Wednesday What Herb Is This - Male Fern

Male Fern
The Male Fern is also called by the names Male Shield Fern - Dryopteris Filix-mas; Bracken Fern - Pteris Aquilina; and Moonwort - Botrychium lunaria. The male fern is also known as the ‘bear’s paw’ and it probably earned this nickname owing to the look of its rhizomes or tubers that are hairy and dark brown. Scientifically, the male fern is called Dryopteris meaning ‘oak fern’ in Greek. It acquired this name because the male fern is habitually found to grow in oak woods. On the other hand, botanists call this species ‘filix-mas’ meaning the ‘male fern’. Interestingly, another species called the Athyriumfilix-femina or the ‘lady fern’ has been named so owing to its fragile appearance. Significantly, till the middle of 1800 botanists were in the dark regarding the fact that the ferns do not have any gender and there is nothing like "male" or "lady" fern in reality. In fact, the spores found in the underneath of the fern leaves or fronds produce both male as well as female cells. These spores are not visible to the naked eyes and the strange renewal of ferns, at times, has given rise to an antique faith that the spores found in the underneath of the fern leaves or fronds bestows invisibility to people on whom it is showered. Even Shakespeare refers to this belief indirectly in his play Henry IV, where he writes “We have the receipt of fern seed, we walk invisible.”

Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Part Used: Leaves and stems

This fern appears to have some qualities in common with the Bracken. The ashes of both have been used in soap and glassmaking, and the young curled fronds have been boiled and eaten like Asparagus. The inhabitants of Palmaand Gomera (islands of the Canary Group) use it as food, grinding the rhizome to powder and mixing it with a small quantity of barley, and the young fronds are eaten in Japan. In Siberia and in Norway, the uncoiled fronds have been used for brewing a kind of beer. In times of great scarcity the Norwegians (over a century ago) used the fronds to mix with bread and also made them into beer. The leaves, cut green and dried, make an excellent bitter, and when infused in hot water make good fodder for sheep and goats. 

The male fern is one of the most powerful medications for tapeworm ever documented in the records of medicine - the root can be used in a powdered form. Right from the days of the ancient Greek civilization to the present day, male fern has been recommended by most physicians to expel worms from the body. The root powder can also be added to salve for wounds and burns, and over the centuries people have been making use of oil taken out from the tuber or rhizome of the herb to cure problems arising from liver flukes or barbs.  Despite its medical utility, the U.S. Pharmacopeia listed the male fern for medical use quite late - 1965. It is interesting to note that even Louis XVI of France coughed up a hefty sum to obtain a remedy containing the male fern.

*****Here is a word of caution. It must always be borne in mind that excessive dosage of the male fern is highly noxious and one should never use the herb without consulting qualified physicians. If taken in high doses, medicines prepared from the male fern may prove to be fatal too.

Father Kunzle's Oil

• 5 fern fronds, well dried
• 4/5 (200 ml) cup olive oil

Detach the dried leaflets from the stems and macerate in the oil for 1 month. Carefully strain. This oil can be kept for 6 months away from light. This is an ideal massage oil for muscular pain.

Normally this useful herb grows up to two to four feet in height and bears insipid green leaves also known as fronds. These fronds are narrow and tasseled and grow closely packed all the way up to the fleshy stem. On the underside of the fronds, there are two rows of dark brown spores. The rhizome or tuber of the male fern is reddish brown in color and is usually small, bulky and scaled. As mentioned earlier, the spores found underneath the fern leaves or fronds produce both male and female cells. Thus, the ferns reproduce from these spores.

In many cultures across the globe, people think that the ferns have the capability to transform poor people rich. For instance, a Russian myth says that if a person finds a fern blossoming on Midsummer Eve and throws the fern in the air, he will find a fortune where the fern lands. On the other hand, a fable in Syria says that collecting fern spores on Christmas night will compel the devil to part with his money. 

Moonwort/Fern is an herb of immortality and must be gathered by moonlight if it is to work. Fern should be kept in a room where studying is done to help concentration, and you should burn a sprig of fern before an exam. It can also be used in sachets and amulets for powerful auric protection. You can mix fern leaves with black snake root chips and carry them in a mojo bag for protection from harm and to ward off unnatural illness.

The Fern is an extremely powerful protective plant. Grow them in and around the house for protection from evil and negativity. It aids in gaining mental clarity, and is also used for cleansing, purification, and dispelling negativity. Fern has a reputation for preventing evil from entering the home. Some folks sprinkle crushed fern leaves along the inside window sills in every room of the house to keep out burglars and other intruders. You can also brew fern leaves and black snake root together and add it to your regular floor wash to get rid of jinxes and enemy tricks laid on your doorstep. Freshly crushed fern leaves can also be used as a floor sweep by sprinkling them onto the floor and then sweeping them out the front door.

Fern can be used to bring luck and prosperity. If it is carried, it will attract women to the carrier and if it is burned outdoors it will attract rain. If the Fern is dried over a balefire on the day of the Summer Solstice, it can then be used as a protective amulet. The 'seeds' from a Fern are said to render one invisible - but only if the seeds are gathered on Mid-Summer's Eve. It is claimed to aid in opening locks and was also said to have been used by the Alchemists, who thought it had power to condensate or to convert quicksilver into pure silver.

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Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Sunday Surprise - Midsummer's Eve or St. John's Eve

Midsummer's Eve or St. John's Eve

Taken in it's entirety from The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes.

Midsummer's Eve was originally intended to coincide with the summer solstice, the day when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer, the astrological sign that belongs to the moon, and Earth's magical forces are at their height. Midsummer's Eve is a major holiday for witches and those who love them. Because fixed calendars came into existence, Midsummer's Eve, especially in its guise as the Feast of John the Baptist, does not necessarily correspond exactly with the solstice. (The solstice moves; the Feast doesn't.) Modern Neo-Pagans, however, frequently coordinate Midsummer's Eve with the solstice and so this festival may be celebrated anytime, depending upon place, traditions, and participants, from approximately June 20 through the 24th. A wild anarchic joyous festival, the ancients would have had no objection to it lingering for three or four days.

Midsummer's Eve is a fire and a water festival characterized by ritual baths and bonfires. Bonfires are built upon carefully selected magical wood with special aromatic herbs thrown into the fires. The ashes are later preserved as amulets. Bonfires are built on the shores of lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. Just as livestock is driven between or around bonfires, so the were once driven into the sea to be buffeted by spiritually cleansing and magically empowering waves.

Midsummer's marks the convergence of Sun and Moon. The sun is at its zenith but the zodiac has entered the watery sign of Cancer, the only sign ruled by the Moon.  Children born during this 30-day period are known as Moon Children. Lunar deities like Artemis, Diana, and Hecate have powerful associations with fire and water as well as botanical magic.

