a lot of telepathy and intuition among the women – my grandmother, mother, aunts and cousins. They used to say jokingly that they were all witches, but they really only meant they had ESP. They would have repudiated any suggestion that they were witches in our sense. And yet it makes me think there must have been a strong hereditary line there which at some stage became hidden and forgotten. I am the only one who took it seriously as such, and looking back, I think that must be because my gifts were more pronounced. The others tried to convince me and themselves it was "just imagination".

Although I am well and truly out now, there was a long period of my life when it all went underground and became suppressed. But it would not be denied and had to break through eventually, I'm glad to say. I managed to avoid the very real possibility that I might have been labelled mad by being fairly discreet about it at first, until I understood what was going on and who to trust, and became comfortable with it.

Fraudulent Psychics

2010-05-13T22:07:00.000+10:00

Pagan Magic said (in November 09):
It came to my attention yesterday that a local tarot reader - who seems to have only just appeared on the scene - is making very upsetting and disturbing predictions.

One of his clients, a young girl - was told that the predictions were always right, and that her brother would kill his best friend in a car accident, before committing suicide - she (the querent) would commit suicide shortly after this. Obviously this has left her feeling very shaken, and as she has a disabled mother - very emotionally distressed.

Now, as I've heard this third-party I can't very well confront this young man - however I am putting together a press release for my local papers (and one that I can later turn into an article for general distribution).

The press release will cover the following areas:

The rise in people turning to psychics
Types of psychic and their services
Guide to choosing a respected and reliable reader
What to avoid - the signs of a fraudulent psychic
The Law - i.e. the UK Consumer Protection Regulations

I would like to hear from genuine psychics on what people should look for and what to avoid - so that I can provide a responsible yet practical guide to prevent other people from being affected, not just by this young man - but by other fraudulent people.

Thank you for your help.

‘Mel’ said:

Thank you for asking. :) The future is many times changeable. I personally believe that if such a terrible psychic message were to come across to me, it would also come along with advice on how to prevent or alter the future. People aren't told of their tragic deaths unless it isn't their time and there is a way to change the outcome. Personally, even if I saw such an outcome, I most likely wouldn't share it because it would cause way too much fear. However, I might delve deeper to see if there was a message I was being asked to pass along in order to alter the future event. I have inadvertently prevented such things but I was never aware of the danger, I only gave a message and advice, it was taken to heart and that is how the tragedy was avoided. Anyways, here goes:

1. A good psychic will tell you that the future is changeable.
2. A good psychic will never tell you that they are always right. No psychic is 100% accurate.
3. Do not trust a psychic that tells you that there is a curse on yourself and/or your family and that they need additional money to light candles for you in their church in order to lift the curse.
4. Do not trust someone who tells you that they can solve all your problems for you through their own magick and ask for personal belongings from you and/or more money to buy supplies for a ritual.
5. Do not trust someone who puts you down for your deep rooted beliefs. Example: You work with the Angels and mention it to them and they tell you not to do that anymore. This kind of thing is an attempt at dis-empowering you...making you vulnerable and more dependent on them.
6. Don't trust someone who brags about themselves and goes overboard on trying to convince you of how powerful they are.
7. Do not go to a psychic when you are extremely depressed or grieving unless you already have a trusted relationship with one. When we are vulnerable and go out looking for a psychic, this is often when we attract bad psychics. You can get lucky and find a good one but as a rule of thumb, take care of yourself, go talk to a friend, meditate, exercise...do something to bring your energy and mood level up before seeking out psychic advice.
8. You shouldn't feel worse after seeing a psychic. Even if the session made you cry (it happens) you should still leave feeling lighter, like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders.
9. Don't trust a psychic that needs personal information about you before they start the reading. If a psychic asks you for clarification during the reading, chances are, they are digging for information to use.
10. Consider promises and guarantees red flags.

Not all "bad psychics" are bad people. Some are people pleasers that just want to feel special and want to be liked. They may be beginners at reading and believe that they are better than they really are. It's not right but it's not the same as the others out there that are intentionally out to manipulate and control others. These types are in a different, more dangerous class. Some of them really are psychic but are using their gift in a really negative way.

Good psychics come with different personalities and different ways. Some are quiet, some are loud, some are bubbly and some are solemn. Best thing to do is go by the guidelines above but also trust your gut. Everyone has an intuition about things. If alarms are going off inside you, pay attention.

As a reader personally, I never know if my reading is accurate until after it's over and the person gives me feedback. I don't ask for any information. First name and a handshake is just the polite thing to do. I tend to do all the talking (and prefer it that way) throughout the reading, just letting the information flow out. When someone starts talking during the reading, it totally throws me off and my emotions and opinions get in the way, it lessens the accuracy of the reading. It is my belief that the message is already there, it's not something the psychic has to think about, they just have to receive and deliver it. But again...I don't mean to pass judgment on other good psychics, this has been my experience.

I said:

Yes, Mel's remarks are excellent, and cover the matter thoroughly. I would only differ on one point. In my own practice I do ask for feedback on what I am getting, in the specific instance when I am working as a medium. I describe who I am "getting" and ask if they know that person; or, if they have asked to be put in touch with someone in particular who has passed over, I will ask if I am getting the right person. It's not uncommon for some other deceased friend or relative to come through, and we both need to know who is communicating.

I have an arrangement with my guides that if there is something the client is not supposed to know, then I don't get it in the first place. It saves all the worry about whether I should or shouldn't tell them. If I do see anything untoward, I don't leave it at that; I find out either how to prevent it or, if that is not possible, how to deal with it for the best.

I tell my clients that "nothing is set in concrete" and that "forewarned is forearmed"; that I can only tell them what the tendencies are at this point, and they have the power to change them. If they have a dilemma, I try to show them what each option would be like for them so they can make an informed choice.

Oh, and another thing - the mark of a professional is that they'll refund your money if you're unsatisfied. I have only had to do so once, when a woman came back after her reading, to complain that she had wanted serious advice and I had fed her a string of platitudes. I felt this was far from the case, and she simply didn't want to let in what I had told her - however I just said, cheerfully, "Oh, let me refund your money then," and handed it to her. She was mollified, and allowed that I had probably done my best. I later heard that she was bad-mouthing me all over town for being a fake, but I wasn't worried - plenty of people knew otherwise.

In fact I had given this woman extra time at no charge because I wanted to help her understand the changes she needed to make in her life. That's probably another sign: a good psychic will be more concerned to be of service than to be rigid about times - unless there are other clients waiting.

Do Love Spells Actually Work?

2010-05-02T16:54:00.003+10:00

Pagan Magic said:

In the media, Love Spells are probably the most common form of magic which is depicted - from childhood story books to Xander's unfortunate incident in BTVS which left him fearing for his life. But, do Love Spells actually work?

Has anyone ever met a person under the influence of a love spell - or themselves been affected. How were these spells broken, and if they weren't what happened to the persons involved.

Can Free Will be so readily controlled by another? Is casting Love Spells simply wishful thinking - or is it a dangerous form of magic? Are there situations where a love spell should be used?

