Tropical Storm Tomas....we were missed again

Tracking Tomas

The link will take you to Tomas.
Its gone northward, thank goodness. Many people are complaining that the authorities made much ado about nothing. I for one am glad that they did. Storms can turn at a moments notice.

The night was extremely still, no breezes at all, and not too warm. But the sun shone brightly in a blue sky this morning, amid reports of high winds and rain in Barbados, an island nearby.

There is a local saying : "God iza Trini"  we have rarely been hit by a Tropical storm, so much so that the last heavy storm I remember is as a child, probably three or four years old, and sleeping under my bed hearing the winds batter our little home.

On to Saturday.......and Halloween Parties tonight!

Trapped...can Planetary Magick help?

Every so often I feel exactly like this picture. There is a hazy image that I can see, that I want to see clearly, but I cannot, because I am trapped by current circumstances in life.
I go through the process of trying to obliterate (in my mind) some of the "walls" that hold me from where I want to be. Then I realize it is pointless, there isn't anything much I can change, and just ...well gather strength to keep keeping on. One of those moments came upon me this morning and I felt to run away from everything and everyone.
One thing about magick, is that is offers you the opportunity to analyze the situation....because in the process of deciding which spell is best to banish the feeling, you actually sort through the issues, and may realize....well...I don't need to do a spell...I just need to tweak here....and (ting ching ting!) presto...the feeling is dealt with.

At times like these I may resort to Planetary Magick, and ask that Saturn pushes back his boundaries a bit (you are choking me!!!!) but I need to know what the boundaries have to be pushed back on. Will give more about Planetary Magick in another blog.....

This time......it is clear....my current career is not fulfilling, and I need to follow my dream........which brings me to my financial situation without my job ....which brings me to managing car and rent payments.....spiraling into a vortex of anxiety and worry. Honestly, I think I have too many responsibilities....thats the whole of it.

Moongirl

Found this animated short from Henry Selick, who worked on Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas. I like it.....will search for more of his stuff

Is Sharing Spells/ Ritual effective?- Part Two

In an earlier blog post:http://cocyeabroomstick.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-sharing-spells-ritual-effective-part.html

I began outlining the differences between spells and rituals. I also pointed out that learning styles had a profound effect on determining the elements in the spell/ritual which would be most effective for ourselves. I stopped at that point as I didn’t want the blog post to be too long.

What I have seen, is that people share spells; using someone else’s spell well…..”word for word” without considering if the spell’s associations have any meaning to them.

Spells and rituals, must mean something to the individual…..its no good doing a spell for new beginnings using yellow and purple, when the colours or baby pink or blue always came to mind as your association to the idea of new beginnings.

The inner work must be done before the spell. Sometimes, it is helpful to make notes in preparation for the spell. I usually outline the following points in preparing:

1)      In one sentence, what is the spell’s/ritual’s intent or goal

2)      Is it phrased in a way to “harm none”

3)      What colours do you associate with this goal?

4)      What scents do you associate with this goal?

5)      What actions / shapes etc do you associate with the goal

The process of creating your own spell leads to an inner work that is missed by just borrowing a spell. I remember reading a bit from  Austin Osmand Spare where he pointed out that attempting to teach others his magickal techniques was futile, as the techniques were developed  by his mind, for his mind. 

The same idea is put forward in learning any creative subject. The process of finding the end (painting) is more important than the end (painting) itself. You need to discover for yourself, what makes your mind click, and the only one who can do that is you.

Do the ground work……..you get deeper into your spiritual style by doing so.

Tim Burton Fairy Tales

Just sharing something I found...... a website of Timmy Tales....Tim Burton-like characters and poems....
I am not sure if they came from the creator themselves...but they are his flavour.
Link here:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~sebulbac/burton/home.html

Found this entry in my BOS which was written on the 14th November 2008.


Causal Body (Air)- beliefs, reason and memory. This give rise to:


Mental Body(Fire)- the body of knowledge stored within. Which is responsible for:


Emotional Body(Water)- a living history of all the things you like and dislike; all of your fears, hopes and desires. These three create:


Physical body(Earth)- the final manifestation of the previous three.


To change the Physical reality, begin at the source. Look for holes in the belief system you hold.


It is almost a year later, and I feel no closer to who I want to be than I was last year. I go through serious periods of indecision flipping back and forth between security and passion......can I make the passion give me security....my biggest, most challenging hurdle is a bloody career decision!
It should be simple to shift............

Dark Movies for Halloween

Here is a list of my favourite movies that are not nessecarily scary, but they do have a dark quality about them that make them so....well creepy.....the sets are gorgouesly dark. The costuming superb.....well I just love them.

Dark Crystal....saw this one when I was a little girl and it left an impression on me......still love it!

Coraline.....beautiful....

