To Loose a Dream and Loosing Dream Ceremony

When you loose a dream the ramifications are usually underestimated. A dream is a vague thing after all, different from goals; a dream is an idea structured around the business, the loving home, the child or the fishing time retirement, or whatever your dream may be; where an entanglement of threads goes in all directions, making things not only possible, but more than that worth working for. So, when a dream dies, there's a lot involved that includes everything from self-image to meaning, purpose to cause.

When a close one dies the idea of mourning is well understood. So well understood that representatives of life insurance companies use the broken heart symptom as a parameter to calculate the life expectancy of their clients. Loss of loved one shortens life expectancy so clearly that even the guys with the big bucks count on it. I suspect so does loss of dreams. Or, it can but probably don't have to if you find another dream to replace it with. Which indifferent from people is possible. Or parts at least. But first, you must allow yourself to grieve. 

Reflections: Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans

I've been mourning a dream lately. It made me think of creating a ceremony for lost dreams. The big ones. Not willy nilly wishes and whims. But for real dreams that got lost, interrupted or just brutally torn apart. While pondering this I've been doing what any sane person does when uninspired and frustrated in combination, I've been cleaning. Frustrated, because without a holding-together dream, and no new holding-together-one-yet-born it's tricky to pour your energy into almost anything but just briefly. So, I have been cleaning a lot. This kind of cleaning goes by the rule "the grittier the better." Meanwhile many things in life in general can be done. The problem isn't "having something to do." Nor is it "doing things that's good for you," or "doing things that have to be done." There's plenty of those things around, every category. Like creativity for example.

While thinking of my ceremony I've been writing a series of blogposts, the only reason they were not published was that they were all in my mind, ranging from topics such as Manifestation Mania to Religions Is Cultural, Spirituality Is Individual and thrown in there were Medicalization of the Mind, The Dangers of Medicalizing Life with sidetracks of the poor creation of DSM-5, 4 and 3. All interesting enough subjects but I haven't felt inspired enough to print them down. When you grieve lost dreams most things look pretty meaningless. You can do a lot but you cannot do it with spark. Meaning is nothing you can force, any more than passion or joy.  It's a byproduct of something else. I have been doing healing ceremonies though, because fortunately I have friends that like when I put them together so that, at least, has felt meaningful.

Reflections: City Park, New Orleans

Speaking of which, the very same life insurance calculators bounce up your life expectancy a couple of notches if you belong to a religion. Which is interesting, considering that these guys don't kid around when counting. I assume the same principal applies to people with a non religious spiritual approach, which is good news for me, my Michael and many of my friends.

I've been walking an awful lot lately; early, early mornings because of the heat that makes most outdoors activities unbearable. Walking is good for body obviously but also for allowing the mind to wander. It was on one of those mind wanderings I found myself thinking, 

"This is just so beautiful, it is truly great to be here, I think I'm really ready to create a new dream now." That's when I realized I had done my loosing dream ceremony. A month of gritty cleaning and robot movements through life had done part of the trick. But most importantly to allow myself to be in the feeling of loss. Because real dreams are not about accomplishing or getting things done, they are not a feather in your cap nor can they be ordered online. They are a soul contract with life and has to be let go off gently as well as reeled in gently and when the time comes to glide on to new horizons it will come naturally. Though some under the sink cleaning in the kitchen does help an awful lot.  

In a Canoe by artist Wangechi Mutu, Sculpture garden, City Park, New Orleans

Morning ceremony - What Do You Do?

Some time back, after having written the previous blogpost, a friend of mine asked with reference to my morning ceremony, "But what do you do?" 

It wasn't that this particular friend needed advice. She's a skilled magic worker and knows the ins and outs of many spiritual traditions. It was a question interwoven in conversation about these ins and outs. But, she did make me think. If I would put words to what I do during my morning ceremony, however brief it is, what would those words be? In fact, I had to think for several weeks.

Light some candles and burn some sage? Yes, but that's not especially important and sometimes practically impossible.

Write in my journal? Yes, sometimes, if I have something to say to myself or have a dream I want to remember because I find it interesting. But this is not a necessity either.