I said:

I wouldn't do it because, if it involves a particular person that's manipulation, and if it is general it would need to be VERY carefully worded. I think a self-love spell or ritual is the way to go. Even more, practise loving. Become a being of love, and you will naturally attract it.

Afterthought:

Why would one want a forced or coerced love anyway? What if the spell wore off and the person didn't like you any more? Even if not, surely you must always feel cheated and insecure? Better to be loved truly, and for yourself!

Drug Use and Magic

2010-04-25T15:33:00.000+10:00

Pagan Magic said:

Many ancient traditions used herbal drugs for sacred and religious purposes. Drugs have also been used for self-exploration and astral travel.

Do you think that drugs should be used as a tool for process of self-actualisation and learning? Are some drugs more socially acceptable than others? Should drugs even play a part in today's magical society?

I said:

I know shamans who have found the sacred cacti very helpful and valuable. I think it is necessary to understand what one is doing, and respect the plant ally. It is a living teacher.

For myself, meditation is the tool and I can't imagine needing any other.

I have conversed with the cacti and I find this energy very wise and true — but I did that telepathically, not through ingesting it.

Are Craft Names Necessary?

2010-04-25T15:16:00.003+10:00

Pagan Magic said:
This weeks question - are craft names necessary?

Do they serve a valuable function — are they merely used to give an element of mystery to the user — are they pretentious or a harmless piece of fun?

I said:

Like many others, I don't regard them as essential, but I think they have their value. In the Star Circle coven of which I was a part, our magickal names were used to keep our mundane identities secret. Some members had very public jobs, or their spouses did; others had children in school. I was ‘out’ but for others that was an as yet unobtainable luxury, and we all felt bound to protect each other's secret if necessary.

Long before the coven existed, when I was a solitary, I woke one morning ‘just knowing’ my magickal name was DragonStar. That made sense; I have had a lot to do with dragons. Later I discovered there are so many DragonStars, it's practically the Smith of the magickal world, lol. So I added Rose, as it's part of my mundane name. Later, when self-initiating, I was given another name with the understanding that it was to be secret, known only to me and the Deity. In private ritual, that's the one I use. DragonStar Rose is my public magickal name.

Newcomers to the Star Circle coven went on a 'journey' to meet the Goddess and discover their magickal names. Several were given two, one secret and one semi-public. Those of us who already had magickal names had them confirmed. The Goddess corrected my pronunciation of my secret name! I had been saying it in my mind with a broad Australian accent. Her pronunciation made it beautiful, and I could also see that was the correct way to say it.

Although they may not be strictly necessary, I like having mine.

The Universe is Always Listening

2010-04-20T23:05:00.008+10:00

But you do have to give it a clear message.

While our car was gradually dying, my Beloved stuck a big picture on our fridge of a red car in a particular make and model, on which he had written, 'THIS IS OURS!' as a signal to the Universe that it was what we wanted to manifest. He was mad keen on that car. I wasn't so convinced. Months passed. He didn't give up hope, but we couldn't see any way to buy that car — or any car.

Meanwhile I was frequently expressing appreciation for the car we had, which had given us many years of excellent service, and which we had kept on the road as long as we could. It had got to the point where it just wasn't worth spending any more money on it. In fact it was getting a bit scary to drive. I wanted to make sure it lasted until we could afford to replace it, and that we would find something suitable to replace it with. Expressing gratitude for what you've got is another way to let the Universe know what you like and want. And it wasn't hard — it had been a good car and I was truly grateful.

Where we now live is wonderful for us. I'm clear the Universe found us this place in excellent timing. But public transport is not great. What would we do if the old car conked out and we had no replacement? 'If you really want us here,' I said, 'Please solve our transport problem.'

One day we were in a car park and he said, 'That's one of [particular make and model] there.' I went and had a good look at it, and immediately said, 'Oh no, that boot's nowhere near big enough. You'd have to put the back seats down to use it.' I thought that I wouldn't mind a red car, just not that kind.

A couple of days later he saw a notice about a car for sale, same make as ours but a later model, in very good condition, within our price range — and red. We phoned, we inspected, we drove it, we bought it. And we're very happy with it! (The old one went to the wrecker.)

Afterwards he pointed to the picture on the fridge and gleefully declared that it had helped get us a red car. I don't disagree.

How could the Powers That Be act in our behalf when we weren't united about what we wanted? But as soon as I vetoed the [particular make and model] and he accepted that that wouldn't suit us, then They could go, 'Right, they want a car that works, they like the make they've had and they like red — hey presto!'

What are the Summerlands?

2010-03-24T21:40:00.000+11:00

Pagan Magic said:

As a Pagan — what is your view on life after death? Do we go to the Summerlands, cease to exist, or are we re-incarnated? Have you had any experience in communicating with those that have crossed over — and if so, how have they explained what has happened to them? Perhaps you've had a near death experience that you want to share.

I said:

I work as a psychic medium, work which I did not seek but was given. Doing this, I learn a lot! I certainly know that individuals continue beyond the physical, and that they present themselves to those they have left behind with the same personalities and physical characteristics as in life.

Where they go is not so clear, but I do know they can be simultaneously there and with their loved ones still here. I have come across cases of people resting awhile after trauma from this life/death, and other cases of people finding work, e.g. acting as guides. Everyone seems pretty happy, I must say!

I have also had plenty of indications that reincarnation is a fact, and would say I know it to be so.

I have to accept what I “get” but I haven’t always been able to explain to myself the apparent contradictions, except to think that people don’t all experience the same things in afterlife. Now ®ø††en ƒLuƒf¥Ð@rKLiñG explains it perfectly! [This refers to another respondent to the question, who said: In my experience in communicating with the deceased, I'm told that it is our choice. That there are 4 paths which we have the choice to follow. The first path is that of reincarnation. We are all connected, and are always able to find eachother and recognize eachother in every life. We may choose to be once again with those we love on this plain, and to experience life once again. Another being the Summerlands. The end of our road into a place of peace and rest from which we may decide to leave later on. Yet another path is the spirit world. We may choose to become a guide for the rest of our existance which is eternal. We can devote ourselves to helping others in a spiritual capacity. The last path is the river leading to the source when we decide to return to the Divine, the Great Source of all.] That all makes absolute sense in the light of my experiences as a medium, and I’m glad to have been given the understanding at last.

I have not had a near-death experience, but am acquainted with people who have. I have had visits from dead people, long before I perceived myself as psychic or thought to work as a medium. When my Nana died when I was four, I walked outside alone into our back yard, felt her energy with me and realised she had not been snuffed out (though of course didn’t think of it in those terms then, just that she was somehow there).

When a friend who had a troubled life crashed her car and died, I didn’t find out until later; but I woke up very early in the morning, at what I later learned was very soon after her death, into a beautiful feeling of peace — and more, something I have experienced after some other deaths since, which I can only describe as “a white feeling”. And the thought of my friend came into my mind. Afterwards I was sure she had come to tell me she was now at peace. I grieved but was not as devastated as I might otherwise have been.

