Post No. 905 - Reading

These links are, in part, to pass on useful or potentially useful information to help others learn and grow and develop, as I have been helped by others doing the same for me. If nothing else, some of these at least might stimulate some useful thought – and disagreeing intelligently with something can sometimes be a useful exercise. (Also, these are links I would like any future incarnations of me to come across and read :) )

Every one of the ‘bad news’ stories which I may have provided links for is an opportunity – but, furthermore, so are many of the ‘good’ news stories, which often requires nonBPLF units to be cleared to prevent blocking of improvements, to help those who are busting their guts and becoming exhausted trying to make good things happen, and to provide some much needed BPLF healing, energy, inspiration and encouragement.
Also, keep in mind that reading these stories may well stimulate links you personally have to similar units (energies, links, etc). Immediately, that gives you a chance to improve both yourself and the world by dealing constructively with any nonBPLF units through good shadow work, and by strengthening any BPLF units.

I now lump these links into three broad categories:

• Links on spiritual/metaphysical/psychic/Pagan matters;
• Some other links I consider relevant to consideration of spiritual/moral/ethical and related matters;
• Links on other matters.

As you read these, I wish you good hunting, good working, and the odd bit of fun :) , so let’s begin.

G'day, hello, howdy, hi, zdravstvujtye (some of my work colleagues are Russian), guten tag (where I have connection owing to a recent past life), sveiki, czesc (I have friends, not just colleagues, at work who are Polish), bonjour (colleagues at a former workplace were French, and we practised and tried to extend my woeful and limited range of this language), selamat pagi (one of the best junior engineers I ever worked with was Malaysian, and she taught me a few words), annyeonghaseyo, pryvit, bitaem, como vai (a friend of mine a few years ago, although not Brazilian, had Portuguese ancestry), ¡Hola (a former work colleague and friend, a VERY talented artist - with a Mexican sensibility to her artwork, particularly around the Day of the Dead - used to teach me Mexican Spanish), Selamat pagi, ni hao (ah, my work trips to Asia, and the many wonderful, wonderful people I have met there - and some excellent work colleagues and friends here, as well), bongiorno (my current home city of Melbourne has lots of Italians, who have made our culture far richer - and made us coffee snobs :) ), hoschakal, hejsan, ciao, jo napolt kivanu, chào bà, chào ông, yiassou (from the city which has, I understand, the largest collection of Greek people outside of Greece), ceau, salam wa aleikum, sawas dee ka, dia duit, hoi, hei, namaste, marhaba, dobry den, hej, konnichiwa, kihineh, hæ.

WARNING: some of these links may contain triggers around issues such as violence, sexual assault, discrimination.

Links on spiritual/metaphysical/psychic/Pagan matters:

• a history of the pentagram (note: I disagree with the current attributions used);
• more on the problems on Wikipedia here, from the “Skeptical about Skeptics” website (which has quite a few posts worth reading and thinking about – don’t just automatically agree or disagree, think objectively, and critically – not “pseudo-sceptically”; also see here), which has links to here, a very informed and credibly presented defence of homeopathy, and here, the latest post at a website on concerns about Wikipedia’s current approach,
• a critique of a film about a haunting from one of the people at the real life events the film was “based on”;
• a speculation on the value of being psychic in emergency situations (apologies if I have posted that before);
• on passion;
• on polytheism;
• I tend towards the “personal is political” view, but this has an excellent counter-balance to that;
• the problems and benefits of “purity”;
• polytheistic Deities are not jealous, thank the Goddesses and Gods;
• eco-shrines and local focus;
• “voices of TERF transphobic hate deserve the same treatment that those of the KKK and white supremacists get”;
• “death cafes”;
• the importance of knowing how one reacts, and balancing all things;
• the need to look after oneself from time to time;
• "Authenticity doesn't have to be vicious”;
• choices;
• “How “Gods Before Politics” Perpetuates Privilege”, which contains a few interesting quotes (and many good thoughts), such as Gandhi’s quote “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is” (which suggests to me a need to call out / challenge neochristian influences), and “When I observe someone saying ‘This is not a political space’ what I hear is ‘I have never had to think about whether or not my sort of person is welcome to show up' ”;   what happens when one refuses to learn karmic lessons;   an interview about Ifá, which has the best explanation of Orisha (better than the Wikipedia link!) that I’ve come across;

