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Welcome to Multiple Magic's Ritual 101 series. This series will cover some basics of the ritual working of magic. Ritual work can be used for a variety of purposes, not just magical, but for the purposes of this series we will be looking only at the magical applications of ritual.
The purpose of this series is to provide a basic overview of ritual construction, the workings of the ritual itself, the tools that you may need, and how to perform your ritual safely.
This is also our first attempt at writing truly collaboratively, using a new tool that both authors are very excited about, Google Wave. So, for the first time, you'll be hearing the voices of both authors in a single article. Bear with us as we try to work out the kinks.
Intention
The first subject that we will be covering in our Ritual Magic series is intention. It is our experience that intention is the foundation upon which magic is built, so it only makes sense that we open this series with this topic.
Tanwyn: Intention is everything - a phrase that my students become quite sick of within a week of entering study with me. It's repeated so often because it is so very important. A clearly stated intention and a focused will are the driving force behind any magical working, and this is especially true of ritual magic.
Treinta: Absolutely. Focused will is *literally* everything. If you don't have focused will, you will get no result. If you posses nothing *but* a focused will, you will succeed. The sole point of ritual is to focus said will.
This focused will that we both mention is your intention. Intention answers the questions “what are we doing here in the first place?” and “what do we hope to accomplish?”. This is the key step in building a ritual. If you can't answer either of those questions, then you have nothing to build your ritual on. Once you've answered that question, then you may begin to build your ritual, holding that intention in your mind and focusing your will on making that intention come to pass. As Treinta mentions, the entire point of your ritual is to focus your will, driving towards that intended end.
Treinta: That said, there is more the development and usage of focused will than declaring it so. Often, beginners will attempt to "begin at the end" by declaring their will focused and eschewing all other considerations as "distractions." A reprehensible mistake at any time, but particularly egregious in a world where "The Secret" is considered mystical literature. Rather, tools should be used appropriately in support of the task of focusing the will. There is little to be gained by making things more difficult, or permitting hubris to inspire one to self-sabatoge.
Tanwyn: I agree that tools can be a powerful means of focusing the will - but there is also a time to leave tools behind. However, I think we're planning on covering the subject of tools in more depth at a later time.
Treinta: No, I would definitely agree that there are times to let tools go, as well. Hubris just strikes me as the main reason people abandon them too early. I plan some comments on Toolioletry, myself.
Ritual itself is used to focus the will, but sometimes tools can be used in ritual to help to focus the will. We'll be covering tools in more depth in a couple of weeks though, so stay tuned for “Tools of the Trade”, which will be coming soon.
Tanwyn: Now, back to the topic at hand: intention. It's my experience that any ritual without a clearly stated intention is at best going to fall flat. At that point, it's just empty motions. It may be pretty. It may have some emotional impact on the participants. It may even be deeply moving. However, that doesn't answer the question of why you are doing what you are doing, and without that information, it's just empty motion devoid of any true purpose, meaning or lasting power. You can't work magic that way.
Treinta: I definitely second you on the falling flat at best. I've actually reached a point where I find unfocused ritual to be angering. Time, effort, and attention are precious things, and a ritual that cannot succeed in its goals due to the lack of goals wastes all three. Some of it is crabby old mage syndrome, but these days I want maximum bang for my buck, and if the question of "what exactly are we trying to accomplish" isn't immediately apparent, I'd rather be playing Poker.
We've both been to rituals like the ones that we describe. It wasn't clear what the purpose of the ritual was, and while a group mind was established and several of the participants were deeply moved by the ritual, for us it fell flat because without a clear purpose or stated intent, it's really just another sort of mass hysteria. There's no real weight or force behind it, and nothing is really accomplished aside from perhaps some bonding between the participants and a short term emotional high.
Intention gives your ritual focus and purpose. As Tanwyn said, a clearly stated intention and a focused will are the driving force behind magic. So, this is your first step in ritual working. Answer these questions; “Why are we here?” and “What do we hope to accomplish?”.
Stayed tuned for your next step coming up in our next article: “Who, What, When, Where? (You should have already answered Why!)”
