Tag: Magick

Why Bother Cultivating the Cooperation and Companionship of Dragons?

Why Bother Cultivating the Cooperation and Companionship of Dragons?

Why bother cultivating the cooperation and companionship of dragons? Because their wisdom and elemental-type energies are unequaled, boundless. They have access, by means of their extremely long lives and unique thought-processes, to forgotten information and knowledge, especially in the field of magick. Dragon power also helps the magician to make personal, inner changes that may be necessary. Helping to remove past negative programming or self-destructive habits is well within the abilities of dragons; of course, the human involved must desire those changes. Dragon magick, like all magick, does not produce miraculous results without work. Dragons can create opportunities, provide encouragement and guidance, even back the magician into a figurative corner so that she/he must face problems and make decisions. But they will never, never do for you what you can and should do for yourself. Once befriended, dragons make excellent protectors, powerful fellow-magicians.

A true, knowledge-seeking magician weighs all possibilities for use in her/his magick, keeping what feels right to her/him and discarding the rest. Dragon magick is not for all. Dragon magick is only for the self-disciplined seeker who realizes the potential dangers, yet dares to communicate with and befriend this vast astral power of the ages. It is for the magician who is serious about changing her/his life and the living space around her/him. It is an asset for those who can give trust (not blindly, but with common sense), love and a desire for true friendship.

If you use dragon magick for unjustified purposes, or try to manipulate and control dragons, you can expect a terrific negative backlash. In the matters of self-protection or bringing justice down upon dangerous members of society. I have absolutely no second thoughts about employing dragons. As to manipulation and control, one simply does not do that with friends and co-magicians. Common sense tells you that such behavior will terminate the friendship and cause other magicians to cease their cooperation, perhaps even to work against you. If you prove a danger to dragons, they are likely to enspell you to such a point that your magick does not work.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

What If You Have Attracted A Dragon or Dragons Who Make You Feel Uncomfortable?

What If You Have Attracted A Dragon or Dragons Who Make You Feel Uncomfortable?

What if you have attracted a dragon or dragons who make you feel uncomfortable? I have known this to occur with other spiritual guides, so I suppose it can also happen with dragons, although I have not personally experienced this. If a dragon make you uncomfortable, it is very likely that you are not ready yet to work with its energies. First, become clear in your own mind why you feel this discomfort. Perhaps the actual root of the discomfort is a bit of programming struggling to make itself felt and keep control over your activities. Perhaps the dragon’s coloring has triggered old conditionings. A black dragon produces this feeling in people who have been taught that dragons, and particularly black dragons, are evil. The further into the subconscious you dig, the more you are amazed at what is it there, controlling your thoughts and actions when you least expect it.

If you still feel uncomfortable, set aside a time for a brief meditation and mental conversation with the dragon. Explain carefully and politely that you are attempting to remedy the situation, but at this time you just do not feel that the two of you can work positively together. Project as much good will as you can. The dragon will understand. I have never known a dragon to stay where it is not welcome.

The first dragons I saw were the huge elemental ones who appeared one night about a week before we discovered that some bikers up the road were operating a meth lab. By the time the ATF forces, FBI, and local law enforcement descended upon the area, the dragons had put up very strong defenses around our property. At no time did we have any problems with the bikers. And, although some of their members shot it out with officials in another location, the arrests near us were quiet. After that, all colors and sizes of dragons made appearances, join in rituals and generally hanging around the house. They are still with us.

As your journey begins in dragon magick, go prepared for a fantastic voyage on which you can make new friends and magick-working partners, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the knowledge you will learn. Dance with the dragons in their endless round of energy, and feel all areas of what you want from the astral plane, and you may well (and very likely will) have an unprofitable journey filled with unpleasant experiences. Would-be conquering invaders have never been met with friendship, whatever plane of existence they were on. Exploring traders who were willing to listen and bargain a bit always had the most successful, profitable voyages of discovery. Travel into dragon country with caution, an open mind, and friendship in your heart. The journey will be well worth it.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

So How Does One Go About Finding Dragons?

So How Does One Go About Finding Dragons?

 

So how does one go about finding dragons? You begin by learning as much about dragons and their magickal habits as possible. Then you look at your reasons for wishing to practice dragon magick with an objective and critical eye. When you feel comfortable with these steps, and only then, you begin building an atmosphere that will attract dragons. You perform certain actions that arouse their curiosity and will draw them to your vicinity. You beam a mental welcome, setting aside time and place to communicate with them on the astral level through mental visualization and speech. And you have to believe they exist, even if you cannot see them with your physical eyes or prove their existence to someone else.

