Title: Advanced Wicca: Exploring Deeper Levels of Spiritual Skills and Masterful Magick
Author: Patricia Telesco
Publisher: Citadel Press New York, NY Date: 2000
ISBN: 0806521376
This is a book very focused on how to do magic. The skills and techniques described are accessible to one who is not on a Wiccan path, though they may need to be adapted to make them work better. Adapting and customizing spells and rituals is among the information presented here as well as a solid set of knowledge for magical safety in doing so. While the book is a bit out of date, the skills it teaches are still applicable and highly useful.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Quiet time: Is it just for Christians? (Spoiler, it's not!)
Dear Reader,
Modern Christians attempt to dedicate a part of their day to prayer and contemplation. They call this 'quiet time'. Some journal their experiences. Some pray their version of the rosary. Others engage in reading of their holy scriptures. Most commonly, this is found in the Evangelical Christian community as a morning discipline for communing with their god.
Daily prayer is something that most of any faith would benefit from. For those of the Filianic/Déanic faith traditions, daily prayer is very helpful because it bolsters our spiritual strength in a world where we are in the stark minority. Quiet time for contemplation and communion is beneficial for many reasons. This time should not be used for prayers of contrition and penance. Nor is it a time that should be for prayers of petition beyond that of guidance.
Quiet time is a meditative period that can be of any length of time focused upon opening oneself to Dea's guidance and simply being in her presence. I personally keep a prayer journal. I spend my quiet time meditating upon Dea and simply listening for guidance for my day. I then spend a bit of time writing a few lines about my prayer session. More often than not, I write a 'letter' to Dea about my concerns and what came to me as I had my quiet time with her.
I know people of a wide range of religious paths. Almost all of them spend some 'quiet time' with their gods. In almost all cases, this has been reported to be something that brings them a greater sense of peace and union with their gods. It has also been said to be a cherished part of their day that helps them be a better person.
Modern Christians attempt to dedicate a part of their day to prayer and contemplation. They call this 'quiet time'. Some journal their experiences. Some pray their version of the rosary. Others engage in reading of their holy scriptures. Most commonly, this is found in the Evangelical Christian community as a morning discipline for communing with their god.
Daily prayer is something that most of any faith would benefit from. For those of the Filianic/Déanic faith traditions, daily prayer is very helpful because it bolsters our spiritual strength in a world where we are in the stark minority. Quiet time for contemplation and communion is beneficial for many reasons. This time should not be used for prayers of contrition and penance. Nor is it a time that should be for prayers of petition beyond that of guidance.
Quiet time is a meditative period that can be of any length of time focused upon opening oneself to Dea's guidance and simply being in her presence. I personally keep a prayer journal. I spend my quiet time meditating upon Dea and simply listening for guidance for my day. I then spend a bit of time writing a few lines about my prayer session. More often than not, I write a 'letter' to Dea about my concerns and what came to me as I had my quiet time with her.
I know people of a wide range of religious paths. Almost all of them spend some 'quiet time' with their gods. In almost all cases, this has been reported to be something that brings them a greater sense of peace and union with their gods. It has also been said to be a cherished part of their day that helps them be a better person.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Books?
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| Photo courtesy of Pexels.com |
I do have ebooks of what I’ve written available for purchase through Lulu.com. Due to some technical glitches between Lulu and other platforms, you are going to have difficulty finding them on Amazon and related big book sellers. I am currently trying to make sense of the CreateSpace - Kindle Direct Publishing merger. (I’m locked out of my account right now because they have my zipcode as two towns over. It’s weird. Customer service can theoretically fix it, we’ll see.)
As much as these works are a labor of love and devotion, I am trying to bring in a little more income for my family. I am willing to offer these books as PDF documents for donations to the paypal account attached to my main blog, The Veiled Witch, here at Blogger. We’re at a bit of a tight spot right now, I don’t like asking for your assistance but if you can support this, I can produce more work for you.
Titles available are:
A Year With Dea: A Filianic Daybook (Northern and Southern hemisphere editions available)
Drowning in Light (This is a collection of visions and guidance I have had from Dea over the years, including my first experience with her back in the early 1990s before I had even heard of Filianism.)
Rose Petals: A Filianic Psalter
I deeply appreciate your support thus far. The fact that I am now a ‘real’ author is the realization of a lifelong dream. It couldn’t have happened with out your assistance. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Wednesday Ramblings
Dear Reader,
I said I was going to be busy this week. I didn't anticipate a norovirus slowing me down or various other random things going awry. While the Norse crisis flow chart says this would all be Loki's fault, I think it is more likely that my kids are in school bringing home every virus they could catch and my disorganization over the last several months due to being severely depressed is catching up with me. I'm making progress getting things back on track, but it has been slow going.
