Ingredients for the mixture are as follows.

• I part Cinquefoil
• 1/2 part Green Tea
• 1 part Vervain
• 1/2 part Rue
• 1 part Valerian Root
• 2 part Damiana Leaf
• 2 part Scullcap

Cinquefoil:

Ruled by: Mercury, Jupiter

According to Beyerl, “During the Middle Ages, Cinquefoil acquired quite a reputation as a magickal herbe. It is said to be an herb frequently chosen by Witches for their spells and was one of the ingredients in the renowned flying ointment. It is also used in treating fevers.

Green Tea:

Ruled by: Mercury

Generally good for the health and vitality. Green tea is known primarily as a stimulant as well as its reputation for a high count of antioxidants. We use this in the brew so the quafer may stay alert during the dream visions.

Vervain:

Ruled by: Venus

Vervain (also known as Verbena) is a well known psychic cleanser as well as a nervine (calms the nerves) and will “promote a comfortable night’s rest” according to Beyerl.

Rue:

Ruled by: Sun/Leo, Mars

According to L. Rosean, Rue is known as “The Queen of Herbs”. Although considered more generally as an herb of protection, Rue is also known as a strong antispasmodic, and as a nervine can treat nervous afflictions.

Valerian Root:

Ruled by: Mercury

Known quite popularly as a calming herb, sold in drugstores as standardized capsules, however is known as an agent of sleep and of alleviating pain. Excessive doses cause opposite reactions.

Damiana Leaf:

Ruled by: Pluto

Damiana is long known as an aphrodisiac and an ingredient in love and sex spells, however is also known as increasing magickal energy when smoked or drank before or during ritual. Also reported to improve psychic ability and clairvoyance by Beyerl.

Scullcap:

Ruled by: goddess of the hearth, Saturn

Scullcap is widely known in fidelity and handfasting rituals.  Those that choose to break commitment with the one they love after using in such a way are said to receive dire consequences. It is also listed as a powerful antispasmodic agent.

Charging the mixture: Some shops may offer a Reiki charging or similar services for your whole herbs, but you can charge the mixture in a special rite or ceremony depending on your style of witchcraft or magick.

Brewing and Dosage: Brew approximately 1/4 cup of the mixture per two cups hot water.  Let steep for 10-15 minutes.  The taste will be slightly pungent and bitter.  See Experimentation for recommendations to alleviate the bitter pungency.  The dose should be about two cups per individual, however some might feel the effects on a single cup, so go slow and wait 30 minutes after your last cup before taking another and record your experiences.

Experimentation: It might take some fiddling to get this right for you, example; up the Damiana and Scullcap if you are feeling only slight effects.  You should feel a dreamy sort of relaxation, but the mind will be awake.  Both Green Tea and Damiana have slight stimulant effects. If you dislike the pungeancy of the brew, then add honey to your cup or add in a part of Chamomile or Jasmine.

Sources:

Online, http://herbalmagickinc.com
Paul Beyerl, The Master Book of Herbalism
Lexa Rosean, The Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients

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It would seem that everyone from Amber K. to Frater U:.D:. to Phil Hine would have an opinion on, a variant of and a rather pointed view of the ritual.  However, there are common themes to all of these.

1. The calling (rather banishing in this case) of the cardinal points, starting east.
2. The direction of the drawing of each elemental pentagram.
3. The agreement of the archangels, elements and cardinal points.
   • East: Air, Raphael (Raf Aye El)
   • South: Fire, Michael  (Mee Kay El)
   • West: Water, Gabriel (Gae Bree El)
   • North: Earth, Uriel (Ur Aye El)

Now there is much ado that goes on about the banishment vs. invocation of each element, direction or archangel, but the basics are the same.

What are some of the community’s experiences with the LBRP (or LIRP) and the use of it in ritual? Success? Failure? Unnecessary? Absolutely required?

Let’s hear from you!

References:

True Magick, Amber K.
High Magick, Frater U:.D:.
The High Temple of Witchcraft, Christopher Penczak

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Merry Meet

Oddly I find myself moved to type briefly about Atlantis. A hard thing to talk about since the New Age and UfOlogy have filled the subject with such vast amounts of disinformation that it is quite hard to approach t without a great deal of cheesiness.

Well I’ve come to an interesting theory in my life: where you find lies someone is hiding something. Look under the piles of dis-information and you quite often find secrets that those who control the information didn’t want found. So Fear not. I will not tell you that we were descended from dolphins from outer space to be re-incarnated as Cleopatra or any such thing.

