Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The Magick of the Experimental Life: Part I

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." Most people don't live that way however. There are rules to follow, responsibilities to be tended to, and plans that must be followed. Magickally speaking, this fixed and constant way of thinking is restrictive to allowing for change. By including space for experimenting with life, you open the doorway to questions, curiosity, and mystery. This is the doorway that allows magic to enter your life and makes change possible. 

Deciding on Change
Most people when embarking on a new project in their lives or attempting to create change have been taught that the first step is developing an in-depth plan of action listing all the tasks and steps they must do. These are the "control decisions". The Creation Sequence used by magical practitioners to create change however depends on putting the "base decision" as the important first step. The base decision is a Yes or No decision of whether to move ahead with the project, desire, or tasks. The magickal reason to put the base decision before the control decisions is that the base decision alerts the Universe that we have a desire, and we invite the Universe to help us fulfill that desire in the easiest way possible. When we enlist the Universe's help we allow magick rather than blood, sweat and tears to fulfill our desires. By announcing our desires by making a positive base decision, we empower the Universe to get started right away in helping us fulfill that desire. Consider too, that by enlisting help from the Universe and Universal beings to join us in a co-creation we can achieve much more in much easier ways. After all, these higher beings have a much broader perspective of a situation than we do from our place on Earth. If we insist upon starting with control decisions listing all the possible tasks and considerations then the Universe doesn't get a clear message. Are we just playing around with ideas or are we serious about this desire? Are we wanting a specific final outcome or do we want each of the tasks we list to happen regardless of what the outcome would be? You can see how the Universe could be confused by these type of messages. By starting with the base decision, the Universe gets a clear message of what we want and the go ahead to start aligning the necessary resources, events, interactions, and other "coincidental" happenings that will help us fulfill our desire. This allows the Universe to take the lead in your co-creation, and you simply need to remain open to and aware of the many forms of guidance and help the Universe constantly drops on your path.

No Wrong Decisions
Viewing life as an experiment means there are no wrong decisions. Any decision you feel good about is a right decision. If you feel bad about a decision you make, the decision will not lead to anything good, but as long as you feel good about it you open the way for good things to come to you. It all has to do with the energetic vibration you put out. Simply put, good vibrations bring good back to you and bad vibrations bring bad. If experimenting in this way is something new to you, it may be that you need a little practice in making conscious decisions, feeling good about them and following through with them. This exercise can help with that.

Making a Conscious Choice
This exercise is magical because it puts you in touch with your own inner spiritual wisdom and when you follow the answers you "hear" from your spiritual self, you will never find yourself in the wrong place. It also allows you to practice the idea that there are no wrong decisions. Following your intentions puts you on your magical path, and the conscious choice exercise is a way to exercise your intention. Here's how you do the Conscious Choice Exercise:
  1. Quiet your inner self by taking a few deep breaths.
  2. Say to yourself, either aloud or silently, "I will now make a conscious choice." 
  3. Next, ask yourself the choice question, such as, "Do I choose to xxx or not?" or "Do I choose xxx or yyy?"
  4. The first answer you "hear" internally (or sometimes externally from a passing person) is what you must follow. You may not, in this exercise, avoid doing the option you have consciously chosen.
Start this exercise with very simple choices or decisions such as what to eat for breakfast or what outfit to wear to a party until you get more practice listening to and trusting you inner voice. The more practice you get with small things and the more secure you become in listening to decisions made from a higher place, the more you will be able to trust the process and move on to bigger and more important decisions in your life.

Stay tuned for the next part of this article series where we'll explore more about making base decisions and experimenting with no right or wrong answers. In the meantime if you want to learn more about co-creating with Universal beings and using magickal rituals to explore your inner wisdom, check out our Witchcraft Spell Book: The Complete Guide of Witchcraft Rituals & Spells for Beginners Kindle book.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Magick Spells Part II: When to Use a Canned Spell

Part I of When to Use a Canned Spell


In Part 1 of this article series we talked about what spellwork can do for you and your options of either learning to do spellwork yourself or hiring a magical practitioner to do one for you. Continuing in that vein, let's take a look at the types of magic spells you will learn about in our Basic Magic Course if you decide you want to master this skill for yourself.

