Magickal Correspondences
November 29, 2007
by Jeffrey Pierce
Although your in-boxes have been on the quiet side lately, I promise that I'm not disappearing on you. This week called for a special feature on
the faerie grove and a related piece on
giving thanks when working with sacred sites.
All Around Us focused on
balance, a piece that I ironically wrote at the end of a long day after getting approximately four hours of sleep the night before. All three of the articles are online and I managed to sneak in a couple of
blogs as well.
The American holiday known as Thanksgiving (which was celebrated here in the States on November 22nd) threw my publishing schedule for a loop. My girlfriend, I'll introduce her for now as Otter, and I took her mother and all four of our kids (including Sparrow and Bear) to her cabin in Central Oregon for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving. The cabin has no power, no running water, and no Internet. Yep, my idea of Heaven and something I'll be writing about in Tuesday's article, "A Reason to Give Thanks," but disappearing for awhile does put a crimp in the ol' online publishing schedule.
Thanksgiving was pretty wild on this end. Both sides of my family are now incredibly pagan friendly (a nice change after being raised in a household ruled by two Pentecostal missionaries) and Thanksgiving definitely reflected that. The prayer that Otter's mother read over the traditional meal included phrases like, "We thank the great spiritual beings who have shared their wisdom" and "We are grateful for the opportunity to walk this planet, to breathe the air, to taste the food, to experience sensations of a human body/mind, to share in this wonder that is life." We explored a cave, found some animal bones there, and I ended up using one of them in a shamanic rite to heal a wound that Sparrow received on the bottom of her foot. All of that and more in next week's article.
I'll let you know ahead of time that articles are going to continue to post late, probably until just after Solstice. Otter and I are going to Seattle this weekend (she has a professional engagement and I'm tagging along) and Sparrow and Bear will be accompanying us the following weekend when we zip up to Bellingham to visit my parents and siblings. They'll still be written and I have no intention of deviating from my publishing schedule, but they'll each be posted a few days late.
And now onto your mail.
Doug began his email with, "Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your website. Don’t see how a single father who has children and also works can keep something like this going." Thanks, Doug. I'm really glad you're enjoying the site. The time crunch? It's actually much worse than that. I just don't like to complain, especially when I consider myself so blessed with the life I've been gifted with. On work days, I get home a little over thirteen hours after I walk out the door - and that's only if one of the kids doesn't have any activities for me to attend. A couple of hours with Otter, a couple more with the kids, add in a meal and a shower, and suddenly there's not enough time to sleep. Literally. But I like to think that I'm living this life fully and well and, in the end, I won't leave too many moments that simply slipped away.
But that wasn't the main reason why Doug contacted me. "I am also writing to ask if I might use some of your articles in a MSN Pagan group I am an assistant manager in." Absolutely. Thanks for asking. Almost without exception, I'm happy to allow folks to repost my work. Just ask me first. Usually all I require is credit for the piece and a link back to Old Ways. After all, this is my gift for you. Let's share it with others where and when we can.
Victoria wrote in with a quick question. Okay, it started out as a quick question and will probably take me acouple of full length articles focusing on the spirit world, protection, and how shamans use bones, teeth, and the like in their work for me to completely answer it. (Trust me, the whole shamans using bones thing? It's not nearly as creepy or spooky as it sounds.) At the core of the question is the simple fact that Victoria seems to have a really strong connection with the spirit world and isn't sure how to regulate that interaction. "This is the question," she writes. "I know I'm in another realm at this time but am I protected? Is it safe? And where am I anyways?"
Where are you? That's going to be an article to answer. Maybe two. Are you protected? Always. We are such unbelievably powerful beings who, as bizarre as it sounds, continually limit our own abilities and potential. Especially when working with the spirit world, if you believe it, you can do it. It's slightly more complicated than that, but without specific training, just raw belief and willpower will get you out of some very sticky situations.