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Scents as Signposts
I realized recently that I tend to only use certain scents when I am doing certain kinds of work. When I thought about this for a little while, I realized that I was actually using the scents that I associate with different kinds of work as signposts to help invoke the proper mindset for that work. Since then, I've been playing around with using scents a little more consciously and experimenting with using scents to intentionally invoke mindsets.
A good example of this is some soap that I made recently. When making soap, I always add scent of some sort (unless I'm making it for someone that I know has sensitivities to such things). I wanted to bar that I was making to be something that could help me relax, so I thought about different types of work that I do, and different scents that I use that help me relax or that I feel relaxed during.
The strongest scents that kept coming to mind were sandalwood, which I use during devotionals, and lavendar, which I also sometimes use during devotionals and which I use blended with vanilla to help me sleep. So, I decided to try a mix of the three. The blend that I ended up with was 3 parts Sandalwood, 2 parts Lavendar and 1 part Vanilla. The lavendar is a middle note. Middle notes form the bulk of a blended scent. Since there isn't a top note in this blend, it is the first scent to hit the nose and is the strongest scent while I'm actually in the shower. The vanilla and sandlewood are both base notes. Base notes are typically heavy, rich, and linger much longer than top or middle notes, so these are the scents that linger on the skin.
What I ended up with was a product that did exactly what I needed it to do. It helped me relax and it also put me in the proper mindset to enter devotionals - an activity that typically follows right after a shower. The middle note lavendar is the scent that was hitting the most strongly during the shower itself, so it helped me to relax in the shower. The scent of sandlewood and vanilla lingering on my skin afterwards helped to reinforce the mindset that I was trying to invoke and helped me stay relaxed and put me in a proper mindset to enter devotionals.
Another strong scent that I use that I've found serves as a sort of sign post is white sage. I use white sage in purifications, and this is a scent that helps me enter an altered state of consciousness in order to work magic very quickly, and in particular helps invoke the proper mindset for purification and protective work.
Now that I'm more aware of the fact that I am using scents as signposts in ritual and really in general, I'm going to try to be more conscious about my use of scents. Should be interesting to experiment with.
A good example of this is some soap that I made recently. When making soap, I always add scent of some sort (unless I'm making it for someone that I know has sensitivities to such things). I wanted to bar that I was making to be something that could help me relax, so I thought about different types of work that I do, and different scents that I use that help me relax or that I feel relaxed during.
The strongest scents that kept coming to mind were sandalwood, which I use during devotionals, and lavendar, which I also sometimes use during devotionals and which I use blended with vanilla to help me sleep. So, I decided to try a mix of the three. The blend that I ended up with was 3 parts Sandalwood, 2 parts Lavendar and 1 part Vanilla. The lavendar is a middle note. Middle notes form the bulk of a blended scent. Since there isn't a top note in this blend, it is the first scent to hit the nose and is the strongest scent while I'm actually in the shower. The vanilla and sandlewood are both base notes. Base notes are typically heavy, rich, and linger much longer than top or middle notes, so these are the scents that linger on the skin.
What I ended up with was a product that did exactly what I needed it to do. It helped me relax and it also put me in the proper mindset to enter devotionals - an activity that typically follows right after a shower. The middle note lavendar is the scent that was hitting the most strongly during the shower itself, so it helped me to relax in the shower. The scent of sandlewood and vanilla lingering on my skin afterwards helped to reinforce the mindset that I was trying to invoke and helped me stay relaxed and put me in a proper mindset to enter devotionals.
Another strong scent that I use that I've found serves as a sort of sign post is white sage. I use white sage in purifications, and this is a scent that helps me enter an altered state of consciousness in order to work magic very quickly, and in particular helps invoke the proper mindset for purification and protective work.
Now that I'm more aware of the fact that I am using scents as signposts in ritual and really in general, I'm going to try to be more conscious about my use of scents. Should be interesting to experiment with.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Piety, Pain and PTSD
This is a bit of a diversion from what we hope will be our usual content, but the message is important.
