OK, I begin this with a really, really bad joke.  I know it's a bad joke, it's a so-called "blonde joke", and I don't think much of jokes that are based on any kind of stereotyping.  But I remembered it, it would not get out of my head, and then I realized that it illustrated a valid point, and a problem we all face at some time.  We need to know where to look for something and what to look for.  You'll just have to listen to hear what the joke is.

Nowhere is this more important than when we lose someone we love because they crossed over the bridge to the Summerland.  We feel alone.  We hurt.  We miss someone, and it's not like they will ever return in the way we always knew them.  And sometimes, we have to deal with feelings of abandonment and even anger.  It doesn't matter if the person is a sibling, a spouse, a parent, a grandparent, a lover, a friend, or a pet. 

Some people will tell you you simply have to wait until it's your turn to cross the bridge, but that does nothing for you now.  And, there are those who seem to be able to maintain some sort of connection in spite of it all.  Is there something that people like you and I can do?

We keep being told that the soul outlives the body and if so, then if they loved us before they would love us now.  If we miss them and their company, wouldn't they miss us and ours as well.  And might they want to try, too?

So, let's see what seems to have worked, and what we might be able to do!

Blessed Be!

If you ask someone why religion and/or spirituality is important to them or is not important to them, invariably the answer will center on whether itactually works for that person.  While it is true that there are some who will go through the motions based on someone "up there" keeping score and passing judgement, for most of us something like religion becomes important if it works.  And by that I mean that if it's going to be important to me (or you), then it has to work for me (or you). 

There are those who are non-spiritual or anti-spiritual because what they were told simply did not work for them.  And, of course, there are those who were close to having a really great spiritual life - until someone with an agenda told them that what they were doing was wrong.  And then they made the mistake of believing that instead of their real experience!

And so, it has to work.  But, there's a catch!  If it's going to work for you, you have to be able to see it working.  And for that, you need to know where to look and what to look for.

And, there is a way to help that happen.  And we'll discuss that here in detail.  It's mostly common sense, but in a direction which many people don't explore.  All that and bearing in mind that this is your individual experience, so don't judge yours based on what someone claims is theirs!

And with your inner and outer eyes open, you'll see - indeed!

Blessed Be!

There are going to be obstacles in life.  The only way to not have to deal with obstacles is to become one of those dull people who lets other people run their lives for them.  But then again, if you do that you might face the obstacle of not being able to come up to their expectations as they tell every aspect of how to live your life.  And for those who succeed, what do they actually have?

For the rest of us, especially those who want to see how much we can make out of the spiritual side of our lives, obstacles are a part of life.

There are the obstacles that others claim exist for you:  Are you smart enough?  Are you good enough?  Do you think you can actually do the work that's required?

There are the obstacles that others force on you.  Such as time, money and interruptions.  Like there's "almost but not quite enough" money for the practice sessions you need, or the meditation or prayer time that seems to always get interrupted by a "BAM-BAM-BAM" on the door.

Obstacles you make for yourself.  Of course, these are almost invariably "replaying the tapes" that someone else made four you long.long ago.

And of course there are some based on genuine reality.  Things such as education might require some sort of money, or the fact that society often insists upon credentials.

But, do you know what?  There are ways to deal with obstacles.  And, let's see what we can do!

Blessed Be!

We've been celebrating a number of celebrations lately that concern new beginnings.  There was Samhain which was a death but a promise of a new birth.  There was Yule as well as the Christians' Christmas which spoke of a birth and a beginning, and of course there's the mundane New Year's Day. 

And, we've been talking about new beginnings, particularly in the form of resolutions and how to handle them.  But how about taking it a couple of steps further.  Just about every one of us has been living with a vision within ourselves, something that we would really, really like to do.  And sometimes that vision can be really nagging - the vision of priesthood made a pest of itself until it happened, and now there's a vision of what to do with that priesthood.

And almost every one of us has some sort of a vision.  So, why cause it to become part of your reality?  No kidding, let's see what we can do to make it so!

Like anything else in magick, there are certain "things" which will be needed, but those you can get.  Then, there are some other "things" we can do without.  We'll get into a little detail on that.

But finally, there's seeing the vision take form and come to be.  This isn't time for excuses, it's time for doing.  But that's fine - there's going to be a wonderful result.  You'll see!

Blessed Be!

One thing that Samhain and the mundane New Year's Day have in common is resolutions, things you plan to accomplish in the coming year and beyond.  And wouldn't it be nice if they worked?

I've known people to actually joke about their resolutions, and how they "meant well" - kind of like that relative, co-worker or other person you know who perpetually "was gonna" do one thing or another. 

Face it - most resolutions are doomed to failure because they lack certain things.  They lack reality, they lack effort, they lack follow-through and worst of all, they can't be made to happen in ten minutes.  So, what can we do?

Perhaps the best thing to do is to approach resolutions with the same attitude and methodology that we do in spells and magick.  In fact, we can make them into spells.

And what does that mean?  Well, the basic contents of a spell you can find in books by Ravenwolf, Cunningham, Buckland, Conway or any of ever-so-many others including this podcast.  But let's go beyond that and get into what will actually make the resultion and the resolution spell actually work!

And you can see just how much you can actually bring to be!

Blessed Be!