From the Correllian YouTube channel:   feeling guilty at being successful with magick (the “cure” has a focus on shadow work);   the use of conscious astral travel as preparation for dying – including deliberately practising one’s “death walk” (apparently from the “Living the Wiccan Way” book – there is also a series of programmes);   working with warnings from energy states;   the variety of meanings of symbols;   flexibility in use of music, and the impacts of bells / sound;

From Victor Zammit’s weekly email newsletters:   “An excerpt of Bruce Greyson, MD, PhD, from the panel discussion "Beyond the Brain: The Experiential Implications of Neurotheology", speaking about how the brain does not equal the mind, and how near death experiences can contribute to knowledge about the mind-body connection” (from this newsletter, if the link doesn’t work);   “There are many reports of people in a crisis saying that they were helped by a loved one in spirit. In this case a young girl trapped in a perilous fire prays to her Maori grandfather for help. She and her rescuer are overcome with a strange peace” (from this newsletter, if the link doesn’t work);   a great new resources website;

Links on society generally and other matters:

• a critique of artificial intelligence which doubts it will take over the world;
• an excellent article on the “let them eat cake” type arrogance of those who presume everyone can travel – or buy expensive homes / cars /etc;
• perceptions and misperceptions: those who are poor who pass as middle class;  

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr, Pagan Energy Worker, Wéofodthegn

I am revamping my former website, and getting at least one other underway (pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux … aka Morinehtar … would-be drýicgan 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. The reasons for my caution when using Wikipedia are 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 for a few minutes at some time between 8 and 11 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear 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. 

May the best in me, my Higher Self,
and those of the Clear Light who assist me,
help me to keep myself grounded, centred and shielded,
to be Balanced and a Fulcrum of Balance,
a centre of Balanced Positivity and Spiritual Maturity,
with my aura continuously cleansed, cleared and closed,
repelling all negative or unwanted energies,
whilst allowing positive, balancing and healing energies in and through.

The real dividing line is not between Christianity and Islam, Sunni and Shia, East and West. It is between people who believe in coexistence, and those who don’t.

Tom Fletcher, Former UK Ambassador to Lebanon

• All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...

Tags: activism, discrimination, emotions, fear, hauntings, pentagram, psychism, reading, scepticism, society, technology,

First published: Sunnudagr, 17^th July, 2016

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Sunday, 17^th July, 2016

Post No. 838D - the fifth set of keywords

Owing to Blogger's limits on keywords, when I have a lot I have to post them in batches. This is the fifth lot of keywords for this post.

Keywords:

abuse of power, anger, animals, artificer, attitudes, authentic presence, awareness, balance, Balanced Positive, Bhakti, blackmail, blood, challenge, change, chaos, children, circle, clairvoyance, concentration, consequences, control, death, Deities, dimensions, discrimination, divination, dowsing, Earth (element), earthbound entities, elements, emotions, energy work, equal and opposite reaction, ethics, evil, faery, faith, family, fear, fight or flight or network and nurture, Fire (element), focus, folk lore, forgiveness, friends, genes / genetics, gifts / giving, grounding, growth orientation, guilt, healing, history, honour, ignorance, informed decisions, insularity, invisibility, invocation, isolation, judging others, justice, knowledge, language, levels, limitations, love, Mӕgan, magic, magickal language, magickal techniques and styles, magickal tools, manifestation, metaphysical mass, metaphysics, moral courage, motivation, mythology, myths, names, neochristianity, nightfall, Paganism, pain, Pentacle, pentagram, personal responsibility, perspective, phenomena, power, prejudice, preparation, prophecy, protection, psychic attack, psychic development, psychism, psychology, racism, reincarnation, rescue, residue, responsibility, revenge, risks, rituals, sacrifice, scepticism, Seelie, self knowledge, sexism, shielding, (the) Sight, society, spells, Spiritual Maturity, spirituality, subconscious, submissiveness, sunrise, survival after death, teaching, telepathy, temperature, tests, thaumaturgy, the Greater Good, train others how to treat us, uncooperative, understanding, undetectability, Unseelie, ward, werewolf, yoga,

