Month: November 2014

Following Our Dreams but Remaining Open to Our Lives

 

“When someone is searching,” said Siddhartha, “then it might easily happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for, that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your goal, there are many things you don’t see, which are directly in front of your eyes.”
— Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

 

Do you know what its like to try too hard? I sure do. I remember one time back when I was a young adult. As a teenager, I collected coins tho I had long before given it up. One day I needed money and I remembered that I had one coin in my collection that was worth quite a bit to me in those days. I could easily bring it down to the collector’s shop and get around one hundred and fifty dollars for it. If only I could find it. I only had about an hour to get to the shop before it closed. I pulled out the cases that housed my collection and started rummaging through the collection. I kept digging through and digging through but I couldn’t find that one coin I knew that I had. I must have gone through hundred of coins of lesser value, ones that I would only get five to ten dollars apiece for but I needed that $150. I went searching for two hours and eventually found it tho the store had long since closed. . I then realized what I had been doing and I started laughing out of the sheer silly frustration of it all. I would have had more than enough money if I had only grabbed the coins of lesser value. Together they added up to way more than the one I sought.
It’s like that sometimes when we want something badly. We become so focused on what we want and how we are to go about getting it that we lose sight of all the smaller things that in the long run may benefit us even more. It would be much more useful if we remained open to what was in our path even as we worked toward our goals knowing that the whole of many small things combined can often be greater than the tunnel vision accomplishment of our set goal. I am not saying that we shouldn’t set our intent on goals but it helps if we remain open to what else lies in our path.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Last Remnant of a Dying OrderLast Remnant of a Dying Order by G A Rosenberg

 

Butterfly Seeking A Way OutButterfly Seeking a Way Out by G A Rosenberg

 

Changing Symbols

 

The Magician will always be looking for opportunities to create his own magickal system of the world. He will always be looking for ideas and the simplest of elements, to be found anywhere, from which there will emerge a picture of reality, his reality. The creative energies of spider-magi, who are true practicioners of this art of this art of cosmic creation, are collected from here and there and fused together into a very wonderful picture of being. This is the basis of magick — your imagination is making the world to be as it is in itself.

– Michael Bertiaux, “Voudon Gnostic Workbook”

 

If we create our realities than what do we create them from? What are the symbols we use to represent the elements of which they are comprised? Do we choose them? Do they choose us or is it some combination plus hidden keys that are part of a deeper reality that we all share? By manipulating these symbols, weaving them into new patterns we can alter our lives. The most common symbols most of us use our words. Think how much our language affects our day to day lives. It can be overwhelming. Simple changes such as what we say and what we wear can make huge ripples in both how and what we perceive and how we are perceived by others. Changing our personal symbols such as the animals we relate to or the deities we pray to or invoke can cause even greater changes. The more we learn to manipulate our symbols, the greater control we have over our reality and the more we become conscious (rather than unconscious) magicians.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Spider ReachingSpider Reaching by G A Rosenberg

 

Teaching Fools to Fly (Zagan)Teaching Fools to Fly (Zagan) by G A Rosenberg

It’s Magick

 

“You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future.”
— Thomas Sankara

 

I can think of no better time to talk about magick than in this space of Samhain, All-Hallows and Día de Meurtos. A definition of magick that I like is causing changes to happen in conformity with will. From the viewpoint of this definition, an act as simple as walking to the store or eating can be considered an act of magick. The ritual in ritual magick is a way of preparing both one’s conscious and unconsciousness with triggers that awaken one’s focus on the objective. In other words if you want to become more organized, you would surround yourself with symbols of logic and order. If there is a deity or saint that symbolizes that desire, you may call on them. Ultimately what is involved is the manipulation of symbols. The fact that many of these same symbols are hard-wired into our psyche by means of our collective unconsciousness brings more force to the ritual. There is nothing in it that is inherently evil or satanic. Anyone who has gone to synagogue or church has participated in rituals all of their life. It’s a matter of making symbols work for you and learning which ones will work the best for any given endeavour.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Expansion Into New AwarenessExpansion Into New Awareness by G A Rosenberg

 

Side by Side on SamhainSide by Side on Samhain by G A Rosenberg