Joyous Synaxis of All the Angels!
Todays is the Eastern Orthodox Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers. This includes the Archangel Gabriel is who is a favorite of mine and near and dear to my heart.
May the blessings of God through the Archangel Gabriel be upon you!
Another approach to finding personal empowerment can be found in western astrology. In his 3 books of Occult Philsophy, Cornelius Agrippa explains that all peope have a spirit or angel is assigned to them when they are born. By seeking out your personal angel or good spirit of your natal chart, you bring bring about an increase of good luck and fortune, gain advice, and numerous other benefits.
The key to this is spirit is understanding the nature of this spirit, which falls under one of the 7 Classical Planets ie Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn. There are many ways to do this. The simplest method is to look at the planet that rules the cusp of the 11th house. The sign on that cusp, and it’s exact degree can be examined to determine the which planet rules that house. In Hellenic astrology, the name of the 11th house was the Agathodaimon or the Good Spirit. Thus why the Lord of the 11th house is an indicator of the nature of the Good Spirit. The sign that rules this house has a ruling planet. The ruling planet is also the planet that your Good Spirit falls under. So if your 11th house ruler is Libra, then Venus is the nature of your Good Spirit. If the ruler was Capricorn, then Saturn is the nature of the good spirit. This is a simple method, but it can be made more precise with a detailed look into the most influential planet at that degree. For example, in Capricorn, at specific degrees of Capricorn, the planetary ruler of that degree might actually be Mars, as Mars is exalted in Capricorn and certain degrees have more Mars influence than Saturn.
Another method is determining the almuten figuris of your natal chart. This is a bit more complex method as it requires identifying several specific points in your natal chart. Even this method also has some variations. The foundational method is to identify the position of your natal Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Point of Fortune, and Syzygy. While the first three may be more familiar to people, the Point of Fortune and the Syzygy is not commonly talked about. The Point of Fortune is a calculated point. It is determined by looking at the distance from the Sun and Moon. This distance is then applied to the Ascendant, and it’s end point is the Point of Fortune. Depending upon if you were born at or night, the calculation will change, with it starting at the Sun in a day chart, and starting with the Moon in a night chart.
The Syzygy is the position of the moon when it was Dark or Full before the time in the chart. Of course, if your moon is Dark, or Full, in your natal chart, then your moon position is also your syzygy. So, if the moon is waxing in your chart, then your syzygy will be the previous dark moon, and if the moon is waning, it will be the previous full moon.
All of these points are examined, and added by which planets have dignities in them. All the dignities are calculated together, Rulership, Exaltation, Triplicity, Term and Face. In some systems, they will also include the planetary Day, and the Hour as well, and also the house the planet occupies in the natal chart, as some houses are considered to be more influential than others. A planet in the first house is much stronger than a planet in the 3rd house for example. The planet with the highest sum is considered the Almuten Figuris, or the Ruling planet of the Natal chart, and this planet thus also indicates the nature of the angel or good spirit of the natal chart.
With this method, sometimes the ruling planet may surprise you. The influence of day, hour and house can take a relatively weak planet and make it a powerhouse over a planet in rulership, but in a weak house, and lacking day and hour. This is not a bad thing however, and it can indicate that your fortune and spiritual advancement lays with the nature of that planet, which might require you to break out self imposed limitations and see things differently.
Once you know that planet, you can then start to reach out to call that spirit more closely into your life. For your consideration I will include simple connections on how you can construct and personalize the ritual, based upon your ruling planet.
For the Moon – You should start on a Monday, in the hour of the Moon. Moonrise, especially during a full moon, and also when the Moon is at the zenith of the sky during a full moon are also good times to commence or perform this ritual. White candles are recommended, but other colors can work as well, like silver, and pale or pastel colors, especially pastel blues, pastel pinks, pastel yellows, and pastel greens. A good incense to use is Jasmine, but camphor is also a good option. You can also make or purchase a complex incense blend for the moon. I also recommend using a planetary oil of the moon. A camphor oil blend can work well, as well as jasmine, or mugwort, and again there are also complex oil blend recipes online, and many shops sell such blends as well.