There are more such stories I could tell. So I have known from an early age that death is not the end.

How can we [Pagans] educate the general public?

2010-03-23T20:51:00.001+11:00

Pagan Magic said:
How can we educate the general public?

Around this time of year the media often focuses its attention on pagans and witches - usually by choosing a stereotypical nutter to speak for all of us. My question this week is how can we educate the general public about paganism in a way that is positive but does not force our beliefs on others?

Should we have craft mornings, moots, leaflet drops, retreats, public forums? - or are you against the idea of drawing attention to our path?

I said:

A vexed question all right! Like others here, I am reluctant to do anything that smacks of taking an official line. I love that we’re not evangelical or preachy; I love that we don’t have a written text like Bible or Koran. I love that we are individual; I love that ours is a religion of joy and freedom.

Yet I do believe in education as a way of minimising misunderstandings and prejudice.

I like the idea of comparative religion being taught in schools from an early age – if only we could find enough free-thinking teachers to run the courses and open-minded parents to let them. I am not sure that would be much more likely in Australia than the United States!

I do take very seriously the fact that in some places being known as pagan can cost people their jobs, their marriages, custody of their children, their social standing…. So yes, it is vital to educate the public. But how? As many have pointed out, the public is not much disposed to listen! Clearly it is going to be a slow business.

I treat it as a duty to speak up if I hear things said that bear correcting. I always, as a matter of principle, take exception to the word “witch” being used as an insult. However I don’t seek arguments. I say these things firmly but politely, with good humour.

I’m “out” but not in-your-face. Many people wouldn’t notice it about me; others would. For instance I wear a pentacle that looks like a Celtic knot. Any pagan would recognise it immediately. Others, who might get scared off by something more obvious, have a chance to get to know me before they realise. When people do find out, I become a representative of the pagan religions, whether I like it or not. I don’t think this means having to be extra good, though. I think it’s important to just be the human being I am, and let that be seen.

Above all, I’m writer, so I write about it. I write blogs, I write poems. I’m even writing a memoir, though it’s going slowly.

What all that adds up to is doing what I can. I think that’s all any of us can do. Band together, and we can do a lot. In Australia there was for a number of years a glossy magazine called WitchCraft. It was produced by and for witches, and it was excellent. Many people who were not witches, but were open-minded, learned a great deal about us from that magazine. It eventually finished, but another one started, called Spellcraft, which is good too. Initiatives like that are good, but they only work with members of the public who are already open-minded. The closed-minded would never look at such a publication. We can only hope for a widening ripple effect.

What is the best form of religion?

2010-03-22T17:49:00.000+11:00

Pagan Magic said (in 2009):
Earlier this year the city of Canterbury in the UK was host to the Goddess Festival and Parade. During the course of the celebrations a Canterbury Cathedral spokesperson commented that 'Christianity is the best form of religion'.

So this weeks question is - what is the best form, does the church format have advantages? What are your feelings on this attitude - should people still even be making claims over who has the best religion, in this day and age. Are you religious - or do you follow your own path? Have you had a profound religious experience that you would like to share?

I said:

I agree with others here who say it's a matter of what's best for you.

I also agree in disliking evangelism. One of the many things I like about Wicca is that it's not an evangelical religion, and has no attachment to being the one right path for everyone.

I followed my own path for a long time, and even as a Wiccan I'm what's known as contemporary eclectic - I don't see what little tradition we can point to as being in any way "gospel" - though it's nice in creating a sense of ceremony and continuity, and the deeper meanings of those practices are things I can relate to. (But then, as a youngster, I adored midnight mass on xmas eve when my Catholic cousins took me along - and did not on that account think I had to embrace the whole belief system.)

For a long time I distinguished between religion and spirituality and felt I was on a spiritual path but was not religious. I love that Wicca is a religion without dogma, so am now happy to find spirituality and religion united – which is no doubt how sincere adherents of other religions feel too.

I understand the wish of many Pagans to have their path accepted as a valid religion with equal status to others, nevertheless I am uneasy about attempts to create anything resembling churches. I dislike hierarchy and loathe institutionalism. Ours is a free and down-to-earth religion; let's keep it that way. Once you institutionalise something, I think it's a short step to creating rules, regulations ... dogma. And once you've got dogma, it's dangerously easy to start thinking there is only one right Way.

How do you view the Gods and Goddesses?

2010-02-22T21:11:00.003+11:00

Pagan Magic asks:

Do you see the Gods and Goddesses as individual entities, each with their own power? Or are they universal archetypes? Do you even believe in a divine entity? Are the Gods and Goddesses aspects of the whole? How important is it to you to worship them? What experiences have you had? We'd love to hear your views.

My answer —

I think we are all sparks of the Divine fire, metaphorically speaking, i.e. expressions of God — or like one point that expands out and out into many. I tend to see deities and angels as somewhat closer to that original source, but we are all aspects of that. We are in God and God is in us. And when I say we, I mean everything. I'm monotheist, polytheist and pantheist all at once, seeing no inherent contradiction in that. It is, instead, a paradox.

I sometimes say The Universe when I mean God or Deity or Source or Great Spirit — and I experience that Universe / God etc. as having a personal connection and relationship with me. (Much as I might look after my own finger, say, if I also related to that finger as sentient and autonomous.) This Source I see as beyond gender, and surely beyond our comprehension in many ways. When you realise that there are colours our physical eyes cannot see, how much more is there that we cannot in this form apprehend?

For everyday purposes I prefer to focus on the female aspect of Deity, and have no problem meaning that when I say 'God', although I do also use the term 'Goddess'. I think the individual deities are as real as you and me, though not in physical form in this dimension in the same way that we are. I have personal relationships with a number of them. I also see them as embodying archetypes, and again perceive paradox rather than contradiction.

Years before I identified as Pagan, a magician friend who was clairvoyant told me that this own patron deity, Thoth, was with me. He described Thoth, and I realised that this was the same dude who had been hanging around me since earliest childhood. (I always had awareness of the spirit world.) So I knew him as a friend, guide and guardian already, and knowing who he was simply deepened the relationship. I regard him as my patron deity too.

Then, when I first self-dedicated to this path, that morning before I did the ritual I kept being presented with spiders, both in the flesh and in mental images. I got the message and dedicated myself specifically to the Goddess in her aspect as Great Mother Spider. I identified her by the name Arachne, though also aware of the Native American version. It seemed appropriate, as Spider is the Creator (as weaver) and I'm a poet. But then I came to know what a great gift it was from the Universe, that I was directed that way. A witch with hubris tried to attack me and some of my friends and helpers. (The ultimate target was someone else we were close to, but even so, we all felt the effects.) She had some Native American heritage and her totem was Spider, so many of the attacks came via venomous spiders. They were all averted: close calls, and frightening, but not fatal. We soon worked out where it was coming from, and were able to raise enough protection that she gave up. But my point is, just before the attacks began I had been guided to put myself, in effect, under the protection of Spider — and so, while she could mount the attacks through her own connection with Spider, they were then turned away (not only from me but also my allies) by the same agency.

