Hail OdinOdin's Quest after the Runes I trow I hung on that windy Tree nine whole days and nights. Stabbed with a spear, offered to thee, myself to mine own self given. High on that Tree of which none hath heard from what roots it rises to heaven. None refreshed me ever with food or drink, I peered right down in the deep, crying aloud I lifted the Runes, then back I fell from sleep. Nine mighty songs I learned from the great son of Bale-thorn, Bestla's sire; I drank a measure of the wondrous Mead, with the Soulstirrer's drops I was showered. Ere long I bare fruit, and throve full well, I grew and waxed in wisdom; Word following word, I found me words, deed following deed, I wrought them. Hidden Runes shalt thou seek and interpreted signs, many symbols of might and power. By the great Singer painted, by the high Powers fashioned, graved by the Utterer of gods. For gods graved Odin, for elves graved Daïn, Dvalin the Dallier for dwarfs. All-wise for Jötuns, and I, of myself, graved some for the sons of men. Dost know how to write, dost know how to read, dost know how to paint, dost know how to prove. Dost know how to ask, dost know how to offer, dost know how to send, dost know how to spend? Better ask for too little than offer too much, like the gift should be as the boon; Better not to send than to overspend. ........ Thus Odin graved ere the world began; Then he rose from the deep, and came once again. {Hávamál - Sæmund's Edda, A small section fromThe Mythological Poem, edited and translated by Olive Bray}
Illumination The shamagikal significance of this Full Moon through the Winter Solstice season cannot be over emphasized. The torch flame for transformation now begins as the Light travels like a lightning bolt down through the World Tree and deep into the heart of the Underworld. Thereby Initiating the long awaited Alchemy of Change, after our long journey into the Underworld. Just as many ancient monoliths are aligned with this season and its symbolic representation, of the return of the Light, so to are we Sacred Monoliths unto ourselves, reflecting and expressing natural cycles. The light of Pure Spirit from the Celestial Realms { pure consciousness }now descends from the Upperworld down through the Earth Realm { personality } and down deep into the Underworld { Subconscious }. The Sun carries with it the Spirits pure impulse, the Earth, the fruition and enactment of this impulse and the Moon, the consummation and consecration of the impulse into being. That is why this Moon is so important right now, it represents complete ILLUMINATION within the Underworld. The Union of Opposites and resolution of what it truly means to be a Human Being. A simple Ceremony to do at this time is; Light a small white candle and hold it above your head, calling and praying to the Heavenly Realms and the place of your Celestial Soul. Ask that you be brought into greater alignment with your true destiny and that through this next year, you be watched over guided and protected, breathing in the light through the top of your head. Then bring the candle down to you chest and repeat but now pray to yourself, to your body, to the dirt at your feet and the Natural World and the Realm of the Earth Soul, asking for strength, sustenance, alignment and well being, breathing in the light Next bring the candle down to your groin area and see the light piercing deep through your physical and emotional body, down into the depths of your subconscious and into the Underworld Soul. Breath deeply through your whole body allowing the light to pass through and trigger any processes that may need to occur. Finally return the candle to your chest acknowledging both the masculine and feminine principles of creation within you, then slowly offer the candle as you turn to face the four directions, eventually returning to where you started, asking for harmonious balance between all realms, not just for yourself but for all living things. Then place the candle onto your Alter if you have one, if not, then anyway that is safe is fine. Through this Cycle there are amazing opportunities to consciously work with this energy current, aiding in our growth, rather than resisting and fighting it. The Key to this process, is radical uncensored self honesty and once discovered the ability to express it in our lives with authority and compassion. It is also a powerful time to release any forms of resentment and attchment to debts owed, wether they be emotional, practical, or financial etc. A powerful Mantra for this is; I FORGIVE YOU I RELEASE YOU I LET YOU GO ! To forgive you dont have to feel it, or believe it, you just have to say it, continually chant it, until it is done. Again this does not mean you agree or even accept what ever misfortune you may have suffered, it simply means you NOW release it. Thereby freeing the energy used to hold the resentment and now make it available for your creative process. This of course is also a perfect moment to reflect on our own misgivings and ask forgiveness from others, if we so need to. . . . And never forget, Santa Claus bought gifts from the UpperWorld, travelling down the Christmas Tree, to bless the small children. Santa Claus is the Shaman, the Christmas tree, the World Tree and the the little children, our souls. This is the true gift of the Communion of Light/Christmas Through this Sacred Season may the Eternal Illumination of the Sacred World Tree shine brightly on our lives and bring us into closer union and harmonious balance with the Earth and each other.
Bless ! . Shar ManTranscending i slip Between the Worlds
Into the Other Land The place where This and That dissolves Behind the Hidden Hand And into the Sky of Togetherness Somewhere beyond myself Yet within us all I meet my own destruction Dissolve smiling Into Oblivion My skin peels open, as my heart trembles Dissolving into Everything First the Endless Night The Void of all Being That floats Endlessly into Nothing Scattered to the Four Celestial Winds And there at the Edge of Time It awaits my Becoming They gather round on Silent Wings Hold my Essence and return it to me Not the person that left the Stone Harbour But a New Thing a New Becoming As yet unnamed, Unknown yet the same Refreshed from Starlights Gaze Then life is blown back into creation The Breath from Beyond the Curtain The Whisper that has always Known my Name And they Sing in Rapturous Thunder And Call me to my Fate As waves from the Cosmic Ocean Comes crashing through my brain I surf this Bolt of Lightning Back through bright Astral Planes Gathering the Helpers, as i toil to my task And come tumbling through the Ethers Back to the Land of Masks A sudden breath that rips my soul And lands me to my feet The Changling changed and rectified A brand New World to meet. Shamanarchists There are no limitations to Our Magic We are Shamanarchists Summoning from multiple realms of reality All traditions melt in the arms Of dancing Chaos There are No Limitations Only our Imaginationz So summon Pan, call on Eagle Pray to the Angels, dance like Devils Pull from the Unseen world Limitless Power, limitless possibilities Until we walk in this world As we will one day walk with Our Ancestors! .