For the Sun – You should start on a Sunday, in the hour of the Sun. the first hour is at sunrise, but the 2nd Sun hour is often a little bit after Noon, so also choosing High Noon, when the sun is at the sky’s zenith is also a good choice. Candle colors of yellow, orange, gold, or white are recommended. A good incense is frankincense, but I also find that warm amber incenses draw forth solar influence quite well. A Sun incense blend that you make or purchase is also a good option. You can make a Sun oil with bay leaves and olive oil, or using the essential oil of bay laurel in olive oil that works very well. Other solar plants like St John’s wort works well, Sunflower petals, calendula petals, chamomile and angelica root also make a good solar oil.
For Mercury – You should start on a Wednesday, in the hour of Mercury. As Mercury tends to follow the Sun closely, and is difficult to see against his bright light, those are the best times. Sometimes Mercury is acting as the morning or evening star, and you can time this work to those periods as well, if you want to go to that effort. The candle colors I recommend are shades and tints of purple, brown, orange or gold, or rainbow or mixed colors, or sparkling candles ie glitter coated. I like holographic glitter, but any glitter will work. I find mercury works well with cinnamon incense, mastic resin, elemi resin, or storax if you can find them. A mercury oil can also be made from the same resins or from cinnamon EO. Anis, fennel, celery seed essential oils also make a good oil or incense.
For Venus – The day and hour of Venus works well, as does locating Venus as the Morning or Evening Star. Venus also doesn’t get very far from the sun, but when it is far away, it is often taking the position of one of these stars, and it can work well to invoke your Venusian spirit when those stars are visible above the horizon. The colors for Venus that I recommend are rich Green, rich or intense Pink, White, Turquoise, Blue-Green, Peach. I highly recommend a Rose incense and Rose scent in your oil, but Vanilla also works well, and any floral scent that you can enjoy. Orris oil aka Queen Elizabeth root oil is also a good.
For Mars – The day and hour of Mars. If you want to track Mars, he can be apparent at night and you can time him for when he rises above the horizon, or when he reaches the Zenith of the sky as well. The color of Mars is Red. No other color is really recommended. I prefer using the Pine as an incense, but Musk also resonates well with Mars. If you can afford dragon’s blood resin, that is also favored by Mars in my experience. For the oil, An herbal oil can be made with Basil, known to be a mars plant, but if you want something floral Tobacco flower makes a good scent although expensive essential oil. Just macerating hot dried chilis in oil can also make a good Mars oil.
For Jupiter – The day and hour of Jupiter, and also when Jupiter rises, or when Jupiter is at the zenith of the sky. The colors for Jupiter is royal blue, or cerulean blue, white or gold. The incenses I recommend is cedarwood, sandalwood, fir or juniper, or just burn powdered nutmeg on charcoals. A single scent Jupiter oil can be made from any of the incenses as well.
For Saturn – The Day and Hour of Saturn, or when Saturn rises or reaches the zenith of the sky. The colors for Saturn is primarily black, but shades (that is colors that have some black in them) of Green, dark greys, darker earth tones, and also White. For incense I prefer using Myrrh, but I also enjoying using Patchouli for it’s rich dark earth notes, if you want something unusual, Valerian root also makes a good incense, although it smells like feet in enough concentration. A good oil for Saturn can also be made with Patchouli, or Vetiver, of which the root is used to make the essential oil. Valerian root essential oil also makes a good Saturn oil.
As part of any of the rituals, I recommend making an offering of clean water in addition to the incense. Just about any spiritual being enjoys clean water, as a means to refresh itself. A simple blessing over the water is enough, in a clean glass.
You can call out the spirit through prayers, conjurations to the planets, poetry of the planets etc. A popular form is using the Orphic Hymns, which have hymns dedicated to the Graeco Roman Gods associated with the planets. You can also find prayers and invocations to spirits of the planets and then ask them to connect you with your natal spirit. The Olympic spirits, The Archangels of the Planets, The Planetary Intelligences and Spirits, and more. You can also freeform or compose your own prayer or evocation.