The notebook that I have been working on writing the rosary meditation book manuscript in has started to fall apart. I'm one fifth of the way through it. So, I am now transcribing material from the notebook and attempting to add to it at the same time. This is not working very well, as one may expect. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I am at an utter loss for how to get the ebooks so that they can be available on Amazon and other sites. I am having format issues and getting nowhere fast on that front. I'm trying to fix them but it seems like each fix creates another problem.
I said I was going to be busy this week. I didn't anticipate a norovirus slowing me down or various other random things going awry. While the Norse crisis flow chart says this would all be Loki's fault, I think it is more likely that my kids are in school bringing home every virus they could catch and my disorganization over the last several months due to being severely depressed is catching up with me. I'm making progress getting things back on track, but it has been slow going.
The notebook that I have been working on writing the rosary meditation book manuscript in has started to fall apart. I'm one fifth of the way through it. So, I am now transcribing material from the notebook and attempting to add to it at the same time. This is not working very well, as one may expect. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I am at an utter loss for how to get the ebooks so that they can be available on Amazon and other sites. I am having format issues and getting nowhere fast on that front. I'm trying to fix them but it seems like each fix creates another problem.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Sometimes it really is a Sign.
Dear Reader,
As you may be aware, I have been working on a manuscript discussing the Filianic rosary. It has been slow going and pretty frustrating. I mentioned my frustration with this a few times to my husband. Less frustration with the subject matter and more with the fact that writing is going a lot slower than typing would be.
Less than a day after this, the pretty little red notebook that I have been working on the manuscript in has begun falling apart for no apparent reason. As such, I have begun the process of transcribing the notebook's contents into a document file and typing this up. I suppose Dea decided that I shouldn't be doing this the hard way.
I'm presently one fifth of the way through my page count goal. I'm still writing notes as I have to charge my laptop between transcription sessions, but in the space of an hour I managed to type up what was two days worth of hand writing. I will honestly say I was glad that I wrote my work with pen instead of pencil. Pencil would have been harder to read as it gets smudged if you look at it funny.
But, that is where this project stands right now.
Dea bless.
As you may be aware, I have been working on a manuscript discussing the Filianic rosary. It has been slow going and pretty frustrating. I mentioned my frustration with this a few times to my husband. Less frustration with the subject matter and more with the fact that writing is going a lot slower than typing would be.
Less than a day after this, the pretty little red notebook that I have been working on the manuscript in has begun falling apart for no apparent reason. As such, I have begun the process of transcribing the notebook's contents into a document file and typing this up. I suppose Dea decided that I shouldn't be doing this the hard way.
I'm presently one fifth of the way through my page count goal. I'm still writing notes as I have to charge my laptop between transcription sessions, but in the space of an hour I managed to type up what was two days worth of hand writing. I will honestly say I was glad that I wrote my work with pen instead of pencil. Pencil would have been harder to read as it gets smudged if you look at it funny.
But, that is where this project stands right now.
Dea bless.
Thoughts on Necromancy for the Intermediate Witch
Dear Reader,
I'm taking a break from my manuscript to type up this post. (Partly because I'm about to go cross eyed from going over my notes and partly because the notebook I was writing in has spontaneously begun to come apart for no apparent reason. Thus, I have started the process of typing that monster up.)
If you are wondering, I'm a necromancer. That doesn't mean that I play around with dead bodies. That's a necrophiliac. I suppose in polite company, one would call me a medium that specializes in contact with the deceased. I prefer to call a spade a spade and own the term necromancer. Spirit contact is a skill pretty much anyone can pick up with some time and patience. The thing with necromancy is you have a few basic guidelines you need to remember.
Point the first: they are dead for a reason. Perhaps that reason is that they passed peacefully in their sleep at a nice age of 98 and a half years old, surrounded by loving family. More likely, they passed by way of some manner of misadventure. Most misadventures happen because somebody did something stupid and dangerous. The deceased may have been a hapless bystander to the lethal misadventure consequences or they may have been the one who did the deadly dumb thing. Either way, remember that they're dead for a reason and they may not be entirely upfront about that reason.