I Burn I came in with a raging heart
Memories of bullets flying over head Soft deer skin covering my feet A warrior that would never surrender When all was lost we stood our ground On the frozen earth in the last winter Pledging our souls return Wooden stakes marked the spot We retained our honour, our heritage Our lineage, honouring our promise To the great grandfather The pain of this return Into the heart of despair The enemies arms embraced us Birthed us, took us in Held us close, told us, they loved us Gave us everything, everything they promised before Money, power, prestige and fortune But this new heart beat as before Red blood, red heat, red fire I burn your schools I burn your upbringing I burn your system I burn your fake memories And in turn I recall The sound of beating drums The songs of life, the songs of war Ready to sing the last death song The ghosts of the elders walk with me Calling over council fires Sweet smoke rises and I remember Lift my head from deep slumber I remember, I remember everything The genocide, the screams of children and mothers Bearing the wounds of our ancestors They push me towards awakening They force me to remember I can't sleep from their deafening whispers From their incessant persistence They say there is no release Till I surrender, till I forgive The enemies of my fathers So for thirty years I bore this promise Carried it like weighted rocks upon my back As I drowned myself in fire water I stumbled at the precipice And would of fallen over If you had not come to save me To lift me from my destruction To carry me home To the hills of my forefathers To the buttes of the forgotten And there at Kingfisher falls I broke the arrows I tore them from my skin And threw them in clear water I took the suffering from my back And buried it in the rocks below the river I washed myself in its icy embrace And forgave all those that had conquered I poured medicines into the rushing waters And called to grandfather, crying to heal me Heal the nations and all our people So no more would we return in anger No more would we seek revenge But instead, would walk in honour The kind that we hold so dear The reason why we fought Till we were lost in the fight Lost to the heart Of this raging fire I burn Windhorse prayers to increase Good fortune I recently read for a client at her vegetarian Café here in Nice and a very powerful spirit of a Tibetan monk came and blessed her space offering much guidance, advising her to place the symbol of a windhorse above the entrance to the Café, saying that around every full moon, when the moon is waxing, to light incense, invoke the blessings of Buddha and to recite the windhorse prayer that would bring much good fortune to her and her establishment. I previously had no idea what a windhorse was or what the prayers were that this spirit was referring to. Two days later I awoke early in the morning with the presence of the same Tibetan monk in my room and felt immediately guided to go online and type into Google windhorse and windhorse prayers. What I found was complete evidencia on my reading for the Cafe, even mentioning that the prayers need to be done on a waxing moon. Tibetan Buddhism incorporates quite a lot from Bon shamanism and when viewed from a shamanic perspective its power and presence within the Tibetan traditions makes much sense. I share this article with you not so much that you can follow and do this ritual { which of course you may } but because in all my years of reciting various prayers and casting intentional spells, the prayer to the windhorse is one of the most all-encompassing, fierce and powerful spells I have ever come across. May its power and presence bring blessings to all sentient beings. You will simply need an image of the Windhorse and some Tibetan incense to perform this working. First sit silently and meditate then begin reciting the prayers below, firstly taking refuge and generating Bodhicita... Taking Refuge SANG.GYEY CHÖ DANG TSOG.KYI CHOG NAM.LA JANG.CHUB BAR.DU DAG.NI KYAB.SU.CHI DAG.GI JIN.SOG GYI.PEY SO.NAM KYI DRO.LA PEN.CHIR SANG.GYEY DRUB.PAR.SHOG [3x] NAMO GURUBYE NAMO BUDDHAYA NAMO DHARMAYA NAMO SANGHAYA [3x] Taking Refuge And Generating Bodhichitta I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme Sangha, until I attain Enlightenment. By the merit I accumulate from practicing generosity and the other perfections, May I attain Enlightenment in order to benefit all living beings. [3x] Cultivating Four Immeasurable Attitudes May all beings have happiness and its causes, (Love) May all beings be freed from suffering and its causes; (Compassion) May all beings constantly dwell in Joy transcending sorrow; (Joy) May all beings dwell in equal love for those both close and distant. The Seven Limbed Prayer With my body, speech, and mind, humbly I prostrate. I make offerings both set out and imagined. I declare every unwholesome action I have ever committed. I rejoice in the virtues of all beings. Please stay until samsara ends, And please turn the Wheel of Dharma for us. I dedicate all these virtues to the great Enlightenment. PRAYERS FOR INCREASING WIND HORSE (GOOD FORTUNE) Light incense offerings, then recite; The pure incense offerings become great nectar clouds of sense pleasures (through the power of visualization). OM AH HUNG (By this mantra the clouds increase; all of samsara and nirvana are filled.} I make this prosperous, gracious and glorious incense offering To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. To the Lama, the Yidam and the Dakini. To the Dharma protectors, gods of wealth, treasure holders and so forth. To all those who guard and protect me, accept this incense offering. Please help to increase my good fortune. Face East; offering incense and reciting prayers To the god abiding in the eastern direction. The god who subdues malevolent forces and increases good fortune; The conch snow lion with turquoise dreadlocks, Displayer of great bravery, subduer of life’s struggles, accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! Face South; offering incense and reciting prayers To the god who abides in the southern direction, The god who subdues malevolent forces and increases good fortune; The turquoise dragon with copper tusks And a might roar; accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! Face West; offering incense and reciting prayers To the god who abides in the western direction The god who subdues malevolent forces and increases good fortune; Great tiger with vermilion stripes, Courageous and terrifying, subduer of life’s struggles; accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! Face North; offering incense and reciting prayers To the god abiding in the northern direction, The god who subdues malevolent forces and increases good fortune; Great Garuda with the jewelled crest, possessing great strength and power, Subduer of life’s struggles, accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! Face Centre; offering incense and reciting prayers To the gods who abide in the four cardinal and eight intermediate directions, To all gods of the five elements; accept this incense offering. Increase the elements of