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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Scrying

Scrying (also called crystal gazing, crystal seeing, seeing, or peeping) is a magic practice that involves seeing things psychically in a medium, usually for purposes of obtaining spiritual visions and more rarely for purposes of divination or fortune-telling. The media used are most commonly reflective, translucent, or luminescent substances such as crystals, stones, glass, mirrors, water, fire, or smoke. Scrying has been used in many cultures as a means of divining the past, present, or future. Depending on the culture and practice, the visions that come when one stares into the media are thought to come from God, spirits, the psychic mind, the devil, or the subconscious.

Although scrying is most commonly done with a crystal ball, it may also be performed using any smooth surface, such as a bowl of liquid, a pond, or a crystal.

Scrying is actively used by many cultures and belief systems and is not limited to one tradition or ideology. As of 2009[update], the Ganzfeld experiment, a sensory deprivation experiment inspired by scrying, provides the best known evidence for psi abilities in the laboratory. Nevertheless, like other aspects of divination and parapsychology, scrying is not supported by mainstream science as a method of predicting the future or otherwise seeing events that are not physically observable.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Yule

Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Some historians claim that the celebration is connected to the Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival
Terms with an etymological equivalent to "Yule" are still used in the Nordic Countries for the Christian Christmas, but also for other religious holidays of the season. In modern times this has gradually led to a more secular tradition under the same name as Christmas. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Calling for abundance

During the last few years I have been channelling and learning from other people prayers. A few years ago, I got this chant during a shamanic ritual. This chant is to ask the universe to send us money for example:

"Resources of the universe, as the river goes to the sea, please come to me because I need it"

This is chant, so it has to be said over and over increasing the vibration each time . You visualize that this request has a form a perfect energy ball that is being built while chanting. At some stage you will feel that the energy ball needs to be relased, like when you press "send" on an E-mail. Once it is sent, the message (energy ball) will be looked after. Say thanks and mean it! and move on, let the universe work it out!

Do it and let me know how you got on!

Danaan

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tetragrammaton

The quadriliteral name of God, , which is thus referred to in Josephus, in the Church Fathers, in the magic papyri, and in the Palestinian Talmud (Yoma 40a, below), whence it has passed into the modern languages. Other designations for this name, such as "Ha-Shem," "Shem ha-Meforash," and "Shem ha-Meyuḥad," have frequently been discussed by recent scholars (see bibliography in Blau, "Altjüdisches Zauberwesen," p. 128, note 1, and, on the terms, pp. 123-128). The term "Tetragrammaton" apparently arose in contradistinction to the divine names containing respectively twelve and forty-two letters and formed likewise from the letters Y, H, W, H(ib. pp. 137-146); for only thus is the designation intelligible, since Adonai likewise has four letters in Hebrew.


Statistics of Occurrences.
The Tetragrammaton is the ancient Israelitish name for God. According to actual count, it occurs 5,410 times in the Bible, being divided among the books as follows: Genesis 153 times, Exodus 364, Leviticus 285, Numbers 387, Deuteronomy 230 (total in Torah 1,419); Joshua 170, Judges 158, Samuel 423, Kings 467, Isaiah 367, Jeremiah 555, Ezekiel 211, Minor Prophets 345 (total in Prophets 2,696); Psalms 645, Proverbs 87, Job 31, Ruth 16, Lamentations 32, Daniel 7, Ezra-Nehemiah 31, Chronicles 446 (total in Hagiographa 1,295).
In connection with the Tetragrammaton is pointed with the vowels of "Elohim" (which beyond doubt was not pronounced in this combination); it occurs 310 times after , and five times before it (Dalman, "Der Gottesname," etc., p. 91), 227 of these occurrences being in Ezekiel alone. The designation "Yhwh Ẓeba'ot," translated "Lord of Hosts," occurs 260 times, and with the addition of "God" four times more. This designation is met with as follows: Isaiah 65 times, Jeremiah 77, Minor Prophets 103 (Zechariah 52; Malachi 24), Samuel 11, Kings 4; but it does not occur, on the other hand, in the Pentateuch, in Joshua, in Judges, or in the Hagiographa. Adding these 264 occurrences and the 315 just noted to the 5,410 instances of the simple Tetragrammaton, the word "Yhwh" is found to occur 5,989 times in the Bible. There is no instance of it, however, in Canticles, Ecclesiastes, or Esther; and in Daniel it occurs 7 times (in ch. ix.)—a fact which in itself shows the late date of these books, whose authors lived at a period when the use of the Tetragrammaton was already avoided, its utterance having become restricted both in the reading of the Bible and still more in colloquial speech. For it was substituted Adonai; and the fact that this name is found 315 times in combination with "Yhwh" and 134 times alone shows that the custom of reading the Tetragrammaton as if written "Adonai" began at a time when the text of the Biblical books was not yet scrupulously protected from minor additions. This assumption explains most of the occurrences of "Adonai" before "Yhwh"; i.e., the former word indicated the pronunciation of the latter. At the time of the Chronicler this pronunciation was so generally accepted that he never wrote the name "Adonai." About 300 B.C., therefore, the word "Yhwh" was not pronounced in its original form. For several reasons Jacob ("Im Namen Gottes," p. 167) assigns the "disuse of the word 'Yhwh' and the substitution of 'Adonai' to the later decades of the Babylonian exile."
Reason for Disuse.
The avoidance of the original name of God both in speech and, to a certain extent, in the Bible was due, according to Geiger ("Urschrift," p. 262), to a reverence which shrank from the utterance of the Sublime Name; and it may well be that such a reluctance first arose in a foreign, and hence in an "unclean" land, very possibly, therefore, in Babylonia. According to Dalman (l.c. pp. 66 et seq.), the Rabbis forbade the utterance of the Tetragrammaton, to guard against desecration of the Sacred Name; but such an ordinance could not have been effectual unless it had met with popular approval. The reasons assigned by Lagarde ("Psalterium Hicronymi," p. 155) and Halévy ("Recherches Bibliques," i. 65 et seq.) are untenable, and are refuted by Jacob (l.c. pp. 172, 174), who believes that the Divine Name was not pronounced lest it should be desecrated by the heathen. The true name of God was uttered only during worship in the Temple, in which the people were alone; and in the course of the services on the Day of Atonement the high priest pronounced the Sacred Name ten times (Tosef., Yoma, ii. 2; Yoma 39b). This was done as late as the last years of the Temple (Yer. Yoma 40a, 67). If such was the purpose, the means were ineffectual, since the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was known not only in Jewish, but also in non-Jewish circles centuries after the destruction of the Temple, as is clear from the interdictions against uttering it (Sanh. x. 1; Tosef., Sanh. xii. 9; Sifre Zuṭa, in Yalḳ., Gen. 711; 'Ab. Zarah 18a; Midr. Teh. to Ps. xci., end). Raba, a Babylonian amora who flourished about 350, wished to make the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton known publicly (Ḳid. 71b); and a contemporary Palestinian scholar states that the Samaritans uttered it in taking oaths (Yer. Sanh. 28b). The members of the Babylonian academy probably knew the pronunciation as late as 1000 C. E. (Blau, l.c. pp. 132 et seq., 138 et seq.). The physicians, who were half magicians, made special efforts to learn this name, which was believed to possess marvelous powers (of healing, etc.; Yer. Yoma 40a, below).
Church Fathers and Magic Papyri.
The cures, or the exorcisms, of demons in the name of Jesus which are mentioned in the New Testament and the Talmud (see Exorcism) imply that Jesus was regarded as a god and that his name was considered as efficacious as the Tetragrammaton itself, for which it was even substituted. It was in connection with magic that the Tetragrammaton was introduced into the magic papyri and, in all probability, into the writings of the Church Fathers, these two sources containing the following forms, written in Greek letters: (1) "Iaoouee," "Iaoue," "Iabe,"; (2) "Iao," "Iaho," "Iae"; (3) "Aia"; (4) "Ia." It is evident that (1) represents , (2) , (3) , and (4) . The three forms quoted under (1) are merely three ways of writing the same word, though "Iabe" is designated as the Samaritan pronunciation. There are external and internal grounds for this assumption; for the very agreement of the Jewish, Christian, heathen, and Gnostic statements proves that they undoubtedly give the actual pronunciation (Stade's "Zeitschrift," iii. 298; Dalman, l.c. p. 41; Deissmann, "Bibelstudien," pp. 1-20; Blau, l.c. p. 133). The "mystic quadriliteral name" (Clement, "Stromata," ed. Dindorf, iii. 25, 27) was well known to the Gnostics, as is shown by the fact that the third of the eight eons of one of their systems of creation was called "the unpronounced," the fourth "the invisible," and the seventh "the unnamed," terms which are merely designations of the Tetragrammaton (Blau, l.c. p. 127). Even the Palestinian Jews had inscribed the letters of the Name on amulets (Shab. 115b; Blau, l.c. pp. 93-96); and, in view of the frequency with which the appellations of foreign deities were employed in magic, it was but natural that heathen magicians should show an especial preference for this "great and holy name," knowing its pronunciation as they knew the names of their own deities.
Meaning and Etymology.
It thus becomes possible to determine with a fair degree of certainty the historical pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, the results agreeing with the statement of Ex. iii. 14, in which Yhwh terms Himself "I will be," a phrase which is immediately preceded by the fuller term "I will be that I will be," or, as in the English versions, "I am" and "I am that I am." The name is accordingly derived from the root (= ), and is regarded as an imperfect. This passage is decisive for the pronunciation "Yahweh"; for the etymology was undoubtedly based on the known word. The oldest exegetes, such as Onḳelos, and the Targumim of Jerusalem and pseudo-Jonathan regard "Ehyeh" and "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh" as the name of the Divinity, and accept the etymology of "hayah" = "to be" (comp. Samuel b. Meïr, commentary on Ex. iii. 14). Modern critics, some of whom, after the lapse of centuries, correct the Hebrew texts without regard to the entire change of point of view and mode of thought, are dissatisfied with this etymology; and their various hypotheses have resulted in offering the following definitions: (1) he who calls into being, or he who gives promises; (2) the creator of life; (3) he who makes events, or history; (4) the falling one, the feller, i.e., the stormgod who hurls the lightning; (5) he who sends down the rain (W. R. Smith, "The Old Testament," p. 123); (6) the hurler; (7) the destroyer; (8) the breather, the weather-god (Wellhausen). All these meanings are obtained by doing violence to the Hebrew text (Herzog-Hauck, "Real-Encyc." viii. 536 et seq.).
Assyro-Babylonian Cuneiform Inscriptions.
Attempts have also been made to explain the Divine Name as Hittite, Persian, Egyptian, and even as Greek; but these assumptions are now absolutely set aside, since the name is at all events Semitic. The question remains, however, whether it is Israelitish or was borrowed. Friedrich Delitzsch, in discussing this question, asserts that the Semitic tribes from whom the family of Hammurabi came, and who entered Babylon 2500 B.C., knew and worshiped the god Ya've, Ya'u (i.e., Yhwh, Yahu; "Babel und Bibel," 5th ed., i. 78 et seq.); and Zimmern (in Schrader, "K. A. T." 3d ed., pp. 465-468) reaches the conclusion that "Yahu" or "Yhwh" is found in Babylonian only as the nameof a foreign deity, a view with which Delitzsch agrees in his third and final lecture on "Babel und Bibel" (pp. 39, 60, Stuttgart, 1905). Assyriologists are still divided on this point, however; and no definite conclusions have as yet been reached (comp. the voluminous literature on "Babel und Bibel").
Abbreviated Tetragrammaton.
"Yah,"an abbreviated form of the Tetragrammaton, occurs 23 times: 18 times in the Psalms, twice in Exodus, and three times in Isaiah. This form is identical with the final syllable in the word "Hallelujah," which occurs 24 times in the last book of the Psalms (comp. also "be-Yah," Isa. xxvi. 4 and Ps. lxviii. 5). It is transcribed by the Greek "Ia," as "Ehyeh" is represented by "Aia," thus showing that "Yah" was the first syllable of . The form corresponding to the Greek "Iao" does not occur alone in Hebrew, but only as an element in such proper names as Jesaiah ("Yesha'yahu"), Zedekiah ("Ẓidḳiyahu"), and Jehonathan. According to Delitzsch ("Wo Lag das Paradies?" 1881), this form was the original one, and was expanded into ; but since names of divinities are slow in disappearing, it would be strange if the primitive form had not been retained once in the Bible. The elder Delitzsch thought that "Yahu" was used independently as a name of God (Herzog-Plitt, "Real-Encyc." vi. 503); but, according to Kittel, "This could have been the case only in the vernacular, since no trace of it is found in the literary language" (Herzog-Hauck, "Real-Encyc." viii. 26, 533). All the critics have failed to perceive that the name "Yao" was derived from the same source as "Yaoue," namely, from Gnosticism and magic, in which Jews, Christians, and heathen met. "Yahu" was in fact used in magic, as is clear from the "Sefer Yeẓirah," which shows many traces of Gnosticism; in the cosmology of this work the permutation of the letters furnishes the instruments of the Creation.
Other Names of God.
With the Tetragrammaton must be included the names of God formed of twelve, forty-two, and seventy-two letters respectively, which are important factors in Jewish mysticism (Ḳid. 71a et passim). They have, according to tradition, a magical effect; for mysticism and magic are everywhere allied. These great names are closely akin to the long series of vowels in the magic papyri, and are obtained by anagrammatic combinations of the effective elements of the Tetragrammaton. The simplest way of determining these three names is to form a magic triangle, whose base is a single Tetragrammaton, and its apex the Tetragrammaton repeated thrice. The four upper lines (12+ 11+ 10+ 9) give the names with forty-two letters; and the entire figure represents the Divine Name of seventy-two letters (Blau, l.c. pp. 144 et seq.). According to the book of Bahir (ed. Amsterdam, 1651, fol. 7a), the Sacred Name of twelve letters was a triple (Dalman, l.c. p. 39; Blau, l.c. p. 144).
In the earliest manuscripts of the Septuagint the Tetragrammaton was given in Hebrew letters, which in Greek circles were supposed to be Greek and were read πιπι (Field, "Origenis Hexaplorum Quæ Supersunt," i. 90, Oxford, 1875; Herzog-Hauck, l.c. viii. 530; Blau, l.c. p. 131). See also Adonai; Aquila; Gnosticism; Jehovah; Names of God; Shem ha-Meforash.


