21
Nov
2015

Spirit Allies: Relationships Over Collections

Minor Rant
I need to repaint my living room, and I could ask friends or family to help. They’re not professional painters, but they’d get the job done. It’s easier to ask them then it is to hire professionals, or befriend a professional in hopes of getting them to help as a favour.
It’s a sloppy analogy, but I see it all the time in magick.
“My mother just broke her hip, and I want to help heal her, what god should I work with and how?”
“I bought a new house and want to banish it thoroughly before moving in, what god would be a good choice?”
“I’m trying to find a job, which Buddha should I petition?”
Here is my answer: if you have to ask, you shouldn’t be working with them. Aside from an issue with how people collect and toss gods for favours in a manner I find ridiculous and disrespectful, it’s also not an efficient way to handle it.
Our relationships with spirits and gods are just that, relationships, not matters of convenience. Yet what type of relationship can you build quickly for that one goal.
Now before I go on, I’d like to clarify two points. First, I’m obviously not against working with spirits, but when I’ve discussed this before I’ve had people assume I’m anti-spirit work or something. Far from the case, but I’m against inefficient (and perhaps rude) spirit work. Second, we need to draw a distinction between short-term singular goals, and long term goals. There is a difference between being sick, and being chronically ill, or between being unemployed, and perpetually low on funds.
So what’s my issue here? Why do the spirits help us? People claim lots of reasons; altruism, their nature, compulsion, whatever. Yet even if you have a friendly neighbour who would help you do your garden, if you’ve never talked to them, and suddenly pop over and ask for them to help out for a few hours, it’s weird, and kinda rude.
Yet people do that with spirits all the time, they have a goal, and they begin working with a new spirit. This ignores the fact that our spirit allies are far more complicated than many people give them credit for, and this perhaps belies the lack of relationship people have. Why are you trying to build relationships, that you won’t maintain, will promptly forget, just to get a goal, especially when chances are you already have allies who can help.
Again, think of them like real people. I’m not a professional mover, nor am I super strong (but stronger than I look), but if you need help moving something, I can do just that. I’m not a repair person, but I’m smart and good with google, so if your tv isn’t working we could sit down with a computer, and possibly get it up and running. Yet if I were to write a description of my skills I would never think to include “Helps move heavy shit” “Can tinker like a mo-fo” or such, because they’re not my focus…but they’re there. Most spirits are like that, more so the “bigger” they get. Okay, perhaps something like a Goetic spirit is more limited in what it can do (though trust me, some of them are a lot broader than the paragraph says), but when you work with higher order angels, or gods, saints, Buddhas, why act as if they can’t help?
They might not be “experts” in the field, but they can probably help, and more importantly you already have a connection with them, a relationship. If you need an expert, find one, but why go through that effort until it’s actually needed? Your patron might not be listed under “Job magick” in some witchy-cookbook, but there is probably something they can do to help, either directly, or indirectly.
To make another, geekier, analogy think Pokemon. In Pokemon some pokemon are good at somethings, but not others. Fire pokemon are good against Grass, but not against Water. Grass pokemon are good against Water, but not against Fire. Water pokemon are good against Fire, but not against Grass. The trouble is you can only train six pokemon at once. So sometimes you’ll being raising Fire pokemon and you encounter a Water pokemon. Normally your Fire pokemon would be weak against them, but because you’ve been working with them, they’re strong, and if you switched to a Grass pokemon you’ve never used, sure it is technically strong against Water, but it’s so much weaker than your Fire pokemon that it isn’t useful. So even though the Fire pokemon isn’t the best designed for the situation in terms of strengths, it’s still the best choice you have.
I hate to say our spirit allies are pokemon, but I think it’s an accurate comparison here. It’s not so much that working with us makes them more powerful, but perhaps more connected and precise. A spirit that you’re really bound to can influence your world to a far greater extent than most newly contacted spirits. That link draws them into our lives, into this level of reality.
Don’t be afraid to ask your spirits for help, even if it doesn’t seem connected to their abilities. If you’re looking for a job and Thor is your go-to for everything, ask him, the worst case is he’ll tell you he can’t help. Aphrodite might not be the first choice to get you out of debt, but if she’s been with you for years, ask her, again the worst that can happen is she’ll hand you off to someone else. Manjushri might not be about healing, but if you ask he’d do his best.
Perhaps I take my relationships too seriously, but I would rather not engage with someone new for the sake of a task, when I could work with a friend.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
17
Nov
2015

