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PLANTING THE GARDEN OF YOUR SOUL
a message from Archangel Gabriel channeled by Shanta Gabriel
A Message For Spring Equinox From Archangel Gabriel
Dear Ones,
Planting the Garden of your Soul invites the Grace of the Angels to work in your daily life. This focused activity demonstrates your desire to co-create what you need to harvest a more bountiful future.
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WILL EXPERIENCE THE SPRING EQUINOX ON MARCH 20, A SEASON OF NEW BIRTH AND RENEWAL. If you are in the southern hemisphere, planting your inner garden now will allow you to create a winter focus that will bloom in its proper time. Equinox is the optimum time to plant your personal garden of powerful intentions within your being. This timely action will bring great rewards as you till the rich and fertile soil of your soul, elevate your thoughts and activate new life within and around you.
THE EQUINOX IS ALWAYS A MOMENT OF PROFOUND BALANCE - A TIME TO REASSESS YOUR LIFE AND CHOOSE ANEW. On March 20 as a demonstration of perfect Alignment, you will also experience a Solar Eclipse. These two events will set forward into accelerated motion your new life experience for the remainder of the year. When you plant clear intentions for your most empowered future, the manifestation of your dreams will become your new reality.
What Does It Mean To Plant The Garden Of Your Soul?
IT IS REALLY VERY SIMPLE TO PLANT YOUR PERSONAL GARDEN. What are the qualities you most want to see manifest in your life? What are your goals and dreams for a joyous future? What needs have to be met so you can be happy? These are the seeds to plant within the garden of your being so you can create a new structure for your life.
WHEN YOU PLANT THE SEEDS OF GROWTH AND RENEWAL, IT CAN BE A FUN, CREATIVE AND POSITIVE WAY TO PROMOTE A JOYOUS, ABUNDANT LIFE. Consider those things you most want to have thriving in your interior garden. Maybe you would like to plant the fertile seeds that lead to Abundant Prosperity? Perhaps you want to empower the seeds of Harmony in all your relationships? What about planting the seeds for Health and Well-being deeply in your base chakra so they can grow with zest and vibrancy?
The soil of joyous potential exists within you and awaits your attention.
Are You Too Busy To Plant Your Soul's Garden?
THESE VAST EXALTED IDEAS SURPRISINGLY REQUIRE VERY LITTLE TIME DURING YOUR BUSY LIFE, FULL OF COMMITMENTS AND DEADLINES. In fact, the small amounts of time you give to planting and nurturing your interior garden will enhance every area of your life with a bountiful return. It is said that when a person takes one step towards the Divine, this Higher Power will take ten steps towards you.
LET YOUR IMAGINATION SOAR AS YOU BRING FORTH THOSE MAGICAL QUALITIES IN WHICH YOU WISH TO LIVE. Nothing is too large for you to dream to manifest a happier life. As you play with this process, you are co-creating a field of unlimited potential within and around you. When you dream big and feel the joy of it, your vibrational frequency will be uplifted and your energy field expands. This allows doors to open that you have not imagined possible. It is your open mind, and a heart unencumbered by doubt and self-criticism, that attracts new growth and evolution into your life.
PLANTING THE GARDEN OF YOUR SOUL INSPIRES GREAT SUPPORT FROM THE SEEN AND UNSEEN WORLD SO YOU CAN LIVE LIFE IN A MORE INSPIRED WAY. When you allow yourself to be a part of this co-creation, all your needs can be met with Grace and Ease.
How To Plant The Garden Of Your Soul
SINCE EVERY NEW PROJECT REQUIRES SOME THOUGHT AND PLANNING, WHEN YOU BEGIN YOUR INNER GARDEN, MAKE IT CREATIVE AND FUN. The visual images that you choose will greatly enhance your ability to manifest them. It could be a beautiful work of art with many colors, magazine pictures or a painting. The shape your interior garden takes might be a pattern, like a spiral, that inspires you. You could decide just to make a list of those qualities of consciousness you want to experience in your life. The action of writing will assist the energy of your garden by taking your dreams from the inner to the outer level.
THE ANGELS OF CREATIVITY ARE AVAILABLE TO WORK WITH YOU IN THIS PROJECT, AND CAN INSPIRE YOU SO IT WILL BE FUN. When your inner spirit is stimulated in this way, new life flows into your mind and heart, and you feel uplifted. This increased energy flow attracts more joy and you feel happier, which in turn, brings more creative ideas and a sense of Well-being. Your life will begin to change in surprising ways.
WHEN YOU SEE OLD PATTERNS OF THOUGHT AND ACTION MANIFESTING, and you begin to feel stuck in problematic energies, consider them to be compost for your new inner garden. Ask the Angels working in your life to help you pull these weeds and transmute old ways of behavior with Divine Light. This will help feed the garden of your soul with loving energy. Soon you will see the new sprouts of different ways of being.
REJOICE IN THIS VIBRANT GROWTH KNOWING THAT AS YOU RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO OLD SITUATIONS, you will receive fresh, positive results in every area of your life. By focusing a little bit every day on what you want to see manifest in your life, you provide a new structure so your interior garden will thrive. Remember that as you plant the seeds of new consciousness into your garden of Pure Potential, you are grounding the Creative Essence into the Earth. Through this action of bringing beautiful qualities of consciousness into your world, you become a bridge from Heaven to Earth.
