Sigils are also known as seals. They are specific geometric or visual designs usually enclosed in a circle and are used for various magical and spiritual purposes.
Commanding and Compelling makes much use of sigils: each spirit, weather an angel (higher being) or demon, is believed to possess a specific sigil. Allegedly if the sigil is created perfectly, the spirit must answer it's summons.
Traditions similar to sigils exist round the world. Although the designs are unique, purposes and concepts are closely related.
Sigils are also used for various magical purposes. Seals are incorporated into candle magic and are used to create protective talismans. Sigils can also be used to create personal defensive shields.
Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs are another form of sigil. Hex signs are often considered nothing more than Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, however they are actually magical signs and sigils. They are most commonly found painted onto building facades or gable ends of barns.
Designs have historically also been included on furniture, documents, tombstones, pottery and ceramics and written amulets. Hex sign literally means "Witch Sign." Hex signs are also known as "Hexafoos" or "Witch foot."
Their origins are mysterious. Jakob Grim and other scholars recognized the geometric patterns as deriving from pre-Christian spiritual and magical traditions. They were first used in Medieval Germany and Switzerland and may be based on the runes. Another school of thought, however, insists that Hex signs are nothing more than aesthetically pleasing adornments.
Hex signs consist of simple and colorful geometric designs that require relatively little artistry. If you can draw a straight line, you can draw a simple Hex sign, although perhaps not the elaborate ones.
Different Hex signs have different names, meanings and powers. For instance, to keep lightening or hail from striking or prevent animals from becoming bewitched. Explanations dating back to the 1920's, especially geared to tourists, suggest the Hex signs are decorations intended to ward off malevolent witchcraft or evil influences. In other words, they are "Sigils."
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
Ingredients Used for This Spell:
vanilla ice cream
cinnamon sugar
strawberry topping
watermelon
Fruit oils are commonly used in "horn of plenty" spells to promote luck in games of chance. Cherries, plums, lemons and oranges are also popular symbols found on slot machines.This custom stems from the Greek myth of Amalthea, whose horn became the fruit-filled cornucopia.
Tonka beans are used in Mexico as a vanilla substitute and carried by modern day shamans and witches for good luck. Real vanilla is used in love spells, but can also be ingested to win the love and favor of the gods.
Cinnamon, as I have talked about many times in my blog, is one of the most useful spices for witches and shamans. Added to spells for healing, luck, love, and money drawing, cinnamon also makes you more psychic and is an excellent ingredient to help divine your "Lucky Lotto Numbers".
This recipe is an adaptation of an old New Orleans favorite called "Lucky Dog." The blend is traditionally made with essential oils of vanilla, watermelon, strawberry, and cinnamon and then rubbed on the hands before gambling.
Take a scoop of vanilla ice cream, slices of watermelon (remove the seeds), drizzle with strawberry topping or fresh strawberries, and a dash of cinnamon sugar. Eat before gambling or playing the lotto to increase your luck.
Good "Luck" and Good Magic,
Lory
Precognitive dreaming is common to a great number of people and can easily be developed by others. The major stumbling block to precognitive dreaming is the dreamer's inability to remember his/her dreams. Once the knack of remembering is acquired, one will be surprised to learn that precognition is not an art that must be studiously learned, but a natural occurrence.
As all psychic experiences come from the lower, primal self and sleep is the state most conducive to psychic events, the low self, during sleep, has greater freedom to cognize the future and manifest its cognition through the element of a dream,
Precognition in dreams can manifest as symbols, which need to be interpreted, or as actual visions, which need no interpretation The use of symbology is far more common in dream. Therefore the individual who is able to remember his dreams is urged to keep a dream notebook and try to decipher the symbols and precognitive flashes.
For those who cannot remember their dreams, here is an easy way to train oneself to do so:
Just before falling asleep instruct your lower self to remember all dreams. Give it the suggestion to wake you up each time you have dreamed.
Have paper and pen by your beside, ready to record your dreams. This will also act as a physical stimulus to the low self, impressing it with the seriousness of your intent.
Each time you awaken, carefully record all your impressions, each however fragmentary.
It is not unusual for one to take some time before he remembers his/her dreams in detail. The important thing is to record something each time upon awakening. If, at first, no impressions are recalled, record your mood. How did you feel when you awakened? You may very possibly carry the emotions you experienced in your dream into your immediate waking state.
As the technique is developed it will become evident that dreams of the future are not primarily given to warnings of accidents, deaths, or other troubles. It is the normal, daily events that are seen for the most part, and symbols are most frequently used to relay this information.
The vision of startling clarity is usually reserved for either changes or events of monumental import to the individual. Or it can indicate changes affecting the lives of many.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
If you were born in the Earth sign Taurus, your ruling planet is Venus, which oversees peace, love, and beauty. Your Karmic destiny is to attract people who can help you to achieve these three aspects of life.
When you do not live up to your Karmic pattern of destiny, you allow discord and friction to enter your environment. This will tend to upset your nervous system and bring you great unhappiness.
Taurus is one of the most beautiful signs in the entire Zodiac. You were sent on this mystical trip of Fate to fulfill your divine instinct to love and be loved. Generally Taurus is a very loving person and you can attract into your orbit of activity people who adore you, and who are loyal and loving.
