Aah feathers, how I love thee.
via Cosmic Dust
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A new bow to my arrow... Or a new arrow to my bow?
Developments of late have been incredibly interesting. I know that I ought to meditate every day but still only seem to manage it three times a week and do a visualisation about once a month, as Mondays for some reason are not as free as they used to be, partly because my boyfriend often has that night off.
The visualisations have been great challenges as a form of high magick, making me challenge parts of my psychology that need addressing - much like if I were being hypnotised and had to go through different 'doors' in my mind to adjust my thinking where necessary for a better magickal and mundane life. It's there that I meet Gods and Goddesses to guide me there and then, however my meditations have been working out to be very interesting for those to help me within my day-to-day life.
Without calling out to them, I know that in the near future that I will want to carry out a spell in order to move ahead in some way in my life. Meeting the White Tara is a wonderful example of this, and I had a wonderful meeting with Queen Mab the other day which was also completely unexpected, in order for me to have a Goddess to work with for cord cutting (see post below for details on that).
Meeting Queen Mab or Maeve was really interesting. I knew that the Archangel Michael was not really the one I wanted to work with as I see Angel worship as being more of a Christian concept so I wanted to choose someone else. But, as it would seem, I needn't open a book these days in order to find the right leader to guide me as it's now a regular to-do for them to offer their help, which really is much better I think. Then you are receiving the energy which will work best for you - the calm white tara for protection and to move through the ocean of suffering, and strong and beautiful Maeve with her sword for when you need to boldly - yet gently cut cords.
It was interesting: on the day that I wanted to do the ritual (on a Tuesday for war, psychic protection etc) I went to the usual meditation temple, into the sculptued foot of Hermes Trimegistus. Normally I will look out to the beach and turn around to the giant sculpted foot, then entering past a skeleton of Hermes Trimegistus who gives me 'The Emerald Tablet' in the form of a green book where I walk through to an inner temple to meditate.
However, no-one seemed to be in the normal hall and a new hallway had created itself to the right hand side which had mint green walls & black and white tiles, which I thought was odd. I went to the medieval looking door and went to open it but was too hesitant so Hermes Trimegistus opened it for me (was there as a living green version sitting on some stairs that went upstairs - now I'm wondering what's upstairs!). Anyway, for a while before approaching this door I could hear a preternatural talking, which consisted of loud notes sung long and loud, just single notes.
The door opened to a long wooden medieval table setting with lots of little green men on it who were still doing that weird talking and eating, which reverberated up the high dark wooden walls to the stained glass windows above. They looked like Yoda but with smaller ears, bigger eyes and only wore pants - little green men! A woman in medieval garb rose from the table and I bowed, not sure who it was. "Your majesty" I said, which I never say in visualisation or meditation. I bumbled a bit, and the rest was a bit of a fuzz as far as conversation went. I basically agreed that we would work together for the cord cutting and had all faith in her in her pride, zeal and strength. She wore incredible, dark makeup - almost like a goth. She wore the medieval horn-like headdress and exuded a voluptuous power. She then returned to the table to continue eating as I left thanking her again and again and the green men piped up again.
I remember looking at Queen Mab or Maeve with a friend a few weeks ago as we summoned her for a full moon ritual.
In relation to the black and white tiles described above, I had a read of a ritual in 'Advanced Witchcraft' by Edain McCoy in her 'Advanced Warding and Psychic Defense' chapter, with a ritual called 'The Checkered Box' where the practitioner encloses themselves in black and white tiles. I thought I'd cut the cord then just close myself up for additional insurance. I might publish my version of the Cord Cutting ritual, though I think it will only really be the same as the article I posted earlier.
After all of this, my mother sent me my March horoscope by Jonathan Cainer and I just about fell over (I'm a Taurean by the way):
Is that a little fairy, sitting on your shoulder? Or is it a guardian
angel, hovering over your head? Maybe it's a wish-granting leprechaun,
an ancient Tibetan or a spirit guide from the medicine wheel. I can't
be sure which form your cosmic protection is due to take but it's
clear that, in March, something is going to be looking after you. You
are being offered support, succour and sustenance, some of which may
take a decidedly unambiguous physical form. I'm not promising
miracles. There may be ups as well as downs. But the ups will be real.
