Alexiel Raynes
Alexiel Raynes is a shaman, philosopher, and musician from Louisville, Ky. He has studied religion and science for over 20 years. His spiritual path focuses on self realization, the liberation of the constraints of the mind on consciousness. He also studies plant medicines and their use in indigenous cultures world wide. He is fascinated with exploring the world beyond the veil of mainstream western science, and postulates at what lies beyond general consensus reality. He, together with his business partner Hallie Walker are the owners of Saol Bandia, a holistic herbal apothecary based in their hometown. They are also very active in raising pagan awareness in their community, and helping give witches the courage to stand up to a world that has forgotten our ways. You can visit their store at Saolbandia.com For contact visit Facebook.com/AlexielRaynes2020 Or email [email protected]
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Great Misunderstanding Now, in the last entries, I’ve aimed a lot of criticism at the Christian faith. Setting aside the purpose of the religion now, and whether or not Jesus was real or divine, let’s examine the lore with a more open mind. Let us assume that Jesus was very real, and his words were truth. Then with that lens, examine Christianity once again from the perspective of the man with whom the religion places it’s namesake. Jesus’ message was very much different from what we find in the Old Testament. Which seemed to be a collection of lore stories centered around sin and blood. The tribulations…
Book Review – The Pagan Book of the Dead: Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds by Claude Lecouteux
Book Review The Pagan Book of the Dead Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds By Claude Lecouteux Publisher: Inner Traditions 314 Pages Publication Date: 9/15/2020 The Pagan Book of the Dead: Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds by Claude Lecouteux is a human’s best attempt at a compendium of all possible sources of astral literature from the ancient world. This book would serve as a Bible book if we witches had such. With such precision, the line between the myriad of pagan folktales, songs, and fables from the Hellenistic, Celtic, and Scandinavian religions, right to the nowadays more accept Christian beliefs of Heaven,…
Oracle Deck & Guide Book Review – The Hearth Path Oracle Cards: Miraculous Messages of Love by Nadine Gordon-Taylor
Oracle Deck & Guidebook Review The Heart Path Oracle Cards Miraculous Messages of Love by Nadine Gordon-Taylor Publisher: Bear & Company 53 Card Deck & 121 Page Guidebook Publication Date: 9/22/20 In this beautiful Oracle Deck and Guidebook, Nadine Gordon-Taylor invites you into the visionary world of mystical archetypes. With riveting art that not only speaks to the mind, but the heart and the soul as one. The use of the word miraculous isn’t in anyway an overstatement with this deck. Many of the cards feature animals and other deep symbols and archetypes in impossible juxtapositions. Many of the images are difficult for the mind to accept when…
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Regime The main issue with Christianity isn’t it’s present day application. Generally speaking, Christianity is benevolent, and in some cases, even graceful. There are some issues with the doctrine as I discussed in the last installment. Also, I’m not sure if I actually have followers yet, but if I do, you’ll notice I’m speaking from first person, which is not a style I choose often, but I do so with good reason. I am speaking directly to the reader from my own opinion and viewpoint. I feel that’s important as the topics in this article will be a bit touchy. I’ll start by saying, I grew…
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Doctrine “Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out.” Alan Watts. There is much to be said on the pagan perspective of Christianity. There are many varying opinions within the followers of each…
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Mastery The air was brisk. A cold mist swept about. The wind kicked up ferociously, turning the mist into a billion freezing daggers. They pierced my flesh all over, burning like fire. A wave crashes below, and I see I am manning a castle wall. I give the signal. They blow the trumpets. As the trumpet blasts fill the air, the sky grows dark. At the tip of the castle, a giant pyramid built into the walls, into the beach. The base of the pyramid, into the sea. And as the trumpets blasted again; I see the monks come out. They sit in perfect rows on the…
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
I see the psychedelic experience as both the centerpiece of prehistoric life, and is destined to be the centerpiece of any future we want to be part of. – Terence McKenna The Promise of Future When it comes to the subject of legalizing psychedelics, it’s a political issue. It’s multiple dimensional also. The number one issue is their potential to be dangerous. Without the right guidance, the use of these substances can be downright catastrophic. Those who are advocates for the use of entheogens (the word for psychedelics used in a spiritual setting) tend to downplay this negative. The negative aspects are a side effect of their…
Inside the Heart of Darkness
As we move into the darkest time of the year, the human mind takes an inevitable turn towards more negative thoughts and emotions. One of the biggest myths of today’s society is depression. An entire society is forced to ignore their own needs and desires and trade them in for soul crushing indentured servitude; our very thoughts imprisoned by various belief systems. A legal system that imprisons a human being for doing with their own bodies what they will. A society of brainwashed sheep trained to trample any hint of free thinking. All of life has become a prison, where every man, woman and child is reduced to a mere…
As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
The Roots of the Earth: Acknowledging Our Divine Heritage The moons of the previous month no doubt have you reeling in some way. Moons have always been the way the universe speaks directly to us. Even humans with no spiritual background whatsoever feel like a full moon does something to them. The reason for this is, it’s absolutely true. Spirit or no spirit, the moon exerts its gravitational force on every atom in your body, which of course subsequently effect brain chemistry. Though this can be explained scientifically, it doesn’t mean the universe isn’t awake, and communicating to you consciously. This is to say, regardless of you spiritual background,…
Documentary Review – The Medicine
Documentary Review The Medicine Produced by Alma and Aperture Media Productions Time 1:25:16 The Medicine is by far the most eloquently executed documentary of Psychedelics of all time. They take you deep into the culture of Ayahuasca shamanism. Not just a collection of talking heads, this presentation is a work of love, connecting the science, the history, and spirituality of this medicine. Featuring Graham Hancock, Rachel Harris, and many other of our leading cognitive scientists, as well as an inside perspective from the Shaman himself, they take you up close and personal with the medicine known as Ayahuasca. What sets this documentary apart from the rest though, is…