You have to cast aside social taboos on “seeing” things and know with your heart that dragons do exist, if you wish to attract dragons. Mentally invite the dragons to make their presence known by thought or deed. Be sensitive and extra aware of what is occurring around you. Most dragons tend to be subtle in their first contacts with humans. They may choose to make an appearance in dreams or as flashes of movement seen in the peripheral vision. They may even forego these types of appearance to simply touch your psychic “feelings.”

Guardian dragons, the easiest to contact, often appear as little voices or faces and forms in the mind. Dragons may show up unannounced at any time, but especially during meditation or magickal rituals, either singly or several at a time. They love the power flow of ritual and will make an appearance just to bathe in the energy. They may well have been there all the time; you just did not notice them. Since dragons are masters of concealment that is not surprising.

These smaller dragons delight in sharing the vibrations of tarot and rune readings and other psychic practices. One of our guardian dragons likes to play with my crystal pendulum. He either pats it with a claw or mentally sends it spinning in nonsense directions. The only solution to using the pendulum is to let him tire of his game before attempting to get a reliable answer. He and his companions like to peer over my shoulder during tarot readings muttering their own interpretations all the while. One just has to be patient with them, as one would with a small, curious child.

You have to be willing to practice a great deal of patience, self-control, and self-discipline, learning to work with a specific set of magickal laws in order to consistently attract and elicit the help of dragons. As with all magickal procedures, nothing is cast in concrete but there are certain aspects of these procedures which cannot be eliminated or changed to any great extent without disturbing th flow of magickal power.

Not all dragons are of positive magick. I dislike using the words “good” or “evil,” because negative power is just as important to the existence of life as is positive power. Negative energies have nothing to do with evil, unless you have evil thoughts and intentions within yourself. And the Goddess knows that evil thoughts and intentions exist within those who are totally against magick! It is easy for people to understand what positive energy is and does. But negative energy has received a lot of bad press. Both positive and negative aspects of many things besides energy are needed to create, indeed for the universe to stay in existence.

What most people mean by using negative energy is the deliberate use of this type of power against another human. The magician realizes that sometimes, and after great deliberation of possible consequences and the true reasons behind her/his decision to use this type of energy, calling upon and sending forth negative energy can be justified. The best examples I can give of this are in the areas of rapists, child abusers, spouse beaters, drug dealers, dangerous fanatics, and serial killers. Allowing such evil to continue to exit unrestrained is potentially harmful to everyone. Working magick to get these offenders caught and punished is helpful to society as a whole in the final analysis. Even for these reasons, the magician must end the ritual with detached, unemotional involvement, an extremely difficult state of mind to reach.

Casting aside the magickal laws for working with dragon power is certain to get you into trouble. Even the most positive dragon is a wily beast who, like many humans, tend to look out for him/herself first. Dragons likely developed this attitude after trying to work with humans thousands of years ago and finding that puny mortals were unreliable, often treacherous, allies.

Your attitude toward the existence of dragons must be the first big step in preparation for meeting them. The power of dragons is a tremendous force, amplifying a magician’s ability to new heights.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

The Charm of Making

The Charm of Making

 
The Charm of Making could just as well be called the Charm of Manifestation into the Physical. It is rather like the finishing touches to spellworking. The concentration used solidifies your intentions into embryonic form in the spiritual realm where all creation begins. Without this solidification and seed-planting in the spiritual, nothing can manifest in the physical.
 
Notes: Perform during bright noon or the waxing Moon for increasing magick with the Full Moon being strongest; during evening hours or the waning Moon for decreasing magick, with the New Moon being strongest. Use in conjunction with any ritual. This ceremony is primarily to use dragon power and magick for bringing your desires into being.

Supplies: It is better to have a pentacle disk; dragon pentacles; water chalice with a little fresh water in it; dish of salt; wine chalice; black (left) and white (right) altar candles; sword; wand; incense burner; appropriate incense (such as prosperity or binding); dragon’s blood powder and mastic; dragon mirror; gong or bell; staff; any candles for spells, talisman bags, etc. It is useful for concentration to plan what exactly you want to use before beginning this ritual.

Use the Basic Dragon Ritual up to the point where you insert the necessary chants for specific spellworkings.

 
Hold the sword in your power hand, the staff in the other. Stand facing the altar and hold the sword pointed at the dragon pentacle. Chant five, seven or nine time in tones that vibrate through your body:
 
“BY GLOW OF SUN THE POWER’S BEGUN.
BY MOONBEAM’S LIGHT THE SPELL IS RIGHT,
TO CREATE DESIRE BY EARTH AND FIRE,
WATER, AIR, MAKE MAGICK FAIR.
POWERFUL CHARM OF MAKING, CREATIVE MAGICK UNDERTAKING.
BE FORMED!
 