Midsummer's Eve is considered the absolute optimal moment for harvesting magical and medicinal plants. Plants are ideally picked at midnight or when the first dew forms. (Rolling in the dew is believed beneficial for people, too.) Special, unique plants such as the fern seed that provides invisibility are available only on the night. Witch-hunters claimed that this was the night witches rode off to join Satan; witches, on the other hand, claimed that this was the night they congregated to celebrate the Earth and to harvest botanicals for the coming year's spells. According to the tenets of Russian witchcraft, the most powerful botanicals in the world are ritually harvested on Midsummer's Eve atop Bald Mountain.

This is the time to stay out all night reveling and then gather plants before calling it a night. It is a magical time for divination, communing with the spirits, and finding true love - or at the very least romance, flirtation, and fun.

Although Midsummer's Eve was Christianized as St John's Eve, this is perhaps the church holiday with the thinnest veneer. In Siberia a popular name for St John's Day id Ivan Travnik (John the Herbalist) or Ivan Koldovnik (John the Magician.)

In Denmark, Midsummer's Eve has been celebrated since at least the time of the Vikings and is associated with Odin. Healers gathered their botanical supplies for the year on this night. Bonfires were lit, a tradition that survives today, however, visits to the healing springs were once incorporated into the festival as well. Bonfires are still sometimes built on beaches, In Scandinavia, "maypoles" are sometimes erected at Midsummer's instead.

Midsummer's Eve bonfires and water celebrations were particularly beloved in Mediterranean regions. Midsummer's Eve pre-dates Christianity and Islam, and although the later associations have diverged from each other (on the Mediterranean's southern shore, in Muslim Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the festival is identified with Fatima, the Prophet's daughter rather than with John the Baptist,) the rituals and associated botanicals are virtually identical on either side of the sea.

John the Baptist is much venerated by Freemasons. There is a tremendous Masonic component in Vodoun. In Haiti, John the Baptist is considered among the Iwa; his feast day is celebrated with bonfires, ritual bathing and ceremonial. Whether these celebrations arrived in Louisiana from Haiti, directly from France or even perhaps directly from Africa are unknown.

The most important annual New Orleans ceremonial during Marie Laveau's time was held on St John's Eve at the Bayou St John, the natural waterway which once connected Lake Pontchartrain, popularly known as St John's Lake, with the Mississippi River ant the heart of the Vieux Carre. When these ceremonials began is unknown. Marie Laveau presided over St John's Eve ceremonials at the Bayou St John for years. (See Hall of Fame: Marie Laveau) Celebrations included bonfires, ritual bathing, ancient snake rites, drumming, dancing, singing, and a communal meal. Once secret and forbidden, the festival's reputation (and remember, ostensibly at least this is an official Church-sanctioned feast, although certain practices - those snakes! - were consistently condemned) spread and by 1831, the Pontchartrain Railroad began running special cars to the lake for the festivities for tourists and spectators, not for the participants.

Eventually St John's Eve Voodoo celebrations became a tourist attraction. Tourists, non-practitioners, and observers came to watch, not to participate. Eventually tourist shows began to be staged for which fees were charged. Once again, it became necessary to hold true ceremonials in private. Post Civil War, the tourist fascination with Voodoo culture waned, resulting in periods of great oppression. By the late 1890s, private ceremonies as well as St John's Eve celebrations at Lake Pontchartrain were routinely broken up by the police.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Saturday Something - Litha / Midsummer, Correspondences / Associations

Litha Correspondences / Associations
from The Sacred Grove

Date: June 20-23 (varies according to the position of the Sun).
Names: Summer Solstice; Midsummer; Litha (Wiccan); Alban Hefin (Druidic); nti Raymi (Incan); Feast of the Sun (Aztec); Celtic New Year, according to some; St. John's Day/Festival of Saint John the Baptist (Christian).

Sacred To:

• Gods: Horned Gods; Oak Kings; Sun Gods; Baldur; Mars; Nergal
• Goddesses: the Midsummer Bride, the lion-guarded Queen of the Year; Aine of Knockaine; Kupala; Mother Nature; Aphrodite Erycina, Aphrodite of the Heather, the nymph-goddess of Midsummer; Astarte/Anatha, the Love and Death, Goddess of Midsummer; Vesta, for whom fires were lit at Midsummer.

