CHRISTMAS MEDITATIONS

Howdy folks. It is once again Christmas Eve. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not there is a wonderful quality to Christmas Eve. So many people have been manically rushing about getting things done that there is a psychic quality in the air which builds and builds and builds until it climaxes this afternoon.

Tonight at around 9pm most stores will close. People will finish all their preparations and begin gathering with friends and relations or simply retire for the evening. Children will go to sleep with visions of Iphones dancing in their heads and there is a collective sigh of relief throughout the land.

Just as I did with the Eclipse, I encourage using this time to enter into contemplative prayer. Do not make a big deal about it, just slip off somewhere for 15 minutes and open yourself to the flow of grace. Relax the mind and be filled with the holy spirit. In this way you achieve Henosis, union with the ultimate reality. Rather than using effort to reach out to God, simply allow God to show himself within you. In this way you complete the circuit and will realize that as Meister Ekhart says: "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love."

After you are done relaxing into contemplation, perhaps spare just a few more minutes contemplating the Christmas mystery. You do not have to be Christian to do this. I am often amazed at the zeal at which modern Pagans will jump willie nilly into just about ANY religion and lay claim to any mystery, yet feel absolutely forbidden from even thinking about Christian mysteries in the same way.

By the mystery of Christmas I do not mean the overall meaning of Yule, or the birth of the sun at Equinox or anything like that. I mean the mystery that Linus revealed so elequently to Charlie Brown.

Two Thousand Years ago, the gods were exalted as higher beings which rules our world. Most religion of any kind was mostly about making proper sacrifices at proper times so as to feed God or the Gods and not invoke their wrath.

The Christmas mystery is about cutting through that conception of divinity as something so distant from ourselves. In the Christmas story God manifests not just as a human, but starts off life in just about the lowest and meekest possible way: as a baby who has to sleep in an animal trough. The message is that there is no-one that is so low that the divine spark does not dwell within them.

It is a shame that most Christianity focuses more on the fact that Christ was fully God rather than the fact that, as the apostles creed states, Christ was also fully human. It is the fully human part that makes the whole thing useful. As Bisphop Athanaseus put it "God became man, so that man could become God.". The best part about this is all we need to do is allow it to happen. Theosis is the process of making us by Grace what God is by nature. There are no qualifiers for it, no hoops to jump through. Just do it.

This has NOTHING to do with "accepting Christ as your personal lord and savior" or any other such rubbish espoused by fundamentalists. Nor does it have anything to do with being part of the right Chruch  as some Catholics and Orthodox would have you believe. It just has to do with openness to ultimate reality.

Throughout his life, Christ never drills people on their beliefs. He simply asked people to love god and their neighbors.

In the Gospel of Luke that Linus quotes in the Charlie Brown special the angel of the lord says:

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, AND ON EARTH PEACE AND GOODWILL TOWARD MAN.


Do not let anyone play the "us and them" game with Christmas. That is NOT what it is about.

So, for those of you that celebrate it: Merry Christmas!
For those that don't, hey its Christmas Day anyway, it may as well be merry!
Peace and Goodwill to you all, so matter what religion or lack thereof.
Amen.

What to do for the Equinox

Since I wrote my little call to arms yesterday several people have asked me what I think they should do if they did not already have something they were working on.

Patrick Dunn asks himself the same question in his latest blog post. Thankfully he gives himself, and us, a great answer. 

He is spot on when he states that "doing magic during an eclipse can burn through blockages that prevent previous works from . . . well . . . working".

He wisely notes that if there is nothing pressing to mend to tend in your life right now, an eclipse, especially on that occurs on the Solstice, is a great time to work towards the greater good of the country where you live. In fact I am going to suggest that even if you do have some personal spell work that you are doing, it won't kill you to take a night of a cosmic occurrence and work on a more cosmic level. In fact it may help you gain a new perspective.

Patrick, is aiming for a noble goal and has invited us to work towards the following statement of intent:  “I will that America and its people immediately develop greater freedom and prosperity.”

Thats quite a good one and I am going to add that to my closing invocation tonight. The bulk of my work tonight though is going to be spent in contemplation.

Those of you who have taken my course are familiar with the difference between meditation and contemplation. Those of you who have read Namkhai Norbu or Theresa of Avila also have a good idea of what I mean.

Meditation is an aid to cut through dualistic thinking. Contemplation is the effortless resting in the state of non-dual awareness, amidst which thoughts may arise and set while never disturbing awareness. While resting in this state something truly remarkable yet in some ways completely ordinary happens. It is only in this state can you really understand what the Buddhists mean when they talk about Sunyata and Emptiness and only in this state you really understand what the Christians talk about when they talk about Love and the Holy Spirit. It is in this state that you realize that God is not a noun but a verb. Its a flow that moves in allo directions at once. When you encounter it you only feel like writing poetry, dancing, praying, or remaining utterly silent.