They will last much longer and prove far more important than the
downs!
So given meeting Queen Mab - Queen of the Faeries and a Tibetan Goddess recently this is all sounding too interesting.
)O( Elspeth.
The visualisations have been great challenges as a form of high magick, making me challenge parts of my psychology that need addressing - much like if I were being hypnotised and had to go through different 'doors' in my mind to adjust my thinking where necessary for a better magickal and mundane life. It's there that I meet Gods and Goddesses to guide me there and then, however my meditations have been working out to be very interesting for those to help me within my day-to-day life.
Without calling out to them, I know that in the near future that I will want to carry out a spell in order to move ahead in some way in my life. Meeting the White Tara is a wonderful example of this, and I had a wonderful meeting with Queen Mab the other day which was also completely unexpected, in order for me to have a Goddess to work with for cord cutting (see post below for details on that).
Meeting Queen Mab or Maeve was really interesting. I knew that the Archangel Michael was not really the one I wanted to work with as I see Angel worship as being more of a Christian concept so I wanted to choose someone else. But, as it would seem, I needn't open a book these days in order to find the right leader to guide me as it's now a regular to-do for them to offer their help, which really is much better I think. Then you are receiving the energy which will work best for you - the calm white tara for protection and to move through the ocean of suffering, and strong and beautiful Maeve with her sword for when you need to boldly - yet gently cut cords.
It was interesting: on the day that I wanted to do the ritual (on a Tuesday for war, psychic protection etc) I went to the usual meditation temple, into the sculptued foot of Hermes Trimegistus. Normally I will look out to the beach and turn around to the giant sculpted foot, then entering past a skeleton of Hermes Trimegistus who gives me 'The Emerald Tablet' in the form of a green book where I walk through to an inner temple to meditate.
However, no-one seemed to be in the normal hall and a new hallway had created itself to the right hand side which had mint green walls & black and white tiles, which I thought was odd. I went to the medieval looking door and went to open it but was too hesitant so Hermes Trimegistus opened it for me (was there as a living green version sitting on some stairs that went upstairs - now I'm wondering what's upstairs!). Anyway, for a while before approaching this door I could hear a preternatural talking, which consisted of loud notes sung long and loud, just single notes.
The door opened to a long wooden medieval table setting with lots of little green men on it who were still doing that weird talking and eating, which reverberated up the high dark wooden walls to the stained glass windows above. They looked like Yoda but with smaller ears, bigger eyes and only wore pants - little green men! A woman in medieval garb rose from the table and I bowed, not sure who it was. "Your majesty" I said, which I never say in visualisation or meditation. I bumbled a bit, and the rest was a bit of a fuzz as far as conversation went. I basically agreed that we would work together for the cord cutting and had all faith in her in her pride, zeal and strength. She wore incredible, dark makeup - almost like a goth. She wore the medieval horn-like headdress and exuded a voluptuous power. She then returned to the table to continue eating as I left thanking her again and again and the green men piped up again.
I remember looking at Queen Mab or Maeve with a friend a few weeks ago as we summoned her for a full moon ritual.
In relation to the black and white tiles described above, I had a read of a ritual in 'Advanced Witchcraft' by Edain McCoy in her 'Advanced Warding and Psychic Defense' chapter, with a ritual called 'The Checkered Box' where the practitioner encloses themselves in black and white tiles. I thought I'd cut the cord then just close myself up for additional insurance. I might publish my version of the Cord Cutting ritual, though I think it will only really be the same as the article I posted earlier.
