World Piece
הנה משהו נחמד לקוראי האנגלית שביניכם. נכתב ע"י קריסטופר פנזק. Water Hemlock, Weaving and the State of the World 6:23 PM PDT, July 19, 2006 I'm not sure if posting something remotely political is appropriate for Amazon Plogs, but here goes anyway. It's really a view for the whole world, and not a specific call to take sides.... For the last few days I've been thinking a lot about the Middle East. Not that it's a topic that's not already on my mind, or anybody else's, if you listen to the news at all, but with the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, and the terrorism in India, the state of the world has been in my thoughts and meditations much more. I truly believe that magick, followed up by real world action, can make a difference in everything. I believe that some people are called to do magickal world to keep the peace and harmony of the world, and to bend and nudge the energies of the world in balance and health. And I think modern witches can play a big role in that healing. I’ve felt called to do something magickal, but until today, it wasn’t clear. Today I went walking. My favorite trails into the woods by my parents are blocked off with new construction. I walked in a different area, not too far off the road. I could still see houses, but it called to me. There was a stream down in a gully, hard to reach, but near its banks, I think I saw some water hemlock. A very toxic plant, we learned to differentiate water hemlock from Queen Anne’s Lace, for they bloom around the same time and have similar white flowers from a distance. I remember the year after 9/11, there was a lot of water hemlock in bloom around here. There is an old native teaching that whatever is in bloom is indicative of what the year will bring – either nature brings the remedy, or it shows the problem. For example a year of abundant Elder means there will be a bad flu. A year of abundant Poison Ivy means that skin issues will be the theme. The summer before 9/11, there was a ton of St. John’s Wort, and one of its most powerful uses is for trauma. And then we have a global trauma. As the water hemlock shuts down the respiratory system and kills you, herbalists around here thought perhaps it was prophetic of a chemical terrorist attack. We did magick. Thankfully there was no attack. There wasn’t an abundance of this water hemlock, but it just got me thinking about things and doing magick. So I found my quiet spot not too far away from the water hemlock. I had with me what I consider to be my “mini” stang. It’s really a stick of sassafras. Strangely I got it while I was doing a book signing in a small town in central MA. It was a gift from a local witch, who was also a town official and felt for political reasons he could not be open, or come to my signing, but gave me this as a gift. It has a fork at the end of it. First time I worked with sassafras. The note said to take it into the forest with me, and it would protect me from spirits that would want to come back with me, but shouldn’t. So occasionally I take it with me. I did this time. I marked my spot, sat down and worked the stang into the ground between my crossed legs, and held onto it. It looked a bit phallic I’m sure, but its also the idea of holding onto the world tree. I did an alsmost silent meditative ritual. I gave an offering to the land and spirits. Then asked for the presence of the Goddess and God, and asked to do their will in this matter. The Goddess came up through the ground, and I felt and saw her face in the land around me. The god of light and darkness became a band of stars against a black sky, swirling around me. Though she’s usually quiet congenial, even in the midst of tragedies, the Goddess of the Earth was a bit pissed today. She was describing to me how the goddesses of specific areas of land are like her daughters, and many of her daughters are in pain. She gave me a vision of the violence in the Middle East, and told me that my healing needed to be for “my people” as much as her daughters, or it would never end. She bid me to psychically “pull” strands of energy from the gods around me, three in all for the upper, middle and lower world. I envisioned myself weaving it together in a braid. It went on and on, like I was weaving for miles. When done, she told me to put three knots in it. One for the peace of the people in the Middle East. The second for peace for all people of the world. The third was for their to be peace between all people, the spirits and the land. I then envisioned putting the miles nad miles of energetic cord around the Earth, and wrapping the Earth in healing. Seems simple and the pessimists might say what good can it really do, but following inspiration and the voice of my gods, I followed this ritual. And at the end, they asked me to share it and encourage others to do it, so I am. Ritual for the World Take three strings, either psychic strands of energy, or literally three pieces of string, and braid them together, thinking of the world and peace between all realms. Make three knots in it. One for the peace of the people in the Middle East. The second for peace for all people of the world. The third was for their to be peace between all people, the spirits and the land. Cast it out into the world with your intention, tie it on a tree, let the wind take ir burn it, whatever you are drawn to do, and let it work its magick.
