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Written April 12, 2008
They Wait
THEY COME
For a friend who forgot the caveat
They come on silent waves. No foot steps betray their presents.
Always lurking never far away. They wait, They bide their time.
Waiting and watching. Always for the right time.
They can move rapidly and remove them selves as quickly.
Or slowly they creep Unknown, Or noticed to most
Sunshine or shadows they wait. A festive time, they wait.
If the moon is right and the weary beat down. They move.
A lovely day, everyone enjoy. They come
Never alone they mass. More if needed, and more. Always out numbering.
They can not do.
But can persuade. Convincing, they grow.
More powerful they become.
Seems correct, and must be right.
They are there. They work and work to convince.
They never quit and they are good
Time immortal they are
But The promise followed stop them.
NEVER MAKE THAT IMPORTANT DECESION AT NIGHT.
ALWAYS WAIT UNTIL THE SUN
This has worked for how long? No one knows handed down thru the mists of time
But not forget the caveat…. sleep first and rest
Go to the other side and come back. First
THEY ARE HERE
written my Ccat
May 2, 2008
The Fairy Queen
Legend has it that if you sit beneath a tree on Beltane night, you may see the Fairy Queen or hear the sound of Her horse's bells as She rides through the night. Legend says if you hide your face, She will pass you by but if you look at Her, She may choose you. From my friend. La Keltik
I sat and listen, heard many things.
My eyes drew heavy
Did I hear... strained to hear,
would she be sweet and kind... or just take, to possess and then to ignore?
No,
She would liberate, with joy, not of this world.
A rattle, the wind rose and a sigh thru the trees.
Was she coming?
Would I see and be lucky enough, to be chosen?
The winds increasing and suddenly the lightening.
Was she here?
Did she see or did she reject?
The Winds power became known and grew to such a furry.
The lighting increased and yet the winds raged even more.
I felt as if my friends the trees would be ripped from their roots and cast about as so many tooth picks.
I wondered did she come and yet another, unknown to me ?
Maybe jealous?
And the two fought over me?
An inspiration,
But, I was ready to go.
To enjoy the world of the Fairy, an Elf.
Would I fit in?
But maybe unbeknownst to me another seeks and will not allow this.
O to wonder of the soft warmness and feelings of being wanted.
But maybe in an unseen world.
If I would, or could,
Open my eyes.
There are many, in this world, who would desire and fill the gaps of loneliness and darkness,
Or maybe not.
But I will have to wait again until next year.
For my chance with the Queen.
Smile
Placed in blog Jan 30, 2010
Magic is simply a matter of tuning out the constant static of society and the babble of other people, and listening to your own heart. You don't need a guru, or a therapist, or a life coach, or anyone to tell you how to listen to your heart. All you have to do is remember the original knowledge you were born with.
Look at the teachers, churchmen, scout leaders, politicians, media manipulators, businessmen, and academics whom you have permitted to define your opinions and aspirations. You know in your heart that this is all a con, a lie, a trap, but you don't see any way out of it. There is a way out, however. The path to true freedom lies in your own heart.
Magic is a point of view, a different way of looking at everyday life. The magical point of view, however, is not at all like the point of view which enables you to operate in society, and to fulfill the expectations of other people.
For example, our present-day society believes, and has taught you to believe, that spirits don't exist. They do, however. You know this in your heart. You have had psychic, paranormal experiences yourself. Everyone has. Those that say that haven't are lying to themselves (deliberating misinterpreting information that is right there in front of their eyes). You know in your heart that what society says about magic is false. Why on earth would you believe that society is telling you the truth about anything?
Magic is not a matter of altered states of consciousness, or of ooga-booga rituals. Rather, it's a matter of taking a good, hard look at your present situation. Magic means examining your everyday life and yourself objectively. Magic requires seeing yourself with no personal feelings at all, as if you were a detached critic. Our society teaches us that magic is an escape from reality. On the contrary, the practice of magic entails directly coming to grips with reality.
Magic is as ancient as humankind, but it has been forgotten in all the rush to make a buck and to fulfill other people's expectations. Now the time for magic has come around again. Magic and astrology will rise once more if the human race is to survive, not to mention prosper.
