Merlin's Way

The Way of the Wizard: Twenty Spiritual Lessons for Creating the Life You Want by Deepak Chopra
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Author Deepak Chopra uses the metaphor of Merlin raising the future King Arthur in the Crystal cave to teach the reader 20 lessons that will transform the reader's life.

Each lesson or chapter is divided into three sections. The first section tells a story where in Arthur learns his lesson from Merlin. The second section is understanding the lesson where the teaching is given further explanation. The third section is called Living the lesson which is how to apply the teaching to daily life.

The final chapter teaches the 7 steps of alchemy. They are a nutshell summary of all that Merlin taught Arthur. In this book the goal of alchemy is to transform the person from being an allegorical lead into an allegorical gold.
The steps of Alchemy as follows;

Innocence: the first stage of life. There is very little individuality. The baby lives in the essence of timelessness . This is a state of pristine reality where in we realize that everything in the universe is connected all is one. Babies also do not cling to their emotions but release them as soon as they feel them. There is no illusion of good or bad everything just is.

Birth of the Ego: this is when we develop the sense of I or me. We see ourselves as being separate from creation. We also start to identify with our temporary body something which we cast off when it is old and worn out. What is our identity but experiences transformed into memories. Individuality is an illusion.

Birth of the achiever: this marks the individuals quest for independence to go out there and experience the world. This manifests itself as an urge to aquire things and material possession. This is the ego's way of telling itself that separation is endurable. It is loveless and controlling. It is this urge to control things and to stave off death that brings about chaos and anxiety.

The giver: in this phase the emphasis shifts from taking to giving. This connects the individual with others. This also ameliorates the anxiety of trying to hold on to everything and protect it from enemies trying to take it. The break down of separateness begins.

Birth of the seeker: this is when the quest for the Grail or enlightenment truly begin. The seeker identifies with the world at large. The seeker realizes that the material world no longer offers happiness . The seeker turns towards the spiritual. Love is not just an emotion but a force that burns away the impurities of illusion. L
Real love is unconditional and not based upon our preconcievec notions and expectations.

Birth of the Seer: the full realization that the material world is an illusion. We are all spirit encased in a material vessel. The seer wants to see the face of God. Self image, how we see ourselves is seen for what it is a deception that is not real. Often times we identify ourselves by the roles we play in life. Words create a virtual box which encase us. Of course this is not who we really are. That is something more profound. Think of it what is identity. Most people have more than one personality encased in their head and they are in conflict. The seer gets beyond this. The seeker knows that to have desire is normal and natural. Desires are fulfilled naturally with out any effort. To exert too much effort only hinders the fulfillment of your desires.

Innocence: the final step . Realization that all is spirit and we are returned to innocence . There is joy bliss at this stage. The innocence is attained through knowledge. The distinctions of good and bad fade away . Every thing is.

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Secrets of the Nameless Art

Secrets of East Anglian Magic
Nigel Pennick. Capall Bann
2004

The Nameless Art as it is called in East Anglia has no orthodoxy or central text. It is a tradition that is fluid and ever changing yet at the same time remaining quite the same. East Anglia was once home to the Celtic Iceni tribe, the tribe of Boudicca who fought against the Romans. Later on it was taken over by Danes. Their royalty were called "Uffingas" or Wolf people. East Anglian magic is primarily Norse with several key differences. Being situated where it is East Anglia has seen many people come and go. Such people include Romans, Celts, Irish, Romani Gyspies and Jews.

In the earlier days Paganism existed side by side with Christianity. Shrines were shared by both groups and people even belonged to both tradition. Even symbols had meaning in both subset. The Battle Axe of Olaf was key. He was a Christian who died by a blow to the head from a battle axe. In both Pagan religions and Christianity it has meaning for protection. Paganism has never fully died out. Certain traditions have survived and others are being revived.

The Catholic Church tried to snuff out Paganism but was not successful. King John before the Magna Carta re institutionaliszed British pagan practices during his reign. The Protestant later banned Pagan and Catholic practice and labeled it all witchcraft.