There is a great deal of historical reference that at least points to such a place existing and that it dis-appeared under the waves but even more than that was the land of Lemuria which also had a similar fate but not quite as much press. Even the Magickal Isle of Avalon is now only a foothill along some rolling hills near the coast that is now called Glastonbury. Once it seems the valleys surrounding the hill were filled with water, the ocean came quite further inland. Great changes have occurred in the earth and every one of them was documented by the people of the time in stories and legends.

A tale of the indigenous Irish people told of the coming of the Druids. That a great island to the east sank beneath the sea and it was then the first Druids washed up on the shore. Other lands told stories of the survivors arriving on their lands in boats and vessels that, ” sailed in the sky”. Could be that’s where the UFO folks go into the picture. I believe it might have been Socrates (or some other dead Greek dude) recorded having traveled there and marveled at the technology and spirituality of the people. The tales of Atlantis tend to speak of the technology they possessed, no matter who tells them, though the blurring of the tale continues to this day. Many theories exist on where this land was located and some theorists have blamed the strange anomalies in the Bermuda Triangle that have plagued shipping and aviation on an electro magnetic beam coming from beneath the ocean. That is, they claim that the Atlanteons left something on.

Now, I’m not gonna tell you that the Druids came from Atlantis or that any of it is true but we must search these strange old tales for the grains of truth they contain. There were many ancient cultures that have experimented with the concepts we are working with here. Entire nations have harnessed magick as a power source and technology. It is unlikely that nations and governments have abandoned the research of old. Far more likely that some have perfected it.

Remember the obscure piece of Egyptian technology from class #1 which led to non-lethal weaponry. The device I speak of is a metal ball shaped chamber with a large bell type device on the front end, which is held with two arms, tucked under one arm. It is completely portable and operated on an internal combustion engine that produces a rhythmic low frequency pulse said to incapacitate the target making them lose balance, body control, bowel control and severe nausea.

Scary as it may be the device was released for law enforcement use 2 yrs ago which means the military has something better. No one has quite documented having the device used on them but in the last year several anti-globalization protesters have reported having the symptoms without explanation.

“My God why does he tell us these things?!?!?” I tell you for the same reason the old fairy tales were written the way they were, because the sheer terror will hopefully drill the lesson home in a way it is never forgotten.

We are experimenting with our bodies, with our minds and with the world. I am trying to cover things that have a relative degree of safety and with some data collection so we are not messing with the wrong things. The old tales go much, much further. Tales of the Atlanteans building a great weapon that ultimately destroyed them abound and also this curious tale: That the Atlanteons had discovered what we would now call the resonating frequency of the human soul. Now what happens when glass is exposed to it’s resonating frequency of high-C?

Always these old tales are teaching something rather than attempting to be historically accurate. I am a firm believer that all Magickal practices have encoded in them two possible paths enlightenment or destruction. More paths and degrees of both exist but even the fluffiest Magick done, from an impure place with malicious intent, can kill you or others. When a person goes really wrong they will be allowed to and the Ways will let it happen and ultimately destroy that persons soul, hopefully before they hurt too many people.

So when we step onto the ritual stage we have to ask ourselves, “What’s my motivation?. What is the intent? ” Magick and music recognize intent. When I sing a note it has intention to it, when I play a note it carries with it the intent of the song underneath. An A though can be the splendor of the Moon, if I will it the Moon can be dark and spooky and still.. Water can cleanse you or drown you or dash you on the rocks: fire can warm you or burn you and that’s where we go next.

The Elements:

Oh My Goddess such a contradictory amount of data exists on these. It is possible that different notes form different parts of the element, as Fire is Lust or is it Hate. Perhaps the notes are variations on the elemental concepts but no one seems to agree.

Marta was nice enough to send me the Elemental notes she came up with and I found her version in two other sources but I lost the e-mail before I could include it here so perhaps she would send it to us. There seems to be some supporting data.

My model is based on some guesswork in conjunction with the chakra notes and personal experimentation but i am not set on only this model. I tried the one Marta sent and it felt valid when I played it too, just felt like a different part of the whole and hard to explain beyond that.

Earth-G
Air-C
Fire-E
Water-D

So I took my guitar to the street for some harmless experimentation with
some shoppers.