Piety, Pain, and PTSD
Many neopagan traditions are more focused on orthopraxy than on orthodoxy. This means that right action is more important than right belief. Piety is all about right action. Piety can be defined as "correct observance of ritual and social traditions; the maintenance of the agreements, both personal and societal, that we humans have with the Gods and Spirits. Keeping the Old Ways, through ceremony and duty."* Observance of the High Days, and establishing a meaningful personal practice is a big part of this. That can be a hard thing to do under the best of circumstances. Now, imagine trying to do it while living with a chronic illness. This is the reality that I, and many others, live with every day.
One of the hardest lessons that I have had to learn while living with a chronic illness is that sometimes, I'm just not going to be well enough to do the things that I want to do, even if those things are normally relatively simple. My daily routine involves a devotional period before I head to bed at night, and if I'm at work and out in the community as the sun sets I'll take a couple minutes for silent prayer just as the city falls into full darkness. The sunset devotional I never have trouble getting done... it only happens as a break in my work day. The bedtime devotional, on the other hand, can be pretty problematic. After working all day, it's not uncommon for me to not have the energy to do much of anything once I get home. Some days, I'm in so much pain by the time that I get home that I will crawl in bed and literally pray to be able to just fall asleep. It's on days like this that I first started running in to issues with pain and piety.
Pain alone can be incredibly draining. When my pain level is particularly high, sometimes it's hard to think. It's hard to reason through much of anything. It's hard to *do* much of anything. Pain can also make it very hard to get up in the morning, and I've never been successful at maintaining a morning devotional practice. Think about a time when you had a bad case of the flu. You know the general aches and pains that you had when you were sick? That's as good an example as I can think of of the pain that I live with every day.
Chronic pain effects your entire body. It can cause mobility problems. When it hurts to move, it's hard to enjoy activities that require a lot of motion. It's hard to get enough sleep, so you are missing out on restorative sleep a lot of the time. The sleep disturbance can lead to an increase in depression, lower energy levels and it can cause memory problems. Depression is a big problem for chronic pain sufferers. Sometimes, the depression is a symptom and sometimes it's a result, and sometimes it's both! It can be incredibly frustrating to deal with the daily realities of chronic pain.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder also presents some interesting challenges as far as piety. Sometimes all that it takes to push me over the edge into panic attacks, or flashbacks is a poorly timed word, a stray image, a word on a page, or even just a conversation with a friend that shouldn't be triggering. Imagine the worst experience of your life. Now, imagine being forced to repeatedly relive that event in full, graphic detail, even feeling the physical sensations that you felt during that event. This is one of the many realities of PTSD. Another challenge that it presents is dissociation. Dissociation is probably best described as "spacing out". It's a defense mechanism in which you've learned to "go somewhere else" to protect yourself from having to fully experience trauma. This may seem peaceful at first glance, but it's actually incredibly stressful. Dissociation also effects your entire body, and the physiological symptoms of extreme dissociation can be devestating. It exhausts the entire body; your nervous system, all of your organs, everything. To cite an example that a friend pointed out, dissociation is the same reflex that causes animals to "freeze" when they experience intense fear, and sometimes the animal doesn't survive the experience.
Between all of these problems, sometimes it's a wonder that I manage to get anything done. One thing that I have had a hard time learning is that sometimes piety isn't so much about the big actions, as it is about desire and intent. I usually desire to devote, but just don't have the stamina or focus, or I'm so dissociated that I'm too "out of it" to do the full daily rite that I would like to do. If I'm being honest, though, sometimes the desire isn't there. In these cases, I've really learned the truth of "faith follows action". The key to remember in this case is that it isn't necessarily about the big actions, it's about acting in the first place. I've had to learn that sometimes, all I am going to be able to do is say a few prayers, and that's okay. High Days are also difficult. Three Cranes is a three hour drive from home for me, and I'm not always up to making that drive. In the past, sometimes the only recognition I've been able to give to the High Days is a prayer and a general offering to all of the Kindreds, and sometimes the only offering I've been able to make is the effort that it took.
No one is perfect, and no one is going to be able to do everything that they want to do all of the time. It may be a bit more extreme for someone living with chronic illnesses, but I think the lessons that can be learned here are universal. The lesson to take home here is this; Piety doesn't have to be about the big actions, sometimes it's just doing the best that you can and the willingness to make the effort.
