Magic Mirror on the Wall

Mirrors are very fascinating. They reflect everything they see. Mirror comes from the Latin word mirari, meaning “to wonder at”. A mirror is basically a polished surface that forms images by reflecting light. The majority of people use mirrors to look at themselves, but did you know that mirrors can also be used for scrying? Scrying is a form of clairvoyance and psychic ability to have visions which may consist of persons or places in the past, present or future. Scrying is derived from the English word descry, “meaning to reveal.” This type of clairvoyance was known to be practiced by Nostradamus who was very famous for his prophecies. Also the well known English astrologer and magician, John Dee used this method to see visions of the future. Of course, the most popular method of scrying is crystal gazing. Most everyone is familiar with the Hollywood notion of crystal gazing, i.e., The Wizard of Oz where the witch or wizard sits next to the crystal ball with visions appearing on its surface.

The use of mirrors for scrying began many centuries ago with Egyptian magic. The Egyptian priests used mirrors made of polished metals for divination and protection. As far back as the eighth century, mirror divination was practiced by certain Tibetan Buddhists. Mirror divination is known as “Ta” in Tibetan and means “that which is coming forward very clearly.” There are three levels to Tibetan mirror divination. The first is developing the ability to see shapes and colors in the mirror. The second is the ability to see words and sentences in response to the divination. And last is that the diviner will just know the answer to the questions posed by the querent through direct intuition. There are Tibetan Buddhists who continue to practice this art today and I would recommend visiting Acharya Dawa Chhodak Rinpoche’s website at http://www.lamadawa.com/.

I have practiced using mirrors and crystals for scrying many years. It takes a bit of practice and patience before one begins to have any success at this art. I had to practice for many months before I had any real results. Every night I would practice for about thirty minutes gazing either with my crystal or mirror. I used a lead crystal ball which you can purchase at any rock or mineral shop. I also made my own magic mirror which has to be specially prepared. You can use any mirror for a magic mirror. Basically you just paint the face of the mirror with flat black spray paint. For my first mirror, I used an antique very old mirror with a beautiful ornate wooden frame that was given to me by my grandmother. I then painted the frame in white and gold. I took the mirror itself out of the frame and painted that with flat black spray paint. I prefer flat black as glossy black causes glare and reflection from any ambient light. This can be very distracting when you are practicing. Next I charged the mirror with a condenser. This is what gives the mirror its magic. A condenser is either a substance or fluid that is charged with your desire for a certain result. It is similar to a talisman, but uses a combination of herbs or metals. Franz Bardon in his book, Initiation into Hermetics gives a very thorough explanation for making simple and universal condensers. For my first mirror, I just used a simple condenser made from chamomile. The herb is boiled down and then filtered. The remaining menstrum is then charged with your desire, which in my case was to be able to see images clairvoyantly in my mirror. I then wiped the fluid condenser on the mirror, effectively charging it with my wish or desire. That completed the operation and I always kept my mirror covered with silk to insulate it from any other vibrations.

I practiced gazing at my magic mirror every night. I found it helpful to close all the windows and doors so there was very little light in the room. I would then practice gazing into the mirror. After a period of time, I began to see geometric forms in various colors appearing on the surface of the mirror. I would see red triangles or yellow squares, etc, that would appear on the mirror. The images would continually change into other images of shapes and colors. These kinds of visions went on for quite some time until I began to see places and people in the mirror. This was very exciting! Images of different places I had never been and people I had never seen would appear on the mirror. It was very fascinating!

For more information on mirror gazing, please see: Patricia Telesco's book: A Little Book on Magic Mirrors.

Origins of Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! What a nice day to celebrate that special day with your loved one. But was Valentine’s Day always celebrated as Valentine’s Day? Well no, it wasn’t. In ancient times, the pagans celebrated the time period around February 14th as Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a Roman festival dedicated to the pagan god, Lupercus who was the god of the shepherds. Lupercus was identified with the Roman god, Fauna and the Greek god, Pan. For those of you who are not aware, Pan was a nature god and ruled over the woods and fields. He was pictured as half man, half goat with horns and hoofs. He often played a flute and was known for his sexual prowess.

