The Four Agreements

1. Be Impeccable with your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

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Thelema and Possession

Maman Brigitte

I was asked a question last week by an O.T.O. brother about how I reconciled being a Thelemite and doing my own will with allowing possession to occur like I did with Maman Brigitte at Babalon Rising. As a Thelemite we are not supposed to do anything that interferes with our true will and, at first glance, possession looks to be right out. So how do I justify it?  Other than just generally being quite awesome how does possession mesh with my work as a Thelemite?

First of all, I trust the Gods.  Even though I know there are many spirits who have their own questionable agendas I put faith in the Gods, and by extension the Lwa, to be in keeping with Universal Will.  If I am aligning myself to the Gods I am also attuning myself to that Universal Will, which is by extension my own True Will.

"But, Glaux," you ask, "How can a trickster deity like Loki, or Discordia, or Papa Ghede be keeping with Universal Will? Isn't that like inviting in Charonzon?"  Yes and no.  Even Charonzon has a place and a purpose in the multiverse.  By aligning myself with the energy and Will of Chaos, Death, or the Adversary I am bringing their balancing energy into our realm.

Also, and this is an even bigger reason than aligning myself with Universal Will, I 'm a witch.  A Thelemic witch, yes, but firstly a witch.  That is my Great Work.  Those are my blood oaths.  I walk a crooked path.  I talk with Gods, and invite them in.  I bring about change within myself and the world around me by working with spirits of the Gods, the Ancestors, the Mighty Dead, and the Seelie & Unseelie Courts.  Possession is a key technique for a shaman, and that is what witchcraft is, the vestiges of ancient European shamanism.

Maybe you think that witchcraft and Thelema are at odds with each other because of how each system views possession, but I maintain that witchcraft, specifically Gardnerian Wicca is the most prolific expression of Thelema in the New Aeon.  It is no secret that Gardner had a charter from Crowley, or that the original Gardnerian Book of Shadows borrowed (stole?) heavily from the Gnostic Mass and other Thelemic texts.  Nor should it come as a surprise that Wicca has pollinated and disseminated itself through mainstream culture much more effectively than the magical system of Thelema. Wicca is the most popular face of Thelema today, even if most witches have never heard of Crowley or the Book of the Law. So, no, I don't think that witchcraft and Thelema are mutually exclusive paths, rather I believe that, for those who are bound to each system, they compliment each other as magical paths.

Layne Redmond's "Your Brain on Drums"

This is an excerpt from Layne Redmond's film Rhythmic Wisdom. It combines Shamanism, Greek Religion, theta wave consciousness and the history of the wonderful frame drum. If you would like to learn more, read her book When the Drummers Were Women and view this instructional video.

Pronoia

Have you ever stumbled unintentionally over just the right thing at the perfect time? I am inclined to agree with Helen Schulman who said:

"Miracles are natural; when they do not occur, something has gone wrong."

To wit, I was shelving books at the library a few days ago when I spied a volume I've never heard of: When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm by Layne Redmond. I'm familiar with some of Ms. Redmond's work, but I didn't know she had written a book. I checked out the book and brought it home for perusal.

Holy Cow! (and I mean that in the Catal Huyuk/Hathor/Milky Way sense) Frame drums are amazing! The history of this instrument ties together several threads I've been working with independently of each other. It covers matrifocal Goddess culture, which is very much where my interest spiritually has been lately; shamanistic practice, which is something I've been researching for the last year; and rhythm, which (and this is a little embarrassing) I've been working with intensively during my down time as a "drummer" on the Rock Band video game.

Laura just happens to have a frame drum which she says I am welcome to use, so I believe I've been called to learn a new instrument!

Instances like this make me wonder if there is something to pronoia, "the suspicion the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf". Right now I like to think so.

 

Power Song

In The Way of the Shaman Michael Harner discusses moving into altered states of conciousness through the use of rhythmic sound, (drums, rattles) dance,and singing. He briefly discusses the shamanic power song, which is a song the shaman sings to draw his/her spirit helpers close during trance. Below is a power song I have written for myself.

Rise, gray-feathered woman
Rise, shining-eyed night bird

Hwut! Hwut!
Answer my call

Rise, silent flyer
Rise, she of sharp talons

Hwut! Hwut!
Come unto me

Rise hook-beaked sister
Rise, great-eyed wisdom keeper

Hwut! Hwut!
I sing for you