After all of this, my mother sent me my March horoscope by Jonathan Cainer and I just about fell over (I'm a Taurean by the way):
Is that a little fairy, sitting on your shoulder? Or is it a guardian
angel, hovering over your head? Maybe it's a wish-granting leprechaun,
an ancient Tibetan or a spirit guide from the medicine wheel. I can't
be sure which form your cosmic protection is due to take but it's
clear that, in March, something is going to be looking after you. You
are being offered support, succour and sustenance, some of which may
take a decidedly unambiguous physical form. I'm not promising
miracles. There may be ups as well as downs. But the ups will be real.
They will last much longer and prove far more important than the
downs!
So given meeting Queen Mab - Queen of the Faeries and a Tibetan Goddess recently this is all sounding too interesting.
)O( Elspeth.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Spell for after a break up/ Long term friendship
I recently wrote this for a friend of mine and thought that I would share it with everyone.
In summary:
- Waning Moon & leading up to the new moon you will need to do a Cord Cutting. If you have any painful diary entries that were generated purely for cathartic reasons, gather them now and write down the positives from this relationship which has just ended and consider how this person has changed you for the better
- Here is a great Cord Cutting Ritual.
- New Moon: a time for introspection, deciding how you will move forward and gathering helpful and healthy concepts to build your strength
- Waxing Moon: A Self Love Spell every Friday night
- Full Moon: organise well in advance to have a night of celebration for your achievement with friends
Begins on the New Moon – Leading up to the New Moon, allow this time to do your Cord Cutting Ritual on a Tuesday in order to clear your head for this ritual. If you don’t do this, you will end up not having the head space for it and your heart will still have the cord which connects the two of you and will sap you of energy. What you need now is to clear your head and remind yourself of all of your wonderful qualities.
Leading up to the Cord Cutting allow yourself to get out any more frustration, anger, sorrow – anything which is necessary to get out of your system. I find that the best way to get this out of my system is to take it out on my house – clean the place up, pay bills, get rid of that crap you’ve been meaning to send to the Salvation Army for ages as a way of psychologically clearing and preparing for your Self Love Spell. When I feel like I’m really in a knot I do exercise, and literally ‘pace’ by going on a huge walk or something else cardiovascular so that I grunt out the bad energy and end up with endorphins going ‘Weee!’ afterwards. Avoid feeling anger directly towards the ex lover as whatever you send out you get back times three. A friend of a friend was thinking bad thoughts about her recent ex all day, and he texted her saying ‘Been thinking about you a lot today, and I’ve seen a lot of dead butterflies around – what does that mean?’ Not only was she torturing him by making him think of her, she was also destroying life with her thoughts. This is why cord cutting is so important: your longing and pain can, like a butterfly effect, become a monster of its own.
ON THE NEW MOON
The new moon is both an introspective time and a time of rebirth, embryonic growth and new beginnings. Falling on a Saturday, this day of the week represents rebirth, (psychological) agriculture and harvest, protection, expelling negative energy of the week just gone and to meditate on reincarnation in the womb of the Great Mother. This is a great time to either have an introspective & meditative day on your own amongst nature or to spend with family or friends talking about how you intend to move forward, what you’re looking forward to leaving behind which you could draw strength from. Be brutally honest with yourself and try as best as you can to remove yourself in order to get an outer perspective. Throw your emotions aside and look exactly at where you are right now. This is a good day to gather acorns or oak leaves, which represent both new beginnings, strength and resilience. Consider having a picnic with friends to gather these items. Keep about 6 acorns and put them in your wallet, pocket, around the home and sneak one under your pillow for any restless nights or anything else you can find to represent strength and resilience. If neither of the above are available to you, garlic cloves are great too.
Plan what you will do on the full moon to celebrate your achievement.
WHAT TO GATHER NOW:
A dozen red roses
Some lavender flowers (the real thing)
5 oranges
A packet of poppy seeds (from the supermarket, only about $1.60)
FRIDAY NIGHT SELF LOVE SPELL LEADING UP TO THE FULL MOON
** Leading up to the first Friday start exercising, getting out and doing unusual things and maybe being amongst nature a bit more.
