and open to Her Wisdom."
14th Day of the 2nd Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Gaia
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Luis/Rowan
8th Day of the Celtic Tree Cycle ~ Luis/Rowan
Moon Phase: Gibbous
Moon sets:6:13AM EST
Moon rises: 5:11PM EST
Moon in Cancer v/c 11:48PM EST
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The unconquerable nature of the soul.
Sun in Aquarius
Sunrise: 7:33AM EST
Sunset: 5:32PM EST
Solar Question for the Day: "What threshold of
attainment waits for you to cross over?"
Samhain (Calan Gaeaf) Quarter of the Year
January 28th, 2010
Today is Thor's Day (Thursday) and there are Major magickal energies for working spells/rites for secruity. Since the moon will be in the Cardinal Water Sign of Cancer most of the day then this is a good for working with issues regarding security.... Thor's Day is Jupiter Day - the Day of Spiritual Insight and Expansion.
Seasonal Magick
Seasonal celebrations are as old as time itself, prompted not by calendars but by the changes in light, warmth, rainfall, and the natural growth cycle. They also occurred by the appearance of the herds with their young and for a particularly bright star such as Sirius, whose annual rising heralded the Nile flood
Once moon times were calculated, as marks on bone, wood, or stone, people could anticipate the coming of the rainy season or when the reindeer herds might be returning. Once the seasons could be predicted, the celebrations were used to ask the deities for good hunting or fertile crop growth. In this way people became part of thye turning of the year and by their ritual recognition of the change points could help in turning the wheel of the seasons.
Indeed, among the Inuit of the North American continent the Inuit deity Tekkeitserktok, god of the earth, is offered sacrifices in the autumn, the main time for reindeer or caribou hunting. Once the hunter
gather way of life had been replaced in more temperate regions by the farmers of the Neolithic period, the ritual year became inextricably linked with the annual sowing and reaping cycle. The father of the hunt, who was lord of winter, and the mistress of the animals, who was lady of the summer, were succeeded by grain goddesses and gods. The gods were regarded also as the spirit within the grain and sacrificed their lives annually for the fertility of the soil with the harvesting of the crops.
Seasonal Patterns
How the year and its rituals are divided is influenced by the nature of the land and weather patterns. Some lands do not have the four seasons that form natural marker points. For example, ancient Egypt there were only three seasons: Akhet, Peret and Shemu.
Akhet was the time of the flood and water from July to October/November. At the festival of Hapy, the Nile water god, the people asked that the flood might be not too deep, yet still fertilize the land. Peret was the time of growth, sun and water mixed, honored by Ra the sun god and also vegetation gods such as Osiris and Geb. This lasted from October/November to March. Last came the time of harvest, the dry season when Ra the sun god predominated and also Min the fertility god and Isis in her role as grain mother. This lasted from March/April to July and was called Shemu.
In contrast, one of the most important rituals in the Aboriginal ceremonial year was the annual coming of the rains, a sacred sex ceremony in honor of Kunapipi, the earth mother and Jarapiri, the male form of the rainbow snake in Northern Australia. It was held just before the monsoons were due to begin and so not only heralded but it was believed brought about the welcome end of the dry season.
In northern areas of Scandinavia, America, and Canada, it may still be snowing and icy on May Day. The Swedish people, for example, still have the equivalent of the maypole dancing and flower goddess
celebrations round their midsummer tree on the midsummer solstice around the 21st of June. This became Christianized as midsummer on the 24th of June.
In the Old Norse world where hunting remained an important way of life - and still does, even in cities - there were only two seasons, sumar (summer) and vetr (winter). The Norse winter began on the 14th of October and summer began on the 13th of April until Christianisation in the 11th century.
The Celts also had two seasons whose beginnings were marked by the greatest of the fire festivals, Samhain, the beginning of the Celtic new year, around the 31st of October, and was the time when animals were slaughtered for the winter food and breeding animals were put into barns. It as the time of the ancestors when they too returned to the warmth of the family hearth, as the dimensions parted on the new year. Their release into the fields with their young on Beltane, the beginning of the Celtic summer, around our May Day, was also the major fertility festival for people, cattle and grain, and another marker point faeries roamed everywhere.