Foods: fresh vegetables, summer fruits, pumpernickel bread, ale and mead.
Incense: frankincense, lemon, myrrh, pine, rose and wisteria.
Candles: blue, green, gold, red, yellow, bright colors, pastels.
Gemstones: all green stones (emerald and jade).
Celebrating: abundance, fertility, virility, the beauty and bounty of Nature. It is a good time for empowerment, for strong magic and male rituals, for handfastings and communing with Nature Spirits, for workings of consummation or culmination. The door to the Faery Realm is said to open on Midsummer Night, and twilight to be the best time for faery magic. Celebrate Mid-Summer with fire and singing and feasting, with all-night vigils and torch lit processions. Weave green boughs and crowns of flowers. Dance around a bonfire. Decorate your altar with candles and flowers. Perform the Great Rite in the fields. Erect a Midsummer Tree. Set a fire wheel ablaze (being mindful of fire safety, of course). Walk naked or ride a broomstick through fields as a fertility charm. Draw down the Sun. Drink mead or use it for offerings. Make honey cakes or cornbread with honey butter for the feast.
Tools: wand, athame, sword, spear, staff ... all the phallic ones.
Plants: all flowers, roses, heather, oak, St. John's Wort, MugWort, St. John's Flower. St. John's Wort symbolizes the Wiccan festival of Summer Solstice. A plant was hung up in the house for each member of the family. The remaining plants were bundled, tied to a pole, and set up where grain would be brought at the next harvest. Farmers prayed to the goddess Kupole for a good harvest. The bundle of herbs, called the Kupole, represented her. Heather is the Midsummer Tree of the Summer Solstice. Aphrodite Erycina, Aphrodite of the Heather, mated with the sacred king atop a mountain then killed him by tearing out his genitals. St. John's Flower/St. John's Blood/Mouse-eared Hawkweed (Hieracium pilsoella) was uprooted with gold coins on Midsummer Eve in Germany and Bohemia. Celts, Druids and Scandinavians gathered mistletoe at Midsummer. White elder flowers are sacred to the White Goddess at Midsummer. Orpane/Midsummer Men (Sempervivum telephium, a variety of houseleek) was gathered on Midsummer Eve along with sprigs of red sage and used to divine the fate of lovers.
Fire: Midsummer fire was considered the fire of heaven.
Bonfires:: Bonfires are kindled for health, fertility, love, sacrifice or purification. There is a long European tradition of lighting bonfires at Midsummer, especially of oak wood and in high places. Twin bonfires were common. Smoke of the green oak, burned on Midsummer Eve fires, is painful and gives inspiration to those who dance between the twin sacrificial fires. In some places a  Midsummer Tree was used to kindle the bonfire.
Health: The Midsummer bonfire was thought to drive away the dragon that causes disease.
Fertility: The ashes of the bonfire were scattered as a fertility charm. Moroccans and Algerians threw incense and spices on their Midsummer bonfires all night, invoking divine blessings on the fruit trees. In parts of England the Midsummer fires were lit in the fields to bless the apples. Midsummer bonfires were jumped over to make flax grow as high as the people could jump. In some parts of Germany young people jumped over Midsummer bonfires to make the flax or hemp grow tall.
Sacrifice: Basques burned vipers in wickerwork panniers on Midsummer Day. Firewheels: Firewheels symbolize the sun at its highest point. They were usually rolled down a hill into water, simulating the course of the sun. Midsummer Charms: The charred embers from a Midsummer bonfire are potent magic, charms against injury and bad weather. They are placed in fields or around trees for agricultural fertility, placed in meadows and atop houses to protect them. People in some parts of France held branches of nut trees when they jumped the Midsummer bonfire. These branches were then hung over the doors of cattle stalls. On the Isle of Man blazing gorse was carried several times around folded cattle on Midsummer Eve. St. John's Wort, gathered on Midsummer Eve, is worn as an amulet or hung up over doors or windows as a charm. Gathered naked that night, it is used for fertility. Mugwort has magical powers when gathered on Midsummer Eve. A Mugwort garland woven at Midsummer, worn as a crown or used for viewing the bonfire through, was a charm to ensure that you would have no headaches or eye pain that year. Mugwort was sometimes thrown on the Midsummer bonfire. The French wove garlands of it at Midsummer for protection against ghosts, magic, bad luck and disease for that year. In Bohemia, fir cones gathered before sunrise on Midsummer Day were believed to confer invulnerability. Wild thyme collected on Midsummer Day in Bohemia was used to fumigate trees as Solstice as a fertility charm, to make them grow well. Fennel was hung on doors on Midsummer Eve in medieval times to ward off evil spirits. Ferns generally reproduce via spores, but it was believed that fern seed was magical at Midsummer. Gathered on Midsummer Eve by spreading a white cloth below it, so as not to touch it with the hands, fern seed was believed to confer invisibility and the ability to understand the language of animals. Bohemians believed that fern seed bloomed with fiery golden blossoms on Midsummer Eve, and that the person who climbed a mountain holding it would find a vein of gold and see the treasures of the earth shining with a bluish light. Oil of St. John was a decoction of mistletoe that had been gathered on Midsummer Eve. It was believed to heal all wounds made with cutting instruments. In Sweden the Midsummer mistletoe was attached to the ceiling of the house, horse stall or manger to render the Troll powerless to inflict harm on people or animals. In Italy young singles gathered around a standing stone at Midsummer, the boys wearing green ears of grain and the girls wearing flax flowers, to leave plants on the stone. The affections of a couple were believed to last as long as the plants stayed fresh upon the dolmen.
Divination: Nettles were planted or put into water on Midsummer Eve in Sicily. The way they were found on Midsummer Day, blooming or fading, was an omen, especially as to fortune in love. In Moselle, France a good vintage was expected if the Midsummer Eve fire wheel was still aflame when it rolled into the river. In Italy wheat and barley were sown in small pots a few days before Midsummer. Each pot represented a specific person. Fortune and good luck were believed to come to those whose grain had sprouted well by Midsummer Day, bad luck to those whose grain had not.
Midsummer Trees: Maj Stanger, Swedish Midsummer trees, were made from tall, straight spruces with their branches stripped off. Wood was sometimes attached so that the trees represented a man with his hands on his hips. The Midsummer tree was decorated by village maidens with leaves, flowers, strips of cloth and gilt eggshells. A large vane or flag was placed on top. Bohemian Midsummer trees were made of fir or pine and decorated by girls with flowers, garlands and red ribbons. The bonfire was kindled of the tree that night, the garlands tossed back and forth across the blaze by boys and girls. Couples held hands and jumped over the embers three times. Singed garlands were saved to burn in the hearth during thunderstorms, or fed to sick or calving cows.
Death of The Sacred King: We have evolved and no longer practice blood sacrifice of any sort, but the ritual murder of the sacred king was once a solemn European vegetation rite of Midsummer. He was not a king as we understand that term in modern times but rather the embodiment of male virility, a Hercules figure. He was crowned with roses and wreathed with myrtle, enjoyed the favors of the queen/priestess, but Midsummer was when he felt the stab of the thorns and his rule came to an end. The sacred king's sacrificial death ensured the fertility of the crops and the survival of the tribe. The ekingi was symbolically beheaded as a part of the Bohemian Midsummer vegetation ceremonies. He wore a tree bark robe decorated with flowers, a bark crown bedecked with branches and flowers, a mask, and had ferns on his feet. He carried a hawthorn switch for a scepter and was accompanied by young people wearing bark  girdles who carried wooden swords and willow bark trumpets. There was a chase through the village followed by a mock trial. If the king was found guilty, several hats would be placed atop his head so that they could be chopped off when he knelt down.
Global Rites:

• Incan: Inti Raymi, the Feast of the Sun, marked Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere. To celebrate make libations of chicha (maize beer). Make offerings to the Sun. Kindle new fire from the sun, with a mirror.
• Egyptian: In some parts of ancient Egypt the somber rites of the presentation of the first sheaf of harvest wheat to Min took place at Midsummer.
• Phoenician: Dirges were sung for the child Linus at Midsummer during the flax harvest.
• Native American: Sun Dances
• German: Latzman, the Lazy Man of Midsummer Day festivities, was a conical or pyramidal wickerwork frame covered with fir sprigs.
• Irish: Torches made of bundled reeds were carried on Midsummer Eve.
• Serbian: Birch bark torches were lit on Midsummer Eve and carried around the sheepfolds and cattle stalls. The people then climbed up into the hills, where the torches were allowed to go out.
• Austrian/Bavarian: Boys decked out in green fir branches went from house to house with a group of young people to collect wood for the Midsummer bonfire.

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Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Friday Form A Circle - The Omen Quest Divination Ritual

The Omen Quest
Divination Ritual
Source Unknown

The Omen Quest is based on the folk traditions of Scotland and other Celtic countries and is described and detailed in some of Tom Cowan's books on shamanism and Celtic shamanism. To the Celts, the places that were betwixt and between were doorways into the unseen world and the careful observer could tap into the magic of such places and receive information. Omens are observations of the everyday world around you. The positioning of a tree branch or the reflection of the sun on a puddle, suddenly take on new significance.

