Tag: meditation

The Bee, the Bluebells and the Buddha

by Soror Brigantia

In my workplace we have a chillout room, where people can go if they are upset, stressed or need a moment away from the hustle and bustle. It’s a beautiful room set up with relaxation in mind.

When I first arrived at this workplace there was one thing however that spoiled the effect of this room for me. In the room was a poster depicting the Buddha on top of a mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation, with the caption “When you reach the top of the Mountain keep climbing.”

I hated that poster, partly because it does not make sense. When one has reached the top of a mountain how can you climb any further? What are you supposed to climb on? The clouds? Secondly when I have achieved a goal that’s been difficult I don’t keep climbing, I take a moment to feel smug about what I have achieved, take a day off relax and to remember to feel good about myself. I did it, I achieved my objective, now I can chill. I’m not going to keep climbing; I’m going to take a break.

I felt exhausted just looking at that poster, and needless to say the poster is no more, it is an ex poster. For me it summed up everything that is wrong in our culture, the constant drive to achieve and do, the constant striving due to an underlying belief that we are only valuable when we are doing things and achieving. This is one of the beliefs that underpin a capitalist society and makes the wheels of industry turn- we must work because what are we without it, what value do we have? For me this negative message was summed up in this poster, all bound up in New Age wrapping and definitely not what Buddhism is actually about. Capitalism pretending to be Buddhism.

Since the lockdown began while my working life is busier than it was prior to the crisis. And my personal life is different. There are no more magical outings, no in-person temple meetings, no occult conferences, no pubs, restaurants etc. Outside the working environment there is little for me to do, work towards, organise or strive for. Over the Easter holiday I found that I was bored and not feeling that great about myself on account of not having achieved anything with this time. Then I remembered this awful poster and saw that while I may see through the capitalist belief systems I am in fact just as bought into them as anyone else.

Having had that realisation I went and sat by the front steps and watched the bees. They were very enthusiastic about gathering pollen from the bluebells and I sat and watched. Firstly I watched without judgement, and then I meditated on how the bees enable life to continue and how all things relate to all things. I watched them for hours. Then I saw how important it is to just stop and watch and listen, as we miss so much of what’s really happening around us when we are too busy to notice all the interlocking and interconnected workings of Baphomet.

Since that day I have slowed right down. I still do things if they need doing but I do them more slowly, focusing more on the process and less on the end result, and I enjoy doing the tasks a lot more as a result. It feels that my life outside work has become a meditation as I spend more time watching and listening to the sights and sounds of nature around me. I am no longer feeling that I must be achieving to be valuable.

I can sit and listen and be at peace.

Soror Brigantia 739

Healing Meditation

by Soror Brigantia

One of my core magical skills is within the healing arts and I have spent many years studying various healing magicks along with the practical skills of massage and reflexology. Along the way I have studied with a huge variety of people and engaged in many different types of healing systems. There is one thing that most of the complementary therapy arts have in common is in the value of meditation. I have adapted my own style of meditation for alleviating stress which I have found useful on many occasions.

The meditation starts by creating the right type of healing space, too often I’ve been healing rituals done in draughty community centres, churches and halls where a portable heater, some throw cushions and some banners with colourful designs can be added to promote a more relaxed atmosphere. An altar to your favourite healing deities is helpful and in the centre of the circle should be a single candle plus some quartz crystals to amplify the energies.

This is almost a word by word transcript of the meditation that I like to use, it can be adapted to suit different circumstances.

The Meditation

Find a comfortable position and relax keep you’re back straight and relax all parts of your body. Now allow your mind to settle and take some normal breaths focusing your mind on the rising and falling of your chest.

Now I want you to breathe in a healing breath and imagine/think/feel that you are breathing in healing light. This healing light can be any colour you choose as long as it is one that is healing for you. When you breathe out I want you to imagine/ think/ feel that you are breathing out all of the energy that you no longer need in the form of black smoke. Now breathe in through your nose the healing energy and now breathe out of your arse. That’s right breathe out all your negative energy from your arse.

So breathe in through your nose, out through your arse, in through your nose, out through your arse. That’s right. And when you breathe out through your arse I’d like you to softy say this mantra to yourself “shit happens”.