Now, Lupercalia was originally celebrated as a fertility ritual and it was very interesting. It began with the sacrifice of two goats. After the sacrificial feast, two young appointed Luperci or priests would cut thongs from the skins of the goats, called Februa. They would then dress themselves up with the skins of the goats, imitating the god, Lupercus or Pan. They would run around the city with the thongs in their hands. The women in the village would line up to receive a strike from the thongs to ensure fertility. It was a joyous ritual to promote health and fertility to the village.

Lupercalia was later abolished by the Church and replaced by St. Valentine’s Day. Now according to the Legenda Aurea, St. Valentine was a Christian priest who was being interrogated by the Roman Emperor, Claudius II. Claudius tried to convert St. Valentine to roman paganism and when he would not, he ordered him to be executed. While St. Valentine was in jail, he made friends with the jailer’s daughter who was blind. Before his execution he was known to have performed a miracle by healing her. It was purported that just before he died, St. Valentine wrote a note to the girl, calling her, his beloved and signing the note, from your valentine.

The actual practice of exchanging Valentine’s Day cards later became popular in England during the 1800’s.

I find it fascinating that historically this period has been celebrated as a time of love and fertility, regardless of the ruling authority. It is a time to reach out and tell your friends and beloved that you love them. It is a time to remember to practice Jesus’ commandment to Love thy neighbor and to practice Buddha’s doctrine of compassion for all human beings regardless of nationality, religion, race, gender or creed. We should all strive to live more harmoniously together as one world and one people under God.

Ritual to the Heavens

The Petition to the Heavens is celebrated this week on February 4th. For astrologers, it is a tribute to the Air Principle of the Universe which occurs at fifteen degrees of Aquarius. Why is this time period important? Because by celebrating at certain times throughout the year, we can attune ourselves into the natural harmony of the universe. Most people are already familiar with the ceblerations at the ninty degree points of the solar cycle, known as the vernal/autumnal equinox, and the winter/summer solstice. But not many people are familiar with the mid point celebrations. These occur mid way between the solstices and equinoxes. We recently celebrated the winter solstice back in December 21st. Now we have reached the mid point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Here we pay tribute to the Fixed Element of Air, known as the life-brearing Aquarius. We pray to the Spirit of the Heavens to bring us knowledge and wisdom to help us achieve our goals and dreams.

The main ritual to the Spirit of the Heavens is to make a scroll out of paper. On the scroll, write down your prayer to the Spirit of Air, requesting knowledge and wisdom to help guide you in accomplishing your goals. Then roll up the scroll and tie it to a ballon or a kite. Go to your favorite site and fly your kite or release your ballon to the heavens with your prayer. The Tibetan monks do a very similar ritual with their "prayer flaggs." If you visit Tibet, you will see all these brightly colored flaggs flying in the wind. TheTibetan prayer flaggs utilize the same principle by casting their prayers to the Spirit of Air. You can also make your own prayer flagg for this ritual, as it will have the same effect as using a kite or a ballon. Do whatever suits your fancy.

I really enjoy this ritual every year. I have a lot of fun flying my kite to the air or casting my ballon with my sacred scroll to the Spirit of the Heavens. I feel more attune to the Spirit of the Air and appreciate how our every moment on this planet is dependant on the air we breathe.

Saying Your Sorry is Not a Sign of Weakness

I was watching NCIS the other day, which is one of my favorite TV shows. I like it because it is humorous and entertaining. I think it is one of the top TV series on the network. In one particular show (I am not sure which) Gibbs, who is the fearless leader of the NCIS crime unit, makes the remark to his subordinate saying, “Don’t say you’re sorry, it is a sign of weakness!” I couldn’t believe it. Although I love Gibbs as a character, this statement could not be farther from the actual truth. Saying that you’re sorry, is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength! It takes courage to say that you are sorry to someone for something you did that was wrong. It takes strength to admit that you made a mistake and that you own up to it. It is taking responsibility for your actions. It is letting another person know that you are sorry for your mistake and will try to do better.

Now I know that NCIS is just a TV show (and I think a good one), but many younger and some older viewers look up to the character of Gibbs, and may take to heart what he is saying about being sorry as a sign of weakness. I think it is important to realize that it takes strength to say you are sorry to someone. It is a very hard thing to do! You are admitting that you made a mistake and are not perfect. And that is not a sign of weakness; it is part of being human. We are not perfect. We make mistakes and sometimes hurt other people. Then we need to say we are sorry. I think it is very important to strive to be the best we can be in this world. But we do make mistakes and we should try to learn from them, and move on. Let us practice the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.