** Leading up to the second Friday consciously meditate more often
From the new moon to the full moon you’re gathering energy and strength and most importantly – self love. This is a time to really concentrate on a healthy outlook and to focus on the qualities which make you so wonderful, which you are! Every Friday night do a simple self love spell by taking a bath and putting:
- rose petals for self love AND devotion to a healthy state of mind
- lavender flowers for peace, harmony & protection (self preservation)
- orange slices for positivity and happiness
**I’d strongly advise not to put essential oils into the bath because some give you thrush! If you want to grab yourself some lavender oil to wear during the day do so, but water it down with almond or safflower oil first as it can’t directly touch the skin. The only time you put it directly onto the skin is for minor burns and pimples, much like tea tree oil. Watered down lavender oil can also be used as a natural insect repellent.
If you want, also create a drink of water with rose petals, lavender and orange slices so that you’re cleansed in and out. You can eat the rose petals and orange slices.
When you’re in the bath, use the poppy seeds to give yourself a full body scrub (don’t press too hard!) it’s an amazing exfoliant, and in a psychological sense, helps you to scrub away any doubts, misgivings or sadness from the week leading up to this night. Relax yourself completely and envision your heart chakra (just where the heart is) lighting up as a soft, healthy leafy green. As you breath in and out, feel your breathing spinning the heart chakra like a wheel and let its glowing energy fill your body. Allow yourself a good ten minutes or so to really enjoy this, and only concentrate on the spinning and sensation without any interfering thoughts. Once you’re used to this, use this mantra:
I am my thoughts, my thoughts make the world.
I am lovely, beautiful and can still share love.
I am love.
Once you’re done, give your body a moisturise, tuck yourself into bed and write down any thoughts. Only write down thoughts that move you ahead and make you appreciate the person that you are and what makes you a good person.
Treasuring yourself isn’t egoic, you can’t love others unless you love yourself. You are connecting with the whole universe and the more you send out the more you get back times three. Self love spells are wonderful, and as I’ve noted before – do not do love spells to attract another lover! The idea of a self love spell is to remind yourself of your best qualities to bring love and healthy energy to those around you, hence the threefold effect will benefit others and not just yourself.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Please join my artists page on Facebook
Hello everyone!
It is with great excitement that I have started making my own artist's page on Facebook where I will have regular updates of my work.
Click on the link here to view my work.
)O( Elspeth.
It is with great excitement that I have started making my own artist's page on Facebook where I will have regular updates of my work.
Click on the link here to view my work.
)O( Elspeth.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Meeting the White Tara
A few days ago I had a wonderful meditative experience. This is particularly interesting after having spent some time reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying of late. As per usual, when I meet a new character in these meditations I usually haven't a clue who they are. Normally my meditations lead me to a temple of Hermes Trimegistus - a large stone, sandalled foot broken at the ankle to what would have been a massive statue of Hermes Trimegistus facing out to the ocean. This time though, I remained facing out to the ocean with my back to the temple and the waves started to behave strangely, curling in an unusual way. The sun was directly in front of me on the horizon like the morning sun and the moon was directly above my head. From the horizon I could start to see the waters parting and slowly, a beautiful woman with long wavy white hair, a Nepalese face covered in white clay in an all-white costume came towards me very calmly, serenely. I patiently waited for her and she embraced me in a beautiful hug, where she then proceeded to put me on like a piece of clothing by slipping her hand through my back like a puppet with the rest of her body following until we were merged as the one being. I felt the coolness of water throughout me, a white glow and wonderful feeling of peace. Who was this Goddess? I then looked her up...
