Llewellyn Publications's Blog, page 65

Where Is the Creepiest Place You’ve Ever Been?

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Debi Chestnut, author of How to Clear Your Home of Ghosts & Spirits, Is Your House Haunted?, and the new Stalking Shadows.

The world around us is filled with creepy places and things. Basements; attics; old, abandoned buildings; and a multitude of other things (including objects such as dolls, clowns, and statues) can give a person a serious case of the creeps.

In my book, Stalking Shadows, I talk about all the creepy and interesting places I’ve been ghost hunting. But, the place that bothered me the most was a small cemetery that sits just outside the city limits of a small town in Southeastern Michigan.

Normally, cemeteries aren’t haunted and don’t really bother me; I tend to find them to be peaceful, serene places to go and gather my thoughts. However, this cemetery is different—it’s just plain creepy.

If you are very still and wait long enough, even during the day, you will see shadows of people peeking out from around the massive oak trees to stare at you. Day or night, you always feel as if a thousand eyes were upon you—watching your every move.

I personally seek out creepy places; I find them exciting and interesting. So, what creepy places have you been to lately? What made them so scary? How did you react to that?

Our thanks to Debi for her guest post! For more from Debi Chestnut, read her article “Things That Scare Us…And How to Get Over Them.”

A Spread for Guidance

This spread, called Titania’s Dream, is from the Victorian Fairies Tarot companion book by Lunaea Weatherstone (art by Gary Lippincott). It was created for this deck and thus pulls inspiration from the theme. However, most spreads can be used with any deck.

It is inspired, as well, from a passage from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While we are quite past midsummer, many of us feel the urge to start new projects in the fall, so this spread may prove quite timely.

Using the Victorian language of flowers, this spread weaves an illuminating dream to help you clarify the next steps on your path. The meanings of the flowers are shown in parentheses.

Mix your deck and lay out seven cards as shown.

1. Wild thyme (“activity”): What action will bring you delight?

2. Oxlips (“pensiveness”): What needs more meditation and thought?

3. Violet (“faithfulness”): What requires your devotion?

4. Woodbine (“loving friendship”): Who supports your dream?

5. Musk rose (“capricious beauty”): What is not as it seems?

6. Eglantine (“poetry”): What requires expression?

7. Titania’s dream: Where will your dream take you?

Part 2: Why Work with Demons?

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Aaron Leitch, author of several books, including Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, The Angelical Language Volume I and Volume II, and his new Essential Enochian Grimoire.

In my last blog post, “Why Is Satan in the Grimoires?, I addressed the curious presence of Satan in the Solomonic grimoires. I asked why a group of devout Christians would even produce books that teach how to summon (rather than banish) demonic entities. We found that grimoire mages were simply exploring the underworld as shamans before them had done for thousands of years. That the entities who dwelt in that underworld (and in nature) were given names like “Satan” and “Belial” instead of names like “Hades” and “Pan,” and were declared universally evil by the Church, was really beside the point.

But, what about the modern world? We certainly do not have the same Church-controlled culture that existed when the grimoires were written. And, yet, an overwhelming number of today’s occultists seem to flock to the dark and demonic. And I’m not just talking about self-styled Satanists. Even perfectly non-dark-n-scary practitioners, for some reason, often choose to work with the darker entities of our tradition. As I questioned in my last post:

“Why in the world would anyone, knowing the Lovecraft mythos, actually desire to make contact with a destructive chaotic force like Cthulhu? Why do some people choose to focus their studies and practices on infernal demons, fallen angels, the Qliphothic realms, and even the dead? Frankly, there are plenty of very powerful spirits out there who actually like humans—or at least tolerate us for some reason—so why should you purposefully invoke the meanest, nastiest human-haters our mythologies have to offer?”

Most of you probably know me primarily as an angel-worker, which you might assume means I stay away from the demons in favor of celestial spirits. But you may be surprised to find I delve into goetia myself—as it is outlined in the final portion of the Book of Abramelin. As an initiate of that system, I not only have intimate contact with my Holy Guardian Angel, but I also have chthonic familiar spirits who stick with me wherever I go. So, the question remains: why would someone with easy access to an extremely powerful archangel have any need of such familiars at all?

Looking back on history, you will find that holy men and women have always been expected to work with lower spirits. My last blog post covered much of this, explaining that ancient shamans had to enter the underworld and befriend the spirits there for various reasons. Plus, as part of their daily duties, they were charged with confronting and defeating any hostile spirit that might assault the tribe. This is why, in the Book of Abramelin, you begin with establishing contact with your Guardian Angel and then turn immediately to conjuring the chthonic and infernal spirits. Those lesser spirits are the ones you need on your side, working for you, so they do not attack you or your community.

In short, exorcism is at the heart of the practice of spirit-working. Whether you are conjuring them to bind and cast them out, or conjuring them to request a favor, the practical methods are the same. Therefore, it is only natural that one practice would lead to the other. And, in the case of the grimoires, that is precisely what took place. Clergy charged with the duty of exorcism began to develop their own techniques and to learn occult mysteries from the spirits—all of which caused the Church to respond with the medieval inquisitions.

