15
Aug
2013

I Missed All Of You. Except For You, You Smell Funny…


I live. What’s been happening in my life, and why hasn’t my blogging been a part of it?
A lot of bloggers apologize when they’ve been on hiatus, and promise they won’t do it again. I’m not going to do either because I can’t promise, life happens after all, and I don’t see why I should apologize for being a magickian.
In the past I talked about how the real measure of a magickian of any type should be their contentedness and progress, and I stand by that. So why haven’t I been blogging? Because I’ve been living. I’m entering my fifth year of University, and my two degrees have been keeping me very busy with a full course load that doesn’t stop for little things like weekends, the summer, and breathing. School has been devouring my life, and yes, while I wish I had more time to blog or do other things I’m not too troubled by the lack of blogging because I know pulling off top grades in every course, for two different degrees is a lot of work. This is all just a step toward getting a job I’ve wanted my entire life, and yes, even getting to here has been a magickal act, and going forward is one as well. So what is there to apologize for, I am doing what I want, I am happy in my education, I am steadily moving toward my goal. I am being a magickian.
One thing I don’t understand about magickians (and people in general) is those who complain about the process of getting what you want. If you’re going for a specific job or field you require the education (generally), so complaining about school is silly on several fronts, it achieves nothing (an occasional venting is fine), and if your other option is not going to school and not getting the job which would you prefer? I know I’m not the only person to say it, but the Great Work is Work, whether that is a lot of time dedicated to magickal pursuits, or the nitty-gritty Malkuthian down to Earth work it’s all part of the system and the path. So while I wish I had more time to blog…read…date…play video games…sleep…whatever, I’m enjoying school, I’m going towards my goal, and complaining would achieve nothing. That’s also why I don’t feel the need to apologize. Again, while I’d love to blog, it would seem silly to apologize that I’m not blogging about magick, because magick is getting me what I want and the time it requires reduces my time to blog.
So I’m still around, and I still read the blogs, and try to connect with folks on twitter, and I miss blogging/communicating, but that’s the extent of my spare time. So this isn’t a welcome back post, this isn’t a goodbye post, it’s a be patient, I will attend to the blog when I can.
Who knows, maybe the final year will see me with enough time to keep up with the blog again, but if not know it is because I am going the way of my wishes, and what more can a magickian ask for?

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
28
Jun
2013

Review: Female Deities in Buddhism, by Vessantara


female deitiesFemale Deities in Buddhism: A Concise Guide – Vessantara
Windhorse Publications, 2003, 126pp, 1899579532.
Women have an interesting place within Buddhism. You get patriarchal Buddhist cultures (and all that comes with that) that embrace a beautiful diversity of female figures. In this book Vessantara explores the nature and the role of these divine women, specifically focusing on the context of Vajrayana Buddhism, as the gender roles in different forms of Buddhism are as diverse as the rest of their beliefs. He explains why these figures are important to the tradition, as well as why they are important and relevant to practitioners of all sexes and/or genders. Some of his opinions are idealized, Vajrayana Buddhist cultures have that odd mix of sexism/patriarchy and veneration of divine feminine, and Vessantara focuses on the latter, though giving a complete/honest presentation of women in Vajrayana Buddhism would quickly swell into another argument altogether.
The “primary” or most common female figures are discussed -your Taras and Prajnaparamita and Quan-Yin- along with a nice sampling of more uncommon ones, such as my dear Machik Labdrön. The histories of the figures are discussed often from multiple perspectives. You get the history of their practice, when it arose and how it has changed, where they came from. You get the history of the figure’s life, if she was human, or took human form, how that life played out. And you get the mythic history, where she emanated from, what was the cause of her creation and why she is here to help. They’re discussed with their descriptions, their role in the traditions, and practices related to them. It doesn’t include how to perform the practices, that is beyond the scope of the text, but lets you know what practices are associated with whom, and when they share similar practices how they vary.
As is to be expected with any text there are a few issues, most of them are not problematic but there is one I want to call attention to. In the section on Machik Labdrön the text says that Machik was taught chöd by her teacher Padampa Sangye. No early text supports this idea, Machik was the founder of the tradition, and is the only female founder in Vajrayana, attempts to attribute her amazing system to her male teacher seem to be more about reducing the power and prestige of this woman. I might not have felt the need to comment, but chöd is obviously important to me, and I find it unfortunate that in a book that tries to revere the female figures of Buddhism that it supports a patriarchal erasure of the genius of one of Tibet’s greatest female saints. (It’s worth noting while other female figures have specific texts referenced in the Selected Reading section, the book by Machik (supposedly, unlikely) or books about her are lacking)
Each section tends to include some poetry about the different figures too, at first I was put off by Vessantara inserting his own poetry into the text, but I came to appreciate a modern, personal connection and expression of devotion to the female figures of Buddhism. Poetry to the female divinities in Buddhism isn’t uncommon, but translations out of Sanskrit and Tibetan rarely do it justice, so original English poetry does make sense. The book is nothing in-depth, it is a concise guide as it says, but it is enough if you’re looking for an introduction to the figures. Personally I felt the book could have been longer, with a bit more focus on each figure, but will admit unless Vessantara was an expert on some of the figures it would be difficult. If you’re looking for a way into the figures of Buddhism, especially, but not limited to, the female Buddhas and Bodhisattvas then this text will serve that purpose. There is also a selected reading list in the back of the book that if you find any of the figures particularly appealing you can use the reading list to direct your study toward her. The book is barely more than 100 pages, but for what it does and what it’s for it’s a pretty good hundred pages.
(Edit: Since some people may be looking into information on a specific figure I decided I might as well list who is discussed in the text.
Tara: Green, White, Red, Yellow, 21 Taras. Vijaya. Prajnaparamita/Yumchenmo. Vajrayogini, and Vajravarahi. Kurukulla. Machik Labdrön. Yeshe Tsogyal. Simhamukha. Palden Lhamo. Ekajata/Ekajati. Kuan-Yin.)