Be in a space where I can be alone with my thoughts before I take on the day? Yes, absolutely. But that's just a practical setting to make it work at all. I have a renowned bad morning mood. At least, that's what I thought for the longest time but I 've come to  think it's rather that the transfer from dreamworld to awake world is especially tricky for me. Thus, a quiet space is more about saving my immediate co-humans from unnecessary grief. As well as performing any morning ceremony at all.

Do I talk to spirits? Sure, if they are in the mood and I'm capable of receiving any information of worth. Which is great but information is just information. It doesn't actually change anything.

It wasn't until I edited a transcript with a fairly unique character that I got it. He played on words and said something along the lines of, "People talk of mindsets, but I rather say that I set my mind ..." (the man's name is Lee Tunney-Ware.)

That's it. During morning ceremony I set my mind. How I set my mind depends on the day. If there are challenges I boost myself. If there is unclarity, I focus it on certain things: positive things and positive outcomes. It doesn't work if it's make-believe, as in, "I hope this person is miraculously un-annoying today" or the like. For the most part we have an approximate sense of what we're going to face. A person we perceive as annoying will most likely continue to be annoying in our eyes. We have little control over them, if any, but we do have full power of our reaction, or even better, non-reaction in this specific situation. Just as with other daily endeavors. Some things we can control, others not. It's easier said than done, but quite doable. I set my mind on what to focus on, whatever that may be, and how to respond when I meet challenges. Which, of course we will, especially the ones we're trying to avoid. The law of attraction works both ways, after all.

Then I set my heart, my emotions. Could this be the last day of my life? Sure it could, could be anyone's time to move on quite logically. What is important? What is truly of importance, emotionally? So, I focus on that, and it can truly be whatever, whatever makes my heart tick, or even better, warm.

Then I set my spirit. This is a fun part, but also the trickiest, as spirit world works according to it's own logic. If I throw out wishes one day, I can't back out of them the next because things doesn't happen as fast or the way my I and my ego would like. This level demands a lot of trust. Some New Agers like to call this level higher, as in "knowing more and better than" but I personally prefer deeper. This is just semantics, but I don't want to end up in some quasi religious hierarchal mindset. The point is that I set my spirit aligned with spirits I work with that in collaboration that things I cannot see a logical solution to will work out with clear intentions and a whole lot of trust from my end.

So I guess, that's what I do when I do my morning ceremony; I set my mind, my heart and my spirit. Simple enough question. Long answer. Thank you for the question my friend. 

Morning sun, City Park, New Orleans

Morning Ceremony and Healings

 

Journal doodle: Moon to moon

I'm presently doing a morning ceremony dedicated to a certain kind of healing. Healing is one of those New Age subjects that can stir controversy. Rightly so. There's a lot of snake oil salesmen (and women) out there. and one should be careful when it comes to the most crucial thing of all - our health. But there are also a lot of misconception about healing as well; such as, that New Age people think that a certain crystal will make them heal from breast cancer or that a mantra can make the lame walk. As with everything it's a bit more complicated than that. In my opinion neither the crystal nor the mantra will hurt anyone, but if someone say they can heal you this way and in addition charge a lot of money ... run for it, or roll out in your wheelchair if you are the lame one. To make promises about miraculous healings that you cannot know if you can keep is obviously cruel, mostly for the hopes they may raise. This preying on people in a vulnerable situation is where healing as a concept should be questioned and scrutinized. There's a lot of good, responsible healers out there and a lot of bad, unscrupulous ones too. We have to use discernment in this area as any other. Fortunately, we can do our best healing ourselves. We may even have friends that are talented healers that can help us out, if we ask.

The difference between healing and conventional medicine is that you take spirits' help into account, including advice and help you've gotten from other spirit workers. You also take full responsibility for your healing. This doesn't exclude doctors visits but this world, the healing world, is void of measuring instrument and defiantly void of wellness competitiveness. Spirits want you to be whole, or as whole as possible. To put it simply, to help you strive towards wholeness is part of the job they signed up for. When you are in a healing space it encompasses body, mind, soul and spirit and work on all levels simultaneously. You might receive advice from anything from food intake to how to place your bed to changing you job. All you need is an open mind and the ability to listen closely.

When I do a morning ceremony dedicated to a certain healing theme this ceremony stems from a basic need; from something health wise that I wish to improve because this would improve my life and my ability to move in it. The technique is quite simple, but the results can be most helpful and sometimes even astonishing. This is how you can do it in case you want to try: 

Choose what it is you want to heal. 

