DOMAGICK CHALLENGE DAY 11
It’s difficult to sum up all that I’ve learned in the first two sessions of this weekend’s workshop with the Geshela. Yesterday’s teaching focused on breathing techniques and how they can benefit us. Today’s lesson taught us how certain movements can make these techniques even more effective, and then continued onto the topic of mantras. It wasn’t until nearly halfway through the afternoon that we even touched on the Five Warrior Syllables at all, with the Geshela introducing them to us with the story of their creation.
I’m having trouble tracking down this myth online, and I fear I will do it an injustice by retelling it here. I will say this, however. The Warrior Syllables wouldn’t have come into being without a daemon stealing acquiring a sacred book by trickery and then burning it. Five syllables from the book refused to burn, proving that they are strong enough to withstand anything.
If we look at the myth one way, the daemon stole the book’s knowledge from the world. If we consider the story from another perspective, the world might never have gained the knowledge of the Five Warrior Syllables if not for the daemon’s actions. Is the daemon aiding humanity or hindering it?
I want to know the Geshela’s perspective, but you can probably already guess where I’d fall on the matter. Of course, I’m decidedly biased. I believe that daemons are divine intelligences and that many of them are dethroned pagan gods of the ancient past. I also believe that the lessons they teach us can feel extremely harsh at times but are not unnecessarily so. They have a purpose.
A Cree elder who is a friend of the Geshela spoke about this as well during the workshop. She talked about how she feels “spoiled” despite the trauma she has been through in her life. Everything she has been through has helped make her who she is today. I grasped this concept some time ago with my head, but I’ve struggled recently to understand it with my heart.
Luckily, both the breathing exercises and the mantra of Five Warrior Syllables I learned are meant to soothe the mind and held disperse negativity. I look forward to tomorrow’s lesson—and to putting all I’ve been taught into practice during the rest of the #domagick challenge.