If you rise to great heights of divine romance, you can perfectly complete your Karmic destiny, achieve mastery of life and fulfillment of all your beautiful dreams. But often you attract misfortune, loss of love, sickness and poverty.
Why is this so when you were born to win in the game of life? Your sign rules the second house in the natural Zodiac which controls money and success. However, when you do not live up to your great Karmic destiny, you can attract limitations, poverty and hardship.
Fortunately, your sign of Taurus gives you great determination and tenacity. You seldom give up on life. When you set high goals for yourself, you have the perseverance to continue in your struggles until you reach them. This is why so many people born under the sign of Taurus are rich, famous and highly successful.
Because of your highly sensitive and emotional nature, you have to constantly battle periods of moodiness and depression. Luckily, these cycles are usually of short duration, and when you recover you have a greater determination to reach the top.
Your sign makes you love luxury, comfort and ease of living. You can be a hard worker, in fact, because of this tendency to overdo, you often work too hard for your own good. If you strive for balance in life with work, play, rest, romance and spirituality, there is little in life that can break you down.
Karmically, your sign is very often tempted to over-indulge in physical appetites. You enjoy good food to the point of over eating and you are inclined to over-indulge your sexual appetite.
Another Karmic weakness that destroys Taureans is stubbornness and, when arroused a violent temper. When these two weaknesses are not curbed you are like the proverbial "bull in the china shop." Your symbol, in fact is the bull, and like this beast, you can be gentle and tractable when not opposed. But when people mistreat you or deceive you, you can fly into a rage. So try to control a quick temper.
There are actually two types of Taureans. One is the down-to-earth business type who enjoys working real estate and investment fields. The other is the artistic, creative type who enjoys being in music, art, singing, acting, dancing, writing and perhaps directing TV or motion pictures. Some Taureans are gifted in both fields.
Your natural charm and magnetism make it easy for you to attract friends. Venus makes you sociable and well-liked. It also makes you attractive to the opposite sex.
Romance for Taurus:
Because you are ruled by Venus, the planet of romance, peace and beauty, it is vitally important that you find happiness in love and marriage with your true soul mate. If you miss out on this important matter, you will become miserable and frustrated - all other successes will mean nothing to you.
What are the best signs for love and marriage of Taurus? Virgo is your most compatible sign. This is an Earth sign like your own, and has Mercury as it's ruler. Mercury rules the mind and creative faculties and is a good source of inspiration for Taurus.
Capricorn is the second most compatible sign for Taurus. They are dependable, loyal and cooperative. They have qualities of patience and perseverance that Taurus admires. They also make good parents and like entertaining. Karmically they are on the same birth path.
The water-signs are also good for Taurus. They blend with the Earth signs and make fine romantic partners. The three water signs would be, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
The fires signs are not as compatible for Taurus. You should avoid marriage with a Leo, Sagittarius, or Aries.
The air signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are too emotionally unstable. They do not make a good romantic match for Taurus.
Lastly, when you live up to your good Karma, your life will flower with beauty, joy, love, peace and prosperity. Be aware of the high degree of talent you possess and avoid minimizing yourself and your efforts to achieve higher goals. Karmically, you are being tested along life's path to see if your are worthy of the great rewards that Fate wants to shower on you. Use your Taurus determination, patience and perseverance to stick with your ideals until you achieve the goals you have set for yourself.
Brightest of Blessings!
Lory
Ingredients:
Sea Salt
Spring water
This Norse spell is one of the simplest and most effective spells for warding off any negative night energy. It is quite effective for banishing night mares.
Many children and even adults are afraid of the dark. It's spooky! Night is the traditional time when spirits and demons rule. During the Middle Ages people never went out after dark for fear of catching their death.
To ward off evil spirits or bad dreams, place a bowl of fresh spring water on the bed stand. Slowly add a pinch of sea salt and say,"Evil spirits touch not me nor mine. Thy power I drain into this brine."
You must use three pinches of salt in total and repeat the verse as you add each pinch. In the morning empty the bowl down the sink or toilet. Repeat as often as necessary.
Good Luck, Good Sleep and Good Magic,
Lory
In the Age of the Vikings, Odin was pictured traveling through the air on Sleipnir, his mighty horse with eight legs, which would carry him to the land of the dead to his realm.
The story of the birth of this horse of Odin is found in the account of the building of the wall around Asgard, the stronghold of the gods. A giant offered to build the wall for them in the space of one winter. It was agreed that, if he could finish the work within the stipulated time, he should have the goddess Freya and the Sun and Moon as payment.
The gods thought themselves quite safe in making such a bargain, but the giant brought with him a marvelous horse, called Svadilfari, which was so intelligent and swift that when the beginning of Spring was only three days away, the wall was practically complete.
The gods, however, were saved from making payment by the cunning of Loki, the trickster of Asgard. He took on the form of a mare and neighed at the stallion until he was lured away from his work. As a result, the wall was never finished, and Thor slew the giant with his hammer.
After the meeting of the stallion and the mare, Loki gave birth to the eight-legged colt. "This" was Sleipnir, the finest of all steeds, whom Odin kept for his own.
The wonderful horse Grani, given by Odin to Sigurd the Volsung, was said to be bred from Sleipnir and be one of the best horses of men.