These are heady times. We can all feel the change in the air, the crackle of energy. We sense that human consciousness is going through a fundamental transformation. The human race is coming to a crunch. Human society and human consciousness are on the brink of a major breakthrough; or else of self-destruction. More and more people are casting about looking for straight answers that they're not getting from their governments, media, academics, or churches. Luckily all the answers and tools you need are right there, in your own heart, if you could only connect to it. The practice of magic will help you to make that connection.
Magic can be defined as the intentional manipulation of luck, by means of the deliberate cultivation of intuition. Most people believe that luck and intuition are haphazard affairs. Magicians, however, seek to control them.
Is magic real? It most certainly is, but not in the sense in which the popular media, such as the American television program Charmed, would have you believe. On television and in movies magicians are portrayed as having special powers that they are born with, such as freezing or repelling enemies, making things appear and disappear, and so forth. This is untrue (however, the scene in which Kim Novak bewitched Jimmy Stewart in the movie Bell, Book, and Candle is actually not that far off the mark). Magicians are like everyone else, but perhaps are more psychic and intuitive than the norm. The difference between magicians and most people is one of degree rather than of kind.
Magicians tend to be more rebellious than average, and less fearful of the consequences of their rebellion. Ever since childhood they've known that they were different somehow, that they didn't fit in; and most likely they were castigated for this by their family and schoolmates. Magicians tend not to trust in what they were taught – in what everyone around them is taking for granted – and they tend to be more ready to fly with their impulses than are average people.
This misperception about magic and magicians is a shame, since the truth about magic is far more interesting, compelling, and personally applicable in our own lives than the false stereotypes which appear in the popular media.
It's not that magicians have supernormal powers. Rather, from the magicians' point of view, most people are walking around with both hands – their intuition and intent – tied behind their backs. They are paralyzed by their fear of disapproval. They learn this fear from their parents and society, and they pass it on to their own children in turn.
Thus, to most people, magicians' use of their "hands" seems like the use of supernormal powers. However, magicians have no power beyond what most people possess – they just use their power. They use their intuition to process incoming information, and they use their intent to influence the outside world.
Most magicians don't even know that they are magicians. They do not understand or consider what they are doing to be magic, since it comes so naturally to them. Magicians who happen to be Christians or capitalists would scoff at the idea that they are magicians using magic. But anyone who applies the techniques of magic to get what they want from life, anyone who has some degree of mastery in the use of intuition and intent, is a magician.
Actually, we are all magicians. We are all performing magic all the time. Just to exist in this world requires considerable magical ability and prowess. Anybody who is highly successful and original, such as Bill Gates, for example, is using the principles of magic unknowingly. The appellation "magician" in fact transcends species. Magicians are born amongst all species: there are hawk magicians, whale magicians, oak magicians, and so forth. Magicians of any species are recognizable since they are basically outsiders who go their own way and prefer solitude to the company of other members of their species.
Human magicians actually have more in common with animal or plant magicians than they do with other humans who are not magicians. What magicians pay attention to and seek in everyday life is quite different from what most people pay attention to and seek. Most people seek security; magicians seek freedom. These two goals are incompatible.
Most people believe that they and the world surrounding them are real. Magicians believe that the world and the self are merely projections, like a movie on a screen or the shadows in Plato's cave.
Where most people seek to manipulate the world for their advantage and convenience, magicians seek to manipulate their perception. That is to say, magicians change the world by changing their perception of it, rather than by fussing about trying to make things happen outside themselves.
Where most people are guided by the conventional thinking of their culture and epoch, magicians, both black and white, are guided by spirits until they get their own intuition and intent working. Unlike the Abrahamic religions (which includes rationalistic materialism – the pseudo-science practiced in academia), magic is not a belief system: it is a cognitive system. It is a way of apprehending rather than thinking. It is a way of acting rather than talking. Magicians receive their approbation directly from the Spirit – not from society's pat on the head for being a good little doggy.
