I’m saved this. I’ve sent it to myself so I can put it in my journal and reread it and I’m sure every time I read it. I will take something new from it.
This! I am amazed, confused in such a striking way how one interpretation can so touch so many levels within me. Ive grasped for “my place” and sat still and waited to understand how i best embody this existence… THIS speaks to me and now i understand. It’s really hard when you’re searching to understand and you look outward for “names” for your gift ( which truly just make it more manageable malleable for everyone else). Thank you for this. I needed to find this and I look forward to hearing more from you.
The common response usually when one begins their spiritual journey is to clutter their space with stones, symbolism etc instead of just doing the actual work and being present. I'm certainly guilty of this when I first started out. When really one should be using the mind, body and one's level of attained consciousness as the primary vehicle for magick.
However all the same, I have found expansion into all different kinds of fields of spirituality, disciplines and crafts whether it would be construction, music or even software engineering if that is your jam is a necessary part of the process. However once one becomes more sure of themselves, their direction and what they know works best for them and know what their purpose is, then its time to contract and cast off any excess and build a vehicle and map of your own making and genius which I have found is far more rewarding than just practicing the many variations of ritual and magick.
There will also come a point I have found where no book, system or mentor can actually help you and it becomes a must to devise solutions yourself from your own understanding of the world around you and of yourself.
This moment is true initiation, when you start to do things that come directly from your own soul instead of just imitating those who came before us. By all means let's stand on the shoulders of giants, however lets never forget that we must at some point construct further scaffolding ourselves to reach the heavens.
I was fortunate, in a way, that I began my study of Magick in a place where I had only the minimum in the way of accoutrements, if that. When I first got out, my altar was cluttered with bones and knick-knacks, before I decided on a clean slate and a minimalist setup.
Now, I realize that every surface is an altar, if it is kept with attention and intention.
The Sigyn-and-Yggdrasil close has the same shape as the Catholic devotional images I grew up with around València: pierced body held in sustained suffering, second body holding the bowl. Different cosmology, same theology of consequence. Reading you is like reading a cousin who took a colder road.
I really like that sentiment. Thank you. Like everyone in the West, I was shaped by the Judeo-Christian structure by which we are surrounded. I grew up Lutheran, which really is like a cold cousin to Catholicism. However, this imagery is in turn influenced by these older forms and religions. Everything influences what it touches.
Mediterranean Catholicism is the obvious palimpsest. The older gods are still visible under the saints. La Mare de Déu absorbs Cybele and Isis without much disguise. The bull in our village festivals is the bull. Sant Joan’s midsummer fires are the midsummer fires. The Catholic frame became a way of carrying older grammars forward under cover.
It works both ways. As people try to recover or preserve the old ways, and I am speaking in a general way about Western culture, they invariably do so through a modern lens, and do so generally amid the pressure of the Abrahamic influence that permeates our societies.
I’m saved this. I’ve sent it to myself so I can put it in my journal and reread it and I’m sure every time I read it. I will take something new from it.
I am glad you found it useful. I am kind of feeling around the root of something, here.
I look forward to see what emerges from your excavation!
This! I am amazed, confused in such a striking way how one interpretation can so touch so many levels within me. Ive grasped for “my place” and sat still and waited to understand how i best embody this existence… THIS speaks to me and now i understand. It’s really hard when you’re searching to understand and you look outward for “names” for your gift ( which truly just make it more manageable malleable for everyone else). Thank you for this. I needed to find this and I look forward to hearing more from you.
I am glad you enjoyed it. I explore these concepts a little bit more in my fiction, so don't be shy about giving it a look.
Avid reader. Thanks for the recommendation!
So keeping the spirit from leaving the physical? I can get it.
Not even that, so much as they are the same thing.
Oh... okay.
The common response usually when one begins their spiritual journey is to clutter their space with stones, symbolism etc instead of just doing the actual work and being present. I'm certainly guilty of this when I first started out. When really one should be using the mind, body and one's level of attained consciousness as the primary vehicle for magick.
However all the same, I have found expansion into all different kinds of fields of spirituality, disciplines and crafts whether it would be construction, music or even software engineering if that is your jam is a necessary part of the process. However once one becomes more sure of themselves, their direction and what they know works best for them and know what their purpose is, then its time to contract and cast off any excess and build a vehicle and map of your own making and genius which I have found is far more rewarding than just practicing the many variations of ritual and magick.
There will also come a point I have found where no book, system or mentor can actually help you and it becomes a must to devise solutions yourself from your own understanding of the world around you and of yourself.
This moment is true initiation, when you start to do things that come directly from your own soul instead of just imitating those who came before us. By all means let's stand on the shoulders of giants, however lets never forget that we must at some point construct further scaffolding ourselves to reach the heavens.
I was fortunate, in a way, that I began my study of Magick in a place where I had only the minimum in the way of accoutrements, if that. When I first got out, my altar was cluttered with bones and knick-knacks, before I decided on a clean slate and a minimalist setup.
Now, I realize that every surface is an altar, if it is kept with attention and intention.
The Sigyn-and-Yggdrasil close has the same shape as the Catholic devotional images I grew up with around València: pierced body held in sustained suffering, second body holding the bowl. Different cosmology, same theology of consequence. Reading you is like reading a cousin who took a colder road.
I really like that sentiment. Thank you. Like everyone in the West, I was shaped by the Judeo-Christian structure by which we are surrounded. I grew up Lutheran, which really is like a cold cousin to Catholicism. However, this imagery is in turn influenced by these older forms and religions. Everything influences what it touches.
Mediterranean Catholicism is the obvious palimpsest. The older gods are still visible under the saints. La Mare de Déu absorbs Cybele and Isis without much disguise. The bull in our village festivals is the bull. Sant Joan’s midsummer fires are the midsummer fires. The Catholic frame became a way of carrying older grammars forward under cover.
It works both ways. As people try to recover or preserve the old ways, and I am speaking in a general way about Western culture, they invariably do so through a modern lens, and do so generally amid the pressure of the Abrahamic influence that permeates our societies.
I’d love to turn this into a “Body Owner’s Manual” for kids. Such vital information communicated with such clarity 🌸❤️
I think I would like one of those, as an adult.
Same
The First Altar is a title with real gravity.
Thank you for saying so.
Enchanting and visceral writing. A beautiful way to start my Sabbath readings.
Really excellent work my brother. Well done