To do the omen quest, form a question that you would like answered. This is not the time for yes or no questions, something more complicated. The Summer Solstice is the time when our planting and planning of Imbolc, Ostara, and Beltane should becoming manifest. Once you have your question, go outside. Being in a natural place is always better, but there's no reason not to do it in a city. Spirit is everywhere. When your outside, find a betwixt and between place. Betwixt and Between is a border where you are neither in one place or another. Here are some examples:

• The Solstice - We are on the border of the growing light and the growing dark time of the year.
• Dawn/Dusk - The border of day and night - more importantly, not day or night.
• In A Doorway - neither in the house nor out of the house
• With Clothes On But No Shoes - neither dressed nor undressed
• In A Gate - neither in nor out
• On The Curb - neither in the street nor on the sidewalk
• In The Shadow Of A Tree - not beneath the tree but under the tree
• Shadows Of Any Kind - in the sun, not in the sun
• Edge Of The Water/In The Surf - neither on land nor in the water

Find your betwixt and between place. The more betwixt and between, the better. Take some deep breaths and ground and center. The reports in folklore ask you to "say your prayers and charms." So call on the help of the powers that are important to you, spirit guides, guardian angels, Gods, Goddesses, ancestors etc...

Think of your question. With that in mind turn to the East, close your eyes and ask - Where am I? Wait with your eyes closed until you feel a signal or an urge to open them. What is the first thing you see/experience? This is your omen. Now, the omens are simple every day things like:

• oak tree
• bird flying
• bird flying south
• sound of a hammer banging
• golden glow on the horizon
• woman in red dress approaching

Write down your first impressions with appropriate adjectives:

• dying oak tree
• knobby oak tree
• young oak tree
• oak tree with two trunks

If you write down an omen that sounds like: yellow 1954 Volkswagen beetle with flat tire. Crying woman with bleached blond hair sitting inside. Child on skateboard passing car on sidewalk heading S-SW on boulevard as hot dog man shouts, "Get 'em while their hot!" You missed it. Probably only one of those things is the first thing you saw. So keep that in mind. Write it down and move into the other three directions doing the same.

Turn to the South, close your eyes and ask - What is my strength?

Turn to the West, close your eyes and ask - Where am I going?

Turn to the North, close your eyes and ask - What is my power?

These are questions about your main question, what is my power in this situation/problem/change of life? Thank the powers and guardians you asked to help you.

Now is the time to interpret your omens. Some will be obvious to you. Remember, these were given to you and were chosen, because you would be able to know what they mean. So if you see lavender waving in the breeze, don't grab every herb lore book to find out what lavender means, what does it mean to you? Some will not be so obvious. I was once given an omen of a young oak waving in the breeze for my strength. To interpret it, I did a meditation and saw myself becoming the young oak. By shape-shifting into the oak, I saw the world through its eyes and its relationship to the rest of the forest. I realized that the message it was trying to give me was about living in community. My strength was community. Some other things may be confusing because you can't tell what you're seeing. I spotted a rock at the base of a tree as an omen. I went closer to the rock and it had painted on it "Believe". So, I think the omen in this case was not the rock, but the message "believe". Tom Cowan gives the example of the "golden glow." On further investigation, it turned out to be the sun reflecting on a yellow pool cover. Based on the person he was questing for and their discussions, they decided the omen had to do with the golden glow and not a pool cover. So, think on your omens. Journal and meditate on them. In the end, they will give you answers.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Wednesday Whatever - Ceromancy or How To Tell Fortunes With Wax

Ceromancy or How To Tell Fortunes With Wax
From The Realm Of White Magic

To know the future by a candle's flame is covered quite adequately in this little poem from an unknown poet:

Touch a light to the little wick,
Watch it burn to the candlestick.
Study with care the little blaze;
Fortunes are told in its tiny rays.
If an unseen power makes it weak and low,
For you it foretells a tale of woe.
If that same power makes a blaze bright and healthy,
You'll be happy and wise, be good and wealthy.

For those who wish to pursue ceromancy, which is divination from forms produced by dropping melted wax in water, it is simple enough for anyone to try. Use any color candle, though the darker hues will show up best. It

takes only a bit of imagination on the part of the magician to "see" the images which emerge from a bit of hot wax allowed to drop into a bowl of cold water.

• Airplane - a trip of a disappointment
• Anchor - your loved one is true
• Baby - troubles are coming
• Ball or balloon - your problem will not last very long
• Beans - money difficulties
• Bed - a vacation would be good for you
• Bells - a wedding
• Bird - news will reach you soon
• Bridge - take a chance
• Broom - make a change
• Candle - spiritual growth
• Cat - a friend is untrue
• Chain - go ahead with your plans
• Circle - reconciliation
• Cloud - something or someone threatens you
• Cross - do not fear for you are protected
• Crown - sickness
• Cup - bitter quarrel with a friend
• Dog - your self-esteem is too low
• Ear - be alert for an opportunity to advance in your work
• Egg - new developments soon
• Fan - a surprise is in store for you
• Feather - the problem will be solved
• Fish - someone will betray you
• Ghost - someone from the past is looking for you
• Grass - good fortune is approaching
• Hat - a change of location is indicated
• Heart - a friendship will turn into love
• House - better times are coming
• Key - a setback in plans should be expected
• Kite - your wish will come to naught
• Ladder - take steps to change your attitude toward an old friend
• Leaf or leaves - things will be changing soon
• Lion - an unpleasant situation is developing
• Moon - indicates more money
• Mountain - good friends are willing to help you
• Pants - you will be tempted
• Pen - expect a letter from a relative
• Pin - your lover may be attracted to another
• Pipe - peace and comfort
• Ring - marriage may be possible in the near future
• Scissors - separation
• Shoe - be suspicious of a new acquaintance
• Snake - be on guard against an enemy
• Spider web - pleasant happenings
• Star - happiness
• Sun - good fortune
• Table - an abundance of blessings
• Tree - a good time for new undertakings
• Umbrella - trouble is coming
• Walking stick - get out of the house and visit friends
• Wheel - one who has been away will return soon
• Witch - danger will pass you by
• Worm - business troubles ahead if you are not careful

FAIR USE NOTICE:
This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from `this blog.

Monday Make A-Interrupted Mercury going retro Again Soon!!!!

Since Mercury is fixin’ to go retro again (May 7 – Friday - fasten your seatbelts), and I have already encountered several people with computer issues – myself included : (  instead of doing the usual Monday Make A – today I am going to post some computer protection type spells today, and post Monday’s craft on Thursday This Is Your Spell -

Spell to Keep Computer Working
By Mary H

Cut out 7 stars from colored paper. Monday - white; Tuesday - red; Wednesday - green; Thursday - Purple; Friday - pink; Saturday - black; and Sunday - Orange. Chant over the stars:

"Magic stars so bright and true,
Protect my monitor and CPU
May my keyboard and mouse always work for me
By the Techno-Goddess.... so mote it be."

