The Power of Pause

Recently I encountered a situation with a friend that I could tell almost immediately involved an archetype of his I know well. I have run against this personality before and have learned that it is single minded in its focus, determined to have its way and unreasonable. We had planned a weekend of yard work, but when I saw snow falling from the sky with temperatures in the 20s, I felt sure those plans would be altered. My friend in his archetypal state saw it differently. This is what he planned to do, was set to do and was going to do regardless of the weather. My usual response when faced with this particular archetype is to try to reason with my friend, present objections and get him to see that he is wrong. I in turn then become angry and defensive as I find I cannot sway him. This is how most of us humans usually react in our mechanical ways. This time however I truly understood the value of the Cortothalamic Pause.

I felt myself go very calm and immediately shut my mouth. I just sat there and watched as my friend argued his case that yard work is what we planned and yard work is what he must now do. When he finally wound down and ran out of words, I sat quietly for a few seconds and then was able to calmly state that I would not be doing yard work in a snow storm in 20 degree weather and that I hoped he would reconsider his plan, but if not then I understood that we each have to choose for ourselves what we thinks is best. I was then able to walk away with no anger, no guilt and no judgment.

Cortothalamic. The second part of this word comes from thalamus which is part of the forebrain. The thalamus deals with sensory and motor functions. Responses coming from a feeling level are usually immediate or mechanical reactions. Neurons take the sensory information and send it to the cortex. Cortex is where the first part of the word comes from. The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the brain and deals with higher functions such as reasoning and conscious thinking. The Cortothalamic Pause creates a bridge between these two levels allowing us to move from reaction to reason. At the thalamic level you can check your reaction to see how you feel about a situation or interaction, but then take that information to the cortex level to reason out the best response.

This of course is not something I just instinctively knew to do. It has taken a lot of training and practice for it to become natural. The Cortothalamic Pause is a way of stretching time, which is very useful in shamanic practice for healing, research and time travel. Once you become proficient at using "The Pause", you actually feel separated from physical time. So how do you go about learning this useful tool?

1. Practice several times a day starting with small things that are not something you have a passion for. Don't start with something you know is a pet peeve or "touchy" subject for you.

2. When someone asks you a question or asks you to do something – STOP. Do not immediately respond. Clamp your mouth shut and calm everything inside you as much as you can. This part takes practice too.

3. Wait 2-3 seconds and don't let your mind race ahead thinking of all the things you could say in response. Just absorb the question and stay quiet.

4. Take a deep breath and now respond to the question.

You will be surprised at how different your response is after giving yourself the time for both the cortex and thalamus to absorb the information. The Power is in the Pause.

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What Else Can You Teach Me?

This is what we are often asked after people read our "Is Magic Real?" article and send for the cloud exercise. After experiencing for themselves the joy of magic through working with clouds they are eager for more. The answer to the question is – LOTS!!

First, for those of you just having a little fun with magic or those who are new to magic and not quite ready to take the full plunge, we have a rich library of articles in our Resources section. This is where you will find the article "Is Magic Real?" that includes how to send for the cloud exercise mentioned above. There are also articles covering a variety of magical topics including Spells, Divination, Healing and Health, Guidance and Help and several others. Check out the entire library.

There are many other offerings in our Resources section we hope you will explore. And they are all FREE! Over the years, we have conducted many free teleconferences and short email courses. These are archived as audio files or text in the Resource section. You can listen to audios of guest speakers on topics such as Dowsing, Animal Communication, and Feng Shui, to mention a few. And don't miss the archive of "Magic in Your Mailbox" that offers some good beginning magical exercises.

Are you ready to get more serious about magical studies? For you, we have 2 free audio files on our website that will let you get a taste of the classes and types of material in them. There is an audio file for Introduction to Basic Magic and one for the sample "Athame" class . We also have complete homestudy courses on multi-media cd for Basic Magic, Basic Shamanism, Magical Self Defense and Tarot.

If you are looking at taking your magical studies in smaller bites, we have Short Courses on each of the 4 Elements and on Four Element Balancing and a variety of ebooks.

Whatever level you are at, we hope you will join us at our blog and share your magical experiences with us as we share ours with you. Blessings to you on your magical journey.

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Magically Erase the Monday Morning Blues

I'm not sure why it's called the Monday Morning Blues, as really the blues can set in for any morning. The weekend is over or the relaxing evening before, we find ourselves not able to get going or rushing around, trying to get wherever we have to be that day, thinking ahead to all the things on our "To Do" list. We let the habitual morning routine take over and go through our tasks in a rote manner. But morning is the time to set the tone for your day. Part of that is moving out of rote behavior so that we move to a level of conscious choice. Magical practitioners have learned that there are techniques to avoid these "blues" that keep us stuck in lower levels. They avoid setting themselves up for a chaotic and stress filled day and raise their emotional level to a place where the day flows smoothly and they can operate from a position of power rather than things just happening to them. Here are some tips for quick and simple ways to start your Monday morning or any morning off magically.