good fortune! Raise up my diminished fortune! To the gods of the eight astrological crosses, accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! To all gods of the nine astrological marks, accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! To all the gods of the hours, the days, the months and the years, accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! To the five superior demigods and the guardians, To the gods of our fathers, mothers and uncles, To all the gods of the body, and the gods who awaken knowledge in us; accept this incense offering. Increase my good fortune! Raise up my diminished good fortune! May good fortune increase more and more! Increase the magnificent strength in my body. Increase the power of truth in my speech. Increase the profound meditation of truth in my mind. Pacify the causes of obstacles and disease. Increase and extend life, luck, strength and prosperity. Grant me power over the phenomenal world. Eliminated obstacles and malevolent forces. Display the victory banner, victorious in all directions! May all wishes be fulfilled! Victorious, victorious, gods, victorious, May all our gods be victorious! Eliminate the dark side, the lineage of the maras. Accomplish these activities that we request. Fulfil all desires, subdue malevolent forces, most powerful one. Great Lion King (Gesar), emanation of Padma Sambhava of three lineages, Precious Jewel, conqueror of obstacles, with all your forces and emissaries, Through this request and offering may our wishes by fulfilled. Now sit and chant the Mantra OM:
To the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, the Lamas, Yidams and Dakinis sitting in the ten directions. To all the gods of wealth, the treasure holders, the oath bound ones, and the landlords: The sponsor whose age symbol is the Windhorse respectfully prostrates. May the life, body, power, luck and good fortune Prosper like the greatest ones in existence: the tiger, the snow lion, the garuda and the dragon. May whatever we wish for be instantly accomplished, like precious possessions of a great king. With the help of the goddesses of the five elements who accompany me, May my good fortune eternally spread and flourish in all directions. Return to the malevolent forces all causes of damaged and diminished good fortune. I dedicate all these prayers to the great Enlightenment of all sentient beings. Now sit and gently chant the Mantra OM, until silent and fully present. Alchemical WeddingMythologically, as we approach Winter solstice 2013, we are entering the depths of the Underworld. This Full Moon with all its correspondence, and the fact that Venus goes retrograde at Winter Solstice, simply heightens this - if consciously used - magical process.
There are too many reasons and astrological alignments to mention here, but personally I feel this time affords an amazing opportunity to transmute many fundemental failings in dualistic thought and feeling. It inspires the moment of reconcilliation, abandonment, uncensored surrender and eventual transformation and union between the masculine and feminine forces that pass through and within us. A time to dive deep into the bubbling pot, Cerridwen's Cauldron, and allow those things that we have dishonoured, rejected and refused within ourselves to arise consciously and become alchemised through this process. A time of deep sleep, chaos, confusion and pain from those things within ourselves that we remain attached to, that create imbalance within all our relationships - be that with our inner most selves or with those around us. That which we seek is not outside of ourselves, it does not nest in the glorified other. It resides within ourselves, not only in the places of illumination and enlightenment but also within that which we deny and reject about ourselves. The vagabond, the whore, the thief, the liar within all of us is the blackened sulphur that pours from Her pot, as we boil within the arms of Her embrace. It is this love, it is this acceptance, it is this heat, that lies at the foundation of Her being, that strips us naked, renewed, refreshed, and ultimately reborn and enthused within this union of opposites. Shamanic Death 'The trick is to die standing, to remain awake through death’s grip, to die to oneself and then to be reborn.’ Whenever this happens to me - this shamanic cycle of death and rebirth - it is completely involuntary; no amount of ritual can truly invoke its occurrence and, if I’m honest, I'd prefer that it didn’t happen at all. It’s painful as hell, as it should be; it’s all consuming, and literally feels like im dying, which in a sense I am. Not physically but instead psychically, mentally and emotionally. In fact it is a complete psychic breakdown. All reference points of knowing and understanding collapse and crumble, much like the Tower in the tarot. All belief systems that I’d previously held so dear, no matter how strong my convictions, dismantle and die. It is a truly humbling experience. I have observed that, for me, the rhythm of this shamanic death cycle occurs around every five years. I will be going about my business as usual then things will begin, sometimes quite abruptly, to disintegrate… No matter how hard I try to stop this process, no matter what energies I invoke or intentions I try to set, my will in these matters is completely ignored by the powers that be. I can wash a thousand times in uncrossing baths, I can smudge myself with half a pound of sage, I can reinforce my commitments over and over but nothing works. Im so glad that I am reasonably aware of this process when it begins to happen, otherwise I would think I was being jinxed, that someone was throwing brujeria at me, that there was ‘something wrong’ that had to be fixed, changed or averted. Of course when the process begins I often do all of these things, but to no avail, and it’s at this point I realize what is happening and begin the long, arduous task of acceptance and then finally complete surrender. It’s quite a petrifying experience, I become more and more incapable of the simplest task beyond walking, eating and sleeping - and even these normal patterns are disturbed as I am thrust into the chasm of the underworld. I am now in the 19th year of my spiritual awakening and with the 20th drawing near, just like clockwork this process has begun again. For the past few months I have become more and more confused and disorientated. I thought at first that it was simply because I had recently moved from Holland to France, but unfortunately no such luck. Every magical spell, juju trick or meditational technique I know has slowly become useless, as it so often does when this cycle starts… I have been in and out of days of deep confusion and depression - one minute I’m ecstatic the next im angry and apathetic. I journey with my drum, I commune at my boveda and though insights may come, nothing really sticks or holds any weight; no sooner do I think I’ve figured out what is wrong with me than I’m back in the throws of delusion again. In a recent post I spoke of one aspect of this process and a soul retrieval I performed on myself, yet even that has been unable to stop the downward