The long, dark night

Today is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. This year, we are faced with a darkness in hearts as well as the natural dance of the Earth between shadows and light.  It's important to remember to turn on those twinkling lights, to light the candles, to burn the Yule Logs, sing songs, feast, dance, and give of yourself.  These acts are heavy with symbolism, heavy with hope, and we all need them. They remind us that darkness, has no power, but that we ascribe to it.

This year, please remember to hold your loved ones, to be kind to strangers, to embrace love and light in every place you find it.  Don't let evil acts dim your light.  Fight back and spread warmth, because that is the most powerful and most effective way to defy the Darkness. However you do it, celebrate life and light, and the don't let despair smother you.

I wish each and every one of you love, strength, light and hope this Winter Solstice. I hope that healing finds us all, but especially those families who have lost loved ones this week to terrible tragedies.  Tomorrow, when the sun rises, stronger and and for longer than today, we need to remember that we can do the same. Our light will grow stronger if we let it. Blessings to all!

~Magickal Graphics~

Group Meditation- The Master Shift 12/21/12

If you missed the 12/12/12 global meditation hosted by The Master Shift, they are hosting a second set of global meditations on 12/21/12.  Visit The Master Shift website for a guided meditation and more information.

Samhain blessings

~Magickal Graphics~

Ashlands

Walking trough an endless world of ash, all seems lost. Nothing has shape or color. It is all a powdery, deep gray ash. Beneath the your feet is several inches of ash that is neither cot nor cold.  It simply is.  There is no sound, no life and no scents here.  It is a place of emptiness. There is no direction in this place- up, down, East, West, North, South all look and feel exactly the same.

Then a shimmer appears above and before that wanderer, and a moment later, it begins to rain light.  As the droplets fall on the you, the wanderer, your skin absorbs the light. Spot by tiny spot, you are becoming something beautiful and full of light.  You are now, your own beacon.  The light you cast gives shape and form to the ash world, and you see that it is a place in which should not stay.

Once you accept the light that is now yours and the futility of staying in the dusty, dark, broken ash world, you will see a veil.  Walk to it, and walk through it.  Your time in the shadows in done.

May the Autumn Equinox bring your balance

~Magickal Graphics~

Suffering

It's been quite a long while since I've updated here. My apologies for leaving you waiting. - Cauldron Keeper

I was meditating last week in the new silence of my house, and had an interesting experience that I'm sharing here. For several reasons, I find it fascinating: first, the images I received were unusually stylized, rather than the more typical realism; second, the image was from outside my belief system, and the message was strangely layered.

Before me, wearing a grotesque crown of thorns, was a Christ figure. He appeared, not as I typically imagine him, a thin man of obvious Jewish heritage, but in the white washed Euro-American way in which he is depicted in many art pieces. His skin was waxy pale, bruised and glowing in a strange, mottled fashion. His hair was light brown, styled in neat waves, and his eyes were blue. Beads of blood dribbled down his face and stained the thorn crown. His body was cut, bruised and obviously tortured, but not emaciated. He also never looked at me, and his eyes stayed fixed heavenward. Other than this figure, there was nothing else; no cross, no background, no other people, just darkness.

He spoke to me, and delivered a startling, yet easily understood message: "They glorify and love my suffering, not as a gift to them, but as tool by which they cover the suffering they cause." Startled, I woke up, full of questions and very uncomfortable.

I am uncertain about whether that message begins within me alone, or if it is the Universe telling me something I need to know. Regardless, it highlights a particular lesson about suffering. Some people glorify suffering as a spiritual tool. They believe it to be the crucible in which we can become more than what we are. While it is true that some people find the best of themselves when faced with terrible situations, there are many others who find that suffering perverts and twists people into monsters who cause suffering. We should be careful about causing suffering, especially if we use that cruelty as a way to discipline others to behave the way we wish them to, for our own purposes.