1. Burn a Sun Yellow Candle – Sun Yellow is the color of the fire element that represents the spiritual level. Sun Yellow is the color of life force and nourishes spirit. Make sure it is pure sun yellow with no oranges mixed in. Certain fire energies, such as Sun Yellow, are useful for overcoming sluggish emotional states because some of the characteristics of fire energy are that it is non-mutable, a motivator and radiative. Sun Yellow is a very safe fire element color to use.

2. Morning Reading – pick a positive type reading everyday from whatever discipline you subscribe to or a variety of them. These readings can be as complex as pages from Gurdjieff Commentaries to the more simple such as a chapter from The Four Agreements or Deepak Chopra's 7 Spiritual Laws for Success. The reading you pick may just be a single line from the many inspirational or devotional books that are available. Whatever it is, take the message you have read and keep it with you throughout the day looking for ways you can apply it in your life or observing ways others are using it. Use the message to create an aim for yourself for that day. When things start to get routine, sluggish or stressful throughout the day, remember the message from your reading to remind yourself what your aim for the day is and anchor yourself again.

3. Morning Sit - Take at least 5 minutes (more if you have the time) – to sit quietly and just be with yourself. Reflect upon your morning reading or your day greeting or just be quiet and breathe deeply and slowly. Meditate on the daily aim you have set for yourself and invite higher beings and powers to guide you through your day.

4. Day Greeting – Starting off the day with a Day Greeting puts you in contact with Sky Father and Earth Mother (and winds of the 4 directions if you include them). It gives you access to the guidance of higher powers and beings. You can include asking these higher powers to be with you through out the day for help on a specific situation you know you will be facing or just to be with you in general for guidance and to share their wisdom. To do the Day Greeting you can do the simple version of facing to the east, raising your arms and hands to towards the sky and saying "Sky Father, I bid you good morning" then lowering your arms and hands towards the ground and saying "And Earth Mother, I bid you good morning". Or you can use the longer version and address all four of the directions too by holding your arms out towards the direction you are facing:
East – "Winds of Knowledge (or Winds of the East), I bid you good morning"
South – "Winds of Power (or Winds of the South), I bid you good morning"
West – "Winds of Feeling" (or Winds of the West), I bid you good morning"
North – "Winds of Strength" (or Winds of the North), I bid you good morning"
Then do as above with Sky Father and Earth Mother.


5. Pick a higher thought – Sometimes when we are stuck in negative patterns or really low we can break the negative cycle or feelings by picking the next higher thought. For example, you don't have enough money to go out to lunch with your colleagues at work today and have to brown bag it and it's got you down in the dumps with nothing to look forward to in the day. Your mind is cycling messages like, "There's never enough money", "I hate my job and will never make enough money at it", "Everyone else always seems to have more money than I do", "My life really stinks", etc.... Whoa! Are these the messages you want to be sending out to the Universe?? Only if these are the things you want to attract to yourself. It's hard to break this type of cycle once it has started and come up with something totally positive. But you can stop it by coming up with a statement that is just a little step higher towards positive. "Well at least I'll be having lunch and not going without even if it is just a ham sandwich", can lead to "And there is that leftover piece of cheesecake my friend made, I suppose I could take that too" which can lead to "I sure do have some good friends in my life", and then "Maybe I'll surprise my friend by baking her some brownies tonight, that will be fun", "I really am blessed with good friends and good things in my life". You get the idea.

6. Wear bright red – Bright red is the fire element color corresponding to the physical or mundane level. It represents metabolism and body temperature. Wearing something bright red can give your physical body a lift much like a brisk physical workout would do. If you find yourself really on edge, nervous about something coming up in your day or jittery, you might want to try wearing pink instead. The color pink is fire with a lot of air, which is a sedative and relaxing.

7. Do the Shower Litany – At the end of taking your morning shower, see all the tension and stress of hurrying to get ready to leave for work flowing down your body like the water is and down the drain as the water drains out. You can also flow out any aches and pains leftover from yard work or sports activities over the weekend. As you are doing this say out loud:
"All the tension, all the strain,
All the pain with excess flame,
Flow with water down the drain."

At this point you might be saying, I don't have time in the mornings to do these things. It's all I can do to get dressed, grab breakfast to go, get the kids ready and off to school and lots of other time related excuses. Give it a try though, even if just for one morning using just one of the above tips. I find that when I take the time to allow magic into my life, physical time is not an issue. Not only does the entire day go better, there is plenty of time to get everything done in the morning. It works just like, well.... Magic!

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"Spell"check – When a Spell Isn't Working

First let's be clear on what is a spell. A spell is a psychic or magical operation that is programmed or uses combinations of the 4 elements to create a result over a period of time. It is a formalized intention. That would include chants, litanies, sonics and prayers.