Place all the stars in a bag or box with sage, thyme, or rosemary. Each day of the week place the star on top of your monitor or computer that is the right color for the day. If after a week your computer still has problems, you can continue the spell for another week or two. In desperate situations, pick up the phone book and call your local computer wizard... LOL

* Computer Blessing *
by Zhahai Stewart

"Blessings on this fine machine,
May its data all be clean.
Let the files stay where they're put,
Away from disk drives keep all soot.
From its screen shall come no whines,
Let in no spikes on power lines.
As oaks were sacred to the Druids,
Let not the keyboard suffer fluids.
Disk Full shall be nor more than rarity,
The memory shall not miss its parity.
From the modem shall come wonders,
Without line noise making blunders.
May it never catch a virus,
And all its software stay desirous.
Oh let the printer never jam,
And turn my output into spam.
I ask of Eris, noble queen,
Keep Murphy far from this machine. "

Computer Possession?
Unknown author

Computer acting up and your virus scanner says your bug-free?  Consider that you may have an infestation of another kind. I had this very same problem and couldn't figure out why installs were going bad with random errors and the top-of-the-line equipment was glitching as if it were 20 year old scrap. No viruses and everything hooked up properly, too. I was stumped until I came into my office in the dark one night to get something. I saw this large, amorphous black thing zoom past my face and vanish into the area surrounding the computer. It was then that I realized that we had a ghost in the machine so to speak. I thought about that with some skepticism at first. A few days later, a friend of mine mentioned the fact that the Internet, to which I am connected on a daily basis, is a very powerful source of innovative, diverse energies. Therefore, it makes the perfect feeding ground for discriminating negative spirit and curious positive spirit alike. So in order to solve all of our magazine's computer problems, my Assistant Editor and I decided to perform a banishing/protection ritual before attempting to set the system straight for the 5th time. We mixed every oil we had with protection, cleansing and/or banishing powers into one rather potent batch of blended oil (with jojoba as a base). We smudged the machine and all of its accessories and asked the Lord and Lady to aid us in clearing all negative forces from the tools we use to spread their wisdom. We also invoked the spirit of Armadillo (Protection) to guard the equipment and offered some tobacco. We used the oil to inscribe a pentacle on each component of the setup (careful to keep it away from the open vents and crevices). Next, we taped two pieces of parchment with warding sigils and a brief written spell to each side of the computer's tower (the parchment and sides of the tower were also anointed with oil pentacles). We offered some sandalwood incense for all other spirits who wished to aid us in our task. As a final precaution, we sealed all entries to the room and the machine (including the plate where the phone lines come in and the air conditioner) with a pentacle inscribed with the oil. So far, the plague of problems seems to have ceased and all systems are operational. Sure, it looks a little odd to visitors to have the runes and sigils hanging on the tower, but I think it adds a unique flair to our office.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from `this blog.

Wednesday Whatever – Dream Images, Houses & Rooms

A House

Dream houses are a perfect example of the way dreams speak the language of the symbol rather than the language of the literal. Unless you are involved in some form of home construction that is weighing heavily on your mind, that house that you dream about isn't really a house. Dreams about a  house often refer to various aspects of the Self. The upstairs represents your conscious mind and the lower floors and cellar your hidden self.

When trying to analyze the house in your dream, consider also how the house is kept and the condition of it. Decayed dirty or crumbling buildings probably indicate that your self-image has suffered. They may indicate feelings of exhaustion or health issues which need addressing. They most certainly point to a need to pay more attention to the physical body. Houses that are falling apart may indicate emotional stress. Similarly, dilapidated houses may indicate old, outdated modes of being. If you recognize the need for a psychological spring clean then get to work straight away. Get your hair done, buy a new outfit and treat yourself to a few activities that make you feel good about yourself.

A new house may indicate moving on, of shifting ways of being. As a symbol, a new house may indicate radical transformation. However, despite the stress of change, this symbol is overwhelmingly positive. Another common dream is that of finding a new room in our current house. The rooms in the house relate to facets of your personality, and may symbolize different times. Dreams of unknown room are dreams of aspects of ourselves which are coming up from the unconscious. They can be dreams of new creativity, especially if the room is furnished. If the room is unused, this can point to an aspect of yourself which you've not recognized or aren't utilizing. Alternately, your parental/childhood home, your hometown, or a home that you previously lived in, may symbolize your childhood feelings or indicate your own desires for building a family. To dream that you cannot find your way home, indicates that you have lost faith and belief in yourself. It may also signify a major transition in your life.

Ask yourself what personal associations the buildings & rooms of your dream have for you, as they symbolize a larger aspect of your Self, and the aspects of Self which make the whole. Each room is said to symbolize a different aspect of your Self; for example:

An attic points to hidden memories or repressed thoughts that are being revealed. It also symbolize your mind, spirituality, and your spiritual development & progress. The attic is the last thing built. Consider the details of the dream and try to figure out what your unconscious is trying to tell you. Being an upper room, it indicates you have lofty aspirations that you may have much difficulty with. Fear not, you should reach your goals with persistence, after an extended period of time. It also represents secret or hidden thoughts or memories, and/or the discovery of knowledge that is special and is being unveiled. If you're playing in the attic, it may indicate a time of contemplation. Look at other symbols in the attic of your dream, and try to evaluate what they mean. To see a cluttered attic, is a sign to organize your mind and thoughts. Perhaps you need to rid yourself of the past and let go of the past emotions that are holding you back. Also pay attention to the feeling you experience in your dream...is it pensive, enlightening or what, exactly? All these things are clues for you.

A bathroom would symbolize something in your life that isn't quite working or that has served its purpose - now it's time to move on. To dream that you are in the bathroom, relates to your instinctual urges. You may be experiencing some burdens/feelings you need to "relieve yourself" of - purification and self-renewal, both emotionally and psychologically. A public restroom with no stalls, signifies your frustrations about getting enough privacy. It may also indicate that you are having difficulties letting go of old emotions. a bathroom meant for the opposite sex, then it suggests that you are overstepping your boundaries. You have crossed the line in some situation. To dream that you can not find the bathroom, signifies that you are have difficulties in releasing and expressing your emotions. A messy bathroom may suggest an area of your life that requires attention or cleansing - it is difficult to be carefree and happy when old issues keep bringing you down. The image of a bath or bathroom tends to occur particularly before decisive turning-points in the dreamer's life.