I was magickally attacked by a group of practitioners a couple of years back. They threw some really dark magick my way, including a summoning anchored with a cat's femur in a ritual circle inscribed on my property. The end result was that a rather dark spirit ended up in my bedroom (my home is usually completely un-warded) and I sent it packing. It's a little more complicated than that, the rear window of my beloved Subaru was blown out in the process, and the folks that sent it were made aware that I knew who they were and what they had done. But in the end, even though the entity had been physically anchored to give it additional power in our realm, it was dealt with easily enough.
Okay... okay... I'll tell the whole story in a blog in the very near future. I'll even include a photograph of my poor car. Sound fair?
Returning to Victoria's question, anything that can come your way, you can kick it's butt. You know how we run around and squeal, "Eek! A spider!" even though we're 10,000 times bigger than the poor arachnid? That's how these things get their power. And while I'm firmly entrenched in the "catch and release" camp, dealing with the baddies is about as tough as squishing a spider with your shoe. For now, just will yourself to be safe if you feel threatened or exposed. Trust me. It will work. Other than that, don't even worry about it. I'll whip up a couple of articles on the topic and will give you some techniques to employ for all of you spiritual warrior types out there and you can run around the spirit world scaring the creepy crawlies to wherever they came from and back.
Victoria has also been interacting with the fae and they've been leaving her bones in return for her gifts of honey, bread, acorn hats, and blue string. (Which are all traditional gifts to give the fae, by the way.) There's some history of the fae connected to her property having not been appeased when her home was first built hundreds of years ago. My advice? Accept the bones, speak your thanks aloud when you pick them up, and then put them on a shelf or a similar place of honor in your home. (Not openly displayed and not on your altar - other than that, you're in the clear. The top corner of your dresser would be perfect. You don't have to keep them there forever, but I'd leave them for a full lunar cycle and a day. After that, you can do whatever you'd like with them - just DON'T return them to your land unless you're directed to. Under normal circumstances, the fae will take offense at such actions.) The fae can be a little odd at times but a gift is a gift. What may seem like a bone to you could be a gift of great honor or an acceptance of the apology and the gifts that you've given them. It's always best to err on the side of being gracious.
Several of you (including
Mel and
Victoria) offered condolences for the passing of a couple of friends in my world. Thank you. Some of the energy I simply accepted. I'm fine with death, but counseling and consoling took a bit of a toll on me and the extra energy really helped see me through. Some of the energy I sent on to a couple of people who needed it much more than I did. Either way, your gift was greatly appreciated and put to good uses. And
Hawk, I sent some of the energy your way. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.
Saoirse and
Tianah both wrote in with very kind words regarding my efforts here at Old Ways. Thank you so much. Little notes like that truly mean the world to me. They really do. I shared the praise with Otter and glowed for awhile. It's always nice when your pagan sweetie is proud of you.
And
Sandy, a special thank you for your beautiful email. I hope the Goddess "blesses you real good" as well!
My favorite email of the week came from
Sparrow, who is currently in third grade and learning how to use email when she's at her mom's house. Her note was simple, sweet, and to the point. "dear daddy i love you." She's not big on using capital letters when she types, but it brought a smile to my face and a similar sentiment in my reply. Sparrow, Bear, and I are extraordinarily close and our little corner of the world is filled with immense amounts of love. I count them among the truly magickal blessings I've been gifted with in this lifetime.
While I don't often have the opportunity to reply to your individual emails (I would love to, but on top of everything else I commute a little over two hours a day) I read every one of them - even the closing "tag lines." My favorite in a long time came at the end of Sandy's email. It reads, "Life is too short for drama and petty things... so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly." That's excellent advice for all of us and something I try to live in my daily life.
As always, may this email find you and yours well and filled with joy. Did you know that you all mean so much to me that by the time I'm done writing Magickal Correspondences each week I'm generally smiling from ear to ear?
In peace and light,
Jeffrey Pierce
www.oldways.com