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
02
Jun
2013

Divination Addiction: The Cards Won't Tell You When You've Had Enough


As I previously linked, good-old Polyphanes wrote a post Divination-Related Disorders and I mentioned in my linkage that I rarely do multiple readings for people in a short period. I will generally refuse a reading more than once a month. One reason is a month is rarely enough time for people to make a meaningful change and thus the outcome won’t be too varied. Another reason is divination gives people a sense of power, they know (or think they know) what is coming, and this makes them feel better. Sure being confident is good, but it should stem from something other than fortune telling.
A month or two back Jackie and I talked about divination on Occult Spectrum, and we chatted about the issue of divination addiction, and very briefly about what it’s okay to read on. Specifically I’ve had people try to use me as a private detective about their partner, if he is cheating, and more than once. We also touched on how divinations tend to verge on counselling sessions, and not everyone can handle what comes up in them. There I’m lucky, I used to be in social work, so I have some training and experience when that stuff comes up. That being said, the Cosmos listens, and likes to test. Though posting this now, the events in question came up the week after the show.
I considered changing details of this story to protect the innocent, but frankly if I did that it wouldn’t have the same impact, and people don’t know my client list, so I’m comfortable talking about this knowing the pieces can’t be put together.
I’ve had a repeat client for about ten months. She’s gotten close to my once a month limit, but never broken it. We’ve looked into and talked about her pregnancy, her now newborn baby, job and finance prospects for her husband, marriage troubles, moving concerns, and such. She’s been a good client, she asks important and thought out questions, and she follows the advice I lay out for her, with a critical and questioning take. Then she requested a divination last week, and I declined.
It read something to the effect of “My husband hit me, and I’m not sure where our relationship stands.” I ended up writing her a letter on why I couldn’t do the reading for her. First off, divination gives you a sense of power, and security, but this isn’t always a good thing. People sometimes get caught up in divinations and knowing, and not in acting which is what they need to do, this is one of those situations. I know there are probably few times in someone’s life where that security of divination would be more desired, but also few times when it could be more damaging. Divination should guide action, not paralyze choice.
Second, this wasn’t a matter of divination and knowledge; it was a matter of safety. I explained to her that I used to be in social work (so I didn’t seem to be a fortune teller overstepping my area of knowledge) and frankly that it was a safety issue more than anything. I’ll save the bore of stats (and me searching for notes) but it is exceedingly rare for a partner to only be physically abusive once. After that first step is taken they almost never turn back. So I told her that I didn’t feel her priority was divination, her priority was safety, and that meant taking her child and finding somewhere safe to go. Friends, family, a woman’s shelter, but before she contemplates her relationship with her husband she had to get herself out of his reach.
It was surprisingly difficult to write, I wanted to help, I wanted to look at her path and see what I could suggest, but I knew deep down that all of that was sidetracking for the importance of her safety. As readers of the flows of fate we have to accept where our understanding and limits are, we have to know what we can and shouldn’t talk on, and understand there are times when divination and knowledge (and the reliance on them) is more harmful than the answers they would give.
When it comes to physical harm, I think we’ve reached that limit. If someone attacks you it’s more important to get to safety than divine why or what to do or if it will all work out. If someone threatens you it’s more important to contact the authorities than divine if they will or how to avoid it. If your health gets really bad it’s more important to see a doctor than divine the underlying causes. Divination can come after, but get out of dodge first.
I’m not saying divination as a process can’t see these things, or is useless here, but the consequences are too important to just rely on divination, and that compulsion to rely on divination –especially during such a crisis– will only be strengthened. He hits you, and you wonder if it will work out, if you get a reading that says stay then the next time he hits you you might not ask, or you wait longer, or you get to the point where you don’t know if you should run without checking in with some form of divination. It can paralyze.
Divination lets us glimpse the flux and flow of fate, but as readers and recipients it is coloured, and like anything it is neither good nor bad, but a reliance upon something in the wrong situation is dangerous. I wrote this discussing in terms of reading for others, but it applies just as much to when we read for ourselves.
Know thyself, and know when you should act not divine.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
30
May
2013

