10
Jul
2012

Welcome to Your Mind (Part II)


(This is part two of a series based upon a workshop I recently presented with a friend of mine. The first entry which is an introduction to meditation and how to perform anapana)
Now we’ll be focusing on a form of meditation called Maitri. Maitri is Sanskrit, though the Pali form of the name, Metta, is also very common, the name roughly means loving-kindness, which isn’t quite right, but it is in the ballpark. Not surprisingly it exists with many subtle variations between schools, sects, and vehicles, but the basic concept is the same. Maitri first appears on the scene in some texts that are dated to around the BCE/CE crossover, and that text claims to the meditation is older, but as a historian I can’t trust that without anything to support that claim.

Taken from Sinfest with loving-kindness http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3409


Maitri is basically the meditation of sending out loving-kindness to various people, and the world. There are two schools of thought regarding this; there is the mystical school, and the psychological school. The mystical school believes that this meditation is actually helping people, there is some benefit through the actions of sending out loving-kindness, you are actually doing something external. The psychological school believes it’s all a mental/emotional exercise, but that it trains you to be a better person. I can’t find the quotation, but the Dalai Lama once said something to the effect of “I perform maitri every morning. I don’t know if it helps others, but it helps me become a better person.”
By offering without attachment you loosen your attachments, establish mental stability, and develop compassion. With anapana we mentioned that learning to observe and be non-attached allows you to act on situations, rather than react. By overcoming habitual patterns (such as who we do and more importantly don’t offer good will to) we free ourselves to be able to choose how we respond in a situation, rather than acting the way we’ve been programmed by society, our upbringing, family, and experiences.
This meditation can be performed as a seated meditation or a walking meditation, but it can also be easily stream-lined to perform in public. So when someone shoves against you on the bus, rather than react in annoyance, anger, and shanking, you can take a moment to offer this person maitri, loving-kindness. As you offer more and more maitri you become more compassionate, but also more emotionally and mentally stable, even empathic. It surprises a lot of people who know me that I do maitri as part of my daily practice, considering I hate pretty much everyone, but trust me things are a lot better now that I do (my shanking is at an all time low).
Traditionally in maitri you start by offering loving-kindness to yourself. Unfortunately if you have low self-esteem or self-worth this can make the first offering feel hollow, and really you have to start off this meditation as sincere as possible, the effectiveness and sincere generosity of the beginning of the meditation is crucial for the later stages. So if you don’t think you’re worth this meditation and what it offers, just put your name lower on the list.
The meditation itself is simple, essentially you “summon” various people to you and offer them what are called “the four immeasurables” and you repeat this several times with different people. The four immeasurable are loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. There are four common phrases associated with this meditation, one for each immeasurable.
May _____ find happiness, and the source of happiness. (Loving-kindness)
May _____ find release from suffering, and release from the source of suffering. (Compassion)
May _____ never be separate from happiness free of suffering. (Joy)
May _____ abide in equanimity free from attachment, passion, and aggression. (Equanimity)
Now when you offer this to people you can offer it as something concrete. If you know what would make them happy you can visualize them receiving that, if you know what would release their suffering you can visualize them receiving that. If you don’t know you can offer them something like the Wish Fulfilling Jewel, a magick object that will become whatever they need. Or maybe you give them a box, knowing that whatever is inside will be what it needs to be.
My personal visualizations when I don’t have something concrete to offer is for loving-kindness I give them a wish fulfilling jewel. For compassion I see cords of slow-draining-stagnant junk being cut from their bodies leaving them free. For joy I see them holding the wish fulfilling jewel and its light is keeping those stagnant cords of suffering at bay. Lastly for equanimity I see them standing waist deep in a pool of water that has no waves.
So the last piece of the puzzle is who’re you gonna call? (Sorry, had to)
To start off with maitri you call upon yourself. See yourself, and offer the four immeasurables as mentioned above, using those phrases.
After you’ve offered to yourself (or skipped yourself because you don’t feel worth it) call upon someone you truly love. Usually the texts say your mother, or your children, but family, lovers, and the best of friends work here. Offer this person the four immeasurables.
Now offer it to someone you like, friends, family you’re not as close to, co-workers, or good neighbours. Give them the four immeasurable.
Next you offer it to someone neutral. That cashier that helped you this morning, the bus driver, that jogger you passed on the way to work. Someone that has no emotional impact to you. Offer them, as sincerely as you can the blessing of the four immeasurables.
This is perhaps the hardest part. Pick someone you dislike, the more you hate them the better. If you think of someone and suddenly think “Oh no, not them!” Yes! Offer it to them, get over your aversion and give them the gifts of this meditation. Getting over the habit of aversion is part of the goal of this meditation. If you honestly can’t think of someone in your life, pick a “bigger” person, a politician or criminal that you know of that’s doing things you really can’t agree with. Offer them, again, as sincerely as you can, the blessing of the four immeasurables.
The final step of maitri is to offer it to everyone you can. Some people visualize the world here, some the galaxy, or a super-cluster, whatever the biggest image of reality you can conjure in your mind is fine, if you can only manage your country, or continent, that’s fine, if you’re hitting solar systems and galaxies and other realms of the Cosmos, all the better. Now offer everyone, everything, everywhere the four immeasurables.
When you’re done take a moment to just rest in that feeling of generousity and kindness. And you’re done.
Cliffnotes:
May _____ find happiness, and the source of happiness. (Loving-kindness)
May _____ find release from suffering, and release from the source of suffering. (Compassion)
May _____ never be separate from happiness free of suffering. (Joy)
May _____ abide in equanimity free from attachment, passion, and aggression. (Equanimity)
Yourself
Someone you truly love
Someone you like
A neutral person
Someone you dislike
Everyone