In Agrippa he also gives a method to determine the name of this spirit. It can be done using any alphabet, but Agrippa gave examples using Hebrew and Latin. Essentially each degree is assigned a letter, starting with A at the first degree of Aries, and repeating until the last letter at the final degree of Pisces. Then look to the previous planets and points ie Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Point of Fortune, Syzygy. Those points will give you the letter that make up the name of your spirit. This may not have any vowels in it, so you can use your own inspiration to fill in vowel sounds, or just make your best guess. You can also forgo this method, and just reach out the spirit, until it gives you a name to use.
You should repeat this ritual every week, on the same day and hour, until you feel certain you have made contact with your natal spirit. This can take many forms. It may come with a vision, or a dream. It may come as a knowingness, or as a clairaudient experience where you hear a voice speaking to you, and answering your questions and aiding you. It may happen quickly with just one session. For myself it took 9 months, starting on the Winter Solstice and finishing on the Autumnal equinox. Your mileage may vary.
If you want to know your almuten figuris and other information, I can calculate it for you. Book your consultation here.
Visualization
Using Visualization as means of empowering yourself, here are two simple methods to break restrictions and limitations and empower yourself with mastery and authority.
Visualization #1 – To break restrictions and limitation
See yourself bound by ropes and chains. These restraints are expressions of things, internal and external, that are holding you back.
Begin to breath deeply and relax and see this spark of energy building up in your stomach. With each breath it becomes stronger and brighter, until it begins to rise up and flow into your heart. With each breath the spark pulses and grows at your heart, building up pressure, like a pressure cooker. Keep breathing deeply and relaxing, letting that pressure build and build. If you spend 2-5 minutes doing it.
When you feel this pressure reach a peak, let it explode out from your heart area, like an exploding bomb. It shreds the ropes and breaks the chains into pieces. The piece fly away from you, out into an empty void. You are liberated and free.
Visualization #2 – To empower with sovereignty and authority and protection
this energy that just exploded out of you now also flows through your body. It fills every fiber of your being, flowing down to your toes, and up to the crown of your head, and flowing into your arms all the way into your fingertips, and circulating back before it is pumped out again, like blood through your circulatory system.
However, this energy also starts to flow out from the pores of your skin, and as it does so, it begins to shape itself into clothing around you. This clothing inspires respect, and signifies power and authority.
It could be a three piece business suit in a color that you love. It recalls to mind capable and influential business people who can manage difficult situations and resolve problems with easy. It could be a military uniform of a general or an admiral or captain. You are the top of the hierarchy. The buck stops with you. What you say is a command and people are expected to follow your orders and directives, and be attentive to your every whim and even your presence. Maybe its the robes of a King or Queen, either from history or present day, or from fantasy media, or something you envisioned and drew on a character of your own creation. It looks regal, the indication of sovereignty which commands respect, causes people to recognize your authority, and submit to your commands. Whatever the outfit, it communicates to everyone saying “I’m the boss, I’m in charge, you will respect me”. Around that outfit is a slight shimmer of a golden radiance surrounds you, as though you are touched by the divine, having divine grace or favor.
You are on a dais, raised up slightly from the crowds around you. Almost spotlighting you but it also lifts you up, putting you beyond the reach of low opinions and attitudes. People also just naturally look up to you, seeing you as a leader, a guide, an inspiration.
This energy continues to flow out from you and taking shape around you as a clear wall of force. You can see through it easily, seeing what you want to achieve, the resources you desire, the road ahead that you want to walk. You can clearly see your allies, and good things that can help you. However this wall blocks out evil influences, the gazes of the jealous and envious, the evil eye, hatred of your enemies, and malign influences that restricted and limited you before. Those ropes and chains are blocked by the this wall, unable to make you small and restrain you again. You are strong, capable, powerful, and protected.
If you have problems with visualization as an image, I recommend just writing this down, or reading it out loud when you want to do it.
For the first visualization, if you want to tie in things and make them more physical, you can loosely tie yourself with ropes and chain in order to feel those bindings on your body and breaking yourself free from them.
For the second one, see if you can find a picture of the desired outfit. If you can draw it yourself, great, but you can also write out a detailed description of it to help yourself in connecting with it more strongly. If you can create it or buy it, you might also try that. When you wear it, just practice feeling powerful and awe inspiring in it.
You can also use visualization #1 with uncrossing work. I have found it to be very effective for that. Afterwards when you are blessing yourself or working to bring luck or power, using visualization #2.