Misas, Colding Readings, Scepticism


I always want to title my misa posts with something punny, but most ways of using misa sound JarJar Binks/Racist.
For those new, or have forgotten, a misa is an event in espiritismo where a group get to together to talk with their spirits: spirit guides, ancestors, whatnot. Usually there are two people who do most the talking (I’m one of them at my friend’s misas), but everyone can be open to whatever is to be communicated.
I recently attended another misa of a friend of mine, she likes talking to her dead people. I find the entire thing fascinating, the types of messages that come through, how people receive them, who shows up, and how the experience as a whole goes down.
At this misa, like all the others, I know my friend who is hosting it, and then there are generally four or so other people that I don’t know. I find this is an advantage for me because it means my reading isn’t biased by knowing anything about the lives of 4 out of 5 people, which prevents contamination.
I found this a bigger issue this time. It isn’t to say I think my friend was using the excuse of spirits to say what she wanted to say, or that her foreknowledge overwhelmed her perceptions, but the messages that came from her obviously drew from her prior knowledge. For instance she’d bring in a message for someone, and then when it was done she’d occasionally toss out an interpretation “I know you recently changed jobs, maybe it’s about…” or “I’m pretty sure they’re talking about …”
I, on the other hand, had no such advantage (or handicap) being the only person not in that circle of friends. As someone developing my skills, testing my abilities, and looking for verification that’s how I want it to go down. For instance, while it was very unfortunate for the recepient of my messages, in one case I twice upset/triggered the same person because the messages that came through hit on something personal and visceral. I was given descriptions of places where very bad things occured in his life, and related information, but I had no context or foreknowledge for the data. While I can’t rule out woogity variables, it was at least clear I was connected to something, doing something right. Yet my friend doesn’t have that advantage, and perhaps doesn’t want it, maybe I’m too focused on results and proof rather than faith.
I can’t help but wonder how much knowledge taints my friend’s messages, especially when her message for me is somewhat in line with her pre-existing biases and knowledge. For instance at this misa I was told by one of her spirits (cause my spirits never show up to talk to others), that Buddhism seems to be the right path for me and that my ceremonial magick practices aren’t benefiting me, and doing both is just confusing things spiritually. Now said friend has a complex relationship with ceremonial magick, ex-Thelemite, who always preferred more witchy/ecstatic methods to ceremonial, and would say she dislikes most ceremonial practices and ceremonialists with me being an exception. Now even without this bias, even if it was my spirits and not hers, I wouldn’t just listen to what was said and follow, spirits aren’t all-knowing and all-wise. Yet I can’t help but wonder if that message was from her, or her spirits, or if her position confused the message coming through. While I love my ceremonial practices, at the time of the misa I had been performing Resh daily and I felt it had reached saturation, that it was no longer giving me the benefit it was when I started doing it again a few months earlier.
Could it be someone was telling my Resh wasn’t useful, but her position on ceremonial magick got in the way? Could it be that consciously or unconsciously the format of the misa gave her “permission” to state her opinion as fact and advice? Could it be that some spirit really thinks that ceremonial magick has no purpose for me. I don’t know, and I’m not expecting an answer, more than anything I’m relaying the event and pondering through it. Beyond the source and filter of the message, it also makes me wonder about people who just listen to such advice. Your Grandfather didn’t always know what was best for you while he was alive, why would he know better now that he’s dead? It’s not the people recieving the messages aren’t intelligent, but I feel they’re uncritical and I just don’t understand that position. Perhaps they really get what they need, the advice works, and each time they may come back a little better, but I just can’t understand that level of trust in the spirits and the intermediary. With every source of information, especially an occult source, question the information, question the source, question the bias, question who benefits. The advice may be right, wrong, or indifferent, but it’s up to us to figure out which is which, and to work with what we’re given.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
27
May
2013

