January 10, 2016 by The Blog of Baphomet

How to Avoid Bad News

Spoiler alert; I don’t think we can… but, there are ways of putting bad news in its proper place. Perhaps by focussing on accentuating the positive on a daily level, we can go some way to eliminate (or at least minimise) the debilitating impact of the negative. Sometimes we might feel as if we are drowning, powerless, under a tidal wave of saddening or maddening pieces of information, as the global connectivity of 2016 allows us to hear of everyone’s misfortunes.

What can we do about this? Magically, we have the massive advantage of understanding how small acts done with intent create ripples which spread into other aspects of our selves. And, our environment (because, of course, there is no real boundary between these things, as any fule kno).

The following can be done with various amounts of surrounding ceremony, from providing a simple physical marker (ringing a bell, lighting incense, a number of conscious breaths) to more elaborate representations to emphasise the intent we carry into the activity (casting a circle, using another banishing method, constructing a sigil or talisman to concentrate the magick raised, or perhaps dedicating the activity to a deity or other suitable spirit).

Go for a walk

This has to be one of the easiest ways of instantly changing one’s mood. Away from the constant stream of ‘news’ via whatever streams of information we usually allow to enter our consciousness, we find reassurance in the rhythms of walking. Since before time began, before Greenwich was invented, before dinosaurs, before hair first sprouted, our ancestors walked. Next time you go for a stroll, wherever it might take you, feel into the realm of the incredible antiquity of this activity. Look around you without words. See how long you can manage to quell the narrative voices which tend to comment on all the issues of the day, whether personal or wider scale. Creating a pause in this constant commentary, allows other feelings to arise which are prompted by the biological reality of where you are, right here, right now. A useful technique is to move the gaze so it rests upon any thing for only a short time, long enough to recognise and focus, then moving on before any words start to make associations. Appreciate each scene for merely what it is at that moment. Even a few minutes doing this is worthwhile, although if you can you would do well to be outside for a good half an hour.

Music and dance

We all have access to more music than we can shake a stick at. Put on something to suit the mood, or to change it! and do some movement. No-one is watching or evaluating, get active by thinking of this as non-censorship of your body’s desire to do stuff; we spend a lot of time telling ourselves NOT to do x or y, and certainly not z, so by removing limitations and positively encouraging the body’s basic drive to move we could well encourage greater happiness on many levels. For those who may have restrictions, any moves you make are valuable. If you are lucky enough to have acquired the skill of playing music, do that! Singing also counts as moving in this system, as it uses a totally different set of brain cells than talking, and controlled breathing counts as moving here. The point of this suggestion then is to interact with the body pleasurably, without any goal of result, to experience the joys of existence.

Go with the flow

Flow states can be reached by so many routes. The phrase describes that place we reach when we become so engrossed in a task that it ceases to be a task and instead we ‘disappear’ into the action, our identities dissolve with the world around us. For me writing, working, doing chores around the home, and in fair weather a little light gardening, can all lead me to this. In days gone by I would have counted reading, but I am not so sure now, as it feels too passive to be empowering. Creative arts often allow flow states to occur, regardless of the skill level of the person. Remember the intent is to enter the flow state, not produce a masterpiece.

Throw things away

Most of us have stuff we don’t need. Get rid of some of it. Throw it to a charity shop rather than the bin if you can, the important theme here is to make space, as well as removing past baggage. You are living in the present. Let that happen. (Loads of tips exist online for various tactics, so I won’t repeat them here; basically though, my own practice in this area leads me to suggest small and frequent forays into cluttered spaces, rather than the daunting prospect of a major clear out!)

Grow something

I am hopeless at indoor plants. Except for a money tree which has lived with me for over a decade; despite a nasty fall a few years ago, it continues to flourish. Looking after a living organism puts us in touch with the underlying pace of life, how each day influences the years. (Fyi, I don’t hold with minute hands on clocks; their invention was the moment time became a problem rather than a handy indicator. Hours were plenty good enough for thousands of years…)

My jade/friendship/luck/money tree, transformed by a magickal lens

Notice your food

Pay attention to it, how it tastes, savour the nourishment.

Do things with other people

Whatever we do we must bear in mind that doing it in groups changes its impact. It is too easy to feel we have made social contact by remote interactions (and indeed these interactions can prove better than total isolation). Nothing can substitute for the physical presence of others though. Do magicks with others, find them, make things up together.

Techno appreciation

Getting in touch with Nature is all very well but we live in the 21^st century, and would be daft to turn our backs on what amazing toys it has to offer. Read books yes, but also USE the internet. Search for obscure facts, employ technological hardware/software to cast spells. Explore how to, keep your skillz up to date. Value those parts of invention which bring Life to life. See the beauty of our recent achievements.

Many of these ideas are fairly obvious and look like simple everyday practices. By directing our collective attention to the enjoyable we can rediscover (and remind our selves and each other), of what we really do, that we do in fact have an effect upon our worlds, that this world has a ground upon which we build our subjective individual understandings and stories about who we are. Let the words follow the phenomenological, get right to the raw stuff of life and revel in it.

Worries and sorrows will never cease, indeed they can have importance and should not all be casually dismissed. When they come to us on top of a rich layer of memories of enjoyable magickal involvement with the immediate, we can better see them for what they are, and maybe, do something with them.

October 6, 2015 by The Blog of Baphomet

Exercise 2: The Liberating Journey

The 1950s and 60s witnessed the birth of an important movement within the Roman Catholic Church in South America. People engaged on the coal face of day-to-day hardship re-envisioned the gospel message in relation to salvation from political and economic oppression. The Liberation of the Israelites from Egypt and the Gospel message of Christ were viewed as narratives of freedom whereby “the downtrodden were lifted up” (Luke 1:52). With the birth of Liberation Theology in the works of Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Gutierrez et al, past dogmas were no longer sufficient, and the rigours of true discipleship were now to be measured in terms of deeds or “praxis”. As Desmond Tutu powerfully observed; “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, then you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

For many Liberation Theologians, the biblical exodus was seen as an exemplar of what personal, economic and social freedom might mean. The exodus is the central example in the Old Testament of salvation history, i.e. the way in which God is seen as intervening in the life of the Jewish people so as to demonstrate his on-going covenant with them.

Lest we forget the concrete nature of why liberation was so needed by these people.

“Indian Soldiers from the Coritiba Province Escorting Native Prisoners” by Jean-Baptiste Debret

For the Liberation Theologians the movement from oppression and captivity, through tribulation and wilderness and then on to the Promised Land, provides us with a critical paradigm as to what the Gospel needs to embody. To speak of salvation without there being concrete transformations at a practical grass roots level is to utter empty words. These insights were such a direct challenge to the wealth and power of the institutional church, that leading thinkers (such Leonardo Boff) were silenced by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Led by Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict).

While the metaphor of a journey is often something of a cliché in spiritual communities, I believe that we can still make effective use of it when applied skilfully to our own life situations. In the case of the exodus story, rather than it being based on new age meandering, it was a journey that first required a rather stark awakening to the profound discomfort and oppression that the Israelites had been subjected to. Like the Buddha being profoundly awakened to the impermanence of the Universe, for us to truly pursue change and transformation we need to view our current dis-ease with open eyes.

If you are considering a journey of change in your own life, you might want to try this exercise that makes use of some insights gleaned from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). As is self-evident from its name, this therapy (developed by Marsha Linehan) seeks to use Hegel’s thinking on how processes of change occur (Dialectics). DBT seeks to work with the difficulties that we can arise if our thinking and emotions become polarised and cut off from each other. The therapy’s goal is focused on developing skills that allow the less connected aspects of ourselves to communicate more effectively. In DBT, as emotions and reasons are allowed to inform each other, so we begin to cultivate the deeper wisdom of what Linehan calls “Wise Mind”.

Step 1.

Draw a line down the middle of a blank piece of paper and on either side draw a circle that has enough space to write inside. Inside of the circle on the left, use words or symbols to describe the current situation that you wish to change. Like the Israelites or the Buddha waking up, we need to view our situation with as much clarity as possible. Some people find it helpful to imagine themselves viewing the situation as if it were occurring to a close friend: what would we feedback to them? How would we describe the nature of the problem or dilemma? What aspect of the situation is most changeable?

Step 2.

In the other circle use symbols or words to describe the situation that you wish to journey towards. As you see it in your mind’s eye, what things are you doing? Are you wearing specific clothing? What are your surrounding like? These can be vital questions in order to focus your desire
to see things change. It will also provide you with a goal (albeit a visualised one) that you can measure your progress against.

Step 3.

On another piece of paper re-draw these circles as intersecting like this:

So this is where the rubber hits the road! If we have connected to the situation we are unhappy with, and also have a clear vision about where we wish to journey to, how do we use the insights gained to actually begin to make it happen?

The intersection between these two circles is the synthesising point where our desire for freedom needs behavioural expression. In the same way that Liberation Theology places a firm emphasis on praxis, so the behavioural aspect of DBT would insist that we gain the greatest benefit when our longings are translated into actually doing something. The beginnings of this journey will often start with small steps that, when they are added together, can cause significant shifts within the eco-system of our current situations.

For example if we want to ultimately reduce a pattern of habitual/addictive behaviour that we feel is damaging us, how do we start increasing the positive new activity that we want to experience more of? If I want to reduce my smoking in order to improve my yoga practice, I might increase my practice at home or attend a new class so that I can maximise my desire to change the target behaviour (the smoking). By increasing my practice at home I’m reminding myself of why I want to reduce my smoking and by going to a (good) class I’m using the practice of others to reinforce my new activity and to provide myself with inspiration. This then acts as a feedback loop (or spell!) that helps me reach my ultimate goal i.e. being more healthy.

There are many types of response that can be generated by mapping out change processes in this way. As we let the dialectical tension simmer between what we want and where we currently are, numerous alchemical realities can be generated. We might realise that the change we want is actually something less radical (we might redraw our circles with new goals in mind). Seeing our current situation more clearly may help fuel our motivation and get us reflecting on whom we might invite to join us on this journey (other people’s circles begin to intersect with our own).

A psychiatrist once had a sign in their waiting room stating “Either way it hurts”; i.e. it hurts to change, it hurts to not pursue change. To think about change is never without risk, but the alternative of not seeking growth can be a slavery that most Gnostic explorers would struggle to bare.