But, why should we need the lower spirits at all, when we have access to celestial beings? Simple: The angels and deities of the celestial realms are in charge of vast cosmic forces—like the movement of stars and planets, the destinies of nations, etc. These aren’t the beings we should pester with our petty desires; they should be called in times of greatest need. And, even then, when you ask an angel for something it is hardly the angel that goes and does the grunt-work of accomplishing your goal. No, even the angel sends out subordinates to take care of the job, while he returns to (for instance) worrying about whether or not the Earth is going to crash into Venus.

Therefore, in practice, it is proper to call upon your angelic friends for spiritual or otherwise important matters. Your familiars, meanwhile, handle the day-to-day chores. They can bring in money, or sex, or entertainment, or perform healing, provide protection, general divination, etc., etc. These are the spirits through whom Witchcraft (by its classical definition) is performed. While your Patron or Guardian Angel is your guide and teacher, your familiars are your workers.

There is also another reason to work with chthonic entities—and this covers those who work exclusively with them (that is, no celestials involved) and probably a good number of “Left Hand Path” practitioners as well. Simply put: some people are just naturally attracted to the dark, the chthonic, the gothic, etc. Yes, this is the source of the “dark fluff” (that is, wannabe dark-n-scary nonsense) that pervades modern occult literature like a weed. For the consumer of dark fluff, the point is to appear mysterious and dangerous to your peers—because, you’re just so evviiiilll, baby!

However, we can’t paint the entire subject of goetia (the art of working with chthonic spirits) with that brush. There are perfectly serious magicians out there working with spirits like Bael, Lucifuge, Adramalius, Scirlin, even Satan, Leviathan, Belial, and others without engaging in “dark fluff.” So why appeal to the likes of Lucifer, Oriens, Paimon, Amaymon, and Ariton in place of the more celestial angels and gods?

To understand this, you must first grasp the fact that the association between the underworld and “evil” is entirely modern. (Again, see my previous post on this subject.) There was a time before the Church declared the entire chthonic realm syonymous with Hell. Chthonic deities were still deities—Hades (the earth and underworld) was no less powerful than his brothers Zeus (the sky) and Poseidon (the sea). Fallen angels were still angels in the employ of God. Even Satan—in pre-Christian sources—was not the source of evil in the universe. As we can see in the Biblical Book of Job, even he is just another angel acting on orders from God. Likewise, day of the dead celebrations (upon which much of Halloween is based) have been observed around the world throughout history—and a quick study of such festivals shows that “death” and the denizens of the underworld were not attributed to “evil” at all in the ancient world.

Some people are simply—and quite naturally—suited to underworld symbolism. I can relate, as I have spent much of my youth in haunted houses (both real and amusement-park types), reading Lovecraftian fiction, watching horror movies, using spirit boards, etc. I can dig the attraction to the chthonic aspects of life, though I’ve never felt it had the least to do with “evil.” Death is simply part of the natural cycle of things, and it should be honored as surely as we honor Life.

Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us that some shamans are naturally inclined to be goen—chthonic spirit workers. It doesn’t mean they are seeking evil. It doesn’t even mean they are followers of the “Left Hand Path” (which is more focused on what is shocking or extreme than any real focus on what is chthonic). All it means is that they are modern shamans exploring the pathways of the underworld, and befriending the demons that live there.

Hey, somebody has to do it…

Our thanks to Aaron for his guest post! Visit Aaron Leitch’s author page for more information, including articles and his books.

Part 1: Why is Satan in the Grimoires?

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Aaron Leitch, author of several books, including Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, The Angelical Language Volume I and Volume II, and his new Essential Enochian Grimoire.

Recently, a member of my ‘Solomonic’ Facebook group posed the question (and I paraphrase): Why would anyone want to work with spiritual beings who have, according to their own mythos, fallen out of favor with God? Is this done in protest of the divine judgement against such spirits, or in ignorance of it?

That’s a fair question, and not far from similar questions I have asked about occultism in general. For instance, why in the world would anyone, knowing the Lovecraft mythos, actually desire to make contact with a destructive chaotic force like Cthulhu? Why do some people choose to focus their studies and practices on infernal demons, fallen angels, the Qliphothic realms and even the dead? Frankly, there are plenty of very powerful spirits out there who actually like humans—or at least tolerate us for some reason—so why should you purposefully invoke the meanest, nastiest human-haters our mythologies have to offer?

All of this plays perfectly into a question I’ve long pondered about the Solomonic grimoires themselves: Why the hell do they even include Satan or demons at all? The texts arose from Christian tradition; in many cases written by clergy, or at least by very devout educated Christians (who received their education from clergy). What would possess these people to include spells for summoning Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, Oriens, Paimon, Amaymon, Ariton, the 72 demons of the Goetia, etc, etc? Why should there exist a text called The Harrowing of Hell? Not only does this appear to run counter to the faith of the authors, but they were dong this in a time and place where they could be killed for far lesser religious infractions. Were these people secretly Satanists?