Witch hunt in Anglia could be rather intense. Usually it was old women, the infirm, handicapped and other defenseless people that were rounded up and persecuted. The most noted Witch Hunter was Matthew Hopkins. He got paid for every witch he executed so he found as many as he could. He was notorious for his use of torture.

Many different magical groups have been operating in East Anglia. Some of them are closed groups open to initiates only. The Masons were definitely there. Of note is the "Horse Whisperers" they could tame any horse by whispering the magical word. To join them you had to be selected and you went through and initiation and training. Another group that required initiation was the "Bonesmen" they work magic with graveyard dust and bones. Part of the initiation called for the neophyte to examine a set of human bones. His job was was to determine whether they were noble bones, an Earl's bones or a a poormans bones. The Neophyte could not tell and so after death ones station in life meant nothing. Only character development counted.

The Gods and Goddesses are based on Norse mythos with several key differences. The main God is Tergamont the main sovereign. He is like Tyr save that his hand was not bit off by Fenris the wolf. His main day is Tiagunde or January thirteenth.. He is the god of great offense and defense.

Thor is the favorite over in Northern Europe over in East Anglia he is not as important. His bronze hammer or Mel destroy demon. Woden, a derivative of Odin is the God of Seers and runes. He is rather ambivalent so it can be tricky working with him. He is compared to Saint Nick as during the Yule he distribute gifts. He is also called the Devil as for the Wild Hunt that collects the souls of the dead.

Freya is the Goddess of sexuality, sensuality and magic. Drewary is her sacred form of sacred magic. Bale is a god derived from Baldur. May day and Bale fires are sacred to him. Then there is Phoebie the Sun Goddess and Lady moon. Saturn is also in their. Yarth is the name of the Earth Goddess, Way land is the god of technology and eliminating inability. Tom Hitchcraw is a blackened face giant who protects by wheel and axle. He is believes to come from the Celtic origin.

For a short book this volume is very complete. Nigel Pennick teaches the reader how to woodcraft magical materials. Warding your house and making talismans are also convered. East Anglian to this day still make use of witch bottles and herbs. For a good insight into traditional British magic I strongly advise reading this.

Travellers Guide to Fairy Sights

Travelers Guide to Fairy Sights
Janet Bord, Gothic Image Publications
September 2004


Planning a trip to the British Isles? Maybe you want to check out some of the sights that are associated with fairies. That's right these places are places where fairies have been seen. The is book is written like a Fodor's or Lonely Planet travel guide to fairy sights in Britain.

The book is divided into sections. Regions of England, Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man are divided up into regions. Each section gives you entry style descriptions of fairy sights in the area. At the beginning of each section is a map of the area and underneath the map is a number and the fairy sight. You can locate it on the map. I still think you will need a GPS though. After each entry is a story associated with the sight which helped make it famous. Some of the areas are in out of the way places and look pretty barren. Other area are located on Private property. The rest are easily located.

Many of the stories have common motifs. Some stories involve someone getting caught in a fairy ring and dancing in that ring for at least a year and maybe more. They are finally pulled out by some dedicated friends. Bent pins are thrown into wells as a sacrifice. Stories of changelings abound along with fairy lovers who return to fairy land after being with their husbands for a while.

The book is inspiring and makes for a quick read. If you are interested in fairies or interested in traveling to the British Isles I strong recommend reading this book.

Behold a Conspiracy

Behold A Pale Horse
William Cooper, Light Technology Publishing
1991

Do you believe in conspiracy theories ? UFO's? Perhaps you do not. Once you read this book you may change your mind. I myself am not one for conspiracy theories and I may not necessarily buy into all the author's conclusions but after reading this book I now have my eyes opened.

William Cooper served in the military with high honors. He served on boat crew and submarines during the Vietnam War and he also served in air force. Numerous times during his service he spotted several UFOs and heard a great many stories. He was told in a nutshell to keep his mouth shut. His book will dedicate one chapter on UFO's.

Most of the book is concerned with the Illuminati or secret societies that plan on taking control of the world. In the up coming chapters he details their plans and he supports his contentions by and large with legitimate and track able information.