Post No. 803 - an update on the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

I've posted about this previously, including a so-called "Egyptian" version, and, in this post, some information on how to draw pentagrams (the diagram below, from that post, shows the banishing sequence: for invoking, I start at the top and keep working clockwise).

 I've subsequently added elements from my study via the Open Source Order of the (mystical) Golden Dawn (OSOGD) and of working with elements generally: you need to read what the OSOGD has to say about this ritual and the referenced signs (here, here and here) before trying to use them (and others as well - for instance, here, here, here, here, here, etc).

The ritual I now use has the following broad steps (for the Southern Hemisphere):

(1) BANISHING

1.1 Qabbalistic Cross
1.2 pentagrams to the Quarters
1.3 invoke Archangels

(2) INVOKING

2.1 Qabbalistic Cross
2.2 pentagrams to the Quarters
2.3 invoke Archangels

RITUAL PHASE (1) - BANISHING
based on the LESSER BANISHING RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM (see also here), and the QABBALISTIC CROSS

1.1 Qabbalistic Cross

1.1 (a) Touch forehead, vibrate "AH – TEY"
1.1 (b) Point downwards, vibrate "MAHL – KOOTH"
1.1 (c) Touch right shoulder, vibrate "VE – G’BOO – RAH"
1.1 (d) Touch left shoulder, vibrate "VE – G’DOO – LAH"
1.1 (e) Fold hands at chest, vibrate "LIH – OH – LAH – MEN"

1.2 pentagrams to the Quarters

1.2 (a) Go to or face east,
- draw pentagram (starting at lower left and going clockwise - the first line is as if "throwing mucky stuff up to heaven to be got rid of"),
- then touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "AH – DOH – NYE" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew AShRH, or Asherah), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Air to seal the work in this Quarter:

1.2 (b) Carry line to or face north,
- draw pentagram (starting at lower left leg and going clockwise),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "AH – DOH – NYE" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew ADNI, or Adonai), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Fire to seal the work in this Quarter:

1.2 (c) Carry line to or face west,
- draw pentagram (starting at lower left leg and going clockwise),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "AH – DOH – NYE" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew EHIH, or Eheih), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Water to seal the work in this Quarter:

1.2 (d) Carry line to or face south,
- draw pentagram (starting at lower left leg and going clockwise),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "AH – DOH – NYE" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew AGLA, which is an abbreviation for Ateh Gibor Leolahm Adonai, or, in English, To Thee be the Power unto the Ages, O my Lord), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Earth to seal the work in this Quarter:

1.2 (e) Carry line to or face east completing circle and return to centre.
If I wish to be sure of the protection, I will then repeat the pentagram, thinking of this as "locking" the circle.

1.3 invoke Archangels

1.3 (a) Stand with arms outstretched,
- then visualise a great beam of bright light coming down from above, and passing through the vertical axis of your body, followed by a great beam of bright light from the side (I generally use the right side as the source) and passing through the heart, thus creating a great cross of light;

1.3 (b) Then say the following as do the visualisations of the Archangels, facing OUTWARDS:

• "BEFORE ME RAPHAEL,"
  (visualise the Archangel as a young male, dressed in golden colours, and holding a sword up)
• "ON MY LEFT MICHAEL,"
  (visualise the Archangel as a mature male, dressed in red colours, and holding a spear)
• "BEHIND ME GABRAEL,"
  (visualise the Archangel as a young woman, dressed in autumnal colours [I use brown, yellow and red], and holding a cup)
• "ON MY RIGHT AURIEL,"
  (visualise the archangel as a mature woman, dressed in earthy colours [I use green and brown], and holding a shield)
• "FOR ABOUT ME ARE THE FLAMES OF HEAVEN,
  "AND ABOVE ME IS THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN."

