What I've been doing
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I figured I should just start a thread to blab a bit about what I am working on, so people can make comments and suggestions if they have nothing better to do.
I have a couple small things going at the moment. Besides doing a lot of reading and writing about my thoughts on it in a sort of free-style way, I am mainly focusing on two things which are fairly related.
- Seems like a good place to start is "mastery of the material world". I realized a long time ago that this sounds a lot simpler than it actually is. I think certain parts of my background give me both advantages and disadvantages in this area, but I'm trying to remember something a martial arts teacher told me a long time ago which is that the skills one needs to practice most are this "simplest"/most basic no matter what level you're at. Toward that end I've cut down on some probably too grandiose projects and have gone back to something I learned from the Wiccans which is elemental evocation.
I try to do this in a full ceremony as often as possible, and sort of "to myself" during the day evoking the elementals (which should be tools of the personality not to be confused with the self) and invoking the god (trying to remember my higher essence). This si pretty basic stuff but it keeps me on course while dealing with "daily life" and I'm starting to feel the old edge over/separateness from the strange little puppet dance most people think of as life.
- I am meditating on Art and Samekh. This is because one of my main problems for a while has been the ability to work well in my head, and even in the world, but not ever really taking the things that I understand/concieve of in my mind and bringing them forth in a productive (ingenious?) way. e.g. my physical work is good, my mental work seems alright, but my spiritual work does not "exist" in the real world because of a lack of moving it outside myself. I wonder how well I'm articulating this and how much my lack of articulation is an example of the problem.
Art also seems appropriate to me because one symptom of this malaise is that I have not been litterally producing any art which used to be the source of much joy and dare I say a small degree of enlightenment (or at least illumination) for me.
In any case, haven't gotten very far with that, but there are my current projects.
Oh and also, 3) (simply put) Artemis is getting me a house and I'm getting her a shrine. This is going quite well.
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I thought it might be worth checking your horoscope in these respects:
heruraha.net/viewtopic.php?t=1209Something that may be of interest to you: The ancient Greeks and Romans didn't have planets ruling signs, they had gods ruling them; and Artemis and Apollo were deemed the rulers of Sagittarius and Gemini, respectively.
As an aside: This set of attributions is one example of how incredibly rich the Qabalah is, since if you take the Graeco-Roman rulerships to the Tree of Life you find that - for all six classic planets which were, to them, gods and for which they gave zodiacal rulerships, every one of them is connected on the Tree to the path of the sign in question. (The seventh was Saturn - they didn't have Kronos ruling anything, since He had been overthrown.) The only one that doesn't direct-link to the planetary path is Sol (Apollo), but Tiphereth anchors Zayin (Gemini). The others are: Moon-Gimel connects (and is the extension of) Sagittarius-Samekh; Mercury-Beth connects to Cancer-Cheth; Venus-Daleth connects to Taurus-Vav; Mars-Peh connects to Scorpio-Nun; and Jupiter-Kaph connects to Leo-Teth.
Back to your chart: Your most important transit is Pluto's conjunction with your Sun - which can be completely life transforming. This first occurred in April, and will be on-and-off for almost all of next year. Your life simply won't be the same on the other side of it as you understand it to be now (or, I should say, as you understood it in 2006). My blurb:
@Pluto-to-Sun said
"Your total experience of yourself, of WHO YOU ARE, is changing, evolving, perhaps bringing significant outer changes in the structure of your life as well. New phases begin while others are brought to a close. Major goals become even more major, and near a climax. A dominating, inconsiderate side of you may emerge as you pay, for a while, less attention to what others feel, think, and say than what you inwardly know to be true. Of primary importance, though, is your increasingly in-turned self-awareness, and clearer perception of your inner identity, goals, and life-purposes. Old illusions cannot be maintained as easily as before, so this “recreation of self” may demand some hard confrontation of reality."
Since your Sun is only a degree from your IC, this also means Pluto is crossing your IC - essentially the same time, but it became more like late January and will be over by mid-fall next year. Among other things, here's the house! But the more important stuff is psychological. Here's the longer blurb:
@Pluto opposite Midheaven said
"The roots of your identity experience a profound transformation. This may show superficially in major changes in your domestic environment or family relationships, with anything from remodeling your home to critical events involving your parents. These events are but metaphors of the substantial psychological changes occurring within you. More private and introspective, more independent of others’ opinions and attitudes, you stand close enough to touch an inner essence of yourself IF ONLY YOU WILL. As old illusions and false securities fall aside, you benefit greatly from self-exploration techniques (meditation, psychotherapy, etc.). Extreme, inappropriate reactions are clues that you are resisting the breakup of your old self-definition. Relax. This disintegration, mild or severe, can be the gateway to a renewed, resurrected sense of self."
