Greetings folks.

Over the past few days, I've found myself deep in thought after going about my usual client work, personal practice, and devotional work.

It's occurred to me that spiritual work is often a cosmic game of "Telephone".  "Telephone", for those of you caught unawares, is a childhood game wherein the party at the front of the line comes up with a sentence or phrase, tells it to the person next to them, then the recipient does the same and so on and so forth down the line.

Those of you whom have played the game I speak of know that the sentence or phrases starts out as something as simple as "Johnny's mom is also the doctor" and ends up as "Mom's Johnny is also the proctor" at the final person of the game. So too is this the case with client work, I find.

I am frequently approached by folks who either do not speak English or speak it as a second, third, or fourth language; frequently, they encounter the same troubles shared by their brethren from English-speaking countries - they are unsure how to put their concerns and wants into words which will then be clearly understood by someone like myself.

This brings us to a rather awkward point in a relationship, as its difficult to understand just what it is that we're being asked to do when we miss important contextual clues.  This is doubly true when it comes to interacting with spiritual entities, as not only do they not speak our language, but they also tend to sense our emotions, our sense of purpose or lack thereof, our thoughts, our confusion, and so on.  With this truth being as present as it is, we encounter a new difficulty; not only must we understand the goal of our friend, client, partner, spouse, or ourselves, but we also must be able to communicate those goals and intentions effectively to the spirits we conjure.

Language, being a finicky beast at the best of times, is something we must strive to understand intimately if we are to do this effectively; furthermore, we must also understand the language of the spirits we intend to work with.  Sometimes the language is verbal and literal or it can be written and symbolic or any means and methodology in-between.  Each of us is different in how we best perceive and understand the world around us and the spirits we work with, command, and/or serve are no different.

Not only we must understand how to communicate ourselves effectively, but we also must learn to listen to the people and the world around us.  Perception is the key to greater and deeper understandings, and that starts at home with the ones we love.  We must hear them out first if we wish to understand what the Gods and spirits tell us through speech, song, dreams, movies, games, situations, and so on.

With that said, happy hunting and blessed learning.

SE

Greetings dear friends.

I'd ask that you pay careful attention and bend a knee in respect of the kingly sphere, for we've reached the last of the Planetary Keys.  Where we of the "Seven Spheres in Seven Days" crew started is where the Keys, in their current renditions, end.

Finally, we've reached Jupiter, the sphere of Kings, rulership, management, and prowess.  It is the regal Lion of our Universe and reigns supreme amongst the firmament.  With that, I give you its key:

With this key, you are both empowered and armed with the ability to manage your sphere as you see fit, but know now that this has its perils.  Should you lose control, your kingdom will rise up against you.  Proceed carefully and with sincerity, take up these keys I've given you, learn them well, and then use them.

Warm regards,

SE

Greetings once again, dear readers.   I hope this Sunday morning finds you well.

As a result of some of the magical work and the associated studies that I've been doing, I've been learning some interesting things about fate that seem to be worth sharing.

I've spoken on Karma previously, but didn't really go into much detail about how that cause and effect can play out with regard to magical work that has been started, then cancelled, or started, then left to fizzle, and so on and so forth.  Over the past few weeks, I've had a few clients opt to not follow-through, and unfortunately, their decisions have left them in a troubling mire with some distinct, problematic consequences.  This worries me, so I'm talking about it here.

Now, fate, wyrd, and karma are three words that are often used to describe happenings that seem to be destined to occur.  Some of this reference, in the West, is incorrect, as the systems associated with these terms are ill-understood or are simply being manipulated to empower the person speaking on the subject.  A lack of basic understanding of these forces is, in my opinion, grounds for someone to have their "magic card" taken from them, as we sorcerers, witches, shamans, and so on can do some serious damage if we're not careful.

Part of the trouble here is that its a bit of a catch-22 when doing the Work, especially if we're doing work for clients who don't understand the contingencies.  When we do Work, whether its to get a new job, get a promotion, get a new lover, fix an old relatioship, or some other such goal, we are binding one or more people to a certain path as far as wyrd/fate are concerned.  

Every step we take, every breath we make, every person we meet, everyone we hurt, everyone we have sex with, and so on are part of our ongoing wyrdic development.  Literally, every time we do ANYTHING we create a connection with someone else that either pushes us further in one direction or restrains and constricts us; the same can be said for every action we DO NOT take. Realistically  there's no way we're going to adequately manage all of those little interactions; we're human, and we don't have the awareness necessary to really be able to understand each and every step.  Divination certainly helps, but there are times that even asking a question is enough to bind us to certain things. I've had many a time where I asked a question that I wasn't supposed to and had to deal with some nasty consequences as a result.  Last night, in fact, was an occurrence of me being obstinate and asking too many questions....