spiral I am now experiencing, infact its just made me more present to it. Finally today after many prayers I was given the insight, that once again I am at the mercy of the Gods, as I am consumed in the jaws of the Great Mother ... For me Samhain is the external initiatory gate into the underworld as the seasons change and autumn wheels its way into winter. This also can be viewed from a microcosmic viewpoint and can be worked internally to enter deep into one’s subconscious and beyond into the Void. So it is that I am being forced to completely surrender to my own destiny once again, to the death of my current knowing, into the depths of nothingness. In very practical terms this past week has literally been a nightmare, me and my girlfriend have suffered each others’ failings, my small stepson has driven me almost to the point of insanity, the close contact I feel with my spirit guides has greatly diminished and I can all but remember my name, let alone get on with the practicalities of life. Finally this morning after my stepson did a flying head-butt into my back I lost it. Thankfully instead of loosing my temper, I quickly asked my girl if they could both leave the house (which they were about to do anyway) before I lost it completely. Any other time something like this would not be a big deal and instead we would have just rolled around the bed play fighting, as we so often do, but the moment it occurred was the final cracking point in my now frayed nerves, as so many other things had been building lately. After they had left I went to my boveda and prayed fervently, then grabbed my smokes and headed down to the beach to try to calm down and meditate for a while. At this point I just felt like screaming, not understanding what was wrong with me, but instead I found a quite spot on the beach, lit up a cigar and once again began to pray. The sound of the gently lapping waves and the faint early winter sun began to calm me down. I took a few puffs of smoke on my cigar and continued to ponder my predicament, fervently praying for guidance. I watched the smoke twirl into the air as my prayers rose to the sky. I bowed my head with eyes closed and asked with all my heart for the spirits to help and protect me. When I finally opened my eyes I looked down and there lying on the pebbles exactly between my feet was a red coloured medicine bundle. I blinked for a second to see if it was real, and slowly leaned forward and picked it up. To my utter disbelief in my hands was a medicine bag of some strange description. In that moment I heard the caw of a bird, I looked up and walking in front of me backwards and forwards proudly punching his beak into the air was my old friend the crow. Not once in my two months in Nice had I seen a crow on the beach, seagulls yes, but never a crow. I knew now the spirits were miraculously answering my prayers. Looking back at the bundle I saw how it had been perfectly wrapped and tied together. Once again I looked at the sky, knowing the odds of this happening were a trillion to one, magic was truly afoot. However not knowing if this bag was good medicine or some heavy duty brujeria that the ocean had washed up, I very slowly unwrapped it at arms length, ready to drop it back into the sea at any moment, if infact this was a curse of some sort. I have had things thrown at me in the past and you can quickly tell if something was made with bad intent as you begin to unbundle it, because the negative spirit will try to jump into your energy field and do its evil work. Of course I didn’t think for a second that it was personally made to jinx me but still one needs to be very careful with such items, especially if the person that made it really knew what they were doing. This however had a completely different feel to it as I unwound the bound cloth. At first I thought that there was nothing in it and I was somehow tricking myself into believing this had some kind of magical significance, then as I unbound the last fold of the cloth there in front of me, to my utter disbelief, was a perfectly formed dead baby bat. I couldn’t believe my eyes that on a day such as this, whilst in such psychic confusion, out praying for guidance on a beach in Nice, that there at my feet I should find a medicine bag with a dead baby bat in it. In an instant I felt the spirit of the bat jump from the bundle and into my energetic field. Quickly I scanned myself to feel if this was ok. My guidance felt good, so I allowed it to enter into my auric body. It swooped swiftly around inside me. I watched with my inner vision as it tuned into negative energies patterns inside me and then went about cleansing me spiritually with its wings and the high frequency sounds it made. This went on for about 15 minutes as my new found Allie worked through my energetic field cleansing me of any blocks or negative bundles. Finally the energy began to settle and I immediately went to the ocean’s edge and passed the physical remains of the bat and bundle over my body, asking that all negativity be banished from me, and then quickly threw it back into the sea, giving thanks for this amazing shamanic synchronicity and its blessings. On arriving home I immediately took out my shamanic drum and began to journey, in an instant the spirit of the bat was there as it took my consciousness down deep into the underworld. I will spare the details but basically it showed me my predicament, that once again I am deep in the void of unknowing, that I am going through another shamanic death cycle, that I am not yet reborn, but instead I am cloaked in the veils of the abyss, waiting for the dawn of rebirth and renewed understanding. It also communicated that I was to rededicate my drum and other shamanic tools for the next phase of shamanic work (it has been completely impossible to work lately as I have been going through such a deep transformative process myself) and until then I was to wait and trust the process. I eventfully returned from the journey, but not spiritually - I am still at this very moment suspended internally in darkness. I rededicated my drum in smoke, tied a very old buffalo medicine bundle I have to its interior, relined my drum bag with sweet grass and sage, and placed it on my ancestral altar for blessings. The bat spirit is still in me working its magic, opening and realigning my spiritual force. I feel like the hanged man in the tarot, suspended upside down, awaiting restoration and renewal - much like a sleeping bat in its cave. I don’t generally like to read about the meaning of totems from books etc., as I believe that each spirit carries its own individual meaning to each person, but I did find it interesting what Jamie Sands says of bat medicine in her Medicine cards. Bat Medicine Bat embraces the idea of shamanistic death. The ritual death of the healer is steeped in secrets and highly involved initiation rites. Shaman death is the symbolic death of the initiate to the old ways of life and personal identity. The initiation that brings, the right to heal and to be called shaman is necessarily preceded by ritual death. Most of these rituals are brutally hard on the body, mind, and