tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13019255458235071292024-02-20T05:51:18.098-05:00One Hand on the SwordOne magician's shot at leaving the armchair and jumping into the world of practical magic and self-transformation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-83307204862030736962012-05-30T01:39:00.000-04:002012-05-30T01:55:11.720-04:00On the Magistry of the EastOne of the two interesting features of my natal chart is that Mercury is exalted exactly by degree (that is, in the 15th degree of Virgo). As such, intellectualism, science, communication, etc have had a <i><b>huge</b></i> impact on my life; for example, it was calculus that really started my occult studies proper (story at a later date).<br />
<br />
What this means practically is that I'm incredibly good at creating "systems" of information, or learning those already in place, and understanding them well enough to implement them correctly in real-world scenarios with little to no practice. As an example, I was that asshole in organic chemistry (one of my favorite subjects) whose reactions went perfectly every time on the first try, because I understood exactly what I was doing and what was supposed to happen. When I build things (like magical tools, or cabinets for my parents' kitchen), my products tend to come out perfectly, with few to no mistakes to correct, on the first try. When I try a new magical ritual, I usually get some tangible result on the first try, and rarely have the experience of simply running into a wall, or talking into dead space (although, obviously, results improve dramatically with time and practice).<br />
<br />
While this may look like magic, privilege, or inordinate amounts of luck to onlookers (especially anal-retentive lab-mates whose reactions have quite literally melted, burned, or exploded), the "secret" is really nothing more than careful and thorough study of the subject at hand before I ever start on a project, and an attitude of perfectionism throughout it. If you want your organic reactions to go perfectly, you study the shit out of the reaction you're supposed to be running, making sure you understand each step, and executing said steps as exactly as possible during your own work. If you want perfect cabinetry, you have to know exactly where every piece goes beforehand (no bag of mystery parts left over afterward), and make sure you measure twice and cut once. If you want a magical ritual actually work, you have to know exactly what each part of the ritual does, what is supposed to happen when, and more importantly, <i><b>why</b></i> each thing is supposed to happen. And most important of all you need to be sure that you can <i><b>execute all of these things in your mind before you ever begin</b></i>. When I pick up my glassware, I'm running an experiment for the first time physically, but for the fourth or fifth time including my "mental dry-runs".<br />
<br />
Now an interesting thing happens when a person with a trait like this starts to use astrology in their magical practice. You study the motions of the planets. You study the interactions of the planets, houses, signs, and fixed stars. You study how these things affect different people (or things!) with different natal charts. You start to notice brilliantly subtle interactions and harmonics. You constantly have <a href="http://marklipson.com/jastro/" target="_blank">an awesome astrological clock like this one</a> running in the background so you can get a "feel" for the speeds of the planets and stars, and know intuitively where they are in the sky without casting a chart. You incorporate all of these things into your other magical work as far as you feel comfortable. But there's something you've neglected entirely.<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>You never actually go outside and look at the stars.</b></i></u><br />
<br />
In all of your intellectualizing, you've forgotten that the construct of "astrology" is one system of understanding the motions and effects of a very physical reality, and you've failed to engage with the <i><b>experience</b></i> of that reality in any meaningful way at all. Which brings us (finally!) to the point of this post.<br />
<br />
One of the awesome benefits of the house I've been living in for the past year is that my deck has an unoccluded view of the eastern sky, in an area wonderfully devoid of light and noise pollution. It wasn't until I started spending a lot of time out on the deck (50% study breaks, 50% avoiding my landlord/roommate) that I started looking, and I mean really <i><b>looking</b></i> at the stars. <i><b>Experiencing</b></i> them in a way that allowed me to get out of my head, out of the constant noise of the monkey mind and its categorizing and defining, and yet still remain in the world in a way meditation does not offer me. And then one evening, staring into the East as the sun was setting behind me, just as the stars were beginning to appear on the horizon, I saw it.<br />
<br />
The dome over my head was moving. I was no longer looking at the stars, reasonably far away; I was infinitesimally small, the point without dimension at the center of a sphere, looking outward at a reality that was impossibly immense and impossibly far away. I was no longer a man looking at a still snapshot of a moving system; I was <i><b>within</b></i> the system, watching it grind along at an impossibly slow, but equally and impossibly powerful pace. I was watching forces that defy imagination being born right in front of me. The sheer immensity of the universe threatened to sweep me away as it arced over my head. Entire worlds were dying behind me as they sank into the abyss. For one instant, I <i><b>felt</b></i> the forces that we as magicians try to harness the tiniest slivers of in our lives. And for the first time, I really <i><b>understood</b></i> what it was that I had been studying, and it's changed me in ways I'm still struggling to articulate.<br />
<br />
I saw why all magicians should meditate on the cosmos itself. I saw the Magistry of the East.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-22183129062018771212012-05-15T02:27:00.000-04:002012-05-15T02:27:36.800-04:00On Radio Silence: Current ProjectsSo I, uh, kinda dropped off the map for a bit. In the middle of a <a href="http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-experiment-in-magical.html">super-awesome blog project</a>. Oops.<br />
<br />
The truth is, the New Year, New You project was a huge success in a lot of ways. Huge enough, at least, that on top of my PhD program, my blogging/twittering/IMing time has pretty consistently given way to more menial tasks. Like eating.<br />
<br />
Since I *really* don't want to spend hours writing a gigantic post that nobody will bother reading, here's a quick recap of my successes since Valentines Day:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Passed all of my first-year pharmacy courses with flying colors.</li>
<li>Secured a position as a tutor of incoming first-year students for two classes (Drug Mechanics and Biological Sciences Integrated).</li>
<li>Joined a crazy group of wizards to found an online Mastermind group. Great advice and kinship all around.</li>
<li>Heavily beefed up my home apothecary in preparation for some of the super-awesome projects listed below.</li>
<li>Landed a summer internship that will allow me to fund said projects.</li>
<li>Fucked up a lot of craft-work and learned a lot of good crafting techniques that will make said projects spectacular instead of mediocre.</li>
<li>Found a crazy sleep schedule that actually allows me to both dream and function normally.</li>
<li>Lost a significant amount of weight in preparation for my summer exercise routine. </li>
<li>Somehow actually got a bit of "fun" reading done.</li>
</ul>
In retrospect, that doesn't seem like a very "magical" list, but I assure you, there was plenty of tweaking of life circumstances to get there. And now that I've had a few days to recover from the rigor of school, I finally have the time and motivation to start of some of my back-burner, "heavy magic" projects:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Creating a sprayable liquid wax solution that will evaporate to leave a hard, solid wax product behind, to be used to apply consecrated waxes to delicate surfaces.</li>
<ul>
<li>This project is actually already done, but the simple technique is so useful that it <u><i><b>needs</b></i></u> to be blogged so others can use it. I will not disappoint.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Creating Bardon's "compound fluid condenser" true to the original text, complete with real gold solution and ingredients from the ass-end of the earth.</li>
<ul>
<li>I have 90% of the components I need ready to go, barring one or two seasonal items. Creation will be complex, and have my own pseudo-alchemical flair to it, but the entire process will be blogged with lots of pretty pictures. Small amounts of product <u><i><b>may</b></i></u> be for sale if and only if I manage to create a superior magical product.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Creating a magic mirror by direct and careful flame-on-glass lampblacking.</li>
<ul>
<li>Both of the above projects are entirely devoted to making sure this one comes out spectacular. I've got the technique down pat, and am currently on the hunt for the perfect piece of glass to use. Again, pretty pictures.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
This is only a small fraction of what I'm working on, but they're the biggest and most overdue projects. Now that I finally have time to blog again, I'm sure you'll be hearing all about these minor things as ADD inspires.<br />
<br />
It's good to be back in the Lab again. Ora et labora.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-65394759099019121592012-01-13T07:15:00.000-05:002012-01-13T07:15:29.693-05:00On Cleaning, Migrating Compulsions, and Role Reversals [NYNY]Those of you who have been here for any amount of time will remember I learned my lesson about keeping up with magical housework in what I'm dubbing <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-prs-potion-of-get-fuck-out.html">The Spider Plague of 2011</a>. Well, mostly. Kind of.<br />
<br />
(tl;dr Feel free to skip to the magical/NYNY bit <a href="#Making_Way">here</a>.) <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kzObgmK_kSo/TxAc2HdaaOI/AAAAAAAAAEw/A9Dv60b1PgU/s1600/shipment_of_fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kzObgmK_kSo/TxAc2HdaaOI/AAAAAAAAAEw/A9Dv60b1PgU/s320/shipment_of_fail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example: Approximately 300 metric fucktons of grade-A fail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I've actually been good about keeping up with regular (although not at all thorough or formal) cleansings since moving to my new mountain home. At least, there hasn't been the need for another spiritual Hiroshima, and the overtly large jar of GTFO potion lies safely tucked away in a back corner of my spiritual supplies drawer. Add to this the fact that I gave up a metric fuck-ton (that's an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units">SI standard</a>, that is) of possessions (read: useless clutter) in my interstate move, and finally having a real dresser with an appropriate number of drawers, and I've actually been keeping things pretty clean on the physical plane as well. Well, mostly. Kind of.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IOYvphE5b_E/TxAdkRiMz0I/AAAAAAAAAE4/BYKBti9Tao4/s1600/Woman-clutter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IOYvphE5b_E/TxAdkRiMz0I/AAAAAAAAAE4/BYKBti9Tao4/s200/Woman-clutter.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Never thought I'd be happy to <br />
