The 4th Annual Rite of Her Sacred Fires

For those not aware, this weekend is the 4th Annual Rite of Her Sacred Fires. Wow 4 years already? Where did the time go? The rite is to be performed on the full moon where you live. Even though the official dates say 25th-26th, by my calculation the full moon here  in Wisconsin is on the 24th around 11:30pm, so that is when I will be performing the rite. Devotees around the world will be joining in wherever they live. If you feel so inclined  join us. information about performing the rite is here: http://hekatecovenant.com/rite-of-her-sacred-fires/rite-in-translation/english-the-rite-of-her-sacred-fires/

Also I just wanted to add a personal THANK YOU for everyone who has reblogged my Heaktean Prayer Book project. I haven’t been able to reply individually but a serious thank you to everyone who has helped to spread the word.

Here is my shrine all set up for it.

The Hekatean Prayer and Ritual Book: Call for Submissions

Since doing Hoofprints in the Wildwood, I’ve been wanting to do a devotional for Hekate. However, there are so many Devotionals out there for her already most notably by Avalonia and B.A. So I’ve decided not to do a devotional proper, but rather a Hekatean Prayer and Ritual book, which I think there is much need for. This will be a book of prayers and rituals only, with images for meditational use. The idea being something you can take with you, read some prayers out of in either ritual or just thumb through reading prayers and looking at artwork on the fly for inspiration. The focus of this book is really prayer and ritual, so there will be no essays or poetry or the normal fare you would see in a standard devotional. I personally think something like this would be a boon to the community, not only to help new people coming to her service, but those of us where are current devotees as well.

I am currently opening up submissions! The deadline for submission is November 3oth, 2013, with the possibility of extension until the Winter Solstice if I haven’t gotten many submissions. This will be self published by me through Lulu. I cannot offer royalties or free physical copies of the book, but each person who submits will get a free electronic copy. The details are below:

Call for Submissions for the Hekatean Prayer Book

I am currently accepting all submissions for the Hekatean prayer book. I am looking for original Prayers, rituals, and devotional artwork.

Prayers, Chants, and Invocations: Prayers may be of any length and style, so long as it is original, and directed to the goddess Hekate. Poetry will not be accepted! I realize this is a fine line as prayers can be poetic, but poetry for literary purposes is not in the scope of this book. The submission must be clearly a prayer directed to Hekate (which can be as poetic as you like) that is designed to be spoken aloud.  Chants will also be accepted, as well as mantras. Devotional songs and music are acceptable.

Rituals: I am also looking for rituals of a devotional manner. Not spells, but devotional rituals of all sorts, energy work, etc. Be creative! These can be as long or short as you want. If you have a personal devotional ritual that you used, or even meditation, that would be perfect for this work.

Artwork: I’d like to artwork of Hekate throughout the book to meditate on. These can be pictures, shrines, paintings, photo manips, etc. Also accepted will be abstract Hekatean concepts such as keys, snakes, dogs, skulls, etc. Also, we’ll need a cover image!

Please send all submissions to Skyllaros@gmail.com

Again the deadline is November 3oth, 2013. I will be the final judge on all submissions. You must also be willing to sign an agreement to have your work included, which will be sent to you by email.

Any reblogs, retweets, and signal boosts would be appreciated. Lets make this thing a reality.

Mirth and Reverence: Living La Vida Magico

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams … glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost … in time, like tears … in rain.” -Roy Batty Bladerunner

I like to joke. I also like magic. Thus, I like to joke about magic. Usually on Twitter. Sometimes I have to wonder how people take that. From the outside, if you don’t know me, it might seem like I’m being a braggart or doing the “look at me, magic!” thing. The truth is… I find the magical life utterly absurd and I like to share that. Think about it. As magicians we see some crazy shit, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. Those who live the magical life, who live and breath their magic, will often times find themselves in positions that non-magical people would find utterly absurd. I think it’s good to recognize those times and laugh at ourselves a little bit when they occur. It’s a unique part of living the magical life. For instance some situations I’ve found myself in.

