Quote

"Learning how to be open, to have thinner barriers around us without being eaten alive by every draining person and parasite teaches us to be able to flow through the worlds and be receptive to the slightest whisper from inner contacts while retaining our energetic health and integrity."

- Josephine McCarthy, Magickal Knowledge vol. II, page 19.

Thank you, Frater Acher!

Uncrossing, part 2: The Supplies

Wow, the magical Blog-o-Sphere is kinda dead lately.

Unfortunately, this has included my own blog.  The upshot in my case is that this has been caused by the fact that I got the herbs I needed/wanted for my uncrossing operation, and I'm currently working on putting everything together.  For my operation, with the exception of the candles, I will be personally making all the supplies from scratch.  These supplies include:

• Uncrossing Oil
• Uncrossing Incense
• Uncrossing Powder
• Uncrossing Floorwash
• Uncrossing Spiritual Bath

And that's not even going into the protection working I plan on doing immediately afterward.  The good thing is that all of them basically include the same ingredients.  So much so, in fact, that I'm using the recipe for the oil as the base for all the others, with removing or adding an ingredient or two as needed.  And don't worry; there will be pictures, and I may very well post the recipes themselves!

With that said, I'm a little irritated with myself over this.  I spent a couple of months trying to get to the point where I could afford to order the herbs I needed online...but then I ended up finding two stores here in Indianapolis that sell what I needed, and then some.  The first was a health food store that carried hyssop.  I also picked up some Lemon Balm which I later found out is useful in uncrossing as well.  They're good quality, and the price?  CHEAP.

Then there was also another, specifically metaphysical, store on the opposite end of town that told me they only carried rue, not hyssop.  However, when I got there it turns out they had BOTH the herbs I needed!  Basically, between both stores, the two herbs cost me less than $10.

Why did I wait so long???

Anyway, I've already created the oil, and will make a post detailing the recipe and including pictures.

Spiritual Cleansing on a Budget

In recent weeks I have wanted to implement regular spiritual cleansing, usually on the weekend backed up with minor cleansings during the week.  Part of my reason for this is that, as a magical practitioner it's very wise to maintain good spiritual hygeine.  The other part of my reason is that I'm still suffering under my crossed condition, and so far it seems like spiritual cleansings help combat the symptoms and weaken the condition itself.

Unfortunately, I have been delayed in obtaining the specific herbs I want to use for my uncrossing and for spiritual cleansing in general.  Mostly it has been due to budgetary concerns.  However, with a perusal of Devi Spring's list of bare-minimum materials for spiritual cleansing, and then a cross-checking with cat yronwode's "Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic", I found materials that can be obtained at a local supermarket.  Because of this, I made a 3-ingredient spiritual cleansing bath:

Add to a pitcher of warm water...

• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ammonia
• 4-5 drops liquid blueing (or 1/2 blueing ball or square)

Salt being a spiritual cleanser came as no surprise to me.  Even since my days as a Wiccan, I've always known it to be a cleanser and protector par excellance.

Since learning some Hoodoo in my pursuit of sorcery, I learned that Ammonia is a very powerful spiritual cleanser.  In its case, less is often more and a little goes a long way.  Most sources I've encountered caution against using more than 1 tbsp per gallon of water for spiritual cleansing purposes.  Also, most sources I've found cite the reason for this being that ammonia is such a powerful cleanser that if you use too much it won't just cleanse away the bad, but the good as well.

Before delving into Hoodoo, I had never heard of blueing, a laundry chemical used to whiten white fabric.  And then one day at a local supermarket, lo and behold, I found a bottle of liquid blueing.  Apparently it is also used as a spiritual cleanser, but it has more of a leaning toward bringing in positive influences.  Thus, it is also used in blessing.

I was able to get all three of these supplies for less than $10!

When using the above spiritual bath, I charged it beforehand.  In Hoodoo, one would have prayed fervently over it once the materials were mixed into the water.  But I go with Jason's method of touching on each of the three levels: The Empyrian (divine), the Aetheric (energetic/astral), and the Material.

In this case, I began by making the Triangle of Manifestation gesture over the pitcher.  Then, reciting an invocation to Helios and Hecate from Jason's book "Protection & Reversal Magic", I imagined and willed cleansing energy into the gesture, seeing it "zap" into the bath water as I finished the invocation.  Thus, by praying and adding energy to the materials, I touched on each level!