The chief difference between average people and magicians is that average people always seem to be looking for a free ride or escape from their problems. They hope and believe that they will someday have an epiphany; or meet a true guru or a soul-mate; or win the lottery; and from then on all their problems will be solved. However, even people who have had epiphanies, or met true gurus or soul-mates, or won the lottery, found that this didn't particularly solve anything for them. Do you honestly believe that the rich and famous are any happier than anyone else?
Hoping for some fantasy to come true in order to be happy is absurd. Life just isn't like that, except in the movies; and magicians, unlike average people, are supreme realists. Most of what magicians do isn't done by supernormal means, but by facing squarely the way things really are, instead of the way they have been taught to perceive them by their parents and society.
Most people chafe and struggle against their circumstances, and pine for a fantasy which will release them from their bondage. Magicians, unlike most people, start from right where they are. They accept the situation in which they find themselves right now. Magicians take responsibility for their present situation instead of trying to escape from it. In other words the secret of magic, which is commonly misunderstood, is to adapt to circumstances rather than try to dominate or control circumstances. It's by adapting yourself as best you can without losing your hope and intent, without letting your circumstances crush you or surrendering to your self-pity, that you can change your circumstances.
The first step in magic is to get beyond your assumptions. This means seeing them clearly in the first place. It implies seeing yourself as others do, for starters.
Magicians don't take anything for granted. They have no specific expectations, and the only assumption they make is that whatever happens will be a big surprise. Isn't it usually the case that when the solutions to our problems do come, they scarcely ever happen the way we anticipated and fantasized?
Thus, magicians don't have to think as much as most people do. They don't have to worry, or plan, or scheme about the future. Nor do magicians hide their shame from the past. They don't care as much as most people do about what has happened or what will happen. They know they have no real control over either their past or future, so they don't have to defend what they did or worry about what they might do.
The terms "magic" and "shamanism" or "witchcraft" are interchangeable. The main difference between paganism and magic is that paganism is a religion and magic is a technology. However the two are closely entwined for many practitioners, although you can be a magician without being a pagan. Indeed, in the literal sense of the word, there are Christian magicians, Buddhist magicians, Hindu magicians, scientist magicians, banker magicians, star athlete magicians, and so on. Anyone who is using magic to further their intent – i.e., operating on direct knowing rather than thinking, whether they are conscious of what they are doing or not – has to be considered a magician. Thus while many pagans are also magicians, not all magicians are also pagans.
Magic can be considered a spiritual path. It is a path in which you are given a lot more power and knowledge than you have earned (usually by spirits, which is the reason why magicians invoke them). In trying to control this power you are forced to put the rest of your life in order. Thus power is the spur and motivation to action.
What is power, then? It can be considered the same thing as luck, freedom, or responsibility. Power and freedom are the same thing. They both arise upon taking responsibility for your own destiny instead of just drifting along, or buying into society's version of what is good and desirable.
What is responsibility? It is not blaming other people, or God, for your own unhappiness. Rather, it is understanding that you have deliberately, if unconsciously, chosen the situations in which you find yourself.
For us as individuals to try to reconstruct magic in this dark age of materialism is tantamount to an intellectual adventurer a thousand years from now who stumbles upon some relic PC's and, knowing of legends that the ancients had machines which could think, sets out to reconstruct computer knowledge by himself.
Magic, like computer science, is most effective if society as a whole is devoting much of its energy to it. One or a few scattered individuals working alone can't accomplish much. Magic is an ancient knowledge which it is now our duty as a society to reconstruct if the human race is to survive, not to mention progress. This is what the much-vaunted coming transformation of consciousness is all about. Over the coming century, as society collapses and things start to fall apart and people lose their faith in society's lies, magic and astrology will become the world religion once more. But it's not a "religion". It's just a matter of getting beyond beliefs, opening up your heart, and seeing things as they are.
FAQ's
Does magic really exist? The answer is yes. It most assuredly does exist. The problem is that existence doesn't exist. Another way of saying this is, "You create your own reality." For example, the realities of children and primitive peoples are indeed magical, so for them magic exists. They can see it at work all the time. However our modern society trains us to reject our intuition and inner feelings about the nature of our world. By the time we reach adulthood most of us have shut down our intuitive channels and rejected the belief that we have power over our world.
