personal

11
Aug
2012

Climbing the Tree – Threshold Guardian – Sh'miral


So if I’m going to be talking about my experiences skrying my way up the Tree I should explain what I did.
The process changed over time, as I gained confidence, experience, and allies along the way. When I first approached the Sphere of Earth it was through overwhelming myself with correspondences. I had ten candles burning, Earthy incense burning, sitting in the lowest point of my basement on the unfinished floor. Even though I was trying to “break out” of the Judeo-Christian I felt I had to use it to gain access to the Spheres.
Sitting in the glow of the candles, my skrying mirror set before with the Glyph of the Earth drawn on it in brown, I called to Metatron (מטטרונ, not מיטטרונ) to guide me. After the evocation I began to skry and in an inky blackness I met Metatron, he told me I still had to build this Sphere of Earth, to fill it with the Names of its Form. Intoning Metatron’s Name, as well as Uriel, Sandlephon, and the Godnames and Angel classes associated with Earth slowly a cave was born around us, and he took me to a stone door and led me into his temple.
In the centre of this temple was a rippling, like a heat mirage, and he told me it was the veil I must cross to find the Sphere of Earth behind this set of masks. So I walked through it, and nothing happened, I turned around and tried again, I tried Rending the Veil, but not happened. He told me the masks infuse everything; they are everywhere and in everything, to cross the veil I must step away from everything. I stood in the centre of the rippling, and did just that, I willed myself away from everything, turned at a right angle to everything and was again in darkness, this time without a guide.
I called, and my response was the clacking of shoes on a hard floor. Slowly the darkness condensed into a man. He was, in the manner that only spirits can, both wearing a black three piece suit, and black robes adorned with feathers or perhaps made up of them. I asked if he was the Spirit, the Angel, I had come to look for, and was told that he was, and he would be willing to submit to testing. When asked his Name he told me it was Sh’miral, the Sh is pronounced almost like the za in pizza. As we talked the world formed around us, it wasn’t the dead dark cave of Metatron, but a living breathing subterranean temple, with rocks and moss and flowers the glowed in their own light.
I confessed that I generally worked with the Angels of the planets used in astrology, so I didn’t know what “use” he would have. “I am the first, and the last, the highest, and the lowest. I am where you start from, and I guard the Gates of Earth, and the Gates from Earth. It is I who will open the Tree to you. It is I who will open the ways in your life.” When asked if he would open the Gates, and the ways in my life, he agreed, but explained that it would not be comfortable, I accepted anyways. I asked for three more Names; the Name of his Sphere, the Name of the class of Spirit/Angels he rules, and the Name of God that empowers him. After I received the Names, I left his temple and returned to myself.

The Seal of Sh’miral

My initial plans to test the Names would be evocations a few days later, as well as giving the Seals and Names to friends to try to work with (having provided no information other than it is a spirit I want their impression on), and compare results. On a whim I decided to check the Gematria of the Names I was given. Sh’miral has the same value as “Lord of Earth” and “Mount Zion.” Needless to say Lord of Earth was a shocking coincidence, and Mount Zion certainly had an Earthy appeal. The Name of his Sphere, Almak, had three spellings, the preferred spelling had the same value as “Mountains of Zion” and I was very surprised to see the Mount/ains of Zion come up again. One other spelling had the same value as “the heel” and “the end,” which are appropriate for the Sphere of Earth being the bottom and last of the Tree. The final spelling had the same value as “Original Seed” and “Root” which are appropriate as the starting point up the Tree. I had not expected Gematria to help, but it was one of the ways I knew to traditionally test spirits and thought it couldn’t hurt. The Angel classification, Chomal, had the same value as “Troops” but also “Enoch” which while less conclusive is still interesting for his role as the Angel of Malkuth. Lastly the God Name Meltar was the same value as “The Gate” which I found out was a title of Malkuth.
As said I wasn’t expecting anything conclusive or helpful from gematria, but not only was there a theme with the Names, but they all tied specifically back to Malkuth as the Earth Sphere. I created the Seal as I was told, gave the Seal and Names to so friends, and waited for their responses. While I waited I lost my job. Deciding to test Sh’miral I asked him to help me find a job, but he explained “I have opened the way like you asked, it is not my job to walk your path from there.” That was the last time I ever worked as a social worker. Then the responses came in, my friends had encountered a similar spirit, dark and earthy, eager to help, but detached emotionally, able to bring order and patterns, and clear the road.
I considered my first skrying experiment a great success. I was nervous about being unemployed, but the Names checked out better than I expected they could, and all the results from friends pointed to Sh’miral being legit. I’ve worked with him many times throughout the years.
He functions in a lot of ways similar to Papa Legba and Ganesh in the sense that he is called to open the ways, to initiate journeys, to begin rituals, and open communication. He controls the functions of the Earth element, and terrestrial/land based magick.
Once contact has been forged Sh’miral and all the angels are easy enough to connect with, the pattern is the same, and while the words occasionally different it’s of little to no consequence. When I need to call Sh’miral I give him a very short summons. “Hail unto thee, Sh’miral, ruler of Almak, commander of the Chomal, in the Name of Meltar I call you here to work with me, and walk with me.”
As always I encourage people to try contact Sh’miral, give him a call and see what you get, I’m always interested with people’s experiences with these Angels, even four years after the experiment began.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
05
Aug
2012