Odin once carried the hero Hadding off on his horse, covering him with his blue mantle. They traveled over land and sea, and visited the Hall of Odin, where Hadding drank from Odin's mead. Clearly Sleipnir could carry the living to the realm of the dead.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
The planet of Jupiter is the planet of "Expansion." That being said, if you have any activity that you want to "grow," such as increasing wealth, or a business Jupiter is the planet you want to attract.
The Jupiter Seal for Wealth and Riches is made of tin and engraved with the Table and Seal of Jupiter. It will attract good luck and fortune, will exercise protection and will assist in commercial interests, legal matters, religious affairs, and it is good for overseas travel.
If not able to make your own Jupiter Seal Talisman; you can perhaps cut the image out from this article on a "Thursday," as Thursday is ruled by Jupiter, in either the 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd hour. Glue it to heavy card board and wear it around your neck.
For those that wish to make it, it should be made on a Thursday, together with it's seal, and should be made of tin.
The Jupiter Seal Talisman although designed more specifically for business people and traders can be worn by people in other lines of activity in order to increase their general prosperity.
The term business people naturally covers a wide variety of interests and it does not necessarily mean that you must be the "boss," or the managing director. You can be in an executive position, big or small, you can help in the serving of produce, it does not matter.
Traders also cover a wide variety of activities inclusive of food and merchandise and the wearing of this Talisman will help salesmanship weather it be the selling of an air-liner or ship, or the selling of a pound of tomatoes. The wearing of this Talisman will help you increase your general prosperity.
Brightest of Jupiter's Blessings,
Lory
Angerboda is a mysterious many named, shape-shifting spirit who manifests as a crow, a beautiful golden goddess and a fierce Iron hag. The name Angerboda is related to the word "foreboding," and refers to her manifestation as a hag. This is the form that she prefers.
Angerboda is also called "Hag of the Iron Wood" and "Hag of the East Winds." In folktales of Norse mythology, Angerboda is often called a "Wicked Witch." The Iron Wood may refer to oak groves.
Modern culture prizes physical beauty so intensely, that it may be surprising that Angerboda chooses to present herself as a hag. However, in this manifestation she is the fierce, fearless ruler of her domain. In earlier manifestations she was a young, golden witch known as Gulveig which left her vulnerable to attempted murder at the hands of the other Norse gods.
Angerboda rules the Iron Wood. Iron is the embodiment of the most powerfully magic metal of all. This is her home territory, where she raised her children. She prefers not to leave, perhaps remembering her past travels to other places.
Brave people, requiring her services may visit her. But it must be remembered that she is fierce and not always welcoming.
Angerboda's children include the Hella, Queen of Death, the Midgard Serpent, the Fenris Wolf and the wolves responsible for solar and lunar eclipses. Other sons are identified as werewolves. She is the grandmother of trolls.
Angerboda is a weather deity: in her guise as the Hag of the East Winds, her songs drive ships right into storms. Angerboda is a deity best left alone to her Iron wood.
Good Luck, Good Love and Good Magic
Lory
In today's world, (The Age of Aquarius) so many of us, myself included feel that we are in a new S.T.E.M. (Space, Time, Energy, Matter). These feel like dark times and they are; as it is the ending of an age. We are confused and concerned about which direction the world and we are going in.
But great writers like Tolkien were able to look at life, including the passing of ages in "Thousand Year Circles." He was able to interpret things with a better perspective; as more of a"Big Picture," and see "The Light at the End of the Tunnel." That being said, this is an except taken from J.R.R. Tolkien and retold by myself.
The War of the Ring is beginning. While the soldiers of Gondor prepare for battle and the evil Lord Sauron darkens the sky with a cloud of shadow and smoke, Frodo Baggins, accompanied by his servant Samwise and their unwelcome ally Gollum, must carry the dreaded One Ring of Power into Sauron's Kingdom, the Land of Mordor.
Only there can it be destroyed, and so bring about the destruction of the dark master. The three travelers have reached the borders of Sauron's country, and are seeking a way through the mountains.
For about an hour they went on, silently, in single file, oppressed by the gloom and by the absolute stillness of the land, broken only now and again by the faint rumblings of thunder far away or drum beats in some hollow of the hills.
Down from their hiding place they went, and then turning south they steered as straight a course as Gollum could find across a long broken slope that leaned up towards the mountains. Presently, not far ahead , looming up like a black wall, they saw a belt of trees.
As they drew nearer they became aware that these were of vast size, very ancient it seemed, and still towering high, though their tops were gaunt and broken, as if tempest and lightening-blast had swept across them, but had failed to kill them or to shake their fathomless roots.
"The Crossroads, yes," whispered Gollum, the first words that had been spoken since they left their hiding place. "We must go that way." Turning eastward now, he led them up the slope; and then suddenly there it was before them: the Southward Road, winding it's way about the outer feet of the mountains, until presently it plunged into the great ring of trees.
"This is the only way," whispered Gollum. "No paths beyond the road. No Paths. We must go to the Crossroads. But make haste! Be silent!"
As furtively as scouts within the encampment of their enemies, they crept down onto the road, and stole along it's westward edge under the stony bank, grey as stones themselves and soft- footed as hunting cats.
At length they reached the trees, and found that they stood in a great roofless ring, open in the middle to the somber sky; and the spaces between their immense boles were like the great dark arches of some ruined hall. In the very center four ways met.
Behind them lay the road to the Morannon; before them it ran out again upon it's long journey south; to their right the road form Osgliath came climbing up, and crossing, passed out eastward into darkness: the fourth way, the road they were to take.