In fact, our social training teaches us the contrary belief: that we are helpless, at the mercy of forces beyond our control. It is obviously not in society's interest to have dreamers and free-thinkers walking around pursuing their own visions and going their own way; or so society believes. It is society's purpose to train armies and a labor force, to have at its disposal mindless robots who will do as they are told rather than ask questions and think for themselves. Therefore, by the time most people in our society reach adulthood, they have been taught to ignore their own hearts' messages and to fear their innate magical powers.
Do magicians have supernatural power? This depends upon your definition of "supernatural. " Magicians do have supernatural power, but so does everybody else. Magicians have just developed their power. Magicians have not permitted their social training to erase as much of the power they were born with as most other people have done; or else they have recuperated it through magical training.
What is "power"? It's the same thing as luck. Luck is actually a better word for it, but the term "luck" as commonly used connotes something outside of our conscious control. We think of power as something we can consciously command. In fact, this isn't really true: it is power which commands us. But at least we are consciously aware of what's happening. Luck, on the other hand, seems serendipitous because we don't see the connection – how we are making our own luck.
What about powers like psychic healing, seeing auras, crystal gazing, knowing the future, communicating with spirits, astral projection, etc.? These are all abilities which can be developed with practice. Some people have such gifts from birth due to their karma from past lives and their particular purpose for incarnating in this lifetime.
What about stopping one's enemies with a psychic blast, or making things appear or disappear, or bewitching people? For the most part the powers that magicians have on television or in the movies are fantasy. One thing that is factually correct about how magicians with special powers are portrayed in the popular media is that having special powers isn't much help in dealing with everyday life. Bewitching other people is possible. Everybody is doing it to everyone else, albeit subconsciously, already ("love at first sight" is an example). This will be explained in a later Magical Almanac article.
Do vampires really exist? Of course (see the December 2008 issue of Magical Almanac for details). Suffice it to say that what vampires do is only an extreme form of something most people are doing to each other all the time anyway, namely sucking other people's energy (invading other people's space).
I've tried using spells (the person who wrote this, not me)
I've gotten out of books, but they don't work. This is because other people's spells are pretty much useless. It's your own intent that matters, not the words you say. To make spells work you have to have faith. It's the certainty that a spell will work which makes it work.
Do we really create our own realities? Much of the time it would seem that this isn't true. It appears to us that things just happen. But what about our dreams? Do we create them, or do they just happen?
Earlier it was said that existence doesn't exist. What this means is that what we experience when we are awake is just a dream. This is literally true. It certainly seems that what we experience in the everyday world, while we are awake, is real. However the dreams we had last night certainly seemed real also at the time we were dreaming them.
Similarly, it is merely our belief that what happens to us while we are awake is real, that makes it real. Just as when we awaken from a dream we realize that it wasn't real, so too is there a point of view from which we can awaken from being awake and realize that being awake isn't real either. That point of view is magic.
Most people intuit that magic is real, that it does work; and that the scientists and academics are lying to them when they deny this fact. This is because we still remember from childhood that the world is magical. Usually this memory is unconscious. On a conscious level our social training has made us forget what we knew as children: that the world is basically a happy place; that the sun and wind and clouds and rain are alive, and can talk to us and tell us their secrets.
Unfortunately for the seeker after truth, there is lots of misinformation floating around. New Age writers are often no more truthful than are scientists and academics. This is because lots of people who are ostensibly into magic don't really want true information. For them it's just an image they have of themselves, but they're actually afraid of true knowledge, as well they should be. To be a true magician requires tremendous courage and willingness to follow one's own intuition and intent, no matter what society or other people think. Don't believe for a minute that anyone is going to strew your path with rose petals – quite the contrary!
Being a magician necessitates uncompromising honesty with oneself. It entails, for example, facing the fact of your death directly, every day in every way. It entails seeing yourself clearly, with all your flaws and selfishness. It entails giving up the belief that you're special: that anyone, including God, owes you anything or will help or protect you. It entails understanding that you aren't going to suddenly have your luck change without you taking 100% responsibility yourself for making your dreams come true.