While chanting this concentrate deeply upon drawing on the dragon power. You will feel power sent to you from all sides. Listen to any messages that the dragons give you.

Place the candle, talisman bag and contents or whatever you are spelling, between the mirror and the dragon pentacle. Make certain that the dragon pentacle is reflected in the mirror along with the objects. If using a candle, light it and let it burn out completely in that position. If using a talisman bag or poppet, leave it on the altar overnight.

Continue the rest of the ritual.

Dragon Power In Magick

Dragon Power In Magick

Working with dragons in magick is different in many ways from other magickal procedures, but not so different that you can disregard certain rules. You need to know how to practice visualization and self-discipline, ethics, absolute truthfulness with yourself, consistency of practice, and meditation. And there must be an exchange of energies while working, an absolute when working with dragons. All of these are important components of any magickal system.

Visualization begins with unlearning many so-called value systems shoved on us by other people, the most common of which is that use of the imagination and daydreaming are not productive and good. The imagination and daydreaming are a negative practice if they occupy most of your life and time; if you daydream about what you want to happen instead of planning and taking action, then you are avoiding responsibility. However, for any type of magick to become truly effective, you must learn how to vividly picture in your mind the event or result that you wish to happen. Once you firmly have the event or result in your mind, you perform your ritual and then release the mental energy for manifestation.

Self-discipline and ethics go together. A magician should not, for his/her own good, dabble in controlling other people or indulge in questionable personal behavior. Jealousy, envy, lust, greed, and anger should not control what a magician does during his/her rituals. In fact, these undesirable emotions should not control any part of a magician’s life. These intense emotions tend to cloud judgment, either bringing an emotional backlash on the magician or causing deliberate harm to others, which in itself brings an eventual backlash on the magician. Either way, it is not worth the misery.

A magician must sincerely desire what she/he is asking for in ritual. If it is half-hearted wish with little emotional intensity behind it, the dragons, or any other entities for that matter, will simply not be interested in helping. And do not think you can put one over on spiritual or astral plane entities because they can see straight through to the truth. The truth is never hidden from these creatures.

One of the worst things a magician can do is take something away from another person by means of magick. This includes health, property, life or freedom. Very often I find that beginning magicians want to control another’s decisions and life on the subject of love. Too often I heard that “I know so-and-so is the true love of my life, but they show no interest. How can I use magick to make them love me?” Forget it! The price is very high for doing this kind of manipulative magick! If they were meant to love you, they would already show interest. Obviously, they are not the love of your life except in your own mind. Any magician considering such a dark use of magick had better take a long, truthful look at their ulterior motives. If someone you were definitely not interested in started taking away your personal freedom to choose, how would you feel?

The second part of the use of magick is that the magician must release the emotions and desire after the ritual is finished. To constantly think about what you want accomplished after the ritual is ended binds the energies to you and they cannot manifest. To constantly talk about your desires, or to talk about the rituals you are performing to get them, will surely keep them from manifestation. To want something so much you can taste it and yet not care if you get it is a very difficult mood to cultivate. I have never known any magician who reached perfection in this area, but getting as close to it as possible is what is important.

There must be an exchange of energies between the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual planes for any spellworking to result in manifestation. Playing at ritual magick, particularly dragon magick, will not get you anywhere. Without mental concentration, physical working, emotional involvement, and intensity of purpose, in other words energies, dragons will not be interested in adding their vast energies to yours. No entity or companion, whether of this plane or another is gong to do all the work for nothing and let you sit on your hands. Dragons are attracted by the energies you raise during ritual, a kind of astral pay-off since they feed on this energy.

Belief in powers beyond yourself is important in any kind of magick. There is an old saying: “If you believe you can, or you believe you can’t, you’re right.” We may not understand how these powers and energies work: we may not be able to describe them to anyone else; we will not be able to prove “scientifically” what they are. But we maigicians know they exist. A magician believe in them because she/he sees the results of their use.

Every magician who wishes to be effective in ritual and manifestation, who desires to grow and expand in knowledge, sooner or later comes to the conclusion that magick is a very serious practice. They learn to set aside time for study and self-improvement through meditation. They practice what are commonly called the psychic arts: tarot, runes, the pendulum, crystal reading, dream analysis, and so on. They cultivate the senses, especially observation, which includes what is in both the physical and astral realm. They learn to read their own intuitive feelings and the vibrations of others.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

Casting a Spell or Setting Up A Ritual

Casting a Spell or Setting Up A Ritual

 

In the same way that every party has the same underlying structure, whether it is a party for child’s birthday, having a few friends round for drinks or a formal dance event to raise fund for the local community, your spell casting will follow the same basic format, whether you are casting a short impromptu spell or setting up a more open-ended ritual.

If you work from a basic magickal format, you can devise anything from a five-minute spell to call a friends’ missing cat home to a full-scale welcoming the spring for a hundred people on a local hillside.

What is more, once you have decided how the different components fir together you can change the order round to suit your needs. There is a huge variation in practice across the witchcraft community. Sometimes even experienced witches follow an order or way of doing things they were taught or read about that doesn’t fit with their own natural rhythm. Even if you are doing it right by the book, your magickal energies won’t be as powerful as if you were following the flow of the occasion. So, for more experienced practitioners, I am describing my practices for solo and group events so that you can re-examine your own structure–and then maybe decide it was right for you all along (Or that you are turning the whole ritual format on it head and creating an entirely new and exciting system).

For newcomers or established witch, coven member or solitary practitioner, once you have internalized a structure that suits you, you can create your own spells and rites, complex or simple, instinctively without needing to check that you are on track.

You will discover that some spells do not use the altar but are focused on the setting and everyday items. In these the structure is compressed but still effective. Don’t feel you have to go through all the stages of altar casting, for a simple spell. You can adapt the suggestions to either working alone or in a group.

Preparations To Do Spellcrafting

Preparations To Do Spellcrafting

(Natural Magick) 

You need to get yourself and the area or altar ready for the spell.

Clear the space you intend to use either psychically or physically. This could involve lighting cleansing incense like pine or lemongrass or having a quick smudge round the room or outdoor area where you will be working. For a more formal ceremony, sweep and asperge the area.

Use a compass to ascertain the four directions or calculate these from known places.

Set up any psychic protection that is required around the area you will be working in. You can concentrate this protection around the edges of what will be your magick circle, whether this is positioned in your mind or symbolized by the candles of the four main archangels or angels of nature. In these positions they could act as the guardians of the four quarters instead of the nature devas.

However, if you have more time available, you may prefer to set up a protective square to act as psychic boundary within which to cast your circle. You could also position your archangels at the edges of your garden or working area, or empower four large marker trees, bushes or stones. You should thank them and bid them farewell once the circle has been uncast.

If you are creating an external physical circle made, for example of branches, stones or shells this is a good time to set it up, with the help of anyone who is sharing the occasion. The standard diameter for this circle is 9 foot, although this can be altered if you are working in a confined space alone or if a number of people are attending and you want to move around.

Set up the basic altar and put everything in its place(for a more formal spell you can dedicate the altar now or at the beginning of the rite).

Basically, a bowl of salt goes in the north, incense goes in the east, a candle in the south and a water bowl in the west.

If you are making a sacred salt and water mix, you will be tipping the salt into the water so remember either to save a little in the bowl for the earth empowerment or have some spare salt in a second small dish at the side of the altar that you can use.

If you are incorporating a cakes and ale part into a longer ceremony or spell (a formal dedication of honey cakes and wine, beer or juice to give thanks to the earth mother and sky father for sustenance and all good things in our lives) set the cakes ready on a plate to the north of the altar. The drink will be put in a goblet or chalice (ceramic, glass or metal) to the west of the altar. Since this won’t be part of everyday spell casting.

As this is natural magick you should aim for organic products, barley wine or beer or organic juice and organic cakes with honey. You may well not have the time to make your own.

If you are having a garden ceremony, you can have a bath beforehand in water to which you have added rose or lavender oil, and put on something comfortable. If you are holding your ceremony on a windy beach, thick sweaters and jeans may be the order of the day. However, you can still cleanse yourself psychically. Anoint your hairline, center of your brow, throat and both wrists with one of your special waters to open your higher chakras or energy centers. Or use an essential oil in lotus, lavender or rose. Mix and match and cut out any stages that don’t fit a particular occasion. For example. You’ll only have the cakes and ale on special occasions and sometimes you’ll want just a simple circle cast while following only the basic spell casting steps.

The Preliminaries to Cast a Spell or Setting up a Ritual

The Preliminaries to Cast a Spell or Setting up a Ritual

  

As when organizing a party, it is important to spend a little time planning your spell casting. Think about the precise purpose of the spell, the best time, most appropriate setting and for whom the spell is being cast. For a ritual you need to consider the underlying as well as the obvious focus of the ritual Do you need to change the emphasis of a tried and tested format? Even a seasonal rite will have a theme, for example the May eve/Day celebrations have traditionally been associated with fertility. This fertility applies in whatever way it is needed, whether personally, ecologically or globally. Therefore you and the guests or participant should decide in advance precisely what you are working towards and carry out rituals to take advantage of the prevailing energies.

Location is important even for a quickie spell. You wouldn’t set a child’s birthday party in the same place you would your great-aunt’s golden wedding. With open air spells or rituals you need a wet weather or sheltered location plan just in case a force 8 gale blows up. Some spells can be planned in advance for a day out or weekend away, but others will be spontaneous, when you happen to come across a perfect location while on your way to somewhere else. There are also urgent occasions when you will have to imagine that crashing sea while stood by the local canal at lunchtime. The timing of a spell is also vital.

Before you cast the spell you also need to decide how long you want the effects of the spell to last and how quickly you need results. Do you want an immediate infusion of power within the 24 hours following the spell? Will the effects take longer–before the next full moon, within three months? You should build this time frame into the spell and declare it in the purpose of the spell.

Should it be a single spell or one carried out, for example, every Friday for a month or on the three days before the fulll moon in order to build up the powers?

Then you need to decide on the symbol or symbols that will act as the focus for the spell energies (you can’t dance and chant round a would-be lover in the office).
Do you need to emphasize any one element in the spell? Is the spell mainly fire based for power or is there a fairly evenly spread elemental mix, for example to resolve a long-term justice or court matter.

You need to think about any special props, magickal tools or substances that are required. After all, you wouldn’t use the same chine or serve the same food at your teenager’s post-exam party as you would if the boss was coming to dinner. Do you want a full altar or will it be mainly a word- or personal-movement-based spell? If on a beach or in the woods, can you use what you find there as tools and symbols?

Finally, who are you inviting to your spell or rite? The friend who has lost the animal you are casting the spell for? Your sister to help you with a love spell? Are you organizing a welcome-into-the-world party for your family, to celebrate the birth of a baby to a family member who lives in another country? Are you entrusted with the organization of your magick group or coven’s autumn thanksgiving?

If you work alone, as many witches including myself do most of the time, you’re still not a magickal Billy or Betty No Mates. You won’t be short of spiritual company. You can welcome the guardians of the four quarters even in a relatively simple spell; invite the wise ancestors to celebrations such as Samhain or Hallowe’en or New Year.
As for the nature essences, whenever you work outdoors or even indoors in a circle of pot plants (my favorite setting on a really foul day) they will be curious. So invite them in and benefit from their energies.

The Power of Words in Spellcasting

The Power of Words in Spellcasting

We already know, words have the power to heal, to express love, to praise and to comfort and negatively to hurt or criticize.

In magick, words spoke deliberately and rhythmically are one of the most significant ways to build the energies in a spell.

In Ancient Egyptian magick, the basis for modern magick, one of the major creation myths tells how Ptah the creator God, thought the world in his mind and then created it by speaking magical words or hekau. The generative power he used was called Heka, which is also the name of the God of magick. This power is equivalent to the concentrated life force. In some versions of the myth it is Heka himself who speaks the words that give form to the thoughts of Ptah.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that this creation power animated every spell as it did at the first creation. So to the Ancient Egyptians ever act of magick was a recreation of that first act of world creation, using words to bring thoughts into actuality.

Natural Magick In Your Life

Natural Magick In Your Life 

 
The natural world is a power house of magickal energy that can be used to amplify our personal psychic powers and daily lives even if we don’t have the time or inclination for a spell. We all possess these abilities but they can get blunted by modern life. Working with nature rapidly restores the instinctive connection with our own inner self and you find as a bonus that you are more intuitive and aware of our hidden factors in your everyday decision-making. At specific times we can tap into the ever-changing energies of the Sun, the Moon, the seas, lakes and rivers and the weather and into the magickal qualities manifest in different flowers, herbs trees and crystals. All these will help you tune into the best times and places, moon phases and days of the week to carry out your rituals–or to bring your daily life more into harmony.
 
There is nothing strange about our magickal powers; they are part of our right hemisphere brain functions which include imagination and creativity. Working with symbols and images, the ability that underpins much magick is also located in the right-hand side of the brain. With practice we can expand possibilities first in our minds and then during rituals to transform the stored energies and magickal meanings contained in even everyday symbols and images into magickal power. For example, if we were working with a wax butterfly we had made, it would represent a new beginning because that is the meaning given to butterflies throughout the ages. The 16th-century mystic Teresa of Avila described the spirit leaving the body after death as a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. You might not be aware consciously of such symbolism (though much of this symbol code is stored in our genes to be awakened in magick), but you would instinctively know that by choosing a butterfly as a symbol in your spell, it would be a joy-bringing focus. Magick is the sister of psychology and good magick operates on sound psychological principles.