spirit. In light of today's standards, it can be very difficult to find a person who can take the abuse and come through it with their balance intact. The basic idea of ancient initiations was to break down all the former notions of "Self" that were held by the shaman-to-be. This could entail brutal tests of physical strength and psychic ability, and having every emotional "button" pushed hard. Taunting and spitting on the initiate was common, and taught him or her to endure the duress with humility and fortitude. The final initiation step was to be buried in the earth for one day and to be reborn without former ego in the morning. This ritual is very similar to the night of fear practiced by natives of Turtle Island. In this ritual, the shaman-to-be is sent to a certain location to dig his or her grave and spend the night in the womb of Mother Earth totally alone, with the mouth of the grave covered by a blanket. Darkness, and the sounds of animals prowling, quickly confronts the initiate with his or her fears. As the darkness of the grave has its place in this ritual, so does the cave of Bat. Hanging upside-down is a symbol for learning to transpose your former self into a newborn being. This is also the position that babies assume when they enter the world through the womb of woman. If Bat has appeared today, it symbolizes the need for a ritualistic death of some way of life that no longer suits your new growth pattern. This can mean a time of letting go of old habits, and of assuming the position in life that prepares you for rebirth, or in some cases initiation. In every case, Bat signals rebirth of some part of yourself of the death of old patterns. If you resist your destiny, it can be a long, drawn out, or painful death. The universe is always asking you to grow and become your future. To do so you must die the shaman's death. {Source: Sams, Jamie and Carson, David. Medicine Cards} I thought this very fitting for what I am going through at this cycle of my spiritual life. I am functioning minimally right now but at least I realize through receiving bat medicine today that once again I am at the precipice of death and transformation. It isn’t easy, I got a girl and child to support and at times like these I can hardly walk down the road, let alone do consultas etc.
However, I trust implicitly Creator’s plan for me, and when the time is right my soul and psyche will re-emerge refreshed and reborn. I will have once again garnered greater power and spiritual force in my life, realizing that it is not of me but through me that it manifests, and I will be able once again to help with even greater efficiency those who come to me for healing and guidance. ‘Of myself I am nothing, you are that which breaths life into me. I am surrendered to your will and at service to your desire.’ ‘Thy will not mine be done.’ 'I was about to write an article on the Underworld Initiation, its relevance and meaning. Instead this poem came through.' Y.Zsigo November 2013 ... .. . UnderworldMay the guardian below open the gate to me. May all that I am be consumed in Hell's fire. May the cauldron of the Dark Mother destroy me. Consume me, devour me, until I am no more. Then from the last remaining embers will I remember. I am nothing, No one, I am no more. I am only that which calls me, Which summons me from sleep. That rises from the ashes, A phoenix at Her feet. ............... ...... .. . The gateway to the underworld is guarded well by His Horned presence. All that come before Him become dreadful or enamoured, Run screaming 'Devil', or die crying ' Beloved !' He is neither image nor adoration, Most are fooled by His dark conjuring, Even those who claim to know Him. There is no service, there is only ' Initiation ' Those who have passed beyond attain ' The Great Secret 'and the treasure that lyes therein. Those who claim to know Him, know nothing but the cool shadows of morning. A pale refection of His true presence & purpose. I shudder at their pomp and splendour, At those that call Him friend. They are the enemies of the Great Mother, They are all charlatans and clowns. May their noses red with poison, From the dribble of their mouths. Only them who never wanted, The treasure from the first. Only them who were dragged screaming, To the gates of their demise. Have seen the Splendid Lands, Have beheld silverine smiles. The Faery Host lied waiting, To trick them from their fate. With their glamours and their mischief, With their spitefulness and hate. Only then must they transmute, From the black unto the red. Must they leave the land of living, And lay amongst the dead. For deep below this gravestone, This barren castles keep. They must wander with the aimless, Never waking, never to sleep. And only when the last gasp, Falters from their breath. When everything is over, And all that's left is death. Will Her servants come as Demons, And devour skin and bone. Desolate to her dark nature, Hell hounds mouths that froth and foam. Then the silence of the ages, A timeless endless night. Nothing but oblivion, Devoid of love or light. Only then can you say something, And tell me of your merit. Your foolish wit, your mouths of shit, Your impotent inheritance. Those that were slain in this slumber, Are no more to speak its name. They were eaten by Her witches, Not this pompous art you name. They were devoured by Her calling, And burnt upon Her flame. The stake on which , you ache and twitch, This Is no parlour game. And The smoke burns And The cauldron bubbles And the ugly man Stands silent As the chosen's Skin boils . . Then . . Silence . . Quiet . . . . All things are born from this, All things spurn from Her, All love and all horror, Emerge from under Her Dark Skirt . Dark Mother oh, how deep do you roots go, Deep as darkness deep, Deep as darkness deep. Dark Mother oh, how deep do your springs flow, Deep as oceans deep, Deep as oceans deep. Dark Mother oh how deep do you flames go, Deep as Annwn deep, Deep as Annwn deep. ! ! ! ! The animals come rushing in, The wolf, the snake, The beast. And all the powers from within, Burst forth And are released. The cry and breath of babies. Born back Into the world. The lasting gasp, That heaves and harps, The seed slowly Unfurls. A winter that has broken. The light Before the Dawn. A wound no longer open, But healed And now made strong. The power from this potion, Takes the soul To flight. Bursts forth From this dark ocean, Piercing the blackened night. A Phoenix from the fire, An Eagle Soaring high. Back to the world of mortals, Of men and Lame excuse. Sent from the flames of Annwn, Unchained, released Set loose. Unbound by past condition, Set free Unleashed, untamed. A pure living reflection, Of all That can't be named. A man no more amongst men. A stranger In their sight. A living breathing TalisMan, Born of the darkest night. Dont speak to me of MAGICK,
Until you have tasted flame. And cried out in the blackeness, Her ineffable name. Only then will you know delight, When breathing your final breath. Will you then return to the Light, And push back the Gates of Death. 'I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE' if you work shamagicaly in any way....
