Light Bringer

We do not teach history; we recreate the experience. We follow the chain of consequences -- the tracks of the beast in its forest. Look behind our words and you see the broad sweep of social behavior that no historian has ever touched.

Bene Gesserit Panoplia Propheticus

Chapterhouse: Dune

Yes, please include the cigar.

I remember hearing something from an old school crafter that during the Civil War some of the men were given pierced coins to protect them from harm and grant them luck. This seems to be consistent with all the other information that I dig up about hole coin talismans as they were a large part of Hoodoo practices and that would have been one of the traditions well and alive in the American magical current along side of Pow Wow at the time. Holed coins were worn on strings around the ankle or neck not just for luck and protection but for the curing of maladies.

So how is this something we can use today in our modern industrial age?  I found one of the reasons the West Memphis 3 spent so much of their lives in a cell is because of the lack of resources. They simply did not have the funds at the time they were originally charged to hire good lawyers who were willing and able to go to bat for them. I have been giving thought to how I would handle a legal magic case. There is a wealth of resources out there in varying books and old manuscripts on the "proper" tools, incantations and herbs, However, I think one thing is lacking.

I think that part of the magic being put out should include prosperity so that not only will the resources be available for a good legal team, but this event will not put the whole family into financial ruin. I decided to go digging back into my collection of copper pennies ( those that predate 1981) as they are created of 95 percent copper and are perfect for prosperity spells. I also kept going back to the old Hoodoo practice of piercing coins and wearing them. So I scrounged around found a good stout nail and a board, went out back to see how difficult it would be to pierce a coin. Turns out, it's pretty easy to accomplish, which is perfect because I know someone who is in need of said kind of magic right now.

My mind has been turning over on this subject mostly because I got one of those calls. It usually comes out of the blue and starts with We need your sort of help. While I have been digging through my own book of shadows and through other resources to come up with an action plan, I keep not finding exactly what I need. I am at the point where I am putting together my own action plan. Yes there are fragments of old lore in there but because this is important and must work, the whole thing must make sense to me. My way of working with the lore that has been passed to me is the only way to ensure a good flow toward success ( for me). This is not something where close but no cigar flies.

Learning the craft is a bit of a paradox. In the beginning you are guided through the basic precepts, given the book of golden rules then sent off to go do things the traditional way. Later when you have hiked down the crooked path for a good distance, you are finding that there are things that don't really work for you with the formula you were handed so you tweek it until it's right for you. Then you go back to your mentor and ask, what am I doing wrong that this won't work for me??? The answer is invariably: you are expected to make it your own. If it isn't your own and it makes no sense to your filters, it is useless to you.

Of course, there are basic concepts that are tried and true, but each witch takes those things and applies them differently. Which is why the craft, even in the same tradition, varies so wildly from witch to witch. The craft's power comes from within, not a book or a mentor, not even solely from the current you reside within. So if you find something that is close but no cigar, feel free to do what you need to do to include the cigar.

One down, one to go.

Damian, Jesse, and Jason are free. I spent a good part of the 19th in shock and then some of the rest of that day oscillating between joy and tears. I can't begin to imagine how these three men felt or their friends and families.

I look forward to seeing happy pictures of these men if any crop up. I could understand if they all decided to go "underground" and stay out of the public eye, but I hope not.

Justice has not been served here in full. I am certain that goes with out saying and I find it reprehensible that the state of Arkansas has not launched into this cold case to find out what really happened and locate the guilty party. For 18 years this person(s) have been running around possibly victimizing other children. As a parent I cannot begin to understand the feelings of the parents of those three young boys. I hope that as we celebrate the freedom of the innocent men, that we remember that there is another branch of the innocent that is left unattended to and that we turn our magics and attentions there.

One down, one to go.

http://www.wm3.org/

Shhhhhh. . .

We have two more weeks of this Mercury Rx backward dance and last week I had very clear signals that silence was called for. I discovered why.

Mercury in it's Rx mode has secrets to share if you are still and listening. It's difficult to hear the messages being sent to you if all you are doing is jibber jabbering your head off. In fact, if you insist of jibber jabbering your head off while Mercury is trying to talk to you, you can be sure to get thwacked upside the head! I think, in one manner or another, we have all experienced Mercury's thwacking prowess.

I have spent this last week conducting this silence advisory experiment and going through my day with an open attitude of hearing and listening, not just to the Gods, mind you, but to the people and world in general. I have seen very clearly a large difference in how the Rx is affecting me. I don't feel pulled and stretched and snarled into knots. I am completing things and letting things go as opposed to trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole because the rest of society demands that I act and continue on as everyone else. I think at the end of this, the difference will be clear. Minding the Rx of Mercury may stall new projects, but it does not mean that things don't get done. In fact I think the stop and listen/ complete attitude will prove to be far more productive a mode than the stuff this thing that doesn't fit in to the too small hole.

