kalagni

04
Jun
2015

Review: Sumerian Exorcism, by M. Belanger


sembSumerian Exorcism: Magick, Demons, and the Lost Art of Marduk – M. Belanger
Dark Moon, 2013, 9781482521733, 180 pp.
Disclaimer: Michelle is my friend, so while I try to remain unbiased I acknowledge the potential for such is present.
Mesopotamian culture set the foundation for many elements of the modern Western world, and that includes the influence on magick. While the magick of the ancient Near East is often a feature in pop culture and obliquely referenced in paganism and magick generally in terms of Inanna it is rarely more than loosely based in actual beliefs and practices.
This book is a step towards helping shed some light on the actual practices of the time by sharing translations of the original source documents of various magickal tablets, most notably the Maklu Texts made famous by their reference in Simon’s Necronomicon.
The book is a collection of various texts, translated by academics, not by practitioners, and presented with some interpretation and explanation. The fact that the texts are academic translations is important to me, because while academics still have their own bias, when a text is translated by a practitioner they often translate to support their belief which may or may not be factually correct.
Michelle provides the necessary background material, when possible, to help the reader contextualize the spell. Whenever a god or demon or class of spirit is mentioned Michelle gives a brief introduction to them, knowing that the average reader, even of a text as focused as this, might not know whom they are discussing or praising. Sometimes there is a clear parallel between an ancient practice and a modern one, and when noted Michelle will often draw the link out for the reader. Also whenever something is suggested or implied in the text, but not stated probably due to being “common knowledge” to the priests at the time, Michelle fills in the gap or at least makes educated guesses. For instance a few spells reference the way a demon or influence might “melt away” and be burnt, so it’s suggested (and I’ll agree) that it probably referred to making a wax figurine or tablet to be destroyed.
The spells included cover what one would expect in general from a magick sampler text, there are curses, praises, exorcisms (imagine that), protection spells, blessings and more. This text is more for the academically inclined. If you’re looking for a how-to guide to ancient Mesopotamian magick and religion, this won’t be it, it might fill in the gaps and inspire, but won’t give you the foundation you need. The bibliography would also be a great starting point for a more involved study. For students of the western traditions of magick it will be interesting to see the origin (or at least oldest recorded description) of various ideas and both see where some practices came from, and perhaps rekindle part of them in your modern work.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
31
May
2015

Ancestor Work: Start Simply, Simply Start


Ancestor AltarI put my fingers on the touchstone and allow my shrine to open. Muted sensations fill my mind and brighten. I light the two white candles on either side of the picture frames, then from those flames the incense. In my mind’s eye I let the light and smoke expand, both illuminating the space and obscuring it, filling it with a bright cloud on which my mind can receive images. Slowly I pour the hot water in the tea cups and say hello. I speak to my Beloved Dead, it’s not formal, it’s respectful but casual, these are my grandparents and great-grandparents after all. I tell them about the week, how it was my niece’s first birthday and she’s incredibly cute and they’d all love her, only one of her great-grandparents getting to meet her, just once before cancer took Nana. I talk about work, all the things that grandparents love to hear. I thank them, every week, for the role they played in shaping my personality. I ask for their support in my life, I have nothing planned, so it’s a general request, just be there for me.
Moving from my main ancestor shrine I light another stick of incense, and place a piece of buttered toast in two cups, marked in my mind with the light of the moon and the light of the sun. More formally, I offer the food and incense to them, but as with my Beloved Dead, I thank them for how they shaped me, and ask that they continue to work with me, and walk with me.
I never thought I’d be the type of person to work with my ancestors. Honestly I got into it accidentally it seems. I’m horrible with birthdays, so I asked my mother to email me all the birthdays for people in the family. She obliged, but her list included my great-granny’s birthday, despite being dead for nearly 20 years. I didn’t know how to arrange the information, so when googling my options to easily keep track of it, I ended up making a family tree. Then I decided to expand it, so I tracked down a few deceased family members and their information and added it. My grandmother (now deceased) found out and thought this was great, she was the family historian. She saw my initial family tree on Christmas Eve, and when she went home she couldn’t get to sleep, not because she was excited for Christmas, but because she wanted to track down all her records for me. It was bittersweet, for she gave me all her unorganized records and I made sense of them, but she died suddenly four months later. If we hadn’t worked on the family tree together the information would have been lost.
I don’t know how the ancestor work happened to be honest, but at one point it just felt natural that I should honour the dead I knew, that doing the family tree awoke this idea. I printed out pictures of them, both young and old when possible, and put their teacups in front of them, the only memento I have from most of them, and some candles. I don’t come from a family that has an ancestor tradition, my culture by the time it reached me had lost such things, and while there is some ancestor veneration in Buddhism, at that time I wasn’t involved enough to know it well, nor did I feel like their formalized methods were appropriate. So I made my own. I’ve worked with spirits for years, I regularly chatted with my one grandma as she’s buried a mere five minute walk from me, so I just adapted it from those ideas, and built upon responses over time. Sometimes when people ask me about ancestor work, when I mention that my simple methods are my own that’s the end of the conversation, they want something “traditional” because we’re taught to think that’s better. Other times the fact that it’s my own method is what appeals to people, because perhaps like me they’re not from a family or culture or religion with such practices, or perhaps like my take of Buddhist forms, they find it’s too formal and structured.
My practice is simple, but I thought I would share it. It’s nothing special, but it’s from the heart and effective for what I need.
My ancestor shrine has many objects on it, but a few simple classes of items. Most important would be the photos, the pictures of how I remember these people, and younger pictures them in their prime. I don’t know why I felt compelled to include both, but I like it, and when I acknowledge birthdays it’s nice to see them young and healthy, and when I honour their death it’s nice to see them as I remember them. As mentioned I have teacups from all the Beloved Dead, so they’re on the shrine. Two white candles, two incense holders, and a small vase big enough for two flowers. I also have a few random mementos, I didn’t want to include them initially, but they’re items I’d have no place for otherwise, and would probably throw out: a blue glass Madonna from my Grandma who wasn’t Catholic but had over 50 Madonna figurines, a backscratcher from my Great-Granny who died when I was five and that was always my toy when visiting, or the Statler and Waldorf figurines of my Granny who always claimed they were her boyfriends. Then in the centre is a statue of the Angel of Death, representing the Dead I don’t have on the altar, those who I knew but aren’t in direct lines (the Great Aunts and Uncles for instance), or those Dead whom I never knew.
Every week I boil some water, and perform the basic ritual described above. I make offerings to them, tell them about my week, what’s happening with the family, remind them they’re loved and missed, and thank them. If it is an important day, a birthday, anniversary, or death date I’ll make them a proper cup of tea, as an extra honouring for that day. I don’t use tea weekly for a few reasons, first water is traditionally offered by…well almost every culture to their dead, it’s the elixir of life, practically I don’t think it’s needed to use tea, and quite frankly brewing several cups of tea, only to dispose of them before they go bad (and they do, experience taught me that) is annoying, whereas water can stay on the altar all week until the next offering.
More important than anything I’ve found as I’ve done ancestor work, is to connect and acknowledge. Unless we come from a family/culture/religion with ancestor work, the dead are buried and then mostly ignored. Just by acknowledging them, you’re welcoming them back into your life. Sometimes I think about offering more elaborately, but to me, it’s about family. If they were alive and came over, I wouldn’t have cake ready for them, I wouldn’t have large meals just appearing, but I’d have tea, and if they wanted anything else, they could ask. So I keep it simple, hot water or tea, candles and incense. These are my Beloved Dead, they don’t need anything more, just love and remembrance.
A lot of people put off ancestor work (and a lot of work) for fear of doing it wrong. Contextualize it in the flesh though. Start with your Beloved Dead, the ancestors you knew in life, and just give them a space and time of your attention. Just talk. You don’t have to be formal, you don’t have to be elaborate. These are people who loved you (and if they didn’t that’s another issue for another time about ancestor work), so they’ll be understanding. If Grandma came over and I didn’t have tea, she might grumble, but in the end it wouldn’t be a big problem. Don’t worry about getting it wrong, they’ll forgive you, and if you’re open, they’ll guide you. Like many things in life it’s better just to start.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
23
May
2015

