Need a Good Read?

Sometimes we just need to read for the "brain candy" value of a paperback book. For those of us who do magic though, we need to take in reading material from "higher influences" on a regular basis. This helps us remember why we are here and what we chose to do on this planet.

A Sample Bookshelf
So what can you read to feed yourself on all levels? Well, a magical bookshelf might include but is definitely NOT limited to some of these items:

• "Bringers of the Dawn" by Barbara Marciniak (written in 1992 but totally true today)
• Abraham-Hicks' Daily Quote via email 
• "Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky" by Maurice Nicoll
• "Medicine Cards" by Sams and Carson
• Any number of magical ebooks and Kindle books from the Esoteric School 
• "In Search of the Miraculous" by P. D. Ouspensky
• "Magic in Theory and Practice" by Aleister Crowley (a classic)
• "Fools Crow" by Thomas E. Mails
• "Iron John" by Robert Bly
• "A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness" by S. Nassir Ghaemi

What are you reading to take in spiritual food? We would love to hear from you! Please share with us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/EsotericSchool

Thanks and enjoy!


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Feeling Stressed? Magical Ways to Feel Fantastic Anyway

We all have stress in our lives, but we don't have to put up with feeling stressed when we have magical interventions. In our 1st Kindle book, Learn How to Do Witchcraft Rituals and Spells with Your Bare Hands, you'll find magical techniques to help you cope with stress such as doing the bathtub litany, rooting, walking meditation, and more. But don't take our word for it, try one of these out for yourself next time you are feeling stressed and experience firsthand how magical techniques can help you deal with stress.

Rooting to Let Mother Earth Soothe You
Rooting is a ritual that connects you with Mother Earth and lets you ground out negative energies into the Earth. Since the Earth is huge and able to absorb lots of negative emotions, this ritual is very grounding and can help you deal with stressful times and events. Basically, with this ritual you are flowing excess energies of any kind into the Earth and then pulling up grounding and nourishing Earth energies into your body. Here's how you do it.

1. Sit in a comfortable position making sure your heels are touching the ground. Some people find it useful to close their eyes for this ritual so if you find you have trouble "feeling" or sensing your "roots", try closing your eyes.

2. Feel yourself extending roots from your feet and imagine or "see" roots growing out of your heels into the Earth, through your shoes if you are wearing any, through the flooring, into the sub-flooring, and down into the Earth through the topsoil continuing down through all the layers until you reach bedrock.

3. Once your roots have reached bedrock burrow into it and lock them in.

4. Sit for several minutes breathing. Each time you exhale, push excess stress and tension or any other unwanted energies through the roots into the bedrock.

5. Each time you inhale, pull up minerals and energies from the Earth for stability and balance.

6. When you feel relaxed and nourished, pull the roots back up through each of the layers and going back up into your feet. Be sure not to stand up before pulling your roots back into your body or it can cause you to be sore for a few days.

You can use this ritual as much as you need to and don't need any special magical training to start using it right away. Next time you are feeling stressed out, try rooting and see what relief it provides you. Then check out our Kindle books and learn other magical techniques to help with stress and lots more.

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Learning Without Struggle

Schools, churches, authority figures, parents and friends influence us in ways we aren't even aware of! One of the main ways that they influence us is by teaching us the old adage, "no pain, no gain." With their help, we have all become quite accustomed to believing that we must experience struggle and pain to succeed or create in this world. This belief is so common that, for most of us, it is the lens through which we view our world – a lens of which we are hardly aware.

Luckily for those of us who are tired of struggling, this Earth School has very flexible rules. In fact, we make our own rules. What does that mean? It means that if you want to learn and create without struggle, you only have to inform the Universe of your decision. If you never want to learn another lesson through pain and struggle, just tell the Universe that you'd like to learn exclusively through pleasing experiences.

We have a friend who, whenever he asks the Universe for help or assistance, tells the Universe to bring him the results in pleasing ways that he can easily understand. And does he struggle? Not much! He lives the most peaceful life we have ever witnessed, and he does it all by choice.

So the next time you ask the Universe for some result or some lesson, add the caveat that you do not wish to struggle or experience pain. Then, get ready to have fun and experience some really wonderful times. Good luck!

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Getting Your Mind On Board Magically

To shamans, each person is a spirit with a mind and body. The mind and body are like magical tools for spirit to use. Just like other magical tools need to be keyed (programmed) or trained, the mind must be trained in order to be a helpful magical tool. We constantly take in thoughts, behaviors and responses from the environment which are not always aligned with our goals and aims. The untrained mind can throw magical monkey wrenches in the mix to keep us from achieving our goals.

Training Mind
Think about all the great ideas you come up with and make resolutions to do: lose 10 pounds, get that promotion at work, quit smoking... and the list goes on. You get off to a running start and then forget those promises to yourself or get distracted by a new list of priorities. This is a sign of mind taking over and that it is not trained to help you as a magical tool. So how do you go about training your mind? One way is through practicing segment intending.