Standing there for a moment filled with dread Frodo became aware that a light was shining; he saw it glowing on Sam's face beside him. Turning towards it, he saw, beyond an arch of boughs, the road to Osgliath running almost as straight as a stretched ribbon down, into the West.
There, far away, beyond sad Gondor now overwhelmed in shade, the Sun was sinking, finding at last the hem of the great slow-moving pall of cloud, and falling in the ominous fire towards the yet unsullied Sea. The brief glow fell upon a huge sitting figure, still and solemn as the great stone kings of Argonath.
The years had gnawed it, and violent hands had maimed it. It's head was gone, and in it's place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted by savage hands in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in the midst of it's forehead.
Upon it's knees and mighty chair, and all about the pedestal, were idle scrawls mixed with the foul symbols that the maggot-folk of Mordor used.
Suddenly, caught by the level beams, Frodo saw the king's head: it was lying rolled away by the roadside. "Look, Sam!" he cried, startled into speech. "Look!" The King has got a crown again!"
The eyes were hollow and the carven beard was broken, but about the high stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold. A trailing plant with flowers like small white stars had bound itself across the brows as if in reverence for the fallen king, and in the crevices of his stony hair yellow stonecrop gleamed.
"They cannot conquer forever!" said Frodo. And then suddenly the brief glimpse was gone. The Sun dipped and vanished, and as if at the shuttering of lamp, black night fell.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
In today's world that is becoming more and more materially dense and Spiritually sparse the concept of wishing another person "Blessings" might seem outmoded and just plain corny.
One of my favorite movies is "Metropolis." This 1927 German classic film is set in the somewhat distant future (some say 2000, others 2026.) It takes place in the city of Metropolis, with it's huge towers and vast wealth. It is the playground to a ruling class living in luxury and decadence. They and the city are sustained by a "much larger population" of workers who labor as virtual slaves in machine halls, moving from their miserable, tenement-like homes to their grim, back-breaking ten hour shifts and back again.
The movie aside, today we spend so much time working and worrying about bills; trying to keep what we think of as "ours;" that the idea of sharing with others, even a kind word, is becoming a lost concept.
But to bless is to reinforce actual or potential good by word, image or deed. When you acknowledge beauty, admire skill or accomplishment, or appreciate kindness your are giving a "Blessing." We can give to others through our words; we can "Bless" each other. With very little effort; it is imparting a wonderful gift.
What the Shaman does that's extra is to bless potential. "May you have a safe journey," "I wish you success in your venture," "May the wind always be at your back"are examples of this type of blessing. And remember telepathic blessings can be just as effective too.
Brightest of Blessings!
Lory
Some points of the day are more powerful than others. At certain moments or times the thresholds between realms are more tenuous and more easily penetrated.
These times would include:
Noon: the precise moment at midday when the Sun passes from East to West.
Geisterstunde, known as "The Hour of Spirits," in certain areas of Germany, this is the hour between 11p.m. and midnight, excellent for magic and divination.
Midnight, the "Witching Hour."
"The Hour of the Wolf," despite the name, this isn't one precise moment but the wee hours after midnight, but before dawn when sounds, emotions, and dreams are magnified in power.
There are those who believe that the hour immediately proceeding midnight, culminating at the stroke of 12, is ideal for benevolent magic, while the hour immediately following is the most powerful for magical spells stemming from anger and a fierce desire for justice. This is wonderfully portrayed in the book and movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," by John Berendt.
Good Luck, Good Love and Good Magic!
Lory
It has been shown that gravity is an electrostatic effect. It is not some space warp or mysterious force with imponderable properties as is depicted by orthodox physicists. It follows that if matter is impregnated with sufficient quantities of negative charges, especially soft electrons, it will become weightless and even levitate.
Some "Adepts" in the occult arts have demonstrated this ability on occasion. In spite of this, and the experimental evidence showing that negative charges are repelled by a gravitational field, conventional theorists continue to ignore it, and assume that gravity acts indiscriminately on all things alike.
Once again, this is to be expected. If most orthodox scientists recognized the reality of such things, they would automatically have to abandon nearly all the concepts they hold dear.
Some individuals seem to have the ability to do the reverse of levitation and impregnate their bodies with an abnormal positive charge by perhaps expelling large quantities of negative charges from their bodies. They make themselves inordinately heavy by this means. It is only a first step, but at least in Quantum Mechanics they are admitting that if two "small" objects are brought close to each other, it results in an attractive force between them, known as the Casimir effect.
A certain dwarf who had a normal weight of 123 pounds could increase his weight to 900 pounds. He demonstrated his ability on television programs under rigorous fraud-controlled conditions. In fact, one famous strong man who lifted him up was unable to hold him, when he decided to increase his weight to 900 pounds.
Even with this and in-numerable demonstrations of both kinds of abilities, most our scientists once again showed admirable composure and resourcefulness. They remained silent.
Brightest of Blessings Lory
Ingredients:
One Onion
This spell is an alternative to all "enemy spells." It is very effective and spiritually regenerative. Simply stand alone in a dimly lit room, preferably when the moon is dark, and peel an onion.
Onions are ruled by Mars and are used to draw anger or negativity to the surface. Onions open the heart chakra, which is why we cry when we cut them.