no longer have a desk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>You see, my problem has always been papers, tchotchkes, and dust. Having kicked the paper habit, the dust actually gets cleaned, and the tchotchkes have all found more permanent homes or been discarded. But it seems that all the "clutter" (in the nebulous sense) has somehow migrated outward... just beyond the bubble of personal space that is my room, chaos reigns. Well, mostly. Kind of.<br />
<br />
It starts with the mail. Now, I've never lived with someone that gets as much mail (most of it legitimate) as my roommate. Maybe it's her refusal to do anything business-related online, but I'd never seen a larger-than-average mailbox stuffed to the brim <i>every day</i> until I moved here. What most people don't realize is, this masses of mail this large collapse and condense into smaller, but I'm convinced sentient (and evil) clusters, which somehow invade the entire house like rodents. Every surface outside my bubble is eventually affected, which causes enough dirt and dust to build up that by the time it all gets sorted properly (into a legit full-size filing cabinet), cleaning all the house surfaces is a multi-day job. I'm really not trying to make my roommate sound like a slob, it's honestly just a volume issue. It is rather entertaining, though, to see an issue I once had (albeit with school papers) reflected outwardly like this; if nothing else, it solidifies the advantage of the <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-new-year-new-you-experiment.html">"do it now" principle</a> I've been trying to adopt, in that these torturous cleaning sessions could be mostly avoided if there were a daily read/file/shred routine.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-rLZ5_CXB0/TxAehk8BH0I/AAAAAAAAAFA/ieU3GbflcNI/s1600/24-1-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-rLZ5_CXB0/TxAehk8BH0I/AAAAAAAAAFA/ieU3GbflcNI/s320/24-1-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So <i>that's</i> where I left that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It ends (thankfully there are only two items on this list, windbag that I am) with my car. I'm convinced that useless junk magically (hah) appears there. Nevermind the papers, cords, fast food bags, bits and bobs, and the odd sock, but I recently found <i>an entire suitcase of clothes I didn't know I had</i> which has apparently been living in a dark corner of my trunk for the past 5 months. Seriously? I mean, I know I dress "professionally" most every day and so only go through about a tenth of my wardrobe, but seriously? How did I not notice that?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1vAF_C86Ww/TxAfcs5a0vI/AAAAAAAAAFI/j7-9QKFdoV4/s1600/sexy-maid-thumb5994123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1vAF_C86Ww/TxAfcs5a0vI/AAAAAAAAAFI/j7-9QKFdoV4/s320/sexy-maid-thumb5994123.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Alternatively, I need to work on my<br />
conjuring-sexy-maids-from-the-ether skills.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a id="Making_Way">It's</a> been said time and time again, but even though it seems like your normal, everyday clutter, all this shit really starts to effect you magically in a way that's not really obvious until you actually get around to cleaning it. Not that I don't have excuses at the ready for why I haven't gotten around to taking care of it before now. After all, I've been busy being a full time student, working, setting up a tutoring business, setting up an online magical project/group, beefing up my regular magical practice, etc, etc, et fucking cetera. But hell, in response to reading Deb's <a href="http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-weekly-writing-prompt.html">post on making way</a> (which the <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-new-year-new-you-experiment.html">"do it now" principle</a> demands I put into action immediately) I spent an entire afternoon cleaning, only got through about a third of the junk, did no magical cleaning whatsoever, and <i>still</i> I can feel a difference in the place. A small difference, but a good one nonetheless. The quality of my regular work was definitely improved tonight, and I have high hopes for bigger improvements as I tackle the rest of the house over the next few days, finally going over everything with a light misting of <i>heavily</i> diluted (like, three drops in a large spray bottle) GTFO potion. Lesson learned; <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-prs-potion-of-get-fuck-out.html">banish your shit</a> applies to the physical plane as well.<br />
<br />
My first weekend home in a month, and I'm spending it <i>cleaning</i>? New me, indeed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-62030974251029297112011-12-26T07:57:00.000-05:002011-12-26T07:57:03.737-05:00On the "New Year, New You" ExperimentAlright, so in the midst of my reader backlog (620 unread posts? Ye gods I need to go on a blog-diet) I somehow missed out on the awesomeness that is Deb's <a href="http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-experiment-in-magical.html">New Year, New You experiment</a>. I have to admit, when I first read the title I was sort of expecting some kind of fuzzy post about new-year's resolutions, which, by the way, I'm absolutely allergic to. But instead, I found something that really spoke to me in an unexpected way.<br />
<br />
You see, I have a problem with inertia. Not like "it's hard to get started" inertia, but "the harder you try, the deeper you sink" inertia, and I've only very recently started unraveling the mechanics behind it. I end up starting things with the best of intentions (like Jason's <a href="http://www.inominandum.com/blog/">Strategic Sorcery</a> course, which this blog was <i>supposed</i> to be about), diving in head-first, setting up a daily practice and generally getting along wickedly... until I don't. Maybe I need to leave town for a few days, or I get sick, or one of a million other things happens, and it screws up a very minor aspect of my practice. Like missing a note while playing the piano, the flow of things is interrupted, and one minor incident ripples outward until <i>everything</i> is an absolute mess.<br />
<br />
Now, instead of just trying to power through and make the best of my "mistakes", the perfectionist in me racks up an emotional backlog of guilt for the things I was supposed to have done, but didn't get to. Eventually, after a few minor mistakes (or straight-up life circumstances), the emotional weight of feeling like you're somehow "failing" builds up to the point where every aspect of the Work feels like... well, work. It becomes an obligation, something I feel like I <i>should</i> be doing, rather than <i>want</i> to be doing, and this is where the perfectionist teams up with the procrastinator and starts saying things like "Oh, well you can't do X until you do Y, and you can't do Y for whatever bullshit reason, so you might as well just wait on this." Which, of course, starts the guilt-cycle again.<br />
<br />
And you know what? <u><i><b>Fuck that</b></i></u>. I'm sick and tired of living every day of my life feeling like some cosmic mommy-figure is going to jump out and chastise me for all the work I've been putting off. It's like knowing you have a test that you haven't studied for, every goddamn day. And I'm done.<br />
<br />
For 2012? Every time I think "I could/should/want-to do that", I'm doing it, no mater what it is, and I'm doing it <u><i>now</i></u> rather than later. The perfectionist in me is going to throw an absolute fit, but honestly? I don't care if half of everything I do ends in disaster, because I'll actually be <u><i>doing</i></u> something instead of agonizing about what I'm not doing, and that's the real victory. Everything else comes second, but here are some secondary victories that might crop up as side effects:<br />
<ul><li>Finishing Jason's Strategic Sorcery course</li>
<li>Getting my tutoring business off the ground</li>
<li>Keeping up with my pharmacy studies and going into "panic mode" far less often</li>
<li>Finally getting involved with the local magical community</li>
<li>Losing the weight I've gained over the past two years</li>
<li>Reading for fun more often</li>
<li>Maintaining a sane sleep schedule</li>
<li>etc, etc, etc.</li>
</ul>Light up your incense, boys; it's time to make 2012 your bitch.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-67373724054252837352011-12-07T22:29:00.002-05:002011-12-14T06:10:18.679-05:00On Free Tarot Readings (Limited time only!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fTH8nR30WNI/TuAvbZ8S-wI/AAAAAAAAAD4/V-m6-BQLR3c/s1600/smith-waite-07544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fTH8nR30WNI/TuAvbZ8S-wI/AAAAAAAAAD4/V-m6-BQLR3c/s320/smith-waite-07544.jpg" width="183" /></a></div>I used tonight's very short <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-continuing-lunar-awesomeness.html">Lunar talismanic window</a> to perform a brief blessing on my beautiful <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pamela-Colman-Smith-Commemorative-Set/dp/1572816392/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1323314292&sr=8-11">Centennial Edition Smith-Waite deck</a>. Now, I've never been much of a card reader, and I'm definitely in need of practice if I'm going to pick up this new skill, so without further ado, I offer the readers of my humble blog a free reading, with a few caveats:<br />
<br />
1) I believe in confidentiality, so please don't post your question here. Email me at pallasrenatus at gmail dot com.<br />
2) I have no idea how many requests I'm going to get, so please be patient, I'll answer them all as fast as I can.<br />
3) Remember that general questions get general answers, so if you're expecting a <i><b>specific</b></i> answer, please ask a specific question.<br />
4) My choice of spread, since I'm the one who needs practice.<br />
<br />
With that said, email away! I'll edit this post and close the offer if I get overwhelmed, but I will answer any question received to the best of my ability.<br />
<br />
<i><b>(Edit: This offer is now closed, and thank you to everyone who participated! I may offer free or very cheap readings again in the future, but I'll have to figure out some sort of system so I don't get bombarded and keep people waiting. You'll see this offered in the sidebar if it ever becomes a reality.)</b></i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-64954466866252189142011-12-06T01:07:00.000-05:002011-12-06T01:07:15.977-05:00On Continuing Lunar AwesomenessAs promised, here are my continued notes concerning the effects of <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-moments-of-lucidity-levannah.html">the Lunar talisman</a>.<br />