Later again, forming a coven with some like-minded friends, I participated in a journey meditation for each of us to find our specific deity to guide us in this venture, and Ariadne came to me.

There are others I relate to also, in various ways and through various circumstances. Their personalities are distinct and individual.

Was I Tutankhamen?

2010-02-17T13:12:00.000+11:00

There — how’s that for a heading to have everyone convinced I’m a self-aggrandising nutter? We all know how everyone who believes in past lives thinks they’ve been someone famous, and no-one’s ever been anonymous and ordinary.

Well, actually I have recalled some very ordinary, anonymous lives. There was the fat German housewife with lots of children, a love of gossip and a fairly disappointing marriage. There was the itinerant Chinese vegetable seller, a young man with neither education nor prospects. And others more interesting but equally forgotten by history.

In fact I don’t think I was any of them, in the sense of being the same identity repackaged and recycled. That’s not how I view reincarnation. I think of the soul as being a very vast entity, pushing this focus of itself out into this reality. (Theoretically, then, one could meet another aspect of one’s soul during this — or any — particular lifetime.) This means that I might be able to access the memories of any other aspect of the same soul, but could not claim that I — this identity / personality / ego — WAS that other identity / personality / ego.

OK, so I wasn’t King Tut. However, during one soul regression, I most certainly had a vivid experience of being in his body and feeling his feelings. I — let us say ‘I’, as that’s what it felt like at the time — was standing in the temple, watching adoringly as my father Akhnaten performed the ritual. The temple had a huge opening in the roof, through which we could all see the blazing sun. As Tutankhamen, I spoke passionately to the person guiding me through the regression, explaining that it wasn’t true that Akhnaten was ugly (as his pictures and statues seem to suggest). I exclaimed: ‘My father was a beautiful, beautiful man!’

At that time, decades ago now, it was thought that Tutankhamen was not a child of Akhnaten. Imagine how vindicated I feel, now that there is clear evidence that he was. Incidentally, it appears that Akhnaten may not have been anywhere near as misshapen as the images portraying him have led us to believe. I can confirm the supposition that Tutankhamen was frail and sickly, too.

Some years after this regression, I became very friendly with a woman who had her own memories of having been Tutankhamen. Many of the details she recalled meshed with mine (and were not in the public domain). Around the same time, I met a psychic who confirmed that about my friend, and told me I had been Tutankhamen’s tutor, who was very close to him. This was puzzling and disconcerting of course, but then, in quite a different context, my friend and I received indications of being twin souls. I’m not sure what that means. Would twin souls share the same makeup, as physical (identical) twins do? Or does it mean we are different aspects of the same soul, happening to inhabit the same time period? Either way, I think it feasible that the me who is here now might have access to ‘his’ (Tutankhamen’s) memories and even emotions.

All I can say is, it sure felt real, and it sure felt like ‘me’ — though not this me who writes this now. And I certainly have a lot of emotion bound up in it all. Part of this me wants to leap with joy at the latest findings about Tutankhamen’s parentage, and yell: ‘See!!!’

Once More, the Psychic Work

2010-02-15T08:55:00.000+11:00

Today I gave my first psychic reading in the new home. It felt good to get out my cards and crystal ball again, and clear my energy in preparation. The space that will be my consulting room is still half-full of unemptied boxes, so I set up at the dining table. Dear Spouse greeted the client (a member of our writers’ group) then disappeared into his office to work on his novel.

My first live, face-to-face reading, that is. I almost forgot that a client I’ll call Earring Lady phoned me from Arizona the other day. She’s an Australian with lots of family here, who frequently spends time here visiting them, but spends even more time in the United States because she’s married to an American. She and other members of the Aussie extended family have had a number of readings from me over the years.

I was caught on the hop. I’d just been unpacking some of those boxes of books in the garage, and dashed inside to answer the phone. I was sweaty and flustered. However I tuned in, because she thought she must have lost her camera. My description of the place I ‘saw’ sounded to her exactly like a place where she had been with her camera that day. This was one time I thought I’d like to be proved wrong, because my impression was that she won’t get it back.

She phoned because, she told me, ‘When my brother-in-law lost his car keys, you helped him find them.’ This was exciting news. I vaguely remembered the reading. I hadn’t been at all confident of answering that question correctly, because it’s not the sort of question I’m usually asked. People usually want advice on major life issues.

As did my client today. It’s nice that in her case I didn’t see any hiccups, but many good things happening for her in the year ahead. I’d much rather be the bearer of good tidings! If bad things do show up, I then investigate how they might be avoided, or if that doesn’t seem possible, how to deal with them in the best way. ‘Nothing,’ I tell my clients, ‘Is set in concrete’. (Unoriginal, I know, but it makes the point.)

In the case of Earring Lady, she went on to ask me about a couple of other items she’d recently mislaid, things of mainly sentimental value which she’d been a bit careless with. I was then prompted to suggest she think about what else in her life she might be in danger of losing by not paying enough attention to it. Three things in a row — that seemed like a message from the Universe.

After today’s client had left, I had an email from a friend asking what I ‘got’ about some things happening in her life. As I’d just been working, it wasn’t hard to do a quick reading for her too.

My own message from the Universe appears to be that retiring from the Sunday markets doesn’t mean the end of my psychic work. Good! I enjoy it.

When should magick be used?

2010-02-14T00:39:00.002+11:00

Pagan Magic said:
Is there a time and a place when magick should be used — or shouldn't? How often do you practice — are you a kitchen witch, using magick on a daily basis — or do you save your energies for ritual or in times of great need. Is it wrong to turn to magick before exploring other options? How much is too much, if there is such a thing?

I said:
I think magick can be used any place any time — but some are better than others, e.g. I would rather do a banishing spell during a waning moon. However, if the need is urgent, that overrides such considerations and our will can ensure the success of the working.

In times past I used formal workings more than I do now. I have been solitary, then in a coven for a few years, now solitary again (as the coven members became geographically scattered and/or involved in work commitments that precluded meeting). When I was first exploring the path as a solitary, I did a lot — daily rituals and other magickal practices as needed. Also when the coven was active, as High Priestess I was very present to magick at all times, and did a lot of both solitary and group work.

Even in the past, and more so now, some practices were/are so incorporated into daily life that I almost forget they are magickal, such as quick clearings of my energy, or that of the environment I’m in, setting up protection if needed, healing people or other living things on the energy level…. Also, I have always done a lot of mental stuff, using thoughts and words as spells. In all things I tend to go for the quick and easy, lol. (I don’t cast circle for these things, but I do for the following.)

I still do something on full moon nights, even if it is only a short ritual acknowledging the Goddess, usually in company with my husband, who was in the coven with me.

I have also found that I feel better when I do a daily personal ritual involving the Qabalistic Cross and Middle Pillar Exercise —clearer, calmer, more grounded.

And I perform other rituals and active spells as occasion arises.