Mudras As Triggers, Not Sources

Several weeks back I was demonstrating some work for someone. Part way through I quickly generated the eight offerings. It’s a Buddhist thing, and while not strictly necessary it’s such a part of so many workings that it pretty much slips out of me at appropriate spots. Through different mudras, coupled with visualizations, mantras, and some energy work you create eight classes of offerings, the same set I described when explaining water bowls, but a different methodology.
Anyways, after the person asked about the hand gestures I made because, according to them, when I did them I was just radiating energy out, that for those few seconds it just exploded out of me, so they asked to learn the gestures. I taught them, but they quickly complained that the gestures did nothing.
This is something I see all the time and it really boggles me. Not to get into a magick model discussion, but so often people expect that knowing the words, or actions, or visualizations, or having the materia will make every work. All you need to call this spirit is their mantra, or a quick prayer. All you need to get this spell to function is knowing the words, or the gestures. At times like this I want to grab some people and shake them (especially those who should know better).
Do not mistake me; words, and gestures, and materia can be extremely important in a lot of these matters, but I’d argue often they’re the secondary vehicle of the work. That’s why when I teach someone the offering mudras they don’t start suddenly pouring forth energy in the appropriate forms, because there is more to it than just the gestures.
I do find though that mudras (hand gestures) are an important part of a lot of Buddhist ritual, but I would say they are triggers, not important in and of themselves, with a few exceptions. I say the latter point because if they were important and powerful on their own they’d probably be the same across the board, but they aren’t. Different sects of Buddhism have slightly different mudras, some change from time to time, some are done way one in person and another way in art (because fingers and bodies don’t always bend right), and even within the same sect offerings are different between different “levels.” When I do a lower tantra I’m to do one mudra to represent candles/fire, but in higher tantra it’s another. The non-standard meaning/application says they’re not inherently powered. Much like many stones and herbs mean different things in different systems, but that’s another topic.
Mudras are triggers though. When I did the ritual above and I tossed in the offerings I did it without thinking and fairly fast. When I’m not focusing on them and just quickly generating I can go through all eight mudras in under three seconds, but that hasn’t always been the case. It used to take me a fair bit longer than three seconds for any individual mudra offering, let alone the set. It’s only after doing them literally hundreds of times that I can toss them so quickly without thought, because it’s become a trigger. I used to carefully put my hands in the right position, draw the energy into them, say the appropriate mantra for the offering, visualize the energy taking the shape of the offering, say another mantra to multiple the offering, and then sending out the offering. After dozens, and hundreds of times though all of these actions became a fast continuous stream, so that with little to no thought as soon as my hands started the motion my body pumps out the energy, my mind says the mantras and shapes things, and then sends it out. Eventually it becomes an unconscious process, I put my hands into motion, the trigger, and my mind/body does the rest, even when I’m not focusing on it.
Though I repeat, it’s not the gestures that have power, it’s the fact that I’ve made that gesture so many times with the accompanying energy/mantras/visualization, that it has its power and meaning. It’s magickal Pavlovian conditioning. Anyone who has done any ritual daily for months probably has an experience of something similar. How many people can just touch their crown saying “Ateh” and have the full cross form before they finish the first word? Because we’ve trained ourselves through these gestures and words and visualizations and whatnot that our mind links them all and follows through we don’t need to run through it all. (Now admittedly this nonconscious process is rarely as powerful as a slower conscious one, but both have their place.)
It seems like such a beginner statement to have to talk about, but I’m boggled by how many occultists I meet and when we talk and I’ll show them something, they expect that just following my movements and mantras will make everything work. Just because a gesture is used magickally doesn’t make the gesture magick.
On the plus side though we can train ourselves with lots of these things, outside of classical mudras. Over a decade ago my mental boundaries weren’t as clear as they are now, if my energy started running high I would switch into a highly empathic/projective mode and all the sudden I’m feeling/hearing so much around me, and often sending some of it back out. In the worst cases my perceptions would bleed into other people’s and I’d lose spatial awareness of my body cause I was running through three other heads at the time. If you’ve ever had something like that (or more mundanely an anxiety attack, or a panic episode, or something like that) you know that even if you could normally handle the situation you’re in, once you’ve gotten that far it’s beyond your ability. Usually you’re great at grounding/shielding, or focusing your thoughts, but in the midst of the episode you can’t find that place in yourself. This is where triggers are amazing. So way back then I conditioned myself to shield with a gesture, again it isn’t as powerful/effective as one that I consciously build and set up, but since I couldn’t focus in that too-empathic state it was good enough to block out the majority of what was coming in. It was simple to program, it was just repetition. I’d put my fingers by my ear and make the movement, then I’d shield myself. Then later in the day I’d do it again, and I did this for a few weeks. Finally it reached the point that if my hands made the movement my mind made the shield. This let me function better in crowds until I learned to deal with them and myself in a manner that prevented my early overloads.
This condition triggering is what mudras are, at least the majority. Learn the traditional ones if that’s your path, because they’re connected to the current, but more than anything it’s through your work with the mudras that the gestures become magickal.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
09
Nov
2015

Feast Day of Saint Carl of Sagan

On November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, Jason asked some of us “Who are your Saints?” and suggested people think of the “great Sorcerer Saints and Mystics that have come before, and upon whose shoulders we all stand.” I knew right away who one of my main saints is, despite not being a sorcerer, and by many perceptions of him, not a mystic or spiritual person at all.
For me today is a feast day, with an unconventional feast celebration, for an unconventional saint. Outside of a technical definition adhered to by Catholicism, it’s hard to define a saint. Catholicism has a complex system of slowly canonizing and investigating miracles to evaluate if a person could be a saint. (A modern idea within the Church, as many early saints were considered saints by the people, and essentially grandfathered in.) Within Buddhism we have a myriad of interesting saints, but no real structure into that definition. Exceptionally wise, and powerful tantric practitioners are called saints.
Crowley introduced the idea of the Gnostic Saints, people who, regardless of their background, seemed to in line with the spiritual path of Thelema, and his saints included people from different religions, poets, and mystics.
For me a saint is about the embodiment of understanding on a divine level, regardless of where it comes from. Like Crowley I have a list of Gnostic Saints, and while my own views are in line with Thelema, my Gnostic Saints are about gnosis, that radical understanding, regardless of source. It includes saints, and mystics, poets and artists, but also scientists and writers.
tumblr_mjecp7AS9j1qcten6o1_500[1]Probably my most important Gnostic Saint, is Carl Sagan. It might seem strange to have a saint that identified as agnostic (and by modern language might be more of an atheist), but to me there are very few people who embody a divine wisdom better than Carl. My path owes a great debt to saints, mystics, shamans, and sorcerers, but I cannot deny the debt it owes to scientists as well, especially those connected to the Cosmos the way Sagan was.
His show in the eighties, for which he is best known and served as my introduction to him, put forth some of the most beautiful expressions of cosmic interdependence from a scientific perspective, that it spoke to me, deeply. The line has become cliché and overused, but Sagan said it best “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
His vision of the Cosmos, all that is or was or ever will be, inspired me so much that when I did the Abramelin ritual I used Cosmos for the name of the ultimate divine. Every other word was either too loaded (god, vague, which one?), too culturally specific for my experiences (Brahma, Godhead), or too impersonal (Divine), but Cosmos…Cosmos suited. My path, named by a spirit years before the Abramelin, is known to me as the Starry Path, and the Cosmos, the literal physical universe has always been an important part of my path. As much as we might ascend the spheres of heaven on the astral to understand the universe, it is important to gaze into the heavens at the stars (same rootword as astral) to understand the universe.
I’ll let this introduction from his show speak for Sagan.