Choose a time a day your willing to work with this issue.

Choose a time period of time you are willing to work on this. 

Decide beforehand that you are willing to do the work. 

Receive healing and, if possible, listen to the spirit messages and your deeper self.

Get to work.

I always choose early mornings simply because if I don't do it then, the day will pass and I'll end up not doing it. As far as choosing what to try to heal I have a bunch to choose from, but who doesn't? Funny thing is, no matter what I choose it will always, and I mean always, improve my overall health. Perhaps it is the willingness here that is the key. That is, I tell myself, and thus my spirit helpers, I'm willing to give it a go. Time period is important for me psychologically, if it's too long I will stop focusing pretty soon out of pure pre-built up expectation exhaustion. If it's to short there's hardly enough time to make anything happen. I often choose to work with the moon as she gives a natural rhythm that you can't mess with. She will wane and she will wax regardless of our opinions. There's comfort in that. It also connects your work to ancient healing practices. Your calendar is in the sky, not on your smartphone.

To listen to spirit messages is a tricky one, there's a bunch of sweet people out there who can talk you through it. I like the explanations of this young woman Sygga, for example. She's intense, fast and wordy so perhaps, if you're the calmer type, you prefer the words of this woman Gabby. Their advice is similar. But even if you don't think you can hear or receive anything from spirits you can still dedicate a moment and receive the healing. Light a candle, speak your healing wish aloud, ask spirits to help and meditate a bit. Before you know it you will not only feel better, you might also get an intense craving for something you haven't eaten in ages and when you read up on it it will turn out that this particular food contains a substance that target your ailment exactly. Or, the like. Trust me, it works. 

But doesn't it work just because you think it will? you may ask. Well, of course that's part of it. There's a few trite and true things that is always true when it comes to improving health: a good diet, exercise and ... placebo. Researchers have to add the margin for placebo effect for any medicine they try out. So, instead of seeing placebo as a scientific research nuisance, let's embrace him as the superhero in medicine he is. Placebo is truly a possible miracle worker. Though, I personally believe there is more to it. If I didn't I wouldn't be writing this and I certainly wouldn't spend my mornings staring at a candle to listen to what spirits want to nag me about from one full moon to the next. They are terribly chatty and it so happens that healing happens to be one of their favorite subjects.

Street art, Baywater area, New Orleans

Altars - the Mimosa Tree

I have a new mind game. The mind-body connection has become more and more understood, with or without the adding of spirit, and to set the mind in a good gear in the morning I every morning write down three things I want to do over the day. Not have to do, and this is important, just want to dos. It's a simple game, but can do wonders for the mind which in its turn generates another kind of energy to the body than to-do-lists can ever do. These things have to simple enough and most of all doable, but I may not know the impact of them. Most of all they have to spark a feeling of: "Yes, there is something here, some kind of life enhancing spark." This is where spirit loves to come into play. I often don't know why I want to do these specific thing, but they often add a little something to the whole of this thing we call life and not seldom quite a bit. Often they result in things I need but don't know why with a calculating mind alone.

Mimosa Tree, by highway 59, Mississippi

The other day one of my want-to-dos was to bring home something I needed for my bedroom altar. Not knowing what this something would be, just to liven it up a bit. The altar needed to be changed up to begin with and as is needed with most changes, I had started with taking something away. 

Looking at me from our bedroom altar was a small dried alligator head. You don't have to be a Feng Shui expert or know that much about energy medicine, or psychology for that matter, to realize that staring at the open gape of a predator with a fifty something sharp teeth before you go to sleep and seeing it first thing you wake up may not have the most soothing impact for neither body, mind nor spirit. It's a beautiful little head though, and I moved it safely over to another spot less directly related to morning and bedtimes' in-between, delicate moments.

My Michael and I had decided to take a day trip. We had originally planned to do an overnight camping, but the forecast was rain, thunderstorms, and more rain. So instead, we did a drive with no clear destination other than getting a better picture of possible routs out of New Orleans in case this years hurricane season would turn out to be bad. Which is predicted. Very aware that we so far have been lucky weatherwise, we have made a vow to each other to this year be decently prepared for any scenario. Something anybody should do in any place and climate of course, especially when prospects of potentially weather scenarios range from inconvenient to outright dangerous. Now, here's a tip nobody needs, since anybody with half a brain could have figured this out all by themselves; if you're planning to take a relax day with your love, imagining flood catastrophe scenarios together may not be the most unwinding activity.

