Sunday, July 17, 2011

Universal Law and Chaos

Universal Laws & Universal Chaos

The Universal laws are absolutely necessary for a metaphysical system of the universe to work. In other words, all the laws, the concept of balance within the universe, the theory of there being a Divine universe, reincarnation, and so on, all these ideas can only work or function if there are laws that govern cause and effect. And like all things, this concept is a theory. As mortal beings, we can only 'know' facts based on our inner knowingness or belief. These laws are no more factual or invalid than the mythology of the creation of the universe in the Norse Eddas, or the Christian Bible.

With that said, what is the theory of Universal Law & Chaos? Before we can examine the Universal Laws, we need to understand what Universal Laws are and how they relate to Universal Chaos. And yes both exist, this is how balance is created within the universe.

Universal Laws were created with 'Creation', whether mankind has discovered them or not. No other laws are necessary to run the Universe. These principles have no exception (as man made laws do) and if events, situations, objects, persons, phenomena and mother nature act as if an exception exists, it is only because humanity does not understand the law in its entirety. These laws are basically rules of nature, or more accurately stated, rules of the Divine Universe. Like laws of science (gravity, relativity, etc.), the Universe laws exist to provide order in nature. Without that order, we would have no purpose, no basic concept of knowledge, wisdom or life.

Universal Chaos - where Universal Laws provide order, chaos provides balance. There are theories that Chaos existed before order was established in the universe. That the Universe was born out of chaos and thus chaos is in all things. Keep in mind that Metaphysical concepts are from the great masters (Pythagorus, Aristotle, Plato). The words and meanings are Greek. Chaos, is the creation of perfectness consisting of indestructible, intelligent, energetic atoms (and smaller particles) not having order. Chaos is the essence of all things made in the universes, the formless void of primordial matter.Some call it chaos, others call it perfectness as mankind knows no other.

That's a concept that for humans can sometimes be hard to grasp or put your hands around. So let's break both these down into an example.
Order: Before you are born, you create a blue print of your incarnated life. You lay out the general path you want to take, the situations that need to occur to provide you opportunities for learning lessons, paying or receiving karmic debts, expanding your awareness and hopefully becoming more enlightened. This is the order of your life.

Chaos: In that incarnated life, you have free will and choice. You walk on that path established in your spiritual blue print, but like all construction, once you're building the life, situations present themselves that require choices. This is the chaos that balances the order. Your free will and choice are the chaos in your life. We only hope that we make the best choices and decisions for the evolution of our soul and spiritual growth.

If life were totally preordained, then what's the purpose of learning? What's the purpose of growing and expanding your awareness? The outcome is already known. So why not skip the process and just get to the result. But that's the point. Life IS NOT preordained. Your free will and choice create the chaos that by your decisions direct the outcome. You have the ability to continue your construction and spiritual evolution, or destroy it and face the same situation over and over until the lesson is learned.

Superior and Subordinate Laws:
There are many different laws and not all of them are Universal laws. Pick up a book from Einstein and you'll discover the laws of science, research the mind and you'll find laws of the psyche, study nature and you'll find the laws of nature. These are subordinate laws that provide support to the physical world's perception of order and function.

All the other laws, such as the law of perception, or meditation, organization and so on are established by mankind to give further form, function and detail to the superior Universal laws. They are not necessary, but for mankind, they subordinate laws give additional guidance in the detail of their principles.

The Universal Laws:
There are 23 Universal Laws that balance out the chaos of the Divine. These are Superior laws of the Divine Universe created at the time of Creation. (You might take note of the significance of the number of laws. 23 and how that can be seen in other aspects of creation; or incarnation).

1. The Law of Absorption:
All matter in the universes, regardless of it's manifested vibration, absorbs emanations from all other matter and the matter is influenced by this absorption. In other words, all things are connected, relate and affect one another.

2. The Law of Accountability:
(Also known as the Law of Return). You are accountable for what you create at the moment of creation. This accountability occurs on the physical, mental and spiritual levels and cannot be avoided.

3. The Law of Activity:
Action results from attention of thought and the nature of the action corresponds to the nature of the attention. In other words, the seeds you sow will grow the fruit you plant. What you sow, so shall ye reap.