Thangka Very Much: Sale at Blue Flame Magick Supplies

I recently came across a new Tibetan shop in Toronto and much to my surprise and joy when I was inside I came across a thangka of Machik Labdrön. For those unfamiliar a thangka is a Buddhist religious painting, and Machik Labdrön is the found of chöd, my primary Buddhist practice.
machikthangkaFor three years I’ve looked for a thangka of her without any luck, I’ve found some online, but I’d rather be able to see it up close first, so I’m very happy that I found one. Thangkas of her are fairly uncommon, and this one is a bit more unusual than normal. Usually a thangka has protectors drawn on it at least, as well as a lineage depiction, this one doesn’t and it’s painted on a black background. Very beautiful.
Why am I rambling about this? Because I want it, but I can’t currently justify the cost. So in order to help fund it I’ve turned to my store: Blue Flame Magick Supplies and I’ve marked down all my consecrated pendants, anywhere from $10 to $20.
So if you’ve wanted a Machik pendant for clearing karmic obstacles, or a White Mahakala pendant for wealth and prosperity, or a Medicine Buddha pendant for healing then now would be a great time to pick them up while they’re on sale, plus it means you get to help fund my dharma practice.
So my stuff is on sale in order to help fund my purchase of a thangka of Machik, so now really is the time to pick up a pendant if you’ve been thinking about it. No idea how long they’ll be at these lower prices, so don’t wait too long. (And as always, a variety of premade, or custom malas are available.)

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
21
May
2013

Numbers, Galvanic Skin Response, and Sacred Space


Or “I’ve experiments to run. There is research to be done.”


I like experimenting with the occult; experimenting for results, and experimenting for knowledge’s sake. Sometimes the experiments are purely using human technology, using people to sense the results, sometimes the experiments use a physical device, can this candle, pinwheel, or even EEG pick anything up. There is a friend of mine who is a lot like me, in many ways a clone at times, but sadly I only see him once a year at Gather, which was last weekend, and he had a new toy.

Enter my friend who brought with him a galvanic skin response monitor, a true random number generator, and a desire to do science. We started off with various different experiments, using the galvanic skin response monitor (GSRM for short) we would watch how the body reacted to different experiences. It was experimenting for experimentation’s sake initially, we weren’t being rigorous, and we were learning the tweaks of the device and eliminating variables that we could as we figured them out.

It was neat using the GSRM and watching how the body responded in different meditations and energetic interactions including having psychic vampires feed from the test subject (me). Of course it can’t really be separated or said that the results show something energetic/magickal is happening, only that the mental actions required were causing the body to respond in different ways, though the feeding was blind, so my mental actions shouldn’t have matched up to what I didn’t know was going on.

The most fascinating experiments came from the true random number generator (TRNG), if you’re unfamiliar with the device this one uses something about a semi-conductor and a whitenoise and stuff I don’t grok yet to produce thousands of numbers a second, either a 1 or a 0. When the chances are 50/50 statistically in any given second the TRNG would produce roughly as many 0s as 1s. Of course, just by chance anomalies will occur, using the threshold of 0.05 (I believe), which is a standard for statistic results and once every 20 seconds such an anomaly would occur by chance, the value used (whatever it was) is used a lot in paranormal/psychic research because it’s a bit more strict so plays into the extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence idea. If you’ve not followed any of the paranormal research around the TRNG they seem to be triggered in odd ways, by odd things. My friend was describing it as a spiritual accelerometer, it’s not that it will continually beep when weird shit is happening, but if weird shit happens fast it seems to go off. The human body doesn’t have a mechanism that lets us experience speed, we think we do, but what we’re feeling is things like the air moving against us, or the vibration of the vehicles we’re in. Humans don’t feel speed, but we experience acceleration, so in a perfect vehicle that produced no vibrations we couldn’t feel going 60 km/h, but if we went from 0 to 60 km/h in 5 seconds we would, yet if we went from 0 to 60 km/h in 5 minutes we might not be able to feel it because the sensation of acceleration is too slow. We have no idea why, paranormal researchers who do cool things with TRNGs have no idea why, but it seems the respond in the same way on some energetic level. It doesn’t register that woogity is happening, that 60 km/h, but it registers the quick acceleration to it.

I repeatedly created “sacred space” around the TRNG in several different methods, and as if to prove the point the method that “snaps” sacred space into place in a second at the end of the work would set the device off, but the one that took about three minutes showed no statistical abnormalities.

Now for what we were doing, which was more proof of concept, our results showed enough to think there is something at play, though we don’t know what, how, or why. Three out of four times when I would make the space in the fast way, each step was noted by the machine: going up to the space, pulling the space down, and releasing it. Three statistically significant results the second I said the step was happening, three out of four times. The game was afoot. Apparently this is par for the course with my friend, enough statistically unusual results exactly at the right moment, not 100% but with enough consistencies to show something seems to be happening.