<br />
Now, some of you know that I don't often ascribe supernatural causes to mundane events, except when shit gets <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-prs-potion-of-get-fuck-out.html">really crazy</a> and/or obvious. Sometimes, though, things just line up too well to be considered coincidence.<br />
<br />
Just after the events of the previous post, I left to visit my family in Florida for a week, and promptly forgot the talisman in my car. While I slept well and had a few vague dreams during that week, nothing out of the ordinary happened. When I returned, however, and moved the talisman back into my bedroom (really the only place I have at the moment to store much of anything), things started to get a little... weird, for lack of a better term.<br />
<br />
First and foremost, the vivid dreams re-started almost immediately. Rather than filling themselves with Lunar imagery like my first experience, however, each dream tended to focus on a single person in my life, and the emotional issues I have (or had forgotten about) with them. Imagine a nightly outpouring of "everything I need to say but can't/haven't/didn't"; sometimes this is pleasant (and, ahem, <i>graphic</i>), sometimes painful, but always stark. And, I eventually realized, I always felt <i>better</i> waking up than I did going to sleep, as if some weight had been lifted from me during the night.<br />
<br />
During my waking hours, I've noticed I've developed a tendency to indulge in my emotions more fully, to mixed effect. While this allows me to more fully enjoy situations which are already pleasant, I've noticed that <i>unpleasant</i> situations tend to be harder to "brush off", and can taint my mood for much longer than usual... if I don't meditate that day.<br />
<br />
I know, I know, I've had the virtues of daily meditation drilled into my mind for years, but for the first time its benefits have become glaringly obvious in my day-to-day life. Not to mention, my free time has been limited because of the naps.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Nw8s1fZK5k/Tt2ufVtTqZI/AAAAAAAAADw/6I6PHmXJqIU/s1600/sleep-topic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Nw8s1fZK5k/Tt2ufVtTqZI/AAAAAAAAADw/6I6PHmXJqIU/s320/sleep-topic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now if only I had a talisman for waking up with perfect hair...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Oh yeah, the naps. Those of you who know me in real life know that I have <i><b>never</b></i> been able to nap before in my life. I wake up feeling absolutely awful... until recently. Since the creation of the talisman, I've been taking naps nearly every day (except for the week I was on vacation), even when I've had a full night of sleep beforehand. I'm not sure if this is the "health" portion of the talisman kicking in (as I wake up feeling wonderful, which is odd in itself), or it simply searching for another opportunity to bombard me with dreams (I'm not complaining).<br />
<br />
Now, let me remind you that I'm not <i><b>working</b></i> with this talisman at all; it's simply sitting on my dresser in my room. That said, there is another window for Lunar work opening up this Wednesday (mark your calendars) during which I intend to invoke a few select powers and discuss what particular applications it might have in my work. Given that I'm not particularly good at the receptive portion of communication (you know, the part that makes it actual communication and not grandstanding), this will be an interesting experiment in itself, regardless of what I receive.<br />
<br />
And on that note, one of the larger lessons I've gotten out of all this is how often my procrastination feeds on my perfectionism... I just don't want to start anything until I can do it "perfectly". Which is bullshit, of course, and this entire ordeal has been an example of the things that can happen if I actually decide to pick up the wand more often. Not to mention, it's reminded me how <b><i>fun</i></b> magic can be, and that's a success all on its own.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-30797328361603967082011-12-02T03:13:00.000-05:002011-12-02T03:13:18.026-05:00On Obligatory Dubstep InterludesDue to an unexpected amount of continued awesomeness, I have a second post about my <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-moments-of-lucidity-levannah.html">Lunar talisman</a> in the works, but I probably won't get it done until sometime this weekend.<br />
<br />
In other news, since it's rare (in my experience) to come across magic-related Dubstep, I present to you "this is exactly how I'm going to raise my daughter to defend herself":<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2cXDgFwE13g?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
2:32 may possibly be <i><b>the most awesome</b></i> depiction of the evocation of a familiar spirit I've seen in awhile. Not to mention the sheer creepiness of the implication of the last 3 or 4 seconds.<br />
<br />
At any rate, enjoy your Friday!<br />
<br />
(P.S. Picking the tags for this post was hella amusing, mostly because I had the perfect assortment already lined up from previous posts.)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-70975975851460686532011-11-22T04:05:00.000-05:002011-11-22T04:05:35.556-05:00On Moments of Lucidity: Levannah<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pv-m9BWz8kY/TsthKfzVRbI/AAAAAAAAADM/cY3_Q58m0LA/s1600/495695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pv-m9BWz8kY/TsthKfzVRbI/AAAAAAAAADM/cY3_Q58m0LA/s320/495695.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was that about solar egos? Oh, right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One of the downfalls of having a vivid imagination and a Solar-heavy nature is that you can fall into the trap of believing that you can know what every experience will be like before you have it. Now, this can come in handy when you're trying to pick up a new skill ("Are you sure you've never done this before?") or when you haven't studied for a test ("What do you mean you 'just made it up' and got an A?" Yeah... I'm that asshole), but it also tends to lead to an extraordinarily severe form of spiritual arrogance. Case in point: my recent work constructing a very basic Lunar talisman.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFXtqgNnfe4/TstiOgyTCcI/AAAAAAAAADc/IhFJBtISlfI/s1600/ngc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFXtqgNnfe4/TstiOgyTCcI/AAAAAAAAADc/IhFJBtISlfI/s320/ngc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern Alchemy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div>My decision to construct a Lunar talisman (and I use "construct" in the loosest of terms) came about while I was slammed with schoolwork had lost any semblance of a regular practice, which gave me a bad case of the Magic Itch (there should really be a shampoo for that). Christopher Warnock's wonderful <a href="http://www.renaissanceastrology.com/pmp.html">Planetary Magic Program</a> had forecast a wonderfully opportune (and relatively rare) window for Lunar work, so I told the perfectionist in me to fuck off and went ahead with a simple ink-on-paper model. It's a far cry from the nanoparticles-of-planetary-metal-chemically-precipitated-inside-a-sheet-of-vellum models I eventually hope to make (I <u><i>finally</i></u> get to put my chemistry degree to use, and I use it for... medieval magic? My professors would be so proud), but perfectionism has prevented me from starting so many projects I count that as a plus.<br />
<br />
Now the fun part: expected effects versus observed effects (or: isn't science fun when it doesn't <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-isolating-variables-mugwort-flu.html">kick</a> <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-prs-potion-of-get-fuck-out.html">your</a> <a href="http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/10/on-magic-of-exhaustion.html">ass</a>?). Honestly, I would have thought that I'd see an increase in the rate and quality of manifestation for my other spells, sort of "locking in" the "mirror" and "foundation" aspects of Levannah while they were favorable. Perhaps it might impart that "empty clarity" feeling I get while staring at the stars, rather than the "stuffy headiness" I generally find myself in. I had forgotten about dreams completely (really? I mean, really? How do you forget about dreams? It's the freakin' <u><i><b>Moon</b></i></u>!), but if I had remembered, I would have expected an increase in dream recall, but that's about it. I have yet to see if these things will play out in the long run, but what I got the two nights following construction was shocking in the most incredible of ways.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8YLWKz_IIQM/TstkoIrrIzI/AAAAAAAAADk/uHiKMeBrAp0/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8YLWKz_IIQM/TstkoIrrIzI/AAAAAAAAADk/uHiKMeBrAp0/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>In the days leading up to the consecration, I had become increasingly bitter and ill-tempered for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which included sleeping about two hours a night and spending every waking moment studying for a massive exam, tutoring others for the same exam, or interning at my rotation site (read: "slave labor"). The bitterness lent itself well to a creeping depression, which in turn was automatically combated with even more bitterness and indiscriminately-flung malice (note that I'm talking about internal states here. If nothing else, I was at least was holding together well enough to smile pleasantly at people while plotting to stab their eyeballs out if I had to explain a simple-fucking-concept<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(TM)</span> over again). Those reading this blog may not know me well enough to know that this is <u><i>entirely</i></u> uncharacteristic of me, and that it's pointed to some long-term issues that need clearing up, but I digress.<br />
<br />