Spellwork Basics
First of all understand that a spell is a magical operation in which you create a spell matrix made up of a number of elements and program it to build momentum and overcome obstacles to produce a particular result over a period of time. In programming a spell it is important to use directors that define specifically what the spell will do and limiters that will define what will not happen as a result of the spell, like safeguards. For example, if you are doing a spell to have a large sum of money come to you, you want to make sure you build limiters into it that insure the money comes from legal means and with no harm to or death of someone else. Without these directions built into the spell it will take the path of least resistance to achieve the goal and that could mean you get what you asked for but in a way you don't want.

Candle Spell
A candle spell uses a single candle and programs it to act in accord with the spell's purpose, directors, limiters and verses. In creating a candle spell you take into consideration the elements needed to build the matrix, the timing of launching the spell in accordance with moon phases or astrological conditions, the symbols you will carve into the candle, the paint you will use to anoint the candle, the directors and limiters needed for the spell, the words you will use in creating spell verses, and the sonics of how you will use your voice to speak the verses. After all this planning is put into place and the steps taken to prepare the candle and verses, the candle is lit and verses are read which launches the spell setting it in motion. Being familiar with the Tarot is another important part of doing spellwork as it allows you to plan for the success of the spell and checkup on the progress of the spell while waiting for final results.

Multiple Candle Spell
Multiple candle spells are good for situations where there are several factors involved or obstacles to overcome. A single candle spell can handle only one or two obstacles whereas a multiple candle spell can handle more. For example, if you are launching a spell to improve your financial situation, this might include several factors such as getting out of debt, changing jobs, changing where you are living, etc... A multiple candle spell can use from two to four candles each assigned a single factor and joined by a carrier candle. The carrier candle that has a right facing eagle carved into it gathers power and programming from the other candles and launches the energy matrix. Make sure the right facing eagle symbol is used as it carries your wishes to the Universe whereas the left facing eagle symbol is the firebird or thunderbird which is a destroyer. As in a single candle spell, you still write directors and limiters, do 12-card Tarot readings to begin and checkup on the spell, carve and anoint your candles, write spell verses and take colors and sonics into consideration.

Tarot Spell
The more complex the problems or issues around your desire are, the more complex spell you need. If you are considering a multiple candle spell and find you would need more than four candles, a Tarot spell is probably a better choice. A Tarot spell can help overcome multiple obstacles. For a tarot spell you need to have a good working knowledge of tarot card meanings and 12-card readings. These type of spells have many of the same preparatory steps like doing a base reading, a reading to see if the spell will work, writing directors and limiters, and writing verses. It is a more complex spell though than single or multiple candle spells and takes a lot more planning and time. Basically a Tarot spell works by using the Tarot cards set up in a 12-card reading pattern representing the situation around which your desire exists. You will see what obstacles there are preventing your desire from coming to you and by making changes in those cards representing obstacles within the spell matrix you set up, you set up those same changes to manifest in the world.

These are just brief explanations of some types of spells you learn how to do when studying spellwork in our Basic Magic Course. As you can probably tell by these brief descriptions there is a lot involved and you need to start with a good magical foundation starting with learning about the four elements. That is why spellwork is taught towards the end of the 30 week Basic Magic Course. Also, know that while there may be much to consider and do in building a spell, the process itself can be fun and the results magical. If you are intrigued and you want to learn more, then studying spellwork is for you. If it all sounds like too much trouble then you will need to find a magical practitioner to create a spell for you. Either way magic spells are a powerful way to solve a lot of problems and make great things happen in your life.

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Thursday, May 19, 2016

Magickal Worry Stones

When I was very young, my parents gave me a worry stone that was simply a piece of onyx with an indention carved into it. The idea was that I was to rub my thumb in the indention until my worries or anxieties passed. What I didn't know then was that this was not the ideal stone to safely dispense with my negative energies. If you often find yourself in worry mode, you can magickally ground it out safely! Hematite and Apache or Grandmother's Tears are two magickal stones that do not get contaminated by junky energies, so they make perfect worry stones.

Carry one of these stones around in your pocket (or find one made into a necklace). Each time you feel worried, hold the stone in your dominant hand (the one your point with) and flow that worry into the stone. The Apache Tear will flow that energy directly into the half worlds, where it can no longer return to you. The hematite stone will store an enormous amount of worry energy before it needs to be cleansed. You can easily buy two stones (two of the same kind or one of each). Carry one around for a moon cycle and use it. Then bury it in the Earth to be cleansed for a moon cycle and switch to the other stone. Now a worry stone won't guarantee that just because you flow a particular worry (say about money) into the stone, that you won't have that same worry the next time that topic comes up (say you have to pay an unexpected bill). But here is where the magick comes in.