Read more: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=165&letter=T#ixzz0ZnBH2NRl

The Eye of Horus

The Eye of Horus (Wedjat)(previously Wadjet and the Eye of the Moon; and afterwards as The Eye of Ra)or ("Udjat") is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of Horus' mother, Isis, and on other deities associated with her.
In the Egyptian language, the word for this symbol was "Wedjat".It was the eye of one of the earliest of Egyptian deities, Wadjet, who later became associated with Bast, Mut, and Hathor as well. Wedjat was a solar deity and this symbol began as her eye, an all seeing eye. In early artwork, Hathor is also depicted with this eye. Funerary amulets were often made in the shape of the Eye of Horus. The Wedjat or Eye of Horus is "the central element" of seven "gold, faience, carnelian and lapis lazuli" bracelets found on the mummy of Shoshenq II.The Wedjat "was intended to protect the king [here] in the afterlife"and to ward off evil. Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors would frequently paint the symbol on the bow of their vessel to ensure safe sea travel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Horus

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Theory of Everything (TOE)

The theory of everything (TOE) is a putative theory of theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena. Initially, the term was used with an ironic connotation to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, a great-grandfather of Ijon Tichy — a character from a cycle of Stanisław Lem's science fiction stories of 1960s — was known to work on the "General Theory of Everything". Physicist John Ellis claims[1] to have introduced the term into the technical literature in an article in Nature in 1986.[2] Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify or explain through a single model the theories of all fundamental interactions of nature.
There have been many theories of everything proposed by theoretical physicists over the last century, but none has been confirmed experimentally. The primary problem in producing a TOE is that the accepted theories of quantum mechanics and general relativity are hard to combine.
Based on theoretical holographic principle arguments from the 1990s, many physicists believe that 11-dimensional M-theory, which is described in many sectors by matrix string theory, in many other sectors by perturbative string theory is the complete theory of everything, although there is no widespread consensus and M-theory is not a completed theory but rather an approach for producing one.

Historical antecedents
Laplace famously suggested that a sufficiently powerful intellect could, if it knew the position and velocity of every particle at a given time, along with the laws of nature, calculate the position of any particle at any other time:
An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.
— Essai philosophique sur les probabilités, Introduction. 1814
Although modern quantum mechanics suggests that uncertainty is inescapable, a unifying theory governing probabilistic assignments may nevertheless exist.

Ancient Greece to Einstein
Since ancient Greek times, philosophers have speculated that the apparent diversity of appearances conceals an underlying unity, and thus that the list of forces might be short, indeed might contain only a single entry. For example, the mechanical philosophy of the 17th century posited that all forces could be ultimately reduced to contact forces between tiny solid particles.This was abandoned after the acceptance of Isaac Newton's long-distance force of gravity; but at the same time, Newton's work in his Principia provided the first dramatic empirical evidence for the unification of apparently distinct forces: Galileo's work on terrestrial gravity, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and the phenomenon of tides were all quantitatively explained by a single law of universal gravitation.

In 1820, Hans Christian Ørsted discovered a connection between electricity and magnetism, triggering decades of work that culminated in James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Also during the 19th and early 20th centuries, it gradually became apparent that many common examples of forces—contact forces, elasticity, viscosity, friction, pressure—resulted from electrical interactions between the smallest particles of matter. In the late 1920s, the new quantum mechanics showed that the chemical bonds between atoms were examples of (quantum) electrical forces, justifying Dirac's boast that "the underlying physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of a large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known".