“There is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
I can’t help but feel a spiritual resonance with that idea. Far too many magick folk spend so much time focusing on the mystical subtle realms, that they don’t realize how astoundingly beautiful, complex, and divine the physical is. Sagan delves so deep into the wonders of the (material) universe that it becomes spiritual.
He understands the interconnection of all things, that we are literally made of molecules forged in stars, that the molecules in our bodies have all come from the same place, that all life on earth is connected in a vast family tree, and all phenomena in reality are part of a single entity, the Cosmos.
“And we who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the Cosmos we’ve begun, at last, to wonder about our origins. Star stuff, contemplating the stars organized collections of 10 billion-billion-billion atoms contemplating the evolution of matter tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness here on the planet Earth and perhaps, throughout the Cosmos.”
He contemplates the Oneness of everything to a degree that puts many spiritual folks I know to shame.
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.”
So every year on this day, his birthday, I hold his feast. The celebration is simple.
Turn on an episode of Cosmos, while they’re all amazing for the more spiritual bend I recommend episode 1 (The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean), 2 (One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue), 9 (The Lives of the Stars) or 10 (The Edge of Forever, in which Sagan actually quotes from the Vedas).

My image of Sagan on a shelf of my Saint altar, complete with feast.

My image of Sagan on a shelf of my Saint altar, complete with feast.

While watching it eat the sacred foods of St. Carl of Sagan, a Cosmopolitan (I prefer the variation of using blue curacao, instead of Triple Sec. It tastes better and gives it a deep blue-indigo colour reminiscent of the night sky) and an apple pie (that you bought at a store or bakery, as one cannot make an apple pie from scratch, see episode 9 if that statement confuses you).
Lastly, go outside, find the darkest area within a reasonable distance, and look up at the sky. See our family slowly wandering above us. Remember was are starstuff, those lights are distant cousins. Reconnect to the Cosmos, remember we are in it, as much as it is within us.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
05
Nov
2015

Review: The Legend of Tarot

The Legend of Tarot – Alexandra and Noa Page
2014
If you need more evidence that Hylia loves you, I have another Legend of Zelda tarot deck, The Legend of Tarot deck. (See here for my review of another Zelda tarot, and the Triforce Spread)
The Legend of Tarot combines the Legend of Zelda with the tarot into its own interesting form. The suits are shifted to fit the world of Hyrule; Swords are Swords, but Wands are Sticks, Cups are Bottles, and Coins are Rupees.
lotdeathThe images on the cards derive from across the series, pulling characters from each era and timeline it seems, with an emphasis on Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. The cards are not directly inspired by the Smith-Waite tarot, but draw more on the interpretation of the creators relating to the meanings of the card. For instance in this deck Death is not a figure of Death, with corpses below and a weapon in hand, instead it is Sheik, standing in the night playing the Goddess Harp, transforming into the Princess Zelda, playing into the interpretation of Death as transformation. The creators also opted to switch the elements of Air and Fire, so Swords are Fire and Wands are Air, and the meanings and images on the cards have been shifted to match this change.
I’ve yet to decide if these changes work against the deck or support it, as is often a concern with a deck that breaks out of the Smith-Waite model.
lotbackThe artwork is very well done, though not a style specific to the games, it is not so alien as to not work with the imagery either. Each card is framed the same way, with two Triforces in the upper corners, and two overlapping circles, one highlighting the suit or trump’s number, the other embracing the image of the card. While I don’t know what purpose this serves, if any, it is a pleasing artistic touch. The backs of the cards are symmetrical, always happy to see that, with a simple, yet beautiful image of the Triforce and the Ocarina, gilded with a gold foil. Another intriguing artistic element of the deck is the coloured borders of every card, I cannot figure out what the logic of this is, in the sense that I don’t know the pattern used to decide what colour is on each card, if in fact there was a pattern. The suits tend to have a loose colour scheme, but that it is. The bottles, for instance, is shades of blues, greens, and purples, and there is no pattern I can see within the suits. I find it works though, the colours are reminiscent of the meanings in an intuitive way, so they help reinforce the moods of the cards.
This deck comes with a small book, just a bit bigger than the cards themselves, and just over 100 pages. It explains each card, starting with a key statement almost a second title, and then a paragraph on the image and what it means. As the deck isn’t based on the Smith-Waite, it is very helpful to see how the meanings and cards connect, but the book will also be of great us to anyone unfamiliar (or less familiar) with the tarot.
All in all this is a gorgeous deck. I still have a bit of trouble linking some cards to traditional meanings, but taken as their own thing, they work wonderfully. The colours are rich and elegant, the art is beautiful, and it’s Zelda and Tarot.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
01
Nov
2015