I noticed that the songs felt really punched and hit hard, sounding like acoustic punk just happened to be based in E and felt quite fiery. I had written the songs way before I came to know these things, and so were chosen as purely by feel. I am quite the Cancer, and that’s what are known to do.

Ill tell you all a secret about guitarists, the reason why they hang so low, the vibration, feels good and helps you tune…

I found a lot of folk songs were written to tell tales of the people, communicate ideas, and make you feel, perhaps shed a tear or two over what’s written in G-C-D

D-A-G is the most common arrangement in your sappier folk numbers, perhaps
utilizing the Moon energies.

Now I didn’t find much new in effect, these songs always had the affect I wanted them to have on people but i learned how subconsciously the songs were based in the note that suited them best and had combinations of elemental energies that cause mutual reactions. The E based did agitate and anger people. C tended to communicate large ideas, D had allot of tear-jerkers and love songs and I don’t know if it was a Placebo or not but more people seemed to be throwing money into my guitar case when I was on G.

We are almost finished with this part and will hopefully leave you with some ideas and things to play with as a musician or not. A study of this subject alone could last a lifetime. Elements and planets mixed to cause effect can also make interesting chord changes and riffs.

Each planet has a deity or deities associated with it, you can find this in the Spiral Dance, The Magicians Companion and many other occult reference books

Here are some other things from people on similar studies. This one should be fun. http://www.spiralnature.com/magick/chaos/acousticsigils.html

The research these folks came up with should prove very useful http://members.aol.com/Lambdom3/Chakras.html

Other countries, Eastern for example have different scales, here’s some conversion and other info http://www.saigan.com/heritage/music/mus1.htm

Now this one is fascinating and gives audio files for the non do-it yourselfer. http://members.aol.com/oldenwilde/teaching/musciphr.html

Hmmmm http://www.simillimum.com/Thelittlelibrary/References/Music.html

Oh yes more http://w3.iac.net/~moonweb/archives/KOTO/SS1/SS1.html

This is a bit heady but if you can wrap your brain around it twill be worth it http://www.magonia.demon.co.uk/Ems/xx7.html

There is also a great deal about ritual shapes made with sound in Sacred Sounds which I was going to include here when I thought they were my ideas but the book tells it much better than I.

So experiment and let us know if you come up with any interesting data.

Blessed Be

You can hear Birch’s Intro to Witchcraft Course here : http://www.sacredgrovesantacruz.com/links.htm

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Merry Meet!

As I begin class two it’s only Wednesday and I just finished reading all the responses from last week’s class, and must say I am inspired and fascinated by the data so far.

Today as the scene opens I am again in ritual space, quarters were drawn in absolute silence while sitting in a stationary position. I have downloaded the Brain Wave Generator for my home machine, it’s only shareware but with a little hacking I was able to rig one of their creativity enhancing presets to also vibrate a sub audible tone for the Moon (which you already know is around 420), the frequency associated with the orbit of Mercury 141.27hz which of course is a C-sharp or a D and just for kicks a sweeping tone from the Psychic center chakra 416.0hz A-flat which I am transmitting at myself in a triangular wave cause it seemed cool. The audible part of the preset is the sound of Night, or more realistically, computer generated Crickets and bugs, which actually has quite a rhythm to it since it never changes. No telling what this might do to me but at least I’m in control of the buttons and not that this all makes much sense to you yet but I hope the endless curiosity of ” what the hell is he talkin about” will inspire you to search. It is an old saying with people of my ilk that Wisdom comes through the Pursuit of Knowledge not in the obtaining of it.

The first thing we must cover for our purposes here is the concept of Resonance, whether we are using sound, voice, music, percussion or a brain wave generator. In a similar way to how we use the rule of Sympathetic Magick (Like Attracts Like), a vibration put out causes a vibration of the same frequency to occur in any exterior body capable of producing that vibration, even over long distances.

Physics teaches that all things are made of atoms which contain protons and electrons, electrically and magnetically charged particles. They are in constant motion at times with different speeds which makes their movement audible. These vibrations cause the air around them to shift, causing pressure changes that, if we could see it, would look like the ripples in a stream. The ripples are the movement of more air atoms being caused by the movement of the first, with each atom in turn sending out its own ripples.