Mén-zu and the Rageful Demons: The Mythos of the Eclipses Mén-zu, the mythic Sacred Journeyer, is the Moon during the time encompassing a lunar and solar eclipse. Just such an eclipse event is occurring beginning with the Lunar Eclipse of October 18, going through to the Solar Eclipse of November 3. This 2 week window between eclipses is a time of high intensity, as the passage of the Moon will powerfully activate the dynamic archetypal aspects within our own life experience correspondent to any planet it intersects. Please click the link below to read the full article I wrote on this: By Jade Wahoo Gregori http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs155/1101447659835/archive/1115245804812.html A time of transitionIt has been a strange few weeks, I have recently moved from Amsterdam, via London, to Nice in France. It's almost too idyllic here on the French Riviera, with its perfectly warm climate, its silvery blue ocean, the world's best cuisine, and what seems like the continual flirtatiousness of the French. Why someone hasn't recommended it to me before I have no idea. In a world of so much struggle and drama this place is as close to paradise as I've yet to find. Yet spiritually this transition has been a difficult one, - I have left my Ile { My spiritual house and community }, my Padrino { Spiritual Godfather }, a large group of friends, acquaintances, and many happy clients behind. Emotionally it has been quite traumatising, but on the upside - and there is a big upside - I have recently fallen in love with Anna, my new partner, and her beautiful four year old son, Luke. Together as a family, after a blissful summer together in London, we have journeyed deeper into Europe with very little money but a whole lot of trust, and a truck load of good mojo on our side. Anna truly is one of the most beautiful souls I have had the pleasure of meeting, yet this coming together, this entwining of souls, has been intense and again, magically speaking quite difficult. For a few years now I have been single, yes there have been lovers that have come and gone, but nothing that lasted for any length of time. The main reason for this, I believe, is the same reason why the transition has been so tough, that being that my way of life and my Eggun are so strong that they blow anyone out the water that I allow into my inner circle. It's one thing to know friends, acquaintances and clients etc, but a totally different thing when someone becomes my partner - the cauldron can become very hot, so to speak, and up until now I haven't found anyone that can take the heat. In fact I'd resigned myself to a hermit's life. The Gods, however, had other plans and I have been truly blessed with this new relationship. Not only do we get along great, but for the first time in years I have surrendered my magickal will to merge with another, and it is this that I have been finding so challenging and yet wonderfully rewarding. From two comes the third and the creation of the Magickal Child, the possibility of something that is beyond the individual's reach alone; the reshaping of ones energy field and shamanic reference points. I have always worked from a place of conscious vision. In other words, when it comes to the big changes in life, I always acquire vision and guidance from my spirits before I take action. On this occasion however, I received guidance but was told to surrender the outcome into my partner's hands. This is something I don't think I've ever done before. When we realised we wanted to be together and were unsure where we wanted to live (thinking at the time our choices were between Amsterdam or London), I set up my Boveda at home and we held a very small Misa Blanca to ask for guidance from the spiritworld as to where would be the most favourable place for our new home. My Gitana came through very strongly after my grandmother Lillie briefly visited to give her blessings, and said quite forcibly that we were to live in France in a place near to Italy and that there was much magic there for us to discover, also that it was time for us both to live somewhere warm and more relaxed. There were other messages but that was the most important when it came to our prospective move. Immediately after the Misa, Anna asked if I'd ever been to Nice, to which I replied 'no'. She then said how funny it was that my Gitana should mention France as she had lived in Nice many years ago and had always wanted to return, saying also that it was very close to the Italian border. We laughed together realising that synchronisity was already occurring. A few days later my Gitana gave guidance that I should allow her and Anna to organise everything for the move and that I was to keep my hands off, as I was busy working in Amsterdam. It is this that I have found quite difficult, not the fact that I have had to surrender all control to the hopeful outcome of moving to Nice, but that in surrendering to them and maintaining my focus on my work at hand, I was moving to France magically blind. I have physically been here now for just over three weeks yet I've only just arrived in my body. What I mean by this is that an aspect of my soul has only just caught up with the external changes that have happened in the last month or so. This change has occurred almost miraculously and even though transformation is my stock and trade, so to speak, it has materialised so fast as to leave me energetically scattered on many continents. Since I arrived I have felt vacant, spaced out and not fully myself. The first thing I did to rectify this was to set up my altar space and call in all my spirits. An old espiritista trick that my padrino taught me whenever moving house is to light a candle at my Boveda before I leave, tell my Eggun that we are moving and going to a new place of residence, then snub out the candle before it burns down and take it with me. Upon arrival I set up my Boveda, took the same candle and relit it, calling in all my Eggun, telling them that this is their new home and assembly point. Unfortunately this time I did not get the immediate feeling of warmth and security I usually do when performing this simple