Nevertheless, we trooped on and stopped close to the highway, right after entering Mississippi, to stretch our legs. There wasn't much to see but some trees and brushes and a gate with clear declarations that it was closed for anything but private traffic. The trees were mostly mimosas, a tree whose flowers is easy to love but personally I actually think the leaves are even more beautiful. I don't like breaking branches for anything but clearing an area and anything picked would dry out before we made it home anyway, so I hesitated. It's mostly brush, maybe I should take one ... I thought to myself, but hadn't even finished the thought when I was interrupted by Michael who stood beside me with branches in hand, flowers and all.

"Is this what you wanted?" he asked.

Well, yes, it was. I just didn't know yet that it was also something I needed.

Soon thereafter we stopped by a Mississippi welcome center. Very sweet men greeted us and I picked out some brochures. A whitehaired sheriff cleaned one of our front lights swearing that the liquid he used would clear the dimness that we had thought was scraped into the plastic. Which it partially did. Can't complain about Mississippi's first impression that particular day. The cleaning fluid smelled for miles though.

When we came home I read up about the mimosa tree. I'm not a herbalist but my admiration for mother nature's ingenuity is an ongoing love story. Turned out that the mimosa tree, bark, leaves and flowers, is a well respected medicinal herb in traditional Chinese medicine among other herbal medicinal systems. Among a multitude of benefits the mimosa tree is said to elevates mood, to help regulate healthy sleep cycles and in addition it is considered to be a potent aphrodisiac. Well, if I wanted the perfect symbol for my bedroom altar I couldn't have made this up. Also turned out that dried mimosa leaves are just as beautiful as fresh one and they are now leaning against a crystal and are the first thing I see when I wake up. Which is of course a wiser choice for the mind than a predator's toothed jaw. But if I'm talking magic; there's also a basic energy around mimosa that is sweet and calm.

The notions that everything is energy and that everything is connected are at the base of any spiritual work. These notions change everything. What they don't do is automatically change the premises for physical reality, which is usually one of the most common misconceptions about people who are into metaphysical stuff. That we think that they do. That is usually not the case, that's a mix-up with magic in Harry Potter. But these notions do make the ideas around physical reality more fluid and, as mentioned, more connected. They also, sometimes, make life somehow make more sense, in a nonsensical, but life enhancing, way.

Full moon is upon us, this one is called Flower moon and sometimes Green leaves moon, which is life enhancing in itself. It so happened that one of those brochures I picked out at the Mississippi welcome center was a very beautiful poster of local wild flowers. I put that one up on the bedroom wall, creating some more sweetness in this area.  I just might make a tea out of the dried mimosa flowers. Either way the leaves will do their work on my altar just by being there. Happy Flower moon.

Altars - Speaking to Self and Spirits

Altar - Marigolds, crystal ball and snakeskin, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

Altars are one of the most readily available man made tools to communicate with spirits, or Spirit, if you prefer. You can use altars to create a bond with unseen powers, to celebrate them, thank them and honor them. In a nutshell, to create a personal relationship with spirits and powers. I use plural because I always want to honor all the beings I work with, or simply want to acknowledge, but to use a singular is of course ok too. I leave the dilemma to find the proper noun to you: Source, Universe, Spirit, God, the All, for example.

When you honor spirits by building altars you also honor the spiritual part of yourself. The part of you that you may have difficulty to define, to fit into the mind-body category; your deeper self, your spirit or your soul. You can use the altar to talk to your own spiritual Self. This is not always an easy conversation and you may do well to have spirits to help you.

It is important to understand that this has nothing to do with man made clammy therapeutic tools or psychoanalysis. They are perfectly fine but are ultimately created to define illnesses of the mind. We can of course have many of those and take the time to rip ourselves apart with whatever tools we like, but not on altar time. Spirits most important job is to make you whole, not to dissects you. There's plenty of time to do that, actually any other time in the day you choose.

Altar - Palo Santo, fire and amulets, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

Thus altars becomes a reflection of your Self, your connection to spirits and your work on earth, whatever that may be. This is nice since man made world unfortunately is made up of endless comparisons of worth. Rather tedious is it not?

