Spells @ MindSay

During the years that I was Wiccan I performed only a very small handful of ritualized spells (I specify "ritualized" because there were smaller spells I did more often, but still not a ton). I contemplated many, began writing more than a few, but only acted on a number I can count on one hand. I was never good at keeping up with my Book of Shadows and had record of only one of these spells in my original BoS. I have my later Books still here on my bookshelf at home, but they contain none of my spells.

I've always not known quite how I felt about spells. Part of me has never believed in prayer, and as many Wiccans will tell you, spells are essentially a form of prayer. Another thing, which really links back to the prayer issue, is that I tend to end up at this point in my contemplations where I conclude that I may not know what is best for me and should have faith that what is best for me will come naturally if I just do my own personal best and be smart about how I live each day. This is why I didn't do many spells. I would think that I wanted something, that I needed something, whether it be worldly or spiritual or anything else, but after thinking about it... decided that doing a spell for it didn't seem necessary. I can't say today if that is true or not because I have no experiences to compare and contrast, except for one spell which seems to have worked. But does that mean it was necessary? The reason it never seemed necessary, though, was because I began to notice my own failures which I believe is important to really bring change about. Perhaps spells would help, though. In fact, I'm sure they could. Perhaps focusing myself there with so much energy and intent would really really help, but I think what was most important during these times was my own self-analysis and criticism which would often lead to my own real-world efforts to change things, and to have faith in the rest. And really, this seemed to have worked quite well for me. Even today, even more so today, when I have issues, confusions, things that are bothering me, it is only a very short matter of time before things just pop up in my life to explain or to assure or to guide. A lot of time it just seems like simply being in the right place at the right time. I'll go to bed with something weighing on my mind and the next morning I'll read, see, or hear something that totally takes care of it. I don't know what it is, but I sure am glad for it...

What I notice these days is that I don't do that same self-analysis anymore. I don't appreciate as much anymore. I don't notice little beauties as much anymore. And as I've said in a previous post, I don't learn huge, beautiful lessons from tiny, normally unnoticeable things in everyday life anymore. I'm not saying I did all of this because of Wicca, but that being Wiccan tended focus me in a certain direction, at a certain part of the world that was so full of natural wisdom and energy and beauty which I'm not in tune with these days.

I have to admit at this point that one thing that often holds me back from some things is that I don't want to be seen by other people as another New Age-y head in the clouds kind of person. I have too much pride in my logical, analytical nature than to let myself be perceived that way. I know, I know, we shouldn't care how others see us. Easier said than done. (I never say that, but as a note, I was thinking about it the other day and realized, also, some things are easier done than said, which is more often the case with myself... I was glad to think of this.)


Hold on, I'm starting to jump topics. Let's regroup...

Self-analysis and Wiccan spells.

It may or may not be obvious that I've been thinking about making my way back to Wicca again. A few things contributed to my leaving, including my suddenly loss in the belief in any form of God, the politics, bickering and tension within the community, and finding suddenly that I was looking around at books and websites and acquaintances and nothing was new. I began to feel stagnant and aggravated. Plus, on the side, I had began developing new ideals which clashed in a couple ways with this part of my life.

At this point, neither those new (at the time) ideals nor religion hold primary importance in my life.
Honestly, I don't want either of them to.
I am beginning to see some of the foolishness of those ideals I began to gather and to appreciate or see the necessity in some of what I previously opposed. I am beginning to come to conclusions about things I have teetered over for so long. Beginning, I say...

I don't know if Wicca will become a part of my life again. I don't know if changing the whole damn world/country will become a focus for me again. I do know what is important to me right now and I think instead of trying to create an ultimate ideal and fit myself into it, I should just live in what is natural and true to me right now. Before, I didn't even know what this was, not even when I was Wiccan, surprisingly. Now I'm getting a better grip on it and instead of saying to myself, "Okay, so where do I go with this? What am I going to end up doing? Maybe this ... maybe this ... maybe this...." I can say, "Right now, I don't know if I believe in God, I don't know if I believe in reincarnation, I don't know if I believe in any of these sorts of things, but I do know that meditation helps me in many and that I can practice it despite whether or not I hold a belief in these things, so that is what I will do. Right now, I know that I need a place in my physical space that is designated just to this meditation practice, and an altar seems like a good idea, plus it would provide a place to gather myself everyday and express gratitude for many things. It will not be a religious altar, simply a place for spiritual or spiritual-like practices each day. Right now, I know that I am not feeling good. I know that I want to be in good health and to be able to do all the other many things I want to do with my life and with/for the people in my life, present and future. I will seek ways to make this optimal health a reality for myself. Right now, I know that there are certain things happening which I don't feel comfortable with and would like to not happen. I can't change the whole world and I don't need to get in a huge fuss about it and create and ideal world in my head that some part of me knows is probably not possible, at least during my life or anytime nearly after it. I can do what I think is healthy for myself and others and productively work in real-life circumstances that are helping things right now and possibly even into the far future. I will like what I like and do what I do and follow where I'm lead by it all and change when I change."
That is all I am saying right now. I'm not saying it is all that simple, but that's the main idea, I suppose.