We got the idea to test moving the TRNG in and out of sacred space. Having to create space quickly enough to register limited the type, “depth,” and range of sacred space, but if we spent a lot of time making the space as best we could, perhaps moving the device over the boundary would show up. To stack the experiment in our favour (as we were just looking for proof this would register) I asked my friend Michelle to help me make the space as Michelle is phenomenally talented and we work well together.

We stood aside from the group, joined hands, synced energy, and then reached out creating sacred space in a manner we’re both familiar with. Resonating, reverberating, Forcing the world out with our Will we made the space as best we could. Once it was established I drew back one edge using a line on the carpet pattern as the boundary of the space, both for a physical/visual reference, and for the sake of an objective line. So rather than saying it was “roughly 45 centimeters to my left” it was that line on the carpet, right there, with that star. A hard and fast border.

I pulled my mind back as best I could (the syncing makes it odd) and told my friend, and another friend who was watching from several feet away to walk toward us, until the device was between Michelle and me, and then walk back and see what they could find. I kept my eyes closed to make sure I couldn’t influence the experiment in that way somehow, and to help keep the space strong.

After a minute or two I realize I can hear my friends giggling under their breaths, and a minute or so after they tell us they’re done, they have enough data. We closed the space and came back to our selves. They tell us that the device was going off repeatedly, every time they got close they would get a result, and while it was still not at 100% it was more consistent than my friend had ever seen, and with such perfect regularity that after a while they couldn’t stop themselves from giggling at the astounding results.

While I was impressed, that was that, until one showed that it was happening with such consistency that over such a precise spot that they were able to discover the edge of the space by how consistent the results were, and they pointed down exactly at the line of carpet that was where I anchored the space. To the centimeter the TRNG was able to find the boundary of the sacred space.

I find this utterly fascinating and exciting (my apologies to those who follow Michelle and me on twitter as we apparently were tweeting a lot about it), again no ideas about the mechanisms, the how, or why, no claim that this was a rigorous lab experiment proving this beyond a shadow of a doubt. None the less, the results were nothing less than amazing to us, and warrant more research and experimenting, and we have no shortage of experiments that we want to run…once I buy my own devices by the end of the summer.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
25
Apr
2013