An altar can look anyway you choose. The difference between a decorative corner and and altar lies in your intention. It can of course be quite obvious an altar from how it looks and how you approach this says something about you, not anything about Spirit. Though the look of it can also be an indication of how your connection fares. Spirit is always there, you on the other hand, will most likely change as the wind over one single day. 

I personally choose a pagan approach, since it is well tested but don't have the limitations of musts that easily follow more structured spiritual beliefs. Or, to put it simply, I use the label of being a witch because I can do as I please and still enjoy a preunderstanding from my surroundings, and work from there.

To use symbols for the elements is a safe bet for an altar. We know them, they speak to us and if we make sure we use one of each we naturally have balance. Balance being of outmost importance in any spiritual work. Lack of balance is one of the most common reasons for spiritual accidents. Lack of clear intent is another. Anyway, a candle for fire, a small bowl of water, some incense or a feather for air and something representing earth: a rock, a plant in a pot or the like, and there you have it; the basis for the altar is created. The elements representing the basis for "all that is."

Altar - Fossil and glass pearls in water, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

The elements are of course represented in most spiritual traditions, occult ones included, even if occult languages are often quite involved. If you are interested in a very complex but surprisingly clear description of how the elements are spiritual building blocks an excellent source for all kind of esoterica is the alchemist, who has a multitude of fun clips readily available on YouTube. Some spiritual traditions use more than the four elements, adding one or several that represent their significance in the place the tradition grew. For example, Old Norse pagans work with fire, water, air, earth and ice, which make perfect sense in a cold climate, even though ice can easily be included in the water element.

Then of course an altar needs a representation of the the Spirit, or as some call it, the fifth element. For some it is included in the other elemental representations (as they represent "all that is,") some like to have a certain symbol or a multitude of symbols if they, like I do, see the spiritual realm inhabited by spirits, large and small. This is highly personal, but one should choose with respect. There is a saying that goes, "Wherever you build a temple a god moves in." You could also say, "wherever you build an altar spirits gather."

By your altar you can talk to spirits and, for example, ask for help with things you cannot solve with your mind and hard work only. You can talk to your deepest Self and see if you find solace or even some deep seated self irony. If you cannot find the latter many spirits will be more than willing to help out making fun of you.

"Isn't this just a psychological tool?" you might ask. Well, perhaps. Does it matter? "Wisdom is what works," said brilliant Jungian psychologist Clarissa Pinkola Estes once. She got that message early one morning drifting in that in-between wake and sleep, after studying the concept of wisdom for months and months and finding nothing but an overload of fancy words. But in my experience that is what altars can do; work when nothing else does.

More than anything altars have to be alive. A three foot tall gold statue of your favorite divinity can be beautiful but will not add to the altar's power. Your intention, time and efforts will. 

Be careful with your candles. I will cut a twig of oakleaves for my altar vase now, in honor of the oak spirits in New Orleans. They helped me greatly once and that kind of help should not be taken lightly, nor be forgotten. 

Altar - Yellow flowers and sage - echoes from the past, Magic Land, Virginia

California and Aftermath Contemplating

 

A calm spot, Chinatown, San Francisco

I did a small trip recently. To California. It made me think about things, as trips usually do. Mostly it made me think of places and how much I adore the place I live. That is a good thing to realize. New Orleans is so full of life it pours over.

It was a brief trip so I didn't see all that much and certainly put no stamps on a whole state from a a few touchdowns. A lot of what I did see just wasn't my kind of scene. I did enjoy Chinatown, San Francisco immensely (there were real people there and colors. Lots of colors.) and I finally got to see the redwoods, which I longed to do a very long time. Also, there's no question that the countryside we passed through was very pretty. So pretty and scenery-perfect that I at one point gestured towards some rather sizable hills we passed by with suspiciously straight lines in the grass circling the hills and asked my Michael,

"They don't do lawnmowing on those, do they?"

Turned out "they" didn't. There were perfectly normal cows eating the grass and the

perfectly circular lines around the hills must have been a result of some kind of geological phenomena. This comment says nothing about California, or hills, or cows for that matter. It only says something about the state of my mind at that moment.