Bask In The Sunlight Of Divine Illumination
THE GARDEN OF YOUR SOUL HAS AMAZING POTENTIAL TO BRING YOU THE LIFE YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE. Even the willingness to open yourself to new thoughts and behaviors attracts assistance in ways you never knew existed. This beautiful garden thriving within you will become a magnet for your new soul community, as many people are attracted your inner balance and joy. In this way your new growth and the thriving space within you reach out to bless the world. As your garden comes into fruition, you will find your life nourished in bountiful ways.
THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN AWAITS YOU AS YOU BEGIN PLANTING THESE SEEDS FOR YOUR NEW LIFE. Bask in the sunlight of Divine Illumination. Breathe it in deeply and let it nurture the new growth within you. Know the Angels will joyously assist you in weeding out the old ways that no longer work so your garden will thrive with new life.
YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. You are being guided as you open to a new way of being. Let all the frantic activity in your life drop away as new Balance and divinely inspired action takes root within the garden of your life. This simple process will enrich your life's purpose, so your next steps become very clear.
THERE IS A FLOWERING OF NEW LIFE BEGINNING WITHIN YOUR HEART, AND NEW BALANCE FLOURISHING IN YOUR LIFE. Allow yourself to be inspired and nourished as you plant the Garden of your Soul. Remember that as you empower these exalted spiritual qualities and plant them into your consciousness, they become living fields of energy that will enhance every area of your life.
AS YOU LOOK AT THE FLOWERING OF NATURE AROUND YOU, it can remind you that the same beautiful new growth is taking place within your very being. You are a precious being, worthy of all you aspire to receive and so manifest. Know deep within your heart that all is well. And so it is.
Copyright (c) Shanta Gabriel. These messages can be shared as long as they are used in their entirety and proper credit is given for the work. I love people to be able to share the work with others. www.thegabrielmessages.com.
I love religious "deconversion" stories. Theyre more inspiring to me than conversion stories, because Ive come to realize that a meaningful life is far distant from religiosity.
So someone is making progress when he or she is able to get further away from rigid dogmas. Below is a story from one such "someone."
After sending me an email, I encouraged this person to write a blog-sharable version of why a decision was made to leave the formalities of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based spiritual group organized around the teachings of a line of gurus who are considered to be God in Human Form.
This morning I read a passage in one of my favorite books, Raymond Smullyans "The Tao is Silent," which is a good introduction to the following deconversion story.
I would make the statement "everyone has the right to do what he wants" only to people who I feel are overly moralistic.
...All I am "really" trying to say to them is, "I wish you would let yourself alone and stop beating yourself on the head; I believe you would be better off." Thats all I really mean by "Everybody has the right to do whatever he wants."
Perhaps a still better way of conveying my real message is to say that if one believes he has the right to do what he wants, then he is more likely to want to do what is right.
Heres the story:
Brian,
Thanks for offering to let me have an opportunity to share my experience with your readers. I have always enjoyed reading your blog; you are quite prolific and thought provoking.
Since I was a very young child I have felt deeply that someone or something was always with me. Perhaps it's just my own ego or personality, but I have never felt as if I were entirely alone. When I first started thinking about having a guru, I imagined "this must be who has been with me all this time!" This sense of companionship has always felt like a living presence. This is in contrast to my feelings about Jesus who in my childhood I tended to only see in black velvet paintings or nailed to a cross.
I was raised a southern Baptist and briefly attended Catholic Mass along with a boyfriend during the late 1970's. [I didn't know until later that because I wasn't an official Catholic I am likely doomed to hell for drinking the wine and chewing the wafer following transubstantiation. I was never confirmed.]
A few years later I was initiated into RSSB. And somewhat like you, I quit after nearly 30 years.
During the intervening years I had officially converted from Christianity to Judaism, as my husband was Jewish, and we had a huge "religiously recognized" wedding. It was the first gay wedding at our reform synagogue--one of the oldest in the United States.
During my active involvement, I was pretty much a closeted Satsangi. As you know, the RSSB books contain much of the typical fundamentalist preaching on the subject that I had heard from the Baptist church (which I abandoned) and a sort of "gay-hate lite" that I heard from the Catholic Church. Frankly, I had been so numbed to what religion had to say on the subject that I pretty much ignored it. I never in my life felt that God didn't love me because I was gay. I knew that I loved our creator, whatever entity that may be, and that was enough for me.
As far as I know I was the only openly gay Satsang speaker. There may have been others but having lived in the Baptist closet my entire childhood I just avoided discussing it.
Our local center has always been really great. People were nice and we didn't have any weird group dynamics that we always heard rumblings of happening across the country. Over the years I was even nominated for secretary.
This last time I was nominated, the local secretary was apparently asked to pry into my personal life with weird questions that I am sure they would never ask a straight person. Anyway, I was fine with it all but relieved that I didn't get the "honor" of all the extra work.
This spring I finally accepted the fact that the RSSB rose had started dying on the vine for me some time ago. It started several years earlier on a trip I took to Petaluma. It was during a Q and I thought shit, WHAT IF THE JOKE'S ON US?
I liked the fact that in RSSB we weren't pushed to give money. This was a huge change from all the years I spent among the evangelicals, although it felt much more up front in India during my visits there.
One day recently I was just sitting in the car when a feeling flooded over me like a giant wave. "This is making you unhappy. Why don't you stop it?"
And so I did, I tuned in to my inner self and dropped out. I decided to stop beating myself up for being gay. I decided that God probably doesn't care if there is a particle of an egg in a muffin or gelatin in a marshmallow. I decided that it doesn't make any sense to raise a ruckus with insurance companies over whether a prescription pill is available in a form other than a gel tab, and I don't give a flying flea whether there is rennet in my cheese. "If this is what is required of perfection, we simply cannot attain it and we will always be unworthy."