S.M.A.R.T. Sorcery


The following is based on the opening spiel to a class I just taught addressing a lot of the pitfalls of sorcery (those I’ve encountered and see others encounter).
One of the most obvious pitfalls I see with sorcererous folks is the lack of clear and reasonable goals. I have actually seen people on forums asking for spells to simply “make my life better” and in the process of writing this post I just saw a forum post “Best money spells, go!” But even when people focus on something specific it can be too vague, or too big. Wealth and love magick are probably the two biggest offenders here. People want spells to attract money or love, and leave it at that, as if wealth and money were as simple as a yes or no option.
I’m amused by how many people know of SMART goals from their work, but don’t apply it to magick. If you’re not familiar with SMART goals, it’s an acronym, a few different versions float around, but I use it standing for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
When you’re setting a magickal goal, ask the question: is it SMART? Let’s use getting a new job as an example.
I’m doing magick to get a job…is that specific? No. That goal needs more details, if that’s all you have then even if you succeed, who knows where you’ll end up. Flesh that out. What type of job? What field? What pay range? What work environment.
I’m doing magick to get a job as an accountant with a stable tech firm making enough money to be comfortable paying my rent and my bills. Is that specific? That’s a hell of a lot better, and if you just shore up your magick from job-in-general to that job, you’re already way ahead of the game.
Be careful though, there is a difference between tightening your magickal goals, and strangling them. Sometimes people can be so specific that there is only one avenue for something to occur (if that). If your job spell is so descriptive and demanding that there is only one possible job for you, then your chances will be exceedingly slim. (Note: This is different than enchanting for a specific job you know of)
Is it measurable? Yes, you have a success/failure criteria. If you end up working at a Starbucks that’s a failure. But it doesn’t have to be binary, you could end up as an accountant with a large retail company, but everything else is what you asked for, it’s not a complete success, but you can measure where you failed and where you succeeded.
Is it attainable? Hopefully, do you have a back ground in accounting, or a degree? That would help. If you just got out of high school it might be unattainable for you. Or if you’re applying for a job way above your qualifications that’s an issue. Attainable is something a lot of magick folk want to argue with me about, saying if it’s attainable why use magick, or if magick makes things happen why not use it for harder to obtain things?
Magick, in this way, I think is like exercise, you should always push yourself a bit farther than where you are. If you can jog for 15 minutes, then try upping yourself to 17, then 20 minutes. But if you can jog 15 minutes, don’t try for a 45 minute run. Don’t use magick to stay where you are, but there is a difference in the attainability and probability of going from desk clerk to accountant, than from desk clerk to Assistant Vice President. You can work your way all the way up the career magickally if you want to take the time, but you can rarely make the jump. Magick can nudge things in your favour, but only so far.
Another way to look at it is how my one teacher explained it. Magick makes things happen, things that are unlikely become more likely, but only to an extent. If something has a 1% change of happening, with magick we might bump it up to 10, 15, or 20%, imagine making something 20 times more likely to happen. Now look at the lottery, you have a 1 in 7,000,000 chance to win, but magick even if you increase your odds 20 times over, that’s still 20 out of 7 million, or one out of 350,000. So it doesn’t help that much, you’re still unlikely to ever win. Magick for what is attainable, and realistic, but don’t settle for a status quo.
Relevant can mean a lot of things. Basically it is useful or practical. Think about how many sorcerers brag about talking to gods and ghosts, or how psychic they are, or how often they do magick to “raise their vibrations” or “ascend the spheres” or all the past lives they remember. Now how many of them are actually getting anywhere? (Don’t get me wrong, I talk to gods and ghosts daily, would argue I’m psychic, and I love going up the spheres, but I know I need to handle shit in the real world too)
What about the goals you’re picking, are they useful? Are they relevant? Think about how this goal will or won’t help you get where you want. Then decide if it is worth the effort. I’m not saying everything needs a profound purpose in your magick, but know why you’re doing it. I’m the sovereign of doing useless shit with magick when I learn a new system, just to prove results. When I teach sigils I often get people to pick clear, minor, and useless goals, just to see their success. Things like “I’ll see a woman in a red dress before lunch.” “I will get a piece of cake.” It proves it works. Just know why you’re doing it, and ask if it will be useful.
Lastly time-bound. Especially if you’re working with spirits. Conjuring up a spirit that’s been working with your magickal tradition for centuries, you and they might see time a bit different so even if you ask for a job with all the specifics…when will it provide it? Give an end time to the working, so you know if you’ve succeeded, or if you fail and it’s time to move on and try something else. Even if you don’t use an external entity, being time-bound in your goal is a way to focus and contain the working.
I know this seems unmagickal to a lot of people, but you have to remember, magick is a tool like any other, it’s not just about using it, but knowing how to use it the most effective ways possible, and a surprisingly large chunk of that can just be targeting your magick. Even if you change nothing else in how you perform your magick, just having a clear goal will help you be more effective.
Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. If you can actually ensure that your magickal goals are hitting those five things you’re on the right track.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
20
Apr
2015

Local Spirits: Series Round Up


I’m making this post for ease of use, just linking to five posts in my local spirit series.

