kalagni

31
Jul
2012

Welcome to Your Mind (Part III)


(This is part three of three based upon a workshop I did. The first entry was on anapana. The second entry was on maitri meditation.)
So this meditation, Jung wa thim rim, has less of a clear background compared to the other ones discussed. It’s a Vajrayana technique though it may possibly be Bön in origin. The basis of this meditation is found in the terma text of Lama Karma Lingpa, the Bardo Thödol or commonly called ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead.’ According to the myths this text was left behind by Guru Padmasambhava, called by some the Second Buddha, a famous Tantric Buddhist master in the Tibetan tradition.
Now this is a bit more of a complex meditation, and many would argue you need to have a developed level of focus to be able to do this properly. I agree to an extent, I also know that some of us have better abilities in some areas over others, and to some who can’t hold the focus of anapana initially the complexity of this meditation may keep their mind engaged. It’s also a great meditation because it can be done very simply, and then you can “scale up” the complexity as you get better at it.
Jungwa thim rim is the Dissolution of the Elements. Our bodies; physical, mental, spiritual, whatever are made up of the five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. These elements permeate the entire body, but they are also localized in structures and functions. Earth is Bone, Water is Blood and Bile, Air is Breath, Fire is the Nervous system and digestion. The elements are also located in the five lower chakras. Now the Tibetan chakra system is slightly different from the Hindu tantric system that people are familiar with (at least a bastardized version of…), there is one less centre. So they are the Root, Navel, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown. The Naval and Solar Plexus are considered one centre, though if it is above or below the navel is an argument. Really you can use whatever system you’re used to though.
The lowest centre is Earth, above that Water, above that Fire, above that Air, above that Space. This is the order of their density or solidity. These elements make us up, and they sustain us, but if they get out of balance, corrupted, or stagnant they can mess us up, energetically, physically, mentally, and emotionally. When we die these elements break down in three sets, dying, death, and decomposition, but they also dissolve to a lesser degree when we go to sleep, or astral project. By deconstructing the elements we break down these imbalances and corruptions, and can let a proper balance and flow re-establish itself.
Each element has a shape and colour associated with it. It also have physical sensations and mental images connected to it. To start with you only need to be clear on the shape and colour, use the 2D shape if you need to, but try to work up to the 3D shape.
Earth is a yellow square/cube. Water is a white circle/sphere. Fire is a red triangle/tetrahedron. Air is a green half-circle/half-sphere. Space is a blue dot. These are stacked up in the five lower centres. They will dissolve upwards into the element/centre above them. The more understanding and meaning you can invest in the process of dissolution the better. So if you start off with just thinking Earth/Yellow/Cube that’s fine, but if you can really understand everything that is Earth about you dissolving, that’s better. So here is the basic meditation.
The Earth Cube dissolves, like crumbling brick and blowing sand it moves up into the Water Sphere, and with it goes all the associations of Earth in the Self. The Water Sphere dissolves, it dries up and evaporates and moves up into the Fire Tetrahedron, and with it goes all the associations of Water in the Self. The Fire Tetrahedron dissolves, it burns itself up and the smoke rises up into the Air Half-sphere, and with it goes all the associations of Fire in the Self. The Air Half-sphere dissolves, it simply dissolves spreading out into infinite space until there is nothing, and with it goes all the associations of Air in the Self. Now rest in Space, relax in meditation and avoid mental chatter as long as possible.
Now, from here you can let the elements reform on their own, they’ll naturally re-establish themselves after a while, though you may feel a bit out of it for a while as they do. If you want more control, or need to do something afterwards without the woogity feeling, you just reverse the process to construct the elements. Air condenses, Fire springs up, Water condenses, Earth forms.
If you want to complicate it a bit when you’re better at it as I mentioned the elements are associated with physical sensations and inner sights, which you can include in your meditation in order to make the process more intense.
When Earth dissolves it is accompanied by a lack of strength and a sinking sensation. The inner vision is that of a heat mirage, vision becomes wavy like over hot cement in the summer. As Water dissolves it becomes harder to hear, the mouth goes dry, and your emotions become still. The inner vision becomes cloudy like it is filled with smoke. When Fire dissolves your breathing becomes slow, and a bit difficult, smells fade, and thoughts become harder to focus on. With it comes the inner vision of sparks, like looking over the top of a bonfire as sparks of light just from the fire. Lastly as Air dissolves breathing becomes slow and still, and your body is unable to move. The inner vision is like light from a candle, gentle, warm, and wavering. When you reach the point of resting in Space it is accompanied by a physical and mental stillness, but also a vastness that your mind and body aren’t limited in themselves, but are far larger spreading out into infinite space. The inner vision here is clear brilliant light dawning on and through all things.
So you can see how this meditation can be done on a more basic level, but with work and focus it can become a more intense and complete experience. It’s great for a lot of general maintenance and wellness, but for occultists who do practices requiring inner clarity, such as Traditional Japanese Reiki, channelling/mediumship, skrying, and the like, it’s a great way to clear things out so that you’re not interfering.
Hoping this works on WordPress, but my final cliffnotes.

