Since we are all human beings, each of us experience anxiety & stress. We've got quite a lot to worry about, as we're seeing very real threats develop in front of us. We're bombarded with clickbaitey media on a day to day basis, and the news parades the latest hairfire in front of us to garner attention and viewership. Its all well and good to stay informed, but there's a point at which this can all become too much to process.

I seek to discuss this point a bit and give you some tools to handle it so that what was once too much becomes manageable and well within your control. To this end, if you find yourself stressed out without an obvious cause, take some time to quiet the mind. When you've achieved that state, ask yourself "what's bothering me right now?" and listen for an answer, whatever it may be.

There are times where that fear or concern is entirely legitimate in nature, and there are times where that internal response is laughable. If its a valid reason to be concerned, the next thing you want to ask yourself is "what can I do to take steps to remedy this situation?" and again, listen for answer. Repeat this process until you have an idea of what needs to be done next so that you can make yourself more comfortable.

You might find yourself in a situation where you're banging your head against a wall because there's no end in sight, but that's going to be relatively rare. This rather simple meditative exercise gives you a tool to first determine what's upsetting you, and secondly gives you the ability to brainstorm and respond to that perceived threat in a rapid fashion instead of simply agonizing over it. As you then take the steps necessary to resolve the trouble, you should begin to notice less fear and anxiety in response.

If, however, the trouble is something that you cannot make mundane steps to resolve, can you, through magical works, begin to create a situation in which steps can be taken? If so, do that, and then begin to take mundane steps in conjunction with the magical remedies applied, as you'll then make it possible to work against what was once an insurmountably difficult hurdle.

Seems pretty simple when written out in this way, no?

If you, however, find yourself in a situation wherein the stress is neither valid nor useful, you can take steps to minimize the fear itself. To do so, calm the mind then mix together benzoin, sage, and neroli (or substitute dried citrus peels). Use a mortar and pestle to pulverize the mixture, and then place the mixture in a dish. Place upon it a candle, light it and say the words "Stress from within me, I acknowledge you and lessen the loudness of your voice. You are valuable and wanted, but I have heard your words and make this choice."

When the candle has burned down, take the herbs and place them into a jar. Fill the jar with oil and consecrate it. Whenever you find yourself in a stressful place of mind, anoint your forehead with the oil and then go back to focusing on your endeavors. This creates a mental link, a magical link, and a mundane link to the point at which you've taken action against your stress, freeing you up to use the aforementioned exercise to deal with actual stresses instead.

Just something to think through and work with. Its a surprisingly handy tool.

Blessings,
SE

One of the more consistent areas of discussion that comes to my door centers around the idea of creating opportunities. Its been my experience that folks often look to cultivate these wonderful circumstances through overt, powerful-feeling extremes, though that's not often the appropriate response.

It is instead more useful to edge forward, one step at a time, being mindful of what you're trying to create without overdoing it. Too much force applied at the wrong time will destabilize oneself enough that taking advantage of fortunate occurences will become arduous. Better instead to conserve energy while taking one step at a time, ever mindful of the ability to create advantageous circumstances through chain reactions.

In whatever you seek, be it friendship or love, gain or stability, these things are achieved through time and consistent efforts, not through grand displays. ;)

Blessings,
SE

This quote, penned above, is something I heard of a voice deep, full of resonance and emotion. I am quite familiar with this voice, as he's been alongside me for many, many years now.

Normally, I don't share these things with others, but its clear that he wanted those words spoken here. They are to be the basis for a lesson, and so here we are.

We get bent out of shape, in life, over the institutions we see and interact with. So enclosed and ensorcelled are we by our Office that we forget what occurs outside of whatever institution we represent. We are not defined by these things, however, and we become so enamored by what they represent to others that we forget to become enriched by them.

Take pride in your vocation, but do not let life's busy-ness take you away from what is important. Don't let it dissuade you from time with your families, nor keep you from being a decent person. Those things matter to an extreme, as when its time to call for aid, those who have watched you make an ass of yourself will remember.

These are essentially "shower thoughts", but it strikes me as an important memo to share. 

Enjoy your day.
~PN/-SE


PS: Your station can change in an instant. Who you are at your core cannot.

If you find yourself getting stuck in life, find a way to grow from it.  Nature abhors a vacuum, and growth tends to change our situation just enough to create one. The more you push that envelope in lieu of becoming complacent, the more external change conspires to fill that vacuum for you. 

It might sound a bit crazy, but it’s one of those wonderful observable phenomenons.  Use it to your benefit. 

Just some food for thought. 
-SE

Hello folks and Happy Halloween. I hope you've been enjoying Samhain and the related festivities as I have. As a worker, this is a pretty busy time, as spirits have a lot to say during the darkening of the year.

This past weekend, I had a wonderful conversation with a friend of mine, and it sparked inspiration around a topic of some interest to me. By and large, we as a people are constantly looking for "permission" to do things that redefine our lives. We seek approval to "transgress" by taking steps that aren't necessarily appropriate for others, and we can often get bent out of shape when we don't receive the validation we seek in response. 