ritual. Yes, my Gitana was tangibly present but the rest of my Allies seemed strangely absent. When you work with your the spirits as closely as I do and the feeling comes that they are not all fully there, it can be a very disturbing and depressing feeling, as if part of you is missing. I have had this happen a few times before but in different circumstances. Very rarely (thank God) the majority of them will leave, and just one may stay and watch over my affairs, in this case my Gitana. Whenever this has happened it is always the first sign of a huge transition and transformation that is about to occur. It's as if the radio waves to my intuition are shut down somehow. When it first happened many years ago, I literally felt abandoned by God, went into a panic, and began eagerly invoking them back, but to no avail. Thank the Gods for Elders in these traditions, and after talking to them they described this as a natural part of my spiritual evolution, and that I should stop working for a while, rest as much as possible, and wait for their return and guidance. This thankfully short period of waiting has always felt agonising, yet when they finally arrive they bring new enthused power and vision to me for the next phase of my journey. It's as if they themselves have gone into spirit council where they acquire guidance and upon return transmit this new information to me. I can't explain the feeling of joy and relief when their familiar communication, renewed vigour and power flows back into my soul and body. This, however, was somewhat different, and at first I didn't understand why. I would simply go about each day waiting for 'me' to show up. After a few weeks of doing practical stuff as we moved into our new apartment and everything was finally in place, I asked my girlfriend if she would be a witness for me as I journeyed into the spirit realm with my now aching question: 'Where the hell am I?' I lay on my bed, said the formality of certain prayers and began to breath as I dived deeply into the void. First my consciousness travelled back to London, to all the amazing times we had had there this summer, from picnicking on Hampstead Heath, to scouring through occult literature at Watkins in Leicester Square, then onwards to the British Museum. The memory returned of a strong connection I had felt, for some strange reason, with John Dee the 17th century occultist. We had been guided to go to the museum to see his famous scrying mirror which is on permanent display there. We eventually found the rather bland (but none the less mysterious) polished obsidian mirror, but my fascination was instead drawn to a wax seal next to it, the Sigillum Dei, otherwise known as the 'Seal of God'. Its intricate carvings held my gaze, just as it did now observing it astrally from within the dreamtime. My body shuddered and in an instant I was shot up out of the roof of the museum at lightning speed, as my consciousness was taken to the northwest of Scotland and the Callanish standing stones, a place by the way, that I have never actually been to. No sooner had my vision focused upon them, then I was transported again high into the night sky and propelled across the ocean to the Hill of Tara in Ireland, another ancient earthworks, and from there finally back to, of all places, Lewisham in South London, my place of birth. My grandmother Lillie, who passed away a few years ago, came to me and said, 'These are the lands of your ancestors'. I felt a sudden pang in my heart for my heritage, my family's Eggun and these ancient lands. I realised in a flash what had been wrong with me for the past three weeks. In shamanic tradition it is considered that we each have three souls: the celestial soul, the earth soul, and the underworld soul. When these are all perfectly aligned and present in one's body, destiny actively occurs, almost effortlessly. If, however, one of these aspects of soul is absent then illness and imbalance begin to occur in the person's life. My insight from this enlightened perspective was that an aspect of my earth soul had dislodged, become absent from my body, and had become emotionally attached to England. This shocked me as I have never held the land of my ancestors in the greatest regard, in fact I have spent the last twenty years trying to escape it. It is not the land itself but modern day British culture that I have come to completely despise. Yes I've lived on these islands, but the majority of the last twenty years has been spent abroad, and gladly so. This last summer of 2013 spent in London, however, had been so beautiful, so perfect: the weather was amazing, I was newly in love with my girl, we had money to spare, we dined at some great restaurants, and the wit and humour of Londoners had enthralled me again - something that had been deeply lacking in the other countries in which I had lived. Something else had fundamentally changed as well though, London was not the place I left twenty or so years ago, it is now one of the most multicultural capital cities in the world, and I had totally loved being there with the different accents, the different nationalities, and most of all, the amazing variety of foods. As all these thoughts and realisations cascaded into my consciousness, I allowed myself to fully feel the love and appreciation of my own country and the people there. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of honour and respect for my ancestral lineage and then, in an instant, my body automatically inhaled sharply as this aspect of soul returned to me, detaching from its longing, its clinging to the recent past and returning home to my centre. I breathed deeply for a few minutes as the energy mingled and harmonised within me... It's often thought that soul-loss occurs in the most traumatic moments of our past and yes, that is true, yet there is a responsibility to hold full presence in each moment and even the best of us can become enamoured, attached and lost to a circumstance or situation. We can emotionally lock ourselves into a memory, whether good or bad, at which point our power is immediately depleted and full attentive awareness is practically impossible.
