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

As you can imagine, in my line of work, I spend a great deal of time observing all manners of behaviors. I see everything from the best folks have to offer to the worst, both in dealing with spirits and human beings. In truth, though our language and respective cultures vary, we're not all that different.
In truth, successful magic is frequently about understanding someone or something else's language, symbolism, cultural values, etc. A spirit doesn't say things the way you or I do. Elemental spirits have names, but they aren't ones that we can pronounce because we can't successfully mimic the sounds of the Earth.

We eventually learn to come to a place of compromise with these entities we work with, work for, serve, or remember. We come up with a language that works for both parties and then set to the task of successfully interacting with them.

I mention this to illustrate the fact that working with discarnate or non-corporeal can often be a lot of guesswork. When you get to know these entities, it no longer is, but until then they'll give you messages in dreams, random thoughts and instincts, images in your head, or strong feelings that you can't shake.

When you've earned a spirit's favor, most times they have great interest in your safety. You're their friend and visa versa, so like any good friend (or other such socially intimate role), they take it upon themselves to inform you when something's amiss. When that happens and you have dreams that aren't par for the course or you feel things that you can't explain, be sure to pay attention. I can't tell you how many times a well-timed warning has saved my bacon.

I've avoided many car wrecks, unstable clients, accidents with handguns or machinery, and other such unpleasant occurrences on account of such notifications. They've seemed a bit nuts at points, but heading those warnings does tend to be beneficial.

That being the case, my recommendation is to listen when your familiars, etc. pop up and give you a heads up on what's going on.  They're usually doing it for your health.

This brings me to the final point of this post: a working one can do to better connect with their Powers, their spiritual allies, for the sake of personal growth, etc.

Firstly, you start with a general offering to whatever strikes you as the image of your highest & best. Focus on that image and emotion you feel when you think about this symbol of raw achievement, then offer up a heartfelt prayer for its betterment and happiness, like so:

Note: Unselfishness seems to be key here. Replace "he" with "she" if you're a woman or make up your own prayer.

Once done, light a candle for this entity and begin to focus on the sigil below, feeling that essence rush into you and fill you up.  You may see other images, hear things, or otherwise be influenced...that is both OK and totally normal.

After meditating on this seal for a while, mentally close the working and the space, then ground yourself out.  Some of you will have instantaneous results, whereas for others it'll take a few weeks to really get into the current.

Enjoy!

SE

Often times, we forget just how important our spiritual practices are.  I've had more than a few conversations with folks from the various generations who still walk upon the Earth, and more often than not, people seem to fall on one extreme or another: either meditation and the like is total hokum, or its the be-all, end-all when it comes to keeping one safe and sane in these troubled times.

Truth be told, there seem to be more naysayers than folks of the latter group. Generally speaking, it has been my experience that the ones who engage in a healthy spiritual regimen tend to be better off than those who don't, and I recently had a client confirm this for me.

The client in question has had a really rough time of late. Her partner abandoned her after breaking her down and basically made her lose any desire to really move forward in life.  This is why she sought out my assistance, as she felt like she needed guidance to get through the rather craptaculous mess that had become her world. In keeping with that goal, I started her on some Buddhist mantras and meditation as a daily practice, and she was kind enough to provide me with some great feedback.  This is what she said:

I share this with you not as a shameless self-plug, but as a reminder that we live in some really crazy, whirlwind times - its easy to get caught up in all of the drama we deal with, but its often important to take a step back and simply let it all go.  By doing so and then seeking out and following through with the appropriate spiritual work, we tend to make ourselves a hell of a lot happier.  We find ourselves again and doing so makes it that much easier for us to deal with the hustle & bustle of everyday life.

The TL:DR version of this is simply "Meditate more!" Spend some time getting to know yourself inside and out, and then use what you learn to better your life.  If you find that you're not sure how to fix something and need help, that's what I'm here for.

Take care, folks, and don't let your well-being fray in the midst of this chaos.

SE

The Ancestral Blessing Mojo Bags proved to be a lovely idea that really helped out a number of people.  My local clients had some particularly strong and strange manifestations of their ancestors.

I am, however, out of those mojos at this time, so that special has come to a close. Should any of you folks desire to have one made in the future, I will be offering them at an increased rate.  Please contact me for details.


For those of you who scored one of these lovely tools, enjoy!

Regards,

SE

Different magical systems have their own means of strengthening the spirit and mind. So too do they have their own means of conveying knowledge, lineaged information, power, and so forth.

