I wake up in the dark
and stand on this madly spinning ball
I move to a room and flush all I took in yesterday
Then begin refilling with the same things as yesterday
I resist efforts to fill my head with noise and images
in order to sit quietly and contemplate a sphere
Then I lay down, turn myself off
and dream of standing on a wildly spinning sphere
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Gearhead Magick
Warning! The following takes a highly mechanical point of view.
It appears to me that in W4/ToHW we will be turned loose to become the hotrodders of the Universe. We`re being invited to pull our personal magickal vehicles into the ceremonial equivalent of "Monster Garage". What rolls out the door at the end of the show is entirely up to us and limited only by our skills,imagination and the laws of the Universe.
Some of us are going to go for looks,all chrome and flashy paint job. Some will want to work on handling and modifications that will allow you to whip your magick into the turns and accelerate thru the switchbacks and hairpins like they were empty eight lane highways.Others will be all about horsepower and want to streak down that drag strip getting across the finish line with the lowest elapsed time. There may even be a fringe element present who what to wring every bit of mileage they can from each and every drop of energy they pump into their vehicle. All valid and useful approaches in their own highly focused way.
As the year winds down many of us will be glad we went to the show, saw all the cool stuff and were amazed by what others can do. We may even be slightly disappointed as we turn the key and fire up our Volkswagen and head home. Sure,it`s not a custom chopper or a Ferrari but it gets us to the mall and back and doesn`t cost an arm and a leg to feed or maintain.
I will warn you that I am a wicked gearhead ( NE talk for a deeply committed hotrodder). I want to understand how the heart of things work. I`ll tear something completely apart down to the last nut and bolt and then look for things to eliminate. I feel lighter is faster, I`m the chopper guy. Why travel on 4 wheels when the sun is shining and 2 will do? I will be asking if something is absolutely necessary and why. I will be distilling things down to their essence and then looking for ways to combine things. I`ll question every aspect and detail. If it doesn`t make it go faster, handle better, stop quicker it`ll get pitched in the scrap pile and be fair game for someone else`s use.
There will be a lot of cutting welding and grinding in my corner. There will be loud pipes,burning rubber and late nite test runs. In the end what I ride will probably not please everyone but I`ll be proud of it because it`s unique, mine, and the craftsmanship will be at least as good or better than most.
One thing it won`t be is flashy. Detailed,stripped down, tight and efficient is how I prefer things.It`ll be the kind of raw,primal, slightly sinister machine you`d expect a shaman to ride. I don`t want to spend a lot of time waxing and polishing, I want to get on it and go. It`ll also be a kick start machine,no big battery,extra wiring or electric starter here.
I`ll still be using my rusty, dented old pickup truck to travel back and forth to buy parts and material during the build. I also know that being a perpetual tinkerer somewhere down the road I`ll probably become bored with what I`ve built and trade it for something better or tear it down so I can start again.
I`ve found that if you want to do this sort of thing it`s best to have access to a reliable truck so you can chase parts, can still travel to town in bad weather and most importantly,if your flashy creation breaks down and leaves you on the side of the road one of your buddies can always find the keys under the seat,come get you and help load your broke down machine so you can drag it home and fix it.
It appears to me that in W4/ToHW we will be turned loose to become the hotrodders of the Universe. We`re being invited to pull our personal magickal vehicles into the ceremonial equivalent of "Monster Garage". What rolls out the door at the end of the show is entirely up to us and limited only by our skills,imagination and the laws of the Universe.
Some of us are going to go for looks,all chrome and flashy paint job. Some will want to work on handling and modifications that will allow you to whip your magick into the turns and accelerate thru the switchbacks and hairpins like they were empty eight lane highways.Others will be all about horsepower and want to streak down that drag strip getting across the finish line with the lowest elapsed time. There may even be a fringe element present who what to wring every bit of mileage they can from each and every drop of energy they pump into their vehicle. All valid and useful approaches in their own highly focused way.
As the year winds down many of us will be glad we went to the show, saw all the cool stuff and were amazed by what others can do. We may even be slightly disappointed as we turn the key and fire up our Volkswagen and head home. Sure,it`s not a custom chopper or a Ferrari but it gets us to the mall and back and doesn`t cost an arm and a leg to feed or maintain.
I will warn you that I am a wicked gearhead ( NE talk for a deeply committed hotrodder). I want to understand how the heart of things work. I`ll tear something completely apart down to the last nut and bolt and then look for things to eliminate. I feel lighter is faster, I`m the chopper guy. Why travel on 4 wheels when the sun is shining and 2 will do? I will be asking if something is absolutely necessary and why. I will be distilling things down to their essence and then looking for ways to combine things. I`ll question every aspect and detail. If it doesn`t make it go faster, handle better, stop quicker it`ll get pitched in the scrap pile and be fair game for someone else`s use.