Element Colour Shape Sign Vision
Space Blue Point/Flame Mental and physical stillness and vastness Clear dawning
Air Green Half-circle/sphere Slow/still breath, unable to move Candle light
.Fire Red Triangle/Tetrahedron Slow/difficult breathing, lack of mental clarity, smells fade Sparks
Water White Circle/Sphere Emotional stillness, hard to hear, dry mouth Smoke
Earth Yellow Square/Cube Lack of strength, sinking sensation Heat mirage
Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
23
Jul
2012

More on the Magick of Malas


I’ve been getting more and more questions about malas. It started with my original post on malas but it has been increasing since I opened up my little shop on etsy (currently on sale until noon tomorrow, check out my previous post) and people have been asking more. Last time I spoke more on malas traditionally, now I’d like to talk a bit more about my personal adaptations with malas.
As mentioned before malas are like batteries, they store the energy of the work you do inside of them, and if they are consecrated and attuned with an energy they retain that. This is a technique I use primarily with my planetary, elemental, and chthonic malas, as they all connect and relate to a specific type of energy. But something similar could be worked out with any mala.

Yes, kinda like this. I’m aware I’m a nerd.

Holding the mala stretched out between my hands forming a long oval, I reach into the forces residing into the mala (and sometimes refreshing it adding in some new energy) and I cycle that energy along the string, then I focus on having it jump the gap. Much like an electric shock, just a little zap jumping from a bead on the top to the bottom, or vice verse, and I do this spreading it out until between the beads of the mala, in the opening, is a screen or veil of the energy type of the mala, the sparking unites into a single harmonious flow. For lack of a better or cool name I call this the mala-field. (To me this looks like a cross between the Guardian of Forever Gateway, and the Stargate, a cloudy rippling veil-like surface)
Now if I’m doing something simple, I just need a short answer, or just want to do a quick prayer, I pull the mala down over my head, so my head passes through that veil. I then find communicating and seeing spirits of that sort (so fire elementals if I’m using my fire mala, or shades of the dead if I’m using my chthonic mala) is a lot easier, it is as though I’ve encased my head in a bubble of their reality.
If I’m doing something a bit more lengthy and complex, like petitioning, or summoning it is a bit different. Once I have the mala charged in the same way I place it on the ground (or table, or tombstone, whatever) sometimes in the shape of a circle, sometimes the shape of a triangle. Instead of encasing myself in a bubble of their reality, I’ve created a limited space that joins our realities, a place where the elemental/planetary/spirit realm intersects our realm a little easier, or perhaps I’ve just created an area of specialized energy to their type that makes them manifesting here easier (similar to some theories about the use of appropriate incense in evocation).

My Cosmic mala over my triangular skrying mirror

Then I call them into the mala-field and communicate with them that way. Without some extra work, this does not function like a Solomonic triangle, it won’t keep anything in that doesn’t want to stay in that space, though they’re weaker outside of it, so unless you have some form of backup, or don’t mind the fun/challenge I’d avoid summoning unfriendly spirits this way. This method can also be used to drape a mala around a skrying mirror to “tune” it into a specific place/energy/spirit. You can either put it directly on the mirror like in the picture, or put it in a circle around the mirror. I find results are largely the same.
I’ve been taught that the left hand is receptive and the right hand is projective (though I suspect that is more about dominant hands), and I find wearing a mala with that in mind takes on another facet. Granted a good 90% of the time I just put the mala on, and that’s it, but sometimes I want to do more. In that case I’ll animate the mala like I mentioned above, activating it, drawing out the forces placed inside of it. Then depending on what I want to do, I’ll put it on. If it is something I want to bring into my life or retain internally I wrap it around my left wrist (being receptive). I see that veil covering my hand and the energy washing up my arm into me. This can also be used to start the motion of an energy transfer, so if you want to draw from the Moon, either to use or to recharge a Lunar mala (as an example) when wearing it on the left, if you’ve started to draw it in from the mala it’s easy to switch to an external source of fire and the draw continues, like priming a siphon pump.
If it is something I want to project into the world, then I wrap it around my right wrist, gathering the energy around my hand. From there I can use this to passively embody traits that I pass into the world, or can use it to actively influence things. By connecting to the energy in my Venusian mala, I can project that into people I touch, or in close proximity to help influence them in my favour. Connecting to my Martial or Saturnian mala, depending on the situation, I can use that to create forms to help keep people I don’t want around from engaging me.
That’s only three of the different ways I use malas, but I thought I’d start with them as they’re simple and versatile. I’ll probably be writing more on malas later since there is more interest in them than initially expected, so if you have any questions or topics you want discussed toss them in the comments and I’ll try to include them next time.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
16
Jul
2012