Mintfalls

Taking a break from my normal schedule, I was asked to write a post about a construct of mine on a forum. They were discussing uses for bottles, and I mentioned one ongoing working I had involving a bottle and was asked to discuss it more.
Around seven or eight years ago I created a construct, Mintfalls, who by their titles is my Genie of Finances and my Guardian of Financial Stability. Their purpose is more around stability and keeping things from getting bad, rather than drawing money or making me wealthy. They’re the stable income and emergency stash rather than the increasing bank balance.
Their creation was fairly simple. I used the standard method of taking a Statement of Intent, and reducing the letters. I was left with some combination resembling Mintfalls, so decided on that name, and made a sigil based on the name using two methods; the popular Chaos Magick letter smash, and the Qamea. As I fed the energy into the sigil I kept “folding” it back in, so rather than letting it go off to accomplish something, I kept drawing it back into the sigil. Eventually this turned into a 3D image of the sigil, the skeleton of the construct, and by putting energy in, eventually this settled into a construct. (For sake of brevity I’m leaving it at that)

The oldest "body" of Mintfalls currently

The oldest “body” of Mintfalls currently

After Mintfalls’s creation I created a bottle to be their vessel, I pick, whenever possible, an orange bottle, and I paint the sigils on the bottle in blue; this is to connect them to the flows of Mercury and Jupiter. The top of the bottle is capped with a blue candle, and some Wealth Drawing Oil is poured in. Their vessel is where I leave my offerings for Mintfalls, which is my spare change, generally any change less than a dollar I have at the end of the day goes to Mintfalls.
While I can make the offerings any time, I often do it weekly now, just tossing the coins around the bottle until it’s time to actually work with them. I give the offerings, coin by coin, with a prayer that has developed over time. Below is the prayer, whenever you see an asterisk (*) that is when I would toss in a coin. I repeat the prayer until I’ve run out of coins.
Hail to thee Mintfalls*
My Genie of Finances*
And Guardian of Financial Stability*
As you feed me * so I feed you *
As I support you * so you support me *
Keep my finances stable, abundant, and ever increasing *
Hail to thee Mintfalls*
My Genie of Finances*
And Guardian of Financial Stability*
As you support me * so I support you *
As I feed you * so you feed me *
Keep my finances stable, abundant, and ever increasing *
(Note the third and fourth lines of both set are mirrored versions of the other verse)
After I’ve run out of coins and finish the prayer I gather my energy in my navel centre, and then in a long slow outbreath pour it into Mintfalls’s bottle.
When a bottle is full I add more Wealth Drawing oil, and light the candle on top until it melts and seals the bottle. (I have to extinguish it before it is done, otherwise the wick and flame can fall into the coins as the wax melts, leaving the bottle top open.)
Part of the construction of Mintfalls included the detailing of the procedure of keeping the bottles. I’m allowed to keep four bottles, being the number of Jupiter. When I start the fifth bottle, the oldest of the bottles is destroyed. That money is either donated, or spent on lottery tickets. With regards to the lottery ticket, it’s not about winning, in fact, in the years I’ve worked with Mintfalls, I don’t think the lottery tickets purchased through them have done more than get a free play, the point is to return their money into the flow of things, specifically to unexpected gains. So while I won’t win the lottery, it does suddenly add to someone else’s wealth, giving so that a return flux is possible. I had asked about putting it into a savings account, as that seems more intuitively appropriate, but I was told at that point the coins are consecrated and need to be moving around fast, not symbolically sitting in a bank.
Another aspect of Mintfalls’s duty is as emergency funding. They know that if times are ever really rough I can destroy the oldest active bottle, in case of emergency break glass I guess. Though I’ve had some close calls, I’ve never had to destroy their form prematurely. When things were really bad, and I would give them their offering, I’d casually mention that if things don’t change soon, I’ll have to break one of their bottles, and it is as if that reminder gets them going again, and things start to pick up.
If I was going to make another construct like Mintfalls, now I feel that I’d add in some Saturn, for stability and form, rather than just Mercury and Jupiter for different aspects of wealth and luck and movement. The problem with a construct like Mintfalls, is it is a lot harder than most to prove they’re doing their job. My finances have been roughly stable, and things have never gotten too bad, despite some close calls. So their “success” is more or less judged on the fact I haven’t financially failed in that time, so while I can’t say they’re a successful construct with complete confidence, I can say I have no reason to believe they’re not unsuccessful at least. They seem to have worked, they’re responsive, and my finances have been more or less stable in their career, so I’m wiling to hedge my bets toward their success.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
28
Oct
2015