Local Spirits: Categories and Classifications. Here I discuss common types of spirits that get lumped as local spirits, but aren’t necessarily such in my understanding.

Local Spirits: Clarifying Sadak and Shidak Here I discuss the sadak and shidak, and the nature of local spirits proper.

Local Spirits: Reasons of Engagement Here I talk a bit about why you should work with local spirits, what they can do for you.

Local Spirits: Offerings and Engagement Here I talk about how to make offerings and how to sense and work with the shidak.

Local Spirits: Sensing and Structures Here I discuss a bit more on sensing shidak, as well as how they seem to be structured and operate.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
18
Apr
2015

Local Spirits: Sensing and Structures


Sensing the shidak can be difficult, because you’re surrounded by them. If you go from place to place you can feel the difference, and if you really pay attention you can feel the boundaries, but it’s hard to sense when you’re in them. Think of it like a room, unless there is a noticeable draft or temperature outside of an acceptable range it can be hard to feel the air movement and temperature in the room, especially after you’ve been in the room for a while. You have to really stop to notice it. The shidak can be the same way, so one of the most important things to sensing them is stillness, of the body and mind.
Shidak are bigger than we are, and I’d say they’re slower in a lot of ways, so you really need to stop to sense them, unless you’re used to that particular one, or have gotten good are reading their flows. If you want to sense them just sit down, relax your mind, pick a spot on the ground in front of you and stare at it. Think about that spot, and if you find your mind wanders (and it will) focus on the spot again. When you’ve stilled yourself, then you can try to reach out and sense them, and communicate with them. If you have trouble communicating or sensing them try sitting in a Wildspace or in an “unusual” area, by an old or odd tree, in a spot where the grass is all shorter, whatever. This might be where they anchor themselves (a Well) and that’s an easier spot to communicate with them, they’re a bit more present there.
I find shidak, especially initially, take more work to receive communication from, because of this still, slow nature. So don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to get talking with them, just be willing to sit and be there for a while. Also just because you’re not receiving communication doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to communicate, or are unappreciative of what you’re doing.
Now I’ve mentioned the anchor spots before, where the shidak is more present, I was taught to call these Wells, but to make the leap of association I’d say it’s fair to call them chakras or energy centres.
Let’s take this a bit farther down the rabbit hole.
Think of the human body, your body is surrounded by your energy, your energy body and your aura. Within that it is focused and centralized in several spots, the energy centres. Along with having their own functions the energy centres are the anchor points between the subtle body and the solid body, they’re the bridging point between our flesh and our spirit.
When you work with shidak for a long time you might realize that their Wells have the same function. A shidak may have one or several primary centres (depending on size and activity), and a myriad of minor centres, just like a person. A person has a central column of six centres (disagree if you want, not the point here) but only one or two of them is their primary most active centre, then there are more minor centres at joints, and even smaller ones elsewhere. Shidak have the same. Their Wells can work differently too. I don’t think there is a standardized set, but that shidak may have different elements or focuses in different areas. One Well might really connect you on a spiritual level or even work as a place where the distinction between Subtle and Solid is weaker, while another may invigorate and refresh you. When you find a Well, be open to what comes with it, and you can start to map out the different aspect of the shidak.
Also like a person the shidak has more than just the drops, the Wells, the energy centres, but they have channels that move between them. If you can find a Well you can usually trace off a channel or few from it, but more importantly for working with the shidak if you can’t find a Well but find a channel you can follow it to the source. We all sense things differently, but I’ve found it’s helpful when trying to trace a flow to have my arms slightly extended to the sides, and slowly swivel my body back and forth. Like trying to feel a temperature difference, the slow movement through space, and the contrast between the two hands will help you more easily feel where the flow is. Once you can figure out where it is going you can follow it.
In a more natural setting it’s not uncommon to see an elephant path (the random path everyone walks through and thus the grass is beaten down) that follows the channels. I don’t know if people unconsciously follow the channels, or perhaps people moving over the space in the same route for a while redirects or burns a channel, but I’ve found it’s a safe bet to start with an elephant path when tracing a flow.
If you’re really methodical you could map out the major energy system of a shidak, it has little practical value, but is interesting to work with.
The reason I mention the Wells and flows is for a few reasons. First off, I have a thing for energy body structures and like studying them, and this is an interesting offshoot. Flows help you find the Wells, and from a Well you can find flows to other Wells, giving you a sense of where and how to work with and access a shidak. Disruptions as the Wells and flows distrupt the shidak. Though they’re less physically oriented than a sadak, they’re still tied to the land. So if it’s your property, knowing the Wells will let you make better choices for you and the shidak in how you manage the space. If it’s a public shidak, knowing the flows and wells will help you engage and even heal the shidak. If it feels weak or sick, you can follow the flows and see if something has been put in the way or is disrupting the energy for them.
Tumbling farther down the hole, past the weird cat, shidak do and can get sick or injured and even die. There are more causes than just disruptions though, I’ve encountered shidak that seemed sick, and it was just because their land was so polluted that it was making them sick (or at least that was the external cause or symptom, it could have been a deeper issue). I met another shidak that (major woogity moment) more or less said it had been in the same spot for centuries and its Wells were weakening, that it was essentially dying of old age. After a few years it “died,” the shidak was gone, the Wells were gone, and the place was dead. The grass didn’t grow much, the trees weren’t healthy, and the ground itself started rapidly giving away (it was a cliff shidak). After another two years the vitality returned, a few of the Wells were back, and a few new ones where present, the ground and plants returned to normal. Yet when I went to communicate with the shidak, I found one, but it wasn’t the initial one I had built a relationship, but another.
It is as if shidak are mortal like we are, but on a longer/larger scale, and after a time their soul departs and another takes up the land. I don’t know if shidak only “incarnate” as shidak, but I suspect that there isn’t an essential soul type for shidak, so a person could die and end up as a place, or vice versa.
I’m going to finish off my local spirit series with that note. I feel I’m moving away from concrete and practical, and into the abstract and bizarre. While abstract and bizarre are great I’d rather leave it here, let people think on it, work with it, agree or disagree, and if need be I can return to the topic later with greater depth. I wanted to open up the topic and get people thinking, and from the feedback it seems as if I’ve got the mental ball rolling.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
14
Apr
2015