It's sad to think of the number of times I refused or threw away food, sending it back to the kitchen and somehow feeling I was the victim in the situation.
Because it was also frowned upon to feed carnivorous pets meat products, I also had tried to feed my cats vegetarian kibble and related products over the years. One of my cats, with the personality of an angel from heaven, has all kinds of allergies. One of the things she is allergic to is yeast, which it turns out is in everything vegetarian. The poor dear ended up licking herself bare in numerous quarter-sized spots of her fur while I was trying to force her to eat vegetarian cat food. I wondered: "did God really want me to have a hairless kitty?"
Sant Mat also somehow makes you feel superior every time you eat with someone and they apologize for eating meat in front of you. We might say, "No, go ahead and eat meat I dont care-really!" but in the back of your mind you think "God, youre just poisoning yourself with that stuff!" Sant Mat makes you feel special, more valued. And then you feel guilty for feeling chosen, and then you feel sorry for the people who are less special because "they will just have to live another lifetime to be as special as you."
I had even less to fear however, since in my case, having converted to Judaism in 2000, I am in fact, covered by a perfect soul-saving trifecta!
* Although I had forsaken Jesus when I became Jewish, it seems safe to say that if I turn out to be wrong, he'll be there to greet and forgive me
* If my Guru is there to greet me when I die, no doubt he will forgive me for leaving RSSB as well. And then I'll probably come back for another life.
* If neither Jesus nor the Guru is there, at least I will still be a part of the original chosen people.
Brian, while I may not be an official member of RSSB any longer [although you can never actually leave since the guru never leaves you -- just like with Jesus!], the benefits of meditation are clear according to various scientific studies.
Now however, instead of beating myself up for not meditating two and a half hours every day, I want to be able to feel great about myself if I meditate for even an hour! Hooray! Ten minutes? Hooray! Hooray!
What a different world I will be living in now... one where I can talk positively to myself instead of thinking that people who don't follow the path "like me" are missing the boat, and where I can be grateful for whatever moments of the day I am able to focus on living in the moment instead of worrying about the past, the future, or whether my guru approves of what I'm feeding my cats.
The bottom line is this:" Sant Mat has requirements of people that are virtually impossible to attain, and because you can never attain them, you are never perfect enough for god-realization. So you have only yourself to blame for not going within. "
After 30 years I am going to believe the opposite: "each of us is already perfect because we were created in God's image. "To me that means that together with God we are evolving. And just by being who we are, we are always automatically becoming our future higher selves. Read More @ Source
Well, now, the discussion over Nick Farrell's blog article about the Golden Dawn oath of secrecy has gotten some interesting traction as of late. As an outsider, it mostly doesn't concern me, since I have not taken any of the Golden Dawn oaths. I am not a party to that discussion, just an outsider who is puzzling over it because it seems so simple to me.
I have already responded to this argument that pagans and witches take their oaths pretty seriously in a previous article, even if it is to protect confidences and materials (like the Book of Shadows) that everyone pretty much knows anyway.
Some like Fr. Peregrin have opined that secrecy and oaths are archaic and could even be considered idolatrous, since they mistake the symbols and tools for the real mysteries. You can find his blog here. I am sorry, but I find that argument kind of confusing and a bit off topic. The real issue here is whether or not oaths and secrecy have any relevance. Of course, I can talk about this from a theoretical perspective, but I can't freely violate the oaths that I took when I was initiated as a witch - it just isn't done. Why is that so? Well, for one thing it would undo my initiatory process, invalidating what I received and what I appear to continue to receive. Who wants to screw around with progress? Peregrin makes a really good point that the mysteries are inexplicable and can't be written down or shared with others, and I wholly agree.
This is one of the reasons why witches and many pagan are not "people of the book." We have no sacred scriptures because the mysteries themselves provide those experiential mysteries in great abundance. What is secret is what I do in my personal magick (at least the more subjective and personal stuff, in case I feel the need to share or teach others), the personal names of the various Gods and Goddesses that I have experienced or received, the ritual lore that I use, and most importantly, the name of my Holy Guardian Angel. Does this mean that I am some kind of idolater? Well no, it really doesn't. I am an idolater because I'm a pagan and use statues of the gods in my magickal work, and I give them offerings and worship them, but that's another issue altogether.
Then there is the sticky issue of the secret chiefs, also known as those "remarkable men and women" who have achieved the highest level of being possible for a human. Do I believe that they are mythic and they don't really exist? Of course not. I don't believe in omniscient and immortal humans who live for centuries without aging and who have superhuman powers, but I do believe that a single human being can achieve complete and total enlightenment in a single life time. That's different than believing in "ascended masters," but I won't argue or try to prove that such individuals don't exist to those who believe in them. I just don't share their beliefs, that's all.
Could it be possible that there is a Third Order of higher adepts in the Western Mystery tradition who reside in some location of the world, most likely Europe? Why not? Some have said that there couldn't possibly be such a group or even individuals. They even say that those who claim to have made contact with such a group and have materials for the Third Order are lying and being totally deceitful. How could that be? If someone claims that no such group or organization exists, then they should be required to prove that statement, just as those who claim that it is true.