This post seeks to provide a toolkit to do just that in hopes that those of you who are able to proceed and utilize the information herein will be able to use what you gain to both change your life and the world around you for the better.

The sigil above is just that; a tool, a gateway, an invocation.  Its intention is to set wheels in motion and dial up a source of occult knowledge and power.  If you can figure out how to use it, do so, and you'll notice a definite shift in consciousness that'll play out in a way appropriate for you.

If you are not ready to use it, you will not have the required amount of skill, and thereby have something to work towards.

Cordially,

SE

I received an email some time ago questioning the potential pitfalls of walking the paths I laid out when talking about working with the Shadow and Luminous Selves, as well as reconciling the two. I've debated on what to write here, and even whether or not it should be posted, for quite some time. Its a sensitive bit of work, to be sure, and its something that people, as a general rule, have to sort out for themselves due to the nature of the beast.

Even still, it seems appropriate to talk in further detail.  That said, to start, this is the email I sent to the individual in question:

As indicated in my email, posted above, when you do this sort of work, you're effectively looking to face reality from two diametrically opposed perspectives, then trying to reconcile the two and find Truth. Consider, for a moment, what that actually means....

You're looking to effectively combine Fire and Ice and learn to make something from it.  This is no small feat. Its a hell of a lot like going for a magical Big Bang....and of course, work like that is going to attract attention; some of it'll be good, some of it'll be bad, but rest assured, if you want to make some waves, that's one way to get that done. This isn't just some casual, simple, clean cut line of work that you can light a candle for and be done with...that's not the way this works.

When you do start down this path, you're in it for the long haul.  There aren't any oaths to consider, really, or even any pacts, save for the one that you are making with yourself.  If you get stopped up and scared, you're going to be fucked until you decide to make a change and either regress or push through.

There are very real dangers of delusion and the use of magical workings that will befuddle you and cause you to do stupid things.  You're going to be setting the wheels of fate in motion, and you can't just exclaim "stop the world, I wanna get off!" and be done...it doesn't work like that.

Even still, the rewards are crazy, unthinkable, and sometimes downright strange in a happy sort of way.  Serendipitous events occur like crazy, you can start getting some really interesting and quickly-manifesting results, and you will look at things differently. You're not going to be seeing the world with the same eyes anymore, but that is a blessing and a curse.

You're not going to be the same old [insert your name here] anymore.  Your relationships will change, and you will be put on a different path. This isn't something for the faint of heart, so if this is something you're drawn towards, proceed carefully.  If the burden gets to be too much, you will need outside help to get you back up on your own two feet, but even then, it'll be a matter of things being your responsibility.  You can't be the king or queen of your domain and expect autonomy from the servants, and this gets to be strikingly true when you're managing the denizens of both heaven and hell.

Best of luck.

Cordially,

SE

As a follow-up to my earlier posts regarding working with one's Shadow and Luminous selves, I thought I'd talk about the importance of balance. 

When doing magical work that leans towards one extreme or the other, its inevitable that you'll eventually overdo it.  When that happens, you'll become unbalanced and unhappy, regardless of whether you're doing good deeds or trying to be an evil prick. With the former, you usually wind up feeling burned out and unappreciated for all of your compassion, and with the latter, you usually end up being very dissatisfied with your performance or some such thing.

For whatever reason, I've noticed that certain groups of people feel the need to only work with one side or the other.  Left-Hand Path'ers obsess over being Thee Empowered Scumbag, and Right-Hand Path'ers obsess over being goody-two-shoes, thereby missing the forest for the trees.  This is readily apparent in modern Western magical practices, particularly when folks are out for power.

My point, in talking on this, is that going through the Abyss to gain power is only part of the journey to be taken.  In order to be successful, you need to go through both the darkness and the light in succession (in whatever order you choose), and then figure out how to reconcile the two.  If you stick around in one extreme or another, either out of fear or out of some misguided belief that you've somehow become a God, you'll lose yourself in it and go no further.

The point of the whole journey is to learn to understand, comprehend, and eventually use BOTH sides, rather than just one. Truth is potent and, when understood and wielded appropriately, it can be an incredible tool, but that requires wisdom. Just as truth isn't found in extremis, so too is that the case with wisdom.

We see this imagery within the figure of the Baphomet, in fact. Its both male, female, and neither simultaneously. If the Qliphoth is female and the Sephiroth is male (Asherah and Yahweh, respectively), alone they are unfulfilled and left wanting, but united they are able to create and destroy as a pair since they know what's above and below - finding the space where Heaven and Hell meet is necessary if you're to control both sides.

Just something to think on.

Regards,

SE