Medieval Church propaganda notwithstanding, there is no evidence to be found that the authors of the grimoires were worshiping Satan. What we do find in the Solomonic texts is a cosmology that doesn’t fit comfortably into the mold of fundamentalist Christian dogma. Not that it doesn’t try! Thus we have instances where perfectly non-infernal spirits of nature or the aerial realm are referred to as “fallen angels in Lucifer’s employ.” Because there are “either angels or demons and nothing else,” we find the grimoires labeling every faery, pixy, dryad, gnome, sylph, salamander, and undine a “demon from hell.” Them and, of course, every pagan god in the history of the world.

And as for the underworld: the Church had taken the Greek fiery realm of afterlife punishment—Tartarus—and expanded it to encompass the entire subterranean realm. So all underworld spirits (including chthonic deities) were declared demonic denizens a fiery place called “Hell.”

If that were all there was to the issue, it would be rather simple. The angels approved by the Church are the good guys, every blasted thing else is an evil bad guy. Write your spells to call on the good guys and banish the bad guys and, viola, your perfect Christian grimoire. But, that isn’t what happened by a long shot…

Instead, what we’ve received is—cosmologically speaking—a confused mess. They can’t make up their minds if all demons are evil or if some are actually nice guys after all. (Even the Goetia of Solomon includes spirits who “wish to return to the divine Glory” in the future.) Some texts will sternly warn you against ever trusting or invoking Satan in one chapter, and then include instructions for summoning him in the next (see the Book of Abramelin). Even angels are a source of confusion: many of them have very ancient underworld associations (for example, the angels of Mercury, Mars, and Saturn), so one grimoire might list such an entity as an angel, while the next could have him listed among infernal spirits.

This is an angel as depicted in the grimoires. Seriously

So the question we must ask is: why did this happen? What was going on in that culture at that time to produce such confusion? hy address the underworld at all, and why is the whole genre such an ontological disaster?

The answer is: The grimoires didn’t arise in a cultural vacuum. Beneath the obvious Christian veneer, the Solomonic tradition was heavily influenced by local forms of witchcraft and extra-Christian occult currents such as we see in the Picatrix, Testament of Solomon, and the Greek Magical Papyri. To be frank, the authors of the grimoires sought occult wisdom from every source they could lay their hands on, the Church’s dogma be damned.

And what did they find when they explored these ancient systems of magick? The underworld is what they found! Today, people tend to assume there is a wide gap between the celestial gods and angels (the good guys) and the infernal spirits (the bad guys). However, relatively speaking, this view is young, naïve, and extremely shortsighted. Throughout most of human history, going all the way back to the most primitive tribal witchdoctor, magick was primarily associated with the underworld.

And by this I do not mean “the infernal realm.” While there were unpleasant areas of the underworld (such as Tartarus), there were also paradisaical areas. All of your ancestors were there—which is why the underworld was the central focus of one of the world’s oldest religions (ancestor worship). Plus all of the celestial deities traveled through that realm on a daily basis, descending into the the underworld at dusk and arising, reborn, in the east at dawn the next day. There were entire mythical dramas associated with the gods’ nightly passage through the underworld (such as we see preserved in the Egyptian Book of the Dead).

Even the truly harmful (infernal) spirits were not viewed in the dualistic “good vs evil” sense the Church would later apply to them. Sure, they were fiery and nasty. Yes, they represented sickness and injury, plague and famine, war and death, and all of the ills of society. But they were important spirits because those unpleasant things were in their jurisdiction. One of the primary jobs of the tribal shaman, as a healer, was to enter the underworld and negotiate with the beings there for the return of the souls of sick and dying people. An entity that could bring sickness could also take it away. One who knew the pathways of the dead could also bring souls back along those paths. The same spirit that might keep the herds away could also bring them to the hunt. These same fiery spirits were called upon for protection in travel and war, and to reveal the hidden mysteries during initiations. A tribe needed these guys on their side so they could be safe from them.

And so the underworld has been central to Western occultism for thousands of years. From the ancient Greek Goen (shamans who specialized in funerary rites and underworld initiations) to the Orphic tradition, from Babylonian exorcists to Egyptian funerary rituals, from the Greek Magical Papyri to the Mystery traditions that honor chthonic deities (Persephone, Demeter, Hermes, etc); this list could go on and on. Even established archangels (like Michael, Raphael, and Uriel) have undeniable underworld associations, and it is why both Michael and Raphael are associated with healing. (If you are interested in this aspect of Western history, then I highly recommend Jake Kent’s Geosophia series.)

So, the fact is that Western occultism has always focused upon the underworld. And any medieval grimoire mage would have been more than aware of that fact. Quite simply, magick that works (that gets things done in the real world) typically involves ancestors, the dead, and either chthonic entities or deities that tend to pass through the underworld a lot. You need to know your way through the underworld passages to heal the sick, find lost treasures and wisdom, earn the friendship of spirits who could otherwise cause you hardship, etc. And, in most cases, occult initiation involves some kind of descent into the underworld and/or confrontation with demonic beings.