The first night, about 12 hours after consecrating the talisman, I involuntarily passed out ("Just five minutes...") in an awkward position on my bed, and immediately found myself in what I first thought was an apartment, but upon exploration turned out to be one small room in a large mansion (!). It is hard now, in retrospect, to say what struck me most about the place, because in truth, everything sort of stuck me all at once. I was distinctly disoriented at first, recognizing only one of the tenants personally, while two or more of the others had very distorted and/or disfigured faces (imagine two heavily bearded Irish guys who lost a wicked bar-fight), and I had a fuzzy notion that I was there to scope out the place as a potential new home. As I explored the mansion (the size of which escapes words, but purple marble was a definite theme (!)), several things happened at once. With each room I explored, the other tenants (or potential tenants) grew more feminine, paler, and more ethereal; at the same time, I realized that these people (mostly women) were the epitome of what I look for in both friends and lovers; they had a quality I can only describe as "drawing". The more I talked to each of them, the more I felt as if I was remembering an old friend; a <u><i>best</i></u> friend, a soul-mate that I couldn't believe I had forgotten. The rooms themselves seemed to be imbued with the feeling of getting something you didn't even know you wanted (glassed-in conservatory filled with rocking chairs, where all the tenants sit in a circle and read novels together? Not my usual style, but I couldn't have wanted anything more as soon as I sat in "my" chair. Forest in the front yard? Need. It. Now. And so on.), and the more rooms I explored, the more I got to interact with the tenants (I realize now there were 8 of them. Adding myself would have made 9 (!)).<br />
<br />
The overall effect was overwhelming. I was <u><i><b>home</b></i></u>, for the first time ever. The love and peace that immediately flowed between all of the tenants, myself now included, was overwhelming. The sense of belonging was overwhelming. The sense of <u><i>needing</i></u> this place was overwhelming. At one point, while all of this was crashing down over me, I ran into the figure of my dad, who approved of my choice, but informed me of the high (monetary) cost of living there. I didn't care; any price was worth it, because nothing could be wrong in this place. That was the last objection that was raised to me, and the rest of the dream dissolved into an overwhelming sense of belonging.<br />
<br />
When I first woke up (four hours later), the first thing I noticed was that any negativity had been completely obliterated from my mind. What had taken months to build up into a days-long rage was simply gone, and what's more, it stayed gone. The emotions of the dream lingered for days without any effort on my part to recall them. The second night, I had a (now mostly-forgotten) dream in which I used those emotions in an almost physical manner (imagine "lightworking" fluff) to deal with some long-term personal issues. Despite the week becoming progressively more hellish, I only felt better as it wore on.<br />
<br />
In retrospect, I asked for health, safety, the driving off of enemies, and the pouring down of Levannah's blessings, and I got exactly all those things in the most unexpected emotional Roto-Rooter I could have asked for.<br />
<br />
Isn't magic great when it's not kicking your ass?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-29427988594608834212011-10-03T02:47:00.000-04:002011-10-03T02:47:30.184-04:00On the Magic of Exhaustion(Or, Sleep Cycles and the Land) <br />
(Or, why my sleep schedule <u><i>really</i></u> sucks)<br />
<br />
As some of you may know, up until very recently I had spent my whole life living in Florida. What you probably <i>don't</i> know is that during that time, I had never even visited a place where the climate was all that different from my home state. Many trips to the Caribbean, sure; once to southern California; a few excursions to the desert, but never anywhere with any real sense of <u><i>seasonality</i></u> to it. This never bothered me in any particular sense, but given my lack of perspective, I never had any idea what effect the Land had on my magic.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dakwy8yf97U/TolZTmSGZuI/AAAAAAAAAC4/MGKA000Tc_A/s1600/swamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dakwy8yf97U/TolZTmSGZuI/AAAAAAAAAC4/MGKA000Tc_A/s320/swamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Once you get past the picturesque beaches (and then, past the beaches filled with drunken college students), Florida feels... leathery. Even the water feels tough and dry; where it's not salty, it's tannic; where it doesn't immediately run down through sand, it has all nutrients quickly sucked out of it, supporting only the toughest of life. And the life is tough. Plant-life is waxy, hard, bladed, and grasping for footholds. Some suck moisture right out of the air to avoid the astringent waters. Wildlife is either leathery, of the swarming, bloodsucking variety, or hidden in the trees.<br />
<br />
I once read (and damned if I can find it again now that I want to link it) a quote from a magician visiting an American desert from England, about how she was amazed any magic at all could be worked there, because the Land seemed so lifeless. There was nothing to draw on, she said, nothing to work with. The magician to whom she was speaking then told her of the magic of Endurance, and how it required a remarkably different approach than what she was used to.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s_5_ifj6Rm8/TolZ3fQyoYI/AAAAAAAAAC8/vjwUid0g_Ko/s1600/e.exhaustion.w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s_5_ifj6Rm8/TolZ3fQyoYI/AAAAAAAAAC8/vjwUid0g_Ko/s320/e.exhaustion.w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I learned early on that the key to good magic was endurance and exhaustion. My best spells (such as they were) were cast while using a single focus to rail against my mind and body trying to sleep, and just after my body <u><i>did</i></u> fall asleep, and just after my conscious mind shut down, if all went right (and it frequently didn't), an Awareness would remain. If my focus was good and my intent was simple enough, it was the work of this Awareness that would preform the spell, ideally before my conscious mind "snapped to" (with my body quickly to follow, sort of the mental equivalent of your leg jerking you awake at night) or I fell asleep entirely. At 12 years old, my first brush with "beyond consciousness" was had in this manner, trying to stay awake all night simply because I could. Not much changed over the years, though oddly enough, rather than finding myself constantly exhausted all the time from these stints, I found that I needed less sleep after a good bout of magic.<br />
<br />
Until recently, that is. And dear Christ what a shock to the system that was. My first few days here were great; I was full of a "lush" energy I had rarely felt before, tapping into the elements of the place seemed remarkably easy, I was incredibly excited about the feel of the place, and eager to use it in my magic. So I stay up late, push myself to the point of involuntarily passing out, try to form my idea in the "beyond" and... nothing. There was no Endurance here, I was just... tired. And staying up late completely wrecked me the next day. So being a good magician, I... tried it again. And again.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WyThMY4dScg/TolaTmG3XyI/AAAAAAAAADA/ea8v4ooEHT4/s1600/exhaustion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WyThMY4dScg/TolaTmG3XyI/AAAAAAAAADA/ea8v4ooEHT4/s320/exhaustion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Some of you may have an idea of how terrifying it is to have all of your magic suddenly dry up on you; I hope the rest of you never experience it. But of course, instead of being a good self-reflective little mage and asking myself what could have been wrong, I panicked. And oh my what a panic it was. But eventually, a bout of crippling exhaustion coincided with a weekend, and when I woke up, I felt... fine. Which you have to understand, is new to me. Normally if I get a "good night's sleep", I feel <u><i>awful</i></u> the next morning. I've always needed a schedule that kept me relatively "exhausted" in order to feel alive the next day. Endurance was <u><i>necessary</i></u>. Until it wasn't.<br />
<br />
It must be hilarious on the outside looking in, such revelations like "eight hours sleep make you functional" and "meditation works better when you're not fighting to stay awake". But then, I'm fighting 23 years of conditioning, and habits like "I write better papers at 4 in the morning" die hard.<br />
<br />
But they're dieing. Learning to work with the energy of this place is my next big project; for now I'm just letting myself acclimate, making offerings and asking that any unhelpful Land-related habits I have be pointed out to me. And they are. Who knows? Maybe soon I'll finally be able to call a circle where more than the Fire quarter lights up for me.<br />
<br />
...crap. It's three in the morning, isn't it?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-37855601100361738442011-09-06T02:03:00.001-04:002011-09-06T09:51:26.505-04:00On moving out, moving up, and moving onShort version: I am now living in NC, a Doctor of Pharmacy candidate, on the tail end of getting over hella emotional issues, and should be posting more soon.<br />
<br />
Long version (I did warn you):<i> </i><br />
<i>[Edited to add pictures because it makes my OCD happy]</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dn3c7mPSf1I/TmYhPec3YPI/AAAAAAAAACo/WX6mbJdnPMY/s1600/dysfunctiondemotivator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dn3c7mPSf1I/TmYhPec3YPI/AAAAAAAAACo/WX6mbJdnPMY/s320/dysfunctiondemotivator.jpg" width="320" /></a>A few years ago, while discussing the merits of outside perspective with a psych student, I was given an ugly truth that every solo magician knows in his bones: <u><i>Just because you can see your dysfunction doesn't necessarially mean you can do anything about it</i></u>. Usually this is cited as a warning to remember that shrinks need shrinks too, as you can watch yourself fall into a textbook disorder, yet find that your self-awareness and knowledge of that disorder don't leave you any better equipped to pull yourself out of it. Left without any outside council, one can wallow in their dysfunction, fully aware of it, for quite some time; usually until some major event or tragedy "snaps" them out of it and allows for a chance to re-focus. This was the position I found myself in over the past several months, thankfully without the tragic ending.<br />
<br />
This summer was highlighted with cross-country flights and drives to interviews at pharmacy schools, emergency magic to influence said interviews, and emergency magic to correct some academic problems that have been plaguing me for the last several years (which should have been dealt with years ago), all against a background of being <u><i>completely</i></u> out-of-whack emotionally due to still being in love with (and pining for) my (now ex) ladyfriend, who had since moved on in her life. So there was some additional magic to influence that situation. It was pathetic, honestly.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2F6dEPqe1s/TmYhPsOfGsI/AAAAAAAAACs/VQbO3rvpx3k/s1600/martyr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2F6dEPqe1s/TmYhPsOfGsI/AAAAAAAAACs/VQbO3rvpx3k/s320/martyr.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My inane mental image of myself.<br />