In esoteric philosophy, anger is the layer covering pain or sorrow, and sorrow is the key to wisdom and understanding. In many situations it is our ego that has been damaged and that prompts us to seek revenge.
The onions spiritual vibration compels us to peel away the ego and helps us to see things through another's eyes. Onions bring clarity and cleanse the emotional body. As each layer is removed from the onion, feel the layers of emotional baggage being removed from your heart.
Peel away hatred, envy, jealousy, and pain. This spell is very effective with love relationships that have turned bitter or hateful. After performing this spell, you should no longer possess the desire to "get even."
Follow up this ritual with a warm bath, adding three fistfuls of sea salt, a tablespoon of rose water, and pinch of oat bran. These ingredients will maintain a positive and healing vibration in your heart center. As you soak in the tub meditate upon what you have learned from the situation.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
Thousands of years ago in ancient China, practitioners of the mysterious art of placement known as Feng Shui (pronounced "Fung Shway") advised emperors and nobles on how to bring more harmony, health, prosperity and good fortune into their lives through inspired interior design.
Based on allowing the cosmic breath or essential Earth energy known as chi, which the Chinese believe infuses all life, to flow freely in harmony from nature, the esoteric seers of Feng Shui offered advice on everything from auspicious burial sites (for a comfortable afterlife) to the planning of entire imperial cities.
Today this profound and pragmatic Eastern art has come to the West, as more of us become open to living new lives through ancient wisdom. American banks, corporations, and restaurants setting up operations in Asian cities, recognize the importance of hiring Feng Shui consultants to advise them on every aspect of the design process.
All of us can make simple and affordable changes to our homes and workplaces that will spark our natural potential to be as alive, receptive and as focused as possible. In these rapidly changing times, simple Feng Shui adjustments can help bring clarity, peace, joy and prosperity.
Some suggestions on how to transcend the mundane through the mystical include hanging a brass wind chime inside your front door for clarity; having books in plain view as you enter your home to increase your insight.
Hang a round mirror in your bedroom to bring more love, compassion, and understanding to an intimate relationship. Place flowers in your bedroom, kitchen and study to cultivate good luck; and hang a mirror on the wall adjacent to or behind your stove to reflect the burners, which are symbols of wealth and prosperity.
If you are stuck in a rut or an unpleasant situation, move twenty seven objects in your home that have not been moved in the last year. This will enhance your ability to move forward in life.
While attempting to bring more order to our lives, experiment with Feng Shui to bring more harmony into our homes. Clear closets and junk drawers or move furniture around to dust behind it. Trust me you will literally feel the Chi begin to swirl about you as positive energy is released throughout your surroundings.
It may seem illogical and inexplicable to rigid Western minds that good fortune can become ours by hanging mirrors or positioning our bed and desk in a certain way. But it certainly cannot hurt to be curious and experimental. It may even bring good Fortune and New opportunities your way.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
Calling up the wind has always been a part of Northern Folk Magic. Before the availability of manufactured power sources, the wind was used in milling and transport. Until the end of commercial sailing, Norse seafarers in the Baltic would build stone labyrinths by the shore to ensure a fair wind.
When it came becalmed, they would row to a nearby island or coastline, construct a labyrinth and conduct ceremonies in it to "call up the wind." In some places, whistling in a certain way and direction was held to be effective.
Also, "dobbie stones", stones with a natural or artificial hollows in which offerings, such as milk, can be placed, have been used traditionally in rites for raising the wind.
The modern tradition for these stones is that they are receptacles for milk for sacred cats, and are sometimes called "Cat troughs." This is a continuation of the earlier practice which added honey to the milk, or substituted brine or ale.
Dobbie stones are stones with natural depressions, and sometimes artificially hollowed out. they are found near the farmhouse door, by field-entrances, and places where paths cross boundaries, such as stiles and gateways.
To call up the appropriate wind, offerings should be placed in the bowl from the corresponding direction from which the required wind should blow. The cupped surface is a reflection of the dome of the heavens, or the skull of the slain primal giant Ymir, and, by the law of correspondences, it is a microcosm of the circle of the horizon or the Rose of the Winds.
Dobbie stones fashioned from 'bones of the Earth', are an image of the skull-cup from which the warriors of the Northern Martial Arts would drink. Offerings like this are in the tradition of A'lf-blot, an offering to the Elves or the local Spirits of the land.
The sacred cats referred to are spectral or natural, and are the totemic creature of Freya. Apparitional creatures like the Exmoor Cats, the Surrey Puma and other sightings occasionally reported in the press may well be glimpses of these beings.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
Often referred to as water-witching or water divining, dowsing is not necessarily concerned with locating water. But it can be used to discover the whereabouts of other natural substances, people, objects, or the source of illness.
Dowsing as a form of divination was practiced in ancient Egypt and may be even older; it is known all over the world. Because of it's high success rate, in the Middle Ages dowsing was associated with witchcraft (Luther proclaimed that it was the work of the devil), but Christian dowsers managed to escape stigmata by "baptizing" their dowsing rods and giving them Christian names.
In the popular imagination, the dowser's tool is a forked rod, but it may also be an angled rod, such as a coat hanger; a wand; or a "bobber," a weighted branch, or a pendulum. Dowsing rods are usually fashioned from willow, rowan, ash or metal (particularly aluminum and copper), plastic and bone may be used too.