The reason why many people are afraid of magic isn't because they're afraid it is evil, which is what society has told them. Rather, it is because they are afraid of taking 100% responsibility for and control over their own lives. It is much easier to believe in fables like "You will go to heaven when you die" or "Your investments will still be solvent when you're ready to retire" or "Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were flukes – that'll never happen again." It's easier to fall under the spell of the lullabies which society sings to us to keep us from thinking for ourselves than to face up to the truth.
The truth is that there isn't any security in life. Neither God nor society care about what happens to you. You have no one and nothing to rely upon except yourself.
Magicians train themselves to take full responsibility for their lives. This gives them confidence in dealing with whatever may come, be it illness, poverty, death, or whatever else may happen. This is the basic tenet of magic. It is a truth that many people are afraid to face because they don't understand that being vulnerable and defenseless does not necessarily mean being helpless and powerless.
(Copyright © 2009 by Bob Makransky. All rights reserved).
Dark Blessings to all my friends. And special thanks for those that have "labeled" me.
posted Nov 26,2009
U.S. Military recognize witchcraft as a Religion.
The US Army (and by extension the US Government) defines Wicca as follows...
Government entities do recognize Wicca as a religion. In 2001, the revised edition of the U.S. Air Force Personnel Data System (MilMod) included Dianic Wicca, Druidism, Gardnerian Wicca, Pagan, Seax Wicca, Shamanism, and Wicca. Not only that, the Military Chaplain's Handbook acknowledges Wicca within its pages and outlines procedures for interacting with Wiccan and Pagan soldiers.
The excerpt US Army prepared a book for the guidance of its chaplains when dealing with a soldier of a non-traditional faith. The book is: "Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains," and was first published in 1978. The 1990 edition appears to have gone out of print. However a new version was published in 2001 under the same name. The the U.S. Department of the Army is listed as as editor 1
Pages 231-236 of the 1990 edition contained the legal recognized description of Wicca. The text appears below:
WICCA
ADDRESS: No central address. Wiccan worship groups, called covens, are essentially autonomous. Many, but far from all, have affiliated with: Covenant of the Goddess, P.O. Box 1226 Berkeley, CA 94704
OTHER NAMES BY WHICH KNOWN: Witchcraft; Goddess worshippers; Neo-Paganism, Paganism, Norse (or any other ethnic designation) Paganism, Earth Religion, Old Religion, Druidism, Shamanism. Note: All of these groups have some basic similarities and many surface differences of expression with Wicca.
LEADERSHIP: No central leadership. The Covenant of the Goddess annually elects a First Officer and there is a constitutional limit of two consecutive terms, but in practice officers have almost always served for one year only. In 1991, there are two co-First Officers, Phoenix Whitebirch and Brandy Williams.
MEMBERSHIP: Because of the complete autonomy of covens, thi! s cannot be determined. There are an estimated of 50,000 Wiccans in the United States (1).
HISTORICAL ORIGIN: Wicca is a reconstruction of the Nature worship of tribal Europe, strongly influenced by the living Nature worship traditions of tribal peoples in other parts of the world. The works of such early twentieth century writers as Margaret Murray, Robert Graves and Gerald B. Gardner began the renewal of interest in the Old Religion. After the repeal of the anti-Witchcraft laws in Britain in 1951, Gardner publicly declared himself a Witch and began to gather a group of students and worshipers. In 1962, two of his students, Raymond and Rosemary Buckland (religious names: Lady Rowen and Robat), emigrated to the United States and began teaching Gardnerian Witchcraft here. At the same time, other groups of people became interested through reading books by Gardner and others. Many covens were spontaneously formed, using rituals created from a combination of research and individual inspiration. These self-created covens are today regarded as just as valid as those who can trace a "lineage" of teaching back to England. In 1975, a very diverse group of covens who wanted to secure the legal protections and benefits of church status formed Covenant of the Goddess (CoG), which is incorporated in the State of California and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. CoG does not represent all, or even a majority of Wiccans. A coven or an individual need not be affiliated with CoG in order to validly practice the religion. But CoG is the largest single public Wiccan organization, and it is cross-Traditional (I.e. Non-denominational) .
