THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | OCCULTISM

Signs Preliminary to Ritual

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.lucky.w,alt.magick
From: nagasiva 
Subject: Signs Preliminary to Ritual (was Mental Barriers ...)
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 05:31:30 GMT

50020108 VI! om

Apollyon asks the general assembly:
>>> Have (or did) any of you encounter mental barriers when attempting
>>> to practice magick?

nagasiva responds:
>> many, especially initial. I've also called off rituals because signs
>> were not *right* for them, even many times in succession, waiting for
>> the proper configuration of symbols, numbers, etc.

"Asiya"  follows up adroitly:
> Can you clarify, what kind of signs? Thanks.

it is a combination of attended events and objects and what level of
focus they demanded and what contextual relevance they assumed in my
field of consciousness. it is difficult to describe outside specific
circumstances with particular examples, but I'll try.

my focus of attention and items as they arise in the background are
compared against one another for significant comparison. for example,
my partner and I are considering our preparedness for the upcoming
ritual celebrating our arrival at our new home. I notice, alarmingly,
that she has not come anywhere *near* to completion of unpacking as
we had previously planned (sign one). while I am mentioning this to
her so as to discuss the matter, someone calls and wants to come over
to talk about some practical detail of our recent move -- agreeing
to this would mean significantly postponing our rite or abandoning
it altogether (sign two). when talking about the possibilities we
begin to quarrel (sign three and, based on my experience, quarrelling
amongst ritual participants is a heavy dissuasion from moving onward
all its own). these were more or less based on my previous experience.

there are other things that I take as signs. an apparently unrelated
mention by family or close friend that this evening seems to be an
unlucky time period might be a sign. and all the things I've just
mentioned are negative signs. there may be negative *and* positive
signs (all provided emphasis based on my *own* consciousness and
their relative appearance), even combined. weighing them all and
determining their overall import may be as much an assessment of
my willingness to engage them as it is a kind of 'finger in the air'
test of the proverbial winds. am I ready for what lies ahead? if I
know the answer is no, this is a negative sign. will I have sufficient
time to prepare all the same? perhaps this latest negative is able
to be overlooked on account of a remedial nap I had this afternoon,
or maybe my partner is looking fit and strong and I can rely on
their strength to pull things through should they turn ugly.

the symbolism of a sign is also important -- what it means and how
attuned it might be to that with which I'm associating it. this
may take the form of 'unconscious', 'unrelated' or 'random' puns
or 'synchronicity', such as someone who I identify as a powerful
magician in a book I'm reading or a film I'm watching mentioning,
just at the point of my consideration of the context surrounding
the ritual event, that their power is waning or that timing is bad.
someone dying just before what is supposed to be a celebratory
event might cast a shadow over the entirety and put it in my mind
to call it off. there is a kind of 'cushion of potential' which
any ritual has in my estimation, and this may be undermined by
the acts of those who will be part of it, those who encounter me
or the area of the future rite (some amendable, some not).

if you have additional questions based on the above I'm happy to
reply to them now that I've returned from my journies away from home.

blessed beast!
nagasiva

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races