Taken from Sinfest with loving-kindness http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3409


Stay tuned, next time we’re jumping forward a thousand years and seeing what Padmasambhava can teach us about meditation.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
04
Jul
2012

Wednesday Webshare: Zombies, Tombs, and Temples


Need help predicting how to survive the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse? Try the Zombie Apocalypse Tarot for advice.
As someone who performs a fair amount of magick in cemeteries, and often leaves offerings I enjoyed reading What’s Buried in that Graveyard another great post from the Cemetery Traveler
For the more artistic I want to share this beautiful painting The Conjurer of a magickian conjuring demons according to the Solomonic tradition, the attention to detail is delightful, I’m ordering a print soon.
Hrafn over at Weaving Wyrd wrote a good article about The Okay Plateau and the Occult and it’s worth considering what to do when we get to that plateau and can’t seem to get past it.
Sometimes you need a smack to get your head back in the game, sometimes you need drivel. Taking buzzwords from the drivel advice master and automating them gives up The Wisdom of Chopra, the random quote generator of Chopra-esque wisdom. And remember “Nature is the continuity of humble self-knowledge.”
In a Buddhist Temple in Malaysia the traditional ancestor tablets are being replaced with digital ones. Considering some of the views of technology, information, and cyber space held by some forms and practitioners of Buddhism, this makes sense, and is a neat step.
I’ve loved the idea of the John Dee opera since I first heard of it. While Gordon went to it, and gives us an awesome play by play, so jealous he could see it.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
03
Jul
2012