Climbing the Tree – The Call to Adventure


I love the Qabalah, I really do, but it’s a frakking mess. Between different sources, different interpretations, blinds, mistranslations, and everything else it’s jumbled up.
There are the Four Worlds, everyone seems to agree there, but where are they divided on the Tree? Is there a unique Tree for each world? Are the first three Sephiroth the top three Worlds, and the next seven the lowest world? Are the cross-paths the divisions between the Worlds? Is it a Jacob’s Ladder where the Worlds overlap a little as the Trees climb up?
What Angels rule what Sephiroth? Do the Angels of the Planetary Sephiroth rule the corresponding planet? Who rules Malkuth? Do the same Angels rule the elements, or another set? Why are some of the Angels and Demons gods?
Now these are just the first of my issues with the Qabalah that sprang to mind immediately on considering this discussion. I love the philosophy, the cosmology, and the system, but there is a lot of it that seems unclear and jumbled to be polite.
What surprises some people who know my practice is that I haven’t dealt with Raphael, Michael, Tzaphkiel, and the like in years. For the reasons mentioned above, and a great many more, I felt I had to return to “The Source” not in a textual sense, but in a transcendent sense. This inspired what became my longest, and perhaps most volatile magickal experiment. While I completed this several years back, I’ve never really discussed it here and only minorly or privately elsewhere. Issues on credibility and silly notions like that got in the way. I spent two years, two months, and two days (not on purpose, just the way it worked) skrying the Tree of Life, talking with the Forces of the Tree. Not the Angels we know, but the Force.
Reality is a multifaceted diamond of infinite complexity, but the trouble is whenever we look at one facet we distort and obscure others. Tipareth, Michael, and the like are all just one facet of a diamond of the Sun-Sphere, the most familiar one, but not the only one. In my experiment I climbed the Tree, skying and communing as I went to meet other Names of those diamonds, other beings, that are of the same quality, type, and level, but don’t have the cultural-historical baggage or the confusion of the blinds/traditions/mistranslations and the host of problems that popped up with the traditional sources. These Angels (for while they aren’t the traditional Angels in my experience they are of the same level/type of entity) would speak to me, free of the confusion of the myriad of Qabalistic confusions, and gave me Names to use that were free from the Judeo-Christian sources (which was always a minor issue with me), and forms and relationships that suited my life.
I was foolish. I thought it was something I could do quickly. Pop in, get the Names and contacts I need and move on, be done in a few weeks. The Angels had a different notion, I had to be initiated into each Sphere, live each quality in order to gain access. I couldn’t just bang on the Gates of Mercury and be allowed in, I had to live a Mercurial life and only when I had lived it sufficiently then would I be permitted in.
It took me over two years of work, on and off, of having my life switch around repeatedly, in order to complete this mission, but since then it has only deepened. I work with these Angels daily, my Path has been opened by them, and they walk with me, work with me, and reside with me.
I had told a few people about this experiment at the time, and had their help with it at times, confirming identities as well as experimenting with the Angels, but I’ve never really talked about it too much. One of the things about returning to the Starry Path is discussing this, and sharing. So over the next while I will talk about the process I used, the Angels I met, and the life it led me to as I climbed the Tree.
Hail Sh’miral, the Opener of Ways, and Guide of Contact.

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
23
Jul
2012

Blue Flame Magick Supplies Sale, and the Turning of the Wheel


I have a real post, but this is a spur of the moment interruption to our regular programming.
Today is Chökhor Düchen, a Buddhist holiday*, it is also the day marking my etsy shop being open for a month. It’s been an odd month. Some of my items sold better than expected (like my Chthonic Malas selling out in days, need to find another good astrological window to make more), and some of my items not selling nearly as well as expected. There are still more products in the wings to be uploaded, but one step at a time. Anyways, I wanted to thank every one who has bought anything from the store and the feedback you’ve offered has been wonderful, thank you, and I’d like to thank everyone who helped spread the word and introduced my shop to others.
As a celebration and thank you, I have the sudden inspiration for a flash sale. So until tomorrow at noon (EST) if you enter CHDU2012 (for Chökhor Düchen 2012) as the coupon at check out, you can get 10% off. Really it would be better to do it just for the day, but considering the day is half over and I just thought of it I’ll let this run until noon tomorrow.
Blue Flame Magick Supplies: 10% off until July 24th 1200EST with the coupon code CHDU2012 Thanks again
*Chökhor Düchen is the first turning of the Wheel of Dharma. After the Buddha became Enlightened he didn’t teach. Eventually Brahma and Indra encouraged him to share what he had learned for the well far of all sentient beings, so today is celebrated as the first day the Buddha taught. Positive and Negative actions are considered multiplied today. (I have issues with most multiplier days, but it is part of the tradition.)

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
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