*ADF Dedicant's Manual, page 15
Piety, Pain, and PTSD
Many neopagan traditions are more focused on orthopraxy than on orthodoxy. This means that right action is more important than right belief. Piety is all about right action. Piety can be defined as "correct observance of ritual and social traditions; the maintenance of the agreements, both personal and societal, that we humans have with the Gods and Spirits. Keeping the Old Ways, through ceremony and duty."* Observance of the High Days, and establishing a meaningful personal practice is a big part of this. That can be a hard thing to do under the best of circumstances. Now, imagine trying to do it while living with a chronic illness. This is the reality that I, and many others, live with every day.
One of the hardest lessons that I have had to learn while living with a chronic illness is that sometimes, I'm just not going to be well enough to do the things that I want to do, even if those things are normally relatively simple. My daily routine involves a devotional period before I head to bed at night, and if I'm at work and out in the community as the sun sets I'll take a couple minutes for silent prayer just as the city falls into full darkness. The sunset devotional I never have trouble getting done... it only happens as a break in my work day. The bedtime devotional, on the other hand, can be pretty problematic. After working all day, it's not uncommon for me to not have the energy to do much of anything once I get home. Some days, I'm in so much pain by the time that I get home that I will crawl in bed and literally pray to be able to just fall asleep. It's on days like this that I first started running in to issues with pain and piety.
Pain alone can be incredibly draining. When my pain level is particularly high, sometimes it's hard to think. It's hard to reason through much of anything. It's hard to *do* much of anything. Pain can also make it very hard to get up in the morning, and I've never been successful at maintaining a morning devotional practice. Think about a time when you had a bad case of the flu. You know the general aches and pains that you had when you were sick? That's as good an example as I can think of of the pain that I live with every day.
Chronic pain effects your entire body. It can cause mobility problems. When it hurts to move, it's hard to enjoy activities that require a lot of motion. It's hard to get enough sleep, so you are missing out on restorative sleep a lot of the time. The sleep disturbance can lead to an increase in depression, lower energy levels and it can cause memory problems. Depression is a big problem for chronic pain sufferers. Sometimes, the depression is a symptom and sometimes it's a result, and sometimes it's both! It can be incredibly frustrating to deal with the daily realities of chronic pain.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder also presents some interesting challenges as far as piety. Sometimes all that it takes to push me over the edge into panic attacks, or flashbacks is a poorly timed word, a stray image, a word on a page, or even just a conversation with a friend that shouldn't be triggering. Imagine the worst experience of your life. Now, imagine being forced to repeatedly relive that event in full, graphic detail, even feeling the physical sensations that you felt during that event. This is one of the many realities of PTSD. Another challenge that it presents is dissociation. Dissociation is probably best described as "spacing out". It's a defense mechanism in which you've learned to "go somewhere else" to protect yourself from having to fully experience trauma. This may seem peaceful at first glance, but it's actually incredibly stressful. Dissociation also effects your entire body, and the physiological symptoms of extreme dissociation can be devestating. It exhausts the entire body; your nervous system, all of your organs, everything. To cite an example that a friend pointed out, dissociation is the same reflex that causes animals to "freeze" when they experience intense fear, and sometimes the animal doesn't survive the experience.
Between all of these problems, sometimes it's a wonder that I manage to get anything done. One thing that I have had a hard time learning is that sometimes piety isn't so much about the big actions, as it is about desire and intent. I usually desire to devote, but just don't have the stamina or focus, or I'm so dissociated that I'm too "out of it" to do the full daily rite that I would like to do. If I'm being honest, though, sometimes the desire isn't there. In these cases, I've really learned the truth of "faith follows action". The key to remember in this case is that it isn't necessarily about the big actions, it's about acting in the first place. I've had to learn that sometimes, all I am going to be able to do is say a few prayers, and that's okay. High Days are also difficult. Three Cranes is a three hour drive from home for me, and I'm not always up to making that drive. In the past, sometimes the only recognition I've been able to give to the High Days is a prayer and a general offering to all of the Kindreds, and sometimes the only offering I've been able to make is the effort that it took.
No one is perfect, and no one is going to be able to do everything that they want to do all of the time. It may be a bit more extreme for someone living with chronic illnesses, but I think the lessons that can be learned here are universal. The lesson to take home here is this; Piety doesn't have to be about the big actions, sometimes it's just doing the best that you can and the willingness to make the effort.