The Secret Organizations like the Council of Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, Skull and Bones and certain Masonic groups just to name a few compose the Illuminati. Oh and let us not forget the Catholic Church and the Black Nobility. Oops I forgot the Knights of Malta. It seems that all influential individuals have had some sort of affiliation with one or more of these groups. The information is track able and cannot be sneezed at.

What exactly is there plan. The first part of the plan is to control the currency, a job made easier with the advent of computer and technology. Control the currency and you control the country. We use reserve notes now not actual money. Something to think about. Loans are easy to come by but just because you borrowed money does not mean you own the property. The Bank can claim it anytime. Easy credit makes people complacent and lazy. So does welfare. Part of their plan is to destroy the family unit. This destruction is brought about by the excessive day care centers for poor people. Both parents or single parents working means the system raises your children. The education is also being tampered with. Children in poorer areas are being given an inferior education and are allotted fewer resources. Uneducated people are easier to control. The media also puts ideas into the minds of the people ,especially with high material demands of some upper class females. The man had better give in or he is whipped. This sort of set up leaves the man as spineless and unable to raise his children. It easy then for him to send his sons off to war.

There have always been secret societies. People like belonging to the special crowd of people. They like being the elite. Joining entails initiation, special passwords and rituals. These help to ensure loyalty to people and ideologies. Most of these organizations have been dedicated to Luciferian principles and their symbol was often that of the serpent. The Serpent represented Wisdom or illumination. These secret societies have motives for running the world. Some think they are doing what is best for mankind while other are more sinister. Either way they view the common people as cattle that to be lead and ruled.

Many of these organizations have separate agendas. The Catholic Church wants the Pope in power. The Church is assisted by the Knights of Malta. Other organizations wish to run the show behind the scenes. The Black Nobility are the old royalty of Medieval Europe and they are still a power to be reckoned with. They might even be more powerful now that they are out of Royal power.

As far as the United States is concerned the Secret Organization have special plans to abolish the constitution and erect work camps for various people. The president has through certain clauses the ability to write certain orders that do not require congress or the Judicial branch of government. During national emergencies the constitution can be suspended indefintiley. The government also has files and information on patriots and others who might fight this problem and all the pertinent information that pertains. When the time comes the government has set up detention centers ready to receive these patriots. At this point they will be reprogrammed or killed. The Illuminati's plan is one world government and enslaving the world. In their world we will have no right. Just think about this , the prison industry is the fastest growing industry. Convicts will be expected to perform labor for free. Sounds like slavery to me.

Let us not forget FEMA. They have authority that kicks in as soon as a national emergency develops. The Constitution is suspended and they take control. Iron Mountian is an entire city under ground literally. It also has and alternate president, congress, judiciary you name it they got it.

UFOs play a big part. They have already established contact. The US government has crashed UFOs in their possession. They also have the bodies of dead aliens. One crashed UFO even had the body parts of humans which goes to show that they are abducting humans and using them for experiments. Needless to say diplomatic relations have already been established. We have a few of them here as hostages and they have some of ours. Apparently a secret agreement has been reached. They give us technology and the government allows them to experiment on people. The experiments are supposed to be few in number and are not supposed to harm the subjects. This has been breached by the aliens but our technology is not sufficient to fight them.

The contends that we already have sent people to Mars, Venus, and even Jupiter. We have colonies on the moon and other places. Astronauts and airforce pilots have attested to not only seeing UFOs but also to having been accompanied by them.

What is the Alien agenda, why of course to control our world which they do through the secret societies who in turn manipulate people through Occult groups, religion, Santanism and what have you.

The book has a lot. The last 1/3 has appendices and sources that seen very real. It maybe hard to slog though but what you read will blow you away.

The Troth of Northern Europe

Essential Asatru
Diana Paxson, Citadel Press
2006

Along with the exponetnial growth of Wicca and Neo Paganism there has been an upsurge of interest in the Norse Gods and their mythology. Those that follow the Norse ways are often identified as heathens. Heathen do their best to reconstruct rituals from Norse sources such as the Edda and the Younger Edda. Diana Paxson give forth a great over view for the newcomer and a good refresher for someone more advanced in their studies. Hence it also makes a great reference.