Segment Intending
Segment intending is an exercise from Abraham Hicks (www.abraham-hicks.com) that helps train your mind as a magical tool. Here's how it's done:
1. Pick a length of time for your "segment." It can be any length of time, but no more than an hour. Thirty minutes or an hour works well.

2. Decide exactly what time the segment will start and end.

3. Choose an aim for that segment. It could be a list of tasks, a state of being, or both. For instance, you might decide that you will strive to have a pleasant demeanor while you spend the next 30 minutes returning phone calls.

4. Once the time you chose to start your segment arrives, start on your chosen aim with no second thoughts. Put your attention solely on the tasks for that segment and nothing else.

5. If you get interrupted during your segment, you need to decide whether the interruption is important enough for you to stop your segment (for instance, if your boss calls you to come to his office). If the interruption is not important enough or can be delayed, keep going on your segment. If the interruption is important, make a conscious decision to stop your current segment and start a new one (one centered around the interruption).

Practice doing segments such as this all during the day. Each one is a training period for your mind. These segments will train your mind to assist you as a magical tool rather than dictating to you. The more you practice segment intending the more responsive mind will be to your needs as a spirit.

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Meditation Guide: Simple Steps for Beginners

No doubt you have heard by now of all the health benefits as well as spiritual benefits that can result from meditation. Students from a wide variety of spiritual traditions have been practicing meditation for centuries, mostly to create peace, joy, harmony, commune with Nature, receive messages from higher powers, clear the mind and create manifestations in their lives. Meditation is important in a magical practice in that it can also help in creating sacred space and invite in psychic abilities. In addition to all these spiritual benefits, researchers are finding that mediation can have health benefits by relieving stress which can wreak havoc on the mind and body as well as lower blood pressure and help strengthen the immune system. It gives us a way to find relief from the noise and hustle and bustle of our busy modern lives too. A regular meditation practice has been shown to increase serotonin levels in the body, which can help with depression, headaches, and insomnia associated with low serotonin levels. There are many different types of mediation and these physical benefits seem to be helped even more when the meditation is done while walking.

Awareness of the benefits of meditation has increased over the last few years as popular talk shows and magazines are full of references to the benefits of meditation. I hear from many people however that they have tried meditating and just can't "get it". The main complaint seems to be that they can't quiet their minds. Thoughts of to do lists, family responsibilities, what they "need" to get done next and so on creep in and take over. That leaves many feeling as if they have failed and "can't meditate". We say that anyone can meditate; it just takes more practice for some than others and meditation should not be judged by the results as much as by the effort. In other words, don't be so hard on yourself and give it time to develop. Below we offer this meditation guide to those who find themselves struggling with learning how to meditate.

One of the meditation exercises offered in our ebook, Daily Rituals for Attracting What You Want in Life, goes like this:
1. Find at least 15 minutes of time that you will not be disturbed and a place you can have quiet. This may mean turning off the phone or having your spouse take the kids out for a walk or getting up early before everyone else for some of you.

2. Find a comfortable position to sit in your quiet space. You do not have to do a lotus position or any other position that you find uncomfortable. You can sit on the ground or in a chair, whichever you will be more comfortable in.

3. Close your eyes and feel your breath moving in and out of your body. Don't force your breath or change it, just tune in to the natural rhythm of your breathing.

4. When thoughts come into your mind (and they will – especially when first learning how to meditate), don't fight them. Just let them come up, recognize they are there and let them pass through your mind. Don't chastise yourself or give up with a "see, told you I can't meditate" point of view as many do at this point. Try instead to use this metaphor:

Imagine you are on a river shore watching boats sail by. The boats are your thoughts that creep into your mind. At times you will become very fascinated with a particular boat and want to board it to look around and explore it more. This is what happens with your thoughts when they "carry you away" from clearing your mind. When you find yourself on one of these "boats", just leave and return to the shore and concentrate on your breathing again.

5. Sit for at least 15 minutes. You can sit longer if you wish and can have a quiet environment for longer.

More Meditation Tips
Another tip for those struggling with how to meditate is to use a lit candle, incense or a fountain to distract the mind from drifting away into thoughts. Leaving your eyes open and concentrating on an object such as a candle flame gives you a visual focus that can help quiet the mind. A running water fountain creates a sound that is irregular and hard for the mind to follow which also keeps it distracted.

Other Considerations
15 minutes is suggested as a length of time to strive for initially so as to give the mind time to quiet and open the way for inner quiet. The length of a meditation period is not as important however as how consistent you are with your practice. It is better to do a short meditation everyday than to do long meditations every once in a while. Try not to judge your meditation by criteria such as how peaceful it was or how many times your mind drifted off. It is the effort to reach a quiet place that matters more than the achievement of total quiet in the beginning.

As you continue meditating, you will see positive results in your day to day life. A new way of dealing with people and life events will emerge and you will find yourself being able to deal with situations from an inner quiet and peaceful place. Be sure to enjoy your meditation time as it is time you are investing in your inner development. The more your inner life flourishes and grows the more you will see the same reflected in your outer life. Meditation can help you achieve that and bring other magic to your life.

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