4. The Law of Apperception:
Conscious of being flows within all units of the Universe. Throughout all eternity, everything has a consciousness and knows it's own conscious being. Thought knows it is thought, energy knows it is energy, every single unit, from the Great Cosmos to the tiniest Atom, knows what the function of it's unit is.

5. The Law of Association:
If two or more things have something in common, the 'thing in common' can be used to influence or control the other thing. The degree of control depends upon the size of the 'thing in common'. The more in common the things have, the more control can be used to influence the things.

6. The Law of Attitude:
"Attitude" is the only weapon that can harm an individual. Nothing, absolutely nothing can harm a human being, but his or her own attitude. Each experience is put in its proper perspective and hopefully resolved in a favorable manner. How you react toward those experiences, your attitude about them, determines how the experience affects you.

7. The Law of Avoidance:
Refusing to handle a highly emotional or unpleasant situation, to deny living up to one's full potential or neglecting to do something that should be done, will affect an individuals physical body and mental mind. As well as lifestyle affairs through each incarnation, until that person correctly balances with the situation.

8. The Law of Balance:
This is the Key To Life. Balance is the nature to maintaining order within the divine universe. Each entity makes choices to exist, when those choices are made in conjunction with the flow of the energy, entities and events balance is maintained.

9. The Law Of Manifestation
(Also known as the Law of Beamed Energy):
Thought is energy, focused on one central idea with one's undivided attention can be created in the mind and then physically transferred from any point of the physical body (eyes, mind, hands, etc.) to any object, subject or ethereal realm for manifestation. The energy can be directed and controlled, with certain behavioral characteristics to accomplish a given result. Mostly commonly used method in healing.

10. The Law of Catastrophe:
Also referred to in the human experience as the stage of drama/trauma. An absolute necessity for the evolutionary process, motivated by many laws of totality, when the seed cracks and growth is permitted to begin. This occurs in the human experience, and in nature.

11. The Law of Cause and Effect:
For every happening in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction. (This is not to be confused with the Law of Accountability - also known as the Law of Return).

12. The Law of Center:
A basic principle in nature, that everything has a center from which it obtains it's source energy, intelligence and pattern which is continually self-renewing. Each center is connected to every other center and to the one center from which all life is vitalized.

13. The Law of Communication:
Every unit, from the single atom to the galaxy system is "plugged into" a giant switchboard. Each unit as the ability to communicate with all other units through it's own vibrational frequency. This communication system makes it possible for all beings to have psychic possibilities, and to communicate or share information with each other on a psychic level.

14. The Law of Change:
The readiness of a situation to alter, modify, transform or convert is caused by a continual change of inner attitude. As one continues to experience situations in life, their attitude adjusts to process the experience and change occurs.

15. The Law of Consciousness:
Totality is all Consciousness, All there is - is. This is the 'conscious of being' or 'awareness of it's existence'. In other words, what we know at a given moment is reality for us as a conscious individual. What one perceives in consciousness from moment to moment is our individual reality and therefore real for us.

16. The Law of Contact (also known as the Law of Contagion):
Things, animate or inanimate, once in contact with each other will continue to act upon each other even at a distance, long after the physical contact has been made.

17. The Law of Continuity:
Nothing in the Universe ever dies, is lost or destroyed, it just changes form. Everything becomes a part of forever. Matter and Energy are never destroyed only transformed or changed.

18. The Law of Correspondence:
Each component within a system or thing retains its own characteristics and takes on the characteristics of the system or thing as a total sum of its parts. Each component then has two functions; to retrain its own characteristics and to function as the whole system or thing.

19. The Law of Cosmic Web:
Every point in space regardless of vibrational frequency connects with every other point in space and interconnects with every point of time; past, present and future.

20. The Law of Cycles:
A period of time divided into equal lengths and each length of time produces a certain definite effect upon the progressional path of each living organism, object or event. This effect repeats itself in the same order, and at the same intervals, making a circle of time for each system.

21. The Law of Duplication:
If one person can do it, it can be done by others; perhaps to a lesser or higher degree, or equally, to equalize with the activity.

22. The Law of Dying:
When a unit or entity has completed one stage or area of growth, it will gather all the knowledge from this area of growth and all the knowledge from the Group Soul of it's element and withdraw this knowledge into itself, ready to expand into enlightenment.