Only, you know, with less tits.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Over the course of the summer, emotions associated with my ex slowly started bleeding into every aspect of my life. I stopped thinking about what would happen after my lease ran out and I would have to move away from Gainesville; it was literally a dark, unplanned blank in my mind. I started getting ideas of some sort of "last hurrah"-type relationship, which is fine in itself I suppose, except that as time went on I found it wasn't so much the relationship I wanted (though I certainly did want it) as the ability to play the role of "angsty doomed lover". Long story short, <u><i><b>I wanted to be a martyr and I was turning myself into one.</b></i></u><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tIoDGoh2ic/TmYhRL1VFNI/AAAAAAAAAC0/s0QZ-lFR0XY/s1600/teen-angst-moo-emo-meh-phase-cow-demotivational-posters-1296632310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tIoDGoh2ic/TmYhRL1VFNI/AAAAAAAAAC0/s0QZ-lFR0XY/s320/teen-angst-moo-emo-meh-phase-cow-demotivational-posters-1296632310.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tIoDGoh2ic/TmYhRL1VFNI/AAAAAAAAAC0/s0QZ-lFR0XY/s1600/teen-angst-moo-emo-meh-phase-cow-demotivational-posters-1296632310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Sounds like your gothy middle-school years, no? Well interestingly enough, I found myself fully aware (rationally) that I was acting like a childish prat, but never experienced the embarrassment or defensiveness that one generally encounters (emotionally) when coming to that realization. So I found myself starting out a lot of sentences with some variation of "I know this is immature, but..." (as they say, there's always a but). Rationally, I knew that I'd get over this fit of asinine martyrdom soon enough and feel worlds better; and yet these thoughts carried no weight of emotion behind them, and every day that ticked by felt as if I were approaching my own funeral. I'm not exaggerating here, the physical sense of dread that hovered over me was inordinately dark and inescapable-feeling.<br />
<br />
Eventually, it occurred to me that my (lack of a) relationship wasn't the source of this angsty cloud; at least, not anymore. In true angsty-teen form, I realized that emotionally, I felt as if the entire world was set against me, and I was some sort of dying-light warrior on a doomed but noble mission. My rational side found this absolutely <u><i>hilarious</i></u>. (On that note, it should be said that I have sort of a dark sense of humor).<br />
<br />
This folks, is what you call a Solar Crisis. Symptoms include radical idealism, unwavering conviction, extraordinarily inflated sense of self-importance, <i><u>and the uncontrollable urge to be a complete asshat</u></i>. Some people call these events a "mini Dark Night of the Soul", a term which makes sense emotionally, even if it has nothing to do with a "true Dark Night".<br />
<br />
And then, rather uneventfully, the day came for me to move, and with more suddenness than I could have expected it was over. In the blink of an eye, I felt better than I had in years; and yet I felt that the experience had shaken something loose. I've never been a terribly emotional person; I tend to settle into a "mode" or "role" and sit there fairly unshakably. Once or twice this has led me to wonder if I had some sort of emotional deficiency, as things that would elicit strong responses from many people rarely seemed to affect me at all (I chose to think of this as "stability" rather than sociopathy). Now, it seemed, I was suddenly experiencing a whole range of emotions with far more immersion than I ever had before, yet this immersion never seemed to upset my inner sense of calm. Physically it felt as if a "butterfly" of emotion was set loose inside me, lovely to experience, but about as likely to overpower me as a butterfly is to break out of a bird cage.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgklIwEockc/TmYhQmpwTkI/AAAAAAAAACw/tslIoRVYIWU/s1600/Rainy_Blue_Ridge-27527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgklIwEockc/TmYhQmpwTkI/AAAAAAAAACw/tslIoRVYIWU/s320/Rainy_Blue_Ridge-27527.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blue Ridge Mountains.<br />
Quite literally a breath of fresh air.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have no idea what brought any of this about, but I found this little emotional crisis to be extraordinarily well-timed with other events in my life. Just after the "breaking point", I found that my top-choice school "just happened" to accept me, and that they "just happened" to be willing to make certain substitutions in their requirements to accommodate me. I "just happened" to be emailed out of the blue by my now-landlord, offering me a fantastic price on a place where I "just happened" to find that I clicked well with the land spirits. My tiny satellite campus also "just happens" to be full of people that I was able to immediately mesh with, and local job opportunities "just happen" to be geared towards people of my skill set at the moment.<br />
<br />
If nothing else, it was all a wonderful convergence, even if looking back over it makes me shake my head in shame and vow never to speak of it again. There's really no moral to this story other than "shit happens". Shit which you won't always be able to puzzle through and find nice causes and reasons for. But hey, I'm in a state with real seasons, I'm starting a great career, I have great new friends, and emotional bullshit seems on a low ebb at the moment. Carpe fuckin' diem, eh?<br />
<br />
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-76462092758433832932011-07-04T03:30:00.000-04:002011-07-04T03:30:01.941-04:00On Forgetting Our Notes-to-Self: The tragedy of forgotten ideasI have a tendency that I'm sure a lot of magicians (and computer programmers, oddly) can identify with: Often, seemingly out of nowhere, an idea will flash into my mind, unrelated to anything I'm doing or thinking at the time. I'll latch on to this idea, spend a good while thinking about it and fleshing out all the details, congratulate myself on my awesomeness, go back to whatever else needs more immediate doing... and promptly forget about my great idea entirely.<br />
<br />
You'd think that after a while I'd either learn to write stuff down (god knows I have as many digital devices as I do pens to store notes on), or conclude that my ideas weren't impressive enough or important enough to warrant remembering. But the scale on which this happens can be staggering; I've fleshed out rough drafts for entire term papers in my head while on the road, and sat staring at a blank word processor for hours when I got home; I've had <i><b>wonderful</b></i>, <i><b>inspired</b></i>-feeling ideas for blog posts that are gone by the time I drag my lazy ass to a computer. I'm sure everyone's been through this.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KyiARIBdslQ/ThFdyrS49rI/AAAAAAAAACY/2rStQyjxgSQ/s1600/that_fucking_lego_piece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KyiARIBdslQ/ThFdyrS49rI/AAAAAAAAACY/2rStQyjxgSQ/s320/that_fucking_lego_piece.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AKA the ubiquitous childhood experience.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>But the absolute worst part of it is knowing that a single word could bring that entire idea back in a flash, fully-formed, if only I could remember what the word <i>was</i>. Every once in a while I'll get lucky and an offhand phrase from a friend or relative will bring it all flooding back, but the vast majority of the time whatever I've come up with is given up for lost. It's a bit like being a kid and building something very intricate out of a bin full of Legos, and searching desperately for that <b><i><u>one goddamn piece</u></i></b> that you've had plans for for ages, and seen every time you didn't need it.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJwoEvwXYEA/ThFl5tV4UuI/AAAAAAAAACc/B04_BS3gdQk/s1600/SuperStock_1491R-1037000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJwoEvwXYEA/ThFl5tV4UuI/AAAAAAAAACc/B04_BS3gdQk/s320/SuperStock_1491R-1037000.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a douche.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ironically, it was scraping my mind to remember a previous, now-long-forgotten blog post that made me remember something <a href="http://www.servantsofthelight.org/">Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki</a> said years ago about occult students needing to carry a small tape recorder or pocket notebook to record these sudden ideas (or flashes of insight, as the case may be). I always assumed that constantly stopping to flesh out and record your ideas in public would not only be hugely inconvenient, but would make you look like an absolute prat. It wasn't until today that I realized that writing down <b><i>less than a sentence</i></b> (e.g. "Blog post, spirit offerings, annoying neighbor") would be enough for me to remember <b><i>pages</i></b> of text I couldn't pull out of my ass now if I tried. Honestly, why haven't I tried this before now?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65uZPdnlYko/ThFniKd9III/AAAAAAAAACg/uYcW4okBg9Y/s1600/bored_college_students_sleeping_in_lecture_hall_pe0068725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65uZPdnlYko/ThFniKd9III/AAAAAAAAACg/uYcW4okBg9Y/s320/bored_college_students_sleeping_in_lecture_hall_pe0068725.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty much.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I think it's a matter of ego. In my undergrad years, a good memory meant I could simply listen to lectures without ever taking notes, read the book once (and only once, often near exam-time) without taking notes, and make awesome grades. Yes, I was <u>that</u> asshole. I'm not sure why the same recall doesn't apply to internal dialogue the way it does to external, but I suppose the idea of needing memory aids seems somewhat... vulgar to my most conceited side.<br />
<br />
But you know what? Fuck it. This blog is suposed to be about "practical magic and self-transformation", and the most practical thing I can do today kill two birds with one stone, swallow my pride, and start taking notes. I'm sure it seems like a tiny step to some, but I'm working through 20-odd years of being conditioned otherwise. I feel accomplished today.<br />
<br />
Now where's that damn notebook?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-28787079494714304332011-06-07T03:20:00.002-04:002012-01-15T04:03:34.639-05:00On PR's "Potion Of Get-The-Fuck-Out"(This was amusing enough that I thought I'd share. Sorry for my long-windedness.)<br />
<br />
Normally, I'm never one to assign mystical causes to mundane events; in my teenage years I saw one too many fluffy-bunny (is that term not PC anymore? I can't keep up) running around blaming curses, evil spirits, "bad energy" and the like for their marital troubles, failing occult shop, general clumsiness, seasonal allergies (seriously), and whole hosts of other problems. I learned young that most of the shit that happens in your life is simply a product of you not having your shit together. Perhaps this is one of the reason's I'm so attracted to Jason's <a href="http://www.inominandum.com/blog/">Strategic Sorcery</a> approach.<br />