Now we have quite a lot of them atoms that make us up, hence the power to make quite a bit o’ ripples. The easiest way to describe resonance would be to take a tuning fork to the tone of Middle-C; if we strike it, it vibrates with a tone we can’t quite hear very well. If we had a piano nearby, or even not so near, and we opened it up to look, we would find the Middle-C string vibrating.

Every cell in our body is a resonator of sound that is capable of responding to and does without our say so to vibrations outside the body. The part within us that resonates to that note outside of us will be affected/stimulated. Not every vibration produces a sound. Places have a vibration, things, and yes, even people. Suddenly the words “I don’t like his vibe” or “Quit vibing me, dammit” take on a new meaning. People have a vibration that alters with mood, physical activity, and health; the note we are vibrating at, even if we don’t hear it.

Perhaps it can be considered that we are sometimes out of tune with others or are not in harmony with them. In these cases we can become averse to the vibration/person that is displeasing to us. Or we can try another note and see if we can cause a harmonious vibration of another kind with that person. To psychically change the subject, in a way.

There is, of course, much more than anyone can grock on any of these subjects. Although I am a musician and have carved an interesting little career for myself I still to this day when talking other musicians through a song say things like “it’s an A-somthin followed by a D-with the pinkie up” or “that D-ish cord”. I know them and can feel them but haven’t really done much of the musical theory homework. Guess I was more interested in the magickal theory. So as D-ish won’t work here I have done some research and found www.xs4all.nl/`xenophon/music/theory to be quite handy for getting up on the music theory. So go look around and come back and let’s get to playing right away.

As above So Below, As the Universe So the Soul:  We can use our vibrations or crude technologies to produce vibrations that cause other vibrations and create great change in the world with those vibrations but first let’s start at the starting place: You.  Now let’s say you’re one of those people with the non-harmonious vibrations or are just in a state where you want to alter your vibration, change your mood, enter a trance state etc. Well, the Key is The Key, you see. Mantras, chants, songs or Enochian god names are all just fine but are far more effective when done in a harmonious note. If you can use your voice that’s great, or use your chosen device. Even if you think your tone deaf, it doesn’t matter.

If you’re using voice, check your pitch with a pitch pipe or other device and sing a tone in the deepest most vibratory way you can. Tone is tone but aim for vibration you can feel deep down. If you know where your diaphragm is, aim there.

Regardless of what you may hear, try and match the feel of the tone in your bones. It’s hard to explain but even the tone deaf can feel it. For me, I take my instrument, pluck the note and alter my voice trying to match it. The point where it matches is more a feel for me, though. When I vocalize the note, I feel a wave coming back from the instrument when I hit the proper pitch. This will only make so much sense until you feel what I’m talking about.

When you can find that feeling you have found the resonating frequency. When I try it against a speaker playing the note there is a point I hit where suddenly, although there are only two notes, the room sounds and feels like it is filled with music, even from far across the room. I shift though the notes and when I hit the right note it’s unmistakable; it all begins to sound very big. Try this a bit and we’ll go on.

Now that we are capable of producing the notes from our body or have a tool for doing, we will begin with C.

C or C-sharp resonates with the energies of the Sun and can be used against depression. It brings warmth and joy, is calming, meditative, relaxing, healing and centering. The Indians called it “father to others” and is the traditional note for ‘OM’ and “AMEN’. C is also associated with Pluto’s orbit which can be used for power, to overcome crisis and change and is also associated with Mercury.

So we add another note: Intent. Concentrate with intent on the energies you want when toning.

D is also associated with Mercury as is the top half of C, so different levels of speech and communication are affected depending on the note. D is also associated with activity, freedom and humor, and has some associations with the orbit of Mars.

E is for centering, the solar plexus and can be used for healing. Perhaps you can tell me any planetary associations that it has.

F and F-sharp are for creativity, generosity, used to overcome boundaries, and has associations with the orbit of Jupiter.

G is for Earth and grounding, it stimulates and energizes the mind, promotes harmony with nature, and attracts money. G-Sharp also has associations with Venus, Uranus, and Juno, is said to decongest, and resonates with the frequency of Manganese (a mineral nutrient).

A is, of course, the Moon, but F-sharp is also associated with the Moon. A is a bit all over the place, used to overcome fatigue, associated with Venus, the third eye and psychic matters, decisiveness, balance and vitality, sensitivity and other world experiences.

B is associated with copper, useful for sinus infections and colds, stimulates the crown chakra and the communication with God/Dess, and stimulates the adrenal glands, intelligence and matters of the head.

