Being Sent a Blessing

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.

It's not enough to be kind

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 have 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!

Drug Use and Magic

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.