In practice the dowser concentrates hard when "tuning" the rod, then walks across (or stands over a map of) the location believed to hold the substance in question.When the rod detects the presence of the substance, it jerks violently. No one knows exactly how dowsing works, but it is commonly believed that dowsers have an innate psychic ability.
As in Feng Shui, the dowsers ability to "connect" with the inherent characteristics of the surroundings or landscape is also important. Other explanations include the sensitivity of the dowser's tools to electromagnetic and electrostatic force fields.
With the nineteenth century advances in scientific knowledge, dowsing correspondingly declined. It regained it's popularity in the twentieth century largely as the result of the efforts of the French priests Alexis Mermet, Alex Bouly (who re-named it "radiesthesia") and Jean Jurion.
Now quite well established and respected, dowsing has been successfully used in fields of archeology, geology and in the search for oil, gas and minerals - and even to try to locate missing persons and explosive mines (as in Vietnam).
Although medical dowsing is prohibited in the United States, it has been used elsewhere to diagnose illness, usually by rotating a pendulum over the patient's body.
Brightest of Blessings!
Lory
As the story goes, the Chinese sage, Lao-Tzu (who was born five hundred years before Christ) decided to leave the province where he lived because he became disillusioned with the corrupt and decaying dynasty that ruled it.
When he arrived at the border, a guard asked the wise old man if he would write a book before he left, instructing seekers in "the art of living." Lao-Tzu willingly agreed. He called his book the Tao Te Ching. When it was completed, he departed China, never to be seen again.
The Tao Te Ching is the sacred text of the Chinese religion known as Taoism and one of the most widely translated books of all time. It's followers strive to live according to the principles of the Tao (pronounced Dow) which they believe governs the order of the Universe.
Like Zen, Tao, or the Way, is a spiritual path; it must be intimately experienced instead of intellectually comprehended if insights are to be discovered. One of it's main themes is unity, based on yielding rather than resisting. ("Tao" is eternal without doing, and yet nothing remains undone.)
When a seeker commits to the Way she sheds her expectations, becoming an empty vessel to be filled to the brim with both the yin and yang, the opposite male and female energies of life - career and home, light and dark, sorrow and joy, intimacy and solitude, aggression and passivity.
We ask ourselves how the enigmatic advice of an ancient Chinese philosopher could help get our houses in order? If our souls are so preoccupied with undoing, how does anything ever get done?
Inexplicably, it gets done by pausing. By reflecting on the way in which life proceeds day in, and day out. What works, what doesn't . As we pause to reflect before doing, we must come to an awareness of how the nature of all things, even the smallest of the domestic sphere - contributes to the harmony of the Whole.
One of Lao-Tzu's illuminating lessons is that "naming is the origin of all particular things" and that "mystery and manifestation arise from the same source."
I have taken this wisdom to heart, especially in how I perceive the work I do in our home. This could even be transferred to the office. Drudgery can be transformed, through a willing and open heart into labors of love.
Begin with the words that describe, or name, your creative efforts . Let "Chores" or "Work" become "Tasks." Stop calling your daily routine "House Work" call it "Home caring." Redefining our work casts a subtle but powerful spell over the subconscious mind.
After all, caring - for yourself, your loved ones, your pets, and your home - is truly what you are doing when you dust, walk the dog, sort the laundry, buy groceries, prepare meals and work in the garden.
Domestic tasks are visible manifestations of Spirit in the home. We find them by looking for the Mystery in the mundane, seeing the Sacred in the Ordinary. For me this is the heart of the Way, The Tao of home caring.
Lao-Tzu urged seekers to "regard the small as important" and "to make much of little." Today try to glimpse everything you do in your home, no matter how insignificant it may seem, as part of your authentic path to Wholeness and it shall be so.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
The rune Algiz corresponds to the letter Z. The Norse names for it are: Elhaz, Eolh, Aquizi, Ihwar - (it also corresponds in the Armanen Runes by Guido Von list, as Mannaz). The yew tree is associated with Algiz. Deities "The Valkyries", and the Norse twins Freya and Frey.
The color gold is the color of Algiz, and the Tarot card for Algiz would be "The Moon." Astrologically the association would be to Cancer.
Quick reference for magical meanings would be protection, change, guidance, time of renewal, drastic changes, complete turn around, advancement of plans, change of residence.
Reversed or negative aspects would be failure but that which leads to new opportunities.
The shape of the Algiz is much like a tree spreading it's branches to the sky. In Norse Mythology the sacred or "World Tree" would by Yggdrasil. Therefore it symbolizes the high branches of the Yggdrasil tree extending high above the Earth and reaching out into the sky, seeking sacred knowledge.
Inverted Algiz looks like a tree trunk with it's roots reaching into the Earth. Since the sky it symbolically male and the Earth is female; if this shows up in a reading it would be indicative of a journey into the "Underworld," into the realms of a symbolic death then rebirth.
This rune when applied to the four quarters is a powerful protective sigil, much as the pentagram used in the Craft. Except in the case of Algiz, the effect is much more for defense. It acts much as a shielding device. Algiz is a valuable rune to be used when you are doing work where a back lash is expected.
Brightest of Freya's Blessings!
Lory
Astrologers have called Leo one of the luckiest and best signs of the entire Zodiac. It does, however, have it's Karmic cloud. The Leo qualities of being self-assured, confident and having power must be used wisely or the Leo Karma can be as severe as that of any other sign.
