journeys

Energy – How to Send Prayers and Healing

People of many faiths light candles in times of crisis. What happens once the flame is lit varies from religion to religion, but usually prayers are said on for those in need. Healing energy may also be sent directly to those hurting. While some people may think this a modern practice made popular by today’s Pagans and New-Agers, this simply isn’t the case. History shows that shamans also sent out attending spirits to heal and aid the people under their care. Having a friend ask you to “send good vibes” certainly sounds less complicated… but that doesn’t mean you necessarily know where to begin.

If you wish to send someone prayers or healing today, visualize kneeling at the edge of a small stream. Its water is pure and crystalline—so clear that you can see light dance on the smooth stones at the stream’s bottom. Watch the water for a moment. You may purify yourself or drink from it if you wish. When you are done, take a deep breath and inhale beauty of the place around you.

Now turn to your left. You will see an unlit candle sitting in the grass at your side. Take it in your hand. Channel your warmth, compassion, and healing into the candle, picturing the person you wish to help. (If you simply wish to send good will into the universe, you can envision that too.) The wick begins to smolder, then bursts into flame. Once the candle is ablaze, set it in the stream.

Watch as the candle floats away, carrying your energy to those in need of aid and comfort. Its light bobs on the water, growing smaller and smaller until into disappears completely. Know that your assistance has been received.

If you feel the need, you can drink from the stream again to replenish yourself. When you feel your time with the stream is done, thank the water and return to your regular day. Ground yourself by having something to eat and drink.

Daemonic Spirit Songs: A How-To Guide

I’m cheating a little when it comes to the September Domagick challenge. Not on purpose, mind you. Andrieh also encouraged us to embrace the beginner’s mindset and adopt a new hobby. I got a jump on that when I learned how to put together the e-book and print versions of Daemonic Shamanism.

The process was much more difficult than I’d expected. I had thought my other computer skills would somehow give me an edge, but I felt like an utter notice instead. I’m still worrying I did something wrong!

Even so, I’m itching to play with those tools again. The last couple challenges have proved I love design, and this is a whole new realm for me to play in if nothing else. I should understand the online software far better by the time I complete my next manuscript.

What that book will be about, I don’t know. I’m plodding back and forth between a few projects right now, with all of them in their infancy. None of them feels like the “one” yet, but that’s okay. For now, I’m satisfied with my work, albeit slow-going. On the other hand, I was asked recently why I hadn’t put together a different drumming pattern for each of the daemons mentioned in Daemonic Shamanism. I suppose I could record something like that as a follow-up if enough people were interested. Those rhythms would be classified as spirit songs, however.

Spirit songs can contain lyrics or be entirely instrumental. These songs act as conversations between the singer and the intended spirit, like a prayer. They can be used as invocations, praise, or requests. If sung with full intent and directed energy, spirit songs can also be used as offerings and the focus of an entire rite.

Unfortunately, opening up like this can be difficult for many people in group settings like drumming circles. It is for that reason that I feel it is easiest to come up with new spirit songs in private. Besides which, my spirit song for Lucifer may not work for others. When I invoke him with song, I envision a canary I had a child and try to mimic its tweets. My whistling would likely disappoint those wanting a 4/4 beat!

To Create a Daemonic Spirit Song

Begin by constructing a balanced elemental circle. If you are planning on journeying afterwards, makes sure to take the additional directions discussed in Daemonic Shamanism into account. When you’re done, sit in the center with your back straight but not rigid. Take a few deep breaths to still your mind.

Slowly chant or sing an enn of your choosing over and over under your breath. Set a beat by clapping your hands. (You can play a drum or rattle if you have them.)

You may feel the urge to speed the enn up or get louder. Go with it. Go with your fumbles too. It’s okay to screw up. Just give the spirit song all you have, concentrating on whatever you want to tell the spirit. When you feel the conversation coming to an end, change rhythm sharply to signal this. If you’ve read Daemonic Shamanism, use your personal callback. Either way, bring the song to a close.

If you have more work you wish to do, continue your rite. If not, thank the spirit for their presence and open your circle. Make sure to ground yourself when you are done.

For more information on daemonic enns or detailed instructions on how to cast a balanced elemental circle, please pick up S. Connolly’s Complete Book of Demonolatry.

A Plea for Passion

The Six of Cups in the Sharman-Caselli deck.

DOMAGICK CHALLENGE DAY 24

I started to my Domagic work differently than usual today, with a Tarot reading. I’ve been struggling to feel enthusiastic about a particular writing commitment, so I asked Sitri what I could do to feel passionate about the project again. I turned over the Six of Cups. This card could mean something I dreamed about for years is about to materialize. It could also indicate that I should seek help from a trusted source. Since I’m not sure what to dream the card could be referring to, I decided to ask Sitri’s help with the project instead.