So the poor medieval exorcists were left with a dilemma: To access the mysteries of magick you had to tread into the underworld. But, according to their faith, the entire underworld was a place called “Hell” and the only beings that lived there were infernal demons. The Lord of the Underworld (Hades) had been consumed by the Enemy of their religion, Satan. He is even depicted holding Hades’ two-pronged pitchfork. And, like Hades, Christian religion declared that Satan has dominion over both the earth and the underworld. (See 2 Corinthians 4:4 and John 12:31 for references to Satan ruling the world.)

As Satan was regarded as the “Lord of the (physical) world,” he was also equated with the Greek nature deity Pan—from whom Satan gets his goat horns and hooves. In this guise he governs all of the spirits and elves and sprites of nature—who also become evil demons in this cosmology.

Therefore, the Christian occultists were left with no choice. If they were going to call upon underworld deities from within their own Faith and tradition, they were stuck with Satan and his lot. If they wished to explore the pathways into the underworld as shamans had done for thousands of years before them, they had no choice but to enter the realm they called Hell. (See Dante’s Inferno for a prime example.) If they wished to find buried treasure, they only had recourse to the underworld spirits who knew where to find it. If one desired money, sex, honor, protection during travel or battle, a good harvest season, the return of stolen property, etc., then one had to conjure the spirits in charge of those things. And to do that, if you are a Christian, you have no choice other than to “harrow hell.”

And so harrow hell they did—but as faithful Christians rather than devil worshipers. The texts typically invoke God and the angels when conjuring the spirits. (And those texts that instead invoke higher ranking demons, rather than calling on celestial aid, still do not include such phrases as “…my Lord and Savior, Lucifer.” Instead we find triangles and other talismans intended to subdue and command the infernal spirits, magick circles to protect the mage from their fiery wrath, and even the best spirit-torture techniques used by exorcists in case the spirits got out of hand.

What we see in the grimoires is the result of actual occultists—shamans in their own right—trying their hardest to find a middle ground between real magick and the limited dualist cosmology within which the Church expected them to live. That they were devout Christians is, in my opinion, not in doubt. But the ancient (pagan) sources from which they were drawing their knowledge simply couldn’t fit comfortably into the “angel good, demon bad” mindset. Therefore, they compromised by hiding serious magick, and the spirits of the underworld and nature (helpful or harmful), beneath fundamentalist rhetoric about Satan and Hell. What should be assigned to Hades and Pan became the domain of Satan. The brute force of the sea became Leviathan. All of the Jinn and Faery became the footsoldiers of Lucifer. That the Church considered them all “evil” was really a secondary concern.

Stay tuned for part two of this discussion, “Why Work with Demons?,” where I will explore the reasons why a modern practitioner might choose to work with dark and infernal magick.

Our thanks to Aaron for his guest post! Visit Aaron Leitch’s author page for more information, including articles and his books.

A Spread About You

This spread, called Alive, Dead, and Undead, is from the Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night book. It was created as a companion to the deck and thus pulls inspiration from the theme. However, most spreads can be used with any deck.

With autumn upon us, we often engage in more self-reflective readings, so this spread may be particularly useful for you in the next month or so, although it can be used anytime, of course.

For this reading, you will use just your court cards and just your Major Arcana cards. Keep them separate.

Shuffle your court cards however you like. Use these cards to draw for positions 1, 2, and 3.

Shuffle your Majors. Use these cards to draw for positions 4, 5, and 6.

1. Alive: what part of you is alive, vital, and strong? This aspect of your personality is currently playing an important role, for good or bad, in your life.

2. Dead: what part of you have you released or let go of? Is it something you wanted gone or something that you miss about yourself? Its absence is as important as its presence.

3. Undead: what part of you do you wish would go away but won’t? It haunts or torments you and perhaps creates havoc in your life.

Cards 4 – 6 contain messages for you about each of these aspects.

4: Is the part of you represented in card 1 playing a positive or negative role? How can you enhance, modify, or eliminate it (as appropriate)?

5. Is the part of you represented in card 2 something that was beneficial? Should you try to reclaim it? Was it something that you are glad to be rid of? How can fill the space left by it in a positive way?

6. How can you banish the part of you represented by card 3? Should it be banished or is it something that needs to be healed and integrated?

A “Thank You” to BKS Iyengar

photo via http://www.bksiyengar.com/

BKS Iyengar passed away today. In the midst of a frantic morning I heard the news and suddenly paused, realizing the great impact one person can have on your life, society, and world.

I first heard of him about 10 years ago when I started learning about yoga beyond the poses I mimicked in classes. I learned even more about him when I started working on yoga titles here at Llewellyn. He goes hand-in-hand with the topic. If you practice yoga he was an influence to you. If you don’t know who he is he’s worth finding out about. If you’ve never considered the contribution he’s made to your life it’s never too late. Here are a few good places to start:

B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Official Website

Thank You So Much Dear Bellur Krishnamachar Sundaraj Iyengar via Elephant Journal

Guru Who Sparked Global Yoga Craze Dies Aged 95 via MSN Healthy Living

I’ll honor him the best way I know how, through practicing yoga. And throughout my next session I’ll surely be thinking of Iyengar, thanking him with each pose for inspiring the spread of a practice many of us have gained so much goodness from.