Leo is born in a time of the year when the sun rides high in the heavens, shedding it's golden glory on the Earth and bringing life force to all living, growing things. The Leo personality is outgoing, generous, confident, kindly disposed and loving. You seek approval from others and thrive when people appreciate you, flatter you and respond to your love.
The magnetism and warmth that Leo's radiate to others, in turn, generously blesses their lives - you are rewarded with honors, fame, fortune and the world's adulation.
Your good humor makes you likable and you enjoy having a wide circle of admiring friends who bask in your generosity and kindness. If you are surrounded by people who do not appreciate your out-going Leo personality, you are apt to be irked and show another side of your nature. At this point people think of you as being self-centered, arrogant and dominating.
Like the Sun, you radiate creative energy, enthusiasm and good cheer. New projects usually thrive when you get behind them, you have a way of winning people to your side. You usually bask in the limelight, and enjoy being the leading actor on the stage of life.
If you rise to greatness, and if you use your creative gifts well, you can rise to the heights of riches and fame. Your life will be blessed with everything good and you will never have to pay with suffering, pain and loss of fortune. This is a fate that often falls on those Leo's who are selfish, grandiose, and dominating and ruthless.
Always remind yourself that you were born under a lucky star. But utilize your strength of character to uplift and inspire others to great deeds. Use your great qualities to help others; to educate, inspire and elevate the world. Give your creative gifts in art, music, theater, literature, and industry.
Strive for balance in your life so that you are not constantly in the world of material possessions - money, power, fame and glory. Study and evolve throughout your life; enrich your intellect with wisdom and knowledge. Acquire the spiritual ability to rise above your own problems and misfortunes. See the broad spectrum of mental and spiritual potentials that are open to Leos.
Karmic Romantic Possibilities for Leo:
Leo rules the fifth house of the Zodiac, the house of romance and children. You have a natural instinct for marriage early in life. Your love of children often makes you want to have two or more. You select a marriage partner with great care. So do not rush into an early marriage inspired by magnetic attraction. This person may not be your true soul mate.
Since Leo's are highly emotional and intense, you must be sure to select a marriage partner who understands, the volatile nature of your fire sign. In general the fire signs are best for Leo to marry.
Aries is a fine sign for love and marriage. These people understand intense emotions and they are sincere and loyal in marriage. Aries is the leader of the Zodiac, however Leo is stronger. Leo naturally takes the lead in almost everything, but you must develop subtlety with Aries, flatter them, make them feel important and turn to them for advice and guidance.
Sagittarius is also a good fire sign for you to marry. These people are highly idealistic, charming and magnetic. They possess the creative inspiration and fire that Leo's demand in a mate. They love to travel, they are socially oriented and know how to make and hold friends. Sagittarius rules philosophy, religion, psychic phenomena and travel, they will never be boring or dull and generally make good parents and love partners.
Aquarius is your opposite sign and, as opposites attract, could be a very magnetic sign for you in love and marriage. However you will observe caution in such a union, for no one really ever possesses an Aquarian. They are universal in their appeal and belong to the world.
The earth signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are given as second best for Leo, but they are apt to be rather conservative and conventional. They sometimes restrict Leo's free spirit.
The signs to avoid are Gemini, Libra, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. These five signs are not suitable for marriage for Leo. Of course in romance all signs are good.
Professions for Leo:
You possess the power for using words with great effect and drama. Because of this dramatic flair, you may select any profession where speech is important or the communication of ideas is necessary. This makes you a natural writer for TV, motion pictures and the Theater. It also makes it possible for you to write stories, articles or novels and achieve great success.
Lastly, use your powers of super-persuasion in whatever profession you choose. Have confidence in your star-given powers to enchant others. Have faith in yourself and know that your Karmic destiny is to achieve greatness.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory (Sun sign "Leo")
Throughout history, people have tended to look back toward an exclusive age of perfection; a time when human achievements were greater, lives were happier and the world was generally a better place.
In religious terms, this often meant a time when the gods lived upon the earth. In secular terms, it has lead to theories of prehistoric civilizations whose technologies exceeded, or at least equaled, that of the modern world.
Because none of these early civilizations left conclusive, visible remains, the theories concerning them have to explain their almost total disappearance. Most have done so by locating them on continents that subsequently sank beneath the oceans, never to be found again.
Personally, I feel that all things, including civilizations are cyclical. And that man has reached high degrees of science, civilization and religion many times in the past only to have them destroyed. I believe we have had many "Golden Ages" in the past and will again in the future.
Atlantis:
There are three principal lost continents of the past. Atlantis, located in the Atlantic Ocean, has attracted the widest belief. Stories about Atlantis were recorded by Plato (c428-347 BC), his Timea/Crimea. These stories have held the popular imagination ever since. Plato, a Greek philosopher, described Atlantis as an advanced civilization, which was destroyed because it over stepped it bounds and became evil.
A number of authors during the nineteenth century, wrote extensively on the subject. They featured many religious, occult (great use of "mind power" doing the work that our machines do today) and anthropological theories. Today research suggests that historical references to Atlantis may have come from a civilization based on the Mediterranean coast line.
Lemuria:
The second continent, Lemuria may have been the original Garden of Eden. Some theories say it was located in the Indian Ocean and some that it was in the Pacific. The British zoologist Philip Sclater and the German biologist E.H. Haeckel called the continent "Lemuria" after the lemur, which is found in Africa, India and Malaysia.
