Clearing the air

I have been in a major funk this past week! I think it's due to the time change, the "daylight" savings" business. I don't like changing it in November- October was late enough. At least then the shift to darkness was more gradual; We'd have a few weeks of darkness starting in the vicinity of 5:30 pm instead of the sun being gone at 4:45 all of a sudden! I slacked on my offerings, felt worse, slacked on the housework, felt worse....

Once I realized that I hadn't been doing my offerings at the hearth I grabbed my magic water and stated sprinkling the place. Followed it with sage, then followed it again with a special home blessing incense.
Then I did a quick ceremony where I took fire from the hearth and lit candles.

Inside of 15 minutes the entire place felt better and my energy changed dramatically. I'm usually good about keeping up with my offerings but somehow this got away from me and They let it be known quickly!

Tomorrow I'm going to take out all of the garbage and recycling and vacuum and then clean the floor with a little combo of herbs that Grandma would use. One of the ingredients: Lemon! Nothing like citrus to perk you up.

Now that I am sufficiently perked, I am off to tackle my ever growing book list, which I plan to update some time soon!

Group Dynamics

I've worked with several different groups over the years. Some worked out, some didn't, some parted on good terms, some didn't. There are many ways to solidify a group. The best way? Have fun together. It can't be all serious and heavy work all of the time. Some days you just need to go out and do drunk karaoke.

It takes time and effort to build a solid group dynamic. Here are some of the better ways from the better groups I've been a part of:

Work a bonding spell together. Don't mistake this for "binding," it's not a matter of tying everyone to each other, just paving the way for open, kind communication and cooperation. It should involve some measure of protection for the budding group.  I like a candle spell for this kind of thing. Everyone carves their name into it, adds protection and communication seals and charges it. Each person takes a lighting stick and lights the candle at the same time. Each takes the candle for a time to burn it.

Make incense together: Everyone grinds the herbs, passes them along to each other, and adds them to the bowl along with appropriate oils. Each person in the group takes home a share for personal use. The incense could be a generic base to which other things are added as per the intent, ceremony or season.


One of the best group building experiences for any kind of group, magical or mundane: Go out dancing together! Sharing a drink helps too- it gets your ego out of the way. Mind you, I didn't say get shitfaced falling over drunk. A drink.

Find the joy- in the work, in each other, in your world, and the drama fairies will take the bs back out to sea.

Kyphi

Nemesis has been talking a lot about his latest batch of Kyphi and it has inspired not only tonight's post, but my own kyphi efforts as well.

What is Kyphi? It is, as Nemesis puts it, "The chai of incense!" Kyphi might be the phonetic translation of the Egyptian word for incense.  Plutarch, our favorite historian and Priest of Apollo, makes mention of a 36 ingredient Sun Kyphi, and a Moon kyphi. It was used as offerings, as aromatherapy, as a salve, or as a drink depending on the ailment.

Here is an article from Sevants of the Light school on the history of kyphi

"Kyphi is a mixture composed of sixteen ingredients; of honey and wine, raisins and galingale, (pine) resin and myrrh, aspalathos and seseli; moreover, of mastic and bitumen, bulrush and sorrel, together with the two kinds of juniper berries (of which one is called major and the other minor), cardamom and sweet flag. And these ingredients are not mixed by chance, but according to instructions cited in holy books, that are read to the incense makers while they mix them."

Plutarch, "De Iside et Osiride" ("On Isis and Osiris"), ch. 80.

This is a page of recipes with information about where each recipe comes from. It includes the ingredients etched into the walls of the temple of Edfu, but not the quantities. I'm a google-queen, but I doubt I'll be able to copy and paste the translated liturgy of Edfu here so we can all chant as the ancients did. The temple of Edfu has the recipes as well as sacred texts preserved on its walls. I've found talk on the internet about translation projects, but have not yet tracked down what sounds like academic papers. But you know I will!!!


I use the Edfu recipe. It takes days to make and longer to set. There are herbs and raisins to grind, wine to ferment, and honey to boil. Honey??? Actually, I don't use honey. I use agave. It's that vegan thing again. Agave is golden about the same consistency, and just as sweet. Sacred bee, sacred tequila... either way, it's all good! Oh, and then you have to form it into small balls and let em set for a few months. The longer, the better.