However, due to oaths of secrecy and confidentially, providing proof that such a group exists might actually be impossible, if one actually obeys those oaths. This is definitely a Catch-22 situation. It's like the argument about the existence of God - some will propose proof that God exists, but that proof can be just as easily turned around and shown to be negative. In the end, the only proof is a person's good works and faith in God. The existence of God is determined by the fact that many believe in God, and they are powerfully and positively transformed by it. It can't be proven, but then again, it can't be disproved, either. The same paradox exists for the secret chiefs. If you have met them and know they exist, then you have been made to take oaths not to reveal their identities, which is part of the issue of keeping confidences (and a real conundrum).
What this means is that if one faction of the GD claims to have contact with the secret chiefs and has constituted the Third Order, then the only way to prove that claim one way or the other must require a person to undergo those initiations and teachings and find out for themselves. Otherwise, the arguments are all pointless. The proof of the pudding is in the eating - if you don't eat the pudding, then you can't know. It's very simple logic, even for an outsider.
Finally, to claim that there are no secret chiefs or any kind of advanced adepts in the world, or at least in the Western Mystery tradition, is to say that the only valid knowledge in the world is what is in books in a library or available on the internet. If it isn't in those various sources, then it doesn't exist.
Think about that for a moment. It sets up a terrible boundary or limitation on spiritual, magickal and esoteric knowledge. It says, in effect, that there is nothing greater out there than what we have already achieved. Everyone, no matter their personal gifts and abilities or how long they have studied, not to mention the breakthroughs that they might have made, are at the same level. Initiations, transformations, secret oaths - it's all just window dressing! Well, I for one would find that quite discouraging. It means that we are totally alone and there are no brothers or sisters out there who know more than we do, at least in any significant way.
Gee, if I were to believe that, then I may as well quit all of this mumble jumble occultism now while I am ahead and do something really constructive with my life, like making lots of money or discovering my happiness in the sandy beaches of Tahiti. Good thing for me that I still have hope that I will someday meet some remarkable men and women who might teach me something that I don't already know. I eagerly look forward to that day.
If someone claims to have contacts with the secret chiefs or remarkable men and women and that they have established a Third Order of higher adepts, who am I to deny them? If I want to prove them wrong, then I would need to be initiated into that organization. Otherwise, I can just nod my head and give them the benefit of the doubt, because who knows, what if that claim is legitimate? Who wants to spoil any future opportunities to achieve total enlightenment? I, for one, don't, so I will play by the rules and see what happens. That's the most that any of us can really do. To do otherwise is to spoil the game for ourselves and for others as well.
Frater Barrabbas
Me lo v'ais preguntando as'i que los voy a poner aqu'i:
CONSAGRACI'oN DE OBJETOS RITUALES
(De Raymond Buckland, wicca sajona)
Traducido por Dandelion
Levanta el objeto, sostenlo en alto como saludo y di:
"Dios y Diosa; Se~nor y Se~nora;
Padre y Madre de Toda la Vida.
Aqu'i os presento mi herramienta personal
Para vuestra aprobaci'on.
Con los materiales de la naturaleza
Ha sido moldeado;
Hecho en la forma que ahora veis.
Ojal'a que de ahora en adelante pueda servirme
Como una herramienta y arma, a mi servicio".
Ponlo en el altar y lev'antate, o arrod'illate, por un momento con la cabeza inclinada, recordando la construcci'on del objeto (espada, talism'an o lo que sea) y lo que hiciste para personalizarlo; lo que lo hizo realmente tuyo. Entonces moja tus dedos en el agua salada y salpica el objeto. G'iralo y salpica el otro lado. Ahora lev'antalo y sostenlo en el humo del incienso, gir'andolo para que todas sus partes queden incensadas completamente. Di:
"Pueda el Agua consagrada y el humo del Incienso Sagrado
expulsar cualquier impureza de este "que sea purificado y limpiado, listo para servirme a mi y
a mis dioses en cualquier tarea que desee. Qu'e as'i sea."
Sostenlo entre las palmas de tus manos y concentra todas tus energ'ias - tu "poder"-en el objeto. Entonces di:
"Yo cargo este "a trav'es de m'i, con la
sabidur'ia y poder del Dios y de la Diosa.
Que pueda servirnos bien, guard'andome del da~no
Y actuando en su servicio, en todas las cosas.
Qu'e as'i sea."
Si vas a consagrar otras cosas en este momento, repite lo de arriba con cada uno por turnos. Abre el c'irculo como sigue. Alza tu nuevo tu herramienta consagrada en tu mano derecha (izquierda, si eres zurdo) y di:
"Gracias a los dioses por su asistencia.
Que puedan ellos siempre vigilarme desde arriba,
Guard'andome y gui'andome en todo lo que hago.
El Amor es la Ley y el Amor es el Vinculo.
Qu'e as'i sea."
Lleva el objeto consagrado en tu persona, dondequiera que vayas, durante las veinticuatro horas siguientes a la consagraci'on. Entonces duerme con el bajo tu almohada durante tres noches consecutivas.
RITUAL PARA CONSAGRAR UN ATHAME O ESPADA
Si es posible el athame debe consagrarse en contacto con otro athame ya consagrado.
Se deja el athame sobre el pent'aculo ( si se puede con otro athame). Se roc'ia con agua bendita, a continuaci'on se coge y se pasa por incienso y se vuelve a colocar sobre el pent'aculo. Se pone la mano derecha sobre el athame (o athames) presionando hacia abajo, y se dice:
"Yo re conjuro, oh athame, por los Nombres de Abrahach,
Abrach, Abracadabra, para que sirvas como fuerza y
Defensa en todas las operaciones m'agicas contra todos
Mis enemigos, visibles o invisibles. Yo te conjuro de nuevo
Por el Santo nombre de (Diosa) y por el Santo nombre
De (Dios); te conjuro, oh, athame, para que me sirvas de
Protecci'on en todas las adversidades; as'i pues ay'udame ahora."
