And why? What role do they have for your path?
And why? What role do they have for your path?
“You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom
“We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
"We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
"Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett
Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
I like using tools in that they store and amplify energy for a quick power boost and help me reach a state of mind quicker than when I don't use them. My athame is probably my most used tool, though I have about three that I tend to switch between. My runes are probably my most used divination tool, though I have a deck of tarot cards that are almost tied in use. I have a set of stones that I use as representation for calling the watch towers and a pentacle necklace that also sees a fair amount of use (I actually got it back when I was a teenager from a silver ranven wolf starter witch kit thing).
Tons and tons of candles. Candles can represent the length of the spell to take effect, or I use them to "call" a specific entity (get their attention, really).
I have a specific knife I use for cutting spiritual-related things. It feels "cleaner" to ones one dedicated to that purpose.
“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” -- Bruce Lee
Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat
Honorary Nord.
Habbalah Vlogs
I used to use my knife a lot more than I do now, for safety during spiritual travel. Along with essential oils and diffusers for that extra "push" for a more conducive mental and emotional state.
Lately, I regularly and ritually wear specific pieces of jewelry that serve various purposes (grounding, mindfulness, sensitivity, etc...) that serve a quick and physical link to my most-used purposes.
I just remembered: I also have prayer beads. I don't actually do prayers with them, or pray a rosary or anything like that, but having them in my hands to distract my body, and because they're dedicated to a specific entity, they help me focus.
“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” -- Bruce Lee
Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat
Honorary Nord.
Habbalah Vlogs
Herbs, herbs and herbs. lol. I have a broom and athame. I also use tarot and a black mirror for divination. I hold a deer skull when meditating on my ancestors. The herbs are for lotions, potions, and teas. I also smoke cleanse all the time. My broom is for magic cleaning and my athame is for all magical cutting. The deer skill is to help link me to my dead. I have altars but I am not sure they would count as a tool. Most of it is more for my craft then my religion.
On the rare occasion that I use any material props then I have a 6+ foot piece of driftwood that I found years ago which is roughly the right size and shape for a staff, certain pendants and occasionally a piece of
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiastolite
"It is not simply enough to know the light…a Jedi must feel the tension between the two sides of the Force…in himself and in the universe."
―Thon
"When to the Force you truly give yourself, all you do expresses the truth of who you are,"
Yoda
Yoda told stories, and ate, and cried, and laughed: and the Padawans saw that life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
"But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."
John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper
"You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."
Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
I use just two ritual tools these days.
One is a large double handled wrought iron wok that I use to cook with when doing kitchen witchery, but that also doubles as a cauldron during rituals. Typically it will contain water that is mixed with water from the Pow Burn and have a single candle in the centre. This is significant because of the connection of Brigantia with both the sacred flame and holy waters, while also connecting to the importance of both the Pow Burn herself, and the 'inner flame' in my practice. There is also the added safety of standing or floating the candle in water. I can sit by it in meditation on the floor and not have to worry about Dolly setting fire to her whiskers!
On occasion I will use the wok for other things, or to hold decorative items on the sabbats.
The other tool is an earthenware chalice. The chalice was originally one of a pair. The other belonged to my coven (I have no idea who kept it after the coven disbanded). There are two rituals that are central to my regular practice. The first is what I call the inner flame meditation which I mention in my recent blog entry about the cauldrons of poesy, and the other is an adaptation of a ritual by Francesca De Grandis called 'the Mother's Milk'. In the original Mother's Milk you use actual milk, but because of the importance of water in my path, I use water. I frequently do this ritual while at work in which case I use a generic mug, but when at home, there's just something nice about doing it with my special earthenware chalice!
Of course, the chalice also holds wine for sabbat rituals, and because I drain the cup during the Mother's Milk ritual, I can even follow that ritual with a splash of wine!
Besides these I also use candles, incense and stones as additional props in spells or rituals. I still have my wand and athame and often display them on the altar in the study. I may no longer use them but I'd couldn't part with them.
夕方に急なにわか雨は｢夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は｢朝立ち」と呼ばれないの？ ＾＾If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?
Jem, I know you've talked about this before, but have you detailed the whole thing anywhere? If not, can you do a blog post on it when you have the time?Originally Posted by Jembru
“You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom
“We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
"We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
"Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett
Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
I have an unfinished blog that was meant to be the last in my series and explains how everything ties together in my regular practice. It got stupidly long though and I never got around to cutting it down to under 1000 words, or splitting it into two. If I do post it though, the Mother's Milk is mentioned, although I don't describe how to do the ritual.
I was thinking about adding this ritual to the Big Thread of Liturgy and Devotionals though. I think it would be nice if we could all add our core rituals to that thread.
夕方に急なにわか雨は｢夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は｢朝立ち」と呼ばれないの？ ＾＾If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?
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