<br />
The side-effect of growing up in this frame of mind is that for a long time I completely overlooked the benefits of cleansing and blessing my living spaces on a regular basis, particularly those practices that required my lazy ass to actually get on my hands and knees and scrub down the floor/baseboards (Here I'd normally link to a host of bloggers who would berate me for this, but fuck if I can find the links I want when I need them). This was all well and good for me until recently, when I found myself in an emotionally compromised state, when, as they say, it all came crashing down around my ears.<br />
<br />
First, I fell ill with the worst viral infection I've ever had in my life. Now, I'm <u><i>very</i></u> good with pain, I have a relatively strong immune system, and I can usually self-medicate rough illnesses into submission (I would hope so, being in a pharmacy Ph.D. program). So to say that for two weeks I was repeatedly brought down to crying in bed like a little girl and literally crawling my way to the kitchen to feed myself honestly hurts my pride a bit. I had enough blood-tests done to make my arms look like those of an addict, with no definitive results.<br />
<br />
When I finally crawled my way back into the light of the outside world, I found myself in the odd position of what I can only describe as carrying a bubble of irrationality with me. Perfectly happy, chatty, rational, long-time friends would turn into testy, illogical minefields when I'd stay in a room with them for any length of time. Trying to get school paperwork done, in an office of what are usually very helpful and understanding people, became a nightmare of red tape and being brushed off outright. Professors only accommodated my makeup work because I pushed them up against university rules. Etc, etc.<br />
<br />
While I was still trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, <a href="http://rootandrock.blogspot.com/2010/10/curses.html">spiders</a>. I'm not shitting you. Tiny newborn spiders invaded my apartment by the hundreds.<br />
<br />
Which made falling ill for a second time, only a week or so after recovering from the first, awkward. <i>You</i> try spraying your ceiling and sleeping on the couch while running a fever. So, in the grandest of student traditions, I retreated to good 'ol mom's house (the feverish hundred-mile interstate drive was... interesting). And wouldn't you know, not 24 hours later, I felt better. Better, I realized, than I had in months. The kind of better I sometimes felt in small doses when I left my place to...<br />
<br />
Fucking lightbulb.<br />
<br />
Maybe, just maybe, I let myself think, there was something more than a string of coincidences at work here. I had to clean my infested apartment out anyway, I figured, so why not come back guns-blazing with an all-out magical cleansing as well? Couldn't hurt, at any rate.<br />
<br />
So I concocted what I've dubbed "Pallas Renatus' Potion Of Get-The-Fuck-Out". In hindsight, it's clearly overkill, as I think it also removed some of whatever it was that made the place feel "homey". It's like I've just moved into the apartment again. Better than the alternative, though. So with that in mind, here's what I made, in case anyone else finds themselves in need of the materia-magic equivalent of a nuclear warhead:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tTMD9P0xbg/Te3HRv17HCI/AAAAAAAAACE/Rivls3XiMqM/s1600/0514011412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tTMD9P0xbg/Te3HRv17HCI/AAAAAAAAACE/Rivls3XiMqM/s320/0514011412.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, that says "For research purposes". Story for a later date.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Find yourself a tin of chewing tobacco. I suggest some sort of mint flavor, to offset the ungodly smell of what you're about to do next, but it doesn't really matter.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7_pJhC5q84M/Te3H5rDzC9I/AAAAAAAAACI/G9ct2mrd07c/s1600/0514011418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7_pJhC5q84M/Te3H5rDzC9I/AAAAAAAAACI/G9ct2mrd07c/s320/0514011418.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smells as bad as it looks, trust me</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Throw the whole tin of it in a pot with about two cups of water and bring it to a boil, then turn down and let simmer for half an hour or so. Opening windows is suggested. Spiders hate this shit; besides poisoning the ones that are directly exposed to it, even a tiny amount of residue will keep them from coming back.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA-BsN94FjU/Te3IbDIl0KI/AAAAAAAAACM/y4EMD0dpctE/s1600/0514011442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA-BsN94FjU/Te3IbDIl0KI/AAAAAAAAACM/y4EMD0dpctE/s320/0514011442.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thrifty magicians have no shame about reusing old sauce jars.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Strain into something reusable. I didn't realize it at the time, but so little of this stuff is needed that one concoction will last you for <u><b>years</b></u>... or divide nicely into tiny bottles to sell :-)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JhnQWPVQuAY/Te3JMm7LYOI/AAAAAAAAACQ/r525YBhGCEs/s1600/0514011443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JhnQWPVQuAY/Te3JMm7LYOI/AAAAAAAAACQ/r525YBhGCEs/s320/0514011443.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I prefer lemon. Just don't use anything labeled "soapy".</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Add a splash of ammonia. A tablespoon or so is all that's necessary for spiritual purposes, but if I had been smart, I would have done a room-temperature extraction of the tobacco overnight in a cup or so of straight household ammonia, then diluted it by half with water, if only to avoid the smell. Lesson learned.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jCj1-gdrmRM/Te3KU7qdvXI/AAAAAAAAACU/ZOMXEq9fptw/s1600/0514011444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jCj1-gdrmRM/Te3KU7qdvXI/AAAAAAAAACU/ZOMXEq9fptw/s320/0514011444.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I found this lovely cubed form in the "ethnic hair products"<br />
section of my local pharmacy. Go figure.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
While the solution is still hot, add some powdered camphor. Save a bit of it to burn later. The camphor won't dissolve completely, but give it a good stir to get it dispersed evenly. I advise against closing the bottle of hot liquid and shaking. Try it and find out why.<br />
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Open all your windows, light up a bit of the camphor you saved, invoke whatever kick-ass guardian/warrior spirit you like (I used Michael), belt out a general license to depart, and get to work scrubbing down every floorboard, door-frame, and window-frame in the house, as well as where the ceiling meets the walls. A few drops on a wet sponge is all you will need if you don't want to stain your woodwork green or have to go over everything a second time with a clean sponge.<br />
<br />
Take some time when you're done to invoke a few choice higher beings and generally bless the living space. I'd wait a good day or so before re-inviting any familiars, land-spirits, or other spirits on the more visceral end of the scale in, as the camphor will be unpleasant at best for them.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned before, all this was probably a bit overkill. The "familiar" feeling of my home of two years was suddenly gone, and took several weeks to reestablish itself. But on the other hand, everything I mentioned above disappeared or resolved almost overnight. Even a lot of the paperwork I mentioned above got pushed through the next day without my intervention.<br />
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Moral of the story? Banish your shit.<br />
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<br />
<i>Edit: If anyone wants a little 1/2 oz. vial of this stuff, you know, for those "just in case" moments that crop up a little too often, shoot me an email (link in my profile) and I'll mail some out to you for free. Lord knows I have more than I'll <b>ever</b> need or use.</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-49808539660578520032011-03-09T00:58:00.000-05:002011-03-09T00:58:16.761-05:00On Addictive PersonalitiesOh my, it's been awhile. Which is sort of the inspiration for this post, I suppose.<br />
<br />
As magicians, we often spend an inordinate amount of time pondering cause-and-effect relationships. How will the stars effect my work? How did my work effect my life? Why didn't my work, well, work? It's sort of comes with the territory.<br />
<br />
One of the things I rarely see, however, is people questioning <i>why</i> they're attracted to certain areas or types of work. If one takes a sudden interest in Voodoo, for instance, odds are you'll be so wrapped up in studying the subject that you won't stop to think about <i>why</i> you're suddenly energized and nearly completely focused on this one subject, perhaps only to lose interest a few days/weeks/months later. Or perhaps we find a <i>new</i> terribly interesting subject, and simply bound off to study it, without considering what we're leaving behind.<br />
<br />
I could easily say that the reason I haven't posted for so long (in the meantime completely neglecting my occult studies and practices) is because my long-term relationship recently ended, or because I've been busy preparing for graduation, or because I've spent a lot of time (re)applying to pharmacy schools. But to be perfectly honest with you, and with myself, the real answer is that a lot of new shiny objects (in the way of friends, booze, video games, a new job, and school opportunities) got dangled in front of me all at once, and for all my boundless interest, the things I considered important got left behind.<br />
<br />
So why did this happen? The fuck if I know, but at least I'm thinking about it. And if it's on my mind, there's hope that when it happens again (and it will, I'm sure), I'll recognize it, and perhaps handle things with a bit more balance and grace the second time around.<br />
<br />
For now, though, the champagne's popped (literally), and it's time to leave a few hundred blog comments. Let's do this.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-50382746931626186012011-01-08T07:14:00.001-05:002011-01-08T07:15:33.371-05:00On Omens and Wishful Thinking[Please excuse my long absence. I meant to post this around Christmas and never got the chance.]<br />
<br />
I thought Christmas might be an appropriate time to post these particular musings.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago after reading one of Gordon's excellent posts, I <a href="http://runesoup.com/2010/12/sigilize-your-letters-to-santa-today/">fired off some sigils to St. Nicholas</a> on his feast day. The day after, I mailed the cards they were written on <a href="http://www.santaclaushouse.com/contact.asp">to the North Pole</a> (seriously, read the address and tell me it's not perfect) and dropped the remains of the candles that had burnt down over them into a storm grate at a three-way crossroads. I felt it was a unique, but mostly silly endeavor.<br />