[Excerpts from Cassandra Easons's "Complete Book of Natural Magick"]
Shifting Conscousness - continued from yesterday's blog post
Intoxication - (depends on substance) - Intoxication is the use of various natural materials to induce an altered state, including wine, hallucinogenics, herbal mixtures, and incense. The difficulty with intoxication is moderation. Just enough can open a doorway, but too much can make you lose control. Although we have a history of using these substances recreationally, spiritual traditions use them with great care and reverence, providing specific training and knowledge to function under these influences. With the possible exception of incense, Penzcak humbly suggests saving this path for a time when you have more guidance and training.
Sound - (depends on the music) - Singing, chanting, instruments, drumming and other percussion can lead you into an altered state as you get swept up with the tone and beat. Some will be more relaxing, such as gentle music. Others will be more exciting, like tribal drums.
Body Movement - (exhibitory) - Movement induces an altered view of reality, and can include exercise, dance, asana (yogic body posture), shaking, shivering, spinning, hand movements, and mudras. Many tribal societies and covens use large circular dances as part of ritual. Yoga and martial arts also induce trance states through body forms. The movements do not necessarily have to be graceful to be effective. The Teutonic shamans, basically using the cold to shiver and shake, entering a magickal state through such movements. In the past, some have used binding to slow the flow of blood and enter an induced altered state. Penczak does not personally recommend binding, though he has experienced wonderful meditation in a ritual that lightly tied strips of fabric around energy centers in the body. No blood was constricted, but the light pressure did help induce a deep meditation.
Sex - (exhibitory) - The most exciting path go gnosis, quite literally, is using sexual energy. Masturbation and intercourse are great ways to raise a lot of energy and enter an altered consciousness. Before sexuality came under the taboos of the dominant religions, sex was a much more integral part of magick, and all acts of love were considered worship to the Goddess. The major drawback to this technique is if you are entering an alterede state to perform an act of magick, it is very easy to get lost in your own or your partner's pleasure. Ritual sex between a consenting couple in the context of Wiccan ceremonies is called the Great Rite, re-creating the divine union between the Goddess and the God, but it is more often enacted symbolically, through the use of ritual tools like the blade and chalice, rather than physically.
Pain - (exhibitory) - This method includes scourging (light ritual whipping), piercing, branding, and tattooing. Such practices are a part of initiation rituals and rites of passage all over the world. Pain is Penczak's least favorite of altering consciousness, although it definitely alters your consciousness from the normal waking state. Scourging is a practice in both ancient and modern witchcraft , though most shy away from it. A scourge is a whip made of many cords, akin to the cat-o'-nine tails. Modern witches do not seek to break the skin, but to draw blood to that area to induce a trance state. Though this might seem distasteful, flagellation has been used in mystical traditions for centuries. Another aspect of pain is the practice of ritual piercing, tattooing, and branding. These acts mark rites of passage and possibly even initiation. Many involved in these contemporary industries are a part of, or influenced by, pagan and tribal cultures and see the spiritual connotations of these acts.
The Eightfold Path offers many roads to deeper awareness, and some may be more suitable for you than others. The "Inner Temple of Witchcraft" focuses on applying the more inhibitory techniques, because in Penczak's experiences he has found them easiest to teach and reproduce. You need very little way in the way of tools or setting. Once you master the basics safely, you can explore the other techniques.
New Assignments
* Exercises 2 through 6 - Complete and record your experiences in your Book of Shadows. Continue with exercise 6: Earth Walking as often as you like.
Continuing Assignments
Tips
* Be conscious and aware of your psychic mind, as manifested as your own inner voice and sense of intuition. Be open to it. Invite it into your life. Expect it. Realize that you are psychic. Psychic means 'listening to the voice of your soul.' We all can do that. Ask your intuitive, psychic voice for advice, from important life questions to silly inconsequential ones, such as 'Who is on the phone?' when it rings. I listen to it. Follow it. Record your experiences. The more you do this and feel vindicated that your psychic voice was right, the stronger it will get.
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