The kitchen is the heart of the house. For most families, the kitchen is a place of warmth and nourishment (emotional as well as physical). A place of transformation where you can change parts of your nature. It also links with how well you provide for yourself or neglect your body’s needs. This room symbolizes the need or act of supplying nourishment or food for the body, mind, and soul...whatever is currently "cooking" or developing in your life. It may also be symbolic of the nurturing mother or the way that you are caring for your loved ones. Alternatively the kitchen, represents a transformation. Consider the atmosphere and physical surroundings of the kitchen. If it is lavish, modern and/or attractive and well kept, it predicts good news or happy social events; if it was messy, run down or bare, it indicates that your health may be a bit under par and a medical checkup might be in order. If the food is plentiful, you have what you need. If the cupboard is bare, time to go shopping for new nourishment, and you need to figure out what is needed for that "shopping list." It may also forewarns that you will be met with some depressing news.

A dining room is similar to the kitchen, but has more to do with immediate needs for supplying & utilizing nourishment, and less with the preparation or taking stock of those needs. It represents your quest for knowledge and understanding, and is symbolic of your needs and appetites, including sexual ones. You may be reaching an important decision in your life. Soiled napkins placed on the dining table indicate that you may have some major marital or relationship problems that may be 'soiling' your home life.

To dream that you are in the living room, represents the image that you portray to others and the way which you go about your life. It is representative of your basic beliefs about yourself and who you are as well as symbolizing your daily interactions with others. Often you will have other people appearing in your dreams in this room. Remember, they represent aspects of yourself, and not themselves. Pay attention to how it is organized, furnished and how much space you have there. If the living room is crowded, it means you cannot relax and be yourself there.Do you hear the steady tick-tock of a grandfather clock as you sit in a living room? That could mean that you are comfortable with how life is going, with the things you are experiencing.

Normally, dreaming of the bedroom symbolizes pretty much everything that goes on in the bedroom: things which are private, which can mean things we want kept private, things that are done in private, that which is hidden. It may also refer to sex and sexuality. Bedrooms symbolize the unconscious mind aspect of your self - you lie in the bed you made for yourself by your past choices and actions. It can symbolize rest, dreams, and sometimes sexuality issues in your life. This room may also indicate a need to contact those inner feelings and emotions that will lead to a better understanding of who you really are.

The upstairs symbolizes your spiritual awareness aspect of self, or the Higher Self that holds all the keys or knowledge to this life's role you are acting out, and always has your higher good looked after, no matter how it might seem otherwise. To dream that you are walking up a flight of stairs, indicates that you are achieving a higher level of understanding. You are making progress into your spiritual/emotional/material journey. To dream that you are walking down a flight of stairs, suggests that you are going into your unconscious. It also refers to  setbacks that you will experience in your lie

The appearance of the basement is an indication of your unconscious state of mind and level of satisfaction. It is something which is typically underground, or 'beneath the surface' - the basement is built first. In this capacity, the basement may serve as an apt symbol of the subconscious and its inner workings. It may also symbol something that's at the 'base' of things or that which is at the heart of a matter. To dream that the basement is in disarray and messy, signifies some confusion in which you need to sort out. It may also represent your perceived faults and shortcomings. This is usually the part of ourselves that makes us feel "torn" between knowing we should do one thing, and inexplicably ending up doing the opposite. Old belief patterns & fears have to be corrected, if that is the case. Tackle & overcome it, and you will feel much more peaceful about your life. Conversely, a basement can also be seen as a place of refuge or retreat.

Revisiting old houses from childhood or earlier times: This points to issues that probably are resurfacing in your current life, and need to be looked at, analyzed, and healed so you can move forward and not look back. If you find yourself repeating the same old tired mistakes, or dealing with the same old tired fears, chances are you will have this dream.

A hallway symbolizes self exploration and the beginning of a path that you are taking in life - that you have reached an area that is necessary to journey through in order to get to the other side. Corridors, hallways and passages with doors and rooms along them characterize free choices and options arranged in your own mind. It may be a narrow path that has to be traversed with care and awareness. If you have that "closed in, claustrophobic feeling" then you need to expand your awareness/ open your mind to more possibilities for completing this phase of your journey. Hallways signal spiritual enlightenment, emotional growth physical prowess, new opportunities and mental passages in your life. It may also represent your ability to share and get along with others. Consider the activity that is taking place in the hall and the people that were there.

A porch represents your personality, your social self, your facade and how you portray yourself to others. Consider the condition and size of the porch. In particular to dream of an enclosed porch, suggests of your tendency to distance yourself from others and your desires for privacy. To dream of an opened porch, signifies your outgoing nature and welcoming attitude. It could also symbolize a metaphor of being undecided, such as the saying, "I'm still on the porch on that decision." It could be symbolic of additional areas of yourself, which can be seen by your neighbors (other people) but perhaps not yourself..? Porches are indicative of your being contemplative, or uncommitted or withdrawn. Occasionally, it can be something entirely different such as being on the threshold of a new sense or an extension of self.

To see a roof in your dream, symbolizes a barrier between two states of consciousness. It represents a protection of your consciousness, mentality, and beliefs. The dream is an overview of how you see yourself and who you think you are. A roof is the last part finished when a house is built, so it may denote you need to look at a “last step” or “finishing touch,” or that you are approaching this phase in something. To dream that you are on a roof, symbolizes boundless success. If you fall off the roof, then it suggests that you do not have a firm grip and solid foundation on your advanced position. If you are re-roofing in your dream, then it suggests that you need to raise your goals. You need to set your sights higher. To dream that the roof is leaking, indicates new information may be trying to get into your conscious awareness, causing distractions and annoyances. It may also indicate that new information will slowly dawn on you. Something is finally getting through to you. Alternatively, perhaps someone is imposing and intruding their thoughts and opinions on you. These could be unwanted influences in your life. A hole in the roof would suggest something that has attacked your sense of security. To dream that the roof is falling in, indicates that you high ideals are crashing down on you. Perhaps you are unable to live up to your own high expectations. To hear hail beating on your roof or windows shows you will be having some trying times very soon. To see icicles forming is an ill omen and portends that you have troubles or problems that will shortly manifest themselves. Those icicles seen to be melting off the roof of your home means your marital problems will end.

Sources:

Mimi.hu
Dream Moods
Bella Online
Mystical Blaze
Brilliant Dreams

 

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from `this blog.

Wednesday Whatever – Dreams, Continued

Falling

Falling dreams are another theme that is quite common in the world of dreams. Contrary to popular myth, you will not actually die if you do not wake up before your hit the ground during a fall. As with most common dream themes, falling is an indication of insecurities, instabilities, and anxieties. You are feeling over-whelmed and out of control in some situation in your waking life. Dreams that start off with flight but end with crashing to earth usually indicate a loss of control or fear of failure. Ironically, these dreams may also point to a fear of success.