Conversing about this got me thinking about this in a magical context. Folks often come 'round to ask "is this ok?", "did I do this right?", and other things of this kind. There are times where this kind of thinking is totally appropriate, as you don't want to screw up your relationship with your spouse or family or friends, sure, but there are also times where it's more appropriate to throw caution to the wind and make the changes you're after. 

Sovereignty is what you make of it, and while I'm not suggesting that you go around intentionally pissing spirits or people off, I would urge you to recognize that they're not here to give you approval. They're beings in their own right, and they're imperfect in their own right....same as we are. So if something feels right, go for it. Do the thing, make the changes you seek, and then bask in the benefits of having done so. 

You'll probably screw up along the way, but who among us doesn't? So if you're looking for permission to live your life, I give it to you. Live life, have fun, and GROW! ;)

-Chris/SE

​Greetings folks, I hope this post finds you well. 

I’ve been digging into a great deal of ritual work of late, and a cadre of spirits I’ve been working with has asked that I publish a piece on my blog. This relates, specifically, to Love as a concept, rather than as a base emotion or something we strive for, as this is an oft misunderstood influence. 

At its basest form, love and infatuation are simply chemical reactions in the brain that occur in response to stimuli. It’s a hormone response that inspires us to be close to others out of attachment. There’s more to it than that, however, which can be easily experienced in its myriad forms. 

Per Jazar, a spirit of the Hours in the Nuctemeron insists that Love is a kind of inspiration unto itself. When experienced purely it represents a base element being divinely inspired and thus elevated beyond the constraints of its birth. In that way, it’s a Godly gift of a kind.

It is also something we frequently resist out of fear, resentment, frustration, and disclarity. We’ve all heard the tired trope that you attract more of what you are, and in this instance it holds true. If you’d like to attract Love to yourself, you must be willing to Love. 

If you cultivate a compassionate attitude towards those deserving of this boon, you will naturally attract the same in return. Compassionate acts are a radiant act that can be an offering, of a kind, and they invoke a spirit of active peace between yourself and those receiving the boon. 

It thus generates a kind of existential understanding that allows you to more accurately perceive what others are going through. This opens the door to Love by removing some of the awkwardness otherwise exists on account of our more hateful, suspicious acts. 

Consider this and you will find a marked uptick in the quality of your life. 

Blessings,
​SE

The Hanged Man represents sacrifice, and Death is the aftermath. It marks a transitionary period between one significant stage in your life and another. Nothing more, nothing less.

​This is an incredibly potent liminal state, too - so much so that it can be rather frightening to some. It is at this point in your growth that you're leaving behind the things that no longer fit you and serve your needs.

• Work to make change more palatable
• Meditate and take stock of where you're at

This is a plateau of relative silence and a great deal of contemplation. You should expect to do more thinking than doing. The time to act comes later.

Blessings,
​SE

Greetings folks. Hope you guys and gals had a great weekend. :)

As a continuation of the last topic (on one's mindset), I'd like to talk a bit about how we put our minds in order.

By now, you folks are probably pretty aware of how our mindset is rather important. When we're up in a tizzy, it tends to mess with us a fair deal. What gets us into this semi-frenetic state isn't so important, as life is full of stresses; instead, getting out is important.

If you're a mess and need to sort yourself out, the following list of tips should help you.

This might seem a bit over-the-top, but if you're in a bad situation that has heretofore prevented you from sorting yourself out, its time to withdraw. Take a step back for a time, stop playing the game that's upsetting you, and adopt a wider view.

There's a overwhelming tendency to over-commit to something because it seems like the only path to joy. If it is, then this advice won't work for you. If it isn't, which is considerably more likely, taking a step back and focusing on you is key.

Much of our stress comes from an overwhelming lack of much-needed clarity. When you're too close to the situation, you're more than likely going to lose the forest for the trees.

Use the distance you created with step 1 to collect your thoughts. If you're not sure what to make of something, seek advice. You can talk to a trusted friend or diviner and get their take on what's happening around you.

Once you have a better understanding of what's going on in whatever situation was stressing you out, use that new information to plan a way forward.

If a business deal is upsetting you, and there's a specific person in that deal that seems to be the linchpin of what ails you, target them. Think tactically and come up with a means of starting a chain reaction that works for you. Plan your steps carefully, then enact them in the order that seems most effective, respecting proper timing along the way.

The point of this step is to use your newfound awareness most effectively. When you come back, you want to be strong & well-prepared. If you're not, this hiatus wasn't worth it.

Take some time, once your plan is formed, to take care of you. Pamper the heck out of yourself. Go see a movie and have a nice meal. If you're a drinker, spoil yourself with a good Scotch (or whatever else appeals to you). Use this time to unwind and get your head ready for the challenges to come.