Neptune is done with its square to your Venus. No need to revisit 2005-06 n that respect. And Uranus won't reach the square to your Jupiter until 2009. You can look at all of these here: heruraha.net/viewtopic.php?t=1163
I think what's happening at the moment, though - what might put a lot of that in perspective - is that Jupiter was stationary recently within a degree of conjunct your Uranus. It's still sitting on that degree and, over the last couple of days, transitting Mars has been opposing it, firing it all into action, creating stressors and "necessity" around its themes:
@Jupiter-to-Uranus said
"Your creativity, originality, and innovativeness are encouraged by others. Increased prosperity, status, or (self-)esteem comes from your ideas, inventions, or discoveries. An inner restless dissatisfaction inspires you to make progressive alterations in your circumstances; to reach further than you have previously reached, regardless of some obvious risks, to improve the quality of your life and broaden your horizons. You gain renewed confidence in the part of you which demands to be unique, progressive, and free. Technological advances (such as computers) gain in importance to you. A sudden change may occur in your financial situation, perhaps due to specu-lation; but such gambles are too unstable now to bank on if you can't afford to lose."
Does that give any perspective?
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Wow, informative post Jim. A lot of that sounds like exactly what's been going on with me. I think I've been in a period of not really getting anything done because I haven't felt like I know what I want to get done--but that seems to be going away with surprising speed. I need to think about what you wrote a lot more though.
and
"would it help to evoke Seshat and Thoth or Hermes to aid your capability to communicate artistically?"
Great suggestion. This is exactly the sorts of ideas I'm hoping to get. sometimes other people see something right away that I never would have thought of if I sat on it for a year.
--M
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@SophiaLux said
"I figured I should just start a thread to blab a bit about what I am working on, so people can make comments and suggestions if they have nothing better to do. Wink "
Well being one of those personalities with nothing better to do...
I wonder if you have working some of the basic practices as noted in Liber E, Liber O
www.ordoaa.org/pdf/l009.pdf
www.ordoaa.org/syll0.htm...and some of the material in Eight Lectures on Yoga:
www.aleistercrowley.com/books_online/eight_lectures/part1.html
Granted there are more 'user friendly' materials on these subjects, but I have always felt that the development of the mind through meditation was the superior road to the Craft of Magick, East or West!
Just some thoughts for you...
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Thanks for the links. Its always helpful to see things all laid out like that. I noticed several gaps in my reading list.
As far as Liber E, its good to be reminded to keep better records. I slip up on that a lot, which is sad since I'm supposed to be in the sciences. I have been working mainly on Asana, which I immediately found really fascinating. I have a background in martial arts and I think control and awareness of the body are really very key in this life--you can't get very far at anything if you're not in charge of the tools you have at hand. Not saying I'm any good at it yet, but I do get a kick out of practicing.
As and aside, another thing I try to do is memorization. I learned this as a valuable tool since I was a child and have let it slip too much I think. I've memorized long poems and texts in English and Spanish, and conversations or speeches/lectures.
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@Sophia LVX said
"As and aside, another thing I try to do is memorization. I learned this as a valuable tool since I was a child and have let it slip too much I think. I've memorized long poems and texts in English and Spanish, and conversations or speeches/lectures."
Absolutely. Memorization is an awesome tool for strengthening the mind and its range of experience. An excellent reference to this is found in Frances Yates book called, The Art of Memory:
www.amazon.com/Art-Memory-Frances-Yates/dp/0226950018Also some additional linkage on the subject:
cotati.sjsu.edu/spoetry/folder6/ng621.html
www.philipcoppens.com/artmemory.htmlAnd something specifically for you:
www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/8465/mf/gb02.htm -
Its funny how once things are set in motion, even the one who begins them can't stop or steer them (at least through weak means like fear or anger).
Just musing a little. Haven't been on here much. Been doing lots of cleansing and being quiet--not waiting exactly. Just resting?
A vengeful fellow broke a statue of Kali on my doorstep. Sad. I buried the big bits and used the dust to make protection spells for my doorway. This person is trying to hurt me a lot--I don't wish him ill. I would like to try to remove whatever negativity he is gathering around himself, but I'm not sure if that's possible. He can't harm me, but I wish he wouldn't harm himself either.
As usual I have very little point--just throwing stuff out there, and letting people who care (and I know a couple do) know what I have been up to.
Love under Will.
That means more and more every day.
--M
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"A vengeful fellow broke a statue of Kali on my doorstep. Sad. I buried the big bits and used the dust to make protection spells for my doorway. This person is trying to hurt me a lot--I don't wish him ill. I would like to try to remove whatever negativity he is gathering around himself, but I'm not sure if that's possible. He can't harm me, but I wish he wouldn't harm himself either."
I am sorry to hear that, M. I sincerely wish you well in dealing with this vengeful fellow. If it is someone you know, it has always been my experience to bring the issue into the light of day and deal with it honestly -- if you feel that is possible.
Aside from that, the protection spell coupled with good common sense are always appropriate methods of dealing with other's demons.