Johnny Depp's Classic Role.......

....oohhh was so enchanted by this one...love.......

Haunted Mansion for the kids.................

and these three...for the kids and the BIG kids.......

All of them are fun favourites.

              

Morphing into an online BOS

Been catching my "nenen" to keep track of all this information that I have been gathering. Books just don't cut it anymore. So I am taking advantage of this blog format to sort out these Magickal Topics that need to be put in a sensible order.
Hence the reason for the birth of  SHERBAL SHADOWS and the Godopeadia
Final I can put a logical order to this information I have in all by BOS..........

Era - Divano

Era's Divano.
Something hauntingly beautiful about this music. Otherworldy even...........

WELCOME!!!

MERRY MEET to all who have joined my blog recently, and yes...I do poke around in your blogs! The more the merrier!!!
I must point out one person who had me ooohhing and aaahing. As a little girl I tried (not too successfully) to make dollhouses for myself (they were not many toy stores on the island) and many times I tried to make them spooky, much to the chagrin of my family (What is this child's obbsession with the dark and scarey????)
And here I find a host of individuals making miniature dollhouses in SPOOKY! Found these on Grimdeva's Blog (hello Grimdeva!!!!! *waves* :) )

Take a look at some of the furnishings I found on her blogs and sites.........

Miniature Potion Bottles for the little Witchy House

Miniature Egyptian Chairs

ooooohhh and best of alll....this one had me clapping with joy:

Miniature Goth Candle Stick

Makes me want to dust the cobwebs off the credit cards..........sigh bloody shipping to this island is always so iffy...or else I would have had a miniature Witches Mansion as the center piece for my Living Room.......well.......one day one day congo tay!

Check out her links:
http://cauldroncraftminiatures.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CauldronCraftMinis
http://etsyminimakers.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-04T13:38:00-04:00&max-results=7

And I promise I would get back to my Part two of the blog " Should we share spells"....soon..just needed a little witchy fun......sometimes my mind can get too serious.

Amazon has these which may help

Great Candles at this Etsy Store

Love the presentation of this candle. See more from this Etsy seller at:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58232737/samhain-between-the-worlds-ritual-candle?ref=sr_gallery_21&ga_search_query=witch&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=&includes[0]

Thought for today

To achieve your magickal goals try this task:


Think only that which you wish to experience.

Is Sharing Spells/ Ritual effective?- Part One

DEFINITIONS

In the article “When a Spell Becomes a Ritual-Magical Definitions for Pagans and Wiccans,” Elizabeth Yetter, points out the differences between a Ritual and a Spell.

Spells

Modern day Wiccan spells are very much like the spells used centuries ago. There are the spoken words, usually a rhyme that states a desire, and there are usually a few props, such as candles and incense. According to Hill and Williams (1965), “[t]he power of the spell derives from the power of words and incantation” (p. 154). For example, a love spell may require the person searching for true love to light a red candle and chant a simple set of words. After the person performs the spell, she is finished. She will not need to cast the spell again.

Rituals

Rituals, on the other hand, do not rely on the power of incantation alone. Instead, rituals rely on repetition. In the Oxford American Dictionary (1980), ritual is defined as “a procedure regularly followed” (p. 585). By this definition, a simple spell can become a ritual when the same person repeats it for a continuous desired effect. A repetitive procedure can be a group ritual where a coven initiates a new person into their group. The same welcoming ritual will be performed each time a newcomer decides to join the coven. Another form of ritual is casting a circle. Casting a circle is performed each time a practitioner of Wicca performs an act of magic, and is meant to create a magical barrier of protection.

Read more at Suite101: When a Spell Becomes a Ritual: Magical Definitions for Pagans and Wiccans http://www.suite101.com/content/when-a-spell-becomes-a-ritual-a31916#ixzz11IN6AOiK

Another dictionary defines a ritual as:

Ritual- according to the Free Dictionary

a. The prescribed order of a religious ceremony.

b. The body of ceremonies or rites used in a place of worship.

2.

a. The prescribed form of conducting a formal secular ceremony: the ritual of an inauguration.

b. The body of ceremonies used by a fraternal organization.

3. A book of rites or ceremonial forms.

Right, we’ve got the definitions out of the way. Now lets get down to the reasons we seek to perform these spells or rituals.

WHY PERFORM THEM?

Rituals in themselves give us a sense of stability. Performing a ritual over and over again inculcates certain ideas and associations in our minds. We begin to feel comfortable that things are going right.

But why do we need to feel this way? Spiritual practice as a whole connects the individual to the wider existence. Whether we work in a group, or on our own, the intention is the same. We like feeling a part of something larger than ourselves. All spiritual paths create this connection. Where witchcraft is concerned, however, our free-will gives us permission to actively do something to change our situation. Once we decide the direction we wish to go, a spell is usually our first option to introduce the change. For some, ritualizing the change assists with the reinforcing of the idea, and keeps the person on track for a longer period of time. This usually happens with deeper inner work which requires a mental shift in the perception of the practioner, nessecary over a longer period of time. We all know that changing an in-built mind programme is not easy.