Pendulums and Finding Focus in Magick


So before I get into this entry proper, I’d like to thank everyone for their support of my new esty store, both in their purchases and sharing the word. The first set of orders have already begun arriving at their destinations and I’m enjoying some of the immediate feedback. As mentioned in the the post announcing the store two of each pendant I consecrate have to be given away, one to someone who I think needs it, and one to someone random. The Medicine Buddha Pendant was given to one of my best friends who had a depressive/suicidal episode just as I finished making them. The recipient of the random one is Robert, husband-to-be of a twitter follower of mine, whom I had received prayer requests for while doing my initial Medicine Buddha training. The Chöd / Machik Labrön Pendant was given to a family friend who has had ridiculously bad luck with getting things moving in their life. The winner of the raffle I announced last time is L. D. Taylor, one of the small army of reviewers writing for Spiral Nature. So again, thank you all for your support.
A while back The Unlikely Mage posted about finding your direction in magick. I see two problems with many occultists: too focused and/or not enough work, or too unfocused and/or trying to do too much. I tend to be the latter, even though I’m limited to two systems, they are both huge traditions, so between study and daily practice I can often be doing too much. Something needs to give, the trouble is what.
I’ve posted before about dropping non-beneficial practices or “Don’t use what doesn’t work” but it’s hard sometimes. This is where The Unlikely Mage’s technique comes in handy, read his entry if you want, I recommend, but I’ll explain what I did cause I had to tweak it.
I’m no good with pendulums, or I might be, I don’t know, I don’t trust them. They are far too easy to manipulate, and this was my problem with TUM’s technique. The mode of a pendulum is perfect for it, but it’s too easy for my mind, conscious or otherwise to influence the pendulum to say what I wanted it to say. So I took multiple slips of paper, identical in size and shape, and on each one wrote a magickal practice that I was doing, or considering. Chöd, Enochian Skrying, Mahakala sadhanas, Deharan magick, Genius Loci work, and so on were listed. Then they were folded so I couldn’t see what said what and shuffled around. As long as I can’t see them, I can largely trust myself not to influence the pendulum. (Yes, it could be argued that I’m psychically perceiving what slip says what and nudging it how I want anyways, but the chance of that is less compared to me seeing and nudging.)
Then tapping on each slip one at a time I asked “Is this something I shouldn’t do? Is this neutral? Is this something I should postpone? Is this something I should do? Is this something I should do right now?” Whenever the pendulum gave me an answer I’d put it on the back (I numbered the options to make it quicker to note) and move onto the next one. In the end I had three things I was told “Do right now!” and three that I was told to do. The rest I’ve dropped until maybe the next time I look at what I need to do.
For those curious the three things I must do right now, it is my chöd practice, the Strategic Sorcery course, and the “Other” option I put in the mix, which has come to represent a return to my own Path, rather than the systems I’ve assimilated for structure and validity. In my Nike (Do It) category I have my work with Vajrayogini, White Mahakala, and Genius Loci work.
I did this about a month ago, and I’ve enjoyed it, but already I’ve felt a need to clarify even more. So rather than larger areas of study I put down very specific daily practices, some that I do, some that I’m considering doing, same format as before. This time though it was just Do or Do Not (there is no try category). What impressed me again, was that stuff I considering more central and important I’ve been told to do, such as my daily evocation of the planetary Angel and my ongoing prayers to Cosmos, while stuff that was less important I was told not to do, like my daily Refuge Tree, Vajrasattva practice, and mandala offering which I only began doing daily in order to learn the Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Pali by heart for use in Temple and larger rituals. Unfortunately (in a snarky way) what I’ve been told to perform are my longer practices, no matter how I try to cull my spiritual practice down to a more manageable time frame, it seems to resist it.
We will see how it goes, it feels good so far, being more focused. Over the next few months I’ll learn other things that will become parts of my daily practice for better or worse, but maybe I should make a habit of every three or six months just checking in what I should be doing.
With this focus I hope to perhaps start revealing and discussing more of my practice that is less on the beaten path, and more personal. Onwards and upwards we shall see where the Starry Path leads.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
24
Jun
2012

Welcome to Your Mind (Part I)