I don’t find that my energy is depleted by working, needing to be saved for special occasions. On the contrary, it is renewed and expanded by the work. However this may be because I am a Reiki Master, continually — often unconsciously — tapping into the regenerative Universal energy. (In fact I consider Reiki an order of magick, though I think few Reiki Masters would agree.)

I think it’s seldom if ever ‘wrong’ to turn to magick. (To try and use it for manipulative, vengeful etc. purposes would be wrong — as well as stupid, given that what you put out comes back to you.) Whether to explore other options first rather depends on the circumstances. Telephones are generally more efficient than telepathy, but if you can’t reach someone any other way and the need is urgent, a telepathic ‘yell’ will usually have them contact you. Sometimes it’s a matter of doing both at once. If I break my leg, I’ll use a surgeon and Reiki. If there were a spate of local burglaries I would lock my doors and put magickal protection over the house. If a friend was trying to get clear of an abusive partner, I’d go straight to a spell of binding — though I might also give her/him practical advice.

In principle, I don’t think there can be too much magick. It’s life force energy. Can one have too much health, too much love, too much vitality? However, the specifics of the craft are our tools, and you choose the tool that’s appropriate for the job. ‘Don’t smash a mosquito with a hammer,’ that kind of thing. Use only the amount of force that’s needed to accomplish the goal. But if you don’t know what that is? Depends on the urgency. If you can wait, maybe try a mild spell and see what happens, then something stronger if that didn’t work. If the matter’s urgent, then I guess overkill is better than ineffectiveness. Personally I would seek guidance on the matter, before acting.

Should Magick Be Viewed in Terms of Black and White?

2010-02-10T22:58:00.003+11:00

Pagan Magic said:

When people discover that I am a witch, they often say rather cautiously 'But you are a white witch aren't you?' Should magick be viewed in terms of black and white, is there room for grey magick? How do you define black or white magick? All opinions are welcome, but please do not flame those with differing viewpoints. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I said:

Magick is energy. Magick is a tool. As someone already indicated, electricity can be useful or harmful. The same might be said of fire, or a knife. But I get sick of trying to explain that, so sometimes accept the 'white witch' label.

If we have to have a colour, I like the concept of the 'green witch', focusing on care for the environment — but then, it's my idea that all witches revere nature, that that is the core of what we are.

I am fond of saying that ours is the most rigorous code of ethics, with our one rule of 'Harm none', obliging us to consider every individual piece of behaviour. And, like everyone else, we can only do the best we can. No-one can foresee all consequences of their actions. But it's good that we at least think about the possibilities.

So intention is doubly important! (Necessary for powerful workings, and crucial for ethical considerations.)

Sometimes my intentions might be considered a bit 'grey'. In a fairly empty cinema, I have been known to prevent anyone sitting directly in front of my husband and me. (We are short people.) I guess that's a bit of an interference in people's free choice — but it's not as if there aren't plenty of other choices available. And although I don't do hexing, I certainly do spells of binding at times, to prevent people who are doing harm from continuing to do so.

Fluffy Bunnies

2010-02-07T10:51:00.000+11:00

Pagan Magic said:

Fluffy bunnies is a term that has been defined in many ways - such as:

"A fake wiccan, usually in their teens, with little or no information about the religion."

"Used as a derogatory term for someone who is ignorant, wilfully ignorant and/or disrespectful towards Wicca yet claims to be Wicca."

"Often a teen who becomes 'Wicca' in order to follow a fad, also known as 'McWiccans'. Often identified by their oversized pentagrams, 'gothic' clothing and the belief that spells given to them by other Fluffy Bunnies online have some sort of power."

As followers of the path, what are your feelings to people who may fall into these categories? Is the term 'Fluffy Bunny' appropriate or is it derogatory? Should we live and let live - or are these people causing damage to the craft? What support could and should be offered? Have you encountered a 'fluffy bunny' and what experiences have you had.

This question has not been posed to cause aggravation or incite hatefulness against those new to paganism.

All opinions are welcome, but please do not flame those with differing viewpoints. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I said:

'Fluffy bunnies' sounds scornful to me. The craft can take care of itself, no matter how others view it — hasn't it always?

I am also not keen on the word 'wannabe'. What's wrong with wanting something?

Before discovering witchcraft, I explored shamanism, and while still learning I deliberately called myself a shaman. This shocked a friend who felt I was being arrogant or disrespectful. What I was meaning to do was throw the label out in front of me as something to 'live into'. If I went public with it, I couldn't get cold feet and sneak away, if you see what I mean. It worked, too. Maybe these kids are just doing something like that. They have to start somewhere, and we all learn as we go

Are Craft Names Necessary?

2010-02-07T10:42:00.002+11:00

Pagan Magic said:

This weeks question — are craft names necessary?

Do they serve a valuable function — are they merely used to give an element of mystery to the user — are they pretentious or a harmless piece of fun?

I said:

Like many others, I don't regard them as essential, but I think they have their value. In the Star Circle coven of which I was a part, our magickal names were used to keep our mundane identities secret. Some members had very public jobs, or their spouses did; others had children in school. I was ‘out’ but for others that was an as yet unobtainable luxury, and we all felt bound to protect each other's secret if necessary.

Long before the coven existed, when I was a solitary, I woke one morning ‘just knowing’ my magickal name was DragonStar. That made sense; I have had a lot to do with dragons. Later I discovered there are so many DragonStars, it's practically the Smith of the magickal world, lol. So I added Rose, as it's part of my mundane name. Later, when self-initiating, I was given another name with the understanding that it was to be secret, known only to me and the Deity. In private ritual, that's the one I use. DragonStar Rose is my public magickal name.

Newcomers to the Star Circle coven went on a "journey" to meet the Goddess and discover their magickal names. Several were given two, one secret and one semi-public. Those of us who already had magickal names had them confirmed. The Goddess corrected my pronunciation of my secret name! I had been saying it in my mind with a broad Australian accent. Her pronunciation made it beautiful, and I could also see that was the correct way to say it.

Although they may not be strictly necessary, I like having mine.

Do You Believe in the Threefold Law?

2010-01-25T11:48:00.000+11:00

Pagan Magic said:

I thought I might add a weekly question to the group - we're all from different paths and I think it will be interesting to see the different points of view that arise on various subjects. With that in mind, this week's question is: Do You Believe in the Threefold Law? All opinions welcome, maybe you believe in the law of return, but not threefold, maybe sevenfold - or not at all. What experiences if any have you had. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I said:

I do believe in the law of return. It is not only a Wiccan understanding that the energy you put out is what you attract back to you. It is like a message to the Universe, like putting in your order. (Though most people don’t realise that and are doing it by default rather than intention.)

In other words, I see it not as a law in the sense of a regulation to be enforced, but as a law of nature. I once heard someone say, “It doesn’t matter how good or wonderful you are, if you jump out of a nine-storey building the law of gravity will splatter you on the concrete.” I think the law of return is like that, and if we’re wise we’ll try and take care of our energy so as to sow what we’d prefer to reap.