This is not just navel gazing and personal illumination either. I firmly believe that the realization of this state of mind is the key to solvong world problems at their root. To quote Richard Rohr: "It is no exaggeration to say that 'us-and-them' seeing, and the dualistic thinking that results, is the foundation of almost all rge discontent and violence in the world."

As I said in the last post, the reason that eclipses are so powerful for magic is that the predominant spirit/energy/information factor that usually fills the night is silent. This is true in the world at large and in the world of your mind. The void is waiting to be filled or to have its silence used as a tool for cutting through the mechanistic mind.

So, it is 11:34 right now, and the eclipse is starting.

Whether you work on a specific problem for yourself, work towards the goals of freedom and prosperity for your country, or work towards resting in the state of natural indwelling - I wish you well and happy Yule.

Eclipse Sorcery.

No, I am not talking about the horrible movie with glittery vampires. I am talking about actual Eclipses.

Eclipses are not that big of a deal in western Astrology but in Tibetan Astrology, which effects my own practice much more than western (though I am by no means an expert in either), Eclipses are HUGE.

According to Tibetans, all positive and negative actions are multiplied during an eclipse - 1000 for a lunar and 10000 for a solar. The reason for this is that when the eclipse happens, the influence of that planet is blocked and creates a vacuum which allows your own influence to have greater sway.

Think of it as sounds in a room, if there are 100 people talking in a room at any given time, your voice can only carry so far and still be effective. If the largest and loudest voice in the room suddenly goes silent, all of a sudden all the other sounds take on much greater significance.

According to Tibetan Shaman, the eclipse is caused by Rahulas, demonic planets, temporarily devouring the sun or moon so that they gain more power. Not only are your actions more powerful at this time, but they are more needed by the world because the eclipse is seen as moment of ill-omen leaving a gate open for negative influence.

Now you may not know this about me, but I am the mythic Yuleclipse Fairy. I need you to know a few things.

Tuesday is a lunar eclipse. It will be visible from most of North America

Tuesday is also the Winter Solstice - the longest night.

Tuesday is the first night that a lunar eclipse has occured on a Winter Solstice in 456 years.

Tuesday is the day that you will be outside doing magic.

If you don't do something I will know and I will be displeased.  You don't want to piss me off. Just get your lazy ass out there and meditate, cast a spell, dance a jig, do something!



Now for something funny that is only here because of the word "eclipse", 

On Secret Identities

I recently switched career paths and my new job has a lot of people on facebook and does a fair bit of informal communication via FB. Though I could have just kept my FB private, I wanted to participate, so I created a separate non-occult related Facebook Page. This surprised a more than a few people that I, a published Author, lecturer, and professional Sorcerer would choose to be "in the closet". Since there are so many people who feel passionately about being out of the closet I thought it would be a good discussion for the blog.

Funny enough, while most Pagans want to get people more and more out of the closet, I actually recommend that Sorcerers stay in the closet! This position has surprised a couple people. There are three main reasons for staying in the closet about your magical practice, and I am not sure that people think very much about all three.

1. OUTSIDERS: This is the obvious one and it doesn't need much explaining. If your concerns are mostly about Wicca or Paganism as a religious movement than it totally makes sense to make a stand and come out of the closet despite whatever resistance you receive. I respect this highly and do not want the rest of my post to seem like I do not. A lot of people today have an understanding about these kinds of things anyway.

If however you are mostly about magic rather than religion, than you might be concerned more with how being "out" will effect your success and acceptance. This too is valid. Some institutions are better than others. When I hear someone that works for the state, tell someone who works for a Catholic Charity that they don't understand why they wont come out of the closet at work, I just shake my head because they are very different environments.

2. INSIDERS: This is actually my primary reason for being in the closet at work and in certain social circles. Despite the reasons above the worst scenario is not that someone I work with discovers my books or blog. The nightmare scenario is when someone that likes my work or who I do work for decides to come to my job or call up or leave a message about demons or exorcism or some shit like that. The nightmare for many of us that have professional careers is not them, its us.

Think it doesn't happen? It has happened. I was outed at AIG in the 90's by someone having an "emergency" and needing me to cast a spell for them immediately. I had a friend who lost his job at Motorola based on a similar situation.

Unfortunately if you are involved socially in any kind of Pagan or Occult community you have to deal with a higher than normal ratio of people that range from having little to no discretion to being nearly insane. If you see me out on the street and want to say hi, please do. But if you don't know who I am with, please do not share the story about how my book on protection magic helped you fend off a cult that was cursing you. Do not tell the group of my friends what a great lecture on Necromancy I gave. Do not ask the people I am with what "tradition" they practice in. The rule should be to assume discretion unless given the all-clear by whoever you are talking to to speak openly.