(This entry is based on a recent workshop I presented with a friend of mine. It is partially written from my notes, and partially transcribed. While my friend’s section of the workshop on Zen was fascinating I’ve left out his section as it is his intellectual property and I am not a Zen Buddhist so would feel ill-equipped to discuss it)
It seems no matter where you are in the spiritual/occult community one piece of advice always comes up: meditate. “I don’t know what to do about this.” Meditate. “I can’t see or hear the angels clearly.” Meditate. “My energy is unfocused.” Meditate. “Who is my spirit guide?” Meditate. “I keep getting distracted from my practice.” Meditate. Meditate, meditate, meditate. This is the piece of advice I see over and over and over and over again. Pretty much whatever the problem is, someone will suggest meditation. Don’t know how to meditate and you ask them? Their response? Meditate!
What is meditation? People toss around that word, and they don’t explain what this is, how to meditate, and it gets really frustrating to watch as it’s repeated like a mindless mantra. It’s counterproductive to toss out this advice repeatedly. So while there are many reasons to meditate, one of the reasons I wanted to teach this workshop was to actually share how to meditate in some different forms. Not all meditations do the same thing, or appeal in the same way, that’s why I’m presenting a variety of forms.
Taken from http://www.children.dhamma.org/en/teens/what-is-anapana.shtmlTo start off with I’ll be discussing anapana meditation, which is the earliest documented form of meditation within Buddhism. Mythically according to Theravadan sects it is considered the form of meditation that Siddhartha Gautama used to achieve enlightenment and become the Buddha. The name just means breathing, as that is the focus of the meditation, and it is sometimes called anapanasati meaning awareness of breathing.
The basic theory behind anapana meditation is that we’re a bundle of corrupted karma and sankara, in modern terms you could roughly say neurosis and conditioning, which isn’t to remove the spiritual aspect of karma/sankara but more explain how they affect our life. They interfere with our emotional and mental well being, and when we let them interfere we actually reinforce them and increase them. By becoming aware of them we can let them occur without feeding them. It is as if they are fuel to a fire, every time we act on this karma/sankara we toss more fuel into the fire, but if we just observe them at let it occur then the fire consumes the fuel rather than being fed more. Anapana is a very grounded meditation, it works off the idea that we can’t meditate on abstract ideas, so we meditate on the body and sensations because those are relatively concrete. Instead of meditating on our emotions, we focus on where and how the emotions interface with our body. Karma/sankara act as conditioned responses, and the majority of our actions are based in them, but by releasing them we develop a greater ability to choose how to act, rather than reacting.
To perform anapana sit comfortably. Any seated posture will do as long as it can be maintained and is comfortable. Picture a triangle starting at the top of your nose between your brows, going down to the corners of your mouth, this is the arena that we use for anapana. Breathe normally, don’t try to breathe deeply, or slowly, let breath happen. Now observe physical sensations within that triangle, what do you feel? The subtle shift in temperature as you breathe in and out? The soft rush against your nostrils? An itch on the top of your nose? At first you may not feel anything, that isn’t because there is no sensation there, only that your mind is too unfocused to feel something so subtle. Don’t count the breaths, or think “In-Out,” just let them happen. This entire meditation is about observing and letting happen. If your nose itches don’t scratch it, don’t get annoyed, just “watch” the itch with your awareness. Any sensation you have, don’t reject it, don’t accept it, don’t react, only observe it until it fades away. As you gain greater focus change the arena, only do from the nostrils down, or eventual just observing the nostrils.
Now rather quickly you’ll realize you stopped paying attention to your breath and that’s okay, simply note that you are distracted and resume the focus on your breathing. To keep the mind focused on the breath for a while is a challenge, you may not even make it ten seconds, and that’s fine, as long as you realize you got distracted and bring your attention back. Like physical sensations don’t judge these distracting thoughts, or the act of distraction, don’t get upset you’re failing, because you’re not, simply bring your focus back to the breath. A teacher once told me “true meditation isn’t the ability to control focus, but the moment you realize you’ve lost focus and regain it.” You will get distracted, a lot, but when it happens bring your focus back to your breath, and you’ll find after a while you’ll get distracted less, and catch your wandering mind sooner, it just takes practice.
There is an advanced “sibling” of anapana called vipassana, but you can’t perform vipassana without having a really good handle on anapana. Vipassana means clear-seeing, and if you’re proficient at anapana, you can move onto it. Much like you focused on just your nostrils in anapana, in vipassana you pick a general area of the body (scalp, face, neck) and observe the bodily sensations there. Then as you become more proficient you shrink the area of focus until you’re watching your body in segments as small as a finger nail, and seeing what sensations arise there. To give a sense of how proficient one should be to begin vipassana, if you attend a retreat at a Vipassana Centre run by S.N. Goenka, for three days straight, over twelve hours a day, you practice anapana, only after that intensive (and it is intense) can you even struggle to begin vipassana. So don’t think you can jump into vipassana right away, and if you think you can and have, you’re deceiving yourself about the level of focus and awareness you have developed.
Next entry we jump ahead a few centuries and start spreading the love.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
21
Jun
2012