23. The Law of Elements:
Each unit has it's own frequency, each element in that unit has its frequency of emanations connecting it to and compatible with the parent unit. When these elements are separated from the parent unit, they will still have the same emanations connecting them to the parent unit.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Welcome Justine Marie

We have a new writer on our blog, Please welcome Justine Marie. You may have even noticed some of her posts of recent. She has kindly accepted to help our blog content. Thank You Justine for helping out it is very welcomed and we are grateful you accepted :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
~Willow~

A Home Blessing

Read in its entirety before doing.

You’ll need the following: sage, sweet grass, matches, charcoal, fireproof vessel to burn herbs in, red candle, consecrated salt water and a noise maker of some sort- bells, drums, rattles, etc..

This is best done before moving into a new home. Otherwise, I like to do my cleansings and blessings on or just after the New Moon. The object is to eliminate all unwanted harmful or negative energies residing in your home and to replace those energies with or invite more peaceful energy in. You’ll want to make sure to do this all at once in one day. If you need to, you can have others help you.


The first thing you’ll want to do is clean house. I don’t mean burn nice smelling herbs I mean sweeping, mopping, dusting, sweating, etc. To do a proper home blessing, you need to have a clean space. So get out the detergents and scrub. You need to move furniture when you do this and don’t forget to clean the corners. Negative energy just loves to build up in the corners and behind couches where there isn’t a lot of movement to stir it up, Once your house is lemony fresh you can move onto the next step.

Now we smudge. For this you’ll need sage and sweet grass. Sage cleanses and removes all unwanted energies, etc. and sweet grass is used to call spirits of a more positive energy into your home. Nature doesn’t like a vacuum so when you cleanse the house you have to replace the bad with the good so everyone’s happy.
From what I understand, there are different ways to do this. I’m going to write about the way I do it. It’s always worked for me and whatever home I’ve lived in.

I start in the top floor of the house in the Eastern corner and work through each room counter-clockwise. I usually have copious amounts of sage billowing through and around the house when I’m done. As you walk through each room make sure you are speaking out loud, these or similar words:

BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE ALL NEGATIVE ENERGY AND SPIRITS, LEAVE THIS HOME NEVER TO RETURN. I ADMONISH YOU TO DEPART NOW AND LEAVE ITS INHABITANTS IN PEACE. BE GONE AT ONCE!

Make sure you’re getting the sage smoke in every nook and cranny in the room. I have a fan I made of feathers to help direct the smoke where I want it to go. Make sure you’re doing each room, counter-clockwise and top to bottom. By working top to bottom you’re pushing all the negative energy down into the earth where our Earth Mother can neutralize it.

Now repeat with the red candle. Make sure you’re shining the flame in all the nooks and crannies from top to bottom again. Next do the salt water, sprinkling it everywhere. So that’s sage for the Element of Air, the red candle for the Element of Fire and the salt water for the Elements of Water and Earth. By doing this you have cleansed your home with all 4 Elements.

Make sure you are speaking out loud in each room while carrying the sage, candle and salt water. Sound is an important aspect of ritual. After you’ve gone though the Elements, take up your rattle, drum or bell and make some noise. Even a set of wind chimes will work nicely. Go through the whole house again, counterclockwise, and make all the noise you can. Sing out, yell, chant, rattle, hum and scare any negative spirits that are left lingering. Repeat the above words, or something similar, in each room over and again.

After you’ve got it cleaned and cleansed you can now call the positive energy into your home. This is done with sweet grass. You’ll be walking clockwise this time to fill the void you’ve left. I’ve seen it done with bundled sweet grass and braided sweet grass. I think it works fine either way and is a personal preference.
Once you’ve finished sweet grassing the house, go to a central location and speak the following blessing.

Blessing my New Home

TOUCH THE LINTEL AND TOUCH THE WALL,
NOTHING BUT BLESSINGS HERE BEFALL!
BLESS THE CANDLE THAT STANDS BY ITSELF,
BLESS THE BOOK ON THE MANTLE SHELF,
BLESS THE PILLOW FOR THE TIRED HEAD,
BLESS THE HEARTH AND THE LIGHT SHED.
FRIENDS WHO TARRY HERE, LET THEM KNOW
A THREE FOLD BLESSING BEFORE THEY GO.
SLEEP FOR WEARINESS - PEACE FOR SORROW
FAITH IN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW.
FRIENDS WHO GO FROM HERE, LET THEM BEAR
THE BLESSING OF HOPE, WHEREVER THEY FARE.
LINTEL AND WINDOWS, SILL AND WALL,
NOTHING BUT GOOD, THIS PLACE BEFALL.