As for threefold, I don’t think that is to be taken literally — although again it is a widespread idea outside of Wicca too. How many times have you heard someone say that things “come in threes”? I have a little theory that maybe, humans being as they are, it usually takes about three lessons before we get it and shift our energy.

I did see that happen once when I found out someone was trying to harm me. I put up protection, but she kept trying a little while before giving up. Then someone who knew nothing of this said to me, “Did you hear about X? She cut the same hand three times in a row!”

However I have known of other cases where things come back only once or twice. Mind you, threefold could refer to intensity rather than quantity, so I am not absolutely certain on this. I do notice that energy tends to expand, and that what comes back does tend to be more — how much more is hard to measure.

"Pagan Magic" Poses Questions

2010-01-25T01:27:00.002+11:00

At Pagan Magic on MySpace the profile owner, an enterprising young Englishwoman called Dawn, has instituted a series of discussions. She poses a question and various of her readers give their answers, which has resulted in some enthusiastic — and friendly — debates. She thought it would be interesting to canvass opinions from a diverse range of Pagan traditions, and so it has been. The responses have been personal opinions rather than officially representing any particular tradition — for the most part — but no doubt coloured by each person's background and learning. There's a lot of basic agreement, with some differences as to details.

It's been so useful to me to articulate my own thoughts on these topics that I've decided to post them here as well.

To read the whole discussions, you'll need to click on the above link, go to the latest blogs and check the comments for each.

Or watch for the questions and my answers, here.

Rewriting the Bible

2009-12-06T10:53:00.003+11:00

byThom Moon 10

(Reposted with Thom's permission, because I like the sentiments!)

Every generation does-apocryrfpha to King James
to GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN
Now a Conservative Thinktank is purging liberalism
from the flesh of bones of belief
LABOR is replaced by VOLUNTEER
That parable about the rich getting in to Heaven
like a camel getting through the eye of a needle?
That has been explained as a geographical gate
one that merchants used upon entering Jerusalem
Purging liberalism has always required scholars-
"enhanced interrogation techniques"replaced torture
"burning the village to save the village"(Vietnamdoublespeak
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"(Iraq invasion doublespeak)
By such language-all who respond to invasive techniques
become "militants"-and if they resist='Terrorists!"
(unless Americans firghting a War Of Independence-
they (when the war was won)become PATRIOTS
Language has always been a slave of masters
Censorship and editing of William Shakespeare
to delete the bawdy and massage Press Releases
Now we have FAUX NEWS and bully pulpits
Bishops who deny communion to those who disagree
We resort to poetry when prose is dull as politics
Spark art uncensored and deemed irrelevant
until Bibles become Korans and cartoonists stabbed
May there be no Holy Texts to proscribe our disobedience!
FOR SALMAN RUSHDIE's FATWA Dec 5,2009

Geting Rid of Other-Worldly Visitations

2009-11-10T22:56:00.001+11:00

My friend Maryna has lately had a new "ghostie" at her premises. I'm not sure if she is happy to keep this being around or not, so it would be presumptuous of me to rush in with advice on removing it. However, I do know a method, so I'm sharing it here for anyone who may have need of one.

Actually I know several, but this one is particularly good because it also removes the reasons for the entity to be in your space – therefore, once gone they are liable to stay gone. It was taught to me many years ago by my great friend and teacher Jenette Youngman, who called it Karmic Completion, and it has many applications. I love it because it involves treating all beings with respect, unlike some forms of exorcism and space clearing which are cruel. To become adept takes time and training, but the following is a simple version that works for this kind of situation.

Ground, centre and protect yourself, then go into meditation and send lots of love to your "visitor". (All beings are children of God and are worthy of unconditional love for that reason if no other.) Ask what name you may call them and if there is anything they need to communicate. If you have not been aware of this presence until recently, perhaps they're not just stuck on this plane but have some other reason for visiting. If you can get them complete on that, they may then be ready and willing to go to their future destination / destiny. If stuck, there would be a reason for that too, so the same applies

It is enough just to hear what they have to say, acknowledge each utterance with "thank you" (for the communication, regardless of what it is) and keep asking every so often, "Are you now complete on this issue and ready to take the path of love to your future evolution?" until they say they are. Don't get involved in making promises or carrying out any actions they may request; keep it on the level of dialogue. You’re in charge! You have the right to say who or what may enter your space.

If the being has something to communicate to someone other than yourself, just ask them what it is and have them say it to you until complete. Keep asking, "Is there anything more you need to say to this person in order to be complete on this issue?"

You can create a path of love with visualisation and intention. Some people see it as white light. However you see it, it's important to identify it as a path of love. When they declare themselves ready, invite them onto it, and watch them along it until they disappear in the distance. THEN DISSOLVE THE PATH! (You don't want any uninvited entities coming along it.)

If they get stuck on the path, you can ask, "Is there anything still incomplete for you?" If it's fear paralysing them, ask if they would like an angel to accompany them, then have them call for an angel and let you know when one has come. I have never known them not to agree to calling for an angel, nor an angel failing to appear and accompany them the rest of the way.

Don't dwell too much on this matter thereafter; let it be complete for you too.

Of course, if the visitor turned out to be a guide or angel, you might not want to send them away. But be on the safe side – some make claims that are untrue. You can always call guides or angels to you later in case of need and they will happily come, even if you have previously sent them away. Also, check how you feel in their presence. Clear and empowered is probably a good sign. You can send love to them and see what the response is. Anything that is aligned with love will love you right back and that should be felt unmistakeably. Any other response is grounds for sending them away.

(This process can also be used to clear any disempowering aspects of one's own psyche.)

Blessed Be, Ted Andrews!

2009-10-31T00:25:00.005+11:00

I have only just learned of the death of Ted Andrews – that wonderful Pagan author – on October 24th, from cancer, at the age of 58.

He has been a great source of understanding and inspiration to many and his books will continue to enrich and enlighten us.

Here is my favourite Prayer for the Dead, for those who may may wish to honour him that way.

Light a new white candle, say this prayer and let the candle burn all the way down. (Of course never leave a lit candle unattended.)

I light this candle for [name]. May [his/her] spirit pass through the portal betwixt this world and the next and find rest and peace. May [his/her] time spent in the land of light be profitable that [he/she] may learn the lessons necessary for the next stage of [his/her] journey towards God. May [name] be at peace and at rest. Peace be with you.

This was taught to me many years ago by my mentor, teacher and friend, a great magician called Ridge, when a dear love of mine from several lifetimes died in this lifetime.

In time, I spoke it for Ridge himself.

Brainwashing

2009-10-27T12:25:00.001+11:00

Having had brainwashing attempted on me and almost succeeding, I'd like to do my best to make others aware of the techniques just in case you ever need to be fore-armed. (Hoping I'm not also putting weapons into the hands of the unscrupulous! But if they want weapons, I expect they can find them without my help.)

I don't know where the following document came from. A concerned friend sent it to me at a time I badly needed it. It was illuminating and empowering.