•    That time when the neighbor came to door holding eggs he found underneath our tree, to warn my wife that our toddler is probably stealing our eggs and hiding them under trees, and she had to tell him that no, it was probably just her husband.
•   When my wife and I both got packages from UPS on the same day. Hers contained new summer clothes. Mine, a  goat skull.
• When you find yourself on an thousand year old Meso-American step pyramid at midnight, holding public ritual in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, soaked to the bone and it hits you… Normal people just don’t do this shit.
• Every budding necromancer fondly remembers their teenage years, hiding from police high beams behind grave stones in the cemetery… right?
• This week I had to go through a security checkpoint and have my pocket belongings scanned. The guard was particularly perplexed by my mojo hand, resulting in an explanation as to why I was carrying around a bag of roots and herbs and just what it was for.
• Speaking of security checkpoints, try going through an airport security line with a 14″ statue of Baphomet in your bag, and notice the reaction from the x-ray peeps.
• Or try explaining to your PhD thesis adviser why you just bought two dozen black candles and a voodoo doll at a international scientific conference in New Orleans. (My answer: “Well, because you cant get them back home”).
• That awkward moment when your friend asks you to do a tarot reading for him because he doesn’t believe in “that stuff”, and you tell him his fiance is pregnant with someone else’s baby and he gets mad at you… Until he finds out his fiance is pregnant with someone else’s baby.
• Who hasn’t walked two miles through the middle of town carrying a Big Ass Cast Iron Cauldron? (picture a very professional looking man in business dress and a tie caring a big black cast iron cauldron through town as if it’s a normal everyday occurance).
• Harvesting a raccoon skeleton you found on your lunch break, only to go back to work smelling of dead raccoon and hoping no one notices.

I mean come on… these things are utterly absurd, and this is my life. Exactly the way that I like it. I think there is a place for mirth in a magical practice. Thats not to say I don’t take my practice seriously. I take it VERY seriously otherwise the above situations wouldn’t happen. But have you ever peeked into a modern magical/pagan message board? You’d think that the fate of the world hangs on the back of these magical practioners. It’s all Very. Serious. Business. All the time. Where is the mirth? Why so serious? I’ve never been into Discordianism, but I can see their point. I think the magical world would be a bit less infufferable if people just stood back and took the time to laugh at themselves once in awhile.

Beside my gods, have a sense of humor. Sure theres the initiations and trials and shit, but they like to laugh too. I once asked Odin for a clear sign while on a walk, only about 30 seconds later to come to a the word “SIGN” painted in blue in the middle of the road by a road crew (apparently marking where the new street sign will go). Don’t tell me the Old Man wasn’t up there cracking up at that shit.

So if you find me joking about magic, its not because I’m trying to show you what a great and powerful mage I am by dangling tidbits of my oh so great life in front of you. I’m just sharing with you a bit of what my magical life is like… And sometimes, it’s just fucking hilarious (to me at least). So good readers, assuming there are still any of you left after my recent blogging hiatus. Share with me! What are some of the more absurd moments in your magical life?

My Meager Juniper-Inspired Casting Collection

Divination has always been my weak point. I’m just not terribly good at it. I can do magic ok, but divination, I’m just crap at. As for magical alphabets I can use the Runes or Ogham ok in a ritual context, but I could never learn to divine meaning from them in a divination context. I hate tarot. The only deck I have really connected with is the Wildwood Tarot, and even then I don’t go by card meanings. I tend to “scry” the cards and let them tell me a story, but its never based on traditional meanings of the cards or spread positions. I’ve considered even cutting off the names at the bottom of each card and using them as a pure oracle deck (I may still do that actually). Speaking of oracle decks, while I like the various ones out there, the Druid Animal and Plant oracles, Heart of Faerie  etc… I just cant read with them without resorting to the book. This ruins the experience for me. I hate any divination that makes me have to read or memorize a meaning out of a book.  Polyphanes has done some amazing amazing posts on the subject  of Geomancy lately. I’ve read them and JMG’s book on the subject, but it’s just not a system that will resonate with me either I’m afraid. My hat is off to those who can work it though.

One of the reasons I like magical evocation into a crystal is that it offers me the opportunity to speak to a spirit directly, but who wants to conjure a spirit every time you need a simple reading? Can you say overkill? For awhile now I’ve been admiring and wanting to try Junipers Casting Collection method. I think the intuitive approach is just what would work for me. Also since my practice seems to be being leading back to a more Traditional Witchcraft/Druidry road again it fits in more with what I want and where I want to go with my own practice. I’ve seen others do the same thing lately, and it gave me a bit of a kick in the but to get busy and at least try to get my collection started even if it wont be awesome to start with.