There will be a lot of cutting welding and grinding in my corner. There will be loud pipes,burning rubber and late nite test runs. In the end what I ride will probably not please everyone but I`ll be proud of it because it`s unique, mine, and the craftsmanship will be at least as good or better than most.
One thing it won`t be is flashy. Detailed,stripped down, tight and efficient is how I prefer things.It`ll be the kind of raw,primal, slightly sinister machine you`d expect a shaman to ride. I don`t want to spend a lot of time waxing and polishing, I want to get on it and go. It`ll also be a kick start machine,no big battery,extra wiring or electric starter here.
I`ll still be using my rusty, dented old pickup truck to travel back and forth to buy parts and material during the build. I also know that being a perpetual tinkerer somewhere down the road I`ll probably become bored with what I`ve built and trade it for something better or tear it down so I can start again.
I`ve found that if you want to do this sort of thing it`s best to have access to a reliable truck so you can chase parts, can still travel to town in bad weather and most importantly,if your flashy creation breaks down and leaves you on the side of the road one of your buddies can always find the keys under the seat,come get you and help load your broke down machine so you can drag it home and fix it.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Feathered Drum Majors in my Backyard
I am watching the woodpeckers today. A nice tossy wind came through last night, finally clearing away the last of the leaves off the oaks, which now stretch clean and bare into blue-gray sky. I am always amazed to see their branches in full unclothed glory, the dark inky lines as intricate as capillaries, and — I know — as nutritive and powerful. It’s almost overwhelming to take in, even through a window, even with my feet up in my chair and a cup of coffee in hand.
And so even though the woodpeckers have been there all year, I am only now able to see them work. My field guide tells me all about them, but I have known their names my whole life: downy woodpeckers, red-headed woodpeckers, even the occasion pileated woodpecker, as startling in its jet black enormity as any predator.
Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak summarizes their central energy as “the power of rhythm and discrimination.” In European folk traditions, they were considered weather prophets and thunderbirds; in Greek traditions, it occupied the throne of Zeus, that most thunderous of gods. And as typical of the Greeks, there is also a story of an unfortunate human being transformed into one, as always the result of some ill-fated romantic situation gone wrong. The Native American tradition connected the woodpecker to the heartbeat of the Earth itself.
But it is their “digging in” that connects them to the oxpeckers who are their spiritual kin, not the drumming. It is their discrimination, their pecking in exactly the right way, that makes them a significant totem. Their skillful use of their heads reflect increasing analysis. Some questions to ask: Are you looking at the aspects of your life rationally? Are other around you not discriminating in their activities? Are you? Are you or others jumping into situations with little or no thought?
I watch the woodpeckers and the trees, and something else occurs to me — their relationship is symbiotic. Like the oxpeckers that accompany the rhinos, woodpeckers serve the trees by eating parasites that could damage them. Of course they can damage trees as well, if the environmental balance has shifted in an unsustainable way. That’s usually the human’s fault. We are such non-symbiotic creatures. Our parasitical behavior spreads around us in ripples. But a healthy forest will have both healthy trees and healthy woodpeckers.
How does the tree know? I wonder. To something so rooted and ancient, these darting spirits of beak and feather must feel so temporary. And yet ever-present, I imagine, and so eternal in that way. There’s always something in your hair when you’re a tree. They are as patient and abiding an entity as I can imagine.
I am less so. So much in my day feels like swooping, dashing, clutching, hammering woodpeckers, drilling yet another hole in me. And yet their Air energy is beneficial. It roots out the tiny harmful habits and grudges and buggy self-absorbed nonsense that is under my bark, concealed beneath my self-made armor where I can’t get to it all by myself. And so I should welcome the woodpeckers, their drumming and rhythm. I should let them do their honest natural work.
And so even though the woodpeckers have been there all year, I am only now able to see them work. My field guide tells me all about them, but I have known their names my whole life: downy woodpeckers, red-headed woodpeckers, even the occasion pileated woodpecker, as startling in its jet black enormity as any predator.
Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak summarizes their central energy as “the power of rhythm and discrimination.” In European folk traditions, they were considered weather prophets and thunderbirds; in Greek traditions, it occupied the throne of Zeus, that most thunderous of gods. And as typical of the Greeks, there is also a story of an unfortunate human being transformed into one, as always the result of some ill-fated romantic situation gone wrong. The Native American tradition connected the woodpecker to the heartbeat of the Earth itself.