Wednesday Webshare: Resurrection, Happiness, Biases, and Witch Wars

After a retreat, and a wild ride of training with Rinpoche, I’ve reopened my etsy store including options with the tarot, which also include my Triforce spread which I discussed when I reviewed a Legend of Zelda tarot deck a while back.
Magic needs a curious mind. Such a brilliant and simple true statement. There is a problem, in general, but especially in magick, when we stop questioning, and stop being curious. Yet, it’s hard to teach and instill curiousity. What recourse is there?
Cultural appropriation is a touchy and tricky subject. Some people do it without question, some of us really think about it a lot. Even being ordained I worry where that line might be. Not because there is a clear line, and a right or wrong, but more than anything, because there are consequences to appropriation, and we’ll have to pay some day.
Our culture devalues the unseen and spiritual, and slowly a materialistic scientific perspective is winning…but magick is making a comeback, people see there is more to the world.
On the other side here is a beautiful piece on the idea that magick is threatened, and someone’s experience of being drawn back in by the Guardian of Magick. Not only is the experience compelling, something about the writing really draws me.
It’s come up before here that I’m something of a gender queer creature, so it’s nice to see a (small) list of various deities from various cultures who blend and cross the dichotomy of gender
An illustration of why Majora’s Mask is one of my favourite Zelda games, it appeals to my magickal experiences (And if you can’t believe I’m posting about Zelda again, wait until next week.)
I repeatedly say that being a competent sorcerer involves being content with your life. So here are four things that help make you a happier person, according to neuroscience
Part of being happier is non-attachment, and that includes to the notion of a concrete self. Well neuroscience is hinting at the fact that Buddhist ideas of a lack of inherent self might be true
I also talk about how sorcerers need to be cautious of letting their mind run away with them, question reality and your perception. Here are 20 cognitive biases that shape the way we view the world. These are exactly the types of traps our mind gets us with while we’re unaware.
I’ve said this before with (no) apologies to modern (neo)Wicca, but it used to be a subversive faith. Now in order to make itself palatable to the public, both to non-practitioners and new practitioners, it has lost its edge
This is old (both the link and the subject), but listen to recordings of part of the Epic of Gilgamesh in as close of an approximation of ancient Sumerian as we can construct.
io9 gives a list of 10 historical people who were sorcerers.
I’ve noticed this on my own, but this is the first time I’ve seen an article on it, but do you realize how many porn stars are into magick? It’s a surprising amount.
So a certain warlock, who should remain nameless, is taken to court for harassing a 75 year old witch
On the plus side the witch won Also, notice how similar the articles are in their descriptions of Salem and the people involved? I looked for articles that sounded different, but they all seem to be lifted from an original source. Nothing magickal there, just annoyed with journalistic laziness.
.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
17
Oct
2015

Divination Querent Etiquette and Advice

After having an…interesting client for my mo dice divination service recently, I decided to make a list of things to keep in mind to be a good client when receiving divination. Some of these are etiquette and out of respect to the diviner, some of them are to make the reading more useful for you.
One Oracle
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The image sums it up, if you go to someone to get a reading on something, that’s it, don’t shop around until you get an answer you want. If you believe in divination, and the skill of the diviner, it isn’t their fault something crappy is in the reading, and if you avoid it, go to others until you hear what you want, then you won’t get anything out of it. You see enough people and eventually someone will tell you the future you want, it’s useless to go that route. The only exception I would say to this, is if you’re planning a major life change, and you decide before getting your first reading that you’ll see three people (or whatever), because then you’re going in knowing it’s part of a bigger picture, if you decide during/after the divination session you want more opinions, it’s because you didn’t like what you heard. Sadly reality doesn’t care if you like it, so you’re better of dealing with it. I can, and have, declined clients who mention that they’ve already seen another diviner, unless they’ve given me a good reason on why they didn’t trust the other reading or why another is warranted.
Know your question
Vague and broad questions can be useful for a very loose overview. “Tell me about my love life” “How do my finances look?” But for the most part your ability to get a good answer out of divination is having a clear sense of your question. A lot of good diviners (and I’d like to put myself in that group, at least for this category) will spend time discussing your question, and help you figure out what it is that you’re actually looking for. Not all can or will, but even if they will, you’re better off having a clear sense of what you want to ask. Think of it like any other question, how do you feel when you meet someone at a party and they say “So, tell me about you.” What do you say, that’s way too broad. “What’s your favourite Disney movie?” There is a question you can answer and actually engage. “What is the Sun?” That’s a really big question, what do you want to know? “How does the Sun build complex elements?” Again, better. Unfortunately not all diviners will help you work out good questions, but even if they will you should have a sense of what you’re looking to find out.
Question, don’t counter
Every once and while a diviner will say something that doesn’t line up, either in reality or your perspective. It’s an interpretive art, so maybe something was translated wrong. If you want a useful reading question that interpretation to understand it, don’t counter it as being wrong. If I say something about stress with your mother, and you have a great non-stressful relationship, don’t attack that mistake, ask if it could be someone else? Could it be someone you mother, could it be a nurturing woman in your life. Instead of shutting down because something is wrong, see if there is a reason they’re off, could it just be an interpretive mistake? Within reason. Always be critical of what other people tell you, especially diviners you don’t know, but there is critical and then there is contradictory.
They’re the expert, for this moment
67277_783691371698814_6161527652290308364_n[1]You know your life, they know their tools and their reading. Nothing is more “dangerous” to a divination than having a client who somewhat understands the system. Each tarot card has dozens of ways it could be read in any circumstance, the thing is the diviner is the one tied into the reading. What you were taught a card meant, is often far less relevant than how the diviner is reading it at that moment. I know this could seem to contradict the point above, but this is about challenging them based on your understanding of the system. If they say the Four of Disks means something you’ve never heard before, go with it, they’re in the flow of the reading, it’s their deck, and their methods. If I might add my personal insult, the mo dice divination I use requires me to have received specific initiations, performed hundreds of thousands of mantras, and be practiced in a specific set of rituals. Yet occasionally when I do a reading someone who has read a book on the system will question my interpretation based on their text.
Listen, don’t reinterpret
We’ve all seen it I’m sure, the divination says one thing, and no matter what the reader says, the client twists it around. You can be as straightforward as possible, and yet they’ll reply as if you said something totally different. “Yeah, the cards say this relationship is a horrible idea and no good will come of it.” “So you’re saying we have to make sure we’re communicating our emotions?” “No, I’m saying the relationship is doomed.” “So it will take some work. Gotcha.” Do not get me wrong, as the one receiving the reading it is your job to make it apply to your life, but that is not the same as wildly reinterpreting it to say what you want. If you think it could mean something else, like I said above, you can question, politely and from a curious position, but that’s not jumping right from the Tower to “Happily ever after.”
One question/theme at a time
10690170_776730519061566_6145678097628078960_n[1]This goes back to know what you’re asking. It also depends on the type of reading you’re getting. I’ve had someone buy a dice divination session with me, which is quite clearly one question, and then proceeded to give me a list of fifteen different and vastly unrelated questions. They obviously didn’t know what they really wanted to know, and it took a lot of extra time on my behalf just to get to the point. (They’re lucky, in person my divination sessions are charged on an hourly rate) Also, for getting practical and useable results you’re better off focusing on a narrow set of things. So if you have 20 minutes with a tarot reader, don’t ask about love life, your job, your family, and your investments. Pick a theme, maybe two, and investigate them.
Talk with the reader
It might be interesting to really test a reader, see how psychic they are, just sit down in front of them and have them give it a go. Interesting, yes, but not the most useful. If I’m spending most of my time and energy trying to pick up details from the aethers, I can’t use that time and energy to help give you useful answers. Not only that, but you’re a complex person, your life is large, and sometimes there is stuff going on you’re not aware of. So you’re having trouble at work, and you ask me to be all psychic and tell you what’s wrong in your life, I tell you your mother is dying, you laugh cause she hasn’t mentioned anything wrong. So you don’t hear what you wanted to hear about, and might reject what I do tell you. If you tell me you have something wrong at work, then we can look at that. As my tarot teacher used to say to me “You don’t go to the doctor and say ‘I’m sick, guess what’s wrong with me.’ You tell them some symptoms.” If you want a useful reading, talk with the reader, give us feedback, let us know what you think is wrong, what you want to know about, and we can look at that. Otherwise we’re looking at your entire life, and trying to pull out relevant information to satiate your curiousity.
Use the information to make a plan
This is probably one of the most important pieces for someone receiving a reading, and if you ever get a live reading with me, it’s probably a big chunk of the session. Think for a moment, how many tarot readings and what not have you received? Now how many of them gave you relevant information? Now, how often did you actually make good use of that information? The thing is most of us, myself included, get the information and think “Oh that’s interesting” or “I expected that” or “Good to know” and leave it at that. Then events play out more or less the way they were going to anyways. Make a plan on how to use the information, and make it fast, or you’ll never use it. I usually get my clients to come up with one concrete action they can take within 24 hours. It doesn’t have to be major, but it has to be concrete, they can’t just say they’ll think about what to do with the information, no, they have to write it out. If it’s about something you can’t act on right away, then your action can be to make a to-do list for when you can act, set a calendar reminder on your phone, and start work when you can. Then along with the action in the next day I usually have them set out a concrete action for the next week, or month, depending on the scale of the reading. The important thing is to do something that sets into motion working with the reading, otherwise you just take the information and it is in one ear and out the other.
These are just a few of my thoughts on how to be a good querent and make the most of your readings. What other ideas do people have, both are readers, and those receiving the divination?