Trouble is, I haven’t attempted it before because I didn’t think I had enough “stuff” to make a decent collection with. So last night I lit the temple fires, and asked the spirits to guide my mind and hands. I then went on a scavenger hunt through my temple area to see if I could come up with the start of a collection at least. Better something to begin with than nothing all right? Incidentally I find this is half of magic. Getting off your butt and doing something, anything, even if it’s not “perfect”. Hard for perfectionists? For now here is what I came up with. Turns out I still don’t have a whole lot!  I fully expect my own collection to be a living entity that will get added to as time goes on. It’s a nucleus only right now, just to get started with. You’ll notice I only have a few elemental and planetary pieces here. I plan to hunt out more to complete the elemental/planetary associations. I’d like all 4 elements and 7 planets represented ideally. Since I have recently explored a more ceremonial approach, and I’m taking that back with me into the Witchy Wilds, it will likely have a few ceremonial aspects to it.

I also want to paint the casting cloth. What I’m using now is some sort of spotted cat pelt I got in Miami last time I was there. We will see if it is big enough. I have some ideas for symbols I want to put on it. So here is the very rough start of my collection. Many thanks to Juniper for inspiring it and pioneering the concept! I hope to post again down the line when it grows into something greater. So far it seems to be just what I needed/wanted in terms of intuitive divination. I think this is going to work for me better than the other methods I’ve tried, even with only these few pieces already

So here are my own collection pieces and their meanings and origins:

Raccoon Rib Bone

Meaning: Manipulation of events, cunning, use of wits, intelligence.

Origin: Found whole raccoon skeleton while doing offerings at the beach one day.

Amber: 

Meaning: The Sun, Health, Good times, Favor and Fortune

Origin: Have had it since I was a kid. Bought in a store somewhere.

Water Smoothed Glass Shard: 

Meaning: Water, emotion, fluidity, cleansing

Origin: Found on the local beach at Lake Mendota.

Red Stone: 

Meaning: Fire, heat, activity, increase

Origin: Have had it since I was a kid. Bought in a store somewhere.

Steel Penney: 

Meaning: Mars. War. Strife. Attacking. War fare.

Origin: Bought this for my talisman project but ended up not using it. Steel Pennies were produced during WWII during copper rationing. It’s also been marinating in War Oil for about a year now for added oomph.

Acorn: 

Meaning: Stability. Growth. Quiet Strength.

Origin: Found locally.

Owl Bone: 

Meaning: Wisdom, levity, flight, spirit and animal familiars.

Origin: A gift from an awesome Witch

Tusk of a Gnotobiotic Miniature Swine:

Meaning: The God. Masculine Energy. Protection. Necessary war. Aggression. Go on the offense.

Origin: Given to me by a veterinarian when I was in grad school. He insisted I take it, even though at the time I had no idea what to do with it. I like to think of it as a boar tusk (even though its from a miniature swine).

Antique Skeleton Key: 

Meaning: Open Doors and pathways.

Origin: Local antique store.

Wooden Skull Bead: 

Meaning: Death. The ancestors influence.

Origin: Online store.

Apple Branch: 

Meaning: Otherworld, magic, mysticism, parting of the veil.

Origin: The In-Laws apple orchard

Fish Vertebrae: 

Meaning: I have no idea yet. It has yet to speak to me, but it was clear it wanted in the collection.

Origin: I found it again at Lake Mendota’s beach.

Amethyst Stone: 

Meaning: Spirituality, spiritual concerns

Origin: Have had it since I was a kid. Bought in a store somewhere.

Rusty Iron Nail

Meaning: Aversion from danger, finality, “The nail in the coffin”.

Origin: Antique store in Baraboo.

Hekate Coin: 

Meaning: Hekate’s influence directly

Origin: http://scrollofpoppaeus.wordpress.com/

Pyrite: 

Meaning: False hopes, lies, deceit.

Origin: Again, have had it forever.

Crystal Point: 

Meaning: Clarity, purpose

Origin: Local new age shop

Aqua Aura Stone:

Meaning: Jupiter. Increase. Fortune. Grace.

Origin: Local new age shop

Alligator tooth: 

Meaning: Luck, fortune, take the gamble, can’t win if you don’t play.

Origin: Lucky Mojo Curio Company

Lead Disk (not shown)

Meaning: Saturn, blinding, slowing, death,

Origin: I cast it myself with a blow torch.

Quarter with a hole drilled in it (not shown)

Meaning: Financial distress, losing money, poor finances

Origin: I found it on the road one day. Someone must of made a necklace out of it? Why else drill a hole through a quarter? <shrug>.