But it is their “digging in” that connects them to the oxpeckers who are their spiritual kin, not the drumming. It is their discrimination, their pecking in exactly the right way, that makes them a significant totem. Their skillful use of their heads reflect increasing analysis. Some questions to ask: Are you looking at the aspects of your life rationally? Are other around you not discriminating in their activities? Are you? Are you or others jumping into situations with little or no thought?
I watch the woodpeckers and the trees, and something else occurs to me — their relationship is symbiotic. Like the oxpeckers that accompany the rhinos, woodpeckers serve the trees by eating parasites that could damage them. Of course they can damage trees as well, if the environmental balance has shifted in an unsustainable way. That’s usually the human’s fault. We are such non-symbiotic creatures. Our parasitical behavior spreads around us in ripples. But a healthy forest will have both healthy trees and healthy woodpeckers.
How does the tree know? I wonder. To something so rooted and ancient, these darting spirits of beak and feather must feel so temporary. And yet ever-present, I imagine, and so eternal in that way. There’s always something in your hair when you’re a tree. They are as patient and abiding an entity as I can imagine.
I am less so. So much in my day feels like swooping, dashing, clutching, hammering woodpeckers, drilling yet another hole in me. And yet their Air energy is beneficial. It roots out the tiny harmful habits and grudges and buggy self-absorbed nonsense that is under my bark, concealed beneath my self-made armor where I can’t get to it all by myself. And so I should welcome the woodpeckers, their drumming and rhythm. I should let them do their honest natural work.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Making connections
I was asked to bring some of my wands to a psychic fair at one of the local shops and spent the day talking about magick and the Tree teachers with a wide variety of people from many walks of life. As the day wound down a father and son came over to talk to me about connections and the energy in objects. The father was in his early forties and didn`t initially introduce himself. His son Emmit (printed in black marker on the front of his middle school athletic shirt) had a small stone in his hand which he had bought from one of the other vendors. Emmit had taken in more than his share of the energy that was swirling through the shop and was close to being overloaded.He was bouncing around and distracted by the stone. He tossed it from hand to hand and rolled it between his palms as his father and I talked about magick and shamanism. His father told me "Emmit can feel the energy in certain things and I have been looking for a way to understand what he does".
I explained that some people,myself included, believe all things have an energy and spirit contained in them and we are all connected to the rest of the Universe thru the subtle energy threads that make up the Web of the Universe. He told me he had recently been working with a shaman and that experience had opened his mind to his son`s abilities as well as ways to support his son`s gift. Emmit had wandered off to look at some of the other things in the shop,I sensed he was a bit uncomfortable by his father discussing his capabilities with a stranger.
I told the father about my own connections with the trees and stones and gave him a brief history of my injury and how I lost some abilities yet gained others. He told me many of the things I was talking about were the same things that the shaman he worked with had shared with him. Then he came out and asked "Are you also a shaman?". I told him, "I am a witch first, a shamanic witch, but at the heart of things I`m a witch". He looked shocked for a second but then asked me to explain what being a witch first meant to me. We talked a bit about what it means to be a witch and a shaman and the practice of magick or witchcraft until Emmit came back and stood closer to the wands I had for sale. He had put the stone in his pocket and was picking up and handling one wand after another. His father was about to caution him when I told him it was fine and I encouraged people to handle the wands. "Your father tells me you can feel things thru stones Emmit,do you feel anything from the Trees?" I asked him. Emmit replied "They`re not at all like the stones,the stones feel different". I asked him if he`d like to try an experiment. When he said he`d like to experiment I asked him to show me the stone he had in his pocket. He had asked his dad to buy him a piece of tumbled Hematite and I thought he may have been trying to ground some of his excess energy thru that stone. I handed him a piece of Smokey Quartz from one of the displays which made him smile and then asked for it back and handed him a piece of black Tourmaline and his focus began to return. I asked him to describe some of the favorite stones he had at home as he held the Tourmaline. He talked about their color, weight and texture and how they made him feel. In a few minutes he was calm and happy instead of buzzing and overloaded. I asked for the tourmaline back, then handed him an Oak wand and asked him to think about it the way he had just thought about the stones to seek that same type of connection and he said now he could feel the tree. It was different than his stones he said but he felt it thru his hands "in a different direction" and he could feel something like sun and the water (that wand came from a old Oak that used to grow near the tidal cove we live on). Emmit was now calm and happy and thanked me for talking with him, he said the experiment had given him something to think about and explore further. I told his father the names of the stones I had handed Emmit and how I had used his connections to his own stones at home to help ground him. I told him Emmit can feel the stones most strongly but he has the ability to feel the energy in the things that surround him including the people in the shop and suggested a few ways he might help guide Emmit and help him better understand his gifts when interacting in environments like this psychic fair. I wrote down the titles of a few books and websites that may be of use for him and his son.
