Perhaps the most under-rated and under-appreciated of spiritual practices is the mantra.

The matter gets complicated by the number of people who think they don't use mantras when they actually are, and the number of other folks who think that they are using a mantra when they actually are not!

The mantra is probably one of the most ancient forms of spiritual expression.  It is also potentially the most powerful.

So, let us explore what makes a mantra powerful.  And let's see how you might be able to make some good use out of mantras.

It isn't quick, so don't think that overnight you'll master something which others work with for years.  But you'll make a beginning and make progress. 

Some things about mantras you'll know from your own experience, and others you'll discover along the way.  Perhaps the most important discovery along the way is what works for you.

Blessed Be!

Your book of shadows is unique.  No other book can ever be as much of, by, and for you as your book of shadows.

Other paths have books which purport to be for similar purposes, but they are collections which were collected by someone else, and often with a "one size fits all" approach.  And, most of them are available for sale at bookstores.  The only challenge in obtaining one is knowing which bookstore has which books.

Your book of shadows is different.  It is as personal as your toothbrush, and as private as your underwear.  Nobody else has to approve what you put in there, and nobody needs to see it, either - unless it is with your permission.

You can even think of it as a living thing, because it almost is.  One thing that it does do is that it grows with you.  And so, make provision for that growth.  Your child will not be wearing the same shoes at age 20 as he or she did at age 2, and so it is with your book of shadows, because it is that way with you.

And so, let's explore how a book of shadows comes to be, and how you can nurture its growth.

Blessed Be!

Is greed the real evil?

You have no idea the work that went into figuring out a title for this episode.  In fact, when I was making the show, I was still calling it "Is Greed The Real Satan?" but then I had to fact the fact that for so many of us, there is no real satan or devil.  But, I believe we can all agree that there is real evil.

And here we come to an issue which I felt the need to address.  And, I felt the need to address it now.  There were certainly a number of other topics I could have chose, including/ especially Litha.  But this one subject stood out as if it were begging me to say something.

And, I can understand why.  This is a subject about which the preachers and teachers of certain notable other spiritual paths go spinning around in circles about.  They'll talk about evil and/or "the devil", sometimes to the point that I wonder whom it is that some of them are actually worshipping!  But for all of the wind expended from so many pulpits, there has been little actual effort to define it, or figure out what to do about it.  And it's apparent why this has come to be. 

Come follow me in this exploration.  You'll find it interesting.

Of all of the apparent contradictions having to do with the spiritual, perhaps none is as dramatic or pronounced as that having to do with the effectiveness of prayer. 

Some will say that prayer has a major "kick" to it and is one of the most powerful things they do.  Others see prayer as being ineffective, perhaps even counter-effective.  Over the course of my spiritual quest, I've been on both sides of this divide, and I haven't found many opinions that lay between those two poles.  It's basically one extreme or the other.

So, if one group says that their prayer really does big things and another thinks of prayer as a cop-out for people who don't want to do anything, what is it that gives these two groups the basis for feeling that their opinion is justified?  Might it be something to do with how the praying is done?

And so, we can go into the ways that some folks might pray.  We can also see what makes prayer weak.  And from that, we can see what makes strong prayer really have a major effect.

And from all of that, we can see how to make prayer the most powerful thing we do.

Blessed Be!

Every form of endeavor has its dangers and pitfalls, and there are some dangers and pitfalls to which priestesses and priests are especially vulnerable.  
If you don't think this is about you because you don't see yourself as clergy, think again.  Each of us is our own priestess or priest for the sake of meeting our own needs.  We don't need to hire a "broker" to deal with The Divine for us.  But, of course, there are times when even clergy are in need of clergy.  And I'll be touching on that, too.

Some of the most potentially productive (and even spectacular) spiritual paths can have snares.  And, some of those snares are subtle enough that they might not be extremely obvious.

Some of the pitfalls might seem obvious, but I'm sure that at least one might cause you to have some thought.  And, some of them might not look like what they are until you're in the middle of a situation.  That is, of course, unless you have your eyes open all along.  That might not be a guarantee of prevention, but it will indeed help.

And there is one word which encompasses most of the solution.  Seek it, and most of the answer to these pitfalls will be in your hands.  The full answer might not always be so simple, but the simple solution takes care of most of what might try to tangle your feet.  And what is that "one word"?  You might have guessed it.  Download this episode to see if you guess was right!

Blessed Be!

PS:  Sorry for the delay.  I had to do an all-nighter at my day job, and came home too exhausted to put out a coherent show.