RITUAL PHASE (2) - INVOKING
based on the LESSER BANISHING RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM (see also here), and the QABBALISTIC CROSS.

This is based on invoking the sphere "Kether". To invoke other Spheres, substitute the name with either the name of the Sphere you wish to invoke (in fact, I frequently do that, and say "Keth-her" rather than use the God name), or the relevant God name.

2.1 Qabbalistic Cross

2.1 (a) Touch forehead, vibrate "AH – TAH"
2.1 (b) Point downwards, vibrate "MAHL – KOOTH"
2.1 (c) Touch right shoulder, vibrate "VE – G’BOO – RAH"
2.1 (d) Touch left shoulder, vibrate "VE – G’DOO – LAH"1.1e Fold hands at chest, vibrate "LIH – OH – LAH – MEN"

2.2 pentagrams to the Quarters

2.2 (a) Go to or face east,
- draw pentagram (starting at top and going anticlockwise - the first line is as if "drawing the blessings of heaven downwards"),
- then touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "EH – HEY – EE – AH" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew AShRH, or Asherah), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

 - draw the sigil of the Lord of Air to seal the work in this Quarter:

2.2 (b) Carry line to or face north,
- draw pentagram (starting at top and going anticlockwise ),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "EH – HEY – EE – AH" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew ADNI, or Adonai), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Fire to seal the work in this Quarter:

2.2 (c) Carry line to or face west,
- draw pentagram (starting at top and going anticlockwise ),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "EH – HEY – EE – AH" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew EHIH, or Eheih), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Water to seal the work in this Quarter:

2.2 (d) Carry line to or face south,
- draw pentagram (starting at top and going anticlockwise ),
- touch the centre of the pentagram, and simultaneously vibrate "EH – HEY – EE – AH" to activate the pentagram
- visualise the following writing (Hebrew AGLA, which is an abbreviation for Ateh Gibor Leolahm Adonai, or, in English, To Thee be the Power unto the Ages, O my Lord), then make the "Sign of the Enterer", then the "Sign of Silence" (see here, about half way down):

- draw the sigil of the Lord of Earth to seal the work in this Quarter:

2.2 (e) Carry line to or face east completing circle and return to centre.
If I wish to be sure of the protection, I will then repeat the pentagram, thinking of this as "locking" the circle.

2.3 invoke Archangels

2.3 (a) Stand with arms outstretched,
- then visualise a great beam of bright light coming down from above, and passing through the vertical axis of your body, followed by a great beam of bright light from the side (i generally use the right side as the source) and passing through the heart, thus creating a great cross of light;

2.3 (b) Then say the following as do the visualisations of the Archangels, facing INWARDS:

• "BEFORE ME RAPHAEL,"(visualise the Archangel as a young male, dressed in golden colours, and holding a sword up)
• "ON MY LEFT MICHAEL,"(visualise the Archangel as a mature male, dressed in red colours, and holding a spear)
• "BEHIND ME GABRAEL,"(visualise the Archangel as a young woman, dressed in autumnal colours [I use brown, yellow and red], and holding a cup)
• "ON MY RIGHT AURIEL,"(visualise the archangel as a mature woman, dressed in earthy colours [I use green and brown], and holding a shield)

• "FOR ABOUT ME ARE THE FLAMES OF HEAVEN,""AND ABOVE ME IS THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN."

I have a single diagram that I have summarised what are, at the present, the key aspects of this for me (from which some of the above diagrams came from):

(I use an ankh as the sigil for Aether.)