Review: Reiki and the Healing Buddha – Maureen J. Kelly


reikihealingbuddhaReiki and the Healing Buddha – Maureen J. Kelly
Full Circle, 2001, 206pp, 8176210323.
It’s rare to find a book that as soon as I see it I want it. It’s even rarer to find a book that as soon as I see it and realize how horrible it will be I want it, but I’m a masochist and this book didn’t disappoint in this respect. The basic premise of this fairy tale book is that Reiki is actually an ancient Buddhist form of healing, and if you connect all the pieces you can realize that. The author leads us through her exploration of different traits of the Healing Buddha and his practice, and Reiki, and how they link in her mind.
So where to start with this book? First let’s tackle the title. “Reiki and the Healing Buddha,” the healing Buddha refers to Sangay Menla, or Bhaishajya Guru, also known as the Medicine Buddha. The cover of the text has a picture of Chenrezig on it though, a completely different figure. Why? Frankly I think it suits how much the author knows about both Buddhism and Reiki, but let’s build that case.
The author thanks Mikao Usui (founder of Reiki) for “rediscovering Reiki, for bringing it out of the Buddhist monastery” (iii) which would imply Reiki wasn’t created by Usui-sensei, and that Buddhists were hiding it all this time. What a fun fantasy. Strange that there are no Buddhist texts or teachings that match the idea of Reiki as energy healing. Also it makes perfect sense for monks, being the horrible people that they are, to keep the secrets of health to themselves, let everyone else suffer is the motto of the Buddhist monks, right?
“Because Reiki comes from Buddhism…”(11) at this point in the book she’s made no case that Reiki has anything to do with Buddhism, you’re just supposed to trust her, but the way she creates evidence would be frightening if it weren’t hilarious. Some may just be translations and traditions, like her chart of the Buddhas and their colours and directions being wrong (14), but others is just made up. “The Reiki Master symbol can be found within the first two vows made by the Healing Buddha” (23) which she later explains that when the Medicine Buddha says “I have been born into the world” (26) it really means being initiated with the “Reiki Master symbol” (27), because that’s not a stretch, and being born is too obvious. She constantly tries to link ideas, but can never support, and rarely explains. For instance she takes four of the eight symbols in the ashtamangala, decides they are the real important ones, and that they secretly represent the four Reiki symbols (50). She very briefly explains it later, but it is literally less than one sentence for each connection (77). She explains the idea of paying for Reiki (which the insistence on it purely a Western thing) comes from the Healing Buddha sutra that says people won’t understand the Medicine Buddha’s teaching unless they pay for it (193). Admittedly it’s been a while since I read that, but I don’t remember that, and it seems not to be the right attitude. I guess it’s let everyone else suffer, unless they can afford my hourly rate?
Her knowledge of Buddhism is flawed, she makes reference to the Earth Goddess in Buddhism (who is the same as Sekhmet, Isis, Mary, Hera, and so on (31)), and that Chenrezig became Tara because there wasn’t a female Bodhisattva (32) which if you know the stories of Tara’s first vow is more insulting to women than anything. Since she believes Reiki is Buddhist she recommends the readers just go out and get Buddhist initiations (34/35) because it’s not like it’s a religion and you should take it seriously, and it’s not like these initiations have vows you have to obey for the rest of your life and should be thought out and prepared for. Her sources and translations are just as odd as everything else, according to her in the sutra of the Healing Buddha untimely death is caused by “illness treated by hoodoo.” (38) It’s a little known fact that the ancient Buddhists of India hated hoodoo, totally true.
Her Reiki understanding is just as bad, but it’s typical for what you’d see from a practitioner of a Takata-lineage of Reiki. What surprises me is she’s somewhat aware of the history and process, but ignores it. She mentions how there are twelve hand positions, but some teach twenty-seven or more, and they may not be part of the original system of Reiki. (They weren’t, they were added in by Hayashi because some students were too “dull” to sense where Reiki needed to be) Despite this, she still explains that these twelve are really and truly representations of the Twelve Yaksha generals (51) despite the fact that there weren’t in the original system or created by Usui-sensei (sorry, “rediscovered”). (Sidenote: “Rediscovered” irks me throughout the book, nowhere does she make a case for Reiki being a pre-existent tradition, so it cannot be rediscovered. It can be Buddhist inspired (and it was to a degree, but not how she thinks) but that doesn’t make it a “rediscovery” any more than my version of my mom’s vanilla cake is a “rediscovery” of what cake is.) She mentions there is no proof that Usui-sensai studied at Chicago University, or headed a Christian school in Japan (147) (he did neither) but then goes on to explain that he studied at Chicago University and headed a Christian school in Japan (149) because she likes that story, creatively ignoring of facts, even after she discredits them. She also claims that once you reach the “third degree” you have to pick a higher being “similar to or the same as Angels” (129) to work with, and idea so removed and alien from Reiki it boggles me, but hey it supports her idea to connect it to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas so why not?
She has gems of logic like “The Power symbol is the only Reiki symbol which does not come from a written language which may mean that it is older than most written languages” (84) which is another hilarious jump in logic. It’s not a word, so obviously it’s pre-text, that’s right, Reiki now goes back to before writing existed. Or that the “Mental/Emotional symbol” is actually Long A from the Gupta Alphabet (96), but if you know your symbols, go look at the alphabet, see if you agree. She also spends a surprising amount of time analyzing clockwise and counter-clockwise symbols and how horrible clockwise is to our bodies (86) unfortunately for her the original symbol she’s talking about was clockwise, somewhere in Takata’s lineage it got reversed. Or that because Manjushri’s text was translated into Chinese (from Pali/Sanskrit) in the third century, it makes sense that he was linked to the Japanese tradition at the time (114), if you understand that, please let me know.
It’s not just Buddhism and Reiki she gets wrong, but reality. “It is my belief that the Rei of Reiki is one of the rays of the light spectrum which has yet to be discovered by scientists.” (6) It’s energy sure, but she lists the entire Electromagnetic Spectrum, and apparently Reiki is hiding beyond the edges somewhere, making it weaker that AM radio, or more powerful Cosmic Rays. Scientizing the occult is one thing, but bad scientizing is horrid. It’s worse, for “scientists have found that memories of things learned by a parent can be passed on to a child through the memories contained in genes.” (104) Which is another fun fantasy. “In quantum physics it is said that quantum waves can go both forward and backward in time” (122) because her science wasn’t bad enough yet. She calls the Mesopotamian religion one of “Light/Life” (13) which means she’s never read anything about it.
All of this bad research and horrible synthesis is made worse by the self-description of “being a very practical, feet on the ground, type of person” (129) who just assumes everything is a sign of ancient Reiki. What gets me is I could have agreed with some parts of her synthesis if she talked about it in terms of personal experience, of unsubstantiated personal gnosis, or personal symbolism. By trying way way too hard to pretend to be well researched and historical, whatever value she put forth in this book was ruined. While I picked this book up not expecting anything good, it was horrible to a degree I didn’t expect, and even for that perverse pleasure I don’t recommend this text be bought by anyone.
If I were to sum up her logic and argument in a simple image it would be this:
reikialien