I realize that this sounds like a spiritual journey practice, and it could be, but I am referring to getting to know your spiritual neighbors where you live. I believe that spirits are everywhere and in everything and thus everything is spiritually alive. Even the most mundane man made item has spirit. Not all spirits are active and awake however and most of them are what you could call asleep. But those places where spirits are present and active almost always leave a mark on humanity, especially where we live and our environments and interactions. Even if you live in what you think is the most mundane and boring place, there is often a hidden or “occult” current of “weird” phenomena that can be tracked down, and where those places are, spirits can often be found there. Other places may not be thought of as weird, but may be seen as spiritually powerful and connected and just stepping into them people often find they feel refreshed and restored.
Where to start
I recommend digging up folklore and history of the place where you live. History can be easy. Often a library or the internet can have information about the history of a place, and the people who lived in it. A local historical society may also have information, with them having done a lot of the research for you, especially into historical figures relevant to the places around you. Have you ever wondered why your town or city has certain street names and where they come from? Quite often it’s from people who played a role in the past in building up the city and making it the way it was.
Folklore can be a bit harder to find. Some things may be in the history, but other things may just come from talking to people, especially if they have lived there for a while, or have had multiple generations living there. Historical societies again may be beneficial here, and sometimes the internet may turn up interesting things, although that will tend to be limited to well known subjects, Haunted buildings and locations for example.
If you live in the USA, or anywhere in the America’s, you should also look into information about the original residents ie Native Americans. They often had their own sense of place and stories that go with it. Some of these might have been preserved, and of course, some of the older cultures in the Americas had fallen and been replaced long before Europeans ever came to these shores. As you do so, remember to be respectful. You are most likely a stranger to these cultures, and you’re also probably not a trained archeologist. Don’t go tramping onto the known location and don’t try hitting up the spirits there, and don’t assume to speak for those spirits if they make themselves known. Some locations may actually be protected sites, but lacking the funds and fame to secure them from trespassers.
Once you have accumulated some of this knowledge, now you should take a look at the current layout of your environment. Check to see if historical places are accessible, as well as places that have built up folklore or urban legends around them. You can schedule a visit during accessible hours, and if it’s your first time, you should definitely go during the day and several times before trying to make contact.
Of course, some places may not have any lore built up around them, but can still have a vibe all of their own. Most of these are man made structures, but by having been around for a while and serving a specific purpose can be a means of reaching out to the spirits drawn to those places. The most obvious of these are churches and cemeteries. Churches are the traditional and common place of spiritual interaction in Western Occulture for a long time. Of course not all churches seem to vibe the same, but you can usually tell which ones are the right ones to go to. They will often be older and just have a “vibe” around and in them. This also applies to synagogues, mosques, and temples of other religions that may be in the area.
Cemeteries are also obvious, as the place where most communities lay their dead to rest. The oldest cemeteries in the area will often have the graves of community founders whose names dot the streets and buildings that they built, or their descendants built to memorialize them. These are excellent places to commune with the spirits of the dead of an area. Some may also have potter’s graves, the sites where people who died without a name, family, or next of kin. Giving respect to these dead, and bringing them offerings can often be beneficial in opening up communication channels, as the respect given may spread among the spirits.
The next places are places of knowledge and learning. Libraries, Schools, Universities, especially older ones of each will attract the rarefied spirits who are drawn to such intellectual endeavors. Getting to know the public library that was built over 100 years ago, or visiting the Medieval university that was built centuries ago and connecting with those spirits. These places have always been a place of unusual ideas and running into spirits who understand magic and can teach you some rare tricks, or lead you to metaphysical or occult texts in the building that may be of interest to you.
Another place to get familiar with are area hospitals. Hospitals are places where often many people are born and die every day. These intense human experiences which can shape are life, and also the entrance and exit from existence for most people. These places have intense experiences, and intense emotions and honestly are not for the faint of heart. If you want to meet some of the spirits that are attracted to hospitals, prepare yourself.