For the sake of completeness of this post, I am also going to add the revised (short version) daily protection prayer I use:

May the best in me, my Higher Self,

and those of the Clear Light who assist me,

help me to keep myself grounded, centred and shielded,

to be Balanced and a Fulcrum of Balance,

a centre of Balanced Positivity and Spiritual Maturity,

with my aura continuously cleansed, cleared and closed,

repelling all negative or unwanted energies,

whilst allowing positive, balancing and healing energies through.

and the opening and closing prayers I use:

May the Goddess guide, nurture, protect and heal all of us present here, whatever our form, existence or purpose for coming here may be.
We ask that the assistance be both within and without ourselves:

• within, by increasing our spiritual strengths and our love, and by reducing our weaknesses;
• without, through the assistance of our and other Balanced Positive Spiritual Force Guides and helpers, our Higher Selves, the Ancestors and by being connected to positive energy centres.

We ask that the protection without include a Pyramid of Light about this place, existing in all dimensions. We ask that our Pyramid be kept continuously clear of all negative or discordant units, and free of all outside negative influences.
May this prayer, and everything that is done, thought or said by anyone present or connected to here in any way, be only for the Highest Spiritual Good. As a sign of our commitment to this request, we ask that all that we intentionally do to others be done immediately to us, so that we may know no harm is being done.
So mote it be.

closing prayer:

We ask that our auras be cleansed, cleared and closed. We ask that we be assisted to close down and to centre ourselves, grounding and releasing all excess energy in doing so. We ask that the pyramid be cleansed and cleared in all times, dimensions, realities, levels and spaces. We ask that all positive links, skills outcomes and other things be strengthened. We ask that the circle be cleansed, cleared and closed, but that the protection, healing and guidance continue for the Highest Spiritual Good.
So mote it be.

and the following variations of the "Dharma Wrapper" and "Dedication of Merit" exercises of the OSOGD that I have posted about previously:

• Asking for Help
  With your eyes open, visualize the rune Wunjo * (for its connection to spiritual ecstasy) at your heart, take a deep breath and sound the rune’s name, long and strong (mentally, if you cannot do so out aloud), letting the vibration centre on the image of the rune and radiating gold light in all directions, carrying your desire to be of service for this meditation. While sounding and visualising, imagine all beings that have vowed to help you, your Patron Deities, BPLF Guides, and your Higher Self, in the space all around you … and all those who are also doing this work. Imagine that they hear you, and turn to face you.
  Receiving Help
  Close your eyes and take another deep breath. Do another long chant of Wunjo and visualise yourself all the other beings present have a golden Wunjo light up at their heart chakras, as they join your chant and radiate golden light at you (and anyone you are working with). This light fills up your body with “all good things” and pushes out “all bad things”.
  Sharing Help
  Having been purified and empowered by the blessing of these beings take a deep breath and open your eyes. Do another long chant of Wunjo and visualise yourself all the other beings present have a golden Wunjo light up at their heart chakras, as they join your chant and radiate golden light outwards in all directions.
• May the benefit of this act and all acts
  Be dedicated to the Spiritual Maturity, Balanced Positivity and Supreme Enlightenment
  Of all Beings everywhere, throughout Space and Time.
  
  May the benefits of practice, mine, ours and others,
  Come to fruition, Ultimately and Immediately,
  And we remain in the State of Presence.
  
  So Mote It Be.

May you find this useful, and may I find it in my future incarnations :)

[1] BPM = Balanced Positive (spiritually) Mature. See here and here for more on this.
[2] Please see here, here, 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").

[3] I apologise for the formatting: it seems Blogger is no longer as WYSIWYG as it used to be, and there are a lot of unwanted changes to layout made upon publishing, so I often have to edit it immediately after publishing to get the format as close to what I want as possible.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr, Pagan Energy Worker, Wéofodthegn

(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux … aka Morinehtar … would-be drýicgan 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 for a few minutes at some time between 8 and 11 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear 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.

The real dividing line is not between Christianity and Islam, Sunni and Shia, East and West. It is between people who believe in coexistence, and those who don’t.