Attempts to unify gravity with electromagnetism date back at least to Michael Faraday's experiments of 1849–50. After Albert Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity) was published in 1915, the search for a unified field theory combining gravity with electromagnetism began in earnest. At the time, it seemed plausible that no other fundamental forces exist. Prominent contributors were Gunnar Nordström, Hermann Weyl, Arthur Eddington, Theodor Kaluza, Oskar Klein, and most notably, many attempts by Einstein and his collaborators. In his last years, Albert Einstein was intensely occupied in finding such a unifying theory. None of these attempts were successful.

New discoveries
The search for a unifying theory was interrupted by the discovery of the strong and weak nuclear forces, which could not be subsumed into either gravity or electromagnetism. A further hurdle was the acceptance that quantum mechanics had to be incorporated from the start, rather than emerging as a consequence of a deterministic unified theory, as Einstein had hoped. Gravity and electromagnetism could always peacefully coexist as entries in a list of Newtonian forces, but for many years it seemed that gravity could not even be incorporated into the quantum framework, let alone unified with the other fundamental forces. For this reason, work on unification for much of the twentieth century, focused on understanding the three "quantum" forces: electromagnetism and the weak and strong forces. The first two were unified in 1967–68 by Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg, and Abdus Salam as the "electroweak" force.[7] However, while the strong and electroweak forces peacefully coexist in the standard model of particle physics, they remain distinct. Several Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) have been proposed to unify them. Although the simplest GUTs have been experimentally ruled out, the general idea, especially when linked with supersymmetry, remains strongly favored by the theoretical physics community.[8]

Theory of everything and philosophy
Main article: Theory of everything (philosophy)
The status of a physical TOE is open to philosophical debate. For example, if physicalism is true, a physical TOE will coincide with a philosophical theory of everything. Some philosophers (Aristotle, Plato, Hegel, Whitehead, et al.) have attempted to construct all-encompassing systems. Others are highly dubious about the very possibility of such an exercise. Stephen Hawking wrote in the A Brief History of Time that even if we had a TOE, it would necessarily be a set of equations. He wrote, "What breathes fire into the equations to make a universe for the equations to describe?". Of course, the ultimate irreducible brute fact would then be "why those equations?" One possible solution to the last question might be to adopt the point of view of ultimate ensemble, or modal realism, and say that those equations are not unique.

Theory of everything (philosophy)
In philosophy, a theory of everything or TOE is an ultimate, all-encompassing explanation of nature or reality.[1][2][3] Adopting the term from physics, where the search for a theory of everything is ongoing, philosophers have discussed the viability of the concept and analyzed its properties and implications.[1][2][3] Among the questions to be addressed by a philosophical theory of everything are: "Why is reality understandable?" "Why are the laws of nature as they are?" "Why is there anything at all?"[1]

Properties and impasse of self-substantiation
In “The Price of an Ultimate Theory”,[2] originally published in 2000, Nicholas Rescher specifies what he sees as the principal properties of a Theory of Everything and describes an apparent impasse on the road to such a theory.

Principle of sufficient reason
First, he takes as a presupposition the principle of sufficient reason, which in his formulation states that every fact t has an explanation t':
where E predicates explanation, so that t' E t denotes "t' explains t".

Comprehensiveness
Next, he asserts that the most direct and natural construction of a Theory of Everything T* would confer upon it two crucial features: comprehensiveness and finality. Comprehensiveness says that wherever there is a fact t, T* affords its explanation:

Finality
Finality says that as an “ultimate theory”, T* has no deeper explanation:
so that the only conceivable explanation of T* is T* itself.

Noncircularity
Rescher notes that it is obviously problematic to deploy a theory for its own explanation; at the heart of the traditional conception of explanatory adequacy, he says, is a principle of noncircularity stating that no fact can explain itself:

Impasse
The impasse is then that the two critical aspects of a Theory of Everything, comprehensiveness and finality, conflict with the fundamental principle of noncircularity. A comprehensive theory which explains everything must explain itself, and a final theory which has no deeper explanation must, by the principle of sufficient reason, have some explanation; consequently it too must be self-explanatory. Rescher concludes that any Theorist of Everything committed to comprehensiveness and finality is bound to regard noncircularity as “something that has to be jettisoned”. But how, he asks, can a theory adequately substantiate itself?

Ways forward
Rescher's proposal in "The Price of an Ultimate Theory" is to dualize the concept of explanation so that a fact can be explained either derivationally, by the premises which lead to it, or systemically, by the consequences which follow from it. With derivational explanation, a fact t is explained when it is subsumed by some prior, more fundamental fact t'. With systemic explanation, t is explained when it is a "best fit" for its consequences, where fitness is measured by uniformity, simplicity, connectedness, and other criteria conducive to systemic integration. Rescher concludes that while a theory of everything cannot be explained derivationally (since no deeper explanation can subsume it), it can be explained systemically by its capacity to integrate its consequences.

In his 1996 book The Conscious Mind, David Chalmers argues that a theory of everything must explain consciousness, that consciousness does not logically supervene on the physical, and that therefore a fundamental theory in physics would not be a theory of everything. A truly final theory, he argues, needs not just physical properties and laws, but phenomenal or protophenomenal properties and psychophysical laws explaining the relationship between physical processes and conscious experience. He concludes that "[o]nce we have a fundamental theory of consciousness to accompany a fundamental theory in physics, we may truly have a theory of everything." Developing such a theory will not be straightforward, he says, but "it ought to be possible in principle."
In "Prolegomena to Any Future Philosophy", a 2002 essay in the Journal of Evolution and Technology, Mark Alan Walker discusses modern responses to the question of how to reconcile "the apparent finitude of humans" with what he calls "the traditional telos of philosophy—the attempt to unite thought and Being, to arrive at absolute knowledge, at a final theory of everything." He contrasts two ways of closing this "gap between the ambitions of philosophy, and the abilities of human philosophers": a "deflationary" approach in which philosophy is "scaled down into something more human" and the attempt to achieve a theory of everything is abandoned, and an "inflationary", transhumanist approach in which philosophers are "scaled up" by advanced technology into "super-intelligent beings" better able to pursue such a theory.

Criticism
In "Holistic Explanation and the Idea of a Grand Unified Theory", originally presented as a lecture in 1998, Rescher identifies two negative reactions to the idea of a unified, overarching theory: reductionism and rejectionism. Reductionism holds that large-scale philosophical issues can be meaningfully addressed only when divided into lesser components, while rejectionism holds that questions about such issues are illegitimate and unanswerable. Against reductionism, Rescher argues that explaining individual parts does not explain the coordinating structure of the whole, so that a collectivized approach is required. Against rejectionism, he argues that the question of the "reason why" behind existence is pressing, important, and not obviously meaningless.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Metaphysics Centre

Hi all!
Today, 13 of August 2009 I have decided to create a Metaphysics Centre. I venue to learn, think and connect with the higher ones in order to bring light, peace, healing and armony to the world.

I invite everyone who has this dream to join me in this venture. Together we will manifest it!

Danaan

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Great website!

I have just found this website: www.grupovenus.com

I loved I hope you do too!

D

The Tarot Party

I decided to organize an event where healers, mediums, tarot/angel card readers and other psychic people can promote their workshops, seminars, courses and services.

See the link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=102688126764&ref=mf

I hope to run this event once a months.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Past Lives Regression

Past life regression (PLR) is the alleged journeying into one's past lives while hypnotized. While it is true that many patients recall past lives, it is highly probable that their memories are false memories. The memories are from experiences in this life, pure products of the imagination, intentional or unintentional suggestions from the hypnotist, or confabulations.

Some New Age therapists do PLR therapy under the guise of personal growth; others under the guise of healing. As a tool for New Age explorers, there may be little harm in encouraging people to remember what are probably false memories about their living in earlier centuries or for encouraging them to go forward in time and glimpse into the future. But as a method of healing, it must be apparent even to the most superficial of therapists that there are great dangers in encouraging patients to create delusions. Some false memories may be harmless, but others can be devastating. They can increase a person's suffering, as well as destroy loving relationships with family members. The care with which hypnosis should be used seems obvious.

Some therapists think hypnosis opens a window to the unconscious mind where memories of past lives are stored. How memories of past lives get into the unconscious mind of a person is not known, but advocates loosely adhere to a doctrine of reincarnation, even though such a doctrine does not require a belief in the unconscious mind as a reservoir of memories of past lives.