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
27
Mar
2013

Wednesday Webshare: Bad Mages, Divination, and Lack of Angel on Man Action

Mercury Web
Cultural appropriation is rampant in a lot of occult circles, and generally irks me. So have an article on cultural appropriation of Lukumi. What I find interesting is the difference between “innocent” cultural appropriation, and people who blatantly steal and make shit up, I always wonder about the second group.
Non-invisible bank robber caught because his sorcerer for hire didn’t come through. Always investigate people you’re buying your magick from before important service purchases.
Speaking of which, an alleged psychic steals thousands from a client.
I grew up believing that early Christians were a horribly persecuted group, and that their strength of faith sustained them. Hell I was also told how tough it was for modern Christians. Both are bullshit though. The myth of early Christian persecution covers just that.
Polyphanes tackles divination related disorders. Worth considering for those of us who give, or receive divinatory services. Personally I don’t let people get multiple readings from me in a short period unless I know they actually followed through with the advice. If it’s been less than a month, and you haven’t done anything, nothing much has changed, I’m not supporting your need for an illusion of control through knowledge.
Shifting gears on divination. Psyche gives a run down of the top five foundational books on tarot. Those I’ve read I would say are good to work through even if you’re very familiar with the tarot.
Om Mani iPadme Hum. Buddhists and technology. During my chöd training I remember going to a cemetery with my lama and another student. I pull out my pecha, he pulls out an iPad with a stand, with the text as a pdf. The only i is the Pad.
A reader responded to my review of Yoga Body with a small talk countering the text, suggesting there was a posture tradition before the modern error. I didn’t find it as convincing, but that may be just due to the difference in length, but it was worth a read. So give it a once over if your curious about yoga, and the relationship/nonrelationship to posture.
Lastly, because I love me some angels…and I mean love (wink)… Why didn’t female angels have sex with men? Just a short look at that wonderful scene in Genesis, the language, and the physical (so to speak) sex of angels, and their sexuality.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
24
Mar
2013

Starry Tree: Names and Circles


kalstreeThis is a list of the various Names that I got from my skrying experiments. I’m putting them all in one place for ease of use for those who mentioned interest in engaging them. For those less familiar with the Qabalah I’ll be listing the Hebrew Sphere Name as well as the planetary association. I’ll link to each post about my experience as references for people. Also at the end I’ll explain how I was taught to make a circle with them.

Qabalistic Name: Malkuth
Planetary Association: Earth (sometimes)
Sphere Name: Almak
Angel class: Chomal
God Name: Meltar
Ruling Angel: Sh’miral

Qabalistic Name: Yesod
Planetary Association: Moon
Sphere Name: Timarin
Angel class: Shaqaran
God Name: La’andras
Ruling Angel: Clarshitel

Qabalistic Name: Hod
Planetary Association: Mercury
Sphere Name: Kirahl
Angel class: Sheno
God Name: Phorahlin
Ruling Angel: Tzamaron

Qabalistic Name: Netzach
Planetary Association: Venus
Sphere Name: Feonin
Angel class: Chilmarit
God Name: Shero
Ruling Angel: Milara

Qabalistic Name: Tipareth
Planetary Association: Sun
Sphere Name: Shaal
Angel class: Formin
God Name: Hemian
Ruling Angel: Miniset

Qabalistic Name: Geburah
Planetary Association: Mars
Sphere Name: Sixmaraan
Angel class: Charaam
God Name: Gerabba
Ruling Angel: Sharama

Qabalistic Name: Chesed
Planetary Association: Jupiter
Sphere Name: Sharat
Angel class: Gillarus
God Name: Sharadifel
Ruling Angel: Behrat

Qabalistic Name: Binah
Planetary Association: Saturn
Sphere Name: Ereen
Angel class: Golmtzah
God Name: Sharrom
Ruling Angel: Konshal

Qabalistic Name: Chokmah
Planetary Association: Zodiac / Uranus (Modern)
Sphere Name: Kurrian
Angel class: Shellin
God Name: Kurasis
Ruling Angel: Shetsin