You can find recipes and instructions in the book Sacred Luxuries by Lise Manniche.

Years ago I used to love buying Tazo teas. It wasn't just for the taste, but because the ingredients always listed, along with whatever herbs were in the bag, "The mumbled chantings of a certified tea shaman." I loved the idea of someone chanting or infusing the herbs with energy.
They no longer list this as an ingredient :(

Requiem for a Mercurial Man

Most of you don't know that I'm a big gaming nerd. MMORPGs were how I spent my time for a while, as well as the wonderful worlds of Table Top games and internet RPGs. If you don't know what those letters mean, it's really ok. When my son stopped nursing I stopped having the time to play. I made so many wonderful friends, many I still keep in touch with despite no longer having the game as our anchor. A few days ago one of those friends, who I had lost touch with, sent me a message and a friend request on facebook. I accepted it and we started chatting, picking right up from wherever it was we had left off. Last night he was killed in a car crash. I'm just plain grief-stricken for his family and for his close friends. And I'm really fucking angry that we just picked up our friendship again and now... Why? Shit. I want to kick something.

Tonight I said a prayer to Mercury, asking him to escort Andy to the other side. I realized that the way in which I knew him, what our friendship was like, was very Mercurial. He was sharp-witted, quick-witted, funny, fast and industrious. Even in the silly on line game we played he was the one to go to for equipment and items and trades- a master merchant. He was also one of the fastest leveling players. He was clever and slick with words and could find a loophole in anything. He was genial, kind, funny, flirtatious without being vulgar, and come to think of it, he could be vulgar too when appropriate! He could also unleash a world of shit against his enemies or someone who had done his friends wrong. One of our first interactions was during the internet radio show he hosted. I became the host of my own show on the network as well. We traded gentle, playful barbs, and had a good time. Wonderfully fond memories of him. I'm glad we crossed paths.

So that this isn't entirely a brain dump (which I'm sure you'll forgive under the circumstances) I'm going to share my prayer to Mercury with you.


Great God Mercury, Messenger, Opener, Guide of Souls heed my prayer!
Deliver the soul of a departed dear to the other side with loving care.
Akaketa, hear my plea*
Please do this service now for we
who are left behind to wonder why.
Bring comfort now to all who cry
I pray for dreams through gates of horn
To comfort all of us who mourn
a true blue son of your design.
Let this be done
By your will and mine.

Burning frankincense, lighting a candle and offering wine. I hope to dream of Andy tonight or in the next few nights. I will look to see that he finds his way. It's all I have to offer him, along with prayers and energy for his family.

Apologies again for the brain-dump. Back to our regularly scheduled blog tomorrow.


(*Akaketa, according to Kerenyi, means gracious one, or painless one)

A traditional Native American Incense.

I realize this has nothing to do with Italian, but it is still a Pagan sacred incense combination that the traditional Native Americans do burn on a regular basis. While I had a New Age type store in upstate NY I met pagans and New Age people of a very diverse background. One particular person I became very close friends with was a Native American feather healer. He did take me under his wing and taught me quite a bit about the Good Red Road. I eventually brought in Native American drummers, flutists, healers, jewelry designers, and begun attending many Native American Pow Wows.

He eventually took me to his home and introduced me to this  traditional sacred herb blend of incense. He had large containers of these sacred herbs in his basement. I will never forget the aroma as he walked me down into his basement. It was something I had never experienced.

He took equal amounts of each herb and blended them together. The burning of sage was to represent the spirits of the west. It was used to drive away any negative thoughts or spirits. Cedar was used to represent the spirits of the south. It was used as a purifier and to attract good energy. Sweet grass was used to represent the spirits of the north. The triple braid of sweet grass was used to represent mind, body, and spirit. The last herb tobacco represented the spirits of the east and was the most holy of plants and was the most sacred ceremonial herb for hundreds of years.

It is a very different incense blend that most New Age, Wiccan, or Crafters have never experienced. For me it is a very sacred Native American blend that very few non traditional Native Americans will ever know.

May all of you who gather these herbs, enjoy this very powerful Pagan blend.

Blessings,
Dusio