That’s right. In through your nose out through your arse: shit happens; in through your nose out through your arse: shit happens. And as you start to feel more comfortable with the fact that shit sometimes just happens I’d like you to consider the wise sages of old and their advice “sometimes there is a mountain, and then there is no mountain, and then there is a mountain and then no mountains. So it is with your shit in your life, sometimes there is a mountain sometimes no mountain, shit happens. So breathe in with your nose and out through your arse: shit happens, in through your nose out through your arse: shit happens.

I’d now like you to consider the Tarot card, the Wheel of Fortune. Sometimes you’re on top of the wheel, sometimes below and sometimes to the side; so it is with the shit in your life, shit comes and shit goes, shit comes and shit goes. Breathe in through your nose, out through your arse, in through your nose and out through your arse, in through your nose out through your arse, that’s right sometimes shit just happens.

And when your experiencing stress in your life you can use this meditation to help you relax and to know that surely as shit appears it disappears: shit comes and shit goes; so its okay to have some shit in your life. It is after all nothing that can’t be resolved by good plumbing and some antibacterial wash. In through your nose and out through your arse, shit happens.

And if there is someone in your life who is giving you their shit you can teach them this meditation and tell them simply to “blow it out of their arse.” In through your nose, out through your arse. That’s right.

Now I’d like you to slowly open your eyes and come back to the room confident that sometimes shit just happens.

This meditation is best led with a serious expression and all the trappings of a New Age Temple.

Soror Brigantia is the current head of the British Isles Section of the Illuminates of Thanateros.

For those deficient in irony, let it be noted that Levity is not the same as ineffectuality. This technique yields results. (ed)

In Praise of MMM: Motionlessness/No Thought

If there’s one signature exercise amongst the Illuminates of Thanateros it’s Motionlessness/No Thought – MNT. In itself it’s unassuming and dull yet difficult and That Chore Which Must Be Done if you’re a Novice. It lurks among the Mind Control exercises of the Illuminates of Thanateros Novice training program, the ‘studentship syllabus,’ called Liber MMM, like the black sheep at the wedding reception.

Where did it come from? In the seminal chaos magic book Liber Null, Peter J. Carroll adapted the Yoga exercises of Aleister Crowley’s Book 4: Mysticism (part 1) for his adaptation within Liber MMM. This in turn was appropriated from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

More than anything else, MNT forges and storm-proofs the magician. When one of those ‘there’s something out there and it’s in here!’ moments occurs, if you’re going to look a god in its one massive bloodshot eye without shitting yourself, your Proper Prior Preparation and Practice of MNT helps you stand as The Magician In The Moment. When synchronicities turn your life into a shitstorm, you need the inner composure that meditation offers.

And all this starts from just sitting still.

Motionlessness is about not shifting weight, not scratching those inevitable little itches, and so forth. It’s not about torso movements when you breathe or tics or involuntary eye movements or blinking (if those bother you, shut your eyes). Pick a posture and stick to it. Since you don’t want to be shifting for comfort, pick a posture that’s comfortable in the first place. I did know someone who started off by doing his MNT in the Dragon Posture, but he doesn’t recommend it. Don’t try to be hardcore: leave your ego outside the Temple door.

If you gaze at a random spot on the wall you’ll very soon notice a slight tunnel vision. This is you entering a very light trance. Relax into it and your breathing will slow, swallowing and blinking are inhibited and the itches will become ignorable.

Breathing: pranayama. There’s a simple technique. In — out. And so forth. Fancy breathing techniques can wait, unless you already have mastery of them.

No-Thought is an unceasing business. Begin by just watching thoughts arise and pass away. Do nothing about them. When you catch yourself fixating on a thought, just drop it.

As you become aware of ‘space’ as it were in your consciousness where no thoughts are, as thoughts arise then deliberately ignore them and attend instead to that empty space. From time to time you get some blessed peace, when there are no thoughts to ignore. You’ll probably notice this moment of peace only when it’s over.

It’s not so much about that moment as the abilities, manifested over time, to drop easily into inhibitory trance states, to close down unhelpful streams of thought while under pressure and to concentrate on what is currently important. The concentration you’re looking for is not the fierce fixed frown and furious glare; it’s the relaxed absorption of a child at play. You are ‘in neutral,’ as it were. From this state you will learn to put yourself in gear by paying attention to something and there the magic starts.

Start with about 15 minutes and after a few days of practice add five minutes, and so forth until you’ve got 30 minutes’ practice time. It is totally worth it. This is why to this day the Illuminates of Thanateros still champion this practice and require our Novices to practice it daily.