PLR therapists claim that past life regression is essential to healing and helping their patients. Some therapists claim that past life therapy can help even those who don't believe in past lives. The practice is given undeserved credibility because of the credentials of some of its leading advocates, e.g., Brian L. Weiss, M.D., who is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School and Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. There are no medical internships in PLR therapy, nor does being a medical doctor grant one special authority in metaphysics, the occult or the supernatural.

reincarnation and PLR

Psychologist Robert Baker demonstrated that belief in reincarnation is the greatest predictor of whether a subject would have a past-life memory while under past life regression hypnotherapy. Furthermore, Baker demonstrated that the subject's expectations significantly affect the past-life regressive session. He divided a group of 60 students into three groups. He told the first group that they were about to experience an exciting new therapy that could help them uncover their past lives. Eighty-five per cent in this group were successful in "remembering" a past life. He told the second group that they were to learn about a therapy which may or may not work to engender past-life memories. In this group, the success rate was 60%. He told the third group that the therapy was crazy and that normal people generally do not experience a past life. Only 10% of this group had a past-life "memory."

There are at least two attractive features of past life regression. Since therapists charge by the hour, the need to explore centuries instead of years will greatly extend the length of time a patient will need to be "treated," thereby increasing the cost of therapy. Secondly, the therapist and patient can usually speculate wildly without much fear of being contradicted by the facts. However, this can backfire if anyone bothers to investigate the matter, as in the case of Bridey Murphy, the case that started this craze in 1952.

Source: http://www.skepdic.com/pastlife.html

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Power Animal: The Unicorn

During a healing ritual on individual. A spirit form of a Unicorn came up. I was intregue to find out the meaning of the powner animal on this person's life at the moment.

Power animals most often come to us in dreams, meditations, initiations, and visions. You can have more than one power animal. Your power animal at a given time can change depending on your lifepath at that time. Power animals are often attracted by one's emotional needs of the person - viewed as protectors wh help overcome fears and empower us.

The concept of a Power Animal is universal to all cultures. Tribal cultures will recognize a Totem for the tribe, one for the clan one belongs to, and one for the family that one is born into. In the United States, and in other countries, the Tribal and Clan Totem still exists, although it is thought of in a slightly different manner.

There are also totems for our adopted cultures, such as clubs or societies which we may belong to, such as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Lions Club.

Even Christianity, the prevalent religion of this country, has maintained two Totem animals, these being the Fish and the Lamb. Specialized Totems are also seen in organized sports, their names being reflected in the team names. Example: Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Falcons

The next type of Power Animal or Totem is that which is personal for the individual. These Totems are protective spirits which help us in our everyday life. Everyone has such a Totem. Even today most parents give a special protective Power Animal to their children and tell the child that it will be protected over night by that Power Animal. They don't realize that is what they are doing when they give a teddy bear to their little one.

We often unconsciously recognize the Power Animal affecting someone, and use terms which give away our unconscious recognition.

The first item of business for a potential Shaman is to learn to travel in the other worlds, then to discover his Totem or Power Animal. That knowledge is necessary in order to start the long process of learning.

Power Animals are usually a reflection of your deepest self and also represent qualities which you need in this world, but which are often hidden or obscured. A mistake that people often make is to be dissatisfied when they find that their Power Animal is some non-ferocious animal like a mouse. We tend to think that a mouse is not very powerful - that it is meek and afraid. What they forget is that spirits are not limited to physical reality and that size is irrelevant. Your Power Animal may be a tiny mouse, but in times of need this mouse can and will change its size and deportment to that which is appropriate to the occasion.

There is nothing weak of meek about a 500-foot tall mouse! Your personal Power Animal (as opposed to your family, clan, or tribal spirit) may change several times in your lifetime, depending upon your specific needs. If you are dispirited, your animal is far away from you and needs to be brought back, or a replacement found.

When you make your first exploratory journey you are likely to encounter spirits which may represent themselves as being your Totem or Power Animal. If you are already aware of your spirit that spirit may greet you and give you additional power.

All mammals and birds are positive spirits. Any positive spirit may be your Power Animal. Your Power Animal may also be a mythical animal, such as a unicorn or Pegasus, or even one which does not exist in myth or legend.

Unicorn - This magical animal gives you the ability to make your dreams come true.


Dedicated to Anabela

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Pagan Poscast

My mate Ursula passed me on this site where Pagan's leave their podcasts. I think it is very interesting and it is a great source of information and a nice way to share experiences and knowledge.

http://paganpodcasting.org/

Enjoy

Danaan

Monday, May 11, 2009

Pagan Sexuality and Sexual Freedom

by Brenda Loew


Old Traditions Live Today!
Pagans like me who believe in, talk about and practice sexual freedom are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

As individuals, and as Americans, we pagans have the freedom to choose the manner in which we express our personal eroticism and sexuality. For example, some sexually free individual pagans believe in a tolerant alternative worldview that promotes the use of free will with no sexual manipulation or sexual exploitation of any kind. Sexual freedom, as opposed to sexual slavery (no free choice; no free will; coercion), means mutually respectful, consensual acts of intimate adult sensuality and sexuality, between or amongst trusted, equal partner(s). In the purest pagan tradition, a sexually free individual leads a lifestyle that "...harms none, it is permissible."

Old pagan traditions demystify, celebrate and revere sensuality and sexuality as sacred, divine and natural whereas younger, patriarchal religions condemn paganism's freedom to celebrate eroticism and sexuality as "irresponsible", "promiscuous", "licentious", "evil" or "satanic". During the witchcraft hysteria that gripped Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, for example, Boston minister Cotton Mather wrote: "...the Kingdom of Anti-Christ came to be Exposed. Thus, the Judgements of God on the Roman Empire, first unto the Downfall of Paganism......Witchcraft will not be fully understood, until the day when there shall not be one Witch in the World." The inflammatory rhetoric of puritanical theofascists from the pre-Constitutional era like Harvard-educated Cotton Mather is personified today, for example, in fanatical Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson and others of his unenlightened ilk who are pro-censorship and opposed to pornography, sex education, birth control, abortion and sexual privacy rights.

Old nature-based pagan traditions are sensitive to the sacred meaning of human eroticism and sexuality. They recognize and acknowledge these primordial biological forces -- symbolically, spiritually, and physically. Ancient pagan faiths honor and celebrate the eroto-sexual dimensions of human expression not only as divine but also as essential and pleasurable. In the Old Celtic Tradition, May is recognized as the month of Sexual Freedom. Saxons cast magickal love spells on poppet dolls. Wiccans worship the natural cycles of female sexuality. In general, old pagan traditions balance female and male aspects of eroto-sexual expression in nature, in art, in rituals, in festivals and much more.

Historically -- long before Christianity, Judaism and Islam were established -- innumerable pagan love goddesses, sex goddesses, fertility goddesses, and partner & affection goddesses were revered as deities of sexual love, fertility & procreation. They represented the myriad of divine spiritual and physical aspects of female love, sexuality and pleasure. They included: Great Goddess / Earth Mother-Maiden-Wise Woman (Crone); Artemis / Diana, Venus / Aphrodite / Freya, Shakti/Kali/Durga/Bhairavi; Ishtar, Hathor, Banzai Tennyo and many others too numerous to list here.

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. revisionists pretend these innumerable erotic, sexual and fertility goddesses never existed. Patriarchal Hebrews demonized Adam's first wife Lilith because she refused to be sexually submissive to him. The patriarchal Koran teaches: "Allah will not tolerate idolatry....the pagans pray to females." In Ireland, Onward Christian soldiers disfigured, damaged and buried figures of the ancient Celtic Sheila-na-gig goddess. Unlike the Virgin Mary, Sheila-na-gig was a naked goddess characterized by her wide-open, gaping vagina. However, "nu-gig", an ancient Mesopotamian word, meant "pure", "spotless".

Like ancient pagans, contemporary pagans believe the unclothed human body is very natural. Pagans accept ritual and social nudity. For example, the Aphrodite Ritual may be performed "skyclad". Pagans also find pleasure in the ritual use of sensual music and dance, love spells and chants, erotic massage oils, magick herbal love candles, aromatic flowers and the burning of incense for romance. Sexual magick can also be worked using tarot decks, runes, crystal balls, astrology, numerology, palmistry, Ouija Boards, etc.

Rituals, customs, spells, and symbolism aside, contemporary pagans are usually very private about their personal sexual expression. That pagans are licentious, orgiastic or otherwise sexually irresponsible is simply anti-pagan propaganda. The fact is that because paganism affirms the body as a sacred temple, pagans advise safe sex and responsibility.

Because we are sexually free, pagan individuals lack the guilt and shame so characteristic of a patriarchy that loathes the spirituality of eroticism and the temporal pleasures of the body and flesh. Those of us who celebrate -- as well as practice -- the ideals inherent in the ancient pagan eroto-sexual worldview are unaffected in our private, personal lives by mainstream society's prevailing sex-negative conventions, practices and/or attitudes.

Today's pagans believe that genuine, authentic alternative sexual arrangements are a purely personal matter; that these private relationships depend solely on the individual consciences of the people involved. Sexually free pagans accept gays and lesbians, bisexuals, alternative partnerships, polyfidelity, and so on. Pagans rejoice in sexual freedom as self-affirming, self-empowering and physically and spiritually energizing.