הנה משהו נחמד לקוראי האנגלית שביניכם. נכתב ע"י קריסטופר פנזק. Water Hemlock, Weaving and the State of the World 6:23 PM PDT, July 19, 2006 I'm not sure if posting something remotely political is appropriate for Amazon Plogs, but here goes anyway. It's really a view for the whole world, and not a specific call to take sides.... For the last few days I've been thinking a lot about the Middle East. Not that it's a topic that's not already on my mind, or anybody else's, if you listen to the news at all, but with the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, and the terrorism in India, the state of the world has been in my thoughts and meditations much more. I truly believe that magick, followed up by real world action, can make a difference in everything. I believe that some people are called to do magickal world to keep the peace and harmony of the world, and to bend and nudge the energies of the world in balance and health. And I think modern witches can play a big role in that healing. I’ve felt called to do something magickal, but until today, it wasn’t clear. Today I went walking. My favorite trails into the woods by my parents are blocked off with new construction. I walked in a different area, not too far off the road. I could still see houses, but it called to me. There was a stream down in a gully, hard to reach, but near its banks, I think I saw some water hemlock. A very toxic plant, we learned to differentiate water hemlock from Queen Anne’s Lace, for they bloom around the same time and have similar white flowers from a distance. I remember the year after 9/11, there was a lot of water hemlock in bloom around here. There is an old native teaching that whatever is in bloom is indicative of what the year will bring – either nature brings the remedy, or it shows the problem. For example a year of abundant Elder means there will be a bad flu. A year of abundant Poison Ivy means that skin issues will be the theme. The summer before 9/11, there was a ton of St. John’s Wort, and one of its most powerful uses is for trauma. And then we have a global trauma. As the water hemlock shuts down the respiratory system and kills you, herbalists around here thought perhaps it was prophetic of a chemical terrorist attack. We did magick. Thankfully there was no attack. There wasn’t an abundance of this water hemlock, but it just got me thinking about things and doing magick. So I found my quiet spot not too far away from the water hemlock. I had with me what I consider to be my “mini” stang. It’s really a stick of sassafras. Strangely I got it while I was doing a book signing in a small town in central MA. It was a gift from a local witch, who was also a town official and felt for political reasons he could not be open, or come to my signing, but gave me this as a gift. It has a fork at the end of it. First time I worked with sassafras. The note said to take it into the forest with me, and it would protect me from spirits that would want to come back with me, but shouldn’t. So occasionally I take it with me. I did this time. I marked my spot, sat down and worked the stang into the ground between my crossed legs, and held onto it. It looked a bit phallic I’m sure, but its also the idea of holding onto the world tree. I did an alsmost silent meditative ritual. I gave an offering to the land and spirits. Then asked for the presence of the Goddess and God, and asked to do their will in this matter. The Goddess came up through the ground, and I felt and saw her face in the land around me. The god of light and darkness became a band of stars against a black sky, swirling around me. Though she’s usually quiet congenial, even in the midst of tragedies, the Goddess of the Earth was a bit pissed today. She was describing to me how the goddesses of specific areas of land are like her daughters, and many of her daughters are in pain. She gave me a vision of the violence in the Middle East, and told me that my healing needed to be for “my people” as much as her daughters, or it would never end. She bid me to psychically “pull” strands of energy from the gods around me, three in all for the upper, middle and lower world. I envisioned myself weaving it together in a braid. It went on and on, like I was weaving for miles. When done, she told me to put three knots in it. One for the peace of the people in the Middle East. The second for peace for all people of the world. The third was for their to be peace between all people, the spirits and the land. I then envisioned putting the miles nad miles of energetic cord around the Earth, and wrapping the Earth in healing. Seems simple and the pessimists might say what good can it really do, but following inspiration and the voice of my gods, I followed this ritual. And at the end, they asked me to share it and encourage others to do it, so I am. Ritual for the World Take three strings, either psychic strands of energy, or literally three pieces of string, and braid them together, thinking of the world and peace between all realms. Make three knots in it. One for the peace of the people in the Middle East. The second for peace for all people of the world. The third was for their to be peace between all people, the spirits and the land. Cast it out into the world with your intention, tie it on a tree, let the wind take ir burn it, whatever you are drawn to do, and let it work its magick.