That being the case, we really do have to take steps to ensure that the big steps we take in our lives, such as getting married, having sex with a man or woman, taking a new job, having magical work done, and so on are steps that are carefully considered.  Learning to divine or having a skilled diviner do the work for you is pretty much mandatory, lest you strand yourself up shit creek in the future.

To further illustrate this point, I should note that I get a lot of clients who want me to do love-related work for them.  Usually, this happens when someone is either unable to woo a girl or they have a dysfunctional relationship with another person.  In situations like that, 99% of the time, I elect to divine, as starting a relationship with someone combines emotional forces as well as combines two distinct streams of luck into one pool; better understanding the effects this will have is all but mandatory, and more often then not, I have to tell clients that they don't want to proceed with the work.  If, however, they elect to proceed, it always changes their life in one way or another.

So, for example, let's say that Abby contacts me because she and her ex boyfriend split up.  Abby's completely distraught because she thinks the world of him despite the fact that he's clearly an abusive ass.  That being the case, despite the fact that I tell her she doesn't want to return to him, that she needs to move on, etc. etc., she decides that she still wants him back, and I do the work to get him back.  In doing this, she either delayed her ability to find happiness with another man or killed the chance completely.  When she does wind up with this jerk of a boyfriend again, he now starts back up with the same nonsense that was going on before, only it gets worse.  Now Abby's got scars from a broken nose, chipped and missing teeth, and she has severe sex-related PTSD because the boyfriend was not a kind man and only liked things a certain way.  What's the likelihood, in that state and today's world. that she'll meet up with a kind, loving man whom she feels attracted to, who supports her, is willing to overlook her blemishes, AND help her through her PTSD?  Really, its not going to be so likely, so her taking the easy route just made her life that much more difficult, and it bound her to the fate of having pretty miserable relationships.

When you think of fate and wyrd in terms like this, it becomes at least a little easier to understand, even though that understanding is far from perfect.  The point, herein, is that we have, as magical folk, the ability to make some really crazy shit manifest. That being the case, we have to use those abilities wisely, lest they come back to haunt us later.

I hope this has been enlightening.

Regards,

SE

Greetings and happy Monday, ladies and gents. I hope this posting finds you well, or at the very least, awake and functioning.

In my wanderings, ramblings, gnosis, and the latent digestion of such things, I've come to a greater realization with regard to how our folk affect us.  We often spend a great deal of time interacting with others and we often take more than we'd like from people.  This function is something that's programmed into us at a biological level, as evidence by the fact that we even respond to how other people's hearts are beating.  The links for such studies escape me at the moment, but sufficed to say, we are much more intimately linked than we like to admit.

We end up mirroring people we respect as a result of our focus on what they represent to us.  We instinctually try to live up to the ideal they tout in order to become better in their eyes, and that can be a dangerous tendency.  When someone is sufficiently strong-willed, they can project a great deal onto others and do a ridiculous amount of damage to that individual.

Its not at all uncommon for a mental patient, for example, to project his or her disease/disorder onto the doctor or that individual's spouse.  I saw and experienced this firsthand as a child, when my mother's erratic behavior and lack of moral limitation "infected" my father.  Not only did I witness him changing over the years, but I confirmed these changes with my family after the fact. Apparently, before he married my mother, he had a slight "bad streak", but it was never particularly volatile or violent.

We see the same tendency in schools, as noted by my significant other (she's a teacher); when a smart kid hangs out with the would-be thugs, the smart kid's test scores and schoolwork suffers.  If that same student suddenly starts hanging out with a bunch of nerds, his scores improve.

In short, our values are ultimately set by the clan we interact with. If your friends, wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, or some other such individual or group is intensely negative, you will behave the same way as a result of your interactions.  This may not be true initially, but eventually your Will will break down and you will fall in line with your pack.

The same interactions and changes occur with those of us who are religious, spiritually inclined, or to those of us who practice some form of magic involving interacting with spiritual forces.  Our very interactions with those spirits, for weal or woe, changes us on some level.  They, very literally, become a part of  our life and our worldview, changing us from within even if we don't expect it.  Its not particularly abnormal for a practicing mage's IQ to be raised as a result of working with planetary intelligences, for example.

I've personally experienced this over the years, as working with Zazel, for example, has helped me to become better at discerning limitations, exposing them, or strengthening weaknesses, even if this wasn't the goal of the work.  It fits perfectly with His Saturnine nature.