As we can see, the notes are harmonics of the frequencies with which they vibrate, and that’s why one note can be associated with several planets. Can you see why some planets act in harmony with each other and some don’t? Can the musicians see some new chords? There are also color associations with each note which can be utilized for everything you use color magick for, which correspond as follows, in the same order as above: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

Timbre is described in music as the color of the tone and the distinguishing mark of all tone. It helps to identify one tone from another and pick one instrument out of an orchestra.  Pitch is the high or low of a sound; the faster sound vibrates the higher the pitch. Low pitches bend around objects, this is why the drums are the last thing you hear when you’re walking out of the building. High pitches are more intense and focused, cutting through other tones. There’s much more to say about pitch but we will go on.

Melody is the relation of tones to each other, a progression of notes that moves energy in a specific pattern. Melody is about relationships.

Harmony speaks to the relationship of tones on top of, underneath, and in the middle of each other, the combining of more than one note to produce a specific ‘other’ tone. The uniting of vibration.

Rhythm has been called the pulse of life. Being exposed to a rhythm can alter your pulse and your heartbeat due to a rhythmic resonance factor. Depending on the situation, altering your heartbeat can be good or bad and some rhythms are abnormal, unnatural and can cause problems.

One such rhythm is Anapestic which they say was used by the Rolling Stones in some early sixties numbers and is often used in punk and metal. In the sixties some people were hospitalized with breathing and heart problems associated with the music because a normal heartbeat is 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 and anapestic 1-2-3 1-2-3 with emphasis on the 3. There is a lot more to cover in rhythm later.

Burning the History Books-

The problem with research of this kind is although many ancient societies had stumbled on these concepts long ago and developed complex models around them, they tend to disagree on the actual association of the notes. Completely different models for the planets and other attributes exist with different notes assigned. Finding a point where the research agrees can be a staggeringly difficult process (not that I’m saying any of the old sources are wrong; it is possible they all came up with sub-harmonics of the actual frequencies…I haven’t yet done the math).

So I have chosen to throw the majority of that out and turn to science for the answer. Each planet, object, being or body has a vibration, a frequency and tone, which can be documented and traced through elements of radio theory, a theory which, as far as we can tell, is a constant in the universe. Science as it stands does not disagree much on these frequencies and most data I’ve collected seems to link up quite nicely. At times where science has not tracked or observed an object I have reverted to the old data wherever necessary. Basically, when I have nothing better, I look at what ‘they’ say.

Assignment

1.      Play with this and let us know what you find. Experiment with it for a week.

2.      Research these concepts, see what knowledge the ancients had, and then enact our prime directive: Change Your Perspective!

Reading Possibilities:

The 21 Lessons of Merlin

Sacred Sounds

The Magicians Companion

Google searches with “musical note planets” or “frequencies” as keywords brought up a lot to sift through.
Blessed Be,
Birch

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“Little person who comes from beyond ourselves, welcome to this, the only world we have. Welcome to the warmth of our bodies. Welcome to the songs and feasts of people you do not know. Our blessings is a touch, a friend you will know as your darkness turns to light.”
The baby is then passed around among everyone present, each person calls the baby by name *and* speaks his/her own name to the baby and says anything else s/he feels is appropriate. And why not make it a party and invite lots of people over!

No attribution known. If you wrote this, let us know.

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“Listen as the witches word calls the all a gulf to ford Bridge the vast realities An it harm ye none do as ye please!”

“Elements guard and watch this book, from wandering eyes and prying look. In this right and ready hour, Fill it with thine ancient power.”

“Powers of North! Earth Below, show us/me to live, learn and grow! Lend us/me your strength and stability, to practice with love and set ourselves/me free!”

“Powers of East! Wind and sky, watch over these pages with thine eye! Your wisdom and knowledge, for these we/I do ask, that this book be worthy of the craft and it’s task!”

“Powers of South! Fire and hearth, help these shadows prove their worth! Infuse and uplift with your healing and passion, so only good comes from the works that are fashioned!”

“Powers of West! Water and sea, transformation and growth are granted by thee! Bless herin pages with all that you know, that all righteous readers may learn and may grow!”

“In winter, spring, summer and fall, in our shadows we ask for the aid of all! To practice the Craft of the wise as we/I must, with truth, perfect peace, perfect love, and perfect trust!”