We humans, like Pavlov's dogs, are subject to behavioral training. When we are rewarded with a feeling of relief each time we flow worry into our worry stone, especially after repeated instances of this feeling, then we will flow that emotion into the stone more often. The more often we feel relief, the more our minds realize that we don't have to worry. Not only do we experience a sense of relief, but our minds realize that the world keeps turning even when we stop worrying. And then, presto, when we stop worrying about money and feel more harmonious about the topic more of the time, the Universe sends us more than enough money to cover the bills. Happy feelings in the money department tell the Universe, "Hey, we feel good about money so we can emotionally accept more money now." And the Universe is happy to respond.

Want to learn more about using Apache Tears and other simple magick you can do using materials you can find around your house? Then our Kindle book - Learn How to Do Witchcraft Rituals and Spells with Household Ingredients is the book for you!


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Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Magick of Enough: Want to know the secret to "The Secret"?

So many people understand the logic behind "The Secret" but can't seem to make it work as well as they would like. Why is that? Because "The Secret" has you focusing on your desires. Nothing wrong with that, but often that focus brings up feelings of contrasting lack (especially later in the day, when you are not focusing on yourself living the life of your dreams).

Finding Enough
The real secret is to get happy about where you are, your square on the chess board of life, if you will. The square may seem small, cramped, dirty, unfulfilling and lacking in money, health, or joy. That may be so, but the square on which you stand is the one you have, right here, right now. And the big secret to "The Secret" is that you have to accept the square on which you stand, feel that it is "enough" and then the Universe will give you more. Find ways to feel fulfilled about where you are. Anything will do. Little joys of life. The power of "enough" is that when you can find any feeling of "good enough" about any part of your square, the Universe will respond with more "enough". You don't need to spend much time focusing on your desires unless that brings you joy. The Universe already knows what you want. When you feel a sense of "enough" with what you have, the Universe will dish out more things that will make you feel more "enoughness." Silly and simply, but it works.

Why It Works
This works because of the Law of Vibration. Merely focusing on your desires won't bring them to you unless you are putting out a vibrational energy that is a match for those desires. That is the basis behind the Law of Attraction. When you can genuinely feel fulfillment with your current place and circumstances in life then you set your vibration at a higher level than when you have negative feelings about your conditions. Remember that positive will attract more positive and negative will attract more negative. So to move forward or up the ladder to where you want to be and what you want to have, you have to shift your energies and vibrations to a frequency that will attract more of the positives that you want.

Now that you know your "job" to attract more of your desires, do some thinking about ways you can raise your vibrational level starting with being satisfied with where you are now. You might write up a gratitude list that you can focus on daily, develop some affirmations to chant throughout the day based on those gratitudes or blessings you have in your life, or you might begin doing some forms of daily rituals to make a higher connection with the Universe and get to know your spirit guides. Our Daily Rituals for Attracting What You Want In Life ebook can help you with simple daily rituals to incorporate into your spiritual practice. No matter what your circumstances are currently, getting to know your spirit guides and developing a relationship with them will give you a place to start counting your blessings. Even if you can't find anything else to be grateful for in your situation, those relationships will give you one to begin your gratitude list.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

What are Vibrational Essences?

To understand about vibrational essences, you first need to have an understanding of The Law of Vibration. You may be familiar with The Law of Attraction, but this law works in tandem with The Law of Vibration. Start with wrapping your mind around that Quantum Physics teaches us that energy makes up every single thing in our Universe and this energy vibrates. As Albert Einstein said, "Everything in life is vibration." Everything you see, touch, hear, think, feel, and so on is energy. Everything! Different things vibrate at different frequencies and speeds. The Law of Attraction which works to attract that which you desire and bring it to you works only as long as the vibrational energy you put out is also a match for what you want to attract.

Vibrational Essences
If you are on board with the concept of everything being energy and having a vibration then it won't be too far a leap for you to grasp that different parts of our bodies have their own vibrations. When our bodies or parts of the body have disease or stress this causes a disruption in the vibration or causes our energies to be out of balance. The good news is that there are some frequencies that can be used to reverse disease and that by restoring the body back to its vibrational balance it can heal. This is how vibrational or flower essences work in healing. Since everything is energy and vibrates, that includes plants. By understanding the vibrational essence of various plants, they can be used to restore the body or parts of the body to health.