Your Brain on Magic

 For the last two weeks I’ve fallen off my daily magical practice schedule. I like to have some sort of daily practice, even if it’s just one offering and prayer, or just some energy work. I usually try for more than that, but sometimes you’ve got to make do with what you can.  The past two weeks have been kind of different. Both my wife and I are starting new jobs and getting used to new schedules. There have been 3 sick kids at home, all adjusting to their first experiences with day care (and grumpy as all shit!).  At the end of the night it’s been all I could do to collapse with a glass wine or tea and relax a bit before heading to bed exhausted. So my magical practice has suffered. I planned on picking it back up next week when our schedules change to more manageable levels.

Thing is, I’ve felt like crap this past week and I didn’t even realize it. Just sludgy, and somewhat depressed. I didn’t even associate this with my lack of practice. Last night I did a full daily routine. Full banishing  with energy work, and a Mass of Baphomet in the day and hour of Mercury with offerings like I used to do before I fell off the practice. I had the clearest dreams. I woke up feeling amazing and happy and energetic. No depression or sludge. Colors brighter, smells sharper and all that cliche jazz. I just had an unshakable happy disposition and tons of energy that has lasted all day.

Then I realized, this is your brain on magic. This is how I normally feel and it’s just become so routine I’ve failed to notice it until I didn’t feel it for awhile. Slowly I was slipping back to a steady state zero. If there is any justification for doing magic and or energy work, this is certainly a big one.  Sometimes it’s good to have these reminders on exactly why one practices in the first place.

Life.

It’s better with magic.

The Great Work Calls

 Last year I set upon the path the gain my Supernatural Assistant (Henceforth SA). I used Frater R.O.’s White Work as the basis of my search. Did my prayer to the First Father for about a month before hand, did my solar initiation, and practiced the Borneless One each day. In about a month I had… something. Something that I thought was indeed my SA. My biggest fear was deluding myself on this. I tested it through Michael and it seemed to survive so I went with it.

About this time thought the powers of the Sphere of the Sun were working their mojo on my life (read wreaking havock). As I wrote at the time, the process kind of made my life fall apart for awhile. In truth, it simply exposed the shaky foundation I was standing on and made it intolerable for me to stay on that broken ground any longer. It gave me the needed kick in the pants I needed to get up and get a move on. It was scary and it sucked, but I’m glad I did it.

To my frustration though, after summoning Raphael for advice, he told me to sit tight for awhile  because magic couldn’t solve my problem… yet. Didn’t stop me from trying. I threw massive amounts of magic at the problem. Didn’t work. So for the past year I’ve been building relationships, honing my skills, and waiting until the time was right to launch my magic, which I did.

Things are good now.  My relationship and family life is better and stronger. I have a new job, which I love and which is helping me to build the skills for even greater things down the line.  Money is no longer such of an issue (it’s always an issue, but not a critical issue now). My foundation is no longer shaky (that I know of!).  Life is pretty good.

I’m still unsure if I have my real S.A. though. I thought I did at first. I certainly conjured my good Genius, and from it got my SA’s name and sigil. At first it gave me some great advice (like building my planetary disks), and insight into the nature of the magician and myself. Then it seemed all too eager to lead me into some pretty dark paths. Now I have no problem with “teh dark magics”, but it seemed very un-SA like in it’s enthusiasm for the darkness. I don’t know maybe it knew something I didn’t and I needed to go there? Anyway I was suspicious.  So I conjured Michael again and asked for him to re-direct the power of the sun on to my angel. I haven’t heard from it since. That was about 6 months ago. Consider me confused.

Somewhere along the line I made a mistake. I either made a mistake in thinking I had the angel to begin with, or a mistake in believing it’s left me or was the wrong entity. So I’m going to begin again. Now that it’s spring (ie HGA season) I’m going to do the whole damn process over again. I’m on sturdy ground now so I’m betting the powers of the sun will have less to mess with in my life. If I don’t have my SA I damn well plan to roll up my sleeves and get it. If I do have it, then it can only increase the bond and make things clearer and stronger.

Now I know there was a hub bub a few months ago on the old blog-o-sphere where the general consensus was that you don’t really need an SA or HGA. I fully agree. I don’t think you do need one to do effective magic. I however feel the need to pursue it for my own personal goal, so that’s what I’m going with. This thing has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I need to figure out where I stand with this. The Great Work calls.

(Why the alien pic? As I’ve mentioned before, when I first started a-conjuring the Celestials they appeared to me, much to my surprise, as very grey-alien like. Still do from time to time, though I get traditional manifestations as well.  I fully think there is a connection there. No, I don’t have any insight as to what that may be).