Whether you are a pagan who practices Shakti's kundalini tantra, Kali's Yoni tantra, ritual or sacred prostitution, choosing sexual freedom as your spiritual and lifestyle worldview is both civil and wise because sexual freedom.

"Harms none. It is permissible."

Source: http://www.realmagick.com/articles/55/155.html

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Wicca

Wicca is a Neopagan religion and a religious movement found in many different countries. It was first publicised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner[1] after the British Witchcraft Act was repealed. He claimed that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witch cult, which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe. Wicca is thus sometimes referred to as the Old Religion. The veracity of Gardner's claims cannot be independently proven, and it is thought that Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s. Various related Wiccan traditions have since evolved, or been adapted from, the form established by Gardner, which came to be called Gardnerian Wicca. These other traditions of Wicca each have specific beliefs, rituals, and practices. Many traditions of Wicca remain secretive and require that members be initiated. There is also a movement of Eclectic or Solitary Wiccans who do not believe any doctrine or traditional initiation is necessary in order to practice Wicca.


Please check this in youtube, I think it is really clear to for to have a better understanding of Wicca: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nPsyZJBTeQ

Core concepts
Because there is no centralised organization in Wicca, and no single "orthodoxy", the beliefs and practices of Wiccans can substantially vary, both between individuals and between traditions. Typically the main religious principles, ethics and ritual structures are shared, since they are key elements of both traditional teachings and published works on the subject.


Wicca as a magical religion
Wicca is a religion, and although its adherents often identify as witches, Wicca and witchcraft are not necessarily the same thing.

Wiccans traditionally worship a Goddess and a God; they observe the festivals of the eight Sabbats of the year and the full-moon Esbats; and they have a code of ethics that most live by. Wicca is thus generally considered to be distinct from witchcraft, which does not of itself imply any specific religious, ethical or ritual elements, and is practiced in various forms by people of many religions, as well as by some atheists.

Wicca does, however, incorporate a specific form of witchcraft, with particular ritual forms, involving the casting of spells, herbalism, divination and other forms of magic. Wiccan ethics require that magical activities are limited to good purposes only.

According to Gerald Gardner, the religion derives from a secret but widespread witch-cult of early modern Europe, which incorporated all of the key religious beliefs and ideals and the distinctive ritual structures found in modern Wicca. While this historical interpretation is now much criticised, it makes it difficult to conclusively say whether Wicca is a religious form of witchcraft or a religion incorporating witchcraft.

While most Wiccans practice magic, a few do not, and do not identify as witches. Similarly, many Wiccans, though not all, call themselves Pagans, though the umbrella term Paganism encompasses many faiths that have nothing to do with Wicca or witchcraft.


Wiccan views on divinity
Wicca as a religion is primarily concerned with the priestess or priest's relationship to their Goddess and God. The Lady and Lord (as they are often called) are seen as primal cosmic beings, the source of limitless power, yet they are also familiar figures who comfort and nurture their children, and often challenge or even reprimand them as well.

According to Gerald Gardner the gods of Wicca are ancient gods of the British Isles: a Horned God of hunting, death and magic who rules over an after-world paradise, and a goddess, the Great Mother (who is simultaneously the Eternal Virgin and the Primordial Enchantress), who gives regeneration and rebirth to souls of the dead and love to the living.[2] Gardner explains that these are the tribal gods of the witches, just as the Egyptians had their tribal gods Isis and Osiris and the Jews had Elohim; he also notes that a being higher than any of these tribal gods is recognised by the witches as Prime Mover, but remains unknowable, and is of little concern to them.[3]

Gardner's explanation aside, individual interpretations of the exact natures of the gods can differ significantly, since priests and priestesses develop their own relationships with the gods through intense personal work and revelation. Many have a duotheistic conception of deity as a Goddess (of Moon, Earth and sea) and a God (of forest, hunting and the animal realm). This concept is often extended into a kind of polytheism by the belief that the gods and goddesses of all cultures are aspects of this pair (or of the Goddess alone). Others hold the various gods and goddesses to be separate and distinct. Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone have noted that Wicca is becoming more polytheistic as it matures, and embracing a more traditional pagan worldview.[4] Many groups and individuals are drawn to particular deities from a variety of pantheons (often Celtic, Greek, or from elsewhere in Europe), whom they honour specifically. A few examples might be Cernunnos and Brigit from Celtic mythology or Hecate, Lugh, Diana and many others.

Some, particularly in feminist traditions, have a monotheistic belief in the Goddess as One. Still others do not believe in the gods as real personalities, yet attempt to have a relationship with them as personifications of universal principles or as Jungian archetypes.[5] A unified supreme godhead (the "Prime Mover") is also acknowledged by some groups, referred to by Scott Cunningham as "The One";[6] Patricia Crowther has called it Dryghten.[7]

The exact names of the Goddess and God of traditional Wicca remain an initiatory secret according to current Gardnerians, and they are not given in Gardner's books about witchcraft.[8] However, from the collection of Toronto Papers of Gardner's writings investigated by American scholars such as Aidan Kelly, is has been suggested that their names are Cernunnos and Aradia, as these names are used in the prototype Book of Shadows known as Ye Bok sic of Ye Arte Magical.[9]

For most Wiccans, roughly speaking, the Lord and Lady are seen as complimentary polarities: male and female, force and form, comprehending all in their union; the tension and interplay between them is the basis of all creation. The God and Goddess are sometimes symbolised as the Sun and Moon, and from her lunar associations she becomes a Triple Goddess with aspects of "Maiden", "Mother" and "Crone" corresponding to the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon.

Some hold the Goddess to be pre-eminent, since she contains and conceives all (Gaea or Mother Earth is one of her more commonly revered aspects); the God, commonly described as the Horned God or the Divine Child, is the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child. This is reflected in the traditional structure of the coven, which is led by a High Priestess and High Priest in partnership, with the High Priestess having the final word. In some traditions, notably Feminist branches of Dianic Wicca, the Goddess is seen as complete unto herself, and the God is not worshipped at all.

Since the Goddess is said to conceive and contain all life within her, all beings are thus held to be divine. This is a key understanding conveyed in the Charge of the Goddess, one of the most important texts of Wicca, and is very similar to the Hermetic understanding that "God" contains all things, and in truth is all things.[10] For some Wiccans this idea also involves elements of animism, and plants, rivers, rocks (and, importantly, ritual tools) are seen as spiritual beings, facets of a single life.

A key belief in Wicca is that the gods are able to manifest in personal form, either through dreams, as physical manifestations, or through the bodies of Priestesses and Priests. This latter variety of manifestation is the purpose of the ritual of Drawing down the Moon (or Drawing down the Sun), whereby the Goddess is called to descend into the body of the Priestess (or the God into the Priest) to effect divine possession.


The elements
The classical elements are a key feature of the Wiccan world-view. All manifest forces and forms are seen to express one of the four archetypal elements of Earth, Air, Fire or Water, or several in combination. This scheme is fundamentally identical with that employed in other Western Esoteric and Hermetic traditions such as Theosophy and the Golden Dawn, which in turn were influenced by the Hindu system of tattvas.

There is no consensus as to the exact nature of these elements. Some hold to the ancient Greek conception of the elements corresponding to matter (earth) and energy (fire) with the mediating elements (water, air) relating to the phases of matter (fire/earth mixtures). Others add a fifth or quintessential element, spirit (aether, akasha).

The five points of the frequently worn pentagram symbolise, among other things, the four elements with spirit presiding at the top.[11] The pentagram is the symbol most commonly associated with Wicca in modern times. It is often circumscribed — depicted within a circle, and is usually (though not exclusively) shown with a single point upward. The inverse pentagram, with two points up, is a symbol of the second degree initiation rite of traditional Wicca.[12] In geometry, the pentagram is an elegant expression of the golden ratio phi which is popularly connected with ideal beauty and was considered by the Pythagoreans to express truths about the hidden nature of existence.

Each of the four cardinal elements (air, fire, water and earth) are typically assigned a direction, a color, and an elemental race. The following list shows common categorisation, but different traditions of Wicca may use different "correspondences":

Air: East, Yellow, Sylphs
Fire: South, Red, Salamanders
Water: West, Blue, Undines
Earth: North, Green, Gnomes
Some variations in correspondences can be explained by geography or climate. It is common in the southern hemisphere, for example, to associate the element fire with north (the direction of the equator) and earth with south (the direction of the nearest polar area). Some Wiccan groups also modify the religious calendar to reflect local seasonal changes; for instance, most Southern Hemisphere covens will celebrate Samhain on April 30th and Beltane on October 31st, reflecting the southern hemisphere's autumn and spring seasons.[13]


Morality
Despite the popular negative connotations associated with witchcraft, Wiccans see their use of witchcraft as positive and good, and harmful or evil magic is viewed as antithetical to Wiccan beliefs and activities. In fact in all areas of behaviour, magical or otherwise, Wiccan morality can be summarised in the form of a text that is commonly titled The Wiccan Rede. The core maxim of that text states "An it harm none, do what thou wilt." ("An" is an archaic word meaning "if".) The origin of the Wiccan Rede is ambiguous, its earliest mention being at a meeting held by the witchcraft magazine "Pentagram" spoken by Doreen Valiente.[14] Gerald Gardner suggested[15] that it was taken by witches from the legendary ethic of the fabled King Pausol[16] which was "Do what you like so long as you harm no one". Nevertheless, the similarity of the phrasing of the Rede (and explicit and verbatim phrasing of other texts) suggests that this statement is partly based on the Law of Thelema as stated by occultist Aleister Crowley.[17]

Many Wiccans promote the Law of Threefold Return, a belief that anything that one does will be returned to them threefold. In other words, good deeds are magnified in like form back to the doer, and so are ill deeds.