Local Spirits: Offering and Engaging


So I’ve talked about what local spirits are, and why to work with them, now it’s time to talk about how to work with them. Like the last post this one isn’t as Buddhist focused, stuff will be drawn from a variety of places. Also even though I made the case about how the classes explained in the first post aren’t shidak or sadak, the techniques in this post can be used to work with most of these groups too.
First and foremost in how to work with a shidak I would recommend offerings. This is a very Buddhist approach, but it’s a good way to start for a few reasons. If the shidak hasn’t been engaged, or engaged in a long time it’s a simple peaceful way to get the ball rolling, you’re not asking for anything, you’re not doing anything, you’re just giving them something to show you acknowledge them though. Also as hinted at last post not all shidak are very active. Do you work in an office surrounded by people actually stupider than you? By the end of the day you might feel a bit dumb from engaging them at their level. Likewise if there isn’t someone spiritually engaging a shidak, or hasn’t been for a while, they can be inactive, almost like they’re asleep or just half paying attention. Offerings help build the connection with them, but also start giving them a source of outside energy to help begin waking them up.
While the shidak exists everywhere in the area, you shouldn’t just leave the offerings wherever, you should find or make a special place to them. Is there an area that feels different, or looks different? A tree that is older or oddly shaped? A place where flowers grow randomly? If so start with that place. Shidak tend to anchor themselves in a few places, and those areas have a greater connection, usually they look or feel different. (If the shidak has been inactive, you might not be able to sense that spot, and that’s fine, pick a place to work with, and as the shidak becomes more active you can find a better spot to work with.)
If you’re dealing with the shidak your house is on you have a few more options. (This specifically applies to people living in a place that they have control over their property, so not so much people in apartments, though you can tweak it.) If so it is great to make a Wildspace for the shidak, this is an area of your property that you don’t touch. You don’t mow the lawn there, you don’t trim the branches or bushes there, you don’t do anything but let it be. While there are ways to work with the shidak, it’s nice for them to have a spot that is untouched as much as possible. For me the far south corner of my backyard is such an area, and even though it’s only a few square feet you can feel a difference by it. This becomes a great place to leave offerings and work with the shidak. If you live in an apartment you can make a potted Wildspace, taking soil and grass/plants from the area, and then planting them in a pot. I wouldn’t say it’s as effective, but it could still give them an easier purchase on that area.
In terms of offerings I’m often boggled by what some people suggest. I’ve seen so many people say things like “I just pick some flowers, and give them to the local spirit.” What? Remember the shidak pervades the place and all the living creatures in it, including the plants. What you’re saying is “Here, I know you spent time and energy growing and expressing yourself through these plants, let me rip them up and give them to you.” It’s almost like giving a person an offering of their own toenail clippings.
Another offering I don’t get is using local honey. I ranted about it on twitter, and Catherine Mason took my phrase and made me an awesome image.
CBcGQn9VEAAk_px[1]
Again, the bees and the plants are part of the shidak, you’re just returning its own creation to itself. (Also, I still laugh at that image, even though it’s been like two weeks)
What should you offer then? Non-local foods, water, tea, incense. If you’re offering food pick something that won’t be dangerous to animals if and when they eat it, and they will, but don’t worry, they’re part of the shidak, so when they eat the offerings it is still supporting the shidak. So no chocolate muffins, but give bread or cake, that’s fine. Water and tea are great and common offerings. Incense works well.
Some people say you shouldn’t leave anything not biodegradable or that the spirit “can’t use.” I’m torn on this, because some people leave polished stones and what not as offerings, and people complain the shidak can’t use those…as if the offerings of food, gems, and incense to statues are actually being “used” by them in a conventional sense. While I haven’t felt a need to leave a precious stone as an offering for a shidak, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
So how do you make the offering? Just take whatever you have to the Wildspace or the place you identified previously. If weather and environment permit actually sit down with the offering so you’re touching the ground more fully. Place your palm on the ground and reach out and down a bit, introduce yourself, even if you’re worked with the shidak you’re just letting them know who you are and that you’re present. Like when you walk into a family member’s house you still yell who it is, or to the person so they know you’re there. Call to them, either out loud or through the connection of the ground, I usually tap the ground lightly as if to more localize their awareness. Then lay out the offerings, place the food, pour the water, light the incense, whatever. Just talk to them, it doesn’t have to be flowery or formal. “Hi, I’ve brought you some water and incense. Take from it what you will.” My offerings are usually double-sided, so pour your energy into the offerings as you give them.
After giving the offering take a moment to sit silently, let your mind drift and relax, and see if the shidak has any response. In my experience most shidak communicate through mindtouches rather than words. So sensory input, real or imagined, images and urges. For instance a shidak in a more forested area might communicate through your pareidolia using shadows cast by leaves, or the sound of the rustling. I’ve had shidak communicate yes and no answers through scents before. I’ve also had a shidak lead me on a high speed run to find a stang within its forest. I asked for it, explained it, and had this sudden impulse to run a certain direction, I had no idea where I was going, but had these quick urges of which way to turn, and then finally to stop and look under a log, and sure enough found exactly what I wanted. There was not a mental-verbal formation of communication, just the urge of movement and direction. Some shidak can communicate more linguistically, and while I’m not totally sure I suspect that is a function of their interaction and activity, so something they can develop into over years of work.
If you’ve not worked with the shidak before, I’d leave it at that. Don’t ask anything, don’t push, just give them an offering and thanks, and let them be. Do this once a week for a few weeks, and if they don’t go out of their way to engage you, then try gently communicating more directly. Once you get to know them you can start asking them if you need something, or even let them know who you are and what you’re doing, which is especially import if you’re doing magick in their space.
Lastly one of the best things to offer a shidak is taking care of its space. If it’s a public space, pick up litter, if it is your property check your plants, are the bushes in good health, can you do anything? The first shidak that ever made contact with me did so after I took it upon myself to start cleaning up its space. It’s a popular hideout for high school students, so sadly they often leave a mess, and after a few weeks of cleaning it once a week the mindtouches began.
Next post I’ll talk a bit more about sensing shidak and their structures.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
09
Apr
2015

