Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Post No. 631 - An End of Year Miscellany

Today is the day officially regarded in countries with a Judaeo-Christian history (as opposed to, say, the Northern European [British?] Pagan calendar, which views Samhain as the changing of the year) and Gregorian calendar (as opposed to, say, the Hindu calendar, the Julian calendar still used by Orthodox neochristians, the Islamic calendar, or the Buddhist system which is blended with the Gregorian calendar in Thailand) as the last day of the year. So, I'm going to tidy up a few loose ends with this miscellany.

 Some brief notes on how I do the "Psychic Weather Reports"

In essence, this is an exercise in dowsing. What is being dowsed, however, is not water, or a mineral, or the answers to questions: it is (with the simplified system I currently use) the overall state of positive (BPLF, or balancing) or negative (nonBPLF, or unbalanced / unbalancing) energies in a particular location. So, what I do is:
  1. Establish and check BPLF [1] protection (those are some of the many words I have realised I need to add to my glossary - ah well, I'll get to it when time and energy permit, and will use the interim 'definition's for now), including, in this instance, either my simplified or the more formal version of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of Pentagram (see here and here);
  2. open my psychic sensing by opening my chakras;
  3. check that my dowsing crystal is cleared, and ready, willing and able to do this work (if not, which can happen, I have other crystal pendulums that I can use, but one is dedicated to this work and not used for anything else);
  4. do the dowsing, which:
    as a description of the simple mechanics/procedures, involves:
         - pointing with one finger at a location (region) on my map whilst asking the pendulum to swing to indicate how much BPLF/nonBPLF energy is present at that location,
         - the pendulum then swings at an angle to indicate this: furthest to the left indicates least energy, furthest to the right indicates most, in the centre is a 5, and I interpret the sing and, if there is any uncertainty, ask the pendulum "is that X?" and "is that Y", and see which gives the strongest response.

    There are other ways to do this - for instance, I know of one expert who counts the number of circles left and right. I've tried that, and it doesn't work for me, but it may well do so for others.

    While doing this, I am holding the pendulum at a length that intuitively feels right for me. Lobsang Rampa describes, in "Candlelight" (pp. 12-29 inclusive; pub. Corgi, 1973  ISBN 0 552 09390 4), a procedure for checking the length of the cord to use for dowsing for specific substances which is very good ... I just don't know how one would apply it to BPLF and nonBPLF energy - and, although I don't consider myself an expert on dowsing, I have considerable experience with the techniques I use, and thus have confidence in the length (see here for some of the techniques I've used and encourage others to use). I'll still keep publishing the disclaimer in my more or less weekly Psychic Weather reports, however, as (a) it encourages people to think and to check, (b) there is a theory that a dowsing with a pendulum will inevitably be incorrect for two hours of every day, and (c) I could still be wrong (the book I'm writing based on this blog has the sub-title "A Farewell to Certainty :) ).

    Now, looking at this more deeply, this is an example of the Magickal Principle of Harmony (Watery Magickal Law of Frequency), in that the pendulum is acting like a radio that is tuned to the frequency of that which is being dowsed.

    More prosaically, the whole issue of dowsing is a bit like using other divinatory tools, such as Tarot: a way of bypassing blocks (often unconscious) one may have about being psychic, or blocks that may hinder one's accuracy. (It does not bypass any karmic restrictions on being accurate, by the way - another reason for me to keep publishing my disclaimer :) )
  5. Shuffle and draw rune cards to indicate the nature of the energy, and dowse for the magickal laws and Principles those energies are acting though using the following sheet, holding my hand at the centre of the lower edge, and then seeing in which direction the pendulum swings, which is a fairly standard technique for using a pendulum (apologies for the faintness of the yellow)
     
  6. Draw the contours (the hardest bit - one day I may be able to find - and afford! - software to do this for me :) ), write up the interpretations, and post; 
  7. Close my psychism down (by closing my chakras), close the circle, ground and release all negative energy, flame and shield, and then have breakfast to complete the grounding.
So ... now that I've written that ... anyone else want to have a go? Perhaps do a more detailed version in area you live in?


 Selections from the "Zen Habits" blog



 A Critique of "The Secret"

The whole of the books and DVDs sold under this title boil down to being a prolonged, enthusiastic and simplistic exposition in favour of using the Law of Attraction. In a nutshell, this is the idea that one creates their own reality  which, with qualifications, I consider true enough - although my proposed set of Magickal Laws explains this as a combination of the Magickal Principle of Energy, the  Magickal Principle of Dynamism, and the Magickal Principle of Harmony.

The qualifications are:
  1. there are other influences, such as karma, which may override our efforts at creating a reality for ourselves that we consider nicer for the sake of our learning or others well being - and others have the right to be free of any control we may exert;
  2. we are complex creatures, including a component that I generally refer to as the Higher Self: if our Higher Self has determined that we should undergo something for the sake of our learning, it doesn't matter how much we try to attract something 'nicer', it won't happen; and
  3. there are other attempts at attracting or manifesting changes in operation - not all human, and some of these will inevitably conflict.
My biggest concern with this commercial product, however, is the allegation that we have no responsibility towards making the world a better place. What utter RUBBISH - we do have exactly that responsibility; that duty is in fact a key part of spirituality, one which has been sadly neglected by too many.