Gerina Dunwich, an American author whose books (notably, Wicca Craft) were instrumental in the increase in popularity of Wicca in the late 1980s and 1990s, disagrees with the Wiccan concept of threefold return on the grounds that it is inconsistent with more than one law of physics. Pointing out that the origin of the Law of Threefold Return is traceable to Raymond Buckland in the 20th century, Dunwich is of the opinion that, "There is little backing to support it as anything other than a psychological law."[citation needed] Her own personal belief, which differs from the usual interpretation of the Threefold Law, is that whatever we do on a physical, mental, or spiritual level will sooner or later affect us, in either a positive or a negative way, on all three levels of being.[citation needed]

Many traditional Wiccans also follow, or at least consider, a set of 161 laws, commonly called the Ardanes. A common criticism of these rules is that they represent outdated concepts and/or produce counterproductive results in Wiccan contexts. Modern authors have also noted that these rules were the byproduct of inner conflict within Gerald Gardner's original coven over the issue of press relations.[18]

Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate the Eight Wiccan Virtues as a guideline for their deeds. These are Mirth, Reverence, Honour, Humility, Strength, Beauty, Power, and Compassion, and are found in a phrase from Doreen Valiente's Charge of the Goddess,[19] where they are ordered in pairs of complementary opposites, reflecting a dualism that is common throughout Wiccan philosophy.

Homosexuality is accepted in most traditions of Wicca: see Homosexuality and Wicca.

A recurrent belief amongst Wiccans is that no magic should be performed on any other person without that person's direct permission (excepting pets, which obviously cannot give explicit permission for such an act). This may stem from the Rede's declaration of "An it harm none, do what thou wilt", in that a person may not wish to have a spell cast upon them, and doing so without first obtaining permission interferes with their free will, which falls under the meaning of the word 'harm' as applied in the Rede. This is especially the case with love spells. Most Wiccans do not believe in performing magic on anyone in any circumstance without permission, although some Wiccans believe that white magic may be performed with or without permission (healing spells, etc).


Secrecy and initiation
Some practitioners of traditional initiatory Wicca consider that the term 'Wicca' only correctly applies to an initiate of a traditional branch of the religion (Gardnerian or Alexandrian Wicca, or their offshoots such as Black Forest Wicca) because solitary Wicca or eclectic Wicca are different in practice from the religion established by Gardner. However, the term has increasingly come to be adopted by people who are not initiates of a traditional lineaged coven. These non-initiatory Wiccans may undertake rituals of self-dedication, and generally work alone as solitary practitioners or in casual groups, rather than in organised covens. Thus non-initiatory Wicca shares some of the basic religious principles, ethics and the ritual system of 'traditional' or 'initiatory' Wicca, but not the organisational structure, or the belief that Wiccan initiation requires a transferral of power from an initiator. Therefore, some practitioners of traditional initiatory Wicca have adopted the term 'British Traditional Wicca' to differentiate themselves from this movement.


Organisation within Wicca
Some Wiccans join groups called covens. Others work alone and are called solitary practitioners. Some solitaries do, however, attend gatherings and other community events, but reserve their spiritual practices (Sabbats, Esbats, spell-casting, worship, magical work, etc.) for when they are alone. Some Wiccans work with a community without being part of a coven.

Many Wiccan traditions hold that the ideal number of members for a coven is thirteen, though this is not held as a hard-and-fast rule.[citation needed] When covens grow beyond their ideal number of members, they often split (or "hive") into multiple covens, yet remain connected as a group. A grouping of multiple covens is known as a grove in many traditions.

When someone is being initiated into a coven, it is also traditional to study with the coven for a year and a day before their actual initiation into the religion. Some solitary Wiccans also choose to study for a year and a day before dedicating themselves to the religion. Wiccans can also be "promoted" into higher ranks such as head priestess or head priest. Rank may be shown through coloured cords[citation needed]. Initiation ceremonies can include a dramatic aspect, such as a dramatic re-enactment of a myth (also known as sacred drama), a pageant, or a dramatic reading.[citation needed]


Ritual

A handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England, on Beltane, 2005.
In typical rites, the Wiccans assemble inside a magic circle, which is marked using various means, in a ritual manner followed by a cleansing and then blessing of the space. Prayers to the God and Goddess are said, and spells are sometimes worked. Traditionally, the circle is followed by a meal.[citation needed] Before entering the circle, some traditions fast for the day, and/or have a ritual wash.

Tools
Many Wiccans use a special set of altar tools in their rituals; these can include a broom (besom), cauldron, chalice (goblet), wand, Book of Shadows, altar cloth, athame (used in rituals to channel energy; it can be pronounced as AH-thom-AY, a-THAY-may, et cetera.), boline (or a knife for cutting things in the physical world), candles, stones, crystals, pentacle and/or incense. Representations of the God/Goddess are often also used, which may be direct, representative, or abstract. The tools themselves are just that — tools, and have no innate powers of their own, though they are usually dedicated or charged with a particular purpose, and used only in that context. For this reason, it is usually considered rude to touch another's tools without permission.


Ritual attire
A sensationalised aspect of Wicca, particularly in Gardnerian Wicca, is that some Wiccans practice in the nude, also known as skyclad. Though many Wiccans do engage in rituals while skyclad, others do not. Some Wiccans wear a pure cotton robe, to symbolise bodily purity, and a cord, to symbolise interdependence and rank.[citation needed] Others wear normal clothes or whatever they think is appropriate. Robes and even Renaissance-Faire-type clothing are not uncommon. Still others wear robes with stoles which represent their tradition and/or standing within the tradition.


Ritual occasions
Wiccans typically mark each full moon (and in some cases new moons) with a ritual called an Esbat. They also celebrate eight main holidays called Sabbats. Four of these, the cross-quarter days, are greater festivals, coinciding with old Celtic fire festivals. These are Samhain (pronounced sow-en or sow-ain), May Eve or Beltane (or Beltaine), Imbolc (AKA Imbolg, Oimelc) and Lammas (or Lughnasad, which is pronounced LOO-nah-sah). The four lesser festivals are the Summer Solstice (or Litha) and Winter Solstice (or Yule), and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, sometimes called Ostara (or Eostar or Eostre) and Mabon. See also the Wheel of the Year.

The names of these holidays generally coincide with (or directly draw upon) ancient pan-Germanic and pan-Celtic holidays held around the same times.[citation needed] Ritual observations may include mixtures of those holidays as well as others celebrated at the same time in other cultures- there are several ways to celebrate the holidays. These eight holidays (or festivals in some cultures) tend to be found in more than a few European culture groups before the introduction of monotheist missionary efforts. In this respect, Wiccans have a link, albeit tenuous, with their ideological ancestors.[citation needed]

Wiccan weddings can be "bondings", "joinings", or "eclipses" but are most commonly called "handfastings". Some Wiccans observe an ancient Celtic practice of a trial marriage for a year and a day, which some traditions hold should be contracted on Lammas (Lughnasadh), although this is far from universal. This practice is attested from centuries ago in the fourth and fifth volumes of the Brehon law texts, which are compilations of the opinions and judgements of the Brehon class of Druids (in this case, Irish). The texts as a whole deal with a copious amount of detail for the ancient Celtic tribes in the Isles.[20]

Some perform a ritual called a Wiccaning, analogous to a Christening for an infant, the purpose of which is to present the infant to the God and Goddess for protection. In accordance with the importance put on free will, the child is not necessarily expected to chose a Pagan path until growing older.