Blue Flame Magick Supplies Is Live


Read the whole article to find out how you could win a free pendant!
I’m happy to finally announce that Blue Flame Magick Supplies is now live on etsy. Blue Flame Magick Supplies offers ritual tools, blessed items, ritual supplies, and magickal services drawing their inspiration from Vajrayana Buddhism (Tantric Buddhism) and Western Ceremonial Magick. I plan on using it to sell the items I make as part of my practice, items I make for my practice, and assorted stuff I find handy and interesting to use.
I’ve made and consecrated a ridiculous amount of malas for various purposes, spirit work, wealth work, and elemental focuses mainly for now. I like malas what can I say, I find them really useful tools. For practice and experiment purposes all the malas I made have been consecrated with various unique rituals and mantras.
Also I’ve put up my Machik Labdrön (Chöd) pendants, and my Medicine Buddha pendants. These were created and consecrated over months of my daily practice, so unlike the malas these are a limited due to the time it takes to make them. (The Machik Labdrön pendants were over six months of daily rituals)
One of the requirements that was put on me for creating these pendants as part of my practice is the fact that two from each “batch” have to be given away. One goes to someone who I think needs it, the other goes to someone random. For the Medicine Buddha pendants the random person will be selected from those who asked for assistance on twitter when I was working on consecrating the pendants. But the Machik Labdrön (Chöd) pendants I’m going to be giving away through my blog and twitter. Just tweet at me, comment here, email me, whatever, just get in contact with me say you want into the raffle, and I’ll put you down for it. On Monday I’ll draw to see who gets the pendants. That’s it, you don’t need to do anything other than say you want in.
So what do these Machik Labdrön pendants do? Complicated, read the full description for more details, but basically they work to remove obstacles in your life and to repay karmic debts. They satisfying karmic debtors, and purify past transgressions. When there are obstacles in the way of your life (especially chronic ones), these pendants work to alleviate that. They do a lot more, but chöd is a complex practice and really hard to explain outside of Buddhist jargon and concisely. Any questions feel free to ask. As a side note, I was unable to find anyone who makes pendants of Machik, so not only are these consecrated me, I made these pendants myself.
I’ll blog when I put up new stuff (or several things), so please check out the store, share, spread, buy stuff, help support my dharma practice and magickal work.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
14
Jun
2012

Review: Quadrivium Oils


Quadrivium Supplies Inc. Ritual Oils.
Historically I’ve had mixed luck with Hoodoo oils, to the point that I stopped attempting to make use of them on advice of someone close to me. Of course my curiosity was piqued by the idea of ritual oils made for ritual magickians, and that’s just what Quadrivium Supplies Inc. manufactures.
The producer makes it clear that her oils aren’t Hoodoo oils, though they may draw some of their inspiration from them. Her oils may contain some of the same ingredients, or completely different recipes, and are created during carefully selected astrological elections. Really the oils seem more connected to Hermetic systems than anything else.
So what about the oils? Well I got my blue paws on four oils (appropriate from Quadrivium), Banishing, Love Drawing, Steady Work, and Money Drawing. When I opened my first bottle I was struck by the smell, it was something fresh, and complex, and I couldn’t place it at first, but the word I want to use is real. Back when I was toying around with oils years back it took me a while to realize that some oils are oils, others are plastic essentially. Quadrivium oils aren’t made from synthetic oils, but real herbs and oils. The proof is in every bottle, each bottle has a left-over, or a curio from the crafting process, some of the materia is in the oil. Not just a nice reminder that it is real, to me that’s a great choice as the materia itself is part of the root of the power of the magick, so keeping it in the oil makes sense to me. Reading through the Quadrivium blog you can easily see how important the use of real ingredients is to the owner, and really it’s a dedication that I appreciate in my magickal supplies.
Each bottle comes with a handy information card explaining the purpose of the oil, some of the details of ingredients and consecration, and a link to the site for more information on using the oil. The information on the site is of great use, some oils and applications are straight forward, others are more obscure, and it’s always nice to see the suggestion of someone else (especially the creator) on how to use the oils effectively.
Solid information, and beautiful scents are nice and all, but when I get something for a magickal purpose there is one thing I’m looking for above all; results. So far from my tests with the oils, I’d have to say the results are good. I planned on testing Love Drawing on a quick visit to a club, more to gauge reactions than seeking something. Sadly my experiment was interrupted as I stopped by at a friend’s house on the way, and the latent tension of our relationship kinda surfaced. Interrupted experiment, but a good result. When I was going to try a candle experiment with the oil my phone rang, considering the person on the other end rarely calls I answered it assuming emergency (nothing that bad), but in the process got oil on my phone. I forgot when I got my smartphone nine months ago I putting any dating apps on them, cause they’ve been dead, suddenly I was getting messages on two apps I couldn’t even remember how to navigate it had been so long. Again, not the expected outcome, but I’d tally that up as a good result. I used Steady Work in a working with a client to get them a job, and while they don’t have a job yet, they’re in contract negotiations, which considering they’ve had less than five interviews in the last 18 months, seems like it is a good start. So far my experiments are showing something is going, results, I approve.
If you’re looking for ritual oils, I cannot recommend Quadrivium Oils enough. Hand-crafted, real ingredients, astrological elections, and a passionate creator, you don’t need anything more in quality supplies. Even if you’ve had bad luck with oils (I know I did) I’d recommend giving these a try, the difference in quality might surprise you and change your mind. All the information is on the site for where to buy the oils in person or online.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
28
May
2012