*ADF Dedicant's Manual, page 15
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Magic as Prayer
Ouch. Hitting below the belt with the Rosary meditation, a longstanding favorite of mine. Nevertheless:
As the conservative, I can't blame you for playing conservatively, but I still think you're off a bit. The driving force behind the Rosary isn't just divinity, it's effort. "Pure" intercession is about as effective as The Secret, and with a much better pedigree of not working.
Like anything else, what drives the work is Gnosis. Pure magical will. Whether it's Paul exhorting Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing" or Crowley telling all young seekers everywhere to "inflame yourself with prayer," it's the effort of the thing that drives the wheel.
The visions and miracles generated by the rosary are gifts, to be sure, but they're given in measure that they've been earned. Go around once and pray 6 Our Father's, 6 Glory Be's, and 53 Hail Mary's. All 3 traditional mysteries? Make that 16, 16, and 153. Adding the Luminous Mysteries? That'll be 21, 21, and 203, please drive up. Officially the longest ritual prayer I've taken part in.
And, if you happen to work in a tradition that features 4 additional on top of that, you could conceivably in a single working pray 41 Our Father's, 41 Glory Be's, and 403 Hail Mary's in a single formal prayer.
And let's not start on the Novena, the traditional 9 days of formal prayer.
All these add up to one point: even the users of the Rosary recognize that results come from effort, and effort is a result of training. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go pump some beads now.
As the conservative, I can't blame you for playing conservatively, but I still think you're off a bit. The driving force behind the Rosary isn't just divinity, it's effort. "Pure" intercession is about as effective as The Secret, and with a much better pedigree of not working.
Like anything else, what drives the work is Gnosis. Pure magical will. Whether it's Paul exhorting Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing" or Crowley telling all young seekers everywhere to "inflame yourself with prayer," it's the effort of the thing that drives the wheel.
The visions and miracles generated by the rosary are gifts, to be sure, but they're given in measure that they've been earned. Go around once and pray 6 Our Father's, 6 Glory Be's, and 53 Hail Mary's. All 3 traditional mysteries? Make that 16, 16, and 153. Adding the Luminous Mysteries? That'll be 21, 21, and 203, please drive up. Officially the longest ritual prayer I've taken part in.
And, if you happen to work in a tradition that features 4 additional on top of that, you could conceivably in a single working pray 41 Our Father's, 41 Glory Be's, and 403 Hail Mary's in a single formal prayer.
And let's not start on the Novena, the traditional 9 days of formal prayer.
All these add up to one point: even the users of the Rosary recognize that results come from effort, and effort is a result of training. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go pump some beads now.
Prayer as magic
Sometimes, the most effective magical working is also the simplest. Prayer is one of the simplest forms of magic within the context of religious magic. Prayer is quite simply an act of devotion in which we enter into a dialogue with the Gods, asking for guidance, offering praise, confessing or making reperations for mistakes, asking for assistance, etc. Through prayer, we seek to alter our reality by entering into relationship with the divine to effect change.
Certain types of prayer are also forms of ritual magic. Let's take a look at a specific ritual;
You sit, stand, or lay down, whatever is most comfortable. Next you take up a physical focus, in this case beads. You then use that physical focus to go through a systematic set of meditations, words spoken repeatedly, and specific mysteries to contemplate. Woven throughout the meditation is praise to the gods that you worship, and requests for daily needs.
Through this set ritualized meditation, you are able to enter into an altered state of consciousness that can be used for a variety of magical tasks. You also enter into rapport with the Gods who can also assist you. Now, take a look at the ritual that I outlined, and take a look at the Rosary. The Rosary is a perfect example of ritualized prayer as magic. The rosary is a great starting point to build your own ritualized prayers.
Now, prayer does not have to be ritualized to be an effective form of magic. All that's really required is your own desire, faith in the Divine that you are calling on, and a willingness to pray in the first place. As with any other form of magic, your own will and intention is important. All prayers made with faith and will are acts of magic. As I said, magic at it's simplest.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Hi, I'm Tanwyn and I'm here to speak for the more religious side of magic. My magical practice and my religious practice are tied so closely together as to be virtually indistinquishable. I am a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin, a modern neopagan Druid fellowship. I've also practiced fairly extensively with a number of other neopagan groups, and am currently seeking membership with a gnostic group.