Ahora roc'ia de nuevo el athame con agua bendita y p'asalo por incienso, ponla sobre el pent'aculo y di:
"Yo te conjuro, oh, athame de acero, por los Grandes Dioses
y Dulces Diosas, por la virtud de los cielos, de las estrellas y
de los esp'iritus que los presiden, para que recibas esa virtud
que me sirva para alcanzar el fin que persigo
en todas las cosas en las que te utilizar'e, por
el poder de (Diosa) y (Dios)."
Levanta el reci'en consagrado athame durante un momento como ofrenda silenciosa al se~nor y a la Se~nora. Ahora debes utilizar el athame inmediatamente para volver a trazar el c'irculo, pero sin palabras.
Si es posible se tendr'a un contacto muy directo con el nuevo athame durante un mes, teni'endolo lo m'as estrechamente posible unido a la piel, guard'andolo bajo la almohada, etc. No dejes que nadie toque o maneje ninguno de tus utensilios hasta que se encuentren por completo impregnados de tu aura, es decir, 6 meses o tan cerca de ese tiempo como sea posible.
Este ritual es de origen hebreo del libro La llave de Salom'on, pero reformado por Gerald Gardner.
DINSTINTOS RITUALES DE PARA LA CONSAGRACI'oN DE LA COMIDA EN UN RITUAL WICCANO
Estos los he reunido con el tiempo:
BANQUETE SIMPLE
De Scott Cunningham, Wicca una gu'ia para el practicante en solitario
Levantando al cielo una copa de vino o de otro l'iquido entre las manos, diga:
Agraciada Diosa de la abundancia,
Bendice este vino e inf'undele tu amor.
En tu nombre, diosa madre, y dios padre,
Yo bendigo este vino (o cerveza, jugo, etc.).
Levantado al cielo un plato de la torta (pan, bizcocho) con ambas manos y diga:
Potente Dios de la cosecha,
Bendice estos dulces e inf'undeles tu amor.
En vuestro nombre, Diosa Madre y Dios padre,
Yo Bendigo estos dulces (o este pan)"."
CONSAGRACI'oN DE LOS PANES.
Del LDS de Gerald Gardner:
" Oh! Reina tan secreta, bendice este alimento en nuestro cuerpo, prodiga la
salud, la riqueza, la fuerza, la alegr'ia, la paz y la realizaci'on del amor que
es perfecta felicidad."
PASTELES Y CERVEZA
DE RAYMOND BUCKLAND, BUCKLAND'S COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT, TRADUCIDO POR DANDELION.
Bruja:
"Ahora es mi momento de dar gracias a los dioses
por lo que me sustenta.
Que pueda siempre ser consciente de
De todo lo que debo a los dioses."
Coge la copa en su mano izquierda y su athame en su mano derecha y lentamente baja la punta del cuchillo introduci'endola en el vino, diciendo:
"De la misma forma que lo masculino se une a lo femenino,
para la felicidad de ambos.
Deja que la uni'on de los frutos promueva la vida.
Deja que todo sea f'ertil y permite que la riqueza
Se extienda por todos las tierras."
Ella retira el athame y bebe de la copa. Vuelve a colocarla en el altar, entonces toca los pasteles con la punta de su athame, diciendo:
"Esta comida es la bendici'on de los dioses para mi cuerpo.
La consumo libremente. Dejadme recordarlo siempre
que hay que compartir con los que no tienen nada".
Ella come un pastel, haciendo una pausa para decir:
"!Como disfruto de estos regalos de los dioses,
no me deben nada. Qu'e as'i sea!".
BENDICI'ON DE BIZCOCHOS Y VINO (DE STARHAWK)
La Sacerdotisa y el Sacerdote (o los otros miembros) sostienen un plato de comida y una copa y dicen una bendici'on sencilla y, a menudo, espont'anea:
Toda vida es tuya,
Todos los frutos de la tierra
Son los frutos de tu matriz,
Tu uni'on, tu danza.
Diosa (y Dios)
Te damos las gracias por tus bendiciones y por la abundancia.
!'Unete a nosotros, festeja con nosotros, disfruta con nosotros!
Benditos sean.
Una peque~na libaci'on puede ser vertida al fuego o la caldera. La copa se pasa por todo el c'irculo y cada miembro da las gracias por las cosas buenas que han ocurrido desde la reuni'on anterior. Mientras comen, todos se relajan, se r'ien, bromean y socializan, o hablan sobre el ritual y planean reuniones futuras.
Nota: si en vez de vino, prefieres otras bebidas naturales, como es mi caso, puedes optar por estas:
Sabbat: zumo de manzana, jugo de uva, jugo del pomelo, jugo naranja, jugo de pi~na, t'e negro, hidromiel ligero, n'ectar de guayaba, caf'e de canela, t'e al jengibre, t'e del hibisco.
Luna llena: limonada, n'ectar del albaricoque, n'ectar del mango, n'ectar de pera, n'ectar de papaya, n'ectar del melocot'on, t'e a la menta, t'e a la rosa, leche.
CONSAGRACI'oN DE UNA ESCOBA
De Edain McCoy, Magia y rituales de la Luna
Cuando la escoba ya est'a acabada, s'olo falta que la consagres a tus necesidades m'agicas. Debe hacerse en la fase de LUNA LLENA.