Occult Spectrum: Episode Two


So tonight is the second episode of Occult Spectrum, the new occult-themed radio show I’m hosting with my friend Jackie Williams.
Our topic for tonight that came from the chatroom last episode is ghosts and spirits. Jackie is a medium, and I work with spirits a lot, so we’ll be talking about them. Don’t quite know what we’ll cover, but we’ve been asked to talk about contacting and handling spirits, the dangers (or lack thereof) of dealing with spirits, and the ideas of ghosts, spirits, and summoning in different cultures.
If there is anything else you want us to discuss just comment here or join the chatroom during the show and ask there and discuss it with others.
The show starts at 2100 EST and you can tune in here if you’re interested in joining us.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
26
May
2012

Review: Vajrayogini – Elizabeth English


Vajrayogini: Her Visualizations, Rituals, and Forms – Elizabeth English
Wisdom Publications. 2002. 563pp. 086171329X.
Vajrayogini is one of the primary female figures of Vajrayana Buddhism. Her practice stems from the earliest reaches of Tantric Buddhism and continues to be popular to this day. Beautiful and fierce, loving and powerful. This massive tome is all about her. Let me make this clear though, this text is academic, it’s adapted from a thesis, nearly 600 pages. If you’re curious about Vajrayogini, this isn’t the book for you, if you’re a practitioner of her sadhanas, this still might not be the book for you, but if you’re very serious about understanding her, this is the book for you. (Or if you have a lama like mine who insisted I read this as part of my preparation for her empowerment.)
This book isn’t about Vajrayogini in general, but specifically focusing on her appearance in a twelfth or thirteenth century manuscript that collected sadhanas devoted to her. English states that “I hope the book will serve a double purpose: examining, from out textual evidence, the cult of Vajrayogini in India prior to 1200 C.E., and shedding light on tantric sadhana meditation” (xx). She accomplishes both goals quite well, it’s dense and academic, but thorough and well laid out.
The text follows the origins of the wrathful and erotic in Tantric Buddhism to Saiva praxis. Saiva mythology being adapted into a Buddhist cosmology is explained in a way that really clarifies a lot of the history and connection between the traditions. For those of us who practice Vajrayogini sadhanas and/or rituals of emanations of her (like Machik in some conceptions) there is an explanation of 17 different forms and emanations of Vajrayogini and what they mean and represent and where they came from. For the symbolism of figures like Vajrayogini this is the most detailed and complete writing on the topic I’ve ever come across.
Moving from the figure of Vajrayogini herself English explores the sadhana, breaking it down into smaller parts, while offering remarkably in-depth analysis of these sections. From benedictions, to creating the Circle of Protection, to Generating Vajrayogini to the mandala, and into specific practices. This is 110 pages of how to do the basic rituals, while that might sound like it will teach you, it requires a lot of prior knowledge to understand how to assemble and use all this information.
As someone who has been practicing chöd for coming up on two years, this book was very insightful due to the connection of Machik (founder of chöd) being an emanation of Vajrayogini. This is a book that takes a lot to read, it is long, complicated, and dense, but for those serious in their practice it is a great text to read, though one that will constantly have to be referred to in order to make use of the massive amount of information there in. If you’re interested in the tradition and history of Tantric Buddhism this text also has a lot to offer.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
23
May
2012

Wednesday Webshare: Elves, Lego Hell, and Visions from the Third Eye



I’m not a huge horror movie fan. At some point they got taken over by needless violence and gore, which I don’t mind but that’s not what I seek out movies for. I haven’t liked a horror movie since The Others, but this one looks interesting.
The Possession