As you listen to this Yule is behind us.  And, as most of us are also aware, the Christians' Christmas is either upon us or recently past as you hear this episode.  And there are many other traditions which have celebrations at the time of the Winter Solstice, all of which center on a birth or a return, or possibly a re-birth. 

To Pagans, the sun is beginning its return journey.  Many Pagan traditions mark the solstice with a celebration of the birth of a divine child.  In the same manner as in England the "Queen's Birthday" is the official celebration which is not the day of her actual birth, Christmas as put at December 25th because someone else was said to have been born then.  The divine child may or may not be born of a virgin, but the child does grow up into a special relationship with his divine father.  And, as an adult, there is something about his death that is for all of our benefit.

And do you know what?  It tells us all something very special about The Divine and our relationship with The Divine.  And it's something that not only will answer the objections of those who would mess with us, it also gives us a solid foundation for our spiritual lives!  And we can count on it!

Blessed Be!

It's Yuletide, and here's our Yuletide celebration, in our special temple where all can come together and join in, no matter where you are!

Yule is a special time, for so many reasons, not the least of which is its prominence in the Wheel Of The Year.  After all, it is the first visible fulfillment of the promise made at Samhain.  There was a death then, but also a promise of a new birth.  And that's what we have here, and we celebrate it.

In fact, most paths at the time of the Winter Solstice celebrate the time, and for good reason.  It was the beginning of the sun's return.  There were wintry days ahead, but a promise had been made, and this is its first sign of fulfillment, no matter if it's December in the Northern Hemisphere or June in the Southern Hemisphere.  And since I'm in the Nothern Hemisphere, we have this now.

And if you look at it, there's something special.  And perhaps we can look at it here.  

But above all, it's Yule and a good time to celebrate and enjoy fellowship!

Blessed Be!

Going to Before The Beginning and moving forward has been a learning experience, and this time is no exception to that!  This time, let's go to Before The Beginning and see how it relates to what we do, especially spiritually and magickally.  We've related Before The Beginning to oru spiritual strengths and abilities.  We've related it to the rest of the world and the universe as a whole.  And so, the next step is to relate it to what we do.

What do we do?  Well, anyone who has any kind of spiritual life can generally be counted upon to do (or want to do certain things.  We trust someone among The Divine to be there for us.  We speak to The Divine.  We listen to The Divine, listen for The Divine, and watch for The Divine.  And, we use our relationship with The Divine as a way to make things happen.

And, regardless of the number or name or names of your deities, if you build a good foundation for your spiritual life, you'll find yourself doing that and more.

And what we discuss here is a way to defeat or bypass the nastiest obstacles we might encounter.

Remember, Before The Beginning was a real beginning.  And if we know the essence of that beginning, we discover a secret which has been patiently waiting for us to realize that it's there.  And with that, we can open doors we thought were shut.  And eventually, we open doors which we didn't even know were there!

And all of that, waiting for us!

Blessed Be!

Again, let's go back to Before The Beginning.  But this time, we'll take a different journey.  Last time, we went from Before The Beginning to our selves to see the basis of our own individual power.  This time, let's go out into the universe as a whole (or the little corner of it we can deal with).  And there, let's see the context in which the power of each of us individuals is used.  That's your context, plus my context, and everyone else's, too.

Biologists and other scientists have talked about how they have a theory that all of us came from a single pair of ancestors, way back in the mists of time and-or pre-time.  The various forms of the Kaballah teach us something similar.  And if there is one common origin for all of us - and all of existence as well, how do we prove it, or at least give it some credibility?  Actually, the examination of some basic facts lets us know that this is definitely true.  At any rate, all of our effort has not produced a shred of evidence to dispute it.  Not a bit.  

And it that's true, why did so many of us wind up so different and have so many different (and sometimes opposing or contradictory) spiritual paths?  Basic logic provides that answer, including The Divine's role in it all, especially when it's time for The Divine to manifest.  And even the Christians' Bible has a verse that backs this up!

And do you know what this can mean?  Quite a lot!  We get this point, and there's no limit to what we might be able to do!

Blessed Be!

Let's look again at what we talked about last week, but let's see it this time in terms of our own magickal abilities.  In all versions of the Kaballah/Caballah/Qaballah and its parellels from the same time period, everything began with the mind of The Creator.  And from there, as The Creator evolved in thought from "I am" to "I am that" to "I am that I am", we progress to the point of the creation stories most of us have been told since our own infancy.

Now, there are those who would say that the beginning of the beginning being in the mind of The Creator, then perhaps all is thought and we might need to re-evaluate our concept of what reality is.  However, I do know that if I am hammering a nail and the hammer hits my thumb instead of the nail, the pain is sufficiently real for my immediate purposes.  And therefore I consider such arguments about the physicality of reality to be pretty much moot as far as our current existence and what we need to do about it is concerned.

Nevertheless, it allows us to discover (once again, for many of us) the most important magickal tool we have.  Or for that matter, our most important tool of any sort.  It's what the Witch's Pyramid is there for us.  The Creator has a mind which was used to bring about reality, and each of us has a mind.  Athames, robes, wands, chalices, candles, and all the rest help to focus and direct, but our mind is not only the only tool necessary, but the tool which all of the other tools need in order for them to have any actual purpose.

And so let's look at this and see what we find.

Blessed Be!