Continue reading A Plea for Passion

Trigger Points

DOMAGICK DAYS 22 and 23

When I started this challenge, I said that if I lowered my anxiety at all I would consider it a win. I still experience some panic but I’ve discovered situations that make it flare up. My heart pounds whenever my family’s financial future gets mentioned. Put me in a living room with five friends, and I’ll worry at least once that I’ve scared them all off.

Continue reading Trigger Points

Get off that couch and change yourself! #domagick

I nearly wrote it off as a bad Nyquil trip when Arnold Schwarzenegger came to me in a journey a couple weeks ago and said, “Do da magik!” Luckily, I listened to him, and the spirit wearing his face helped me relax after the stress of moving house. Yet it’s only now that I realize Arnie spouted prophecy. Andrieh Vitimus just opened up a brand new site called www.domagick.com, and that can’t be a coincidence! Schwarzenegger must have been telling me to sign up for Andrieh’s first 30-day challenge for magicians. How could I not? Even if I didn’t already enjoy Andrieh’s work—and a good challenge—I can’t ignore the Terminator’s advice!

All joking aside, I’m looking forward to the results this March. The crowd listed as participating so far is an interesting mix and includes at least one other Daemonolater. Whenever I’ve mentioned handing in notes to the teacher of my Goetic Immersion course, I’ve been talking about S. Connolly. Her course and all the conversations that have arisen from it have changed my magick and life for the better, so it feels good that I’ll be able to cheer her on for a change as we undertake a month of self-transformation. You can read her first post on the Do Magick challenge at her blog. I’ll be spending the rest of February on research, as Andrieh’s suggests, and then posting my results here starting March 1st.^.I’ll also link my posts on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure to follow the #domagick hashtag so you don’t miss a thing.

Whatever you call yourself—witch, magician, occultist, Grand High Pope of Pagandom—I strongly encourage you to take part in Andrieh’s challenge. Personally, I don’t think it matters what path you follow. I believe we get better at magick just like we get better at anything else: through practice. I’m not certain we are ever truly meant to perfect magick, however. We can get a spell right and fill an empty wallet. We can chant a mantra correctly and fill an empty soul. Yet we remain human, and to be human is to always need or want more. Our pocketbook may feel like it has a hole in it again, even if it doesn’t. Our heart may ache again, although modern medicine could ever find any reason why. It is my opinion that we cannot change this aspect of what we are, though some religions preach ways of doing so. We can only rise above the pain of need and want for a moment. That is why I feel we can never truly perfect magick, but through magick we can strive to perfect ourselves.

I feel it is important to talk about the process of perfection in this day and age, in a world where being imperfect and different can sometimes have terrible consequences. I worry some people voted for Donald Trump because of how he ridiculed a disabled individual, and it makes me almost physically ill. I only have family in the States; I can’t imagine how Americans must feel. I applaud everyone speaking out, especially pagans. Realistically, they could end up on a list someday. You don’t have to be a history expert to know what a witch-burning is. The reaction I’ve received more than once received for talking about my faith to local folk has often made me want to be quiet about being a Daemonolater—and they were pagans. But hey! Somebody has to be the black sheep at every gathering… or be accused of sacrificing the sheep, anyway. Little do they know I still occasionally have misgivings about feeding my snake.

I honestly believe that everyone participating in the March Do Magick challenge can change their life for the better. During the seventeen months of daily work I’ve undertaken so far for the Goetia program, I’ve refined my ability to hear spirits, learned new divination systems, become a Reiki Master, and re-connected with my patron. In that time, I’ve also lost another sixty pounds. I was already on my weight loss journey before I started the Goetia program, but I know I stayed on it because of some of the spirits that rode my ass. I may not see as dramatic results in these thirty days, but I don’t even know exactly how I’ll be seeking to transform myself yet.

I do know that sharing my magick publicly will be an act of courage for me. I may come off as confident when teaching a class or in a forum online, but that is only after I’ve swallowed the huge lump of anxiety in my throat. As I’ve said before, people don’t always react well to the Daemonolater label. Or many of the other labels I’ve chosen to cling to over the years, frankly. Since Arnie came into my life, I’ve begun to notice that they’re not keeping me afloat as easily as they used to do. Rather than acting as life rafts, they’re a bit more like anchors. And since no one who asked me to use them, I think it may be time to kick off those chains and see where I drift, pulled by the currents of my own will.

March will be a fantastic month.