Toma la escoba y ponla contigo en el extremo del c'irculo. Debes llamar a los Guardianes de las Atalayas y a cualquier deidad con la que desees trabajar, ya sabes realiza tu ritual de costumbre antes de la consagraci'on. Presenta la escoba a la Luna, permite que su luz ba~ne la escoba, llen'andola de poder lunar. Si no puedes hacerlo al aire libre o en alg'un lugar donde divises la Luna, hazlo mentalmente, recordando que la m'agica influencia de la Luna puede penetrar el m'as grueso de los tejados.
Mientras ofreces la escoba a la Luna pronuncia:
"Saludos, Madre Luna, bendice esta escoba m'agica, herramienta de mis antepasados, para que pueda usarla con 'exito en todos mis ritos".
Toma la escoba y, caminando dentro del c'irculo en el sentido de las agujas del reloj (deosil), pres'entala a los Guardianes de las Atalayas, solicitando las bendiciones de cada uno de ellos. Las palabras deben salirte del coraz'on y reflejar lo que sientes por cada elemento. Por ejemplo:
"Poderes del agua y de la brillante profundidad,
Reino que los secretos ps'iquicos guardas,
Bendice esta escoba con lluvias primaverales,
Bend'icela con los ocultos poderes del agua".
"Poderes de la tierra, oscuros y frescos,
Bendecid esta escoba, m'agico elemento,
Bendecid esta escoba que aqu'i sostengo,
Bendecida la magia que tanto quiero"
"Poderes del aire, del susurrante viento,
bendecid esta escoba que aqu'i os presento,
para que barra fuera el veneno y el apuro,
para que barra dentro el bendito conjuro".
"Poderes del fuego, de la luz y del calor,
bendecid esta noche mi escoba con vuestro ardor,
que siempre realice obras de caridad,
hasta que todas mis metas se hagan realidad".
RITUAL PARA CONSAGRAR OTROS UTENSILIOS:
De la Biblia de las Brujas, volumen II. Janet y Stewart Farrar.
Este ritual es v'alido para consagrar cualquier utensilio m'agico excepto espadas y athames.
Coloca el utensilio sobre el pent'aculo, pon las mano dominante sobre 'el, di:
"(Diosa) y (Dios), dignaos a bendecir y consagrar este
(nombre utensilio) para que pueda recibir de vosotros la virtud
necesaria para celebrar todos los actos de amor y belleza."
Moja el utensilio con agua bendita, y p'asalo pro el humo del incienso y vu'elvelo a colocar sobre el pent'aculo, di:
"(Diosa) y (Dios), bendecid este instrumento preparado en vuestro honor".
A~nade:
"Qu'e pueda servir para un buen uso y fin en vuestra gloria".
Roc'ialo con agua bendita y p'asalo por incienso.
Alza el utensilio como ofrenda al Se~nor y la Se~nora. Ahora debes usarlo inmediatamente. Si son m'as de un utensilio los debes usar todos, cada vez que termines con cada uno haz un saludo con 'el en forma de tri'angulo invertido (como el s'imbolo del primer grado). Para utilizarlos:
Bolline: graba algo en una vela.
Pent'aculo, varas e incensarios: exh'ibelo a los 4 elementos (el incensario quemando incienso).
Origin: modern-wiccan.blogspot.com
Over the last few days the universe has been providing me with little reminders about the ways in which we can train our brains, or perhaps a better word is 'consciousness' to help us find wholeness, self understanding and empowerment.
The idea of 'brain training' has become popularised through the latest generation of techno-gadgets which, helpfully, remind us that buying more computer games is actually educational and therefore good for you I have to admit that jumping about with the Wii and playing Trivial Pursuit with the family on New Year's Eve was actually quite fun - but in moderation! Brain training works on the assumption that the brain is like any other organ in the body: it can be damaged through abuse and strengthened through a good work out. All of us who are seeking to develop and transform our lives and our environments for the better know that physical addictions damage the brain and moderation is key to a balanced and healthy mind and body. On the 'mental' level the theory goes that the more we challenge our brains to use different types of thought process, the stronger and smarter our brains become.
When I was at university I was a member of the 'Thinking Society' and we used to do tests looking at our individual strengths and weaknesses in lateral thinking, analytical thinking, creative thinking etc. There were about five of us and the tests we were doing were largely photocopied out of old Psychology manuals. Today 'brain training' is big business with any number of self-help guides, on-line tests, brain training gurus and games; there is huge competition in the technology industry for the brain training pound.
The way we think about the brain has changed massively over the last ten to fifteen years and today it is recognised that physical, emotional and spiritual activity are just as important to brain training as performing great intellectual and analytical feats. A quick search on brain training brought me to My super-charged life which identifies meditation, sex, nutrition, singing from memory, and walking around blind-folded as just some of the '20 ways to train your brain'. In our super adult, super charged, super fast world we are being reminded that play is the single most effective method of keeping ourselves smart, effective and happy. Apart from the sex of course, the adventures of the Secret Seven, Famous Five and the Swallows and Amazons are perhaps the nearest I could get to 'brain training camp'. Get some good tuck, run about a lot, play games, use your keen observational skills, do a bit of problem solving, help each other out of scrapes, have a good old group bonding session and then home for a well earned rest. The problem is that, to most of us, the activities of the Secret Seven would leave us knackered for days: we simply don't have the resources to solve crime before supper. The Western world seems designed specifically to drain us of our mental and physical resources; we no longer recognise our overall being as a self sustaining organism that is meant to be in balance. For me 'brain training' does not go far enough, we need to recognise that we are more than a brain, indeed, we are more than just a body.