History of Wicca

Origins
The history of Wicca is much debated. Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal Pagan religions of pre-historic Europe, taught to him by a woman known either as "Dafo" or "Old Dorothy". Doreen Valiente identified these as a single person, Dorothy Clutterbuck,[21] however modern researchers such as Philip Heselton have theorised that Dafo and Clutterbuck were two separate individuals.[22] It has been posited by authors such as Aidan Kelly and Francis X. King that Gardner himself invented it, following the thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray and sources such as Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland,[23] and incorporating practices of ceremonial magic. While Clutterbuck certainly existed, Ronald Hutton concluded that there was no evidence for her involvement in Gardner's Craft activities.[24] Philip Heselton, citing more recent evidence, concludes that while Gardner may have been mistaken about the ancient origins of the religion, his statements about it were largely made in good faith. Gardner's account is as follows: After retiring from adventuring around the globe, Gardner encountered Clutterbuck and her New Forest coven in the region, and was initiated into the coven in 1939, where he stayed for years until England's witchcraft laws were repealed. At this point, and later claiming to fear that the Craft would die out,[25] he worked on his book Witchcraft Today, releasing it in 1954, followed by The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1960. It is from these books that much of modern Wicca is derived.

While the ritual format of Wicca is undeniably styled after late Victorian era occultism (even co-founder Doreen Valiente admits seeing influence from Crowley), the spiritual content is inspired by older Pagan faiths, with Buddhist and Hindu influences.

Due to historical suspicions, it is seems very likely that Gardner's rites and precepts were taken from other occultists and was not in fact anything new to the world. There is very little in the Wiccan rites that cannot be shown to have come from earlier extant sources. The original material is not cohesive and mostly takes the form of substitutions or expansions within unoriginal material. Roger Dearnaley, in An Annotated Chronology and Bibliography of the Early Gardnerian Craft,[26] describes it as a patchwork.

Philip Heselton, writing in Wiccan Roots and later in Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration[22], argues that Gardner was not the author of the Wiccan rituals but received them in good faith from an unknown source. (Doreen Valiente makes this claim regarding the "basic skeleton of the rituals," as Margot Adler puts it in Drawing Down the Moon.) He notes that all the Crowley material that is found in the Wiccan rituals can be found in a single book, The Equinox vol 3 no. 1 or Blue Equinox. Gardner is not known to have owned or had access to a copy of this book, although it is certain that he met Crowley towards the end of the latter’s life. Gardner admited "the rituals he received from Old Dorothy's coven were very fragmentary, and in order to make them workable, he had to supplement them with other material."[27]

Some, such as Isaac Bonewits, have argued that Valiente and Heselton's evidence points to an early 20th century revival predating Gardner, rather than an intact old Pagan religion. The argument points to historical claims of Gardner's that agree with scholarship of a certain time period and contradict later scholarship. Bonewits writes, "Somewhere between 1920 and 1925 in England some folklorists appear to have gotten together with some Golden Dawn Rosicrucians and a few supposed Fam-Trads to produce the first modern covens in England; grabbing eclectically from any source they could find in order to try and reconstruct the shards of their Pagan past." Crowley published the aforementioned Blue Equinox in 1919.

The idea of primitive matriarchal religions, deriving ultimately from studies by Johann Jakob Bachofen, was popular in Gardner's day, both among academics (e.g., Erich Neumann, Margaret Murray) and amateurs such as Robert Graves. Later academics (e.g. Carl Jung and Marija Gimbutas) continued research in this area, and later still Joseph Campbell, Ashley Montagu and others became fans of Gimbutas' theories of matriarchies in Old Europe. Matriarchal interpretations of the archaeological record and the criticism of such work continue to be matters of academic debate. Some academics carry on research in this area (such as the 2003 World Congress on Matriarchal Studies). Critics argue that such matriarchal societies never actually existed and are an invention of researchers such as Margaret Murray. This is disputed by documentaries such as "Blossoms of Fire" (about contemporary Zapotec society).

The idea of a supreme Mother Goddess was common in Victorian and Edwardian literature: the concept of a Horned God — especially related to the gods Pan or Faunus — was less common, but still significant.[28] Both of these ideas were widely accepted in academic literature and the popular press at the time.[29]


Later developments
Wicca has developed in several directions since it was first publicised by Gerald Gardner. Gardnerian Wicca was an initiatory mystery religion, admission to which was limited to those who were initiated into a pre-existing coven. The Book of Shadows, the grimoire that contained the rituals, was kept secret and was only obtainable from a coven of proper lineage. Despite the fact that several versions of the Book of Shadows have now been publicly published, many traditions of Wicca still maintain strict secrecy regarding the book and certain other aspects of the religion.

Raymond Buckland introduced modern Wicca to America after moving to Long Island. Buckland enlarged the Book of Shadows, adding further degrees of initiation which were required before members could found their own covens. Interest outstripped the ability of the mostly British-based covens to train and propagate members; the beliefs of the religion spread faster by the printed word or word of mouth than the initiatory system was prepared to handle.[30]

Other traditions appeared that gradually brought more attention and adherents to the extant Neopaganism movement.[citation needed] Some claimed roots as ancient as Gardner's version, and were organised along similar lines.[citation needed] Others were syncretic, incorporating aspects of Kabbalah, romanticised Celtic Pagan concepts, and ceremonial magic. In 1971 "Lady Sheba" (self-styled "Queen of the American Witches") published what she claimed was a version of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, although the authenticity of this book has never been validated. Increasing awareness of Gardner's literary sources and the actual early history of the movement made creativity seem as valuable as Gardnerian tradition. [citation needed]

Another significant development was the creation by feminists of Dianic Wicca, or feminist Dianic Witchcraft. This is a specifically feminist, Goddess-oriented faith that had no interest in the Horned God, and discarded Gardnerian-style hierarchy as irrelevant. Many Dianic Wiccans felt that witchcraft was every woman's right and heritage to claim. This heritage might be best characterised by Monique Wittig's words on the subject: "But remember. Make an effort to remember. Or, failing that, invent." This tradition was comparatively (and unusually for that time) open to solitary witches. Rituals were created for self-initiation to allow people to identify with and join the religion without first contacting an existing coven.[citation needed] This contrasts with the Gardnerian belief that only a witch of opposite gender could initiate another witch.[citation needed]

The publications of Raymond Buckland illustrate these changes. During the early 1970s, in books such as Witchcraft - Ancient and Modern and Witchcraft From the Inside, Buckland maintained the Gardnerian position that only initiates into a Gardnerian or other traditional coven were truly Wiccans. However, in 1974, Buckland broke with the Gardnerians and founded Seax-Wica, revealing its teachings and rituals in the book The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft. This tradition made no claims to direct descent from ancient Saxons; all of its then-extant rituals were contained in that book, which allowed for self-initiation. In 1986 Buckland published Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft (colloquially known as "Uncle Bucky's Big Blue Book"), a workbook that sought to train readers in magical and ritual techniques as well as instructing them in Wiccan teachings and rituals. Unfortunately, even after Buckland wrote his revised edition of this book there were still many errors from his original work that were never updated.

The first Wiccan Wedding to be legally recognised in the UK (by the Registrars of Scotland) was performed in 2004.[31]


Etymology
Gerald Gardner is credited with re-introducing the word Wicca into the English language, although he himself used the spelling 'Wica' in his published work of 1954[1], and that only sparingly, usually just calling his religion 'witchcraft'. The spelling 'Wicca' is now used almost exclusively, Seax-Wica being the only major use of the four-letter spelling. The word's first appearance within the title of a book was in Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner in the late 1980s.[citation needed]

Wicca was previously an Old English word (pronounced 'witcha'), meaning a male witch or wizard; wicce was a female witch (see also Völva), wiccan a plural equivalent to "witches", and wiccecræft was witchcraft. Its earliest known use is in the circa 890 Laws of Ælfred.[32][33][34] Earlier origins of the word are uncertain, however, and are much disputed.[35]

The most likely derivation is through the Old English word wigle (sorcery, divination) from the Indo-European root *weg (liveliness, wakefulness).[36][37] Gardner and other writers on Wicca have proposed a relationship with the Old English words wita 'wise man' and witan 'to know', asserting that witches had once been regarded as the "wise" people;[38][39] Wicca is often called the "Craft of the Wise" in allusion to this derivation. Still others claim a derivation from the Indo-European root *wei which connotes bending or pliance (from which we get the words 'wicker' 'willow' and 'witch-elm'), suggesting the concept of magic as a "bending" of forces of nature.

The word wicca is associated with animistic healing rites in Halitgar's Latin Penitential where it is stated that

Some men are so blind that they bring their offering to earth-fast stone and also to trees and to wellsprings, as the witches teach, and are unwilling to understand how stupidly they do or how that dead stone or that dumb tree might help them or give forth health when they themselves are never able to stir from their place.
The phrase swa wiccan tæcaþ ("as the witches teach") seems to be an addition to Halitgar's original, added by an eleventh-century Old-English translator.[40]


Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans
Religious persecution
By persecuting group:
Christians
Muslims
Soviet Union

By victimized group:
Ancient Greek religion
Atheists
Bahá'ís
Christians
Germanic paganism
Heathens
Hindus
Jews
Mormons
Muslims
Pagans
Roman religion
Wiccans

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According to the traditional history of Wicca as given by Gerald Gardner, Wicca is a survival of the European witch-cult that was persecuted during the witch trials (sometimes called the Burning Times), and the strong element of secrecy that traditionally surrounds the religion was adopted as a reaction to that persecution.