My Michael and I went for a New Life Expo to help a friend who in return helped us with making the trip happen. Good deal. New Life Expo present itself as a holistic Mind-Body-Spirit expo which places it under the umbrella term of New Age, and it was, in no uncertain sense. The so-called New Age movement, which for a large part is modernized old age, which I and the majority of my friends and contacts are part of, have levels and levels. This was what I usually refer to as High New Age. The expo was a mix between commerce and general New Age hysteria sprinkled with some real nice people with good ideas. Think over representation of purple in general and make over booths dressed up as spirituality side by side with a few serious practitioners of for example herbal medicine and writers of interesting books on spiritual concepts. 

The man in the booth next to me was going to hold a lecture and practiced the opening part on me. It was the only time in the three days of the expo I felt compelled to lie. Not because his presentation was bad. On the contrary, it was overall well put together and he was a charismatic man so there was no question he was going to do great, which is what you need to hear when you're about to do public speaking. It was just that his words at that moment didn't work for me. He said, and I'm paraphrasing,

"Now that you feel inspired by everything you experienced here at the expo, you're probably wondering; how can I bring some of this home with me to my everyday life? I will tell you."

Flawless speech opening. I had absolutely nothing to critique. The reason I lied was that I didn't feel inspired nor did I need more information about every day spiritual practice, but that was far to complicated to explain. There's a time for everything and this was not a time for lengthy personal outpourings.

Mural - Chinatown, San Francisco

Once back in my beloved New Orleans, the very next morning I was met by not one but two especially obnoxious ads with New Age themes. I use YouTube a lot for mellow soundtracks and usually start the morning with part of one of my personal playlists. As I have YouTube with ads and listen to a lot of music categorized an New Agey I get a lot of New Age themed ads. Enjoying the pleasure of free entertainment I'm not complaining about having ads in the first place, I've become quite the expert on muting the volume, letting the ad run, put volume up after a bit and getting back to the music. I almost do it in my sleep. Not so this morning. I was fumbling and found myself staring at a young guy yelling at me,

"You are doing your manifestations wrong! That is why they're not working. I will tell you the secret how to do it right!!!"

"Ok ok, calm down, calm down," muttered I, jumped the ad, got my music and went back to morning coffee. 

I must have chosen a more popular tune than usual which, of course, generates more ads, cause soon thereafter my music stops and a young, attractive woman with Las Vegas hairstyle and tight yoga pants appears and breathlessly begins blabbering about manifesting a husband in just two weeks at a yoga retreat.

By then I found myself becoming slightly irritated by the general hysteria and bad New Age rep so I found myself hissing at the woman in the ad,

"That is NOT manifestation dearie, that is simple cause and effect. Showing off your ass at a yoga retreat wanting to find a partner and finding a dude who is there for the same reason is CAUSE AND EFFECT!"

Now, a moment of reflection. Manifestation as a concept has its roots in religious and spiritual thinking with the idea that if something in the spiritual is made real it is a manifestation. This concept has grown to mean that you can move things from the theoretical realm and make it real with the right intent and mindset. It is widely popular in New Age circles and as the previous examples show, can sometimes take ridiculous forms. Which apparently had the power to upset me. The ridiculousness that is. But then I thought for a moment. If I'm upset it means I care. Which, for me, usually means there's something I'm not doing. What if I use this irritation more creatively? It is, after all, one way to avoid getting high blood pressure. 

I do believe that manifestation can happen during the right circumstances, though the circumstances are usually a bit more complex than Mr. and Mrs. Hysterical mentioned above would like you to think. I also believe in spirits, the power of prayer and everything in between. Instead of shouting at people in ads that are trying to make a buck - who doesn't, we all have to live on something - why not write about magic and spirituality a bit again? Everyday, simple things that I do right here, right now. Perhaps throw in some explanations of concepts that are highly misused and misunderstood. I'll start right now.

When it comes to spirituality at large there is only one thing that sets spiritual people off from those that are not spiritual. We believe that the worlds contain also Spirit. That's it, nothing else. It's not a feather in your hat and it certainly does not make life easier. It is simply the belief that there is something more than a physical reality. 

Furthermore, when it comes to spiritual matters there are no secrets. There is only knowledge. There were a lot of esoteric secrets once, when people risked getting body parts chopped off, or worse, for expressing beliefs about things like the nature of the divine that wasn't in accordance with ruling religions. Today you can find esoteric knowledge with a click of your finger, if you're interested. The biggest challenge is sorting through information and choosing forms that suits you. Because we do need some kind of form, otherwise we're lost in space. This doesn't make one form better than the other. It's just a matter of preference.