200th Post: Behind the Magick


Wordpress notifies me this is my 200th blog entry, I’m going to take that as an accomplishment. I started this blog four and a half years ago, and I’ve enjoyed my time writing and musing with everyone. I know there are times when I haven’t made it enough of a priority in my life and went too long between postings, but it was never due to lack of interest, but due to having a busy life that I find kind of awesome.
When I started this blog I was just starting my second year of university, having returned in my mid-late twenties in order to attempt to follow my wishes and get the degrees required to get what has been my dream job since the second grade. I had moved back in with my father to save costs while in school. I was starting to take my Buddhist practice more and more seriously, along with the rest of my magickal practices. I always had some degree of seriousness towards my practices, but it was around then I started to take it to another level.
I like seeing the stats and figures behind my blog. Like any blogger I’m sure, I’ve written posts that received far more attention than I expected they would, and written others that it boggles me that people didn’t engage with them. I’ve never been able to predict it, and that intrigues me. For instance my post on tulpas is my fourth most popular post of all time, despite only being six months old. I never expected my rant would get that much attention. My most popular post ever, being twice as popular as the second most visited post, is of course my Sex with Angels post which while I thought it was amusing I never thought it would be the bizarre hit that it is.
The most searched term to reach my blog is of course “sex with angels” followed by “angel sex” and then “sex angels.” Oh internet, I don’t pretend to understand you.
A lot has happened in all this time. I finished university with two degrees, and was part of the Golden Key Society (or the Smarty Pants club). While I don’t have my dream job yet I am currently working at a job I enjoy with a team of people that I like. I’m not upset about not having my dream job because where I live it is literally 8000 applicants per position, so it’s not an easy thing to get into. I now live on my own in a house in a wonderful neighbourhood and while it’s in need of fixing up it’s a nice house. I’ve received training in chöd and adopted it as my primary Buddhist practice for the last four years. (That happened within two weeks of starting the blog, but I didn’t talk about it because the attitude/exoticism around chöd in the West, I didn’t want to seem like I was bragging or cashing in on what is cool, so I waited until I was well established in the practice to begin talking about it.) I completed the Abramelin working sticking very close to the letter of the text and received Knowledge and Conversation with my Holy Guardian Asshole. (In a similar way, since K&C is such a big thing, I didn’t actually let most people know I was working on it, or achieved it, until a few years after the fact when I felt more stable with what it was all about.) Just a few months ago I received a minor Buddhist ordination, which I don’t think I’ve brought up here at all, though hints and comments were put on twitter and facebook. But yeah, I’m now considered a lay-monk, with actual authority and obligations in the tradition…it’s kinda surreal and scary. I’m not just a weird Buddhist sorcerer, I’m a weird ordained Buddhist sorcerer…who thought that was a good idea?
Through the blog itself I’ve met some awesome people, some are just casual contacts, and others have become friends. It’s been interesting to get feedback on posts, to be challenged either to defend my ideas or think differently. The interaction with others is what really helps with the growth. As people have commented on my blog, linked to it, and reblogged it I’ve had the chance to expand my resources and followed and met even more people, with even more neat ideas to think about.
While I’m not living a perfect life, I’m living one that I love, with clear signs of where I came from, and where I’m going, always going the way of my wishes.
So thank you all for being part of the journey, and I’ll be curious to see what develops over my next two hundred posts.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
06
Apr
2015