Tom Fletcher, Former UK Ambassador to Lebanon

• If your “gut” (your instinct/intuition) is telling you something is wrong, but logic and the available evidence is saying otherwise, the proper conclusion to draw is that you need better, more personally credible evidence. Your “gut” could be wrong, right, or missing the nuances / “shades of grey” . So could the available evidence.
• All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...

Tags: energy, energy work, LBRP, Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, OSOGD, pentagram, prayer, protection, Qabbalah, rituals,

First published: Fryrsdagr, 1^stJanuary, 2016

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Friday, 1^stJanuary, 2016

Post No. 690 - More on Magickal Elements

My apologies: I had the order of properties wrong in the first version of this post. I have corrected the table, and, now, the pentagram. 

When I started studying Wicca, I was taught the Wiccan idea of (magickal) elements. I understood that fairly readily, as I had come across it before, and used it in many of my magickal workings – in fact, the concept probably dates back to ancient Greek philosophers (or further), and came to us via Hermeticism (there is some good information on this, if I recall correctly, in Brendan Myers’ book “The Earth, The Gods and the Souls”). However, the concept of associating an element with a particular direction was new to me – before then, when I had invoked a pentagram in a quarter, I had invoked all four mundane elements and æther in each quarter, like this:

Now, associating an element with each quarter was the way things were done in Wicca, and much of Paganism, and the explanations made sense (although, mostly, if you were in Scotland – or perhaps England), and I just adapted the correspondences to the Southern Hemisphere (and I know people who, for instance, if they are working on the west side of Port Phillip, invoke water in the east [and I see this is now mentioned on Wikipedia] – and I know others who insist on no change for the Southern Hemisphere, to the extent of insisting that people here celebrate Litha in the middle of winter!), and then, more recently, started to explore properly adapting this by using true, local seasons. However, going back to the association of elements with the points of a pentagram, other people seem to have had an association along the lines of this (from Wikipedia, author “Jakub Jankiewicz (Jcubic)”): 

(Incidentally, it is great to see a diagram with the Wiccan symbols for the elements added in as well: one of the many annoyances of life is that people tend to scatter information across multiple places, instead of summarising it into one. I find that particularly in my day job, where I consider much of the information on Process & Information Drawings [PIDs] can be combined usefully, easily and clearly with the information on Process Flow Diagrams – but I digress from this aside, and all for the sake of a good ol' grumpy whinge :) )

I’ve pretty much done nothing about the order of elements around the pentagram, other than cringe, as nails were metaphorically scraped over the magickal blackboard of my soul :) , but now I think I have found why I like the elements in the order that I do. (I think I had associated the “heavier” elements of earth and water with the lower legs of the pentagram, and the “lighter” elements of air and fire with the arms.)

I found the answer – or the missing part of the puzzle, I should say - in Agrippa’s Philosophy of Natural Magic: Complete Work on Natural Magic, White & Black Magic, published in 1559 and being the first volume of his De occulta philosophia libri tres. (Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa lived 14^th September 1486 – 18^th February 1535, and was a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist; I got my copy from the Ordo Aurum Solis’ on-line public library, but modern versions have been published as well.)

In that, Mr. Agrippa states that each element has two properties, which are various combinations of heat-cold and dry-moist. One property is referred to as “proper”, and the other as “mean”. I haven’t explored that description far enough as yet, but I suspect it means “higher octave/frequency expression” and “lower octave/frequency octave expression”, in the sense of levels - or frequencies - of reality.

Probably the clearest way for me to present that is in a (corrected) table:

Agrippa’s explanation is that the elements are in a sequence, where the “mean” property of one becomes the “proper” property of the next.

Furthermore, the order that he has the elements listed in is the order I use, if I travel around the outside of the pentagram in a clockwise direction. This brought to mind what I had been taught about elements when studying “Touch for Health” back in the 80s, which was arranging the (Eastern) elements into a pentagram, and viewing the interactions between them in two ways:

• generative, and
• control.