<br />
The next day, I happened to be in a mall with my ladyfriend. Being rather tired, I was completely oblivious to everything except for whichever clothing rack happened to be directly in front of me at the moment. It was loud enough that my ladyfriend, only feet away, was struggling to hear me over the general din of the customers around us (and I'm not exactly a quiet dude). Very suddenly, though, my ears pricked up, and the hubbub seemed to die away very suddenly as I heard a blip of the music that the store had been playing. "Santa Claus is coming..." and the noise jumped up just as suddenly, drowning out the rest of the song.<br />
<br />
Now, I thought this was funny and ironic, but not particularly revelatory. Still, it did make me pause for a moment with a stupid grin on my face (note to dudes: standing with a stupid grin on your face while holding a lady's scarf and skirt may earn you some odd looks). We moved along to the next store.<br />
<br />
And wouldn't you know, it happened again. Same song, different store, exact same four words seeming to jump out of nowhere before disappearing. Bigger, stupider smile (at least this time I was holding something with an appropriately witty statement on it). Of course, this set me to thinking.<br />
<br />
I've never been one for Omens; I rarely have moments where I <i>know</i> something Significant has happened, and it's even less often that I know what that moment means. Part of me would love to pass this off as <a href="http://runesoup.com/2010/06/one-explanation-for-sigil-bleed/">Priming</a> and wishful thinking; to say that my attention pricked up so readily simply because I'd gone to sleep thinking about my experiment. And yet somehow the suddenness of that shift of attention makes the moment seem almost external, as if it were a message being purposefully conveyed.<br />
<br />
A lot of occultists will mention in passing having a particular "zing" that separates an omen from a funny or ironic coincidence (and since my life is pretty much an exercise in irony, I've got plenty of the latter). I'm not sure if a sudden shift in the acuity of my hearing counts, but it's gotten my interested in what exactly people mean when they talk about their "omen zing". Try to qualify it for me; what does it feel/sound/look/taste like? Leave a comment, for science!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-48047641956593881202010-12-08T03:00:00.000-05:002010-12-08T03:00:30.232-05:00On Where Not To Find SpiritsThe past few weeks have been a flurry of caffeine- and fear-fueled activity for me. Normally I'd like to use that as an excuse for my recent <a href="http://fraterbarrabbas.blogspot.com/2010/12/power-of-inertia-curse-of-ritual.html" title="Talking About Ritual Magick: Power of Inertia - Curse of the Ritual Magician">spiritual inertia</a>, but to be honest it's a recurring problem in my life and I'd be lying to myself if I did.<br />
<br />
Seeing that the worst of my situation is over, though, I thought tonight would be a good time to <a href="http://strategicsorcery.blogspot.com/2010/11/offering-thanks-and-rant.html" title="Strategic Sorcery: Offering Thanks and a Rant">celebrate with my invisible friends</a>. Now, I wouldn't say I'm a particularly gifted psychic or scryer, but as I was watching threads of incense curl around the water glass and over the candle flame, a few thoughts on the subject occurred to me.<br />
<br />
The first was an exercise I read years ago on a now-defunct website, whose content eventually became <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kabbalah-Magic-Great-Work-Transformation/dp/0738708933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291793485&sr=8-1" title="Amazon.com: Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete Course (9780738708935): Lyam Thomas Christopher: Books">Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation</a>. Basically, the exercise entailed spending a full week trying to perceive "hollow" objects (cups, doorways, etc) in terms of <i>space</i> rather than <i>form</i>. For example, you'd see the space in a room, the space in a doorway, and the space in the next room as one continuous medium, rather than see "the door" as a discrete object. How mind-bending (and/or fun) this was depended on how deeply you threw yourself into the exercise.<br />
<br />
But as I recalled this seemingly random memory, I suddenly understood why so many people have trouble with scrying, especially in incense smoke or another 3-D medium. They're looking <i>at the smoke</i>, instead of at the space itself. Although I hadn't been trying to summon any spirits into physical appearance (I'm not in the habit of coercing my guests into performing party tricks), or even trying to scry anything, I started looking at the space between the threads of incense. And wouldn't you know, there were <b><i>forms</i></b> there, dragging small threads along their frames like wisps of... well, smoke.<br />
<br />
Maybe you really do need the blood of a dove and a half-pound of incense to properly see a spirit. Or maybe we're just looking in the wrong place. I don't pretend to know, but I sure as hell plan to experiment with this more.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-22666952826292478072010-11-16T03:49:00.003-05:002010-11-16T03:52:26.662-05:00On Fearing the Self (and dealing with it)<span class="post-author vcard"><span class="fn">Balthazar</span></span>'s recent post on <a href="http://gnostic-conjure.blogspot.com/2010/11/divinatory-literacy.html">Divinatory Literacy</a> has gotten my mind reeling for a number of reasons, not the least effect of which is pondering the enormously varied ways in which people purposefully delude themselves.<br />
<br />
Most Magicians make no secret of the fact that we are often our own worst enemy. This is true tenfold where self-exploration (even when not sought after) is concerned, because we have to bypass the human tendency to reinforce our own mental map of the universe and take a blind leap into the uncertain... which is understandably terrifying. Hell, for all we know, we'll come out the other end insane (or worse, ridiculed).<br />
<br />
What is weird to me is that people usually set out on a magical path for one or both of two reasons: power over their situation, and betterment of the self (discovering Truth, etc). Whichever your goal, you're obviously not currently in a position to be getting what you want, which is why you pick up magic to begin with. In any case, <b><i>a sudden shift in viewpoint is exactly what you want and most likely need</i></b>. You've been pining for that "So THAT'S why it didn't work!" moment when everything makes sense and the larger picture helps you understand what to do next.<br />
<br />
And yet every day we see people clinging to a single (often inane) idea they've found in a book, or a broken "system" they've picked up on a message board, or their cosmology, or any number of other personal maps, and just as often it is blatantly clear that these things are not helping them in their above-stated goals. So why hold on to them?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://runesoup.com/2010/11/your-past-life-is-overrated/">For the same reason we hold on to every other piece of junk in our lives.</a> Read Gordon's post. Do a ruthless physical purge of your possessions. Then turn the lens inward and go through your beliefs and practices, singling out each one and asking yourself what would happen if the possibility arose that your belief was completely and utterly false? What if that practice was quite clearly useless? What would you want to hold onto, justifying and rationalizing, instead of dropping it instantly? Why? Is the comfort you have in the sureness of your beliefs worth hamstringing your magic?<br />
<br />
Just food for thought. If I could find the proper post to link to, I'd reference <a href="http://headforred.blogspot.com/">Frater R.O.'s</a> wonderful "Oh Shit" moment where he let go of his long-held views on Goetic magic and adopted something that works much better for him. He could have just as easily (if not much more easily) stuck to his guns and have dealt with the fallout, but instead he adapted and came out better for it.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it's the explorer instinct, or perhaps I'm just a little unhinged, but I'd much rather be jumping headlong into a world that doesn't make sense (yet) than be the skeptic in <span class="post-author vcard"><span class="fn">Balthazar</span></span>'s post, paying people and hoping that they're wrong so that I can prove I'm already (and have always been) right.<br />
<br />
What are you holding on to?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-315966235609623122010-11-03T13:59:00.000-04:002010-11-03T13:59:38.043-04:00On Free Stuff (which surprisingly doesn't suck)I've spent more time this October posting comments on blog-based giveaways than I care to admit to. Some of the stuff was cool, some of it sucked; all of it was free marketing for people who really need more people to visit their shops.<br />
<br />
Leave it to <a href="http://runesoup.com/">Gordon</a> to create a <a href="http://runesoup.com/2010/11/blog-giveaway-and-its-not-shit/">giveaway</a> so awesome that I actually break my rule of not posting about giveaways. But you all should be following his blog already anyway, so uh, sorry for filling your feed reader with crap? Not really. Word is there's some <a href="http://runesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/giveaway.jpg">sweet schwag</a> in it for me.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-65978503256808185312010-10-21T23:25:00.000-04:002010-10-21T23:25:17.288-04:00On Infuriating Astrological TimingsWow, what a title; some background, perhaps.<br />
<br />
On Monday morning I'll be making a call, half asking for payment on a past promise, and half asking for a favor. A good outcome will permanently solidify my career path and relieve months of anxiety on my part. A bad outcome leave a huge amount of uncertainty and hard work over the next 4 to 9 months, without the certainty of a silver lining. Magic is in order, naturally. To the charts!<br />
<br />
Lets see, Levanah (the Moon) will be peaking it's fullness (an excellent time for bringing things to completion) on this Friday night, the day of Nogah (Venus, ruling over the magic of Favors). But furthermore, it's coming into exact fullness within minutes of the exact center of the planetary hour of Nogah, giving me an absolutely wonderful half-hour window in which to preform a ritual to garner the favors of the person of power that I'll be calling.<br />
<br />