Field Report: Job Finding Sorcery

I’ve waited a long time to write this post For those who are friends with me on facebook or twitter, you’ve no doubt heard me bemoaning my job hunt situation for the past year and a half. Like many Americans these days I found myself stuck in a dead end job that I was way overqualified for, overworked, and massively under paid. Not to mention the toxic, bordering on abusive supervisor figure who was making my life miserable. So for the last year and a half I’ve been doing job magic to no avail. I’d get close, often time down to me and another candidate (several times in fact). However each time I tended to get desperate and started throwing as much magic as I could at the situation. Huge amounts of magic. The whole lust for result thing. I was getting desperate and felt like I couldn’t help it.  I’m pretty sure I overloaded the system each time. It’s a mistake I’ll learn not to make again.

So this new year I decided to step back approach it from a strategic perspective and break it down into several pieces to get the ball rolling, and then leave it alone to let the magic do its work. No more magic fueled by desperation. I was determined this year would be different. I gave myself a deadline to find a new job by April 1st, using magic started in January. So first off, on January 1st while most were out celebrating, I gathered up my sigils, all my on going charms and enchantments and everything else  and dissolved them. Nothing was working, and I think it had gotten way too conflicted. It was time to start fresh.

So here’s what I did after that:

1. Starting on the first sliver of new moon in January I did an Opening of the Road spell, deciding to take Gordons advice that the best enchantment is a an open road.

2. The next day I launched my sigil shoal.

3. On going work with The Favor of Kings enchantment I started previously.

4. Binding of the toxic supervisor to keep her out of my hair until I could find something and be rid of her all together. (I seriously considered an all out cursing but down graded my temper to a binding.)

Opening of the Road Spell:

I decided to go Low Magic with this one. I fixed a 7 day candle with Road Opening Herbs and placed it a dish of Road Opening Powder, along with some empowered stones and roots that I charged separately, 3 keys in a 3 way crossroad pattern,  and 3 tarot cards designed to represent my intent (from the Wildwood Deck): The Ace of Stones for foundation and good Salary and all my earthly concerns, Transition for well… transitions, and The Sun of Life, to bring all the good benefits of the sun onto my situation. I then burnt some Road Opening Incense, invoked my ancestors,  and entered into a trance state. This really took off. After about a half hour of chanting “Abre Camino” I entered into a full on shaking/seething trance and something… odd happened. I started speaking in voices not my own. It’s like my own mind retreated to some back corner and I started speaking with a legion of otherworldly voices that were coming through me. I’m not sure if these were ancestors, spirits of place, or what, but it was pretty intense. I ended the session exhausted. I then continue to burn the candle for the next 7 days while praying my intent over it fervantly. After the 7 days I took all the components of the spell, candle wax, and powder (minus the tarot cards of course) and I made them into a Road Opening Mojo bag, which I carried with me at all times.

2) Sigil Shoal:

The next day I launched my sigil shoal with the following sigils:

a) I always get a steady stream of interviews.

b) I am always perceived by the interviewers as being the best person for the job.

c) I always get call backs from my interviews.

d) I always interview with eloquence.

e) By April 1st 2013 I will have a new job.

That very night I began sending out my resumes. This began working right away. Within 2 days of launching the sigils I had three interviews scheduled.

3: Favor of kings.

I previously posted my Favor of Kings Working. This is an enchantment I keep working on weekly. I’ve set up an altar to Helios incorporating the Solar Box I made for my own poppet, and a candle fixed with solar herbs and real gold flakes (yeah I kind of love this stuff. It’s so versatile and easy to use for solar work, when actual solid gold is out of reach). Every Sunday in the First Hour of the Sun I give him offerings of either Whiskey, Mead, or Honey, along with cinnamon incense or frankincense and recite the Orphic Hymn to Helios. If I’m feeling like it I also do The Headless One rite here for extra solar oomph.  I’ve also made my Solar Disk, featuring Jason Millers Strategic Sorcery Sun sigil, 6 Tiger Eyes, the name Achebukrom, and the sigils of the spirits and intelligences of the sun (I’m making one for each planet at the behest of my SA). Man, I can feel the effects! Since I’ve begun doing this I have definitely felt the Favor of Kings. My confidence has improved dramatically, everyone I encounter at work tends to think of me as “the golden child” now, every presentation I give is greeted with wild enthusiasm. When my references were called they said the interviewers where positively glowing about me. Whats more, I can feel it. I feel like I’m wearing the crown of the sun, I feel like I can dazzle anyone or anything when I have it on. I feel the solar power coursing through my sphere. This is good stuff. Jupiter gets all the props these days, and I’m sure his sphere is magnificent indeed, but lets not forget about the awesomeness of Helios! Helios is rapidly becoming my go-to guy. Maybe it’s an Aries thing?