To the father of modern yoga , Namaste.

Lucky in Lenormand

Rana George’s The Essential Lenormand is quickly gaining a reputation for being a very approachable guide to this fascinating system. Her decades of experience and vivacious personality make the book a delight to read. She makes learning easy. One of the challenges of Lenormand is that the cards don’t simply have a set meaning. The cards’ meanings are very dependent on surrounding cards and their position within the Grand Tableau.

The complexity of the relational dependence of card meanings can make a teaching challenge. Rana overcomes this by introducing concepts in layers. Take, for example, her introduction to the Clover:

“A green four-leaf clover is usually depicted on this card; sometimes the clover flower is shown with it. Clover symbolizes luck, chance, blessings, and good fortune.

The Clover is a positive card, bringing happiness, good fortune, and success. It adds a positive vibe to any reading and diminishes the negativity of negative cards, especially when it lands on the right side of the negative card or at the end of the line reading. The Clover cards brings inspiration and hope.

When this card appears, it forecasts happy tidings to the reading, as long as these cards not to the right of it: Clouds, Snake, Coffin, and sometimes Scythe and Mice. In the case that the Clover card is followed by negative cards, it announces the return of deception or previous negative predicaments. On the other hand, getting the Clover card after a series of negative cards predicts the end of sorrow or that the trouble will be short-lived. It speaks to the positive turning of the wheel and the return of luck. The Clover is the reward card, the great find or the bargain card. The Clover urges the querent to take a leap of faith.”

She starts with the “basic” meaning, then explains how its position affects the meaning, and finally gives some examples of how it interacts with other cards. She gives enough information, in the introduction of each card (which is followed by more in-depth explorations) to convey the concepts so that we, the readers, can easily extrapolate further as needed, but not so much as to overwhelm. She teaches reading techniques rather than memorization.

Does the Old Magick Reject Psychology?

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Aaron Leitch, author of several books, including Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, The Angelical Language Volume I and Volume II, and his new Essential Enochian Grimoire.

For some time now, I’ve been writing about the “Old Magick”—such as that found in the African Traditional Religions, the Solomonic grimoires, and indigenous folk traditions. I have described the spirit model of magick—which views the gods, angels, and spirits as objective beings—and I have compared it unfavorably with the psychological model, which views these same entities as mental constructs that exist only within the mind.

Of course, if you’ve been following my work, you’re well aware of that. However, over the past weeks it has become apparent that my dismissal of the psychological model of magick might be misinterpreted as a repudiation of the entire subject of psychology. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

While I certainly do not view magick as merely an ancient form of psychology, it is important to remember that this does not rule out psychology in and of itself! The spirits may be real and objective, with their own personalities and agendas, but the human art that we call “magick” has a lot to do with the mind.

The right tools, the right rituals, and even a literal faith in the spirits’ objective reality isn’t quite enough. Your own psychology is vital. How the magick affects you, and how you (your mental state) affects it, is a huge chunk of the Mysteries.

The Socratic axiom that one must “Know Thyself” remains a vital truth to this very day. It doesn’t matter how real the spirits are if your mind is so bogged down with neuroses and complexes that you can’t perceive them. You can’t talk with them if you can’t distinguish your own thoughts from the spirits’ voices. You must know how to engage the passions—the mental “phrensies” described by Agrippa (which we would today call ecstatic states). You must be able to learn the lessons the spirits would teach you, to grow and evolve as a human being and a magus—to “become more than human,” as the Golden Dawn would put it.

If you wish to excel at magick, you must know the contents of your own mind, how your mind works, and how to “metaprogram” it—that is, erase faulty mental programming and write better programs to replace it. You must be able to distinguish between your own desire-driven thoughts and the knowledge being transmitted to you by outside intelligences. You must overcome your personal demons and ascend out of the darkness of ignorance (not just ignorance of the world, but of the Self as well). You must be your own master, in control of your thoughts and emotions�or else those objective spirits are going to have their way with you. If you are not aware of your own secret motivations and fears, then your Work is built entirely upon shaky ground.

This is why self-rectification, spiritual alchemy, etc. are so important. It is why in Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, my book about medieval occult texts, I introduce readers to the entirely modern Leary/Wilson model of consciousness, and discuss the effects of sensory deprivation, entheogens, and prolonged prayer and fasting. I explain Agrippa’s phrensies and how they apply to different magickal practices. I even assert, in no uncertain terms, that the altered mental state is the single most important aspect of any magickal ritual.

Plus, I advise students to seek some form of initiation outside the grimoires—for both spiritual authority and self-rectification, which of course both go hand in hand. Whether your chosen path is through the grades of the Golden Dawn, the degrees of Wicca, a Thelemic lodge, the Priesthood,* or elsewhere, it is very important to undertake a system of spiritual advancement. (* Note that the Key of Solomon urges its practitioners to advance to the “rank or degree of Exorcist” before attempting the magick. That meant to seek out a proper ordination, with all the training, purification, and self-rectification that went along with it.)