As adults we tend to see play as something which is usurped by responsibility. Anything that is worthwhile will require seriousness, effort, self-discipline, hard work, time, and probably money (all the stuff that drains our physical and mental resources). Play is relegated to the luxury of 'leisure time' which, at most, gets a couple of hours a week lip-service if we're lucky. Of course, our brains and bodies still crave play, which is why alcohol, television, watching other people playing sport, and web-surfing all eat away at our lives: they are sanctioned, sterile and largely inactive past times which con our brains into thinking they are training when really they are being filled with crap.
From a shamanic perspective the brain is simply one part of our consciousness, indeed, the entire body is really one part of our overall 'self'. For me there is really no limit to the self. We are not self contained little beings wandering round with a body and perhaps some form of spirit or energy body attached to it like a balloon. We are part of a web of being which includes the physical world that manifests us, the mental world that stimulates us to growth, and the spiritual/ imaginative/ dream world that "is "us. All of these different bits of us consume and produce 'energy' which I'll describe for now as 'movement that effects change'. Energy changes form all the time: food turns into fuel that turns into physical movement or mental process. Anyone who works with energy healing or magic will also tell you that, after a session they are famished; after all, they've been working hard channelling energy. A person who has received an energy healing may feel full of energy, or perhaps lighter if stagnant energy has been shifted to allow new energy to flow once more.
Shamanic practice is about working with energy. All shamanic practitioners work on themselves and some will also work on others. The most commonly recognised shamanic practice is called 'journeying' where the consciousness of the practitioner is either said to leave their body and travel elsewhere or to expand outwards so that they are able to access other realms; in any case, the purpose of journeying is to seek wisdom and to retrieve power, soul essence, or energy that has been lost. In a world that drains us this is obviously a key skill to learn and develop and, luckily, the majority of us now seem to be born with an innate ability to journey once we are shown how. Perhaps this gift comes from the universe seeking to restore balance, or perhaps the sheer power we now have to change our world is opening our eyes and minds to the consequences.
Some people are just naturally able to journey, but most of us need some guidance to get us started. However, just because you can journey doesn't mean you have the clarity to see truth when it's in front of you, or the wisdom to act on that truth. I doubt that any shamanic practitioner out there can say with hand on heart that they have always immediately understood messages from spirit and acted upon them. This is where brain training comes in: learn to still your mind and find clarity; learn to support your process through self care; learn to differentiate between 'I should' and 'I am'; learn that obstacles are largely illusions; learn that play is work and work is play.
Sadly, a spiritual experience, even the most intense, is seldom enough to do more than give us the initial impotus for change. Our ability to then bring change into our lives is determined by the overall state of our consciousness. How much energy is available to you? What perspective do you have on your ability to make change? What support networks have you created for yourself? Does the thought of changing your life make you feel knackered already or are you bursting to grab some tuck, track down the baddies, save the day and be home in time for supper? If the answer is 'knackered' then perhaps some brain training is in order before you start to tackle any serious life change and so deplete your already exhausted resources.
You can book a mentoring session with me in-person or via Skype to develop a personalised programme using techniques that promote clarity, boost your energy levels, identify blockages and get you on track. Mindfullness, meditation, stress management techniques and journeying form some of the methods we can work on together and your journey can also be supported by in-person or distance energy and shamanic healing.
Actualmente la Religi'on Wicca no dispone de un Gran Templo Central donde celebrar los ritos y las celebraciones sagradas.
Cuando los Paganos sentimos necesidad de conectarnos con el Dios, la Diosa o el Gran Esp'iritu, acudimos a la Naturaleza, pues es all'i donde podemos sentir la vibraci'on real de la existencia.
En este sentido los gentiles no tenemos Iglesias, ni Mezquitas, ni centros sociales que nos permitan expresar nuestra creencia. Cuando nuestro coraz'on nos pide conectar de verdad con el Esp'iritu, acudimos a la Naturaleza.
Entender esta ense~nanza puede resultarnos dif'icil de aceptar si estamos acostumbrados a rezar en los templos. Sin embargo esto era lo que pensaban los gentiles de la antig"uedad.
Para los sabios del mundo antiguo toda la Naturaleza era sagrada y cualquier lugar era bueno para alcanzar la trascendencia.
Las religiones basadas en la Gran Madre siempre han entendido esta verdad, y manten'ian la Omnipresencia del Esp'iritu. Con el paso de los siglos las cosas han cambiando y hemos llegamos a pensar que la Divinidad s'olo se encuentra en los Templos.
Si yo le digo a un Sacerdote Patriarcal que voy a rezar en la Naturaleza se va a extra~nar. Si le cuento a una monja que me conecto m'as con Dios en el monte que en la Iglesia, le va a sorprender. Aunque vea bien mi forma de trascender, siempre me va a dejar caer que acuda a la Iglesia de vez en cuando, porque no comprenden que la Divinidad est'a en todo.
Para los Wiccanos todo el Universo es sagrado, pues fue creado por la ordenaci'on divina. Las monta~nas, los valles, los r'ios, las cataratas, los 'arboles, las piedras y las plantas son divinas porque llevan el "sello" de la Divinidad. Llevan impresas la marca del Esp'iritu Creador, del Dios y de la Diosa, por eso decimos que el mejor Templo es la Naturaleza.