“We ask for the blessings of the Lady and Lord, as we/I hold up Her chalice and brandish His sword! All we/I know is infused with their power, from sun and moon, rock and flower!”

“Guard us Earth Mother and teach us your lore, from silvery moon to the Earth’s inner core! When working our/my magick please help us/me not fear it, we know you will guide me/us and strengthen our/my spirit!”

“Grant us, Sky Father, your wisdom and strength, to complete all our workings and go the full length! You smile down upon us/me the light of the sun, rejoicing in life with You we/I am/are one!”

“Guardians from the four directions, Lady and Lord it’s your protections, and your love for which we look, To inspire and lead us as we write this book!”

“Yet to the unschooled eye let see, confusing words and sophistry! Lead them from these sacred pages, on blessed ways throughout the ages!”

“Yet to the Witch this book shall stay, plain and truthful, clear as day! Direct and show, guide and teach, our/my dreams and goals help us/me reach!”

“For free will of all and harm of none, as I have willed it now it is done! SO MOTE IT BE!!”

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Cast a circle in the main room (livingroom) and after casting, visualize the circle expanding to include the entire house. Call upon the spirits and energies living in the house (or apartment). Invite those who will be harmonious with the new household and its energies to remain. Invite/ask those who will be happier elsewhere to depart. Release all “energies” not compatible with the new household. (This may be expressed as a “release” in order to unbind anything that may be stuck).

Then call upon, greet, and invite ancestors, patron deities, and all harmonious spirits and energies to dwell in the house as they please. Gather up the pots, pans, and all the noise-makers. Go to each door and window,
not forgetting the fire-place and dog-door, making as much racket as humanly possible-to shoo out anything unwanted. (This is hysterical fun, and also raises lots of energy for the next important step.)

Go again throughout the house and at each portal (door, window, etc.) sprinkle salt-water and incense, saying: “By the Elements I purify and charge this portal.” Then anoint the portal with milk and honey, saying: “By Milk and Honey I ensure prosperity and peace within this place.” Finally, anoint the portal with oil, saying: “With Oil I seal this portal and protect all within.” At the front door a special prayer is said, asking the guardian deities (God & Goddess) to freely grant entry to all friends and loved ones, and to prevent passage (turn aside) to any who would do harm.”
Then, if it’s a house-pour wine across the width of the threshold; if it’s an apartment anoint the threshold with light touches of wine. The house-holders then each take a sip of wine, leaving some as an offering to
the Gods, and the Circle should be closed. The remaining wine, milk, and honey should be offered to the Gods. (In our case to the fruit tree and the oak tree in our yard.)

Do make certain to “ground” afterward, by closing the circle and by eating. This ritual can “stir” up everybody and make the house feel full of “buzzy” energy.
House Blessing Notes:
In the spirit of house blessings, and because I’m basically a kitchen witch at heart, and like little projects over serious ritual, I offer some selections gleaned from Cunningham’s The Magical Household. I’m typing these without permission but with the hope that they’ll inspire you to pick up the Cunningham book, because it’s wonderful stuff…

For the doorway:
Suspend over the door a fresh sprig of dill, tied with a blue cord (or red, if you prefer), to prevent those who mean you harm from entering. Cross two needles, and stick into or tie onto a corner of your doormat, to prevent evil from entering.
Grind Dragon’s Blood herb into a powder and sprinkle it on door and window sills, to protect your house from harm.

Originally attributed to Pirate Jenny, wherever she may be.

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I found this online class I guess I once taught but barely remember, I just start teaching usually and rarely have text of what I said. So I read it, still agree with it and got some laughs at my own spewing and feel I should let it loose as it was a private class shared with few.

So here is class #1. If I receive a response, I may post another.

Merry Meet First things first, as most of you know I have been teaching Craft for about 25yrs now, it is something I can do in my sleep and i guess i do pretty well with it sometimes.

What I am about to teach I have never taught before (and i believe no-one ever has) and my technique will be far from polished. I am available for questions and clarifications through e-mail the phone and of course in person for those who can reach the Grove. I tend to work Mon.-Wed. 11-3ish pretty regular but many spots betwixt and between, I do not recognize the concept of ’stupid questions’ but do however recognize the stupidity of remaining in ignorance without ever asking the question. So please ask. Alot of questions would benefit the whole class and should be asked in the public forum of the Circle-bee list. For other things requiring more privacy or if your too embarrassed ask me privately.