This is the difference between an Adept in command of himself and his familiars, and a dabbler just feeding random spirits in the hopes of getting some kind of result.

So, even if Old Magick practitioners refuse to view the spirits as mental constructs, it is not true that we have discarded psychology entirely. We simply believe the so-called psychological model of magick has taken things too far, having forgotten that spirits are people, too.

Our thanks to Aaron for his guest post! Visit Aaron Leitch’s author page for more information, including articles and his books.

The Importance of Psychic Empowerment

“Psychic Empowerment” is more than a simple two-word phrase of even a subject category. Rather . . .

Psychic Empowerment is the Next Step in Human Evolution

Note! I did not say that Psychic Empowerment is the “Next Phase” in Human Evolution but the Next Step! An evolutionary “phase” would be something that will happen without personal conscious interaction, just as in the past. That’s not the case with the needs and opportunities in this “New Age.” Individually, we must undertake intelligent actions in response to expanding perceptions of physical and non-physical challenges at personal, global, planetary and even cosmic levels, and become consciously empowered to perceive and act for personal and universal benefit. Individual growth today becomes the impulse driving human evolution. That is the “Next Step” that enables us to become more than we are and all we can be. More about that imperative later.

The difference between Unconscious and Conscious Psychic Sensitivity

Many people in the past and present experience spontaneous psychic powers as part of a natural sensitivity to a range of environmental vibrations when our minds were/are free of the clutter and multiple concerns we have today. Likewise, some people were/are physically stronger than others were/are; some were/are mentally sharper than others; some were/are more emotionally balanced than others; and we can say that some individuals were/are more spiritually advanced than others. Yet, we all have that capacity to equal and surpass those who have gone before because we inherit their legacy of personal achievement.

“Empowerment,” of most kinds, is mostly experienced individually rather than universally, and all individuals can learn and grow and can develop their innate powers into skills. And, yes, unconscious memories of skills developed in previous lives can become available through Past Lives Recall. Through Conscious Self-Programming the unconscious past can be brought into the present in accelerated growth and development programs.It is by making the Unconscious Conscious that individuals add to the Collective Psychic Structure that becomes the evolutionary Next Step. That innate Power becomes a Skill available to all through the intentional awakening of corresponding elements in the Collective Unconscious. That’s what making the Unconscious Conscious through study and practice is about. It’s by repeated exercise that a skill is embedded in the evolutionary seed that is passed on collectively to the future generations as the Next Step is taken.

Every individual “success” contributes to human growth

Individually and collectively we have a varied “heritage” of unconscious psychic sensitivity from those earlier evolutionary phases, but in this New Age we have new needs to increase our range of perception and consciously focused awareness of a much greater spectrum of vibratory input. There’s more to the greater Cosmos than the physical universe as commonly perceived, and there’s more to whole person than just the physical body with its limited brain intelligence, hormone based emotions, and chemically sourced energies.

In the “old days” some people claimed we were born only to worship God or gods, to “go forth and multiply,” and to fulfill His commandments for world dominance by the “Chosen People” whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or other.

“Now days” we measure our worth not by obeying religious dictates but by individual achievement and responsible initiative – whether in business success, scientific discovery, academic degrees, professional status, family strength, personal growth, and rationally determined ethical actions (rather than Church defined and imposed ‘morality’).

Psychic Empowerment is dependent on Individual Actions that are “the Next Step”

When we act with intelligence and purpose, we grow. But we also grow faster and develop more soundly through organized study and practice. We study and practice to learn and achieve, and turn passive psychic sensitivity into active and intentional Psychic Powers and Skills that can be consciously applied with purpose and direction.

Empowerment, itself, is the Next Step in human evolution. To “become more than you are and all you can be” requires personal growth initiatives and actual development of innate powers into applicable skills consciously deployed with rational purpose rather than reactive emotionality.

The Source of All Growth and Develop is “Reaching” Beyond the Present

When we reach beyond the present and think about the future we grow. Individual growth is driven by Need, Ambition, Desire, and the Urge to Know. Each of these is rooted in Extended Perception of the Present Situation (the “Problem”) and Recognition of Potential (the “Solution), and a determination of needed action (the “Program”) to Make a Better Tomorrow!

Whether information comes through analysis by organizations, foundations, governmental agencies, research laboratories, and whether it is “pitched:” by teachers, leaders, executives, politicians, or even preachers – Nothing happens without action by motivated individuals. And the initial drive for information comes from individuals leading to the development of the resources for responsible action.