Now I am fully present to my new home and life, truly honour the land of my ancestors and allow those spirits that wish to be with me here in France to gather around my now vibrant Boveda, which since journeying has consistently had a small circle of bubbles around the lip of the bowl - a sure sign of the circling and coming together of my spirits. Of course there are still many challenges and adventures ahead but since this soul retrieval, I am at least now fully present to my circumstance, and my, what a good one it is - as I said before, it's bloody beautiful here... { This piece was written on Sept 23rd 2013 } Awakening About twenty two years ago I found myself in Glastonbury, Somerset, for the first time. I had gone there with a girlfriend of mine to get away from the madness of London and some respite from an ever increasing drug addiction that was gradually destroying and taking over my life. If I remember correctly it was my girlfriend's idea to visit Somerset and she had booked us both a room at Tor Down Bed and Breakfast, which I was soon to find out was situated right next to Glastonbury Tor. I planned to use this time away to try and clean up my act and get a new start on life. Up until then I was drinking excessively, taking copious amounts of drugs daily and inevitably getting into more and more trouble with the police. I had been reducing my intake of substances for the past few days and as we set off on our journey I can honestly say it was the first time I had been clean in years. We drove from London via the M3, glad to see the city pass away behind us, as we set off towards what I now know as the Summerlands. I have always been interested in magick and shamanism of various kinds, in fact I sold my soul to the Devil once just to score some heroin in a city that was desperately dry of opiates at the time. It worked, and immediately after making my pact with Old Nick, I went around to a dealer's house who only hours before had been withdrawing as badly as I was, to not only buy some smack but to actually be given a rather large amount for free. So happy was I with this new arrangement I thought I would test him further and promptly walked to the next dealers house, where exactly the same thing happened. Needless to say the Devil got my soul alright and it took many years and many tears to reclaim myself back from the pits of hell. However I digress, back to my story............. There's a special feeling as you enter within a 12 mile radius of Glastonbury town. There's a conscious change in atmosphere, and a subtle but strong feeling that something is different here, something magical. It doesn't seem as strong to me now as it did that first time, whether that's because I’ve changed or the landscape itself has I don't know, but the first time I felt it, it was amazing and to view the Tor rising from the rolling Somerset landscape was truly breathtaking. We were greeted at the B&B by two very sweet older women who for some strange reason thought I was Boy George the pop singer. Every morning they would tap lightly on our bedroom door and then enter with trays of full English breakfast singing 'Karma, karma, karma Chameleon', then giggling like two besotted school girls they would reluctantly leave us to our eggs and bacon. It was a lot of fun watching them play up to me, thinking I was the famous pop star, I didn't have the heart to tell them I wasn't him but instead a crazed drug addict from south London trying to get clean (which funnily enough turned out to be not that far from George's situation in later years). As I said before, the moment I entered the vicinity of Glastonbury I felt something strange - at the time I had no idea what it was, but I was soon to find out.. We spent long sunny days doing the usual tourist stuff, walking around the various occult and alternative shops, walking up the Tor and admiring the fantastic views and would eventually end up back in the B&B, deciding to give the pubs a miss, for obvious reasons, and have early nights in. One particular morning after both sleeping well we awoke early to a ray of glorious sunlight and the sound of birdsong coming through our bedroom window. My girlfriend leant over to kiss me and we began to make love. The bed was positioned so that my head pointed towards the bedroom wall with Glastonbury Tor directly behind it. I lay on my back with my girlfriend climbing on top, riding me. We both climaxed, embraced each other for a short while, and then just as she climbed off and knelt on the bed beside me, it happened! It felt like the top of my head exploded and was split wide open as a gushing torrent of white light rushed intensely through my body, it was so strong that my whole body trembled violently as it arched like a bow across the bed. I have done a fair share of mind altering drugs in my time but never had I felt anything like this before, it was as if my entire being was dissolving into a pure white electric current that was totally consuming me. I desperately tried to allow the energy to run through me. My whole body shook, my eyes clamped tightly shut, as this white heat tore through my being. I had been clean from any form of drugs for two or three days at this point and I believe it was only because of my previous drug experiences that I was able to breath and ride my way through it. It felt very much like an extreme psychedelic experience but much more intense. As my body shook on the bed, I was at some point able to communicate to my girlfriend with words to the effect of 'What the hell is happening to me?' to which she replied, 'I don't know but I can see it!' She saw what she described as a serpent of light that was streaming into me but if that wasn't strange enough, she also said that she could see through the wall of the B&B and out beyond it, to Glastonbury Tor and that this spiralling light was emanating from a cloaked and hooded Merlin type figure standing on top of the Tor. In his hand was a crystal tipped wand, and from this wand shone the serpent light that spiralled downward around the ancient mound and eventually into my head and throughout my body. She described the scene further saying that there were thousands and thousands of ravens flying in a circle around the emanating white crystal, covering the sky, that were helping to create this huge vortex of energy. I know this story may be hard to believe and yes, I can hear you thinking, 'crazy addict, he was must have been suffering from drug induced hallucinations or even a form of withdrawal madness' but like I said, I had been clean for a few days now and the real crux of the matter was that my girlfriend was a pretty clean living college student who never took drugs and just had the occasional pint with me, yet she to was also having exactly the same experience. In fact as she described it to me her whole body was shuddering, as she weeped from the intensity of it all. When something like this happens it's as if you enter into another time zone. We could well have been on that bed together for five minutes of five hours, who knows, but as quickly as it came it suddenly stopped and my body dropped to the bed exhausted. Eventually I opened my eyes and looked at my girlfriend who was staring back it me in disbelief at what had just happened, with tears still running down her cheeks. I embraced and held her tightly as we both fell back into a deep sleep. When we eventually woke we felt amazing, I literally felt reborn. We talked to each other about the experience and confirmed everything that had happened, still not understanding it. For the next week in Glastonbury I had the most magical time of my life, I didn't drink any alcohol or take any drugs, I felt cleansed, purified, my soul reborn. I have never tried to analyse this experience, still to this day I don't know who that hooded figure was a top of the Tor. Was it Merlin? Could it have been Gwyn up Nudd, Celtic Lord of the Underworld who supposedly lives under the mound? Who knows. All I know is I am eternally grateful to the powers that be, from that moment onwards my life was changed forever. I can't honestly say that I stayed clean from drugs after I returned to London, I didn't.
What I can say is that from that then onwards a strange set or synchronicities began to occur that eventually lead me back to Glastonbury and to me finally cleaning up my act. I have been sober now for nearly twenty years and I can honestly say that this was my AWAKENING and from that point on my life was changed forever. I have a raven tattoo on my right arm to honour that fateful morning and to remember that magic walks with and through me. My life is not my own, it has been claimed by the Other and I owe it everything! Blessings to all and may you too be touched by magic's serpent light! Leo New Moon |
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