BASIC BELIEFS: Wiccans worship the sacred as immanent in Nature, often personified as Mother Earth and Father Sky. As polytheists, they may use many other names for Deity. Individuals will often choose Goddesses or Gods from any of the world's pantheons whose stories are particularly inspiring and use those Deities as a focus for personal devotions. Similarly, covens will! use par ticular Deity names as a group focus, and these are often held secret by the groups. It is very important to be aware that Wiccans do not in any way worship or believe in "Satan," "the Devil," or any similar entities. They point out that "Satan" is a symbol of rebellion against and inversion of the Christian and Jewish traditions. Wiccans do not revile the Bible. They simply regard it as one among many of the world's mythic systems, less applicable than some to their core values, but still deserving just as much respect as any of the others. Most Wiccan groups also practice magic, by which they mean the direction and use of "psychic energy," those natural but invisible forces which surround all living things. Some members spell the word "magick," to distinguish it from sleight of hand entertainments. Wiccans employ such means as dance, chant, creative visualization and hypnosis to focus and direct psychic energy for the purpose of healing, protecting and aiding members in various endeavors. Such assistance is also extended to non-members upon request. Many, but not all, Wiccans believe in reincarnation. Some take this as a literal description of what happens to people when they die. For others, it is a symbolic model that helps them deal with the cycles and changes within this life. Neither Reincarnation nor any other literal belief can be used as a test of an individual's validity as a member of the Old Religion. Most groups have a handwritten collection of rituals and lore, known as a Book of Shadows. Part of the religious education of a new member will be to hand copy this book for him or herself. Over they years, as inspiration provides, new material will be added. Normally, access to these books is limited to initiated members of the religion.
PRACTICES AND BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS: The core ethical statement of Wicca, called the "Wiccan Rede" states "an it harm none, do what you will." The Rede fulfills the same function as does the "Golden Rule" for Jews and Christians; all other ethical teachi! ngs are considered to be elaborations and applications of the Rede. It is a statement of situational ethics, emphasizing at once the individual's responsibility to avoid harm to others and the widest range of personal autonomy in "victimless" activities. Wicca has been described as having a "high-choice" ethic. Because of the basic Nature orientation of the religion, many Wiccans will regard all living things as Sacred, and show a special concern for ecological issues. For this reason, individual conscience will lead some to take a pacifist position. Some are vegetarians. Others will feel that, as Nature's Way includes self-defense, they should participate in wars that they conscientiously consider to be just. The religion does not dictate either position, but requires each member to thoughtfully and meditatively examine her or his own conscience and to live by it. Social forces generally do not yet allow Witches to publicly declare their religious faith without fear of reprisals such as loss of job, child custody challenges, ridicule, etc. Prejudice against Wiccans is the result of public confusion between Witchcraft and Satanism. Wiccans in the military, especially those who may be posted in countries perceived to be particularly intolerant, will often have their dogtags read "No Religious Preference." Concealment is a traditional Wiccan defense against persecution, so non-denominational dogtags should not contravene a member's request for religious services. Wiccans celebrate eight festivals, called "Sabbats," as a means of attunement to the seasonal rhythms of Nature. These are:
January 31 [Called Oimelc, Brigit, or February Eve],
March 21 [Ostara or Spring Equinox],
April 30 [Beltane or May Eve],
June 22 [Midsummer, Litha or Summer Solstice],
July 31 [Lunasa or Lammas],
September 21 [Harvest, Mabon or Autumn Equinox],
October 31 [Samhain, Sowyn or Hallows], and
December 21 [Yule or Winter Solstice].
Some groups find meetings within a few days of those dates to be accep! table, o thers require the precise date. In addition, most groups will meet for worship at each Full Moon, and many will also meet on the New Moon. Meetings for religious study will often be scheduled at any time convenient to the members, and rituals can be scheduled whenever there is a need (i.e. for a healing). Ritual jewelry is particularly important to many Wiccans. In addition to being a symbol of religious dedication, these talismans are often blessed by the coven back home and felt to carry the coven's protective and healing energy.
Zodiac fairies
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