Local Spirits: Clarifying Sadak and Shidak


A week ago I started defining local spirits and what gets lumped as them. This week I’m going to talk about sadak and shidak in more detail. Last time I mentioned that the Tibetan terms for local spirits are sadak (ས་བདག་) and shidak (གཞི་བདག). Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably, but there is a difference. This might be a bit long, but there is no good place to divide this into multiple posts.
Sadak means Earth Lord. As a spirit the sadak tends to be very limited in scope, and very rooted into the land. While any local spirit could be upset if you started to dig without asking permission, a sadak is so rooted into the land that it thinks of the land as its body, and when you dig you’re actually pulling it apart. If you think of the soil as literally being ensouled, then that’s a sadak. I’ve never heard it said how big sadaks are or could be, but I’ve never encountered one that embodies an area bigger than a house property or two in the city. The average person could stand in the centre of a sadak’s influence and throw a tennis ball well beyond their control. I would also say in my experience that sadaks are not that intelligent, far closer to an animal than a human. (Yes, humans are totally animals, you know what I mean)
Shidak means Ground Lord, and is probably closer to what most people think of as a genius loci. A shidak lives in a certain area, and as a certain area. While tied to the land, they don’t tend to identify in and as the land in the way that a sadak does. The human analogy would be that a sadak is a person who thinks they are their body, and that’s it, while a shidak is a person who knows that the body is a part of them, but one of many.
The shidaks really are a soul of a place, a spirit that lives in and permeates an area. They’re the energy that envelops a region. A shidak is immovable within an area, or perhaps can only move slowly as the land itself changes. Saying they live as an area is meant to imply the level of connection they have to it. While the shidak could be considered the soul, and the area the body, you have to understand everything that makes up the “body.” It’s not as simple as the dirt, any more than our bodies are just as simple as a lump of flesh. The lay of the land, the positive space of hills, and the negative space of valleys are the body. The water of the area, the wind over the place, everything is part of the shidak.
Odd fact about the human body: We’re composed of roughly 1 trillion cells per kilogram, but our gut contains roughly ten times as many bacteria cells as are in the rest of our body. Meaning by the numbers our body is more composed of cells that aren’t us, than cells that are, by the numbers we’re more inhuman than we are human. This is another human parallel. The shidak is the land, the water, but they’re also the grass, the plants, the trees, but one step farther the shidak is in many ways all of the living beings within the space. The shidak is the insects crawling in the dirt or buzzing in the sky, the squirrels and raccoons in the tree, and yes, even us.
This is where a lot of people have issues thinking of shidaks, but we’re part of them, and they’re part of us. I don’t mean we’re an expression or incarnation of the shidak, but when we live in a place we’re connected to it, we’re symbolically linked, and while you might think of yourself as flesh and the shidak as dirt, the division between us can be really hard to find. If you have trouble conceiving how this works think of the shidak as the energy field of a place, rather than a sentient spirit. The energy of our neighbourhood transcends us, it moves through us, and shapes us, as we shape it. We draw on this energy, and we release our energy into it. In a lot of ways the “vibe” of a place is an aspect of the shidak. The bacteria in our gut has different DNA, it’s not us, but it’s in us, and we “feed” it when we eat, and they break down our food so that we can process the chemicals in it to fuel our body, and that makes it oddly tricky to clearly divide us. This isn’t a perfect analogy, as shidaks can and do survive without people, but it illustrates the level of connection we can have, and I feel that there is a quality to a “living” shidak that has an living biological component, and ones that are more barren of life.
Now to make shidaks a bit more nebulous, they come in different sizes and placements. So while only one human can occupy a single point in 3D space, more than one shidak can embody the same spot. I don’t necessarily mean a complete one for one, but an overlapping pattern. It’s less a clear cut map, and more a sequence of catchment areas. A shidak has a “core” area, but along the fringes, where their presence is less defined they can actually overlap with another shidak, both living in and as the same place. To go back to the human analogy, while physically only one person can occupy a single space, if two people are standing near each other their auras (or radiant heat) will have an area of overlap. So in the same spot you can actually be able to engage several shidaks of the same magnitude.
Magnitude? Did I just introduce another layer of complexity? Damn straight. Not all shidaks are the same size, and there is even more overlap when this is taken into consideration. Shidaks can be as small as single plot of land, or as large as a continent, and everywhere in between. So it’s not a simple matter of similar sized spirits overlapping in influence, but also larger and larger spirits controlling more land which encompasses even more shidaks. Think of it like a piece of paper with all sorts of different circles on it, different sizes, some overlap, some big circles contain an entire smaller circle, or only part of that area.
In this sense shidaks can be like the Russian nesting dolls, each one contained in a bigger and bigger version. Another way to look at it is place and identity. (Sorry for all the analogies, but it’s the easiest way to make the sense of this clear) Depending on scale, I could say I live in Canada, or Ontario, or Southern Ontario, or the St. Lawrence Lowlands, or the Golden Horseshoe, or the GTA, or Toronto, or Scarborough, or the Bluffs, or my street name, or my house number. All of these are right, it’s just an issue of size. Shidaks have a similar thing of overlapping each other in scale.
But while the larger ones are bigger and more “powerful” in that sense, they’re also less present. The larger shidaks are spread over so much that they’re hard to engage or sense, because you’re always in them and they cover so much, the smaller shidaks are more accessible. Like getting help, in a big city you have a politician in charge of your ward, who reports to someone above him, who reports to someone above her, who reports to another person and so on until you get to the mayor, but then above mayor is the Premier, and above them is the Prime Minister. Well if there is an issue with zoning in my area I can’t complain to the Prime Minister, he’s too distant (and he’s a worthless zealot Christian robot), but my local politician could help. Depending on what you’re doing with shidaks, you might be below their notice or reasonable ability to influence, and if you want something they may be too far removed to be of us, so the smaller more local ones are more practical to engage and sense.
Next week I’ll talk about why it is useful to deal with shidaks, and how to do so. I also plan on touching on the structure of shidaks, and more detailed methods of working with and influencing, and working with shidak and drongdak (the city spirits) in unison, as well as some of my personal work with them.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
02
Apr
2015

