Slow Week

Well, as the title says, it has been a slow week for Work.  I've been busy at work, teaching some first responder classes all week.  I haven't done anything of note in the magical sense.  I am still working on integrating fire.  I am slowly coming back to a more calm energy level.  It is still a good deal higher than it used to be, but it is much more consistent than it has been for the past couple of weeks.  I am considering working with air next, however I haven't actually made up my mind.  At this point, any suggestions would be welcomed.

Aside from the above, I have been reading over and thinking about this post by Frater RO.*  It's entitled Post Apocalyptic Living.  Effectively it is a call to action.  RO literally says, "Wake the fuck up, brothers and sisters".  If you think these are harsh words, I have to tell you, I happen to think he is right.  We, as Mages/sorcerers/shapers of reality, do not have to live in society the way everyone else does.  We have access to the power and ability to shape the very world around us.  Too many people I know just sit and drift through life.  They have normal jobs, they do normal extra curricular activities, and they complain about the whims of the economy and society.  WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT!!  We have the knowledge, will, and responsibility to take charge of our realities.  If you consider yourself any sort of mage** then you have no excuse to sit there and complain about your situation while doing nothing about it.  There are myriad ways to work magic with a minimum of tools.  RO shows us in his Modern Angelic Grimoire that a bit of paper and a pen or pencil is sufficient, Donald Tyson in his Portable Magic gives us a method of working ceremonial magic with nothing more than a deck of tarot cards.  Yes, the grimoires and the lodge magic of the Golden Dawn have all sorts of nifty tools and such, and those are awesome to have.  I truly do enjoy working a full on ritual with the tools.  But!!!  They aren't necessary.  We have no excuse for not taking action when we don't like the situation we are in.

More will probably follow from this, but that's about all I have the presence of mind for tonight.  In other news, I went to Fort Worth today and got to be within inches of actual fragments of The Dead Sea Scrolls.  It was a truly moving experience for me.  I am sincerely hoping to be able to go again and spend a little more time.  If you are anywhere near central Texas, or are willing to make a trip for it, check out www.seethescrolls.com

* - If you do nothing else, at least read the post by RO that I linked.  If you have the time and inclination, follow the links he provides to his débrouillard posts, and at least this post from Rune Soup.

** - I like the term Mage.  It feels more right to me, I feel funny calling myself a sorcerer...  For the time being, this will be my default term.

It's Friday the 13th!

Today is one of my favorite days, purely because of all the superstition that surrounds it.  I, honestly, haven't ever felt Friday the 13th to be any less lucky than any other day of my life.  Overall, today was a good day, despite working late (yet again).

So, on to my Red Work update.  Overall things are going well.  Previously I had mentioned that RO's style of meditation was kicking my ass.  It still is, but not as badly and I have been reaping benefit from it.  I've noticed that the feelings of doubt in reference to the efficacy of my prayers have lessened.  I think this is primarily because I turned that meditation and contemplation toward those feelings and realized that they aren't really coming from an internal source.  If I had to guess(though this isn't a guess, this is something I am sure of), I would say that these feelings are brought on by my Evil Daimon in order to try and stop me from progressing to where I will bind him and lower the amount of power he has in my life.  In other news, I've been integrating Fire for almost two weeks, and am getting ready to work with Air.  It's been an interesting two weeks.  I've been really energized and have had trouble falling asleep.  I have found that when I am home I have been running around taking care of a lot of the little things I've put off before.  At work it has been a similar story.  I've had a couple people comment on the amount of work I have been getting done and how proactive I appear lately.  I ended up being in charge of the PT program for my company for about a week now due to all of the aforementioned stuff.  In that realm, I have been even more keyed up...  Normally I find myself at least a little worn out after PT in the morning but for the last week and a half or so, I have actually felt more energized.  I must say, I love it.  Other than that, I've been gathering supplies for further Work.

I'm planning something similar to what Fr RO shows in lesson 5 for a daimon trap.  I am changing it a little though.  I am planning similar initial traps, but I am searching for a bronze urn that I could place all five of the traps into and then further seal it.  Short of that, I have also been looking at bronzed jewelry boxes.  I think I could make use of one for this purpose.  In the course of it all, I am sure that I will change and further adapt until I decide on a final way to store the traps.  Also, I finally got my bookshelves moved to the one empty bedroom and have been setting it up as my Working room.  I've placed my main altar/table of manifestation, as well as two other, smaller, altars.  One of those is dedicated to St Cyprian of Antioch, St Michael the Archangel and St Mary Queen of the Angels and Saints.  The other is dedicated to Santa Muerte, The Honored Dead, and my Ancestors.  Having set these up, I have noticed things are going smoother overall, and there has been a rise in the amount of spiritual activity around me.  This is quite a heartening thing for me, it makes me feel much more confident in my choices to set these altars up.

On the more mundane side of life, my History of Western Civilization class has ended.  I did manage to get everything turned in before the final deadline and I pulled a decent grade.  The next class is probably going to end up being Theology 101, but that is only if I don't deploy.  I don't want to sign up for a class and then deploy and be unable to complete it.  Andrew B. Watt I would be quite pleased to have a chance for us to chat a bit on the content of this blog, on being a chaplain, and on just about anything else.  In reference to keeping on the school work, it is far from boring.  Even the things I have little interest in are not really boring to me.  Despite the lack of time due to training, I thoroughly loved being in a class again and actively learning.  And, I will be writing more often, as I get time and have something to write on.  I will be looking forward to reading your comments, though due to sudden spam I will be making all commentary require my review before posting to the entry.