Maybe Black Misa? That Was A Joke – Conversations with Dead People


I haven’t spoken to a friend in eleven months, nothing happened, it’s just we’ve been busy. Suddenly I get a facebook message “I’m holding a misa. Want to come talk to dead people with me?” Now if you don’t know what a misa is (which I didn’t before I was invited) to simplify it, it is a séance of sorts in the spiritualism/espiritismo tradition, and used and performed by people in the Santeria community. Said friend is a priestess in Lukumi and was running the event, so getting to talk to dead people and getting to try something new, of course I was game.
Being part of the spiritualism tradition it was fairly Catholic, so I ended up saying my first Hail Mary ever…about 30 times over the evening. When trying to decide where to sit my friend says “I know, sit at the other end of the table, you can be the anchor.” “The anchor?” “Yes, if the spirits are going to come through or possess anyone it will be the anchor.” We smirked and I took the position, unfortunately no possessions occured. After a long period of prayers to angels, guides, relatives, and whatever else we sat there silently waiting for messages to come through.
Slowly I got the sensation of communication, weaker than when I talk with things in most ways, but more visual than I get unless I’m skrying. Then the fun and annoyance happened. It was largely going to be my friend and my self talking to the spirits, they might communicate with others, but we were more of the focus point. My friend started talking, and internally I started cringing because she sounded like a TV medium “I’m getting the sense of an Aunt, or a Great-Aunt, some relationship like that. She says…” I didn’t know if my friend was cold-reading (which isn’t her style), making it up (which is possible for anyone on accident), or actually communicating with something.
Unfortunately my communications came through similar in the beginning, names that shifted in my head, messages vague enough to apply to six different things, so I was very reluctant to talk about what I saw/heard because it all sounded like a vague medium scam. But after the first two or three, I was in the space, as was my friend and stuff started coming through clear. It was an interesting experience; I talked with, delivered messages from, and accurately described people’s family members, or known spiritual companions. Part of it still had that TV medium feel as we pass what information we can back and forth trying to figure out who the spirit is. That’s something I’d love to figure out how to navigate better.
It was weird for me. I work with the dead, and I talk with the dead, but I’ve rarely talk to the dead for someone else, and it was awkward at times. Both feeling what the spirit is trying to relay emotionally, and in one case describing the one spirit who I could only describe as “a stereotypically sassy black older lady” which felt so odd to see and describe, but she gave me her name, and the person knew exactly who she was. She also said this person really was that stereotypical. Usually my confirmation of talking with the dead involves research and such afterwards, but it was nice to be able to talk with someone, describe the spirit, say the name, and have them know exactly who it was. Also everyone else at the misa is involved with Santeria, except for me, so their spirits are often from that tradition. What surprised me was a few times I would relay something a spirit had said to me, which made no sense to me, linguistically or spiritually in different cases, but apparently made perfect sense in the Santeria system. Instructions that felt silly or bizarre to me, turned out to be real practices.
Not surprising to me in the slightest, but none of “my spirits” came through, which surprised my friend. All in all it was an interesting evening, and I liked the chance to try my hand at working with the dead in another system. It might not be a method I’d use on my own but I’m glad to have a chance to try it, and another opportunity to flex those psychic muscles. If you’ve never been to a misa and are invited, I’d suggest checking them out. I doubt they’d change your world, but they are an interesting experience if stuff is actually happening.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
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
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
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
08
May
2012


“There’s always hope, Gandhi. When life gives you lemons, you clone those lemons and make super-lemons.” Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard from a high school principal.
Life gave me lemons. A few bouts of illness, plus a ridiculously heavy course load coupled with the workplace practicum my degree requires, and a supervisor who hated me and expected the world of me. I’ve been horrendously busy, no time for anything, but I don’t complain because I was given my lemons, and I’m working on my super-lemons.
In spring-summer of 2008 I started a magickal working to get my life on track, it was a series of complex and oddly connected rituals. It’s not over, that’s the beauty, this hectic rush I just survived is just the latest manifestation of my path taking me where I belong. So yes, I went too long without sex, social encounters, or magick for the sake of exploration, but it was all a sacrifice to my Path, to my Self as I continue.
I’m boggled when I see people (moreso when they are occultists) who balk and complain about the amount of work required to reach their goals, especially when it is a goal they used magick to gain the opportunity for.
Whether it’s in some far-off abstract magick realm, or the nitty-gritty physical world, it takes work, it’s the Great Work people.
So while I’m sorry I haven’t blogged, and miss magick that isn’t just daily practice or patching up the boat, I’m glad I went through such a ridiculously hectic period when I had time for nothing else. I have a summer free, and a world to love with magick. New experiments and ventures coming soon. Stay tuned for tinkering with reality, exploring the world, and even a radio show (I’m baffled by that too).

Posted by kalagni