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
13
Oct
2015

Sorcerer's Plant: Care, Feeding, and Consecration

Before I continue the post proper I wanted to address a question I got and can’t easily work into the post.
“Why do you suggest big blade aloe plants?”
There are two reasons. The first is when the angel(s) gave me the image it was the large bladed type of aloe vera, and I have kept my plants as close as possible to their vision and instruction. The second reason is because you can actually cut off a blade to use in certain rituals, but the plant is an ally, so the destruction of part of its body should be a sacrifice. If it’s dozens of small blades one removed will not contain much power, and will not be noticed, but a larger blade will make you think twice before using it.
Previously I spoke a bit about the uses of the plant, and the type of plant selected and the basic preparation, now let’s shift to the methods of consecration.
There are two elements of the consecration, a regular routine one, and an irregular one.
I mentioned that the plant is a connection to places and spirits you work with, this is part of the irregular consecration.
I’ve talked before about collecting dirt, here and here. This is how you connect the plant to different places. Follow the method I mentioned (or something similar) where you are not just grabbing dirt, but making an offering for it, gather the essence of the place into it, and then collect the dirt.
Gather Nest dirt, which I mentioned but didn’t describe in those posts, but to reiterate a Nest is a power place, often conceptualized in the West as a Nexus point, a crisscrossing of Ley Lines or flows of nature energy. But a Nest doesn’t have to be such a crisscrossing (or rather my tradition claims that some lines are far beneath the Earth and only rear their Head in certain areas), sometimes there is a place of power disconnected for the area around. Gather dirt that is important to your practice. Power places, temples, graves that are relevant to your work, holy places, whatever.

Now if you don't have soil samples from various graves, power points, and dragon's nests, then store bought is fine...actually, no it's not.

Now if you don’t have soil samples from various graves, power points, and dragon’s nests, then store bought is fine…actually, no it’s not.