They may reflect the way you feel in your relationship or in your work environment. You have lost your foothold and can not hang on or keep up with the hustle and bustle of daily life. When you fall, there is nothing that you can hold on to. You more or less are forced toward this downward motion without any control. This loss of control may parallel a waking situation in your life. Falling dreams also often reflect a sense of failure or inferiority in some circumstance or situation. It may be the fear of failing in your job/school, loss of status, or failure in love. You feel shameful and lack a sense of pride. You are unable to keep up with the status quo or that you don't measure up.  According to Freudian theory, dreams of falling indicate that you are contemplating giving into a sexual urge or impulse. (go figger – Freud blaming sex..? lol) The implication being you may be lacking in indiscretion.

Falling dreams typically occur during the first stage of sleep. When falling asleep, a healthy person may experience an alarming jerk that brings him suddenly wide awake, often with the vivid impression of a frightening dream, e.g., one involving a fall. Sometimes when we have these falling dreams, we feel our whole body jerk or twitch and we awaken from this jerk. It is thought that this jerking action is part of an arousal mechanism that allows the sleeper to awaken and become quickly alert and responsive to possible threats in the environment. Many people, asking their physicians about these jerks, get some such explanation as, "It's your muscles relaxing suddenly as you unwind." This explanation sometimes helps, but it makes no scientific sense. The fact is, medical science knows little about the phenomenon. Falling dreams that occur shortly after sleep can occasionally be blamed on more mundane causes -  shifting from an upright to prone position may cause a drop in blood pressure which the dreaming mind then translates into a falling sensation.

According to biblical interpretations, dreams about falling have a negative overtone and suggest that man is acting and walking according to his own way of thinking and not those of the Lord.

Taking An Exam or Test

To dream that you are taking an exam indicates that you are being put to the test or being scrutinized in some way. Such dreams highlight your feelings of being anxious and agitated. You may find that you cannot answer any of the questions on the test or that the test is in some foreign language. Is time running out and you find that you can not complete the exam in the allowed time? Or are you late to the exam? Does your pencil keep breaking during the exam? Such factors contribute to you failing this test.

These dreams usually have to do with your self-esteem and confidence or your lack of. You are worried that you are not making the grade and measuring up to other people's expectations of you. You may also experience the fear of not being accepted, not being prepared, or not being good enough. You feel nervous, insecure and tend to believe the worst about yourself. These dreams also suggest that you may feel unprepared for a challenge. For example, maybe you feel you have been put under too much strain in a new job recently or you feel like you’re losing control over your relationships with others. Perhaps you are not ready and feel unprepared to move onto a new stage in your life.

Rarely, are these dreams about the content of the test, but rather the process and how you are feeling during the exam taking process. Generally, you feel distressed and frustrated. These feelings may parallel how you are feeling in a particular challenge or situation in your waking like. The effect of such test and exam dreams is not pleasant. Test dreams leave a person with a thought that he / she would not able to accomplish anything in their life. They are left frustrated and disappointed. Exam dreams can lead to low self-esteem and insecurity in the life of the individual.

Dreams of this nature are also an indication that you are being judged and this dream is a signal for you to examine an aspect of yourself that you may have been neglecting and need to pay attention to. You may harbor some guilt because of your neglect in preparation for a school exam, meeting, business project, or some challenge. Most of the time people who have such dreams are unlikely to fail a test in real life. This dream goes back to their fear and anxiety that they may not meet other's standards of them. They are afraid to let others down. What you should try to do is to make a link between the dream and the current situation you are in. If you are able to find that missing link then you can find ways to sort it out. Stress could also be one such missing link example. You need to gather yourself up and take on the challenge that life has posed before you. Always try to put in your best and leave no room for regrets.

Next, we’ll look at some more specific symbols that appear in dreams and what they might mean. Some dreams leave a general impression, while others burn their specifics into your mind, there to stay for the rest of eternity (or until CRS* kicks in…)

Sources:

Dream Moods
Bella Online
So You Had A Dream
Time Magazine

*Can’t Remember Shit

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Sunday Surprise- How To Plant Your Garden

How To Plant Your Garden

First, you Come to the garden alone, 
While the dew is still on the roses... 

 

For The Garden of Your Daily Living,
Plant Three Rows of Peas:

 

1. Peace of mind 
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

Plant Four Rows of Squash:

1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

Plant Four Rows of Lettuce:

1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

No Garden is Complete Without Turnips:

1. Turnip for gatherings
2. Turnip for ritual
3. Turnip to help one another

To Round Out our Garden We Must Have Thyme:

 

1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

Water freely with patience
And cultivate with love.
There is much reward from your garden because
You reap what you sow. 
Happy Ostara

Wednesday Whatever – Dream Magic From Different Cultures

Author: Bia' Aletheia
Posted: January 11th. 2009

Dream Magic not only encompasses dream interpretation but it helps the dreamer to understand his or her personal symbols and messages that are being revealed to them in an altered state. It has been argued by many scientists, philosophers and people from various cultural perspectives that dreams are indeed messages from the Gods or spirit guides. These gods or guides are trying to reveal a much-needed path that should be taken, or things we may need to change to achieve spiritual growth. Often ‘journeying or astral travel’ occurs in the realm of dreams.

Dream Magic is the ability to manipulate our dreaming in order to fulfill some specific goal or intent. It is much like that of performing a magic/ spell, which has to have a goal in mind. Dream Magic can be used for many purposes, to achieve certain goals like prophecy, predict the future or communicate with the Gods and/or spirit guides.

Dream Magic can be used to communicate with loved ones passed on or help us become more in tune with our ‘inner desires’, referred to as our shadows. It is another method of seeking answers to specific questions we may have. Dream Magic can be used for healing and transformation. Because dreams can reveal so much to us, learning how to interpret them is very important.

Actual dream interpretations dates back to 3000-4000 B.C., where they were documented in clay

tablets. It is said that people in primal societies were unable to distinguish between the dream world and reality. They not only saw the dream world as an extension of reality, but the dream realm was a more powerful world.

Back in the Greek and Roman era, dream interpreters accompanied military leaders into battle. Dreams were extremely significant and often seen as messages from the gods. They were seen in a religious context and in Egypt, priests also acted as dream interpreters. The Egyptians recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics. People with particularly vivid and significant dreams were believed to be blessed and were considered special. People who had the power to interpret dreams were looked up to and seen as divinely gifted. In the bible, there are over seven hundred mentions of dreams. Tracing back to these ancient cultures, people had always had an inclination to interpret dreams.