Great! Lets go prep the ritual gear. Except wait, what's that you say? Levanah's void-of-course runs right over the entirety of my "perfect window"? Everything I start during that period will fail spectacularly? Great. *Hastily stuffs the gear away* And Levanah's next Void <a href="http://www.drstandley.com/Void_of_Course_Calendar.shtml#october2010">may</a> or <a href="http://www.astroprofile.com/2010moonvoid.htm#October_2010">may not</a> run right over the time I'd scheduled for this call? *Sigh* Perhaps I should push it to around 2 p.m. on Monday, just in case. I can still appear professional without ringing someone at 10 in the morning, right? (The person I'm calling is not expecting the call, so I have a bit of leeway here).<br />
<br />
But wait! There's always more. I'd forgotten that Nogah <a href="http://www.astrologycom.com/venusret.html">went retrograde</a> on the 8th of this month. Sonofabitch. Is this such a bad thing? I'm not astrologically savvy enough to tell. It seems to be stirring up trouble in Akrab (Scorpio), causing fits of vindictive jealousy, but also a sense of intense loyalty. Since my original plan was to clearly but subtly show my loyalty to the organization in question in hopes of inspiring the same from them, and since the person I'm calling has no real reason to feel jealousy towards me, perhaps this is actually a good time to be making this particular call. But when to do the <u><i>magic</i></u>?<br />
<br />
I do work late on Saturday (Shabbathai's day), but with the aid of a few <a href="http://www.rockstar69.com/sugarfree16.html">beverages of choice</a> and some patience, I do have a good Void-free shot at each planet's hour (<a href="http://www.lunarium.co.uk/planets/hours.jsp?selectedDate=23%2F10%2F10">two shots for most</a>) in which to do some bindings. Perhaps as follows:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>A binding of the career path that this institution can offer me to myself during the hour of Shabbathai (Saturn); perhaps also some reversal magic for the bad luck that got me into this situation to begin with.</li>
<li>A binding of the two main individuals of power involved (one of whom is the one I'll be calling) to show mercy unto me during the hour of Tzedek (Jupiter).</li>
<li>A binding of these same individuals' senses of enthusiasm and protection to the proposition I'll be making during the hour of Madim (Mars).</li>
<li>A binding to make my success and happiness a matter of pride to them during the hour of Shemesh (the Sun).</li>
<li>A binding for the fulfillment of the individual promises made to me by these two individuals made some months back during the hour of Nogah (Venus); perhaps also a binding of their emotions to make them emotionally sympathetic to my situation.</li>
<li>A binding upon their intellect, so that fulfilling their promises seems the only logical choice, during the hour of Kokab (Mercury).</li>
<li>And last but certainly not least, a binding upon them to enact the changes in situation that must be made during the hour of Levanah (the Moon).</li>
</ul>Depending on how late I'm up doing this, I might collapse into a chair in the back yard to watch the sun rise and start my Sunday off right with a round of invocations and meditations. Or maybe just the collapsing bit.<br />
<br />
If I weren't in a financially tough situation at the moment, I'd pay for some good Electionary Astrology in a heartbeat, to see when the best time to make this call would be. But as it is, given the short time span, slinging bindings left and right and trying my hardest not to swim upstream will have to do.<br />
<br />
On a side note, I'm debating waiting to publish this article until after I make the call mentioned above, what with silence being so important to some people's magic. But fuck it, I've spent the past few hours being careful, and this way I can get a good slap on the head if someone notices a mistake in my stargazing (or rather, webpage-about-stargazing-gazing).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-74559361643892477372010-10-11T16:39:00.000-04:002010-10-11T16:39:59.461-04:00On Practicing During IllnessSo, despite my early flu shot and my daily mountain of herbal immune boosters, I still managed to come down with the flu (or something equally nasty) last week. Hurray for working in the health industry.<br />
<br />
Generally I handle discomfort pretty well. Bike gear through my leg? Meh. Giant gash that I have to stitch myself? Bring it on. Fever of 102? Cue me curled up and waiting to die. Thank god a few Motrin will put me back at 100% for a few hours.<br />
<br />
But I surprised myself a bit during those <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Nsaid">NSAID</a>-induced moments of wellness. I was totally up for adventure; parties, sex, going out to new places, you name it (as long as I carried my precious fever-reducers with me). But as soon as the thought of magic popped into my head? "Fuck that, can't you see I'm sick?"<br />
<br />
Meditation? Oh no, I'd cough too much. Offerings? I should be conserving energy. Energy work? I'd burn myself out. Prayers? I can't concentrate.<br />
<br />
Clearly, these are all <u><b><i>terrible</i></b></u> excuses, but for a good 5 or 6 days this is where my mind was firmly planted. It did serve to pique my interest, though, so as a general point of interest I'm asking the masses, what practices do you keep or give up when nature gives you a sucker punch? Inquiring minds want to know!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-28484831514281832842010-09-24T18:02:00.000-04:002010-09-24T18:02:16.060-04:00On Isolating Variables: Mugwort, Flu Season, and the 5 TibetansOK, so I'll admit that as a scientist, when I have what seems to be a good idea in my head, I'll go ahead and forge through a project, ignoring some of the smaller aspects of good practice, in the hope that everything will pan out nicely and I'll get an awesome result.<br />
<br />
Doing the same thing with magic? Not such a good idea, as it turns out.<br />
<br />
Sometime last week (what was that about keeping a notebook?) I decided to brew up some mugwort tea I'd gotten from my <a href="http://www.ottertrout.com/">local botanica</a>, as I rarely ever remember even the tiniest scrap of my dreams. A tablespoon of the stuff in two cups of water, boiled for about 20 minutes or so. Put the cup to my lips and... oh dear god, I almost retched. I had to throw a tablespoon of spearmint leaves and a truckload of sugar into the damned thing before I could even get it down. Details you don't read on websites. Bleh.<br />
<br />
Deciding to wait for my ladyfriend to get home before hitting the sack, I spontaneously decided to run through the <a href="http://www.lifeevents.org/5-tibetans-energy-rejuvenation-exercises.htm">5 Tibetans exercises</a>, also for the first time ever. Twenty-one repetitions of each (except number 5, that shit's <i>hard</i>, and I'm out of shape since I quit fencing) later, and I was feeling good, although a little off-balance. Went to bed and passed out promptly.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure what I was expecting from the mugwort; I definitely had 6 or 7 dreams, but they seemed fuzzy and far away upon waking. Given that I normally don't remember dreaming at all, I suppose this was a success that warrants further experimenting. Sitting in bed pondering this, I realized I was freezing. Not turn-up-the-air freezing, but soul-chilling freezing. And my my muscles ached (expected). And my... <b>skin</b> ached? Fuck, the ladyfriend's roommate had the flu last week, didn't she? Goddamnit. I expected to be huddled inside for the next three days, popping massive amounts of psuedoephedrine (God's gift to Man) and ibuprofen.<br />
<br />
Except 24 hours later, I was fine. What the fuck? Having a medical background, I know that the idea of a "24 hour flu" is crap (most cases actually being food poisoning), so what had just happened? Was I experiencing the "Mugwort Hanover" that <a href="http://herbalwitchcraft.com/blog/">Harry</a> talks about? Are my subtle bodies so out of shape that a few simple exercises "blew out" a meridian? Did I really get a flu that wasn't covered by my flu shot, and <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Cross-reactivity">antibody cross-reaction</a> just got rid of it quickly?<br />
<br />
The world will never know, because I didn't separate my variables. Want to know how something effects you? Don't try it out on the same night as something else. Or if you do, don't be mad if you get your ass kicked.<br />
<br />
But of course, like a good scientist, I'll be getting back to experimenting with both, along with some <a href="http://herbalwitchcraft.com/blog/2010/09/07/clary-sage-dreamwork/">clary sage</a> (if I can ever find the damn stuff). But separately this time. I'll keep you posted.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301925545823507129.post-55919841174981523922010-09-06T04:55:00.001-04:002012-01-13T05:28:27.698-05:00On Strategic Sorcery and Black SwansSo, as my hastily-written bio will tell you, I've recently joined the third cycle of <a href="http://www.inominandum.com/">Jason Miller's</a> Strategic Sorcery course. Working through the first four back-lessons over the past week and trying to set up a daily practice schedule has been interesting, given that my "day" doesn't run on a 24-hour schedule and often ends with me passing out on the softest available surface.<br />
<br />
Now, not having any sort of outline for the course, I found myself wondering this morning when I'd start seeing or feeling the work cause tangible changes in my day to day life. I put the thought out of my head and went ahead with my morning practices. Cue synchronicity.<br />
<br />
After a 20-minute meditation at sunrise, and making offerings of water, patchouli, and candlelight to the local spirits I settled down to do the Pillar and the Spheres exercise and a cut-down version of the Microcosmic Orbit while the incense burned down. Soon after I dismissed the spirits and poured out the water as a libation (I do hope nobody ever stands under my balcony). All uneventful.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until I got into the car to hit the supermarket that I noticed that I felt <i><b>awesome</b></i>. I'm not ashamed to say that when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edP0L6LQzZE&ob=av3n">Take It Off</a> came on the radio, I was <u><i>jamming the fuck out</i></u>. At 8:00 in the morning. But I let this pass with a smile and didn't take much notice. I went ahead with the day's plan of heading to the local teaching zoo with my girlfriend and her roommate. It wasn't until halfway through the guided tour that I noticed it looming in front of me: four feet tall, wings spread, and thoroughly ready to peck the shit out of me to defend its territory.<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://runesoup.com/2010/05/black-swan-magic-why-spells-look-lame-in-retrospect/">motherfucking black swan</a>. I didn't even bother trying to explain to the girls why I was laughing my ass off at a pissed-off bird. I get it, Universe; I'm doing something right.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">One Hand on the Sword</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Pallas Renatus</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com2