I had the greatest idea ever for a new Harry Potter spell!!
It's designed to make the wand wobbly and *tee hee* impotent

Erectus Disfunctius!!

I can see them using that one a lot.


AHHH!!!!! My wand's gone limp!!

I've talked about how I really like author Christopher Penczak's work in a post before, and tonight I happened to come across a podcast which featured an amasing interview with the him. If you click the link it'll take you to the website. Scroll down to #16 - Christopher Penczak - does Shadow, you can listen to it there. (If you do listen to it I'd advise you to skip through the beginning bits. The host actually reads the show instead of just talking, which annoys me, but if you aren't annoyed by it and want to hear what he has to say, then listen to the whole thing, by all means.)

I usually don't share this kind of stuff, but I think this is such an interesting and informative interview that touches on so many topics which aren't only interesting and beneficial to pagans and witches, but anyone interested in spirituality/religion/science as well. I think all of us could learn from these things, despite our differences in religion/spirituality because it deals with basically having control of our lives, and from a real, scientific view, not just faith.

As I mentioned, he touches on a lot of interesting points in the interview. One thing that really struck a cord with me was when he talked about his view on karma. Personally, I've had this struggle with the idea of karma in the back of my mind. I've never thought about it too much, though, and it remained valid in my mind. Even though, something always seemed to be askew in the explanation of the philosophy of karma and I was never able to put my finger on it, so I wrote it off and forgot about it.

But Penczak hit in right on the nail in this interview. The first thing that I liked was how while he was talking about something, he used a phrase saying something along the lines of how people "draw difficulties to them" rather than saying "things that happen to people." Deo (the host of the show) asked him about what he meant by the idea that people draw up their own experiences. He asked about someone getting hit by a bus, how we would use the same logic to explain that. Penczak responded by saying that this is where many believe karma comes in, and he explained his view of karma. He said he sees it not as a system of reward & punishment (this is where my own problem with it lied). When we say "good karma" and "bad karma" we are putting it in either category because it is either something we like or something we do not like. But karma is just a law of physics, like gravity. See what I mean now by how I love his more scientific take on things? My problem with karma is now resolved. heh. It's all in perspective, really. And if you look into quantum physics at all, you'll see how this all makes more sense scientifically. The idea that we create our own reality.

I also mentioned in the other post that I like his approach to witchcraft. Not just in how he looks for validity through science, but also how he sees the importance of learning to work with and understand the esoteric of it before getting into the exoteric things like ritual and magic and all. Of course this all incorporates the esoteric too, and balancing the two is what is to be learned, but you can't even start learning about the exoteric practices and expect to have a true appreciation for it until you undrestand the inner worksing. That means working with ourselves.

Personally, I'm not too big on magic as it is often thought of in the community. I don't mean that I don't like it or don't believe in it, because I do. But I have said before that I actually don't perform ritual magic much at all. By this I mean that I won't ever do an elaborate spell to get a laptop (however badly I would like to have one...) or a car or lots of money. I wouldn't even do a spell really to make big chances in myself, which is what many who don't do spells for material things do spells for instead.

The reason is that I think the whole point in doing spells is to get in touch with the Divinity within us and focus it towards an intent. That is what we are doing, no? The key part of that is getting in touch with Divinity. We believe that the Divine is within everything, including each and every one of us. So I think instead of jumping into doing spells for everything, one should instead work on getting in touch with that Divinity within and staying in touch with it constantly, or at least having that connection readily available so we can access it instantly when we need it. When you are in constant contact with that part of yourself, what is the use of spells? There is no use for it, really. You already have a clear intent, you already realise what is best, you already are drawing to you what is best because you have connected to that infinate Divine source of truth and wisdom. This is by no means an easy task, though, of course. But it is this task that I chose to focus on rather than the task of perfecting my ability to write perfect spells.

