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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in daily practice

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

I am sometimes teased in a gentle way for always going on about grounding and breathing.  My friend Jude would like a photo of me, looking sternly over the tops of my spectacles and pointing to the ground. I write it so often as my status update on Facebook that people must grow tired of my constant carping about it.

Yet, even as I type these words and smile at these memories, I feel my big feet stretching, the heels digging into the carpet below my feet.  I start the process of grounding that I was taught so long ago that it has become second nature to me.  Tiny roots begin to grow from my heels and wend their way through the carpet and the sub-flooring and past the basement and sink at last into the cool moist earth. As they move into the soil, they widen and strengthen, heading into the darkness of the Earth's rich breast.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

(I'm going to double up for a week or so, and post these notes on Samhain prep at my home site and here.  Those of you who are kind enough to read both may feel you're seeing double for a bit. )

As I'm readying myself for this hard and sacred time, I'm reviewing my daily practice and wondering if it is optimum for keeping me focused and open.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Intention for Breakfast

Have you ever felt like you're missing out on most of the magick? As if everyone else seems to have magick in their lives all the time and seems so happy about, but you aren't sure how you achieve that while remaining true to your authentic self? I've been there! I know what you mean, although I believe that what you're specifically looking for is unique to each person, I can say with certainty that there is at least a basic formula to get on the right path.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    Thank you for this post, Peter. This is something I need to start doing.
  • Lise Christofferson
    Lise Christofferson says #
    Good morning, Peter! I agree, the cozy 'lets sit and share' in the morning with your deity/spirits is a perfect way to set the ton
  • Lise Christofferson
    Lise Christofferson says #
    Good morning, Peter! I agree, the cozy 'lets sit and share' in the morning with your deity/spirits is a perfect way to set the ton

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

A couple of weeks ago—which partially explains my absence from this hallowed place—Mother Grove Goddess Temple ordained a group of women as temple clergy. The women—and in this case they were all women—were already priestesses but they went through a long process of study and practicum to make them clergy.  They can perform all the rites of passage (including the legal one of marriage), can teach and speak on behalf of the Temple and its programs and philosophy.

It was a powerful ritual at a local herb school, because the Temple is small. There were candles and simple black robes. There were special guests and people making speeches. There was a choir and a reception. There was an audible gasp in the congregation when the women’s stoles were placed on their shoulders and they turned to face out. At that point, they were introduced one-by-one as “Reverend.”

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  • Betty
    Betty says #
    I wish I could become clergy, but I don't know how. I'm self employed so I can't afford to go to seminary, but I do take classes h
  • Theresa Wymer
    Theresa Wymer says #
    Good for them. Congratulations to all the new clergy members!
  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    Congratulations to all the new Reverends!
  • Ruby Sara
    Ruby Sara says #
    Wonderful post, Byron!! Thank you! RS
  • ericjdev
    ericjdev says #
    I too have had a problem with who are hung up on trying to not be like Christians, I don't get it, don't really want to. My faith

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Of all the differences between Recon paths and other (Neo-)Pagan paths, I think the notion of hubris is the most controversial. Sure, everyone who works with Them, respects the Gods but there is a big difference in the respect--and fear--level between Recons and non-Recons.

I'm not exactly sure how this is for other Recon paths but for Hellenismos, avoiding hubris is the foundation of faith. Hubris, in dictionary terms, means excessive pride or arrogance and comes from the Greek (hýbris, ὕβρις). For me, hubris is not an adjective but a verb. It describes the act of willful or ignorant refusal to comply by the will of the Gods.

Within Hellenismos, the Gods rule supreme. We are here to serve and honor Them, and in return, They provide us with what we need to survive. This practice of kharis is one of the pillars of Hellenismos. But it's there in all other pillars as well.

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  • Tess Dawson
    Tess Dawson says #
    I enjoyed this post, Elani. In Natib Qadish (Canaanite religion), we have similar views. We see the deities rather like kings and
  • Elani Temperance
    Elani Temperance says #
    Thank you for your kind and enlightening words. I agree completely; it is almost exactly the same within Hellenismos. I'll write a
  • Tess Dawson
    Tess Dawson says #
    I look forward to reading your post on magic, Elani.
  • Merle Moss
    Merle Moss says #
    I (Purple-Astral-Magma) don't know why it list me as a 'guest', I signed up in order to make this comment. You certainly have the
  • Elani Temperance
    Elani Temperance says #
    I'm sorry for getting back to you so late; I had a bad weekend. Thank you for your lengthy reply and for sharing your thoughts on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

We have already established that certain doom is sent by the Gods and should be suffered through. But there is another kind of doom, sent not by the Gods, but by fellow men. And against this, one is absolutely encouraged to fight.

As human beings, our anger, envy and spite can result in what is known as the Evil Eye; a curse upon another usually transferred by a look. We might not even intend to harm the other person but we will, regardless. In ancient Hellas, this occurrence was as real as the sheep that grazed the fields and the slaves that worked the house. Interestingly enough, the belief in the Evil Eye--or 'bad eye', as it's translated into Greek--is still upheld in modern Greece.
 
When you suddenly feel dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous or every muscle in your body starts hurting for no apparent reason, it is most likely that someone wished you ill, either consciously or subconsciously. It is then prudent to think back and find the exact moment the bad eye was given. It could be a compliment given, a present received or it could really be just a glance from across the street. Children and women are considered especially susceptible to the bad eye.
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  • Tess Dawson
    Tess Dawson says #
    We, too, in Natib Qadish have a concept of the 'enu, the Eye. We've been lucky enough to have a 3200 year old text preserved that
  • Elani Temperance
    Elani Temperance says #
    Thank you for your reply, Tess! It's fantastic you have a text like that. We don't have the actual words that were used, but I'm v
  • Merle Moss
    Merle Moss says #
    and it was 'little red rings', = WASN'T 'little red rings',
  • Merle Moss
    Merle Moss says #
    Hey! It is very interesting in that in my late teens I experienced a kind of 'Aura Sight', which seemed different than anything I
  • Elani Temperance
    Elani Temperance says #
    That does sound very much like a visible 'evil eye-attack'! They could very well be related. Thank you for sharing!

I've experimented with magic since I first started practicing when I was sixteen. I'd buy books at the local occult shop, voraciously read them and try the exercises out. Afterwards, I'd think about how I could improve the exercises or change them or experiment with them. I was never satisfied with other people's explanations of how magic worked. I'm still not satisfied with most of the explanations about how magic works, and that includes some of my explanations. That dissatisfaction, as well as an insatiable curiosity drives my desire to experiment with magic.

Magic is perceived by some as a spiritual force that complements their religious practices, and by others it is perceived as a practical methodology used to achieve measurable results that improve the lives of the practitioners. Still others think of it as a spiritual practice that allows them to commune with the world and the divine. Beyond all of that though it is a discipline, a field of study that many people contribute to on a regular basis. The challenge with any discipline is figuring out how you keep it relevant to the times and to the needs of the people.

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  • Merle Moss
    Merle Moss says #
    The only problem I have with the idea of 'experimentation in magic(k)', is rigorously keeping the original intent clear and simple
  • Taylor Ellwood
    Taylor Ellwood says #
    Hello Merle, That's a fair point to make. I find that applying a process approach avoid such slippage, because the intent is writ
  • B. T. Newberg
    B. T. Newberg says #
    Interesting. Thanks for this. What are your views on experimental methodology in magic?
  • Taylor Ellwood
    Taylor Ellwood says #
    Hello, I take a process approach to experimentation in magic, which means that if I put together an experiment and describe it to

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