Adapted from the song ‘Bless the House’ by Helen Taylor

This cleansing and blessing usually lasts me about a year. Unless something awful has happened, then I will do it again to get rid of any negative energy that has re-entered.

Blessed Be.

Pagan Sayings and Abbreviations

Hello and Goodbye
To say hello you can say:

Bright BlessingsorMerry Meet.
To say goodbye you can say:

Merry Meet, Merry Part And Merry Meet Again.
It basically means: 'Nice to have met you, take care and hope to see you again soon'. This can also be said when talking to God and Goddess at the end of ritual.

Blessed Be.
As the Christians would say, 'God Bless' or 'Amen'. This is said more often than the Christian Amen. It can be said sometimes at the end of Rituals, Spells or even used to end an email to a fellow Wiccan friend!

Im going to Circle.
As Christians would say, 'Im going to church' (Taking part in a ritual of their faith) Wiccans say 'I'm going to circle'. They mean the same thing.


Sayings used often during rituals

In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.
You give/take/send whatever your subject or objective maybe, with Perfect Love and Trust. This saying can be used when doing Magick or used in a Ritual.

Blessed Be.
As the Christians would say, 'God Bless' or 'Amen'. It is sometimes said at the end of Rituals, Spells.

So Mote It Be.
Sometimes said at the end of spells. It confirms what you have said in your spell, 'so it shall be'

As I Will It, So Shall It Be.
Basically the same thing: you are stressing that what you just did will really happen.

Merry Meet, Merry Part And Merry Meet Again.
Although this simply means 'Nice to have met you, take care and hope to see you again soon' it can also be used to close a ritual by taking leave of the God and Goddess at the end.

As Above And So Below
As Above And So Below is a variation on the old Hermetic Axiom 'As above, so below'. The original meaning is that everything is connected and what happens below is reflected in the stars (astrology) and vice versa.

In Wicca it means everything is in balance and you would not want it any other way.


Pagan and Wiccan abbreviations

You would close and email with the following abbreviations to shorten the greetings

BB : Brightest Blessings
MM: Merry Meet
MMA: Merry Meet Again

Just a little side note about the abbreviations, Rev. Ed and Myself do not like the abbriviations, we believe one should never shortcut on greetings, we feel its rude. We do understand why many do it online because of the cell phones. If you ever sit in one of our classes you will quickly learn we just don't like it. Call us old school, but its one of those changes we have never embraced. To each there own and Many Blessings to you all :)
~Willow~

Friday, July 15, 2011

Finding Your Patron God and Goddess

Finding the God and Goddess you resonate with is an important part of your path. When you make a connection like that it makes the hard work you have to do a little easier. You’re working with energy you know instead of being unsure of yourself. You’re amongst family instead of strangers.
Sometimes the Gods find you. When that happens, there is little you can do to escape Their intentions. They’ve set Their sights on you and you should just learn to live with it. For me it was Brigid the Celtic Goddess of inspiration, healing and the fires of the forge. It took awhile for me to hear Her. I think the final marble that tilted the scale was when my best friend’s son was born… on Imbolc (Her Sabbat day)… with fire red hair right out of the womb. She’s my guiding light through the darkness into the day.



The rest of the time you have to put in the work to find your Patrons. You have to research the many and various pantheons and cultures to see which one speaks to you the loudest. For that you have to hit the history books. You have to see how people lived back before Christianity took hold and banished all the wonderful old gods. Find out what life was like for the Egyptians when they were erecting those glorious pyramids, or the Hindus right when they were completing the Vedas or the Celts before Caesar starting pitting them against each other in battle. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Hindu, Africa, Celtic and countless others besides these run throughout history.


After you’ve chosen, or have been chosen by, a specific pantheon, the real work begins. Now it’s time to pour over and through the books on mythology. Local libraries, even ones in small towns, usually have a pretty decent selection of these books. The internet is also a good source as long as you find a reputable site. When you’re surfing the internet it’s important to remember that what you read is not always written by people who know what they’re talking about or who’ve done their research. So be mindful of that.