Moments of suffering can be moments in which we find strength, beauty and wisdom we had not previously acknowledged, but we should not knowingly cause suffering to change others. When we acknowledge the suffering that we have experienced, we must confront whether we accept that suffering as something to glorify or as a misfortune that we do not wish on others.Suffering cannot be totally avoided in life, because life must be embraced, pain and all, but suffering should never be encouraged or glorified as a way to create strong, beautiful souls.

Happy Harvest

Of all the harvests begun today, may the most bountiful one be within you.  

Happy Summer Solstice!

Magickal Graphics

A tool for you on your journey

I haven't spent much time linking to other people's work here, but a few months ago, I came across a powerful tool for dealing with fear on a website that I occasionally visit. Inelia Benz's Ascension 101 has a number of tools available for you to use to deal with fear, money and dealing with a global climate that is frequently hostile.  I invite you to listen to look around her site and try out some of the tools she offers (some of them are mp3s, which I find convenient).

As I've started writing about shadow work here, fear will a common theme.  Dealing with our fears in a healthy fashion makes it possible for us to accept pieces of ourselves and to turn fear into something positive.  Ignoring a fear, trying to bury it only makes it stronger.  When the things that we really fear are brought to light, examined, and understood, they lose their power over us.

I encourage you to read through and consider using the Fear Processing Tool on Ascension 101. You can find it here.

Good luck and blessings to you!

Shadow work- an introduction

There comes a point in every soul's spiritual development when we must face the less pleasant parts of our soul.  Shadow work is a good description of this process.  Shadows are merely places where light i not seen due to being blocked. Once we understand this, we can rearrange or remove the block so that we can see the light again.

Each of us has a very different experience with the dark places inside.  Some people ignore them, others embrace them, and most of us fall somewhere between.  Even once we acknowledge these places, we all react differently. There is nothing wrong with that, it's simply part of being individuals.

Examining our shadows takes several things: courage, a willingness to understand, compassion towards ourselves, and honesty. These are not always the easiest things to summon up, so i would recommend holding off on shadow work when you are in crisis, ill or in need of serious spiritual and/or psychological help.  When you undertake this part of your Otherworld journeys, I recommend you write down your experiences, reactions and any illuminations your receive. They have a way of making repeat performances when we least expect.

Shadow work is not comfortable.  It's not meant to be; it is about honoring all that is within us, accepting past actions and experiences and incorporating the lessons learned from darker experiences into ourselves to be whole.  By accepting those parts of ourselves that cause shame, despair and pain, we can let go of their influence and heal.

Happy Spring Equinox!

~Magickal Graphics~

The burnt forest

High in the mountians is a place of disaster and recovery. It is the burnt forest. Not long ago, a fire raged through a once vibrant pine forest. The animals fled and the trees burned. The blackened skeletons of the trees stand sadly on scorched earth.

At first glance, the only colors of this landscape are black and brown, but look again, carefully, and you will find the cycle of life is beginning again. Tiny trees have sprouted among the dead elders. They are pushing through the soil that is now enriched with all the
nutrients from the remains of their fore bearers.

Reach down and scoop a handful of this black earth.  It stains your hands with carbon, but it is heavy, full of organic material.  Here is a place where magnificent beginnings are possible, all it will take is time.  All things are possible, given enough time and fertile ground.

Happy Candlemas!

Magickal Graphics

Wind

In meditation and the inner landscapes, you are not bound by the laws of physics or even to a body.  The only impossibilities are the ones you impose.

When you are ready, become part of the winds and go where you are taken. This can be done as a bird, a leaf, or even a breeze.  Flying on the wind is a wonderful carefree feeling that requires no thought, only sensation, if you'd like. It is also a way to learn more about the Otherworld from a different perspective.

Just remember that you can stop the experience if it get's too intense and that you are always perfectly safe.  Going where you are taken can improve your confidence and acquaint you with many parts of the Otherworld that we haven't explored together.