Europe has had the same population for thousands of years. DNA tests show that most Europeans are inter related and there has been little change in the population. As Glaciers melted various tribes settled in the European continent. As the climate would get colder the Germanic tribes would move further south, over taking the Roman Empire and reaching as far south as North Africa. In prehistoric times Indo European tribes moved into Europe from India. They believed in three gods; sovereign magic god, war god and the agricultural god. These people were known as the Kurgans and their buried their dead in mounds. they also had a sect that wore animal skins and would act like these animals on wild hunts. They did not impact the genetics of Europe but their culture made a profound change.

Most Europeans descend from seven women who in turn descended from 23 women that came out of Africa. These twenty three are bre from the original Eve. In the beginning there was probably a mother earth goddess and maybe a sky god. The Romans recgnized the Earth Goddess as Nerthus but no Norse text suports such. According to the mytholgy the Fire world and the ice world came into contact with each other. This created Ymir and a giant calf. The giant calf licked the ice world and created Bor. Later Bor's children would slay him and use his remains to make the world in which we live. From the Giants came forth the Gods. Odin , Vili and Vi tied together three types of tree and Odin breathed life into them. This there is als0 a description of festivals, blots and sumbles.

Magic is not all that central to Heathen but it is their. There are three types the first being Rune magic where in something is inscribed with Runes to give it magical properties. There is also spoken magic where a rhyme is recited for magical effect. Lastly there is Seid or trance magic.

The book is concise and easy to read. I found it enjoyable, exciting, comphendable and informative. This book is a must read for anyone just browsing into Norse Heathenism or someone just starting out. Five hammer out of five.

A Christian Massada in Southern France

The Fire and the Light
Glen Craney, Brigid's Fire Press
2009






Back in the late 1100's Occitania or better known as Southern France was a free land with it's own official language and it was not French. Occitania was also home to a sect of gnostic Christians called the Cathars. The Cathars branched off a group of people called the Bogomils who came from the Baltic region. The Cathar doctrine was different from the Catholic doctrine in a variety of ways. In the Cathar view the God of the old testament was a evil god who created and ran the the world. The material worl was a prison for our souls and the objective was not to go through another life time but to be able to descend to heaven in a robe of light. That was the object of Jesus's life and resurection. The Catholics twisted this they believed. Of course the ideological differences would spark an even known as the Algibensian Crusades. The Cathars were eventually wiped out and Occitania was eventually taken over by the French under King Louis. The Occitanians lost their last bit of freedom during the 1240's.

The story starts off in the Occitanian city of Foix. Esclarmade is being tested for her initiation in the school of love. In Occitania Troubadors are free to go around and sing their love to young maiden. The love is not always requited. One such Troubador is named Folques de Marseille and his objective is Escalarmade. Needless to say she turns him down and chooses a Templar as her poetic champion. The Templar is poor poet yet he somehow bests Folques. Folques in his dissappointment decide to join a Catholic order called the Cistercians. These monk are out to get the Cathars. They pervade Occitania insearch of them. In Rome Folques and Almaric conniove a plan to invade Occitania with Pope permission to conquer Occitania. Mean while Esclarmade becomes associated with this group while hiking in the caves of Montsegur. She also find out her mother belonged to the sect before she disappeared. In a space of time covering the 1190's all the way to 1244 many things will happen.

Escalarmade will become a perfecta in the Cathar sect. She will fall in unrequited love with Guillhelm the Templar, win a debate against the Catholic church, be forced into a marriage after Gulhelm loses a fight and lose a child to the Catholic Church. Occitania will become over run and much like the inquisition Occitania will be over run and Cathar s will be burned at the stake like witches were. Cities are devasted and forced into submission. Humanity at it's cruelest.

Montesgur becomes a temple for the Cathars and it is there that a final confrontation takes place. The ending is not happy as you can well imagine. Esclarmade's son ends up joining the Dominicans and pursuing the fight against the Cathars. Occitania gets over run. Excelent piece of historical fiction with great attention to details. This is one well worth the read. Too bad the author has not come out with any other books.