Just like what happened last time, once more we're looking at something that some folks will consider to be a trite platitude.  And once again, we cna discover that there is actually something important and exciting within it.

The saying this time?  "Take time to smell the roses."

There are those people who will hear that and accuse whoever said it of trying to keep them from getting ahead.  But there are also those who go from the beginning to the end of their journey and have not learned anything along the way.

You've seen such people, and people who are becoming just like them.  In the "Dilbert" comic strip recently, there were some about an MBA who had just joined Dilbert's company.  What that particular MBA lacks in knowledge, he makes up for in buzzwords and jargon.  And if you think that "Dilbert" is just a comic strip, ask someone who has been accused of leaking stories to the comic strip's author.

In some lines of work, people who are making a career in the field will speak of "paying your dues."  Those who have "paid their dues" have smelled the roses.

Each rose has a gift for you.  You'll see.  You might not understand the gift today, but the day will come when you will - or someone will recognize you because of it.

Each gift from each rose which we smell along the way will make us that much wealthier when we get to where we're going.

Blessed Be!

We all have our teachers.  And some of our teachers are great teachers.  I can name quite a number of teachers I've had, some I've mentioned to you and some have names you'd recognize if I dropped the name. 

But there are other teachers, too.  And some of them turn out to be great teachers, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.

There are the power-trippers, there are the people with an agenda, there are those who are over-devoted to a faction's party-line, there are those who cannot mind their own business, there are the greedy, and so many others.  I might call it a zoo, except that I do not want to insult my four-footed friends who are above such behavior.

And, they get in your way.  There is something which you feel that you are supposed to do, and they do their best to keep you from that.

But, do you know what?

The joke can be on them, if you want it to be!

Blessed Be!

We spoke about The Witches' Pyramid last time.  This time, we're talking about how to get the most if its (and your) power.

So often, new students ask questions that begin with "What's a good spell to do...?", or "how would you use magick to...?" and so one of the first things I usually do with those who learn from me is make a comparison between someone who cooks burgers at a local fast-food franchise, and a top chef.

The burger-flipper knows how to follow instructions in preparing pre-manufactured ingredients into something you and I are supposed to be able to eat.  Most openings for such jobs do not have too stringent qualification requirements, and pay starts somewhere in the neighborhood of minimum wage. 

It takes years to make a chef, and a chef knows food well enough to create recipes as needed, and make variation as required by occasion, need and availability.  While a shortage of some key ingredient will inspire the chef to be creative to meet needs in spite of the shortage, the burger-flipper might only know that there's no point in asking if you want fries with that if a potato shortage means that fries are not available.

Likewise with a Priestess or Priest.  It is entirely proper that learning begins with learning how to do something from someone who already knows how to do it.  But eventually, this learning creates an assimilation of principles which will give you the ability to create on your own.

And this is when it gets good - when it's uniquely and specially yours.  You'll see.  It's here.

Blessed Be!

Perhaps the biggest misconception about The Witches' Pyramid is that it is exclusive to Witches.  Not at all!  In fact, the principle is basic to almost any spiritual path in which The Divine has an active role in people's lives. 

And, in fact, it is the corruption and perversion of The Witches Pyramid's principles which give some paths such strange concepts as "God's will", especially when they claim that their allegedly loving god can will suffering.

Think of The Witches' Pyramid as having four walls.  Each wall is a principle.  Brought together, they create energy and power. 

Let's look at each of the four principles, and see how they apply.

Used effectively, they bring with themselves more than merely what you want and/or need.  And what is especially amazing is how much they bring with them.

Four basic principles, and the beginnings of great things!

Blessed Be!

Now, why would I pick a comparison like that - comparing Beltane to a Bar Mitzvah?

Perhaps because it's appropriate!  And perhaps because one gives perspective to the other!

At a Bar Mitzvah, the boy arrives at the synagogue with mom and dad.  But of all that goes on in that major rite of passage, the focus is on the moment when he announces "Today I am a man!"  While the parents will still have a role in his life, the character of his life changes at that moment, and more emphasis is placed on what he does, and less on what is done for him or to him.

And it is the same for the God, who was the Divine Child born at Yule, whose growth and childhood we celebrated at Imbolc and Ostara.  Today he steps into his maturity and begins that part of his life's journey in which he is the one responsible for doing the traveling.  And from this day forward until his funeral at Samhain, we'll be seeing what he does.

And so, yes, Beltane is indeed the God's Bar Mitzvah.  In so many ways.  And it's one more way in which we can relate to The Divine.

Blessed Be!