Making and Using Flower Essences
There are variations on making flower essences or flower remedies, but in a nutshell the technique basics we use follows these steps:

  • Pick flowers, just prior to their full peak
  • Place them in spring water in a glass bowl 
  • Place bowl in full sun for two to four hours. The sun transfers the healing vibrational pattern from the flowers to the water 
  • Preserve essences in brandy or vinegar 

These essences or remedies are taken by placing several drops under the tongue, or in pure water and sipped. They can also be rubbed into the skin or placed in bath water. As they are purely vibrational, flower remedies are completely compatible with all other forms of medicines and modalities.

Every plant has its unique signature which is comprised of its vibration and personality. Part of the art of using flower essences for healing is picking the appropriate plant with the appropriate vibration to heal or restore your vibrational balance. If you are interested in this field of magickal study, a good place to start is with our Energy Healing for Self and Others ebook. Included in it are numerous resources for further study on this fascinating topic if you want to go even further in your education as well as many other alternative healing techniques. A few examples of the plants that can be used for vibrational healing for certain conditions include:

  • Clematis--coma or unconscious. Gift: restores consciousness, focus.
  • Scleranthus--equilibrium, seizures, confusion, paralysis, clumsy. Gift: balanced.
  • Oak--overburdened, struggles of any kind. Gift: strong, dependable.
  • Cherry Plum--crazed, loss of control. Gift: calm, quiet, in control.
  • Star of Bethlehem--any kind of trauma or loss of a loved one, gives comfort. Gift: comforts all traumas.
  • Chamomile--nervousness, anxiety. Gift: calming, relaxing.
  • Mimulus--long time fears, extremes, dominated. Gift: fearless, confident.

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Sources:
http://www.one-mind-one-energy.com/Law-of-vibration.html
http://altered-states.net/barry/newsletter463/

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Calling All Angels

Jayne Sieberry created this gradient song whose refrain is "Don't leave me alone!"  Yet we walk with angels, talk with angels, live with angels, but most of the time we are woefully unaware!

Conditions useful to know about angels:
1. There is an angelic code: One of the principle responsibilities that angels live by is to be of service to we humans, usually having been invoked, although there are times when angels apply their trade unannounced.

2. Angels have the ability to shape-shift, even appear as one of us, much like in the movie: "It's a Wonderful Life".

Working With Angels
Years ago I attended a workshop featuring working with angels.  For us disbelievers we were instructed to start simply by "hiring" parking place angels, as follows:
"I wish to summon a parking place angel who is stable, enthusiastic, powerful, clear, and swift--I need a shaded parking place close to the theater and I will be there in ten minutes--and I THANK YOU!" 

As I drive up to the theater, a car just backs out of my shaded spot--it's totally Magical!  I pull in and again give thanks to my angel!

Over the last thirty years I have been successfully using angels, Totem spirits, and Guides to handle all kinds of living situations.  It's fun, easy, and reliable.  Anyone can do this--all that is required is that we suspend disbelief! Acknowledging they exist is after all the first step in working with angels or any spirit being. Then it is a simple matter of letting them know specifically what you need and thanking them before their help and after. Gratitude is the "payment" we offer them for services rendered. It is important to give thanks just after voicing your request as well as after the task is accomplished. This sets up the energy of belief by showing you know the help will be given as well as creates a reciprocal exchange of energy.

Of course with any type of magical practice, the more you put into it, the more you will get back. Start being aware of anything you could ask for that would make your day go smoother and make the commitment to ask for help from an angel at least once a day. Then work your way up to more and more requests. The more you use angels, the more you will start to see all sorts of ways they can help you. Don't think any task is too small or unimportant to "bother" an angel with. I've seen people ask for angelic help with everything from being on time to an important meeting, to helping catch a runaway dog, to how much salt to put on their food. You can learn more about working with angels and other spirit beings in our Learn How to Do Witchcraft Rituals and Spells with Your Bare Hands Kindle book.

I will be doing a series of articles: "Touched by an angel"--"The value of a Magical Practice"--"Spellwork, simple, effective and fun"--"The ancient art of Witchcraft in modern times". So stay tuned for those.

Magically Yours:  G. Alan Joel

P.S.:  Should there be interest, another topic for investigation will be the Urban Shaman's abilities to make a difference in a troublesome world!

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