So, overall: nothing new, and presented in a nonBPLF manner.

 and finally, some reading

  • a perspective on economic/social problems in the USA and the Occupy movement that is worth reading and thinking about, in my view (I’m also considering tracking down a copy of the mentioned book by Edward T. Hall, “The Silent Language”, and maybe “Beyond Culture”, which apparently included the following “A key factor in explaining the sad state of American education can be found in overbureaucratization [sic], which is seen in the compulsion to consolidate our public schools into massive factories and to increase to mammoth size our universities even in underpopulated states. The problem with bureaucracies is that they have to work hard and long to keep from substituting self-serving survival and growth for their original primary objective. Few succeed. Bureaucracies have no soul, no memory, and no conscience. If there is a single stumbling block on the road to the future, it is the bureaucracy as we know it.” [from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Culture, which cites this as being on p. 219] ): http://neopagan.net/blog/2011/11/22/on-occupy/;
  • I’ve found a PDF version of a “common book of witchcraft and Wicca”, at http://goo.gl/9L9HdT (goes to https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5uzeC0N3AWkRVdnUjZ0VkpQZHM/view?pli=1, if you find that easier), which includes material from Oberon Zell, Abby Willowroot and others, but appears to be a Correllian Tradition book to a significant extent (I’m still working my way through it) – which I will mention in case that is of concern to you, Dear Reader. The book begins with a quote from Phaedra Bonewits: “Pagans don’t have a holy book, they have libraries”. This also includes LOTS of chants (the motivation behind the book was apparently an author stopping variations of a chant in 2012), the Gaea Hypothesis, biographies, an assessment of Witchcraft having been in the USA before Wicca was taken there, and basic material such as correspondences for the quarters – albeit with a Northern Hemisphere viewpoint – and some rituals. Curiously, doing research on authors on this site led to one of the first online sites I ever visited after I started exploring Paganism: http://spiralgoddess.com/SiteMap.html. One of the authors claims – elsewhere on the Internet - that Manson is innocent, which I find seriously disturbing. That author’s contribution here is so-so, but as I skimmed that I was struck by a thought that a lot of the material (not all) lacks citations – although I tend to do the same, when writing for a small, specific audience such as a Coven, and I suspect much of this material had that origin. This also probably gets into the area of Unverified Personal Gnosis. Notwithstanding that point, I found the material on Sea Priestess training interesting from a superficial skim, and will go back and look at that later;
  • http://www.theage.com.au/comment/tony-abbotts-compassionate-parents-comments-irritate-and-are-presumptive-20141225-12cld1.html;
  • “Restoring the Skill” – after major life efforts or doing a lot of psychic work (from the Correllian Tradition): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFnRMAwFvrE;
  • some small-minded misinterpretations of these tweets, which are actually making a few good points about Isaac Newton and the holiday as it currently is: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/neil-degrasse-tyson-causes-a-stir-with-christmas-tweet-20141227-12eirc.html;
  • this begins with a humorous and seasonally appropriate beginning, and makes some points I consider quite valid (about diversity): http://wildhunt.org/2014/12/tiz-the-season-to-syncretize.html;
  • another very socially perceptive column from this author: http://wildhunt.org/2014/12/invisible-among-us.html.

On other matters:

[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr, WĂ©ofodthegn 
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux … aka Morinehtar … Would-be drĂ˝icgan or maga ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index is here.

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ... See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "Pagans for Peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour, and see also here and be flexible. 

I am a Walker upon the Path of Balanced Positivity, seeking Spiritual Maturity.
  • neither eloquence nor inarticulateness inherently indicates correctness, but, as words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • Our entire life experience, with all the many wondrous and varied people, places and events in it, is too small a sample for statistical reliability about Life. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master.
  • The means shape the end.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
  • All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...

Human dignity is the inherently cumulative holistic combination of human rights, wellbeing and potential, and all actions or interaction which promote, realise or facilitate same. The converse also applies: whatever degrades, diminishes or robs humans of dignity, is inherently undignified.
Gnwmythr

The “purpose” of spiritual evolution is not the attainment of “spiritual perfection” - not in the sense of not having to evolve further, at any rate, since there is no such thing. We need to evolve in order to grow - but we can take rest breaks (hopefully well earned :) ) along the way. No, the “purpose” of evolution is, rather, to perfect our ability to learn, and thus grow.
Gnwmythr

Our greatest struggle with, to borrow from pop culture, the Jedi-Sith scale, is not with the Sith, whether they are hiding or not: it is with the annoying, snotty-nosed, heroine/hero-worshipping little kid who keeps intruding, stopping us from being cool enough to be with our heroines/heroes, the big kids ...
Gnwmythr
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious.
Jane Elliott

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.
(based on writing by) Edmund Burke

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
John F. Kennedy

Tags: calendar, checking, dowsing, energy work, magick, protection, psychic weather, reading, rituals, selfishness, Wheel of the Year,
First published: Wodansdagr, 31st December, 2014
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Wednesday, 31st December, 2014
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