Point the second: they are not always going to be 'nice' or 'good'. When you die, you die. You don't change into another person immediately and your root characteristics are going to stick around for a while on your soul until you're ready to move on to your next life. That means the person who was an unsavory, smarmy character in life is quite likely to be the same scumbag in death. There are some who realize the errors of their ways during incarnation and make a complete 180 in their behavior. They are the exception, not the rule.
Point the third: there are going to be dead people with agendas out there and are going to try to get you involved in them (with or without your consent). The dead who interact with the living usually have something they want to get done. They are as inclined to manipulate information and what they present about themselves as they are motivated to get the thing done. Some may do it by way of trying to scare you into doing what they want. Some are going to do it by trying to charm or guilt you into it. Either way, they have an agenda. Especially when they come looking for you to pass on a message of some sort. Remember, you don't have to go along with their agenda. As an embodied being, you are actually pretty well off in this case if you decide to tell the dead to go bug somebody else. There's a reason why they can't just reach through the veil and pick you up by the scruff of the neck. They don't have a body to do it.
It's almost Samhain/Halloween/Tamala. A lot of people want to try necromancy around this time of year because the cultural attitude in the western world says that this is the time of year for it. Just be careful if you are going to try it out. Remember, there are as many good people as there are bad people in this world, living or dead. And always, always use magical protection when you are trying out necromancy. Because the dead are not the only spirits out there and the other spirits are just as, if not more, manipulative when it comes to their agendas. No matter how big and spooky the spirit appears, you are in control of the situation. You can order them to run back off to the left corner of Hel just as easily as you can summon them from it.
I'm taking a break from my manuscript to type up this post. (Partly because I'm about to go cross eyed from going over my notes and partly because the notebook I was writing in has spontaneously begun to come apart for no apparent reason. Thus, I have started the process of typing that monster up.)
If you are wondering, I'm a necromancer. That doesn't mean that I play around with dead bodies. That's a necrophiliac. I suppose in polite company, one would call me a medium that specializes in contact with the deceased. I prefer to call a spade a spade and own the term necromancer. Spirit contact is a skill pretty much anyone can pick up with some time and patience. The thing with necromancy is you have a few basic guidelines you need to remember.
Point the first: they are dead for a reason. Perhaps that reason is that they passed peacefully in their sleep at a nice age of 98 and a half years old, surrounded by loving family. More likely, they passed by way of some manner of misadventure. Most misadventures happen because somebody did something stupid and dangerous. The deceased may have been a hapless bystander to the lethal misadventure consequences or they may have been the one who did the deadly dumb thing. Either way, remember that they're dead for a reason and they may not be entirely upfront about that reason.
Point the second: they are not always going to be 'nice' or 'good'. When you die, you die. You don't change into another person immediately and your root characteristics are going to stick around for a while on your soul until you're ready to move on to your next life. That means the person who was an unsavory, smarmy character in life is quite likely to be the same scumbag in death. There are some who realize the errors of their ways during incarnation and make a complete 180 in their behavior. They are the exception, not the rule.
Point the third: there are going to be dead people with agendas out there and are going to try to get you involved in them (with or without your consent). The dead who interact with the living usually have something they want to get done. They are as inclined to manipulate information and what they present about themselves as they are motivated to get the thing done. Some may do it by way of trying to scare you into doing what they want. Some are going to do it by trying to charm or guilt you into it. Either way, they have an agenda. Especially when they come looking for you to pass on a message of some sort. Remember, you don't have to go along with their agenda. As an embodied being, you are actually pretty well off in this case if you decide to tell the dead to go bug somebody else. There's a reason why they can't just reach through the veil and pick you up by the scruff of the neck. They don't have a body to do it.
It's almost Samhain/Halloween/Tamala. A lot of people want to try necromancy around this time of year because the cultural attitude in the western world says that this is the time of year for it. Just be careful if you are going to try it out. Remember, there are as many good people as there are bad people in this world, living or dead. And always, always use magical protection when you are trying out necromancy. Because the dead are not the only spirits out there and the other spirits are just as, if not more, manipulative when it comes to their agendas. No matter how big and spooky the spirit appears, you are in control of the situation. You can order them to run back off to the left corner of Hel just as easily as you can summon them from it.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Update Note.
Dear Reader,
Due to how busy this week is going to be, I will not be posting much new material. I will, however, post a few 'info dumps' on the mirror blog to share old material. I am at the point of working actively on the manuscript for the rosary book by hand. This requires a good number of hours of my day between the tasks of raising two children and keeping house as best I can manage.
I thank you for your patience with this and I promise that the results are going to be well worth the wait.
Blessings upon your kith and kin.
♥
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