A spell in an energy matrix that is programmed in certain ways towards a specific goal. Spells follow the path of least resistance and therefore you need to have directors and limiters included in the creation to make sure you do not bind other persons or cause harm to any other beings in order for your goal or aim to be reached.

Here are some things to check when you think your spell isn't working:

• Did you include a time frame? If not, you may just need to be patient and know that the magic is working and the spell is still in progress.
• Are you anxious, worried, angry, depressed or putting some other negative emotional charge on the situation? These can slow the magic down and cause delays. Avoid negative situations and environments so that these are not influencing your focus on your intention.
• What is the level of your being right now? We know that the level of your being attracts the level of your life; therefore it could be the Universe is trying to deliver your desire, but you are unable to receive it presently. You can increase the level of your being by concentrating on consciously performing even simple daily acts instead of going through your day by habit or rote.
• Could others be attempting to manifest something opposite of your goal that is causing interference? You may need to cut psychic lines from these people so that their desires and energies are not influencing you.
• Is what you are trying to manifest now contrary to an earlier aim? It could be that you were on an entirely different path and need to take that matrix down before you are able to create what you now want.
• Are your directors and limiters not specific enough or possibly too restrictive? You have to have a balance in place that makes it very clear and specific what you are creating without being too restrictive in how the creation is to be manifested.
• Are you allowing interference from others or yourself? Is someone around you planting doubts in your mind or are your own archetypes or beliefs causing you to stand in the way?
• How is your inner landscape? It may be that you are over anxious and need to create some quiet space inside yourself. Meditation is good for this.
• Are you following the Prime Directive? The Prime Directive is that other beings can't interfere in your life. If you doubt magic will cause a change in your life, that becomes the dominant intention. Turn your doubts over to a higher being or power, take your mind off it by doing something to relax or occupy your time and get out of your own way so the magic can work.

As always with spellwork, remember to think it through. The safest spells are those you create yourself as you know where they have come from and that there is nothing hidden in them and make sure you create a good set of directors and limiters. Magic always works. Just be sure not to get your own way and let it happen. When you do feel the urge just run it through the above "spell"check.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnera/3984413077/

Forecast Your Own Weather!

Oh bother, rain again! Boy, my lawn could sure use some rain. The kids will sure be disappointed, but we'll have to call off the fishing trip with all this rain. Any of these sound familiar? You don't have to arrange your life around the weather. There are things you can do magically to work with the weather.

There are many ways of working with weather and different disciplines use different techniques. Here are a few basics in preparation and some techniques one can use without a lot of specialized training.



1. Check with higher powers, especially Grandmother, the spirit of the Earth. There may be plans in the works or reasons of which we are unaware for a particular type of weather.

2. Ask weather beings for help. There are many higher beings or spirits that are helpful when weather working. Different disciplines and traditions have their favorites or call them by various names. We find the Winds of each direction, Sky Father, weather angels, storm spirits, sylphs and of course Grandmother appropriate beings to consult. Asking these beings for help creates a safer way to achieve the results you desire since these beings exist on a higher level than we do and have access to higher levels of information. They are privy to a larger scale picture concerning what we are asking and will know how to help us without interfering in a bigger plan or inconveniencing another.

3. Think through what you want. As with all magical procedures, you need to thoroughly think through what you want and are asking for. For example if you say, "I want rain." The results of this could range from thinking you have failed to disastrous. A statement of this kind doesn't include where you want it to rain, or how much, or how hard. Be as specific as you can in defining what you are asking for.

4. Focus your intention. Now that you have defined exactly what you desire and have the help you need, see a picture of this in your mind. Focus your intention on this ideal picture and lay this picture over what you see outside. Put enough energy into the picture that you feel it coming alive. Focus on what you do want, not what you don't want. People love to talk and complain about the weather. Don't let yourself get sucked into this energy. The "As Above, So Below" principle defines that the weather conditions will match the conditions of the land and people below it. Feeding this negative energy will delay or negate your intention.

5. Keep your emotions in check. Whereas you need some emotional energy to push into your picture, be careful of too much or the type of energy you are flowing. Feelings of anxiousness, being distraught, scared, over-excitement, nervousness or other strong emotions can flow energies that will negatively affect your results.

6. Look for small changes you can make. Take a look at the current weather outside from the perspective of what one thing could you change that would lead to other changes. It takes less energy and less work to create one small change. Also remember that a small change in the present can lead to a large change in the future. For example, you might move those dark clouds over and send them in a direction away from you. This could cause other like clouds to follow it and allow the sunshine to come through. Now it is clear enough and dry enough to take that fishing trip. Or maybe there are clouds that you can darken and add moisture to so your lawn gets that needed rain.

Try experimenting with different weather conditions and record your techniques and results so you know which work best for you. Following the above safety tips, you can have fun seeing your results improve as you practice.

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