Emmit excused himself and told his father he was going to wait for him in the car.
As Emmit walked toward the door, his father said, "Emmit has been a real game changer for his mother and I. He`s made us refocus what is important to us and how we look at the world". I told him Emmit was very lucky to have parents like him who support his gifts and go out of their way to understand his connection to the Universe. I told the father "People who feel these gifts can either shove them aside or deny them and then keep disconnecting from things till they get to the point the only thing they aren`t disconnected from is themselves. When these gifts are supported people like your son have the potential to use their gifts to make things better for us all and to make the world a better place for us all to live. Thank you for seeing that and supporting it and thank your wife for me too".
Before he turned to leave he extended his hand and said,"My name is Steve and I`m really glad we got to talk. I met my first witch today and it was nothing like I thought the experience would be". I told him "Glad to meet you Steve, My name is Bob ( I was wearing a name tag). I`m also really glad we got to talk." Steve asked me for one of my fliers on the Tree Magick class I`ll be presenting in February before he left to rejoin his son.
I explained that some people,myself included, believe all things have an energy and spirit contained in them and we are all connected to the rest of the Universe thru the subtle energy threads that make up the Web of the Universe. He told me he had recently been working with a shaman and that experience had opened his mind to his son`s abilities as well as ways to support his son`s gift. Emmit had wandered off to look at some of the other things in the shop,I sensed he was a bit uncomfortable by his father discussing his capabilities with a stranger.
I told the father about my own connections with the trees and stones and gave him a brief history of my injury and how I lost some abilities yet gained others. He told me many of the things I was talking about were the same things that the shaman he worked with had shared with him. Then he came out and asked "Are you also a shaman?". I told him, "I am a witch first, a shamanic witch, but at the heart of things I`m a witch". He looked shocked for a second but then asked me to explain what being a witch first meant to me. We talked a bit about what it means to be a witch and a shaman and the practice of magick or witchcraft until Emmit came back and stood closer to the wands I had for sale. He had put the stone in his pocket and was picking up and handling one wand after another. His father was about to caution him when I told him it was fine and I encouraged people to handle the wands. "Your father tells me you can feel things thru stones Emmit,do you feel anything from the Trees?" I asked him. Emmit replied "They`re not at all like the stones,the stones feel different". I asked him if he`d like to try an experiment. When he said he`d like to experiment I asked him to show me the stone he had in his pocket. He had asked his dad to buy him a piece of tumbled Hematite and I thought he may have been trying to ground some of his excess energy thru that stone. I handed him a piece of Smokey Quartz from one of the displays which made him smile and then asked for it back and handed him a piece of black Tourmaline and his focus began to return. I asked him to describe some of the favorite stones he had at home as he held the Tourmaline. He talked about their color, weight and texture and how they made him feel. In a few minutes he was calm and happy instead of buzzing and overloaded. I asked for the tourmaline back, then handed him an Oak wand and asked him to think about it the way he had just thought about the stones to seek that same type of connection and he said now he could feel the tree. It was different than his stones he said but he felt it thru his hands "in a different direction" and he could feel something like sun and the water (that wand came from a old Oak that used to grow near the tidal cove we live on). Emmit was now calm and happy and thanked me for talking with him, he said the experiment had given him something to think about and explore further. I told his father the names of the stones I had handed Emmit and how I had used his connections to his own stones at home to help ground him. I told him Emmit can feel the stones most strongly but he has the ability to feel the energy in the things that surround him including the people in the shop and suggested a few ways he might help guide Emmit and help him better understand his gifts when interacting in environments like this psychic fair. I wrote down the titles of a few books and websites that may be of use for him and his son.
Emmit excused himself and told his father he was going to wait for him in the car.
As Emmit walked toward the door, his father said, "Emmit has been a real game changer for his mother and I. He`s made us refocus what is important to us and how we look at the world". I told him Emmit was very lucky to have parents like him who support his gifts and go out of their way to understand his connection to the Universe. I told the father "People who feel these gifts can either shove them aside or deny them and then keep disconnecting from things till they get to the point the only thing they aren`t disconnected from is themselves. When these gifts are supported people like your son have the potential to use their gifts to make things better for us all and to make the world a better place for us all to live. Thank you for seeing that and supporting it and thank your wife for me too".
Before he turned to leave he extended his hand and said,"My name is Steve and I`m really glad we got to talk. I met my first witch today and it was nothing like I thought the experience would be". I told him "Glad to meet you Steve, My name is Bob ( I was wearing a name tag). I`m also really glad we got to talk." Steve asked me for one of my fliers on the Tree Magick class I`ll be presenting in February before he left to rejoin his son.
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