Since then Margaret Murray's theory of an organised pan-European witch-cult has been discredited, and doubts raised about the age of Wicca, and many Wiccans no longer claim this historical lineage. However it is still common for Wiccans to feel solidarity with the victims of the witch trials, and being witches, to consider the witch-craze to have been a persecution against their faith. [41]

In modern times, Wiccans have been incorrectly associated with black magic and Satanism, especially in connection with Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria.[citation needed] The Bible (Leviticus 20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them[42] and Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live[43]) may incite Christians to be less than sympathetic toward neo-Pagans in general. Wiccans also experience difficulties in administering and receiving prison ministry, although not in the UK of recent times. [44]

Because of the popular negative connotations associated with witchcraft, many Wiccans continue the traditional practice of secrecy, concealing their faith for fear of persecution. Revealing oneself as Wiccan to family, friends or colleagues is often termed "coming out of the broom-closet".


United States
In 1985, as a result of Dettmer v. Landon, 617 F. Supp. 592, the District Court of Virginia ruled that Wicca is a legally recognised religion and is afforded all the benefits accorded to it by law. This was affirmed a year later by Judge J. Butzner of the Federal Appeals Court fourth circuit (799 F 2d 929, 1986).

Nevertheless, Wiccans can still become the object of stigma in America, and many remain secretive about their beliefs. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has not approved use of the pentacle in military cemeteries, although symbols of many other religions are permitted. This policy came under renewed attack when Sgt. Patrick Stewart, a Wiccan soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005. His widow has pressed for the inclusion of a pentacle to memorialise him at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.[45] Americans United for Separation of Church and State gave the Department of Veteran's Affairs 30 days from June 7, 2006 in which to respond to the request or face litigation,[46] and in September 2006 state officials ruled that the symbol could be used, concluding that state veterans' cemetaries were not under federal authority.[47]

James Clement Taylor, a member of an Eastern Orthodox Church, has commented on the subject of persecution of Wiccans that "these people of Wicca have been terribly slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes, and places of business because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We have persecuted them..."[48]

In 1999 a group of conservative Christian groups was formed on the initiative of representative Bob Barr (R-GA), in response to Wiccan gatherings on military bases. The group asked US citizens not to enlist or re-enlist in the U.S. Army until the Army terminates the on-base freedoms of religion, speech and assembly for all Wiccan soldiers.[49] The boycott has since become inactive. George W. Bush stated "I don't think witchcraft is a religion. I would hope the military officials would take a second look at the decision they made" [50].

In September 1985 some conservative Christian legislators introduced three pieces of legislation designed to take away the rights of Wiccans. The first one was House Resolution (H.R.) 3389 introduced September 19 by congressman Robert S. Walker (R-Penn.)

Senator Jesse Helms (R, NC) made an amendment, Amendment 705, in the House Resolution 3036, The Treasury, Postal, and General Government Appropriations Bill for 1986, specifying that organisations that promote "witchcraft" should not be given tax-exempt status.

After being ignored for a while it got attached to HR 3036 by an unanimous voice vote of the senators. Congressman Richard T. Schulze (R-Penn) introduced substantially the same amendment into the Tax Reform Bill of 1985. When the conference committee met on October 30, the Helms Amendment was thrown out since it was not considered germaine to the bill. Following this Schulze withdrew his amendment from the Tax Reform Bill. Leaving only HR 3389, the Walker Bill. It managed to attract Joe Barton (R-Tex) who became a co-sponsor November 14. The Ways and Means Committee set aside the bill and quietly ignored it and it died with the close of the 99th session of Congress in December 1986.[51][52]


Wiccan traditions
A "tradition" in Wicca refers to a branch of the religion with specific teachings and practices, often involving the concept of a lineage that is transferred by initiation. There are many such traditions, sub-traditions and lineages; there are also many solitary Wiccans who do not align themselves with any particular lineage. Some of the well-known traditions include:

Alexandrian Wicca
Blue Star Wicca
Celtic Wicca
Christian Wicca
Correllian Nativist Church (Correllian Wicca)
Dianic or Feminist Wicca
Eclectic Wicca
Faery Wicca
Feri Tradition
Gardnerian Wicca
Kemetic Wicca
Odyssean Wicca
Reclaiming (neopaganism)
Seax-Wica
Stregheria
Uniterranism
Two generally accepted and informative books describing the various "paths" within the North American pagan community are Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today and Starhawk's The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess.


Wicca in popular fiction
Several television shows and movies have depicted Wicca, including The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Charmed. Popular fiction, such as Cate Tiernan's Sweep series, and Isobel Bird's "Circle of Three" also makes references to Wicca. These depictions are often criticized for not reflecting the beliefs or practices of most Wiccans and for exploiting Wiccan culture[citation needed].

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Monday, April 27, 2009

Enochian Magic

Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic based on the evocation and commanding of various spirits. It is based on the 16th century writings of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, who claimed that their information was delivered to them directly by an angel. They created the Enochian script, and the table of correspondences that goes with it. It claims to embrace secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.

History


Origins
Dee and Kelly claim they received these instructions from an angel and wrote them down. This account is taken at face value by most occultists. However, some of them have pointed out remarkable similarities to earlier grimoiric texts such as the Heptameron known to Dee. Doubts surrounding Kelly in particular have led many non-occultists to the assumption the whole system was originally a fraud devised by Kelly in order to receive more financial support from Dee. The system claims to relate to secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.



Rediscovery
It is not quite clear how much of Enochian magic was put to use by Dee and Kelly. However, rediscovery of Enochian magic by the Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has sparked remarkable publicity for it in modern occultism. Aleister Crowley, who worked with, and wrote about, Enochian magic extensively, has contributed much to its comparatively widespread use today.



Enochian magic today
Compared to other theories of magic, Enochian magic is strikingly more complex and difficult to understand. This has allowed numerous interpretations to arise, some of which have solidified into schools of thought with individual bodies of interpretative literature. Almost all schools agree, however, in that Enochian magic is a particularly powerful and dangerous form of magic.

Some practitioners hold that Enochian magic is inherently destructive to the magician. In particular, its use is forbidden for members of the Builders of the Adytum and Servants of the Light.

External links
History of Enochian Magick


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enochian_magic

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Spells

The spell is a magical act intended to cause an effect on reality using supernatural means of liturgical or ritual nature. Spells are a substantial component of many Pagan religions and can also be found in some monotheistic religions. Others, like Islam and Christianity, explicitly forbid this practice. Medieval collections of spells were called grimoires.


History of spell
Spells were probably developed during the Neolithic magical belief period and have been practiced since then both in accepted and clandestine environments. They were common in Pagan societies as part of massive official holidays promoted by authorities: this activity is well documented in a number of historical sources and has even survived in vodunist or shamanic religion areas. On the opposite, practitioners were harshly prosecuted in other places and ages, specially in areas whose state religion was Christianity. Nowadays practitioners are protected under the freedom of belief, a fundamental right regarded by most democratic countries.


Typical characteristics of a spell
Typically, a spell can be a symbolic representation of a purported effect, performed under the invocation of a deity, a call for aid from a higher power, or the assemblage, direction, focus, or incorporation of the forces of nature. It can even be an unwilling instantaneous action with no specific shape. But in more developed Pagan beliefs, spells have the following general structure:

Preparation, when all needed products are disposed in the appropriate location and the involved individuals perform preliminary activities like fasting, praying, etc.
Overture to start the ritual or liturgical performance, create an appropriate, solemn "magical environment" and reinforce the communion effect among participants.
Invocation, when the cooperation of supernatural forces is requested to take the spell to reality.
Execution, where all ritualized magical acts belonging to the spell are precisely performed.
Closure, to solemnize the end of the act and dissolve the "magical environment" created during the overture.
The similarity between this structure and the liturgy of more modern monotheistic religions, from which these practices are derived, is quite noticeable. An excellent example of such a parallelism is the ritualism of Catholic Mass.


Black magic and white magic
When the goal of the spell and the means used to achieved it are regarded as immoral, illegal, or pernicious by a certain society, it is defined as black. If a society accepts both the goal and the means as innocuous, it is defined as white. While these terms are used by practitioners to convey to non-practitioners the difference between positive and negative magics, the terms 'black' and 'white' are not generally used amongst practitioners themselves, probably to avoid any racial connotations the terms could hold. Nowadays, a number of Neopagan religions like Wicca have recovered the usage of spells and vindicate it. Many people perform them privately for themselves, for others or for a price, usually following the instructions of occultist books or other sources, commonly seeking health, wealth and love although sometimes also for revenge or hate. It must be noted, however, that several branches of Neopaganism, such as Wicca, expressly forbid the use of magic if it harms others. Additionally, within the bounds of Wiccan ethics, if a spell is to be used on another human being, his or her consent must generally be obtained.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spell_%28paranormal%29

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