Helios Altar. Yes that is a turtle tent in the background. Also the Michael Lamen is from The Digital Amblers design. Also featured are Talismans of Elubatel and Nitika that I made.

Close up of Solar Disk. The Strategic Sorcery seal of the Sun is layered with real gold flake.

4. The Binding

The Toxic/Abusive supervisor? I bound her ass. I created a Saturn box lined with mirror fragments. I then made a poppet of the individual in question (whom I had sneakily gathered many personal concern from over the previous weeks) made out of black cotton and Spanish moss , and I cast 4 lead posts to affix to each of the 4 corners of the inside of the mirrored Saturn box. I then ritually bound her inside the mirrored prison, and chained her poppet to the 4 lead posts. I then anointed a black candle with Cut and Clear oil from Quadrivium, and every Saturday in an hour of Saturn I recite the Orphic Hymn to Saturn over it.  The effect was almost immediate. Supervisor backed off to almost no interaction at all. I felt I had her firmly “under my thumb”.

Saturn disk featuring the Strategic Sorcery Saturn Glyph, with obsidian and lead accents, and Saturn box/mirror prison.

The Result:

On Valentines day, I was offered a position at the maximum salary the department allows for my level (A huge increase to what I was making), and lots of opportunity for advancement, a full month and a half ahead of the April 1st deadline (just a bit longer than 1 moon cycle). Also, the the new employers seem to really respect me and really want me. They even through in some extra perks to entice me to come.

On top of that… I’m not the only one whose been in a frustrating position. My wife has been staying home with the kids since the twins were born and is itching to get back to work, while we’ve been struggling to keep our heads above water on a one-salary income. Well while all this was happening, she too was offered a position! We both start our new jobs on the same day!

Also, child care miraculously fell into place, and a surgery my wife needed to have that usually takes months to schedule was scheduled due to a cancellation in enough time for her to be totally healed before we both go to work. It’s as if everything that needed falling into place, happened. This entire scenario has magic written all over it. It’s like all the obstacles moved out of our way and the road was wide open. A whole new life awaits.

It’s good to be a Magus.

Revival Druidry Inspired Triangle of Art

So JGM just release his new book The Celtic Golden Dawn, which combines revival Druidry and Hermetics. Needless to say I’m all over this, two traditions I love. I’m hoping to do a proper review soon . Anyway, at the end of the book he gives a conjuration formula for summoning spirits in a Druidic fashion. Whereas he mentions the crystal he really doesn’t give any instruction as to a triangle of art or table of practice. I guess I’m just old school enough to want to include a triangle so I started thinking: what if I made a Table of practice based entirely on Revival Druidry lore as opposed to Trithemius’s version? Which got me started thinking about maybe doing a new Conjure Box 2.0, based on this concept. So below is what I came up with. Please pardon the crude nature of the graphic, I did it on powerpoint, which is about as technical as I get, but doesn’t really lend itself well to this kind of thing (plus I did it on my lunch break at my desk in a fit of inspiration, so yeah not exactly polished). Also, given that the normal Table of Practice serves as a physical Zone Rite to anchor the powers depicted, this would also serve to bring those powers to my temple space.

Now I can just hear the purists raging. Calm yo tits. I’m still going to use the regular Trithemius version for planetary spirits and Goetics, unless this ends up working really well. If I decide to add light mechanics too it, I’ll just do three lights. Violet for underworld spirits, ultra-white for celestials, and normal white for genius loci and the like. Anyway, it’s just a mock up. Then again maybe I’ll just skip the lights and make it the old fashioned way? Maybe I’ll build it this weekend?

Personal Miscellanea: What I’ve learned about myself thus far

Blogging is by it’s very nature a sort of narcissistic activity. I mean, your assuming the whole world wants to hear your inner most thoughts and that they matter somehow. When I started this blog I really did so just to have a place to write down what I’m feeling, regardless if even one other person ever read it. Lately, I’ve been neglecting posting because I felt what I have to say isn’t important enough to be of interest. I’m meaning to remedy that.

So here is some personal miscellanea of things I’ve learned about myself on my path thus far. It’s in no particular order, just random stuff I’d like to get down before it escapes my mind. A stream of consciousness in fact. More statements of belief as it stands right now (by the time you read this will already be outdated).