Brainwashing Techniques

1.      Assault on identity
2.      Guilt
3.      Self-betrayal
4.      Breaking point
5.      Leniency
6.      Compulsion to confess
7.      Channeling of guilt
8.      Releasing of guilt
9.      Progress and harmony
10.    Final confession and rebirth

•         Assault on identity: You are not who you think you are.
This is a systematic attack on a target's sense of self (also called his identity or ego) and his core belief system. The agent denies everything that makes the target who he is: "You are not a soldier." "You are not a man." "You are not defending freedom." The target is under constant attack for days, weeks or months, to the point that he becomes exhausted, confused and disoriented. In this state, his beliefs seem less solid.

•         Guilt: You are bad.
While the identity crisis is setting in, the agent is simultaneously creating an overwhelming sense of guilt in the target. He repeatedly and mercilessly attacks the subject for any "sin" the target has committed, large or small. He may criticize the target for everything from the "evilness" of his beliefs to the way he eats too slowly. The target begins to feel a general sense of shame, that everything he does is wrong.

•         Self-betrayal: Agree with me that you are bad.
Once the subject is disoriented and drowning in guilt, the agent forces him (either with the threat of physical harm or of continuance of the mental attack) to denounce his family, friends and peers who share the same "wrong" belief system that he holds. This betrayal of his own beliefs and of people he feels a sense of loyalty to increases the shame and loss of identity the target is already experiencing.

•         Breaking point: Who am I, where am I and what am I supposed to do?
With his identity in crisis, experiencing deep shame and having betrayed what he has always believed in, the target may undergo what in the lay community is referred to as a "nervous breakdown." In psychology, "nervous breakdown" is really just a collection of severe symptoms that can indicate any number of psychological disturbances. It may involve uncontrollable sobbing, deep depression and general disorientation. The target may have lost his grip on reality and have the feeling of being completely lost and alone.

When the target reaches his breaking point, his sense of self is pretty much up for grabs -- he has no clear understanding of who he is or what is happening to him. At this point, the agent sets up the temptation to convert to another belief system that will save the target from his misery.

•         Leniency: I can help you.
With the target in a state of crisis, the agent offers some small kindness or reprieve from the abuse. He may offer the target a drink of water, or take a moment to ask the target what he misses about home. In a state of breakdown resulting from an endless psychological attack, the small kindness seems huge, and the target may experience a sense of relief and gratitude completely out of proportion to the offering, as if the agent has saved his life.

•         Compulsion to confession: You can help yourself.
For the first time in the brainwashing process, the target is faced with the contrast between the guilt and pain of identity assault and the sudden relief of leniency. The target may feel a desire to reciprocate the kindness offered to him, and at this point, the agent may present the possibility of confession as a means to relieving guilt and pain.

•         Channeling of guilt: This is why you're in pain.
After weeks or months of assault, confusion, breakdown and moments of leniency, the target's guilt has lost all meaning -- he's not sure what he has done wrong, he just knows he is wrong. This creates something of a blank slate that lets the agent fill in the blanks: He can attach that guilt, that sense of "wrongness," to whatever he wants. The agent attaches the target's guilt to the belief system the agent is trying to replace. The target comes to believe it is his belief system that is the cause of his shame. The contrast between old and new has been established: The old belief system is associated with psychological (and usually physical) agony; and the new belief system is associated with the possibility of escaping that agony.

•         Releasing of guilt: It's not me; it's my beliefs.
The embattled target is relieved to learn there is an external cause of his wrongness, that it is not he himself that is inescapably bad -- this means he can escape his wrongness by escaping the wrong belief system. All he has to do is denounce the people and institutions associated with that belief system, and he won't be in pain anymore. The target has the power to release himself from wrongness by confessing to acts associated with his old belief system.

With his full confessions, the target has completed his psychological rejection of his former identity. It is now up to the agent to offer the target a new one.

One Way to Deal with an Emotionally Abusive Person

2009-10-24T13:47:00.006+11:00

Abusers who are close to us, e.g. family members, can get under our radar. They know exactly which buttons to push. Having experienced this recently, with attendant shock, distress and anger, I've also received excellent advice from friends as to how to deal with it in future. The person concerned is now out of my life, so hopefully I won't have to. They are good techniques anyway.

"Put up a mirror," said my wonderful massage therapist, while simultaneously working to release the trauma from my body. "When you get those emails, reflect the energy back. That says, 'It's not my stuff, it's yours, have it back.' It's amazing how effective it is. Even while they're thinking and saying all that stuff, they start to get an inkling that maybe it's theirs."

I recounted this conversation to another friend, who said, "Rhodonite. Or Tourmaline. They do that; they reflect things back to the source. Tourmaline does it strongly, rhodonite more lovingly. You need to wear one of them."

The only piece of tourmaline I have is much too big to wear, but I found a nice piece of rhodonite among my crystals, which I added to the crystal pouch which I sometimes wear around my neck. Sometimes has just become always!

I'm good at visualisation, but not everyone is. It might be hard for some people to whack up the image of a mirror at a moment's notice. Also, it's easy to forget any technique in a stressful moment. Wearing something that does the same job is a good fail-safe.

Witches Are Activists!

2009-10-16T11:50:00.014+11:00

Instead of (or as well as) the more passive kind of praying, we like to do spells, which are active prayers. There are many ways to do spells; some can be done with a simple thought or burst of energy. Most, though, require physical doing: gathering herbs and other natural objects, selecting candles of particular colours, going through various actions such as writing words on paper or dressing the candles with oil, and often casting circle or even performing a full ritual.

Witches are doers. We don't sit idly by when we see a situation that needs intervention. We put protection around our homes and vehicles, or over those we care for. We work to bring about desired outcomes. Many of us are actively engaged as healers and/or psychic readers. It hardly needs saying that we care deeply about the natural world.

We also know that magick is what to do when mundane methods have been tried and failed. If someone is seriously ill, first get them to a doctor, then start doing energy healing. If you care about the environment, recycle, stop using chemical cleaners, and so on, as well as enlisting the help of the appropriate deities.

I am a bit late by Australian terms to join in Blog Action Day, when bloggers around the world post about climate change – but luckily it is still Thursday in the northern hemisphere. It just occurred to me that it would be appropriate at this blog to post links to activist organisations whose briefs most definitely include climate change issues.

Blog Action Day is an exciting initiative, where we get to speak out about the big issues that concern us, in the hope of spurring action in other ways, by ordinary people and by world leaders. Talking about an issue is only a starting point. The hope is that if enough of us make enough noise, things will change in concrete, physical, practical ways. (Posting a blog is of course an action, and if it's still October 15th 2009 somewhere in the world when you read this, it's not too late to register and do that.)

Meanwhile, other people are both talking and acting. To continue having a voice and contributing to action, after Blog Action Day has been and gone, here are just a few of the organisations you might consider joining:

Avaaz.org The World in Action Join with people around the world in taking action on pressing global issues.