That being the case, we can respond to this external stimuli in a couple of different ways; we can either use this to our benefit, or we can try to run from it and become a hermit. I would suggest that we should use this tendency to our benefit rather than pursue the goal of shielding ourselves from influences from others.  It is, ultimately, futile to do so, as we're trying to escape biologically-programmed functions which help us to interact.

I would recommend that you surround yourself with successful folk that you can look up to and interact.  I'd also recommend that you take it a step further and actually work with spirits that will benefit you in such a way.  If you're looking to cultivate a sense of inner peace, either work with Shiva and Ayra-Tara-Ma or have someone else do the work for you. Just bringing an entity into your sphere can have far-reaching effects for the same reasons listed above.

Furthermore, cut the bad apples off the tree.  Make the sacrifice and move on with your life if someone isn't benefiting you.  Don't sit their and stew; it WILL come back to bite you if you don't heed this advice.  Compassion is great until it drags you down; if it does, it needs to be managed like any other emotion or instinct.

The TL:DR version of this is illustrated pretty well by Hopsin in the following music video:

The long and short of it is that in order to grow, we have to cut loose the anchors that hold us down.  If you want to get somewhere in life, make whatever sacrifices you need to, so long as they'll actually get you somewhere.  If that means that you need to ask for help, realize this and then make it happen.

There are plenty of resources, spiritual teachers, spirit workers, teachers, therapists, business contacts, and potential friends who can help you to change your life for the better.  All you need to do is reach out and work to make that occur.

If you should desire such assistance, contact me and we'll talk. If you're not sure what to do about your situation, but just want to do something general to help fix it, I can probably assist.

Take care and thank you for reading.

Regards,

SE

'lo again, my witchy friends. :)

At the urging of a friend of mine, I've written a prayer that may serve as the Buddhist version of St. Patrick's Breastplate.  This piece calls Mahakala, a wrathful emanation of Shiva, for the sake of becoming a walking embodiment of His essence so that we might become the change we wish to see in the world around us.

Use this whenever you feel threatened, hopeless, weakened, or in need of a sense of purpose.  Use this when you feel as though the odds are stacking themselves up against you.

By and through this prayer, one may seek enlightenment and cause others to do the same. Consider the use of this prayer to be an empowerment, if you should so choose.

The Prayer:

Great God Mahakala, I call to you in all of Your forms
I prostrate myself before you
and I bind Your essence within and without me from this day forward
such that those who rise against me shall gain no ground
Let Your compassion flow through me so that I and all others
Might be freed from sickness, hindrances and troubles
I gird myself in Your garbs and pick up Your tools
They empower me such that I may always walk with You
Bettering lives, attracting and fulfilling needs
Providing antidotes for the poisons of the World
Let all seek Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
As they see this kala which I've become! 

You are welcome to use this as you see fit or repost this as you see fit.  Please be sure to give me credit for it, however. 

Warm regards,

SE

Greetings, dear readers.  I hope this post finds you well.

Please forgive the tone of this post, as it is, in many ways, a small rant about a topic that has decidedly recurred in my work with clients, and it bears mentioning.

The topic at hand is the veracity of psychic information. To start, let's face it, we all get inklings of information that we don't have cause to know from time to time.  Sometimes its a twinkle in our mind that suggests that our lover is having an affair, or other times its a strong negative feeling about a person or place. Some call it psychicism, others refer to it as instinct, but the long and short of it is that the information is pulled from the ether - either inside or outside of the microcosm.

The fact remains that this information may or may not be correct.  When reading cards, runes, blood, wax, spit, seminal fluids, sweat, drink, crystals, bones, or any other means we are confronted with this psychic source of information which is up to us to interpret.  No cards or other such methods have set interpretations, as much as some might think that they do, for they reflect us and the situation that we are asking about. The very fact that those results are open to interpretation means that it is possible to be dead wrong.

Now, for me, it doesn't happen very often, I've found.  99% of the time, when I feel something is the case, it is, and my friends and family have come to appreciate my talent for being spot on without actually having proof.  I used to spend so much time saying "I told you so" that finally they started to listen. That does not, however, mean that I am always right.  There's still a glaring 1% there, and while it may not come up often, it does still come up from time to time, and there's little that can be done about that until I, or someone else, figure out how to become omniscient.

These things do happen, and, while its unfortunate, that's life for you.  I've found that sometimes we are actually bound to get incorrect information because someone is gunning for us on some level, or the Gods aren't really happy about what we're doing, and have decided to misdirect us. There's no real way around it.

Having said as much, please be aware that if you're going to hire me to do work or a divination for you, keep in mind that I, like you, am human and thereby error-prone. Even the Gods make mistakes, after all, so don't expect that I'll be 100% on target all of the time.

/Rant off.  Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a pleasant day.

SE