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

Ancestral Healing, The Shadow-Side of "Light Workers" & Predications For Humanity

I seldom lazy-share the ideas of people in the so-called spiritual field. But there's so many things I want to say and it takes a lot of time. So sometimes, I think it's ok to share the thoughts of a person you admire. Someone who doesn't simplify anything. 

Like right now for example. I'm listening to Teal Swan in a beautiful interview about Ancestral Healing, The Shadow-Side of "Light Workers" & Predications For Humanity. If you're tired of the humbug of ... well ... many things. This interview is worth its weight in gold.