Magical Gratitude 28-Day Challenge: Day 17
Welcome to Day 17!
Who is having an amazing week?
So, yesterday I got some news that was really frustrating at first. I was stomping around my house, worrying about the repercussions of the news. Then I realized, I had taken something for granted, and it only makes sense that I was going to be receiving less. I went up to my room, took my Magic rock, and thought about the situation. My first thought was, things will be more difficult, but I will figure a way out. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind did I realize that really, I wasn’t going to lose out at all. I have something else that I will start getting, which will more than compensate for the loss of the other. I’m sure your quite confused, but my point is that this practice helps you see where you are lacking in gratitude. It gives you a perspective that you’ve never had before, and therefore brings more magic into your life because you start appreciating even more. I don’t want to go into exact details, but I will say it has to do with money. It’s funny I had a little panic over money yesterday when today is all about getting more money!
Magic Check
Today we are going to write a check out, to ourselves, for an amount of money we need to do something that we would be incredibly grateful for. We can start small, and then when we reach the amount write a new check, or write it out for the whole amount up front. However you want to do it. As you can see from the photo below, I drew my own check, based on the check in the book. I could have photocopied it, or printed one off the website – http://www.thesecret.tv/magiccheck – but I felt that if I put time into drawing it, I would be able to clearly visualize what I would do with the money, and feel all the more grateful when I finished.
When you are done writing out the check, hold it in your hands and play out in your mind what you are going. to do with the money. Envision that the check is real, and you are about to leave for the bank to cash it. What are you going to do? Who will you tell? See it as detailed as possible. Take the check with you today, or put it somewhere you can see it. You are to take the check into your hands and repeat the exercise two more times today – saying THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU each time.
At the end of the day, put the check where you will see it daily. Every day look at it and feel grateful for the money to do or get whatever it is you desire. When you truly receive the money, write a new check for a new goal.
In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen.
William Burroughs
Side note:
So I actually started the challenge on the 31st, so I could write the blog posts ahead of time and then set them to publish the day of. I just realized that for some reason these are publishing the day after, and I apologize for that! I will try to catch up, so they can go live when they are supposed to from now on. As always, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for taking the time to read these posts, and hopefully be skipping along through the month with me with an attitude of gratitude!
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Magical Gratitude 28-Day Challenge: Day 16
Magic & Miracles in Health
Byrne states that “We should feel healthy, energized, and full of happiness most of the time, because that is how it feels to have our birthright of full health.” (p.149). I cannot disagree with her; while I don’t always feel energized, and I often feel the extra weight I carry around my hips and middle (and everywhere else), I am happy most of the time. But, based on the Universal Law of Attraction, if I were truly grateful for my health, then I would be healthier. I have a condition called narcolepsy, which causes me to feel sleepy often. According to my sleep specialist, I have no natural circadian rhythm. If you were to go to bed at the same time every night, and wake up the same time every day, then you would not need an alarm clock because you would just wake up at the normal time. You get hungry at the same times every day, have your second wind at the same time – you get the idea. With me, I could go to bed and wake up at the same time every night and day, but I always need an alarm clock. Some days it is almost painful to wake up at my normal time, despite getting 10 hours of sleep, while other days I wake up 4 hours before my alarm and feel wonderful. Some days I wake up with my stomach rumbling, but other days I don’t even think to eat until I’ve been awake for hours. I have to take a medication to keep me from taking “micro-naps”, which is when you fall asleep without warning for a few seconds. As amusing as it may sound, it has cost me jobs and got me into a car crash. The medication helps me wake up for the day, and helps me stay awake during stressful situations. I do not like having to take pills to function, but I’m grateful for them. Without them, I would not have come this far in the gratitude challenge! I would not get up to bring my son to school, I might get into accidents with my son in the car. Based on Byrne’s theory, if I’m grateful for feeling energized, I will overcome my ailment. I must be honest, I’m not sure if that will work – but I’m willing to try! I will start taking a moment every morning to feel true gratitude that I am awake, that I was able to get my son safely to school, get myself safely home, and stay awake to write when I get home. Gratitude has brought a lot into my life that I thought was not possible, like happiness, so my health could improve!