Courthouses, Government buildings, and Police Stations are other loci of spiritual power. For the obvious reasons that these places deal with law, order, and structuring society. Even the most mundane of city council buildings or local civic building can help connect you with spirits that deal with these parts of life, which impact everything that people do constantly, even in ways that are not always obvious to most people. After all, if you’re lucky you never have to visit a court house or a police station for unpleasant reasons, but you will have to visit government buildings and often in your life. From filing paperwork, to picking up birth and death certificates, voting in elections, or participating in local government and how the laws and those who make them, enforce them, and interpret them can affect a community profoundly. It is better to have those spirits on your side, then working against them.
Another manmade location are crossroads, any place where two or more roads cross. Anyone listening to this show is probably familiar with crossroads and all the ways they can be worked with, and the spirits that can be found there.
In general cities and buildings have their own spirits too. Reaching out the spirits of your home or building and connecting with them can be a way to help protect your home. These spirits will tend to be subtle with residents, but can be quite obvious to visitors, or even unwelcomed interlopers. Some of them may also be guardians set by other workers to protect their homes, and may make their presence known if they think you’re violating a boundary.
Finally are natural locations. Depending upon where you live, certain types of spirits are going to be more prevalent. Do you live near the ocean or other bodies of water, or a large river? You can expect water spirits to be present. Do you live in the mountains? Expect mountain spirits to make themselves known. Living in a forested area and the many spirits of trees and plants will be present. A rural farming region will often have seasonal spirits whose natures change depending upon the season, but also earth spirits who are tied to the fertility of the land. And everywhere you go one can connect with spirits of wind, sky and weather, as they are always overhead and about. Protected wilderness refuges may also have spiritual guardians and if you’re engaging in spiritualist practices near them, you may peak their interest.
Once you have familiarized yourself with the lay of the land around you, and you have visited these locations and made your introductions, one way you can deepen your connection to these sites and spirits is by buying dirt from these locations. Much like buying graveyard dirt to work with a spirit of the dead, you can buy dirt from the spirits of the land around you. You should prepare offerings that could be acceptable. In some places, the desired offering may just be water that you have spiritually enriched. Other places and their spirits may desire more, or accept an offering of spiritual energy without physical supports. By visiting these places before hand you should have an idea of what to expect. Take your offerings and go to the location, and pick a suitable spot to relax and commune with the location. Openly or silently recite an invocation asking the spirits if you can have a boon of earth from their place and their power with it. Silence yourself and wait for an answer. You may feel it quickly, or some kind of natural phenomenon may arise which will give you the answer. If it is no, tell them thank you for hearing your request and still leave the offering as gratitude for communing with you. If they say yes, collect a small amount of soil from the place. Some of these may come from planters on the location, especially if you are in a very urban location. Others may be collected from any open earth location or area of lawn. Leave the offering where you took the earth from and thank the spirits for their gift. The earth can help bring those spirits into your personal sphere in your home and ritual space. That same earth can also be used in magic related to their sphere of influence. Earth from a church can be used in spells for holiness, blessing, and protection. Courthouse or government dirt can be used in legal spells, or when needing to influence government employees and officials. Library earth is useful in spells for knowledge, learning and clarity.
Today at 4 pm PT/7 PM ET Tune into Mystics, Mages and Magical Places. Listen to Rev. Art and Rev James and me, Brother Christopher as I talk about Mapping out your Spiritual Geography!
May the quickening energy of spring bring blossom to all your endeavors!
While driving home this evening, I had a moment to look up at the western sky and I saw that the barest narrow crescent was visible, delicately hanging above the horizon, a pale yellow sliver that just disappeared into the clouds hanging on the edge of the horizon. This marks the Turn of the Moon, or the Return of the Moon. After the 3 day period when the moon is not visible in the sky because it is too close to the sun and it’s light and thus vacant from the night sky. This dark period was usually known as the dark of the moon. Today it’s often called the new moon. The real new moon however was when the first sliver appeared in the night sky, after the dark period, the moon was renewed and thus the return or the turn of the moon. This time has an association with renewal, new beginnings, and fresh starts. In the timing of spells it is a good time to do work to start anew, refresh things, and having a fresh start. Depending upon the placement in the sky with the sign of the zodiac, or the lunar mansion or aspects with other planets you can focus on starting anew with certain things. Try working with the turn of the moon to set new beginnings in your life.
RUNEWORKER 