The generative cycle goes around the outside of the pentagram, in a clockwise direction. 

The control cycle is internal, and uses the sequence I use when drawing a pentagram to invoke (top to lower right, lower right to upper left, etc – and I am aware that some do that in a different order, but I don’t consider this related to the direction of the sun: more on that some other time). For an illustration of that, see here, which is from here.

So, in this system (and, strictly speaking, if I use Mr Agrippa’s system ӕther should perhaps be drawn either in the centre, or encompassing all on the outside, rather than using a pentagram - but when I have ever just stuck to using what I’ve been told? :) ), the “dryness” of fire generates the “dryness” of earth, the “coldness” of earth generates the “coldness” of water, etc, which could also be viewed as a category of what I term the Magickal Principle of Harmony, or what others term “like unto like”.

Also, if one had, say, an excess of stolidity (i.e., earth), one would use ӕther to control it. If one was being distracted (an excess of air), use earth to control it, and so on.

Now, in Touch For Health, when strengthening, one finishes by using the control cycle to stop the effect continuing until it becomes unbalanced. So, continuing with this exercise, possible uses of this way of viewing the elements (and this no doubt has parallels with the old idea of humours, which has – in the sense of physical medicine – been well and truly superceded) could include:

• emotionally:
  earth could steady (control) the mental flightiness of an excess of air, and possibly the passion of fire could control some emotions, such as some forms of depression, which may be an excess of water (depression has many forms and causes, and ALWAYS should be treated under competent medical supervision),
  whereas
  if one had a lack of emotion, one may need to use earth to stimulate that (e.g., if feeling numb and overwhelmed from modern life, get out into nature);
• physically (these examples are dreadful, I admit, but I’m tiring, now, after several hours of this):
  if a runny nose is due to an excess of water, it would be controlled by fire – dry heat (and a visit to the chemist),
  whereas
  if one’s temperature is high due to an excess of fire, and application of air would control it – so stand in front of a fan, in a sense;
• magickally:
  an excess of water manifesting as flitting from one thing to another could be controlled by a dose of fire – perhaps as passion for something,
  whereas
  being too passionate about something could be controlled by the inspired thought of air.

I am going to have a go at adding this to my weekly psychic weather reports, although many of those situations – as with all life – are more a case of the blend of elements. So a situation may be, for instance, 50% earth, 20% air, 15% water, 10% fire and 5% ӕther, whereas it should, perhaps be 30% earth, 20% air, 15% water, 10% fire and 25% ӕther. I'll be nominating an element to increase or to control an influence, and another to finish to stop things becoming unbalanced.

To summarise this, I’m going to present a revised diagram (and corrected, for the initial error of properties) which summarises what I have been talking about above, and includes a speculation that ӕther includes all four “properties”. This also shows my association of sigils with the elements – includes those of the (in the Hermetic sense) kings of each element, which is something that must be used with great caution (and is something I started exploring after reading Katherine  Kerr's Deverry series).

I am also missing the sigil for ӕther. I don’t know what it should be … so I will keep searching, and trying to earn the right to know. 

I’m going to finish on another note: the combination of a couple of ideas I had some time ago: tetrahedrons – specifically, protective tetrahedrons, and protective sheets (see here). My partner had the idea of using rolled up, miniaturised versions of protective sheets as a way of having portable protection – put them in your handbag, for instance, or perhaps you could make them a pagan version of the mezuzah (which I mentioned previously, but haven't got around to making yet ... ).

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

[2] Please see here, 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").

[3] I apologise for the formatting: it seems Blogger is no longer as WYSIWYG as it used to be, and there are a lot of unwanted changes to layout made upon publishing, so I often have to edit it immediately after publishing to get the format as close to what I want as possible.

Tags: about me, correspondences, elements, Hermeticism, magick, Paganism, pentagram, sigils, Wicca,

First published: Fryrsdagr, 24^th April, 2015

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Friday, 24^th April, 2015

   

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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

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