Saint Augustine said:
Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
Today’s Exercise
We are going to take a three-pronged approach to “accelerate the results”, as today’s exercises are “designed to dramatically increase your health and happiness”. (p.151)
- Health you’ve received in the past: Think about 3 ties you have felt on top of the world, and say the magic words THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !
- Health you’re continuing to receive in the present: Feel grateful for every organ, system, and physical sense that is currently working well in your body. Think about your arms, legs, brain…Choose 5 functions of your body that are well, and one by one, mentally say the magic words: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !
- Health you want to receive in the future: choose one thing you want to improve about your body. Think about the ideal state of what you want to improve, and give thanks for the ideal state.
Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease
~Hippocrates
Creating Balance and Harmony in Ritual
You Must Have Balance
Ever since I started learning witchcraft, just about every book I’ve read has emphasized the importance of balance. You must have balance for your workings to be successful. I agree with this, but as I’ve spent time actually doing the work, I’ve learned a thing or two that wasn’t in books- wasn’t in articles online.
This push for balance comes from the Hermetic Principles, which are outlined in The Kybalion. The Fourth Principle, the Principle of Polarity, states:
Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its’ pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.
Wiccans have drawn many of their ways from this little book. When they applied this Principle, they also apply it to the Deities. You must invoke the God and the Goddess, you must have a Matron and Patron deity. This implies that the God and Goddess – no matter which ones – are polar opposites and that you need both to learn the ‘truths’. Hmm…nope. Don’t think so, sorry! I’m sure this principle applies to other things, but I don’t think it can be applied to humans based on gender.
Duality and Deity
I started writing this blog Saturday night, after having an epiphany. ButI knew it wouldn’t be a very good article if I just shared my discovery without doing a little background research. One of the books I went to was Silver Ravenwolf’s To Ride a Silver Broomstick. Now, I like Ravenwolf as an author – she’s a good writer. But I don’t like how she states her believes as dogma – I wouldn’t like that even if I believed what she does, but I really don’t like it because she has very different beliefs from me. For example, she states that deities exist to help humans. I was talking with a friend (who happens to be an amazing author) about this and she said that Ravenwolf’s point of view is that “humans ate the center of the universe”. (literally laughed out loud at this). But I digress… the point is she and many other authors hold this believe that male and female deities represent certain things and they both must be present in order to bring a balance of power to the ritual. I haven’t been practicing as long as Ravenwolf or any other author that makes this claim, but I’ve learned from experience that the deities are all very different from one another, and some deities possess qualities that are said to belong only to the opposite sex. So I decided to try something different.
Calling The Three
I created a talisman for my bedroom, and as I was setting up my altar, something in me said to call upon the three deities that have the most presence in my life: the Morrigan, the Cailleach, and Lugh. I affectionately call them “the Three”. I thought about what they represent, most prominently anyways, and I thought of the elements. Not the four elements of traditional witchcraft but the elements as the Celts saw it: Land, Sea, and sky. So I arranged the candles I have dedicated to each deity in a triangle. I raised my hands in goddess position and called the Morrigan and asked her to bring the power of land – the strength of stone and stability of trees. I called to Cailleach and asked her to bring with her crashing waves of wisdom, and then asked Lugh come to my circle as rays of light come in through my window in the early morning hours. And it was incredible. The Morrigan came on a mist and rose like the standing stones she used to stop a retreating army once. Cailleach came in on a crashing wave – I could almost smell the salt and felt that unique chill you get when you stand on a beach. When Lugh came in I felt the gentle warmth of the sun and I could feel the flames of passion spark inside me as if gas was poured onto the fire. I said the words and gave the offerings. I left the talisman on the altar to scribble down everything I said and did, as it was impromptu and I didn’t want to forget what I said or what I felt. A few minutes later I returned to my altar, thanked the Three, and bid them farewell. When I went to pick up the talisman- I shit you not it was vibrating with power. I could feel the energy buzzing from it when my hand was about an inch away from it. Even though it may seem like it’s not a big deal, it was one of the freakiest and most amazing things I have ever experienced. After I hung it on my wall I pulled out my computer and started this article to share my story. I suggest giving it a try – instead of routinely calling a god and goddess, really think about the deities you work with and think about their personalities, the lessons they teach, the elements they favor and call on them based on those qualities. That would create true balance. If you don’t like it, then no harm done, right? But you could have an incredible ritual because of it, so just try it out.