So, how about cause and effect? Well, sometimes material cause and effect are quite obvious. Why make it into something else? But I believe that cause and effect can also be so complicated that it can only be explained in esoteric terms, rather than leaving everything that cannot be explained to coincidence. Nobody has to agree, which is the brilliance of free choice. Someone said, "Magic is just science that isn't understood yet." I think there's a lot to that, but who has the time to wait for all that to be revealed?

So, I will write more about magic upcoming; very basic, everyday practices from my life and concepts related to them. What it is and what its not from my viewpoint. It defiantly beats shouting at YouTube ads. In addition, the Voices of the Norns' offer is still open. I just haven't gotten any more questions. Which is good, because they are rather grumpy ladies and are best left alone if you don't want to know. But, if you do, feel free to ask. We just might wring something out of them. Meanwhile, I'll wring myself a little harder and see what happens.

Tiger roses, Baywater walk, New Orleans

Voices of the Norns - What To Do?

Detail Present day altar, New Orleans - Smoke

Dear Norns,

I am right now in a sort of a searching phase. There are many things in my life which create resistance, that eat much of my energy. I often find myself alone in a vacuum with the question; what am I supposed to do? I'm grouping for guidance, something that gives me the feeling that if I do the right things and work harder everything will work out for the better, as long as I keep at it. I have tried many sounding boards, both in my immediate surroundings and with people outside of my personal sphere, but I still find myself feeling helpless and alone. Do I really have to fight this hard? And if so, how long? I did have a hope that I would find deeper connection and context in the geographical location I have now chosen to build my life, or at least that things would become somewhat easier. But I remain a stranger that guest plays a little here and there without feeling that I belong. So, what am I supposed to do?

Hugs

Emilia

Little sparrow,

We hug you back. We do, we do, and ask ourselves; Why do you have to work so hard? Why do you have to? Do you? 

Beyond survival there are few things people have to do. There are meaning and goals. Those are yours to create. Here's a non-secret that is easy to forget. Places have souls too. Souls of places are slow and not very easy to charm, but they are seldom fickle like people are fickle. Oh, people ... not a bad race, we don't say that at all. But so much ado, so much running around, making noises, shattering endlessly, breaking sacred bonds pretending they were never there in the first place.

Do you know what the Protestant motto is? It is: if shit happens all I have to do is work harder and it will work out. This is not necessarily true. Not always. The Catholic motto is: if shit happens it's probably my fault. That is not necessarily true ... either.

Talk to this place you think you've chosen (you might want to wait until you're free from human company for this) and ask if it wants you? Be respectful. Root your own soul. You will want know this; calm people gravitate to people that have calm souls. The fickle ones fall away, which isn't a big loss. Most people are a lot of work. Especially these days when the languages of places - earthenware and birds - are so seldom used. Speak that language and perhaps somewhere there you can find answers to the right question which is not what to do. It is; what do you want?

With outmost blessings

The Norns

Detail Present day altar, New Orleans - Flowers

Voices of the Norns - Past, Present and Future - an Offering

It has been quiet on this blog for awhile. I found myself in the world of not knowing what to share. The written word can be used for so many things and not all are suitable for immediate flaunting.. Creative writing has to take it's time and will, hopefully, be shared eventually. Private journal writing is for the most part, well, private. Nobody really wants to know the rambling of my journal pages. You just have to trust me on that one. It's beyond mad alert. It's tedious. Meanwhile, while the fictional stories in the making are slowly, painfully slowly to be honest, being created and private journal pages keep suffering I find myself thinking of what to share. Which undoubtedly leads to - why share?

Now, that is a good question. Or rather, for any writer, the question. As I would happily, chappily said in writing classes of old - everyone has something to share. Write, just write ... jada, jada. Easy to preach, is it not? When we talk to others we know the way all too well.

When Michael and I published The Echo World we had a natural venue. Nobody questions why you should write in a magazine, you just do. Not even myself. Truth is, I miss The Echo World. Not the deadlines, they are as the name implies, deadly. Not the deliveries, or scraping around for suitable material, nor the technical issues. I don't miss those parts much at all, but I do miss the given venue.