When you have the dirt I recommend sterilizing it. You don’t have to, but dirt can contain harmful microorganisms which can be damaging to plants, and if you’re using it to detect magickal attacks you want to avoid any confusion if it starts wilting. To sterilize soil you bake it believe it or not. Put the soil in an oven safe container, I find mini-cupcake pans are the perfect size for my soil samples. The soil should be slightly damp. Cover the container with tin foil and pop in the oven at 90C (200F), once the dirt reaches around 82C (180F) keep it at that temperature for half an hour. Don’t let it go much higher than that, because that can actually produce (so the gardening sites claim) toxins in the soil. After half an hour take it out, and let it cool. You now have sterilized dirt that is free of damaging organisms for your plant.
My plant has soil from the various Nests near me. Places along the shore where I communicate with the spirits of Lake Ontario, places on the Bluffs, a crypt that has been a focus of my magickal work for 12 years, places like that. It also has dirt from the Blue Hole in the Pine Barrens, and sand from the Atlantic ocean, Graveyard dirt from the focal points of the various Lords of the Dead in different cemeteries I’ve visited in Canada and the US, and even stuff as far reaching as dirt from the roots of the (supposed) Bodhi Tree, and sand from the shore of Lake Rakshastal in the Himalayas (a lake of special importance to me). Think about the places that are important and powerful to you, and the places you have spirit allies. Take dirt from there.
Adding the dirt to the plant is something that I do non-ceremoniously, though I only do it when I water the plant. Before I start I hold the dirt, and use it as a link to the spirit or place, and reach out and connect it, then I speak to the spirit and place and plant, and explain that I’m giving it the dirt to connect them, so they become linked. So that offerings to the plant are offerings to these spirits, so that the plant becomes a place where I can easily speak to those far away and draw on their forces. You don’t need to add much, and if you’re like me, you don’t want to use too much, because pretty soon your pot will be overflowing. I use maybe a teaspoon each time.
(As a sidenote: I mentioned that my last plant died. I took the soil from that pot, from the edge away from the roots, just in case they started to rot, and I sterilized that dirt and reused it with my new plant. That way it kept some of the energy of the plant, and the connections I had already established. It felt like they broke, but the guidelines are there, so it’s just a matter of charging this plant back up to connect.)
Now for the part of the regular consecration, this is what helps connect the plant to you, and helps it stand in as you during magickal attacks. It also, I believe, it was largely gives it the power to become something more than just a plant, but a more conscious spirit.
It is to be watered every New Moon, and every Full Moon. (Water in between if it needs it, but not a full watering)I use rain water (or melted snow in the winter), I wasn’t told to, but it just seems right. Every Full Moon it’s not just water I feed my sorcerer’s plant, but my blood as well. *insert people suddenly being squeamish for no good reason* It doesn’t have to be much, I usually only include three drops for a symbolic reasoning. I mix the blood in with the water, and give it to the plant. As usual it’s less ceremony and more altered state chatting with the plant, reminding it that I share my blood with its water, so that I may become part of the plant, and that the plant is part of me, to bind us together and to enliven the plant. On the New Moon I offer my plant water and semen. (Those who didn’t know my sex or gender, you at least know I have functioning testicles) I cannot speak for those without the ability to produce semen, either due to medical issues or have different gonads/genitals, though I suppose other sexual secretions would work, or a second serving of blood. When I water the plant this time it is much the same, just explaining and reinforcing our connection.
(Feeding the plant my blood and semen is why my sorcerer’s plant has earned the endearing, but inaccurate, nickname of being a cum-guzzling cannibal cactus.)
This really gives the plant its own presence, and as mentioned helps it become a sort of astral double that works well as a stand in for a lot of malefic magick. There is nothing done to make it stand in, it just seems to be a nature of the plant, a natural occurrence after it builds up enough force.
Now that the plant is active and developing, you can use it essentially as a remote altar. If you need to connect to a distant spirit or place, treat the plant as you would an image or statue on an altar. Reach through it, make the offerings to it, connect to it, and speak through/to it.
I mentioned cutting off the blades. When I find I really need a boost in a ritual, I need access to more force/energy than I can easily tap, or I want to be empowered by distant allies I cut off a blade, split it lengthwise down the centre and use its gel as an anointing oil. My forehead, temples, wrists, and any other appropriate power point is wiped with the gel and I find that really sends me up and out into the ritual. Also I’ve used it as a stand in for my own blood in other rituals when I’ve not been comfortable using my own blood.
The sorcerer’s plant has inspired other such botanical familiars in my work, and I’ve come across similar ideas since then, but this post is long enough as is, so I will leave it here.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
09
Oct
2015

Sorcerer's Plant

For well over a year I cultivated my sorcerer’s plant, and in that time it was a good focus and tool, and in the end it proved to be a great ally. Two weeks a good I began the process of consecrating and ensorcerelling a new one. Since people asked me about it, I asked the spirits who helped guide me to the plant, and I have a green light to talk about it. (I figured since it was part of a tradition of sorts, I needed permission to discuss it exactly, rather than in broad strokes)
So to start, just what is a sorcerer’s plant? It’s a hard question to answer, but most simply it’s a living (literally) talisman. Now a lot of us magickal folks (myself included) see some of our talismans and objects as alive, but this literally is alive on a biological level. A sorcerer’s plant has several purposes. It’s a focal point of power, it’s a very lively plant, and can be used to draw energy from, far more than you could from a regular plant, but it’s more than a battery, because it’s a focal point of different entities, and nests, and sacred places. (Nest in this tradition refers to a Dragon’s Nest, what most people would understand/call a nexus point of Ley Lines, a point of convergence of flows of power across the land) Through the plant you can access, if in a limited way, places and entities that are distant. (The spirits who set me about working on the plant told me that a long-lived and powerful sorcerer’s plant would eventually shift the flows around it to become a nest of its own. I don’t know if I believe that, or if it’s true, they might have been speaking out of their ass-trals.) It also has a more active plant genus attached to it, a more conscious spirit.
The plant also becomes an early warning system. The method of consecration causes a type of mirroring or interference between you and the plant, so a lot of stuff directed at you runs through the plant. In the case of attacks or malefic magick, this means the plant can absorb it, and it will affect the plant instead or first. Also the way it’s powered and connected makes it a great ritual ingredient for heightening trance states and the like. There is more to it, but any competent magickal folk will also start figuring out their own uses to it, and potentially tweaking it.
Regarding the early warning system, that is why I’m consecrating my second plant. I was recently a target of some malefic magick (since dealt with) which involved some pretty impressive signs. A dead mouse beside my offering dish, and the wards I drew on my walls before painting literally bled through the paint, and my healthy and living plant became mush. It didn’t just die or whither, it was suddenly a pile of goo held together by its skin. I don’t know what would have happened without it, but to turn a plant to mush, I’m pretty sure it took the brunt of it. I had found it useful before this, but this really drove it home.