Then, of course, I went to the bathtub and used the cleansing bath!  Instead of the traditional route of taking some of the water to a crossroads afterward, I let it all wash down the drain.  It seems that can be used in a pinch, and to me it makes sense.  When you take the water to a crossroads, you are essentially giving what you washed off over to the chthonic powers.  But to me, the concept of the water and what it washed off being poured into the dark and deep of underground pipes speaks just as well of giving it over to those chthonic powers.

And I've felt so sparkly fresh since doing that bath!

Strategic Sorcery Update: My Regular Practice

One thing I got clued into years ago was the concept of a regular (daily being ideal) spiritual practice consisting of exercises that are fundamental to one's spiritual, psychic, and energetic makeup.  Since delving into the works of Jason Miller and subsequently entering into his Strategic Sorcery course, my regular practice changed and I think it has been for the better.

For one thing, Jason taught me that my regular practice does not have to by a rigid thing.  I don't HAVE to start with a banishing rite, only THEN following with opening my centers and balancing my secret fire (thank you, Argent!).  He also helped me see how I can incorporate contact with my Holy Guardian Angel/Daimon into my practice.

Here is a current snapshot of my practice.  My apologies for items that are vague due to being in a book and me being unsure whether I can reproduce it or not:

1. Centering:  This is basically placing oneself at the center of the Universe.  Mentally, you acknowledge that you are at the center of it all.  You don't change your position; you simply allow yourself to know that it is so.  What I like about Jason's "Universal Center" exercise from TSS is that it does what exercises like the Qabalistic Cross do, but it does it quicker.  You can still draw power with the Universal Center, plus it places you into a position of magical authority.
2. The Pillar:  This is another exercise from TSS.  In it, you establish your connection to Higher and Lower (Ouranian and Chthonic) forces by establishing yourself in a column of energy channelling those forces.  Basically, it sets up your connection to universal power.
3. The Spheres:  After establishing the Pillar, 5 spheres in the body corresponding with the elements are established and energized.  Once this is done, I sit with my spheres energized, in the Pillar and try to balance everything.  Once this is done, I move on to...
4. Invocation of the HGA/Daimon:  There was a period where I was doing this through an altered version of the Headless Invocation/Bornless Invocation/Liber Samekh (All three are based on the same ritual from the Greek Magical Papyri).  More recently, I've been doing this through a prayer from TSS called "Invocation of the Agathodaimon".  Even more recently, I've been trying a little free-form prayer to the HGA/Daimon.  Either way, once I've done the prayer or invocation, I'm usually in an altered state of consciousness.  I then move on to...
5. Meditation:  I start by reciting the Mirror Litany that I learned from Strategic Sorcery.  Then I meditate for 20 minutes, using a special mantra I also learned from Strategic Sorcery called "The Song of the Serpent".  It's easy to understate the feeling of bliss and serenity that I have when I'm finished.
6. Offerings:  I give a general offering of subtle fire (read "energy") to the spirits around me, and to certain Gods.

Of these, I consider items 1 and 4-6 essential.

I want to give special mention to offerings.  Before reading TSS, I never even thought it might be possible to give a cloud of subtle energy to the spirits and make it so much more by willing it to pervade all space and take the form most desired by its recipients.  In doing this, you're basically giving the spirits endless treasures everytime you make an offering.  As you can imagine, this goes a long way toward building a relationships with the spirits around you that you may not even be aware of on a day-to-day basis.

Plus it appeases spirits who are pissed off at you!

With that said, there are things in my practice that I am going to need to adjust.  There's more I'm going to add due to material from Strategic Sorcery.  But for now, the above is my regular practice.

Ugh...there's so much work and extracurricular activity I've got to get through from Strategic Sorcery!  There's a bunch of pore-breathing and energy-tapping exercises to try out.  And for one of them, I want to take a trip to the local Art Museum!

Down with the sickness!

There's a reason I hate the wintertime, especially here in the Midwest.  I've been sick with things that are rather nasty and painful 3 times in 3 months.  I'm currently fighting off the third sickness.  Considering what happens and how long the aftereffects last each time I get sick...that's a lot of time being sick.  I really miss the days when I got sick once a year and was done.

The current sickness and the last one have really derailed my practice.  I haven't been getting anything done in my regular practices nor in my work in Strategic Sorcery.  Fortunately, I'm at a point with the current sickness where I can carry on competently.

Also, I'm starting to get some overtime at work.  With the extra money, I'm going to order the hyssop and the rue I've been meaning to get!