GreenPeace International

GetUp! Action for Australia

The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society link is for the Australian one; if you Google "Wilderness Society" you'll find links for other countries.

As I said, I am posting these just by way of a starting point. They're the ones I personally subscribe to. Getting involved can have you signing petitions, taking part in public demonstrations, and/or donating to ad campaigns – but only if you choose to. At the very least it lets you know what is going on concerning causes you care about. GetUp and Avaaz in particular espouse other cause besides climate change and environmental issues, but certainly include them.

As for spells and rituals, I'm sure I don't have to instruct any experienced witches and magicians who may happen across this! But if you're new to the ways of magick, here are a couple of simple posibilities:

1) Candle wishing spell
(my own invention):

Take a new green candle, with your boline or any sharp pointed knife (but not your athame) inscribe a suitable symbol on its side. This could be the Peace symbol (you know, the circle with the three lines radiating out from the centre, as pictured here) which covers all kinds of peace on earth, or the figure 8 (representing balance) or perhaps a sketch of a tree or the sun, or whatever else is easy to draw and seems to you to symbolise the issue of climate change. Light the candle, and as it burns down think about the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. Think about the outcomes you would like to have happen, and imagine what the world would be like if they all came to pass. When you're done, put out the candle with a candle snuffer or the blade of your knife, and say out loud: "It is done! It is done! It is done!" You can add any other incantation you may like to use when casting spells, e.g. "According to free will, for the good of all and harm to none, so mote it be!"

[This spell could be adapted for other wishes, changing the colour of the candle and the kind of symbol as appropriate.]

2) Bay Leaf Wishing Spell
This one came from Pagan Magic:

Wishes that are not possible are usually not worth going after.
It is important to know what you want and go after it.
[In this case, as above, think of exactly what you would like to happen from the Copenhagen Conference.]
The Bay Leaf possesses powerful magical properties and is used for granting wishes.
You will need 3 bay leaves to perform this simple but effective Spell.
When the moon is new, write your wish out on a piece of paper.
Now visualize your wish coming true.
Fold the paper into thirds and place 3 bay leaves inside.
Again, visualize your wish coming true.
Now, fold the paper into thirds once again and hide it away in a dark place.
Keep visualizing your wish coming true as you do this.

[I have more Blog Action Day posts at SnakyPoet, WordsFlow, The Passionate Crone, and Haiku Page of the Passionate Crone.]

Love Meditation

2009-10-06T23:04:00.005+11:00

Back in the nineties I did an amazing course called The Master Game, devised and presented by my friend Jenette Youngman. I guess you could describe it as personal development in a spiritual context. One week she gave us homework in the form of a guided meditation which we were to do every day for the next week, first thing in the morning.

I had the most magickal week! Everywhere I went, I was welcomed enthusiastically, even by strangers. I asked for things and people gave them to me gladly.

Human beings are funny creatures. We think we want life to be wonderful and fulfilling, but often we don't act accordingly. We forget all the brilliant tools and techniques we have.

I was the only one who did the homework – and after that wondrous week, I too forgot most of the time. I still don't manage it every day; sometimes months go by. But when I do remember, and do it for a while before it slips my mind again, life becomes miraculous and delightful once more.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, DOWNLOAD HERE

How to Meditate: the Easy Way

2009-09-28T12:19:00.007+10:00

I'm always teaching people how to meditate – by what I think is the easiest way. But why learn in the first place?

Meditation is the foundation of all energy work. It's not just a method of relaxation, though it is that too and regular practice can greatly reduce stress. Do it consistently, and you'll also find that your intuition increases and you have more energy for your activities. You might get insights during your meditation; even more likely, you'll find them occurring at other times.

It has been said that prayer is talking to God; meditation is listening for God. (Or the Universe, one's Higher Self, one's guides, whatever.)

There are various methods, some very elaborate and/or time-consuming. If you have a method that you like, that's fine. If not, here is the way I think is easiest -

1. Arrange to be undisturbed. (Phone turned off, etc.)

2. Sit on a chair that supports your back, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands on your lap palms up, with thumb and first finger lightly touching. This is a mudra (hand gesture) that promotes relaxation. Some people think it also prevents unwanted energies from entering your space while you are in a relaxed and vulnerable state. Another way to do that would be to create sacred space (see previous blog) and meditate inside it.

3. Close your eyes and observe your breathing. You don't have to do anything special with your breathing. Let it be however it is and do whatever it does, and simply observe it.

4. Be light and easy about this. Don't concentrate grimly; that defeats the purpose.

5. Your mind will wander. Don't even try to still your thoughts. Maybe some great adepts can do that after years of practice; most of us can't and we don't even need to. When you notice that you're off on some train of thought, don't bash yourself up. Just, gently and without struggle, bring your attention back to your breath. I repeat – GENTLY AND WITHOUT STRUGGLE.

6. You will also get distracted by things like noises or itches. Again, as soon as you notice you have become distracted, gently and without struggle bring your attention back to your breath.

7. When you're ready to stop, make sure you're looking down, and open your eyes slowly. You'll be deeper than you think, and the light can be quite a shock.

How long should you meditate for? And how often?

It depends. Some gurus say three hours a day, but we won't even go there. (Not if you're holding down a job, raising a family, or just trying to have a life.) The Transcendental Meditation people recommend 20 minutes twice a day, before breakfast and lunch. Even that can be a bit much for some of us, but it's good if you can manage it. I don't think any more than that is necessary. 10 minutes once a week is better than nothing; 10 minutes once a day is better still. Find what works for you, on the principle that little and often is better than a huge amount once in a while (you know - just like physical exercise).

Ian Gawler, an Australian who cured his own cancer with the help of meditation and now teaches it to other cancer patients and their carers, advises busy people to 'meditate in the spaces'. This is good advice if you already know how to do it; otherwise better get in some practice first. Once you are practised at it, it's easy to drop in and out of meditation just for a few minutes at a time. (Don't do it while you're driving or operating machinery!)

Having decided how long a session will be, how do you time yourself? If you ask someone to let you know, they should NOT touch you to bring you out of it; that will cause shock. It's best they gently call your name, and repeat it until you finally hear them. (For most people, most of the time, it will be quite quick. Sometimes you might have gone very deep and it will take a little longer.) Or you could set a timer or alarm clock, but preferably not a loud, jangly one. And if need be you can crack your eyes open just a fraction to look at your watch, while staying in your meditative space and closing them gently again at once. A pleasant, musical timer is best. If time is not an issue, then allow yourself to come out of it whenever your body and psyche decide they're ready.

It's best not to meditate when you're tired; falling asleep is not the idea. For the same reason, after a heavy meal is not the best timing. And it's preferable to do it after exercise, not before; you don't want to get all stirred up again just after you've become relaxed. On the other hand, before a cup of coffee is better than after; you don't want to be too hyper to relax.

Eventually you can use your meditative state for specific purposes, such as contacting your guides, astral travelling, performing absent healing....

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Anne Lamott (Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith) ~
"Here are the two best prayers I know:
'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'"