I'm not belittling the meaning or importance of spells, because I have often turned towards it as an option to handling things in my life, but very seldom am I not able to find an alternative to handling it. I know a lot of witches would argue me this saying, "of course we need to find solutions and work towards developing the intent in this world, but spells serve as a way to push it forward." I agree. But I guess what I'm saying is that personally, magic just isn't something I see as a solution to everything. Small acts of magic like charms, affirmations or charging of objects are things even I use regularly. However, I preffer to simply use the power of my pure will and mind to deal with other things. That's just me and what works for me - what works for others works for them. In either case, the importance of clear intent can not be stressed enough.

Like I say in the other post, what I really appreciate is his scientific approach to witchcraft. I mean, we know that witchcraft is a science amongst other things, but I like the way he really embraces science and brings it into witchcraft instead of doing like so many others do: looking at witchcraft alone and saying whatever is, is just because it is logically. In the past I have to admit that I've been erked by the way that some people only use logic in witchcraft and say, "well, it works in theory, so we'll use it" and call that being scientific. I came across Penczak and his books that gave a voice and explained these ideas I had been struggling with on my own. I realised I wasn't so out-there in my ideas afterall and having these ideas and objections did not make me any less of a witch or Wiccan.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the interview and I'll probably listen to it again a few more times just to fully comprehend everything he said (I'm kinda slow... heh.). It was nice to hear someoen else saying these things and giving voice to them, because usually the only voice I hear on these topics is my own voice, in my head.

Goodnight Everyone.

Peace Love & Respect
-Liv-

I got this email in my inbox today:

The experiment is in Global Spellcasting. Basically we are asking all willing people, starting with our members, to cast a personal spell for love, hope, peace, and prosperity for the world anytime May 5^th. We are simply asking you to light a candle, or other appropriate gestures to focus yourself, and during that time, cast your spell for a peaceful, loving, and hopeful world. In this way you will be adding it to a collective desire we hope will create some change in the world. We will be utilizing the Crystal Web as well to convey the energy in its world wide reach.

Because the May 5^th Spellcasting, the largest ever tempted in modern recorded history, is a real experiment, we will be collaborating data to prove or disprove the effect of the spell. Some data we will be collecting and compiling will include the number of violent deaths, crimes committed, accident reports, and similar statistics governments and news agencies create and report. All of these statistics are compiled by people who are beyond our reach and thus beyond our direct control.

I've talked a few times about a similar experiment that took place in meditation. They of course did it many other times in many other places, but to a smaller degree. But then they tried it on a larger scale, using people from 100 different countries, a thousand people I think it was. It was predicted, based on the results of the smaller experiments, that it would lower the crime rate in Washington (where the meditation sitting took place) by 25%. The head of police said that it was impossible. It would take 9 feet snow, he said. However, it did work, and on that day the crime rate was lower by 25%.

So I'm wondering what is possible if witches all around the world were to do this on the same day. It is certainly an interesting experiment, although if not enough word gets out, it's doomed to failure. That's why I'm posting this here because I know a few Wiccans here at MindSay, so maybe you'll do it yourselves and share the idea with others too.

Many of you have heard me stress about how important I think it is to lead by example. To be an example for others in the things you believe in. If you believe in non-violence, then trying to be non-violent yourself in thought, word and deed. A lot of people argue me this saying that it doesn't make a difference. But really, I strongly believe it does. It's those exact people who say that it's impossible because other people won't comply that are holding it back. If only they themselves would be willing to work towards it too, that makes it that much more possible. Eventually, with enough people and enough energy of that sort in the world, it raises the collective consience and change can happen. I have no doubt. Whether or not it will, who knows; I like to think it will. But is it possible? Definately.

Anyways, I'll definately be joining in... it's worth a try. ;)

And lastly as a quick note, something my sister said yesterday: "When is Cinco De Mayo?" I stared at her and after a few seconds she realised what she had just said. We both busted up laughing. Teehee! :P

Peace Love & Respect
-Liv-