In order to create the change that we want, our symbols in our work must connect with our inner core. For us to know the symbols that connect deeply, we need to know ourselves. A good place to start is the symbols/associations that we are drawn to most. It is also extremely helpful to know how we learn. This will be dealt with in the next Blog post.

Does the Spell or Ritual correspond to your inner core?

LEARNING STYLES

Some basic learning styles are visual, auditory, tactile, and I would like to add olfactory and gustatory. This are of course linked to the five senses, and all senses are required to cement the experience of the spell/ritual. Workers in Magick are all tactile. We want to do the work ourselves, not sit passively by and have it done for us. J In my experience developing a practice for myself, I have come to learn that the most effective spells are those where there is a lot of use of colour and scents. I am a very visual person, drawn to colour (being an artist I guess) and smells have a profound effect on my mental state, and can trigger emotions. As for the auditory part, silence is best for me. I can focus best there. (Some people work best with music). I have not explored the gustatory method effectively, and have only done two spells chanelling energies into food I prepared, the idea being that by ingesting the food I was ingesting the energies which would give me the power to achieve my spell’s goal.

Basic guidelines for each of the learning styles would be:

Visual – Knowledge of colour associations, symbols and understanding of emotions caused by images. Crowley’s Liber 777 is still the best reference for this.  http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/liber058.pdf

Colour Therapy knowledge helps greatly. And techniques can include drawing the goal, crafting the image through collages etc while planning out the colours and symbols which would be used.

Auditory – Key to this is the understanding of the emotions that musical keys evoke in ourselves. Just like there are visual universal symbols, there are universal emotional reactions to the vibrations of the notes. More information on this can be found at: http://www.oldenwilde.org/oldenwilde/members/diu/quadriv.html

And also at http://www.gradfree.com/kevin/some_theory_on_musical_keys.htm

Olfactory- This obviously is where the incense comes in. Knowing the associations for each scent is also key. But also remember that if the scent is offensive to you its best to find an alternative. Liber 777 can also help as well as http://www.alchemy-works.com/planetary_corresp.html

Gustatory- Deals with the effect that taste has on our emotions. This is addressed in Magickal Cooking. The most comprehensive look at this aspect I have seen has been in the WITCHSCHOOL’s course on Magical cooking. But to culminate a spell with “cakes and ale” associated with your goal has to be exciting to anyone! Of course a knowledge of herbs and their associations help as well.

Herbs for health: http://www.moonsmusings.com/pagan/kitchen.html

General herbal associations: http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/sylverspage/herbs.html

Additional resources: http://www.ecauldron.net/bookherbals.php




The next part of this topic will explore how we can understand our touch stones and open discussion on creating our own rituals.

            

Family in UK captures Fairy on film.

Fantastic Video showing a fairy flying away from people. Love it!

Up comes Samhain

So up comes what has to be my most favourite time of year. I have always felt a connection to Halloween. And thats an odd thing.

Living on an island that does not celebrate this holiday at all there was a total absence of pumpkins, ghosts and goblins from my childhood days. There was, however, a feeling of something otherwordly hovering all around me between the periods of September to the end of October. At that time every year, I would get melancholy, pensive, in my analytical mood and it was only as I got older and removed myself from the prevailing mental constructs that I began to look inward more closely and analyze the moods I had.

I see the event as an opportunity to embrace things that we fear. Those dark,  decrepit feelings and moods that we are told are evil, wicked and destructive. As I grew older, I realized that there is the opportunity to take these very energies and channel them into something that may be positive. I have learnt that in time of emotional stress, or great challenge; summoning the powers of these moods assists in dealing with the seemingly great problem. The power of mischief can be very useful in dealing with fear.. mischief thought, not acted on. In this way, you control it, it doesn't control you.
I have summoned a warring spirit to deal with apathy.

None of these things, mind you required a whole lot of ritual. It was a simple matter of having felt the feeling and tapping into its strength to deal with whatever adversity was occurring at the moment.

Halloween, to me, gives permission to embrace the other side of ourselves. To look freely beyond the veil into those things that we fear, and learn to deconstruct that fear, turning it into a useful tool for taking us further spiritually.

Every year I pick one of those dark feelings in my inner self, and figure out a way to use those energies positively. I do not suppress them, for they will torture me and grow into something uncontrollable. I believe that finding a way for them to be expressed, in the context of being a useful tool is a much more appropriate way of dealing with them.

Embrace your dark side...and always remember...and ye harm none (including yourself) so mote it be.