This is still an experiment in progress for me. I just thought I would share and see if it helps out others who get all tangled up with Mercury's backward dance.

I would be interested in hearing about your experiences if you decide to conduct this experiment yourself.

Blessings!

Silence advisory!

I have been feeling rather silent all day. This comes on the heels of Mercury retrograde giving me a bit of a jolt last night. I was cleaning the grime off my phone and it made a mad dash to the floor knocking the sim card loose. EEEK! Fortunately, it was only a little bit of a jolt and no serious harm came to my phone but it was enough to let me know that silence was being requested.

So in honor of that request I will be silent here and let Mercury do what needs doing over here. I may actually get some work done.

I shall not fear.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." ~Marianne Williamson

This quote is easy for me to understand. My issues with power came to surface a while back ago and I had to struggle with the idea that, yes indeed, I was powerful and that it would not corrupt me. That was my fear. That if I used the power endowed upon me, that I would corrupt and become what I distrust. It's easy to think this sort of thing when I look around me. I see it everyday when I look in the political news actually any news really, it's reflected all around me on how power is abused. The last thing I want is to do is use my power in a manner that would contribute to the woes of the world. I put a stopper on it; a limit on how powerful I would allow myself to be and become.

The real struggle came when I came to the conclusion that the people I see as abusing their power really believe that they are doing the right thing for the right reason. A means to an end, if you will, regardless of the vileness of their acts. It also occurred to me that some of these people realize how powerful people are and wish to either prevent people from using it or wish to harness it for themselves for their own purposes. There is even a specific group of people who believe that it is their right to molest and abuse children for their own gratification.

There is a whole list of things that turn my stomach that involves the abuse of personal and collective power. The religious arena is not the only abuse of power I see going on. It is done in politics, business, it is done in schools and in the home. It is wide spread throughout all sectors of society. It is enough for those of moral fortitude to deem the use and acquisition of power as a thing to be avoided lest it corrupt you.

The problem is simply this: while those who are of moral fiber are putting stoppers and limits to personal power, those who are polluting the environment for profit, those who are creating unjust and inane laws, those who are creating toxic business transactions and those who seek religious dominion are most certainly NOT. This can only result in tragedy. If we do not embrace the idea that we are powerful and able and moral, then those who are not will continue to spread deluded doctrines unfettered and unchallenged.

I thought about this and about how I am bringing up my children. Eventually, they will have to face these very issues of power on their own. I don't want them to go out into the world and think that power itself is evil. I want them to walk through this place knowing that power is power and having power does not define you. It is the way you choose to use your power that DOES. I want them to be able to identify in their hearts what the right thing for the right reason is. I want them to know that they are powerful enough to seek it out and be able manifest their goals.

Power is power. It is naked and raw. There is nothing evil or vile about it.

I shall not fear. Fear is the mind killer. . .

A Lughnasadh Thrashing

With my internet being down for a good part of the day yesterday, I was really able to focus on where I was and what I was doing. There were things I wanted to discuss with the Grandmaster of my tradition and a seasonal shift to honor. This seasonal shift is about bringing in the first harvest and preparing for the harvest season. The Gods, the earth, and spirits are thanked and regaled. However, this is also a time to look at what is wheat, what is chaff then separate them out and put those things in their proper positions in your life.

I have actually been doing some (recreational) reading lately. I became intrigued with a TV show on netflix called Legend of the Seeker and decided that while the show was pretty good, the books may have more to tell me. As usual this was indeed true. I cleared Wizard's First Rule in about 48 hours. And what does this have to do with the harvest season??? Everything. Sometimes the harvest you bring in is knowledge and understanding of a thing and your role in it. The first question that must be answered and understood: What is it that I believe? The next questions that come to mind are: How do my beliefs apply to this situation? How am I willing to act upon them?

By asking these questions and others like them, you it begin to get a picture of who you really are and the chaff begins to fall away. The truths that you find under this chaff belong to and are applicable to you alone. I think this is where we go astray. There are those out there who take this truth ( their truth) and wield it as a weapon against others by jamming their morals, beliefs and ethics upon others depriving them of the opportunity to dig within themselves and see what is really there. Sometimes they go as far as to pass laws to enforce their moral code. Some go further. They use weapons and violence to enforce their moral code and beliefs. I think many of us can point to a time in our personal lives and history where both of these things occur. The question you really have to ask yourself: what role do I play here and how do I plan to act upon that role?

The freedom to make your own choices is never a gift given freely. It is hard won and even harder kept. So ask yourself this and ponder deeply: when the chaff falls away from who I am, what do I look like? You also have to remember that chaff doesn't just fall off. It must be thrashed off.