Sometimes called Mother of the Buddhas, White Tara is meant to have so much compassion for humankind that she exudes more love than a mother for her child. Tibetan Buddhists refer to her as the Mother of Liberation as the word Tara itself is derived from the root 'tri' (to cross), hence the implied meaning:' the one who enables living beings to cross the Ocean of Existence
Many myths surround her, but always as an incredibly pious character whether those stories had her derive from an actual person or purely in the form of deity. One myth tells of the White Tara being born from the tear of Avalokiteschvara, also known as Chenzering, who the Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of. One day Avalokiteshvara looked upon the world with such compassion that he began to cry over the suffering of mankind in its imbalance. Tears from each eye created the White Tara and Green Tara respectively. Another similar myth states that Avalokiteshvara cried an entire lake where a fully opened lotus formed and the White Tara emerged like Venus from her shell, as did Green Tara’s lotus, but not completely open. White Tara was born into the world to relieve suffering and provide longevity to her followers for the long journey through the Ocean of Suffering
Green Tara, with her half-open lotus, represents the night, and White Tara , with her lotus in full bloom, symbolizes the day. Green Tara embodies virtuous activity while White Tara displays serenity and grace. Together, the Green and White Taras symbolize the unending compassion of the goddess who labors day and night to relieve suffering. (1)
Some believe that the Green and White Taras represented ancient royalty:
In seventh-century Tibet Tara was believed to be incarnated in every pious woman. She especially came to be associated with two historical wives of the first Buddhist king of Tibet China Tara , while the king's Nepalese wife was an incarnation of Green Tara . It may be that the desire to regard both these pious women as incarnations of Tara led to the concept of the goddess's green and white forms.
She is pictured as being endowed with seven eyes (on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and her forehead) to symbolize the watchfulness of the compassionate mind.
White Tara mantra
(text in Tibetan Uchen)
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Mama Ayuḥ Punya Jñānā Puṣtiṃ Kuru Svāhā
Pronounced
“Omm Taraye, Tuttaraye Tooraye
Mahmah Aryoob Punya-Gnyana Pooshtim Kuru Swa-ha”
My interpretation of this chant:
Praise to Tara , Hail! May I be blessed with wisdom, happiness & long life. May my experiences teach the importance of living ethically and with wisdom. May the merit my actions of compassion and devotion be felt by others, in their hearts and amongst all of nature itself. May we all feel the wealth of these efforts. For those who live with such compassion and merit will always live in Kuru - make it so! I will take into me the serenity and grace of White Tara in her love, compassion and piety. Blessed Be.
from which creation was born. It is the Cosmic vibration.
other mantras to work and for their specific meanings to be known. We must first contact
Therefore “
Mama = mine. You or you would like your friend to have long life, merit, wisdom and happiness.
Ayuh is long life (as in Ayurvedic medicine).
Punya = the merit that comes from living life ethically, and this merit is said to help one to live long and happily.
Jnana = wisdom.
Punya and Jnana are known as the Two Accumulations. In order to become enlightened we need to accumulate merit (that is, to develop positive qualities through living ethically and meditating) but we also need to develop wisdom through deep reflection. Wisdom cannot arise without a basis of merit, but merit alone is not enough for us to become enlightened, meaning that becoming a nicer person isn’t enough — we have also to look deeply into ourselves and the world around us and to see the impermanent and insubstantial nature of all things.
Pushtim = wealth, abundance, or increase.
Kuru is a mythical land to the north of the Himalayas , which was said to be a land of long life and happiness (it may have been the original northern home of the aryans). Perhaps the association with the mythical realm of Kuru doesn’t hurt when doing the mantra. But (and with due thanks to Arpad Joo’s comment below) it’s also a verb form meaning “do it!” or “make it so!” (second person singular active imperative or the root k.r if that’s of any interest to you) which is what it means here. The “make it so!” refers back to an increase in wisdom, merit, and long life (for the practitioner). We’re imploring White Tara for these things so that we can gain enlightenment and help all sentient beings.
svaha = an exclamation meaning “hail” or “may blessings be upon” and is a common ending to Buddhist mantras. So after making the rather bold request of White Tara above, we end with an equally emphatic salutation.
Sources:
Direct quote from
Text from:
http://www.visiblemantra.org/white-tara.html
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