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Chapter 4 Western Meditation Techniques There are thousands of books on eastern meditation, but I wish to concentrate on the western traditions as they are less well documented and require much less time to master. These traditions have been hidden for hundreds of years until the early nineteenth century. Some were the sole province of the religious orders and others were carried on in secret, by various groups and individuals. Although the reasoning behind the various systems may seem flawed to the modern mind, I can assure the reader that these exercises work. My own belief is that these were discovered by trial and error and whichever techniques worked were…

Raising Your Vibration Your mojo bag for this month is one that will help to raise your vibration! With the many shifts and changes that are coming, we need to raise our vibration to ride out the wave. If we fall below the surface, we will get caught in the undertow! The first stone shown here is Polychrome Jasper! One of my all-time favorite stones as it is called the “happy energy“ stone and it is said to bring good fortune and a happy outlook on life. All jaspers are protective and nurturing, however, polychrome brings emotional balance, is a stress reliever and increases stamina and the ability to adjust…

  “Going Shamanic” is hosted by Jennifer Engracio on P.A.G.E.  Media Project’s blogtalk radio each month. The show focuses on how to integrate shamanism into every day life. Instead of relegating the spiritual aspect of ourselves to Sundays at church or weekend workshops, this show will support listeners in weaving ritual, prayer, magic, alignment with the Spiritworld and the Earth into their lives to enrich their experience of living. This Month’s Topic: Sister & Brotherhood Circles with Lori’ and Phil Nelson On this episode, Jen welcomes Lori’ Black Cave Dreamer and Phil Eagle Song, both certified shamanic practitioners. There is a need in our society for women and men to gather with others of their same sex…

A Home Group, Finally I have finally found a home group! I knew as soon as I walked into the room that this was going to be the group for me. The time is perfect – 7:15 a.m. – it meets Tuesdays and Thursdays – it’s easy for me to get to – the meeting room itself is lovely – very Zen, although it’s a room in a Presbyterian Church. But it has large windows that look out on a courtyard with flowering trees and well-tended gardens and places to sit and meditate – much like any Buddhist Temple might offer. I felt at home immediately. This spring I have…

Book Review Moon Magic: Your Complete Guide to Harnessing the Mystical Energy of the Moon by Diane Ahlquist Moon Magic by Diane Ahlquist is a small book, but as promised by the subtitle it offers a complete perspective of Moon Lore, recipes, astrological considerations, and more. The author has managed to fill 253 pages with practical applications and information that is suited to both the longtime lunar practitioner and the newest of Moon devotees. The book is separated into four sections, each building upon the next; the fourth giving suggestions for advanced Moon work. Additionally, each section holds a wealth of exercises to foster a deeper and deepening connection to…

Three of Pentacles (The Three of Pentacles card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** We haven’t looked at a Pentacles card in a while, so this month we will examine the Three of Pentacles. The Three of Pentacles is a Minor Arcana card, so we know right away that the message offered by this card will most likely be more immediate in nature, or will most likely be connected to more day-to-day issues. The easiest way to get a decent understanding of a Minor Arcana card is to examine its number, or in the case of Court Cards, its rank, and to examine its suit. In this case, we…

Working with Shadows With all the news about self-harm lately, I decided to write about working with shadow energies this time. As a psychotherapist and light healer for forty years, I’ve seen a whole lot of them. And there are a few basic ways of dealing with fear that I wish everyone knew. The first one is that fear has no power of its own. It wants to steal our power by getting us to believe in it, focus on it, and do fear-based things. All of these; thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and actions have creative power, which create our own personal futures and add to fear’s power. So, the first…

Notes from the Apothecary: Sunflower   Despite being used by many Pagans as a symbol of the Summer Solstice, the bright and bold sunflower actually flowers a little later, in the deep heart of summer, during July and August. When the lazy, hot days take over, before the light starts to wane, these great, golden faces nod towards their namesake, spreading sunshine wherever they grow. Sunflowers range from small, cheeky bright yellow flowers to towering golden giants, yellow and black, resembling great, mutant bumblebees on stalks. There are darks ones, pale ones and even some that seem almost black or purple.   The Kitchen Garden Sunflowers are pretty easy to…

As a child, I led such a weird childhood. I was known for seeing things that weren’t there and knowing things before they happened. I felt like a sin in my parent’s household as I was being raised in a Christian church. As I aged, I found solace in Wicca. Life and the things going on finally made sense. When I was pregnant with my son (Little Bear), I made the decision to raise him in a Pagan household and support him, no matter what religion he decided on. Little Bear is now 4 years old and this has proven to be the best decision. He has shown signs of…

  The Road to Runes: Learning the Layouts Before I expand further into learning the individual meanings of the runes, I wanted to understand a bit more about the different layouts used in rune divination. Like tarot, there are various ways of displaying runes, and each layout can have different meanings and is useful in different types of situations. We’ve already had a look at a three rune spread, showing what has happened, what is happening right now and what is going to happen; past, present and future. More metaphysically, this can be seen as our current situation, our desired situation and the eventual actual outcome of the situation. We’ve…