En este sentido los Wiccanos que viven cerca del campo tienen m'as suerte, pues a medio paso se pueden encontrar "rastros" de la Divinidad. Para los que vivimos en las ciudades nos resulta m'as dif'icil conectar, aunque siempre podemos encontrar un parque lleno de 'arboles o un jard'in bot'anico para visitar de vez en cuando.
Acudir a la Naturaleza es lo mejor que podemos hacer para sentir al Esp'iritu. Adem'as de ayudarnos a mantener el cuerpo el'astico y la mente fresca, nos sirve para recordar que no estamos s'olos en la tierra y que existen otras formas de vida adem'as de las nuestras.
Cuando un aspirante a Wiccano desea empezar a conectar con el Esp'iritu, yo le digo; ?porqu'e no te animas y empiezas a conectar con la Naturaleza....?. Puedes empezar por las zonas verdes de tu pueblo, por los campos m'as cercanos y conocidos y tratar de sentir al Esp'iritu de la Naturaleza. Esto puede parecer poco "poderoso", pero en realidad es lo mejor para sentir la Magia de los Dioses.
Aunque la gente prefiere hacer rituales y ceremonias con mucha liturgia, lo cierto es que visitar la Naturaleza con "ojos Wicca" es lo mejor que podemos hacer para empezar a potenciar nuestro interior (f'ijate que he dicho "para empezar").
Recordar que la Tierra es Templo Santo nos hace ver el Planeta con otros ojos. Si te animas a frecuentarla pensando que todo lo que existe est'a cargado con la energ'ia del Esp'iritu, tal vez sientas su presencia y la verdad de su poder.
?Porqu'e no lo intentas?. Un paseo de bruja va fenomenal..., y lo 'unico que tienes que hacer es "abrir" tu percepci'on a lo divino. Eso lo puede hacer cualquier, y los beneficios son extraordinarios.
Sabioy Bendito seas.
Origin: spellscasting.blogspot.com
Dreams:
All night long I dreamt of Addie. To some extent I relived the experiences of the past with her. I find that I have no compassion for her-I have no positive feelings for her, this rather frightens me. As a rule, I can find a part of myself that can try and understand where the other person is coming from. But right now, there is no part of me that can understand, truly understand her except intellectually. I saw the goddess's who "overshadow" her-she is Hera and Diana. I do not understand Hera -it is hard to see that in my psyche. The message to me is to try and write this out so I can understand her. Which is what I am doing.
Spell for a friend:
With a sapphire ring (reference Silver Ravenwolf again)-I used an old sapphire ring because sapphires are "my stone".
Moon shine for me
Gem do your work
Find a kindred friend who is not a jerk
No one is perfect this I know
Help us both to learn and grow
With love, joy and dignity
As I will, so mote it be.
Daily Corresponding event:
1) Read an article on happiness, happiness includes forgiveness and in my dream I can't seem to forgive. I did a spell for success. Apparently, you need to be happy BEFORE you can succeed. And I am having trouble with forgiveness which is part of happiness. I think happiness has to do with faith.
2) Tim and I are arguing, an unresolved related issue.
3) Am new in towne AGAIN, so I decided to try a spell for a kindred friend (above spell).
4) One thing I am "jealous" of Addie. To me, jealousy is a challenge in regards to what you wish for yourself. For example, if you are jealous of someone's beauty, then you need to look at why you don't feel beautiful and change what needs to be changed. Jealousy is a challenge and could be why I can't forgive her or understand her.
5) Addie is a "fighter"(the Diana in her psyche), my way of dealing with someone I do not like in my reality is to simply "cut them out" as much as possible-rid them from my life. Indeed, she "gets off" on fighting people. Addie is also very Machiavellian-she will do whatever it takes, no matter what the cost. I can fight, "the good fight", but my way is very different. Addie is "not going away". She is very present force in my life. The first thing I must do in my "fight", is to rid her from my life in my mind's eye. Forgive her, try to understand her, get over my jealousy, lessen her hold on me. Jealousy, anger etc give the other person too much power over me. The less emotion I feel about her, the less her power and the smarter my decisions and reactions in regards to her.
Philosophy:
One thing about spells is that they many times "counter attack". Whatever is happening in your life that is preventing you from having what you cast the spell for, "comes out to play with you". Suddenly, my trouble with forgiveness is in my dreams-all night long. And an unresolved issue with my significant other as well. Forgiveness is for you and not the other person. If you forgive them, then they lessen their power on your life. So, if you cast a spell for happiness, you are going to find out what is making you "unhappy", and face that down within your own psyche. Forgiving does not mean that you associate with the person again-although it can. Forgiving means that your anger or rage is gone towards them.
Philosophy on "overshadowing":
Based on the book, "Goddess's in Every Woman" by Jean Bolen, the idea is that we are essentially X amount of women in our society. This idea is based upon the Jungian idea of archetypes. For example, a woman who has a lot of Aphrodite in her, will date a lot of men, she is the personification of love and sex. Hera, the wife-but a betrayed wife, is a "woman scorned". Every God and Goddess has both "good sides" and "challenges" to overcome. Hera is the woman scorned challenge, the wife of Zues-he cheats on her all the time. There are Greek, Roman, Irish etc. god and goddess archetypes, most women (and men) are two. These are called pantheons. Our sense of fashion is part of that. What we were is reflective of which "goddess" we chose. For me this is one "crucial" part of a being wiccan, the different gods and goddess's that overshadow us. Wicca takes this into account, and most other religions do not. It is a useful way to try and understand someone and where they are coming from.