It is supposedly based on the case of the dibbukbox but I don’t know how much is really from that incident. I liked that it’s a Jewish spirit, and that you see a Rabbi tackling it. I annoys me the monopoly Catholics have on spirit/demons and exorcisms in movies…and even in ghost-related reality tv series, so it’s nice to see a Rabbi step up to the plate.
In Iceland a politician is moving a boulder which he believes houses three generations of elves. I don’t know what to make of this story. Personally I’m not an elf fan. It’s interesting though, he seems to be quite serious about this, and doesn’t seem bizarre, can’t say for sure there are elves though. In a counter news story, Rob Ford mayor of Toronto can’t stand to have faeries around him.
There are many reasons to complain about the Star Wars Prequels. (If you can’t think of any, I suggest you watch these reviews, even if you can, watch them. They’re hilarious and very intelligent.) Some people complain about the idea of Anakin (Darth Vader) being a messiah, and even having a virgin birth. Oddly enough though it seems that Darth Vader’s armour in the original movies (the good three) may have Hebrew writing on them. This of course left me hearing “Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam” in Vader’s voice. I guess that would make him Da’ath Vader?
If that wasn’t unusual enough. Mihai Mihu created the Nine Circles of Hell out of Lego. Now before you ignore that link, this isn’t some child’s fooling around with Lego, this is some seriously well crafted stuff. My favourite is Lust, with a Lego menstruating vagina creating a river of blood. (Did you ever expect to read a sentence like that ever?)
Rufus Opus makes an excellent post regarding the differences in how eclipses are seen and used in Eastern and Western magick. It’s a great read, and it applies to far more than just the eclipse. It explains how different traditions can interpret the same phenomena in completely opposite terms, while both being right, without resorting to “It’s just what they believe in that works” or something in that arena.
Over on his site Aghor Pir gave a great list of Hindu Tantra sources. It’s very thorough. Now I just need some more funding for texts and time to read them…

This is an interesting photo, beautiful, grainy, something ephemeral about it. Oh, it was also taken with a camera made out of a human skull. This artist has more than one, that was Third Eye (as the pin hole is in the third eye region), and there is also Yama, which is capable of 3-D pictures.
Lastly. I came across a new blog, and I’m in love. It’s Angry Asian Buddhist. I deal a lot with the concerns (and reality) of cultural appropriation of Buddhism in the West. This blog deals with a lot of that, in an intelligent, but as the title suggests angry manner. If you’re looking to get involved with Buddhism, or are already but are unaware of these concerns, take a read.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
16
May
2012

Eclipses: Moon, Magick, and Multipliers


May 20th will deliver us an Annular Solar Eclipse. I love eclipses; mundanely, magickally, and astronomically. It’s amazing that our Moon is about 1/400th the size of the Sun, and is 400 times closer so that we actually get these eclipses. If our Moon was smaller, or farther away it wouldn’t obscure the Sun, just blot out a little as it passes. I love the world slipping into a fake twilight. I love the feel eclipses give me, and what they mean to me, what they inspire in me.
I mentioned it when discussing the period between my birthday and New Years, but I love the liminal places, the twilight realms, that is where I thrive. Magickally I love the expression of being balanced and in transition, and it’s something I love to make use of. A lot of my life (and my death) has been about these neither-nether places and they have a personal appeal to me.
In Vajrayana Buddhism it’s believed that during a solar eclipse the effects of positive and negative actions are multiplied by 10,000. So in general they’re considered auspicious days to practice on. This eclipse takes place on the 30th day of the third Tibetan month, the next day begins Saga Dewa, the holy month containing the birth, Enlightenment, and death of Shakyamuni Buddha. (I have some issue with the concept of multiplier days, but I still practice with them.)
Eclipses are linked with other eclipses in different ways. Eclipses occur when the Moon is conjunct a Node; South Node is a solar eclipse, and North Node is a lunar eclipse. While the Moon is at the same plane as the nodes it can have multiple eclipses, the most common is a lunar eclipse 14-15 days before and/or after a solar eclipse. We have just such a link this year, a lunar eclipse falls 15 days after this solar eclipse on June 4.
This is the 15th day of Saga Dawa, known as Saga Dawa Düchen, the day celebrating the Enlightenment and death of the historical Buddha. That holiday is another multiplier day, as is the lunar eclipse. (But, like a well balanced role-playing game these multiplication modifiers don’t stack) So this eclipse is part of a bigger system.
On top of this the Sun and Moon will be conjunct Alcyone during the eclipse, Alcyone being the central star of the Pleiades. The only thing that could make this eclipse better in my system was if Pluto was aspected somehow, but alas he is not.
So what does all this mean? It means I’ll be locked in my temple pretty much all day. The eclipse doesn’t start locally (EST) until 16:56, is full at 19:53, and ends at 22:49 but even still there will be preparation to do. I have stacks of pendants and talismans that I’ve been waiting to complete (and some I have to finish physically making) so there will be a lot of time spent on that. I’ll probably complete them properly during the lunar eclipse to tie them into both. I have materia to transform, magickal items to make, bless, and charge. I have a Cosmos to love.
I’ll probably end up figuring out more in the next few days. I see my lama tonight, so we’ll nail down (phurba down?) some plans and I’ll go from there.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick

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