The closest definition for the beginning of what we will learn we will have to give a new name to since it never has existed before but does contain elements of many Magicks we know, the closest thin we could call it is : Bardic Chaos Magick. The majority of the Bardic teachings were never written down and i have never written them and even though we will tear these olde concepts a new orifice here i have kept a portion of the olde tradition in a new way. The body of the beginning of these texts exists in no physical form. I have e-mailed them back and forth to myself keeping them in an endless cyber loop in which they exist only as mathematical calculations presented as a light source and transmitted through fiber optic cables as a light source. They will not exist in physical form until you print them out, and you are encouraged to do so.

All great stories begin with the stage, the surrounding scenery that sets the tone it is usually dark and gets slowly lighter until the first line is laid.

I am sitting in a consecrated ritual space with quarters guardians, an incense is burning of Frankincense, Sage(white), Rosemary and Juniper. A single candle is the only illumination with exception of the monitor. I read from no prepared text but have a mountains of research books nearby. I have a Brain Wave Generator running in the background with the sound of a babbling stream and a sweeping sub-tone moving from the frequency of the human psychic center chakra and the frequency of the Moon, which you will soon come to know is 420.82hz. and the musical note of A-flat. The Moon has just entered its dark phase and will be new when this is transmitted the Sun is entering pices and LOL i just heard my voice come over the radio and I am reading the Witch news in the background (it just got weird).

You may not realize it but we have just learned quite a bit about the Bardic craft without even knowing we were learning. That was the main point,to teach without teaching, to instruct without instructing and to alter the course of human events with no-one quite knowing who did it. To change destiny merely with a song, a poem or a story.

In the Bardic philosophy kings rose and nations fell depending on what pictures were shown to the rulers and the people, what notes and rhythms had touched their hearts, what seeds had been planted. The most known of the Bardic lines what what we would now call part of an initiation cycle of Bards, Vates (also Ovates) and Druids. While the roles of these titles seems somewhat interchangeable it is generally thought that the Bards mastered Music and the crafting of the words woven within, often only soft verses almost spoken over a Harp, The Vates were keepers of oral lore and histories and the crafting of vast tales to conceal the teaching of such tales, master story tellers and word smiths both written and spoken, the Druids it seemed had all these skills but held the positions of religious teachers/counselors, plant and medicine lore, alchemy and part Politician. It took 20 symbolic deaths and rebirths to reach the position of Druid and since it is said that these cycles followed the seasonal progression we can figure that this took 20 years. The same amount of letters in the Irish Ogham and each letter a tree, each tree a complex meaning and perhaps initiatory path. In some systems the Bards are responsible for the oral lore part and the Vates another and it gets really hard to figure out what the Druids are doing and all of these titles gets thrown into the general heading of Bard and Druid and Vate being initiatory paths of the Bards. Are you confused yet, well so was Caesar. During the time Julius Caesar wrote “The Gallic Wars” a new title had taken up residence, that of the Filidhs and it seems the role and lore of the Bards gets passed on to them and the Druids and Vates seemingly Disapear. The Filidhs seem to have had training periods running the exact length and course of the Druids. That’s just about enough of this confusing piece of history for our needs.

Although there is great emphasis on oral lore, the Bards were also masters and some say the originators of written language. In the Irish tradition it’s said that the Bards recognized the power of sound. That sound caused vibrations that changed everything around them, that the very particles of matter were moved by sound and that movement caused change in the physical world. It was then the task of the Bard to construct a symbol for each sound that could be uttered by the human body. THe fist known of these symbol patterns is the Ogham in the Druidic held lands. Now of course 20 letters does not seem to be enough to cover all the grunts, groans and howls known to our species but it was thought that through combinations of these symbols onc could recreate any spoken sound.

It seems as far back as the Egyptians sound and acoustics were being harnessed as power sources. Some temples seemingly created to amplify the natural vibrations of the earth and immerse kings in it’s wave as part of initiation ceremonies. One particular artifact which it seems the research of which was early controlled by governments and it is believed at least one non-lethal weapon has been created using this research. The original object, only made of solid stone and about the size of a car, when drummed upon produced a VLF wave capable of moving solid objects much larger. They didn’t have a name for the device and i only know what i know about it from the Discovery Channel.