So you’re reading through the myth books now. What you’re looking for is who these characters are and why are they behaving this way and are any of their stories like your stories. There is so much to learn about the gods. They have personalities just like we do. They can be loving and nurturing or they can be full of vengeance and wrath.
It’s also important to remember that when you get to the point where you’re in a circle about to do a ritual, be sure to realize who you are invoking. It isn’t always one big happy family in the world of the gods. Even within a single pantheon or group of gods from the same culture of people, there will be angst and fire-y temperaments sometimes. I would also caution against invoking deities from different pantheons into circle. You don’t want to be in the middle of a healing or cleansing ritual with the gods fighting in the background.


Just remember that when you find the ones you resonate with the most, you’ll know. It’s a gut feeling and you'll want to say, “There you are! I’ve been looking for you for ages!” Usually you just need to close your eyes and your mouth and open your heart and your soul.




All photos in this article are the property of Justine Marie. Copyright 2011.

Seekers Bill Of Rights

Model is Willow: http://fav.me/d3ja42g
Seekers Bill of Rights
by Charles Mars
Seekers of the Pagan Path are often extremely vulnerable. In their quest for teaching and fellowship, they risk encountering those who use our faith to prey on others. Since Paganism is still struggling for public acceptance, there is little sympathy from authorities. Neither can the elders of our community effectively address this issue. The most they can do is denounce these predators, and they are usually accused of starting a “Witch War” when they do. The answer to this dilemma is to empower those most vulnerable, the Seekers. To this end, the Seeker’s Bill of Rights has been drafted. This tool will help to alert seekers of a problem if a group or teacher violates any of the ten rights described. It will also remind seekers that while they may not have “degrees”, they are still human beings with rights and dignity.
. The Right to Verify Credentials: Seekers shall not be obstructed from contacting persons who can substantiate or disavow the claims made by a group or teacher. In the case of elders who were inspired to create a new tradition, the seeker has a right to know the circumstances surrounding the inception of that tradition.
. The Right to Anonymity: Seekers have the right to keep their involvement in the occult a secret to preserve their professional and personal lives.
. The Right to Financial Security: Seekers shall not be required or coerced to take on financial burdens on behalf of a teacher or group.
. The Right to Compensation for Goods and Services: Seekers have the right to be paid for goods produced from and/or skilled labor from which they would normally receive income. Seekers shall not be required or coerced to provide “freebies” or discounts on behalf of a teacher or group.
. The Right to Sexual Freedom: Seekers shall not be required or coerced to have sexual relations with unwanted persons. Nor shall seekers be restricted from sexual relations with consenting adults.
. The Right to Physical well-being: Seekers shall not be required or coerced to submit to any form of physical injury.
. The Right to Abide by the Law: Seekers shall not be required or coerced to commit any illegal act.
. The Right to Consistency: Seekers have the right to expect consistent practices from a teacher or group. Seekers should be informed in a timely manner of any policy changes.
. The Right to Separation Without Impunity: Seekers have the right to discontinue association with any teacher or group without the fear of harassment or reprisal.
. The Right to Be At Peace With One’s Conscience: Seekers shall not be required or coerced to commit any action contrary to their own sense of ethics and morality.
The Seeker’s Bill of Rights © Charles Mars 1998 Hern’s Wood Coven, published in The Accord copyright C.M.A.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Cooking for Lughnassadh: Pear Upside Down Cake

This cake is extremely moist and delicious. This recipe calls for pears, but if you don't like pears you can easily substitute apples, apricots, pineapple or peaches instead.






Pears and grains, fruits and wheat
Begin their lives beneath my feet
May the Goddess bless each to my soul
Enrich my life and make me whole.






Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. water
8 oz. of canned or fresh pears
1 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup of butter
2/3 cup of milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla


1- Melt the 2 Tbsp. of butter in the oven in a 9 inch round cake pan.
2- Stir in the brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. of water.
3- Arrange the pears in the cake pan and set aside.
4- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder.
5- Add the 2/3 cup of butter (cut in with a fork), milk, egg and vanilla. Stir until well mixed.
6- Spoon over fruit in the prepared pan.
7- Bake for 30-35 minutes