Fiction for Sorcerers


(My local spirits postings will continue after this post)
Normally I’d be posting a book review here according to my schedule (did you even notice I have a schedule of when I post what?) but I decided this week to finally get around to doing the book meme. When I started this blog the “What 5 Books do you recommend as an occultist” posts were popular, but I never made one, it’s come and gone a few times, and I never bothered with it. What I always wants to talk about, and I will now is such a list with a twist.
What 5 fiction books do you recommend as a sorcerer?
This is pretty straight forward, we’re talking fiction here, not magick books, not mythology, not reference titles, but stories, novels, fantasy and fiction. What makes them required reading for a sorcerer?
Also, after my list, I’d love to hear your own, or if you agree/disagree with any of mine. Really I’m curious about other lists, cause I know a lot of awesome sorcerers read this blog (oh, and you read it too 😉 ) and I want to see what you’d recommend, if only to add to my never ending to-read list.
1. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
To those who know me this shouldn’t be a surprise. I’ve blogged about it before, specifically the scene with Grograman, my blog’s subheading “Going the way of your wishes” is taken from the novel, I’ve tweaked a tarot spread to more closely fit the book, and I read it once a year. Every year I reread The Neverending Story, while I might reread favourite books every few years, this is the only one I reread with such enthusiasm. Also, I tell people that it is one of the books they must read if they expect to be in a relationship with me. You want to understand me, read the book. (Books 2 and 4 are also on that list, but this list is about what I recommend for sorcerers, not for potential lovers, though it shouldn’t be surprising there is overlap)
Why The Neverending Story? I think if you’ve ever read the book (after becoming a sorcerer), you don’t need to ask. Also, let me make this perfectly clear…READ THE BOOK. The movie is a horrible adaptation and removes everything that makes the book relevant to sorcerers.
The Neverending Story is the novelization of The Great Work. I honestly think the book serves as an illustration of what the true sorcerer goes through. Atreyu goes through the dark night of the soul, confronts Chronzon at the Abyss, only to cross and encounter his Holy Guardian Luck Dragon. That’s just in the first section, the movie cuts out the entire second half of a novel, which is more important to us. Bastian learns the price of power, that wishes have consequences, he learns to create and destroy, and loses himself in the process becoming No One. Only when he has lost his identity is he able to find his true desire, his purpose, his Will, and reclaim his identity and place in the world.
This is really simplified, and there is so much more, every section has some hidden gem in it for the sorcerous folk to glean from it. I have pages, literally, of quotes from the book in the word file I type this blog in, because one day I want to write a full explanation of the magickal themes, but don’t expect it soon as it’s been on my to-do list for years.
2. wraeththuThe Wraeththu series by Storm Constantine.
While I suggest the entire series, I recommend people at least read the first three books (which are now published as one book, as the novels were slightly short individually, and it is this first trilogy I linked to above).
Brief synopsis: Wraeththu are a new species of humanity: stronger, intersexed, and more psychically/magickally aware. The novels follow their growth from random mutations, hunted as freaks, to finding their place in the world and understanding who/what they are.
Now, I admit, this suggestion might be a bit of a cheat, as Storm is an occultist, and has published a few books on magick. When you read Wraeththu there is a sense of realism behind it, even though the magick is over the top fantasy in most cases, there is something that is resonant with real magick. It’s as if the books show how fantasy novel magick would work, if it followed our rules in our world. When the characters do magick, sense things, talk about energy, as an occultist you can’t help think that it’s on the right track. When a character does magick, you almost feel like you could follow their steps.
The over-arching mythology of the books, explained in more detail outside of the original trilogy, is also something that is familiar. It has shades of the Bene h’Elohim of Enoch, of Faerie, and the otherworlds.
In fact, there is such a sense of resonance with the magick in the Wraeththu novels that people began working with the deities from the novels, and the techniques within. Eventually this developed into The Grimoire Dehara, the first of three planned books* that are real magickal texts using the language and mythology of Wraeththu.
*Admittedly I’m not sure if the last two books will come to fruition, as they’ve been put off repeatedly. But if you work diligently with the system, as I have, the spirits themselves will take you beyond what is published.
A bonus beyond just the magick and mythology, because the Wraeththu species are intersexed, neither male nor female but both and beyond them, the magick system isn’t as divided along a gender binary. As a genderqueer person that was part of the appeal of the system, there wasn’t anything about males do this, females do this, only X can deal with Gods while Y can deal with Goddesses. You’re something that is both and neither within that system.
3. vellumVellum, and inkInk by Hal Duncan.
Vellum and Ink are two novels. The storyline of Vellum and Ink is really really difficult to explain, even having just finished rereading Vellum a week or so ago and currently half way through Ink, I can’t give a clear synopsis. Basically it is a tale about the War in Heaven, but the “Angels” and “Demons” aren’t warring in some astral realm, but here on Earth, in mostly human bodies. It isn’t that straight forward though. The story is being told in multiple timelines and realities all at once. So the same character/soul/archetype may appear as a tribal priestess, tomboy daughter of hippies, cyber-hacker in the near future, a British girl during WWI, a princess in a post-apocalyptic hellscape, and a Sumerian Goddess. The story shifts back and forth between all of these perspectives (and a lot more) all following the same thread of action, but being played out in a variety of ways. Be warned, it is not an easy read, but so very worth it.
Much like Wraeththu there is a resonance, a reality to it. Not in so much what happens or how it is done, but how it is presented. Vellum and Ink take place in a multifaceted reality, where the same person is expressed in every potential variation, sinner, martyr, saint, human, god, satyr, but always the same person. There is something to this, that my explanation can’t touch on, and can only be read…in the same way as what it describes is only something that can be understood by the sorcerers who have pushed Beyond. The idea of our reality being a scratch on an infinitely large page, that what we experience is one simplistic model of an infinitely complex reality that rests below it, these are the elements in Vellum and Ink that really appeal to the sorcerer. It presents a multifaceted reality where more than one truth can exist, where paradoxes are part of nature, and time, space, and reality are interwoven and more complex than we can imagine. This is something I think a lot of magickal folk can read in the series and nod their head at. Even the most scientific and rational occultists can’t deny the paradoxes of reality and multiple realities/truths, and Duncan really hits on that idea and runs with it.
Another aspect, and perhaps this is more based on my experiences, but an important part of the series is the Cant, the language of the Angels. The universal language of power than underlies all things. The speech that does not describe reality, but circumscribes it, shapes it. The way Hal Duncan describes the language, and the written of it, just really hits me as something right. The descriptions of the letters being eerily close to the xenoglossic magickal tongue used by myself and several people I know.
4. siaslStranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.
Mama, don’t let your baby grow up to read Heinlein, and this book is one of the reasons why.
Basically the story is that there was a lone survivor of an expedition to Mars, a child who was born there. Everyone died, and he was raised to near adulthood by the Martians. Mentally he is not human, but Martian, and eventually comes to live on Earth and learn how to be human.
The thing that makes this a book for sorcerers, is the philosophy behind it. The Martian named Smith sees the world in a totally different way than the humans around him, and struggles to grok it. And yes, this is where the word grok originates from. He has totally different morals, and a different understanding of life, death, and religion. It’s refreshing to see an outsider look at our culture. This is why it is important, as sorcerers we should be critical of what everyone just accepts. We should challenge the reality we see, and experience, question it, test it. Don’t just assume it is right because it has always been shown as right to us. Sorcerers should push every boundary in their life, question everything, and seeing Michael Smith do that to our culture is a great example and reminder. Eventually the book gets into some spiritual stuff too, and becomes more interesting there. Also, I find the idea of grokking something being part of controlling it an important lesson for a sorcerer.
If you’re familiar with the neopagan group “The Church of All Worlds” that name, and basic ideology was taken right from this book by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
5. 51w-Wyp-wgL._SL250_[1]American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I feel this one is a bit cliché to add to the list, but necessary.
If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the book, essentially it tells the story of a man trapped between a war of the gods. The war is between the “old” gods, the gods of Egypt, Babylon, Greece, India, the Nordic lands, and so one, versus the new gods of our culture, Internet, Data-based finances, Electrical systems, roads, and so one.
It has a bit of post-modern chaos flair to it, the idea that new gods are developing, that gods are sustained by belief and energy and attention, and shape our world as much as they are shaped by it. There isn’t much in the book I’d say is a must-learn for a sorcerer, but it’s more the cosmology and world it weaves that I find compelling for a sorcerer.
So what about you? What five fiction books would you recommend that sorcerers read?