Life on Lemuria was generally held not to have reached the advanced civilization of Atlantis. Helena Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner believed Atlanteans were descended from the Lemurians.
The third principal lost continent, Mu, was located in the Pacific Ocean, according to discoverer, Colonel James Churchward, it boasted a highly advanced civilization that was destroyed by natural causes.
A slightly different set of theories places such lost civilizations "inside" the Earth, which is said to be hollow, with openings at the ends.
There is the Hawaiian Huna belief, the theory of "Ancient Astronauts, by Erich von Daniken in his book "Chariots of the Gods"(1971). This theory holds that in ancient times extraterrestrial beings visited Earth, possibly mating with humans and teaching them astonishing advanced technological and esoteric knowledge.
This would explain the extraordinarily sophisticated early feats of construction and engineering - such as the Egyptian pyramids.
Although this theory is scoffed at by many,there are ancient depictions of beings who appear to be wearing space suits (for example in the Val Camonica Cave paintings in Italy). They can be seen in Europe, Africa and South America as well.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
Shamanism is the magic of ecstasy, of leaving the body and soaring to great heights of mystical illumination. Mircea Eliade, the famous scholar of comparative religion, described the shaman as "the technician of the sacred." Shamans are able to move by an act of will from one plane of existence to another.
Usually Shamans are magicians or healers who claim to be able to contact deities and spirits sacred to their people. The Shamanistic world is alive with awe-inspiring and often terrifying supernatural beings, and it is up to the Shaman to encounter these entities and learn their mysterious secrets.
These will, in turn, confer upon the Shaman a profound respect for "Sacred Things." In the case of healing it would be a divinely revealed remedy for sickness or disease.
Shamans frequently, but not always, use natural hallucinogenic substances like peyote (plants) or fly agaric mushrooms (fungus) to gain special access to magical territory. When under the influence of such substances, shamans feel that their universe has become sacred and throngs with awesome beings and presences.
Superficially, the world of the Native Shaman may seem to be of little relevance to the modern Western Magician, but this is not the case.
It is an interesting coincidence that Norse Shamans refer to a World Tree, Yggdrasil, where the gods live. Shamans of Siberia refer to the "Cosmic Tree" in which all deities live. The Qabalah, which is the main point of reference of all modern magicians, also has a tree - the Tree of Life.
But there is also a shamanistic type of magic, which, like the native variety, involved leaving the body in a trance and encountering spirits and deities of the Tree of Life.
In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, most of the practical magical work was of a ritual nature, in which the members dressed and performed like gods, mostly those of ancient Egypt. But there was also a shamanistic type of magic, which, like the native variety, involved leaving the body in a trance and encountering the spirits and deities of the Tree of Life.
One of the most impressive accounts of modern "Astral Journeys" is that of Aleister Crowley's vision of Jupiter, which was first published in his occult magazine, "The Equinox."
Brightest of Blessings,
Lory
One of my all time "favorites," as far as a question concerning the Occult is: "If Magicians and Shamans have supernatural powers, can they be used to attack their enemies?"
Certainly there is a widespread history of spells and curses being used to injure or even kill people. Those being enemies of the Magicians or conjurers, or enemies of the clients who pay them to make the attack.
Examples of "Magical Attacks" include the ancient and universal theory of the victims' lives being blighted by the "Evil Eye"; "the Hag syndrome",( in Norse Mythology Hags sit on the chests of their sleeping victims, crushing, sometimes paralysing and always terrifying them) and "Psychic Vampirism," described by Dion Fortune.
But the concept of Magical Attack has come to have a special meaning drawn from the traditions of Western Magic.
Occasionally ritual magicians have come into conflict and have engaged in "Psychic Warfare." When carrying out such an attack magicians are traditionally required to take precautions to protect themselves, especially in cases when they invoke entities that may not only attack the victim, but may also turn and attack the magician.
In general cases the Magical Attack, when there is no actual battle under way, the victim may be completely unaware of what is happening and may merely feel unwell and restless. They may exhibit a variety of physiological and psychological symptoms or suffer various psychic manifestations.
The outward symptoms will be very much the same as in an individual who is suffering from some form of influence or obsession. The attack may be launched for a variety of reasons, but it is usually either intended to cause suffering to an enemy or to force a person to conform to the will of the magician.
The treatment of such an attack varies according to the symptoms and the source. Usually the physical symptoms will have been treated medically, without success, before it is realized that they have a psychic origin.
However, it must be emphasized that psychic or Magical Attacks are rare . Most would-be Magicians or Shamans have neither the knowledge nor the skill required to initiate one.
While there are very few accounts of Magical attacks, written from a serious occult point of view, probably the best known, is that related by Dion Fortune in her book "Psychic Self Defence", in which she tells of an attack upon her by the leader of a Magical Fraternity.
The symptoms were extremely unusual - innumerable large cats began appearing in the neighborhood and, eventually, an enormous phantom cat manifested itself. Fortune was also attacked astrally when she left her body to do some occult work. And it was here that the real battle took place, with the attacker and the victim engaged in combat while out of the body.
Fortune found she that she was badly scratched, as if by a cat - a physical symptom of astral battle. However, having triumphed over the attacker, the cats disappeared.
I wish you Good Luck, Good Protection and Good Magic!
Lory