• I am Pagan for better or worse. Recently I left the label behind like many others to use “Polytheist”. It didn’t really change much. People of mainstream faiths still called me Pagan when referencing my religion, and I didn’t really bother to correct them because it felt too damn pretentious. I think the moniker still has use, and like it or not it’s what were stuck with even if it it isn’t perfect. I think it’s better to just embrace it personally. I don’t always agree with Ian Corrigan, but I think he nailed it on the head in this post. Plus I hate having to give any label that requires description. Most people know what pagan means without me having to give a monologue about it. I’m cool with that.

• I am an animist. I have always been so since before I knew what the word meant. Together with Paganism, these two views fuel my spiritual practice.

• I am fiercely devotional. Devotional worship to my gods fills a large part of my personal practice. It makes me happy. I enjoy their company. I like to think they enjoy mine. I probably get more out of it then they do. I know many fellow magicians eschew this view, but I’ll always be fiercely devotional to my gods. It’s just how I’m wired. My life is better for them being in it.

• I am a magician and have to have magic in my life. This is non-negotiable. Magic has been my passion since I was 3 years old. My very first memories are of trying to craft my own magic. I’ve left faiths before solely on the basis of their lack of inclusiveness of magic. I use magic all the time in almost every aspect of my life. I would not want to live in a world without magic (I don’t know how people do it, really). I enjoy both High and Low magic and tend to engage in both depending on the need.

• I have a love/hate relationship with Druidry and all things “Celtic”. I wish this weren’t true, but it is. Revival Druidry (I stress as as opposed to Cultural Druidry or Neo-Pagan Druidry) fits a certain lock in my soul like nothing else. No matter how many times I leave (and I try often. About 3 times in the past month alone.) I’m often back the next day being drawn back in. However, no matter how much I try worshiping the Celtic gods, even though I have both Irish and Welsh ancestry, and even when I have open invitations from the gods themselves (ie the Morrigan, & Cerridwen), I feel like a cultural interloper and like a visitor on shaky ground. I try and try, but I just don’t get anything out of it.  I don’t know why this is, but it is. My own gods are Greek. I feel at home with the Hellenic gods. While I know that many druidic types worship heath cultures outside the Celtic, for me personally I don’t find it works very well (kudos to those whom it does though). Thus I’ve settled on not bringing the gods into my Druidry at all, and keeping it solely animistic. For me animistic Druidry works, but it is an uneasy balance.

• In reality, even though I’m drawn to Druidry, my personal practice tends to resemble Traditional Witchcraft more than Druidry I have to admit. My actually every day practice tends to resemble Robin Artisson (sans the fanciful language) more than Philip Carr-gomm or JMG. Particularly necromancy plays a big role. I firmly believe that the heart of witchcraft is necromancy. Even interactions with gods I think may be a form of necromancy (I think a lot of gods are deified ancestors. Maybe not all, but there are quite a few).

• My primary patron is and probably always will be Hekate. However, it’s not all light and roses right now. I’m jealous of those whom I hear talk to her all the time and she’s in their life all the time, and their having great experiences, because it isn’t like that for me at all. I feel fiercely devotional to her, but she seldom “speaks” to me or otherwise makes her presence known outside of occasionally at during altar worship. I’m comforted by the fact that I hear others say this too. I don’t know if she’s just like that by nature. Others have suggested she thinks I can stand on my own two feet and don’t need the constant assurance of her presence. Still I wish we had more interaction than we do. Another possibility is that I’ve explored her surface as much as possible and to go much further I have to really dig in deep and challenge myself. I am comfortable in my relationship with her. I’m not feeling challenged at all. Maybe that’s it? This is part of the reason an extended hand from The Morrigan seems enticing, but still… it doesn’t feel right the way Hekate does and there is the whole matter of given oaths that I refuse to go back on.

• This is part of the reason I consider monoalatry to Hekate. Even though we’re not communing daily, I get the feeling in some deep part of my being that the answer is giving up all the other distractions and concentrating on what is important, digging deeper, if not permanently at least for awhile until I get through this. Truthfully, she gets 80-90% of my worship anyway. While I maintain relationship with other deities, those relationships are shallow at best. Why keep ‘em? (Although I am developing quite a fondness for Helios, a god whom I approached of my own volition). This idea of near-monoalatry comes up all the time, in meditation, in dreams, in my ever day normal consciousness. Somehow I think it’s the right way but I’ve never actually made the leap. I could see being happy with an entire practice built around the Cult of Hekate with her at it’s center and working with the gods and spirits who are associated with her. My religion would in fact… be Hekate. So whats holding me back? The knowledge that once that gate is opened all others are going to be closed. It’s part of the deal methinks.