Dreams were also seen as prophetic. People often looked to their dreams for signs of warning and advice. It was an oracle or omen from outside spirits, whether it was a message from a deity, from the dead or even the works of a demon. Dreams often dictated the actions of political and military leaders and aided in diagnosis for the medicine men. Dreams were a vital clue for healers in what was wrong with the dreamer and they used them to make a diagnosis. People in ancient Greece and ancient China looked to their dreams for their next course of action [1].
Dreaming can be seen as an actual place that your spirit and soul leaves every night to go and visit. The Chinese believed that the soul leaves the body to go into this world. However, if they should be suddenly awakened, their soul may fail to return to the body. For this reason, some Chinese today, are wary of alarm clocks.

Some Native American tribes and Mexican civilizations share this same notion of a distinct dream dimension. They believed that their ancestors lived in their dreams and take on non-human forms like plants. They see that dreams are a way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors. Dreams also helped to point their mission or role in life.

In the early 19th century, dreams were dismissed as stemming from anxiety, a household noise or even indigestion. Hence there was really no meaning to it. Later on in the 19th century, Sigmund Freud revived the importance of dreams and its significance and need for interpretation. He revolutionized the study of dreams. Dreams have long exercised a fascination over the human imaginations. So what are dreams? And more importantly what significance, if any, do they have for the dreamer [2].

As early as the fourth century B.C. Chuang-tzu, a Chinese philosopher, raised the following point regarding dream significance:

“While men are dreaming, they do not perceive that it is a dream. Some will have a dream in a dream, and only when they awake they know it was all a dream. And so, when the Great Awakening comes upon us, shall we know this life to be a great dream. Fools believe themselves to be awake now.
Once upon a time, I Chuang-tzu, dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a butterfly. Suddenly I was awakened, and there I lay myself again. Now I do not know whether I was a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am a butterfly now dreaming I am a man”.

This brings up the interesting notion that perhaps the world as we ordinarily experience it is no more real than a dream.

Dreams often seem to be experiences of a confused parallel world. Reflecting on this experience, we may speculate that during dreams we travel to a real, alternate realm. It has been suggested that one of the principle sources of this idea - a spiritual world distinct from the physical - is a dream. If this hypothesis is true, even partially then dreams contribute to one of the basic notions of religion. It has also been hypothesized that dreams may be linked to the idea of a soul distinct from the body. During dreams, we have the experience of traveling to other realms, interacting with people, and doing various things - simultaneously, the physical body remains confined to our beds. While the dream realm is shadowy and even surreal, it nevertheless feels like a real place. Because the experience is so real, it easy to speculate that during dreams the conscious self somehow separates from the body. If we add to this the common experience of meeting departed friends and relatives in dreams, it is no great step to conclude that the same “soul” that separates from the body during dreams also survives the death of the body.

Yet another broad area of agreement among world cultures is that of communicating between this world and the other world - between gods and mortals, or between the living and the dead - is possible. Prophets, as well as the founders of new religious sects, often claim to receive privileged communications from the gods. If dreams constitute experiences with the realm of the spirit, then one possible model for divine - human communication is the dream state.

The New Age movement, which began in the late 1950’s, has also delved onto several aspects of dreams in contemporary culture. For example, new dream dictionaries, containing interpretations of specific dream images and symbols have been composed to aid in dream meaning exploration. Dream tools have also been developed or fine tuned with this emergence, to assist in transformation and healing. More specifically with a growing interest of lucid dreaming, the practice of becoming conscious during one’s dreams and learning to control their directions is viewed as a potential tool for healing and self-transformation.

Before we delve into the specifics on how to use Dream Magic it is pretty significant to discuss some cultural perspectives of dream lore so we may examine how Dream Magic evolved cross-culturally [3].

Babylonians: The Babylonians divided dreams into two categories. They believed the Gods sent good dreams. Bad dreams were sent by Demons. Their Goddess of dreams was Mamu.

Assyrians: The Assyrians believed in dreams as omens. For example, if a person flew in their dreams it indicated all would be lost.

Egyptians: The Egyptians believed that the Gods showed themselves in dreams. The Egyptians believed dreams were based on real things. The recording of dreams in Egypt may be traced back to 2000 B.C., where the Egyptians wrote their dreams on papyrus. They believed there were three main types of dreams. Those that happened as a result of ritual, dreams that contained warnings or dreams that were the Gods were demanding some type of action.

Greeks: When a person was sick a Priest would interpret the dream and then give advice on healing. They believed the Gods sent dreams. The Gods also sent prophecies to those who slept at shrines. The Greeks thought that the people in their dreams lived near the underworld.

Romans: The Romans had strong views on dreams. They believed dreams were messages from the Gods. Emperor Augustus ruled that anyone who had a dream about the state must proclaim it in the market place.

Hebrews: Hebrews believed their dreams were the voice of only one God; however bad dreams were the work of Demons. The Hebrews incubated dreams in order to receive divine revelation.

Hindus: The time when a prophetic dream occurred indicated when the event would take place.

Japanese: The Emperor’s palace contained a dream hall with an incubation bed. Japanese Emperors also incubated their dreams at a Shinto Temple at Usa on the southern island of Kyushu.

Muslims: In Mohammed’s sacred book a distinction is made between true dreams from God and false dreams. Rituals were used to create good dreams. Later on dream interpretation became associated with astrology.

Many Indian Tribes believed that dreams revealed the hidden wishes of the soul. I have included in this section, since we are discussing ‘Dream Lore’ culturally, different Tribes beliefs’ on Dreams for those who how are also interested in Shamanism [4].

The Cree: They regard dreams as a source of creative inspiration and spiritual guidance and it serves to connect with ordinary daily activities. For example, to dream of meeting a stranger of the opposite sex actually is a metaphor for what will occur during a hunt for a game animal.

The Hopi: Hopi society conveys much of its religious and recreational experience through a rich imagery derived from dramatic rituals that are frequently translated in dreams. Dreams are viewed as an attempt by the self to make statements about the individual’s present situation. The Hopi believe good dreams have to be held in the heart and can be told only after they are fulfilled, however, bad dreams need to be discussed because reporting them eliminates them.

The Iroquois: They believe that human souls have desires that are inborn and concealed and come from the depths of the soul. The soul makes these natural desires known by means of dreams. The Iroquois often rely on a ‘dream specialist’ to help interpret their dreams. A dream can reveal not only the wishes of the dreamer but also the desires of supernatural beings. The frustration of these desires may be dangerous, in that they can cause death of the dreamer or bring disaster.

The Navajo: Dreams to them are not discussed openly; they are regarded as warnings. Dream specialists are also consulted by them to discuss the cause of the dream. The diagnostician, often in a trance state, not only will discover the cause of the dream but will also reveal the dreamer’s sickness. Praying at sunrise is a ritual used to dispel bad dreams. If a Navajo dreams that he is dead, he interprets the meaning as he has just visited the spirit world of the dead. If the dreamer shakes hands with the dead it is believed to be an omen of death to the dreamer…

View the rest of the article here on Witchvox

 

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions / recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog