Sunday, June 27, 2010

Do I Really have to Meditate?

This is a question that crosses the minds of a LOT of people, probably all of us in fact. The answer? Bloody well right you do J I know it is difficult in the beginning and it can be quite boring, not to mention when the Ego Self raises its defiant head and says, “Ag man, just do it tomorrow”. However, meditation does not have to be boring.

 

First off you can do one-pointed meditation, and yes, I know, this can seem extremely monotonous and give you a “throw myself down a pit now” attitude, but if you stick with it, then in a couple months you will see why I said “bloody well right you do”. When your psychic senses start to unfold like a flower, you will be able to See more, understand more, have a much better perception and outlook on life, and if you do any form of magickal practice, you will see an incredible change in your Work. One-pointed is quite simple really, just sit for a period of time, quietly, and breath normally through your nose. Continue breathing in this manner and focus on your breath going into your nostrils and down into your lungs, and extend it down into the pit of your stomach, into your dan dien. Then when you let your breath out watch it as it moves up and out through your nostrils, and just keep doing that. What could be simpler? And you were complaining this would be hard. Ok, I concede, when you first start practicing, it can be difficult as your mind tends to flood with thoughts and you have to keep pulling your attention back to your breath, but keep with it, once or even twice a day and your mind will start to calm down. You will notice that your thoughts do not rush in and out like a train station mulling with hundreds of people in a chaotic frenzy, but will come in one at a time until eventually you can focus on the one thought, that being your breath, i.e. one-pointed meditation. As you continue to practice you will also find that you relax more during the meditation and your breath becomes more and more shallow until eventually it is so shallow that the breath no longer moves down into the lungs, but up into the third eye. More practice on a daily basis and you will start to See, and that continues into other things such as no-breath and then the release of the astral body. Oh by the way the period of time you should sit for can start at 5 or 10 minutes and then build up to longer periods such as half an hour or even an hour. One source I found suggested that you should sit for the period of time equal to your age. I am not sure why but it was an Indian dude J

 

There is also a more active meditation which you can learn from the video or audio files on my HLMS site. I won’t explain it in detail here as it is quite lengthy to do so, just go to http://hlmagickschool.com and sign up for a free trial membership. What I can tell you is that you go through three distinct exercises incorporating breath technique, also another very important aspect of spiritual and magickal practice. The exercises are slightly Kabbalistic in approach, especially the use of the Mother Breath incorporating the three Hebrew Mother Letters, Aleph, Mem and Shin which relate to the three elements Air, Water and Fire, but you can use them universally and in any path. After the Mother Breath you perform Toning and Tuning the Body which is very active and will get you into a very nice meditative and trance state. Finally you perform pore breathing through the hands and build a ball of energy between them. So you see, meditation practice does not need to be boring, and literally anyone will see immediate effects with this particular practice.

 

Some people tend to think that there is no need for meditational practice if you work magick ritually. I have to disagree with that. Meditation opens you up to the unseen world, allows your psychic senses to develop and these aspects are very much needed in magickal work. Also, before performing any Working of any kind, it is a good idea to get yourself into a relaxed, centered and trance state so that your magickal Work is more enhanced. Ergo, most important if you ask me.

 

Well go on then, go meditate, what you waiting for? Ommmmmm mani padme hummmmmm…cough cough.

Pages from The Red Book of Hergest

Now this is a thing of exceptional beauty, the pages from the original manuscript of The Red Book of Hergest containing some of the tales we now find in The Mabinogion.

 

http://image.ox.ac.uk/show?collection=jesus&manuscript=ms111

Profile HTML on Facebook

Now this is a BRILLIANT FB App, Profile HTML. Go to my profile page at http://www.facebook.com/redoak and click on the Profile HTML Tab at the top. So cool. If you scroll down to the bottom of that page you will find a link to the app, and then you can put your own custom page on your Facebook Profile.

Friday, June 25, 2010

New books in from Pendraig

I have received three more books from Pendraig Publishers. Go to the Esoteric section at http://redpathmedia.za.net to find them. These are only shipped within South Africa from Red Path Media.

 

The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill – Robin Artisson’s first book that has been republished. I read this some years ago when it first came out, excellent book full of Old Lore.

 

The Crooked Path: Selected Transcripts – If you were a fan of Peter Paddon’s Crooked Path podcasts, then this is a must. Transcripts from some of the best podcasts.

 

A Grimoire for Modern Cunningfolk – Now this is an incredible book. It discusses the Cunning Arts and a great deal of Lore pertaining to practice from the British Isles including pathworkings, treading the mill, raising the cone, how to lay a Compass and Plough the Bloody Acre, how to Ride the Dragon, and a great deal more. Definitely my number one selection.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Where Do Elementals Go?

There is a modern idea of working with Elementals and Servitors which states that once they have completed their task they should “return to the source”. In other words, they go back to where they came from. This is basically saying that once they are done, they dismantle or dissolve and allow their energies to go back to the Element or the Magician that they were created from.

In some schools of thought, and I am thinking of the older ones such as Kabbalah, and Elemental does not do this. Once it is created, it exists and remains as such. To tell it to return to source is like asking a child to return to its mother’s womb (and I don’t think the mother would appreciate that). In this case the Elemental will eventually dissolve, allowing its energy to disperse and so it will, in effect, “return to source”, but it is not an instruction that we give it, it is a natural process. An Elemental is constructed of energy and remains an energetic body, much like the Nefesh of a living person. Once the task of the Elemental has been completed, the Magician would normally stop working with said Elemental and so it would not be fed further energy from the Magician or whatever source of energy was set up for it, and because of this it would not be able to hold itself together any more. In the case of a person that dies, the Nefesh will hang around for a while, but as long as it is not being fed energy, it will dissolve and return to the Source. In the past I have also referred to this as the Phantasm, the energy that is left behind which is the Ego, that part of the soul that retains memory. It is that which people channel and speak to, the ghost that walks the halls, appearing as it did when a living person, as it retains the memory of what it once was as a solid physical body.

In the case of an Elemental that was created to protect someone, and once that task was completed, it did not “return to source”, but in fact attached itself to the husband of the woman who it was to protect for that period of time, then it has simply continued its task. The protection may have been for something specific at that time, but the task of the Elemental was to protect. Once the husband came along, the Elemental attached to him in order to keep her protected through the husband. You can’t be upset with the Elemental for not following your instructions, because to the Elemental, it is following them, i.e. protecting the person, all it did was transfer itself to the physical body who would then continue that protection and therefore be able to continue with its job. Of course I don’t know all the small details of this particular case, but am using it as an example of what can happen when you give an Elemental an instruction to do something and it doesn’t go exactly as you planned.

So to conclude this short diatribe, when creating an Elemental or Servitor, I don’t believe it necessary to give it instructions of what to do once it has finished its task. Just let it be and allow it to move back to the Source in its own way and time, just like we do.

Pendraig Books in SA

I am happy to say that books from Pendraig Publishers are again being printing in South Africa by myself. This means that the prices are a lot lower than anywhere else you will find them in South Africa. To order the books, please go http://redpathmedia.za.net

 

Here are a list of the books currently available. The rest of the title from Pendraig will be added over the coming weeks.

 

Horn of Evenwood By Robin Artisson

The Flaming Circle by Robin Artisson

Hedgerider: Witches and the Underworld by Eric de Vries

Sorgitzak: Old Forest Craft by Veronica Cummer

Masks of the Muse by Veronica Cummer

The Forge of Tubal Cain by Ann Finnin

The Crooked Path Journal, Vol 1

The Crooked Path Journal, Vol 2

The Crooked Path Journal, Vol 3

The Crooked Path Journal, Vol 4

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Father's Day

I would just like to say a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. May you have a relaxed one in front of the TV, in the garden, or wherever you find you pleasure place to be. I got a new journal to start writing in so I will be adding all sorts of interesting and exciting stuff to it this morning.

 

Frith,

Lee 'Red Oak' Johnson

http://redoaksponderings.blogspot.com

 

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Reality of Things MRR

I am busy running a Limited Offer of my book, The Reality of Things, as an eBook with Master Resale Rights. What this means is you can purchase the eBook and resell it, keeping 100% of the profits, or give it away for free or as a bonus. I am also putting together something for affiliates. If you are interested please email me on mabonis@gmail.com or go http://realityofthings.za.net

 

This offer is open to everyone worldwide.

 

You can also purchase the paperback at http://redpathmedia.za.net and if you are not in South Africa, there is a link on the page that will take you to the book on Lulu.com.

Instant Enlightenment

On a group there was someone who wrote in asking for methods to gain instant awareness and wisdom. A lot of people ask for this, well more than should. I originally started writing a reply, but decided to leave it, and then today tried it again. Here is what that reply said, and I feel it is rather important for all of us.

 

We live in a fast food society and so many people want everything now. Trust me, I do also. I would love to have instant awakening to the spiritual and psychic powers that I know lay dormant, just on the surface of my own being, but it doesn’t happen that way. Do you know why? Because if it did, you would probably end up being incoherent for a very long time, if not the rest of your life. If you want an example, take the cases of many a traditional shaman who goes through the Shamanic Death. Some will come out of it and still be able to cope in society, some may have to relearn that skill, but a lot end up completely insane. You may have read a lot of times about a shaman being schizophrenic, why do you think that is? What do you expect when your soul it ripped to pieces and put back together again? Awareness and Enlightenment need to be gained slowly, unless you want to risk a lot. Yes I went through a Shamanic type Death 10 years ago, and it landed me in hospital for a week and thinking I was ready for the loony bin for about 6 months. Luckily I made it through, probably should still go to the loony bin, but I project a sane attitude to the world around me :o) Would I recommend it to you? I can’t say, because it is not something that one person can bestow on another, it comes a much bigger source than a simple human being like myself. You cannot add water, stir and drink.

 

Or, want instant Inspiration, Awen, Imbas? Go and lie on a sidhe mound for the night. The day may break and you may be mad like so many Bards from the past, but you may make it through. If you are willing, go try it, see what happens.

 

But of course if you want to do it without the risk of insanity, although you may come close on some occasions which I am sure all of the seasoned practitioners here will tell you, then take the time. The reason we do it slowly is so that we do not suffer an overload. When things are ready to reveal themselves, they will, in their own time and when you are ready for them. Besides that, it can be a great burden to be Awakened and Aware, and until you are ready for that burden, it should not come to you. When you hold the answer to life and death in your hands, you have to know how to use it responsibly, and you have to know who you can share that knowledge with. If it is shared with the wrong person, you could cause the greatest catastrophe this world has ever known.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Cleansing

I performed a cleansing rite on myself yesterday which I am incredibly impressed with. It is a Kabbalistic water and fire right incorporating the Divine Name Agala'a. The preparation is interesting and very simple, but what results is a rather gross looking black water. You then wash yourself with the water from head to toe and if you have the guts, drink some of it. It looks disgusting, but it tastes ok, yes I went full hog on this one. You can of course take a bath afterwards and wash it all off, although it is rather sticky so you really have to scrub.

The main purpose for the rite is to remove all psychic connections and get rid of the "Evil-Eye". It is extremely severe in its cleansing act, so when I say it gets rid of all connections, I mean ALL. Once it has been done, you are completely disconnected from everything and everyone, and then you start to forge the connections you want once again. However the results so far are extremely interesting. All physical ailments that I had have disappeared, even the blister I had on my foot, and I haven't used my asthma pump once today (I have felt that my asthma was a result of the healing I have done over the years as you do tend to take on some negative energy from people in the process). So we will see what other positive affects it has on my life.

I am not going to reveal the actual rite at this point as it was given to me by my mentor, Jacobus Swart, who is putting it into his new book. I just spoke to him on the phone actually and he was saying that apart from himself and anyone who has performed the rite, this has probably not been done for more than 300 years as it is contained in an old Hebrew manuscript that has not been put into print or translated, and most of these ancient rites have been placed in the light of "not scientific" and so have been kept quiet and hidden.

But anyway, very simple and very powerful. Oh yes, I also consulted the cards with the question of "are my previous problems now gone" and I got the 8 of Cups, a very positive and joyous card depicting a man walking away from his previous concerns. Says a great deal.