There is an old story that long ago in the age of Capricorn the great god Pan went to Earth to interact with humans and to teach them. The reason we see Pan as having horns was to remind us when in Earths history this had occurred,many similar stories exist, when the gods and goddesses walked among us and started to interfere with human destiny. The beginning all messiah stories, messages from angels prophets and the like. A repeating theme continuing throughout the ages and across the globe to the most known and the last example western society seems to recognize, the story of Jesus, which before the Christian tale was the tale of Mithras and the spirit of “the Christ” who descended upon him.

In the old tale the age of Capricorn was the first age of the Earth, the first age always coming after the “last” age, of which no stories are told but we know existed based on what does not exist but is hinted at in the tale. For there to have been a last before the first, there must have been another first before the last.

The old tales hint at the fact that the reason the gods started to interfere in human destiny is that somehow whatever plan they had for us had gone terribly wrong. The tale of Pan speaks of Pan coming to wipe clean the beliefs that had come before (again indicating that there was a ‘before’). It speaks of the people (who were already there) had been in savagery for seven generations and Pan had come to bring the ‘true’ religion that would unite the people and bring them back to the simple truth, that the truth is simple.

A tale such as this is steeped in metaphor as you might imagine and several stories told between the lines, some of which we have just looked at, the story of omission, the void being considered by the Bards as the well of truth, the truth is told in what is not there quite often.

The word Pan in the Greek means ‘all’ and in some senses ‘one’, as in you and I are one, we are one. The usage of one that means the joining of several. It was Pans vision or perhaps his job was to seed the worlds religions with what he called the ‘three pars of religion’ Music, Dance and Agriculture each part having two somewhat hidden parts or branches, making six.

So it May have been in the beginning, So we begin Now.

So all this history stuff is fine and gives us much to ponder on that we will probably never know but where do we come into the equation, thousands of years later sifting through fragments. Well some of what our ancestors knew, they didn’t know like we know now. Some knowledge has been lost forever and some things the ancients spoke of in their poetical quaint ways has now been “proven” by science and has given us new insights and approaches to old ideas. Some new knowledge obscures the truth and does us no good and some old wisdom is just silly, lest we forget Leaches were once medicine. Now leaches was a silly medicine but it leads to ideas in blood extraction and purification.

Before I rant too far the point of Pagan religion was a natural evolutionary process of planets, people and ideas. The Olde Religion was supposed to continue to grow and expand, to change with time not struggle against it.

After the Burning Times, Hanging Times, Being Pressed to Death, Hacking Maiming and Dismembering Times we Witches are so fond of talking about all our efforts have gone toward sifting through the rubble for pieces of our past to re-assemble all that was lost.

Well time comes when you have to take what you have found and make it grow again. Take the old pieces out and hold them up to a new light. The Druids and the Wise People scattered across the earth were quite Wise for their time and knew much most did not but i wonder if they knew that the Sun transmits at a frequency of 136.1hz and vibrates in C-sharp, well they didn’t exactly have a C-sharp so perhaps that’s Why A-sharp is also associated with Sun and the sign of Leo.

The point is we can know, these infernal machines we have built can tell us and do all the math to boot.

Now I know some if not alot of you all are not musicians and think the first part of this class is not gonna be for you but, musician or not, tone deaf or mute you can now harness the power of tone and vibration in entirely new/old ways and those of you who are musicians will find many ways to play with this. We will learn Tone, Key, Rhythm and percussion as used in Magick and hopefully entire new ways and you can do it even if we must enlist the aid of modern technology.

The 1st ASSIGNMENT: In the next week obtain the means to produce the basic musical notes in western scale.

<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Suggestions</span>:Of course an instrument if you have one. Any music store will sell you a “Pitch Pipe” for a couple of bucks and it will produce our basic notes. I trust you have access to a computer, there are many downloadable software programs all over the Net to produce music, either a digital piano or something or guitartuner.com (i think) will let you play each note with Real, WinAmp or any of the other on-line sound devices. Remember Google is your friend. Let us know what you came up with.

The 2nd ASSIGNMENT: The First Lesson in Bardic Craft “Change Your Perspective”.

A square can be a cube when looked at in a different angle. For the next week play with this concept in all possible ways, hang upside down, stand on the roof, try to look at everything in a different way that you have just to see if you can do it. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes, then put yourself in their neibors shoes. Try anything you ‘normally’ do in a slightly different way and share your more interesting findings with the class before the next class (in other words send them before friday). Contact me if you have any input or questions…

Merry Part

Merry Meet Again

Blessed Be,

Birch

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