In the final analysis, even curiosity is a form of “reaching,” and one of the most effective psychic growth activation methods is through forms of divination. (See The Llewellyn Complete Book of Psychic Empowerment for details on many accessible systems such as Aura Reading, Clairvoyance, Precognition, Dowsing and Pendulum Work, Dream Interpretation and Intervention, Crystal Gazing, Geomancy, Sand Reading, the Wrinkled Sheet Technique, the I Ching, Tarot, Runes, Tea Leaf and Coffee Ground Reading, Handwriting Analysis, Spirit Communication, and other Awareness Expanding Tools for Psychic Development. In addition this book covers self-programing techniques of Tarot, Self-Hypnosis, Self-Talk, Tarot, Meditation and Visualization, the Tarot, Chakra System, Tarot, Magic Rituals and Tarot, Shamanism, and Consciousness Expanding Techniques of Tarot, Astral Projection, Tarot, Remote Viewing, Tarot, Psychokinesis, Tarot, Telepathy, and “Ascending the Pyramid.” This nearly 700 page compendium empowers the reader to discover, develop, and act for personal progress and evolutionary growth.)

The Llewellyn Complete Book of Psychic Empowerment

 

What is really involved with psychic empowerment?

For the most part we are discussing such “paranormal powers” as Astral Projection, Clairvoyance, Communicating with Spirit, Divination in its many forms, Psychokinesis, and certain consciousness expanding aspects of Shamanism and Magick. Theoretically, we could divide each of them into ‘systems’ that are “active and projective” and those that are “passive and receptive”—but, in actuality, we encourage you to see them all as “intentional actions” rather than forms of “passive sensitivity.” That’s a difference between unconscious psychism and conscious psychic empowerment.

“Sensitivity” is often thought (and even taught) as a passive process; rather, it should be an active development of expanded Sensory Perception to feel more, to hear more, and to see more. I am not excluding the senses of taste and smell but their deployment is mostly specific in relation to substances while the other three work in tandem towards providing a wholistic awareness (depth and breadth) inclusive of the non-physical (etheric, astral, mental, and causal elements) that together are often referred to as “spiritual.”

Expanding the range of Sensory Perception.

Each of these “Paranormal Powers,” including divinatory systems employing “tools” to facilitate “Reach,” shamanic “techniques” to alter consciousness, meditational and magical programs to project power to initiate change, and various methods to activate the chakras and Kundalini to extend the depth and expand the range of “Sensory Perception.”

To clarify, the old concept of “Extra-Sensory Perception” is rather misleading. “Psychic Perception” does not step outside of the familiar five (or ten*) physical senses, but extends their “depth” by enlarging their empowerment by including the astral and mental “organs.” In other words, the “astral” organ perceives the astral equivalent of the physical object to facilitate a more “whole view” involving astral energies and substance. Or you could call it an inner view supplementing the outer view in the same way that viewing the aura gives a more comprehensive understanding of the human body’s health.

*Aside from the five primary physical senses, there are five secondary senses of Balance and Movement, Temperature, Kinesthesia (the relative positions of your body parts), Pain, and the passage of Time.

Many animals have greater ranges of these same senses, and even additional ones. Cats can “see in the Dark;” many animals, including dogs and wolves, have an amazing sense of smell; some snakes and vampire bats “see” in the infrared range to detect the body heat of their prey; birds, bees, and dragonflies see in the ultraviolet range; bats and cetaceans interpret reflected sound as a kind of sonar; sharks and rays detect electric fields, as do also dolphins; migrating birds detect and are guided by the earth’s magnet fields; and even some plants sense the location of other plants through their vibrations, scents, and chemical emissions.

One might well ask, If animals, birds, and fish can have such extended physical senses, why can’t humans? Well, most likely we can if we start a training program at a young enough age. But, don’t confuse these extended physical senses with the paranormal powers of clairvoyance, astral sight, and the augmented senses involved in psychic empowerment!

But, also, do note that when we use particular physical tools in such divinatory practices as dowsing and pendulum work, we do often refine and extend the sense of touch. Likewise, musicians often refine the sense of hearing and perception of rhythm, dancers also sense subtle variations of rhythm imperceptible to most others. Anyone can extend their night vision, expand their auditory senses, and more. Human potential is nearly infinite, in response to desire and intent.

Past Limitations narrow our Perception of the World but not its Reality

Our “ordinary” education has led us to believe that the only reality is purely physical, but both the ancient wisdom and modern quantum science say that everything that exists has multiple levels “substance,” much of it other than physical. We must accept this principle and realize that even our thoughts and feelings are “substantial” and composed of astral, mental, and “spiritual” substances other than the physical dimension.

When metaphysicians and psychics, and even a growing number of parapsychologists and other scientists, speak of other dimensions (also called planes or worlds)—they are recognizing the existence of different kinds of substance distinguished by distinct ranges of vibration.

With the addition of astral and mental organs, we see things in extra dimensions, or depth, that is perceived as additional information. It is this extended perception that allows us to see beyond the superficial physical. With depth we see enriched information enabling us to act with greater intelligence and ethical awareness.