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
29
Mar
2015

Local Spirits: Categories and Classifications


SekkwThe concept of local spirits is something that is often overlooked with magickal folks, and I think not really examined by enough people. Recently they came up on a forum I’m a part of, and some of the questions made me realize there are some gaps in how people think of them and work with them. Local spirits are a big part of my work, in fact other than Mother the first non-human entity I can remember encountering was a local spirit. In chöd, my primary Buddhist practice for the last several years, there is a huge emphasis on local spirits, to the point where I argue that if you only perform chöd in one spot you’re not getting that much out of it, because it’s all about your work with the spirits around you.
First off, what are local spirits? People use the term, but don’t really define it, and it can mean a lot of different things. Unfortunately while it means a lot of different things there is some overlap in the concepts making it a bit more confusing The term is used as an umbrella (purposefully or otherwise), so let’s break it down. Note: While I’m going to be saying several things that get called local spirits aren’t actually local spirits, that’s not any sort of judgment against them or working with them, just drawing distinctions, and there are reasons to work with all the classes I’ll discuss…except the last one.
The first is the most “obvious” of the meanings, what is generally called the genius loci, the literal spirit and intelligence that is embodied by a place. In Vajrayana Buddhism they’re known as sadak and shidak (ས་བདག་ and གཞི་བདག་). I’ll talk more about them later, because despite being the most obvious it’s actually a fairly complex concept. Also I’ll use the term shidak for this classification, not so much because I think it is more correct, but because it is free from a lot of the associations that local spirit or genius loci have.
Something that sometimes gets called a local spirit is more of a group spirit. Over time a place that is unified by a certain idea/identity builds up an energy to it, and eventually that can coalesce into a type of spirit, similar to an egregore. Not necessarily an innate soul, but still a potentially sentient and powerful spirit. In Vajrayana they’re known as a drongdak (གྲོང་བདག་), though the assumption/understanding is that they’re a “real” spirit rather than constructed, and I personally lean more to constructed or coalesced. A lot of cities have this type of group spirit. It isn’t the shidak of the place in a proper sense, but more the expression of the humanity of that place. Toronto’s spirit always shifts, which to me is appropriate for such a diverse population in such a time of transition, but generally feels like a large friendly woman of ambiguous/shifting ethnicity, but with a cautious edge to her. Cleveland’s spirit always strikes me as a grumpy old white man who just wants to read his paper in peace. These spirits are built up of the culture of the place, the attitudes, the feel and interaction. Old buildings with a lot of use can create something similar. I’ve been to a museum that has a sort of spirit curator, who isn’t/wasn’t a person, but is more of decades of tours and field trips slowly solidifying into a personality. Even though I wouldn’t classify them the same as a shidak, this does not mean I think they’re any less important or powerful, just different, and useful in different ways. In some cases the group spirit might be an interface for the shidak, but generally I perceive of them as distinct entities with an overlap in influence.
Related to the group spirit and the history of a place are ghosts, and ghosts sometimes get labelled as local spirits. Here, for simplicity’s sake, I mean some sort of remnant of a human, whether or not it is an actually spirit bound in a place, an energetic echo, or a cast off shell that has been animated. These might be spirits that are local, but are in another class from local spirits. Generally they are not nearly as big or influential as a shidak. I have encountered a spirit once that borders between ghost and group spirit, it was as if over time it subsumed (or was subsumed by) the collective identity of a place. I’m not sure if that’s something that happens with frequency, but I’ve only ever once got that sense from a spirit, and there was a sense that it was purposeful (on their end or someone else’s I can’t say). When you do offerings to a shidak, you may also be offering to these ghosts, and there is nothing wrong with that, but again I just want to have the terms a bit more clear and thought out. I say that specifically because I’ve seen people confuse a ghost with a shidak, simply because they didn’t know better, and the shidak didn’t want to be engaged so they assumed the only spirit in the area had to be the shidak.
There are guardian spirits that are tied to places. Again, this is something I could subdivide into its own post, but for simplicity I’ll just run through it quickly. Place guardians can be “natural,” for some reason or another a place has generated another spirit to watch over the place, almost like an assistant shidak. Other times a spirit “adopts” a place and watches over it. Sometimes the spirit is brought there by a person. How many sorcerers out there have set a spirit to guard a place? What if you die and never released it? Or it liked the place and stayed of its own accord. I separate these from shidak because they’re more specific, they protect a place, and dwell in it, but they don’t seem to permeate it, and exist in it in the same way, nor do they have the influence in the area that a shidak has.
Elementals can easily be grouped into local spirits and confused as them. Arguably many of them I’d be more likely to say are shidak than the other classes discussed. Elemental here is a vague term for the spirit of an element/quality of a place. Rivers, for instance, often have some spirit tied to them, the size/influence depending on the size/power of the river. While I wouldn’t call them a shidak, they do live in and as the water of a place, so it’s harder to make the distinction. Trees are another great example, but also that nebulous area. Trees can have individual spirits, trees in close proximity can also have a hive spirit. Again I wouldn’t call these a shidak, but more a spirit living in/on the land. It’s hard to draw the line between them and some shidaks. What makes it more complicated is shidaks often focus themselves in different areas, and large, old, or distinct trees are a common focus for them. So even if I don’t think tree spirits are shidaks, some shidaks focus their essence into a tree, making that division harder to identify.
A classification that I find in Vajrayana, that I’m only including for sake of education, is the naydak (གནས་བདག), which is the Sacred Place Lord. As far as I can tell they’re shidak of sacred places. While I’ve never encountered one I can’t say for sure, but I assume they are no different in structure/function from a shidak, but set apart because they inhabit a holy area, rather than a mundane one. Perhaps they’re more of an “angelic” type spirit occupying the place, it’s hard to say. They’re rare, apparently only living in the most sacred of places, so not every temple or powerplace will have a naydak.
Last, and certainly least, would be fae-things. I’m saying fae-things to avoid having to make long, complicated explanations. While we might quibble on details, you have a rough sense of what I mean. Elven, fae, faerie, and the like. While not human spirits, I’d say they’re like ghosts, in the sense of they might reside in a place and be local, but that’s not the same as being the local spirit, the shidak. Though their interaction is a bit more complicated. While a ghost exists in a place, the fae-things actually live there and consider the space their own. Even though they’re free to move on in a way that a ghost or elemental couldn’t, they can be more possessive/protective of the area because it’s their home and chosen land.
This is just the cursory break down of things that get classified as local spirits. In the next post of this series I’ll talk more about shidaks specifically.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick