Prognostication, Divination, and Fortune-Telling

Practitioners of many different Magickal traditions engage in practices of prognostication, divination, or fortune-telling. While all of these are similar they not quite the same and very different psychology is at work behind each. Despite these differences, the same desire seems to drive the seekers of the arts, an attempt to ascertain and have some control over the future.

Prognostication, or forecasting is perhaps the most common and therefore the most invisible of the three. Most prognosticators must establish themselves through schooling or expertise in a field before being allowed to practice their professions. Some examples include Weather Forecasters, Economists, Sports Forecasters and even the people who compile allergy forecast. The basic model seems to follow along the lines of , observe, record, sample,and predict. The first element is essential, one cannot predict what will happen if one does not understand how things work. Take weather for example, if you do not know what usually happens after SE winds for three days straight followed by a shift to winds out of the NW in Central Texas in late September then you will not make a good Weather Forecaster. Secondly you must build a record to make your predictions more accurate by comparison to past events, this is how rain percentages are calculated. Third you must know what current conditions are for sake of said comparison. Lastly, and this is where it gets tricky, you must make a guess and hope it's right or you will not be employed for long. This approach is not only the most common but it is actually treated as science even though it ultimately comes down to intuition and guesswork.

Divination, or insight works a bit differently and is usually spurned by our modern scientific materialistic culture. This bias probably arises as much from the use of devices like Tarot Cards, Crystal Balls and Bone Oracles, as from charlatans and con-men trying to exploit the desperate and gullible. Disclaimer: I myself do use and believe in the efficacy of certain divinatory practices when used in the proper context. Some of what is done with these techniques and tools is closer to fortune telling than divination, but that will be illustrated more later. Tarot Cards have a long and mixed history of use as divination tools, the truly adept use them more as a psychological aid than a predictor of future events, in fact Carl Jung has written extensively on this subject. One must use techniques very similar  to prognostication to have an effective outcome with tarot. First learn what the symbols on the cards mean, then keep a record of ones mental well being, including feelings about the symbols themselves. Once a data base has been built, one may begin to ascertain deep personal psychological truths or predict ones behavior in a given situation, including alternatives. Scrying or crystal gazing, relies heavily on intuition and interpretation. Again this probably best done on a personal level or when the interpretation is left to the querant. Bone Oracles, or casting are purely based on intuitive interpretation and again record keeping seems to be the key to increased accuracy.

Fortune-Telling has been practiced for as long as humans have had tribal leaders and shamans.Originally

used like Weather Prognostication, or Personal Divination techniques, fortune telling has come to be more closely associated with charlatans, cheats and con-men. This situation is probably due to the fact that desperate and gullible people make easy targets for those who feel comfortable exploiting others. Fortune- Telling use some of the same tools as Divination but more as props. People who practice fortune telling are more like amateur psychotherapists than anything else. By listening closely to their clients, fortune tellers ascertain exactly what the querant needs to hear to believe that the outcome will go their way. Depending on the scruples of the fortune teller this may or may not involve further rituals, products, talismans, etc. Many agree that the easiest way to discern a fortune tellers intentions is whether or not they have products for sale and how they charge for services. Donation only fortune tellers seem to be the most sincere.

What compels humans to seek out foreknowledge about the future is I believe, quite simply security. When one believes one has inside knowledge of future events, one feels their plans are more congruent with objective reality. This both utter hogwash  and completely true. Some forces are beyond our manipulation, some on a personal level and some on a species wide level. Objectives beyond the scope of our personal power must be accomplished with aid from other souls, in whatever form that takes. Once one has a plan whether achievable alone or with the aid of others, one begins to change reality in accordance with one's will; magick. When you look past the few charlatans and cheats, and realize every newscast in America has a segment with the Chief Fortune Teller, i.e weatherman, then a realization dawns; we all long to know the unknowable and feel as if we can control even a small part of it. That is why we do magick, but that is a story for another day.

Earth Ties

Been coming across many references to the importance of taking care of Spaceship Earth as St. Bucky used to call her, so I thought I would share:

Rewilding Witchcraft-

"¶ How tame we have become. How polite about our witchcraft. In our desire to harm none we have become harmless.
We have bargained to get a seat at the table of the great faiths to whom we remain anathema. How much compromise have we made in our private practice for the mighty freedom of being able to wear pewter pentagrams in public, at school, in our places of employment. How much have the elders sold us out, genuflecting to the academy, the establishment, the tabloid press. In return for this bargain we have gained precisely nothing."

 The Mother Octopus-

"Could it be possible that gaia is the type of organism that gave birth to an offspring that has the ability to reproduce another earth eventually?" 

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth 

"Because our spontaneous initiative has been frustrated, too often inadvertently, in earliest childhood we do not tend, customarily, to dare to think competently regarding our potentials." 

That is all for now, Enjoy. 

Further Open Source Experiments

Hello again dear readers, I hope you have all been well. This the second installment of my Open Source Magick series. I will discuss ways to expand on last months experiments and add a few new topics for consideration and play. I will suggest ways to expand your daily practice, increase awareness, introduce a self blessing ritual and discuss briefly some Magickal theory. So grab a coffee, or a Margarita depending on your personal situation and let's get started.

Daily Practice

Last month we talked about the importance of daily practice and I suggested a few different techniques that myself and other Psychonauts have found helpful, hopefully you have explored some of these. Now I would like to add to the importance of these techniques. First let me stress why I feel so strongly about this topic; daily practice is where your routine maintenance comes into play.By taking time each day to check your overall progress it becomes easier to know where you have grown and where you need to grow. Don't wait for the check engine light to come on, go ahead and check your fluids on a regular basis.

Hopefully you have found a practice that allows some time to be still and quiet, so that you can have a

conversation with yourself. If you are still having difficulty with this try the following exercise. Get a piece of paper and a pen. Write the following question, "Seeker what do you desire?" Contemplate this for a while before answering. Asking yourself questions like this will open up access to your Higher Self and begin to direct you to your True Will. Once you become adept at this sort of practice you will begin to live in alignment with your Divine Presence.

Awareness

I believe last month I referred to this as Body Awareness, but really it is much deeper than that, it is about total awareness . Let's revisit Body Awareness for a moment and then I will expand upon it. I recommended before that one try to lay still for at least 10 minutes a day and become aware of one's body gradually increasing the amount of time to 30 minutes twice a day. So now let's add to this, starting with your head, use your imagination to see your brain. This simple act will increase blood flow to your brain and relax it completely. After your brain do the same for your eyes, ears, nose and mouth, continue to do this until you reach your feet. You should feel warmth in the part you are concentrating on as the blood flow increases, this will be how you know you are doing it right.

Now it is time to try a new exercise, find a comfortable place outside and sit down. Glance down or close your eyes. Begin by becoming aware of your breath, now listen to the world around you. As you become aware of more and more, you are actually expanding your consciousness. Going with that try to tune in directly with the earth below you, the clouds above you, all the water on the planet even Cosmos herself. Do this as often as possible.

Self Blessing Ritual

Step One: Banish, you have been practicing, right?
Step Two: Draw bath, add salt and herbs like lavender or chamomile.
Step Three: Light candles and incense to set the mood.
Step Four: Enter the bath.
Step Five: As you soak try to let go of everything that causes you stress. Once you are relaxed, use a washcloth or loofa to wash yourself from head to toe, imagining all the while that you are removing impurities from your psyche.
Step Six: Pour water on your head and see it as blessings raining down on you. I usually say something like, "I trust myself in this moment, I live in and value the moment, I love and accept myself. So mote it be." I usually do several recitations of this until I feel it into the core of my being.
Step seven: Drain the bath, stay in the bath until fully drained. As the water drains feel all of your obstacles falling away.
Step Eight: Lie down somewhere until you are air dried.

Magickal Theory Part One

In this section I will begin introducing you Axioms of the Magickal World View, if you would like to read more about this I recommend the following:
The Fourth Dimension by Rudy Rucker
Synchronicity by Carl Jung
Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson
Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstader

I will begin with Three Axioms that help to make up the Magickal World View. The Axiom of Reality Tunnels, the Axiom of Evidence, and the Axiom of Synchronicity.

The Axiom of Reality Tunnels
Everything we perceive as reality is an interface being the objective (Noumenon, Tao, Godhead, Universe,

etc.) and the subjective (our personal interpretation of the objective.) As we shift our awareness of the world around us we literally perceive a different world. Since there are infinite ways to interpret this data through our senses and the model we choose to make it fit, there are literally an infinity of Universes contained in a moment. Our awareness is the key to opening different realities.

Most world views support an idea of separateness of self and the objective. You are already one with the objective , but as Godel's Incompleteness Theorem states we never fully know the objective because we cannot step outside of it. There are no independent observers, your perceptions help to co-create Universe in every moment.

The Axiom of Evidence
Simply stated this Axiom goes like this the more evidence one looks for to support a Reality Tunnel, the more you will find. Our brains do this automatically everyday, by means of subconscious internal dialogue.
To illustrate this I will introduce you William Burroughs' 23 Virus. It goes like this; 23 is the most common number in the universe, the more you look for it the more you see it. This is an example of a recursive loop, our brains are full of them. In fact, the majority of therapy is learning to reprogram theses loops through a variety of mind tricks, so too magick.

The Axiom of Sychronicity
Dr Carl Jung came up with the term Synchronicity as a label for meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by normal cause and effect. This would be events that seem to have the same meaning or are connected by symbolic patterns rather than time. Such as noticing a particular animal right before something significant happens, over and over again. Some postulate that this is the result of an ongoing conversation between your soul and the divine, and it is only when we shift our attention to it that we realize the extent to which it happens.I recommend reading Jung's book above about it, as I do not do this Axiom justice with my explanation.

So there you have it, this months installment of Open Source Magick. Please give me feedback on your own progress, either in the comments below or email me at sasquatchjones@ymail.com. Keep up the Great Work and keep being your wonderful self.

Earth Workings and The Lesson of the Nazarene

First let me start off with a brief description of my initial Earth Workings. Over the Memorial Day Weekend I attended Flipside, the largest regional burn outside of Burning Man. I participate in burns because they encapsulate the ideals of Open Source Culture better than any other place I have been. This year for the second year in a row we took our children. Children are perfect avatars of the divine principle of Lila, which is Divine Play. If you have forgotten how to play and therefore lost some of that magickal shine hang out with some kids they will teach you all about Immediacy. It was in this setting that Earth yielded its first lesson, the magick of connectivity with positive humanity. There were many wonderful conversations, sword fights, balloon animals, bubble machines, a city that appeared in an enchanted forest and disappeared several days later, not to mention the pirates, unicorns and fairies, all of this temporarily existed as a manifestation of many individuals collective imagination. Better than Disneyland.

So Earth has begun revealing to me the underlying principle of magick everyday, all of creation is a miracle. Physics, mathematics, chemistry can all describe some of what is going on, but not why. Yes I know cause and effect, but what is the purpose? It is this ongoing question that fuels our imaginations and feeds our souls. it is the culmination of Intellect fired by Passion and cooled through our Emotive Selves that manifests as Earthy goodness.To often we get caught in the other realms, intellect, passion, emotions, are all wonderful in themselves , but when one becomes obsessed these elements reveal their dark side. I should clarify, obsession is what ultimately makes things ugly, however there is a cure. Remaining grounded, doing the routine maintenance, tending your garden, whatever you call it the important thing is to do it.

Now I am not so naive as to suggest that grounding will heal everyone, nor am I naive enough to claim its counter, suffice to say, it works most of the time. You will find all kinds of rituals on the interwebz  for grounding, but I want to offer you three  Open Source Magickal workings that have a lifetime of benefit. First, stretch, either with yoga or plain stretching, it will keep you limber. Next, go for a walk, it will keep you connected to nature, even human nature. The change in perspective will inform your magick better than any book, and it will also benefit your health. Not to mention the psychological benefits. God how I love brain chemistry. you should try to do the preceding rituals daily if possible or at least three times a week. Now the last grounding technique is as needed, but I suggest that you try it as soon as possible, go get dirty. I don't mean to do gardening or touch some potting soil, what I mean is play in some mud, or a sand box, or go to the ocean and play in the mud and the sand. In fact the beach is the perfect natural environment to experience all of the elements at once. Be aware wild mud has parasites, so boost up your vermifuge intake. Earthy wisdom is also the domain of one of my favorite Theriocephalic Godforms, Ganapati, but more on that later.

The Lesson of the Nazarene

While at the aforementioned burn event, I learned that a friend was in the process of losing his Grandmother. Having just gone through the process a mere two weeks earlier, it allowed for an interesting opportunity for conversation. Most folks will shy away from such conversations, but not Goose,which is one of the reasons I love him. Out of respect for both of us I will not divulge the intimate details of that conversation, but I will tell you about a revelation that was the direct result of that conversation.

Everyday at the event I did a Pronoia Love Circle, here is the flyer I made.

In the midst of talking about Pronoia and Love, I have a deep conversation with a friend about Life, Death, and Spirituality. Part of that conversation turned to the faith of our Grandmothers, so I began to ponder the message of the Nazarene. Over and over he talks of Love, equating it with  the divine. If we are to be alignment with the divine we must strive to be open to love. When we fully give ourselves over to this Love we are free from fear. The more you love the less you fear. Simple and effective. As I went about spreading good cheer, messages of Love and Pronoia, and hugs, I noticed all the love I felt in return. That's the thing  about Love you have to give it away to get more.

The lesson I learned is this; the Divine is Love, to participate in the divine, start loving, and all things even people whose political views you hate, you don't have to agree with someone to love them, just love that they too have a spark of the divine in them. When show love to even the most detestable of people we grow and love triumphs, this will not undo their acts or make them better people, but it will make you more humane.

Earth has been a profound and subtle reminder of the Magick that exists around me everyday. I will try not to take it for granted. Many blessed returns, now go play in the dirt!

Water Flowing Underground

 

So I concluded my water workings on Beltane or so I thought. On may 6th, after some intense dental work, my brother called to let me know that my Grandmother was dying. I made a trip to Houston to say goodbye. When My parents divorced, my Grandmother filled the void, she was my rock. Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Somewhere in the process, as I was singing old spirituals I found solid ground, pushed against it and found the surface again. This was her final gift to me, a reminder that I come from solid stock and our deep spiritual convictions will always be there to support us.

That's when I realized the importance of my elemental. Sea turtles eat jellyfish and thrive. Despite being able to dive to great depths they must always return to the surface to breathe. They also return to their home beach every year to spawn, they never forget where they came from.

My ultimate take away from my water workings is this; learn to thrive on what others disregard, return to the surface after plunging to the depths, and never forget where you came from. My shell is there to protect me and I am built to swim life's currents. Perhaps the most important thing I learned is that when you feel like you've  hit bottom, push hard and thrust upwards.

Oh yeah David Byrne is wrong there's not just water at the bottom of the Ocean, there is Earth....

Open Source Experiments

Hello dear ones. Today we will begin our grand experiment with Open Source Magick. My inspiration for lies heavily in the currents of Chaos Magick and Pronoia. Being well versed in the D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock and the Burn community, I approached magick with the same sensibility. One of the main attractions to witchcraft, for me was the break from orthodox religions. Then I found Wicca, which along with the OTO and Re-constructionist Paganism presented an Orthodoxy of Witchcraft. So I clung to the shadows and practiced alone rarely discussing my beliefs with anyone. Then in 1993 I found a book called Liber Null by Peter Carroll that changed my ideas about everything. Suddenly I realized I was not alone in my thinking that the principles behind magick were not dependent upon cultural symbols or belief in a specific god or goddess. Reading  Austin Osman Spare, furthered my exploration of self created systems. I have over the years come to incorporate several systems and ideas about magick and sorcery into my own brand of spirituality. I resisted the urge for years to share these ideas with others until friends new to the Craft began asking for advice and pointers along the Way. Helping others made me realize that are certain principles that i can share for the self directed individual to use to engage in the Great Work. Without further ado, I present Open Source Magick.

Fucking Around vs. Science

As Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame so succinctly said, "Remember kids the only difference between screwing around and science, is writing it down." This is something almost every tradition agrees on, get a journal of some sort and write down everything. Now what form this takes is entirely up to you, some people only use leather bound journals and only write in them with magical inks, and call it a Book of Shadows. Sounds cool huh? I personally use college composition notebooks and call them Experiment Logs. The form is not as important as the practice. By recording all of your workings, experiments and explorations, you will begin to discover what works and what doesn't, but more importantly you will find what works for you. We are not all musicians or metalworkers, like wise cartomancy may not work for you as well as Wormwood Wine. Either way write it down.

Daily Practice

The idea of daily practice has only become part of my routine recently, however  I strongly believe one should begin with daily devotions. In Hinduism this practice is called Bhakti, and can include many different types of devotion. In her book, Crafting a Daily Practice, T Thorn Coyle, lays out an eight week program for finding a form of daily alignment that works for you as an individual, I highly recommend it. Other ideas include Mindfulness Meditation, candle gazing, Hatha Yoga, or Resh. Resh is a technique that was developed by the A.·. A.·. to help one be more connected to the natural rhythms of the sun. You can find the ritual here. I have developed my own form of resh, mainly because I don't really relate to Egyptian Mythology the way Aleister Crowley did. Mine is based on my own visions of the Solar Anima and the Lunar Animus. I cannot stress enough the importance of daily practice.

Body Awareness

One of the dangers and pitfalls of doing magick is becoming ungrounded, or lost in the Aether. Many grounding rituals can be found on the internet, but I believe developing body awareness to be the most efficacious. Lets start with an exercise from Dr. Israel Regardie, it is rather simple to learn. First lie down, on the floor or in bed either one. Now be still and pay attention to your body. Feel your skin. Notice sensations in your body but try not to judge them, just accept them. For instance do not think "my knee hurts" just notice that you feel something in your knee. Do not try to suppress your thought or do any kind of special breathing, this is about being aware of the monkey meat you inhabit. It is far to easy to be distracted by all the devices that rule our post modern lives. Unplug and tune in. Start with 10 minutes a day, then move to twice a day and then work your way up to 30 minutes twice a day. When you begin to notice the wind blowing on body hairs or feel your skull from the inside you'll know why this is important.

During the next month I would like for you to do the following Body Awareness exercises in addition to the one described above. Find a balance beam and play on it, bonus points if you can balance a broom on your hand while crossing the beam. Do an inversion, either on an Inversion Table or by hanging upside down if you can. The last exercise I would recommend is to either visit a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or a massage therapist. Bonus points if you do two or all three.

Banishing

Perhaps the most important tool in your magickal kit will be a proper banishing ritual. This will help you to create a liminal space for rituals without interference from outside. It will also serve as a signal to your brain that what you are doing is not part of normative experience. The most commonly used and therefore easiest to learn is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. An excellent example can be found here. There are other banishing rituals such as this one found at Hecate's Cauldron. One of my favorites is by Phil Hine and can be found here. I also agree with what Phil says about the importance of doing a banishing ritual, even if you decide to use a different form, read his page. Just to hammer home the point on the importance of Banishing Rituals, read this article by Coyote 433. Finally I would like to add that amongst Chaos Mages you will find the expression, "Banish with Laughter." I fully agree with this and found an article that saves me the trouble of explanation, read it here.

Groundwork

I cannot stress enough the importance of this foundation. All other work you do will depend upon establishing these basics. So to recap, write it down, do daily practice, increase body awareness, and learn to banish. Let me say it again this is the most important work you will do. Everything that follows hinges on this. Write it down. Do daily ritual. Become more aware of your body. Banish daily. That covers month one, come back next month for the next installment of Open Source Magick. In the next few days I will also be posting about the conclusion of my Water elemental workings and the beginnings of my Earth workings.

Be blessed and keep up the Great Work.

Waters of Rebirth- An Open Source Magick

My latest adventures with the element of water have lead me to some of the most wonderful depths within myself. I have finally realized why no coven, group or lodge has ever been right for me, no matter how much I might like part of the system the whole thing never FELT right. That my friends has opened doors previously closed and revealed immense vistas for exploration. Until I understood how much the Great Work depends on Love, I was unable to progress. Love does not abuse, love is strong enough to pursue Joy Unabashed. Love will instruct the soul's path through the heart. Without this element passion is scorching but joyless, inspiration becomes mental masturbation, only coupled with love can the other elements rise towards manifestation.

I have decided to devise my own system and share the results here, however I invite you to join the journey. Starting May 1st, for no other reason than its my birth month, I will begin detailing a program for defining your own system.After that I will share my own projects between the first and fifteenth of each month and together we will form own Magicks, free from cultural baggage. An, Open Source Magick, if you will.

I recommend studying as much as possible, seek inspiration everywhere. I find my own inspiration in topics as diverse as Chaos Magick, Thelema, Voudon, Tantra, HooDoo, Traditional Witchcraft, Hedge-witchery, Shamanism, Pronoia, and the Church of the Subgenius. My teachers consist of Jung, RAW, Rob Brezsny, Lao Tzu, Peter Carroll, Allen Ginsberg, Mark Twain, and Santa Claus. If you want to do some pre-study, I recommend the following books:
1.Pronoia by Rob Brezsny
2.The One Year Manual by Dr. Israel Regardie
3.Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland
4.Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation & Other Devices by Dr. Christopher S. Hyatt
5. The Magicians Companion  and The Magicians Reflection by Bill Whitcomb

These are in no particular order are not necessary, just extra credit if you will. I shall be posting the first installment soon, stay tuned. As always I shall keep you apprised of progress with the Elemental Workings.

"All for one and each man for himself." - The Black Adder