Larger, fewer blades

Larger, fewer blades

So first one must acquire a plant to become the receptacle. I was told to acquire “the plant of immortality,” and my first thought was the Epic of Gilgamesh, but it was accompanied by a mental image of an aloe vera plant. Now supposedly (internet says) the Khemetic people called aloe vera the plant of immortality, but regardless it matches up, and makes sense to use aloe because of its gel (more on that next post). There are a couple of species of aloe vera, I personally recommend one with fewer larger blades, rather than many small ones. If you’ve never grown an aloe before, I recommend googling how to, they can be tricky plants, especially if you’re used to “normal” house plants, not succulents.
Too many small blades. Also avoid the more squat bladed species.

Too many small blades. Also avoid the more squat bladed species.

Then you need a pot, it doesn’t have to be a fancy pot, but large enough for the plant (again google what type of pots and setups are best for aloe), and preferably a touch deeper than needed. The most vague part of the instructions I was given was “make the pot magickal.” So I repeat that to you. I did it by using food colouring to paint the seals of some of my planetary angels on the inside of the pot and a few personal symbols related to the tradition. I used food colouring because it’s a terra cotta pot, so it absorbs well, and I didn’t want to use something like paint that would potentially be harmful to the plant.
Now plant the aloe into the pot, don’t fill it with dirt all the way to the top though. Leave some room. Almost to the top.
In most cases an aloe vera plant can be watered every two weeks, which just happens to sync up pretty excellently with the lunar cycle. I was told to water the plant on the New Moon and the Full Moon. Every once and a while in a really dry period I might need to give it a bit more in between, but save the full watering for the New and Full moons.
Next time I’ll discuss more on how it’s consecrated, nurtured, and worked with.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
05
Oct
2015

MM: Mars, Bringer of Unemployment and Journey to the Sun

When last we joined our hero (me) I was prattling about how good things were going financially, and that it seemed like my mundane work was creating its own momentum in the magickal world. Since I was abiding in the Sphere of Jupiter, and had been for quite some time I thought it would be good to shift gears into Mars.
The Tuesday after I posted (three days later) I opened up the Sphere of Mars and stepped through. Moving away from the prosperity and growth of Jupiter, into the strength and action of Mars, who knows what the future would bring me? I went to work the following day, and got my two week notice.
Normally I hate, with several passions, people spouting “all these things happen for a reason” or assume that when something negative happens after magick it must be for a good cause we just don’t see how yet…but I could not be upset about losing my job, it was just too ironic the timing.
Anyways, the timing was perfect, my Beloved had just bought a new house and would take ownership the last week of my job. He had never lived completely alone, and felt a bit overwhelmed. So the day after my last day at work I fled the country and stayed with him for a week. I helped he figure out what needed to be done in terms of fixing up the house and the like. I’m not normally that impulsive, but I hadn’t taken a vacation more than a long weekend in seven years, I was unemployed, and I was running Mars through my Soul.
Of course it wasn’t just a fun visit, or an altruistic one, he moved to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Now that doesn’t mean a lot to a lot of people, but I knew of it, he had told me a lot about it growing up near there, I had friends who had visited with interesting experiences, and Jason Miller has talked about the interesting nature of the place. So I took some time on the trip to explore the Barrens, meet and connect with the spirits there.
As a note I’ve never travelled very far from home, and this was the farthest I’ve ever been, and that was interesting. I’m so connected to the spirits around me (specifically the Great Lakes, especially Ontario), that I keenly felt the absence of their presence and flow so far away. I felt a bit unbalanced, and even helpless. I know the flows of this larger geographic region, when I want to connect to something, to do something, I know where and how to reach out and plug in. But suddenly all my helpers were gone, all the movement and energy was foreign. It made me think of the various accounts I had read about shamans being powerless too far from home. In fact one day it was going to rain, and it was important to me that it not rain, so I tried my usual method of shifting the weather. It doesn’t always work, but I have pretty good success in short bursts with it. Yet it was like I couldn’t get a grip on the weather system, and I think part of that was the spirits and currents I usually work with, just weren’t there and that method wouldn’t work. Disorienting, but a reminder that I’ve focused too much on some methods, and not others.
It was also a chance to learn new flows, my Beloved was very patient with me performing chöd everywhere, or leading him through the forests blindly telling him that I could feel where certain spirits and nests were located, or traipsing through old cemeteries in Philadelphia as I introduce myself to the Lords of the Dead for the region. I collected lots of dirt while I was down there from the shore, and cemeteries, and odd places in the Barrens.
Once I got home I puttered around and fixed up my house. Rinpoche flew into town and decided it was time for me to finally receive my yidam after two and a half years of waiting in spiritual limbo. Finally having enough of Mars’s unemployment and action I shifted into the Solar sphere. Within the week I had a new job, and while it’s not in my field, I’m now working on the administrative side of one of the country’s largest chains of funeral homes and cemeteries, which, if that isn’t appropriate I don’t know what is. I got the call about the job just before I left for temple to receive my yidam.
Getting back to the real world, a work schedule, a new magickal schedule, and explore what doors the Solar sphere has for me.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick

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