Motion, Waves, Particles, Radiation, and Vibration

Everything is in motion as waves until the wave impacts on something and breaks into particles that then radiate energy as vibration. We identify that “something” by its specific pattern of vibration as measured by its “frequencies” (cycles per second). Now, in the discussions that follow, remember that we, too, are “something” and that our body parts, our thoughts and feeling, our mind and spirit all vibrate, and it through consciously relating our perceptions and actions to these frequencies that can gather pertinent information.

Everything that exists “vibrates.” Our perceptions uniquely tune in to specific ranges of vibration that we sense with our appropriate organs—physical as well as psychic (although these psychic organs are different in structure and nature from the physical ones). “Vibration” refers to movement and “vibrations” are measured by their frequency per second. Particular ranges of vibrations characterize each sense: touch, sound, odor, taste, and sight, and all perceived phenomena occur within the defined ranges of vibration.

“Vibratory Addresses” specific to Sense and Substance

The familiar physical (human) senses of Touch, Hearing, Taste, Smell, and Sight relate to specific “vibratory addresses” in a range of “frequencies” from as slow as 2 to 16 Cycles (Hertz) per second for Touch to as fast as 370 to 750 Terahertz (that’s 12 zeroes) per second for Sight.

Those “vibratory addresses” are much like your personal e-mail address: there’s an amazing depth of information about yourself that can be accessed through it and a far greater access to information by means of it. And more “information” is exactly what we are looking for with enhanced Psychic Perception, and it is through such multi-dimensional Information about things that we project the Power to bring about change in the physical world.

But, what we perceive with our physical senses—even as augmented with astral vision—is far from the totality of even the physical universe, far less than the Cosmic totality of which the physical universe is only the “end product” or the “launching platform” for the Next Step – depending on your point of view. Why can that be meaningful? Simply because the higher we go in the subtle levels the meaningful is time and distance. In consciousness everything is connected and even what happens far, far away in space and time can have impact here and now. Our psychic perception can open us to these different “realities.”

“What we see, we can ‘touch’ and work with to ‘take in’ as power”

While that statement is esoterically true, it is challenging to our physical reality. In the physical world you cannot always touch what you can see, nor always see what you can feel. So, you have to change your reality through altering consciousness and visualizing the object of interest as within a “living situation.” Then you can merge into that situation of absorb power or project power. This is Magick raised to the level of Invocation—subjects beyond the extent of this article, but intended to demonstrate the possibilities that are opened through methods of Divination and Psychic Empowerment.

Take the Next Step on the Journey of a Lifetime.

The Seven Soul Archetypes

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Dr. Linda Backman, author of Bringing Your Soul to Light the new Evolving Soul.

Some of you have read my first book, Bringing Your Soul to Light. When it was time to write book #2, I felt compelled to expand my horizons, as well as yours. Often a client arrives for a soul regression and says, “You’re going to think what I’m about to say is really strange.” My response back to them is, “I bet I won’t think you’re weird at all.”

In my new book, The Evolving Soul, I write about many topics tied to our soul’s progress, such as ET Souls, split incarnations, twin souls, pre-birth blueprints, and more. What I want to talk to you about today is the seven soul archetypes.

Your soul has a flavor—distinct, ageless, and fixed. Before you begin your first incarnation as a “young” soul, you select a soul style, or archetype, through discussion with your spiritual guides.

You can begin to figure out the “personality” of your soul, which will help you to accept who and how you are. Remember that your soul archetype doesn’t change throughout all of your lives.

Ray One Soul: You are the agent of change in your family, organization, and work. You are bold enough to perhaps be unpopular, because you encourage change that you believe is necessary. Abraham Lincoln is a Ray One Soul.
Ray Two Soul: You are a type of teacher or “priest” who wants to bring out the best in everyone. You guide and encourage others to find their gifts. Paramahansa Yogananda is a Ray Two Soul.
Ray Three Soul: You are a student of many disciplines. Learning and melding knowledge is your love. Stephen Spielberg is a Ray Three Soul.
Ray Four Soul: You are the one who strives to create harmony in your family or work group, even when nudging is required. You are like an artisan. Leonardo da Vinci is a Ray Four Soul.
Ray Five Soul: You are like a warrior committed to the strategy of implementing plans, whether in your organization, work, or family. Galileo is a Ray Five Soul.
Ray Six Soul: You are devoted to teamwork and community as an unwavering person who idealizes being supportive of everyone. Jimmy Carter is a Ray Six Soul.
Ray Seven Soul: You merge all energies of Rays One through Six, to be the alchemist or sage who knows the mystery of eternal consciousness. Buckminster Fuller is a Ray Seven Soul.

Now, I invite you to take time to consider what is the core of your soul’s focus throughout all of your incarnations. Think about whether you are more of a leader or support person. Rays One through Five operate more in public, while Rays Six and Seven are behind the scenes.

Do your best to narrow what you think is your Soul Ray to two possibilities. Accept who you are as perfectly OK, because you have agreed to the qualities of your soul archetype. Your Soul Ray is the common thread that unites all of your lives.

Our thanks to Linda for her guest post! For more from Dr. Linda Backman, read her article “The Evolving Soul and Your Life Purpose: Connecting the Dots of Past Lives.”