My background is about as varied as my counterpart; Christian - Presbyterian and Anglican, to be specific, Mystic, Shaman, Neo-Druid, Celtic Reconstructionist, and various flavors of Neo-Pagan. I've progressed through and passed on initiation within an oathbound order, I've performed rites of passage and in a strange parallel to my counter-part, funeral rites for my grandmother. I can't claim to have ever personally earned money for any particular part of my religious or magical practice, although I did work on a volunteer basis for the local neo-pagan store for quite awhile.
I'm here to provide a look at the religious side of magic, magic that appeals to the Gods for power. I'm also here to provide a look at the more "traditional" side of magic, magic as you would see it in a lot of ecletic neo-pagan circles, and the potential uses - and abuses - of this kind of magic. Like my counterpart, a lot of my personal practice and personality are going to be reflected here.
My background is about as varied as my counterpart; Christian - Presbyterian and Anglican, to be specific, Mystic, Shaman, Neo-Druid, Celtic Reconstructionist, and various flavors of Neo-Pagan. I've progressed through and passed on initiation within an oathbound order, I've performed rites of passage and in a strange parallel to my counter-part, funeral rites for my grandmother. I can't claim to have ever personally earned money for any particular part of my religious or magical practice, although I did work on a volunteer basis for the local neo-pagan store for quite awhile.
I'm here to provide a look at the religious side of magic, magic that appeals to the Gods for power. I'm also here to provide a look at the more "traditional" side of magic, magic as you would see it in a lot of ecletic neo-pagan circles, and the potential uses - and abuses - of this kind of magic. Like my counterpart, a lot of my personal practice and personality are going to be reflected here.
I am Frater Treinta, and I'm here to represent the Wild side of magic. Although I'm an initiated Gnostic by baptism, there's not really an "initiate only" set of anything, so I'm not counting it. Other than that, I'm pretty well a self-styled Mage.
I'm here to represent Chaos Magic, bootleg QBL, "cheap, petty Sorcery," and all that is wild, untamed, exploring, pedal to the metal with nothing but a notebook Constantine magic.
And my background reflects it. Kabbalist now and forever (but preferring the bootleg Hermetic version,) Shaman, Golden Dawn, Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, Mystical Christian, "Gnostic Agnostic," Gnostic, Mathemagician, and just enough Taoist to own the book. I've done funeral rights for my great-grandmother, read Tarot cards for beer money, explored the Astral in an imaginary spaceship, adapted RPGs into working magical systems, and programmed magical effects into Python programs. A disturbing amount of my Astral work is based on the DC Comics universe.
My purpose here is to present the more random, primal, undocumented, experimental, edge-pushing styles of magic that are immune to the abuses to authority by not having any authorities to start with through a trickster/adversary persona. I will be emphasizing certain parts of my practice and personality here to make my job easier, as well as my counterpart's.
And now, the representative from Chaos yields the floor.
I'm here to represent Chaos Magic, bootleg QBL, "cheap, petty Sorcery," and all that is wild, untamed, exploring, pedal to the metal with nothing but a notebook Constantine magic.
And my background reflects it. Kabbalist now and forever (but preferring the bootleg Hermetic version,) Shaman, Golden Dawn, Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, Mystical Christian, "Gnostic Agnostic," Gnostic, Mathemagician, and just enough Taoist to own the book. I've done funeral rights for my great-grandmother, read Tarot cards for beer money, explored the Astral in an imaginary spaceship, adapted RPGs into working magical systems, and programmed magical effects into Python programs. A disturbing amount of my Astral work is based on the DC Comics universe.
My purpose here is to present the more random, primal, undocumented, experimental, edge-pushing styles of magic that are immune to the abuses to authority by not having any authorities to start with through a trickster/adversary persona. I will be emphasizing certain parts of my practice and personality here to make my job easier, as well as my counterpart's.
And now, the representative from Chaos yields the floor.
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