If you're to return, as in step 5, you want to be mentally ready to do so. ;)

Finally, come back to the world ready & willing to take care of business. Enact your plan smartly & carefully. Make sure each step you take is wisest, and pay attention to what's going on around you.

Be well,
​SE

Greetings folks!

So a really cool topic came up out of a long-dead one over at StudioArcanis, and it led to a damned good question being asked. I'm going to share both the question and the reply here, so as to record this for my readers who don't tend to hang out on forums.

The question:
"Wanderer are you suggesting a theory of magick that the older a symbol is and the more that it has been used, then the more efficacious it is?[...]"

-Amind


My answer:
"Sort of, but not quite so directly as that.

In my experience, three things matter when doing magic:
1) How established is that current?
2) How easy is it if for [b]you[/b] to get into that current?
3) Just how potent is that current capable of being?

And they really do matter in that order, for the most part.

Runes are ancient. We don't really know how old, but I suggest that you read Jan Fries' Helrunar, as it would indicate that there are some runic forms that go way, way back. Some of 'em were painted all over the world to boot, and usually that's for an unknown reason. Take what you will from that.


Age is only one factor in establishment of a faith, though. There are plenty of old systems that clearly didn't work all that well, as the cults did not survive. Those that were potent had pieces of themselves adopted by other, newer religions that still kept enough of the old ways to make it work (Sun Worship, anyone?). The fact that Christianity has survived and thrived may well be an indicator of just how robust it is as a religious system, even if its one I don't find particular resonance with.

Establishing a faith/system and keeping it going for thousands of years requires quite a bit of human interaction with said system. Furthermore, one could argue that it would require a fair deal of deific interaction too, so as to keep its tenants from being forgotten. When that happens, "grooves" are formed along human consciousness, and what your ancestors did is often easier for you to do. We can posit this theory because mice have been proven to inherit fear-based responses to stimuli like the smell of cherry blossoms (link).

The more something was done before, the easier it is to do again (theoretically speaking, anyway). This is why the status & establishment of a system matters.

Next up, we've got the point of "well, just how easy is it for you to get into that current?", and that goes along the lines of what I mentioned above. If your ancestors did it and you inherited genes that have those spiritual tendencies of theirs locked away therein, then it should logically be easier for you to get a sense of what they did and do it yourself. Likewise, your practices could well be inherited by your kids, provided you got into those practices before they were born.

If this is indeed true (and it appears to be, per science), then those whose families have practiced magical work for generations are going to have a leg up on others, so long as they follow the same line of study.

Finally, we've got the matter of power. How powerful can that system actually be? We've all heard stories of people levitating, crushing others under the weight of their psychic blows, and so on and so forth. These 'miracles' are said to have occur, but hearsay doesn't matter at this point; what matters is actualization. And whose to say how powerful a system is at the end of the day? That's a matter of crafting theories based on tons of resarch.

And here's the particularly important part about the 3rd piece of this puzzle: the pinnacle only matters if you can attune yourself to the system so effectively that you can actually utilize and channel the current at its full potency. If you can't do that, the glittering peak of power-in-a-system means nada to you.

.....and then you get into points of contention like "does this deity still exist?" and "is this accessible?". Some deities & spirits just won't like you regardless of what you do. Its not "fair", but "fair" is bollocks.

Its also worth noting that new systems can be damned powerful if based enough around old systems. I'm convinced that's why New Avatar Power works so damned well...our ancestors wouldn't have had the time to run around with a special dagger, tiger skin belt, and so on. They would have used the down, dirty, and quick way so as to fire their magics off quickly, without fanfare. Hushed, rapid whispers make more sense over grandiose conjurations if you look to history."


Continuing on, this is a topic I've asked spirits about, researched endlessly, and obsessed over for years and years and years now. Its a curious question to posit, but one with a potentially incredible impact. If we're being honest, doing magical work is about results. Would you agree?

If that is the case & success is your goal, adopting a system most prone to get you results is key. And no, I'm not recommending blindly following someone purely because they have the oldest magical system on the books - that would be idiocy. Instead, I suggest that success should be thy proof a la Crowley.

To that end, constantly tinkering with and trying new-to-you systems would be wise. As would integrating truths you find from different places and things.

We would be foolish to believe that these old systems have survived unmolested, and so piecing them back together and distilling them until we've found the absolute heart of the practice is incredibly important.

That is what I do, day in and day out. It is a passion of mine. Maybe it can become a passion of yours. ;)

Be well,
​SE

In keeping with the several posts on the subjection of personal magical protection, some client issues came up that have prompted me to discuss the effects of worship and the effects it can have on one's safety,

Working with deities is a major keystone in most magical systems.  Either by and through the creation of pacts with various spirits or through the worship thereof, most of us wind up with spiritual relationships that shape our lives.  They change the way we think about the world around us and they can be wondrous things.

These relationships can also be harmful, parasitic, and troubling.  The trick is figuring out which end your relationships fall into, and then either working to grow them or cutting ties and moving on.  You are who you spend time with. More after the break...