Echoes from The Echo World days, Magic Land

The Echo World was a creature, an all-consuming bratty little bastard with a tender heart. Leftover copies of the last issue are presently forming into new creatures of paper-mache. Painfully slowly I might add. All is well in the world and it keeps revolving, unfolding and evolving.

When I met the voodoo queen of New Orleans the first time (there might be more than one voodoo queen here but for me there is only one, an eighty plus miracle of a woman who runs the Voodoo Spiritual temple. Her name is Miriam.) she repeated in a sing-song voice for no apparent reason, "The past echoes forward. Isn't that great? We don't have to dwell on the past because the past echoes forward."

I have been thinking about what parts of The Echo World I truly do miss and would like to echo forward. One part that was great fun was Voices of the Norns - Past, Present and Future. I have decided to reawaken Voices of the Norns. Simply because I feel like it. Or, perhaps closer to the truth, because I missed them lately. And they are, for quite natural reasons, never far away.

Voices of the Norns - Past, Present and Future was featured in The Echo World over its last years and some were republished on this blog. If you are curious click the links: 

Voices of the Norns - Past, Present, and Future - The Worlds

Voices of the Norns: Past, Present and Future - The Voice

Voices of The Norns - Past, Present and Future - Anger

Voices of The Norns - Past, Present and Future - Freedom

Voices of The Norns - Past, Present and Future - The Broken Key

Voices of The Norns – Past, The Present, and Future - Unconditional Love

I invite you to ask questions to the Norns and see what they come up with. This is an offering, FREE of charge and for our mutual curiosity. There are only a few things to consider:

The Norns are cryptic and sometimes harsh. Do not ask a question you do not want an answer to. I will give the answer as close to the words I am given as possible. If you're ready to play, fire away. Send your question to sofiakarinaxelsson@gmail.com. 

I will choose questions, edit down if need be and proofread. That is my only charge. The Norns will do the rest. They usually do.

Word of the Day - Rain train

Rain train, meaning - (simple google search): basically a storm that forms from the conglomeration of smaller scale thunderstorms but is not as big as a mid-latitude cyclone.

Left for something, Elysian Fields Ave, NO

I learnt this word yesterday. And today. And I will probably learn more about the concept tomorrow. Another meaning of rain train: pretty tedious.

However, moist and murky as they may be, rain train days are perfect curiosity days, or cultural days if you want to sound more focused. New Orleans have a lot to look at and the public library culture pass is a great invention.  Michael and I are looking into  possibilities. But first a walk. A rain-hanging-in-the-air walk.

St. Roch Cemetary, NO

Holding Magical Space

To hold a space for magic -real magic - is the most delicate thing and requires strength of a rare kind. It is - I imagine - like teaching a moth (to teach a butterfly would be similar I assume. I really have no firsthand experience with the analogy on a whole.) to lift a barbell heavier than its own weight.

To lift that barbell yourself would be impossible. After all, it's the jobb of a moth, or a butterfly, and a fictional one on top of that, doing an impossible task.

If one holds that magical space long enough, (Just discarding that it is indeed impossible.) then maybe, sometimes, sometimes miracles do happen.

Butterflies on mural , Who Dat Coffee,
Burgundy street, New Orleans

A Very Red Day

A day is filled up

     with every thougt we have

          every feeling

               every action

               every joy, every low grade sadness of things lost, of the color we paint our aura, or our walls.

This is a good day. Early still. But I will cook a chicken (in the oven, the hottest red spices, lots of onions) and put up pictures in our workroom (second hand frames, some already filled with images of fiddlehead fern and mountains and trees. In some I will put doodles I made over the last years.) In the room where Michael and I write and work and dream. A very important room for us indeed. 

I think I'll use plant allies, those warm and happy ones - cinnamonsticks, cloves and orange peel, I'm sure I'll come up with something more - and make some tea. It will fill up the room with scents. Scents have colors you know. Those scents are reddish, a warm orange hue. The color of the chicken cooking will be a deeper red. It's the chillipepper mostly and the paprika, of course.

Feelings also have colors. At least for me. The feeling of accomplishing something is also red; a bright, shiny red. So putting up those pictures on the wall radiates something. Punching nails into the wall with a hammer defiently creates ruby sparks.

I think this is a very red day.

From collection Associations by Jeffrey M Fletcher