3. MAGIC: Being out about religion is not the same as being out about magic. You may be a Wiccan and have your co-workers fully accept and get behind your talk of the God and Goddess, Sabbats, Circles, etc. Do not expect those same people to be quite as accepting if you start talking about the spells you do with business cards to influence the minds of your boss, or rituals to insure promotion, or even your incantation to get laid. Witchcraft the religion and witchcraft the craft can be two different things when dealing with outsiders.

Besides that, as a Sorcerer you may be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or even Athiest. The religion is not what you are keeping in the closet, so what gets served by letting everyone know that you are a magician?

Anyway, lesson that I want you to take away from this post is not whether you should come out. It's simply that you should respect whatever decision that other people make based on their circumstances.

A rebuttal to Bathazars post.

I tried to post this to Balthazars blog, but I have too many characters so I will post it here. I am sure that most of my readers also follow his blog, but just in case THIS is the post I am replying to.


Balthazar, I am usually right on with your thinking but I have to say that you are WAY off on this one in a number of ways.

1. First and foremost, Esoteric traditions are not made to appeal to most people. They provide a direct experience and self-transformation and all that you say that they do, but all of that is NOT what 90% of the world wants from religion. To borrow a term from Ken Wilbur they are not looking for transcendence, they are looking for translation.

People want a faith tradition to tell answer basic questoions (ie: translate the world). What happens when I die? How do I be a good person? What is the meaning of it all? The reality is that most people in this life are not mystics or magicians yet they need a spiritual outlet and spiritual guide. And that is OK. Most people are not mystics and not meant to be mystics. The roles of Pistis and Gnosis are VERY different. Complimentary but different.

Paganism is going through the change of its esoteric core growing an exoteric body of people around it who like the festivals and seasonal rites but have no interest in Witchcraft. This is a good thing overall for the growth of the current.

2. If you take any Diasporic or esoteric religion you mention above and make it serve the same function and sheer size of population that an exoteric religion does it, will become just as susceptible to corruption as any other. A look at the history of Haiti, or neighborhoods like the Bronx with a large enough Santeria population will spell that out for you real quick.

Catholicism has done a lot of harm in Africa by preaching against condoms, on the other hand African Traditional Religion has also done much harm in recomending people NOT take AIDS meds that are available and instead relying upon "traditional" cures like raping virgins, usually VERY young girls. Think this is exaggerated? One of my best friends counselled battered and raped women in South Africa - she will tell you different.

2. The Athiests argument is entirely based on straw man versions of the religions they attack and selective evidence. Yes horrible things happen in the same of religion. Horrible things happen in the same of politics. Horrible things happen in the same of national, tribal, and ethnic pride. This does not make these things evil, it makes them of the world. Human nature is such that we do shitty things out of self interest and use whatever is nearby to justify it. Religion is quite convenient. Without religion it is easy to see how evil men would find some other justification.

On the other hand it is not so easy to see what would replace exoteric religion for what it has done good. I know a woman who just recently gave up everything to go help start a school in Honduras. Another who dedicates her life to serving those on death row. Others who have risked their lives to feed and shelter people in war zones where even the UN and secular agencies have pulled out. There are entire countries in Africa that were only held together by churches who were standing up and talking peace and order when the government was dissolved. In all these cases people have been moved by Jesus or the teachings of the Buddha.

Cases like this are ignored by the Athiests or written off as humanities naturally good inclination despite religion. BULLSHIT.

3. You mention in your comment that you are speaking of all exoteric religions. What great evils have been committed in the name of Buddhism? This has been something that the Athiests have had a hard time with. All the talk of Dogma and Afterlife that you do above has absolutely no bearing on Buddhist or Taoist thought.

4. Your statement that the African Diasporic religions hold older unbroken traditions than other religions is unsupported by anything. In what way is it an older unboken line than other religions? The lines of the ATR's are no less (or more) broken than any other religion and definately not older by any means.

Again, I think you are an amazing writer, a great Rootworker and a very spiritual fellow but in this you are dead wrong. Your post really boils down to the same old "your religions suck and mine is awesome" argument that causes the worst religious conflicts.

Prompt Succor

I will be writing a proper blog post or two as soon as time permits, but in the meantime I just HAD to spread the word about Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

I have used her twice in the last week for very material related issues and she delivered each time on the same day! If you need something now, as far as I am concerned, Prompt Succor is even more potent than St Expedite.

Added bonus for those of us that are lovers of New Orleans, she is one of the Patron Saints of the City and the figure that Catholics turn to when hurricanes approach. The Novena that I use from "Favorite Catholic Novenas for All Occasions", easily one of my most often used spell books, even mentions her connection to New Orleans.

Dear Lady. You rock. Thank you. Amen.

Above is a painting of her over the Battle of New Orleans. Below is a statue from the Chapel at the Ursuline Convent.

Twin Peaks by MC Chris

Watched the Twin Peaks episode of Psych last night, very funny.

In related news someone sent me this link, which you must watch if you are a Twin peaks fan.




I still maintain that Twin Peaks can act as magical training for comminicating with certain spirits.