Qabalistic Name: Kether
Planetary Association: Primum Mobile / Pluto
Sphere Name: Sheta
Angel class: Coraf
God Name: Eerah
Ruling Angel: Saytaraan
On another visit with Konshal I was given the instructions on how to make a Circle. While not required for contacting these Angels it can help, and now instead of the traditional Circles such as in the Goetia or Heptameron I use this Circle. Most major rituals that need an elaborate Circle this is my go-to unless I really have a reason not to. It’s fairly similar to the Circle from the Heptameron in structure.
Ideally you should make an outer circle that is nine feet across. If you don’t have the room for nine feet I find a multiple of nine based on your body works best, so nine of your feet lengths, or nine hand-widths. I feel the Circle has to be personal and basing the proportions of the circle on your body are a great way to do this. Inside that you draw a circle that is eight units across, then another that is seven units, and lastly one that is six across. This will give you three rings, and a central circle. In the central circle draw an equal-armed cross that is aligned with the cardinal directions, so the lines go from North-South, and East-West. Then outside of the largest circle at the ordinal directions (North-East, South-East, South-West, North-West) draw a five pointed star with the point facing the centre of the Circle. If you’re not instructed to use a triangle, or place it a specific direction for the spirit you’re working with, draw one. Make an equilateral triangle pointing away from the Circle in the direction of the element of the Sun sign, which is explained more below. You don’t have to call them into the triangle like some systems suggest, but having a triangle is important to the construction.
Now the largest ring will house the Names related to the month. Based on what sign the Sun is in, figure out what Angel rules the corresponding planet: Aries=Mars=Sharama, Taurus=Venus=Milara, and so on. From here figure out the element of the sign, and then the associated direction of the element, it doesn’t matter what system you use as long as you know the correspondence. (Often I use Fire-North, Water-East, Earth-South, Air-West, but a lot would disagree there) Once you know the appropriate direction for the element put the Angel’s Name in that direction of the outer ring. Then going clockwise at the other direction points put the Sphere Name, the God Name (so it will be opposite the Angel’s name), and lastly the Class of Angels (or if you’ve been given a name of one of them specifically use that). While not required here I usually say a small prayer as I’m writing, something like “Hail to thee Sharama, ruler of the Sixmaraan, General of the Charam, in the Name of Gerabba I call you here as the Voice of Aries to open the ways and watch this circle.”
In the second ring, the middle one, go the Names associated with the day: Sunday=Sun=Miniset, Monday=Moon=Clarshitel, and so on. Starting in the same direction as the outer circle write the Names clockwise in the same other Angel, Sphere, God, Class of Angels. Again I generally say a small prayer as I work.
In the inner most ring you will place the Names associated with the Planetary hours. Again they’re written in the same orientation as the outer ring, and the same order. Again a small prayer wouldn’t be out of place.
Lastly you have the inner circle that has been quartered. Here you put four GodNames, what Names are up to you. Personally mine include Kali, Eerah, Cosmos, and one other. While not required I recommend they be Transcendent/Immanent, or Universal. What I mean is some Gods are equated more or less with Reality itself, the Universe is their Body, and they are the Universe. This isn’t to say anything against Gods of specific spheres; Aphrodite, Ganesh, Thor, Anubis, and so on. But the centre of the Circle is meant to connect you to the Ultimate, the Highest, so you’re looking more for the Ultimates here. The Gods that are Reality, that all others are formed from. So with my Circle you have Kali, which is an uncommon, but not unheard of view of Her as the Ultimate. Eerah, the God Name I was given for Sheta, the Kether equivalent. Cosmos, because it’s the fucking Cosmos.
So that’s how Konshal taught me to make a Circle with these Names, and as a way of integrating them into my magick and shifting away from the Judeo-Christian Names/Forces I was looking to minimize in my practice.
circleHere is an example based upon the time of writing. It is currently Aries, ruled by Mars, so I’ll be using the Names given to me by Sharama, and the starting in the North because Aries is Fire, and Fire is North (in one system of many). It is Sunday, ruled by the Sun, so that means the Names from Miniset are used, same orientation as the outer ring, so all the Angel Names face the same way, all the Sphere Names, etc. Lastly it’s the Hour of Jupiter, so it’s Behrat in the last ring. I didn’t include stars around the illustration, but they and the triangle should be there. While not required I sometimes draw appropriate symbols between the Names. So in the Outer Ring I might draw the symbols for Mars, Aries, and the Seal of Sharama.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
21
Mar
2013

White Mahakala Pendants: Winner and Live on Blue Flame Magick Supplies


I wanted to thank everyone who entered my giveaway, even those who commented when I said to email 😉
The entries were put into a container, after several recitations of White Mahakala’s mantra I picked the winner.
I’m happy to announce that reader Jacqueline has won the pendant. She also runs a chainmaille jewellery business, Helix Chainmaille, with some beautiful and colourful pieces, so if that’s your thing go check out her website.
If you’re still interested in a pendant they are now up for sale on Blue Flame Magick Supplies.
For those interested in this blog in general, I’ve been trapped in the paper cage that is academia, but I should hopefully resume normal posting in a week or two.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick

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