• On a completely unrelated note, I’m giving St.Cyprian another try. This time I’m focusing solely on his pagan aspects to what appears to be great effect.

• The most intense experiences I’ve ever had with a spirit or deity is with Dionysos, to this day. He goes quiet on me for looong periods of time, but I ever have a place for him in my heart.

• I still really like Chaos Magic.

• I’m currently feeling frustrated because I don’t feel I’m making enough progress magically. I realize it’s not a race, I just feel, I don’t know,  stalled somehow. The Great Work is poking me in the ass but I don’t feel like I can get to it until I figure out all of the the above. Problem is, I’ve got too much going on and not enough time to attend to it all properly. I’m aware that I need to downsize. I’ve gotten too broad and scattered. I’m a big fan of the phrase “Hold on tightly and let go lightly”. But what to let go? Some serious thinking needs to be done before I can move on. Because, you know, I don’t think about it enough, right?
• As you can see, not much has really changed with me

Ok, that was actually all very helpful to me to get it all written down.

The Call of the Morrigan: Surrender

I’m not really much in the habit much any more of talking intimately about deity relationships, but what the hell. It’s my blog and I feel like writing something, I actually have the time (for once) and it’s whats been on my mind… A lot. So this is going to be one of those personal type entries.

So about a year and a half ago, when my twins where born I had a sleep deprivation induced dream/vision where I was basically claimed by The Morrigan. For those who don’t feel like reading that whole post, she came to me in a series of dreams where I was violently chased, skewered, and told all my other oaths were erased and I was Hers. They were quite vivid, frightening, and totally unsought-after dreams.

At the time this induced a lot of consternation in me because it came out of the blue and I had pretty much no interest in working with her. So I gave it an admittedly half-hearted shot, and ended up telling her “umm… maybe later?”. I then promptly forgot about the whole matter and put it behind me. I guess a year and a half seems not so long ago to me at all. Probably even less so to a goddess.

So recently, I’ve been getting pretty strong door-knocks (more like head-slaps really) from the Morrigan again, reminding me of those previous dreams. Turns, out, she’s not really going away this time. Later… is now. Fortunately there haven’t been any dreams this time around (I did find those disturbing), just this sudden, all consuming, want to claw your heart out need to respond to her call that started off quietly and grew in intensity over the past two months.

To quote Morpheus Ravenna in her post Meeting the Queen :

“You might have the option to decline the relationship if it does not feel right for you. If this is your choice, my very earnest advice is to be exceedingly respectful in your way of declining Her claim on you. The story of the great hero Cu Chulainn is a cautionary tale about what can happen: he not only refuses Her protection and guidance, he insults Her; and She brings about his downfall, giving him a hero’s death. So if you must refuse Her, do so with reverence and with gratitude for what’s been offered to you. And if you’ve ever asked Her for anything, if you’ve called Her name with feeling, I don’t recommend attempting to refuse Her claim on you. In Her world, you’ve already offered yourself to Her.”

So I’ve spurned the call once. Much like Cu Chulainn, she comes to me yet again. I’d like to think I’m smarter this time around to spurn her again. Besides, now somehow feels right where before it did not. So I’ve been going with it. Even enjoying it this time. Of course it’s kind of thrown a monkey wrench into my established (comfortable) practice. Perhaps that’s the point? You see, I’m currently formally oathed to both Cernunnos and Hekate. I’m really cautious about working with new gods simply because I don’t feel I have the time to do so properly. So learning how to give proper devotion to three gods has been somewhat challenging for me.

Now for the moment at least, The Morrigan has really taken a lead, and Hekate has been hanging back. Considering that not long ago I wanted to be monoalotrous to Hekate alone that’s been a bit hard for me to swallow (also, rearranging shrine space has been a priority). That being said, it’s introduced a whole new aspect to my practice and has kind of breathed new life into it again. I’m not exactly oathing yet (way too soon for that), but am considering myself her (unofficial?) devotee as of now, mainly because she’s pretty much not having it any other way (and yes I did try to get out of it again in the beginning).

Considering I’ve been knocking on the Druid door for years now, it’s not surprising that I finally gained the attention of another Celtic deity beyond Cernunnos, who up until now has been my sole thread linking me back. So that’s where I’m at right now, and honestly, I’m pretty happy about the way things are shaping up. It’s a bit of a learning curve for me, but I think I’m more than up to the task. I have formally surrendered and am not going to fight it any more.